and I tried to imagine that I saw coming along the paths, given over to
the flight of birds, a cavalcade of soldiers, or a procession of noble
knights and ladies. . . . And, for me, reared in a level country, one
of the greatest charms of the place was the view I had of blue distances
visible from every loophole and crevice, every gap and opening in the
rooms and towers of Castelnau, for then I realized its extraordinary
height.




CHAPTER XLVI.



My brother's letters, written close on very fine paper, continued to
reach us from time to time; he could only send them to us by sailing
vessels bound in our direction which lay-to in that part of the world
where he was stationed. Some of them were written particularly for me,
and these were long, and filled with never-to-be-forgotten descriptions.
I already knew several words of the sweet and liquid language of
Oceanica, and often in my dreams I saw the exquisite island he described
and roamed over it; it haunted my imagination as does a chimerical
realm, ardently desired, but as inaccessible as if situated upon another
planet.

During my visit to my cousins my father forwarded me a letter from my
brother addressed to me. I went up to the garret roof, on the side where
the plums were drying, to read it. He wrote of a place called Fataua
which was situated in a deep valley and surrounded by steep mountains.