although, if he were to use but half his income for a single year, the other half would discharge his debts.  I apprehend, from what I have heard, that he has, from that time to this, continued to pay the same exorbitant interest.  When I was here before, I prevailed on him to take a ride with me into the country, and, under one pretext or another, detained him ten days at a friend’s house, where he had no inducement to expense.  When he returned, he found his debts paid off; but knowing he was master of so ready and effectual an expedient, he, the next day, borrowed double the sum at the old rate.  Since that time his debts have accumulated so rapidly, that he will probably now be compelled to surrender his whole estate.”

“Is he also a Glonglim?” I asked.

“Assuredly:  what man, in his entire senses, could act so irrationally?”

“There is nothing on earth that exceeds this,” said I.

“No,” said the Brahmin; “human folly is every where the same.”

CHAPTER VII.

Physical peculiarities of the Moon-Celestial phenomena—­Further description of the Lunarians—­National prejudice—­Lightness of bodies—­The Brahmin carries Atterley to sup with a philosopher—­His character and opinions.

After we had been in the moon about forty eight hours, the sun had sunk below the horizon, and the long twilight of the Lunarians had begun.  I will here take occasion to notice the physical peculiarities of this country, which, though very familiar to those who are versed in astronomy, may not be unacceptable to the less scientific portion of my readers.

The sun is above the horizon nearly a fortnight, and below it as long; of course the day here is equal to about twenty-seven of ours.  The earth answers the same purpose to half the inhabitants of the moon, that the moon does to the inhabitants of the earth.  The face of the latter, however, is more than twelve times as large, and it has not the same silvery appearance as the moon, but is rather of a dingy pink hue, like that of her iron when beginning to lose its red heat.  As the same part of the moon is always turned to the earth, one half of her surface is perpetually illuminated by a moon ten times as large to the eye as the sun; the other hemisphere is without a moon.  The favoured part, therefore, never experiences total darkness, the earth reflecting to the Lunarians as much light as we terrestrials have a little before sunrise, or after sunset.  But our planet presents to the Lunarians the same changes as the moon does to us, according to its position in relation to the sun.  It always, however, appears to occupy nearly the same part of the heavens, when seen from the same point on the moon’s surface; but its altitude above the horizon is greater or less, according to the latitude of the place from which it is seen:  so that there is not a point of the heavens which the earth may not be seen permanently to occupy, according to the part of the moon from which the planet is viewed.