Kevima thought it probable that the metallic poles
even then employed for tents and for climbing purposes might still be
intact; but if so, they were certainly buried in the snow, and Esmo
believed it more likely that even these had perished.
As the mists of evening fell we retreated to our cabin, which was
warmed by a current of heated air from the electric machinery. Here
our evening meal was served, at which Esmo and his son joined us,
Eveena resuming, even in their presence, the veil she had worn on deck
but had laid aside the moment we were alone. An hour or two after
sunset, the night (an unusual occurrence in Mars) was clear and fine,
and I took this opportunity of observing from a new standpoint the
familiar constellations. The scintillation so characteristic of the
fixed stars, especially in the temperate climates of the Earth, was
scarcely perceptible. Scattered once more over the surface of a
defined sky, it was much easier than in space to recognise the several
constellations; but their new and strange situations were not a little
surprising at first sight, some of those which, as seen on Earth
revolved slowly in the neighbourhood of the poles, being now not far
from the tropics, and some, which had their place within the tropics,
now lying far to north or south.
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