Year: 1876

it, upon which the lower edge of the funnel,
which is widely tlared, rests when brought
down. The lower edge of this glass curb
rests upon, what | have called the altar,
| Through association with certain pictures in
an old Bible,) This altar is II solid block of
stone with depression on the top to receive
the coal and retain the ashes The glass
curb serves to keep in the fire and yet not
hide it, and in it's lower edge are certain
notches to produce draft when the funnel is
down. This is the common heating and
| ventilatng apparatus in HOltecshinda. The
| ceiling of the room is an arch of solid stone
| Beautifully shaped windows of stained glass,
however, relieve the room from anything of
tomb>like appearance. A light iron slair>
way in one angle of the room leads to the
! balcony, above which, indeed, is the entire
roof of the house. From the ceiling hang
| two beautiful chandeliers, which, with their
chains and rings and long symmetrical arms,
seem to be made of solid gold. Around the
room again runs the broad, comfortable
seat, and in otheilparts of it are the most in
vitlnS OF easy chairs, placed two and two in
the most cOqucttish of positions. But what
strikes person fresh from the outside world
most strangely of all in these houses, is the
absence Of right angles and straight lines
Not many rooms are quadranqular, nor many
circular, many clliplical and more entirely
Dut udSC ~ OluCT tuluHS
to tell you, that | must not take more space
now in telling about the houses.


Such time rs we are having with this in
side language! Names of all common things
we soon acquired, and q few common verbs,
but to come at the exact significance of alb
stract terms and adjectivcs derived from
these is a question of time. to say the least
But Inman is making great progress. lie
learned the meaning of the word love in the
new language in a few hours, and the young
girl of whom he learned that wsrd, is his de>
voted teacher, and already he is interpreter
for all of us. As a written language this has
many advantages over ours, especially in the
matter of brevity. There are at least a
thousand workshops, which can be made
with a single stroke of the pen, and these
stand for any ordinary mans vocabulary.
The consequence of this is that every writer
is Il verbatim reporter. This contributes
doubtless largely to the truthfulness of these
people, for no one ever feels sure that his
words are not being accurately written as he
speaks. The printing is a species of ensrav-
ing Upon some wax like preparation u
man writes rapidly with an iron point. This
plate of wax is linked some way that do not
fully understand, which leaves the ink only
in the depressions made by the graver. The
press is simply an elastic roller, that is passed
over the paper quickly, and as you see from
the enclosed specimen a very clear impress
sion is made. Can you read il? lnman
says it is u love song of his own composition
Perhaps he will send you translation.


The productions of this world, in the way
of grains, roots and vegetables, is something
to wonder at for life time Everything
seems ut first something known, but proves
upon examination to he something else. For
instance, l approach a tree to get what seems
an apple; when get it in my hand, find it,
indeed, to be Il goOsberry. Something like
apples we have, but are more like potatoes
in taste being more mcaly instead of acid.
But here am in field that il will take
the scientific men many years to explore.
| cannot either enter upon n description of
further than have already done incidt ntally.
But there is one thing concerning the min
eral productions of this region that l must
tell you. Gold is as abundant here as iron!
Of course you are not foolish enough to sup.
pose this will in any way enrich the outside
world. On the contrary, it will cause great
trouble. But we will get rich out of it, dur
ing the transition. The ship that carries this
letter to you takes gold enough to coin more
than hundred million Of dollars! This
will be sold judiciously, not too rapidly. or ex-
change for real estate in and about the great
cities. Then within II few years gold will
fall below standard Of value, and an unccr.
tain one it will be And now l must close.
Long as this is. have told you almost n0th-
ing of this strange world. The most inter
esting and important part must nc left fOT
my next letter, that is the laws and customs
and beliefs of the inhabitants here We
see many strange and interesting things every
day but as we acquire the language and es-
pecially the ability to read, we will learn u
great deal more. And the next ship outward
shall bear you another long letter. Oh,
how long to hear from you! Will you
not write to me. can wait years for your
love if you will only yield me your friendship
now. Write to me, or l shall be obliged to
come and see you the next steamer, and
then guess you would be sorry.


And, now in all sincerity. am yours truly,


ARTHUR THOMAS


(To be continued)