such Accoutrements, I crossed myself, and cried out, _Jesu Maria_: No
sooner was the Word _Jesu_ pronounced, but Young and Old fell all on
their Knees (whereat I not a little rejoiced) holding up their Hands on
high, and repeating certain Words which I understood not; and relently
rising again, one much taller than the rest came and kindly embraced
me, and ordering, as I perceived, some of the rest to attend my Birds,
he took me by the Hand, and led me to his Dwelling, down toward the
Foot of the Hill, which was a Building so great and beautiful, as
nothing in our World is comparable thereto; yet afterward I saw such as
this seemed but a Cottage in respect of them, there was no Door about
the House less than thirty Foot high, and twelve broad, the Rooms were
forty or fifty Foot in Height, and answerable in Proportion neither
could they be much less, the Master thereof being full twenty-eight
high, and I suppose his Body would weigh twenty-five or thirty of ours:
After I had rested with him about one of our Days, he led me five
Leagues off to the Palace of the Prince of the Country, the Stateliness
whereof I have not now Leisure to describe; this Prince was much taller
than the former, and called (as near as I can by Letters declare it,
for their Sounds are not perfectly to be expressed by our Characters)
_Pylonas_, which in their Language is _First_ or _Chief_, if it doth
not rather denote his Authority and Dignity, as being the Principal Man
in all those Parts; though yet there is one Supreme Monarch amongst
them, much greater of Stature than he, commanding over all that whole
World, having under him twenty-nine other Princes of great Power; and
every one of these has twenty-four inferior Governors, whereof this
_Pylonas_ was one. The first Ancestor of this great Monarch came out
of the Earth, as they relate, and by marrying the Heiress of that
vast Monarchy obtaining the Government, left it to his Posterity, who
have enjoyed it ever since, even forty thousand Moons, which is 3077
Years: His Name was _Irdonozur_, whose Heirs to this Day assume the
same Name; he, they say, having continued there about four hundred
Moons, and begot divers Children, returned (though by what Means they
know not) to the Earth again. I doubt they have their Fables as well
as we, since our Historians never mention any earthly Man to have been
in that World before myself, and much less to have returned again. I
cannot therefore but condemn this Tradition as false and romantick,
though I found Learning was in great Esteem among them, and they seem
to detest Lying and Falshood, which is there severely punished, and
which may yield some Credit to their historical Narrations. Many of
them live wonderful long, even beyond Belief, affirming to me, that
some survived thirty thousand Moons, which is above a thousand Years,
so that the Ages of three or four Men might easily reach to the Time
of the first _Irdonozur_, and this is generally noted, that the taller
People are of Stature, the more excellent are their Endowments of Mind,
and the longer Time they live; for their Stature is very different,
great Numbers not much exceeding ours, who seldom live above a thousand
Moons, which is fourscore of our Years; these they account base,
unworthy Creatures, but one Degree above brute Beasts, and employ
in mean and servile Offices, calling them Bastards, Counterfeits or
Changlings: Those whom they account true _Natural Lunars or Moon
Men_, exceed ours generally thirty Times, both in Quantity of Body,
and Length of Life, proportionable to the Quality of the Day in both
Worlds, theirs containing almost thirty of our Days.
The manner of our Travel to the Palace of _Pylonas_ was more strange
and incredible than any thing we have related, for at our first
setting forth there were delivered to each of us two Feather Fans,
like those our Ladies in _Spain_ cool themselves with in Summer: You
must understand, that the Globe of the Moon has likewise an attractive
Power, yet so much weaker than the Earth, that if a Man do but spring
upward with all his Strength, as Dancers do in shewing their Tricks, he
will be able to mount fifty or sixty Foot high; and being then above
all Attraction from the Moon's Earth, he falls down no more, but by the
Help of these Fans, as with Wings, they convey themselves in the Air
in a short Space, (though not quite so swift as Birds) whither they
please. In two hours Time (as I could guess) by the Help of these Fans,
we were carried through the Air those five Leagues, in all about sixty
Persons. Being arrived at the Palace of _Pylonas_, after our Conductor
had declared what manner of Present he had brought, I was called in
to him by his Attendants: By the Stateliness of his Palace, and the
Reverence done him, I soon perceived his Greatness, and managed my
Affairs in order to procure his favour accordingly; and having, as you
may remember, a certain little Box or Casket of Jewels, the Remainder
of those I brought from the _East-Indies_, before I was introduced I
secretly took them out of my Pocket, and chusing some of each sort, I
made them ready to be presented as I should think convenient.
