With great glee Johnny gives this report to his inquirers. Then he goes
on to tell them about our picnic on the ground in the shade of our
ship, what we have seen so far, and of our proposed venture into the
mountains with the hope of exploring some of the craters visible to
Earth.
In response to questioning, he reports our fuel supply, adding that we
have no idea how long we will remain up here since we have now become
adjusted to the atmosphere and believe we can live here as easily as
on the Earth; we have plenty of food with us to last for a long time;
and there are many places we want to visit. He adds that we know there
are some people living close by for we have seen their city and if they
should be friendly with us, we might learn far more about their Moon
home than we had ever hoped to learn. But he assures his listeners that
in time, we shall return home to Earth.
This report finished, Johnny breaks contact with the Earth and we
start on our hike towards the mountains, each of us taking a canteen of
water for drinking and quite a supply of concentrated food for we have
no idea how long we will be gone. In his pocket Dr. Johnston has a very
small instrument with which he can analyze, to a certain extent, any
formations we might find.
As we cross the plateau towards the nearest crater wall, we note that
the surface of the ground consists of sand, glistening white and very
hot. Even though we have on heavy hiking boots we can feel the heat
right through their soles.
After a couple of hours hiking across these hot sands, with
intermittent stops for rest, and without having done any noticeable
climbing, we reach the first crater, a shallow one only about thirty
feet in depth and approximately a half mile across, much like a huge
earthen salad bowl cut in the ground. The structure and rocky formation
surrounding as well as within this crater appear much like lava, as
if it had been made through volcanic eruption. Dr. Johnston who is an
ardent rock hound along with his scientific profession, exclaims in
joyous astonishment that this section of rocky formation is composed
largely of beautiful gems and lava stone. Testing the ground with his
little pocket instrument, he informs us that there are also deposits of
many kinds of rich mineral ore in the sides of this crater.
Climbing down into the crater, we notice a slight difference in the air
but not enough to interfere with our explorers' enthusiasm.
This surely is a mountainous section with crest after crest towering
towards the sky. The strange part is they all look barren of any
growth. There are no trees, grasses or flowers, and no indication of
water dropping over even the highest ledges. Although through our
glasses we can detect a small amount of moss creeping along some of the
crevices; nothing else.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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