T he C entral S ea .

C O N T E NT S

MY U NCLE MAKE S A G R E AT D IS C OVE R Y

T HE MYS TE R I OUS PAR CHME N T

AN AS TOUN DIN G DIS CO VE R Y

WE S TAR T O N THE JOURN E Y .

FI R S T LE S S ON S I N C LIM BIN G
O U R VO YAGE TO ICE LAN D
C O N VE R S ATION AN D D IS COVE R Y
T H E E ID E R D O WN HUN TE R —O R E AT
-

LAS T
O U R S TAR T—WE ME E T WITH ADVE N
TUR E S B Y THE WAY
T R AVE LLI N G I N ICE LAN D— T HE LE PE R S
WE R E ACH MOUN T S N E FFE LS — T HE
“
R E YK IR ”

T HE AS CE N T O F MO UN T S N E FFE LS
T H E S HAD O W O E S CAR T ARI S
T HE R E AL JOURN E Y C O MME N CE S

WE C ON TIN U E O U R DE S CE NT
T HE E AS TE R N TUNN E L
D E E PE R AN D DE E PE R — T HE C OAL MIN E
T HE WR ON G R OAD !
T HE WE S TE RN G ALLE R Y—A NE W
R OU TE
 .

5 CON TE N TS .

C HAPT E R PAG E

XX . WATE R WHE R E
, Is IT? A BITTER DIS

XXI I . S U N DAY BE LO W G R OUN D

XXIV . LO S T !
XXV . T HE WHI S PE R IN G G ALLE R Y

XXVI I . T HE CE N TR AL S EA

ON THE WATE R S —A R A FT VOYAGE

T E R R IFIC S AUR IAN C O MBAT
T HE S E A M O N S TE R
T HE BATTLE O F THE ELE ME N TS

O U R R OUTE R E VE R S E D
A VOYAGE O F D IS COVE R Y
DIS COVE R Y UP ON D IS CO VE R Y
WHAT I S I T ?
T HE MYS TER IO US DAGGE R
N O O UTLE T B LAS TIN G T HE R OCK
-

T HE EXP LOS ION AN D ITS R E S ULTS

T HE AP E G I G AN S
HUN GE R
T HE VO LCAN IC SHAFT
DAYLIGHT AT LAS T
 L I S T O F I L L U S T RA T I O N S

Tra cing our route

T he fj ord
. of S tapi

Arne S a k nussemm

T he las t d rop of w a t re 1 18

I S4

The first bather in th ese A plunge into the

Central S ea

Thes e a nima l
s fough t 20 2

T he ba ll of fire 21 8

Human or not ?

The fea rful explosion

T he ra f t floa ts over the w a ves of la va 2 90

 A JO U R N E Y T O T HE

CE NTR E OF T HE E AR TH

CHAP TER I .

MY UNC LE MAK E S A GR E AT DIS COVE R Y .

LO O K I N G back to a ll that ha s occurred to me since that

eventful day I am sca rcely able to believe in the reality
,

of my adve ntur es They were truly so wonderful that

.

even now I am bewildered when I think of them .

My uncle w as a G erman havin g married my mother s

,
’

sister, an Englishwoman Bein g very much attached to

.

h is fatherless nephew he invited me to study under him in

,

h is home in the fatherland This home was in a large

.

town and my uncle a Professor of philosophy chemistry

, , ,

geology mineralogy and many other ologies

, , .

O ne day after passin g some hours in the la boratory

—
,

my uncle being absent at the tim e J suddenly felt the

necessity of renovating the tissues—43 a I w as hungry and .
, ,

w as about to rous e u p our old French cook when my ,

un cle Professor Von Ha rdwigg suddenly opened the

, ,

street door and came rus hing up sta irs

, .

Now Professor Ha rdwigg my worthy un cle is by no

, ,

mea ns a b ad sort of man ; he is however, choleric and,

1
2 A JOURN E Y T O THE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

original To bea r with him means to obey ; and scarcely

.

had his heavy feet res ounded within our j oint domicile
than he shouted for me to attend upon him .

Harry—Harry— Harry
I has tened to obey but before I could reach his room
, ,

jumping three steps at a tim e he w as stamping his right ,

foot upon the landing .

Harry ! he cried in a fr antic tone are you coming

, ,

up
Now to tell the truth at that moment I w as fa r more
,

interes ted in the question a s to what w as to cons titute our

din ner than in any problem of science ; to me soup w as
more in teres ting than soda an omelette more tempting ,

than arithmetic and an artichoke of te n times more value

,

than any amount of as bestos .

B ut my uncle w a s not a man to be kept waitin g ; so

adjourning therefore a ll minor questions I pres ented my ,

sel f before him .

He w a s a very learned man Now most persons in this .

ca tegory supply thems elves with in formation a s p eddlers do ,

with goods for the benefit of others and lay up stores in

, ,

order to diffuse them abro a d for the benefit of society in

general Not so my excellent uncle Professor Ha rd w igg
.
,

he studied b e cons umed the midn ight oil he pored over

, ,

hea vy tomes and diges ted huge quarto s and folios in order
,

to keep the knowledge acquired to hims elf .

There w a s a rea s on and it may be regarded as a good

,

one why my uncle objected to display h is learning more

,

than w as absolutely necessary ; he stammered ; and when

intent u pon explaining the phenomena of the hea vens w as ,

apt to find himself at fault and allude in such a vague ,

way to su n moon and stars that few were able to compre

, , ,

hend h is mea ning To tell the hones t truth when the

.
,

right word would not come it w a s generally replaced by a

,

very powerful adjective .

 MY UN CLE MAKE S A G RE AT DI S COVE R Y .
3

In connection with the sciences there are many almost

unpronounceable names—names very much resembling
those of Welsh villages ; and my uncle being very fond of
usin g them his habit of stammerin g w as not thereby im
,

proved In fact there were periods in his discourse when

he would finally give up and swallow his discomfiture—in
.
,
‘

a glass of wate r .

As I said my uncle Professor Ha rd wigg w as a very

, , ,

learned man and I now add a most kind relative I w as .

bound to him by the double ties of affection and in terest .

I to ok deep inte rest in all his doings and hoped some day ,

to be almost a s lear ned myself It w as a rare thing for me

to be absent from his lectures Like him I preferred .
,

min eralogy to all the other sciences My anxiety w as to .

gain r ea l know ledge of the ea rth G eology and min eralogy .

were to us the sole objects of lif e and in connection with ,

these studies many a fair specimen of stone chalk or metal , ,

did w e brea k with our hammers .

Steel rods loa ds tone glass pipes and bottles of various

, , ,

acids were oftener before us than our meals My uncle .

Ha rd wigg w a s once known to clas sify six hundr ed different

geological specimens by their weight hardness fus ibility , , ,

sound tas te and smell

, , .

He corresponded w ith all the great lea rned and seien , ,

tific men of the age I w as therefore in constant com

.
, ,

m un ica tion with at all events the lette rs of Sir Humphrey

, ,

D avy Captain Franklin and other great men

, , .

But before I sta te the subject on which my uncle wished

to conf er with me I must sa y a word about his personal
,

appearance Alas ! my readers will see a very different

.

portrait of him at a future time afte r he has gone thr ough ,

the fea rful adventures yet to be relate d .

My un cle w as fifty years old ; tall thin and wiry , , .

Large spectacles b id to a certain extent his vas t round, , ,

a nd goggle eyes while his nose w as irreverently compared

,
4 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF THE E AR TH .

to a thin file So much indeed did it res emble that useful

.

article that a compass w as said in his presen ce to ha ve

,

made cons iderable N * deviation .

The truth being to ld however the only ar ticle rea lly

, ,
’
attracte d to my un cle s nose w as tobac co .

An other peculiarity of his w a s that he always stepped a ,

yard at a time clenched his fists as if he were going to hit

,

you and was when in one of his peculiar humors very

, , ,

far from a pleasant companion .

It is further necessa ry to observe th at he lived in a very ,

nice house in tha t very nice street the KOnigstrasse at

'

, ,

Hamburg Though lying in the centre of a town it w as

.
,

perfectly rura l in its as pect—half wood half bricks with

—
, ,

old fashioned gables on e of the few old houses spared by

-

the gr eat fire of 1 842 .

Wh en I sa y a nice hous e I mean a handsome house ,

old , totte ring and not exac tly comfortable to English

,

notions : a house a little off the perpendicular and inclin ed

to fall into the neighboring canal exactly the house for a
wandering artist to depict ; all the more that you could
scarcely see it for ivy and a magnificent old tree which

grew over the door .

My uncle w a s rich ; his house w as his own property ,

while he had a considerable private in come To my notion .

the bes t part of his posses s ions w a s his god d a ughter -

,

Gretchen And the old cook the young lady the Pro
.
, ,

fos sor and I were the sole inh abitants .

I loved mineralogy I loved geology To me there w as

nothing like pebbl es—and if my uncle had been in a little
, .

less of a fury we should have been the happies t of families

, .

To prove the excellent Ha rd w igg s im patience I solemnly ’

declare that when the flowers in the drawin g room pots b e -

gan to grow he rose every morn ing at four o clock to ma ke

,
’

them grow quick er by pullin g the lea v

‘5
( 7) Na sa l .
 M Y UN CLE MAKE S A GRE AT DIS COVE R Y .
5

Havin g des cribed my uncle I will now give an account ,

of our interview .

He received me in his study ; a perfect museum con ,

ta ining every natural curiosity that can well be im agined

— min erals however predominatin g
,
Every one w as
,
.

familiar to me having been ca talogued by my own hand

,
.

My uncle apparently oblivious of the fact that he had

,

summ oned me to his presence w as ab sorbed in a book He ,

.

w as particularly fond of ea rly editions ta ll copies and , ,

unique works .

Wonderful ! he cried tappin g his forehead

d erful—wonderful
.
,

It w as one of those yellow leaved volumes now rarely -

found on stalls and to me it appea red to poss ess but little

,

val u e My uncle however w as in raptures

.
, , .

He admir ed its bin ding the clearness of its characters , ,

the ea s e with which it opened in his hand and repea ted ,

aloud half a d ozen tim es that it w as very very old

,
- -
, , .

To my fancy he w as making a great fuss about nothing ,

but it w as not my province to sa y so On the contrary .

,

I professed considerable inte rest in the subject and as ked ,

him what it w as about

It is the Heims—
.

Kringla of Snorre Ta rleson he said , ,

the celebrated Icelandic author of the twelf th centu ry

it is a true and correct account of the Norwegian princes
”
who reigned in Icelan d .

My n ext question related to the la nguage in which it

w a written
s I hoped at all events it w as trans late d into
.

G erman . My uncle w a s indignant at the very thought ,

and declared he would n t give a penny for a translation ’

.

His delight w as to have found the original work in the

Icelandic tongue which he declared to be one of the most
,

magnificent and yet simple idioms in the world—while at

the same time its grammatical combination s were the most
var ied known to students .
6 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

About as easy a s G erman ? w a s my insidious rema rk .

My uncle shrugged his shoulders .

”
The letters at all events I said are rather difficul t
, ,
”
of comprehens ion .

It is a R unic manus cript the la nguage of the origi n al

,
”
population of Iceland invented by O din himself cried
, ,

my uncle angry at my ignoran ce

, .

I wa s about to venture upon some misplaced j oke on the

subject when a small scrap of parchment fell out of the
,

leaves Like a hungry man snatching at a morsel of bread

.

the Pro fessor seized it It w a s about five inches by three

.

and w a s scrawled over in the most extraordinary fashion .

The lines on page 1 2 are a n exa ct fa c simile of what -

w a s written on the venerable piece of parchment— a nd

have wonderful importance a s they induced my uncle to,

undertake the most wonderful series of adventur es which

ever fell to the lot of human beings .

My uncle looked keenly at the document for some mo

ments and then declared that it w a s R un ic The letters .

were similar to those in the book but then what did they ,

m ean ? Thi s w a s exactly what I wante d to know .

Now as I had a strong conviction that th e R unic

a lphabet and dialect were simply an invention to mys tify

poor human nature I wa s delighte d to fin d that my u ncle

,

knew a s much about the matter a s I did—which w as

nothing At all events the tr emulous motion of his fin gers
.
,

made m e think so .

”
And yet he muttered to himself it is old Icelandic
, , ,
”
I am sure of it .

And my uncle ought to have known for he w a s a per ,

feet polyglot dictionary in himself He did not pretend .

,

like a certain learned pundit to speak the two thousand ,

languages and fotI r thousand idioms made u se of in d if

feren t parts of the globe but he did know a ll the more
,

important ones .
 MY UN CLE MAKE S A GR E AT D I S COVE R Y .
7

It is a matter of g reat doubt to me n ow to what violent ,

mea sures my un cle s impetuosi ty might have led him,

’

had not the clock struck tw o a n d our old French cook

,

called out to let u s know that dinner w as on the table .

Bother the dinner ! cried my u ncle .

But as I w as hungry I sallied forth to the d ining room

,
-
,

w here I took up my us ual quarters O ut of politeness I

.

waited three minutes but no sign of myuncle the Pro

, ,

fessor .I w a s surprised He wa s not usually so blind to

.

th e pleasur e of a good dinner It w as the acme of German

luxury—pars ley soup a ham omelette with sorrel tri m
.

mings a n oyste r of veal ste wed with prim es delicious fruit

, , ,

and sparkling Moselle For the sake of porin g over this

.

musty old piece of parchment my u ncle forbore to sha re

,

our meal To satisfy my conscien ce I a te for both

.
,
.

The old cook and hous ekeeper w as nearly out of her

mind Afte r taking so much trouble to find her mas ter
.
,

not appea r at d inn er w a s to her a sa d disappointment

which as she occas ionally watched the havoc I w as
,

making on the viands became als o alarm I f my uncle

, .

were to come to ta ble after all ?

Suddenly just as I had consumed the last apple and
,

drank the l as t gla ss of wine a terrible voice w as heard at

,

no grea t dista nce It w as my uncle roar in g for me to

come to him I made very nea rly on e lea p of it—
. a o loud ,

so fier ce w as hi s to ne
.
 CHAP TER I I .

X AH N I M M M!‘ '
WWI !
t HHYF h k * * l* F k l b b AH’ ‘

rfi h fl Y k 4 1 m
t hat “
r r a i flr I w ar m cu in m
J ¢h 44 A mwa
—
A y u qq
YVb A Y l w h e n! m n
h H H B I: Yr b u l

I DE CLAR E cried my uncle striking the table fiercely

, ,

with his fist I declare to you it is R un ic—a n d conta ins

,
”
some wonderful secret which I must get at at an y price
, , .

I w as about to reply when he stopped me .

”
Sit down he said quite fiercely and w rite to my
, , ,
”
dictation.

I obeyed .

”
I will substitute he said a letter of our a lphabet
, ,

for that of the R unic : we will then see what that will pro
”
duce N ow begin and make no mistak se
.
, .

The dictation commenced with the followin g in compre

h ensible result

m el
ca seea fde

S a odn '
n
I O A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

b ut on examination proved to be a lin e of writing almost

eff aced by time This w a s wha t he sought ; and after
. ,

some considerable time he ma de out these letters ,

LLM H1 llxh HHJX

’
! ’ ‘

Ar ne he cried in a joyous and tri

S a k n us semm l
'

u mpha n t tone tha t is not only a n Icelan dic na me but

, ,

of a lea rned professor of the six teenth cen tury a celebrated ,_

”
alchemist .

I bowed a s a sign of respect .

”
These alchemists he continued Avicena Bacon
, , , ,

Lully Paracelsus were the true the only learned men of

, , ,

the da y They mad e su rpris ing dis co veries May not this
. .

S a kn ussemm nephew mine have hidden on this bit of

, ,

parchment some as tounding invention ? I believe the

c ryptograph to have a profound meaning—which I mus t

make out .

My uncle walked about the room in a sta te of excite

ment almost impossible to describe .

”
It ma y be so sir I timidly observed but why con
, , ,

cea l it fro m po sterity if it be a us eful a worthy dis , ,

covery

Why—how should I kn ow ? Did not Galileo make a

se cret of hi s discoveries in conn ection with Sa turn ? But
we shall see Until I di scover the mea ning of this sentence
.

”
I will neither ea t nor sleep .

My d ear uncle I began .

”
Nor you neither he added , .

It w a s lucky I had ta ken double allowance that day .

”
In the first place he continued there must be a clue
, ,

to the meaning If we could find tha t the res t would be

.
,
”
ea s y enough .

I bega n ser ious ly to reflect The prospect of going .

 T HE M YS TE RI OU S PAR CHME N T . II

w h it out food and sleep w a s not a promising one so I de ,

t ermin ed to do my best to solve the mystery My un cle .

,

mea nwhile went on with h is soliloquy

,
.

The way to dis cover it is easy enough In this docu .

men t there are one hundred and thirty two letters giving -
,

seventy nine cons onants to fif ty three vowels

- This is about - .

the proportion found in most southern languages the ,

idioms of the north being much more rich in consonants .

We may confidently predict therefore that we have to deal , ,

”
with a southern dialect .

Nothing could be more logical .

Now said Professor Ha rd wigg to trace the parti

, ,

cu la r language .

As S ha kspea re says that is the question w a s my

, ,

rather satirical reply .

This ma n S a kn ussemm he continued w as a very , ,

learned man : now a s he did not write in the language of

h is birth place he probably like most lea rned men of the
-
, ,

sixte en th century wrote in Latin ,

I f however I prove .
, ,

wrong in this guess we mus t try Spanish F rench Italian

, , , ,

G reek and even Hebrew

,
My own opinion though is .
, ,

decidedly in fa vor of Latin .

This proposition startled me Latin w as my favorite .

study and it seemed sacrilege t o believe this gibberish to

,

belong to the country of Virgil .

“
Barbarous Latin in all probability continued my
, ,
”
uncle but still Latin
, .

”
Very probably I replied not to contradict him
, ,
.

”
Let us see into the matter continued my uncle ; ,

here you see we have a series of one hundred and thirty

two letters apparently thrown pell mell upon paper with
,
-
,

out method or organization There are words which are .

composed wholly of consonants such a s m m lls others , ,

which are nearly a ll vowels the fi fth for in stance which , , ,

is u n teicf a n d one of the la st oseibo This appears a n

, .
12 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR T H .

extraordina ry combina tion Probably we shall find that .

the phrase is arranged accordin g to some mathematical

plan No doubt a certain sentence h a s been written out
.

and then j umbled up —s ome pla n to which some figure is

the clue Now Harry to show your En glish wit —
.
, ,
what
”
is that figure ?
I could give him no hint My thoughts were indeed .

fa r away While he w a s S peaking I h a d ca ught sight of

.

the portrait of my cous in Gretchen and w as wonderin g ,

when she would return .

We were a fiia nced a n d loved one another very sin cerely

,
.

But my uncle who never thought even of such sublun ary

,

matters kn ew nothing of this Without noticing my a h

, .

stra ction the Professor began reading the pu zzling cryp

,

togra ph all sorts of ways according to some theory of his

,

own Presently rousing my wandering attention he dic

.
, ,

ta ted one precious attempt to me .

I mildly handed it over to him It read a s follows .

mnw ssun ka S cn rA icefdoK segn itta mu rtn

.

eccrtsm etteg ota ivsa d ua xd necscda a d a e

I could scarcely keep from laughing while my uncle , ,

on the contrary got in a towering passion str uck the ta ble

, ,

with his fist darte d out of the room out of the house and
, , ,

then taking to his heels w a s pres ently lost to sight .

 CHAPTER I II .

AN AS TOUN DIN G DIS C O VE R Y .

WHAT is the matter ? cried the cook enterin g the ,

mom when will mas ter have his dinner ? ”

“
Never .

An d h is supper ?
,
’
I don t know He says he will ca t no more neither
.
,

sh all I My uncle h a s determined to fas t and make me

.

fas t until he makes out this abominable ins cription ” I ,

replied .

You will be sta rved to death she said , .

I w a s very much of the same Opinion but not liking to ,

sa y so sent her away and began some of my u sual work

, ,

of cl as sifica tion But boy a s I made myself nothing

.
,

could keep me from thinking alte rnately of the stupid

manus cript and of the pretty Gretchen .

Several times I thought of going out but my uncle ,

would have been angry at my absence At the end of an .

hour my allotted task w a s done How to pass the time ?

, .

I began by lighting my pipe Like all other students I .

,

delighted in tobacco ; and seating mysel f in the great

,

arm chair I began to think

-
, .

Where w a s my uncle ? I could e a sily imagin e him

tearing along some solitary road gesticulating tal king to , ,

hims el f cutting the air w ith his cane and still thinking
, ,

of the ab surd bit of hieroglyphics Would he hit upon .

s o me clue ? Would he come home in better humor ?

While these thoughts were passing through my brain I ,

mechanically took up the execrable puzzle and tried every

imaginable way of grou p ing the letters I put them to
gether by twos by th rees fours and fives—in va in
.

, , , .
 1 4 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

N othing in telligible came out except that the four teenth , ,

fi fte enth and six tee nth ma d e ice in English ; the eighty
fourth eighty fif th and eighty sixth the word sir then at
,
- -
,

l as t I seemed to find the Latin words rota muta bile 15m , , ,

nee, a tm .

Ha l there eem to be ome tru th in my uncle s n o

s s s
’

tion thought I
, .

Then again I seemed to fin d the word luco which mea ns ,

sacred wood Then in the third line I appeared to make

.

out la biled a perfect Hebrew word and at the las t the

, ,

syllables m e re a re mar which were F rench

, , , .

It w a s enough to drive one mad F our different idiom s .

in this absurd phrase What connection could there be .

between ice sir anger cruel sa cred wood changing

, , , , , ,

mother are and sea ? The first and the last might in a
, ,

sentence connecte d with Iceland mea n sea of ice But , .

what of the res t of thi s monstrous cryptograph ?

I w as in fact fighting against an insurmou nta ble d iffi
, ,

cul ty my brain w a s almost on fir e my eyes were strained

with staring at the parchment ; the whole absurd collec
tion of letters appeared to dance before my vis ion in a
n umber of black little groups My min d w a s possessed .

with te mporary hallucination— I w a s stifling I wanted .

air Mechanically I fanned mysel f with the document

.
,

of which now I sa w the back and then the front .

Imagine my surpris e when glancing at the back of th e

wearisome puzzle the ink havin g gone through I clea rly
, ,

made out Latin words and among others cra terem a n d ,

terr estr e .

I had discovered the secret !

It came upon me like a flash of lightnin g I had got the .

clue All you had to do to unders tand the document w a s

.

to read it backwards All the ingenious idea s of the Pro .

fessor were realized ; he h a d dictated it rightly to me ; by a

mere accident I had discovered what he so much desired .
 AN A S TOUN D I N G D IS C OVE R Y . I S

My d elight my emotion may be imagined my eyes

, ,

were dazzled and I trembled so that at first I could make

nothing of it One look however would mll me all I
.
, ,

wished to kno w .

Let me read I sa id to myself after drawing a long

, ,

brea th .

I spread it before me on the table I passed my fin ger ,

over ea ch letter I spelt it through ; in my excitement I

,

read it out .

‘Vh a t horro r and stupefac tion to ok po ss ession of my

s oul
. I w as like a man who had received a knock down -

blow Wa s it possible that I really read the terrible

.

s ecret and it had really been accomplished l A man had

dared to do—what ?
,

No living being should ever know .

”
Never ! cried I jumping up Never shall my uncle
,

be made aware of the dread secret He would be quite .

capable of undertak ing the terrible jou rney Nothing .

would check him nothing stop him Worse he would , .

,

compel me to acco mpany him and we should be lost for ,

”
ever But no ; such olly a n d madness can ot be allowed
. f n .

I w a s almost bes ide mysel f with rage and fury .

”
My worthy un cle is already nearly mad I cried ,
“
aloud . This would fi n ish him By some accident he .

may make the discovery ; in which ca se we are both lost , .

Perish the fearful secret—let the flames f orever bury it in

”
oblivion .

I snatched up book and parchment and w a s about to ,

cast them into the fire when the door opened and my ,

uncle entered .

I had scarcely time to put dow n the wretched docu

ments before my uncle w a s by my side He w a s pro~ .

foun dly absorbed His thoughts were evidently bent on

.

the terrible parchment Some new combination had pro .

bably struck him while taking h is walk .

2
 1 6 A JOURNE Y TO r m: CE N TR E or THE E AR TH .

He sea ted himself in his arm cha ir and with a pen began -
,

to make an algebraical calculation I watched him with .

anxious eyes My flesh crawled as it became proba ble

.

that he would discover the s ecret .

His combinations I kn ew now were useless I having ,

discovered the one only clue F or three mortal h ours he .

continued without speaking a word without raising h is ,

hea d scratching re writin g calculating over and over

, ,
-
,

again I kn ew that in time he mus t hit upon the right

.

phrase The letters of every alphabet have only a certain

.

number of combinations But then years might ela pse be

.

fore h e would arrive at the correct solution .

Still time wen t on ; night came the sounds in the streets

ceased—
,

a n d still my un cle went on not even answerin

g ,

our worthy cook when she called us to supper .

I did not dare to lea ve h im so waved her away and , ,

at las t fell a sleep on the sofa .

When I awoke my uncle w as still at work His red

-
.

eyes his pallid countenance his matted ha ir his feveris h

, , ,

h and s his he cticly flushed cheeks showed how terrible

, ,

had been his struggle wi th the im possible and what f ear ,

fu l fatigue he ha d undergone durin g that long s leeples s

night It made me quite ill to look at him Though he
. .

w as rather sev ere with me I loved him and my heart , ,

ached at his sufferings He w as so overcome by one i dea

.

that he could not even get in a pass ion ! All his energies
were focussed on one point And I knew that by speaking .

one little word all this suffering would ceas e I could not .

speak it .

My hea rt w as neverthless inclin in g towards him Wh y

, , .
,

then did I remain silent ? In the interest of my u ncle

,

himsel f .

Nothing sha ll make me speak I mu ttered He ,

will want to follow in the foots te ps of the other ! I k n ow

him well His ima g ination is a perfect vol cano and to
.
,
 1 8 A JOUR NE Y T O THE T
CE N RE O F T HE E AR TH .

s elf when I should have suffered starvation for n othing .

Under the infl uence of hun ger this rea soning appeared
ad mirable I dete rmin ed to tell all
. .

The question now arose a s to how it w as to be done I .

w as s till dwellin g on the thought when he rose and put ,

on his hat .

What ! go out and lock us in ? Never !

U ncle I began , .

He did not appear even to hear me .

Professor Ha rd wigg I cried

”
, .

”
What he retorted did you speak ?
, ,

HOW about the key ?

What key—the key Of the door ?
—
No Of thes e horrible hieroglyph ics ?
He looked at me from under his spectacles and started ,

at the odd expression of my face R ushing forward he .

,

clutched me by the arm and keenly examined my coun ts

nance His very look w as an inte rrogation
. .

I simply nodded .

With an incredulous shrug of the shoulders he turned ,

upon h is heel Undoubtedly he thought I had gone mad

. .

”
I have made a very important discovery .

His eyes flashed with excitement His hand w as lifte d .

in a menacing attitude F or a moment neither of us

.

spoke . It is hard to sa y which w a s most excite d .

You don t mean to sa y that you have any idea Of the

’

meaning of the scrawl

I do w as my desperate reply
, Look at the sentence .

as dictate d by you .

Well but it mea ns nothing w as the ang ry an swer

, , .

Nothing if you read from left to right but m ar k if , ,

from right to left

”
Backwards ! cried my un cle in w ild amazement , .

Oh most cunnin g S a k n ussemm ; and I to be such a

blockhea d
 AN A S T OUNDI N G D I S C OVE R Y . 19

He snatched up the docu ment gazed at it with haggard ,

eye and read it out a s I had done

,
.

It read a s follows
I n S nefiels yocu lis cra ter em kem dclcba t

Which dog La tin being translate d reads as follows

-
,

Des cend into the crater of Yoca l of S neflels which

‘

the shad e of S ca rta ris cares ses before the kalends of J uly , ,

audacious traveller and you will rea ch the centre of the

,
”
earth I did it
. . AR N E S AKN U S S E MM .

My uncle lea ped three feet from the ground with joy .

H e looked rad iant and handsome He rushed about the .

room wild with delight and satisfaction He knocked over .

tables a n d chair He threw his books about until at la st

s.
,

utterly exhausted he fell into h is arm chair

,
-
.

What s O clock
’
he as ked
’
.

”
About three .

My dinner does not seem to have done me much good ,

he observed Let me have something to eat We can

, .

then start at once Get my portmanteau ready. .

”
What for ?
And your own he continued We start at once
, . .

My horror ma y be conceived I resolved however to .

show no fear Scientific reasons were the only ones likely

.

to influence my uncle Now there were many against .

,

this terrible jour ney The very idea of going dow n to the
.

centr e of the earth w as simply absurd I determined .

therefore to argue the point afte r din ner .

’
My uncle s rage w as now directed against th e cook for
having no di nner ready My explanation however satis .

fied him and giving her the key sh e soon contri ved to get
,

sufficient to sa tisfy our voracious appetites .

During the repas t my uncle w as rather gay than other

 20 A JOURNE Y T O THE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

wise He ma d e some of those peculia r jokes which belong

.

exclus ively to the learned As soon however as dess ert .

w as over he called me to h is study

,
We each took a .

chair on opposite sides of the table .

Henr y ” he said in a soft and winn ing voice ; I have

, ,

always believed you ingenious and you have rendered me ,

a service never to be forgotten Without you this great .

, ,

this wondrous dis covery would never have been ma de It .

”
is my d uty therefore to insis t on your sharing the glory
, ,
.

He is in a good humor thought I ; I ll soon let him ’

kn ow my Opinion of glory .

In the first place he continued you mus t keep the

, ,

whole affair a profound secret There is no more envious .

race of men than scientific dis coverers Many would .

start on the same journey At all events we will be the .

,
”
first in the field .

I doubt your having many competitors w as my reply , .

A man of real scientific acquirements would be de

lighted a t the chance We should fin d a perfect str eam.

of pilgrims on the tr aces of Ar ne S a kn ussemm if this ,

document were once made public .

But my dear sir is not this paper very likely to be a

,
”
hoax ? I urged .

The book in which we fin d it is suflicien t proof of its

”
authenticity he replied , .

I thoroughly allow that the celebrated Professor wrote

”
, ,
m
the lines but only I believe as a kind of ysti ca tion
fi , ,

w as my answer .

Scarcely were the words out of my mouth when I w as ,

sorry I had utte red them My un cle looked at me with a .

dark and gloomy scowl and I began to be ala rmed for the ,

results of our conversation His mood soon chan ged how .

,

ever and a smile took the place of a frown

, .

”
We shall see he remarked with decis ive emphas is
, , .

But see what is all this about Yocul and S n eflels

'

, , ,
 AN A S TOUN DI N G DI S C OVE R Y . 21

and this S ca rta ris ? I have never hea rd anything about

”
them .

The very point to which I am coming I lately re .

ceived from my friend Augustus Pete rman of Leipzig a

, , ,

map Take down the third atlas from the second shelf
.
,

s erie
s ! plate 4
, .

I rose went to the shelf and pres ently returned with the
, ,

volume indicated .

”
This said my uncle is one of the bes t maps of I ce
, ,

la nd I believe it will settle all your doubts difficulties

.
,

and Objections ”
.

With a grim hope to the contrary I stooped over the

,
 CHAPTER I V
WE S TAR T O N T HE J OUR NE Y
.

YOU see the whole is land is composed of volca noes

, ,
”

said the Professor

‘

and remark carefully that they a ll

,

bea r the name of Yokul The w ord is Ice landic and .

means a glacier In m
,

ost of the loft y moun ta ins of that

.

region the volcanic eruptions come forth fr om ice bou nd -

ca verns Hence the name applied to every volcano on

.

this extrao rdinary is lan

'
But what does this word S n eflels mea n ?
To this question I expected no rational an s wer I w as .

mis taken .

Follow my finger to the western coas t of Icela nd ,

there you see R eykj awik its capital F ollow the dir ection , .

of one of its innumerable fjords or arms of the sea and ,

what do you see below the sixty fif th degree of latitude ? -

—
A penins ula very like a thigh bone in shape ” -
.

And in the centre of it

”
A mountain .

'
Well that s S n eflels
,
’
.

I had nothin g to sa y .

That is S n eflels —a m oun tain about five thousa n d feet

' ’

in height one of the most remarkable in the whole is land

, ,

and certainly doomed to be the most celebra ted in the

world for thr ough its crater we shall rea ch the Centre of
,

th e Earth .

Impossible ! cried I startled a n d shock ed at the ,

thought .

Why impossible ? said Professor Ha rdwigg in his

severest tonse .
Tra ci ng o ur ro u te
.
24 A J OUR NE Y TO T HE T
CE N R E OF T HE E A R TH .

g ive
s a fine idea of th e centra l heat All the matters .

which compose the globe are in a state of inca n descen ee ;

even gold platinum and the ha rdes t rocks a re in a state
, ,
”
of fus ion What would b ecome of us ?
.

Don t be alarmed at the hea t my boy

’
, .

How so ?
Neither you nor anybody else kno w a nything about
the real state of the ea rth s in te rior All modern experi ’
.

men ts tend to explode the older theories Were any such .

heat to exist the upper crus t of the ea rth would be

,

sha tte red to atoms and the world would be at an en ,

A long learned a nd not un inte res tin g discussion followed

, ,

which ended in this wise

I do not believe in the dangers and difficulties which
you Henry seem to multiply ; and the only way to lea rn
, , ,
”
is like Arne S a k n ussemm to go and see , .

”
Well cried I overcome at las t let us go a nd see
, , , .

Though how we can do that in the da rk is another

myste ry .

Fear nothing We shall overcome thes e and ma ny

.
,

other d iffi culties Bes ides as we approa ch the Ce ntr e I

.
, ,

expect to fin d it l uminous
Noth ing is imposs ible .

And now tha t we have come to a thorough un der

standing not a word to any living soul O ur succes s
, .

depends on secrecy and d espa tc

Thus ended our memorable conference which roused a ,

perfect fever in me L eaving my uncle I went forth like

.
,

one possessed R eaching the banks of the Elbe I began to

.
,

think Was all I had heard really and truly possible ? Wa s

.

my uncle in his sober sens es and could th e interior of the ,

earth be reached ? Was I the victim of a mad mm or w as ,

he a discoverer of rare courage a n d grandeur of conception ?

To a certain extent I w as anxious to be off I w as .

afraid my en thusias m would cool I d etermin ed to pack .

 WE S TAR T ON T HE JOURN E Y . 25

up at once At the end of an hour however on my w a y

.
, ,

home I found that my feelings had very m uch changed

I m all abroa d I cried ; tis a n ightmare —4 must
.
,

“’ ”
,
”
have dreamed it .

At this moment I came face to fa ce with Gretchen ,

whom I warmly embraced .

“
So you have come to meet me she said ; how good ,
”
of you . But what is the matter ?
Well it w a s no use m incing the matter I told her all
, , .

She lis tened with awe and for some minutes she could ,

not speak .

Well ? I at last said rather anxiously , .

What a magnificent journey I f I were only a man ! .

A journey worthy of the nephew of Professor Ha rd w igg .

”
I should look upon it as a n honor to accompany him .

“
My dear Gretchen I thought you would be the fi rst ,
”
to cry out against this mad enterprise .

N0 ; on the contrary I glory in it It is magnificent , .

,

splendid—a n idea worthy of my father Henry Lawson .

,
”
I envy you .

This w a s a s it were conclus ive The fin al blow of all

, , . .

When we entered the house we found my uncle su r

rounded by workmen and porters who were packing up , .

He w a s pulling and hauling at a bell .

Where have you been wasting your time ? Your

portmanteau is not packed— my papers are not in order
the precious tailor h as not brought my clothes nor my ,

gaiters— the key of my carpet bag is gone I

I looked at him stupefied And still he tugged away .

at the b ell .

We are really off then ? I said , .

Yes of course and yet you go out for a stroll u n for

-
, ,
”
tu n a te boy !
And when do we go ?
The day a fter to morrow at daybreak -
, .
26 A JOURNE Y TO r m: T
CE N RE or T HE E AR TH .

I heard no more ; but darted to my little bed

off

chamber and locked myself in There w as no doubt about

.

it now My un cle h ad been hard at work a ll the a fter

.

noon The garden w a s full of ropes rope ladders torches

.
,
-
, ,

gour ds ir on clamps crow bars alpens to cks and picka xes

—
-
, , , ,

enough to load ten men .

I passed a te rrible night I w as called early the next

.

day to lea rn that the res olution of my uncle w a s u n

cha nged and irrevocable I al so found my cousin and
.

a fiia n ced wi fe a s warm on the subject a s w a s her fa ther .

Next day at five o clock in the morning the post chaise

,
’
,
-

w a s at the door . Gretchen and the old cook received the

keys of the house ; and scarcely paus ing to wish any one
,

good bye we started on our a dventur ous jour ney into the
-
,

Centre of the Earth .

 CHAPTER V

F IRS T LE S S O NS IN C LIMBI N G .

AT Altona, a suburb of Hamburg is the Chief Station ,

of the Kiel railway which w a s to take us to the shores of

,

the Belt In twenty minutes fro m the moment of ou r

.

depart ure we were in Holste in and our carriage entered ,

the station Our heavy luggage w a s taken out weighed

.
, ,

labelled and placed in a huge van We then took our

, .

tickets and exactly at seven o clock were seated opposite

,
’

each other in a first class railway carriage

-
.

My uncle said nothing He w a s too busy examining .

his papers among which of course w a s the famous parch

,

ment and some letters of introduction from the Danish

,

consul which were to pave the way to an introduction to

,

the G overnor of Iceland My only amu sement w a s look .

ing out of the window But as we pas sed thr ough a flat
.

though fertile country this occupation w a s slightly mo

,

n oton ous In three hours we rea ched K iel and our

.
,

baggage w as at once trans ferred to the ste amer .

We had now a day before u s a delay of about te n ,

hours Which fact put my uncle in a towerin g passion

. .

We had nothing to do but to walk about the pretty town

a n d bay At length however we went on board and at
.
, , ,

half pa st ten were steaming down the G reat Belt It w a s .

a dark night with a strong breeze and a rough sea nothing

, ,

being visible but the occas ional fires on shore with here ,

and there a lighthouse At seven in the morning we left

.

Korsor a little town on the western side of S eeland

'

, .

Here we took another railway wh ich in three hours ,

brought us to the capital Copenhagen where scarcely , , ,

taking ti me for refr eshment my u ncle hurried out to pre ,

28 A JOUR NE Y T o THE T
CE N RE or T HE E A R TH .

sent one of his letters of introduction It w as to the .

d irecto r of the Mus eu m of Ant iquities who having been ,

inf ormed that we were touris ts boun d for Iceland did all ,

he could to assist us O ne wretched h 0 pe sustained me

.

n ow Perhaps no vessel w as bound for such distant parts

. .

Alas ! a little Da nish schooner the Va lkyrie w as to , ,

sail on the second of J une for R eykj a wik The captain .

,

M Bjarne w as on board and w as rather su rprised at th e

.
, ,

energy and cordiality with which his future passenger

shook him by the hand To him a voyage to Iceland
.

w as merely a matter of cours e My uncle on the other .

,

hand considered the even t of sublim e impo rtan ce The

,
.

hones t sailor took advantage of the Profes sor s enthusia s m ’

to double the fare .

“ ’
On Tues da y morning at sev en o clock be on b oard ,

said M Bjarne ha nding us our receipts

.
, .

”
Excellent ! Capita l ! Glorious ! remarked my un cle
as we sa t do w n to a late brea kfast ; refres h yo urs elf my ,
”
boy and we will take a run through the town
, .

O ur meal concluded we went to the Kongens Nye Torw

,
- -

’
to the kin g s magnificent palace ; to the beautif ul bridge
over the canal nea r the Mus eum ; to the imm ense ceno
ta ph of Thorwaldsen with its hideous naval groups ; to
the ca s tle of R osen berg ; a n d to a ll the other lions of the
place —none of which my uncle even sa w so absorbed
, ,

w as he in h is anticipa ted triumphs .

But one thing struck his fancy and that w as a certa in ,

singular ste eple s ituate d on the Is land of Amak which is ,

the south east quarter of the city of Co penhag en My

-
.

uncle at once ordered me to turn my steps that way a n d ,

accordingly we went on board the stea m ferry boat which

does duty on the canal and very soon rea ched the noted
,

dockyard quay .

In the first insta n ce we crossed some narro w streets ,

where we met numerous groups of galley slaves with pa rti ,

 FIR S T LE S S O N S IN CL IM I N G B . 29

co lored trousers grey and yellow working under the orders

, ,

a n d the sticks of severe tas k masters and fin ally reached -

,

the Vor Prelser s Kirk

-
’
-
.

This church ex hibited nothing remarkable in itsel f ; in

fact the worthy Professor had only been attracted to it by
,

on e circums tance which w as that its rather elevated stee

, ,

ple sta rted from a circular platform after which there w a s ,

an exterior stairca se which wound round to the very summit

, .

”
Let us ascend said my uncle , .

But I never could climb church towers I cried I , ,

um subject to dizziness in my head .

“
The very reason why you should go up I want to .

cure you of a bad habit .

But my good sir

I tell you to come Wh at is the use of wasting so .

”
much valuable time ?
It w a s impossible to dispute the dictatorial commands of
my un cle I yielded with a groan O n payment of a
. .

fee a verger gave u s the key He for one w a s not partial

,
.
, ,

to the ascent My uncle at once showed me the way run

.
,

nin g up the steps like a school boy I followed as well a s -

.

I could though no sooner w a s I outside the to wer than

, ,

my hea d began to sw im Th ere w a s nothing of the eagle .

about me The earth w a s enough for me and no ambi

.
,

tious desire to soar ever entered my mind Still things .

did not go badly until I had ascended 1 5 0 steps and w a s ,

nea r the platform when I began to feel the rush of cold

,

air I could scarcely stand when clutching the railings

.
, ,

I looked upwards The railing w a s frail enough but no

.
,

thing to those which skirted the terrible winding staircase ,

that appeared fr om where I stood to as cend to the sk ies

, ,
.

”
Now then Henry , .

”
I can t do it ! I cried in accents of despair
’
,
.

”
Are you a ter all a coward sir ? said my uncle in a
f , , ,
“ ”
pitiless tone Go up I sa y !
.
,
3 0 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

To this there w a s no reply possible An d yet the keen .

air acted violently on my nervous system ; sk y ea rth a ll , ,

seemed to sw im roun d ; while the s te eple rocked like a

ship .My legs gave way like those of a dr unken man I .

crawled upon my hands and knees ; I haul ed mysel f up

slowly crawling like a snake
, Pres ently I close d my eyes .
,

and allowed myself to be dragged upwards .

Look around you said my uncle in a ste rn voice , , ,

h eaven knows what profound abysses you may have to

”
look down This is excellent practice
. .

Slowly and shivering all the while with cold I opened

, ,

my eyes What then did I see ? My first glance w a s u p

.

wards a t the cold fleecy clouds which a s by some optical ,

delusion appea red to stand still while the steeple the , ,

weathercock and our two selves were carried swiftly along

, .

F ar away on one side could be seen the grassy plain while ,

on the other lay the sea bathed in translucent light The .

Sund or Sound a s we call it could be discovered beyond

, ,

the poin t of Elsinore crowded with white sails which a t

, , ,

that dista nce looked like the wings of sea gu lls ; while to
,
-

the ea st could be made out the fa r off coast of Sweden -

.

The whole appeared a magic panorama .

But faint and bewildered a s I w as there w as no remedy ,

for it R ise and stand up I mu st

. Despite m y protes .

ta tion s my first lesson l as ted quite an hour When nearly .

,

two hours later I reached the bosom of mother earth I

, ,

w a s like a rheumatic old man bent double with pain .

”
Enough for one day said my uncle rubbin g h is , ,
”
hands w e will begin again to morrow
,
-
.

There w as no remedy My lessons las ted five days and .

,

a t the end of that period I a scended blithely en ough and , ,

found myself able to look d own into the depth s below

without even wink ing and with some degree of plea s ure
, .
3 2 A JOU R NE Y T O T m: CE N RE T OF T HE E AR T H .

But no ghost or anyt hing else appeared upon the a n

,

cient walls The fact is the cas tle is much later than th e
.
,

time of the heroic prince of D enmark It is n ow the re .

sid en ce of the keeper of the Strait of the Sound and ,

through that Sound more than fifteen thousand ves sels of

all nations pass every year .

The castle o f Kronborg soon disappeared in the murky

atmosphere a s well as the tower of Helsin b org which
, ,

raises its hea d on the Swedish Bank And here the .

schooner began to feel in earnes t the breezes of the Catte

gat The Va lkyr ie w as sw ift enough but with all sail ing
.
,

boats there is the same uncertainty Her cargo w a s coal .

,

f urniture potte ry woolen clothing and a load of corn

, , ,
.

As usual the crew w as small five Danes doing the whole

, ,

of the work .

How long will the voyage last ? as ked my un cle .

”
Well I should think about ten days replied the ,

skipper unles s indeed we meet with some north ea s t

, , ,
-

gales among the Faroe Is lands .

At all events there will be no very cons iderable de ,

”
lay cried the impatient Professor
,
.

No Mr Ha rd w igg said the captain no fear of that

,
”
.
, , .

”
At all events we shall get there some day, .

Towards evening the schooner doubled Cape Skagen ,

the northernmost part of Denmark crossed the S k a g er ,

R a k during th e night—s kirte d the extreme poin t of Nor

way through th e gut of Cape L in d ness and then reached ,
'
the Northern Seas l\vo days later we were not fa r from .

the coas t of Scotland somewhere nea r what Danish sailors ,

call Peterhead and then the Va lkyr ie stretched out direct

,

for the Faroe Islands between O rkney and Shetland O ur , .

Vessel now felt the full force of the ocean waves and the ,

wind shifting we with great difficulty made the Fa rce

,

Isles O n the eighth day the captain m ade out Myga n

.
,

n ess the wes ternmost of th e Isles and f rom that moment

, ,
 O U R VOY A GE TO I CE L ND A .
33

headed dir ect for Portland a cape on the southern shores

,

of the singular island for which we were bound .

The voyage o ffered no incident worthy of record I bore .

it very well but my uncle to his grea t annoyance and

, ,

e ven shame w as remarkably sea sick !

,
This ma l d e mer -

troubled him the more that it prevented him from ques

,

tion in g Captain Bjarne a s to the subject of S n efiels a s to

‘

the means of commun ication and the facilities of transport, .

All these explanations he had to adjourn to the period of

his arrival His tim e mea nwhile w a s spent lying in bed
.
,

groa nin g and dwelling anx iously on the hoped for te rmi
,
-

nation of the voyage I didn t pity h im .

’
.

O n the eleventh day we sighted Cape Portland over ,

which to wered Mount Myrdals Yokul which the weather , ,

being clea r we made out very readily The cape its elf is
, .

nothing but a huge mount of granite standing naked and

alone to m eet the Atlantic waves The Va lkyrie kept of? .

the coast steering to the wes tward O n all sides were to

, .

”
be seen whole schools of whales and sharks Af ter .

some hou rs we came in sight of a solitary rock in the

ocean forming a mighty vault through which the foam

, ,

ing waves poured with in tens e fury The islets of Wes t .

man appea red to leap from the ocean being so low in the ,

water as scarcely to be se en until you were right upon

them Frcm that momen t the s chooner w a s steered to
.

the wes tward in order to round Cape R eykj a n ess the ,

weste rn point of Iceland .

My un cle to his great disgust w as unable even to crawl

, ,

on deck so heavy a sea w as on and thus lost the fi rst

, ,

view of the Land of Promise F ort y e ight hours later .

-
,

a fter a sto rm which drove us fa r to sea u nder bare poles ,

we ca me o n ce more in sight of land and were boarded by ,

a pilot who after three hours of d angerous navigation

, , ,

brought the schooner safely to an anchor in the bay of

Faxa before R eykj a wik .
34 A JOURNE Y T O T HE T
CE N R E O F T HE E AR TH .

My uncle came out of his cabin pale haggard thin, , ,

but full of enthusia sm his eyes dilated with pleasure and

,

satis faction Nearly the whole population of the town

.

w as on foot to see u s land The fact w as that scarcely .

,

any one of them but expected some goods by the periodi

cal vessel .

Professor Ha rd w igg w a s in has te to leave his prison or ,

rat her as he called it his hospita l but before h e a t

,

tempted to do so he caught hold of my b a n d led me to

, ,

the quarter deck of the schooner took my a rm with h is

-
,

left hand and pointed inland with h is right over the

, ,

northern part of the bay to where rose a high two pea ked ,
-

mountain— a double cone covered with ete rnal snow .

