"No! we were breathing, sensate things, were human kin and kind. The
sudden vertigo sent me throbbing, like a stricken animal, against the
high pillars of the room we had entered, and a reflex tide of emotion
swept over me in a storm that shook me with convulsive sobs.
"My companion handed me a black wafer. I took it, it dissolved, a
fierce acridity seemed formed in my mouth, and in an instant I felt
strong and bold.
"The Registeries were offices in the alcove-like openings in the sides
of this very long building. In the same building were the Courts, which
are few, and here the rooms for the reception and storage of supplies
for the City. The Hall of Registeries is prolonged into a series of huge
buildings extending along the walls of the Canal.
"I was led by my unknown friend and Chapman to one of these recesses on
which I recognized a globe of our earth with its continents in relief.
Here upon simple tables were spread great bound books made up of thick
creamy leaves of white paper. These were the Registers. The original
home, planet, world, or star, from which each emigrant spirit had
departed was, as far as possible, determined, and appropriately
recorded. The details of their lives were inquired into, the condition
and history of the sphere they had left examined, and thus by the
revision and comparison of these narratives the history of the various
worlds was in a fair way known, almost as accurately as their present
inhabitants knew them.
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