38 AN EVENING WITH THE STARS. 



the features of this planet beautifully developed, his body, like that of 

 Jupiter, diversified with belts, and sunounded with his double ring 

 and seven moons, forming a constitution of which we as inhabitants 

 of this earth can fonn no just conceptions ; something so wonder- 

 fully different to what is connected with our planet, that could we be 

 for a short time transported to this magnificent world, we should be 

 lost in wonder at the splendid appearance of their heavens, lighted up 

 in the evening by the luminous arch of the ring and seven beautiful 

 moons of different sizes^ making their appearances in various parts of 

 the sky, and with all the vaiied fonns which our moon puts on from 

 the homed to the full, and each sailing through the blue ethereal 

 vault with nearly three times the rapidity of ours. From Saturn we 

 turned to the Herschel planet, but here our instrument nearly 

 failed us ; his immense distance, and dim appearance, preclude any- 

 thing but the largest telescopes from showing his disk and moons in 

 a satisfactory manner, and with a power of 200 we only succeeded in 

 seeing two of his moons and a very small disk ; we therefore turned 

 to our attendant, the moon, which was at that time in a most favorable 

 situation for viewing with the telescope, being near the quarter; on her 

 surface we observed that splendid diversity of mountain and valley, rock 

 and plane, which indicate a globe, something similar to our own, but yet 

 so wild and romantic, as only the most extensive alpine scenery on 

 our planet can give an imperfect idea of ; rocks piled on rocks, and 

 stony mountains, frowning on the wide extended planes, craters of 

 ancient volcanoes, thirty miles in diameter, and in many places 

 craters within craters, showing the wide extension of volcanic agency, 

 many hundred times greater than anything on the surface of our 

 earth. In some parts perpendicular rocks, rising from the surface to 

 tlie height of two or three miles, the sides of which no beings such as 

 live on our planet could scale ; in other parts rocks, almost globular, 

 and of a mile or more in diameter, resting on little more than a point, 

 and which, to a spectator placed near them, would almost look like 

 planets tumbled from their orbits. Such is the constitution of our moon, 

 and such the telescope of the modem astronomer is capable of revealing; 

 indeed it brings us in connexion with things which before its 

 discovery we could have no ideas of, and points out wonders in 

 creation which without its aid we should never have formed the most 

 distant conception of. These few hasty, observations show what may 