”
Behold he whispered in an awe stricken voice b e
,
-
,

hold—Mount S n efiels l
'

Then without further remark he put his finger to h is ,

lips frowned darkly and descended into the small boat

, ,

which awaited u s I followed and in a few min utes we

.
,

stood upon the s oil of mysteriou s Iceland !

Scarcely were we fairly on shore when there appeared

before us a man of excellent appearance wea ring the cos ,

t um e of a milita ry officer He w as however but a civil .

, ,

servant a m agis trate the governor of the island—Baron

, ,

Trampe The Professor kn ew whom he had to deal with

.
.

He therefore handed him the letters from Copenhagen ,

and a brief conversation in Danis h followed to which I ,

of cou rse w as a stran ger and for a very good rea s on for I
, ,

did not know the language in which they conversed I a f .

terw a r ds heard however that Baron Trampe placed him

, ,

sel f entirely at the h eck and call of Pro fe sor Ha rd w i s

gg .

My uncle w a s most graciously received by M F insen .

,

the mayor who as fa r as costume went w a s quite as

, ,

milita ry as the governor but also from ch a racter and oc ,

cu pa tion quite as pacific As for h is coadjutor M Pic .

.

tureson he w a s absent on an episcopal v isit to t h e

,
 O U R VOY A GE T O I CE L N D A .
35

northern portion of the dioces e We were therefore com

pelled to defer the pleas ure of being presented to him .

His absence w a s however more than compensated by the

, ,

pres ence of M Frid riksson Professo r of natural science in

.
,

the college of R eykj a w ik a ma n of invaluable ability ,

.

This modes t scholar spoke no languages save Icelandic

and Latin When therefore he a ddressed himsel f to me
.
, ,

in the language of Horace we at once came to understand ,

one an other He w a s in fact the only person that I did

.
, ,

thoroughly understand durin g the whole period of my

residence in this benighted is land .

O ut of th ree rooms of which his hous e w as composed ,

two was placed at our servi ce and in a few hours we were ,

ins ta lled with all our bagga ge the amount of which ,

rather as tonish ed the simple inhabitants of R eykj a w ik .

”
Now Harry said my uncle rubbin g his hands “ all
, , , ,

goes well the worse difficulty is now over

, .

“
How the worse difficulty over I cried in fresh amaze
ment.

“
Doubtless Here we are in Icelan d Nothing more
. .

remains but to des cend in to the bowels of the earth .

Well sir to a certain ex tent you are right We have

, , .

only to go down—but as fa r a s I am concerned that is , ,

not the question I wa nt to know how we are to get up

.

”
again .

“
That is the leas t part of the business and does not in ,

any way trouble me In the mea ntime there is not an .

,

hour to lose I am about to visit the public library Ver y

. .

likely I may find there some manus cripts from the hand
of S a k n ussemm I shall be glad to consult them
. .

“
In th e meanwhile I replied “ I will take a wal k , ,
”
through the to wn Will you not likewise do so ? .

“ ” “
f
I eel no interest in the subjec t said my uncle Wha t , .

for me is curious in this is land is not what is above th e ,

”
surface but what i
, s belo w .
 36 A JOUR NE Y T O THE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

I bowed by way of reply put on my hat and furred ,

cloak and went out

,
.

It was not an easy matter to lose oneself in the two stree ts

of R eykj a w ik ; I had therefore no need to as k my way .

The town lies on a flat and marshy plain between tw o ,

h ills A vas t field of lava sk irts it on one side falling away

. ,

in terraces towards the sea O n the other hand is the .

large bay of Faxa bordered on the n ort h by the enormous ,

glacier of S n eflels and in which bay the Va lkyr ie w as then

’

the only vess el at anchor Generally there w a s one or tw o .

English or F rench gunboats to watch and protect the ,

fis heries in the o iling They were now however ab sent on .

, ,

duty .

The longes t of the streets of R eykj a w ik ru ns parallel to

the shore In this street the merchants and traders live in
.

wooden huts made with beams of wood painted r ed —mere , ,

log huts such a s you find in the w ilds of Am erica The

, .

other street situated more to the wes t ru ns towards a little

, ,

lake between the res idences of the bishop and the other
personages not engaged in commerce .

I had soon seen all I wanted of thes e wea ry a n d dismal

thorough fare Here and there w as a strip of dis colored
s.

turf like an old worn out bit of woollen carpet ; and n ow

,
-

and then a bit of kitchen garden in which grew pota toes , ,

cabbage and lettuces almost dimin utive enough to su gges t

, ,

the idea of Lilliput .

In the centre of the new comm ercial street I found the ,

public cemetery enclosed by an ea rthen wall Though, .

not very large it appeared not likely to be filled for cen

,

tu ries F rom hence I w ent to the house of the Governor

.

a mere hut in comparis on with the Mansion Hou s e o f

Hamburg—but a palace alongside the other Icelandi c

houses Between the little lake and th e town w as th e
.

church built in simple Protestant style and composed of

, ,

calcined stones thrown up by volcanic action I have n ot

, .
 OU R V OYAGE T O I CE L ND A .
3 7

the slightes t doubt th at in high winds its red tiles were ,

blown out to the great an noyance of the pas to r and con

,

g rega tion Upon an eminence close at hand w as the na

.

t ion a l s chool in which were ta ught Hebrew English

, , ,

F rench and Danish .

In thr ee hours my tour w as complete The general im .

pression upo n my mind w a s sadness No trees no vegeta

tion so to speak—o n all sides volcanic peaks— the huts of
.
,

turf and ea rth—m ore like roofs than houses Thanks to .

the hea t of thes e residences g rass grows on the roof which , ,

grass is carefu lly cut for hay I sa w but few in habitants .

during my excursion but I met a crowd on th e bea ch , ,

drying salting and loading cod fish the principal article

,
-
,

of exporta tion The men appeared robust but heavy ;

.

fair haired like G ermans but of pensive mien—exiles of a

-
,

higher scale in the l a dder of humanity than the Esquimaux ,

but I thought much more unhappy sin ce with superior

, , ,

perceptions they are compelled to live within the limits

of the Polar Circle .

Sometimes they gave vent to a convulsive laugh but by ,

no chance did they smile Their costume consists of a .

coarse capote O f black wool know n in Scandinavian coun ,

tries a s the va d mel a broad brimmed hat trous ers of

,
-
,

red serge and a piece of leather tied with strings for a

,

S ho s
h
a coarse kind of mocca sin The women though .
,

sa d look ing and mourn ful had rather agreeable features

-
, ,

w ithout much expression They wear a bodice and pet .

t icoa t of sombre v a d mel Wh en u nmarried they wear a. .

little brown knitted cap over a crown of plaite d hair ; but

w hen married they cover their heads with a colored
,

han dkerchief over which they tie a white scarf

,
 CHAP TER VI I .

C ON V E RS ATI O N AN D DIS C OVE R Y .

WHE N I returned dinn er w as ready This m ea l w a s

,
.

devoured by my worthy relative with avidity and voraci

ty. His shipboard diet had turned his inte rior into a per
feet gulf The repast which w as more Danish than Ice
.
,

la n dic w as in itself nothin g but the excessive ho spi tality

, ,

of our host made us enjoy it d oubly .

The conversation turned upon scientific matte rs and ,

M Fridrik sson asked my un cle what he thought of the

.

public library .

“
Library sir ? cried my u ncle ; it appears to me a
,

collection of u seless odd volumes and a beggarly amount ,

”
of empty shelves .

”
What ! cried M Frid riksson ; why we have eight
thousand volumes of most rare and valuable works—
.
,

s ome

in the Scandinavian language besides all the new publi ,

”
cations from Copenhagen
Eight thou san d volumes my dear sir—why where are
.

, ,
”
they ? cried my uncle .

Scattered over the country Professor Ha rd w igg We , .

are very studious my dea r sir though we do live in

, ,

Iceland Every farmer every laborer every fisherman

.
, ,

can both read and w rite a n d we think th at books instead

b

of being locked u p in cupboards fa r from the sight of ,

students should be di stributed as widely as poss ible

, The .

books of ou r library are therefore passed fr om hand to ,

h and without returnin g to the library shelves perhaps for

”
years .

Then when foreigners visit you there is nothing for ,

”
them to see ?
40 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF THE E A R TH .

We have none of them .

Not in Iceland
There are none in I celand or elsewhere , answered th e
other sadly
, .

Why so ?
Because Ar n e S a k nussemm w a s persecute d for heres y ,

and in 1 5 7 3 his works were publicly burn t at Copenhagen ,

”
by the hands of the common han gman .

”
Very good ! capita l ! murmured my uncle to th e ,

grea t as tonishment of the worthy Icelander .

You said sir ,

Yes yes all is clear I see the link in the chain

, , ,

everythin g is explained and I n ow understand why Ar ne ,

S a k n ussemm put out of court forc ed to hide h is ma g n ifi

, ,

cent discoveries w a s compelled to conceal benea th the veil

,

of an incomprehens ible cryptogr aph the secret ,

What secret ?
A secret—which stammered my un cle , .

Have you d is cover ed some wonderful manus cript ?

cried M Frid riksson
. .

No no I w a s carried away by my enthusias m A

, , .

”
mere supposition .

Very good sir But really to turn to another su b

, .
, ,

ject I hope you will not leave our

,
islan d without cxa mi
”
ning into its mineralogica l riches .

Well the fact is I am rather late So many lea rned

, , .

”
men have been here before me .

Yes yes but th ere is still much to be done c ried M

, , , .

F ridriksson .

You think so said my uncle his eyes twinkling with, ,

hidden satisfaction .

Yes you have no idea how m a n y unknow n mountain s

,

glaciers volcanoes there are which remain to be studied

, .

Without moving f rom where we sit I can show you one , .

Yonder on the ed ge of the horizon you see S n efiels ” '

.
,
 O
C N VE R S ATI ON AN D DI S C O VE R Y .
41

'
Oh yes S neflels said my u ncle
, ,
.

O ne of the most curious volcanoes in existence the ,

”
crater of which h a s been rarely visited .

Extinct
Extinct any time these five hundr ed years w as the
, ,

rea dy reply .

Well ” said my u ncle who dug his na ils into his fles h
, , ,

a n d pressed hi s knees tightly together to prevent himsel f

leaping up with joy I have a great m ind to begin my .

studies with an examination of the geological my steries

of this Mount S efiel — —

Feisel what do you call it ?
”
'

”
S n efiels my dear sir
'

.
,

This portion of the conver ation took place in Latin s

,

and I therefore understood all that had been said I .

cou ld scarcely keep my counte nance when I fou nd my

u ncle so cunningly co n cealing h is delight and satisfaction .

I must con fess that his artful grimaces put on to conceal ,

h is happiness made h im look like a new Mephistopheles

,
.

“
Yes yes he continued “ your proposition delights
”
, , ,

me I will endeavor to climb to the summit of S n efiels

‘

.
,
”
a n d if poss ible will des cend into its crater
, ,
.

”
I very much regret continued M F rid rik sson “ that , .
,

m y occupation will entirely preclude the possibility of my

accompanying you It would have been both pleasurable .

and profitable if I could have spared the time .

”
No no a thou sand times no cried my uncle
, ,
I do , .

n ot w ish to disturb the serenity of any man I thank you .

,

h owever with all my heart

, The presence of one so .

learn ed a s yourself would no doubt have been most useful

, ,

but the duties of your office and profession before every

”
thing .

In the innocence of h is simple heart our host did not ,

p erceive the irony of thes e remark s .

“
I entirely approve your project continued the Ice ,

lander after some further remarks

, I t is a good idea to .
42 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N R ET OF T HE E AR TH .

begin by examining this volca no You will make a harvest .

of curious observations In the first pla ce how do you

.
,

propose to get to Sneffels ?

“
By sea I shall cross the bay O f co urse that is the
. .

”
most rapid route .

“
O f cours e But still it ca nnot be done
. .

”
Why ?
We have not an availa ble boat in all
replied the other .

“
What is to be done ?
You mus t go by land along th e coas t It is longer, .

but much more interes tin g .

“
Then I mus t have a guide .

O f course ; and I have your very ma n .

So mebody on who m I can depen

Yes an inhabita nt of the penins ula on which Sneffels
,

is situate d He is a very shrewd and worthy ma n with

.
,

whom you will be pleas ed He spea ks Danish like a .

Dane .

“
When ca n I see him—to day
No to morrow ; he will not be here before
,
-
.

”
To mo rrow be it replied my uncle with a deep sigh
-
, , .

The conversation ended by complim ents on both sides .

Durin g the dinner my uncle had lea rned much a s to the

history of Arn e S a k n ussemm the reas ons for his myste
,

t iou s and hieroglyphical document He also became .

aware that his host would not accompa ny him on h is a d

venturous expedition and tha t next da y we should ha ve a
,

g uide
.
 CHAPTER VII I .

T HE E ID E R -D OWN HUN T E R .
—O FF A
AT L S T .

THAT evening I took a brief walk on the shore nea r

R eykj a wik afte r which I returned to an ea rly sleep on my
,

bed of coarse plan ks where I slept the sleep of the just

,
.

When I awoke I heard my uncle spea king loudly in the

next room I rose hastily and joined him He w as talk
. .

ing in Danish with a man of tall stature and of perfectly ,

Herculea n build This man appeared to be possessed of

.

very great strength His eyes which started rather pro

.
,

m inen tly from a very large head the face belonging to ,

which w a s simple and na ive appea red very quick and ,

intelligent Very long hair which even in England would

.
,

have been accounte d exceedingly red fell over his athletic ,

shoulders . This native of Iceland w a s active and supple

in appearance though he scarcely moved h is a rms bein g
, ,

in fact one of those men who despise the habit of gesticu

lation common to southern people .

Everything in this man s manner revea led a calm and

’

phlegmatic te mperament There w as nothin g indolent

.

about him b ut his appearance spoke of tranquillity He

, .

w as one of those who never seemed to expect anything

from anybody who liked to work when he thought pro
,

per and whose philosophy nothing could as tonish or

,

tro uble
.

I began to comprehend his character simply from th e ,

way in which he listened to the w ild and impas sioned ver

biage of my worthy uncle While the excellent Professor
.

spoke s entence a fte r s entence he stood with folded arms

, ,

utterly still motionless to all my uncle s ges ticulations

,
’
.

When he wanted to sa y N0 he moved h is hea d from left to

 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

r ight ; when he acquiesced he nodded so slightly th at you ,

could scarcely see the undulation of his head This .

economy of motion w a s carried to the length of avarice .

J udgin g f rom his appearance I should have been a lon g

time before I had suspected him to be what he w as a ,

mighty hunter Certa inly h is ma n ner w as not likely to

.

f righten the game How then did he contrive to get at

.
, ,

his prey ?
My su rprise w a s slightly mo d ified when I k new that this
tranquil and solemn personage w a s only a hun te r of the ,

eider duck the down of w hich is afte r all the grea test source
-
, , ,

of the Icelanders wealth

’
.

In the early da ys of summer the female of the eider a , ,

pretty sort of duck b u ilds its nest amid the rocks of th e

,

fj ords— the name given to all narrow gul fs in Sca ndinavian

countries—with w hich every part of the is land is in dented .

No sooner h a s the eid er d uck made her nest than sh e lines

s

the inside of it with the softest do w n f rom her breas t .

Then comes the hunter or trader ta kin g away the nes t , ,

the poor bereaved female begin s her tas k over again and
this continues a s long a s any eider—
,

d ow n is to be found .

When sh e can find no more the male bird sets to work

to see what he can do As however his down is not so .
, ,

soft and h a s therefore n o commercial value th e h un ter

, ,

does not take the trouble to rob him of h is nest linin g -

.

The nest is accordingly finished the eggs are laid the little , ,

ones are born and next yea r th e harves t of eider down is

,
-

again collected .

Now a s the eider du ek never selects steep rocks or as

,
-

peets to build its nest but rather slopin g a n d low clifis ,

‘

n ear to the sea the Icelandic h unter can ca rry on his trade
,

operations without much difficulty He is like a farmer .

who h as neither to plow to sow n or to harrow only to col , , ,

lect his harvest * .

aTh e b i rd s h w ver
,
o t a l w ys
e cc mm d ti g Th y a r fou d
, a re n o a so a o o a n . e e n
 T HE E ID E R -
D OWN HUN TE R .
—O FF AT LAS T .

T his grave sententious silen t person as phlegmatic as

, , ,

an Englishman on the F rench stage w as named Hans ,

Bj elk e He had called u pon us in consequence of the re

.

commendation of M Frid rik sson He w as in fact our . .

, ,

future guide It struck me that had I sought the world

.

over I could not have foun d a greater contradiction to my

,

impuls ive uncle .

They however rea dily un derstood one an other Neither

, ,
.

of them had any thought about money ; one w a s ready to

ta ke all that w as offered him the other ready to offer any ,

thing that wa s asked I t may rea dily be conceived then .

, ,

that an understandin g w as soon come to between them .

Now th e understanding w as that he w as to take us to

, ,

the village of Stapi situated on the southern slope of the ,

’

penin sula of S n eflels at the very foot of the volcano

'

.
,

Hans the guide told u s the dista nce w a s about twenty t wo

, ,
-

miles a j ourney which my uncle suppo sed w ould take

,

about two days .

But when my uncle came to understand that they were

Danish miles of eight thousand yards each he w a s obliged
, ,

to be more moderate in his ideas and considering the , ,

horrible roads we had to follow to allow eight or ten days ,

for the journey .

F our horses were prepared for us two to carry the bag ,

gage and two to bea r the importa nt weight of myself and

,

uncle Hans declared that nothing ever would make him

.

cl imb on the back of any animal He knew every inch .

of that part of the co as t and promis ed to take u s the very ,

shortes t way .

His en gagement with my uncle w a s by no means to

in th e sou t h e rn pa rt of E n gla n d a s a w n ter v si i i ta n t , b u t in th e m ore n ort h

e rn pa rt of o u r isl e , a nd in th e n o rt h f S c tl d
o o an r e m a n a ll i th e y ea r . O ne
of o u r a bl e s t n a tu ra li s ts sa ys :
“
T k i g th
a n ese n ests is a g ul a r b u sin ess
re

d d w ith i k
no t u n a tte n cc t f th p ci p i t
e r s , on a ou n o e re ou s l o ca l i ti e s in w h ic h
the ei d ~d c k ft b d
er Ag i
u Th id i
o en re e s .
!
a n,
“
e e er s a s h y re t iri n g b i rd
.

pl i g it t i l d c k p j c ti g w ll i !
ac n d s n es on s an s an ro s ro e n e n to t h e se a .
46 A JOURN E Y T O T HE CE N R ET OF T HE E AR TH .

ceas e with our arrival at Stapi ; he w a s fu rth er to remain

in his se rvice durin g the whole time required for the com
pletion of h is scientific investi gations at th e fix ed salary ,

of three rix d ollars a week bein g exa ctly four teen shil~
-
,

lings and twope nce min us one fa rthin g English currency

O ne stipulation however w a s made by th e guide—
.
, ,

,
the
,

money w a s to be pai d to him every Saturda y night fail ,

ing which his en gagement w as at an end

, .

The day of our departure w as fix ed My u ncle wished .

to hand the eider down hun ter an advance but he refus ed

-
,

in one emphatic Word

”
Efier .

Which bein g tran slated from I cela ndic into plain E ng

lish mea ns—Afte r .

The treaty concluded our worthy guide retired w ithout ,

another word .

A splendid fellow said my uncle ; only he litt l e,

suspects the marvellou s part he is about to play in the his

”
tory of the world .

You mean then I cried in ama zement th at h e

, , ,

should accompan y u s ?

To the Inter ior of the Earth yes ; replied my uncle , .

Wh y not ? ”

There were yet forty-eight hours to elaps e b efore we

made our final sta rt To my great regret our whole time
.
,

w as taken up in making preparations for our journey A l l .

our industry and ability were devoted to packing every

object in the most advantageous mann er—the in struments
on one side the arms on the other the tools here and the
, ,

provisions there There were in fact four distin ct g roups

.
, , .

The in strumen ts wer e of course of the b est m a n u fa c

ture
1 A centigra de thermomete r of B izel counting u to
p
.

1 5 0 degrees which to me did not appear hal f enough—

,

, or
too much . Too hot by hal f if the degree of heat w as to ,
48 A JOURN EY T O T HE E
C NT R E OF THE E AR TH .

O ur arms consis ted of two rifles with two revolving ,

shooters Why these arms were provided it w a s impossi

.

ble for me to sa y I had every reas on to believe that we had

.

neither wild beasts nor savage n atives to fear My uncle .

,

on the other hand w as quite a s devoted to his arsenal a s to

,

his collection of ins truments and above all w as very careful,

with his provision of fulminating or gun cotton warranted ,

to keep in any climate and of which the expansive force

,

w as known to be greater than that of or dina ry gunpowder .

O ur tools cons iste d of two pickaxes two crowbars a , ,

silken ladder three iron shod Alpine pol es

,
-
a hatchet a , ,

hammer a dozen wedges some pointed pieces of ir on and

, , ,

a quantity of strong rope You ma y conceive that the .

whole made a tolerable parcel especially when I mention ,

that th e ladder its elf w a s three hundred feet long

Then there came the important question of provis ions .

The hamper was not very large but tolerably satisfactory ,

for I knew that in concentrated essence of meat and bis cuit

there w as enough to las t six months The only liquid .

provided by my uncle w as sch eid a m O f water not a .

,

d rop .We had however an ample supply of gourds and

, , ,

my un cle counte d on finding water and enough to fill ,

them a s soon a we commenced our downward j ourney

,
s .

My remarks a s to the temperature the quality and even , ,

as to th e possibility of none being found rem a ined wholly ,

without effect .

To make up the exact list of our travelling gea r—for the

gu idance of future travellers— I will add that we ca rried a ,

medicin e and surgical chest with all apparatus n ec essa ry

for wound s fractures and blows ; l int sci ssors lancets —in
, , ,

fact a perfect collection of horrible looking ins truments ;

,
-

a number of phials containing ammonia alcohol ether , , ,

gou la rd water a romatic vinegar in fact every poss ible

and impossible drug —fina lly all the mater ials for working
, , ,

the R uh mk orf coil ]

 THE E I DE R DO WN -
HUN TE R .
—OFF AT LAS T .

My uncle had also been careful to lay in a goodly sup

ply of tobacco several flas ks of very fine gunpowder boxes
, ,

of tinder bes ides a large belt crammed full of notes and

,

gold Good boots rendered water tight were to be found

.
-

to the number of six in the tool box -

.

My boy with such clothin g with such boots and such

, , ,
”
g eneral equipments said my uncle in a state of rapturous
, ,
”
delight ; we may hope to tr avel fa r .

It took a whole day to put a ll thes e matters in order .

In the evening we dined with Baron Trampe in compan y ,

with the Ma yor of R eykj a w ik and Doctor Hya lta lin the , ,

great medical man of Iceland M Fridriksson w as not . .

pres ent a n d I w as afterwards sorry to hea r that he and the

,

governor did not agree on some matters connected with the

administration of the isla nd Un fort unately the co mee .
,

q u en ce w a s that I did not understa nd a word that w as

,

said at dinner—a kind of s emi officia l reception O ne -

.

thing I ca n sa y my uncle never left of speaking

, .

The next day our labor came to an end O ur worthy .

host delighted my uncle Professor Ha rdw igg by giving , ,

him a good map of Iceland a most important a nd precious ,

document for a mineralogist .

Our las t evenin g w as S pent in a long conversation with

M Fridr iksson whom I lik ed very much—the more that
.
,

I never expected to see him or any one els e again After .

this agreeable way of S pending a n hour or so I tried to ,

sleep . In vain ; with the exception of a few dozes my ,

night w as miserable .

’
At five o clock in the mornin g I w as awaken ed from the
’
only rea l half hour s sleep of the night by the loud ,

neighing of horses under my window I hastily dressed .

myself and went down into the street Ha ns w as en gaged .

in putting the finishing stroke to our baggage which he ,

did in a silent quiet way that won my admiration and yet

, ,

he did it ad mirably well My un cle was ted a great deal

.
50 A JOU RNE Y T O T HE T
CE N RE OF THE E AR TH .

of breath in givin g him directions but worthy Hans took

,

not the slightest notice of his words .

’
At six o clock all our preparations were c ompleted and ,

M Fridriksson sh ook hands heartily w ith us My uncle

. .

thanked him warmly in the Iceland ic language for his

, ,

kind h ospitality speaking truly from the heart

,
.

As for myself I put together a few of my b est Latin

phrases and paid him the highest compliments I could .

This fraternal and friendly duty performed we sallied ,

forth and mounted our hors es .

As soon a s we were quite ready M Fridriksson a dvanced

, .
,

and by way of farewell called after me in the words of

Virgil—
,

words which appeared to have been m ad e for us ,

travellers startin g for an u ncertain des tina tion

An d whichsoever way thou goest ma y fortun e

, fol~
low !
 CHAPTER IX .

OU R S TAR T —WE ME E T WIT H A DVE N T U R ES B Y T HE WAY .

TH E weather w a s overcast but settled when we com ,

a

m en ced our adventurous and perilous journey We had .

neither to fear fatiguing heat nor dr enching rain It w as .

,

in fact real tourist wea ther

, .

As there w a s nothing I liked better than horse exercise ,

the pleasur e of riding through an unknown country,

ca used the ea rly part of our enterprise to be particularly
agreeable to me .

I began to enjoy the exhilarating delight of travelling a ,

life of desire gratification and liberty The truth is that

,
.
,

my spirits rose so rapidly that I began to be indifferent to

,

what h a d once appeared to be a terrible journey .

”
After a ll I said to myself what do I risk ? Simply
, ,
“

to take a journey through a curious coun try to climb a ,

remarkable mountain and if the worst comes to the worst

, ,
”
to descend in to the crater of an extinct volcano .

There could be no doubt that this w as all this terrible

S a kn u ssemm had done As to the exi stence of a gallery
.
,

or of subterraneous passages leading into the interior of the

earth the idea w a s simply absurd the hallucination of a d is
, ,

tempered imagination All then that may be requ ired of

.
, ,

me I will do cheerfully and w ill crea te no difficulty

, .

It w a s just before we left R eykj a wik that I came to this

decision .

Hans our extraordinary guide went first walking with

, , ,

a steady rapid and unvarying step Our two horses with

, , .

the luggage followed of their own accord without requiring ,

whip or spur My u ncle and I came behind cutting a

.
,

very tolerable figure upon our small but vigorous anima ls .

5 2 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

Iceland is one of the larges t islands in E u r0 pe It con .

tains thirty thou sand square miles of surface and h a s ,

about seventy thousand inhabitants Geographers have .

divided it into four parts and we had to cross the South

,

west quarter which in the vernacular is called S u d vestr

‘
Fj ord li n g r .

Hans on taking h is departure from R eykj a wik had

, ,

followed the line of the sea We took our way through .

poor and sparse meado ws which made a des perate effort,

every year to show a little green They very rarely su c .

ceed in a good show of yellow .

The rugged summits of the rocky hills were dimly visi

ble on the edge of the horizon th rough the misty fogs ; ,

every now and then some heavy fl akes of sno w showed

conspicuous in the morning light while certain lofty a n d ,

pointed rocks were first lost in the grey low clouds their ,

summits clearly vi sible above like j agged reefs ri s ing ,

from a troublou s sea .

Every now and then a spur of rock came down through

the arid ground leaving u s scarcely room to pass O ur
,
.

horses however appeared not only well acquainted with

, ,

the country but by a kind of instinct knew which w a s

, ,

the best road My uncle had not even the satisfaction of

.

urging forward his steed by whip spur or voice It w a s , , .

utterly u seless to show any signs of impatience I coul d .

not h elp smiling to see h im look so big on his little hors e ;

h is long legs now and then touching the ground made h im
look like a six footed centaur -
.

”
Good beas t good beast he would cry
, I assure
,

you Henry that I begin to think no animal is more intel

, ,

lig en t than an Icelandic horse Snow tempest impr a cti .

, ,

cable roads rocks icebergs nothing stops him He is

, ,
-
.

brave he is sober he is safe ; he never makes a fal se

step ; never glides or slips f rom h i
s path I dare to sa y .

that if any river any fjord ha s to be crossed—a n d I have

,
 WE M E E T WI TH ADVE NTURE S .
53

no d oubt there will be many—you will see him enter th e

water without hesitation like an amphibious animal and ,

reach the Opposite side in safety We mus t not however .

, ,

attempt to hurry him ; we must allow him to have h is

own w a y and I will underta ke to sa y that between us we
,
”
shall do our ten leagues a day .

”
We may do so w as my reply but what about our
, ,
”
worthy guide ?
I have not the slightest anxiety about him : those sort
of people go ahead without kn o w ing even what they are

about Look at Hans He moves so little that it is im

. .

poss ible for him to become fatigued Besides if he were .

,

to complai n of weariness he could h av e the loan of my

,

horse I should have a violent attack of the cramp if I

.

were not to have some sort of exercise My arms are .

right—but my legs are getting a li tt le sti ff .

All this while we were advancing at a rapid pace The .

country we had rea ched w as already nearly a des ert .

Here and there could be seen an isolated fa rm some soli ,

tary bo er or Icelandic house built of wood earth f rag

, , , ,

ments of lava looking like beggars on the highway of

-

life Thes e wretched and mis erable huts excited in us

.

s uch pity that we f elt half disposed to leave alms at every

d oor . In this country there are no roads paths are nearly ,

unknown and vegetation poor a s it w as slowly a s it

, , ,

reached perfection soon obliterate d all traces of the few

,

travellers who pas sed from place to place .

Nevertheless this division of the province situated only

, ,

a few miles fro m the capital is considered one of the b es t

,

cultivate d and most thickly peopled in all Iceland .

t a t then mus t be the state of the less known and more

, ,

dista nt pa rts of the island ? Afte r travelling fully half a

Danish mile we had met neither a farm er at the door of
,

h is hut nor even a wandering shepherd with his wild and

,

savage flock .
54 A JOURNE Y T O THE CE N R ET OF THE E AR H T .

A few stra y cows and sheep were only seen occas ionall y ,

What then must we expect when we come to the u p

heaved regions—to the dis tricts broken and roughened
, ,

from volcanic eruptions and s ubte rraneous commotions ?

We wer e to learn th is a ll in good time I sa w however .
, ,

on cons ultin g the map that we avoided a good dea l of this

,

rough country by following the win ding and desolate

,

shores of the sea In reality the gr ea t volcanic movement

.
,

of the island and a ll its attendant phenomena is coneen ,

tra ted in the in te rior of the island ; there horizonta l layers ,

or strata of rocks piled one upon the other er uptions of

, ,

bas altic origin and strea ms of lava have given this coun
, ,

try a kind of superna tural reputation .

Little did I expec t however the sp ecta c le which aw aite d

, ,
'
u s when we rea ched the penins ula of S n efiels where a g ,
’
glomerations of natur e s r uins form a kin d of te rrible
chaos .

Some two hours or more after we had left the city of

R eykj a w ik we reached the little town called Aoa lk irkj a
, ,

or th e prin cipal church It consists simply of a few .

houses —not what in England or German y we should call

a hamlet .

Hans stopped here one ha lf hou r He shared our fru gal .

breakfas t answered yes and n o to my un cle s ques tions

,
’

to the nature of th e road and at las t when ask ed where w e ,

were to pass the night w as as laconic as usual .

“ ”
G a rd a r l w a s his on e w ord ed reply .

I took occas ion to consult the map to see where Ga rdai ,

Was to be found Af ter looking keenly I foun d a small

.

town of that nam e on the borders of the Hva lf j ord about ,

f our miles from R eykj a w ik I pointed this out to my .

uncle who made a very energetic g rimace

, .

Only four m iles out of twenty two ? Why it is only a -

’
little walk .

He w as about to make some energetic observation to th e

 56 A JOURN E Y T O T HE CE N TRE OF T HE E AR TH .

heels into the sides of his steed and made for the shore ,
.

His horse went to the very edge of the water sniffed at ,

the approaching wave and retreate d .

My uncle who w a s sooth to sa y quite as obstinate a s the

, , ,

beas t he bestrode insisted on his making the desired a d

,

vance This attempt w as followed by a new refusal on the

.

part of the horse which quietly shook h is head This .

demonstration of rebellion w as followed by a volley of

words and a sto ut application of whipcord ; als o followed
by k icks on the part of the ho rs e which thr ew its head and ,

heels upwards and tried to th rew his rider At lengt h the .

sturdy little pony sprea ding out h i s legs in a stiff and

, ,

ludicrous attitude got from un der the professor s legs and

,
’
,

left him standing with both feet on a separate sto ne like

, ,

the Colossus of R hodes .

Wretched ani mal ! cried my uncle suddenly trans ,

formed into a foot pa ss enger— and as angry and as hamed

as a dis mounted cavalry ofiicer on the field of battle .

”
Fa rj a said the guide tapp ing him familiarly on the
, ,

shoulder .

What a ferry boat,

Der ans w ered Hans pointing to where lay the boat

”
. ,

in question there .

”
Well I cried quite delighted with the information ;
,

so it i
s .

Why did you not sa y so before cried my un cle ; ,

”
why not start at once ?
”
Tid va tten said the guide
, .

Wh at does he sa y ? I as ked considerably puzzled by

”
,

the delay and the dialogue .

”
He says tide replied my uncle translatin g the Dw
, ,

nis h word for my in formation .

O f course I un derstand—w e must wait till the tide

serves.

For bid s ! asked my uncle .

 WE M E E T WITH A D VE N TUR E S .
57

replied Hans
J et , .

My uncle frowned stamped his feet and then followed

,

the horses to where the boat lay .

I thoroughly understood and appreciate d the necessity

for waiting before crossin g the fjord for that moment
, ,

when the sea at its highes t point is in a state of slack

wate r As neither the ebb nor flow can then be felt the
.
,

ferry boat w as in no danger of bein g carried out to sea ,

or das hed upon the rocky coas t .

The favorable moment did not come until six o clock in ’

the evenin g Then my uncle mysel f and guide two

.
, , ,

boatmen and the four horses got into a very awkward

fl a t bottom boat
-
Accusto med as I had been to the steam
.

ferry boats of the Elbe I fou nd the long oars of the boat
-
,

men but sorry m eans of locomotion We wer more than .

e

an hour in crossing the fjord ; but at length the passage

w as concluded without accident .

Half a n hour later we reached Garda r

- -
.
 CHAPTE R X .

TR AVE LLI N G IN ICE LA N D —H “

T E LE PE BS .

IT ought one would have thought to have been night

, , ,

even in the sixty fifth parallel of latitude ; but still the

-

nocturnal illumin ation did not surprise me F or in Ice .

land during the months of J une and J uly the sun never
, ,

sets
.

The temperature h owever w as very much lower than I

, ,

expect ed I w a s cold but even that did not affect me so

.
,

much a s ravenous hunger Welcome indeed therefore .

, ,

w a s the b ut which hospitably opened its doors to us .

It wa s merely the hous e of a peasant but in the matter ,

of hospitality it w as worthy of being the palace of a king

, .

As we alighted at the door the m as ter of the hou se came

forward held out his hand and w ithout any f urther cere
, ,

m ony signaled to u s to follow him

,
.

We followed him for to ac company him w as impossible

, .

A long narrow gloomy passage led into the in terior of this

, ,

habita tion mad e from bea ms roughly squared by the axe

, .

This passage gave ingres s to every room The chambers

were four in number —
.

the kitchen the work shop where the ,

-
,

w eaving w a s carried on the general sleepin g chamber of the

,
-

family and the best room to which strangers were especially

, ,

invited My uncle whose lofty stature had not been ta ken

.
,

into consideration when the house w as built contrived to ,

knock his head against the beam s of the roof .

We were introduced into our chamber a kin d of large ,

room with a hard earthen floor and lighted by a win dow , ,

the panes of which were ma de of a sort of parchmen t from

the in testines of sheep— very fa r from transparent .

The bedding wa s composed of dr y hay thrown into two

 TRAVE LLIN G I N I CE LAN D—THE LE PE R S .
59

long red wooden boxes ornamen te d with sente nces painted

,

in Icelan dic I really had no idea that we should be ma de

.

so comforta ble There wa s one objection to the house and

.
,

that w a s the very powerful odor of dried fish of macera

, ,

te d meat and of sour milk which three fragran ces com

, ,

b in ed did not at a ll suit my olfactory nerve

, s .

As soon a s we had freed ourselves from our heavy tra

vellin g costume the voice of our host was heard calling to
,

us to come into the kitchen the only room in which the I ce ,

landers ever make any fire no matter how cold it may be , .

My uncle nothing loth hastened to obey this hospitable

, ,

and friendly invitation I followed . .

The kitchen chimney w as made on an antique model .

A large stone standin g in the middle of the room w a s the

fire place above in the roof w a s a hole for the smoke to
-
, , ,

pass through This apartment w a s kitchen parlor a n d

.
,

dining room all in one

-
.

O n our entrance our worthy host a s if he had not seen

, ,

us before advanced ceremoniously uttered a word which

, ,
“ ”
means be happy and then kissed both of us on the cheek
, .

His wife followed pronounced the same word with the

, ,

same ceremonial then the hu sb a nd and wif e placin g their

, ,

right hands upon their hearts bowed profoundly , .

This excellen t Icelandic woman w a s the mother of nine

teen children who little and big rolled crawled and
, , , , ,

walked about in the midst of volumes of smoke aris ing

fro m the angular fire pl a ce in the middle of the room -
.

Every now and then I could see a fresh white hea d and a ,

slightly melancholy expression of coun tenance peerin g at ,

me through the vapor .

Both my uncle and myself however were very friendly , ,

with the whole party and before we were aware of it there

, ,

were three or four of thes e little ones on our shoulders as ,

m any on our boxes and the res t hanging about our legs
, .

Those who could speak kept crying out swllvertu in every

 60 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N TRE or THE E A R TH .

possible and impossible key Those who did not spea k .

only made all the more noise .

This concert w a s interrupted by the announcem en t of sup

per At this moment ou r worthy guide the cider duck hun
. ,
-

ter came in a fter s eeing to the feeding and stabling of th e

horses—which consis te d in letting them loos e to browse on
,

the stunted green of the Icelandic prairies There w a s little .

for them to eat but moss and some very dry and in nu tri
,

tious grass ; next day they were rea dy before the door,
some tim e bef ore we were .

”
Welcome said Hans , .

Then tranquilly with the air of an automato n without

, ,

an
y more ex press ion in one kiss than another he embraced ,

the host and hostess an d their nineteen children .

This ceremony concluded to the satisfaction of all parties ,

we all sa t down to table that is twenty four of u s some

,
-
,

what crowded Th ose who were bes t off had only two j u
.

ven iles on their knees .

As soon ho w ever as the inevitable soup w as placed on the

, ,

table the natural taciturnity common even to Icelandic ba

, ,

bies prevailed over all else O ur host filled our plates with
, .

a portion of DWI/m soup of Icela nd m ess of by no means ,

disagreeable flavor an enormous lum p of fish floatin g in

,

sour butter A fter that there came some skyr a kin d of

.
,

curds and whey served with biscuits and j un ipeb berry

,

juice To drink we had blanda skimmed milk with wate r

.
, , .

I w a s hungry so hungry that by way of dessert I finished

, ,

up with a bas in of thick oate n porridge .

As soon as th e meal w as over the ch ild ren disa ppeared , ,

whils t the grown people sa t around the fire place on which -

,

w a s pl a ced tur f heather cow dung and dr ied fish bones

, ,
-
.

As soon as everybody w as su fficiently warm a general ,

dispersion took place a ll retiring to their res pective

,

couches Our hostess offered to pull off our stockings and

.

trousers acc ording to the custom of the coun try but as we

, ,
 TR AVE LLIN G I N I CE LAN D ‘
T HE LE P E R S . OI

graciou sly declin ed to be so honore d, sh e left us to our b ed

of d r
y f o d der .

N ext day at five in the morning w e took our leave of

, ,

t he se ho spitable pea sa nts My uncle h a d g reat diffi culty

.

in m a k in g the m a ccept a s ufficient and proper remu nera

tion.

Ha ns then gave the signa l to s ta rt .

We h a d scarcely got a hun dr ed ya rds from G a rda r,

w hen the chara cte r of the cou ntry cha n ed T h e s oil b e
g .

g a n to be marshy and bogg and less favora ble to pro

g re ss . T o t h e r ight the ra nge of moun ta ins w a s pro
,

longed indefinitely like a grea t system of na tura l fortifi ca

tions of w hich we skirted the gla cis W e met wi th nu
,
.

m erc us s trea ms a n d rivulets w hich it w a s n ecessa ry t o ford,

a n d that w ithout w ettin g our b a gga ge A s we advan ced, .

th e de serted appe a ra n ce in creased a n d yet n o w an d t hen ,

we could see h u m an shadow s fl ittin g in the d istance .

When a s udd en turn of the track brou ght us within easy

rea ch of one of these spectres I felt a sud d en impu lse of ,

disgust at the sight of a s w ollen head with shinin g skin , ,

utte rly w ithout hair a n d W hose repuls ive a n d revolting

,

w oun d s c ould b e s een through his rags Th e u nha ppy .

w ret ches nev er ca me forw ard to beg ; on the contrary,

they ra n aw ay ; not so quick however but tha t Ha ns w a s , ,

able to sa lu te the m w ith the universal S eellvert u .

”
Sp e t e lsk s aid he .
,
”
A leper ,
expla ined my un cle .

T h e ve ry s o u nd of s u ch a word cau se d a feeling of r e

.

pulsion The ho rrible a fl e ction kno w n a s leprosy w hich

.
'

h a s almo st va nished before th e e ffe cts o f mo d ern s cienc e ,

is comm on in Icela nd It is not con ta gio u s but heredi

.

ta ry so tha t ma rria ge is strictly prohi b ited to these u n for

,

t un a te crea tures .

These po or lepers d id not tend to enliven our j ou rney ,

th e s cene o f which w a s i n express ibly sa d and lonely Th e .

62 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N R E T O F THE E AR TH .

very last tufts of gras sy vegeta tion appeared to die at our

feet Not a tree w a s to be seen except a few stunted
. ,

willows about as big as blackberry bushes Now a n d .

then we watched a fa lcon soaring in the grey and misty

a ir ta kin g h i
, s flight to wards warmer and sunn ier regions .

I c ould not help feeling a sens e of melancholy come over

me I sighed for my own Native La nd an d wished to be
.
,

back with Gretchen .

We were compelled to cross severa l little fjords and at ,

last came to a real gulf The tide w as at its height and

we were able to go over at once and rea ch the ham
.
,

let of ,

Alftan es about a m ile fa rt her

,
.

That evenin g a ft er fordin g the Al fa and the Heta two

, ,

rivers rich in trout and pike w e were compelled to pass ,

the nig ht in a deserted house worthy of bein g haunted by

,

all the fays of Scan d inavian myt hology The King of .

Cold had taken up h is residence there and made us feel ,

his presence all n ight .

The following day w a s remarkable by its lack of any

particular incidents Always the same damp and swampy
.

soil the same drea ry uniformity ; the same sa d and

monotonous aspect of scenery In th e evenin g havin g a o
.
,

complished the hal f of our projected journey we slept at ,

the Annexia of Krosolbt .

For a whole mile we had under our f eet nothing but

lava~ This disposition of the soil is ca lled hra un : the
crumbled la va on th e surface w a s in some instances like
ship cabl es stretched out horizontally in oth ers coiled up ,

in hea ps ; an immense field of lava came from the neigh

boring mountains a ll extinct volcan oes but whose re
, ,

mains showed what once th ey had been Here a n d there .

could be made out the steam from hot water sprin gs .

There w as no time h owever for u s to take more than a

, ,

cursory view of thes e phenomena We h a d to g o forward .

with what speed we might Soon the soft an d swa mpysoil

.
 CHAPTE R XI .

WE RE ACH M OUN T sN E E E E rs —H
. T E
“
R E YKI B .

STAP I is a town consisting of thirty huts built on a ,

large plain of lava exposed to the rays of the sun re

, ,

flected from the volcano It stretches its humble ten t .

!

ments along the end Of a little fj ord surrounded by a ,

basaltic wall of the most singular chara cter .

Basalt is a brown rock of igneou s origin It assumes .

regular forms which as tonish by their sin gular appear

,

ance Here we found Nature p roceedin g geometri ca lly

.
,

and workin g quite after a huma n fas hion as if sh e had ,

employed the plummet line the compass and the rule I f , .

elsewhere she produces grand artistic effects by pil ing u p

huge masses without order or connection— if els ewhere we
see truncate d con es imperfect pyramids with an odd suc
, ,

cession of lines ; here as if wishing to give a les son in

,

g ula rity and preceding the architects of the early ages

, ,

she has erected a severe order of archite ctu re w hich ,

neither the splendors of Babylon nor the marvel s of

Gree ce ever surpassed .

I had often h eard of the Giants Ca useway in Ireland ’

,

the Grotto of F ingal in one of the Hebrides but the grand ,

spectacle of a real basaltic formati on had never yet come

before my eyes .

This at Stapi gave us an idea of one in a ll its wonderful

bea uty and grace .

The wall of the fjord like nearly the whole of the penin,

sula, consisted of a series of vertical column s in height ,

about thirty feet These upright pillars of stone of the

.
,

finest proportions supported an archivault of horizonta l

.
The fj o rd of S ta pi
.
 WE RE ACH M OUN T S NE FFE LS —T HE RE YKLR .
”
65

columns which formed a kind of half vaulted roof above -

the sea At certa in intervals a n d below this natural

.
,

basin the eye w a s plea sed and surprised by the sight of

,

oval openings through which the outward waves came

thundering in volleys of foam Some banks of bas alt .
,

torn from their fa s ten ings by the fury of the waves la y ,

s cattered on the groun d like the ruins of an ancient tem '

ple —ruins eternally young over which the storms of ages

.

swept without producing any perceptible effect !

This w as the last stage of our journey Hans had .

brought u s along with fidelity and intelligence and I b e ,

gan to feel somewhat more comfortable when I reflected

that he w as to accompany u s still farther on our w a y .

When we halted before the house of the R ector a small ,

and incommodious ca bin neither hands ome n or more com ,

forta b le than those of h is neighbors I sa w a ma n in the ,

act of shoeing a horse a hamm er in his hand and a lea th

, ,

ern apron tied round h is waist .

”
Be happy said the cider dow n hunter using h is na
,
-
,

tion a l salutation in h is ow n language .

— ”
G ood d a g good day ! replied the former in excel
-
,

lent Danish .

K yrk oherd e cried Han s tu rning round and intro

, ,

d u cin g him to my uncle .

”
The R ector repeated the worthy Professor
, it a p
pears my dear Harry that this worthy man is the R ector
, , ,
”
and is not above do ng s own work
i hi .

During the speaking of these few words the guide in

timated to the Kyr k oh erd e what w as the tru e state of the
ca s e The good man ceas ing from his occupation gave a
.
, ,

kin d of halloo upon which a tall w oman al most a giantess

, , ,

came out of the hut She w as at least six feet high which
.
,

in that region is something considerable .

My first impression w a s one of horror I thought she .

ha d come to give us the Icelandic kiss I had howe ver, .

,
 66 A JOURNE Y T o T HE CE N RE T O F T HE E A R TH .

nothing to fear for sh e did not even show much inclina

,

tion to receive u s into her house .

The room devote d to strangers appeared to me to be by

fa r the worst in the presbytery ; it w a s narrow dirty and ,

o ff ensive The re w a s however no choice about the matte r

.
, ,
.

The R ector ha d no notion of practising the us ual cordial

and antique hospitality F ar from it Before the day w a s. .

over I found we had to deal with a blacksmith a fish er

, ,

man a hu nter a carpenter anythin g but a clergyman

, , , .

It must be said in his favor that we had caught him on a

week day probably he appeared to greater advantage on
-

the Sunday .

These poor pries ts receive from the Danish Government

a most ridiculously inadequate salary and collect one ,

quarter of the tithe of their parish —not more than sixty

marks curr ent or about £3 1 08 sterling Hence the ne
, . .

cassity of working to live In truth we soon found that .

,

our host did not count civility among th e cardinal virtues .

My uncle soon became aware of the kind of man he h a d

to deal with Instead of a worthy and lea rn ed scholar he
.
,

found a dull ill mannered pea sant

-
He therefore res olved .

to start on his great expedition a s soon as poss ible He .

did not care about fatigue and resolved to spend a few ,

days in the mountains .

The preparations for our departure were made the very

next day after our arrival at Stapi ; Hans now hired three
Icel a nders to ta ke the place of the hors es —which could
no longer carry our luggage When however these .
, ,

worthy islanders had reached the bottom of the crater ,

they were to go back and leave us to ours elves This .

point w a s settled before they would agree to start .

