Among the eighteen planets that revolve around Alpha Centaurus, only six are inhabited. One of these is a sinless world, or a world whereon sin never inaugurated its blighting reign; but I will say nothing of this...o...b..as I did not have the choice opportunity of visiting it aright. I saw its beauty only through a gla.s.s darkly.
I then fixed my mind on Polaris, commonly called the North Star. In journeying thither from Centaurus I pa.s.sed thousands of Solar Systems scattered in s.p.a.ce all around me. As I was thus darting through immensity I glanced toward our own Solar System and could see nothing but a flickering star which was our Sun. Not the faintest sign could I see of our world or of Jupiter.
A strange feeling pa.s.sed over me when I began to realize how far I was from home. I sped onward until I reached the North Star. It is a burning sun, but not inhabited.
Polaris is the center of a magnificent system. If a certain few of its worlds could be seen through a telescope, they would be picturesque in the extreme, somewhat resembling our beautiful Saturn. Moons play like frisky lambs around some of its worlds, and many comets dance through the length of the whole system in richer confusion than we have ever beheld in the range of our telescopic vision.
Counting the worlds of larger size only, there are nearly one hundred that fly through their orbits around Polaris, some with amazing velocity. Within the bounds of this solar system I spent considerable time.
The third world I visited I will call Stazza. It is two hundred millions of miles from Polaris and is four hundred and fifty times as large as our world.
I was amazed at the new turn of life-manifestation that I found there.
To me it was unusually interesting because its temperature is quite similar to ours; but the order of life is reversed so completely that the human beings inhabit the water, and the long narrow strips of earth are infested with numerous species of land animals. It may seem incredible that the depths of the ocean should be the seat of intelligence rivaling our own.
The human creatures of Stazza average a trifle larger in size than we, but they travel horizontally in water like a large fish. The limbs support the body in rest, and in traveling are used like the hind legs of a frog, only more gracefully. The arms closely resemble ours and have an infinite variety of uses. In addition, there are four fin-like arms that fold into the body when at rest, but are spread for service when traveling. In all it must be admitted that these Stazza people are capable of traveling more rapidly, and covering longer distances with much less fatigue than are we. They can also carry greater burdens with more ease. They wear no garments except one or two small pieces made of a tough species of sea gra.s.s.
Five-sixths of Stazza are covered with water and its depth at a few points is very great. Throughout all the water regions there are many kinds of animal life, more than can be found in our oceans. Thousands of human lives have been lost in conflict with the fiercer kinds of these water animals, with which the people of Stazza entered upon a war of extermination over one thousand years ago, and while intelligence is slowly winning the battle, yet the warfare is likely to continue many centuries to come, owing to the fact that these hostile fish occupy the soundless depths even as deep as four or five hundred miles according to our measurement. Horned fish rising from these depths are a horrible menace to excursion parties or caravans, as well as to settlers on what we would call the frontier.
The homes of Stazza are made of metallic substances. There are a few minerals very plentiful, resembling bra.s.s, and it is a common sight to see polished buildings fantastic in their arrangement, shining through the pellucid water like gold.
The cities are built on gentle inclines in the deeper waters and present a picturesque scene. They look more like a cl.u.s.ter of giant fairy abodes than like New York or London. Nothing in all the world of Stazza resembles a product of our manufacture more than the fine screening that protects every human dwelling from an invasion of small water animals. It reminded me of the mosquito netting as a safe-guard against flies and other insects in our world. But the mosquito baffles our genius, for he seems to be able to get through as small an opening as air can. Likewise, the pestiferous water animals seem to invade the homes of Stazza, notwithstanding all efforts at prevention.
The cities have no continuous streets or lanes. The princ.i.p.al travel is in the water over the city. The main entrance to the home is on the housetop. In the center of large buildings there is a shaft running up and down, through which the people go with greater ease than we can climb or descend our stairways. It must not be forgotten that water to them is the same as air to us, and in their domestic life the people are annoyed by cloudy and muddy currents of water just as we are by clouds of dust in the air, on the streets, or in our homes.
The wear and tear caused by the chemical action of water on houses and furniture is not as great as the injury in our world caused by the chemical action of air, heat and moisture.
The educational systems of Stazza are quite as perfect for that world as our own systems are for ours. They have an alphabet, covering their needs in language, consisting of a series of strokes, curves and angles, somewhat resembling our shorthand systems. This language is identical in print or script, and is superior to our method of expresssing thought by handwriting.
