although my view was often interrupted by the masses of cloud which
floated to and fro. I observed now that even the lightest vapors never
rose to more than ten miles above the level of the sea.
“At half past nine I tried the experiment of throwing out a handful of
feathers through the valve. They did not float as I had expected; but
dropped down perpendicularly, like a bullet, en masse, and with the
greatest velocity--being out of sight in a very few seconds. I did not
at first know what to make of this extraordinary phenomenon; not being
able to believe that my rate of ascent had, of a sudden, met with
so prodigious an acceleration. But it soon occurred to me that the
atmosphere was now far too rare to sustain even the feathers; that they
actually fell, as they appeared to do, with great rapidity; and that I
had been surprised by the united velocities of their descent and my own
elevation.
“By ten o’clock I found that I had very little to occupy my immediate
attention. Affairs went swimmingly, and I believed the balloon to be
going upward with a speed increasing momently although I had no longer
any means of ascertaining the progression of the increase. I suffered no
pain or uneasiness of any kind, and enjoyed better spirits than I had
at any period since my departure from Rotterdam, busying myself now in
examining the state of my various apparatus, and now in regenerating the
atmosphere within the chamber. This latter point I determined to
attend to at regular intervals of forty minutes, more on account of
the preservation of my health, than from so frequent a renovation
being absolutely necessary. In the meanwhile I could not help making
anticipations. Fancy revelled in the wild and dreamy regions of the
moon. Imagination, feeling herself for once unshackled, roamed at will
among the ever-changing wonders of a shadowy and unstable land. Now
there were hoary and time-honored forests, and craggy precipices, and
waterfalls tumbling with a loud noise into abysses without a bottom.
Then I came suddenly into still noonday solitudes, where no wind of
heaven ever intruded, and where vast meadows of poppies, and slender,
lily-looking flowers spread themselves out a weary distance, all silent
and motionless forever. Then again I journeyed far down away into
another country where it was all one dim and vague lake, with a boundary
line of clouds. And out of this melancholy water arose a forest of tall
eastern trees, like a wilderness of dreams. And I have in mind that
the shadows of the trees which fell upon the lake remained not on
the surface where they fell, but sunk slowly and steadily down, and
commingled with the waves, while from the trunks of the trees other
shadows were continually coming out, and taking the place of their
brothers thus entombed. “This then,” I said thoughtfully, “is the very
reason why the waters of this lake grow blacker with age, and more
melancholy as the hours run on.” But fancies such as these were not the
sole possessors of my brain. Horrors of a nature most stern and most
appalling would too frequently obtrude themselves upon my mind, and
shake the innermost depths of my soul with the bare supposition of their
possibility. Yet I would not suffer my thoughts for any length of time
to dwell upon these latter speculations, rightly judging the real and
palpable dangers of the voyage sufficient for my undivided attention.
“At five o’clock, p.m., being engaged in regenerating the atmosphere
within the chamber, I took that opportunity of observing the cat and
kittens through the valve. The cat herself appeared to suffer again very
much, and I had no hesitation in attributing her uneasiness chiefly to a
difficulty in breathing; but my experiment with the kittens had resulted
very strangely. I had expected, of course, to see them betray a sense of
pain, although in a less degree than their mother, and this would have
been sufficient to confirm my opinion concerning the habitual endurance
of atmospheric pressure. But I was not prepared to find them, upon close
examination, evidently enjoying a high degree of health, breathing with
the greatest ease and perfect regularity, and evincing not the slightest
sign of any uneasiness whatever. I could only account for all this by
extending my theory, and supposing that the highly rarefied atmosphere
around might perhaps not be, as I had taken for granted, chemically
insufficient for the purposes of life, and that a person born in such
a medium might, possibly, be unaware of any inconvenience attending its
inhalation, while, upon removal to the denser strata near the earth,
he might endure tortures of a similar nature to those I had so lately
experienced. It has since been to me a matter of deep regret that an
awkward accident, at this time, occasioned me the loss of my little
family of cats, and deprived me of the insight into this matter which a
continued experiment might have afforded. In passing my hand through
the valve, with a cup of water for the old puss, the sleeves of my shirt
became entangled in the loop which sustained the basket, and thus, in
a moment, loosened it from the bottom. Had the whole actually vanished
into air, it could not have shot from my sight in a more abrupt and
instantaneous manner. Positively, there could not have intervened the
tenth part of a second between the disengagement of the basket and its
absolute and total disappearance with all that it contained. My good
wishes followed it to the earth, but of course, I had no hope that
either cat or kittens would ever live to tell the tale of their
misfortune.
