They were remarkably tame, allowing us
to approach them closely, and we were delighted by their beautiful
plumage and their singular forms. This reminds me to say that the motion
of the craft was extremely curious--a kind of gentle rising and falling,
which was very agreeable when once we were accustomed to it, and which
resembled what one would suppose to be the movement of a bird in flight.
This, of course, arose from the structure of the air ship, which, as I
have before said, seemed to be modeled, as far as its motive parts were
concerned, upon the principle of wings rather than of simple aeroplanes.
But the mechanism was very complicated, and I never arrived at a full
comprehension of it.
Edmund remained a long time in conference with Ala, Ingra staying
constantly with them, and when he had apparently finished his
"conversation" we were surprised to see them begin a tour of inspection
of the air ship, finally descending into the interior. This greatly
excited Jack, who was for following them at once.
"I can't be easy," he declared. "Nobody can tell what may happen to him
if they get him alone."
But I succeeded in persuading him that there could be no danger, and that
we ought to trust to Edmund's discretion.
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