"
"That's _Mare Nectaris_, the gray spot over there on the southwest,
isn't it?" asked M'Nicholl; "is there any likelihood of our getting a
better view of it?"
"Not the slightest," answered Barbican, "unless we go round the Moon and
return this way, like a satellite describing its orbit."
By this time they had arrived at a point vertical to the mountain
centre. _Copernicus's_ vast ramparts formed a perfect circle or rather a
pair of concentric circles. All around the mountain extended a dark
grayish plain of savage aspect, on which the peak shadows projected
themselves in sharp relief. In the gloomy bottom of the crater, whose
dimensions are vast enough to swallow Mont Blanc body and bones, could
be distinguished a magnificent group of cones, at least half a mile in
height and glittering like piles of crystal. Towards the north several
breaches could be seen in the ramparts, due probably to a caving in of
immense masses accumulated on the summit of the precipitous walls.
As already observed, the surrounding plains were dotted with numberless
craters mostly of small dimensions, except _Gay Lussac_ on the north,
whose crater was about 12 miles in diameter.
Pages:
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213