"
"Hurrah," cried Jack. "Now, that's something I like! I can understand a
machine--if you don't ask me to run it--but as for this talking through
the eyes, and playing Jim Crow with rainbows, it's too much for me."
It was not many hours later when we were conducted by Ala, accompanied as
usual by the inevitable Ingra, and a brilliant cortege of attendants,
upon our first excursion through the capital. We embarked in a gorgeous
air ship, and flying low at first, skirted the roofs of the innumerable
houses which constituted the bulk of the city resting on the ground. The
oriental magnificence of the views which we caught in the winding streets
and frequent squares crowded with people, excited our interest to the
utmost. But we kept on without descending or stopping until, at length,
we passed the limits of the immense metropolis, and, flying more rapidly,
and at a greater elevation, soon approached what, at a distance, appeared
to be a waterfall, greater than Niagara, pouring out of the air!
"What marvel can this be?" I asked.
"A fountain," responded Edmund.
"A cataract turned upside down," exclaimed Jack. "Well, I've ceased to be
surprised at anything I see here.
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