Mattullath’s aim was aërial transportation, not exhibition at county fairs and crowded carnivals. Regular interurban routes were projected, terminating in ample landing floors. Broad-winged aëroplanes, huge catamarans with shining hulls, sumptuously furnished in gold and crimson, should convey happy crews, in all seasons, from metropolis to metropolis. Six great engines and propellers to drive the ship, with abundant reserve power. Melodious strains of music rising incessantly, to soften the thunder of motors and the demoniacal howl of the wind. Then transcontinental voyages, outsailing the nimbus, how lovely to the anointed of fortune! Jocund savannas nestling by the sea, or in the bosom of orchid-crested hills, should welcome to earth the silken sojourners of the north migrating, gay-plumed and potent, to their winter homes in tropic paradise. All the isles of ocean, all the merry mountains, earth, sea and air, one shining empire, blissful and secure as Olympus. Chimborazo, girt with every clime, from torrid base to snowy peak should glow With alabaster domes and silver spires, And blazing terrace upon terrace high Uplifted; here serene pavilions bright, In avenues disposed; their towers begirt With battlements that on their restless fronts Bore stars—illumination of all gems! Such were his holiday fancies, seldom revealed, even to his associates. The public had no intimate part in his project. A few trusted engineers, eminent in their profession, and a few financiers, formed his advisory board. For two years he worked on the structural elements of the great sails, propellers, and framing of his ship. But unhappily when he was preparing to present his final plans to his council of engineers, before building the large vessel, he was brought suddenly to the close of his career.[39]