"
"Yes, they have, at least round the edges of their wings or whatever
they are, and they've got clothes, too, silk tunics or something of that
sort--and there are men and women."
"You're quite right, those fringes down their legs are feathers, and
that's how they can fly. They seem to have four arms."
The flying figures which came hovering near to the _Astronef_, without
evincing any apparent sign of fear, were the strangest that human eyes
had looked upon. In some respects they had a sufficient resemblance for
them to be taken for winged men and women, while in another they bore a
decided resemblance to birds. Their bodies and limbs were human in
shape, but of slenderer and lighter build; and from the shoulder-blades
and muscles of the back there sprang a second pair of arms arching up
above their heads. Between these and the lower arms, and continued from
them down the side to the ankles, there appeared to be a flexible
membrane covered with a light feathery down, pure white on the inside,
but on the back a brilliant golden yellow, deepening to bronze towards
the edges, round which ran a deep feathery fringe.
The body was covered in front and down the back between the wings with a
sort of divided tunic of a light, silken-looking material, which must
have been clothing, since there were many different colours all more or
less of different hue among them.
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