his section will attempt to explore the thought processes of ERB as well as the facts contained in the Barsoom Saga. In every case a religion or belief is mentioned, used, or was part of the story line, Burroughs invariably exposed it for a hoax on Martian society.
Does this then mean that Burroughs was apathetic toward religion specifically, or in general? Or was this merely a dissatisfaction regarding the workings of human superstition and deep-set traditions?? Short of interviewing ERB, an impossibility, or talking with his immediately family, I will never know the answer to that above questions. The fact remains, however, that John Carter and other Barsoomian heroes unearth a number of ugly truths pertaining to religions mentioned as integral story lines; these faiths were based on deception for the purpose of control, power, wealth, or in worst cases as breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
THE TREE OF LIFE
B
urroughs gave us a wonderful tongue-in-cheek and quite brilliant creative twist on Christianity's version of creation. The Tree of Life, the beginning of creation on Mars, bears some similarity to the beliefs of the Hindu religion, and ERB used his Tree of Life to populate the young Barsoom of twenty-three million years ago. Most earthly religions contain a reference to trees as a tenet of those beliefs because the tree is an easily obtainable example of the many different directions and paths possible for life. Here then is the Tree of Life of Barsoom as related by Dator Xodar to John Carter:
"The First Born of Barsoom are the race of black men of which I am Dator or...prince. My race is the oldest on the planet. We trace our lineage, unbroken, direct to the Tree of Life which flourished in the centre of the valley Dor twenty-three million years ago.
"For countless ages the fruit of this tree underwent gradual changes of evolution, passing by degrees from true plant life to a combination of plant and animal. In the first stages the fruit of the tree possessed only the power of independent muscular actions, while the stem remained attached to the parent plant; later a brain developed in the fruit, so that hanging there by their long stems they thought and moved as individuals.
"Then, with the development of perceptions came a comparison to them; judgements were reached and compared, and thus reason and the power to reason were born upon Barsoom.
"Ages passed. Many forms of life came and went upon the Tree of Life, but still all were attached to the parent plant by stems of varying lengths. At length the fruit tree consisted in tiny plant men, such as we now see reproduced in such huge dimensions in the Valley Dor, but still hanging to the limbs and branches of the tree by the stems which grew from the tops of their heads.
"The buds from which the plant men blossomed resembled large nuts about a foot in diameter, divided in double partition walls into four sections. In one section grew the plant man, in another a sixteen-legged worm, in the third the progenitor of the white ape and in the fourth the primeval black man of Barsoom.
"When the bud burst the plant man remained dangling at the end of his stem, but the other three sections fell to the ground, where the efforts of their imprisoned occupants to escape sent them hopping about in all directions.
"Thus as time went on, all Barsoom was covered with these imprisoned creatures. For countless ages they lived their long lives within their hard shells, hopping and skipping about the broad planet; falling into rivers, lakes and seas, to be still further spread about the surface of the new world.
"Countless billions died before the first black man broke through his prison walls into the light of day. Prompted by curiosity, he broke open other shells and the peopling of Barsoom commenced.
"The pure strain of the blood of this first black man has remained untainted by admixture with other creatures in the race of which I am a member; but from the sixteen legged worm, the first ape and renegade black man has sprung every other form of animal life on Barsoom.
"The therns are but the result of ages of evolution from the pure white ape of antiquity. They are a lower order still. There is but one race of true and immortal humans on Barsoom. It is the race of black men.
"The Tree of Life is dead, but before it died, the plant men learned to detach themselves from it and roam the face of Barsoom with the other children of the First Parent."
The Tree of Life could be considered either a divine creation of the world, or a rather improbable explanation for the evolution of life on Barsoom. I suppose it is no more implausible than looking at the life forms of this many and varied world of our own which scientists say evolved from a single cell of life somehow created from a cloud of amino acids suspended in the electrically charged atmosphere of the new born earth some four billion years ago.
Regardless of whether the Tree of Life is considered a necessary part of the Barsoomian religious mysteries, it does more than adequately explain the arrogant conceit of the First Born blacks and the religion of Issus they blindly followed for centuries.
ISSUS
, GODDESS OF DEATH, DAUGHTER OF THE LESSER MOON, MOTHER OF THE NEARER MOON, GODDESS OF LIFE ETERNAL (occasionally PRINCESS OF LIFE ETERNAL.)
