"

"I have had quite enough of this moon-chasing," I said; "let us be off
for the large game at once!" and the doctor agreeing, we turned directly
toward Mars.

BOOK II

Other World Life

CHAPTER I

Why Mars gives a Red Light

Our telescope was now pointed exactly at Mars, and we were observing
every feature as we approached him. Compared with the illuminated
crescent of the Earth, which we had studied when we were observing the
Andes, our present view was infinitely vaster and more comprehensive. We
were approaching the illuminated side of a planet, whereas we had then
been rapidly receding from the dark side of one partly lighted at its
edge. In our new vista there were remarkably few clouds. There were a
few pale mists here and there over the seas, but no such heavy, black
masses as had frequently obscured the Earth.

On Mars there were fewer large bodies of water, and a very much greater
proportion of land. In fact, about the Equator, whither we were
steering, there seemed to be a broad, uninterrupted zone of land, with
occasional bays or inlets cutting into it, but never crossing it. An
open sea of considerable proportions surrounded the great ice-cap at
each pole, and it was apparently thus possible to travel entirely
around the globe, either by sea or by land, as one might choose.

"Behold again the infinite wisdom of the Creator!" cried the doctor.
"Although Mars is a much smaller planet than our own, it is fitted for
almost as large a population. The land is nearly all grouped about the
Equator, where it is warm enough to live comfortably. On the contrary,
on Earth there is no important civilization under the Equator, and most
of the land is favourably located in the north temperate zone. On Earth
the intervention of great oceans between the continents kept the
population restricted to Asia and Egypt for centuries, and to the Old
World for a still longer time. But here, this band of continuous land
has made it easy and natural to explore the whole globe, and its
inhabitants have had ample time and opportunity to distribute
themselves."

But by far the most wonderful thing that we had been observing for a
long time, and which became more remarkable as we approached, was that
the entire planet, seas and continents alike, gave off a reddish light.
This tinge of red had been visible ever since we had left the Earth.
Much further back we had observed that it seemed to extend a little
beyon