CHAPTER I.

SATURN.

Landing on a place about ten degrees north of the equator, so that they
might obtain a good view of the great rings--since ON the line only the
thin edge would be visible--they opened a port-hole with the same
caution they had exercised on Jupiter. Again there was a rush of air,
showing that the pressure without was greater than that within; but on
this occasion the barometer stopped at thirty-eight, from which they
calculated that the pressure was nineteen pounds to the square inch on
their bodies, instead of fifteen as at sea-level on earth. This
difference was so slight that they scarcely felt it. They also
discarded the apergetic outfits that had been so useful on Jupiter, as
unnecessary here. The air was an icy blast, and though they quickly
closed the opening, the interior of the Callisto was considerably
chilled.

"We shall want our winter clothes," said Bearwarden; "it might be more
comfortable for us exactly on the equator, though the scene at night
will be far finer here, if we can stand the climate. Doubtless it will
also be warmer soon, for the sun has but just risen."

"I suspect this is merely one of the cold waves that rush towards the
equator at this season, which corresponds to about the 10th of our
September," replied Cortlandt. "The poles of Saturn must be intensely
cold during its long winter of fourteen and three quarter years, for,
the axis being inclined twenty-seven degrees from the perpendicular of
its orbit, the pole turned from the sun is more shut off from its heat
than ours, and in addition to this the mean distance--more than eight
hundred and eighty million miles--is very great. Since the chemical
composition of the air we have inhaled has not troubled our lungs, it
is fair to suppose we shall have no difficulty in breathing."

Having dressed themselves more warmly, and seen by a thermometer they
had placed outside that the temperature was thirty-eight degrees
Fahrenheit, which had seemed very cold compared with the warmth inside
the Callisto, they again opened the port-hole, this time leaving it
open longer. What they had felt before was evidently merely a sudden
gust, for the air was now comparatively calm.

Finding that the doctor's prediction as to the suitability of the air
to their lungs was correct, they ventured out, closing the door as they
went.

Expecting, as on Jupiter, to find principally vertebrates of the
rep