By dint of each insisting on the others taking it seriously they began to talk the matter over, and could only conclude that one of the waters must have contained some substance similar to potassium ferrocyanide, but non-poisonous, and the other some ingredient like a ferric chloride, and the long immersion had precipitated prussian blue—dyed them blue. What the substance really was they could not tell, for though they got samples of both waters later and analysed them, they could find no chemicals with which they were acquainted, and none of the reagents known on Earth revealed anything in either sample except H_{2}O, leaving a considerable quantity of unknown substance—and always each was harmless alone, yet when the two were mixed together, though the water remained perfectly transparent, any substance of Earth placed in the mixture became dyed a fast blue. “Let us get back to the ship,” said Dennis; “it is only prussian blue, and we can get it off in the lab.” “And let us hope no natives will see us till we are ourselves again,” rejoined Gilbert. “Ross is in a sweat about his complexion!” Laughing gaily, they made tracks for the _Regina’s_ laboratory, where their troubles would soon be at an end. After proceeding about half-way to the vessel, they were both surprised and annoyed to see several people step out of the wood and cross the open to meet them. “Drat it all!” ejaculated Ross, exasperated. “Why couldn’t they have waited a little till we had got this wretched stuff off.” “‘In for a penny, in for a pound,’ as the old saying is,” said Dennis, laughing, but feeling much embarrassed. By this time the Bonians had met them, expressing no surprise at sight of their visitors, whom they saluted by placing two fingers on their foreheads. Then they talked fast and long in a language quite unintelligible to the explorers, who themselves were not understood. “Here’s a treat!” said Gilbert; “we know about a dozen languages between us and not a word they can understand.” Then turning to the natives, he pointed to where the Earth was and, utterly oblivious of the fact that talking was no use, he continued, with pointings and energetic gesticulations, “We have come from there,” pointing to Earth, “in that ship,” pointing to it, “to see here,” pointing downwards and embracing the whole country with a wave of his arm, and speaking very loudly and distinctly. Whether they thought he was mad or not is doubtful, but they drew apart and talked together, looking in turn at the strangers and their ship. At last one of them ran swiftly to the wood, the others still standing silently apart, and Ross said, “Let us get into the ship and take this stuff off, we can talk with these people after,” at the same time stepping forward.