nsiderably more than counterbalanced by
a want of clearness, resulting from the haziness and refractiveness of
the terrestrial atmosphere, not to mention those fatal defects in the
reflector that the art of man has not yet succeeded in remedying.
Accordingly, our travellers, armed with excellent telescopes--of just
power enough to be no injury to clearness,--and posted on unequalled
vantage ground, began already to distinguish certain details that had
probably never been noticed before by terrestrial observers. Even Ardan,
by this time quite recovered from his fit of sentiment and probably
infected a little by the scientific enthusiasm of his companions, began
to observe and note and observe and note, alternately, with all the
_sangfroid_ of a veteran astronomer.

"Friends," said Barbican, again interrupting a silence that had lasted
perhaps ten minutes, "whither we are going I can't say; if we shall ever
revisit the Earth, I can't tell. Still, it is our duty so to act in all
respects as if these labors of ours were one day to be of service to our
fellow-creatures. Let us keep our souls free from every distraction. We
are now astronomers. We see now what no mortal eye has ever gazed on
before. This Projectile is simply a work room of the great Cambridge
Observatory lifted into space. Let us take observations!"

With these words, he set to work with a renewed ardor, in which his
companions fully participated. The consequence was that they soon had
several of the outline maps covered with the best sketches they could
make of the Moon's various aspects thus presented under such favorable
circumstances. They could now remark not only that they were passing the
tenth degree of north latitude, but that the Projectile followed almost
directly the twentieth degree of east longitude.

"One thing always puzzled me when examining maps of the Moon," observed
Ardan, "and I can't say that I see it yet as clearly as if I had thought
over the matter. It is this. I could understand, when looking through a
lens at an object, why we get only its reversed image--a simple law of
optics explains _that_. Therefore, in a map of the Moon, as the bottom
means the north and the top the south, why does not the right mean the
west and the left the east? I suppose I could have made this out by a
little thought, but thinking, that is reflection, not being my forte, it
is the last thing I ever care to do. Barbican, throw me a word or two on
the subj