“At six o’clock, I perceived a great portion of the earth’s visible area
to the eastward involved in thick shadow, which continued to advance
with great rapidity, until, at five minutes before seven, the whole
surface in view was enveloped in the darkness of night. It was not,
however, until long after this time that the rays of the setting sun
ceased to illumine the balloon; and this circumstance, although of
course fully anticipated, did not fail to give me an infinite deal
of pleasure. It was evident that, in the morning, I should behold the
rising luminary many hours at least before the citizens of Rotterdam, in
spite of their situation so much farther to the eastward, and thus, day
after day, in proportion to the height ascended, would I enjoy the light
of the sun for a longer and a longer period. I now determined to keep a
journal of my passage, reckoning the days from one to twenty-four
hours continuously, without taking into consideration the intervals of
darkness.
“At ten o’clock, feeling sleepy, I determined to lie down for the rest
of the night; but here a difficulty presented itself, which, obvious as
it may appear, had escaped my attention up to the very moment of which
I am now speaking. If I went to sleep as I proposed, how could the
atmosphere in the chamber be regenerated in the interim? To breathe
it for more than an hour, at the farthest, would be a matter of
impossibility, or, if even this term could be extended to an hour and a
quarter, the most ruinous consequences might ensue. The consideration
of this dilemma gave me no little disquietude; and it will hardly be
believed, that, after the dangers I had undergone, I should look
upon this business in so serious a light, as to give up all hope of
accomplishing my ultimate design, and finally make up my mind to the
necessity of a descent. But this hesitation was only momentary. I
reflected that man is the veriest slave of custom, and that many points
in the routine of his existence are deemed essentially important, which
are only so at all by his having rendered them habitual. It was very
certain that I could not do without sleep; but I might easily bring
myself to feel no inconvenience from being awakened at intervals of an
hour during the whole period of my repose. It would require but five
minutes at most to regenerate the atmosphere in the fullest manner, and
the only real difficulty was to contrive a method of arousing myself
at the proper moment for so doing. But this was a question which, I am
willing to confess, occasioned me no little trouble in its solution. To
be sure, I had heard of the student who, to prevent his falling asleep
over his books, held in one hand a ball of copper, the din of whose
descent into a basin of the same metal on the floor beside his chair,
served effectually to startle him up, if, at any moment, he should
be overcome with drowsiness. My own case, however, was very different
indeed, and left me no room for any similar idea; for I did not wish to
keep awake, but to be aroused from slumber at regular intervals of time.
I at length hit upon the following expedient, which, simple as it may
seem, was hailed by me, at the moment of discovery, as an invention
fully equal to that of the telescope, the steam-engine, or the art of
printing itself.
“It is necessary to premise, that the balloon, at the elevation now
attained, continued its course upward with an even and undeviating
ascent, and the car consequently followed with a steadiness so perfect
that it would have been impossible to detect in it the slightest
vacillation whatever. This circumstance favored me greatly in the
project I now determined to adopt. My supply of water had been put on
board in kegs containing five gallons each, and ranged very securely
around the interior of the car. I unfastened one of these, and taking
two ropes tied them tightly across the rim of the wicker-work from one
side to the other; placing them about a foot apart and parallel so as to
form a kind of shelf, upon which I placed the keg, and steadied it in a
horizontal position. About eight inches immediately below these ropes,
and four feet from the bottom of the car I fastened another shelf--but
made of thin plank, being the only similar piece of wood I had. Upon
this latter shelf, and exactly beneath one of the rims of the keg, a
small earthern pitcher was deposited. I now bored a hole in the end of
the keg over the pitcher, and fitted in a plug of soft wood, cut in a
tapering or conical shape. This plug I pushed in or pulled out, as might
happen, until, after a few experiments, it arrived at that exact degree
of tightness, at which the water, oozing from the hole, and falling into
the pitcher below, would fill the latter to the brim in the period
of sixty minutes. This, of course, was a matter briefly and easily
ascertained, by noticing the proportion of the pitcher filled in any
given time. Having arranged all this, the rest of the plan is obvious.