O n this occas ion my uncle partially confided in Hans

, ,

th e eider duck hunter and gave h im to unders tand that it

-
,

w as his intention to continue h is exploration of the volca n o

to the last po ssible limits .
 WE RE A CH M OUN T S NE FFE LS —THE R E YxrR . 67

Hans listened calmly and then nodded his head To , .

go there or elsewhere to bury himself in the bowels of

, ,

the ea rth or to travel over its summits w as all the same

, ,

to him i As for me amus ed and occupied by the in cidents

,

of travel I had begun to forget the inevitable future ; but

,

now I w as once more des tined to realize the actua l sta te of

affa irs What w as to be done ? R un away ? But if I
.

really ha d intended to leave Professor Ha rd wigg to his

fate it should have been at Hamb u rg and not at the foot
,

of S neflels
‘

O ne idea above all others began to trouble me : a very ,

terrible idea and one ca lcula ted to shake the nerves of a

,

man even l ess sens itive th an myself .

”
Let us consider th e ma tter I said to myself ; we are ,

going to ascend the S n eflels mountain Well and good

’

. .

We are about to pay a visit to the very bottom of the

crater Good still O thers have done it and did not
.
,
.

perish from that course .

“
That however is not the whol e matter to be consid
, ,

ered I f a road does really present itself by which to

.

descend into the dark and subterraneous bowels of Mother

Earth if this thrice unhappy S a kn ussemm ha s rea lly told
,

the truth we shall be most certainly lost in the midst of

,

the labyrinth of subterraneous galleries Of the volcano .

'
Now we have no evidence to prove that S n efiels is really
,

extinct Wh at proof have we that an eruption is not

.

shortly about to take place ? Because the mons ter has

slept soundly sin ce 1 229 does it follow that he is never to ,

w ake
”
I f he does wake what is to beco me of us ?
These were ques tions worth thin king about and upon ,

them I reflected long and deeply I could not lie down .

in search of sleep without dreaming of eruptions The more .

I thought the more I object ed to be reduced to the state

,

of d ross and as hes .

68 A JOURN EY T O T HE CEN TR E or T HE E AR TH .

I could stand it no longer ; so I determined at last to

submit the whole case to my u ncle in th e most adroit ,

manner possible and under the form of some totally irre

,

con cila b le hypothesis .

I sought him I laid before him my fears and then

.
,

dr ew back in order to let him get his passion over at his

eas e
I have been thinking about the matte r he said in , ,

the quietest tone in the world .

What did he mean ? Was he at l as t about to liste n to

the voice of rea son ? Did he think of suspending h is pro
j ects ? It w a s almost too much happiness to be true .

I ho w ever made no remark In fact I w a s only too .

,

an xious not to interr upt him and allowed him to reflect ,

at his leisure Aft er some moments he spoke out

. .

”
I have been thinking about the matter he res umed , .

Ever since we have been at Stapi my mind ha s been a l ,

most solely occupied with the grave ques tion which h as

been sub mitted to me by yoursel f — for nothing would be
unwis er and more inconsis tent than to act with impru
”
d eu ce .

“
I heartily agree with you my dear un cle w a s my , ,

somewhat hopeful rejoinder .

It is now six hundred years sin ce S n eflels h as spoken

‘

but though now reduced to a state of utter silence he may ,

speak again New volcanic eruptions are always preced ed

.

by perfectly well kno w n phenomena I have closely ex

-
.

a min ed the inhabitants of this region ; I have ca ref ully

studied the soil and I beg to tell you emphatically my

, ,

dear Harry there will be no eruption at pres ent ”

, .

A s I li stened to h is positive affirmations I w a s stu pefied ,

and could sa y nothing .

“
I see you doubt my word said my uncle ; “ follow ,

me .

I obeyed mechanically .
70 A JOURN EY T O T HE CE N TRE OF T HE E AR TH .

scientific arguments Nevertheless I had still one hope .

, ,

and that w a s when once we were at the botto m of the

,

crater that it would be imposs ible in default of a gallery

,

or tunnel to descend any deeper ; and th is des pite all the

, ,

learned S a kn ussemms in the world .

I passed the whole of the follo w ing night with a night

mare on my ches t ! and after u n hea rd o f mi series and ,
-

tortures found mysel f in the very depths of the earth

, ,

from which I w as suddenly launched in to pla netary space ,

under the form of an eruptive rock !

N ext day the 23 d J u ne Han s calmly awaited u s out
, ,

side the presbyt ery with h is two companion s loaded with

provisions tools and instruments Two iron shod poles

, ,
.
-
,

two guns and two large game bags w ere res erved for my
, ,

u ncle and mysel f Hans who w a s a man who never for.

,

ge t even the minutest precautions ha d added to our ,

baggage a large skin full of water as an additio n to our ,

gourds This assured u s wate r for eight days

, .

It w a s nine o clock in the morning when we were quite

’

ready The rector and his huge wife or servant I never

.
,

knew which stood at the door to see u s off They a p

, .

pea red to be about to inflict on u s the us ual final kiss of

the Icelanders To our supreme asto nishment their adieu
.

took the shape of a formidable bill in wh ich they even ,

counted the use of the pa toral hou se rea lly and truly s
,

the most abominable and dirty place I ever w as in The .

worthy couple cheated and robbed u s like a S w iss innkee per ,

and made us feel by the su m we had to pay the splendors

, ,

of their ho spitality .

My uncle however paid without bargaining A man

, , .

who had made u p his mind to undertake a voyage into

the Interior of the Earth is not the ma n to haggle over a ,

few mi serable rix dollars -

.

This important matter settled Hans gave the s ignal for ,

d eparture and some few moments late r we had left Stapi

, .
 CHAPTER X II .

T HE AS C E N T OF M O UN T S NE FF E LS .

TH E huge volcano which w a s the first stage of our

daring experiment is above five thousand feet high S n ef
, .

fels is the termina tio n of a long range of volcanic moun

tains of a different character to the system of the is land
,

its el f O ne of its peculiarities is its two huge pointed

.

summits F rom whence we starte d it w as impossible to

.

make out the rea l outlines of the pea k against the grey
fi eld of sk y All we could distinguish w as a vast dome
.

of whi te which fell downwards from the head of the giant

, .

The commencement of the great un dertaking filled me

with awe Now that we had actually started I began to
.
,

belie ve in the reality of the un dertaking !

O ur party formed quite a procession We walked in .

single file preceded by Hans the imperturb able eider

, ,

duck hunter He calmly led us by narrow paths where

.

two persons cou ld by no possibility walk abreas t Con .

versation w a s wholly impossible We had all the more .

opportunity to reflect and admire the awful grandeur of

the scene around .

Beyond the extraordinary bas altic wall of the fjord

of Stapi we found ours elves making our way through

fibrous turf over which grew a scanty vegetation of grass

, ,

the residuum of the ancient vegetation of the swampy pe

n in su la. The vast m a ss of this combustible the field of ,

wh ich a s yet is utterly unexplored would suffice to warm ,

Iceland for a w hole century This mighty turf pit mea . ,

sured from the bottom of certain ravines i s oft en not less ,

than seventy feet deep and presents to the eye the view
,
72 A JOUR N E Y T O T HE T
CE N R E OF T HE E AR TH .

of successive layers of bla ck burned u p rocky detr itus, -

separated by thin streak s of porou s sands tone .

The grandeur of the spectacle w a s undoubted as well as ,

its arid and deserted air .

As a true nephew of the g reat Profess or Ha rd w igg and ,

despite my pre occupation and doleful f ears of wha t w a s

-

to come I observed with great inte re s t th e vast collect ion

,

of m ineralogica l curios ities spre ad out before me in this

vas t museum of na tura l histo ry Looking back to my .

recent studies I went over in thought the whole g eologica l

,

history of Iceland .

This extraordinary and curious i land must have m a de s

its appearance from out of the great world of wate rs at a

comparatively recent date Like th e coral i slan ds of th e
.

Pacific it may for aught we know be still rising by slow

, , ,

and imperceptible degrees .

I f th is really be the c as e its origin can be attributed to

only one cause —
,

that of the continued action of subterra

nean fires .

This wa s a h appy thought .

I f so if thi s were true away with the th eories of Sir

, ,

Humphrey Davy ; away with the authority of the parch

ment of Arne S a k n ussemm ; th e wonderful pretensions to
dis covery on the part of my un cle ~a n d to our j ourney !
All must end in smoke .

Charmed with the idea I began more ca refully to look

,

about me A serious study of the soil w as necessary to

.

negative or confirm my hypothesis I took in every item .

of what I sa w and I began to comprehend th e succession

,

of phenomena which had preced ed its formation .

Iceland being absolutely without sed imen tary soil is

, ,

composed exclusively of volcanic tuf a ; th at is to sa y of an ,

agglomeration of stones and of rocks of a porou s textu re .

Long before the existence of volcanoes it w as composed ,

of a solid body of massive trap rock lift ed bodily a nd -

 T HE A S CE N T OF M OUN T S NE FFE LS .
73

s lowly out of the sea by the action of the centrifugal force

,

at work in the earth .

T he internal fires however had not a s yet burst their

, ,

bounds and flooded the exterior cake of Mother Earth w ith

hot and raging lava .

My readers must excus e this brief and somewhat pedan

tic geological lecture But it is necessary to the complete
.

understa ndin g of what follows .

At a later period in the world s history a huge and ’

,

mighty fissure must rea s oning by analogy have been dug

, ,

diagon ally from the south west to the north east of the
- -

is land through which by degrees flowed the volcanic crust

,
.

The great and wondrous phenomenon then went on w ith

out violen ce th e outpouring w as enormous and the seeth
h
,

ing fused matte r ejected from the bowels of the earth

, ,

sprea d slowly and peacefu lly in the form of vast level

plains or what are called mamelons or mounds

,
.

It w a s at this epoch that the rocks called feldspar-s sye ,

n itcs and porphyries appeared

, .

But as a natural consequen ce of this overflow the depth ,

of the island increa s ed It can readily be believed what

an enormous quantity of ela stic fluids were piled up with
in its centre when at last it aff orded no other openin gs
, ,

after the process of cooling the crust had taken pla ce .

At length a tim e came when despite the enormous thick

ness and weight of the upper crust the mechanical forces ,

of the comb ustible gas es below became so grea t that they ,

actually uphea ved the weighty back and made for them
selves huge and gigantic shafts Hence the volcanoes which
.

suddenly aros e thr ou gh the u pper crus t and next the era ,

te rs which burst forth at the summit of these new crea

,

tions .

It will be seen that the first phenomena in connection

with the formation of the island were simply eruptive to
these however shortly succeeded the volca nic phenomena
, , .
74 A JOURN E Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

Through the n ewly formed openings es caped the mar

-
,
.

vellous mass of basaltic sto nes with which the plain w e

were now crossing w as co vered We were trampling our .

way over heavy rocks of dark grey color which while , ,

cooling had been moulded in to six sided prisms In the

,
- .

back dis ta nce we could see a number of flattened cones ,

which formerly were so many fire-vomitin g mouths .

After the basaltic eruption w a s appeas ed and set at rest ,

the volcano the force of which increas ed with that of the

,

extinct crate rs gave free passage to the fiery overflow of

,

lava and to the m ass of cinders and pumice stone n ow

,
-
,

s cattered over the sides of the mountain like dishevelled ,

hair on the shoulders of a Bacchante .

Here in a nutshell I had the whole histo ry of the

, ,

phenomena fro m which Iceland arose All take their rise .

in the fierce actio n of interior fires and to believe that the ,

central m ass did not remain in a state of liquid fir e white ,

hot w as simply a n d purely mad n ess

,
.

This being satisfacto rily proved ( g e d ) what insens ate

,
. . .

folly to pretend to penetrate i n to the in terior of the mighty

This menta l lecture delivered to mysel f while proceed

ing on a journey did me good I w a s quite re as sured a s
,
.

to the fate of our enterpris e ; and therefore went like a ,

brave soldier moun ting a bristling battery to the as sault ,

'
of old S n efiels .

As we advanced the road became every m oment more

,

di fficult The soil w a s broken and dangerou s The rocks

. .

broke and gave way under our feet and we had to be scru ,

pu lous ly careful in order to avoid dangerous a n d cons tant

fall s .

Hans advanced as calmly a s if he had been walkin g

over Salisbury Plain ; sometimes he would d isappea r b e~
hind huge blocks of stone and we momentarily lost sight
,

of him There w a s a little period of anxiety and then

.
 T HE A S CE NT OF MOUN T S NE FFE LS .
75

th ere w as a shrill whistle just to te ll us where to look for

,

him .

O ccas ionally he would ta ke it into h is head to stop to

pick up lumps of rock and silently pile them up into
,

small heaps in order tha t w e might not l

,
ose ou r w a y on our

He ha d no idea of the journey we were about to under

take .

At all events the precaution w a s a good one ; though

,

how utterly us eless and unnecessary—but I mus t not a n

ticipa te.

Three hours of terrible fatigue walking incessantly , ,

h a d only brought us to the foot of the great moun ta in .

This w ill give some notion of what we had still to undergo .

Suddenly however Hans cried a halt that is he m ade -

signs to that effect—

, , ,

and a summary kind of breakfa st

w as laid out on the lava before us My uncle who now .
,

w as simply Pro fessor Ha r d w igg w a s so eager to advance , ,

that he bol ted his food like a greed y clown This halt .

for re freshment w as also a hal t for repose The Pro ‘

.

fessor w as therefore compelled to wait the good plea s ure

of his imperturbable guide who did not give the signal ,

for departure for a good ho ur .

The three Icelanders who were a s taciturn a s their

,

comrade did not sa y a word ; but went on ea ting and

,

drinking very quietly and soberly .

From this our first real stage we began to as cend the

, ,
'
slepes of the S neflel s volcano I ts magnificent snowy .

night cap a s we bega n to call it by an Optica l delus io n

-
, ,

very common in mountains appea r ed to me to be close at

,

hand ; and yet h ow many long weary hou rs must elapse

before we reached its summit What unheard of fatigue .
-

must we endure !
The stones on the mountain side held together by no ,

cement of soil bound together by no roots or creeping

,
76 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N R E T O F T HE E AR TH .

herbs gave way continually under our feet and went

, ,

rushing below into the plains like a series of sma ll a va ,

lanches .

In certain pla ces the sides of this stupendous mounta in

were at an angle so steep that it w as impossible to climb
u pwards and we were compell ed to get round thes e oh
,

sta cles as bes t we might .

Those who unders tand Alpine climbing will comprehend

our difficulties Often we were obliged to help each other
.

along by means of our climbing poles .

I mus t sa y this for my uncle that he stuck a s close to ,

me as possible He never lost sight of me and on many

.
,

occa sions h is arm supplied me w ith firm and solid sup port .

He w as strong wiry and apparently ins en sible to fatigue

, ,
.

Another great advantage with him w as that he had the

innate sentiment of equilibrium— for he never slipped
or failed in his steps The Icelanders though heavily
.
,

loaded climbed w ith the agility of mountaineers

, .

Looking up every now and then at the height of the

, ,
'
great volcano of S n eflels it appeared to me wholly im,

possible to rea ch to the summit on that side ; at all events ,

if the angle of inclination did not speedily change .

F ortunate ly after an hour of unheard of fatigues and

,
-
,

of gymn as tic exercises that would have been tryin g to an

acrobat we came to a vast field of ice which wholly sur

, ,

rou n ded the bottom of the cone of the volcan o The .

natives called it the table cloth probably from some such

-

'
,

reason a s the dwellers in the Cape of Good Hope call

their mountain Table Mountain and their roads Table ,

Bay .

Here to our mutual surprise we found an actual flight

, ,

of stone steps which wonderfu lly a ssis te d our as cent

, .

This singular flight Of sta irs w a s like everyt hing els e , ,

volcanic It had been formed by one of those torrents O f

.

stones cast up by the eruptions and of which the I ce ,

78 A JOUR NE Y TO T HE C E N RET O F T HE E AR TH .

”
What does this mysterious word signify ? I anxiou sly
inquired .

“
Look said my un cle
, .

I looked down upon the plain below and I sa w a vas t, ,

a prodig ious volum e of pulverized pumice stone of sand -

, ,

of du st ris ing to the heavens in the form of a mighty

,

water spout It resembled the fearful phenomenon of a

-
.

similar characte r kn own to the travellers in the desert O f

the great Sahara .

The wind w a s driving it dir ectly towards tha t side of

S n efiels on which we were perched This Opaque veil
'

standing up between u s and the sun proj ected a deep

shadow on the flanks of the mountain I f this sand spout .

-

broke over us we must all be in fallibly des troyed crushed

, ,

in its fearful embraces This extraordinary phenomenon

.
,

very common when the w ind shakes the glaciers and ,

sweeps over the arid plains i s in the Icelandic tongue

,

called mistou r .

Has tigt Ha stigt ! cried our guide

”
, .

Now I certainly kn ew n othing of Danish but I tho ,

roughly understood that his ges tur es were meant to

quicken us .

The guide turned rapidly in a direction which would ta ke

u s to the back of the crate r a ll the while as cending slightly
, .

We followed rapidly despite our excessive fatigue

, .

A quarter of an hour late r Hans paus ed to enable u s to

look back The mighty whirlwind of sand w as spread ing
.

up the slope of the m ountain to the very spot where we

had proposed to halt Huge ston es were ca ught up cas t
.
,

into the air and thrown about as during an eruption

, .

We were happily a little out of the direction of th e wind ,

and therefore out Of reach of danger But for the preca u .

tion and knowledge of our guide our d islocated bo d ies , ,

our crushed a nd broken limbs w ou ld have b een cas t to ,

the wind like dust from some un known meteor

, .
 T HE A S CE N T OF M OUN T S NE FFE LS .
79

Hans however did not think it prudent to pa ss the

, ,

night on the bare side Of the cone We therefore con .

tinued our j ourney in a zigzag direction The fift een .

hundr ed feet which remained to be accomplished took u s

at lea s t five hours The turnings and windings the no
.
,

thorough fares the marches and marches turned that in sig

, ,

n ifica n t dis tance into at leas t three lea gues I never felt .

such mis ery fatigue and exhaus tion in my life

, I w as .

ready to faint from hunger and cold The ra rified air at

.

the same time painfully acte d upon my lungs .

At l as t when I thought myself at my l as t gasp about

, ,

eleven at night it being in that region quite dark we

, ,
'

reached the summit Of Mount S n efiels I it w as in an awful

mood of mind that despite my fatigue before I des cended
, ,

into the crater w hich w a s to shelter u s for the night I ,

paused to behold the sun rise at midnight on the very d a y

of its lo w est declen sion and enjoyed t h e spectacle of its
,

ghastly pale rays ca s t upon the isle which lay sleepin g at

our feet !
I no longer wondered at people travelling all the way
from England to Norway to behold this magical and
,

Wondro us specta cle .

 CHAPTER X III .

THE S H A D OW O F S CA R T A R I S .

OUR upper w as ea ten with ea se and rap idity after

s ,

whic h every body did the best he could for hims elf within
t he hollow of the crater The bed w a s hard the shelter
.
,

u n sati sfactory the situatio n pain ful—lyin g in the open

.

air five thousand feet above th e level of the sea !

,

Nevertheless it h as seldom happened to me to sleep so

,

well a s I did on that pa rticular night I did not eve n .

dream So much for the effects of what my un cle ca lled

.

”
wholes ome fatigue .

Next day when we awoke u nder the ray s of a bright

,

and glorious sun we were nearly frozen by the keen air

, .

I le ft my granite couch and made one of the party to en

joy a view of the magnificent spectacle which developed
itsel f panorama like at our feet
,
-
, .

I stood upon the lofty summit of Mou nt S n efiels ' ’

southern peak T hence I w as able to obta in a view of

.

the greater part O f the island The Optical delusion com .

,

m e n to all lo fty heights rai sed the shores of the i sland

, ,

while the central portion s appeared depressed It w a s by .

no m eans too great a flight of fancy to believe that a

gian t picture w a s stretched out before me I could see .

the deep valleys that crossed ea ch other in every dirce

tion I could see precipices looking like sides of wells
.
,

lakes that seemed to be ch anged into ponds pon ds that ,

looked like pudd les and rivers that were tran sformed into
,

petty brooks To my right were gl a ciers upon glaciers

.
,

a n d multiplied peak s topped with light cloud s o f smoke

, .

The undulation of these infi n ite numbers of mounta in s ,

 T HE S HAD O W or S CAR TARI S . 8x

whose snowy summits make them look a s if covered by

foam recalled to my remembrance the surface of a
,

storm beaten ocea n

- I f I looked to wards the we
. s t the ,

ocean lay before me in all its majes tic grandeur a con ,

t in u a tion as it were of thes e fl eecy hill tops

,
-
.

Where the ea rth ended and the sea beg an it w as impos~

sible for the eye to distinguish .

I soon felt that strange and mysterious sensation which

is awaken ed in the mind when looking down from lofty
hill tops and now I w as able to do so without any feeling
,

of nervou sness having fortunately hardened mysel f to that

,

kind of sublime contemplation .

I wholly forgot who I w a s and where I w a s I became ,

.

intox icate d with a sense of lo fty sublimi ty Without ,

thought of the abysses into which my daring w a s soon

about to plunge me I w a s presently however brought
.
, ,

back to the realities of life by the arrival of the Professor

,

and Hans who joined me upon the lofty summit of the

,

pea k.

My u n cle turning in a westerly direction pointed out

, ,

to me a light cloud of vapor a kind of haze with a fa int , ,

outline of land rising out of the waters .

”
G reenland ! said he .

Greenland ? cried I in reply .

Yes continued my uncle who always when explain

”
. ,

ing anythin g spoke a s if he were in a Professor s chair ; ’

w e are not more than thirty five leagues dis ta nt from -

that wonderful land When the grea t annual brea k u p

.

o f the ice takes place white bears come over to Iceland

, ,

carried by the floating mass es of ice from the north This .

,

however is a matter of little con sequence We are n ow

,
.

'
on the su mmit of the great the trans cenden t S nefiels a n d
, ,

here are its t wo peaks north and south Hans will tell
,
.

you th e name by which the people of Iceland ca ll that on

which we s ta nd .
82 A JOU R NE Y T O T E E CE N TRE OF TE R E AR T H .

My un cle tur ned to the impertu rbable gu ide, w ho

nodded and spoke a s usual—o n e word
,
.

”
S ca rta ris .

My uncle looked at me with a proud and triumpha nt

glance .

“
A crater he said “ you hear ?
, ,

I d id hear but I w a s totally unable to make reply

, .

'

The crater of Mount S nefiels represente d an inverted

con e the ga ping orifice apparently hal f a mile across the
,

d epth indefinite feet Conceive what this ho le must have

.

been like when f ull of flame and thunder and lightning .

The bottom of the f unnel s haped hollo w w a s about five

-

hundred feet in circumference by which it will be seen ,

that the slope f rom the summit to the bottom w a s very

gradual and we were therefore clea rly able to get there
,

without much fatigue or difficulty Involunta rily I com .

,

pared this crater to an enormous loaded cann on ; and th e

compa rison completely terrified m e .

“
To d escend into the inte rior of a can non I thou ght ,

to m ysel f “ when perh aps it is loaded and w ill go off at

, ,
”
the least shock is the act of a madman
, .

But there w a s no longer any opportunity for me to h esi

ta te Hans with a perfectly calm a n d indifferent air to ok
.
, ,

his u sual post at the head of the adventurous little band .

I followed without uttering a syllable .

I felt like the lamb led to the slaugh ter .

In order to render the des cent les s d ifiicult Hans t ook ,

his way do wn the in te rior of the cone in rather a zigzag

fas hion making as the sailors sa y long tr acks to the ea s t
, , ,

ward followed by equally long ones to the west It w a s

, .

necessary to walk through the midst of eruptive rocks ,

some of which shaken in their balance went rollin

,
g down ,

with thunde ring clamor to the bottom of the abyss .

These contin ual fall s awoke echoes of sing ular power a n d

eff ect .
 T HE S HA D O W or S CAR T ARI S . 83

Many portions of the cone consisted of inferior glaciers .

Hans whenever he met with one of these obstacles a d

,

va n ced with a great show of precaution soun ding the soil ,

with his long iron pole in order to discover fissures and

layers of deep soft snow In many doubtful or dan gerous .

places it became necessary for u s to be tied together by a

,

long rope in order that should any one of u s be un for

t un a te enough to slip he would be supported by h is ,

companions This connecting link w a s doubtless a pru

.

dent precaution but not by any means unattended w ith

d anger .

Nevertheless and despite all the m anifold d ifficulties of

,

the descent along slopes with which ou r guide w a s wholly

,

unacquainted we made cons iderable progress w ithout a o

,

e ident . O ne of our great parcel s of rope slipped from

one of the Iceland porters and rushed by a short cut to ,

the bottom of the abyss .

By mid day we were at the end of our journey I looked

-
.

upwards and sa w only the upper orifice of the cone which

, ,

served as a circular frame to a very small portion of the

sk y—a portion which seemed to me singularly beautiful .

Should I ever again gaze on that lovely sunlit sky !

The only exception to this extraordinary landscape w as ,

the Peak of S ca rta ris which seemed lost in the great void
,

of the heavens .

The bottom of the crater w as composed of three sepa

rate shafts through which during periods of eruption
, , ,

when S n efiels w a s in action the great central furnace sent

'

forth its burning lava and poisonou s vapors Each of .

thes e chimneys or shafts gaped open mouthed in our path -

.

I kept a s fa r away from them a s possible n ot even ven ,

turing to take the faintest peep downwards .

As for the Professor after a rapid examination of their

,

disposition and characteristics he beca me breathless and ,

panting He ran from one to the other like a delighted

;
 84 A JOURNE Y TO T HE CE N RE T or E AR TH .

school boy gesticu lating wil dly and u ttering incompre

-
, ,

hensible a n d d isj oiuted ph rases in a llsorts of langua ges .

H ans the guide a nd his humbler companions sea ted

.

, ,

themselv es on some piles of lava and looked silently on

—
.

T hey c learly too k my u ncle for a lunatic a n d waited the

,

result .

Suddenly the Profes sor uttered a wild unearthly cry , .

At first I imagined he had lost his footing and w as falling

, ,

hea dl ong into one of the yawn ing gulfs Nothing of the .

k in d I sa w him his arms spread out to their widest ex

.
,

tent his legs stretched apa rt standing upright before an

, ,

enormous pedes tal high enough and black enough to bear

,

a gigantic statue of Pluto His attitude and mien were .

tha t of a man utterly stu pefied But his stupefa ction w as .

speedily changed to the Wildes t joy .

“ ”
Harry ! Harry ! come here ! he cried ; make has te
wonderful—wonderful
Un able to understand what he meant I tur ned to obey ,

his commands Neither Hans nor the other I celanders

.
,

moved a step .

”
Look I said the Professor in something of the mann er ,

of the Fra nch general po inting out the pyramids to h i s

,

And fully partaking h is stupefaction if not h is joy I , ,

'

read on the eastern side of the huge block of stone the ,

same characters hal f ea ten away by the corrosive ac tion

,

m e the name to me a thous and times accursed

of ti , ,

‘
LLM
‘

Arne S a k nussemm ] cried my uncle now unbeliever, , ,

do you begin to have faith

It w as totally impossible for me to ans wer a single word .

I went b a ck to my pile of lava in a sta te of silent a w e , .

The evidence wa s unanswerable overwh elmin g ! ,

 T HE SH A D OW or S CAR T ARI S . 85

In a few moments however my thoughts were fa r away , , ,

b ack in my German home with Gretchen and the old ,

cook What would I have given for one of my cousin s

.
’

smiles for one of the ancient domes tic s omelettes and for
’
, ,

my own feather bed !

How long I remained in this state I know not All I .

can sa y is that when at las t I raised my head from b e

,

tween my hands there remain ed at the bottom of the era

,

ter only myself my uncle and Hans The Icelandic por

, .

ters had been dismissed and were ne w descending the ex

'

terior slopes of Moun t S n efiels on their way to Stapi , .

How heartily did I wish myself with them !

Hans slept tranquilly at the foot of a rock in a kind of
rill of la va where he had made himsel f a rough and ready
,

bed My uncle w a s walking about the bottom of the cra

.

ter like a wild bea s t in a ca ge I had no desire neither .

,

had I the strength to move from my recumbent position

, .

Taking example by the guide I gave way to a kind of ,

pain ful somnolency during which I seemed both to hear

,

and feel continued heavings and shudderings in the moun

tain.

In this way we passed our first night in the interior of

a crate r .

Next morning a grey cloudy heavy sky hung like a

, , ,

funeral pal] over the su mmit of the volcanic cone

-
I did .

not notice it so much from the obscurity that reigned

around u s a s fr om the rage with which my uncle w a s
,

devoured .

I fully u nderstood the rea son and again a glimpse of ,

hope made my heart leap with joy I will briefly explain .

the cause .

O f the three openings which yawned beneath our steps ,

only one could have been followed by the adventurous

S a k n ussemm According to the words of the learn ed Ice
.

lander it w a s only to be known by that one particular

,
86 A JOURNEY T O T HE C ENTRE or T HE E AR TH .

mentioned in the cryptograph that the shadow of Scar ,

ta ris fell upon it just touching its mouth in the last days
,

of the month of J une .

We were in fact to consider the po inted pea k a s the

,

styl us of an immens e su n dial the shad ow of which pointed -

,

on one given day like the inexorable finger of fate to the

, ,

yawning chasm which led into the interior of the earth .

Now a s often happens in these regions should the sun

, ,

fail to burst through the cloud s no shado w Cous e ,

.

quently no chance of discovering the right aperture

, .

I Ve had already reached the 25 th J une If the kindly .

heavens would only remain densely clouded for six more

days we should have to put off our voyage of d iscovery
,

for another year when certain ly there would be one

“

person fewer in the party I already had su fficient of the .

mad and monstrous enterpris e .

It would be utterly impossible to depict the impote nt

rage of Professor Ha rd wig g The day pass ed away and .
,

not the faintest outline of a shadow could be seen at the

b ottom of the crater Hans the guide never moved fr om
.

h is place He mus t have been curious to k now what we

.

were about if indeed he could believe we w ere about any

,

thing As for my uncle he never addressed a word to

.
,

me . He w as nursing his wrath to keep it warm ! His

eyes fixed on the black and foggy atmosphere his com ,

plexion hideous w ith suppressed p assion Never had h is .

eyes appeared so fierce h is nose so aquiline his mouth so , ,

hard and firm .

O n the 26th no change for the better A mixture of .

rain and snow fell during the whole day H a n s very .

quietly built himself a hut of l a va into which he retired

like Diogenes into his tub I took a malicious delight in .

watching the thousand little cascades that flowed down the

side of the cone carrying with them a t times a strea m of
,

stones into the vasty deep below .

 T HE RE AL J OUR NE Y GO M E N GE .

OU R real journey had n ow commenced .

Hitherto our courage and determination ha d overcome

all difficulties We were fatigued a t t imes ; and that w a s
.

all Now unknown and fearful dangers we were about to

.
,

encounter .

I had not a s yet ventured to ta ke a glimpse dow n the

horrible abyss into which in a few minutes more I w as
about to plun ge The fatal moment had however at las t
.
, ,

arrived I had still the option of ref usin g or accepting

.

a share in this foolish and audacious ente rprise But I .

w as ashamed to show more fear than the eider d uck -

hunter Hans seemed to accept the difficulti es of the

.

journey so tranquilly with such calm indifferen ce with

, ,

such perfect recklessn ess of all d anger that I actually ,

blushed to appear less of a man than he !

Ha d I been alone with my u ncle I should ce rta inly ,

have sa t down an d argued the point fully ; but in the

pres ence of the guide I held my to ngue I gave on e .

moment to the thought of my charmin g cousin and then ,

I a dvanced to the mouth of the ce ntral shaft .

It m ea sured about a hundred feet in diameter which ,

made about three hundred in circumf erence I leaned .

over a rock which stood on its edge and looked down , .

My hair stood on end my teeth chattered my limbs

, ,

trembl ed I seemed utterly to lose my centre of g ravi ty

, ,

wh ile my head w as in a sort of whirl like that of a ,

drunken man Ther e is nothing more powerf ul than this

.

attraction towards an abyss I w as about to fall head .

long into the gaping well when I w as drawn ba ck by a

,

firm and po werful hand It w as that of Hans I h a d

. .
 T HE OMME NCE S 89
‘

R EAL JOU R NE Y C .

’
n ot ta ken lessons enough at the Prelser s kirk of Copen ha -

gen in the art of looking dow n from lofty eminences with ‘

out blinking 1
However few a s the minutes were during which I gazed
,

down this tre mendous and even wondrous sh a ft I had a ,

su fficient glimpse of it to give me some idea of its physical

conformation I ts sides which were almost as perpen d icu

.
,

lar a s those of a well pres ented numerous proj ections

,

which doubtless would a ssist our descent .

It w a s a sort of wild and savage staircas e without ,

bannis ter or fence A rope fas tened above near the sur
.
,

face would certainly support our weight and enable u s to

,

reach the bottom but how when we ha d arrived at its u t

, ,

mos t depth were we to loosen it above ? This w a s I

, ,

thought a question of some importa nce

, .

My uncle however w as one of those men who are near

, ,

ly always prepared with ex pedien ts He hit upon a very .

simple method of obviating thi s di fficulty He u n rolled .

a cord about as thick as my thumb and at least four ,

hundred feet in length He allowed a bout hal f of it to go

.

down the pit a n d catch in a hitch over a grea t block of

lava which stood on the edge of the precipice This done .
,

he threw the second half after the first .

Each of us could now des cend by catching the two cords

in one hand When about t wo hundred feet belo w all
.
,

the explorer had to do w a s to let go one end and pull

away at the other when the cord would come falling at
,

h is feet .In order to go dow n farther all that w a s meces ,

sary w as to continue the same operation .

This w as a very excellent proposition and no doubt a , ,

correct one Going down appeared to me easy enough it

.
,

w as the coming up again that now occupied my thoughts .

”
Now said my uncle a s so on as he h a d complete d
, ,

“
this infporta n t preparation let u s see about the baggage, .

It must be divided into three separate parcels and ea ch ,

90 A JOURN EY T O T HE CE N R ET OF T HE E A R TH .

of us mus t carry on e on his back I allude to the more .

”
impo rtant and fragile a rticles .

My worthy and ingenious uncle did not appear to con

sider that we came under that denomination .

“ ”
Hans he continued “ you will ta ke charge of the
, ,

tools and so me of the provisions ; you Harry mus t ta ke , ,

possession of another third of the provis ions and of the

arms I will load mysel f with the res t of the eatables
.
,
”
and with the more delicate instruments .

” “
But I exclaimed
, our clothes this m ass of cord
, ,

—
and ladders who will undertake to ca rry them do w n ? ”

”
They will go down of thems elves .

And how so ? I asked .

You sh a ll see .

My uncle was not fond of hal f mea sures nor did he ,

like anything in the wa y of hesita tion Giving his orders .

to Hans he had the whole of the non fragile articles m ade -

up into one bundle ; a n d the packet firmly and solidly ,

fa ste ned w a s simply pitched over the edge of the gul f

, .

I heard the moaning of the suddenly displa ced air and ,

the noise of falling stones My uncle leaning over the

.

abyss follo w ed the descen t of his l uggage with a perfectly

sel f sa tisfied air and did not ris e un til it had completely
-
,

dis appeared from sight .

” “
N ow then he cried it is our turn
I put it in good faith to any man of common sense —
, , .

wa s
it possible to hear this energetic cry without a shudder ?
The Professor fas tened his c a se of in truments on h is s

back Hans took charge of the tools I of the arms The

.
, .

descent then com menced in the following order : Hans

went first my uncle followed and I went las t O ur pro
gress w a s made in profou nd silence —
, , .

a silence only trou

bled by the fall of pieces of rock which brea king fr om ,

th e jagged sides fell with a roar into the depths below

, .

I allowed myself to slide so to speak holding fran ti , ,

92 A JOURN EY T O T HE CE N R E T OF T HE E AR TH .

Not so the invete rate Professor He must have taken .

n otes all the way down for at one of our halts he began
, , ,

a brief lecture .

The farther we advance said he the g reater is

, ,

my confidence in the res ult The disposition of thes e vol

.

ca na strata absolutely confirms the theories of Sir Hum

ph rey Davy We are still w ith in the region of the pri
.

m ord ia l soil the soil in which took place the chemical

,

operation of meta ls becoming inflamed by com ing in con

ta ct with the air and wate r I at once regret the old and
.

now for ever exploded theory of a central fir e At a ll .

”
events we shall soon know the truth
, .

Such w a s the everla sting conclusion to which he came .

I however w a s very fa r from bein g in humor to dis cuss

, ,

the matter I had something else to think of My si

. .

len ce w a s taken for consent ; and still we contin ued to go

d own .

At the expiration of three hours we were to all appea r , ,

ance a s fa r off a s ever from the bottom of the well When

, .

I looked u pwards however I could see that the upper

, ,

orifice w a s every minute decreas ing in size The sides of .

the sha ft were getting closer and closer together we were ,

approaching the regions of eternal night !

And still we continued to des cend
At length I noticed that when pieces of stone were de
,

ta ch ed from the side s of this stupendous precipice they ,

were swallowed up with les s noise than before The final .

sound w as sooner heard We w ere approaching the bot

.

tom of the abyss

As I had been very careful to keep account of a ll the
changes of cord which took place I w a s able to tell exact
,

ly what w as the depth we had reached a s well as the time ,

it ha d taken .

We h a d shifted the rope twenty eight times ea ch opera -

,

tion taking a quarte r of an hour which in a ll made seven

,
 T HE RE AL JOURN EY C O MME N C E S .
93

hours To thi s had to be added twenty eighty paus es ; in

.
-

all ten hours and a hal f We started at one it w a s now

-
.
, ,

therefore about eleven o clock at night

,
’
.

It does not require great knowledge of arithmetic to

know that twenty eight times two hundred feet makes five
-

thousand six hundred feet in all ( more than an English

mile )
.

While I w as making this mental ca lculation a voice

broke the silence It w as the voice of Hans . .

Halt ! he cried .

I checked mysel f very suddenly just at the moment ,

w hen I w a s about to kick my uncle on the head .

”
We have reached the end of our journey said the ,

worthy Professor in a satisfied tone .

What the interior of the ea rth ? said I slipping

, ,

down to his side .

N0 you stupid fellow ! but we have reached the b ot

,

tom of the well .

And I suppose there is n o farther progress to b e

made I hopefully exclaimed .

Oh yes I can dimly see a sort of tunnel which turns

, , ,

off obliquely to the right At all events we must see .

,

about that to morrow Let us sup now a n d seek slumber

-
.
,
”
a s best we may .

I thought it time but made no observations on that ,

point I w a s fairly laun ched on a des perate course and

.
,

all I had to do wa s to go forward hopefully and trusting

ly.

It w a s n ot even now quite dark the light filtering do wn ,

in a most extraordinary manner .

We opened the provis ion bag ate a frugal supper and , ,

each did his best to find a bed amid the pile of stones dirt , ,

and lava which ha d accum ulated for ages at the bottom

of the shaft .

I happened to grope out the pile of ropes ladders and , ,

94 A JOUR NE Y T O THE T
CE N RE OF T HE E AR TH
.

c lothes which we h a d th rown d own ; and upon th em I

'

’
stretched mysel f Af ter such a day s labor my rough bed
.
,

seemed as soft a s down !

For a while I lay in a sort of pleas ant tran ce .

Pres ently after lying quietly for some m inutes I opened

, ,

my eyes and looked upwards As I did so I made out a

.

brilliant little dot at the ex tr emity of this long gigan ti c

, ,

telescope .

I t w as a star without scin tillatin g rays A c cording to

.

my calculation m ust be 5 in the constellation of the Litt le

,

Bear .

After thi s little bit of as tronomi ca l recrea tion I dropped

,

into a soun d sl eep .

96 A JOU RN E Y T O T HE T
CE N R E OF T HE E AR TH .

only to endur e the pressure of a ir I am curious to re .

”
place the barometer by the manometer .

The baromete r in fact w as about to become u seles s , ,

a s soon a s the weight of the air w a s greater than what

w a s calculated a s above the level of the ocea n .

”
“
But said I “ is it not very much to be feared that
, ,

this ever increasing pressure may not in the end tu rn out

-

”
very pain ful and inconvenient ?
N said he We shall des cend very slowly and
.
,

our lungs will be gradually accus tomed to brea the com

pressed air It is well known that a eronauts have gone
.

so high a s to be nea rly without air at all — why then , ,

should we not accu stom ourselve s to brea the when we have

,

sa y a little too much of it ?

,
F or myself I am certa in I ,

shall prefer it Let us not lose a moment Where is the

. .

packet which preceded us in our des cent ?

I smilingly pointed it out to my uncle Hans h a d not .

seen it and believed it caught somewhere

,
above us
huppe as he phras ed it .

“
Now said my uncle
,
let us breakfast and break , ,

fast like people who have a long day s work before them
’
.

Biscuit and dried mea t washed down by some mouth ,

fuls of water flavored with schiedam w a s the material of ,

our luxu rious meal .

A s soon a s it w as fin ished my uncle took from his ,

pocket a note book des tined to be filled by memoran da of

-

our travels He ha d already placed his instruments in

.

order and this is what he wrote :

,

Monday J uly 1 st , .

Ch ronometer 8 h 1 7 m morn ing ,

. . .

Barometer 29 degrees , .

Thermometer 43 F ahr ,
°
.

Direction E S E ,
. . .

This l as t observation referred to the obscure g allery,

and w a s indica ted to us by the compass .
 WE O TIN UE
C N O U R DE S CE N T .
97

Now Harry cried the Profes sor in an enthusias tic

, ,

tone of voice we a re truly about to take our first s tep

,

into the Interior of the Earth ; never before visited b y

man since the first creation of the world You may con .

sider therefore that at this precise moment our travels

, ,

rea lly commence .

As my uncle made this remark he took in one hand the ,

R uh mk orf coil apparatus which hung round his neck and , ,

with the other he put the electr ic current into communi

cation with the worm of the la ntern And a bright light .

at once illumined that da rk and gloomy tunn el !

The effect w as magica l !
Hans who carried the second apparatus h a d it also put
, ,

into Operation This ingenious application of electricity

.

to pra ctical purpos es enabled us to move along by the

light of an artificial da y amid even the flow of the most ,

inflammable and combustible ga ses .

”
F orward ! cried my uncle Ea ch took up his .

burden Hans went first my uncle followed and I going

.
, ,

third we entered the sombre gallery !

,

J ust a s we were about to engulf ourselves in th is dis

mal passage I lifted up my head and through the tube
, ,

like sha ft sa w that Iceland sk y I w as never to see again !

Wa s it the las t I should ever see of any sk y ?
The strea m of lava flowing from the bowels of the
earth in 1 229 had forced itself a passage through the
,

tunnel It lined the whole of th e inside with its thic k

.

and brill iant coating The electric light added very .

greatly to the b rilla n cy of the eff ect .

The grea t diffi culty of our journey now began How .

were we to prevent ourselves from slipping down the

steeply inclined plane ?
-
Happily some cracks a bras u res ,

of the soil and other irregularities served the place of

, ,

step s and we descended slowly ; allowing our heavy lug

gage to slip on before at the end of a long cord , .
 98 A JOURN EY T O T HE CE N R ET or T HE E A R TH .

But that which served a s steps under our f eet becam e ,

in other places stalactites The lava very porous in .

,

certain places took the form of little round bliste rs

, .

Crystals of opaque quartz adorned with limpid drops of ,

n atural gl a s suspended to the roof lik e lu stres s eemed to

s
,

take fire as we passed beneath them One would h ave .

fancied that the genii of romance were illuminating their

underground palaces to receive the sons of men .

“ ”
Magnificent glorious ! I cried in a moment of in
,

volun ta ry enthusiasm what a spectacle uncle ! Do you , ,

not admire these variegate d shades of lava which r un ,

through a whole series of colors from reddish brown to ,

pale yellow— b y the most insensible degrees ? And thes e

'

”
crystals they appear like luminous globes
,
.

You are beginning to see the charms of travel Maste r ,

”
Harry cried my uncle
, Wait a bit until we ad vance .
,

farther What we have a s yet discovered is noth in g

.

”
onwards my boy on wards !, ,

It would have been a fa r more correct and appropriate

“ ”
expression had he said let u s slide for we were going
, , ,

down an inclined plane w ith perfect eas e The compas s .

indicated that we were moving in a south eas terly d irec -

tion The flow of lava had never turned to the right or

.

the left It had the inflexibility of a str aight line

. .

Nevertheless to my surprise we found no perceptible

, ,

increa se in heat This proved the theories of Hum phrey

.

Davy to be founded on truth and more than once I round ,

myself examining the thermometer in silent as tonishment .

Two hours aft er m y departure it only marked 5 4 degrees

Fahrenheit I had every reason to believe from this that
.

Ou r descent w a s fa r more horizontal than vertical As for

“

di scoveri n g the ex a ct d epth to which we had a ttained .

nothing could be easier The Professor a s he advanced .

,

measured the angles of deviation and inclination ; but he

kept the result of h is observations to himself .
1 00 A J OURNE Y To THE CE NT RE or THE E AR TH .

Well it appears to me tha t if we had descended very

,

fa r below the level of the sea —w e should find it rather

”
hotte r tha n we ha ve .

According to your system sa id my uncle ; but what ,

does the thermometer sa y

Scarcely 1 5 degrees by R eaumur whi ch is only an in ,
”
crea s e of 9 since our departur e .

!
Well and what conclus ion does tha t bring you to ?
,

in quired the Professor .

The deduction I draw from this is very simple A o .

cording to the most exact observations the augmentation ,

'

o f the ternpera tu re of the interior of the earth is 1 degr ee

for every hundred feet But certain local cau ses ma y

.

considerably modify this figure Thus at Ya k oust in Si .

beria it has been remarked that the heat increa s es a

,

degr ee every thirty six feet The difference eviden tly de

- .

pends on the condu ctibility of certain rocks I n the .

neighborhood of an extinct volcano it ha s been rema rked ,

that the elevation of te mperature w a s only 1 degree on

every five and twenty feet Let us then go upon this
- -

calculation—which is the mos t favorable—a n d calcula te ”

.
, ,

”
Calculate away my boy , .

”
Nothing easier said I pulling out my note book a n d
, ,
-

pencil . Nine times one hun d red and twenty five feet -
,

make a depth of eleven hundr ed and twenty five fee t -

.

Ar chimedes c ould not have spok en more geometri

”
cally .

Well
Well a ccordin g to my Observations we are at lea s t
, ,
”
ten thousand feet below the level of the sea .

Can it be possible ?
Eith er my ca lculation is correct or there is no truth ,
”
in figures .

The calculations of the Pro fessor were perfectly correct .

We were already six thousand feet deeper down in th e

 WE O TIN U E
C N OU R D E S CE N T . I OI

b owels of the earth than any on e had ever been before

!

The lowest known depth to which man had hitherto pene

t ra ted w as in the mines of Kitz—
Bahl on the Tyrol and
, ,

those of Wuttemb urg in Bohemia .

The temperatu re which should have been eighty one

,
-
,

w as in this place only fi ft een . This w as a matter for

s eriou s consideration .
 CHAPTER XVI .

THE E A S TE R N TUN N E L .

T HE n ext day w a s Tuesda y th e 2d of J uly—a n d a t

,

six O c lo c k in th e mo rnin g we re sume d our j ourney

’
.

We still c ontinue d to f ollow the gallery of lava a ,

perf e c t natural pathway a s easy of de sc ent a s some of

,

those in c lined plane s which in very old German h ou ses

, ,

serve the pu rpo se of stair cas es This went on un til .

seventeen minu te s pa st t w elve the precise instan t at ,

which we rejoined Hans wh o havin g been somewhat

,

in advan c e had suddenly stopped

,
.

“ ”
At last c ried my u ncle “ we have reac he d th e
, ,
”
en d of th e shaf t .

I look ed wonderingly about m e We were in the .

c entre of f our c ro ss path s—sombre a n d narro w tunnel s .

The qu e stion n ow aro se a s to which it w a s wi se to take

a n d t h i s of it sel f w a s n o small di ffi c ulty .

My un cle w h o did n ot wish to appear to have a ny

,

h esitation abo ut th e mat te r bef ore myself or the g uid e ,

at on ce ma de u p his m in d He pointed q uietly to th e

.

eastern tunnel an d withou t delay we entered within

, ,

its gloomy re c esses .

Be sides h a d he enterta ine d any f eelin g of hesitatio n

,

it mig ht have been prolonged indefini tely, f or there wa s

n o indi ca tio n by whi c h to determine on a c h oi c e It .

w a s ab solu tely n ece ssary to tru st to c han c e a n d g oo d

f ortune
The de sc en t of t hi s ob scure and n ar row g allery
w a s very grad ual a n d winding So meti me s we gaze d
.

throu g h a s u c ce ssion of arche s its cour se very like the

,

aisles of a Go th i c c athedral The grea t arti sti c sc ulp

.
104 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

O ur arrangements for the night we re very primitive

and simple A travelling rug in which each rolled him
.
,

sel f w a s all our b ed ding

,
We had no necessity to fear
.

cold or any unpleasant visit Travellers who bury them .

selves in the wilds and depths of the Af rican des ert w h o ,

seek profit and pleasure in the forests of the New World ,

are compelled to ta ke it in turn to watch during the

hours of sleep ; but in th is region of th e earth absolute
solitude and complete sec urity reigned supreme , .

