Transcriber's Note

The punctuation and spelling from the original text have been faithfullypreserved. Only obvious typographical errors have been corrected. 

Plate XVI is missing from the scanned image files. The reference withinthe Maps and Plates list has been preserved. 

TO MARS _via_ THE MOON

[Illustration: _Drawn by M. Wicks_

VIEW FROM THE AIR-SHIP, OVER THE CANALS AND THE CITY OF SIRAPION

"What a splendid view we then had over the country all around us!... Across the country, in line after line, were the canals which we hadbeen so anxious to see, extending as far as the eye could reach!"]

 To Mars _via_ The Moon

 _AN ASTRONOMICAL STORY_

 BY MARK WICKS

 "_It is astronomy which will eventually be the chief educator and emancipator of the human race. _"--SIR EDWIN ARNOLD. 

 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

 LONDON SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET 1911

 Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh

 TO

 PROFESSOR PERCIVAL LOWELL

 A. B. , LL. D. 

 _Director of the Observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona_

 TO WHOSE CAREFUL AND PAINSTAKING RESEARCHES, EXTENDING OVER MANY YEARS, THE WORLD OWES SO MUCH OF ITS KNOWLEDGE OF

 THE PLANET MARS, THIS LITTLE BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY ONE WHO HAS DERIVED INFINITE PLEASURE FROM THE PERUSAL OF HIS WORKS ON THE SUBJECT

PREFACE

In the course of my experience as an occasional lecturer during the pasttwelve years, I have been much impressed by the keen interest evinced, even by the most unlettered persons, when astronomical subjects aredealt with in plain untechnical language which they can really grasp andunderstand. 

The pertinent questions which have been addressed to me privately bymembers of my audiences have clearly indicated that there is ample scopefor writers in satisfying a widespread desire for fuller and clearerinformation upon such subjects. I have observed that particular interestis taken in the planet Mars and also in the moon, but ordinary personsusually find astronomical text-books too technical and too difficult tomaster; whilst, as regards Mars, the information they contain isgenerally meagre and sometimes not up-to-date. 

Scientific readers are already provided for: and it occurred to me thatit would be much more useful and appeal to a more numerous class if, instead of writing a book on the usual lines, I wrote a narrative ofevents which might be supposed to occur in the course of an actualvoyage to Mars; and describing what might be seen on the planet during ashort visit. 

This is the genesis of the story; and, in carrying out my programme, Ihave endeavoured to convey by means of natural incidents andconversations between the characters portrayed, the most recent andreliable scientific information respecting the moon and Mars; togetherwith other astronomical information: stating it in an interesting form, and in concise, clear, and understandable language. 

Every endeavour has been made to ensure that this scientific informationshall be thoroughly accurate, so that in this respect the book may bereferred to with as much confidence as any ordinary textbook. 

Apart from my own studies and work, all these facts have been carefullyverified by reference, as regards the moon, to the works of suchwell-known authorities as Neison, Elger, Proctor, Sir Robert Ball, &c. , whilst, with respect to Mars, the works of Professor Lowell, Flammarion, Professor Langley, and other writers, as well as practical papers byother actual observers of the planet, have been studied. 

The personal opinions expressed are entirely my own, and the technicalwriters above mentioned are in no way responsible for them. I do not, however, expect my readers to accept all my views, as they relate tomatters in which there is ample room for differences of opinion. 

The reader will, of course, understand that whilst the astronomicalinformation is, in all cases, scientific fact according to our presentknowledge, the story itself--as well as the attempt to describe thephysical and social conditions on Mars--is purely imaginative. It isnot, however, merely random imagining. In a narrative such as this somematters--as, for instance, the "air-ship, " and the possibility of avoyage through space--must be taken for granted; but the other ideasare mainly logical deductions from known facts and scientific data, orlegitimate inferences. 

Many years' careful study of the various theories which have beenevolved has convinced me that the weight of evidence is in favour ofProfessor Lowell's conceptions, as being not only the most reasonablebut the most scientific; and that they fit the observed facts with acompleteness attaching to no other theory. These conceptions I haveendeavoured to present fully and clearly; together with my own views asan entirely independent writer. 

In dealing with the conditions on a distant and inaccessible world thefarthest flight of imagination might fall short of the reality, but Ihave preferred to treat these matters somewhat restrainedly. Whilst noone can say positively that the intelligent inhabitants of Mars do notpossess bodies resembling our own, it is very probable that they differfrom us entirely; and may possess forms which would appear to us strangeand weird. I have, however, thought it desirable to endow the Martianswith bodies resembling ours, but glorified in form and features. Thepowers ascribed to the Martians are really only extensions of powerswhich some amongst us claim to possess, and they fall short of what morethan one modern scientific writer has predicated as being within thepossibilities of science at a not very distant future. 

During the past few years I have been greatly indebted to ProfessorLowell for his kindness and ready courtesy in furnishing me withinformation on obscure matters connected with Mars; and my thanks arealso due to the Rev. Theodore E. R. Phillips, of Ashstead, who was goodenough to read the manuscript of this book, and whose greatobservational experience enabled him to make valuable suggestions inregard to the scientific matters dealt with therein. 

Truly "a labour of love, " this little book--which Professor Lowell hasmost kindly permitted me to dedicate to him--is now submitted to thepublic, in the sincere hope that its perusal may serve not only to whileaway a leisure hour, but tend to nurture a love of the sublime scienceof astronomy, and at the same time provide some food for thought. 

A few maps, plates, and charts have been added to give completeness tothe work, and it is hoped that they will aid the reader in understandingthe several matters dealt with. 

 M. W. 1910. 

CONTENTS

 PAGE

 LIST OF PLATES AND MAPS xvii

 NOTES ON THE MAPS AND CHARTS xix

 THE SUN, MOON, AND PLANETS xxiii

 (_Narrative by Wilfrid Poynders, Esq. _)

 CHAP. I. WE START ON A VERY LONG VOYAGE 25

 II. PERSONAL REMINISCENCES--WHY WE DECIDED ON THE VOYAGE 35

 III. WE APPROACH THE MOON--A MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE 44

 IV. CLOSE TO THE MOON--I GIVE SOME INFORMATION ABOUT IT 52

 V. WE VIEW THE LUNAR SCENERY IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE 63

 VI. THE SCENERY OF THE MOON'S SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 78

 VII. WE RESUME OUR VOYAGE--THE SUN AND THE SKY AS SEEN FROM SPACE 92

 VIII. JOHN INSISTS ON GOING BACK AGAIN--A STRANGE, BUT AMUSING INCIDENT OCCURS 101

 IX. A NARROW ESCAPE FROM DESTRUCTION--I GIVE SOME PARTICULARS ABOUT MARS AND MARTIAN DISCOVERY 113

 X. THE DISCOVERY OF LINES UPON MARS--THE GREAT MARTIAN CONTROVERSY 128

 XI. THE GREAT MARTIAN CONTROVERSY (_continued_) 139

 XII. WE ARE MYSTERIOUSLY PREVENTED FROM APPROACHING MARS 155

 XIII. WE ARRIVE ON MARS AND MEET WITH A STARTLING SURPRISE 162

 XIV. I MAKE A MOST AMAZING DISCOVERY 166

 XV. WHAT IS IN A NAME!--THE STORY OF MERNA 169

 XVI. WE LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT THE POWERS OF THE MARTIANS 184

 XVII. WE VISIT THE CANALS AND DISCOVER THEIR SECRET--MARTIAN VIEWS OF LIFE AND DEATH 194

 XVIII. WE ATTEND A MARTIAN BANQUET 207

 XIX. THE CHIEF OF THE MARTIAN COUNCIL DISCUSSES THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF OUR WORLD AND MARS 212

 XX. THE SECRET OF THE "CARETS"--THE SUN AS SEEN FROM MARS 224

 XXI. OUR FIRST VIEW OF THE EARTH FROM MARS--A MARTIAN COURTSHIP 236

 XXII. CELESTIAL PHENOMENA SEEN FROM MARS--M'ALLISTER RECEIVES A PRACTICAL LESSON IN GRAVITATION 242

 XXIII. I HAVE A SERIOUS TALK WITH JOHN 253

 XXIV. THE MARTIAN SEASONS 256

 XXV. MANY THINGS SEEN UPON MARS--I RECEIVE SOME NEWS 264

 XXVI. WE WITNESS SOME WONDERFUL AERIAL EVOLUTIONS AND LISTEN TO MARVELLOUS MUSIC 282

 XXVII. A FAREWELL BANQUET AND A PAINFUL PARTING 293

 XXVIII. LAST WORDS TO MY READERS 298

 (_Addendum by John Yiewsley Claxton_)

 XXIX. WHAT HAPPENED UPON OUR RETURN HOME--RESULTS OF THE MOST RECENT OBSERVATIONS OF MARS--PROFESSOR LOWELL'S IMPORTANT DISCOVERY 302

LIST OF PLATES AND MAPS

 PLATE PAGE

 I. "WHAT A SPLENDID VIEW WE THEN HAD!" _frontispiece_

 II. IDEAL VIEW OF LUNAR SCENERY 54

 III. CHART OF THE MOON, SHOWING THE PRINCIPAL } FORMATIONS SEEN ON ITS SURFACE } 80 } IV. INDEX MAP TO CHART OF THE MOON }

 V. DIAGRAM SHOWING THE RELATIVE POSITIONS AND MOVEMENTS OF THE PLANETS DURING THE VOYAGE OF THE _AREONAL_ 100

 VI. DIAGRAM SHOWING THE RELATIVE POSITIONS OF THE EARTH AND MARS AT THE TIME OF VARIOUS OPPOSITIONS OF MARS 110

 VII. CHART SHOWING THE RELATIVE POSITIONS OF THE EARTH AND MARS DURING THE YEARS 1909-1910 118

 VIII. MARS. MAP 1 128

 IX. MARS. MAP 2 138

 X. MARS. MAP 3 154

 XI. MARS. MAP 4 206

 XII. MARS. MAP 5 224

 XIII. MARS. MAP 6 256

 XIV. MARS. MAP 7, SHOWING THE PLANET'S SOUTHERN SNOW-CAP AT ITS MAXIMUM 266

 XV. MARS AS SEEN ON AUGUST 16, 1909 } } 314 XVI. MARS AS SEEN ON OCTOBER 29, 1909 }

NOTES ON THE MAPS AND CHARTS

The maps included in this work have been photographed from a globe ofMars specially made for the purpose from various charts. In all the mapsthe south is at the top and the north at the bottom; and the seriesshows the general surface configuration all round the planet, togetherwith the principal canal lines which have been observed; but many othercanal lines exist, especially on the dark areas near the south pole. These lines are usually straight and uniform in width throughout theirwhole length: indeed it is difficult to mark them upon a globe so thatthey shall appear as regular and uniform as they are actually seen onthe planet. 

The names on the maps are those now generally accepted and used byastronomers. 

The "Greenwich" of Mars, _i. E. _ the point on the Meridian from whichastronomers reckon the Martian longitudes, is indicated by the apex ofthe small triangular light area just above the equator in Map I. It ismarked on the map as "Fastigium Aryn, " and is chosen as longitude "0, "because from its general outline it cannot be mistaken by observers. 

"Sirapion, " the supposed landing-place of the travellers mentioned inthe story, is shown on Map III. , just above the central and lowest pointof the dark area at the top of the map. This name will not be found uponany other map of Mars. 

The chart showing the relative positions of the Earth and Mars duringthe years 1909-10 is reduced and modified from one prepared accuratelyto scale by the author for his own use in connection with the book. Fromit the reader will gain a clear idea of the shape of the two orbits andhow they are placed with regard to each other. 

It also shows the course supposed to be taken by the air-ship on itsoutward and homeward journeys, and the point reached when one of thetravellers desired to turn back; together with the alternative routeswhich were then discussed. 

This chart, and the other one showing the positions of the two planetsat different oppositions of Mars, will enable the reader to understandhow it is that Mars approaches so much nearer to the earth at someoppositions than it does at others. The positions of the oppositionsfrom 1916 to 1922 are only approximations, as no exact data are yetavailable. The earth is closest to the orbit of Mars about the 27th ofAugust each year, and if Mars comes into opposition about that date itis then only about thirty-five million miles away. If, however, theopposition occurs near the 22nd February, the earth is then at itsgreatest possible distance from the orbit of Mars, and that planet willthen be over sixty million miles away: appearing very much smaller thanwhen at its most favourable point of approach. 

On the 18th of September, 1909, Mars was only slightly over thirty-sixmillion miles from the earth, and it will be fifteen years before such afavourable situation again occurs. 

The nearest point of approach does not necessarily occur on the actualdate of the opposition. In 1907 Mars was in perigee, as it is termed, seven days after the opposition; while in 1909, perigee was beforeopposition. 

The diagram showing the positions and movements of the planets duringthe period covered by the outward voyage of the _Areonal_ issufficiently explained by the notes printed thereon. It may, however, bepointed out that though the orbits of the planets are all elliptical, especially those of Mercury and Mars, they are so nearly true circlesthat, when reduced to the scale of these diagrams, they practicallybecome circles. The exaggerated ellipses so often found in astronomicalbooks are very misleading. The orbits of Mercury and Mars have anappearance of ellipticity because the sun does not occupy the centralpoint in the diagram. 

The view of the moon is photographed from a large coloured drawing bythe author, which occupied many months in preparation and execution. Itshows all the principal formations seen through the telescope as themoon passes through its various phases, but it must be understood thatthe formations can never all be seen at one view as shown in thispicture. As the sun rises on any particular formation the details aregradually revealed by the long shadows cast by the more elevatedportions when the sun is low down in the lunar sky. As the sun riseshigher and higher the shadows grow shorter and shorter, and when the sunis vertically over the formation the shadows entirely disappear; alldetails are thus rendered invisible. 

When the moon is full the sun is practically vertical over the wholelunar surface, so the only details then seen are those which are vaguelybrought out by differences in tint. 

The bright ray-streaks are only suggested in the picture, because, ifshown complete, they would have the same effect as upon the moon, viz. They would entirely obliterate all the formations over which theypassed. 

The Key Map indicates the principal lunar formations, and includes thenames of those mentioned in the book. 

The last two plates in the book are from drawings made at the telescope(a 12-inch Calver reflector) by the Rev. T. E. R. Phillips. Theopposition of 1909 was not favourable for the observation of Martiandetails from England; for although the planet was near to us, it was toolow down in the sky; and many of the nights were either cloudy ormisty. 

THE SUN, MOON, AND PLANETS

 Diameter. Period of Rotation. Mean Distance from the Earth. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------SUN 865, 000 miles 25 to 26 days 92, 800, 000 miles

MOON 2, 160 miles 27-1/3 days 238, 000 miles (It revolves round the earth in the same time. )---------------------------------------------------------------------------PLANETS. Diameter in Number of Period of Period of Mean Distance Miles. [1] Satellites Rotation. Revolution from the Sun in Known. [2] Round the Sun. Millions of Miles. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hrs. Mins. Days. Mercury 2, 992 None [3]? 88 36Venus 7, 660 None ? 225 67Earth 7, 918 One 23 56 365-1/4 92-3/4Mars 4, 220 Two 24 37 687 141-1/2Asteroids Very tiny planets, hundreds in number; and more are frequently being discovered. Jupiter 86, 000 Eight 9 55 4, 332-1/2 482Saturn 74, 000 Ten 10 14 10, 759 886Uranus 31, 700 Four Not known 30, 687 1, 780Neptune 34, 500 One " " 60, 127 2, 780---------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO MARS _via_ THE MOON

(_Narrative written by Wilfrid Poynders, Esquire, late of Norbury, inthe County Borough of Croydon, Surrey_)

CHAPTER I

WE START ON A VERY LONG VOYAGE

"Well, I suppose it is about time to get ready for starting?"

The speaker was a smart, well-set-up man about forty-three years of age, whose keen and alert expression, clear eyes and well-cut features were atrue index to the intellectuality and integrity of his character; whilsthis closely compressed lips and the deep vertical line down the centreof his forehead betokened a dogged perseverance in carrying into effectanything he might undertake. 

John Yiewsley Claxton, for that was his name, was my very intimatefriend of at least twenty-five years' standing; and during the greaterportion of that time he had been my constant companion. We had passedthrough many trials and troubles together, but a better friend andcompanion no man could have desired. 

We were just finishing a last quiet smoke and chat in my snuggery atNorbury, near Croydon, preparatory to starting off on a very longjourney for which all arrangements had been completed, and we had risenearly that morning in order to have everything in readiness. 

John took his pipe from his lips as he spoke, then, rising, stretchedout his arms and braced himself up like one ready and eager for anyemergency; the next minute he was smoking in his usual calm andthoughtful manner. I rose when he did, then giving a few finalinstructions to Mrs. Challen, my housekeeper, we bade her "good-bye" andstepped out on to the lawn, thence crossing over to a gate at the farend of the garden, we passed into an extensive field and walked toward alarge shed that stood near its centre. 

It was a most beautiful evening near the beginning of August 1909, clearand calm. The sun had only just passed below the horizon, the skyimmediately above it being a rippled glory of gold, merging higher upinto gold flecked with crimson, then into a placid sea of paleapple-green. Above this were fleecy clouds of delicate rose-pink, whichreflected their splendours upon the higher parts of the surroundinghills, the latter standing out clear and sharp, and glowing with roseatehues, whilst their bases were seen dimly as through a thin veiling ofpurple mist. 

Surely nothing could be better for the commencement of our long-plannedtrip. The moon would not rise until about a quarter-past nine, anddarkness would have descended by the time we were ready to start. Thiswas exactly what we required, because we did not wish either ourpreparations or our departure to be observed. 

Just as we arrived within hail of the shed the door opened, and arugged-featured man with sandy hair stepped out. This was KennethM'Allister, our engineer and general factotum in all mechanicalmatters--a typical specimen of a Scotch engineer. He had followed hisprofession in its different phases on tramp-steamers, on ocean liners, naval gunboats, and even on battle-ships, besides having served forseveral years in the workshops of a great firm of electrical engineers. 

Whether repairing a broken propeller-shaft two or three scores of tonsin weight, the most intricate machinery, or the most delicate electricmechanism, he was equally at home and sure in his work; in fact nothingseemed to come amiss to him. His machinery was always the object of hismost anxious care, and, providing that all worked satisfactorily, nothing else troubled him much. 

"Well, M'Allister, " I called to him, "is everything ready for our tripto-night?"

"Heh, mon, " he replied, "everything is all ready; will you look in andtake a turn round the ship?"

"Certainly we will, " I answered; so we all went into the shed, where wegazed with equal pride and satisfaction upon the splendid shining objectwhich was housed therein. Here, in perfect readiness for its destinedservice, was our air-ship--if it could be so called--upon which we threehad expended years of thought, experiment, and work. 

Outwardly it was shaped somewhat like a fish, being constructed of aspecial metal--our joint invention--which we had named "martalium. " Themetal was composed of aluminium and two other rarer metals which, whencombined together, produced a substance almost as light as aluminium, yet many times harder and tougher than case-hardened steel; whilst itssurface shone like burnished silver and could never in any circumstancesbecome tarnished or affected by rust. 

The ship was ninety-five feet in length, and its diameter twenty feet inthe broadest part, tapering off to a point at either end. 

With the exception of the steering and balancing fans, there was nomachinery whatever visible on the exterior of the vessel. Severalwindows along each side, together with a few at the top and bottom ofthe vessel, gave light to the interior, and would allow for observationsbeing made in any direction. These windows were all constructed of aspecial toughened glass obtained from Vienna, very thick and warrantedto withstand the hardest blows. Along each side of the vessel there wasan observation platform or gallery on to which the exterior doorsopened, and each gallery was provided with a protecting railing. 

The interior of the ship was divided into five separate compartments, the rear one being the general living and sleeping room, havingobservation windows so arranged as to command an outlook in alldirections. The next compartment was mainly a store-room, but, like allthe others, could be used for observation purposes; next to that was asmall compartment intended for a special purpose which will hereafter beapparent; then another containing water storage, apparatus forcompressing or rarefying air, as well as machinery for producing thelatter chemically. 

Lastly, right in the forepart of the vessel was M'Allister's specialsanctum, containing the driving, lighting, warming, and steeringmachinery, but electric buttons and switches were also provided forcontrolling these in every compartment, so that whichever one wehappened to be in we were prepared for all emergencies. Periscopescapable of being turned in all directions also communicated with everycompartment, thus we could always see what might be around us. 

All the machinery was either electric or magnetic, some of it being verysimple; other portions were extremely intricate, but nearly all was theoutcome of our joint inventions. Such parts as could not profitably bemade by ourselves had been carefully distributed between several firmsof founders and engineers, in order that none could have any means ofdiscovering the use to which they were intended to be put. The whole ofthe shell of the vessel was double, with a packed space between the twoskins; and each door opened into a small lobby, having another door onthe farther side, to ensure that every part might be kept perfectlyair-tight when required. 

By the time we had completed a thorough inspection of the vessel and itsmachinery, and overhauled the stores to make sure that everythingrequisite was on board, it had become nearly dark, so, moving a switch, M'Allister swung open the great doors at the end of the shed. The vesselwas standing upon a low trolley having many wheels running on rails, with a small electric motor beneath it, and, upon M'Allister moving thetrolley switch, the whole affair glided smoothly out into the openfield. I may as well confess that we owed this trolley and the mode ofits working to ideas gained during an inspection of the construction andworking of the conduit trams belonging to the London County Council. 

When the vessel was out in the open we congratulated ourselves upon itssplendid proportions and business-like appearance. 

I asked M'Allister whether "he was satisfied with the result of ourlabours?"

"Mon, " he replied, "she's grand, and it's fine to have the handling ofsuch machinery; everything works as slick as grease!" It was a pleasureto hear him talk about his machines, for he was always so enthusiasticwhere they were concerned. 

"Now, " I suggested, "before we start we'll give our good ship her name. "

"Bravo!" said John Claxton, "and we'll drink to her success, a goodvoyage and a safe return"; and he was so struck by the brilliancy of hisidea that he actually took his pipe from his lips, and, holding it inhis hand, regarded it with thoughtful contemplation for quite threeminutes. 

I accordingly went to the store-room and brought out two bottles ofchampagne. Directly M'Allister saw them he entered a vigorous andemphatic protest, saying, "Heh, Professor! you're surely not going tocelebrate this most auspicious event with such poor fizzy stuff aschampagne? Let's have a wee drop of good old Scotch whisky, and do thething properly!"

John Claxton here interposed: "Let M'Allister have his whisky if heprefers it, and we'll have the 'fizz'!" So I went laughing to the storeagain and returned with a bottle of special Scotch, whereatM'Allister's eye gleamed as he smiled approval. 

Then, taking up a bottle of the champagne, I broke it over the prow ofthe vessel, and we solemnly christened her the _Areonal_ in honour ofthe planet for which we were bound. 

Raising high our glasses we gave the toast of "_The Areonal_; may sheand her passengers have a good voyage and a safe return home!"M'Allister peered over the rim of his glass, and, with upturned eyes, remarked that "his old wife in Glasgow would be looking for his safereturn in a few months' time"; then his glass slowly tipped up, and theold Scotch whisky disappeared. 

Claxton and I at once stepped on board the vessel, and having just setthe machinery slowly moving so as to raise the vessel a few feet, I puton the neutral power so that the ship remained poised in the air. M'Allister ran the trolley back into the shed, closed the doors, andswitched off the electric current; then climbed the extending ladder, and came on board, John steadying the vessel by an anchor rope in themeantime. 

M'Allister took over the command of the machinery, and, setting it inmotion, the _Areonal_ at once rose slowly and gracefully straight upinto the air. 

John and I were standing outside on the platform, from whence, lookingtoward the house, we could plainly see Mrs. Challen at the open door ofour sitting-room waving farewell to us--her figure silhouetted againstthe bright light of the room. We waved back to her in response, but I amvery doubtful if she could see our signal, as she was looking into thedarkness. 

We now rose rapidly as M'Allister switched on more power, and far awayto the northward we could see over the whole extent of the vastmetropolis, with its countless miles of lighted streets. On turningtowards the east the Crystal Palace, which was lighted up, was a veryconspicuous object against the skyline over the Sydenham hills. 

John, when he saw it, remarked that "it would have been an appropriatetribute to our enterprise if the Palace Company had provided one oftheir grand firework displays as a send-off for us"; "but, " he added, "these companies will never do what is expected of them!" On thewestward side the lights all along the hill where Sutton lies wereclearly visible; farther off was Epsom, and, with the aid of a glass, wecould even faintly see the lights of Guildford in the far distance. 

Nearly south of us Croydon seemed from our altitude to lie almostbeneath our vessel. We directed our course towards the south-east, passing over the railway-station at Thornton Heath, with Croydon to theright of us, just as the clock of the Croydon Town Hall was strikingnine. The long lines of lighted streets made a fine panorama, and wecould trace the lights of the moving tram-cars out to Anerley, SouthNorwood, Purley, Wallington, and Mitcham. 

Although we were fully 5000 feet, or nearly a mile, above the earth itwas surprising how clearly we could hear the sounds from below--therumble of the electric tram-cars, the clang of their gongs, thetoot-toot of the motor-horns, and, louder still, the whistles of thelocomotives on the London and Brighton Railway were borne to us withalmost startling distinctness through the still night air. 

Our electric lights were now switched on at their full power, theirbright beams shining out through the windows all around the vessel. Whilst we were on the ground we only used just sufficient light to seeby, as we did not wish to draw attention to our proceedings; but now wewere well up and on our way it mattered not who saw us. 

With increased speed we passed over South Norwood and the village ofShirley, rising higher and higher as we proceeded on our way. The moon, which was just past the full, had not risen above the horizon of thoseupon the earth below us; but we had now attained such an altitude thatit became visible to us, low down on the horizon and far ahead on ourleft hand. Owing to our height above the earth it soon became impossiblefor us to see the places over which we passed, and as we were movingover an open part of Kent there were very few lights which we could haveseen in any case. As there was nothing of particular interest to attractour attention which we had not already seen on our trial trips, weentered our general room and sat down to supper. 

The machinery had been set to maintain a speed of 150 miles an houruntil we passed beyond the limits of the earth's atmosphere; for though, no doubt, we might safely have travelled faster, we did not intendtaking any risk of overheating our vessel by the friction of theatmosphere. 

Notwithstanding the speed at which we were travelling we were quiteunconscious of any movement in our vessel. The impression we receivedwas not that we were rushing away from the earth, but that the earth wasrapidly falling away from our position in space. 

It may, perhaps, be desirable that I should now give a littleinformation respecting myself and my friends, together with someexplanation of our reasons for embarking upon such a very long voyage. 

CHAPTER II

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES--WHY WE DECIDED ON THE VOYAGE

My name is Wilfrid Poynders, and during the greater part of my lifetimeof more than sixty-three years astronomy has been my favourite study. For the last thirty years the planet Mars has been an object of specialinterest to me, and I have devoted much time to observation of theplanet and have endeavoured to make myself fully acquainted with allthat has been discovered or surmised respecting it. 

My dear wife had died when I was thirty-six years of age, leaving mewith one child, my son Mark, then about fifteen years old. In my intensesorrow at my bereavement I should probably have become almost a hermithad it not been for my boy who, having been carefully educated, was abright and intelligent lad. I now took him under my special care andmade it my constant endeavour to impart to him such of my own knowledgeas seemed likely to be useful or interesting, hoping to keep him with mefor many years as a companion. He soon became imbued with my love ofmechanical pursuits and also with my passion for astronomy and alliedsciences, developing an interest in Mars equal to if not surpassing myown. 

His most intimate schoolfellow was John Claxton, and, as there was avery strong friendship between them, we were so much together that Icame to regard him almost as a second son. 

When my boy was in his twentieth year I noticed that a great change cameover him, for instead of being cheerful and high-spirited he became veryquiet and self-absorbed, and there was often a faraway look in his eyeswhich puzzled me very much. One morning I went to call him at his usualtime for rising and found him in a deep sleep from which I was unable torouse him. After trying some time without effect his stupor so alarmedme that I immediately sent off for a doctor, who advised that it wouldbe best to let him lie and he would probably awaken naturally in a fewhours' time. This indeed proved to be the case; and, as soon as heawoke, the doctor carefully examined him, but could find nothing wrongto account for what had happened. A month later he had a similarseizure, with the same result, but this time his sleep lasted nearlythirty hours. On the doctor's advice I then took him to the seaside forseveral weeks' stay, and there he soon regained his usual buoyancy ofspirits. 

Shortly after our return home, however, he had a third seizure fromwhich he never awoke, but, to my profound sorrow, passed quietly away. Just before the end came I noticed his lips move slightly as though hewere trying to speak, and on bending down to listen I thought I caughtfaintly what sounded like the words, "I am coming, " but whether thisreally were so I could not be sure. 

I will not dwell upon the pain and sorrow of that dark and drearyportion of my life when I was left quite alone, without a singlerelative to cheer me, but merely say that my grief at his loss was sooverwhelming that it was long before my former mode of living could beresumed. John Claxton was almost as deeply affected as myself, for poorMark was a most affectionate lad, and had greatly endeared himself toboth of us. John also had his own troubles, having lost his fatherduring the previous year, and was then living with an aunt and twocousins, but had never been comfortable with them, as both the boys wererather wild, and of anything but good dispositions. He had inherited asubstantial income from his father, but this piece of good fortune onlyaroused the jealousy and envy of his cousins, who only seemed totolerate his presence in their home because of what they could obtainfrom him by their sponging propensities. 

Although I was not rich, my income was amply sufficient to render mequite independent of work, and as I felt most lonely and desolate sinceMark's death, I at length begged John to come and live with me. Hejoyfully agreed, and from that time our relations have practically beenthose of father and son. As our dispositions and likings are verysimilar, we are as happy together as past sorrows will permit. 

John always had a great fancy for engineering and electrical work, inwhich, after some years of training, he became an expert. Being wellendowed with the faculty of invention, he devised and constructed manynew kinds of electric and magnetic machines, and as my tastes also runin the direction of mechanical work, I have also done a great deal inconnection with such matters. 

About six years ago, when the problem of aerial navigation began to bestudied in earnest, John became greatly interested in the matter, devoting all his time and energies to designing and constructing workingmodels of air-ships, aeroplanes, and other flying machines. 

At that period I was very keen on Martian matters, to such an extentindeed that my mind was always occupied with the various problems theypresented. One day, in the course of conversation, I suggested that itwould be a splendid thing if we could construct a vessel which wouldenable us to visit Mars and see it for ourselves, and thus settle allour doubts and speculations on the various controversial points whichwere so much discussed. 

The idea soon had him in its grip, and he then immediately commenced aseries of experiments with a view to designing machinery capable ofcarrying a vessel through space. After many failures he thought out aplan for utilising the earth's gravitation and magnetism as a means ofobtaining the requisite power and storing it up for future use. Thisscheme was thoroughly tested and proved to have solved the problem, forthe machinery could transform the power from either positive or negativeto neutral. 

The task of making the vessel and machinery was of course too great fortwo pairs of hands to undertake, and we were therefore under thenecessity of obtaining a third man to help us. John had known M'Allisterwhen he was studying electrical work, and suggested that, if available, he would be just the man to suit us. We at once communicated with him, making a liberal offer for his assistance in our scheme, and as it was aquestion of dealing with an entirely new kind of machinery it appealedto his professional pride, so, being out of an engagement, he gladlyaccepted our offer. He came over to my house and has lived with us eversince, apparently quite in his element. M'Allister was about fifty yearsof age when he joined us, married, but without children. His wife's homewas at Glasgow, and owing to his so often being away at sea for longperiods, she had become so accustomed to the separation that shedeclined our offer to find a home for herself and her husband near us. She paid him a visit occasionally, or he went to spend a few days withher, but as a permanent arrangement she preferred staying with herrelatives in Glasgow. It was not exactly my ideal of married life, butas the couple always seemed happy enough when together, and thearrangement appeared to suit them both, it was not my place to make anycomment. 

My house on the outskirts of Norbury was well situated for securing theprivacy we required in carrying on our work and experiments, lying as itdid in the valley on the westward side of a small eminence known asPollard's Hill, which effectually screened us from observation by theinhabitants of the houses in the London Road. Thus we enjoyed completeseclusion, although not more than a quarter of a mile from that busythoroughfare. 

Notwithstanding that Pollard's Hill is only a small elevation, and itsrise scarcely noticed when approached from the London Road, when itssummit is gained one is astonished by the extensive and splendid view itcommands over hills and valleys, town and country; and it breaks uponone almost as a startling surprise when its beauties are seen for thefirst time. It is, indeed, so very unexpected to come upon such a fineand far-spreading view so suddenly and so close to bricks and mortar. Alas! the latter are fast encroaching upon this delightful but somewhatneglected spot, and unless the Croydonians are wise enough to secure theacquirement of the summit of the hill as a public open space, thissplendid view will be entirely lost to future generations. 

A further advantage of our situation was its nearness to Croydon andWallington, where there were engineering and electrical machinery works;besides which we also had convenient and easy means of reaching themetropolis, from whence we could travel to any other town to purchase ororder anything we might require. 

Once we had fairly set to work our progress was rapid and our vessel hadpractically been complete nearly a year, since when we have undertakenmany voyages at night in order to test its powers and to ascertain whereimprovements were needed. 

We were much amused to find in the newspapers of this period, especiallyin the London Press, numerous letters from various parts of Englanddescribing the appearance of a strange and very brilliant star in thesky, either at night or in the morning hours before sunrise. Somedescribed the star as moving in one direction, others stated that itpassed in quite another direction; though it does not appear to haveoccurred to any one that stars do not move in this eccentric fashion, nor at the rapid rate at which this peculiar star was stated to travel. No one guessed that it was the light of our air-ship which they saw aswe flitted about the country in the dark hours, and often at extremelyhigh altitudes. 

Three extensive fields were occupied by me in connection with myresidence, and these afforded plenty of room for our large shed andworkshops; whilst as north, south, and west of us there was a largestretch of open country, extending in some directions for miles, therewas little risk of our operations attracting attention. Moreover, wewere always careful not to prepare for any ascent until it was fairlydark. 

Our establishment was a small one, Mrs. Challen being our only indoorservant. She came to me as a young widow after my wife's death, and hasproved an excellent manager and a most trustworthy servant. I havetherefore left my house in her charge with a feeling of entire certaintythat it will be well looked after in my absence. My solicitors have asealed packet containing full instructions as to what is to be done inthe event of my not returning home or communicating with them withinfifteen months from the date of our departure. 

Altogether, our little party of three has been a very agreeable one upto the present. John Claxton is a splendid fellow--a good talker when inthe humour, and an excellent listener when either myself or M'Allisterare in the vein for airing our own particular views. He is rather fondof chaffing M'Allister, who has a quiet humour of his own, and takes itall in good part. John has only one weakness--he has become a mostinveterate smoker, and we have learned by experience that in this matterhis wishes must never be opposed. Both M'Allister and myself are alsosmokers, though to a much less extent; the former, indeed, more oftenprefers to chew navy plug-tobacco--a habit which I am glad to say Inever acquired, but it is a pretty general one amongst those who havebeen employed on sea-going vessels. In these matters it is an understoodthing that each is to do as he pleases, without let or hindrance. 

One more point and then I will finish this rather long but verynecessary digression. In conversation I am generally addressed by mycolleagues as "Professor. " Not that I ever occupied a Professorial Chairat a university or elsewhere, but it arose in this way: When John firstcame to live with me he felt a diffidence, owing to the disparitybetween our ages, in addressing me by my Christian name; on the otherhand, to call me by my surname seemed to him far too cold and formal. Soon one occasion, when I had been holding forth on my favourite science, he remarked, "I think, sir, if you will allow me, I shall call you'Professor' in future; the title seems most appropriate for one who hasthe power of conveying information on scientific subjects in so clearand interesting a manner. "

I was much amused at this proposal, but fully appreciating thedifficulty he felt in the matter, replied, "John, you really flatter metoo much; but as you seem to think the title fits, you may call me by itif you like. " So from that time forth John always addressed me as"Professor, " and from hearing him constantly using the term, M'Allistersoon acquired the same habit. I am afraid they both credited me withrather more erudition than I really possessed; but although I shouldnever attempt to talk at large on matters with which I was not fullyacquainted, I have lived long enough to know that it is not always wiseto go very far in disillusioning others of the favourable opinions theymay have formed respecting one's own abilities. It is, perhaps, one ofthose matters in which "a still tongue makes a wise head"; and, if dealtwith in a tactful way, may be of real advantage to both persons. The onewill continue to be receptive of the ideas of the person whom he esteemsas well qualified to impart sound and reliable information, whilst theother will honestly endeavour to live up to his reputation, and be mostscrupulously careful to make sure of the accuracy of the informationwhich he desires to impart. 

CHAPTER III

WE APPROACH THE MOON--A MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE

When we had finished our supper John remarked, "Professor, I am a littlemystified in regard to our present position. We have started on a voyageto Mars, but up to the present I have not seen even a glimpse of theplanet to-night. How is that?"

"Hear, hear, " chimed in M'Allister. "Mon, I've been bothering over thevery same thing ever since we started, and wondering where yon littlered star has gone to!"

"The question is very soon answered, " I replied: "it is a case of 'theSpanish fleet you cannot see because it's not in sight. ' Mars does notrise above our late horizon until about a quarter-past ten, and wastherefore hidden by the earth whilst we were out on the platform; so wecould not expect to see it then, but if we look out now no doubt weshall see it. "

We went over to a window, and I pointed out the planet, remarking, "There it is; that little red star is the world which we hope to landupon in a few weeks' time. You will notice that it does not lie quite inthe direction in which we are moving, for I must tell you that we arenot on our course to Mars at present. I thought we should all be glad tohave a look at the moon from a close point of view now we have thechance, and M'Allister will remember that I gave him instructions justbefore supper to direct our course so as to head off the moon in itsjourney. "

"Quite right, Professor, so you did, " said M'Allister; "but I did notfully understand the reason of your instructions. "

"But, " interrupted John, "are we not going rather out of our way?"

"Yes, that is so, John, " I replied, "but a few thousand miles more orless will make very little difference to us at the rate we shall travel, especially if you allow for the fact that the earth and moon are bothmoving nearly in the direction we wish to go. Besides, I hope toapproach sufficiently near the moon to enable us to add a little morepower to our store, so it will not all be lost time; and we can also usethe moon to give us a fresh start. But for the fact that it would bebest for us to reach the moon before it has waned to any large extent wemight have delayed our start for many days, and, whilst considerablyshortening our journey, still arrived at Mars on the date we havefixed. "

Our chronometer was housed in a substantial non-magnetic cubicle, with avery thick glass window, in order to protect it from the magnetism andelectricity which pervaded our vessel. On looking at the chronometer Ifound the time was nearly eleven o'clock. We had, therefore, been nearlytwo hours on our journey and had travelled some three hundred miles, mostly in an upward direction from the earth; so if there were any ofthe earth's atmosphere around our vessel it must be of the most extremetenuity, and we might safely increase our speed. 

I accordingly gave M'Allister the order to switch on the powergradually, up to our full speed, and it was not long before we wererushing through space at the rate of over eighty-three thousand miles anhour. At this rate, as I told them, we might expect to reach the moon ina little over sixteen hours, allowing for loss in slackening down at thelatter part of the journey. 

"It so happens, " I said, "that the moon's present distance from theearth is rather less than 226, 000 miles, being its nearest approach tothe earth during this month. "

John at once asked, "How it happened that, if the moon were only thiscomparatively short distance away from us, I reckoned it would requireover sixteen hours to reach it at the tremendous speed we were nowmoving"; and added, "I thought we should be there in about three hours. "

"Ah, John, " I replied, "you have forgotten that the earth is rushingalong and carrying the moon with it nearly as fast as we are travelling, and you are reckoning as though they were standing still all the time. As a matter of fact we are only gaining on the moon by a little overfifteen thousand miles an hour, and we must allow for slackening speedlong before we reach the moon, so we cannot expect to cover the distancein less than sixteen hours. You will see that if we did not travelfaster than the moon is moving away from us we should never catch it upat all!"

"That explains it all, Professor, " said John, "and I must confess I feltrather puzzled at the length of time required to reach the moon, so wasaltogether out in my calculations. "

After we had been proceeding at this rate for nearly two hours, M'Allister came hurrying into our compartment in a state of greatexcitement. 

"Professor, " he exclaimed with a gasp, "something's gone wrongaltogether, and I don't know what to do!"

"Gone wrong!" I repeated. "Why, what is the matter?"

"Mon, " he answered, "everything is the matter! A while back we wererushing towards the moon, but just now when I looked ahead there wasn'tany moon to be seen. I happened to go round to the other window and lookback and, my word! if there wasn't the moon right behind us! We havebeen travelling so very fast that we must have run past it withoutknowing we had done so. "

"Oh, we could not possibly have done that!" I exclaimed. 

"But there's more to come, Professor, " continued M'Allister. "When Ilast saw the moon it was nearly full and not so very much bigger thanwhen we saw it at starting, but now this moon behind us is an enormousthing; yet it is only a new moon, or rather what folks call a new moonwith the old moon in its arms!"

"Oh, now I understand, " I replied. "It's all right, M'Allister, and youcan make your mind quite easy. You were not able to see the moon whenyou first looked through the window because it was nearly in a directline with your course, and therefore just hidden by the prow of thevessel. It's still ahead of us and still nearly full: if you had lookedout of the conning tower or used the periscope you would have seen it. "

"Heh, Professor, " he interjected, "I know I couldn't see the moon if itwas straight ahead of our course, but then what about that enormous newmoon that's behind us? I saw that right enough. "

"That enormous new moon, M'Allister, is only our own little world whichwe left a few hours ago, " I replied. 

He stared at me as though bewildered, and after pondering a while, exclaimed, "Losh, mon, you surely don't mean to say that our own littleworld changes about in the same way as the moon does--sometimes new andsometimes full?"

Here John interposed. "Yes, M'Allister, you can take it from me that itis just what our world does do. I think you are aware that, like themoon, our world simply reflects the light it receives from the sun, anddoes not shine by its own light. So one side is light and the other sideis dark, according to its position in regard to the sun. From ourpresent position we are only able to see a small portion of the lightedside, the remainder being dark except for the moonlight shining upon it, so it looks just like a large new moon. It really serves as a moon toour moon, but its phases follow each other in reverse order. Thus, whenthe moon is full, the earth's disc is all dark, and when the moon is inits first quarter the earth, as seen from there, would be in its thirdquarter, and so on through all its phases. Do you follow all that, M'Allister?"

"Well, mon, " replied M'Allister, with a sly grin, "I've just heard yousay it; but"--and here he turned to me--"is it all correct, Professor?"

"Yes, quite correct, " I answered, greatly amused at his distrust ofJohn's statements. 

"M'Allister, you're like the Apostle Thomas, " commented John, evidentlya little nettled; "so you really doubted my word after all!"

"Heh, mon, " he answered, "you're not the Professor, you know; and Ithought maybe you were pulling my leg!"

"Well, " laughed John, "perhaps you _will_ get your leg pulled the nexttime I condescend to give you a lesson in astronomy!"

After this little spar between my two colleagues we proceeded to themachine-room, which John and I carefully inspected, to make sure thatall was working properly; and having satisfied ourselves on this point, we gave M'Allister his instructions for the 'night'; though of coursethere was no night now. 

Mounting the steps of the conning turret, we then had a look at theearth, from which we were so rapidly moving away. It appeared aboutfifteen degrees in angular diameter, showing that we had travelled somethirty thousand miles from it. 

The full moon, as seen from the earth, appears just about half a degreein diameter--sometimes a little more, sometimes rather less; so theearth was apparently about thirty times the diameter the moon usuallyappears to us. It was only a thin crescent where lighted by the sun, butwell might M'Allister describe it as "enormous, " for it appeared stilllarger to him when he saw it some thirty minutes earlier and mistook itfor the new moon. 

When we came down again John, very thoughtfully, said to me, "Professor, you have had a very long, tiring day; and when we reach the moon, weshall probably stay up several hours to look at it, so you had bettertake as long a sleep as possible. There will be no need to break yourrest, for I'm the younger, and will get about by six o'clock, andrelieve M'Allister, who can go on all right up to then, as he has threehours less work to his credit than we have to-day. If your advice isneeded, I will call you at once; but, no doubt, we shall do very welltill we arrive within a few thousand miles of the moon. We will slackenspeed very gradually from about two o'clock in the afternoon, so as notto approach the orb too rapidly. "

I had, indeed, as he said, had a long, tiring day, having risen soonafter four o'clock yesterday morning, and it was now nearly 2 "A. M. " byterrestrial time; so, thanking him for his kind consideration, I badethem both "good night, " and gladly proceeded to bed, John following soonafter. 

He was as good as his word, and actually allowed me to sleep on untilnearly half-past three in the "afternoon, " when he roused me, and, having dressed, I snatched a hasty meal and then at once proceeded tothe machine-room, where my first act was to look at the moon. There itwas below us, but still slightly ahead of the _Areonal_; and itsmagnificence was so overpowering, that it almost seemed to take mybreath away, although I was fairly well prepared for the sight. Manytimes when viewing it through the telescope I have almost lost myself inadmiration of the sublime spectacle it presents; but what I had seen onthose occasions could not be compared with the splendour of the view nowbefore us. 

Here, without any atmosphere to dim or otherwise mar the view, thebrilliancy of the lighted portion of the disc was absolutely dazzling, whilst the extreme delicacy of its varied tints and the subtle nuancesof colour, which we now saw to perfection, were most charming anddelightful to any one endowed with artistic perceptions. We were onlyabout four thousand miles from this beautiful orb, its angular diametermeasuring about thirty degrees, or nearly sixty times its apparentdiameter, as seen from the earth; thus it appeared to cover a very largecircle on the sky. 

John and M'Allister told me they had both been gazing upon the splendidscene for a very long time with astonishment and delight equal to myown; and the latter went on to say, "Professor, did you ever see such asight in your life? I never did, and could never have imagined thatanything could be so beautiful! Mon, it's worth many a journey like thisto see such a bonnie thing!"

"You are quite right in saying that, M'Allister, " I answered; "it is, indeed, a grand and marvellous sight! I can assure you that when I havebeen observing the moon in its full and glowing splendour, it has oftenseemed to me the most exquisitely beautiful object I have ever lookedupon; yet now it appears far more beautiful than when seen through thetelescope!"

CHAPTER IV

CLOSE TO THE MOON--I GIVE SOME INFORMATION ABOUT IT

We were now moving at a comparatively slow speed, yet the size of themoon's disc was very rapidly expanding as we approached nearer andnearer to it. In the course of a little over half-an-hour we were withinten miles of its surface, which now seemed to fill the whole space belowus; and its rotundity was most impressive. The shadows of the mountainsand other elevated portions near the terminator[4] were jet black, owingto the absence of an atmosphere; and, seen contrasted with the brilliantlighting of the parts exposed to the full glare of the sun, appearedalmost like deep holes in the lunar surface. 

John now remarked, "Professor, you are aware that I have only a rathervague general knowledge of astronomy, although I take an interest in thesubject, and that I know still less about the dimensions and physicalcharacter of the moon and planets; so perhaps you will be good enough togive us a little detailed information respecting this beautiful orb. Most of it will be news to me, and probably it will all be fresh toM'Allister. "

"Heh mon, " the latter replied, "just put me among machinery and I'lltell you what's what, but I never learned anything about astronomy, sowill not pretend to any knowledge of it, but now I should be very gladto hear what the Professor has to say about it. "

"Well, friends, " I replied, "it is not my wish to lecture you upon thesubject, so I will merely just run over a few of the bare facts. 

"To begin with--the moon is very much smaller than the earth, itsdiameter being only 2160 miles, while the earth's diameter is 7918miles. Being a smaller globe its mass is much more loosely compactedthan that of the earth, so, although it would take nearly fifty globesthe same as the moon to make one globe as large as the earth, it wouldrequire nearly eighty such globes to make one as heavy as the earth. 

"The moon's distance from the earth is generally given as being about238, 000 miles, but this is its mean distance. When farthest away fromour world its distance is about 260, 000 miles, but at its nearest it isless than 220, 000 miles distant. This difference of course arises fromthe eccentricity of the moon's orbit, and it explains why we sometimessee the moon a trifle larger than it appears at other times. By this Imean that it really is seen larger, because it is closer to us. But youhave no doubt often noticed that when the moon is near the horizon itseems to be very large indeed. This apparent increase of size is, however, an illusion, owing to our unconsciously comparing it with theapparent size of terrestrial objects. 

"The surface of the moon shows evidence of very violent volcanic actionhaving occurred in every part of it, and astronomers in the past weremuch puzzled to account for the excessive volcanic energy which wasindicated by what they saw, as such a small globe as the moon would not, in the ordinary course of events, have ever possessed sufficient heat tohave developed such violent action. A theory of later years has, however, provided a reasonable explanation. It is that the moon was atone time a part of the same mass as the earth, which became separatedfrom it before the earth had quite cooled down and solidified into itspresent form, and was then gradually driven farther and farther awayfrom the earth by natural forces. It was therefore originally as hot asthe rest of the mass which formed the earth, but being formed into asmaller globe of much less gravity--only one-sixth of that of theearth--volcanic action of the same intensity as that on the earth wouldhave a much more far-reaching effect. A force which on the earth wouldproject volcanic lava and scoriæ a distance of three miles would, on themoon, project it a distance of eighteen miles. This accounts for thevery high mountains we see on the moon, some of which are comparatively, for the size of the globe, much higher than those on the earth. It alsoaccounts for the vast size of the lunar craters, ring-plains, andring-mountains. 

"These latter are formations quite unknown upon our earth, but on themoon they are numbered by hundreds of all sizes, from a few miles up toone hundred and fifty miles in diameter. They are large plains, roughlycircular in shape, and surrounded by mountains; in a few cases the ringis in some parts a double range of mountains. Sometimes the plain (or'floor, ' as it is termed) is many thousands of feet below the generallevel of the lunar surface; in a few cases it is raised considerablyabove it, and in one or two instances, instead of being flat, the flooris convex. Some of the mountain rings are comparatively low, but inother cases the mountains are fifteen to twenty thousand feet in height, or even higher. Frequently a mountain rises near the centre of thefloor, some rings containing more than one such mountain, whilst othershave none at all. 

[Illustration: _Drawn by M. Wicks_ Plate II

IDEAL VIEW OF LUNAR SCENERY

As there is no atmosphere on the moon, the sky is a dense black, and thestars shine brilliantly in the daytime. The view is a typical one, showing numerous craters and cracks, and a small ring-mountain withterracing. Ring-mountains and plains vary from a few miles to 150 milesdiameter, some mountains being nearly 20, 000 feet in height. ]

"There are numerous instances where one mountain ring has overlapped orcut into another, thus indicating that it was a later formation; and inmany cases the mountains are 'terraced, '[5] as it is termed, eitherowing to a series of landslips or to the rise and fall of a sea of lava, which cooled as it sank down, thus forming terraces. Small cratersabound all over the surface of the moon and on the floors of the rings;cracks in the lunar surface are also numerous. 

"As regards the lunar mountains, it may truly be said that we have afairly accurate knowledge of peaks and mountains which would either betoo precipitous to be climbed, or quite inaccessible to us, if we couldactually land upon the moon; and the whole visible surface has been morecarefully and thoroughly mapped out and studied than is the case withmany parts of our own earth. 

"If the moon has any atmosphere it must be so very attenuated indeedthat human beings could not possibly live in it at all; but nothing hasyet been detected which would enable us to say positively that anyatmosphere does exist there, although there have been some indicationsobserved which support the supposition that there may be an extremelythin air. 

