CHAPTER XVII
WE VISIT THE CANALS AND DISCOVER THEIR SECRET--MARTIAN VIEWS OF LIFE ANDDEATH
On Merna's suggestion we walked through the town with the object ofinspecting the canals on the outskirts; and we needed no pressing, as wewere all eager to see what the canals were like.
We again noted how every house, and almost every building, was isolatedfrom its neighbours. Many of them were very large and exceedinglyhandsome specimens of architecture, and the streets were wide, straight,and remarkably clean and well kept. The official and administrativebuildings were near the centre of the town; their general arrangementand design appearing most excellently adapted to the specialrequirements of their respective purposes.
Most of them were built of white stone, resembling our marble, which wasvery hard, and appeared clean and unaffected by weather, although someof the buildings were of considerable age. Others were built of stonesof various colours, which added a pleasing variety to the generaleffect; whilst many were adorned with noble and beautiful domes, towers,and airy-looking minarets.
As we did not propose to inspect these in detail now, we passed on tothe outskirts of the town, soon reaching the air-ship station, where wefound a vessel in readiness for our trip. We all entered; the ship wasat once started, and we proceeded swiftly on our journey.
Merna then told us that all public means of transit, over the whole areaof the planet, were provided and maintained by the State, for the freeuse of all who needed to travel. The passengers neither paid fares norreceived tickets; they simply stepped into the proper conveyance andwent wherever they desired to go. A record was kept of the number ofpassengers carried; for, as each passenger entered, a number wasautomatically registered by a small machine under the footboard, theexit being by another door.
Small air-ships, motors, and boats could be engaged by single persons orsmall parties who did not wish to travel in the larger publicconveyances; and any person was at liberty to provide a privateconveyance for his own use, but the public ones were so numerous andconvenient that very few people kept their own.
"Hey, mon!" said M'Allister, "the Martians can teach us something. Iwould like to see such a system at work in our own country!"
"I am afraid you are not likely to see that," said John, "while we haveto spend so much upon warlike preparations. If war could be abolished,all the millions of money thus expended could be made available forpurposes which would be of real and permanent benefit to the people."
We travelled a distance of some miles, and then the vessel was broughtto a standstill.
What a splendid view we then had over the country all around us! the airbeing so thin and clear that there was very little dimming of theobjects in the far distance. Across the country, in line after line,were the canals which we had been so anxious to see, extending as far asthe eye could reach! With our glasses we made a detailed examination ofseveral.
Our sensational newspapers have had paragraphs about Martian canals ahundred miles, or even hundreds of miles, wide! Scientific men have alsosimilarly exaggerated, and made remarks about the absurdity of thesupposition that such canals really existed.
There is very little excuse for such statements, because ProfessorLowell has always been careful to point out that the lines representedbroad bands of vegetation, and not the width of the canals.
Now the secret was out! What we actually saw was this: not a single widecanal but a series of comparatively narrow canals, running parallel toeach other, with a very wide strip of vegetation between each. Usuallythe canals were linked together in pairs by smaller cross canals runningdiagonally from one canal to the other in alternate order. These werethe irrigation trenches. Thus from one of a pair of canals an irrigationtrench would branch out at an angle of about fifty degrees, and enterthe second canal. Higher up, on the same side, another trench would runfrom the second canal at a similar angle, and enter the first canal, andso on--_ad infinitum_. In the case of single canals curved loopsbranched out and re-entered higher up, these loops being made on eitherside, and similar loops were made on the outsides of paired canals.
As a result of this arrangement it did not matter whether the waterpassed up the canal at one season of the year or down it at anotherseason, it could always move straight ahead; the irrigation trencheswere thus constantly flushed by one or other of the pairs, and therecould be no stagnation anywhere. Merna also told us that some canals areprovided with a network of trenches, whilst others are embanked so thatthe water can be let out through sluices when necessary, and thus floodthe surrounding land. Thus every requirement can be met.
