Chapter IV
We have reached the village on the dark side that we had seen from the air, the one belonging to the white tribe. We are being taken to the chieftain's own home which is a very large building, three stories high.
But as we entered the village everybody there turned out; there must have been around three thousand people. The messengers apparently had alerted the people about us and we really are being given a royal welcome. They have rolled out on four large wheels a sort of a large platform, beautifully decorated. The chieftain is going up onto the platform and indicating that we are to follow him.
Everyone in this vast throng of people is quiet as their leader stands before them. He is addressing them in their native tongue which we do not understand, but from what we can get out of it, it seems as though he is telling them about the flight we had taken him on and what he had just witnessed. At the conclusion of his speech they all cheered.
We knew that he was talking about the flight, for he was pointing with his hands in the directions over which we have flown. He no doubt told them also about the big city farther up, for we saw the amazement which the people took on in expression when they were told what could easily have been astounding information about other inhabitants farther up the valley about whom they knew nothing.
They seem to be quiet people, thinkers, quick in action proving their minds are very active. We see some beautiful children and women among them. All these people are well built in stature and they seem to respect one another very highly.
The homes of these Moonalites are exceptionally neat and the people all seem to be of an equality, that is possessing about the same amount of wealth, whatever the wealth might be. In other words, they are as one big family and each home seems to have plenty of everything alike. They all have gems and minerals of value as decorations for their homes. The natives in this village are very artistic, for there is much of what could be called fine art in their homes, and what clothing they have seems to be the best, with no distinction among any of them except the leader.
Their education is a community system, from what we have been able to learn. Both children and elders learn alike. It seems that learning never ceases, for their temples are also their schools. Out of the equivalent of every twenty-four hours of our day, they worship for one hour, then they give one hour to study and schooling, as we could make out, and they give three hours of service as a community, for the community, which includes agriculture and all service necessary to fill every need of all the inhabitants. After this is done, they do as they desire for themselves.
At what we would call sunset on Earth, they all gather in the community square and give thanks for the day. This is done every day. The individual whom we would call the spiritual leader appears in a very, very humble way, far more humble than anything we know on Earth in the way of humbleness. Their sincerity of worship or their thanksgiving every day can be felt even by the most skeptical person.
We have tried to find out who they were worshipping, if it was a God like we on Earth worship, or what. But the best we can learn is what we assume from their sign language with which they tried to answer us, that they are worshipping some sort of a Supreme Intelligence, but the name of It we cannot get, for the sound of their language is very hard to grasp as to what it might mean. At times it sounds like it could be a partial Sanskrit, yet Dr. Johnston knows Sanskrit and he says their speech isn't Sanskrit. Yet their sign language to us is as good as any we have ever known.
They seem to be getting our desires well. As we make statements they understand them as to meaning, so we figure that they must be getting it from an inner feeling from us. For when we speak they keep very quiet as though they are getting a vibration from our bodies, which would be a feeling as to what we are saying or what we want to know. If we had been schooled better in recognizing our feelings and going by them instead of the mind, I believe we would be able to understand better everything they want to tell us, and they do want to tell us a lot, from what we can see.
We have stayed in the village two full days with them. The chieftain made us understand that we did not have to worry about the ship, he had directed the dark ones to keep watch over it. With this assurance we have been able to thoroughly enjoy every minute of our visit and to learn much of the joyous freedom in which the Moonalites live.
During our second day here an elderly man passed away and when this happened the whole community turned out. The big platform on which we had stood the first day was rolled out again and they brought this body upon the platform and placed it on a structure that looked something like we have been picturing the Ark of the Covenant. They placed the body naturally, in a lying position. Then twelve men and twelve women stepped up and took positions along each side, standing one man and one woman, six men on one side and six women, the same on the other side. The spiritual leader stood at the foot of the corpse while the chieftain stood at the head and both of these mumbled something for about fifteen minutes. Then the twenty-four people, twelve on each side, raised the body with the Covenant into the air and then lowered it. They did this three times while all the people gathered about. Each time that the body with the Covenant was raised, the people gave out a shout, sort of song-like, very melodious. With each shout there was an expression of tremendous joy on the part of the people. After this they took the body off of the Covenant and wrapped it in a beautiful cloth that had been made of the fiber we have previously spoken of.
We have been made to understand that the whole ceremony was a very joyful one for one of their brothers was now going Home, and they rejoice over that. That rejoicing can really be felt for it is so intense that even a dead man would have to feel it. Yes, the chieftain made us understand the best he could, that this individual has been glorified by being allowed to return to the Home from which he came.
The body belonged to the Moon so it will be given back to the Moon, which we consider burial, and thanks for it will be given the next day. That is, thanks is given to the Moon for loaning material for the body for the time which this individual had the use of it, which has served him and the community well.
This part we will not see since we are leaving today.
On returning to our ship, we are accompanied by six guides, natives of this village who have been chosen by the chieftain to assist us in every way possible during our stay here on the Moon.
Sure enough, the darkies were at the ship watching over our things when we reached there, and mighty glad to see us. They made us understand they also would like to have us visit their village.
We promised them we would the following day.
