The Saturn
Presentation of this planet and its moons, including ring and creatures
- Chapter 12 -
The inland lakes on Saturn. The magnificent countryside andthe large population at theshores. Links between rivers, streams and lakes. Stone cone groups as places ofentertainment. Swan rides.
The inland lakes mentioned in the previous chapter are quite different than the inland lakes on earth, which are gatherings of standing water at irregular depths. On Saturn the spring water also gathers in the depressions of the plains which comes from all sides off the mountains. These lakes have a much shallower bed than the rivers. Rarely is a lakebed any deeper than 36 feet, which is very shallow by Saturnian standards. Any Saturnite can easily wade through such a lake because of its shallowness. The water will hardly reach much above the knee of a Saturnite, and at times only that high. Nevertheless, it is deep enough to carry their ships.
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The question arises: What purpose do these lakes serve? Actually they serve the same purpose as the man-made canals on earth. These inland lakes often have up to a hundred outflowing currents or even fairly broad flow-offs that lead to various other rivers, thereby becoming tributaries. These inland lakes make it possible for the Saturnites to reach the four main streams on these waterways, which can be accomplished conveniently in the following manner. For example, if there is such a land lake between the Morning Stream (east) and the Midday Stream (south), it will have at least one if not more of these tributaries that lead to the Morning Stream as well as to the Midday Stream. You will also find a land lake between the Midday Stream and the Evening Stream (west) and also between the Evening Stream and the Midnight Stream (north) and between the Midnight Stream and the Morning Stream. In this manner the connection on water is not only established once but hundreds of times. The way in which the connection between the inland lakes and the main streams is guaranteed, there is also a connection between all the smaller rivers and streams, so that no river and almost no lake in this great country exists which cannot be easily reached by water.
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These inland lakes cover large areas, the smallest of which is as large as the Caspian Sea (424,300 km2) in Asia, the largest lake on earth. There are several which are larger; some cover an area that is equivalent to the Mediterranean Sea (2,496,000 km2). But there are not too many large lakes of this size; the location of these lakes is usually in the regions that are close to the ocean. However, there are quite a number of these smaller inland lakes towards the center of this country, because wherever you find a plain in this large country, to some extent you will find in its midst some land lake of significance. When you stand upon some elevated point, this makes the view so magnificent, or, as you might say, "so picture perfect," that you on earth would hardly be able to imagine such a magnificent view.
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Although on earth you have areas with inland lakes, their shape is not uniform, but is more random, and so are the surroundings. There could be weather-beaten rocks or a wooded mountain area or dirty plains and many other things that do not say much and which, unshapen, surround the area of the water or lakes. This does not apply to Saturn, because on Saturn the lakes have always more or less the form of an ellipse. These lakes have fairly large outlets which flow evenly in all directions into other inland lakes or rivers and streams. Now imagine such a calm surface of water, of which the smallest has a surface of 10 to 100 square geographic miles, then from 100 to 1,000 and from 1,000 to almost 30,000 square geographic miles in accordance to your square measure, and this will give you an idea of the dimension of these inland lakes. Then, in addition, take a look at the many wide outlets which spring from these inland lakes, most of them in a straight line, and you will truly appreciate the splendor of such a land lake, especially when you know that these outlets are anywhere from 2 to 40 geographic miles wide.
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It is not the large dimensions alone which augment the magnificence of these lake regions; it is primarily the shores, which are highly populated around these inland lakes. Nowhere does the splendor of the vegetation develop in such grandiose unfoldment as upon the shores of these lakes. This is the environment for the pyramid trees, which, from your point of view, grow to unbelievable heights, and their tips are often higher than some of the high mountains on Saturn.
