Orakel Classics
From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon by Jules Verne, prepared as a public-domain Orakel edition with 51 chapter-aware companion links.
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CHAPTER I.: THE GUN CLUB
CHAPTER I.: THE GUN CLUB from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. During the War of the Rebellion, a new and influential club was established in the city of Baltimore in the State of Maryland. It is well known with what energy the taste for military matters became developed among that nation of ship-owners, shopkeepers, and mechanics. Simple tradesmen jumped their counters to become extemporized captains, colonels, and generals, without having ever passed the School of Instruction
Open2CHAPTER II.: PRESIDENT BARBICANE’S COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER II.: PRESIDENT BARBICANE’S COMMUNICATION from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. On the 5th of October, at eight p.m., a dense crowd pressed toward the saloons of the Gun Club at No. 21 Union Square. All the members of the association resident in Baltimore attended the invitation of their president. As regards the corresponding members, notices were delivered by hundreds throughout the streets of the city, and, large as was the great hall, it was quite inadequate to accommodate the crowd of
Open3CHAPTER III.: EFFECT OF THE PRESIDENT’S COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER III.: EFFECT OF THE PRESIDENT’S COMMUNICATION from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. It is impossible to describe the effect produced by the last words of the honorable president—the cries, the shouts, the succession of roars, hurrahs, and all the varied vociferations which the American language is capable of supplying. It was a scene of indescribable confusion and uproar. They shouted, they clapped, they stamped on the floor of the hall. All the weapons in the museum discharged at once could not
Open4CHAPTER IV.: REPLY FROM THE OBSERVATORY OF CAMBRIDGE
CHAPTER IV.: REPLY FROM THE OBSERVATORY OF CAMBRIDGE from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. Barbicane, however, lost not one moment amid all the enthusiasm of which he had become the object. His first care was to reassemble his colleagues in the board-room of the Gun Club. There, after some discussion, it was agreed to consult the astronomers regarding the astronomical part of the enterprise. Their reply once ascertained, they could then discuss the mechanical means, and nothing should be wanting to ensure
Open5CHAPTER V.: THE ROMANCE OF THE MOON
CHAPTER V.: THE ROMANCE OF THE MOON from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. An observer endued with an infinite range of vision, and placed in that unknown center around which the entire world revolves, might have beheld myriads of atoms filling all space during the chaotic epoch of the universe. Little by little, as ages went on, a change took place; a general law of attraction manifested itself, to which the hitherto errant atoms became obedient: these atoms combined together chemically
Open6CHAPTER VI.: PERMISSIVE LIMITS OF IGNORANCE AND BELIEF IN THE UNITED STATES
CHAPTER VI.: PERMISSIVE LIMITS OF IGNORANCE AND BELIEF IN THE UNITED STATES from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The immediate result of Barbicane’s proposition was to place upon the orders of the day all the astronomical facts relative to the Queen of the Night. Everybody set to work to study assiduously. One would have thought that the moon had just appeared for the first time, and that no one had ever before caught a glimpse of her in the heavens. The papers revived all the old anecdotes in which the “sun of the wolves”
Open7CHAPTER VII.: THE HYMN OF THE CANNON-BALL
CHAPTER VII.: THE HYMN OF THE CANNON-BALL from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The Observatory of Cambridge in its memorable letter had treated the question from a purely astronomical point of view. The mechanical part still
Open8CHAPTER VIII.: HISTORY OF THE CANNON
CHAPTER VIII.: HISTORY OF THE CANNON from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The resolutions passed at the last meeting produced a great effect out of doors. Timid people took fright at the idea of a shot weighing 20,000 pounds being launched into space; they asked what cannon could ever transmit a sufficient velocity to such a mighty mass. The minutes of the second meeting were destined triumphantly to answer such questions. The following evening the discussion was
Open9CHAPTER IX.: THE QUESTION OF THE POWDERS