We ha d nothing to fear eith er f rom sa vages or from

wild beas ts .

After a night s sweet repose we awoke fresh and ready

’
,

for action . There being nothing to detain us we starte d ,

on our journey We continued to burrow through th e

.

lava tunnel as before It w as impossible to make out

.

through what soil w e were making way The tunnel . ,

moreover instead of going down into the bowels of the

,

earth became absolutely horizonta l

,
.

I even thought afte r some examin ation that we were

, ,
’
actually tending upwards About ten o clock in the day
.

this state of things became so clear that finding the ,

change very fatiguin g I w as oblig ed to slacken my pace

and finally to come to a halt .

”
Well said the Professor quick ly what is the matte r?
, ,
”
The fa ct is I am dr eadf ully tir ed w as my ea rnest
, ,

reply .

’
What cried my uncle tired afi er a three hours
, ,
”
walk and by so easy a road ?
,

Easy enough I dare sa y but very fatiguing

, , .

But how can th at be when all we have to do is to go

,
”
downwards .

“
I beg your pardon sir For some time I have noticed
, .

that we are going upwards .

”
Upwards cried my uncle shrugging h is shoulders.
, ,

how can tha t be

 T HE EA S TERN TU N NE L . 10 5

There can be no doubt about it For the last half .

hour the slopes have been upward—and if we go on in

this way much longer we shall find ourselves back in Ice
”
land .

My uncle shook h is head with the air of a m a n who

does not want to be convinced I tried to continue the .

conversation He would not answer me but once more

.
,

gave the signal for departure His silence I thought w a s

.

only caus ed by concentrated ill temper -

.

However this might be I once more took up my load

, ,

and boldly and resolutely followed Hans who w a s now in ,

advance of my uncle I did not like to be beaten or even

.

distanced I w a s naturally an xious not to lose sight of

.

m y companions The very idea of being left behind lost

.
,

in that terrible labyrinth made me shiver a s with the

,

ague .

Bes ides if the ascending path w a s more arduous and

,

painful to clamber I had one source of secret consolation

,

and delight It w a s to all appearance taking u s back to

.

the surface of the earth That of itsel f w a s hopeful

. .

Every step I took confirmed me in my belief and I began ,

already to build castles in the air in relation to my mar

ria g e with my pretty little cousin .

About twelve o clock there w a s a great and sudden

’

change in the aspect of the rocky sides of the gallery I .

first noticed it from the diminution of the rays of light

which cast back the reflection of the lamp F rom being .

coate d with shining and resplendent lava it became living ,

rock The sides were sloping walls w hich sometimes b e

.
,

came quite vertical .

We were now in what the geological pro fessors call a

state of transition in the period of Silurian stones so
, ,

called because this specimen of early formation is very

common in England in the counties formerly inhabited by

the Celtic nation known a s Silures .

106 A JOURN EY T O T HE CE N TRE or T HE E AR TH .

I can see clearly now I cried

,
the sediment from
,

th e waters which once covered the whole earth f ormed ,

during the second period of its existence thes e schis ts and ,

these calcareous rocks We are turning our backs

.

On the granitic rocks and are l ike people f ro m H a mburg

,
”
wh o would go to L iib eck by way of Hanover .

I might jus t a s well have kept my observations to m y

sel f .My geo logical enthusia sm got the better however , ,

of my cooler judgment and Professor Ha rd wigg hea rd

,

my obs ervations .

”
What is the matter now ? he said in a tone of grea t ,
-

gravity .

Well cried I do you not see these diff erent la yers

, ,

of calcareous rocks and the first indication of slate

strata

Well ; what then ?

We have arrived at that period of the world s exis t ’

ence when the first plants and the fir st anima ls mad e their
”
appearance .

You think so ?
Yes look ; examine and j udge for yourself
, .

I induced the Pro fessor with some difficulty to cas t the

light of his lamp on the sides of the long winding gallery .

I expecte d some exclamation to burst from his lips I .

w a s very much mis taken The worthy Pro fessor never

.

spoke a word .

It w a s impossible to sa y whether he understood me or

not Perhaps it w a s possible that in his pride—my uncle
and a learned professor —
.

h e did not like to own that he

w as wrong in having cho sen the eastern tunnel or w a s he ,

determined at any price to go to the end of it ? It w as

quite evident we had left the region of lava and that the ,

road by which we were going co uld not ta ke us back to

‘

t he great crater of Mount S n eflels .

As we went along I could not h elp ruminating on the

108 A JOURN EY T o T HE CEN TR E or T HE E AR TH .

Do you see this ? I said .

”
Well said the Professor with the most imperturbable
, ,

tranquillity “ it is the shell of a cru staceous animal of the

,

extinct order of the trilobites ; nothing more I assure

’I
you
But cried I much troubled at his coolnes s do you
, , ,
”
draw no conclus ion from it ?
“
Well if I may a sk what conclusion do you draw from
, ,
”
it yourself ?
Well I thought,

I know my boy what you would sa y and you are

, , ,

right perfectly a n d incontestably right We have finally

, .

abandoned the crust of lava and the road by which the

lava ascended It is quite possible that I may have been
.

mistaken but I shall be unable to discover my error until

,

”
I get to the end of this gallery .

You ar e quite right as fa r as that is concerned I re ,

plied and I should highly approve of your decision

, ,

if we had not to fear the greates t of all da ngers .

”
And what is that ?
”
Want of wate r .

’
Well my dear Henry it can t be helped We must
, , .

put ourselves on rations .

And on he went .
 DE E P E R AN D D E E P E R —T HE C O AL MI N E .

IN truth we were compelled to put ourselves upon ra

,

tions O ur supply would certa in ly last n ot more than

.

three days I fou nd this out about supper time The

. .

worst part of the matter w a s that in what is called the

,

transition rocks it w a s ha rdly to be expected we should

,

meet with water I

I had read of the horrors of th irst a n d I knew that ,

where we were a brief trial of its sufferings would put an

,

end to our adventures— and our lives ! But it wa s utterly

useless to discuss the matter with my uncle He would .

have answered by some axiom from Plato .

D uring the whole of next day we proceeded on our

journey through this interminable gallery arch after ,

arch tunn el after tunnel We journeyed without excha ng

, .

ing a word We had become a s mute and reticent as

.

Hans our guide .

The road ha d no longer an upward tendency ; at all

events if it had it w a s not to be made out very clea rly
, ,
.

Sometimes there could be no doubt that we were going

downwards But this inclination w as scar cely to be dis
.

tinguish ed and w as by no means reassuring to the Pro

,

fessor becau se the ch a racter of th e strata w a s in no wise

,

modified and the transition character of the rocks beca me

,

more and more ma rked .

It w a s a glorious sight to see how the electric light

brought out the sparkles in the walls of the calcareous
rocks and the old red sandstone O ne might have fancied
, .

oneself in one of those deep cuttings in Devonshire which ,

1 10 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE NT RE OF T HE E AR TH .

have given their name to th is kind of soil Some ma gnifi .

cent specimens of marble proj ected from the sides of th e

gallery ; some of an agate grey with white veins of varic

gated ch aracter others of a yellow spotted color with red
, ,

veins ; farther 0 3 might be seen samples of color in which

cherry tinted seams were to be foun d in all their brightes t
-

shades .

The greater number of these marbles were stamped with

the marks of primitive animals Sin ce the previous eve .

ning nature a n d creation had m a de considerable progress

,
.

Ins tead of the rudimentary trilobites I perceived th e ,

remains of a more perfect order Among others the fish .

,

in w hich the eye of a geologist ha s been able to discover

the firs t form of the reptile .

The Devonian seas were in habite d by a vas t number of

animals of this species which were deposite d in tens of
,

thousands in the rocks of new formation .

It w a s quite evident to me that we were a sc ending th e

s cale of animal li fe of which man forms the summit My .

excellent uncle the Professor appeared not to take notice

, ,

of thes e warn ings He w as determined at a n y risk to

.

proceed .

He m ust ha ve been in expectation of one of two thing s ;

either that a vertica l well w a s about to open un der his
feet and thus allow him to continue his descent or that
, ,

s ome insurmountable ob stacle would compel u s to stop

and go back by the road we had so long travelled But .

evening came again and to my horror, neither hope w as

, ,

doomed to be realized !
O n F riday after a night when I began to feel the
,

gnawing agony of thirst and w hen in consequence app c

,

tite decreased our li ttle band ros e and once more followe d
,

the turnings and windings the as cents and des cents of

, ,

this interminable gallery All were silent and gloomy

. .

I could see that even my uncle h a d ventured too fa r .

1 12 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

that the hand of man could have ha d nothin g to do with

this coal mine ; the vault above would have fa llen in ; as
it was it w a s only held to gether by some miracle of nature
,
.

This m ighty na tu ral cavern w as about a hundred feet

wide by about a hundr ed and fif ty h igh The earth ha d
,
.

evidently bee n cast apart by some violent subte rranea n

commotion The m as s giving way to some prodigious up
.
,

hea ving of nature h ad split in two leaving the vast gap

, ,

into which we inhabitants of the earth had penetrated for

the first time .

The whole sin gular his tory of the coal period w a s wr i t

ten ou those dark and gloomy walls A geologis t would .

have been able ea s ily to follow the different phas es of its

formation .The seams of coal were separate d by strata
of sandstone a compact clay which appea red to be crushed
, ,

down by the weight from above .

At that period of the world which preceded the secon

dary epoch the earth w as covered by a coating of en or
,

mous and rich vegeta tion due to the double action of tro
,

pical heat and perpetual humidity A vast atmospheri c .

cloud of vapor surrounded the earth on all sides prevent ,

'

ing the rays of the su n from ever reaching it .

Hence the conclusion that thes e intens e heats did not

arise from this new sour ce of caloric .

Perhaps even the sta r of day w a s not quite ready for

its brilliant work—to illumine a universe Climates did .

not as yet ex is t and a level hea t pervaded the whole sur

face of the globe—the same heat exis tin g at the north pole
,

a s at the equator .

Whence did it come ? F rom the interior of the earth ?

I n spite of all the learned theories of Professor Hard
wigg a fierce and vehemen t fire certa inly burne d within
,

the entrails of the great spheroid I ts action w a s felt even

.

to the very topmost crust of the earth ; the plants then in

existence being deprived of the vivifying rays of the sun ,
 DE E PE R AND DE E PE R —THE C OAL MI NE . 11 3

ha d nei the r buds, nor flowers, odor but their roots

n or ,

drew a stron g a n d vigorous life fr om the burning earth of

early days
There were but few of what may be called trees—
.

o nly

herbaceous plants immense turfs briers mosses rare far

, , , ,

milies which however in those days were counted by tens

,

and tens of thousands .

It is entirely to this exuberant vegetation that coal owes

its orig in The crus t of the vas t globe still yielded under
.

the influence of the seething boiling ma ss which w a s for , ,

ever at work beneath Hence arose numerous fissures and

.
,

continual falling in of the upper earth The dense mass .

of plants being beneath the waters soon formed them ,

selve s into vast a gglomerations .

Then came about the action of natural chemistry ; in

the depths of the ocea n the vege table mass at first became
turf then tha nks to the in fluence of ga ses and subte rra
, ,

nean fermentation they underwent the complete process

,

of mineralization .

I n this manner in early days were formed those vast

, ,

and prodigious layers of coal which an ever increas ing ,

-

consumption must utte rly use up in about three ce nturies

more if people do not find some more economic light than
,

g a s and some chea per motive power than stea m

,
.

All thes e reflections the memories of my school studies

, ,

came to my mind while I gazed upon these mighty accu

mu la tions of coal who se riches however are scarcely likely
,

to be ever utilized The working of thes e mines could

.

only be carried out at an expense that would never yield

a profit .

The matter however is scarcely worthy consideration

, , ,

when coal is scattered over the whole surface of the globe ,

within a few yards of the upper crus t As I looked at .

these untouched strata therefore I knew they would re , ,

main as long a s the world las ts .

1 14 A JOURNE Y T O T HE C E NT RE OF T HE E AR TH .

While we still continued our j ourney I alone forgot the ,

length of the road by giving myself up wholly to these

,

geological consideration s The temperature continued to .

be very much the same a s while we were travelling amid

the lava a n d the schists O n the other ha n d my sense of
.

smell w a s much a ffected b y a very powerfu l od or I .

immediately k new that the gallery w as filled to overflow

ing with that dang erous gas the min ers call fire-damp the ,

explosion of which h a s cause d such f ea rful and te rrible

accidents m akin g a hu ndred widows and hun dreds of
, ,

orphans in a single hour .

Happily we were able to illume our pro gress by means

,

of the R uh mk orf app a ratus I f we had been so rash a n d .

imprudent as to explore this gallery to rch in hand a , ,

terrible explosion would h ave put an end to our travel s ,

simply beca u s e no travellers would be left .

O ur excursion through this wondrous coal mine in th e

very bowels of the earth l a ste d until evening My uncle .

w a s scarcely able to conceal h is impatience and dissa tisfa c

tion at the road continuing still to advance in a horizontal
d irection.

The darkness d ense and opaq ue a few yards in a dvance

, ,

and in the rear rendered it impossible to make out what

,

w a s the len gth of the gallery F or myself I began to .

,

believe th at it wa s sim ply in te rmin a ble and would go on ,

in the same mann er for months .

Suddenly at six o clock we sto od in from of a wa ll

,
’
, .

To the right to the left above below n owhere w a s there

, , , ,

any passage We had rea ched a spot where the rocks said
.

in unmista k able accents —No Thoroughfare .

I stood stupefied The guide simply folded his a rm s

.

My uncle w as silent .

Well well so m u ch the better cried my uncle at

, , , ,

la st I now k now what we are about

,
We are d e .

cid ed ly not upo n the road followed by S a kn ussemm All .

 CHAPTER XVI II .

T HE WR O N G R O AD l

N E X T day our departure took place at a very early

,

hour There w a s no time for the leas t delay Accordin g

. .

to my account we had five days hard work to get back

,
’

to the place where the galleries divided .

I can never tell all the sufferin gs we endured upon our

return My un cle bore them like a man who has bee n in
.

the wrong—that is w ith concentrated and su ppres sed a n

,

ger ; Hans with all the resignation of h is pacific charac

,

ter ; and I — I confess that I did nothing but complain a n d ,

despair I had no hea rt for this b a d fortune

. .

But there w as one cons olation Defeat at the outset .

would probably upset the whole journey !

As I had expecte d fr om the fir st our supply of wate r ,

gave completely out on our first day s march O ur pro ’

—
.

vis ion of liquids w a s reduced to our supply of s chiedam ;

but this horrible nay I will sa y it—this inf ernal liquor

,

burnt the throat and I could not even bea r the sight of it
, .

I found the temperature to be stifling I w a s paralyze d .

w ith fatigue More than once I w as about to fa ll insen si

.

ble to the ground The whole party then halted a n d the

.
,

Worthy Icelander and my excellent uncle d id their best to

console and com fort me I could however plainly see .
, ,

that my uncle w a s contending painfully a g ainst the ex

treme fatigues of our journey and the awful torture gen e ,

rated by the ab sence of water .

At length a time came when I ceased to recollect any

thing—when a ll w a s one awful hideous fantastic dream ! , ,

At las t on Tuesday th e eighth of the month of J uly

, , ,

a fter crawling on our hands and kn ees for many hours

,
 THE WR ON G R OAD ! 1 1 7

more dead than alive we reached the point of jun ction ,

between the galleries I lay like a log an inert m ass of

.
,

human fles h on the arid lava soil It w a s then ten in the .

morning .

Hans and my un cle leaning a ga inst the wa ll tried to

, ,

nibble away at some pieces of biscuit while deep groans ,

and sighs escaped from my scorched and swollen lips .

Then I fell off in to a kind of deep lethargy .

Presently I felt my un cle approach and lift me up ,

tenderly in his arms .

”
Poor boy I heard him sa y in a tone of deep com
,

m iseration .

I wa s profoundly touched by these words being by no ,

means accustomed to signs of womanly weakness in the

Pro fessor I caught his trembling hands in mine and
.

gave them a gentle pressure He allowed me to do so .

without resistan ce lookin g at me kindly all the time

, .

His eyes were wet with tears .

I then sa w him take the gourd which he w ere at his

side . To my surprise or rather to my stupefaction he , ,

placed it to my lips .

”
Drink my boy he said, , .

Wa s it possible my ears had not deceived me ? Was

my uncle mad ? I looked at h im with I am sure quite , , ,

an idiotic expres ion I would not understa nd him I

s . .

too much feared the coun teraction of disappointment .

“ ”
Drink he said again
, .

Had I heard aright ? Before n owever I could a sk , ,

myself the question a second time a mouthful of water

cooled my parched lips and throat—one mouthful but I
,

do believe it brought me ba ck to life .

I thanked my uncle by cl a sping my hands My heart .

wa s too full to speak .

Yes said b e
” “
one mouthful of water the very las t
do you hear my boy—the very las t ! I have taken
, , ,

-
,
 1 1 8 A JOUR N E Y T O T HE T
CE N RE OF T HE E AR TH .

care of it at the bottom of my bottle as the apple of my

eye: Twenty times a hundred times I have resis ted the
But no —
, ,

fearfu l des ire to drink it no Ha rry I saved .

-
, ,
”
it for you .

My dear un cle I exclaim ed and the b ig tea rs rolled , ,

down my hot and feverish cheeks .

Yes my poor boy I knew that when you rea ched this
, ,

place this cross road in the earth you would fall down
, ,

hal f dead and I saved my l as t dr op of wate r in order to

,
”
res tore you .

Thanks I cried ; thanks from my hea rt

, .

As little a s my thirst w a s really quenched I had never ,

th eles s partially recovered my strength Th e contra cted .

muscles of my throat relaxed—and the inflamm ation of

my lips in some measure subsided At a ll events I w as .
,

able to spea k .

“ ” “
Well I aid there can be no doubt now as to what
s , ,

we have to do Water h as utterly failed us our journey

.

is therefore at an end Let us return . .

While I spoke thus my uncle evidently avoided my ,

face : he held down his hea d h is eyes were turned in

every possible direction but the right one .

”
Yes I continued getting excite d by my ow n words
, , ,
'

we must go back to S n eflels May heaven give us .

strength to enable us once more to revisit the light of day .

Would that we now stood on the summit of the crater ” .

”
Go back said my u ncle speaking to himself
, a nd

must it be so
Go back—yes and without losing a single moment ” , ,

I vehemently cried .

For some moments there w as silence under th at dark

and gloomy vault .

So my dea r Harry said the Professor in a very singu

, ,

lar tone of voice those few drops of water have not su fi

,

ficed to restore our ener d courage ”

y gy a n .
 THE WR ON G ROAD ! 1 19

Courage ! I cried
—
.

I see that you are quite as dow ncas t a s before a n d still

”
give way to disco uragement and despair .

What then was the man made of and what other pro
, , ,

j ects were ente ring his fertile and ”auda cious brain !
You are not discouraged sir ? ,

”
What ! give up j us t as we are on the verge of success ,

he cried never never shall it be said that Professo r

, ,

Ha rd w igg retrea te d ”
.

Then we must make up our minds to perish I cried ,

with a helpless s igh .

No Harry my boy certain ly not Go lea ve me I am

, , , .
, ,

very fa r from desirin g your death Take Hans with you . .

!
I l go on a lone
w il .

You as k us to leave you ?

Lea ve me I sa y I have underta ken this dangerous
, .

and perilous adventure I will ca rry it to the end—or I.

—
will never return to the surface of Mother Earth G o
Harry once more I sa y to you—go !
.
,

My uncle as he spoke w as terribly excited His voice .

,

which before h a d been tender almost womanly became , ,

harsh and menacing He appea red to be struggling with

.

desperate energy against the impos ible I did not wish to 3 .

aba ndon him at the bottom of that abyss while on the , ,

other ha nd the ins tinct of preservation told me to fly

, .

Meanwhile our guide w a s looking on with profound

,

calmness and indifference He appeared to be an u ncon .

cerned party and yet he perfectly well knew what w a s go

,

in g on betw een us O ur gestures sufficiently ind icated the

different roads each wished to follow—a nd which each
.

t ried to influence the other to underta ke But Ha ns a p .

pea red not to ta ke the slightest in terest in what w a s really

a ques tion of life and death for us all but waited quite ,

rea dy to obey the signa l which should sa y go aloft or to ,

resume hi p j
s des era te ourne
y i nto th ein terior Q f the ear th .
 1 20 A JOURN E Y T O T HE CE N R ET OF THE E AR TH .

How then I wished with all my hea rt and soul that I

could make him understand my words My representa .

tions my sighs and groans th e earnes t accents in w hich I

, ,

should have spoken would have convin ced that cold hard

nature Those fearful da ngers a n d perils of which the

.

s tolid guide had n o idea I would have pointe d them out to

,

h im—I w ould have a s it w ere made him see and feel

, ,
.

Between us we might ha ve convinced the obstinate Pro

,

fesse r I f the worst had come to the wors t we could have

.
,
'
compelled him to return to the summ it of S n eflels .

I quietly approached Hans I caught h is hand in mine . .

He never moved a mus cle I indicated to him the road to .

the top of the crate r He remained motionles s My pant

. .

ing form my haggard countenance mus t have indicated

, ,

the extent of my su fferings The Icelander gently shook .

his head and pointed to my uncle .

“
Ma ster he said
”
, .

The word is Icelandic a s well as English .

The master ! I cried bes ide mysel f w ith fury mad

man ! no —
,

I te ll you he is not the master of our lives ; we

must fly ! we must drag him with u s ! do you hear me ?
”
Do you understand m e I sa y ? ,

I have alrea dy explain ed that I held Han s by th e arm .

I tried to make h im rise from his s eat I struggled with .

him and tried to force him away My u ncle now in terposed . .

”
My good Henry be calm he sa id, You will obta in , .

nothing from my devoted follower ; therefore lis ten to ,

what I have to sa y .

I folded my arms as well a s I could and look ed my nu

, ,

cle full in the face .

“
This wretched wan t of water he said is th e sole , ,

obsta cle to the succes s of my project In the en tire gal .

lery composed of lava schist and coal it is true we foun d

, , , ,

not one liquid molecule It is quite possible that we may

.

be more fortun a te in the Western tunnel

”
,
 CHAP TE R XIX .

THE WES TE R N GALL E R Y—A NE W R OU TE .

OU R descent w as now res um ed by means of the second

gallery . Hans took up his post in front as usu al We .

had not gone more than a hundred yards when the Pro
fes se r ca refully examin ed the walls
This is the primitive formation—we a re on the right
.

r oad — o nwards is our hope !

”

When the whole ea rth got cool in the first hours of the
world s morning the diminution of the volume of the ea r th
’
,

produced a state of dislocation in its upper crust followed ,

by ruptures crevasses and fissur se

, The passage w as a
.

fissure of this kind through which ages ago had flowed

, , ,

the eruptive gra nite The thousand windings and tur nings
.

formed an inextricable labyrinth through the ancient soil .

As we descended successions of layers composing th e

,

primitive soil appeared with the utmost fidelity of detail .

Geologica l science considers this primitive soil as the ba se

of the mineral crus t and it ha s recogni sed that it is com
,

p osed of three differ ent str ata or layers a ll restin g on the

.
,

immovable rock known as gran ite .

No mineralogists had ever foun d them elves placed in s

such a ma rvellou s position to study nature in all her r eal

and naked beauty The sounding rod a mere m achine

.
, ,

could not bring to th e su rface of the earth the objects of

value for the study of its in ternal structure which we were ,

about to see with our own eyes to touch with our own
,

hands .

R emember that I am writing this afier the journey .

Across the streak of the rocks colored by bea utiful

,

g reen tints, wound metallic threads of c opper, of ma nga

 TH E WE S TE RN GALLE R Y —A NE W R OUTE .

n ese, with tra ces of pla tinum and gold I could not help .

gazin g at thes e riches buried in the entrails of mother

earth and of which no man would have the enjoyment to
,

the end of time ! Thes e trea s ures mighty and inexhaust —

ible were buried in the morning of the earth s history at
,
’
,

such awful depths that no crowbar or pickaxe will ever

,

drag them from their tomb !

T he lig ht of our R uhmk orf s coil increa s ed tenf old by
’
,

the myriad of prismatic masses of rock sen t their jets of ,

fir e in every dir ection and I could fa ncy myself travelling

,

through a huge hollow diamond the rays of which pro ,

'
d uced myriads of extra ordinary efiects .

Towards six o clock this festival of light began sensibly

’
,

and visibly to decreas e and soon almost cea s ed The , .

sides of the gallery assumed a crystallized ti n t with a ,

sombre hue ; white mica began to comm ingle more freely

with f e ldspar and quartz to form what may be called the

true rock—the stone which is hard above all that supports
,

, ,

without bein g crushed the four stories of the earth s soil

,
’
.

We were walled by a n immense prison of granite !

’
It w as now eight o clock and still there w as no sign of ,

water The suff erings I endured were horrible My uncle

. .

now kept at the head of our little column Nothing could .

induce him to stop I meanwhile had but one real

.
, ,

thought My ea r w as keenly on the watch to ca tc h the

.

soun d of a spring But no pleasant sound of fall ing water

.

fell upon my liste nin g ear .

But at las t the time came when my limbs refused to

longer carry me I contended heroica lly against the ter
.

rible to rtures I endured because I did not Wish to compel

,

my uncle to halt To him I knew this would be the last

.

fatal stroke .

Suddenly I felt a dea dly fain tness come over me My .

eyes could no longer see ; my kn ees shook I gave one

despairing c ry—
.

a n d fell !
I 24 A JOURN E Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR T H .

”
Help help I am dying !
, ,

My uncle turned and slowly retraced his steps He .

looked at me with folded arms and then allowed one sen ,

ten ce to escape in hollow ac cents from his lips

, ,
”
All is over .

The l as t thing I sa w w as a fa ce fearfully distorted with

pa in a n d sorrow ; and then my eyes closed .

When I a gain opened them I sa w my compa nions lyin g ,

near me motionless wrapped in their huge travelling rugs

, , .

Were they asleep or dead ? F or myself sleep w as wholly ,

out of the question My fainting fit over I w a s wakeful

.
,

a s the la rk I su ff ered too much for sleep to visit my eye

lids—the more tha t I thought mysel f sick unto dea th
.

dying The las t words spoken by my uncle seemed to be

—
.

buzzing in my ears a ll is over ! And it w as probable

that he w as right In the state of prostration to which I
.

w a s reduced it w a s m a dness to thin k of ever ag ain seeing

,

the light of day .

Above were miles upon m iles of the earth s crust As ’

.

I thought of it I could fancy the whole weight resting on

,

my shoulders I w as crushed annihilated ! and exhausted

.
,

mysel f in vain attempts to turn in my granite b ed .

Hours upon hours passed away A profound and .

terrible silence reigned around us—a silence of the tomb .

Nothing could make its elf hea rd through th ese gi gantic

wall s of granite The very thought w as stupendous
. .

Pres ently des pite my apathy despite the kind of deadly

, ,

calm into which I w as cas t something arous ed me It , .

w as a slight but peculiar noise While I w a s watching .

intently I obse rved tha t the tun nel w as be comin g dark

, .

Then gazing through th e dim light that remained I ,

thought I sa w the Icelander taking his departure lamp in ,

hand .

Why had he a c ted thus ? Did Hans the guide mean to

 CHAPTER XX .

WATE R , WHE R E rs I T ? A BITTE R DIS AP P OI NT M E N T .

DUR IN G a long long wea ry hour ther e crossed my

, , ,

wildly delirious brain a ll so rts of rea sons a s to wha t could

have aroused our quiet and faithful guide The most a b .

surd and ridiculou s idea s pass ed th rough my hea d each ,

more impossible than the other I believe I w a s either .

half or wholly m a d .

Suddenly however, there arose a s it were from the

, ,

depths of th e ea rth a voice of comfort It w a s th e sound

, .

of f ootste ps Hans w as retur nin g .

Presently th e uncertain light bega n to shine upon the

wall s of the pas sage and then it came in vie w fa r down
,

the sloping tunnel At length Hans himself appea red

. .

He approa ched my uncle pla ced his hand upon his

,

sh oulder and gently awakened him

,
My uncle as soon .
,

a s he sa w who it w a s ins tantly rose

, .

Well l exclaimed the Professor .

Va tten said the hunter

,
.

I did not know a single word of the Danish langua ge ,

and yet by a sort of mysterious ins tinct I unders tood what

the guide ha d said .

”
Water wate r ! I c ried in a wild and frantic tone
, , ,

clapping my hands and gesticulating like a madman

, .

“ ”
Water ! murmured my uncle in a voice of deep ,

emotion and gratitu de Hvar .

( where )
N ed a t ( b elow )
”
Where ? below ! I understood every word I had .

caught the hunter by the hands and I shook them ,

heartily while he looked on with perfect calmness

,
.
 A B I TTE R DI S AP PO IN TME N T . I 27

The preparations for our departu re did not take long ,

and we were soon making a rapid des cent into the tunnel .

An hour later we had ad vanced a thousand yards and ,

des cended two thousand feet .

At this moment I heard an accustomed and well kn own -

s ound running along the floors o f the granite rock—a kin d

of dull and sullen roar like that of a di stant waterfall ,

.

Duri n g the first half hour of our advance not finding -

,
'

th e di scovered sprin g my f eelings of intense suflerin g a p

,

pea red to return Once more I began to lose all hope

.
.

My un cle however observing how down hearted I w a s

, ,
-

a gain becoming took up the conversation

,
.

“
Han s w a s right he exclaimed enthusiastically ; that
, ,
”
is the dull roaring of a torren t .

”
A torrent I cried delighted at even hearin g the
, ,

Welco m e words .

There s not the slightest doubt about it he replied

’

, ,
”
a subterranean river is flowing beside us .

I made no reply but hastened on once more animated

, ,

by hope I began not even to feel the deep fatigue which

.

hitherto had overpowered me The very sound of this .

glorious murmu rin g water already refreshed me We .

could hear it increasin g in volume every moment The .

torrent which for a long time could be heard flowin g over

,

our heads now ran distinctly along the left wall roaring
, , ,

rushing splutterin g and still falling

, , .

Several times I passed my hand across th e rock h 0 ping

to fin d some trace of humidity—o f the slightes t percol a
tion Alas ! in vain
. .

Again a half hou r passed in the same weary toil Again .

we advanced .

It now became eviden t that the hu n ter during h is a b ,

sence had not been able to carry his researches any fa r

,

ther G uided by an in stinct peculiar to the dwellers in

.

moun tain regions and water finders he smelt the living ,

 1 28 A JOURN EY T O T HE CE N RE T or T HE E AR T H .

s pring through the rock Still he had not seen the precious
.

liquid He had neither quenched his own thirst n or

.
,

brought us one drop in h is gourd .

Moreover we soon made the disastrous discovery that

, ,

if our progress continued we should soon be moving away ,

from the torrent the sound of which gradually diminished

,
.

We turned back Hans halted at the precise spot where

.

the sound of the torrent appeared nea res t .

I could bear the suspense and sufferin g no longer and ,

s eate d mysel f again st the w all behind which I co uld hear ,

'

the water seething and efiervescin g not two feet away But .

a solid wall of granite still separated us f rom it !

Han s looked keenly at me and strange enough for , , ,

once I thought I sa w a smile on his imperturbable face .

He rose from a stone on w hich he had been sea te d and ,

took up the lamp I could not help rising and following

.
.

He moved slowly along the firm and solid granite wall I

watched him with min gled curiosity and eagerness Pre~
.

sen tly b e halted and placed h is ear agains t the dry stone ,

moving slowly along and listening with the most extreme

care and attention I u nderstood at once that he w as
.

searching for the exact spot where the torrent s roar w as

’

most plainly hea rd This point he soon found in the

.

late ral wall on the left side about three feet above the ,

level of the tunnel floor .

I w as in a state of inten se excitement I scarcely dared .

believe what the cider duck hunter w a s about to do It

-
.

w a s however impossible in a moment more not to both

, ,

understand and applaud and even to smother him in my ,

embraces when I sa w h im rais e the heavy crowbar and

,

commence an attack upon the rock itself .

”
Saved I cried ,
.

Yes cried my uncle even more excite d and delighted

”
, ,

“
than mysel f ; Hans is quite right Oh the worthy excel .
, ,

lent ma n ! We should never have thought of s uch an idea .

 13 0 A JOURNE Y T O THE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

scarcely able to k eep down a cry of pain and g rief .

unders tood his meaning wh en plunging my hands into the

sparkling jet I mysel f gave a wild and frantic cr The
y .

water w a s scalding hot !

”
Boiling I cried in bitter disappointment
, , .

”
Well never mind sa id my uncle it will soon get
, , ,

cool .

The tunnel began to be fill ed by clouds of vapor while ,

a sma ll stream ran away into the interior of the earth In .

a short time we had some su fficiently cool to drink We .

swallowed it in huge mouthful s.

Oh what exalte d delight—what rich and in comparable

luxury ! What w a s this water whence did it come ? To ,

us what w as that ? The simple fact w a s—it w a s water ;

and though still with a tinge of warmth about it it
, ,

brought back to the heart that life which but for it must , , ,

surely have faded away I drank greedily almost With .

,

out tasting it .

‘Vhen however I had alm ost qu ench ed my ravenous

, ,

thirst I made a discovery

, .

Why it is ferruginou s water

, .

”
Most excellent stomachic replied my uncle and , ,

highly mineralized Here is a j ou rney worth twen ty to

.

”
S pa .

’
very good I replied
Its , .

I should think so Water found six miles un der .

g round There is a pecu liarly inky flavor about it which

.
,

is by no means disagreeable Hans may congratulate .

himsel f on having made a rare discovery What do you .

sa
y nephew according to the u sual custom of travellers
, , ,
”
to name the strea m after him ?
Good sa id I ,
.

And the name of Han s bach wa s at once agreed -

upon .

Hans wa s not a bit more proud after hearin g our d e

 A B ITTE R D I S APP O IN TME N T . 13 1

te rmination than he w a s before After having ta ken a .

very small modicum of the welco me refreshment he had ,

sea ted hi msel f in a corner with h i s us ua l imperturbable

gravity .

Now said I “ it is not worth while lettin g this water

, ,
”
r un to waste .

What is the use replied my u ncle the source from

, ,
”
which this river rises is inexhaustible .

“ ” “
Never mind I contin ued let us fill our goat skin
, ,

and gourds and then try to stop the opening up

, .

My advice after some h esitation w as followed or a t

, ,

tempted to be followed Hans picked up all the broken

.

pieces of granite he had knocked out and us ing some tow ,

he happened to have about him tried to shut up the fissure ,

he had mad e in the w a ll All he did was to scald his .

hands The pressure w a s too great and a ll our attempts

.
,

were utter failures .

”
It is evident I remarked “ that the upper surface of
these springs is situated at a very great height above—a s
, ,

”
i f f
we may fa rly in er rom the great press e o the jet
ur f .

That is by no means doubtful replied my uncle “ if , ,

this column of water is about thirty two thous and feet high -
,

the atmospheric pressure must be something enormous .

”
But a new idea h a s just struck me .

And what is that ?

Wh y be at so much trouble to close this aperture ?
Becau se
I hes itated and stammered having no rea l reas on , .

When our water bottles are empty we are not at all ,

sur e that we shall be able to fill them observed my un cle , .

”
I think that is very probable .

Well then let this wate r run It will of course na

, , .
, ,

tu ra lly follow in our track and will serve to guide and re

,
”
fresh us .

“
I think the idea a good one I cried in reply a n d , , ,
1 3 2 A JOURN E Y T O T HE T
CE N RE OF T HE E AR T H .

with this rivu let a s a co mpanion there is no further rea s on

,
”
why we should not succeed in our ma rvellou s proj ect .

”
Ah my boy said the professor laughing af te r a ll
, , , , ,

you are coming round .

More than that I am now confident of ultimate suc

,

cess F orward
. .

O ne moment nephew mine, Let us begin by ta king

.

some hours of repo se .

I had utte rly forgotten that it w as night The chr ono .

meter however inf ormed me of the fact Soon we were

, , .

su fficiently restored and refreshed and ha d a ll fa llen into

,

a profound sleep .
 1 3 4 A JOURN E Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

f eet . I could not but compare it to some familia r spir it ,

guiding us through the earth and I dabbled my fin gers in ,

its te pid water which sang like a naiad as we progres sed

, .

My good humor bega n to assume a myt hologica l cha

ra cter.

A s formy uncle he began to compla in of the horizontal

character of the road His route he foun d began to be .

indefinitely prolonged ins tea d of sliding down the celes ,

”
tial ray according to his expression
,
.

But we had no choice ; and a s long a s our road led

towards the centre—however litt le progress we made ,

ther e w a s n o reas on to complain .

Moreover from time to time the slopes were much

,

greater ; the naia d sa ng more loudly and we began to dip ,

downwards in earn est .

A s yet however I felt no pain ful sen sation

, , I ha d not .

got over the excitement of the discovery of water .

That day and the next we did a considerable amount

of horizontal a n d relatively very little vertical travelling
, , .

O n F riday even ing the tenth of J uly according to our

, ,

es timation we ought to h ave b een thirty lea gum to the

,

southea s t of R e kj a w ik and about two lea gues and a

y ,

ha lf deep We now rece ived a rather sta rtlin g surprise

. .

Under our feet there opened a horri ble well My uncle

w a s so deligh ted th at he actually clapped his h ands—
.

as

he sa w how steep and sharp w as the des cent .

” “
Ah ah l he cried in rapturous delight ; this will
, ,

ta ke us a long way Look at the projections of the rock

. .

” ”
f
Hah l he exclaimed it s a fear ul staircas e l ’
,

Hans ho wever who in all our troubles had never given

, ,

up the ropes took care so to dispose of them a s to prevent

,

an
y accidents O ur descent then began I dare n ot call
. .

it a perilous descent for I w a s already too familiar with

,

t hat sort of work to look upon it a s any thing but a very

ordinar y affair .
 U ND R E T HE O CE AN . 13 5

This well w a s a kind of narrow open ing in the massive

granite of the kind k nown as a fissure The contraction .

of th e terre s trial scaffolding when it suddenly cooled ha d

, ,

been evidently the cause I f it had ever served in former

.

times a s a kind of funn el th rough which passed the crup

tive masses vomited by S neffles I w a s at a loss to explain ,

h ow it had left no m ark We were in fact descending a

.
, ,

spiral something like those windin g stair cases i

, n use in

modern houses .

We were compelled every quarter of an hour or there

abouts to sit down in order to res t our legs O ur calves .

ached We then seated ours elves on some projecting rock

.

with our legs hanging over and gossipped while we ate a

mouthful—drinking still from the plw sa ntly warm run
,

ning stream which had not des erted us .

It is sca rcely n eces sa ry to sa y tha t in this curiously shaped

,
-

fissure the Ha n sb a ch had become a cascade to the detriment

of its size . It w a s still however sufficient and more for , ,

our wants Bes ides we knew that a s soon a s the declivity

.
,

cea s ed to be so abrupt the stream mus t resume its peace

,

fu lcourse At this moment it remin ded me of my uncle his

.
,

impatience and rage while when it flowed more peacefully

, ,

I pictured to myself the pla cidity of the Icelandic guide .

During the whole of two da ys the sixth and seventh ,

of J uly we followed the extraord inary sp iral sta ircase of

,

the fissure penetrating tw o lea gues farther into the crust

,

of the ma th which pla ced us five league

, s below the level
of th e sea O n the eighth however at twelve o clock in ’
.
, ,

the day the fissure suddenly assumed a much more gentle

,

slope still tren ding in a south east direction -

.

The road now became comparatively ea s y and at the ,

same time dread fully monotonou s It would ha ve been .

difficult for matters to have turned out otherwis e O ur pe .

culi a r journey h ad no ch ance of being diversified by land

scape and scenery At all events such w as my idea

.
, .
 1 3 6 A JOURN E Y T O T HE C E N RE T OF THE E AR TH .

At length on Wedn es day the fifteenth we were actua lly

, ,

seven leagu es ( twenty one mil es ) below the surface of th e

-
,

earth and fifty leagues dis tant from the mountain of Sncf
,

fels . Though if the tru th be told we were very tired our

, , ,

hea lth had resisted all suffering a n d w as in a most sa tis ,

O ur traveller s box of medi caments had not

’
facto ry state .

even been opened .

My uncle wa s careful to note every hour the indications

of the comp ass of the manometer and of the thermometer
, , ,

a ll which he afterwards publish ed in his elaborate philoso

phica l and scientific account of our remarkable voyage He .

w as therefore able to give an exact relation of the s itua

tion When th erefore he inf orm ed me that we were fifty
.
, ,

leag ues in a horizontal direction dis ta nt from our starting

point I could not su ppress a loud exclamation
, .

Wh at is the matter now ? cried my uncle

”
.

Nothin g very importa n t only an idea h as entered my

'

”
head w a s my reply
,
.

Well out w ith it my boy

, , .

It is my opinion that if your ca lculations a re correct

”
we are no longer u nder Icelan d .

”
Do you think so ?
We ca n very easily fin d out I replied pullin g out , ,

th e ma p and compasses .

”
Y ou see I said afte r careful mea su rement th at I
, , ,

am n ot mistaken We are fa r beyond Cape Portl a nd ;

.

and those fifty leagues to the south eas t will take us into -

the open sea .

“
Under the open sea cried my un cle rubb ing his , ,

hands with a delighted air .

”
“
Yes I cried ,
no doubt old ocea n flows over our
,
“

”
heads .

Well my dear boy what can be more natur al Do you

, , .

n ot know that in the neighborhood of Newcas tle th ere are

coal mines which have b ee n worked fa r out under the sea ? ’
 CHAPTER XXII .

S UN DA Y BE L OW GR OUN D .

I A WO KE on Sunday morning without any sense of hur ry

a n d bustle attendant on an imm ediate departure Though .

the day to be devoted to repose and refl ection w as spent

under s uch strange circums tances and in so wonderful a ,

place the idea w as a plea s ant one B esides we all bega n

, .
,

to get us ed to this kind of exis ten ce I had almost cea s ed .

to think of the sun of the moon of th e stars of the trees

, , , ,

houses and towns ; in fact about any terrestrial n ecessi

, ,

ties In our pec uliar position we were fa r above such re

.

fiection s .

The grotto w a s a vas t and magnificent hall Along its .

granitic soil the stream flowed placidly and plea santly So .

grea t a distance w a s it now from its fiery source that its ,

w ater w as s carcely lukewarm a n d could be drank without

,

delay or difficulty .

Af ter a fru gal brea kfas t the Professor m a d e u p his

,

mind to devote some hou rs to putting his notes and calcu

la tion s in order .

In the first place he said I have a good ma ny to

, ,

verify and prove in order that we may know our exact

,

position I wi sh to be able on our return to the upper

.

regions to make a map of our journey a kind of vertica l

,
-
,

section of the globe which w ill be a s it were the profile

,
”
of the expedition .

That would indeed be a curious work uncle ; but can ,

you make your observations with anything like certa inty

”
i
and precis on ?
I can I have never on one occa s ion failed to note
.
 S UN D AY BE L OW GR OUND . 1 39

with great care the angles and slopes I a m certain as to .

ha vin g ma de no mistake Take the compass and exa mine

.

”
how she points .

I looked at the instrumen t with care .

”
Eas t one quar ter south ea s t -
.

”
Ver y good res umed the Pro fessor noting the obser
, ,
‘

v ation and going through some rapid calculations

, I .

make out that we have journeyed two hundred and fifty

”
miles from the point of our departure .

Then the mighty waves of the Atlantic are rolling

over our hea ds
”
Certainly .

An d at this very moment it is possible that fierce tem

pes ts are raging above and th at men and ships are bat
,
”
tling against the angry blas ts jus t over our heads ?
“ ”
It is quite within the range of possibility rejoined ,

my u ncle smiling .

And that whales are playing in shoals thrash ing the ,

bottom of the sea the roof of our adamantine prison ?

,

Be quite at rest on that point ; there is no danger of

their breaking through But to return to our calcula
.

tions We are to the south ea s t two hundred and fift y

.
-
,

miles fro m the bas e of S n eflels and according to my pre

'

, ,

ceding notes I think we have gone sixteen lea gues in a

,

down ward dir ection

Six teen leagues—fif ty miles ! I cried
.

”
I am sure O f it .

But that is the extreme limit allowed by science for

the thickness of th e earth s crust I replied referring to
’

, ,

my geologica l studies .

I do not contravene tha t assertion w as h is quiet a n ,

swer.

And at this stage of our journey according to all ,

kno w n laws on th e increa s e of heat there should be here ,

a temperature of fifteen hu n d red degrees of R ea umur .

1 40 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N R E T OF THE E AR TH .

Ther e should b H ou sa y my boy , .

In which case this granite w ould not exist but be in a ,

”
s tate of fusion .

But you perc eive my boy that it is not so and that

, , ,

f acts as usual a r e very stu b born thin gs over rulin g a ll

, , ,
”
theories .

I am forced to yield to the e vidence of my senses but ,

I am nevertheless very much s urprised ” .

Wh at heat does the thermomete r really in dicate ?

c ontinued the philosopher .

Twenty seven six ten ths

- -
.

So that science is w rong by fourteen hundred a n d

seventy four degrees and four te nths
-
According to -
.

which it is demon strated that the proportional in crea se in

,

tem perature is an exploded error H umphrey Davy here .

shines forth in all hi s glory He is right and I have .

,

acted wis ely to believe him Have you any answer to .

make to this statement ?

Had I chosen to have spoken I might have said a ,

grea t deal I in no way admitted the theory of Hum

—
.

p h re
y Davy I still held out for the theory of proport ion
a l increas e of heat though I did not f eel it
, .

I w as fa r more willin g to allow that this chimney of a n

extin ct volcan o w a s covered by lava of a kind refractory to
hea t—in fa ct a bad conductor—which did not allow the
great increase of temperature to percolate through its sides .

The hot water j et supported my view of the matter .

But without entering on a long and useless discu ssion ,

or seeking for new arguments to controvert m y uncle I ,

contented myself w ith taking up facts as they were .

Well sir I take for gra nted that all your calculations
, ,

are correct but allow me to draw fr om them a rigorous

,
”
and definite conclusion
Go on my boy—have your sa y cried my un cle
.

, , .

g ood h umoredly
-
.
1 42 A JOURN E Y T O T HE C E N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

I sa w at once th a t th e old doctorial Professo r w w st ill

alive in my uncle —a n d fearful to rous e h is angry pa s
sion s I d ropped the unpleasant subject
,
.

“ “
Now then he explained consult the manometer
, , , .

”
What does that indicate ?
A cons iderable amount of pres sure .

V ery good You see then that by de

. s cending slo wly
, , ,

and by gradually accustoming ourselves to the density of

this lower atmosphere we shall not suffer ,
.

Well I suppose n ot except it may be a certain

, ,

amount of pain in the ea rs w a s my rather grim reply ,

.

That my dear boy is nothing and you will eas ily get
, , ,

rid of that source of d isco mfort by bringing the exte rior

air in communication with the air contained in your
”
lun gs .

“
Perfectly said I for I had quite mad e u p my mind
, ,

in no w ise to contradict my uncle I sh ould fancy a l

mo st that I should experience a certain amount of sa t
isfa ction in making a plunge into this dense atmosphere .

Have you taken note of how wonderf ully sound is pro

pa ga ted
O f cours e I have There can be no doubt that a
.

jou rney into the interior of the earth would be an excellent

”
cure for deafness .

“
But then uncle I ventured mildly to observe this
, , ,

density will continue to increa se .

“
Yes—accordin g to a law which however is scarcely , ,

defined It is tru e that th e intensity of weight will diminish

.

just in proportion to the depth to which w e go You .

know very well that it is on the su rface of th e earth that

its action is most pow erq y felt while on the contra ry in , ,

the very centre of the ea rth bodies ce ase to have any

”
weight at all .

I know that is the c as e but as we progress will not the

,

”
a tmo sphere finally assume the den sity of water ?
 S UN DAY BE L OW GR OUN D . 1 43

I know it ; wh en placed under the pressure of seven

hundr ed and te n atmospheres cried my uncle with im~
”
,

perturbable gravity .

And when we are still lower dow n ? I asked with

natural anx iety .

Well lower down the den sity will become even grea ter
, ,

Then how shall we be able to make our way through

”
this atmospheric fog ?
Well my worthy nephew we must ballast ourselves
, ,
”
by filling our pockets with stones said Professor Hard ,

Wigg.

