three o'clock in the
morning
These he considered quite sufficient for all purposes , and certainly they considerably simplified his labors as an observer . His best optical instruments were several excellent marine telescopes , manufactured especially under his direction . Magnifying the object a hundred times , on the surface of the Earth they would have brought the Moon to within a distance of somewhat less than 2400 miles . But at the point to which our travellers had arrived towards three o'clock in the morning , and which could hardly be more than 12 or 1300 miles from the Moon , these telescopes , ranging through a medium disturbed by no atmosphere , easily brought the lunar surface to within less than 13 miles ' distance from the eyes of our adventurers . Therefore they should now see objects in the Moon as clearly as people can see the opposite bank of a river that is about 12 miles wide . -LSB- Footnote A : In our Map of the Moon , prepared expressly for this work , we have so far improved on Beer and Maedler as to give her surface as it appears to the naked eye : that is , the north is in the north ; only we must always remember that the west is and must be on the _ right hand _ . -RSB- -LSB- Footnote B : In our Map the _ Mappa Selenographica _ is copied as closely and as fully as is necessary for understanding the details of the story .