My bed was so contrived upon the floor of the car, as to bring my
head, in lying down, immediately below the mouth of the pitcher. It was
evident, that, at the expiration of an hour, the pitcher, getting full,
would be forced to run over, and to run over at the mouth, which was
somewhat lower than the rim. It was also evident, that the water thus
falling from a height of more than four feet, could not do otherwise
than fall upon my face, and that the sure consequences would be, to
waken me up instantaneously, even from the soundest slumber in the
world.
“It was fully eleven by the time I had completed these arrangements,
and I immediately betook myself to bed, with full confidence in the
efficiency of my invention. Nor in this matter was I disappointed.
Punctually every sixty minutes was I aroused by my trusty chronometer,
when, having emptied the pitcher into the bung-hole of the keg, and
performed the duties of the condenser, I retired again to bed. These
regular interruptions to my slumber caused me even less discomfort than
I had anticipated; and when I finally arose for the day, it was seven
o’clock, and the sun had attained many degrees above the line of my
horizon.
“April 3d. I found the balloon at an immense height indeed, and the
earth’s apparent convexity increased in a material degree. Below me in
the ocean lay a cluster of black specks, which undoubtedly were islands.
Far away to the northward I perceived a thin, white, and exceedingly
brilliant line, or streak, on the edge of the horizon, and I had no
hesitation in supposing it to be the southern disk of the ices of the
Polar Sea. My curiosity was greatly excited, for I had hopes of passing
on much farther to the north, and might possibly, at some period, find
myself placed directly above the Pole itself. I now lamented that my
great elevation would, in this case, prevent my taking as accurate a
survey as I could wish. Much, however, might be ascertained. Nothing
else of an extraordinary nature occurred during the day. My apparatus
all continued in good order, and the balloon still ascended without any
perceptible vacillation. The cold was intense, and obliged me to wrap
up closely in an overcoat. When darkness came over the earth, I betook
myself to bed, although it was for many hours afterward broad daylight
all around my immediate situation. The water-clock was punctual in its
duty, and I slept until next morning soundly, with the exception of the
periodical interruption.
“April 4th. Arose in good health and spirits, and was astonished at the
singular change which had taken place in the appearance of the sea.
It had lost, in a great measure, the deep tint of blue it had hitherto
worn, being now of a grayish-white, and of a lustre dazzling to the eye.
The islands were no longer visible; whether they had passed down the
horizon to the southeast, or whether my increasing elevation had left
them out of sight, it is impossible to say. I was inclined, however, to
the latter opinion. The rim of ice to the northward was growing more
and more apparent. Cold by no means so intense. Nothing of importance
occurred, and I passed the day in reading, having taken care to supply
myself with books.
“April 5th. Beheld the singular phenomenon of the sun rising while
nearly the whole visible surface of the earth continued to be involved
in darkness. In time, however, the light spread itself over all, and I
again saw the line of ice to the northward. It was now very distinct,
and appeared of a much darker hue than the waters of the ocean. I was
evidently approaching it, and with great rapidity. Fancied I could
again distinguish a strip of land to the eastward, and one also to the
westward, but could not be certain. Weather moderate. Nothing of any
consequence happened during the day. Went early to bed.
“April 6th. Was surprised at finding the rim of ice at a very moderate
distance, and an immense field of the same material stretching away off
to the horizon in the north. It was evident that if the balloon held its
present course, it would soon arrive above the Frozen Ocean, and I had
now little doubt of ultimately seeing the Pole. During the whole of the
day I continued to near the ice. Toward night the limits of my horizon
very suddenly and materially increased, owing undoubtedly to the
earth’s form being that of an oblate spheroid, and my arriving above the
flattened regions in the vicinity of the Arctic circle. When darkness at
length overtook me, I went to bed in great anxiety, fearing to pass over
the object of so much curiosity when I should have no opportunity of
observing it.
“April 7th. Arose early, and, to my great joy, at length beheld what
there could be no hesitation in supposing the northern Pole itself. It
was there, beyond a doubt, and immediately beneath my feet; but, alas! I
had now ascended to so vast a distance, that nothing could with accuracy
be discerned. Indeed, to judge from the progression of the numbers
indicating my various altitudes, respectively, at different periods,
between six A.M. on the second of April, and twenty minutes before nine
A.M. of the same day (at which time the barometer ran down), it might be
fairly inferred that the balloon had now, at four o’clock in the morning
of April the seventh, reached a height of not less, certainly, than
7,254 miles above the surface of the sea. This elevation may appear
immense, but the estimate upon which it is calculated gave a result in
all probability far inferior to the truth. At all events I undoubtedly
beheld the whole of the earth’s major diameter; the entire northern
hemisphere lay beneath me like a chart orthographically projected: and
the great circle of the equator itself formed the boundary line of
my horizon. Your Excellencies may, however, readily imagine that the
confined regions hitherto unexplored within the limits of the Arctic
circle, although situated directly beneath me, and therefore seen
without any appearance of being foreshortened, were still, in
themselves, comparatively too diminutive, and at too great a distance
from the point of sight, to admit of any very accurate examination.
