At least as long ago as 1864 Mr.Dawes, in England, had seen and sketched half a dozen of the larger canals, or at least the broader parts of them, especially where they connect with the dark regions known as seas, but Dawes did not see them in their full extent, did not recognize their peculiar character, and entirely failed to catch sight of the narrower and more numerous ones which constitute the wonderful network discovered by the Italian astronomer.

Schiaparelli found no less than sixty canals during his first series of observations in 1877.
Let us note some of the more striking facts about the canals which Schiaparelli has described.

We can not do better than quote his own words: "There are on this planet, traversing the continents, long dark lines which may be designated as _canals_, although we do not yet know what they are.

These lines run from one to another of the somber spots that are regarded as seas, and form, over the lighter, or continental, regions a well-defined network.

Their arrangement appears to be invariable and permanent; at least, as far as I can judge from four and a half years of observation.