CHAPTER XI.
FACT AND FANCY.
"Have you ever seen the Moon?" said a teacher ironically one day inclass to one of his pupils.
"No, sir;" was the pert reply; "but I think I can safely say I've heardit spoken about."
Though saying what he considered a smart thing, the pupil was probablyperfectly right. Like the immense majority of his fellow beings, he hadlooked at the Moon, heard her talked of, written poetry about her, but,in the strict sense of the term, he had probably never seen her--thatis--scanned her, examined her, surveyed her, inspected her, reconnoitredher--even with an opera glass! Not one in a thousand, not one in tenthousand, has ever examined even the map of our only Satellite. To guardour beloved and intelligent reader against this reproach, we haveprepared an excellent reduction of Beer and Maedler's _Mappa_, on which,for the better understanding of what is to follow, we hope he willoccasionally cast a gracious eye.
When you look at any map of the Moon, you are struck first of all withone peculiarity. Contrary to the arrangement prevailing in Mars and onour Earth, the continents occupy principally the southern hemisphere ofthe lunar orb. Then these continents are far from presenting such sharpand regular outlines as distinguish the Indian Peninsula, Africa, andSouth America. On the contrary, their coasts, angular, jagged, anddeeply indented, abound in bays and peninsulas. They remind you of thecoast of Norway, or of the islands in the Sound, where the land seems tobe cut up into endless divisions. If navigation ever existed on theMoon's surface, it must have been of a singularly difficult anddangerous nature, and we can scarcely say which of the two should bemore pitied--the sailors who had to steer through these dangerous andcomplicated passes, or the map-makers who had to designate them on theircharts.
You will also remark that the southern pole of the Moon is much more_continental_ than the northern. Around the latter, there exists only aslight fringe of lands separated from the other continents by vast"seas." This word "seas"--a term employed by the first lunar mapconstructors--is still retained to designate those vast depressions onthe Moon's surface, once perhaps covered with water, though they are nowonly enormous plains. In the south, the continents cover nearly thewhole hemisphere. It is therefore possible that the Selenites haveplanted their flag on at least one of their poles, whereas the Parrysand Franklins of England, the Kanes and the Wilkeses of America, theDumont d'Urvilles and the Lamberts of France, have so far met withobstacles completely insurmountable, while in search of those unknownpoints of our terrestrial globe.
The islands--the next feature on the Moon's surface--are exceedinglynumerous. Generally oblong or circular in shape and almost as regular inoutline as if drawn with a compass, they form vast archipelagoes likethe famous group lying between Greece and Asia Minor, which mythologyhas made the scene of her earliest and most charming legends. As we gazeat them, the names of Naxos, Tenedos, Milo, and Carpathos rise up beforeour mind's eye, and we begin looking around for the Trojan fleet andJason's Argo. This, at least, was Ardan's idea, and at first his eyeswould see nothing on the map but a Grecian archipelago. But hiscompanions, sound practical men, and therefore totally devoid ofsentiment, were reminded by these rugged coasts of the beetling cliffsof New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; so that, where the Frenchman saw thetracks of ancient heroes, the Americans saw only commodious shippingpoints and favorable sites for trading posts--all, of course, in thepurest interest of lunar commerce and industry.
