66 THE BORDERLAND OF SCIENCE. 



larger planet. Every one of these bodies is as well 

 rounded an orb as the earth on which you live. 



Swiftly we traversed the enormous gap separating 

 the outermost part of the zone of asteroids from the 

 path of Jupiter. Although this planet was on the 

 opposite part of his orbit, we could recognise our 

 approach to his course by a circumstance which caused 

 us no little surprise. We found many small comets 

 travelling slantwise across our path in this neighbour- 

 hood. Probably they belong to a system consisting of 

 comets which have been attracted from their former 

 course round the sun by the mighty energy residing in 

 Jupiter's mass, and have thenceforth continued to 

 circle in paths crossing that of the giant planet. If 

 so, their real number must be enormous ; for of 

 course we only saw a few of those which happened at 

 the time to be rounding the part of their path near 

 Jupiter's orbit, or rather, near that part of Jupiter's 

 orbit which we crossed in journeying to Saturn. 



When we were within about ninety millions of miles 

 from Saturn, we began to recognise the shape of the 

 Saturnian rings. The planet was now a glorious 

 object. It was shining far more brilliantly than Jupiter 

 or Venus when at their brightest ; and its rich golden 

 yellow hue distinguished it from all that we had 

 hitherto seen in the heavens. There was no orb within 

 our view, save the sun alone, which could be compared 

 with this golden oval in splendour, though the whole 

 of the celestial sphere, spread over with a hundred 

 thousand stars, was open to our contemplation. Behind 



