hort period of training in the higher colleges. It is situate
far within the north temperate zone on the shore of one of the longest
and narrowest of the great Martial gulfs, which extends from
north-eastward to south-west, and stretches from 43 deg. N. to 10 deg. S.
latitude. The University in question is situate nearly at the
extremity of the northern branch of this gulf, which splits into two
about 300 miles from its end, a canal of course connecting it with the
nearest sea-belt. I chose to perform this journey by land, following
the line of the great road from Amacasfe to Qualveskinta for about 800
miles, and then turning directly northward. I did not suppose that I
should find a willing companion on this journey, and was myself
wishful to be alone, since I dared not, in her present state of
health, expose Eveena to the fatigue and hardship of prolonged winter
travelling by land. To my surprise, however, all the rest, when aware
that I had declined to take her, were eager to accompany me. Chiefly
to take her out of the way, and certainly with no idea of finding
pleasure in her society, I selected Enva; next to Leenoo the most
malicious of the party, and gifted with sufficient intelligence to
render her malice more effective than Leenoo's stupidity could be.
Enva, moreover, with the vigorous youthful vitality-so often found on
Earth in women of her light Northern complexion, seemed less likely to
suffer from the severity of the weather or the fatigue of a land
journey than most of her companions. When I spoke of my intention to
Davilo, I was surprised to find that he considered even feminine
company a protection.

"Any attempt upon you," he said, "must either involve your companion,
for which there can be no legal excuse preferred, or else expose the
assailant to the risk of being identified through her evidence."

I started accordingly a few days before the winter solstice of the
North, reaching the great road a few miles from the point at which it
crosses another of the great gulfs running due north and south, at its
narrowest point in latitude 3 deg. S. At this point the inlet is no more
than twenty miles wide, and its banks about a hundred feet in height.
At this level and across this vast space was carried a bridge,
supported by arches, and resting on pillars deeply imbedded in the
submarine rock at a depth about equal to the height of the land on
either side. The Martial seas are for the most part shallow, the