W
hen John Carter of Virginia returned to Barsoom after ten years on Earth (see the ending of A Princess of Mars), he suddenly found himself in a strange valley. At first the valley appeared quite wonderful with riotous plant growths and bodies of water open to the sky, coupled with the knowledge that he was once again back on Barsoom, but soon he discovered the true horror lurking behind that peaceful facade.
It is here, in the Valley Dor, Martian Heaven, that John Carter first meets the plant men (described elsewhere), the First Born, and their living deity, Issus.
On Barsoom the extreme longevity of its inhabitants, up to a thousand years, can be a burdensome thing if lived to its full extent. Since a Martian does not show his or her age until the last twenty or so years of their lives, they voluntarily, according to the tenets of the religion of Issus, make a final, fatal pilgrimage to Valley Dor. It is their belief they are going to heaven, to be re-born through the good graces of Issus. It was, so it was told, in the Valley Dor where the supplicant received the blessing of Issus and obtained immortality, in a heaven filled with peace and goodwill.
This rather benign and wholly desirable vision of afterlife was vigorously perpetuated by the Holy Therns. The Therns conducted their religious belief from various temples located all over Barsoom. The Holy Therns had ten cycles (levels) of hierarchy, though John Carter only spoke of a Ninth and Tenth from his personal experiences.
At the end of their thousand years of life martians of all walks of life would depart on a last journey down the River of Mystery, the River Iss and meet their unfortunate doom at the hands of the Holy Therns and the vicious creatures which inhabit Valley Dor. (Ec: Apparently Martians live longer than 1,000 years. Observe Ras Thavas in Mastermind of Mars before he had his brain transplant.)
John Carter discovered the ugly truth behind the promises and exhortations of the Holy Therns. Beautiful in appearance the Valley Dor is filled with enormous trees reaching a thousand feet or more in height, surrounded by gorgeous grassy swards, fruits, food lying ready to be retrieved. The Lost Sea of Korus is in the center of the valley and emphasizes the ideal vision of heaven on "earth"
The only inhabitants of Valley Dor which believe it is heaven are the ferocious white apes and carnivorous plant men. These creatures seize and devour the unsuspecting pilgrims when the supplicants, exhausted from traveling countless thousands of miles across the planet then down the mighty River Iss to reach the south polar mountain walls and through a thousand miles of subterranean caverns, are unable to save themselves. The Holy Therns, in fact, watch the River Iss and announce the coming of food for the apes and plant men.
In some cases the Therns make slaves of the petitioners, working them for years, then feed them to the roving herds of plant men. In a distasteful aside Burroughs noted that come Therns of the Tenth cycle are cannibalistic, though they will not touch human flesh which has not been thoroughly drained of blood by the vampiric plant men.
At the head of this cult is Matai Shang, Holy Hekkador of the Holy Therns. Other names in his title include Brother of Issus, Master of Life and Death upon Barsoom and Father of Holy Therns.
At this point it should be stated that even the Therns themselves believe in Issus. A Temple, the Golden Temple of Issus, had been erected by the Therns on the shores of the Lost Sea of Korus. Matai Shang himself believe in the existence of Issus though they were responsible for the butchery, enslavement, and plundering of the pitiful creatures coming down the River of Mystery.
Burroughs, through John Carter, exposed Issus as First Born, a black woman of such age and antiquity that she no longer appears human. She, in fact, cannibalistically feasts on Holy Therns, unknown to Matai Shang and his associates, who would, obviously, have been very distressed to learn of this. Issus also favored human meals prepared from any kidnap victims or slaves captured by her First Born raiders when they sallied forth from their hidden base below the Lost Sea of Korus. At this point it is obvious that ERB never intended the religion of Issus to be based on any sort of divine possibility.
KOMAL
T
his brings us to another of the blood thirsty religions of Barsoom. Located in Lothar in a short side adventure for Carthoris and Thuvia in the fourth book Thuvia, Maid of Mars, the description will be even shorter: Komal, God of Lothar; no promises, no life eternal, Komal is hungry. Komal is actually a rather large captive banth held in the bowels of the Lotharian city, apparently on his way to becoming a true fat cat from consuming the unfortunates sent to meet the god of Lothar.
