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Chapter 23 — An Abstract of the Six Messages First Received from Mr. Cavor
ItwouldseemtheSeleniteswhohadcomeuponhimcarriedhimtosomepointintheinteriordown“agreatshaft”bymeansofwhathedescribesas“asortofballoon.”Wegatherfromtheratherconfusedpassageinwhichhedescribesthis,andfromanumberofchanceallusionsandhintsinotherandsubsequentmessages,thatthis“greatshaft”isoneofanenormoussystemofartificialshaftsthatrun,eachfromwhatiscalledalunar“crater,”downwardsforverynearlyahundredmilestowardsthecentralportionofoursatellite.Theseshaftscommunicatebytransversetunnels,theythrowoutabysmalcavernsandexpandintogreatglobularplaces;thewholeofthemoon’ssubstanceforahundredmilesinward,indeed,isamerespongeofrock.“Partly,”saysCavor,“thissponginessisnatural,butverylargelyitisduetotheenormousindustryoftheSelenitesinthepast.Theenormouscircularmoundsoftheexcavatedrockandearthitisthatformthesegreatcirclesaboutthetunnelsknowntoearthlyastronomers(misledbyafalseanalogy)asvolcanoes.”
Itwasdownthisshafttheytookhim,inthis“sortofballoon”hespeaksof,atfirstintoaninkyblacknessandthenintoaregionofcontinuallyincreasingphosphorescence.Cavor’sdespatchesshowhimtobecuriouslyregardlessofdetailforascientificman,butwegatherthatthislightwasduetothestreamsandcascadesofwater—“nodoubtcontainingsomephosphorescentorganism”—thatflowedevermoreabundantlydownwardtowardstheCentralSea.Andashedescended,hesays,“TheSelenitesalsobecameluminous.
