TEXT: FROM EARTH TO THE MOON 
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  FROM THE EARTH TO 
  THE MOON 
   
  by Jules Verne 
   
   
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  FROM EARTH TO THE MOON 
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                          Table of Contents 
   
   
       I.  The Gun Club 
      II.  President Barbicane's Communication 
     III.  Effect of the President's Communication 
      IV.  Reply From the Observatory of Cambridge 
       V.  The Romance of the Moon 
      VI.  The Permissive Limits of Ignorance and Belief in the United 
  States 
     VII.  The Hymn of the Cannon-Ball 
    VIII.  History of the Cannon 
      IX.  The Question of the Powders 
       X.  One Enemy _V._ Twenty-Five Millions of Friends 
      XI.  Florida and Texas 
     XII.  Urbi et Orbi 
    XIII.  Stones Hill 
     XIV.  Pickaxe and Trowel 
      XV.  The Fete of the Casting 
     XVI.  The Columbiad 
    XVII.  A Telegraphic Dispatch 
   XVIII.  The Passenger of the Atlanta 
     XIX.  A Monster Meeting 
      XX.  Attack and Riposte 
     XXI.  How A Frenchman Manages An Affair 
    XXII.  The New Citizen of the United States 
   XXIII.  The Projectile-Vehicle 
    XXIV.  The Telescope of the Rocky Mountains 
     XXV.  Final Details 
    XXVI.  Fire! 
   XXVII.  Foul Weather 
  XXVIII.  A New Star 
   
   
                           A TRIP AROUND IT 
   
  Preliminary Chapter-- Recapitulating the First Part of 
          This Work, and Serving as a Preface to the Second 
   
       I. From Twenty Minutes Past Ten to Forty-Seven Minutes Past Ten P. 
  M. 
      II. The First Half Hour 
     III. Their Place of Shelter 
      IV. A Little Algebra 
       V. The Cold of Space 
      VI. Question and Answer 
     VII. A Moment of Intoxication 
    VIII. At Seventy-Eight Thousand Five Hundred and Fourteen Leagues 
      IX. The Consequences of A Deviation 
       X. The Observers of the Moon 
      XI. Fancy and Reality 
     XII. Orographic Details 
    XIII. Lunar Landscapes 
     XIV. The Night of Three Hundred and Fifty-Four Hours and A Half 
      XV. Hyperbola or Parabola 
     XVI. The Southern Hemisphere 
  
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    XVII. Tycho 
   XVIII. Grave Questions 
     XIX. A Struggle Against the Impossible 
      XX. The Soundings of the Susquehanna 
     XXI. J. T. Maston Recalled 
    XXII. Recovered From the Sea 
   XXIII. The End 
   
  
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  FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON 
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER I 
   
   
  THE GUN CLUB 
   
   
  During the War of the Rebellion, a new and influential club was 
  established in the city of Baltimore in the State of Maryland. 
  It is well known with what energy the taste for military matters 
  became developed among that nation of ship-owners, shopkeepers, 
  and mechanics.  Simple tradesmen jumped their counters to become 
  extemporized captains, colonels, and generals, without having 
  ever passed the School of Instruction at West Point; 
  nevertheless; they quickly rivaled their compeers of the old 
  continent, and, like them, carried off victories by dint of 
  lavish expenditure in ammunition, money, and men. 
   
  But the point in which the Americans singularly distanced the 
  Europeans was in the science of gunnery.  Not, indeed, that 
  their weapons retained a higher degree of perfection than 
  theirs, but that they exhibited unheard-of dimensions, and 
  consequently attained hitherto unheard-of ranges.  In point of 
  grazing, plunging, oblique, or enfilading, or point-blank 
  firing, the English, French, and Prussians have nothing to 
  learn; but their cannon, howitzers, and mortars are mere 
  pocket-pistols compared with the formidable engines of the 
  American artillery. 
   
  This fact need surprise no one.  The Yankees, the first 
  mechanicians in the world, are engineers-- just as the Italians 
  are musicians and the Germans metaphysicians-- by right of birth. 
  Nothing is more natural, therefore, than to perceive them 
  applying their audacious ingenuity to the science of gunnery. 
  Witness the marvels of Parrott, Dahlgren, and Rodman. 
  The Armstrong, Palliser, and Beaulieu guns were compelled to bow 
  before their transatlantic rivals. 
   
  Now when an American has an idea, he directly seeks a second 
  American to share it.  If there be three, they elect a president 
  and two secretaries.  Given four, they name a keeper of records, 
  and the office is ready for work; five, they convene a general 
  meeting, and the club is fully constituted.  So things were 
  managed in Baltimore.  The inventor of a new cannon associated 
  himself with the caster and the borer.  Thus was formed the 
  nucleus of the "Gun Club."  In a single month after its formation 
  it numbered 1,833 effective members and 30,565 corresponding members. 
   
  One condition was imposed as a _sine qua non_ upon every 
  candidate for admission into the association, and that was the 
  condition of having designed, or (more or less) perfected a 
  cannon; or, in default of a cannon, at least a firearm of 
  
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  some description.  It may, however, be mentioned that mere 
  inventors of revolvers, fire-shooting carbines, and similar 
  small arms, met with little consideration.  Artillerists always 
  commanded the chief place of favor. 
   
  The estimation in which these gentlemen were held, according to 
  one of the most scientific exponents of the Gun Club, was 
  "proportional to the masses of their guns, and in the direct 
  ratio of the square of the distances attained by their projectiles." 
   
  The Gun Club once founded, it is easy to conceive the result of 
  the inventive genius of the Americans.  Their military weapons 
  attained colossal proportions, and their projectiles, exceeding 
  the prescribed limits, unfortunately occasionally cut in two 
  some unoffending pedestrians.  These inventions, in fact, left 
  far in the rear the timid instruments of European artillery. 
   
  It is but fair to add that these Yankees, brave as they have 
  ever proved themselves to be, did not confine themselves to 
  theories and formulae, but that they paid heavily, _in propria 
  persona_, for their inventions.  Among them were to be counted 
  officers of all ranks, from lieutenants to generals; military 
  men of every age, from those who were just making their _debut_ 
  in the profession of arms up to those who had grown old in the 
  gun-carriage.  Many had found their rest on the field of battle 
  whose names figured in the "Book of Honor" of the Gun Club; and 
  of those who made good their return the greater proportion bore 
  the marks of their indisputable valor.  Crutches, wooden legs, 
  artificial arms, steel hooks, caoutchouc jaws, silver craniums, 
  platinum noses, were all to be found in the collection; and it 
  was calculated by the great statistician Pitcairn that throughout 
  the Gun Club there was not quite one arm between four persons 
  and two legs between six. 
   
  Nevertheless, these valiant artillerists took no particular 
  account of these little facts, and felt justly proud when the 
  despatches of a battle returned the number of victims at 
  ten-fold the quantity of projectiles expended. 
   
  One day, however-- sad and melancholy day!-- peace was signed 
  between the survivors of the war; the thunder of the guns 
  gradually ceased, the mortars were silent, the howitzers were 
  muzzled for an indefinite period, the cannon, with muzzles 
  depressed, were returned into the arsenal, the shot were 
  repiled, all bloody reminiscences were effaced; the 
  cotton-plants grew luxuriantly in the well-manured fields, all 
  mourning garments were laid aside, together with grief; and the 
  Gun Club was relegated to profound inactivity. 
   
  Some few of the more advanced and inveterate theorists set 
  themselves again to work upon calculations regarding the laws 
  of projectiles.  They reverted invariably to gigantic shells 
  and howitzers of unparalleled caliber.  Still in default of 
  practical experience what was the value of mere theories? 
  Consequently, the clubrooms became deserted, the servants dozed 
  in the antechambers, the newspapers grew mouldy on the tables, 
  sounds of snoring came from dark corners, and the members of the 
  
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  Gun Club, erstwhile so noisy in their seances, were reduced to 
  silence by this disastrous peace and gave themselves up wholly 
  to dreams of a Platonic kind of artillery. 
   
  "This is horrible!" said Tom Hunter one evening, while rapidly 
  carbonizing his wooden legs in the fireplace of the 
  smoking-room; "nothing to do! nothing to look forward to! what 
  a loathsome existence!  When again shall the guns arouse us in 
  the morning with their delightful reports?" 
   
  "Those days are gone by," said jolly Bilsby, trying to extend 
  his missing arms.  "It was delightful once upon a time! 
  One invented a gun, and hardly was it cast, when one hastened 
  to try it in the face of the enemy!  Then one returned to camp 
  with a word of encouragement from Sherman or a friendly shake 
  of the hand from McClellan.  But now the generals are gone 
  back to their counters; and in place of projectiles, they 
  despatch bales of cotton.  By Jove, the future of gunnery in 
  America is lost!" 
   
  "Ay! and no war in prospect!" continued the famous James T. 
  Maston, scratching with his steel hook his gutta-percha cranium. 
  "Not a cloud on the horizon! and that too at such a critical 
  period in the progress of the science of artillery!  Yes, gentlemen! 
  I who address you have myself this very morning perfected a 
  model (plan, section, elevation, etc.) of a mortar destined to 
  change all the conditions of warfare!" 
   
  "No! is it possible?" replied Tom Hunter, his thoughts reverting 
  involuntarily to a former invention of the Hon. J. T. Maston, by 
  which, at its first trial, he had succeeded in killing three 
  hundred and thirty-seven people. 
   
  "Fact!" replied he.  "Still, what is the use of so many studies 
  worked out, so many difficulties vanquished?  It's mere waste 
  of time!  The New World seems to have made up its mind to live in 
  peace; and our bellicose _Tribune_ predicts some approaching 
  catastrophes arising out of this scandalous increase of population." 
   
  "Nevertheless," replied Colonel Blomsberry, "they are always 
  struggling in Europe to maintain the principle of nationalities." 
   
  "Well?" 
   
  "Well, there might be some field for enterprise down there; and 
  if they would accept our services----" 
   
  "What are you dreaming of?" screamed Bilsby; "work at gunnery 
  for the benefit of foreigners?" 
   
  "That would be better than doing nothing here," returned the colonel. 
   
  "Quite so," said J. T. Matson; "but still we need not dream of 
  that expedient." 
   
  "And why not?" demanded the colonel. 
   
  
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  "Because their ideas of progress in the Old World are contrary 
  to our American habits of thought.  Those fellows believe that 
  one can't become a general without having served first as an 
  ensign; which is as much as to say that one can't point a gun 
  without having first cast it oneself!" 
   
  "Ridiculous!" replied Tom Hunter, whittling with his bowie-knife 
  the arms of his easy chair; "but if that be the case there, all 
  that is left for us is to plant tobacco and distill whale-oil." 
   
  "What!" roared J. T. Maston, "shall we not employ these 
  remaining years of our life in perfecting firearms?  Shall there 
  never be a fresh opportunity of trying the ranges of projectiles? 
  Shall the air never again be lighted with the glare of our guns? 
  No international difficulty ever arise to enable us to declare 
  war against some transatlantic power?  Shall not the French sink 
  one of our steamers, or the English, in defiance of the rights 
  of nations, hang a few of our countrymen?" 
   
  "No such luck," replied Colonel Blomsberry; "nothing of the kind 
  is likely to happen; and even if it did, we should not profit by it. 
  American susceptibility is fast declining, and we are all going 
  to the dogs." 
   
  "It is too true," replied J. T. Maston, with fresh violence; 
  "there are a thousand grounds for fighting, and yet we don't fight. 
  We save up our arms and legs for the benefit of nations who don't 
  know what to do with them!  But stop-- without going out of one's 
  way to find a cause for war-- did not North America once belong 
  to the English?" 
   
  "Undoubtedly," replied Tom Hunter, stamping his crutch with fury. 
   
  "Well, then," replied J. T. Maston, "why should not England in 
  her turn belong to the Americans?" 
   
  "It would be but just and fair," returned Colonel Blomsberry. 
   
  "Go and propose it to the President of the United States," cried 
  J. T. Maston, "and see how he will receive you." 
   
  "Bah!" growled Bilsby between the four teeth which the war had 
  left him; "that will never do!" 
   
  "By Jove!" cried J. T. Maston, "he mustn't count on my vote at 
  the next election!" 
   
  "Nor on ours," replied unanimously all the bellicose invalids. 
   
  "Meanwhile," replied J. T. Maston, "allow me to say that, if I 
  cannot get an opportunity to try my new mortars on a real field 
  of battle, I shall say good-by to the members of the Gun Club, 
  and go and bury myself in the prairies of Arkansas!" 
   
  "In that case we will accompany you," cried the others. 
   
  Matters were in this unfortunate condition, and the club was 
  
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  threatened with approaching dissolution, when an unexpected 
  circumstance occurred to prevent so deplorable a catastrophe. 
   
  On the morrow after this conversation every member of the 
  association received a sealed circular couched in the 
  following terms: 
   
   
                                       BALTIMORE, October 3. 
  The president of the Gun Club has the honor to inform his colleagues 
  that, at the meeting of the 5th instant, he will bring before 
  them a communication of an extremely interesting nature.  He requests, 
  therefore, that they will make it convenient to attend in 
  accordance with the present invitation.        Very cordially, 
                                       IMPEY BARBICANE, P.G.C. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER II 
   
   
  PRESIDENT BARBICANE'S COMMUNICATION 
   
   
  On the 5th of October, at eight p.m., a dense crowd pressed 
  toward the saloons of the Gun Club at No. 21 Union Square. 
  All the members of the association resident in Baltimore attended 
  the invitation of their president.  As regards the corresponding 
  members, notices were delivered by hundreds throughout the streets 
  of the city, and, large as was the great hall, it was quite 
  inadequate to accommodate the crowd of _savants_.  They overflowed 
  into the adjoining rooms, down the narrow passages, into the 
  outer courtyards.  There they ran against the vulgar herd who 
  pressed up to the doors, each struggling to reach the front ranks, 
  all eager to learn the nature of the important communication of 
  President Barbicane; all pushing, squeezing, crushing with that 
  perfect freedom of action which is so peculiar to the masses when 
  educated in ideas of "self-government." 
   
  On that evening a stranger who might have chanced to be in 
  Baltimore could not have gained admission for love or money into 
  the great hall.  That was reserved exclusively for resident or 
  corresponding members; no one else could possibly have obtained 
  a place; and the city magnates, municipal councilors, and 
  "select men" were compelled to mingle with the mere townspeople 
  in order to catch stray bits of news from the interior. 
   
  Nevertheless the vast hall presented a curious spectacle. 
  Its immense area was singularly adapted to the purpose. 
  Lofty pillars formed of cannon, superposed upon huge mortars as a 
  base, supported the fine ironwork of the arches, a perfect piece 
  of cast-iron lacework.  Trophies of blunderbuses, matchlocks, 
  arquebuses, carbines, all kinds of firearms, ancient and modern, 
  were picturesquely interlaced against the walls.  The gas lit 
  up in full glare myriads of revolvers grouped in the form of 
  
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  lustres, while groups of pistols, and candelabra formed of 
  muskets bound together, completed this magnificent display 
  of brilliance.  Models of cannon, bronze castings, sights covered 
  with dents, plates battered by the shots of the Gun Club, 
  assortments of rammers and sponges, chaplets of shells, wreaths 
  of projectiles, garlands of howitzers-- in short, all the 
  apparatus of the artillerist, enchanted the eye by this 
  wonderful arrangement and induced a kind of belief that their 
  real purpose was ornamental rather than deadly. 
   
  At the further end of the saloon the president, assisted by four 
  secretaries, occupied a large platform.  His chair, supported by 
  a carved gun-carriage, was modeled upon the ponderous proportions 
  of a 32-inch mortar.  It was pointed at an angle of ninety degrees, 
  and suspended upon truncheons, so that the president could balance 
  himself upon it as upon a rocking-chair, a very agreeable fact in 
  the very hot weather.  Upon the table (a huge iron plate supported 
  upon six carronades) stood an inkstand of exquisite elegance, made 
  of a beautifully chased Spanish piece, and a sonnette, which, when 
  required, could give forth a report equal to that of a revolver. 
  During violent debates this novel kind of bell scarcely sufficed 
  to drown the clamor of these excitable artillerists. 
   
  In front of the table benches arranged in zigzag form, like the 
  circumvallations of a retrenchment, formed a succession of 
  bastions and curtains set apart for the use of the members of 
  the club; and on this especial evening one might say, "All the 
  world was on the ramparts."  The president was sufficiently well 
  known, however, for all to be assured that he would not put his 
  colleagues to discomfort without some very strong motive. 
   
  Impey Barbicane was a man of forty years of age, calm, cold, 
  austere; of a singularly serious and self-contained demeanor, 
  punctual as a chronometer, of imperturbable temper and immovable 
  character; by no means chivalrous, yet adventurous withal, and 
  always bringing practical ideas to bear upon the very rashest 
  enterprises; an essentially New Englander, a Northern colonist, 
  a descendant of the old anti-Stuart Roundheads, and the 
  implacable enemy of the gentlemen of the South, those ancient 
  cavaliers of the mother country.  In a word, he was a Yankee to 
  the backbone. 
   
  Barbicane had made a large fortune as a timber merchant. 
  Being nominated director of artillery during the war, he proved 
  himself fertile in invention.  Bold in his conceptions, he 
  contributed powerfully to the progress of that arm and gave an 
  immense impetus to experimental researches. 
   
  He was personage of the middle height, having, by a rare 
  exception in the Gun Club, all his limbs complete.  His strongly 
  marked features seemed drawn by square and rule; and if it be 
  true that, in order to judge a man's character one must look at 
  his profile, Barbicane, so examined, exhibited the most certain 
  indications of energy, audacity, and _sang-froid_. 
   
  At this moment he was sitting in his armchair, silent, absorbed, 
  lost in reflection, sheltered under his high-crowned hat-- a 
  
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  kind of black cylinder which always seems firmly screwed upon 
  the head of an American. 
   
  Just when the deep-toned clock in the great hall struck eight, 
  Barbicane, as if he had been set in motion by a spring, raised 
  himself up.  A profound silence ensued, and the speaker, in a 
  somewhat emphatic tone of voice, commenced as follows: 
   
  "My brave, colleagues, too long already a paralyzing peace has 
  plunged the members of the Gun Club in deplorable inactivity. 
  After a period of years full of incidents we have been compelled 
  to abandon our labors, and to stop short on the road of progress. 
  I do not hesitate to state, baldly, that any war which would 
  recall us to arms would be welcome!"  (Tremendous applause!) 
  "But war, gentlemen, is impossible under existing circumstances; 
  and, however we may desire it, many years may elapse before our 
  cannon shall again thunder in the field of battle.  We must make 
  up our minds, then, to seek in another train of ideas some field 
  for the activity which we all pine for." 
   
  The meeting felt that the president was now approaching the 
  critical point, and redoubled their attention accordingly. 
   
  "For some months past, my brave colleagues," continued 
  Barbicane, "I have been asking myself whether, while confining 
  ourselves to our own particular objects, we could not enter upon 
  some grand experiment worthy of the nineteenth century; and 
  whether the progress of artillery science would not enable us to 
  carry it out to a successful issue.  I have been considering, 
  working, calculating; and the result of my studies is the conviction 
  that we are safe to succeed in an enterprise which to any other 
  country would appear wholly impracticable.  This project, the result 
  of long elaboration, is the object of my present communication. 
  It is worthy of yourselves, worthy of the antecedents of the Gun 
  Club; and it cannot fail to make some noise in the world." 
   
  A thrill of excitement ran through the meeting. 
   
  Barbicane, having by a rapid movement firmly fixed his hat upon 
  his head, calmly continued his harangue: 
   
  "There is no one among you, my brave colleagues, who has not 
  seen the Moon, or, at least, heard speak of it.  Don't be 
  surprised if I am about to discourse to you regarding the Queen 
  of the Night.  It is perhaps reserved for us to become the 
  Columbuses of this unknown world.  Only enter into my plans, and 
  second me with all your power, and I will lead you to its 
  conquest, and its name shall be added to those of the thirty-six 
  states which compose this Great Union." 
   
  "Three cheers for the Moon!" roared the Gun Club, with one voice. 
   
  "The moon, gentlemen, has been carefully studied," continued 
  Barbicane; "her mass, density, and weight; her constitution, 
  motions, distance, as well as her place in the solar system, 
  have all been exactly determined.  Selenographic charts have 
  been constructed with a perfection which equals, if it does not 
  
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  even surpass, that of our terrestrial maps.  Photography has 
  given us proofs of the incomparable beauty of our satellite; all 
  is known regarding the moon which mathematical science, 
  astronomy, geology, and optics can learn about her.  But up to 
  the present moment no direct communication has been established 
  with her." 
   
  A violent movement of interest and surprise here greeted this 
  remark of the speaker. 
   
  "Permit me," he continued, "to recount to you briefly how 
  certain ardent spirits, starting on imaginary journeys, have 
  penetrated the secrets of our satellite.  In the seventeenth 
  century a certain David Fabricius boasted of having seen with 
  his own eyes the inhabitants of the moon.  In 1649 a Frenchman, 
  one Jean Baudoin, published a `Journey performed from the Earth 
  to the Moon by Domingo Gonzalez,' a Spanish adventurer.  At the 
  same period Cyrano de Bergerac published that celebrated 
  `Journeys in the Moon' which met with such success in France. 
  Somewhat later another Frenchman, named Fontenelle, wrote `The 
  Plurality of Worlds,' a _chef-d'oeuvre_ of its time.  About 1835 
  a small treatise, translated from the New York _American_, related 
  how Sir John Herschel, having been despatched to the Cape of 
  Good Hope for the purpose of making there some astronomical 
  calculations, had, by means of a telescope brought to perfection 
  by means of internal lighting, reduced the apparent distance of 
  the moon to eighty yards!  He then distinctly perceived caverns 
  frequented by hippopotami, green mountains bordered by golden 
  lace-work, sheep with horns of ivory, a white species of deer 
  and inhabitants with membranous wings, like bats.  This _brochure_, 
  the work of an American named Locke, had a great sale.  But, to 
  bring this rapid sketch to a close, I will only add that a 
  certain Hans Pfaal, of Rotterdam, launching himself in a balloon 
  filled with a gas extracted from nitrogen, thirty-seven times 
  lighter than hydrogen, reached the moon after a passage of 
  nineteen hours.  This journey, like all previous ones, was purely 
  imaginary; still, it was the work of a popular American author-- 
  I mean Edgar Poe!" 
   
  "Cheers for Edgar Poe!" roared the assemblage, electrified by 
  their president's words. 
   
  "I have now enumerated," said Barbicane, "the experiments which 
  I call purely paper ones, and wholly insufficient to establish 
  serious relations with the Queen of the Night.  Nevertheless, I 
  am bound to add that some practical geniuses have attempted to 
  establish actual communication with her.  Thus, a few days ago, 
  a German geometrician proposed to send a scientific expedition 
  to the steppes of Siberia.  There, on those vast plains, they 
  were to describe enormous geometric figures, drawn in characters 
  of reflecting luminosity, among which was the proposition 
  regarding the `square of the hypothenuse,' commonly called the 
  `Ass's Bridge' by the French.  `Every intelligent being,' said 
  the geometrician, `must understand the scientific meaning of 
  that figure.  The Selenites, do they exist, will respond by a 
  similar figure; and, a communication being thus once 
  established, it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall 
  
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  enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'  So 
  spoke the German geometrician; but his project was never put 
  into practice, and up to the present day there is no bond 
  in existence between the Earth and her satellite.  It is 
  reserved for the practical genius of Americans to establish a 
  communication with the sidereal world.  The means of arriving 
  thither are simple, easy, certain, infallible-- and that is the 
  purpose of my present proposal." 
   
  A storm of acclamations greeted these words.  There was not a 
  single person in the whole audience who was not overcome, 
  carried away, lifted out of himself by the speaker's words! 
   
  Long-continued applause resounded from all sides. 
   
  As soon as the excitement had partially subsided, Barbicane 
  resumed his speech in a somewhat graver voice. 
   
  "You know," said he, "what progress artillery science has made 
  during the last few years, and what a degree of perfection 
  firearms of every kind have reached.  Moreover, you are well 
  aware that, in general terms, the resisting power of cannon and 
  the expansive force of gunpowder are practically unlimited. 
  Well! starting from this principle, I ask myself whether, 
  supposing sufficient apparatus could be obtained constructed 
  upon the conditions of ascertained resistance, it might not be 
  possible to project a shot up to the moon?" 
   
  At these words a murmur of amazement escaped from a thousand 
  panting chests; then succeeded a moment of perfect silence, 
  resembling that profound stillness which precedes the bursting 
  of a thunderstorm.  In point of fact, a thunderstorm did peal 
  forth, but it was the thunder of applause, or cries, and of 
  uproar which made the very hall tremble.  The president 
  attempted to speak, but could not.  It was fully ten minutes 
  before he could make himself heard. 
   
  "Suffer me to finish," he calmly continued.  "I have looked at 
  the question in all its bearings, I have resolutely attacked it, 
  and by incontrovertible calculations I find that a projectile 
  endowed with an initial velocity of 12,000 yards per second, and 
  aimed at the moon, must necessarily reach it.  I have the honor, 
  my brave colleagues, to propose a trial of this little experiment." 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER III 
   
   
  EFFECT OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMMUNICATION 
   
   
  It is impossible to describe the effect produced by the last 
  words of the honorable president-- the cries, the shouts, the 
  succession of roars, hurrahs, and all the varied vociferations 
  
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  which the American language is capable of supplying.  It was a 
  scene of indescribable confusion and uproar.  They shouted, they 
  clapped, they stamped on the floor of the hall.  All the weapons 
  in the museum discharged at once could not have more violently set 
  in motion the waves of sound.  One need not be surprised at this. 
  There are some cannoneers nearly as noisy as their own guns. 
   
  Barbicane remained calm in the midst of this enthusiastic 
  clamor; perhaps he was desirous of addressing a few more words 
  to his colleagues, for by his gestures he demanded silence, 
  and his powerful alarum was worn out by its violent reports. 
  No attention, however, was paid to his request.  He was presently 
  torn from his seat and passed from the hands of his faithful 
  colleagues into the arms of a no less excited crowd. 
   
  Nothing can astound an American.  It has often been asserted 
  that the word "impossible" in not a French one.  People have 
  evidently been deceived by the dictionary.  In America, all is 
  easy, all is simple; and as for mechanical difficulties, they 
  are overcome before they arise.  Between Barbicane's proposition 
  and its realization no true Yankee would have allowed even the 
  semblance of a difficulty to be possible.  A thing with them is 
  no sooner said than done. 
   
  The triumphal progress of the president continued throughout 
  the evening.  It was a regular torchlight procession.  Irish, Germans, 
  French, Scotch, all the heterogeneous units which make up the 
  population of Maryland shouted in their respective vernaculars; 
  and the "vivas," "hurrahs," and "bravos" were intermingled in 
  inexpressible enthusiasm. 
   
  Just at this crisis, as though she comprehended all this 
  agitation regarding herself, the moon shone forth with 
  serene splendor, eclipsing by her intense illumination all the 
  surrounding lights.  The Yankees all turned their gaze toward 
  her resplendent orb, kissed their hands, called her by all kinds 
  of endearing names.  Between eight o'clock and midnight one 
  optician in Jones'-Fall Street made his fortune by the sale of 
  opera-glasses. 
   
  Midnight arrived, and the enthusiasm showed no signs of diminution. 
  It spread equally among all classes of citizens-- men of science, 
  shopkeepers, merchants, porters, chair-men, as well as "greenhorns," 
  were stirred in their innermost fibres.  A national enterprise was 
  at stake.  The whole city, high and low, the quays bordering the 
  Patapsco, the ships lying in the basins, disgorged a crowd drunk 
  with joy, gin, and whisky.  Every one chattered, argued, discussed, 
  disputed, applauded, from the gentleman lounging upon the barroom 
  settee with his tumbler of sherry-cobbler before him down to the 
  waterman who got drunk upon his "knock-me-down" in the dingy taverns 
  of Fell Point. 
   
  About two A.M., however, the excitement began to subside. 
  President Barbicane reached his house, bruised, crushed, and 
  squeezed almost to a mummy.  Hercules could not have resisted a 
  similar outbreak of enthusiasm.  The crowd gradually deserted 
  the squares and streets.  The four railways from Philadelphia 
  
  FROM EARTH TO THE MOON 
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  and Washington, Harrisburg and Wheeling, which converge at 
  Baltimore, whirled away the heterogeneous population to the four 
  corners of the United States, and the city subsided into 
  comparative tranquility. 
   
  On the following day, thanks to the telegraphic wires, five 
  hundred newspapers and journals, daily, weekly, monthly, or 
  bi-monthly, all took up the question.  They examined it under 
  all its different aspects, physical, meteorological, economical, 
  or moral, up to its bearings on politics or civilization. 
  They debated whether the moon was a finished world, or whether 
  it was destined to undergo any further transformation.  Did it 
  resemble the earth at the period when the latter was destitute 
  as yet of an atmosphere?  What kind of spectacle would its hidden 
  hemisphere present to our terrestrial spheroid?  Granting that 
  the question at present was simply that of sending a projectile 
  up to the moon, every one must see that that involved the 
  commencement of a series of experiments.  All must hope that 
  some day America would penetrate the deepest secrets of that 
  mysterious orb; and some even seemed to fear lest its conquest 
  should not sensibly derange the equilibrium of Europe. 
   
  The project once under discussion, not a single paragraph 
  suggested a doubt of its realization.  All the papers, 
  pamphlets, reports-- all the journals published by the 
  scientific, literary, and religious societies enlarged upon its 
  advantages; and the Society of Natural History of Boston, the 
  Society of Science and Art of Albany, the Geographical and 
  Statistical Society of New York, the Philosophical Society of 
  Philadelphia, and the Smithsonian of Washington sent innumerable 
  letters of congratulation to the Gun Club, together with offers 
  of immediate assistance and money. 
   
  From that day forward Impey Barbicane became one of the greatest 
  citizens of the United States, a kind of Washington of science. 
  A single trait of feeling, taken from many others, will serve to 
  show the point which this homage of a whole people to a single 
  individual attained. 
   
  Some few days after this memorable meeting of the Gun Club, the 
  manager of an English company announced, at the Baltimore 
  theatre, the production of "Much ado about Nothing."  But the 
  populace, seeing in that title an allusion damaging to 
  Barbicane's project, broke into the auditorium, smashed the 
  benches, and compelled the unlucky director to alter his playbill. 
  Being a sensible man, he bowed to the public will and replaced 
  the offending comedy by "As you like it"; and for many weeks he 
  realized fabulous profits. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER IV 
   
   
  REPLY FROM THE OBSERVATORY OF CAMBRIDGE 
  
  FROM EARTH TO THE MOON 
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  15
   
   
  Barbicane, however, lost not one moment amid all the enthusiasm 
  of which he had become the object.  His first care was to 
  reassemble his colleagues in the board-room of the Gun Club. 
  There, after some discussion, it was agreed to consult the 
  astronomers regarding the astronomical part of the enterprise. 
  Their reply once ascertained, they could then discuss the 
  mechanical means, and nothing should be wanting to ensure the 
  success of this great experiment. 
   
  A note couched in precise terms, containing special 
  interrogatories, was then drawn up and addressed to the 
  Observatory of Cambridge in Massachusetts.  This city, where the 
  first university of the United States was founded, is justly 
  celebrated for its astronomical staff.  There are to be found 
  assembled all the most eminent men of science.  Here is to be 
  seen at work that powerful telescope which enabled Bond to 
  resolve the nebula of Andromeda, and Clarke to discover the 
  satellite of Sirius.  This celebrated institution fully justified 
  on all points the confidence reposed in it by the Gun Club. 
  So, after two days, the reply so impatiently awaited was placed 
  in the hands of President Barbicane. 
   
  It was couched in the following terms: 
   
  _The Director of the Cambridge Observatory to the President    
             of the Gun Club at Baltimore._ 
   
   
                                      CAMBRIDGE, October 7. 
  On the receipt of your favor of the 6th instant, addressed to 
  the Observatory of Cambridge in the name of the members of the 
  Baltimore Gun Club, our staff was immediately called together, 
  and it was judged expedient to reply as follows: 
   
  The questions which have been proposed to it are these-- 
   
  "1. Is it possible to transmit a projectile up to the moon? 
   
  "2. What is the exact distance which separates the earth from 
  its satellite? 
   
  "3. What will be the period of transit of the projectile when 
  endowed with sufficient initial velocity? and, consequently, at 
  what moment ought it to be discharged in order that it may touch 
  the moon at a particular point? 
   
  "4. At what precise moment will the moon present herself in the 
  most favorable position to be reached by the projectile? 
   
  "5. What point in the heavens ought the cannon to be aimed at 
  which is intended to discharge the projectile? 
   
  "6. What place will the moon occupy in the heavens at the moment 
  of the projectile's departure?" 
   
  
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  16
  Regarding the _first_ question, "Is it possible to transmit a 
  projectile up to the moon?" 
   
  _Answer._-- Yes; provided it possess an initial velocity of 
  1,200 yards per second; calculations prove that to be sufficient. 
  In proportion as we recede from the earth the action of gravitation 
  diminishes in the inverse ratio of the square of the distance; 
  that is to say, _at three times a given distance the action is 
  nine times less._  Consequently, the weight of a shot will decrease, 
  and will become reduced to _zero_ at the instant that the attraction 
  of the moon exactly counterpoises that of the earth; that is to say 
  at 47/52 of its passage.  At that instant the projectile will 
  have no weight whatever; and, if it passes that point, it will 
  fall into the moon by the sole effect of the lunar attraction. 
  The _theoretical possibility_ of the experiment is therefore 
  absolutely demonstrated; its _success_ must depend upon the power 
  of the engine employed. 
   
  As to the _second_ question, "What is the exact distance which 
  separates the earth from its satellite?" 
   
  _Answer._-- The moon does not describe a _circle_ round the 
  earth, but rather an _ellipse_, of which our earth occupies one 
  of the _foci_; the consequence, therefore, is, that at certain 
  times it approaches nearer to, and at others it recedes farther 
  from, the earth; in astronomical language, it is at one time in 
  _apogee_, at another in _perigee_.  Now the difference between 
  its greatest and its least distance is too considerable to be 
  left out of consideration.  In point of fact, in its apogee the 
  moon is 247,552 miles, and in its perigee, 218,657 miles only 
  distant; a fact which makes a difference of 28,895 miles, or 
  more than one-ninth of the entire distance.  The perigee 
  distance, therefore, is that which ought to serve as the basis 
  of all calculations. 
   
  To the _third_ question. 
   
  _Answer._-- If the shot should preserve continuously its initial 
  velocity of 12,000 yards per second, it would require little 
  more than nine hours to reach its destination; but, inasmuch as 
  that initial velocity will be continually decreasing, it will 
  occupy 300,000 seconds, that is 83hrs. 20m. in reaching the 
  point where the attraction of the earth and moon will be _in 
  equilibrio_.  From this point it will fall into the moon in 
  50,000 seconds, or 13hrs. 53m. 20sec.  It will be desirable, 
  therefore, to discharge it 97hrs. 13m. 20sec. before the arrival 
  of the moon at the point aimed at. 
   
  Regarding question _four_, "At what precise moment will the moon 
  present herself in the most favorable position, etc.?" 
   
  _Answer._-- After what has been said above, it will be 
  necessary, first of all, to choose the period when the moon will 
  be in perigee, and _also_ the moment when she will be crossing 
  the zenith, which latter event will further diminish the entire 
  distance by a length equal to the radius of the earth, _i. e._ 
  3,919 miles; the result of which will be that the final passage 
  
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  17
  remaining to be accomplished will be 214,976 miles.  But although 
  the moon passes her perigee every month, she does not reach the 
  zenith always _at exactly the same moment_.  She does not appear 
  under these two conditions simultaneously, except at long 
  intervals of time.  It will be necessary, therefore, to wait for 
  the moment when her passage in perigee shall coincide with that 
  in the zenith.  Now, by a fortunate circumstance, on the 4th of 
  December in the ensuing year the moon _will_ present these 
  two conditions.  At midnight she will be in perigee, that is, 
  at her shortest distance from the earth, and at the same moment 
  she will be crossing the zenith. 
   
  On the _fifth_ question, "At what point in the heavens ought the 
  cannon to be aimed?" 
   
  _Answer._-- The preceding remarks being admitted, the cannon 
  ought to be pointed to the zenith of the place.  Its fire, 
  therefore, will be perpendicular to the plane of the horizon; 
  and the projectile will soonest pass beyond the range of the 
  terrestrial attraction.  But, in order that the moon should 
  reach the zenith of a given place, it is necessary that the 
  place should not exceed in latitude the declination of the 
  luminary; in other words, it must be comprised within the 
  degrees 0@ and 28@ of lat. N. or S. In every other spot the fire 
  must necessarily be oblique, which would seriously militate 
  against the success of the experiment. 
   
  As to the _sixth_ question, "What place will the moon occupy in 
  the heavens at the moment of the projectile's departure?" 
   
  _Answer._-- At the moment when the projectile shall be discharged 
  into space, the moon, which travels daily forward 13@ 10' 35'', 
  will be distant from the zenith point by four times that quantity, 
  _i. e._ by 52@ 41' 20'', a space which corresponds to the path 
  which she will describe during the entire journey of the projectile. 
  But, inasmuch as it is equally necessary to take into account the 
  deviation which the rotary motion of the earth will impart to the 
  shot, and as the shot cannot reach the moon until after a deviation 
  equal to 16 radii of the earth, which, calculated upon the moon's 
  orbit, are equal to about eleven degrees, it becomes necessary to 
  add these eleven degrees to those which express the retardation of 
  the moon just mentioned:  that is to say, in round numbers, about 
  sixty-four degrees.  Consequently, at the moment of firing the 
  visual radius applied to the moon will describe, with the vertical 
  line of the place, an angle of sixty-four degrees. 
   
  These are our answers to the questions proposed to the 
  Observatory of Cambridge by the members of the Gun Club: 
   
  To sum up-- 
   
  1st. The cannon ought to be planted in a country situated 
  between 0@ and 28@ of N. or S. lat. 
   
  2nd. It ought to be pointed directly toward the zenith of the place. 
   
  3rd. The projectile ought to be propelled with an initial 
  
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  velocity of 12,000 yards per second. 
   
  4th. It ought to be discharged at 10hrs. 46m. 40sec. of the 1st 
  of December of the ensuing year. 
   
  5th. It will meet the moon four days after its discharge, 
  precisely at midnight on the 4th of December, at the moment of 
  its transit across the zenith. 
   
  The members of the Gun Club ought, therefore, without delay, to 
  commence the works necessary for such an experiment, and to be 
  prepared to set to work at the moment determined upon; for, if 
  they should suffer this 4th of December to go by, they will not 
  find the moon again under the same conditions of perigee and of 
  zenith until eighteen years and eleven days afterward. 
   
  The staff of the Cambridge Observatory place themselves entirely 
  at their disposal in respect of all questions of theoretical 
  astronomy; and herewith add their congratulations to those of 
  all the rest of America. 
                 For the Astronomical Staff, 
                                 J. M. BELFAST,          
  _Director of the Observatory of Cambridge._ 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER V 
   
   
  THE ROMANCE OF THE MOON 
   
   
  An observer endued with an infinite range of vision, and placed 
  in that unknown center around which the entire world revolves, 
  might have beheld myriads of atoms filling all space during the 
  chaotic epoch of the universe.  Little by little, as ages went 
  on, a change took place; a general law of attraction manifested 
  itself, to which the hitherto errant atoms became obedient: 
  these atoms combined together chemically according to their 
  affinities, formed themselves into molecules, and composed those 
  nebulous masses with which the depths of the heavens are strewed. 
  These masses became immediately endued with a rotary motion 
  around their own central point.  This center, formed of 
  indefinite molecules, began to revolve around its own axis 
  during its gradual condensation; then, following the immutable 
  laws of mechanics, in proportion as its bulk diminished by 
  condensation, its rotary motion became accelerated, and these 
  two effects continuing, the result was the formation of one 
  principal star, the center of the nebulous mass. 
   
  By attentively watching, the observer would then have perceived 
  the other molecules of the mass, following the example of this 
  central star, become likewise condensed by gradually accelerated 
  rotation, and gravitating round it in the shape of innumerable stars. 
  Thus was formed the _Nebulae_, of which astronomers have reckoned 
  
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  19
  up nearly 5,000. 
   
  Among these 5,000 nebulae there is one which has received the 
  name of the Milky Way, and which contains eighteen millions of 
  stars, each of which has become the center of a solar world. 
   
  If the observer had then specially directed his attention to one 
  of the more humble and less brilliant of these stellar bodies, 
  a star of the fourth class, that which is arrogantly called the 
  Sun, all the phenomena to which the formation of the Universe is to 
  be ascribed would have been successively fulfilled before his eyes. 
  In fact, he would have perceived this sun, as yet in the gaseous 
  state, and composed of moving molecules, revolving round its axis 
  in order to accomplish its work of concentration.  This motion, 
  faithful to the laws of mechanics, would have been accelerated 
  with the diminution of its volume; and a moment would have arrived 
  when the centrifugal force would have overpowered the centripetal, 
  which causes the molecules all to tend toward the center. 
   
  Another phenomenon would now have passed before the observer's 
  eye, and the molecules situated on the plane of the equator, 
  escaping like a stone from a sling of which the cord had 
  suddenly snapped, would have formed around the sun sundry 
  concentric rings resembling that of Saturn.  In their turn, 
  again, these rings of cosmical matter, excited by a rotary 
  motion about the central mass, would have been broken up and 
  decomposed into secondary nebulosities, that is to say, 
  into planets.  Similarly he would have observed these planets 
  throw off one or more rings each, which became the origin of the 
  secondary bodies which we call satellites. 
   
  Thus, then, advancing from atom to molecule, from molecule to 
  nebulous mass, from that to principal star, from star to sun, 
  from sun to planet, and hence to satellite, we have the whole 
  series of transformations undergone by the heavenly bodies 
  during the first days of the world. 
   
  Now, of those attendant bodies which the sun maintains in their 
  elliptical orbits by the great law of gravitation, some few in 
  turn possess satellites.  Uranus has eight, Saturn eight, Jupiter 
  four, Neptune possibly three, and the Earth one.  This last, one 
  of the least important of the entire solar system, we call the 
  Moon; and it is she whom the daring genius of the Americans 
  professed their intention of conquering. 
   
  The moon, by her comparative proximity, and the constantly 
  varying appearances produced by her several phases, has always 
  occupied a considerable share of the attention of the 
  inhabitants of the earth. 
   
  From the time of Thales of Miletus, in the fifth century B.C., 
  down to that of Copernicus in the fifteenth and Tycho Brahe in 
  the sixteenth century A.D., observations have been from time to 
  time carried on with more or less correctness, until in the 
  present day the altitudes of the lunar mountains have been 
  determined with exactitude.  Galileo explained the phenomena of 
  the lunar light produced during certain of her phases by the 
  
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  existence of mountains, to which he assigned a mean altitude of 
  27,000 feet.  After him Hevelius, an astronomer of Dantzic, 
  reduced the highest elevations to 15,000 feet; but the 
  calculations of Riccioli brought them up again to 21,000 feet. 
   
  At the close of the eighteenth century Herschel, armed with a powerful 
  telescope, considerably reduced the preceding measurements. 
  He assigned a height of 11,400 feet to the maximum elevations, 
  and reduced the mean of the different altitudes to little more 
  than 2,400 feet.  But Herschel's calculations were in their turn 
  corrected by the observations of Halley, Nasmyth, Bianchini, 
  Gruithuysen, and others; but it was reserved for the labors of 
  Boeer and Maedler finally to solve the question.  They succeeded 
  in measuring 1,905 different elevations, of which six exceed 
  15,000 feet, and twenty-two exceed 14,400 feet.  The highest 
  summit of all towers to a height of 22,606 feet above the surface 
  of the lunar disc.  At the same period the examination of the moon 
  was completed.  She appeared completely riddled with craters, and 
  her essentially volcanic character was apparent at each observation. 
  By the absence of refraction in the rays of the planets occulted 
  by her we conclude that she is absolutely devoid of an atmosphere. 
  The absence of air entails the absence of water.  It became, 
  therefore, manifest that the Selenites, to support life under 
  such conditions, must possess a special organization of their 
  own, must differ remarkably from the inhabitants of the earth. 
   
  At length, thanks to modern art, instruments of still higher 
  perfection searched the moon without intermission, not leaving 
  a single point of her surface unexplored; and notwithstanding 
  that her diameter measures 2,150 miles, her surface equals the 
  one-fifteenth part of that of our globe, and her bulk the 
  one-forty-ninth part of that of the terrestrial spheroid-- not 
  one of her secrets was able to escape the eyes of the 
  astronomers; and these skillful men of science carried to an 
  even greater degree their prodigious observations. 
   
  Thus they remarked that, during full moon, the disc appeared 
  scored in certain parts with white lines; and, during the 
  phases, with black.  On prosecuting the study of these with 
  still greater precision, they succeeded in obtaining an exact 
  account of the nature of these lines.  They were long and narrow 
  furrows sunk between parallel ridges, bordering generally upon 
  the edges of the craters.  Their length varied between ten and 100 
  miles, and their width was about 1,600 yards.  Astronomers called 
  them chasms, but they could not get any further.  Whether these 
  chasms were the dried-up beds of ancient rivers or not they were 
  unable thoroughly to ascertain. 
   
  The Americans, among others, hoped one day or other to 
  determine this geological question.  They also undertook to 
  examine the true nature of that system of parallel ramparts 
  discovered on the moon's surface by Gruithuysen, a learned 
  professor of Munich, who considered them to be "a system of 
  fortifications thrown up by the Selenitic engineers."  These two 
  points, yet obscure, as well as others, no doubt, could not be 
  definitely settled except by direct communication with the moon. 
   
  
  FROM EARTH TO THE MOON 
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  Regarding the degree of intensity of its light, there was 
  nothing more to learn on this point.  It was known that it is 
  300,000 times weaker than that of the sun, and that its heat has 
  no appreciable effect upon the thermometer.  As to the 
  phenomenon known as the "ashy light," it is explained naturally 
  by the effect of the transmission of the solar rays from the 
  earth to the moon, which give the appearance of completeness to 
  the lunar disc, while it presents itself under the crescent form 
  during its first and last phases. 
   
  Such was the state of knowledge acquired regarding the earth's 
  satellite, which the Gun Club undertook to perfect in all its 
  aspects, cosmographic, geological, political, and moral. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER VI 
   
   
  PERMISSIVE LIMITS OF IGNORANCE AND BELIEF IN THE UNITED STATES 
   
   
  The immediate result of Barbicane's proposition was to place upon 
  the orders of the day all the astronomical facts relative to the 
  Queen of the Night.  Everybody set to work to study assiduously. 
  One would have thought that the moon had just appeared for the 
  first time, and that no one had ever before caught a glimpse of 
  her in the heavens.  The papers revived all the old anecdotes in 
  which the "sun of the wolves" played a part; they recalled the 
  influences which the ignorance of past ages ascribed to her; in 
  short, all America was seized with selenomania, or had become moon-mad. 
   
  The scientific journals, for their part, dealt more especially with 
  the questions which touched upon the enterprise of the Gun Club. 
  The letter of the Observatory of Cambridge was published by them, 
  and commented upon with unreserved approval. 
   
  Until that time most people had been ignorant of the mode in which 
  the distance which separates the moon from the earth is calculated. 
  They took advantage of this fact to explain to them that this 
  distance was obtained by measuring the parallax of the moon. 
  The term parallax proving "caviare to the general," they further 
  explained that it meant the angle formed by the inclination of two 
  straight lines drawn from either extremity of the earth's radius 
  to the moon.  On doubts being expressed as to the correctness of 
  this method, they immediately proved that not only was the mean 
  distance 234,347 miles, but that astronomers could not possibly 
  be in error in their estimate by more than seventy miles either way. 
   
  To those who were not familiar with the motions of the moon, 
  they demonstrated that she possesses two distinct motions, the 
  first being that of rotation upon her axis, the second being 
  that of revolution round the earth, accomplishing both together 
  in an equal period of time, that is to say, in twenty-seven and 
  one-third days. 
  
  FROM EARTH TO THE MOON 
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  The motion of rotation is that which produces day and night on 
  the surface of the moon; save that there is only one day and one 
  night in the lunar month, each lasting three hundred and 
  fifty-four and one-third hours.  But, happily for her, the face 
  turned toward the terrestrial globe is illuminated by it with an 
  intensity equal to that of fourteen moons.  As to the other 
  face, always invisible to us, it has of necessity three hundred 
  and fifty-four hours of absolute night, tempered only by that 
  "pale glimmer which falls upon it from the stars." 
   
  Some well-intentioned, but rather obstinate persons, could not 
  at first comprehend how, if the moon displays invariably the 
  same face to the earth during her revolution, she can describe 
  one turn round herself.  To such they answered, "Go into your 
  dining-room, and walk round the table in such a way as to always 
  keep your face turned toward the center; by the time you will 
  have achieved one complete round you will have completed one 
  turn around yourself, since your eye will have traversed 
  successively every point of the room.  Well, then, the room is 
  the heavens, the table is the earth, and the moon is yourself." 
  And they would go away delighted. 
   
  So, then the moon displays invariably the same face to the 
  earth; nevertheless, to be quite exact, it is necessary to add 
  that, in consequence of certain fluctuations of north and south, 
  and of west and east, termed her libration, she permits rather 
  more than half, that is to say, five-sevenths, to be seen. 
   
  As soon as the ignoramuses came to understand as much as the 
  director of the observatory himself knew, they began to worry 
  themselves regarding her revolution round the earth, whereupon 
  twenty scientific reviews immediately came to the rescue. 
  They pointed out to them that the firmament, with its infinitude 
  of stars, may be considered as one vast dial-plate, upon which the 
  moon travels, indicating the true time to all the inhabitants of 
  the earth; that it is during this movement that the Queen of 
  Night exhibits her different phases; that the moon is _full_ 
  when she is in _opposition_ with the sun, that is when the three 
  bodies are on the same straight line, the earth occupying the 
  center; that she is _new_ when she is in _conjunction_ with the 
  sun, that is, when she is between it and the earth; and, lastly 
  that she is in her _first_ or _last_ quarter, when she makes 
  with the sun and the earth an angle of which she herself occupies 
  the apex. 
   
  Regarding the altitude which the moon attains above the horizon, 
  the letter of the Cambridge Observatory had said all that was to 
  be said in this respect.  Every one knew that this altitude 
  varies according to the latitude of the observer.  But the only 
  zones of the globe in which the moon passes the zenith, that is, 
  the point directly over the head of the spectator, are of 
  necessity comprised between the twenty-eighth parallels and 
  the equator.  Hence the importance of the advice to try the 
  experiment upon some point of that part of the globe, in order 
  that the projectile might be discharged perpendicularly, and so 
  the soonest escape the action of gravitation.  This was an 
  
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  essential condition to the success of the enterprise, and 
  continued actively to engage the public attention. 
   
  Regarding the path described by the moon in her revolution round 
  the earth, the Cambridge Observatory had demonstrated that this 
  path is a re-entering curve, not a perfect circle, but an 
  ellipse, of which the earth occupies one of the _foci_.  It was 
  also well understood that it is farthest removed from the earth 
  during its _apogee_, and approaches most nearly to it at its _perigee_. 
   
  Such was then the extent of knowledge possessed by every 
  American on the subject, and of which no one could decently 
  profess ignorance.  Still, while these principles were being 
  rapidly disseminated many errors and illusory fears proved less 
  easy to eradicate. 
   
  For instance, some worthy persons maintained that the moon was 
  an ancient comet which, in describing its elongated orbit round 
  the sun, happened to pass near the earth, and became confined 
  within her circle of attraction.  These drawing-room astronomers 
  professed to explain the charred aspect of the moon-- a disaster 
  which they attributed to the intensity of the solar heat; only, 
  on being reminded that comets have an atmosphere, and that the 
  moon has little or none, they were fairly at a loss for a reply. 
   
  Others again, belonging to the doubting class, expressed certain 
  fears as to the position of the moon.  They had heard it said 
  that, according to observations made in the time of the Caliphs, 
  her revolution had become accelerated in a certain degree. 
  Hence they concluded, logically enough, that an acceleration of 
  motion ought to be accompanied by a corresponding diminution in 
  the distance separating the two bodies; and that, supposing the 
  double effect to be continued to infinity, the moon would end by 
  one day falling into the earth.  However, they became reassured 
  as to the fate of future generations on being apprised that, 
  according to the calculations of Laplace, this acceleration of 
  motion is confined within very restricted limits, and that a 
  proportional diminution of speed will be certain to succeed it. 
  So, then, the stability of the solar system would not be deranged 
  in ages to come. 
   
  There remains but the third class, the superstitious. 
  These worthies were not content merely to rest in ignorance; 
  they must know all about things which had no existence whatever, 
  and as to the moon, they had long known all about her.  One set 
  regarded her disc as a polished mirror, by means of which people 
  could see each other from different points of the earth and 
  interchange their thoughts.  Another set pretended that out of 
  one thousand new moons that had been observed, nine hundred and 
  fifty had been attended with remarkable disturbances, such as 
  cataclysms, revolutions, earthquakes, the deluge, etc.  Then they 
  believed in some mysterious influence exercised by her over human 
  destinies-- that every Selenite was attached to some inhabitant 
  of the earth by a tie of sympathy; they maintained that the 
  entire vital system is subject to her control, etc.  But in time 
  the majority renounced these vulgar errors, and espoused the true 
  side of the question.  As for the Yankees, they had no other 
  
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  ambition than to take possession of this new continent of the sky, 
  and to plant upon the summit of its highest elevation the star- 
  spangled banner of the United States of America. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER VII 
   
   
  THE HYMN OF THE CANNON-BALL 
   
   
  The Observatory of Cambridge in its memorable letter had treated the 
  question from a purely astronomical point of view.  The mechanical 
  part still remained. 
   
  President Barbicane had, without loss of time, nominated a 
  working committee of the Gun Club.  The duty of this committee 
  was to resolve the three grand questions of the cannon, the 
  projectile, and the powder.  It was composed of four members of 
  great technical knowledge, Barbicane (with a casting vote in 
  case of equality), General Morgan, Major Elphinstone, and J. T. 
  Maston, to whom were confided the functions of secretary.  On the 
  8th of October the committee met at the house of President 
  Barbicane, 3 Republican Street.  The meeting was opened by the 
  president himself. 
   
  "Gentlemen," said he, "we have to resolve one of the most 
  important problems in the whole of the noble science of gunnery. 
  It might appear, perhaps, the most logical course to devote our 
  first meeting to the discussion of the engine to be employed. 
  Nevertheless, after mature consideration, it has appeared to me 
  that the question of the projectile must take precedence of that 
  of the cannon, and that the dimensions of the latter must 
  necessarily depend on those of the former." 
   
  "Suffer me to say a word," here broke in J. T. Maston. 
  Permission having been granted, "Gentlemen," said he with an 
  inspired accent, "our president is right in placing the question 
  of the projectile above all others.  The ball we are about to 
  discharge at the moon is our ambassador to her, and I wish to 
  consider it from a moral point of view.  The cannon-ball, 
  gentlemen, to my mind, is the most magnificent manifestation of 
  human power.  If Providence has created the stars and the planets, 
  man has called the cannon-ball into existence.  Let Providence 
  claim the swiftness of electricity and of light, of the stars, 
  the comets, and the planets, of wind and sound-- we claim to 
  have invented the swiftness of the cannon-ball, a hundred times 
  superior to that of the swiftest horses or railway train. 
  How glorious will be the moment when, infinitely exceeding all 
  hitherto attained velocities, we shall launch our new projectile 
  with the rapidity of seven miles a second!  Shall it not, 
  gentlemen-- shall it not be received up there with the honors 
  due to a terrestrial ambassador?" 
   
  
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  Overcome with emotion the orator sat down and applied himself to 
  a huge plate of sandwiches before him. 
   
  "And now," said Barbicane, "let us quit the domain of poetry and 
  come direct to the question." 
   
  "By all means," replied the members, each with his mouth full 
  of sandwich. 
   
  "The problem before us," continued the president, "is how to 
  communicate to a projectile a velocity of 12,000 yards per second. 
  Let us at present examine the velocities hitherto attained. 
  General Morgan will be able to enlighten us on this point." 
   
  "And the more easily," replied the general, "that during the war 
  I was a member of the committee of experiments.  I may say, 
  then, that the 100-pounder Dahlgrens, which carried a distance 
  of 5,000 yards, impressed upon their projectile an initial 
  velocity of 500 yards a second.  The Rodman Columbiad threw a 
  shot weighing half a ton a distance of six miles, with a 
  velocity of 800 yards per second-- a result which Armstrong and 
  Palisser have never obtained in England." 
   
  "This," replied Barbicane, "is, I believe, the maximum velocity 
  ever attained?" 
   
  "It is so," replied the general. 
   
  "Ah!" groaned J. T. Maston, "if my mortar had not burst----" 
   
  "Yes," quietly replied Barbicane, "but it did burst.  We must 
  take, then, for our starting point, this velocity of 800 yards. 
  We must increase it twenty-fold.  Now, reserving for another 
  discussion the means of producing this velocity, I will call 
  your attention to the dimensions which it will be proper to 
  assign to the shot.  You understand that we have nothing to do 
  here with projectiles weighing at most but half a ton." 
   
  "Why not?" demanded the major. 
   
  "Because the shot," quickly replied J. T. Maston, "must be big 
  enough to attract the attention of the inhabitants of the moon, 
  if there are any?" 
   
  "Yes," replied Barbicane, "and for another reason more important 
  still." 
   
  "What mean you?" asked the major. 
   
  "I mean that it is not enough to discharge a projectile, and 
  then take no further notice of it; we must follow it throughout 
  its course, up to the moment when it shall reach its goal." 
   
  "What?" shouted the general and the major in great surprise. 
   
  "Undoubtedly," replied Barbicane composedly, "or our experiment 
  would produce no result." 
  
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  "But then," replied the major, "you will have to give this 
  projectile enormous dimensions." 
   
  "No!  Be so good as to listen.  You know that optical 
  instruments have acquired great perfection; with certain 
  instruments we have succeeded in obtaining enlargements of 6,000 
  times and reducing the moon to within forty miles' distance. 
  Now, at this distance, any objects sixty feet square would be 
  perfectly visible. 
   
  "If, then, the penetrative power of telescopes has not been 
  further increased, it is because that power detracts from their 
  light; and the moon, which is but a reflecting mirror, does not 
  give back sufficient light to enable us to perceive objects of 
  lesser magnitude." 
   
  "Well, then, what do you propose to do?" asked the general. 
  "Would you give your projectile a diameter of sixty feet?" 
   
  "Not so." 
   
  "Do you intend, then, to increase the luminous power of the moon?" 
   
  "Exactly so.  If I can succeed in diminishing the density of the 
  atmosphere through which the moon's light has to travel I shall 
  have rendered her light more intense.  To effect that object it 
  will be enough to establish a telescope on some elevated mountain. 
  That is what we will do." 
   
  "I give it up," answered the major.  "You have such a way of 
  simplifying things.  And what enlargement do you expect to 
  obtain in this way?" 
   
  "One of 48,000 times, which should bring the moon within an 
  apparent distance of five miles; and, in order to be visible, 
  objects need not have a diameter of more than nine feet." 
   
  "So, then," cried J. T. Maston, "our projectile need not be more 
  than nine feet in diameter." 
   
  "Let me observe, however," interrupted Major Elphinstone, "this 
  will involve a weight such as----" 
   
  "My dear major," replied Barbicane, "before discussing its 
  weight permit me to enumerate some of the marvels which our 
  ancestors have achieved in this respect.  I don't mean to 
  pretend that the science of gunnery has not advanced, but it 
  is as well to bear in mind that during the middle ages they 
  obtained results more surprising, I will venture to say, than ours. 
  For instance, during the siege of Constantinople by Mahomet II., 
  in 1453, stone shot of 1,900 pounds weight were employed.  At Malta, 
  in the time of the knights, there was a gun of the fortress of St. 
  Elmo which threw a projectile weighing 2,500 pounds.  And, now, 
  what is the extent of what we have seen ourselves?  Armstrong guns 
  discharging shot of 500 pounds, and the Rodman guns projectiles 
  of half a ton!  It seems, then, that if projectiles have gained 
  
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  in range, they have lost far more in weight.  Now, if we turn our 
  efforts in that direction, we ought to arrive, with the progress 
  on science, at ten times the weight of the shot of Mahomet II. 
  and the Knights of Malta." 
   
  "Clearly," replied the major; "but what metal do you calculate 
  upon employing?" 
   
  "Simply cast iron," said General Morgan. 
   
  "But," interrupted the major, "since the weight of a shot is 
  proportionate to its volume, an iron ball of nine feet in 
  diameter would be of tremendous weight." 
   
  "Yes, if it were solid, not if it were hollow." 
   
  "Hollow? then it would be a shell?" 
   
  "Yes, a shell," replied Barbicane; "decidely it must be.  A solid 
  shot of 108 inches would weigh more than 200,000 pounds, a weight 
  evidently far too great.  Still, as we must reserve a certain 
  stability for our projectile, I propose to give it a weight of 
  20,000 pounds." 
   
  "What, then, will be the thickness of the sides?" asked the major. 
   
  "If we follow the usual proportion," replied Morgan, "a diameter 
  of 108 inches would require sides of two feet thickness, or less." 
   
  "That would be too much," replied Barbicane; "for you will 
  observe that the question is not that of a shot intended to 
  pierce an iron plate; it will suffice to give it sides strong 
  enough to resist the pressure of the gas.  The problem, 
  therefore, is this-- What thickness ought a cast-iron shell to 
  have in order not to weight more than 20,000 pounds?  Our clever 
  secretary will soon enlighten us upon this point." 
   
  "Nothing easier." replied the worthy secretary of the committee; 
  and, rapidly tracing a few algebraical formulae upon paper, 
  among which _n_^2 and _x_^2 frequently appeared, he presently said: 
   
  "The sides will require a thickness of less than two inches." 
   
  "Will that be enough?" asked the major doubtfully. 
   
  "Clearly not!" replied the president. 
   
  "What is to be done, then?" said Elphinstone, with a puzzled air. 
   
  "Employ another metal instead of iron." 
   
  "Copper?" said Morgan. 
   
  "No! that would be too heavy.  I have better than that to offer." 
   
  "What then?" asked the major. 
   
  
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  "Aluminum!" replied Barbicane. 
   
  "Aluminum?" cried his three colleagues in chorus. 
   
  "Unquestionably, my friends.  This valuable metal possesses the 
  whiteness of silver, the indestructibility of gold, the tenacity 
  of iron, the fusibility of copper, the lightness of glass.  It is 
  easily wrought, is very widely distributed, forming the base of 
  most of the rocks, is three times lighter than iron, and seems to 
  have been created for the express purpose of furnishing us with 
  the material for our projectile." 
   
  "But, my dear president," said the major, "is not the cost price 
  of aluminum extremely high?" 
   
  "It was so at its first discovery, but it has fallen now to nine 
  dollars a pound." 
   
  "But still, nine dollars a pound!" replied the major, who was 
  not willing readily to give in; "even that is an enormous price." 
   
  "Undoubtedly, my dear major; but not beyond our reach." 
   
  "What will the projectile weigh then?" asked Morgan. 
   
  "Here is the result of my calculations," replied Barbicane. 
  "A shot of 108 inches in diameter, and twelve inches in 
  thickness, would weigh, in cast-iron, 67,440 pounds; cast in 
  aluminum, its weight will be reduced to 19,250 pounds." 
   
