They stepped out of the ship to find it surrounded by Canopusians, eyes staring avidly and hearing-hairs quivering with eagerness.[3] Those nearest reached out with their tentacles and lightly touched the cloth of Manning's coat. There was something amusing about their boundless curiosity, although he also knew it could become tiresome. Terrans, visiting Canopus for the first time, could never get used to being followed by a crowd of Canopusians.

[3] The origin of Canopusians is unknown and they seem to be unrelated to any other life form in the galaxy. Their bodies and heads are all of one piece, looking somewhat like inverted gourds. A Canopusian has two short, stubby legs. His tentacles, two of them, are located about midway on his body. On the head-part, there is a tiny, bud-like mouth. He has two eyes, similar in shape to those of humans, and a third one which is on the end of a thin, three-inch eye-stalk. This eye-stalk is flexible and is primarily used for peering around corners and into rooms—to most Terrans it is known as their "keyhole peeper." On the top of his head, the Canopusian has two circular rows of stiff hair. The outer row consists of hearing-hairs and the inner ones are olfactory in nature. The Canopusian is about three feet tall and his smooth flesh is pale lemon in color.

"Melvin," said Fanya, "why are those horrible little creatures staring at us?" She was using the special voice again and Manning shuddered.

"I don't know, my dear," he said, trying to keep in character. "But I'll—" He stopped and gaped. At the sound of Fanya's voice, the Canopusians' hearing-hairs had all started agitating violently. Then they turned and scampered away across the spaceport. It was the first time Manning had ever known them to act in such a manner, but he didn't blame them.

After going through spaceport customs, Manning and Fanya got an air-cab and directed the driver to take them to the Terran Place Hotel. A few minutes later they were flying over Canopusia, capital of the planet and one of the largest cities in the galaxy.

Canopusia was one of the wonders of the modern universe. Tourists came from all over the Federation merely to see the city about which they had heard so much. It had been described by one visiscreen commentator as a monument to the mentality of the natives. Canopusians, as has been noted, were inquisitive and incurable gossips; further, they had no recognizable system of logic. This was well illustrated by their major city. Streets ran in every which-way, a single street sometimes crossing itself 

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