In the meantime we want to do something for ourselves. When night came on the light side where our ship is, we thought we would like to investigate a little more in reference to our Earth from which we had come. So we focused the six inch telescope upon the Earth and to our amazement, what we saw made us ashamed of ourselves. For we were like most of the people on Earth, thinking our planet was the finest in the vastness of the heavens and the only one capable of maintaining human beings like us. But had we not come from there, and looked at the Earth through a telescope as we are now doing, we would never have believed that there could be even as much as a fly living upon it, for it looked so very bleak. It did not even have one percent of the markings which the Moon shows from the Earth. We could not believe our own eyes. But the old saying is that seeing is believing.
Some of the markings that we did see were very, very small dark patches here and there, which we figured must have been forests or vegetation. They were so small that they were hardly noticeable. For the most part, all that we could see was that it was rough in some spots. Mountains on Earth showed up like little pebbles do in the craters on the Moon, just enough to be rough. As for the oceans, we could not tell whether it was water or not. We assumed that it was the oceans, knowing just about where they were, but they looked more like a desert area.
"You know, fellows," commented Johnny, "if I didn't see it, I wouldn't believe it. Now I can understand the surprised expressions on the faces of these natives when we showed them where we had come from. It wasn't at all what I thought at the time."
And he was right, for really it was almost unbelievable to us that we could have come from any place like that to the Moon, or that there could be any people living there.
Right then and there we figured if that is all the showing of decent markings observable of the Earth from the Moon, we get better showings than that of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn through the telescopes on Earth. At least there is something to look at and not just a ball of light.
As we sit through the long Moon night, observing the Earth pass through her phases as seen from here, an amazing fact reveals itself to us and unfolds as we think about it. Through our little telescope the appearance of the Earth is as distinct as the Moon appears when observed through telescopes on Earth.
Coming here we verified the fact that the Moon has an atmospheric belt of three hundred miles in width surrounding her. We know now that although this atmosphere is lighter than the Earth's, we can easily live here comfortably, with the most noticeable difference being that we do not tire so easily and our minds are quicker in receptivity.
The Earth has an atmospheric belt of five hundred miles width surrounding her, with the heaviest atmosphere being closest to the Earth.
Through telescopes on either orb, an observer can easily and clearly study the other without the surrounding atmosphere acting as an interference.
Astronomers on Earth have given the heavy atmosphere surrounding Venus as the reason that planet's markings have never been seen with even the finest telescopes. In this line of reasoning, the markings on Earth should be obscured by her heavy atmospheric belt. But they are not.
Taking all known facts into consideration, planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn must have atmosphere very similar to the Earth or the Moon, or maybe somewhat between these two, since from the Earth definite markings around and on these other planets are so plainly visible. Even through five hundred miles of atmosphere, with some of it as dense as it is close to the surface of the Earth, people there can easily see planets and other heavenly bodies with their naked eyes although markings cannot be observed without the aid of a telescope.
It has been said that if atmosphere surrounded the Moon and other planets, clouds would be seen from time to time floating above them, such as we see over the Earth when on the Earth. We have been watching for cloud formations around the Earth as we have been sitting here noting every little detail and discussing our observations. But we haven't seen any. Yet we know from experience that somewhere over the Earth there are clouds moving. At the same time we realize that a cloud large enough to cover the entire state of California would scarcely be visible even from here and certainly not from the great distance between other planets and the Earth. Earth observers have however noted dark patches on these planets which were not always there the next time they looked. These may have been cloud shadows.
On the other hand, since the Earth is visible from the Moon and the Moon and other planets, with the exception of Venus, are visible from the Earth, then all these must have a rarefied atmosphere in comparison to that surrounding Venus, yet similar to each other.
Continuing in this line of thought, there is an atmospheric condensation that takes place over different parts of the Earth from time to time which is impenetrable even with our finest telescopes. This we call 'fog'. Should a dense fog enfold the entire Earth at one time, she probably would be hidden from the view of other planets, unless they had telescopes better than those on Earth which would penetrate such denseness.
This must be the type of atmosphere constantly around Venus. If so, people on that planet would be unable to view the heavens as we do unless they have more penetrating eyes than we have. Also their scientists and astronomers must have finer instruments than we have on Earth to be able to study the vastness of the universe as our scientists are able to delve into it with the aid of their instruments.
"Wonder if I can find anything in the sky from here that I've never heard of on Earth," mused George as he played around with the telescope.
"Hey, Doc, what's this?" he suddenly exclaimed.
"Looks like a moon to me," remarked Dr. Johnston as he looked intently into the telescope. "Could be a moon to this one yet never be seen from Earth. I've heard of a dark moon to the Earth, but of course no one there has ever seen it. This must be it."
As he continued his observations from time to time, Dr. Johnston estimated this second moon was about five hundred thousand miles away from the Earth and traveling a lot faster than the one we are on. The sun seems to shine on it about the same time that it is shining upon the Earth. This is the reason we have never been able to see it from the Earth-plane, while at night it seems to be strongly luminous towards the Moon that we know, and not towards the Earth. In other words, as Dr. Johnston explained to us, what the light side of our Moon, as we know it, is to us at the time it is shining, the second moon would be shining on the opposite side, which to us would mean the dark side of our Moon. This is where our Moon on the dark side gets the twilight during their night-time.
