deed, the more minute the description. Horrors were their chief
delight. Scandals were drunk in with thirstful eyes. These chronicles
of crime and filth were issued by hundreds of thousands. There was
hardly a family in the land but had one.

Khan-li.
And did this take the place of literature?

Nofuhl.
Even so.




20th June



Once more we are on the sea; two days from Nhu-Yok. Our decision was
a sudden one. Nofuhl, in an evil moment, found among those accursed
plates a map of the country, and thereupon was seized with an
unreasoning desire to visit a town called "Washington." I wavered and
at last consented, foolishly I believe, for the crew are loud for
Persia. And this town is inland on a river. He says it was their
finest city, the seat of Government, the capital of the country.
Grip-til-lah swears he can find it if the map is truthful. Ja-khaz
still eats by himself.

This afternoon we reclined upon the deck, the Zlotuhb drifting gently
in a southerly direction. Land could be seen on the starboard bow, a