CHAPTER I.
Aleriel's Journey Home.–The Moon.
"When I ascended from Trehyndra, I soon attained to regions where man could never in his earth-life exist–far above the earth's atmosphere. Higher and higher I ascended, till the whole of Western Europe opened like a map before me, with Great Britain and Ireland on the blue sea, like a brownish-green triangle on a blue field. Higher and higher still I went, till the white Alps expanded before me, and I saw the realms of Asia opening up, lightened by the dawn. On, higher and higher, till all the earth seemed a huge globe, with part light and part darkness, only varied by the cities' lights.
"As I ascended, I soon came near to one of the great meteor streams that dash through space with the rapidity of cannon-balls. I