Faith uncle you have an answer for everything w a s

, , ,

my only reply .

I began to feel that it w as unwise in me to go any fa r

ther into the wide field of hypothesse for I should certainly
have revived some difiiculty or rather impossibility that,

would have enraged the Professor .

I t w a s evident nevert heless that the air under a pres

, ,

sure which might be multiplied by thou sands of atmos

ph eres would end by becoming perfectly solid and that

, ,

then admitting our bodies resisted the pressure we should ,

have to stop in spite of all the reas onin gs in the world

, .

Facts overcome all arguments .

But I thought it best not to urge this argument My .

u ncle would simply have quoted the example of Sakun e

semm Supposing the learned Icelander s journey ever ’

really to have taken place —

.

there w a s one simple answer

to be made
In th e sixteenth century neither the barometer n or the
manometer had been invente d—how then could S a k n us , ,

semm have bee n able to discover w hen h e did reach the

centre of the earth ?

This unanswerable and learned objection I h owever , ,

kept to mysel f and bracing up my courage awaited the

,
1 44 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE NT RE OF T HE E AR TH
.

course of events— little aware of how adven turous yet were

to be the incidents of our rema rkable jour ney .

The rest of this day of leisu re and repose w as spent in

calculation and conversation I made it a point to agree
.

with the Professor in everything ; but I envied the perfect

indifference of Hans who without taking any such trouble
,

about the cause and effect went blindly onwards wher ever
,

destiny chose to lead them .

 1 46 A JO UR NE Y T O THE CE N TR E OF THE E AR T H .

that a man w ho shuts himse l f up betwee n four walls must

lose the faculty of associating ideas and words How .

many persons condemned to the horrors of solitary con

fin ement have gone mad— s imply b eca u s e the t hin k ing fa n

culti ce have lain d ormen t l

Duri n g the two weeks that followed our las t interesting
conversation there occurr ed nothing worthy of being esp e
,

cia lly recorded .

I have while writing th se e memoirs taxed my m emory

, ,

in vain for on e incident of travel dur in g this partic ular

But the n ext ev en t to b e rela ted is terrib le indeed I ts .

very memory even now makes my soul shudder a n d my

, , ,

blood run cold .

It w a s on the seven th of Au gust O ur con stan t a n d .

su ccessive descent s had taken us quite th irty leagues into

the interior of the ear th that is to sa y that there were ,

above us thirty lea gues nearly a hundred miles of rocks

, , ,

and oceans and continents and towns to sa y nothin g of

, , ,

livin g inhabitants We were in a south e aste rly dir ection

.
-
,

about two hund red leagues from Iceland .

O n that memorable day the tu nnel had begun to assume

an almost horizontal cou rs e .

I w a s on th is occa sion w alking on in fr ont My uncle .

had charge Of one of the R uh mk orf coils I ha d possession ,

of th e other By means of its light I w a s busy exa m ining

.

the different layers of grani te I w as completely absorbed .

in my work .

Sudden ly h a ltin g and turnin g round I foun d th at I w a s ,

alone !
Well thought I to myself I h ave cert ainly been
walking too fast—o r else H a n s and my u ncle have stop ped
, ,

to rest The best thing I can do is to go back and find

.

them Luckily there is very little as cent to tire me

.
, .

I accordingly e tra ced my steps and while doing so,

s
,
 AL ONE . 1 47

walked for at leas t a quarter of an hour R a ther unea sy .

,

I paused and looked eagerly around Not a living soul . .

I called aloud N0 reply My voice w as lost amid the

. .

myriad cavernous echoes it a rous ed l

I began for the first time to feel seriously uneas y A .

cold shiver shook my whole body and perspiration chill , ,

and terrible burst upon my skin

, .

”
I mus t be calm I said speaking aloud as boys w his
, , ,

tle to drive away fear There can be no doubt that I

.

shall find my co mpanion s There cannot be two roads

. .

It is certain that I w a s considerably ahea d ; all I have to

do is to go back .

Having come to this determination I ascende d the tun

nel for at leas t h a lf an hour unable to decide if I had ever
,

seen certain lan d marks before Every n ow and then I .

paused to discover if any loud appeal w a s made to me ,

well knowing that in that dense and i n tensified atmosphere

I should hear it a long way off But no The most ex . .

t ra ordin a ry silence reigned in thi s immens e gallery Only .

the echoes of my own footsteps could be heard .

At last I stopped I could scarcely realize the fact of

.

my isolation I w a s quite willing to think that I had

.

made a mistake but not that I w as lost I f I had made

a mistake I might fin d my way : if lost—I shuddered to
.
,

think of it .

“
Come come said I to mysel f “ since there is only
, , ,

one road and they m ust come by it w e shall at last meet

, ,
.

All I have to d is still to go upwards

o Perhaps how .
,

ever not seeirg me a nd forgettin g I w a s ahea d they may

, , ,

have gone b:LCk in search of me Still even in this cas e .

,

if I make ha te I sh all get up to them

.
, There can be no .

doubt about th e matter .

But as I spoke these l as t words aloud it would have

been quite clea r to a n y listener—had there been one—that
,

I w as by no m e a n s co n vinced of the fact Moreover in .

,
 1 48 A JOURN EY T O T HE CENTR E or r m: E AR TH .

order to associate together thes e simple ideas and to t e

unite them under the form of reas oning required some ,

time I could not all at once bring my brain to thin k

.
.

Then another dread doubt fell u pon my soul Af te r .

all w a s I ahead O f course I w as Han s w a s no doubt

,
. .

following behin d preceded by my uncle I perfectly .

recollected his havin g sto pped for a moment to strap his

baggage on h is shoulder I now remembered this triflin g

.

detail It w as I believed just at that very moment that

.
, ,

I had determined to continue my route .

Again ” thought I reasoning as calmly a s w a s possible

, , ,

there is another sure means of not losing my way a ,

thread to guide me through the labyrinthine subterraneous

— —
retrea t o n e which I had forgotten my faithful river ”
.

This course of reasoning rous ed my drooping spirits ,

and I resolved to res ume my journey w ithout fu rther

delay No time w as to be lost
. .

It w a s at this moment that I h a d reas on to bless the

thoughtfulness of my uncle when he refus ed to allow the,

eider hunter to close the orifices of the hot spring—that

small fissure in the great mass of granite This b en eficen t .

spring after having saved us from thi rs t during so many

days would now enable me to regain the right road .

H a ving come to this mental decision I made up my ,

mind before I started upwards that ablution would cer

, ,

ta in ly do me a great deal of good .

I stopped to plunge my hands and forehea d in the

pleas ant water of the Ha nsb a ch stream blessin g its pres ,

ence as a certain cons olation .

Conceive my horror and stupefaction — I w as treading

a hard du sty shingly road of granite
, , The stream on .

which I reckoned had wholly disappeared !

 1 50 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR T H .

These thirty leagues of the crust of the earth weighed

u pon my shoulders like the globe on the shoulders of

Atlas I felt mysel f crushed by the awful weight It

. .

w a s indeed a pos ition to drive the sanes t man to madness !

I tried to bring my thoughts back to the things of the
world so lon g forgotten It w as with the grea test difficulty
.

that I succeeded in doing so Hamburg the house on .

,

the Kon igstra sse my dear cousin Gretchen— all that world
,

which had before vanished lik e a shadow floated before

my n ow vivid imagination .

There they were before me but how unreal Under ,

.

th e influence of a terrible hallucination I sa w the whole

incidents of our journey pass before me like th e scen es of
a panorama The ship and its in ma tes I celand M
.
, ,
.

'

Frid riks son and the great summit of Mount S n eflels ! I

,

s aid to mysel f that if in my position I retained the most ,

faint and shadowy outline of a hope it would be a sure

sign of approaching delirium It were better to g ive way
.

Wholly to despair !
In fact did I but reas on with calmness and philosophy
, ,

what human power w as there in existence able to ta ke me

ba ck to the surface of the earth and rea dy too to split, ,

as under to rend in twain those huge and mighty vaults

, ,

which stand above my head ? Who could enable me to

find my road—and regain my companions ?
Insens ate folly and madn ess to entertain even a shadow
of hope !
”
Oh uncle ! was my despairing cry
,
.

This w a s the only word of reproach which came to my

lips ; for I thoroughly understood how deeply and sorrow
fully the worthy Pro fessor would regret my loss and how ,

in his turn he would patiently seek for me .

When I at l as t began to resign myself to the fact that

no further aid w a s to be ex pected from man and knowing ,

that I wa s utterly powerless to do anything for my own

 L OS T ! 1 51

lvation I k neeled with earnes t fervor and as ked assis

‘

sa ,

tance from Heaven The remembrance of my innocent

.

childhood the memory of my mother known only in my

,
,

i n fancy came welling forth from my hea rt I had re

,
.

course to prayer And little a s I b a d right to be remem

.

bered by Him whom I had forgotten in the hour of pros

er it
y ,
and whom I so ta rdily invoked I prayed earnes tly ,

and sincerely .

This rene wal of my youthf ul fa ith brought about a

much greater amount of calm and I w a s en abled to con ,

centrate all my strength and intelligence on the te rrible

realities of my unprecedented situation .

I had about me that which I had at first wholly forgot

ten—three days provisions Moreover my water bottle
’
.
,

w a s quite full Nevertheless the one thing which it w a s

.
,

impossible to do w a s to remain alone Try to fin d my com .

panions I must at any price But which course should I

, .

ta ke ? Should I go u pwards or again descend ? D oubtless,

it w a s right to retrace my steps in an upward direction .

By d oin g this with care and coolnes I must reach the s

,

point where I ha d turned away from the rippling stream .

I must find the fata l bifurcation or fork O nce at this .

spot once the river at my feet I could at all events re

, , , ,

gain the aw ful crater of Mount S n efl els I Vhy had I not

'

thought of this before ? This at last w a s a reasonable , ,

hope of safety The most important thing then to be

.
, ,

done w a s to discover the bed of the Ha nsba ch .

After a slight mea l and a draught of w ater I rose like ,

a giant refreshed Leaning heavily on my pole I began

.
,

the as ce nt of the gallery The slope w as very rapid and

.

rather diffi cult But I advanced hopefully and carefu lly

.
,

like a man who at las t is making his w a y out of a forest ,

and knows there is on ly one road to follow .

Du ring one whole hour nothin g happened to check my

prog ress A s I advanced I tried to re collect the shape of
.
1 52 A JOURN E Y T O T HE T
C E N RE OF T HE E AR TH .

the tunnel—to recall to my memory ce rta in projections of

rocks —to persuad e mysel f that I had followed certain
win ding rou tes before But no one particular sign could I
.

bring to mind and I w as soon forced to allow that this gal

,
4

lery would never take me back to the point at w hich I ha d

s eparated mysel f from my companions It w as abso lutely
without issue —a mere blind alley in the earth
.

The moment at lengt h came when facing the solid rock , ,

I kn ew my fate and fell inanimate on the arid floor !

,

To describe the horrible state of despair and fear into

which I then fell would n ow be vain and impossible My .

l a st hope the courage which h a d sustained me d roop ed

, ,

before the sight of th is pitiles s granite rock !

Los t in a vas t labyrinth th e sinuosities of which spread
,

in every direction without guide clue or compass it w a s a

, , ,

vain a n d useless tas k to attempt flight All that remained .

to me w a s to lie down and die To lie down a n d die the .

most cruel and horrible of dea ths !

In my state of mind the idea came into my hea d that
,

one day perhaps when my f ossil bones were fo und their

, ,

discovery so fa r below the level of the earth might give

ris e to solemn and interes tin g s cientific dis cussions .

I tried to cry aloud but hoarse hollow and inarticulate

, ,

soun d s alone could m a ke themselve s heard thr ough my

parched lips I literally panted for brea th
. .

In the midst of all thes e horrible sources of anguish

and despair a n ew horror took possession of my soul My
, .

lamp by falling down had got out of order I had no

, , .

means of repairing it I ts light w as already becomin g

.

paler and paler and soon would expire

, .

With a strange sens e of resignation and des pa ir I ,

watched the luminous current in the coil getting les s and

less A procession of shadows m oved flashing along the
.

granite wall I scarcely dared to lower my eyelids fear

.
,

in g to lose the l a st s ark of this fugitive light Every in

p .
 CHAPTER XX V .

THE WHIS P E R IN G GALLE R Y .

WHE N at las t I came back to a sense of life and being

my face was wet ; but wet a s I soon kne w with tears
,

How long this state of ins ens ibility lasted it is quite im ,

possible for me n ow to sa y I had no means left to me of

.

taking any account of tim e Never since the crea tion of

,

the world had such a solitude a s mine exis te d I w as

, .

completely abandoned .

A fter my fall I lost much blood I felt myself flooded .

with the li fe giving liquid My first sensation w as per

-
.

haps a natural one Why w a s I not dead ? Becaus e I

.

w a s alive there w as something left to do

, I tried to .

make up my mind to think no longer A s fa r as I w as .

able I drove away all ideas and utterly overco m e by

, ,

pain and grief I crouched against the grani te wall

, .

I just commenced to feel the fainting coming on again ,

and the sensation that this w a the las t struggle before s

complete annihilation —when on a sudden a violent u p

, , ,

roar reached my ears It had some res emblance to the

.

prolonged rumbling voice of thunder and I clearly disti n ,

g uish ed sonorou s voices lost one after the other in th e dis

, ,

tant depths of the gulf .

W Vhen ce came this noise ? Naturally it w a s to be su p ,

posed from n e w phenomena which were taking place in

the bosom of the solid mas s of Mother Earth ! The ex plo
sion of s ome gaseous vapors or th e fal l of some so lid of
, ,

the granitic or other rock .

Again I listened with deep attention I w as extremely .

anxious to hear if this stra nge and inexplicable sound w a s

likely to be renewed A whole quarter of an hour elapsed
1 56 A JO U RNE Y
'

T O T HE CEN TRE or T HE E AR T H .

fore, I could hear them they must sur ely be a ble ,

to hear
me .

“ “
Help I cried at the top of my voice ; help I am
, ,

dying l
I then liste ned with scarcely a breath ; I panted for th e
slightest sound in the d arkness— a cry a sigh a question ! , ,

B ut silence reig n ed supreme N0 ans w er came ! In this .

way some minutes passed A whole flood of ideas flashed .

through my m ind I began to fear that my voice weak

.

ened by sickness and suff ering could not reach my compa

n ion s who were in s earch of me .

”
It must be them I cried what other men can by
,

possibility be buried a hundred miles below the level of

the earth ? The mere supposition w a s preposterous .

I began therefore to listen again with the most breath

, ,

less attention A s I moved my ears along the side of the

.

place I w as in I found a mathematical point a s it were

, ,

where the voices appeared to attain their maximum of in

tensity The word f or lora d again distinctly reached my
'

ear Then came again that rolling noise like thunder

.

which had awakened me out of torpor .

”
I begin to understand I said to mysel f a fter some lit ,

“
tle time devoted to reflection it is n ot through the solid
mass that the sound reaches m y ears The wall s of my .

cavernous retreat are of solid granite a n d the m os t fearful ,

explosion would not make uproar enough to penetrate

them The sound must come along the gallery i tself The
. .

place I w a s in must possess some peculiar acous tic proper

”
ties of its own
Again I listened ; and this tim e—yes th is time —
.

I hea rd ,
L

my name distinctly pronounced c a st a s it were into space .

It w a s my u ncle the Pro fe sor who w a s speaking He s .

w a s in conversation with the guide and the word which ,

had so o ften reached my ea rs f orlora d w a s a Da nish ex

’

, ,

pres sion .
 T HE WHI S PE RIN G GALLE R Y . 1 57

Then I understood it a ll In order to make myself .

heard I too mu st speak as it w ere along the side of the

,

gallery which would carry the sound of my voice just as

,

the wire carries the electric fluid from point to point .

But there wa s no time to lose I f my companions were .

only to remove a few feet from where they stood the a cous ,

tic eflect would be over my Whispering G allery would be

'

destroyed I again therefore crawled towards the wall

.
,

and said as clearly and distinctly as I could

Uncle Ha rd wigg ”
.

I then a waited a reply .

Sound does not possess the property of travelling with

such extreme rapidity B esides the density of the air at
.

that depth from light and motion w a s very fa r from add ,

ing to the rapidity of circulation Several seconds elapsed .

,

which to my excited imagination appeared ages ; and ,

these words reached my eager ears and moved my wildly ,

bea ting heart

Harry my boy is that you ?
, ,

A short delay between question and answer .

Yes— yes
”
.

Wh ere are you ?

”
Lost !
And your lamp ?
”
O ut .

But the guiding stream ?

”
I s lost l
K eep your courage Harry We will do our best , . .

”
O ne moment my uncle I cried , I have no longer ,

strength to ans wer your questions But— for heaven s ’

sake—d o you —c ontinu e —

.

to speak— to me !
Absolute silence I felt would be annihilation , .

“ ”
Keep up your courage said my u ncle As you are , .

so weak do not speak We have been searching for you

.

in all directions both by going upwards and downwards

,
1 5 8 A JOU RNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

in the gallery My dea r boy I had begun to give over all

hope—and you can never know what bitter tears of sorrow
.
,

and regret I have shed At la t supposing you to be still

.
s
,

on the road beside the Hausbach we again d escended ,

‘

firing ofl guns a s signals Now however that we have .

, ,

found you and that our voices reach each other it may
, ,

be a long time before we actually meet We are convers .

in g by means of some extraordinary acoustic arrangement

of the labyrin th But do n ot despair my dear boy It
.
, .

is something gained even to hear each other .

While he w as spea king my brain w as at work reflecting .

A certain undefined hope vague and shapeless as yet , ,

made my heart beat wildly In the first place it w as a h .

,

solu tely neces sary for me to know one thing I once more .

therefore leaned my head against the wall which I almost ,

touched with my lips and again spoke , .

”
Uncle .

My boy w as his ready answer

, .

It is of the utmost consequence that we should know

”
how fa r we are asunder .

That is not difficult .

You have your chronomete r at han d ? I as ked .

Certainly .

“Tell take it into your hand Pronounce my name

, .
,

notin g exactly the second at which you spea k I will .

reply as soon a s I hear your words— and you will then

”
note exactly the moment at which my reply reaches you .

V ery good ; and the mean time between m y qu es tion

and your ans wer w ill be the time occupied by my voice in
”
reaching you .

That is exactly what I mean uncle w a s my ea ger reply , , .

”
Are you rea dy ?
Yes .

Well m ak e ready I am about to pronounce your

, ,
”
n ame ,said the Pro fessor .
 1 60 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

Adieu Ha rry—until we sa y Welcome

, Such were .

the las t words which reached my anxious ea rs before I ,

com m enced my weary and almost hopeless journey .

This wonderf u l and surprising con versation which to ok

place through the vast mass of the ea rth s la byrinth thes e ’
,

words exchanged the speakers being about five m iles apart

—
,

e nded with hopef ul and pleas ant expression s I brea thed .

one more prayer to Heaven I sent up words of thanks

,
‘

giving— believing in my inmost heart that He had led me

to the only place where the voices of my friends could
reach my ears .

This apparently as tounding acou stic mystery is eas ily

ex plainable by simple natural laws ; it arose fro m the con
ducti bility of the rock There are many ins ta nces of this
.

singular propagation of sound which are not perceptible

in its less mediate positions In the inte rior gallery of St

.
.

’
Paul s and amid the curious ca vern s in Sicily thes e phe
, ,

n omen a are ob servable The most marvellous of them all

.

is known as the Ear of Dionysius .

These memories of the past of my ea rly rea d ing and

,

studies came fresh to my thoughts

,
Moreover I began to .
,

rea son that if my uncle and I could communicate at so

great a distance no serious obsta cle could exis t between
,

us. All I had to do w a s to follo w the direction whence

the sound had rea ched me ; and logically puttin g it I , ,

m u st reach him if my strength did not fail .

I a ccordingly rose to my feet I soon found however .

, ,

that I could not walk ; that I m u st drag mysel f along .

T he slope a s I expected wa s very rapid ; but I allowed

,

mysel f to slip down .

Soon the rapidity of the descent began to a mume fright

fu l proportions ; and menaced a fearful fall I clutched .

at the sides ; I grasped at projections of rocks ; I threw

myself ba ckwards All in vain
. My wea k ness was so .

great I could do nothing to save myself

 T HE WHI S PE RIN G GALLE R Y . 1 61

Suddenly ea rth fa iled me .

I w as first launched in to a dark and gloomy void I

, .

then struck against the projecting asperities of a vertica l

gallery a perfect well
, My hea d bounded against a
. .

poin ted rock and I lost all knowled ge of existence As

, .

fi n a s I was concerned dea th had claimed me for his own

, .
 A RA PI D R E COVE R Y .

WHE N I ret urn ed to the consciousn ess of existen ce I ,

foun d mysel f surrounded by a k ind of semi obscu rity -

,

lying on some thick and soft coverlids My uncle w a s

watchin g—his eyes fix ed intently on my coun te nance a
.

grave expression on his fa ce ; a tea r in his eye At th e .

first sigh w hich struggled from my bosom he took hold of

my hand When h e sa w my eyes open a n d fix themselves
.

upon his he uttered a loud cry of j oy

, . .

“ ”
He lives ! he lives !
Yes my good uncle I whispered
, , .

”
My dear b oy con tinued the grim Profemor cla spin g
, ,
“
me to his h eart you are saved ! ,

I w as deeply and u n a fl ected ly touched by the to ne in

‘

which th ese words were u ttered and even more by th e ,

kindly care which accompanied them The Profes sor .

,

however w as one of those men who must be severely tried

,

in order to in duce a n y display of aff ection or gentle emo

tion At this moment our friend Han s the guide join ed
. , ,

us. He sa w my hand in that of my uncle and I ventu re ,

to sa y that taciturn as he w as his eyes beamed with lively

, ,

satisfaction .

”
G od d a y he said , .

G o od day Hans good day I replied in as hearty a

, , , ,

tone as I could assume and now uncle that we are to , , ,

gether tell me where we are I have lost a ll idea of our

,
.

position as of everything else

,
.

“
To morrow Harry to mo row he replied
- r ,
“
To d a y
,
-
, .
-

you a re fa r too weak Your hea d is surrounded with .

ba ndages a n d poultic es that must not be touched Sleep .

,
1 64 A JOURN E Y T O T HE CE N R E T OF T HE E AR TH .

this unmistakable moaning of the sa lt sea billows ? I ca n

hear too plainly enough the whistling of the wind Bu t
, , , .

can I be altogether mistaken ? I f my uncle durin g my ,

illness h a s but carried me back to the surfa ce of the

,

earth ! Ha s he on my account given up h is wond rous

, ,

expedition or in some strange manner h a s it come to a n

,

en d

I w a s puzzling my brain over these and other questions ,

when the Pro fessor joined me .

”
Good day Harry he cried in a joyous tone
-
, , .

f ancy you are quite well .

I a m very much better I replied actually sitting up , ,

in my bed .

I knew that would be the end of it as you slept both ,

soundly and tranquilly Hans and I have each taken .

turn to watch and every hour we have seen vis ible signs
,
”
of amelioration .

You must be right un cle w a s my reply “ for I feel , , ,

a s if I could do justice to any meal you could put before

me I am really hungry
. .

Y ou shall eat my b oy you shall eat The fever h as

, , .

left you O ur excellent f riend Hans h as rubbed your

.

wounds and brui ses with I know not what ointment of , ,

which the Icelanders alone possess the secret An d they .

h ave healed your bruises in the most marvellous mann er .

”
Ah h e s a wise fellow is Maste r Hans
,
’
, .

While he w a s speakin g my uncle w as placing before ,

me several art icles of food which despite h is earnest injun e ,

tions I readily devoured As soon as the first rage of

,
.

hunger w a s appeas ed I overwhelmed him with questions , ,

to which he now no longer hes ita ted to give a nswers .

I then learned for the first time that my providential

, ,

fall had brought me to the bottom of an almo st p a rpen

d icu la r gallery A s I came down amidst a perfect shower
.
,

of stones the lea s t of which falling on me would have

,
 P ID DIS COVE R Y 65
‘

A RA . 1

c rushed me to dea th they came to the conc lusion that I

,

had carried with me an entire dis located rock R iding a s .

it were on this terrible chariot I w a s cast headlong into my ,

uncle s arms And into them I fell insensible and covered

’
.
,

with blood .

It is in deed a miracle w as the Professor s final re ,

’

mark that you were not killed a thousand times over

,
.

But let us take care never to separate ; for sur ely we should
risk never meetin g again .

Let us take care never again to separate .

These words fell with a sort of chill upon my heart .

The journey then w a s not over I looked at my uncle

, , .

w ith surpris e and astonishment My uncle after an ia .

,

sta n t s examination of my countenance said

’
,
”
What is the matter Harry ? ,

I want to as k you a very serious ques tion You sa y .

”
that I am all right in health ?
Certainly you are .

And all my limbs are sound and capable of new exer

tion I as ked .

Most undoubtedly .

But what abou t my head ? w a s my next anx ious

question .

Well your h ead except that you have one or two con
—
, ,
”
tu sion s is exactly where it ought to b e o n your shoulder
, ,

said my u ncle laughing , .

Well my own Opinion is that my head is not exactly

,

”
right In fact I believe myself slightly delirious
. .

What makes you thin k so

I will explain why I fancy I have lost my sens es I ,
”
cr i ed ; have we not returned to the su rface of mother earth?
”
Certa inly not .

Then truly I mu st be mad for do I not see the light ,

of day ? do I not hear the w histling of the win d ? and ca n

I not distinguish the was h of a grea t sea

1 66 A JOURN E Y T O THE CE N RE T O F T HE E AR T H .

And that is all that ma kes you uneasy ? said my

uncle with a smile
, .

Can you ex plain

I will not make any attempt to explain ; for the whole
matte r is utterly in explicable But you shall see and j ud ge .

for you rself You will then fin d that geological science is

a s yet in its in f ancy—
.

and that we a re doomed to enlighte n

the world .

Let us advance then I cried eagerly no longer able

, , ,

to restr ain my curiosity .

lVa it a moment my dear Harry he responded ; you

, ,

mus t take precautions a fte r your illness before going into

”
the open air .

The open a ir ?
Yes my boy I ha ve to warn you that the win d is
rather violent—a n d I have no wish for you to expose
.
,

”
yourself without necessary precautions .

But I beg to assure you that I am perfectly recovered

”
from my illness .

Ha ve j ust a little patien ce m y boy A relapse would , .

b e inconvenient to all parties We have no time to lose .

”
a s our approaching sea voyage may be of long duration .

”
Sea voyage ? I cried more bewildered tha n ever , .

Yes You mus t take a nother day s rest and we shall

’
.
,

”
be ready to go on board by to morrow rep lied my uncle -
.
,

with a peculiar sm ile .

Go on board ] The words utterly a stonished me

Go on board—what and how ? Had we come upon a
.

river a lake had we dis covered some inland sea Was a

, ,

vessel lying at anchor in s ome p a rt of the interior of the

ea rth

My curiosity w as worked up to the very hi ghes t pitch .

My uncle made vain atte mpts to restrain me When at .

la s t however he dis covered that my feverish impatience

would do more harm than good—
, ,

and that the satisfa ction

 CHAPTE R XXVII .

THE C E N TR AL S E A.

A'r first I sa w absolutely nothin g My eyes wholly .

,

unused to the efl ulgen ce of light could not bear the sud

'

den brightn es s a n d I w a s compelled to cl ose them .

When I w a s able to re open them I stood still fa r more

,
-
, ,

stupefied than astonished Not all the wildest eff ects of

.

imagin ation could have conjured up such a scene 1

— ”
The sea the sea I cried ,
.

Yes replied my un cle in a tone of pardonable pride ;

”
, ,

The Ce ntral Sea N0 f uture navigator will deny the

.

fact of my having discovered it ; and hence of acquirin g a

”
right of giving it a name .

It w as quite true A vast limitles s expanse of wate r

.
, ,

the end of a lake if not of an ocea n spread before us un , ,

til it w a s lost in the distance The shore which w as very

.
,

much indented consisted of a beautiful soft golden sand

, ,

mixed with s mall shells the long des erted home of some
,

of the creatures of a past age The waves broke in ces

sa n tly and with a peculiarly sonorous mur mur—
.

, to be
found in under ground localities
-
A slight frothy flake .

arose as the wind blew along the pellucid waters ; and

many a das h of spray w a s blown into my face The .

m ighty superstru cture of rock which ro se above to an in

conceivable height left only a narrow Opening but
,
—
where we stood there w as a la rge margin of strand O n
, .

all sides were capes and promontories and enormou s clifls ‘

partially worn by th e eternal breaking of the waves ,

through countl ess ages 1 And a s I gaze d from side to side ,

the mighty rocks faded a way like a fleecy film of cloud .

 T HE CE N R T AL S EA . 1 69

It in reality an ocean with all the usual characte r

w as ,

istics of an inland sea only horribly wild—so rigid cold

, ,

and savage .

One thing startled and puzzled me greatly How w a s .

it that I w a s able to look upon tha t vast sheet of water in

stead of being plunged i n utter dark ness ? The vast land

scape before me w a s lit up like day But there w a s want .

ing the dazzling brilliancy the splendid irradiation of the

,

sun ; the pale cold illu minatio n of the moon ; the bright

ness of the stars The illuminating power in this sub ter

.

ra n eou s region from its tr embling and flickering charac

,

ter its clear dry whiteness the very slight elevation of its
, ,

temperature its great superiority to that of the moon w a s

, ,

evidently electric ; something in the nature of the aurora

borealis only that its phenomena were constant a n d able
, ,

to light up the whole of the ocean cavern .

The tremendous vault above our heads the sk y so to , ,

speak appeared to be composed of a conglomeration of

,

nebulous vapors in constant motion I should originally

, .

have supposed that under such an atmospheric pressure

,

a s mus t exi st in that place the evaporation of water could

,

not really ta ke place and yet from the action of some

,

physical law which escaped my memory there were heavy

, ,

and dense clouds rolling alon g that mighty vault par ,

tia lly concealing the roo f Electric currents produced a s

.

to n ish in g play of light and shade in the distance es ,

ec ia lly around the heavier clouds Deep shadows were

p .

cast beneath and then suddenly between two clouds there

, , ,

would come a ray of unusual beauty and remarkable in ,

tensity And yet it w a s n ot like the sun for it gave no

.
,

heat .

The eff ect w a s sa d and excruciatingly melancholy In .

stea d of a noble firma men t of blue studded with stars , ,

there w a s above me a heavy roof of granite which seemed ,

to crush me .
 1 70 A JOURNE Y T O THE T
CE N RE OF T HE E AR TH .

Ga zing around I bega n to th ink of the theory of th e

,

English captain who compared the earth to a vas t hollow

,

sphere in the interior of which the air is reta ined in a

luminous state by means of atmospheric pressur e while ,

two stars Pluto and Proserpine circled there in their

, ,

myste rious orbits After a ll suppose the old fellow was

.
,

right !
In truth we were imprisoned—bound a s it were in a
, ,

Vas t ex cavation I ts width it w as impossible to make out ;

.

th e shore on either hand widening ra pidly until lost to

, ,

sight ; while its length w as equally un certain A haze on .

the distant horizon bounded our view As to its height .

we could see that it must be many miles to the roof

Loo k ing upward it w as impossible to discover where the
,

stupend ous roof began The lowes t of the clouds must

.

have been floating at an elevation of two thousand yards ,

a height greater than that of te rrestria l vapors wh ich cir ,

cu msta n ce w a s doubtless o win g to the extreme densi ty of

the air .

I use the word cavern in ord er to give an idea of th e

place I cann ot describe its awful grandeur ; human
.

lan guage fails to convey an idea of its savage sublimity .

Whether this singular vacuum had or had not been caus ed

by the sudden cooling of the earth when in a sta te of
fus ion I could not sa y I had rea d of most wonderf ul
and gigantic caverns—but none in any way like this
.
,

The great grotto of Guachara in Colum bia vis ited by , ,

the learned Humboldt ; the vast a n d p a rtially explored

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky ; what wer e thes e holes in
the earth to that in which I st ood in speechless a dmira
tion ! with its vapory clouds its electric light and the , ,

mighty ocea n slumberin g in its bosom ! Imagination not ,

des cription can alone give an idea of the splendor and

,

vas tness of the cave .

I ga zed at these marvels in profound silen ce Words .

1 7 2 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR T H .

which at las t becoming limpid and murmur ing streams,

,

were lost in the waters of the lake Light vapors which .

,

r ose here and there and floated i n fleecy clouds from rock
,

to rock ind icated hot springs which also poured their su

, ,

perfl uity into the v a st reservoir at our feet .

Among them I recognized our old and faithful stream ,

the Ha n sb a ch which lost in that wild bas in seemed a s if

, , ,

it had been flowing since the creation of the world .

We shall miss our excellent friend I remarked with , ,

a deep sigh .

“ “
Bah ! said my un cle testily what matters it That, , .

”
or another it is all the same
, .

I thought the remark un grateful and felt almost in ,

clin ed to sa y so ; but I forbore .

At this moment my attention w as attracted by an u n ex

pected spectacle After we had gone about five hund red
.

yards we suddenly turned a steep promontory and found

, ,

ourselves close to a lofty forest ! It consisted of straight

trunks with tu fted tops in shape like paras ols The a ir
,
.

seemed to have no effect upon these trees

— which in spite
of a tolerable breeze remained as still and motionless as if

they had been petrified .

I hastened forw ard I could find no name for thes e sin

.

gular formations Did they not belong to the two thou

—or were we to make the
.

sand and more known trees

d iscovery of a new growth ? By no means When we at .

last reached the forest and stood benea th the trees my

, ,

surprise gave way to admiration .

In truth I w a s simply in the pres ence of a very ordi

,

nary product of the earth of singul a r and gigantic ,

proportions My uncle unhes ita tingly called them by their

.

real names .

It is only he said in h is coolest manner a fores t of

, , ,

mushroom s .

On close examination I found that he w a s not mistaken .

 T HE CE N RA T L SEA . 1 73

J udge of the development attained by this product of

damp hot soils I had heard that the lycop er don giga n teum
.

reaches nine feet in circumference but here were white ,

mushrooms nearly forty feet high and with tops of equal

, ,

di men s ions They

. grew in countless thou sand s— the light
could not make its way through their massive substance ,

and beneath them reigned a gloomy and mystic darkness .

Still I wished to go forward The cold in the shades o f .

this singular fores t w a s intense For nearly an hour we .

wandered a bout in this darkness visible At length I left .

the spot and once more returned to the shores of the lake
, ,

to light and comparative warmth .

But the amazing vegetation of subterraneous land w as

not confined to gigantic mushrooms New wonders awaited .

u s at every s tep We had not gone many hundred yards

.
,

when we came upon a mighty group of other trees with d is

colored leaves—the common humble trees of mother earth ,

of an exorbitant and phenomenal size : lycopodes a hun

dred feet high ; flowering fern s a s tall a s pines ; gigantic

gras ses
“ ”
Astonishing magnificent splendid ! cried my u ncle ;
, ,

here we have before u s the whole F lora of the second

period of the world that of transition Behold the humble
,
.

plants of our gardens which in the first ages of the world

,

were mighty trees Look around you my dear Harry

.
, .

”
N o bota nis t ever before gazed on such a sight !
My uncle s enthusiasm always a little more than w as
’
,

required w a s n ow excusable
, .

”
You are right uncle I remarked , Providence a p
, .

pears to have des igned the preservation in this vast and

mysterious hot hous e of antediluvian plants to prove the
-
,

sagacity of learned men in figur ing them so marvellously

”
on paper .

Well said my boy—very well said ; it is in deed a

mighty hot—
,

house —but you would also be within the

 1 74 A JOURN E Y T o T HE CE N R E T O F T HE E A R TH .

bounds of reas on and common sense if you als o a dded fl ! ,

-

”
vas t m enagerie .

I looked rather anxiously around I f the animal s were .

a s exaggerated as the pla nts the matter would cer tainly ,

be serious .

A menagerie ?
Doubtless Look at the dust we are trea ding under
.

foot—behold the bones with wh ich the whole soil of the

sea shore is covered
”
Bones I replied “ yes certainly the bones of ante
, , , ,
”
d iluvian animals .

I stooped down a s I spoke and picked up one or two ,

singular remain s relics of a byg one age It w as easy to give

,
.

a name to these gigantic bones in some instances a s big as ,

trunks of trees .

Here is clearly the lower jaw bone Of a mas todon I

, ,
-
,

cried almost a s warmly and enthusiastically as my uncle

, ,

“
here are the molars Of the dinotherium ; here is a leg
bone which belonged to the megatherium Y ou are right .
,

uncle it is indeed a menagerie ; for the mighty animals to

,

which these bones once belonged have lived and died on ,

the shores Of this subterranean sea under the shadow of

Look yonder are whole skeletons—a n d
,

these plants .
,
n
ye
An d yet nephew ? said my un cle noticin g that I
, ,

suddenly came to a full stop .

I do not understand the pres ence of such beasts in

”
granite caverns however vast and prodigious w a s my
, ,

reply .

Wh y not ? said my uncle with very much of his old ,

professional impatien ce .

Because it is well k nown that animal life only existe d

on earth du ring the secondary period w hen the sed imen ,

tary soil w as formed by the alluviums and thus replaced ,

”
th e hot a nd burning rocks of the primitive age .
1 76 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

During certa in periods there w a s a n utte r cessation of

wind when a silence deeper more terrible than the silence
O f the desert fell upon thes e solitary and arid rocks —
, ,

and
s eemed to hang like a leaden weight upon the waters of

this sin gular ocean I sought amid the awful stilln ess to
.
, ,

penetrate through the distant fog to te ar down the veil,

which concealed the mysterious distance Wh at u nspoken .

words were murmured by my trembling lips—what

ques tions did I wish to as k and did not Where did this
sea end— to what did it lead ? Should we ever be able
to examine its dis tant shores ?
But my uncle had no doubts about the matte r He w as .

convinced that our enterprise would in the end be success

ful F or my part I w a s in a state of painf ul indecision
.
,

I desired to embark on the journey and to succeed and ,

still I feared the result .

After we had passed an hour or more in silent conte m

pla tion of the wondrou s spectacle we rose and went down
,

to w ards the ban k on our way to the grotto which I w as ,

not sorry to ga in After a slight repas t I sought refuge

.
,

in S lumber and at length after many and tedious strug

, ,

gles sleep came over my wea ry eyes

, .
 CHAPTER XX VIII .

L AUN CHI N G T HE R AFT .

O N the morning Of the next day to my great surprise I , ,

a woke completely restored I thought a bath would be

.

delightful after my long illn ess and sufferings S O soon .

,

after rising I went and plunged in to the waters of this new

,

Mediterranea n The bath w as cool fresh and invigo

.
,

rating .

I came back to brea kfas t with an excellent appetite .

Hans our worthy guide thoroughly understood how to

, ,

cook such eatabl es a s we were able to provide ; he had

both fire and water at discretion so that he w as enabled ,

slightly to vary the wea ry monotony of our ordinary re

pas t
.

O ur morning meal w as like a capital English breakfast ,

with coffee by way of a wind up And never had this .

delicious beverage been so welcome and refreshing .

My uncle had suffi cient regard for my state of health

not to interrupt me in the enjoym ent of the mea l but he ,

w a s evidently delighted when I had finished .

Now then said he come with me It is the height

, , .

of the tide a n d I am anxious to study its curious phe

,
”
nomena .

What I cried risin g in as tonishment, did you sa y

'

, ,

the tide uncle ?,

Certainly I did .

You do not mean to sa y I replied in a tone of re , ,

“
s pectfu l doubt that the in fluence of the sun and moon
,

is felt here below .

“
An d pray why not ? Are not all bodies influenced by
the law of un iversal attr action ? Why should this vas t
 1 7 8 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF THE E AR T H .

underg round sea be exempt from the general la w the rule ,

of the universe ? Bes ides there is nothing like that which ,

is proved and demo n strated Despite the great atm os .

pheric pressure d own here youwill notice that this in land ,

sea rises and falls with a s much egular ty as th e Atla n tic

r i
itse
As my uncle ,
reached th e sa ndy shore and ~
,

sa w : and he ard the waves brea king monoton ously on the

' '
‘

b ea c h They were evid en tly rising

.
'
‘

“
This is truly I cried lookin g at the water at ,

my :feet .

Yes my excellent neph ew replied my uncle rubbin g

, , ,

his h ands wi th t h e gus to of a you see

-

by th ese several strea ks of f oam t hat the tide rises at lea st ,

ten or twelve feet .

It is indeed marvellous .

he responded ; on the contrary it is ,

”
quite natural .

“
It may appear so in your eyes my dear uncle was
‘

, ,

my reply but the w h ole phenomena of the place appear

.
,

to n e to parta ke of the m arvellous It is almost impossi .

b le to believe that w hich I see Who in his wildest

‘

dreams Could have imagined that beneath the crust of our ,

ea rth there could exist a real ocean with ebbin g a n d flow ,

ing tides with its changes of Winds, and even its storms
, .

”
I for one should have laughed the suggestion to scorn
-
_ .

But Harry my boy why not ? inquired my un cle

, , , ,
“
with a pityi g smile is there a ny physica l rea son in op
n ,
’

position to it
Well if we give up the great th eory of th e c entral heat
,

of th e earth I Certainly can Offer no rea s ons w h

, y anything
”
should be looked upon as impo ssible .

”
Then you will own he added “ that th e system of , ,

Sir Humphrey Davy is wholly j ustified by what we have

seen
 L AU N CH mc THE R A FT . 1 79

I allow that it is— a nd that point once gr a nte d I ce r ,

ta inly can see no reason for doubting the existence of seas and
other wonders even countries in the interior of the globe
That is so—but of course these varied coun tries a re
.
, ,

un inhabited
Well I grant that it is more lik ely than not : still I
, ,

do not see why this sea should not have given shelter to
”
some speci es of unkn own fish .

“
Hitherto we have not discovered any and the proba ,
”
bilit es are rather agai st our ever doing so observed the
i n ,

P ro fessor .

I w as losing my skepticism in th e presence of these

Wonders .

Well I am determined to solve the question It is my

, .

intention to try my luck with my fishing line a n d hook ” .

Certainly ; make the experiment said my uncle , ,

pleas ed with my enthusiasm While we are about it it .

,

will certainly be only proper to discover all the secrets of

”
this extraordinary region .

But afte r all where are we now ? I asked ; a ll th is

, ,

time I have quite forgotten to ask you a question which , ,

doubtless your philosophical instrumen ts have long since

,

answered .

Well replied the Professor examinin g the situ ation

, ,

from only one poin t of View we are now distant three ,

”
hundred and fifty le gues from Iceland
a .

”
S O much ? w as my excla mation .

I have gone over the matte r several tim es a n d am ,

”
sure not to have made a mis ta ke of five hundred yards
,

replied my uncle positively

And a s to the direction—are we still going to the
.

south eas t
-

Yes with a western declination * Of nineteen degrees

, ,

Th e d e cli na tion is th e va r ia ti on of th e n ee dl e from th e tr ue m eridia n

of a pla c e .
 1 80 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RET OF T HE E AR TH .

forty-two minu tes, just as it is above As for the inclina .

* ”
tion I have dis covered a very cu riou s fact .

What may that be uncle ? Your informa tion in ,

”
te r ests me .

Why that the needle instea d of dipping towards the ,

pole a s it does on earth in the northern hemisphere h a s , ,

”
an up ward tendency .

”
This proves I cried that the great poin t Of magne , ,

tic attraction lies somewhere between the surfa ce of the

”
e art h and the spot we have succeeded in reach ing .

”
Exactly my ob servant nephew exclaimed my uncle
, , ,

elated and delighted and it is quite probable that if we ,

succeed in getting toward the polar regions s omewhere -

near the seventy third degree of latitude where Sir J ames -

,

R oss discovered th e magnetic pole we S hall behold the ,

needle point d irectly upward We have therefore dis .

covered by analogy that this grea t centre O f attraction is ,

not situated at a very great d ept

Well said I rather surprised this dis covery will
, , ,

astonis h experimental philosophers It w a s never sus .

pected .

Science great mighty and in the end unerring re

, , ,

plied my un cle dogmatically s cience h a s fallen in to ,

many errors—errors which have been fortunate and useful

rather than otherwise for they have been the stepping ,

stones to truth .

After some further discussion I turned to another ,

m atter .

Have you any idea O f the depth we have reached ?

” “
We are now continued the Pro fessor exactly thirty
five lea gues—above a hundred m iles—
, ,

d own into the in

”
terior of the earth .

So said I after measuring the dista nce on the ma p

”
, , ,

In cli na ti on is th e d ip of th e ma g n et ic n ee d e w tl i h a te n d en c y to in cli n e
t ow a r d s th e ea rt h .
1 82 A JOUR N EY T O T HE CEN TR E or T HE E AR TH .

Probably but what extent do you allow to this inter

,
u

nal ocean ?
Well I should fancy it to extend about forty or fifty
,

—
leagues more or less ”
.

But even supposing this approximation to be a correct

one— what then ? I asked .

My dea rboy we have no time for fu rther d iscussion

,
.

”
We shall embark to morr ow -
.

I looked around with surprise and incredulity I could .

see nothing in the shape of boat or vessel .

What ! I cried we are about to launch out upon

,

an unkn own sea ; and where if I may as k is the vessel , ,

to carry us
Well my dear boy it will not be exactly what you
, ,

would call a vessel F or the pres ent we must be content

.

with a good and solid ra ft .

A raft I cried incredulous ly but d ow n here a ra ft

”
, , ,

is a s impossible of cons truction as a vessel— and I am at

a loss to imagine
My good Harry—if you were to liste n ins tead of ta lk
”
in g so much you wou ld hear said my uncle waxin g a
, , ,

little impatient .

I should hear ?
Yes —certain knock s with the h ammer which Hans is ,

now employing to make the raft He h as been at work .

for many hours .

Making a raft ?
”
Yes .

But where h as he found trees suitable for such a con

struction

He found the trees all ready to h is hand Come and .

,
”
you shall see our excellent guide at work .

More and more amazed at what I hea rd and sa w I fel ,

lowed my uncle like one in a d ream .

A fter a w alk of about a quarter of an hour I sa w Han s a t ,

 LAU N C HI N G T HE R A FT . 1 83

work on the other side of the promontory which formed our

natural port A few min u tes more and I w a s beside him
.
.

To my great su rprise on the sandy shore lay a half fin ished

,
-

raft It w a s made from beams of a very peculiar wood and

. ,

a grea t number of limbs joints boughs and pieces lay , , ,

about suflicien t to have constructed a fleet of ships and boats

,
.

I turned to my uncle silent w ith astonishment and awe ,

.

”
Where did all this wood come from ? I cried
”
what wood is it ?
Well there is pine wood fir a n d the palms of the
,
-
, ,
”
northern regions mineralized by the action of the sea he
, ,

replied sente ntiously

,
.

Can it be possible
Yes said the learned Pro fse sor
”
,
what you see is ,
”
called foss il wood .

”
But then cried I after reflecting for a moment
, , ,

like the lignites it mus t be a s hard and as heavy as iron,

,
”
a n d therefore will certa inly not float .

Sometimes that is the cas e Many of these woods .

have become true anthracites but others again like those , ,

you see before you have only undergone one pha se of,

fossil transformation But there is no proof like demon

.

”
stration added my uncle picking one or two of these
, ,

precious waifs and cas ting them into the sea .

The piece of wood after having disappea red for a mo ,

ment came to the surface and floated a bout with the

, ,

oscillation produced by Wind and tide .

”
Are you con vinced ? said my uncle with a sel f ,

sa tisfied s mile .

I am convinced I cried that what I see is incredible

, , .

The fact w as that m y journey into the interior of the

earth w a s rapidly changing all preconceived notions and ,

d a y by day preparing me for the marvellous .

I should not have been surprised to have seen a fleet of

native canoes afloat upon that silent sea .
1 84 A JOURNE Y T o T HE T
CE N RE or THE E AR TH .

The very next even ing ,

ty of H ans the raft w as fi n ished

, It w as about ten feet
.

long and five feet wide The beams bound together with
.

stout ropes were solid and firm and on ce laun ched by our
, ,

united efforts the improvised vessel floated

,

the wate rs of wha t the Professor ha d well na med the Gen

1 86 A J OURNE Y T o T HE T
CE N RE or T HE E AR T H
.

Well ; out with it .

I should like to call it Gretchen Port Gretchen will

. .

”
sound very well on our f uture map .

Well then Port Gretchen let it be said the Professor

, , .

And thus it w as that the memory of my dear girl was

a ttached to our adventurou s and memorable expedition .