"Nor does it appear possible that there is any water upon its surface atthe present; in fact, many astronomers are of opinion that the moonnever did have any water upon it. Personally, from a study of many ofthe formations as seen through the telescope, it seems to me quiteimpossible that they could owe their existence in their present state toanything but the action of water. They present much the same appearanceas formations on our own earth which we know have been fashioned by thatmeans. There is no water upon the moon now, I think, though severallarge depressions are still called oceans, seas, lakes, or marshes, because at one time they were believed to be such. Probably in some ofthose places, if not in all, water existed millions of years ago; butages since they must have lost it either by evaporation or by absorptioninto the soil. 

"I will not say any more just now, but as we pass above the lunarsurface I will point out a few of the natural features that may be ofinterest to you. "

M'Allister here paid me the compliment of saying, "Well, Professor, Ialways thought astronomy was a very dry and difficult subject; but yourremarks were really very interesting, and quite easy to understand. There is only one thing that seemed to me rather strange as coming froma scientific man, and I would like you to explain that. "

"Certainly; if there is anything you do not quite understand, you haveonly to ask and I will try to clear the matter up, " I answered. "Whatis it you wish to know?"

"Well, " he answered, "I noticed that when you were speaking about thedistance of the moon you always said it was _about_ so far away. Whydidn't you tell us the exact distance? I'm not a scientific man by anymeans, but if any one were to ask me the length of a connecting rod onone of my machines I should say '25 inches, ' not 'about 25 inches, ' forthat would not do for a practical man!"

"It's like this, M'Allister, " I said. "You measure things with atwo-foot rule, which is something you can actually handle, and you knowit is made according to a standard measure and must contain exactly 24inches. If, however, your rule was 24-1/4 inches long, yet still dividedinto twenty-four equal parts, you could measure work with it just thesame, but would know that every measurement was just a little bit out. If you had no possible means of obtaining another rule, you would haveto put up with a little inexactitude. 

"That is just the position in which astronomers are placed; they have toput up with a measure which they know is not perfectly accurate, yet itis the best which can be secured. 

"Their two-foot rule, so to speak, may be the distance from the earth tothe sun, or the length of the whole diameter of the earth's orbit, andthese cannot be handled like your rule; and although we know themeasurements of these are nearly correct, they are not quite so. Yet thedistances of the moon, planets, stars, &c. , have to be measured by theserules, so it is clear we can only know those distances with a nearapproximation to accuracy. 

"For this reason astronomers are always trying different means ofascertaining the sun's exact distance from the earth in order to obtaina perfectly correct measure; but there are so many difficulties andcomplications which affect the result, that it will be a long time yetbefore they succeed in their work. 

"You will therefore understand that all these figures as to distancesand dimensions of planets and stars are only as near approaches tocorrectness as is possible to attain in our present circumstances. Theymust not be regarded as literally exact, although they are usuallysufficiently accurate for all general purposes. Astronomers know thisand allow for it; but general readers of books, when they find figureswhich do not agree with others they have seen, are apt to regard them asall being mere guesses, and in this they are doing an injustice to thepainstaking labours of generations of astronomers and mathematicians. 

"I shall presently be mentioning the heights of mountains, the size ofring-plains, craters, &c. , but the same reasoning applies to them; thedimensions given are averages of measurements made by differentobservers, and, though not quite accurate, are as near the truth as thedifficult conditions under which they have to be measured will allow. "

"Thank you, Professor, " said M'Allister as I concluded. "I'm glad Idon't have to work with such rules as those you mention, formeasurements a little bit out of correctness would ruin any machine inthe world. "

"Still, M'Allister, " I said, "you would have the advantage overastronomers with your two-foot rule, because you would know that it wasa quarter of an inch too long. Their difficulty is that they do notknow exactly how much their rule is out of correctness, so cannot obtainabsolute accuracy however they may try. "

We now set the machines going very slowly and moved toward the northernpart of the moon, where I pointed out the position of the lunar northpole, and explained that, owing to the very slight inclination of thelunar axis, there can be but very little variation of seasons in any oneparticular part of the moon. Thus, if at one place it were spring, itwould practically always be spring there, but with very cold nights allthrough the lunar year. Where it was summer it would practically alwaysbe summer, also with very cold nights, and so on. 

I further explained that, as the moon revolves on its axis in the sametime that it takes to make one revolution round the earth, those on theearth always see the same side of the moon, except when occasionally, owing to inequalities in the lunar motions, they are afforded a peepjust round portions of the edges at different periods. The remainder ofthe other side of the moon has never yet been seen from the earth byhuman eyes, and in all probability never will be seen for millions ofyears to come. 

John, who as usual was smoking like a factory chimney, here removed hispipe from his mouth and said, "Professor, you stated just now that thenights on the moon would always be intensely cold, and I should like toknow whether there is any really reliable information respecting thetemperature of the lunar days and nights. I have seen so manycontradictory theories on the subject that I scarcely know what tobelieve. "

"In that respect, " I answered, "I fear that my position is much thesame as yours, for I have absolutely no certain knowledge on the point, but will just state shortly how the matter stands at present. 

"During the past century many investigations have been made byscientific men respecting the temperatures on the moon, and theirresults have differed to an amazing extent. It would take too long, andbe too wearisome, to quote all the authorities, so a few must suffice. Lord Rosse, who used a thermopile in his experiments, found that inorder to produce the results he obtained, the sunlit surface of the moonmust be heated to a temperature of 500 degrees on Fahrenheit's scale. Sir John Herschel had previously concluded that the temperature must bemuch greater than that of boiling water. On the other hand Ericsson and, more recently, Professor Langley--who used a bolometer of his owninvention for measuring the heat of the sun's invisible rays--came tothe conclusion that even under continued sunshine the temperature wouldrarely, if ever, rise above the freezing point of water. 

"Professor Very, however, who has continued the delicate experimentswith the bolometer, and also made other experiments and calculations ofquite recent date, has obtained results more nearly in accordance withthose first quoted, for he found that near the end of the second week'ssunshine on the moon the temperature of the rocks, soil, &c. , must riseto at least 80 degrees Centigrade above the heat of boiling water. "

"My word!" said M'Allister, "that's hotter than a ship's engine-room, and I shouldn't care for such a very high temperature. "

"As this is so recent, " I proceeded, "and the work of one of ourhighest authorities, I think we must accept it as being more correct, especially as Professor Very has taken into consideration some factorswhich had not previously been allowed due weight. 

"In connection with this matter of temperature it is necessary toremember that the days and nights upon the moon are both very long, forthe full lunar 'day' is equal to a month, so the actual lunar day isequal to fourteen of our days, and the lunar night is of the sameduration. Our 'day' of twenty-four hours is divided into day and nightin unequal proportions, according to the changes in the seasons; but, asI before remarked, the seasonal changes on the moon are very slight, sothe variations in the lengths of the days and nights are very small. 

"But, whatever may be the difference of opinion as to the heat of thelunar day, there seems to be a pretty general agreement that, owing tothe absence of an atmosphere, the nights must be so intensely cold as tobe almost beyond our conception--probably approaching nearly to theabsolute zero of outer space. Even with an atmosphere the long nights inour polar regions are so cold that only very strong people can endurethem, notwithstanding every device for obtaining warmth. 

"You will gather from this that although the moon appears so beautifulfrom a distance, it must be anything but a desirable place of residenceeven from a climatic point of view, for we should practically be friedat midday, while at midnight--or even in the daytime when out of thedirect rays of the sun--we should soon be frozen stiff. "

As I said this John chimed in with: "Professor, all things considered, I think I could smoke my pipe more comfortably upon the earth than uponthe moon. I really don't like such extremes of temperature. "

"I am of the same mind, " I replied, "and it is because I prefer a moreequable temperature that I have carefully kept our martalium blindsdrawn over those windows of our vessel upon which the sun is shining. "

CHAPTER V

WE VIEW THE LUNAR SCENERY IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

"Now, Professor, " exclaimed M'Allister, jumping up with a shrug of theshoulders, "you've given our friend John a considerable amount ofinformation on a wee bit dry subject, so, mayhap, you will now give ussomething more interesting, and go on with the description of thenatural features of the moon down yonder. "

"Yes do, please, Professor, " said John; "M'Allister's own temperature isevidently rising rapidly. Strange, isn't it, that a douche of cold factsshould make our friend so warm!"

"Well, not altogether, " I replied laughingly; "there should always be ahealthy reaction after a cold douche. Much depends on the intensity ofthe cold applied, and you know that if you touch extremely cold metal itburns you like hot iron!"

"Professor, " chimed in M'Allister, "maybe I _was_ a bit warm, but reallyyour facts were not so cold as to make me hot. "

"I'm glad to hear you say so, " I answered. 

"At all events, Professor, " continued John, "whatever may beM'Allister's actual temperature, I'm simply burning to know somethingabout that very striking formation with the steel-grey colouredflooring which is situated not very far down from the North Pole, and alittle to the east of the central meridian. "

"That, " I said, "is a large walled plain called Plato, and, being on areceding curve of the moon, it is seen from the earth foreshortened, sothat it appears to be elliptical in shape. It is about sixty miles indiameter, and encloses an area of 2700 square miles, which is just aboutthe area of Lincolnshire. The general height of the mountain walls isover 3600 feet; one mountain on the east is nearly 7500 feet high, andothers on the north and west are but little lower. 

"You will notice that there are several breaks in the walls, and a largeone on the south-west; whilst on the inner slope of the mountains youcan see where a great landslide has occurred. 

"It is rather singular, John, that in your first selection you havechosen a formation which is one of the lunar mysteries!"

"Ah! Professor, " said John, smiling, "I always was lucky! What is thisdreadful mystery?" he asked, with an assumed expression of awe. 

"Oh, it's not a ghost story, John, nor anything to make your fleshcreep, " I said rather grimly. "Usually the floor of a walled plainbecomes brighter as the sun rises higher and higher in the sky, butPlato actually becomes darker under a high sun. By some it has beenthought that this is merely the effect of contrast with the very brightsurroundings of this formation, and that there is no actual darkening ofthe tint. This is certainly not the case, for I have examined itcarefully myself with the telescope--shutting out all the brightsurroundings from the field of view, but the floor still appearedequally dark. 

"Others have suggested that the hot sun causes the growth of some kindof vegetation all over the plain, the ripening of which makes the floordarker in tint. As regards this suggestion, it is the fact that uponMars the old sea-beds are the places where vegetation is most luxuriantat the present time; so, if Plato were at one time an enclosed sea, itmight not be impossible that vegetation in some low form might grow andbe nourished by the crude gaseous remains of a former atmosphere. Agreenish tint has occasionally been noticed by some observers, alsoseveral light streaks across the floor, as well as several smallcraterlets, which have been duly noted on the maps. 

"But before we go any further we will have a better means of seeing, forit is rather uncomfortable looking directly down upon the moon. So, John, just lend a hand and we'll fetch one of those large mirrors. "

This was done, and the mirror suspended with the upper part projectingforward, so that when adjusted at the proper angle we could sit and lookstraight into the mirror before us and see the reflection of all thatwas below. We could still look down at the objects, if we wished to doso, without shifting our position. 

"There, John, " I remarked, as we completed this arrangement, "I havealready arranged mirrors in the proper positions at the windows in theforepart of the vessel, so that in future M'Allister will be able to seewhat is nearly straight ahead of him. Now you will understand that I hada scientific use for the mirrors I provided, and did not require themmerely to admire my beautiful face in as you suggested. "

John laughed as I recalled his suggestion, saying, "All right, Professor, I know you generally have a good reason for what you do. "

Now, being more comfortably seated, I drew their attention to some smallisolated mountains on the area to the south of Plato, pointing out Pico, an isolated mountain over 8000 feet in height, and another with threepeaks not very far from it. To the north-east of these, some distanceaway, are the Teneriffe and Straight Ranges; also isolated groups. 

"You will remember, " I remarked, "that I said there were severalformations which seemed to me to owe their present appearance to theaction of water. Now look well at all this district before us--does itnot seem to bear out my contention? Those numerous small mountains andisolated groups were not, I think, originally isolated, but connectedwith the adjoining ranges. If we assume that Plato was once an enclosedsea, or lake, which burst through the mountain walls--possibly owing totheir being weakened or broken by volcanic action--there would have beena tremendous outrush of water, which must have carried away a good dealof the softer material of these hills and mountains; whilst, in afteryears, the continual wash of the waters, combined with aerialdenudation, would gradually have worn away all but the hardest parts ofthese formations. 

"Most probably the whole of the surrounding area was also at some time asea, though volcanic action has since altered its surface conformation, and in places it bears evidence of having been covered with lava. It isnot unusual on our world for volcanoes to burst up from under the sea, so even the evidence of volcanic action does not, as some seem to think, negative the possibility of water ever existing here; and it may not beinappropriate to point out that our hydrographers have proved that ourocean-beds are not always smooth, but are often diversified by highhills and deep valleys. "

M'Allister here interjected: "Professor, would you kindly tell ussomething about that fine range of mountains over yonder, just to theright hand?"

"Oh yes, " I replied; "I was just about to mention that mountain range, which is called the Alps after those in Switzerland; and that peak onthe front portion, just south of the great valley you see, is named MontBlanc, and is about 12, 000 feet in height. 

"You will notice a very large number of peaks in this and the otherneighbouring ranges--in fact, several thousands have been marked on ourlarge maps. 

"Cutting diagonally in a north-westerly direction, completely throughthe Alps, you will notice a long and deep valley. This is known as the'Great Alpine Valley, ' and is over eighty miles long, and varies fromabout three miles to six and a half miles in width. At the eastern endit is some 11, 000 feet deep, debouching on to the plain in severalcomparatively narrow passes, whilst at its north-western extremity it isvery shallow, and emerges on to what is known as the Sea of Cold, whichcovers an area of about 100, 000 square miles. This valley seems toafford another example of formation by the action of water. 

"Amongst the three thousand peaks comprised in the Apennine range justbelow the Alps, are several mountains of considerable altitude, " Iremarked, pointing out Mount Huygens, nearly 20, 000 feet high, MountHadley, 15, 000 feet, and Mount Woolf, 12, 000 feet in height. "This rangecurves round towards the east, and finishes with a fine ring-plaincalled Eratosthenes--some thirty-seven miles in diameter, with a floordepressed 8000 feet below the lunar surface. It encloses a centralmountain, and on the east wall there is one peak which rises 16, 000 feetabove the floor. 

"The ranges in this part of the moon are, perhaps, more like those onour earth than others to be found on its surface, but much more wild andrugged. 

"Eastward and northward of these ranges is the Sea of Showers, on whichthere are several fine ring-mountains and walled plains--notablyAutolychus and Aristillus, two very perfect ring-mountains some 9000feet high. 

"One of the most striking, on account of its size and situation, is thatlarge one which is called Archimedes, and is about fifty miles indiameter; and you will notice that a rugged mass of mountains and highhills extends from it to a distance of over a hundred miles on thesouth. The floor of this walled plain is only about 600 feet below thegeneral level, and the mountain walls average about 4000 feet in height;but there is at least one peak some 7000 feet high. 

"You will see a little below and westward of Archimedes the commencementof a system of large cracks or crevasses in the lunar surface which areknown as 'rills. ' Many such systems are found in various parts of themoon; some of the cracks are comparatively shallow, but, according toProfessor Langley, others are known to be at least eight miles deep, andmay be infinitely deeper, though I cannot say I understand how thesegreat depths have been arrived at. The length of the cracks varies froma few miles to over three hundred miles, and from a few hundred yards tosome miles in width. They are attributed partly to volcanic action, butmainly to the contraction of the crust of the lunar globe as it becamecold. Being so much smaller, the moon would cool much more rapidly thanthe earth, and the disruptive effects would necessarily be greater. "

John here touched my arm, and pointing to some mountains on the bordersof a large elongated oval area, close to the north-western terminatorwhere the sun was setting, asked me what they were. I explained that thedark area was known as the Mare Crisium, or Sea of Conflicts, and ispossibly the deepest of the large lunar depressions. 

"It is about 280 miles long from north to south, and 355 miles wide fromeast to west, but, owing to its position, the width is seen from theearth very much foreshortened, so that it really looks nearly twice aslong as it is wide. It contains an area of about 75, 000 square miles, thus being as large as the combined area of Scotland and Ireland, andthe five largest northern counties of England. It is surrounded bymountains, some being over 11, 000 feet high, reckoning from the darkfloor. "

I drew their attention to Proclus--a ring-mountain on the eastern sideof this sea--which is about eighteen miles in diameter, and the secondbrightest of the lunar formations. "From its neighbourhood severalbright streaks diverge in different directions, two extending a long wayacross the dark area, and there is a longer one striking towards thenorth and another towards the south at an angle of about 120 degreeswith each other. 

"Seen through the telescope, these ray-streaks often appear verybrilliant under a high sun, looking in fact very like electricsearch-lights; though I notice that the Rev. T. W. Webb has rathercuriously remarked that these particular streaks are not very easilyseen. Similar ray-streaks, many enormously longer than these, are foundin various parts of the lunar surface, but their exact nature and originhas never yet been definitely settled. They only come into view when thesun is beginning to be high up in the lunar sky, and the higher the sun, the brighter the rays appear. Some of the shorter ones are ridges, butthis is evidently not the case with the others, for they cast noshadows, as ridges would when the sun is low. Very many radiate from alarge ring-mountain called Tycho, in the southern hemisphere; and one ofthem extends, with some breaks, nearly three thousand miles, passingnorthward over the Sea of Serenity and finally disappearing on themoon's north-western edge, or 'limb, ' as it is termed. 

"Professor Pickering assumes that these rays were caused by volcanicdust or other light reflecting material emitted from a series of smallcraters, and states that they are really made up of a series of shortrays placed or joined end to end. What I have observed myself seems tobear out this latter statement; but the opinion I have formed as totheir origin differs from the theory of Professor Pickering. It seems tome more probable that the volcanic dust was carried by a strong wind, split up into two or more separate currents by a succession of peaks. The wind currents swept clean the area over which they actually passed, but dust fell or drifted in the lines between the currents. Exactly thesame thing may be observed in connection with snow-storms on our earthwhen accompanied by a high wind. One part of the earth's surface will beswept clean by the wind current, whilst a long line of the adjoiningsurface is covered with a thick deposit of snow. I have also noticedthat where the ray-streaks impinge upon a mountain, or ring, there is anappearance of spreading out and heaping up of the bright material verymuch as snow would be spread out or drifted up in similar situations onthe earth. "

M'Allister here interrupted with the remark that, when we wereapproaching the moon, he had particularly noticed that all appearance ofthe face of the "man in the moon" had vanished. He said he had expectedto see that more distinctly as we got nearer. 

"That would not be the case, M'Allister, " I answered. "The resemblanceto a human face which we see from the earth is caused by the combinedeffect of the bright and dusky areas on the lunar surface as seen from adistance. The depressed dark areas, which we call seas, form the eyes, nose, and mouth of the face, but when we had approached nearer to themoon the details of the surface configuration stood out so much moredistinctly that they entirely obliterated the general effect of themarkings as seen from a distance. "

"Professor, " exclaimed John, "I have read that before telescopes wereinvented it was thought by many that the markings seen on the moon werereally the features of our own earth reflected by the moon as in amirror. Is that correct?"

"Oh yes, John, " I said. "It seems to have been a fairly general beliefin many parts of the world, and travellers tell us that, even withinvery recent times, they have found in some of the more out-of-the-wayparts of the world that the same idea is still held by uneducatedpeople!"

Objects of interest being so numerous on the lunar surface we could onlygive a comprehensive glance at many of them, and as we had so manyplaces to inspect, I now gave M'Allister the order to steer eastward. 

He accordingly moved his switches and the _Areonal_ quickly passed overthe Sea of Tranquillity, which has an area of 140, 000 square miles; thenover the Sea of Vapours, a smaller area, parts of which have a duskygreen tint, from whence to the northward we had a view over the Sea ofSerenity, another deep depression nearly as large as the Sea ofTranquillity, and much of which is a light green colour. 

Then we came again to the Sea of Showers, a large "sea" having an areaof 340, 000 square miles; and, still moving eastward, the great lunar"Ocean of Storms" soon came into view. This covers a very large portionof the eastern and north-eastern part of the moon's surface, and, withall its bays and indentations, is estimated to be two million squaremiles in extent. 

I, however, again reminded them that, although these areas are termedseas and oceans, no water exists there now, whatever may have been thecase in the long distant past. They are now only large depressions, andnot often level but intersected by hills, ridges, and even mountains. 

As we passed along I called their particular attention to themagnificent "Bay of Rainbows" on the north-eastern coast of the Sea ofShowers. "From Cape Laplace (9000 feet high) on the western extremity, to Cape Heraclides (4000 feet high) on the eastern extremity, this greatbay is about 140 miles across, the depth of its curvature being overeighty miles. It bears a very strong resemblance to many large bays onour sea-coasts in various parts of the world, but I am not aware of anysuch bay which is bordered by a mass of such lofty mountains as this is. 

"We are looking at it now under a high sun, but when the sun has onlyjust risen sufficiently high to illuminate all those high mountains, whilst the lower surroundings are still in shadow, the great baypresents in the telescope the appearance of a brilliant luminous archspringing from the lighted part of the moon and extending far out overthe dark part of the disc. 

"Farther eastward, and lower down on the Ocean of Storms, you willobserve what is admitted by all to be the very brightest large formationupon the moon, viz. Aristarchus--a ring-plain nearly thirty miles indiameter, the floor of which is 5000 feet below the surface level. Itpossesses a central mountain, very difficult to measure on account ofthe general brightness, but believed to be about 1300 feet high. Well-defined terraces are seen on the mountain walls enclosing the area, and many external ridges are connected with the walls, especially to thesouth. This formation is evidently covered with some substance whichreflects light to a greater extent than that on similar formations;indeed it appears so bright that when the moon is new and the whole ofthis part of the disc is dark, Aristarchus can still be seen with atelescope, and this gave rise in the past to the idea that it was avolcano in actual eruption. The explanation is, however, more prosaic, because the mountain is really brought into view by earthshine on itsbright covering. When the moon is new the earth is almost fully lightedon the side toward the moon, and sheds a faint light on the dark portionof its disc, thus producing the phenomenon known as 'the old moon in thenew moon's arms. '

"Close to Aristarchus you will notice another ring-plain, which iscalled Herodotus, about twenty-three miles in diameter, with a floor7000 feet depressed; but this formation is not nearly so bright as itsneighbour. That high plateau between them is notable on account of theT-shaped cleft in it, which runs into that other long zig-zag cleft (insome parts two miles wide and 1600 feet in depth), whose directionchanges abruptly several times in its length of over one hundred miles. 

"Turning from this towards the south-west you will see the most majesticformation to be found upon the moon--the great ring-plain called'Copernicus, ' after the founder of our present system of astronomy. Itis about sixty miles in diameter, only roughly circular in shape, and asit stands isolated upon the great ocean-bed it is most favourablysituated for observation. A large number of very high ridges, separatedby deep valleys, radiate from it in all directions to a distance ofhundreds of miles, presenting the appearance of a grand system ofbuttresses to the mountain walls. These walls are high, and contain avery large number of peaks which, when seen through the telescope asthey catch the sunlight, look like a string of bright pearls shining onthe border of the ring. A peak on one side is 12, 000 feet in altitude, on the other side is one only 1000 feet lower, whilst, rising from nearthe central part of the floor, are no less than five small mountainpeaks. Owing to its size, brightness, and isolated position, thissplendid ring-mountain can be seen from the earth without the aid of aglass; but even a field-glass will reveal much in this and similarformations which cannot be detected by the unaided eye. 

"The Rev. T. W. Webb has termed Tycho, in the southern hemisphere, 'theMetropolitan Crater of the Moon, ' but, in my opinion, Copernicus is, owing to its position and grandeur, much more worthy of that dignity. Tycho is fine in itself, but is not so favourably situated, beingsurrounded by other formations somewhat in the same way as St. Paul'sCathedral is surrounded and shut in, for the most part, by other andmeaner buildings. 

"How much more should we appreciate the splendid proportions and majestyof our Metropolitan Cathedral if we could view it as an isolatedbuilding with a fine open space all around it!"

"I quite agree with that, Professor, " remarked John, "and I have alwaysthought it a great pity that Sir Christopher Wren was not allowed tocarry out his original plan in this respect. "

We were looking at the Carpathian range of mountains just to thenorthward of Copernicus, when M'Allister touched my arm, exclaiming, "Look, Professor, at all those tiny craters near the western side ofCopernicus. Why, there are so many of them that the ground for milesround looks like a honeycomb, and in some places there are straight rowsof them!"

"Yes, " I said, "this part of the lunar surface is simply riddled withtiny craterlets, and some of them are utilised as tests for thedefinition of our telescopes. I have heard it remarked that a map ofthis part of the moon presents almost the appearance of the froth on aglass of stout when it has settled down, the very numerous tinyair-bubbles of different sizes representing the craterlets; and reallyit does bear such a resemblance. 

"Almost due east of Copernicus is another bright and isolated ring-plainnamed Kepler, after the celebrated astronomer. This is some twenty-twomiles in diameter and surrounded by very bright streaks of light, extending in some directions over seventy miles, the whole nimbus oflight covering an area of nearly ten thousand square miles. These reallyare streaks, not ridges, for, as you will see, nearly all the surfacesurrounding this formation is flat and level. 

"Some of the streaks from Kepler radiate in the direction ofAristarchus, others towards Copernicus, cutting right through the raysfrom those formations. From this it is gathered that Copernicus wasformed first, then Aristarchus, and Kepler still later on in the moon'shistory. 

"The surrounding wall of Kepler is comparatively low with respect tothe lunar surface level, but the depth of the crater is nearly tenthousand feet below the mountain peaks. The whole formation is coveredwith the same light-reflecting material as the streaks which surroundit. "

CHAPTER VI

THE SCENERY OF THE MOON'S SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

I now directed M'Allister to steer across the lunar equator into thesouthern hemisphere, and our attention was soon attracted by a verylarge walled plain on the eastward side of our course. 

John asked me what it was called, and I explained that it was namedGrimaldi, being also well known to observers as the darkest tinted ofall the large lunar formations. As seen from the earth it appears anarrow ellipse, but we could see its full width, which is 129 miles, thelength being 148 miles. It is also noteworthy as one of the few plainswhich are convex in section, and it is so large that its area is equalto the combined area of the whole of the counties of England south ofthe line of the Thames, including Cornwall. 

I showed M'Allister this formation on our map, where it appears only anarrow ellipse in consequence of the moon's curvature, and pointed outhow very different was its appearance now we could see over its wholeextent. Other formations nearer to the moon's limb appear still moreforeshortened when viewed from the earth. 

John here remarked that "these large ring-plains covered immense areas, and, now that we could actually see them, their magnitude was moreimpressive than anything we could have imagined from merely hearing orreading about them. "

"Yes, John, " I said, "from our altitude of more than ten miles above thelunar surface we command a much more extensive view and gain a betterknowledge of details than we could obtain even if we landed on the moon. For instance, if we could stand down in the centre of one of those verylarge rings, we should imagine we were in the midst of a boundless openplain. The mountains all around us would be so distant that, owing tothe sharp curvature of the lunar sphere, they would all be below thehorizon, notwithstanding the fact that many of them are severalthousands of feet in height. So, for all we could see of them, thosemountains might be non-existent. 

"In the case of somewhat smaller rings we might perhaps see, here andthere above the horizon, just the topmost peaks of some of the morelofty mountains. "

M'Allister was now struck with an idea, and exclaimed, "Professor, Inotice that many of these great walled plains are very flat, and Ishould think they would make fine golf-links, for there would be plentyof room to send the ball flying!"

"Undoubtedly, " I answered, "you would have plenty of space for that; andI can tell you that you would be able to send the ball flying six timesas far as you could on the earth with the same expenditure of force, because the moon's gravitation is only one-sixth of that of the earth. "

"That would be grand, " said M'Allister. "I should like to have a fewturns at golf on the moon. "

"Ah, but you would also have extra long tramps after your ball, " I toldhim, "so you would get plenty of exercise; but, for the reason alreadymentioned, you would be able to get over the ground six times aseasily. "

"Well, Professor, I should not mind the distance in thosecircumstances, " he answered jauntily. 

"Perhaps you like jumping exercise too, " I said. "Only fancy, M'Allister, if you wanted to jump across one of those narrower cracks!Why, if you could jump a distance of ten feet on the earth, you couldjump sixty feet on the moon just as easily! Some of our athletes havejumped a length of twenty-six feet, so the same persons could with equalease jump 156 feet on the moon! What do you think of that for a longjump?"

"Heh, Professor, " he replied, looking rather bewildered, "what a jump!Why, I should think the mon was never coming down again!"

"I say, though, M'Allister, after all I am inclined to think you wouldnot find golf on the moon altogether a pleasant game, " said John. 

"Why not, mon?" inquired M'Allister. 

"Well, " answered John, "I was thinking that if you sent your ball flyinginto one of those cracks which are several miles deep you would findyourself eternally 'bunkered, ' for no niblick ever made would get youout of that. "

M'Allister laughed so heartily at this idea of John's that we bothjoined in his mirth; then I recommended him to wait until we reachedMars if he wished to enjoy a game of golf, for there he would be sure tofind enormous stretches of level ground. 

[Illustration: _From a coloured drawing by M. Wicks_ Plate III

CHART OF THE MOON, SHOWING THE PRINCIPAL FORMATIONS SEEN ON ITS SURFACE

The dark areas are termed seas, though there is no water on the moon. The many small rings are ring-mountains and ring-plains. (The North Poleis at the top. )]

[Illustration: Plate IV

INDEX MAP TO CHART OF THE MOON

 1. Bay of Rainbows

 2. Plato

 3. Sea of Cold

 4. Alps Mountains

 5. Great Alpine Valley

 6. Cassini

 7. Autolycus

 8. Aristillus

 9. Archimedes

10. Timocharis

11. Lambert

12. Euler

13. Sea of Showers

14. Aristarchus

15. Herodotus

16. Ocean of Storms

17. Copernicus

18. Apennine Mountains

19. Sea of Serenity

20. Haemus Mountains

21. Sea of Conflicts

22. Proclus

23. Sea of Tranquillity

24. Sea of Fertility

25. Hevel

26. Kepler

27. Grimaldi

28. Flamsteed

29. Bonpland

30. Gassendi

31. Sea of Vapours

32. Hipparchus

33. Albategnius

34. Ptolemæus

35. Alphonsus

36. Arzachel

37. Theophilus

38. Cyrillus

39. Catherina

40. Sea of Nectar

41. Langrenus

42. Vendelinus

43. Petavius

44. Schickard

45. Wargentin

46. Tycho

47. Maurolycus

48. Clavius

49. Newton

50. Straight Wall

51. Sea of Moisture

52. Sea of Clouds]

Proceeding on our tour of inspection, we crossed the Ocean of Storms toa point near the central part of the lunar surface, and I showed themthe fine walled plain called Ptolemæus. This is 115 miles in diameter, and contains an area as large as the combined areas of Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Westmorland, its highest peak being 9000 feet inaltitude. It forms the most northerly of a line of walled plains, themost southerly being Arzachel, which is sixty-six miles in diameter, andhas a very depressed floor; while one peak on the walls rises to aheight of 13, 000 feet. 

Passing farther west, we next examined another splendid group of threering-mountains, arranged in a line running nearly north and south, viz. Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catherina. The first is the most northerly, and is about sixty-four miles in diameter, with several very highpeaks--one rising as much as 18, 000 feet, and two on the opposite sidebeing 16, 000 and 14, 000 feet high respectively. Even the centralmountain is very large in area, and 6000 feet high. "That, " I remarkedto M'Allister, "is nearly half as high again as Ben Nevis, the highestmountain in Scotland, which is, after all, only 4400 feet high. "

"Ben Nevis, Professor, is 4406 feet high!" corrected M'Allister. 

"That's right, M'Allister, " said John, clapping him on the back, "stickup for bonnie Scotland, and don't let her be robbed of that six feet ofmountain!"

Proceeding, I then said that Cyrillus, the middle ring, was, as theycould see, very irregular in shape; and the walls were in some partsvery much broken and damaged. 

Catherina is the largest of the three, being over seventy miles indiameter, and its highest peak is 16, 500 feet in altitude. 

I should have liked to have shown them the splendid double-walled plaincalled Petavius, which has a convex floor some 800 feet higher in thecentre than at the edges. We were, however, too late both for that andLangrenus, another fine formation on the same meridian, for the sun hadset upon them and they were in darkness, so it was no use going anyfarther in that direction. 

We now directed our course over the Sea of Clouds till we arrived atwhat is known as the "Straight Wall. "

"M'Allister, " I said, "that ought to interest you, for there is asomewhat similar formation in Scotland. You see this is an escarpment, or cliff, over sixty miles long, and varying from about 600 feet to 900feet in height. 

"This cliff is one of the best known examples on the moon of what ingeology is termed a 'fault, ' indicating either that one part of thegeneral surface has been greatly elevated, or that the adjoining parthas been depressed. We have many examples of such 'faults' on theearth--for instance, one runs a long way across Scotland, fromStonehaven round to Helensburgh, between the Highlands and the Lowlands, and is about 120 miles in length. That is about twice the length of theStraight Wall; so you see that Scotland can beat the moon in thatrespect!"

This brought M'Allister up to the scratch. "Scotland, " he exclaimedexcitedly, "can hold her own in most things! Why, mon, the empire isindebted to her for the finest statesmen, the cleverest lawyers, thebest engineers and scientists, and, allow me to say, the bravestsoldiers in the whole world! Scotsmen go everywhere, and can doanything!"

"Oh yes, M'Allister, " said John, with a laugh, "and a Scotsman has gotto the moon! but, please, do not forget that two Englishmen planned thetrip, and devised the means of accomplishing the journey!"

M'Allister smiled a rather wintry smile, and then subsided. John was abit too smart for him that time. 

Passing on, we inspected the large cleft running parallel to theStraight Wall, and the small mountain close by named after Birt, thewell-known selenographer. We then crossed the Sea of Clouds again, andhad a long look at the great system of straight clefts near Campanus andHippalus, together with the fine walled plain Gassendi, the floor ofwhich is at some parts 2000 feet above the lunar surface. I had oftenstudied this through the telescope, as it is a most interestingformation. 

"Well, Professor, " remarked M'Allister, "I have travelled nearly allover our own world, but in all my journeyings I have never seen suchwild and rugged scenery as I have during the few hours we have beenpassing over the moon. The mountains seem to be split and rent in alldirections, especially where there are volcanic craters in theneighbourhood--and, really, they seem to be everywhere; while landslipsare very numerous, and the mountain passes are extremely rugged andgloomy. "

"Yes, " I replied, "my telescopic observations had prepared me for agreat deal, but the weird ruggedness of the lunar scenery exceeds allmy anticipations. "

"What is the explanation of it all?" M'Allister inquired. 

"I should think, M'Allister, that much of it was originally caused bythe extreme violence of volcanic outbursts, " I answered; "but theexcessive expansion and contraction, resulting from the alternate spellsof intense heat and intense cold to which the moon is continuallyexposed, will account for the formation of many of those tremendouschasms and precipices which we see everywhere around us, as well as forthe huge mounds of dislodged rocks and _débris_, which are piled up insuch chaotic confusion on the ledges of the mountains and round theirbases. 

"On the earth such _débris_ would very soon have become smoothed byatmospheric erosion, the interstices would have been filled up with dustand soil, while the growth of vegetation would have added a new charm tothe effect. 

"You have seen the great landslip in the Isle of Wight! When it fell allwas wild desolation, but it has become covered with such a luxuriantgrowth of vegetation that it now presents a scene of beauty. 

"On the moon, however, there is neither atmosphere, rain, nor moistureto produce weathering of the rocks or to encourage the growth ofvegetation; so the rocks remain just as sharp, rugged, and bare as theywere ages ago when they were first split off from the mountains. 

"No doubt very large masses of rocks are still frequently beingdislodged, and if we could see them falling from the upper part of amountain, rebounding along the spurs, with fragments flying in alldirections and ultimately dashing to pieces at the base, it would seemto us most uncanny not to hear the slightest sound arising from all thisapparent commotion. Without an atmosphere, however, no sound could beproduced, no matter how many thousands of tons of rock might fall to theground. 

"Tremendous changes of this nature may be happening on the moon, but ourtelescopes are not powerful enough to enable us to see the results. Theywould have to cover an area of miles to be noticeable, unless theypresented some particularly striking configuration. "

"Professor, " exclaimed M'Allister, "how is it that all the shadows onthe moon are such a dense black and so sharply defined at the edges?"

"That, " I exclaimed, "is entirely owing to the absence of theatmosphere. On the earth, even at night time, some light is diffused byour atmosphere, and shadows are never dense black even when thrown by abright sun. On the moon it is black darkness everywhere outside thedirect rays of the sun, and there is no gradual diminution of thedarkness about the edges of shadows such as we see on the earth. Theonly mitigation of the blackness is seen where some light is reflectedacross from the rocky walls on which the sun is shining. 

"In those deep recesses down at the bases of the mountains the cold mustbe most intense and the darkness truly awful. It all looks very nicewhen the sun is shining, but appearances are often deceptive, and do notimprove on a closer acquaintance. "

We could not have landed upon the moon if we had desired to do so, forno provision had been made for a supply of air by means of helmets andother apparatus. I kept my own counsel in this matter, as I had verygood reasons for discountenancing any proposal to investigate the lunarscenery too closely. 

By a curious coincidence, not long after this conversation we had oculardemonstration of the fact that the moon is liable to changes from otheragencies than those of expansion and contraction. 

We were looking at some distant mountains which were in the fullsunshine. Suddenly a dark shadowy looking mass shot across the sky andstruck one of the mountain peaks some distance down from the top. Thepeak seemed to be immediately demolished, and vanished from our sight!

M'Allister gazed spellbound; but John excitedly exclaimed: "Did you seethat, Professor? One moment the peak was there, and the next moment itwas gone!"

"Yes, " I said. "Undoubtedly that dark shadow was a large meteoric stone. Many have fallen on our earth at various times, some being tons inweight. Usually, however, they are so small that on entering ouratmosphere they become fused by the friction and changed to dust. Largerones are partially fused, and often split into fragments in the upperair. The moon, having no atmosphere, is quite unprotected in thisrespect; and meteorites moving at enormous speeds, probably over fortymiles in a second, travel unchecked and unaltered in character untilthey strike the lunar surface. It is estimated that immense numbersconstantly enter our atmosphere and are destroyed; but the moon must becontinually exposed to bombardment by meteorites of considerable size. 

"Many of our ships have been lost at sea in calm weather, and their fatehas remained a profound mystery; but it is not at all improbable thatsome of them have been destroyed by large meteorites, for severalinstances are recorded of ships having very narrow escapes from thesedangerous missiles from outer space. "

Passing on towards the south-west, we had a long look at the magnificentformation named Tycho. It is a ring-plain nearly fifty-six miles indiameter, the mountain walls having some peaks over 17, 000 feet inheight. I drew their attention to the long bright ray-streaks whichradiate in all directions for many hundreds of miles from theneighbourhood of this formation, to which I alluded when we had beenlooking at the rays from Proclus. Tycho and these bright streaks can beseen from the earth when the moon is full without the aid of atelescope, if one possesses good eyesight. 

An enormous number of ring-plains and ring-mountains exists all over thesouthern half of the moon's disc; in many cases there are rings withinrings, and others where they have overlapped or cut into previouslyformed rings. 

Moving almost due south, we passed the large but partially ruined walledplain known as Maginus. This ring has a floor which is no less than14, 000 feet below the lunar surface. We then arrived at that favouriteobject for telescopic observers which is named Clavius. This is anenormous ring-plain, being over 142 miles in diameter, and encloses anarea of 16, 000 square miles, thus being half the area of Scotland. Ithas a very depressed floor, and some of the mountains are 16, 000 to17, 000 feet in altitude. 

Farther on, and close to the south pole, we saw the very deepest of thelunar walled plains, which is named after Newton, who possessed probablythe deepest intellect of any of our astronomers. A smaller formationsouth of Plato was originally named after him, but was not consideredworthy of a man of his scientific eminence, so the name was transferredto the formation we were looking upon. It is about 143 miles long andvery irregular in shape, and its depth is about 24, 000 feet--so deep, infact, that the sun's light never reaches to the bottom; thus, when welook at it from the earth, the floor is always in shadow. 

The Leibnitz Mountains, unfortunately, were not visible, as the sun hadset upon them. I, however, mentioned that this range comprises severalpeaks which are believed to be the highest on the lunar surface, reaching as they do an altitude of 30, 000 feet, and, according to somemeasurements, 40, 000 feet. They are very difficult to measure, owing tothe fact that they are really situated on the farther side of the moon, extending east and west of the south pole, and are only occasionallybrought into view by the moon's libration; even then they are seen inprofile, and so situated that they cannot be measured with certainty. They are, however, so high that they blunt the southern cusp of the moonwhen it is in crescent form. 

I now directed M'Allister to turn the vessel in a north-easterlydirection, and we moved across to the last objects which I proposed toexamine. One was the large walled plain "Schickard"--about 135 miles indiameter--which encloses several other rings; the other, which lies tothe south-east of it and close to the moon's south-eastern limb, isprobably the most unique object on the lunar surface. As we gazed uponit I explained that the formation, which is known as "Wargentin, " wouldprobably in the usual course of events have been a ring-plain aboutfifty-four miles in diameter, but it really is a high plateau of thatsize, with very low ramparts. It is evidently a ring-plain which becamefilled to the brim with lava, or mud, that welled up from the interiorof the moon; and the mountain walls, being exceptionally strong andwithout any breaks or gaps, withstood the enormous pressure of the lava, which therefore solidified and formed the great plateau as we now seeit. The low ramparts, which we noticed here and there, are really theisolated peaks and ridges of the mountains forming the walls. This isthe only known instance of such a formation; but probably others wouldexist had not the walls of the rings given way under the pressure of thelava. The walls of several ring-plains have been quite carried away, and, in some cases so obliterated, that it is now difficult to make outthe original shape of the rings. 

Having taken a last look at this unique object, I directed M'Allister toset the machinery in motion and rise for the purpose of quitting themoon. 

"But, " interposed John, "are you not going to have a look at the back ofthe moon, Professor?"

"No, John, " I answered, "only a small portion of it is now in thesunlight, the rest is in the blackest darkness, so we should not belikely to learn much more about it than we know at present. "

"Do you think the moon is inhabited?" he then asked. 

"No, I do not think it is; no sign of life has ever been discovered, andwe have seen nothing to indicate its existence here. The prevailingconditions seem to preclude the possibility. Think, John, if there isany life, what must it be! Without any atmosphere--therefore, not asound to be heard, for all would ever be in the most deathly silence--nobreath of wind; never a cloud nor a drop of refreshing rain, nor evendew; intense heat in the sunlight and the most intense cold everywherein the shade! If any life does exist, it is most probably down in thosegloomy, dark and cold recesses at the bottom of the ring-mountains, where there may possibly be some remains of an atmosphere. It would, however, be life in such a dreadful and debased form that I would rathernot think about it at all. 

"For a somewhat similar reason, I have directed M'Allister to keep the_Areonal_ at least ten miles above the lunar surface all the time wehave been passing over it. When we saw it from a distance it was, as youknow, an object of surpassing beauty; and as we have seen it from hereit has still been pleasant to look upon. This is truly a case wheredistance lends enchantment to the view; for, if we went down close tothe surface, we should find it a scene of the weirdest and wildestdesolation--more horrible than anything seen during a nightmare, andmore terrible than anything imagined by the insane!

"No, John, " I concluded, "let us retain our memory of the moon as athing of beauty, and leave it at that. "

"I quite agree with your view of the matter, Professor, " John replied;so I gave the signal to M'Allister, who was awaiting the result of ourdiscussion, and we soon left the moon far below us. 

CHAPTER VII

WE RESUME OUR VOYAGE--THE SUN AND THE SKY AS SEEN FROM SPACE

All the time the _Areonal_ had been near the moon some of our machineswere storing up fresh power, and we had accumulated a supply amplysufficient to meet any extra requirements in the event of our arrivalupon Mars being unduly delayed. 

We now turned and looked back at the earth; and, as the moon was so nearto it at that time, the earth's disc appeared very nearly two degrees indiameter, or nearly four times the usual apparent diameter of the fullmoon as seen from the earth. The crescent of light on its right-handside was rather wider than when we last looked at it; but so many cloudshung over it, that we could not see what countries were comprised in thelighted portion of its surface. Owing to the light of the stars behindthe earth being diffused by the dense atmosphere--in the same way as itwould be diffused by a large lens--there was a ring of brilliant lightlike a halo all round the earth's disc. 

Having passed away from the moon, I now gave M'Allister the necessarydirections in order to keep the _Areonal_ on a course which would enableus to head off the planet Mars at, as near as I could reckon, the pointit would reach in fifty days' time. The course having been set, M'Allister was free to join us again, as the machinery required verylittle attention. 

When he did so, M'Allister at once asked me a question. "Professor, canyou tell me when it's going to be daylight? The sun has been shining forhours and hours, yet it's still night; the sky is blacker than theblackest night I ever saw, and the stars are all out!"

John laughed heartily, and said, "M'Allister, this is daylight! and allthe daylight you will get until we reach Mars. "

M'Allister turned to me with a perplexed look on his face and asked, "Isthat right, Professor, or is he trying to pull my leg, as he said hewould?"

"Oh yes! It's quite right, M'Allister, " I replied. "It is now fulldaylight, and we shall have no more night until we reach Mars. That, asyou know, will be seven weeks from the present time. "

"Well, Professor, " he exclaimed, "then how is it the sky is so denselyblack and the stars all shining so brightly? I never saw the stars inthe daytime before, yet these are shining brighter than they do on theearth at night. "

"Simply, " I said, "because upon the earth we were surrounded by a denseatmosphere, which so diffused the sun's light that the whole skyappeared bright. The stars were there all the time, but their light wasso overpowered by the brilliancy of the atmosphere that they were quiteinvisible to us. 

"Now, we are out in space where there is no atmosphere at all, so thesky appears a very dense black; and the stars, having nothing to obscuretheir light, shine out more brilliantly than they do on the earth. Theyappear as bright points of light, and even the sun does not shed ageneral light over the sky, there being no atmosphere to diffuse it. "

"Yes, " he persisted, "but you said we should have no more night until wegot to Mars!"

"Certainly, " I answered. "Surely, M'Allister, you must have forgottenthat night is brought about by the earth's rotation on its axis, andthat the part which is turned away from the sun is in darkness becauseits light is hidden by the solid body of the earth, while the earth'sshadow darkens all the sky. When, by the earth's rotation, that part isagain turned to the sun then it becomes daylight. Remember we are notnow on the earth, but out in space!"

"Of course I did know all that, Professor, " he exclaimed, "but, just forthe time, I had forgotten. "

"Never mind, M'Allister, we all forget such matters sometimes, and thisis quite a new experience for you. But just take a good look at thesun--have you noticed any difference in its appearance?"

"Yes, Professor, it doesn't look the same colour as when we saw it fromthe earth; it seems to have a violet tinge, like some of the electriclights in our streets. There are also long streamers of light around it, and coloured fringes close to the sun!"

"Yes, that is so, " I said; "and we can see all those things now becausethere is no atmosphere. No doubt you have noticed that on the earth thesun appeared red when low down in the sky, and during a fog it appearedredder and duskier still. "

"Oh yes, I've often noticed that, " he answered. 

"That was caused by our atmosphere which, when thick, absorbs all butthe red rays of light. On a clear day the sun appears an extremely paleyellow, or very nearly white; still the atmosphere absorbs some of thelight rays, so we cannot see its true colour as we do now. Thosecoloured fringes round the edges can only be seen from the earth by theaid of a special instrument, and then they do not show all their truecolours. 

"That pearly light all round the sun, and the long streamers that giveit the appearance of an enormous star with six long points, form what istermed the solar corona, and this can only be seen from our earth duringthe very few minutes when an eclipse of the sun is at its totality. Itis to see the corona and other surroundings of the sun, in order tostudy them, that astronomers go such very long distances--oftenthousands of miles--when there is a total eclipse expected, and notmerely to see the eclipse itself. They hope, in time, to learn much fromsuch observations; but if it happens that the sky is over-clouded duringthe period of total eclipse, then all their expense, and the time spentin preparations and rehearsals of their procedure, are, unfortunately, entirely wasted. 

"Now, M'Allister, if you will take my glass you will be able to look atthe sun and examine it without any risk to your eyesight, for it isprovided with a dark glass to shut out all the dangerous glare. You willthen see what the fringes and inner and outer coronas really are like. "

He took the glass and looked for a long time at the sun, and, judgingfrom his exclamations of surprise and astonishment, he was extremelyinterested and delighted with what he saw. John was also examining it atthe same time through his own glass. 

Presently the latter turned to me saying, "Professor, I no longerwonder that astronomers are prepared to travel long distances, and torisk a great deal of discomfort, and even hardship, in order to view andstudy the sun's surroundings. Of course to them it is not merely a sightto be seen, but the only means by which they can acquire a knowledge ofsolar physics. Merely as a sight, however, it is most wonderful. At manyplaces all round the edge of the sun's disc I can see what look likecoloured flames--pink, pea-green, carmine, orange, or yellow, all inincessant movement--shooting out at times, or waving and shimmering in amanner that is indescribable. The changes in form and colour are assudden, yet as definite, as the changes produced by turning akaleidoscope; while the intermingling of the various colours frequentlyproduces an effect which I can only compare to the iridescent colours onmother o' pearl. Then all around and beyond the coloured fringe there isthe light of the pearly inner corona; beyond that are pearly andviolet-tinged rays curling away in both directions from the poles, whilst outside all are the long, pearly, and violet-tinted streamerswhich assume the shape of a large many-pointed star; and even these donot seem at rest. Though astronomers cannot see all that we do now, there must be sufficient visible to them to afford opportunity for amost interesting study. "

"That is indeed the case, John, " I replied. "Those coloured flames, forinstance, form a study in themselves, which some observers make theirparticular hobby. As seen from the earth, they all appear some tint ofred; and, normally, according to measurements, they seem to extend adistance of some 20, 000 miles above the sun. They shift their positionvery rapidly indeed; movements at the rate of 100 miles a second arequite moderate compared with some which have been noted, yet one canscarcely realise such rapidity of motion. Frequently, however, theseflames are seen to rise in immense masses to tremendous heights abovethe sun's surface, evidently driven upwards by explosions of the mostintense energy. In 1888, for instance, one was observed which, in thecourse of two hours, rose to a height of 350, 000 miles before it brokeup; that is, at the rate of 50 miles a second all the time; but, as theforce would become less and less as the distance increased, at theearlier part of the time the movement must have been far more rapid. When the impetus derived from the explosive force is quite exhausted, the top part of the mass of flame often spreads out like the top of atree, then breaks up and falls back into the sun in large flakes offlame. 

"It is supposed that these violent explosions are the cause of the spotswe so often see on the sun when observing it with our telescopes; and, when looking at them in their earliest stage, we are probably looking ata mass of flame _end on_, instead of seeing it in profile, as is thecase when the explosion occurs near the edge of the disc. The flames, asexamined by the spectroscope, appear to be largely composed of hydrogengas; and no doubt many other gases--some quite unknown to us--enter intotheir composition. They are termed flames, but are more probably immensevolumes of incandescent gases. The corona itself is never seen twicealike; its shape and size vary at every eclipse, but the variation runsin a regular cycle from maximum to minimum. 