I found him sitting in a magnificent Chair of State, with his Wife or
Queen on one Hand, and his Eldest Son on the other, one attended by a
Troop of Ladies, and the other of young Men, and all along the Side of
the Room stood a great Number of handsome Personages, whereof scarce
one was lower of Stature than _Pylonas_, whose Age they report is now
one and twenty thousand Moons. At my Entrance I fell on my Knees, and
taking out my Jewels, I presented to the King seven Stones of several
Sorts, a Diamond, a Ruby, an Emerald, a Saphire, a Topaz and an Opal,
which he accepted with Joy and Admiration. Then I offered the Queen
and Prince some others, and designed to have bestowed divers more upon
his Attendants; but _Pylonas_ forbid them to accept any, supposing,
as I heard, they were all I had, which he would have me reserve for
_Irdonozur_ his Sovereign: He then embraced me with much Endearedness,
and enquired divers Things by Signs, which I answered in the same
manner to the best of my Skill; which not contenting him, he delivered
me to the Guard of 100 of his Giants as I may well call them, strictly
charging them, that I should want nothing fit for me; that they should
suffer none of the _Dwarf Lunars_, or _little Moon Men_, to come near
me. That I should be instructed in their Language, and lastly, that
they should by no Means impart to me the Knowledge of several Things by
him specified, what they were I could never understand. It may be you
long to know what _Pylonas_ enquired of me: Why, what should it be but,
whence I came, how I arrived there what was my Name and Business, with
the like; to all which I answered as near the Truth as possible.
Being dismist, I was provided with all Necessaries as my Heart could
wish, so that I seemed to be in a Paradise, the Pleasures whereof did
not yet so transport me, but I was much concerned with the Thoughts
of my Wife and Children, and still retaining some Hope that I might
again return to them; I tended my _Gansas_ daily with much Care, which
yet had signified little, if other Men had not done more than I could:
for now the Time came when of Necessity all People of our Stature, and
myself like wise, must needs sleep thirteen or fourteen whole Days
together; for by a Secret and irresistible Decree of Nature, when the
Day begins to appear, and the Moon to be enlightened by the Sun Beams,
which is in the first Quarter of the Moon, all People of our Stature
inhabiting these Parts fall into a dead Sleep, and are not possibly to
be awakened till the Sun set, and is withdrawn; for as Owls and Bats
with us cannot endure the Light, so at the first Approach of Day we
begin to be amazed therewith, and fall into a Slumber, which grows by
Degrees into a dead Sleep till the Light be gone, which is in fourteen
or fifteen Days, that is till the last Quarter. During the Sun's
Absence, there is a twofold Light, one of the Sun, which I could not
endure to behold, and another of the Earth: Now that of the Earth was
at the Height, for when the Moon is at the Change, then is the Earth a
full Moon to them, and as the Moon increaseth with us, so the Light of
the Earth decreaseth with them. I found the Light, though the Sun was
absent, equal to that with us in the Day when the Sun is clouded; but
toward the Quarter it daily diminisheth, yet leaving still a competent
Light, which seems very strange; though not so remarkable as what they
there report, that in the other Hemisphere of the Moon, contrary to
that I fell upon, where during half the Moon they see not the Sun, and
the Earth never appears to them, they have yet a kind of Light, not
unlike our Moon-Light, which it seems the Nearness of the Stars, and
other Planets that are at a far less Distance than from us, affords
them.
You must understand, that of the _true Lunars_ or _Moon Men_ there are
three Kinds, some a little taller than we, as perhaps ten or twelve
foot high, these can endure the Day of the Moon, when the Earth shines
but little, but not the Beams of both, and so then must be laid asleep:
Others are twenty foot high or above, who can suffer all the Light both
of the Earth and Sun. There are in a certain Island (the Mysteries
whereof are carefully concealed) Men whose Stature is at least
twenty-seven foot high: If any other come to land there in the Moon's
Day time, they instantly fall asleep: This is called _Insula Martini_,
and hath a particular Governor, who as they report is sixty-five
thousand Moons old, which makes five thousand of our Years; His Name is
said to be _Hiruch_, and he in a manner commands _Irdonozur_ himself,
especially in that Island out of which he never removes: There is
another comes often thither, who they say is not above half his Age,
that is about thirty-three thousand Moons, or two thousand six hundred
of our Years, and he orders all Things through the Globe of the Moon
in Matters of Religion, as absolutely as the Pope doth in any Part of
_Italy_; I would fain have seen this Man, but was not permitted to come
near him, his Name is _Imozes_.
