We flew at a height of about two thousand feet, so that the range of
vision was very wide. The sea behind us curved into the land in three
great scallops, separated by acuminate promontories, whose terminal
bluffs of sand were as yellow as gold. Away ahead the line of mountains,
that we had noticed before, appeared as a dark sierra, and between it and
the sea the country seemed to be very little broken by hills. Large
forests were visible, but from our elevation it was impossible to tell
whether the trees composing them bore any resemblance to terrestrial
forms. The open land was about equally divided in area between bare
yellowish soil (or what we took to be soil) and bright green expanses
whose color suggested vegetation. Scattered here and there we saw what
appeared to be habitations, but we could not be sure of their nature;
and, upon the whole, the land seemed to us to be very thinly populated.

Many birds accompanied us in our flight, frequently alighting on the deck
and other parts of the air ship. They were remarkably tame, allowing us
to approach them closely, and we were delighted by their beautiful
plumage and their singular forms. This reminds me to say that the motion
of the craft was extremely curious--a kind of gentle rising and falling,
which was very agreeable when once we were accustomed to it, and which
resembled what one would suppose to be the movement of a bird in flight.
This, of course, arose from the structure of the air ship, which, as I
have before said, seemed to be modeled, as far as its motive parts were
concerned, upon the principle of wings rather than of simple aeroplanes.
But the mechanism was very complicated, and I never arrived at a full
comprehension of it.

Edmund remained a long time in conference with Ala, Ingra staying
constantly with them, and when he had apparently finished his
"conversation" we were surprised to see them begin a tour of inspection