The “Feminine” hemisphere, naturally more capricious, was distinguished by smaller and more numerous seas.  These were, towards the north, the Mare Frigoris, in north latitude 55 deg. and longitude 0 deg., with 76,000 square leagues of surface, which joined the Lake of Death and Lake of Dreams; the Sea of Serenity, Mare Serenitatis, by north latitude 25 deg. and west longitude 20 deg., comprising a surface of 80,000 square leagues; the Sea of Crises, Mare Crisium, round and very compact, in north latitude 17 deg. and west longitude 55 deg., a surface of 40,000 square leagues, a veritable Caspian buried in a girdle of mountains.  Then on the equator, in north latitude 5 deg. and west longitude 25 deg., appeared the Sea of Tranquillity, Mare Tranquillitatis, occupying 121,509 square leagues of surface; this sea communicated on the south with the Sea of Nectar, Mare Nectaris, an extent of 28,800 square leagues, in south latitude 15 deg. and west longitude 35 deg., and on the east with the Sea of Fecundity, Mare Fecunditatis, the vastest in this hemisphere, occupying 219,300 square leagues, in south latitude 3 deg. and west longitude 50 deg..  Lastly, quite to the north and quite to the south lie two more seas, the Sea of Humboldt, Mare Humboldtianum, with a surface of 6,500 square leagues, and the Southern Sea, Mare Australe, with a surface of 26,000.

In the centre of the lunar disc, across the equator and on the zero meridian, lies the centre gulf, Sinus Medii, a sort of hyphen between the two hemispheres.

Thus appeared to the eyes of Nicholl and Barbicane the surface always visible of the earth’s satellite.  When they added up these different figures they found that the surface of this hemisphere measured 4,738,160 square leagues, 3,317,600 of which go for volcanoes, chains of mountains, amphitheatres, islands—­in a word, all that seems to form the solid portion of the globe—­and 1,410,400 leagues for the seas, lake, marshes, and all that seems to form the liquid portion, all of which was perfectly indifferent to the worthy Michel.

It will be noticed that this hemisphere is thirteen and a-half times smaller than the terrestrial hemisphere.  And yet upon it selenographers have already counted 50,000 craters.  It is a rugged surface worthy of the unpoetical qualification of “green cheese” which the English have given it.

When Barbicane pronounced this disobliging name Michel Ardan gave a bound.

“That is how the Anglo-Saxons of the 19th century treat the beautiful Diana, the blonde Phoebe, the amiable Isis, the charming Astarte, the Queen of Night, the daughter of Latona and Jupiter, the younger sister of the radiant Apollo!”

CHAPTER XII.

OROGRAPHICAL DETAILS.

It has already been pointed out that the direction followed by the projectile was taking us towards the northern hemisphere of the moon.  The travellers were far from that central point which they ought to have touched if their trajectory had not suffered an irremediable deviation.