Canali! Canali!

Lowell and Morse had a splendid time, smoking cigars in the Baronial Mansion office, enjoying fine dining and wine, and hiking the Grand Canyon’s Bright Angel Trail, exploring the ancient cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon, and pondering from afar the Painted Desert. The latter’s “lambent saffron” always reminded Lowell of the telescopic tints of the Martian globe and suggested to him that in both cases they attested to presence of “pitiless” deserts. Moreover, near the middle of Morse’s stay, came an announcement that would startle the world. As reported in a small item on the front page of The New York Times: