The C en tr a l S ea

A J OU RNE Y TO T HE

C E NT RE OF THE E ARTH

BY

J U LE S

VE R N E

ILLU S TR A TED

N E W Y O RK

C HA R L E S

S C RI B N E R S

1 90 5

S O NS

C ON T E NT S
C HAPT E R

PAG E

MY
T HE

U NCLE

MAKE S A

MYSTERI OU S

G R EAT D I SC O VER Y

PAR CHMEN T

AN A ST OU N D IN G DI SCO VER Y

In
N

w
WL
VIII

WE

S TAR T

JOURN EY

ON THE

FI R ST L E SS ON S

IN

C LIM B IN G

XII
XIII

XI V

XV

XVI

XVI I
XVIII

22

27

OU R VOYAGE TO I C ELAN D

31

C O N V ER SATI ON

38

T HE

AN D

E I D ER D O WN
-

D I SCO VE R Y

HUN TER OE R AT

OU R STAR TWE

8
1

L AST

M EET WI TH ADVE N
TUR E S B Y THE WAY
TR AV ELLI N G 1N I C ELAN D T HE L EPER S
WE RE ACH M OUN T SN EFF ELS T HE

R E YKI R
T HE ASCEN T 0 F M OUN T S N E FFEL S

4
3
51
58

T H E S HAD O W OF S CAR T ARI S

R EAL JOU RN EY CO MMEN CE S

WE C ON TIN U E OU R D E SCEN T
T HE E A ST ER N TUNN EL
D EEPER AN D D EEPER T HE COAL MIN E
T HE WR ON G RO A D !
T HE WE ST ERN G ALLER YA N E W
T HE

I O!
10
9
1 1

vi

CON TE N TS .
C HAPT E R

XX

WATE R WHE R E
,

PAG E

IT ?

Is

A BI TTER DIS
1 26
1 33

XXI I

S U N DA Y B E LO W G R OUN D

1 38

4
S
4
9
S4

62

6S

77

85

9S

XXIV

XXV

XXVI I
XXIX
XXX
XXXI
XXXII
XXXIII

L O ST !
T HE

WHI S PERI N G

G ALLE R Y

T HE C E NTR AL S EA

ON

THE

WATER SA RA FT VOYAG E

T ER R I FI C S AUR I AN C O MB AT

M ON STE R
T HE B ATT LE OF THE E LEME N TS
OU R ROU TE R E VE R S E D
A VOYA G E OF D I SCO VE R Y
DI SCO VE R Y U P ON D IS CO VE R Y
WHAT I S IT ?
T HE M YSTER I OU S DA GGE R
N O OUT LETB LASTIN G T HE R O CK
T HE E XPLO SI O N AN D ITS RE SU LTS
T HE S EA

20 5
21 2
2 20

22 9
23 5
2
2

4
3
8
4

25 3

26 I

T HE AP E G I G AN S

2 68

HUN G ER

2 76

T HE VO LCAN I C S HAPT

28

DA YLI GHT AT L AST

2 95

30 2

OF I L L U S T RA T I ON S

LIS T

rm

Tra cing

T he fj ord
.

Arne
T he

route

our

of

S ta pi

S a k n ussem

la st drop

6
8

of

wa ter

1 18

The rst

ba ther

Centra l

in these

ba ll

of

S ea

The

ra ft

r e

7S

21 8

23 6

xplosion

oa ts over

20 2

Huma n or not ?
T he fea rful

A plunge into the

These a nima ls fought

T he

the wa ves

of

la va

58

290

CE

T
H
E
Y
T
O
N
E
R
O
U
J

OF

NTR E

HE

CHAPTE R

AR T

MY UN C LE MAK ES A GR E A T DIS COVE R Y

LOO K I N G back to a ll th a t h a s
eventful da y, I a m sca rcely a ble

occurred to me since th a t
to believe in the rea lity
They were truly so wonderful tha t
of my a dventur es
even now I a m bewildered when I think of them
My uncle was a Germa n h a vin g ma rried my mother s
sister
a n Englishwoma n
Bein g very much a tta ched to
h is fa therless nephew he invited me to study under him in
h is home in the fa therla nd
This home was in a la rge
town a n d my uncle a Professor of philosophy chemistr y
geology minera logy a n d ma ny other ologies
On e da y a fter passin g som e hour s in the la bora tor y
m
y uncle being a bsent a t the tim e J suddenly felt the
necessity of renova ting the tissues4
3
I was hungry a n d
was a bout to rous e up our old French cook when my
un cle Professor Von Ha r dwigg suddenly opened the
street door a n d ca me rus hing up sta ir s
Now Professor Ha r dwigg my worthy un cle is by no
mea ns a b ad sort of m a n ; he is however choleric a n d
.

A JOU RN E Y

TO

CE N TRE OF

THE

T HE

A R TH

bea r with him mea ns to obey ; a n d sca rcely

h a d his hea vy feet res ounded within our j oint domicile
th a n he shouted for me to a ttend upon him
Ha rryHa rry Ha rry
I ha s tened to obey but before I could rea ch his room
jumping three steps a t a tim e he was sta mping his right
foot upon the l a nding
Ha rry ! he cried in a fr a ntic tone a r e you coming
up
Now to tell the truth a t th a t moment I was fa r more
interes ted in the question a s to wha t was to cons titute our
din ner th a n in a n y problem of science ; to me soup was
more in teresting tha n soda a n omelette more tempting
th a n a rithmetic a n d a n a rtichoke of ten times more va lue
tha n a n y a mount of as bestos
B ut my uncle wa s not a m a n to be kept wa itin g ; so
a djourning therefore a ll m inor ques tions I pres ented m
y
sel f before him
He wa s a very lea rned m a n Now most persons in this
ca tegory supply thems elves with in form a tion a s p eddlers do
with goods for the benet of others a n d la y up stores in
order to diffuse them a bro a d for the benet of society in
genera l Not so my excellent uncle Professor Ha r dwigg
he studied he cons umed the midn ight oil he pored over
hea vy tomes a n d diges ted huge qu a rto s a n d folios in order
to keep the knowledge a cquired to hims elf
There wa s a rea s on a n d it m a y be rega rded as a good
one why my uncle objected to displa y h is lea rning more
th a n was a bsolutely necessa ry ; he sta mmered ; a n d when
intent u pon expl a ining the phenomena of the hea vens was
v a gue
a t to n d him self a t fa ult a n d a llude in such a
p
wa y to su n moon a n d sta rs th a t few were a ble to compre
hend h is mea ning To tell the hones t truth when the
right word would not come it wa s genera lly repla ced by a
very powerful a djective
origina l

To

MY

U N C LE

MA KE S

A G RE AT DI S C O VE R Y .

In connection with the sciences there a r e ma ny a lmost

unpronouncea ble n a mesna mes
very much resembling
those of Welsh villa ges ; a n d my uncle being very fond of
usin g them his ha bit of sta mmerin g was not thereby im
proved In fa ct there were periods in his discourse when
he would n a lly give up a n d swa llow his discom tur ein
a gl ass of wa ter
As I sa id my uncle Professor Ha r dwigg was a very
lea rned m a n a n d I now a dd a most kind rela tive I wa s
bound to him by the double ties of a ffection a n d in teres t
I to ok deep interest in a ll his doings a n d hoped some da y
to be a lmost a s lear ned myself It was a ra re thing for me
to be a bsent from his lectures
L ike him I preferred
min era logy to a ll the other sciences My a nxiety was to
ga in r ea l knowledge of the ea r th Geology a n d min era logy
were to us the sole objects of life a n d in connection with
these studies ma ny a fa ir specimen of stone cha lk or meta l
did we brea k with our ha mmers
S teel rods loa ds tone gla ss pipes a n d bottles of va rious
a cids were oftener before us tha n our mea ls
My uncle
Ha r dwigg wa s once known to clas sify six hundr ed different
geologica l specimens by their weight ha rdness fus ibility
sound tas te a n d smell
He corresponded with a ll the grea t lea rned a n d seien
tic men of the a ge
I was therefore in consta nt com
m un ica tion with a t a l
l events the letters of S ir Humphrey
Da vy Ca pta in Fra nklin a n d other grea t men
But before I sta te the subject on which my uncle wished
to conf er with me I must sa y a word a bout his persona l
a ppe a ra nce
Ala s ! my rea ders will see a very different
por tra it of him a t a future time a fter he has gone thr ough
the fea r ful a dventures yet to be rela ted
My un cle was fty yea rs old ; ta ll thin a n d wiry
L a rge specta cles b id to a certa in extent his vas t round
a n d goggle eyes while his nose was irreverently comp a red
,

TO

JOU RNE Y

T HE

CE N TRE OF

E AR TH.

THE

thin le S o much indeed did it res emb le tha t useful

s presen ce to ha ve
a rticle th a t a compa ss was sa id in hi
ma de cons idera ble N * devia tion
Th e truth being to ld however the only ar ticle rea lly
a ttra cted t
o my un cle s nose was tobac co
An other peculia rity of his wa s tha t he a lwa ys stepped a
ya rd a t a time clenched his sts as if he were going to hit
you a n d was when in one of his peculia r hum ors very
far from a pleasa nt compa nion
It is fur ther necessa ry to observe th a t he lived in a ver y
nice house in tha t very nice street the KOnigstr asse a t
Ha mburg Though lying in the centre of a town it was
perfectly rura l in its as pectha lf wood h a lf bricks with
old fashioned ga bles on e of the few old houses spa red by
2
the gr ea t r e of 1 84
When I sa y a nice hous e I mea n a ha ndsome house
tottering a n d not exac tly com forta ble to English
old
notions : a house a little off the perpendicula r a n d inclin ed
to fa ll into the neighboring ca na l exa ctly the house for a
wa ndering a rtist to depict ; a ll the more th a t you could
sca rcely see it for ivy a n d a m a gni cent old tree which
grew over the door
My uncle wa s rich ; his house was his own proper ty
while he ha d a considera ble priva te in come To my notion
the b es t pa rt of his possessions wa s his god da ughter
Gretchen And the old cook the young la dy the Pro
fessor a n d I were the sole inh a bita nts
I loved minera logy I loved geology To me there was
a n d if my uncle ha d been i
nothing like pebbles
n a little
less of a fury we should h a ve been the h a ppiest of fa m ilies
To prove the excellent Ha r dwigg s im pa tience I solem nly
decla re th a t when the owers in the dra win g room pots b e
ga n to grow he rose every morn ing a t four o clock to ma ke
them grow quick er b y pullin g the lea ves !
to

'

( 7)

Na sa l.

MY

U N C LE

MA KE S

A G RE

AT DI S COVE R Y

Ha vin g des cribed my uncle I will now give a n a ccount

of our interview
He r eceived me in his study ; a perfect museum con
ta ining every na tura l curiosity tha t ca n well be im a gined

min era ls however predomina tin g

Every one was
fa m ilia r to me h a ving been ca ta logued by my own ha nd
My uncle a ppa rently oblivious of the fa ct tha t he ha d
He
summ oned me to his pres ence was a b sorbed in a book
was pa rticula rly fond of ea rly editions ta ll copies a n d
unique works
Won
Won der I l he cried ta ppin g his forehea d
derfulwonderful
It was one of those yellow lea ved volumes now ra rely
found on sta lls a n d to me it a ppea red to poss ess but little
va l u e My uncle however was in ra ptures
He a dmir ed its binding the clea rness of its cha ra cters
the ea s e with which it opened in his h a nd a n d repea ted
a loud h a lf a d ozen ti
m es tha t it was very very old
To my fa ncy he was ma king a grea t fuss a bout nothing
but it was not my province to sa y so On the contra ry
I professed considera ble interest in the subject a n d as ked
him wha t it was a bout

It is the Heims K ringla of S norre Ta r leson he sa id

the celebra ted Icela ndic a uthor of the twelfth centu r y
it is a true a n d correct a ccount of the Norwegia n princes

who reigned in Icelan d

My n ext question rela ted to the la ngua ge in which it
I hoped a t a ll events it was tra ns la ted into
wa written
Germ a n My uncle wa s indigna nt a t the very thought
a n d decl a red he woul dn t give a penny for a tra nsl a tion
His delight was to ha ve found the origina l work in the
Icela ndic tongue which he decla red to be one of the most
m a gni cent a n d yet simple idioms in the worldwhile a t
the sa me time its gra mma tica l combina tion s were the most
va r ied known to students
,

TO

JOUR NE Y

CE N TRE OF

T HE

T HE

A R TH

About as ea sy a s Ger ma n ? wa s my insidious rema rk

My uncle shrugged his shoulders

The letters a t a ll events I sa id a r e ra ther difcul t

of comprehens ion
It is a R unic m a nus cr ipt the la ngua ge of the origi na l

popula tion of Icel a nd invented by Odin him self cried

my uncle a ngry a t my ignora n ce
I wa s a bout to venture upon some mispl a ced j oke on the
subject when a sma ll scra p of p a rchment fell out of the
lea ves L ike a hungry m a n sn a tching a t a morsel of brea d
the Pro fessor seized it It wa s a bout ve inches by three
a n d wa s scra wled over in the mo st extra ordin a ry fa shion
The lines on p a ge 1 2 a r e a n exa ct fa c simile of wh a t
wa s written on the venera ble piece of p a rchmenta n d
h a ve wonderful importa nce a s they induced my uncle to
underta ke the most wonderful series of a dventur es which
ever fell to the lot of huma n beings
My uncle looked keenly a t the document for some m o
ments a n d then decla red th a t it wa s R un ic The letters
were simila r to those in the book but then wh a t did they
m ea n ?
This wa s exa ctly wh a t I wa nted to know
Now as I h a d a strong conviction th a t th e R un ic
a lph a bet a n d di a lect were simply a n invention to mys ti fy
poor huma n na ture I wa s delighted to n d tha t my u ncle
knew a s much a bout the ma tter a s I didwhich was
nothing A t a ll events the tr emulous motion of his n gers
ma de m e think so

And yet he muttered to himself it is old Icel a ndic

m
I a sure of it
And my uncle ought to h a ve known for he wa s a per
feet polyglot dictiona ry in himself He did not pretend
like a certa in lea rned pundit to spea k the two thousa nd
la ngua ges a n d font thousa nd idioms m a de u se of in dif
fer en t pa rts of the globe but he did know a ll the more
im porta nt ones

MY

UN CLE

MA KE S

A G R E AT

DIS COVE RY

It is a ma tter of g rea t doubt to me n ow to wh a t violent

m ea sures
my uncle s impetuosi ty might h a ve led him,
h a d not the clock struck two a n d our old French cook
ca lled out to let u s know tha t dinner was on the ta ble
Bother the dinner ! cried my u n cle
But as I was hungry I sa llied forth to the dining room
Out of politeness I
where I took up my usua l qua rter s
wa ited three minutes but no sign of m yuncle the Pro
feasor
I wa s surprised He wa s not usua lly so blind to
th e plea sur e of a good dinner
It was the a cme of Germa n
luxurypa rs ley soup a ha m omelette with sorrel trim
mings a n oyster of vea l stewed with pru nes delicious fruit
a n d spa rkling Moselle
For the sa ke of porin g over this
musty old piece of pa rchment my u ncle forbore to sha re
our mea l To sa tisfy my conscien ce I a te for both
The old cook a n d hous ekeeper was nea rly out of her
mind Afte r ta king so much trouble to nd her mas ter
not a ppea r a t dinn er wa s to her a sa d disa ppointment
which as she occas iona lly wa tched the h a voc I was
ma king on the via nds beca me a ls o a la rm I f my uncle
were to come to ta ble a fter a ll?
Suddenly just as I h a d consumed the l a st a pple a n d
dra nk the l as t gla ss of wine a terrible voice was hea rd a t
no grea t dista nce It was my uncle roa ring for me to
come to him
I ma de very nea rly one lea p of it
a o loud
s to ne
so erce was hi
,

CHAP TER I I .

M M M

X AKM H

an

h i t HHYF h k aH H F

4
4

rm a Y k
kr at a
J h 1 A
Y Y b AY I

k l t b Ard
Ed w a s
m m r 11 1

k h lr m

k HY

!m

l +1

FM

48
M

|1

I r bn l

s s

I DE CLAR E cried my uncle striking the ta ble ercely

with his st I decla re to you it is R un ica n d conta ins

some wonderful secret which I must get a t a t an y price

I was a bout to reply when h e stopped me

Sit down he said quite ercely a n d write to m y

dicta tion
I obeyed

I will substitute he sa id a letter of our alph a b et

for th a t of the Runic : we will then see wha t th a t will pr o

duce N ow begin a n d ma ke no mista k es

The dicta tion commenced with the following in com pre
h ensible result
,

m r n

lls

sgtsm

cam

el

a tr a t
cS

de

S a odrr n

n wwct

A tvam
ocdm

'

nscr c

a n tu

I O

JO UR NE Y TO

T HE

OF

CE NT RE

T HE

ARTH

exa mina tion proved to be a lin e of writing a lmost

e a ced by time
This wa s wha t he sought ; a n d a fter
some considera ble time he ma de out these letters :
b ut on
'

LLM

"

lX
1llxh HH

L1

'

he cried in a joyous a n d tri

tha t is not only a n Icel a n dic na me but
u m pha n t tone
of a lea rned professor of the six teenth cen tur yL a celebra ted

a lchemist
I bowed a s a sign of res pect

These a lchemists he continued

Avicena B a con
Lully Pa ra celsus were the true the only lea rned men of
the da y They m a d e su rpris ing dis coveries Ma y not this
S a kn ussem m
nephew mine h a ve hidden on this bit of
pa rchment some as tounding invention ? I believe the
c ryptogra ph to h a ve a profound mea ningwhich I mus t

m a ke out
My uncle wa lked a bout the room in a sta te of excite
ment a lmost impossible to describe

It m a y be so sir I timidly observed but wh y con

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

S a k n us sem

'

covery

Whyhow should I know ? Did not Ga lileo ma ke a

se cret of hi
s discoveries in conn ection with Sa turn ?
But
we sh a ll see Until I di scover the mea ning of this sentence
"
I will neither ea t nor sleep
My d ea r uncle
I bega n

Nor you neither he a dded

It wa s lucky I ha d ta ken double a llowa nce th a t da y

In the rst pl a ce he continued there must be a clue

to the m ea ning If we could nd tha t the res t would b e

ea s y enough
I bega n ser ious ly to re ect The prospect of going
.

PAR CHME N T

M Y STE R IOU S

T HE

II

leep wa s not a prom ising one so I de

My un cle
ter m in ed to do my best to solve the mystery
mea nwhile went on with h is soliloquy
The wa y to dis cover it is ea sy enough In this docu
ment there a r e one hundred a n d thirty two letters giving
This is a bout
seventy nine cons ona nts to f ty three vowels
the proportion found in most southern la ngua ges the
idioms of the north being much more rich in consona nts
We m a y con dently predict therefore tha t we ha ve to dea l

with a southern dia lect

Nothing could be more logica l

Now sa id Professor Ha r dwigg to tra ce the pa rti

onl a r l a ngu a ge
wa s my
As S ha kspea r e sa ys tha t is the question
ra ther sa tirica l reply

This m a n S a kn ussem m he continued was a ver y

lea rned m a n : now a s he did not write in the la ngua ge of
h is birth pla ce he prob a bly like most lea rned men of the
I f however I prove
sixteen th century wrote in La tin
wrong in this guess we mus t try Spa nish French Ita lia n
Greek a n d even Hebrew My own opinion though is

decidedly in fa vor of La tin

This proposition sta rtled me La tin was my fa vorite
study a n d it seemed sa crilege to believe this gibberish to
belong to the country of Virgil

B a rb a rous La tin in a ll proba bility continued my

uncle but still La tin

Very proba bly I replied not to contra dict him

Let us see into the m a tter continued my uncle ;

here you see we h a ve a series of one hundred a n d thirty
two letters a ppa rently thrown pell mell upon pa per with
out method or orga niza tion There a r e words which a r e
composed wholly of consona nts such a s m w lls others
which a r e nea rly a ll vowels the fth for in sta nce which
is u n teie a n d one of the la st oseibo This a ppea rs a n
with out food

a nd s

J OU RNE Y TO

12

CE N TRE

T HE

OF

T HE

ARTH

extra ordina ry combina tion Proba bly we sha ll n d th a t

the phra se is a rra nged a ccordin g to some m a thema tica l
pl a n No doubt a certa in sentence h a s been written out
s
s ome pla n to which some gure i
a n d then j um bled up
the clue Now Ha rry to show your En glish wit
wh a t

is tha t gure ?
I could give him no hint My thoughts were indeed
While he wa s S pea king I h a d ca ught sight of
fa r a wa y
the portra it of my cous in Gretchen a n d was wondering
when she would return
We were a ia n ced a n d loved one a nother very sincerely
B ut m y u ncle who never thought even of such sublun a ry
ma tters knew nothing of this \Vith ou t noticing my a h
stra ction the Professor began rea ding the pu zzling cr yp
togr a ph a ll sorts of w a ys a ccording to some theory of his
own Presently rousing my wa ndering a ttention he dic
ta ted one precious a ttempt to me
I mildly h a nded it over to him It rea d a s follows
.

fdoK segn itta m

m nwssun ka S en r A.ice

acer t
sm

et
te,r ota ivsa dua

ednecsedsa

u n

dne

I could sca rcely keep from l a ughing while m y uncle

on the contra ry got in a towering pa ssion str uck the ta ble
with his st da rted out of the room out of the house a n d
then ta king to his heels wa s pres ently lost to sigh t
,

CHAPTER
AS TOU N DIN G

AN

I II

DIS C OVE R Y

WHAT is the ma tter ? cried the cook enterin g the

m om
when will mas ter h a ve his dinner ?

Never

And h is supper ?
I don t know He sa ys he will ea t no more neither
sh a ll I
My uncle h a s determined to fas t a n d ma ke me
fas t until he ma kes out this a bomin a ble ins cription I
replied

You will be sta rved to dea th she sa id

I wa s very much of the sa me Opinion but not liking to
sa y so sent her a wa y a n d bega n some of my usu a l work
B u t boy a s I m a de myself nothing
of cl as sica tion
could keep me from thinking a lterna tely of the stupid
ma nus cript a n d of the pretty Gretchen
Severa l times I thought of going out but my uncle
would h a ve been a ngry a t my a bsence At the end of a n
hour my a llotted ta sk wa s done How to pa ss the time ?
I bega n by lighting my pipe Like a ll other stu dents I
delighted in tob a cco ; a n d sea ting mysel f in the grea t
a r m ch a ir I bega n to think
Where wa s my uncle ? I could e a sily ima gin e him
tea ring a long some solita ry roa d gesticula ting ta l king to
him s el f cutting the a ir with his ca ne a n d still thinking
Wo u ld he hit upon
of the a b surd bit of hieroglyphics
Would he come home in better humor ?
s o m e clue ?
While these thoughts were passing thro ugh my bra in I
very
m ech a nica lly took up the execra ble puzzle a n d tried e
im a gina ble wa y of grou p ing the letters I put them to
gether by twos by th rees four s a n d vesin va in
,

4A

J OU RNE Y TO

T HE

CE N TRE O F

E AR H .

T HE

Nothing in telligible ca me out except th a t the four teenth

fteenth a n d six teenth ma d e ice in English ; the eighty
fourth eighty fth a n d eighty sixth the word 8 737
then a t
l as t I seemed to nd the La tin words r ota m uta bile t3m
,

nee, a tm

Ha l there seems

to

be ome truth
s

my uncle s

in

no

tion thought I
Then a ga in I seemed to n d the word luco which mea ns
sa cred wood
Then in the third line I a ppea red to ma ke
out la biled a perfect Hebrew word a n d a t the la s t th e
syll a bles m e
r e a r e m ar which were F rench
It wa s enough to drive one m a d Four different idiom s
in this a bsurd phra se Wh a t connection could there be
between ice sir a nger cruel sa cred wood ch a nging
mother a r e a n d sea ? The rst a n d the la st might in a
But
sentence connected with Icel a nd mea n sea of ice
wh a t of the rest of thi s monstrous cryp togra ph ?
I was in fa ct ghting a ga inst a n insurmou nta ble dif
cul ty m y bra in wa s a lmost on r e my eyes were stra ined
with sta ring a t the pa rchment ; the whole a bsurd collee
tion of letters a ppea red to da nce before my vis ion in a
My min d wa s possessed
n umber of bl a ck little groups
with tempora ry h a llucina tion I wa s stiing I wa nted
Mecha nica lly I fa nned mysel f with the document
a ir
of which now I sa w the b a ck a n d then the front
Im a gine my surpris e when gl a ncing a t the b a ck of th e
wea risome puzzle the ink ha vin g gone through I clea rly
m a de out La tin words a n d a m ong others cr a ter em a n d
.

ter r estr e

I ha d discovered the secret i

It c a me upon me like a a sh of lightnin g I ha d got the
clue All you ha d to do to unders ta nd the document wa s
to rea d it b a ckwa rds All the ingenious idea s of the Pro
fessor were rea lized ; he h a d dicta ted it rightly to me ; by a
mere a ccident I ha d discovered wha t he so much desired
.

