A Journey in Other Worlds | Page 6

arose. Although the sun was still far above the horizon, the rapidity with
which it was descending showed that the short night of less than five hours would soon
be upon them; and though short it might be very dark, for they were in the tropics, and
the sun, going down perpendicularly, must also pass completely around the globe, instead
of, as in northern latitudes on earth in summer, approaching the horizon obliquely, and
not going far below it. A slight and diffused sound here seemed to rise from the ground
all about them, for which they could not account. Presently it became louder, and as the
sun touched the horizon, it poured forth in prolonged strains. The large trumpet-shaped
lilies, reeds, and heliotropes seemed fairly to throb as they raised their anthem to the sky
and the setting sun, while the air grew dark with clouds of birds that gradually alighted on
the ground, until, as the chorus grew fainter and gradually ceased, they flew back to their
nests. The three companions had stood astonished while this act was played. The doctor
then spoke:
"This is the most marvellous development of Nature I have seen, for its wonderful
divergence from, and yet analogy to, what takes place on earth. You know our flowers
offer honey, as it were, as bait to insects, that in eating or collecting it they may catch the
pollen on their legs and so carry it to other flowers, perhaps of the opposite sex. Here
flowers evidently appeal to the sense of hearing instead of taste, and make use of birds, of
which there are enormous numbers, instead of winged insects, of which I have seen none,
one being perhaps the natural result of the other. The flowers have become singers by
long practice, or else, those that were most musical having had the best chance to
reproduce, we have a neat illustration of the 'survival of the fittest.' The sound is
doubtless produced by a shrinking of the fibres as the sun withdraws its heat, in which
case we may expect another song at sunrise, when the same result will be effected by
their expanding."
Searching for a camping-place in which to pass the coming hours, they saw lights flitting
about like will-o'-the-wisps, but brighter and intermittent.
"They seem to be as bright as sixteen-candle-power lamps, but the light is yellower, and
appears to emanate from a comparatively large surface, certainly nine or ten inches
square," said the doctor.
They soon gave up the chase, however, for the lights were continually moving and
frequently went out. While groping in the growing darkness, they came upon a brown
object about the size of a small dog and close to the ground. It flew off with a humming
insect sound, and as it did so it showed the brilliant phosphorescent glow they had
observed.

"That is a good-sized fire-fly," said Bearwarden. "Evidently the insects here are on the
same scale as everything else. They are like the fire-flies in Cuba, which the Cubans are
said to put into a glass box and get light enough from to read by. Here they would need
only one, if it could be induced to give its light continuously."
Having found an open space on high ground, they sat down, and Bearwarden struck his
repeater, which, for convenience, had been arranged for Jupiter time, dividing the day
into ten hours, beginning at noon, midnight being therefore five o'clock.
"Twenty minutes past four," said he, "which would correspond to about a quarter to
eleven on earth. As the sun rises at half-past seven, it will be dark about three hours, for
the time between dawn and daylight will, of course, be as short as that we have just
experienced between sunset and night."
"If we stay here long," said the doctor, "I suppose we shall become accustomed, like
sailors, to taking our four, or in this case five, hours on duty, and five hours off."
"Or," added Ayrault, "we can sleep ten consecutive hours and take the next ten for
exploring and hunting, having the sun for one half the time and the moons for the other."
Bearwarden and Cortlandt now rolled themselves in their blankets and were soon asleep,
while Ayrault, whose turn it was to watch till the moons rose--for they had not yet
enough confidence in their new domain to sleep in darkness simultaneously--leaned his
back against a rock and lighted his pipe. In the distance he saw the torrents of fiery lava
from the volcanoes reflected in the sky, and faintly heard their thunderous crashes, while
the fire-flies twinkled unconcernedly in the hollow, and the night winds swayed the
fernlike branches. Then he gazed at the earth, which, but little above the horizon, shone
with a faint but