CHAPTER IX.: THE QUESTION OF THE POWDERS from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. There remained for consideration merely the question of powders. The public awaited with interest its final decision. The size of the projectile, the length of the cannon being settled, what would be the quantity of powder necessary to produce
Open10CHAPTER X.: ONE ENEMY _v._ TWENTY-FIVE MILLIONS OF FRIENDS
CHAPTER X.: ONE ENEMY _v._ TWENTY-FIVE MILLIONS OF FRIENDS from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The American public took a lively interest in the smallest details of the enterprise of the Gun Club. It followed day by day the discussion of the committee. The most simple preparations for the great experiment, the questions of figures which it involved, the mechanical difficulties to be resolved—in one word, the entire plan of work—roused the popular excitement to the highest
Open11CHAPTER XI.: FLORIDA AND TEXAS
CHAPTER XI.: FLORIDA AND TEXAS from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. One question remained yet to be decided; it was necessary to choose a favorable spot for the experiment. According to the advice of the Observatory of Cambridge, the gun must be fired perpendicularly to the plane of the horizon, that is to say, toward the zenith. Now the moon does not traverse the zenith, except in places situated between 0° and 28° of latitude. It became, then, necessary to determine exactly that
Open12CHAPTER XII.: URBI ET ORBI
CHAPTER XII.: URBI ET ORBI from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The astronomical, mechanical, and topographical difficulties resolved, finally came the question of finance. The sum required was far too great for any individual, or even any single State, to provide the requisite
Open13CHAPTER XIII.: STONES HILL
CHAPTER XIII.: STONES HILL from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. When the decision was arrived at by the Gun Club, to the disparagement of Texas, every one in America, where reading is a universal acquirement, set to work to study the geography of Florida. Never before had there been such a sale for works like “Bertram’s Travels in Florida,” “Roman’s Natural History of East and West Florida,” “William’s Territory of Florida,” and “Cleland on the Cultivation of the Sugar-Cane in
Open14CHAPTER XIV.: PICKAXE AND TROWEL
CHAPTER XIV.: PICKAXE AND TROWEL from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The same evening Barbicane and his companions returned to Tampa Town; and Murchison, the engineer, re-embarked on board the Tampico for New Orleans. His object was to enlist an army of workmen, and to collect together the greater part of the materials. The members of the Gun Club remained at Tampa Town, for the purpose of setting on foot the preliminary works by the aid of the people of the
Open15CHAPTER XV.: THE FETE OF THE CASTING
CHAPTER XV.: THE FETE OF THE CASTING from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. During the eight months which were employed in the work of excavation the preparatory works of the casting had been carried on simultaneously with extreme rapidity. A stranger arriving at Stones Hill would have been surprised at the spectacle offered to his
Open16CHAPTER XVI.: THE COLUMBIAD
CHAPTER XVI.: THE COLUMBIAD from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. Had the casting succeeded? They were reduced to mere conjecture. There was indeed every reason to expect success, since the mould has absorbed the entire mass of the molten metal; still some considerable time must elapse before they could arrive at any certainty upon the
Open17CHAPTER XVII.: A TELEGRAPHIC DISPATCH
CHAPTER XVII.: A TELEGRAPHIC DISPATCH from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The great works undertaken by the Gun Club had now virtually come to an end; and two months still remained before the day for the discharge of the shot to the moon. To the general impatience these two months appeared as long as years! Hitherto the smallest details of the operation had been daily chronicled by the journals, which the public devoured with eager
Open18CHAPTER XVIII.: THE PASSENGER OF THE ATLANTA
CHAPTER XVIII.: THE PASSENGER OF THE ATLANTA from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. If this astounding news, instead of flying through the electric wires, had simply arrived by post in the ordinary sealed envelope, Barbicane would not have hesitated a moment. He would have held his tongue about it, both as a measure of prudence, and in order not to have to reconsider his plans. This telegram might be a cover for some jest, especially as it came from a Frenchman. What human being would ever have
Open19CHAPTER XIX.: A MONSTER MEETING