  "Capital!" cried the major; "but do you know that, at nine 
  dollars a pound, this projectile will cost----" 
   
  "One hundred and seventy-three thousand and fifty dollars ($173,050). 
  I know it quite well.  But fear not, my friends; the money will not 
  be wanting for our enterprise.  I will answer for it.  Now what say 
  you to aluminum, gentlemen?" 
   
  "Adopted!" replied the three members of the committee.  So ended 
  the first meeting.  The question of the projectile was 
  definitely settled. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER VII 
   
   
  HISTORY OF THE CANNON 
   
   
  The resolutions passed at the last meeting produced a great 
  effect out of doors.  Timid people took fright at the idea of 
  a shot weighing 20,000 pounds being launched into space; they 
  asked what cannon could ever transmit a sufficient velocity to 
  such a mighty mass.  The minutes of the second meeting were 
  
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  destined triumphantly to answer such questions.  The following 
  evening the discussion was renewed. 
   
  "My dear colleagues," said Barbicane, without further preamble, 
  "the subject now before us is the construction of the engine, 
  its length, its composition, and its weight.  It is probable 
  that we shall end by giving it gigantic dimensions; but however 
  great may be the difficulties in the way, our mechanical genius 
  will readily surmount them.  Be good enough, then, to give me 
  your attention, and do not hesitate to make objections at the close. 
  I have no fear of them.  The problem before us is how to communicate 
  an initial force of 12,000 yards per second to a shell of 108 
  inches in diameter, weighing 20,000 pounds.  Now when a projectile 
  is launched into space, what happens to it?  It is acted upon by 
  three independent forces:  the resistance of the air, the attraction 
  of the earth, and the force of impulsion with which it is endowed. 
  Let us examine these three forces.  The resistance of the air is of 
  little importance.  The atmosphere of the earth does not exceed 
  forty miles.  Now, with the given rapidity, the projectile will 
  have traversed this in five seconds, and the period is too brief 
  for the resistance of the medium to be regarded otherwise than 
  as insignificant.  Proceding, then, to the attraction of the earth, 
  that is, the weight of the shell, we know that this weight will 
  diminish in the inverse ratio of the square of the distance. 
  When a body left to itself falls to the surface of the earth, it 
  falls five feet in the first second; and if the same body were 
  removed 257,542 miles further off, in other words, to the distance 
  of the moon, its fall would be reduced to about half a line in the 
  first second.  That is almost equivalent to a state of perfect rest. 
  Our business, then, is to overcome progressively this action 
  of gravitation.  The mode of accomplishing that is by the force 
  of impulsion." 
   
  "There's the difficulty," broke in the major. 
   
  "True," replied the president; "but we will overcome that, for 
  the force of impulsion will depend on the length of the engine 
  and the powder employed, the latter being limited only by the 
  resisting power of the former.  Our business, then, to-day is 
  with the dimensions of the cannon." 
   
  "Now, up to the present time," said Barbicane, "our longest guns 
  have not exceeded twenty-five feet in length.  We shall 
  therefore astonish the world by the dimensions we shall be 
  obliged to adopt.  It must evidently be, then, a gun of great 
  range, since the length of the piece will increase the detention 
  of the gas accumulated behind the projectile; but there is no 
  advantage in passing certain limits." 
   
  "Quite so," said the major.  "What is the rule in such a case?" 
   
  "Ordinarily the length of a gun is twenty to twenty-five times 
  the diameter of the shot, and its weight two hundred and 
  thirty-five to two hundred and forty times that of the shot." 
   
  "That is not enough," cried J. T. Maston impetuously. 
   
  
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  "I agree with you, my good friend; and, in fact, following this 
  proportion for a projectile nine feet in diameter, weighing 30,000 
  pounds, the gun would only have a length of two hundred and twenty- 
  five feet, and a weight of 7,200,000 pounds." 
   
  "Ridiculous!" rejoined Maston.  "As well take a pistol." 
   
  "I think so too," replied Barbicane; "that is why I propose to 
  quadruple that length, and to construct a gun of nine hundred feet." 
   
  The general and the major offered some objections; nevertheless, 
  the proposition, actively supported by the secretary, was 
  definitely adopted. 
   
  "But," said Elphinstone, "what thickness must we give it?" 
   
  "A thickness of six feet," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "You surely don't think of mounting a mass like that upon a 
  carriage?" asked the major. 
   
  "It would be a superb idea, though," said Maston. 
   
  "But impracticable," replied Barbicane.  "No, I think of sinking 
  this engine in the earth alone, binding it with hoops of wrought 
  iron, and finally surrounding it with a thick mass of masonry of 
  stone and cement.  The piece once cast, it must be bored with 
  great precision, so as to preclude any possible windage.  So there 
  will be no loss whatever of gas, and all the expansive force of 
  the powder will be employed in the propulsion." 
   
  "One simple question," said Elphinstone:  "is our gun to be rifled?" 
   
  "No, certainly not," replied Barbicane; "we require an enormous 
  initial velocity; and you are well aware that a shot quits a 
  rifled gun less rapidly than it does a smooth-bore." 
   
  "True," rejoined the major. 
   
  The committee here adjourned for a few minutes to tea and sandwiches. 
   
  On the discussion being renewed, "Gentlemen," said Barbicane, 
  "we must now take into consideration the metal to be employed. 
  Our cannon must be possessed of great tenacity, great hardness, 
  be infusible by heat, indissoluble, and inoxidable by the 
  corrosive action of acids." 
   
  "There is no doubt about that," replied the major; "and as we 
  shall have to employ an immense quantity of metal, we shall not 
  be at a loss for choice." 
   
  "Well, then," said Morgan, "I propose the best alloy hitherto 
  known, which consists of one hundred parts of copper, twelve of 
  tin, and six of brass." 
   
  "I admit," replied the president, "that this composition has 
  yielded excellent results, but in the present case it would be 
  
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  too expensive, and very difficult to work.  I think, then, that 
  we ought to adopt a material excellent in its way and of low 
  price, such as cast iron.  What is your advice, major?" 
   
  "I quite agree with you," replied Elphinstone. 
   
  "In fact," continued Barbicane, "cast iron costs ten times less 
  than bronze; it is easy to cast, it runs readily from the moulds 
  of sand, it is easy of manipulation, it is at once economical of 
  money and of time.  In addition, it is excellent as a material, 
  and I well remember that during the war, at the siege of 
  Atlanta, some iron guns fired one thousand rounds at intervals 
  of twenty minutes without injury." 
   
  "Cast iron is very brittle, though," replied Morgan. 
   
  "Yes, but it possesses great resistance.  I will now ask our 
  worthy secretary to calculate the weight of a cast-iron gun with 
  a bore of nine feet and a thickness of six feet of metal." 
   
  "In a moment," replied Maston.  Then, dashing off some 
  algebraical formulae with marvelous facility, in a minute or two 
  he declared the following result: 
   
  "The cannon will weigh 68,040 tons.  And, at two cents a pound, 
  it will cost----" 
   
  "Two million five hundred and ten thousand seven hundred and 
  one dollars." 
   
  Maston, the major, and the general regarded Barbicane with 
  uneasy looks. 
   
  "Well, gentlemen," replied the president, "I repeat what I 
  said yesterday.  Make yourselves easy; the millions will not 
  be wanting." 
   
  With this assurance of their president the committee separated, 
  after having fixed their third meeting for the following evening. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER IX 
   
   
  THE QUESTION OF THE POWDERS 
   
   
  There remained for consideration merely the question of powders. 
  The public awaited with interest its final decision.  The size 
  of the projectile, the length of the cannon being settled, what 
  would be the quantity of powder necessary to produce impulsion? 
   
  It is generally asserted that gunpowder was invented in the 
  fourteenth century by the monk Schwartz, who paid for his grand 
  
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  discovery with his life.  It is, however, pretty well proved 
  that this story ought to be ranked among the legends of the 
  middle ages.  Gunpowder was not invented by any one; it was the 
  lineal successor of the Greek fire, which, like itself, was 
  composed of sulfur and saltpeter.  Few persons are acquainted 
  with the mechanical power of gunpowder.  Now this is precisely 
  what is necessary to be understood in order to comprehend the 
  importance of the question submitted to the committee. 
   
  A litre of gunpowder weighs about two pounds; during combustion 
  it produces 400 litres of gas.  This gas, on being liberated and 
  acted upon by temperature raised to 2,400 degrees, occupies a 
  space of 4,000 litres:  consequently the volume of powder is to 
  the volume of gas produced by its combustion as 1 to 4,000. 
  One may judge, therefore, of the tremendous pressure on this 
  gas when compressed within a space 4,000 times too confined. 
  All this was, of course, well known to the members of the committee 
  when they met on the following evening. 
   
  The first speaker on this occasion was Major Elphinstone, who 
  had been the director of the gunpowder factories during the war. 
   
  "Gentlemen," said this distinguished chemist, "I begin with 
  some figures which will serve as the basis of our calculation. 
  The old 24-pounder shot required for its discharge sixteen pounds 
  of powder." 
   
  "You are certain of this amount?" broke in Barbicane. 
   
  "Quite certain," replied the major.  "The Armstrong cannon 
  employs only seventy-five pounds of powder for a projectile 
  of eight hundred pounds, and the Rodman Columbiad uses only one 
  hundred and sixty pounds of powder to send its half ton shot a 
  distance of six miles.  These facts cannot be called in question, 
  for I myself raised the point during the depositions taken before 
  the committee of artillery." 
   
  "Quite true," said the general. 
   
  "Well," replied the major, "these figures go to prove that the 
  quantity of powder is not increased with the weight of the shot; 
  that is to say, if a 24-pounder shot requires sixteen pounds of 
  powder;-- in other words, if in ordinary guns we employ a 
  quantity of powder equal to two-thirds of the weight of the 
  projectile, this proportion is not constant.  Calculate, and you 
  will see that in place of three hundred and thirty-three pounds 
  of powder, the quantity is reduced to no more than one hundred 
  and sixty pounds." 
   
  "What are you aiming at?" asked the president. 
   
  "If you push your theory to extremes, my dear major," said J. T. 
  Maston, "you will get to this, that as soon as your shot becomes 
  sufficiently heavy you will not require any powder at all." 
   
  "Our friend Maston is always at his jokes, even in serious 
  matters," cried the major; "but let him make his mind easy, I am 
  
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  going presently to propose gunpowder enough to satisfy his 
  artillerist's propensities.  I only keep to statistical facts 
  when I say that, during the war, and for the very largest guns, 
  the weight of the powder was reduced, as the result of 
  experience, to a tenth part of the weight of the shot." 
   
  "Perfectly correct," said Morgan; "but before deciding the 
  quantity of powder necessary to give the impulse, I think it 
  would be as well----" 
   
  "We shall have to employ a large-grained powder," continued the 
  major; "its combustion is more rapid than that of the small." 
   
  "No doubt about that," replied Morgan; "but it is very 
  destructive, and ends by enlarging the bore of the pieces." 
   
  "Granted; but that which is injurious to a gun destined to 
  perform long service is not so to our Columbiad.  We shall 
  run no danger of an explosion; and it is necessary that our 
  powder should take fire instantaneously in order that its 
  mechanical effect may be complete." 
   
  "We must have," said Maston, "several touch-holes, so as to fire 
  it at different points at the same time." 
   
  "Certainly," replied Elphinstone; "but that will render the 
  working of the piece more difficult.  I return then to my 
  large-grained powder, which removes those difficulties. 
  In his Columbiad charges Rodman employed a powder as large 
  as chestnuts, made of willow charcoal, simply dried in cast- 
  iron pans.  This powder was hard and glittering, left no trace 
  upon the hand, contained hydrogen and oxygen in large proportion, 
  took fire instantaneously, and, though very destructive, did not 
  sensibly injure the mouth-piece." 
   
  Up to this point Barbicane had kept aloof from the discussion; 
  he left the others to speak while he himself listened; he had 
  evidently got an idea.  He now simply said, "Well, my friends, 
  what quantity of powder do you propose?" 
   
  The three members looked at one another. 
   
  "Two hundred thousand pounds." at last said Morgan. 
   
  "Five hundred thousand," added the major. 
   
  "Eight hundred thousand," screamed Maston. 
   
  A moment of silence followed this triple proposal; it was at 
  last broken by the president. 
   
  "Gentlemen," he quietly said, "I start from this principle, that 
  the resistance of a gun, constructed under the given conditions, 
  is unlimited.  I shall surprise our friend Maston, then, by 
  stigmatizing his calculations as timid; and I propose to double 
  his 800,000 pounds of powder." 
   
  
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  "Sixteen hundred thousand pounds?" shouted Maston, leaping from 
  his seat. 
   
  "Just so." 
   
  "We shall have to come then to my ideal of a cannon half a mile 
  long; for you see 1,600,000 pounds will occupy a space of about 
  20,000 cubic feet; and since the contents of your cannon do not 
  exceed 54,000 cubic feet, it would be half full; and the bore 
  will not be more than long enough for the gas to communicate to 
  the projectile sufficient impulse." 
   
  "Nevertheless," said the president, "I hold to that quantity 
  of powder.  Now, 1,600,000 pounds of powder will create 
  6,000,000,000 litres of gas.  Six thousand millions! 
  You quite understand?" 
   
  "What is to be done then?" said the general. 
   
  "The thing is very simple; we must reduce this enormous quantity 
  of powder, while preserving to it its mechanical power." 
   
  "Good; but by what means?" 
   
  "I am going to tell you," replied Barbicane quietly. 
   
  "Nothing is more easy than to reduce this mass to one quarter of 
  its bulk.  You know that curious cellular matter which 
  constitutes the elementary tissues of vegetable?  This substance 
  is found quite pure in many bodies, especially in cotton, which 
  is nothing more than the down of the seeds of the cotton plant. 
  Now cotton, combined with cold nitric acid, become transformed 
  into a substance eminently insoluble, combustible, and explosive. 
  It was first discovered in 1832, by Braconnot, a French chemist, 
  who called it xyloidine.  In 1838 another Frenchman, Pelouze, 
  investigated its different properties, and finally, in 1846, 
  Schonbein, professor of chemistry at Bale, proposed its employment 
  for purposes of war.  This powder, now called pyroxyle, or 
  fulminating cotton, is prepared with great facility by simply 
  plunging cotton for fifteen minutes in nitric acid, then washing 
  it in water, then drying it, and it is ready for use." 
   
  "Nothing could be more simple," said Morgan. 
   
  "Moreover, pyroxyle is unaltered by moisture-- a valuable 
  property to us, inasmuch as it would take several days to charge 
  the cannon.  It ignites at 170 degrees in place of 240, and its 
  combustion is so rapid that one may set light to it on the top 
  of the ordinary powder, without the latter having time to ignite." 
   
  "Perfect!" exclaimed the major. 
   
  "Only it is more expensive." 
   
  "What matter?" cried J. T. Maston. 
   
  "Finally, it imparts to projectiles a velocity four times 
  
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  superior to that of gunpowder.  I will even add, that if we mix 
  it with one-eighth of its own weight of nitrate of potassium, 
  its expansive force is again considerably augmented." 
   
  "Will that be necessary?" asked the major. 
   
  "I think not," replied Barbicane.  "So, then, in place of 
  1,600,000 pounds of powder, we shall have but 400,000 pounds of 
  fulminating cotton; and since we can, without danger, compress 
  500 pounds of cotton into twenty-seven cubic feet, the whole 
  quantity will not occupy a height of more than 180 feet within 
  the bore of the Columbiad.  In this way the shot will have more 
  than 700 feet of bore to traverse under a force of 6,000,000,000 
  litres of gas before taking its flight toward the moon." 
   
  At this juncture J. T. Maston could not repress his emotion; he 
  flung himself into the arms of his friend with the violence of 
  a projectile, and Barbicane would have been stove in if he had 
  not been boom-proof. 
   
  This incident terminated the third meeting of the committee. 
   
  Barbicane and his bold colleagues, to whom nothing seemed 
  impossible, had succeeding in solving the complex problems of 
  projectile, cannon, and powder.  Their plan was drawn up, and it 
  only remained to put it into execution. 
   
  "A mere matter of detail, a bagatelle," said J. T. Maston. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER X 
   
   
  ONE ENEMY _v._ TWENTY-FIVE MILLIONS OF FRIENDS 
   
   
  The American public took a lively interest in the smallest 
  details of the enterprise of the Gun Club.  It followed day by 
  day the discussion of the committee.  The most simple 
  preparations for the great experiment, the questions of figures 
  which it involved, the mechanical difficulties to be resolved-- 
  in one word, the entire plan of work-- roused the popular 
  excitement to the highest pitch. 
   
  The purely scientific attraction was suddenly intensified by the 
  following incident: 
   
  We have seen what legions of admirers and friends Barbicane's 
  project had rallied round its author.  There was, however, 
  one single individual alone in all the States of the Union who 
  protested against the attempt of the Gun Club.  He attacked it 
  furiously on every opportunity, and human nature is such that 
  Barbicane felt more keenly the opposition of that one man than 
  he did the applause of all the others.  He was well aware of the 
  
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  motive of this antipathy, the origin of this solitary enmity, 
  the cause of its personality and old standing, and in what 
  rivalry of self-love it had its rise. 
   
  This persevering enemy the president of the Gun Club had never seen. 
  Fortunate that it was so, for a meeting between the two men would 
  certainly have been attended with serious consequences.  This rival 
  was a man of science, like Barbicane himself, of a fiery, daring, 
  and violent disposition; a pure Yankee.  His name was Captain 
  Nicholl; he lived at Philadelphia. 
   
  Most people are aware of the curious struggle which arose during 
  the Federal war between the guns and armor of iron-plated ships. 
  The result was the entire reconstruction of the navy of both the 
  continents; as the one grew heavier, the other became thicker 
  in proportion.  The Merrimac, the Monitor, the Tennessee, the 
  Weehawken discharged enormous projectiles themselves, after 
  having been armor-clad against the projectiles of others.  In fact 
  they did to others that which they would not they should do to them-- 
  that grand principle of immortality upon which rests the whole art 
  of war. 
   
  Now if Barbicane was a great founder of shot, Nicholl was a 
  great forger of plates; the one cast night and day at Baltimore, 
  the other forged day and night at Philadelphia.  As soon as ever 
  Barbicane invented a new shot, Nicholl invented a new plate; 
  each followed a current of ideas essentially opposed to the other. 
  Happily for these citizens, so useful to their country, a distance 
  of from fifty to sixty miles separated them from one another, and 
  they had never yet met.  Which of these two inventors had the 
  advantage over the other it was difficult to decide from the 
  results obtained.  By last accounts, however, it would seem that 
  the armor-plate would in the end have to give way to the shot; 
  nevertheless, there were competent judges who had their doubts 
  on the point. 
   
  At the last experiment the cylindro-conical projectiles of 
  Barbicane stuck like so many pins in the Nicholl plates. 
  On that day the Philadelphia iron-forger then believed himself 
  victorious, and could not evince contempt enough for his rival; 
  but when the other afterward substituted for conical shot simple 
  600-pound shells, at very moderate velocity, the captain was 
  obliged to give in.  In fact, these projectiles knocked his best 
  metal plate to shivers. 
   
  Matters were at this stage, and victory seemed to rest with the 
  shot, when the war came to an end on the very day when Nicholl 
  had completed a new armor-plate of wrought steel.  It was a 
  masterpiece of its kind, and bid defiance to all the projectiles 
  of the world.  The captain had it conveyed to the Polygon at 
  Washington, challenging the president of the Gun Club to break it. 
  Barbicane, peace having been declared, declined to try the experiment. 
   
  Nicholl, now furious, offered to expose his plate to the shock 
  of any shot, solid, hollow, round, or conical.  Refused by the 
  president, who did not choose to compromise his last success. 
   
  
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  Nicholl, disgusted by this obstinacy, tried to tempt Barbicane 
  by offering him every chance.  He proposed to fix the plate 
  within two hundred yards of the gun.  Barbicane still obstinate 
  in refusal.  A hundred yards?  Not even seventy-five! 
   
  "At fifty then!" roared the captain through the newspapers. 
  "At twenty-five yards! and I'll stand behind!" 
   
  Barbicane returned for answer that, even if Captain Nicholl 
  would be so good as to stand in front, he would not fire any more. 
   
  Nicholl could not contain himself at this reply; threw out hints 
  of cowardice; that a man who refused to fire a cannon-shot was 
  pretty near being afraid of it; that artillerists who fight at 
  six miles distance are substituting mathematical formulae for 
  individual courage. 
   
  To these insinuations Barbicane returned no answer; perhaps he 
  never heard of them, so absorbed was he in the calculations for 
  his great enterprise. 
   
  When his famous communication was made to the Gun Club, the 
  captain's wrath passed all bounds; with his intense jealousy was 
  mingled a feeling of absolute impotence.  How was he to invent 
  anything to beat this 900-feet Columbiad?  What armor-plate 
  could ever resist a projectile of 30,000 pounds weight? 
  Overwhelmed at first under this violent shock, he by and by 
  recovered himself, and resolved to crush the proposal by weight 
  of his arguments. 
   
  He then violently attacked the labors of the Gun Club, published 
  a number of letters in the newspapers, endeavored to prove Barbicane 
  ignorant of the first principles of gunnery.  He maintained that 
  it was absolutely impossible to impress upon any body whatever 
  a velocity of 12,000 yards per second; that even with such a 
  velocity a projectile of such a weight could not transcend the 
  limits of the earth's atmosphere.  Further still, even regarding 
  the velocity to be acquired, and granting it to be sufficient, 
  the shell could not resist the pressure of the gas developed by 
  the ignition of 1,600,000 pounds of powder; and supposing it to 
  resist that pressure, it would be less able to support that 
  temperature; it would melt on quitting the Columbiad, and fall 
  back in a red-hot shower upon the heads of the imprudent spectators. 
   
  Barbicane continued his work without regarding these attacks. 
   
  Nicholl then took up the question in its other aspects.  Without 
  touching upon its uselessness in all points of view, he regarded 
  the experiment as fraught with extreme danger, both to the 
  citizens, who might sanction by their presence so reprehensible 
  a spectacle, and also to the towns in the neighborhood of this 
  deplorable cannon.  He also observed that if the projectile did 
  not succeed in reaching its destination (a result absolutely 
  impossible), it must inevitably fall back upon the earth, and 
  that the shock of such a mass, multiplied by the square of its 
  velocity, would seriously endanger every point of the globe. 
  Under the circumstances, therefore, and without interfering with 
  
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  the rights of free citizens, it was a case for the intervention 
  of Government, which ought not to endanger the safety of all for 
  the pleasure of one individual. 
   
  In spite of all his arguments, however, Captain Nicholl 
  remained alone in his opinion.  Nobody listened to him, and he 
  did not succeed in alienating a single admirer from the 
  president of the Gun Club.  The latter did not even take the 
  pains to refute the arguments of his rival. 
   
  Nicholl, driven into his last entrenchments, and not able to 
  fight personally in the cause, resolved to fight with money. 
  He published, therefore, in the Richmond _Inquirer_ a series of 
  wagers, conceived in these terms, and on an increasing scale: 
   
  No. 1 ($1,000).-- That the necessary funds for the experiment 
  of the Gun Club will not be forthcoming. 
   
  No. 2 ($2,000).-- That the operation of casting a cannon of 900 
  feet is impracticable, and cannot possibly succeed. 
   
  No. 3 ($3,000).-- That is it impossible to load the Columbiad, 
  and that the pyroxyle will take fire spontaneously under the 
  pressure of the projectile. 
   
  No. 4 ($4,000).-- That the Columbiad will burst at the first fire. 
   
  No. 5 ($5,000).-- That the shot will not travel farther than six miles, 
  and that it will fall back again a few seconds after its discharge. 
   
  It was an important sum, therefore, which the captain risked in 
  his invincible obstinacy.  He had no less than $15,000 at stake. 
   
  Notwithstanding the importance of the challenge, on the 19th of 
  May he received a sealed packet containing the following 
  superbly laconic reply: 
                                "BALTIMORE, October 19. 
                            "Done. 
                                "BARBICANE." 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XI 
   
   
  FLORIDA AND TEXAS 
   
   
  One question remained yet to be decided; it was necessary to 
  choose a favorable spot for the experiment.  According to the 
  advice of the Observatory of Cambridge, the gun must be fired 
  perpendicularly to the plane of the horizon, that is to say, 
  toward the zenith.  Now the moon does not traverse the zenith, 
  except in places situated between 0@ and 28@ of latitude.  It 
  became, then, necessary to determine exactly that spot on the 
  
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  globe where the immense Columbiad should be cast. 
   
  On the 20th of October, at a general meeting of the Gun Club, 
  Barbicane produced a magnificent map of the United States. 
  "Gentlemen," said he, in opening the discussion, "I presume that 
  we are all agreed that this experiment cannot and ought not to 
  be tried anywhere but within the limits of the soil of the Union. 
  Now, by good fortune, certain frontiers of the United States 
  extend downward as far as the 28th parallel of the north latitude. 
  If you will cast your eye over this map, you will see that we have at 
  our disposal the whole of the southern portion of Texas and Florida." 
   
  It was finally agreed, then, that the Columbiad must be cast on 
  the soil of either Texas or Florida.  The result, however, of 
  this decision was to create a rivalry entirely without precedent 
  between the different towns of these two States. 
   
  The 28th parallel, on reaching the American coast, traverses the 
  peninsula of Florida, dividing it into two nearly equal portions. 
  Then, plunging into the Gulf of Mexico, it subtends the arc 
  formed by the coast of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana; 
  then skirting Texas, off which it cuts an angle, it continues 
  its course over Mexico, crosses the Sonora, Old California, 
  and loses itself in the Pacific Ocean.  It was, therefore, 
  only those portions of Texas and Florida which were situated 
  below this parallel which came within the prescribed conditions 
  of latitude. 
   
  Florida, in its southern part, reckons no cities of importance; 
  it is simply studded with forts raised against the roving Indians. 
  One solitary town, Tampa Town, was able to put in a claim in favor 
  of its situation. 
   
  In Texas, on the contrary, the towns are much more numerous 
  and important.  Corpus Christi, in the county of Nueces, and all 
  the cities situated on the Rio Bravo, Laredo, Comalites, San 
  Ignacio on the Web, Rio Grande City on the Starr, Edinburgh in 
  the Hidalgo, Santa Rita, Elpanda, Brownsville in the Cameron, 
  formed an imposing league against the pretensions of Florida. 
  So, scarcely was the decision known, when the Texan and Floridan 
  deputies arrived at Baltimore in an incredibly short space of time. 
  From that very moment President Barbicane and the influential 
  members of the Gun Club were besieged day and night by 
  formidable claims.  If seven cities of Greece contended for 
  the honor of having given birth to a Homer, here were two entire 
  States threatening to come to blows about the question of a cannon. 
   
  The rival parties promenaded the streets with arms in their hands; 
  and at every occasion of their meeting a collision was to be 
  apprehended which might have been attended with disastrous results. 
  Happily the prudence and address of President Barbicane averted 
  the danger.  These personal demonstrations found a division in 
  the newspapers of the different States.  The New York _Herald_ and 
  the _Tribune_ supported Texas, while the _Times_ and the _American 
  Review_ espoused the cause of the Floridan deputies.  The members 
  of the Gun Club could not decide to which to give the preference. 
   
  
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  Texas produced its array of twenty-six counties; Florida replied 
  that twelve counties were better than twenty-six in a country 
  only one-sixth part of the size. 
   
  Texas plumed itself upon its 330,000 natives; Florida, with a 
  far smaller territory, boasted of being much more densely 
  populated with 56,000. 
   
  The Texans, through the columns of the _Herald_ claimed that 
  some regard should be had to a State which grew the best cotton 
  in all America, produced the best green oak for the service of 
  the navy, and contained the finest oil, besides iron mines, in 
  which the yield was fifty per cent. of pure metal. 
   
  To this the _American Review_ replied that the soil of Florida, 
  although not equally rich, afforded the best conditions for the 
  moulding and casting of the Columbiad, consisting as it did of 
  sand and argillaceous earth. 
   
  "That may be all very well," replied the Texans; "but you must 
  first get to this country.  Now the communications with Florida 
  are difficult, while the coast of Texas offers the bay of 
  Galveston, which possesses a circumference of fourteen leagues, 
  and is capable of containing the navies of the entire world!" 
   
  "A pretty notion truly," replied the papers in the interest of 
  Florida, "that of Galveston bay _below the 29th parallel!_ 
  Have we not got the bay of Espiritu Santo, opening precisely upon 
  _the 28th degree_, and by which ships can reach Tampa Town by 
  direct route?" 
   
  "A fine bay; half choked with sand!" 
   
  "Choked yourselves!" returned the others. 
   
  Thus the war went on for several days, when Florida endeavored 
  to draw her adversary away on to fresh ground; and one morning 
  the _Times_ hinted that, the enterprise being essentially 
  American, it ought not to be attempted upon other than purely 
  American territory. 
   
  To these words Texas retorted, "American! are we not as much so 
  as you?  Were not Texas and Florida both incorporated into the 
  Union in 1845?" 
   
  "Undoubtedly," replied the _Times_; "but we have belonged to the 
  Americans ever since 1820." 
   
  "Yes!" returned the _Tribune_; "after having been Spaniards or 
  English for two hundred years, you were sold to the United 
  States for five million dollars!" 
   
  "Well! and why need we blush for that?  Was not Louisiana bought 
  from Napoleon in 1803 at the price of sixteen million dollars?" 
   
  "Scandalous!" roared the Texas deputies.  "A wretched little 
  strip of country like Florida to dare to compare itself to 
  
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  Texas, who, in place of selling herself, asserted her own 
  independence, drove out the Mexicans in March 2, 1846, and 
  declared herself a federal republic after the victory gained by 
  Samuel Houston, on the banks of the San Jacinto, over the troops 
  of Santa Anna!-- a country, in fine, which voluntarily annexed 
  itself to the United States of America!" 
   
  "Yes; because it was afraid of the Mexicans!" replied Florida. 
   
  "Afraid!"  From this moment the state of things became intolerable. 
  A sanguinary encounter seemed daily imminent between the two 
  parties in the streets of Baltimore.  It became necessary to keep 
  an eye upon the deputies. 
   
  President Barbicane knew not which way to look.  Notes, documents, 
  letters full of menaces showered down upon his house.  Which side 
  ought he to take?  As regarded the appropriation of the soil, the 
  facility of communication, the rapidity of transport, the claims 
  of both States were evenly balanced.  As for political prepossessions, 
  they had nothing to do with the question. 
   
  This dead block had existed for some little time, when Barbicane 
  resolved to get rid of it all at once.  He called a meeting of 
  his colleagues, and laid before them a proposition which, it will 
  be seen, was profoundly sagacious. 
   
  "On carefully considering," he said, "what is going on now 
  between Florida and Texas, it is clear that the same 
  difficulties will recur with all the towns of the favored State. 
  The rivalry will descend from State to city, and so on downward. 
  Now Texas possesses eleven towns within the prescribed 
  conditions, which will further dispute the honor and create us 
  new enemies, while Florida has only one.  I go in, therefore, 
  for Florida and Tampa Town." 
   
  This decision, on being made known, utterly crushed the 
  Texan deputies.  Seized with an indescribable fury, they 
  addressed threatening letters to the different members of the 
  Gun Club by name.  The magistrates had but one course to take, 
  and they took it.  They chartered a special train, forced the 
  Texans into it whether they would or no; and they quitted the 
  city with a speed of thirty miles an hour. 
   
  Quickly, however, as they were despatched, they found time to 
  hurl one last and bitter sarcasm at their adversaries. 
   
  Alluding to the extent of Florida, a mere peninsula confined 
  between two seas, they pretended that it could never sustain 
  the shock of the discharge, and that it would "bust up" at the 
  very first shot. 
   
  "Very well, let it bust up!" replied the Floridans, with a 
  brevity of the days of ancient Sparta. 
   
   
   
   
  
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  CHAPTER XII 
   
   
  URBI ET ORBI 
   
   
  The astronomical, mechanical, and topographical difficulties 
  resolved, finally came the question of finance.  The sum 
  required was far too great for any individual, or even any 
  single State, to provide the requisite millions. 
   
  President Barbicane undertook, despite of the matter being a 
  purely American affair, to render it one of universal interest, 
  and to request the financial co-operation of all peoples. 
  It was, he maintained, the right and duty of the whole earth 
  to interfere in the affairs of its satellite.  The subscription 
  opened at Baltimore extended properly to the whole world-- _Urbi 
  et orbi_. 
   
  This subscription was successful beyond all expectation; 
  notwithstanding that it was a question not of lending but of 
  giving the money.  It was a purely disinterested operation in 
  the strictest sense of the term, and offered not the slightest 
  chance of profit. 
   
  The effect, however, of Barbicane's communication was not 
  confined to the frontiers of the United States; it crossed 
  the Atlantic and Pacific, invading simultaneously Asia and 
  Europe, Africa and Oceanica.  The observatories of the Union 
  placed themselves in immediate communication with those of 
  foreign countries.  Some, such as those of Paris, Petersburg, 
  Berlin, Stockholm, Hamburg, Malta, Lisbon, Benares, Madras, 
  and others, transmitted their good wishes; the rest maintained 
  a prudent silence, quietly awaiting the result.  As for the 
  observatory at Greenwich, seconded as it was by the twenty- 
  two astronomical establishments of Great Britain, it spoke 
  plainly enough.  It boldly denied the possibility of success, 
  and pronounced in favor of the theories of Captain Nicholl. 
  But this was nothing more than mere English jealousy. 
   
  On the 8th of October President Barbicane published a manifesto 
  full of enthusiasm, in which he made an appeal to "all persons 
  of good will upon the face of the earth."  This document, 
  translated into all languages, met with immense success. 
   
  Subscription lists were opened in all the principal cities of 
  the Union, with a central office at the Baltimore Bank, 9 
  Baltimore Street. 
   
  In addition, subscriptions were received at the following banks 
  in the different states of the two continents: 
   
       At Vienna, with S. M. de Rothschild. 
       At Petersburg, Stieglitz and Co. 
       At Paris, The Credit Mobilier. 
       At Stockholm, Tottie and Arfuredson. 
  
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       At London, N. M. Rothschild and Son. 
       At Turin, Ardouin and Co. 
       At Berlin, Mendelssohn. 
       At Geneva, Lombard, Odier and Co. 
       At Constantinople, The Ottoman Bank. 
       At Brussels, J. Lambert. 
       At Madrid, Daniel Weisweller. 
       At Amsterdam, Netherlands Credit Co. 
       At Rome, Torlonia and Co. 
       At Lisbon, Lecesne. 
       At Copenhagen, Private Bank. 
       At Rio de Janeiro, Private Bank. 
       At Montevideo, Private Bank. 
       At Valparaiso and Lima, Thomas la Chambre and Co. 
       At Mexico, Martin Daran and Co. 
   
  Three days after the manifesto of President Barbicane $4,000,000 
  were paid into the different towns of the Union.  With such a 
  balance the Gun Club might begin operations at once.  But some 
  days later advices were received to the effect that foreign 
  subscriptions were being eagerly taken up.  Certain countries 
  distinguished themselves by their liberality; others untied 
  their purse-strings with less facility--a matter of temperament. 
  Figures are, however, more eloquent than words, and here is the 
  official statement of the sums which were paid in to the credit 
  of the Gun Club at the close of the subscription. 
   
  Russia paid in as her contingent the enormous sum of 368,733 roubles. 
  No one need be surprised at this, who bears in mind the scientific 
  taste of the Russians, and the impetus which they have given to 
  astronomical studies--thanks to their numerous observatories. 
   
  France began by deriding the pretensions of the Americans. 
  The moon served as a pretext for a thousand stale puns and 
  a score of ballads, in which bad taste contested the palm 
  with ignorance.  But as formerly the French paid before singing, 
  so now they paid after having had their laugh, and they subscribed 
  for a sum of 1,253,930 francs.  At that price they had a right 
  to enjoy themselves a little. 
   
  Austria showed herself generous in the midst of her financial crisis. 
  Her public contributions amounted to the sum of 216,000 florins-- 
  a perfect godsend. 
   
  Fifty-two thousand rix-dollars were the remittance of Sweden 
  and Norway; the amount is large for the country, but it would 
  undoubtedly have been considerably increased had the 
  subscription been opened in Christiana simultaneously with that 
  at Stockholm.  For some reason or other the Norwegians do not 
  like to send their money to Sweden. 
   
  Prussia, by a remittance of 250,000 thalers, testified her high 
  approval of the enterprise. 
   
  Turkey behaved generously; but she had a personal interest in 
  the matter.  The moon, in fact, regulates the cycle of her years 
  and her fast of Ramadan.  She could not do less than give 
  
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  1,372,640 piastres; and she gave them with an eagerness which 
  denoted, however, some pressure on the part of the government. 
   
  Belgium distinguished herself among the second-rate states by 
  a grant of 513,000 francs-- about two centimes per head of 
  her population. 
   
  Holland and her colonies interested themselves to the extent of 
  110,000 florins, only demanding an allowance of five per cent. 
  discount for paying ready money. 
   
  Denmark, a little contracted in territory, gave nevertheless 
  9,000 ducats, proving her love for scientific experiments. 
   
  The Germanic Confederation pledged itself to 34,285 florins. 
  It was impossible to ask for more; besides, they would not have 
  given it. 
   
  Though very much crippled, Italy found 200,000 lire in the 
  pockets of her people.  If she had had Venetia she would have 
  done better; but she had not. 
   
  The States of the Church thought that they could not send less 
  than 7,040 Roman crowns; and Portugal carried her devotion to 
  science as far as 30,000 cruzados.  It was the widow's mite-- 
  eighty-six piastres; but self-constituted empires are always 
  rather short of money. 
   
  Two hundred and fifty-seven francs, this was the modest 
  contribution of Switzerland to the American work.  One must 
  freely admit that she did not see the practical side of 
  the matter.  It did not seem to her that the mere despatch of 
  a shot to the moon could possibly establish any relation of 
  affairs with her; and it did not seem prudent to her to embark 
  her capital in so hazardous an enterprise.  After all, perhaps 
  she was right. 
   
  As to Spain, she could not scrape together more than 110 reals. 
  She gave as an excuse that she had her railways to finish. 
  The truth is, that science is not favorably regarded in that 
  country, it is still in a backward state; and moreover, certain 
  Spaniards, not by any means the least educated, did not form a 
  correct estimate of the bulk of the projectile compared with 
  that of the moon.  They feared that it would disturb the 
  established order of things.  In that case it were better to 
  keep aloof; which they did to the tune of some reals. 
   
  There remained but England; and we know the contemptuous 
  antipathy with which she received Barbicane's proposition. 
  The English have but one soul for the whole twenty-six millions 
  of inhabitants which Great Britain contains.  They hinted that 
  the enterprise of the Gun Club was contrary to the "principle of 
  non-intervention."  And they did not subscribe a single farthing. 
   
  At this intimation the Gun Club merely shrugged its shoulders 
  and returned to its great work.  When South America, that is to 
  say, Peru, Chili, Brazil, the provinces of La Plata and Columbia, 
  
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  had poured forth their quota into their hands, the sum of $300,000, 
  it found itself in possession of a considerable capital, of which 
  the following is a statement: 
   
       United States subscriptions, .     .  $4,000,000 
       Foreign subscriptions  .     .     .  $1,446,675 
                                            ----------- 
              Total,    .     .     .     .  $5,446,675 
   
   
  Such was the sum which the public poured into the treasury of 
  the Gun Club. 
   
  Let no one be surprised at the vastness of the amount.  The work 
  of casting, boring, masonry, the transport of workmen, their 
  establishment in an almost uninhabited country, the construction 
  of furnaces and workshops, the plant, the powder, the projectile, 
  and incipient expenses, would, according to the estimates, absorb 
  nearly the whole.  Certain cannon-shots in the Federal war cost 
  one thousand dollars apiece.  This one of President Barbicane, 
  unique in the annals of gunnery, might well cost five thousand 
  times more. 
   
  On the 20th of October a contract was entered into with the 
  manufactory at Coldspring, near New York, which during the war 
  had furnished the largest Parrott, cast-iron guns.  It was 
  stipulated between the contracting parties that the manufactory 
  of Coldspring should engage to transport to Tampa Town, 
  in southern Florida, the necessary materials for casting 
  the Columbiad.  The work was bound to be completed at latest 
  by the 15th of October following, and the cannon delivered 
  in good condition under penalty of a forfeit of one hundred 
  dollars a day to the moment when the moon should again present 
  herself under the same conditions-- that is to say, in eighteen 
  years and eleven days. 
   
  The engagement of the workmen, their pay, and all the necessary 
  details of the work, devolved upon the Coldspring Company. 
   
  This contract, executed in duplicate, was signed by Barbicane, 
  president of the Gun Club, of the one part, and T. Murchison 
  director of the Coldspring manufactory, of the other, who thus 
  executed the deed on behalf of their respective principals. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XIII 
   
   
  STONES HILL 
   
   
  When the decision was arrived at by the Gun Club, to the 
  disparagement of Texas, every one in America, where reading is 
  a universal acquirement, set to work to study the geography 
  
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  46
  of Florida.  Never before had there been such a sale for works 
  like "Bertram's Travels in Florida," "Roman's Natural History of 
  East and West Florida," "William's Territory of Florida," and 
  "Cleland on the Cultivation of the Sugar-Cane in Florida." 
  It became necessary to issue fresh editions of these works. 
   
  Barbicane had something better to do than to read.  He desired 
  to see things with his own eyes, and to mark the exact position 
  of the proposed gun.  So, without a moment's loss of time, he 
  placed at the disposal of the Cambridge Observatory the funds 
  necessary for the construction of a telescope, and entered into 
  negotiations with the house of Breadwill and Co., of Albany, for 
  the construction of an aluminum projectile of the required size. 
  He then quitted Baltimore, accompanied by J. T. Maston, Major 
  Elphinstone, and the manager of the Coldspring factory. 
   
  On the following day, the four fellow-travelers arrived at 
  New Orleans.  There they immediately embarked on board the 
  _Tampico_, a despatch-boat belonging to the Federal navy, which 
  the government had placed at their disposal; and, getting up 
  steam, the banks of Louisiana speedily disappeared from sight. 
   
  The passage was not long.  Two days after starting, the _Tampico_, 
  having made four hundred and eighty miles, came in sight of the 
  coast of Florida.  On a nearer approach Barbicane found himself 
  in view of a low, flat country of somewhat barren aspect. 
  After coasting along a series of creeks abounding in lobsters 
  and oysters, the _Tampico_ entered the bay of Espiritu Santo, 
  where she finally anchored in a small natural harbor, formed by 
  the _embouchure_ of the River Hillisborough, at seven P.M., on 
  the 22d of October. 
   
  Our four passengers disembarked at once.  "Gentlemen," said 
  Barbicane, "we have no time to lose; tomorrow we must obtain 
  horses, and proceed to reconnoiter the country." 
   
  Barbicane had scarcely set his foot on shore when three thousand 
  of the inhabitants of Tampa Town came forth to meet him, an 
  honor due to the president who had signalized their country by 
  his choice. 
   
  Declining, however, every kind of ovation, Barbicane ensconced 
  himself in a room of the Franklin Hotel. 
   
  On the morrow some of the small horses of the Spanish breed, 
  full of vigor and of fire, stood snorting under his windows; 
  but instead of four steeds, here were fifty, together with 
  their riders.  Barbicane descended with his three fellow- 
  travelers; and much astonished were they all to find themselves 
  in the midst of such a cavalcade.  He remarked that every 
  horseman carried a carbine slung across his shoulders and 
  pistols in his holsters. 
   
  On expressing his surprise at these preparations, he was 
  speedily enlightened by a young Floridan, who quietly said: 
   
  "Sir, there are Seminoles there." 
  
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  "What do you mean by Seminoles?" 
   
  "Savages who scour the prairies.  We thought it best, therefore, 
  to escort you on your road." 
   
  "Pooh!" cried J. T. Maston, mounting his steed. 
   
  "All right," said the Floridan; "but it is true enough, nevertheless." 
   
  "Gentlemen," answered Barbicane, "I thank you for your kind 
  attention; but it is time to be off." 
   
  It was five A.M. when Barbicane and his party, quitting Tampa Town, 
  made their way along the coast in the direction of Alifia Creek. 
  This little river falls into Hillisborough Bay twelve miles above 
  Tampa Town.  Barbicane and his escort coasted along its right bank 
  to the eastward.  Soon the waves of the bay disappeared behind a 
  bend of rising ground, and the Floridan "champagne" alone offered 
  itself to view. 
   
  Florida, discovered on Palm Sunday, in 1512, by Juan Ponce de 
  Leon, was originally named _Pascha Florida_.  It little deserved 
  that designation, with its dry and parched coasts.  But after 
  some few miles of tract the nature of the soil gradually changes 
  and the country shows itself worthy of the name.  Cultivated plains 
  soon appear, where are united all the productions of the northern 
  and tropical floras, terminating in prairies abounding with 
  pineapples and yams, tobacco, rice, cotton-plants, and sugar-canes, 
  which extend beyond reach of sight, flinging their riches broadcast 
  with careless prodigality. 
   
  Barbicane appeared highly pleased on observing the progressive 
  elevation of the land; and in answer to a question of J. T. 
  Maston, replied: 
   
  "My worthy friend, we cannot do better than sink our Columbiad 
  in these high grounds." 
   
  "To get nearer the moon, perhaps?" said the secretary of the Gun Club. 
   
  "Not exactly," replied Barbicane, smiling; "do you not see that 
  among these elevated plateaus we shall have a much easier work 
  of it?  No struggles with the water-springs, which will save us 
  long expensive tubings; and we shall be working in daylight 
  instead of down a deep and narrow well.  Our business, then, is 
  to open our trenches upon ground some hundreds of yards above 
  the level of the sea." 
   
  "You are right, sir," struck in Murchison, the engineer; "and, if I 
  mistake not, we shall ere long find a suitable spot for our purpose." 
   
  "I wish we were at the first stroke of the pickaxe," said the 
  president. 
   
  "And I wish we were at the _last_," cried J. T. Maston. 
   
  
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  About ten A.M. the little band had crossed a dozen miles. 
  To fertile plains succeeded a region of forests.  There perfumes 
  of the most varied kinds mingled together in tropical profusion. 
  These almost impenetrable forests were composed of pomegranates, 
  orange-trees, citrons, figs, olives, apricots, bananas, huge vines, 
  whose blossoms and fruits rivaled each other in color and perfume. 
  Beneath the odorous shade of these magnificent trees fluttered and 
  warbled a little world of brilliantly plumaged birds. 
   
  J. T. Maston and the major could not repress their admiration on 
  finding themselves in the presence of the glorious beauties of 
  this wealth of nature.  President Barbicane, however, less 
  sensitive to these wonders, was in haste to press forward; 
  the very luxuriance of the country was displeasing to him. 
  They hastened onward, therefore, and were compelled to ford 
  several rivers, not without danger, for they were infested 
  with huge alligators from fifteen to eighteen feet long. 
  Maston courageously menaced them with his steel hook, but he 
  only succeeded in frightening some pelicans and teal, while 
  tall flamingos stared stupidly at the party. 
   
  At length these denizens of the swamps disappeared in their 
  turn; smaller trees became thinly scattered among less dense 
  thickets-- a few isolated groups detached in the midst of 
  endless plains over which ranged herds of startled deer. 
   
  "At last," cried Barbicane, rising in his stirrups, "here we are 
  at the region of pines!" 
   
  "Yes! and of savages too," replied the major. 
   
  In fact, some Seminoles had just came in sight upon the horizon; 
  they rode violently backward and forward on their fleet horses, 
  brandishing their spears or discharging their guns with a dull report. 
  These hostile demonstrations, however, had no effect upon Barbicane 
  and his companions. 
   
  They were then occupying the center of a rocky plain, which the 
  sun scorched with its parching rays.  This was formed by a 
  considerable elevation of the soil, which seemed to offer to the 
  members of the Gun Club all the conditions requisite for the 
  construction of their Columbiad. 
   
  "Halt!" said Barbicane, reining up.  "Has this place any 
  local appellation?" 
   
  "It is called Stones Hill," replied one of the Floridans. 
   
  Barbicane, without saying a word, dismounted, seized his instruments, 
  and began to note his position with extreme exactness.  The little 
  band, drawn up in the rear, watched his proceedings in profound 
  silence. 
   
  At this moment the sun passed the meridian.  Barbicane, after a 
  few moments, rapidly wrote down the result of his observations, 
  and said: 
   
  
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  "This spot is situated eighteen hundred feet above the level of 
  the sea, in 27@ 7' N. lat. and 5@ 7' W. long. of the meridian 
  of Washington.  It appears to me by its rocky and barren character 
  to offer all the conditions requisite for our experiment.  On that 
  plain will be raised our magazines, workshops, furnaces, and 
  workmen's huts; and here, from this very spot," said he, stamping 
  his foot on the summit of Stones Hill, "hence shall our projectile 
  take its flight into the regions of the Solar World." 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XIV 
   
   
  PICKAXE AND TROWEL 
   
   
  The same evening Barbicane and his companions returned to Tampa 
  Town; and Murchison, the engineer, re-embarked on board the 
  Tampico for New Orleans.  His object was to enlist an army of 
  workmen, and to collect together the greater part of the materials. 
  The members of the Gun Club remained at Tampa Town, for the 
  purpose of setting on foot the preliminary works by the aid of 
  the people of the country. 
   
  Eight days after its departure, the Tampico returned into the 
  bay of Espiritu Santo, with a whole flotilla of steamboats. 
  Murchison had succeeded in assembling together fifteen 
  hundred artisans.  Attracted by the high pay and considerable 
  bounties offered by the Gun Club, he had enlisted a choice 
  legion of stokers, iron-founders, lime-burners, miners, 
  brickmakers, and artisans of every trade, without distinction 
  of color.  As many of these people brought their families with 
  them, their departure resembled a perfect emigration. 
   
  On the 31st of October, at ten o'clock in the morning, the troop 
  disembarked on the quays of Tampa Town; and one may imagine the 
  activity which pervaded that little town, whose population was 
  thus doubled in a single day. 
   
  During the first few days they were busy discharging the cargo 
  brought by the flotilla, the machines, and the rations, as well 
  as a large number of huts constructed of iron plates, separately 
  pieced and numbered.  At the same period Barbicane laid the 
  first sleepers of a railway fifteen miles in length, intended to 
  unite Stones Hill with Tampa Town.  On the first of November 
  Barbicane quitted Tampa Town with a detachment of workmen; and 
  on the following day the whole town of huts was erected round 
  Stones Hill.  This they enclosed with palisades; and in respect 
  of energy and activity, it might have been mistaken for one of 
  the great cities of the Union.  Everything was placed under a 
  complete system of discipline, and the works were commenced in 
  most perfect order. 
   
  The nature of the soil having been carefully examined, by means 
  
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  of repeated borings, the work of excavation was fixed for the 
  4th of November. 
   
  On that day Barbicane called together his foremen and addressed 
  them as follows:  "You are well aware, my friends, of the 
  object with which I have assembled you together in this wild 
  part of Florida.  Our business is to construct a cannon measuring 
  nine feet in its interior diameter, six feet thick, and with a 
  stone revetment of nineteen and a half feet in thickness.  We have, 
  therefore, a well of sixty feet in diameter to dig down to a 
  depth of nine hundred feet.  This great work must be completed 
  within eight months, so that you have 2,543,400 cubic feet of 
  earth to excavate in 255 days; that is to say, in round numbers, 
  2,000 cubic feet per day.  That which would present no difficulty 
  to a thousand navvies working in open country will be of course 
  more troublesome in a comparatively confined space.  However, the 
  thing must be done, and I reckon for its accomplishment upon your 
  courage as much as upon your skill." 
   
  At eight o'clock the next morning the first stroke of the 
  pickaxe was struck upon the soil of Florida; and from that 
  moment that prince of tools was never inactive for one moment 
  in the hands of the excavators.  The gangs relieved each other 
  every three hours. 
   
  On the 4th of November fifty workmen commenced digging, in the 
  very center of the enclosed space on the summit of Stones Hill, 
  a circular hole sixty feet in diameter.  The pickaxe first 
  struck upon a kind of black earth, six inches in thickness, 
  which was speedily disposed of.  To this earth succeeded two 
  feet of fine sand, which was carefully laid aside as being 
  valuable for serving the casting of the inner mould.  After the 
  sand appeared some compact white clay, resembling the chalk of 
  Great Britain, which extended down to a depth of four feet. 
  Then the iron of the picks struck upon the hard bed of the soil; 
  a kind of rock formed of petrified shells, very dry, very solid, 
  and which the picks could with difficulty penetrate.  At this 
  point the excavation exhibited a depth of six and a half feet 
  and the work of the masonry was begun. 
   
  At the bottom of the excavation they constructed a wheel of oak, 
  a kind of circle strongly bolted together, and of immense strength. 
  The center of this wooden disc was hollowed out to a diameter 
  equal to the exterior diameter of the Columbiad.  Upon this wheel 
  rested the first layers of the masonry, the stones of which were 
  bound together by hydraulic cement, with irresistible tenacity. 
  The workmen, after laying the stones from the circumference to 
  the center, were thus enclosed within a kind of well twenty-one 
  feet in diameter.  When this work was accomplished, the miners 
  resumed their picks and cut away the rock from underneath the wheel 
  itself, taking care to support it as they advanced upon blocks of 
  great thickness.  At every two feet which the hole gained in depth 
  they successively withdrew the blocks.  The wheel then sank little 
  by little, and with it the massive ring of masonry, on the upper 
  bed of which the masons labored incessantly, always reserving some 
  vent holes to permit the escape of gas during the operation of 
  the casting. 
  
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  This kind of work required on the part of the workmen extreme 
  nicety and minute attention.  More than one, in digging 
  underneath the wheel, was dangerously injured by the splinters 
  of stone.  But their ardor never relaxed, night or day.  By day 
  they worked under the rays of the scorching sun; by night, under 
  the gleam of the electric light.  The sounds of the picks against 
  the rock, the bursting of mines, the grinding of the machines, 
  the wreaths of smoke scattered through the air, traced around 
  Stones Hill a circle of terror which the herds of buffaloes and 
  the war parties of the Seminoles never ventured to pass. 
  Nevertheless, the works advanced regularly, as the steam-cranes 
  actively removed the rubbish.  Of unexpected obstacles there was 
  little account; and with regard to foreseen difficulties, they 
  were speedily disposed of. 
   
  At the expiration of the first month the well had attained the 
  depth assigned for that lapse of time, namely, 112 feet.  This depth 
  was doubled in December, and trebled in January. 
   
  During the month of February the workmen had to contend with a 
  sheet of water which made its way right across the outer soil. 
  It became necessary to employ very powerful pumps and 
  compressed-air engines to drain it off, so as to close up the 
  orifice from whence it issued; just as one stops a leak on 
  board ship.  They at last succeeded in getting the upper hand of 
  these untoward streams; only, in consequence of the loosening of 
  the soil, the wheel partly gave way, and a slight partial 
  settlement ensued.  This accident cost the life of several workmen. 
   
  No fresh occurrence thenceforward arrested the progress of the 
  operation; and on the tenth of June, twenty days before the 
  expiration of the period fixed by Barbicane, the well, lined 
  throughout with its facing of stone, had attained the depth of 
  900 feet.  At the bottom the masonry rested upon a massive block 
  measuring thirty feet in thickness, while on the upper portion 
  it was level with the surrounding soil. 
   
  President Barbicane and the members of the Gun Club warmly 
  congratulated their engineer Murchison; the cyclopean work had 
  been accomplished with extraordinary rapidity. 
   
  During these eight months Barbicane never quitted Stones Hill 
  for a single instant.  Keeping ever close by the work of 
  excavation, he busied himself incessantly with the welfare 
  and health of his workpeople, and was singularly fortunate 
  in warding off the epidemics common to large communities of 
  men, and so disastrous in those regions of the globe which 
  are exposed to the influences of tropical climates. 
   
  Many workmen, it is true, paid with their lives for the rashness 
  inherent in these dangerous labors; but these mishaps are impossible 
  to be avoided, and they are classed among the details with which 
  the Americans trouble themselves but little.  They have in fact 
  more regard for human nature in general than for the individual 
  in particular. 
   
  
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  Nevertheless, Barbicane professed opposite principles to these, 
  and put them in force at every opportunity.  So, thanks to his 
  care, his intelligence, his useful intervention in all 
  difficulties, his prodigious and humane sagacity, the average of 
  accidents did not exceed that of transatlantic countries, noted 
  for their excessive precautions-- France, for instance, among 
  others, where they reckon about one accident for every two 
  hundred thousand francs of work. 
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XV 
   
   
  THE FETE OF THE CASTING 
   
   
  During the eight months which were employed in the work of 
  excavation the preparatory works of the casting had been carried 
  on simultaneously with extreme rapidity.  A stranger arriving at 
  Stones Hill would have been surprised at the spectacle offered 
  to his view. 
   
  At 600 yards from the well, and circularly arranged around it as 
  a central point, rose 1,200 reverberating ovens, each six feet 
  in diameter, and separated from each other by an interval of 
  three feet.  The circumference occupied by these 1,200 ovens 
  presented a length of two miles.  Being all constructed on the 
  same plan, each with its high quadrangular chimney, they 
  produced a most singular effect. 
   
  It will be remembered that on their third meeting the committee 
  had decided to use cast iron for the Columbiad, and in particular 
  the white description.  This metal, in fact, is the most 
  tenacious, the most ductile, and the most malleable, and 
  consequently suitable for all moulding operations; and when 
  smelted with pit coal, is of superior quality for all 
  engineering works requiring great resisting power, such as 
  cannon, steam boilers, hydraulic presses, and the like. 
   
  Cast iron, however, if subjected to only one single fusion, 
  is rarely sufficiently homogeneous; and it requires a second 
  fusion completely to refine it by dispossessing it of its last 
  earthly deposits.  So long before being forwarded to Tampa Town, 
  the iron ore, molten in the great furnaces of Coldspring, and 
  brought into contact with coal and silicium heated to a high 
  temperature, was carburized and transformed into cast iron. 
  After this first operation, the metal was sent on to Stones Hill. 
  They had, however, to deal with 136,000,000 pounds of iron, a 
  quantity far too costly to send by railway.  The cost of 
  transport would have been double that of material.  It appeared 
  preferable to freight vessels at New York, and to load them with 
  the iron in bars.  This, however, required not less than sixty- 
  eight vessels of 1,000 tons, a veritable fleet, which, quitting 
  New York on the 3rd of May, on the 10th of the same month ascended 
  the Bay of Espiritu Santo, and discharged their cargoes, without 
  
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  dues, in the port at Tampa Town.  Thence the iron was transported 
  by rail to Stones Hill, and about the middle of January this 
  enormous mass of metal was delivered at its destination. 
   
  It will easily be understood that 1,200 furnaces were not too 
  many to melt simultaneously these 60,000 tons of iron.  Each of 
  these furnaces contained nearly 140,000 pounds weight of metal. 
  They were all built after the model of those which served for 
  the casting of the Rodman gun; they were trapezoidal in shape, 
  with a high elliptical arch.  These furnaces, constructed of 
  fireproof brick, were especially adapted for burning pit coal, 
  with a flat bottom upon which the iron bars were laid.  This bottom, 
  inclined at an angle of 25 degrees, allowed the metal to flow into 
  the receiving troughs; and the 1,200 converging trenches carried 
  the molten metal down to the central well. 
   
  The day following that on which the works of the masonry and 
  boring had been completed, Barbicane set to work upon the 
  central mould.  His object now was to raise within the center of 
  the well, and with a coincident axis, a cylinder 900 feet high, 
  and nine feet in diameter, which should exactly fill up the 
  space reserved for the bore of the Columbiad.  This cylinder was 
  composed of a mixture of clay and sand, with the addition of a 
  little hay and straw.  The space left between the mould and the 
  masonry was intended to be filled up by the molten metal, which 
  would thus form the walls six feet in thickness.  This cylinder, 
  in order to maintain its equilibrium, had to be bound by iron 
  bands, and firmly fixed at certain intervals by cross-clamps 
  fastened into the stone lining; after the castings these would 
  be buried in the block of metal, leaving no external projection. 
   
  This operation was completed on the 8th of July, and the run of 
  the metal was fixed for the following day. 
   
  "This _fete_ of the casting will be a grand ceremony," said J. 
  T. Maston to his friend Barbicane. 
   
  "Undoubtedly," said Barbicane; "but it will not be a public _fete_" 
   
  "What! will you not open the gates of the enclosure to all comers?" 
   
  "I must be very careful, Maston.  The casting of the Columbiad 
  is an extremely delicate, not to say a dangerous operation, and 
  I should prefer its being done privately.  At the discharge of 
  the projectile, a _fete_ if you like-- till then, no!" 
   
  The president was right.  The operation involved unforeseen 
  dangers, which a great influx of spectators would have hindered 
  him from averting.  It was necessary to preserve complete 
  freedom of movement.  No one was admitted within the enclosure 
  except a delegation of members of the Gun Club, who had made the 
  voyage to Tampa Town.  Among these was the brisk Bilsby, Tom 
  Hunter, Colonel Blomsberry, Major Elphinstone, General Morgan, 
  and the rest of the lot to whom the casting of the Columbiad was 
  a matter of personal interest.  J. T. Maston became their cicerone. 
  He omitted no point of detail; he conducted them throughout the 
  magazines, workshops, through the midst of the engines, and 
  
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  compelled them to visit the whole 1,200 furnaces one after 
  the other.  At the end of the twelve-hundredth visit they were 
  pretty well knocked up. 
   
  The casting was to take place at twelve o'clock precisely. 
  The previous evening each furnace had been charged with 114,000 
  pounds weight of metal in bars disposed cross-ways to each other, 
  so as to allow the hot air to circulate freely between them. 
  At daybreak the 1,200 chimneys vomited their torrents of flame 
  into the air, and the ground was agitated with dull tremblings. 
  As many pounds of metal as there were to cast, so many pounds of 
  coal were there to burn.  Thus there were 68,000 tons of coal 
  which projected in the face of the sun a thick curtain of smoke. 
  The heat soon became insupportable within the circle of furnaces, 
  the rumbling of which resembled the rolling of thunder.  The powerful 
  ventilators added their continuous blasts and saturated with 
  oxygen the glowing plates.  The operation, to be successful, 
  required to be conducted with great rapidity.  On a signal given 
  by a cannon-shot each furnace was to give vent to the molten 
  iron and completely to empty itself.  These arrangements made, 
  foremen and workmen waited the preconcerted moment with an 
  impatience mingled with a certain amount of emotion.  Not a soul 
  remained within the enclosure.  Each superintendent took his 
  post by the aperture of the run. 
   
  Barbicane and his colleagues, perched on a neighboring eminence, 
  assisted at the operation.  In front of them was a piece of 
  artillery ready to give fire on the signal from the engineer. 
  Some minutes before midday the first driblets of metal began to 
  flow; the reservoirs filled little by little; and, by the time 
  that the whole melting was completely accomplished, it was kept 
  in abeyance for a few minutes in order to facilitate the 
  separation of foreign substances. 
   