"You will also observe that all around the corona, and extending a vastdistance beyond it on both sides, is a fainter pearly light. This iswhat is termed the zodiacal light, and is believed to be the thinnerportion of the sun's atmosphere. We can see it from the earthoccasionally after the sun has set, extending far up into the sky in theform of a semi-ellipse, the base of which is over the place where thesun is. "

M'Allister here asked me to tell him "What was supposed to be the actualsize of our sun, and how far it was away from the earth?"

I answered that "The sun is about 865, 000 miles in diameter; and that hewould have some idea of what an immense body it is if he remembered thatit would require 64, 000, 000 globes the size of the moon to make oneglobe the size of the sun! Yet, notwithstanding this immense size, oursun is quite a small body as compared with some of the fixed stars, which, as perhaps you may know, are really suns at an inconceivabledistance from us. The bright star Sirius, which is visible during ourwinter time, is not only very much brighter in reality than our sun, butmust be many times larger; and there are others known to be very muchlarger than Sirius. It has been computed that Arcturus is in mass500, 000 times as large as our sun!

"The sun revolves on its axis in a little over twenty-five days, but theexact period of its revolution is difficult to determine. The meandistance of the sun from the earth is about 92, 800, 000 miles. When weare farthest from it its distance is 94, 600, 000 miles, and when nearest, 91, 000, 000 miles--these differences, of course, arising from theeccentricity of the earth's orbit. 

"The sun's density is only about one-fifth of the earth's density; so itis evidently mainly gaseous--at all events in the outer envelopes. 

"The spots upon the sun often cover such an immense area, that if ourearth were dropped into the cavity, it would be like placing a pea in ateacup! Some of the spots entirely close up in a short time, but otherslast for weeks. "

We now turned from the sun and looked at the stars. Such a multitudewere visible as we had never seen from the earth; for small stars, whichthere required a telescope to bring them into view, could now be plainlyseen without any such aid, and their various colours were seen much moreclearly. They all shone with a clear and steady light; the twinkling andscintillation of the stars, as seen from the earth, being caused by thevibrations and movements in our own atmosphere. We also saw many nebulæwithout using a glass. 

The Milky Way was a most gorgeous spectacle, and its beauty utterlybeyond description, as such an immense number of its component stars, and their different colours, were visible to the unaided eye; besides, we could trace wisps and branches of it to regions of the sky far beyondthe limits within which it is seen from the earth. 

We noted that the planets were also much more clearly seen; and theorange-red disc of Mars, of course, received our particular attention. 

We had spent very many hours in viewing the moon, and a long time inexamining the sun and stars; so we now sat down to a hearty meal, and, after a short time spent in conversation, we made our arrangements fortaking turns in attending to the machinery, and then retired to bed. 

[Illustration: _DIAGRAM: showing the Positions and Movements of thePlanets between the 3rd of August and the 24th of September, 1909: andthe Course taken by the "Areonal" on the Voyage to Mars. _

_The dotted line joining the Earth to Mars shows the course taken. _

_The dotted Circles show the Orbits of the Planets. The thick arrowsshow the distances travelled by the respective planets during the periodcovered by the Voyage: the line at the back end of the Arrow being theplanet's position on the 3rd August, and the points of the Arrows theposition reached on the 24th September. _

_The Orbits of Mercury, Venus, the Earth and Mars are drawnapproximately to scale, but those of the outer planets are not. On thesame scale, the radii of the Orbits of the outer Planets would, approximately, be as stated below. These figures will afford some ideaof the enormous distances separating those planets. _

 _Jupiter_ _3_ _Inches_ _Saturn_ _5-3/8_ " _Uranus_ _10-7/8_ " _Neptune_ _17_ "

_Drawn by M. Wicks_

Plate V]

CHAPTER VIII

JOHN INSISTS ON GOING BACK AGAIN--A STRANGE, BUT AMUSING INCIDENT OCCURS

When we rose the next day the moon was a considerable distance away fromus, but not so far off as might at first be imagined if one onlyconsidered the speed at which we were travelling; for, although movingat our full speed, the earth was following us up pretty closely, as thecurve of its orbit would, for several days, run nearly in the samedirection as we were going. Still, 2, 000, 000 miles a day was sufficientto make a diminution in the apparent sizes of the sun and Venus; andthere was a gradual increase in the size of the planets, Mars andSaturn, towards which we were moving. As regards the fixed stars, however, there was no change in our surroundings, as they are such animmense distance away--the nearest being, at least, twenty billions ofmiles from the earth, that a few million miles more or less make nodifference in their apparent size, or in their positions in regard toeach other in the constellations as we know them in our maps. 

As we were now fairly on our way, and moving rapidly in the direction wewished to travel, I thought it quite time to put into operation a schemewhich John and I had previously decided upon, so I told M'Allister thathe must be prepared to take a little change of air. 

"Why, Professor, " he exclaimed, "that sounds almost like a proposal forgoing to the seaside!"

"We certainly are not going there, " I replied, "for we are rapidlymoving away from all seaside resorts, and you are not likely to visitany of those places for a very long time to come. "

"Well, mon, where are we going to get our change of air then?" heinquired; "you know there's no air at all outside of this vessel. "

"Quite true, " I answered; "so we must get our change of air inside thevessel. "

"Yes, " interposed John, "and, Kenneth M'Allister, you will have to makeup your mind to have rather short commons of it; the same as we shall!"

"Whatever do you mean?" he inquired, now appearing really scared--for adreadful thought had crossed his mind. "Mon, you surely do not mean thatour machinery is giving out!"

"Oh no! not at all, M'Allister, " I replied; "but perhaps I had bettergive you a full explanation of the matter:--

"You know we are bound for the planet Mars, where the air is very muchthinner than that which we have been accustomed to breathe, and veryprobably it is composed of somewhat different constituents. In thesecircumstances you will understand that, if we landed upon Mars withouthaving taken proper precautions, such thin air might make us very ill, even if it did not kill us. 

"That little compartment next the store-room was arranged and fitted upfor the special purpose of supplying a thin air in which we couldprepare ourselves for the atmosphere of the red planet. So we are reallygoing into training. The machines in that room will generate anattenuated atmosphere somewhat similar to our own, and this will beautomatically mixed in a cylinder with a little oxygen and nitrous oxidegas, so as to make it as near as possible like what we expect to findupon Mars. When we commence it will be only slightly different from ourown air; then gradually we shall reduce its density and change itsquality until it is as thin as we shall require. Each of us must spendabout eight hours a day in that little compartment, though it will notbe necessary to take the eight hours continuously, for we may spend afew intervals in the other rooms. 

"John and I will take general charge of the machinery in that room, andhe will also look after your machines whilst you are with me in ourMartian air-chamber. In addition to these arrangements, we have prepareda concentrated air of the same kind which we can carry about with us inbottles, so that by simply opening a little valve in the bottle we caninhale some of the air now and then when we are in the other rooms. Byadopting this plan, I hope when we reach Mars we shall all have becomeso acclimatised that we shall be able to breathe the Martian air withoutmuch inconvenience. "

"Heh, Professor, " said M'Allister, "what a mon you are for planningthings out; I would never have thought of that!"

"John had quite as much to do with the planning out as I had, " Ireplied; "and as you now understand what we propose to do, we will atonce commence our training, but we shall not feel much difference in theair for the next day or two. "

We accordingly put our plan into operation, each of us making up atleast eight hours' time every day in the Martian air-chamber, with theresult that we gradually became accustomed to the thinner air, and couldbreathe it without any feeling of inconvenience. 

As the days went on I began to notice that John was becoming veryirritable; and so was I, though to a lesser extent. The closerconfinement to one room was evidently beginning to tell upon us, and dayby day the effects were more apparent on both of us, especially in thecase of John; but, strangely enough, whilst we were becoming moredepressed and irritable, M'Allister's spirits seemed to be rising everyday!

It has often been remarked that if two or three people are shut uptogether for a considerable time, with no other companionship or change, sooner or later they are bound to fall out with each other. 

Up to the present we had all agreed splendidly, but now John'sirritability seemed to increase hourly; and as regards myself, I oftenfound it necessary to exercise very great self-control to avoid givingvery sharp and snappish answers to John's peevish and querulous remarks. 

But the inevitable explosion came at last, and, like all explosions, wasvery sudden and unexpected when it did happen. 

All the morning of the 2nd of September John had been wandering in andout of the various rooms, and frowning as though very displeased aboutsomething. I gave him a hint or two that he ought to put in more timewith me in the air-chamber, but he took no notice of my suggestions. Presently, whilst I was in there alone, he came through, but, withoutspeaking to me, went on into the store-room; and I heard him in thereopening and shutting the lockers and cupboards, generally closing thedoors with a loud bang, as persons do when in a very bad temper. 

These bangs became more frequent and more violent, and at last succeededeach other with such rapidity that it seemed almost as though a vigorouscannonade were in progress. 

I was wondering what could be the meaning of all this commotion, whensuddenly the door opened, and John rushed into the room looking verycross indeed. 

"I'm sorry, Professor, " he cried, "though it's no use saying so; but wemust go back to England again at once!"

"Good gracious, John!" I exclaimed, "what do you mean, and whatever hashappened to upset you so and cause you to change your mind in thisextraordinary way?"

"The deluge has happened, " he replied, very crossly. "Professor, _I'veleft all my stock of tobacco behind_!"

"Never, John, " I replied. "Why, you packed it up yourself; and Iremember that when we overhauled the stores on our departure I saw thelarge tin of tobacco in your cupboard. "

"I thought I packed it up, " he answered, "but it's nowhere to be foundnow. As my tobacco supply had nearly run out I went to the cupboard thismorning to get some more, and took down the big tin of twenty-six poundslabelled 'Tobacco. ' I opened it, and what do you think it contained? Youwould never guess--well, it was tapioca!

"I've looked everywhere I can think of, without finding a trace of theweed. "

Just then M'Allister came into the room, and, noticing John's viciousfrown and my troubled look, asked what was wrong. We told him the news, but he only laughed, and, turning to John, exclaimed, "Heh, John, don'tfash yourself about the tobacco, mon; we'll find you a substitute. There's more kinds than one. "

"Substitute, indeed!" said John snappishly, "no substitutes for me!"

"Well, John, " I interposed, "you can have as much of my tobacco as youlike; it's a good brand, you know, and I shall not mind a shorterallowance, for it does not mean much to me. "

"No, " he exclaimed sharply, "I can't take yours, Professor; it's yourown special brand!"

"Well, John, " said M'Allister, "you're as welcome to mine as if it wereyour own, and it's fine strong stuff too. And you can have some of myNavy plug as well, " he added with a grin; "you'll find it rare goodchewing. "

"I simply cannot take the Professor's tobacco, " said John; then, angrilyturning upon poor M'Allister, he cried, "And as for your filthy stuff, it's a downright insult to offer it to me!"

"John! John!" I implored, "do be reasonable; it's not at all like you totalk in this rude way, and you must know we really cannot go back now!"

"Reasonable!" he sneered. "Do you call it reasonable, Professor, to aska man who is a lover of his pipe to go all the way to Mars and staythere for months without any tobacco!"

"Well, you will not accept mine, although you know perfectly well thatyou are heartily welcome to it. It's not your own particular brand, itis true, but it is a real good one. However, most likely you will findsome on Mars; there's plenty of vegetation on that planet, without adoubt. "

"Vegetation be hanged!" he angrily exclaimed. "What am I to do in themeantime? As for tobacco growing upon Mars--why, sir, I'd bet my bottomdollar that, outside our own world, there's no place in the wholeuniverse where anything equal to my superb mixture can be produced. It'sno use talking, Professor; as I said before, we must go back. "

"We cannot go back, " I replied sternly, for by this time I was becomingvery irritated at his obstinacy. "The idea of going back so many millionmiles merely to fetch tobacco! Remember, we have travelled at least57, 000, 000 miles on the way to our destination!"

John strode up and down, becoming more and more excited every minute, and was soon quite raging; yet it seemed most singular that the moreJohn raged the more M'Allister laughed. I looked from one to the otherin amazement and the most utter perplexity at this extraordinary changein their behaviour. Then all at once I saw a gleam of light, so tospeak, and the solution of the mystery became clear to me. 

The air we had so long been breathing when in the air-chamber, and whenwe made use of our air-bottles, was very similar to what is popularlyknown as "laughing-gas"; and undoubtedly we were all more or lessexperiencing the cumulative effects of the constant mild doses we hadinhaled. Laughing-gas acts in a different manner upon persons ofdifferent temperaments: some will keep laughing, moderately orimmoderately; others will become irritable, angry, or even pugnacious;whilst others again will weep copiously. 

M'Allister was now talking rapidly and quietly to himself, laughing allthe while, his eyes shining and twinkling merrily as though somethingintensely amusing were being enacted. 

This seemed to react upon John, who apparently was irritated beyondcontrol, and presently he roared out, "Kenneth M'Allister, stop thatinfernal grinning and chattering like a monkey! Stop it, I say! stop itdirectly!" But M'Allister took no notice and laughed louder than ever. 

"Why, you confounded baboon, " shouted John, "you're worse than anylaughing hyena! Stop it, stop it at once, or I shall do you somemischief!" And he advanced towards M'Allister in such a menacingattitude that I had to rush between them to keep them apart. 

He was now raging up and down the room, looking as angry as a hungrylion which has just had a long expected dinner suddenly snatched awayfrom it; but the worse he became the louder M'Allister shrieked withlaughter. The latter was now simply rolling about the room--for it couldnot be termed walking, it was so erratic--holding his sides andlaughing, whilst the tears were chasing each other down his cheeks. Hekept trying to speak, but had no sooner stuttered out the words, "Heh, mon! heh, mon!" than he was off again into another wild paroxysm oflaughter, and was rapidly becoming exhausted. 

Things were really becoming very serious indeed, and I saw thatsomething must be done at once to put an end to this disturbance. So, going over to M'Allister, I took him gently by the shoulders and pushedhim out of the room, saying quietly, "Go to your own room at once; butfor goodness' sake don't touch the machinery until the air has had timeto put you right again. Leave me to deal with John. " He rolled offthrough the doorway, still laughing "fit to split" as people say. 

Returning to John, I tried to calm him down; but it proved a long anddifficult task, though at last I succeeded in persuading him to go withme into our living-room and sit down quietly. 

After sitting there some time, puffing away at his pipe, the fresher airbegan to have its effect; and soon I judged that he was calm enough totalk the matter over and discuss the situation more reasonably. 

Then I said: "John, my dear fellow, please listen to me. You know wehave now travelled quite 57, 000, 000 miles on our journey, and that allour arrangements have been made with a view to reaching Mars not laterthan the 24th of September, because it will then be at the point whereit is in opposition to the sun as seen from the earth. It is merely asentimental reason so far as the opposition is concerned, but there aresubstantial reasons for not delaying our arrival. 

"You say we must go back, but please consider all that such a coursemust involve. Though the earth has been following us up pretty closelyon a slightly different course it is at the present about 13, 000, 000miles away from us. You will see it out there on our left hand towardsthe rear of the _Areonal_; but we cannot go direct across to where it isnow, for by the time we reached that point the earth would have goneahead several million miles. Our only course is to head it off, and, taking the shortest line, that means a journey of over 12, 000, 000 miles. Therefore, we cannot reach England until the 8th of September at theearliest, and as we shall require at least a week to lay in freshstores, it will be the 15th before we can start again. 

"Starting on the 15th September we should have to travel at least54, 000, 000 miles before we could catch up Mars, and as that will taketwenty-eight days, we could not arrive there before the 13th of October. (See the chart. )

"Thus, we must sacrifice our chance of being upon Mars on the date ofopposition, and also the opportunity of catching the first glimpse ofour earth a few days later. If we continue our journey now and reachMars on the 24th of September the earth will then be only 37, 000, 000miles away; but by the 13th October it will be over 40, 000, 000 milesdistant. There is the further objection that to get back again inreasonable time we must leave Mars by the 1st of December, and the lossof three weeks' time will deprive us of many opportunities of learningwhat there is to be found on the planet. 

"Now, John, like a good fellow, just think over the matter quietly andreasonably; you will then realise that it is quite impossible tointerrupt our journey and return to England as you suggest. "

"I have thought it all out again and again, " he replied, "and can onlyrepeat, Professor, that it is quite impossible for me to go on minus mytobacco!"

"Was there ever such an obstinate and unreasonable man!" I thought tomyself. "What can I do to put an end to this absurd difficulty?"

[Illustration: _DIAGRAM showing the relative positions of the Earth andMars at the various Oppositions of Mars, from 1892 to 1924. _

_Past Oppositions are shewn by the firm lines with the dates outside theOrbit of Mars. Coming Oppositions are indicated by the dotted lines withthe dates inside the Orbit. _

_The distance between any two consecutive Oppositions represents thedistance in excess of one complete revolution in its orbit passed overby the planet since the last preceding Opposition. These distances aregreater on the left hand side because of the planet then being nearerthe Sun and consequently travelling more rapidly. _

_Drawn by M. Wicks. _

Plate VI]

Resuming the conversation, and keeping as calm as I could in thecircumstances, I placed the matter before him in all its aspects, andafter we had been talking together for a long time, he seemed to be ableto take a more reasonable view of the position. In order that somethingmight be done to keep his mind from dwelling upon his proposal to returnto England, I suggested that we should go to the store-room andthoroughly overhaul it. 

He agreed to this, accompanying me to the store-room and pointing outthe different places he had searched. The tins were in several sizes, but all were made square in order that not an inch of the availablespace might be wasted. We looked into a large number of tins which hadnot previously been examined, but without finding what we wanted. 

At last a thought occurred to me, and I said: "You tell me, John, thatyou are quite certain you put up the tobacco and labelled the tinyourself, yet the tin so labelled was found to contain tapioca! Do youremember where the tapioca was stowed away?"

He pondered awhile, with his chin resting upon his fingers, thensuddenly replied, "Yes, I think I know where it is, " and, taking me overto another cupboard at the far end of the room, we made a further searchand at last found the tapioca tin, opened it, and lo, there was themissing tobacco!

"Well, I'm blest!" said John, very slowly drawing out the words; thenall his ill-humour suddenly vanished, and he burst into a most heartylaugh, in which I joined. Our laughter, indeed, was so mutuallycontagious, and so often renewed, that we had to sit down to finish itand recover ourselves. 

Then John remarked, "Now, Professor, I think I can explain it all. Yousee I prepared and labelled those confounded tins before loading themup; so I suppose that when stowing away the parcels of tobacco I justglanced at the label on the tin and saw the letter T followed by theright number of other letters, and, taking it for granted that it wasthe tobacco tin, placed the tobacco in it. The only other tin left topack was the one I supposed to be labelled 'Tapioca, ' and no doubt, without troubling to look at the label at all, I put the tapioca intoit; but, of course, it must really have been the tin labelled'Tobacco. '"

Thus the matter was satisfactorily cleared up. John, having found hisbeloved weed and recovered from the effects of our patent Martian air, was now quite himself again, seeming very contrite, and apologisingrepeatedly for his rude conduct. 

"That's enough, John, " I said, as I laid my hand on his arm; "it isquite clear that what you did was mainly the result of the peculiar airyou had been breathing, so I cannot blame you much. If I had not takenso many intervals in the purer air, I might perhaps have been equallyaffected; as it was, my temper was none of the sweetest. "

M'Allister had also quite recovered by this time, and bore no ill-willtowards John; indeed, I doubt whether he had any very clear recollectionof what had occurred. 

So that ended the matter; and this little explosion having cleared theair, we all settled down to our old amicable relationship. We, however, took the precaution of reducing the amount of nitrous-oxide gas in ourmixture of air, with a view to preventing any similar untoward resultsin future. 

CHAPTER IX

A NARROW ESCAPE FROM DESTRUCTION--I GIVE SOME PARTICULARS ABOUT MARS ANDMARTIAN DISCOVERY

Things now went on quietly and, in fact, rather monotonously for severaldays; and then we met with another rather startling experience. 

We were all sitting together in our living-room on the 9th of September, whiling away the time in a game of whist, and, as it was the finalrubber and we were running very close together, we were quite absorbedin the play; although, of course, it was a dummy game. 

Suddenly we heard a most tremendous crash, apparently from theright-hand side of the air-chamber, the vessel giving a violent lurchsideways, then shivering and trembling from end to end. The crash wasimmediately followed by a sharp rattling on the top and side of the_Areonal_, just as though a fusillade of good-sized bullets had beenfired at us. 

"My word! whatever's that?--one of the cylinders must have exploded, "cried M'Allister, jumping up in alarm and running into the air-chamber. We followed him, and looked all round the room at the different machinesand apparatus, but could find nothing wrong. 

John, chancing to look up, however, at once noticed a large bulge onthe inner shell of the vessel, high up on the right-hand side; and then, turning to me, pointed it out, saying, "I think, Professor, it is prettyclear now what has happened. "

"Yes, that huge bulge explains itself, " I replied; "undoubtedly afair-sized meteoric stone has collided with our vessel. It is veryfortunate that the stone was not much larger, or there would have beenan end to the _Areonal_ and to us as well. These meteorites travel atsuch tremendous speed that, on entering the earth's atmosphere, theybecome incandescent owing to the friction of the air, and, unless verylarge, are entirely consumed and dissipated into dust before they canreach the earth. Those that do fall are always partially fused on theoutside by the tremendous heat generated by the friction of ouratmosphere. These meteorites are what people call 'shooting stars, ' andmany are under the impression that they really are stars, until thedifference is explained to them. "

John said, "We ought to congratulate ourselves upon such a lucky escapefrom annihilation; for had our vessel been constructed of any metal lesshard and tough than our 'martalium, ' and without a double and packedshell, it must have been wrecked and entirely destroyed by the shock ofthe tremendous concussion it had sustained. Even the very metal of thecasing might have been completely melted by the intense heat generatedby the impact of the meteorite. "

"Heh, mon!" exclaimed M'Allister; "it's all very well talking about ourlucky escape, and putting it all down to your own cleverness indesigning and constructing the _Areonal_; but you should rather givethanks to Providence for saving us, and for enabling you to take theprecautions you did. I say, 'Thank God!'" he remarked, and he solemnlyraised his right hand as he spoke. 

"Quite right, M'Allister, " replied John: "we are all too prone to creditourselves with more than we are entitled to. At the same time, M'Allister, you must remember that we Englishmen recognise as fully asyou do the over-ruling power of Providence, although we may not be quiteso free in speaking about it in ordinary conversation. "

"Yes, " I added, "you may be quite sure, M'Allister, that we are equallyas grateful as yourself for the mercy which has preserved us all from anawful death. My very first thought on realising our extremely narrowescape from destruction was to say 'Thank God!' but I did not say italoud as you did. It is in matters like these that people differaccording to their temperament and training; and it is not safe to judgeanother because, in any particular circumstances, he does not act inprecisely the same way as we ourselves would. "

Thus we travelled on and on, each day bringing us more than two millionmiles nearer to our destination. Mars was apparently increasing indiameter the nearer we drew to it, and the dark blue line around thesouth polar snow-cap, indicating the lake of water from the meltingsnow, was very conspicuous. The snow-cap had recently decreased rapidly, being now near its minimum and irregular in shape, for in the southernhemisphere it was now late in June. Pointing to the planet, I remarked, "There is our destination! We see it now as the poet pictured it for us, and the words of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes are very appropriate to thepresent circumstances:

 'The snow that glittered on the disc of Mars Has melted, and the planet's fiery orb Rolls in the crimson summer of its year!'"

On the 18th of September we passed between the earth and Mars, nearly ina line with the sun. On that date Mars was in perigee, or at its nearestpoint to the earth during the present year. Its distance from the earthwas then 36, 100, 000 miles, and it will not be so close again until the24th of August 1924. We could not see the earth, as its dark side wasturned towards us, and it was also lost in the brilliancy of the sun. 

At this date we had travelled 88, 000, 000 miles since we left the earth, yet we knew it was there, level with our vessel, and only about29, 000, 000 miles distant on our left hand, whilst Mars was only7, 000, 000 miles from us on our right-hand side. 

Our position now was as follows:--Taking an imaginary line drawn fromthe _Areonal_ to Mars as the base line of an isosceles triangle, we weremoving along the left side of the triangle, and Mars was moving in aslightly curved line along the right side. Our paths were thereforeconverging, and if all went well we should both meet at the apex of thetriangle on the 24th September, as we had originally intended. 

We therefore had six clear days to cover the distance of less than12, 000, 000 miles, so we should have sufficient time to slacken speed atthe end of the journey. (See the chart. )

Mars was rapidly growing in size and brightness, for the distancebetween the planet and the _Areonal_ was quickly diminishing as ourpaths converged, and the various markings on its almost full round discformed the subject of continual observation and conversation. We hadnoticed on several occasions a mistiness on some parts of the planet, which I attributed to the vapours raised from the canals by the heatedatmosphere. 

On the 21st of September, when we were all enjoying a smoke in the"evening, " and conversation had dragged somewhat, John started us off ona fresh tack and gave us something to talk about for a very long time. 

He winked at M'Allister and, looking at me with a knowing smile, said:"Professor, as we are nearing our destination it might perhaps be wellif you now gave us some detailed information respecting the planet, similar to that which you gave us when we were approaching the moon. Itwould be both interesting and useful; for we should learn much more froman orderly statement of the facts than we should from several long butdesultory conversations. "

"Yes, Professor, " chimed in M'Allister, "I'm quite ready to learnsomething definite about Mars, for I can't say I really know much aboutit at present. "

"Very well then, " I replied, "it is upon your own heads, and if you arewilling to listen to a rather long story, I am prepared to do thetalking. Please remember, however, that it will require some time tomake matters clear and understandable. "

"Fire away, mon, " cried M'Allister, "we will listen as long as you careto talk. "

So I began--"Mars, as no doubt you are aware, is a much smaller planetthan the earth, its diameter being only 4220 miles, which is a littleless than twice the diameter of our moon. 

"It would require nine and a half globes the size of Mars to make oneglobe the size of the earth; and even then it would not be so heavy, because the average density of Mars is only about three-fourths of thatof the earth. Mars is the next planet outside the earth's orbit, so isthe fourth from the sun. The orbit in which Mars moves in its journeyround the sun is very much more eccentric than the earth's orbit; infact it is more eccentric than the orbits of any of the larger planets. As a consequence, the planet's distance from the sun varies greatlyaccording to the particular part of the orbit in which it may be moving. Its mean distance from the sun is 141, 500, 000 miles, its greatestdistance over 154, 000, 000, and at its nearest approach to the sun, or'perihelion, ' as it is called, its distance is only 129, 500, 000 miles. Mars travels in its orbit at a mean rate of 15 miles a second. 

"As its orbit is also eccentrically placed in relation to the earth'sorbit, it follows that its nearest distance from us in any particularyears may vary greatly. The nearest possible approach it can make inregard to the earth is a little under 35, 000, 000 miles; when at theopposite point of its orbit its nearest approach is about 62, 000, 000miles from the earth. As the years of Mars and the earth differ greatlyin length, and the two planets move at different speeds, the veryfavourable oppositions can only occur about once every forty-five years;though a comparatively near opposition occurs about every fifteen years. Such a close approach we have just witnessed, and it will be fifteenyears before Mars is again so near to the earth!

[Illustration: _CHART: showing the Orbits of the Earth and Mars, andthe relative positions of the two Planets, during the years 1909-10. Mars passed over the dotted portion of its Orbit in the year 1910. _

_The Outer Circle is the Orbit of Mars, and the inner Circle is theOrbit of the Earth. The Seasonal points on both Orbits show the Seasonsin the Northern hemisphere. In the Southern hemisphere the Seasons arereversed, "Summer" occurring at the point marked "Winter, " and "Spring"at the point marked "Autumn, " &c. &c. _

_The dotted downward line on the left-hand side shows the course takenby the "Areonal", which left the Earth on the 3rd of August andarrived at Mars on the 24th of September. * Shows the point reachedwhen John wished to turn back; and the lower dotted line, thealternative course then suggested. _

_The long dotted line running upwards to the Spring Equinox of the Earthshows the course taken on the homeward Voyage. _

_Drawn by M. Wicks. _

Plate VII]

"The Martian year is equal to 687 of our days, but as the Martian daysare slightly longer than ours, this really represents 668 Martian days. 

"The entire surface of Mars contains an area of about 56, 000, 000 squaremiles, which is about one-fourth of the area of the earth's surface. 

"Its gravity is only three-eighths of the earth's gravity, thuseverything upon Mars would weigh proportionately lighter than on theearth, and the amount of labour required to do such work as digging orlifting would be lessened. There would, for the same reason, be greaterease of movement in walking, jumping, or running, and large bulkyanimals like our elephants could move with almost the same ease andfreedom as our goats. 

"Theoretically, we should expect to find the atmosphere upon Mars verymuch thinner than our atmosphere, and actual observation proves this tobe the case. We are able to see details on the surface of Mars with verymuch greater distinctness than would be the case if its atmosphere wereas dense as ours. Moreover, clouds are comparatively rarely seen; andthe majority that are observed present more the appearance of clouds ofsand than rain clouds. Usually, also, they float very much higher abovethe planet's surface than our clouds are above the earth's surface; tenmiles high is quite an ordinary altitude, and some have been estimatedas quite thirty miles above the planet. 

"Many theorists have attempted to prove that, owing to the planet'sdistance from the sun, and the thinness of its atmosphere, thetemperature of Mars must be very low, probably below freezing-point evenat the equator. Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace has gone further than this, and suggests that the temperature must be eighty degrees Centigradebelow freezing-point; that there is no water or water vapour on theplanet; and that it is quite impossible for life to exist there!

"However, as the result of delicate bolometric experiments, carefulcalculations, and consideration of conditions affecting the result whichhave not previously received so much attention, Professor Very hasarrived at a different opinion; and actual observation has shown thatthere is very little indication of frost outside the frigid zones. Evenin the polar regions it is at times evidently warmer than at the earth'spoles, because during the spring and summer the snow-caps upon Mars notonly melt more rapidly, but melt to a much greater extent than our polarcaps do. In 1894 the southern polar snow-cap of Mars was observed almostcontinuously during the melting period, and it was actually observed todwindle and dwindle until it had entirely disappeared. It is ratherstrange to think that we know more about the snow-caps of thatfar-distant world than we do about those on our own earth. 

"Owing to the lesser gravity on Mars the snow and ice which forms thecaps would certainly be lighter and less closely compacted than the snowand ice upon our earth; but it is quite clear that it could not melt toany extent unless the temperature remained above freezing-point for aconsiderable length of time. 

"It has, however, seriously been contended that the Martian polar capsare not snow at all, but frozen carbon dioxide--the poisonous dregs ofwhat once was an atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, however, melts and becomesgaseous almost suddenly, but these polar snow-caps melt gradually, exactly as frozen snow would; so this theory fails altogether to fit thecircumstances. 

"Moreover, the water which accumulates all round the base of the meltingsnow-cap has been carefully observed on many occasions, and in the earlystage of melting it appears blue in tint, but later on, as upper layersof snow dissolve and those nearer the soil are reached, the waterpresents a turbid and muddy appearance; exactly what might be expectedwhen water has been contaminated by the surface soil. 

"Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace declines to accept the blue tint as any proofthat the liquid is water, and contends that shallow water would notappear that colour when viewed from a distance. You will, however, haveobserved that the water in all our shallow reservoirs appears intenselyblue when observed from any distant and elevated point of view. It seemsto me that when, as in the case of Mars, we have a very thin atmosphereladen with sand particles, we have exactly the conditions which wouldproduce a very blue sky, and cause the water to appear a deep bluecolour when viewed from a distance. 

"It is also contended that water cannot be present on Mars, because noneof our skilled spectroscopists has yet been able to demonstrate by thespectroscope that there is any water vapour in the Martian atmosphere. 

"This, however, is generally acknowledged to be a very difficult anddelicate operation; and, in any case, it is purely negative evidence, and cannot be accepted as final. I feel quite confident that sooner orlater a means will be found of definitely proving the presence of watervapour upon Mars by the aid of the usual lines in the spectrum. Thereare too many evidences of its presence, such as clouds, hoarfrost, snow, and seasonal changes in vegetation, to warrant the rejection of the ideaof its existence merely because it has not been detected by theparticular means hitherto used by the spectroscopists. 

"Mr. Slipher, of Flagstaff Observatory, has made many experiments withspecially sensitised photographic plates. He has taken severalphotographs of the spectrum of the moon and others of the spectrum ofthe planet Mars. The plates of the lunar spectrum show a darkening ofthe 'a' band, which indicates the presence of water vapour, and we knowthat is due to the water vapour in our own atmosphere. The plates of thespectrum of Mars show a much more definite darkening of the 'a' band, and Professor Lowell contends that this can only be due to water vapourin the atmosphere of Mars. 

"Professor Campbell has, however, made similar experiments, and is ofopinion that Professor Lowell has been deceived by the water vapour inour own atmosphere. Thus the matter stands at the present time, and wemust await the result of further investigation before we can considerthe matter settled. 

"I, however, regard it as a certainty that improved means willdefinitely show that water vapour undoubtedly exists in the Martianatmosphere, and it is not unlikely that other constituents of thatatmosphere may also be identified, and possibly even the relativequantities may be ascertained. "

John here remarked that he had read of it being contended that lifecould not exist on Mars because as water would boil at a temperature ahundred degrees lower than it did on the earth, it would be impossibleto boil a potato properly, or make a good cup of tea. He thought, however, that if water boiled at such a low temperature, then theproportion of water vapour in the air would be increased, as evaporationwould be more rapid than on the earth. 

"Undoubtedly so, " I replied. "The first argument, however, is very weak. For many thousands of years the people on the earth not only managed tolive, but attained a high state of civilisation, yet we have no reasonto believe that they ever ate potatoes or drank tea! Even in England wehave only known and used these articles for about three hundred years!The inhabitants of any world would be suited to their environments. 

"The polar-caps on Mars are shown on very early drawings of the planet;but, up to the year 1877, little was known of the general surfacedetails beyond the fact that the general colour was orange-red, diversified by dark patches of blue-green in some parts, and somenarrow, serpentine markings here and there. All these markings are nowmuch more accurately drawn, as the result of more careful and continuousobservation. Sir William Herschel suggested that the red colour wasattributable to the vegetation of Mars being red, instead of green as onour earth; but it was generally considered that the red areas indicatedland and the dark areas water. The work of our modern observers has, however, resulted in a general revision of our ideas on these points. 

"It had long been reasoned that, as the earth was accompanied by amoon, and Jupiter had at least four, Mars, the intermediate planet, might be expected to possess a satellite. The planet itself being small, its moon would probably be very small, and likely to be overlooked whenobserving with the telescope, because its light would be overpowered bythe light of the planet, which would make the telescopic field of viewvery bright. Up to the year 1877 the most powerful instruments had beenused without success in the search for the supposed satellite. 

"In that year Mars made an exceptionally near approach to the earth, andProfessor Asaph Hall, of Washington Observatory, took up the search, using a splendid refracting telescope having an object-glass 26 inchesin diameter. The methods he adopted were rewarded with success, for hediscovered not only one, but two satellites of Mars, and they were giventhe names of Phobos and Deimos. 

"Both these satellites are very close to the planet and extremely small, Phobos being less than 4000 miles from the planet's surface, and Deimosonly 12, 300 miles from it. As seen in the telescope, they are very faintpoints of light which cannot be measured by ordinary means, and theestimation of their size was a matter of great difficulty. 

"Professor Langley gives an interesting account of the endeavour toestimate their size by the amount of light reflected, as compared withthe light afforded by our own moon when full. It was a most difficulttask, as the comparison had to be made by means of tiny holes drilled inmetal plates; and for a long time it was impossible to find a workmanwho could drill a hole sufficiently small for the purpose, although oneof those employed had succeeded in drilling a hole through a lady's thincambric needle from end to end, thus converting it into a tiny steeltube. One would have thought such a feat impossible; yet what was nowrequired was a hole smaller than the one thus made through the tinyneedle. "

"My word!" said M'Allister, "I would like to see the mon who did thatpiece of work, and shake hands with him; he must be a rare cleverfellow!"

"Yes, " said John, "and I would like to see the drill he used; for such along and extremely slender tool, to be effective, must be as clever apiece of work as the steel tube. "

"I may tell you, " I proceeded, "that success was at last attained; andas a result of the comparison of our moon's light with that of Deimos, it was shown that if the general surface brightness of the latter wereequal to that of our moon, then Deimos must be only 18 miles indiameter, or about a 15, 000th part of the area of our moon's disc. 

"To state the matter in another way--supposing our moon were only 18miles in diameter, and was removed to the same distance as Deimos isfrom us, then it would appear only the very faint point of light thatDeimos appears when viewed through the telescope. 

"By the same means Phobos, the satellite nearest to Mars, was estimatedto be about 22-1/2 miles in diameter. These dimensions, however, dependon the brightness of these satellites being exactly the same as thegeneral brightness of our moon; and later experiments have fixed thesizes as 36 miles for Phobos, and 10 miles as the diameter of Deimos. 

"I will not detain you much longer on this subject, as we shall be ableto discuss it further when we arrive upon Mars; but I may now mentionthat, in one respect, the little satellite named Phobos is unique. It isthe only satellite we know of which revolves round its primary planet inless time than it takes the planet itself to make one revolution on itsaxis. [6]

"Mars revolves on its axis in 24 hours, 37 minutes, and 22 seconds, thusthe 'day' on Mars is nearly 38 minutes longer than our 'day. ' Phobosrevolves round the planet in the very short period of 7 hours, 39minutes, and 14 seconds, and therefore makes more than three completerevolutions round the planet in the course of a single Martian day. Thepeculiar phenomena to which this very rapid motion gives rise, and thenumerous eclipses which occur, will be matters of great interest to usall when we reach Mars. Our moon, as you know, takes a month to make onerevolution round the earth. "

"Professor, " said John, "when we get to Mars, it will be rather acurious experience for us to see two moons shining in the sky at thesame time!"

"My word!" exclaimed M'Allister, "two moons shining at once! If I go outand see such a sight as that, I shall think the whisky has been a weebit too strong for me!"

"Well, " replied John, "if your usual drink has the effect of making yousee double, take good advice, and leave the whisky severely alone whenyou are on Mars, or else you will be seeing _four_ moons all at once, and receive such a shock that you will never get over it!"

M'Allister laughed pleasantly as John said this. He is a real goodfellow, and takes all John's chaff with the utmost good-humour; but, injustice to him, I must say that, although he sticks to his nationaldrink like a true Scot, I have never once seen him any the worse for it. He knows his limitations, and always keeps within them. 

CHAPTER X

THE DISCOVERY OF LINES UPON MARS--THE GREAT MARTIAN CONTROVERSY

After the little interlude with M'Allister, I resumed my remarks bysaying that "The year 1877, so memorable for the near approach of Marsand the discovery of its two tiny satellites, was also the year in whicha still more important discovery was made--a discovery, in fact, whichhas much enlarged our knowledge of the planet, and has also resulted inan entire revision of our conceptions respecting it. 

"An Italian astronomer, Signor Schiaparelli, took advantage of thefavourable position of Mars to observe it very carefully, and some timeafterwards announced that he had seen upon its surface a number of veryfine lines which had not previously been noticed, and these he hadcarefully charted upon his drawings and maps. 

"This announcement started one of the most acrimonious discussions thatthe astronomical world has ever known; and although it is now overthirty years since it commenced, astronomers are still divided into twoparties--one accepting the lines as demonstrated facts, the other eitherdenying their existence, or endeavouring to explain them away by variousmore or less ingenious or fanciful theories. 

[Illustration: _From a Globe made by M. Wicks_ Plate VIII

MARS. MAP I

In all these maps the south is at the top. The dark shaded portions arevegetation, mostly on old sea-beds. The fine lines are the canals, andthe round dots the oases. The light areas are deserts. Longitude "0" isseen on the Equator between the two forks of the "Sabaeus Sinus. "]

"When Signor Schiaparelli's statements and drawings were firstdiscussed, it was declared by some to be quite impossible that thesefine lines could really have been seen by him: either his eyes must havebeen overstrained, or he claimed to see more than he actually did see. So warm did the discussion become that he soon withdrew from italtogether, but devoted himself to his work. As time went on, he notonly verified his previous discoveries, but found numerous fresh lines, all of which appeared to run straight and true over many hundreds ofmiles on the planet. 

"Milan then had a good clear atmosphere which was favourable for theobservation of delicate planetary markings, and other observers who werewell situated were able to see and draw many of the lines whichSchiaparelli had discovered. 

"It was, however, contended that such lines could not have any realexistence, as it was asserted that they were too straight. It is quitetrue that straight lines on a rotating globe would appear curved whenseen from some points of view, but if the objectors had carefullystudied complete sets of drawings, they would have seen that the linesdid assume a curved form in certain aspects of the planet. 

"Then the very same people who denied the actuality of the lines becausethey were too straight, eagerly took up a suggestion that they were notactually narrow lines, but the edges of diffused shadings on the planet, apparently quite oblivious of the fact that the same objections mustapply to them. Moreover, if there was difficulty in accepting theactuality of narrow lines, there must be immensely greater difficulty inbelieving that shadings could, in such a very large number of cases, allend in straight lines many hundreds or thousands of miles long, andalways appear uniformly true, no matter upon what portion of the discthey might be seen, and whatever might be the angle of illumination. 

"Besides, only a small proportion of the lines are connected withshadings. The shadings are more likely to be the result of the canalsthan the cause of the formation of illusory lines in so many cases. 

"I have listened to many of these discussions, and have often been muchamused at the tangle of inconsistencies in which some have involvedthemselves, by taking up fresh theories without regard to their previouscontentions. 

"As time went on each opposition of Mars brought the discovery of freshlines, and numerous observers confirmed the reality of Schiaparelli'swork. 

"Professor Lowell, the well-known American astronomer, took up the studyof Mars in a most thorough and systematic manner, and has sincepractically made it his life's work. An observatory was built atFlagstaff, Arizona, far away from towns and smoke, at an altitude ofover 6000 feet above the sea-level, the site being specially selected onaccount of the clearness and purity of its atmosphere; while theobservatory, being high up above the denser and more disturbed strata ofair, afforded the most favourable situation possible for the properobservation of delicate planetary detail. 

"There he continued the work which Schiaparelli had commenced, and, together with the colleagues with whom he has been associated, has, bylong-continued and most systematic work, added greatly to our knowledgeof Mars. Year after year has seen the addition of more lines on our mapsof the planet, whilst many interesting discoveries have been made--onebeing that some of the fine lines were double, the second line alwaysbeing equidistant from the first one throughout its whole length, nomatter whether the lines were straight or curved. 

"This caused a further outcry of objection. The observers were told thatthey had been overstraining their eyesight so that they 'saw double, 'and also that they had been using telescopes not properly focussed. Suchobjections seem almost beyond argument, for no practical observer coulduse an improperly focussed instrument without at once discovering thedefect. 

"Besides, if the double lines were the result of eye-strain, or anyother defect which might cause such illusions, all the lines would havebeen seen double, or at least all the lines running at the same angles;but as a matter of fact only a very small proportion of the lines wereso seen, and it made no difference what position they occupied on thedisc, or at what angles they were presented. Some of the doubles were, in fact, curved lines; and another point was that in some cases theywere only doubled at certain seasons of the year. 

"Other observers who saw the lines were charged with having studied themaps of Schiaparelli and Lowell until they had become obsessed with thelines, and when they looked through the telescope simply fancied theysaw them!

"In England our atmospheric conditions are seldom really favourable tothe proper seeing of the finer detail, and the very faint lines cannotbe seen at all. The lines that are visible do not appear thin and sharpas they do to observers in more favoured climes, but rather as diffusedsmudgy lines, and so they are drawn by the observers. On a fewoccasions of exceptionally good seeing they have, however, been seen anddrawn as finer and sharper lines. 

"The visibility of the lines was, however, confirmed by so manyobservers of known integrity, and from so many different parts of theworld, that the objectors were at last compelled to abandon the positionthey had occupied. Then a new theory was started, viz. That the lineswere actually seen but did not actually exist, being really opticalillusions arising from the apparent integration, or running together inlinear form, of various small disconnected markings which were viewedfrom beyond the distance of clear seeing. 

"The manner in which it was sought to prove the correctness of thistheory appeared to me at the time (and still does so) as most weak andfallacious, and certain experiments I made only strengthened thatopinion. However, scientific people accepted it as proof. 

"In making this experiment schoolboys were seated in rows at differentmeasured distances from a map of Mars, which they were told to copy. Themap showed all the well-known dark patches and markings, but no finelines. About the places where some of those lines should have been, dots, curls, wisps, &c. , were inserted at irregular distances, and notalways exactly where the lines should have been shown. The inevitableresult was that the boys who were too far away to see clearly saw thesesmall markings as continuous straight lines, and so drew them. In thecircumstances they could not do otherwise; for if sufficient marks wereinserted nearly in alignment, they would necessarily produce the effectof lines. 

"These drawings were then acclaimed as _proving_ that the lines seen onMars were only discrete markings viewed from beyond the distance ofclear seeing, and that the network of lines seen and drawn by so manyskilled and careful observers of Mars had no actual existence upon theplanet. Thus all their work was completely discredited. 

"Experiments like these could not possibly prove any such thing, becauseit would be easy to insert in a map various markings which, when viewedfrom a distance, would appear to form almost any design that one mightchoose to depict. Any desired effect might thus be obtained; and I haveseen many pictures so formed in which the illusion was perfect. Whenviewed from a distance each appeared to be a picture of somethingentirely different from what was seen when it was viewed from a nearstandpoint. 

"The linear illusion could not arise from a mere multiplicity of faintscattered markings, but all the more conspicuous markings must be inalignment. It seems impossible to imagine that so many hundreds of lineson Mars could thus fortuitously be formed by illusion, and _every_ linebe connected to some definite point at each end. 

"To argue that because illusory lines can be formed as in theseexperiments proves that the Martian lines are also illusions is claimingfar too much. For instance, if I drew what was actually a map of SouthAfrica, and was so seen at close quarters, yet in consequence of theinsertion of numerous small marks and shadings formed a portrait of LordBlank when viewed from a distance, it would be very far indeed fromproving that every map of South Africa was a portrait of the noble lord, or that his portraits were all maps of South Africa. 

"Moreover, as I myself saw, some of the boys were so unskilled that theyhad not even drawn correctly the outlines of the dark patches aboutwhich there was no dispute. 

"It is obvious that such erroneous and unreliable work as this could notbe regarded as evidence upon which truly scientific argument could befounded for the purpose of deciding such a contentious question; yetmainly upon this very slender and unreliable evidence meetings of two ofour leading astronomical associations endorsed the illusion theory, andfor a long time it held the field. 

"M. Flammarion made some similar experiments in Paris, and even insertedspaced dots along the sites of canal lines on the map put up as a copy, yet not one boy drew a canal. M. Flammarion evidently was rather toosparing with his dots and marks. 

"A long series of experiments was carefully carried out by ProfessorLowell and his colleagues, from which it was deduced that if in any lineon Mars there was a gap of sixteen miles in length, our presenttelescopes would suffice to discover it. It is most improbable that inso many hundreds of lines, several of which are over two thousand milesin length, there would not be numerous gaps over sixteen miles long ifthe lines were made up of separate markings. 

"Yet it is found that every line is perfect in its continuity, and notonly so, but uniform in width throughout its whole length, which wouldbe impossible if the lines were made up of separate markings not inalignment. 

"The illusion theory may, however, to a certain extent be correct, butthis will prove exactly the opposite of what its supporters contend. Itappears to have been quite overlooked that as there are so manythousands of miles of canals it is utterly impossible to suppose thatthe vegetation, which is all that we really see, is continuous andwithout breaks. It would indeed be most extraordinary if there were notvery many long stretches of land which, for some natural or utilitarianreasons, were either bare of vegetation or so sparsely covered as toappear bare when viewed from the earth through a telescope. Some partsof the canals in hilly or rocky ground may pass through tunnels, andthus cause apparent gaps in the lines; or ground may be incapable ofbearing vegetation, or purposely left fallow. 

"It would, therefore, be no matter of surprise if more powerfulinstruments should, in moments of perfect seeing, reveal numerousapparent gaps in the lines. So far from proving they were not canals, such gaps are exactly what we should expect to find in connection withcanals; and the lines would probably appear as irregular light and darkpatches in alignment, because we do not see the canals themselves, butonly the vegetation on the land which they traverse. Probably there arealso many oases yet to be discovered along the canal lines. 

"As I have already stated, it was asserted that the double lines wereillusions arising from the causes already mentioned, with the probableaddition of eye-strain and bad focussing. Assuming that the single linesare, as it is declared, illusions, we are confronted with theassumption that the doubles are illusions of illusions, and this is morethan I can follow, it seems so improbable. 

"Professor Lowell has devoted some sixteen years to close and continuousobservation of Mars whenever it has been in a position to be observed, and many thousands of drawings have been made, the results being plotteddown on a globe. In reply to the statements of occasional observers thatthe lines cannot be seen, he testifies that they are not difficult tosee; and that any one who saw them in his exceptionally good atmosphere, and through his instruments, could have no doubt of their actuality. Herather caustically, but very justly, remarks in one of his books thathis many years of personal experience in viewing these lines almostentitle him to an opinion on the subject equal to those who have hadnone at all!

"The proof of their existence, however, no longer rests only on thecorroborative evidence of other observers, for, after years ofexperiment, Professor Lowell and his staff have succeeded in takingdirect photographs of Mars, which show several of the disputed lines. One would have thought that would settle the question, but, althoughsome of the more reasonable of the objectors have been convinced by theevidence of the photographs, many others still maintain their attitudeof scepticism, especially those who have not themselves seen thephotographs. They declare it to be quite impossible for any suchphotographs to be taken, because our atmosphere would prevent anyphotographic definition of fine detail on such small pictures; yet aboutten thousand of these tiny photographs were taken during the nearapproach of Mars in 1907. 

"As I possess a number of these photographs I can testify that they doshow some of the lines, and persons who disbelieved have expressedsurprise at their excellence. Success was only obtained by means ofspecially sensitised plates, for the ordinary photographic rays andordinary plates were found useless, whilst the process of photographingso small and distant a planet is surrounded with difficulties. 

"Even when attached to a telescope giving an equivalent focal length ofnearly 150 feet, the camera only gives a very tiny image of the planet. The lighting of the small image is faint, but if additional power wereused on the telescope to obtain a larger image, then its light must bestill fainter, and thus a longer exposure would be required to obtain apicture on the plate. As Mars moves in its orbit and rotates on itsaxis, and our atmosphere is subject to continual movement anddisturbance, any long exposure would result in a blurred picture, whichwould show no fine detail. So, as a short exposure is essential, only asmall picture can be taken. Nothing is gained by any subsequent greatenlargement of the picture, because the grain of the film of a quickplate is coarse; and, if enlarged, this also blurs out the detail. 

"Having regard to all the difficulties which had to be surmounted, itwas a great and undoubted triumph to secure detail on such tinyphotographs of this distant world. As time goes on improvements willprobably be effected and still better pictures secured; but enough hasnow been accomplished to prove that the lines cannot be illusions, butreally exist upon the planet. If the eye can be deceived in thisrespect, the camera cannot. 

"When Professor Lowell first took up the work of Martian observationonly 113 lines had been discovered by Schiaparelli, but the number hasgradually been added to from time to time, as the result of the workdone at Flagstaff Observatory and elsewhere, and has now reached a totalof considerably more than 600, the lines forming a fine networkextending all over the planet. 

"Mr. Slipher, who accompanied Professor Todd's expedition to Alianza inChili, at the opposition of 1907, together with the observers atFlagstaff, discovered no less than 85 new canals, including somedoubles, nearly all being in the more southern portions of the southernhemisphere. 

