I was within 8000 miles of the surface, and could observe Mars distinctly as a world, and no longer as a star.

The colour, so remarkable a feature in his celestial appearance, was almost equally perceptible at this moderate elevation.

The seas are not so much blue as grey.

Masses of land reflected a light between yellow and orange, indicating, as I thought, that orange must be as much the predominant colour of vegetation as green upon Earth.

As I came still lower, and only parts of the disc were visible at once, and these through the side and end windows, this conviction was more and more strongly impressed upon my mind.