  Twelve o'clock struck!  A gunshot suddenly pealed forth and shot 
  its flame into the air.  Twelve hundred melting-troughs were 
  simultaneously opened and twelve hundred fiery serpents crept 
  toward the central well, unrolling their incandescent curves. 
  There, down they plunged with a terrific noise into a depth of 
  900 feet.  It was an exciting and a magnificent spectacle. 
  The ground trembled, while these molten waves, launching into the 
  sky their wreaths of smoke, evaporated the moisture of the mould 
  and hurled it upward through the vent-holes of the stone lining 
  in the form of dense vapor-clouds.  These artificial clouds 
  unrolled their thick spirals to a height of 1,000 yards into 
  the air.  A savage, wandering somewhere beyond the limits of the 
  horizon, might have believed that some new crater was forming in 
  the bosom of Florida, although there was neither any eruption, 
  nor typhoon, nor storm, nor struggle of the elements, nor any of 
  those terrible phenomena which nature is capable of producing. 
  No, it was man alone who had produced these reddish vapors, 
  these gigantic flames worthy of a volcano itself, these 
  tremendous vibrations resembling the shock of an earthquake, 
  these reverberations rivaling those of hurricanes and storms; 
  and it was his hand which precipitated into an abyss, dug by 
  himself, a whole Niagara of molten metal! 
   
  
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  CHAPTER XVI 
   
   
  THE COLUMBIAD 
   
   
  Had the casting succeeded?  They were reduced to mere conjecture. 
  There was indeed every reason to expect success, since the mould 
  has absorbed the entire mass of the molten metal; still some 
  considerable time must elapse before they could arrive at any 
  certainty upon the matter. 
   
  The patience of the members of the Gun Club was sorely tried during 
  this period of time.  But they could do nothing.  J. T. Maston 
  escaped roasting by a miracle.  Fifteen days after the casting 
  an immense column of smoke was still rising in the open sky and 
  the ground burned the soles of the feet within a radius of two 
  hundred feet round the summit of Stones Hill.  It was impossible 
  to approach nearer.  All they could do was to wait with what 
  patience they might. 
   
  "Here we are at the 10th of August," exclaimed J. T. Maston one 
  morning, "only four months to the 1st of December!  We shall 
  never be ready in time!"  Barbicane said nothing, but his 
  silence covered serious irritation. 
   
  However, daily observations revealed a certain change going on 
  in the state of the ground.  About the 15th of August the vapors 
  ejected had sensibly diminished in intensity and thickness. 
  Some days afterward the earth exhaled only a slight puff of 
  smoke, the last breath of the monster enclosed within its circle 
  of stone.  Little by little the belt of heat contracted, until 
  on the 22nd of August, Barbicane, his colleagues, and the 
  engineer were enabled to set foot on the iron sheet which lay 
  level upon the summit of Stones Hill. 
   
  "At last!" exclaimed the president of the Gun Club, with an 
  immense sigh of relief. 
   
  The work was resumed the same day.  They proceeded at once to 
  extract the interior mould, for the purpose of clearing out the 
  boring of the piece.  Pickaxes and boring irons were set to work 
  without intermission.  The clayey and sandy soils had acquired 
  extreme hardness under the action of the heat; but, by the aid 
  of the machines, the rubbish on being dug out was rapidly carted 
  away on railway wagons; and such was the ardor of the work, so 
  persuasive the arguments of Barbicane's dollars, that by the 3rd 
  of September all traces of the mould had entirely disappeared. 
   
  Immediately the operation of boring was commenced; and by the 
  aid of powerful machines, a few weeks later, the inner surface 
  of the immense tube had been rendered perfectly cylindrical, and 
  the bore of the piece had acquired a thorough polish. 
   
  
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  At length, on the 22d of September, less than a twelvemonth 
  after Barbicane's original proposition, the enormous weapon, 
  accurately bored, and exactly vertically pointed, was ready 
  for work.  There was only the moon now to wait for; and they 
  were pretty sure that she would not fail in the rendezvous. 
   
  The ecstasy of J. T. Maston knew no bounds, and he narrowly 
  escaped a frightful fall while staring down the tube.  But for 
  the strong hand of Colonel Blomsberry, the worthy secretary, 
  like a modern Erostratus, would have found his death in the 
  depths of the Columbiad. 
   
  The cannon was then finished; there was no possible doubt as to 
  its perfect completion.  So, on the 6th of October, Captain 
  Nicholl opened an account between himself and President Barbicane, 
  in which he debited himself to the latter in the sum of two 
  thousand dollars.  One may believe that the captain's wrath was 
  increased to its highest point, and must have made him seriously ill. 
  However, he had still three bets of three, four, and five 
  thousand dollars, respectively; and if he gained two out of these, 
  his position would not be very bad.  But the money question did 
  not enter into his calculations; it was the success of his rival 
  in casting a cannon against which iron plates sixty feet thick 
  would have been ineffectual, that dealt him a terrible blow. 
   
  After the 23rd of September the enclosure of Stones hill was 
  thrown open to the public; and it will be easily imagined what 
  was the concourse of visitors to this spot!  There was an 
  incessant flow of people to and from Tampa Town and the place, 
  which resembled a procession, or rather, in fact, a pilgrimage. 
   
  It was already clear to be seen that, on the day of the 
  experiment itself, the aggregate of spectators would be counted 
  by millions; for they were already arriving from all parts of 
  the earth upon this narrow strip of promontory.  Europe was 
  emigrating to America. 
   
  Up to that time, however, it must be confessed, the curiosity 
  of the numerous comers was but scantily gratified.  Most had 
  counted upon witnessing the spectacle of the casting, and they 
  were treated to nothing but smoke.  This was sorry food for 
  hungry eyes; but Barbicane would admit no one to that operation. 
  Then ensued grumbling, discontent, murmurs; they blamed the 
  president, taxed him with dictatorial conduct.  His proceedings 
  were declared "un-American."  There was very nearly a riot round 
  Stones Hill; but Barbicane remained inflexible.  When, however, 
  the Columbiad was entirely finished, this state of closed doors 
  could no longer be maintained; besides it would have been bad 
  taste, and even imprudence, to affront the public feeling. 
  Barbicane, therefore, opened the enclosure to all comers; but, 
  true to his practical disposition, he determined to coin money 
  out of the public curiosity. 
   
  It was something, indeed, to be enabled to contemplate this 
  immense Columbiad; but to descend into its depths, this seemed 
  to the Americans the _ne plus ultra_ of earthly felicity. 
  Consequently, there was not one curious spectator who was not 
  
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  willing to give himself the treat of visiting the interior of 
  this great metallic abyss.  Baskets suspended from steam-cranes 
  permitted them to satisfy their curiosity.  There was a 
  perfect mania.  Women, children, old men, all made it a point 
  of duty to penetrate the mysteries of the colossal gun. 
  The fare for the descent was fixed at five dollars per head; 
  and despite this high charge, during the two months which 
  preceded the experiment, the influx of visitors enabled the 
  Gun Club to pocket nearly five hundred thousand dollars! 
   
  It is needless to say that the first visitors of the Columbiad 
  were the members of the Gun Club.  This privilege was justly 
  reserved for that illustrious body.  The ceremony took place on 
  the 25th of September.  A basket of honor took down the 
  president, J. T. Maston, Major Elphinstone, General Morgan, 
  Colonel Blomsberry, and other members of the club, to the number 
  of ten in all.  How hot it was at the bottom of that long tube 
  of metal!  They were half suffocated.  But what delight! 
  What ecstasy!  A table had been laid with six covers on the 
  massive stone which formed the bottom of the Columbiad, and 
  lighted by a jet of electric light resembling that of day itself. 
  Numerous exquisite dishes, which seemed to descend from heaven, 
  were placed successively before the guests, and the richest wines 
  of France flowed in profusion during this splendid repast, served 
  nine hundred feet beneath the surface of the earth! 
   
  The festival was animated, not to say somewhat noisy.  Toasts flew 
  backward and forward.  They drank to the earth and to her satellite, 
  to the Gun Club, the Union, the Moon, Diana, Phoebe, Selene, the 
  "peaceful courier of the night!"  All the hurrahs, carried upward 
  upon the sonorous waves of the immense acoustic tube, arrived with 
  the sound of thunder at its mouth; and the multitude ranged round 
  Stones Hill heartily united their shouts with those of the ten 
  revelers hidden from view at the bottom of the gigantic Columbiad. 
   
  J. T. Maston was no longer master of himself.  Whether he 
  shouted or gesticulated, ate or drank most, would be a difficult 
  matter to determine.  At all events, he would not have given his 
  place up for an empire, "not even if the cannon-- loaded, 
  primed, and fired at that very moment--were to blow him in 
  pieces into the planetary world." 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XVII 
   
   
  A TELEGRAPHIC DISPATCH 
   
   
  The great works undertaken by the Gun Club had now virtually 
  come to an end; and two months still remained before the day for 
  the discharge of the shot to the moon.  To the general impatience 
  these two months appeared as long as years!  Hitherto the smallest 
  details of the operation had been daily chronicled by the journals, 
  
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  which the public devoured with eager eyes. 
   
  Just at this moment a circumstance, the most unexpected, the 
  most extraordinary and incredible, occurred to rouse afresh 
  their panting spirits, and to throw every mind into a state of 
  the most violent excitement. 
   
  One day, the 30th of September, at 3:47 P.M., a telegram, 
  transmitted by cable from Valentia (Ireland) to Newfoundland and 
  the American Mainland, arrived at the address of President Barbicane. 
   
  The president tore open the envelope, read the dispatch, and, 
  despite his remarkable powers of self-control, his lips turned 
  pale and his eyes grew dim, on reading the twenty words of 
  this telegram. 
   
  Here is the text of the dispatch, which figures now in the 
  archives of the Gun Club: 
   
                                  FRANCE, PARIS, 
                                      30 September, 4 A.M. 
              Barbicane, Tampa Town, Florida, United States. 
   
  Substitute for your spherical shell a cylindro-conical projectile. 
  I shall go inside.  Shall arrive by steamer Atlanta. 
                                                     MICHEL ARDAN. 
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XVIII 
   
   
  THE PASSENGER OF THE ATLANTA 
   
   
   
  If this astounding news, instead of flying through the electric 
  wires, had simply arrived by post in the ordinary sealed envelope, 
  Barbicane would not have hesitated a moment.  He would have held 
  his tongue about it, both as a measure of prudence, and in order 
  not to have to reconsider his plans.  This telegram might be a 
  cover for some jest, especially as it came from a Frenchman. 
  What human being would ever have conceived the idea of such 
  a journey? and, if such a person really existed, he must be an 
  idiot, whom one would shut up in a lunatic ward, rather than 
  within the walls of the projectile. 
   
  The contents of the dispatch, however, speedily became known; 
  for the telegraphic officials possessed but little discretion, 
  and Michel Ardan's proposition ran at once throughout the 
  several States of the Union.  Barbicane, had, therefore, no 
  further motives for keeping silence.  Consequently, he called 
  together such of his colleagues as were at the moment in Tampa 
  Town, and without any expression of his own opinions simply read 
  to them the laconic text itself.  It was received with every 
  possible variety of expressions of doubt, incredulity, and 
  
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  derision from every one, with the exception of J. T. Maston, who 
  exclaimed, "It is a grand idea, however!" 
   
  When Barbicane originally proposed to send a shot to the moon 
  every one looked upon the enterprise as simple and practicable 
  enough-- a mere question of gunnery; but when a person, 
  professing to be a reasonable being, offered to take passage 
  within the projectile, the whole thing became a farce, or, in 
  plainer language a humbug. 
   
  One question, however, remained.  Did such a being exist? 
  This telegram flashed across the depths of the Atlantic, the 
  designation of the vessel on board which he was to take his 
  passage, the date assigned for his speedy arrival, all combined 
  to impart a certain character of reality to the proposal. 
  They must get some clearer notion of the matter.  Scattered groups 
  of inquirers at length condensed themselves into a compact crowd, 
  which made straight for the residence of President Barbicane. 
  That worthy individual was keeping quiet with the intention of 
  watching events as they arose.  But he had forgotten to take 
  into account the public impatience; and it was with no pleasant 
  countenance that he watched the population of Tampa Town 
  gathering under his windows.  The murmurs and vociferations 
  below presently obliged him to appear.  He came forward, 
  therefore, and on silence being procured, a citizen put 
  point-blank to him the following question:  "Is the person 
  mentioned in the telegram, under the name of Michel Ardan, on 
  his way here?  Yes or no." 
   
  "Gentlemen," replied Barbicane, "I know no more than you do." 
   
  "We must know," roared the impatient voices. 
   
  "Time will show," calmly replied the president. 
   
  "Time has no business to keep a whole country in suspense," 
  replied the orator.  "Have you altered the plans of the 
  projectile according to the request of the telegram?" 
   
  "Not yet, gentlemen; but you are right! we must have better 
  information to go by.  The telegraph must complete its information." 
   
  "To the telegraph!" roared the crowd. 
   
  Barbicane descended; and heading the immense assemblage, led the 
  way to the telegraph office.  A few minutes later a telegram was 
  dispatched to the secretary of the underwriters at Liverpool, 
  requesting answers to the following queries: 
   
  "About the ship Atlanta-- when did she leave Europe?  Had she on 
  board a Frenchman named Michel Ardan?" 
   
  Two hours afterward Barbicane received information too exact to 
  leave room for the smallest remaining doubt. 
   
  "The steamer Atlanta from Liverpool put to sea on the 2nd of 
  October, bound for Tampa Town, having on board a Frenchman borne 
  
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  on the list of passengers by the name of Michel Ardan." 
   
  That very evening he wrote to the house of Breadwill and Co., 
  requesting them to suspend the casting of the projectile until 
  the receipt of further orders.  On the 10th of October, at nine 
  A.M., the semaphores of the Bahama Canal signaled a thick smoke 
  on the horizon.  Two hours later a large steamer exchanged 
  signals with them.  the name of the Atlanta flew at once over 
  Tampa Town.  At four o'clock the English vessel entered the Bay 
  of Espiritu Santo.  At five it crossed the passage of 
  Hillisborough Bay at full steam.  At six she cast anchor at 
  Port Tampa.  The anchor had scarcely caught the sandy bottom when 
  five hundred boats surrounded the Atlanta, and the steamer was 
  taken by assault.  Barbicane was the first to set foot on deck, 
  and in a voice of which he vainly tried to conceal the emotion, 
  called "Michel Ardan." 
   
  "Here!" replied an individual perched on the poop. 
   
  Barbicane, with arms crossed, looked fixedly at the passenger of 
  the Atlanta. 
   
  He was a man of about forty-two years of age, of large build, 
  but slightly round-shouldered.  His massive head momentarily 
  shook a shock of reddish hair, which resembled a lion's mane. 
  His face was short with a broad forehead, and furnished with a 
  moustache as bristly as a cat's, and little patches of yellowish 
  whiskers upon full cheeks.  Round, wildish eyes, slightly 
  near-sighted, completed a physiognomy essentially feline. 
  His nose was firmly shaped, his mouth particularly sweet in 
  expression, high forehead, intelligent and furrowed with 
  wrinkles like a newly-plowed field.  The body was powerfully 
  developed and firmly fixed upon long legs.  Muscular arms, 
  and a general air of decision gave him the appearance of a hardy, 
  jolly, companion.  He was dressed in a suit of ample dimensions, 
  loose neckerchief, open shirtcollar, disclosing a robust neck; 
  his cuffs were invariably unbuttoned, through which appeared 
  a pair of red hands. 
   
  On the bridge of the steamer, in the midst of the crowd, he 
  bustled to and fro, never still for a moment, "dragging his 
  anchors," as the sailors say, gesticulating, making free with 
  everybody, biting his nails with nervous avidity.  He was one of 
  those originals which nature sometimes invents in the freak of 
  a moment, and of which she then breaks the mould. 
   
  Among other peculiarities, this curiosity gave himself out for 
  a sublime ignoramus, "like Shakespeare," and professed supreme 
  contempt for all scientific men.  Those "fellows," as he called 
  them, "are only fit to mark the points, while we play the game." 
  He was, in fact, a thorough Bohemian, adventurous, but not an 
  adventurer; a hare-brained fellow, a kind of Icarus, only 
  possessing relays of wings.  For the rest, he was ever in 
  scrapes, ending invariably by falling on his feet, like those 
  little figures which they sell for children's toys.  In a few 
  words, his motto was "I have my opinions," and the love of the 
  impossible constituted his ruling passion. 
  
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  Such was the passenger of the Atlanta, always excitable, as if 
  boiling under the action of some internal fire by the character 
  of his physical organization.  If ever two individuals offered 
  a striking contrast to each other, these were certainly Michel 
  Ardan and the Yankee Barbicane; both, moreover, being equally 
  enterprising and daring, each in his own way. 
   
  The scrutiny which the president of the Gun Club had instituted 
  regarding this new rival was quickly interrupted by the shouts 
  and hurrahs of the crowd.  The cries became at last so 
  uproarious, and the popular enthusiasm assumed so personal a 
  form, that Michel Ardan, after having shaken hands some 
  thousands of times, at the imminent risk of leaving his fingers 
  behind him, was fain at last to make a bolt for his cabin. 
   
  Barbicane followed him without uttering a word. 
   
  "You are Barbicane, I suppose?" said Michel Ardan, in a tone 
  of voice in which he would have addressed a friend of twenty 
  years' standing. 
   
  "Yes," replied the president of the Gun Club. 
   
  "All right! how d'ye do, Barbicane? how are you getting on-- 
  pretty well? that's right." 
   
  "So," said Barbicane without further preliminary, "you are quite 
  determined to go." 
   
  "Quite decided." 
   
  "Nothing will stop you?" 
   
  "Nothing.  Have you modified your projectile according to my telegram." 
   
  "I waited for your arrival.  But," asked Barbicane again, "have 
  you carefully reflected?" 
   
  "Reflected? have I any time to spare?  I find an opportunity of 
  making a tour in the moon, and I mean to profit by it.  There is 
  the whole gist of the matter." 
   
  Barbicane looked hard at this man who spoke so lightly of his 
  project with such complete absence of anxiety.  "But, at least," 
  said he, "you have some plans, some means of carrying your 
  project into execution?" 
   
  "Excellent, my dear Barbicane; only permit me to offer one remark: 
  My wish is to tell my story once for all, to everybody, and then 
  have done with it; then there will be no need for recapitulation. 
  So, if you have no objection, assemble your friends, colleagues, 
  the whole town, all Florida, all America if you like, and 
  to-morrow I shall be ready to explain my plans and answer any 
  objections whatever that may be advanced.  You may rest assured 
  I shall wait without stirring.  Will that suit you?" 
   
  
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  "All right," replied Barbicane. 
   
  So saying, the president left the cabin and informed the crowd of 
  the proposal of Michel Ardan.  His words were received with clappings 
  of hands and shouts of joy.  They had removed all difficulties. 
  To-morrow every one would contemplate at his ease this European hero. 
  However, some of the spectators, more infatuated than the rest, 
  would not leave the deck of the Atlanta.  They passed the night 
  on board.  Among others J. T. Maston got his hook fixed in the 
  combing of the poop, and it pretty nearly required the capstan to 
  get it out again. 
   
  "He is a hero! a hero!" he cried, a theme of which he was never 
  tired of ringing the changes; "and we are only like weak, silly 
  women, compared with this European!" 
   
  As to the president, after having suggested to the visitors it 
  was time to retire, he re-entered the passenger's cabin, and 
  remained there till the bell of the steamer made it midnight. 
   
  But then the two rivals in popularity shook hands heartily and 
  parted on terms of intimate friendship. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XIX 
   
   
  A MONSTER MEETING 
   
   
  On the following day Barbicane, fearing that indiscreet 
  questions might be put to Michel Ardan, was desirous of reducing 
  the number of the audience to a few of the initiated, his own 
  colleagues for instance.  He might as well have tried to 
  check the Falls of Niagara! he was compelled, therefore, to 
  give up the idea, and let his new friend run the chances of a 
  public conference.  The place chosen for this monster meeting 
  was a vast plain situated in the rear of the town.  In a few 
  hours, thanks to the help of the shipping in port, an immense 
  roofing of canvas was stretched over the parched prairie, and 
  protected it from the burning rays of the sun.  There three 
  hundred thousand people braved for many hours the stifling heat 
  while awaiting the arrival of the Frenchman.  Of this crowd of 
  spectators a first set could both see and hear; a second set saw 
  badly and heard nothing at all; and as for the third, it could 
  neither see nor hear anything at all.  At three o'clock Michel 
  Ardan made his appearance, accompanied by the principal members 
  of the Gun Club.  He was supported on his right by President 
  Barbicane, and on his left by J. T. Maston, more radiant than 
  the midday sun, and nearly as ruddy.  Ardan mounted a platform, 
  from the top of which his view extended over a sea of black hats. 
   
  He exhibited not the slightest embarrassment; he was just as 
  gay, familiar, and pleasant as if he were at home.  To the 
  
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  hurrahs which greeted him he replied by a graceful bow; then, 
  waving his hands to request silence, he spoke in perfectly 
  correct English as follows: 
   
  "Gentlemen, despite the very hot weather I request your patience 
  for a short time while I offer some explanations regarding the 
  projects which seem to have so interested you.  I am neither an 
  orator nor a man of science, and I had no idea of addressing you 
  in public; but my friend Barbicane has told me that you would 
  like to hear me, and I am quite at your service.  Listen to me, 
  therefore, with your six hundred thousand ears, and please 
  excuse the faults of the speaker.  Now pray do not forget that 
  you see before you a perfect ignoramus whose ignorance goes so 
  far that he cannot even understand the difficulties!  It seemed 
  to him that it was a matter quite simple, natural, and easy 
  to take one's place in a projectile and start for the moon! 
  That journey must be undertaken sooner or later; and, as for the 
  mode of locomotion adopted, it follows simply the law of progress. 
  Man began by walking on all-fours; then, one fine day, on two 
  feet; then in a carriage; then in a stage-coach; and lastly 
  by railway.  Well, the projectile is the vehicle of the future, 
  and the planets themselves are nothing else!  Now some of you, 
  gentlemen, may imagine that the velocity we propose to impart to 
  it is extravagant.  It is nothing of the kind.  All the stars 
  exceed it in rapidity, and the earth herself is at this moment 
  carrying us round the sun at three times as rapid a rate, and 
  yet she is a mere lounger on the way compared with many others 
  of the planets!  And her velocity is constantly decreasing. 
  Is it not evident, then, I ask you, that there will some day appear 
  velocities far greater than these, of which light or electricity 
  will probably be the mechanical agent? 
   
  "Yes, gentlemen," continued the orator, "in spite of the 
  opinions of certain narrow-minded people, who would shut up the 
  human race upon this globe, as within some magic circle which it 
  must never outstep, we shall one day travel to the moon, the 
  planets, and the stars, with the same facility, rapidity, and 
  certainty as we now make the voyage from Liverpool to New York! 
  Distance is but a relative expression, and must end by being 
  reduced to zero." 
   
  The assembly, strongly predisposed as they were in favor of the 
  French hero, were slightly staggered at this bold theory. 
  Michel Ardan perceived the fact. 
   
  "Gentlemen," he continued with a pleasant smile, "you do not 
  seem quite convinced.  Very good!  Let us reason the matter out. 
  Do you know how long it would take for an express train to reach 
  the moon?  Three hundred days; no more!  And what is that? 
  The distance is no more than nine times the circumference of 
  the earth; and there are no sailors or travelers, of even 
  moderate activity, who have not made longer journeys than that 
  in their lifetime.  And now consider that I shall be only ninety- 
  seven hours on my journey.  Ah!  I see you are reckoning that the 
  moon is a long way off from the earth, and that one must think 
  twice before making the experiment.  What would you say, then, 
  if we were talking of going to Neptune, which revolves at a 
  
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  distance of more than two thousand seven hundred and twenty 
  millions of miles from the sun!  And yet what is that compared 
  with the distance of the fixed stars, some of which, such as Arcturus, 
  are billions of miles distant from us?  And then you talk of the 
  distance which separates the planets from the sun!  And there 
  are people who affirm that such a thing as distance exists. 
  Absurdity, folly, idiotic nonsense!  Would you know what I think 
  of our own solar universe?  Shall I tell you my theory?  It is 
  very simple!  In my opinion the solar system is a solid 
  homogeneous body; the planets which compose it are in actual 
  contact with each other; and whatever space exists between them 
  is nothing more than the space which separates the molecules of 
  the densest metal, such as silver, iron, or platinum!  I have 
  the right, therefore, to affirm, and I repeat, with the 
  conviction which must penetrate all your minds, `Distance is 
  but an empty name; distance does not really exist!'" 
   
  "Hurrah!" cried one voice (need it be said it was that of 
  J. T. Maston).  "Distance does not exist!"  And overcome by the 
  energy of his movements, he nearly fell from the platform to 
  the ground.  He just escaped a severe fall, which would have 
  proved to him that distance was by no means an empty name. 
   
  "Gentlemen," resumed the orator, "I repeat that the distance 
  between the earth and her satellite is a mere trifle, and 
  undeserving of serious consideration.  I am convinced that 
  before twenty years are over one-half of our earth will have 
  paid a visit to the moon.  Now, my worthy friends, if you have 
  any question to put to me, you will, I fear, sadly embarrass a 
  poor man like myself; still I will do my best to answer you." 
   
  Up to this point the president of the Gun Club had been 
  satisfied with the turn which the discussion had assumed. 
  It became now, however, desirable to divert Ardan from 
  questions of a practical nature, with which he was doubtless 
  far less conversant.  Barbicane, therefore, hastened to get in 
  a word, and began by asking his new friend whether he thought 
  that the moon and the planets were inhabited. 
   
  "You put before me a great problem, my worthy president," 
  replied the orator, smiling.  "Still, men of great intelligence, 
  such as Plutarch, Swedenborg, Bernardin de St. Pierre, and 
  others have, if I mistake not, pronounced in the affirmative. 
  Looking at the question from the natural philosopher's point of 
  view, I should say that nothing useless existed in the world; 
  and, replying to your question by another, I should venture to 
  assert, that if these worlds are habitable, they either are, 
  have been, or will be inhabited." 
   
  "No one could answer more logically or fairly," replied the 
  president.  "The question then reverts to this:  Are these 
  worlds habitable?  For my own part I believe they are." 
   
  "For myself, I feel certain of it," said Michel Ardan. 
   
  "Nevertheless," retorted one of the audience, "there are many 
  arguments against the habitability of the worlds.  The conditions 
  
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  of life must evidently be greatly modified upon the majority 
  of them.  To mention only the planets, we should be either 
  broiled alive in some, or frozen to death in others, according 
  as they are more or less removed from the sun." 
   
  "I regret," replied Michel Ardan, "that I have not the honor of 
  personally knowing my contradictor, for I would have attempted 
  to answer him.  His objection has its merits, I admit; but I 
  think we may successfully combat it, as well as all others which 
  affect the habitability of other worlds.  If I were a natural 
  philosopher, I would tell him that if less of caloric were set 
  in motion upon the planets which are nearest to the sun, and 
  more, on the contrary, upon those which are farthest removed 
  from it, this simple fact would alone suffice to equalize the 
  heat, and to render the temperature of those worlds supportable 
  by beings organized like ourselves.  If I were a naturalist, 
  I would tell him that, according to some illustrious men of 
  science, nature has furnished us with instances upon the earth 
  of animals existing under very varying conditions of life; 
  that fish respire in a medium fatal to other animals; that 
  amphibious creatures possess a double existence very difficult 
  of explanation; that certain denizens of the seas maintain life 
  at enormous depths, and there support a pressure equal to that 
  of fifty or sixty atmospheres without being crushed; that 
  several aquatic insects, insensible to temperature, are met with 
  equally among boiling springs and in the frozen plains of the 
  Polar Sea; in fine, that we cannot help recognizing in nature a 
  diversity of means of operation oftentimes incomprehensible, but 
  not the less real.  If I were a chemist, I would tell him that 
  the aerolites, bodies evidently formed exteriorly of our 
  terrestrial globe, have, upon analysis, revealed indisputable 
  traces of carbon, a substance which owes its origin solely to 
  organized beings, and which, according to the experiments of 
  Reichenbach, must necessarily itself have been endued with 
  animation.  And lastly, were I a theologian, I would tell him 
  that the scheme of the Divine Redemption, according to St. Paul, 
  seems to be applicable, not merely to the earth, but to all the 
  celestial worlds.  But, unfortunately, I am neither theologian, 
  nor chemist, nor naturalist, nor philosopher; therefore, in my 
  absolute ignorance of the great laws which govern the universe, 
  I confine myself to saying in reply, `I do not know whether the 
  worlds are inhabited or not:  and since I do not know, I am going 
  to see!'" 
   
  Whether Michel Ardan's antagonist hazarded any further arguments 
  or not it is impossible to say, for the uproarious shouts of the 
  crowd would not allow any expression of opinion to gain a hearing. 
  On silence being restored, the triumphant orator contented himself 
  with adding the following remarks: 
   
  "Gentlemen, you will observe that I have but slightly touched 
  upon this great question.  There is another altogether different 
  line of argument in favor of the habitability of the stars, 
  which I omit for the present.  I only desire to call attention 
  to one point.  To those who maintain that the planets are _not_ 
  inhabited one may reply:  You might be perfectly in the right, 
  if you could only show that the earth is the best possible 
  
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  world, in spite of what Voltaire has said.  She has but _one_ 
  satellite, while Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, Neptune have each 
  several, an advantage by no means to be despised.  But that 
  which renders our own globe so uncomfortable is the inclination 
  of its axis to the plane of its orbit.  Hence the inequality of 
  days and nights; hence the disagreeable diversity of the seasons. 
  On the surface of our unhappy spheroid we are always either too 
  hot or too cold; we are frozen in winter, broiled in summer; 
  it is the planet of rheumatism, coughs, bronchitis; while on the 
  surface of Jupiter, for example, where the axis is but slightly 
  inclined, the inhabitants may enjoy uniform temperatures. 
  It possesses zones of perpetual springs, summers, autumns, and 
  winters; every Jovian may choose for himself what climate he 
  likes, and there spend the whole of his life in security from 
  all variations of temperature.  You will, I am sure, readily 
  admit this superiority of Jupiter over our own planet, to say 
  nothing of his years, which each equal twelve of ours! 
  Under such auspices and such marvelous conditions of existence, 
  it appears to me that the inhabitants of so fortunate a world 
  must be in every respect superior to ourselves.  All we require, 
  in order to attain such perfection, is the mere trifle of having 
  an axis of rotation less inclined to the plane of its orbit!" 
   
  "Hurrah!" roared an energetic voice, "let us unite our efforts, 
  invent the necessary machines, and rectify the earth's axis!" 
   
  A thunder of applause followed this proposal, the author of 
  which was, of course, no other than J. T. Maston.  And, in all 
  probability, if the truth must be told, if the Yankees could 
  only have found a point of application for it, they would have 
  constructed a lever capable of raising the earth and rectifying 
  its axis.  It was just this deficiency which baffled these 
  daring mechanicians. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XX 
   
   
  ATTACK AND RIPOSTE 
   
   
  As soon as the excitement had subsided, the following words were 
  heard uttered in a strong and determined voice: 
   
  "Now that the speaker has favored us with so much imagination, 
  would he be so good as to return to his subject, and give us a 
  little practical view of the question?" 
   
  All eyes were directed toward the person who spoke.  He was a 
  little dried-up man, of an active figure, with an American 
  "goatee" beard.  Profiting by the different movements in the crowd, 
  he had managed by degrees to gain the front row of spectators. 
  There, with arms crossed and stern gaze, he watched the hero of 
  the meeting.  After having put his question he remained silent, 
  
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  and appeared to take no notice of the thousands of looks directed 
  toward himself, nor of the murmur of disapprobation excited by 
  his words.  Meeting at first with no reply, he repeated his 
  question with marked emphasis, adding, "We are here to talk about 
  the _moon_ and not about the _earth_." 
   
  "You are right, sir," replied Michel Ardan; "the discussion has 
  become irregular.  We will return to the moon." 
   
  "Sir," said the unknown, "you pretend that our satellite is inhabited. 
  Very good, but if Selenites do exist, that race of beings assuredly 
  must live without breathing, for-- I warn you for your own sake-- 
  there is not the smallest particle of air on the surface of the moon." 
   
  At this remark Ardan pushed up his shock of red hair; he saw 
  that he was on the point of being involved in a struggle with 
  this person upon the very gist of the whole question.  He looked 
  sternly at him in his turn and said: 
   
  "Oh! so there is no air in the moon?  And pray, if you are so 
  good, who ventures to affirm that? 
   
  "The men of science." 
   
  "Really?" 
   
  "Really." 
   
  "Sir," replied Michel, "pleasantry apart, I have a profound 
  respect for men of science who do possess science, but a 
  profound contempt for men of science who do not." 
   
  "Do you know any who belong to the latter category?" 
   
  "Decidedly.  In France there are some who maintain that, 
  mathematically, a bird cannot possibly fly; and others who 
  demonstrate theoretically that fishes were never made to 
  live in water." 
   
  "I have nothing to do with persons of that description, and I 
  can quote, in support of my statement, names which you cannot 
  refuse deference to." 
   
  "Then, sir, you will sadly embarrass a poor ignorant, who, 
  besides, asks nothing better than to learn." 
   
  "Why, then, do you introduce scientific questions if you have 
  never studied them?" asked the unknown somewhat coarsely. 
   
  "For the reason that `he is always brave who never suspects danger.' 
  I know nothing, it is true; but it is precisely my very weakness 
  which constitutes my strength." 
   
  "Your weakness amounts to folly," retorted the unknown in a passion. 
   
  "All the better," replied our Frenchman, "if it carries me up to 
  the moon." 
  
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  Barbicane and his colleagues devoured with their eyes the intruder 
  who had so boldly placed himself in antagonism to their enterprise. 
  Nobody knew him, and the president, uneasy as to the result of so 
  free a discussion, watched his new friend with some anxiety. 
  The meeting began to be somewhat fidgety also, for the contest 
  directed their attention to the dangers, if not the actual 
  impossibilities, of the proposed expedition. 
   
  "Sir," replied Ardan's antagonist, "there are many and 
  incontrovertible reasons which prove the absence of an 
  atmosphere in the moon.  I might say that, _a priori_, if one 
  ever did exist, it must have been absorbed by the earth; but I 
  prefer to bring forward indisputable facts." 
   
  "Bring them forward then, sir, as many as you please." 
   
  "You know," said the stranger, "that when any luminous rays 
  cross a medium such as the air, they are deflected out of the 
  straight line; in other words, they undergo refraction.  Well! 
  When stars are occulted by the moon, their rays, on grazing the 
  edge of her disc, exhibit not the least deviation, nor offer the 
  slightest indication of refraction.  It follows, therefore, that 
  the moon cannot be surrounded by an atmosphere. 
   
  "In point of fact," replied Ardan, "this is your chief, if not 
  your _only_ argument; and a really scientific man might be 
  puzzled to answer it.  For myself, I will simply say that it is 
  defective, because it assumes that the angular diameter of the 
  moon has been completely determined, which is not the case. 
  But let us proceed.  Tell me, my dear sir, do you admit the 
  existence of volcanoes on the moon's surface?" 
   
  "Extinct, yes!  In activity, no!" 
   
  "These volcanoes, however, were at one time in a state of activity?" 
   
  "True, but, as they furnish themselves the oxygen necessary for 
  combustion, the mere fact of their eruption does not prove the 
  presence of an atmosphere." 
   
  "Proceed again, then; and let us set aside this class of 
  arguments in order to come to direct observations.  In 1715 the 
  astronomers Louville and Halley, watching the eclipse of the 
  3rd of May, remarked some very extraordinary scintillations. 
  These jets of light, rapid in nature, and of frequent recurrence, 
  they attributed to thunderstorms generated in the lunar atmosphere." 
   
  "In 1715," replied the unknown, "the astronomers Louville and 
  Halley mistook for lunar phenomena some which were purely 
  terrestrial, such as meteoric or other bodies which are 
  generated in our own atmosphere.  This was the scientific 
  explanation at the time of the facts; and that is my answer now." 
   
  "On again, then," replied Ardan; "Herschel, in 1787, observed a 
  great number of luminous points on the moon's surface, did he not?" 
   
  
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  "Yes! but without offering any solution of them.  Herschel himself 
  never inferred from them the necessity of a lunar atmosphere. 
  And I may add that Baeer and Maedler, the two great authorities 
  upon the moon, are quite agreed as to the entire absence of air 
  on its surface." 
   
  A movement was here manifest among the assemblage, who appeared 
  to be growing excited by the arguments of this singular personage. 
   
  "Let us proceed," replied Ardan, with perfect coolness, "and 
  come to one important fact.  A skillful French astronomer, M. 
  Laussedat, in watching the eclipse of July 18, 1860, probed that 
  the horns of the lunar crescent were rounded and truncated. 
  Now, this appearance could only have been produced by a 
  deviation of the solar rays in traversing the atmosphere of 
  the moon.  There is no other possible explanation of the facts." 
   
  "But is this established as a fact?" 
   
  "Absolutely certain!" 
   
  A counter-movement here took place in favor of the hero of the 
  meeting, whose opponent was now reduced to silence.  Ardan resumed 
  the conversation; and without exhibiting any exultation at the 
  advantage he had gained, simply said: 
   
  "You see, then, my dear sir, we must not pronounce with absolute 
  positiveness against the existence of an atmosphere in the moon. 
  That atmosphere is, probably, of extreme rarity; nevertheless at 
  the present day science generally admits that it exists." 
   
  "Not in the mountains, at all events," returned the unknown, 
  unwilling to give in. 
   
  "No! but at the bottom of the valleys, and not exceeding a few 
  hundred feet in height." 
   
  "In any case you will do well to take every precaution, for the 
  air will be terribly rarified." 
   
  "My good sir, there will always be enough for a solitary 
  individual; besides, once arrived up there, I shall do my best 
  to economize, and not to breathe except on grand occasions!" 
   
  A tremendous roar of laughter rang in the ears of the mysterious 
  interlocutor, who glared fiercely round upon the assembly. 
   
  "Then," continued Ardan, with a careless air, "since we are in 
  accord regarding the presence of a certain atmosphere, we are 
  forced to admit the presence of a certain quantity of water. 
  This is a happy consequence for me.  Moreover, my amiable 
  contradictor, permit me to submit to you one further observation. 
  We only know _one_ side of the moon's disc; and if there is but 
  little air on the face presented to us, it is possible that there 
  is plenty on the one turned away from us." 
   
  "And for what reason?" 
  
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  "Because the moon, under the action of the earth's attraction, 
  has assumed the form of an egg, which we look at from the 
  smaller end.  Hence it follows, by Hausen's calculations, that 
  its center of gravity is situated in the other hemisphere. 
  Hence it results that the great mass of air and water must have 
  been drawn away to the other face of our satellite during the 
  first days of its creation." 
   
  "Pure fancies!" cried the unknown. 
   
  "No!  Pure theories! which are based upon the laws of mechanics, 
  and it seems difficult to me to refute them.  I appeal then to 
  this meeting, and I put it to them whether life, such as exists 
  upon the earth, is possible on the surface of the moon?" 
   
  Three hundred thousand auditors at once applauded the proposition. 
  Ardan's opponent tried to get in another word, but he could not 
  obtain a hearing.  Cries and menaces fell upon him like hail. 
   
  "Enough! enough!" cried some. 
   
  "Drive the intruder off!" shouted others. 
   
  "Turn him out!" roared the exasperated crowd. 
   
  But he, holding firmly on to the platform, did not budge an 
  inch, and let the storm pass on, which would soon have assumed 
  formidable proportions, if Michel Ardan had not quieted it by 
  a gesture.  He was too chivalrous to abandon his opponent in an 
  apparent extremity. 
   
  "You wished to say a few more words?" he asked, in a pleasant voice. 
   
  "Yes, a thousand; or rather, no, only one!  If you persevere in 
  your enterprise, you must be a----" 
   
  "Very rash person!  How can you treat me as such? me, who have 
  demanded a cylindro-conical projectile, in order to prevent 
  turning round and round on my way like a squirrel?" 
   
  "But, unhappy man, the dreadful recoil will smash you to pieces 
  at your starting." 
   
  "My dear contradictor, you have just put your finger upon the 
  true and only difficulty; nevertheless, I have too good an 
  opinion of the industrial genius of the Americans not to believe 
  that they will succeed in overcoming it." 
   
  "But the heat developed by the rapidity of the projectile in 
  crossing the strata of air?" 
   
  "Oh! the walls are thick, and I shall soon have crossed 
  the atmosphere." 
   
  "But victuals and water?" 
   
  
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  "I have calculated for a twelvemonth's supply, and I shall be 
  only four days on the journey." 
   
  "But for air to breathe on the road?" 
   
  "I shall make it by a chemical process." 
   
  "But your fall on the moon, supposing you ever reach it?" 
   
  "It will be six times less dangerous than a sudden fall upon the 
  earth, because the weight will be only one-sixth as great on the 
  surface of the moon." 
   
  "Still it will be enough to smash you like glass!" 
   
  "What is to prevent my retarding the shock by means of rockets 
  conveniently placed, and lighted at the right moment?" 
   
  "But after all, supposing all difficulties surmounted, all 
  obstacles removed, supposing everything combined to favor you, 
  and granting that you may arrive safe and sound in the moon, how 
  will you come back?" 
   
  "I am not coming back!" 
   
  At this reply, almost sublime in its very simplicity, the 
  assembly became silent.  But its silence was more eloquent than 
  could have been its cries of enthusiasm.  The unknown profited 
  by the opportunity and once more protested: 
   
  "You will inevitably kill yourself!" he cried; "and your death 
  will be that of a madman, useless even to science!" 
   
  "Go on, my dear unknown, for truly your prophecies are most agreeable!" 
   
  "It really is too much!" cried Michel Ardan's adversary.  "I do 
  not know why I should continue so frivolous a discussion! 
  Please yourself about this insane expedition!  We need not 
  trouble ourselves about you!" 
   
  "Pray don't stand upon ceremony!" 
   
  "No! another person is responsible for your act." 
   
  "Who, may I ask?" demanded Michel Ardan in an imperious tone. 
   
  "The ignoramus who organized this equally absurd and 
  impossible experiment!" 
   
  The attack was direct.  Barbicane, ever since the interference 
  of the unknown, had been making fearful efforts of self-control; 
  now, however, seeing himself directly attacked, he could 
  restrain himself no longer.  He rose suddenly, and was rushing 
  upon the enemy who thus braved him to the face, when all at once 
  he found himself separated from him. 
   
  The platform was lifted by a hundred strong arms, and the president 
  
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  of the Gun Club shared with Michel Ardan triumphal honors. 
  The shield was heavy, but the bearers came in continuous relays, 
  disputing, struggling, even fighting among themselves in their 
  eagerness to lend their shoulders to this demonstration. 
   
  However, the unknown had not profited by the tumult to quit 
  his post.  Besides he could not have done it in the midst of that 
  compact crowd.  There he held on in the front row with crossed 
  arms, glaring at President Barbicane. 
   
  The shouts of the immense crowd continued at their highest pitch 
  throughout this triumphant march.  Michel Ardan took it all with 
  evident pleasure.  His face gleamed with delight.  Several times 
  the platform seemed seized with pitching and rolling like a 
  weatherbeaten ship.  But the two heros of the meeting had good 
  sea-legs.  They never stumbled; and their vessel arrived without 
  dues at the port of Tampa Town. 
   
  Michel Ardan managed fortunately to escape from the last 
  embraces of his vigorous admirers.  He made for the Hotel 
  Franklin, quickly gained his chamber, and slid under the 
  bedclothes, while an army of a hundred thousand men kept watch 
  under his windows. 
   
  During this time a scene, short, grave, and decisive, took place 
  between the mysterious personage and the president of the Gun Club. 
   
  Barbicane, free at last, had gone straight at his adversary. 
   
  "Come!" he said shortly. 
   
  The other followed him on the quay; and the two presently found 
  themselves alone at the entrance of an open wharf on Jones' Fall. 
   
  The two enemies, still mutually unknown, gazed at each other. 
   
  "Who are you?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "Captain Nicholl!" 
   
  "So I suspected.  Hitherto chance has never thrown you in my way." 
   
  "I am come for that purpose." 
   
  "You have insulted me." 
   
  "Publicly!" 
   
  "And you will answer to me for this insult?" 
   
  "At this very moment." 
   
  "No!  I desire that all that passes between us shall be secret. 
  Their is a wood situated three miles from Tampa, the wood 
  of Skersnaw.  Do you know it?" 
   
  "I know it." 
  
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  "Will you be so good as to enter it to-morrow morning at five 
  o'clock, on one side?" 
   
  "Yes! if you will enter at the other side at the same hour." 
   
  "And you will not forget your rifle?" said Barbicane. 
   
  "No more than you will forget yours?" replied Nicholl. 
   
  These words having been coldly spoken, the president of the Gun 
  Club and the captain parted.  Barbicane returned to his lodging; 
  but instead of snatching a few hours of repose, he passed the 
  night in endeavoring to discover a means of evading the recoil 
  of the projectile, and resolving the difficult problem proposed 
  by Michel Ardan during the discussion at the meeting. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XXI 
   
   
  HOW A FRENCHMAN MANAGES AN AFFAIR 
   
   
  While the contract of this duel was being discussed by the 
  president and the captain-- this dreadful, savage duel, in which 
  each adversary became a man-hunter-- Michel Ardan was resting 
  from the fatigues of his triumph.  Resting is hardly an 
  appropriate expression, for American beds rival marble or 
  granite tables for hardness. 
   
  Ardan was sleeping, then, badly enough, tossing about between 
  the cloths which served him for sheets, and he was dreaming of 
  making a more comfortable couch in his projectile when a 
  frightful noise disturbed his dreams.  Thundering blows shook 
  his door.  They seemed to be caused by some iron instrument. 
  A great deal of loud talking was distinguishable in this racket, 
  which was rather too early in the morning.  "Open the door," 
  some one shrieked, "for heaven's sake!"  Ardan saw no reason 
  for complying with a demand so roughly expressed.  However, he 
  got up and opened the door just as it was giving way before the 
  blows of this determined visitor.  The secretary of the Gun Club 
  burst into the room.  A bomb could not have made more noise or 
  have entered the room with less ceremony. 
   
  "Last night," cried J. T. Maston, _ex abrupto_, "our president 
  was publicly insulted during the meeting.  He provoked his 
  adversary, who is none other than Captain Nicholl!  They are 
  fighting this morning in the wood of Skersnaw.  I heard all the 
  particulars from the mouth of Barbicane himself.  If he is 
  killed, then our scheme is at an end.  We must prevent his duel; 
  and one man alone has enough influence over Barbicane to stop 
  him, and that man is Michel Ardan." 
   
  
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  While J. T. Maston was speaking, Michel Ardan, without 
  interrupting him, had hastily put on his clothes; and, in less 
  than two minutes, the two friends were making for the suburbs of 
  Tampa Town with rapid strides. 
   
  It was during this walk that Maston told Ardan the state of the 
  case.  He told him the real causes of the hostility between 
  Barbicane and Nicholl; how it was of old date, and why, thanks 
  to unknown friends, the president and the captain had, as yet, 
  never met face to face.  He added that it arose simply from 
  a rivalry between iron plates and shot, and, finally, that the 
  scene at the meeting was only the long-wished-for opportunity 
  for Nicholl to pay off an old grudge. 
   
  Nothing is more dreadful than private duels in America.  The two 
  adversaries attack each other like wild beasts.  Then it is that 
  they might well covet those wonderful properties of the Indians 
  of the prairies-- their quick intelligence, their ingenious 
  cunning, their scent of the enemy.  A single mistake, a moment's 
  hesitation, a single false step may cause death.  On these 
  occasions Yankees are often accompanied by their dogs, and keep 
  up the struggle for hours. 
   
  "What demons you are!" cried Michel Ardan, when his companion 
  had depicted this scene to him with much energy. 
   
  "Yes, we are," replied J. T. modestly; "but we had better make haste." 
   
  Though Michel Ardan and he had crossed the plains still wet with 
  dew, and had taken the shortest route over creeks and ricefields, 
  they could not reach Skersnaw in under five hours and a half. 
   
  Barbicane must have passed the border half an hour ago. 
   
  There was an old bushman working there, occupied in selling 
  fagots from trees that had been leveled by his axe. 
   
  Maston ran toward him, saying, "Have you seen a man go into the 
  wood, armed with a rifle?  Barbicane, the president, my best friend?" 
   
  The worthy secretary of the Gun Club thought that his president 
  must be known by all the world.  But the bushman did not seem to 
  understand him. 
   
  "A hunter?" said Ardan. 
   
  "A hunter?  Yes," replied the bushman. 
   
  "Long ago?" 
   
  "About an hour." 
   
  "Too late!" cried Maston. 
   
  "Have you heard any gunshots?" asked Ardan. 
   
  "No!" 
  
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  "Not one?" 
   
  "Not one! that hunter did not look as if he knew how to hunt!" 
   
  "What is to be done?" said Maston. 
   
  "We must go into the wood, at the risk of getting a ball which 
  is not intended for us." 
   
  "Ah!" cried Maston, in a tone which could not be mistaken, "I would 
  rather have twenty balls in my own head than one in Barbicane's." 
   
  "Forward, then," said Ardan, pressing his companion's hand. 
   
  A few moments later the two friends had disappeared in the copse. 
  It was a dense thicket, in which rose huge cypresses, sycamores, 
  tulip-trees, olives, tamarinds, oaks, and magnolias. 
  These different trees had interwoven their branches into an 
  inextricable maze, through which the eye could not penetrate. 
  Michel Ardan and Maston walked side by side in silence through 
  the tall grass, cutting themselves a path through the strong 
  creepers, casting curious glances on the bushes, and momentarily 
  expecting to hear the sound of rifles.  As for the traces which 
  Barbicane ought to have left of his passage through the wood, 
  there was not a vestige of them visible: so they followed the 
  barely perceptible paths along which Indians had tracked some 
  enemy, and which the dense foliage darkly overshadowed. 
   
  After an hour spent in vain pursuit the two stopped in 
  intensified anxiety. 
   
  "It must be all over," said Maston, discouraged.  "A man like 
  Barbicane would not dodge with his enemy, or ensnare him, would 
  not even maneuver!  He is too open, too brave.  He has gone 
  straight ahead, right into the danger, and doubtless far enough 
  from the bushman for the wind to prevent his hearing the report 
  of the rifles." 
   
  "But surely," replied Michel Ardan, "since we entered the wood 
  we should have heard!" 
   
  "And what if we came too late?" cried Maston in tones of despair. 
   
  For once Ardan had no reply to make, he and Maston resuming 
  their walk in silence.  From time to time, indeed, they raised 
  great shouts, calling alternately Barbicane and Nicholl, neither 
  of whom, however, answered their cries.  Only the birds, 
  awakened by the sound, flew past them and disappeared among the 
  branches, while some frightened deer fled precipitately before them. 
   
  For another hour their search was continued.  The greater part 
  of the wood had been explored.  There was nothing to reveal the 
  presence of the combatants.  The information of the bushman was 
  after all doubtful, and Ardan was about to propose their 
  abandoning this useless pursuit, when all at once Maston stopped. 
   
  
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  "Hush!" said he, "there is some one down there!" 
   
  "Some one?" repeated Michel Ardan. 
   
  "Yes; a man!  He seems motionless.  His rifle is not in his hands. 
  What can he be doing?" 
   
  "But can you recognize him?" asked Ardan, whose short sight was 
  of little use to him in such circumstances. 
   
  "Yes! yes!  He is turning toward us," answered Maston. 
   
  "And it is?" 
   
  "Captain Nicholl!" 
   
  "Nicholl?" cried Michel Ardan, feeling a terrible pang of grief. 
   
  "Nicholl unarmed!  He has, then, no longer any fear of his adversary!" 
   
  "Let us go to him," said Michel Ardan, "and find out the truth." 
   
  But he and his companion had barely taken fifty steps, when they 
  paused to examine the captain more attentively.  They expected 
  to find a bloodthirsty man, happy in his revenge. 
   
  On seeing him, they remained stupefied. 
   
  A net, composed of very fine meshes, hung between two enormous 
  tulip-trees, and in the midst of this snare, with its wings 
  entangled, was a poor little bird, uttering pitiful cries, while 
  it vainly struggled to escape.  The bird-catcher who had laid 
  this snare was no human being, but a venomous spider, peculiar 
  to that country, as large as a pigeon's egg, and armed with 
  enormous claws.  The hideous creature, instead of rushing on its 
  prey, had beaten a sudden retreat and taken refuge in the upper 
  branches of the tulip-tree, for a formidable enemy menaced 
  its stronghold. 
   
  Here, then, was Nicholl, his gun on the ground, forgetful 
  of danger, trying if possible to save the victim from its 
  cobweb prison.  At last it was accomplished, and the little 
  bird flew joyfully away and disappeared. 
   
  Nicholl lovingly watched its flight, when he heard these words 
  pronounced by a voice full of emotion: 
   
  "You are indeed a brave man." 
   
  He turned.  Michel Ardan was before him, repeating in a 
  different tone: 
   
  "And a kindhearted one!" 
   
  "Michel Ardan!" cried the captain.  "Why are you here?" 
   
  "To press your hand, Nicholl, and to prevent you from either 
  
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  killing Barbicane or being killed by him." 
   
  "Barbicane!" returned the captain.  "I have been looking for him 
  for the last two hours in vain.  Where is he hiding?" 
   
  "Nicholl!" said Michel Ardan, "this is not courteous! we ought 
  always to treat an adversary with respect; rest assureed if 
  Barbicane is still alive we shall find him all the more easily; 
  because if he has not, like you, been amusing himself with 
  freeing oppressed birds, he must be looking for _you_.  When we 
  have found him, Michel Ardan tells you this, there will be no 
  duel between you." 
   
  "Between President Barbicane and myself," gravely replied 
  Nicholl, "there is a rivalry which the death of one of us----" 
   
  "Pooh, pooh!" said Ardan.  "Brave fellows like you indeed! you 
  shall not fight!" 
   
  "I will fight, sir!" 
   
  "No!" 
   
  "Captain," said J. T. Maston, with much feeling, "I am a friend 
  of the president's, his _alter ego_, his second self; if you 
  really must kill some one, _shoot me!_ it will do just as well!" 
   
  "Sir," Nicholl replied, seizing his rifle convulsively, "these 
  jokes----" 
   
  "Our friend Maston is not joking," replied Ardan.  "I fully 
  understand his idea of being killed himself in order to save 
  his friend.  But neither he nor Barbicane will fall before the balls 
  of Captain Nicholl.  Indeed I have so attractive a proposal to 
  make to the two rivals, that both will be eager to accept it." 
   
  "What is it?" asked Nicholl with manifest incredulity. 
   
  "Patience!" exclaimed Ardan.  "I can only reveal it in the 
  presence of Barbicane." 
   
  "Let us go in search of him then!" cried the captain. 
   
  The three men started off at once; the captain having discharged 
  his rifle threw it over his shoulder, and advanced in silence. 
  Another half hour passed, and the pursuit was still fruitless. 
  Maston was oppressed by sinister forebodings.  He looked fiercely 
  at Nicholl, asking himself whether the captain's vengeance had 
  already been satisfied, and the unfortunate Barbicane, shot, was 
  perhaps lying dead on some bloody track.  The same thought seemed 
  to occur to Ardan; and both were casting inquiring glances on 
  Nicholl, when suddenly Maston paused. 
   
  The motionless figure of a man leaning against a gigantic 
  catalpa twenty feet off appeared, half-veiled by the foliage. 
   
  "It is he!" said Maston. 
  
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  Barbicane never moved.  Ardan looked at the captain, but he did 
  not wince.  Ardan went forward crying: 
   
  "Barbicane!  Barbicane!" 
   
  No answer!  Ardan rushed toward his friend; but in the act of 
  seizing his arms, he stopped short and uttered a cry of surprise. 
   
  Barbicane, pencil in hand, was tracing geometrical figures in a 
  memorandum book, while his unloaded rifle lay beside him on the ground. 
   
  Absorbed in his studies, Barbicane, in his turn forgetful of the 
  duel, had seen and heard nothing. 
   
  When Ardan took his hand, he looked up and stared at his visitor 
  in astonishment. 
   
  "Ah, it is you!" he cried at last.  "I have found it, my friend, 
  I have found it!" 
   
  "What?" 
   
  "My plan!" 
   
  "What plan?" 
   
  "The plan for countering the effect of the shock at the 
  departure of the projectile!" 
   
  "Indeed?" said Michel Ardan, looking at the captain out of the 
  corner of his eye. 
   
  "Yes! water! simply water, which will act as a spring-- ah! 
  Maston," cried Barbicane, "you here also?" 
   
  "Himself," replied Ardan; "and permit me to introduce to you at 
  the same time the worthy Captain Nicholl!" 
   
  "Nicholl!" cried Barbicane, who jumped up at once.  "Pardon me, 
  captain, I had quite forgotten-- I am ready!" 
   
  Michel Ardan interfered, without giving the two enemies time to 
  say anything more. 
   
  "Thank heaven!" said he.  "It is a happy thing that brave men 
  like you two did not meet sooner! we should now have been 
  mourning for one or other of you.  But, thanks to Providence, 
  which has interfered, there is now no further cause for alarm. 
  When one forgets one's anger in mechanics or in cobwebs, it is 
  a sign that the anger is not dangerous." 
   
  Michel Ardan then told the president how the captain had been 
  found occupied. 
   
  "I put it to you now," said he in conclusion, "are two such good 
  fellows as you are made on purpose to smash each other's skulls 
  
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  with shot?" 
   
  There was in "the situation" somewhat of the ridiculous, 
  something quite unexpected; Michel Ardan saw this, and 
  determined to effect a reconciliation. 
   
  "My good friends," said he, with his most bewitching smile, 
  "this is nothing but a misunderstanding.  Nothing more! well! to 
  prove that it is all over between you, accept frankly the 
  proposal I am going to make to you." 
   
  "Make it," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Our friend Barbicane believes that his projectile will go 
  straight to the moon?" 
   
  "Yes, certainly," replied the president. 
   
  "And our friend Nicholl is persuaded it will fall back upon the earth?" 
   
  "I am certain of it," cried the captain. 
   
  "Good!" said Ardan.  "I cannot pretend to make you agree; but I 
  suggest this:  Go with me, and so see whether we are stopped on 
  our journey." 
   
  "What?" exclaimed J. T. Maston, stupefied. 
   
  The two rivals, on this sudden proposal, looked steadily at 
  each other.  Barbicane waited for the captain's answer. 
  Nicholl watched for the decision of the president. 
   
  "Well?" said Michel.  "There is now no fear of the shock!" 
   
  "Done!" cried Barbicane. 
   
  But quickly as he pronounced the word, he was not before Nicholl. 
   
  "Hurrah! bravo! hip! hip! hurrah!" cried Michel, giving a hand 
  to each of the late adversaries.  "Now that it is all settled, 
  my friends, allow me to treat you after French fashion.  Let us 
  be off to breakfast!" 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XXII 
   
   
  THE NEW CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES 
   
   
  That same day all America heard of the affair of Captain Nicholl 
  and President Barbicane, as well as its singular _denouement_. 
  From that day forth, Michel Ardan had not one moment's rest. 
  Deputations from all corners of the Union harassed him without 
  
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  cessation or intermission.  He was compelled to receive them 
  all, whether he would or no.  How many hands he shook, how many 
  people he was "hail-fellow-well-met" with, it is impossible 
  to guess!  Such a triumphal result would have intoxicated any 
  other man; but he managed to keep himself in a state of delightful 
  _semi_-tipsiness. 
   
  Among the deputations of all kinds which assailed him, that of 
  "The Lunatics" were careful not to forget what they owed to the 
  future conqueror of the moon.  One day, certain of these poor 
  people, so numerous in America, came to call upon him, and 
  requested permission to return with him to their native country. 
   
  "Singular hallucination!" said he to Barbicane, after having 
  dismissed the deputation with promises to convey numbers of 
  messages to friends in the moon.  "Do you believe in the 
  influence of the moon upon distempers?" 
   
  "Scarcely!" 
   
  "No more do I, despite some remarkable recorded facts of history. 
  For instance, during an epidemic in 1693, a large number of 
  persons died at the very moment of an eclipse.  The celebrated 
  Bacon always fainted during an eclipse.  Charles VI relapsed 
  six times into madness during the year 1399, sometimes during 
  the new, sometimes during the full moon.  Gall observed that 
  insane persons underwent an accession of their disorder twice 
  in every month, at the epochs of new and full moon.  In fact, 
  numerous observations made upon fevers, somnambulisms, and other 
  human maladies, seem to prove that the moon does exercise some 
  mysterious influence upon man." 
   
  "But the how and the wherefore?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "Well, I can only give you the answer which Arago borrowed from 
  Plutarch, which is nineteen centuries old.  `Perhaps the stories 
  are not true!'" 
   
  In the height of his triumph, Michel Ardan had to encounter all 
  the annoyances incidental to a man of celebrity.  Managers of 
  entertainments wanted to exhibit him.  Barnum offered him a 
  million dollars to make a tour of the United States in his show. 
  As for his photographs, they were sold of all size, and his 
  portrait taken in every imaginable posture.  More than half a 
  million copies were disposed of in an incredibly short space of time. 
   
  But it was not only the men who paid him homage, but the women 
  as well.  He might have married well a hundred times over, if he 
  had been willing to settle in life.  The old maids, in 
  particular, of forty years and upward, and dry in proportion, 
  devoured his photographs day and night.  They would have married 
  him by hundreds, even if he had imposed upon them the condition 
  of accompanying him into space.  He had, however, no intention 
  of transplanting a race of Franco-Americans upon the surface of 
  the moon. 
   
  He therefore declined all offers. 
  
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  As soon as he could withdraw from these somewhat embarrassing 
  demonstrations, he went, accompanied by his friends, to pay a 
  visit to the Columbiad.  He was highly gratified by his 
  inspection, and made the descent to the bottom of the tube of 
  this gigantic machine which was presently to launch him to the 
  regions of the moon.  It is necessary here to mention a proposal 
  of J. T. Maston's.  When the secretary of the Gun Club found 
  that Barbicane and Nicholl accepted the proposal of Michel 
  Ardan, he determined to join them, and make one of a smug party 
  of four.  So one day he determined to be admitted as one of the 
  travelers.  Barbicane, pained at having to refuse him, gave him 
  clearly to understand that the projectile could not possibly 
  contain so many passengers.  Maston, in despair, went in search 
  of Michel Ardan, who counseled him to resign himself to the 
  situation, adding one or two arguments _ad hominem_. 
   
  "You see, old fellow," he said, "you must not take what I say in 
  bad part; but really, between ourselves, you are in too 
  incomplete a condition to appear in the moon!" 
   
  "Incomplete?" shrieked the valiant invalid. 
   
  "Yes, my dear fellow! imagine our meeting some of the 
  inhabitants up there!  Would you like to give them such a 
  melancholy notion of what goes on down here? to teach them what 
  war is, to inform them that we employ our time chiefly in 
  devouring each other, in smashing arms and legs, and that too 
  on a globe which is capable of supporting a hundred billions 
  of inhabitants, and which actually does contain nearly two 
  hundred millions?  Why, my worthy friend, we should have to 
  turn you out of doors!" 
   
  "But still, if you arrive there in pieces, you will be as 
  incomplete as I am." 
   
  "Unquestionably," replied Michel Ardan; "but we shall not." 
   
  In fact, a preparatory experiment, tried on the 18th of October, 
  had yielded the best results and caused the most well-grounded 
  hopes of success.  Barbicane, desirous of obtaining some notion 
  of the effect of the shock at the moment of the projectile's 
  departure, had procured a 38-inch mortar from the arsenal 
  of Pensacola.  He had this placed on the bank of Hillisborough 
  Roads, in order that the shell might fall back into the sea, and 
  the shock be thereby destroyed.  His object was to ascertain the 
  extent of the shock of departure, and not that of the return. 
   