"In addition to the discovery of so many fine lines, we also owe to theacumen of Professor Lowell a reasonable explanation of what they reallyare. Schiaparelli termed them 'canali, ' an Italian term for 'channels, 'but, popularly, this soon became corrupted into the term 'canals, ' andthis has turned out to be a much more appropriate word than suchcorruptions usually are. 

[Illustration: _From a Globe made by M. Wicks_ Plate IX

MARS. MAP II

The Solis Lacus is seen as an oval patch near the top, and many longcanals, some double, are shown. A very large proportion of the area onthis map is desert land. ]

CHAPTER XI

THE GREAT MARTIAN CONTROVERSY (_continued_)

"As the result of very long continued and systematic observation of thelines on Mars, together with carefully plotting them down on a globe, itwas found that every line was continuous, uniform in width, and wentstraight from one definite point to another, not one breaking off inopen space. Moreover, on being tested, nearly all were found to be arcsof great circles, and therefore the shortest possible lines which couldconnect any two points on a sphere. This fact strongly supports the ideathat they are not natural but artificial formations. For a long time thelines were only seen on the red, or lighter, parts of the planet, but in1892 an expedition was sent from Harvard Observatory to Arequipa, inPeru, for the purpose of observing the planet under very favourableconditions, and this resulted in important discoveries. Professor W. H. Pickering, who accompanied the expedition, was fortunate enough toobserve that the canal lines extended over the dark or blue-greenportions of the disc; and later observations have proved that this isthe case all over the planet, and the lines are visible from pole topole. 

"These observations also led Professor Pickering to the importantconclusion that all the dark areas were covered with vegetation, andthat the bright or red areas were deserts, the colour of the latterbeing exactly that of our deserts when viewed from a great distance. Herschel's idea had been that the red areas were land covered withvegetation of a red colour, and that the dark areas were seas. 

"It was, however, now quite clear that permanent lines in such numbersand length could not exist in seas; and other observations havedemonstrated that, instead of appearing smooth and uniform as waterwould, these areas are full of detail and variations, and that they passthrough all the changes of colour, according to seasons, that landcovered with vegetation does upon our earth. In the winter time, whenthe land is fallow, it appears brown or chocolate colour; in the spring, the time of early vegetation, it becomes a pale blue-green tint; as theseason advances the blue-green becomes darker; whilst in the autumn ittends to a light brown, and at length changes into chocolate colour inthe winter. This has been carefully noted time after time when theplanet has been in a position to be observed; and the same sequence ofchange--which can only be associated with vegetation--has alwaysoccurred. 

"It may, therefore, now be accepted as a proved fact that the dark areasare land upon which vegetation grows, ripens, and dies away according tothe seasons of the Martian year. 

"Professor Pickering also made another discovery, viz. A large number ofisolated, round, darkish spots, most of which occurred where canal linesjoined or crossed each other. Some of these had been seen much earlierby other observers, but Professor Pickering was the first to see them inlarge numbers and call attention to them. He termed them 'lakes, ' butlater discoveries from continued observation showed that they were notwater, and they were then given the name of 'oases. ' Some are seventy oreighty miles in diameter, and nearly two hundred are now marked on themaps. They mostly occur in certain definite positions--in the pointwhere single canals join or cross each other, or, in the case of doublecanals, between the two lines. It has been noted that they undergo thesame seasonal changes as the dark areas do, but only as regards theouter portion of the circle, which gradually fades away in the latterpart of the Martian year; whilst the central portion becomes fainter butdoes not disappear. 

"Of course it was at once declared that these oases were illusions whichwould naturally be seen where two lines crossed each other and wereviewed from a great distance. But they only occur in some cases at suchcrossings, and there are many junctions without any oases. Moreover, they are also seen between the double canals where there are nojunctions nor anything which could give rise to illusion. 

"At Flagstaff Observatory it was also noted that the canal linesthemselves underwent seasonal changes. Those viewed during the winterseason were always so faint as to be scarcely discernible, but at theperiod when vegetation would naturally begin to grow they became moreeasily visible, and still more distinct as the season advanced. 

"Then Professor Lowell announced his great conception, which has givenrise to so much controversy, and has also been much misunderstood andmisrepresented. 

"Briefly, his conclusions were as follows:--'Science teaches that asmall planet will become cool and develop life much sooner than a largeone. Similarly a small iron casting will become cool in a few days, whilst a large one will be many weeks or even months in cooling. A smallplanet will also develop more rapidly, and reach its final stage when itwill be incapable of supporting life, very long before a larger planetlike our earth will have reached that stage. Applying this to Mars, amuch smaller planet than our earth, it is scientifically reasoned thatMars has passed through nearly all its stages and is approaching itslast. It has lost much of its atmosphere, all its large bodies of water, such as oceans or seas, and, as regards the land, that has becomelevelled by erosion, and about five-eighths of the whole area has becomedesert. 

"'Science also shows that in such circumstances rain would cease to fallover the larger part of the planet, but the water vapour in the airwould be carried by natural circulatory currents of air to the polarregions, and there deposited in the form of snow or hoarfrost, thusforming a large snow-cap at the north pole in one season of the year, and a still larger snow-cap at the south pole in the opposite portion ofthe year. 

"'These snow-caps would begin to melt in the spring as soon as the tiltof the planet brought the pole to the position where the sun would takeeffect, and would continue during the early summer. As there is nopermanent glaciation on a planet which has lost its water, the snow-capwould melt to a very large extent, and the resultant water must gosomewhere. 

"'The inhabitants of the planet could not exist without water, andtheir land would become entirely desert unless supplied with moisture. It will, therefore, be seen that the only thing possible, as a means ofself-preservation, would be for them to make channels to carry the waterin the most economical way from the poles to the parts where it wasneeded. Unless they found a means of doing this death stared them in theface. What greater incentive could there be!'

"This is what Professor Lowell is convinced has actually beenaccomplished upon Mars, with the result that there is a network ofcanals all over the planet by which water is conveyed from each pole andcarried across from one hemisphere into the other. The lines seen showwhere the canals are, but not the canals themselves, because they aretoo narrow to be seen. The lines really are broad bands of vegetationirrigated by the canals which run through them, hence the seasonalchanges which have been noted in their colour. 

"All this seems very reasonable, deduced as it is from scientific factand from the many different things which have actually been seen andconfirmed by many thousands of observations, but it has met with themost bitter opposition on the part of many astronomers, bothprofessional and amateur. Theory after theory has been brought forwardwith the object of disproving the existence of the canal lines; some ofthese, such as eye-strain, diplopia, bad focussing, illusion, andimagination, have already been mentioned. 

"Proofs of the reality of the lines having become too strong for most ofthe objectors, they then turned their endeavours to the overthrowing ofthe theory that the lines were canals, suggesting that they were all ofnatural origin. 

"Amongst these suggestions it was stated they were edges of shadings, natural growths of long lines of trees and vegetation, cracks in thesurface of the planet or foldings caused by contraction, trap-dykes, &c. , but not one of these suggestions will bear investigation. I havealready pointed out the impossibility of shadings having straight edgesfor thousands of miles in so many hundreds of cases. It is equallyimpossible to imagine natural growths of trees and vegetation in bandsof uniform width and thousands of miles long, and nearly all formingarcs of great circles. 

"They cannot be cracks, for they are of uniform width throughout theirlength, and always run direct from one definite point to another, nomatter how distant apart they may be. 

"Cracks, such as we see on the moon, though sometimes straight, areusually wide near the centre of disturbance which caused them, andnarrow off to a fine point, and often end anywhere out in open space;moreover, they are usually very irregular in width, and take a zig-zagcourse instead of a straight one. This, as I have said, is not the casewith a single canal line on Mars. If they were cracks, some at leastwould be irregular and end in open space. The same remarks apply in thecase of foldings or ridges. 

"The oases, once declared to be illusions, were then said to be largeopenings in the soil at the junctions of the cracks; or they might becraters, and so on. But this does not account for the appearance of theoases between twin canals, or the systematic manner in which the canalseffect a junction with the oases. Again, therefore, the theory fails tofit the known circumstances of the case. 

"Dr. A. R. Wallace rather favours the idea of natural cracks or faults inthe surface of the planet; and suggests that the outer crust of Mars maybe a crystalline or similar formation which would lend itself to theproduction of numerous cracks in the surface. He points to a few cracksand faults in the earth's surface, all of small size, as confirming thisidea; but the cases he adduces only seem to prove that there is on ourearth absolutely no natural formation which can in any way properly becompared with the lines seen on Mars. Moreover, there seems to me noground whatever, beyond the needs of the theory, for supposing that thecrust of Mars is of a crystalline nature, or such as would predispose tothe formation of cracks. On the contrary, all the evidence is againstit--the existence of vegetation in some parts, the general appearance ofthe red portion, and the large clouds of sand which have been observed, all being indicative of a sandy formation, in the red portion at least. 

"The theory also fails to take into consideration the most importantpoint of all, viz. That every canal runs direct from one definite pointto another, perhaps over two thousand miles distant. In very many casesnumerous lines connect with one small area, or even with one point. TheLucus Ascræus has no less than seventeen of these canals connecting withit, and appears to be a kind of Martian Clapham Junction. 

"The deserts on Mars serve the same purpose as our seas, as lines ofcommunication may be established anywhere across them. A map of Mars, showing the canals converging towards some one part, bears a greatresemblance to our maps showing the courses taken by vessels fromdifferent parts all converging upon one seaport. 

"Much has also been said about the widths of the canals as renderingthem impossible of construction, so let us consider how wide they are. 

"The lines seen vary from two or three miles up to nearly thirty milesin width; but there are only one or two of the latter, and the majorityare five to ten miles wide. Notwithstanding Professor Lowell's repeatedstatements that they represent bands of vegetation, these widths areoften referred to as the widths of his canals. I have frequently seenthem described as 'fifty miles, ' a 'hundred miles, ' and even as'hundreds of miles' wide. These exaggerations usually appear innewspapers and journals, and evidently arise from insufficient knowledgeon the part of the writers. 

"Owing to the small gravitation upon Mars, the work of digging canalswould be extremely easy upon that planet (even assuming the Martians tobe without machinery) as compared with the same work on our earth; butthere is neither necessity nor reason for the construction of suchenormously wide canals as those mentioned. Moreover, it seems to me thatvery wide canals would defeat the object for which they wereconstructed; and Professor Lowell does not regard the widest lines asbeing canals. They may be remains of natural channels or arms of theseas, as they do not run so straight as the canal lines proper. 

"Our people, " I remarked, "have argued both against the possibility ofconstructing such canals and of forcing water along them, because, asthey say, none of our engineers would be able to accomplish such work. Icertainly have more confidence in the skill and capabilities of ourengineers, and doubt not that if they were required to solve a similarproblem they would overcome all difficulties and carry out the worksuccessfully. "

"I'm with you there, mon!" exclaimed M'Allister. 

"I may remind you, " I proceeded, "that when steam navigation was firstmooted, it was confidently asserted that no steamship would ever succeedin crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and I can remember when it was learnedlydemonstrated that it would be quite impossible to construct a canalacross the Isthmus of Suez! How small the prophets must have felt whenthe work was accomplished!

"I am afraid it is usual to take a very limited view of all suchmatters, and we judge of them entirely from what we know ourselves, never looking ahead, as it is considered unscientific to go beyond ourown knowledge. Because something may be quite impossible to us, it doesnot follow that it is impossible to more advanced people. 

"Think how many great scientific facts which are quite commonplace atthe present time were unknown and undreamed of even so recently as ourgrandfathers' time! Who then can forecast what may be possible fivehundred years, or even a century hence; and who will be bold enough tofix a limit to the possibilities of science! I freely admit I am anoptimist in these matters. "

"I think, Professor, " said John, "that your view is really the morescientific of the two. While it may not be possible accurately toforecast all the facts, intelligent anticipations may logically beformed from a survey of our own past history. "

Proceeding, I then remarked, that "Another discovery made at FlagstaffObservatory was that at the ends of certain canals, where they joinedthe dark areas, were small V-shaped dark markings which Professor Lowellhas termed carets. From their occurrence in these positions only, andfrom his observations of the peculiar and extremely systematic manner inwhich the canals, especially the double ones, run into the carets, hehas concluded that they must serve some special and important purpose. 

"We have been told upon high authority that the carets are illusions, and could not possibly be seen, as the planet is so distant from us. Butthe fact remains that they have frequently been seen and drawn; theyalways appear the same, and are never seen except in connection withcanals which join dark areas. These dark areas, I may say, are believedto be the beds of ancient seas, from which the water has long sincedeparted. 

"In connection with all these disputed lines and markings it has oftenbeen urged that though they are seen through comparatively smalltelescopes they are not seen when a very large instrument is used; andit has also been said that observers, knowing what they wished to see, simply imagined they did see it. We have, however, abundant proof thatboth these arguments are unreliable and incorrect. 

"It is a well-known fact that when a faint object has been once seenthrough a telescope, others are able to see it through a smallerinstrument. This was the case with the satellites of Mars, which havebeen seen with much smaller instruments than that used to discover them. 

"The fact that such objects are really seen is proved by the observermarking them on his drawing in their correct position, although they mayhave moved from the point at which they were originally seen. 

"I will give you an illustration of the ease with which it is possibleto overlook something that should be clearly visible to you, yet it isnot seen by you until your attention is called to it by some one else. Almost every one has had some such experience:--

"You may have on the front of your coat a small stain, or grease-spot, in a position where you could plainly see it, yet might wear the coatfor days or even weeks in complete unconsciousness of the existence ofthe stain until some one pointed it out to you. After that you cannotlook at the coat without seeing the stain, and it becomes sopersistently obtrusive that you are compelled to have it removed. Thereis, however, no imagination about your seeing the mark. "

John here said to me: "Professor, I noticed you said that many who donot believe in the actuality of the lines and markings on Marsfrequently refer to the fact that, while they are stated to be seenthrough small telescopes, they are quite invisible through a very largeinstrument, and they regard this as proving that the lines or markingsdo not exist. Is there not something in this argument?"

"Well, John, " I replied, "the argument sounds not only plausible, butreasonable, and inexperienced persons might use the argument, believingit to be a sound and good one. I must, however, confess that I havebeen surprised to see this argument used by persons who must surely knowthat there is no weight in it at all. 

"It is well known to all practical observers, and indeed to all who havestudied optical matters, that, for several reasons, very largetelescopes are quite unsuited for the observation of fine planetarydetail. 

"The real advantage of these enormous instruments lies in their great'light-grasp, ' which enables observers to see very faint points oflight, such as small satellites of planets, faint stars, double stars, distant comets, or nebulæ, which could not be seen with a smallerinstrument necessarily having less 'light grasp. ' Yet this very excessof light, which is the great advantage of a large instrument, is one ofthe things that spoils the definition of faint planetary details; itdrowns them all out, or 'breaks them up. '

"Again, these large instruments are much more liable than smaller onesto what is termed 'chromatic' and 'spherical' aberration; and this alsois detrimental to definition. No very large refractor is entirely freefrom these defects. 

"Another objection is that, in using such large and long-focussedinstruments, a much higher power must necessarily be employed than inthe case of smaller instruments. This high power magnifies all thelittle movements and disturbances in our atmosphere to exactly the sameextent as it magnifies the object looked at, with the result that thesedisturbances blur out all fine detail. The canal lines on Mars couldnever be seen in such circumstances. If the object were looked atthrough a smaller instrument, with lower power, it might be fairly wellseen, for the atmospheric disturbances would not be magnified to suchan extent as to spoil definition. 

"There are very few nights in the year when these immense instrumentscan be used to advantage on the planets, whilst a smaller instrumentmight define well three or four nights out of every six. It is on recordthat the user of Lord Rosse's great reflector stated that there wereonly about three nights in the year when its best definition could beobtained; and its use has produced very meagre results, compared withwhat had been anticipated. 

"It is also almost universally recognised that in using these greatinstruments, whether for photography or for the visual observation offine detail, it is absolutely necessary to stop down the aperture to avery large extent, by reducing it to about 12 inches in diameter or evenless. The big telescope is thus really converted into a small one oflong focus. 

"There is, in addition, the acknowledged fact that nearly everydiscovery of new detail on planets has been made with a comparativelysmall telescope, although the same objects may have been under constantobservation for years with big telescopes. The new detail was nevernoticed until after it had been seen with a smaller instrument, andperhaps only then when atmospheric conditions were unusually good. 

"As an instance, I may mention that the faint 'crape ring' of Saturn wasseen by Dawes when using an 8-inch aperture to his telescope; yet it hadnever been discovered with the large instruments, although the planet isone that is under constant observation when in a position to be seen. 

"I could give innumerable instances of similar cases, but enough hasbeen said to show that because some object cannot be seen in a verylarge telescope, it is no proof at all that the object does not exist. 

 * * * * *

"Amid the chaos of varied, and often self-contradictory, theoriesrespecting Mars--some abandoned by their own authors; others in whichfacts and conditions had to be assumed for which there was not only noevidence, but actual disproof by many recorded observations--ProfessorLowell's conceptions stand out clearly and boldly. 

"They are all founded on the results of prolonged and systematic work inthe observation of the planet, not only by himself but by numerouscolleagues--work in which many of his critics have had little or noexperience under favourable conditions. His conceptions fit in withobserved facts with all the accuracy of the pieces in a child's picturepuzzle; whilst his logical deductions are supported and enhanced by hiswide knowledge of physical science and planetology. 

"Yet, as I have both heard and read, his views and discoveries have beendescribed as 'sensational, ' 'fanciful, ' 'fairy tales, ' and by otherterms which I would rather not quote. 

"Underlying some of these objections there seems to be an idea that somereason _must_ be found for opposing anything and everything which wouldtend to indicate the possibility of intelligent life existing upon anyother planet than the earth; although it is difficult to understand whysuch a possibility should be so abhorrent. It is a view that does notcommend itself to me, but I need not say more on that point. 

"Nicola Tesla, the great electrician, is, however, convinced of theexistence of life upon Mars, and he has expressed in very emphatic termshis opinion of the opposite view, which, however, I refrain fromquoting. He says that Mars must have passed through all terrestrialchanges and conditions, and that the whole arrangement of the canals, asdepicted by Professor Lowell, would seem to be artificially designed. Hethen goes on to state that he has discovered electrical disturbances onthe earth which must have come from Mars and no other planet. 

"In the treatment he has received from some of his smaller critics(whose vehemence is usually in inverse proportion to their knowledge ofhis work and writings) Professor Lowell has had an experience similar tothat of many other observers who have done good work. 

"If an observer be blessed with the happy combination of good eyesight, a good instrument, and favourable atmospheric conditions, and publisheswritings and drawings showing that he has seen something which has notpreviously been observed, he at once becomes a target for captiouscritics who seem to be under the impression that all astronomicalknowledge begins and ends with themselves, and that anything they cannotsee does not exist. It matters not that the observer attacked may havegiven months to particular observations where his critics have onlyspent a few hours: he is told that his drawings are incorrect and do notrepresent the planet; that they may be works of art, but do notrepresent facts; that he possesses a very vivid imagination, and so on. This procedure may be persisted in until at last the victim either turnsand rends his critics or ceases to publish his drawings or records, tothe great loss of many others who take an intelligent interest in hiswork. 

"Professor Lowell's telescope is over 32 feet in focal length, and hasan object glass of excellent quality 24 inches in diameter, the work ofthe celebrated Alvan Clark. Thus, whilst not one of the giants, it isnot exactly what would be termed a small instrument, and few indeed ofthe critics have anything approaching it in capacity, while none enjoysthe advantage of such ideal conditions in the situation of hisobservatory. 

"I was therefore much amused in reading an effusion by one critic who, in discussing the question of the canal lines, remarked that he couldnot accept 'these one-man discoveries, ' oblivious of the fact that theyare the discoveries of many observers. He then very naïvely gives theilluminating information that his astronomical experience is confined tothe 'observation' of the _moon_ for about six months, by the aid of a1-1/4-_inch hand-telescope_! Surely, when confronted with a critic ofsuch vast experience and so wonderfully equipped, Professor Lowell mustretire discomfited from the field!"

At the conclusion of my remarks both John and M'Allister expressed theirthanks, saying that "Now they were informed as to the points on whichour scientists were not agreed, they would look forward with stillgreater interest to our arrival at our destination, for they were asanxious as I was to solve the mysteries of the red planet. "

CHAPTER XII

WE ARE MYSTERIOUSLY PREVENTED FROM APPROACHING MARS

The days then passed uneventfully until at last the long-looked-for dayarrived, and on the 24th September we were so close to Mars that wehoped to be able to land on the planet by two o'clock in the afternoon. We made ourselves a little sprucer than usual, as we wished to do creditto our own world; and M'Allister wore his overalls to protect hisclothes, although our machinery was not nearly so messy to handle assteam-engines usually are. 

We had already examined our three machine-guns so that they might be inreadiness for any emergency, if some of the ideas of which we had readas to the probable ferocity of the Martians should prove correct. Ithad, however, been definitely agreed between us that the guns were onlyto be used as a last resort to defend our lives against a wanton attack, and were to be kept out of sight until they were really required. My ownconception of the Martians was, however, a very different one, though Ithought it quite right to be prepared for anything which might happen. 

As Mars was only about twenty-five miles distant, its surface detailscould be fairly well seen through the clear thin atmosphere; and, withthe aid of a glass, one question at least was definitely settled--thenumerous lines of vegetation were fairly continuous; but there were nolarge canals to be seen, though we thought we could trace some narrowones. 

We could also see several rapidly moving specks in the sky, which, wesuggested, might be air-ships of some kind; but they were so far off andindistinct, that we were unable to arrive at a definite conclusion. 

Our speed having been gradually reduced, we were now only moving at therate of twenty-five miles an hour, and it was therefore time to decideon a landing-place. John and M'Allister pointed out a conspicuous spotnot very far from the centre of the visible surface of the planet, Johnremarking that we should be about right if we landed there, becauseseveral canals converged to it, and it must, therefore, be a place ofsome importance. On looking at the map we found that it was marked asthe Nodus Gordii, or "Gordian Knot"; so, really, it seemed anappropriate landing-place for travellers who were desirous of solvingmysteries. 

"Very well, then, " I said, "we'll land there if you like, but I hadrather a fancy for a different spot, which is on the Sinus Titanum. Itis that place over there, near the point where the vegetation curvesdown in both directions, " I remarked, as I pointed out the spot. 

"Your place is rather nearer to the equator, and is probably prettywarm; but really it does not matter where we land so long as we arriveon the planet. Your votes are two to my one; so, as you have a thumpingmajority, go ahead, M'Allister, for the place you have chosen! We willsee whether we can cut the Gordian Knot, if we cannot undo it!"

[Illustration: _From a Globe made by M. Wicks_ Plate X

MARS. MAP III

"Sirapion, " the landing-place of the "Areonal, " is shown just above thepoint of the shaded portion near the top. The "Nodus Gordii, " where Johnwished to land, is seen between the double canal just above the Equator, on the left-hand side of the map. ]

He accordingly directed his course towards the chosen spot; but we hadnot proceeded very far before everything below us suddenly disappeared, being quite blotted out by something of an ochre tint, which entirelyobscured our view of the country. 

"Professor, " exclaimed M'Allister, "what is the matter? I cannot seewhere we are going!"

"I can guess what it is, " I replied; "we have run into one of thosesand-clouds I told you of the other evening, and until we get through, or it passes away, we shall see nothing else. Perhaps we had better goon very slowly. "

We went on accordingly, but instead of our getting through it, the cloudseemed to become denser and denser. However, we still pressed on, and, after what seemed quite a long time, we emerged into somewhat clearerair, although there was still a thin yellow cloud below us. Our coursehad been well maintained, for we seemed to be within ten miles of ourdestination, which we could just make out through the thin dust-cloud. 

Presently M'Allister called out to me, "Professor, I don't know what iswrong, but the machinery is slowing down so much that I am afraid weshall soon come to a dead stop! I have switched on more power, but itdoes not seem to make any difference!"

"Well, try a little stronger current, " I suggested; "but be careful notto overdo it, or we may land upon Mars more suddenly than we shalllike. "

He tried this, but we had not moved more than a hundred yards when hefound that farther progress was impossible. So here we were, only a fewmiles from our destination, yet prevented by an impalpable and unknownobstacle from reaching it!

We consulted together, but could find no solution of the mystery of thisinvisible barrier to our progress. Then John suggested that, as we couldnot go straight on, we should try a different course. So M'Allisteraltered our course a few points, and once more put on the speed power, only to be brought to a standstill again after a very short spurt. 

"My word!" he exclaimed, "I'll not be beaten like this. I've driven anold iron tramp-steamer through scores of miles of thick seaweed out inthe tropics, although the machinery was almost worn out and the enginesleaking at every joint. Here goes for full speed ahead!" he cried; and, so saying, he switched on full power, quite heedless of my shout of "Dobe careful, M'Allister, or we shall all be smashed to pieces!"

"She's got to go!" he replied grimly, "smash or no smash! I never wasbeaten yet when pushing my way through obstacles, and I'm too old a handto be beaten now!"

However, he found he was beaten this time, for although he switched onthe utmost power, it refused to give any evidence of its existence, andwe had to rely on our neutral power in order to maintain our position inthe air; though, as events proved, we could not have fallen. 

The excitement and tension of the work had thrown M'Allister into aprofuse perspiration; and, as he stood moodily mopping his brow with hishandkerchief, I heard him muttering and swearing softly to himself. Hisblood was evidently up, for he made another desperate attempt to getthe _Areonal_ to move forward, wrenching his switches with angry jerks, but it all proved labour in vain. 

"Well, what is to be done now, John?" I asked; "we have tried twocourses without any effect!"

"I would suggest, Professor, that we should go up higher, " he replied, "so as to enable us to try again from another altitude, then, perhaps, we may pass above the obstacle. "

"A good thought that, John!" I cried. So up we went, the machineryworking all right now, and our spirits rose as we soared higher; but, alas! after rising a few hundred yards, the machines began to slow down, and soon stopped altogether. 

"The de'il himself must be taking a hand in this business!" exclaimedM'Allister, "for this beats the worst experience I ever had! We can't goup, we can't go down, and we can't go forward! Whatever can we do, Professor? You're a scientific man; can't you suggest something whichmight help?"

"It's a profound mystery to me, M'Allister, " I replied, "but wecertainly do not want to remain hung up in space, so I suggest youshould try several different courses. Surely, in some direction we shallfind a way out of this, and get to our destination. "

This plan was tried, M'Allister doggedly setting his course first in onedirection, then in another, and trying to put on enough power to forcethe vessel along; but time after time we came to a standstill aftermoving very slowly for a short distance. 

"It looks as though we were to be hung up here indefinitely, " said John. "We do not seem able to get through this mysterious obstacle, whateverit may be, or whatever course we may try. "

"Oh, we've not tried all points yet, " I said. "We must not give up nowwe have got so close to the object of our trip. Take a fresh course, M'Allister. "

He took a fresh course, and another after that, but with exactly thesame result. 

I had never seen M'Allister in such a perturbed state before; heactually trembled all over with the intensity of his feelings, and hisface had an expression of grim determination such as I should imaginemight be seen on the face of a soldier at bay with his back to a wall, and fighting for his life against overwhelming numbers of assailants. 

"My word!" he exclaimed, "yon's Mars, and here's us, but it doesn't seemas if we should ever come together. Losh mon, bonnie Scotland for ever!Here goes for another try!" and he switched on the current again with avicious pull. 

We watched the machines with intense anxiety, wondering whether this newcourse would be any better than the others we had tried--whether themachines would keep moving, or slow down and stop as before. 

No, we kept moving; and soon it was evident we were gaining speedrapidly. 

"Hurrah, hurrah!" I cried in exultation. "We are doing it this time. Slow down, M'Allister, we are going too fast now!"

"Scotland for ever!" he shrieked. "That did it, Professor!"

Strangely enough, John, usually the most excitable member of our party, was the calmest of the three, and simply remarked quietly, "We've doneit this time. "

Yes, we had indeed done it this time, but our attention had been sotaken up with our anxious watching of the machines that none of us hadnoticed the direction we were taking. 

We had passed entirely through the last remnant of the sand clouds, andit was now beautifully clear, the thin air enabling us to see over avery large area of country. For the first time since leaving the earth Inow opened one of the doors very slightly indeed, and tested the effectof the real Martian atmosphere. 

It seemed to us rather sharp, with a taste something like that of atonic medicine, but we were all able to breathe it without any seriousinconvenience, though at first it made us gasp. 

Being assured there was no danger, I stepped out on to the platform andlooked down, then started back in utter astonishment, exclaiming to theothers, "Why, look! look! See where we are!"

CHAPTER XIII

WE ARRIVE ON MARS AND MEET WITH A STARTLING SURPRISE

On hearing my excited exclamation, John and M'Allister at once steppedon to the platform and, having looked down, were as much surprised as Iwas, for lo! we were heading direct for the very spot which I hadpreviously told them it was my fancy to land upon, and we were not threemiles away from it. We also saw a large town or city close by ourproposed landing-place. 

"One would almost imagine you were a magician, Professor, " said John, "and that this affair was all your work, and intended to secure alanding only where you thought proper. "

"No, John, " I answered, "I had nothing to do with our coming to thisspot, and it is still a mystery to me how it was we were not able tocontinue on our original course. The Gordian Knot was too much for usafter all. "

"Well, " John said, "it does not matter so long as we succeed in landingsomewhere. 

"By Jove!" he exclaimed suddenly, "look through the glass over there, "pointing forwards as he spoke. "I can see enormous crowds of peopleevidently watching our vessel. "

It really was so, for, as we drew nearer and nearer, we could plainlysee an enormous multitude of people who seemed to be drawn up along thefour sides of an immense square open space, and they were all lookingupwards towards the _Areonal_. 

"Go and have a wash, " I said to M'Allister, who had become quite grimyfrom the perspiration occasioned by his exciting work just previously. "We will see to the machines, if necessary. You must not descend amongstsuch an assembly of the natives with dirty hands and face. "

"No, " he replied, "Kenneth M'Allister will not disgrace old Scotland bydoing such a thing as that. "

"Look sharp, then, M'Allister, " John called after him; then, peepingdown again, he pointed to the farther side of the square, saying, "Look, Professor, I can see some pavilions over there, and a large daïs affair, with a canopy over it! Look at the flags and banners too!" he cried;"and there seems to be a large number of officials round the daïs. Perhaps that's the Emperor of Mars sitting there!"

"I doubt that, John, " I replied; "but probably he is some very importantpersonage. How singular, " I added, "that this spot which I selectedshould be the only one toward which we were able to steer our vessel!"

"Well, we shall soon know something about that, I expect, " replied John. 

"Heh, mon!" exclaimed M'Allister, who had now rejoined us, looking spickand span, and with his face shining from the fresh application of soapand water, "I believe they are all down there watching for our arrival. "

"It really looks like it, " I said; "but how could they have known wewere coming? So many scores of thousands could not have been gatheredtogether at a few minutes' notice. Well, you can see to the machines, and take us gently down into that square. "

"Professor, " remarked John, "those people are not the big, ugly giants, nor the strange animals which some of our folks have imagined theinhabitants of Mars to be. They appear a bit tall; but, so far as I cansee from here with the glass, they are a fairly good-looking lot. Theyseem quite friendly too, " he added, "and we shall not require those gunsafter all. "

"No, certainly not, " I replied, for now we were close enough to see thatthe people were waving their hands towards us, and that children werewaving bright-coloured flags. Just then a welcoming shout came up to usfrom below, and we made friendly signs to the people in response. Thenthey cheered us again and again, so we knew we could safely descendamongst them. 

With skilful manoeuvring M'Allister soon brought our vessel down nearthe centre of the square, and we were all ready to step out. Johnjudiciously, but rather reluctantly, ceased smoking and put away hispipe, not knowing what kind of reception he might have if he appearedamongst these strangers with a pipe in his mouth. 

A line of officials was arranged in a curve on each side of the daïs, and three of them came towards us from either side, making signs offriendliness and welcome. 

Seeing that we had nothing to fear, we at once stepped on to the groundand advanced to meet them. In spite of weighted boots, which we hadtaken the precaution to wear, we had some difficulty in walkingproperly; the gravitation being so much less than on the earth we had anirresistible tendency to lift our feet much too high at every step wetook. 

As we met, each official made a very graceful and courteous inclinationof his body, and we all bowed in response. The first couple of officialsthen conducted me towards the daïs, and I could now see that they werevery much taller than myself, being quite seven feet nine inches inheight. They were, however, so splendidly proportioned that at firsttheir stature had not impressed me as being much above our ordinarystandard; whilst their features were most beautifully formed andregular, their complexions being very clear and fresh-looking. 

One great peculiarity I noticed in all around us, and that was apeculiar soft and liquid glow in their eyes, which seemed to light upthe whole of their features, adding greatly to their beauty and nobilityof appearance. 

As we approached the daïs, its occupant rose and came down the steps tomeet us on the level ground. Whatever his rank, he was a mostmagnificent figure, his whole bearing being serenely dignified, majesticand impressive; whilst the expression upon his radiantly glowingcountenance was benign and intelligent beyond anything I had imagined oranticipated, though I had expected much. 

What followed, however, was surprising beyond measure, and it wasstartling and electrifying in the suddenness with which it came upon me;for, as this splendid being moved towards me with stately steps, andboth hands outstretched in greeting, he said to me in _English_, "Welcome to Mars! welcome to my country, oh stranger from a far-offworld! In the name of the whole people, I bid you welcome to _our_world, which we call 'Tetarta, ' and to this city of Sirapion!"

CHAPTER XIV

I MAKE A MOST AMAZING DISCOVERY

I was so utterly taken aback at this most unexpected greeting in my ownnative language by one who was apparently the chief inhabitant of thisother world that I found it very difficult to collect my thoughts andmake a suitable reply. 

I know I stammered out something; but, really, the more I tried to speakcoherently the more confused I became. This was indeed a very badbeginning for a visitor from a distant world who wished to show to thebest advantage in such an august presence, and before such a greatassemblage of the people; but it is useless to attempt to conceal thetruth, however humiliating it may be. Observing my embarrassment, however, the high personage smiled upon me pleasantly and, after sayinga few reassuring words, he gave a signal to the two officials, so wemoved aside for John and M'Allister to approach him. 

The people, who had remained perfectly silent during this interview--ifit can be dignified by that term--now burst out into a volume ofacclamation; but I must say that never upon our earth had I seen amultitude so orderly. Everything seemed to be arranged and carried outwith military precision, yet I saw no one with arms or weapons noranything indicating the presence of either military or police. A fewindividuals, indeed, seemed to be giving some directions; but whatevermovements were made by the people were accomplished without crowding, pushing, or jostling. 

The Martians, too, evidently possessed fine artistic tastes and ideas, as well as excellent judgment for colour effects. Colour was apparent ingreat variety in the dresses of both sexes, yet nothing looked tawdry oroverdone; for the whole mass presented a perfect and harmonious blendingof tints; while the designs on the banners were most artistic andeffective, many of the devices being of an astronomical character. 

Whilst I was thus engaged in observing the people, one of the officialsrespectfully saluted me and made a sign that I was to accompany him. Ibowed and turned in the direction he indicated, when he conducted me toone of the pavilions near the daïs, motioned me to pass through thedoorway, then, gravely saluting again, turned and went away. 

On entering I found the pavilion fairly large and chastely decorated, but it had only one occupant, who rose and saluted as I entered. He wasa splendidly built young man, with a radiant countenance, and when headvanced towards me with both hands outstretched, as the other highpersonage had done, I noticed the same peculiar soft and luminous glowin his eyes that I had observed in the other Martians. 

As he took my hands within his, the young man looked straight into myeyes, his own beaming with pleasure: then said in English, "Welcome, sir, most welcome to Mars!"

As he stood gazing at me and I at him, something in his features struckme as being familiar. Where had I seen a face like that before? Thensuddenly my thoughts flew back to a long-buried past. Gracious heavens!I must be dreaming--it can never be! Still he gazed intently into myeyes, seeming to penetrate my very soul; then I saw his expressionchange into one of ineffable tenderness, and a beautiful smile rippledover his face. 

All doubt was now at an end; this was indeed no dream, no hallucination. I had seen that face before--seen those features in a less glowing andglorified form than that in which they now shone upon me, and _I knewwhere I had seen them_!

Something, which I had vaguely imagined might just be within the boundsof possibility, was now proved to be not only possible, but anaccomplished fact. 

Memories of the past rushed over me like swelling waves, and I seemedswept away by their surging billows. I gazed and gazed, in almostincredulous wonder, at that glorious being who stood there regarding mewith an expression of ineffable affection; and my heart seemed to meltwithin me as the re-awakened love for a long-lost form stirred everyfibre of my body and thrilled me through and through. Then, overwhelmedby the intensity of my emotions, I threw myself into his arms, cryingaloud, "Oh, Mark! my boy! my boy!"

CHAPTER XV

WHAT IS IN A NAME!--THE STORY OF MERNA

Yes, this glorious being was indeed the son whom I had lost on theearth! It would be utterly impossible for me to describe the pathos andaffection of that meeting with one whom I thought had passed for everout of my present life, or the intensity of my emotions and theoverflowing gratitude with which I gazed once more upon the face of mylost loved one, now so unexpectedly and wonderfully restored to me. Suchemotions as I then experienced are beyond description by any pen or anytongue. 

Whilst I was thus overwhelmed with emotion, my son exhibited the mostdignified calm; yet his words and sympathy were as tender as those of amother soothing a suffering child. Having at last brought me into acalmer state of mind, he said: "Yes, I, who am now called Merna, amindeed he who was once your son upon the earth; and I am indeed he whoin heart and soul is at this moment as truly and affectionately yourson, though living in another world, possessing another body, and calledby another name!

"Oh, how I have yearned for this meeting, and through what long yearshave I studied and striven to bring it about!"

"You have brought it about, my boy!" I cried in amazement. "Why, how wasthat?"

"It is too long a story to narrate now, " he replied, "for we have aduty to perform, and must not stay here. We must now show ourselves tothe people outside, who have long waited to greet you! You shall hearmore to-night; but, in the meantime, do not make known my identity to myold friend, John, until after I have left you. You may tell him then andprepare him for our meeting to-night. "

I noticed when he was speaking that sometimes he lapsed into a phrase ortwo of the Martian language, and that his English was spoken as it wouldbe by a foreigner not fully acquainted with our language. 

Before we left the pavilion I asked him to tell me what office was heldby the high personage who had occupied the daïs on our arrival, and heexplained that "he was Soranho, the present ruler of Mars!"

"Emperor or King?" I inquired. 

"We have neither of those dignitaries here, " he answered. "He is theChief of the General Council of the entire world of Mars, elected tothat office for a certain term by the whole body of the people. But nowwe must not keep the Chief waiting any longer. "

So we passed out together to join the Chief of the Council on the daïs, and, standing near it, we saw John and M'Allister, who were gazingaround with intense interest upon the assembled multitude. 

The Chief advanced to meet us, and greeted me with even more cordialitythan at first, if that were possible; then he said a few words ofcongratulation to Merna, and conducted us to the front of the daïs. 

The people were now all massed together before the daïs in long parallellines, or ranks, and, as the Chief brought me forward, there came atremendous shout of welcome from the multitude. 

The Chief made a brief speech in the Martian language (which of courseneither I nor my two companions understood), in which, as Markafterwards explained to me, he gave a short account of how I had arrivedthere from the earth with my two colleagues--the first inhabitants ofthat world to set foot upon Mars! He told them that my coming was allowing to the devoted love and influence of Merna, who in a former lifeupon the earth had been my son. 

What Mark did not tell me was that the Chief had spoken in terms of veryhigh appreciation of the talents Mark had displayed, and of the successwhich had attended his great endeavour to exert his influence over thatimmense distance of space which separated the two worlds, andpractically compel me to obey his wishes by undertaking a journey toMars. 

I learnt this afterwards from others, and found that a similar modestyand reticence was a general characteristic of the Martians. 

The acclamations of the people at the conclusion of the Chief's speechwere almost deafening, and I frequently distinguished the name of"Merna" amongst their ejaculations. Whatever was the purport of theChief's statement, it undoubtedly afforded the most intense satisfactionto all those who heard it. 

The assembly now began to disperse in the most orderly manner, many ofthe people gathering round the _Areonal_, and apparently discussing withinterest its construction and equipment, but none pressed upon ourlittle party. There was neither rude curiosity nor any embarrassingattentions bestowed upon us, such as would have been so unpleasantly inevidence in any similar circumstances upon the earth. 

"Merna" asked me to be good enough to excuse him for the present as hehad something to attend to urgently; then he took leave of us for thetime, remarking that we need have no anxiety about the _Areonal_, for itwould be perfectly safe and well looked after. 

The Chief, and some of the officials to whom he now introduced us, thenaccompanied us to another pavilion, where we partook of a little lightrefreshment. The chief then took his leave, after promising that weshould meet again to-morrow. 

One of the officials informed me that a residence was in readiness forour occupation, and that it was situated within a very short distancefrom where we stood. He asked whether we would proceed there in anelectric carriage, or whether we would prefer to walk; and, as we wishedto get accustomed to walking on our new world, we decided to go on foot. 

We saw around us in every direction large numbers of flying machines ofall descriptions, also electric and other motors, which had conveyed thepeople to our landing-place. Most of the motors were very light andelegant in appearance, and those intended for conveying only a singleperson were but little larger than our motor tricycles. There was notthe slightest noise from the machinery, nor any fumes emitted like thosewe had found so great a nuisance on the earth. The Martians hadevidently overcome all such difficulties, if they had ever experiencedthem; and their methods were doubtless far in advance of the use ofevil-smelling petrol. 

We noticed that very many of the people were walking in a manner whichsuggested that they had a long journey before them; and, on mentioningthis to the official in attendance, he told us that walking was so easyon Mars, both on account of the small gravitation and the generallylevel surface of the country, that most Martians preferred walkingunless much pressed for time, or the distance to be traversed was verygreat. 

Though the sun was shining brilliantly the heat was not at alloppressive. As we passed along we noticed that the buildings all stoodseparate from each other, open spaces or trees, flowers or shrubs beingaround each of them. 

We saw no evidence of overcrowding of buildings on small areas of landlike there was in the world we had left. Plenty of air and open spaceseemed to be the general rule, at least upon this part of Mars. 

After a very short walk we arrived at our dwelling, an elegant littlebuilding of white stone, and only two storeys in height. There was sucha general appearance of comfort and homeliness about it, both inside andout, that M'Allister exclaimed: "Professor, I never thought coming toMars meant a reception like this. I rather expected to have had a fightwhen we landed!"

John, too, expressed his delight at the kind manner in which we had beenreceived, then asked me, "Who was that splendid young fellow who cameout of the pavilion with me, and stood by my side on the daïs?"

"I'll tell you presently, John, " I replied, "after we have had somesolid refreshment, and are quite alone. "

"One would think there was some mystery about him, Professor, by the wayyou speak, " he answered. 

"Perhaps there is a little more mystery in the whole affair than youdream of, " I remarked. 

"Anyhow, " said John, "you seem very pleased over it, whatever it may be, Professor; for I never saw you so delighted in your life as you haveappeared during the last hour. "

"Yes, John, I am indeed pleased, " I replied, "and so will you be whenyou know what I know. "

"You quite arouse my curiosity, " he said; "still, I suppose I must waita little longer to be enlightened; but we came to Mars to find outsecrets. "

Just then we had to cease our conversation, for we were conducted into aroom where we found a most tempting looking repast ready for ourdelectation, and the attendants showed us to our respective seats. 

All the comestibles were fruits, nuts, or vegetables of various kinds, and I saw nothing there in the nature of flesh meat. Some of the fruitsand nuts resembled the products of our own world, especially some of oureastern products; but most of them were entirely unknown to us, thoughthey all looked tempting and good. 

We certainly did full justice to them, and were particularly attractedby some large bunches of what were evidently Martian grapes, each grapebeing as large as one of our egg-plums. We tried some of these, andfound them most delicious, as indeed were all the other eatables weconsumed. 

Though used to a meat diet, we found this meal most satisfying; thefruits being so refreshing that we had neither desire nor need fordrink, though it stood there ready for us if we wished to take it. Theattendants waited upon us assiduously, bringing us the various dishesin what was apparently their regular order of courses. 

Both John and M'Allister appeared to enjoy their first Martian meal asmuch as I did, and when we adjourned to another room at its conclusion, were loud in their expressions of appreciation. 

When this topic had died down, I thought the time had arrived to makethe important disclosure of the first results of our visit to the redplanet. 

They listened to my story in amazement, and with many exclamations ofsurprise; whilst, as for John, he was almost beside himself with delighton learning that he would once more meet his long-lost friend, and herose and shook hands with me, at the same time warmly congratulating meon my wonderful reunion with my son. 

"Professor, " said M'Allister, also rising and shaking my hand, "I'm asglad for your sake as if I had found a son of my own!"

I thanked them both very heartily for their kind congratulations. ThenJohn said to me--

"Professor, it is, without exception, the most extraordinary thing Iever heard of in my life; but what strikes me as most singular about itis the strange coincidence connected with your son's name!"

I did not understand this allusion to Mark, so asked what was thestrange coincidence to which he referred. 

"Well, Professor, " he said, "excuse me if I answer your question byasking another one. How was it you gave your son the name of Mark, andwhat was the particular reason for your doing so?"

"No particular reason, John, so far as I am aware, " I replied, "exceptthat it always seemed to me a good, plain, and honest sort of a name. "

"Do you know the meaning of the name?" he then asked. 

"Well, yes, I think so; for one thing, I believe it means 'polite, '" Isaid; "and another meaning I have read is a 'hammer. ' But really, John, I had no thought of meanings at all when I chose that name for him. "

"That only makes it all the more strange, " John answered. "I have seenthose meanings you mention as attached to the name; but you seem to havequite missed the most important one of all, for I can tell you, Professor, that the name 'Mark' means 'Son of Mars!' Now don't you seethe coincidence, when you find that he really has become a son of Mars!"

"Really, John, " I answered, "I assure you that I never heard of thatbefore; the coincidence is, as you say, most singular and extraordinary;but, taking all things into consideration, I am inclined to think theremust be something more than coincidence when they work out like this. You know your Shakespeare, John, and he says most truly: 'There's adivinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will. ' I will notrepeat the hackneyed phrase about 'more things in heaven and earth----'"

Just then Merna (as I suppose I must now call him, though he will alwaysbe "Mark" to me) arrived amongst us, and I at once introduced him toJohn and M'Allister. 

The meeting between the two old friends was delightful to witness, forboth seemed over-joyed; and they had so much to say to each other--somany questions to ask. 

When the excitement had passed I asked Mark--you see I cannot helpcalling him by his old name--if he could now furnish me with the furtherinformation he had promised, for I was longing to hear all he had totell. 

"Yes, " he replied, "I am quite ready, sir;" and then he proceeded togive us details of his life upon Mars. It is too long a story to tellexactly as he told it--and sometimes he was at a loss to express himselfappropriately in English--but, shortly, it was as follows:--

His birth upon Mars, as we found from a comparison of dates, must havefollowed almost immediately after his passing from the earth; and hesaid he thought that his two previous seizures were probably abortiveattempts of his spirit to depart earlier. 

His Martian father was the brother of Soranho, the present Chief of theCouncil; both his father and mother, however, had died when Merna wasquite a child, and the Chief had since brought him up like his own son, and was very much attached to him. 

When Merna was still very young he was extremely fond of looking at thestars in the clear Martian skies, being especially attracted by theearth, which was a very brilliant star in those skies when the planetwas in the most favourable position for viewing it. He used to watch theearth pass through its various phases, the same as we see Venus; and astime went on he had a strong feeling or intuition that, at some unknownperiod, he had been upon, or in some way connected with, the earth!

This feeling became more and more intense, so that his thoughts wereconstantly directed towards our world, and ultimately he became firmlyconvinced that he had once lived upon the earth. 

He told us, amongst other things, that the Martians possess senses andpowers which we do not possess, and know nothing of. For instance, hesaid that any Martian of ordinary intelligence always knew what was inthe mind of any one with whom he was speaking; therefore any attempt toprevaricate or mislead was folly and useless. In some cases this powerextended over a long distance, and the thoughts of others could be readas easily as when they were close at hand. So for this reason, and notonly because it is considered wrong, prevarication is never practised onMars. 

Again, a Martian can transmit his thoughts over any distance upon theplanet, and influence thereby any one whom he could influence inordinary conversation. 

Some, who had given especial attention to the training and developmentof this faculty, could even transmit their thoughts to other worlds; butthe influence exercised in such cases depended entirely upon whether theinhabitants of other worlds had attained not only a sufficient degree ofintelligence, but also the power to assimilate and make use of suchoutside influences, either consciously or unconsciously. 

Having become convinced that he had once lived upon the earth, hisinterest in it was greatly intensified, and he felt a consuming desireto know more. He therefore used his utmost endeavours to train anddevelop his faculties, with a view to finding out something moredefinite. His uncle was informed of his desires in this respect, as wellas of his reasons for them; and he placed Merna under the tuition oftwo Martians who had developed these special faculties to the highestdegree then possible. 

After pursuing this course of instruction and training for some time, Merna found that he was gradually becoming more and more acquainted withdetails of his former life, and was also gradually relearning thelanguage he had spoken upon the earth. 

Soon he was able to recall from his sub-consciousness the names ofpersons, and also of places and things, with which he had beenacquainted in his previous life; and what he thus learnt he imparted tohis uncle, his two teachers, and to a few other Martians. 

The knowledge thus very slowly acquired and gradually built up led to athirst for still further knowledge; so he then tried to transmit histhoughts to the earth, and, if possible, to influence me, his father, whom he felt certain was still living. 

He paused in his statement, and then asked me to tell him "When I firstthought of making a trip to Mars, and also whether I had not, longbefore then, constantly been in the habit of thinking about the planet?"

I told him the date when I first made the suggestion of our trip toJohn, and added that he was quite right in supposing I had longpreviously been occupied with thoughts about Mars. 

"Yes, " he replied, "the date you give is quite correct. I had for yearsbeen trying to influence you to take a deep interest in this planet, andafter that to influence you to build a vessel which would bring youhere; and, on the very day you mention, I felt quite certain I hadsucceeded. "

"My two friends then joined me in transmitting further influences toenable you to conceive the proper kind of vessel and machinery, and howit should be constructed. These latter influences seem, from what youhave told me, to have been assimilated by John to a larger extent thanby yourself; and this, no doubt, was owing to his higher development ofengineering and mechanical genius. The result, however, has been mostsatisfactory. You, whom I had so long yearned to see, were brought toembark upon this long voyage through space; I knew when you had done so, and also that John and another accompanied you. I also knew exactly whenyou would arrive here, for mentally I saw your chart and knew many ofyour thoughts. "

"But, " interposed John at this stage, "was it not rather a risky anddangerous experiment to influence inhabitants of another world to makewhat was practically an invasion of Mars? Even if it were possible, weshould be afraid to do such a thing upon our earth, for fear ofdisastrous developments later on. "

"There was no danger at all, " he replied. "I think you found you couldnot land here just where you pleased!"

"Ah, that we did, " said M'Allister; "and we were never so mystified inour lives. "

"So, Mark, " I said, laughing as I spoke, "that was your work, was it?"

"I certainly helped in doing it, " he replied smilingly. "We have themeans of electrifying a very large area of space anywhere, either uponour planet or at any required height above it, in such a manner as toneutralise the power of any vessel that could possibly come here, andthus stop its progress entirely when we so desired. We let you go on ashort distance and then stopped you, again and again; and when westopped you, we took care to arrange the forces so that you could not inany event fall to the planet even if the whole of your machinery failedto act. You were, as you know, compelled to descend exactly where wewished you to; and, in fact, exactly where we had previously decided youshould land!"

