Across the Zodiac

by Percy Greg

  CHAPTER XII - ON THE RIVER.

  The next morning saw our journey commenced. Eveena's wardrobe, with myown and my books, portfolios, models, and specimens of Terrestrial artand mechanism, were packed in light metallic cases adapted to thelarger form of carriage whereof I have made mention. I was fortunatein escaping the actual parting scene between Eveena and her family,and my own leave-taking was hurried. Esmo and his son accompanied us,leading the way in one carriage, while Eveena and myself occupied thatwhich we had used on our memorable trip to the Astronaut. Half an hourbrought us to the road beside the river, and a few minutes more to thepoint at which a boat awaited us. The road being some eight or tenfeet above the level of the water, a light ladder not three feet longwas ready to assist our descent to the deck. The difference of sizebetween the Martial race and my own was forcibly impressed upon me, inseeing that Esmo and his son found this assistance needful, or atleast convenient, while I simply stepped rather than jumped to thedeck, and lifted Eveena straight from her carriage to her seat underthe canopy that covered the stern of the vessel. Intended only forriver navigation, propelled by a small screw like two fishtails set atright angles, working horizontally; the vessel had but two cabins, oneon either side of the central part occupied by the machinery. Thestern apartment was appropriated to myself and my bride, theforecastle, if I may so call it, to our companions, the boatmen havingberths in the corners of the machine-room. The vessel wasflat-bottomed, drawing about eighteen inches of water and rising aboutfive feet from the surface, leaving an interior height which obligedme to be cautious in order not to strike my head against everyprojection or support of the cabin roof. We spent the whole of theday, however, on deck, and purposely slackened the speed of the boat,which usually travels some thirty miles an hour, in order to enjoy theeffect and observe the details of the landscape. For the first fewmiles our voyage lay through the open plain. Then we passed, on theleft as we ascended the stream, the mountain on whose summit I triedwith my binocular to discern the Astronaut, but unsuccessfully, thetrees on the lower slopes intercepting the view. Eveena, seeing myeyes fixed on that point, extended her hand and gently drew the glassout of mine.

  "Not yet," she said; which elicited from me the excuse--

  "That mountain has for me remembrances more interesting than those ofmy voyage, or even than the hopes of return."

  Presently, as we followed the course of the stream, we lost sightaltogether of the rapidly dwindling patches of colour representing theenclosures of Ecasfe. On our left, at a distance varying from three tofive miles, but constantly increasing as the stream bent to thenorthward, was the mountain range I had scanned in my descent. On ourright the plain dipped below the horizon while still but a few feetabove the level of the river; but in the distant sky we discerned someobjects like white clouds, which from their immobility and fixednessof outline I soon discovered to be snow-crowned hills, lower, however,than those to the northward, and perhaps some forty miles distant. Thevalley is one of the richest and most fertile portions of thiscontinent, and was consequently thoroughly cultivated and more denselypeopled than most parts even of the Equatorial zone. An immediateriver frontage being as convenient as agreeable, the enclosures oneither bank were continuous, and narrow in proportion to their depth;the largest occupying no more than from one hundred and fifty to twohundred yards of the bank, the smaller from half to one quarter ofthat length. Most had a tunnel pierced under the road bordering theriver, through which the water was admitted to their grounds andcarried in a minute stream around and even through the house; forornament rather than for use, since every house in a district sopopulous has a regular artificial water supply, and irrigation, as Ihave explained, is not required. The river itself was embellished withmasses of water-flowers; and water-birds, the smallest scarcely largerthan a wagtail, the largest somewhat exceeding the size of a swan, ofa different form and dark grey plumage, but hardly less graceful,seemed to be aware of the stringent protection they enjoyed from thelaw. They came up to our boat and fed out of Eveena's hand withperfect fearlessness. I could not induce any of them to be equallyfamiliar with myself, my size probably surprising them as much astheir masters, and leading them to the same doubt whether I werereally and wholly human. The lower slopes of the hills were coveredwith orchards of every kind, each species occupying the level bestsuited to it, from the reed-supported orange-like _alva_ of thelowlands to the tall _astyra_, above which stretched the timberforests extending as high as trees could grow, while between these andthe permanent snow-line lay the yellowish herbage of extensivepastures. A similar mountain range on earth would have presented agreater variety of colouring and scenery, the total absence ofglaciers, even in the highest valleys, creating a notable difference.The truth is that the snows of Mars are nowhere deep, and melt in thesummer to such an extent that that constant increase whose downwardtendency feeds Terrestrial glaciers cannot take place. Probably thethin atmosphere above the snow-line can hold but little watery vapour.Esmo was of opinion that the snow on the highest steeps, even on alevel plateau, was never more than two feet in depth; and in more thanone case a wind-swept peak or pinnacle was kept almost clear, andpresented in its grey, green, or vermilion rocks a striking contrastto the masses of creamy white around it. This may explain the veryrapid diminution of the polar ice-caps in the summer of either, butespecially of the Southern hemisphere; and also the occasionalappearance of large dark spots in their midst, where the shallow snowhas probably been swept away by the rare storms of this planet from anextensive land surface. It is supposed that no inconsiderable part ofthe ice and snow immediately surrounding the poles covers land; but,though balloon parties have of late occasionally reached the poles,they have never ventured to remain there long enough to disembark andascertain the fact.

