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136 to the worth of it here. So I pointed to it, and asked Yondozi if that were plentiful.

"Yes," was the reply.

"It is not one of your valuable metals, then?" I continued.

"No," he replied. "It exists in great abundance, and is easily obtained. You shall meet with rocks of it in these mountains." He went on, "It is also found, and mined on a large scale, near Tehana; indeed, the Tehana mines alone can supply the demand for statues, machinery, ornaments, and the many other purposes for which it is used."

I now chose a piece of the coarse yet wholesome bread and a fresh fish (they had been fishing during my absence), then poured into my vessel a quantity of oclima, a decoction made from the leaves of the oclima tree, and used in Neuroomia as tea. I thought at first that it tasted like Peruvian bark, but, through use, got accustomed to it, and now relished it. Thus armed, I took a seat on the vacant branch. The conversation turned upon metals, when Moro appeared to advantage. I told them that if it were known in the other continents that gold was so plentiful in Neuroomia, there would be a rush of a few millions of people to these parts, if only to perish on the ice.