The experts of Stazza have learned the art of slicing metallic blocks into sheets of any desired thickness. These sheets serve the same purpose for them as paper does for us, and are furnished at an insignificant cost of labor. We have the very elements in our Earth to produce these metallic blocks if we knew the combination, which might be easily found if we had as much need for them as the people of this water world.
The metallic blocks are used for a great variety of purposes. There are some high cla.s.s artists who have immortalized themselves by their master-pieces, one of which I saw on a five-cornered metallic sheet measuring about eight feet in diameter.
Perhaps the most surprising feature of the educational advancement of these water spirits is their knowledge of astronomy. To them, under the water, the stars have always looked beautiful, and from an early date in their history a study of them has engaged the attention of their scholars. No one could tell the style of their telescopes if he should go to guessing for a week. Let me give you a brief description of one.
They build a metallic pipe about ten feet in diameter and from a point some two hundred feet below the surface of the water. The pipe is built until it extends a few feet above water. Inside of this pipe is a series of transparent ovals of various sizes. These ovals are so arranged that the upper one throws its light to the lower one, down through the immense cylinder. Around each oval is built a series of fin protectors, which is the only part about the telescope I could not fully understand.
They seemed to counteract the refraction of the water, and yet the water must be in the pipe to obtain proper results.
Imagine an astronomer at the base of this huge metallic structure, having at his finger"s ends a dozen wire strings intricately connected with the oval system, and by the proper use of which he can increase or decrease the magnifying power of the ponderous telescope. The highest magnifying power of a telescope of this size is so great that the Milky Way is penetrated and its solar systems revealed. What an accomplishment it would be if a telescope of this magnitude could be mounted, a thing that these creatures never attempted to do. But they have built telescopes of various inclinations, all stationary. You can form an idea of the patience and endurance of these people when you learn that it required over fifty years of our time for them to perfect one of these large instruments.
Give human brains to any animal under water or over water, and it will grasp for larger views of its Creator and of the things He made. These people are thoroughly convinced that intelligent life can be found in any world where there is enough water to sustain it.
In the waters of Stazza there are many under-currents similar to our Gulf Stream. These are used by the inhabitants for transportation. They construct little hammock cars so that when they are filled with human freight they float in the water. A simple device which we might call a fin propeller is used to force the car in one direction or another as necessity may require. It is possible to enter one of these under-streams and thus travel over two thousand miles; then, by rowing only five miles, enter the return current and move homeward. A car of special design is furnished by each community in which each bridal pair spends the Wedlock Ride, or the Honey-Moon, as we would call it.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fishing for Land Animals on a Planet of the Pole Star.]
There is nothing more interesting about this race of beings than the manner in which they pluck land fruit and catch land animals, and yet when you compare this with our world, it is the same to them as fishing is to us.
In all my inter-stellar journeys perhaps there was nothing so amusing to me as to see a company of these water creatures fishing for land animals. They would creep up near sh.o.r.e and throw out their wire lines with various kinds of bait, according to what they wished to catch. Then followed the inevitable waiting until some innocent Jullep or Petzel would grasp the tempting morsel on the hook. A skillful jerk fastened the victim, and instead of pulling him in the water, the fisherman held his breath and rushed out of the water to get his prize. This has been found to be a safer method than trying to pull the prize into the water.
These water dwellers relish certain land animals more than we do fish.
Of course the land strips are not inhabited by human beings, but vegetation is abundant, similar to that found in our tropical regions.
Many kinds of fruit, growing on the land, are sought after by the masters of the water. In the season when certain fruits are ripe whole expeditions go out to gather them. But how can they live away from the great body of water while plucking these fruits? Let me tell you how they manage it. They have what we would call water-wagons, very wide and short, and equipped with buckets. At the rear of one of these strangely shaped carriages stand four or six men abreast immersing their heads in the water of the wagon for a fresh breath as often as necessity requires. Thus they are enabled to travel over land to any desired locality, always being careful to keep near enough the water to cover any emergency.
When they arrive at the fruit each man takes his bucket of water and proceeds to work. He plucks fruit or berries for about thirty seconds and then ducks his head into his bucket of water for a fresh breath.