"Well, " exclaimed M'Allister excitedly, "if this doesn't beat all I everexperienced! To think now that all our movements and impulses have beenengineered and controlled from Mars; not only just recently, but formonths and years past. Mon, it's marvellous!"

"Marvellous to you, no doubt, " said Merna, "but only a commonplacehappening here. It is very satisfactory to us that our endeavours toinfluence you to come to this planet have proved successful in the mainessentials. The influence does not, however, appear to have been quiteeffective as regards your steering to the landing-place we had decidedupon. We had hoped there would have been no necessity for interferingwith your movements by means of the electrical waves. "

"Well, Merna, " I answered, "you certainly succeeded in imbuing me with adesire to land at Sirapion, but my two companions were more attracted bythe 'Gordian Knot'; and it was only because I subordinated my owninclinations to theirs that you were compelled to use force to make usproceed in the right direction. However, it has resulted in our havingone of the most exciting and mystifying experiences of our lives; and, now all has ended happily, I do not think any one of us regrets that theincident occurred. "

"Certainly I do not, " John remarked. 

"Neither do I, " said M'Allister; "although I must confess I never feltso entirely beaten in my life. "

"Well, now you understand that it had to be done, " said Merna. "As Iremarked, there was no danger to us in your coming here; for, if we haddesired it, we could have utterly destroyed your vessel before itreached the planet, just as easily as we stopped your progress; or wecould have destroyed it with equal ease and without any risk toourselves after you had landed. "

"My word, " said M'Allister, "I'm right glad we did not come here asenemies!"

"Yes, " replied Merna; "it was just as well you did not. We do not makewar, but we have full means of protecting ourselves against attack if itshould ever be necessary to do so. So you will understand that noinvasion of Mars from outer space is possible. "

I then turned to Merna and said, "There is one question I should like toask you before we part this evening: Can you tell me the meaning of theword 'Tetarta, ' which Soranho, your chief, told me was the name by whichyour world is known to its inhabitants?"

"Oh yes, sir, " he answered; "'Tetarta' means 'the fourth world, ' andthus indicates our position in the solar system. Sometimes, however, thename 'Tetartoecumene' is used; but this does not find generalacceptance amongst us, as it means 'the fourth _inhabited_ world, ' andtherefore assumes rather too much. 

"We know the earth is inhabited, and have some reason to believe thatVenus is also; but with regard to Mercury we have no knowledge at allupon this point. Mercury, as seen from Mars, is always too close to thesun for us to learn much about it by optical investigation; and we havenever been certain that we have either received influences from there orbeen able to transmit influences to the planet. "

"Thank you, Merna, " I replied, "that clears up the matter; and it seemsto me that your names are much more appropriate than the one by whichyour world is known to us on the earth; for, on account of its redcolour, we have, as you are aware, named it 'Mars, ' after our mythicalgod of war. I gather from what you have told us that war is now quiteunknown upon your planet, so our name is quite inappropriate. "

"Yes, that is so, sir, " he answered; "and, later on, I hope you willlearn much more concerning our social conditions, and that you will findwe are a fairly developed and civilised people. "

He then took leave of us, promising to see us again in the morning forthe purpose of showing us about our new world. 

It was now rather late, so, after discussing for a while the events ofthis most exciting day, we retired to rest. My thoughts, however, wereso many and so tumultuous that it is scarcely a matter of wonder that avery long time elapsed before sleep came to me. 

CHAPTER XVI

WE LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT THE POWERS OF THE MARTIANS

The next morning Merna arrived early, and breakfasted with us; and, assoon as the meal was over, we started out. The air was bracing andexhilarating, and we felt so extremely light and buoyant that we almostseemed to want to run, skip, and jump, as we did in our earlychildhood's days. 

We went first to have a look at the _Areonal_, but, on arriving at theopen space where we had left it, were unable to see it! The daïs hadbeen cleared away, also the pavilions; whilst in the centre of the openspace there was a large building. 

We felt rather puzzled at this change, for we were sure no such buildingstood there yesterday. Merna, however, led us across to it, and toucheda switch, which swung open a pair of large doors so that we could seeinto the interior of the building. 

There we saw our own good ship, the _Areonal_, safely housed in asubstantial-looking building, which had apparently sprung up in a singlenight. 

We all looked at Merna inquiringly, and he smiled, saying, "Ah, you arenot used to the Martian way of doing things! This seems to you veryquick work, no doubt; but the erection of the building was not such aheavy and laborious task as it would have been upon the earth. Owing tothe lesser gravitation here, and to the larger physical development ofour people on Mars, one man can accomplish in the same time what itwould require many men to achieve upon the earth. Besides, we havelabour-saving machinery and apparatus which your scientific men have notyet even dreamt of. 

"Thus, what seems to you an extraordinary piece of work to be finishedin so short a time, is really nothing out of the common here, especiallyas the structure is only of a temporary character. "

"Mon, " said M'Allister, turning to John, "if our earth had been likeMars we wouldn't have taken so many months to build our vessel and itsshed!"

John answered him, and turning to Merna, said, "There is something I amvery anxious to ask you about, as it concerns myself and my relationswith the inhabitants of this planet. I do not wish to infringe any oftheir regulations here, or to give any cause of offence, but----"

Then Merna held up his hand, and smiling, said, "You need not say anymore, John; I know exactly what you wish to ask me; and, without itbeing said, can reply to you. You may smoke as much as you like whenout-doors, without fear of offending any one here; but in public orprivate assemblies, notice what others do, and act accordingly. It istrue only a small proportion of our population indulge in smoking, except in the colder regions; but please understand that amongst usMartians there are few restrictions as to conduct or custom, and, provided that nothing really dangerous or annoying to the community isdone, every one can please himself. 

"We leave all such things to the good sense of the individual, and aMartian can be trusted to regulate his habits and conduct withoutneeding penalties to compel the observance of regulations orrestrictions. "

We looked at each other significantly, but without saying anything; forwe all realised the truth of Merna's statement of the previous eveningto the effect that the Martians were able to divine what might be in themind of another without his having to speak. Not one of us had mentionedsmoking before Merna, yet he knew exactly what John had upon his mindand was about to ask him. 

I thought it was my turn now to obtain some information, so said toMerna, "There is also something which I am very anxious to ask youabout. "

"Oh yes, sir, " replied he, again smiling; "you are anxious to knowwhether we really possess an elaborate system of canalisation upon Mars, and I can soon set your mind at rest upon that point. Indeed, it was inorder to make arrangements for conducting you to inspect some of thecanals that I left you yesterday after parting with the Chief. 

"Our seas and other large bodies of water have long ceased to exist, andwe are therefore dependent upon the water arising from the dissolvingsnow of our polar snow-caps for a supply of that prime necessary oflife. Our canal system is, therefore, the most supremely important workwhich we have to maintain and develop, so that every part of the planetmay be supplied with water, and also kept in touch with the rest of theplanet. You must clearly understand that upon the adequacy and perfectworking of the canals all life here is dependent; so every other matteris regarded as of lesser importance. "

I may here say that we afterwards learnt that the positions of thehigher officials connected with the administration of the canal systemare regarded as amongst the highest and most honourable offices that aMartian can aspire to; and, moreover, that Merna himself held a veryresponsible position in the engineering department connected with thecanals. 

Merna then went on to say: "You will see for yourselves, presently, whatour canals are like; for I am about to take you across to a point whereyou will have a good view over the country. 

"As our canals are such conspicuous features upon our planet, especiallywhere they cross the deserts, our experts have long been endeavouring, by various means, to transmit influences to the earth, in order todirect your people's attention to the regular lines they form, and thusconvince them that Mars is inhabited by intelligent beings. Probably itis the case that very few of your scientific men are endowed withintelligences both sufficiently advanced, and sufficiently adaptable andreceptive of new ideas, to enable them to assimilate and make use of theinfluences thus transmitted; but still we know that some must havegrasped the situation. "

"Merna, " I answered, "that is quite true; but, of course, I cannot saywhether it has been the result of Martian influences. Thirty years agoone of our great observers saw and mapped many of the canal lines; andyears before that, others had seen them imperfectly, and drawn portionsof them on their maps. Our first and greatest exponent of the idea thatthey were really canals was, however, Professor Lowell, an Americanastronomer, whose fame has spread all over our world. He has not onlybeen a constant observer of Mars for many years, but has mapped outyour canal systems from observations made by himself and his colleagues. He has also formulated a reasonable and, as it now appears, trueexplanation of their object and purpose; as well as demonstrating theirexistence to be a prime necessity for the well-being of your people. 

"It is true he has met with much opposition; not only from those whohave but limited knowledge, and refuse to believe anything they cannotsee themselves, but from the older school of astronomers, who are notvery receptive of new ideas; and who are, perhaps, naturally reluctantto admit the inadequacy or inaccuracy of their early theories. This is avery common failing with experts of all kinds, and we have had manyinstances of it in connection with astronomy all through our history;but we have amongst us many intelligent persons who are open toconviction, being unfettered in regard to particular theories. They are, therefore, not only willing, but eager to examine the evidence which hasbeen collected, and to form their own opinions on the subject. "

"I am very glad to hear you say so, sir, " replied Merna; "and now Iwould like to ask you whether, during the last thirty-five years or so, there has not been an extraordinary advance in knowledge amongst yourpeople in connection with such sciences as electricity, telegraphy, light and engineering, as well as in astronomy?

"I ask because our experts have been most earnestly endeavouring duringthat time to transmit some of their knowledge on these subjects to yourscientific people on the earth, and we have some reason to believe thattheir efforts have been, at least, partially successful. "

I assured him that our advance in regard to these subjects had reallybeen phenomenal during the period he mentioned. Probably during noprevious period in the history of our world had so many useful, important, and even amazing discoveries been made during such a shortspace of time. 

I gave particulars of the great discoveries and rapid developments inconnection with electricity, wireless telegraphy, the telephone, Hertzian waves, X and N rays, spectroscopy, colour-photography, andtelectrography. I also mentioned the discovery of radium, helium, andargon; the medical use of light and bacteriology; together with theinvention of the turbine engine, motor cars, flying machines; alsophonographs and other kinds of talking machines. 

Merna expressed himself as very gratified at this information; andremarked that our progress would be still more rapid in the future, asit was quite evident that there were terrestrial intelligences whichwere readily receptive, and capable of high development. He promisedthat what I had told him should be made known in the proper quarters;and added that the Martians would be encouraged to persevere in theirefforts to impart such knowledge as would aid in the general advancementof science in our world. 

He then asked me, "Whether, in connection with new discoveries, it hadbeen found that more than one person had developed the new ideas aboutthe same time?"

"Yes, Merna, " I replied; "it has often been observed that similarinventions have been made by several people at the same time: althoughthey have worked quite independently, and were totally unaware of whatwas being done by each other. "

"That, " said Merna, "is a natural consequence of these influences; forthey are in the air, so to speak, and have only to be brought intoconnection with the appropriate intellects to be assimilated and carriedinto effect. "

I then asked him if he could explain how the influences acted; and hereplied that in most cases they formed a sort of mental picture, whichwould be mentally seen and understood by a person sufficiently endowedwith the necessary knowledge; but if he were not so endowed, or notreceptive of new ideas, then he would learn nothing from the influences. 

Thus a mental picture of some new and unknown piece of machinery wouldmean nothing to an unmechanical mind, or even to a mechanical mind whichwas not endowed also with the inventive faculty. In other cases onlythoughts in the abstract could be sent, and these were more likely toremain unassimilated than the mental pictures, as a very high order ofintellect was required to receive such thoughts. 

I then informed him that our greatest and most daring electrician, Nicola Tesla, was firmly convinced that he had discovered planetarydisturbances of an electrical nature which had reached our world. Thisoccurred as far back as the year 1899; and, in the course of laterscientific investigations, he found that the disturbances could not havecome from the sun, the moon, or Venus. Further study has, he says, quitesatisfied him that they must have emanated from Mars. 

I added that Tesla was at work perfecting an apparatus which he wasconvinced would be the means of putting him into communication withother planets, by means of a wireless transmitter. This, he states, willproduce vibrations of enormous power, and he has devised a means ofproducing oscillations of the most tremendous intensity. He states thathe has actually passed a current round the earth which attained manymillions of horse-power, and feels assured that he has already succeededin producing electrical disturbances on Mars by the aid of this current. "Those disturbances, " he adds, "are much more powerful than anythingwhich could be obtained by means of light reflectors, no matter howlarge such reflectors might be, or how wide an area they might be madeto cover. "

At the same time I pointed out that these are Tesla's own statements, and not mere second-hand reports or newspaper inventions!

Merna said that this information was really very gratifying, and gavehim the greatest satisfaction; for it showed that the Martians'endeavours to communicate with us would ultimately be successful, because there was at least one man upon the earth capable of devisingthe necessary apparatus for receiving and transmitting suchcommunications. He further remarked that it was quite true thatelectrical disturbances had reached Mars from another planet, but addedthat no effective communication was possible by means of light rays, asthe two planets were never so situated in regard to each other as torender such a mode of signalling practicable. 

I was just about to speak when Merna held up his hand to enjoin silence, and stood as though he were listening attentively to somecommunication. 

After a minute or so he told us he had just received a mentalcommunication from Soranho, stating that he had despatched a messengerto us with an urgent letter. Then he added, "We had better wait hereuntil the messenger arrives. "

"So, " I said, "your wireless telegraphy is evidently much in advance ofours, for you seem to dispense with apparatus altogether!"

"Yes, sir, " he replied; "you see this is one of the senses I told you weMartians possessed; but some of our people who are somewhat deficient inthis sense still use the small pocket receivers and transmitters whichhave long become obsolete amongst the generality of our population. 

"I have already given you two illustrations of the truth of mystatement, that we are able to divine what is in each other's mindwithout it being necessary to speak. Still, I wish you to understandthat we never allow this power to spoil conversation. You might, perhaps, think that because we know what each was about to say, thewords would remain unsaid, and we would, therefore, be a rather taciturnpeople. That is not so. The faculty is a very useful one to us on manyoccasions; but, as I remarked, we never allow it to spoil conversation. "

"That seems to me a very sensible and practical arrangement, " remarkedJohn. 

"Well, " replied Merna, "I hope, and I think, you will find us a verysensible and practical nation. "

At this moment an official came up to us, and after saluting, handedMerna a packet. Having opened and read the communication it contained, he turned to us and gave each a document which had been enclosed; atthe same time saying that it was a formal invitation for our attendanceat a banquet in the evening, for the purpose of meeting the Chief of theCouncil and other high personages, and for social intercourse. 

We all expressed our thanks, and, of course, accepted the invitation. The official, having received the requisite reply from Merna, againsaluted, and then retired. 

CHAPTER XVII

WE VISIT THE CANALS AND DISCOVER THEIR SECRET--MARTIAN VIEWS OF LIFE ANDDEATH

On Merna's suggestion we walked through the town with the object ofinspecting the canals on the outskirts; and we needed no pressing, as wewere all eager to see what the canals were like. 

We again noted how every house, and almost every building, was isolatedfrom its neighbours. Many of them were very large and exceedinglyhandsome specimens of architecture, and the streets were wide, straight, and remarkably clean and well kept. The official and administrativebuildings were near the centre of the town; their general arrangementand design appearing most excellently adapted to the specialrequirements of their respective purposes. 

Most of them were built of white stone, resembling our marble, which wasvery hard, and appeared clean and unaffected by weather, although someof the buildings were of considerable age. Others were built of stonesof various colours, which added a pleasing variety to the generaleffect; whilst many were adorned with noble and beautiful domes, towers, and airy-looking minarets. 

As we did not propose to inspect these in detail now, we passed on tothe outskirts of the town, soon reaching the air-ship station, where wefound a vessel in readiness for our trip. We all entered; the ship wasat once started, and we proceeded swiftly on our journey. 

Merna then told us that all public means of transit, over the whole areaof the planet, were provided and maintained by the State, for the freeuse of all who needed to travel. The passengers neither paid fares norreceived tickets; they simply stepped into the proper conveyance andwent wherever they desired to go. A record was kept of the number ofpassengers carried; for, as each passenger entered, a number wasautomatically registered by a small machine under the footboard, theexit being by another door. 

Small air-ships, motors, and boats could be engaged by single persons orsmall parties who did not wish to travel in the larger publicconveyances; and any person was at liberty to provide a privateconveyance for his own use, but the public ones were so numerous andconvenient that very few people kept their own. 

"Hey, mon!" said M'Allister, "the Martians can teach us something. Iwould like to see such a system at work in our own country!"

"I am afraid you are not likely to see that, " said John, "while we haveto spend so much upon warlike preparations. If war could be abolished, all the millions of money thus expended could be made available forpurposes which would be of real and permanent benefit to the people. "

We travelled a distance of some miles, and then the vessel was broughtto a standstill. 

What a splendid view we then had over the country all around us! the airbeing so thin and clear that there was very little dimming of theobjects in the far distance. Across the country, in line after line, were the canals which we had been so anxious to see, extending as far asthe eye could reach! With our glasses we made a detailed examination ofseveral. 

Our sensational newspapers have had paragraphs about Martian canals ahundred miles, or even hundreds of miles, wide! Scientific men have alsosimilarly exaggerated, and made remarks about the absurdity of thesupposition that such canals really existed. 

There is very little excuse for such statements, because ProfessorLowell has always been careful to point out that the lines representedbroad bands of vegetation, and not the width of the canals. 

Now the secret was out! What we actually saw was this: not a single widecanal but a series of comparatively narrow canals, running parallel toeach other, with a very wide strip of vegetation between each. Usuallythe canals were linked together in pairs by smaller cross canals runningdiagonally from one canal to the other in alternate order. These werethe irrigation trenches. Thus from one of a pair of canals an irrigationtrench would branch out at an angle of about fifty degrees, and enterthe second canal. Higher up, on the same side, another trench would runfrom the second canal at a similar angle, and enter the first canal, andso on--_ad infinitum_. In the case of single canals curved loopsbranched out and re-entered higher up, these loops being made on eitherside, and similar loops were made on the outsides of paired canals. 

As a result of this arrangement it did not matter whether the waterpassed up the canal at one season of the year or down it at anotherseason, it could always move straight ahead; the irrigation trencheswere thus constantly flushed by one or other of the pairs, and therecould be no stagnation anywhere. Merna also told us that some canals areprovided with a network of trenches, whilst others are embanked so thatthe water can be let out through sluices when necessary, and thus floodthe surrounding land. Thus every requirement can be met. 

So far from being a hundred miles wide, it was exceptional for thecanals to have a width of more than two hundred yards. Most of those wewere looking at were only about sixty feet wide! and only the wider onesare used for navigation purposes. Merna explained why this was so, saying that as the main use of the canals was for irrigation purposesvery wide ones were not required; for not only would they be wasteful, but as it was necessary to force the water along by artificial means, itcould more conveniently be accomplished in the case of narrow canals, asthe wider the canal the more difficult it became to force the wateralong. 

We also observed many splendid wide motor-roads running between thesingle canals, as well as others running straight across the system, being carried over the canals by the most beautiful and fairy-likebridges that we had ever seen. They were all constructed of a metalidentical with our "martalium, " which we had used in the construction ofthe _Areonal_; so that was undoubtedly another invention which we owedto Martian influences transmitted to us across space!

Nothing more beautiful or graceful than these bridges could beimagined, so light were they in construction, so elegant and varied indesign, and every part shining in the sun like burnished silver; theylooked like structures composed of rays of light rather than substantialmetal! They were a perfect dream of beauty, and we stood a long timeexamining their elegant construction through our glasses. 

"Well, " remarked John, "some of our millionaires would give half theirfortunes to have such lovely bridges as these in their private parks!"

"Heh, mon!" replied M'Allister, "it's very clear the Martians couldteach our engineers something about bridge-building, if nothing else!"

"Wait and see our water-lifting and water-propelling machinery, " saidMerna; "I think that will be something which will suit you as anengineer!"

I noticed that many of the lines were apparently groves of trees, andasked Merna whether they were canals or not. 

"Yes, " he replied, "they are canals. You will understand that in thehotter parts of our world it is necessary to protect the water from toorapid evaporation, or else the canals would be almost run dry longbefore the need for their use ceased at the end of the season. Some arearched over entirely, but in most cases it is sufficient to plant treesalong each side. Would you like to examine one?" he asked; "we can do sovery soon, if you wish?"

I said I should be glad to do so, and our course was accordinglydirected to one of the groves, which appeared to be about two milesdistant. It, however, proved to be more than six miles away, for we hadnot yet become accustomed to the effect of the clear Martian air inmaking distant objects appear much closer than they really were. However, it did not take long for our air-ship to reach it; and wedescended in the space between the canals and then walked over into thegrove. When we turned into it, we were greatly surprised at the charmingeffect of the trees over the canal. 

The trees were something like our willows, but taller than elms, and hada multitude of very long, thin, and supple branches, with very littlebare trunk. They were planted rather close together, all along each sideof the canal, with their trunks sloping slightly towards the water. Thelong branches thus met at the sides and high overhead, intertwiningtogether, and forming a high leafy archway extending all along the canalin both directions as far as the eye could see. The thick, soft Martiangrass along each side of the canal was like a velvet-pile carpet to walkupon; the sunlight filtering between the green leaves of the trees castbright flecks of light on the clear shimmering water which ran beneaththem; whilst water-fowl swimming here and there gave a bright touch ofcolour and the animation of life which so adds to the general charm ofsuch scenery. Some of the water-fowl were very large birds, withbrilliant coloured plumage. 

"What a delightful place for a quiet walk on a hot day like this, " Iexclaimed; "plenty of air and no excess of heat!"

"Yes, " Merna replied; "these embowered canals are very popular with theMartians, as they furnish such cool and pleasant walks in the summertime. I must also tell you, " he added, "that those water-fowl are lookedafter with extreme care, because most of our aquatic birds have becomenearly extinct since our natural areas of water failed us, and unlessthey were preserved would die out entirely. 

"You will understand that these canals are not liable to excessiveevaporation; but, at the same time, it would not do to preventevaporation altogether, because we should then fail to obtain asufficient and fresh supply next spring. "

"I quite see that, Merna, " I said; "but one of our scientific men hassaid that it would be madness to construct canals on Mars, because thewater would all quickly evaporate, especially in the warmer regions, andthus be wasted. "

"Well, as you see, sir, we manage to prevent evaporation to any extentwe may desire, " replied Merna with a smile; "and even scientific menseem liable to omit some important matters from their theories andcalculations. "

"How do you manage the irrigation?" I inquired; "the trenches seemrather wide apart to supply such a large area!"

"The upper layer of soil is very porous, and the water soaks along it, "he answered; adding that "where necessary it was assisted by porouspipes laid beneath the surface. 

"Besides, " he proceeded, "we have small portable electric engines, withwhich water from the trenches can be distributed in the form of sprayover wide areas. Our vegetation, too, has adapted itself to theconditions of the planet in the course of the changes which have takenplace during past ages, and now requires very little water or moistureto maintain it in vigorous and healthy growth. "

One more question was put to him by John, who asked, "Do these canalsconstitute your whole supply of water for drinking, as well as for allother purposes?"

"Oh no, John!" exclaimed Merna. "We draw all our pure water from deepwells. The soil of Mars, being much more lightly compacted than that ofthe earth, has absorbed an immense proportion of the water which wasformerly upon its surface. Instead of having lost it by evaporation andradiation into space, we still have it below the surface, stored upready for use in our time of need. 

"For this reason, and also in consequence of the small amount of ourplanet's internal heat, the water has not undergone chemical change, andmostly lies at great depths; but, of course, well-boring is much easierwork than on your world, and I expect our methods are rather in advanceof yours. 

"Your scientists seem to have overlooked some of these pointsaltogether. You need not pity us for lack of water, as I have heard youdoing, for we have an ample supply for many centuries to come;especially as we can purify water which has been used for generalpurposes, and store it up for use, over and over again. Our canals areonly drawn upon for purposes connected with irrigation, or whenabsolutely pure water is not needed. "

"Well, " M'Allister exclaimed, "it doesn't seem that the Martians are sobadly off for water as some of our clever people imagine! Why, I've readthat the need of water here must be so great that the people, driven todesperation, must be fighting each other to extermination in order toget it. "

"That is an entirely erroneous idea, sir, " replied Merna; "and you maybe quite sure that such a state of affairs will never be witnessed uponthis planet. We know the time must come when our water supply willcease to be, but your people are needlessly pessimistic, and imagineterrors where we see none. 

"In actual time, the end of Mars is still far distant; but, as comparedwith that of your world, it is very near. It will be possible, later on, to forecast, by means of our records of the rate of decrease, the timewhen our water supply will come to an end; but even now it is wellunderstood how the crisis will be met. As the final period draws nearer, families will become smaller and smaller, and in the last Martiancentury no children will be born; so the diminishing water supply willsuffice for the needs of the dwindling population. Thus the race willgradually die out naturally, and become extinct long before theconditions of our world can make life a terror. There will, therefore, be no self-slaughter, nor murderous extermination, amongst ourselves--weshall simply die out naturally. 

"The planet will roll on, devoid of all life, so the loss of water andair will then be of no consequence. It will be a dead world; until, perhaps æons hence, a collision with some other large body may transformboth into a nebula; and thus once more start them on the way to developinto a world capable of sustaining life. Thus nothing in the Universereally dies; the apparent death is only the preparation for a newer andhigher life. 

"We Martians have no fear or dread of death, such as I have heard yousay is so prevalent in your world even amongst religious people. With usdeath, in the ordinary way, is merely like going to sleep; and it isonly the portal through which we pass to another life on anotherplanet. Why, then, should we dread it? It is simply a removal to anotherdwelling-place!"

"I quite agree with that view, Merna, " said John; "and our religionteaches us a somewhat similar idea; yet few of its professors lookforward with anything but dread to the time when they must pass fromtheir present life. "

"Yes, John, " said Merna. "What your people really only profess tobelieve we Martians accept as an actual certainty, for we know it is so;and, as you are aware, sir, I am a living witness of the truth of what Isay. 

"You know I once lived upon the earth. I died; or, as I prefer to say, I'passed' from thence, and was born again upon Mars. Some day I must alsopass from here; whither I know not, but to another life in some otherworld; and the Great Father of All will provide for me!

"There are many other planets which are worlds capable of sustaininglife at the present time, or which will develop into such worlds. Someof them, which we can see, are planets belonging to our own solarsystem, but doubtless there are myriads of planets which revolve roundthose millions of distant suns which we call fixed stars. If we havemade good use of our talents and opportunities for development we shallno doubt pass to a world where that development may be continued on ahigher plane. If, however, we have made bad use of them, it is possiblethat we may have to purge ourselves by a life on a planet where theconditions are the reverse of pleasant; and so on through eternity, eachrising to a higher and higher plane according to the manner in which hehas worked out his own salvation. 

"Amongst those myriads of planets, probably there is not one which isidentical in all respects with any other, and there must be an infinityof variety; some excelling to an incalculable extent the conditions ofour present world, and others where the conditions are very much worse!"

"Yes, Merna, " I replied. "There are some upon our world who hold verysimilar ideas, notably a great French astronomer named Flammarion; butin his view only those who have developed their intelligence in theproper direction will pass to other worlds and enjoy what he terms the_Uranian_ life. 

"I may also say, " I proceeded, "with reference to your remarksrespecting the infinite variety of planetary worlds and of theirconditions, that one of our great poets has stated the matter verylogically, for he says:

 'This truth within thy mind rehearse, That, in a boundless universe, Is boundless better, boundless worse. '"

"Sir, " said Merna, "that is really very much as a Martian would statethe case; and what I have told you is our faith, our hope, and ourcertainty. "

As we passed along on the area outside the grove we noticed that thevegetation bordering the outermost canal did not show a mathematicallystraight edge as the canal lines do when seen by us through ourtelescopes. The edges, as a rule, were very irregular: in some placesthere were large areas of fallow land, and others were very sparselycovered with vegetation. 

John remarked that if any of these bare or sparsely-covered places werelarge enough to be detected by our telescopes, in moments of extremelygood seeing, we should no doubt be told that they afforded absoluteproof that the canal lines are only disconnected markings, and thecanals a myth. 

"Very probably, " I replied; "yet it should be obvious that vegetationwould be sparse, or altogether absent, perhaps, for miles, in manyplaces along the thousands of miles over which the canals extend, andalso that it is quite likely, if we could use higher powers so as to geta better view of the lines, the edges would appear irregular. Nature israrely symmetrical in her work, there is nearly always irregularity ofgrowth; and in artificial cultivation it is neither possible nordesirable to fill up every acre of land simultaneously. "

Merna then told us that, owing to extensions of their irrigation system, laterally, and the consequent growth of vegetation, the width of many ofthe canal lines would be seen to increase. 

"Yes, " said John, "and when that phenomenon is seen by our observers weshall be informed that such increase in width is still another proofthat there are no canals upon Mars. "

"Well, John, " replied Merna, "it seems to me very strange that yourpeople should so misinterpret the meaning of such indications. Do youreally think such a contention would be put forward?"

"I'm quite sure of it, " said John; "and we should be told that canalscould not increase in width! Don't you agree with me, Professor?"

"Yes, John, " I answered; "I have seen and heard so many contentions andarguments of a like nature that I cannot say your supposition is notjustified. 

"I may, however, point out that it is only when the most idealconditions of seeing exist that we can ever hope to secure a view of thecanal lines showing the apparent breaks in their continuity. I have on aprevious occasion alluded to the drawbacks connected with the use ofvery large telescopes, and it may be well to sound a note of warning, for it would be very easy for an observer to be deceived by an illusoryappearance of the breaking up of the canal lines into a series ofscattered markings. This effect would undoubtedly occur in using a verylarge telescope in any but ideally favourable atmospheric conditions, for the high powers used with such large instruments would so exaggeratethe most minute atmospheric tremors that any lines on the Martiansurface would inevitably appear broken up, and an erroneous deductionmight be drawn by the unwary observer. If well seen, the canalvegetation would appear as separate markings in alignment, but notelescope is ever likely to define well enough to show the actualcanals, because they are so narrow. "

We now returned to our air-ship, and went back to Sirapion; where, aftermaking the necessary changes and preparations, we accompanied Merna tothe City Hall, for the purpose of attending the banquet to which we hadbeen invited by Soranho. 

[Illustration: _From a Globe made by M. Wicks_ Plate XI

MARS. MAP IV

An intricate network of canals is here seen, especially in theneighbourhood of Elysium, where many connect with the "TriviumCharontis. "]

CHAPTER XVIII

WE ATTEND A MARTIAN BANQUET

On our arrival at the banqueting-hall we were most cordially received bySoranho, as Chief of the Council, who introduced us to a number ofpersons, several of whom were high officers of state; but, as only twoor three of them knew anything of our language, Merna had to act asinterpreter. All of them, however, appeared genuinely pleased to meetus. 

The hall was a large and very fine one, most chastely decorated in astyle which reminded one of the Etruscan. It was beautifully lighted byartificial means, but there were no visible lamps, the light beingdiffused over the hall as equally as daylight is diffused. 

Many ladies were present, and clearly on entirely equal terms with thesterner sex. They sat down with us at the banquet, and did not remainmere spectators from a distance, as is sometimes the case at our publicfunctions. The dresses of both sexes were very neat, and although therewas a more ample and varied display of colour and ornament than is usualin a similar gathering upon our world, especially in the dresses of themales, it was always harmonious and in excellent taste. The costumesreminded me of those in vogue in the south-eastern parts of Europe; theladies, however, wore rather close-fitting long hose, and no skirts; buttheir tunics were somewhat longer than those worn by the men, and ofthinner material. Many of the dresses looked as though they were wovenfrom semi-transparent shining silver or gold. This style of dress wasmost becoming to the wearers, setting off their elegant proportions, andat the same time permitting the utmost freedom and grace of movement. Jewellery was clearly only used as a medium for adding to the brilliancyof the general effect, and I saw no one with any lavish or vulgardisplay of jewels. 

Our meal was very similar in character to that of which we had partakenon the previous day, though on a more extended and elaborate scale. Thistime, however, we partook of the delicious wines which were provided, and found that whilst being most refreshing and exhilarating, they were, as Merna told us, so prepared as to be non-intoxicating. They wereindeed so fine in quality and flavour that, I think, even M'Allister wasreconciled to the absence of his own favourite drink. 

I occupied a seat of honour next to Soranho, and my two friends wereclose by. On looking round the hall, and scanning the features of thedifferent individuals present, I was much impressed by the fact that thesame regularity, beauty, and symmetry was apparent in all; not one facecould be termed "plain, " or gave any impression of self-indulgence orsensuality; whilst the soft glowing light in their eyes produced a mostindescribable and charming effect upon the whole of their features. 

This light is altogether different from the fierce glare seen in theeyes of many of our animals, especially the feline race, which seems toenlarge the eyes to enormous orbs of brilliant light. In the Martiansit is simply a colourless, soft, and liquid glow which has a differenteffect on eyes of different colours; but it is charming in all. 

Merna had introduced us to a lady named Eleeta, who sat next to him atthe table; and it did not require a Martian intuition to enable mequickly to perceive that the relations in which they regarded each otherwere something beyond those of ordinary friendship. Their glowing eyesand beaming countenances, and their general animation and exhilarationas they conversed together, told their own tale, for mutual love hasmuch the same indications and attributes everywhere--even upon Mars! Butthe love-light shining in Martian eyes is something far more entrancingthan that seen in the duller orbs of the inhabitants of our world. 

The people of Mars generally have dark hair, dark eyes, andfresh-coloured complexions; the males having no hair upon their faces, beyond a slight moustache. Beards never grow upon their chins, so theyhave no need to shave, and are spared the work which wastes so much ofthe time of terrestrials. If we could only count up the time spent inshaving, during fifty years or so, we should find that we have devotedseveral whole months to that tiresome operation. 

Only a few individuals present had light hair and light-coloured eyes, and Eleeta was one of these. She was a most charming and beautifulgirl--vivacious, and evidently very intellectual; and I thought that sheand Merna would make a most well-matched pair. 

The banquet proved an extremely pleasant and sociable function; and, when it was over, the company adjourned to another hall opening out ofthe banqueting-hall, where they split up into separate groups, andconversation soon became very animated. 

On inquiring of Merna, I was informed that music is never performed onsuch occasions as these, during conversational periods, as it isconsidered a desecration of a high and noble art. 

Merna introduced John and M'Allister to one of the chief engineers ofthe canal department, who knew a little English, and soon they werediscussing with eager interest a collection of pictures and drawings ofthe machinery. Seeing that our friends were thus congenially occupied, Merna then took me across to where Eleeta and a girl friend of hers, named Siloni, were sitting. 

He told me he had instructed Eleeta in English and she had passed on herknowledge of the language to Siloni; so we were all able to conversetogether with the occasional aid of Merna's interpretation. 

Merna had also acquainted his friends with our usual terms of addressingone another, and it came almost as a surprise to me to be addressed bythe Martians as "Mr. Poynders" and "Sir"; for I had become so accustomedto being called "Professor" by my two colleagues that my own namesounded almost strange to me. 

We had been chatting together only a short time when John andM'Allister, with their Martian friend, the engineer, came over to us;and soon after that we were joined by Soranho and Merna's tutors, namedrespectively Corontus and Tellurio, who were followed by a numerouscompany of Martians of both sexes. 

Soranho, addressing me, then said, "Mr. Poynders, I should very muchlike to know something about terrestrial affairs generally, especiallyin regard to the methods of government amongst your nations, and thesocial conditions of the people; and shall therefore be glad if you willbe good enough to give me any particulars that may be of interest inconnection with these subjects. "

He then took a seat, with the tutors on either side of him; and he addedthat the Martians had not been able to acquire any definite informationupon the matters to which he referred, but they knew our people were notso far advanced as the Martians, and he did not therefore expect toomuch of the terrestrials. 

I told him I would endeavour to enlighten him upon these subjects so faras lay in my power; and, as I rose to speak, the general body of theMartians seated themselves a few feet away from us in a large semicirclefacing the chief. 

I noticed that, against the wall behind the Chief, was a group ofbeautifully embroidered banners representing the planets, and that thosedepicting Mars and the Earth were placed in the central positions. Thesetwo banners exhibited very graphic representations of the markings onthe respective planets. 

CHAPTER XIX

THE CHIEF OF THE MARTIAN COUNCIL DISCUSSES THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF OURWORLD AND MARS

It was a most strange, and, in fact, embarrassing situation for me--aninsignificant and very retiring man in my own country--to be thus calledupon to address a large company of the most important inhabitants ofanother world, and to try to make them understand the social andpolitical systems carried on by the nations on the earth. However, theposition had to be faced; so as clearly and concisely as I could Iexplained to them our various systems of government--our politicalsystems and our social conditions; mentioning in connection with thelatter the extremes of wealth and the extremes of poverty which oftenexisted side by side. 

I touched upon the rivalries between the various nations, the enormousamounts of money expended in armaments for aggressive and defensivepurposes, our hereditary nobility, our land systems, trading, and alsothe great and difficult problems of poverty, drink, and unemploymentwith which we had to cope. 

Whilst I was speaking, Merna, in a quiet tone of voice, translated tothe Martians sitting around us the purport of what I said; and I noticedthat often he only had to say a few words and the Martians' sense ofintuition enabled them to understand what was in his mind respecting myaddress and to follow my statements. 

Now and then the Chief, or one of the tutors, would put searching andpertinent questions to me on various points, and these often brought outanswers which appeared to excite their surprise and interest. 

When I had finished, Soranho then took up the theme, going fully andthoroughly into the several matters I had dealt with; and he concludedby saying, "We must, of course, make every allowance for the presentstate of development of the terrestrials, but all the same I canscarcely understand how it is they are unable to see that, speakingbroadly, their political and social systems are utterly wrong frombeginning to end, and must necessarily be disastrous to the welfare ofall. Of course, I speak from a Martian point of view. 

"Here upon Mars the welfare of the whole community all over our planetis the first and most important consideration. The whole adultpopulation, both male and female, have an equal voice in the discussionof all matters with which the governing Council are concerned. Myoffice, as Chief of the Council, is held for a term of two Martianyears; and I am not a ruler imposing my own will upon the people, buttheir trusted servant, appointed to supervise the carrying into effectof the people's wishes, as expressed by their votes and by their ownappointed spokesmen. 

"The whole of the land upon Mars belongs to the State, and is utilisedstrictly in the interests of the whole community; no one can hold it asa private possession, or use it for merely selfish purposes. Anecessary corollary to the private ownership of land is the overcrowdingof buildings upon small areas; and such general poverty and insanitaryconditions as those in which so many of your population have to live inwhat you have termed your 'slums' are the inevitable outcome of such asystem. Private ownership of large areas of land really involves alsothe practical ownership of the people upon it!

"I can assure you, Mr. Poynders, that no such overcrowding, poverty, orinsanitary conditions will be found upon our planet, go where you will. Our people are well and comfortably housed, and you will find ampleair-space and light around every dwelling. 

"On Mars no office, rank, or privilege is hereditary. It is true we haveamongst us persons of different ranks or grades, but such honours asthese can only be gained as the reward of meritorious and usefulservices, and can only be held by the person who has earned them. 

"We have no need of an army or navy, for we are all one united nation;so all the enormous expenditure which is wasted in your world ininternational rivalry and warfare is entirely avoided here, and schemesfor the general welfare of the people benefit instead. Ages ago weabandoned war as a folly and a crime; and our world-wide system ofcanals, which is a prime essential to our very existence, could neverhave been accomplished or maintained if one section of our populationhad been at war, or was likely to be at war, with another. 

"Apart from all other considerations then, our vast canal system is aguarantee of unity and of permanent universal peace upon our planet;but, as I have said, we saw the folly of war, and abandoned it ages ago. 

"Then, as regards the terrible curse of drink which you have mentioned;if such ever existed on Mars, it must have been in the most dim anddistant past, for we have no records of such a dreadful state of affairsas you have described as being even now one of your most difficultproblems to deal with. The absence of any excesses of this kind may, perhaps, help to account for the fact that our population is strong andhealthy, and few die of anything but old age. 

"There is no such thing here as poverty or lack of employment. There iswork for all who are able to do it; and those who, by reason of age orinfirmity, are unable to work, are all honourably provided for, so thatthey can live in the same comfort as though they did work. This is notcharity or privilege, but the absolute right of all. 

"Neither is there any over-working of any individual in our population, for the ordinary working day here is only six hours--about equal to sixhours and ten minutes in your world. No one need work longer than thisexcept for his own pleasure; all the remainder of the time can bedevoted to rest or recreation. No one need work at all when his powersare failing, as he will be amply provided for. "

"But, " I asked, "how do you manage with regard to those who will notwork? They are our most difficult people to deal with, and constitute agreat burden upon the community. "

Soranho seemed astounded at this question, and exclaimed, "Is it reallypossible that such beings can exist? Here no one able to work woulddream of living an idle and useless life; their natural self-respectforbids it!

"I must, as I said, make allowances for your slower rate ofdevelopment; but I cannot help thinking that for ages past our peoplemust always have been upon a higher plane than terrestrials. 

"You have been deploring the decrease in the birth-rate in your country, apparently because it places you, as regards population, in an inferiorposition to other countries, the inhabitants of which may at some timebecome your enemies. Yet, at the same time, you have told us that a verylarge number of your people are living in poverty and misery, that thepopulation is too numerous for work to be found for all, and that many, being unable to find a living in their own country, have gone out, orbeen sent out, to distant lands. 

"What a tragedy this all is! If you had universal peace and reasonablehours of work, as we have, there would be no need for this striving toeffect an unnecessary and useless increase in the population; and, bydoing so, you are, in fact, only adding to your own poverty and otherdifficulties. A healthy and hardy population, which can be properlyprovided for and maintained, is what your country requires. On Mars youwill find very few families with more than three children!

"Then, as regards trade. Your international rivalries and systems ofwhat you term 'protection' seem specially designed to hinder trading, and to make it as difficult as possible, instead of encouraging the freeinterchange of commodities to the benefit of every one. 

"You tell me, " he continued, "that it is really the interest and desireof your nations to trade with each other, and that immense sums arespent in building ships and docks, and otherwise in facilitating trade. Yet I learn that tariff barriers are erected between some of thenations, and that tariffs are continually increased, for the purpose of_restricting_ trade! As a consequence, goods are either kept out of thecountries affected, or artificially increased in price; the poor beinghalf starved, or compelled to live upon inferior food!

"In addition, it appears that the collection of the tariffs involves theupkeep of an army of customs officials, the performance of whose dutiesis the cause of delay, harassment, and irritation to all who come withinthe sphere of their powers. 

"How much more useful it would be if that expenditure were devoted tothe extension of trade and the uplifting of the people!

"Really, Mr. Poynders, when I think of all these things, I can only sayyou must not expect the Martians to admit your claim that terrestrialsare 'highly' civilised; for surely no 'highly' civilised people couldact so illogically and so unwisely, or be so wantonly cruel as to taxthe food of the poor!

"Such a policy must inevitably result in misery to the many, and reducethe stamina of the present and future generations. 

"Your people have attained a high degree of civilisation in some things, but not in others; and as they become more advanced, they will look backon their past policy with feelings of amazement, and will, I am sure, regard it in exactly the same light as the Martians do now. I can onlyexpress the hope that their enlightenment will soon come. "

It is useful sometimes to be enabled to see ourselves as others see us, and I was now learning how the Martians regarded us. 

In defence of my own world and country, however, I pointed out thatmany of our thinkers and workers saw these matters in much the samelight as he did, and were endeavouring to educate their fellows in thesame views. Many were opposed to wars, and to the social conditions nowprevailing; but it would be vain to look for any great change in thenear future. An alteration in human nature must first be effected, andthat must necessarily be a matter of very slow growth. 

I went on to inform him that one of our great poets had written asplendid "vision of the world and all the wonder that would be, " inwhich he described our world as progressing:

 "Till the war drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furl'd In the Parliament of Man; the federation of the world. "

"Mars, " I remarked, "had already reached this ideal state of affairs;but it could not possibly be brought about in our world until a fardistant future: for it must be the result of slow development andgradual education of the people to see its necessity and practicability. 

"Any attempt to make a sudden change would only result in tumult andworse disasters than we were exposed to at present. Any changes inregard to our land system must also be carried out by degrees, and afterthe most careful consideration, with the view of preventing anyinjustice being done to the present holders. 

"Our poet, " I further said, "evidently had in mind the probability that, before this consummation of universal peace could be reached, wars of amore terrible nature than we have ever known would take place, for hepictures:

 'A rain of ghastly dew From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue. '

"It is not unlikely that the possibility, or the actual occurrence, ofsuch horrors as these may eventually bring about the cessation of warbetween the more civilised nations; and, as the uncivilised aregradually brought under control, there may be federations--notnecessarily amalgamations--of two or more nations. In the slow processof time these may unite in larger and more comprehensive federations, until at last the whole world will be embraced within them. This, ofcourse, is looking ages ahead of our present times. 

"Few thinking people amongst us can regard war as anything but a direfulnecessity arising out of our present conditions; only the thoughtlessand those who batten upon such disasters can rejoice in the idea of whatI have heard termed 'a jolly good war!'

"Whatever our ideals may be, we must, as sensible people, act inaccordance with the demands of existing circumstances. It has been wellsaid that while we have a large criminal population we must protect ourpersons and property by means of bolts and bars, and the maintenance ofa police force; and in a like manner, whilst we are exposed to risk ofwar breaking out--perhaps through no fault of our own--we must maintainsufficient forces and armaments to cope with any forces which might belikely to be arrayed against us. This, however, does not afford us anyexcuse for not trying to do all we can to remove the causes which tendto manufacture criminals, or to bring about wars. 

"If only as much energy and effort were used with the object of avertingwars by smoothing away difficulties and removing causes of frictionbetween the nations as there is effort and persistency on the other sideto aggravate, and even invent, conditions likely to cause mutualirritation, distrust, and dislike, much good would accrue. Nationsdepend largely for their prosperity upon their trade with other nations, and peace is the greatest interest to all; yet the actions of some noisyand hysterical sections amongst them are a constant source of danger, and are calculated to bring about wars which must inevitably prove mostdisastrous to all concerned. 

"Our religion, " I told him, "inculcated peace and goodwill to all men;all of us professed to believe in that. It is a good sign that there isa strong tendency amongst the religious teachers of various bodies tounite in the endeavour to promote peace amongst the nations, and many ofthem have done much to call attention to the urgent need of socialreforms, and have sacrificed their lives in arduous work for the benefitof their fellows. 

"On the other hand, some of them are very militant, whilst others seemto regard it as their special mission to keep social matters as theyare. If this is the case amongst the teachers, it is no wonder that thepeople themselves are so slow in progressing!"

The Chief here expressed the hope that I was unduly pessimistic inregard to our rate of progress, and remarked that "He thought a greatadvance would be made much earlier than I seemed to anticipate. Events, "he added, "were evidently likely to move very rapidly indeed in severalparts of our world; and he was certain that a great upward movementwould soon follow. "

I replied that "I sincerely hoped that such was the case, and that thegreat experience of the Martians with regard to the progress of ideascertainly enabled him to express a truer and more prophetic opinion thanI could possibly venture upon. At the same time I knew how difficult itwas to bring about changes of ideas and systems amongst large masses ofthe people; but notwithstanding all these things, I was of the sameopinion as a great poetical countryman of my friend M'Allister's, wholong ago wrote:

 'It's coming yet, for a' that, That man to man, the whole world o'er, Shall brothers be, and a' that. '"

Eleeta showed her interest in her own sex by asking what part our womentook in the endeavour to improve our social and political conditions;and seemed very surprised when I said they had no voice in the electionof members of our Imperial Parliament, although many of them took anactive part in any work for the amelioration of our social conditions. 

I then gave a short account of the women's suffrage movement, and wasspeaking of certain unwise actions of the militant party, when shesuddenly interrupted me by throwing up her hands and exclaiming--

"Oh, Mr. Poynders, do not say any more upon that point! I wish to thinkwell of your women and to make all allowances for them, but no Martianwomen could possibly behave in the manner you have described; theirinnate self-respect is too great to allow such conduct. 

"We should all feel degraded in the eyes of our husbands, brothers, andsisters, if any such things occurred here; but they are quiteimpossible!

"Your women are entitled to a full share of the responsibilitiesconnected with the election of members of your state councils, just thesame as we have; but surely there are other and proper means ofobtaining their rights and privileges without resorting to such childishand unwomanly tactics as chaining themselves up, pestering high officersof state, and forcing their way into your council chambers. "

I assured her that the majority of our women, both rich and poor, tookexactly the same view as she did on this matter, and were utterlyopposed to the methods adopted by the few, even where they themselveswere in favour of the franchise. Many, however, were so distressed bythe conduct of militant women that they opposed the franchisealtogether. The pity of it all was that the militant suffragettes seemedto glory in shocking their sisters' susceptibilities. 

Eleeta then said that "For the sake of her sex she was glad to learnthat such behaviour did not meet with general approval; still, she hopedthat before long our women would be enabled to take up their properposition in connection with the election of our state councils. "

After a little more desultory conversation, the Chief thanked me forwhat he was pleased to term "the interesting statement with which I hadfavoured them. "

The meeting then broke up, but I observed that John, who had beensitting with Siloni all the time, seemed to find himself in verycongenial company, which he was not at all anxious to quit. 

On our way home Merna took me fully into his confidence and told me ofhis hopes respecting Eleeta, at the same time giving me many particularsconcerning the beautiful young lady upon whom he had bestowed hisaffections. 

CHAPTER XX

THE SECRET OF THE "CARETS"--THE SUN AS SEEN FROM MARS

The next day, accompanied by Merna and Tellurio, we started off at anearly hour on an air-ship trip to the northern edge of the SinusTitanum. 

This is really the bed of an ancient sea, from which all water has longsince disappeared. Nearly all the blue-green patches which are seen onthe planet by our observers are also old sea-beds, and they are now themost fertile areas upon its surface. 

The object of our visit was to inspect the machinery and apparatus bywhich the water is lifted and forced along the canals; and rememberingwhat Merna had told him, M'Allister was looking forward to seeing themwith eager anticipation. 

Professor Lowell has arrived at the conclusion that, owing to the shapeof the planet and other conditions, gravitation upon Mars is in a stateof stable equilibrium, and that consequently water would not flow bygravitation, as it does upon our earth, but merely spread out as itwould on a level floor. If turned into a canal it would not flow alongwithout artificial propulsion, except so far as it might be carried byits own "head. "

We found, on inquiry, that this conclusion is very nearly correct, butthere is just a small amount of gravitation which is sufficient toproduce an extremely slow movement of the water in the canals. 

[Illustration: _From a Globe made by M. Wicks_ Plate XII

MARS. MAP V. 

The dark wedge-shaped area near the centre is "Syrtis Major. " It was onthe desert area to the left of this that Professor Lowell discoveredseveral new canals on 30th September, 1909. ]

I have already mentioned the discovery of the "carets" which exist incertain places on the planet. They are seen as small V-shaped markingswhich are dark in tint; and perhaps might better be described asresembling our Government's "broad-arrow, " the central line representingthe end of a single canal which enters the caret centrally. 

Professor Lowell is of opinion that these carets must fulfil someimportant purpose, as they only appear where some of the canals connectwith the dark areas of the old sea-beds. He is quite right in thisconclusion, for they are very important indeed in connection with theworking of the canal system. 

They are, in fact, all situated on or adjoining the slopes of thesea-beds, and the dark sides of the V are really two high embankmentscovered with dense vegetation, and thus are sufficiently conspicuous tobe seen through our telescopes. The whole encloses an area on each sideof the canals within which large and important engineering works aresituated. 