A S TO UN DIN G DIS C OVE R Y

AN

My delight my emotion m a y be im a gined my eyes

were da zzled a n d I trembled so tha t a t rst I could ma ke
nothing of it One look however would m ll me a ll I
wished to kno w

Let me rea d I sa id to myself a fter dra wing a long

brea th
I sprea d it before me on the ta ble I passed my n ger
over ea ch letter I spelt it through ; in my excitement I
rea d it out
\Vh a t horro r a n d stupefac tion to ok possession of my
s oul
I was like a m a n who h a d received a knock down
blow Wa s it possible tha t I rea lly rea d the terrible
s ecret a n d it h a d rea lly been a ccomplished l
A m a n ha d
d a red to dowh a t ?
No living being should ever kn ow

Never ! cr ied I jumping up

Never sh a ll my uncle
be m a de a wa re of the drea d secret He would be quite
ca pa ble of underta k ing the terrible jou rney Nothing
would check him nothing stop him Worse he would
compel me to a cco m pa ny him a n d we should be lost for

f
n
ever But no ; such olly a n d m a dness ca n ot be a llowed
I wa s a lmost bes ide mysel f with ra ge a n d fury

My worthy un cle is a lrea dy nea rly m a d I cried

a loud
This would n ish him
By some a ccident he
m a
y m a ke the discovery ; in which c a se we a r e both lo st
Perish the fea rful secretlet the a mes forever bury it in

oblivion
I sn a tched up book a n d pa rchment a n d wa s a bout to
ca st them into the re when the door opened a n d my
uncle entered
I ha d sca rcely time to put down the wretched docu
ments before my uncle wa s by my side He wa s pro
His thoughts were evidently bent on
foun dly a bsorbed
the terrible pa rchment Some new com bina tion ha d pro
ba bly struck him while ta king h is wa lk
,

A JOU RNE Y TO T HE

CE N TR E

or THE E

ARTH

himself in his a rm cha ir a n d with a pen b ega n

I wa tched h im with
to ma ke a n a lgebra ica l ca lcu la tion
a nxious eyes
My esh cra wled as it beca me proba ble
th a t he would discover the secret
His comb ina tions I kn ew now were useless I h a ving
discovered the one only clue For three morta l h ours he
continued without spea king a word without ra ising h is
hea d scra tching r e writin g ca lcula ting over a n d over
a ga in
I knew tha t in time he mus t hit upon the right
phra se The letters of every a lph a b et h a ve only a certa in
number of combin a tions But then yea rs might ela pse be
fore h e would a rrive a t the correct solution
Still time wen t on ; night ca me the sounds in the str eets
a n d still my un cle went on not even a nswerin
cea sed
g
our worthy cook when she ca lled us to supper
I did not da re to lea ve h im so wa ved her a wa y a n d
a t l as t fell a sleep on the sofa
When I a woke my uncle was still a t work His r ed
eyes his pa llid countena nce his m a tted ha ir his feveris h
h a nd s his hecticly ushed cheeks showed how terrible
h a d b een his struggle wi th the impossible a n d wh a t fea r
fu l fa tigue he ha d undergone durin g tha t long s leeples s
night It ma de me quite ill to look a t him Though he
was ra ther sev ere with me I loved him a n d my hea rt
a ched a t hi
s su fferings
He was so overcome b y one i dea
tha t he could not even get in a pa ss ion ! All his energies
were focussed on one point And I knew th a t b y spea king
one little word a ll this suffering would ceas e I could not
spea k it
My hea rt was neverthless inclin in g towa rds him Wh y
then did I rema in silent ? In the interes t of my u ncle
himsel f

a
Nothing sh a ll m ke me spea k I mu tter ed
He
will wa nt to follow in the foots teps of the other ! I k n ow
him well His ima g ina tion is a perfect volca no a n d to
He sea ted

J OU RNE Y

T O THE

CE N TRE

or T HE

EA

RTH

elf when I should h a ve suffered sta r va tion for n othing

Under the inuence of hun ger this rea soning a ppea red
a dm ira ble
I determin ed to tell a ll
The question now a rose a s to how it was to be done I
was still dwelling on the thought when he rose a n d put
on his ha t
Wha t ! go out a n d lock us in ? Never !

U ncle I bega n
He did not a ppea r even to hea r me

Professor Ha r dwigg I cried

Wh a t he retorted did you spea k ?

How a bout the key ?

Wha t key the key of the door ?

No of thes e horrible hieroglyph ics
He looked a t me from under his specta cles a n d sta rted
a t the odd expression of my fa ce
R ushing forwa rd he
clutched me by the a r m a n d keenly exa mined my coun ts
na nce His very look was an interroga tion
I simply nodded
With a n incredulous shrug of the shoulders he turned
upon h is heel Undoubtedly he thought I h a d gone m a d

I ha ve ma de a very importa nt discovery

His eyes a shed with excitement His h a nd was lifted
For a moment neither of us
in a mena cing a ttitude
It is ha rd to sa y which wa s most excited
spoke
You don t mea n to sa y tha t you h a ve a n y idea of the
mea ning of the scra wl

I do was my despera te reply

Look a t the sentence

as dicta ted by you

Well but it mea ns nothing was the a ng ry a n swer

Nothing if you rea d from left to right but m ar k if
from right to left

Ba ckwa rds ! cried my un cle in wild a ma zement

Oh most cunnin g S a k n ussem m ; a n d I to be such a

blockhea d !
s

ASTOU NDI N G DIS C OVE RY

AN

19

tched up the docu ment ga zed a t it with ha gga rd

eye a n d rea d it out a s I ha d done
It rea d a s follo ws
I n S neels yocu lis cr a ter em Item dcleba t
He

sna

Which dog La tin being tra nsla ted rea ds as follows

Des cend into the cra ter of Yoca l of S n eels which
the sh ad e of S ca r ta r is ca resses before the ka lends of July
ll rea ch the centre of the
a uda cious tra veller a n d you wi

ea rth I did it
AR N E S AKN U S S E MM
My uncle lea ped three feet from the ground with joy
He looked ra dia nt a n d h a ndsome He rushed a bout the
room wild with delight a n d sa tisfa ction He knocked over
ta bles a n d ch a ir
He threw his books a bout until a t la st
utterly exh a usted he fell into h is a r m cha ir
Wha t s O clock
he as ked

About three

My dinner does not seem to ha ve done me much good

he observed Let me h a ve something to ea t We ca n

then sta rt a t once Get my portma ntea u rea dy

Wh a t for ?

And your own he continued

We sta r t a t once
My horror m a y be conceived I resolved however to
show no fea r
Scientic rea sons were the only ones likely
to inuence my uncle
Now there were ma ny a ga inst
this terrible jour ney The very idea of going down to the
centr e of the ea rth was simply a bsurd I determined
therefore to a rgue the point a fter din n er
My uncle s ra ge was now directed a ga inst th e cook for
ha ving no di n ner rea dy My expl a n a tion however sa tis
ed him a n d giving her the key sh e soon contri ved to get
sufcient to sa tisfy our vora cious a ppetites
During the repas t my uncle was ra ther ga y th a n other
-

s.

A JO URNE Y TO

20

CE N TRE OF

THE

T HE

ARTH

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

exclus ively to the lea rned As soon however as dess ert
We ea ch took a
was over he c a lled me to h is study
cha ir on opposite sides of the ta ble
Henr y he sa id in a soft a n d winn ing voice ; I ha ve
a lwa ys believed you ingenious a n d you h a ve rendered me
Without you this grea t
a service never to be forgotten
this wondrous dis covery would never h a ve been m a de It

is my d uty therefore to insis t on your sha ring the glory

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

kn ow my Opinion of glory

In the rst pl a ce he continued you mus t keep the

whole a ffa ir a profound secret There is no more envious
ra ce of men tha n scientic dis coverers Ma ny would
At a ll events we will be the
sta r t on the sa me jour ney

rst in the eld

I doubt your h a ving m a ny competitors was my reply

A m a n of rea l scientic a cquirements would be de
lighted a t the ch a nce We should n d a perfect str ea m
if this
of pilg rims on the tr a ces of Ar ne S a kn ussem m
document were once m a de public
But my dea r sir is not this pa per very likely to be a

hoa x ? I urged
The book in which we n d it is suicien t proof of its

he replied
a uthenticity
I thoroughly a llow th a t the celebra ted Professor wrote

the lines but only I believe as a kind of ysti ca tion

was my a nswer
Sca rcely were the words out of my mouth when I was
My un cle looked a t me with a
sorr y I h a d uttered them
da rk a n d gloomy scowl a n d I bega n to be a la rmed for the
results of our conversa tion His mood soon ch a nged how
ever a n d a smile took the pla ce of a frown

We sh a ll see he rema rked with decis ive emph as is

But see wh a t is a ll this a bout Y ocul a n d S n eels
.

AN

A S TO UN DIN G

DI S C OVE R Y

21

this S ca r ta ris ? I ha ve never hea rd a nything a bout

them
The very point to which I a m coming I la tely r e
ceived from my friend Augustus Peterma n of Leipzig a
m a
Ta ke down the third a tla s from the second shelf
p
pla te 4
s eries !
I rose went to the shelf a n d pres ently returned with the
volume indica ted

This sa id my uncle is one of the bes t ma ps of I ce

la nd I believe it will settle a ll your doubts difculties

a n d objections
With a grim hope to the contra ry I stooped over the
a nd

CHAPTE R I V
WE

TAR T

ON T HE J O R NE Y .

the whole is la nd is composed of volca noes

a n d rema rk ca refully th a t they a ll
sa id the Professor
bea r the n a me of Yokul The word is Ice la ndic a n d
mea ns a gla cier In m ost of the lofty moun ta ins Of th a t
region the volca nic eruptions come forth from ice bou nd
ca verns Hence the n a me a pplied to ever y volca no on
this extrao rdin a ry is l a n

But wha t does this word S n eels mea n ?

To this question I expected no ra tiona l an s wer I was
mis ta ken
Follow my nger to the western coas t of Icela nd
there you see R eykj a wik its ca pita l Follow the dir ection
and
of one of its innumera ble fjords or a rms of the sea

wh a t do you see below the sixty f th degree of la titude ?

A peninsula very like a thigh bone in sh a pe

And in the centre of it

A mounta in

Well th a t s S n eels
I h a d nothin g to sa y
Th a t is Sneffels a m oun tain a bout ve thousa n d feet
in height one of the most rema rka ble in the whole is la nd
a n d certa inly doomed to be the most celebra ted in the
world for thr ough its cra ter we sha ll rea ch the Centre of

th e Ea rth
Impossible 1 cried I sta r tled a n d shock ed a t the
thought

Why impossible ? sa id Professor Ha r dwigg in his

ones
severest t
Y OU

see,

Tra cin g

o ur

oute

A JOURNE Y TO

CE N TR E OF

T HE

T HE

ARTH

gives a n e idea of th e centra l hea t All the m a tters

which compose the globe a r e in a sta te of inca ndes cence ;
even gold pl a tinum a n d the h a rdes t rocks a r e in a sta te

Wh a t would b ecome of us ?
of fus ion

Don t be a la rmed a t the hea t my boy

How so ?
Neither you nor a nybody else know a nything a b out
the rea l sta te of the ea rth s interior All modern ex per i
ments tend to explode the older theories Were a n y such
hea t to exist the upper crus t of the ea rth would be
sha ttered to a toms a n d the world would be a t a n en
A long lea rned a n d not un interes ting discussion followed
which ended in this wise
I do not believe in the da ngers a n d dif culties which
you Henry seem to multiply ; a n d the only wa y to lea rn

is like Arne S a k n ussem m to go a n d see

Well cried I overcome a t las t let us go an d see

Though how we ca n do tha t in the da rk is a nother

myste ry
Fea r nothing We sh a ll overcome these a n d ma ny
oth er diiculties Bes ides as we a pproa ch the Centr e I
expect to n d it l uminous

Noth ing is im poss ible

And now tha t we h a ve come to a th orough un der
not a word to a n y living soul O ur success
sta nding
depends on secrecy a n d despa tc
Thus ended our memora ble conference which roused a
perfect fever in me L ea ving my uncle I went forth like
one possessed R ea ching the b a nks of the E lbe I bega n to
think Wa s a llI ha d hea rd rea lly a n d truly possible ? Wa s
my uncle in his sober sens es a n d could th e interior of the
ea rth be rea ched ? Was I the victim of a m adm m or was
he a dis coverer of ra re coura ge a n d gra ndeur of conception ?
To a certa in extent I was a nx ious to b e off I was
a fra id my enth usi
as m would co ol I deter m in ed to p a ck
.

WE

JOURN E Y

S TAR T ON T HE

25

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

home I found that my feelings had very m uch changed

I m all abroa d I cried ; tis a n ightmare4must

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 wa s no use m incing the matter I told her all
She listened with awe and for some minutes she could
not speak

Well ? I at last said rather anxiously

What a magnicent journey I f I were only a man !
A journey worthy of the nephew of Professor Ha r dwigg

I should look upon it as a n honor to accompany h i m

My dear Gretchen I thought you would be the rst

to cry out against this mad enterprise

N0 ; on the contrary I glory in it It is magnicent
splend i da n idea worthy of my father
Henry Lawson

I envy you
This wa s a s it were conclusive The n 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 wa s pulling and hauling at a bell
Where have you been wasting your time ? Your
portmanteau is not packed m y papers are not in order
the precious tailor h as not brought my clothes nor my
gaiters the key of my carpet b ag is gone I
I looked at him stupeed And still he tugged away
at the bell
We are really off then
I said
Y es of course and yet you go out for a stroll u n for

tu n a te b oy !
And when do we go ?

The day a fter to morrow at daybreak

.

26

JOURNE Y T O

T HE

OF THE

CE N RE

I heard no more ; but darted

AR TH

off

to my little b ed
chamber and locked myself in There was no doubt about
it now My un cle h ad been hard at work a ll the a fter
n oon
The garden wa 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 terrible night I was called early the next
day to lea rn that the res olution of my uncle wa s u m
cha nged and irrevocable I al so foun d my cousin and
a ia n ced wi fe a s warm on the subject a s wa s her fa ther
Next day at ve o clock in the morning the post chai se
was 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 dven tur ous jour ney into the
Centre of the Earth
.

CHAPTER V
F IRS T

LE S S ONS

IN

CL

IMB I NG

a suburb of Hamburg is the Chief Station

of the Kiel railway which wa s to take us to the shores of
the Belt In twenty minutes fro m the moment of our
departure we were in Holste in and our carriage entered
the station Our heavy luggage wa 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 r st class railway carriage
My uncle said nothing He wa s too busy examining
his papers among which of course wa s the famous parch
ment and some letters of introducti on from the Dan ish
consul which were to pave the way to an in troduction to
the G overnor of Iceland My only amu sement wa s look
ing out of the window But a s we pas sed thr ough a at
though fertile country this occupation wa s slightly mo
n oton ous
In three hours we rea ched K iel and our
baggage was at once trans ferred to the steamer
We had now a day before u s a delay of about ten
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 wa s
a dark night with a strong breeze and a rough sea nothing
being visible but the occas ional res on shore with here
and there a lighthouse At seven in the morning we left
K orsor 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 C openhagen where scarcely
taking ti m e for refr eshment my u ncle hurr ied out to pr e
AT Altona,

'

28

JOUR NE Y T O

THE

E A R TH .

or T HE

CE NT RE

ent one of his letters of introduction It was to the

directo r of the Mus eu m of Antiquities who havi ng been
informed that we were touris ts boun d for Icelan d did all
he could to assist us On e wretched h 0 pe susta in ed me
Perhaps no vessel was bound for such distant parts
n ow
Alas ! a little Da nish schooner the Va lkyrie was to
The captain
sai
l on the second of J un e for R eykj a wik
M Bjarn e was on board and was rather surp r ised at the
energy an d cordiality with which his future passenger
by the hand To him a voyage to Icelan d
shook him
was merely a matter of cour s e
My un cle on the other
hand considered the event of sublim e impo rtan ce The
hones t sailor took advantage of the Professor s enthusia s m
to double the fare

On Tues da y mornin g at sev en o clock be o n b oar d

said M Bjarne ha n ding us our receipts

Excellent ! Capita l ! Glorious !

remarked my un cle
refres h yo urs elf my
as we sa t do wn to a late brea kfast ;

boy and we will take a run through the town

O ur meal concluded we went to the K ongens Nye Tor w ;
to the k in g s magn icent palace ; to the beautiful bridge
over the canal n ea r the Mus eum ; to the immense ceno
ta ph of Thorwaldsen with its hideous naval groups ; to
the ca s tle of Rosen berg ; a n d to a ll the other lions of the
placenone of which my uncle even sa w so absorbed
was he i n h is anticipa ted triumphs
But one thing struck his fancy and that was a certa in
singular steeple situated on the Is lan d of Am ak which is
the south east quarter of the city of Co penhagen 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 o n the canal and very soo n rea ched th e noted
dockyard quay
In the rst insta n ce we crossed some narro w streets
wher e we met numer ous groups of galley slaves with pa rti
s

'

IN C IMBI N G .

FIR ST LE SS ON S

29

lored trousers grey and yellow working under the orders

a n d the sticks of severe tas k masters and n ally reached
the Vor Fr elser s Kirk
Thi s church ex hibited nothing remarkable in itsel f ; in
fact the worthy Professor had only been attracted to it b y
on e c i rcums tance wh i ch was that its rather elevated stee
ple sta rted from a circular platform after which there wa s
an exterior stairca se which wound round to the very summit

L et us ascend said my uncle

But I never could climb church towers I cried I

am subject to dizziness in my head

The very reason why you should go up I want to

cure you of a bad hab it

But my good sir

I tell you to come What is the use of wasting so

m uch valuab le time ?

It wa s i mpossible to dispute the dictatorial commands of
my un cle I yi elded wi th a groan O n payment of a
fee a verger gave u s the key He for one wa s n ot partial
to the ascent My uncle at once showed me the way run
I followed as well a s
n i n g up the steps like a school boy
I could though no sooner wa s I outside the to wer than
my hea d began to swim Th ere wa s no thing of the eagle
about me The earth wa s enough for me and no ambi
tious desire to soar ever entered my mind Still things
did not go badly unti l I had ascended 1 5 0 steps and wa s
nea r the platform when I began to feel the rush of cold
ai r I could scarcely stand when clutchi ng the ra i lings
I looked upwards The ra i l ing wa s fra il enough but no
th ing to those wh i ch sk i rted the terri ble wi nding stai rcase
that appeared fr om where I stood to as cend to the sk ies
Now then Henry

I can t do i t ! I cried in accents of despai r

Are you after all a coward sir ? said my uncle in a

pitiless tone
Go up I sa y !
co

A JOUR NE Y T O

30

T HE

T HE

OF

CE N RE

E AR

TH

To this there wa s no reply possible An d yet the keen

a ir acted violently on my nervous system ; sk y ea rth
al
l
seemed to swim roun d ; while the steeple 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 closed my eyes
and allowed myself to be dragged upwards

L ook around you said my uncle in a stern voice

heaven 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 rst glance wa s u p
wards a t the cold eecy clouds which a s by some optical
delusi on appea red to stand still while the steeple the
weathercock and our two selves were carr ied 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 gulls ; 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 was there was no remedy
Rise and stand up I must Despite m y protes
for it
ta tion s my rst lesson l as ted quite an hour When nearly
two hours later I reached the bosom of mother earth I
Wa s like a rheumatic old man bent double with pain

Enough for one day said my uncle rubbin g h is

hands we will begin again to morrow

There was no remedy My lessons las ted ve days and
a t the end of that per i od 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
.

A JOU R NE Y T O

T HE

OF

Tm : CE N RE

AR T H

But no ghost or anything else appeared upon the a n

cient walls The fact is the cas tle is much later than the
time of the heroic prince of Denmark It is n ow the re
siden ce of the keeper of the Strait of the Sound and
through that Sound more than fteen thousand vessels 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 or g which
raises its hea d on the Swedish Bank And here the
schooner began to feel in earnest the breezes of the Catte
gat The Va lkyr ie was swift enough but w i th all sail in g
boats there is the same uncertainty Her cargo wa s coal
furni ture potte ry woolen clothing and a load of corn
As usual the crew was small ve 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

unless indeed we meet with some north ea s t

skipper
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 r dwigg 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
Rak during th e nights kir ted the extreme poin t of Nor
way through th e gut of Cape L in dn ess and then reached
the Northern Seas 1\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 Our
Vessel now felt the full force of the ocean waves and the
wind shifting we with great d ifculty made the F aroe
Isles On the eighth day the captain m ade out Myga n
n ess the wes ternmost of th e Isles and from that moment
,

'

OU R VOYAG E To I CE LAND.

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 w
orthy of record I bore
it very well but my uncle to his grea t ann oyance and
even sh ame was remarkably sea sick ! This m a l dc m er
troubled him the more that it prevented him from ques
tion in g Captain Bjarne a s to the subject of S n eels a s to
the means of communication and the facilities of transport
All these explanations he h a d to adjourn to the period of
his arrival
His time mea nwhile wa s spent lying in bed
groa nin g and dwelling anx iously on the hoped for termi
nation of the voyage I didn t pity him
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 lkyr ie kept off
the coast steering to the westward O n all sides were to

be seen whole schools of whales and sharks After

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 West
man appea red to leap from the ocean being so low in the
water as scarcely to be seen unti l you were right upon
them From that momen t the s chooner wa s steered to
the west ward in order to round Cape R eykj a n ess the
western point of Iceland
My un cle to his great disgust was unable even to crawl
on deck so heavy a sea was on and thus lost the rst
view of the Lan d of Promise F orty eight hours later
a fter a sto rm which drove us a : 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 danger ous navigation
brought the schooner safely to an an chor in the bay of
Faxa before R eykj a wik
,

'

34 A

JOURNE Y T O

E AR TH .

OF T HE

CE NTR E

T HE

My uncle came out of his cabin pale haggard thi n,

but full of enthusia sm his eyes dilated with pleasure and
Nearly the whole population of the town
satis faction
The fact was that scarcely
was on foot to see u s land
any one of them but expected some goods by the periodi
cal vessel
Professor Ha r dwigg wa s in has te to leave his prison or
r ather as he called it his hospita l
but before h e a t
tempted to do so he caught hold of my hand 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 str icken voice b e

holdMount S n eels
Then without further remark he put his nger 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 !
S carcely 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 r y ofcer He was however but a civil
servant a m agis trate the governor of the islandBaron
Trampe The Professor kn ew whom he had to deal wi th
He therefore handed him the letters from Copenhagen
and a brief conversation in Danis h followed to which I
of cou rse was 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
ter wa r ds heard however that Baron Trampe placed him
sel f entirely at the beck and ca ll of Pro fe sor Ha r dwi
gg
My uncle wa s most graciously received by M F insen
the mayor who as fa r as costume went wa s quite as
milita ry as the governor but also from character and oc
cu pa tion quite as pac i c
As for h is coadjutor M Pic
tu rsson he wa s absent on an episcopal v isit to t h e
,

'

OU R VOYAG E T O I CE LAN D.

