Page:A thousand years hence. Being personal experiences (IA thousandyearshen00gree).djvu/289

 our own later days, upon personal visitation find there certain low-class organic existence. Turning then sorrowfully from this nearest neighbour, there lay next, on the one side of us, Venus, on the other side, Mars. The former was nearest; she was, besides, about our own size; and our science could already estimate for us that her greater dimensions than Mars, and especially her considerably greater heat and light supply, had probably placed her in decided advance, physically and mentally, of that other planet. In short, we were already guessing at what proved to be the case, namely, that Venus had, while Mars had not yet, attained to the duplication, and possibly (as proved to be true) not yet even to the simple cross-electric.

But then again, the fiery little planet lay far more temptingly exposed before us than the ever cloud-concealed sister on our other side. No doubt we had, by this time, quite ascertained, by repeated signs and glimpses, that Venus was indeed inhabited; but, as to dear little Mars, our telescopes and all our advanced photography of the time had perfectly familiarized us with all the varied surface, and with the towns and other constructions and works of all his busy people. As by one unanimous impulse, therefore, our first communications were directed there. Fortunately the planet, just at the time, was nearly in the best conjunction for the purpose, and having made due mathematical calculation, we were soon busy projecting our electro-light lines, so as to drop them upon the planet's surface.