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"Hark! there is the boom of the cannon." The cannon at the siege of Paris could be heard distinctly by day and night at Pontoise. I remember hearing the artillery from Mont Valerien myself during the second siege.

"I have often looked on England from afar." An island of the size of Great Britain would be distinctly visible in powerful telescopes on Mars or Venus. Indeed, many islands visible on Mars are probably no larger than our "tight little island."

"I selected one large meteor." This may sound fantastic, but accepting the conditions given, i.e., of a being of immense vitality and power over natural forces, is not irreconcilable to astronomical observations. The number of meteors is calculated.

"Boiling water was nothing to it." The calculation of the heat of the moon is higher than I have given.

"The absence of snow." There appears to be no snow,