So far from being a hundred miles wide, it was exceptional for thecanals to have a width of more than two hundred yards. Most of those wewere looking at were only about sixty feet wide! and only the wider onesare used for navigation purposes. Merna explained why this was so,saying that as the main use of the canals was for irrigation purposesvery wide ones were not required; for not only would they be wasteful,but as it was necessary to force the water along by artificial means, itcould more conveniently be accomplished in the case of narrow canals, asthe wider the canal the more difficult it became to force the wateralong.
We also observed many splendid wide motor-roads running between thesingle canals, as well as others running straight across the system,being carried over the canals by the most beautiful and fairy-likebridges that we had ever seen. They were all constructed of a metalidentical with our "martalium," which we had used in the construction ofthe _Areonal_; so that was undoubtedly another invention which we owedto Martian influences transmitted to us across space!
Nothing more beautiful or graceful than these bridges could beimagined, so light were they in construction, so elegant and varied indesign, and every part shining in the sun like burnished silver; theylooked like structures composed of rays of light rather than substantialmetal! They were a perfect dream of beauty, and we stood a long timeexamining their elegant construction through our glasses.
"Well," remarked John, "some of our millionaires would give half theirfortunes to have such lovely bridges as these in their private parks!"
"Heh, mon!" replied M'Allister, "it's very clear the Martians couldteach our engineers something about bridge-building, if nothing else!"
"Wait and see our water-lifting and water-propelling machinery," saidMerna; "I think that will be something which will suit you as anengineer!"
I noticed that many of the lines were apparently groves of trees, andasked Merna whether they were canals or not.
"Yes," he replied, "they are canals. You will understand that in thehotter parts of our world it is necessary to protect the water from toorapid evaporation, or else the canals would be almost run dry longbefore the need for their use ceased at the end of the season. Some arearched over entirely, but in most cases it is sufficient to plant treesalong each side. Would you like to examine one?" he asked; "we can do sovery soon, if you wish?"
I said I should be glad to do so, and our course was accordinglydirected to one of the groves, which appeared to be about two milesdistant. It, however, proved to be more than six miles away, for we hadnot yet become accustomed to the effect of the clear Martian air inmaking distant objects appear much closer than they really were.However, it did not take long for our air-ship to reach it; and wedescended in the space between the canals and then walked over into thegrove. When we turned into it, we were greatly surprised at the charmingeffect of the trees over the canal.
The trees were something like our willows, but taller than elms, and hada multitude of very long, thin, and supple branches, with very littlebare trunk. They were planted rather close together, all along each sideof the canal, with their trunks sloping slightly towards the water. Thelong branches thus met at the sides and high overhead, intertwiningtogether, and forming a high leafy archway extending all along the canalin both directions as far as the eye could see. The thick, soft Martiangrass along each side of the canal was like a velvet-pile carpet to walkupon; the sunli
ght filtering between the green leaves of the trees castbright flecks of light on the clear shimmering water which ran beneaththem; whilst water-fowl swimming here and there gave a bright touch ofcolour and the animation of life which so adds to the general charm ofsuch scenery. Some of the water-fowl were very large birds, withbrilliant coloured plumage.
"What a delightful place for a quiet walk on a hot day like this," Iexclaimed; "plenty of air and no excess of heat!"
"Yes," Merna replied; "these embowered canals are very popular with theMartians, as they furnish such cool and pleasant walks in the summertime. I must also tell you," he added, "that those water-fowl are lookedafter with extreme care, because most of our aquatic birds have becomenearly extinct since our natural areas of water failed us, and unlessthey were preserved would die out entirely.
"You will understand that these canals are not liable to excessiveevaporation; but, at the same time, it would not do to preventevaporation altogether, because we should then fail to obtain asufficient and fresh supply next spring."
"I quite see that, Merna," I said; "but one of our scientific men hassaid that it would be madness to construct canals on Mars, because thewater would all quickly evaporate, especially in the warmer regions, andthus be wasted."
"Well, as you see, sir, we manage to prevent evaporation to any extentwe may desire," replied Merna with a smile; "and even scientific menseem liable to omit some important matters from their theories andcalculations."
"How do you manage the irrigation?" I inquired; "the trenches seemrather wide apart to supply such a large area!"