35

n orther n portion of the diocese We were therefore com

pelled to defer the pleas ure of being presented to him
His absence wa s however more than compensated by the
pres ence of M Fr idriksson Professo r of natural science i n
the college of R eykj a wik a m a n of invaluable ability
This modes t scholar spoke no languages save Icelandic
and Latin When therefore he a ddressed himsel f to me
i n the language of Horace we at once came to understan d
one an other He wa s in fact the only per son that I did
thoroughly understand durin g the whole period of my
res idence in this benighted is land
Out of th r ee rooms of which his hous e was 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 inha b itants of R eykj a wik

N0 W Harry said my uncle rubb in g his hands all

goes well the worse difculty is now over

How the worse difculty over 2 I c ried 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
o nly to go downbut as fa r a s I am concerned that is
not the ques tion 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 th e mea ntime there is not an
hour to lose I am about to visit the public library Ver y
likely I may nd there some manus cripts from the han d

of S a k n ussem m
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 cur ious 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

OF

CE N RE

T HE

AR TH

I bowed by way of reply put on my hat and fur red

cloak and went out
It was not an easy matter to lose oneself in the two streets
of R eykj a wik ; I had therefore no need to as k my way
The town lies on a at and marshy plain between two
hills A va st eld 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 orth by the eno r mous
glacier of S n eels and in which bay the Va lkyr ie was the n
the only vess el at anchor Generally there wa s one or two
English or F rench gunboats to watch and protect the
They were now however ab sent on
s heries in the o f ng
duty
The longest of the streets of R eykj a wik 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 nd in the wilds of Am erica The
other street situated more to the wes t runs 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 dism al
thorough fare
Here and there was a str ip of dis colored
turf like an old worn out bit of woollen carpet ; and n ow
and then a bit of kitchen garden in which gre w pota toes
cabbage and lettuces almost dimin utive enough to su ggest
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 lled for cen
F rom hence I went to the house of the Governor
tu r ies
a mere hut in comparis on with the Mansion Hou s e o f
Hamburgbut a palace alongside the other Icelandi c
houses Between the little lake and th e town was th e
church built in simple Protestant style and composed of
calcined stones thrown up by volcanic action I have n ot
,

s.

V OYA GE

OU R

TO

I CE

LAND

the slightes t doubt th at in high winds its r ed tiles were

blown out to the great an noyance of the pas to r and con
Upon an eminence close at hand was the na
g r ega tion
tion a l s chool in which were ta ught Hebrew English
F rench and Danish
I n thr ee hours my tour was complete
The general im
pression upo n my mind wa s sadness No trees no vegeta
t i on so to speako n all sides volcanic peaks the huts of
turf and ea rthm 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 hab itants
during my excursion but I met a crowd on th e bea ch
drying salting and loading cod sh the prin cipal article
The men appeared robust but heavy ;
of exporta tion
fa i r hai red like G ermans b ut of pensive m ienexiles of a
higher scale in the l a dder of humanity than the Esquimaux
but I thought much more unhappy sin ce with superior
percept ions they are compelled to l i ve within the limits
of the Polar Circle
Sometimes they gave vent to a convulsive laugh but by
no chance d i d they smile Their costume consists of a
coarse capote of black wool known in Scand inavian coun

tries a s the va dm el a broad brimmed hat trous ers of

red serge and a piece Of leather t ied with strings for a
a coarse kind of mocca sin The women though
sho s
sa d look ing and mourn ful had rather agreeab le features
They wear a bodice and pet
w i thout much expression
ticoa t of sombre v a dm el
Wh en u nmarried they wear a
little b rown kni tted cap over a crown of plaited hair ; b ut
when married they cover their heads wi th a colored
h an dkerchief over which they tie a white scarf
,

CHAPTER VI I

NV E RS ATION

AN D

CO

DIS COVE R Y

WHE N I returned dinn er was ready

This mea l wa s
devoured by my worthy relative with avidity and voraci
ty
His shipboard diet had tu r ned his inter ior into a per
feet gulf The repast which was more Danish than Ice
la n dic was in itself nothin g but the excessive ho spi tality
of our host made us enjoy it doubly
The conversation turned upon scientic matte rs and
M Fr idr ik 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 Fr idr iksson ; 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 r dwigg We
are very studious my dea r sir though we do live in
Iceland Every farmer every laborer every sherman
can both read and wr ite a n d we think th at books instead
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 n othing for

them to see ?
,

4
0

A JOURNE Y T O

T HE

OF

CE N RE

THE

A R TH

We have none of them

Not in Iceland ?

There are none i n I celand or elsewhere answered the

other sadly

Why so ?
Because Ar n e S a k nussem m wa s persecuted for heresy
and in 1 5 7 3 his works were publicly burn t at C openhagen

by the hands of the common hangman

murmured my uncle to th e
Ver y good ! capita l !
grea t as tonishment of the worthy Icelan der
Y ou said sir
Y es 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 ussem m put out of court forc ed to hide h is m a g n i
cent discoveries wa s compelled to conceal benea th the veil
of an incomprehensible cryptogr aph the secret
What secret ?
A secretwhio
stammered my un cle

Have you dis covered some wonderful manus cript ?

cried M Fr idr iksson
No no I wa s carried away by my enthusias m A

mere supposi tion

Very good sir But really to turn to another su b
islan d without ex a m i
ject I hope you will not leave our

n ing into its mineralogica l riches

Well the fact is I am r ather late So man y lea rned

men have been here before me

Y es yes but there is still much to be done cried M

.

F r idr ik sson

You think so said my uncle his eyes twin kli ng with

hidden satisfaction
Y es you have no idea how m a n y unknown mountain s
glaciers volcanoes there are which remain to be studied
Without movi ng from where we sit I can show you one

Y onder o n the edge of the horizon you see S n eels

,

'

C N VE R

SATI ON

AN D

DISC OVE R Y

I
4

'

Oh yes S n eels said my uncle

O ne of the most curious volcanoes in existence the

crater of which h a s been rarely visited

Extinct

Extinct any time these ve hundr ed years was the

rea dy reply
Well said my u ncle who dug his na ils into his es h
s knees tightly together to prevent him sel f
a n d pressed hi
leaping up with joy
I have a great m ind to begin my
stud i es w i th an exam ination of th e geological my steries

Feisel what do you call it ?

of this Mount S effel

Sneffels my dear sir

This porti on of the conver ation took place in Latin
and I therefore understood all that had been sai d I
cou ld scarcely keep my countenance when I fou nd my
u ncle so cunn i ngly co n ceal ing h is del i ght and satisfacti on
I must con fess that his artful grimaces put on to conceal
h is happiness made h im look l ike a new Mephistopheles

Y es yes
he conti nued your proposition delights
me I will endeavor to cl imb to the summit of S n eels

a n d if poss ib le will des cend into its crater

I very much regret continued M F r idr ik sson that

my occupation will entirely preclude the possibility of my
accompanying you It would have been both pleasurable

and protable if I could have spared the time

No no a thou sand times no cried my uncle I do

n ot wish to disturb the serenity of any man
I thank you
h owever w i th all my heart
The presence of one so
learn ed a s yourself would no doubt have b een most useful
but the duti es Of your of ce and profession before every

th i ng
In the i nnocence of h is si mple heart our host did not
erce
i
ve
the
irony
of thes e remark s
p

I enti rely approve your project continued the Ice

f
s
f
lander a ter ome urther remarks
I t is a good idea to
.

A JOURNE Y T O

T HE

CE N R E

OF

T HE

AR TH

begin by examining this volca no Y ou will make a har vest

In the rst pla ce how do you
of curious obser vations
propose to get to S n eels

By sea I shall cross the bay Of co urse that is the

most rapid route

Of cours e B ut still it ca nnot be do n e

Why ?
We have not an availa ble boat in a ll
replied the other

What is to be done ?

You must go by land alon g the coas t It is lon ger,

but much more interes tin g

Then I mus t have a guide

Of course ; and I have your ver y m a n

So m ebody on who m I can depend

Y es an inhabita nt of the pe nins ula on which Sneffels

is situated
He is a very shrewd and worthy m a n with
whom you will be pleas ed He spea ks Danish like 3

Dane

When ca n I see him to day

N O to morrow ; he will not be here before

To mo r row be it replied my uncle with a deep sigh

The conversation ended by compliments on both sides
Durin g the dinner my uncle had lea rned much a s to the
history of Arne S a k n ussem m the reas ons for his m yste
rio n s and hieroglyphical document He also became
aware that his host would not accompan y him on h is a d
venturous expedition and tha t n ext da y we should ha ve a
g uide
.

'

CHAPTER VI I I

T HE

IDE R DOWN
-

HUNT E R

OFF

AT L S T .

THAT

evening I took a brief walk on the shore nea r

R eykj a wik after 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 was talk
ing in Danish with a man of tall stature and of perfectly
Herculea n build This man appeared to he possessed of
very great strength His eyes which started rather pro
the face belongi ng to
m in en tl from a very large head
y
wh i ch wa s simple and naive appea red very quick and
intelligent Very long hair which even in England would
have been accounted exceedingly red fell over his athleti c
This native of Iceland wa s active and supple
shoulders
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
Everyth ing in this man s manner revea led a calm and
phlegmatic temperament There was nothin g indolent
about h i m b ut his appearance spoke of tranquillity He
was 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
wa y in which he listened to the wild and i mpas 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 ticulati ons
When he wanted to sa y N0 he moved h is hea d from left to
,

4
4

A JOUR NE Y T O

T HE

CE

NTRE OF

T HE

AR TH

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

could scarcely see the undulation of his head This
economy of motion wa s carried to the len gth of avarice
J udgin g from his appearan ce I should have been a lon g
time before I had suspected him to be what he was a
mighty hunter Certa inly h is ma n ner was not likely to
How then did he contrive to get at
frighten the game
his prey ?
My su rprise wa s slightly mo died when I k new that this
tranquil and solemn personage wa s only a hun ter of the
cider duck the down of which is afte r all the grea tes t 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
f ords the name g i ven to all narrow gul fs in Sca ndinavian
countrieswith which every part of the is land is in dented
No sooner h a s the eider duck made her nest than sh e lines
the inside of it with the softest do wn from 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 down is to be found
When sh e can nd 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 ro b him of h is nest linin g
The nest is accordingly nished the eggs are laid the little
ones are born and next yea r th e harvest of eider
down is
again collected
Now a s the eider duck never selects steep rocks or as
peets to build its nest but rather slopin g a n d low cl iffs
n ear to the sea the Icelandic h unter can ca rry on his trade
Oper ation s without much difculty
He is like a farmer
who h as n either to plow to sow n or to harrow only to col
lect his har vest *
t a l w ys
Th e b i r ds h w ver
cc m d ti g Th y a r fou d
r

a re n o

so a

om

T HE

E DE R

T his

D OWN

HUN TE R

OFF AT LAST

4
5

grave sententious silen t person as phlegmatic as

an Englishman on the F rench stage was na med Hans
He had called u pon us in consequence of the r e
Bj elk e
commendation of M F r idr ik sson He was in fact our
It struck me that had I sought the world
future guide
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 wa s ready to
ta ke all that was 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 was soon come to between them
Now th e understanding was that he was to take us to
the villa ge of Stapi situated on the southern slope of the
penin sula of S n eels at the very foot of the volcano
Hans the guide told u s the dista nce wa s about twenty two
a j ourney which my uncle supposed would take
m iles
about two days
But when m y uncle came to understand that they were
Danish miles of eight thousand yards each he wa 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 b ea r the importa nt weight of myself and
un cle Hans declared that nothing ever would make him
cl imb on th e back of any animal He knew every inch
of that part of the co as t and promised to take u s the very
shortes t way
His en gagement with my uncle wa s by no means to
,

'

'

in th e
ern

sou th e r n

a r t of o u r

p
i l

a rt o f

s e, a n d

of o u r a b es t n a tu ra

n o t u n a tten d ed

th e

e id e r

pl

ac n

g it

d u ck

En

with
o

li

gl

in th e

s ts sa

n o rth o f

s:

r s k , on a

ften b reed s

s n es t o n

win ter

a nd a s a

cc

"
.

T a k in

a n,

i sl a n d s a n d r oc k s

c tl
o

g th

ou n t o f

b u t in th e

is

p cipi t
re

ou s

c id er

is

T he

c ti g w ll i

ro e

a ll

a n d r em a n

ese n ests

th e

i i ta n t

v s

th e

g l
l c l i ti

re

m or e n ort

ea r .

u ar
es

b u si n ess
in whi

i i

s h y . r et r n

n to th e sea .

"

On e

ch

b ird

6
4

JOU RN E Y TO

T HE

CE NTR E O F

T HE

E AR TH.

ceas e with our a rriva l a t Sta pi ; he wa s fu rth er to remain

in his service durin g the whole time required for the com
pletion of h is scientic investig a tions a t th e x ed sa la ry
of three rix d oll a rs a week bein g exa ctly four teen shil
lings a n d twopence minus one fa rthin g E n glish cur rency
O ne stipul a tion h owever wa s ma de by th e guide
the
money wa s to b e pa id to him every Sa turda y night fa il
in g which his enga gement was a t a n end
The da y of our depa rture wa s x ed My u ncle wished
to h a nd the cider down hun ter a n a dv a nce but he refus ed
in one empha tic Word
~

er .

Which bein g tran sla ted from I cela ndic into pla in E ng
lish mea nsAfter
The trea ty concluded our worthy guide retir ed with out
a nother word

A splendid fellow
only he littl e
sa id m y uncle ;
suspects the m a rvellous p a rt he is a bout to pl a y in the his

tor y of the world

You mea n then I cried in a ma zement th a t h e

should a ccomp a n y u s
To the Inter ior of the Ea rth yes
replied my uncle
Wh y not ?
There were yet forty-eight hours to ela ps e b efore we
m a de our na l sta rt To my grea t regret our whole time
was ta ken up in ma king prep a ra tions for our journey A ll
our industry a n d a bility were devoted to pa cking every
object in the most a dva nta geous m a nn erthe instruments
on one side the a rms on the other the tools here a n d th
e
provisions there There wer e in fa ct four distinct groups
The in strumen ts were of course of the best m a n u fa c
ture
1 A centigra de thermometer of B izel counting up to
1 5 0 degrees which to me did not a ppea r h a l f enough
or
too much
Too hot by ha l f if the degree of hea t was to
.

4
8

JO URNE Y TO

THE

CE N TRE O F

T HE

E AR

TH

Our a rms consis ted of two ries with two revolving

Why these a r ms were provided it wa s im possi
shooters
ble for me to sa y I ha d every reas on to believe th a t we h a d
neither wild bea sts nor sa va ge n a tives to fea r My uncle
on the other h a nd was quite a s devoted to his a rsena l a s to
his collection of ins truments a n d a bove a llwas very ca reful
with his provision of fulmina ting or g un cotton wa rra nted
to keep in a n y clima te a n d of which the expa nsive force
was known to be grea ter tha n tha t of or dina ry gunpowder
Our tools cons isted of two picka xes two crowba rs a
a
h a tchet a
silken l a dder three iron shod Alpine poles
h a mmer a dozen wedges some pointed pieces of ir on a n d
a qua ntity of strong rope
You m a y conceive th a t the
whole m a de a tolera ble pa rcel especia lly when I mention
th a t the l a dder its elf wa s three hundred feet long
Then there ca me the importa nt question of provis ions
The ha mper was not very l a rge but tolera bly sa tisfa ctory
for I knew th a t in concentra ted essence of mea t a n d bis cuit
there was enough to l a s t six months The only liquid
provided by m y uncle was sch eida m
Of wa ter not a
d rop
We ha d however a n a mple supply of gourds a n d
my un cle counted on nding w a ter a n d enough to ll
them a s soon a we commenced our downwa rd j ourney
My rema rks a s to the tempera ture the qua lity a n d even
as to th e possibility of none being found rem a in ed wholly
without effect
To m a ke up the exa ct list of our tra velling gea rfor the
gu ida nce of future tra vellers I will a dd tha t we ca rried a
medicin e a n d surgica l chest with a ll a ppa r a tus n ec essa ry
for wound s fra ctures a n d blows ; l int sci ssors la ncets in
fa ct a perfect collection of horrible looking in s truments ;
a
number of phia ls conta ining a mmonia a lcohol ether
gou la r d w a ter a rom a tic vinega r in fa ct every poss ible
a n d impossible drug na ll
y a ll the m a ter ia ls for working
the R uh m k or f coil l
,

THE

E DE R

DOWN HU N TE R OFF AT LAST

.

My uncle ha d a lso been ca reful to la y in a goodly sup

ply of toba cco severa l as ks of very ne gunpowder boxes
of tinder bes ides a la rge belt cra mmed full of notes a n d
gold Good boots rendered wa ter tight were to be found
to the number of six in the tool box
My boy with such clothin g with such b oots a n d such

g enera l equipments sa id my uncle in a sta te of ra pturous

delight ; we m a y hope to tr a vel fa r

It took a whole da y to put a ll thes e ma tters in order
In the evening we dined with B a ron Tra mpe in compa n y
with the Ma yor of R eykj a wik a n d Doctor Hya lta lin the
grea t medica l m a n of Icela nd M Fr idr iksson was not
pres ent a n d I was a fterwa rds sorry to hea r th a t he a n d the
governor did not a gree on some m a tters connected with the
Un fortuna tely the conse
a dministra tion of the i sla nd
qu en ce wa s th a t I did not understa nd a word tha t was
One
sa id a t dinnera kind of semi of cia l reception
thing I ca n sa y my uncle never left off spea king
The next da y our la bor ca me to a n end Our worthy
host delighted my uncle Professor Ha r dwigg by giving
him a good m a p of Icela nd a most importa nt a n d precious
document for a minera logist
Our las t evenin g was S pent in a long conversa tion with
M Fr idr iksson whom I lik ed very muchthe more tha t
I never expected to see him or a n y one else a ga in After
this a greea ble wa y of S pending a n hour or so I tried to
In va in ; with the exception of a few dozes my
sleep
night was misera b le
At ve o clock in the mornin g I was a wa ken ed from the
only rea l h a lf hour s sleep of the night by the loud
neighing of h er ses under my window I hastily dressed
Ha ns was en ga ged
m ysel f a n d went down into the street
in putting the nishing stroke to our b a gga ge which he
did in a silent quiet wa y th a t won my a dmira tion a n d yet
he did it a dmira bly well My un cle was ted a grea t dea l
,

50

A JOU RNE Y TO

T HE

CE NTRE

of

OF

E AR

THE

TH

brea th in givin g him directions but worthy Ha ns took

not the slightest notice of his words
At six o clock a ll our prepa ra tions Were completed a n d
M Fridr iksson sh ook ha nds hea rtily with us My uncle
th a nked him wa r mly in the Icela ndic la ngu a ge for his
kind h ospita lity spea king truly from the hea rt
As for myself I put together a few of my best La tin
phra ses a n d p a id him the highest compliments I could
This fra terna l a nd friendly duty performed we sa llied
forth a n d mounted our hors es
As soon a s we were quite rea dy M h idr iksson a dva nced
a n d by wa
y of fa rewell ca lled a fter me in the words of
V irgilwords which a ppea red to ha ve been m ad e for us
tra vellers sta rtin g for a n u ncertain des tina tion
,

An d

low !

which soever wa y thou goest

m a

y fortun e fol

CHAPTER I X
OU R s'r AE 'r

ME E T WIT H

ADVE NT UR ES

WAY

B Y T HE

weather wa s overcast but settled when we com

m en ced our adventurous and perilous journey
We had
neither to fear fatiguing heat nor dr enching rain It was
in fact real touri st wea ther
As there wa s nothin g 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 grati cation and l iberty The truth is that
my sp i rits 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 mountai n 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 was all this terrible
As to the exi stence of a gallery
S a kn u ssem m had done
or of subterraneous passages leading into the in terior of the
earth the idea wa s simply absurd the hallucination of a dis
tempered i magination All then that may be requ ired of
me I will do cheerfully and will crea te no difculty
It wa s just before we left R eykj a wik that I came to this
decisi on
Hans our extraordinary guide went rst walking with
a steady rap id and unvar ying 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
ver y tolerable gure upon our small but vigorous anim a ls
TH E

A JOU RNE Y T O

T HE CE N RE

T HE

OF

AR TH

Iceland is one of the largest islands in Europe It con

tains thir ty thou sand square miles of sur face and h a s
about seventy thousand inhabi tants Geographers have
divided it into four parts and we had to cross the South
west quarter which in the vernacular is called S u dvestr
.

Fj or dll n g r

Hans on taking h is departure from R eykj a wik had

We took our way through
followed the line of the sea
poor and sparse meado ws which made a desper ate effort
every year to show a little green They very rarely su c
ceed in a good sho w 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 akes of sno w showed
conspicuous in the morning light while certain lofty a n d
pointed rocks were rst lost in the grey low clouds their
like j agged reefs ri s ing
summits clearly vi sible above
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 wa s
the best road My uncle had not even the satisfaction of
urging forward his steed by whip spur or voice It wa s
utterly u seless to show any signs of impatience I coul d
not help smiling to see h im look so big on his little hors e ;
h is long legs now and then touching the grou nd made h im
look like a six footed centaur

Good beas t good beast he would cr y

I assure
you Henry that I begin to think no animal is more intel
Snow tempest im pr a cti
lig en t than an Iceland i c horse
cable roads rocks iceb ergsnothing stops him He is
brave he is sober he is safe ; he never makes a false
I dare to sa y
s path
step ; never glides or slips from h i
that if any river any fj or d ha s to be crosseda n d I have
,

WE ME E T WI TH ADVE NTURE S

53

n o d oubt there will be manyyou will see him enter th e

water without hesitation like an amph ibious 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 way and I will underta ke to sa y that between us we

shall do our ten leagues a day

We may do so was my reply but What about our

worthy guide ?
I have not the slightest anxiety about him : those sor t
of people go ahead without kn o wing 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

but my legs are getting a li ttle sti ff

r ight
The
All this while we were advancing at a rapid pace
country we had rea ched was 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 frag
ments of lavalooking like beggars on the highway of
li fe Thes e wretched and mis erable huts excited in us
s uch pity that we felt half disposed to leave alms at every
door
In this country there are no roads paths are nearly
u nknown and vegetation poor a s it was slowly a s it
reached perfection soon obliterated 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 bes t
cultivated and most thickly peopled in all Iceland
\Vh a t then must be the state of the less known and more
dista nt pa rts of the island ? Afte r travelli ng 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 ock
,

4A

JOURNE Y T O

THE

OF

CE N R E

THE E AR H

A few stra y cows a n d sheep wer e only seen occas ionall y

Wha t then must we expect when we come to the u p
heaved regionsto the districts broken an d roughened
from volcanic eruptions and s ubte rraneous commotions ?
We wer e to learn th i s a ll in good time I sa w however
on cons ultin g the map that we avoided a good dea l of thi s
rough countr y by following the winding and desolate
shores of the sea
In reality the gr ea t volcan ic movement
of the islan d and a ll its at ten dant phenomena is coneen
tr a ted in the in terior of the island ; there horizonta l layer s
or str a ta of rocks piled one upon the other er uptions of
bas altic or igin an d strea ms of lava have given this coun
try a kin d of superna tural reputation
Little did I expect however the sp ecta c le which awaite d
u s when we rea ched the penins ula of Sneff el s where a g
glomerations of natur e s r uins form a kin d of terrible
chaos
Some two hours or more after we had left the city of
R eykj a wik we reached the little town called Aoa lk ir kj a
or th e prin cipal church It consists simply of a few
housesnot what i n England or Germa n 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 questions
to the nature of th e road and at las t when ask ed where we
were to pass the night was as lacon ic as usual

G a r da r i wa s his on e wor ded reply

I took occas ion to consult the map to see where Ga rdai
Was to be fou n d Af ter looking keenly I foun d a sm all
town of that nam e on the borders of the Hva lfj ord about
four miles from R eykj a wik
I pointed this out to my
un cle who made a very energetic g rimace
Only four miles out of twenty two ? Why it is only a
little walk
He was a bout to make some energetic obser va tion to th e
,

A JOURN E Y T O

56

T HE

CE N T RE

OF

T HE

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 retreated
My uncle who wa s sooth to sa y quite as obstin ate a s the
beas t he bestrode insisted on his making the desired a d
vance This attempt was followed by a new refusal on the
part of the horse which quietly shook h is head This
demonstr ation of rebellion was followed by a volley of
words and a sto ut application of whipcord ; als o followed
by k icks on the part of the h ors e which thr ew its head and
heels upwards and tried to throw his rider At length the
s legs in a stiff and
sturdy little pony sprea ding out h i
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 Rhodes
Wretched ani m al ! cried my uncle suddenly trans
formed into a foot pass enger and as angry and as hamed
as a dis mounted cavalry oicer on the eld of battle

Fa rj a
said the guide tapp ing him familiarly on the
shoulder
What a ferry boat

Der ans wered 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 cri ed my un cle ;

why not start at once ?