When we left the shore the wind was blowing f rom the
northward and eas tward We went directly before th e .

wind at a much grea ter spee d than might have been ex

pected from a raft The dens e layers of atm osphere at
.

that depth had great propellin g power a n d acte d upon the

sail with con siderable force .

At the end of an hour my uncle who had been ta king , ,

careful observations w as enabled to judge of th e rapidity

,

w ith which we moved It w a s fa r beyond an . see n

in the upper world .

“ ” “
If ,
he said we continue to advance at our pres ent
,

rate we shall have travelled at least thirty lea gues in

,

twenty four hours With a mere ra f t this is a n almost

- .

incredible velocity .

I certainly w as surprised and without makin g a n y reply ,

went forward u pon the raft Already the northern shore .

w a s fading away on the edge of the horizon The two .

shores appeared to separate more and more leaving a wide ,

and open S pace for our departure Before me I could see .

nothing but the vast and apparently limitless sea —upon

which we floa te d—the only living obj ects in sight .

Huge and d a rk clouds cast their grey shadows below

shadows w hich seemed to cru sh that colorless and sullen

water by their weight Anything more suggestive of gloom

.

and of regions of neth er darkness I never beheld Silvery .

rays of electric light reflec ted here and there upon some
,

s mall spots of wate r brought up luminous sparkle

, s in the
long wake of our cumbrous bark Pres ently we were .

wholly out of sight of land not a vestige co u ld be seen , ,

 O N T HE WATE R S — A R A FT VOYAGE . 1 87

nor any indication of where we were going So still a n d .

motionless did we seem without any distant point to fix

our eyes on that but for the phosphoric light at the wake
,

of the raft I should have fancied that we were still and

motionless .

But I knew that we were advancing at a very rapid rate .

About twelve o clock in the day vas t collections of sea

’
,

weed were dis covered surrounding u s on all sid es I w a s .

aware of the extraordinary vegetative power of thes e

plants which have been known to creep along the bottom
,

of the great ocean and stop the advance of large ships

,
.

But never were seaweeds ever seen so gigantic and won ,

d erf ul a s those of the Central Sea I could well imagine .

how seen at a distance tossing and heaving on the summit

, ,

of the billows the long lines of Algae have been taken for
,

living things and thus have been the fertile sources of the
,

b elief in sea serpents .

Our raft swept pas t great specimen s of fu cae or sea

wrack from three to four thousand feet in length im
, ,

mens e incredibly long looking like snakes that stretched

, ,

out fa r beyond our horizon It afforded me great amuse .

ment to gaze on their variegated ribbon like endless -

lengths Hour aft er hour p a sed without our coming to

.
s

the termination of these floating weeds I f my as tonish .

m ent increased my patience w a s well nigh exhausted

,
-
.

What natural force could possibly have produced such

abnormal and extraordinary plants ? What mus t have
been the aspect of the globe during the first centuries of ,

its formation when un der the combined action of heat

,

and humidity the vegetable kingdom occupied its vast

,

s urface to the exclu sion of everything el se ?

These were considerations of never ending interest for -

the geologist and the philosopher .

All th is while we w ere advancing on our journey ; and

a t length night came ; but a s I had remarked the evening
 1 88 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE NT RE O F T HE E AR T H .

before the luminous state of the atmosphere w a s in no

,

thing diminished Whatever w as the cause it w as a ph e

.
,

n om en on upon the d u ration of which we could calculate

with certain ty .

As soon a s our supper had been disposed of and some ,

little specul a tive conversation indulged in I stretch ed my ,

sel f at the foot of the mas s and pres ently went to sleep , .

Hans remained motionless at the tiller allowing the ,

d a f t to ri se and fall on the waves The wind being a ft .

,

and the sail square all he had to do w as to keep his oar ,

in the centre .

Ever since we had taken our departure fr om the newly

named Port Gretchen my worthy uncle had directe d me ,
’
to keep a regular log of our day s navigation with in ,

stru ctions to put down even the most minute particulars ,

every interesting and curious phenomenon the dir ection ,

of the wind our rate of sailing the dista nce we went ; in a

, ,

word every incident of our extraord inary voyage

,
.

F rom our log therefore I tell the story of our voyage

, ,

on th e Central Sea .

F riday Augus t 1 4th A steady breeze fr om the north

, .

west R a ft progressing with extreme rapidity and going

.
,

perfectly straight Coast still dimly visible about thirty

.

leagues to leeward Nothing to be seen beyond the hori .

zon in front The extra ord ina rv intens ity of the light
.

neither increases nor diminishes It is singularly station .

ary The weather remarkably fine ; that is to sa y the

.
,

clouds have ascen d ed very high a n d are light and fleecy , ,

and surrounded by an atmosphere resembl ing silver in

fusion .

Thermometer 3 2 degrees centigrade .

About twelve o clock in the day our guide Hans h aving

’

prepared and baited a hook cas t his line into the sub ter ,

ra n ea n waters The bait he used w a s a small piece of

.

meat by means of which he concea led his b ook Anxious

, .
1 90 A JOU RNE Y T O T HE
‘

CE N RE T '

O F T HE E AR TH .

a n gular scal es covered with bright enamel—forming on e

,

of the family of the Ceph a la sPid es of the genus ,

”
Well sir I remarked as I noticed my un cle hesi
, , ,

ta ted to conclude
To the Genus Pterych tis—yes I am certain of it
.

.
,

Still though I am confident of the correctness of my sur

,

mise this fish o ffers to our notice a remarkable peculi

,

a rity never known to e xist in any other fish but those

,

which are the natives of subterranean waters wells lakes , , ,

”
in caverns and such like hidden pools
,
.

And what may that be

”
It is blind .

”
Blind ! I cried much su rprised , .

”
Not only blind continued the Professor but a bso
, ,
”
lu tely without organs of sight .

I now examined our discovery for mys elf It w as sin

gular to be sure but it w a s really a fact This however
, ,
.
, ,

might be a solitary instance I suggeste d The hook w as , .

baited again and once more thrown into the water This .

subterranean ocean must have been tolerably well supplied

with fish for in two hours we took a large number of

,

P terychtis a s well a s other fish belong ing to another su p

posed extin ct family—the Dipterid es ( a genus of fish
,

furnished with two fin s only whence the name) though , ,

my uncle could not cl ass it exactly All without excep .

,

tion however were blind This unexpecte d capture en

, , .

abled u s to renew our stock of provisions in a very satis

factory way .

We were now convinced that this Subterranea n S ea

contain ed only fish kno w n to u s a s fossil specimen s—and
fish a n d reptiles alike were a ll the more perfect the ,

farther back they dated their origin .

We began to hope that we should find some of those

S aurians which scien ce h as su cc eeded in recons tructing
from bits of bone or cartilage .
 T HE CE N R T AL SEA . 1 91

I took up the telescope and carefully examined the

horizon—looked over the whole sea ; it w a s utterly and
entirely deserted Doubtless we w ere still too near the
.

coast .

After an examination of the ocean I looked upward , ,

towards the strange and mysterious sky Why should not .

.

'

one of the birds reconstructed by the immortal Cuvier

, ,

flap his stupendous wings aloft in the dull strata of sub

terranean air ? It would of course find quite suflicien t , ,

food f rom the fish in the sea I gazed for some time upon .

the void above It w a s as silent and as deserted a s the

.

shores we had b u t lately le ft .

Nevertheless though I could neither see nor discover

,

anything my imagination carried me away into w ild

,

hypothes es I w a s in a kind of waking dr eam I thought

. .

I sa w on the surface of the water those enormous a n ted ilu

vian turtles as big a s floating islands Upon those dull .

and sombre shores passed a spectral row of the mammi

f ers of early days the great L eptoth eriu m found in the
,

cavernous hollow of the Brazilian hills the Mesico ,

th eriu m a native of th e glacial region s of Siberia

,
.

Farther on the pachydermatous L oph rod on that g i

, ,

g a n tic tapir which concealed itsel f behind rocks ready

, ,

to do battle for its prey with the An oplotherium a ,

singular animal partaking of the nature of the rhinocero s ,

the horse the hippopotamus a n d the camel

, .

There w a s the giant Ma stodon twisting and turning his ,

horrid trunk with which b e crushed the rocks of the shore

,

to powder w hile the Megatherium—his back raised like a

,

cat in a pas sion h is enormous claws stretched out dug

, ,

i nto the earth for food at the same time that he a w oke
,

the sonorous echoes of the whole place with h is terrible

roar.

Higher up still the first m onkey ever seen on the face

,

of the g lo b e clam b ered gamboling and playing up the ,

 1 92 A JOURNE Y T O T HE T
CE N RE O F T HE E AR TH .

granite hills Still fa rther away ran the Pterodactyl

.
,

with the win ged hand gliding or rather sailin g through

,

th e dens e and compress ed air like a huge bat .

Above a ll near the leaden granitic sky were immense

, ,

birds more pow erful than the cas oar giants to the ostrich
, , ,

which spread their mighty win gs and fluttered agains t th e

hu ge stone vault of the inland sea .

I thoug ht such w as the eff ect of my im agination th at I

, ,

sa w this whole tr ibe of anted iluvian crea ture s I carried

myself back to fa r ages long before man existe d—when
.

, ,

in fa ct the earth w a s in too imperf ect a sta te for him to

,

live upon it .

My drea m w a s of coun tless ages before the exis tence of

man The mammifers first disappeared then the mighty
.
,

birds then the reptiles of the secondary period presently

, ,

the fish the crustacea the molluscs and finally the verte
, , ,

brata The zoophytes of the period of transition in their

.

turn sank into annihilation .

The whole panorama of the world s life before the his ’

toric period seemed to be born over again and min e was

, ,

the only human hea rt that beat in this u npeopled world !

There were no more seasons ; there were no more climates
the natural hea t of th e world increas ed uncea singly and ,

n eutralized that of the great radiant Sun .

Vegetation w as exaggerated in an extraordinary m a n

ner I passed like a shado w in the midst of bru hwood
. s

a s lofty a s th e giant trees of Calif ornia and tr od un der ,

foot the moist and humid soil reeking with a rank and ,

varied vegetation .

I leaned agains t th e huge column like trunk s of giant -

trees to w hich those of Canada were as ferns \Vhole

, .

a ges passed h u ndreds upon hundreds of years were coneen

,

tra ted into a single day .

Next u nrolled before m e like a panorama came the

, ,

grea t and wondrous series of terrestrial transformations .

 1 94 A JOURN E Y T O T HE CE N TRE OF T HE E AR T H .

Have you gone mad ? cried my uncle shak ing me on ,

the other side

What—what is the matter ? I sa id at l as t coming
.

to myself .

Are you ill Henry ? continued the Professor in an

,

anxious tone .

“
No—no ; but I have had an extraord inary dream It .
,
”
however h a s passed away All n ow seems well I added
, . , ,

lookin g around me with strangely puzzled eyes .

” “
All right said my uncle ; a beautiful breeze a splen
, ,

did sea We are going along at a rapid rate and if I am

.
,

not out in my calculation s we shall soon see land I .

shall not be sorry to exchange the narrow limits of our

”
raft for the mysterious strand of the Subte rranean O cean .

As my uncle utte red thes e words I rose and carefully

,

scanned the horrizon But the line of water w as still con

.

founded with the lowering clouds that hung aloft and in ,

the di sta nce appeared to touch the edge of th e water .

 CHAP TER XXX .

TE R R I F IC S AUR IAN C O MB AT .

SATUR DAY August 1 5 The sea still retains its uni

, .

form monotony The same leaden hue the same eternal

.
,

glare from above N O indication of land bein g in sight

. .

The horizon appears to retreat before us more and more ,

a s we advance .

My hea d still dull and heavy from the effects of my

,

extraordinary dream which I cannot as yet ban ish from

,

my mind .

The Professor who h as not dreamed is however in one

, , , ,

of his morose and unaccou n table humors Spends his .

time in scanning the horizon at every point of the com

,

pass His te lescope is raised every moment to his eyes

.
,

and when he finds nothin g to give any clue to our where

abouts he assumes a Napoleonic attitude a n d walks
,

anxiously .

I remarked that my uncle the Professor had a strong

, ,

tendency to resume his old impatient character and I L ,

could not but make a note of this disagreeable circum

sta nce in my J ournal I sa w clearly that it had required
.

all the influence of my danger and suffering to extract ,

f rom him one scintillation of h umane feeling Now that .

I w a s quite recovered his original nature had conquered

,

and Obtained the upper hand .

An d a fter all what had he to be angry and annoyed

, ,

about now more than at any other time ? lVas not the
,

journey being accomplished under the most favorable cir

cu msta n ces ? Was not the ra il: progressing with the most
m a rvellous rapidity ?
1
96 A JOUR N E Y T O T HE CE N TRE O F T HE E AR T H .

What then could be the matter ? After one or tw o

, ,

preliminar y hem s I determined to inquire , .

”
You seem un easy uncle said I when for about the , , ,

hundredth time he put down his tele cope and walked up s

and down muttering to himself , .

”
No I am not unea s y he replied in a dry ha rsh tone
, , ,
”
by no mea ns .

Perhaps I should have said im patient I replied , ,

so ftenin g the force of my remark .

Enough to make me so I thin k , .

An d yet we are advancing at a rate seldom atta ined

by a raft I remarked ,
.

What matters that ? cried my uncle I am not .

vexed at the rate we go at but I am annoyed to find the ,

”
sea so much v as ter than I expected .

I then recollected that the Profe sor before our depar s

,

ture had es timated the length of this Subterranean O ccam

,

a s at most about thirty leagues N ow we had travelled at .

leas t over thrice that distance without dis covering any

trace of the distant shore I began to un dersta nd my .

uncle s anger’
.

We are not goin g down suddenly exclaimed the Pro ,

fessor .‘Ve are n ot progressing with our great d is

coveries All this is utter loss of time Afte r all I did
. .
,

not come from ho me to undertake a party of plea sure .

This voyage on a raft over a pond annoys and wearies

”
me .

He called this adventurous journey a party of pleasure ,

and this great Inland Sea a pond

“
But argued I if we have followed th e route indi
, ,

ca ted by the great S a kn uss emm we ca nnot be going fa r ,

wrong .

’
That is the question a s the grea t t he im m orta l , ,

S h a k spea re h as it A re we following the route in d icated

, .
-

by that wondrous sage ? Did S a k n ussemm ever fall in

1 98 A JOUR N EY T O T HE T
CE N R E OI
!
T HE E AR TH .

out to the extent of two hundred fathoms We had the .

greate st diffi culty in hoisting in our novel k ind of lead .

When the crowbar w a s finally d ragged on board Ha ns ,

called my atten tion to some s ingular ma rks upon its sur

face .The piece of iron looked as if it had been crushed
between two very hard substances .

I looked at our worthy guide w ith a n inquirin g gla nce .

”
Tfin d er said he ,
.

O f course I w a s at a loss to u nders t and I tnm ed round .

toward s my uncle absorbed in gloomy reflections I had

,
.

little wish to disturb him from his reverie I accordingly .

turn ed once more towards our worthy Icelander .

Hans very quietly and sign ificantly opened his mouth

once or twice a s if in the act of biting and in this way
, ,

mad e me understand h is meaning .

”
Teeth ! cried I with stupefaction as I examin ed th e
, ,

bar of iron with more attention .

Yes There can be no doubt about the matter The

. .

indentation s on the bar of iron are the marks of teeth !

What jaws must the owner of such molars be poss essed of I
Have we then come upon a monster of unknown spec ies
which still exists within the vas t waste of wate rs—a
, , ,

monster more voracious than a shark more terrible and ,

bulky than the whale I am unable to withdra w my eyes.

,

—
from the bar of iron actually half crushed ! ,

I s then my dream about to come true a dread and

, ,

terri ble reality ?

All day my thoughts were bent upon thes e speculations ,

and my imagination scarcely regained a degree of calm

ness and power of reflection until after a sleep of many
hours .

This day as on other Sundays we observed a s a day of

, ,

res t and pious meditation .

Monday August 1 7 th I have been trying to rea lize

, .

from memory the particular ins tincts of th ose a ntediluvian

 TE R R I FIC S AURI A N C OMBAT . 1 99

animals of the seco ndary period which succeeding to the ,

mollus ca to the crustacea and to the fish preceded the

, , ,

appearance of the race of mammifers The generation of .

reptiles th en reigned supreme upon the earth These .

hideous mons ters ruled everything in the seas of the

secondary period which formed the strata of which th e
,

J ura moun tains are composed Nature h as endowed them .

with perfect organization What a gigantic structur e wa s

theirs ; what vast and prodigious stren gth they possessed !
The exis tin g Saurians which include a llsuch reptiles a s
,

lizards crocodiles and alliga tors even the la rgest and

, , ,

most formidable of their cla ss are but feeble imitations of ,

their mighty sires the animals of ages long ago I f there

, .

were giants in the da ys of old there were also gigantic ,

animals .

I shuddered as I evolved from my mind the idea and

recollection of these awful monsters No eye of ma n had .

seen them in the flesh They took their walks abroad

.

upon the face of the earth thousands of ages before man

ca me in to existence and their fossil bones discovered in
, ,

the limestone have allowed us to reconstruct them ana

,

tomica lly and th us to get some fa int idea of th eir colossal

,

formation .

I recollect once seein g in the great Museum of Ham

burg the skeleton of one of these wonderful Sa urians It .

measured no less than thirty fee t from the nose to the tail .

Am I then an inhabita n t of the earth of the pres ent day

, , ,

d estined to find myself face to face with a representative of

this antediluvian family ? I can s carcely believe it poss i .

ble ; can hardly believe it true And yet thes e marks of .

powerful teeth u pon the bar of iron ! can there be a doubt

from their sha pe tha t the bite is the bite of a crocodile ?
My eyes stare wildly and with terror upon the subterra
nean sea Every moment I expect one of thes e monsters
.

to rise from its vas t cavernous depths .

20 0 A JOUR N E Y T O T HE CE N TR E OF T HE E AR T H .

I fancy that the worthy Profes sor in some measure

shares my n otio n s if not my fears for after an attentive
, , ,

examination of the crowbar he cast h is eyes rapidly over ,

the mighty and mysterious ocean .

“
What could possess him to leave the land I thought , ,

a s if the depth of this wate r w a s of any importa nce to u s .

No doubt he h a s distu rbed some te rrible mons ter in h is

watery home and perhaps we ma y pay dea rly for our
,
”
temerity .

Anxious to be prepared for the wo rst I examin ed our ,

weapons and sa w that they were in a fit state for use My

,
.

uncle looked on at me and nodded his head approvin gly .

He too h a s noticed w hat we have to fea r

, ,
.

Already the uplifting of the waters on the surface indi

cates that something is in motion below The danger a p .

proa ch es It comes nearer and nearer It behooves us to

. .

be on the watch .

Tuesday August 1 8 Evening came at last the hour

,
.
, ,

when the desire for sleep caused our eyelids to be heavy .

Nig ht there is not properly speaking in this place any

, , ,

more than there is in summer in the arctic regions Hans .

,

however is immovable at the rudder When he snatches

,
.

a m oment of res t I really cannot sa y I take advanta ge .

of his vigilance to take some little repo se .

But two hours after I w a s awakened f rom a hea vy sleep

by an aw ful shock The raft appeared to have st ruck.

u pon a sunken rock It w a s lifted righ t out of th e water

by some wondrous and mysterious power and then start ed ,

off twenty fathom s di stant .

“
Eh what is it
,
cried my uncle starting u p are we ,
”
shipwrecked or what ? ,

Hans raised his hand and pointed to where about two .

hundred yard s off a huge black mass w a s mo ving up a n d

,

down I lock ed with awe My w o rst fears were rea lized

. . .

“
It is a colossal monster ! I cried claspin g my hands ,
.
20 2 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE C E N TRE OF T HE E AR TH .

I am about at a ll risks to fire and try the effect of a ,

shot .
Hans the guide however interfered by a sign to
, , ,

check me The two hideous and ravenous mons ters passed

.

within fifty fathoms of the raft and then made a rush at

on e another—
,

their fury and rage preventing them fro?

se e ing us .

The combat commenced We distinctly made ou t .

every action of the two hideous mons te rs .

But to my excited imagination the other animals a p

ea red about to take part in the fierce and dea d ly st rugg le
p
—the monster the whale the lizard and the turtle I
, , ,
.

distinctly sa w them every moment I pointed them out .

to the Icelander But he only shook his head. .

”
Tva he said
,
.

What— two only does he sa y Sur ely he is mis ta ken .

,

I cried in a tone of wonder

,
.

”
He is quite right replied my un cle coolly and philo
,

sophically examining the terrible duel w ith his t els

,
e cope
and speaking a s if he were in a lecture roo m .

How can that be ?

Yes it is so The first of these hideous mons ters has
, .

the snout of a porpoise the head of a lizard the teeth of a

, ,

crocodile ; and it is this that ha s deceived us It is the most .

fearful of all antediluvian reptiles the world renowned ,

-

Ichthyosaurus or Great F ish Liza rd .

”
And the other ?
The other is a monstrous serpent concealed under the ,

hard vaulted shell of the turtle the terrible enemy of its ,

”
f
fear ul rival the Ples io saurus or Sea Crocodile
, , .

Hans w a s quite right The two monsters only distur bed .

,

the surface of the sea !

At las t have mortal eyes gazed upon two reptiles of the
grea t primitive ocean ! I see the flaming red eyes of th e
Ichthyosauru s ea ch as big or bigger than a man s head
, ,
’
.

Nature in its infinite wisdom had gifted this wondrous

T hese a n ima ls fo ught w ith f ury .
20 4 A JOURN E Y T O T HE CE N TRE OF T HE E AR TH .

O nce or twice we fancied they were abo ut to lea ve us alto «

gether but in stead of that they came nearer a n d nearer

, , .

We crouch ed on the ra ft ready to fire at them at a

moment s notice poor as the prospect of hurting or terri
’
,

fying them w a s Still we wer e determined not to perish

.

without a struggle .

Suddenly the Ichthyosaurus and the Plesiosaur us dis

appeared beneath the waves leaving behind them a ma c!
,

stro m in the mid st of the sea We were very nearly dr awn

.

down by the indraught of the water !

Several minutes elapsed before anything w a s again s een .

Wa s this wonderful combat to en d in the dep ths of the

ocean ? Wa s the last act of this terrible drama to ta ke
place without spectators ?
It w a s impossible for us to sa y .

Suddenly at no great distance from us an enormous

, ,

mass rises out of the waters—the hea d of the grea t Ples i

osa u r us . The terrible monster is now wounded unto death .

I can see nothing now of his enormous body All that .

could be distinguished w as h is serpent like neck which he -

,

twisted and curled in all the agonies of death Now he .

struck the wate rs with it a s i f it had been a gigantic whip ,

and then again wriggled like a worm cut in two The .

water w as spurted up to a great distance in a ll d irections .

A great portion of it swept over our raft and nearly blinded

us. But soon the end of the bea st approached nearer and
nea rer ; his movements slackened visibly ; his contortions
a lmost cease d ; and at l as t the body of the mighty s nake

lay an inert dead mass on the surface of the now calm and
,

placid wate rs .

As for the Ichthyosaurus h as b e gone down to h is

,

mighty cavern under the sea to rest or will he rea ppear to

,

d es troy u s ?
This question remained unanswered And we had .

breathing time .
 CHAPTER XXXI .

T HE S EA M ON S TE R .

WE DN E S D AY August 1 9 Fortunately the wind w hich

, .
,

at the present blows with great violence ha s allowed us to ,

es cape fr om the scene of the unpara leled and ex tra ordi

l
na ry struggle Hans with h is usual imperturbable calm
.

r emained at the helm My uncle who for a short time

.
,

had been withdr awn from his absorbin g reverie by the

novel incidents of this sea fight fell back again apparently
-
,

into a brown stud y All th is tim e however his eyes were

.
, ,

fixed impatiently on the wid w prea d ocean .

O ur voyage n ow became m onotonous and uniform Dull .

a s it h a s become I have no desire to have it broken by

,

y repetition of the perils and a dventures of yesterday .

Thursday August 20 The wind is now N N E and

, . . . .
,

blows very irregularly It has changed to fitful gusts

.
.

The temperature is exceedingly high We are now pro .

gressing at the average rate of about ten miles and a half

per hour .

’
About twelve o clock a distant sound a s of thunder fell
upon our ea rs I make a note of the fa ct without even
. .

venturing a sugges tion as to its ca use It was one con .

tinn ed roar as of a sea fallin g over mighty rocks .

”
Fa roff in the dis tance said the Professor dogmatic ,

ally there is some rock or some is land agains t which the

,

sea lashed to fury by the wind is breaking violently

, , .

Hans without sayin g a word clambered to the top of

, ,

the mast but could make out nothing The ocean w a s

,
.

level in every direction as fa r a s the eye could reach .

Three hou rs passe d away without any sign to indicate

what might be before us The sound began to a ssume .

that of a mighty cata ract .

20 6 A JOURN EY T O T HE C E N RE T or T HE E AR TH .

I expressed my opinion on t ms point strongly to my

uncle He merely shook his h ead I however am
. .
, ,

strongly impress ed by a con viction that I am not wrong .

Are we advancing towards some mighty waterfall which

shall c as t u s into the abyss ? Probably this mode of de
scending into the abyss may be agreea ble to the Professor ,

because it would be something like the vertical descent he

is so eager to make I entertain a very different opinion
. .

Whatever be the truth it is certain that not many ,

leagues distant there mus t be some very extra ordin ary

phenomenon for as we advance the roar becomes something
,

mighty a n d stupendous I s it in the water or in the air ?

.
,

I cas t hasty glances aloft at the suspended vapors and ,

I seek to penetrate their mighty depths But the vault .

above is tranquil The clouds which are now eleva te d to

.
,

the very summit appear utterly still and motionles s and

, ,

completely lost in the irra diation of electric light It is .

necessary therefore to seek for the cause of this phenom

, ,

enon elsewhere .

I examine the horizon now perfectly calm pure and , ,

f ree f rom all haze I ts aspect still remains unchanged

. .

But if this aw ful noise proceeds from a cataract—if so to ,

speak in plain English thi s vast inte rior ocean is

, pr ecipi
ta ted into a lower b as in—if th ese tremendous roars are
produced by the noise of falling w aters the current would ,

increas e in activity and its increas ing sw i ftness would give

,

me some idea of the extent of the peril with which we are

menaced I consult the current It simply does n ot
. .

exist : there is no such thing An empty b ottle cas t into .

the wa ter lies to l eeward w ithout motion .

About four o clock Hans rises clambers up the m ast

’

and reaches the truck itsel f F rom this elevate d position .

his looks are cast around They ta ke in a vas t circumfer

.

ence of the ocean At l as t h is eyes remain fix ed His

.
, .

face expresses no astonishment but his eyes slightly dil a te ,

20 8 A JOURN EY T O T HE C E N TR E o r T HE E AR T H .

th an two leagues from the mighty beas t I ts long bla ck .

, ,

enormous mounta inous body lies on the top of the water

, ,

like an island But then sailors have been said to have

.

gone as hore on sleeping whales mista king them for land ,

I s it illusion or is it fear ? I ts length cannot be less than

,

a thousand fathoms What then is this ceta ceous mon .

, ,

ster of which no Cuvier ever thou ght ?

It is quite motionless and presents the appea rance of

sleep . The sea seems unable to lift him u pwards ; it is
rather the waves which break on his huge and gigantic
f ra me The water spout rising to a height of five hun
.
-
,

dred feet breaks in spray with a dull sullen roar

, ,
.

We adva n ce like senseless lunatics towards this mighty

, ,

m ass .

I honestly confess that I w a s abjectly afraid I declared .

that I would go no farther I threatened in my terror to .

cut the sheet of the sail I atta cked the Professor with .

considerable acrimony calling him foolhardy m a d I k no w , , ,

not what He made no answer

. .

Suddenly the imperturbable Hans once more pointed

h is finger to the menacing obj ect .

Helm I
An island cried my uncle .

”
An island ? I replied shrugging my shoulders at this ,

poor attempt at d eception .

”
O f course it is cried my uncle bursting into a loud
, ,

a n d joyous laugh .

But the water spout ?

”
Geyser sa id Hans , .

Yes of course—a geyser

, replied my uncle still , ,

lau ghing “ a geyser like these common in Iceland J ets

,
.

”
like this are the grea t wonders of the countr y .

At first I would not allow that I had been so grossly

deceived What could be more ridiculous than to have
.

ta ken an island for a marine monster ? But kick as on e

 T HE SEA M ON S TE R . 20 9

may one must yield to evidence and I w a s finally con

, ,

vin ced of my error It w a s nothing after all but a

.
, ,

natura l phenomenon .

As we approached nearer a n d nea rer the dimensions of ,

the liquid shea f of waters became truly grand and stu

pendous The island had a t a distance pres en ted the
.
, ,

appearance of an enormous whale whose hea d rose high ,

above the waters The geyser a word the Icelanders pro

.
,

nounce geysir and which sign ifies fury rose maj estica lly
, ,

fi om its summit
'
Dull detonations are hea rd every n ow
.

a n d then and the enormous jet taken a s it were with

, ,

sudden fury shakes its plume of vapor and bounds into

, ,

the first layer of th e clouds It is alone Neither spurts . .

of vapor nor hot sp i ngs surround it and the whole volca ,

nic power of that region is concentrated in one sublime

column The rays of electric light mix With this dazzling
.

s hea f every drop a s it fa lls assuming the pri smatic colors

,

of the rainbo w .

Let us go on shore said the Professor after some , ,

minutes of silence .

It is necessary however to take great precaution in

, , ,

order to avoid the weight of falling waters which would ,

cause the raft to founder in an ins tant Hans however .

, ,

steers admirably a n d brings u s to the other extremitv of

,

the isla nd .

I wa s the first to leap on the rock My uncle followed .

,

while the cider d uck hunter remained still like a man

-
,

above any childish sources of as tonishment We were .

n ow w a lking on granite mixed with s ilicious sandsto ne ;

the soil shivered under our feet like the sides of boilers in
which over hea ted stea m is forcibly confined It is burn
-
.

ing We soon came in sight of the little central basin

.

from which rose the geyser I plunged a thermometer .

into the wate r which ran bubblin g from the centre and it ,

marked a heat of a hundred and sixty three degrees I -

 21 0 A JOU RN E Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

This water therefore ca me from some place where the

, ,

h eat w a s intens e This w as singularly in contradiction

.

with the theories of Pro fessor Ha rd wig g I could n ot .

help tellin g him my opinion on the subj ect .

”
Well said he sharply a nd what does this prove
, ,
”
agains t my doctrine ?
”
Nothing replied I drily see in g that I w a s run ning
, ,

my head agains t a foreg one concl usion .

Neverthel ess I am compe lled to confes s that until now

,

we have been most remarkably fortunate and that this ,

voyage is be ing accomplished in m ost fa vorable conditions

of temperatur e ; but it appears evident in fact cer tai n , , ,

that we shall sooner or later arrive at one of those regions ,

where the centra l heat w ill rea ch its utmost limits and ,

will go fa r beyond all th e possible gradations of thermo

meters .

Visions of the Hades of th e ancients believed to be in ,

the centre of the earth fl oated throu h my imagination

,
g .

We shall however see what we shall see That is the

, ,
.

Professor s favorite phra se now Having chr istened th e

’
.

volcanic island by the name of his nephew th e leader of ,

the exped ition turned away and gave t he signal for em

b a rk a tion .

I stood still h owever for some m inutes gazin g upon

, , ,

the magnificent geyser I soon w as able to perceive that

.

t h e u pward ten d ency of the w ater w a s irre g ular ; n ow it

d iminish ed in intens ity and then suddenly it reg ained
, ,

new vigor which I attributed to the variation of the pres

,

sure of the ac cum ul a ted vapors in its re ser oir v

.

At last w e took our departure going ca refirlly round ,

the projecting a n d rather dangerous rocks of the southern

, ,

side. Hans had taken advanta ge of this brief halt to re

pair the ra ft Not be fore it w a s required
. .

Before we took our final departure from the island how ,

e ver I made some observations to calculate the dista nce

,
 CH APTE R XXXI I .

THE BATT L E OF T HE E LE M E N TS .

FR IDA Y , Augus t 2lst This morning the magnificent

.

geyser had who lly disappeared The wind had freshened .

u p and we were fast lea ving the neighbourhood of Hen ry s

’

Island Even the roaring sound of the mighty column

.

w a s lost to the ear .

The weather if under the circumsta nces we may use

, , ,

such an expression is about to change very suddenly The

, .

atmosphere is being gradually loaded with vapors which ,

carry with the m the electricity formed by the consta nt

evaporation of the saline wate rs ; the clouds are slowly but
sensibly falling towards the sea and are assumin g a dark ,

olive texture the electric rays can scarcely pierce through

the opaque curtai n which ha s fallen like a drop scene b e -

fore this wondrous theatre on the stage of which another

,

and te rrible drama is soon to be enacted This time it is .

no fight of animals ; it is the fearful battle of the elements

.
.

I feel that I am very peculiarly influenced a s all crea ,

tures are on land when a deluge is about to take place .

The cumuli a perfectly oval kind of cloud piled upon

, ,

the south presented a most awf ul and sinister appea r

,

ance ; with the pitiless aspect often see n before a storm .

The air is extremely heavy ; the sea is comparatively

calm .

I n the dis tance th e clouds h ave assu med the a ppea r

,

ance of enormous balls of cotton or rather pods piled one , ,

above the other in pictures que confusion By degrees .

,

they appear to swell out break and gain in number what

, ,

they lose in grandeur ; their heaviness is so great that they

are unable to lift themselves from the horizon ; but under
 T HE BATTLE OF T HE E LE ME NTS . 21 3

the influence of the upper currents of air they are grad u

‘

a lly broken up become much d arker and then present the

, ,

appearance of one single layer of a formidable character

n o w and then a lighter cloud still lit up from above re
, ,

bounds upon this grey carpet and is lost in the opaque,

m a ss.

There ca n be no doubt that the entire atmosphere is

saturated with electric fluid ; I am mysel f wholly impreg

n a ted ; my hairs literally stand on end a s if under the in

fl uen ce of a galvanic battery I f one of my companions
.

ventured to touch me I think he would receive rather a

,

violent and unpleasant shock .

About ten o clock in the morning the symptoms of the

’
,

storm became more thorough and deci sive ; the wind a p o

pee red to soften down a s if to take breath for a renewed

attack ; the vas t funereal pall above us looked like a huge
bag—like the cave of E olus in which the storm w a s col
,

leeting its forces for the attack .

I tried all I could not to believe in the menacing signs

of the sky and yet I could not avoid saying a s it were in~
, ,

voluntarily
I believe we are going to have bad weather .

The Professor made me no ans wer He w a s in a horri

ble in a detestable humor—to see the ocean stretching in
e
.

c
,

te rm inably before his eyes O n hearing my words he

.

simply shrugged h is shoulders .

We shall have a tremendous storm I said again , ,

pointing to the horizon These clouds a re fallin g lower

.

”
and lower u pon the sea a s if to crush it
, .

A great silen ce prevailed The wind wholly ceas ed

.
.

Nature assumed a dead calm and ceas ed to breathe , .

U pon the mast w here I noticed a sort of slight ignisfa tu us

, ,

the sail h a ngs in loose heavy folds The raft is motion

less in the mids t of a dark hea vy sea —without undulation
.

without motion It is a s still a s glass But as we a re .

21 4 A JOURN E Y T O THE T
CE N R E OF T HE E AR T H .

making no progress what is the use of keeping up the

,

sail
,
which may be the cause of our perdition if th e
tempes t should suddenly strike us without warning .

“ ” “
Let us lower the sail I sa id it is only an act of , ,

common prudence

No—no cried my un cle in an exasperated tone

.

!
, , ,

hundred times no Let the wind strike us a n d do its

worst let the storm sweep us away where it will—o nly let
.
,

me see the gli mmer of some coast—o f some rocky clifls

,
'

even if they dash our raft in to a thous and piec es No ! .

keep up the sail—no matter what happens .

Thes e words were scarcely uttered when the southern ,

h orizon underwent a sudden and violent change The .

long accumulated vapors were res olved into wate r and the ,

air required to fill up the void produced became a wild

and raging tempest .

It came from the most d istant co rners of the mighty

cavern It raged from every poin t of the compass It
. .

roared ; it yelled ; it shrieked with glee as of d emon s let

loose The darkness in creas ed and beca me indeed d ark
.

ness visible .

The raft rose and fell with the storm and bounded over ,

the waves My uncle w as cas t headlong upon the dec k

. .

I with great diffi culty dragged myself towards him He .

w a s holding on with might and main to the end of a

cable and appeared to gaze with plea sur e and delight at
,

the spectacle of the u nchained elements .

Hans never moved a muscle His long hair driven .

hither and thither by the tempest and scattered wi ldly

over his motionless face gave him a most extraordinary
appearance—for every single hair w a s illuminated by
,

little sparkling sprigs .

His countenance prese nts the extraordinary appea rance

of a n a n ted iluvia n man a true conte mporary of the me
,

ga therium .
 21 6 A JOU RN E Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR T H .

two fugitive observations dotted down in a mere mech a n i

,

ca l way But even their brevity even their obscur ity

.
, ,

show the emotions which overcame me .

a: an
:

Sunday August 23 d Wh ere have we got to ? In wha t

, .

region are we wanderin g ? We are still carried forward

with inconceivable rapidity .

The night h a s been fearfu l something not to be de ,

scribed .The storm shows no signs of cessation We exist .

i n the midst of a n uproar which h as no n a me The deto .

natio ns a s of artillery are incessant O ur ears literally .

bleed We are unable to exchange a word or hea r each

.
,

other S peak .

The lightning never cea s es to fl as h for a sin gle instant .

I can see the zigzags af ter a rapid dart strike the arched .
,

roof of th is mightiest of mighty vaults I f it were to give .

way and fall u pon us l O ther lightnings plun ge their forked

streaks in every direction and take the form o f globes of
,

fire which explode like bomb shells over a belea gu ered

,
-

city The general crash and roa r do not apparently in

.

crease ; it has alr ea dy gone fa r beyond what human ea r

can appreciate I f all the powder magazines in the world
.
-

were to explode together it would be impossible for us to

,

hear worse noise .

There is a constan t emission of light from the storm

clouds ; the electric matter is inces santly released ; evi
d en tly the gas eous principles of the air a re out of order ;
innumerable columns of water rus h up like waterspouts ,

and fall back upon the surface of the ocean in foam .

Whither are we going ? My uncle still lies at full

s len gth upon the raft without S peakin g— ,
without tak in g
any note of time .

The heat increas es I look at the thermomete r to my

.
,

sur prise it indicates exact figu re is here rubbed on! in

 T HE B ATTLE OF T HE E LE ME N TS . 21 7

Monday Augus t 24 This terrible storm will never

,
.

end Why should not this state of the atmosphere so

. ,

den e and murky once modified again remain definitive ?

s
, ,

We are utterly broken and harassed by fatigue Hans .

remain s just a s us ual The raft runs to the south east in

.
-

variably We have now already run tw o hundr ed lea gues

.

from the newly discovered island -

.

About twelve o clock the storm became worse than ’

ever We are obliged n ow to fas ten every bit of cargo

.

tightly on the deck of the raft or everything would be ,

swept away We tie ourselves to the mas t each man

.
,

las hing the other The waves drive over us so that .

,

several times we are actually u nder water .

We had been under the painful necessity of abstaining

f rom speech for three days and three nights We opened .

our mouths we moved our lips but no sound came Even

, , .

w hen we placed our mouths to each other s ears it w as the

’

same .

The wind carried the voice away .

My uncle once contrived to get his head close to mine

after several a lmost vain endeavors He appeared to my .

nearly exhausted senses to articulate some word I had a .

notion more from intuition than anything else that he

, ,
”
said to me we are lost
,
.

I took out my note book from which under the most ,

desperate circumstances I never parted and wrote a few ,

words a s legibly a s I could

”
Take in sa il .

With a deep sigh he nodded his head and acquiesced .

His head had scarcely time to fall back in the position

from which he had momentarily raised it than a disc or ,

ball of fire appea red on the very edge of the raft—o u r

devoted our doomed craft The m a st and sail are carried
,
.

away bodily and I see them swept away to a prodigious

,

height like a kite .

21 8 A JOURN E Y T o T HE T
CE N R E or T HE E AR TH .

We were frozen actually shivered , ith te rror The w .

ball of fire half white hal f azure colored about the size
, ,
-
,

of a ten i n ch b omb shell , moved along turning with pro

- -
,

d igiou s rapidity to leeward of the storm It ran about .

here th ere and e verywhere it clambered u p one of the

, ,

bulwarks of the raft it leaped upon the sack of provi

,

sions and then finally des cended lightly fell like a foot
, ,

ball and landed on our powder barrel .

Horrible situation An explosion of co urse w as n ow

.

inevitable .

’
By heaven s mercy it is not so , .

The dazzling disc moves on one side it approaches ,

Hans who looked at it with singular fix ity ; then it a p

,

preached my uncle who ca st him sel f on his knees to avoid

,

it ; it came towards me as I stood pale and shudderin g in

,

the dazzl ing light and heat ; it pirouetted ro und my feet ,

which I endeavored to withdraw .

An odor of nitrous ga s filled the whole air ; it penetra te d

to the throat to the lungs ,
I felt ready to choke . .

Why is it that I cannot withdra w my feet ? Are they

riveted to the flooring of the raft ?
No .

The fall of the electric globe ha s turned all the iron on

board into loadstones—the instruments the tools the arms , ,

are clangin g together with awful and horrible nois e ; the

nails of my hea vy boots adhere closely to the plate of iron
'

incrustated in the wood I cann ot withdra w my feet . .

It is the old story over again of the mountain of

adamant .

At last by a violent and almost superhuman e ffort I tear

, ,

it away just a s the ball which is still executing its gyratory

motion s is about to run round it and drag me with it—if
0 what intense stupendous light ! The globe of fire
bur ts —w e are enveloped in cascades of living fire which
s
,

flood the space around with lum inous matte r .

 THE B ATTLE OF T HE E LE ME N S T . 21 9

Then all went out and darkness once more fell upon the
deep ! I had just time to see my un cle once more cas t a p
a r ently sense less on the floorin g of the raft Hans at the
p ,

helm spitting fire under the influence of the elec

,

tricity which seemed to have gone through him .

Whi ther are we going I ask ? and echo ans wers

, ,

Whither ?
Tues day August 25 I ha ve just come out of a long
, .

fainting fit The awful and hideous storm still continues ;

.

the lightning ha s increa sed in vividness and pours out its

,

fiery wrath like a brood of serpents let loose in the atmos

phere.

Ar e we still u pon the sea ? Yes and being carried ,

along with incredible velocity .

We have passed under England under the Chann el , ,

under France probably under the whole extent of Europe

, .

}
1 l
«

Another awful cla mor in th e distance This time it is .

certain that t he sea is breaking upon the rocks at no grea t

distance Then
.
 CHAPTER XXXI I I .

OU R R O U TE RE V E RS E D .

H E R E ends what I call My J ournal of ou r voyage on

board the raft which J ournal w as happily saved from the
,

wreck I proceed with my narrative a s I did before I

.

commenced my daily notes .

What happened w hen the terrible shock took place ,

when the raft w as cas t upon th e rocky shore it would be ,

impossible for me now to sa y I felt m yself precipita ted

.

violently into the boiling wave s and if I es ca ped from a

,

certain and cruel death it w a s wholly owing to th e de

,

te rmination of the faithful Hans who clutching me by ,

the arm saved me from the yawning abyss

,
.

The courageous Icelander then carried me in his power

fu l arms fa r out of the reach of the waves and laid me
, ,

d o w n upon a burnin g expans e of sand where I found ,

m ysel f some time afterwar ds in the company of my un cle

the Professor .

Then he quietly returned towards the fatal re ek s ,

against which the furious waves were beating in order to ,

save any s tray waifs from the wreck This ma n w a s .

always practical and thoughtful I could not utte r a .

word ; I w as quite overcome with emotion ; my whole

body w a s broken and bruised with fatigue ; it took hours
before I w a s anything like mysel f .

Meanwhile there fell a fearful deluge of rain drenching

, ,

us to the skin .I ts very violence however proclaimed the

, ,

approaching end of the storm Some overhanging rocks

.
,

a ff orded us a slight protection from the torrents .

Under this shelter Hans prepared some food which

, , ,
 222 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N TRE OF T HE E AR T H .

Nothing at all my boy It is only the res ult of the

, .

—
fa tigue of the last few days that is all
”

You appear—if I may be allo w ed to sa y so—to b e

.

”
very j olly this morning I said ,
.

Delighted my dear boy delighted Was never happier

, , .

”
in my life .We have at last reached the wished fonport -
.

”
The end of our expedition ? cried I in a to ne O f con ,

sid era ble surpri se .

No but to the confin es of that sea which I bega n to

fear would never end but go round the whole world , We .

w ill n ow tranquilly resume our journey by land and once ,

”
aga in en d ea vor to dive into the centre O f the Earth .

“ ”
My dear uncle I began in a hes ita tin g kind O f way
, , ,
”
allo w me to as k you one question ?
Certa inly Harr y ; a do ze n if you think proper
, .

”
O ne will suffice How about getting b a ck ? I as ked
.

How about getting back ? What a ques tion to ask .

”
We have not a s yet reached the end of our jour ney .

I kno w that All I want to know is how you w e

.
,
”
pose we shall manage the return voyage ?
In the most simple manner in the world said the im~ ,
“
f
perturbable Pro essor O nce we rea ch the exact cen tre of
.

this sphere either we sh all find a new road by which to

,

a scend to the su rface or we shall simply turn round and ,

go back by the way we came I have every rea s on to b e .

lieve that while we are travelling forward it will not close ,

”
behind us .

Then one of the fi rst matters to see to wi ll be to repair

”
the raft w a s my rather melancholy response
, .

O f course We mu st attend to that above all th ings

.
,

continued the Profess or .

Then comes the all important question of provisions -

,

I urged . Have we anything like enough left to enable

u s to accompli sh such great such amazin g designs as
you , ,

contemplate carrying out?”

 OU R R OUTE RE VE R S E D . 2 23

I have seen into th e matter and my answer is in the ,

affir mative Hans is a very clever fellow and I have reas on

.
,

to b elieve that he h a s saved the greater part of the cargo .

But the bes t way to satisfy your scruples is to come and ,

”
judge for yours el f .

Saying which he led the way out of the kind of open

,

grotto in which we had taken shelter I had almost begun .

to hope that which I should rather have feared and this ,

w as the imposs ibility of such a shipwreck lea ving even the

slighte s t signs of what it had carried a s freight I wa s .
,

however thoroughly mistaken

,
.

A s soon as I reached the shores of this inlan d sea I ,

found Hans standing gravely in the m ids t of a large num

ber of things laid out in complete order My uncle wrung .

h is hands w ith deep and silent gratitude His heart w a s .

too full fo r speech .

This man whose superhuman devotion to his employers

, ,

I not only never sa w surpassed nor even equ alled had , ,

been hard at work all the time we slept and at the risk ,

of hi s life had succeeded in s aving the most preciou s arti

cles of our cargo .

O f cours e under the circumstances we necessarily ex

, ,

perien ced several severe losses O ur weapons had wholly .

vanished But experience had taught u s to do without

.

them The provision of powder had ho w ever remained

.
, ,

intact a fter having narrowly escaped blowing us all to

,

atoms in the storm .

Well said the Professor w h o w a s now ready to make

, ,

th e b es t of everything as we have no guns all we have

, ,
”
to do is to give up a ll idea of hunting .

Yes my d ear sir we can do without them but what

, , ,
”
about a ll our instruments ?
Here is the manometer the most us eful of all and, ,

which I gladly accept in lieu of the rest With it alone I .

ca n calculate the dep th as we proceed ; by its mea n s alone

 2 24 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

I shall be able to decide when we have rea ched the centre

of the earth Ha ha ! but for this little ins trument we
.
,

might make a mistake and r un the risk of coming out at ,

the antipodes
A ll this w as said amid bu rsts of unnatural laughter .

”
But the compass I cried without that what can we, ,

Here it is safe and sound he cried with real j oy , ,

ah ah and here we have the chronomete r and the ther

, ,
”
m ometers Han s th e hunte r is indeed an invaluable man !
.

It w a s impossible to deny this fact As fa r as the nauti .

cal and other ins truments were concerned nothing w as ,

wantin g Then on fur ther examination I found ladders

.
, ,

cords pickaxes crowbars and shovels a ll scattered about

, , , ,

on the shore .

There w a s however finally the most importa nt qu estion

, .

of all and that w as provisions

, ,
.

But what are we to do for food ? I as ked .

Let u s see to the commissariat department replied ,

m y uncle gravely .

The boxes which contain ed ou r supply of food for the

voyage were pla ced in a row along the strand and were in ,

a capital sta te of pres ervatio n ; the sea had in every ca s e

res pected their contents and to su m up in one sentence , ,

ta king into consideration biscuits salt meat schiedam and , , ,

dried fis h we could still calculate on having about four

,

months supply if u sed with prudence and caution

’
, .

