De L'Ester—Dear lad, no apology is required. Yours and your mother's joy but adds to our pleasure. Yes, you shall journey by her side, and such assistance as you may need gladly will be offered.
Gentola̤, we will not immediately pass to Ento. That you may be better prepared to compare certain of Ento's with some of Earth's divisions, we will direct our course across the Atlantic Ocean to England, of which, with her immediate possessions we will take a hasty survey. Also we will glance at France, Italy, Germany, Russia and Siberia, and, if we may find it expedient, we may pass over that dimensionless point termed the North Pole, where reigns perpetual winter and unbroken silence, save when crashing avalanches of ice and snow break the somber stillness, or when ethereal disturbances occasion tempestuous storms to rush and roar across the frozen, desolate wastes of the extreme north.
Yes, we are aware that at this time some daring and ambitious men are determined to reach the North Pole, and their heroic enterprise deserves a richer reward than they will obtain. No, I do not mean to say that no one in the physical body will ever reach the North Pole, for, in time, it will be accomplished. Spirits, scientifically trained, are engaged in impressing Earth minds who steadily are progressing in a knowledge of electrical forces and appliances, while other scientific minds whose attention is directed towards solving the problem of aërial navigation are becoming more and more nearly en rapport with spirits who are aiding them, and at no very distant time Air Transports will traverse Earth's aërial passageways with the same ease and security that Air Transports pass over Ento's North and South Polar regions.
Now we must be off. George, that is well arranged though, really, Bernard will require but slight assistance. Gentola̤, below us is New York city and harbor. We have come this way that you may form an idea of the number of vessels passing between the eastern seaboard and Europe. Truly, Liberty does enlighten the world, and license, which so often masquerades in the garments of the famed goddess, plunges nations into crime and barbarism. Yonder symbolic statue accentuates the fact, that at least one aspiring mind comprehends the divine idea of freedom.
What an immense number and variety of vessels are moving in all directions, and what an immense number and variety of vessels rest on the bed of this vast ocean; while over them and the pallid hosts who are entombed beneath its waters, white crested billows moan a perpetual requiem. Its bed is indeed a vast cemetery on which, side by side, lie noble and ignoble, rich and poor, friend and foe, for death, the reaper, makes no distinction. The tares are garnered with the wheat.
We are approaching England, the marvellous. England the heroic, the masterful, but never the magnanimous. The lion well typifies her people who are courageous, aggressive, persistent and, where her interests are involved, politic in an extreme degree. Ever with unclosed eyes, with but half sheathed claws, the lion waits and watches, waits and watches. So wait, so watch, thou guardian of Europe's, aye, of the World's peace, and seldom may thy vigilance be disturbed.
You have expressed a desire to see the Thames River. Below us is the noisome stream, and this is the great city of London. Observe it closely so that you may compare it with a certain city you will see on Ento. A city not so extensive or so populous, but far more beautiful.
Yonder, toward the east, is St. Paul's with its great dome and crucifix crowned spire; and that is Bow Church and facing us is old St. Paul's, with its spire reaching some hundreds of feet into the rather smoky atmosphere. Yes, it is a somber but also an impressive structure. That rather squat looking building is the Bank of England. No, it is not an imposing edifice. Yes, that is the famously infamous Tower, where so many unfortunates have found time to consider the vanity of ambition, the insecurity of royal or of popular favor, and of other unstable quantities. No, this really fine Shaft does not compare favorably with those you have seen in Camarissa̤. You wish to see Buckingham Palace? Then look at the structure facing us. And you are disappointed? Yet it is quite a grand structure. Ah, I see, you are comparing its architecture with that you have seen on Ento. I confess I anticipated hearing expressions of disappointment, so am not surprised. Yes, I promise you that, after the inauguration of our mission if you may so desire, we will bring you here and, at your leisure, you may observe whatever may interest you.
George, we now will hastily pass over England's rural-districts, then we will move northward. Yes, the landscape views are indeed fine. Nature, in her tranquil moods, ever is charming.
Beneath us is bonnie Scotland, with her many lakes and heathery heights. Yonder is Loch Lomond and is not it a lovely sheet of water? But, to my mind, not more so than others of Scotland's many lakes. No, we cannot now devote time to seeing cities; it is the geography of the countries we are passing over that we wish you to observe.