To end our hasty sketch of the continental portion of the Moon, we mustsay a few words regarding her orthography or mountain systems. With afair telescope you can distinguish very readily her mountain chains, herisolated mountains, her circuses or ring formations, and her rills,cracks and radiating streaks. The character of the whole lunar relief iscomprised in these divisions. It is a surface prodigiously reticulated,upheaved and depressed, apparently without the slightest order orsystem. It is a vast Switzerland, an enormous Norway, where everythingis the result of direct plutonic action. This surface, so rugged, craggyand wrinkled, seems to be the result of successive contractions of thecrust, at an early period of the planet's existence. The examination ofthe lunar disc is therefore highly favorable for the study of the greatgeological phenomena of our own globe. As certain astronomers haveremarked, the Moon's surface, though older than the Earth's, hasremained younger. That is, it has undergone less change. No water hasbroken through its rugged elevations, filled up its scowling cavities,and by incessant action tended continuously to the production of ageneral level. No atmosphere, by its disintegrating, decomposinginfluence has softened off the rugged features of the plutonicmountains. Volcanic action alone, unaffected by either aqueous oratmospheric forces, can here be seen in all its glory. In other wordsthe Moon looks now as our Earth did endless ages ago, when "she was voidand empty and when darkness sat upon the face of the deep;" eons of agesago, long before the tides of the ocean and the winds of the atmospherehad begun to strew her rough surface with sand and clay, rock and coal,forest and meadow, gradually preparing it, according to the laws of ourbeneficent Creator, to be at last the pleasant though the temporaryabode of Man!
Having wandered over vast continents, your eye is attracted by the"seas" of dimensions still vaster. Not only their shape, situation, andlook, remind us of our own oceans, but, again like them, they occupythe greater part of the Moon's surface. The "seas," or, more correctly,plains, excited our travellers' curiosity to a very high degree, andthey set themselves at once to examine their nature.
The astronomer who first gave names to those "seas" in all probabilitywas a Frenchman. Hevelius, however, respected them, even Riccioli didnot disturb them, and so they have come down to us. Ardan laughedheartily at the fancies which they called up, and said the whole thingreminded him of one of those "maps of matrimony" that he had once seenor read of in the works of Scudery or Cyrano de Bergerac.
"However," he added, "I must say that this map has much more reality init than could be found in the sentimental maps of the 17th century. Infact, I have no difficulty whatever in calling it the _Map of Life!_very neatly divided into two parts, the east and the west, the masculineand the feminine. The women on the right, and the men on the left!"
At such observations, Ardan's companions only shrugged their shoulders.A map of the Moon in their eyes was a map of the Moon, no more, no less;their romantic friend might view it as he pleased. Nevertheless, theirromantic friend was not altogether wrong. Judge a little for yourselves.
What is the first "sea" you find in the hemisphere on the left? The_Mare Imbrium_ or the Rainy Sea, a fit emblem of our human life, beatenby many a pitiless storm. In a corresponding part of the southernhemisphere you see _Mare Nubium_, the Cloudy Sea, in which our poorhuman reason so often gets befogged. Close to this lies _Mare Humorum_,the Sea of Humors, where we sail about, the sport of each fitful breeze,"everything by starts and nothing long." Around all, embracing all, lies_Oceanus Procellarum_, the Ocean of Tempests, where, engaged in onecontinuous struggle with the gusty whirlwinds, excited by our ownpassions or those of others, so few of us escape shipwreck. And, whendisgusted by the difficulties of life, its deceptions, its treacheriesand all the other miseries "that flesh is heir to," where do we toooften fly to avoid them? To the _Sinus Iridium_ or the _Sinus Roris_,that is Rainbow Gulf and Dewy Gulf whose glittering lights, alas! giveforth no real illumination to guide our stumbling feet, whose sun-tippedpinnacles have less substance than a dream, whose enchanting waters allevaporate before we can lift a cup-full to our parched lips! Showers,storms, fogs, rainbows--is not the whole mortal life of man comprised inthese four words?