TUR
T
he final religion mentioned by Burroughs involved the Phundahlian god Tur. A people far out of step even for the unusual peoples of Barsoom, their chosen god was depicted as a giant idol in the main city. Within the central temple the great image of Tur has been silent (Tur spoke to the masses at one time centuries earlier) but these people continue their worship, piously reading the Turgan, the Phundahlian bible. An example of the rites performed during this worship was wit-nessed by American Ulysses Paxton in his martian identity of Vad Varo.
I asked Dar Tarus if I might accompany him into the temple... directly inside the main entrance ... was a line of priests ... we approached one ... I handed him a piece of gold which he immediately changed into many pieces of lesser value, one of which we dropped into the box at his side; whereupon he made several passes with his hands above our heads, dipped one of his fingers into a bowl of dirty water which he rubbed upon the ends of our noses, mumbled a few words which I could not understand... Never have I seen such a gorgeous display of wealth and lavish ornamentation as confronted my eyes in this, the first of the temples of Tur...
Some of these (carved) images were of men and some of women and many ... were beautiful ... others of beasts and strange grotesque creatures ... (were) hideous indeed. The first we approached was that of a beautiful female figure; and about the pedestal of this lay a number of men and women prone upon the floor against which they bumped their heads seven times and then arose and dropped a piece of money into a receptacle... The next was that of a man with the body of a silian (about which were) horizontal wooden bars in concentric circles. ...hanging from them by their knees were a number of men and women repeating monotonously ... biddle-babble-blup.
At the next figure we visited the people were all upon their hands and knees crawling madly in a circle about the pedestal. Seven times around ... then they rose and put some money in a dish. ..At another the people rolled about saying, 'Tur is Tur; Tur is Tur; Tur is Tur.'
He led me next to the figure of a monstrosity with a mouth that ran entirely around its head. It had a long tail and the breasts of a woman. ...(around which were) a great many people, each standing upon his head. They were also repeating, over and over, 'Tur is Tur.'
(I asked the meaning of this phrase.) "Oh No," exclaimed Dar Tarus. "On the contrary they said just exactly the opposite ... which makes a very great difference."
The Great Tur proves to be another hoax, fueled by greedy priests. Vad Varo eventually discovers that the idol of Tur, the temple, and the palace area are equipped with concealed microphones, speakers, peri-scopes and what all for the priests to tell the people what to do and how much to pay through the nose. The bones of the last great High Priest and once Jeddak of Phundahl are found unburied in a cavity within the idol. He was obviously killed in an accidental fall, explaining why the voice of Tur has been silent for so many years.
The Phundahls were also responsible for fostering several ridiculous beliefs on the people of Barsoom. One, Barsoom is flat. Two, Tur's home is upon the sun. Three, Tur created Barsoom 100,000 years ago, openly denying the established historical chronicles of older civilizations. Four, to make life amusing Tur created two sexes, male and female. Then he made animals to be food for man and each other.
Phundahlians still believe Tur created everything by his own hands and continue to refuse the evidence of their own sexuality. They deny the existence of other worlds because Tur said there was only Barsoom. Vad Varo, of course, scratched his head and left the poor misguided Phundahlians to wake up and smell the toast burning in their own sweet time.
We are reminded that ERB in real life loved puns and reverses. Tur is Tur becomes Rut si Rut, which may have been a commentary on the idiosyncracies of organized religion.
RELIGION ON OTHER WORLDS
ERB dabbled with religion on Ladan, or the nearer moon of Barsoom called Thuria (Phobos). The Tarids, the white race of Ladan with blue hair and blue eyebrows, worship a Fire God, which happens to be the sun. As Umka explained to John Carter in their prison cell:
"They (the Tarids) are governed by some strange belief. ... I do not understand it, but every important act in their lives is regulated by it. They say that they are guided by the sun and the moon and the stars.
"It is all very foolish, but they will not kill us until the sun tells them to, and then they will not kills us for their own pleasure but because they believe it will make the sun happy."
This is the standard god of superstition, wielding greater power, mystery, and capriciousness which has been a part of human cultures since the dawn of time. It is merely a way of justifying the right and duty of those in power who use that power for their own ends.
This concludes our examination of Barsoomian religions, but I shall leave you with one last thought. Whether ERB subscribed to any earthly religion or not, it is a fact that he took great delight in poking fun at the ones he created for Barsoom.
LISTS & TABLES
THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS
I
n this section we will examine the many varieties of plant and animal life created by ERB for his Barsoomian Saga. Where a prior, more detailed description has already been made a foot note will direct you to that passage.