The canals which run along the bottom of the sea-beds are, of course, ata much lower level than the adjoining red area, and the canals on thelatter area are therefore at a higher level. Those canals which crossthe sea-beds cannot be carried by means of viaducts or embankments so asto place them upon the same level as the canals on the red areas, because that would defeat the purpose of irrigation, which is theirchief use. It is therefore necessary to lift the water from thelow-level canals and discharge it into those upon the higher ground. 

This is accomplished by means of apparatus somewhat resembling anAmerican "grain-elevator, " on a large scale; and it consists of a longseries of very large buckets, V-shaped in cross-section, attached toendless chain-bands, which, as they are carried round by the machinery, scoop up the water from the low-level canals and carry it up to therequisite height, from whence it is automatically discharged into thehigh-level canals. Of course it will be understood that the ends of thelatter canals are entirely closed by embankments so that no water canpass that way. 

The buckets are an enormous size, and the electric machinery by whichthey are kept in motion is of the most ingenious description. 

Besides this there is an immense amount of equally ingenious electricalmachinery for forcing the water along the canals. 

Merna and Tellurio showed us all over the area, and carefully explainedthe construction and working of the various machines. I do not thinkM'Allister ever spent a more enjoyable time in his life, for he wentabout amongst the different machines examining them with the keenestinterest and manifestations of delight; and his note-book was inconstant requisition for making sketches and notes of what he saw. 

We noticed that he was frequently smiling and chuckling to himself as ifhe were intensely pleased; and presently he came over to us, rubbing hishands together in high glee, and said to John, "Heh, mon, I reckon I seemy way to making a fortune when we return home, out of the ideas andwrinkles I'm getting here from the work of the Martian engineers!"

John laughed, and congratulated him heartily on his brilliant outlookfor the future, remarking that he did not appear to regret coming toMars. 

"Indeed, I don't, " M'Allister replied; "I'm thinking it will prove thevery best thing I've done in my life. "

"Well, sir, " said Merna, "I told you those machines would suit you as anengineer; are you satisfied now you have seen them?"

"More than satisfied, " answered M'Allister; "they are the mostextraordinary and most ingenious machines I ever saw, and I wouldn'thave missed them for anything!"

At the sides of each high-level canal we saw a series of locks and weirsso constructed that vessels can pass on, in successive stages, from thehigh-level to the low-level canals, and _vice versâ_. 

These locks and weirs are all within the area enclosed by theembankments forming the carets, which accounts for the long andextensive space the latter cover, as the locks are necessarily aconsiderable distance apart from each other to allow for a length ofcanal to be traversed before the next lock is reached. They are, however, not in themselves sufficiently conspicuous to be separatelydiscerned from the earth by our telescopic observers. 

Machinery for forcing the water along the canals is also provided atmost of the junctions everywhere on the planet. In this connection itmust be remembered that the water is carried by the canals from onehemisphere to the other, and, after passing the equator, must thereforemove in a direction contrary to that of ordinary gravitation. 

Thus at one season of the year the water passes from the north polarregions down into the southern hemisphere, and at the opposite period ofthe year it is carried in the same way from the south polar regionsright into the northern hemisphere. 

Gravitation being almost non-effective as regards the flow of water onMars, the movement would be extremely slow everywhere were it not forthe machinery, which adds to the speed of the flow. The average rate ofthe movement of the water in the canals is about fifty-one miles a day, and it takes about fifty-two days for the water to pass from aboutlatitude 72° down to the equator, a distance of 2650 miles. 

This rate of flow, as indicated by the darkening arising from the growthof vegetation which follows the flow of the water down the canals, hasbeen observed and noted many times at Flagstaff Observatory. 

It was now perfectly clear to us why the "carets" are only seen in theparticular places in which they have been observed by Professor Lowelland his colleagues. They are, in fact, only needed in connection withwater-lifting apparatus, and locks and weirs, at the places wherehigh-level canals connect with those at a lower level!

We were all very pleased at finding the solution of a problem which hadbeen much discussed between us without arriving at any satisfactoryconclusion. 

John then asked Tellurio if he would be good enough to explain to us howit was that our observers on the earth saw some of the Martian canalsdoubled at some periods of the year and single at other times; andsometimes one of the twin canals was seen alone, and at other times thesecond one only was visible. 

"It is a very simple matter, sir, " replied Tellurio. "You willunderstand that we do not wish to waste any of our water, and as it isquite unnecessary to use all our canals at the same time, we only usethose which are actually required. This arrangement also allows us tohave a much greater depth of water in the canals than would be the caseif they were all in use at once. 

"Many of the canals are only required for irrigating seasonal crops; soas soon as the requisite amount of moisture has been acquired by thesoil the water is turned from that canal into another one, passingthrough an area where a later seasonal crop is to be grown. Thisarrangement, moreover, applies not only to our double canals, but alsoto very many of the series which you have regarded as single canals. "

Thus the mysteries connected with Mars were being cleared up one afterthe other; and having regard to the very simple and natural explanationswe received, we could not help laughing as we talked the matter over andrecalled the immense amount of discussion and wrangling which hadoccurred amongst our scientific men in connection with these matters, and especially at the difficulty they seemed to experience in believingthat the canals could exist at all. Then there were those charges andtheories of overstrained eyes, diplopia, and defective focussing, to saynothing of other suggestions. Well, I will not say any more upon thispoint. 

In continuation of our discussion of the canal question, I askedTellurio "Whether the canals and irrigation system had been the means ofreclaiming any large areas of land which had previously been deserts?"

"Oh yes, sir, " he answered, "that has been the case in many parts ofour world; some very large areas indeed which were once deserts have nowbecome very fertile. Quite apart from such reclamations, however, ourcanals and irrigation systems have also effectually checked the spreadof desertism. If it had remained unchecked, probably by this time theentire surface of our planet would have become a desert. "

I then explained that I asked the question because our observers hadseen and noted upon their charts several large areas which seemed tohave become fertile. Thus, along the eastern side of Thaumasia it hadbeen noted that, during a period of about twenty-three years, the greenarea had advanced at least 400 miles nearer to the place we called the"Solar Lake. " On measuring this area on the map it appeared to me thatat least 200, 000 square miles which had previously been desert hadbecome fertile. 

Similar extensions of vegetation had also been charted in several otherplaces, for instance, on the east side of the large area known to us as"Syrtis Major. " I had, however, been rather surprised not to have comeacross any comment by our scientists on the significance of this verylarge increase of fertile land, as, taken in connection with the greatcanal system, it seemed to me very significant and full of meaning. 

Merna, continuing his remarks, then said that "Lately considerableextensions of their canal system had been carried out. New canals hadbeen dug, others altered or extended, and vast areas had beenconsiderably changed by replanting in some places and fallowing inothers. The result of all this work, " he said, "would produce astriking alteration in the configuration of some of the dark areas. Suchchanges, " he remarked, "were carried out very rapidly, so rapidly indeedthat it would probably be almost incredible to terrestrials; but it mustbe remembered that excavation, loading and removal of soil, as well asmost other operations, were accomplished by special machinery. He had nodoubt these changes would be noted by our observers, as Mars was sofavourably situated in regard to the earth at the present time. Besidesthis, " he continued, "many of our canals have been dealt with, and someof them will disappear, either temporarily or permanently. "

"Well, Merna, " said John, "if that is the case our observers will soonmiss them; and I can imagine some of them gazing on your planet throughtheir telescopes and exclaiming, 'Lo! here is the symbol of the death ofMars. Where we used to see canals there is now only blank space; thecanals are disappearing, and the Martians must be rapidly decreasing innumbers and no longer able to maintain their vast canal system; orperhaps their water supply is diminishing so rapidly that it is becominginsufficient to keep the canals in working order; so ere long all lifeupon Mars must come to an end!'"

"If that should be so, " said Merna, "they will be altogether wrong intheir surmises, for the disappearance of several of our canals will notindicate death but life. Some of those canals will only be temporarilyput out of use, but others, having served their purpose, will bediscontinued permanently. They are like our flowers that have doneblooming, which may be allowed to grow again next season, or the groundmay be fallowed and fresh flowers planted elsewhere; so the vanishedcanals may be succeeded by fresh ones where they are needed; and whenyour people see these new canals they will _know_ that they indicate thecontinued existence of vigorous and enterprising life upon Mars. "

We then started upon our return home, and on the way I drew M'Allister'sattention to the smaller size of the sun as we saw it now as comparedwith the size it appeared to us when on the earth. I told him that Marswas then about 131, 000, 000 miles from the sun, so the sun's apparentdiameter was only about 22-1/4 minutes. 

On the earth that day the sun's apparent diameter would be about 32minutes. So to the Martians the sun only appeared about two-thirds thesize it appeared to the people on the earth. 

When, on 13th August this year, Mars was at its "perihelion, " or nearestpoint to the sun, the latter was 129, 500, 000 miles distant, and wouldappear rather more than 22-1/2 minutes in diameter. 

At the opposite point of its orbit, where it will be in "aphelion, " orfarthest from the sun, the sun will only appear about 19 minutes indiameter. 

I then explained that, although the sun is so distant, Mars receives avery much larger percentage of the total heat and light available thanwe do on the earth, because of the thinness and generally cloudlesscondition of the atmosphere. It is estimated that our atmosphere andclouds shut out nearly 50 per cent. Of the light and heat which wouldotherwise reach us in the course of the year. On the other hand, their"blanketing" effect considerably lessens the amount of heat radiatedinto space; thus, by keeping in the heat we have received, compensatingto some extent for the original loss in quantity. 

But, owing to its thin clear atmosphere, Mars receives nearly 99 percent. Of the total amount of heat and light proceeding to it from thesun; so that, although the sun is more distant from the planet, thewarmth on Mars does not compare so unfavourably with the warmth on theearth as many have imagined it to do. 

M'Allister replied that "He had expected to find it very cold indeedupon Mars in consequence of its distance from the sun, but was surprisedto find it so warm, " and added, "what you have now told me, Professor, explains why this is so, and I can only say that at present I find theclimate a delightful one--pleasantly warm, yet bracing and invigorating. Even in the tropical regions, although it is hot, it is not theoppressive and enervating heat that I have experienced in the tropics onour own world. "

He then remarked that "He knew the planets all moved through space andhad read that some of the stars did too, and he would like to knowwhether our sun had any motion in space?"

"Yes, " I replied; "as the result of a long series of observations andcalculations it has been determined that the sun is moving through spaceand carrying with it all the planets in our system. Its rate of movementis not known with certainty, but it is estimated at about 1, 000, 000miles a day. Whether it is moving in a straight line or in a vast orbitaround some far distant sun is also an open question, and it may takecenturies to arrive at a definite result. This motion of our sun, rapidthough it is, is very slow compared with the motion of some of thestars. One that appears only a small star to us, but which is probablya sun enormously larger than ours, is moving through space at a ratewhich cannot be less than 200 miles a second; and unless that movementis direct across our line of sight its rate must be still more rapid. Yet it is so enormously distant that, in 500 years, it would only appearto have moved over a space of one degree on the sky! It is calculatedthat Arcturus moves still more rapidly. 

"The movements of several other stars have been calculated; but thedistance of the stars is so enormously great that the majority appear tohave no movement at all, though probably not one of the heavenly bodiesis at rest. 

"It is estimated that the light of the nearest star we know of takes atleast four years to reach the earth, yet light travels at the rate of186, 000 miles a second. We know of others whose light takes centuries toreach us, and, with regard to most of the stars, the light we seeprobably left them thousands of years ago. 

"It is only when a star is so near to us that the earth's revolution inits orbit is sufficient to cause a change in the apparent position ofthe star which can be measured with our instruments that any calculationcan be made to determine its distance from us. In nearly all cases wherethe distance has been calculated, the change in position is so minuteand difficult to measure accurately, that the results obtained can onlybe regarded as very rough approximations to the real distances. 

"The universe is infinite in extent, and the human mind is quite unableto conceive what is really implied in the distances of the planetsbelonging to our own solar system; yet they are as nothing whencompared with the distances of the fixed stars, either from the earth orfrom each other. We equally fail to realise the immense numbers of thestars. The camera, it is estimated, shows at least one hundred millionsin the heavens; and our great telescopes can penetrate throughinconceivable distances of space and render visible millions which thesmaller instruments fail to reveal. Every increase of instrumentalpower, however, carries us still farther, and reveals more and morestars in deeper depths of the illimitable abysses of space. 

"In these matters there is no finality, for though with telescopic aid:

 'World after world, sun after sun, star after star are past, Yet systems round in myriads rise more glorious than the last: The wondrous universe of God still limitless is found, For endless are its distances, and none its depths can sound!'"

CHAPTER XXI

OUR FIRST VIEW OF THE EARTH FROM MARS--A MARTIAN COURTSHIP

Within a few days we had our first glimpse of the earth from Mars. Itappeared only as a very thin but bright crescent of light, as thelighted portion was less than one-twelfth part of the whole diameter ofthe disc, and it was only visible for a very short time. 

Owing to the clear and thin atmosphere of Mars there is very littlescintillation of the stars, and the crescent form of the earth at suchperiods as the present can plainly be discerned without the aid of aglass. To the Martians this is more readily seen than by us, as theireyes, being larger than ours, have a much greater light grasp. 

For the same reason all the stars shine much brighter than they do inour skies, and many of the smaller ones which can be seen from Mars withthe unaided eye, would here require a low power-glass to render themvisible to us. The fact that Saturn has a ring is quite apparent to theMartian eye. 

Day by day after this we saw the lighted area extending upon the earth, just the same as on the earth Venus can be seen with a telescopegradually to pass from the crescent phase to the gibbous form, andultimately become full. Our earth is a morning and evening star to Marsthe same as Venus is to the earth, according to its position with regardto the sun. 

Whilst we were looking at the earth, I asked Merna "Whether he had everseen the earth transit the sun as we occasionally see Venus or Mercurydo so?"

He answered that "He carefully observed the last transit, which occurredon a date equivalent to our 8th May 1905, and was very interested inwatching the earth pass, as a small black spot, across the sun's disc. The moon did not commence to cross until 6 hours and 7 minutes later, bywhich time the earth had passed over three-quarters of the sun'sdiameter. The earth was 8 hours and 42 minutes in transit, and the moon, which crossed a little lower down, was 8 hours and 31 minutes incrossing. "

"That must have been an interesting sight, " said John, "and I shouldlike to have the opportunity of watching a similar transit. "

"I am afraid you never will, " said Merna, "for the transits only occurat long intervals. The previous transits occurred in November 1879, November 1800, May 1700, and May 1621. There will not be another untilMay 1984, and the next after that will not occur until November 2084. "

"I am sorry to hear that, " remarked John, "for even if I stayed here, Ishould not be likely to live long enough to see the next transit. Possibly you may do so, Merna; you are so much younger than I am. "

"Yes, " Merna replied, "it is not unlikely that I may see another suchtransit, for the average length of our lives on Mars is about equal toone hundred and thirty of your years, so that leaves me an ample marginof time. "

I then went on to remark that as another result of the thinness of theMartian atmosphere twilight is much shorter than on the earth, thelight being less diffused when the sun is below the horizon, andrefraction also considerably less than we experience. 

In this connection, I mentioned to M'Allister that we can often see thesun and the moon apparently above the earth's horizon when they are, infact, below it. This is caused by the refractive power of our denseatmosphere, which has the effect of making both the sun and the moonappear a little higher up than they really are. 

"That is something new to me, Professor, " exclaimed M'Allister; "and Icannot say I quite understand how refraction, as you term it, has theeffect you mention. "

"It may help you, then, " I answered, "if I tell you that water acts verymuch in the same way; and there is a simple and fairly well-knownexperiment you might try for yourself, which would make the matterperfectly clear to you. It is as follows:--

"Take a teacup and place a shilling at the bottom of it, then move backuntil you quite lose sight of the coin. Ask some one to pour some cleancold water gently into the cup, and, as it fills, the refraction of thewater will apparently reduce the depth of the cup, and thus bring thecoin fully into view. In much the same way the refraction of theatmosphere enables us to see the sun or the moon when those bodies areactually below the horizon. "

"Thank you, Professor, " said M'Allister; "I will try that littleexperiment at the first opportunity. "

I then told him that at the time when the moon is just full it may risetowards the east just as the sun sets towards the west. Both orbs cannotbe wholly above the horizon at the same time on such occasions, but, owing to refraction, we are able to see them both. 

The sun and moon both appear flattened or oval-shaped just as they arerising or setting, in consequence of the effects of atmosphericrefraction. These effects are usually most noticeable near the horizon, because the object is seen through the densest layers of air. But wenever see a star in its true place in the sky, because the rays of lightwhich come to us from the star are bent or refracted as they passthrough our atmosphere, just as a stick appears to be bent when thrustdown into a deep pool of clear water. 

All these effects, however, add to the work of astronomers, because theymust be taken into account in connection with their calculations. 

 * * * * *

As the time passed on, I day by day became more interested in Merna'srelations with Eleeta. 

"All the world loves a lover, " and we elderly people are always pleasedto note the progress of young folks' love affairs, especially if eitherof them is a relative of ours. In them we seem to renew our youth, fortheir entrancements seem to carry us back to the halcyon days when weourselves were young. When "Love took up the glass of time and turned itin his glowing hands" everything seemed of a roseate hue, and we dweltin the seventh heaven of delight, at peace with all the world andenvying no one--for were we not the most happy and fortunate of mortals!

And then, to look upon a Martian courtship! To see the rich flushesmount to the cheeks of the lovers--their softly glowing luminous eyes, their absorbed attention in each other, and their mutual deference andresponse to the most slightly indicated wish! Ah, it was indeed a sceneto gladden the heart of the father of one of them!

Eleeta's beauty, the sweetness of her disposition, and most charming andlovable ways endeared her so to me that I did not wonder Merna foundthem so attractive and satisfying; and my most fervent aspirationsascended for their happiness, both now and in the future. 

With the Martians there is no false modesty about their courtships; allis natural, proper, and dignified; every one may see and every oneenters into the true spirit of the thing. Mere flirtations, such as weare so familiar with, are quite unknown, as they would be contrary toall the natural instincts of the people. Everything upon Mars is honest, true, and straightforward--open and above-board. This must necessarilybe so, in consequence of the Martians' powers of intuition, for anyattempt at imposition or deceit would at once be detected. 

I had an illustration of this when I asked Merna, "How they dealt withtheir criminals?"

"We have none to deal with, " he replied, "and you will understand why, when I tell you, that if any one committed a crime, however small, andit was desired to find out the offender, it would be impossible toescape detection. He might fly to the other side of our world, but theintuitions of our experts would at once make them aware of hishiding-place; besides, he could not conceal what was on his mind fromany one with whom he associated. 

"In the earlier times when only a small proportion of the Martians wereendowed with these powers to any large extent, there were occasionalcrimes; but as they were always detected, crime soon ceased to exist. 

"Thus you will see that, quite apart from their high standard ofmorality, the Martians soon found that crime was a folly. "

 * * * * *

There was another love affair apparently developing which did not affordme so much satisfaction as that to which I have just alluded. 

I noticed that John and Siloni were very frequently together; and, whatever might be the case with the latter, I had very little doubt thatJohn was smitten with his companion's charms. It was, perhaps, nothingto be wondered at, for Siloni was indeed a very nice girl, withbeautiful features, dark hair, and dark eyes; whilst John waswell-built, fully six feet in height, with black hair and moustache, andvery good-looking; altogether a fine and attractive man, and it hadoften been a matter of surprise to me that he had never married. 

Still, such a complication as this had never entered my mind when I cameto Mars, and I was rather perplexed to know how best to deal with thesituation. However, I thought it would be well to wait a little whileand see how the matter shaped itself before taking any action. 

CHAPTER XXII

CELESTIAL PHENOMENA SEEN FROM MARS--M'ALLISTER RECEIVES A PRACTICALLESSON IN GRAVITATION

Mars is really an ideal world for an astronomer to live in, its skiesbeing so clear, the air so thin and pure, and the stars shining sobrilliantly. 

Besides these advantages, the rapid movements of the two satellites ofthe planet result in a constant succession of celestial phenomena whichafford very frequent opportunities for most interesting observations. Changes in the phases of the two moons, eclipses, occultations, transits, &c. , are constantly occurring, so there is nearly alwayssomething to attract our attention to the Martian sky. 

We have already seen several of these phenomena, and I will now describewhat we have observed. 

Early one evening when we were out with Merna, we looked up at the skyand saw the two moons a considerable distance apart, but approachingeach other from opposite directions, Phobos appearing to move veryrapidly. Both were near the full phase, Deimos being more nearly fullthan Phobos; and we watched them drawing closer and closer together tillPhobos passed right in front of Deimos so as to hide it entirely. Thisis termed an occultation; and both the satellites had become full whenthe occultation occurred; but when they were again clear of each otherboth were beginning to wane. 

This sight may be seen anywhere near the Martian equator about every tenhours. 

The movements of Phobos seemed very peculiar to us who had lived uponthe earth and seen all the celestial bodies appearing to move in thesame direction. 

I have already alluded to the fact that Phobos is only 3700 miles abovethe surface of Mars, and moves so rapidly that it makes more than threecomplete revolutions round the planet whilst the latter is turning onlyonce on its axis. 

The effect of this very rapid revolution of the satellite, which has nocounterpart, so far as we know, in our Solar system is that, instead ofrising in the east and setting in the west as all the other heavenlybodies appear to do, Phobos appears to rise in the west, cross the sky, and set in the east. 

The moon and planets all actually move from west to east; the apparentreverse of this being caused by the more rapid movement of the earth onits axis, giving the other bodies the appearance of moving from east towest. If, however, our moon is closely watched, and its position withregard to a fixed star carefully noted, it will be found that in thecourse of a short time its real movement has been eastward, and that itsposition with regard to the fixed star has changed, although therevolution of the earth has appeared to carry both westward. 

Phobos is 36 miles in diameter. Its actual period of revolution roundthe planet is 7 hours and 39 minutes, but, owing to the movement of Marson its axis in the same direction, it appears to take a few minutesover 11 hours to complete one revolution. 

Near the equator, Phobos is seen above the horizon for about 4-1/4hours, and is below it about 6-3/4 hours. According as the place fromwhich it is viewed is farther from the equator so will the time ofvisibility of Phobos be decreased, until when latitude 69° is reached ineither hemisphere, it will cease to become visible at all. This is owingto its nearness to the planet; and, Mars being small, the curve of itssphere is sharp, so that the horizon is more limited than on the earth, and the satellite is shut out from view anywhere above latitude 69° bythe body of the planet. 

Another peculiarity is that, when in the zenith, Phobos appears twice aslarge in area as it does when near the horizon, and notwithstanding itsvery small size, Phobos appears rather larger than our moon, because itis so near to the planet. 

The length of the Martian "night" is about 12 hours and 20 minutes, andduring this very short time Phobos may be seen to rise in the west, setin the east, and rise again once more in the west. Consequently it willbe evident that it must travel very rapidly across the sky. It reallymoves over a space of 32-1/2° in a single hour--a great contrast to theslow and stately movement of our moon, which only passes over half adegree in an hour. 

Moreover, Phobos may be seen to rise as a new moon, pass through itsphases to the full, wane, and again become new, all in the course of asingle Martian night; or it may be seen twice full and once new duringthe same time. 

Even this does not exhaust the list of phenomena, for, being so closeto Mars, Phobos is very frequently eclipsed by the shadow of the planet. On the other hand, the sun may be eclipsed by Phobos something likefourteen hundred times in the course of a Martian year; and, as alreadymentioned, the other satellite is often occulted by Phobos--sometimeswhen both may be only at the half full phase, and these occultationslook very peculiar. 

Deimos, being only 10 miles in diameter and about 12, 500 miles from thesurface of the planet, does not give rise to so many phenomena as thenearer satellite: still they are very numerous. 

It revolves round the planet in 30-1/4 hours, but appears to take131-1/2 hours to do so, being above the horizon about 60 hours, andbelow it nearly 72 hours. These are the times as seen from the equator;but, as in the case of Phobos, the farther the place is from the equatorthe shorter is the period that Deimos is seen above the horizon, until, when latitude 82° is reached in either hemisphere, it ceases to becomevisible at all. 

Our moon, being so very much more distant from our earth, could be seenfrom both the poles. 

Deimos also passes nearly twice through all its phases whilst it isabove the horizon, viz. During about 60 hours, and may be seen twicefull and twice new in that time. 

Eclipses of Deimos by the planet and occultations of it by the othersatellite are very frequent. Being so small, it can never cause aneclipse of the sun, but it transits the sun as a dark spot about onehundred and twenty times during the Martian year. 

This is really a very inadequate list of the phenomena connected withthe satellites, but it will be seen that the number is enormouscompared with the few eclipses of the sun or moon seen on the earthduring the course of one year. Certainly Mars is an astronomer's world!

Merna heard my statements respecting these movements and phenomena as Iexplained them to my two friends; and when I had finished, he remarked, "You seem to be fairly well posted in these matters, sir?"

"Yes, " I said; "thanks to our astronomers, both professional andamateur, all these things have been very carefully calculated; and, withthe exception of a few doubtful points, we probably know nearly as muchabout them as the Martians themselves do. "

M'Allister then turned to me and said, "Professor, you told us that thetwo satellites of Mars revolved round the planet in a certain time, butin each case you afterwards said they appeared to take a much longertime to do so. I'm rather puzzled to understand how that can be. "

"It's really a simple matter, M'Allister, " I answered, "and I think Ican make it clear to you. While the satellite is making one revolutionround the planet the latter is turning on its axis in the same directionas the satellite is moving, following it up in fact; and you will Ithink understand that in these circumstances the people on that part ofthe planet where the moon is visible must necessarily keep it in viewfor a longer period than would be the case if the planet were notrevolving in the same direction. 

"You have been used to being on board a ship; so suppose your vessel wassteaming twelve miles an hour and there was another vessel at anchorjust twelve miles ahead of you, you would reach it in just one hour, would you not?"

"Yes, certainly I should, " replied M'Allister. 

"Now, " I continued, "suppose that the other vessel, instead of being atrest, was moving away from you at the rate of six miles an hour; afteryou had steamed one hour it would still be six miles ahead of you, andit would take you exactly another hour to catch it up. So you would bejust double the time reaching it when moving as compared with the timerequired to do so when it was at anchor. This is very similar to thecases of the satellites of Mars, and much the same thing happens inregard to Mars and the earth. If they are opposite to each other at acertain point, Mars will have taken much more than one revolution roundits orbit before they will be opposite to each other again, because theyare both moving in the same direction. Do you see it now?" I asked. 

"Yes, Professor, " he replied. "I know now, because you have cleared itall up. It's simple enough when one understands it. "

Merna then asked me if I would like to see some of their astronomicalinstruments, and, on my replying that I should very much like to do so, he took us to an observatory where Corontus was at work. 

I was at once struck by the small size of the telescopes; and, oninquiring about them, Corontus told me that very large instruments hadlong become obsolete, for these small ones could be used for all thepurposes for which a large one had been required, and gave betterresults. 

I examined one of them and found, to my surprise, that it embodied thevery ideas that I had long been trying to carry into effect. With thisview I had made many experiments, as it seemed to me that it ought to bepossible to construct an instrument of moderate and convenientdimensions which would show as much as our monsters will show, and yetbe capable of being used with low powers when occasion required. I hadendeavoured to attain this result by the aid of electricity, but failedto do so. Evidently I had missed something, but here was the thingitself in successful working, as I found upon testing it. 

On looking at some drawings of Saturn, which were hanging up in theobservatory, I noticed that this planet was depicted with two faintouter rings which do not appear on our drawings of the planet. One ofthese rings has, however, been discovered by M. Jarry-Desloges, but theoutermost ring is still unknown to our observers. This ring is a verybroad one, its particles being widely scattered, hence its extremefaintness. 

The Martians have also discovered two planets far beyond the orbit ofNeptune, and their knowledge of the other planets and also of the sunand the stars is far ahead of ours. 

I was also shown a comet which had recently become visible through theirtelescopes, and found from its position that it was undoubtedly Halley'scomet, for which our astronomers were so eagerly watching. I wonderedwhether any of them had been fortunate enough to discover it early inAugust, as the Martian astronomers did. Its last appearance was in theyear 1835. 

John remarked that "He thought Halley's comet might be termed 'Britain'sComet, ' for several of its appearances had coincided with theoccurrence of very important events and turning-points in our nationalhistory, such as the Battle of Hastings, the Reformation, &c. , " and headded, "as it will be a conspicuous object in our skies in 1910, Iwonder whether any important event will occur in our country? In 1835, when it last appeared, we had a political crisis!"

"Well, John, " I replied, "I do not attach much importance to comets asaffecting mundane affairs; we have got rather beyond such beliefs asthat. Besides, when we left England early in August things were going onall right in our political world, and there was no indication of anyserious crisis. "

"Still, " said John, "it would be rather curious if we did have a crisisnext year; and I should not be surprised!"

As we were walking home next day, M'Allister suddenly tripped over somelittle projection and fell prone to the ground. John ran to hisassistance and raised him up, at the same time asking "If he were hurt?"

"No, not at all, " said M'Allister; "I seemed to fall so lightly that Iscarcely felt it when I touched the ground. "

"Ah, M'Allister!" I exclaimed, "if you had fallen like that upon ourearth, I think you would not have come off quite scatheless. You see, upon Mars the gravitation is much less than on the earth, being onlythree-eighths of what it is there, so one does not fall so swiftly, norso heavily, as on the earth. 

"You can prove that very easily. Just take up a stone and hold it outhigher than your head, and let it fall; at the same time note, by thesecond hand of your watch, how long it takes for the stone to reach theground. "

He did so, and said that "As near as he could tell, the stone was justabout one second of time in passing from his hand to the ground. "

"Just so, " I replied. "On Mars a falling body only moves through a spaceof about six feet in the first second of time. On the earth, however, the gravitation is so much greater that a falling body passes through aspace of a little over sixteen feet during the first second. 

"In addition to that, although you weighed twelve stones when on theearth, you only weigh about four and a half stones here upon Mars. Nowyou can understand why it was you seemed to fall so lightly. "

"Yes, Professor, " he replied, "and I'm glad I fell here, and not uponthe earth!"

Then, picking up the stone again and throwing it high in the air, hewatched its fall, and turning to me, remarked, "Professor, you werequite right; that stone seemed to be quite a long time coming downagain, much longer than it would have been on our own world. "

"Well, M'Allister, " I replied, "now you know for certain that upon asmall planet gravitation really is much less than upon a larger planetof the same kind. 

"That's another little wrinkle for you, and you have found it all outthrough tripping over a stone!"

"Losh, mon, " replied he, "I seem to have learnt something almost everyday since I have been here; even a tumble down teaches me something!"

I then drew his attention to the birds flying near us, and pointed outthat they had a much wider spread of wing than our birds have, and thatthis was owing to the fact that the air being so thin a wide spread ofwing was absolutely necessary to support them in the air and enable themto fly. I further explained that, if the gravitation upon Mars were asgreat as upon the earth, the birds' wings must necessarily have beenstill larger, as the pull of the planet would have been so much thegreater, and would thus have prevented the birds from flying at all insuch thin air if their wings had been small. 

"M'Allister, " I then remarked, "you will, no doubt, have noticed thesame thing with regard to those large and beautiful butterflies we haveseen. Why, the outspread wings of the largest must have measured ten ortwelve inches across, and many of the smaller varieties were more thansix inches across. I wonder what our naturalists would say if they couldsee some specimens of these large and splendidly coloured insects!"

"Well, Professor, " he answered, "I never saw such large butterfliesanywhere else, not even when I was in the tropics on our own world. Ithad never occurred to me that gravitation, or even the density of theair, had anything to do with their size. Even now I do not understandhow it is the small insects are able to fly, for they are heavy fortheir size, and do not possess very large wings, yet they can move veryswiftly. "

"Let me explain then, " I answered. "Large birds can only move theirwings with comparative slowness, and it is therefore necessary thattheir wings should be large to enable them to keep their balance and beable to fly. Their wings are somewhat in the nature of aeroplanes, andthey shift them to different angles to take advantage of the varyingcurrents of air. 

"In the case of humming-birds and small insects, the wings are capableof intensely rapid vibrations, so rapid indeed that, when flying, thewings are almost, if not quite, invisible. This intensely rapid movementenables them to fly, and is somewhat analogous to the rapid movements ofthe vertical spiral screws, which you have seen on some of the Martianair-ships that screw their way up into the air. 

"Such rapid movements would not be suited to larger creatures, becausetheir muscular powers would have to be so enormously great that theirbodies would require to be larger and heavier in proportion. They wouldthus be very unwieldy. "

CHAPTER XXIII

I HAVE A SERIOUS TALK WITH JOHN

For some days past it had been becoming more and more evident to me thatJohn was quite infatuated with Siloni, and also that she was notunwilling to receive his attentions. I could, therefore, no longerremain a silent spectator, so took the first opportunity of our beingalone to broach the subject to him. 

I began by saying, "John, have you any idea of remaining upon thisplanet for the rest of your life?"

He looked round at me and flushed up. Then, after a little hesitation, said, "No, Professor; why do you ask such a question as that?"

"Because, John, " I answered, "it seems to me a very necessary questionto ask. If you are going away from here very shortly, what is themeaning of your attentions to our handsome young friend Siloni? You mustexcuse my speaking of this, but I do not like to see you placingyourself in a false position. Don't you think it would be wise to see alittle less of the lady in question during the remainder of your stayhere?"

"Well, perhaps so, Professor, " he replied rather reluctantly. "I neverthought it would come to this with me, considering that I am now on thewrong side of forty. It has been said that a man does not know what lovereally is until he has passed that age, and certainly I never did. Candidly, Professor, I must confess that I am very hard hit; and I knowpretty well now what it means to be over head and ears in love with themost charming girl I ever met in my life!

"Do not imagine I have not seen the difficulty of the situation; but, really, I am puzzled to know what to do for the best. I am sure thatdear girl would have me, and if I take her to England----"

"John, " I interrupted, "my dear boy, what can you be thinking of? How isit possible that you can take to England as your wife a Martian girl, who stands considerably over seven feet in height!

"Even supposing it were possible that she could live in the atmosphereand climate of our country, she would be entirely isolated from everyone, and, moreover, would be an object of public curiosity wherever shewent. 

"It would really be most unjust, humiliating, and cruel to Siloni; andyou would be made very unhappy owing to the way she would be treated. "

John looked down and fidgeted his feet about on the floor as he ponderedin deep thought for some minutes, then looking up at me, he said, "Isuppose you are right, Professor; you generally are; and that I havebeen rather foolish; but really I was thoroughly caught in the toilsbefore I realised it. Now, what would you advise me to do in thematter?"

"I should advise you now as I did at first, " I replied--"see less ofSiloni. I suppose you have not actually spoken to her on the subjectyet?"

"Oh no, " he answered quickly, "I have not gone so far as that; butSiloni must be aware of my regard for her. "

"Well, that being the case, " I said, "you cannot very well say anythingnow, for it would place her in a most awkward and unpleasant position. You cannot tell her you were going to propose, but have thought betterof it. Your only course, John, is to keep away from her as much aspossible without appearing to do so intentionally. "

"But won't she think it very strange behaviour on my part if I avoid hernow, after being so much in her company?" he asked desperately, as if inhopes that I might not press him to give up the idea of continuing asbefore. 

"No, John, I do not think so, " I replied. "You know she is a Martian, and if she has not already some intuition of the situation, the verynext time you see her this trouble will be on your mind, and she willbecome aware of the exact position of affairs; and I have no doubt shewill accept the situation, though it will probably cause herconsiderable pain. You should have thought of all this sooner, my boy. It is a great pity this has happened, but there is no help for it now, and no other honourable way out of it that I can see. I am, however, extremely sorry for you both. "

"Thank you, Professor, " he exclaimed, grasping me fervently by the hand;"but it is very hard luck indeed. "

He was very quiet and self-absorbed for several days after that, butthings turned out just as I anticipated. The next time he and Siloni metand conversed together, she became aware of the change in him, anddivined the reason of it. She said nothing, but he knew she understood;and, except that she was quieter, she never made any difference in herbehaviour towards him when they met occasionally afterwards. 

So, though I was sorry in some respects, I was very glad that thisawkward matter was settled. 

CHAPTER XXIV

THE MARTIAN SEASONS

Our earliest records of Mars date back to a very remote period, viz. 2300 years before the birth of Christ! Professor Hilprecht, in thecourse of his investigations on the site of the ancient city of Nippur, made extensive excavations, and dug down and down through the ruinsuntil he had penetrated through those of no less than sixteen differentcities, which, at various times, had been built one over the other. Heunearthed the famous Temple of Bel, together with its great library, consisting of over 23, 000 tablets, containing the chronicles of Bel. 

When a number of these tablets had been deciphered, they were found tocontain a complete system of philosophy, science, and religion, andproved that those ancient people knew many things about astronomy, andin some of the fundamental matters would not have much to learn fromastronomers of the present day. These tablets contained, amongst otherthings, records of observations of Mars! It is claimed that Chineserecords go back to a still more remote date. 

Since the discovery of the telescope our knowledge of Mars has graduallyextended, and its general surface configuration is now well known to allstudents of the planet. 

[Illustration: _From a Globe made by M. Wicks_ Plate XIII

MARS. MAP VI

"Syrtis Major" is seen on the extreme left just below the Equator. "Sabaeus Sinus" is again in view just to the right of the centre, thusthis map completes the circuit of the Globe of Mars. ]

The polar snow-caps were early depicted on drawings, also some of thedark areas; especially the striking one which has been known as theKaiser Sea and the Hour Glass Sea, but is now usually termed SyrtisMajor. It has an outline somewhat resembling that of India; and, if weinclude the southern portion, it is nearly as large in area. 

Our maps of Mars are now practically uniform as regards the naming ofthe places marked upon them. Formerly this was not so, as each countryhad its own map and the places marked thereon were named after differentastronomers, and usually after those belonging to the country in whichthe map was prepared. Much confusion arose from this practice, becausethe same spot on Mars might have a different name on each map; thus itwas difficult to identify any particular spot when only the name wasknown. 

Some international jealousy also arose owing to the patriotic desire ofobservers to identify particular spots upon Mars with the names of thegreat men of their own country. 

To remove this cause of friction and misunderstanding a system has nowbeen almost generally adopted of giving classical names to Martianmarkings. Some of these are of portentous length and strange spelling, but still the adoption of a uniform nomenclature has been a greatconvenience to observers and others who have occasion to use or refer tothe maps. 

On looking at a complete chart of the planet it will be seen that thelargest area of dark patches (which are believed to be areas capable ofsupporting life) is situated in the southern hemisphere, and thatseveral of these are wedge-shaped, with the points trending northward. On the earth it is just the opposite, the largest area of land being inthe northern hemisphere, and the wedge-shaped masses trend southward. 

Our earth's surface comprises an area of about 193, 000, 000 square miles, of which some 143, 000, 000 square miles are water, and the remaining50, 000, 000 square miles land. 

Mars has a surface area of about 56, 000, 000 square miles, about35, 000, 000 square miles being desert, and the remaining 21, 000, 000square miles land which may be habitable, as most of it is covered withvegetation. There are no large areas of water anywhere upon Mars. Thiscalculation, however, makes no allowance for the lines of vegetationwhich cross the desert, and contain canals, and, with the oases, mayhave a very large population. 

From the 50, 000, 000 square miles of land upon the earth must be deductedthe very large areas which are frozen during the greater part of theyear, and also the large areas which are deserts or bare rocks. Thiswould probably bring down the really habitable area to about 30, 000, 000square miles. 

Making a similar deduction in the case of Mars, but remembering thatmore of the regions near the poles would be habitable during part of theyear than is the case on the earth (as there is practically no permanentglaciation and the temperate zones extend nearly to the poles) thehabitable area would be reduced to, say, 15, 000, 000 square miles. 

It will thus be seen that although the total surface area of Mars isonly rather more than one-quarter of that of the earth, the area of itshabitable land, even under its present unfavourable circumstances, amounts to about half of the habitable area of the earth. 

Looking at Mars from this point of view, it does not contrast sounfavourably with the earth as is usually thought, especially when it isremembered how small a proportion of the earth's area is reallypopulated. 

Were it not for the great eccentricity of the planet's orbit, theseasons upon Mars would be very much the same in the different zones asthey are on our world, as the inclination of the planet's equator isonly very slightly less than that of the earth. According to the latestdetermination, the inclination in the case of Mars is 23° and 13'. 

As the Martian year is nearly twice as long as ours (being 668 Martiandays, which are equal to 687 of our days) the seasons are of courseproportionately longer in duration. The eccentricity of the orbit, however, causes a much greater difference between the lengths of summerand winter in the two hemispheres. 

 * * * * *

In the northern hemisphere of Mars, spring lasts 191 Martian days;summer, 181 days; autumn, 149 days; and winter, 147 days. 

In the southern hemisphere spring lasts 149 days; summer, 147 days;autumn, 191 days; and winter, 181 days. 

Thus, in the northern hemisphere spring and summer together amount to372 days, and autumn and winter to 296 days. 

In the southern hemisphere, however, spring and summer have 296 days, whilst autumn and winter last 372 days; so that the winter period ofthe year is 76 days longer than in the northern hemisphere. 

On the earth the winter portion of the year is seven days longer in thesouthern hemisphere than it is in the northern hemisphere. 

For this reason, our south polar snow-cap is larger than the north polarcap; and we should naturally expect to find a similar condition uponMars, only greatly accentuated. Astronomical observation shows that thisis the case, for while the northern snow-cap on Mars attains a maximumdiameter of slightly under 80°, the southern snow-cap attains a maximumdiameter of over 96°. The snow-caps are not perfect circles, butirregular in shape, and are, moreover, not exactly opposite to eachother. 

Notwithstanding its much greater area the southern snow-cap melts to agreater extent than the northern snow-cap does, owing to the intensityof the heat at the melting period. The northern snow-cap usually meltsuntil the diameter is reduced to about 6°, whilst the much largersouthern cap may be reduced to about 5°. In the year 1894 it disappearedentirely! The summer must have been unusually hot. 

So far as can be gathered from the records of our whaling and polarexpeditions, it would appear that our north polar snow-cap is from 20°to 30° in diameter when at the minimum; whilst the southern snow-cap isnearly 40° in diameter when smallest. 

 * * * * *

We had arrived upon Mars on the 24th of September 1909, according toterrestrial reckoning; but according to the Martian date it was then the26th of June in the southern hemisphere, where Sirapion, ourlanding-place, is situated. The season was, therefore, midsummer, andas Sirapion is in latitude 25° south and in the sub-tropical zone, thetemperature was fairly high. The mornings were much more clear andbrilliant than those on our earth; the warmth and general "feel" of theair at that time reminding me very much of what it is like in the southof England between seven and eight o'clock on a hot sunny day. Those whoenjoy an early morning walk know how delightful and exhilarating itbecomes towards that time. There is neither chilliness nor uncomfortableheat; one feels a delightful sense of freedom and that it is good to bealive. This is really the best and most enjoyable time on a summer'sday. On Mars there was rather more warmth but a greater sense ofexhilaration. Of course, from near noon to about 3 P. M. It was muchwarmer. 

Usually a lovely rosy effulgence is seen in the atmosphere in themornings and evenings. As a rule, sunrise and sunset effects are muchmore ethereal and more beautiful than those on the earth, the tintsbeing more delicate and the whole appearance of the sky less broadlymarked. It is as the difference between the crude broad effects of acoloured poster and the delicate effects of a highly-finished painting. 

What, in our sunsets, would appear a deep golden colour appears on Marsas a delicate pale gold, merging into bright silver. What with us is acarmine or deep rose, in Martian skies becomes a beautiful rose-pink;whilst the darker, or Indian, red seen for some time at the latterperiod of our sunsets is carmine in the Martian sky, and Indian red onlyappears just at the last. 

These tints are seen when the skies are of their normal clearness, butafter the occurrence of a great sand-storm in the desert and the upperair has become filled with fine sand particles, the Martian sunsets areequal in variety and depth of colour to anything seen on our earthduring the months immediately succeeding the Krakatoa eruption. Thosestrange and intensely coloured sunsets will doubtless be remembered bymy readers who had the good fortune to see them during the many monthswhen they were visible after that great volcanic outburst in the year1883. 

Sand-storms have been unusually prevalent on Mars during the presentsummer, passing over large areas of country and obscuring the sun forconsiderable periods; so we have had several phenomenal sunsetsafterwards. 

As the time passed on the days became cooler--the evenings beingconsiderably more so than on our earth in August, and twilight was verymuch shorter. Towards the end of the Martian August evening dews beganto be succeeded by slight hoar frosts. 

The heat in the tropics is not nearly so intense as on the earth. On theother hand, in the high latitudes near the poles, the summer temperatureis higher than in similar latitudes on the earth, because upon Marsthere is no permanent glaciation except right at the poles. 

We have, of course, seen the Martian polar stars. The axial tilt of theplanet being less than that of ours, and in a different direction, andits orbit being inclined 1° and 51' in regard to the earth's orbit, itfollows that the poles of Mars must point to a different part of thesky, and a considerable distance from our polar stars. 

In the northern hemisphere of Mars the polar star is a small one markedon our maps in the constellation of Cepheus, and it is almost on theboundary between that constellation and Cygnus. The pole star liesnearly in a line joining the brighter stars [alpha] Cephei and[alpha] Cygni. 

The south polar star is a small one marked [symbol] in that part ofthe large constellation of Argo Navis which is termed Carnia. 

Although the polar stars are very small, they shine more brightly in theMartian skies than the north polar star does to us, and are thereforemore easily seen. 

CHAPTER XXV

MANY THINGS SEEN UPON MARS--I RECEIVE SOME NEWS

During the remainder of our stay upon Mars we visited almost everyimportant place upon the planet, either by means of air-ships, motors, or by travelling along the main canals in splendidly equipped electricboats. 

We passed through the whole length of the Eumenides-Orcus, from itsstarting-point on the Phoeniceus Lacus, in the southern hemisphere, tothe Trivium Charontis, in the northern hemisphere--a distance of 3540miles, this being the longest canal on the planet. We visited the SolisLacus, or "Lake of the Sun" (an area larger than England), situated inthe southern hemisphere, which has usually been seen by our observers asa large dark patch, oval in shape. Indications of changes in this areawere, however, noted at the time of the opposition in 1907; and it isnot improbable that further alterations will be seen shortly. 

Numerous important towns exist upon this area, and several canalsconnect it with surrounding areas. 

We visited the north pole in our air-ship, and saw the snow fallingthickly, and rapidly adding to the size and thickness of the snow-cap, it being winter time. We visited the south pole and watched thefast-melting snow (the cap being almost at its minimum size) and thedistribution of the resultant water down the various broad channelswhich conduct it to the canals, from whence it is carried all over theplanet. 

When it is spring in the northern hemisphere the winter snow-cap at thenorth pole will begin to melt in like manner, and the water bedistributed in a similar way. The melting begins about the 1st April andlasts till July, and sometimes considerably later in the year. 

Thus, during the Martian year there are two distributions of water--onefrom the north pole and one from the south pole; and the growth ofvegetation follows the passage of the water as it flows downwards fromthe poles to the equator. 

On our earth vegetation progresses in an exactly opposite direction. Beginning near the tropics, where it is always summer, as the sun passesnorthward of the equator so vegetation gradually appears and developsonwards towards the north pole. It is exactly the same in the southernhemisphere; after the sun crosses the equator into the south thevegetation grows and spreads towards the south pole. 

The reason of this is that on the earth the supply of water by rainfalland snows is abundant, and it only requires the warmth of the sun tocause vegetation to spring up again at the proper season when the winterhas passed. 

On Mars the sun has the same action, but until the water comes down fromthe poles and furnishes the necessary moisture, the sun can produce noeffect and there can be no fresh vegetation. Thus, on Mars, the flow ofwater is the determining factor, and vegetation follows its course fromthe poles towards the equator. 

Observation shows that this is the case, and it has formed one of thestrongest arguments in support of the idea of water conveyance by meansof artificial canals. The opponents of the canal theory seem carefullyto avoid any mention of this argument. 

While we were watching the melting of the snow at the south pole, Imentioned to Merna and Tellurio, who accompanied me, that one of ourscientific men, relying for support on a speculation by a lady writer, had arrived at the conclusion that the snow-caps could not possiblysupply anything like the amount of water required. The writer inquestion had stated that the maximum area of the southern snow-cap was2, 400, 000 square miles; and, assuming it was composed of snow of anaverage depth of twenty feet, this would only give an average depth ofabout one foot of water over its whole area. 

The whole of the dark areas on the planet covered at least 17, 000, 000square miles, and as this was seven times the area of the snow-cap, itfollowed that the dark areas could not be covered with more than twoinches of water. From this scanty and inadequate supply of two inches ofwater allowance must be made for an enormous loss by evaporation; so, asthe writer said, "the polar reservoirs are despoiled in the act of beingopened. "

Tellurio at once settled the matter by saying, "Mr. Poynders, it is avery pretty theory, but, unfortunately for its supporters, it isentirely wrong, the figures being inaccurate, and the estimate of theextent of the area to be supplied, as well as the amount of wateravailable, is made under a complete misapprehension of the facts. "

[Illustration: _From a Globe made by M. Wicks_ Plate XIV

MARS. MAP VII

The white area at the top of this map is the south polar snow-cap, atabout its usual maximum size. In some hard winters it attains a diameterof considerably over 100 degrees. ]

"The maximum area of the south polar snow-cap is usually more than10, 000, 000 square miles instead of less than 2, 500, 000 as stated, but itis sometimes still greater during a hard winter. Then, where did thewriter acquire the notion that the whole of the dark areas had to becovered with water? Only the canals and trenches have to be filled, and, at the highest computation, these would cover only 2, 250, 000 squaremiles! So even accepting her average of twenty feet depth of the snow(which would give about one foot of water over the whole area of thesnow-cap), there would still be sufficient water to fill every canal andtrench upon our planet to a depth of nearly four feet six inches. 

"Let us suppose we have 700 series of canals, each averaging 1400 milesin length, and each series having an aggregate width (including the areaof the irrigation trenches) of 2-1/4 miles. You will see that givesabout 2, 250, 000 square miles to be covered with water. My estimate ofthe area to be covered is, however, much in excess of the real amount, as the average aggregate width of the series of canals would be lessthan I have assumed, and the trenches are shallow. 

"I must also point out that only a small proportion of the whole numberof canals would be in use at any given time, and the depth of the polarsnows averages considerably more than twenty feet; so a very muchgreater depth of water can be secured in those canals which are in use. The main canals which are used for navigation purposes are, of course, much wider and deeper than the irrigation canals. In the hotter regionsmany covered compensation reservoirs are provided, and these make goodthe wastage caused by excessive evaporation where pipes cannot be used. "

"Thank you, sir, " I said; "the information you have now given meentirely confirms the figures as to the area of the snow-cap, &c. , mentioned by Professor Lowell, but as regards the depth of the snow andthe size of the area to be covered, he has with scientific cautionrefrained from estimating to the full extent which the facts you mentionseem to warrant. In addition to this, no allowance has been made for thewater derived from the northern snow-cap. "

Thus vanished the theory which was supposed to support the view that thecanals must be hopelessly unworkable, and could never be of any use forirrigation purposes. 

It had also been argued that no intelligent beings would constructcanals if the planet were generally flat, as it would only be necessaryto let the water flow over the surface as far as it would go, and thusirrigate the parts reached by the water; whilst if it were not flat, thecanals could not be constructed at all. 

I asked Tellurio "What he thought of this suggestion?"

