hin the path of the satellite. We were circling in
the same direction that the great planet was rotating, and yet we passed
by things on his surface, which proved that we were travelling faster
than his rotation. The doctor noticed, with his telescope, a brilliant
snow-capped peak of a great mountain towering up from a small island.
The contrast of the snow peak, with the darkish green waters all around
it, was the most pronounced thing visible on the great planet, and he
decided this must be the white spot detached from the polar ice which
our astronomers have frequently observed at about twenty-five degrees
south latitude, and to which they have given the name Hall's Island.

"I am afraid we have not appreciated the speed at which we have been
travelling," remarked the doctor. "Phobos is very slow in overtaking
us;" and he was just beginning to slacken speed still more, when he
suddenly cried out,--

"Here she is ahead of us now! We have overtaken her, instead of waiting
for her to catch us!"

And, true enough, we were gradually approaching a small brownish mass,
feebly illuminated on its outer half by the sun, and more faintly still
on its inner half by reflected light from Mars.

And how shall I describe that queer little toy-world which we were
gradually overtaking? Imagine, if you can, a little island, less than a
third the size of the Isle of Wight, tossed a few thousand miles into
space, and circling there rapidly to avoid falling back upon the greater
sphere. Imagine that flying island devoid of soil, of trees or
vegetation, of water or air, of everything but barren, uncrumbled,
homogeneous rock, and you have some idea of the unadorned desolation of
Phobos, into which we were slowly sailing, or falling. There was not
even the slightest trace of sand or scraps of rock, such as time must
have abraded from even the hardest surfaces, but the reason for this
soon became apparent.

The doctor feared steering directly against her as we approached, lest
we should land with a crash. We had already reached her and were
travelling along her inner side. Although we were very near her, she
seemed to have very little attraction for us. Then he turned very much
closer, but as soon as the influence of the rudder was released, we
seemed to leave her instead of falling upon her as we expected. We were
still travelling faster than she was, and had we steered directly
against her, we would have crashed and bumped against her