  Towards evening the stream turned more decidedly to the north, and atthis point Esmo brought out an instrument constructed somewhat on theprinciple of a sextant or quadrant, but without the mirror, by whichwe were enabled to take reliable measures of the angles. By a processwhich at that time I did not accurately follow, and which I had notsubsequently the means of verifying, the distance as well as the anglesubtended by the height was obtained. Kevima, after working out hisfather's figures, informed me that the highest peak in view--thehighest in Mars--was not less than 44,000 feet. No Martial balloonist,much less any Martial mountain-climber, has ever, save once, reached agreater height than 16,000 feet--the air at the sea-level beingscarcely more dense than ours at 10,000 feet. Kevima indicated onespot in the southern range of remarkable interest, associated with anincident which forms an epoch in the records of Martial geography. Asloping plateau, some 19,000 feet above the sea-level, is defined withremarkable clearness in the direction from which we viewed it. Theforests appeared to hide, though they do not of course actuallyapproach, its lower edge. On one side and to the rear it is shut in byprecipices so abrupt that the snow fails to cling to them, while onthe remaining side it is separated by a deep, wide cleft from thewestern portion of the range. Here for centuries were visible therelics of an exploring party, which reached this plateau and neverreturned. Attempts have, since the steering of balloons has become anaccomplished fact, been made to reach the point, but without success,and those who have approached nearest have failed to find any of thelong-visible remains of an expedition which perished four or fivethousand years ago. Kevima thought it probable that the metallic poleseven then employed for tents and for climbing purposes might still beintact; but if so, they were certainly buried in the snow, and Esmobelieved it more likely that even these had perished.

  As the mists of evening fell we retreated to our cabin, which waswarmed by a current of heated air from the electric machinery. Hereour evening meal was served, at which Esmo and his son joined us,Eveena resuming, even in their presence, the veil she had worn on deckbut had laid aside the moment we were alone. An hour or two aftersunset, the night (an unusual occurrence in Mars) was clear and fine,and I took this opportunity of observing from a new
standpoint thefamiliar constellations. The scintillation so characteristic of thefixed stars, especially in the temperate climates of the Earth, wasscarcely perceptible. Scattered once more over the surface of adefined sky, it was much easier than in space to recognise the severalconstellations; but their new and strange situations were not a littlesurprising at first sight, some of those which, as seen on Earthrevolved slowly in the neighbourhood of the poles, being now not farfrom the tropics, and some, which had their place within the tropics,now lying far to north or south. Around the northern pole the Swanswings by its tail, as in our skies the Lesser Bear; Arided being aPole-Star which needs no Pointers to indicate its position. Vega isthe only other brilliant star in the immediate neighbourhood; and,save for the presence of the Milky Way directly crossing it, thearctic circle is distinctly less bright than our own. The south polelies in one of the dullest regions of the heavens, near the chief starof the Peacock. Arcturus, the Great Bear, the Twins, the Lion, theScorpion, and Fomalhaut are among the ornaments of the Equatorialzone: the Cross, the Centaur, and the Ship of our antarcticconstellations, are visible far into the northern hemisphere. On thepresent occasion the two Moons were both visible in the west, thehorns of both crescents pointing in the same direction, though the onewas in her last, the other in her first phase.