Tidva 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 D8

nis h word for my in formation
Of course I un derstandwe must wait till the tide

serves
For bids !
asked m y uncle

WE ME E T WITH ADVE NTUR E S

replied Hans
My uncle frowned stamped his feet and then followed
the horses to where the boat lay
I thoroughly understood and appreciated the necessity
for waiting before crossin g the fj or d for that moment
when the sea at its highest point is in a state of slack
wate r As neither the ebb nor ow can then be felt the
ferry boat was in no danger of bein g carried out to sea
or das hed upon the rocky coas t
The favorable moment did not come u ntil 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
a t bottom boat
Accusto med as I had been to the steam
ferry boats of the Elbe I found the long oars of the boat
men but sorry m eans of locomotion We wer more than
an hour in crossing the fj or d ; but at len gth the passage
was concluded Without accident
Half a n hour later we reached Ga rda r
Ja,

CHAPTE R X

TR A VE LLI N G

IN

ICE LA ND
T HE L E PE R S
"

ought o n e would have thought to have been night

even i n the sixty fth parallel of latitude ; but still the
nocturnal illumin ation did not surprise me F or i n Ice
land during the months of J une and J uly the sun n ever
sets
The temperature however was very much lower than I
expected I wa s cold but even that did not affect me so
much a s ravenous hunger Welcome in deed therefore
wa 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 was 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 without any further cere
m ony signaled to u s to follow him
We followed him for to ac company him was 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 ingress to every room
The chambers
were four in number
the kitchen the work shop where the
weaving wa s carried on the general sleepin g chamber of the
family and the best room to which stran gers were especially
invited My uncle whose lofty stature had not been ta ken
into consideration when the house was built co ntrived to
knock his head against the beam s of the roof
I ve were introduced into our chamber a kin d of large
room with a hard earthen oor and lighted by a win dow
the panes of which were ma de of a sort of parchmen t fr om
the in testin es of sheep
very fa r from transparent
The bedding wa s composed of dry hay thrown in to two
IT

TRAVE LL IN G

THE

I N I CE L N D

LE PE R S

59

long red wooden boxes ornamen ted with senten ces painted
in Icelan dic I really had no idea that we should be ma de
There wa s one objection to the house and
so comforta ble
that wa s the very powerful odor of dried sh of macera
ted meat an d of sour milk which three fragran ces com
b in ed did not at a ll suit my olfactory nerves
As soon a s we had freed ours elves from our hea vy tr a
vellin g costume the voice of our host was heard calling to
us to come into the k itchen the only room in which the I ce
landers ever make any re no matter how cold it may be
My uncle nothing loth hastened to obey this hospitable
and friendly invita tion I followed
The kitchen chimney was made on an antique model
A large stone standin g in the middle of the room wa s the
r e place above in the roof wa s a hole for the smoke to
pass through This apartment wa s kitchen parlor a n d
dining room all i n one
On our entrance our worthy host a s if he had not seen
us before advanced ceremon i ously uttered a word which

means be happy an d 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 Wife placin g their
right hands upon their hearts bowed profoundly
This excellen t Icelandic woman wa s the mother of nine
teen children who little and big rolled crawled and
walked about in the midst of volumes of smoke arising
fro m the angular r e pl a ce in the middle of the r oom
Every now and then I could see a fresh white hea d and a
sl ightly 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 spea k kept cryi ng out sa llvertu in every
,

60

A JOURNE Y

CE N T RE

T o T HE

THE

or

A R TH

possible and impossible key Those who did not spea k

on ly made all the more noise
This concert wa s interrupted by the announcementof sup
per At this moment our worthy guide th e eider duck hun
ter came in after s eeing to the feeding and stabling of th e
horseswhich consis ted in letting them loos e to browse o n
the stun ted green of the Icelandic prairies There wa s little
for them to eat but moss and some very dry and in n u tr i
tious grass ; next day they were rea dy before the door,
some tim e before we were

Welcome said Hans

Then tranqu illy with the air of an automato n without
any more expression in one kiss than another he embraced
the host and hostess a n 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 o nly two j u
ven iles o n their k n ees
As soon ho wever as the inevitable soup was placed on the
table the natural taciturnity common even to Icelandic ba
bies prevailed over all else O ur host lled our plates with
a portion of M ila n soup of Icela nd moss of by no means
disagreeable avor an enormous lum p of sh oatin g in

sour butter
After that there came some skyr a kin d of
curds and whey served with biscuits and j un ipeb ber ry
juice To drink we had blanda skimmed milk with water
I wa s hungry so hungry that by way of dessert I n ished
up with a bas in of thick oaten porridge
As soon as th e meal was over the ch ildren disa ppeared
whilst the grown people sa t around the r e place on which
wa s pl a ced tur f heather cow dung and dr ied sh bones
As soon as everybody was su fciently warm a general
dispersion took place a ll retiring to their res pective
couches Our hostess offered to pull off our stockings and
trousers according to the custom of the coun try but as we
.

TR A VE LLI N G
grac i ou sly declin ed
of dr
y fo dder

I N I CE L AN D

to

be

so

LE PE R S

T HE

honored,

sh e

left

us

OI

to

our b ed

N ext

day at ve in th e mornin g we took our leave of

the se ho sp i tab le pea sants
My uncle h a d g reat diiculty
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 sta rt
We h a d scarcely got a hun dr ed yards from G arda r,
w hen the chara cter of the cou ntry cha nged
The so i l b e
and less favora ble to pr o
g a n to b e marshy and b ogg
To the r ight the ra nge of moun ta i ns w a s pro
g re ss
longed in denitely l ike a great system of na tura l for ti ca
ti ons of which we skirted the glac is
We m et wi th nu
m erc u s s trea m s an d rivulets wh i ch i t w a s n ecessa r y to ford
,
a n d that w i tho u t w ettin g our b a ggage
A s we advan ced,
th e de serted appe a ran ce i n creased a n d yet n o w an d then
w e could see h u man shadow s i t tin g in the di stance
When a s udden turn of the track b rou ght us w i thin easy
reach of one of these spectres I felt a sudden impu lse of
d isgust at th e s ight of a s wollen head with shinin g skin
utterly w i thout ha ir a n d whose repuls i ve and revolting
w ounds c ould be s een through his rags
Th e u nha ppy
w ret ches nev er ca me forward to b eg ; on the con trary,
they r a n aw ay ; n ot so qu i ck however b ut tha t Ha ns wa s
able to salu te the m with the universal S aellvertu

e
t
e
l
s
k
s a i d he
Sp

A leper
expla ined my un cle
T h e very s o u nd of s u ch a word cau se d a feeling of r e
pulsi on The ho r r ible a ection kno w n a s leprosy whi ch
h a s almo st va nished b efore th e e ffe cts o f mo dern s c i ence
is comm on in Icela nd
It is not con ta gi o u s b ut heredi
ta r y so that ma rr ia ge is stri ctly prohi b i ted to these u n for
tun a te crea tures
These poor lepers d id not tend to enliven our j ou rney
th e s cene o f which w a s i nexpress ibly sa d a n d lonely
Th e
,

'

62

J O URNE Y

T O T HE

CE N TR E

OF THE E ARTH.

ver y la st tufts of gras sy vegeta tion a ppea red to die a t our

Not a tree wa s to be seen except a few stunted
feet
will ows a bout as big as bla ckberry bushes Now a n d
then we w a tched a fa lcon soa ring in the grey a n d misty
a ir ta kin g h i
s ight to wa rds wa rmer a n d sunn ier regions
I could not help feeling a sens e of mela ncholy come over
me I sigh ed for my own Na tive La nd a n d wish ed to be
ba ck with G retchen
We were compelled to cross severa l little fj ords a n d a t
la st ca me to a rea l gulf The tide was a t its height a n d
we were a ble to go over a t once a n d rea ch the h a m let of
Alfta nes a bout a mile fa rther
Th a t evening a fter fordin g the Al fa a n d the B eta two
r ivers rich in trout a n d pike we were compelled to p ass
the night in a deserted house worthy of bein g h a unted by
a ll the fa ys of Sca n din a vi a n mythology
The King of
Cold ha d ta ken up h is residence there a n d m a de us feel
his presence a ll n ight
The following da y wa s rem a rka ble b y its l a ck of a n y
pa rticula r incidents Alwa ys the sa me da mp a n d swa mpy
the sa me drea ry uniformity ; the sa me sa d a n d
soil
monotonous a spect of scenery In th e evening h a vin g a c
complished the h a l f of our pr ojected journey we slept a t
the Ann ex ia of Krosolbt
F or a whole mile we ha d under our feet nothing b ut
la va This disposition of the soil is ca lled hra un : the
crumbled la va on th e surfa ce wa s in some insta nces like
ship ca bles stretch ed out horizonta lly in oth ers coiled up
in hea ps ; a n immense eld of la va ca me from the neigh
b oring mounta ins a ll extin ct volcan oes but whose r e
m a ins showed wh a t once th ey h a d been Here a n d th ere
could be m a de out the stea m from hot w a ter sprin gs
There was no time h owever for u s to ta ke more th a n a
We h a d to go forwa rd
cursory view of thes e phenomen a
y soil
with wha t speed we might Soon the soft a n d swa mp
,

CHAPTE R

WE

MOU N T

R E ACH

XI

8N E F FE I B .

HE

R E Y KI B .

STAPI is a town consisting of thirty huts built on a

la rge pla in of l a va exposed to the ra ys of the sun r e
ected from the volca no
It str etches its humble ten e
ments a long the end of a little fj ord surrounded b y a
b a sa ltic wa ll of the m ost sin gul a r ch a ra cter
B a sa lt is a brown rock of igneou s origin It assumes
regula r forms which as tonish by their singula r a ppea r
a nce
Here we found Na ture p roceeding geometrica lly
a n d workin g quite a fter a huma n fas hion as if sh e h a d
employed the plummet line the compass a n d the rule I f
else where she produces gra nd a r tistic effects by pil ing up
huge masses without order or connection if els ewhere we
see trunca ted cones imperfect pyra mids with a n odd suc
cession of lines ; here as if wishing to give a lesson in
g ula rity a n d preceding the a rchitects of the ea rly a ges
she has
erected a severe order of a rchitectu r e which
neither the splendors of B a bylon nor the m a rvel s of
Greece ever surpa ssed
I had often hea rd of the Gia nts Ca usewa y in Irela nd
the Grotto of Finga l in one of the Heb rides but the gra nd
specta cle of a rea l b a sa ltic form a ti
on h a d never yet come
before my eyes
This a t Sta pi ga ve us a n idea of one in a ll its w onderful
bea uty a n d gra ce
The wa ll of the fj ord like nea rly the whole of the penin
sul a
consisted of a series of vertica l column s in height
a bout thirty feet
These upright pilla rs of stone of the
nest proportions supported a n a rchiva ult of horizonta l
,

The fj

o rd

of

S ta pi

WE

R E AC

S NE FFE L S T HE

MOU N T

RE Y KTR

65

columns which formed a kind of ha lf va ulted roof a bove

At certa in interva ls a n d below this n a tura l
th e sea
b a sin the eye wa s plea sed a n d sur prised by the sight of
ova l openings through which the outwa rd wa ves ca me
thundering in volleys of foa m Some ba nks of bas a lt
torn from their fa s ten ings by the fury of the wa ves la y
s ca ttered on the groun d like the ruins of a n a ncient tem
ple ruins eterna lly young over which the storms of a ges
swept without producing a n y perceptible effect !
This was the la st sta ge of our journey Ha ns ha d
brought u s a long with delity a n d intelligence a n d I b e
ga n to feel somewha t more com forta ble when I reected
tha t he was to a ccompa ny u s still fa rther on our wa y
\Vhen we ha lted before the house of the Rec tor a sm a ll
a n d incommodious ca bin neither ha nds ome n or more com
for ta b le th a n those of h is neighbors I sa w a m a n in the
a ct of shoeing a horse a h a mm er in hi
s ha nd a n d a lea th
ern a pron tied round h is wa ist

Be ha ppy sa id the cider down hunter using h is n a

tion a l sa luta tion in h is own la ngu a ge

G ood da y good da y ! replied the former in excel

lent Da nish

K yr k oher de cried Ha n s tu r ning round a n d intro

du cin g him to my uncle

The R ector repea ted the worthy Professor ; it a p

pea rs my dea r Ha rry tha t this worthy m a n is the Rector

a
i
hi
bove do ng s own work
a nd i
s not
During the spea king of these few words the guide in
tima ted to the Kyr k oh er de wha t was the tru e sta te of the
The good m a n ceas ing from his occupa tion ga ve a
ea s e
kind Of h a lloo upon which a ta ll woma n a l m ost a gia ntess
ca me out of the hut She was a t lea st six feet high which
in th a t region is something considera ble
My rst impression wa s one of horror I thought she
ha d come to give us the Icela ndic kiss I h a d however,
-

'

66

JOU RNE Y

T o T HE

CE N TRE

OF T HE

E A R TH .

nothing to fea r for sh e did not even show much inclina

tion to receive u s into her house
The room devoted to stra ngers a ppea red to me to be by
fa r the worst in the presbytery ; it wa s na rrow dirty a n d
o ff ensive There was however no choice a bout the m a tte r
The R ector ha d no notion of pra ctising the us u a l cordia l
a n d a ntique hospita li ty
Fa r from it Before the da y wa s
over I found we h a d to dea l with a bl a ck smith a sh er
m a n a h u nter a ca rpenter a nythin g but a
clergym a n
It must be sa id in his fa vor tha t we ha d ca ught him on a
week da y proba bly he a ppea red to grea ter a dva nta ge on
the Sunda y
These poor priests receive from the Da nish Government
a
most ridiculously ina dequa te sa l a ry a n d collect one
qua rter of the tithe of their pa rish not more th a n sixty
m a rks current or a bout 3 1 08 sterling Hence the ne
cessity of working to live
In truth we soon found th a t
our host did not count civility a mong th e ca rdin a l virtues
My uncle soon beca me a wa re of the kind of m a n he h a d
to dea l with Instea d of a worthy a n d lea rn ed schola r he
found a dull ill ma nnered pea sa nt
He therefore res olved
to sta rt on his grea t expedition a s soon as poss ible He
did not ca re a bout fa tigue a n d resolved to spend a few
da ys in the mounta ins
The prepa ra tions for our depa rture were m a de the very
next da y a fter our a rriva l a t Sta pi ; Ha ns now hired three
Icel a nders to ta ke the pla ce of the hors es which could
no longer ca rry our lugga ge
When however these
worthy isla nders h a d rea ched the bottom of the cra ter
they were to go ba ck a n d lea ve us to ours elves This
point wa s settled before they wou ld a gree to sta rt
On this occas ion my uncle pa rtia lly conded in Ha ns
th e cider duck hunter a n d ga ve him to unders ta nd th a t it
was his intention to continue h is explora tion of the volca no
to the la st po ssible limits
,

WE

RE A CH

S NE FFE L S T HE

MOU N T

RE

YKIR

67

ca lmly a n d then nodded his hea d To

go there or el sewhere to bury himself in the b owel s of
the ea rth or to tra vel over its summits was a ll the sa me
to him I As for me a mus ed a n d occupied by the incidents
of tra vel I h a d begun to forget the inevita ble future ; but
n ow I was once more des tined to rea lize the a ctua l sta te of
a ffairs
\Vh a t was to be done ? Run a wa y ? But if I
rea lly ha d in tended to lea ve Pr ofessor Ha r dwigg to his
fa te it should ha ve been a t Ha mburg a n d not a t the foot
Ha ns listened

of

S n eels

One idea a bove a ll others bega n to trouble me : a very

terrible idea a n d one ca lcula ted to sha ke the nerves of a
m a n even less sens itive th a n mysel f

Let us consider th e ma tter I sa id to myself ; we a r e

going to a scend the S n eels mounta in Well a n d good
We a r e a bout to pa y a v isit to the very bottom of the
cra ter Good still Others h a ve done it a n d did not
perish from tha t course

Tha t however is not the whol e ma tter to be consid

ered I f a roa d does rea lly present itself by which to
descend into the da rk a n d subterra neous bowels of Mother
Ea rth if this thrice unh a ppy S a kn ussem m ha s rea lly told
the truth we sh a ll be most certa inly lost in the midst of
the l a byrinth of subterra neous ga lleries of the volca no
Now we h a ve n o evidence to prove th a t S n eels is rea lly
extinct Wh a t proof ha ve we tha t a n eruption is not
Beca use the mons ter has
shortly a bout to ta ke pla ce ?
slept soundly sin ce 1 229 does it follow th a t he is never to

wa ke l

I f he does wa ke wh a t is to beco me of us ?
Thes e were questions worth thin king a bout a n d upon
them I reected long a n d deeply I could not lie down
in sea rch of sleep without drea ming of eruptions The more
I thought the more I objected to be reduced to the sta te
of dross a n d as hes
,

68

JO U RN E Y

CE N T RE

T o T HE

E AR TH

OF T HE

I could sta nd it no longer ; so I determined a t l a st to

submit the whole c a se to my u ncle in th e most a droit
m a nner possible a n d under the form of some tota lly irre
con cila b le hypothesis
I sought him I l a id before him my fea rs a n d then
dr ew ba ck in order to let him get his p a ssion over a t his
eas e

I h a ve been thinking a bout the ma tter he sa id in

the quietest tone in the world
Wha t did he mea n ? Was he a t l as t a bout to listen to
the voice of rea son ? Did he think of suspending h is pro
jects ? It wa s a lmost too much ha ppiness to be true
I ho wever m a de no rema rk In fa ct I wa s only too
a n x ious not to interrupt him a n d a llowed him to reect
a t hi
s lei sure
After some moments he spoke out

I h a ve been thinking a bout the m a tter he res umed

Ever since we h a ve been a t Sta pi my mind ha s been a l
most solely occupied with the gra ve ques tion which h as
been sub m itted to me by yoursel ffor nothing would be
unwis er a n d more inconsis tent tha n to a ct with im pr u

dence

I hea rtily a gree with you my dea r un cle wa s my

somewh a t hopeful rejoinder
It is now six hundred yea rs since S n eels h as spoken
but though n ow reduced to a sta te of utter silence he m a y
spe a k a ga in
New volca nic eruptions a r e a lwa ys preced ed
by perfectly well kno wn phenomena I h a ve closely ex
a m in ed the inh a bita nts of this region ; I h a ve ca refully
studied the soil a n d I beg to tell you emph a tica lly my
dea r Ha rry there will be no eruption a t pres ent
A s I li stened to h is positive a frma tions I wa s stu peed
a n d could sa y nothing

I see you doubt my word sa id my uncle ; follow

me
I obeyed mech a nica lly
,

70

A J O U RN E Y TO

T HE

CE N

TRE O F

T HE

AR TH

cientic a rguments Nevertheless I h a d still one hope

of the
a n d tha t wa s when once we were a t the botto m
cra ter tha t it would be imposs ible in defa ult of a ga llery
or tunnel to descend a n y deeper ; a n d th is despite a ll the
lea rned S a k n ussem m s in the world
I pa ssed the whole of the follo wing night with a night
m a re on my ches t ! a n d a fter u n hea rd o f mi ser ies a n d
tortures found mysel f in the very depths of the ea rth
from which I was suddenly l a unched into pla neta ry spa ce
under the form of a n eruptive rock !
N ext da y the 23 d J u ne H a n s c a lmly a wa ited u s out
side the presbytery with h is two comp a nion s lo a ded with
provisions tools a n d instruments Two iron shod poles
two guns a n d two la rge ga me b a gs were res erved for my
u ncle a n d mysel f
Ha ns wh o wa s a m a n wh o never for
n the minutest preca utions ha d a dded to our
get eve
ba gga ge a la rge skin full of wa ter as a n a dditio n to our
gourds This a ssured u s wa ter for eight da ys
It wa s nine o clock in the morning when we were quite
rea dy The rector a n d his huge wife or serva nt I never
knew which stood a t the door to see u s off They a p
pea r ed to be a bout to inict on u s the us u a l n a l kiss of
the Icel a nders To our supreme a sto nishment their a dieu
took the sh a pe of a formida ble bill in wh ich they even
counted the use of the pa tora l hou se rea lly a n d truly
the most a bomina ble a n d dirty pl a ce I ever was in The
worthy couple chea ted a n d robbed u s like a S wiss innkeeper
a n d m a de u s feel by the su m we h a d to
pa y the splendors
of their ho spita lity
My uncle however pa id without b a rga ining A m a n
who h a d m a de u p his mind to under ta ke a voya ge into
the Interior of the Ea rth is not the m a n to h a ggle over a
doll a rs
few mi sera ble rix
This importa nt ma tter settled Ha ns ga ve the s ign a l for
dep a rture a n d some few moments la ter we h a d left Sta pi
s

CHAPTER X II
T HE

AS C E N T

MOU N T

OF

S NE

FF E LS

TH E

huge volca no which wa s the rst sta ge of our

da ring experiment is a bove ve thousa nd feet high S n ef
fels is the termina tio n of a long ra nge of volca nic moun
ta ins of a different ch a ra cter to the system of the is l a nd
its el f One of its peculia rities is its two h u ge pointed
summits
From whence we sta rted it was impossible to
m a ke out the rea l outlines of the pea k a ga inst the grey
eld of sk y All we could distinguish was a va st dome
of whi te which fell downwa rds from the hea d of the gia nt
The commencement of the grea t un derta king lled me
with a we N ow tha t we h a d a ctua lly sta rted I bega n to
belie ve in the rea lity of the un derta king !
Our pa rty formed quite a procession We wa lked in
single le preceded by Ha ns the im perturba ble eider
d u ck hunter He ca lmly led us by na rrow pa ths where
Con
two persons co u ld by no possibility wa lk a breas t
versa tion wa s wholly impossible We h a d a ll the more
opportunity to reect a n d a dm ire the a wful gra ndeur of
the scene a round
Beyond the extra ordin a ry basa ltic wa ll of the fj or d
of Sta pi we found ours elves m a king our wa y through
brous turf over which grew a sca nty vegeta tion of gra ss
the resid u u m of the a ncient vegeta tion of the swa mpy pe
The v a st m a ss of this combustible the eld of
n in su la
wh ich a s yet is utterly unexplored would sufce to wa rm
Icel a nd for a whole centu ry This mighty turf pit m ea
s often not less
sured from the bottom of certa in ra vines i
tha n seventy feet deep a n d presents to the eye the view
.

