Dawn Of The Moon

A Roehester journalist, who visited Prof. Swift the other evening and hada view of the moon, says : The telescope, with a power of thirty-six diameters, was turned upon the moon. At first the flood of light was blinding, and the view was but cursory. The moon looked like a shield of embossed silver - the shield of Achules- hung by his goddess mother in the azure of the heavens. Prof. Swift looked over the field, and noted as he looked many of the interesting points, and suggested that we follow the sunrise on the moon. On the moon the dawn advanced at the rate of ten miles an hour, lighting np new fields and furnishiug to him an everchanging panorama. Still there is naught but desolation, yawning craters and sharp peaks of volcanic mountains, and circular walls with perpendicular sides that surround deep pits. The moon is dead, to all appearance - bnrned I out with volcanic fires. No water leaves i the desolate and rugged shores of its great sea-bottoms. But in the gray plains, where some astronomers think an i ocean once spread, craters-are seen with perpendicular walls. The gray plains can be seen with the naked eye, forming what is called "the man in the moon," on a map like the Eastern continent. Under the telescope we could trace what seemed at first to be shore lines on the borders of this plain. On cioser inspection, instead of wavewashed sand, these lines appeared to be but rounded steps forme d by successive lava bursts spreading over the plain and making, by the lessening flow, the gradual exhaustion of the volcanic force. From one of the largest craters rise three volcanic cones, the summits of which are tipped with sunlight before the floor of the cráter is lighted. In another large cráter two cones arise. From the larger cráter ravs spread out, as though the volcanic forcé cracked tlie ntm crust m its upheavel, injecting tlirough the broken aurfacé ridges of dazzling white lava, that spread out like the arms of a cuttle-fish covering a vast surface. The grandest phenomena are to be observed by followiug the sun on the moon. The advancing dawn forms a ragged crescent line upon the surface still in darkness. The sun's rays pass over dark chasras and low fields, lighting up rosged mountnin tops far in idvance. They appear like little islands of light lying on' the coast of an illuminated sea. High mountains and cráter wafls near the shore of light cast deep shadows. The circular rims of craters are illnminated, and shine like rings of Í silver glittering pon a cushion of darkness. The advancing dawn now lights np the bases of the outlying I monntains that but a moment ago showed but a speek of light, and still new mountain tops are tipped with silver far in advance. The sunlight strikes upon the side of a circular wall of a cráter, and there is a silver crescent, with a black space between it and the j sea of light. Slowly the sumtnit of ! other portions of the circular wall are lighted. up, and then the snnlight vades the depths of the cráter, while the shadow of the wall nearest the sun stretches half across the floor of the chasm. Frequently great gaps are broken in the cráter walls, and streaks i of light stream across the floor. The jagged rocks in calm, cold beauty shine and glitter in the flerce white light. j The mountains are mountains of desolation, and the valleys are valleys of n-f lence and death. They are wrinkled with the flow of lava and torn with upheavals. The moon is dead. No air, no sea, no forest simde, or living thing. The moon is a never-failing source of delight. It is also awful in its suggestions of power and in its loneliness of utter dfcsolation.