  As we were watching them, Eveena, wrapped in a cloak of fur not alittle resembling that of the silver fox, but far softer, stole herhand into mine and whispered a request that I would lend her theinstrument I was using. With some instruction and help she contrivedto adjust it, her sight requiring a decided alteration of the focusand an approach of the two eye-pieces; the eyes of her race being setsomewhat nearer than in an average Aryan countenance. She expressed nolittle surprise at the clearness of definition, and the markedenlargement of the discs of the two satellites, and would have usedthe instrument to scan the stars and visible planets had I notinsisted on her retirement; the light atmosphere, as is always thecase on clear nights, when no cloud-veil prevents rapid radiation fromthe surface, being bitterly cold, and her life not having accustomedher to the night air even in the most genial season.

  As we could, of course, see nothing of the country through which wepassed during the night, and as Esmo informed me that little ornothing of special interest would occur during this part of ourvoyage, our vessel went at full speed, her pilot being thoroughlyacquainted with the river, and an electric light in the bow enablinghim to steer with perfect confidence and safety. When, therefore, wecame on deck after the dissipation of the morning mist, we foundourselves in a scene very different from that which we had left. Ourcourse was north by west. On either bank lay a country cultivatedindeed, but chiefly pastoral, producing a rich herbage, grazed byinnumerable herds, among which I observed with interest several flocksof large birds, kept, as Esmo informed me, partly for their plumage.This presented remarkable combinations of colour, far surpassing inbrilliancy and in variety of pattern the tail of the peacock, andoften rivalling in length and delicacy, while exceeding in beauty ofcolouring, the splendid feathers which must have embarrassed the Birdof Paradise, even before they rendered him an object of pursuit bythose who have learnt the vices and are eager to purchase the wares ofcivilised man. Immediately across our course, at a distance of somethirty miles, stretched a range of mountains. I inquired of Esmo howthe river turned in order to avoid them, since no opening was visibleeven through my glass.

  "The proper course of the river," he said, "lies at the foot of thosehills. But this would take us out of our road, and, moreover, thestream is not navigable for many stoloi above the turning-point. Weshall hold on nearly in the same direction as the present till we landat their foot."

  "And how," I said, "are we to cross them?"

  "At your choice, either by carriage or by balloon," he said. "There isat our landing-place a town in which we shall easily procure either."

  "But," said I, "though our luggage is far less heavy than would bethat of a bride on Earth, and Eveena's forms the smallest portion ofit, I should fancy that it must be inconveniently heavy for aballoon."

  "Certainly," he replied; "but we could send it by carriage even overthe mountain roads. The boat, however, will go on, and will meet ussome thirty miles beyond the point where we leave it."

  "And how is the boat to pass over the hills?"

  "Not over, but under," he said, smiling. "There is no natural passageentirely through the range, but there is within it a valley the bottomof which is not much higher than this plain. Of the thirty miles to betraversed, about one-half lies in the course of this valley, alongwhich an artificial canal has been made. Through the hills at eitherend a tunnel has been cut, the one of six, the other of about ninemiles in length, affording a perfectly safe and easy course for theboat; and it is through these that nearly all the heavy trafficpassing in this direction is conveyed."