CHAPTER XIX.: A MONSTER MEETING from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. On the following day Barbicane, fearing that indiscreet questions might be put to Michel Ardan, was desirous of reducing the number of the audience to a few of the initiated, his own colleagues for instance. He might as well have tried to check the Falls of Niagara! he was compelled, therefore, to give up the idea, and let his new friend run the chances of a public conference. The place chosen for this monster
Open20CHAPTER XX.: ATTACK AND RIPOSTE
CHAPTER XX.: ATTACK AND RIPOSTE from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. As soon as the excitement had subsided, the following words were heard uttered in a strong and determined
Open21CHAPTER XXI.: HOW A FRENCHMAN MANAGES AN AFFAIR
CHAPTER XXI.: HOW A FRENCHMAN MANAGES AN AFFAIR from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. While the contract of this duel was being discussed by the president and the captain—this dreadful, savage duel, in which each adversary became a man-hunter—Michel Ardan was resting from the fatigues of his triumph. Resting is hardly an appropriate expression, for American beds rival marble or granite tables for
Open22CHAPTER XXII.: THE NEW CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES
CHAPTER XXII.: THE NEW CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. That same day all America heard of the affair of Captain Nicholl and President Barbicane, as well as its singular denouement. From that day forth, Michel Ardan had not one moment’s rest. Deputations from all corners of the Union harassed him without cessation or intermission. He was compelled to receive them all, whether he would or no. How many hands he shook, how many people he was “hail-fellow-well-met” with, it
Open23CHAPTER XXIII.: THE PROJECTILE-VEHICLE
CHAPTER XXIII.: THE PROJECTILE-VEHICLE from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. On the completion of the Columbiad the public interest centered in the projectile itself, the vehicle which was destined to carry the three hardy adventurers into
Open24CHAPTER XXIV.: THE TELESCOPE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
CHAPTER XXIV.: THE TELESCOPE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. On the 20th of October in the preceding year, after the close of the subscription, the president of the Gun Club had credited the Observatory of Cambridge with the necessary sums for the construction of a gigantic optical instrument. This instrument was designed for the purpose of rendering visible on the surface of the moon any object exceeding nine feet in
Open25CHAPTER XXV.: FINAL DETAILS
CHAPTER XXV.: FINAL DETAILS from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. It was the 22nd of November; the departure was to take place in ten days. One operation alone remained to be accomplished to bring all to a happy termination; an operation delicate and perilous, requiring infinite precautions, and against the success of which Captain Nicholl had laid his third bet. It was, in fact, nothing less than the loading of the Columbiad, and the introduction into it of 400,000 pounds of
Open26CHAPTER XXVI.: FIRE!
CHAPTER XXVI.: FIRE! from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The first of December had arrived! the fatal day! for, if the projectile were not discharged that very night at 10h. 48m. 40s. P.M., more than eighteen years must roll by before the moon would again present herself under the same conditions of zenith and
Open27CHAPTER XXVII.: FOUL WEATHER
CHAPTER XXVII.: FOUL WEATHER from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. At the moment when that pyramid of fire rose to a prodigious height into the air, the glare of flame lit up the whole of Florida; and for a moment day superseded night over a considerable extent of the country. This immense canopy of fire was perceived at a distance of one hundred miles out at sea, and more than one ship’s captain entered in his log the appearance of this gigantic
Open28CHAPTER XXVIII.: A NEW STAR
CHAPTER XXVIII.: A NEW STAR from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. That very night, the startling news so impatiently awaited, burst like a thunderbolt over the United States of the Union, and thence, darting across the ocean, ran through all the telegraphic wires of the globe. The projectile had been detected, thanks to the gigantic reflector of Long’s Peak! Here is the note received by the director of the Observatory of Cambridge. It contains the scientific conclusion regarding
Open29CHAPTER I.: TWENTY MINUTES PAST TEN TO FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES PAST TEN P. M.