Then he proceeds as before. When the water is no longer fit for breathing, he carries his fruit and water bucket to the wagon. Here he unloads his fruit and refills his bucket from the wagon, proceeding as before. At intervals the wagon must be refilled with water. During a day a few men can gather a large quant.i.ty of fruit in this manner, and it can be preserved for over four seasons.
On Stazza there has been developed a fine variety of water flowers, and no gardens are more beautiful than those that can be seen there. The higher cla.s.ses of these people live a very refined life and have their homes surrounded with an endless variety of water gra.s.ses and flowers.
You would scarcely believe your eyes if you could direct your gaze to a few of these homes.
In their religious life these Stazzans are eminently devoted. They have no bunch of creeds from which to take their choice, but follow the teachings of "The Great Interpreter," a man who once lived and reigned amongst them and who wrote his laws in what we would call, by interpretation, "The Book of Gold." The leaves of this book are made from an element costly and rare, more precious to them than gold is to us. From this book all their sacred books are copied. The civil powers also accept this book as their authority, and enforce its teachings.
Sin there, as here, is the withering blast of the planet, the destroyer of the harvest fields of purity and truth. An invisible spirit of evil holds his force in disciplined command, and the man who wishes to have a pure heart on Stazza must reach it through conflicts long and sharp. The path to moral and spiritual purity is quite the same throughout the whole universe.
CHAPTER VIII.
Tor-tu.
After I had finished my interesting tour of Stazza I visited in quick succession a score or more of worlds that also revolve around Polaris at varying distances. I found the majority of these planets barren of all life, owing princ.i.p.ally to their molten condition.
Some unthinkable types of human existence are occupying the worlds that can be inhabited. I marveled aloud as I viewed a few more links of the endless chain of intelligent creation. On one of these worlds, which I have christened Tor-tu, I found human beings that resemble us more than any others in the entire solar bounds of Polaris.
Tor-tu dashes along in its unceasing course at a distance of eight hundred millions of miles from Polaris. It is much larger than our world, and is accompanied by three moons and a set of rings which faintly suggested our picturesque Saturn.
The poles of Tor-tu are inclined at an angle of thirty-three degrees to the plane of its...o...b..t. This accounts for its temperature being quite similar to ours, although its year is eight times longer.
When I first reached this world I was impressed with its wealth of natural scenery. Flowers of charming texture and color grew abundantly over the wide expanses. The cultivated gardens contained specimens of unusual beauty, surpa.s.sing the finest products of our Earth.
When I examined the leaves of the many kinds of trees, I found none similar to the foliage of our planet, except in one or two fruit-bearing trees. The sky, instead of appearing blue, wears a greenish tinge, and the birds are robed in a variety of colors that would put to naught our arching rainbows.
In fine, it must be admitted that Tor-tu is a much more beautiful world than ours. I saw colors there that we could not produce because we have not the proper elements.
This delightful world is densely populated. Its history is much older than ours. Sin is firmly rooted in the whole planet and its curse is just as blighting and withering as it is in our world, although it is fought more successfully and overcome more effectually in the home and in the nation.
I observed that the ecclesiastical system is similar to ours, and there is a great profusion of creeds. To my surprise I noted, in my long journey, that such a variety did not interfere with true progress, but was compatible with the purest kind of life and the highest order of civilization. The people are deeply devoted to their unseen G.o.d, and their sacrifices are astonishing. Their places of worship are the finest structures of the world. They believe it to be wrong to construct any building greater in beauty and value than the temples of G.o.d. Their music would sound quite weird to us, although it is sweet harmony to the people of Tor-tu.
The home life of Tor-tu is most beautiful. The moral life of the home and of the nations is the cleanest of any world in the whole system of Polaris. Naturally I investigated to learn the secret of this happy condition. Then I found to my joy that the relation between parents and children is very noteworthy. The fine respect manifested by the latter for the former evoked the blush of shame as I thought of the prevailing conditions in my own world.
You may think it absurd when I describe a certain system that was a stepping stone to such splendid results. Were this peculiar system to be named, we should likely call it: "The Human Seal System."
Each person born into the world of Tor-tu is officially sealed or tattooed on the forehead and on the arm. It is done by the township book-keeper, whose duty it is to keep a correct record of all births, devoting a new ledger page to each infant.
This seal is a life-long mark, and must not be interfered with under any circ.u.mstances. In case the stamp is disturbed by accident, the person must report to the township book-keeper either in person or by proxy, and the stamp must be replaced on some conspicuous part of the head.