CHAPTER III
THEIR PLACE OF SHELTER
This curious but certainly correct explanation once given, thethree friends returned to their slumbers. Could they have founda calmer or more peaceful spot to sleep in? On the earth,houses, towns, cottages, and country feel every shock given tothe exterior of the globe. On sea, the vessels rocked by thewaves are still in motion; in the air, the balloon oscillatesincessantly on the fluid strata of divers densities.This projectile alone, floating in perfect space, in the midstof perfect silence, offered perfect repose.
Thus the sleep of our adventurous travelers might have beenindefinitely prolonged, if an unexpected noise had not awakenedthem at about seven o'clock in the morning of the 2nd ofDecember, eight hours after their departure.
This noise was a very natural barking.
"The dogs! it is the dogs!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, rising at once.
"They are hungry," said Nicholl.
"By Jove!" replied Michel, "we have forgotten them."
"Where are they?" asked Barbicane.
They looked and found one of the animals crouched under the divan.Terrified and shaken by the initiatory shock, it had remainedin the corner till its voice returned with the pangs of hunger.It was the amiable Diana, still very confused, who crept out ofher retreat, though not without much persuasion, Michel Ardanencouraging her with most gracious words.
"Come, Diana," said he: "come, my girl! thou whose destiny willbe marked in the cynegetic annals; thou whom the pagans wouldhave given as companion to the god Anubis, and Christians asfriend to St. Roch; thou who art rushing into interplanetaryspace, and wilt perhaps be the Eve of all Selenite dogs! come,Diana, come here."
Diana, flattered or not, advanced by degrees, utteringplaintive cries.
"Good," said Barbicane: "I see Eve, but where is Adam?"
"Adam?" replied Michel; "Adam cannot be far off; he is theresomewhere; we must call him. Satellite! here, Satellite!"
But Satellite did not appear. Diana would not leave off howling.They found, however, that she was not bruised, and they gave hera pie, which silenced her complaints. As to Satellite, he seemedquite lost. They had to hunt a long time before finding him inone of the upper compartments of the projectile, whither someunaccountable shock must have violently hurled him. The poorbeast, much hurt, was in a piteous state.
"The devil!" said Michel.
They brought the unfortunate dog down with great care. Its skullhad been broken against the roof, and it seemed unlikely that hecould recover from such a shock. Meanwhile, he was stretchedcomfortably on a cushion. Once there, he heaved a sigh.
"We will take care of you," said Michel; "we are responsible foryour existence. I would rather lose an arm than a paw of mypoor Satellite."
Saying which, he offered some water to the wounded dog, whoswallowed it with avidity.
This attention paid, the travelers watched the earth and themoon attentively. The earth was now only discernible by acloudy disc ending in a crescent, rather more contracted thanthat of the previous evening; but its expanse was stillenormous, compared with that of the moon, which was approachingnearer and nearer to a perfect circle.
"By Jove!" said Michel Ardan, "I am really sorry that we did notstart when the earth was full, that is to say, when our globewas in opposition to the sun."
"Why?" said Nicholl.
"Because we should have seen our continents and seas in a newlight-- the first resplendent under the solar rays, the lattercloudy as represented on some maps of the world. I should liketo have seen those poles of the earth on which the eye of manhas never yet rested.
"I dare say," replied Barbicane; "but if the earth had been_full_, the moon would have been _new_; that is to say,invisible, because of the rays of the sun. It is betterfor us to see the destination we wish to reach, than the pointof departure."
"You are right, Barbicane," replied Captain Nicholl; "and,besides, when we have reached the moon, we shall have timeduring the long lunar nights to consider at our leisure theglobe on which our likenesses swarm."
"Our likenesses!" exclaimed Michel Ardan; "They are no more ourlikenesses than the Selenites are! We inhabit a new world,peopled by ourselves-- the projectile! I am Barbicane'slikeness, and Barbicane is Nicholl's. Beyond us, around us,human nature is at an end, and we are the only population ofthis microcosm until we become pure Selenites."
"In about eighty-eight hours," replied the captain.
"Which means to say?" asked Michel Ardan.
"That it is half-past eight," replied Nicholl.
"Very well," retorted Michel; "then it is impossible for me tofind even the shadow of a reason why we should not go to breakfast."
Indeed the inhabitants of the new star could not live withouteating, and their stomachs were suffering from the imperiouslaws of hunger. Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declaredchief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.The gas gave sufficient heat for the culinary apparatus, andthe provision box furnished the elements of this first feast.
