of our enemies, and then, after having moved rapidly several hundred miles toward the west, we d

grees south, and longitude 75 degrees east, that we first closely approached its surface. Underneath us was the lan

al-shaped land called "Noachia," surrounded by the dark ocean, the "Mare Erytraeum." Now appr

until we found ourselves floating, at a height of perhaps five miles, above a great continental land, at least three thousand miles broad from e

le became of bre

ful! Wo

d have be

xclamations hea

orthwest, we had seen at a distance some of these great red regions, and had perceived the curi

above one of these singular lands, the mag

ls crossing the continent beneath us had been perc

ction, and far more marvellous in its completeness than the boldes

eran from one of our great observatories. "Mars

arances indicated

d, not of a uniform red tint, but presenting an immense variety of sh

And what grass!

ic Veg

200 or 300 feet in height, and there were forests of giant

uld be so. The trees are big, for the same reason that the men are, because th

dently the only kind of edifices that Mars possessed. At any rate, if stone or wood w

verywhere we recognized fortified stations, glittering with an array of the pol

ed our faces westward, and, skirting the Mare Erytraeum, arrived above

ast red land, oval in outline, and surrounded and crossed by innumerable canals. Chryse w

In our rapid motion westward we had out-stripped the sun and had now arrived

epening gloom. Through the darkness, far away, we could behold magnificent beams of electric light dar

ss enjoying the deep sleep that accompanies the dark hours immediately preceding the dawn. Still everywhere splendid clusters of li

utiful, could give us little of the ki

and night, and then hover over the planet at that point, allowing it to turn beneath us so that, as we loo

n that of the earth's rotation, so that the length of the day and night in the w

e inhabitants. Even astronomers are not likely to be wide awake just at the peep of dawn. Almost all of the inhabitants, we confidently believed, would still be

the squadron, we could not easily be seen from the surface of the p

sses Be

d named the "Gordian Knot," the continental lands of Memnonia, Amazonia and Aeolia, the mysterious centre where hundreds of vast canals came together from every direction, called the Trivium Charontis; the vast circle of Elysium, a thousand miles across, and completely surround

re so great that not one of us took a wink of sleep dur

onderful observations that we made which I must mention here on account

spot called the Juventae Fons, and this Fountain of Youth, as our astronomers, by a sort of propheti

ke of the Sun," a circular body of water not less than 500 miles in diameter, with dozens of great canals running away from it like the spokes of a wheel in every

s evident to us from the beginning that it was the chief centre of population on t

ing the

immediately returned to our original place above the land of Hellas, because since that was the first part of Mars that we had seen, we

We had almost forgotten them, so absorbed were we by the great

aching the place where they first caught sight of us, since we mi

and it was now too late to think

in store for us, which was great

sphere beneath us, and we thought we could detect evidences

e high in the air, and carried by invisible currents in every direction, immense

ul War-Cloud o

the air immense volumes of black smoke, whic

, until the whole face of the planet as far as our eyes could reach,

sued by its enemies, darkens the water behind it by a sudde

at Smok

the Martians to Be

had never beheld

there was now to be seen nothing but black, billowing clouds, swelling up everywhere like the mouse-colo

jets to the height of several miles; elsewhere

idden world beneath wa

rs Its W

mask, and fearful inde

swirling eddies beneath us the smoke began suddenly to pile itself up in an enormous aerial mountain, whose peaks shot hig

was something more than a shield for the planet, and might be destructiv

peaks grew with most portentous swiftness, and, notwithsta

ifling

the smoke, and were compelled to take refuge within the car, where, until the electric lig

he smoke would kill by strangulation, but evidently there was nothing especially po