  A hollow projectile had been prepared for this curious experiment. 
  A thick padding fastened upon a kind of elastic network, made of 
  the best steel, lined the inside of the walls.  It was a veritable 
  _nest_ most carefully wadded. 
   
  "What a pity I can't find room in there," said J. T. Maston, 
  regretting that his height did not allow of his trying the adventure. 
   
  Within this shell were shut up a large cat, and a squirrel 
  
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  belonging to J. T. Maston, and of which he was particularly fond. 
  They were desirous, however, of ascertaining how this little 
  animal, least of all others subject to giddiness, would endure 
  this experimental voyage. 
   
  The mortar was charged with 160 pounds of powder, and the shell 
  placed in the chamber.  On being fired, the projectile rose with 
  great velocity, described a majestic parabola, attained a height 
  of about a thousand feet, and with a graceful curve descended in 
  the midst of the vessels that lay there at anchor. 
   
  Without a moment's loss of time a small boat put off in the 
  direction of its fall; some divers plunged into the water 
  and attached ropes to the handles of the shell, which was 
  quickly dragged on board.  Five minutes did not elapse between 
  the moment of enclosing the animals and that of unscrewing the 
  coverlid of their prison. 
   
  Ardan, Barbicane, Maston, and Nicholl were present on board the 
  boat, and assisted at the operation with an interest which may 
  readily be comprehended.  Hardly had the shell been opened when 
  the cat leaped out, slightly bruised, but full of life, and 
  exhibiting no signs whatever of having made an aerial expedition. 
  No trace, however, of the squirrel could be discovered.  The truth 
  at last became apparent-- the cat had eaten its fellow-traveler! 
   
  J. T. Maston grieved much for the loss of his poor squirrel, and 
  proposed to add its case to that of other martyrs to science. 
   
  After this experiment all hesitation, all fear disappeared. 
  Besides, Barbicane's plans would ensure greater perfection for 
  his projectile, and go far to annihilate altogether the effects 
  of the shock.  Nothing now remained but to go! 
   
  Two days later Michel Ardan received a message from the 
  President of the United States, an honor of which he showed 
  himself especially sensible. 
   
  After the example of his illustrious fellow-countryman, the 
  Marquis de la Fayette, the government had decreed to him the 
  title of "Citizen of the United States of America." 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XXIII 
   
   
  THE PROJECTILE-VEHICLE 
   
   
  On the completion of the Columbiad the public interest centered 
  in the projectile itself, the vehicle which was destined to 
  carry the three hardy adventurers into space. 
   
  The new plans had been sent to Breadwill and Co., of Albany, 
  
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  with the request for their speedy execution.  The projectile was 
  consequently cast on the 2nd of November, and immediately 
  forwarded by the Eastern Railway to Stones Hill, which it 
  reached without accident on the 10th of that month, where Michel 
  Ardan, Barbicane, and Nicholl were waiting impatiently for it. 
   
  The projectile had now to be filled to the depth of three feet 
  with a bed of water, intended to support a water-tight wooden 
  disc, which worked easily within the walls of the projectile. 
  It was upon this kind of raft that the travelers were to take 
  their place.  This body of water was divided by horizontal 
  partitions, which the shock of the departure would have to break 
  in succession.  Then each sheet of the water, from the lowest 
  to the highest, running off into escape tubes toward the top of 
  the projectile, constituted a kind of spring; and the wooden 
  disc, supplied with extremely powerful plugs, could not strike 
  the lowest plate except after breaking successively the 
  different partitions.  Undoubtedly the travelers would still 
  have to encounter a violent recoil after the complete escapement 
  of the water; but the first shock would be almost entirely 
  destroyed by this powerful spring.  The upper parts of the walls 
  were lined with a thick padding of leather, fastened upon springs 
  of the best steel, behind which the escape tubes were completely 
  concealed; thus all imaginable precautions had been taken for 
  averting the first shock; and if they did get crushed, they 
  must, as Michel Ardan said, be made of very bad materials. 
   
  The entrance into this metallic tower was by a narrow aperture 
  contrived in the wall of the cone.  This was hermetically closed 
  by a plate of aluminum, fastened internally by powerful 
  screw-pressure.  The travelers could therefore quit their prison 
  at pleasure, as soon as they should reach the moon. 
   
  Light and view were given by means of four thick lenticular 
  glass scuttles, two pierced in the circular wall itself, the 
  third in the bottom, the fourth in the top.  These scuttles then 
  were protected against the shock of departure by plates let into 
  solid grooves, which could easily be opened outward by 
  unscrewing them from the inside.  Reservoirs firmly fixed 
  contained water and the necessary provisions; and fire 
  and light were procurable by means of gas, contained in a 
  special reservoir under a pressure of several atmospheres. 
  They had only to turn a tap, and for six hours the gas would 
  light and warm this comfortable vehicle. 
   
  There now remained only the question of air; for allowing for 
  the consumption of air by Barbicane, his two companions, and two 
  dogs which he proposed taking with him, it was necessary to 
  renew the air of the projectile.  Now air consists principally 
  of twenty-one parts of oxygen and seventy-nine of nitrogen. 
  The lungs absorb the oxygen, which is indispensable for the support 
  of life, and reject the nitrogen.  The air expired loses nearly 
  five per cent. of the former and contains nearly an equal volume 
  of carbonic acid, produced by the combustion of the elements of 
  the blood.  In an air-tight enclosure, then, after a certain 
  time, all the oxygen of the air will be replaced by the carbonic 
  acid-- a gas fatal to life.  There were two things to be done 
  
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  then-- first, to replace the absorbed oxygen; secondly, to 
  destroy the expired carbonic acid; both easy enough to do, by 
  means of chlorate of potassium and caustic potash.  The former 
  is a salt which appears under the form of white crystals; when 
  raised to a temperature of 400 degrees it is transformed into 
  chlorure of potassium, and the oxygen which it contains is 
  entirely liberated.  Now twenty-eight pounds of chlorate of 
  potassium produces seven pounds of oxygen, or 2,400 litres-- the 
  quantity necessary for the travelers during twenty-four hours. 
   
  Caustic potash has a great affinity for carbonic acid; and it is 
  sufficient to shake it in order for it to seize upon the acid 
  and form bicarbonate of potassium.  By these two means they 
  would be enabled to restore to the vitiated air its life- 
  supporting properties. 
   
  It is necessary, however, to add that the experiments had 
  hitherto been made _in anima vili_.  Whatever its scientific 
  accuracy was, they were at present ignorant how it would answer 
  with human beings.  The honor of putting it to the proof was 
  energetically claimed by J. T. Maston. 
   
  "Since I am not to go," said the brave artillerist, "I may at 
  least live for a week in the projectile." 
   
  It would have been hard to refuse him; so they consented to 
  his wish.  A sufficient quantity of chlorate of potassium and 
  of caustic potash was placed at his disposal, together with 
  provisions for eight days.  And having shaken hands with his 
  friends, on the 12th of November, at six o'clock A.M., after 
  strictly informing them not to open his prison before the 20th, 
  at six o'clock P.M., he slid down the projectile, the plate of 
  which was at once hermetically sealed.  What did he do with 
  himself during that week?  They could get no information. 
  The thickness of the walls of the projectile prevented any 
  sound reaching from the inside to the outside.  On the 20th 
  of November, at six P.M. exactly, the plate was opened. 
  The friends of J. T. Maston had been all along in a state of 
  much anxiety; but they were promptly reassured on hearing a 
  jolly voice shouting a boisterous hurrah. 
   
  Presently afterward the secretary of the Gun Club appeared at 
  the top of the cone in a triumphant attitude.  He had grown fat! 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XXIV 
   
   
  THE TELESCOPE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 
   
   
  On the 20th of October in the preceding year, after the close of 
  the subscription, the president of the Gun Club had credited the 
  Observatory of Cambridge with the necessary sums for the 
  
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  construction of a gigantic optical instrument.  This instrument 
  was designed for the purpose of rendering visible on the surface 
  of the moon any object exceeding nine feet in diameter. 
   
  At the period when the Gun Club essayed their great experiment, 
  such instruments had reached a high degree of perfection, 
  and produced some magnificent results.  Two telescopes in 
  particular, at this time, were possessed of remarkable power 
  and of gigantic dimensions.  The first, constructed by Herschel, 
  was thirty-six feet in length, and had an object-glass of four 
  feet six inches; it possessed a magnifying power of 6,000. 
  The second was raised in Ireland, in Parsonstown Park, and belongs 
  to Lord Rosse.  The length of this tube is forty-eight feet, and 
  the diameter of its object-glass six feet; it magnifies 6,400 
  times, and required an immense erection of brick work and 
  masonry for the purpose of working it, its weight being twelve 
  and a half tons. 
   
  Still, despite these colossal dimensions, the actual 
  enlargements scarcely exceeded 6,000 times in round numbers; 
  consequently, the moon was brought within no nearer an apparent 
  distance than thirty-nine miles; and objects of less than sixty 
  feet in diameter, unless they were of very considerable length, 
  were still imperceptible. 
   
  In the present case, dealing with a projectile nine feet in 
  diameter and fifteen feet long, it became necessary to bring the 
  moon within an apparent distance of five miles at most; and for 
  that purpose to establish a magnifying power of 48,000 times. 
   
  Such was the question proposed to the Observatory of Cambridge, 
  There was no lack of funds; the difficulty was purely one 
  of construction. 
   
  After considerable discussion as to the best form and principle 
  of the proposed instrument the work was finally commenced. 
  According to the calculations of the Observatory of Cambridge, 
  the tube of the new reflector would require to be 280 feet in 
  length, and the object-glass sixteen feet in diameter. 
  Colossal as these dimensions may appear, they were diminutive 
  in comparison with the 10,000 foot telescope proposed by the 
  astronomer Hooke only a few years ago! 
   
  Regarding the choice of locality, that matter was 
  promptly determined.  The object was to select some lofty 
  mountain, and there are not many of these in the United States. 
  In fact there are but two chains of moderate elevation, between 
  which runs the magnificent Mississippi, the "king of rivers" 
  as these Republican Yankees delight to call it. 
   
  Eastwards rise the Appalachians, the very highest point of 
  which, in New Hampshire, does not exceed the very moderate 
  altitude of 5,600 feet. 
   
  On the west, however, rise the Rocky Mountains, that immense 
  range which, commencing at the Straights of Magellan, follows 
  the western coast of Southern America under the name of the 
  
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  Andes or the Cordilleras, until it crosses the Isthmus of 
  Panama, and runs up the whole of North America to the very 
  borders of the Polar Sea.  The highest elevation of this range 
  still does not exceed 10,700 feet.  With this elevation, 
  nevertheless, the Gun Club were compelled to be content, 
  inasmuch as they had determined that both telescope and 
  Columbiad should be erected within the limits of the Union. 
  All the necessary apparatus was consequently sent on to the 
  summit of Long's Peak, in the territory of Missouri. 
   
  Neither pen nor language can describe the difficulties of all 
  kinds which the American engineers had to surmount, of the 
  prodigies of daring and skill which they accomplished.  They had 
  to raise enormous stones, massive pieces of wrought iron, heavy 
  corner-clamps and huge portions of cylinder, with an 
  object-glass weighing nearly 30,000 pounds, above the line of 
  perpetual snow for more than 10,000 feet in height, after 
  crossing desert prairies, impenetrable forests, fearful rapids, 
  far from all centers of population, and in the midst of savage 
  regions, in which every detail of life becomes an almost 
  insoluble problem.  And yet, notwithstanding these innumerable 
  obstacles, American genius triumphed.  In less than a year after 
  the commencement of the works, toward the close of September, 
  the gigantic reflector rose into the air to a height of 280 feet. 
  It was raised by means of an enormous iron crane; an ingenious 
  mechanism allowed it to be easily worked toward all the points 
  of the heavens, and to follow the stars from the one horizon to 
  the other during their journey through the heavens. 
   
  It had cost $400,000.  The first time it was directed toward the 
  moon the observers evinced both curiosity and anxiety.  What were 
  they about to discover in the field of this telescope which 
  magnified objects 48,000 times?  Would they perceive peoples, 
  herds of lunar animals, towns, lakes, seas?  No! there was 
  nothing which science had not already discovered! and on all the 
  points of its disc the volcanic nature of the moon became 
  determinable with the utmost precision. 
   
  But the telescope of the Rocky Mountains, before doing its duty 
  to the Gun Club, rendered immense services to astronomy.  Thanks to 
  its penetrative power, the depths of the heavens were sounded to 
  the utmost extent; the apparent diameter of a great number of stars 
  was accurately measured; and Mr. Clark, of the Cambridge staff, 
  resolved the Crab nebula in Taurus, which the reflector of Lord 
  Rosse had never been able to decompose. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XXV 
   
   
  FINAL DETAILS 
   
   
  It was the 22nd of November; the departure was to take place in 
  
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  ten days.  One operation alone remained to be accomplished to 
  bring all to a happy termination; an operation delicate and 
  perilous, requiring infinite precautions, and against the 
  success of which Captain Nicholl had laid his third bet.  It was, 
  in fact, nothing less than the loading of the Columbiad, and the 
  introduction into it of 400,000 pounds of gun-cotton.  Nicholl had 
  thought, not perhaps without reason, that the handling of such 
  formidable quantities of pyroxyle would, in all probability, 
  involve a grave catastrophe; and at any rate, that this immense 
  mass of eminently inflammable matter would inevitably ignite when 
  submitted to the pressure of the projectile. 
   
  There were indeed dangers accruing as before from the 
  carelessness of the Americans, but Barbicane had set his heart 
  on success, and took all possible precautions.  In the first 
  place, he was very careful as to the transportation of the 
  gun-cotton to Stones Hill.  He had it conveyed in small 
  quantities, carefully packed in sealed cases.  These were 
  brought by rail from Tampa Town to the camp, and from thence 
  were taken to the Columbiad by barefooted workmen, who deposited 
  them in their places by means of cranes placed at the orifice of 
  the cannon.  No steam-engine was permitted to work, and every 
  fire was extinguished within two miles of the works. 
   
  Even in November they feared to work by day, lest the sun's rays 
  acting on the gun-cotton might lead to unhappy results.  This led 
  to their working at night, by light produced in a vacuum by means 
  of Ruhmkorff's apparatus, which threw an artificial brightness 
  into the depths of the Columbiad.  There the cartridges were 
  arranged with the utmost regularity, connected by a metallic thread, 
  destined to communicate to them all simultaneously the electric 
  spark, by which means this mass of gun-cotton was eventually 
  to be ignited. 
   
  By the 28th of November eight hundred cartridges had been 
  placed in the bottom of the Columbiad.  So far the operation had 
  been successful!  But what confusion, what anxieties, what struggles 
  were undergone by President Barbicane!  In vain had he refused 
  admission to Stones Hill; every day the inquisitive neighbors 
  scaled the palisades, some even carrying their imprudence to the 
  point of smoking while surrounded by bales of gun-cotton. 
  Barbicane was in a perpetual state of alarm.  J. T. Maston 
  seconded him to the best of his ability, by giving vigorous 
  chase to the intruders, and carefully picking up the still 
  lighted cigar ends which the Yankees threw about.  A somewhat 
  difficult task! seeing that more than 300,000 persons were 
  gathered round the enclosure.  Michel Ardan had volunteered to 
  superintend the transport of the cartridges to the mouth of the 
  Columbiad; but the president, having surprised him with an 
  enormous cigar in his mouth, while he was hunting out the rash 
  spectators to whom he himself offered so dangerous an example, 
  saw that he could not trust this fearless smoker, and was 
  therefore obliged to mount a special guard over him. 
   
  At last, Providence being propitious, this wonderful loading 
  came to a happy termination, Captain Nicholl's third bet being 
  thus lost.  It remained now to introduce the projectile into the 
  
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  Columbiad, and to place it on its soft bed of gun-cotton. 
   
  But before doing this, all those things necessary for the 
  journey had to be carefully arranged in the projectile vehicle. 
  These necessaries were numerous; and had Ardan been allowed to 
  follow his own wishes, there would have been no space remaining 
  for the travelers.  It is impossible to conceive of half the 
  things this charming Frenchman wished to convey to the moon. 
  A veritable stock of useless trifles!  But Barbicane interfered 
  and refused admission to anything not absolutely needed. 
  Several thermometers, barometers, and telescopes were packed in 
  the instrument case. 
   
  The travelers being desirous of examing the moon carefully 
  during their voyage, in order to facilitate their studies, 
  they took with them Boeer and Moeller's excellent _Mappa 
  Selenographica_, a masterpiece of patience and observation, 
  which they hoped would enable them to identify those physical 
  features in the moon, with which they were acquainted. 
  This map reproduced with scrupulous fidelity the smallest 
  details of the lunar surface which faces the earth; the 
  mountains, valleys, craters, peaks, and ridges were all 
  represented, with their exact dimensions, relative positions, 
  and names; from the mountains Doerfel and Leibnitz on the 
  eastern side of the disc, to the _Mare frigoris_ of the North Pole. 
   
  They took also three rifles and three fowling-pieces, and a 
  large quantity of balls, shot, and powder. 
   
  "We cannot tell whom we shall have to deal with," said Michel Ardan. 
  "Men or beasts may possibly object to our visit.  It is only wise 
  to take all precautions." 
   
  These defensive weapons were accompanied by pickaxes, crowbars, 
  saws, and other useful implements, not to mention clothing 
  adapted to every temperature, from that of polar regions to that 
  of the torrid zone. 
   
  Ardan wished to convey a number of animals of different sorts, 
  not indeed a pair of every known species, as he could not see 
  the necessity of acclimatizing serpents, tigers, alligators, or 
  any other noxious beasts in the moon.  "Nevertheless," he said 
  to Barbicane, "some valuable and useful beasts, bullocks, cows, 
  horses, and donkeys, would bear the journey very well, and would 
  also be very useful to us." 
   
  "I dare say, my dear Ardan," replied the president, "but our 
  projectile-vehicle is no Noah's ark, from which it differs both in 
  dimensions and object.  Let us confine ourselves to possibilities." 
   
  After a prolonged discussion, it was agreed that the travelers 
  should restrict themselves to a sporting-dog belonging to 
  Nicholl, and to a large Newfoundland.  Several packets of seeds 
  were also included among the necessaries.  Michel Ardan, indeed, 
  was anxious to add some sacks full of earth to sow them in; as 
  it was, he took a dozen shrubs carefully wrapped up in straw to 
  plant in the moon. 
  
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  The important question of provisions still remained; it being 
  necessary to provide against the possibility of their finding 
  the moon absolutely barren.  Barbicane managed so successfully, 
  that he supplied them with sufficient rations for a year. 
  These consisted of preserved meats and vegetables, reduced by 
  strong hydraulic pressure to the smallest possible dimensions. 
  They were also supplied with brandy, and took water enough for 
  two months, being confident, from astronomical observations, 
  that there was no lack of water on the moon's surface.  As to 
  provisions, doubtless the inhabitants of the _earth_ would find 
  nourishment somewhere in the _moon_.  Ardan never questioned 
  this; indeed, had he done so, he would never have undertaken 
  the journey. 
   
  "Besides," he said one day to his friends, "we shall not be 
  completely abandoned by our terrestrial friends; they will take 
  care not to forget us." 
   
  "No, indeed!" replied J. T. Maston. 
   
  "Nothing would be simpler," replied Ardan; "the Columbiad will 
  be always there.  Well! whenever the moon is in a favorable 
  condition as to the zenith, if not to the perigee, that is to 
  say about once a year, could you not send us a shell packed 
  with provisions, which we might expect on some appointed day?" 
   
  "Hurrah! hurrah!" cried J. T. Matson; "what an ingenious fellow! 
  what a splendid idea!  Indeed, my good friends, we shall not 
  forget you!" 
   
  "I shall reckon upon you!  Then, you see, we shall receive news 
  regularly from the earth, and we shall indeed be stupid if we 
  hit upon no plan for communicating with our good friends here!" 
   
  These words inspired such confidence, that Michel Ardan carried 
  all the Gun Club with him in his enthusiasm.  What he said 
  seemed so simple and so easy, so sure of success, that none 
  could be so sordidly attached to this earth as to hesitate to 
  follow the three travelers on their lunar expedition. 
   
  All being ready at last, it remained to place the projectile in 
  the Columbiad, an operation abundantly accompanied by dangers 
  and difficulties. 
   
  The enormous shell was conveyed to the summit of Stones Hill. 
  There, powerful cranes raised it, and held it suspended over the 
  mouth of the cylinder. 
   
  It was a fearful moment!  What if the chains should break under 
  its enormous weight?  The sudden fall of such a body would 
  inevitably cause the gun-cotton to explode! 
   
  Fortunately this did not happen; and some hours later the 
  projectile-vehicle descended gently into the heart of the cannon 
  and rested on its couch of pyroxyle, a veritable bed of 
  explosive eider-down.  Its pressure had no result, other than 
  
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  the more effectual ramming down of the charge in the Columbiad. 
   
  "I have lost," said the captain, who forthwith paid President 
  Barbicane the sum of three thousand dollars. 
   
  Barbicane did not wish to accept the money from one of his 
  fellow-travelers, but gave way at last before the determination 
  of Nicholl, who wished before leaving the earth to fulfill all 
  his engagements. 
   
  "Now," said Michel Ardan, "I have only one thing more to wish 
  for you, my brave captain." 
   
  "What is that?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "It is that you may lose your two other bets!  Then we shall be 
  sure not to be stopped on our journey!" 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XXVI 
   
   
  FIRE! 
   
   
  The first of December had arrived! the fatal day! for, if the 
  projectile were not discharged that very night at 10h. 48m. 40s. 
  P.M., more than eighteen years must roll by before the moon 
  would again present herself under the same conditions of zenith 
  and perigee. 
   
  The weather was magnificent.  Despite the approach of winter, 
  the sun shone brightly, and bathed in its radiant light that 
  earth which three of its denizens were about to abandon for a 
  new world. 
   
  How many persons lost their rest on the night which preceded 
  this long-expected day!  All hearts beat with disquietude, save 
  only the heart of Michel Ardan.  That imperturbable personage 
  came and went with his habitual business-like air, while nothing 
  whatever denoted that any unusual matter preoccupied his mind. 
   
  After dawn, an innumerable multitude covered the prairie which 
  extends, as far as the eye can reach, round Stones Hill.  Every 
  quarter of an hour the railway brought fresh accessions of 
  sightseers; and, according to the statement of the Tampa Town 
  _Observer_, not less than five millions of spectators thronged 
  the soil of Florida. 
   
  For a whole month previously, the mass of these persons had 
  bivouacked round the enclosure, and laid the foundations for a 
  town which was afterward called "Ardan's Town."  The whole plain 
  was covered with huts, cottages, and tents.  Every nation under 
  the sun was represented there; and every language might be heard 
  
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  spoken at the same time.  It was a perfect Babel re-enacted. 
  All the various classes of American society were mingled 
  together in terms of absolute equality.  Bankers, farmers, 
  sailors, cotton-planters, brokers, merchants, watermen, 
  magistrates, elbowed each other in the most free-and-easy way. 
  Louisiana Creoles fraternized with farmers from Indiana; 
  Kentucky and Tennessee gentlemen and haughty Virginians 
  conversed with trappers and the half-savages of the lakes and 
  butchers from Cincinnati.  Broad-brimmed white hats and Panamas, 
  blue-cotton trousers, light-colored stockings, cambric frills, 
  were all here displayed; while upon shirt-fronts, wristbands, 
  and neckties, upon every finger, even upon the very ears, they 
  wore an assortment of rings, shirt-pins, brooches, and trinkets, 
  of which the value only equaled the execrable taste.  Women, children, 
  and servants, in equally expensive dress, surrounded their husbands, 
  fathers, or masters, who resembled the patriarchs of tribes in the 
  midst of their immense households. 
   
  At meal-times all fell to work upon the dishes peculiar to the 
  Southern States, and consumed with an appetite that threatened 
  speedy exhaustion of the victualing powers of Florida, 
  fricasseed frogs, stuffed monkey, fish chowder, underdone 
  'possum, and raccoon steaks.  And as for the liquors which 
  accompanied this indigestible repast!  The shouts, the 
  vociferations that resounded through the bars and taverns 
  decorated with glasses, tankards, and bottles of marvelous 
  shape, mortars for pounding sugar, and bundles of straws! 
  "Mint-julep" roars one of the barmen; "Claret sangaree!" 
  shouts another; "Cocktail!" "Brandy-smash!" "Real mint-julep 
  in the new style!"  All these cries intermingled produced a 
  bewildering and deafening hubbub. 
   
  But on this day, 1st of December, such sounds were rare.  No one 
  thought of eating or drinking, and at four P.M. there were vast 
  numbers of spectators who had not even taken their customary 
  lunch!  And, a still more significant fact, even the national 
  passion for play seemed quelled for the time under the general 
  excitement of the hour. 
   
  Up till nightfall, a dull, noiseless agitation, such as 
  precedes great catastrophes, ran through the anxious multitude. 
  An indescribable uneasiness pervaded all minds, an indefinable 
  sensation which oppressed the heart.  Every one wished it was over. 
   
  However, about seven o'clock, the heavy silence was dissipated. 
  The moon rose above the horizon.  Millions of hurrahs hailed 
  her appearance.  She was punctual to the rendezvous, and shouts 
  of welcome greeted her on all sides, as her pale beams shone 
  gracefully in the clear heavens.  At this moment the three 
  intrepid travelers appeared.  This was the signal for renewed 
  cries of still greater intensity.  Instantly the vast 
  assemblage, as with one accord, struck up the national hymn of 
  the United States, and "Yankee Doodle," sung by five million of 
  hearty throats, rose like a roaring tempest to the farthest 
  limits of the atmosphere.  Then a profound silence reigned 
  throughout the crowd. 
   
  
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  The Frenchman and the two Americans had by this time entered the 
  enclosure reserved in the center of the multitude.  They were 
  accompanied by the members of the Gun Club, and by deputations 
  sent from all the European Observatories.  Barbicane, cool and 
  collected, was giving his final directions.  Nicholl, with 
  compressed lips, his arms crossed behind his back, walked with 
  a firm and measured step.  Michel Ardan, always easy, dressed in 
  thorough traveler's costume, leathern gaiters on his legs, pouch 
  by his side, in loose velvet suit, cigar in mouth, was full of 
  inexhaustible gayety, laughing, joking, playing pranks with J. 
  T. Maston.  In one word, he was the thorough "Frenchman" (and 
  worse, a "Parisian") to the last moment. 
   
  Ten o'clock struck!  The moment had arrived for taking their 
  places in the projectile!  The necessary operations for the 
  descent, and the subsequent removal of the cranes and 
  scaffolding that inclined over the mouth of the Columbiad, 
  required a certain period of time. 
   
  Barbicane had regulated his chronometer to the tenth part of a 
  second by that of Murchison the engineer, who was charged with 
  the duty of firing the gun by means of an electric spark. 
  Thus the travelers enclosed within the projectile were enabled 
  to follow with their eyes the impassive needle which marked the 
  precise moment of their departure. 
   
  The moment had arrived for saying "good-by!"  The scene was a 
  touching one.  Despite his feverish gayety, even Michel Ardan 
  was touched.  J. T. Maston had found in his own dry eyes one 
  ancient tear, which he had doubtless reserved for the occasion. 
  He dropped it on the forehead of his dear president. 
   
  "Can I not go?" he said, "there is still time!" 
   
  "Impossible, old fellow!" replied Barbicane.  A few moments 
  later, the three fellow-travelers had ensconced themselves in 
  the projectile, and screwed down the plate which covered the 
  entrance-aperture.  The mouth of the Columbiad, now completely 
  disencumbered, was open entirely to the sky. 
   
  The moon advanced upward in a heaven of the purest clearness, 
  outshining in her passage the twinkling light of the stars. 
  She passed over the constellation of the Twins, and was now 
  nearing the halfway point between the horizon and the zenith. 
  A terrible silence weighed upon the entire scene!  Not a breath of 
  wind upon the earth! not a sound of breathing from the countless 
  chests of the spectators!  Their hearts seemed afraid to beat! 
  All eyes were fixed upon the yawning mouth of the Columbiad. 
   
  Murchison followed with his eye the hand of his chronometer. 
  It wanted scarce forty seconds to the moment of departure, but 
  each second seemed to last an age!  At the twentieth there was 
  a general shudder, as it occurred to the minds of that vast 
  assemblage that the bold travelers shut up within the projectile 
  were also counting those terrible seconds.  Some few cries here 
  and there escaped the crowd. 
   
  
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  "Thirty-five!-- thirty-six!-- thirty-seven!-- thirty-eight!-- 
  thirty-nine!-- forty!  FIRE!!!" 
   
  Instantly Murchison pressed with his finger the key of the 
  electric battery, restored the current of the fluid, and 
  discharged the spark into the breech of the Columbiad. 
   
  An appalling unearthly report followed instantly, such as can be 
  compared to nothing whatever known, not even to the roar of 
  thunder, or the blast of volcanic explosions!  No words can 
  convey the slightest idea of the terrific sound!  An immense 
  spout of fire shot up from the bowels of the earth as from a crater. 
  The earth heaved up, and with great difficulty some few spectators 
  obtained a momentary glimpse of the projectile victoriously 
  cleaving the air in the midst of the fiery vapors! 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XXVII 
   
   
  FOUL WEATHER 
   
   
  At the moment when that pyramid of fire rose to a prodigious 
  height into the air, the glare of flame lit up the whole of 
  Florida; and for a moment day superseded night over a 
  considerable extent of the country.  This immense canopy of fire 
  was perceived at a distance of one hundred miles out at sea, and 
  more than one ship's captain entered in his log the appearance 
  of this gigantic meteor. 
   
  The discharge of the Columbiad was accompanied by a 
  perfect earthquake.  Florida was shaken to its very depths. 
  The gases of the powder, expanded by heat, forced back the 
  atmospheric strata with tremendous violence, and this 
  artificial hurricane rushed like a water-spout through the air. 
   
  Not a single spectator remained on his feet!  Men, women 
  children, all lay prostrate like ears of corn under a tempest. 
  There ensued a terrible tumult; a large number of persons were 
  seriously injured.  J. T. Maston, who, despite all dictates of 
  prudence, had kept in advance of the mass, was pitched back 120 
  feet, shooting like a projectile over the heads of his 
  fellow-citizens.  Three hundred thousand persons remained deaf 
  for a time, and as though struck stupefied. 
   
  As soon as the first effects were over, the injured, the deaf, 
  and lastly, the crowd in general, woke up with frenzied cries. 
  "Hurrah for Ardan!  Hurrah for Barbicane!  Hurrah for Nicholl!" 
  rose to the skies.  Thousands of persons, noses in air, armed 
  with telescopes and race-glasses, were questioning space, 
  forgetting all contusions and emotions in the one idea of 
  watching for the projectile.  They looked in vain!  It was no 
  
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  longer to be seen, and they were obliged to wait for telegrams 
  from Long's Peak.  The director of the Cambridge Observatory was 
  at his post on the Rocky Mountains; and to him, as a skillful 
  and persevering astronomer, all observations had been confided. 
   
  But an unforeseen phenomenon came in to subject the public 
  impatience to a severe trial. 
   
  The weather, hitherto so fine, suddenly changed; the sky became 
  heavy with clouds.  It could not have been otherwise after the 
  terrible derangement of the atmospheric strata, and the dispersion 
  of the enormous quantity of vapor arising from the combustion of 
  200,000 pounds of pyroxyle! 
   
  On the morrow the horizon was covered with clouds-- a thick and 
  impenetrable curtain between earth and sky, which unhappily 
  extended as far as the Rocky Mountains.  It was a fatality! 
  But since man had chosen so to disturb the atmosphere, he was 
  bound to accept the consequences of his experiment. 
   
  Supposing, now, that the experiment had succeeded, the travelers 
  having started on the 1st of December, at 10h. 46m. 40s. P.M., 
  were due on the 4th at 0h. P.M. at their destination.  So that 
  up to that time it would have been very difficult after all to 
  have observed, under such conditions, a body so small as the shell. 
  Therefore they waited with what patience they might. 
   
  From the 4th to the 6th of December inclusive, the weather 
  remaining much the same in America, the great European 
  instruments of Herschel, Rosse, and Foucault, were constantly 
  directed toward the moon, for the weather was then magnificent; 
  but the comparative weakness of their glasses prevented any 
  trustworthy observations being made. 
   
  On the 7th the sky seemed to lighten.  They were in hopes now, 
  but their hope was of but short duration, and at night again 
  thick clouds hid the starry vault from all eyes. 
   
  Matters were now becoming serious, when on the 9th the sun 
  reappeared for an instant, as if for the purpose of teasing 
  the Americans.  It was received with hisses; and wounded, no 
  doubt, by such a reception, showed itself very sparing of its rays. 
   
  On the 10th, no change!  J. T. Maston went nearly mad, and great 
  fears were entertained regarding the brain of this worthy 
  individual, which had hitherto been so well preserved within his 
  gutta-percha cranium. 
   
  But on the 11th one of those inexplicable tempests peculiar to 
  those intertropical regions was let loose in the atmosphere. 
  A terrific east wind swept away the groups of clouds which had 
  been so long gathering, and at night the semi-disc of the orb of 
  night rode majestically amid the soft constellations of the sky. 
   
   
   
   
  
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  CHAPTER XXVIII 
   
   
  A NEW STAR 
   
   
  That very night, the startling news so impatiently awaited, 
  burst like a thunderbolt over the United States of the Union, 
  and thence, darting across the ocean, ran through all the 
  telegraphic wires of the globe.  The projectile had been 
  detected, thanks to the gigantic reflector of Long's Peak! 
  Here is the note received by the director of the Observatory 
  of Cambridge.  It contains the scientific conclusion regarding 
  this great experiment of the Gun Club. 
   
   
                                  LONG'S PEAK, December 12. 
  To the Officers of the Observatory of Cambridge. 
  The projectile discharged by the Columbiad at Stones Hill has 
  been detected by Messrs. Belfast and J. T. Maston, 12th of 
  December, at 8:47 P.M., the moon having entered her last quarter. 
  This projectile has not arrived at its destination.  It has 
  passed by the side; but sufficiently near to be retained by the 
  lunar attraction. 
   
  The rectilinear movement has thus become changed into a circular 
  motion of extreme velocity, and it is now pursuing an elliptical 
  orbit round the moon, of which it has become a true satellite. 
   
  The elements of this new star we have as yet been unable to 
  determine; we do not yet know the velocity of its passage. 
  The distance which separates it from the surface of the moon 
  may be estimated at about 2,833 miles. 
   
  However, two hypotheses come here into our consideration. 
   
  1. Either the attraction of the moon will end by drawing them 
  into itself, and the travelers will attain their destination; or, 
   
  2. The projectile, following an immutable law, will continue to 
  gravitate round the moon till the end of time. 
   
  At some future time, our observations will be able to determine 
  this point, but till then the experiment of the Gun Club can 
  have no other result than to have provided our solar system with 
  a new star. 
                                                J. BELFAST. 
   
   
  To how many questions did this unexpected _denouement_ give rise? 
  What mysterious results was the future reserving for the 
  investigation of science?  At all events, the names of Nicholl, 
  Barbicane, and Michel Ardan were certain to be immortalized in 
  the annals of astronomy! 
   
  When the dispatch from Long's Peak had once become known, there 
  
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  was but one universal feeling of surprise and alarm.  Was it 
  possible to go to the aid of these bold travelers?  No! for they 
  had placed themselves beyond the pale of humanity, by crossing 
  the limits imposed by the Creator on his earthly creatures. 
  They had air enough for _two_ months; they had victuals enough 
  for _twelve;-- but after that?_  There was only one man who 
  would not admit that the situation was desperate-- he alone had 
  confidence; and that was their devoted friend J. T. Maston. 
   
  Besides, he never let them get out of sight.  His home was 
  henceforth the post at Long's Peak; his horizon, the mirror of 
  that immense reflector.  As soon as the moon rose above the 
  horizon, he immediately caught her in the field of the 
  telescope; he never let her go for an instant out of his 
  sight, and followed her assiduously in her course through the 
  stellar spaces.  He watched with untiring patience the passage 
  of the projectile across her silvery disc, and really the worthy 
  man remained in perpetual communication with his three friends, 
  whom he did not despair of seeing again some day. 
   
  "Those three men," said he, "have carried into space all the 
  resources of art, science, and industry.  With that, one can do 
  anything; and you will see that, some day, they will come out 
  all right." 
   
   
   
  ROUND THE MOON 
   
  A SEQUEL TO 
   
  FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON 
   
   
   
   
   
  ROUND THE MOON 
   
   
   
   
  PRELIMINARY CHAPTER 
   
   
  THE FIRST PART OF THIS WORK, AND SERVING AS A PREFACE TO THE SECOND 
   
  During the year 186-, the whole world was greatly excited by a 
  scientific experiment unprecedented in the annals of science. 
  The members of the Gun Club, a circle of artillerymen formed at 
  Baltimore after the American war, conceived the idea of 
  putting themselves in communication with the moon!-- yes, with 
  the moon-- by sending to her a projectile.  Their president, 
  Barbicane, the promoter of the enterprise, having consulted the 
  astronomers of the Cambridge Observatory upon the subject, took 
  all necessary means to ensure the success of this extraordinary 
  enterprise, which had been declared practicable by the majority 
  
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  of competent judges.  After setting on foot a public 
  subscription, which realized nearly L1,200,000, they began the 
  gigantic work. 
   
  According to the advice forwarded from the members of the 
  Observatory, the gun destined to launch the projectile had to be 
  fixed in a country situated between the 0 and 28th degrees of 
  north or south latitude, in order to aim at the moon when at the 
  zenith; and its initiatory velocity was fixed at twelve thousand 
  yards to the second.  Launched on the 1st of December, at 10hrs. 
  46m. 40s. P.M., it ought to reach the moon four days after its 
  departure, that is on the 5th of December, at midnight 
  precisely, at the moment of her attaining her perigee, that is 
  her nearest distance from the earth, which is exactly 86,410 
  leagues (French), or 238,833 miles mean distance (English). 
   
  The principal members of the Gun Club, President Barbicane, 
  Major Elphinstone, the secretary Joseph T. Maston, and other 
  learned men, held several meetings, at which the shape and 
  composition of the projectile were discussed, also the position 
  and nature of the gun, and the quality and quantity of powder 
  to be used.  It was decided:  First, that the projectile should 
  be a shell made of aluminum with a diameter of 108 inches and a 
  thickness of twelve inches to its walls; and should weigh 
  19,250 pounds.  Second, that the gun should be a Columbiad 
  cast in iron, 900 feet long, and run perpendicularly into 
  the earth.  Third, that the charge should contain 400,000 pounds 
  of gun-cotton, which, giving out six billions of litres of gas in 
  rear of the projectile, would easily carry it toward the orb of night. 
   
  These questions determined President Barbicane, assisted by 
  Murchison the engineer, to choose a spot situated in Florida, in 
  27@ 7' North latitude, and 77@ 3' West (Greenwich) longitude. 
  It was on this spot, after stupendous labor, that the Columbiad 
  was cast with full success.  Things stood thus, when an incident 
  took place which increased the interest attached to this great 
  enterprise a hundredfold. 
   
  A Frenchman, an enthusiastic Parisian, as witty as he was bold, 
  asked to be enclosed in the projectile, in order that he might 
  reach the moon, and reconnoiter this terrestrial satellite. 
  The name of this intrepid adventurer was Michel Ardan.  He landed 
  in America, was received with enthusiasm, held meetings, saw 
  himself carried in triumph, reconciled President Barbicane to 
  his mortal enemy, Captain Nicholl, and, as a token of 
  reconciliation, persuaded them both to start with him in 
  the projectile.  The proposition being accepted, the shape 
  of the projectile was slightly altered.  It was made of a 
  cylindro-conical form.  This species of aerial car was lined with 
  strong springs and partitions to deaden the shock of departure. 
  It was provided with food for a year, water for some months, 
  and gas for some days.  A self-acting apparatus supplied the 
  three travelers with air to breathe.  At the same time, on one 
  of the highest points of the Rocky Mountains, the Gun Club had 
  a gigantic telescope erected, in order that they might be able 
  to follow the course of the projectile through space.  All was 
  then ready. 
  
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  On the 30th of November, at the hour fixed upon, from the midst 
  of an extraordinary crowd of spectators, the departure took place, 
  and for the first time, three human beings quitted the terrestrial 
  globe, and launched into inter-planetary space with almost a 
  certainty of reaching their destination.  These bold travelers, 
  Michel Ardan, President Barbicane, and Captain Nicholl, ought to 
  make the passage in ninety-seven hours, thirteen minutes, and 
  twenty seconds.  Consequently, their arrival on the lunar disc 
  could not take place until the 5th of December at twelve at night, 
  at the exact moment when the moon should be full, and not on the 
  4th, as some badly informed journalists had announced. 
   
  But an unforeseen circumstance, viz., the detonation produced 
  by the Columbiad, had the immediate effect of troubling the 
  terrestrial atmosphere, by accumulating a large quantity of 
  vapor, a phenomenon which excited universal indignation, for the 
  moon was hidden from the eyes of the watchers for several nights. 
   
  The worthy Joseph T. Maston, the staunchest friend of the three 
  travelers, started for the Rocky Mountains, accompanied by the 
  Hon. J. Belfast, director of the Cambridge Observatory, and 
  reached the station of Long's Peak, where the telescope was 
  erected which brought the moon within an apparent distance of 
  two leagues.  The honorable secretary of the Gun Club wished 
  himself to observe the vehicle of his daring friends. 
   
  The accumulation of the clouds in the atmosphere prevented all 
  observation on the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th of December. 
  Indeed it was thought that all observations would have to be put 
  off to the 3d of January in the following year; for the moon 
  entering its last quarter on the 11th, would then only present 
  an ever-decreasing portion of her disc, insufficient to allow 
  of their following the course of the projectile. 
   
  At length, to the general satisfaction, a heavy storm cleared 
  the atmosphere on the night of the 11th and 12th of December, 
  and the moon, with half-illuminated disc, was plainly to be seen 
  upon the black sky. 
   
  That very night a telegram was sent from the station of Long's 
  Peak by Joseph T. Maston and Belfast to the gentlemen of the 
  Cambridge Observatory, announcing that on the 11th of December 
  at 8h. 47m. P.M., the projectile launched by the Columbiad of 
  Stones Hill had been detected by Messrs. Belfast and Maston-- 
  that it had deviated from its course from some unknown cause, 
  and had not reached its destination; but that it had passed near 
  enough to be retained by the lunar attraction; that its 
  rectilinear movement had been changed to a circular one, and 
  that following an elliptical orbit round the star of night it 
  had become its satellite.  The telegram added that the elements 
  of this new star had not yet been calculated; and indeed three 
  observations made upon a star in three different positions are 
  necessary to determine these elements.  Then it showed that the 
  distance separating the projectile from the lunar surface "might" 
  be reckoned at about 2,833 miles. 
   
  
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  It ended with the double hypothesis: either the attraction of 
  the moon would draw it to herself, and the travelers thus attain 
  their end; or that the projectile, held in one immutable orbit, 
  would gravitate around the lunar disc to all eternity. 
   
  With such alternatives, what would be the fate of the travelers? 
  Certainly they had food for some time.  But supposing they did 
  succeed in their rash enterprise, how would they return? 
  Could they ever return?  Should they hear from them? 
  These questions, debated by the most learned pens of the day, 
  strongly engrossed the public attention. 
   
  It is advisable here to make a remark which ought to be well 
  considered by hasty observers.  When a purely speculative 
  discovery is announced to the public, it cannot be done with too 
  much prudence.  No one is obliged to discover either a planet, 
  a comet, or a satellite; and whoever makes a mistake in such a 
  case exposes himself justly to the derision of the mass. 
  Far better is it to wait; and that is what the impatient Joseph 
  T. Maston should have done before sending this telegram forth to 
  the world, which, according to his idea, told the whole result 
  of the enterprise.  Indeed this telegram contained two sorts of 
  errors, as was proved eventually.  First, errors of observation, 
  concerning the distance of the projectile from the surface of 
  the moon, for on the 11th of December it was impossible to see 
  it; and what Joseph T. Maston had seen, or thought he saw, could 
  not have been the projectile of the Columbiad.  Second, errors of 
  theory on the fate in store for the said projectile; for in making 
  it a satellite of the moon, it was putting it in direct 
  contradiction of all mechanical laws. 
   
  One single hypothesis of the observers of Long's Peak could ever 
  be realized, that which foresaw the case of the travelers (if 
  still alive) uniting their efforts with the lunar attraction to 
  attain the surface of the disc. 
   
  Now these men, as clever as they were daring, had survived the 
  terrible shock consequent on their departure, and it is their 
  journey in the projectile car which is here related in its most 
  dramatic as well as in its most singular details.  This recital 
  will destroy many illusions and surmises; but it will give a 
  true idea of the singular changes in store for such an 
  enterprise; it will bring out the scientific instincts of 
  Barbicane, the industrious resources of Nicholl, and the 
  audacious humor of Michel Ardan.  Besides this, it will prove 
  that their worthy friend, Joseph T. Maston, was wasting his 
  time, while leaning over the gigantic telescope he watched the 
  course of the moon through the starry space. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER I 
   
   
  TWENTY MINUTES PAST TEN TO FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES PAST TEN P. M. 
  
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  100
   
  As ten o'clock struck, Michel Ardan, Barbicane, and Nicholl, 
  took leave of the numerous friends they were leaving on the earth. 
  The two dogs, destined to propagate the canine race on the lunar 
  continents, were already shut up in the projectile. 
   
  The three travelers approached the orifice of the enormous 
  cast-iron tube, and a crane let them down to the conical top of 
  the projectile.  There, an opening made for the purpose gave 
  them access to the aluminum car.  The tackle belonging to the 
  crane being hauled from outside, the mouth of the Columbiad was 
  instantly disencumbered of its last supports. 
   
  Nicholl, once introduced with his companions inside the 
  projectile, began to close the opening by means of a strong 
  plate, held in position by powerful screws.  Other plates, 
  closely fitted, covered the lenticular glasses, and the 
  travelers, hermetically enclosed in their metal prison, were 
  plunged in profound darkness. 
   
  "And now, my dear companions," said Michel Ardan, "let us 
  make ourselves at home; I am a domesticated man and strong 
  in housekeeping.  We are bound to make the best of our new 
  lodgings, and make ourselves comfortable.  And first let us 
  try and see a little.  Gas was not invented for moles." 
   
  So saying, the thoughtless fellow lit a match by striking it on 
  the sole of his boot; and approached the burner fixed to the 
  receptacle, in which the carbonized hydrogen, stored at high 
  pressure, sufficed for the lighting and warming of the 
  projectile for a hundred and forty-four hours, or six days and 
  six nights.  The gas caught fire, and thus lighted the 
  projectile looked like a comfortable room with thickly padded 
  walls, furnished with a circular divan, and a roof rounded in 
  the shape of a dome. 
   
  Michel Ardan examined everything, and declared himself satisfied 
  with his installation. 
   
  "It is a prison," said he, "but a traveling prison; and, with 
  the right of putting my nose to the window, I could well stand 
  a lease of a hundred years.  You smile, Barbicane.  Have you any 
  _arriere-pensee_?  Do you say to yourself, `This prison may be 
  our tomb?'  Tomb, perhaps; still I would not change it for 
  Mahomet's, which floats in space but never advances an inch!" 
   
  While Michel Ardan was speaking, Barbicane and Nicholl were 
  making their last preparations. 
   
  Nicholl's chronometer marked twenty minutes past ten P.M. when 
  the three travelers were finally enclosed in their projectile. 
  This chronometer was set within the tenth of a second by that of 
  Murchison the engineer.  Barbicane consulted it. 
   
  "My friends," said he, "it is twenty minutes past ten.  At forty- 
  seven minutes past ten Murchison will launch the electric spark 
  on the wire which communicates with the charge of the Columbiad. 
  
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  At that precise moment we shall leave our spheroid.  Thus we 
  still have twenty-seven minutes to remain on the earth." 
   
  "Twenty-six minutes thirteen seconds," replied the methodical Nicholl. 
   
  "Well!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, in a good-humored tone, "much 
  may be done in twenty-six minutes.  The gravest questions of 
  morals and politics may be discussed, and even solved. 
  Twenty-six minutes well employed are worth more than twenty-six 
  years in which nothing is done.  Some seconds of a Pascal or a 
  Newton are more precious than the whole existence of a crowd of 
  raw simpletons----" 
   
  "And you conclude, then, you everlasting talker?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "I conclude that we have twenty-six minutes left," replied Ardan. 
   
  "Twenty-four only," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Well, twenty-four, if you like, my noble captain," said Ardan; 
  "twenty-four minutes in which to investigate----" 
   
  "Michel," said Barbicane, "during the passage we shall have 
  plenty of time to investigate the most difficult questions. 
  For the present we must occupy ourselves with our departure." 
   
  "Are we not ready?" 
   
  "Doubtless; but there are still some precautions to be taken, 
  to deaden as much as possible the first shock." 
   
  "Have we not the water-cushions placed between the partition- 
  breaks, whose elasticity will sufficiently protect us?" 
   
  "I hope so, Michel," replied Barbicane gently, "but I am not sure." 
   
  "Ah, the joker!" exclaimed Michel Ardan.  "He hopes!--He is not 
  sure!-- and he waits for the moment when we are encased to make 
  this deplorable admission!  I beg to be allowed to get out!" 
   
  "And how?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "Humph!" said Michel Ardan, "it is not easy; we are in the 
  train, and the guard's whistle will sound before twenty-four 
  minutes are over." 
   
  "Twenty," said Nicholl. 
   
  For some moments the three travelers looked at each other. 
  Then they began to examine the objects imprisoned with them. 
   
  "Everything is in its place," said Barbicane.  "We have now to 
  decide how we can best place ourselves to resist the shock. 
  Position cannot be an indifferent matter; and we must, as much 
  as possible, prevent the rush of blood to the head." 
   
  "Just so," said Nicholl. 
  
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  "Then," replied Michel Ardan, ready to suit the action to the 
  word, "let us put our heads down and our feet in the air, like 
  the clowns in the grand circus." 
   
  "No," said Barbicane, "let us stretch ourselves on our sides; we 
  shall resist the shock better that way.  Remember that, when the 
  projectile starts, it matters little whether we are in it or 
  before it; it amounts to much the same thing." 
   
  "If it is only `much the same thing,' I may cheer up," said 
  Michel Ardan. 
   
  "Do you approve of my idea, Nicholl?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "Entirely," replied the captain.  "We've still thirteen minutes 
  and a half." 
   
  "That Nicholl is not a man," exclaimed Michel; "he is a 
  chronometer with seconds, an escape, and eight holes." 
   
  But his companions were not listening; they were taking up their 
  last positions with the most perfect coolness.  They were like 
  two methodical travelers in a car, seeking to place themselves 
  as comfortably as possible. 
   
  We might well ask ourselves of what materials are the hearts of 
  these Americans made, to whom the approach of the most frightful 
  danger added no pulsation. 
   
  Three thick and solidly-made couches had been placed in 
  the projectile.  Nicholl and Barbicane placed them in the 
  center of the disc forming the floor.  There the three 
  travelers were to stretch themselves some moments before 
  their departure. 
   
  During this time, Ardan, not being able to keep still, turned in 
  his narrow prison like a wild beast in a cage, chatting with his 
  friends, speaking to the dogs Diana and Satellite, to whom, as 
  may be seen, he had given significant names. 
   
  "Ah, Diana!  Ah, Satellite!" he exclaimed, teasing them; "so you 
  are going to show the moon-dogs the good habits of the dogs of 
  the earth!  That will do honor to the canine race!  If ever we 
  do come down again, I will bring a cross type of `moon-dogs,' 
  which will make a stir!" 
   
  "If there _are_ dogs in the moon," said Barbicane. 
   
  "There are," said Michel Ardan, "just as there are horses, cows, 
  donkeys, and chickens.  I bet that we shall find chickens." 
   
  "A hundred dollars we shall find none!" said Nicholl. 
   
  "Done, my captain!" replied Ardan, clasping Nicholl's hand. 
  "But, by the bye, you have already lost three bets with our 
  president, as the necessary funds for the enterprise have been 
  
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  found, as the operation of casting has been successful, and 
  lastly, as the Columbiad has been loaded without accident, six 
  thousand dollars." 
   
  "Yes," replied Nicholl.  "Thirty-seven minutes six seconds past ten." 
   
  "It is understood, captain.  Well, before another quarter of an 
  hour you will have to count nine thousand dollars to the 
  president; four thousand because the Columbiad will not burst, 
  and five thousand because the projectile will rise more than six 
  miles in the air." 
   
  "I have the dollars," replied Nicholl, slapping the pocket of 
  this coat.  "I only ask to be allowed to pay." 
   
  "Come, Nicholl.  I see that you are a man of method, which 
  I could never be; but indeed you have made a series of bets 
  of very little advantage to yourself, allow me to tell you." 
   
  "And why?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "Because, if you gain the first, the Columbiad will have burst, 
  and the projectile with it; and Barbicane will no longer be 
  there to reimburse your dollars." 
   
  "My stake is deposited at the bank in Baltimore," replied 
  Barbicane simply; "and if Nicholl is not there, it will go to 
  his heirs." 
   
  "Ah, you practical men!" exclaimed Michel Ardan; "I admire you 
  the more for not being able to understand you." 
   
  "Forty-two minutes past ten!" said Nicholl. 
   
  "Only five minutes more!" answered Barbicane. 
   
  "Yes, five little minutes!" replied Michel Ardan; "and we are 
  enclosed in a projectile, at the bottom of a gun 900 feet long! 
  And under this projectile are rammed 400,000 pounds of gun-cotton, 
  which is equal to 1,600,000 pounds of ordinary powder!  And friend 
  Murchison, with his chronometer in hand, his eye fixed on the 
  needle, his finger on the electric apparatus, is counting the 
  seconds preparatory to launching us into interplanetary space." 
   
  "Enough, Michel, enough!" said Barbicane, in a serious voice; 
  "let us prepare.  A few instants alone separate us from an 
  eventful moment.  One clasp of the hand, my friends." 
   
  "Yes," exclaimed Michel Ardan, more moved than he wished to 
  appear; and the three bold companions were united in a last embrace. 
   
  "God preserve us!" said the religious Barbicane. 
   
  Michel Ardan and Nicholl stretched themselves on the couches 
  placed in the center of the disc. 
   
  "Forty-seven minutes past ten!" murmured the captain. 
  
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  "Twenty seconds more!"  Barbicane quickly put out the gas and 
  lay down by his companions, and the profound silence was only 
  broken by the ticking of the chronometer marking the seconds. 
   
  Suddenly a dreadful shock was felt, and the projectile, under 
  the force of six billions of litres of gas, developed by the 
  combustion of pyroxyle, mounted into space. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER II 
   
   
  THE FIRST HALF-HOUR 
   
   
  What had happened?  What effect had this frightful shock produced? 
  Had the ingenuity of the constructors of the projectile obtained 
  any happy result?  Had the shock been deadened, thanks to the 
  springs, the four plugs, the water-cushions, and the partition-breaks? 
  Had they been able to subdue the frightful pressure of the initiatory 
  speed of more than 11,000 yards, which was enough to traverse Paris 
  or New York in a second?  This was evidently the question suggested 
  to the thousand spectators of this moving scene.  They forgot the 
  aim of the journey, and thought only of the travelers.  And if 
  one of them-- Joseph T. Maston for example-- could have cast one 
  glimpse into the projectile, what would he have seen? 
   
  Nothing then.  The darkness was profound.  But its cylindro- 
  conical partitions had resisted wonderfully.  Not a rent or a 
  dent anywhere!  The wonderful projectile was not even heated 
  under the intense deflagration of the powder, nor liquefied, 
  as they seemed to fear, in a shower of aluminum. 
   
  The interior showed but little disorder; indeed, only a few 
  objects had been violently thrown toward the roof; but the most 
  important seemed not to have suffered from the shock at all; 
  their fixtures were intact. 
   
  On the movable disc, sunk down to the bottom by the smashing of 
  the partition-breaks and the escape of the water, three bodies 
  lay apparently lifeless.  Barbicane, Nicholl, and Michel Ardan-- 
  did they still breathe? or was the projectile nothing now but a 
  metal coffin, bearing three corpses into space? 
   
  Some minutes after the departure of the projectile, one of 
  the bodies moved, shook its arms, lifted its head, and finally 
  succeeded in getting on its knees.  It was Michel Ardan.  He felt 
  himself all over, gave a sonorous "Hem!" and then said: 
   
  "Michel Ardan is whole.  How about the others?" 
   
  The courageous Frenchman tried to rise, but could not stand. 
  His head swam, from the rush of blood; he was blind; he was a 
  
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  drunken man. 
   
  "Bur-r!" said he.  "It produces the same effect as two bottles 
  of Corton, though perhaps less agreeable to swallow." 
  Then, passing his hand several times across his forehead and 
  rubbing his temples, he called in a firm voice: 
   
  "Nicholl!  Barbicane!" 
   
  He waited anxiously.  No answer; not even a sigh to show that 
  the hearts of his companions were still beating.  He called again. 
  The same silence. 
   
  "The devil!" he exclaimed.  "They look as if they had fallen 
  from a fifth story on their heads.  Bah!" he added, with that 
  imperturbable confidence which nothing could check, "if a 
  Frenchman can get on his knees, two Americans ought to be able 
  to get on their feet.  But first let us light up." 
   
  Ardan felt the tide of life return by degrees.  His blood became 
  calm, and returned to its accustomed circulation.  Another effort 
  restored his equilibrium.  He succeeded in rising, drew a match 
  from his pocket, and approaching the burner lighted it. 
  The receiver had not suffered at all.  The gas had not escaped. 
  Besides, the smell would have betrayed it; and in that case 
  Michel Ardan could not have carried a lighted match with 
  impunity through the space filled with hydrogen.  The gas mixing 
  with the air would have produced a detonating mixture, and the 
  explosion would have finished what the shock had perhaps begun. 
  When the burner was lit, Ardan leaned over the bodies of his 
  companions:  they were lying one on the other, an inert mass, 
  Nicholl above, Barbicane underneath. 
   
  Ardan lifted the captain, propped him up against the divan, and 
  began to rub vigorously.  This means, used with judgment, 
  restored Nicholl, who opened his eyes, and instantly recovering 
  his presence of mind, seized Ardan's hand and looked around him. 
   
  "And Barbicane?" said he. 
   
  "Each in turn," replied Michel Ardan.  "I began with you, 
  Nicholl, because you were on the top.  Now let us look 
  to Barbicane."  Saying which, Ardan and Nicholl raised the 
  president of the Gun Club and laid him on the divan.  He seemed 
  to have suffered more than either of his companions; he was 
  bleeding, but Nicholl was reassured by finding that the 
  hemorrhage came from a slight wound on the shoulder, a mere 
  graze, which he bound up carefully. 
   
  Still, Barbicane was a long time coming to himself, which 
  frightened his friends, who did not spare friction. 
   
  "He breathes though," said Nicholl, putting his ear to the chest 
  of the wounded man. 
   
  "Yes," replied Ardan, "he breathes like a man who has some 
  notion of that daily operation.  Rub, Nicholl; let us rub harder." 
  
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  And the two improvised practitioners worked so hard and so well 
  that Barbicane recovered his senses.  He opened his eyes, sat up, 
  took his two friends by the hands, and his first words were-- 
   
  "Nicholl, are we moving?" 
   
  Nicholl and Ardan looked at each other; they had not yet 
  troubled themselves about the projectile; their first thought 
  had been for the traveler, not for the car. 
   
  "Well, are we really moving?" repeated Michel Ardan. 
   
  "Or quietly resting on the soil of Florida?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "Or at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico?" added Michel Ardan. 
   
  "What an idea!" exclaimed the president. 
   
  And this double hypothesis suggested by his companions had the 
  effect of recalling him to his senses.  In any case they could 
  not decide on the position of the projectile.  Its apparent 
  immovability, and the want of communication with the outside, 
  prevented them from solving the question.  Perhaps the projectile 
  was unwinding its course through space.  Perhaps after a short 
  rise it had fallen upon the earth, or even in the Gulf of Mexico-- 
  a fall which the narrowness of the peninsula of Florida would 
  render not impossible. 
   
  The case was serious, the problem interesting, and one that must 
  be solved as soon as possible.  Thus, highly excited, Barbicane's 
  moral energy triumphed over physical weakness, and he rose to 
  his feet.  He listened.  Outside was perfect silence; but the 
  thick padding was enough to intercept all sounds coming from 
  the earth.  But one circumstance struck Barbicane, viz., that 
  the temperature inside the projectile was singularly high. 
  The president drew a thermometer from its case and consulted it. 
  The instrument showed 81@ Fahr. 
   
  "Yes," he exclaimed, "yes, we are moving!  This stifling heat, 
  penetrating through the partitions of the projectile, is 
  produced by its friction on the atmospheric strata.  It will 
  soon diminish, because we are already floating in space, and 
  after having nearly stifled, we shall have to suffer intense cold. 
   
  "What!" said Michel Ardan.  "According to your showing, Barbicane, 
  we are already beyond the limits of the terrestrial atmosphere?" 
   
  "Without a doubt, Michel.  Listen to me.  It is fifty-five 
  minutes past ten; we have been gone about eight minutes; and if 
  our initiatory speed has not been checked by the friction, six 
  seconds would be enough for us to pass through the forty miles 
  of atmosphere which surrounds the globe." 
   
  "Just so," replied Nicholl; "but in what proportion do you 
  estimate the diminution of speed by friction?" 
   
  "In the proportion of one-third, Nicholl.  This diminution is 
  
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  considerable, but according to my calculations it is nothing less. 
  If, then, we had an initiatory speed of 12,000 yards, on leaving 
  the atmosphere this speed would be reduced to 9,165 yards.  In any 
  case we have already passed through this interval, and----" 
   
  "And then," said Michel Ardan, "friend Nicholl has lost his two 
  bets:  four thousand dollars because the Columbiad did not burst; 
  five thousand dollars because the projectile has risen more than 
  six miles.  Now, Nicholl, pay up." 
   
  "Let us prove it first," said the captain, "and we will 
  pay afterward.  It is quite possible that Barbicane's reasoning 
  is correct, and that I have lost my nine thousand dollars.  But a 
  new hypothesis presents itself to my mind, and it annuls the wager." 
   
  "What is that?" asked Barbicane quickly. 
   
  "The hypothesis that, for some reason or other, fire was never 
  set to the powder, and we have not started at all." 
   
  "My goodness, captain," exclaimed Michel Ardan, "that hypothesis 
  is not worthy of my brain!  It cannot be a serious one.  For have 
  we not been half annihilated by the shock?  Did I not recall you 
  to life?  Is not the president's shoulder still bleeding from the 
  blow it has received?" 
   
  "Granted," replied Nicholl; "but one question." 
   
  "Well, captain?" 
   
  "Did you hear the detonation, which certainly ought to be loud?" 
   
  "No," replied Ardan, much surprised; "certainly I did not hear 
  the detonation." 
   
  "And you, Barbicane?" 
   
  "Nor I, either." 
   
  "Very well," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Well now," murmured the president "why did we not hear the 
  detonation?" 
   
  The three friends looked at each other with a disconcerted air. 
  It was quite an inexplicable phenomenon.  The projectile had 
  started, and consequently there must have been a detonation. 
   
  "Let us first find out where we are," said Barbicane, "and let 
  down this panel." 
   
  This very simple operation was soon accomplished. 
   
