If
that, however, had been the case, our voyage would have been
impracticable.'"
After gazing for some time on this magnificent spectacle, with
admiration and delight, one of their balls of _lunarium_ was let
off for the purpose of checking their velocity. At this time the
Brahmin supposed they were not more than four thousand miles from the
nearest point of the moon's surface. In about four hours more, her
apparent magnitude was so great, that they could see her by looking
out of either of the side windows.
"Her disc had now lost its former silvery appearance, and began to
look more like that of the earth, when seen at the same distance. It
was a most gratifying spectacle to behold the objects successively
rising to our view, and steadily enlarging in their dimensions. The
rapidity with which we approached the moon, impressed me, in spite of
myself, with the alarming sensation of falling; and I found myself
alternately agitated with a sense of this danger, and with impatience
to take a nearer view of the new objects that greeted my eyes. The
Brahmin was wholly absorbed in calculations for the purpose of
adjusting our velocity to the distance we had to go, his estimates of
which, however, were in a great measure conjectural; and ever and anon
he would let off a ball of the lunar metal.
"After a few hours, we were so near the moon that every object was
seen in our glass, as distinctly as the shells or marine plants
through a piece of shallow sea-water, though the eye could take in but
a small part of her surface, and the horizon, which bounded our view,
was rapidly contracting.
Pages:
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254