About 11 a.m.
After all , if the atmosphere has taken refuge at the bottom of cavities , in the interior of the amphitheatres , or even on the opposite face of the moon , we can not decide the question . '' `` Besides , '' added Barbicane , `` even for the most piercing sight a man is not visible at a distance of more than four miles . Therefore if there are any Selenites they can see our projectile , but we can not see them . '' About 11 a.m. , at the altitude of the 50th parallel , the distance was reduced to 300 miles . On the left rose the capricious outlines of a chain of mountains , outlined in full light . Towards the right , on the contrary , was a large black hole like a vast dark and bottomless well bored in the lunar soil . That hole was the Black Lake , or Pluto , a deep circle from which the earth could be conveniently studied between the last quarter and the new moon , when the shadows are thrown from west to east .