Page:Life in a thousand worlds.djvu/168

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FLOATING CITIES.
163

next stop will be at one of the several tropical stations where a fresh supply of fruits is purchased and a number of vehicles sold or delivered.

After this the city passes several apparel cities moored to an immense dock, taking on board large bales of a cotton-like substance used in making texture.

So continues the interesting journey along a safe route mapped out centuries before. Storms arise, of course, but what harm can they do except to send the ponderous waves dashing against the bulwarks of the city and rock it gently, all of which becomes so familiar that no one thinks of these things as serious barriers to the floating-city life.

Perhaps in one tour of four hundred days thirty stops are made. You may wonder how these huge floats are stopped and started. This is accomplished by a series of border propellors which can be put into service at any time if speed is desired or contrary winds are encountered.

These cities have done much to civilize the darker races of Plasden. The manufacturing floats, coming into contact with the