"The upper layer of soil is very porous, and the water soaks along it,"he answered; adding that "where necessary it was assisted by porouspipes laid beneath the surface.
"Besides," he proceeded, "we have small portable electric engines, withwhich water from the trenches can be distributed in the form of sprayover wide areas. Our vegetation, too, has adapted itself to theconditions of the planet in the course of the changes which have takenplace during past ages, and now requires very little water or moistureto maintain it in vigorous and healthy growth."
One more question was put to him by John, who asked, "Do these canalsconstitute your whole supply of water for drinking, as well as for allother purposes?"
"Oh no, John!" exclaimed Merna. "We draw all our pure water from deepwells. The soil of Mars, being much more lightly compacted than that ofthe earth, has absorbed an immense proportion of the water which wasformerly upon its surface. Instead of having lost it by evaporation andradiation into space, we still have it below the surface, stored upready for use in our time of need.
"For this reason, and also in consequence of the small amount of ourplanet's internal heat, the water has not undergone chemical change, andmostly lies at great depths; but, of course, well-boring is much easierwork than on your world, and I expect our methods are rather in advanceof yours.
"Your scientists seem to have overlooked some of these pointsaltogether. You need not pity us for lack of water, as I have heard youdoing, for we have an ample supply for many centuries to come;especially as we can purify water which has been used for generalpurposes, and store it up for use, over and over again. Our canals areonly drawn upon for purposes connected with irrigation, or whenabsolutely pure water is not needed."
"Well," M'Allister exclaimed, "it doesn't seem that the Martians are sobadly off for water as some of our clever people imagine! Why, I've readthat the need of water here must be so great that the people, driven todesperation, must be fighting each other to extermination in order toget it."
"That is an entirely erroneous idea, sir," replied Merna; "and you maybe quite sure that such a state of affairs will never be witnessed uponthis planet. We know the time must come when our water supply willcease to be, but your people are needlessly pessimistic, and imagineterrors where we see none.
"In actual time, the end of Mars is still far distant; but, as comparedwith that of your world, it is very near. It will be possible, later on,to forecast, by means of our records of the rate of decrease, the timewhen our water supply will come to an end; but even now it is wellunderstood how the crisis will be met. As the final period draws nearer,families will become smaller and smaller, and in the last Martiancentury no children will be born; so the diminishing water supply willsuffice for the needs of the dwindling population. Thus the race willgradually die out naturally, and become extinct long before theconditions of our world can make life a terror. There will, therefore,be no self-slaughter, nor murderous extermination, amongst ourselves--weshall simply die out naturally.
"The planet will roll on, devoid of all life, so the loss of water andair will then be of no consequence. It will be a dead world; until,perhaps aeons hence, a collision with some other large body may transformboth into a nebula; and thus once more start them on the way to developinto a world capable of sustaining life. Thus nothing in the Universereally dies; the apparent death is only the preparation for a newer andhigher life.
"We Martians have no fear or dread of death, such as I have heard yousay is so prevalent in your world even amongst religious people. With usdeath, in the ordinary way, is merely like going to sleep; and it isonly the portal through which we pass to another life on anotherplanet. Why, then, should we dread it? It is simply a removal to anotherdwelling-place!"
"I quite agree with that view, Merna," said John; "and our religionteaches us a somewhat similar idea; yet few of its professors lookforward with anything but dread to the time when they must pass fromtheir present life."
"Yes, John," said Merna. "What your people really only profess tobelieve we Martians accept as an actual certainty, for we know it is so;and, as you are aware, sir, I am a living witness of the truth of what Isay.
"You know I once lived upon the earth. I died; or, as I prefer to say, I'passed' from thence, and was born again upon Mars. Some day I must alsopass from here; whither I know not, but to another life in some otherworld; and the Great Father of All will provide for me!