1-apes - The white apes of Barsoom are very much similar in appearance and build as the green martians, having six limbs and of tremendous size. The head of the savage creature is like that of the African gorilla and a shock of thick, stiff-bristled hair runs from the back of the skull and neck to the upper shoulders. The white apes are found everywhere on Barsoom, but frequent the dead cities which provide them with shelter and hunting.
2- apt - A huge white furred creature with six limbs, four of which are short and heavy to carry it through snow and ice, is a denizen of the Barsoomian north pole. The remaining two limbs grow forward from the shoulder on either side of the powerful long neck and terminate in white, hairless hands which it uses to capture and hold its prey. Its head and mouth are like that of the hippopotamus with two large, down-curving horns extending forward from the bottom jaw. Two huge eyes, each composed of hundreds of ocelli, are oval patches running downward from the center of the cranium to below the horns on either side of the head. Each ocelli is equipped with its own lid and the apt can, at will, close as many of the facets as desired. Curiously the creature goes without sleep for periods of up to a month, then sleeps for a whole day before beginning anew the hunt for food in the harsh north.
3- arbok - tree reptile, vicious creature of some size, undescribed in Giant of Mars with exception of clawed, fanged, heavy and large with horny skin.
4-banth - this ten-legged beast is the most ferocious carnivore which roams the low hills surrounding the dead seas of Mars. (Ec: In Giant of Mars the banth is described as having eight legs in an editor's note.) It is almost hairless, having only a great, bristly mane about its thick neck. It's long lithe body is powerfully muscled, its enormous jaws are equipped with several rows of long needle-like fangs, and its mouth reaches to a point far back of its tiny ears. It has enormous protruding eyes of green.
5-bat - undescribed in Giant, it is obviously meant to be similar to the bats of earth.
6 -calot - the Barsoomian dog. About the size of a Shetland pony, the calot has ten short legs. the head bears a slight resemblance to a frog, except that the jaws are equipped with three rows of long, sharp tusks.
7 -calot tree - look up, mentioned in Warlord, pg 52
8- darseen - chameleon-like lizard
9- ersite - a kind of stone
10- fish - mention of fish in the underground river of Tjanath. Eaten by Nur An and Tan Hadron of Hastor. No description given.
14-mantalia - milk plant of Barsoom. pg 49 Fighting, 8 to 12 sofads in height; described as a thick-foliaged tree found in groves on the dead sea bottoms. A food source.
15- orluk - an elephantine beast of prey with black and yellow striped fur, common to the northern pole region of Barsoom.
16- pink-worm - included in the Tree of Life, sixteen legged and apparently the progenitor of most animal life forms on Barsoom.
17- Pimalia - a gorgeous flowering plant
18- plant men - see Races for Plant Men of Valley Dor
19- rykors - for all practical purposes this animal is a headless, brainless red martian, both male and female. The rykor was breed by and is used exclusively by Kaldanes for transportation and other tasks.
20- Silian - Slimy reptiles inhabiting the Sea of Korus
21- Sith - hornet like monster of the forests of Kobal, bald faced and about the size of a hereford bull. Has frightful jaws in front and a poison stinger behind. The eyes, of myriad facts, cover three-fourths of the head, permitting the creature to see in all directions at the same time.
22- skeel - a martian hardwood
23- Sompus - a kind of tree
24- sorak - a little pet animal about the size of a cat, a favorite of red martian women. Also found in the Valley of First Born.
25- Sorapus - a martian hardwood; also bears gorgeous blooms
26- spiders - spiders are mentioned in the Valley of Hohr and have legs which protrude from the upper body before turning downward to the ground.
27- Thoat - the martian horse, which comes in two sizes. The Green Martian Thoat is about ten feet high at the shoulder with four legs to either side; a broad flat tail, larger at the tip than the root which is held straight out behind while running; a mouth splitting the head from snout to long massive neck. It is entirely devoid of hair and is of a dark slate colour and exceedingly smooth and glossy. It has a white belly and the legs are shaded from slate at the shoulders and hips to a vivid yellow at the feet. The feet are heavily padded and nailless. The Red Martian rides a similar beast, though smaller. The animal is a food source as well.
