The Strange Voyage and Adventures of Domingo Gonsales, to the World in the Moon

When I heard this Resolution, observing the Sea to work high, and knowing all the Coast to be so full of Rocks and Shoals, that it was impossible our Ship should come near the Land, unless broken into a thousand Pieces, I represented to the Captain the Desperateness of the Attempt, wishing him rather to try the Kindness of the Enemy, than throw away himself and so many brave Men; but he would by no Remonstrances be removed from his Resolution, therefore finding it high Time to shift for myself, I locked up my little Casket of Jewels, which putting into my Sleeve, I then betook me to my Gansas, and having harnessed them to my Engine, and put myself thereon, supposing, as indeed it happened, that when the Ship should split, my Birds, though they wanted their Signal, yet for saving their own Lives, which Nature hath taught all Creatures to preserve, would make toward Land, which fell out according to my Expectation; the People in the Ship wondered what I was doing, none being acquainted with the use of my Birds but the Captain, Diego being in the other Ship which fled away unpursued; we were about half a League from Land, when our Carrick struck upon a Rock, and split to Pieces, upon which I let loose the Reins to my Birds, having first placed myself upon the Top of the Deck, and with the Shock they all arose carrying me fortunately to the Land; of which you need not doubt but I was very joyful, though it was a miserable Sight to behold my Friends and Acquaintance in that woful Distress, of whom yet many escaped better than they expected, for the English launching out their Cock-boats, discovered more generous Tempers than we are pleased to allow them, taking Compassion of their Calamity, and endeavouring with all Diligence to save them from the Fury of the Waves, though with much Danger to themselves, among others they took up our Captain, who, as Father Pacio since told me, having put himself with twelve others into the Cock-boat, was forced to yield to one Captain Raymund, who carried him and our Pilot along with them in their Voyage to the East-Indies, whither they were bound, but it was their hard Fate, by a Breach of the Sea near Cape Buona Esperanca, to be swallowed of the merciless Waves, whole Rage they awhile before had so hardly escaped; the rest as I likewise heard, who were about twenty six Persons they took into their Ship, and set them on Land at Cape Verde.

As for myself, being now ashore in an Island inhabited by Spaniards, I reckoned I was safe, but found myself mistaken, for it was my hap to pitch upon that Part of the Isle where the Pike begins to rise, which is inhabited by a Savage People who live upon the Sides of that Hill, the Top whereof is for the most Part covered with Snow, and formerly accounted, for its Steepness, inaccessible, either for Man or Beast, yet these Savages fearing the Spaniards keep as near the Top as they can, never coming down into the fruitful Vallies but to seek for Booty; a Crew of these Outlaws happened to spy me soon after I landed, and thinking they had got a Prize, approached me with all Speed; I guess their Design before they came within half a Mile, when perceiving them come down the Hill directly toward me, with long Staves and other Weapons, I thought it necessary to secure myself from these Villains, who out of Hatred to us Spaniards would have cut me to Pieces; the Country was sandy, but the Pike beginning to lift up itself, I espied in the Side a white Cliff, which I Hoped my Ganzas Would take for a Mark, and being put up, would make all that way, whereby I might be carried so far, that those barbarous Rascals should not overtake me, before I got to some Spaniard's House, or hid myself, till by the Covert of the Night I might travel to Laguna, the chief City of the Island, three Miles off. So I settled myself upon my Engine, and let loose the Reins to my Gansas, who by good Fortune took all one Course, tho' not just the Way I aimed at. But what of that! O Reader prick up thy Ears, and prepare thyself to hear the strangest Chance that ever happened to any Mortal, and which I know thou wilt not have the Grace to believe till thou seest the like Experiment, which I doubt not in a short Time may be performed. My Gansas, like so many Horses that had gotten the Bit between their Teeth, made not their Flight toward the Cliff I intended, though I used my wonted Means to direct the Leader the Flock that Way, but with Might and Main took up toward the Top of the Pike, and never stopt till they came there, a Place in vulgar Estimation (though since experimentally contradicted) fifteen Miles in Height. What kind of Place this was I would gladly relate, but that I hasten to Matters of greater Importance: When I was set down there, my poor Gansas fell to panting, blowing, and gaping for Breath as if they would all have died, so I did not trouble them awhile, forbearing to draw them in, which they never used to endure without struggling, but little did I expect what followed.

