I left my _Palanquin_, and found what _Volatilio_ had conjectur'd, and his Report verified; for I could with as much Ease lift a _Palanquin_ of Provisions, which did not on Earth weigh less than 500 Weight, as I could on our Globe raise a Feather. The Cold was very much abated, and I found my Spirits rais'd.
I would here have sent back half the _Palanquin_-Bearers, but _Volatilio_ was of Opinion we should keep them a Day longer; for, perhaps, said he, we may send them all (except those which carry you) away; for if the Universal Spirit included in the Air should suffice for our Nourishment, we have no Business with Provisions.
I approv'd his Reason, and we proceeded on, sure of falling first into the Attraction of the Moon, it being the nearest Planet to us.
I shall not detain the Reader with my Observations in this aerial Journey; _Gallileus_, who by his Writings gives me room to believe he had, before me, visited this Planet, whatever were his Reasons for not owning it, having left nothing, which is not mentioned in his _Systema Mundi_.
I observ'd only, which I take Notice of for those who have not read him, that when the Moon has but a small Part of his Body enlighten'd, that the Earth, the other Moon, has a proportionable Part of its Hemisphere visibly darken'd; I mean a Part in proportion to that of the Moon which is enlighten'd; and that both these Moons, of which ours is much the larger, mutually participate the same Light of the Sun, and the same Obscurity of the Eclipses, and mutually assist each other: For when the Moon is in Conjunction with the Sun, and its _pars superior_ receives all the Light, then its inferior Hemisphere is enlighten'd by the Earth's reflecting the Rays of the Sun, otherwise it would be intirely dark; and when those two Planets are in Opposition, then that Part of the Earth which is deprived of the Rays of the Sun, is enlighten'd by a full Moon.
The next Day _Volatilio_ was for sending back the Provisions, but I judg'd it proper not to go forward, but to stay the Space of a natural Day, in the same Situation, because in that time, or in no other in the Journey, we should require Sustenance, and also because their Return would be easier, than if we carried them still forward.