  The nuts which held the bolts to the outer plates of the 
  right-hand scuttle gave way under the pressure of the 
  English wrench.  These bolts were pushed outside, and the 
  buffers covered with India-rubber stopped up the holes which let 
  
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  them through.  Immediately the outer plate fell back upon its 
  hinges like a porthole, and the lenticular glass which closed 
  the scuttle appeared.  A similar one was let into the thick 
  partition on the opposite side of the projectile, another in the 
  top of the dome, and finally a fourth in the middle of the base. 
  They could, therefore, make observations in four different 
  directions; the firmament by the side and most direct windows, 
  the earth or the moon by the upper and under openings in 
  the projectile. 
   
  Barbicane and his two companions immediately rushed to the 
  uncovered window.  But it was lit by no ray of light. 
  Profound darkness surrounded them, which, however, did not 
  prevent the president from exclaiming: 
   
  "No, my friends, we have not fallen back upon the earth; no, nor 
  are we submerged in the Gulf of Mexico.  Yes! we are mounting 
  into space.  See those stars shining in the night, and that 
  impenetrable darkness heaped up between the earth and us!" 
   
  "Hurrah! hurrah!" exclaimed Michel Ardan and Nicholl in one voice. 
   
  Indeed, this thick darkness proved that the projectile had left 
  the earth, for the soil, brilliantly lit by the moon-beams would 
  have been visible to the travelers, if they had been lying on 
  its surface.  This darkness also showed that the projectile had 
  passed the atmospheric strata, for the diffused light spread in 
  the air would have been reflected on the metal walls, which 
  reflection was wanting.  This light would have lit the window, 
  and the window was dark.  Doubt was no longer possible; the 
  travelers had left the earth. 
   
  "I have lost," said Nicholl. 
   
  "I congratulate you," replied Ardan. 
   
  "Here are the nine thousand dollars," said the captain, drawing 
  a roll of paper dollars from his pocket. 
   
  "Will you have a receipt for it?" asked Barbicane, taking the sum. 
   
  "If you do not mind," answered Nicholl; "it is more business-like." 
   
  And coolly and seriously, as if he had been at his strong-box, 
  the president drew forth his notebook, tore out a blank leaf, 
  wrote a proper receipt in pencil, dated and signed it with the 
  usual flourish, [1] and gave it to the captain, who carefully placed 
  it in his pocketbook.  Michel Ardan, taking off his hat, bowed to 
  his two companions without speaking.  So much formality under such 
  circumstances left him speechless.  He had never before seen 
  anything so "American." 
   
  [1] This is a purely French habit. 
   
  This affair settled, Barbicane and Nicholl had returned to the 
  window, and were watching the constellations.  The stars looked 
  like bright points on the black sky.  But from that side they 
  
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  could not see the orb of night, which, traveling from east to 
  west, would rise by degrees toward the zenith.  Its absence drew 
  the following remark from Ardan: 
   
  "And the moon; will she perchance fail at our rendezvous?" 
   
  "Do not alarm yourself," said Barbicane; "our future globe is at 
  its post, but we cannot see her from this side; let us open the other." 
   
  "As Barbicane was about leaving the window to open the opposite 
  scuttle, his attention was attracted by the approach of a 
  brilliant object.  It was an enormous disc, whose colossal 
  dimension could not be estimated.  Its face, which was turned to 
  the earth, was very bright.  One might have thought it a small 
  moon reflecting the light of the large one.  She advanced with 
  great speed, and seemed to describe an orbit round the earth, 
  which would intersect the passage of the projectile.  This body 
  revolved upon its axis, and exhibited the phenomena of all 
  celestial bodies abandoned in space. 
   
  "Ah!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, "What is that? another projectile?" 
   
  Barbicane did not answer.  The appearance of this enormous body 
  surprised and troubled him.  A collision was possible, and might 
  be attended with deplorable results; either the projectile would 
  deviate from its path, or a shock, breaking its impetus, might 
  precipitate it to earth; or, lastly, it might be irresistibly 
  drawn away by the powerful asteroid.  The president caught at a 
  glance the consequences of these three hypotheses, either of 
  which would, one way or the other, bring their experiment to an 
  unsuccessful and fatal termination.  His companions stood 
  silently looking into space.  The object grew rapidly as it 
  approached them, and by an optical illusion the projectile 
  seemed to be throwing itself before it. 
   
  "By Jove!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, "we shall run into one another!" 
   
  Instinctively the travelers drew back.  Their dread was great, 
  but it did not last many seconds.  The asteroid passed several 
  hundred yards from the projectile and disappeared, not so much 
  from the rapidity of its course, as that its face being opposite 
  the moon, it was suddenly merged into the perfect darkness of space. 
   
  "A happy journey to you," exclaimed Michel Ardan, with a sigh 
  of relief.  "Surely infinity of space is large enough for a poor 
  little projectile to walk through without fear.  Now, what is 
  this portentous globe which nearly struck us?" 
   
  "I know," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "Oh, indeed! you know everything." 
   
  "It is," said Barbicane, "a simple meteorite, but an enormous one, 
  which the attraction of the earth has retained as a satellite." 
   
  "Is it possible!" exclaimed Michel Ardan; "the earth then has 
  two moons like Neptune?" 
  
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  "Yes, my friends, two moons, though it passes generally for 
  having only one; but this second moon is so small, and its 
  speed so great, that the inhabitants of the earth cannot see it. 
  It was by noticing disturbances that a French astronomer, M. Petit, 
  was able to determine the existence of this second satellite and 
  calculate its elements.  According to his observations, this 
  meteorite will accomplish its revolution around the earth in 
  three hours and twenty minutes, which implies a wonderful rate 
  of speed." 
   
  "Do all astronomers admit the existence of this satellite?" 
  asked Nicholl. 
   
  "No," replied Barbicane; "but if, like us, they had met it, they 
  could no longer doubt it.  Indeed, I think that this meteorite, 
  which, had it struck the projectile, would have much embarrassed 
  us, will give us the means of deciding what our position in 
  space is." 
   
  "How?" said Ardan. 
   
  "Because its distance is known, and when we met it, we were 
  exactly four thousand six hundred and fifty miles from the 
  surface of the terrestrial globe." 
   
  "More than two thousand French leagues," exclaimed Michel Ardan. 
  "That beats the express trains of the pitiful globe called the earth." 
   
  "I should think so," replied Nicholl, consulting his 
  chronometer; "it is eleven o'clock, and it is only thirteen 
  minutes since we left the American continent." 
   
  "Only thirteen minutes?" said Barbicane. 
   
  "Yes," said Nicholl; "and if our initiatory speed of twelve 
  thousand yards has been kept up, we shall have made about twenty 
  thousand miles in the hour." 
   
  "That is all very well, my friends," said the president, "but 
  the insoluble question still remains.  Why did we not hear the 
  detonation of the Columbiad?" 
   
  For want of an answer the conversation dropped, and Barbicane 
  began thoughtfully to let down the shutter of the second side. 
  He succeeded; and through the uncovered glass the moon filled 
  the projectile with a brilliant light.  Nicholl, as an 
  economical man, put out the gas, now useless, and whose 
  brilliancy prevented any observation of the inter-planetary space. 
   
  The lunar disc shone with wonderful purity.  Her rays, no longer 
  filtered through the vapory atmosphere of the terrestrial globe, 
  shone through the glass, filling the air in the interior of the 
  projectile with silvery reflections.  The black curtain of the 
  firmament in reality heightened the moon's brilliancy, which in 
  this void of ether unfavorable to diffusion did not eclipse the 
  neighboring stars.  The heavens, thus seen, presented quite a 
  
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  new aspect, and one which the human eye could never dream of. 
  One may conceive the interest with which these bold men watched 
  the orb of night, the great aim of their journey. 
   
  In its motion the earth's satellite was insensibly nearing the 
  zenith, the mathematical point which it ought to attain 
  ninety-six hours later.  Her mountains, her plains, every 
  projection was as clearly discernible to their eyes as if they 
  were observing it from some spot upon the earth; but its light 
  was developed through space with wonderful intensity.  The disc 
  shone like a platinum mirror.  Of the earth flying from under 
  their feet, the travelers had lost all recollection. 
   
  It was captain Nicholl who first recalled their attention to the 
  vanishing globe. 
   
  "Yes," said Michel Ardan, "do not let us be ungrateful to it. 
  Since we are leaving our country, let our last looks be directed 
  to it.  I wish to see the earth once more before it is quite 
  hidden from my eyes." 
   
  To satisfy his companions, Barbicane began to uncover the window 
  at the bottom of the projectile, which would allow them to 
  observe the earth direct.  The disc, which the force of the 
  projection had beaten down to the base, was removed, not 
  without difficulty.  Its fragments, placed carefully against a wall, 
  might serve again upon occasion.  Then a circular gap appeared, 
  nineteen inches in diameter, hollowed out of the lower part of 
  the projectile.  A glass cover, six inches thick and strengthened 
  with upper fastenings, closed it tightly.  Beneath was fixed an 
  aluminum plate, held in place by bolts.  The screws being undone, 
  and the bolts let go, the plate fell down, and visible 
  communication was established between the interior and the exterior. 
   
  Michel Ardan knelt by the glass.  It was cloudy, seemingly opaque. 
   
  "Well!" he exclaimed, "and the earth?" 
   
  "The earth?" said Barbicane.  "There it is." 
   
  "What! that little thread; that silver crescent?" 
   
  "Doubtless, Michel.  In four days, when the moon will be full, 
  at the very time we shall reach it, the earth will be new, and 
  will only appear to us as a slender crescent which will soon 
  disappear, and for some days will be enveloped in utter darkness." 
   
  "That the earth?" repeated Michel Ardan, looking with all his 
  eyes at the thin slip of his native planet. 
   
  The explanation given by President Barbicane was correct. 
  The earth, with respect to the projectile, was entering its 
  last phase.  It was in its octant, and showed a crescent finely 
  traced on the dark background of the sky.  Its light, rendered 
  bluish by the thick strata of the atmosphere was less intense 
  than that of the crescent moon, but it was of considerable 
  dimensions, and looked like an enormous arch stretched across 
  
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  the firmament.  Some parts brilliantly lighted, especially on 
  its concave part, showed the presence of high mountains, often 
  disappearing behind thick spots, which are never seen on the 
  lunar disc.  They were rings of clouds placed concentrically 
  round the terrestrial globe. 
   
  While the travelers were trying to pierce the profound darkness, 
  a brilliant cluster of shooting stars burst upon their eyes. 
  Hundreds of meteorites, ignited by the friction of the 
  atmosphere, irradiated the shadow of the luminous train, and 
  lined the cloudy parts of the disc with their fire.  At this 
  period the earth was in its perihelion, and the month of 
  December is so propitious to these shooting stars, that 
  astronomers have counted as many as twenty-four thousand in 
  an hour.  But Michel Ardan, disdaining scientific reasonings, 
  preferred thinking that the earth was thus saluting the 
  departure of her three children with her most brilliant fireworks. 
   
  Indeed this was all they saw of the globe lost in the solar 
  world, rising and setting to the great planets like a simple 
  morning or evening star!  This globe, where they had left all 
  their affections, was nothing more than a fugitive crescent! 
   
  Long did the three friends look without speaking, though united 
  in heart, while the projectile sped onward with an 
  ever-decreasing speed.  Then an irresistible drowsiness crept 
  over their brain.  Was it weariness of body and mind?  No doubt; 
  for after the over-excitement of those last hours passed upon 
  earth, reaction was inevitable. 
   
  "Well," said Nicholl, "since we must sleep, let us sleep." 
   
  And stretching themselves on their couches, they were all three 
  soon in a profound slumber. 
   
  But they had not forgotten themselves more than a quarter of an 
  hour, when Barbicane sat up suddenly, and rousing his companions 
  with a loud voice, exclaimed---- 
   
  "I have found it!" 
   
  "What have you found?" asked Michel Ardan, jumping from his bed. 
   
  "The reason why we did not hear the detonation of the Columbiad." 
   
  "And it is----?" said Nicholl. 
   
  "Because our projectile traveled faster than the sound!" 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER III 
   
   
  THEIR PLACE OF SHELTER 
  
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  This curious but certainly correct explanation once given, the 
  three friends returned to their slumbers.  Could they have found 
  a calmer or more peaceful spot to sleep in?  On the earth, 
  houses, towns, cottages, and country feel every shock given to 
  the exterior of the globe.  On sea, the vessels rocked by the 
  waves are still in motion; in the air, the balloon oscillates 
  incessantly on the fluid strata of divers densities. 
  This projectile alone, floating in perfect space, in the midst 
  of perfect silence, offered perfect repose. 
   
  Thus the sleep of our adventurous travelers might have been 
  indefinitely prolonged, if an unexpected noise had not awakened 
  them at about seven o'clock in the morning of the 2nd of 
  December, eight hours after their departure. 
   
  This noise was a very natural barking. 
   
  "The dogs! it is the dogs!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, rising at once. 
   
  "They are hungry," said Nicholl. 
   
  "By Jove!" replied Michel, "we have forgotten them." 
   
  "Where are they?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  They looked and found one of the animals crouched under the divan. 
  Terrified and shaken by the initiatory shock, it had remained 
  in the corner till its voice returned with the pangs of hunger. 
  It was the amiable Diana, still very confused, who crept out of 
  her retreat, though not without much persuasion, Michel Ardan 
  encouraging her with most gracious words. 
   
  "Come, Diana," said he:  "come, my girl! thou whose destiny will 
  be marked in the cynegetic annals; thou whom the pagans would 
  have given as companion to the god Anubis, and Christians as 
  friend to St. Roch; thou who art rushing into interplanetary 
  space, and wilt perhaps be the Eve of all Selenite dogs! come, 
  Diana, come here." 
   
  Diana, flattered or not, advanced by degrees, uttering 
  plaintive cries. 
   
  "Good," said Barbicane:  "I see Eve, but where is Adam?" 
   
  "Adam?" replied Michel; "Adam cannot be far off; he is there 
  somewhere; we must call him.  Satellite! here, Satellite!" 
   
  But Satellite did not appear.  Diana would not leave off howling. 
  They found, however, that she was not bruised, and they gave her 
  a pie, which silenced her complaints.  As to Satellite, he seemed 
  quite lost.  They had to hunt a long time before finding him in 
  one of the upper compartments of the projectile, whither some 
  unaccountable shock must have violently hurled him.  The poor 
  beast, much hurt, was in a piteous state. 
   
  
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  "The devil!" said Michel. 
   
  They brought the unfortunate dog down with great care.  Its skull 
  had been broken against the roof, and it seemed unlikely that he 
  could recover from such a shock.  Meanwhile, he was stretched 
  comfortably on a cushion.  Once there, he heaved a sigh. 
   
  "We will take care of you," said Michel; "we are responsible for 
  your existence.  I would rather lose an arm than a paw of my 
  poor Satellite." 
   
  Saying which, he offered some water to the wounded dog, who 
  swallowed it with avidity. 
   
  This attention paid, the travelers watched the earth and the 
  moon attentively.  The earth was now only discernible by a 
  cloudy disc ending in a crescent, rather more contracted than 
  that of the previous evening; but its expanse was still 
  enormous, compared with that of the moon, which was approaching 
  nearer and nearer to a perfect circle. 
   
  "By Jove!" said Michel Ardan, "I am really sorry that we did not 
  start when the earth was full, that is to say, when our globe 
  was in opposition to the sun." 
   
  "Why?" said Nicholl. 
   
  "Because we should have seen our continents and seas in a new 
  light-- the first resplendent under the solar rays, the latter 
  cloudy as represented on some maps of the world.  I should like 
  to have seen those poles of the earth on which the eye of man 
  has never yet rested. 
   
  "I dare say," replied Barbicane; "but if the earth had been 
  _full_, the moon would have been _new_; that is to say, 
  invisible, because of the rays of the sun.  It is better 
  for us to see the destination we wish to reach, than the point 
  of departure." 
   
  "You are right, Barbicane," replied Captain Nicholl; "and, 
  besides, when we have reached the moon, we shall have time 
  during the long lunar nights to consider at our leisure the 
  globe on which our likenesses swarm." 
   
  "Our likenesses!" exclaimed Michel Ardan; "They are no more our 
  likenesses than the Selenites are!  We inhabit a new world, 
  peopled by ourselves-- the projectile!  I am Barbicane's 
  likeness, and Barbicane is Nicholl's.  Beyond us, around us, 
  human nature is at an end, and we are the only population of 
  this microcosm until we become pure Selenites." 
   
  "In about eighty-eight hours," replied the captain. 
   
  "Which means to say?" asked Michel Ardan. 
   
  "That it is half-past eight," replied Nicholl. 
   
  
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  "Very well," retorted Michel; "then it is impossible for me to 
  find even the shadow of a reason why we should not go to breakfast." 
   
  Indeed the inhabitants of the new star could not live without 
  eating, and their stomachs were suffering from the imperious 
  laws of hunger.  Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared 
  chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival. 
  The gas gave sufficient heat for the culinary apparatus, and 
  the provision box furnished the elements of this first feast. 
   
  The breakfast began with three bowls of excellent soup, thanks to 
  the liquefaction in hot water of those precious cakes of Liebig, 
  prepared from the best parts of the ruminants of the Pampas. 
  To the soup succeeded some beefsteaks, compressed by an hydraulic 
  press, as tender and succulent as if brought straight from the 
  kitchen of an English eating-house.  Michel, who was imaginative, 
  maintained that they were even "red." 
   
  Preserved vegetables ("fresher than nature," said the amiable 
  Michel) succeeded the dish of meat; and was followed by some 
  cups of tea with bread and butter, after the American fashion. 
   
  The beverage was declared exquisite, and was due to the 
  infusion of the choicest leaves, of which the emperor of Russia 
  had given some chests for the benefit of the travelers. 
   
  And lastly, to crown the repast, Ardan had brought out a fine 
  bottle of Nuits, which was found "by chance" in the 
  provision-box.  The three friends drank to the union of the 
  earth and her satellite. 
   
  And, as if he had not already done enough for the generous wine 
  which he had distilled on the slopes of Burgundy, the sun chose 
  to be part of the party.  At this moment the projectile emerged 
  from the conical shadow cast by the terrestrial globe, and the 
  rays of the radiant orb struck the lower disc of the projectile 
  direct occasioned by the angle which the moon's orbit makes with 
  that of the earth. 
   
  "The sun!" exclaimed Michel Ardan. 
   
  "No doubt," replied Barbicane; "I expected it." 
   
  "But," said Michel, "the conical shadow which the earth leaves 
  in space extends beyond the moon?" 
   
  "Far beyond it, if the atmospheric refraction is not taken into 
  consideration," said Barbicane.  "But when the moon is enveloped 
  in this shadow, it is because the centers of the three stars, 
  the sun, the earth, and the moon, are all in one and the same 
  straight line.  Then the _nodes_ coincide with the _phases_ of 
  the moon, and there is an eclipse.  If we had started when there 
  was an eclipse of the moon, all our passage would have been in 
  the shadow, which would have been a pity." 
   
  "Why?" 
   
  
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  "Because, though we are floating in space, our projectile, 
  bathed in the solar rays, will receive light and heat. 
  It economizes the gas, which is in every respect a good economy." 
   
  Indeed, under these rays which no atmosphere can temper, either 
  in temperature or brilliancy, the projectile grew warm and 
  bright, as if it had passed suddenly from winter to summer. 
  The moon above, the sun beneath, were inundating it with their fire. 
   
  "It is pleasant here," said Nicholl. 
   
  "I should think so," said Michel Ardan.  "With a little earth 
  spread on our aluminum planet we should have green peas in 
  twenty-four hours.  I have but one fear, which is that the 
  walls of the projectile might melt." 
   
  "Calm yourself, my worthy friend," replied Barbicane; "the 
  projectile withstood a very much higher temperature than this as 
  it slid through the strata of the atmosphere.  I should not be 
  surprised if it did not look like a meteor on fire to the eyes 
  of the spectators in Florida." 
   
  "But then J. T. Maston will think we are roasted!" 
   
  "What astonishes me," said Barbicane, "is that we have not been. 
  That was a danger we had not provided for." 
   
  "I feared it," said Nicholl simply. 
   
  "And you never mentioned it, my sublime captain," exclaimed 
  Michel Ardan, clasping his friend's hand. 
   
  Barbicane now began to settle himself in the projectile as if he 
  was never to leave it.  One must remember that this aerial car 
  had a base with a _superficies_ of fifty-four square feet. 
  Its height to the roof was twelve feet.  Carefully laid out in 
  the inside, and little encumbered by instruments and traveling 
  utensils, which each had their particular place, it left the 
  three travelers a certain freedom of movement.  The thick window 
  inserted in the bottom could bear any amount of weight, and 
  Barbicane and his companions walked upon it as if it were solid 
  plank; but the sun striking it directly with its rays lit the 
  interior of the projectile from beneath, thus producing singular 
  effects of light. 
   
  They began by investigating the state of their store of water 
  and provisions, neither of which had suffered, thanks to the 
  care taken to deaden the shock.  Their provisions were abundant, 
  and plentiful enough to last the three travelers for more than 
  a year.  Barbicane wished to be cautious, in case the projectile 
  should land on a part of the moon which was utterly barren. 
  As to water and the reserve of brandy, which consisted of fifty 
  gallons, there was only enough for two months; but according to 
  the last observations of astronomers, the moon had a low, dense, 
  and thick atmosphere, at least in the deep valleys, and there 
  springs and streams could not fail.  Thus, during their passage, 
  and for the first year of their settlement on the lunar 
  
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  continent, these adventurous explorers would suffer neither 
  hunger nor thirst. 
   
  Now about the air in the projectile.  There, too, they were secure. 
  Reiset and Regnaut's apparatus, intended for the production of 
  oxygen, was supplied with chlorate of potassium for two months. 
  They necessarily consumed a certain quantity of gas, for they 
  were obliged to keep the producing substance at a temperature 
  of above 400@.  But there again they were all safe.  The apparatus 
  only wanted a little care.  But it was not enough to renew the 
  oxygen; they must absorb the carbonic acid produced by expiration. 
  During the last twelve hours the atmosphere of the projectile had 
  become charged with this deleterious gas.  Nicholl discovered 
  the state of the air by observing Diana panting painfully. 
  The carbonic acid, by a phenomenon similar to that produced in 
  the famous Grotto del Cane, had collected at the bottom of the 
  projectile owing to its weight.  Poor Diana, with her head low, 
  would suffer before her masters from the presence of this gas. 
  But Captain Nicholl hastened to remedy this state of things, 
  by placing on the floor several receivers containing caustic 
  potash, which he shook about for a time, and this substance, 
  greedy of carbonic acid, soon completely absorbed it, thus 
  purifying the air. 
   
  An inventory of instruments was then begun.  The thermometers 
  and barometers had resisted, all but one minimum thermometer, 
  the glass of which was broken.  An excellent aneroid was drawn 
  from the wadded box which contained it and hung on the wall. 
  Of course it was only affected by and marked the pressure of the 
  air inside the projectile, but it also showed the quantity of 
  moisture which it contained.  At that moment its needle 
  oscillated between 25.24 and 25.08. 
   
  It was fine weather. 
   
  Barbicane had also brought several compasses, which he found intact. 
  One must understand that under present conditions their needles 
  were acting _wildly_, that is without any _constant_ direction. 
  Indeed, at the distance they were from the earth, the magnetic 
  pole could have no perceptible action upon the apparatus; but 
  the box placed on the lunar disc might perhaps exhibit some 
  strange phenomena.  In any case it would be interesting to see 
  whether the earth's satellite submitted like herself to its 
  magnetic influence. 
   
  A hypsometer to measure the height of the lunar mountains, a 
  sextant to take the height of the sun, glasses which would be 
  useful as they neared the moon, all these instruments were 
  carefully looked over, and pronounced good in spite of the 
  violent shock. 
   
  As to the pickaxes and different tools which were Nicholl's 
  especial choice; as to the sacks of different kinds of grain and 
  shrubs which Michel Ardan hoped to transplant into Selenite 
  ground, they were stowed away in the upper part of the projectile. 
  There was a sort of granary there, loaded with things which the 
  extravagant Frenchman had heaped up.  What they were no one knew, 
  
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  and the good-tempered fellow did not explain.  Now and then he 
  climbed up by cramp-irons riveted to the walls, but kept the 
  inspection to himself.  He arranged and rearranged, he plunged 
  his hand rapidly into certain mysterious boxes, singing in one 
  of the falsest of voices an old French refrain to enliven 
  the situation. 
   
  Barbicane observed with some interest that his guns and other 
  arms had not been damaged.  These were important, because, 
  heavily loaded, they were to help lessen the fall of the 
  projectile, when drawn by the lunar attraction (after having 
  passed the point of neutral attraction) on to the moon's 
  surface; a fall which ought to be six times less rapid than it 
  would have been on the earth's surface, thanks to the difference 
  of bulk.  The inspection ended with general satisfaction, when 
  each returned to watch space through the side windows and the 
  lower glass coverlid. 
   
  There was the same view.  The whole extent of the celestial 
  sphere swarmed with stars and constellations of wonderful 
  purity, enough to drive an astronomer out of his mind!  On one 
  side the sun, like the mouth of a lighted oven, a dazzling disc 
  without a halo, standing out on the dark background of the sky! 
  On the other, the moon returning its fire by reflection, and 
  apparently motionless in the midst of the starry world.  Then, a 
  large spot seemingly nailed to the firmament, bordered by a 
  silvery cord; it was the earth!  Here and there nebulous masses 
  like large flakes of starry snow; and from the zenith to the nadir, 
  an immense ring formed by an impalpable dust of stars, the "Milky 
  Way," in the midst of which the sun ranks only as a star of the 
  fourth magnitude.  The observers could not take their eyes from 
  this novel spectacle, of which no description could give an 
  adequate idea.  What reflections it suggested!  What emotions 
  hitherto unknown awoke in their souls!  Barbicane wished to begin 
  the relation of his journey while under its first impressions, 
  and hour after hour took notes of all facts happening in the 
  beginning of the enterprise.  He wrote quietly, with his large 
  square writing, in a business-like style. 
   
  During this time Nicholl, the calculator, looked over the 
  minutes of their passage, and worked out figures with 
  unparalleled dexterity.  Michel Ardan chatted first with 
  Barbicane, who did not answer him, and then with Nicholl, who 
  did not hear him, with Diana, who understood none of his 
  theories, and lastly with himself, questioning and answering, 
  going and coming, busy with a thousand details; at one time bent 
  over the lower glass, at another roosting in the heights of the 
  projectile, and always singing.  In this microcosm he 
  represented French loquacity and excitability, and we beg you to 
  believe that they were well represented.  The day, or rather 
  (for the expression is not correct) the lapse of twelve hours, 
  which forms a day upon the earth, closed with a plentiful supper 
  carefully prepared.  No accident of any nature had yet happened 
  to shake the travelers' confidence; so, full of hope, already 
  sure of success, they slept peacefully, while the projectile 
  under an uniformly decreasing speed was crossing the sky. 
   
  
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  CHAPTER IV 
   
   
  A LITTLE ALGEBRA 
   
   
  The night passed without incident.  The word "night," however, 
  is scarcely applicable. 
   
  The position of the projectile with regard to the sun did 
  not change.  Astronomically, it was daylight on the lower part, 
  and night on the upper; so when during this narrative these 
  words are used, they represent the lapse of time between rising 
  and setting of the sun upon the earth. 
   
  The travelers' sleep was rendered more peaceful by the 
  projectile's excessive speed, for it seemed absolutely motionless. 
  Not a motion betrayed its onward course through space.  The rate 
  of progress, however rapid it might be, cannot produce any 
  sensible effect on the human frame when it takes place in a 
  vacuum, or when the mass of air circulates with the body which 
  is carried with it.  What inhabitant of the earth perceives its 
  speed, which, however, is at the rate of 68,000 miles per hour? 
  Motion under such conditions is "felt" no more than repose; and 
  when a body is in repose it will remain so as long as no strange 
  force displaces it; if moving, it will not stop unless an 
  obstacle comes in its way.  This indifference to motion or 
  repose is called inertia. 
   
  Barbicane and his companions might have believed themselves 
  perfectly stationary, being shut up in the projectile; indeed, 
  the effect would have been the same if they had been on the 
  outside of it.  Had it not been for the moon, which was 
  increasing above them, they might have sworn that they were 
  floating in complete stagnation. 
   
  That morning, the 3rd of December, the travelers were awakened by 
  a joyous but unexpected noise; it was the crowing of a cock 
  which sounded through the car.  Michel Ardan, who was the first 
  on his feet, climbed to the top of the projectile, and shutting 
  a box, the lid of which was partly open, said in a low voice, 
  "Will you hold your tongue?  That creature will spoil my design!" 
   
  But Nicholl and Barbicane were awake. 
   
  "A cock!" said Nicholl. 
   
  "Why no, my friends," Michel answered quickly; "it was I who 
  wished to awake you by this rural sound."  So saying, he gave 
  vent to a splendid cock-a-doodledoo, which would have done honor 
  to the proudest of poultry-yards. 
   
  The two Americans could not help laughing. 
  
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  "Fine talent that," said Nicholl, looking suspiciously at his 
  companion. 
   
  "Yes," said Michel; "a joke in my country.  It is very Gallic; 
  they play the cock so in the best society." 
   
  Then turning the conversation: 
   
  "Barbicane, do you know what I have been thinking of all night?" 
   
  "No," answered the president. 
   
  "Of our Cambridge friends.  You have already remarked that I am 
  an ignoramus in mathematical subjects; and it is impossible for 
  me to find out how the savants of the observatory were able to 
  calculate what initiatory speed the projectile ought to have on 
  leaving the Columbiad in order to attain the moon." 
   
  "You mean to say," replied Barbicane, "to attain that neutral 
  point where the terrestrial and lunar attractions are equal; 
  for, starting from that point, situated about nine-tenths of the 
  distance traveled over, the projectile would simply fall upon 
  the moon, on account of its weight." 
   
  "So be it," said Michel; "but, once more; how could they 
  calculate the initiatory speed?" 
   
  "Nothing can be easier," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "And you knew how to make that calculation?" asked Michel Ardan. 
   
  "Perfectly.  Nicholl and I would have made it, if the 
  observatory had not saved us the trouble." 
   
  "Very well, old Barbicane," replied Michel; "they might have cut 
  off my head, beginning at my feet, before they could have made 
  me solve that problem." 
   
  "Because you do not know algebra," answered Barbicane quietly. 
   
  "Ah, there you are, you eaters of _x_^1; you think you have said 
  all when you have said `Algebra.'" 
   
  "Michel," said Barbicane, "can you use a forge without a hammer, 
  or a plow without a plowshare?" 
   
  "Hardly." 
   
  "Well, algebra is a tool, like the plow or the hammer, and a 
  good tool to those who know how to use it." 
   
  "Seriously?" 
   
  "Quite seriously." 
   
  "And can you use that tool in my presence?" 
  
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  "If it will interest you." 
   
  "And show me how they calculated the initiatory speed of our car?" 
   
  "Yes, my worthy friend; taking into consideration all the 
  elements of the problem, the distance from the center of the 
  earth to the center of the moon, of the radius of the earth, of 
  its bulk, and of the bulk of the moon, I can tell exactly what 
  ought to be the initiatory speed of the projectile, and that by 
  a simple formula." 
   
  "Let us see." 
   
  "You shall see it; only I shall not give you the real course 
  drawn by the projectile between the moon and the earth in 
  considering their motion round the sun.  No, I shall consider 
  these two orbs as perfectly motionless, which will answer all 
  our purpose." 
   
  "And why?" 
   
  "Because it will be trying to solve the problem called `the 
  problem of the three bodies,' for which the integral calculus is 
  not yet far enough advanced." 
   
  "Then," said Michel Ardan, in his sly tone, "mathematics have 
  not said their last word?" 
   
  "Certainly not," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "Well, perhaps the Selenites have carried the integral calculus 
  farther than you have; and, by the bye, what is this 
  `integral calculus?'" 
   
  "It is a calculation the converse of the differential," replied 
  Barbicane seriously. 
   
  "Much obliged; it is all very clear, no doubt." 
   
  "And now," continued Barbicane, "a slip of paper and a bit of 
  pencil, and before a half-hour is over I will have found the 
  required formula." 
   
  Half an hour had not elapsed before Barbicane, raising his head, 
  showed Michel Ardan a page covered with algebraical signs, in 
  which the general formula for the solution was contained. 
   
  "Well, and does Nicholl understand what that means?" 
   
  "Of course, Michel," replied the captain.  "All these signs, 
  which seem cabalistic to you, form the plainest, the clearest, 
  and the most logical language to those who know how to read it." 
   
  "And you pretend, Nicholl," asked Michel, "that by means of 
  these hieroglyphics, more incomprehensible than the Egyptian 
  Ibis, you can find what initiatory speed it was necessary to 
  
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  give the projectile?" 
   
  "Incontestably," replied Nicholl; "and even by this same formula 
  I can always tell you its speed at any point of its transit." 
   
  "On your word?" 
   
  "On my word." 
   
  "Then you are as cunning as our president." 
   
  "No, Michel; the difficult part is what Barbicane has done; that 
  is, to get an equation which shall satisfy all the conditions of 
  the problem.  The remainder is only a question of arithmetic, 
  requiring merely the knowledge of the four rules." 
   
  "That is something!" replied Michel Ardan, who for his life 
  could not do addition right, and who defined the rule as a 
  Chinese puzzle, which allowed one to obtain all sorts of totals. 
   
  "The expression _v_ zero, which you see in that equation, is the 
  speed which the projectile will have on leaving the atmosphere." 
   
  "Just so," said Nicholl; "it is from that point that we must 
  calculate the velocity, since we know already that the velocity 
  at departure was exactly one and a half times more than on 
  leaving the atmosphere." 
   
  "I understand no more," said Michel. 
   
  "It is a very simple calculation," said Barbicane. 
   
  "Not as simple as I am," retorted Michel. 
   
  "That means, that when our projectile reached the limits of the 
  terrestrial atmosphere it had already lost one-third of its 
  initiatory speed." 
   
  "As much as that?" 
   
  "Yes, my friend; merely by friction against the atmospheric strata. 
  You understand that the faster it goes the more resistance it meets 
  with from the air." 
   
  "That I admit," answered Michel; "and I understand it, 
  although your x's and zero's, and algebraic formula, are 
  rattling in my head like nails in a bag." 
   
  "First effects of algebra," replied Barbicane; "and now, to 
  finish, we are going to prove the given number of these 
  different expressions, that is, work out their value." 
   
  "Finish me!" replied Michel. 
   
  Barbicane took the paper, and began to make his calculations 
  with great rapidity.  Nicholl looked over and greedily read the 
  work as it proceeded. 
  
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  "That's it! that's it!" at last he cried. 
   
  "Is it clear?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "It is written in letters of fire," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Wonderful fellows!" muttered Ardan. 
   
  "Do you understand it at last?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "Do I understand it?" cried Ardan; "my head is splitting with it." 
   
  "And now," said Nicholl, "to find out the speed of the 
  projectile when it leaves the atmosphere, we have only to 
  calculate that." 
   
  The captain, as a practical man equal to all difficulties, began 
  to write with frightful rapidity.  Divisions and multiplications 
  grew under his fingers; the figures were like hail on the white page. 
  Barbicane watched him, while Michel Ardan nursed a growing headache 
  with both hands. 
   
  "Very well?" asked Barbicane, after some minutes' silence. 
   
  "Well!" replied Nicholl; every calculation made, _v_ zero, that 
  is to say, the speed necessary for the projectile on leaving the 
  atmosphere, to enable it to reach the equal point of attraction, 
  ought to be----" 
   
  "Yes?" said Barbicane. 
   
  "Twelve thousand yards." 
   
  "What!" exclaimed Barbicane, starting; "you say----" 
   
  "Twelve thousand yards." 
   
  "The devil!" cried the president, making a gesture of despair. 
   
  "What is the matter?" asked Michel Ardan, much surprised. 
   
  "What is the matter! why, if at this moment our speed had 
  already diminished one-third by friction, the initiatory speed 
  ought to have been----" 
   
  "Seventeen thousand yards." 
   
  "And the Cambridge Observatory declared that twelve thousand 
  yards was enough at starting; and our projectile, which only 
  started with that speed----" 
   
  "Well?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "Well, it will not be enough." 
   
  "Good." 
  
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  "We shall not be able to reach the neutral point." 
   
  "The deuce!" 
   
  "We shall not even get halfway." 
   
  "In the name of the projectile!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, jumping 
  as if it was already on the point of striking the terrestrial globe. 
   
  "And we shall fall back upon the earth!" 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER V 
   
   
  THE COLD OF SPACE 
   
   
  This revelation came like a thunderbolt.  Who could have 
  expected such an error in calculation?  Barbicane would not 
  believe it.  Nicholl revised his figures: they were exact. 
  As to the formula which had determined them, they could not 
  suspect its truth; it was evident that an initiatory velocity of 
  seventeen thousand yards in the first second was necessary to 
  enable them to reach the neutral point. 
   
  The three friends looked at each other silently.  There was no 
  thought of breakfast.  Barbicane, with clenched teeth, knitted 
  brows, and hands clasped convulsively, was watching through 
  the window.  Nicholl had crossed his arms, and was examining 
  his calculations.  Michel Ardan was muttering: 
   
  "That is just like these scientific men:  they never do anything else. 
  I would give twenty pistoles if we could fall upon the Cambridge 
  Observatory and crush it, together with the whole lot of dabblers 
  in figures which it contains." 
   
  Suddenly a thought struck the captain, which he at once 
  communicated to Barbicane. 
   
  "Ah!" said he; "it is seven o'clock in the morning; we have 
  already been gone thirty-two hours; more than half our passage 
  is over, and we are not falling that I am aware of." 
   
  Barbicane did not answer, but after a rapid glance at the 
  captain, took a pair of compasses wherewith to measure the 
  angular distance of the terrestrial globe; then from the lower 
  window he took an exact observation, and noticed that the 
  projectile was apparently stationary.  Then rising and wiping 
  his forehead, on which large drops of perspiration were 
  standing, he put some figures on paper.  Nicholl understood that 
  the president was deducting from the terrestrial diameter the 
  projectile's distance from the earth.  He watched him anxiously. 
  
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  "No," exclaimed Barbicane, after some moments, "no, we are not 
  falling! no, we are already more than 50,000 leagues from the earth. 
  We have passed the point at which the projectile would have stopped 
  if its speed had only been 12,000 yards at starting.  We are still 
  going up." 
   
  "That is evident," replied Nicholl; "and we must conclude that 
  our initial speed, under the power of the 400,000 pounds of 
  gun-cotton, must have exceeded the required 12,000 yards. 
  Now I can understand how, after thirteen minutes only, we met the 
  second satellite, which gravitates round the earth at more than 
  2,000 leagues' distance." 
   
  "And this explanation is the more probable," added Barbicane, 
  "Because, in throwing off the water enclosed between its 
  partition-breaks, the projectile found itself lightened of a 
  considerable weight." 
   
  "Just so," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Ah, my brave Nicholl, we are saved!" 
   
  "Very well then," said Michel Ardan quietly; "as we are safe, 
  let us have breakfast." 
   
  Nicholl was not mistaken.  The initial speed had been, very 
  fortunately, much above that estimated by the Cambridge 
  Observatory; but the Cambridge Observatory had nevertheless made 
  a mistake. 
   
  The travelers, recovered from this false alarm, breakfasted merrily. 
  If they ate a good deal, they talked more.  Their confidence was 
  greater after than before "the incident of the algebra." 
   
  "Why should we not succeed?" said Michel Ardan; "why should we 
  not arrive safely?  We are launched; we have no obstacle before 
  us, no stones in the way; the road is open, more so than that of 
  a ship battling with the sea; more open than that of a balloon 
  battling with the wind; and if a ship can reach its destination, 
  a balloon go where it pleases, why cannot our projectile attain 
  its end and aim?" 
   
  "It _will_ attain it," said Barbicane. 
   
  "If only to do honor to the Americans," added Michel Ardan, "the 
  only people who could bring such an enterprise to a happy termination, 
  and the only one which could produce a President Barbicane.  Ah, now 
  we are no longer uneasy, I begin to think, What will become of us? 
  We shall get right royally weary." 
   
  Barbicane and Nicholl made a gesture of denial. 
   
  "But I have provided for the contingency, my friends," replied 
  Michel; "you have only to speak, and I have chess, draughts, 
  cards, and dominoes at your disposal; nothing is wanting but a 
  billiard-table." 
  
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  "What!" exclaimed Barbicane; "you brought away such trifles?" 
   
  "Certainly," replied Michel, "and not only to distract 
  ourselves, but also with the laudable intention of endowing the 
  Selenite smoking divans with them." 
   
  "My friend," said Barbicane, "if the moon is inhabited, its 
  inhabitants must have appeared some thousands of years before 
  those of the earth, for we cannot doubt that their star is much 
  older than ours.  If then these Selenites have existed their 
  hundreds of thousands of years, and if their brain is of the same 
  organization of the human brain, they have already invented all 
  that we have invented, and even what we may invent in future ages. 
  They have nothing to learn from _us_, and we have everything to 
  learn from _them_." 
   
  "What!" said Michel; "you believe that they have artists like 
  Phidias, Michael Angelo, or Raphael?" 
   
  "Yes." 
   
  "Poets like Homer, Virgil, Milton, Lamartine, and Hugo?" 
   
  "I am sure of it." 
   
  "Philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant?" 
   
  "I have no doubt of it." 
   
  "Scientific men like Archimedes, Euclid, Pascal, Newton?" 
   
  "I could swear it." 
   
  "Comic writers like Arnal, and photographers like-- like Nadar?" 
   
  "Certain." 
   
  "Then, friend Barbicane, if they are as strong as we are, and 
  even stronger-- these Selenites-- why have they not tried to 
  communicate with the earth? why have they not launched a lunar 
  projectile to our terrestrial regions?" 
   
  "Who told you that they have never done so?" said Barbicane seriously. 
   
  "Indeed," added Nicholl, "it would be easier for them than for 
  us, for two reasons; first, because the attraction on the moon's 
  surface is six times less than on that of the earth, which would 
  allow a projectile to rise more easily; secondly, because it 
  would be enough to send such a projectile only at 8,000 leagues 
  instead of 80,000, which would require the force of projection 
  to be ten times less strong." 
   
  "Then," continued Michel, "I repeat it, why have they not done it?" 
   
  "And I repeat," said Barbicane; "who told you that they have not 
  done it?" 
  
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  "When?" 
   
  "Thousands of years before man appeared on earth." 
   
  "And the projectile-- where is the projectile?  I demand to see 
  the projectile." 
   
  "My friend," replied Barbicane, "the sea covers five-sixths of 
  our globe.  From that we may draw five good reasons for 
  supposing that the lunar projectile, if ever launched, is now at 
  the bottom of the Atlantic or the Pacific, unless it sped into 
  some crevasse at that period when the crust of the earth was not 
  yet hardened." 
   
  "Old Barbicane," said Michel, "you have an answer for 
  everything, and I bow before your wisdom.  But there is one 
  hypothesis that would suit me better than all the others, which 
  is, the Selenites, being older than we, are wiser, and have not 
  invented gunpowder." 
   
  At this moment Diana joined in the conversation by a sonorous barking. 
  She was asking for her breakfast. 
   
  "Ah!" said Michel Ardan, "in our discussion we have forgotten 
  Diana and Satellite." 
   
  Immediately a good-sized pie was given to the dog, which 
  devoured it hungrily. 
   
  "Do you see, Barbicane," said Michel, "we should have made a 
  second Noah's ark of this projectile, and borne with us to the 
  moon a couple of every kind of domestic animal." 
   
  "I dare say; but room would have failed us." 
   
  "Oh!" said Michel, "we might have squeezed a little." 
   
  "The fact is," replied Nicholl, "that cows, bulls, and horses, 
  and all ruminants, would have been very useful on the lunar 
  continent, but unfortunately the car could neither have been 
  made a stable nor a shed." 
   
  "Well, we might have at least brought a donkey, only a little 
  donkey; that courageous beast which old Silenus loved to mount. 
  I love those old donkeys; they are the least favored animals in 
  creation; they are not only beaten while alive, but even after 
  they are dead." 
   
  "How do you make that out?" asked Barbicane.  "Why," said 
  Michel, "they make their skins into drums." 
   
  Barbicane and Nicholl could not help laughing at this ridiculous 
  remark. 
  But a cry from their merry companion stopped them.  The latter was 
  leaning over the spot where Satellite lay.  He rose, saying: 
   
  
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  "My good Satellite is no longer ill." 
   
  "Ah!" said Nicholl. 
   
  "No," answered Michel, "he is dead!  There," added he, in a 
  piteous tone, "that is embarrassing.  I much fear, my poor 
  Diana, that you will leave no progeny in the lunar regions!" 
   
  Indeed the unfortunate Satellite had not survived its wound. 
  It was quite dead.  Michel Ardan looked at his friends with a 
  rueful countenance. 
   
  "One question presents itself," said Barbicane.  "We cannot keep 
  the dead body of this dog with us for the next forty-eight hours." 
   
  "No! certainly not," replied Nicholl; "but our scuttles are 
  fixed on hinges; they can be let down.  We will open one, and 
  throw the body out into space." 
   
  The president thought for some moments, and then said: 
   
  "Yes, we must do so, but at the same time taking very great 
  precautions." 
   
  "Why?" asked Michel. 
   
  "For two reasons which you will understand," answered Barbicane. 
  "The first relates to the air shut up in the projectile, and of 
  which we must lose as little as possible." 
   
  "But we manufacture the air?" 
   
  "Only in part.  We make only the oxygen, my worthy Michel; and 
  with regard to that, we must watch that the apparatus does not 
  furnish the oxygen in too great a quantity; for an excess would 
  bring us very serious physiological troubles.  But if we make 
  the oxygen, we do not make the azote, that medium which the 
  lungs do not absorb, and which ought to remain intact; and that 
  azote will escape rapidly through the open scuttles." 
   
  "Oh! the time for throwing out poor Satellite?" said Michel. 
   
  "Agreed; but we must act quickly." 
   
  "And the second reason?" asked Michel. 
   
  "The second reason is that we must not let the outer cold, which 
  is excessive, penetrate the projectile or we shall be frozen to death." 
   
  "But the sun?" 
   
  "The sun warms our projectile, which absorbs its rays; but it 
  does not warm the vacuum in which we are floating at this moment. 
  Where there is no air, there is no more heat than diffused light; 
  and the same with darkness; it is cold where the sun's rays do not 
  strike direct.  This temperature is only the temperature produced 
  by the radiation of the stars; that is to say, what the 
  
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  terrestrial globe would undergo if the sun disappeared one day." 
   
  "Which is not to be feared," replied Nicholl. 
   
  "Who knows?" said Michel Ardan.  "But, in admitting that the sun 
  does not go out, might it not happen that the earth might move 
  away from it?" 
   
  "There!" said Barbicane, "there is Michel with his ideas." 
   
  "And," continued Michel, "do we not know that in 1861 the earth 
  passed through the tail of a comet?  Or let us suppose a comet 
  whose power of attraction is greater than that of the sun. 
  The terrestrial orbit will bend toward the wandering star, and 
  the earth, becoming its satellite, will be drawn such a distance 
  that the rays of the sun will have no action on its surface." 
   
  "That _might_ happen, indeed," replied Barbicane, "but the 
  consequences of such a displacement need not be so formidable as 
  you suppose." 
   
  "And why not?" 
   
  "Because the heat and cold would be equalized on our globe. 
  It has been calculated that, had our earth been carried along in 
  its course by the comet of 1861, at its perihelion, that is, its 
  nearest approach to the sun, it would have undergone a heat 
  28,000 times greater than that of summer.  But this heat, which 
  is sufficient to evaporate the waters, would have formed a thick 
  ring of cloud, which would have modified that excessive 
  temperature; hence the compensation between the cold of the 
  aphelion and the heat of the perihelion." 
   
  "At how many degrees," asked Nicholl, "is the temperature of the 
  planetary spaces estimated?" 
   
  "Formerly," replied Barbicane, "it was greatly exagerated; but 
  now, after the calculations of Fourier, of the French Academy of 
  Science, it is not supposed to exceed 60@ Centigrade below zero." 
   
  "Pooh!" said Michel, "that's nothing!" 
   
  "It is very much," replied Barbicane; "the temperature which was 
  observed in the polar regions, at Melville Island and Fort 
  Reliance, that is 76@ Fahrenheit below zero." 
   
  "If I mistake not," said Nicholl, "M. Pouillet, another savant, 
  estimates the temperature of space at 250@ Fahrenheit below zero. 
  We shall, however, be able to verify these calculations for ourselves." 
   
  "Not at present; because the solar rays, beating directly 
  upon our thermometer, would give, on the contrary, a very high 
  temperature.  But, when we arrive in the moon, during its 
  fifteen days of night at either face, we shall have leisure to 
  make the experiment, for our satellite lies in a vacuum." 
   
  "What do you mean by a vacuum?" asked Michel.  "Is it perfectly such?" 
  
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  "It is absolutely void of air." 
   
  "And is the air replaced by nothing whatever?" 
   
  "By the ether only," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "And pray what is the ether?" 
   
  "The ether, my friend, is an agglomeration of imponderable 
  atoms, which, relatively to their dimensions, are as far removed 
  from each other as the celestial bodies are in space.  It is 
  these atoms which, by their vibratory motion, produce both light 
  and heat in the universe." 
   
  They now proceeded to the burial of Satellite.  They had merely 
  to drop him into space, in the same way that sailors drop a body 
  into the sea; but, as President Barbicane suggested, they must 
  act quickly, so as to lose as little as possible of that air 
  whose elasticity would rapidly have spread it into space. 
  The bolts of the right scuttle, the opening of which measured 
  about twelve inches across, were carefully drawn, while Michel, 
  quite grieved, prepared to launch his dog into space.  The glass, 
  raised by a powerful lever, which enabled it to overcome the 
  pressure of the inside air on the walls of the projectile, 
  turned rapidly on its hinges, and Satellite was thrown out. 
  Scarcely a particle of air could have escaped, and the operation 
  was so successful that later on Barbicane did not fear to 
  dispose of the rubbish which encumbered the car. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER VI 
   
   
  QUESTION AND ANSWER 
   
   
  On the 4th of December, when the travelers awoke after 
  fifty-four hours' journey, the chronometer marked five o'clock 
  of the terrestrial morning.  In time it was just over five 
  hours and forty minutes, half of that assigned to their sojourn 
  in the projectile; but they had already accomplished nearly 
  seven-tenths of the way.  This peculiarity was due to their 
  regularly decreasing speed. 
   
  Now when they observed the earth through the lower window, 
  it looked like nothing more than a dark spot, drowned in the 
  solar rays.  No more crescent, no more cloudy light!  The next 
  day, at midnight, the earth would be _new_, at the very moment 
  when the moon would be full.  Above, the orb of night was nearing 
  the line followed by the projectile, so as to meet it at the 
  given hour.  All around the black vault was studded with brilliant 
  points, which seemed to move slowly; but, at the great distance 
  they were from them, their relative size did not seem to change. 
  
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  The sun and stars appeared exactly as they do to us upon earth. 
  As to the moon, she was considerably larger; but the travelers' 
  glasses, not very powerful, did not allow them as yet to make 
  any useful observations upon her surface, or reconnoiter her 
  topographically or geologically. 
   
  Thus the time passed in never-ending conversations all about 
  the moon.  Each one brought forward his own contingent of 
  particular facts; Barbicane and Nicholl always serious, Michel 
  Ardan always enthusiastic.  The projectile, its situation, 
  its direction, incidents which might happen, the precautions 
  necessitated by their fall on to the moon, were inexhaustible 
  matters of conjecture. 
   
  As they were breakfasting, a question of Michel's, relating to 
  the projectile, provoked rather a curious answer from Barbicane, 
  which is worth repeating.  Michel, supposing it to be roughly 
  stopped, while still under its formidable initial speed, wished 
  to know what the consequences of the stoppage would have been. 
   
  "But," said Barbicane, "I do not see how it could have been stopped." 
   
  "But let us suppose so," said Michel. 
   
  "It is an impossible supposition," said the practical Barbicane; 
  "unless that impulsive force had failed; but even then its speed 
  would diminish by degrees, and it would not have stopped suddenly." 
   
  "Admit that it had struck a body in space." 
   
  "What body?" 
   
  "Why that enormous meteor which we met." 
   
  "Then," said Nicholl, "the projectile would have been broken 
  into a thousand pieces, and we with it." 
   
  "More than that," replied Barbicane; "we should have been burned 
  to death." 
   
  "Burned?" exclaimed Michel, "by Jove!  I am sorry it did not 
  happen, `just to see.'" 
   
  "And you would have seen," replied Barbicane.  "It is known now 
  that heat is only a modification of motion.  When water is 
  warmed-- that is to say, when heat is added to it--its particles 
  are set in motion." 
   
  "Well," said michel, "that is an ingenious theory!" 
   
  "And a true one, my worthy friend; for it explains every 
  phenomenon of caloric.  Heat is but the motion of atoms, a 
  simple oscillation of the particles of a body.  When they apply 
  the brake to a train, the train comes to a stop; but what 
  becomes of the motion which it had previously possessed?  It is 
  transformed into heat, and the brake becomes hot.  Why do they 
  grease the axles of the wheels?  To prevent their heating, 
  
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  because this heat would be generated by the motion which is thus 
  lost by transformation." 
   
  "Yes, I understand," replied Michel, "perfectly.  For example, 
  when I have run a long time, when I am swimming, when I am 
  perspiring in large drops, why am I obliged to stop? 
  Simply because my motion is changed into heat." 
   
  Barbicane could not help smiling at Michel's reply; then, 
  returning to his theory, said: 
   
  "Thus, in case of a shock, it would have been with our 
  projectile as with a ball which falls in a burning state after 
  having struck the metal plate; it is its motion which is turned 
  into heat.  Consequently I affirm that, if our projectile had 
  struck the meteor, its speed thus suddenly checked would have 
  raised a heat great enough to turn it into vapor instantaneously." 
   
  "Then," asked Nicholl, "what would happen if the earth's motion 
  were to stop suddenly?" 
   
  "Her temperature would be raised to such a pitch," said 
  Barbicane, "that she would be at once reduced to vapor." 
   
  "Well," said Michel, "that is a way of ending the earth which 
  will greatly simplify things." 
   
  "And if the earth fell upon the sun?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "According to calculation," replied Barbicane, "the fall would 
  develop a heat equal to that produced by 16,000 globes of coal, 
  each equal in bulk to our terrestrial globe." 
   
  "Good additional heat for the sun," replied Michel Ardan, "of 
  which the inhabitants of Uranus or Neptune would doubtless not 
  complain; they must be perished with cold on their planets." 
   
  "Thus, my friends," said Barbicane, "all motion suddenly stopped 
  produces heat.  And this theory allows us to infer that the heat 
  of the solar disc is fed by a hail of meteors falling 
  incessantly on its surface.  They have even calculated----" 
   
  "Oh, dear!" murmured Michel, "the figures are coming." 
   
  "They have even calculated," continued the imperturbable Barbicane, 
  "that the shock of each meteor on the sun ought to produce a heat 
  equal to that of 4,000 masses of coal of an equal bulk." 
   
  "And what is the solar heat?" asked Michel. 
   
  "It is equal to that produced by the combustion of a stratum of 
  coal surrounding the sun to a depth of forty-seven miles." 
   
  "And that heat----" 
   
  "Would be able to boil two billions nine hundred millions of 
  cubic myriameters [2] of water." 
  
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  [2] The myriameter is equal to rather more than 10,936 
  cubic yards English. 
   
  "And it does not roast us!" exclaimed Michel. 
   
  "No," replied Barbicane, "because the terrestrial atmosphere 
  absorbs four-tenths of the solar heat; besides, the quantity of 
  heat intercepted by the earth is but a billionth part of the 
  entire radiation." 
   
  "I see that all is for the best," said Michel, "and that this 
  atmosphere is a useful invention; for it not only allows us to 
  breathe, but it prevents us from roasting." 
   
  "Yes!" said Nicholl, "unfortunately, it will not be the same in 
  the moon." 
   
  "Bah!" said Michel, always hopeful.  "If there are inhabitants, 
  they must breathe.  If there are no longer any, they must have 
  left enough oxygen for three people, if only at the bottom of 
  ravines, where its own weight will cause it to accumulate, and 
  we will not climb the mountains; that is all."  And Michel, 
  rising, went to look at the lunar disc, which shone with 
  intolerable brilliancy. 
   
  "By Jove!" said he, "it must be hot up there!" 
   
  "Without considering," replied Nicholl, "that the day lasts 360 hours!" 
   
  "And to compensate that," said Barbicane, "the nights have the 
  same length; and as heat is restored by radiation, their 
  temperature can only be that of the planetary space." 
   
  "A pretty country, that!" exclaimed Michel.  "Never mind! 
  I wish I was there!  Ah! my dear comrades, it will be rather 
  curious to have the earth for our moon, to see it rise on the 
  horizon, to recognize the shape of its continents, and to say 
  to oneself, `There is America, there is Europe;' then to follow 
  it when it is about to lose itself in the sun's rays!  By the 
  bye, Barbicane, have the Selenites eclipses?" 
   
  "Yes, eclipses of the sun," replied Barbicane, "when the centers 
  of the three orbs are on a line, the earth being in the middle. 
  But they are only partial, during which the earth, cast like a 
  screen upon the solar disc, allows the greater portion to be seen." 
   
  "And why," asked Nicholl, "is there no total eclipse?  Does not 
  the cone of the shadow cast by the earth extend beyond the moon?" 
   
  "Yes, if we do not take into consideration the refraction 
  produced by the terrestrial atmosphere.  No, if we take that 
  refraction into consideration.  Thus let  be 
  the horizontal parallel, and _p_ the apparent semidiameter----" 
   
  "Oh!" said Michel.  "Do speak plainly, you man of algebra!" 
   
  
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  "Very well, replied Barbicane; "in popular language the mean 
  distance from the moon to the earth being sixty terrestrial 
  radii, the length of the cone of the shadow, on account of 
  refraction, is reduced to less than forty-two radii. 
  The result is that when there are eclipses, the moon finds 
  itself beyond the cone of pure shadow, and that the sun sends 
  her its rays, not only from its edges, but also from its center." 
   
  "Then," said Michel, in a merry tone, "why are there eclipses, 
  when there ought not to be any?" 
   
  "Simply because the solar rays are weakened by this refraction, 
  and the atmosphere through which they pass extinguished the 
  greater part of them!" 
   
  "That reason satisfies me," replied Michel.  "Besides we shall 
  see when we get there.  Now, tell me, Barbicane, do you believe 
  that the moon is an old comet?" 
   
  "There's an idea!" 
   
  "Yes," replied Michel, with an amiable swagger, "I have a few 
  ideas of that sort." 
   
  "But that idea does not spring from Michel," answered Nicholl. 
   
  "Well, then, I am a plagiarist." 
   
  "No doubt about it.  According to the ancients, the Arcadians 
  pretend that their ancestors inhabited the earth before the moon 
  became her satellite.  Starting from this fact, some scientific 
  men have seen in the moon a comet whose orbit will one day bring 
  it so near to the earth that it will be held there by its attraction." 
   
  "Is there any truth in this hypothesis?" asked Michel. 
   
  "None whatever," said Barbicane, "and the proof is, that the 
  moon has preserved no trace of the gaseous envelope which always 
  accompanies comets." 
   
  "But," continued Nicholl, "Before becoming the earth's satellite, 
  could not the moon, when in her perihelion, pass so near the sun 
  as by evaporation to get rid of all those gaseous substances?" 
   
  "It is possible, friend Nicholl, but not probable." 
   
  "Why not?" 
   
  "Because-- Faith I do not know." 
   
  "Ah!" exclaimed Michel, "what hundred of volumes we might make 
  of all that we do not know!" 
   
  "Ah! indeed.  What time is it?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "Three o'clock," answered Nicholl. 
   
  
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  "How time goes," said Michel, "in the conversation of scientific 
  men such as we are!  Certainly, I feel I know too much!  I feel 
  that I am becoming a well!" 
   
  Saying which, Michel hoisted himself to the roof of the projectile, 
  "to observe the moon better," he pretended.  During this time his 
  companions were watching through the lower glass.  Nothing new to note! 
   
  When Michel Ardan came down, he went to the side scuttle; and 
  suddenly they heard an exclamation of surprise! 
   
  "What is it?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  The president approached the window, and saw a sort of flattened 
  sack floating some yards from the projectile.  This object 
  seemed as motionless as the projectile, and was consequently 
  animated with the same ascending movement. 
   
  "What is that machine?" continued Michel Ardan.  "Is it one of 
  the bodies which our projectile keeps within its attraction, and 
  which will accompany it to the moon?" 
   
  "What astonishes me," said Nicholl, "is that the specific weight 
  of the body, which is certainly less than that of the 
  projectile, allows it to keep so perfectly on a level with it." 
   
  "Nicholl," replied Barbicane, after a moment's reflection, "I do 
  not know what the object it, but I do know why it maintains our level." 
   
  "And why?" 
   
  "Because we are floating in space, my dear captain, and in space 
  bodies fall or move (which is the same thing) with equal speed 
  whatever be their weight or form; it is the air, which by its 
  resistance creates these differences in weight.  When you create 
  a vacuum in a tube, the objects you send through it, grains of 
  dust or grains of lead, fall with the same rapidity.  Here in 
  space is the same cause and the same effect." 
   
  "Just so," said Nicholl, "and everything we throw out of the 
  projectile will accompany it until it reaches the moon." 
   
  "Ah! fools that we are!" exclaimed Michel. 
   
  "Why that expletive?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "Because we might have filled the projectile with useful objects, 
  books, instruments, tools, etc.  We could have thrown them all 
  out, and all would have followed in our train.  But happy thought! 
  Why cannot we walk outside like the meteor?  Why cannot we launch 
  into space through the scuttle?  What enjoyment it would be to 
  feel oneself thus suspended in ether, more favored than the birds 
  who must use their wings to keep themselves up!" 
   
  "Granted," said Barbicane, "but how to breathe?" 
   
  "Hang the air, to fail so inopportunely!" 
  
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  "But if it did not fail, Michel, your density being less than 
  that of the projectile, you would soon be left behind." 
   
  "Then we must remain in our car?" 
   
  "We must!" 
   
  "Ah!" exclaimed Michel, in a load voice. 
   
  "What is the matter," asked Nicholl. 
   
  "I know, I guess, what this pretended meteor is!  It is no 
  asteroid which is accompanying us!  It is not a piece of a planet." 
   
  "What is it then?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "It is our unfortunate dog!  It is Diana's husband!" 
   
  Indeed, this deformed, unrecognizable object, reduced to 
  nothing, was the body of Satellite, flattened like a bagpipe 
  without wind, and ever mounting, mounting! 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER VII 
   
   
  A MOMENT OF INTOXICATION 
   
   
  Thus a phenomenon, curious but explicable, was happening under 
  these strange conditions. 
   
  Every object thrown from the projectile would follow the same 
  course and never stop until it did.  There was a subject for 
  conversation which the whole evening could not exhaust. 
   
  Besides, the excitement of the three travelers increased as they 
  drew near the end of their journey.  They expected unforseen 
  incidents, and new phenomena; and nothing would have astonished 
  them in the frame of mind they then were in.  Their overexcited 
  imagination went faster than the projectile, whose speed was 
  evidently diminishing, though insensibly to themselves.  But the 
  moon grew larger to their eyes, and they fancied if they 
  stretched out their hands they could seize it. 
   