  "I should like," I said, "if it be possible, to pass through one atleast of these tunnels, unless there be on the mountains themselvessomething especially worth seeing."

  "Nothing," he replied. "They are low, none much exceeding the heightof that from which you descended."

  Eveena now joined us on deck, and we amused ourselves for the next twohours in observing the different animals, of which such numbers wereto be seen at every turn, domesticated and trained for one or other ofthe many methods in which the brutes can serve the convenience, thesustenance, or the luxury of man. Animal food is eaten on Mars; butthe flesh of birds and fish is much more largely employed than that ofquadrupeds, and eggs and milk enter into the cuisine far moreextensively than either. In fact, flesh and fish are used much as theyseem to have been in the earlier period of Greek civilisation, asrelish and supplement to fruits, vegetables, and farinaceous dishes,rather than as the principal element of food. As their training andtheir extreme tameness indicate, domestic creatures, even thosedestined only to serve as food or to furnish clothing, are treated notindeed with tenderness, but with gentleness, and without either theneglect or the cruelty which so revolt humane men in witnessing thetreatment of Terrestrial animals by those who have personal charge ofthem. To describe any considerable number of the hundred forms I sawduring this short period would be impossible. I have drawings, orrather pictures, of most, taken by the light-painting process, which Ihope herewith to remit to Earth, and which at least serve to give ageneral idea of the points in which the Martial chiefly differs fromthe Terrestrial fauna. Those animals whose coats furnish a textilefibre more resemble reindeer and goats than sheep; their wool issofter, longer, and less curly, free also from the greasiness of thesheep.

  It seemed to me that an extreme quaintness characterised the domesticcreatures kept for special purposes. This was not the effect of merenovelty, for animals like the _amba_ and birds like the _esve_,trained to the performance of services congenial to their naturalhabits, however dissimilar to Terrestrial species, had not the sameair of singularity, or rather of monstrosity. But in the creaturesbred to furnish wool, feathers, or the like, some single feature wasalways exaggerated into disproportionate dimensions. Thus the_elnerve_ is loaded with long plumes, sometimes twice the length ofthe body, and curled upward at the extremity, so that it can neitherfly nor run; and though its plumage is exquisitely beautiful, thecreature itself is simply ludicrous. It bears the same popular reputefor sagacity as the goose of European farmyards. The _angasto_ hashair or wool so long that its limbs are almost hidden, just beforeshearing-time, in the tresses that hang from the body half way to theground. The _calperze_, a bird no larger than a Norfolk turkey, hasthe hinder part developed to an enormous size, so that the gracefulpeacock-like neck and shoulders appear as if lost in the hugeproportions of the body, and the little wings are totally unfit toraise it in the air; while it lays almost daily eggs as large as thoseof the ostrich and of peculiar richness and flavour. Nearly all thedomestic birds kept for the sake of eggs or feathers have wings thatlook as if they had been clipped, and are incapable of flight.Creatures valued for their flesh, such
as the _quorno_ (somewhat likethe eland, but with the single horn so common among its congeners inMars, and with a soft white hide), and the _viste_, a bird about thesize of the peacock, with the form of the partridge and the flavour ofgrouse or black game, preserve more natural proportions. Thewing-quills of the latter, however, having been systematically pluckedfor hundreds of generations, are now dwarfed and useless. Theseanimals are not encouraged to make fat on the one hand, or to developpowerful muscles and sinews on the other. They are fed for part of theyear on the higher and thinner pastures of the mountains. When broughtdown to the meadows of the plain, they are allowed to graze only for afew hours before sunset and after sunrise. They thus preserve much ofthe flavour of game or mountain sheep and cattle, which the oxen andpoultry of Europe have lost; flavour, not quantity, being the chiefobject of care with Martial graziers. Sometimes, however, somepeculiarity perfectly useless, or even inconvenient, appears to benaturally associated with that which is artificially developed. Thusthe beak of the _elnerve_ is weak and often splits, so as to renderits rearing troublesome and entail considerable losses; while thehorns of the wool-bearing animals are long and strong enough to beformidable, but so rough and coarsely grained that they are turned tono account for use or ornament.