A JO UR N E Y TO

72

OF T HE

C E N TR E

T HE

E AR

TH

uccessive l a yers of bla ck burned u p rocky detr itus,

sepa ra ted by thin strea k s of porou s sa nds tone
The gra ndeur of the specta cle wa s undoubted as well as
its a rid a n d deserted a ir
As a tru e nephew of the g rea t Profess or Ha r dwigg a n d
despite my pre occupa tion a n d doleful fea rs of wha t was
to come I observed with grea t interes t the va st collection
of minera logica l curios ities sprea d out before me in this
vas t museum of na tur a l histo ry Looking ba ck to m y
recent studies I went over in thought the whole geologica l
history of Icela nd
This extra ordina ry a n d curious i l a nd must h a ve m a de
its a ppea ra nce from out of the grea t world of w a te rs a t a
compa ra tively recent da te Like th e cora l i sl a n ds of th e
Pa cic it m a y for a ught we know he still rising b y slow
a n d imperceptible degrees
I f this rea lly be the c as e its origin ca n be a ttributed to
only one ca use
th a t of the continued a ction of subterra
nea n res
This wa s a h a ppy thought
I f so if thi s were true a w a y with the th eories of Sir
Humphrey Da vy ; a wa y with the a uthority of the pa rch
ment of Arne S a k n ussem m ; th e wonderful pretensions to
discovery on the p a rt of my un cl e a n d to our j ourney !
All must end in smoke
Ch a rmed with the idea I bega n more ca refully to look
a bout me
A serious study of the soil was necessa ry to
nega tive or conrm my hypothes is I took in every item
of wh a t I sa w a n d I beg a n to comprehend th e succession
of phenomena which h a d preced ed its form a tion
Icela nd b eing a bsolutely without sed imenta ry soil is
composed exclusively of volca nic tufa ; th a t is to sa y of a n
a gglomera tion of stones a n d of rock s of a porou s textu re
Long before the existence of volca noes it was composed
of a solid b ody of massive tra p rock lifted b odily a n d
of

T HE

ASCE NT OF

MOU N T

SNE FFE L S

lowly out of the sea by the action of the centri fugal force
at work in the earth
T he internal res however had not a s yet burst their
bounds and ooded the exterior cake of Mother Earth with
hot and raging lava
My readers must excus e this brief and somewhat pedan
ti c geologi cal lecture But it is necessary to the complete
understa nd in g of what follows
At a later period in the world s history a huge and
mighty ssure must rea s oning by analogy have been dug
d i agon ally from the south west to the north east of the
is land through which by degrees owed the volcanic crust
The great and wondrous phenomenon then went on with
out violen ceb th e outpouring was enormous and th e seeth
ing fused matter 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
I t wa s at this epoch that the rocks called feldspars sye
ni tes and porphyri es appeared
But as a natural consequen ce of this overow the depth
It can readily be b elieved what
of the island increa s ed
an enormous quantity of ela stic uids were piled up with
in its centre when at last it a or ded no other openin gs
after the process of cooling the crust had taken pla ce
At length a tim e came when despi te the enormous thick
ness and weight of the upper crust the mechanical forces
of the combu stib le gas es b elow b ecame so grea t that they
actually uphea ved the weighty back and m ade for them
Hence the volcanoes which
selves huge and giganti c shafts
suddenly aros e throu gh the upper crus t and next the cra
te rs which burst forth at the summit of these new crea
tions
It will be seen that the rst phenomena in connecti on
with the formati on of the island were simply eruptive to
these however shortly succeeded the volca nic phenomena
s

4A

JOURN E Y T O

T HE

OF

CE N RE

T HE

AR TH

Through the newly formed openings escaped the mar

vellous mass of basaltic sto nes with which the plain we
were now crossing wa s 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 attened cones
which formerly were so many r e-vomitin g m on ths
After the basaltic eruption wa s appeas ed and set at res t
the volcano the force of which in creas ed with that of the
extinct craters gave free passage to the er y overow 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 hi sto ry of the
phenomena fro m which Iceland arose All take their ri se
in the erce action of interior res and to bel ieve that the
central m ass did not remain in a state of liqui d r e wh i te
hot was simply and purely mad n ess
This being satisfacto rily proved ( g e
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 wa s quite r e as sured a s
to the fate of our enterpris e ; and therefore went like a
brave soldier moun ting a b ristling battery to the as sault
of old S n e els
As we advanced the road became every m oment more
di fcult The soil wa s broken and dangerou s The rocks
broke and gave way under our feet and we had to be seru
pu lous ly careful in order to avoid dangerous a n d constant
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
There wa s a little period of an xiety and then
of him
-

'

ASCE NT OF

T HE

MOUN T

SNE FFE L S

there was a sh rill whistle just to tell 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
ose ou r wa y on our
small heaps in or der tha t we m ight n ot l
,

He ha d no idea of the journey we were about to under

take
At a ll events the precaution wa s a good one ; though
h ow utterly us eless and unnecessarybut 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
Th is will 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
was lai d out on the lava before us
My uncle who n ow
was simply Pro fessor Ha r dwigg wa s so eager to advance
that he bol ted his food l i ke a greedy clown Th is halt
for re freshment was also a hal t for repose
The Pro
fessor was 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
Fro m this our rst real stage we began to as cend the
slopes of the S n e el
s volcano
I ts magnicent 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 l
The stones on the mountain side held together by no
cement of soi l bound together by no roots or creepi ng
,

'

76

A JOURNE Y

T o T HE

CE N R E

T HE

or

AR TH

herbs gave way contin ually 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 was impossible to clim b
u pwards and we were compell ed to get round thes e oh
sta cles as best we might
Those who understand Alpine climbing will comprehend
our difculti es 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 m e with rm and solid sup port
He was strong wiry and apparently ins en si b le to fatigue
Another great advantage with him was that he had the
innate sentiment of equilib rium for he never slipped
or fai led in his steps Th e Icelanders though heavily
loaded climbed with the agility of mountaineers
Looking up ever y now and then at the height of the
great volcano of S n eels it appeared to me wholly im
possible to rea ch to the summit on that side ; at a ll events
if the angle of inclination did not speedily change
F or tunately 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 eld 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 ight
of stone steps which wonderfully a ssis ted our as cent
This singular ight of sta irs wa s like everything els e
volcanic It had been formed by one of those torrents of
stones cos t up by the eruptions and of which the I ce
,

'

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78

JOUR NE Y

TO

T HE

CE N TRE

or

E AR TH.

T HE

What does this mysterious word sign ify ? I anx iou 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
m ilar character kn own to the travellers in the desert of
si
the great Sahara
The wind wa s driving it dir ectly towards tha t side of
This opaque veil
S n eels on which we were perched
standing up between u s and the sun proj ected a deep
I f thi s sand spout
shadow on the anks of the mountain
broke over us we must all be in fall ibly des troyed crushed
in its fearful embraces This extraordin ary phenomenon
very common when the wind shakes the glaciers and
s in the Icelandic tongue
sweeps over the arid plains i
called m istow

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 k e
u s to the back of the crater a ll the while as cendin g slightly
We followed rapidly despite our excessive fatigue
A quarter of an hour later Hans paus ed to enable u s to
look back The mighty whirlwind of sand was spreading
up the slope of the m ountain to the very spot where we
had proposed to halt Huge ston es were ca ught up cast
into the air and thrown about as during an eruption
We were happily a little out of the direction of th e win d
and therefore out of reach of danger But for the pr eca u
tion and knowledge of our guide our di slocated bo dies
our crushed a n d broken limbs wou ld have b een cas t to
the wind like dust from some un known meteor
.

'

'

TE E

AS CE N T

OF

SN E FFE LS

MOU N T

Hans however did not think it prudent to pa ss the

night on the bare side of the cone We therefore con
tin n ed our j ourney i n a zi gzag directi on The fteen
hundr ed feet whi ch remained to be accomplished took u s
at lea s t ve hours The turnings and windings the no
thorough fares the marches and marches turned that in sig
n ica n t dis tance into at leas t three lea gues
I never felt
such mis ery fatigue and exhaus ti on in my life
I was
ready to faint from hunger and cold The ra r ied air at
the same time painfully acted 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 eels I it was in an awful
mood of m i nd that despite my fatigue before I des cended
into the crater which wa s to shelter u s for the night I
paused to b ehold the sun rise a t m i dnight on the very da y
of its lo west declen si on and enjoyed th e spectacle of its
ghastly pale rays cas t upon the i sle 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 II I
ADOW OF

THE S H

OU R

S CA R T A R I S

upper was ea ten with ea se and rapidity a fter

wh i c h every body did the best he could for hims elf within
the hollow of the crater The bed wa s hard the shel ter
un sati sfactory the situatio n painfullyin g in the open
air ve thousand feet above th e level of the sea !
Nevertheless it h as seldom happened to me to sleep so
well a s I d i d 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 gr a n ite couch and made one of the party to en
joy a view of the magnicent spectacle which developed
itsel f panorama
like at our feet
I stood upon the lofty summit of Mou nt S n eels
T hence I was able to obta in a view of
southern peak
the greater part of the island The optical delusion com
mon to all lofty heights rai sed the shores of the i sland
wh i le the central portio n s appeared depressed It wa s by
no m eans too great a ight of fancy to believe that a
gian t pi cture wa s stretched out before me I could see
the deep valleys that crossed ea ch other in every dir ec
tion I could see precipices looking like sides of wells
lakes that seemed to be ch anged into ponds pon ds that
looked like puddles and rivers that were tran sformed into
petty brooks To my right were gl a ciers upon glaciers
a n d mul tiplied peak s topped with light cloud s o f smoke
The undulation of these in n ite numbers of mounta in s
s

'

T HE

S HAD O W

or

8:

S CAR TARI S .

whose snowy summits make them look a s if covered by

foam recalled to my remembrance the surface of a
I f I looked to wards the wes t the
storm beaten ocea n
ocean lay before me in all its majes tic grandeur a con
tin u a tion as it were of thes e eecy hill tops
Where the ea rth ended and the sea beg an it was im pos
sible for the eye to distinguish
I soon felt that strange and mysterious sensation which
is awaken ed in the m i nd when looking down from lofty
h i ll tops and now I was ab le to do so without any feel i ng
of nervou sness having fortunately hardened mysel f to that
kind of sublime contemplation
I wholly forgot who I wa s and where I wa s I became
intox icate d wi th a sense of lo fty subl imi ty without
thought of the abysses into which my daring wa s soon
about to plunge me I wa s presently however brought
back to the realiti es of l ife by the arrival of the Professor
and Hans who joined me upon the lofty summ it of the
pea k
My u n cle turning in a westerly direction pointed out
to me a l ight cloud of vapor a ki nd of haze with a ta int
outline of land rising out of the waters

G reenland ! sa i d he
Greenland ? cri ed I in reply
Y es continued my uncle who always when explain
ing anythin g spoke a s if he were in a Professor s cha i r ;
we are not more than th i rty ve leagues dis ta nt from
that wonderful land When the grea t annual b rea k u p
o f the ice takes place white bears come over to Iceland
carried b y the oati ng mass es of ice from the north This
however is a matter of l i ttle con sequence We are n ow
on the su m mit of the great the trans cenden t S n eels a n d
here are its two peaks north and south Hans will tell
you th e name by which the people of Iceland ca ll that on
"
which we sta nd
,

82

JOU R NE Y T O

T HE

CE N TRE

OF

TE R

AR T H

who

My un cle tur ned to the impertu rbable guide

nodded and spoke a s usualo n e word

S ca r ta r is

My uncle looked at me with a proud and triumpha nt

glance

A crater he sa id you hear ?

I did hear but I wa s totally unable to make reply
The crater of Mount S n eels represented an inverted
con e the ga pin g orice apparently hal f a mile across the
C onceive what this ho le must have
depth indenite feet
been like when full of ame and thunder and lightning
The bottom of the funnel s haped hollo w wa s about ve
hundred feet in circumference by which it will be seen
that the slope from the summit to the bottom wa s very
gradual and we were therefore clea rly able to get there
without much fatigue or difculty Involunta rily I com
pared this cr ater to an enormous loaded cann on ; and th e
compa r ison completely terried m e

To descend into the interior of a can non I thought

to m ysel f when perh aps it is loaded and will go off at

the least shock is the act of a madman

But there wa s no longer any opportunity for me to h esi
ta te Hans with a perfectly calm a n d indi fferent air to ok
his u sual post at the head of the adventurous little band
I followed without utterin g a syllable
I felt like the lamb led to the slaugh ter
In order to render the des cent les s diicult Hans took
his way do wn the in terior of the cone in rather a zigzag
fas hion mak ing as the sailors sa y long tr acks to the ea s t
ward followed b y equally long ones to the west It wa s
n ecessary to walk through the midst of eruptive rock s
some of which shaken in their balance went rolling 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
effect
.

T HE

SHA D OW

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 grea t show of precaution soun d i ng the soil
with his long iron pole in order to discover ssures and
layers of deep soft snow In many doubtful or dan gerous
places it became necessar y for u s to be tied together by a
long rope in order that should any one of u s be un for
t o nate enough to sl ip he would be supported by h is
companions This connecting l ink wa s doubtless a pr u
dent precaution ;but not by any means unattended with
danger
Nevertheless and despite all the m anifold difculties of
the descent along s10 pes wi th wh i ch Ou r guide wa s wholly
unacquai nted we made cons iderable progress without a o
c iden t
O ne of our great parcel s of rope sl ipped 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 orice of the cone wh i ch
served as a circular frame to a very small portion of the
sk ya portion which seemed to me si ngularly beautiful
Should I ever again gaze on that lovely sunlit sk y !
The only exception to this extraord inary landscape was
the Peak of S ca r ta r is which seemed lost in the great voi d
of the heavens
The bottom of the crater was composed of three sepa
rate shafts through wh i ch duri ng peri ods of eruption
when S n eels wa s in acti on the great central furnace sent
Each of
forth its burn ing lava and po isonou s vapors
thes e chimneys or shafts gaped open mouthed i n our path
I kept a s fa r away from them a s possib le n ot even ven
turi ng to take the faintest peep downwards
As for the Professor after a rapid examination of their
disposition and characteristics he beca m e breathless and
panting He ran from one to the other like a delighted

4A

JOURNE Y

To T HE

CE N TRE

or T HE E AR TH.

chool boy gesticu lating wil dly and u tter ing in com pr e
hensible a n d d isj ointed ph rases in a llsorts of languages
T h u s the guide a nd his humbler companio ns sea ted
s o n some piles of lava and looked silently on
them selve

hey
clearly
t
o
my
u
ncle
f
r
a
lu
n
atic
a
n
d
waited the
o
o
k
T
result
Suddenly the Professor uttered a wild unearthly cry
At rst I imagi ned he had lost his footi ng and was 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 pedestal high enough and black enough to bear
a gigantic statue of Pluto His attitude and mien were
tha t of a man utterly stu peed But his stupefa ctio n was
speedily changed to the wildes t joy

Harr y ! Harry ! come here ! he cried ; make haste

wonderfulwonderful
Un able to understand what he meant I tur n ed to obey
his commands
Neither Hans nor the other I cela n ders
moved a step

L ook I said the Professor in something of the mann er

of the Fr ench general po inting out the pyr amids to h i
s
s

'

An d fully partakin g h is stupefaction if not h is joy I

read on the eastern side of the hug e block of stone the
same characters hal f ea ten away by the corrosive ac tio n
of ti
m e the name to me a thous and times accursed
,

lllvl

t x

Lillkh

h hlX

Arne S a k n ussem m i cried my un cle n ow u nbeliever,

do you begin to have faith
It was 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 silen t a we
The evidence wa s unanswerable overwh el m in g !
,

SHAD OW

T HE

85

S CAR T ARI S .

or

In a few moments however my thoughts were fa r away

b ack in m y 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 cra
ter only myself my uncle and Hans The Icelandic por
ters had been dismissed and were no w descending the ex
ter ior slopes of Moun t S n e els 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 wa s walki ng about the b ottom of the er a
ter like a wild bea s t in a ca ge I had no desire nei ther
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 rst night in the interior of
a crater
Next morning a grey cloudy heavy sky hung l ike a
I did
funeral pall over the su m mit of the volcanic cone
not notice i t so much from the obscuri ty that reigned
around u s a s fr om the rage with which my uncle wa s
devoured
I fully understood the rea son and agai n a gl i mpse of
hope made my heart leap with joy I will briey explain
the cause
Of the three openings which yawn ed beneath our steps
only one could have b een followed by the adventurous
Accord in g to the words of the learn ed Ice
S a k n ussem m
lander it wa s only to be known by that one particular
,

'

86

JOU RNE Y T O

T HE

CE N TR E

OF THE

E A R 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 pointed pea k a s the
styl
us of an immens e su n dial the sh ad ow of which pointed
on one given day like the i n exorable nger 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 clouds no shado w
C ous 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 certai n ly there would be one
person fewer in the party I already had su f cient of the
mad and monstrous enterpris e
It would be utterly impossible to depict the impotent
rage of Professor Ha r dwig 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 must have been curious to k now what we
were about if indeed he could believe we were about any
thing As for my uncle he never addressed a word to
me He was nursing his wrath to keep it warm ! His
eyes xed on the black and foggy atmosphere his com
plexion hideous with suppressed p assion Never had h is
eyes appeared so erce h is nose so aquilin e his mouth so
hard and rm
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 owed down the
side of the cone carrying with them a t tim es a strea m
of
stones in to the
vasty deep below
,

'

R E AL J O R NE

T HE

OU R rea l journey h a d

G OM

E N GE

ommenced
Hitherto our coura ge a n d deter mina tion ha d overcome
We were fa tigued a t tim es ; a n d tha t wa s
a ll difculties
N ow unknown a n d fea rful da ngers we were a bout to
a ll
encounter
I ha d not a s yet ventured to ta ke a glimpse down the
horrible a byss into which in a few minutes more I was
The fa ta l moment h ad however a t las t
a bout to plun ge
I ha d still the option of refusing or a ccepting
a rrived
But I
a sh a re in this foolish a n d a uda c ious ente rp rise
was a sh a med to show more fea r th a n the eider d uck
hunter Ha ns seemed to a ccept the difculties of the
journey so tra nquilly with such ca lm indifference with
such perfect recklessn ess of a ll da nger tha t I a ctu a lly
blushed to a ppea r less of a m a n th a n he !
Ha d I been a lone with my u ncle I should certa in ly
h a ve sa t down a n d a rgued the point fully ; b ut in the
pres ence of the guide I held my to ngue I ga ve one
moment to the thought of my cha rmin g cousin a n d then
I a dva nced to the mouth of the centra l sha ft
It m ea sured a bout a hundred feet in dia meter which
m a de a bout three hundred in circumference
I lea ned
over a rock which stood on its edge a n d looked down
My h a ir stood on end my teeth cha tter ed my lim bs
trembl ed I seemed utterly to lose my centre of gra vi ty
wh ile my hea d was in a sort of whirl like th a t of a
drunken m a n Ther e is nothing more powerful th a n this
I was a bout to fa ll hea d
a ttra ction towa rds a n a byss
long into the ga ping well when I wa s dra wn ba ck by a
erful h a nd It was th a t of Ha ns I h a d
rm a n d pow
n ow c

T HE

JO UR NE Y C OMME N CE S

RE AL

89

t ken lessons enough a t the Prelser s kirk of Copen ha

gen in the a r t of looking down from lofty em inences with
out blinking 1
However few a s the minutes were during which I ga zed
down this tre m en dous a n d even wondrous sh a ft I h a d a
sufcient glimpse of it to give me some idea of it
s physica l
conforma tion I ts sides which were a lmost as per pen dicu
la r a s those of a well pres ented numerous proj ections
which doubtless would a ssist our descent
It wa s a sort of wild a n d sa va ge sta ircas e without
ba nnis ter or fence A rope fas tened a bove nea r the sur
fa ce would certa inly support our weight a n d ena ble u s to
rea ch the bottom but how when we ha d a rrived a t its u t
mos t depth were we to loosen it a bove ? This wa s I
thought a ques tion of some importa nce
My uncle however was one of those men wh o a r e nea r
ly a lwa ys prepa red with ex pedien ts He hit upon a very
simple method of obvia ting thi s di f culty
He u n rolled
a cord a bout as thick as my thumb a n d a t lea st four
hundred feet in length He a llowed a bout ha l f of it to go
down the pit a n d ca tch in a hitch over a grea t block of
la va which stood on the edge of the precipice This done
he th r ew the second h a lf a fter the rst
Ea ch of us could now des cend by ca tching the two cords
in one h a nd When a bout two hundred feet belo w a ll
the explorer h a d to do wa s to let go one end a n d pull
a wa y a t the other when the cord would co m e fa lling a t
h is feet
In order to go down fa rther a ll tha t wa s n eces
sa ry was to continue the sa me opera tion
This was a very excellent proposition a n d no doubt a
correct one
Going down a ppea red to me ea sy enough it
was the coming up a ga in tha t now occupied m y thoughts

Now sa id my uncle a s so on as he h a d complete d

this in fporta n t prepa ra tion let u s see a bout the ba gga ge

It must be divided into three sepa ra te pa rcels a n d ea ch
n ot a

90

J O URNE Y

TO

C E N TR E O F

T HE

of us

E AR

T HE

TH

mus t ca rry on e on his b a ck I a llude to the more

impo r ta nt a n d fra gile a r ticles

My worthy a n d ingenious uncle did not a ppea r to con
sider th a t we c a me under th a t denomina tion

Ha ns he continued you will ta ke ch a rge of the

tools a n d so m e of the provisions ; you H a rry mus t ta ke
possession of a nother third of the provis ions a n d of the
a rms
I will lo a d mysel f with the res t of the ea ta bles

a n d with the more delic a te ins truments

But I excl a imed

our clothes this m ass of cord
"

a n d l a dders
who will underta ke to ca rry them do wn ?

They will go down of thems elves

And how so
I a sked

Y ou sh a ll see
My uncle was not fond of ha l f mea sures nor did he
like a nyth ing in the wa y of hesita tion Giving his orders
to Ha ns he h a d the whole of the non fra gile a r ticles m a de
up into one bundle ; a n d the pa cket rmly a n d solidly
fa ste ned wa s simply pitched over the edge of the gul f
I hea rd the mo a ning of the suddenly displa ced a ir a n d
the noise of fa lling stones My uncle lea ning over the
a byss follo wed the descent of h is l ugga ge with a perfectly
sel f sa tised a ir a n d did not ris e un til it h a d completely
dis a ppea red from sight

it is our turn
N ow then he cried
I put it in good fa ith to a n y m a n of common sense
wa s
it possible to hea r this energetic cry without a shudder ?
The Professor fas ten ed his c a se of in truments on h is
b a ck Ha ns took ch a rge of the tools I of the a rms The
descent then com menced in the following order : Ha ns
went rst my uncle followed a n d I went las t Our pro
a silence only trou
gress wa s m a de in profou nd silence
bled by the fa ll of pieces of rock which brea king from
th e j a gged sides fell with a roa r into the depths below
I a llowed myself to slide so to spea k holding fran ti
.

92

J O URN E Y TO

CE N TR E

T HE

OF T HE

ARTH

Not so the invete ra te Professor He must h a ve ta ken

n otes a ll the wa y down for a t one of our h a lts he bega n
a brief lecture

The fa rther we a dva nce sa id he

the g rea ter is
The disposition of thes e vol
m y condence in the res ult
ca n a stra ta a bsolutely conrms the th eories of Sir Hum
We a r e still with in the region of the pri
ph r ey D a vy
m or dia l soil the soil in which took pl a ce the chemic a l
opera tion of meta ls becoming ina med by com ing in con
ta ct with the a ir a n d wa ter I a t once regret the old a n d
now for ever exploded theory of a centra l r e At a ll

events we sha ll soon know the truth

Such wa s the everl a sting conclusion to which he ca me
I however wa s very fa r from bein g in humor to dis cuss
the m a tter I ha d something else to think of My si
len ce wa s ta ken for consent ; a n d still we con tin ued to go
down
At the expira tion of three hours we were to a ll a ppea r
a nce a s fa r off a s ever from the bottom of the well
When
I looked upwa rds however I could see th a t the upper
orice wa s ever y minute decreas ing in size The sides of
the sh a ft were getting closer a n d closer together we were
a ppro a ching the regions of etern a l night !
And still we continued to des cend I
At length I noticed th a t when pieces of stone were de
ta ch ed from the side s of this stupendous precipice they
were swa llowed up with les s noise th a n before The na l
sound was sooner hea rd
We were a pproa ching the bot
tom of the a byss
As I h a d been very c a reful to keep a ccount of a ll the
cha nges of cord which took pla ce I wa s a ble to tell exa ct
ly wh a t was the depth we h a d rea ched a s well as the time
it ha d ta ken
We h a d shifted the rope twenty eight times ea ch opera
tion ta king a qua rter of a n hour which in a ll ma de seven
.

