depth forming the vertical mould in which it was to be cast, and
3rd--The powder was to be 400 thousand pounds of gun cotton, which, by
developing more than 200 thousand millions of cubic feet of gas under
the projectile, would easily send it as far as our satellite.

These questions settled, Barbican, aided by Murphy, the Chief Engineer
of the Cold Spring Iron Works, selected a spot in Florida, near the 27th
degree north latitude, called Stony Hill, where after the performance of
many wonderful feats in mining engineering, the Columbiad was
successfully cast.

Things had reached this state when an incident occurred which excited
the general interest a hundred fold.

A Frenchman from Paris, Michel Ardan by name, eccentric, but keen and
shrewd as well as daring, demanded, by the Atlantic telegraph,
permission to be enclosed in the bullet so that he might be carried to
the Moon, where he was curious to make certain investigations. Received
in America with great enthusiasm, Ardan held a great meeting,
triumphantly carried his point, reconciled Barbican to his mortal foe, a
certain Captain M'Nicholl, and even, by way of clinching the
reconciliation, induced both the newly made friends to join him in his
contemplated trip to the Moon.

The bullet, so modified as to become a hollow conical cylinder with
plenty of room inside, was further provided with powerful water-springs
and readily-ruptured partitions below the floor, intended to deaden the
dreadful concussion sure to accompany the start. It was supplied with
provisions for a year, water for a few months, and gas for nearly two
weeks. A self-acting apparatus, of ingenious construction, kept the
confined atmosphere sweet and healthy by manufacturing pure oxygen and
absorbing carbonic acid. Finally, the Gun Club had constructed, at
enormous expense, a gigantic telescope, which, from the summit of Long's
Peak, could pursue the Projectile as it winged its way through the
regions of space. Everything at last was ready.

On December 1st, at the appointed moment, in the midst of an immense
concourse of spectators, the departure took place, and, for the first
time in the world's history, three human beings quitted our terrestrial
globe with some possibility in their favor of finally reaching a point
of destination in the inter-planetary spaces. They expected to
accomplish their journey in 97 hours, 13 minutes and 20 seconds,
consequently reaching the Lunar surface precisely