a is o b " p c " s or k d " t e " i or a f " f or v g " j h " oh i " e j " g k " c l " r m " n n " m o " a p " b q " v r " l s " c or s t " d u " ij v " qu w " y c or s x " z y " u or i z " x According to this transposition our friend means, 'Plothoy courier of Atvatabar, in Bilbimtesirol.' Let us see if we can so understand him." So saying, the professor approached and said: "Ec wayl moni Plothoy?" (Is your name Plothoy?) "Wic cel, ni moni ec Plothoy" (Yes, sir, my name is Plothoy), promptly replied the stranger. "Good!" said the professor; "that's glorious! We understand each other now." I congratulated the professor on his brilliant discovery. It was magnificent! We could now converse with our prisoner on any subject we desired. We had the key in our hands that would unlock the wonders of Plutusia, or rather Bilbimtesirol, the interior world. Flathootly turned a dozen summersaults in the air to express his delight. The sailors spun upon the deck, and threw each other into the air like jugglers playing with balls, in pure excitement. "Ec Atvatabar dofi moni ar wail saimtle?" (Is Atvatabar the name of your country?) inquired the professor of Plothoy. "E on o wayleal ar Fec Nogicdi, Cemj Aldemegry Bhoolmakar ar Atvatabar" (I am a wayleal of his majesty King Aldemegry Bhoolmakar of Atvatabar), said Plothoy. Atvatabar, then, was a kingdom. We should go there certainly and see King Bhoolmakar and his people. But where was this mysterious country? "Yohili ec Atvatabar?" we asked of Plothoy. "Dohili!" he replied, pointing to a continent in the southwest. The southwest in the interior world, it should be stated, corresponds to the southeast on the outer earth. Atvatabar, then, lay underneath the Atlantic Ocean. "Yohod ec dohi moni ar dohi miolicd gliod sedi?" (What is the name of the nearest great city?) we asked. "Kioram," replied Plothoy. "Dohili ed ec fequi ohymtlit neric tyi caydoh docd." (There it is, five hundred miles due southeast.) We looked in the direction indicated with our glasses and plainly saw the white marble buildings of a large city not three degrees above the plane of our position. Further off, in the haze of distance, a mighty continent unrolled its landscapes, until it was merged in the brightness of the sunlight above us. All this time Plothoy's companion circumnavigated the ship on his swift wings. We inquired his name. "Lecholt," said Plothoy, "omt ohi orca ec o wayleal." (And he also is a wayleal.) "What is the name of the sun above us?" we inquired. "Swang," said Plothoy. Good! we would sail direct to Kioram, the principal port of Atvatabar.