From the land the view passed out to sea, and bright blue waves, edged
with creaming foam, ran swiftly under the spectator's eyes, and
occasionally, driven before light winds, appeared fleets of daintily
shaped vessels, which reminded the beholder, by their flashing wings,
of the feigned "ship of pearl."

After the fairy ships and breezy sea views came a long, curving line
of coast, brilliant with coral sands, and indented by frequent bays,
along whose enchanting shores lay pleasant towns, the landscapes
behind them splendid with groves, meadows, and streams.

Presently the shifting photographic tape, or whatever the mechanism
may have been, appeared to have settled upon a chosen scene, and there
it rested. A broad champaign reached away to distant sapphire
mountains, while the foreground was occupied by a magnificent house,
resembling a large country villa, fronted with a garden, shaded by
bowers and festoons of huge, brilliant flowers. Birds of radiant
plumage flitted among the trees and blossoms, and then appeared a
company of gayly attired people, including many young girls, who
joined hands and danced in a ring, apparently with shouts of laughter,
while a group of musicians standing near thrummed and blew upon
curiously shaped instruments.

Suddenly the shadow of a dense cloud flitted across the scene;
whereupon the brilliant birds flew away with screams of terror which
almost seemed to reach the ears of the onlookers through the wall. An
expression of horror came over the faces of the people. The children
broke from their merry circle and ran for protection to their
elders. The utmost confusing and whelming terror were evidenced for a