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

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 Wise 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.

China is a Country so populous, that I think there is scarce a Piece of Ground thrice a Man's Length which is not carefully manured: I being yet in the Air, some of the Country People spying me came running by Troops, and seized me, would needs carry me before a Magistrate, and seeing no other Remedy I yielded to them. But when I tried to go I found myself so light, that one foot being on the Ground I had much ado to set down the other, which was by reason my Ebelus took all Weight away from my Body, therefore I pretended a Desire of performing the Necessities of Nature; which being made known to them by Signs, for they understood not a Word of any Language I could speak, they permitted me to go aside among a few Bushes, assuring themselves it was impossible I should escape from them; being there, I remembred Pylonas his Directions about the Use of my Stones, and knit them up, with a few remaining Jewels, into an Handkerchief, all except the least and worst Ebelus, which I found Means to apply in such Manner to my Body, that but the half of its Side touched my Skin; this done I drew toward my Guardians, till coming so near that they could not cross my Way, I shewed them a fair Pair of Heels, that I might have Time to hide my Jewels, which I knew they would have robbed me of if not prevented. Being thus lightened I led them such a Dance, that had they been all upon the Backs of so many Race-Horses they could never have overtaken me; I directed my Course to a thick Wood, wherein I entered about a Quarter of a League, and there finding a fine Spring, which I took for my Mark, I thrust my Jewels into a Hole made by a Mole hard by.

I then took my Victuals out of my Pocket, to which till now in all my Voyage I had not the least Appetite, and refreshed myself therewith, till the People who pursued overtook me, into whole Hands I quietly surrendered myself; they led me to an inferior Officer, who understanding that I escaped from those who first apprehended me, caused an Inclosure of Boards to be made, wherein they put me, so that only my Head was at Liberty, and then carried me upon the Shoulders of sour Slaves, like some notorious Malefactor, before a Person of great Authority, who in their Language I learnt, was called a Mandarin, and resided a League off the famous City of Pequin. I could not understand them, but found I was accused for something with much Vehemence, the Substance of this Accusation it seems was, that I was a Magician, as appeared by my being so strangely carried in the Air, and that being a Stranger, as both my Language and Habit did declare, I contrary to the Laws of China had entered the Kingdom without a Warrant, and probably for no good Intent. The Mandarin heard them with a great deal of Gravity, and being a Man of quick Apprehension, and studious of Novelties, he told them he would take such Order as the Case required, and my bold Attempt should not go unpunished: Having dismist them, he ordered his Servants I should be kept in a remote Pare of his vast Palace, be strictly guarded, and kindly used; this I conjecture by my Treatment, and what followed, for my Accommodation was much better than I could expect, I lodged well, eat well, was well attended, and could complain of nothing but my Restraint; Thus continued I many Months, afflicted more with the Thoughts of my Gansas than any Thing else, who I knew must be irrecoverably lost, as indeed they were.

In this Time by my own Industry, and the Assistance of those who accompanied me, I learnt to speak indifferently the Language of that Province, (for almost every Province in China hath its proper Tongue) whereat I perceived they were much pleased: At length I was permitted to take the Air, and brought into the spacious Garden of that Palace, a Place of extraordinary Pleasure and Delight, adorned with Herbs and Flowers of admible Sweetness and Beauty, with almost infinite Variety of fruits, European and others, all composed with that rare Curiosity, as even ravished my Senses in the Contemplation of such delightful Objects; I had not long recreated myself here, when the Mandarin entered the Garden on that Side I was walking, of which having Notice by his Servants, and that I ought to kneel to him (a usual Reverence I found toward great Officers) I did so, and humbly intreated his savour toward a poor Stranger, who arrived in these Parts not designedly, but by the secret Disposal of the Heavens, he answered in a different Language which I hear all the Mandarins use, and like that of the Lunars consisting chiefly of Tunes, which was interpreted by one of his Attendants, wishing me to be of good Comfort, since he intended no Harm to me. Next Day I was ordered to come before him, and being conducted into a noble Dining-room exquisitely painted, the Mandarin commanding all to avoid, vouchsafed to confer with me in the vulgar Language, enquiring into the State of my Country, the Power of my Prince, and the Religion and Manners of the People; wherein having satisfied him, he asked me about my Education, and what brought me into this remote Country; I then declared to him the Adventures of my Life, omitting what I thought convenient, and especially forbearing to mention the Stories given me by Irdonozur.