Domingo Gonsales

Main Character of Man in the Moone

Gonsales is a Spaniard forced to flee the country after killing a man in a duel. Having made his fortune in the East Indies he decides to return to Spain, but falls ill on the voyage home and is set off on the island of St Helena to recover. There he discovers a species of wild swan able to carry substantial loads, the gansa, and contrives a device that allows him to harness many of them together and fly around the island. Once fully recovered Gonsales resumes his journey home, but his ship is attacked by a British fleet off the coast of Tenerife. He uses his flying machine to escape to the shore, but once safely landed he is approached by hostile natives and is forced to take off again. This time his birds fly higher and higher, towards the Moon, which they reach after a journey of twelve days. There Gonsales encounters the Lunars, a tall Christian people inhabiting what appears to be a utopian paradise. After six months of living among them Gonsales becomes homesick and concerned for the condition of his birds, and sets off to return to Earth. He lands in China, where he is immediately arrested as a magician, but after learning the language manages to win the trust of the local mandarin. The story ends with Gonsales meeting a group of Jesuit missionaries, who arrange to have a written account of his adventures sent back to Spain.

(GC Revelance : See Earth Cycle )