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The Saturnites also plant the ship plant to beautify the shores. Behind these fields, where the ship plants grow and thrive, the wall trees are grown and cultivated, which often significantly exceed the height mentioned in an earlier chapter. On some shores the golden wall of these trees grows to heights of 3,000 feet. The Saturnites have attained such a proficiency in the art of grafting that when a wall tree has grown a number of feet, they cut it and graft it into a cleave which they cut into another wall tree and then cover the graft with earth; through this, if the tree continues to grow, the trunk of this tree is already taller by onehalf. This procedure is continued as long as possible, and it becomes a magnificent adornment for those shores, because these tree trunks grow to astonishing heights, far beyond their natural height. Behind these walls the Saturnites usually grow the column-like hotchpotch tree which you already know and which, on account of its extraordinary multifariousness, contributes a great deal to the embellishment of the gradually ascending shore regions.
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When we discussed the Morning Stream, the inhabitants and their accommodation, it was mentioned that you will not find a city, fortification or any other dwelling anywhere on this planet except for this tree. This applies to the shores of the inland lakes as well. There is, however, one thing that must be mentioned: when this tree grows in the regions of the shores of these inland lakes it considerably surpasses in size the circumference and height of the same species of tree that grows near rivers, streams and in the mountains, and therefore it serves more family members as a dwelling.
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All the other trees, herbs, plants and grasses are also carefully kept in good order. Therefore these shores look like a perfect paradise in the actual sense of the word. Since the sun tree is the only type of dwelling, do not think that in these shore regions one such sun tree grows right next to the other; instead, it takes a considerable amount of time to travel from one dwelling to another. The shortest distance between these sun trees is approximately 10 to 20 geographic miles, but more likely anywhere from 50 to 100 geographic miles, since these properties often have the size of a whole country (in Europe), and such a property often has no more than one of these trees and at the most no more than five to ten. Only when all the members of a family no longer have enough space under the sun tree will another tree be planted somewhere close by.
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When it occurs that some members of the family have to move because of overpopulation, then it can happen that they move to the mountains, even though they do not like to do that. But before someone plants his dwelling tree on a mountain, he will do everything in his power to find a place somewhere on a bank or shore. Only when it is impossible to find something in his neighborhood will he move to the mountains. Of course, he will look for areas in the mountains where there are one or several springs nearby, and where the rain tree (briura) and the flowing barrel, which are other means of water supply, can thrive. Also, the inhabitants of Saturn can no longer keep their large cows in the mountains, which gives them warm milk. Therefore they have to be satisfied with milk from the tame mountain goats which is not as sweet.
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If they wish to enjoy the milk of the large cow, they have no other choice but to go to the plains and visit their relatives; and either by exchanging healing mountain herbs or through labor they will obtain this precious milk. Then they fill it in the aforementioned containers and walk or drive home. You will remember the wagons they have, which we discussed earlier in this book, the ones that are made so easily from the flowing barrel which the inhabitants of the plains often call the "mountain ship."
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Although according to your earthly concepts these dwelling trees are quite a distance apart from each other, they are close enough for a Saturnite, since he can see his neighbor's dwelling tree despite the great distance on account of his keen eyesight. Besides that, his long legs will carry him at least 10 geographic miles in fifteen minutes with the greatest of ease. And should his neighbors' house be at a greater distance, then he will travel by ship.
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The only thing that remains to be explained is whether the water of such inland lakes is stagnant or flowing, and it has already been said that it is flowing. This water has such a strong current that it flows in every possible direction. However, the movement of the water in the lakes is somewhat less than in the rivers and streams. If you wish to imagine the water flow in these lakes, imagine that it flows from the center of the lake in a radial manner to as many canals as it feeds, through which it connects with the other inland lakes, rivers and streams. But here we are dealing with another peculiarity or difference in comparison to the canals on earth. The water of these canals, which connect with other inland lakes, flows in the following manner: For example, in the canals which connect the land lakes, the current in Lake A flows through the canal on the left into Lake B in a long swirl, returning from Lake B on the right side back to Lake A. Therefore a boatman can travel on the left bank from Lake A towards the morning (east), whereas another boatman on the right bank can travel from Lake B to Lake A in a current which flows in the opposite direction. I should think that your hydro-mechanics would have severe difficulties in producing this kind of water movement. However, as far as the outflow that runs into a river or stream is concerned, here there is no counter movement; instead it either flows from an inland lake into a river or from a river into an inland lake. This does not impair navigation in the least, since all water movement on Saturn is very calm and the fastest current travels no more than 60 feet per minute, whereas a normal current travels anywhere from 6 to 30 feet per minute. Also, this movement of water has very little to do with navigation, but rather it is for the sake of movement, so that the waters do not become stagnant and foul; and through their constant movement these waters emit a beneficial breath of life.
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The beauty of these inland lakes is tremendously enhanced by the many white stone cones which are found mostly in the center of the lakes. The reason for this is that the water of these lakes is the calmest at the center, and it could very easily become stagnant and rot. Therefore care is taken through these stone cones on which the water can surge, thereby causing a friction and becoming invigorated again through the awakening of its inherent electricity. These cones are also quite often overgrown with the healing herb known to us as hellatharianga, the thousand-leaf gold shrub. Through its extraordinary fragrant ethereal exhalation of life, this herb makes the surface of the lake infinitely invigorating; that is why the Saturnites quite often travel by ship to these cones.
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Sometimes there are groups of thousands of these cones in the lakes, which are particularly magnificent in appearance. If you could see them, you would believe that you are looking at one of the largest cities on the water; even Venice would be merely a toy by comparison, because most of these cones have a circumference of 2 to 3 geographic miles and a height of 12,000 to 24,000 feet. There is enough room on a truncated cone to build a city. Now imagine a group of thousands of these cones, and that might give you an idea as to the size of such a cone city in the lake.
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The inhabitants of Saturn work diligently with their chisels to make one or another of these cones habitable by carving steps into these cones right to the top. Here they enjoy being for days on the cones which they have prepared in this manner. Very large cones are carved out, so that they eventually have several habitable floors. Access to the upper floors is achieved through carved-out spiral stairs on the exterior of the cone, by which they can reach the upper floors. But only those cones are selected which have no plant growth whatsoever. The cones that have plant growth are considered to be a sanctuary, and the Saturnites are of the opinion that it is a sin to put a chisel on such a cone. Occasionally they are informed by the angel spirits that it is not a sin at all, but instead it is imprudent to destroy such a noble plant with a chisel. Therefore the Saturnites spare those cones which sprout vegetation out of prudent humbleness. The tops and edges of the cones that have been prepared for habitation are tastefully decorated with all kind of leaves and the flags of the chajaba plant. And that is why such a group of stone cones in the center of the quiet water surface is indeed a beautiful sight, even to the Saturnites. If the people of earth could see this spectacle they would be speechless for quite a while.
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The beauty of such a waterside, or, rather, water cone city is enhanced by the many ships that are present and therefore there are quite a few family gatherings. Also the large variety of waterfowl, which are similar to swans in a great variety of colors, enliven the water surface between these cones and they also enliven large areas of the water with their many different songs. But do not imagine these birds to be the size of your swans such a bird is as large as a small ship. That is why the people of Saturn ride on the backs of these water birds as a kind of enjoyment; and they are carried quite speedily by these birds for a while on the surface of the water. The Saturnites train these birds as draft animals and hitch them to their ships. If you could see such a voyage, you would term it a fairy-tale spectacle, if in front of one of these ships a few hundred of these birds are swimming and pulling it. Such a voyage is only for enjoyment and it does degenerate to the exploitation of these animals, because the Saturnites are compassionate towards all creatures. Therefore, they would not use them for hard labor, because the power of their will and belief is sufficient for all things.
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That covers everything regarding the inland lakes. We will now begin with the animal kingdom, namely with the wonderfully shaped water animals. Here, too, let your imagination roam and you will be privy to many miracles. For today, I say Amen!