ch I had nearly lost for ever.

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"And, pray, where did you sit, Huckaback?"

"On the cloud, your highness."

"Holy Prophet! What, a cloud bear your weight?"

"If your highness will call to mind that at the same time the cloud took
up several tons of water, you cannot be surprised at its supporting me."

"Very true," replied the pacha. "This is a very wonderful story; but
before you go on, I wish to know what the cloud was made of."

"That is rather difficult to explain to your highness. I can only
compare it to a wet blanket. I found it excessively cold and damp, and
caught a rheumatism while I was there, which I feel to this day."

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When the cloud was saturated, the column divided, and we rapidly
ascended until the cold became intense. We passed a rainbow as we
skimmed along, and I was very much surprised to find that the key of my
chest and my clasp knife, forced themselves through the cloth of my
jacket, and flew with great velocity towards it, fixing themselves
firmly to the violet rays, from which I discovered that those peculiar
rays were magnetic. I mentioned this curious circumstance to an English
lady whom I met on her travels, and I have since learnt that she has
communicated the fact to the learned societies as a discovery of her
own. However, as she is a very pretty woman, I forgive her. Anxious to
look down upon the earth, I poked a hole with my finger through the
bottom of the cloud, and was astonished to perceive how rapidly it was
spinning round. We had risen so high as to be out of the sphere of its
attraction, and in consequence remained stationary. I had been up about
six hours; and although I was close to the coast of America when I
ascended, I could perceive that the Cape of Good Hope was just heaving
in sight. I was enabled to form a very good idea of the structure of
the globe, for at that immense height I could see to the very bottom of
the Atlantic ocean. Depend upon it, your highness, if you wish to
discover more than other people can, it is necessary to be "up in the
clouds."

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"Very true," replied the pacha; "but go on."

"I was very much interested in the chemical process of turning the salt
water into fresh, which was going on with great rapidity while