condensing machine, by which the rarefied atmosphere of the upper regions
could be converted into good food for the lungs. These machines had been
successfully tested more than once by voyagers of the air, but the present
occasion promised to give them a much more severe trial than they had yet
received. And, indeed, it is impossible to imagine how we could have
survived without them. Another important aid to science rendered by this
air-condensing apparatus is that in the process of condensation water is
produced in sufficient quantities to drink. Our little car was tightly
inclosed, and we took enough surplus gas with us to keep it comfortably
warm. So, with plenty of food, air, water, and fuel, we were pretty well
prepared for a long journey.

Our instruments, placed just outside the glass sides of the car, told us
how fast we were rising and what height we had reached from time to time,
and as we left the denser atmosphere of the earth we were gratified to
find that we continued to rise rapidly. On one side of us we could see the
rugged surface of the moon, now, on account of its rounded form, drawing
nearer to us every hour as we approached the point where we hoped to land.
We thought it best to try to pass the center and land, if possible,
somewhere on the upper hemisphere, which was the part of the monstrous
object that we wanted to investigate. But when at length we thought we
were about to fly past the moon's equator successfully, an unexpected
thing happened.

If we suppose the moon was resting, at the bottom of the ocean, on one of
its poles, we were going toward the equatorial line, and we thought we
should not be able to retain a foothold anywhere below that line
certainly. But now, what was our surprise to find ourselves under some
mysterious influence. Our balloon refused to obey us as heretofore, and in
spite of rudder and sail we were drifting about, and appeared to be going