CHAPTER I.: TWENTY MINUTES PAST TEN TO FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES PAST TEN P. M. from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. As ten o’clock struck, Michel Ardan, Barbicane, and Nicholl, took leave of the numerous friends they were leaving on the earth. The two dogs, destined to propagate the canine race on the lunar continents, were already shut up in the
Open30CHAPTER II.: THE FIRST HALF-HOUR
CHAPTER II.: THE FIRST HALF-HOUR from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. What had happened? What effect had this frightful shock produced? Had the ingenuity of the constructors of the projectile obtained any happy result? Had the shock been deadened, thanks to the springs, the four plugs, the water-cushions, and the partition-breaks? Had they been able to subdue the frightful pressure of the initiatory speed of more than 11,000 yards, which was enough to traverse Paris or New York in a
Open31CHAPTER III.: THEIR PLACE OF SHELTER
CHAPTER III.: THEIR PLACE OF SHELTER from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. This curious but certainly correct explanation once given, the three friends returned to their slumbers. Could they have found a calmer or more peaceful spot to sleep in? On the earth, houses, towns, cottages, and country feel every shock given to the exterior of the globe. On sea, the vessels rocked by the waves are still in motion; in the air, the balloon oscillates incessantly on the fluid strata of divers
Open32CHAPTER IV.: A LITTLE ALGEBRA
CHAPTER IV.: A LITTLE ALGEBRA from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The night passed without incident. The word “night,” however, is scarcely
Open33CHAPTER V.: THE COLD OF SPACE
CHAPTER V.: THE COLD OF SPACE from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. This revelation came like a thunderbolt. Who could have expected such an error in calculation? Barbicane would not believe it. Nicholl revised his figures: they were exact. As to the formula which had determined them, they could not suspect its truth; it was evident that an initiatory velocity of seventeen thousand yards in the first second was necessary to enable them to reach the neutral
Open34CHAPTER VI.: QUESTION AND ANSWER
CHAPTER VI.: QUESTION AND ANSWER from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. On the 4th of December, when the travelers awoke after fifty-four hours’ journey, the chronometer marked five o’clock of the terrestrial morning. In time it was just over five hours and forty minutes, half of that assigned to their sojourn in the projectile; but they had already accomplished nearly seven-tenths of the way. This peculiarity was due to their regularly decreasing
Open35CHAPTER VII.: A MOMENT OF INTOXICATION
CHAPTER VII.: A MOMENT OF INTOXICATION from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. Thus a phenomenon, curious but explicable, was happening under these strange
Open36CHAPTER VIII.: AT SEVENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN LEAGUES
CHAPTER VIII.: AT SEVENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN LEAGUES from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. What had happened? Whence the cause of this singular intoxication, the consequences of which might have been very disastrous? A simple blunder of Michel’s, which, fortunately, Nicholl was able to correct in
Open37CHAPTER IX.: THE CONSEQUENCES OF A DEVIATION
CHAPTER IX.: THE CONSEQUENCES OF A DEVIATION from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. Barbicane had now no fear of the issue of the journey, at least as far as the projectile’s impulsive force was concerned; its own speed would carry it beyond the neutral line; it would certainly not return to earth; it would certainly not remain motionless on the line of attraction. One single hypothesis remained to be realized, the arrival of the projectile at its destination by the action of the lunar
Open38CHAPTER X.: THE OBSERVERS OF THE MOON
CHAPTER X.: THE OBSERVERS OF THE MOON from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. Barbicane had evidently hit upon the only plausible reason of this deviation. However slight it might have been, it had sufficed to modify the course of the projectile. It was a fatality. The bold attempt had miscarried by a fortuitous circumstance; and unless by some exceptional event, they could now never reach the moon’s
Open39CHAPTER XI.: FANCY AND REALITY
CHAPTER XI.: FANCY AND REALITY from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. “Have you ever seen the moon?” asked a professor, ironically, of one of his
Open40CHAPTER XII.: OROGRAPHIC DETAILS
CHAPTER XII.: OROGRAPHIC DETAILS from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The course taken by the projectile, as we have before remarked, was bearing it toward the moon’s northern hemisphere. The travelers were far from the central point which they would have struck, had their course not been subject to an irremediable deviation. It was past midnight; and Barbicane then estimated the distance at seven hundred and fifty miles, which was a little greater than the length of the lunar radius,
Open41CHAPTER XIII.: LUNAR LANDSCAPES