Nevertheless, what could be seen was of a nature singular and exciting.
Northwardly from that huge rim before mentioned, and which, with slight
qualification, may be called the limit of human discovery in these
regions, one unbroken, or nearly unbroken, sheet of ice continues to
extend. In the first few degrees of this its progress, its surface is
very sensibly flattened, farther on depressed into a plane, and finally,
becoming not a little concave, it terminates, at the Pole itself, in a
circular centre, sharply defined, whose apparent diameter subtended at
the balloon an angle of about sixty-five seconds, and whose dusky hue,
varying in intensity, was, at all times, darker than any other spot upon
the visible hemisphere, and occasionally deepened into the most
absolute and impenetrable blackness. Farther than this, little could
be ascertained. By twelve o’clock the circular centre had materially
decreased in circumference, and by seven P.M. I lost sight of it
entirely; the balloon passing over the western limb of the ice, and
floating away rapidly in the direction of the equator.
“April 8th. Found a sensible diminution in the earth’s apparent
diameter, besides a material alteration in its general color and
appearance. The whole visible area partook in different degrees of a
tint of pale yellow, and in some portions had acquired a brilliancy even
painful to the eye. My view downward was also considerably impeded by
the dense atmosphere in the vicinity of the surface being loaded with
clouds, between whose masses I could only now and then obtain a glimpse
of the earth itself. This difficulty of direct vision had troubled me
more or less for the last forty-eight hours; but my present enormous
elevation brought closer together, as it were, the floating bodies of
vapor, and the inconvenience became, of course, more and more palpable
in proportion to my ascent. Nevertheless, I could easily perceive that
the balloon now hovered above the range of great lakes in the continent
of North America, and was holding a course, due south, which would bring
me to the tropics. This circumstance did not fail to give me the most
heartful satisfaction, and I hailed it as a happy omen of ultimate
success. Indeed, the direction I had hitherto taken, had filled me with
uneasiness; for it was evident that, had I continued it much longer,
there would have been no possibility of my arriving at the moon at all,
whose orbit is inclined to the ecliptic at only the small angle of 5
degrees 8’ 48”.
“April 9th. To-day the earth’s diameter was greatly diminished, and the
color of the surface assumed hourly a deeper tint of yellow. The balloon
kept steadily on her course to the southward, and arrived, at nine P.M.,
over the northern edge of the Mexican Gulf.
“April 10th. I was suddenly aroused from slumber, about five o’clock
this morning, by a loud, crackling, and terrific sound, for which I
could in no manner account. It was of very brief duration, but, while
it lasted resembled nothing in the world of which I had any previous
experience. It is needless to say that I became excessively alarmed,
having, in the first instance, attributed the noise to the bursting of
the balloon. I examined all my apparatus, however, with great attention,
and could discover nothing out of order. Spent a great part of the day
in meditating upon an occurrence so extraordinary, but could find no
means whatever of accounting for it. Went to bed dissatisfied, and in a
state of great anxiety and agitation.
“April 11th. Found a startling diminution in the apparent diameter of
the earth, and a considerable increase, now observable for the first
time, in that of the moon itself, which wanted only a few days of being
full. It now required long and excessive labor to condense within the
chamber sufficient atmospheric air for the sustenance of life.
“April 12th. A singular alteration took place in regard to the direction
of the balloon, and although fully anticipated, afforded me the most
unequivocal delight. Having reached, in its former course, about the
twentieth parallel of southern latitude, it turned off suddenly, at an
acute angle, to the eastward, and thus proceeded throughout the day,
keeping nearly, if not altogether, in the exact plane of the lunar
elipse. What was worthy of remark, a very perceptible vacillation in
the car was a consequence of this change of route--a vacillation which
prevailed, in a more or less degree, for a period of many hours.