28- usa - a fruit tree; fruit is tasteless, but ranks high in food value. Common and plentiful, usa is used by all the navies and military of Barsoom as rations. The name, if liberally translated, would mean "The Fighting Potato" - Chessmen
29- ulsio - the Martian Rat. About the size of an airedale terrier. Many legged; smooth and hairless, the skin resembles that of a new born mouse. The upper and lower jaws are equipped with five spade like teeth each, with the skin not covering the bony structure, there are no lips to the mouth. Eyes are small and deep set in fleshy mounds.
30- Zitidars - mastodonian draught animals. The leather hides are used to make sandals. A food source.
TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS OF BARSOOM
Airships -- range in size from single seaters to 10,000 man crafts. The swift scout flier (pre-Fighting Man of Mars) had a top speed of 1,100 haads per zode (166 mph). At some time before the events of Fighting Man, an unknown padwar in the Helium navy developed a new motor with half the weight and twice the power. The motor depended upon the planet's magnetic field for engery, thus was practically unlimited in range. The new one-man fliers built with that motor achieved speeds of 2,000 haads per zode (approximately 300 mph). Effective max appears to be 3,000 haads per zode untile better ship building methods are developed. Hastor launched the largest battleship ever, with the capacity to carry 10,000 men (Fighting). artificial life -- homads. Created by Ras Thavas of Toonol. atmosphere factory -- provides the artificial atmosphere of Mars. atom gun - hand weapon described as a pistol or rifle in Giant of Mars. brain and organ transplants, other surgical/medical miracles. computers -- mechanical brains Destination Compass -- a aerial navigational device which Carthoris improved. In operation one sets the desired latitude and longitude. The device then navigates to the location, then shuts down the propulsion and lowers the craft to the group. It also has altitude ranging which prevents ground collision. Directional lighting of cities (swords) Disintegration Ray -- Jahar (FM) Eighth Ray -- antigravity Electromagnetic devices (Warlord and Thuvia) Equilbrimotors -- personal flying belts introduced in Swords of Mars. food tablets -- concentrated energy (Warlord) Ground fliers -- several varieties, Thuvia and Gods gyro-compass -- another name for destination compass, Giant. holographic telescopes -- Princess and again in Synthetic Men hypnosis and deathless minds - specifically the Lotharians, additionally the creature in the pits of Horz, also references the intellects of Bantoom. International air travel, freight and passengers. (Thuvia) invisibility and cloaking devices microset - radio with at least one secret frequency at 2000 kilocycles. Nerve machine -- controls the bodies of indexed and encoded subjects. Ninth Ray -- used in atmospheric plant personal home protection -- houses hydraulically raised at night. photostatic copies -- reproduction of images in an instant. Described as a service of the Temple of Knowledge, Greater Helium (Fighting). Pneumatic tube transport systems (Thuvia) radio -- aerogram, wireless, etc., headphones and morse code. Radium - light bulbs Radium - explosive bullets Radium - pistols and rifles Recording Machine -- type of computer assisted telefax which records weights and measures, and transmits from a distance. space ships space flight standardized traffic flow in urban areas. Submarines -- Omean Sea. Sunrays -- used in Okar for solar energy and heating. suspended animation television - invented by Ras Thavas, Giant watch or chronometer
NAMED AIRSHIPS
VANATOR -- commanded by Gatholian San Tothis. A 35-man cruiser. (Chessmen) VOSAR -- Commanded by Bal Zak (Mastermind) vessel belongs to Ras Thavas PINSAR -- another of Ras Thavas' ships. JHAMA -- Commanded by Tan Hadron. The ship has an invisibility cloak. RUZZAR -- DUSAR -- Commanded by John Carter in Llana of Gathol OKAR -- flagship of Phor San in Llana of Gathol XAVARIAN -- KALKANS -- Commanded by Vas Kor
Gar Nal's space ship in Swords
Fal Siva's space ship in Swords
LANGUAGE and CUSTOMS
Dance of Barsoom -- described in Thuvia, Maid of Mars. The Song of Love - reputed to be that world's most beautiful melody. (Chessmen). Jetan -- a board game similar to chess fully detailed in the Appendix to Chessmen of Mars. Yano -- a game not described anywhere.
LANGUAGE Kadar -- guard Kaor -- hello, or a greeting. Sak -- jump
RELIGIOUS PHRASES Rites of Issus -- the arena of death Tributes of Issus -- the arena of death Tur is Tur -- a Phundahlian axiom.
