As they hovered over this solar sea the effect was frightful to contemplate and their position nerve-shaking in the extreme, and again came the natural doubt that if they were fortunate in that the ship withstood the incalculable heat, she could never even float on that terrible sea, for who could estimate the temperature of a mass of molten metal and other substances nearly nine hundred thousand miles in diameter. She would be shattered in the awful tumult and the hurtling masses of vapour and the batterings of the irresistible fiery waves, the mere splashes of the foam of which came together with crashes of thunder, and several of the passengers rushed in trepidation to the owners of the vessel who, each in his own prearranged place, were watching intently the _Regina’s_ various gauges and instruments, for the lives of all depended on the accurate adjustment of the various forces over which they had control, and the movement of a switch a thousandth of an inch too much or too little would throw matters out of balance and mean death, instant and certain. Ross was controlling the gravity, retarding and increasing as the ship rested and fell, constantly watching and comparing the dials registering the sun’s gravity with that stating their own, keeping both in proper adjustment together, lest, in the twinkling of an eye, they should be drawn to the surface of the fiery sea. The work of Dennis and Gilbert was no less important and necessary to the general safety, and as Morris Farrant approached the barrier, Ross made the ship stationary and stepped into the saloon, along with his two colleagues, and in answer to Farrant’s inquiry, he replied, “You need have no fear! the vessel’s protective force could even now be greatly increased.” “Then there is no danger from shock of impact?” inquired Rowland. “None whatever!” replied Ross; “we have on the compensating force which automatically calls out more force than that projected against her, as and to the extent in which it is needed, so that nothing can touch her,” and then he suddenly exclaimed, “Just look at that sea coming straight at us!” and all rushed to the sloping windows, to see before them a flood of fire, miles in extent, rapidly welling upwards, the ship in the centre of it, and safe as they felt themselves to be, each gave an involuntary gasp as the deluge swept towards them and rose up and up till they were in the heart of it; then it passed and a few minutes later was exploded to the corona, where it was cast in all directions, falling on the surface of the sea with hissing splashes; a second later it was reheated, and the sea was gleaming white as before. All gave another sigh as this great tidal-wave passed. “That is, perhaps, the most severe test we have had,” exclaimed Gilbert, “for it is the actual solar sea which swept over us! and this proves that we can go through it in safety.”