R E AL

T HE

J OURNE Y C OMME N CE S

93

hours To thi s ha d to be a dded twenty eighty pa us es ; in

a ll ten hours a n d a ha l f
We sta rted a t one it wa s now
therefore a bout eleven o clock a t night
It does not require grea t knowledge of a rithmetic to
know th a t twenty eight times two hundred feet ma kes ve
thousa nd six hundred feet in a ll ( more tha n a n English
mile )
While I was ma king this m enta l ca lcul a tion a voice
broke the silence It was the voice of Ha ns
Ha lt ! he cried
I checked mysel f very suddenly just a t the moment
when I wa s a bout to kick my uncle on the hea d
We h a ve rea ched the end of our journey sa id the
worthy Professor in a sa tised tone

Wh a t the interior of the ea rth ? sa id I slipping

down to his side
N 0 you stupid fellow ! but we h a ve rea ched the b ot

tom of the well

And I suppose there is n o fa rther progress to b e
I hopefully excla imed
m a de
Oh yes I ca n dimly see a sort of tunnel which turns
At a ll events we must see
off obliquely to the right
Let us sup now a n d seek slumber
a bout th a t to morrow

a s best we m a y
I thought it time but m a de no observa tions on th a t
poin t I wa s fa irly l a un ched on a des pera te course a n d
a ll I ha d to do wa s to go forwa rd hopefully a n d trusting
-

1y

It wa s n ot even now quite da rk th e light ltering do wn

in a most extra ordina ry m a nner
ve opened the provis ion b a g a te a fruga l supper a n d
ea ch did his best to nd a bed a mid the pile of stones dirt
a n d l a v a which ha d a ccum ula ted for a ges a t the bottom
of the sh a ft
I h a ppened to grope out the pile of ropes l a dders a n d
,

4A

JO UR NE Y T O

THE

CE N TRE

OF

T HE

ARTH

clothes which we h a d thrown down ; a n d upon th em I

Af ter such a da y s l a bor my rough b ed
stretched mysel f
seemed as soft a s down !
For a while I la y in a sort of pleas a nt tra nce
Pres ently a fter lying quietly for some m inutes I opened
my eyes a n d looked upwa rds As I did so I m a de out a
b rillia nt little dot a t the ex trem ity of this l ong giga ntic
telescope
It was a sta r with ou t scintill a tin g ra ys A c cording to
my ca lcul a tion m ust b e 19 in the constella tion of the Little
B ea r
After thi s little b it of as tronomica l recr ea tion I dr opped
into a sound sl eep
'

A JOU RN E Y

96

TO

CE N TR E

T HE

OF

E AR H .

T HE

only to endur e the pressure of a ir I a m curious to r e

pla ce the b a rometer by the ma nometer

The ba rometer in fa ct was a bout to become u seless
a s soon a s the weight of the a ir wa s grea ter th a n wh a t
wa s ca lcula ted a s a bove the level of the ocea n

But sa id I is it not very much to be fea red th a t

this ever in crea sing pressure m a y not in the end tu rn out

very pa in ful a n d inconvenient ?

No sa id he
We sha ll des cend ver y slowly a n d
our lungs will be gra dua lly a ccus tomed to brea the com
pressed a ir It is well known tha t a eron a uts h a ve gone
then
so high a s to be nea rly without a ir a t a ll why
should we not a ccustom ourselves to brea the when we h a ve
For myself I a m certa in I
sa y a little too much of it ?
Let us not lose a moment Where is the
sh a ll prefer it

p a cket which preceded us in our des cen t ?

I smilingly pointed it out to my uncle Ha ns h a d not
a bove us :
seen it a n d believed it ca ught somewhere
huppe as he phras ed it

Now sa id m y uncle
let us brea kfa st a n d brea k

fa st like people wh o h a ve a long d a y s work before them

Biscuit a n d dried mea t washed down by some mouth
fuls of wa ter a vored with schieda m wa s the ma teri a l of
our luxurious mea l
A s soon a s it was n ished my uncle took from his
pocket a note book des tined to be lled by memora n da of
our tra vels He ha d a lrea dy pla ced his instruments in
order a n d this is wh a t he wrote :
Monda y J uly 1 st
Ch ronometer 8 h 1 7 m morn ing
B a rometer 29 degrees
Thermometer 4
3 Fa hr
Direction E S E
This l as t observa tion referred to the obscur e ga llery,
a n d wa s indica ted to us by the comp a ss
.

WE

CON TIN U E

OU R DE S CE N T.

N ew

Ha rry cried the Professor in a n enthusias tic

tone of voice we a r e truly a bout to ta ke our rst s tep
into the Interior of the Ea rth ; never before visited b y
m a n since the rst crea tion of the world
You m a y con
sider therefore th a t a t this precise moment our tr a vels

a
re lly commence
As my uncle ma de this rema rk he took in one ha nd the
R uh m k or f coil a ppa ra tus which hung round his neck a n d
with the other he put the electr ic current into com muni
ca tion with the worm of the la ntern And a bright light
a t once illumined tha t da rk a n d gloomy tun n el !
The effect was ma g ica l !
Ha ns who ca rried the second a ppa ra tus h a d it a lso put
into Opera tion This ingen ious a pplica tion of electricity
to pra ctica l purpos es ena bled us to move a long by the
light of a n a rticia l da y a mid even the ow of the most
ina mma ble a n d combustible ga ses

Forwa rd ! cried my uncle Ea ch took up his

burden Ha ns went rst my uncle followed a n d I going
third we entered the sombre ga llery !
J ust a s we were a bout to engulf ourselves in th is dis
m a l p assa ge I li fted up my hea d a n d through the tub e
like sha ft sa w th a t Icel a nd sk y I was never to see a ga in !
Wa s it the las t I should ever see of a n y sk y ?
The strea m of la va owing from the bowels of the
ea rth in 1 229 ha d forced itself a pa ssa ge through the
tunnel It lined the whole of th e inside with its thick
a n d brill i
a nt coa ting
The electric light a dded very
grea tly to the b r illa n cy of the effect
The grea t dif culty of our journey now bega n How
were we to prevent ourselves from slipping down the
Ha ppily some cra cks a bras u r es
steeply inclined pl a ne ?
of the soil a n d other irregul a rities served the pl a ce of
a n d we descended slowly ; a llowing our he a vy lug
step s
ga ge to slip on before a t the end of a long cord
,

98

JO URN E Y

T O T HE

C E N TR E

E AR

T HE

or

TH

But tha t which ser ved a s steps under our feet beca m e
in other pl a ces sta la ctites The la va very porous in
certa in pl a ces took the form of little round blisters
Crysta ls of opa que qua rtz a dorn ed with limpid drops of
n a tura l gl a s suspended to the roof lik e lu stres s eemed to
ta ke re as we pa ssed benea th them One would h a ve
fa ncied th a t the genii of rom a nce were illumina ting their
u nderground p a l a ces to receive the sons of men

Ma gnicent glorious ! I cr ied in a moment of in

volun ta ry enthusia sm wh a t a specta cle uncle ! Do you
not a dmire these v a riega ted sh a des of l a va which r un
through a whole series of colors from reddish brown to
pa le yello w b y the most insensible degrees ? And thes e

crysta ls they a ppea r like luminous globes

You a r e beginning to see the ch a rms of tra vel Ma ster

Ha rry cried my uncle

Wa it a bit until we ad va nce
Wh a t we h a ve a s yet discovered is nothing
fa rther

onwa rds m y boy on wa rds !

It would h a ve been a fa r more correct a n d a ppropri a te

expression h a d he sa id let u s slide for we were going

down a n inclined pla ne with perfect eas e The compas s
indica ted th a t we were moving in a south ea s terly dir ec
tion The ow of l a va h a d n ever turned to the right or
the left It ha d the inexibility of a str a ight line
Nevertheless to my surprise we found no perceptible
increa se in hea t This proved the theories of Hum phrey
Da vy to be founded on truth a n d more th a n once I round
myself exa mining the thermometer in silent as tonishment
Two hours a fter m y depa rture it only ma rked 5 4
degrees
Fa hrenheit I ha d every rea son to believe from this th a t
As for
Ou r descent wa s fa r more horizonta l th a n vertica l
di scoveri n g the ex a ct depth to which we ha d a tta ined
nothing could be ea sier The Professor a s he a dva nced
mea sured the a ngles of devia tion a n d inclina tion ; but he
kept the result of h is observa tions to himself
,

'

A JOURNE Y To THE

1 00

or THE

CE NT RE

E AR TH .

Well it a ppea rs to me tha t if we ha d descended very

fa r below the level of the sea we should nd it ra ther

hotter th a n we ha ve

According to your system sa id my uncle ; but wha t

does the thermometer sa y
Sca rcely 1 5 degrees by R ea umur which is only a n in

crea s e of 9 since our dep a rtur e

"
Well a n d wh a t conclus ion does tha t b ring you to ?
inquired the Professor
The deduction I dra w from this is very simple A c
cording to the most exa ct observa tions the a ugmenta tion
o f the tein pera tu re of the interior of the e a rth is 1 degr ee
But certain loca l ca uses m a y
for every h u ndred feet
considera bly modify this gure Thus a t Y a k oust in Si
b eria it ha s b een rema rked th a t the hea t increa s es a
degr ee every thirty six feet The difference eviden tly de
pends on the conductibility of cer ta in rocks
I n the
neighborhood of a n extinct volca no it ha s been rema rked
th a t the eleva tion of tempera ture wa s only 1 degree on
every ve a n d twenty feet Let us then go upon this
ca lcula tionwhich is the mos t fa vora blea n d calcula te

Ca lcula te a wa y my boy

Nothing eas ier sa id I pulling out my note book a n d

pencil
Nine times one hun dred a n d twenty ve feet

m a ke a depth of eleven hundr ed a n d twenty ve feet

Ar chimedes could not h a ve spok en more geometri

ca lly
Well
Well a ccordin g to m y observa tions we a re a t lea s t

ten thousa nd feetb elow the level of the sea

Ca n it be possible ?
Eith er my ca lcul a tion is cor rect or there is no tru th

in gures
The c a lcul a tions of the Pro fessor were perfectly correct
We were a lrea dy six thousa nd feet deeper down in th e
,

WE C ON TIN U E
b owels

D E S CE N T

OU R

of

I OI

the ea rth tha n a n y one h a d ever been before

The lowest known depth to which m a n ha d hitherto pene
tr a ted was in the mines of K itz
Ba hl on the Tyrol a n d
those of Wuttem b ur g in Bohemia
The tempera tu re which should h a ve been eighty one
was in this pl a ce only fteen
This was a m a tter for
s erious considera tion
'

CHAPT E R
THE

E AS

XVI

TE R N TUN N E L

next da y wa s Tuesda y th e 2d of J ulya n d a t

six o cl ock in th e mo rn ing we re sume d our j ourney
We still c ontinue d to f ollow the gallery of l a va a
perf ect n a tura l pa thwa y a s ea sy of de scent a s some of
th ose inclined pla ne s which in very old G erma n h ou ses
serve the pu rp ose of st a ir ca s es
This went on un til
seventeen minu te s p a st t welve the precise insta n t a t
which we rej oined Ha ns wh o h a ving been somewh a t
in a dva nce h a d suddenly stopped

At l a st cried my u ncle we h a ve re a che d th e

en d of th e sh a f t
I l ook ed w onderingly a bout m e We were in the
centre of four cro ss p a th ssombre a n d n a rr ow tunnel s
The qu e sti on n ow a ro se a s to which it wa s wi se to ta ke
a n d thi s of it sel f wa s n o sm a ll di f culty
My un cle wh o did n ot wish to a ppea r to h a ve a ny
h esita tion a b out th e m a t ter bef ore myself or the g uid e
He pointed quietly to th e
a t once m a de up his m in d
ea stern tunnel an d withou t del a y we entered within
its glo omy recesses
B e sides h a d he enterta ine d a n y f eeling of hesita tion
it might h a ve been prolonged indeni tely, for there wa s
n o indica ti on by whic h to determine on a ch oice
It
wa s a b solu tely nece ssa ry to tru st to ch a n ce a n d g ood
fortune
The de scen t of thi s ob sc u re a n d n a r r ow g a llery
Someti me s we ga ze d
wa s very gra du a l a n d winding
through a s ucce ssion of a rche s its c our se very like the
The grea t a rti sti c sculp
a i sle s of a Gothic c a th edr a l
T HE

10

4A

JOU RNE Y TO

Our

CE N TRE O F

T HE

T HE

AR TH

rra ngements for the night were very primitive

A tra velling rug in which ea ch rolled him
a n d simple
We h a d no necessity to fea r
sel f wa s a ll our b edding
cold or a n y unplea sa nt visit Tra vellers who bury them
selves in the wilds a n d depth s of the Africa n des ert wh o
seek prot a n d plea sure in the forests of the New World
during the
a r e compelled to ta ke it in turn to w a tch
hours of sleep ; but in th is region of th e ea rth a bsolute
solitude a n d complete sec urity reigned supreme
We ha d nothing to fea r eith er from sa va ges or fr om
wild beas ts
After a night s sweet repose we a woke fresh a n d rea dy
There being nothing to deta in us we sta rted
for a ction
on our journey We continued to burrow through th e
l a va tunnel as before It was impossible to ma ke out
through wh a t soil we were m a king wa y The tunnel
moreover instea d of going down into the bowels of the
ea rth beca me a bsolutely horizonta l
I even thought a fter some ex a min a tion th a t we were
About ten o clock in the da y
a ctua lly tending upwa rds
this sta te of things beca me so clea r th a t nding the
ch a nge very fa tiguin g I was oblig ed to sl a cken my pa ce
a n d na lly to come to a h a lt

Well sa id the Professor quick ly wh a t is the m a tter?

The fa ct is I a m dr ea dfully tir ed was my ea rnest

reply

Wh a t cried my uncle tired a er a three hours

wa lk a n d by so ea sy a roa d ?

Ea sy enough I da re sa y but very fa tiguing

But how ca n tha t be when all we h a ve to do is to go

downwa rds

I beg your pa rdon sir For some time I h a ve noticed

th a t we a r e going upwa rds

Upwa rds
cried my uncle shrugging h is shoulders.
how ca n tha t b e

EA

T HE

STE RN

TU N NE L .

10

There ca n be no doubt a bout it For the la st h a lf

hour the slopes ha ve been upwa rda n d if we go on in
this wa y much longer we sha ll nd ourselves ba ck in Ice

l a nd
My uncle shook h is hea d with the a ir of a m a n who
does not wa nt to be convinced I tried to continue the
conversa tion He would not a nswer me but once more
ga ve the signa l for depa rture His silence I thought wa s
only ca us ed by concentra ted ill temper
However this might be I once more took up my loa d
a n d boldly a n d resolutely followed Ha ns who wa s now in
I did not like to be bea ten or even
a dva nce of my uncle
dista nced I wa s na tura lly a n xious not to lose sight of
The very idea of being left behind lost
m
y compa nions
in tha t terrible la byrinth ma de me shiver a s with the
a gue
Bes ides if the a scending pa th wa s more a rduous a n d
pa inful to cl a mber I h a d one source of secret consol a tion
a n d delight
It wa s to a ll a ppea ra nce ta king u s ba ck to
the surfa ce of the ea rth Th a t of itsel f wa s hopefu l
Every step I took conrmed me in my belief a n d I bega n
a lrea dy to build c a stl es in the a ir in rel a tion to my m a r
r ia g e with my pretty little cousin
Abo u t twelve o clock there wa s a grea t a n d sudden
ch a nge in the a spect of the rocky sides of the ga llery I
rst noticed it from the diminution of the ra ys of light
which ca st b a ck the reection of the la mp From being
coa ted with shining a n d resplendent la va it beca me living
rock The sides were sloping wa lls which sometimes b e
ca me quite vertica l
We were now in wh a t the geologica l pro fessors ca ll a
in the period of Siluria n stones so
sta te of tra nsition
ca lled beca use this specimen of ea rly form a tion is very
common in Engl a nd in the counti es formerly inh a bited by
the Celtic na tion known a s Silures
.

106

JO URNE Y

CE N TRE

T O T HE

or T HE

ARTH

I ca n see clea rly now I cried

the sediment from
th e w a ters which once covered the whole ea rth formed
during the second period of its existence thes e schis ts a n d
th ese ca lca reous rocks
We a r e turning our ba cks
ou the gra nitic rocks a n d a r e l ike people fro m H a mburg

wh o would go to L iib eck by wa y of Ha nover

I might jus t a s well h a ve kept my observa tions to m y
My geo logica l enthusia sm got the better however
sel f
a n d Professor Ha r dwigg h ea rd
of my cooler judgment
m y obs erv a tion s

Wh a t is the ma tter now ? he sa id in a tone of grea t

gra vity

Well cried I do you not see these different la yers

r st indica tion of sl a te
of c a lca reous rocks a n d the
stra ta
Well ; wh a t then
We h a ve a rrived a t th a t period of the world s exis t
ence when the rst pl a nts a n d the r st a nima ls m ad e their

a ppea ra nce
You think so ?

f
look
ex
a
mine
a
n
d
j
udge
r
your
el
Y es
o
s f
;
I induced the Pro fessor with some difculty to cas t the
light of his la mp on the sides of the long winding ga ller y
I expected some excl a m a tion to burst from his lips I
The worthy Pro fessor never
wa s very much mis ta ken
spoke a word
It wa s impossible to sa y whether he understood me or
not Perh a ps it wa s possible th a t in his pridem y uncle
he did not like to own tha t he
a n d a lea rned professor
was wrong in ha ving cho sen the ea stern tunnel or wa s he
determined a t a n y price to go to the end of it ? It was
quite evident we ha d left the region of l a va a n d th a t the
ro a d by which we were going co uld not ta ke us ba ck to
t he gre a t cra ter of Mount S n eels
As we went a long I could not h elp rum ina ting on the
,

108

J O URN E Y

T o T HE

CE N T RE

or

T HE

E AR

TH

Do you see this ? I sa id

Well sa id the Professor with the most imperturba b le

tra nquillity it is the shell of a cru sta ceous a nim a l of the
extinct order of the trilobites ; nothing more I a ssure

you

But cried I much troubled a t his coolness do you

?
dra w no conclus ion from it

Well if I m a y a sk wh a t conclusion do you dra w fr om

it yourself ?
Well I thought

I know my boy wh a t you would sa y a n d you a r e

right perfectly a n d incontesta bly right We h a ve na lly
a b a ndoned the c rust of l a va a n d the ro a d by which the
la va a scended It is quite possible th a t I m a y h a ve been
mista ken but I sh a ll be una ble to discover my error until

I get to the end of this ga llery

You a r e quite right as fa r as tha t is concerned I r e

plied a n d I should highly a pprove of your decision

if we h a d not to fea r the grea tes t of a ll da ngers

And wh a t is tha t ?

Wa nt of wa ter

Well my dea r Henry it ca n t b e helped We must

put ourselves on ra tions

And on he went
.

DE E P E R AN D

IN

T HE
DE E P E R

COAL

MI N E

truth we were compelled to put ourselves upon ra

tions O ur supply wou ld certa inly la st n ot more tha n
three da ys I fou nd this out a bout supper time The
worst pa rt of the m a tter wa s tha t in wha t is ca lled the
tra nsition rocks it wa s h a rdly to be expected we should
meet with wa ter I
I ha d rea d of the horrors of th irst a n d I knew tha t
where we were a brief tria l of its sufferings would put a n
end to our a dventures a n d our lives ! But it wa s utterly
useless to discuss the ma tter with my uncle He would
ha ve a nswered by some a xiom from Pla to
During the whole of next da y we proceeded on our
j ourney through this intermina ble ga llery a rch a fter
a rch tunn el a fter tunnel
We journeyed without ex cha n g
ing a word We ha d become a s mute a n d reticent as
Ha ns our guide
The roa d ha d no longer a n upwa rd tendency ; a t a ll
events if it ha d it wa s not to be m a de out very clea rly
Sometimes there could be no doubt tha t we were going
downwa rds But this inclina tion was sca r cely to be dis
tin guish ed a n d was by no mea ns reassuring to th e Pro
fessor beca u se the ch a ra cter of th e stra ta wa s in no wise
modied a n d the tra nsition cha ra cter of the rocks beca me
more a n d more ma rked
It was a glorious sight to see how the electric light
brought out the spa rkles in the wa lls of the ca lca reous
rocks a n d the old red sa ndstone One might h a ve fa ncied
oneself in one of those deep cuttings in Devonshire which
,

A J OU RNE Y TO

1 10

T HE

CE NT RE O F

T HE

AR TH

h a ve given their na me to th is kind of soil Some m a gni

cent specimens of m a rble proj ected from the sides of th e
ga llery ; some of a n a ga te grey with white veins of va rie
ga ted ch a ra cter others of a yellow spotted color with red
veins ; fa rther o might be seen sa mples of color in which
cherry tinted sea ms were to be foun d in a ll their brightes t
sh a des
The grea ter numb er of these m a rbles were sta mped with
the m a rks of primitive a nim a ls Since the previous eve
ning n a ture a n d crea tion ha d m a de considera ble progress
Ins tea d of the rudimenta ry trilobites I perceived th e
rema ins of a more perfect order Am ong others the sh
in which the eye of a geologist ha s been a ble to discover
the rs t form of the reptile
The Devonia n sea s were in h a bited b y a vas t numb er of
a nim a ls of this species which were deposited in tens of
thousa nds in the rocks of new forma tion
It wa s quite evident to me th a t we were a scending th e
My
s c a le of a nim a l li fe of which m a n forms the summit
excellent u ncle the Professor a ppea red not to ta ke notice
He was determined a t a n y risk to
of thes e wa rn ings
proceed
He m ust h a ve been in expecta tion of one of two thin g s ;
either th a t a vertica l well wa s a bout to open un der his
feet a n d thus a llow him to continue his descent or th a t
s ome insurmounta ble ob sta cle would compel u s to stop
But
a n d go b a ck by the ro a d we h a d so long tr a velled
evening ca me a g a in a n d to my horror, neither hope was
doomed to be rea lized !
On Frid a y a fter a night when I bega n to feel the
gn a wing a gony of thirst a n d when in consequence a pp c
tite decrea sed our li ttle ba nd ros e a n d once m ore followe d
the turnings a n d windings the as cents a n d descents of
this intermina ble ga llery All were silent a n d gloomy
I could see th a t even my uncle h a d ventured too fa r
.

