thority throughout the
country, and the day of our arrival in Calnogor, the metropolis, was
to be observed as a national holiday.

A brilliant programme of entertainment had been devised, calculated to
do us infinite honor. I conferred on Admiral Jolar the title of
Honorary Commander of the _Polar King_, and on Koshnili that of
Honorary Captain.

The admiral said that both he and Koshnili would remain on our ship
until we arrived in the city of Kioram.

The admiral, by signalling from the _Polar King_, put his navy into a
series of brilliant evolutions. A curious feature was the fact that
each sailor possessed wings, was in fact a wayleal, like Plothoy. The
sailors, wing-jackets or fletyemings, as they were called, of one
vessel, would rise like a swarm of bees and settle on another vessel.
The evolutions made in this way were both majestic and surprising.

The entire fletyemings of each squadron on either side of us were
drawn up in battle array in the space between the ships and fought
each other in mock battle with spears, while the ships discharged
their guns at each other.

We reached the harbor of Kioram, in which the royal navy anchored in
double column. The _Polar King_ sailed slowly down the imperial avenue
of ships amid the thunder of guns and the cheers of fletyemings.

The sun shone gloriously as we stepped from the deck of the ship upon
the white marble city wharf. Everything was new, strange, and
splendid. We were received by Governor Ladalmir, of Kioram, the
commandant of the fort, and his staff, Captains Pra and Nototherboc.
Beyond the notables a vast crowd of Atvatabarese cheered us
vociferously, while the guns of the fort, on a commanding height,
roared their welcome.

CHAPTER XIII.

MARCHING IN TRIUMPH.

There was a blaze of excitement in the streets of Kioram when our
procession appeared on the grand boulevard leading from the harbor to
the fortress, some four miles in length. We presented a strange
appearance not only to the people of the city, but to ourselves as
well.

Prior to our appearance before the people we were obliged to adjust
ourselves to the motion of an immense walking machine, the product of
the inventive skill of Atvatabar.

Governor Ladalmir explained that the cavalry of Atvatabar were mounted
on such locomotive machines, built on the plan of immense ostriches,
called bockhockids. They were forty feet in height from toe to head,
the saddle being thirty feet f