Judging therefore from analogy,
the other three-sevenths are, in all probability a world in every
respect exactly like the visible face--that is, arid, desert, dead. But
our travellers also knew that _pretty certain_ is far from _quite
certain_, and that arguing merely from analogy may enable you to give a
good guess, but can never lead you to an undoubted conclusion. What if
the atmosphere had really withdrawn to this dark face? And if air, why
not water? Would not this be enough to infuse life into the whole
continent? Why should not vegetation flourish on its plains, fish in its
seas, animals in its forests, and man in every one of its zones that
were capable of sustaining life? To these interesting questions, what a
satisfaction it would be to be able to answer positively one way or
another! For thousands of difficult problems a mere glimpse at this
hemisphere would be enough to furnish a satisfactory reply. How glorious
it would be to contemplate a realm on which the eye of man has never yet
rested!
Great, therefore, as you may readily conceive, was the depression of our
travellers' spirits, as they pursued their way, enveloped in a veil of
darkness the most profound.
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