"There is no use of remaining here for the pr

thus passing entirely beyond the sensible limits of the atmosp

ense distance over the surface of Mars in all directions. Everywhere th

erful

s upon Mars, so that, at a signal from the central station, the wonderful

r level of the smoke clouds, and then completely circumnavigated the planet. It was thought possible that

longer saw beneath us, as we had done on our previous visit to the night hemisphere o

nceal the planet that the place occupied by the latter

en the solar rays were unable to penetrate it, and consequently

suddenly disappeared when our eyes turned in the direction of Mars.

to Attack

here," said Mr. Edison. "Let u

paused, and then, at the suggestion of one of the chemists, dropped close to the surface of the smoke curtain w

y that for a minute we were again enveloped in night.

ing th

determine its precise character, but they found that its density was astonishingly slight. This accounted for the rapi

it is probable that a clear space of at least a mile in height exists between the surface of Mars and the lower limit of the smoke curtain. Just how deep the latter is we can on

see why we should not dodge in and get at them. If there is clear air under the smoke, as you think

ght simply run ourselves into an ambush. No; we must

Measures

the officer. "Perhaps the smoke will clear off

uld remain floating in the atmosphere for weeks, and the only wonder to me is how they ever expe

wo things: either attack them shielded as they are, or wait until the smoke has cleared away. The only o

s," suddenly remarked the chief commissary of the expedit

at?" asked Mr. Edison s

commissary, stammering, "our

ishment, "why, we have compressed and prepared prov

the commissary, in apparent distress, "but I

happened! Exp

t to th

r of them were destroyed, whether through leakage of air, or what, I am unable to say. I sent to inquire as to the cond

we have only provisions enough, in proper

o forage on the country, th

port this before?"

has been so much excitement that I have hardly had time to make an investigation and find out what the precise condi

is most alarming news would affect him. Although he fully compre

t Act

or the smoke to clear off, even if there were any hope of its clearing. We must get down on Mars now, h

hat we have ten days' supply left. A

s the commander calle

have some of the astronomers of the expedition locate for me the most vulnerable points upon the planet, where the population is densest and a har

n Arr

rs into still more formidable engines of the same description. One of these new weapons having been

environs as being the very focus of the planet. While it might also be a strong point of defence, yet an effective blow

on the smoke-hidden surface of the planet beneath us. Thi

records in his pocket which enabled him, by a brief calculation, to say just when the Lake of the Sun would be on the meridian of Mars as seen from the earth. Our chronometers still kept terrestrial time; we knew the exact

f the Sun would be upon the meridian of Mars in order to be cer

f our foe behind its shield of

Must Be

a hole through the black curtain. If their field of destruction could be made wide enough, we might in that manner clear away the entire covering of smoke, but all that we shall really be able to do will b

-And Its

it up, Mr. Edison himself poised one of the new disintegrators, which was too large to be carried in the hand, and, following the

ble Enc

r Warriors Fight a

ell-shaped hole, from which the black clou

s Over the Mar

e, well-shaped hole, from which the bla

e saw the gleam of bri

made

ronomer who furnished the calculation by mea

e by the discharge was not wide, yet it sufficed to give us a view of a port

ning in the cloud curtain, we could not tell, for almost immediately

of the Sun and its bordering city which we had beheld. It seemed to me in the brief glance I had that one ship had been t

ting th

t was that we could penetrate the cloud shield

the flagship should be a signal for the concentration

minute had elapsed before the disintegrators from t

ans' Arti

eve with nearly a hundred great circular holes. Through these gaps we could see clearly a large region of the planet's surface, with many airshi

y destroyed, tumbled headlong toward the ground, while even from our great distance there was unmistakab

rator Does A

ound, and it was evident that fearful execution had been do

fresh discharge, we remained for a little while inactive after delivering the blow. Meanwhile the cloud curtain, though rent

or of the flagship was poised for another discharge, when suddenly out of the black expanse beneath, quivered im

y of the Martia

ting Ou

changed color, withered and collapsed, with the same sickening phenomena that had made our heart

des were gone, and yet we

saw that the damage to them was not so serious, altho

boiling and we did not st

and more electric ships which still remained in