THESE FROWNING TOWERS OF ALHAMBRA HAVE SPECIAL INTEREST FOR AMERICANS In the spacious throne room in the tower on the left, Queen Isabella gave Columbus her jewel box, bidding him sell the contents and start on the voyage which resulted in the discovery of America. Back in the Middle Ages, invading Moors held Granada, where they achieved this marvel of architecture, Alhambra. In the same year that Columbus came to America, Spain had triumphed over the Moors and claimed the matchless fortress palace as her own.

YOUNG MEN DRESSED FOR A PROCESSION IN SPAIN

As their faces must be covered while they are marching, these youths of Seville are taking advantage of this halt to lift their hoods for a breath of fresh air and for hurried puffs at their cigarettes.

THE MOSQUE OF THE GOLDEN DOME AT SAMARRA, IRAQ

As one approaches over the Iraq Desert on a clear day, this golden dome can be seen for miles glistening in the sunlight. Long before the World War, it was often predicted in the Near East that if ever armies swept Mesopotamia these rich mosques would inevitably be looted. Yet when war came they were unmolested.

"A BED OF SPIKES, A KIND OF LEGENDARY HELL, SUCH AS AN AVIATOR MIGHT DREAM OF IN A NIGHTMARE"

From Iraq down the Persian side of the Persian Gulf, the airman flies over a mountainous region which bristles with sharp pinnacles, among which no airplane could come to earth and live. These formations in shadow become a veritable kaleidoscope, reflecting deep purples, rich yellows, and brilliant greens (see text, page 358).

It was barely three months later when we again set out on another long flight of survey. This time it was to be Australia and return, but instead of going with an airplane we decided to do the job with a seaplane.

A FLIGHT TO AUSTRALIA WITH THE ENGINE THAT FLEW TO THE CAPE This meant very little alteration in our outfit, however, for all we did was to take our identical De Havilland type 50, that had already done the Rangoon and Cape flights and fit it out with a pair of Shorts' duralumin all-metal floats. Using the Using the same Siddeley Jaguar engine that had done the Cape flight, we took off from the River Medway at Rochester, 33 miles east of London, on our 28,000-mile cruise to Australia and back.

It was difficult to get good pictures on the Australian flight, because we had

purposely chosen to fly through the bad weather period-that is, the hot weather in Iraq and India, combined with the monsoon in India, Burma, and the Malay Peninsula. We wanted to find out whether it would be possible to fly through the torrential rains of the Burma coast, thus making our survey report all the more sound.

TRAGEDY MARS THE AUSTRALIAN FLIGHT

The Australian flight was marred by disaster. Arthur Elliot, my capable and ever loyal engineer, lost his life, dying in the hospital at Basra, in Iraq.

For some unknown reason, possibly the result of overwork in preparing for the flight, I had been suffering from depression, both mental and physical, ever since the start at Rochester. Elliot, on the other hand, had been most cheerful.

We took off from Baghdad in the early

"I SEEMED TO BE FLYING OVER A DEAD PLANET": THE FORBIDDING LAND ALONG THE PERSIAN GULF

"In between these upheavals were old, dried-up water beds of silver sand contrasting with the

THE PALACE OF KISHANGARH, EAST OF JODHPUR, INDIA

Long ago the princes of India, with their families and retinues, lived safe from enemy assault behind the walls and bastions, the towers and turrets, of such fortified palaces as this. Now, what with air bombing, they are completely vulnerable (see page 359).

In 1686 Calcutta was founded as a trading post. Now, with its splendid palaces, parks, and esplanade, its colleges, shops, and factories, and its vast trade by sea and by land with the Ganges and Brahmaputra valleys, it has become one of the great cities of the world.

A MAGNIFICENT TRIBUTE TO A FAVORITE WIFE

This white marble dream, with its all-satisfying beauty and purity of conception, is the famous Taj Mahal Mausoleum at Agra. It has been painted and modeled more often, perhaps, than any other building anywhere. It was built in 1632 by the Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of Mumtaz Mahal (see, also, text, page 360).