"Here you have the highest peak in the whole land--that is, until
you come to the Ifdawn Marest."

On hearing that strange name, he experienced a momentary
unaccountable sensation of wild vigour and restlessness--but it
passed away.

Without losing time, Panawe led the way up the mountainside. The
lower half was of bare rock, not difficult to climb. Halfway up,
however, it grew steeper, and they began to meet bushes and small
trees. The growth became thicker as they continued to ascend, and
when they neared the summit, tall forest trees appeared.

These bushes and trees had pale, glassy trunks and branches, but the
small twigs and the leaves were translucent and crystal. They cast
no shadows from above, but still the shade was cool. Both leaves and
branches were fantastically shaped. What surprised Maskull the most,
however, was the fact that, as far as he could see, scarcely any two
plants belonged to the same species.

"Won't you help Maskull out of his difficulty?" said Joiwind, pulling
her husband's arm.

He smiled. "If he'll forgive me for again trespassing in his brain.
But the difficulty is small. Life on a new planet, Maskull, is
necessarily energetic and lawless, and not sedate and imitative.
Nature is still fluid--not yet rigid--and matter is plastic. The
will forks and sports incessantly, and thus no two creatures are
alike."