There it lay below them, a round black spot, hiding the sweet faces of
the stars, but otherwise no more distinguishable by the travellers than
if they were lying in the depths of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. And
just think. Only fifteen days before, that dark face had been splendidly
illuminated by the solar beams, every crater lustrous, every peak
sparkling, every streak glistening under the vertical ray. In fifteen
days later, a day light the most brilliant would have replaced a
midnight the most Cimmerian. But in fifteen days later, where would the
Projectile be? In what direction would it have been drawn by the forces
innumerable of attractions incalculable? To such a question as this,
even Ardan would reply only by an ominous shake of the head.
We know already that our travellers, as well as astronomers generally,
judging from that portion of the dark side occasionally revealed by the
Moon's librations, were _pretty certain_ that there is no great
difference between her two sides, as far as regards their physical
constitutions. This portion, about the seventh part, shows plains and
mountains, circles and craters, all of precisely the same nature as
those already laid down on the chart.
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