Now let me settle myself to a long Night's Sleep, to which End my
Attendants take Charge of my Birds, prepare my Lodging, and signify
to me by Signs how I must order myself. It was then about the Middle
of _September_, when I perceived the Air more clear than ordinary,
and with the Increase of the Light I began to feel myself first dull
and then heavy to Sleep, though I had not been lately disturbed of my
Rest: At length I delivered myself into the Custody of this Sister of
Death, whose Prisoner I was for almost a fortnight after, and then
awaking, it is not to be believed how brisk and vigorous I found the
faculties both of my Body and Mind; I then applied myself to learning
the Language, which is the same throughout all the Regions of the Moon,
yet not so wonderful, since I believe all the Earth of the Moon does
not amount to the fortieth Part of our inhabited Earth, partly because
the Globe of the Moon is far less, and besides the Sea or Ocean covers
very nigh three Parts of four, whereas, the Land and Sea in our World
may be judged of an equal Measure. Their Language is very difficult,
since it hath no Affinity with any other I ever heard, and consists
not so much of Words and Letters, as Tunes and strange Sounds which
no Letters can express, for there are few Words but signify several
Things, and are distinguished only by their Sounds, which are sung as
it were in uttering; yea many Words consist of Tunes only, without
Words: By Occasion whereof I find a Language may be framed, and
easily learned, as copious as any other in the World only of Tunes,
which is an Experiment worth searching after: Notwithstanding these
Difficulties, within two Months I attained to such Knowledge therein,
that I understood most Questions demanded of me, and with Signs and
Words made reasonable Shift to utter my Mind; which _Pylonas_ having
Notice of, he oft-times sent for me, and was pleased to inform me of
many Things my Guardians durst not disclose, though I must needs say I
never found they abused me with an Untruth, but if I asked a Question
they were unwilling to resolve, they would shake their Heads, and with
a _Spanish_ Shrug divert to some other Discourse.
After seven Months Time the great _Irdonozur_, making his Progress
to a Place about two hundred Leagues from the Palace of _Pylonas_,
sent for me, yet would not admit me into his Presence, but discoursed
me through a Window, where I might hear him, and he hear and see me
at Pleasure. I presented him the Remainder of my Jewels, which he
thankfully accepted, saying, he would requite them with Gifts of a far
more considerable Value. I stayed there above a Quarter of a Moon, when
I was again sent back to _Pylonas_, for if we had stayed a Day or two
longer the Sun would have overtaken us before we could have recovered
our Home. The Gifts he bestowed on me were such, that a Man would part
with Mountains of Gold to purchase; they were all Stones, nine only in
Number, of three Sorts, one called _Poleastis_, another _Machrus_, and
the third _Ebelus_, of each Sort three; the first are about the Bigness
of an Hazle-nut, very like Jet, which among many other incredible
Virtues hath this Property, that being once put in the fire they ever
after retain their Heat, though without any outward Appearance, till
quenched with some kind of Liquor, which no way endamages them, though
heated and cooled therein a thousand Times; their Heat is so vehement,
that it will make any Metal within a foot of it red hot, and being in
a Chimney warms the Room as if a great fire were kindled therein. The
_Machrus_ is yet more precious, in Colour like a _Topaz_, so clear
and resplendent, as though not above the Bigness of a Bean, yet being
placed in the Night in the midst of a large Church, it makes all as
light as if an hundred Lamps were hanged round; can any Man wish for
more useful Properties in a Stone than these? Yet my _Ebelus_ is so
excellent, that it may be much preferred before them, yea prized above
all the Diamonds, Sapphires, Rubies, and Emeralds that our World can
afford. The _Lunar_ Colour is so exceeding beautiful, that a Man would
travel a thousand Leagues to behold it, the Shape is somewhat flat, of
the Breadth of a Piece of Eight, and twice the Thickness, one Side is
of a more orient Colour than the other, which being clapt to a Man's
bare Skin, takes away all the Weight and Ponderousness of his Body,
but turning the other Side, it adds force to the attractive Beams of
the Earth either in this World or that, and makes the Body half as
heavy again: Do you wonder now, why I should so overprize this Stone?