  The next day, the 5th of November, at five in the morning, 
  all three were on foot.  That day was to be the last of their 
  journey, if all calculations were true.  That very night, at 
  twelve o'clock, in eighteen hours, exactly at the full moon, 
  they would reach its brilliant disc.  The next midnight would 
  see that journey ended, the most extraordinary of ancient or 
  modern times.  Thus from the first of the morning, through the 
  scuttles silvered by its rays, they saluted the orb of night 
  
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  with a confident and joyous hurrah. 
   
  The moon was advancing majestically along the starry firmament. 
  A few more degrees, and she would reach the exact point where 
  her meeting with the projectile was to take place. 
   
  According to his own observations, Barbicane reckoned that they 
  would land on her northern hemisphere, where stretch immense plains, 
  and where mountains are rare.  A favorable circumstance if, as 
  they thought, the lunar atmosphere was stored only in its depths. 
   
  "Besides," observed Michel Ardan, "a plain is easier to 
  disembark upon than a mountain.  A Selenite, deposited in Europe 
  on the summit of Mont Blanc, or in  Asia on the top of the 
  Himalayas, would not be quite in the right place." 
   
  "And," added Captain Nicholl, "on a flat ground, the projectile 
  will remain motionless when it has once touched; whereas on a 
  declivity it would roll like an avalanche, and not being 
  squirrels we should not come out safe and sound.  So it is all 
  for the best." 
   
  Indeed, the success of the audacious attempt no longer 
  appeared doubtful.  But Barbicane was preoccupied with one 
  thought; but not wishing to make his companions uneasy, he 
  kept silence on this subject. 
   
  The direction the projectile was taking toward the moon's 
  northern hemisphere, showed that her course had been 
  slightly altered.  The discharge, mathematically calculated, 
  would carry the projectile to the very center of the lunar disc. 
  If it did not land there, there must have been some deviation. 
  What had caused it?  Barbicane could neither imagine nor 
  determine the importance of the deviation, for there were no 
  points to go by. 
   
  He hoped, however, that it would have no other result than that 
  of bringing them nearer the upper border of the moon, a region 
  more suitable for landing. 
   
  Without imparting his uneasiness to his companions, Barbicane 
  contented himself with constantly observing the moon, in order 
  to see whether the course of the projectile would not be 
  altered; for the situation would have been terrible if it failed 
  in its aim, and being carried beyond the disc should be launched 
  into interplanetary space.  At that moment, the moon, instead of 
  appearing flat like a disc, showed its convexity.  If the sun's 
  rays had struck it obliquely, the shadow thrown would have brought 
  out the high mountains, which would have been clearly detached. 
  The eye might have gazed into the crater's gaping abysses, 
  and followed the capricious fissures which wound through the 
  immense plains.  But all relief was as yet leveled in 
  intense brilliancy.  They could scarcely distinguish those 
  large spots which give the moon the appearance of a human face. 
   
  "Face, indeed!" said Michel Ardan; "but I am sorry for the 
  amiable sister of Apollo.  A very pitted face!" 
  
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  But the travelers, now so near the end, were incessantly 
  observing this new world.  They imagined themselves walking 
  through its unknown countries, climbing its highest peaks, 
  descending into its lowest depths.  Here and there they fancied 
  they saw vast seas, scarcely kept together under so rarefied an 
  atmosphere, and water-courses emptying the mountain tributaries. 
  Leaning over the abyss, they hoped to catch some sounds from 
  that orb forever mute in the solitude of space.  That last day 
  left them. 
   
  They took down the most trifling details.  A vague uneasiness 
  took possession of them as they neared the end.  This uneasiness 
  would have been doubled had they felt how their speed had decreased. 
  It would have seemed to them quite insufficient to carry them to 
  the end.  It was because the projectile then "weighed" almost nothing. 
  Its weight was ever decreasing, and would be entirely annihilated on 
  that line where the lunar and terrestrial attractions would 
  neutralize each other. 
   
  But in spite of his preoccupation, Michel Ardan did not forget 
  to prepare the morning repast with his accustomed punctuality. 
  They ate with a good appetite.  Nothing was so excellent as the 
  soup liquefied by the heat of the gas; nothing better than the 
  preserved meat.  Some glasses of good French wine crowned the 
  repast, causing Michel Ardan to remark that the lunar vines, 
  warmed by that ardent sun, ought to distill even more generous 
  wines; that is, if they existed.  In any case, the far-seeing 
  Frenchman had taken care not to forget in his collection some 
  precious cuttings of the Medoc and Cote d'Or, upon which he 
  founded his hopes. 
   
  Reiset and Regnaut's apparatus worked with great regularity. 
  Not an atom of carbonic acid resisted the potash; and as to 
  the oxygen, Captain Nicholl said "it was of the first quality." 
  The little watery vapor enclosed in the projectile mixing with 
  the air tempered the dryness; and many apartments in London, 
  Paris, or New York, and many theaters, were certainly not in 
  such a healthy condition. 
   
  But that it might act with regularity, the apparatus must be 
  kept in perfect order; so each morning Michel visited the escape 
  regulators, tried the taps, and regulated the heat of the gas by 
  the pyrometer.  Everything had gone well up to that time, and 
  the travelers, imitating the worthy Joseph T. Maston, began to 
  acquire a degree of embonpoint which would have rendered them 
  unrecognizable if their imprisonment had been prolonged to 
  some months.  In a word, they behaved like chickens in a coop; 
  they were getting fat. 
   
  In looking through the scuttle Barbicane saw the specter of the 
  dog, and other divers objects which had been thrown from the 
  projectile, obstinately following them.  Diana howled 
  lugubriously on seeing the remains of Satellite, which seemed as 
  motionless as if they reposed on solid earth. 
   
  "Do you know, my friends," said Michel Ardan, "that if one of us 
  
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  had succumbed to the shock consequent on departure, we should 
  have had a great deal of trouble to bury him?  What am I saying? 
  to _etherize_ him, as here ether takes the place of earth. 
  You see the accusing body would have followed us into space like 
  a remorse." 
   
  "That would have been sad," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Ah!" continued Michel, "what I regret is not being able to take a 
  walk outside.  What voluptuousness to float amid this radiant ether, 
  to bathe oneself in it, to wrap oneself in the sun's pure rays. 
  If Barbicane had only thought of furnishing us with a diving 
  apparatus and an air-pump, I could have ventured out and assumed 
  fanciful attitudes of feigned monsters on the top of the projectile." 
   
  "Well, old Michel," replied Barbicane, "you would not have made 
  a feigned monster long, for in spite of your diver's dress, swollen 
  by the expansion of air within you, you would have burst like a 
  shell, or rather like a balloon which has risen too high.  So do 
  not regret it, and do not forget this-- as long as we float in 
  space, all sentimental walks beyond the projectile are forbidden." 
   
  Michel Ardan allowed himself to be convinced to a certain extent. 
  He admitted that the thing was difficult but not impossible, 
  a word which he never uttered. 
   
  The conversation passed from this subject to another, not failing 
  him for an instant.  It seemed to the three friends as though, 
  under present conditions, ideas shot up in their brains as leaves 
  shoot at the first warmth of spring.  They felt bewildered.  In the 
  middle of the questions and answers which crossed each other, 
  Nicholl put one question which did not find an immediate solution. 
   
  "Ah, indeed!" said he; "it is all very well to go to the moon, 
  but how to get back again?" 
   
  His two interlocutors looked surprised.  One would have thought 
  that this possibility now occurred to them for the first time. 
   
  "What do you mean by that, Nicholl?" asked Barbicane gravely. 
   
  "To ask for means to leave a country," added Michel, "When we 
  have not yet arrived there, seems to me rather inopportune." 
   
  "I do not say that, wishing to draw back," replied Nicholl; 
  "but I repeat my question, and I ask, `How shall we return?'" 
   
  "I know nothing about it," answered Barbicane. 
   
  "And I," said Michel, "if I had known how to return, I would 
  never have started." 
   
  "There's an answer!" cried Nicholl. 
   
  "I quite approve of Michel's words," said Barbicane; "and add, 
  that the question has no real interest.  Later, when we think it 
  is advisable to return, we will take counsel together.  If the 
  
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  Columbiad is not there, the projectile will be." 
   
  "That is a step certainly.  A ball without a gun!" 
   
  "The gun," replied Barbicane, "can be manufactured.  The powder 
  can be made.  Neither metals, saltpeter, nor coal can fail in 
  the depths of the moon, and we need only go 8,000 leagues in 
  order to fall upon the terrestrial globe by virtue of the mere 
  laws of weight." 
   
  "Enough," said Michel with animation.  "Let it be no longer a 
  question of returning: we have already entertained it too long. 
  As to communicating with our former earthly colleagues, that 
  will not be difficult." 
   
  "And how?" 
   
  "By means of meteors launched by lunar volcanoes." 
   
  "Well thought of, Michel," said Barbicane in a convinced tone 
  of voice.  "Laplace has calculated that a force five times greater 
  than that of our gun would suffice to send a meteor from the 
  moon to the earth, and there is not one volcano which has not a 
  greater power of propulsion than that." 
   
  "Hurrah!" exclaimed Michel; "these meteors are handy postmen, 
  and cost nothing.  And how we shall be able to laugh at the 
  post-office administration!  But now I think of it----" 
   
  "What do you think of?" 
   
  "A capital idea.  Why did we not fasten a thread to our 
  projectile, and we could have exchanged telegrams with the earth?" 
   
  "The deuce!" answered Nicholl.  "Do you consider the weight of 
  a thread 250,000 miles long nothing?" 
   
  "As nothing.  They could have trebled the Columbiad's charge; 
  they could have quadrupled or quintupled it!" exclaimed Michel, 
  with whom the verb took a higher intonation each time. 
   
  "There is but one little objection to make to your proposition," 
  replied Barbicane, "which is that, during the rotary motion of 
  the globe, our thread would have wound itself round it like a 
  chain on a capstan, and that it would inevitably have brought us 
  to the ground." 
   
  "By the thirty-nine stars of the Union!" said Michel, "I have 
  nothing but impracticable ideas to-day; ideas worthy of J. 
  T. Maston.  But I have a notion that, if we do not return to 
  earth, J. T. Maston will be able to come to us." 
   
  "Yes, he'll come," replied Barbicane; "he is a worthy and a 
  courageous comrade.  Besides, what is easier?  Is not the 
  Columbiad still buried in the soil of Florida?  Is cotton and 
  nitric acid wanted wherewith to manufacture the pyroxyle? 
  Will not the moon pass the zenith of Florida?  In eighteen 
  
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  years' time will she not occupy exactly the same place as to-day?" 
   
  "Yes," continued Michel, "yes, Maston will come, and with him 
  our friends Elphinstone, Blomsberry, all the members of the Gun 
  Club, and they will be well received.  And by and by they will 
  run trains of projectiles between the earth and the moon! 
  Hurrah for J. T. Maston!" 
   
  It is probable that, if the Hon. J. T. Maston did not hear the 
  hurrahs uttered in his honor, his ears at least tingled.  What was 
  he doing then?  Doubtless, posted in the Rocky Mountains, at the 
  station of Long's Peak, he was trying to find the invisible 
  projectile gravitating in space.  If he was thinking of his dear 
  companions, we must allow that they were not far behind him; and 
  that, under the influence of a strange excitement, they were 
  devoting to him their best thoughts. 
   
  But whence this excitement, which was evidently growing upon the 
  tenants of the projectile?  Their sobriety could not be doubted. 
  This strange irritation of the brain, must it be attributed to 
  the peculiar circumstances under which they found themselves, to 
  their proximity to the orb of night, from which only a few hours 
  separated them, to some secret influence of the moon acting upon 
  their nervous system?  Their faces were as rosy as if they had 
  been exposed to the roaring flames of an oven; their voices 
  resounded in loud accents; their words escaped like a champagne 
  cork driven out by carbonic acid; their gestures became annoying, 
  they wanted so much room to perform them; and, strange to say, 
  they none of them noticed this great tension of the mind. 
   
  "Now," said Nicholl, in a short tone, "now that I do not know 
  whether we shall ever return from the moon, I want to know what 
  we are going to do there?" 
   
  "What we are going to do there?" replied Barbicane, stamping 
  with his foot as if he was in a fencing saloon; "I do not know." 
   
  "You do not know!" exclaimed Michel, with a bellow which 
  provoked a sonorous echo in the projectile. 
   
  "No, I have not even thought about it," retorted Barbicane, in 
  the same loud tone. 
   
  "Well, I know," replied Michel. 
   
  "Speak, then," cried Nicholl, who could no longer contain the 
  growling of his voice. 
   
  "I shall speak if it suits me," exclaimed Michel, seizing his 
  companions' arms with violence. 
   
  "_It must_ suit you," said Barbicane, with an eye on fire and a 
  threatening hand.  "It was you who drew us into this frightful 
  journey, and we want to know what for." 
   
  "Yes," said the captain, "now that I do not know _where_ I am 
  going, I want to know _why_ I am going." 
  
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  "Why?" exclaimed Michel, jumping a yard high, "why?  To take 
  possession of the moon in the name of the United States; to add 
  a fortieth State to the Union; to colonize the lunar regions; 
  to cultivate them, to people them, to transport thither all the 
  prodigies of art, of science, and industry; to civilize the 
  Selenites, unless they are more civilized than we are; and to 
  constitute them a republic, if they are not already one!" 
   
  "And if there are no Selenites?" retorted Nicholl, who, under the 
  influence of this unaccountable intoxication, was very contradictory. 
   
  "Who said that there were no Selenites?" exclaimed Michel in a 
  threatening tone. 
   
  "I do," howled Nicholl. 
   
  "Captain," said Michel, "do not repreat that insolence, or I 
  will knock your teeth down your throat!" 
   
  The two adversaries were going to fall upon each other, and the 
  incoherent discussion threatened to merge into a fight, when 
  Barbicane intervened with one bound. 
   
  "Stop, miserable men," said he, separating his two companions; 
  "if there are no Selenites, we will do without them." 
   
  "Yes," exclaimed Michel, who was not particular; "yes, we will 
  do without them.  We have only to make Selenites.  Down with 
  the Selenites!" 
   
  "The empire of the moon belongs to us," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Let us three constitute the republic." 
   
  "I will be the congress," cried Michel. 
   
  "And I the senate," retorted Nicholl. 
   
  "And Barbicane, the president," howled Michel. 
   
  "Not a president elected by the nation," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "Very well, a president elected by the congress," cried Michel; 
  "and as I am the congress, you are unanimously elected!" 
   
  "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! for President Barbicane," exclaimed Nicholl. 
   
  "Hip! hip! hip!" vociferated Michel Ardan. 
   
  Then the president and the senate struck up in a tremendous 
  voice the popular song "Yankee Doodle," while from the congress 
  resounded the masculine tones of the "Marseillaise." 
   
  Then they struck up a frantic dance, with maniacal gestures, 
  idiotic stampings, and somersaults like those of the boneless 
  clowns in the circus.  Diana, joining in the dance, and howling 
  
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  in her turn, jumped to the top of the projectile.  An unaccountable 
  flapping of wings was then heard amid most fantastic cock-crows, 
  while five or six hens fluttered like bats against the walls. 
   
  Then the three traveling companions, acted upon by some 
  unaccountable influence above that of intoxication, inflamed by 
  the air which had set their respiratory apparatus on fire, fell 
  motionless to the bottom of the projectile. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER VIII 
   
   
  AT SEVENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN LEAGUES 
   
  What had happened?  Whence the cause of this singular 
  intoxication, the consequences of which might have been 
  very disastrous?  A simple blunder of Michel's, which, 
  fortunately, Nicholl was able to correct in time. 
   
  After a perfect swoon, which lasted some minutes, the captain, 
  recovering first, soon collected his scattered senses. 
  Although he had breakfasted only two hours before, he felt a 
  gnawing hunger, as if he had not eaten anything for several days. 
  Everything about him, stomach and brain, were overexcited to the 
  highest degree.  He got up and demanded from Michel a 
  supplementary repast.  Michel, utterly done up, did not answer. 
   
  Nicholl then tried to prepare some tea destined to help the 
  absorption of a dozen sandwiches.  He first tried to get some 
  fire, and struck a match sharply.  What was his surprise to see 
  the sulphur shine with so extraordinary a brilliancy as to be 
  almost unbearable to the eye.  From the gas-burner which he lit 
  rose a flame equal to a jet of electric light. 
   
  A revelation dawned on Nicholl's mind.  That intensity of light, 
  the physiological troubles which had arisen in him, the 
  overexcitement of all his moral and quarrelsome faculties-- he 
  understood all. 
   
  "The oxygen!" he exclaimed. 
   
  And leaning over the air apparatus, he saw that the tap was 
  allowing the colorless gas to escape freely, life-giving, but in 
  its pure state producing the gravest disorders in the system. 
  Michel had blunderingly opened the tap of the apparatus to the full. 
   
  Nicholl hastened to stop the escape of oxygen with which the 
  atmosphere was saturated, which would have been the death of the 
  travelers, not by suffocation, but by combustion.  An hour 
  later, the air less charged with it restored the lungs to their 
  normal condition.  By degrees the three friends recovered from 
  their intoxication; but they were obliged to sleep themselves 
  sober over their oxygen as a drunkard does over his wine. 
  
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  When Michel learned his share of the responsibility of this 
  incident, he was not much disconcerted.  This unexpected 
  drunkenness broke the monotony of the journey.  Many foolish 
  things had been said while under its influence, but also 
  quickly forgotten. 
   
  "And then," added the merry Frenchman, "I am not sorry to have 
  tasted a little of this heady gas.  Do you know, my friends, 
  that a curious establishment might be founded with rooms of 
  oxygen, where people whose system is weakened could for a few 
  hours live a more active life.  Fancy parties where the room was 
  saturated with this heroic fluid, theaters where it should be 
  kept at high pressure; what passion in the souls of the actors 
  and spectators! what fire, what enthusiasm!  And if, instead of 
  an assembly only a whole people could be saturated, what activity 
  in its functions, what a supplement to life it would derive. 
  From an exhausted nation they might make a great and strong one, 
  and I know more than one state in old Europe which ought to put 
  itself under the regime of oxygen for the sake of its health!" 
   
  Michel spoke with so much animation that one might have fancied 
  that the tap was still too open.  But a few words from Barbicane 
  soon shattered his enthusiasm. 
   
  "That is all very well, friend Michel," said he, "but will you 
  inform us where these chickens came from which have mixed 
  themselves up in our concert?" 
   
  "Those chickens?" 
   
  "Yes." 
   
  Indeed, half a dozen chickens and a fine cock were walking 
  about, flapping their wings and chattering. 
   
  "Ah, the awkward things!" exclaimed Michel.  "The oxygen has 
  made them revolt." 
   
  "But what do you want to do with these chickens?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "To acclimatize them in the moon, by Jove!" 
   
  "Then why did you hide them?" 
   
  "A joke, my worthy president, a simple joke, which has proved a 
  miserable failure.  I wanted to set them free on the lunar 
  continent, without saying anything.  Oh, what would have been 
  your amazement on seeing these earthly-winged animals pecking in 
  your lunar fields!" 
   
  "You rascal, you unmitigated rascal," replied Barbicane, "you do 
  not want oxygen to mount to the head.  You are always what we 
  were under the influence of the gas; you are always foolish!" 
   
  "Ah, who says that we were not wise then?" replied Michel Ardan. 
   
  
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  After this philosophical reflection, the three friends set about 
  restoring the order of the projectile.  Chickens and cock were 
  reinstated in their coop.  But while proceeding with this 
  operation, Barbicane and his two companions had a most desired 
  perception of a new phenomenon.  From the moment of leaving the 
  earth, their own weight, that of the projectile, and the objects 
  it enclosed, had been subject to an increasing diminution.  If they 
  could not prove this loss of the projectile, a moment would arrive 
  when it would be sensibly felt upon themselves and the utensils 
  and instruments they used. 
   
  It is needless to say that a scale would not show this loss; for 
  the weight destined to weight the object would have lost exactly 
  as much as the object itself; but a spring steelyard for 
  example, the tension of which was independent of the attraction, 
  would have given a just estimate of this loss. 
   
  We know that the attraction, otherwise called the weight, is in 
  proportion to the densities of the bodies, and inversely as the 
  squares of the distances.  Hence this effect:  If the earth had 
  been alone in space, if the other celestial bodies had been 
  suddenly annihilated, the projectile, according to Newton's 
  laws, would weigh less as it got farther from the earth, but 
  without ever losing its weight entirely, for the terrestrial 
  attraction would always have made itself felt, at whatever distance. 
   
  But, in reality, a time must come when the projectile would no 
  longer be subject to the law of weight, after allowing for the 
  other celestial bodies whose effect could not be set down as zero. 
  Indeed, the projectile's course was being traced between 
  the earth and the moon.  As it distanced the earth, the 
  terrestrial attraction diminished: but the lunar attraction 
  rose in proportion.  There must come a point where these two 
  attractions would neutralize each other:  the projectile would 
  possess weight no longer.  If the moon's and the earth's 
  densities had been equal, this point would have been at an equal 
  distance between the two orbs.  But taking the different 
  densities into consideration, it was easy to reckon that this 
  point would be situated at 47/60ths of the whole journey, 
  _i.e._, at 78,514 leagues from the earth.  At this point, a body 
  having no principle of speed or displacement in itself, would 
  remain immovable forever, being attracted equally by both orbs, 
  and not being drawn more toward one than toward the other. 
   
  Now if the projectile's impulsive force had been correctly 
  calculated, it would attain this point without speed, having 
  lost all trace of weight, as well as all the objects within it. 
  What would happen then?  Three hypotheses presented themselves. 
   
  1. Either it would retain a certain amount of motion, and pass 
  the point of equal attraction, and fall upon the moon by virtue 
  of the excess of the lunar attraction over the terrestrial. 
   
  2. Or, its speed failing, and unable to reach the point of equal 
  attraction, it would fall upon the moon by virtue of the excess 
  of the lunar attraction over the terrestrial. 
   
  
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  3. Or, lastly, animated with sufficient speed to enable it to 
  reach the neutral point, but not sufficient to pass it, it would 
  remain forever suspended in that spot like the pretended tomb of 
  Mahomet, between the zenith and the nadir. 
   
  Such was their situation; and Barbicane clearly explained the 
  consequences to his traveling companions, which greatly 
  interested them.  But how should they know when the projectile 
  had reached this neutral point situated at that distance, 
  especially when neither themselves, nor the objects enclosed in 
  the projectile, would be any longer subject to the laws of weight? 
   
  Up to this time, the travelers, while admitting that this action 
  was constantly decreasing, had not yet become sensible to its 
  total absence. 
   
  But that day, about eleven o'clock in the morning, Nicholl 
  having accidentally let a glass slip from his hand, the glass, 
  instead of falling, remained suspended in the air. 
   
  "Ah!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, "that is rather an amusing piece 
  of natural philosophy." 
   
  And immediately divers other objects, firearms and bottles, 
  abandoned to themselves, held themselves up as by enchantment. 
  Diana too, placed in space by Michel, reproduced, but without 
  any trick, the wonderful suspension practiced by Caston and 
  Robert Houdin.  Indeed the dog did not seem to know that she was 
  floating in air. 
   
  The three adventurous companions were surprised and stupefied, 
  despite their scientific reasonings.  They felt themselves being 
  carried into the domain of wonders! they felt that weight was 
  really wanting to their bodies.  If they stretched out their 
  arms, they did not attempt to fall.  Their heads shook on 
  their shoulders.  Their feet no longer clung to the floor of 
  the projectile.  They were like drunken men having no stability 
  in themselves. 
   
  Fancy has depicted men without reflection, others without shadow. 
  But here reality, by the neutralizations of attractive forces, 
  produced men in whom nothing had any weight, and who weighed 
  nothing themselves. 
   
  Suddenly Michel, taking a spring, left the floor and remained 
  suspended in the air, like Murillo's monk of the _Cusine des Anges_. 
   
  The two friends joined him instantly, and all three formed a 
  miraculous "Ascension" in the center of the projectile. 
   
  "Is it to be believed? is it probable? is it possible?" 
  exclaimed Michel; "and yet it is so.  Ah! if Raphael had seen us 
  thus, what an `Assumption' he would have thrown upon canvas!" 
   
  "The `Assumption' cannot last," replied Barbicane.  "If the 
  projectile passes the neutral point, the lunar attraction will 
  draw us to the moon." 
  
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  "Then our feet will be upon the roof," replied Michel. 
   
  "No," said Barbicane, "because the projectile's center of 
  gravity is very low; it will only turn by degrees." 
   
  "Then all our portables will be upset from top to bottom, that 
  is a fact." 
   
  "Calm yourself, Michel," replied Nicholl; "no upset is to be 
  feared; not a thing will move, for the projectile's evolution 
  will be imperceptible." 
   
  "Just so," continued Barbicane; "and when it has passed the 
  point of equal attraction, its base, being the heavier, will 
  draw it perpendicularly to the moon; but, in order that this 
  phenomenon should take place, we must have passed the neutral line." 
   
  "Pass the neutral line," cried Michel; "then let us do as the 
  sailors do when they cross the equator." 
   
  A slight side movement brought Michel back toward the padded 
  side; thence he took a bottle and glasses, placed them "in 
  space" before his companions, and, drinking merrily, they 
  saluted the line with a triple hurrah.  The influence of these 
  attractions scarcely lasted an hour; the travelers felt 
  themselves insensibly drawn toward the floor, and Barbicane 
  fancied that the conical end of the projectile was varying a 
  little from its normal direction toward the moon.  By an inverse 
  motion the base was approaching first; the lunar attraction was 
  prevailing over the terrestrial; the fall toward the moon was 
  beginning, almost imperceptibly as yet, but by degrees the 
  attractive force would become stronger, the fall would be more 
  decided, the projectile, drawn by its base, would turn its cone 
  to the earth, and fall with ever-increasing speed on to the 
  surface of the Selenite continent; their destination would then 
  be attained.  Now nothing could prevent the success of their 
  enterprise, and Nicholl and Michel Ardan shared Barbicane's joy. 
   
  Then they chatted of all the phenomena which had astonished them 
  one after the other, particularly the neutralization of the laws 
  of weight.  Michel Ardan, always enthusiastic, drew conclusions 
  which were purely fanciful. 
   
  "Ah, my worthy friends," he exclaimed, "what progress we should 
  make if on earth we could throw off some of that weight, some of 
  that chain which binds us to her; it would be the prisoner set 
  at liberty; no more fatigue of either arms or legs.  Or, if it 
  is true that in order to fly on the earth's surface, to keep 
  oneself suspended in the air merely by the play of the muscles, 
  there requires a strength a hundred and fifty times greater than 
  that which we possess, a simple act of volition, a caprice, 
  would bear us into space, if attraction did not exist." 
   
  "Just so," said Nicholl, smiling; "if we could succeed in 
  suppressing weight as they suppress pain by anaesthesia, 
  that would change the face of modern society!" 
  
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  "Yes," cried Michel, full of his subject, "destroy weight, and 
  no more burdens!" 
   
  "Well said," replied Barbicane; "but if nothing had any weight, 
  nothing would keep in its place, not even your hat on your head, 
  worthy Michel; nor your house, whose stones only adhere by 
  weight; nor a boat, whose stability on the waves is only caused 
  by weight; not even the ocean, whose waves would no longer be 
  equalized by terrestrial attraction; and lastly, not even the 
  atmosphere, whose atoms, being no longer held in their places, 
  would disperse in space!" 
   
  "That is tiresome," retorted Michel; "nothing like these 
  matter-of-fact people for bringing one back to the bare reality." 
   
  "But console yourself, Michel," continued Barbicane, "for if no 
  orb exists from whence all laws of weight are banished, you are 
  at least going to visit one where it is much less than on the earth." 
   
  "The moon?" 
   
  "Yes, the moon, on whose surface objects weigh six times less 
  than on the earth, a phenomenon easy to prove." 
   
  "And we shall feel it?" asked Michel. 
   
  "Evidently, as two hundred pounds will only weigh thirty pounds 
  on the surface of the moon." 
   
  "And our muscular strength will not diminish?" 
   
  "Not at all; instead of jumping one yard high, you will rise 
  eighteen feet high." 
   
  "But we shall be regular Herculeses in the moon!" exclaimed Michel. 
   
  "Yes," replied Nicholl; "for if the height of the Selenites is 
  in proportion to the density of their globe, they will be 
  scarcely a foot high." 
   
  "Lilliputians!" ejaculated Michel; "I shall play the part 
  of Gulliver.  We are going to realize the fable of the giants. 
  This is the advantage of leaving one's own planet and 
  over-running the solar world." 
   
  "One moment, Michel," answered Barbicane; "if you wish to play 
  the part of Gulliver, only visit the inferior planets, such as 
  Mercury, Venus, or Mars, whose density is a little less than 
  that of the earth; but do not venture into the great planets, 
  Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune; for there the order will be 
  changed, and you will become Lilliputian." 
   
  "And in the sun?" 
   
  "In the sun, if its density is thirteen hundred and twenty-four 
  thousand times greater, and the attraction is twenty-seven times 
  
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  greater than on the surface of our globe, keeping everything in 
  proportion, the inhabitants ought to be at least two hundred 
  feet high." 
   
  "By Jove!" exclaimed Michel; "I should be nothing more than a 
  pigmy, a shrimp!" 
   
  "Gulliver with the giants," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Just so," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "And it would not be quite useless to carry some pieces of 
  artillery to defend oneself." 
   
  "Good," replied Nicholl; "your projectiles would have no effect 
  on the sun; they would fall back upon the earth after some minutes." 
   
  "That is a strong remark." 
   
  "It is certain," replied Barbicane; "the attraction is so great 
  on this enormous orb, that an object weighing 70,000 pounds on 
  the earth would weigh but 1,920 pounds on the surface of the sun. 
  If you were to fall upon it you would weigh-- let me see-- about 
  5,000 pounds, a weight which you would never be able to raise again." 
   
  "The devil!" said Michel; "one would want a portable crane. 
  However, we will be satisfied with the moon for the present; 
  there at least we shall cut a great figure.  We will see about 
  the sun by and by." 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER IX 
   
   
  THE CONSEQUENCES OF A DEVIATION 
   
   
  Barbicane had now no fear of the issue of the journey, at least 
  as far as the projectile's impulsive force was concerned; its 
  own speed would carry it beyond the neutral line; it would 
  certainly not return to earth; it would certainly not remain 
  motionless on the line of attraction.  One single hypothesis 
  remained to be realized, the arrival of the projectile at its 
  destination by the action of the lunar attraction. 
   
  It was in reality a fall of 8,296 leagues on an orb, it is true, 
  where weight could only be reckoned at one sixth of terrestrial 
  weight; a formidable fall, nevertheless, and one against which 
  every precaution must be taken without delay. 
   
  These precautions were of two sorts, some to deaden the shock 
  when the projectile should touch the lunar soil, others to delay 
  the fall, and consequently make it less violent. 
   
  
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  To deaden the shock, it was a pity that Barbicane was no longer 
  able to employ the means which had so ably weakened the shock at 
  departure, that is to say, by water used as springs and the 
  partition breaks. 
   
  The partitions still existed, but water failed, for they could 
  not use their reserve, which was precious, in case during the 
  first days the liquid element should be found wanting on lunar soil. 
   
  And indeed this reserve would have been quite insufficient for 
  a spring.  The layer of water stored in the projectile at 
  the time of starting upon their journey occupied no less than 
  three feet in depth, and spread over a surface of not less than 
  fifty-four square feet.  Besides, the cistern did not contain 
  one-fifth part of it; they must therefore give up this efficient 
  means of deadening the shock of arrival.  Happily, Barbicane, 
  not content with employing water, had furnished the movable disc 
  with strong spring plugs, destined to lessen the shock against 
  the base after the breaking of the horizontal partitions. 
  These plugs still existed; they had only to readjust them and 
  replace the movable disc; every piece, easy to handle, as their 
  weight was now scarcely felt, was quickly mounted. 
   
  The different pieces were fitted without trouble, it being only 
  a matter of bolts and screws; tools were not wanting, and soon 
  the reinstated disc lay on steel plugs, like a table on its legs. 
  One inconvenience resulted from the replacing of the disc, 
  the lower window was blocked up; thus it was impossible for 
  the travelers to observe the moon from that opening while 
  they were being precipitated perpendicularly upon her; but they 
  were obliged to give it up; even by the side openings they could 
  still see vast lunar regions, as an aeronaut sees the earth from 
  his car. 
   
  This replacing of the disc was at least an hour's work.  It was 
  past twelve when all preparations were finished.  Barbicane took 
  fresh observations on the inclination of the projectile, but to 
  his annoyance it had not turned over sufficiently for its fall; 
  it seemed to take a curve parallel to the lunar disc.  The orb 
  of night shone splendidly into space, while opposite, the orb of 
  day blazed with fire. 
   
  Their situation began to make them uneasy. 
   
  "Are we reaching our destination?" said Nicholl. 
   
  "Let us act as if we were about reaching it," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "You are sceptical," retorted Michel Ardan.  "We shall arrive, 
  and that, too, quicker than we like." 
   
  This answer brought Barbicane back to his preparations, and he 
  occupied himself with placing the contrivances intended to break 
  their descent.  We may remember the scene of the meeting held at 
  Tampa Town, in Florida, when Captain Nicholl came forward as 
  Barbicane's enemy and Michel Ardan's adversary.  To Captain 
  Nicholl's maintaining that the projectile would smash like glass, 
  
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  Michel replied that he would break their fall by means of rockets 
  properly placed. 
   
  Thus, powerful fireworks, taking their starting-point from the 
  base and bursting outside, could, by producing a recoil, check 
  to a certain degree the projectile's speed.  These rockets were 
  to burn in space, it is true; but oxygen would not fail them, 
  for they could supply themselves with it, like the lunar 
  volcanoes, the burning of which has never yet been stopped by 
  the want of atmosphere round the moon. 
   
  Barbicane had accordingly supplied himself with these fireworks, 
  enclosed in little steel guns, which could be screwed on to the 
  base of the projectile.  Inside, these guns were flush with the 
  bottom; outside, they protruded about eighteen inches.  There were 
  twenty of them.  An opening left in the disc allowed them to light 
  the match with which each was provided.  All the effect was 
  felt outside.  The burning mixture had already been rammed 
  into each gun.  They had, then, nothing to do but raise the 
  metallic buffers fixed in the base, and replace them by the 
  guns, which fitted closely in their places. 
   
  This new work was finished about three o'clock, and after taking 
  all these precautions there remained but to wait.  But the 
  projectile was perceptibly nearing the moon, and evidently 
  succumbed to her influence to a certain degree; though its 
  own velocity also drew it in an oblique direction.  From these 
  conflicting influences resulted a line which might become 
  a tangent.  But it was certain that the projectile would not 
  fall directly on the moon; for its lower part, by reason of 
  its weight, ought to be turned toward her. 
   
  Barbicane's uneasiness increased as he saw his projectile resist 
  the influence of gravitation.  The Unknown was opening before 
  him, the Unknown in interplanetary space.  The man of science 
  thought he had foreseen the only three hypotheses possible-- the 
  return to the earth, the return to the moon, or stagnation on 
  the neutral line; and here a fourth hypothesis, big with all the 
  terrors of the Infinite, surged up inopportunely.  To face it 
  without flinching, one must be a resolute savant like Barbicane, 
  a phlegmatic being like Nicholl, or an audacious adventurer like 
  Michel Ardan. 
   
  Conversation was started upon this subject.  Other men would 
  have considered the question from a practical point of view; 
  they would have asked themselves whither their projectile 
  carriage was carrying them.  Not so with these; they sought for 
  the cause which produced this effect. 
   
  "So we have become diverted from our route," said Michel; "but why?" 
   
  "I very much fear," answered Nicholl, "that, in spite of 
  all precautions taken, the Columbiad was not fairly pointed. 
  An error, however small, would be enough to throw us out of 
  the moon's attraction." 
   
  "Then they must have aimed badly?" asked Michel. 
  
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  "I do not think so," replied Barbicane.  "The perpendicularity 
  of the gun was exact, its direction to the zenith of the spot 
  incontestible; and the moon passing to the zenith of the spot, 
  we ought to reach it at the full.  There is another reason, 
  but it escapes me." 
   
  "Are we not arriving too late?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "Too late?" said Barbicane. 
   
  "Yes," continued Nicholl.  "The Cambridge Observatory's note 
  says that the transit ought to be accomplished in ninety-seven 
  hours thirteen minutes and twenty seconds; which means to say, 
  that _sooner_ the moon will _not_ be at the point indicated, and 
  _later_ it will have passed it." 
   
  "True," replied Barbicane.  "But we started the 1st of December, 
  at thirteen minutes and twenty-five seconds to eleven at night; 
  and we ought to arrive on the 5th at midnight, at the exact 
  moment when the moon would be full; and we are now at the 
  5th of December.  It is now half-past three in the evening; 
  half-past eight ought to see us at the end of our journey. 
  Why do we not arrive?" 
   
  "Might it not be an excess of speed?" answered Nicholl; "for we 
  know now that its initial velocity was greater than they supposed." 
   
  "No! a hundred times, no!" replied Barbicane.  "An excess of 
  speed, if the direction of the projectile had been right, would 
  not have prevented us reaching the moon.  No, there has been 
  a deviation.  We have been turned out of our course." 
   
  "By whom? by what?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "I cannot say," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "Very well, then, Barbicane," said Michel, "do you wish to know 
  my opinion on the subject of finding out this deviation?" 
   
  "Speak." 
   
  "I would not give half a dollar to know it.  That we have 
  deviated is a fact.  Where we are going matters little; we shall 
  soon see.  Since we are being borne along in space we shall end 
  by falling into some center of attraction or other." 
   
  Michel Ardan's indifference did not content Barbicane.  Not that 
  he was uneasy about the future, but he wanted to know at any 
  cost _why_ his projectile had deviated. 
   
  But the projectile continued its course sideways to the moon, 
  and with it the mass of things thrown out.  Barbicane could even 
  prove, by the elevations which served as landmarks upon the 
  moon, which was only two thousand leagues distant, that its 
  speed was becoming uniform-- fresh proof that there was no fall. 
  Its impulsive force still prevailed over the lunar attraction, 
  
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  but the projectile's course was certainly bringing it nearer to 
  the moon, and they might hope that at a nearer point the weight, 
  predominating, would cause a decided fall. 
   
  The three friends, having nothing better to do, continued their 
  observations; but they could not yet determine the topographical 
  position of the satellite; every relief was leveled under the 
  reflection of the solar rays. 
   
  They watched thus through the side windows until eight o'clock 
  at night.  The moon had grown so large in their eyes that it 
  filled half of the firmament.  The sun on one side, and the orb 
  of night on the other, flooded the projectile with light. 
   
  At that moment Barbicane thought he could estimate the distance 
  which separated them from their aim at no more than 700 leagues. 
  The speed of the projectile seemed to him to be more than 200 
  yards, or about 170 leagues a second.  Under the centripetal 
  force, the base of the projectile tended toward the moon; but 
  the centrifugal still prevailed; and it was probable that its 
  rectilineal course would be changed to a curve of some sort, 
  the nature of which they could not at present determine. 
   
  Barbicane was still seeking the solution of his insoluble problem. 
  Hours passed without any result.  The projectile was evidently 
  nearing the moon, but it was also evident that it would never 
  reach her.  As to the nearest distance at which it would pass her, 
  that must be the result of two forces, attraction and repulsion, 
  affecting its motion. 
   
  "I ask but one thing," said Michel; "that we may pass near 
  enough to penetrate her secrets." 
   
  "Cursed be the thing that has caused our projectile to deviate 
  from its course," cried Nicholl. 
   
  And, as if a light had suddenly broken in upon his mind, Barbicane 
  answered, "Then cursed be the meteor which crossed our path." 
   
  "What?" said Michel Ardan. 
   
  "What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicholl. 
   
  "I mean," said Barbicane in a decided tone, "I mean that our 
  deviation is owing solely to our meeting with this erring body." 
   
  "But it did not even brush us as it passed," said Michel. 
   
  "What does that matter?  Its mass, compared to that of our 
  projectile, was enormous, and its attraction was enough to 
  influence our course." 
   
  "So little?" cried Nicholl. 
   
  "Yes, Nicholl; but however little it might be," replied 
  Barbicane, "in a distance of 84,000 leagues, it wanted no more 
  to make us miss the moon." 
  
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  CHAPTER X 
   
   
  THE OBSERVERS OF THE MOON 
   
   
  Barbicane had evidently hit upon the only plausible reason 
  of this deviation.  However slight it might have been, it 
  had sufficed to modify the course of the projectile.  It was 
  a fatality.  The bold attempt had miscarried by a fortuitous 
  circumstance; and unless by some exceptional event, they could 
  now never reach the moon's disc. 
   
  Would they pass near enough to be able to solve certain physical 
  and geological questions until then insoluble?  This was the 
  question, and the only one, which occupied the minds of these 
  bold travelers.  As to the fate in store for themselves, they 
  did not even dream of it. 
   
  But what would become of them amid these infinite solitudes, 
  these who would soon want air?  A few more days, and they would 
  fall stifled in this wandering projectile.  But some days to 
  these intrepid fellows was a century; and they devoted all their 
  time to observe that moon which they no longer hoped to reach. 
   
  The distance which had then separated the projectile from the 
  satellite was estimated at about two hundred leagues.  Under these 
  conditions, as regards the visibility of the details of the disc, 
  the travelers were farther from the moon than are the inhabitants 
  of earth with their powerful telescopes. 
   
  Indeed, we know that the instrument mounted by Lord Rosse at 
  Parsonstown, which magnifies 6,500 times, brings the moon to 
  within an apparent distance of sixteen leagues.  And more than 
  that, with the powerful one set up at Long's Peak, the orb of 
  night, magnified 48,000 times, is brought to within less than 
  two leagues, and objects having a diameter of thirty feet are 
  seen very distinctly.  So that, at this distance, the 
  topographical details of the moon, observed without glasses, 
  could not be determined with precision.  The eye caught the vast 
  outline of those immense depressions inappropriately called 
  "seas," but they could not recognize their nature.  The prominence 
  of the mountains disappeared under the splendid irradiation 
  produced by the reflection of the solar rays.  The eye, dazzled 
  as if it was leaning over a bath of molten silver, turned from 
  it involuntarily; but the oblong form of the orb was quite clear. 
  It appeared like a gigantic egg, with the small end turned toward 
  the earth.  Indeed the moon, liquid and pliable in the first days 
  of its formation, was originally a perfect sphere; but being soon 
  drawn within the attraction of the earth, it became elongated 
  under the influence of gravitation.  In becoming a satellite, 
  she lost her native purity of form; her center of gravity was in 
  
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  advance of the center of her figure; and from this fact some 
  savants draw the conclusion that the air and water had taken 
  refuge on the opposite surface of the moon, which is never seen 
  from the earth.  This alteration in the primitive form of the 
  satellite was only perceptible for a few moments.  The distance 
  of the projectile from the moon diminished very rapidly under 
  its speed, though that was much less than its initial velocity-- 
  but eight or nine times greater than that which propels our 
  express trains.  The oblique course of the projectile, from its 
  very obliquity, gave Michel Ardan some hopes of striking the 
  lunar disc at some point or other.  He could not think that they 
  would never reach it.  No! he could not believe it; and this 
  opinion he often repeated.  But Barbicane, who was a better 
  judge, always answered him with merciless logic. 
   
  "No, Michel, no!  We can only reach the moon by a fall, and we 
  are not falling.  The centripetal force keeps us under the 
  moon's influence, but the centrifugal force draws us 
  irresistibly away from it." 
   
  This was said in a tone which quenched Michel Ardan's last hope. 
   
  The portion of the moon which the projectile was nearing was the 
  northern hemisphere, that which the selenographic maps place 
  below; for these maps are generally drawn after the outline 
  given by the glasses, and we know that they reverse the objects. 
  Such was the _Mappa Selenographica_ of Boeer and Moedler which 
  Barbicane consulted.  This northern hemisphere presented vast 
  plains, dotted with isolated mountains. 
   
  At midnight the moon was full.  At that precise moment the 
  travelers should have alighted upon it, if the mischievous 
  meteor had not diverted their course.  The orb was exactly in 
  the condition determined by the Cambridge Observatory.  It was 
  mathematically at its perigee, and at the zenith of the 
  twenty-eighth parallel.  An observer placed at the bottom of the 
  enormous Columbiad, pointed perpendicularly to the horizon, 
  would have framed the moon in the mouth of the gun.  A straight 
  line drawn through the axis of the piece would have passed 
  through the center of the orb of night.  It is needless to say, 
  that during the night of the 5th-6th of December, the travelers 
  took not an instant's rest.  Could they close their eyes when so 
  near this new world?  No!  All their feelings were concentrated 
  in one single thought:-- See!  Representatives of the earth, of 
  humanity, past and present, all centered in them!  It is through 
  their eyes that the human race look at these lunar regions, and 
  penetrate the secrets of their satellite!  A strange emotion 
  filled their hearts as they went from one window to the other. 
  Their observations, reproduced by Barbicane, were rigidly determined. 
  To take them, they had glasses; to correct them, maps. 
   
  As regards the optical instruments at their disposal, they had 
  excellent marine glasses specially constructed for this journey. 
  They possessed magnifying powers of 100.  They would thus have 
  brought the moon to within a distance (apparent) of less than 
  2,000 leagues from the earth.  But then, at a distance which for 
  three hours in the morning did not exceed sixty-five miles, and 
  
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  in a medium free from all atmospheric disturbances, these 
  instruments could reduce the lunar surface to within less than 
  1,500 yards! 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XI 
   
   
  FANCY AND REALITY 
   
   
  "Have you ever seen the moon?" asked a professor, ironically, 
  of one of his pupils. 
   
  "No, sir!" replied the pupil, still more ironically, "but I must 
  say I have heard it spoken of." 
   
  In one sense, the pupil's witty answer might be given by a large 
  majority of sublunary beings.  How many people have heard speak 
  of the moon who have never seen it-- at least through a glass or 
  a telescope!  How many have never examined the map of their satellite! 
   
  In looking at a selenographic map, one peculiarity strikes us. 
  Contrary to the arrangement followed for that of the Earth and 
  Mars, the continents occupy more particularly the southern 
  hemisphere of the lunar globe.  These continents do not show 
  such decided, clear, and regular boundary lines as South 
  America, Africa, and the Indian peninsula.  Their angular, 
  capricious, and deeply indented coasts are rich in gulfs 
  and peninsulas.  They remind one of the confusion in the 
  islands of the Sound, where the land is excessively indented. 
  If navigation ever existed on the surface of the moon, it must 
  have been wonderfully difficult and dangerous; and we may well 
  pity the Selenite sailors and hydrographers; the former, when 
  they came upon these perilous coasts, the latter when they 
  took the soundings of its stormy banks. 
   
  We may also notice that, on the lunar sphere, the south pole is 
  much more continental than the north pole.  On the latter, there 
  is but one slight strip of land separated from other continents 
  by vast seas.  Toward the south, continents clothe almost the 
  whole of the hemisphere.  It is even possible that the Selenites 
  have already planted the flag on one of their poles, while 
  Franklin, Ross, Kane, Dumont, d'Urville, and Lambert have never 
  yet been able to attain that unknown point of the terrestrial globe. 
   
  As to islands, they are numerous on the surface of the moon. 
  Nearly all oblong or circular, and as if traced with the 
  compass, they seem to form one vast archipelago, equal to that 
  charming group lying between Greece and Asia Minor, and which 
  mythology in ancient times adorned with most graceful legends. 
  Involuntarily the names of Naxos, Tenedos, and Carpathos, rise 
  before the mind, and we seek vainly for Ulysses' vessel or the 
  "clipper" of the Argonauts.  So at least it was in Michel 
  
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  Ardan's eyes.  To him it was a Grecian archipelago that he saw 
  on the map.  To the eyes of his matter-of-fact companions, the 
  aspect of these coasts recalled rather the parceled-out land of 
  New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and where the Frenchman 
  discovered traces of the heroes of fable, these Americans 
  were marking the most favorable points for the establishment 
  of stores in the interests of lunar commerce and industry. 
   
  After wandering over these vast continents, the eye is attracted 
  by the still greater seas.  Not only their formation, but their 
  situation and aspect remind one of the terrestrial oceans; but 
  again, as on earth, these seas occupy the greater portion of 
  the globe.  But in point of fact, these are not liquid spaces, 
  but plains, the nature of which the travelers hoped soon 
  to determine.  Astronomers, we must allow, have graced these 
  pretended seas with at least odd names, which science has 
  respected up to the present time.  Michel Ardan was right when 
  he compared this map to a "Tendre card," got up by a Scudary or 
  a Cyrano de Bergerac.  "Only," said he, "it is no longer the 
  sentimental card of the seventeenth century, it is the card of 
  life, very neatly divided into two parts, one feminine, the 
  other masculine; the right hemisphere for woman, the left for man." 
   
  In speaking thus, Michel made his prosaic companions shrug 
  their shoulders.  Barbicane and Nicholl looked upon the lunar 
  map from a very different point of view to that of their 
  fantastic friend.  Nevertheless, their fantastic friend was a 
  little in the right.  Judge for yourselves. 
   
  In the left hemisphere stretches the "Sea of Clouds," where 
  human reason is so often shipwrecked.  Not far off lies the "Sea 
  of Rains," fed by all the fever of existence.  Near this is the 
  "Sea of Storms," where man is ever fighting against his 
  passions, which too often gain the victory.  Then, worn out by 
  deceit, treasons, infidelity, and the whole body of terrestrial 
  misery, what does he find at the end of his career? that vast 
  "Sea of Humors," barely softened by some drops of the waters 
  from the "Gulf of Dew!"  Clouds, rain, storms, and humors-- does 
  the life of man contain aught but these? and is it not summed up 
  in these four words? 
   
  The right hemisphere, "dedicated to the ladies," encloses 
  smaller seas, whose significant names contain every incident of 
  a feminine existence.  There is the "Sea of Serenity," over 
  which the young girl bends; "The Lake of Dreams," reflecting a 
  joyous future; "The Sea of Nectar," with its waves of tenderness 
  and breezes of love; "The Sea of Fruitfulness;" "The Sea of 
  Crises;" then the "Sea of Vapors," whose dimensions are perhaps 
  a little too confined; and lastly, that vast "Sea of 
  Tranquillity," in which every false passion, every useless 
  dream, every unsatisfied desire is at length absorbed, and whose 
  waves emerge peacefully into the "Lake of Death!" 
   
  What a strange succession of names!  What a singular division of 
  the moon's two hemispheres, joined to one another like man and 
  woman, and forming that sphere of life carried into space! 
  And was not the fantastic Michel right in thus interpreting the 
  
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  fancies of the ancient astronomers?  But while his imagination 
  thus roved over "the seas," his grave companions were considering 
  things more geographically.  They were learning this new world 
  by heart.  They were measuring angles and diameters. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XII 
   
   
  OROGRAPHIC DETAILS 
   
   
  The course taken by the projectile, as we have before remarked, was 
  bearing it toward the moon's northern hemisphere.  The travelers 
  were far from the central point which they would have struck, 
  had their course not been subject to an irremediable deviation. 
  It was past midnight; and Barbicane then estimated the distance 
  at seven hundred and fifty miles, which was a little greater than 
  the length of the lunar radius, and which would diminish as it 
  advanced nearer to the North Pole.  The projectile was then not 
  at the altitude of the equator; but across the tenth parallel, 
  and from that latitude, carefully taken on the map to the pole, 
  Barbicane and his two companions were able to observe the moon 
  under the most favorable conditions.  Indeed, by means of glasses, 
  the above-named distance was reduced to little more than 
  fourteen miles.  The telescope of the Rocky Mountains brought 
  the moon much nearer; but the terrestrial atmosphere singularly 
  lessened its power.  Thus Barbicane, posted in his projectile, 
  with the glasses to his eyes, could seize upon details which were 
  almost imperceptible to earthly observers. 
   
  "My friends," said the president, in a serious voice, "I do not 
  know whither we are going; I do not know if we shall ever see 
  the terrestrial globe again.  Nevertheless, let us proceed as if 
  our work would one day by useful to our fellow-men.  Let us keep 
  our minds free from every other consideration.  We are 
  astronomers; and this projectile is a room in the Cambridge 
  University, carried into space.  Let us make our observations!" 
   
  This said, work was begun with great exactness; and they 
  faithfully reproduced the different aspects of the moon, 
  at the different distances which the projectile reached. 
   
  At the time that the projectile was as high as the tenth 
  parallel, north latitude, it seemed rigidly to follow the 
  twentieth degree, east longitude.  We must here make one 
  important remark with regard to the map by which they were 
  taking observations.  In the selenographical maps where, on 
  account of the reversing of the objects by the glasses, the 
  south is above and the north below, it would seem natural that, 
  on account of that inversion, the east should be to the left 
  hand, and the west to the right.  But it is not so.  If the map 
  were turned upside down, showing the moon as we see her, the 
  east would be to the left, and the west to the right, contrary 
  
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  to that which exists on terrestrial maps.  The following is the 
  reason of this anomaly.  Observers in the northern hemisphere 
  (say in Europe) see the moon in the south-- according to them. 
  When they take observations, they turn their backs to the north, 
  the reverse position to that which they occupy when they study 
  a terrestrial map.  As they turn their backs to the north, the 
  east is on their left, and the west to their right.  To observers 
  in the southern hemisphere (Patagonia for example), the moon's 
  west would be quite to their left, and the east to their right, 
  as the south is behind them.  Such is the reason of the apparent 
  reversing of these two cardinal points, and we must bear it in mind 
  in order to be able to follow President Barbicane's observations. 
   
  With the help of Boeer and Moedler's _Mappa Selenographica_, 
  the travelers were able at once to recognize that portion 
  of the disc enclosed within the field of their glasses. 
   
  "What are we looking at, at this moment?" asked Michel. 
   
  "At the northern part of the `Sea of Clouds,'" answered Barbicane. 
  "We are too far off to recognize its nature.  Are these plains 
  composed of arid sand, as the first astronomer maintained? 
  Or are they nothing but immense forests, according to M. Warren 
  de la Rue's opinion, who gives the moon an atmosphere, though 
  a very low and a very dense one?  That we shall know by and by. 
  We must affirm nothing until we are in a position to do so." 
   
  This "Sea of Clouds" is rather doubtfully marked out upon the maps. 
  It is supposed that these vast plains are strewn with blocks of 
  lava from the neighboring volcanoes on its right, Ptolemy, 
  Purbach, Arzachel.  But the projectile was advancing, and sensibly 
  nearing it.  Soon there appeared the heights which bound this sea 
  at this northern limit.  Before them rose a mountain radiant with 
  beauty, the top of which seemed lost in an eruption of solar rays. 
   
  "That is--?" asked Michel. 
   
  "Copernicus," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "Let us see Copernicus." 
   
  This mount, situated in 9@ north latitude and 20@ east 
  longitude, rose to a height of 10,600 feet above the surface of 
  the moon.  It is quite visible from the earth; and astronomers 
  can study it with ease, particularly during the phase between 
  the last quarter and the new moon, because then the shadows are 
  thrown lengthways from east to west, allowing them to measure 
  the heights. 
   
  This Copernicus forms the most important of the radiating 
  system, situated in the southern hemisphere, according to Tycho 
  Brahe.  It rises isolated like a gigantic lighthouse on that 
  portion of the "Sea of Clouds," which is bounded by the "Sea of 
  Tempests," thus lighting by its splendid rays two oceans at 
  a time.  It was a sight without an equal, those long luminous 
  trains, so dazzling in the full moon, and which, passing the 
  boundary chain on the north, extends to the "Sea of Rains." 
  
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  At one o'clock of the terrestrial morning, the projectile, 
  like a balloon borne into space, overlooked the top of this 
  superb mount.  Barbicane could recognize perfectly its 
  chief features.  Copernicus is comprised in the series of 
  ringed mountains of the first order, in the division of 
  great circles.  Like Kepler and Aristarchus, which overlook 
  the "Ocean of Tempests," sometimes it appeared like a brilliant 
  point through the cloudy light, and was taken for a volcano 
  in activity.  But it is only an extinct one-- like all on that 
  side of the moon.  Its circumference showed a diameter of about 
  twenty-two leagues.  The glasses discovered traces of 
  stratification produced by successive eruptions, and the 
  neighborhood was strewn with volcanic remains which still choked 
  some of the craters. 
   
  "There exist," said Barbicane, "several kinds of circles on the 
  surface of the moon, and it is easy to see that Copernicus 
  belongs to the radiating class.  If we were nearer, we should 
  see the cones bristling on the inside, which in former times 
  were so many fiery mouths.  A curious arrangement, and one 
  without an exception on the lunar disc, is that the interior 
  surface of these circles is the reverse of the exterior, and 
  contrary to the form taken by terrestrial craters.  It follows, 
  then, that the general curve of the bottom of these circles 
  gives a sphere of a smaller diameter than that of the moon." 
   
  "And why this peculiar disposition?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "We do not know," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "What splendid radiation!" said Michel.  "One could hardly see 
  a finer spectacle, I think." 
   
  "What would you say, then," replied Barbicane, "if chance should 
  bear us toward the southern hemisphere?" 
   
  "Well, I should say that it was still more beautiful," retorted 
  Michel Ardan. 
   
  At this moment the projectile hung perpendicularly over the circle. 
  The circumference of Copernicus formed almost a perfect circle, 
  and its steep escarpments were clearly defined.  They could even 
  distinguish a second ringed enclosure.  Around spread a grayish 
  plain, of a wild aspect, on which every relief was marked in yellow. 
  At the bottom of the circle, as if enclosed in a jewel case, 
  sparkled for one instant two or three eruptive cones, like enormous 
  dazzling gems.  Toward the north the escarpments were lowered by a 
  depression which would probably have given access to the interior 
  of the crater. 
   
  In passing over the surrounding plains, Barbicane noticed a 
  great number of less important mountains; and among others a 
  little ringed one called Guy Lussac, the breadth of which 
  measured twelve miles. 
   
  Toward the south, the plain was very flat, without one 
  elevation, without one projection.  Toward the north, on the 
  
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  contrary, till where it was bounded by the "Sea of Storms," it 
  resembled a liquid surface agitated by a storm, of which the 
  hills and hollows formed a succession of waves suddenly congealed. 
  Over the whole of this, and in all directions, lay the luminous 
  lines, all converging to the summit of Copernicus. 
   
  The travelers discussed the origin of these strange rays; but they 
  could not determine their nature any more than terrestrial observers. 
   
  "But why," said Nicholl, "should not these rays be simply spurs 
  of mountains which reflect more vividly the light of the sun?" 
   
  "No," replied Barbicane; "if it was so, under certain conditions 
  of the moon, these ridges would cast shadows, and they do not 
  cast any." 
   
  And indeed, these rays only appeared when the orb of day was in 
  opposition to the moon, and disappeared as soon as its rays 
  became oblique. 
   
  "But how have they endeavored to explain these lines of light?" 
  asked Michel; "for I cannot believe that savants would ever be 
  stranded for want of an explanation." 
   
  "Yes," replied Barbicane; "Herschel has put forward an opinion, 
  but he did not venture to affirm it." 
   
  "Never mind.  What was the opinion?" 
   
  "He thought that these rays might be streams of cooled lava 
  which shone when the sun beat straight upon them.  It may be so; 
  but nothing can be less certain.  Besides, if we pass nearer to 
  Tycho, we shall be in a better position to find out the cause of 
  this radiation." 
   
  "Do you know, my friends, what that plain, seen from the height 
  we are at, resembles?" said Michel. 
   
  "No," replied Nicholl. 
   
  "Very well; with all those pieces of lava lengthened like rockets, 
  it resembles an immense game of spelikans thrown pellmell. 
  There wants but the hook to pull them out one by one." 
   
  "Do be serious," said Barbicane. 
   
  "Well, let us be serious," replied Michel quietly; "and instead 
  of spelikans, let us put bones.  This plain, would then be 
  nothing but an immense cemetery, on which would repose the 
  mortal remains of thousands of extinct generations.  Do you 
  prefer that high-flown comparison?" 
   
  "One is as good as the other," retorted Barbicane. 
   
  "My word, you are difficult to please," answered Michel. 
   
  "My worthy friend," continued the matter-of-fact Barbicane, "it 
  
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  matters but little what it _resembles_, when we do not know what 
  it _is_." 
   
  "Well answered," exclaimed Michel.  "That will teach me to 
  reason with savants." 
   
  But the projectile continued to advance with almost uniform 
  speed around the lunar disc.  The travelers, we may easily 
  imagine, did not dream of taking a moment's rest.  Every minute 
  changed the landscape which fled from beneath their gaze. 
  About half past one o'clock in the morning, they caught a glimpse 
  of the tops of another mountain.  Barbicane, consulting his map, 
  recognized Eratosthenes. 
   
  It was a ringed mountain nine thousand feet high, and one of 
  those circles so numerous on this satellite.  With regard to 
  this, Barbicane related Kepler's singular opinion on the 
  formation of circles.  According to that celebrated 
  mathematician, these crater-like cavities had been dug by the 
  hand of man. 
   
  "For what purpose?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "For a very natural one," replied Barbicane.  "The Selenites 
  might have undertaken these immense works and dug these enormous 
  holes for a refuge and shield from the solar rays which beat 
  upon them during fifteen consecutive days." 
   
  "The Selenites are not fools," said Michel. 
   
  "A singular idea," replied Nicholl; "but it is probable that 
  Kepler did not know the true dimensions of these circles, for 
  the digging of them would have been the work of giants quite 
  impossible for the Selenites." 
   
  "Why? if weight on the moon's surface is six times less than on 
  the earth?" said Michel. 
   
  "But if the Selenites are six times smaller?" retorted Nicholl. 
   
  "And if there are _no_ Selenites?" added Barbicane. 
   
  This put an end to the discussion. 
   
  Soon Eratosthenes disappeared under the horizon without the 
  projectile being sufficiently near to allow close observation. 
  This mountain separated the Apennines from the Carpathians. In the 
  lunar orography they have discerned some chains of mountains, which 
  are chiefly distributed over the northern hemisphere.  Some, however, 
  occupy certain portions of the southern hemisphere also. 
   
  About two o'clock in the morning Barbicane found that they were 
  above the twentieth lunar parallel.  The distance of the 
  projectile from the moon was not more than six hundred miles. 
  Barbicane, now perceiving that the projectile was steadily 
  approaching the lunar disc, did not despair; if not of reaching 
  her, at least of discovering the secrets of her configuration. 
  
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  CHAPTER XIII 
   
   
  LUNAR LANDSCAPES 
   
   
  At half-past two in the morning, the projectile was over the 
  thirteenth lunar parallel and at the effective distance of five 
  hundred miles, reduced by the glasses to five.  It still seemed 
  impossible, however, that it could ever touch any part of the disc. 
  Its motive speed, comparatively so moderate, was inexplicable to 
  President Barbicane.  At that distance from the moon it must have 
  been considerable, to enable it to bear up against her attraction. 
  Here was a phenomenon the cause of which escaped them again. 
  Besides, time failed them to investigate the cause.  All lunar 
  relief was defiling under the eyes of the travelers, and they 
  would not lose a single detail. 
   
  Under the glasses the disc appeared at the distance of five 
  miles.  What would an aeronaut, borne to this distance from the 
  earth, distinguish on its surface?  We cannot say, since the 
  greatest ascension has not been more than 25,000 feet. 
   