It was now the Season that these Birds take their Flight away, as our Cuckows and Swallows do in Spain towards Autumn, and as I afterwards found, being mindful of their usual Voyage, just when I began to settle myself to take them in, they with one Consent rose up, and having no other higher Place to make toward, to my unspeakable Fear and Amazement, struck bolt upright, and never left towring upward, still higher and higher, for the Space, as I guest, of an Hour, after which I thought they laboured less than before, till at length, ah wonderful! they remained immoveable, as steadily as if they had sat upon so many Perches; the Lines slacked, neither I, nor the Engine moved at all, but continued still, as having no Manner of Weight. I found then by Experience, what no Philosopher ever dreamt of, namely, that those Things we call heavy do not fall towards the Center of the Earth as their natural Place, but are drawn by a secret Property of the Globe of the Earth, or rather something within it, as the Load-stone draweth Iron, which is within the Compass of its attractive Beams. For though my Gansas could continue unmoved, without being sustained by any Thing but the Air, as easily and quietly as a Fish in the Water, yet if they forced themselves never so little, it is impossible to imagine with what Swiftness they were carried, either Upward, Downward, or Sideways; I must ingenuously confess my Horror and Amazement in this Place was such, that had I not been armed with a true Spanish Resolution, I should certainly have died for Fear.

The next Thing that disturbed me was the Swiftness of the Motion, which was so extraordinary, that it almost stopt my Breath, if I should liken it to an Arrow out of a Bow, or a Stone thrown down from the Top of an high Tower, it would come vastly short of it; another Thing was exceeding troublesome to me, that is the Illusions of Devils and wicked Spirits, who the first Day of my Arrival came about me in great Numbers in the Likeness of Men and Women, wondering at me like so many Birds about an Owl, and speaking several Languages which I understood not, till at last I met with some that spoke good Spanish, some Dutch, and others Italian, all which I understood and here I had only a Touch of the Sun's Absence once for a short Time, having him ever after in my Sight. Now though my Gansas were entangled in my Lines, yet they easily seized upon divers Kinds of Flies and Birds, especially Swallows and Cuckows, whereof there were Multitudes, even like Motes in the Sun, though I never saw them eat any Thing at all. I was much obliged to those, whether Men or Devils I know not, who among divers Discourses told me, "If I would follow their Directions, I should not only be carried, safe Home, but be assured to command at all, Times all the Pleasures of that Place." To which Motion, not daring to give a flat Denial, I desired Time to consider, and withal indebted them, (though I felt no Hunger at all, which may seem strange) to help me to some Victuals, lead I should starve in my Journey so they readily brought me very good Flesh and Fish of several Sorts, and well dressed, but that it was extreme fresh without any Relish of Salt. Wines likewise I tasted of divers Kinds as good as any in Spain and Beer no better in all Antwerp. They advised me, that while I had Opportunity I should make my Provisions, telling me, that till the next Thursday they could help me to no more, at which Time they would find Means to carry me back, and set me safe in Spain, in any Place I would desire, provided I would become one of their Fraternity, and enter into such Covenants as they had made to their Captain and Master, whom they would not name: I answered civily, "I saw little Reason to rejoice in such an Offer, desiring them to be mindful of me as Occasion served;" so for that Time I was rid of them having first furnished my Pockets with as much Victuals as I could thrust in, among which I would be sure to find a Place for a small Bottle of good Canary.

I shall now declare the Quality of the Place wherein I was: The Clouds I perceived to be all under between me and the Earth. The Stars, because it was always Day, I saw at all Times alike, not shining bright, as we see in the Night upon Earth, but of a whitish Colour, like the Moon with us in the Day-Time, those that were seen, which were not many, shewed far greater than with us, yea, as I guessed no less than ten Times bigger: As for the Moon, being then within two Days of the Change, she appeared of an huge and dreadful Greatness. It is not to be forgot, that no Stars appeared but on that Part of the Hemisphere next the Moon, and the nearer to her, the larger they appeared again; whether I lay quiet and rested, or were carried in the Air, I perceived myself to be always directly between the Moon and the Earth, whereby 'tis plain, that my Gansas took their Way directly toward the Moon, and that when we rested, as we did at first for many Hours, either we were insensibly carried round about the Globe of the Earth, though I perceived no such Motion, or else that, according to the Opinion of Copernicus, the Earth is carried about, and turneth round perpetually, from West to East, leaving to the Planets only that Motion which the Astronomers call natural, and is not upon the Poles of the Equinoctial, commonly called the Poles of the World, but upon those of the Zodiac; the Air in that Place I found without any Wind, and exceeding temperate, neither Hot nor Cold, where neither the Sun Beams had any Object to reflect upon, nor the Earth and Water appear to affect the Air with their natural Quality of Coldness; as for the Philosophers attributing Heat and Moisture to the Air, I always esteem'ed it a Fancy: Lastly, I remember that after my Departure from the Earth, I never felt either Hunger or Thirst, whether the Purity of the Air, freed From the Vapours of the Earth and Water, might yield Nature sufficient Nourishment, or what else might be the Cause I cannot determine, but so I found it, though I was perfectly in Health both of Body and Mind, even above my usual Vigour.

