CHAPTER XXI
OUR FIRST VIEW OF THE EARTH FROM MARS--A MARTIAN COURTSHIP
Within a few days we had our first glimpse of the earth from Mars. Itappeared only as a very thin but bright crescent of light, as thelighted portion was less than one-twelfth part of the whole diameter ofthe disc, and it was only visible for a very short time.
Owing to the clear and thin atmosphere of Mars there is very littlescintillation of the stars, and the crescent form of the earth at suchperiods as the present can plainly be discerned without the aid of aglass. To the Martians this is more readily seen than by us, as theireyes, being larger than ours, have a much greater light grasp.
For the same reason all the stars shine much brighter than they do inour skies, and many of the smaller ones which can be seen from Mars withthe unaided eye, would here require a low power-glass to render themvisible to us. The fact that Saturn has a ring is quite apparent to theMartian eye.
Day by day after this we saw the lighted area extending upon the earth,just the same as on the earth Venus can be seen with a telescopegradually to pass from the crescent phase to the gibbous form, andultimately become full. Our earth is a morning and evening star to Marsthe same as Venus is to the earth, according to its position with regardto the sun.
Whilst we were looking at the earth, I asked Merna "Whether he had everseen the earth transit the sun as we occasionally see Venus or Mercurydo so?"
He answered that "He carefully observed the last transit, which occurredon a date equivalent to our 8th May 1905, and was very interested inwatching the earth pass, as a small black spot, across the sun's disc.The moon did not commence to cross until 6 hours and 7 minutes later, bywhich time the earth had passed over three-quarters of the sun'sdiameter. The earth was 8 hours and 42 minutes in transit, and the moon,which crossed a little lower down, was 8 hours and 31 minutes incrossing."
"That must have been an interesting sight," said John, "and I shouldlike to have the opportunity of watching a similar transit."
"I am afraid you never will," said Merna, "for the transits only occurat long intervals. The previous transits occurred in November 1879,November 1800, May 1700, and May 1621. There will not be another untilMay 1984, and the next after that will not occur until November 2084."
"I am sorry to hear that," remarked John, "for even if I stayed here, Ishould not be likely to live long enough to see the next transit.Possibly you may do so, Merna; you are so much younger than I am."
"Yes," Merna replied, "it is not unlikely that I may see another suchtransit, for the average length of our lives on Mars is about equal toone hundred and thirty of your years, so that leaves me an ample marginof time."
I then went on to remark that as another result of the thinness of theMartian atmosphere twilight is much shorter than on the earth, thelight being less diffused when the sun is below the horizon, andrefraction also considerably less than we experience.
In this connection, I mentioned to M'Allister that we can often see thesun and the moon apparently above the earth's horizon when they are, infact, below it. This is caused by the refractive power of our denseatmosphere, which has the effect of making both the sun and the moonappear a little higher up than they really are.
"That is something new to me, Professor," exclaimed M'Allister; "and Icannot say I quite understand how refraction, as you term it, has theeffect you mention."
"It may help you, then," I answered, "if I tell you that water acts verymuch in the same way; and there is a simple and fairly well-knownexperiment you might try for yourself, which would make the matterperfectly clear to you. It is as follows:--
"Take a teacup and place a shilling at the bottom of it, then move backuntil you quite lose sight of the coin. Ask some one to pour some cleancold water gently into the cup, and, as it fills, the refraction of thewater will apparently reduce the depth of the cup, and thus bring thecoin fully into view. In much the same way the refraction of theatmosphere enables us to see the sun or the moon when those bodies areactually below the horizon."
"Thank you, Professor," said M'Allister; "I will try that littleexperiment at the first opportunity."
I then told him that at the time when the moon is just full it may risetowards the east just as the sun sets towards the west. Both orbs cannotbe wholly above the horizon at the same time on such occasions, but,owing to refraction, we are able to see them both.
The sun and moon both appear flattened or oval-shaped just as they arerising or setting, in consequence of the effects of atmosphericrefraction. These effects are usually most noticeable near the horizon,because the object is seen through the densest layers of air. But wenever see a star in its true place in the sky, because the rays of lightwhich come to us from the star are bent or refracted as they passthrough our atmosphere, just as a stick appears to be bent when thrustdown into a deep pool of clear water.
All these effects, however, add to the work of astronomers, because theymust be taken into account in connection with their calculations.
* * * * *
As the time passed on, I day by day became more interested in Merna'srelations with Eleeta.
"All the world loves a lover," and we elderly people are always pleasedto note the progress of young folks' love affairs, especially if eitherof them is a relative of ours. In them we seem to renew our youth, fortheir entrancements seem to carry us back to the halcyon days when weourselves were young. When "Love took up the glass of time and turned itin his glowing hands" everything seemed of a roseate hue, and we dweltin the seventh heaven of delight, at peace with all the world andenvying no one--for were we not the most happy and fortunate of mortals!
And then, to look upon a Martian courtship! To see the rich flushesmount to the cheeks of the lovers--their softly glowing luminous eyes,their absorbed attention in each other, and their mutual deference andresponse to the most slightly indicated wish! Ah, it was indeed a sceneto gladden the heart of the father of one of them!
Eleeta's beauty, the sweetness of her disposition, and most charming andlovable ways endeared her so to me that I did not wonder Merna foundthem so attractive and satisfying; and my most fervent aspirationsascended for their happiness, both now and in the future.
With the Martians there is no false modesty about their courtships; allis natural, proper, and dignified; every one may see and every oneenters into the true spirit of the thing. Mere flirtations, such as weare so familiar with, are quite unknown, as they would be contrary toall the natural instincts of the people. Everything upon Mars is honest,true, and straightforward--open and above-board. This must necessarilybe so, in consequence of the Martians' powers of intuition, for anyattempt at imposition or deceit would at once be detected.
I had an illustration of this when I asked Merna, "How they dealt withtheir criminals?"
"We have none to deal with," he replied, "and you will understand why,when I tell you, that if any one committed a crime, however small, andit was desired to find out the offender, it would be impossible toescape detection. He might fly to the other side of our world, but theintuitions of our experts would at once make them aware of hishiding-place; besides, he could not conceal what was on his mind fromany one with whom he associated.
"In the earlier times when only a small proportion of the Martians wereendowed with these powers to any large extent, there were occasionalcrimes; but as they were always detected, crime soon ceased to exist.
"Thus you will see that, quite apart from their high standard ofmorality, the Martians soon found that crime was a folly."
* * * * *
There was another love affair apparently developing which did not affordme so much satisfaction as that to which I have just alluded.
I noticed that John and Siloni were very frequently together; and,whatever might be the case with the latter, I had very little doubt thatJohn was smitten with his companion's charms. It was, perhaps, nothingto be wondered at, for Siloni was inde
ed a very nice girl, withbeautiful features, dark hair, and dark eyes; whilst John waswell-built, fully six feet in height, with black hair and moustache, andvery good-looking; altogether a fine and attractive man, and it hadoften been a matter of surprise to me that he had never married.
Still, such a complication as this had never entered my mind when I cameto Mars, and I was rather perplexed to know how best to deal with thesituation. However, I thought it would be well to wait a little whileand see how the matter shaped itself before taking any action.