Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1852-09-23
miscellaneous.
The Craters of the Moon.
A rRrGnTruL cnAsM

No, less than three-ifths Of the surface
Of our satellite are studded with vast caverns
Or rather circular pits, penetrating into It's /
mass. and usually engirt at the top with
high wall of rock, which is sometimes SER
rated and crowned by peaks These craters
vary IN diameter from fifty 10 sixty miles to
the smallest place yislbIe-probably 500
feet: aud the numbers increase as the d.
ameter dlmnIshes, so that the multitude of
the smaller ones becomes so great that we
cannot reckon il. The ridge which envi-
rons the crater is always sloping on its ex-
ternal side, aud steep or rather precipItous
within, although It seldom descends to the
cayems base By a single cliff or leap.
Wthn Il there are generally concentrc
ridges, assuming the form OF terraces aud
making the descent to the bottom as the
central chasam appear more gradual. The
bottom OF the crater Is sometimes convex,
low ridges OF mountains being .ound run
ming through IL, while at MS center, couca
peak frequently rise, and smaller crdters,
whose hight, however seldom reaches the
base OF the exterior wall. These curious
objects are so crowded IN some parts of the
Moon, that they seem to have pressed on
each other, aud disturbed aud even broken
down each others edges, SO that through
their mutual interference the most odd snap
ed cayerns have arisen
The crater Iycho is that brilliant spot
near the top OF the Moon, which, when the
Moon is full appears the center of a system
OF shining streams or rays The country
around is peculiarly disturbed; there is no
plain there larger than common field
Now II passinr across that rugged district,
one we're gradually approaching Iycho, It's
first and distant aspect would seem like an
immense wall OF ridge OF rock IA the horl-
zon. With stretch of nearly fifty miles
and rehectieg the Suns rays with pecu-
liar lusture On approaching the ridge the
character would change; we should then
discern that II is part OF an immense circle,
but perhaps neither so lofty or so steep, that
practced mountaineer of the earth need
from the ascent Suppose the ascent &C
complshed, and with terrestrial ideas one
stood on the summit Trusting TO the an
alogy of every disturbed region OF our own
planet, We must have thought of the oppo-
site side, while 1t was unseen, only as a
corresponding slope OF al least as a descent,
respond IN extent, but the eye is now IN
the presence Of an appalling contrast On
the edge of a dizzy cliff, passing down by
an unbroken leap for l3, coo feet, the Tay-
eler gazes below bin IN terror aud aston
shment AT the base of the cliff several
low parallel terraces creep along but lit
tie EDWARDS the depth OF the chasm is re-
yealed. and il descends from the top Of the
ridge no less than Il 600 feet or two thou
sand feet more than the summit Of Mout
Blanc rises above the level Of the sea. 1t
Is quickly perceived too, that this huge bar
fier encloses a vast circular area hlty-hye
miles in dlameter SO that if the spectator
were at the chasm's centre, he would find
around him on every side, at the distance
OF twenty-seyen miles, a gigantic and tn
broken wall-unbroken by gap or rayine
or path Of any descrlp,ion-rlsin into tn,
air 1900 feet, and iorbIddlng his return
10 tue external world
How fnghilul that seclusiQn in the Moon
chasm utterly impossible, It's walls bare
rugged, hopeless as prisons bars 1t 81
solitude, too, which nothing alleylates; yer
dure is never there, nor the song Of bird
rain never reireshes, nor cloud shelters II
it is relieved from a scorchiug sun aud fam
ing sky only by night with its stars. No
among those countless pits Is Tycho tn
most appalling. There are some OF neaTl.
equal depths whose diameter may not ex
coed 5000 feet, nay, towards the polar re
gIons of the Moon, cayerns probably exist
whose depths have never yet been ilumiue'
by one beam OF the solar lght--NichOL