Some Hours after the Departure of that Devilish Company, my Gansas began to bestir themselves, still directing their Course toward the Globe or Body of the Moon, making their Way with such incredible Swiftness, that I conceive they advanced little less than fifty Leagues in an Hour, in which Passage I observed three Things very remarkable, one that the farther we went the less the Globe of the Earth appeared to us, and that of the Moon still larger: Again the Earth, which I had ever in mine Eye, seemed to mask itself with a kind of Brightness like another Moon, and as we discern certain Spots or Clouds as it were in the Moon, so did I then see the like in the Earth; but whereas the Form of these Spots in the Moon are always the same, these on the Earth seemed by Degrees to change every Hour; the Reason whereof seems to be, that whereas the Earth according to his natural Motion (for such a Motion I am now satisfied (he hath according to the Opinion of Copernicus) turns round upon her own Axis every four and twenty Hours from West to East) I should at first see in the Middle of the Body of this new Star the Earth, a Spot like a Pear, with a Morsel bit out on one Side, in some Hours I should observe this Spot move away toward the East: This no doubt was the main Land of Africa; then might I perceive a great shining Brightness in that Place which continued about the same Time, and was questionless the vast Atlantick Ocean: After this succeeded a Spot almost Oval, just as we see America described in our Maps, then another immense Clearness, representing Mare del zar or the South Sea; lastly, a number of Spots like the Countries and lands in the East-Indies, so that it seemed to me no other than an huge mathematical Globe turned round leisurely before me, wherein successively all the Countries of our earthly World were within twenty-four Hours represented to my View, and this was all the Means I now had to number the Days, and reckon the Time.

I could now wish that Philosophers and Mathematicians would confess their own Blindness, who have hitherto made the World believe that the Earth hath no Motion, and to confirm it, are forced to attribute to every one of the celestial Bodies two Motions directly contrary to each other, one from the East to the West, to be performed in twenty-four Hours with an impetuous rapid Motion; the other from West to East in several Proportions: O incredible Supposition! that those huge Bodies of the fixed Stairs in the highest Orb, whereof they confess divers, are above an hundred Times bigger than the whole Earth, should like so many Nails in a Cart-wheel be whirled about in so short a Time; whereas it is many thousand Years, no less (say they) than thirty thousand, before that Orb finishes his Course from West to East, which they call his natural Motion; now whereas they allow their natural Course from West to East to every one of them, therein they do well; the Moon performs it in seven and twenty Days, the Sun, Venus and Mercury in a Year or thereabout, Mars in three Years, Jupiter in twelve, and Saturn in thirty. But to attribute to these celestial Bodies contrary Motions at once, is an absurd Conceit, and much more to imagine, that the same Orb wherein the fixed Stars are, whose natural, Course takes up so many thousands of Years, should be turned about every twenty-four Hours. I will not go so far as Copernicus, who makes, the Sun the Center of the Earth and immoveable, neither will I be positive in any Thing, only this I say, allow the Earth its Motion, which these Eyes of mine can testify to be true, and all those Absurdities are removed, every one having only his own single and proper Motion.

But where am I? I promised an History, and am unawares turned Disputer. One Accident more befell me worth mentioning, that during my Stay I saw a kind of a reddish Cloud coming toward me, and continually approaching nearer, which at last I perceived was nothing but a huge Swarm of Locusts. He that reads the Discourses of learned Men concerning them, as John Leo of Africa, and others who relate that they are seen in the Air several Days before they fall on the Earth, and adds thereto this Experience of mine, will easily conclude, that they can come from no other Place than the Globe of the Moon. But now give me leave to go on quietly in my Journey for eleven or twelve Days, during all which Time I was carried directly toward the Globe or Body of the Moon, with such a violent Whirling as is inexpressible, for I cannot imagine a Bullet out of a Cannon could make Way through the vaporous and muddy Air near the Earth with half that Celerity; which is the more strange, since my Gansas moved their Wings but now and then, and sometimes for a quarter of an Hour not at all, only holding them stretched out, as we see Kites, and Eagles sometimes do for a short Space, during which Pauses, I suppose they took their Naps, and Times of Sleeping, for other Times I could perceive they never had any; for myself I was so fastened to mine Engine, that I durst slumber enough to serve my Turn, which I took with as great Ease, as if I had lain on the best Down-bed in Spain.

