“The last time I was on Mars a remarkable circumstance took place that I shall never forget. I was one of a party that accompanied the King on a visit to the pole to inspect the plant and view the landscape. From this lofty elevation the view is charming, and there is also a strange fascination in watching the solemn revolution of the great cable moving with the deliberation and precise regularity of the hour hand of some enormous time piece. There is a little cabin built over the shaft at the pole which revolves with the cable. The man whose business it is to oil the shaft constantly stays in that cabin, and even sleeps there. While we were admiring the view we suddenly heard a scream from the man in the cabin. The eye of the cable is oval and is not filled by the shaft at its inside end. Upon rushing into the cabin we found the unfortunate man had been asleep and allowed one of his feet to drop into this space and it had been slowly drawn in between the cable and the shaft until it was so fastened that he could not pull it out with the most frantic exertions, and every minute took it further crushing as it went. At last the man called for an ax, and it was handed to him, when without a moment’s hesitation, with two or three strokes he severed his leg just above the knee. I was terribly shocked, but the poor man made light of it, and declared he would have another leg in its place as good as that one in five months. Less than two weeks afterwards I saw him and his leg had already started to grow out and in five months he was walking on it the same as the others.” “That was remarkable,” said I, “but it is said the star fishes on earth—what! are you going?”