CHAPTER XIII.: LUNAR LANDSCAPES from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. At half-past two in the morning, the projectile was over the thirteenth lunar parallel and at the effective distance of five hundred miles, reduced by the glasses to five. It still seemed impossible, however, that it could ever touch any part of the disc. Its motive speed, comparatively so moderate, was inexplicable to President Barbicane. At that distance from the moon it must have been considerable, to enable it
Open42CHAPTER XIV.: THE NIGHT OF THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR HOURS AND A HALF
CHAPTER XIV.: THE NIGHT OF THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR HOURS AND A HALF from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. At the moment when this phenomenon took place so rapidly, the projectile was skirting the moon’s north pole at less than twenty-five miles distance. Some seconds had sufficed to plunge it into the absolute darkness of space. The transition was so sudden, without shade, without gradation of light, without attenuation of the luminous waves, that the orb seemed to have been extinguished by a powerful
Open43CHAPTER XV.: HYPERBOLA OR PARABOLA
CHAPTER XV.: HYPERBOLA OR PARABOLA from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. We may, perhaps, be astonished to find Barbicane and his companions so little occupied with the future reserved for them in their metal prison which was bearing them through the infinity of space. Instead of asking where they were going, they passed their time making experiments, as if they had been quietly installed in their own
Open44CHAPTER XVI.: THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
CHAPTER XVI.: THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The projectile had just escaped a terrible danger, and a very unforseen one. Who would have thought of such an encounter with meteors? These erring bodies might create serious perils for the travelers. They were to them so many sandbanks upon that sea of ether which, less fortunate than sailors, they could not escape. But did these adventurers complain of space? No, not since nature had given them the splendid sight
Open45CHAPTER XVII.: TYCHO
CHAPTER XVII.: TYCHO from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. At six in the evening the projectile passed the south pole at less than forty miles off, a distance equal to that already reached at the north pole. The elliptical curve was being rigidly carried
Open46CHAPTER XVIII.: GRAVE QUESTIONS
CHAPTER XVIII.: GRAVE QUESTIONS from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. But the projectile had passed the enceinte of Tycho, and Barbicane and his two companions watched with scrupulous attention the brilliant rays which the celebrated mountain shed so curiously over the
Open47CHAPTER XIX.: A STRUGGLE AGAINST THE IMPOSSIBLE
CHAPTER XIX.: A STRUGGLE AGAINST THE IMPOSSIBLE from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. For a long time Barbicane and his companions looked silently and sadly upon that world which they had only seen from a distance, as Moses saw the land of Canaan, and which they were leaving without a possibility of ever returning to it. The projectile’s position with regard to the moon had altered, and the base was now turned to the
Open48CHAPTER XX.: THE SOUNDINGS OF THE SUSQUEHANNA
CHAPTER XX.: THE SOUNDINGS OF THE SUSQUEHANNA from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. “I think, sir, that the operation is nearing its completion,” replied Lieutenant Bronsfield. “But who would have thought of finding such a depth so near in shore, and only 200 miles from the American
Open49CHAPTER XXI.: J. T. MASTON RECALLED
CHAPTER XXI.: J. T. MASTON RECALLED from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. “It is ‘they’ come back again!” the young midshipman had said, and every one had understood him. No one doubted but that the meteor was the projectile of the Gun Club. As to the travelers which it enclosed, opinions were divided regarding their
Open50CHAPTER XXII.: RECOVERED FROM THE SEA
CHAPTER XXII.: RECOVERED FROM THE SEA from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. The spot where the projectile sank under the waves was exactly known; but the machinery to grasp it and bring it to the surface of the ocean was still wanting. It must first be invented, then made. American engineers could not be troubled with such trifles. The grappling-irons once fixed, by their help they were sure to raise it in spite of its weight, which was lessened by the density of the liquid in which it was
Open51CHAPTER XXIII.: THE END
CHAPTER XXIII.: THE END from From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. We may remember the intense sympathy which had accompanied the travelers on their departure. If at the beginning of the enterprise they had excited such emotion both in the old and new world, with what enthusiasm would they be received on their return! The millions of spectators which had beset the peninsula of Florida, would they not rush to meet these sublime adventurers? Those legions of strangers, hurrying from
Open