Howbeit, our speed was so great, that these heavenly strains of music were lost by reason of their distance, while other sounds would greet our ears ahead. * * * * * Our anxiety to learn something of these people and their history was ungratified, from the impossibility of communication. * * * * * It was easy to see that our air ship was an object of intense curiosity both to man and beast. We were as great a wonder to them as they to us, which, to be sure, was true of our vessel upon the outer world, and it showed that aerial navigation was as little understood here as above. We received various unmistakable invitations to halt, but these we declined on the ground of haste. We determined, however, to accept one before our final exit. * * * * * A striking feature in the lives of those we saw was the fact that there was no evidence of work. So far we had seen no plowing, or tilling of the soil, neither was there any sowing of seed or reaping of grain, nor building of houses; and yet we had the evidence of our eyes that superb structures and cities had been erected. On speaking of this fact to Torrence, he said: "The climate and soil seem to render agriculture unnecessary; and possibly the buildings belong to a previous age. I doubt if material rots and disintegrates, as it does with us." I asked how he had reached such an extraordinary conclusion. "The atmosphere," he answered; "it never rains, I am sure, and I am equally convinced that there are comparatively no changes in the climate. The atmospheric conditions, which with us cause rust, disintegration, and decay, are here neutralized, or altered, by an absorption of electricity, pertaining only to the interior." "But does the population not increase, requiring more houses to keep them?" I inquired.