The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1870-02-11

| have arisen from the refractiOn of the
suns rays by the moons atmosphere.
computed, also, the height of the at
mosphere (which could refract light
enough into its dark hemisphere, to
produce II twilight more luminous than
the light reflected from the earth when
the moon is about 3S from the new,) to
be 1856 Paris feet; in this view, sup
posed the greatest height capable of re-
fracting the solar ray TO be 1916 feet.
My ideas upon this topic had also re-
ceived confirmation by passage in the
eighty. second volume of tho Philosoph-
ical Transactions, in which it is stated,
that at an occultation of Jupiter's satel-
lites, the third disappeared after having
| been about 1// or 9" of time indistinct,
and the fourth became indiscernible
near the limb.
Upon the resistance, or more proper
ly, upon the support of an atmosphere,
existing in the state of density imagin-
ed, l had, of course, entirely depended
for the safety of my ultimate descent.
Should | then, after all, prove to have
been mistaken, / had in consequence
nothing better TO expect, as tindle to
my adventure, than being dashed into
atoms against the rugged surface of the
satellite. And, indeed, had now every
reason to be terrified. My distance from
the moon was comparatively trifling,
while the labor required by the con.
| denscr was diminished not at all, and |
could discover no indication whatever
of II decreasing rarity in the air.
AprH 1911. This morning, to my great
joy, about nine o'clock the surface of
the moon being frightfully near, and
my apprehensions excited to the ut
most, the pump of my condenser at
| length gave evident tokens of an alter
alton in the atmosphere. BY ten, had
reason to believe its density considera.
bly, increased. By eleven, very little
labor was necessary at the apparatus;
and at twelve O'Clock, with some hesi-
tation, / ventured to unscrew the tour
niqUet. when, finding no inconvenience
from having done so, / finally threw
open the gum. elastic chamber. and un-
rugged it from around the car. AS might
have been expected, spasms and vio-
lent headache We're the immediate
consequences ofan experiment so pre-
cipitate and full of danger. But these
and other difficulties attending respira-
tion, as they were by no means so great
as to put me in peril of my life, 1 de-
termined to endure as l best could, in
consideration of my leaving them be.
hind me mome3tly in my approach to
the denser strata near the moon. This
approach, however, was still impetuous
in the extreme; and it soon became
alarmingly certain that, although I had
probably not been deceived in the ex.
pectation of an atmosphere dense in
proportion to the mass of the satellite,
still had been wrong in supposing
this density, even at the surface, at all
adequate to the support of the great
weight contained in the car of my bal
loon. Yet this shOuidhave been the case,
and in an equal degree as at the surface
of the earth, the actual gravity of bod
les at either planet supposed in the ratio
| of the atmospheric condensation. That
it acas not the case, however, my pre-
cipitous downfall gave testimony
enough; why it was not so, can only be
explained by Il reference to those posi-
BILE geological disturbances to which /
have formerly alluded. At all events l
was now close upon the planet, and
coming down with the most terrible
impetuosity. I lost not moment, ac-
cordingly, in throwing overheard first
my ballast, then my water.kegs, then
my condensing apparatus and gum-elas-
tic chamber, and finally every article
within the ear. But it was all to no
purpose. l still fell with horrible
rapidity, and was now not more than
half mile from the surface. As last
resource, therefore, having got rid Of
my coat, hat, and boots, cut loose from
the balloon tie car itself, which was of
no inconsiderable weight, and thus,
clinging with both hands to the net
work, | had barely time to observe that
the whole country, rs far AS the eye
could reach, was thickly interspersed
with diminutiye habitations, ere
tumblod headlong into the very heart
of II fantastical-looking city, and into
the middle Of II vast crowd of ugly lit
tie people, who none of them uttered Il
single syllable, or gave themselves the
least trouble to render me assistance,
but stood, like parcel Of idiots, grin
ming in a ludicrOus manner, and cycling
me and my balloon askant, with their
arms set a-kimbo. turned from them
in contempt and gazing upwards at the
earth 50 lately left, and left perhaps for
ever, bcheldit like huge, dull, copper
shield, about two degrees in diameter,
fixed immovably in the heavens over
head, and tipped on one Of its edges
with a crescent border of the most bril-
liant gold. No traces of land or water
could be discovered, and the whole was
cloudcd with variable spots, and belted
with tropical and equatorial zones.
Thus may it please your Excellencies,
after "a series of great anxieties, unheard
OF dangers, and unparalleled escapes, l
had, at length, on the nineteenth day
ofmy departure from Rotterdam, ar
rived in safety at the conclusion of a
voyage undoubtedly the most eXtraor-
dinary, and the most momentous, ever
accomplished, undertaken, or conceiv-
ed by any denizen of earth. But my
adventures yet remain to be related.
And indeed your Excellencies may
well imagine that, after residence of
five years upon "A planet not only
deeply interesting in its own peculiar
character, but rendered doubly so by
its intimate connect ion, in capacity of
satellite, with the world inhabited by