After eleven Days Passage in this violent Flight, I perceived we began to approach to another Earth (if I may so call it) being the Globe or very Body of that Star which we call the Moon. The first Difference I found between this and our Earth was, that it appeared in its natural Colours, as soon as ever I was free from the Attraction of the Earth; whereas with us, a Thing a League or two from us, puts on that deadly Colour of Blue. I then perceived also that this World was the greatest Part covered with a huge mighty Sea, those Parts only being dry Land which, are to us somewhat darker than the rest of her Body, I mean, what the Country People call, The Man in the Moon, and that Part which shines so bright is another Ocean besprinkled with Islands, which for their Smallness we cannot discern so far off; so that the Splendor which appears to us in the Night, is nothing but the Reflection of the Sun-beams returned to us out of the Water as from a Lookin'glass. How much this disagrees with what our Philosophers teach in the Schools is evident: But alas, how many of their Errors hath Time and Experience in this our Age, and among other vain Conjectures, who hath not hitherto believed the upper Region of the Air to be very hot; as being next, forsooth, to the natural Place of the Element of Fire; meer Vanities, Fancies and Dreams: For after I was once free from the attractive Beams of that tyrannous Load-stone the Earth, I found the Air altogether serene, without Winds, Rain, Mists or Clouds, neither hot nor cold, but constantly pleasant, calm and comfortable, till my Arrival in that New World of the Moon as for that Region of Fire, our Philosophers talk of, I heard no News of it, mine Eyes have sufficiently informed me there is no such Thing.

The Earth had now by turning about shewed me all her Parts twelve Times, when I finished my Course; for when my Reckoning it seemed to be (as indeed it was) Tuesday, September 11, (at which Time the Moon being two Days old was in the twentieth Degree of Libra) my Gansas seemed by one Consent to stay their Course, and rested for certain Hours, after which they took their Flight, and in less than an Hour set me on the Top of an high Hill in that Other World, where many wonderful Things were presented to my Sight. For I observed first, that though the Globe of the Earth appeared much greater there than the Moon doth to us, even three Times bigger, yet all Things there were ten, twenty, yea thirty Times larger than ours; their Trees were thrice as high, and above five Times, broader and thicker; so were their Herbs, Birds, and Beasts, though I cannot well compare them to ours, because I found not any kind of Beast or Bird there which any way resembled ours, except Swallows, Nightingales, Cuckoos, Woodcocks, Batts, and some kind of Wild Fowl: And likewise such Birds as my Gansas, all which, as I now perceived, spend their Time in their Absence from us, in that World, neither do they differ in any Thing from ours, but are the very same kind.

No sooner was I upon the Ground, but I found myself extreme hungry; stepping then to the next Tree, I fastened my Engine and Ganzas thereto, and in great Haste fell to examining my Pockets for the Victuals I had reserved there; but to my great Surprize and Vexation, instead of Partridges and Capons, which I thought I had hoarded there, I found nothing but a Medley of dry Leaves, Goats Hair, Sheep or Goats Dung, Moss, and the like; my Canary-wine was turned, and stunk like Horse-piss: O the Villainy and Cheats of these cursed Spirits, whose Assistance if I had depended on, in what a Condition had I been! While I stood musing at this strange Metamorphosis, on a sudden I heard my Gansas fluttering behind me, and looking back, I spied them falling greedily upon a Shrub within the Reach of their Lines, whose Leaves they fed earnestly upon, whereas before I had never seen them eat any green Thing whatever; so stepping to the Shrub; I put a Leaf to my Mouth; the Taste was so excellent; that I cannot express it, and if I had not with Discretion moderated my Appetite, I should have forfeited thereon; yet it happened, to be a good Bait both for me and my Birds, when we had most Need of Refreshment.

Scarce had we ended our Banquet, when I saw myself surrounded with a strange kind of People both in Feature, Manners, and Apparel; their Stature was very different, but they Were generally twice as high as ours; their Shape and Countenance pleasant, and their Habit hardly to be described; for I never saw either Cloth, Silk, nor other Stuff, like that whereof their Cloths were made; neither can I possibly relate their Colour, they being in a manner all cloathed alike; it was neither Black, White, Yellow, Red nor Blue, nor any Colour composed of these: If you ask what was it then? I must tell you, it was a Colour never seen in our earthly World, and so neither to be described nor conceived by us; for as it is hard to make a Man born blind understand the Difference between Green and Blue, so neither can I decypher this Moon-colour, as having no Affinity with any I ever beheld; I can only say it was the most glorious and delightful that can be imagined, neither was any Thing more pleasant to me during my Stay there.

Being surprized at the Appearance of these People so suddenly and in 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.