“April 13th. Was again very much alarmed by a repetition of the loud,
crackling noise which terrified me on the tenth. Thought long upon
the subject, but was unable to form any satisfactory conclusion. Great
decrease in the earth’s apparent diameter, which now subtended from the
balloon an angle of very little more than twenty-five degrees. The moon
could not be seen at all, being nearly in my zenith. I still continued
in the plane of the elipse, but made little progress to the eastward.
“April 14th. Extremely rapid decrease in the diameter of the earth.
To-day I became strongly impressed with the idea, that the balloon was
now actually running up the line of apsides to the point of perigee--in
other words, holding the direct course which would bring it immediately
to the moon in that part of its orbit the nearest to the earth. The moon
itself was directly overhead, and consequently hidden from my view.
Great and long-continued labor necessary for the condensation of the
atmosphere.
“April 15th. Not even the outlines of continents and seas could now
be traced upon the earth with anything approaching distinctness. About
twelve o’clock I became aware, for the third time, of that appalling
sound which had so astonished me before. It now, however, continued for
some moments, and gathered intensity as it continued. At length, while,
stupefied and terror-stricken, I stood in expectation of I knew not what
hideous destruction, the car vibrated with excessive violence, and
a gigantic and flaming mass of some material which I could not
distinguish, came with a voice of a thousand thunders, roaring and
booming by the balloon. When my fears and astonishment had in some
degree subsided, I had little difficulty in supposing it to be some
mighty volcanic fragment ejected from that world to which I was so
rapidly approaching, and, in all probability, one of that singular class
of substances occasionally picked up on the earth, and termed meteoric
stones for want of a better appellation.
“April 16th. To-day, looking upward as well as I could, through each
of the side windows alternately, I beheld, to my great delight, a very
small portion of the moon’s disk protruding, as it were, on all sides
beyond the huge circumference of the balloon. My agitation was extreme;
for I had now little doubt of soon reaching the end of my perilous
voyage. Indeed, the labor now required by the condenser had increased
to a most oppressive degree, and allowed me scarcely any respite from
exertion. Sleep was a matter nearly out of the question. I became quite
ill, and my frame trembled with exhaustion. It was impossible that human
nature could endure this state of intense suffering much longer. During
the now brief interval of darkness a meteoric stone again passed in my
vicinity, and the frequency of these phenomena began to occasion me much
apprehension.
“April 17th. This morning proved an epoch in my voyage. It will be
remembered that, on the thirteenth, the earth subtended an angular
breadth of twenty-five degrees. On the fourteenth this had greatly
diminished; on the fifteenth a still more remarkable decrease was
observable; and, on retiring on the night of the sixteenth, I had
noticed an angle of no more than about seven degrees and fifteen
minutes. What, therefore, must have been my amazement, on awakening
from a brief and disturbed slumber, on the morning of this day,
the seventeenth, at finding the surface beneath me so suddenly and
wonderfully augmented in volume, as to subtend no less than thirty-nine
degrees in apparent angular diameter! I was thunderstruck! No words
can give any adequate idea of the extreme, the absolute horror and
astonishment, with which I was seized possessed, and altogether
overwhelmed. My knees tottered beneath me--my teeth chattered--my hair
started up on end. “The balloon, then, had actually burst!” These were
the first tumultuous ideas that hurried through my mind: “The balloon
had positively burst!--I was falling--falling with the most impetuous,
the most unparalleled velocity! To judge by the immense distance already
so quickly passed over, it could not be more than ten minutes, at the
farthest, before I should meet the surface of the earth, and be hurled
into annihilation!” But at length reflection came to my relief. I
paused; I considered; and I began to doubt. The matter was impossible.
I could not in any reason have so rapidly come down. Besides, although
I was evidently approaching the surface below me, it was with a speed
by no means commensurate with the velocity I had at first so horribly
conceived. This consideration served to calm the perturbation of my
mind, and I finally succeeded in regarding the phenomenon in its proper
point of view. In fact, amazement must have fairly deprived me of my
senses, when I could not see the vast difference, in appearance, between
the surface below me, and the surface of my mother earth. The latter
was indeed over my head, and completely hidden by the balloon, while the
moon--the moon itself in all its glory--lay beneath me, and at my feet.
