“Thestuporandsurpriseproducedinmymindbythisextraordinarychangeinthepostureofaffairswasperhaps，afterall，thatpartoftheadventureleastsusceptibleofexplanation。Forthebouleversementinitselfwasnotonlynaturalandinevitable，buthadbeenlongactuallyanticipatedasacircumstancetobeexpectedwheneverIshouldarriveatthatexactpointofmyvoyagewheretheattractionoftheplanetshouldbesupersededbytheattractionofthesatelliteor，moreprecisely，wherethegravitationoftheballoontowardtheearthshouldbelesspowerfulthanitsgravitationtowardthemoon。TobesureIarosefromasoundslumber，withallmysensesinconfusion，tothecontemplationofaverystartlingphenomenon，andonewhich，althoughexpected，wasnotexpectedatthemoment。Therevolutionitselfmust，ofcourse，havetakenplaceinaneasyandgradualmanner，anditisbynomeansclearthat，hadIevenbeenawakeatthetimeoftheoccurrence，Ishouldhavebeenmadeawareofitbyanyinternalevidenceofaninversionthatistosay，byanyinconvenienceordisarrangement，eitheraboutmypersonoraboutmyapparatus。
“Itisalmostneedlesstosaythat，uponcomingtoaduesenseofmysituation，andemergingfromtheterrorwhichhadabsorbedeveryfacultyofmysoul，myattentionwas，inthefirstplace，whollydirectedtothecontemplationofthegeneralphysicalappearanceofthemoon。ItlaybeneathmelikeachartandalthoughIjudgedittobestillatnoinconsiderabledistance，theindenturesofitssurfaceweredefinedtomyvisionwithamoststrikingandaltogetherunaccountabledistinctness。Theentireabsenceofoceanorsea，andindeedofanylakeorriver，orbodyofwaterwhatsoever，struckme，atfirstglance，asthemostextraordinaryfeatureinitsgeologicalcondition。Yet，strangetosay，Ibeheldvastlevelregionsofacharacterdecidedlyalluvial，althoughbyfarthegreaterportionofthehemisphereinsightwascoveredwithinnumerablevolcanicmountains，conicalinshape，andhavingmoretheappearanceofartificialthanofnaturalprotuberance。Thehighestamongthemdoesnotexceedthreeandthree-quartermilesinperpendicularelevation；
butamapofthevolcanicdistrictsoftheCampiPhlegraeiwouldaffordtoyourExcellenciesabetterideaoftheirgeneralsurfacethananyunworthydescriptionImightthinkpropertoattempt。Thegreaterpartofthemwereinastateofevidenteruption，andgavemefearfullytounderstandtheirfuryandtheirpower，bytherepeatedthundersofthemiscalledmeteoricstones，whichnowrushedupwardbytheballoonwithafrequencymoreandmoreappalling。
“April18th。To-dayIfoundanenormousincreaseinthemoon’sapparentbulkandtheevidentlyacceleratedvelocityofmydescentbegantofillmewithalarm。Itwillberemembered，that，intheearlieststageofmyspeculationsuponthepossibilityofapassagetothemoon，theexistence，initsvicinity，ofanatmosphere，denseinproportiontothebulkoftheplanet，hadenteredlargelyintomycalculations；thistooinspiteofmanytheoriestothecontrary，and，itmaybeadded，inspiteofageneraldisbeliefintheexistenceofanylunaratmosphereatall。But，inadditiontowhatI
havealreadyurgedinregardtoEncke’scometandthezodiacallight，IhadbeenstrengthenedinmyopinionbycertainobservationsofMr。