To Mars via The Moon

by Mark Wicks

  CHAPTER XVIII

  WE ATTEND A MARTIAN BANQUET

  On our arrival at the banqueting-hall we were most cordially received bySoranho, as Chief of the Council, who introduced us to a number ofpersons, several of whom were high officers of state; but, as only twoor three of them knew anything of our language, Merna had to act asinterpreter. All of them, however, appeared genuinely pleased to meetus.

  The hall was a large and very fine one, most chastely decorated in astyle which reminded one of the Etruscan. It was beautifully lighted byartificial means, but there were no visible lamps, the light beingdiffused over the hall as equally as daylight is diffused.

  Many ladies were present, and clearly on entirely equal terms with thesterner sex. They sat down with us at the banquet, and did not remainmere spectators from a distance, as is sometimes the case at our publicfunctions. The dresses of both sexes were very neat, and although therewas a more ample and varied display of colour and ornament than is usualin a similar gathering upon our world, especially in the dresses of themales, it was always harmonious and in excellent taste. The costumesreminded me of those in vogue in the south-eastern parts of Europe; theladies, however, wore rather close-fitting long hose, and no skirts; buttheir tunics were somewhat longer than those worn by the men, and ofthinner material. Many of the dresses looked as though they were wovenfrom semi-transparent shining silver or gold. This style of dress wasmost becoming to the wearers, setting off their elegant proportions, andat the same time permitting the utmost freedom and grace of movement.Jewellery was clearly only used as a medium for adding to the brilliancyof the general effect, and I saw no one with any lavish or vulgardisplay of jewels.

  Our meal was very similar in character to that of which we had partakenon the previous day, though on a more extended and elaborate scale. Thistime, however, we partook of the delicious wines which were provided,and found that whilst being most refreshing and exhilarating, they were,as Merna told us, so prepared as to be non-intoxicating. They wereindeed so fine in quality and flavour that, I think, even M'Allister wasreconciled to the absence of his own favourite drink.

  I occupied a seat of honour next to Soranho, and my two friends wereclose by. On looking round the hall, and scanning the features of thedifferent individuals present, I was much impressed by the fact that thesame regularity, beauty, and symmetry was apparent in all; not one facecould be termed "plain," or gave any impression of self-indulgence orsensuality; whilst the soft glowing light in their eyes produced a mostindescribable and charming effect upon the whole of their features.

  This light is altogether different from the fierce glare seen in theeyes of many of our animals, especially the feline race, which seems toenlarge the eyes to enormous orbs of brilliant light. In the Martiansit is simply a colourless, soft, and liquid glow which has a differenteffect on eyes of different colours; but it is charming in all.

  Merna had introduced us to a lady named Eleeta, who sat next to him atthe table; and it did not require a Martian intuition to enable mequickly to perceive that the relations in which they regarded each otherwere something beyond those of ordinary friendship. Their glowing eyesand beaming countenances, and their general animation and exhilarationas they conversed together, told their own tale, for mutual love hasmuch the same indications and attributes everywhere--even upon Mars! Butthe love-light shining in Martian eyes is something far more entrancingthan that seen in the duller orbs of the inhabitants of our world.

  The people of Mars generally have dark hair, dark eyes, andfresh-coloured complexions; the males having no hair upon their faces,beyond a slight moustache. Beards never grow upon their chins, so theyhave no need to shave, and are spared the work which wastes so much ofthe time of terrestrials. If we could only count up the time spent inshaving, during fifty years or so, we should find that we have devotedseveral whole months to that tiresome operation.

  Only a few individuals present had light hair and light-coloured eyes,and Eleeta was one of these. She was a most charming and beautifulgirl--vivacious, and evidently very intellectual; and I thought that sheand Merna would make a most well-matched pair.

  The banquet proved an extremely pleasant and sociable function; and,when it was over, the company adjourned to another hall opening out ofthe banqueting-hall, where they split up into separate groups, andconversation soon became very animated.

  On inquiring of Merna, I was informed that music is never performed onsuch occasions as these, during conversational periods, as it isconsidered a desecration of a high and noble art.

  Merna introduced John and M'Allister to one of the chief engineers ofthe canal department, who knew a little English, and soon they werediscussing with eager interest a collection of pictures and drawings ofthe machinery. Seeing that our friends were thus congenially occupied,Merna then took me across to where Eleeta and a girl friend of hers,named Siloni, were sitting.

  He told me he had instructed Eleeta in English and she had passed on herknowledge of the language to Siloni; so we were all able to conversetogether with the occasional aid of Merna's interpretation.

  Merna had also acquainted his friends with our usual terms of addressingone another, and it came almost as a surprise to me to be addressed bythe Martians as "Mr. Poynders" and "Sir"; for I had become so accustomedto being called "Professor" by my two colleagues that my own namesounded almost strange to me.

  We had been chatting together only a short time when John andM'Allister, with their Martian friend, the engineer, came over to us;and soon after that we were joined by Soranho and Merna's tutors, namedrespectively Corontus and Tellurio, who were followed by a numerouscompany of Martians of both sexes.

  Soranho, addressing me, then said, "Mr. Poynders, I should very muchlike to know something about terrestrial affairs generally, especiallyin regard to the methods of government amongst your nations, and thesocial conditions of the people; and shall therefore be glad if you willbe good enough to give me any particulars that may be of interest inconnection with these subjects."

  He then took a seat, with the tutors on either side of him; and he addedthat the Martians had not been able to acquire any definite informationupon the matters to which he referred, but they knew our people were notso far advanced as the Martians, and he did not therefore expect toomuch of the terrestrials.

  I told him I would endeavour to enlighten him upon these subjects so faras lay in my power; and, as I rose to speak, the general body of theMartians seated themselves a few feet away from us in a large semicirclefacing the chief.

  I noticed that, against the wall behind the Chief, was a group ofbeautifully embroidered banners representing the planets, and that thosedepicting Mars and the Earth were placed in the central positions. Thesetwo banners exhibited very graphic representations of the markings onthe respective planets.