Jules Verne

“ The glorious orb that was becoming so conspicuous an object was none other than the planet Jupiter, the largest of all the bodies existing within the influence of solar attraction. During the seven months that had elapsed since its collision with the earth, the comet had been continuously approaching the planet, until the distance between them was scarcely more than 61,000,000 leagues, and this would go on diminishing until the 15th of October. ”

“ To all these inquiries, the count responded in the affirmative. He was acquainted with everything that had transpired; but, to Servadac's increasing astonishment, he could throw no light upon the cause of any of the phenomena.
“On the night of the 31st of December,” he said, “I was proceeding by sea to our appointed place of meeting when my yacht was suddenly caught on the crest of an enormous wave, and carried to a height which it is beyond my power to estimate. Some mysterious force seemed to have brought about a convulsion of the elements. ”

“ During the twenty-seven days that she had been absent, the Dobryna, he conjectured, would have explored the Mediterranean, would very probably have visited Spain, France, or Italy, and accordingly would convey to Gourbi Island some intelligence from one or other of those countries. He reckoned, therefore, not only upon ascertaining the extent of the late catastrophe, but upon learning its cause. Count Timascheff was, no doubt, magnanimously coming to the rescue of himself and his orderly. ”

“ Jupiter, the colossal planet, gravitating at a distance of 475,693,000 miles, may be reckoned as 70,000,000 centuries old. Mars has existed for 1,000,000,000 years at a distance of 139,212,000 miles. The earth, 91,430,000 miles from the sun, quitted his burning bosom 100,000,000 years ago. Venus, revolving now 66,131,000 miles away, may be assigned the age of 50,000,000 years at least; and Mercury, nearest of all, and youngest of all, has been revolving at a distance of 35,393,000 miles for the space of 10,000,000 years—the same time as the moon has been evolved from the earth. ”

“ It was further observed that Jupiter itself was almost void of scintillation.
Rosette, in his absorbing interest for the glowing glories of the planet, seemed to be beguiled into comparative forgetfulness of the charms of his comet; but no astronomical enthusiasm of the professor could quite allay the general apprehension that some serious collision might be impending.
Time passed on. There was nothing to justify apprehension. The question was continually being asked, “What does the professor really think?”
“Our friend the professor,” said Servadac, “is not likely to tell us very much ”

“ Of the satellites, Lieutenant Procope went on to say that one is rather smaller than our own moon; that another moves round its primary at an interval about equal to the moon's distance from ourselves; but that they all revolve in considerably less time: the first takes only i day, 18 hrs,, 27 min.; the second takes 3 days, 13 hrs., 14 min.; the third, 7 days, 3 hrs., 42 min.; whilst the largest of all takes but 16 days, 16 hrs., 32 min. The most remote revolves round the planet at a distance of 1,192,820 miles. ”

“ The probability that suggested itself was that the schooner's fuel was exhausted.
Servadac took it for granted that the Dobryna was endeavouring to put in. It occurred to him, however, that the count, on discovering an island where he had expected to find the mainland of Africa, would not unlikely be at a loss for a place of anchorage. The yacht was evidently making her way in the direction of the former mouth of the Shelif, and the captain was struck with the idea that he would do well to investigate whether there was any suitable mooring towards which he might signal her. ”

“ The more remote that these planets are from the sun, the more venerable and advanced in formation are they found to be. Neptune, situated 2,746,271,000 miles from the sun, issued from the solar nebulosity, thousands of millions of centuries back. Uranus, revolving 1,753,851,000 miles from the centre of the planetary system, is of an age amounting to many hundred millions of centuries. ”

“ The damage sustained by the engine proved to be not very serious. Some of the boiler-tubes had cracked, allowing the water in consequence to run into the furnace; but as several spare tubes had been stored in the yacht, these were available to replace the old ones, and in three days after her arrival the Dobryna was again ready to put to sea.
Servadac employed the interval in making the count acquainted with all he knew about his small domain. ”

“ After the silence was broken, they consulted as to what course was best to pursue; and the plan they proposed was, in the first place, to discover how much of the African coast still remained, and to carry on the tidings of their own experiences to Algiers; or, in the event of the southern shore having actually disappeared, they would make their way northwards and put themselves in communication with the population on the river-banks of Europe. ”

“ The lieutenant having refreshed his memory by reference to Flammarion's “Récits de l'Infini,” of which he had a Russian translation, and some other books, proceeded to recapitulate that Jupiter accomplishes his revolution round the sun in 4332 days, 14 hours, and 2 minutes; that he travels at the rate of 467 miles a minute along an orbit measuring 2976 millions of miles ”

“ Before starting, it was indispensable that the engine of the Dobryna should be repaired: to sail under canvas only would in contrary winds and rough seas be both tedious and difficult. The stock of coal on board Was adequate for two months' consumption ”