"We cannot do better than make for the beach where we landed this morning, on the other side of the lake, ascending about ten thousand feet as we cross. That will enable us to survey a good many miles of country," said the Doctor to Graham.
Slowly we soared away from the marsh forest, high over the reeds, up into the pure, fresh air of heaven, where from the balcony we could view the land and water below us. The swamp was enormous, many, many square miles in extent, and beyond it appeared a dense forest of quite a different kind of vegetation. The country, as far as we could see, from the base of the mountains to the shores of the lake and beyond it, was much the same throughout its area as that which we had already explored the previous day. Certainly none of it bore the appearance of civilisation—all seemed virgin wilderness, and our hearts sank within us. Beyond the belt of dark forest on the other side of the swamp, we could see the ocean; looking landwards, the highest of the mountains concealed the view.
"Do you think it advisable to go further to-day, Doctor?" asked Graham.
"Well, now we are up so high it will certainly be best to do as much surveying as possible, and then we can discuss our position and future movements to-night. Put us up a few more thousand feet, Graham, so that we may clear these mountains and see what the country is like beyond them."
The scene from above the mountain range was indescribably beautiful. We looked down upon lofty snow-capped peaks, romantic valleys, leaping waterfalls, and slumbering lakes; upon wild and lonely plateaux, glaciers, and snow-fields; upon steep cliffs, gentle slopes, cone-shaped summits, and others like unto pyramids, pinnacles, or spires. We went right over the yawning crater, and looked down into the smoke and fire which rose gently from its hidden depths, now calm and peaceful as a sleeping child. We saw the birthplace of rivers, high up the hillsides, and could trace them from their source to the distant ocean; we noticed the various belts of vegetation growing on the mountain slopes from the lake to the snow-line—but we saw no trace of anything shaped and fashioned as ourselves! Higher and higher we rose, and at last the country to the westward, or behind the mountains, gradually came into view. It was even more charmingly beautiful than the country we had just left behind us—more level, more wooded, better watered, and parts of it apparently under cultivation! Our hearts beat fast within us as we saw what looked like vast enclosures, with long, winding canals running through them; and even more excited still did we become when we distinctly made out a colossal bridge which spanned a deep valley between two hills.
"There! there are the signs of a higher intelligence at last; the brute creation does not reign supreme, as we feared," said Temple, bursting into tears, and unable to control his feelings longer.
Graham waxed eloquent over the engineering qualities of the bridge, the enormous width of its span making the mightiest bridges of Earth seem but as toys in comparison.
We were too far away (quite thirty miles) to see much detail, but we could distinguish, as Temple spoke, two vast cities, one on either hill, joined together by the bridge, with palaces and halls and lofty towers, apparently of white marble, glistening in the rays of the setting sun. Upon seeing this wonderful city, Doctor Hermann very wisely gave the word to descend as quickly as possible, in case we might be observed. In five minutes we were safe on the ground again, the Sirius snugly hidden in a beautiful grove of trees and underwood on the banks of a stream, in a spot where we should at all events be able to retreat and readily conceal ourselves in case of emergency.
"Yes, Temple, your fears were all unfounded," answered the Doctor. "Mars is inhabited by reasoning beings. I assure you it is most gratifying to find the speculations of my early days of study, and the conclusions of more matured years of experience, turning out to be absolute facts. When on Earth, I used to dream of a new race of intellectual beings, far away out here; to ponder over their pursuits and their appearance; to wonder if they were more highly developed, physically and mentally, than we. Now these strangers are but a few hours' walk away from us; and, if I mistake not, those beings that made and dwell in that fair city yonder are of a higher development even than ourselves. I prophesy their intellect is greater, their beauty fairer, their talents more numerous, their civilization more advanced, or not so much decayed as our own! To-morrow we will seek their acquaintance, and make ourselves known unto them!"
To-morrow! How can we spend the hours that divide us from then! But darkness is settling fast around us, and we must wait in patience the coming of a new day.