According to Mr. F, what were some of the reasons why the Balloon Merry Go Round could not be seen from either Java or Sumatra?

The balloon merry-go-round part of this story can be found in chapter 8. The chapter begins with the Professor and Mr. F heading out to see the merry-go-round, and on the way, Mr. F explains that the entire thing was conceived of and built by the island's children. Part of the contraption's launching mechanism is a pole that is 75 feet tall, and the Professor asks if it can be seen. Mr. F admits that it can be seen from ships, but a lone pole isn't enough to draw any kind of additional curiosity. For any other information about why the balloon contraption can't be seen, readers need to look in chapter 9. The Professor began thinking that the entire thing is fairly large, and it should be visible if it were high enough. He brings his question to Mr. F, and Mr. F provides several reasons as to why the balloon merry-go-round can't be seen from the neighboring islands. The first reason is that it is painted sky blue, so it blends in quite well with the sky. The second reason is that the device only travels five to six miles at a time, and that just isn't enough to bring it very close to either Java or Sumatra. The third reason is that Krakatoa has a sort of mystique about it. It is said that the island produces strange and natural things alike, so if the balloon were seen, the people would just assume it's another of the volcano's eccentricities:

Then too, the mountain has a reputation for belching forth strange things and the whirling balloons and boats look quite like a big blue smoke ring from the distance.

The final reason is that the people on Java and Sumatra no longer live close to the shoreline that faces Krakatoa. They are scared of another incredibly violent eruption that would kill them and greatly damage their village:

But there is this very important reason why we don't worry about its being seen: in 1877, our second year here, the mountain was so violent that it scared the people living on the shores of the Sunda Strait in both Java and Sumatra so much that they moved their homes inland about twenty-five miles on both islands.

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