MARTIAN CUSTOMS AND PROVERBS
A warrior may change his metal, but not his heart.: Dejah Thoris Barsoomian handshake -- hands gripped at the shoulder of the one greeted. Intensity of greeting indicated by one or two handed grip. Barsoomian salute -- hands held to the shoulders, palms forward.
Blessed be your ancestors for this meeting.:
By your first ancestor!: Thuvia
In the name of the Ninth Ray!: exclamation of surprise
Leave to a Thark his head and one hand and he may yet conquer.: Tars Tarkas
Man builds naught that man may not destroy.: Larok Martian writing -- various among the cities
May my ancestors have mercy on me.: Thuvia
May the white apes take us all!: Thuvia my chieftain -- Martian maid's acceptance of a male suitor, instant marriage. handcuffs -- used in the marriage rites of Manator. collars and chain -- another marriage custom (Kobol, I think). my princess -- see above, male response or declaration to declare marriage.
Only our first ancestor knows.: Oral language -- single common tongue world wide. Written language -- each nation has a different written language, but many of the characters and words are common between them, except in Bantoom (Chessmen).
Praised be to our first ancestor!: Thuvia Sword Rite -- an oath of fealty.
The intellects of our ancestors are with us.: Thuvia (21)
WEIGHTS & MEASURES
LINEAR
sofad -- 11.17 earth inches. (On map 11.69 earth inches) safad -- martian inch ad -- 9.75 earth feet haad - 1,949.05 earth feet (listed as 1,949.0592 feet, Fighting Man) 10 sofads -- 1 ad 200 ads -- 1 haad 100 haads -- 1 karad 1 karad -- 1 degree of latitude (36.914 earth miles) 360 karads -- circumference of Barsoom at the equator.
circumference of Mars, 13,289 miles 1 mile -- 2.709 haads
Speed of fast fliers is 166.1 earth miles per hour, or 450 haads per hour; Barsoom map reference (see Technological Developments, AIRSHIPS for more information)
TIME Tal -- 1 second Xat -- 1 minute Zode -- 1 hour
4 tals = 1 xat, or 200 to a zode
5 xats = 15 earth minutes
50 xats = three hours
zode = 2.5 earth hours (listed as 2.462 earth hours, Fighting Man)
8th zode is midnight.
10 zodes daily?
martian day, little over 24 1/2 earth hours (Princess 112)
martian year, 684 earth days
CURRENCY
pi -- 1 cent teepi -- 10 cents tampi -- 1 dollar
hard coinage is oval shaped in bronze, silver and gold.
paper currency--a form of check issued by the payee and redeemed twice a year. If the payee is unable to fulfil his obligation, the government pays the debt and requires the debtor to serve time on a farm or in the military until the debt is paid.
TITLES
TITLES OF ROYALTY Dator -- prince (First Born) Jed -- King Jeddak -- Emperor, King of Kings Jeddarra -- Empress, Queen of Kings
TITLES OF MILITARY Than -- ordinary warrior or seaman Panthan -- a mercenary without house or nation. Padwar -- a lieutenant, ranks of first and second class. Dwar -- a captain Odwar -- general, commands 10,000 men. Teedwar -- see Chessmen Jedwar -- general of generals (a warlord) Umak -- a platoon(?) commanded by a padwar Utan -- 100 men commanded by a dwar. Dar -- 1,000 men commanded by odwar. (Possibly 10 dars per odwar command?
Copyright Notice
Text and Images (c) 1982, 1996 by David Bruce Bozarth. HTML Version (c) 1996. All Rights Reserved. Excerpts from the Martian Books of Edgar Rice Burroughs are copyright by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Permission to copy for personal use is granted though links are preferred as long as this notice is intact.
Airships -- range in size from single seaters to 10,000 man crafts. The swift scout flier (pre-Fighting Man of Mars) had a top speed of 1,100 haads per zode (166 mph). At some time before the events of Fighting Man, an unknown padwar in the Helium navy developed a new motor with half the weight and twice the power. The motor depended upon the planet's magnetic field for engery, thus was practically unlimited in range. The new one-man fliers built with that motor achieved speeds of 2,000 haads per zode (approximately 300 mph). Effective max appears to be 3,000 haads per zode untile better ship building methods are developed. Hastor launched the largest battleship ever, with the capacity to carry 10,000 men (Fighting). 