He replied, "Well, sir--here we have a planet believed to possess only avery scanty supply of water, which must require the most carefulhusbanding and economy in distribution; yet it seems to have been calmlysuggested that we would deliberately waste the precious fluid byallowing it to flow at random over the small portion of our land whichit would reach, where it might or might not be required! Our engineers, I may say, are quite capable of overcoming any difficulties arisingfrom inequalities of the ground. 

"If, as has been contended, the loss by evaporation would be so great incanals where the water is fairly deep as to result in depletion of thesupply, it is clear there must be a hundred times greater loss from thesame cause if the water is allowed to spread in a very shallow pool overa large area where it would be totally unprotected from the sun! Then, again, every part of our planet not reached by the water would becomedesert. 

"No, sir, " Tellurio added, "the Martians are far too intelligent towaste the water in this fashion: hence their canal system by which thewater is economically distributed where required, and also protectedfrom undue evaporation. It must not be forgotten that our canals arealso means of communication across the deserts, and without them distantparts of the planet would be entirely isolated from the rest of ourworld, except for our air-ships. 

"Our canal system has been a matter of slow growth and development. Beginning with the straightening of the beds of old rivers and narrowchannels connecting seas, the canals were then constructed where theywere most needed; but as time passed on, and our water supply fromrainfall became less and less, we were convinced of the necessity ofadopting a complete system of canalisation in anticipation of the timewhen our polar snows would be our only source of supply. This wasgradually carried into effect, and even now additional canals are beingconstructed to meet the requirements of places not reached by existingcanals. 

"In order to secure the return of the water to the poles, and so ensurea future supply, it is absolutely necessary that, wherever possible, thewater should be conveyed in open channels so as to allow evaporation totake place, otherwise much would be lost by soakage into the soil. "

"Thank you, sir, " I said; "those statements meet another objection whichhas been urged against the possibility of the canals existing; itapparently being assumed that the whole system must have been carriedout simultaneously, and that the population of Mars would have been muchtoo small to admit of that being done. "

"Our population is by no means small, sir, having regard to the size ofour planet; and the Martians, as intelligent beings, have always been inthe habit of looking well ahead to ascertain what provision would berequired to satisfy our prospective needs. Your people take far toonarrow a view of these matters. "

Thus many controversial matters were satisfactorily cleared up bystatements of actual facts. 

During our journeys over the planet we came across a large number ofcanals in different parts which have apparently not yet been discoveredby our observers. These were not all narrow lines of canals, and many ofthem were double ones, so our observers have more work yet before themin finding out these lines and recording them on their charts. 

Professor Lowell, who has made many experiments in order to determinehow distant a fine line of known thickness (such as a telegraph wire)may be situated and yet remain visible to the sight under ordinaryatmospheric conditions for clear seeing, has come to the conclusion thatwhen Mars arrives at its most favourable position for observation, andother conditions are satisfactory, it will be possible to see lines onthe planet which are not more than one mile in width. 

As regards the surface characteristics of Mars, we found that it isgenerally very flat, and that only here and there one comes acrossslight undulations, whilst hills and mountains are very few indeed. There are, in fact, no high mountains anywhere; the highest altitudesrarely approach 2000 feet, and such heights as these are quiteexceptional. 

This was quite in accordance with our expectations, because no mountainshave ever been seen upon Mars, though they have been carefully searchedfor by our observers. If there were any elevations much exceeding 2000feet in height they would have been visible sometimes when the planetwas passing under the careful scrutiny of our observers, and they couldnot have entirely escaped observation. 

In all probability Mars never at any time possessed mountains whoseheight would be at all comparable with that of our mountains; for, according to scientific calculation and reasoning, the planet's internalheat was never sufficient to have caused the formation of such highelevations on its crust. 

As the planet advanced stage after stage in its development it becamecolder and colder; all upheavals ceased, and the height of any elevatedparts upon its surface would thenceforward be gradually and continuouslyreduced by weathering and erosion in the same way as has happened inmany places on our own world. We have no very high mountains in theBritish Isles at the present time, but geology and physical geographyteach us that many of the low elevations now existing are merely thebasic wrecks and remains of mountains which, in ages past, must havebeen of considerable altitude. As the world ages and becomes colder itssurface will tend to become more and more level, and the rivers willbecome straighter in consequence. 

As regards animals, we discovered that the larger varieties have becomeextinct, and that there are at present no animals which can properly betermed wild or fierce, for they cannot exist in the deserts withoutwater or vegetation. Numerous animals, however, frequent the irrigatedparts where there is vegetation, and, though in a complete state offreedom, have for such an extremely long period been in constant contactwith the people that they have become quite tame. The people alwaystreat animals with kindness, and these free creatures are entirelywithout fear of them. 

Most of the animals are different from any we have upon the earth, butsome bear a general resemblance to ours of the same species, though theyare all of larger size, and differ considerably in details. Like thepeople, they have developed through the long ages, and have reached ahigher point than our animals, and a few have even developed the powerof speech. 

This may sound exaggerated--but just think! Many of our birds have beentaught to speak the human language, and a few have even acquired thispower by imitativeness. Who that has kept dogs, cats, monkeys, andhorses has not observed the desperate efforts of some of them to makethemselves understood. All are not alike, but we often come across ananimal which seems to understand almost everything we say, but none hasyet developed the power of making an intelligible communication to us, although some try hard to do so. It does not seem beyond the bounds ofpossibility that a few thousand years hence some animals, especially themonkey species, may be able to speak a little. 

The Martians do not use any of their animals as beasts of burden, and itwould be contrary to all their ideas to do so. On Mars nearly all heavylabour is performed by means of electrical machines, thus both thepeople and the animals are spared much heavy work. 

Our animals are often greatly overloaded, but we have a salutary law toprotect them from this, as well as from other forms of cruelty; and thepersons responsible for the ill-treatment may be punished. 

Human beings, however, may be overloaded and, in many cases, overworkedwith impunity, for there is no law to protect the unorganised workers. Is there not something wrong about this?

It may be argued that whilst animals cannot protect themselves humanbeings can; but, alas, only too often the force of circumstances compelsworkers to endure anything so long as they can earn a little to keepbody and soul together. 

 * * * * *

Flowers seem to be very plentiful here, and grow very tall and large. Many varieties bear a strong resemblance to our variegated lilies, theflowers being brilliantly tinted, and often measuring twelve to fifteeninches across. But, as upon the earth, flowers are found in all coloursand sizes, and in infinite variety. 

Trees also grow very tall, many varieties resembling our palms, especially in and near the tropics, where there are also many varietiesof cactus. In the temperate and cooler zones trees resembling our firsand pines are plentiful; whilst fruits, vegetables, and nuts, as well ascereals, are grown in enormous quantities on the irrigated areas, asthese products form the chief articles of food amongst the Martians. 

Insects are numerous on Mars, the conditions being very favourable toinsect life; and they are all on a very much larger scale than ourinsects, especially those which fly. 

Everywhere we go we are received by the people with the utmost courtesyand kindness, and have become much attached to those with whom we havebeen more closely associated. They are indeed a most amiable, intelligent, and lovable people--always good tempered--dignified, yetready to display great enthusiasm when occasion requires. 

The marriage tie is sacred and indissoluble on Mars, and divorce istherefore unknown; but it is also quite unnecessary, for no cause everarises for a dissolution of marriage. 

When Merna was telling me about this, I asked him whether any attempthad been made to dispense with marriage in any Martian community, stating that some of our advanced people were disposed to do so. 

He answered that "Some such ideas had been in vogue amongst certain oftheir nations about two thousand years ago, and attempts were also madeto abolish religious observances, but they proved complete failures, andengendered strife. No nation adopting these views ever progressed orprospered; the people were soon clamouring for the revival of their oldinstitutions, and since then no one had ever desired to dispense withthem. Both religion and marriage are essential to the stability andwell-being of all nations, and the people are soon lost without them. You may be assured, " added Merna, "that those on your earth who favoursuch a change are quite mistaken in thinking it would be an advance incivilisation, for, on the contrary, it would result in a reversion tobarbarism. "

The Martian educational system is very thorough. In their earlier yearsthe children all receive a good education in general and scientificknowledge, then they pass into the technical, trade, and businessschools. Every kind of business and trade is thoroughly taught byteachers who are not mere doctrinaire professors, but persons who havemade their mark as good, capable, and practical workers in theparticular trade or business which they are required to teach. 

We went over several of the ordinary and trade schools, and found themfully equipped with everything likely to be required for a thorougheducational course of training. 

In the warmer zones we found several large open-air amphitheatrescapable of accommodating from 10, 000 to 100, 000 persons. All around thecentral arenas of these were rings of beautiful scented flowers andshrubs. Both children and adults spend much of their leisure time inopen-air recreation and athletic games, and I was therefore notsurprised to find them all so bright and happy, as well as robustlyhealthy in appearance. 

As a result of our visit, the Martians now enjoy a new out-doorrecreation; for M'Allister, pressing John into his service, hasinitiated them into all the mysteries of golf, for which pastime theirlevel country is well suited. I have been much amused to note that, whilst M'Allister has always expressed great admiration of themechanical skill of the Martians, they have risen in his estimation atleast 100 per cent. Since they have taken so enthusiastically to hisnational game, and he is never tired of telling us what a "sensible"people they are!

He has taken up their training with all his Scottish vim andthoroughness, and has insisted upon the full rigour of the game. Allattempts to Martianise its various technical terms he has courteously, but firmly, suppressed; the Martian vocabulary has, therefore, beenconsiderably extended by the addition of the numerous fearsometechnicalities which sound so strange, even to an Englishman who is notfamiliar with the game. Whatever may be the ultimate result to theMartians, there is no doubt but that M'Allister is most thoroughlyenjoying himself. 

Tellurio informed me that their medical men have very little to do inthe way of curing ailments, their studies and efforts being mainlydirected to the prevention of disease; consequently disease and illnessare very rare, and many of the diseases which afflicted the people inpast ages have been entirely eradicated. 

The use of radium as a medical accessory has been known to them for avery long period, and they are able to prepare and utilise it withoutthe slightest risk of any untoward results. 

Another large factor in ensuring a strong and healthy population is themethodical system they adopt in planning all their towns. We in Englandhave only recently realised the necessity of town-planning and theadvantages of garden cities. On Mars, however, town-planning has beenmost systematically carried out for centuries; all their towns areglorified garden cities, presenting a happy combination of beauty, utility, and healthfulness. 

The general arrangement is as follows: On a circular area, varying fromone to five or more miles in diameter, according to circumstances, isthe central portion of the town, containing the splendid administrativeand business buildings, museums, winter-gardens, educationalestablishments, and places of amusement, as well as many fineresidences. Surrounding this area is a wide ring-canal, on the fartherside of which is the outer zone of the town, united to the centralportion by many wide and handsome bridges. On the outer zone areextensive residential areas, then a zone of factories and workshops, andbeyond that an area often extending for miles, which is covered withcereals and vegetables, fruit trees and nut trees. Outside all is a zoneof timber trees. The town and its surroundings, therefore, cover a vastarea. 

The canals radiate in all directions from the outer edge of the widering-canal, and all quays, wharves, and warehouses are alongside ofthese canals. Thus the ring-canal is kept quite clear of all suchbuildings, but all round both sides of it are beautiful terraces ofwhite stone, with numerous pavilions, broad boulevards, winter-gardens, and promenades. 

All the buildings have open spaces or gardens around them, thus securingample allowance of light and air. Smoke is quite unknown; no noxiousgases or vapours are discharged into the atmosphere from any of thefactories, but all such emanations which cannot be absolutely destroyedare purified, condensed, or otherwise dealt with within the buildings. Thus the air is always kept pure and wholesome. 

From this description it will be seen that the planning of a town isvery systematic, and that it much resembles a wheel. The hub is thecentral part of the town; the spokes are represented by the bridges; andthe outer rim--a very wide one--contains the outer zones. 

Besides the gardens there are large open spaces where air-ships havetheir stations, from whence they can start, or on to which they candescend. The air-ships, also, are usually constructed so that they candescend into the canals, on which they can not only float but bepropelled. 

Many of these town areas are the oases, about which so much has beensaid, and which, like many other Martian details, have been described asillusions. I only wish we had a plentiful supply of such illusions inour own old country!

One of the oases we visited was the Lucus Ascræus, in the northernhemisphere. A large number of canals converge from all directions on tothis spot--seventeen of them are marked on our maps--so I expected tofind it a place of considerable importance. It is, in fact, a verythriving business and manufacturing place--the Birmingham of Mars, besides being also one of the many centres of government. Like most ofthe manufacturing towns, it is near the tropical region--because theMartians derive most of their heat and power from solar emanations whichthey have discovered, and these they store up and transmit to verydistant places for use when required. Nearly all the places on Mars towhich several canals converge are busy centres of trade and containlarge populations. 

There are numerous large towns near the canals on all the dark areas, differing only in detail from those on the oases, the general plan beingthe same. 

I remarked to John that "I thought the towns on the dark areas ought toshow as rounded spots slightly darker in tint than the surrounding darkareas. Where several towns were close together they would probably beseen as a single spot, large in area and irregular in shape. It seemsstrange that, except for a few shown on Professor Lowell's charts, theyhave not been seen by our astronomers; but perhaps during the presentnear approach of Mars to the earth some of our keen-sighted observerswho possess large instruments may see and take note of many more ofthese dark rounded spots, as they are very numerous, and new towns arein course of development. "

During the spring and summer a large number of the people findemployment in the regions near the poles, especially those whose work isconnected with the canal system and who have to see that the water fromthe melting snow-caps is turned into the proper channels and everythingconnected therewith kept in good working condition. All these workers, however, migrate to warmer latitudes as the very long and dreary winterapproaches. 

 * * * * *

I have just received some interesting and very unexpected news which, assome writer says, "gives me furiously to think. "

John and M'Allister came to me asking anxiously whether I had fixed thedate for our departure. 

I replied that we should probably keep to our original programme andleave about the beginning of December, but asked John why he was soanxious to know?

"Well, Professor, " he answered, "there is more than one reason for myquestion. I do not think our stay should be prolonged. Haven't younoticed any change in us?"

I replied that "I had not seen any particular change or alteration inthem, except that in build and general appearance they were becomingmore like the Martians. "

"Yes, Professor, " exclaimed John, "that's just it. I don't know whetherit is the Martian air or the Martian food, or the combination of both, but we certainly are becoming more like Martians every day. Our eyes arebecoming luminous, our complexions and features are changing, and, byJove! if I haven't grown nearly two inches since we came here! If I goon like this I shall soon be such a giant that I shall not care to goback at all. "

"Really, John, " I said, "is it so bad as that? Now I come to look at youcritically you certainly do look taller; and I can see a littleluminosity in M'Allister's eyes, and rather more in yours. I suppose, being the youngest, you are more susceptible than M'Allister or myself. "

"Yes, I think that must be the case, Professor, " remarked John. 

"However, " I added, looking at him and smiling, "you told me there weremore reasons than one, so I suppose you have kept the weightiest reasonto the last. "

"Well, I don't know about its being the weightiest reason, " heanswered, "but we shall require nearly four months to accomplish ourjourney to England after we leave here, and I reckon that by that timemy stock of tobacco will be pretty nearly used up. I have given a lotaway to our Martian friends, and I've tried some of the native growth;it's rather decent stuff, but not a patch upon my mixture. "

I burst out laughing in such a hearty fashion that it set them off too, as I remarked, "Ah, John, I had a shrewd idea that there was somethingmore behind your anxiety than the fact that you were becomingMartianised. "

"Heh, John, " exclaimed M'Allister, touching him playfully on theshoulder, "the Professor had you all right that time, I'm thinking!"John blushed up to the eyes, and said no more. 

Ultimately it was agreed that it would be well to leave Mars on the 1stDecember, according to terrestrial reckoning. 

So that matter was settled; but, just after they had left, Merna andEleeta came in, both looking very glowing and happy. 

After the usual greetings and a few casual remarks, Merna announced thathe and Eleeta were to be united in the coming autumn. 

I was a little surprised at the suddenness of the announcement, but atthe same time exceedingly pleased; so, embracing them, I congratulatedthem heartily and wished them every happiness; then they left to tellsome one else the news. 

But, as I have said, these things "gave me to think. "

CHAPTER XXVI

WE WITNESS SOME WONDERFUL AERIAL EVOLUTIONS AND LISTEN TO MARVELLOUSMUSIC

Wherever we went we found new subjects for wonder and admiration, andfresh proofs of the high state of civilisation and development attainedby the Martians. We had seen many evidences of their genius inengineering and mechanical undertakings, but we found that they excelledin every art and science, and their achievements made terrestrialaccomplishments appear poor and even paltry by comparison. Whether weexamined their sculpture, paintings, pictures, or photographs--whichlatter they take direct and at one operation, with all the naturaltints--or whether we listened to music, our verdict was perforce thesame--"We had not previously known anything to equal it. "

We have all become fairly accustomed to seeing numerous air-ships movingin all directions across the sky in the daytime, but it still seemsstrange to us to see the lights of the air-ships flitting about thenocturnal sky. 

I mentioned this to Merna, and he remarked that no doubt it did seemrather strange to us, adding that my mention of air-ships was singularlyapropos of what was then in his mind, for he was just about to inform usthat an interesting aerial display had been arranged and was to takeplace that evening, with the view of affording us some idea of Martianout-door entertainments. 

We all expressed our thanks, and our appreciation of the kindness wewere receiving from the Martian nation; and I ventured to suggest thatprobably we were indebted to him for a considerable proportion of it. 

He answered that it was true he had taken some share in this affair andin a few of the arrangements for the functions we had already attended, but that many others had done the same, for it was natural to theMartians to do all in their power when any help was needed. As we werestrangers from another world they all vied with each other in makingsuggestions and arrangements which would afford us pleasure, or help toenable us to see all that was possible in their world. 

We were fully aware that this was the case, for we were received withkindness and welcome wherever we went. 

Merna's affection for me seemed unbounded, and his love was shown inevery action. Yet, like all the other Martians, he was never obtrusivelydemonstrative, everything being done in a quiet and natural manner. Whenon the earth his disposition had been very pleasing, but now his Martiannature seemed to have endowed him with a capacity for loving fartranscending that of his human nature. 

He was the same towards John, and we often spoke about it in Merna'sabsence, whilst M'Allister had become as much attached to him as wewere. 

Just before sunset Merna rejoined us, and we passed out of the city intothe open country to a spot not far from the place where we had landedfrom the _Areonal_. Here we found a large concourse of people assembled, and their numbers were being added to by fresh arrivals every minute. Onlooking upwards we saw air-ships speeding towards us from every quarter. Some brought passengers and landed them, but it was evident that most ofthe air-ships were about to take part in the display, as they remainedup in the air instead of coming down to the ground. 

We met many Martians whom we knew, and were introduced to others, so thetime passed quickly in interesting conversation. 

As soon as darkness fell Merna informed us that the display was about tocommence, adding that he had purposely refrained from giving us anyinkling of its nature, as he thought the unexpected would afford usgreater pleasure. 

We were gazing upwards at the vast assemblage of air-ships, which werelit up by the ordinary lamps used when travelling at night, whensuddenly the whole sky became brilliant with the glow of countlessthousands of coloured lights, and the air-ships began to move into theirallotted positions. 

Every ship--and there was a very large number of them--was covered allover with electric lamps. Some of the ships had all red lights, othersall blue, others yellow, and so on through the whole range of tintsknown to us, besides many tints which we had never seen before. 

The evolutions began with the formation of simple geometrical designs, starting with a complete circle of immense diameter. Then, inside thiscircle of many-coloured lights other ships took up their position, and, before we were prepared for anything, a triangle of lights had beenformed. It was clear that even in their amusements the Martians werescientific; for here outlined in glowing colours was the familiargeometrical figure of an equilateral triangle inscribed within a circle, perfectly worked out on a most gigantic scale, and very pretty it was. Quickly, another triangle was formed across the first one, the resultbeing a six-pointed star; and so on with several other more elaborategeometrical figures. The rapidity and certainty with which theseair-ships took up the requisite positions and showed their colouredlights in the appropriate places was marvellous to see. 

After about a dozen geometrical figures had been formed there ensued arapid and bewildering movement of the ships towards the southern vaultof the sky. Coloured lights flashed and whirled about in what, for a fewminutes, seemed chaotic confusion, then suddenly the chaos wastransformed into order. The vessels formed up in long rows one below theother, each row having one distinctive colour: a little movement of theships from the centre to each end, in a downward direction, and thestraight rows were transformed into complete semicircles concentric witheach other, their bases seeming to reach the ground. Then they closedtogether, and lo! right across the sky shone a perfect representation ofa rainbow (an extremely rare phenomenon upon Mars) glowing in brilliantlight, with every tint and _nuance_ accurate, and a thousand timesbrighter than any rainbow we had ever seen. It was magnificent!

Further rapid movements followed: the semicircles were broken up; thelarge vessels now being arranged in a long straight line across the sky, with the smaller vessels in another line just below and in front ofthem. The electric lamps were then instantaneously extinguished, and allwas darkness. But only for a moment; then from the top of every vesselnumerous immense pillars of coloured lights shot upwards into the sky. 

We gazed at this in some perplexity, wondering what it all meant, as thedesign gradually developed to its completion. Then John touched my arm, excitedly exclaiming, "Look, Professor; it is the spectrum of the sun!"Yes, that it was, and never had we gazed upon such an immense andglorious spectrum. We pointed out to each other the lines of hydrogen, sodium, strontium, and many others, all of which were truly depicted, both in colour and position. These lines were formed by the lights ofthe smaller vessels shown against the background of the lights on thelarge vessels, and we noticed that all the Martians around us quicklyrecognised what the lights represented. 

Next we had a representation of the spectrum of Sirius, then that ofAldebaran, and after that a spectrum which we were unable to identify. Merna explained that it was the spectrum of their south polar star. Afew others were shown, then the line arrangement of the ships was againbroken up, the search-lights extinguished, and the coloured lamps oncemore shone out. 

Many of the ships now rushed across the sky over our heads in alldirections, and, after a few evolutions, the whole were seen arranged soas to form four immense concentric circles, with a considerable spacebetween each ship. 

The ships in the two inner circles then began to move slowly, andpassed in two wavy lines alternately in front of one ship and behind thenext ship in the outer circles, the serpentine movement graduallybecoming more and more rapid; and most wonderful changes of colour wereproduced by the passage of the vessels past those lighted with lamps ofanother colour. Swifter and swifter became the speed until it seemedutterly impossible that these intricate movements could go on withoutresulting in a series of collisions and disasters. Yet, with all thisbewildering whirling, twisting, and intertwining, the ships were guidedon their courses with consummate skill and with an unerring accuracywhich was marvellous to behold. 

Another shake of the aerial kaleidoscope and the vessels were seen drawnup in three parallel lines on the east and three on the west. Then thesearch-lights again flashed out, filling the whole intermediate area ofthe sky with beams of brilliant coloured light, which were caused tooscillate sideways and overlap, producing a most gorgeous interminglingof glowing colours. The Martians certainly had a complete understandingof all the peculiarities connected with mixtures of coloured lights. 

Up to this time silence had reigned, for no sound came to us from thisvast aerial fleet; but now there burst forth from both ranks of vesselsstrains of music of such ravishing sweetness that I and my twocolleagues were quite overwhelmed. It seemed as though our mortal bodieswere completely etherealised by the thrilling melodies which floateddown to us from the upper air. 

This was not all. When on the earth we had read of attempts to connectmusical tones and chords with the chromatic scale of colour, it beingsuggested that each musical sound had its own distinctivetone-colouring. Now we saw it practically demonstrated, for each chordof music was accompanied by changes in the colours of the search-lightbeams; and on comparing notes afterwards John and I found ourselvesagreeing that the colours shown appeared exactly to interpret what ourinner consciousness seemed to evolve, but which we could not haveexpressed in words. It was like a scene of enchantment as we watchedthose immense bands of glowing colours changing so rapidly andsynchronising with the chords of music. Merna informed us that thelights of each vessel were electrically controlled from the keyboard ofone of the musical instruments on the ship. 

This was followed by a piece resembling a grand chorale: then anintricate fugue was performed, the several movements being taken up insuccession by the ranks on each side alternately, and apparently flungto and fro from one side to the other of that vast area in magnificentsequences and variations until it seemed that our human nature was souplifted, and we were so filled with ecstasy, that we could bear nomore. 

Many of the instruments were quite different from anything we had knownupon the earth, and when some of these were unaccompanied the musicsounded exactly like a grand choir of Martians singing in the heavens. It really seemed to us quite impossible that this concord of sweetsounds could be instrumental music, so perfect was the vocal effect. 

Several other pieces were played, each having its own distinctivecharacter; then, after a short interval, the search-lights weresuddenly flashed on to the city of Sirapion; the beautiful buildingswith their domes, towers, and minarets looking exquisitely ethereal asthey were bathed in the beams of the glowing and ever-changing prismaticlight. The beams were next directed downwards upon the assembly, and wegained a truer appreciation of the immense numbers that were gatheredtogether. 

After this short interlude we were entranced by the opening bars of avery grand and majestic composition. As the first strains reached us Inoticed that all the Martians who were seated at once rose erect; everyMartian bared his head, raised his right hand, and, with an expressionof rapt intensity and reverence, gazed towards the heavens. I and mycompanions immediately adopted a similar attitude, for Merna explainedthat this piece was the Martian Hymn of Praise to the Great Ruler of theUniverse; and that its performance was regarded as one of their mostsolemn acts of public worship. 

The grandeur and majesty of this music, its melodious themes andthrilling harmonies, are utterly beyond my powers of description; theair and sky seemed filled and pulsating with prayer and praise, thenresounding with grand crescendoes of triumphant shouts; each succeedingmovement of the music carrying it higher and ever higher in the scale, until at last it seemed to soar and pierce the infinite, the finalcadences dying away in melodious strains of celestial beauty andineffable sweetness. 

Finally the air-ships all circled round the sky, then took theirdeparture--darting off in all directions--the sound of their sweet musicbecoming fainter and fainter in the distance until at last all wassolemn silence; then the great assembly slowly and quietly dispersed. 

For some minutes none of us spoke, for each was in deep thought, soimpressive and exalting had been the effect of that wonderful andmajestic hymn. When at length Merna turned to us and asked if we werepleased with what we had seen and heard, we found it very difficult togive adequate expression to our feelings. 

Then M'Allister said, "Mon, it was beautiful, most beautiful! and Inever felt so nigh to heaven as I have this night!"

I remarked to John that "I had never expected to hear any music thatwould equal, much more excel, the incomparable 'Hallelujah Chorus' inHandel's 'Messiah. ' It had always seemed to me impossible that any musiccould ever be composed which would even approach it in majesty andpower; but what we had heard that night certainly surpassed it. "

On looking at my watch I found that the musical portion of this feast oftone and colour had occupied nearly three hours; yet, as I remarked, ithad seemed to me only a few minutes!

"Yes, " John replied, "to me it has been an experience like that of themonk Felix in Longfellow's 'Golden Legend. ' The monk went out into thewoods one day, where he saw a snow-white bird, and listened to its sweetsinging until the sound of the convent bell warned him that it was timeto return. When he reached the convent he was amazed to find the facesof the monks were all strange to him; he knew no one, and no one knewhim, or had ever even heard of him. At last one very old monk, who hadbeen there over a hundred years, said he remembered seeing a monk Felixwhen he first entered the convent. The records were searched, and it wasfound that Brother Felix had left the convent a hundred years before, and as he had never returned he had been entered in the list of thedead. So then

 'They knew, at last, That such had been the power Of that celestial and immortal song, A hundred years had passed, And had not seemed so long As a single hour. '

"That has really been something like my own experience to-night, "continued John; "for I have scarcely been conscious of the passage oftime, and hours have seemed only minutes! I trust, Merna, that you willconvey to your friends our most grateful thanks for all the pleasure wehave derived from this magnificent display of Martian attainments. "

M'Allister and I joined in this request, and Merna promised to complywith our wishes. He seemed very pleased at our appreciation; and he toldJohn that his quotation had recalled to his memory the beautiful poem byLongfellow, which had been a favourite with him during his earthlyschool-days, but had lain entirely dormant in his mind until now. 

We all agreed that, however long we might live, the memory of thatevening's events--the magnificent display of aerial skill, the gloriousharmonies of colour, and, above all, the majestic and incomparablemusic--could never be effaced from our minds. We wondered whether aerialflight would ever be brought so completely under control as to permit ofa similar display in the skies of our own world. 

Merna replied that he was sure it would be quite possible some day, butit must be remembered that what we had been witnessing was the result ofcenturies of Martian experience in aerial navigation. 

Merna then gave us an account of the progress of Martian discovery inregard to aeronautics, from which we gathered that the earlierexperiences of the Martians had been somewhat similar to those of ourown people. They began with bags of various shapes inflated with gaslighter than air, similar to our balloons, then experimented withaeroplanes of various designs, also bird-like wings, on a very largescale, actuated by electric and other motors. As time went on, however, their atmosphere became thinner and thinner, until at last all suchforms of apparatus became nearly, if not quite, useless as a means ofartificial flight. 

After this they made use of numerous vertical screws of a spiral form, which were caused to revolve with extreme rapidity by the aid ofelectrical machinery; and a few of the vessels thus equipped are stillin use. But the discovery of natural forces emanating from the sun andfrom their own planet soon led to the devising of means for utilisingthis natural power, and this has practically superseded everything else. Now all their air-ships and many of their machines are actuated by thispower, and are under the most perfect control. Air-ships are used forall purposes of passenger traffic and freight carrying. So are vesselson the canals and motor vehicles on the roads; and railways are, therefore, unnecessary. 

CHAPTER XXVII

A FAREWELL BANQUET AND A PAINFUL PARTING

The time was nigh at hand when we must think about our arrangements forreturning to the earth, and, as it drew nearer and nearer, I became muchtroubled. I felt that it would be endangering Merna's dear life to takehim to England, for our terrestrial microbes would probably prove fatalto a Martian, so it was impossible to suggest it to him; at the sametime I felt that I could not again part with my newly-found son, who wasnow all in all to me. 

Pondering over the matter, I wondered whether the Martians would allowme to stay with them and end my days on Mars with my beloved son. 

Just then Soranho came to see me, and we sat awhile talking together. Presently he said, quietly, "Mr. Poynders, you would I know desire tostay here with your son, but are doubtful about mentioning the matter tome. Doubt no longer, my dear sir! We shall be proud and happy to haveyou with us; and I am quite sure that I am fulfilling the wishes of ourpeople when I now cordially invite you, in their name, to make your homewith us!"

Thus the Martian intuition had solved my difficulty; and, ferventlythanking Soranho, I told him I gratefully accepted his kind invitationand would remain upon Mars, although parting with my two old friendswould be a hard task for me. 

It had been decided that we should leave on the 1st of December, thatbeing the latest possible date, as the earth was moving so rapidly awayfrom Mars that each day's delay would mean a longer journey. As it was, we should have about 215, 000, 000 miles to travel before we could reachour destination; and, as that would require at least 108 days, we couldnot arrive in England before the 18th of March 1910; probably it wouldbe a day or two later, as our course would take us so near the sun. 

When John and M'Allister came in I went to the receptacle where my chartwas kept and brought it out. Placing it on the table, I carefullyexplained what would be required, and gave them full instructions forsetting and keeping their proper course, so as to head off the earth onits journey. These instructions I had also written out in readiness, sothat each might know and be able to act in an emergency. 

Then came the most difficult part of my task, and, in hesitating wordsand rather disjointed sentences, I announced to them my decision toremain on the planet. John and M'Allister were very much moved; but, asthey saw the matter was really settled, they soon desisted from theirattempts to dissuade me. 

During the day we received from Soranho an invitation, in the name ofthe whole people of Mars, to attend a banquet on the day before ourdeparture to enable them to bid us adieu. 

This we, of course, accepted; and when we arrived at the place indicatedwe found that it was the largest hall in Sirapion, the immense buildingbeing crowded with Martians from all parts of the planet. 

After the banquet Soranho rose and announced that their friends from theearth would be leaving next day, and he trusted that all who could doso would attend at our point of departure to give us a hearty send-off. 

He then dwelt upon the pleasure which our visit and company had affordedthem, and said the good wishes of the whole people would go with us;adding that we might feel assured that anything which the Martian nationcould do, by means of transmitted influences, to aid in the advancementof our world would be most cheerfully and willingly done. 

Then he went on to make the announcement that, finding I had a strongdesire to stay with them and with my newly-found son, he had invited me, in their name, to do so. 

This announcement was received with tremendous enthusiasm: the wholecompany spontaneously rising to their feet, with repeated acclamationsand expressions of satisfaction. 

I then rose to express my heartfelt thanks for their kindness, sayingthat for many years of my life upon the earth I had loved to study theirplanet; and now that I had spent some time upon it and been therecipient of so much kindness and goodwill from all whom I had met, Iloved both their world and their people; and in deciding to accept theinvitation so cordially given in their name I trusted they would alwaysfind me a good citizen of Tetarta. 

Merna translated this speech to them, and there ensued another scene ofindescribable enthusiasm. 

John followed with a very feeling expression of his gratitude for thewelcome and kindness he had received as a stranger from another world. 

Then came M'Allister's turn, and his speech was a characteristic one. 

Turning to Soranho, he said: "Mon!--no, I should say 'Chief!'--I thankyou and all the people for the delightful time we have had upon Mars, and can only say I'm very sorry to leave you. But I have an old wife ofmy own in the world far across space over yonder, and away up in bonnieScotland. She will be looking for my return home; so, much as I shouldlike to stay longer with you, I cannot keep from going to her. Thank youall, and God bless you!"

I do not know how Merna managed to translate this speech, but itevidently gave the audience as much satisfaction as the others had done. 

So, with many hearty handshakes and expressions of goodwill, we left thehall at the conclusion of the proceedings and returned to our home, where John and M'Allister were to sleep for the last time. 

The next morning we sat discussing the final arrangements for theirdeparture, as they would start on their return journey in two hours'time. 

John and M'Allister were both much affected at my decision to stay uponMars (or Tetarta, as it will be to me in future), for they did not likethe idea of leaving me behind, and made some further attempt to induceme to change my mind on the subject. I felt, however, that they werereally convinced I was doing the best thing possible in thecircumstances, and had no hope that I would accede to their request. 

I told them my decision was unalterable, and that, as we all felt thepoignancy of the parting, it would be better to take leave of each othernow, rather than in public when they boarded the _Areonal_. 

As they rose to say farewell I said, "John, my dear fellow, I have kepta record of all our doings since we left old England, thinking that, ifpublished, it might prove of some interest to my countrymen. 

"I have a few words to add to it, and also a letter to enclose for youto take to my solicitors; but Merna will hand the packet to you when youactually start. I know you will carry out my wishes and see the bookthrough the press, although I have mentioned the tobacco andlaughing-gas incident!"

John smiled and promised to do as I wished; then rising, I said, "Sonow, dear friends, a last and long good-bye to each other. We have beenclose friends for many years and have many pleasant memories of thetimes we have spent together; but, remember, our thoughts may stillunite us, though sundered by many million miles of space, and dwellingupon different worlds!

"When I was on the earth I was living upon a star of the heavens; here, upon Tetarta, I am still upon a star of the heavens, but also along withthe only living being to whom I have been united by ties of blood andloving kinship. 

"It is, as Merna once said, only a change of dwelling-places, and ourkindly Martian friends are delighted to keep me here. It is hard to partfrom you, but do not wonder if I say--'Here I will live! here I willdie!'"

Then with many, many a lingering handshake and words of mutual love andaffection, we old friends bade each other an eternal adieu. 

As he reached the doorway M'Allister--as truehearted a Scot as ever hiscountry produced--turned towards me, and with upraised hand, glisteningeyes, and lips quivering, exclaimed, "Mon, you are doing the rightthing, but I never thought I would feel a parting with an old friend somuch as I do this! God bless you, Professor!"

CHAPTER XXVIII

LAST WORDS TO MY READERS

As I have decided to stay here upon Mars, and have just taken leave ofmy two dear old friends, I will now address a few last words to thosewho may read this record of our trip to Mars, and then seal up thepacket ready for John to take with him. 

In the course of my conversations with Merna's tutors, I learnt muchabout the past history of the Martian people; and they told me that itdates back to such a remote antiquity that, as compared with theirs, ours is only the history of an infancy!

Mars, being a much smaller globe than the earth, cooled down and becamehabitable æons before the earth reached that stage; and at the time whenthe earlier inhabitants of our world were living in woods andcaves--slowly and painfully fashioning for themselves weapons and toolsout of chipped flint-stones--there existed upon Mars a people who hadthen arrived at a full and vigorous civilisation. 

What wonder then that, with all these past ages of development and theincentive which the present physical condition of the planet suppliesthem, the Martians of the present day are in all respects, whetherphysically, morally, or intellectually, far in advance of theinhabitants of our much younger, and therefore less developed, world!

The lessons to be learned from this, and from the physical conditionsnow prevailing on the planet, are very similar. 

Mars, gradually, but inevitably, becoming a vast desert, and with theend of all things certain to arrive in a comparatively near future, pictures to us what must as inevitably be the fate of our own world ageshence, unless it come to an untimely end by some catastrophe. 

As Professor Lowell has pointed out, we know we have an abundant supplyof water at the present time, but we also know that, ages ago, the areaof our world covered with water was immensely greater than it is now. From the very beginning of our world's existence the process ofdiminution of the water area has always gone on, and it will still goon--slowly, surely, and continually. 

As an inevitable result of this decrease of water, and other naturalconditions, vast areas of land on both sides of our tropical zones havebecome deserts; and it is a scientific certainty that this process ofdesertism will, and must continue, until it covers the whole world. 

But, I think, the end will long be delayed, for the loss by desertismwill, as it seems to me, for ages be compensated by the new andhabitable land arising from areas now covered by water. The old sea-bedsupon Mars are now the most fertile areas upon that planet. 

As the desertism increases conditions similar to those of Mars willarise; the earth will become more level, polar glaciation will cease, the atmosphere become thinner, and water vapour, instead of falling asrain, will be carried by circulatory currents to the poles, and there bedeposited as snow. What the Martians have accomplished has shown us howto stave off the water difficulty, and also how a highly civilised andintelligent people can bravely and calmly face the end which theyclearly foresee!

This is the lesson from the present physical condition of Mars. 

On the other hand, the continual progress of civilisation upon Mars, andthe very high development attained there, coupled with what we know ofour own progress during the ages past, give certainty to the hope thatour own civilisation will continue to develop, slowly indeed, butsurely; and also to the belief that, compared to what it will be in thefuture, our present stage of civilisation is merely savagery. 

Development will lead to progress in everything which tends to increasethe intelligence, wisdom, and happiness of the whole human race. 

Our world has seen the rise and fall of many civilisations, but freshones have risen, phoenix-like, from the ashes of those which havedeparted and been forgotten. "The individual withers, " but "the world ismore and more. " As it was in the past, so will it be in thefuture--ever-changing, ever-passing, but ever-renewing, until the finalstage is reached. 

Since the earliest dawn of our creation the watchword of humanity hasbeen "Onward!" and it is still "Onward!" but also "Upward!!" Thepossibilities of the development of the human race in the ages yet tocome are so vast as to be beyond our conception; for, as Sir OliverLodge has remarked, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has itentered into the mind of man to conceive what the future has in storefor humanity!" Then:

 "Forward, forward, let us range, Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change!"

This, then, is the great lesson which Martian civilisation teaches us. Surely it affords no reason for the depression and pessimism in whichsome upon the earth are so prone to indulge; but rather should it stirthem to a more earnest endeavour, by gradually removing the obstacleswhich now bar their progress, to improve the social conditions of thepeople; so that they in their turn may improve their intellectualconditions, and lend their aid to the general advancement of the worldthey live in. 

Gloom, depression, and pessimism, of which we have had more than enoughof late years, never yet helped any one. They have, however, proveddisastrous to many. 

Remember our world is young yet! so set before yourselves the greatideal of the brotherhood of humanity! Our religion teaches it; strive tohelp in attaining it; and in so doing each may, and will, achievesomething to help forward the gradual evolution of a brighter andhappier world for the generations that are to come. In that brighter andhappier world I have faith, for:

 "I hold it truth with him who sings, To one clear harp in divers tones, That men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves to higher things. "

And:

 "I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, And the thoughts of men are widen'd with the process of the suns. "

[_End of the Narrative written by Wilfrid Poynders, Esq. _]

CHAPTER XXIX

WHAT HAPPENED UPON OUR RETURN HOME--RESULTS OF THE MOST RECENTOBSERVATIONS OF MARS--PROFESSOR LOWELL'S IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

_ADDENDUM_

(_Written by John Yiewsley Claxton, Esq. , of Norbury, in the CountyBorough of Croydon, Surrey_)

In accordance with the desire of my old friend, Wilfrid Poynders, I amnow about to publish the book which was handed to me by Merna on themorning of our departure from Mars. 

I knew that my dear old friend's thoughts and aspirations ever soaredtowards the skies; but, as his last testament shows, his sympathiesembraced all humanity, and I am somewhat reluctant to add anything whichmust necessarily bring the subject down to a lower plane. 

As a narrative of his own personal experiences in connection with ourtrip to Mars, the Professor's work is quite complete; still I thoughthis readers would wish to know how it fared with his colleagues afterthey left Mars, and have accordingly appended a few pages furnishingthis information. 

I am quite convinced that, in deciding to remain behind on the planet, the Professor, as M'Allister remarked, "did the right thing"; but afterthe many years we have spent together in the closest and truestfriendship, I miss him--ah, more than I can say. 

It was really a tremendous wrench, that parting with my two oldfriends, the Professor and Merna, and leaving them behind on Mars, although I fully appreciated the Professor's desire to end his days withhis dear son, to whom he had been so strangely reunited. 

We started that morning directly after our farewell, and found a largeconcourse of people assembled, who had come from all parts of the planetto see us off. 

Soranho and many other high officers of state whom we knew were present, and, of course, the Professor, Merna, Eleeta, and Siloni, as well asmany others whom we had come to regard as personal friends; and they didnot allow us to depart empty-handed. 

Merna handed me the packet which the Professor had referred to. We hadno formal farewell with the Professor--that was all over; but he cameforward at the last moment, and we parted from him with a lovinghand-clasp. 

After a most affectionate leave-taking with our other friends, with whomI took good care to include Siloni, we boarded the _Areonal_. M'Allisterat once took charge of the machinery, switched on the power, and weimmediately rose into the air, amidst shouts of farewell and repeatedgood wishes from the assembled multitude. 

We rose rapidly; but, so long as we kept in view of the place, we couldsee the people still waving their adieus to us, and I frequentlyresponded to their signals. 

At last, when these lovable and hospitable Martians were lost to sight, I went into the _Areonal_, closing and bolting the outer door, which wasnever again to be opened until we reached our destination--our home inold England. 

I have no doubt that, long after we lost sight of them, many of theMartians kept the _Areonal_ in view with their telescopes, and followedits course far into space. 

I then directed M'Allister to set our course for our own world; and whenhe had done so, he looked up at me and said, "Heh, mon, yon Martians arerare good folk, and I'm right sorry to leave them!"

"Yes, so am I, M'Allister, " I answered. He again looked at me keenly, with a queer smile on his face; and remarked, "Mon, I'm thinking you arethat, and that you have left something behind you!"

I knew he meant that I had left my heart behind me, for I was thinkingthe very same thing; but I turned away from him with a sigh, withoutanswering. The matter was not one about which I cared to speak justthen, for I felt very sad and heartsore. 

Our journey passed off without any exciting incidents, everything on the_Areonal_ working most satisfactorily. On the 4th February, 1910, wepassed within forty-one million miles of the sun, and the heat at thisstage of our journey was terrific, but we had a magnificent view of thesunspots, the corona, and other solar surroundings. In spite of allprecautions for counteracting the tremendous pull of the sun, we weredrawn considerably out of our direct course, so the journey occupiedthree days longer than we had anticipated. A large proportion of ourtime was spent in the air-chamber, in order to prepare us for breathingthe atmosphere of our native world. 

We passed across the orbit of Venus on two occasions, and had a nearview of this splendid planet (and also of Mercury), for many days; butapart from its larger apparent size and intense brilliancy, we did notsee anything more than we could from the earth with a good telescope. The dense atmosphere and its glowing light prevented us from seeing anydefinite details upon its surface. 

Only three days late, we arrived at our home at Norbury on Monday the21st March 1910, about an hour before daylight. We descended quiteunobserved, and having stowed away our good ship _Areonal_ in its shedand made all secure, we astonished Mrs. Challen by walking into thehouse very soon after she had risen. 

She seemed truly delighted to see us back again after our long andunprecedented voyage through space, and as soon as our greetings wereover she asked, "Where is Mr. Poynders?"

I said we would tell her all the news whilst we had breakfast, so shebustled about and got the meal ready very quickly. When we sat down shelistened with intense interest to our long story, expressing greatastonishment when I told her about our discovery of Merna upon Mars. Ihad tried to keep her from asking about Mr. Poynders, but at length shequestioned me so directly that I was compelled to answer, though Idreaded the effect the news would have upon her. 

So, as gently as I could, I explained that Mr. Poynders, having foundhis son a native of Mars, could not risk bringing him to such a climateas ours, and, as he was unable to leave him, had decided to remain onMars. 

Poor Mrs. Challen was so upset upon learning this that she threw up herhands, exclaiming, "Then I shall never see my dear old master again!"and putting her handkerchief to her streaming eyes, she hastened out ofthe room to conceal her emotion. 

I felt very sorry for her, as I knew she had a great respect and likingfor Mr. Poynders, with whom she had been so many years. 

During the day I called upon the Professor's solicitors, in accordancewith his instructions, and handed them the letter he had entrusted tome. They read it with many exclamations of surprise, for the news itcontained was enough to startle even staid lawyers out of theirequanimity. 

One of them rang a bell, which was answered by the managing clerk, whowas requested to bring in the sealed packet of papers left by Mr. Poynders before he went away. This was quickly brought, and, whenopened, found to contain documents settling an annuity of £150 per annumupon Mrs. Challen, a deed of gift of the sum of £200 to M'Allister, andanother deed settling all the residue of his estate upon his old friendJohn Yiewsley Claxton. 

There was also a will to the same effect, in case he might die beforethe papers were claimed; everything being properly signed and in dueorder. 

The solicitors both shook hands with me, congratulating me on thissubstantial addition to my estate; but I told them I already possessedsufficient for my wants, and would greatly prefer that Mr. Poyndersshould be here to enjoy his own. 

I gave them some particulars of our adventures, and we had quite a longchat; then, taking a cordial leave of them, I returned to Norbury. 

I at once acquainted Mrs. Challen with her good fortune, but she wasnot to be comforted, saying she would very much rather have her oldmaster back again; and, as this was exactly my own feeling in thematter, I expressed agreement with her. 

However, she calmed down after a while, and I then asked her to considerwhat she would desire to do in the future. If she liked to remain in thehouse and look after my welfare, I should be very glad to have her as myown housekeeper; but said it was entirely for her to decide the matter, and she could take her own time to do so. 

She replied that she had neither relatives nor friends to trouble about, so there was no need to take any time over it, for she would only be toopleased to retain her old position, and would do her best to make mecomfortable. I assured her that I had no doubt whatever upon that point;thus it was all settled there and then, and she has remained with meever since. 

My aunt was long since dead, but my two cousins, James and TimothySnayleye, lived in London: so I thought I would go over to apprise themof my return home. They, however, received me so very coldly that, beyond saying I had been to Mars and back again, and giving a fewdetails of what we had seen there, I did not tell them very much. 

They asked a few questions now and then, but evinced very littleinterest in my affairs, though I noticed them frequently exchanging nodsand winks with each other. I soon left, but after such a reception, wasrather surprised when James Snayleye walked into my house the next dayand asked to be allowed to call in a day or two and bring with him acouple of friends who were interested in Mars, and would like to hearanything I could tell them. I did not altogether care about discussingmy adventures with entire strangers, but, as he was so very pressing, inthe end I agreed to see them. 

When they arrived I was greatly surprised to find that, instead of beingpersons of about the same age as my cousin, both were elderly men. Onewas introduced to me as Mr. Josias Googery, a Justice of the Peace, andthe other as Dr. Loonem. 

We had no sooner sat down than the doctor started the conversation byasking, in an unctuous tone of voice, several questions about mytrip--"Whether, ah, it was really true that I had, ah, travelled all theway to Mars and back again in, ah, a vessel of our own construction?"

All the time he was speaking he was performing the operation known as"washing the hands with invisible soap, " a trick which always has anirritating effect upon my nerves. 

In answer to his question I said, "It was quite true that I had been toMars, " and mentioned a few particulars of our trip. 

Mr. Googery then put a few questions to me, and, as I replied, heinterjected after almost every sentence that I spoke, "Ah! h'm, yes, just so, " James Snayleye sitting by all the time with a sneering grinupon his face which I found very aggravating. 

When I had told them as much as I thought necessary, they both startedcross-examining me in such an impertinent and sceptical manner that atlength I became extremely irritated, and declined to answer any morequestions. Whereupon Dr. Loonem proceeded to wash his hands again, saying in an oily manner, as though addressing a child, "Pray, ah, don'texcite yourself, my dear sir; don't, ah, excite yourself! You know, ah, it's not good for you!"

This was too much for flesh and blood to bear, so I rose and said thatas I had an important engagement to attend to, I could not spare anymore time that day, at the same time ringing the bell for Mrs. Challento show them out. 

She did so, and returned in a state of indignation, saying, she did notlike those people at all, they were so rude; and that as they werepassing through the doorway she heard the doctor say, "It's a clear caseenough; did you notice the gleam in his eyes? that alone is sufficientto settle it!" To this Mr. Googery had replied, "Ah, h'm, yes, just so!"

"Well, Mrs. Challen, " I said, "please understand that if either of thosepeople calls again, I am not at home. "

"Certainly, sir, " she answered with great alacrity, as she went out ofthe room. 

It was no mere excuse, but perfectly correct, when I told those people Ihad an important engagement to attend to. An old friend of mine, SirLockesley Halley, was President of the Dedlingtonian AstronomicalSociety, and, after hearing my account of Mars, said he would be veryglad if I could attend the meeting of his Society on the followingevening and give a short address on the subject. 

I was rather averse from this, as the Society was not a large one, though it had several clever men in it, and I knew that theprofessionals who controlled it, and also the majority of the members, prided themselves on being exponents of what they termed "sane andunsensational astronomy"; which in some cases amounted to saying thatthey were a long way behind the times. 

It is an interesting fact that we owe a large proportion of ourknowledge of planetary detail to the work of enthusiastic amateurobservers. In this Society, indeed, nearly all the best observationalwork was done by the non-professional class; and when, as the result oftheir systematic and painstaking work, they noted on their planetarydrawings some lines or markings which had not previously been recorded, one would have thought their original work would have been commended. Itwas, however, not unusual in such cases for a professional to rise andcalmly declare that the new markings were only illusions, such as he hadoften predicted would be claimed as discoveries. 

Thus the amateurs were kept in their proper places; but theprofessionals did not always prove to be correct in their strictures andpronouncements. 

In these circumstances, I did not expect much credence to be given toanything fresh that might be stated in my address, and therefore Irather demurred to Sir Lockesley's proposal. He, however, made such apersonal matter of it that, as he was an extremely able man and a goodfellow, I at last consented to do as he wished. 

