shaped rather queerly. About twenty feet long, its straight sides
tapered off from a flat bow, four feet broad, to a sharp-angled
stern. The flat bottom was not above ten feet from the ground. It
was undecked, and carried only one living occupant; the other object
they had distinguished was really the carcass of an animal, of about
the size of a large sheep. The blue haze trailing behind the boat
appeared to emanate from the glittering point of a short upright pole
fastened in the stem. When the craft was within a few feet of them,
and they were looking down at it in wonder from above, the man
removed this pole and covered the brightly shining tip with a cap.
The forward motion then ceased altogether, and the boat began to
drift hither and thither, but still it remained suspended in the air,
while the haze underneath persisted. Finally the broad side came
gently up against the pile of rocks on which they were standing. The
steersman jumped ashore and immediately clambered up to meet them.

Maskull offered him a hand, but he refused it disdainfully. He was a
young man, of middle height. He wore a close-fitting fur garment.
His limbs were quite ordinary, but his trunk was disproportionately
long, and he had the biggest and deepest chest that Maskull had ever
seen in a man. His hairless face was sharp, pointed, and ugly, with
protruding teeth, and a spiteful, grinning expression. His eyes and
brows sloped upward. On his forehead was an organ which looked as
though it had been mutilated--it was a mere disagreeable stump of
flesh. His hair was short and thin. Maskull could not name the
colour of his skin, but it seemed to stand in the same relation to
jale as green to red.

Once up, the stranger stood for a minute or two, scrutinising the two
companions through half-closed lids, all the time smiling insolently.