AstothepickaxesanddifferenttoolswhichwereNicholl’sespecialchoice;astothesacksofdifferentkindsofgrainandshrubswhichMichelArdanhopedtotransplantintoSeleniteground，theywerestowedawayintheupperpartoftheprojectile。
Therewasasortofgranarythere，loadedwiththingswhichtheextravagantFrenchmanhadheapedup。Whattheywerenooneknew，andthegood—temperedfellowdidnotexplain。Nowandthenheclimbedupbycramp—ironsrivetedtothewalls，butkepttheinspectiontohimself。Hearrangedandrearranged，heplungedhishandrapidlyintocertainmysteriousboxes，singinginoneofthefalsestofvoicesanoldFrenchrefraintoenliventhesituation。
Barbicaneobservedwithsomeinterestthathisgunsandotherarmshadnotbeendamaged。Thesewereimportant，because，heavilyloaded，theyweretohelplessenthefalloftheprojectile，whendrawnbythelunarattraction（afterhavingpassedthepointofneutralattraction）ontothemoon’ssurface;afallwhichoughttobesixtimeslessrapidthanitwouldhavebeenontheearth’ssurface，thankstothedifferenceofbulk。Theinspectionendedwithgeneralsatisfaction，wheneachreturnedtowatchspacethroughthesidewindowsandthelowerglasscoverlid。
Therewasthesameview。Thewholeextentofthecelestialsphereswarmedwithstarsandconstellationsofwonderfulpurity，enoughtodriveanastronomeroutofhismind！Ononesidethesun，likethemouthofalightedoven，adazzlingdiscwithoutahalo，standingoutonthedarkbackgroundofthesky！
Ontheother，themoonreturningitsfirebyreflection，andapparentlymotionlessinthemidstofthestarryworld。Then，alargespotseeminglynailedtothefirmament，borderedbyasilverycord;itwastheearth！Hereandtherenebulousmasseslikelargeflakesofstarrysnow;andfromthezenithtothenadir，animmenseringformedbyanimpalpabledustofstars，the\"MilkyWay，\"inthemidstofwhichthesunranksonlyasastarofthefourthmagnitude。Theobserverscouldnottaketheireyesfromthisnovelspectacle，ofwhichnodescriptioncouldgiveanadequateidea。Whatreflectionsitsuggested！Whatemotionshithertounknownawokeintheirsouls！Barbicanewishedtobegintherelationofhisjourneywhileunderitsfirstimpressions，andhourafterhourtooknotesofallfactshappeninginthebeginningoftheenterprise。Hewrotequietly，withhislargesquarewriting，inabusiness—likestyle。