"There are many other planets which are worlds capable of sustaininglife at the present time, or which will develop into such worlds. Someof them, which we can see, are planets belonging to our own solarsystem, but doubtless there are myriads of planets which revolve roundthose millions of distant suns which we call fixed stars. If we havemade good use of our talents and opportunities for development we shallno doubt pass to a world where that development may be continued on ahigher plane. If, however, we have made bad use of them, it is possiblethat we may have to purge ourselves by a life on a planet where theconditions are the reverse of pleasant; and so on through eternity, eachrising to a higher and higher plane according to the manner in which hehas worked out his own salvation.
"Amongst those myriads of planets, probably there is not one which isidentical in all respects with any other, and there must be an infinityof variety; some excelling to an incalculable extent the conditions ofour present world, and others where the conditions are very much worse!"
"Yes, Merna," I replied. "There are some upon our world who hold verysimilar ideas, notably a great French astronomer named Flammarion; butin his view only those who have developed their intelligence in theproper direction will pass to other worlds and enjoy what he terms the_Uranian_ life.
"I may also say," I proceeded, "with reference to your remarksrespecting the infinite variety of planetary worlds and of theirconditions, that one of our great poets has stated the matter verylogically, for he says:
'This truth within thy mind rehearse, That, in a boundless universe, Is boundless better, boundless worse.'"
"Sir," said Merna, "that is really very much as a Martian would statethe case; and what I have told you is our faith, our hope, and ourcertainty."
As we passed along on the area outside the grove we noticed that thevegetation bordering the outermost canal did not show a mathematicallystraight edge as the canal lines do when seen by us through ourtelescopes. The edges, as a rule, were very irregular: in some place
sthere were large areas of fallow land, and others were very sparselycovered with vegetation.
John remarked that if any of these bare or sparsely-covered places werelarge enough to be detected by our telescopes, in moments of extremelygood seeing, we should no doubt be told that they afforded absoluteproof that the canal lines are only disconnected markings, and thecanals a myth.
"Very probably," I replied; "yet it should be obvious that vegetationwould be sparse, or altogether absent, perhaps, for miles, in manyplaces along the thousands of miles over which the canals extend, andalso that it is quite likely, if we could use higher powers so as to geta better view of the lines, the edges would appear irregular. Nature israrely symmetrical in her work, there is nearly always irregularity ofgrowth; and in artificial cultivation it is neither possible nordesirable to fill up every acre of land simultaneously."
Merna then told us that, owing to extensions of their irrigation system,laterally, and the consequent growth of vegetation, the width of many ofthe canal lines would be seen to increase.
"Yes," said John, "and when that phenomenon is seen by our observers weshall be informed that such increase in width is still another proofthat there are no canals upon Mars."
"Well, John," replied Merna, "it seems to me very strange that yourpeople should so misinterpret the meaning of such indications. Do youreally think such a contention would be put forward?"
"I'm quite sure of it," said John; "and we should be told that canalscould not increase in width! Don't you agree with me, Professor?"
"Yes, John," I answered; "I have seen and heard so many contentions andarguments of a like nature that I cannot say your supposition is notjustified.
"I may, however, point out that it is only when the most idealconditions of seeing exist that we can ever hope to secure a view of thecanal lines showing the apparent breaks in their continuity. I have on aprevious occasion alluded to the drawbacks connected with the use ofvery large telescopes, and it may be well to sound a note of warning,for it would be very easy for an observer to be deceived by an illusoryappearance of the breaking up of the canal lines into a series ofscattered markings. This effect would undoubtedly occur in using a verylarge telescope in any but ideally favourable atmospheric conditions,for the high powers used with such large instruments would so exaggeratethe most minute atmospheric tremors that any lines on the Martiansurface would inevitably appear broken up, and an erroneous deductionmight be drawn by the unwary observer. If well seen, the canalvegetation would appear as separate markings in alignment, but notelescope is ever likely to define well enough to show the actualcanals, because they are so narrow."
We now returned to our air-ship, and went back to Sirapion; where, aftermaking the necessary changes and preparations, we accompanied Merna tothe City Hall, for the purpose of attending the banquet to which we hadbeen invited by Soranho.
_From a Globe made by M. Wicks_ Plate XI
MARS. MAP IV
An intricate network of canals is here seen, especially in theneighbourhood of Elysium, where many connect with the "TriviumCharontis."]