I don't
suppose any one ever expects to see us again. However, it's no good
getting homesick in the middle of a journey when you're outward bound.
And now what is the programme as regards His Majesty King Jove? We shall
visit the satellites of course?"
"Certainly," replied Redgrave; "in fact, I shouldn't be surprised if our
visit was confined to them."
"What! do you mean to say we shan't land on Jupiter after coming nearly
six hundred million miles to see him? That would be disappointing. But
why not? don't you think he's ready to be visited yet?"
"I can't say that, but you must remember that no one has the remotest
notion of what there is behind the clouds or whatever they are which
form those bands. All we really know about Jupiter is that he is of
enormous size, for instance, he's over twelve hundred times bigger than
the Earth and that his density isn't much greater than that of
water--and my humble opinion is that if we're able to go through the
clouds without getting the _Astronef_ red-hot we shall find that Jupiter
is in the same state as the Earth was a good many million years ago."
"I see," said Zaidie, "you mean just a mass of blazing, boiling rock and
metal which will make islands and continents some day; and that what we
call the cloud-bands are the vapours which will one day make its seas.
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