es, the fastest time ever made by any other means of
travel. Each of them had twenty pounds of luggage, and luncheon of
cold ham and champagne was served on board over the Channel, followed
by a game of cards. It was easily demonstrated by the return trip that
men could leave either capital after breakfast, have several hours in
the other, and return home for dinner.

Then a French flier with six passengers made the flight from Paris to
Brussels. The time consumed between the two capitals was but two hours
as against over five by the ordinary train travel. As an instance of
some of the problems which this particular flight brought about, it
was observed that a Belgian policeman approached the plane as it was
about to leave and inquired for passports and papers. Everybody made
excuses for not having them. The policeman refused to allow the
airplane to leave. Finally the pilot, losing his patience and temper,
started the motor and flew off before the angered official knew what
had happened.

Two other French aviators about the same time crossed the
Mediterranean from France to Algiers and back in the same day. Though
unequipped with seaplane devices, they started out with full
confidence that their motors would carry them over the water. With
only their navigating instruments and an occasional vessel to guide
them, they reached their destination after a perfect trip and created
a great sensation among the natives who came down to see the airplanes
alight.

Far more spectacular, however, was the flight made from London to
Delhi. A Handley-Page machine, which had flown from London to Cairo
during the war and taken part in the final military operations against
the Turks, left Cairo, on November 30th, shortly after the armistice.
Five and three-quarter hours later the airplane with five passengers
reached Damascus, a trip practically impossible except through the air
because of the ravages of the war. At 7.40 the next morning they set
out again, flew northeast along the Jebel esh Shekh Range to Palmyra,
then east to the Euphrates, down that river to Ramadi, and thence
across to Bagdad, a flight of 510 miles made in six hours and fifty
minutes without a single stop, part of it over country untrod even by
the most primitive travelers. Thence they went on _via_ Bushire,
Bander Abbas, Tcharbar, and Karachi to Delhi, where they received a
tremendous ovation as the first fliers to arrive from the home
country. From Delhi they c