Before you see me on Earth again, you will find I have Reason to value
this invaluable Jewel. I enquired, whether they had not any kind of
Jem, or other Means to make a Man invisible, which I judged a Thing
of admirable Use, and could mention divers of our learned Men who had
written to this Purpose; they answered, that if it were possible,
yet they were sure Heaven would not suffer it to be revealed to us
Creatures subject to so many Imperfections, and which might be easily
abused to ill Purposes, and this was all I could get of them.
Now after it was known that _Irdonozur_ the great Monarch had done me
this Honour, it is strange how much all respected me more than before;
my Guardians, who had been hitherto cautious in relating any thing of
the Government of that World, grew now more open, so that from them
and _Pylonas_ together I understood many notable Particulars; as that
in a thousand Years there is found neither Thief nor Whore-monger, for
first there is no want of any thing necessary for the Use of Man, food
growing every where without Labour, of all Sorts that can be desired.
As for Cloths, Houses, or whatever else a Man may be supposed to want,
it is provided by their Superiors, though not without some Labour,
but yet so easy as if they did it for Pleasure: Again, their Females
are all absolute Beauties, and by a secret Disposition of Nature, a
Man there having once known a Woman never desires any other: Murther
was never heard of amongst them, neither is it hardly possible to be
committed, for there can be no Wound made but what is curable; yea
they assured me, and for my Part I believe it, that though a Man's
Head be cut off, yet if within three Moons it be joined to the Carcase
again, and the Juice of a certain Herb there growing applied, it will
be so consolidated, as the wounded Party shall be perfectly cured. But
the chief Cause of their good Government is an excellent Disposition
in the Nature of the People, so that all both Old and Young hate all
manner of Vice, and live in such Love, Peace, and Amity, as it seems
to be another Paradise: Though it is true likewise that some are of
a better Disposition than others, which they discern immediately at
their Birth; and because it is an inviolable Law amongst them that none
shall be put to Death; therefore perceiving by their Stature or some
other Signs, who are like to be of a wicked and debauched Humour, they
send them, I know not by what Means, into the Earth, and change them
for other Children, before they have either Opportunity or Ability to
do amiss among them; but first, they say, they are fain to keep them
there for some Time, till the Air of the Earth alters their Colour like
ours. Their ordinary Vent for them is a certain high Hill in the North
of _America_, whose People, I am apt to believe, are wholly descended
from them, both in regard of their Colour, and their continual use
of Tobacco, which the _Lunars_ or _Moon Men_ smoak exceedingly, the
Place abounding much with Moisture, together with the Pleasure they
take therein, and some other Respects too long to rehearse: Sometimes,
though but seldom, they mistake their Aim, and fall upon _Europe_,
_Asia_, or _Africa_. I remember some Years since I read certain Stories
tending to confirm what is related by these _Lunars_, and especially
one Chapter of _Neubrigensis_. _Inigo Mondejar_, in his Description
of _Nova Granata._ Also _Joseph Desia de Carana_, in his History of
_Mexico_, if my Memory fail not, recount what will make my Report more
creditable; but I value not Testimonies.
If you enquire how Justice is executed, alas, what need is there of
exemplary Punishment where no Offences are committed, neither need
they any Lawyers, for there is no Contention, the Seeds whereof, when
they begin to sprout, are by the Wisdom of the next Superior pluckt up
by the Roots. And as little Want is there of Physicians, they never
surfeit themselves; the Air is always pure and temperate, neither
is there any Cause of Sickness, I could never hear of any that were
distempered. But the Time assigned them by Nature being spent, they
die without the least Pain, or rather cease to live, as a Candle does
to give Light when what nourishes it is consumed. I was once at the
Departure of one of them, and was much surprized, that notwithstanding
the happy Life he lived, and the Multitude of friends and Children he
should forsake, yet as soon as he understood his End to approach, he
prepared a great feast, and inviting all whom "he esteemed, exhorts
them, to be merry and rejoice with him, since the Time was come he
should now leave the counterfeit Pleasures of that World, and be made
Partaker of all true Joy and perfect Happiness."