The breakfast began with three bowls of excellent soup, thanks tothe liquefaction in hot water of those precious cakes of Liebig,prepared from the best parts of the ruminants of the Pampas.To the soup succeeded some beefsteaks, compressed by an hydraulicpress, as tender and succulent as if brought straight from thekitchen of an English eating-house. Michel, who was imaginative,maintained that they were even "red."
Preserved vegetables ("fresher than nature," said the amiableMichel) succeeded the dish of meat; and was followed by somecups of tea with bread and butter, after the American fashion.
The beverage was declared exquisite, and was due to theinfusion of the choicest leaves, of which the emperor of Russiahad given some chests for the benefit of the travelers.
And lastly, to crown the repast, Ardan had brought out a finebottle of Nuits, which was found "by chance" in theprovision-box. The three friends drank to the union of theearth and her satellite.
And, as if he had not already done enough for the generous winewhich he had distilled on the slopes of Burgundy, the sun choseto be part of the party. At this moment the projectile emergedfrom the conical shadow cast by the terrestrial globe, and therays of the radiant orb struck the lower disc of the projectiledirect occasioned by the angle which the moon's orbit makes withthat of the earth.
"The sun!" exclaimed Michel Ardan.
"No doubt," replied Barbicane; "I expected it."
"But," said Michel, "the conical shadow which the earth leavesin space extends beyond the moon?"
"Far beyond it, if the atmospheric refraction is not taken intoconsideration," said Barbicane. "But when the moon is envelopedin this shadow, it is because the centers of the three stars,the sun, the earth, and the moon, are all in one and the samestraight line. Then the _nodes_ coincide with the _phases_ ofthe moon, and there is an eclipse. If we had started when therewas an eclipse of the moon, all our passage would have been inthe shadow, which would have been a pity."
"Why?"
"Because, though we are floating in space, our projectile,bathed in the solar rays, will receive light and heat.It economizes the gas, which is in every respect a good economy."
Indeed, under these rays which no atmosphere can temper, eitherin temperature or brilliancy, the projectile grew warm andbright, as if it had passed suddenly from winter to summer.The moon above, the sun beneath, were inundating it with their fire.
"It is pleasant here," said Nicholl.
"I should think so," said Michel Ardan. "With a little earthspread on our aluminum planet we should have green peas intwenty-four hours. I have but one fear, which is that thewalls of the projectile might melt."
"Calm yourself, my worthy friend," replied Barbicane; "theprojectile withstood a very much higher temperature than this asit slid through the strata of the atmosphere. I should not besurprised if it did not look like a meteor on fire to the eyesof the spectators in Florida."
"But then J. T. Maston will think
we are roasted!"
"What astonishes me," said Barbicane, "is that we have not been.That was a danger we had not provided for."
"I feared it," said Nicholl simply.
"And you never mentioned it, my sublime captain," exclaimedMichel Ardan, clasping his friend's hand.
Barbicane now began to settle himself in the projectile as if hewas never to leave it. One must remember that this aerial carhad a base with a _superficies_ of fifty-four square feet.Its height to the roof was twelve feet. Carefully laid out inthe inside, and little encumbered by instruments and travelingutensils, which each had their particular place, it left thethree travelers a certain freedom of movement. The thick windowinserted in the bottom could bear any amount of weight, andBarbicane and his companions walked upon it as if it were solidplank; but the sun striking it directly with its rays lit theinterior of the projectile from beneath, thus producing singulareffects of light.
They began by investigating the state of their store of waterand provisions, neither of which had suffered, thanks to thecare taken to deaden the shock. Their provisions were abundant,and plentiful enough to last the three travelers for more thana year. Barbicane wished to be cautious, in case the projectileshould land on a part of the moon which was utterly barren.As to water and the reserve of brandy, which consisted of fiftygallons, there was only enough for two months; but according tothe last observations of astronomers, the moon had a low, dense,and thick atmosphere, at least in the deep valleys, and theresprings and streams could not fail. Thus, during their passage,and for the first year of their settlement on the lunarcontinent, these adventurous explorers would suffer neitherhunger nor thirst.