Now turn to the hemisphere on the right, the women's side, and you alsodiscover "seas," more numerous indeed, but of smaller dimensions andwith gentler names, as more befitting the feminine temperament. Firstcomes _Mare Serenitatis_, the Sea of Serenity, so expressive of thecalm, tranquil soul of an innocent maiden. Near it is _Lacus Somniorum_,the Lake of Dreams, in which she loves to gaze at her gilded and rosyfuture. In the sout
hern division is seen _Mare Nectaris_, the Sea ofNectar, over whose soft heaving billows she is gently wafted by Love'scaressing winds, "Youth on the prow and Pleasure at the helm." Not faroff is _Mare Fecunditatis_, the Sea of Fertility, in which she becomesthe happy mother of rejoicing children. A little north is _MareCrisium_, the Sea of Crises where her life and happiness are sometimesexposed to sudden, and unexpected dangers which fortunately, however,seldom end fatally. Far to the left, near the men's side, is _MareVaporum_, the Sea of Vapors, into which, though it is rather small, andfull of sunken rocks, she sometimes allows herself to wander, moody, andpouting, and not exactly knowing where she wants to go or what she wantsto do. Between the two last expands the great _Mare Tranquillitatis_,the Sea of Tranquillity, into whose quiet depths are at last absorbedall her simulated passions, all her futile aspirations, all herunglutted desires, and whose unruffled waters are gliding on forever innoiseless current towards _Lacus Mortis_, the Lake of Death, whose mistyshores
"In ruthless, vast, and gloomy woods are girt."
So at least Ardan mused as he stooped over Beer and Maedler's map. Didnot these strange successive names somewhat justify his flights offancy? Surely they had a wonderful variety of meaning. Was it byaccident or by forethought deep that the two hemispheres of the Moon hadbeen thus so strangely divided, yet, as man to woman, though dividedstill united, and thus forming even in the cold regions of space aperfect image of our terrestrial existence? Who can say that ourromantic French friend was altogether wrong in thus explaining theastute fancies of the old astronomers?
His companions, however, it need hardly be said, never saw the "seas" inthat light. They looked on them not with sentimental but withgeographical eyes. They studied this new world and tried to get it byheart, working at it like a school boy at his lessons. They began bymeasuring its angles and diameters.
To their practical, common sense vision _Mare Nubium_, the Cloudy Sea,was an immense depression of the surface, sprinkled here and there witha few circular mountains. Covering a great portion of that part of thesouthern hemisphere which lies east of the centre, it occupied a spaceof about 270 thousand square miles, its central point lying in 15 deg. southlatitude and 20 deg. east longitude. Northeast from this lay _OceanusProcellarum_, the Ocean of Tempests, the most extensive of all theplains on the lunar disc, embracing a surface of about half a million ofsquare miles, its centre being in 10 deg. north and 45 deg. east. From its bosomthose wonderful mountains _Kepler_ and _Aristarchus_ lifted their vastramparts glittering with innumerable streaks radiating in alldirections.
To the north, in the direction of _Mare Frigoris_, extends _MareImbrium_, the Sea of Rains, its central point in 35 deg. north and 20 deg.east. It is somewhat circular in shape, and it covers a space of about300 thousand square miles. South of _Oceanus Procellarum_ and separatedfrom _Mare Nubium_ by a goodly number of ring mountains, lies the littlebasin of _Mare Humorum_, the Sea of Humors, containing only about 66thousand square miles, its central point having a latitude of 25 deg. southand a longitude of 40 deg. east.
On the shores of these great seas three "Gulfs" are easily found: _SinusAestuum_, the Gulf of the Tides, northeast of the centre; _SinusIridium_, the Gulf of the Rainbows, northeast of the _Mare Imbrium_; and_Sinus Roris_, the Dewy Gulf, a little further northeast. All seem to besmall plains enclosed between chains of lofty mountains.
