A TRIP TO THE MOON BY MR. MURTAGH MCDERMOT, CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS MADE BY HIM (1728) – The real author of this is unknown, since it was published using the pen name Murtagh McDermot. Unless, of course, the writer used their real name for the main character.
McDermot, the story’s narrator, tells us he sailed from Dublin to the island of Tenerife. Once there he climbed to the top of Mount Teide where a massive windstorm carried him into outer space. He was able to breathe (hey, it’s 1728) but found himself trapped when he was equidistant from the Earth and the moon.
Murtagh tried maneuvering his body to break free but instead wound up moving a tiny bit closer to the moon, and the lunar gravity pulled him toward it. Luckily for him he landed in a lake on the moon, so he wasn’t killed.
Our narrator was rescued by an inhabitant of the moon, who was fishing at the lake. McDermot saw that the moon’s landscape was similar to that of the Earth and the beings who lived there, like his rescuer, were intelligent humanoid animals. Think Planet of the Apes if a variety of animals were featured, not just primates. Continue reading
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