Symzonia: Voyage of Discovery

On approaching the dwelling of the Best Man, I was charmed to find that it differed in no respect from the ordinary dwellings of the people, except that it was of greater extent, owing to his numerous family, and a superior neatness and regularity was apparent in the grounds, which were stocked with a variety of the most beautiful and fragrant flowers and shrubbery. The house was literally in a bower of sweets. The Best Man put me entirely at my ease in point of etiquette, by meeting me in the open air, in the garden, and without either the stiffness of affected pomp, or the austere visage of assumed sanctity. He received me with that frank, affectionate manner, which constitutes true politeness, the offspring of benevolence. By the aid of Surui, we entered immediately into conversation. The first inquiries of the Best Man were, as to whence I came, and my motives for leaving my country. By means of a globe, which I had brought from the ship, and which I now caused to be produced, I explained to him the situation of my country, and the phenomena attending the external region, of which, till now, he had no conception, except from some supposed ravings of a Wise man, who was thought to be mad. The frightful glare of the sun, and the great extremes of heat, as his imagination pictured them in such an external region, were horrible to his apprehension. My motive I stated to be, a desire to gain a more extended knowledge of the works of nature; adding, that I had undertaken this perilous voyage only to ascertain whether the body of this huge globe were an useless waste of sand and stones, contrary to the economy usually displayed in the works of Providence, or, according to the sublime conceptions of one of our Wise men, a series of concentric spheres, like a nest of boxes, inhabitable within and without, on every side, so as to accommodate the greatest possible number of intelligent beings.