You would have called it a vast, beautiful, but very thin bow extending over the sky.

A few points, brighter than the rest, particularly in its concave part, revealed the presence of lofty mountains, probably the Himalayahs.

But they disappeared every now and then under thick vapory spots, which are never seen on the Lunar disc.
They were the thin concentric cloud rings that surround the terrestrial sphere.
However, the travellers' eyes were soon able to trace the rest of the Earth's surface not only with facility, but even to follow its outline with absolute delight.

This was in consequence of two different phenomena, one of which they could easily account for; but the other they could not explain without Barbican's assistance.

No wonder.