“ ”
F our m onths cried the sanguine Professor in high
, ,

glee then we shall h a ve plenty of time both to go and to

,

come and w ith what remains I undertake to give a grand

,
”
dinner to my colleagues of the J oh a n n eu m .

I sighed I should by this time have used myself to

.

th e t emperament of my uncle and yet this man astonished ,

me more and more every day He w as the grea test .

human en igma I ever had known .

 2 26 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR T H .

da ys of that awf ul tempes t I could keep no account either

of the quickness of our pace or of the direction in which ,

the raft w as going Still we will endea vor to a pproximMe

.
,
”
to the truth We shall n ot I believe he so very fa r out
.
, , .

“
Well if I recollect rightly I replied our la s t obser
, , ,
”
vation w a s made at the Geyser island .

Harry s Island my boy ! Harry s Island Do n ot

’
,
’
.

decline the honor of having named it ; given your name

to an is land dis covered by us the first human bein gs who ,
”
trod it since the creation of the world !
Let it be so then At Harry s Island we had already
,
.
’

gone over two hundred and seventy leagues of sea and we ,

w ere I believe about six hundred leag ues more or le

, , s s ,
”
f rom Iceland .

Good I a m glad to see that you remember so well

. .

L et u s sta rt from that point a n d let u s count four d a ys of ,

sto r m during which our rate of travell ing mus t have been
,

very great I should sa y that our velocity mus t have been

.

”
about eighty leagues to the twenty four hours -
.

I agreed that I thought this a fair calculation There .

were then three hundred leagues to be added to the grand

total .

“
Yes and the Central Sea mu st extend at leas t six
,

hundred leagues from side to side Do you know my .

,

boy Harry that we have discovered an inland lake larger

, ,

”
than the Mediterranean ?
Certainly and we only k now of its extent in one way
, .

”
It may be hundreds of miles in length .

”
Very likely .

Then said I a fter calculating for some minutes “ if

, , ,

your previsions are right we are at this moment exactly ,

”
under the Mediterranean itself .

”
Do you think so ?
Yes I am almost certain of it Are we not nin e
, .

hundred leagues dista nt from R eykj a wik

 OU R R OUTE R E VE R S E D . 2 27

T h at is perfectly true and a famous bit of road w e ,

have travelled my boy But why w e should be un der the

,
.

'
Mediterranea n more than under I\1 rkey or the Atlantic
Ocean can only be known when we are sure of not having
”
deviated fr om our course ; and of this we know nothing .

“
I do not think we were driven very fa r from our
course : the win d appears to me to have been always about
the same My opin ion is that this shore must be situated
.

”
to the southeast of Port Gretchen .

G ood—I hope so
“
It will however be eas y to decide
.
, ,

the matter by taking the bea rin gs from our departure by

means of the compass Come along and we will consult
.
,
”
that invaluable invention .

The Professor now walked eagerly in the direction of the

rock where the indefatigable Han s had placed the in stru
ments in safety My uncle w a s gay and light hearted ; he
.
-

rubbed his hands and assumed all sorts of attitudes He

, .

w as to all appearance once more a young man Since I .

had known him never had he been so amiable and pleasant .

I followed him rather curious to kno w whether I had

,

made any mis take in my estimation of our position .

A s soon a s we had reached the rock my uncle took the ,

compas s placed it horizontally before him and looked

,

keenly at the needle .

As he had at first shaken it to give it vivacity it oscil ,

.

Iate d considerably and then slowly assumed its righ t

,

position under the influence of the magnetic power .

The Professor bent his eyes curiously over the wondrous

instrument A violent start immediately showed the ex
.

tent of his emotion .

He closed his eyes rubbed them and to ok another and

, ,

a keen er survey .

Then he turned slowly round to me stupefaction de ,

picted on his countenance .

”
What is the matter ? said I beginning to be alarmed , .
2 28 A JOUR N E Y T o T HE CE N RE T or T HE E AR T H .

He could not speak He w as too overwhelmed for

.

words He simply pointed to the instrument

. .

I examined it eagerly according to his mute dir ections ,

and a loud cry of surprise es caped my lips The needle .

of the compass pointed due north in the dir ection we ex ,

pected w a s the south !

It pointed to the shore instead of to the high seas .

I shook the compas s ; I examined it with a curious a n d

anxious eye It w as in a state of perfection No blemis h
. .

in any way explained the phenomenon Whatever pos i .

tion we forced the needle into it returned invariably to the

,

som e unexpected point .

It w as useless attemptin g to conceal from ourselves the

fatal truth .

There could be no doubt about it unwelcome a s w as the ,

fact that during the tempes t there had been a sudden

, ,

slant of wind of which we had been unable to take any

,

account and thus the raft had carried u s back to the shores
,

we had left apparently for ever so many days before !

, ,
 23 0 A JOURNE Y T O T HE T
CE N RE OF T HE E AR TH .

Liste n to me uncle I sa id in a fir m but temperate

, , ,

tone of voice there must be some lim it to ambition here

“
,

below It is utte rly useless to struggle against the impos

.

sible . Pray listen to reas on \Ve are utterly unprepared .

for a sea voyage ; it is simple madn ess to think of per

forming a journey of five hun dred league s upon a wretched

pile of beams with a counterpane for a sail a paltry stick

, ,

for a mast and a tempest to contend with

,
As we are .

tota lly incapable of ste ering our frail craft we shall b e ,

come the mere playt hing of the storm and it is actin g the ,

part of madmen if we a second time run any risk upon , ,

”
this da ngerous and treacherous Central Sea .

Thes e are only a few of the rea sons and argu ments I put
together—reasons and arguments which to me appeared
u nans werable I w a s allowed to go on without interrup
.

tion for about ten minutes The explanation to thi s I .

soon discovered The Professor w a s not even lis ten ing

.
,

and did not hear a word of all my eloquence .

”
To the raft ! he cried in a hoarse voice when I paused , ,

for a reply .

Such w a s the result of my strenuous effort to resi st his

iron will I tried again ; I begged and implored him ; I
.

got into a passion ; but I had to dea l with a will more de

te rmin ed than my own I seemed to feel like the wave
. s

which fought and battled against the huge mas s of granite

at our feet which had smiled grimly for so many ages at
,

their puny efforts .

Han s meanwhile without taking part in our dis cussion

, , ,

had been repairing the raft O ne would have supposed .

that he instinctively guessed at the further projec ts of

my uncle .

By mean s of some fragments of cordage he had aga in ,

mad e the raft sea worthy -

.

While I had been speaking he had hoisted a new mas t a n d

sa il the latter already fluttering and waving in the b reeze
,
 A V OYAGE OF DI S C OVE R Y . 23 1

T h e worth y Professor spoke a few words to our imper

“

turb a ble guide , who immediately began to put our baggage

on board, and to prepare for our departure The atmos .

ph ere w as now to lerably clea r and pure and the north eas t ,
-

w ind blew steadily and serenely It appeared lik ely to .

la st for some time .

Wh at then could I do ? Could I undertak e to resist

, ,

the iron will of two men ? It w a s s imply impossible ; if

even I could ha ve hoped for the support of Hans This .
,

however w as out of the ques tion It appeared to me that

,
.

the Icelander had set as ide all pers ona l will and identity .

He w as a pict ure of abnegation .

I could hope for nothing from one so infatuate d with and

devoted to his m a ste r All I could do therefore wa s to
.
, ,

swim with the stream .

In a mood of stolid and sullen resignation I w as about ,

to take my accus to med place on the raft when my un cle ,

placed his hand upon my shoulder .

” “
There is no hurry my boy he aid we shall not
s , , ,
”
start until to morrow
-
.

I looked the picture of resig nation to the dire will of

fa te
.

Under the circumsta nces he said I ought to neg

, ,

lect no preca utions As fate has cas t me upon these

.

shores , I sha ll not leave without having complete ly ex

a min ed them .

In order to understand this remark I must expla in th at ,

though we ha d been driven back to the northern shore we ,

h ad la nded at a very different spot f rom that which had

been our starting point .

Port Gretchen mus t we calculated be very much to the

, ,

westward Nothing therefore w as more natura l and rea

.
, ,

sonable than that we should reconnoitre this new shore

upon which we ha d so unexpecte dly landed .

”
Let us go on a journey of discovery I c ried , .
 23 2 A JOUR N E Y T O T HE CE N R E T OF T HE E AR T H .

An d leaving Hans to his important operation we starte d ,

on our expedition The distance between the foreshore at

.

high water and the foot of the rocks w as considerable It

-
.

’
w ould take about half a n hour s walk in g to get from one
- -

to the othe r .

A s we trudged along our feet crushed innumerable

—o nce the dwellin g place of
,

shell s of every shape and size -

animals of every period of creation

I particularly noticed some enormous shells—carapaces
.

( turtle and tortois e species) the diameter of which ex

ceed ed fi fte en feet .

They had in pas t ages belonged to those gigantic glyp

tod ons of th e pliocene period of which the modern turtle ,

is but a minute specimen In addition the whole s oil w a s

.
,

covered by a va st quantity of stony relics having the a p ,

pea ra n ce of flin ts worn by the action of the waves and ly ,

ing in successive layers one above the other I came to .

the conclusion that in pa st ages the sea must have covered

the whole district Upon the scattered rocks n ow lying
.
,

fa r beyond its reach the m ighty w aves of ages had left

,

evident marks of their passage .

O n reflection this appeared to me partially to ex pl a in

,

the existence of this remarkable ocean forty leagues below ,

the surface of the earth s crus t According to my new’

.
,

and perhaps fanciful theory this liquid m ass must be

, ,

gradually lost in the deep bowels of the ea rth I h a d als o .

n o doubt that this myste rious sea w a s fed by in filtration

of the ocean above through imperceptible fi ssures

, .

Nevertheless it w a s impossible not to admit that these

,

fissures mus t now be nearly choked up for if not the ca , ,

vern or rather the imm ense and stupendous res ervoir

,

would have been completely filled in a short space of time .

Perhaps even this water h aving to contend against the a c

,

cumulate d subterraneou s fires of the interior of the ea rth ,

had become partially vaporized Hence the explanation .

 23 4 A JOURNE Y T O T HE T
CE N RE OF THE E AR TH .

Nevertheless we were drawn forward by an all absorb

,
-

ing and impatient curios ity O ur feet crushed with a dry

.

and crackling sound the remains of those prehis toric fossils ,

for which the museums of great cities quarrel even when ,

they obtain only rare and curious morsels A thousand .

s uch na t ur alis ts as Cuvier would not have su ffice d to t e

compose the skeleton s of the orga nic bein gs which la y in

this magnificent osseous collection .

I w as utterly confounded My un cle stood for some.

m inutes with his arms rais ed on high towards the th ick

granite vault which served u s for a sky His mouth w as .

wide open ; his eyes sparkled w ildly behind his spectacles

( which he had fortunately saved) his head bobbed up and ,

d own and from side to side while his whole attitude and
,

mien expressed unbounded as tonishment .

He stood in the presence of an end less wondrous and ,

inexhaus tibly rich collection of anted iluvia n mons ters ,

piled up for h is own private and peculiar satisfaction .

F ancy an enthusiastic lover of books carried suddenly

into the very midst of the famous library of Alexandria
burned by the sa crileg ious O mar and which some miracle ,

ha d res tored to its pris tine splendor ! Such w as some

thing of the state of mind in which uncle Ha rd wigg w as
n ow placed .

F or some time he stood thus literally aghas t at the ,

magnitude of his discovery .

But it w a s even a grea ter excitem ent when da rting ,

wildly over this m ass of organic d ust he ca ught up a , .

naked skull and addre ss ed me in a quivering voice

Harry my boy—Harry—this is a huma n hea d !

,
”
A human head uncle ! I said no less amazed and
, ,

stu pified than himself

Ah ! Mr Milne Edwards—ah ! Mr
.

Yes nephew -

De Quatrefages—
. .
, .

why are you not here where I a m—I,

Profes sor Ha rdwigg !
 CHAPTER X XXV .

DIS C O VE R Y U P O N DI S C O VE R Y .

IN order fully to un derstand the exclamation made by

my uncle and his allusions to these illus trious and learned
,

men it will be necessary to enter into certa in expla na tions

,

in regard to a circums tance of the highes t importance to

pa laaon tology or the s cience of fossil lif e which h ad taken ,

place a short time before our departure from the upper

regions of the earth .

O n the 28th of Ma rch 1 863 some n avigators under

, ,

the direction of M Boucher de Perthes were at work in

.
,

the great quarries of Moulin Quignon near Abbeville in

-
, ,

the department of the Somme in France While at , .

work they unexpectedly came upon a human jawbone

,

buried fourteen feet below the surface of the soil It w a s .

the first fossil of the kind that had ever been brought to
the light of day Nea r this unexpected human relic were
.

found stone hatchets and carved flin ts colored and clothed ,

by time in one u niform brilliant tint of verdigris .

The report of this extraordin a ry and unexpected dis

covery spread not only a ll over France but over England ,

and Germany Man y learned men belonging to various

.

scientific bodie s and noteworthy among others Messrs

, , .

Milne Edwards and De Quatrefages took the aff air very

-
,

much to heart demons trate d the incontestable authenticity

s tion and became—
,

of the bone in que , to use the phrase

then recognized in England—the most arden t supporters
“ ”
f
o the jawbone question .

To the e minent geologists of the United Kingdom who

looked upon the fact a s certain—Messrs Falconer Buck
Carpenter and others—were soon united the learned men
.
, ,
23 6 A JOU RNE Y T o T HE CE NT RE or T HE E AR TH .

of Germany and among those in the first rank the most

, ,

e ager the m ost enthusias tic w as my worthy uncle P ro

, , ,

fessor Ha rd wigg .

The authenticity of a human fossil of the qua te rnary

period seemed then to be incontes ta bly demonstrated and ,

e ven to be ad mitte d by the mos t skeptica l .

This system or theory call it what you will had it is , , ,

true a bitter adversary in M Elie de Beaumont This

,
. .

learned man who holds such a high plac e in the scientific

,

world holds that the soil of Moulin Quignon does not

,
-

belong to the diluvium but to a much les s ancient strata , ,

a n d in accordance with ( h vier in th is re

, s pect he would ,

by no means admit that the h uman species w as cote mpor

rary with the animals of the quaternary epoch My worthy .

uncle Professor Ha rd w igg in concert with the grea t

, ,

maj ority of geologists had held fir m had dis puted d is , , ,

cussed and fi nally a fter considerable talking and writin g

, , ,

M Elie de Beau mont had been pretty well left alone in

.

his opinions .

We were familiar with all the details of this dis cussion ,

but were fa r from being aware then that since our depar
ture the matter had entered upon a n ew phas e O ther .

simila r jawbon es though belonging to individuals of

,

varied types and very different natur es ha d been found in ,

the movable gray sands of certain grottoes in F rance ,

Switzerland and Belgium ; together with arms uten sil s

, , ,

tools bones of children of men in the prh e of li fe and

, , ,

of old men The exis ten ce of men in the quate rnary

.

period became therefore more positive every day

, , .

But this w as fa r from bein g all New remains dug u p .

,

from the plio cene or tertia ry deposits had en abled the ,

more fa r seeing or audacious among learned men to as sign

-

even a fa r greater degree of antiquity to the human race .

These remains it is true were not those of men ; that is

, , ,

Were not the bones of men but objects decidedly havin g ,

 DI S C OVE R Y UPON DI S COVE R Y . 23 7

s erved the human ra ce shin bones thigh bones of fossil

, ,

anima ls reg ularly scooped out and in fact sculptured

, ,

bea ring the unmis takable signs of human handy work -

.

By mea ns of thes e wondrous and unexpected dis

coveries man as cended endless c enturies in the scale of
,

time ; he in fact preceded the mas todon ; became the

cotemporary of the elep luw m id io n a lia —
, ,

the southern ele

phant ; acquired an antiquity of over a hundred thousand
ears— s in ce that is the date given by the most eminent
y
g eologists to the pliocene per iod of the earth Such w a s .

then the state of pal aeontologic science and wha t we more ,

over knew sufi ced to explain our attitude before this

,

great cemete ry of the plains of the Ha rd wigg O cean .

It w ill now be easy to understa n d the Profes sor s ’

mingled astonishment and joy when on advancing about ,

twenty yards he found himself in the pres ence of I may

, ,

sa y face to face with a specim en of the human race

,

actually belonging to the quarternary period !

It w as indeed a human skull perfectly recognizable , .

Had a soil of very peculiar natur e like that of the ceme ,

tery of St Michel at Bordeaux preserved it during

. ,

countless ages ? This w as the ques tion I asked mysel f ,

but which I w a s wholly unable to answer B ut this head .

with str etched and parchmenty skin with the teeth whole , ,

th e hair ab undant w a s before our eyes a s in life !

,

I stood mute almost paralyzed w ith wonder and awe

,

before this dread apparition of another age My uncle .

,

who on almost every occasion w as a great talker remained ,

f or a time co mp letely dumb fo u nded He wa s too full of .

emotion for speech to be poss ible A fter a while however.

, ,

we raised up the body to wh ich the skull belonged lVe .

stood it on en d It seemed to our excited imaginations

.
, ,

to look at us with its terrible hollow eyes .

Af ter some minutes of silence the man w a s vanquished

,

by the Professor Human instin cts succumbed to scien

.
23 8 A JOURNE Y T o T HE CE NT RE or THE E AR TH .

tific pride and exultation Professor Ha rd wigg carried .

,

away by his enthusias m forgot all the circumstances of ,

our journey the extraordinary position in which we were

,

placed the immense cavern w hich stretched fa r away over

,

our heads There can be no doubt that he thought him

.

s attentive pupil s for

self at the In stitution address in g hi ,

he put on his most doctoria l style waved his hand and , ,

Gentlemen I have the honor on this auspicious o cca

,

sion to present to you a man of the quarternar y pe riod of

our globe Many learned men have denied his very exist
.

ence while other able pers ons perhaps of even higher

, ,

authority have affirmed their belief in th e reality of his

,

life I f the St Thomases of palaeontology were present

. .
,

they w ould reverentially touch him with their fingers and

believe in his existence thus a cknowledgin g their obstinate
,

heresy I know that science should be careful in relation

.

to all dis coveries of this nature I am not without having .

heard of the many Barnums and other quacks who have

made a trade of such like prete nded discoveries I have .
,

of course heard of the di scovery of the knee bones of

,
-

Ajax of the pretended fi n ding of the body of O res tes by

,

the Spartiates and of the body of As te rius ten sp a ns long

fifteen feet—of which we read in Pausanias
, , ,

I have read everything in relation to th e skeleton of

Trapani discovered in the fourteenth century and which
, ,

many persons chose to regard a s that of Polyphemus and ,

th e history of th e giant dug u p during the sixteenth cen

tury in the environs of Palmyra You a re a s well aware .

a s I am gentlemen of the existence of the celebrated ana

, ,

lysis made near Lucerne in 1 5 7 7 of the great bones , ,

which the celebrated Doctor Felix Plater declared belonged

to a giant about n ineteen feet high I have devoured .

all the treatises of Ca ssa nion and all those memoirs pa mph , ,

lets speeches and replies published in reference to th e

, , ,
2 40 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF THE E AR TH .

Here the Professor held up th e fossil body and exhibited ,

it w ith rare dexterity No professional sho w man could .

have shown more activity .

As on examination you will see my uncle contin ued , ,

it is only about six feet in length which is a long way ,

from the pretended giants of ea rly days As to the par .

ticu la r race to which it belonged it is incon tes tably Cau ,

casian It is of the white race that is of our ow n The

.
, , .

skull of this fossil being i s a perfect ovoid without any

remarkable or pro minent developmen t of the cheek bones ,

and without any projection of the jaw It pres ents no in .

d ica tion of the prognathism which modifies the facial

angle * Mea sure the angle for yourselves and you will
.
,

fin d that it is j ust ninety degrees But I will advance still .

farther on the road of inqu iry and deduction and I dare ,

venture to sa y that this human sample or specimen belongs

to the J aphetic family which sprea d over the world from ,

India to the uttermo st limits of western Europe There .

is no occas ion gentlemen to smile at my remarks

, , .

O f cou rs e nobody smiled But the excellent Professor .

w a s so accu stomed to bea min g coun tenances at his lectures ,

that he believed he sa w all his audience laughing dur ing

the delivery of his learned disserta tion .

Yes he continued with renewed animation this is a

”
,
“
, ,

fossil man a contemporary of the m as todons with the bones

, ,

of which this w hole amphithea tre is covered But if I am .

called on to explain how he came to this place how thes e ,

various strata by which he is covered have fallen into this

vast cavity I can undertake to give you no explanation
, .

Doubtless if we carry ours elves back to the quaternary

,

epoch we shall find that great and mighty convu lsions

,

The f ci l
a a a n gle is f
b y tw o pla n e H
or me d
ne more or ess v e rt ica l l
w ich h is in a s tra ig h t i n e w i t l
t h e ore ea h f h d
a n d t h e i n ci sors ; t h e ot e r, h
hor i z on ta , w ic l h h h h
pa sse s t rou g th e orga n s of e a ri n g . a n d th e o w e r n a s a l h l
bon e . h
Prog n a t i sm , in a n t ropo ogica h l ll
a n g u a g e , m ea n s t a t pa rt ic u la r
; h
p roj e c ti o n of th e j a w w h ic h mo d i fies th f
e a cia l a ng le .
 DI S C OVE R Y U P ON DIS COVE R Y . 24 1

place in the crust of the earth ; the co ntinu ally cool

’

took
ing Operation through which the earth had to pass pro
, ,

d u ced fiss u res landslips and chasms through which a large

, , ,

portion of the earth made its way I co me to no absolute .

conclusion but there is the man surrounded by the works

, ,

O f his hands h is hatchets and h is ca rved fli

,
n ts which , ,

belong to the stony period ; and the only rational supposi

tion is that like myself he visite d the centre of the earth
, , ,

as a travellin g tourist a pioneer of science , At all events .

,

there ca n be no doubt Of h is great age and of his being ,

one of the Oldes t race Of human beings ”

.

The Professor with thes e words ceas ed his oration and I ,

burst forth into loud and unanimous applause Be .

sides after all my uncle w as right

, ,
Much more learned .

men than his nephew would have found it rather hard to

refute his facts and arguments .

Another circumstance soon presented itsel f This fo ssi .

lized body w as not the only one in th is vas t plain of bones

—the cemetery Of an extinct world O ther bodies were .

found as we trod the dusty plain and my uncle w a s able

, ,

to choose the most ma rvellous of these specimens in order

to convince the most incredulous .

In truth it w a s a surprising spectacle the successive re

, ,

mains Of generations and generations of men and animal s

con founded together in one vast cemetery But a great .

question now presented i tself to our notice and one we ,

were actually a fraid to contemplate in all its bearin gs .

Had these once animated beings been buried so fa r b e

neath the soil by some tremendous convulsion of nature ,

after they had been earth to ea rth and ashes to a hes or had s
,

they lived here below in this subterranean world u nder

, ,

this factitious sk y born married and given in ma rriage

, , , ,

a n d dying at l as t ju st like ordinary inhabitants of the earth ?

,

Up to the present mo ment marine monsters fish a n d , , ,

such like animals had alone been seen alive !

,
242 A JOU RNE Y T O THE C ENT RE OF TE E AR TH .

The question which render ed us rather un eas y w a s a ,

pertinent one Were any of thes e men of th e abyss wan

.

dering about the dese rted shores of this wondrous sea of

th e centr e of the earth
This w a s a question which rendered me very uneas y and
uncomforta ble H ow should they rea lly be in exis te n ce,
.
,

w ould they rec eive us men from above ?

 2 44 A JOUR N EY T O T HE C EN T R E or THE E AR TH .

After we had walked about a mile farther we came to ,

the ed ge of a vast fores t not however one of the vas t , , ,

m u shroom forests we had discovered near Port Gretchen .

It w a s the glorious and wild vegetation of the tertiary

period in all its superb magnificence Huge palms of a .
,

—a genus of fossil
,

species now unknown superb pa lma cites ,

palms from the coal formation—pines yews cypress and , , ,

coni fers or cone bea ring trees the whole bound together b y
-
,

an inextricable and complicated mass of creepin g plants .

A beautiful carpet of mosses and ferns gre w beneath the

trees Pleas ant brooks murmured beneath umbrageous
.

boughs little worthy of this name for no shade did they

, ,

give U pon their borders grew small tree like shrubs

.
-
,

such a s are seen in the hot coun tries on our own inh abite d

globe .

The one thing wanted to thes e plant thes e shrub s thes e s

, ,

trees—w as color ! F or ever deprived of the vivifying

warmth of the sun they were vapid and colorless All
, .

shade w as lost in one uniform tint of a brown a n d faded ,

character The lea ves were wholly devoid of verdure and

.
,

the flowers so numerous during the tert iary period which

,

gave them birth were without color and w ithout perfume

, ,

something like paper dis colored by long exposur e to t he

atmosphere .

My uncle ventured beneath the gigantic groves I fol .

lowed him though not without a certa in amount of a ppre

,

h en sion Since nature had shown herself capable of pro

.

d u cin g such stupendous vegeta ble produc tions why m ight ,

We not meet with mammals ( animals with brea sts) as

large and therefore dangerou s
, .

I particu larly remarked in the clea rings left by trees

,

that had fallen and been partially consumed by time ,

many legu minous ( bean like ) shrubs such a s the m aple

-
,

and other eata ble trees dear to ruminating animals Then

, .

there appea red conf ou n ded together and in termix ed the ,

 WHA T IS rr ? 245

trees of such varied lands specimens of the vegeta tion of ,

every part of the globe ; there W a s the oak near the pal m

tree the Australian eucal yptus a n interes ting class of the

order Myrta eew—leanin g aga ins t the tall Norwegian pine,
, ,

the poplar of the north mixing its branches with those of

,

the N ew ! ea land kauris It w a s enough to drive the most.

ingenious classifi er of the upper regions out of his mind,

and to upset all his received ideas about botany .

Suddenly I stopped short and restrained my uncle .

'
The extr eme difl usen ess of the light ena bled me to see
th e smallest obj ects in the dis ta nt copses I thought I sa w
—no I really did see with my own eyes —immense
.

, , ,

gigantic animals moving about under the mighty tr ees .

Yes they were truly gigantic animals a whole herd of

, ,

ma stodons not fossils but living a n d exactly like those

, , ,

discovered in 1 801 on the marshy banks of the great

,

Ohio in North America

,
.

Yes I could see these enormous elephants whose trunks

, ,

were tearing down large boughs and working in and out ,

th e trees like a legion of serpents I could hear the so unds .

of the mighty tusks uprooting huge trees !

The boughs crackled and th e whole masses of leaves ,

and green bran ches went down the capacious throats of

thes e ter rible mons ters !
That wondrous dream when I sa w the ante historica l ,
-

times revivified when the tertiary and qu aternary periods

,

pas sed before me w a s now realized !

,

And there we were alone fa r down in the bowels of the ,

ea rth at the mercy of its f erocious inhabitants !

,

My uncle paused full of wonder and astonish ment

, .

”
Come he said at la s t when h is first surprise was over
, , ,
”
come along my boy and let u s see them nearer
, , .

”
No replied I res train ing his efforts to drag me
, ,

forward we are wholly with out arms What should we

,
.

do in the midst of that flock of gigantic quadru peds ?

2 46 A JOURN EY T O T HE CEN TR E or THE E AR T H .

Come away un cle I implore you No human creatu re

, , .

can with impunity brave the ferocious an ger of thes e

mons te rs .

No human creature said my uncle suddenly lower

, ,

ing h is voice to a mysteriou s whisper you are m istaken, ,

my dear Henry Look ! look yonder ! It seems to me

.

that I behold a human being—a bein g lik e ourselves—a

man
I looked shrugging my shoulders decided to pu sh in
, ,

credulity to its very last limits But wha te ver m ight have .

bee n my wish I w as compelled to yield to the weight of

,

ocular demonstration
Yes —
.

not more than a quarte r of a mile off lea nin g .

,

agains t the trunk of an enormous tree w a s a human being

—a Proteus of thes e subte rranean regions a new son of
,

Neptune keeping this innumerable herd of mas todons .

I mma ms p eoo'ris imma ms ip se I *

' '

ca ste s,

Yes—it no
w as longer a fossil whose
corpse we had
rai sed f rom the groun d in the grea t cemete ry but a giant ,

c apable of guiding and driving thes e prodigious mons ters .

His height w as above twelve feet~ His hea d as big a s ,

'
the head of a b u fla lo w as lost in a m ane of matted ha ir
.
, .

It w as indeed a huge mane like those which be longed t o,

the elepha nts of the earlier ages of the world .

In his hand w as a branch of a tree which served as a ,

crook for this antediluvian shepherd .

We remained profoundly still speechless with surpris e , .

But we migh t at any moment be seen by him Nothin g .

remained for us but ins tant flight .

”
Come come 1 I cried dragging my uncle along ; and
, , ,

for the first time he made no res istance to my wishes

, .

A quarter of an hour later we were fa r away from that

te rrible monster !

Th e k ee
per of gi ga n t ic c a ttl e , h imsel f a g i a nt !
 CHAPTER XX XVII .

T HE M YS TE R I O US D AGG E R .

DUR I N G th is time we ha d left the bright and

, tra nspa n
r ent fores t fa r behin d us We were mute with a stonish
.

ment overcome by a kind of fee ling which w as next door

,

to apathy We kept rimn in g in spite of ourselves It

. .

w a s a perfect flight which res embled one of those horrible

,

sensa tions we sometimes meet w ith in our dr eam s .

In stinctively we made ou r way towards the Central S ea ,

a n d I cannot now tell what w ild thoughts passed through

my mind nor of what follies I might have been guilty,

,

but for a very serious pre occupation which brought me -

back to practical life .

Though I w as aware that we were treading on a soil

quite n ew to us I however every n ow and then noticed
, , ,

certain aggregations of rock the shape of which forcibly ,

reminded me of th ose near Port Gretchen .

This confirmed moreover th e indications of the com

, ,

pass and our extraord inary and u nlooked for a s well as -

,

i nvoluntary return to the north of this great Central S ea

, .

It w a s so like our sta rting point that I could scarcely ,

doubt the rea lity of our position Strea ms and ca scades .

,

f ell in hun dreds over the numerous proj ections of the

rocks .

I actually thought I could see our faith ful and mono

tonous Han s and the wonderful grotto in which I h a d
come back to life a f te r my tremendous fa ll .

Then a s we a d vanced still farth er the p osition of th e

, ,

cliffs the appearance of a str eam the unexpected profile

, ,

of a ro ck , threw me a a i n into a state of bewilderin g

g
doubt .
 T HE M YS TE R IOUS D AGGE R . 2 49

After some time I explained my state of mental inde

,

cision to my uncle He confessed to a similar feeling of

.

hesitation He w a s totally unable to make up his mind

.

in the midst of this extraordinary but uniform panorama .

”
There can be no doubt I in sisted that we have not , ,

landed exactly at the place whence we first took our depar

ture ; but the tempes t h as brought us above our starting
point I think therefore that if we follow the coas t we
.
, ,
”
shall once more find Port Gretchen .

In that case cried my uncle ,

it is useless to con ,

tinu s our exploration The very best thing we can do is

.

to make our w a y back to the raft Ar e you quite sure .

,

Harry that you are not mistaken ?

,
”
It is difficult w as my reply to come to any deci
, ,

s ion for all thes e rock s are exactly alike

,
There is no .

marked difference between them At the same time .

,

the impression on my mind is that I recognize the pro ,

montory at the foot of which our worthy Hans cons tructed

the raft We are I am nearly convinced near the little
.
, ,
”
port : if this be not it I added carefully examin ing a
, ,

creek which appeared singularly familiar to my mind .

My dear Harry—if this were the case we should find ,

traces of our own footste ps some signs of our passage ; and ,

I can really see nothing to indicate our having p as sed this

”
way .

But I see someth ing I cried in an impetuous tone of , ,

voice as I rushed forward and eagerly picked up some

,

thing which shone in the sand under m y feet .

”
‘Vh a t is it ? cried the as tonished and bewildered Pro
fessor .

This w a s my reply
, .

And I handed to my startled relative a rusty dagger ,

of singular shape .

What made you bring with you so useless a weapon ?

h x a md
e e cl i e I w
t as needle
. ssly hampering you el
rs f
”
.
25 0 A JOU RN E Y T O T HE C E N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

I bring it it is quite new to me

-
I never sa w it be
fore—
.

a re you sure it is not out of your collection ?

”
Not that I kn ow of said the Professor puzzled , I , .

have no recollection of the c ircums tance It wa s never .

my property .

This is very extra ordinary I sa id musin g over the , ,

novel and singular inciden t .

Not at all There is a very simple expla na tion

.
,

H arry The Icela nders are known to keep up the use of

.

th ese antiquate d weapons and this mus t ha ve belonged to

,
”
H ans who ha s let it fa ll without knowing it
,
.

I shook my head That da gger had never been in the

.

possession of the p a cific and tac iturn Hans I k new him

—
.

and h is habits too well .

Then what can it b e unles s it be the wea pon of some

”
antedil uvian warrior I continued of some livin g man
, ,
‘‘
,

a contemporary of that mighty shepherd from whom we

have j ust es caped ? But no—myste ry upon mystery—this
is no weapo n of the stony epoch nor even of the bronz e ,

period It is made of excellent steel

.

Ere I could finish my sentence my un cle stopped me ,

short from ente ring upon a whole tra in of th eories, a n d

spoke in hi s most cold and decided tone of voice .

Calm yourself my dear boy and endeavor to use your

, ,

reason This wea pon upon which we have fallen so un ex

.
,

pected ly is a true da gue one of those worn by gentlemen

, ,

in their belts durin g the sixte enth century I ts use w as .

to give the coup d e grace the final blow to the foe who , ,

would not surren der It is clearly of Spanish work man

.

ship . It belo ngs neither to you n or to me nor the eider , ,

d own hunter nor to any of the living beings who may

,

still exi st so marvellously in the interior of the ca rt

”
What can you mean uncle ? I said now lost in a , ,

host of surmi ses .

“ “
Look clo ely at it he conti ued ; these jagg ed edges
s n ,
25 2 A J OUR N EY T O T HE T
CE N RE OF T HE E AR T H .

There on a square tablet of granite which had been

, ,

smoothed by rubbing it with another s tone we co u ld see ,

two mysterious a n d much worn lette rs the two initials of

, ,

the bold and extraordinary traveller who had preced ed us

on our adventurous j ourney .

1
1 H
A . S
cried my uncle ; you see I w as right
.
, . A rne
S a kn ussemm a lways Arn e S a kn ussemm l
,
 CHAP TER XXX VIII .

NO OUTLE T —B LAS TIN G T HE R OC K .

EVE R since th e commencement of our ma rvellous jour

ney I had experienced ma ny surprises had suffered from
, ,

many illus ions I th ought that I w as cas e harden ed against

.
-

a ll surprisse a n d could neither see nor hear anything to

amaze me again .

I w as like a man who having been round th e world

, ,

finds him self wholly bla s c and proof against the mar
‘

vellons.

When however I sa w these two letters which had been

, , ,

engraven three hundred years before I stood fixed in an ,

attitude of mute surprise .

Not only was there the signature of the learned and

enterpris ing alchemi t written in the rock but I held in
s
,

my hand the very identical instrument with which he had

laborious ly engraved it .

It w a s impossible without showing an amount of in

,

credulity scarcely becoming a sane man to deny the ,

isten ce of the traveller and the reality of that voyage

which I believed all along to have been a myth—the
,

mystifica tion of some fertile brain .

While thes e reflections were passing th rough my mind ,

my uncle the Professor gave way to an acces s of feverish

, ,

and poetical excite ment .

Wonderf ul and glorious Genius great S a k nussemm , ,

he cried you have left no ston e unturned no r esource

, ,

omitted to show to other mortals the way into the interior

,

of our mighty globe and your fellow creatures can find -

,

the tra il left by your illustrious footsteps three hundred ,

25 4 A JOUR NE Y TO THE T
CE N R E or T HE E AR TH .

years ago at the bottom of the se obscu re subterranean

,

abodes You have b een careful to secure for others the

.

contemplation of these wonders and marvels of creation .

Your nam e engraved at every important stage of your

g lorious j ourney lea ds the hopeful traveller direct to the
,

great and mighty dis covery to which you devoted such ,

energy and courage The audacious traveller who sh all

.
,

follow your footstep s to the las t will doubtles s fin d your ,

—
in itials engraved with your own hand upon the centre of
the earth I will be that audacious traveller I too will
.
, ,

sign my na me upon the very same spot upon the central ,

granite stone of th is wondrous work of the Crea tor But .

in justice to your devotion to your courage and to your, ,

being the first to indicate the road let this Cape seen by , ,

you upon the shores of this sea discovered by you be ,

”
called of all time Cape S a k n ussemm
, .

This is what I heard and I began to be rous ed to the

,

pitch of enthusiasm indicated by those words A fierce .

excitement rous ed me I forgot everyt hing The dangers

. .

of the voyage and the perils of the return j ourn ey wer e

, ,

n ow a s nothing !

What another man h a d done in ages past could I felt ,

be done again I w a s determined to do it myself and now ,

nothing that man had accomplished appea red to me im

possible
F orward—forwa rd I cried in a burst of genuine and
.

hearty enth usias m .

I had already starte d in the direction of the sombre and

gloomy ga llery when the Professor stopped me ; he th e
, ,

man so rash and hasty he the m a n so eas ily roused to th e

, ,

highest pitch of enthu siasm checked me and as ked me to , ,

be patient and show more calm .

Let u s return to our good frien d Hans he said ; , ,

we will then bring the raft down to this place .

I mus t sa y that though I at on ce yielded to my uncle s ’

256 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

at this stage of our journey that I care to kn ow Le t us , .

”
advance and Heaven will be ou r guide !
,
“
Yes Harry you are right quite right ; all is for the
, , ,

best Let us abandon this h orizontal sea which could

.
,

never have led to anything satisfacto ry We shall desce nd .

,

descend and everlastingly descend Do you know my

,
.
,

dear boy that to reach the interior of the ea rth we have

,
”
o n ly five thous and miles to travel !
“
Bah I cried carried away by a burst of enthusiasm
, ,

the distance is scarcely worth spea king a bout The thing .

”
is to make a start .

My wild mad and incoherent speeches continued until

, ,

we rejoined our patient and phlegmatic gu ide Allw as we .

,

found prepared for an immediate departur e There w as not

, .

a single parcel but what w a s in its proper place We a ll .

took up our posts on the raft and th e sa il being hois ted , ,

Hans received his directions and guided the frail barque ,

towards Cape S a kn ussem m a s we had definitely named it , .

The win d w a s very unfavorable to a craft that w a s un

able to sail close to the wind It w as cons tructed to g o .

before the bl as t We were continually reduced to pushin g

.

ourselves forward by means of poles O n several occas ions .

the rocks ran fa r out into deep water and we were co m

pelled to make a long round At las t af ter three long and .
,

weary hours of navigation that is to sa y about six o clock , ,

’

in the evening we found a place at which we co u ld land

, .

I jumped on shore fir t In my present state of excite

s .

ment and enthusiasm I w a s alwa ys first My uncle and , .

the Icelander followed The voyage from the port to this

.

point of the sea had by no means calmed me It had .

rather produced the opposite effect I even proposed to .

burn our vessel that is to destroy our raft in order to

, ,

completely cut off our retreat But my uncle sternly op .

posed this wild project I began to think him pa rticula rly

.

lukewarm and unenthusia stic .

 N O OUTLE T—B LAS TIN G T HE R OC K . 2 57

At any ra te my dea r uncle I said “ let us start with

, , ,

out delay .

Yes my boy I am quite as eager to do so a s you can

, ,

be But in the first place let us examine this myste rious

.
, ,

gallery in order to find if we shall need to prepare and

,
”
mend our ladders .

My uncle n ow began to see to the efficiency of our

R u h mk orf s coil which would doubtless soon be needed
’
,

the ra ft securely fa tened to a rock w as left alone More

,
s
, .

over the opening into the new gallery w a s not twenty

,

paces distant from the spot O ur little tr0 0 p with myself .

,

at the hea d advanced , .

The orifice which w a s almost circular presented a

, ,

diameter of about five feet ; the sombre tunnel w as cut in

the living rock and coated on the ins ide by the different
,

material which had once pas sed through it in a state of

fusion The lower part w a s about level with the water so
.
,

that we were able to penetrate to the interior without

difficulty .

We followed an almost horizonta l direction ; when at ,

the end of about a dozen paces our further advance w as ,

checked by the interposition of an enormous block of

granite rock .

”
Accursed stone ! I cried furiously on perceiving , ,

that we were stopped by what seemed an insur moun table

obstacle .

In vain we looked to the right in vain we looked to the ,

left ; in vain exam in ed it above and below There ex .

isted no p assage no sign of any other tunnel I experi

, .

en ced the most bitter and painful disappointment So eu .

raged w as I that I would not admit the reality of any

obstacle I stooped to my knees ; I looked under the
.

m as s of stone No hole no interstice I then looked

.
, .

above The same barrier of granite ! Hans with the

.
,

lamp examined the sides of the tunnel in every direction

,
 258 A JOU R NE Y T O T HE CEN TR E or T HE E AR TH .

Bu t all in vain ! It w as necessary to renounce all hope 0 1

passing through .

I had seated myself uponthe ground My uncle walked .

angrily a nd hopel essly up and down He w a s evidently .

de
‘
sfpera te .

” ’
But I cried aft er some moments thought what
, , , ,

a bout Ar ne S a k nussemm
You a re right replied my uncle h e ca n never ha ve
” “
, ,
”
been checked by a lump of rock
‘

N o—ten thous and tim es no

.

I cried w ith extreme , ,

vivac ity This huge lump of rock in consequence of

.
,

some singular concuss ion or proc ss one of those magnetic

e , ,

phenomena which have so often shaken the te rrestrial

crust ha s m some unexpecte d way closed u p the p assage
, .

Many and many years have passed away since the return
of S a k n ussemm and the fall of this huge block of granite
'

.
,
,

I s it not quite evident that this gallery w a s formerly the

'

outl et for the p ent up l a va in the in terior of th e earth and

-
,

that these erup tive matters then circulated free ly ? Lo ok

a t thes e r ec ent fissures in the granite roof ; it is evidently
f ormed of pi eces of enormous stone placed here a s if by ,

t h e h and of a giant w h o h a d worked to make a st rong and

‘

substantial arch O ne day after a n unusually strong

.
,

shock the vas t rock which stands in our way and which
'

, ,

w a s doubtless th e key of a k in d of arch f ell through to a

'
“

level w i th th e soil and h as barred our further progress .

We are right thenin thinki ,

n g th at thi s is an unexpecte d
,
~
obstacle with which S a k nussem m did not meet ; and if we
do not upset it in some wa y we are u nworthy of following
'

in thefootsteps of th e great discoverer and incapable of

findin g ou r w a y to the Centre of the Earth
In this wild w a y I a ddressed m y u ncle The zeal of
'

th e Profess or his earnes t longing for success h a d become

, ,

part and parcel of my being I wholly forgot the pas t ; .

I utterly despis ed the future Nothing existed for me up .

 NO OUTLE T—B LA S TIN G THE R O CK . 25 9

on the surfac e of this spheroid in the bosom of which I was

e ngulfed no towns no coun try n o Hamburg no Konig
, , , ,

str asse ,
not even my poor Gretchen who by this time ,

would believe me utterly lost in the inte rior of the earth !

”
Well cried my uncle rous ed to enthusias m by my
, ,

words let us go to work with pick a xes with crowbars

with anyt hing that comes to han d—but down with th ese
c
, , ,

”
terrible walls .

“
It is fa r too tough and too big to be destroyed by a
pick axe or crowbar I replied
”
-
.
,

What then
As I sa id it is us eless to think of overc omin g such a
,

d ifficulty by means of ordinary too

”
What then ?
What else but gunpowder a subterranean min e ? Let ,
”
us blow up the obsta cle that sta nds in our way .

”
Gunpowder I
Yes ; all we have to do is to get rid of this pa ltry
”
obstacle .

To work Hans to work ! cried the Professor

, , .

The Icelander wen t back to the raft and soon returned ,

w ith a huge crowbar w ith which he began to dig a hole in

,

the rock which w a s to serve as a mine It w as by no

,
.

means a slight task It was necessary for our purpose to

.

make a ca vity larg e enough to hold fifty pounds of fulmi

nating gun cotton the expansive power of which is four
,

times as great a s that of ordina ry gun powder .

I h a d now roused myself to an almost miraculous state

of excitement While Hans w as at work I actively as
.
,

sisted my u ncle to prepare a long wick made from damp ,

gunpowder the mass of which we finally enclosed in a ba g

,

of linen .

We are bound to go th rough I cried en thusiastically , , .

We are bound to go through, responded the Professor,

tapping me on the back .
260 A JOUR NEY TO T HE C ENT RE OF T HE E AR T H .

At midnight our work a s min ers was

,

the charge of fulminating co tto n w a s thrus t in to the hol

low and the ma tch which we had made
, ,

length w a s ready
, .

A spark w as now sufficient to ignite

engine and to blow the rock to atoms !
,
”
We w ill now rest un til to morrow -
.

It w as absolutely necessary to resign myself to my fate,

and to consent to wait for th e explosion for six wea ry
hours !
2 62 A JOU RNE Y T O T HE C ENTRE or THE E AR TH .

After a hea rty repas t my uncle and the hunter guide,

-

emb a rked on board the raft while I remain ed alone upon ,

the desolate shore .

I w a s provided with a lantern w hich was to en able me

t o set fire to the wick of the infernal m a chin e .

”
Go my boy said my un cle a n d Hea ven be with
, , ,

you . But come ba ck a s soon a s you ca n I shall be all .

”
impatience .

“
Be ea sy on that mat ter I replied there is no fea r , ,
”
of my dela yin g on the road .

Having said this I advanced toward the opening of the

,

s ombre gallery My heart beat w ildly I opened my

. .

la nte rn and seized the extremity of the wick .

The Professor who w as lookin g on held his chronome

, ,

ter in his hand .

Are you ready ? cri ed he .

Quite ready .

Well then fire away !

, ,

I has te ned to put the light to the wick which c ra ck led ,

and sparkled hissing and spitting like a serpent ; then

, ,

running a s fast a s I could I returned to the shore , .

G et on board my lad and you Hans shove ofl cried

'

, , , ,

my uncle .

By a vigorous application of his pole Ha ns sent us fly

in g over the water The raf t w as quite twen ty fathoms
.

distant .

It w a s a moment of palpitating interest of deep anx iety , .

My uncle the Professor never took his eyes off the cht o
, ,

n ometer.
“
five minutes more he said in a low tone only
O nly , ,
”
f our only three
,
.

My pulse went a hundred to the minute I c ould hea r .

my heart beating .

O nly two one ! Now then mountains of granite,

, , ,

crumble beneath the power of man

 T HE E X PL O S I O N AND ITS RE S ULTS . 263

Wh at happened after that ? As to the terrific roa r of

the explosion I do not th ink I heard it But the form .

completely changed in my eyes—they seemed

,

of the rock s

to be drawn as ide like a curtain I sa w a fathomless a .

,

bottomless abyss which yawned beneath the turgid waves

,
.

The sea which seemed suddenly to have gone mad then

, ,

became one grea t m ountainous mass upon the top of ,

which the raft rose perpendicularly .

We were all thrown down I n less than a second the .

light gave place to the most profound obscurity Then I .

felt a ll solid support give way not to my feet but to the ,

raft itself I thought it w as going bodily down a tremen d

ous well I tried to speak to question my uncle Nothing
.
,
.

could be heard but the roaring of the mighty waves We .

clung together in utter silence .

Despite the awful darkn ess despite the noise the su r , ,

pris e the emotion I thoroughly understood what had

, ,

happened .

Beyond the rock which had been blo wn up there existe d ,

a mighty abyss The explosion had caused a kind or

.

earthquake in this soil broken by fissures and rents, .

The gulf thus suddenly thrown Open w a s about to swa l

, ,

low the inland sea which transformed into a mighty tor

, ,

rent w a s dragging us with it

, .

O ne only idea filled my mind We were utterly and .

completely lost !
O ne hour t wo hours—what more I cannot sa y passed
, ,

in this manner We sa t close together elbow touching

.
,

elbow knee touching knee ! We held one another s hands

,
’

not to be thrown off the raft We were subjected to the .

most violent shocks whenever our sole dependence a frail

, ,

wooden raft struck against the rocky sides of the channel

, .