The western hemisphere, dedicated to the ladies, according to Ardan, andtherefore naturally more capricious, was remarkable for "seas" ofsmaller dimensions, but much more numerous. These were principally:_Mare Serenitatis_, the Sea of Serenity, 25 deg. north and 20 deg. west,comprising a surface of about 130 thousand square miles; _Mare Crisium_,the Sea of Crises, a round, well defined, dark depression towards thenorthwestern edge, 17 deg. north 55 deg. west, embracing a surface of 60thousand square miles, a regular Caspian Sea in fact, only that theplateau in which it lies buried is surrounded by a girdle of much highermountains. Then towards the equator, with a latitude of 5 deg. north and alongitude of 25 deg. west, appears _Mare Tranquillitatis_, the Sea ofTranquillity, occupying about 180 thousand square miles. Thiscommunicates on the south with _Mare Nectaris_, the Sea of Nectar,embracing an extent of about 42 thousand square miles, with a meanlatitude of 15 deg. south and a longitude of 35 deg. west. Southwest from _MareTranquillitatis_, lies _Mare Fecunditatis_, the Sea of Fertility, thegreatest in this hemisphere, as it occupies an extent of more than 300thousand square miles, its latitude being 3 deg. south and its longitude 50 deg.west. For away to the north, on the borders of the _Mare Frigoris_, orIcy Sea, is seen the small _Mare Humboldtianum_, or Humboldt Sea, with asurface of about 10 thousand square miles. Corresponding to this in thesouthern hemisphere lies the _Mare Australe_, or South Sea, whosesurface, as it extends along the western rim, is rather difficult tocalculate. Finally, right in the centre of the lunar disc, where theequator intersects the first meridian, can be seen _Sinus Medii_, theCentral Gulf, the common property therefore of all the hemispheres, thenorthern and southern, as well as of the eastern and western.
Into these great divisions the surface of our satellite resolved itselfbefore the eyes of Barbican and M'Nicholl. Adding up the variousmeasurements, they found that the surface of her visible hemisphere wasabout 7-1/2 millions of square miles, of which about the two thirdscomprised the volcanoes, the mountain chains, the rings, the islands--inshort, the land portion of the lunar surface; the other third comprisedthe "seas," the "lakes," the "marshes," the "bays" or "gulfs," and theother divisions usually assigned to water.
To all this deeply interesting information, though the fruit ofobservation the closest, aided and confirmed by calculation theprofoundest, Ardan listened with the utmost indifference. In fact, evenhis French politeness could not suppress two or three decided yawns,which of course the mathematicians were too absorbed to notice.
In their enthusiasm they tried to make him understand that though theMoon is 13-1/2 times smaller than our Earth, she can show more than 50thousand craters, which astronomers have already counted and designatedby specific names.
"To conclude this portion of our investigation therefore," criedBarbican, clearing his throat, and occupying Aldan's right ear,--"theMoon's surface is a honey combed, perforated, punctured--"
"A fistulous, a rugose, salebrous,--" cut in the Captain, close on theleft.
--"And highly cribriform superficies--" cried Barbican.
--"A sieve, a riddle, a colander--" shouted the Captain.
--"A skimming dish, a buckwheat cake, a lump of green cheese--" went onBarbican--.
--In fact, there is no knowing how far they would have proceeded withtheir designations, comparisons, and scientific expressions, had notArdan, driven to extremities by Barbican's last profanity, suddenlyjumped up, broken away from his companions, and clapped a forcibleextinguisher on their eloquence by putting his hands on their lips andkeeping them there awhile. Then striking a grand attitude, he lookedtowards the Moon and burst out in accents of thrilling indignation:
"Pardon, O beautiful Diana of the Ephesians! Pardon, O Phoebe, thoupearl-faced goddess of night beloved of Greece! O Isis, thou sympatheticqueen of Nile-washed cities! O Astarte, thou favorite deity of theSyrian hills! O Artemis, thou symbolical daughter of Jupiter and Latona,that is of light and darkness! O brilliant sister of the radiant Apollo!enshrined in the enchanting strains of Virgil and Homer, which I onlyhalf learned at college, and therefore unfortunately forget just now!Otherwise what pleasure I should have had in hurling them at the headsof Barbican, M'Nicholl, and every other barbarous iconoclast of thenineteenth century!--"
Here he stopped short, for two reasons: first he was out of breath;secondly, he saw that the irrepressible scientists had been too busymaking observations of their own to hear a single word of what he haduttered, and were probably totally unconscious that he had spoken atall. In a few seconds his breath came back in full blast, but the ideaof talking when only deaf men were listening was so disconcerting as toleave him actual
ly unable to get off another syllable.