All over the cultivated portions of the planet are artificial lakes of considerable extent, which really are storage receptacles, at times, of much needed water. What were the principal causes leading to the aridity of the Equatorial lands? We have informed you that largely it was through the levelling of the planet, which led to extreme porosity of the soil. But another factor contributed to the calamity. Previous to and for centuries after the establishment of the national religion, the Entoans were so unwise as to, for various purposes, denude the equatorial forests. In time they perceived their error, and during later centuries they have been endeavoring to restore them, thereby increasing the rainfall and oxygenating the impoverished atmosphere. Yes, we know that ages ago the equatorial regions were traversed by mountain ranges that now are mere vestiges of their once lofty grandeur, and where now are desert lands, were lakes and abounding water courses. Once Gandûlan[a:] Lois[a:] was one of a series of great fresh water lakes, extending far toward the northeast, but for many an Ento century previous to the inception of the Irrigating and Waterways System it had been an ever lessening and isolated lake. Since then it has been greatly deepened. Naturally, the equatorial lands have suffered from the levelling process to a greater degree than have the lands of the temperate and colder regions. The temperature of the equatorial regions being high, induces rapid evaporation, and the soil to a great depth being very porous, it so quickly absorbs water that the flood of to-day is the drought of to-morrow. Thus the necessity of water storage is apparent. Beneath us is the eastern shore of Gandûlan[a:] Lois[a:], which marks the boundary line between the Provinces of Ondû and of Wy[a:]mo. Camariss[a:], the capital city of Ondû, is a little south of the equatorial line, which at this moment we have crossed, and now the Transport is descending to the large town on the lake shore. Down, down, we are dropping. How carefully the descent is regulated, and with what precision the Transport alights upon the platform. Gentol[a:], observe the passengers as they descend from the transport.