, whence the view in all
directions was quite unobstructed. We came gently to land in the midst
of them. To the rear, whence we had come, I could see the desolate waste
of the desert. From the forward window we observed that the peaceful
river kept a straight course from the cataract where it plunged over the
plateau, through the green valley, between level banks, as far as we
could see; and just at the foot of our plateau restfully nestled a city,
whose massive and towering structures reached almost to our level. With
the aid of the telescope we saw beings moving slowly about. Their form
was upright and unwinged, but more than this we could not see. The
deliberation and stately dignity of their movements comported perfectly
with the majestic city wherein they dwelt.

"At last we have arrived at the boundaries of Martian civilization,"
exclaimed the doctor. "We will rest here and test the atmosphere; and if
it permits us, we will then venture forth to measure our skill and
knowledge against this race of builders. I hazard a guess that we will
excel them in many things, for they are apparently only at the
perfection of their Stone Age, while we finished that long ago, and have
since passed through the Ages of Iron and of Steam, and are now at the
dawn of the Era of Magnetism and Gravitation. Our minds are more fertile
and elastic, for with this little movable telescope we probably obtain
better results than they have done with their years of toiling
calculation and patient building."

"You will be sadly disappointed if they so far excel us that they eat us
up at two mouthfuls," said I. "As they move about yonder, they impress
me as being full of power."

"They are as sluggish as elephants," he replied. "We are certainly more
rapid in thought and action, and it is highly probable that we shall
excel them in physical strength, as we have been built for three times
as heavy muscular tasks as they."

"Still, if we cannot make them understand that we come peaceably as
friends, they may attempt to kill us as the quickest solution of the
question. And they are a whole race against two of us," said I, just
beginning to realize all the difficulties that were yet ahead of us.

"Unless they are a very intelligent and magnanimous race, they will
probably attempt to take us prisoners," he answered. "It is the mark of
an enlightened nation to welcome strangers whose powers are unknown. A
primitive race fears everything it does no