M'Allister accompanied me to the meeting and sat among the audience. After a few introductory remarks from Sir Lockesley, I gave my address, which lasted about half-an-hour; but it was received even morechillingly than I had anticipated, and the few comments made by themembers were nearly all indicative of scepticism of my statements andunbelief in my _bona fides_. A scientific audience is usually rathercold and unenthusiastic; but, in the present case, except for one or twoisolated hand-claps, the vote of thanks was allowed to pass _subsilentio_. Sir Lockesley, of course, could not help this, and I saw thathe was much annoyed at my reception. 

The meeting then split up into groups, lingering here and there todiscuss my statements as they moved toward the door; and M'Allister toldme that, as he stood near a group, he heard one man exclaim, "It's allarrant nonsense! five minutes with my 12-1/16-inch reflector wouldconvince any sane man that there are no fine lines to be seen on Mars, because none exist!" This brought a murmur of assent; then some one elsesaid, "Well, I certainly see some of the lines with my 7-1/2-inch, butregard them as illusions"; and he also received some support. 

Another man then spoke up, remarking, "My experience does not agree withyours, gentlemen, for when I used a 6-inch refractor I could see some ofthe lines, yet felt doubtful of their actuality; but since I have used a12-inch reflector my opinion has entirely changed. The lines are visiblewhenever the atmospheric conditions are favourable, and are seen with somuch certainty that I have long abandoned my doubts of theirrepresenting real markings!" "Hear, hear!" said several, "and in aclearer atmosphere you would see still more!"

This was the Martian controversy in a nut-shell: for so much dependsupon individual eyesight, instrumental power, and good atmosphericconditions. Even the finest instruments fail when observationalconditions are unfavourable!

Many other people to whom I spoke about my trip to Mars exhibited thesame incredulity as those at the meeting. I showed two persons, whom Ithought would be open to conviction, some photographic views in theirnatural colours, which I had brought home with me. One of them looked atthe pictures, then handed them to his friend, with the remark: "Cleverfakes, aren't they? you can do almost anything with the cameranowadays!"

Similar opinions were either expressed or implied by others who sawthem, so now I keep all such things to myself. 

Two days after the meeting Sir Lockesley called to have a chat with me, and, whilst we were conversing, Mrs. Challen announced that two meninsisted upon seeing me, although she told them I was engaged. 

"Well, " I said, "show them into the next room and I will soon dispose ofthem"; then asking Sir Lockesley to excuse me a few minutes, I passedthrough the folding doors which separated the two rooms. 

The men were perfect strangers to me, and clearly not of a class withwhich I should care to make acquaintance. 

"To what do I owe this visit?" I inquired, as I entered the room. 

"Beg pardon, sir, " said one of the men, "but we wished to see you onurgent business, and ask you to come with us. There is a carriage at thedoor!"

"But who are you, and where do you wish me to go?" I inquired. 

He hummed and haa-ed, then said, "A friend desired to see me at once, and it was only a short journey!"

"Well, " I replied, "I am at present engaged with a gentleman, but I mustcertainly decline to accompany you at all without further and definiteparticulars as to why you wish me to do so. "

Then the other man advanced, and said, "As you won't come quietly, there's no help for it; so just look at these papers and you will seeyou must come!"

He showed me several documents, and, on reading them, I was astounded tofind one was an order for my removal to a private lunatic asylum, thepapers being signed by Josias Googery, J. P. , and Dr. Loonem; and otherscontained statements of the evidences of my insanity, signed by my twocousins. 

Of course I was furious, and refused to go with them, whereupon theyrushed forward to seize hold of me. I shouted for Sir Lockesley to cometo my assistance, and he at once dashed into the room. The two men, however, immediately warned him not to interfere, as they were acting ina perfectly legal manner. 

This he had to admit when the matter was fully explained to him; then heurged me to accept the situation and go quietly, and he would takeimmediate action to secure my release. 

As it was clearly useless to resist a legalised process, I gave in, andthus was I, a perfectly sane man, incarcerated in a lunatic asylum!There I had to remain while Sir Lockesley saw my solicitors, communicated with the Commissioners in Lunacy and others, and after muchcorrespondence and innumerable interviews, at last secured my release;but not until I had endured more than a week's confinement in thathorrible place. 

It was all a scheme concocted by my scapegrace cousins to have medeclared insane, and thus secure control of my fortune, they being myonly living relatives. But for Sir Lockesley's presence and influencetheir precious plot might have proved quite successful. 

I do not attach much blame to the magistrate and doctor, although theymight have exercised more care; but no doubt the Snayleyes had made suchsuggestions to them that they were prepared to find insanity in anythingI did or said. 

Mrs. Challen, who had been much affected and distressed at my beingcarried off in this fashion, was delighted when at last I returned homesafe and sound after my release, and told her the trouble was all over. 

M'Allister had intended going on to Glasgow during the previous week, but had remained at home at Norbury to assist in securing my release;doing yeoman's service in seeing various people and carrying messages. When things had quite settled down again he went to Scotland and stayedwith his wife for three weeks. 

Upon his return we discussed our future arrangements, and agreed tobecome partners for the purpose of securing and working patents forvarious machines which we had studied upon Mars; and this has proved alucrative business for us, besides supplying our engineers andmanufacturers with greatly improved machinery. 

Ever since our return home we have eagerly read all the scientific newsconcerning Mars that has been published, for we were anxious to learnwhether there had been any verification of the Professor's forecasts asto what was likely to be seen from the earth at the opposition of Marsin 1909. The result is very gratifying to us, not only as proving thecorrectness of the Professor's pronouncements, but also as testifying tothe keen-sightedness of some of our astronomers and their carefulnessand accuracy as observers; though, of course, there are stilldivergences of opinion as to the meaning of what has been seen. 

[Illustration: _Drawn by T. E. R. Phillips_ Plate XV

MARS, AS SEEN THROUGH A 12-INCH TELESCOPE ON 16TH AUGUST, 1909

The south polar snow-cap is seen at the top, and as it is early June onthis part of Mars, the snow-cap has become small. The dark line acrossit is a wide rift, the ice having commenced to break up at this part;and the dark shading round it is water from the melting snow. Thecircular light area near the centre is "Hellas, " and the darkwedge-shaped area is "Syrtis Major. " The protuberance usually seen onthe eastern side of Syrtis Major has this year almost disappeared, andbut little detail is visible anywhere. ]

For instance, M. Antoniadi, of Juvisy Observatory, near Paris, haspublished a very interesting account of his own observations with thefine Meudon refractor, which has an object glass 32. 7 inches indiameter; and he has also furnished several beautifully executeddrawings of what he has seen. The most noticeable new features observedwere two large detached pieces of the south polar snow-cap, the alteredshape of the Solis Lacus and other dark areas, numerous dark roundedspots on the dark areas, much detail along the lines of the canals, andthe observation of scattered markings instead of lines. 

M. Antoniadi lays great stress on the advantages of large telescopes;and, whilst making frank admission that the drawings of Professor Lowellshow the outlines of the Martian details more accurately than thedrawings of any other observer, he dissents entirely from his viewsrespecting the actuality of the canal lines. 

With regard to M. Antoniadi's observation of dark rounded spots, it hasbeen suggested by another writer that these are volcanoes, and, moreover, that the canal lines are really cracks in the solid icecovering frozen oceans and seas. These contentions involve thesupposition that Mars is still in the stage when volcanic action isprevalent, and also that what have hitherto been supposed to be desertlands are really fields of ice. Mars has passed far beyond the stage ofvolcanic activity; and the theory does not account for the ochre colourof the frozen oceans, which are exactly the same colour as our desertsappear when viewed from a great distance, for the sandstorms sofrequently observed, nor for the general absence of any indications offrost over a large portion of the Martian surface. It is also verydifficult to imagine the existence of a profuse growth of vegetationalong cracks in solid ice; and I am afraid this theory, like manyothers, fails to fit in with the observed facts. 

I may remind my readers that the Professor suggested that many more darkrounded spots would, under favourable conditions, be discovered on thedark areas of the planet, and he has stated what they are. 

As a result of his recent observations, M. Antoniadi has boldly declaredthat the supposed canal lines are really separate spots and markingswhich, when seen with instruments of lesser power than the one he used, appear to be lines, the network of canal lines being an illusion. Hecontends that the markings he has seen are beyond the power of ProfessorLowell's telescope to resolve, and that what he has seen forms anunanswerable objection to the canal theory and stops all discussion!

This argument has, however, been fully met in this book by anticipation;and, as will be seen later on, Professor Lowell completely refutes itand shows that M. Antoniadi is mistaken. It has also been pointed outthat, if we could secure perfect seeing, the lines might really appearas separate markings, and that apparent breaks and irregularities areexactly what we might expect to find in connection with canals. I gatherfrom a recent remark made by Professor Lowell that he also holds thisview. 

Moreover, a discreet silence is observed with regard to the progress ofvegetation on Mars being from the poles towards the equator, instead offrom the equator towards the poles, as is the case on our earth. 

This mode of progression can only be accounted for by the flow of waterfrom the poles, and such flow extending beyond the equator involves theartificial propulsion of the water, as the flow is contrary togravitation. 

Professor Lowell's statements as to this peculiar growth of thevegetation do not depend upon the results of a few casual observations, for he has given the matter most systematic and prolonged attention, andnoted upon hundreds of charts the dates when the vegetation has firstappeared in various places and latitudes after the passage of the waterdown the canals. 

This is such a hard nut for the opponents of the canal theory to crack, that I am quite prepared to learn that all these careful observationsare merely illusions. 

Professor Hale, of Mount Wilson Observatory, in California, has takensome photographs of Mars which do not show any canal lines; and thesehave been eagerly seized upon as another proof that the canals have noexistence. 

Unfortunately, these photographs do not show many well authenticateddetails which are seen with comparative ease, nor the new details seenby M. Antoniadi. It is, therefore, no matter of wonder that they do notshow the much fainter canal lines. If the absence of the canal linesfrom the photographs is proof that the canals do not exist, then thephotographs must still more emphatically prove that these much moreconspicuous details--which have been seen and drawn by M. Antoniadi andscores of other observers--are also illusions and have no objectiveexistence. Those who seek the support of these photographs for theirviews must be left to extricate themselves as best they can from thedilemma in which they are now placed in regard to the observations anddrawings of those highly skilled observers. 

The photographs were taken with a sixty-inch telescope, and possiblythis very large aperture was not stopped down sufficiently to secure onthe photographic plates such very fine detail as the canal lines; on theother hand, the atmospheric conditions at the moments of exposure of theplates may have been unfavourable for good definition. However good thephotographs may be, the deductions drawn from them are erroneous. 

Against such purely negative evidence--which never affords good groundfor argument--we must set the positive evidence of Professor Lowell'snumerous photographs, which do show many of the canal lines and alsoconfirm the drawings of observers. 

Professor Schiaparelli, who has been appealed to on the subject, stillmaintains the objectivity of the canal lines which he was the first todiscover, and repudiates the suggestion that the new photographs supplyany evidence against them. He remarks that during the last thirty yearsmany other astronomers, using more perfect telescopes than his, haveobserved and drawn these canal lines, and have taken photographs whichreproduce an identical disposition of the lines. He adds that acollective illusion on the part of so many astronomers is impossible, and that the photographs which do show the canals cannot be illusions. 

Professor Lowell controverts M. Antoniadi's claim to have proved thatthe lines are non-existent, and that the only markings are smallseparate shadings which are illusively seen as lines. He points out thatwhat M. Antoniadi has seen is exactly what would be seen when using avery large telescope, and that it indicates poor seeing instead of gooddefinition. He remarks that when using such large instruments, which areso much more affected by atmospheric conditions than smaller ones, thediffraction rings round a star (which should appear as completeconcentric circles) begin to waver, then break up into fragments--a sortof mosaic--and finally end in an indiscriminate assemblance of points. In certain kinds of bad seeing the parts may seem quite steady, but thefact that the mosaic exists is proof positive of poor seeing. Whathappens to the rings in such circumstances must also happen to finelines! the mosaic effect seen by M. Antoniadi is therefore "the exacttheoretic effect that a large aperture should produce on continuouslines, such as the canals, and always does produce in the case of therings in the image of a star!"

It has been stated that Professor Lowell had admitted the illusorynature of the canal lines. His reply, however, is emphatic: "I havenever made any retractation as to the reality and geometricism of thecanals; they are marvellous beyond conception, and are only doubted bythose who never observed the planet itself sufficiently well. "

Seeing an announcement that Professor Lowell had arrived in England forthe purpose of lecturing on "Planetary Photography" at the RoyalInstitution of Great Britain, M'Allister and I made up our minds to bepresent at the lecture, a resolution which, I am glad to say, we carriedinto effect. 

In the course of his lecture Professor Lowell gave an account of themethods of planetary photography initiated and carried on with suchsuccess at the Lowell Observatory; and then proceeded to give someinteresting particulars of his observations of Mars at the opposition of1909, which resulted in one of the most important discoveries everrecorded in connection with that planet. 

He stated that on the 30th September, 1909, when the region of thedesert to the east of Syrtis Major came into view, after its periodicsix weeks' invisibility due to the unequal length of the days of theearth and Mars, some long new canals were plainly observed which had notbeen visible when the region was previously in view. A long and carefulinvestigation of fifteen years' records proved absolutely that not onlyhad these canals never been seen before, but that they could not haveexisted. They are on a region which is frequently very favourablysituated for observation, and could not possibly have been overlooked, for they are now the most conspicuous objects on that part of theplanet. It is beyond question that they are not only new to us but newto Mars!

The two main canals run in a south-easterly direction from Syrtis Major, and with them are associated two smaller ones and at least two newoases; while, from their inter-connection, they are all clearly parts ofone and the same addition to the general canal system; for they now fitin with the system as though they had always formed part of it. Thesenew canals were not only seen and drawn, but several photographs weretaken at different times. 

Consider what this great discovery really means! In a region which hasnever been anything but a desert during the whole period over which ourobservational knowledge of Mars has extended, there are now strips ofland many hundreds of miles in length and miles wide that have becomefertile almost under our very eyes; and this result has been broughtabout by the passage through them of water which has artificially beencarried there for the purpose of irrigation! We know this is so, forwhat we see is the growth of vegetation; and the systematic way in whichthe new canals have been fitted into the existing canal scheme provesthe artificiality of the whole system. 

Some sensational statements in the Press have fostered in many minds theidea that all these hundreds of miles of new canals were constructedwithin the very short period of six weeks! This is altogether wrong. Itis the _vegetation_ that has _grown_ in six weeks, in consequence of theturning on of the water to the irrigation works. We have good scientificreasons for believing that irrigation works on Mars could beaccomplished much quicker than on the earth; but, as the telescope doesnot enable us to see the works, we do not know how long they may havetaken to construct. It may have been months, or years. We only see the_results_ of the works when actually in operation. 

When we consider these works and their results, surely it becomesimpossible to resist the evidence of intelligent design which theyfurnish; while if we also remember the very recent development of thesecanals, the existence of life upon Mars at the present time seems to bedemonstrated beyond the possibility of reasonable doubt! In whatphysical form that life is enshrined even our science must fail toreveal. Professor Lowell, however, pointed out that the inhabitants ofMars are not necessarily human beings, but their work clearly provesthat they are beings endowed with a very high degree of intelligence. Astudy of the canal system reveals a marvellous conception marvellouslycarried into effect. 

Observers at Flagstaff have, therefore, practically seen the completionof a work which is the creation of intelligent beings on Mars; and inthe remarkable photographs shown we were, so to speak, able to look uponthe results of that work--fertility in a region which had previouslybeen an arid desert. 

The water, as the lecturer remarked, was probably not in all casesconveyed by means of canals dug out of the soil, but we know that insome way--whether by canals, or by trunk lines of pipes and smallersubsidiary pipes, or otherwise--the land has been artificially irrigatedand fertilised by water, which could not possibly have taken the courseit has without being intelligently directed. Tunnelling would be easy onMars. 

Professor Lowell spoke of these matters in well-weighed and well-chosenphrases, which carried conviction of his earnestness and sincerity tothe minds of his hearers; and we observed that the audience wasevidently profoundly impressed by the importance of his statements. Thisfact seemed to us very significant, as he was addressing one of the mostbrilliant assemblies--representing many branches of science--evergathered within the walls of the Royal Institution. The numerousphotographs showing the Martian canal lines were projected on to thescreen by a lantern, and thus their convincing evidence was clearlybrought before the whole of that vast audience. 

Another very interesting series of photographs showed the coming andgoing of the first frost of the season in the antarctic regions of Mars. This frost was first observed and photographed at Flagstaff on the 16thNovember, 1909, and other photographs were taken on the 22nd of thatmonth. 

In connection with these, Professor Lowell quaintly remarked that, "Tochronicle thus the very weather on our neighbour will convince any onethat interplanetary communication has already commenced; and that, too, after the usual conventional manner by mundane greetings. "

Referring to the photographs, it was pointed out that the human eye cansee at least ten times as much as a photograph can show as regardsplanetary detail. This, though not generally known, is perfectly true, and it may be explained thus: We know that in terrestrial photographythe camera will reveal many details which the eye is apt to overlook;and, by very long exposures, even celestial photography will give asimilar result. In _planetary_ photography, however, exposures must bevery short, and the picture obtained is so very tiny that it cannot showall that the eye could see. Under good conditions, therefore, the eye atthe telescope will always see immensely more of the finer details on aplanet than any camera could show. 

The great value of the photographs of Mars lies in the fact that theydemonstrate beyond the possibility of doubt the existence of certainfine markings which many observers have seen and drawn, but as to thereality of which others, less skilled or less favourably situated, havebeen extremely sceptical. If the fine lines had no existence on theplanet they could not be photographed. 

In drawing attention to the details on these photographs ProfessorLowell emphatically declared that, "The lines you see are'_certainties_, ' not matters admitting of the slightest question, forall their strange regularity. Not only I, but all my assistants, haveseen them thousands of times the same, and sometimes with all theclearness and sharpness of etchings or steel engravings. 

"An optical mistake, " he then remarked, "which has latterly been hailedas showing that the lines were not lines but a series of dots, was madethe other day in France. The observer saw perfectly correctly, but onewith knowledge of the optics of a telescope should have known that theeffect observed was the inevitable result of using an aperture which theseeing did not warrant; as he could easily have assured himself bylooking at the shattered rings round the synchronous image of a star. "

It may here be pointed out that these weighty and well-considereddeclarations--which are a complete answer to M. Antoniadi's boldclaim--were made by the most experienced observer of Mars, who, as evenhis opponents admit, possesses the finest site in the world for hisastronomical work, and is equipped with a very perfect instrument. 

Besides the splendid photographs of Mars, many views of Jupiter andSaturn were shown, exhibiting clearly numerous fine details, markings, and wisps as to which much doubt had been expressed when some observershad shown them on their drawings. These beautiful and convincing resultsof the clever and original methods of planetary photography adopted atFlagstaff appeared to come as a complete revelation to the majority ofthose present, notwithstanding their scientific experience. 

Probably never before had anything so wonderful as these results ofskill, patience, and prolonged research been exhibited, even in thatgreat and historic home of science. As Professor Lowell remarked in afine peroration: "They exhibited something of the advance recentlyachieved in our knowledge of solar science; on the other hand, theyconstituted in themselves the beginning of a set of records in which thefuture of the planet might be confronted with its achieved past, andwhich should endure after those who first conceived such registry hadlong passed away.... They were histories of the planets written bythemselves--their autobiographies penned by light; and in their grandhistorical portrait-gallery astronomers yet to come might see theearlier stages of the great cosmic drama which was slowly but surelyworking itself out!"

At the conclusion of this most interesting lecture M'Allister turned tome and said, "How I wish our old friend the Professor could have beenhere to-night; he would have keenly appreciated what we have heard. "

"Yes, he would indeed, " I answered; "but remember, he knows more nowthan any one we see here could tell him about Martian matters!"

Before concluding, it may be of interest to state that Professor Lowellstill maintains the accuracy of the discovery made at Flagstaff that theexistence of water vapour on Mars is demonstrated by the photographicspectrum of the Martian atmosphere; and he asserts that the attempt todisprove it has failed. A further discovery has since been made at thesame observatory, viz. That oxygen also is present in the atmosphere ofMars!

During the observations in 1909 several observers noted that, at times, very large areas on the surface of Mars had been so obscured by ayellowish veiling that all details were entirely blotted out. Theannouncement of this fact gave rise to sensational statements that aterrible catastrophe had occurred on the planet. The explanation is, however, very simple--seasonal mists arising from the canals, with theaddition of clouds of sand particles in the upper air, as the result ofdesert sandstorms, caused a temporary obscuration of certain parts ofthe planet as viewed from the earth. Only this, and nothing more!

We have been interested to note that an English observer, the Rev. Theodore E. R. Phillips, has observed some new details on Mars in theregion where the new canals were discovered. Mr. Phillips has in pastyears given considerable attention to this region, and observed severalchanges in the Lacus Moeris, to the east of Syrtis Major. The lakedisappeared altogether for some considerable time, then reappeared. LastSeptember he saw it again, and it was evident some further changes hadoccurred; and he also saw some dusky shadings on the adjacent desert ofLybia. There seems little doubt but that he actually saw, thoughimperfectly, the new canals which Professor Lowell's much cleareratmosphere and larger instrument enabled him to see clearly. 

From what has been related in the last few pages it will be seen thatmany of the forecasts, as set forth in this book by our old friend theProfessor, and his statements as to the Martians being actively engagedin altering, extending, and developing their canal system, have beenamply verified by the observations of our astronomers; and I amconfident that his other prognostications will also be fulfilled incourse of time. 

Turning now from scientific matters to others affecting ourselvespersonally, I may say that I have heard nothing more of my cousins theSnayleyes; and, after the failure of their mean attempt upon my libertyand fortune, it is not likely that I shall again be troubled by them, for they will naturally take good care to keep out of my way. 

As the days and weeks pass by I often think of those we left behind uponthat far distant world: wondering how they are faring, and whether theyhave attempted to transmit any influences or communications to us, forup to the present we have not been conscious of any such influences. 

Kenneth M'Allister is a thoroughly happy man, as he is working for hisown benefit, congenially and fully occupied with matters connected withhis beloved machinery. He is on the high road to making a very largefortune; indeed, we are both doing remarkably well, and are, therefore, able to give financial aid to many projects in which we are interested, having for their objects the uplifting of the people, and theimprovement of social conditions generally. It was only yesterday thatM'Allister remarked to me, "Heh, mon, if we continue to go ahead at thesame rate as we are going now, we shall both be millionaires before verylong!"

Yes, we are doing well--there is no doubt about that; but, notwithstanding my present very satisfactory circumstances and thecertainty of a brilliant future if I stay here, ideas have long andpersistently been running in my mind that it would be far better for meto go back to Mars, and--by Jove! strange indeed that I never thought ofit before!--perhaps those very persistent ideas are actually the outcomeof Martian influences!!

The wonderful music I heard upon Mars still rings in my ears; and, attimes, so thrilling and peculiar is its effect upon me, that I feel asthough I were being almost irresistibly impelled to return to thatplanet. Well, I should very much like to see the dear old Professor andMerna again, and also my many Martian friends. Then there's Siloni, whomI can never forget, for mentally her image is ever before me. What anice girl she was! If I were to return to Mars, I wonder whether----?

Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO Edinburgh & London

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The exact diameters of the planets are difficult to measure owing toirradiation, and estimates of various authorities differ, especiallywith regard to the more distant planets. 

[2] Most probably the larger planets possess satellites which have yetto be discovered. 

[3] It is not yet ascertained with certainty whether Mercury and Venusrotate in about twenty-four hours, or whether the period is the same asthat of their revolution round the sun. The evidence seems to point tothe latter period. 

[4] The "terminator" is the boundary between the lighted and the darkportion of the disc. 

[5] Those who have seen the undercliff in the Isle of Wight will be ableto form some idea of the terraces of the lunar ring-mountains, as theyare very similar formations. 

[6] This is the case as regards separate satellites; but it may bepointed out that a similar thing must occur in regard to the rings ofSaturn. The rings are composed of swarms of satellites so small thatthey can only be termed particles, and these particles at the inner edgeof the "crape ring" revolve round Saturn in 5 hours and 33 minutes, theinner edge of the ring being only about 47, 000 miles from the centre ofthe planet. The planet itself revolves on its axis in 10-1/4 hours. Thus, an immense number of these minute satellites must revolve roundthe planet in less time than it takes the planet to make one rotation. It is calculated that the particles in the outer edge of the next ringcomplete one revolution round the planet in 14 hours and 28 seconds. 

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"From cover to cover the book is readable, and every word isintelligible to the layman. Dr. Dolmage displays literary powers of avery high order. Those who read it without any previous knowledge ofastronomy will find that a new interest has been added to their lives, and that in a matter of 350 pages they have gained a true conception ofthe meaning of astronomy. "--_The Standard. _

 ELECTRICITY OF TO-DAY. Its Work and Mysteries Explained. By CHARLES R. GIBSON, A. I. E. E. 

"Mr. Gibson has given us one of the best examples of popular scientificexposition that we remember seeing. His aim has been to produce anaccount of the chief modern applications of electricity without usingtechnical language or making any statements which are beyond thecomprehension of any reader of ordinary intelligence. In this he hassucceeded to admiration, and his book may be strongly commended to allwho wish to realise what electricity means and does in our dailylife. "--_The Tribune. _

SEELEY & CO. , LTD. , 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET

POPULAR SCIENCE

 THE GREAT WORLD'S FARM. Some Account of Nature's Crops and How they are Grown. By SELINA GAYE. With a Preface by Professor BOULGER. With Sixteen Illustrations. Second Edition, 5s. 

"A fascinating volume of popular science. "--_Times. _

 SUN, MOON, AND STARS. A Book on Astronomy for Beginners. By AGNES GIBERNE. With Coloured Illustrations. Twenty-eighth Thousand. Revised. 5s. 

 THE WORLD'S FOUNDATIONS. Geology for Beginners. By AGNES GIBERNE. With Illustrations. Seventh Thousand. 5s. 

"The exposition is clear; the style simple andattractive. "--_Spectator. _

 THE OCEAN OF AIR. Meteorology for Beginners. By AGNES GIBERNE. With Illustrations. Fifth Thousand. 5s. 

"Miss Giberne can be accurate without being formidable, and unites akeen sense of the difficulties of beginners to a full comprehension ofthe matter in hand. "--_Saturday Review. _

 AMONG THE STARS; or, Wonderful Things in the Sky. By AGNES GIBERNE. With Coloured Illustrations. Tenth Thousand. Revised. 5s. 

"An attempt to teach astronomy to small children ... It is very welldone. "--_Saturday Review. _

 THE STORY OF THE HILLS: A Popular Account of Mountains and How they were Made. By the Rev. H. N. HUTCHINSON, F. G. S. With many Illustrations. 5s. 

"A charmingly written and beautifully illustrated account of the makingof the mountains. "--_Yorkshire Post. _

 THE ROMANCE OF THE MIGHTY DEEP. By AGNES GIBERNE. Second Edition. With Illustrations. 5s. 

"Agnes Giberne is always picturesque and interesting whether she writesof the stars or of the depths of the ocean. "--_Illustrated London News. _

SEELEY & CO. , LTD. , 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET

THE ROMANCE OF MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY

ITS DISCOVERY & ITS ACHIEVEMENTS

BY C. R. GIBSON

AUTHOR OF "ELECTRICITY OF TO-DAY, " ETC. 

"Mr. Gibson tells the romantic story of the discovery of this wonderfulart, and the steps by which its range has been extended, until it canachieve results which only a few years ago would have been thoughtimpossible. "--_Newcastle Chronicle. _

"The explanation of the complicated system of photographing in coloursis particularly lucid, and, indeed, the narrative is everywhereremarkable for its fluency and clear style. "--_Bystander. _

"Should prove one of the most popular and fascinating of this writer'sbooks, and will interest all who are connected with photography. "--_ThePhotographic Monthly. _

"A fascinating story of triumphs of thought and patience, andillustrated with remarkable photographs. "--_Church Times. _

"The author has made his book remarkably comprehensive, while there isnot a dry or uninteresting page throughout. "--_Country Life. _

THE ROMANCE OF MODERN GEOLOGY

BY E. S. GREW, M. A. 

_With Twenty-five Illustrations. Extra Crown 8vo. 5s. _

"Mr. Grew possesses the golden gift of a graceful style as well as acomplete mastery of his subject, and he has written a popularintroduction to modern geology which any one can read with pleasure andunderstand from beginning to end. "--_Daily Graphic. _

"A fascinating outline filled in with many valuable facts and muchwell-founded knowledge of the history and animal life of theearth. "--_Sheffield Daily Telegraph. _

"Mr. Grew has done extremely good work in this volume of Messrs. Seeley's excellent 'Library of Romance. ' He is one of the few men whocan make special knowledge interesting to the general reader.... Theillustrations are singularly felicitous. "--_Daily Telegraph. _

SEELEY & CO. , LTD. , 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET

THE ROMANCE OF THE ANIMAL WORLD

DESCRIBING THE CURIOUS AND INTERESTING IN NATURAL HISTORY

BY EDMUND SELOUS

_With Sixteen full-page Illustrations_

"Mr. Selous takes a wide range in Nature, he has seen many wonders whichhe relates. Open the book where we will we find somethingastonishing. "--_Spectator. _

"It is in truth a most fascinating book, as full of incidents and asvarious in interest as any other work of imagination, and, beyond thepleasure in the reading there is the satisfaction of knowing that one isin the hands of a genuine authority on some of the most picturesquesubjects that natural history affords. Mr. Selous' method is strong, safe, and sound. The volume has numerous illustrations of a high orderof workmanship and a handsome binding of striking design. "--_SchoolGovernment Chronicle. _

"This is a very fascinating volume, full of picturesquely writtendescriptions of the life, habits, and customs of a number of birds andbeasts, including beavers, seals, bears, penguins, crocodiles, and ahost of other creatures. "--_Graphic. _

"A fund of information and amusement will be found in the pages of thishandsomely bound book. From the lowest animals of all, the Infusoria, tothe lion and the elephant, all come within the range of Mr. Selous'observation, and he builds up out of the vast material at his disposal avery readable narrative. The illustrations are carefully drawn, and arevery true to nature. "--_Education. _

"The volume would make an excellent present for an intelligent boy, being full of interesting and sometimes thrilling stories from the widefield of natural history. It is well written in a clear, easy stylewhich is to be commended. Mr. Edmund Selous has made a most interestingcollection of striking facts, and the book has one of the prettiestcovers that I have seen. "--_Daily News. _

THE ROMANCE OF MODERN EXPLORATION

WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF CURIOUS CUSTOMS, THRILLING ADVENTURES, ANDINTERESTING DISCOVERIES OF EXPLORERS IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD

BY ARCHIBALD WILLIAMS, B. A. , F. R. G. S. 

_With Twenty-six Illustrations_

"A mine of information and stirring incident. "--_Scotsman. _

"Mr. Williams is most catholic in his choice, taking his readers to soarin a balloon with the luckless Andree, to wander in African forests andAustralian deserts, to seek for the North Pole with Nansen, and even tonote such an up-to-date expedition as that of the 'Discovery' in theAntarctic Regions, to cite but the most prominent. Mr. Williams has donethis work most judiciously, ... A book which will delight both young andold alike. "--_Graphic. _

"The book unites strong natural attractiveness with valuablegeographical information to a degree probably unequalled by any otherthat might be offered as appropriate for the purpose of a gift book orthe recreative library. "--_School Government Chronicle. _

"It is a kind of epitome of the best travel books of our time, and isexceedingly well done. "--_Academy. _

SEELEY & CO. , LTD. , 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET

THE ROMANCE OF SAVAGE LIFE

DESCRIBING THE HABITS, CUSTOMS, EVERYDAY LIFE, &c. , OF PRIMITIVE MAN

BY PROF. G. F. SCOTT ELLIOT, M. A. , B. Sc. , &c. 

_With Thirty Illustrations. Extra Crown 8vo. 5s. _

"Mr. Scott Elliot has hit upon a good idea in this attempt to set forththe life of the primitive savage. On the whole, too, he has carried itout well and faithfully.... We can recommend the book as filling agap. "--_Athenæum. _

"A readable contribution to the excellent series of which it forms apart. Mr. Scott Elliot writes pleasantly ... He possesses a sufficientlyvivid imagination to grasp the relation of a savage to hisenvironment. "--_Nature. _

"There are things of remarkable interest in this volume, and it makesexcellent reading and represents much research. "--_Spectator. _

THE ROMANCE OF PLANT LIFE

DESCRIBING THE CURIOUS AND INTERESTING IN THE PLANT WORLD

BY PROF. G. F. SCOTT ELLIOT, M. A. , B. Sc. , &c. 

_With Thirty-four Illustrations. Extra Crown 8vo. 5s. _

"The author has worked skilfully into his book details of the facts andinferences which form the groundwork of modern Botany. The illustrationsare striking, and cover a wide field of interest, and the style islively. "--_Athenæum. _

"In twenty-nine fascinating, wall-printed, and well-illustratedchapters, Prof. Scott Elliot describes a few of the wonders of plantlife. A very charming and interesting volume, "--_Daily Telegraph. _

"Mr. Scott Elliot is of course a well-known authority on all thatconcerns plants, and the number of facts he has brought together willnot only surprise but fascinate all his readers. "--_WestminsterGazette. _

SEELEY & CO. , LTD. , 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET

THE ROMANCE OF INSECT LIFE

DESCRIBING THE CURIOUS & INTERESTING IN THE INSECT WORLD

BY EDMUND SELOUS

AUTHOR OF "THE ROMANCE OF THE ANIMAL WORLD, " ETC. 

_With Sixteen Illustrations. Extra Crown 8vo. 5s. _

"An entertaining volume, one more of a series which seeks with muchsuccess to describe the wonders of nature and science in simple, attractive form. "--_Graphic. _

"Offers most interesting descriptions of the strange and curiousinhabitants of the insect world, sure to excite inquiry and to fosterobservation. There are ants white and yellow, locusts and cicadas, beesand butterflies, spiders and beetles, scorpions and cockroaches--andespecially ants--with a really scientific investigation of theirwonderful habits not in dry detail, but in free and charming expositionand narrative. An admirable book to put in the hands of a boy or girlwith a turn for natural science--and whether or not. "--_EducationalTimes. _

"Both interesting and instructive. Such a work as this is genuinelyeducative. There are numerous illustrations. "--_Liverpool Courier. _

"With beautiful original drawings by Carton Moore Park and LancelotSpeed, and effectively bound in dark blue cloth, blazoned with scarletand gold. "--_Lady. _

"Admirably written and handsomely produced. Mr. Selous's volume showscareful research, and the illustrations of insects and the results oftheir powers are well done. "--_World. _

THE ROMANCE OF MODERN MECHANISM

INTERESTING DESCRIPTIONS IN NON-TECHNICAL LANGUAGE OF WONDERFULMACHINERY, MECHANICAL DEVICES, & MARVELLOUSLY DELICATE SCIENTIFICINSTRUMENTS

BY ARCHIBALD WILLIAMS, B. A. , F. R. G. S. 

AUTHOR OF "THE ROMANCE OF MODERN EXPLORATION, " ETC. 

_With Twenty-six Illustrations, Extra Crown 8vo. 5s. _

"No boy will be able to resist the delights of this book, full to thebrim of instructive and wonderful matter. "--_British Weekly. _

"This book has kept your reviewer awake when he reasonably expected tobe otherwise engaged. We do not remember coming across a morefascinating volume, even to a somewhat blasé reader whose business it isto read all that comes in his way. The marvels, miracles they should becalled, of the modern workshop are here exploited by Mr. Williams forthe benefit of readers who have not the opportunity of seeing thesewonders or the necessary mathematical knowledge to understand ascientific treatise on their working. Only the simplest language is usedand every effort is made, by illustration or by analogy, to makesufficiently clear to the non-scientific reader how the particular bitof machinery works and what its work really is. Delicate instruments, calculating machines, workshop machinery, portable tools, the pedrail, motors ashore and afloat, fire engines, automatic machines, sculpturingmachines--these are a few of the chapters which crowd this splendidvolume. "--_Educational News. _

"It is difficult to make descriptions of machinery and mechanisminteresting, but Mr. Williams has the enviable knack of doing so, and itis hardly possible to open this book at any page without turning upsomething which you feel you must read; and then you cannot stop tillyou come to the end of the chapter. "--_Electricity. _

"This book is full of interest and instruction, and is a welcomeaddition to Messrs. Seeley and Company's Romance Series. "--_LeedsMercury. _

"A book of absorbing interest for the boy with a mechanical turn, andindeed for the general reader. "--_Educational Times. _

"An instructive and well-written volume. "--_Hobbies. _

SEELEY & CO. , LTD. , 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET. 

WORKS BY C. J. CORNISH

 THE NATURALIST ON THE THAMES. With Thirty-eight Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. 

"Will give great delight to any lover of natural history.... It is amost fascinating volume, and is illustrated in a manner worthy of thetext. "--_Scotsman. _

"From the first page to the last there is not a single page which thereader would not wrong himself by skipping. "--_Standard. _

 ANIMALS OF TO-DAY: Their Life and Conversation. With Illustrations from Photographs by C. REID, of Wishaw. Crown 8vo. 6s. 

"Quite one of the brightest books of popular natural history which haveappeared in recent years is Mr. Cornish's fascinating studies of'Animals of To-Day. '"--_Leeds Mercury. _

 NIGHTS WITH AN OLD GUNNER, and other Studies of Wild Life. With Sixteen Illustrations. 6s. 

"Cannot fail to be interesting to any lover of wild nature. Theillustrations are numerous and excellent. "--_Pall Mall Gazette. _

 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PLAY: Their Emotions and Activities. Illustrated from Photographs by GAMBIER BOLTON, F. Z. S. , and others, and from Drawings. Third Edition. 6s. 

"Such a book as Mr. Cornish's shows how much there is to repay theintelligent observer of Nature. "--_Times. _

"Good as the former books were, we are disposed to think that this iseven better still. "--_Spectator. _

 WILD ENGLAND OF TO-DAY, and the Wild Life in It. Illustrated with Original Drawings by LANCELOT SPEED, and from Photographs. Third Edition. 6s. 

"Those of us who are left in town in the dull days will seem, in readingthese pages, to sniff the fresh sea-breezes, to hear the cries of thesea-bird and the songs of the wood-bird, to be conscious of themurmuring stream and waving forests, and all the wild life that istherein. "--_St. James's Gazette. _

 LIFE AT THE ZOO. Notes and Traditions of the Regent's Park Gardens. Illustrated from Photographs by GAMBIER BOLTON, F. Z. S. Fifth Edition. 6s. 

"Every lover of animals will find abundance of attraction andentertainment in Mr. Cornish's delightful volume. "--_Times. _

 THE ISLE OF WIGHT. With Four Etchings and many other Illustrations. Super Royal 8vo. 3s. 6d. Net. 

 THE NEW FOREST. With Four Etchings and many other Illustrations. Super Royal 8vo. 3s. 6d. Net. 

Also a POCKET EDITION, 16mo, cloth, 2s. Net; leather, 3s. Net. 

SEELEY & CO. , LTD. , 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET

EVENTS OF OUR OWN TIME. 

 _A Series of Volumes on the most Important Events of the last Half-Century, each containing 320 pages or more, with Plans, Portraits, or other Illustrations, in extra Crown 8vo. Cloth, 5s. _

 THE WAR IN THE CRIMEA. By General Sir EDWARD HAMLEY, K. C. B. With Five Maps and Plans, and Four Portraits on Copper. Seventh Edition. 

 THE INDIAN MUTINY OF 1857. By Colonel MALLESON, C. S. I. With Three Plans, and Four Portraits on Copper. Seventh Edition. 

 THE AFGHAN WARS OF 1839-1842 AND 1878-1880. By ARCHIBALD FORBES. With Five Maps and Plans, and Four Portraits on Copper. Third Edition. 

 THE REFOUNDING OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE. By Colonel MALLESON, C. S. I. With Five Maps and Plans, and Four Portraits on Copper. 

 THE LIBERATION OF ITALY, 1815-1870. By the Countess MARTINENGO CESARESCO. With Portraits on Copper. Second Edition. 

 OUR FLEET TO-DAY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT DURING THE LAST HALF-CENTURY. By Rear-Admiral S. EARDLEY WILMOT. With many Illustrations. New Edition. 

_Uniform with the above. _

 THE WAR IN THE PENINSULA. By ALEXANDER INNES SHAND. With Four Portraits on Copper, and Six Plans. 5s. 

"Admirably lucid and well proportioned. "--_Glasgow Herald. _

 GREAT BRITAIN IN MODERN AFRICA. By EDGAR SANDERSON, M. A. With Four Portraits on Copper, and a Map. 5s. 

"Undoubtedly the best summary of modern African history that we havehad. "--_Pall Mall Gazette. _

SEELEY & CO. , LTD. , 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET

A Catalogue of Books on Art History, and General Literature Publishedby Seeley & Co Ltd 38 Great Russell Street, London

_Some of the Contents_

 Elzevir Library 5 Events of Our Own Times Series 6 Miniature Library of Devotion 10 Miniature Portfolio Monographs 10 Portfolio Monographs 12 Science of To-Day Series 14 Seeley's Illustrated Pocket Library 14 Seeley's Standard Library 15 "Things Seen" Series 16

_The Publishers will be pleased to post their complete Catalogue ortheir Illustrated Miniature Catalogue on receipt of a post-card_

CATALOGUE OF BOOKS

_Arranged alphabetically under the names of Authors and Series_

ABBOTT, Rev. E. A. , D. D. 

 Hints on Home Teaching. Crown 8vo, 3s. 

 How to Parse. An English Grammar. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. 

 How to Tell the Parts of Speech. An Introduction to English Grammar. Fcap. 8vo, 2s. 

 How to Write Clearly. Rules and Exercises on English Composition. 1s. 6d. 

 Latin Gate, The. A First Latin Translation Book. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 

 Via Latina. A First Latin Grammar. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 

ABBOTT, Rev. E. A. , and Sir J. R. SEELEY. 

 English Lessons for English People. Crown 8vo, 4s. 6d. 

ADY, Mrs. _See_ CARTWRIGHT, JULIA. 

À KEMPIS, THOMAS. 

 Of the Imitation of Christ. With Illuminated Frontispiece and Title Page, and Illuminated Sub-Titles to each book. In white or blue cloth, with inset miniatures. Gilt top; crown 8vo, 6s. Nett; also in vellum, 10s. 6d. Nett. 

 "It may well be questioned whether the great work of Thomas à Kempis has ever been presented to better advantage. "--_The Guardian. _

ALLDRIDGE, T. J. 

 A Transformed Colony. Sierra Leone as it was and as it is. With Sixty-six Illustrations and a Map. Demy 8vo, 16s. Nett. 

ANDERSON, Prof. W. 

 Japanese Wood Engravings. Coloured Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d. Nett; half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett; also small 4to, cloth, 2s. Nett; lambskin, 3s. Nett. 

ARMSTRONG, Sir WALTER. 

 The Art of Velazquez. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

 The Life of Velazquez. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

 Velazquez. A Study of his Life and Art. With Eight Copper Plates and many minor Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, cloth, 9s. Nett. 

 Thomas Gainsborough. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett. Also new edition, small 4to, cloth, 2s. Nett; leather, 3s. Nett and 5s. Nett. 

 The Peel Collection and the Dutch School of Painting. With many Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 5s. Nett; cloth, 7s. Nett. 

 W. Q. Orchardson. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d. ; half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

AUGUSTINE, S. 

 Confessions of S. Augustine. With Illuminated pages. In white or blue cloth, gilt top, crown 8vo, 6s. Nett; also in vellum, 10s. 6d. Nett. 

BARING-GOULD, Rev. S. 

 Family Names and their Story. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. Nett. 

BEDFORD, Rev. W. K. R. 

 Malta and the Knights Hospitallers. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d. Nett; half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

BENHAM, Rev. Canon D. D. , F. S. A. 

 The Tower of London. With Four Plates in Colours and many other Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 5s. Nett; cloth, 7s. Nett. 

 Mediæval London. With a Frontispiece in Photogravure, Four Plates in Colour, and many other Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 5s. Nett; cloth, gilt top, 7s. Nett. 

 Old St. Paul's Cathedral. With a Frontispiece in Photogravure, Four Plates printed in Colour, and many other Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 5s. Nett, or cloth, gilt top, 7s. Nett. 

BICKERSTETH, Rev. E. 

 Family Prayers for Six Weeks. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 

 A Companion to the Holy Communion. 32mo, cloth, 1s. 

BINYON, LAURENCE. 

 Thomas Girtin: His Life and Works. An Essay. With Twenty-one Reproductions in Autotype. Imperial 4to, £2, 2s. Nett. 

 Dutch Etchers of the Seventeenth Century. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d. ; half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

 John Crome and John Sell Cotman. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

BIRCH, G. H. 

 London on Thames in Bygone Days. With Four Plates printed in Colour and many other Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 5s. Nett; cloth, 7s. Nett. 

BRIDGES, Rev. C. 

 An Exposition of Psalm CXIX. Crown 8vo, 5s. 

BUTCHER, E. L. 

 Things Seen in Egypt. With Fifty Illustrations. Small 4to, cloth, 2s. Nett; lambskin, 3s. Nett; velvet leather, in box, 5s. Nett. 

CAMERON, D. Y. 

 Six Etchings by D. Y. CAMERON and WILLIAM STRANG. Imperial 4to, 6s. Nett. 

CARTWRIGHT, JULIA. 

 Jules Bastien-Lepage. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d. ; cloth, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

 Sacharissa. Some Account of Dorothy Sidney, Countess of Sunderland, her Family and Friends. With Five Portraits. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. 

 Madame: Memoirs of Henrietta, daughter of Charles I. And Duchess of Orleans. With Five Portraits. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. 

 Raphael in Rome. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d. ; half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett; also in small 4to, cloth, 2s. Nett; leather, 3s. Nett and 5s. Nett. 

 The Early Work of Raphael. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, sewed 2s. 6d. ; half-linen, 3s. 6d. Also new edition, revised, in small 4to, in cloth, 2s. Nett; leather, 3s. Nett. 

 Raphael: A Study of his Life and Work. With Eight Copper Plates and many other Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, 7s. 6d. Nett. 

CESARESCO, The Countess MARTINENGO. 

 The Liberation of Italy. With Portraits on Copper. Crown 8vo, 5s. 

CHITTY, J. R. 

 Things Seen in China. With Fifty Illustrations. Small 4to; cloth, 2s. ; leather, 3s. ; velvet leather in a box, 5s. Nett. 

CHORAL SERVICE-BOOK FOR PARISH CHURCHES, THE. 

 Compiled and Edited by J. W. ELLIOTT, Organist and Choirmaster of St. Mark's, Hamilton Terrace, London. With some Practical Counsels taken by permission from "Notes on the Church Service, " by Bishop WALSHAM HOW. 

 A. Royal 8vo, sewed, 1s. ; cloth, 1s. 6d. B. 16mo, sewed, 6d. ; cloth, 8d. 

_The following portions may be had separately_:--

 The Ferial and Festal Responses and the Litany. Arranged by J. W. ELLIOTT. Sewed, 4d. 

 The Communion Service, Kyrie, Credo, Sanctus, and Gloria in Excelsis. Set to Music by Dr. J. NAYLOR, Organist of York Minster. Sewed, 4d. 

CHURCH, Sir ARTHUR H. , F. R. S. 

 Josiah Wedgwood, Master Potter. With many Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 5s. Nett; cloth, 7s. Nett; also small 4to, cloth, 2s. Nett; leather, 3s. And 5s. Nett. 

 The Chemistry of Paints and Painting Third Edition. Crown 8vo, 6s. 

CHURCH, Rev. A. J. 

 Nicias, and the Sicilian Expedition. Crown 8vo, 1s. 6d. 

 For other books by Professor CHURCH see Complete Catalogue. 

CLARK, J. W. , M. A. 

 Cambridge. With a coloured Frontispiece and many other Illustrations by A. BRUNET-DEBAINES and H. TOUSSAINT, &c. Extra crown 8vo, 6s. ; also crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. Nett; leather, 3s. ; special leather, in box, 5s. Nett, CODY, Rev. H. A. 

 An Apostle of the North. The Biography of the late Bishop BOMPAS, First Bishop of Athabasca, and with an Introduction by the ARCHBISHOP of RUPERTSLAND. With 42 Illustrations. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. Nett. 

COLVIN, Sir AUCKLAND, K. C. S. I. , K. C. M. G. 

 The Making of Modern Egypt. Fourth Edition. With Portraits and a Map. Demy 8vo, 18s. Nett. 

 "Should take rank as the standard history of our labours in Egypt. "--_The Spectator. _

CORNISH, C. J. 

 Animals at Work and Play: Their Activities and Emotions. With Twelve Illustrations. Second Edition. Crown 8vo, 6s. 

 Animals of To-day: Their Life and Conversation. With Illustrations from Photographs by C. REID of Wishaw. Crown 8vo, 6s. 

 The Isle of Wight. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d. Nett; half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett; also a new edition, small 4to, cloth, 2s. ; leather, 3s. 

 Life at the Zoo. Notes and Traditions of the Regent's Park Gardens. Illustrated from Photographs by GAMBIER BOLTON. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo, 6s. 

 The Naturalist on the Thames. With many Illustrations. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. 

 The New Forest. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d. Nett; half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett; also new edition, small 4to, cloth, 2s. ; leather, 3s. Nett; and special velvet leather, each copy in a box, 5s. 

 The New Forest and the Isle of Wight. With Eight Plates and many other Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, 7s. 6d. Nett. 

 Nights with an Old Gunner, and other Studies of Wild Life. With Sixteen Illustrations by LANCELOT SPEED, CHARLES WHYMPER, and from Photographs. Crown 8vo, 6s. 

 Wild England of To-day and the Wild Life in it. With Sixteen Illustrations from Drawings by LANCELOT SPEED, and from Photographs. Crown 8vo, 6s. 

CUST, LIONEL. 

 The Engravings of Albert Dürer. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

 Paintings and Drawings of Albert Dürer. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

 Albrecht Dürer. A Study of his Life and Work. With Eight Copper Plates and many other Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, 7s. 6d. 

DALE, J. M. 

 The Clergyman's Legal Handbook and Churchwarden's Guide. Seventh Edition. Revised and brought up to date by J. S. RISLEY. 7s. 6d. 

DAVENPORT, CYRIL. 

 Cameos. With examples in Colour and many other Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 5s. Nett; cloth, 7s. Nett. 

 Royal English Bookbindings. With Coloured Plates and many other Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 3s. 6d. ; cloth, 4s. 6d. 

DAVIES, RANDALL, F. S. A. 

 English Society of the Eighteenth Century in Contemporary Art. With Four Coloured and many other Illustrations. Super royal 8vo, sewed, 5s. Nett; cloth, 7s. Nett. 

DAWSON, Rev. E. C. 

 The Life of Bishop Hannington. Crown 8vo, paper boards, 2s. 6d. ; or with Map and Illustrations, cloth, 3s. 6d. 

DE LA BERE, K. BAGHOT. 

 The New Poultry Guide for British Farmers and Others. Showing the one and only way of making Farm Poultry a rent-paying industry, 1s. 

DESTRÉE, O. G. 

 The Renaissance of Sculpture in Belgium. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d. Nett; half-linen, 3s. 6d. Nett. 

DOLMAGE, CECIL G. , M. A. , D. C. L. , LL. D. , F. R. A. S. 

 Astronomy of To-Day. A popular account in non-technical language. With Forty-six Illustrations and Diagrams. Extra crown 8vo, 5s. Nett. 

EARDLEY, WILMOT, Rear-Admiral S. 

 Our Fleet To-day and its Development during the last Half Century. With many Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 5s. 

ELZEVIR LIBRARY, THE. 

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