sky far beyond
the limits within which it is seen from the earth.

We noted that the planets were also much more clearly seen; and the
orange-red disc of Mars, of course, received our particular attention.

We had spent very many hours in viewing the moon, and a long time in
examining the sun and stars; so we now sat down to a hearty meal, and,
after a short time spent in conversation, we made our arrangements for
taking turns in attending to the machinery, and then retired to bed.

[Illustration: _DIAGRAM: showing the Positions and Movements of the
Planets between the 3rd of August and the 24th of September, 1909: and
the Course taken by the "Areonal" on the Voyage to Mars._

_The dotted line joining the Earth to Mars shows the course taken._

_The dotted Circles show the Orbits of the Planets. The thick arrows
show the distances travelled by the respective planets during the period
covered by the Voyage: the line at the back end of the Arrow being the
planet's position on the 3rd August, and the points of the Arrows the
position reached on the 24th September._

_The Orbits of Mercury, Venus, the Earth and Mars are drawn
approximately to scale, but those of the outer planets are not. On the
same scale, the radii of the Orbits of the outer Planets would,
approximately, be as stated below. These figures will afford some idea
of the enormous distances separating those planets._

_Jupiter_ _3_ _Inches_
_Saturn_ _5-3/8_ "
_Uranus_ _10-7/8_ "
_Neptune_ _17_ "

_Drawn by M. Wicks_

Plate V]

CHAPTER VIII

JOHN INSISTS ON GOING BACK AGAIN--A STRANGE, BUT AMUSING INCIDENT OCCURS

When we rose the next day the moon was a considerable distance away from
us, but not so far off as might at first be imagined if one only
considered the speed at which we were travelling; for, although moving
at our full speed, the earth was following us up pretty closely, as the
curve of its orbit would, for several days, run nearly in the same
direction as we were going. Still, 2,000,000 miles a day was sufficient
to make a diminution in the apparent sizes of the sun and Venus; and
there was a gradual increase in the size of the planets, Mars and
Saturn, towards which we were moving. As regards the fixed stars,
however, there was no change in our surroundings, as they are such an
immense distance away--the nearest being, at least, twenty billions of
miles from the earth, that a few million miles mo