  We were rapidly approaching the foot of the hills, where the rivermade another and abrupt turn. At this point the produce of the wholeupper valley is generally embarked, and supplies from all otherquarters are here received and distributed. In consequence, a townlarge and important for this planet, where no one who can help itprefers the crowded street to the freedom and expanse of the country,had grown up, with about a hundred and fifty houses, and perhaps athousand inhabitants. It was so much matter of course that voyagersshould disembark to cross the hills or to pursue their journey alongthe upper part of the river by road, that half-a-dozen differentpartnerships made it their business to assist in the transfer ofpassengers and light wares. Ahead of us was a somewhat steephill-slope, in the lower part of which a wall absolutely perpendicularhad been cut by those who pierced the tunnel, the mouth of which wasnow clearly visible immediately before us. It was about twelve feet inheight, and perhaps twenty feet in width. The stream, which, likenearly all Martial rivers, is wide and shallow, had during the lastfifty miles of our course grown narrower, with a depth at the sametime constantly lessening, so that some care was required on the partof the pilot to avoid running aground. A stream of twenty inches indepth, affording room for two boats to pass abreast, is considerednavigable for vessels only carrying passengers; thirty inches arerequired to afford a course which for heavy freight is preferable tothe road. Eveena had taken it for granted that we should disembarkhere, and it was not till we had come within a hundred yards of thelanding-place--where the bank was perpendicular and levelled to aheight above the water, which enabled passengers to step directly fromthe deck of the boat--without slackening our speed, that thepossibility of our intending to accompany the boat on its subterrenecourse occurred to her. As she did not speak, but merely drew closerto me, and held fast my hand, I had no idea of her real distress tillwe were actually at the mouth of the black and very frightful-lookingpassage, and the pilot had lighted the electric lamp. As the boat shotunder the arch she could not repress a cry of terror. Naturallyputting my arm round her at this sign of alarm, I felt that she wastrembling violently, and a single look, despite her veil, convinced methat she was crying, though in silence and doing her utmost to concealher tears.

  "Are you so frightened, child?" I asked. "I have been through manysubterranean passages, though none so long and dark as this. But yousee our lamp lights up not only the boat but the whole vault aroundand before us, and there can be no danger whatever."

  "I am frightened, though," she said, "I cannot help it. I never sawanything of the kind before; and the darkness behind and before us,and the black water on either side, do make me shiver."

  "Stop!" I called to the boatman.

  "Now, Eveena," I said, "I do not care to persist in this journey if itreally distresses you. I wished to see so wonderful a work ofengineering; but, after all, I have been in a much uglier and morewonderful place, and I can see nothing here stranger than when I wasrowed for three-quarters of a mile on the river in the Mammoth Cave.In any case I shall see little but a continuation of what I seealready; so if you cannot bear it, we will go back."

  By this time Esmo, who had been in the bows, had joined us, wishing toknow why I had stopped the boat.

  "This child," I said, "is not used to travelling, and the tunnelfrightens her; so that I think, after all, we had better take theusual course across the mountains."

  "Nonsense!" he answered. "There is no danger here; less probably thanin an ordinary drive, certainly less than in a balloon. Don't spoilher, my friend. If you begin by yielding to so silly a caprice asthis, you will end by breaking her heart before the two years areout."

  "Do go on," whispered Eveena. "I was very silly; I am not sofrightened now, and if you will hold me fast, I will not misbehaveagain."

