[A]
At midnight the Moon was full. This was the precise moment at which the
travellers would have landed had not that unlucky bolide drawn them off
the track. The Moon was therefore strictly up to time, arriving at the
instant rigidly determined by the Cambridge Observatory. She occupied
the exact point, to a mathematical nicety, where our 28th parallel
crossed the perigee. An observer posted in the bottom of the Columbiad
at Stony Hill, would have found himself at this moment precisely under
the Moon. The axis of the enormous gun, continued upwards vertically,
would have struck the orb of night exactly in her centre.
It is hardly necessary to tell our readers that, during this memorable
night of the 5th and 6th of December, the travellers had no desire to
close their eyes. Could they do so, even if they had desired? No! All
their faculties, thoughts, and desires, were concentrated in one single
word: "Look!" Representatives of the Earth, and of all humanity past and
present, they felt that it was with their eyes that the race of man
contemplated the lunar regions and penetrated the secrets of our
satellite! A certain indescribable emotion therefore, combined with an
undefined sense of responsibility, held possession of their hearts, as
they moved silently from window to window.
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