The Sun was now sinking
very low, and the illuminated surface of the Moon was reduced to a
narrow rim.
By this time, too, the bird's eye view to which the observations had so
far principally confined, decidedly altered its character. They could
now look back at the lunar mountains that they had been just sailing
over--a view somewhat like that enjoyed by a tourist standing on the
summit of Mt. St. Gothard as he sees the sun setting behind the peaks of
the Bernese Oberland. The lunar landscapes however, though seen under
these new and ever varying conditions, "hardly gained much by the
change," according to Ardan's expression. On the contrary, they looked,
if possible, more dreary and inhospitable than before.
The Moon having no atmosphere, the benefit of this gaseous envelope in
softening off and nicely shading the approaches of light and darkness,
heat and cold, is never felt on her surface. There, no twilight ever
softly ushers in the brilliant sun, or sweetly heralds the near approach
of night's dark shadow. Night follows day, and day night, with the
startling suddenness of a match struck or a lamp extinguished in a
cavern. Nor can it present any gradual transition from either extreme of
temperature.
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