Fortunate ly for u s th ese concu ssions became less and less

,

frequent which made me fancy that the gallery w a s getting

,

wider and wider There could be now no doubt that we

.
 2 64 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE NT RE OF T HE E AR TH .

had chanced upon the road once followed by S a knussemm,

but instead of going down in a proper manner we h a d, ,

th rough our own imprudence drawn a whole sea with us ! ,

Thes e ideas pres ented themselves to my mind in a very

vague and obscur e man n er I felt rather th an rea s oned . .

I put my idea s together only confusedly while spinni ng ,

along like a man going do w n a waterfa ll To j udge by .

the air which a s it were whipped my fa ce we must have

, , ,

been rushing at a perfectly lightnin g rate .

To atte mpt under thes e circums tances to light a torch

was simply impossible and the last rem a ins of our electric
,

machine of our R uh mk orf s coil had been destroy ed dur

’

, ,

ing the f earf ul explosion .

I w a s therefore very much con fused to see at las t a .

bright light shining close to m e The calm countenance .

of the guide seemed to glea m upon me The clever and .

patient hun ter had succeeded in lighting the lante rn ; and

though in the keen and thorough draught the flame
, ,

flickered and vacillated and w a s n early put out it served ,

partially to dissipate the awful obscurity .

The gallery into which we h a d entered w a s very w ide .

I w as therefore quite right in that part of my conjecture

, , .

The insufficient light did not allow us to see both of the

walls at the same time The slope of waters which wa s
.
,

carryin g us away w as fa r grea te r tha n that of the most

,

rapid river O f Am erica The whole surface of th e strea m

.

seemed to be composed of liquid arrows darted forward ,

with ex treme violence and power I can give no idea of .

the impre ssion it made upon me .

The raft at times caught in certa in Whirlpools and

, , ,

rushed forward yet turned on its elf all th e time How it

, .

did not upset I shall n ever be able to u nders tand Wh en .

it approached the sides of the gallery I took care to throw ,

upon them the light of the lantern and I w as able to ,

judge of the rapidity of motion by looking at the proj ect

2 66 A JOU RNEY To T HE C ENT R E O F T HE E AR TH .

I remembered everything that his to ry ha d ta ught me

on the subject and I shuddered at the remembrance O f
,

the agon ies to be endured .

Maddened at the prospects of enduring the miseries of

sta rvation I persuaded mysel f that I mus t be mis ta ken
,
.

I examin ed the cracks in the raft ; I poked between the

j o ints and b eams ; I exa mined every possible h ole and
corner The result w as —s imply nothing !
.

O ur sto ck of provisions consisted of nothing but a piece

of d ry mea t and some soaked and ha l f mouldy bis cuits - .

I gazed around me scared and frightened I could not .

u nderstand the awful truth An d yet of what cons equence

.

Wa s it in regard to any n ew danger ? Supposing that we h a d

had provis ions for months and even for years h ow could
, ,

we ever get out of the awful abyss into which we were

being hurled by the irresis tible torrent we had let loose ?
Why should we trouble ourselves about the sufferings
and tortures to be endured from hunger when death ,

stared us in the face under so many other swif te r and per

haps even more horrid forms ?

It w as very doubtful under the circumstances in which
,

we were placed if we should have time to die of ina nition

, .

But the human frame is singularly co ns tituted .

I knew not h ow it w as ; but from some singula r hallu

,

cin a tion of the m ind I forgot the rea l seriou s and im m e

, ,

diate danger to which we were exposed to think of the ,

menaces of the future which appea red before u s in a ll

,

their naked terror . Besides a fte r all sugges ted Hope

, , ,

perhaps we might finally escape the fury of the raging tor

rent and once more revisit the glimpses of the moon on
, ,

the surface of our beautiful mother ea rth .

How w a s it to be done ? I had not the remotes t idea .

Where were we to come out ? No matte r so that we did , .

O ne chance in a thousand is always a chan ce while ,

dea th fro m hunger gave u not even the fa intes t glim pse
s
 THE EXPLOS I O N AND IT S RE S UL T S . 267

of hope It left to the ima gina tion nothing but blank

.

horror without the faintes t chance of escape !

,

I had the grea test mind to revea l all to my uncle to ,

expl a in to him the extraordinary and wretched position to

which we were red uced in order that between the two, , ,

we might make a calculation a s to the exact space of time

which remained for us to live .

It w a s it appea red to me the only thing to be done

, , .

But I had the courage to hold my tongue to gnaw at my ,

entrails like the Spartan boy I wished to leave him a ll .

h is coolnes s .

At this moment the light of the lantern slowly fell

, ,

and at las t went out !

The wick had wholly burnt to an en d The obscurity .

became absolute It w as no longer possible to see through

.

the impenetrable darkness ! There w a s one torch left ,

but it w as impossible to keep it alight Then like a .

,

child I shut my eyes that I might not see the darkness

, , .

After a great lapse of time the rapidity of our j ourney ,

increas ed I could feel it by the rush of a ir upon my face

. .

The slope of the waters w as excessive I began to feel .

that we were no longer going down a slope ; we were fall

ing . I felt a s one does in a drea m going down bodily ,

falling ; falling ; falling !

I felt that the hands of my un cle and Ha ns were vigor
ously clasping my arms .

Sudden ly after a lapse of time scarcely appreciable I

, ,

felt someth ing like a shock The raft had not struck a .
.

har d body but had suddenly been checked in its course

, .

A waterspout a liquid column of water fell upon us I

, , .

felt suffocatin g I w a s being dr owned

. .

Still the sudden inun dation did not last In a few .

sec onds I f elt myself once m ore able to breathe My .

uncle and Hans pre sed my arms and the raft carried us
s
,

a ll three away .
 CHAPTER X L .

T HE AP E G I G AN S .

IT is difficu lt for me to dete rmine wha t w as the rea l

time but I should suppose by after calculation that it
, , ,

m u st have been te n at night .

I lay in a stupor a half dream during which I sa w

, ,

visions of as tounding character Mons te rs of the deep .

were side by side with the mighty elephantine shepherd .

Gigantic fish and animals seemed to form strange conj un c

tions .

The raft took a sudden turn whir led round ; entered ,

another tunnel ; this time illumin ed in a most sin gular

manner The roof w as formed of porous stalactite thr ough
.
,

which a moon lit vapor appeared to pass ca s ting its bril

-
,

liant light upon our gaun t and ha ggard figures The .

light increased a s we advanced while the roof ascended ;

,

until at las t we were once more in a kind of water cavern

, ,

the lofty dome O f which disappeared in a luminous cloud !

A rugged cavern of small exte nt appeared to Offer a
halting place to our weary bodies .

My u ncle and the guide moved as men in a dream I .

w a s afraid to waken them k nowin g the danger of such a

,

sudden start . I seated myself beside them to watch .

As I did so I became aware of somethin g moving in the

,

distance which at once fa scinated my eyes It w as fl oa t

, .

in g apparently upon the surface of the water advancing

, , ,

by means of what at first appeared paddles I lock ed .

with glaring eyes O ne glance t old me th a t it w a s some

.

thing monstrous .

But what ?
 2 70 A JOURNE Y T O T HE C E N RE T OF THE E AR TH .

s omething too hideous to conte mplate Flight w as .

possible !
O ne only resource remained and that wa s to fin d some ,

small hiding place to which the f ea rful den i zens of the

-

cavern could not penetra te I g aze d wildly around a nd .

,

at last dis covered a fissur e in the rock to which I rushed ,

in the hope of recovering my scattered senses .

Crou ching down I waited shivering as in an ague fit

, .

No man is brave in pres ence of an ea rthquak e, or a burst

ing boiler or an ex plod ing torped o I could not be ex
, .

pected to feel much courage in presence Of the fearful fa te

that app eared to await me .

An hour passed I heard a ll the time a strange rum

.

bling outs ide the cave .

Wh at w a s the fate Of my unhappy companions ? It

w a s impossible for me to paus e to in quire My own .

wretched existence w as all I could thin k of .

Sudden ly a groanin g as of fifty bears in a fight fell

u pon my ears—
, ,

hisses spitting moaning hideous to hear

— and then I sa w
, , ,

Never were ages to pass over my hea d shall I forget

, ,

the horrible apparition .

It w as the Ape G iga ns l

F ourteen feet high covered with coarse hair of a
, ,

blackish brown the hair on the arms from the shoulder

, ,

to the elbo w j oin ts pointing downwards while that from

, ,

the wrist to the elbo w pointed u pwards it advanced I ts , .

arms were a s long a s its body while its legs were pro ,

digious . It had thick long and sharply poin ted teeth

, ,
-

like a mammoth sa w .

It struck its breas t as it came on smelling and sniffin g ,

reminding me of the stories we read in our early childhood

of giants who ate the fle s h of m en and litt le boys !

Suddenly it stopped My heart beat wildly for I wa s

.
,

c onscious that somehow or other the fearful monster had

, ,
 T HE APE G I G AN S . 27 1

s melt me out and w as peering about with his hideous eyes

to try and discover my whereabouts .

My reading which a s a rule is a blessing but which on

, ,

th is occas ion seem ed momentarily to prove a curse told

, ,

me the real truth It w a s the Ape G iga ns the An tedilu

.
,

vian Gorilla .

Yes ! Thi s awful monster confined by good fortune to ,

the interior of the earth w as the progenitor of the hideous

,

mons ter of Africa

He glared wildly about seekin g somethin g—d oubtless
.

myself I gave myself up for lost No hope Of safety or

. .

escape seemed to remain .

At this m oment just as my eyes appea red to close in

,

dea th there came a strange noise from the entrance of

,

the cave ; and turning the Gorilla evidently recognized ,

some enemy m ore worthy h is prodigious size and strength .

It w a s the huge Shark Crocodile which perhaps h aving -

,

d isposed O f my friends w a s comin g in search of further

,

prey.

The Gorilla placed himself on the defensive and clutch ,

ing a bone some seven or eight feet in length a perfect ,

club aimed a deadly blow at the hideous beast which

, ,

reared upwards and fell with all its weight upon its a d
versa ry .

A terrible com bat the deta ils of wh ich it is impossible

,

to give n ew ensued The struggle w a s awful and fero

, .

cion s I however did not wait to witness the result R e

.
, .

garding myself as the Object Of conten tion I determined ,

to remove from the pres ence Of the victor I slid d own .

fr om my hi ding place reached the ground and glidi n g

-
, ,

against the wall strove to gain the open mouth of the

,

cavern .

But I h a d not taken m any steps when the fearful clamor

ceas ed to be followed by a mumbling and groaning w hich
,

appeared to be in dicative of victory .

272 A JOUR NE Y T O THE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

I looked back and sa w the huge ape gory with blood , ,

coming after me with glarin g eyes with dilated nostrils ,

that gave forth two columns of heated vapor I could .

feel his hot and fetid breath on my neck and with a

horrid jump—a woke from my nightmare sleep .

Yes—it w as all a dream I w as still on the raft with .

my uncle and the guide .

The relief w a s not instanta neous for un der the influence ,

of the hideo us nightmare my senses had become numbed .

After a while however my feel ings were tranquillized

, , .

The first of my perceptions which returned in full force w as

that of hearing I lis tened with a cute and attentive ea rs
. .

All w a s still as dea th All I comprehended w as silence

. .

To the roaring of the waters which had filled the gallery ,

w ith awful reverberations succeeded perfect pea ce , .

Af ter some little time my uncle spoke in a low and ,

scarcely audible te n c h

Harry boy where are you ?

, ,
”
I am here w a s my faint rejoinder
, .

’
Well don t you see what ha s happened ? We are go
,
”
ing upwards .

My dear u ncle what can you mea n ? w a s my half

,

delirious reply .

Yes I tell you we are as cending rapidly O ur down

, .

”
ward journey is quite checked .

I held out my hand and after some little d ifliculty , , ,

succeeded in touching the wall My hand w as in an in .

stant covered with blood The skin w as torn from the .

flesh We were as cending w ith extraordinary rapidity

. .

— ”
The torch the torch ! cried the Professor wildly ,

it must be lighted .

Hans the guide after many vain efforts at las t su c

, , ,

ceed e d in lighting it and the flame having n ow nothing

,

to prevent its burning shed a tolerably clea r light We , .

were enabled to form a n approximate idea of the truth .

 274 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

But wha t would you have us do ? I cried ; are w e

not utte rly helpless ?
N O ! While there is lif e there is hope At all events
there is one thing we can d o—e a t and thus obtain strength
.
,

,
”
to face victo ry or death .

A s he spoke I looked at my u n cle with a h aggard

,
'
glance I had put ofl the fatal commun ication as long a s
.

possible It w a s now forced upon me and I m us t tell h im

.
,

the truth Still I hes itated

. .

“
Eat I said in a d eprecating tone a s if there were no
, ,

hur ry .

Yes and at on ce I feel like a starving pris on er he

,
.
,

said ru bbing hi
, s yellow a n d shivering hands to gether .

And turnin g round to the gu ide he spoke some hearty

, , ,

chee rin g words a s I judged f rom h is t one in Danis h

, , .

Hans shook his head in a terribly significant ma nn er I .

tried to look u nconcerned .

What ! cried the Professor you do not mean to sa y ,

”
that all our provisions are lost ?
“
Yes ”
w a s my lo wly spoken re ply a s I held out some
,
-
,

“
thing in my hand this mors el of dried meat is a ll that
,

remain s for us three .

My u ncle ga zed at me a s if he could not fully a ppreci

a te the meaning of my words The blow seemed to stun .

him by its severity I allowed him to refl ect for some

.

moments .

Well said I after a short pause wh at do you think

, , ,

n ow ? I s there any chance of our se capin g from our borri

ble subterranean dangers ? Are we not d oomed to perish
in th e great h ollo ws of the Centre of the Earth ? ”
But my pertinen t ques tions brought no answer My .

u ncle either heard me not or appeared n ot to do so , .

And in this way a w hole hour passed Neither of us .

ca red to spea k F or m ysel f I b egan to feel the most

.
,

fea rful and devouring hunger My companions doubtless .

, ,
 THE APE G I G ANS . 27 5

f eltthe same horrible tortures but neither of them would

,

to uch the wretc hed mors el of meat that remain ed It lay .

there a las t remnant of all our grea t preparations for the

,

mad and senseless journey !

I loo ked back with wondermen t to my own folly
, , .

F ully w as I aware that despite his enthusias m and the

, ,

ever to b e hated scroll of S a k nussemm my uncle should

- - -
,

never have started on his perilous voyage What memories .

of the happy pas t w hat previ sions of the horrible future

, ,

n ow filled my bra in !
 CHAP TER XLI .

HUN GE R .

HUN GE R prolonged is temporary ma d nes s !

, ,

The bra in is at work without its required food a nd the ,

most fantas tic notions fill the mind Hitherto I had never .

known what hun ger really mea nt I w as likely to under .

stand it now

And yet three months before I could tell my terrible

,

story of starvation a s I thought it As a boy I u sed to

,
.

make frequent excursions in the neighborhood of the Pro

fessor s hou se
’
.

My uncle always acted on system and he believed that , ,

in addition to the day of rest and worship there shou ld be ,

a day of recreation I n cons equence I w a s always fr ee to

.
,

do a s I liked on a Wednes day .

N ow a s I had a notion to combine the u seful an d th e

,

agreeable my favorite p a stime w a s birds nesting I had

,
’
.

one of the best collections of eggs in a ll the town They .

were classified and under glass ca s es

, .

There w as a certain wood which by ris in g at early morn

, , ,

and taking the cheap train I could reach at eleven in the ,

m orning Here I would botanize or geologize at my will

. .

My uncle was always glad of specimens for his herbarium ,

and stones to examine When I had filled my wallet I

.
,

proceeded to search for nests

Af ter about two hours of hard work I one day sa t , , ,

down by a stream to eat my humble but copious lun ch .

How the remembrance of the spiced sausage the Wheaten ,

loaf and the beer made my mouth water n ow ! I woul d

, ,

have given every prospect of worldly wea lth for such a

meal But to my story
. .
278 A JOURNE Y T O THE CE NT RE OF THE E AR TH .

I w as unable to move either way and w a s doomed to a ,

terrible a n d horrible death that of sta rvation In a boy s ’

.
,

mind however there is an extrao rdinary amount of

, ,

e l as ticity and hope and I bega n to think of a ll so rts of

,

pla ns to es cape my gloomy fate .

In the first pla ce I required no food just at present , ,

h aving had an excellent m ea l a n d w a s therefore allowed ,

time for reflection My fi rst thought was to try and move

.

the mortar with my hand Had I possessed a knife .

,

something might have been done but that useful instru ,

ment I ha d left in my coat pocket .

I soon found that a ll efforts of this k in d were vain an d

u sele s s a n d that a ll I could hope to do w as to wrigg le
,

downwards .

But though I j erked a nd struggled a n d strove to turn , ,

it w as all in vain I could not move an inch one way or

.
,

the other And time flew rapidly My early ris ing pro
. .

bably contributed to the fact that I felt sleepy and gra d u ,

a lly gave way to the sen sation of drowsiness .

I slept and awoke in da rkn ess ravenously hungry

, , .

Night ha d come and still I could not move I w a s, .

t ight boun d and did not succeed in changing my position

,

a n inch I groaned aloud Never since the days of my

. .

h appy childhood when it was a hardship to go fr om mea l

,

to mea l without eating had I really experienced hun ger , .

The sensation wa s as novel as it was pain ful I began .

now to lose my head and to scream and c ry out in my

agony Someth ing appe ared s tartled by my noise It
.
, .

w as a harml ess li zard but it appeared to me a loath some ,

reptile Again I mad e the old ruins resound with my

.

cries and finally so exh auste d myself that I fa inte d

, .

How long I lay in a kind of trance or sleep I cannot sa y ,

bu t when again I recovered consciousness it w as day How .

ill I felt how hunger still gnawed at me it would be hard to

, ,

sa y
. I w a s too wea k toscream now fa r too wea k to struggle ,
 HUN GE R . 2 7g

Suddenly I w as sta rtled by a roar.

”
Are you there Henry ? said th e voice of my uncle ;
,

are you there my boy ,

I could only faintly res pond but I als o mad e a desperate ,

effort to tur n Some mortar fell To this I o wed my

. .

being dis covered When the sea rch took place it w a s

. ,

ea s ily seen tha t morta r and sma ll pieces of sto ne had re

’
cen tly fallen from above Hence my uncle s cry . .

'

Be calm ” he cried if w e pull down the whole ruin

, , ,

”
you shall be saved .

They were delicious words but I had little hope ,

.

Soon however about a quarter of an hour later I hea rd

, ,

a voice ab ove me at one of the upper fire pla

,
-

Ar e you below or above

”
Below wa s my reply
,
.

I n an ins ta nt a basket w a s lowered with milk a biscuit , ,

and an egg My uncle w a s fea rful to b e too ready with

.

h is supply of food I drank the milk first for thirst had

.
,

nearly dea dened hunger I then much refreshed a te my .

, ,

bread and hard egg .

They were n ow at work at the wall I could hea r a pick .

axe Wis hing to es cape all danger from this terrible wea
.

pon I made a desperate struggle and the belt which su r , ,

rounded my waist and which had been hitched on a stone ,

gave way I w a s free and only escaped fallin g down by

.
,

a rapid motion of my hands and knees .

’
In te n minutes more I w a s in my uncle s arms afte r ,

being two days and nights in that horrible prison My .

occas ional delirium prevented me from counting time .

I w as weeks recovering from that awf ul sta r vation a d

venture : and yet what w a s that to the hideous sufferings I
now endured ?
Afte r drea ming for some time and thinking of this and ,

other matte rs I once more looked around me

, We were .

stil l ascending with fea rfsl rapidity Every now a nd .

 2 80 A JOURNEY TO T HE CE N RE T or THE E AR TH .

then the air appeared to check our respiration a s it does

that of a eronauts when the as cens ion of the balloon is too
rapid But if they feel a degree of cold in proportion to
.

the elevation they atta i n in the atmosphere we experi ,

en ced quite a contrary eff ec t The heat bega n to in c rea s e .

in a most threatening and exceptional manner I cannot .

te ll exactly the mean but I thin k it must ha ve rea ch ed

,

1 22 degrees of F ah renheit .

What w a s the mea n ing of this ext raordinary change in

the temperature ? As fa r a s we had hitherto gone fa cts ,

had proved the theories of Davy and of L id enb rock to be

correct U ntil now all the peculi a r condition s of refr a c
.
,

tory rocks of electricity of magnetism had modifi ed the

, ,

general laws of nature and h a d created for us a moderate ,

temperature for the theory of the centra l fir e remain ed , ,

in my eyes the only explainable one

, .

Were we then going to reach a position in which these

, ,

phenomena were to be carried out in all their rigor and ,

in which the hea t would reduce the rocks to a sta te of fu

sion ?

Such w a s my not unnatural fea r and I did not concea l ,

the fact from my uncle My way of doing so might be .

cold and h eartle s s but I could not help it , .

If we are not d rown ed or smashed into panca kes and , ,

if we do not die of s tarvation we have the satisfa ction of ,

k nowin g that we mus t be burned alive .

My un c le in pres ence of this brusque attack simply

, ,

shrugged his shoulders a n d resum ed his reflections ,

whatever they might be .

An hour passed away and except th at there w as a , .

slight increase in th e temperature n o in cident modified

e the situation My uncle at las t, of h is own accord broke

.
,

silence .

Well Henry my boy he said in a cheerful wa y we

, , , , .

must make up our minds .

2 82 A JOURNE Y T o T HE CE N TR E or T HE E AR TH .

our las t repas t Well n ever mind—instea d of be ing ex

.
,

hanste d skeletons we shall be men , .

“
ed , s i
True mutter I in a de pa rin g tone let us ta k e ,
”
our fill .

We mus t repli ed my uncle with a deep sigh

, ca ll ,
”
it what you will .

My un cle took a piece of the mea t that rema in ed and ,

s ome crusts of biscuit w hich had s e ca ped the wreck He .

d ivided the whole into three parts .

Each had one pou nd of food to la s t him as long as he

remained in the interior of the earth .

Each now a cted in accordance with his own private

characte r .

My uncle the Professor ate greedily but evidently

, , ,

w ithout appetite ea ting simply f rom some mechanical

,

motion I put the food inside my lips and hungry a s I

.
,

w a s chewed my morsel without pl ea s ure and w ithout

, ,

sati sfaction .

Hans the guide jus t as if he had been eider down hun t

,
-

in g swallowed every mouth ful a s though it were a us ual

, ,
'

a fl a ir He looked like a man equally prepared to enjoy

.

superflu ity or total want .

Hans in all probability w a s no more used to starvation

, ,

than ourselves but his hardy Icelan dic natu re had pre
,

pared him for many sufferings As long as he received h is .

three rix d ollars every Saturday night he was prepared

-
,

for anyt hing .

The fact w as Hans never troubled himself about much

,

except his money He had undertaken to serve a certa in

.

man at so much per week and no matter what evils befell ,

h is employer or himsel f h e never found fault or grumbled, ,

so long a s h i
s wages were duly paid .

Suddenly my u ncle roused him self He had seen a smile .

on the face of our guide I could not make it out . .

What is the matter ? said my uncle .

 HUN GE R . 2 83

Sch iedam said the guid e producing a bottle of this

, ,

precious fluid .

We drank My uncle and myself will own to our dyin g

.

day that hence we derived strength to exist until the las t

bitter moment That precious bottle of Hollands w a s in
.

reality only half full ; but un der the circumstan ces it w as

-
, ,

necta r .

It took some m inutes for myself and my u ncle to form

a decided opinion on the subject The worthy Professor .

s wallowed about hal f a pint and did not s eem able to

drink any more .

“ ”
Fortrafl ig said Hans swallow ing nearly a ll that w as
, ,

Excellent—very good said my uncle with as much

, ,

g us to as if he had ju st left the steps of the club at

Hamburg .

I had begun to feel as if there had been one gleam of

hope N ow all thought of the future vanished !
.

We had consumed our las t oun ce of food and it w a s .

five o clock in the mornin g !

’
 CHAP TER XL II .

THE V O LC AN IC S HAFT .

M AN S constitution is so peculiar tha t his hea lth is

’
,

urely a negative matter No s ooner is the ra ge of hun ger

p .

a ppea s ed ,
than it becomes d iflicult to c omprehen d the
meanin g of starvation It is only when you suffer tha t
.

you really understand .

As to any one who h as not en dur ed privation ha vin g

a n y notion of the matte r it is simply ab surd , .

With u s after a long fas t some mouthfuls of bread and

, ,

meat a little mouldy biscuit and salt beef triumphed over

,

all our previous gloomy and satu rnine thoughts .

Nevertheless after this repas t each gave way to his own

I wondered what were those of Hans—the
,

reflections .

ma n of the extreme north who w a s yet gifted with the,

fatalistic resignation of O riental character But th e ut .

most stretch of the imagination would not allow me to

realize the truth As for my individual self my thoughts
.
,

had ceased to be anythin g but memories of the past a nd , .

were all connecte d with that upper world whi ch I never

should have left I sa w it all now the b eautiful house in
.
,

the Konigstra sse my poor Gretchen the good Marth a ;

, ,

they all passed before my mind like visions of the past .

Every time any of the lugubrious groanings which were to

be dis tin gu ished in the hollo ws around fell upon my ears ,

I fancied I hea rd the distant murmur of the grea t cities

above my head .

As for my uncle always thinking of his science he

, ,

examined the nature of the shaft by means of a torch .

H e closely examined the different strata one above the

other in order to recognize his situation by geological
,
286 A JOUR NE Y T o THE CE N RE T or T HE E AR TH .

”
Are we ascendin g to a living fire ? I cried ; when to ,

my horror and a stonishment the heat be came greater ,

tha n before .

No no said my un c le it is simply impossible quite

”
, ,
“
, ,
”
impossible .

“ ”
An d yet said I touchin g the side of the sha ft with
, ,
”
my naked hand this wall is literally burn ing
, .

At this moment feelin g a s I did th at the sides of this

,

extraordinary wall were red hot I plunged my h ands in to ,

the water to cool them I drew them back with a cry of

.

despair .

The water is boiling ! I cried .

My un cle the Professor m a de n o reply other than a

, ,

gesture of rage and d espair .

S omething very like the truth had probably struck his

ima gination .

But I could take no shar e in either what w as goin g on ,

or in his speculations An invincible drea d had taken

.

possession of my brain and soul I could only look for .

ward to an immedia te catas trophe such a cata s trophe a s ,

not even the most vivid imagina tion could h ave thought
of An idea at first vague and unc ertain was gra dually
’

.
, ,

being changed into ce rtainty .

I tremulously rej ected it at first but it forced its elf upon ,

me by deg rees with extreme ob stin acy It w as so terrible .

an idea that I scarcely dared to whisper it to myself .

And yet all the while certain and as it were involun , ,

ta ry obse rvations dete rmined my convictions By the .

doubtful glare of the torch I could make out some singu ,

la r changes in the granitic strata ; a strange and te rrible

phenomenon w as about to be produced in which electri ,

city played a part .

Then this boiling water this terrible and ex cessive hea t!

,

I determined a s a las t resource to examine the compass .

The compass had gone mad !

 T HE V OLCANI C S HA FT . 28 7

Yes wholly
, t rk starin g mad The need le jumped
s a .

fr om pole to pole with sudden and surprising jerks ran ,

round or a s it is said boxed the compass and then ran

, , ,

suddenly back again a s if it had the vertigo .

I w a s aware that according to the bes t ackn owledged

,

theories it w as a received notion that the mineral crust

,

of the globe i s never and never h as been in a state of

, ,

complete repose .

The modifications ca used by the decomposition of in ter

nal matter the agitation conse quent on the flowing of
,

extens ive liquid currents the excessive action of magn e

,

tism which tends to shake it in cessantly at a tim e when ,

even the multitudinous beings on its surface do not suspect

the seethin g process to be going on .

Still this phenomen on would not have alarmed me

alone ; it would not have arous ed in my mind a terrible ,

an awful idea .

But other facts could not allo w my self d elusion to last -

.

Terrible detonations like hea ven s artillery began to

,
’
,

multiply themselves with fearful intensity I could only .

compare them with the noise made b v hundreds of heavily

laden chariots being madly d riven over a stone pavement .

It w a s a continuous roll of heavy thunder .

And then the mad compass shaken by the wild elect ric ,

phenomena confirmed me in my rapidly formed opinion

,
-
.

The mineral crus t w as about to burst the hea vy granite ,

masses were about to rejoin the fissure w as about to close , ,

the void w a s about to be filled u p and we poor atoms to ,

be crushed in its awful embrace !

”
Uncle uncle ! I cried we are wholly irretrievably
, , ,
”
lost !
“
What then my young frien d is your n ew cau se of
, , ,

terror and alarm ? he said in his calmes t manner , .

”
Wh at fear you now ?
What do I fea r now ! I cried in fierce and an gry ,
 2 88 A JOURNE Y T o T HE CE NT RE or THE E AR TH .

tones . Do you not see that the walls of the shaf t are in
motion ? do you not see that the solid granite massse are
cracking ? do you not feel the terrible torr id heat ? do ,

you not obse rve the awful boilin g water on which we float ?
d o you not remark this mad needle ? every sign and por .

”
tent of an awf ul earthqu ake ?
My uncle coolly shook his hea d .

“ ”
An earthquake he replied in the most calm and pro
,
.

vok in g tone .

Yes .
”

My nephew I tell you that you are utte rly mistaken

, ,

h e continued .

Do you not c an you not recognize all the well kn own

, ,
-

symptoms

O f an earth quak e ? by no means I am expectin g .

”
so mething fa r more importa nt
—
.

My brain is strained beyond endur ance what what ,

”
do you mean ? I cried .

“
An eruption Harry , .

An e ruption I g a sped We are then 111 the

, .
,

volcanic shaft of a crater in full action and vigor .

”
I have every rea s on to think so said the Profess or in ,

a smiling tone and I beg to tell you that it is the most

,

fortuna te thing that could happen to u s

!
.

The most fortunate thing ! Had my un cle really a n d

truly gone mad ? What did he mean by thes e awf ul
words — what did he mean by this ter rible calm this ,

solemn smile ?

What! cried I in the height of my exasper ation we

, ,

are on the way to an eruption are we ? Fatality h as ca s t ,

u s into a well of burning and boiling lava of rocks on fire , ,

of boiling water in a word filled with every kin d of eru

, ,
p
tive matte r ? We a re about to be expelled th rown up , ,

vomited spit out of the interior of the earth in common

, ,

with huge blocks of gran ite with showers of cinders and ,

2 90 A JOU RNE Y T O T m: T
CE N RE OF T HE E AR TH .

I n the northern regions there c ould be no rea sonable

.
,

doubt ab olit that Before it Went debid edly ma d the

.
. .

compa sshad never mad e the s lightes t mistake From the .

“

northward ma rry hundr eds of lea gues. N ow the question

wa s were we once more under I celand—
.
.

, should we be

belched forth on to the ea rth thr ough the crater of Mount

‘

H ecla or should w e re appear through on e of the other

,

seven fire funnels of the is land ? Taking in my mental

-
.

visiona radius Of five hun dred l ea gues t o the westward, I

could see un der this parallel o nly the little kn ow n volca -

noes of the north west coa s t of Arn erica-

.

To the east one o nly ex iste d somewhere about the .

eightieth degree of latit ude the E sk upon the island of , ,

J ea r rMayen not fa r fro m the frozen regions of Spitzbergen

' '

, .

It w a s not craters that were wanting and many of th em

'

, ,
-
f

were big enough to vomit a whole a rmy ; all I wished to :

k now w a s the particular one t owards which we were
.

mak ing with such fearful velocity

'
.

I often think now of my folly : as if I should ever have

expected to escape !
Towards morning the a scending motion became grea ter
, .

a nd g reater I f the degree of hea t increa se d ins te ad of

. .

decreasin g a s we approached the surfa ce of the ea rth it

,
'
,

w as simply becaus e the caus es were local and wholly due

to volcanic influence O ur very style of locomotion left in .

my mind no doubt upon the subj ect An enormous force .

,

a force of some hundred of combined atmospheres pro

d u ced by vapors accum ulate d a n d long compressed m the
inte rior of the ea rth were h ois tin g us upwards with irre-t
,

sistib le power .

But though we were approaching the light of day to ,

what fearful dangers were we about to be exposed ?

Instant death appeared the only fate which we c ould ex .

pect or c ontemplate .
T he raft floats over the waves of la va .
 29 2 A JOURNE Y To T HE CE NT RE or r m: E AR TH .

'
Those few ill joined beams oflered any way a solid
surface—
-
, ,

a support which els ewhere must have utte rly

failed u s .

Towards eight o clock in the morning a new incident ’

startled us The as cen sional movement suddenly ceased

. .

The raft became still and motionless .

What is the matter now ? I said querulously very

”
, ,

much startled b y this change '

A simple halt replied my uncle ,

.

”
I s the eruption about to fail ? I asked .

I hope not .

Without making any reply I rose I tried to look , .

around me Perhaps th e raft checked by some proj ectin g

. ,

rock opposed a momentary resistance to the eruptive

,

mass In this cas e it w as absolutely necessary to relea se

. ,

it a s quickly a s possible .

Nothing of the kind had occurred The column of .

cinders of scoriae of broken rocks and earth had wholly

, , ,

ceased to ascend .

“
I tell you u ncle that the eru ption h a s stopped w as
, , ,

my oracular decision .

”
Ah sa id my uncle you think so my boy You
, , , .

are wrong Do not be in the lea s t alarmed ; th is sudden

.

moment of calm will not las t lon g be ass ured It ha s a l , .

ready endured five minutes and before we are many ,

minutes older we sh a ll be continuing our j ourney to the

”
mouth of the crater .

All the time he w as speaking the Professor contin ued to

consult his chronometer and he w as probably right in h is ,

prognostics Soon the raft resumed its motion in a very

.
,

rapid and disorderly way which lasted two minutes or ,

thereabout ; and then again it stopped a s suddenly as

Good said my uncle ob serving the hour

, , , in ten
”
minutes we shall start again .
 T HE VO LC AN I C S H AF T . 2 93

In ten minutes ?
Yes—precisely We have to do with a volcano the
.
,

eruption of which is intermittent We are compelled to .

”
breathe jus t a s it does .

Nothin g could be more true At the exact minute he .

had indicated we were again launched on high with ex

,

treme rapidity Not to be cas t off the raft it w as n eces

.
,

sary to hold on to the beams Then the hoist again cea sed . .

Many times since have I thought of this singular ph e

n omen on without being able to find for it any sa ti sfactory

explanation Nevertheless it appeared quite clear to me

.
, ,

that we were not in the principal chimney of the volcano ,

but in an accessory conduit where we felt the counter ,

shock of the great and principal tunnel filled by burning

lava.

It is impossible for me to sa y how many times this m a

n oeu vre w a s repeated All that I can remember is that
.
,

on every as censional motion we were hoisted up with ,

ever increasin g velocity as if we had been launched from

-
,

a huge projectile D uring the sudden halts we were

.

nea rly stifled ; during the moments of projection the hot

air took away our breath .

I thought for a moment of the voluptuou s joy of su d

d en ly finding mysel f in the hyperborean regions with the
cold 3 0 degrees below zero !
My exalted imagination pictured to itself the vas t
snowy plains of the arctic regions and I w as impatient to ,

roll mysel f on the icy carpet of the north pole .

By degrees my head utterly overcome by a series of,

violent emotions began to give way to hallucination I

, .

w a s delirious . Had it not been for the powerful arms of

Hans the guide I should have broken my head against
,

the granite masses of the shaft .

I have in consequence k ept no account of what followed

, ,

for many hours I have a vague and confused remem

.
'
2 94 A JOU RN E Y T O T HE T
CE N RE OF T HE E AR TH
.

brance of continual detonations of the shaking of the huge

,

granitic mass and of the raft going round like a spi nning
,

top It floate d on the stream of hot lava amidst a falling

.
,

cloud of cinders The huge flames roarin g wrapped us

.
,

around .

A storm of wind which appeared to be cas t forth from

.

an immense ventilator roused up the inte rior fires of the

earth It w a s a hot in candescent bl a t !
.
s

At l as t I sa w the figure of Hans a s if enveloped in the

huge halo of burnin g blaze and no other sens e remained
,

to me but that siniste r drea d which the condemned vict im

may be supposed to feel when led to the mouth of a can
non a t the supreme moment when the shot is fir ed and his
,

limbs a re dispersed into empty space .

2 96 N
A JO U R E Y T O r m: CEN TR E or T HE E AR T H .

a ff ected my body allo w ed me no chance of doubtin g We .

came out of the crater h a lf naked and the radiant star ,

from which we had as ked nothing for t w o months w a s ,

good enough to be prodigal to u s of light and warmth— a

light and warmth we could easily have dispensed with .

When our eyes were accustomed to the light we had lost

sight of so long I u sed them to recti fy the errors of my
,

imagination Whatever happened we sho uld have been at

.
,

Spitzbergen and I w a s in no humor to yield to anyt hing

,

but the most absolute proof .

Afte r some delay the Professor spoke

,
.

Hem he said in a hesitating kind of way it really

, ,
”
does not look like Iceland .

“
But supposing it were the island of J ean Mayen ? I
ventured to ob serve .

Not in the least my boy This is not one of the vol

,
.

canoes of the north with its hills of granite and its crown
,

of snow .

Nevertheless
Look look my boy said the Professor a s d ogma ti
, , , ,

cally a s usual .

R ight above our heads at a great height opened the

, ,

crater of a volcano from which escaped from one qu arter ,

of an hour to the other w ith a very loud explosion a lofty

, ,

jet of flame mingled with pumice stone cinders and lava , , .

I could feel the convulsion s of nature in the moun tain ,

which breathed like a huge whale throwin g up from tim e ,

to time fire and a ir through its enormou s vents .

Below and floatin g along a slope of considerable ang u

,

la rity the stream of eruptive matter spread away to a

,

depth which did not give the volcano a height of three

hundred fathoms .

I ts base d isappeared in a perfect forest of green trees ,

among which I perceived olives fig trees and vines loaded , ,

with rich grapes .

 D A YLI GHT AT LA S T . 29 7

Certainly this w a s not the ordinary as pect of the Ar ctic

regions About that there could not be the slightes t doubt
. .

When th e eye w as satisfied at its glimpse of this ver

dant expanse it fell upon the waters of a lovely sea or
,

bea utiful lake which made of this enchanted land an island

,

of not ma n y leagues in extent .

O n the side of the ri sing su n w a s to be seen a little port ,

crowded with houses and near which the boats and vessels
,

of peculiar build were floating u pon azure waves .

Beyond groups of islands rose above the liquid plain

, ,

so numerou s and close together a s to res emble a vas t b ee

hive.

Towards the setting sun some distant shores were to be

,

made out on the edge of the horizon Some presented the .

appearance of blu e mountains of harmonious conf orma

tion ; upon others much more distant there appeared a
, ,

prodigiously lofty cone above the summit of which hun g

,

dark and heavy clouds .

Towards the north an immense expan se of water sparkled

,

beneath the solar rays occasionally allowing the extremity

,

of a m as t or the convexity of a sail bellying to the wind ,

to be seen .

The unexpected character of such a scene added an

hundredfold to its marvellous beauties .

”
“
Where can we be ? I as ked speakin g in a low and ,

solemn voice .

Hans shut his eyes with an air of indifference and my ,

uncle looked on withou t clearly understanding .

” “
“
Whatever this mountain may be he aid at las t I
s , , ,

must con fes s it is rather warm The explosions do not .

leave off and I do not think it is worth while to have left

,

th e interior of a volcano and remain here to receive a huge

iece of rock upon one s head u s carefully descend
’

p Let .

th e m ountain and discover the real state of the case To .

”
conf ess the truth I am dying of hunger and thirst
,
.
 2 98 A JOUR NE Y T O T HE CE N RE T OF T HE E AR TH .

Decidedly the Pro fessor w a s no longer a truly reflec

tive character For mysel f forgetting all my necessities
.
, .

ignoring my fatigues and suff erings I sh ould have re

mained still for several hours longer—but it w as neces sary
,

to follo w my companions .

The slope of the volcano w as very ste ep and slippery ;

we slid over piles of as hes avoiding the streams of hot la va
,

which glided about like fiery serpents Still while we .

,

were advancing I spoke with extreme volubility for my

, ,

imagination w a s too full not to explode in words .

“ ” “
We are in Asia ! I exclaimed ; we are on the coas t
of India in the grea t Malay i slands in the centr e of
, ,

O ceana We have crossed the one half of the globe to

.

”
come out right at the an tipodes of Europe !
“ ”
But the compass ! exclaim ed my uncle ; explain that
”
to me i
Yes —the compass I said with considerable hes ita
, , ,

tion . I grant that is a difficulty Accordin g to it we have .

,

always been going northward .

“ ”
Then it lied
Hem—to sa y it lied is rather a harsh word w a s my
.

ans wer .

Then we are at the north pole

The pole— n o— well—well I give it up was my reply , .

The plain truth w as that there wa s no explanation pos

,

sible I could make nothing of it

. .

And all the while we were approaching this beautif ul

verdure hunger and thirst tormented me fearf ully Hap
, .

’
pily afte r two long hours march a beautiful country
, ,

sprea d out before us covered by olives pomegr a nates and

, , ,

vines which appeared to belong to anybody and everybody

, .

In the state of des titution into which we had fallen we ,

were not particular to a grape .

What deligh t it w as to press these delicious fruits to our

li ps and to bite at grapes and pomegranates fres h fro m th e
,
3 00 A JOURNE Y T O T HE CE N TRE OF T HE E AR T H .

Again the boy remained silent .

”
My fin e fellow do you or do you not mean to speak ?
,

cried my uncle who began to get angry He shook h im

,
. .

and spoke another dialect of the Italian language .

Come 3 13 n oma questa isola ? —what is the na me of

this island ?
“
Stromboli replied the rickety little shepherd dashing
, ,

a way from Hans and disappearing in the olive grova .

We thought little enough about him .

Stromboli ! What effect on the imagination did these

few words produce ! We were in the centre of the Medi
terranean ; amidst the Eas tern archipelago of myth olog i
cal memory ; in the ancient Strongylos where E olus kept ,

the wind and the tempes t chained up An d those blue .

mountains which rose towards the rising of th e sun were

, ,

the mountains of Calabria .

An d that mighty volcano which rose on the southern

horizon w a s Etna the fierce and celebrated Etna !
,
”
Stromboli ! Stromboli ! I repeated to mysel f .

My uncle played a regular accompaniment to my ges

tures and word s We were singin g together like an
.

ancient chorus .

Ah—what a journey—what a marvellous and extraer

din a ry j ourney ! Here we had entered the earth by one
volcano and we had come out by an other And this
,
.

other w a s situated more than twelve hundred leagues from

S n eflels from that drear country of Iceland ca s t away on
'

the confines of the earth The wondrous chances of this

.

expedition had transported us to the most harmonious and

beautiful of earthly lands We had abandoned the region
.

of eternal snows for th at of infinite verdure and had left ,

over our head s th e grey fog of the icy regions to come

back to the azure sk y of Sicily !
After a delicious repast of fruits and fresh water we ,

again contin ued our journey in order to reach the port of

 DA YLI G HT AT LAS T .
3 01

Stromboli To sa y how we had reached the island would

.

scarcely have been prudent The superstitious character

.

of the Italians would have been at work and we should ,

have been called demons vomited from the inf ernal regions .

It w a s therefore necessary to pass for humble and unf ortu

nate shipwrecked travellers It w a s certainly less strik
.

ing and romantic but it w as decidedly safer

,
.

As we advanced I could hear my worthy uncle mutter

,

ing to himself
But the compass The compass most certainly marked
.

”
north This is a fact I cannot explain in any way
. .

Well the fact is said I with an air of disdain we

, , , ,
”
must not explain anything It will be much more easy
. .

“
I should like to see a professor of the J oh a n n eu m
Ins titution who is unable to explain a cosmic phenomenon
—
,
”
it would indeed be strange .

And speaking thu s ; my uncle half naked his leathern

, ,

purse round h is loin s and h is spectacles upon his nose

, ,

became once more the terrible Professor of Mineralogy .

An hour after leaving the wood of olives we reached ,

the fort of San Vicenza where Hans demanded the price

,

of h is thirteenth week of s ervice My uncle paid him

.
,

with very man y warm sh akes of the hand .

At that moment if he did not indeed quite share our

,

natural emotion he allowed h is feelings so fa r to give way

,

a s to indulge in an extraordinary expression for him .

With the tips of two fin gers he gently pressed our hands

a n d smiled .
 C HAPTER XLI V .

T HE J O UR N E Y E N DE D .

THIS is the fina l conclusion of a narrative which will b e

probably disbelieved even by people who are as tonished
at nothing I am however armed at all poin ts agains t
.
, ,

human incredulity .

We were kind ly received by the S tromb olite fishermen ,

who treated u s a s shipwrecked travellers They gave us .

clothes and food Af te r a delay of forty e ight hours on

.
-
,

the 3 lst of September a little vessel took u s to Mes sin a ,

where a few days of delightful and complete repose re

s tored us to ourselves .

O n F riday the 4th O ctober we embarked in the Vol

, ,

turus one of the postal packets of the Imperial Messa gerie

,

of F rance ; and three days later we landed at Marseill es ,

having no other care on our min ds but that of our pre

cions but erratic compass This inexplicable circumstance .

tormented me terribly O n the 9th of O ctober in the .

,

evening we reached Hamburg

, .

What w as the as tonishment of Martha what the j oy of ,

Gretchen ! I will not attempt to define it .

Now then Harry that you really are a hero she

, , ,

“
said,
there is no reas on why you should ever leave me
again .

I looked at her She w as weeping tea rs of joy

. .

I lea ve it to be imagined if the return of Professor

Ha rd w igg made or did not make a sensa tion in Hamburg .

Thanks to the indi scretion of Martha the news of his de ,

parture for the Interior of the Earth had been spread

over th e whole world .
 3 04 A JOURNE Y TO THE CE N TR E or THE E AR TH .

We were deeply attached to our brave eider— duck

hunter His ab sence will never cause him to be forgotten
.

by those who se lives he saved and I hope at some n ot , ,

distant day to see him again , .

To conclude I may sa y that our J ourney into the I n

,

terior of the Earth created an enormous sens ation through

out the civilized world I t w a s trans late d and printed in .

many languages All the leading journals published ex

.

tracts from it which were commentated discussed a t

, , ,

tacked and supported with equal animation by those Who

,

believed in its episodes and by those who were utterly in ,

credulous .

Wonderful ! My uncle enjoyed during h is lifetime all

the glory he deserved ; and he w a s even o ffered a large
su m of money by Mr Barn um to exhibit him self in the
, .
,

U nited Sta tes ; while I am credibly informed by a traveller

that he is to be seen in waxwork at Madame Tussaud s ! ’

B ut one care preyed upon his mind a care which ren ,

dered him very unhappy One fact remained in explica .

b lc th a t of the compass
h
F or a learned man to be ba f .

fled by such a n inexplicable phenomenon w a s very a ggra

va t in g But heaven w as merciful and in the end my
.
,

uncle w a s happy .

O ne day while he put some mi n erals belonging to his

,

collection in order I fell upon the famous compass and ,

examined it keenly .

F or six months it had lain unnoticed and untouched .

I looked at it with curiosity which soon became sur ,

prise I gave a loud cry The Professor who w as at

. .
,

hand soon joined me

,
.

What is the matter ? he cried .

The compass I
What then ?
Why its needle points to the south and not to the
!
north .
 T HE JOUR NE Y E N DE D 05
.
3

My dea r boy you must be dreamin g

, .

I am not dreaming See the poles are changed

.
.

”
Changed 1
My uncle put on his spectacles examined the instru ,

ment and leaped with j oy shak ing the whole house

, , .

A clear light fell upon our minds .

”
Her e it is ! he cried as soon a s he had recovered the
,

use of h is speech ,afte r we had once passed Cape S ak

n ussemm the needle of this compass pointed to the south
,
”
ward in stead of the northward .

”
Evidently .

O ur error is now ea sily expla ined But to what phe .

nomenon do we owe this alteration in the needle !

”

”
Nothing more simple .

Explain yourself my boy I am on thorns

, . .

During the storm upon the Central Sea the ball of

, ,

fire which made a magnet of the iron in our raft turned ,

”
our compass topsy turvy-
.

Ah cried the Professor with a loud and ringing ,

“ ”
laugh it w a s a trick of that inexplicable electricity
, .

F rom that hour my uncle w a s the happiest of learned

men and I the happies t of ordinary mortals For my
,
.

pretty Virla nd girl abdicating her position as ward took

, ,

her place in the house in King Street ( Konigstra sse) in

the double quality of niece and wi fe .

We need scarcely mention that her uncle w a s the illus

trions Professor Ha rd w igg corresponding member of all
,

the scientific geographical mineralogical and geologi ca l

, ,

societies of the five quar ters of the g lobe .

T HE E ND.