Immediately
resuming their posts by the windows, they carefully noted every feature
presented by the fantastic panorama that stretched itself out in endless
lengths beneath their wondering eyes.
[Illustration: THEY SEEMED HALF ASLEEP.]
Mount _Leibnitz_ and Mount _Doerfel_ form two separate groups developed
in the regions of the extreme south. The first extends westwardly from
the pole to the 84th parallel; the second, on the southeastern border,
starting from the pole, reaches the neighborhood of the 65th. In the
entangled valleys of their clustered peaks, appeared the dazzling sheets
of white, noted by Father Secchi, but their peculiar nature Barbican
could now examine with a greater prospect of certainty than the
illustrious Roman astronomer had ever enjoyed.
"They're beds of snow," he said at last in a decided tone.
"Snow!" exclaimed M'Nicholl.
"Yes, snow, or rather glaciers heavily coated with glittering ice. See
how vividly they reflect the Sun's rays. Consolidated beds of lava could
never shine with such dazzling uniformity. Therefore there must be both
water and air on the Moon's surface. Not much--perhaps very little if
you insist on it--but the fact that there is some can now no longer be
questioned.
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