the concentrated
light known to us--a light like that which was sometimes vouchsafed to
your Holy Prophets! And unless a person be inspired with a portion at
least of that immortal light, the brightness, power, and glory of these
orders of Beings, or their ways, can neither be seen, understood, nor
even imagined.

The discoveries made through the Star Instrument, however, are too
numerous to relate at present. I must limit myself now to little more
than a few particulars relating to the sun.

THE SUN-OCEAN AND MOUNTAINS.

The Sun is a mass consisting of an immense ocean, surrounded by burning
mountains of fire so huge that it would be difficult to speak of their
extent, each mountain seeming to be a world in immensity!

I could perceive some portion of the mountains at intervals disengaged
from the fire. The rocks seen between the flames are, with, their varied
colours, magnificent beyond anything that your language can convey;
though I have seen similar colours, but of far less intensity, in some
of our gorgeous sunsets.

CONTINENTS.

In the midst of the Sun-Ocean there is a very large continent, besides
many of smaller size, which, relatively to the larger, might be called
islands. These continents are separated by seas from the large continent
and from each other, and are all thickly populated by beings which,
though human, are somewhat differently formed from ordinary man.

The continents, though immense, are, even in their aggregate mass, small
in comparison with the hugeness of the Sun-Ocean. The nearest is at an
immeasurable distance from the mountains; and the ocean is only
navigable at certain distances from the outer continents.

HURRICANES.

From a circle surrounding, but at an immense distance from the most
extreme of the continents, this great Sun-Ocean throws off currents of
wind, terrific in their fury, in the direction of the burning mountains.
Your tempest would give but a puny idea of the force of these winds,
which indeed exceeds anything known even in my planet, where the
hurricanes are terrific.

The winds are attracted, and their fury is increased, by the extreme
heat of the burning mountains.

The ocean struggles, as it were, to quench the fire, while the fire
contends with the ocean, which raises its head, as though threatening to
cover the topmost mountains. However, the wind, blowing with redoubled
force, supports the energy of the fire. The power and brilliancy of the
burn