midnight of
the twentieth of August
_ Political contests _ are here represented under the character of gambling transactions , and if we mistake not , there is a distinct allusion to more than one important contest in the annals of this country . Having now satisfied his curiosity , Atterley became anxious to return to his native planet , and accordingly urged the Brahmin to lose no time in preparing for their departure . They were soon , however , informed that a man high in office , by way of affecting political sagacity , had proposed to detain them , on the ground that when such voyages as their 's were shown to be practicable , the inhabitants of the earth , who were so much more numerous than those of the moon , might invade the latter with a large army , for the purpose of rapine and contest ; but notwithstanding the influence of this sapient politician , they finally obtained leave to quit the moon whenever they thought proper . Having taken a `` respectful or affectionate '' leave of all their lunarian friends , and got every thing in readiness , -- at midnight of the twentieth of August , they again entered their copper _ balloon _ , and after they had ascended until the face of the moon looked like one vast lake of melted silver , with here and there small pieces of grayish dross floating on it , Atterley reminded the Brahmin of a former promise to detail the history of his early life , to which he assented : -- of this , perhaps the most interesting part of the book , to the general reader , we regret that our limits will only admit of our giving a very condensed and imperfect narrative . Gurameer , the Brahmin , was born at Benares . He was the only son of a priest of Vishnu , of rank , and was himself intended for the priesthood . At school , he meets with a boy of the name of _ Balty Mahu _ , between whom and himself a degree of rivalry , and subsequently the most decided enmity , existed -- a circumstance that decided the character of Gurameer 's subsequent life .