  Esmo had taken the matter out of my hands, desiring the boatman toproceed; and though I sympathised with my bride's feminine terror muchmore than her father appeared to do, I was selfishly anxious, in spiteof my declaration that there could be no novelty in this tunnel, tosee one thing certainly original--the means by which so narrow and solong a passage could be efficiently ventilated. The least I could do,however, was to appease Eveena's fear before turning my attention tothe objects of my own curiosity. The presence of physical strength,which seemed to her superhuman, produced upon her nerves the quietingeffect which, however irrationally, great bodily force alwaysexercises over women; partly, perhaps, from the awe it seems toinspire, partly from a yet more unreasonable but instinctive relianceon its protection even in dangers against which it is obviouslyunavailing.

  Presently a current of air, distinctly warmer than that of the tunnel,which had been gradually increasing in force for some minutes, becameso powerful that I could no longer suppose it accidental. Kevima beingnear us, I asked him what it meant.

  "Ventilation," he answered. "The air in these tunnels would be fouland stagnant, perhaps unbreathable, if we did not drive a constantcurrent of air through them. You did not notice, a few yards from theentrance, a wheel which drives a large fan. One of these is placed atevery half mile, and drives on the air from one end of the tunnel tothe other. They are reversed twice in a zyda, so that they may createno constant counter-current outside."

  "But is not the power exerted to drive so great a body of airexceedingly costly?"

  "No," he answered. "As you are aware, electricity is almost our onlymotive power, and we calculate that the labour of two men, evenwithout the help of machines, could in their working zydau [eighthours] collect and reduce a sufficient amount of the elements by whichthe current is created to do the work of four hundred men during awhole day and night."

  "And how long," I inquired, "has electricity had so complete amonopoly of mechanical work?"

  "It was first brought into general use," he replied, "about eightthousand years ago. Before that, heated air supplied our principallocomotive force, as well as the power of stationary machines whereverno waterfall of sufficient energy was at hand. For several centuriesthe old powers were still employed under conditions favourable totheir use. But we have found electricity so much cheaper than thecheapest of other artificial forces, so much more powerful than anysupplied by Nature, that we have long discontinued the employment ofany other. Even when we obtain electricity by means of heat, we findthat the gain in application more than compensates the loss in thetransmutation of one force into another."

  In the course of little more than half an hour we emerged from thetunnel, whose gloom, when once the attraction of novelty was gone, wascertainly unpleasant to myself, if not by any means so frightful asEveena still found it. There was nothing specially attractive ornoticeable in the valley through which our course now ran, except theextreme height of its mountain walls, whi
ch, though not by any meansperpendicular, rose to a height of some 3000 feet so suddenly that toclimb their sides would have been absolutely impossible. Only duringabout two hours in the middle of the day is the sun seen from thelevel of the stream; and it is dark in the bottom of this valley longbefore the mist has fallen on the plain outside. We had presently,however, to ascend a slope of some twenty-five feet in the mile, and Iwas much interested in the peculiar method by which the ascent wasmade. A mere ascent, not greater than that of some rapids up whichAmerican boatmen have managed to carry their barques by manual force,presented no great difficulty; but some skill is required atparticular points to avoid being overturned by the rush of the water,and our vessel so careened as to afford much more excuse for Eveena'soutbreak of terror than the tunnel had done. Had I not held her fastshe must certainly have been thrown overboard, the pilot, used to thedanger, having forgotten to warn us. For the rest, in the absence ofrocks, the vessel ascended more easily than a powerful steamer, if shecould find sufficient depth, could make her way up the rapids of theSt. Lawrence or similar streams. We entered the second tunnel withoutany sign of alarm from Eveena perceptible to others; only her clingingto my hand expressed the fear of which she was ashamed but could notrid herself. Emerging from its mouth, we found ourselves within sightof the sea and of the town and harbour of Serocasfe, where we werenext day to embark. Landing from the boat, we were met by the friendwhose hospitality Esmo had requested. At his house, half a mileoutside the town, for the first time since our marriage I had to partfor a short period with Eveena, who was led away by the veiledmistress of the house, while we remained in the entrance chamber orhall. The evening meal was anticipated by two hours, in order that wemight attend the meeting at which my bride and I were to receive ourformal admission into the Zinta.