  This, however, is an exact description of what Barbicane and his 
  companions saw at this height.  Large patches of different 
  colors appeared on the disc.  Selenographers are not agreed upon 
  the nature of these colors.  There are several, and rather 
  vividly marked.  Julius Schmidt pretends that, if the 
  terrestrial oceans were dried up, a Selenite observer could not 
  distinguish on the globe a greater diversity of shades between 
  the oceans and the continental plains than those on the moon 
  present to a terrestrial observer.  According to him, the color 
  common to the vast plains known by the name of "seas" is a dark 
  gray mixed with green and brown.  Some of the large craters 
  present the same appearance.  Barbicane knew this opinion of the 
  German selenographer, an opinion shared by Boeer and Moedler. 
  Observation has proved that right was on their side, and not on 
  that of some astronomers who admit the existence of only gray on 
  the moon's surface.  In some parts green was very distinct, such 
  as springs, according to Julius Schmidt, from the seas of 
  "Serenity and Humors."  Barbicane also noticed large craters, 
  without any interior cones, which shed a bluish tint similar to 
  the reflection of a sheet of steel freshly polished.  These colors 
  belonged really to the lunar disc, and did not result, as some 
  astronomers say, either from the imperfection in the objective 
  of the glasses or from the interposition of the terrestrial atmosphere. 
   
  Not a doubt existed in Barbicane's mind with regard to it, as he 
  observed it through space, and so could not commit any optical error. 
  He considered the establishment of this fact as an acquisition 
  to science.  Now, were these shades of green, belonging to 
  tropical vegetation, kept up by a low dense atmosphere?  He could 
  
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  not yet say. 
   
  Farther on, he noticed a reddish tint, quite defined.  The same 
  shade had before been observed at the bottom of an isolated 
  enclosure, known by the name of Lichtenburg's circle, which is 
  situated near the Hercynian mountains, on the borders of the 
  moon; but they could not tell the nature of it. 
   
  They were not more fortunate with regard to another peculiarity 
  of the disc, for they could not decide upon the cause of it. 
   
  Michel Ardan was watching near the president, when he noticed 
  long white lines, vividly lighted up by the direct rays of the sun. 
  It was a succession of luminous furrows, very different from the 
  radiation of Copernicus not long before; they ran parallel with 
  each other. 
   
  Michel, with his usual readiness, hastened to exclaim: 
   
  "Look there! cultivated fields!" 
   
  "Cultivated fields!" replied Nicholl, shrugging his shoulders. 
   
  "Plowed, at all events," retorted Michel Ardan; "but what 
  laborers those Selenites must be, and what giant oxen they must 
  harness to their plow to cut such furrows!" 
   
  "They are not furrows," said Barbicane; "they are _rifts_." 
   
  "Rifts? stuff!" replied Michel mildly; "but what do you mean by 
  `rifts' in the scientific world?" 
   
  Barbicane immediately enlightened his companion as to what he 
  knew about lunar rifts.  He knew that they were a kind of furrow 
  found on every part of the disc which was not mountainous; that 
  these furrows, generally isolated, measured from 400 to 500 
  leagues in length; that their breadth varied from 1,000 to 1,500 
  yards, and that their borders were strictly parallel; but he 
  knew nothing more either of their formation or their nature. 
   
  Barbicane, through his glasses, observed these rifts with 
  great attention.  He noticed that their borders were formed of 
  steep declivities; they were long parallel ramparts, and with some 
  small amount of imagination he might have admitted the existence 
  of long lines of fortifications, raised by Selenite engineers. 
  Of these different rifts some were perfectly straight, as if cut 
  by a line; others were slightly curved, though still keeping 
  their borders parallel; some crossed each other, some cut through 
  craters; here they wound through ordinary cavities, such as 
  Posidonius or Petavius; there they wound through the seas, such 
  as the "Sea of Serenity." 
   
  These natural accidents naturally excited the imaginations of 
  these terrestrial astronomers.  The first observations had not 
  discovered these rifts.  Neither Hevelius, Cassin, La Hire, nor 
  Herschel seemed to have known them.  It was Schroeter who in 
  1789 first drew attention to them.  Others followed who studied 
  
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  them, as Pastorff, Gruithuysen, Boeer, and Moedler.  At this 
  time their number amounts to seventy; but, if they have been 
  counted, their nature has not yet been determined; they are 
  certainly _not_ fortifications, any more than they are the 
  ancient beds of dried-up rivers; for, on one side, the waters, 
  so slight on the moon's surface, could never have worn such 
  drains for themselves; and, on the other, they often cross 
  craters of great elevation. 
   
  We must, however, allow that Michel Ardan had "an idea," and 
  that, without knowing it, he coincided in that respect with 
  Julius Schmidt. 
   
  "Why," said he, "should not these unaccountable appearances be 
  simply phenomena of vegetation?" 
   
  "What do you mean?" asked Barbicane quickly. 
   
  "Do not excite yourself, my worthy president," replied Michel; 
  "might it not be possible that the dark lines forming that 
  bastion were rows of trees regularly placed?" 
   
  "You stick to your vegetation, then?" said Barbicane. 
   
  "I like," retorted Michel Ardan, "to explain what you savants 
  cannot explain; at least my hypotheses has the advantage of 
  indicating why these rifts disappear, or seem to disappear, at 
  certain seasons." 
   
  "And for what reason?" 
   
  "For the reason that the trees become invisible when they lose 
  their leaves, and visible again when they regain them." 
   
  "Your explanation is ingenious, my dear companion," replied 
  Barbicane, "but inadmissible." 
   
  "Why?" 
   
  "Because, so to speak, there are no seasons on the moon's surface, 
  and that, consequently, the phenomena of vegetation of which you 
  speak cannot occur." 
   
  Indeed, the slight obliquity of the lunar axis keeps the sun at 
  an almost equal height in every latitude.  Above the equatorial 
  regions the radiant orb almost invariably occupies the zenith, 
  and does not pass the limits of the horizon in the polar 
  regions; thus, according to each region, there reigns a 
  perpetual winter, spring, summer, or autumn, as in the planet 
  Jupiter, whose axis is but little inclined upon its orbit. 
   
  What origin do they attribute to these rifts?  That is a 
  question difficult to solve.  They are certainly anterior to the 
  formation of craters and circles, for several have introduced 
  themselves by breaking through their circular ramparts.  Thus it 
  may be that, contemporary with the later geological epochs, they 
  are due to the expansion of natural forces. 
  
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  But the projectile had now attained the fortieth degree of lunar 
  latitude, at a distance not exceeding 40 miles.  Through the 
  glasses objects appeared to be only four miles distant. 
   
  At this point, under their feet, rose Mount Helicon, 1,520 feet 
  high, and round about the left rose moderate elevations, 
  enclosing a small portion of the "Sea of Rains," under the name 
  of the Gulf of Iris.  The terrestrial atmosphere would have to 
  be one hundred and seventy times more transparent than it is, 
  to allow astronomers to make perfect observations on the moon's 
  surface; but in the void in which the projectile floated no 
  fluid interposed itself between the eye of the observer and 
  the object observed.  And more, Barbicane found himself carried 
  to a greater distance than the most powerful telescopes had 
  ever done before, either that of Lord Rosse or that of the 
  Rocky Mountains.  He was, therefore, under extremely favorable 
  conditions for solving that great question of the habitability 
  of the moon; but the solution still escaped him; he could 
  distinguish nothing but desert beds, immense plains, and toward 
  the north, arid mountains.  Not a work betrayed the hand of man; 
  not a ruin marked his course; not a group of animals was to be 
  seen indicating life, even in an inferior degree.  In no part 
  was there life, in no part was there an appearance of vegetation. 
  Of the three kingdoms which share the terrestrial globe between 
  them, one alone was represented on the lunar and that the mineral. 
   
  "Ah, indeed!" said Michel Ardan, a little out of countenance; 
  "then you see no one?" 
   
  "No," answered Nicholl; "up to this time, not a man, not an 
  animal, not a tree!  After all, whether the atmosphere has taken 
  refuge at the bottom of cavities, in the midst of the circles, 
  or even on the opposite face of the moon, we cannot decide." 
   
  "Besides," added Barbicane, "even to the most piercing eye a man 
  cannot be distinguished farther than three and a half miles off; 
  so that, if there are any Selenites, they can see our projectile, 
  but we cannot see them." 
   
  Toward four in the morning, at the height of the fiftieth 
  parallel, the distance was reduced to 300 miles.  To the left 
  ran a line of mountains capriciously shaped, lying in the 
  full light.  To the right, on the contrary, lay a black hollow 
  resembling a vast well, unfathomable and gloomy, drilled into 
  the lunar soil. 
   
  This hole was the "Black Lake"; it was Pluto, a deep circle 
  which can be conveniently studied from the earth, between the 
  last quarter and the new moon, when the shadows fall from west 
  to east. 
   
  This black color is rarely met with on the surface of 
  the satellite.  As yet it has only been recognized in the depths 
  of the circle of Endymion, to the east of the "Cold Sea," in the 
  northern hemisphere, and at the bottom of Grimaldi's circle, on 
  the equator, toward the eastern border of the orb. 
  
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  Pluto is an annular mountain, situated in 51@ north latitude, 
  and 9@ east longitude.  Its circuit is forty-seven miles long 
  and thirty-two broad. 
   
  Barbicane regretted that they were not passing directly above 
  this vast opening.  There was an abyss to fathom, perhaps some 
  mysterious phenomenon to surprise; but the projectile's course 
  could not be altered.  They must rigidly submit.  They could not 
  guide a balloon, still less a projectile, when once enclosed 
  within its walls.  Toward five in the morning the northern 
  limits of the "Sea of Rains" was at length passed.  The mounts 
  of Condamine and Fontenelle remained-- one on the right, the 
  other on the left.  That part of the disc beginning with 60@ was 
  becoming quite mountainous.  The glasses brought them to within 
  two miles, less than that separating the summit of Mont Blanc 
  from the level of the sea.  The whole region was bristling with 
  spikes and circles.  Toward the 60@ Philolaus stood predominant 
  at a height of 5,550 feet with its elliptical crater, and seen 
  from this distance, the disc showed a very fantastical appearance. 
  Landscapes were presented to the eye under very different 
  conditions from those on the earth, and also very inferior to them. 
   
  The moon having no atmosphere, the consequences arising from 
  the absence of this gaseous envelope have already been shown. 
  No twilight on her surface; night following day and day following 
  night with the suddenness of a lamp which is extinguished or 
  lighted amid profound darkness-- no transition from cold to 
  heat, the temperature falling in an instant from boiling point 
  to the cold of space. 
   
  Another consequence of this want of air is that absolute 
  darkness reigns where the sun's rays do not penetrate. 
  That which on earth is called diffusion of light, that luminous 
  matter which the air holds in suspension, which creates the 
  twilight and the daybreak, which produces the _umbrae_ and 
  _penumbrae_, and all the magic of _chiaro-oscuro_, does not 
  exist on the moon.  Hence the harshness of contrasts, which 
  only admit of two colors, black and white.  If a Selenite 
  were to shade his eyes from the sun's rays, the sky would seem 
  absolutely black, and the stars would shine to him as on the 
  darkest night.  Judge of the impression produced on Barbicane 
  and his three friends by this strange scene!  Their eyes 
  were confused.  They could no longer grasp the respective 
  distances of the different plains.  A lunar landscape without 
  the softening of the phenomena of _chiaro-oscuro_ could not be 
  rendered by an earthly landscape painter; it would be spots of 
  ink on a white page-- nothing more. 
   
  This aspect was not altered even when the projectile, at the 
  height of 80@, was only separated from the moon by a distance 
  of fifty miles; nor even when, at five in the morning, it 
  passed at less than twenty-five miles from the mountain of 
  Gioja, a distance reduced by the glasses to a quarter of a mile. 
  It seemed as if the moon might be touched by the hand! 
  It seemed impossible that, before long, the projectile would 
  not strike her, if only at the north pole, the brilliant arch 
  
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  of which was so distinctly visible on the black sky. 
   
  Michel Ardan wanted to open one of the scuttles and throw 
  himself on to the moon's surface!  A very useless attempt; for 
  if the projectile could not attain any point whatever of the 
  satellite, Michel, carried along by its motion, could not attain 
  it either. 
   
  At that moment, at six o'clock, the lunar pole appeared.  The disc 
  only presented to the travelers' gaze one half brilliantly lit up, 
  while the other disappeared in the darkness.  Suddenly the 
  projectile passed the line of demarcation between intense light 
  and absolute darkness, and was plunged in profound night! 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XIV 
   
   
  THE NIGHT OF THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR HOURS AND A HALF 
   
  At the moment when this phenomenon took place so rapidly, the 
  projectile was skirting the moon's north pole at less than 
  twenty-five miles distance.  Some seconds had sufficed to plunge 
  it into the absolute darkness of space.  The transition was so 
  sudden, without shade, without gradation of light, without 
  attenuation of the luminous waves, that the orb seemed to have 
  been extinguished by a powerful blow. 
   
  "Melted, disappeared!" Michel Ardan exclaimed, aghast. 
   
  Indeed, there was neither reflection nor shadow.  Nothing more 
  was to be seen of that disc, formerly so dazzling.  The darkness 
  was complete. and rendered even more so by the rays from the stars. 
  It was "that blackness" in which the lunar nights are insteeped, 
  which last three hundred and fifty-four hours and a half at each 
  point of the disc, a long night resulting from the equality of 
  the translatory and rotary movements of the moon.  The projectile, 
  immerged in the conical shadow of the satellite, experienced the 
  action of the solar rays no more than any of its invisible points. 
   
  In the interior, the obscurity was complete.  They could not see 
  each other.  Hence the necessity of dispelling the darkness. 
  However desirous Barbicane might be to husband the gas, the 
  reserve of which was small, he was obliged to ask from it a 
  fictitious light, an expensive brilliancy which the sun then refused. 
   
  "Devil take the radiant orb!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, "which 
  forces us to expend gas, instead of giving us his rays gratuitously." 
   
  "Do not let us accuse the sun," said Nicholl, "it is not his 
  fault, but that of the moon, which has come and placed herself 
  like a screen between us and it." 
   
  "It is the sun!" continued Michel. 
  
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  "It is the moon!" retorted Nicholl. 
   
  An idle dispute, which Barbicane put an end to by saying: 
   
  "My friends, it is neither the fault of the sun nor of the moon; 
  it is the fault of the _projectile_, which, instead of rigidly 
  following its course, has awkwardly missed it.  To be more just, 
  it is the fault of that unfortunate meteor which has so 
  deplorably altered our first direction." 
   
  "Well," replied Michel Ardan, "as the matter is settled, let us 
  have breakfast.  After a whole night of watching it is fair to 
  build ourselves up a little." 
   
  This proposal meeting with no contradiction, Michel prepared the 
  repast in a few minutes.  But they ate for eating's sake, they 
  drank without toasts, without hurrahs.  The bold travelers being 
  borne away into gloomy space, without their accustomed 
  _cortege_ of rays, felt a vague uneasiness in their hearts. 
  The "strange" shadow so dear to Victor Hugo's pen bound them on 
  all sides.  But they talked over the interminable night of three 
  hundred and fifty-four hours and a half, nearly fifteen days, 
  which the law of physics has imposed on the inhabitants of the moon. 
   
  Barbicane gave his friends some explanation of the causes and 
  the consequences of this curious phenomenon. 
   
  "Curious indeed," said they; "for, if each hemisphere of the 
  moon is deprived of solar light for fifteen days, that above 
  which we now float does not even enjoy during its long night any 
  view of the earth so beautifully lit up.  In a word she has no 
  moon (applying this designation to our globe) but on one side of 
  her disc.  Now if this were the case with the earth-- if, for 
  example, Europe never saw the moon, and she was only visible at 
  the antipodes, imagine to yourself the astonishment of a 
  European on arriving in Australia." 
   
  "They would make the voyage for nothing but to see the moon!" 
  replied Michel. 
   
  "Very well!" continued Barbicane, "that astonishment is reserved 
  for the Selenites who inhabit the face of the moon opposite to 
  the earth, a face which is ever invisible to our countrymen of 
  the terrestrial globe." 
   
  "And which we should have seen," added Nicholl, "if we had arrived 
  here when the moon was new, that is to say fifteen days later." 
   
  "I will add, to make amends," continued Barbicane, "that the 
  inhabitants of the visible face are singularly favored by nature, 
  to the detriment of their brethren on the invisible face. 
  The latter, as you see, have dark nights of 354 hours, without 
  one single ray to break the darkness.  The other, on the contrary, 
  when the sun which has given its light for fifteen days sinks 
  below the horizon, see a splendid orb rise on the opposite horizon. 
  It is the earth, which is thirteen times greater than the 
  
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  diminutive moon that we know-- the earth which developes itself 
  at a diameter of two degrees, and which sheds a light thirteen 
  times greater than that qualified by atmospheric strata-- the 
  earth which only disappears at the moment when the sun reappears 
  in its turn!" 
   
  "Nicely worded!" said Michel, "slightly academical perhaps." 
   
  "It follows, then," continued Barbicane, without knitting his 
  brows, "that the visible face of the disc must be very agreeable 
  to inhabit, since it always looks on either the sun when the 
  moon is full, or on the earth when the moon is new." 
   
  "But," said Nicholl, "that advantage must be well compensated by 
  the insupportable heat which the light brings with it." 
   
  "The inconvenience, in that respect, is the same for the two 
  faces, for the earth's light is evidently deprived of heat. 
  But the invisible face is still more searched by the heat than 
  the visible face.  I say that for _you_, Nicholl, because Michel 
  will probably not understand." 
   
  "Thank you," said Michel. 
   
  "Indeed," continued Barbicane, "when the invisible face receives 
  at the same time light and heat from the sun, it is because the 
  moon is new; that is to say, she is situated between the sun and 
  the earth.  It follows, then, considering the position which she 
  occupies in opposition when full, that she is nearer to the sun 
  by twice her distance from the earth; and that distance may be 
  estimated at the two-hundredth part of that which separates the 
  sun from the earth, or in round numbers 400,000 miles.  So that 
  invisible face is so much nearer to the sun when she receives 
  its rays." 
   
  "Quite right," replied Nicholl. 
   
  "On the contrary," continued Barbicane. 
   
  "One moment," said Michel, interrupting his grave companion. 
   
  "What do you want?" 
   
  "I ask to be allowed to continue the explanation." 
   
  "And why?" 
   
  "To prove that I understand." 
   
  "Get along with you," said Barbicane, smiling. 
   
  "On the contrary," said Michel, imitating the tone and gestures 
  of the president, "on the contrary, when the visible face of the 
  moon is lit by the sun, it is because the moon is full, that is 
  to say, opposite the sun with regard to the earth.  The distance 
  separating it from the radiant orb is then increased in round 
  numbers to 400,000 miles, and the heat which she receives must 
  
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  be a little less." 
   
  "Very well said!" exclaimed Barbicane.  "Do you know, Michel, 
  that, for an amateur, you are intelligent." 
   
  "Yes," replied Michel coolly, "we are all so on the Boulevard 
  des Italiens." 
   
  Barbicane gravely grasped the hand of his amiable companion, and 
  continued to enumerate the advantages reserved for the inhabitants 
  of the visible face. 
   
  Among others, he mentioned eclipses of the sun, which only take 
  place on this side of the lunar disc; since, in order that they 
  may take place, it is necessary for the moon to be _in 
  opposition_.  These eclipses, caused by the interposition of the 
  earth between the moon and the sun, can last _two hours_; during 
  which time, by reason of the rays refracted by its atmosphere, 
  the terrestrial globe can appear as nothing but a black point 
  upon the sun. 
   
  "So," said Nicholl, "there is a hemisphere, that invisible 
  hemisphere which is very ill supplied, very ill treated, 
  by nature." 
   
  "Never mind," replied Michel; "if we ever become Selenites, we 
  will inhabit the visible face.  I like the light." 
   
  "Unless, by any chance," answered Nicholl, "the atmosphere should 
  be condensed on the other side, as certain astronomers pretend." 
   
  "That would be a consideration," said Michel. 
   
  Breakfast over, the observers returned to their post.  They tried 
  to see through the darkened scuttles by extinguishing all light 
  in the projectile; but not a luminous spark made its way through 
  the darkness. 
   
  One inexplicable fact preoccupied Barbicane.  Why, having passed 
  within such a short distance of the moon--about twenty-five 
  miles only-- why the projectile had not fallen?  If its speed 
  had been enormous, he could have understood that the fall would 
  not have taken place; but, with a relatively moderate speed, 
  that resistance to the moon's attraction could not be explained. 
  Was the projectile under some foreign influence?  Did some kind 
  of body retain it in the ether?  It was quite evident that it 
  could never reach any point of the moon.  Whither was it going? 
  Was it going farther from, or nearing, the disc?  Was it being 
  borne in that profound darkness through the infinity of space? 
  How could they learn, how calculate, in the midst of this night? 
  All these questions made Barbicane uneasy, but he could not 
  solve them. 
   
  Certainly, the invisible orb was _there_, perhaps only some few 
  miles off; but neither he nor his companions could see it. 
  If there was any noise on its surface, they could not hear it. 
  Air, that medium of sound, was wanting to transmit the groanings 
  
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  of that moon which the Arabic legends call "a man already half 
  granite, and still breathing." 
   
  One must allow that that was enough to aggravate the most 
  patient observers.  It was just that unknown hemisphere which 
  was stealing from their sight.  That face which fifteen days 
  sooner, or fifteen days later, had been, or would be, splendidly 
  illuminated by the solar rays, was then being lost in utter darkness. 
  In fifteen days where would the projectile be?  Who could say? 
  Where would the chances of conflicting attractions have drawn 
  it to?  The disappointment of the travelers in the midst of this 
  utter darkness may be imagined.  All observation of the lunar 
  disc was impossible.  The constellations alone claimed all their 
  attention; and we must allow that the astronomers Faye, Charconac, 
  and Secchi, never found themselves in circumstances so favorable 
  for their observation. 
   
  Indeed, nothing could equal the splendor of this starry world, 
  bathed in limpid ether.  Its diamonds set in the heavenly vault 
  sparkled magnificently.  The eye took in the firmament from the 
  Southern Cross to the North Star, those two constellations which 
  in 12,000 years, by reason of the succession of equinoxes, will 
  resign their part of the polar stars, the one to Canopus in the 
  southern hemisphere, the other to Wega in the northern. 
  Imagination loses itself in this sublime Infinity, amid which 
  the projectile was gravitating, like a new star created by the 
  hand of man.  From a natural cause, these constellations shone 
  with a soft luster; they did not twinkle, for there was no 
  atmosphere which, by the intervention of its layers unequally 
  dense and of different degrees of humidity, produces 
  this scintillation.  These stars were soft eyes, looking out 
  into the dark night, amid the silence of absolute space. 
   
  Long did the travelers stand mute, watching the constellated 
  firmament, upon which the moon, like a vast screen, made an 
  enormous black hole.  But at length a painful sensation drew 
  them from their watchings.  This was an intense cold, which soon 
  covered the inside of the glass of the scuttles with a thick 
  coating of ice.  The sun was no longer warming the projectile 
  with its direct rays, and thus it was losing the heat stored up 
  in its walls by degrees.  This heat was rapidly evaporating into 
  space by radiation, and a considerably lower temperature was 
  the result.  The humidity of the interior was changed into ice 
  upon contact with the glass, preventing all observation. 
   
  Nicholl consulted the thermometer, and saw that it had fallen to 
  seventeen degrees (Centigrade) below zero. [3]  So that, in spite 
  of the many reasons for economizing, Barbicane, after having 
  begged light from the gas, was also obliged to beg for heat. 
  The projectile's low temperature was no longer endurable. 
  Its tenants would have been frozen to death. 
   
  [3] 1@ Fahrenheit. 
   
  "Well!" observed Michel, "we cannot reasonably complain of the 
  monotony of our journey!  What variety we have had, at least 
  in temperature.  Now we are blinded with light and saturated with 
  
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  heat, like the Indians of the Pampas! now plunged into profound 
  darkness, amid the cold, like the Esquimaux of the north pole. 
  No, indeed! we have no right to complain; nature does wonders in 
  our honor." 
   
  "But," asked Nicholl, "what is the temperature outside?" 
   
  "Exactly that of the planetary space," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "Then," continued Michel Ardan, "would not this be the time to 
  make the experiment which we dared not attempt when we were 
  drowned in the sun's rays? 
   
  "It is now or never," replied Barbicane, "for we are in a good 
  position to verify the temperature of space, and see if Fourier 
  or Pouillet's calculations are exact." 
   
  "In any case it is cold," said Michel.  "See! the steam of the 
  interior is condensing on the glasses of the scuttles.  If the fall 
  continues, the vapor of our breath will fall in snow around us." 
   
  "Let us prepare a thermometer," said Barbicane. 
   
  We may imagine that an ordinary thermometer would afford no 
  result under the circumstances in which this instrument was to 
  be exposed.  The mercury would have been frozen in its ball, 
  as below 42@ Fahrenheit below zero it is no longer liquid. 
  But Barbicane had furnished himself with a spirit thermometer 
  on Wafferdin's system, which gives the minima of excessively 
  low temperatures. 
   
  Before beginning the experiment, this instrument was compared 
  with an ordinary one, and then Barbicane prepared to use it. 
   
  "How shall we set about it?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "Nothing is easier," replied Michel Ardan, who was never at a loss. 
  "We open the scuttle rapidly; throw out the instrument; it follows 
  the projectile with exemplary docility; and a quarter of an hour 
  after, draw it in." 
   
  "With the hand?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "With the hand," replied Michel. 
   
  "Well, then, my friend, do not expose yourself," answered 
  Barbicane, "for the hand that you draw in again will be nothing 
  but a stump frozen and deformed by the frightful cold." 
   
  "Really!" 
   
  "You will feel as if you had had a terrible burn, like that of 
  iron at a white heat; for whether the heat leaves our bodies 
  briskly or enters briskly, it is exactly the same thing. 
  Besides, I am not at all certain that the objects we have thrown 
  out are still following us." 
   
  
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  "Why not?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "Because, if we are passing through an atmosphere of the 
  slightest density, these objects will be retarded.  Again, the 
  darkness prevents our seeing if they still float around us. 
  But in order not to expose ourselves to the loss of our 
  thermometer, we will fasten it, and we can then more easily 
  pull it back again." 
   
  Barbicane's advice was followed.  Through the scuttle rapidly 
  opened, Nicholl threw out the instrument, which was held by a 
  short cord, so that it might be more easily drawn up.  The scuttle 
  had not been opened more than a second, but that second had sufficed 
  to let in a most intense cold. 
   
  "The devil!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, "it is cold enough to 
  freeze a white bear." 
   
  Barbicane waited until half an hour had elapsed, which was more 
  than time enough to allow the instrument to fall to the level of 
  the surrounding temperature.  Then it was rapidly pulled in. 
   
  Barbicane calculated the quantity of spirits of wine overflowed 
  into the little vial soldered to the lower part of the 
  instrument, and said: 
   
  "A hundred and forty degrees Centigrade [4] below zero!" 
   
  [4] 218 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. 
   
  M. Pouillet was right and Fourier wrong.  That was the undoubted 
  temperature of the starry space.  Such is, perhaps, that of the 
  lunar continents, when the orb of night has lost by radiation 
  all the heat which fifteen days of sun have poured into her. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XV 
   
   
  HYPERBOLA OR PARABOLA 
   
   
  We may, perhaps, be astonished to find Barbicane and his 
  companions so little occupied with the future reserved for them 
  in their metal prison which was bearing them through the 
  infinity of space.  Instead of asking where they were going, 
  they passed their time making experiments, as if they had been 
  quietly installed in their own study. 
   
  We might answer that men so strong-minded were above such 
  anxieties-- that they did not trouble themselves about such 
  trifles-- and that they had something else to do than to 
  occupy their minds with the future. 
   
  
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  The truth was that they were not masters of their projectile; 
  they could neither check its course, nor alter its direction. 
   
  A sailor can change the head of his ship as he pleases; an 
  aeronaut can give a vertical motion to his balloon.  They, on 
  the contrary, had no power over their vehicle.  Every maneuver 
  was forbidden.  Hence the inclination to let things alone, or as 
  the sailors say, "let her run." 
   
  Where did they find themselves at this moment, at eight o'clock in 
  the morning of the day called upon the earth the 6th of December? 
  Very certainly in the neighborhood of the moon, and even near 
  enough for her to look to them like an enormous black screen upon 
  the firmament.  As to the distance which separated them, it was 
  impossible to estimate it.  The projectile, held by some 
  unaccountable force, had been within four miles of grazing the 
  satellite's north pole. 
   
  But since entering the cone of shadow these last two hours, had 
  the distance increased or diminished?  Every point of mark was 
  wanting by which to estimate both the direction and the speed of 
  the projectile. 
   
  Perhaps it was rapidly leaving the disc, so that it would soon 
  quit the pure shadow.  Perhaps, again, on the other hand, it 
  might be nearing it so much that in a short time it might strike 
  some high point on the invisible hemisphere, which would doubtlessly 
  have ended the journey much to the detriment of the travelers. 
   
  A discussion arose on this subject, and Michel Ardan, always 
  ready with an explanation, gave it as his opinion that the 
  projectile, held by the lunar attraction, would end by falling 
  on the surface of the terrestrial globe like an aerolite. 
   
  "First of all, my friend," answered Barbicane, "every aerolite 
  does not fall to the earth; it is only a small proportion which 
  do so; and if we had passed into an aerolite, it does not necessarily 
  follow that we should ever reach the surface of the moon." 
   
  "But how if we get near enough?" replied Michel. 
   
  "Pure mistake," replied Barbicane.  "Have you not seen shooting 
  stars rush through the sky by thousands at certain seasons?" 
   
  "Yes." 
   
  "Well, these stars, or rather corpuscles, only shine when they 
  are heated by gliding over the atmospheric layers.  Now, if 
  they enter the atmosphere, they pass at least within forty 
  miles of the earth, but they seldom fall upon it.  The same with 
  our projectile.  It may approach very near to the moon, and not 
  yet fall upon it." 
   
  "But then," asked Michel, "I shall be curious to know how our 
  erring vehicle will act in space?" 
   
  "I see but two hypotheses," replied Barbicane, after some 
  
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  moments' reflection. 
   
  "What are they?" 
   
  "The projectile has the choice between two mathematical curves, 
  and it will follow one or the other according to the speed with 
  which it is animated, and which at this moment I cannot estimate." 
   
  "Yes," said Nicholl, "it will follow either a parabola or 
  a hyperbola." 
   
  "Just so," replied Barbicane.  "With a certain speed it will 
  assume the parabola, and with a greater the hyperbola." 
   
  "I like those grand words," exclaimed Michel Ardan; "one knows 
  directly what they mean.  And pray what is your parabola, if 
  you please?" 
   
  "My friend," answered the captain, "the parabola is a curve of 
  the second order, the result of the section of a cone 
  intersected by a plane parallel to one of the sides." 
   
  "Ah! ah!" said Michel, in a satisfied tone. 
   
  "It is very nearly," continued Nicholl, "the course described by 
  a bomb launched from a mortar." 
   
  "Perfect!  And the hyperbola?" 
   
  "The hyperbola, Michel, is a curve of the second order, produced 
  by the intersection of a conic surface and a plane parallel to 
  its axis, and constitutes two branches separated one from the other, 
  both tending indefinitely in the two directions." 
   
  "Is it possible!" exclaimed Michel Ardan in a serious tone, as 
  if they had told him of some serious event.  "What I particularly 
  like in your definition of the hyperbola (I was going to say 
  hyperblague) is that it is still more obscure than the word you 
  pretend to define." 
   
  Nicholl and Barbicane cared little for Michel Ardan's fun. 
  They were deep in a scientific discussion.  What curve would 
  the projectile follow? was their hobby.  One maintained the 
  hyperbola, the other the parabola.  They gave each other reasons 
  bristling with _x_.  Their arguments were couched in language 
  which made Michel jump.  The discussion was hot, and neither 
  would give up his chosen curve to his adversary. 
   
  This scientific dispute lasted so long that it made Michel 
  very impatient. 
   
  "Now, gentlemen cosines, will you cease to throw parabolas and 
  hyperbolas at each other's heads?  I want to understand the only 
  interesting question in the whole affair.  We shall follow one 
  or the other of these curves?  Good.  But where will they lead 
  us to?" 
   
  
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  "Nowhere," replied Nicholl. 
   
  "How, nowhere?" 
   
  "Evidently," said Barbicane, "they are open curves, which may be 
  prolonged indefinitely." 
   
  "Ah, savants!" cried Michel; "and what are either the one or the 
  other to us from the moment we know that they equally lead us 
  into infinite space?" 
   
  Barbicane and Nicholl could not forbear smiling.  They had just 
  been creating "art for art's sake."  Never had so idle a question 
  been raised at such an inopportune moment.  The sinister truth 
  remained that, whether hyperbolically or parabolically borne away, 
  the projectile would never again meet either the earth or the moon. 
   
  What would become of these bold travelers in the immediate future? 
  If they did not die of hunger, if they did not die of thirst, 
  in some days, when the gas failed, they would die from want of air, 
  unless the cold had killed them first.  Still, important as it was 
  to economize the gas, the excessive lowness of the surrounding 
  temperature obliged them to consume a certain quantity. 
  Strictly speaking, they could do without its _light_, but not 
  without its _heat_.  Fortunately the caloric generated by Reiset's 
  and Regnaut's apparatus raised the temperature of the interior 
  of the projectile a little, and without much expenditure they 
  were able to keep it bearable. 
   
  But observations had now become very difficult.  the dampness of 
  the projectile was condensed on the windows and congealed immediately. 
  This cloudiness had to be dispersed continually.  In any case 
  they might hope to be able to discover some phenomena of the 
  highest interest. 
   
  But up to this time the disc remained dumb and dark.  It did not 
  answer the multiplicity of questions put by these ardent minds; 
  a matter which drew this reflection from Michel, apparently a 
  just one: 
   
  "If ever we begin this journey over again, we shall do well to 
  choose the time when the moon is at the full." 
   
  "Certainly," said Nicholl, "that circumstance will be more favorable. 
  I allow that the moon, immersed in the sun's rays, will not be 
  visible during the transit, but instead we should see the earth, 
  which would be full.  And what is more, if we were drawn round the 
  moon, as at this moment, we should at least have the advantage of 
  seeing the invisible part of her disc magnificently lit." 
   
  "Well said, Nicholl," replied Michel Ardan.  "What do you 
  think, Barbicane?" 
   
  "I think this," answered the grave president:  "If ever we begin 
  this journey again, we shall start at the same time and under 
  the same conditions.  Suppose we had attained our end, would it 
  not have been better to have found continents in broad daylight 
  
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  than a country plunged in utter darkness?  Would not our first 
  installation have been made under better circumstances? 
  Yes, evidently.  As to the invisible side, we could have visited 
  it in our exploring expeditions on the lunar globe.  So that the 
  time of the full moon was well chosen.  But we ought to have 
  arrived at the end; and in order to have so arrived, we ought 
  to have suffered no deviation on the road." 
   
  "I have nothing to say to that," answered Michel Ardan. 
  "Here is, however, a good opportunity lost of observing the 
  other side of the moon." 
   
  But the projectile was now describing in the shadow that 
  incalculable course which no sight-mark would allow them 
  to ascertain.  Had its direction been altered, either by the 
  influence of the lunar attraction, or by the action of some 
  unknown star?  Barbicane could not say.  But a change had taken 
  place in the relative position of the vehicle; and Barbicane 
  verified it about four in the morning. 
   
  The change consisted in this, that the base of the projectile 
  had turned toward the moon's surface, and was so held by a 
  perpendicular passing through its axis.  The attraction, that is 
  to say the weight, had brought about this alteration.  The heaviest 
  part of the projectile inclined toward the invisible disc as if it 
  would fall upon it. 
   
  Was it falling?  Were the travelers attaining that much desired end? 
  No.  And the observation of a sign-point, quite inexplicable in 
  itself, showed Barbicane that his projectile was not nearing the 
  moon, and that it had shifted by following an almost concentric curve. 
   
  This point of mark was a luminous brightness, which Nicholl 
  sighted suddenly, on the limit of the horizon formed by the 
  black disc.  This point could not be confounded with a star. 
  It was a reddish incandescence which increased by degrees, a 
  decided proof that the projectile was shifting toward it and 
  not falling normally on the surface of the moon. 
   
  "A volcano! it is a volcano in action!" cried Nicholl; "a 
  disemboweling of the interior fires of the moon!  That world is 
  not quite extinguished." 
   
  "Yes, an eruption," replied Barbicane, who was carefully 
  studying the phenomenon through his night glass.  "What should 
  it be, if not a volcano?" 
   
  "But, then," said Michel Ardan, "in order to maintain that 
  combustion, there must be air.  So the atmosphere does surround 
  that part of the moon." 
   
  "Perhaps so," replied Barbicane, "but not necessarily. 
   
  The volcano, by the decomposition of certain substances, can 
  provide its own oxygen, and thus throw flames into space.  It seems 
  to me that the deflagration, by the intense brilliancy of the 
  substances in combustion, is produced in pure oxygen.  We must 
  
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  not be in a hurry to proclaim the existence of a lunar atmosphere." 
   
  The fiery mountain must have been situated about the 45@ south 
  latitude on the invisible part of the disc; but, to Barbicane's 
  great displeasure, the curve which the projectile was describing 
  was taking it far from the point indicated by the eruption. 
  Thus he could not determine its nature exactly.  Half an hour 
  after being sighted, this luminous point had disappeared behind 
  the dark horizon; but the verification of this phenomenon was 
  of considerable consequence in their selenographic studies. 
  It proved that all heat had not yet disappeared from the bowels 
  of this globe; and where heat exists, who can affirm that the 
  vegetable kingdom, nay, even the animal kingdom itself, has not 
  up to this time resisted all destructive influences?  The existence 
  of this volcano in eruption, unmistakably seen by these earthly 
  savants, would doubtless give rise to many theories favorable 
  to the grave question of the habitability of the moon. 
   
  Barbicane allowed himself to be carried away by these reflections. 
  He forgot himself in a deep reverie in which the mysterious 
  destiny of the lunar world was uppermost.  He was seeking to 
  combine together the facts observed up to that time, when a new 
  incident recalled him briskly to reality.  This incident was more 
  than a cosmical phenomenon; it was a threatened danger, the 
  consequence of which might be disastrous in the extreme. 
   
  Suddenly, in the midst of the ether, in the profound darkness, an 
  enormous mass appeared.  It was like a moon, but an incandescent 
  moon whose brilliancy was all the more intolerable as it cut 
  sharply on the frightful darkness of space.  This mass, of a 
  circular form, threw a light which filled the projectile. 
  The forms of Barbicane, Nicholl, and Michel Ardan, bathed in 
  its white sheets, assumed that livid spectral appearance which 
  physicians produce with the fictitious light of alcohol 
  impregnated with salt. 
   
  "By Jove!" cried Michel Ardan, "we are hideous.  What is that 
  ill-conditioned moon?" 
   
  "A meteor," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "A meteor burning in space?" 
   
  "Yes." 
   
  This shooting globe suddenly appearing in shadow at a distance 
  of at most 200 miles, ought, according to Barbicane, to have a 
  diameter of 2,000 yards.  It advanced at a speed of about one 
  mile and a half per second.  It cut the projectile's path and 
  must reach it in some minutes.  As it approached it grew to 
  enormous proportions. 
   
  Imagine, if possible, the situation of the travelers!  It is 
  impossible to describe it.  In spite of their courage, their 
  _sang-froid_, their carelessness of danger, they were mute, 
  motionless with stiffened limbs, a prey to frightful terror. 
  Their projectile, the course of which they could not alter, was 
  
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  rushing straight on this ignited mass, more intense than the 
  open mouth of an oven.  It seemed as though they were being 
  precipitated toward an abyss of fire. 
   
  Barbicane had seized the hands of his two companions, and all 
  three looked through their half-open eyelids upon that asteroid 
  heated to a white heat.  If thought was not destroyed within 
  them, if their brains still worked amid all this awe, they must 
  have given themselves up for lost. 
   
  Two minutes after the sudden appearance of the meteor (to them 
  two centuries of anguish) the projectile seemed almost about to 
  strike it, when the globe of fire burst like a bomb, but without 
  making any noise in that void where sound, which is but the 
  agitation of the layers of air, could not be generated. 
   
  Nicholl uttered a cry, and he and his companions rushed to 
  the scuttle.  What a sight!  What pen can describe it? 
  What palette is rich enough in colors to reproduce so magnificent 
  a spectacle? 
   
  It was like the opening of a crater, like the scattering of an 
  immense conflagration.  Thousands of luminous fragments lit up 
  and irradiated space with their fires.  Every size, every color, 
  was there intermingled.  There were rays of yellow and pale 
  yellow, red, green, gray-- a crown of fireworks of all colors. 
  Of the enormous and much-dreaded globe there remained nothing 
  but these fragments carried in all directions, now become 
  asteroids in their turn, some flaming like a sword, some 
  surrounded by a whitish cloud, and others leaving behind them 
  trains of brilliant cosmical dust. 
   
  These incandescent blocks crossed and struck each other, 
  scattering still smaller fragments, some of which struck 
  the projectile.  Its left scuttle was even cracked by a 
  violent shock.  It seemed to be floating amid a hail of 
  howitzer shells, the smallest of which might destroy 
  it instantly. 
   
  The light which saturated the ether was so wonderfully intense, 
  that Michel, drawing Barbicane and Nicholl to his window, 
  exclaimed, "The invisible moon, visible at last!" 
   
  And through a luminous emanation, which lasted some seconds, the 
  whole three caught a glimpse of that mysterious disc which the eye 
  of man now saw for the first time.  What could they distinguish 
  at a distance which they could not estimate?  Some lengthened 
  bands along the disc, real clouds formed in the midst of a very 
  confined atmosphere, from which emerged not only all the mountains, 
  but also projections of less importance; its circles, its yawning 
  craters, as capriciously placed as on the visible surface. 
  Then immense spaces, no longer arid plains, but real seas, oceans, 
  widely distributed, reflecting on their liquid surface all the 
  dazzling magic of the fires of space; and, lastly, on the surface 
  of the continents, large dark masses, looking like immense forests 
  under the rapid illumination of a brilliance. 
   
  
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  Was it an illusion, a mistake, an optical illusion?  Could they 
  give a scientific assent to an observation so superficially obtained? 
  Dared they pronounce upon the question of its habitability after 
  so slight a glimpse of the invisible disc? 
   
  But the lightnings in space subsided by degrees; its accidental 
  brilliancy died away; the asteroids dispersed in different 
  directions and were extinguished in the distance. 
   
  The ether returned to its accustomed darkness; the stars, eclipsed 
  for a moment, again twinkled in the firmament, and the disc, so 
  hastily discerned, was again buried in impenetrable night. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XVI 
   
   
  THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 
   
   
  The projectile had just escaped a terrible danger, and a very 
  unforseen one.  Who would have thought of such an encounter 
  with meteors?  These erring bodies might create serious perils 
  for the travelers.  They were to them so many sandbanks upon 
  that sea of ether which, less fortunate than sailors, they could 
  not escape.  But did these adventurers complain of space?  No, not 
  since nature had given them the splendid sight of a cosmical 
  meteor bursting from expansion, since this inimitable firework, 
  which no Ruggieri could imitate, had lit up for some seconds the 
  invisible glory of the moon.  In that flash, continents, seas, 
  and forests had become visible to them.  Did an atmosphere, 
  then, bring to this unknown face its life-giving atoms? 
  Questions still insoluble, and forever closed against 
  human curiousity! 
   
  It was then half-past three in the afternoon.  The projectile 
  was following its curvilinear direction round the moon.  Had its 
  course again been altered by the meteor?  It was to be feared so. 
  But the projectile must describe a curve unalterably determined 
  by the laws of mechanical reasoning.  Barbicane was inclined to 
  believe that this curve would be rather a parabola than a hyperbola. 
  But admitting the parabola, the projectile must quickly have 
  passed through the cone of shadow projected into space opposite 
  the sun.  This cone, indeed, is very narrow, the angular diameter 
  of the moon being so little when compared with the diameter of 
  the orb of day; and up to this time the projectile had been 
  floating in this deep shadow.  Whatever had been its speed 
  (and it could not have been insignificant), its period of 
  occultation continued.  That was evident, but perhaps that would 
  not have been the case in a supposedly rigidly parabolical 
  trajectory-- a new problem which tormented Barbicane's brain, 
  imprisoned as he was in a circle of unknowns which he could 
  not unravel. 
   
  
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  Neither of the travelers thought of taking an instant's repose. 
  Each one watched for an unexpected fact, which might throw some 
  new light on their uranographic studies.  About five o'clock, 
  Michel Ardan distributed, under the name of dinner, some pieces 
  of bread and cold meat, which were quickly swallowed without 
  either of them abandoning their scuttle, the glass of which was 
  incessantly encrusted by the condensation of vapor. 
   
  About forty-five minutes past five in the evening, Nicholl, 
  armed with his glass, sighted toward the southern border of the 
  moon, and in the direction followed by the projectile, some 
  bright points cut upon the dark shield of the sky.  They looked 
  like a succession of sharp points lengthened into a tremulous line. 
  They were very bright.  Such appeared the terminal line of the 
  moon when in one of her octants. 
   
  They could not be mistaken.  It was no longer a simple meteor. 
  This luminous ridge had neither color nor motion.  Nor was it a 
  volcano in eruption.  And Barbicane did not hesitate to 
  pronounce upon it. 
   
  "The sun!" he exclaimed. 
   
  "What! the sun?" answered Nicholl and Michel Ardan. 
   
  "Yes, my friends, it is the radiant orb itself lighting up the 
  summit of the mountains situated on the southern borders of 
  the moon.  We are evidently nearing the south pole." 
   
  "After having passed the north pole," replied Michel.  "We have 
  made the circuit of our satellite, then?" 
   
  "Yes, my good Michel." 
   
  "Then, no more hyperbolas, no more parabolas, no more open 
  curves to fear?" 
   
  "No, but a closed curve." 
   
  "Which is called----" 
   
  "An ellipse.  Instead of losing itself in interplanetary space, 
  it is probable that the projectile will describe an elliptical 
  orbit around the moon." 
   
  "Indeed!" 
   
  "And that it will become _her_ satellite." 
   
  "Moon of the moon!" cried Michel Ardan. 
   
  "Only, I would have you observe, my worthy friend," replied 
  Barbicane, "that we are none the less lost for that." 
   
  "Yes, in another manner, and much more pleasantly," answered the 
  careless Frenchman with his most amiable smile. 
   
  
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  CHAPTER XVII 
   
   
  TYCHO 
   
   
  At six in the evening the projectile passed the south pole at 
  less than forty miles off, a distance equal to that already 
  reached at the north pole.  The elliptical curve was being 
  rigidly carried out. 
   
  At this moment the travelers once more entered the blessed rays 
  of the sun.  They saw once more those stars which move slowly 
  from east to west.  The radiant orb was saluted by a triple hurrah. 
  With its light it also sent heat, which soon pierced the metal walls. 
  The glass resumed its accustomed appearance.  The layers of ice 
  melted as if by enchantment; and immediately, for economy's sake, 
  the gas was put out, the air apparatus alone consuming its 
  usual quantity. 
   
  "Ah!" said Nicholl, "these rays of heat are good.  With what 
  impatience must the Selenites wait the reappearance of the orb 
  of day." 
   
  "Yes," replied Michel Ardan, "imbibing as it were the brilliant 
  ether, light and heat, all life is contained in them." 
   
  At this moment the bottom of the projectile deviated somewhat 
  from the lunar surface, in order to follow the slightly 
  lengthened elliptical orbit.  From this point, had the earth 
  been at the full, Barbicane and his companions could have 
  seen it, but immersed in the sun's irradiation she was 
  quite invisible.  Another spectacle attracted their attention, 
  that of the southern part of the moon, brought by the glasses 
  to within 450 yards.  They did not again leave the scuttles, 
  and noted every detail of this fantastical continent. 
   
  Mounts Doerful and Leibnitz formed two separate groups very near 
  the south pole.  The first group extended from the pole to the 
  eighty-fourth parallel, on the eastern part of the orb; the 
  second occupied the eastern border, extending from the 65@ of 
  latitude to the pole. 
   
  On their capriciously formed ridge appeared dazzling sheets, as 
  mentioned by Pere Secchi.  With more certainty than the 
  illustrious Roman astronomer, Barbicane was enabled to recognize 
  their nature. 
   
  "They are snow," he exclaimed. 
   
  "Snow?" repeated Nicholl. 
   
  "Yes, Nicholl, snow; the surface of which is deeply frozen. 
  
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  See how they reflect the luminous rays.  Cooled lava would never 
  give out such intense reflection.  There must then be water, 
  there must be air on the moon.  As little as you please, but the 
  fact can no longer be contested."  No, it could not be.  And if 
  ever Barbicane should see the earth again, his notes will bear 
  witness to this great fact in his selenographic observations. 
   
  These mountains of Doerful and Leibnitz rose in the midst of 
  plains of a medium extent, which were bounded by an indefinite 
  succession of circles and annular ramparts.  These two chains 
  are the only ones met with in this region of circles. 
  Comparatively but slightly marked, they throw up here and there 
  some sharp points, the highest summit of which attains an 
  altitude of 24,600 feet. 
   
  But the projectile was high above all this landscape, and the 
  projections disappeared in the intense brilliancy of the disc. 
  And to the eyes of the travelers there reappeared that original 
  aspect of the lunar landscapes, raw in tone, without gradation 
  of colors, and without degrees of shadow, roughly black and 
  white, from the want of diffusion of light. 
   
  But the sight of this desolate world did not fail to captivate 
  them by its very strangeness.  They were moving over this region 
  as if they had been borne on the breath of some storm, watching 
  heights defile under their feet, piercing the cavities with their 
  eyes, going down into the rifts, climbing the ramparts, sounding 
  these mysterious holes, and leveling all cracks.  But no trace 
  of vegetation, no appearance of cities; nothing but stratification, 
  beds of lava, overflowings polished like immense mirrors, 
  reflecting the sun's rays with overpowering brilliancy. 
  Nothing belonging to a _living_ world-- everything to a dead 
  world, where avalanches, rolling from the summits of the mountains, 
  would disperse noiselessly at the bottom of the abyss, retaining 
  the motion, but wanting the sound.  In any case it was the image 
  of death, without its being possible even to say that life had ever 
  existed there. 
   
  Michel Ardan, however, thought he recognized a heap of ruins, 
  to which he drew Barbicane's attention.  It was about the 80th 
  parallel, in 30@ longitude.  This heap of stones, rather 
  regularly placed, represented a vast fortress, overlooking a 
  long rift, which in former days had served as a bed to the 
  rivers of prehistorical times.  Not far from that, rose to a 
  height of 17,400 feet the annular mountain of Short, equal to 
  the Asiatic Caucasus.  Michel Ardan, with his accustomed ardor, 
  maintained "the evidences" of his fortress.  Beneath it he 
  discerned the dismantled ramparts of a town; here the still 
  intact arch of a portico, there two or three columns lying under 
  their base; farther on, a succession of arches which must have 
  supported the conduit of an aqueduct; in another part the sunken 
  pillars of a gigantic bridge, run into the thickest parts of 
  the rift.  He distinguished all this, but with so much imagination 
  in his glance, and through glasses so fantastical, that we must 
  mistrust his observation.  But who could affirm, who would dare 
  to say, that the amiable fellow did not really see that which 
  his two companions would not see? 
  
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  Moments were too precious to be sacrificed in idle discussion. 
  The selenite city, whether imaginary or not, had already 
  disappeared afar off.  The distance of the projectile from the 
  lunar disc was on the increase, and the details of the soil were 
  being lost in a confused jumble.  The reliefs, the circles, 
  the craters, and the plains alone remained, and still showed 
  their boundary lines distinctly.  At this moment, to the left, 
  lay extended one of the finest circles of lunar orography, 
  one of the curiosities of this continent.  It was Newton, 
  which Barbicane recognized without trouble, by referring to 
  the _Mappa Selenographica_. 
   
  Newton is situated in exactly 77@ south latitude, and 16@ 
  east longitude.  It forms an annular crater, the ramparts of 
  which, rising to a height of 21,300 feet, seemed to be impassable. 
   
  Barbicane made his companions observe that the height of this 
  mountain above the surrounding plain was far from equaling the 
  depth of its crater.  This enormous hole was beyond all 
  measurement, and formed a gloomy abyss, the bottom of which the 
  sun's rays could never reach.  There, according to Humboldt, 
  reigns utter darkness, which the light of the sun and the earth 
  cannot break.  Mythologists could well have made it the mouth of hell. 
   
  "Newton," said Barbicane, "is the most perfect type of these 
  annular mountains, of which the earth possesses no sample. 
  They prove that the moon's formation, by means of cooling, is 
  due to violent causes; for while, under the pressure of internal 
  fires the reliefs rise to considerable height, the depths withdraw 
  far below the lunar level." 
   
  "I do not dispute the fact," replied Michel Ardan. 
   
  Some minutes after passing Newton, the projectile directly 
  overlooked the annular mountains of Moret.  It skirted at some 
  distance the summits of Blancanus, and at about half-past seven 
  in the evening reached the circle of Clavius. 
   
  This circle, one of the most remarkable of the disc, is situated 
  in 58@ south latitude, and 15@ east longitude.  Its height is 
  estimated at 22,950 feet.  The travelers, at a distance of 
  twenty-four miles (reduced to four by their glasses) could 
  admire this vast crater in its entirety. 
   
  "Terrestrial volcanoes," said Barbicane, "are but mole-hills 
  compared with those of the moon.  Measuring the old craters 
  formed by the first eruptions of Vesuvius and Etna, we find them 
  little more than three miles in breadth.  In France the circle 
  of Cantal measures six miles across; at Ceyland the circle of 
  the island is forty miles, which is considered the largest on 
  the globe.  What are these diameters against that of Clavius, 
  which we overlook at this moment?" 
   
  "What is its breadth?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "It is 150 miles," replied Barbicane.  "This circle is certainly 
  
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  the most important on the moon, but many others measure 150, 
  100, or 75 miles." 
   
  "Ah! my friends," exclaimed Michel, "can you picture to 
  yourselves what this now peaceful orb of night must have been 
  when its craters, filled with thunderings, vomited at the same 
  time smoke and tongues of flame.  What a wonderful spectacle 
  then, and now what decay!  This moon is nothing more than a thin 
  carcase of fireworks, whose squibs, rockets, serpents, and suns, 
  after a superb brilliancy, have left but sadly broken cases. 
  Who can say the cause, the reason, the motive force of 
  these cataclysms?" 
   
  Barbicane was not listening to Michel Ardan; he was 
  contemplating these ramparts of Clavius, formed by large 
  mountains spread over several miles.  At the bottom of the 
  immense cavity burrowed hundreds of small extinguished craters, 
  riddling the soil like a colander, and overlooked by a peak 
  15,000 feet high. 
   
  Around the plain appeared desolate.  Nothing so arid as these 
  reliefs, nothing so sad as these ruins of mountains, and (if we 
  may so express ourselves) these fragments of peaks and mountains 
  which strewed the soil.  The satellite seemed to have burst at 
  this spot. 
   
  The projectile was still advancing, and this movement did 
  not subside.  Circles, craters, and uprooted mountains succeeded 
  each other incessantly.  No more plains; no more seas.  A never 
  ending Switzerland and Norway.  And lastly, in the canter of 
  this region of crevasses, the most splendid mountain on the 
  lunar disc, the dazzling Tycho, in which posterity will ever 
  preserve the name of the illustrious Danish astronomer. 
   
  In observing the full moon in a cloudless sky no one has failed 
  to remark this brilliant point of the southern hemisphere. 
  Michel Ardan used every metaphor that his imagination could 
  supply to designate it by.  To him this Tycho was a focus of 
  light, a center of irradiation, a crater vomiting rays.  It was 
  the tire of a brilliant wheel, an _asteria_ enclosing the disc 
  with its silver tentacles, an enormous eye filled with flames, 
  a glory carved for Pluto's head, a star launched by the 
  Creator's hand, and crushed against the face of the moon! 
   
  Tycho forms such a concentration of light that the inhabitants 
  of the earth can see it without glasses, though at a distance 
  of 240,000 miles!  Imagine, then, its intensity to the eye of 
  observers placed at a distance of only fifty miles!  Seen through 
  this pure ether, its brilliancy was so intolerable that Barbicane 
  and his friends were obliged to blacken their glasses with the gas 
  smoke before they could bear the splendor.  Then silent, scarcely 
  uttering an interjection of admiration, they gazed, they contemplated. 
  All their feelings, all their impressions, were concentrated in that 
  look, as under any violent emotion all life is concentrated at the 
  heart. 
   
  Tycho belongs to the system of radiating mountains, like 
  
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  Aristarchus and Copernicus; but it is of all the most complete 
  and decided, showing unquestionably the frightful volcanic 
  action to which the formation of the moon is due.  Tycho is 
  situated in 43@ south latitude, and 12@ east longitude.  Its center 
  is occupied by a crater fifty miles broad.  It assumes a slightly 
  elliptical form, and is surrounded by an enclosure of annular 
  ramparts, which on the east and west overlook the outer plain from 
  a height of 15,000 feet.  It is a group of Mont Blancs, placed 
  round one common center and crowned by radiating beams. 
   
  What this incomparable mountain really is, with all the 
  projections converging toward it, and the interior excrescences 
  of its crater, photography itself could never represent. 
  Indeed, it is during the full moon that Tycho is seen in all 
  its splendor.  Then all shadows disappear, the foreshortening 
  of perspective disappears, and all proofs become white-- a 
  disagreeable fact:  for this strange region would have been 
  marvelous if reproduced with photographic exactness.  It is 
  but a group of hollows, craters, circles, a network of crests; 
  then, as far as the eye could see, a whole volcanic network 
  cast upon this encrusted soil.  One can then understand that 
  the bubbles of this central eruption have kept their first form. 
  Crystallized by cooling, they have stereotyped that aspect 
  which the moon formerly presented when under the Plutonian forces. 
   
  The distance which separated the travelers from the annular 
  summits of Tycho was not so great but that they could catch 
  the principal details.  Even on the causeway forming the 
  fortifications of Tycho, the mountains hanging on to the 
  interior and exterior sloping flanks rose in stories like 
  gigantic terraces.  They appeared to be higher by 300 or 400 
  feet to the west than to the east.  No system of terrestrial 
  encampment could equal these natural fortifications.  A town 
  built at the bottom of this circular cavity would have been 
  utterly inaccessible. 
   
  Inaccessible and wonderfully extended over this soil covered 
  with picturesque projections!  Indeed, nature had not left the 
  bottom of this crater flat and empty.  It possessed its own 
  peculiar orography, a mountainous system, making it a world 
  in itself.  The travelers could distinguish clearly cones, 
  central hills, remarkable positions of the soil, naturally 
  placed to receive the _chefs-d'oeuvre_ of Selenite architecture. 
  There was marked out the place for a temple, here the ground of a 
  forum, on this spot the plan of a palace, in another the plateau 
  for a citadel; the whole overlooked by a central mountain of 
  1,500 feet.  A vast circle, in which ancient Rome could have 
  been held in its entirety ten times over. 
   
  "Ah!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, enthusiastic at the sight; "what 
  a grand town might be constructed within that ring of mountains! 
  A quiet city, a peaceful refuge, beyond all human misery.  How calm 
  and isolated those misanthropes, those haters of humanity might 
  live there, and all who have a distaste for social life!" 
   
  "All!  It would be too small for them," replied Barbicane simply. 
   
  
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  CHAPTER XVIII 
   
   
  GRAVE QUESTIONS 
   
   
  But the projectile had passed the _enceinte_ of Tycho, and 
  Barbicane and his two companions watched with scrupulous 
  attention the brilliant rays which the celebrated mountain shed 
  so curiously over the horizon. 
   
  What was this radiant glory?  What geological phenomenon had 
  designed these ardent beams?  This question occupied Barbicane's mind. 
   
  Under his eyes ran in all directions luminous furrows, raised at 
  the edges and concave in the center, some twelve miles, others 
  thirty miles broad.  These brilliant trains extended in some 
  places to within 600 miles of Tycho, and seemed to cover, 
  particularly toward the east, the northeast and the north, the 
  half of the southern hemisphere.  One of these jets extended as 
  far as the circle of Neander, situated on the 40th meridian. 
  Another, by a slight curve, furrowed the "Sea of Nectar," breaking 
  against the chain of Pyrenees, after a circuit of 800 miles. 
  Others, toward the west, covered the "Sea of Clouds" and 
  the "Sea of Humors" with a luminous network.  What was the 
  origin of these sparkling rays, which shone on the plains as 
  well as on the reliefs, at whatever height they might be? 
  All started from a common center, the crater of Tycho. 
  They sprang from him.  Herschel attributed their brilliancy to 
  currents of lava congealed by the cold; an opinion, however, 
  which has not been generally adopted.  Other astronomers have 
  seen in these inexplicable rays a kind of moraines, rows of 
  erratic blocks, which had been thrown up at the period of 
  Tycho's formation. 
   
  "And why not?" asked Nicholl of Barbicane, who was relating and 
  rejecting these different opinions. 
   
  "Because the regularity of these luminous lines, and the 
  violence necessary to carry volcanic matter to such distances, 
  is inexplicable." 
   
  "Eh! by Jove!" replied Michel Ardan, "it seems easy enough to me 
  to explain the origin of these rays." 
   
  "Indeed?" said Barbicane. 
   
  "Indeed," continued Michel.  "It is enough to say that it is a 
  vast star, similar to that produced by a ball or a stone thrown 
  at a square of glass!" 
   
  "Well!" replied Barbicane, smiling.  "And what hand would be 
  powerful enough to throw a ball to give such a shock as that?" 
  
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  "The hand is not necessary," answered Nicholl, not at all 
  confounded; "and as to the stone, let us suppose it to be a comet." 
   
  "Ah! those much-abused comets!" exclaimed Barbicane.  "My brave 
  Michel, your explanation is not bad; but your comet is useless. 
  The shock which produced that rent must have some from the 
  inside of the star.  A violent contraction of the lunar crust, 
  while cooling, might suffice to imprint this gigantic star." 
   
  "A contraction! something like a lunar stomach-ache." said 
  Michel Ardan. 
   
  "Besides," added Barbicane, "this opinion is that of an English 
  savant, Nasmyth, and it seems to me to sufficiently explain the 
  radiation of these mountains." 
   
  "That Nasmyth was no fool!" replied Michel. 
   
  Long did the travelers, whom such a sight could never weary, 
  admire the splendors of Tycho.  Their projectile, saturated with 
  luminous gleams in the double irradiation of sun and moon, must 
  have appeared like an incandescent globe.  They had passed 
  suddenly from excessive cold to intense heat.  Nature was thus 
  preparing them to become Selenites.  Become Selenites!  That idea 
  brought up once more the question of the habitability of the moon. 
  After what they had seen, could the travelers solve it?  Would they 
  decide for or against it?  Michel Ardan persuaded his two friends 
  to form an opinion, and asked them directly if they thought that 
  men and animals were represented in the lunar world. 
   
  "I think that we can answer," said Barbicane; "but according to 
  my idea the question ought not to be put in that form.  I ask it 
  to be put differently." 
   
  "Put it your own way," replied Michel. 
   
  "Here it is," continued Barbicane.  "The problem is a double one, 
  and requires a double solution.  Is the moon _habitable_?  Has the 
  moon ever been _inhabitable_?" 
   
  "Good!" replied Nicholl.  "First let us see whether the moon 
  is habitable." 
   
  "To tell the truth, I know nothing about it," answered Michel. 
   
  "And I answer in the negative," continued Barbicane.  "In her 
  actual state, with her surrounding atmosphere certainly very 
  much reduced, her seas for the most part dried up, her 
  insufficient supply of water restricted, vegetation, sudden 
  alternations of cold and heat, her days and nights of 354 
  hours-- the moon does not seem habitable to me, nor does she 
  seem propitious to animal development, nor sufficient for the 
  wants of existence as we understand it." 
   
