Crossing in the darkness, as we did, I was unable
to see but little, except as the nearer moon, in her
wild and ceaseless hurtling through the Barsoomian
heavens, lit up little patches of the landscape from
time to time, disclosing walled fields and low,
rambling buildings, presenting much the appear-
ance of earthly farms. There were many trees,
methodically arranged, and some of them were
of enormous height; there were animals in some
of the enclosures, and they announced their pres-
ence by terrified squealings and snortings as they
scented our queer, wild beasts and wilder human
beings.

Only once did I perceive a human being, and
that was at the intersection of our crossroad with
the wide, white turnpike which cuts each cultivated
district longitudinally at its exact center. The
fellow must have been sleeping beside the road,
for, as I came abreast of him, he raised upon one
elbow and after a single glance at the approach-
ing caravan leaped shrieking to his feet and fled
madly down the road, scaling a near-by wall with
the agility of a scared cat. The Tharks paid him
not the slightest attention; they were not out upon
the warpath, and the only sign that I had that they
had seen him was a quickening of the pace of the

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