the canals were almost perpendicular.
Steep cuts, even in soft ground, seemed to be characteristic of all the
waterways observed by the writer.

On another occasion the writer was given a view of the North Polar
regions. At that time the deep snows that covered the ground
everywhere were melting. The country seemed to be very hilly. As far
as the eye could reach I observed low-lying hills covered with a white
mantle of snow. Patches of reddish earth here and there indicated that
the thaw was general and that the snow had thinned out in spots.
Between the hills I observed a large body of water, and was informed
that this was an artificial reservoir which had been created by the
damming of a large valley. The sky on this occasion was hidden by a
mist, a very natural phenomenon in view of the fact that many thousands
of square miles of the country, covered with snow on this part of Mars,
was undergoing a rapid thaw.

That the large dark-colored areas on Mars, supposed by early observers
to be seas, are nothing more or less than low, swampy land covered with
rank vegetation, was evidenced to me on one occasion when I was
permitted to see the true character of these portions of the planet.

The rank vegetation was about three feet high and of a greenish red
color. Interspersed throughout the mass of coarse-leafed plants were
high, dry stalks the remnants of an earlier crop of Martian flora. The
season seemed to be advanced and all plant life was taking on autumnal
tints.

It was in December 1919 that I saw the first close-up picture of a
Martian--a woman. Her head was covered with a thin veil which came
down to her well-formed mouth. She seemed to be a most beautiful woman
with most expressive eyes. Her hair was black. Her skin was unusually
white, which contrasted with the dark hair. She wore no jewelry, or
other ornaments that I could see.

On a subsequent occasion I was permitted to see a Martian male. He was
playing a flutelike instrument, and as he was quite close to me I could
observe the wax-like texture of his skin. This semi-transparency of
the skin is characteristic of the Martians, and evidences a life that
is free from the many bodily ailments that afflict humanity on our
Earth. The Martian was dressed in graceful but loose-fitting clothes
of a reddish-brown color. His eyes were a deep blue and his lips
seemed to be unusually red. In respect to stature he was, I would say,
about five feet nin