  "Agreed," replied Nicholl.  "But is not the moon habitable for 
  creatures differently organized from ourselves?" 
  
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  "That question is more difficult to answer, but I will try; and 
  I ask Nicholl if _motion_ appears to him to be a necessary 
  result of _life_, whatever be its organization?" 
   
  "Without a doubt!" answered Nicholl. 
   
  "Then, my worthy companion, I would answer that we have observed 
  the lunar continent at a distance of 500 yards at most, and that 
  nothing seemed to us to move on the moon's surface.  The presence 
  of any kind of life would have been betrayed by its attendant marks, 
  such as divers buildings, and even by ruins.  And what have 
  we seen?  Everywhere and always the geological works of nature, 
  never the work of man.  If, then, there exist representatives 
  of the animal kingdom on the moon, they must have fled to those 
  unfathomable cavities which the eye cannot reach; which I cannot 
  admit, for they must have left traces of their passage on those 
  plains which the atmosphere must cover, however slightly raised 
  it may be.  These traces are nowhere visible.  There remains but 
  one hypothesis, that of a living race to which motion, which is 
  life, is foreign." 
   
  "One might as well say, living creatures which do not live," 
  replied Michel. 
   
  "Just so," said Barbicane, "which for us has no meaning." 
   
  "Then we may form our opinion?" said Michel. 
   
  "Yes," replied Nicholl. 
   
  "Very well," continued Michel Ardan, "the Scientific Commission 
  assembled in the projectile of the Gun Club, after having 
  founded their argument on facts recently observed, decide 
  unanimously upon the question of the habitability of the moon-- 
  `_No!_ the moon is not habitable.'" 
   
  This decision was consigned by President Barbicane to his 
  notebook, where the process of the sitting of the 6th of 
  December may be seen. 
   
  "Now," said Nicholl, "let us attack the second question, an 
  indispensable complement of the first.  I ask the honorable 
  commission, if the moon is not habitable, has she ever been 
  inhabited, Citizen Barbicane?" 
   
  "My friends," replied Barbicane, "I did not undertake this 
  journey in order to form an opinion on the past habitability of 
  our satellite; but I will add that our personal observations 
  only confirm me in this opinion.  I believe, indeed I affirm, 
  that the moon has been inhabited by a human race organized like 
  our own; that she has produced animals anatomically formed like 
  the terrestrial animals:  but I add that these races, human and 
  animal, have had their day, and are now forever extinct!" 
   
  "Then," asked Michel, "the moon must be older than the earth?" 
   
  
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  "No!" said Barbicane decidedly, "but a world which has grown old 
  quicker, and whose formation and deformation have been more rapid. 
  Relatively, the organizing force of matter has been much more 
  violent in the interior of the moon than in the interior of the 
  terrestrial globe.  The actual state of this cracked, twisted, 
  and burst disc abundantly proves this.  The moon and the earth 
  were nothing but gaseous masses originally.  These gases have 
  passed into a liquid state under different influences, and the 
  solid masses have been formed later. But most certainly our 
  sphere was still gaseous or liquid, when the moon was solidified 
  by cooling, and had become habitable." 
   
  "I believe it," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Then," continued Barbicane, "an atmosphere surrounded it, the 
  waters contained within this gaseous envelope could not evaporate. 
  Under the influence of air, water, light, solar heat, and central 
  heat, vegetation took possession of the continents prepared to 
  receive it, and certainly life showed itself about this period, 
  for nature does not expend herself in vain; and a world so 
  wonderfully formed for habitation must necessarily be inhabited." 
   
  "But," said Nicholl, "many phenomena inherent in our satellite 
  might cramp the expansion of the animal and vegetable kingdom. 
  For example, its days and nights of 354 hours?" 
   
  "At the terrestrial poles they last six months," said Michel. 
   
  "An argument of little value, since the poles are not inhabited." 
   
  "Let us observe, my friends," continued Barbicane, "that if in 
  the actual state of the moon its long nights and long days 
  created differences of temperature insupportable to 
  organization, it was not so at the historical period of time. 
  The atmosphere enveloped the disc with a fluid mantle; vapor 
  deposited itself in the shape of clouds; this natural screen 
  tempered the ardor of the solar rays, and retained the 
  nocturnal radiation.  Light, like heat, can diffuse itself in 
  the air; hence an equality between the influences which no longer 
  exists, now that atmosphere has almost entirely disappeared. 
  And now I am going to astonish you." 
   
  "Astonish us?" said Michel Ardan. 
   
  "I firmly believe that at the period when the moon was inhabited, 
  the nights and days did not last 354 hours!" 
   
  "And why?" asked Nicholl quickly. 
   
  "Because most probably then the rotary motion of the moon upon 
  her axis was not equal to her revolution, an equality which 
  presents each part of her disc during fifteen days to the action 
  of the solar rays." 
   
  "Granted," replied Nicholl, "but why should not these two 
  motions have been equal, as they are really so?" 
   
  
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  "Because that equality has only been determined by 
  terrestrial attraction.  And who can say that this attraction 
  was powerful enough to alter the motion of the moon at that 
  period when the earth was still fluid?" 
   
  "Just so," replied Nicholl; "and who can say that the moon has 
  always been a satellite of the earth?" 
   
  "And who can say," exclaimed Michel Ardan, "that the moon did 
  not exist before the earth?" 
   
  Their imaginations carried them away into an indefinite field 
  of hypothesis.  Barbicane sought to restrain them. 
   
  "Those speculations are too high," said he; "problems 
  utterly insoluble.  Do not let us enter upon them.  Let us only 
  admit the insufficiency of the primordial attraction; and then 
  by the inequality of the two motions of rotation and revolution, 
  the days and nights could have succeeded each other on the moon 
  as they succeed each other on the earth.  Besides, even without 
  these conditions, life was possible." 
   
  "And so," asked Michel Ardan, "humanity has disappeared from 
  the moon?" 
   
  "Yes," replied Barbicane, "after having doubtless remained 
  persistently for millions of centuries; by degrees the 
  atmosphere becoming rarefied, the disc became uninhabitable, as 
  the terrestrial globe will one day become by cooling." 
   
  "By cooling?" 
   
  "Certainly," replied Barbicane; "as the internal fires became 
  extinguished, and the incandescent matter concentrated itself, 
  the lunar crust cooled.  By degrees the consequences of these 
  phenomena showed themselves in the disappearance of organized 
  beings, and by the disappearance of vegetation.  Soon the 
  atmosphere was rarefied, probably withdrawn by terrestrial 
  attraction; then aerial departure of respirable air, and 
  disappearance of water by means of evaporation.  At this period 
  the moon becoming uninhabitable, was no longer inhabited. 
  It was a dead world, such as we see it to-day." 
   
  "And you say that the same fate is in store for the earth?" 
   
  "Most probably." 
   
  "But when?" 
   
  "When the cooling of its crust shall have made it uninhabitable." 
   
  "And have they calculated the time which our unfortunate sphere 
  will take to cool?" 
   
  "Certainly." 
   
  "And you know these calculations?" 
  
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  "Perfectly." 
   
  "But speak, then, my clumsy savant," exclaimed Michel Ardan, 
  "for you make me boil with impatience!" 
   
  "Very well, my good Michel," replied Barbicane quietly; "we know 
  what diminution of temperature the earth undergoes in the lapse 
  of a century.  And according to certain calculations, this mean 
  temperature will after a period of 400,000 years, be brought 
  down to zero!" 
   
  "Four hundred thousand years!" exclaimed Michel.  "Ah!  I 
  breathe again.  Really I was frightened to hear you; I imagined 
  that we had not more than 50,000 years to live." 
   
  Barbicane and Nicholl could not help laughing at their 
  companion's uneasiness.  Then Nicholl, who wished to end the 
  discussion, put the second question, which had just been 
  considered again. 
   
  "Has the moon been inhabited?" he asked. 
   
  The answer was unanimously in the affirmative.  But during this 
  discussion, fruitful in somewhat hazardous theories, the 
  projectile was rapidly leaving the moon: the lineaments faded 
  away from the travelers' eyes, mountains were confused in the 
  distance; and of all the wonderful, strange, and fantastical 
  form of the earth's satellite, there soon remained nothing but 
  the imperishable remembrance. 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XIX 
   
   
  A STRUGGLE AGAINST THE IMPOSSIBLE 
   
   
  For a long time Barbicane and his companions looked silently and 
  sadly upon that world which they had only seen from a distance, 
  as Moses saw the land of Canaan, and which they were leaving 
  without a possibility of ever returning to it.  The projectile's 
  position with regard to the moon had altered, and the base was 
  now turned to the earth. 
   
  This change, which Barbicane verified, did not fail to surprise them. 
  If the projectile was to gravitate round the satellite in an 
  elliptical orbit, why was not its heaviest part turned toward it, 
  as the moon turns hers to the earth?  That was a difficult point. 
   
  In watching the course of the projectile they could see that on 
  leaving the moon it followed a course analogous to that traced 
  in approaching her.  It was describing a very long ellipse, 
  which would most likely extend to the point of equal attraction, 
  
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  where the influences of the earth and its satellite are neutralized. 
   
  Such was the conclusion which Barbicane very justly drew from 
  facts already observed, a conviction which his two friends 
  shared with him. 
   
  "And when arrived at this dead point, what will become of us?" 
  asked Michel Ardan. 
   
  "We don't know," replied Barbicane. 
   
  "But one can draw some hypotheses, I suppose?" 
   
  "Two," answered Barbicane; "either the projectile's speed will 
  be insufficient, and it will remain forever immovable on this 
  line of double attraction----" 
   
  "I prefer the other hypothesis, whatever it may be," interrupted 
  Michel. 
   
  "Or," continued Barbicane, "its speed will be sufficient, and it 
  will continue its elliptical course, to gravitate forever around 
  the orb of night." 
   
  "A revolution not at all consoling," said Michel, "to pass to 
  the state of humble servants to a moon whom we are accustomed to 
  look upon as our own handmaid.  So that is the fate in store for us?" 
   
  Neither Barbicane nor Nicholl answered. 
   
  "You do not answer," continued Michel impatiently. 
   
  "There is nothing to answer," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Is there nothing to try?" 
   
  "No," answered Barbicane.  "Do you pretend to fight against 
  the impossible?" 
   
  "Why not?  Do one Frenchman and two Americans shrink from such 
  a word?" 
   
  "But what would you do?" 
   
  "Subdue this motion which is bearing us away." 
   
  "Subdue it?" 
   
  "Yes," continued Michel, getting animated, "or else alter it, 
  and employ it to the accomplishment of our own ends." 
   
  "And how?" 
   
  "That is your affair.  If artillerymen are not masters of their 
  projectile they are not artillerymen.  If the projectile is to 
  command the gunner, we had better ram the gunner into the gun. 
  My faith! fine savants! who do not know what is to become of us 
  
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  after inducing me----" 
   
  "Inducing you!" cried Barbicane and Nicholl.  "Inducing you! 
  What do you mean by that?" 
   
  "No recrimination," said Michel.  "I do not complain, the trip 
  has pleased me, and the projectile agrees with me; but let us do 
  all that is humanly possible to do the fall somewhere, even if 
  only on the moon." 
   
  "We ask no better, my worthy Michel," replied Barbicane, "but 
  means fail us." 
   
  "We cannot alter the motion of the projectile?" 
   
  "No." 
   
  "Nor diminish its speed?" 
   
  "No." 
   
  "Not even by lightening it, as they lighten an overloaded vessel?" 
   
  "What would you throw out?" said Nicholl.  "We have no ballast 
  on board; and indeed it seems to me that if lightened it would 
  go much quicker." 
   
  "Slower." 
   
  "Quicker." 
   
  "Neither slower nor quicker," said Barbicane, wishing to make 
  his two friends agree; "for we float is space, and must no 
  longer consider specific weight." 
   
  "Very well," cried Michel Ardan in a decided voice; "then their 
  remains but one thing to do." 
   
  "What is it?" asked Nicholl. 
   
  "Breakfast," answered the cool, audacious Frenchman, who always 
  brought up this solution at the most difficult juncture. 
   
  In any case, if this operation had no influence on the 
  projectile's course, it could at least be tried without 
  inconvenience, and even with success from a stomachic point 
  of view.  Certainly Michel had none but good ideas. 
   
  They breakfasted then at two in the morning; the hour mattered little. 
  Michel served his usual repast, crowned by a glorious bottle drawn 
  from his private cellar.  If ideas did not crowd on their brains, 
  we must despair of the Chambertin of 1853.  The repast finished, 
  observation began again.  Around the projectile, at an invariable 
  distance, were the objects which had been thrown out.  Evidently, in 
  its translatory motion round the moon, it had not passed through 
  any atmosphere, for the specific weight of these different objects 
  would have checked their relative speed. 
  
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  On the side of the terrestrial sphere nothing was to be seen. 
  The earth was but a day old, having been new the night before at 
  twelve; and two days must elapse before its crescent, freed from 
  the solar rays, would serve as a clock to the Selenites, as in 
  its rotary movement each of its points after twenty-four hours 
  repasses the same lunar meridian. 
   
  On the moon's side the sight was different; the orb shone in all 
  her splendor amid innumerable constellations, whose purity could 
  not be troubled by her rays.  On the disc, the plains were 
  already returning to the dark tint which is seen from the earth. 
  The other part of the nimbus remained brilliant, and in the midst 
  of this general brilliancy Tycho shone prominently like a sun. 
   
  Barbicane had no means of estimating the projectile's speed, but 
  reasoning showed that it must uniformly decrease, according to 
  the laws of mechanical reasoning.  Having admitted that the 
  projectile was describing an orbit around the moon, this orbit 
  must necessarily be elliptical; science proves that it must be so. 
  No motive body circulating round an attracting body fails in 
  this law.  Every orbit described in space is elliptical.  And why 
  should the projectile of the Gun Club escape this natural arrangement? 
  In elliptical orbits, the attracting body always occupies one of 
  the foci; so that at one moment the satellite is nearer, and at 
  another farther from the orb around which it gravitates.  When the 
  earth is nearest the sun she is in her perihelion; and in her 
  aphelion at the farthest point.  Speaking of the moon, she is 
  nearest to the earth in her perigee, and farthest from it in 
  her apogee.  To use analogous expressions, with which the 
  astronomers' language is enriched, if the projectile remains 
  as a satellite of the moon, we must say that it is in its 
  "aposelene" at its farthest point, and in its "periselene" at 
  its nearest.  In the latter case, the projectile would attain 
  its maximum of speed; and in the former its minimum.  It was 
  evidently moving toward its aposelenitical point; and Barbicane 
  had reason to think that its speed would decrease up to this 
  point, and then increase by degrees as it neared the moon. 
  This speed would even become _nil_, if this point joined that of 
  equal attraction.  Barbicane studied the consequences of these 
  different situations, and thinking what inference he could draw 
  from them, when he was roughly disturbed by a cry from Michel Ardan. 
   
  "By Jove!" he exclaimed, "I must admit we are down-right simpletons!" 
   
  "I do not say we are not," replied Barbicane; "but why?" 
   
  "Because we have a very simple means of checking this speed 
  which is bearing us from the moon, and we do not use it!" 
   
  "And what is the means?" 
   
  "To use the recoil contained in our rockets." 
   
  "Done!" said Nicholl. 
   
  "We have not used this force yet," said Barbicane, "it is true, 
  
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  but we will do so." 
   
  "When?" asked Michel. 
   
  "When the time comes.  Observe, my friends, that in the position 
  occupied by the projectile, an oblique position with regard to 
  the lunar disc, our rockets, in slightly altering its direction, 
  might turn it from the moon instead of drawing it nearer?" 
   
  "Just so," replied Michel. 
   
  "Let us wait, then.  By some inexplicable influence, the 
  projectile is turning its base toward the earth.  It is probable 
  that at the point of equal attraction, its conical cap will be 
  directed rigidly toward the moon; at that moment we may hope 
  that its speed will be _nil_; then will be the moment to act, 
  and with the influence of our rockets we may perhaps 
  provoke a fall directly on the surface of the lunar disc." 
   
  "Bravo!" said Michel.  "What we did not do, what we could not do 
  on our first passage at the dead point, because the projectile 
  was then endowed with too great a speed." 
   
  "Very well reasoned," said Nicholl. 
   
  "Let us wait patiently," continued Barbicane.  "Putting every 
  chance on our side, and after having so much despaired, I may 
  say I think we shall gain our end." 
   
  This conclusion was a signal for Michel Ardan's hips and hurrahs. 
  And none of the audacious boobies remembered the question that 
  they themselves had solved in the negative.  No! the moon is not 
  inhabited; no! the moon is probably not habitable.  And yet they 
  were going to try everything to reach her. 
   
  One single question remained to be solved.  At what precise 
  moment the projectile would reach the point of equal attraction, 
  on which the travelers must play their last card. In order to 
  calculate this to within a few seconds, Barbicane had only to 
  refer to his notes, and to reckon the different heights taken on 
  the lunar parallels.  Thus the time necessary to travel over the 
  distance between the dead point and the south pole would be equal 
  to the distance separating the north pole from the dead point. 
  The hours representing the time traveled over were carefully 
  noted, and the calculation was easy.  Barbicane found that this 
  point would be reached at one in the morning on the night of the 
  7th-8th of December.  So that, if nothing interfered with its 
  course, it would reach the given point in twenty-two hours. 
   
  The rockets had primarily been placed to check the fall of the 
  projectile upon the moon, and now they were going to employ them 
  for a directly contrary purpose.  In any case they were ready, 
  and they had only to wait for the moment to set fire to them. 
   
  "Since there is nothing else to be done," said Nicholl, "I make 
  a proposition." 
   
  
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  "What is it?" asked Barbicane. 
   
  "I propose to go to sleep." 
   
  "What a motion!" exclaimed Michel Ardan. 
   
  "It is forty hours since we closed our eyes," said Nicholl. 
  "Some hours of sleep will restore our strength." 
   
  "Never," interrupted Michel. 
   
  "Well," continued Nicholl, "every one to his taste; I shall go 
  to sleep."  And stretching himself on the divan, he soon snored 
  like a forty-eight pounder. 
   
  "That Nicholl has a good deal of sense," said Barbicane; 
  "presently I shall follow his example."  Some moments after his 
  continued bass supported the captain's baritone. 
   
  "Certainly," said Michel Ardan, finding himself alone, "these 
  practical people have sometimes most opportune ideas." 
   
  And with his long legs stretched out, and his great arms folded 
  under his head, Michel slept in his turn. 
   
  But this sleep could be neither peaceful nor lasting, the minds 
  of these three men were too much occupied, and some hours after, 
  about seven in the morning, all three were on foot at the same instant. 
   
  The projectile was still leaving the moon, and turning its 
  conical part more and more toward her. 
   
  An explicable phenomenon, but one which happily served 
  Barbicane's ends. 
   
  Seventeen hours more, and the moment for action would have arrived. 
   
  The day seemed long.  However bold the travelers might be, they 
  were greatly impressed by the approach of that moment which 
  would decide all-- either precipitate their fall on to the moon, 
  or forever chain them in an immutable orbit.  They counted the 
  hours as they passed too slow for their wish; Barbicane and 
  Nicholl were obstinately plunged in their calculations, Michel 
  going and coming between the narrow walls, and watching that 
  impassive moon with a longing eye. 
   
  At times recollections of the earth crossed their minds.  They saw 
  once more their friends of the Gun Club, and the dearest of all, 
  J. T. Maston.  At that moment, the honorable secretary must be 
  filling his post on the Rocky Mountains.  If he could see the 
  projectile through the glass of his gigantic telescope, what 
  would he think?  After seeing it disappear behind the moon's 
  south pole, he would see them reappear by the north pole! 
  They must therefore be a satellite of a satellite!  Had J. T. 
  Maston given this unexpected news to the world?  Was this the 
  _denouement_ of this great enterprise? 
   
  
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  But the day passed without incident.  The terrestrial 
  midnight arrived.  The 8th of December was beginning. 
  One hour more, and the point of equal attraction would 
  be reached.  What speed would then animate the projectile? 
  They could not estimate it.  But no error could vitiate 
  Barbicane's calculations.  At one in the morning this speed 
  ought to be and would be _nil_. 
   
  Besides, another phenomenon would mark the projectile's 
  stopping-point on the neutral line.  At that spot the two 
  attractions, lunar and terrestrial, would be annulled. 
  Objects would "weigh" no more.  This singular fact, which had 
  surprised Barbicane and his companions so much in going, would 
  be repeated on their return under the very same conditions. 
  At this precise moment they must act. 
   
  Already the projectile's conical top was sensibly turned toward 
  the lunar disc, presented in such a way as to utilize the whole 
  of the recoil produced by the pressure of the rocket apparatus. 
  The chances were in favor of the travelers.  If its speed was 
  utterly annulled on this dead point, a decided movement toward 
  the moon would suffice, however slight, to determine its fall. 
   
  "Five minutes to one," said Nicholl. 
   
  "All is ready," replied Michel Ardan, directing a lighted match 
  to the flame of the gas. 
   
  "Wait!" said Barbicane, holding his chronometer in his hand. 
   
  At that moment weight had no effect.  The travelers felt in 
  themselves the entire disappearance of it.  They were very near 
  the neutral point, if they did not touch it. 
   
  "One o'clock," said Barbicane. 
   
  Michel Ardan applied the lighted match to a train in 
  communication with the rockets.  No detonation was heard in 
  the inside, for there was no air.  But, through the scuttles, 
  Barbicane saw a prolonged smoke, the flames of which were 
  immediately extinguished. 
   
  The projectile sustained a certain shock, which was sensibly 
  felt in the interior. 
   
  The three friends looked and listened without speaking, and 
  scarcely breathing.  One might have heard the beating of their 
  hearts amid this perfect silence. 
   
  "Are we falling?" asked Michel Ardan, at length. 
   
  "No," said Nicholl, "since the bottom of the projectile is not 
  turning to the lunar disc!" 
   
  At this moment, Barbicane, quitting his scuttle, turned to his 
  two companions.  He was frightfully pale, his forehead wrinkled, 
  and his lips contracted. 
  
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  "We are falling!" said he. 
   
  "Ah!" cried Michel Ardan, "on to the moon?" 
   
  "On to the earth!" 
   
  "The devil!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, adding philosophically, 
  "well, when we came into this projectile we were very doubtful 
  as to the ease with which we should get out of it!" 
   
  And now this fearful fall had begun.  The speed retained had 
  borne the projectile beyond the dead point.  The explosion of 
  the rockets could not divert its course.  This speed in going 
  had carried it over the neutral line, and in returning had done 
  the same thing.  The laws of physics condemned it _to pass 
  through every point which it had already gone through_.  It was 
  a terrible fall, from a height of 160,000 miles, and no springs 
  to break it.  According to the laws of gunnery, the projectile 
  must strike the earth with a speed equal to that with which it 
  left the mouth of the Columbiad, a speed of 16,000 yards in the 
  last second. 
   
  But to give some figures of comparison, it has been reckoned 
  that an object thrown from the top of the towers of Notre Dame, 
  the height of which is only 200 feet, will arrive on the 
  pavement at a speed of 240 miles per hour.  Here the projectile 
  must strike the earth with a speed of 115,200 miles per hour. 
   
  "We are lost!" said Michel coolly. 
   
  "Very well! if we die," answered Barbicane, with a sort of 
  religious enthusiasm, "the results of our travels will be 
  magnificently spread. It is His own secret that God will 
  tell us!  In the other life the soul will want to know nothing, 
  either of machines or engines!  It will be identified with 
  eternal wisdom!" 
   
  "In fact," interrupted Michel Ardan, "the whole of the other 
  world may well console us for the loss of that inferior orb 
  called the moon!" 
   
  Barbicane crossed his arms on his breast, with a motion of 
  sublime resignation, saying at the same time: 
   
  "The will of heaven be done!" 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XX 
   
   
  THE SOUNDINGS OF THE SUSQUEHANNA 
   
   
  
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  Well, lieutenant, and our soundings?" 
   
  "I think, sir, that the operation is nearing its completion," 
  replied Lieutenant Bronsfield.  "But who would have thought of 
  finding such a depth so near in shore, and only 200 miles from 
  the American coast?" 
   
  "Certainly, Bronsfield, there is a great depression," said 
  Captain Blomsberry.  "In this spot there is a submarine valley 
  worn by Humboldt's current, which skirts the coast of America as 
  far as the Straits of Magellan." 
   
  "These great depths," continued the lieutenant, "are not 
  favorable for laying telegraphic cables.  A level bottom, like 
  that supporting the American cable between Valentia and 
  Newfoundland, is much better." 
   
  "I agree with you, Bronsfield.  With your permission, 
  lieutenant, where are we now?" 
   
  "Sir, at this moment we have 3,508 fathoms of line out, and the 
  ball which draws the sounding lead has not yet touched the 
  bottom; for if so, it would have come up of itself." 
   
  "Brook's apparatus is very ingenious," said Captain Blomsberry; 
  "it gives us very exact soundings." 
   
  "Touch!" cried at this moment one of the men at the forewheel, 
  who was superintending the operation. 
   
  The captain and the lieutenant mounted the quarterdeck. 
   
  "What depth have we?" asked the captain. 
   
  "Three thousand six hundred and twenty-seven fathoms," replied 
  the lieutenant, entering it in his notebook. 
   
  "Well, Bronsfield," said the captain, "I will take down 
  the result.  Now haul in the sounding line.  It will be the 
  work of some hours.  In that time the engineer can light the 
  furnaces, and we shall be ready to start as soon as you 
  have finished.  It is ten o'clock, and with your permission, 
  lieutenant, I will turn in." 
   
  "Do so, sir; do so!" replied the lieutenant obligingly. 
   
  The captain of the Susquehanna, as brave a man as need be, and 
  the humble servant of his officers, returned to his cabin, took 
  a brandy-grog, which earned for the steward no end of praise, 
  and turned in, not without having complimented his servant upon 
  his making beds, and slept a peaceful sleep. 
   
  It was then ten at night.  The eleventh day of the month of 
  December was drawing to a close in a magnificent night. 
   
  The Susquehanna, a corvette of 500 horse-power, of the United 
  States navy, was occupied in taking soundings in the Pacific 
  
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  Ocean about 200 miles off the American coast, following that 
  long peninsula which stretches down the coast of Mexico. 
   
  The wind had dropped by degrees.  There was no disturbance in 
  the air.  The pennant hung motionless from the maintop-gallant- 
  mast truck. 
   
  Captain Jonathan Blomsberry (cousin-german of Colonel 
  Blomsberry, one of the most ardent supporters of the Gun Club, 
  who had married an aunt of the captain and daughter of an 
  honorable Kentucky merchant)-- Captain Blomsberry could not have 
  wished for finer weather in which to bring to a close his 
  delicate operations of sounding.  His corvette had not even felt 
  the great tempest, which by sweeping away the groups of clouds 
  on the Rocky Mountains, had allowed them to observe the course 
  of the famous projectile. 
   
  Everything went well, and with all the fervor of a Presbyterian, 
  he did not forget to thank heaven for it.  The series of 
  soundings taken by the Susquehanna, had for its aim the finding 
  of a favorable spot for the laying of a submarine cable to 
  connect the Hawaiian Islands with the coast of America. 
   
  It was a great undertaking, due to the instigation of a 
  powerful company.  Its managing director, the intelligent Cyrus 
  Field, purposed even covering all the islands of Oceanica with 
  a vast electrical network, an immense enterprise, and one worthy 
  of American genius. 
   
  To the corvette Susquehanna had been confided the first 
  operations of sounding.  It was on the night of the 11th-12th of 
  December, she was in exactly 27@ 7' north latitude, and 41@ 37' 
  west longitude, on the meridian of Washington. 
   
  The moon, then in her last quarter, was beginning to rise above 
  the horizon. 
   
  After the departure of Captain Blomsberry, the lieutenant and 
  some officers were standing together on the poop.  On the 
  appearance of the moon, their thoughts turned to that orb which 
  the eyes of a whole hemisphere were contemplating.  The best 
  naval glasses could not have discovered the projectile wandering 
  around its hemisphere, and yet all were pointed toward that 
  brilliant disc which millions of eyes were looking at at the 
  same moment. 
   
  "They have been gone ten days," said Lieutenant Bronsfield 
  at last.  "What has become of them?" 
   
  "They have arrived, lieutenant," exclaimed a young midshipman, 
  "and they are doing what all travelers do when they arrive in a 
  new country, taking a walk!" 
   
  "Oh!  I am sure of that, if you tell me so, my young friend," 
  said Lieutenant Bronsfield, smiling. 
   
  "But," continued another officer, "their arrival cannot 
  
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  be doubted.  The projectile was to reach the moon when full 
  on the 5th at midnight.  We are now at the 11th of December, which 
  makes six days.  And in six times twenty-four hours, without 
  darkness, one would have time to settle comfortably.  I fancy I 
  see my brave countrymen encamped at the bottom of some valley, 
  on the borders of a Selenite stream, near a projectile half-buried 
  by its fall amid volcanic rubbish, Captain Nicholl beginning his 
  leveling operations, President Barbicane writing out his notes, 
  and Michel Ardan embalming the lunar solitudes with the perfume 
  of his----" 
   
  "Yes! it must be so, it is so!" exclaimed the young midshipman, 
  worked up to a pitch of enthusiasm by this ideal description of 
  his superior officer. 
   
  "I should like to believe it," replied the lieutenant, who was 
  quite unmoved.  "Unfortunately direct news from the lunar world 
  is still wanting." 
   
  "Beg pardon, lieutenant," said the midshipman, "but cannot 
  President Barbicane write?" 
   
  A burst of laughter greeted this answer. 
   
  "No letters!" continued the young man quickly.  "The postal 
  administration has something to see to there." 
   
  "Might it not be the telegraphic service that is at fault?" 
  asked one of the officers ironically. 
   
  "Not necessarily," replied the midshipman, not at all confused. 
  "But it is very easy to set up a graphic communication with 
  the earth." 
   
  "And how?" 
   
  "By means of the telescope at Long's Peak.  You know it brings 
  the moon to within four miles of the Rocky Mountains, and that 
  it shows objects on its surface of only nine feet in diameter. 
  Very well; let our industrious friends construct a giant 
  alphabet; let them write words three fathoms long, and sentences 
  three miles long, and then they can send us news of themselves." 
   
  The young midshipman, who had a certain amount of imagination, 
  was loudly applauded; Lieutenant Bronsfield allowing that the 
  idea was possible, but observing that if by these means they 
  could receive news from the lunar world they could not send any 
  from the terrestrial, unless the Selenites had instruments fit 
  for taking distant observations at their disposal. 
   
  "Evidently," said one of the officers; "but what has become of 
  the travelers? what they have done, what they have seen, that 
  above all must interest us.  Besides, if the experiment has 
  succeeded (which I do not doubt), they will try it again. 
  The Columbiad is still sunk in the soil of Florida.  It is now 
  only a question of powder and shot; and every time the moon is 
  at her zenith a cargo of visitors may be sent to her." 
  
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  "It is clear," replied Lieutenant Bronsfield, "that J. T. Maston 
  will one day join his friends." 
   
  "If he will have me," cried the midshipman, "I am ready!" 
   
  "Oh! volunteers will not be wanting," answered Bronsfield; "and 
  if it were allowed, half of the earth's inhabitants would 
  emigrate to the moon!" 
   
  This conversation between the officers of the Susquehanna was 
  kept up until nearly one in the morning.  We cannot say what 
  blundering systems were broached, what inconsistent theories 
  advanced by these bold spirits.  Since Barbicane's attempt, 
  nothing seemed impossible to the Americans.  They had already 
  designed an expedition, not only of savants, but of a whole 
  colony toward the Selenite borders, and a complete army, 
  consisting of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, to conquer the 
  lunar world. 
   
  At one in the morning, the hauling in of the sounding-line was 
  not yet completed; 1,670 fathoms were still out, which would 
  entail some hours' work.  According to the commander's orders, 
  the fires had been lighted, and steam was being got up. 
  The Susquehanna could have started that very instant. 
   
  At that moment (it was seventeen minutes past one in the 
  morning) Lieutenant Bronsfield was preparing to leave the watch 
  and return to his cabin, when his attention was attracted by a 
  distant hissing noise.  His comrades and himself first thought 
  that this hissing was caused by the letting off of steam; but 
  lifting their heads, they found that the noise was produced in 
  the highest regions of the air.  They had not time to question 
  each other before the hissing became frightfully intense, and 
  suddenly there appeared to their dazzled eyes an enormous 
  meteor, ignited by the rapidity of its course and its friction 
  through the atmospheric strata. 
   
  This fiery mass grew larger to their eyes, and fell, with 
  the noise of thunder, upon the bowsprit, which it smashed close 
  to the stem, and buried itself in the waves with a deafening roar! 
   
  A few feet nearer, and the Susquehanna would have foundered with 
  all on board! 
   
  At this instant Captain Blomsberry appeared, half-dressed, and 
  rushing on to the forecastle-deck, whither all the officers had 
  hurried, exclaimed, "With your permission, gentlemen, what 
  has happened?" 
   
  And the midshipman, making himself as it were the echo of the 
  body, cried, "Commander, it is `they' come back again!" 
   
   
   
   
   
  
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  CHAPTER XXI 
   
   
  J. T. MASTON RECALLED 
   
   
  "It is `they' come back again!" the young midshipman had said, 
  and every one had understood him.  No one doubted but that the 
  meteor was the projectile of the Gun Club.  As to the travelers 
  which it enclosed, opinions were divided regarding their fate. 
   
  "They are dead!" said one. 
   
  "They are alive!" said another; "the crater is deep, and the 
  shock was deadened." 
   
  "But they must have wanted air," continued a third speaker; 
  "they must have died of suffocation." 
   
  "Burned!" replied a fourth; "the projectile was nothing but an 
  incandescent mass as it crossed the atmosphere." 
   
  "What does it matter!" they exclaimed unanimously; "living or 
  dead, we must pull them out!" 
   
  But Captain Blomsberry had assembled his officers, and "with 
  their permission," was holding a council.  They must decide upon 
  something to be done immediately.  The more hasty ones were for 
  fishing up the projectile.  A difficult operation, though not an 
  impossible one.  But the corvette had no proper machinery, which 
  must be both fixed and powerful; so it was resolved that they 
  should put in at the nearest port, and give information to the 
  Gun Club of the projectile's fall. 
   
  This determination was unanimous.  The choice of the port had 
  to be discussed.  The neighboring coast had no anchorage on 
  27@ latitude.  Higher up, above the peninsula of Monterey, stands 
  the important town from which it takes its name; but, seated on 
  the borders of a perfect desert, it was not connected with the 
  interior by a network of telegraphic wires, and electricity 
  alone could spread these important news fast enough. 
   
  Some degrees above opened the bay of San Francisco.  Through the 
  capital of the gold country communication would be easy with the 
  heart of the Union.  And in less than two days the Susquehanna, 
  by putting on high pressure, could arrive in that port.  She must 
  therefore start at once. 
   
  The fires were made up; they could set off immediately. 
  Two thousand fathoms of line were still out, which Captain 
  Blomsberry, not wishing to lose precious time in hauling in, 
  resolved to cut. 
   
  "we will fasten the end to a buoy," said he, "and that buoy will 
  show us the exact spot where the projectile fell." 
   
  "Besides," replied Lieutenant Bronsfield, "we have our situation 
  
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  exact-- 27@ 7' north latitude and 41@ 37' west longitude." 
   
  "Well, Mr. Bronsfield," replied the captain, "now, with your 
  permission, we will have the line cut." 
   
  A strong buoy, strengthened by a couple of spars, was thrown 
  into the ocean.  The end of the rope was carefully lashed to it; 
  and, left solely to the rise and fall of the billows, the buoy 
  would not sensibly deviate from the spot. 
   
  At this moment the engineer sent to inform the captain that 
  steam was up and they could start, for which agreeable 
  communication the captain thanked him.  The course was then 
  given north-northeast, and the corvette, wearing, steered at 
  full steam direct for San Francisco.  It was three in the morning. 
   
  Four hundred and fifty miles to cross; it was nothing for a good 
  vessel like the Susquehanna.  In thirty-six hours she had covered 
  that distance; and on the 14th of December, at twenty-seven 
  minutes past one at night, she entered the bay of San Francisco. 
   
  At the sight of a ship of the national navy arriving at full speed, 
  with her bowsprit broken, public curiosity was greatly roused. 
  A dense crowd soon assembled on the quay, waiting for them 
  to disembark. 
   
  After casting anchor, Captain Blomsberry and Lieutenant 
  Bronsfield entered an eight-pared cutter, which soon brought 
  them to land. 
   
  They jumped on to the quay. 
   
  "The telegraph?" they asked, without answering one of the 
  thousand questions addressed to them. 
   
  The officer of the port conducted them to the telegraph office 
  through a concourse of spectators.  Blomsberry and Bronsfield 
  entered, while the crowd crushed each other at the door. 
   
  Some minutes later a fourfold telegram was sent out--the first 
  to the Naval Secretary at Washington; the second to the 
  vice-president of the Gun Club, Baltimore; the third to the Hon. 
  J. T. Maston, Long's Peak, Rocky Mountains; and the fourth to 
  the sub-director of the Cambridge Observatory, Massachusetts. 
   
  It was worded as follows: 
   
   
  In 20@ 7' north latitude, and 41@ 37' west longitude, on the 
  12th of December, at seventeen minutes past one in the morning, 
  the projectile of the Columbiad fell into the Pacific. 
  Send instructions.-- BLOMSBERRY, Commander Susquehanna. 
   
   
  Five minutes afterward the whole town of San Francisco learned 
  the news.  Before six in the evening the different States of the 
  Union had heard the great catastrophe; and after midnight, by 
  
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  the cable, the whole of Europe knew the result of the great 
  American experiment.  We will not attempt to picture the effect 
  produced on the entire world by that unexpected denouement. 
   
  On receipt of the telegram the Naval Secretary telegraphed to 
  the Susquehanna to wait in the bay of San Francisco without 
  extinguishing her fires.  Day and night she must be ready 
  to put to sea. 
   
  The Cambridge observatory called a special meeting; and, with 
  that composure which distinguishes learned bodies in general, 
  peacefully discussed the scientific bearings of the question. 
  At the Gun Club there was an explosion.  All the gunners 
  were assembled.  Vice-President the Hon. Wilcome was in the 
  act of reading the premature dispatch, in which J. T. Maston 
  and Belfast announced that the projectile had just been seen in 
  the gigantic reflector of Long's Peak, and also that it was held 
  by lunar attraction, and was playing the part of under satellite 
  to the lunar world. 
   
  We know the truth on that point. 
   
  But on the arrival of Blomsberry's dispatch, so decidely 
  contradicting J. T. Maston's telegram, two parties were formed 
  in the bosom of the Gun Club.  On one side were those who 
  admitted the fall of the projectile, and consequently the return 
  of the travelers; on the other, those who believed in the 
  observations of Long's Peak, concluded that the commander of the 
  Susquehanna had made a mistake.  To the latter the pretended 
  projectile was nothing but a meteor! nothing but a meteor, a 
  shooting globe, which in its fall had smashed the bows of 
  the corvette.  It was difficult to answer this argument, for 
  the speed with which it was animated must have made observation 
  very difficult.  The commander of the Susquehanna and her 
  officers might have made a mistake in all good faith; one argument 
  however, was in their favor, namely, that if the projectile had 
  fallen on the earth, its place of meeting with the terrestrial 
  globe could only take place on this 27@ north latitude, and 
  (taking into consideration the time that had elapsed, and the 
  rotary motion of the earth) between the 41@ and the 42@ of 
  west longitude.  In any case, it was decided in the Gun Club 
  that Blomsberry brothers, Bilsby, and Major Elphinstone should 
  go straight to San Francisco, and consult as to the means of 
  raising the projectile from the depths of the ocean. 
   
  These devoted men set off at once; and the railroad, which will 
  soon cross the whole of Central America, took them as far as St. 
  Louis, where the swift mail-coaches awaited them.  Almost at the 
  same moment in which the Secretary of Marine, the vice-president 
  of the Gun Club, and the sub-director of the Observatory received 
  the dispatch from San Francisco, the Honorable J. T. Maston was 
  undergoing the greatest excitement he had ever experienced in his 
  life, an excitement which even the bursting of his pet gun, which 
  had more than once nearly cost him his life, had not caused him. 
  We may remember that the secretary of the Gun Club had started 
  soon after the projectile (and almost as quickly) for the station 
  on Long's Peak, in the Rocky Mountains, J. Belfast, director of the 
  
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  Cambridge Observatory, accompanying him.  Arrived there, the two 
  friends had installed themselves at once, never quitting the 
  summit of their enormous telescope.  We know that this gigantic 
  instrument had been set up according to the reflecting system, 
  called by the English "front view."  This arrangement subjected 
  all objects to but one reflection, making the view consequently 
  much clearer; the result was that, when they were taking 
  observation, J. T. Maston and Belfast were placed in the _upper_ 
  part of the instrument and not in the lower, which they reached 
  by a circular staircase, a masterpiece of lightness, while below 
  them opened a metal well terminated by the metallic mirror, 
  which measured two hundred and eighty feet in depth. 
   
  It was on a narrow platform placed above the telescope that the 
  two savants passed their existence, execrating the day which hid 
  the moon from their eyes, and the clouds which obstinately 
  veiled her during the night. 
   
  What, then, was their delight when, after some days of waiting, 
  on the night of the 5th of December, they saw the vehicle which 
  was bearing their friends into space!  To this delight succeeded 
  a great deception, when, trusting to a cursory observation, they 
  launched their first telegram to the world, erroneously 
  affirming that the projectile had become a satellite of the 
  moon, gravitating in an immutable orbit. 
   
  From that moment it had never shown itself to their eyes-- a 
  disappearance all the more easily explained, as it was then 
  passing behind the moon's invisible disc; but when it was time 
  for it to reappear on the visible disc, one may imagine the 
  impatience of the fuming J. T. Maston and his not less 
  impatient companion.  Each minute of the night they thought 
  they saw the projectile once more, and they did not see it. 
  Hence constant discussions and violent disputes between them, 
  Belfast affirming that the projectile could not be seen, J. T. 
  Maston maintaining that "it had put his eyes out." 
   
  "It is the projectile!" repeated J. T. Maston. 
   
  "No," answered Belfast; "it is an avalanche detached from a 
  lunar mountain." 
   
  "Well, we shall see it to-morrow." 
   
  "No, we shall not see it any more.  It is carried into space." 
   
  "Yes!" 
   
  "No!" 
   
  And at these moments, when contradictions rained like hail, the 
  well-known irritability of the secretary of the Gun Club 
  constituted a permanent danger for the Honorable Belfast. 
  The existence of these two together would soon have become 
  impossible; but an unforseen event cut short their 
  everlasting discussions. 
   
  
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  During the night, from the 14th to the 15th of December, the two 
  irreconcilable friends were busy observing the lunar disc, J. T. 
  Maston abusing the learned Belfast as usual, who was by his 
  side; the secretary of the Gun Club maintaining for the 
  thousandth time that he had just seen the projectile, and adding 
  that he could see Michel Ardan's face looking through one of the 
  scuttles, at the same time enforcing his argument by a series of 
  gestures which his formidable hook rendered very unpleasant. 
   
  At this moment Belfast's servant appeared on the platform (it 
  was ten at night) and gave him a dispatch.  It was the commander 
  of the Susquehanna's telegram. 
   
  Belfast tore the envelope and read, and uttered a cry. 
   
  "What!" said J. T. Maston. 
   
  "The projectile!" 
   
  "Well!" 
   
  "Has fallen to the earth!" 
   
  Another cry, this time a perfect howl, answered him.  He turned 
  toward J. T. Maston.  The unfortunate man, imprudently leaning 
  over the metal tube, had disappeared in the immense telescope. 
  A fall of two hundred and eighty feet!  Belfast, dismayed, 
  rushed to the orifice of the reflector. 
   
  He breathed.  J. T. Maston, caught by his metal hook, was 
  holding on by one of the rings which bound the telescope 
  together, uttering fearful cries. 
   
  Belfast called.  Help was brought, tackle was let down, and they 
  hoisted up, not without some trouble, the imprudent secretary of 
  the Gun Club. 
   
  He reappeared at the upper orifice without hurt. 
   
  "Ah!" said he, "if I had broken the mirror?" 
   
  "You would have paid for it," replied Belfast severely. 
   
  "And that cursed projectile has fallen?" asked J. T. Maston. 
   
  "Into the Pacific!" 
   
  "Let us go!" 
   
  A quarter of an hour after the two savants were descending the 
  declivity of the Rocky Mountains; and two days after, at the 
  same time as their friends of the Gun Club, they arrived at San 
  Francisco, having killed five horses on the road. 
   
  Elphinstone, the brothers Blomsberry, and Bilsby rushed toward 
  them on their arrival. 
   
  
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  "What shall we do?" they exclaimed. 
   
  "Fish up the projectile," replied J. T. Maston, "and the sooner 
  the better." 
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XXII 
   
   
  RECOVERED FROM THE SEA 
   
   
  The spot where the projectile sank under the waves was exactly 
  known; but the machinery to grasp it and bring it to the surface 
  of the ocean was still wanting.  It must first be invented, 
  then made.  American engineers could not be troubled with 
  such trifles.  The grappling-irons once fixed, by their help 
  they were sure to raise it in spite of its weight, which was 
  lessened by the density of the liquid in which it was plunged. 
   
  But fishing-up the projectile was not the only thing to be thought of. 
  They must act promptly in the interest of the travelers.  No one 
  doubted that they were still living. 
   
  "Yes," repeated J. T. Maston incessantly, whose confidence 
  gained over everybody, "our friends are clever people, and they 
  cannot have fallen like simpletons.  They are alive, quite alive; 
  but we must make haste if we wish to find them so.  Food and 
  water do not trouble me; they have enough for a long while. 
  But air, air, that is what they will soon want; so quick, quick!" 
   
  And they did go quick.  They fitted up the Susquehanna for her 
  new destination.  Her powerful machinery was brought to bear 
  upon the hauling-chains.  The aluminum projectile only weighed 
  19,250 pounds, a weight very inferior to that of the transatlantic 
  cable which had been drawn up under similar conditions.  The only 
  difficulty was in fishing up a cylindro-conical projectile, the 
  walls of which were so smooth as to offer no hold for the hooks. 
  On that account Engineer Murchison hastened to San Francisco, 
  and had some enormous grappling-irons fixed on an automatic 
  system, which would never let the projectile go if it once 
  succeeded in seizing it in its powerful claws.  Diving-dresses 
  were also prepared, which through this impervious covering allowed 
  the divers to observe the bottom of the sea.  He also had put on 
  board an apparatus of compressed air very cleverly designed. 
  There were perfect chambers pierced with scuttles, which, with 
  water let into certain compartments, could draw it down into 
  great depths.  These apparatuses were at San Francisco, where 
  they had been used in the construction of a submarine breakwater; 
  and very fortunately it was so, for there was no time to 
  construct any.  But in spite of the perfection of the machinery, 
  in spite of the ingenuity of the savants entrusted with the use 
  of them, the success of the operation was far from being certain. 
  How great were the chances against them, the projectile being 
  20,000 feet under the water!  And if even it was brought to the 
  
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  surface, how would the travelers have borne the terrible shock 
  which 20,000 feet of water had perhaps not sufficiently broken? 
  At any rate they must act quickly.  J. T. Maston hurried the 
  workmen day and night.  He was ready to don the diving-dress 
  himself, or try the air apparatus, in order to reconnoiter the 
  situation of his courageous friends. 
   
  But in spite of all the diligence displayed in preparing the 
  different engines, in spite of the considerable sum placed at 
  the disposal of the Gun Club by the Government of the Union, 
  five long days (five centuries!) elapsed before the preparations 
  were complete.  During this time public opinion was excited to 
  the highest pitch.  Telegrams were exchanged incessantly 
  throughout the entire world by means of wires and electric cables. 
  The saving of Barbicane, Nicholl, and Michel Ardan was an 
  international affair.  Every one who had subscribed to the Gun 
  Club was directly interested in the welfare of the travelers. 
   
  At length the hauling-chains, the air-chambers, and the 
  automatic grappling-irons were put on board.  J. T. Maston, 
  Engineer Murchison, and the delegates of the Gun Club, were 
  already in their cabins.  They had but to start, which they did 
  on the 21st of December, at eight o'clock at night, the corvette 
  meeting with a beautiful sea, a northeasterly wind, and rather 
  sharp cold.  The whole population of San Francisco was gathered 
  on the quay, greatly excited but silent, reserving their hurrahs 
  for the return.  Steam was fully up, and the screw of the 
  Susquehanna carried them briskly out of the bay. 
   
  It is needless to relate the conversations on board between 
  the officers, sailors, and passengers.  All these men had but 
  one thought.  All these hearts beat under the same emotion. 
  While they were hastening to help them, what were Barbicane and 
  his companions doing?  What had become of them?  Were they able to 
  attempt any bold maneuver to regain their liberty?  None could say. 
  The truth is that every attempt must have failed!  Immersed nearly 
  four miles under the ocean, this metal prison defied every effort 
  of its prisoners. 
   
  On the 23rd inst., at eight in the morning, after a rapid 
  passage, the Susquehanna was due at the fatal spot.  They must 
  wait till twelve to take the reckoning exactly.  The buoy 
  to which the sounding line had been lashed had not yet 
  been recognized. 
   
  At twelve, Captain Blomsberry, assisted by his officers who 
  superintended the observations, took the reckoning in the 
  presence of the delegates of the Gun Club.  Then there was a 
  moment of anxiety.  Her position decided, the Susquehanna was 
  found to be some minutes westward of the spot where the 
  projectile had disappeared beneath the waves. 
   
  The ship's course was then changed so as to reach this exact point. 
   
  At forty-seven minutes past twelve they reached the buoy; it was 
  in perfect condition, and must have shifted but little. 
   
  
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  "At last!" exclaimed J. T. Maston. 
   
  "Shall we begin?" asked Captain Blomsberry. 
   
  "Without losing a second." 
   
  Every precaution was taken to keep the corvette almost 
  completely motionless.  Before trying to seize the projectile, 
  Engineer Murchison wanted to find its exact position at the 
  bottom of the ocean.  The submarine apparatus destined for this 
  expedition was supplied with air.  The working of these engines 
  was not without danger, for at 20,000 feet below the surface of 
  the water, and under such great pressure, they were exposed to 
  fracture, the consequences of which would be dreadful. 
   
  J. T. Maston, the brothers Blomsberry, and Engineer Murchison, 
  without heeding these dangers, took their places in the 
  air-chamber.  The commander, posted on his bridge, superintended 
  the operation, ready to stop or haul in the chains on the 
  slightest signal.  The screw had been shipped, and the whole 
  power of the machinery collected on the capstan would have 
  quickly drawn the apparatus on board.  The descent began at 
  twenty-five minutes past one at night, and the chamber, 
  drawn under by the reservoirs full of water, disappeared 
  from the surface of the ocean. 
   
  The emotion of the officers and sailors on board was now 
  divided between the prisoners in the projectile and the 
  prisoners in the submarine apparatus.  As to the latter, they 
  forgot themselves, and, glued to the windows of the scuttles, 
  attentively watched the liquid mass through which they were passing. 
   
  The descent was rapid.  At seventeen minutes past two, J. T. 
  Maston and his companions had reached the bottom of the Pacific; 
  but they saw nothing but an arid desert, no longer animated by 
  either fauna or flora.  By the light of their lamps, furnished 
  with powerful reflectors, they could see the dark beds of the 
  ocean for a considerable extent of view, but the projectile was 
  nowhere to be seen. 
   
  The impatience of these bold divers cannot be described, and 
  having an electrical communication with the corvette, they made 
  a signal already agreed upon, and for the space of a mile the 
  Susquehanna moved their chamber along some yards above the bottom. 
   
  Thus they explored the whole submarine plain, deceived at every 
  turn by optical illusions which almost broke their hearts. 
  Here a rock, there a projection from the ground, seemed to be 
  the much-sought-for projectile; but their mistake was soon 
  discovered, and then they were in despair. 
   
  "But where are they? where are they?" cried J. T. Maston.  And the 
  poor man called loudly upon Nicholl, Barbicane, and Michel Ardan, 
  as if his unfortunate friends could either hear or answer him 
  through such an impenetrable medium!  The search continued under 
  these conditions until the vitiated air compelled the divers to ascend. 
   
  
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  The hauling in began about six in the evening, and was not ended 
  before midnight. 
   
  "To-morrow," said J. T. Maston, as he set foot on the bridge of 
  the corvette. 
   
  "Yes," answered Captain Blomsberry. 
   
  "And on another spot?" 
   
  "Yes." 
   
  J. T. Maston did not doubt of their final success, but his 
  companions, no longer upheld by the excitement of the first 
  hours, understood all the difficulty of the enterprise. 
  What seemed easy at San Francisco, seemed here in the wide 
  ocean almost impossible.  The chances of success diminished in 
  rapid proportion; and it was from chance alone that the meeting 
  with the projectile might be expected. 
   
  The next day, the 24th, in spite of the fatigue of the previous 
  day, the operation was renewed.  The corvette advanced some 
  minutes to westward, and the apparatus, provided with air, bore 
  the same explorers to the depths of the ocean. 
   
  The whole day passed in fruitless research; the bed of the sea 
  was a desert.  The 25th brought no other result, nor the 26th. 
   
  It was disheartening.  They thought of those unfortunates shut 
  up in the projectile for twenty-six days.  Perhaps at that 
  moment they were experiencing the first approach of suffocation; 
  that is, if they had escaped the dangers of their fall.  The air 
  was spent, and doubtless with the air all their _morale_. 
   
  "The air, possibly," answered J. T. Maston resolutely, "but 
  their _morale_ never!" 
   
  On the 28th, after two more days of search, all hope was gone. 
  This projectile was but an atom in the immensity of the ocean. 
  They must give up all idea of finding it. 
   
  But J. T. Maston would not hear of going away.  He would not 
  abandon the place without at least discovering the tomb of 
  his friends.  But Commander Blomsberry could no longer persist, 
  and in spite of the exclamations of the worthy secretary, was 
  obliged to give the order to sail. 
   
  On the 29th of December, at nine A.M., the Susquehanna, heading 
  northeast, resumed her course to the bay of San Francisco. 
   
  It was ten in the morning; the corvette was under half-steam, as 
  it was regretting to leave the spot where the catastrophe had 
  taken place, when a sailor, perched on the main-top-gallant 
  crosstrees, watching the sea, cried suddenly: 
   
  "A buoy on the lee bow!" 
   
  
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  The officers looked in the direction indicated, and by the help 
  of their glasses saw that the object signalled had the 
  appearance of one of those buoys which are used to mark the 
  passages of bays or rivers.  But, singularly to say, a flag 
  floating on the wind surmounted its cone, which emerged five 
  or six feet out of water.  This buoy shone under the rays 
  of the sun as if it had been made of plates of silver. 
  Commander Blomsberry, J. T. Maston, and the delegates of the Gun 
  Club were mounted on the bridge, examining this object straying 
  at random on the waves. 
   
  All looked with feverish anxiety, but in silence.  None dared 
  give expression to the thoughts which came to the minds of all. 
   
  The corvette approached to within two cables' lengths of the object. 
   
  A shudder ran through the whole crew.  That flag was the 
  American flag! 
   
  At this moment a perfect howling was heard; it was the brave J. 
  T. Maston who had just fallen all in a heap.  Forgetting on the 
  one hand that his right arm had been replaced by an iron hook, 
  and on the other that a simple gutta-percha cap covered his 
  brain-box, he had given himself a formidable blow. 
   
  They hurried toward him, picked him up, restored him to life. 
  And what were his first words? 
   
  "Ah! trebly brutes! quadruply idiots! quintuply boobies that we are!" 
   
  "What is it?" exclaimed everyone around him. 
   
  "What is it?" 
   
  "Come, speak!" 
   
  "It is, simpletons," howled the terrible secretary, "it is that 
  the projectile only weighs 19,250 pounds!" 
   
  "Well?" 
   
  "And that it displaces twenty-eight tons, or in other words 
  56,000 pounds, and that consequently _it floats_!" 
   
  Ah! what stress the worthy man had laid on the verb "float!" 
  And it was true!  All, yes! all these savants had forgotten 
  this fundamental law, namely, that on account of its specific 
  lightness, the projectile, after having been drawn by its fall 
  to the greatest depths of the ocean, must naturally return to 
  the surface.  And now it was floating quietly at the mercy of 
  the waves. 
   
  The boats were put to sea.  J. T. Maston and his friends had 
  rushed into them!  Excitement was at its height!  Every heart 
  beat loudly while they advanced to the projectile.  What did 
  it contain?  Living or dead? 
   
  
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  Living, yes! living, at least unless death had struck 
  Barbicane and his two friends since they had hoisted the flag. 
  Profound silence reigned on the boats.  All were breathless. 
  Eyes no longer saw.  One of the scuttles of the projectile was open. 
  Some pieces of glass remained in the frame, showing that it had 
  been broken.  This scuttle was actually five feet above the water. 
   
  A boat came alongside, that of J. T. Maston, and J. T. Maston 
  rushed to the broken window. 
   
  At that moment they heard a clear and merry voice, the voice of 
  Michel Ardan, exclaiming in an accent of triumph: 
   
  "White all, Barbicane, white all!" 
   
  Barbicane, Michel Ardan, and Nicholl were playing at dominoes! 
   
   
   
   
   
  CHAPTER XXIII 
   
   
  THE END 
   
   
  We may remember the intense sympathy which had accompanied the 
  travelers on their departure.  If at the beginning of the 
  enterprise they had excited such emotion both in the old and 
  new world, with what enthusiasm would they be received on 
  their return!  The millions of spectators which had beset 
  the peninsula of Florida, would they not rush to meet these 
  sublime adventurers?  Those legions of strangers, hurrying from 
  all parts of the globe toward the American shores, would they 
  leave the Union without having seen Barbicane, Nicholl, and 
  Michel Ardan?  No! and the ardent passion of the public was 
  bound to respond worthily to the greatness of the enterprise. 
  Human creatures who had left the terrestrial sphere, and returned 
  after this strange voyage into celestial space, could not fail 
  to be received as the prophet Elias would be if he came back 
  to earth.  To see them first, and then to hear them, such was 
  the universal longing. 
   
  Barbicane, Michel Ardan, Nicholl, and the delegates of the Gun 
  Club, returning without delay to Baltimore, were received with 
  indescribable enthusiasm.  The notes of President Barbicane's 
  voyage were ready to be given to the public.  The New York 
  _Herald_ bought the manuscript at a price not yet known, but 
  which must have been very high.  Indeed, during the publication 
  of "A Journey to the Moon," the sale of this paper amounted to 
  five millions of copies.  Three days after the return of 
  the travelers to the earth, the slightest detail of their 
  expedition was known.  There remained nothing more but to see 
  the heroes of this superhuman enterprise. 
   
  The expedition of Barbicane and his friends round the moon had 
  
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  enabled them to correct the many admitted theories regarding the 
  terrestrial satellite.  These savants had observed _de visu_, 
  and under particular circumstances.  They knew what systems 
  should be rejected, what retained with regard to the formation 
  of that orb, its origin, its habitability.  Its past, present, 
  and future had even given up their last secrets.  Who could 
  advance objections against conscientious observers, who at less 
  than twenty-four miles distance had marked that curious mountain 
  of Tycho, the strangest system of lunar orography?  How answer 
  those savants whose sight had penetrated the abyss of 
  Pluto's circle?  How contradict those bold ones whom the chances 
  of their enterprise had borne over that invisible face of the 
  disc, which no human eye until then had ever seen?  It was now 
  their turn to impose some limit on that selenographic science, 
  which had reconstructed the lunar world as Cuvier did the 
  skeleton of a fossil, and say, "The moon _was_ this, a habitable 
  world, inhabited before the earth.  The moon _is_ that, a world 
  uninhabitable, and now uninhabited." 
   
  To celebrate the return of its most illustrious member and his 
  two companions, the Gun Club decided upon giving a banquet, but 
  a banquet worthy of the conquerors, worthy of the American 
  people, and under such conditions that all the inhabitants of 
  the Union could directly take part in it. 
   
  All the head lines of railroads in the States were joined by 
  flying rails; and on all the platforms, lined with the same 
  flags, and decorated with the same ornaments, were tables laid 
  and all served alike.  At certain hours, successively 
  calculated, marked by electric clocks which beat the seconds at 
  the same time, the population were invited to take their places 
  at the banquet tables.  For four days, from the 5th to the 9th 
  of January, the trains were stopped as they are on Sundays on 
  the railways of the United States, and every road was open. 
  One engine only at full speed, drawing a triumphal carriage, had 
  the right of traveling for those four days on the railroads of 
  the United States. 
   
  The engine was manned by a driver and a stoker, and bore, by 
  special favor, the Hon. J. T. Maston, secretary of the Gun Club. 
  The carriage was reserved for President Barbicane, Colonel 
  Nicholl, and Michel Ardan.  At the whistle of the driver, amid 
  the hurrahs, and all the admiring vociferations of the American 
  language, the train left the platform of Baltimore.  It traveled 
  at a speed of one hundred and sixty miles in the hour.  But what 
  was this speed compared with that which had carried the three 
  heroes from the mouth of the Columbiad? 
   
  Thus they sped from one town to the other, finding whole 
  populations at table on their road, saluting them with the same 
  acclamations, lavishing the same bravos!  They traveled in this 
  way through the east of the Union, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, 
  Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire; the north and 
  west by New York, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin; returning to 
  the south by Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana; 
  they went to the southeast by Alabama and Florida, going up by 
  Georgia and the Carolinas, visiting the center by Tennessee, 
  
  FROM EARTH TO THE MOON 
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  217
  Kentucky, Virginia, and Indiana, and, after quitting the 
  Washington station, re-entered Baltimore, where for four days 
  one would have thought that the United States of America were 
  seated at one immense banquet, saluting them simultaneously with 
  the same hurrahs!  The apotheosis was worthy of these three 
  heroes whom fable would have placed in the rank of demigods. 
   
  And now will this attempt, unprecedented in the annals of 
  travels, lead to any practical result?  Will direct 
  communication with the moon ever be established?  Will they 
  ever lay the foundation of a traveling service through the 
  solar world?  Will they go from one planet to another, from 
  Jupiter to Mercury, and after awhile from one star to another, 
  from the Polar to Sirius?  Will this means of locomotion allow 
  us to visit those suns which swarm in the firmament? 
   
  To such questions no answer can be given.  But knowing the bold 
  ingenuity of the Anglo-Saxon race, no one would be astonished if 
  the Americans seek to make some use of President Barbicane's attempt. 
   
  Thus, some time after the return of the travelers, the public 
  received with marked favor the announcement of a company, 
  limited, with a capital of a hundred million of dollars, divided 
  into a hundred thousand shares of a thousand dollars each, under 
  the name of the "National Company of Interstellary Communication." 
  President, Barbicane; vice-president, Captain Nicholl; secretary, 
  J. T. Maston; director of movements, Michel Ardan. 
   
  And as it is part of the American temperament to foresee 
  everything in business, even failure, the Honorable Harry 
  Trolloppe, judge commissioner, and Francis Drayton, magistrate, 
  were nominated beforehand! 
   
   
  and the sequel "Round the Moon" published as one Etext. 
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Vault2.0.-.Fiction-and-audiobooks/Books/V/VERNE, Jules/VERNE,_Jules_-_From_the_Earth_to_the_Moon.pdf