"Where are we now?" asked Ardan.
"Over the northern shores of the _Mare Nubium_," replied Barbican. "But
we are still too far off to see with any certainty what they are like.
What is the _Mare_ itself? A sea, according to the early astronomers? a
plain of solid sand, according to later authority? or an immense forest,
according to De la Rue of London, so far the Moon's most successful
photographer? This gentleman's authority, Ardan, would have given you
decided support in your famous dispute with the Captain at the meeting
near Tampa, for he says very decidedly that the Moon has an atmosphere,
very low to be sure but very dense. This, however, we must find out for
ourselves; and in the meantime let us affirm nothing until we have good
grounds for positive assertion."
_Mare Nubium_, though not very clearly outlined on the maps, is easily
recognized by lying directly east of the regions about the centre. It
would appear as if this vast plain were sprinkled with immense lava
blocks shot forth from the great volcanoes on the right, _Ptolemaeus_,
_Alphonse_, _Alpetragius_ and _Arzachel_. But the Projectile advanced so
rapidly that these mountains soon disappeared, and the travellers were
not long before they could distinguish the great peaks that closed the
"Sea" on its northern boundary.
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