A J O URNE Y TO

1 12

T HE

CE N TRE O F

T HE

AR TH

tha t the ha nd of m a n could ha ve ha d nothing to do with

this coa l mine ; the va ult a bove would ha ve fa llen in ; a s
it was it wa s only held to gether by some m ira cle of na ture
This m ighty na tu ra l c a vern was a bout a hundred feet
wide by a bout a hundr ed a n d f ty h igh The ea rth ha d
evidently been ca st a pa rt by some violent subterra nea n
commotion The m as s giving wa y to some prodigious up
hea ving of na ture h ad split in two lea ving the va st ga p
into which we in ha b ita nts of the ea rth had penetra ted for
the rst time
The whole singul a r his tory of the coa l period wa s wr i t
ten ou those da rk a n d gloomy wa lls A geologis t would
h a ve been a ble ea s ily to follow the different ph as es of its
The sea ms of coa l were sepa ra ted b y stra ta
form a tion
of sa ndstone a comp a ct cl a y which a ppea r ed to be crushed
down by the weight from a bove
At th a t period of the world which preceded the secon
da ry epoch the ea rth was covered by a coa ting of en or
mous a n d rich vegeta tion due to the double a ction of tro
pica l hea t a n d perpetu a l humidity A va st a tmospheri c
cloud of v a por surrounded the ea rth on a ll sides prevent
ing the r a ys of the su n from ever rea chin g it
Hence the conclusion th a t thes e intens e hea ts did not
a rise from this new sour ce of ca loric
Perh a ps even the sta r of da y wa s not quite rea dy for
Clima tes did
its brilli a n t workto illumine a un iverse
not as yet ex is t a n d a level hea t perva ded the whole sur
fa ce of the glob ethe sa me hea t exis tin g a t the north pole
a s a t the equ a tor
n ce did it come ?
From the interior of the ea rth ?
t
In spite of a ll the lea rned theories of Professor H a rd
wigg a erce a n d vehemen t re certa inly b urne d within
the entra ils of the grea t spheroid I ts a ction wa s felt even
to the very topmost crust of the ea rth ; the pl a nts then in
existence b ei ng deprived of the vivifying ra ys of the sun ,

DE E PE R AND DE E PE R THE

ha d nei ther buds, nor owers,

drew

C OAL MI NE

11

odor but their roots

the burning ea rth of

n or

tron g a n d vigorous life fr om

ea rly da ys
There were but few of wh a t m a y be ca lled trees
o nly
herba ceous pla nts immense turfs briers mosses ra re far
milies which however in those da ys were counted by tens
a n d tens of thousa nds
It is entirely to this exub era nt vegeta tion th a t coa l owes
its orig in
The crus t of the vas t globe still yielded under
the inuence of the seething boiling ma ss which wa s for
ever a t work benea th Hence a rose numerous ssures a n d
continua l fa lling in of the upper ea rth The dense m ass
of pl a nts being benea th the wa ters
soon formed them
selves into v a st a gglomera tions
Then ca me a bout the a ction of na tura l chemistry ; in
the depths of the ocea n the vege ta ble m a ss a t rst beca me
turf then th a nks to the in uence of ga ses a n d subterra
nea n fermenta tion they under went the complete process
of minera liza tion
I n this ma nner in ea rly da ys were formed those va st
a n d prodigious l a yers of co a l which a n ever incre as ing
consumption must utterly use up in a bout three centuries
more if people do not nd some more economic light tha n
g a s a n d some chea per motive power th a n stea m
All thes e reections the memories of my school studies
ca me to my mind while I ga zed upon thes e mighty a ccu
m u la tions of co a l who se riches however a r e sca rcely likely
to be ever utilized The working of thes e mines could
only be ca rried out a t a n expense th a t would never yield
a prot
The m a tter however is sca rcely worthy considera tion
when coa l is sca ttered over the whole surfa ce of the globe
within a few ya rds of the upper crus t As I looked a t
these untou ch ed stra ta therefore I knew they would r e
m a in as long a s the world l as ts
a s

11

4A

J OU RNE Y TO

CE NT RE OF

T HE

T HE

ARTH

While we still continued our j ourney I a lone forgot the

length of the roa d by giving myself up wh olly to these
geologica l considera tion s The tempera ture continued to
b e very much the sa me a s while we were tra velling a mid
the l a va a n d the schists On the other ha nd my sense of
I
smell wa s m u ch a ffected b y a very powerfu l odor
immedia tely k new th a t the ga llery was lled to over ow
ing with th a t da ng erous gas the m in ers ca ll re-da mp the
explosion of which h a s ca used such fea rful a n d te rrible
a ccidents m a kin g a h u ndred widows a n d hundreds of
orph a ns in a single hour
Ha ppily we were a ble to illume our progress b y mea ns
I f we h a d been so ra sh a n d
of the R uh m k or f a pp a ra tus
imprudent as to explore this ga llery to rch in h a nd a
terrible explosion would h a ve put a n end to our tra vel s
simply b eca us e no tra vellers would be left
O ur excursion through this wondrous coa l mine in th e
very bowels of the ea rth l a sted until evening My uncle
wa s sc a rcely a b le to concea l h is impa tience a n d dissa tisfa c
tion a t the roa d continuing still to a dva nce in a h orizonta l
direction
The da rkness dense a n d opa q ue a few ya rds in a dva n ce
red it impossible to m a ke out wh a t
a n d in the re a r rend e
For myself I b ega n to
wa s the len gth of the ga llery
believe tha t it wa s sim ply in termin a ble a n d would go on
in the sa me ma nn er for months
Suddenly a t six o clock we sto od in from of a w all
To the right to the left a bove below n owher e wa s there
We ha d rea ched a spot where the rock s sa id
a n y p assa ge
in unmista k a ble a ccents No Thorough fa re
I stood stupeed The guide simply folded his a rm s
My uncle was silent

Well well so m u ch the better cried m y u ncle a t

We a r e de
last I n ow k now wha t we a r e a bout
cidedly not upon the ro a d followed by S a kn ussem m
All
,

CHAPTER X VI II

T HE

WR ON G

R OA D

N E X T da y our depa rture took pl a ce a t a very ea rly

hour There wa s no time for the leas t del a y Accordin g
to my a ccount we ha d ve da ys h a rd work to get b a ck
to the pl a ce where the g a lleries divided
I ca n never tell a ll the sufferin gs we endured upon our
return My un cle bore them like a m a n who has been in
the wrongth a t is with concentra ted a n d su ppressed a n
ger ; Ha ns with a ll the resigna tion of h is pa ci c cha rac
ter ; a n d I I confess tha t I did nothing but compla in a n d
despa ir I h a d no hea rt for this b a d fortune
But there was one cons ola tion Defea t a t the outset
would prob a bly upset the whole journey !
As I h a d expected fr om the r st our supply of wa ter
g a ve completely out on our rst da y s ma rch Our pro
vis ion of liquids wa s reduced to our supply of s chieda m ;
but this horrible n a y I will sa y itthis infern a l liquor
burnt the throa t a n d I could not even bea r the sight of it
I found the tempera ture to be sti ing I wa s pa ra lyzed
with fa tigue More th a n once I was a bout to fa ll in sen si
ble to the ground The whole pa rty then h a lted a n d the
worthy Icel a nder a n d my excellent uncle did their best to
console a n d com fort me I could however pla inly see
th a t my uncle wa s contending pa infully a ga inst the ex
treme fa tigues of our journey a n d the a wful torture gen e
ra ted by the a b sence of wa ter
At length a time ca me when I cea sed to recollect a n y
thingwhen a ll wa s one a wful hideous fa nta stic drea m !
At l a s t on Tuesda y th e eighth of the month of J uly
a fter cra wling on our h a nds a n d kn ees for m a ny hours
,
,

WR ONG ROAD !

THE

:1

more dea d tha n a live we rea ched the point of junction

between the ga lleries I la y like a log a n inert m ass of
hum a n esh on the a rid l a va soil It wa s then ten in the
morning
Ha ns a n d my un cle lea ning a ga inst the wa ll tried to
nibble a wa y a t some pieces of biscuit while deep groa ns
a n d sigh s esca ped from my s corched a n d swo llen lips
Then I fell off in to a kind of deep leth a rgy
Presently I felt my un cle a pproa ch a n d lift me up
tenderly in his a rms

Poor boy I hea rd him sa y in a tone of deep com

miser a tion
I wa s pr ofoundly touched by these words being by no
mea ns a ccustomed to signs of woma nly wea kness in the
Pro fessor I ca ught his trembling h a nds in mine a n d
ga ve them a gentle pressure He a llowed me to do so
without resista n ce lookin g a t me kindly a ll the time
His eyes were wet with tea rs
I then sa w him ta ke the gourd which he wer e a t his
To my surprise or ra ther to my stupefa ction he
side
pla ced it to my lips

Drink my boy he sa id
Wa s it possible my ea rs h a d not deceived me ? Was
my uncle m a d ? I looked a t h im with I a m sure quite
I would not understa nd him I
a n idiotic expression
too much fea red the coun tera ction of disa ppointm ent

Drink he sa id a ga in
Ha d I hea rd a right ? Before n owever I could a sk
m ysel f the question a second time a mouthful of wa ter
cooled my pa rched lips a n d throa ton e mouthful but I
do believe it brought me ba ck to life
I th a nked my uncle by cl a sping my h a nds My hea rt
wa s too full to spea k

Y es sa id he
one mouth ful of wa ter the very las t
do you hea r my boythe very las t ! I ha ve ta ken
,

1 1

J O UR NE Y

TO

T HE

CE N TRE

OF T HE

RT H

EA

ca re of it a t the b ottom of my bottle as the a pple of m y

eye; Twenty times a hundred times I h a ve resis ted the
fea rful des ire to drink it
But no no Ha rry I sa ved

it for you

R
dea r un cle I excl a im ed a n d the b ig tea rs rolled
down my hot a n d feverish cheeks
Y es my poor boy I knew tha t when you rea ched this
pla ce this cross roa d in the ea rth you would fa ll down
h a l f dea d a n d I sa ved my l as t dr op of wa ter in order to

res tore you

Th a nks I cried ; th a nks from my hea rt

As little a s my thirst wa s rea lly quenched I ha d never
th eles s pa rtia lly recovered my stren gth
The contra cted
muscles of my throa t rel a xeda n d the ina mm a tion of
my lips in some mea sure subsided At a ll events I was
a ble to spea k

sa
Well I id there ca n be no doubt now as to wh a t
we h a ve to do Wa ter h as utterly fa iled us our journey

is therefore a t a n end
L et us return
While I spoke th us my uncle evidently a voided my
fa ce : he held down his hea d h is eyes were turned in
every possible direction but the right one

Y es I continued getting excited by my own words

we must go b a ck to S n eels Ma y hea ven give us
strength to en a ble us once more to revisit the light of da
y
Would th a t we now stood on the summit of the cra ter

Go ba ck sa id my uncle spea king to himself

a nd
must it be so
Go ba ckyes a n d without losing a single moment
I vehemently cried
F or some moments there was silence under th a t da rk
a n d gloomy v a ult
S o my dea r Ha rry sa id the Professor in a very singu
la r tone of voice
those few drops of wa ter h a ve not su

ced to restore our ener

cour
a ge
d
a
n
y
y
g
,

'

WR ONG

THE

OAD !

1 19

Coura ge ! I cried
I see tha t you a r e quite as downcas t a s before a n d still

give wa y to discoura gement a n d despa ir

Wha t then was the m a n ma de of a n d wha t other pro
j ects were entering his fertile a n d a uda cious bra in !
Y ou a r e not discoura ged sir ?

a
r
e
Wh a t ! give up jus t as we
on the verge of success
he cried
never never sha ll it b e sa id tha t Professo r

Ha r dwigg retrea ted

Then we must ma ke up our m inds to perish I cried

with a helpless s igh
No Ha rry my b oy certa in ly not G O lea ve me I a m
very fa r from des irin g your dea th Ta ke Ha ns with you

'

I will go
Y ou

on a lone .

a sk us

to lea ve you 7
L ea ve me I sa y I ha ve underta ken this da ngerous
I will ca rry it to the endor I
a n d perilous a dventure
will never return to the surfa ce of Mother Ea rth G o
Ha rry once more I sa y to yougo !
My uncle as he spoke was terribly excited His voice
which before h a d been tender a lmost woma nly beca me
ha rsh a n d mena cing He a ppea red to b e struggling with
despera te energy a ga inst the impos ible I did not wish to
a b a ndon him
a t the botto m of th a t a byss while on the
other ha nd the ins tinct of preserva tion told me to y
Mea nwhile our guide wa s looking on with profound
ca lmness a n d indifference He a ppea red to be a n u n con
cerned pa rty a n d yet he perfectly well knew wha t wa s go
in g on between us
Ou r gestures suf ciently indica ted the
different roa ds ea ch wished to followa n d which ea ch
tried to in uence the other to underta ke
B ut Ha ns a p
pea r ed not to ta ke the slightest in terest in wha t wa s rea lly
a question of li fe a n d dea th for us a ll but wa ited quite
rea dy to obey the signa l which should sa y go a loft or to
s des era te ourne
the ea rth
ei
t
f
i
o
o
resum e hi
a
t
h
t
e
r
i
r
o
n
j
p
y
.

1 20

JO URN E Y

TO

T HE

CE N TR E

OF

THE

RT H

EA

How then I wished with a ll my hea rt a n d soul tha t I

could m a ke him understa nd my words My r epr esen ta
tions my sighs a n d groa ns th e ea rnes t a ccents in which I
should h a ve spoken would h a ve convin ced th a t cold h a rd
na ture Those fea rful da ngers a n d perils Of which the
s tolid guide ha d no idea I would ha ve pointe d them out t
o
h imI would ha ve a s it were ma de him see a n d feel
Between us we might ha ve convinced the obstina te Pr o
fesser I f the worst h a d come to the wors t we co uld h a ve
compelled him to return to the summit of S n eels
I quietly a pproa ched Ha ns I ca ught h is h a nd in mine
He never moved a mus cle I indica ted to him the ro ad to
the top of the cra ter He rem a ined motionless My pa nt
ing form my h a gga rd countena nce mus t h a ve indica ted
the extent of my su fferings The Icela nder gently shook
his hea d a n d pointed to my uncle

Ma ster he sa id
The word is Icela ndic a s well as English
The m a ster ! I cried bes ide mysel f with fury m a d
m a n ! no
I tell you he is not the ma ster of our lives ; we
must y ! we must dra g h im with u s ! do you hea r me ?

Do you understa nd m e I sa y ?
I h a ve a lrea dy expla in ed th a t I held Ha n s b y th e a r m
I tried to ma ke h im rise from his s ea t I stru ggled with
him a n d tried to force him a wa y My uncle now in terposed

Y ou will obta in
My good Henr y be ca lm he sa id
nothing from my devoted follower ; therefore lis ten to

wh a t I h a ve to sa y
I folded my a rms as well a s I could a n d look ed my un
cle full in th e fa ce

is th e sole
This wretched wan t of wa ter he sa id
obsta cle to the success of my project In the en tire ga l
lery composed of l a va schist a n d coa l it is true we foun d
not one liquid molecule It is quite possible th a t we m a y
be m ore fortun a te in the western tu nnel
,

'

CHAP TE R XIX

WES TE R N

THE

G A LL E R Y

OU R descent was now resum

NE W R OU

TE

d b y mea ns of the second

ga llery Ha ns took up his post in front as usua l We
ha d not gone more tha n a hundred ya rds when the Pr o
fessor ca refully exa min ed the w a lls
This is the primitive forma tionwe a r e on the right

r oad
o nwa rds is our hope !
When the whole ea rth got cool in the rst ho ur s of the
world s morning the diminution of the volume of the ea r th
produced a sta te of disloca tion in its upper cr ust followed
by ruptures creva sses a n d ssur es The p a ssa ge was a
ssure of this kind through which a ges a go h a d owed
the eruptive gra nite The thousa nd windings a n d tur nings
formed a n inextric a ble la byrinth through the a ncient soil
As we descended successions of l a yers composing th e
primitive soil a ppea red with the utmost delity of deta il
Geologica l science considers this primitive soil as the ba se
of the minera l crus t a n d it ha s recogni sed th a t it is com
p osed of three differ ent str a ta or la yers a ll res tin g on the
immova ble rock known as gran ite
N o minera logists ha d ever foun d th em elves pl a ced in
l her rea l
such a ma rvellou s position to study n a ture in a l
The sounding rod a mere m a chine
a n d n a ked b ea uty
could not b ring to th e su rfa ce of the ea rth the objects of
va lue for the study of its in terna l structure which we were
a bout to see with our own eyes to touch with our own
h a nds
R ememb er th a t I a m writing this aer the journey
Across the strea k of the rocks colored by bea utiful
green tints, wo und meta llic threa ds of copper, of ma nga
e

TH E

WE STE RN

G ALLE R Y

NE W

RO UTE

1 23

with tr a ces of pla tinum a n d gold I could not help

ga zin g a t thes e riches buried in the entra ils of mother
ea rth a n d of which no m a n would ha ve the enjoyment to
the end of time ! Thes e trea s ures mighty a n d inexha ust
ible were b ur ied in the morning of the ea rth s history a t
such a wful depths tha t no crowba r or picka xe will ever
dra g them from their tomb !
T he lig ht of our R uhm k orf s coil increa s ed tenfold by
the myria d of prism a tic masses of rock sen t their jets of
r e in every dir ection a n d I could fa ncy myself tra velling
through a huge hollow dia mond th e ra ys of which pro
duced myria ds of extra ordina ry effects
Towa rds six o clock this fes tiva l of light b ega n sensibly
a n d soon a lmost cea s ed
The
a n d visibly to decreas e
sides of the ga llery assumed a crysta llized ti
n t with a
sombr e hue ; white mica bega n to comm ingle more freely
with fe
ldspa r a n d qua rtz to form wha t m a y be ca lled the
true rockthe stone which is h a rd a bove a ll tha t supports
without bein g crushed the four stories of the ea rth s soil
We were wa lled by a n immen se prison of gra nite !
It was now eight o clock a n d still there was no sign of
wa ter The sufferings I endured were horrible My uncle
now kept a t the hea d of our little column Nothin g could
induce him to stop I mea nwhile ha d but one rea l
thought My ea r was keenly on the wa tch to ca tc h the
sound of a spring
But no plea sa nt sound of fa ll in g wa ter
fell upon my listenin g ca r
But a t las t the time ca me when my limbs refused to
longer ca rry me I contended heroica lly a ga inst the ter
rible to rtures I endured beca use I did not Wish to compel
my uncle to ha lt To him I knew this would be the l a st
fa ta l stroke
S uddenly I felt a dea dly fa in tness come over me
My
eyes could no longer see ; my kn ees shook
I ga ve one
desp a iring cry
a n d fell !
e

n se,

I2

4A

JO URN E Y

TO

T HE

T HE

OF

CE N TRE

RT H

EA

Help help I a m dying !

My uncle turned a n d slowly retra ced his steps He
looked a t me with folded a rm s a n d then a llowed one sen
ten ce to esca pe in hollow a c cents from his lips

All is over
The l as t thing I sa w was a fa ce fea rfully distorted with
pa in a n d sorrow ; a n d then my eyes closed

Wh en I a ga in opened them I sa w my compa nions lyin g

nea r me motionless wra pped in their huge tra velling rugs
Wer e they asleep or dead ? For myself sleep was wholly
out of the question My fa inting t over I wa s wa keful
I su ffered too much for sleep to visit my eye
a s the l
a rk
lidsthe more tha t I thought mysel f sick unto dea th
dying The l as t words spoken by my uncle seemed to be
b uzzing in my ea rs a ll is over ! And it was prob a ble
th a t he was right In the sta te of prostra tion to which I
wa s reduced it wa s ma dness to thin k of ever a g a in seeing
the light of da y
Ab ove were miles upon m iles of the ea rth s crust As
I thought of it I could fa ncy the whole weight resting on
my shoulders I was crushed a nnihila ted ! a n d exha usted
mysel f in va in a ttempts to turn in my gra n ite b ed
Hours upon hours pa ssed a wa y A profound a n d
terrible silence reigned a r ound usa silence of the tomb
Nothing could m a ke its elf hea rd through th ese giga n tic
wa ll s of gra nite The very thought was stupendous
Pres ently despite my a pa thy despite the kind of dea dly
ca lm into which I was cas t something a roused me It
was a slight but peculia r noise While I wa s w a tching
intently I observed tha t the tun nel was b eco m in g d a rk
Then ga zing through th e dim light th a t rema ined I
thought I sa w the Icel a nder ta king his depa rture la mp in
h a nd
Why ha d he a cted thus ? Did Ha ns the guide mea n to
,

CHAPTER XX

WATE R , WHE R E

DUR I NG

IS IT

A BI

TTE R

DI S AP P OI N ME N

long long wea ry hour ther e crossed my

wildly delirious bra in a ll so rts of rea sons a s to wha t could
h a ve a roused our quiet a n d faithful gu ide The most a h
surd a n d ridiculou s idea s pass ed th r ough m y hea d ea ch
more impossible tha n the other I b elieve I wa s either
h a lf or wholly m a d
S uddenly howev er, there a rose a s it were from the
depths of th e ea rth a voice of com fort It wa s th e sound
Ha ns was retur nin g
of footsteps
Presently th e uncerta in light bega n to shine upon the
wa ll s of the p as sa ge a n d then it ca me in vie w fa r down
the sloping tunnel At length Ha ns himself a ppea red
He a pproa ched my uncle pla ced his h a nd upon his
My uncle as soon
sh oulder a n d gently a wa kened h im
a s he sa w wh o it wa s ins ta ntly rose
Well ! excl a imed the Professor

Va tten sa id the hunter

I did not know a single word of the Da nish la ngua ge
a n d yet by a so r t of mysterious ins tinct I unders tood wha t
the guide ha d sa id

Wa ter w a te r ! I cried in a wild a n d fra ntic tone

cla pping my h a nds a n d gesticula ting like a ma dma n

Wa ter ! murmured my uncle in a voice of deep

emotion a n d gra titu de
Hva r
( where )
N eda t ( below )

Where ? below ! I understood every word I h a d

ca ught the hunter b y the h a nds a n d I shook them
hea rtily while he looked on with perfect ca lmness
a

BI

TTE R DISAP POIN TME N T

I 27

The prepa ra tions for our depa rtu re did not ta ke lon g
a n d we were soon m a king a ra pid des cent into the tunnel
An hour la ter we h a d ad va nced a thousa nd ya rds a n d
des cended two thousa nd feet
At this moment I hea rd a n a ccustomed a n d well kn own

a kin d
a
e
ound
running
long
the
oor
f
the
gr
nit
rock
s
o
a
s
of dull a n d sullen ro a r like th a t of a di sta nt wa terfa ll
Duri n g the r st h a lf hour of our a dva nce not nding
th e di scovered sprin g my feelings of inten se suer in g a p
Once more I bega n to lose a ll hope
pea r ed to return
My un cle however observing how down hea rted I wa s
a ga in becoming took up th e conversa tion

"
Ha n s wa s right he excl a imed enthusia stica lly ; th a t

is the dull ro a ring of a torren t

A torrent I cried delighted a t even hea rin g the

welcom e words

There s not the slightest doubt a bout it he replied

a subterra nea n river is owing beside us

I m a de no reply but h a stened on once more a nim a ted
by hope I bega n not even to feel the deep fa tigue which
hitherto ha d overpowered me The very sound of this
glorious murmu rin g wa ter a lrea dy refreshed me We
could hea r it increa sin g in volume every moment The
torrent which for a long time could be hea rd owin g over
our hea ds now r a n distinctly a long the left wa ll roa ring
rushing splutterin g a n d still fa lling
Severa l times I pa ssed my h a nd a cross th e rock h 0 ping
to n d some tra ce of hum idityo f the slightes t percol a
tion Al a s ! in va in
Aga in a h a lf hou r pa ssed in the sa me wea ry toil Aga in
W e a dva nced
It now beca me eviden t th a t the h u n ter during h is a h
sence h a d n ot been a ble to ca rry his resea rches a n y fa r
ther Guided by a n in stinct peculia r to the dwellers in
moun ta in regions a n d wa ter nders he smelt the living
,

'

1 28

J OURNE Y

T O T HE

CE N TRE

or

T HE

AR TH

pring through the rock Still he ha d not seen the precious

liquid He ha d neither quenched his own thirst n or
brought us one drop in h is gourd
Moreover we soon ma de the disa strous discovery th a t
if our progress continued we should soon be moving a wa y
from the torrent the sound of which gra du a lly diminished
We turned ba ck Ha ns ha lted a t the precise spot where
the sound of the torrent a ppea red nea res t
I could bea r the suspense a n d sufferin g no longer a n d
s e a ted mysel f a ga in st the wa ll behind which I co uld he a r
the wa ter seething a n d eer vescin g not two feet a wa y But
a solid wa ll of gra nite still sepa ra ted us from it !
Ha n s looked keenly a t me a n d stra nge enough for
once I thought I sa w a smile on his imperturb a ble fa ce
He rose from a stone on which he h a d been sea ted a n d
took up the l a mp I could not help rising a n d following
He moved slowly a long the rm a n d solid gra nite wa ll I
wa tched him with min gled curiosity a n d ea gerness Pre~
sen tly h e ha lta l a n d pl a ced h is ea r a ga ins t the dry stone
moving slowly a long a n d listening with the most extreme
c a re a n d a ttention I u nderstood a t once th a t he was
se a rching for the ex a ct spot where the torrent s ro a r was
most pla inly hea rd This point he soon found in the
l a te ra l wa ll on the left side a bout three feet a bove the
level of the tunnel oor
I was in a sta te of inten se excitement I sca rcely da red
believe wh a t the cider duck hunter wa s a bout to do It
wa s however impossible in a moment more not to both
understa nd a n d a ppl a ud a n d even to smother him in my
embra ces when I sa w h im ra is e the hea vy crowb a r a n d
commence a n a tta ck upon the rock itself

Sa ved I cried

Y es cried my uncle even more excite d a n d delighted

tha n mysel f ; Ha ns is quite right Oh the worthy excel

s
a
lent m a n ! We hould never h ve thought of s uch a n idea
s

'

A JO URNE Y TO

1 30

THE

CE NTRE OF

T HE

ARTH

c rcely a ble to k eep down a cry of pa in a n d grief I

unders tood his mea ning wh en plunging my h a nds into the
sp a rkling jet I mysel f g a ve a wild a n d fr a ntic cry
The
wa ter wa s sca lding hot !

Boiling I cr ied in bitter disa ppointment

Well never mind sa id my uncle it will soon get

cool
The tunnel bega n to be ll ed by clouds of va por while
a s m a ll strea m r a n a wa y into the interior of the ea rth
In
a short time we h a d some su f ciently cool to drink
We
swa llowed it in huge mouth ful
Oh wh a t exa l ted delightwha t rich a n d in compa ra ble
luxury ! Wh a t wa s this wa ter whence did it come ? To
us wh a t was th a t ?
The simple fa ct wa sit wa s w a ter ;
a nd
though still with a tinge of wa rmth a bout it it
brought ba ck to the hea r t th a t life which but for it must
surely h a ve fa ded a wa y
I dr a nk greedily a lmost With
out ta sting it
\Vhen however I h a d a lm ost qu ench ed my ra venous
thirst I ma de a discovery

i
f
Why it s err uginou s wa ter

Most excellent stoma chic replied my uncle a n d

highly minera lized Here is a j ou rney worth twen ty to
s a

s.