I did not so much admire his own Constancy, as the Behaviour of his
friends: With us in the like Case all seem to mourn, when many of them
do oft but laugh in their Sleeves, or under a Vizard. But here all
both Young and Old did, in my Conscience, not pretendedly, but really
rejoice thereat, and if any dissembled, it was only Grief for their
own particular Loss. Being dead their Bodies putrify not, and so are
not buried, but kept in certain Rooms appointed to that Purpose, so
that most of them can shew their Ancestors Bodies uncorrupt for many
Generations: There is never any Rain, Wind, or change of Weather, never
either Summer or Winter, but as it were a perpetual Spring, yielding
all Pleasure and Content, free from the least Trouble or Annoyance; O
my Wife and Children, what Wrong have you done me to bereave me of the
Happiness of that Place! But it is no great Matter, for by this Voyage
I am sufficiently assured, that when the Race of my mortal Life is run,
I shall attain a greater Happiness elsewhere.
It was the ninth of _September_ that I began to ascend from the _Pike
of Teneriff_; twelve Days I was upon my Voyage, and arrived in that
Province of the Moon called _Simiri_, Sept. 21. May 12, we came to
the Court of the great _Irdonozur_, and returned back the 17th to
the Palace of _Pylonas_, where I continued till _March_ 1601. When
I earnestly requested _Pylonas_, as I had oft done before, to give
me Leave to depart, tho' with Hazard of my Life, back into the Earth
again. He dissuaded me, insisting on the Danger of the Voyage, the
Misery of that Place from whence I came, and the abundant Happiness I
now enjoyed; but the Remembrance of my Wife and Children, outweighed
all these Reasons, and to say the Truth, I was so elated with a Desire
of the Glory I should purchase at my Return, as methought I deserved
not the Name of a Spaniard, if I would not hazard twenty Lives rather
than lose the least Particle thereof. I replied I had so strong a
Desire to see my Children, that I could not possibly live any longer
without going to them: He then requested me to stay one Year longer;
I told him, I must needs depart now or never, my Birds began to droop
for want of their usual Voyage, three were already dead, and if a few
more failed, I was destitute of all Possibility of Return. At length
with much Solliciting I prevailed, having first acquainted the great
Irdonozur with my Intentions, and perceiving by the often baying of
my Birds a great Longing in them to be gone, I trimmed up my Engine,
and took my Leave of _Pylonas_, and _March_ 29, three Days after my
waking from, the last Moon's Light, I fastened myself to my Engine,
not forgetting to take the Jewels _Irdonozur_ had given me, with the
Virtues and Use whereof _Pylonas_ had acquainted me at large, with a
small Quantity of Victuals, whereof afterward I had great Occasion.
A vast Multitude of People being present, and among them _Pylonas_
himself, after I had given them all the last Farewel, I let loose
the Reins to my Birds, who with much Greediness taking Wing, quickly
carried me out of Sight; it happened to me as in my first Passage,
for I never felt either Hunger or Thirst till I fell upon an high
Mountain in _China_, about five Leagues from the High and Mighty City
of _Pequin_. This Voyage was performed in less than nine Days, neither
heard I any News of these airy Men I met with in my ascending; nothing
stayed me in my Journey, whether because of the earnest Desire of my
Birds to return to the Earth, having already missed their Season, or
that the Attraction of the Earth was so much stronger than that of the
Moon, and so made it easier, yet so it was, though I had three Birds
less than before. For the first eight Days my Birds flew before me, and
I on the Engine was as it were drawn after; but the ninth Day, when I
began to approach the Clouds, I perceived myself and Engine to sink
toward the Earth, and go before them. I was then horribly afraid, least
my Birds unable to bear our Weight, being so few, should be constrained
to precipitate both me and themselves headlong to the Earth, and
thought it very necessary to make use of my Stone _Ebelus_, which I
clapt to my bare Skin within my Clothes, and instantly I perceived my
Birds made way with greater Ease than before, as seeming freed from a
great Burthen, neither do I think they could possibly have let me down
safely to the Earth without that Help.