“The stupor and surprise produced in my mind by this extraordinary
change in the posture of affairs was perhaps, after all, that part of
the adventure least susceptible of explanation. For the bouleversement
in itself was not only natural and inevitable, but had been long
actually anticipated as a circumstance to be expected whenever I should
arrive at that exact point of my voyage where the attraction of the
planet should be superseded by the attraction of the satellite--or, more
precisely, where the gravitation of the balloon toward the earth should
be less powerful than its gravitation toward the moon. To be sure I
arose from a sound slumber, with all my senses in confusion, to the
contemplation of a very startling phenomenon, and one which, although
expected, was not expected at the moment. The revolution itself must, of
course, have taken place in an easy and gradual manner, and it is by no
means clear that, had I even been awake at the time of the occurrence,
I should have been made aware of it by any internal evidence of an
inversion--that is to say, by any inconvenience or disarrangement,
either about my person or about my apparatus.
“It is almost needless to say that, upon coming to a due sense of my
situation, and emerging from the terror which had absorbed every faculty
of my soul, my attention was, in the first place, wholly directed to
the contemplation of the general physical appearance of the moon. It
lay beneath me like a chart--and although I judged it to be still at no
inconsiderable distance, the indentures of its surface were defined
to my vision with a most striking and altogether unaccountable
distinctness. The entire absence of ocean or sea, and indeed of any lake
or river, or body of water whatsoever, struck me, at first glance, as
the most extraordinary feature in its geological condition. Yet, strange
to say, I beheld vast level regions of a character decidedly alluvial,
although by far the greater portion of the hemisphere in sight was
covered with innumerable volcanic mountains, conical in shape, and
having more the appearance of artificial than of natural protuberance.
The highest among them does not exceed three and three-quarter miles
in perpendicular elevation; but a map of the volcanic districts of the
Campi Phlegraei would afford to your Excellencies a better idea of their
general surface than any unworthy description I might think proper to
attempt. The greater part of them were in a state of evident eruption,
and gave me fearfully to understand their fury and their power, by the
repeated thunders of the miscalled meteoric stones, which now rushed
upward by the balloon with a frequency more and more appalling.
“April 18th. To-day I found an enormous increase in the moon’s apparent
bulk--and the evidently accelerated velocity of my descent began to fill
me with alarm. It will be remembered, that, in the earliest stage of
my speculations upon the possibility of a passage to the moon, the
existence, in its vicinity, of an atmosphere, dense in proportion to the
bulk of the planet, had entered largely into my calculations; this too
in spite of many theories to the contrary, and, it may be added, in
spite of a general disbelief in the existence of any lunar atmosphere at
all. But, in addition to what I have already urged in regard to Encke’s
comet and the zodiacal light, I had been strengthened in my opinion by
certain observations of Mr. Schroeter, of Lilienthal. He observed the
moon when two days and a half old, in the evening soon after sunset,
before the dark part was visible, and continued to watch it until it
became visible. The two cusps appeared tapering in a very sharp faint
prolongation, each exhibiting its farthest extremity faintly illuminated
by the solar rays, before any part of the dark hemisphere was
visible. Soon afterward, the whole dark limb became illuminated. This
prolongation of the cusps beyond the semicircle, I thought, must have
arisen from the refraction of the sun’s rays by the moon’s atmosphere. I
computed, also, the height of the atmosphere (which could refract light
enough into its dark hemisphere to produce a twilight more luminous than
the light reflected from the earth when the moon is about 32 degrees
from the new) to be 1,356 Paris feet; in this view, I supposed the
greatest height capable of refracting the solar ray, to be 5,376 feet.
My ideas on this topic had also received confirmation by a passage in
the eighty-second volume of the Philosophical Transactions, in which
it is stated that at an occultation of Jupiter’s satellites, the third
disappeared after having been about 1” or 2” of time indistinct, and the
fourth became indiscernible near the limb.(*4)
“Cassini frequently observed Saturn, Jupiter, and the fixed stars,
when approaching the moon to occultation, to have their circular figure
changed into an oval one; and, in other occultations, he found no
alteration of figure at all. Hence it might be supposed, that at some
times and not at others, there is a dense matter encompassing the moon
wherein the rays of the stars are refracted.
“Upon the resistance or, more properly, upon the support of an
atmosphere, existing in the state of density imagined, I had, of course,
entirely depended for the safety of my ultimate descent. Should I then,
after all, prove to have been mistaken, I had in consequence nothing
better to expect, as a finale to my adventure, than being dashed into
atoms against the rugged surface of the satellite. And, indeed, I
had now every reason to be terrified. My distance from the moon was
comparatively trifling, while the labor required by the condenser was
diminished not at all, and I could discover no indication whatever of a
decreasing rarity in the air.
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