A TRIP TO THE MOON. 2G9 



noes the moon does not know, and the shining points on 

 her night side, which Herschel loved so much to observe, 

 are only the highest points of lofty mountains, resplendent 

 in brilliant sunshine. 



On the southwestern part of the disc we see one of 

 those gigantic, elevated tablelands, with which the moon 

 abounds. They are evidently the oldest formations, fear- 

 fully torn and tarnished in every direction, full of craters, 

 fissures and fractures, and traversed by long furrow-like 

 valleys; but in their midst we see, invariably, a most 

 beautiful variety of landscapes, such as our earth boasts 

 of: groups of mountains, broad, vast plains, gently swell- 

 ing ridges, and fair valleys, dotted with numerous, well- 

 rounded hills. 



By their side we notice one of those regular, and there- 

 fore probably more recent, circular mountains, of which 

 more than one thousand five hundred are already known, 

 and which, in some parts of the moon, stand so closely 

 packed together, as to give to these regions the ap- 

 pearance of a honeycomb. Their walls are nearly all 

 around of the same height; within, their straight, steep 

 sides sink suddenly into the abyss ; without they fall off 

 more gradually in terraces, and send occasional spurs 

 into the surrounding country. In the centre there rises 

 commonly an isolated peak, sometimes merely a hum- 

 ble hill, at other times a lofty mountain or even a 

 small cluster of conical eminences. These central heights 

 never rise to a level with the circular ranges; some 

 are nearly five thousand feet high, but then the impass- 

 able wall, that surrounds them without breach or pass, 