Seeing this from here, we become more inquisitive than ever. We would like to try for the second moon, or for one of the planets for they look very close from here. Yet we know they are far. But we are now positively sure that with the markings on other planets better than those of Earth, as we see the Earth from here, and the Moon inhabited as we have already found it to be, all these other planets must be inhabited.
At the same time we realize that we have much of this Moon yet to explore, even though the desire of going to investigate the second moon is strong, or of going on to other planets. We still have a big job to do on the Moon, since that is the purpose for which we came here. Also we know that when we get through doing our work here and after returning back to the Earth, later we can make another trip, since we have made this first one successfully and then venture on for further exploration.
The Earth has now sunk from view and another day is breaking. This is the day we have promised the darkies to visit their village. The six white boys who escorted us from their village back to our ship have remained with us. With their help we believe we will be able to explore the Moon more thoroughly. As the first bright rays of the sun pierce the morning skies, we set out towards the mountains, led by our native friends. Just as we get started we are joined by a group of the dark ones who have come to meet us. Instead of going up the mountain as we had previously done on our first day here, we were taken along a regular path that ran along the foot of the mountain and gradually ascended it in circular fashion towards the village, halfway up. Hiking early in the morning as we are is most enjoyable. Later it will be hot and quite uncomfortable.
Before leaving for this trip we had radared to the Earth and given them some knowledge of our findings.
Their message of congratulations also contained a note of incredulity since our findings were so different than had been expected.
Although all our radar messages had been in code, Johnny had faithfully kept the people on Earth informed as to what we are doing and concerning our findings.
After two hours of walking along the side of the mountain, we reach the village of the darkies. Here too all the tribespeople welcome us and have a feast prepared in our honor. This feast consisted of dried vegetation and also dried meat which seemed to be that of some kind of a fowl whose name we have not learned.
The six white scouts acting as interpreters make it easier for us, for they understand our signs well. These boys are certainly quick in learning, for just three days with us and they are beginning to use some of our words correctly.
The village of the darkies is a cliff type village, as it had appeared to us from the air. The reason for this is because of the heat through the day. They have running water in their dwellings, and quite natural at that, for each time they cut out a cave in the mountain of rock for a dwelling, they seemed to have encountered water which they used. In some cases there is much, in other cases less, but they all have water. We notice the difference of air within the dwellings and outside. Within the dwellings the air is cool and easy to breathe. Outside it is hot and stifling.
Their mode of living is very much like that of the white villagers and they too possess much precious stones and minerals. Because of the nature of the mountains in which these people live they do not produce their own food but receive their vegetables and grain from the white tribespeople in the valley. Being explorers by nature, as they are, they provide many of the gems the white ones possess. Their exchange system is not based on value of articles exchanged but rather on the needs and desires of the people.
On some of their exploring expeditions they have gone far from home. In this way they have learned more of other places and other people than the whites.
Through the interpreters we tried to find out how much farther we would have to go to find a good sized city and in what direction.
The chieftain tells us there is a city about a thousand miles to the northeast from their village.
Bob asked if he was talking about the one we had seen from the air.
He answered, "No, that isn't the one." Then he added that if we wanted to fly there in our ship, he would be glad to go with us to show us the way. He seemed to enjoy flying. It was something different than he had ever done before.
We told him we would like to have him go with us and the date was set for two days later.
Now we have returned to our ship. The dark chieftain also sent six of his men back with us to serve us for the time we are staying on the Moon. After arriving at the ship, having this trip two days later to prepare for, we had these native boys help us remove some of the supplies we had brought with us from Earth and which we wouldn't need on the trip, thereby lessening the weight of the ship.
The two days of waiting were spent exploring more of the light side. The darkies acted as our guides while the whites remained at the ship. We went to some of the larger craters acting as valleys. Here there was no lack of material for building many homes, if anyone wanted to use that type of material, for there was an abundance of beautiful volcanic rock. It seemed that the whole Moon on the light side was of volcanic nature. Yet we have found some granite, like that on Earth, brown or red sand which could easily have been soil at one time, dehydrated now. Also we came across a large territory that on Earth we would call desert, which on examination showed that it could have been the bottom of a river or sea, with quite a lot of vegetation of moss-like nature like we saw first in the crevices, and a certain amount of moisture. At nightfall the moisture increased in surprising abundance. In places some of these flat spots looked a little like our Salton Sea territory. There was a variety of small creatures. One especially could easily have been related to our horned toad, except that its body was long instead of being broad.
All this time we had no need for oxygen masks. We could not walk as far without rest, due to the light air and the heat, but it was fairly comfortable at that. Of course we did strike out exploring in the early morning when it was not yet too hot. In fact, we believe that this desert region surrounded with volcanic craters and mountains could be very fertile, once water was brought to it. It seems that if trees and vegetation were planted here, they soon would cool off the desert. And there is plenty of water on the dark side. This could be piped here for irrigation purposes without too much trouble, we believe.