Now about the air in the projectile. There, too, they were secure.Reiset and Regnaut's apparatus, intended for the production ofoxygen, was supplied with chlorate of potassium for two months.They necessarily consumed a certain quantity of gas, for theywere obliged to keep the producing substance at a temperatureof above
[email protected] But there again they were all safe. The apparatusonly wanted a little care. But it was not enough to renew theoxygen; they must absorb the carbonic acid produced by expiration.During the last twelve hours the atmosphere of the projectile hadbecome charged with this deleterious gas. Nicholl discoveredthe state of the air by observing Diana panting painfully.The carbonic acid, by a phenomenon similar to that produced inthe famous Grotto del Cane, had collected at the bottom of theprojectile owing to its weight. Poor Diana, with her head low,would suffer before her masters from the presence of this gas.But Captain Nicholl hastened to remedy this state of things,by placing on the floor several receivers containing causticpotash, which he shook about for a time, and this substance,greedy of carbonic acid, soon completely absorbed it, thuspurifying the air.
An inventory of instruments was then begun. The thermometersand barometers had resisted, all but one minimum thermometer,the glass of which was broken. An excellent aneroid was drawnfrom the wadded box which contained it and hung on the wall.Of course it was only affected by and marked the pressure of theair inside the projectile, but it also showed the quantity ofmoisture which it contained. At that moment its needleoscillated between 25.24 and 25.08.
It was fine weather.
Barbicane had also brought several compasses, which he found intact.One must understand that under present conditions their needleswere acting _wildly_, that is without any _constant_ direction.Indeed, at the distance they were from the earth, the magneticpole could have no perceptible action upon the apparatus; butthe box placed on the lunar disc might perhaps exhibit somestrange phenomena. In any case it would be interesting to seewhether the earth's satellite submitted like herself to itsmagnetic influence.
A hypsometer to measure the height of the lunar mountains, asextant to take the height of the sun, glasses which would beuseful as they neared the moon, all these instruments werecarefully looked over, and pronounced good in spite of theviolent shock.
As to the pickaxes and different tools which were Nicholl'sespecial choice; as to the sacks of different kinds of grain andshrubs which Michel Ardan hoped to transplant into Seleniteground, they were stowed away in the upper part of the projectile.There was a sort of granary there, loaded with things which theextravagant Frenchman had heaped up. What they were no one knew,and the good-tempered fellow did not explain. Now and then heclimbed up by cramp-irons riveted to the walls, but kept theinspection to himself. He arranged and rearranged, he plungedhis hand rapidly into certain mysterious boxes, singing in oneof the falsest of voices an old French refrain to enliventhe situation.
Barbicane observed with some interest that his guns and otherarms had not been damaged. These were important, because,heavily loaded, they were to help lessen the fall of theprojectile, when drawn by the lunar attraction (after havingpassed the point of neutral attraction) on to the moon'ssurface; a fall which ought to be six times less rapid than itwould have been on the earth's surface, thanks to the differenceof bulk. The inspection ended with general satisfaction, wheneach returned to watch space through the side windows and thelower glass coverlid.
There was the same view. The whole extent of the celestialsphere swarmed with stars and constellations of wonderfulpurity, enough to drive an astronomer out of his mind! On oneside the sun, like the mouth of a lighted oven, a dazzling discwithout a halo, standing out on the dark background of the sky!On the other, the moon returning its fire by reflection, andapparently motionless in the midst of the starry world. Then, alarge spot seemingly nailed to the firmament, bordered by asilvery cord; it was the earth! Here and there nebulous masseslike large flakes of starry snow; and from the zenith to the nadir,an immense ring formed by an impalpable dust of stars, the "MilkyWay," in the midst of which the sun ranks only as a star of thefourth magnitude. The observers could not take their eyes fromthis novel spectacle, of which no description could give anadequate idea. What reflections it suggested! What emotionshitherto unknown awoke in their souls! Barbicane wished to beginthe relation of his journey while under its first impressions,and hour after hour took notes of all facts happening in thebeginning of the enterprise. He wrote quietly, with his largesquare writing, in a business-like style.
During this time Nicholl, the calculator, looked over theminutes of their passage, and worked out figures withunparalleled dexterity. Michel Ardan chatted first withBarbicane, who did not answer him, and then with Nicholl, whodid not hear him, with Diana, who understood none of histheories, and lastly with himself, questioning and answering,going and coming, busy with a thousand details; at one time bentover the lower glass, at another roosting in the heights of theprojectile, and always singing. In this microcosm herepresented French loquacity and excitability, and we beg you tobelieve that they were well represented. The day, or rather(for the expression is not correct) the lapse of twelve hours,which forms a day upon the earth, closed with a plentiful suppercarefully prepared. No accident of any nature had yet happenedto shake the travelers' confidence; so, full of hope, alreadysure of success, they slept peacefully, while the projectileunder an uniformly decreasing speed was crossing the sky.