His companions, however, without
denying that he had good grounds for his assertion on this subject or
questioning the general accuracy of his observations, content themselves
with saying that the reason why they had failed to discover the
wonderful city, was that Ardan's telescope was of a strange and
peculiar construction. Being somewhat short-sighted, he had had it
manufactured expressly for his own use, but it was of such singular
power that his companions could not use it without hurting their eyes.
But, whether the ruins were real or not, the moments were evidently too
precious to be lost in idle discussion. The great city of the Selenites
soon disappeared on the remote horizon, and, what was of far greater
importance, the distance of the Projectile from the Moon's disc began to
increase so sensibly that the smaller details of the surface were soon
lost in a confused mass, and it was only the lofty heights, the wide
craters, the great ring mountains, and the vast plains that still
continued to give sharp, distinctive outlines.
A little to their left, the travellers could now plainly distinguish one
of the most remarkable of the Moon's craters, _Newton_, so well known to
all lunar astronomers.
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