S pa

I ts

very good I replied

I should think so Wa ter found six miles un der
There is a pecu lia rly inky a vor a bout it which
g round
is by no mea n s disa greea ble
Ha ns m a y congra tul a te
himsel f on h a ving m a de a ra re discovery Wha t do you
sa
y nephew a ccording to the u su a l custom of tra vellers

to na me the strea m a fter him ?

Good sa id I

a
o
f
And the n me
Ha n s b a ch wa s a t once a greed
upon
H a ns wa s not a b it more proud a fter hea ring our de
.

BI

TTE R DIS APPOIN TME N T

131

th a n he wa s before After h a ving ta ken a

very sm a ll modicum of the welcome refreshment he h a d
s us ua l imperturb a ble
sea ted hi m sel f in a corner with h i
gra vity

N ow sa id I it is not worth while lettin g this wa ter

run to wa ste

Wh a t is the use replied my u n cle the source from

which this river rises is inexha ustible

Never mind I contin ued let us ll our goa t skin

a n d gourds a n d then try to stop the openi n g up

My a dvice a fter some h esita tion was followed or a t
tempted to be follo wed Ha ns picked up a ll the broken
pieces of gra nite he h a d knocked out a n d us ing some tow
he h a ppened to h a ve a bout him tried to shut up the ssure
he ha d mad e in the wa ll All he did was to sca ld his
ha nds The pressure wa s too grea t a n d a ll our a ttempts
were utter fa ilures

It is evident I rema rked th a t the upper surfa ce of

these springs is situa ted a t a very grea t height a bovea s

a
m
f
f
ur
f
we a y fa irly in er rom the gre t pr ess e o the jet

Tha t is by no mea ns doubtful replied my uncle if

this column of wa ter is a bout thirty two thous a nd feet high
the a tmospheric pressure must be something enormous

But a new idea h a s just struck me

And wh a t is tha t ?
Wh y be a t so much trouble to close this a perture ?
Beca u se
I hes ita ted a n d sta mmered ha ving no rea l reas on
When our wa ter bottles a r e empty we a r e not a t a ll

r
a
s
a
a
su e th t we h ll be
ble to ll them observed my un cle

I think tha t is very proba ble

Well then let this wa ter run It will of course n a
tu r a lly follow in our tra ck a n d will serve to guide a n d r e

fresh us

I think the idea a good one I cried in reply a n d

termina tion

I 3 2 A JOURNE Y T O

T HE

CE N TRE

OF

T HE

AR TH

mpa n ion ther e is no further rea s on

succeed in our ma r vellou s proj ect

Ah my boy sa id the professor la ughing a fte r a ll

you a r e coming round

More th a n tha t I a m now condent of ultim a te suc

c ess Forwa rd
O ne moment nephew mine Let us b egin by ta king

some hour s of repo se

I ha d utterly forgotten th a t it was night The chrono
meter however in f ormed me of the fa ct Soon we were
su fciently restored a n d refreshed a n d ha d a ll fa llen into
a profou nd sleep
with this rivu let a s
why we should not

a co

I3

4A

J OUR NE Y TO

T HE

CE N TRE

OF

T HE

ARTH

I could not b ut compa re it to some fa milia r spirit

guiding us through the ea rth a n d I da bbled m y n gers in
its tepid w a ter which sa ng like a n a ia d as we progressed
My good hum or b ega n to assume a mythologica l cha
feet

r a cter .

my uncle he bega n to compla in of the horizonta l

ch a ra cter of the roa d His route he found bega n to be
indenitely prolonged ins tea d of sliding down the celes

tia l r a y a ccording to his expression

But we ha d no choice ; a n d a s long a s our roa d led
towar ds the centrehowever little progress we ma de
ther e wa s n o reas on to compla in
Moreover from time to time the slopes were much
grea ter ; the na ia d sa ng more loudly a n d we bega n to dip
downwa rds in ea rn est
A s yet however I felt no p a in ful sen sa tion
I ha d not
got over the excitement of the discovery of wa ter
Tha t da y a n d the next we did a considera ble a mount
of horizonta l a n d rel a tively very little vertica l tra velling
On F rida y even ing the tenth of J uly a ccording to our
es tima tion we ought to h a ve b een thirty lea gues to the
southea s t of R e kj a wik a n d a bout two lea gues a n d a
y
ha lf deep We now received a ra ther sta rtlin g surprise
Under our feet there opened a horri ble well
My uncle
wa s so deligh ted tha t he a ctua lly cl a pped his b a nds
as
he sa w how steep a n d sh a rp was the descent

"
Ah a h ! he cried in ra pturous delight ; this will
ta ke us a long wa y Look a t the projections of the rock

a
f
Ha h I he excla imed it s a fe r ul sta ircas e !
H a ns ho wever who in a ll our troubles ha d never given
up the ropes took ca re so to dispose of them a s to prevent
Our descent then bega n I d a re n ot ca ll
an
y a ccidents
it a perilous des cent for I wa s a lrea dy too fa milia r with
th a t sort of work to look upon it a s a ny thing but a very
ordin ar y a ffa ir
A s for

UN D E R

T HE

O CE AN

35

This well wa s a kind of na rrow open ing in the massive

gra nite of the kind k nown as a ssure The contra ction
of th e terres tri a l sca ffolding when it suddenly cooled ha d
been evidently the ca use I f it h a d ever served in former
tim m a s a kind of funn el th r ough which passed the er up
tive ma sses vomited by S n efes I wa s a t a loss to expla in
We were in fa ct descending a
h ow it ha d left no m a rk
spira l something like those windin g sta ir cas es in use in
modern houses
We were compelled every qua rter of a n hour or there
a bouts to sit down in order to res t our le s
Our ca lves
g
a ched
We then sea ted ours elves on some projecting rock
with our legs ha nging over a n d gossipped while we a te a
mouthfuldrinking still from the plea sa ntly wa rm run
ning strea m which h a d not des erted us
It is sca rcely n ecessa ry to sa y tha t in this curiously sh a ped
ssure the Ha n sb a ch h a d become a ca sca de to the detriment
of it
s size
It wa s still however suf cient a n d more for
our wa nts Bes ides we knew tha t a s soon a s the declivity
cea s ed to be so a brupt the strea m mus t resume its pea ce
fu lcourse At this moment it remin ded me of my uncle his
impa tience a n d ra ge while when it owed more pea cefully
I pictured to myself the pla cidity of the Icela ndic guide
During the whole of two da ys the sixth a n d seventh
of J uly we followed the extra ordina ry sp ira l sta ircase of
the ssure penetra ting two lea gues fa rther into the cr ust
of the m
th which pla ced us ve lea gues below the level
of th e sea
On the eighth however a t twelve o clock in
the da y the ssure suddenly a ssumed a much more gentle
slope still trending in a south ea st direction
The roa d now beca me compa ra tively ea s y a n d a t the
sa m e time drea d fully monotonous
It would ha ve been
difcult for ma tters to h a ve turned out otherwis e O ur pe
culi
a r journey h ad no ch a nce of being diversied by l a nd
sca pe a n d scenery
At a ll events such was my idea
.

I36

A J OURNE Y T O

C E N T RE

T HE

OF

THE

ARTH

At length on Wednesda y the fteenth we were a ctua lly

seven lea gues ( twenty on e miles ) below the su rfa ce of th e
ea rth a n d fty lea gues dis ta nt from the mounta in of S n ef
Though if the tru th be told we were very tired our
fels
hea lth h a d resisted a ll suffering a n d was in a most sa tis
fa cto ry sta te
Our tra veller s box of medica ments ha d not
even been opened
My uncle wa s ca reful to note every hour the indica tions
of the comp ass of the m a nometer a n d of the thermometer
a ll which he a fterwa rds publish ed in his el a bora te philoso
phica l a n d scientic a ccount of our rem a rka ble voya ge He
was therefore a ble to give a n exa ct rel a tion of the situa
tion When th erefore he inform ed me th a t we were fty
leag ues in a horizonta l direction dis ta nt from our sta rting
point I could not su ppress a loud excla ma tion

Wh a t is the m a tter now ? cried my uncle

Nothin g very im por ta n t only a n idea h as entered my

hea d wa s my reply

Well out with it my boy

It is my opinion th a t if your ca lcul a tions a r e correct

we a r e no longer u nder Icela n d

Do you think so ?

We ca n very easily nd out I replied pulling out

th e m a p a n d compasses

Y ou see I sa id a fte r ca reful mea su rement th a t I

We a r e fa r beyond Ca pe Portl a nd ;
am
n ot mista ken
a n d those fty lea gues to the south eas t will ta ke us into

the open sea

Under the open sea

cried my uncle rubb ing his
h a nds with a delighted a ir

I cried no doubt old ocea n ows over our

Y es

hea ds
Well my dea r boy wh a t ca n be more n a tur a l Do you
n ot know th a t in the neighborhood of Newcas tle there a r e
coa l mines which ha ve b een worked fa r out under the sea ?
,

'

CHAPTE R
S

UN DA Y

XXII

B E L OW

G R OUN D

I AWO KE on Sunda y morning without a n y sense of hur ry

Though
a n d bustle a ttend a nt on a n imm edia te dep a rture
the da y to be devoted to repose a n d re ection was spent
under s uch str a nge circums ta nces a n d in so wonderful a
pl a ce the idea was a plea sa nt one Besides we a ll bega n
I ha d a lmost cea s ed
to get us ed to this kind of exis tence
to think of the sun of the moon of th e sta rs of the trees
houses a n d towns ; in fa ct a bout a n y terres tri a l n ecessi
ties In our peculia r position we were fa r a bove such r e
.

ection s

The grotto wa s a vas t a n d ma gnicent h a ll Along its

gra nitic soil the strea m owed pla cidly a n d plea sa ntly So
grea t a dista nce wa s it now from its ery source th a t its
wa ter wa s s ca rcely lukewa rm a n d could be dra nk without
dela y or difculty
Af ter a fruga l brea kfas t the Professor m a d e up his
mind to devote some hours to putting his notes a n d calcu
la tion s in order

In the rst pl a ce he sa id I ha ve a go od ma ny to
verify a n d prove in order th a t we m a y know our exa ct
position I wi sh to be a ble on our return to the upper
regions to ma ke a m a p of our journey a kind of vertica l
section of the globe which will be a s it were the prole

of the expedition
Th a t would indeed be a curious work uncle ; but ca n
you m a ke your observa tions with a nything lik e certa inty

i
a n d precis on ?

I ca n I h a ve never on one occa s ion fa iled to note

.

SU N DAY

BE L

OW

GR

OUND

39

with grea t ca re the a ngles a n d slopes I a m certa in as to

h a vin g ma de no mista ke Ta ke the compa ss a n d exa mine

how she points

I looked a t the instrumen t with ca re

Eas t on e qua r ter south ea s t

Ver y good res umed the Professor noting the obser

I
v a tion a n d going through some ra pid ca lcula tions
ma ke out tha t we ha ve journeyed two hundred a n d fty

miles from the point of our depa rture

Then the mighty wa ves of the Atla ntic a r e rolling
over our hea ds

Certa inly
An d a t this very moment it is possible th a t erce tem
pes ts a r e ra ging a bove a n d tha t men a n d ships a r e ba t

tling a ga inst the a ngry blas ts jus t over our hea ds ?

It is quite within the ra nge of possibility rejoined

m y u ncle smiling
And th a t wh a les a r e pl a ying in shoa ls thrash ing the
bottom of the sea the roof of our a da ma ntine prison
Be quite a t rest on th a t point ; there is no da nger of
their brea king through But to return to our ca lcula
tion s We a r e to the south ea s t two hundred a n d fty
miles fro m the bas e of S n eels a n d a ccording to my pre
ceding notes I think we h a ve gone sixteen lea gues in a

downwa rd direction
Six teen lea guesf ty miles ! I cried

m
I a sure of it

B u t tha t is the extreme limit a llowed by science for

th e thickness of th e ea rth s crust

I replied referring to
m
y geologica l studies

I do not contra vene tha t a ssertion was h is quiet a n

swer
And a t this sta ge of our journey a ccording to a ll
kno wn l a ws on th e increa s e of hea t there should be here

een hu n dr ed degrees of R ea umur

a tempera ture of ft
.

'

O
4

A JOUR NE Y TO

T HE

CE N TR E

OF

THE

E AR

TH

Ther e should b e you sa y my boy

In which ca se this gra nite would not exist b ut b e in a

s ta te of fusion
But you perceive my boy th a t it is not so a n d tha t
fa cts as usu a l a r e very stu b born things over ruling a ll

theories
I a m forced to yield to the e vidence of my senses but
I a m nevertheless very much s urprised
Wha t hea t does the thermomete r rea lly indic a te
c ontinued the philosopher

Twenty seven six ten ths

So th a t science is wrong by fourteen hundred a n d
degrees a n d four tenths
According to
seventy four
which it is demon stra ted th a t the proportion a l in crea se in
tem pera ture is a n exploded error Humphrey Da vy here
s glory
He is right a n d I h a ve
shines forth in a ll hi
Ha ve you a n y a nswer to
a cted wi
s ely to believe him
ma ke to this sta tement ?
Ha d I chosen to h a ve spoken I might h a ve sa id a
grea t dea l I in no wa y a dmitted the theory of Hum

h
re
D
a
vy
I still held out for the theory of proportion
y
p
a l increas e of hea t though I did not feel it
I was fa r more willin g to a llow tha t this chimney of a n
extinct volca no wa s covered by la va of a kind refra ctory to
hea tin fa ct a b a d conductorwhich did not a llow the
grea t increa se of tempera ture to percola te through its sides
The hot w a ter j et supported my view of the m a tter
But without entering on a long a n d useless discu ssion
or seeking for new a rguments to controvert m y uncle I
contented myself with ta king up fa cts as they were
Well sir I ta ke for gra nted th a t a ll your ca lcul a tions
a r e correct b ut a llow me to dra w fr om them a rigorous

a n d de nite conclusion

G o on my b oy ha ve your sa y cried my un cle.

good hum or edly
h

J OU RN E Y T O

CE N TRE OF

T HE

T HE

AR T H

I sa w a t once th a t the old doctoria l Professo r wzw still

a n d fea rful to rous e h is a ngry pa s
a live in my uncl e
sion s I dropped the unple a sa nt subject

Now then he expl a ined consult the m a nometer

Wha t does th a t indica te ?

A cons idera ble a mount of pres sure

V ery good You see then tha t by des cending slo wly
a n d by gr a dua lly a ccustoming ourselves to the den sity of
this lower a tmosphere we sh a ll not suffer
Well I suppose n ot except it m a y b e a cer ta in

wa s my ra ther gr im reply
a mount of p a in in the ea rs
Th a t my dea r boy is nothing a n d you will ea s ily get
rid of th a t source of d isco m fort by br inging the exterior
conta ined in your
a ir in communica tion with the a ir

lun gs

Perfectly sa id I for I h a d quite m a de up my mind

in no wise to contra dict my uncle

I sh ould fa ncy a l
mo st th a t I should experience a certa in a mount of sa t
isfa ction in m a king a plunge into this dense a tmosphere
Ha ve you ta ken note of how wonderfully sound is pr o
.

pa ga ted
Of cours e

I h a ve There ca n be no doubt th a t a
j ou rney into the interior of the ea rth would be a n excellent

cure for dea fness

But then uncle I ventured mildly to observe this

density will continue to increa se

Y esa ccordin g to a la w which however is sc a rcely

dened It is tru e th a t th e intensity of weight will dimin ish
just in proportion to the depth to which we go You
know very well th a t it is on the su rfa ce of th e ea rth th a t
its a ction is most powerft
felt while on the contra ry in
the very centre of the ea rth bodies cea se to h a ve a n y

weight a t a ll
I know th a t is the c as e but as we progress will not the

a tmo sphere n a lly a ssume the den sity of wa ter ?

.

SUN DAY BE L OW

GR OUN D

4
3

I know it ; wh en pl a ced under the pressure of seven

hundr ed a n d ten a tmospheres cried my uncle with im

perturb a ble gra vity

And when we a r e still lower down ? I a sked with

n a tu ra l a nx iety
Well lower down the den sity will become even grea ter

still
Then how sh a ll we be a ble to ma ke our wa y through

this a tmospheric fog ?

Well my worthy nephew we must b a lla st ourselves

by lling our pockets with stones sa id Professor Ha rd

wigg

Fa ith uncle you h a ve a n a nswer for everything wa s

my only reply
I bega n to feel th a t it was unwise in me to go a n y fa r
ther into the wide eld of hypotheses for I should certa inly
h a ve revived some di fculty or ra ther impossibility tha t
would h a ve enra ged the Professor
I t wa s evident nevertheless tha t the a ir under a pres
sure which might be multiplied by thousa nds of a tmos
ph er es would end by becoming perfectly solid a n d th a t
then a dm itting our bodies resisted the pressure we should
ha ve to stop in spite of a ll the reas onin gs in the world
Fa cts overcome a ll a rguments
But I thought it best not to urge this a rgument My
u ncle would simply h a ve quoted the exa mple of S a k n u s
Supposing the lea rned Icela nder s journey ever
sem m
rea lly to ha ve ta ken pla ce
there wa s one simple a nswer
to be ma de
In th e sixteenth century neither the b a rometer n or the
ma nometer h a d been inventedhow then could S a k n us
sem m
h a ve bee n a ble to discover when h e did rea ch the
centre of the ea rth ?
This una nswera ble a n d lea rned objection I h owever
kept to mysel f a n d bra cing up m y coura ge a wa ited the
,

4
4A

J OUR NE Y

TO

T HE

CE NT RE

OF

T HE

AR TH

little a wa re of how a dven turous yet were

course of events
to be the incidents of our rema rka ble j ourney
The rest of this da y of leisu re a n d repose was spent in
c a lcula tion a n d conversa tion I m a de it a point to a gree
with the Professor in everything ; but I envied the perfect
indifference of Ha ns who without ta king a ny such trouble
a bout the c a use a n d effect went blindly onwa rds wherever
destiny chose to lea d them
.

O A
4

JOUR NE Y T O

OF

CE N TR E

THE

THE

ARTH

th a t a m a n who shuts himsel f up between four wa lls must

lose the fa culty of a ssocia ting idea s a n d words How
m a ny persons condemned to the horrors of solita ry con
n em en t h a ve gone m a d
s imply b eca us e the t hin k ing fa a
culties h a ve l a in dor m an t l
Duri n g the two weeks th a t followed our la st interesting
conversa tion there occurr ed nothing worthy of b eing esp e
cia lly record ed
I h a ve while writing th es e memoirs ta xed m y m emory
in va in for on e incident of tra vel durin g this pa rticula r
.

B ut the n ext ev en t to b e rela ted is terrib le in deed I ts

very mem ory even now m a kes m y soul shudder a n d my
b lood run cold
It wa s on the seven th of Au gust Our con sta n t a n d
su ccessive descents h a d ta ken us qu ite th irty lea gues into
the interior of the ear th th a t is to sa y th a t there were
a bove u s thirty lea gues ne a rly a hundred miles of rocks
a n d ocea ns a n d continents a n d towns to sa
y nothin g of
living inh a bita nts We were in a south ea sterly dir ection
a bout two hun dred lea gu es from Icel a nd
O n th a t memora ble da y the tu nnel h a d b egun to a ssume
a n almo st h o rizonta l cou rs e
I wa s on th is occa sion wa lking on in fr ont My uncle
f one of the R uh m k orf coils I h a d possession
h a d ch a rge O
By mea ns of its light I wa s busy exam ining
of th e other
the different la yers of gra ni te I was completely a bsorbed
in my work
Suddenly h a ltin g a n d tur ning round I foun d th a t I wa s
a lone !

Well thought I to myself I h a ve certa inly b een

wa lking too fa sto r else H a n s a n d my u ncle h a ve stop ped
The best thing I ca n do is to go b a ck a n d nd
to res t

l
i
s
them Lucki y there very little a s cent to tir e me
I a ccordin gly etra ced my steps a n d while doing so
.

AL ONE

4
7

wa lked for a t leas t a qua r ter of a n hour Ra ther unea sy

I pa used a n d looked ea gerly a round
Not a living soul
I ca lled a loud N 0 reply My voice was lost a mid the
myria d ca vernous echoes it a rous ed !
I bega n for the rst time to feel seriously uneas y A
c old shiver shook my whole body a n d perspira tion chill
a n d terrible burst upon my skin

I mus t be ca lm I sa id spea king a loud as boys whis

tle to drive a wa y fea r
There ca n be no doubt tha t I
sh a ll nd my co m pa nion s
There ca nnot be two roa ds
It is certa in th a t I wa s considera bly a hea d ; a ll I h a ve to

do is to go ba ck
Ha ving come to this determina tion I a scende d the tun
nel for a t leas t h a lf a n hour una ble to decide if I ha d ever
seen certa in l a n dm a rks before
Every n ow a n d then I
pa used to discover if a n y loud a ppea l wa s m a de to me
well knowing tha t in tha t dense a n d i n tensied a tmosphere
I should hea r it a long wa y off But no The most ex
tr a or din a r y silence reigned in thi s immens e ga llery
Only
the echoes of my own footsteps could be hea rd
At l a st I stopped I could sca rcely rea lize the fa ct of
my isola tion I wa s quite willing to think tha t I h a d
ma de a mista ke but not tha t I was lost I f I h a d m a de
f lostI shuddered to
a mi sta ke I might n d my wa y : i
think of it

Come come sa id I to mysel f since there is only

one roa d a n d they m ust come by it we sha ll a t la st meet
Perh a ps how
All I h a ve to d is still to go upw a rds
ever not seei n g me a n d forgettin g I wa s a hea d they m a y
h a ve gone ba ck in sea rch of me Still even in this cas e
There ca n be no
if I m a ke h a ste I sh a ll get up to them

dou bt a bout th e m a tter

But as I spoke these l as t words a loud it would h a ve
been quite clea r to a n y listenerh a d there been oneth a t
I was by no m ea n s co n vinced of the fa ct Moreover in
.

8 A
4

J O URNE Y

CE NT RE

T O T HE

or T HE

AR TH

order to a ssocia te together thes e simple ideas a n d to t a

unite them under the form of reas oning required some
time I could not a ll a t once bring my bra in to thin k
Then a nother drea d doubt fell u pon my soul Af ter
Ha n s wa s no doubt
Of course I was
a ll wa s I a he a d
I perfectly
following behin d preceded by my uncle
recollected his h a vin g sto pped for a moment to stra p his
I now remembered this triin g
ba gg a ge on h is shoulder
deta il It was I believed just a t th a t very moment tha t
I h a d determined to continue my route
Aga in thought I rea soning as ca lmly a s wa s possible

there is a nother sure mea ns of not losing my wa y a

threa d to guide me through the la byrinthine subterra neous

retrea t o n e which I ha d forgotten m y fa ith ful river

This course of rea soning rous ed m y drooping spirits
a n d I resolved to res ume my journey without fu rther
dela y No time was to be lost
It wa s a t this moment th a t I h a d reas on to bless the
thoughtfulness of my uncle when he refus ed to a llow the
eider hunter to close the ori ces of the hot springth a t
This b en ecen t
sm a ll ssure in the grea t m ass of gra nite
spring a fter h a ving sa ved us from thi rs t during so m a ny
da ys would now en a ble me to rega in the right roa d
H a ving come to this menta l decision I m a de up my
mind before I sta rted upw a rds th a t a blution would cer
ta in ly do me a grea t dea l of good
I stopped to plunge my h a nds a n d forehea d in the
pleas a nt w a ter of the Ha us ba ch strea m blessin g its pres
ence as a certa in cons ola tion
Conceive my horror a n d stupefa ction I was trea ding
a h a rd dusty shingly ro a d of gra nite
The strea m on
which I reckoned h a d wholly disa ppea red !
,

SO A

JO UR NE Y TO

CE N TRE O F

T HE

T HE

AR TH

These thirty lea gues of the crust of the ea rth weighed

U pon my shoulders like the globe on the shoulders of
Atlas I felt mysel f crushed by the a wful weight It
wa s indeed a pos ition to drive the sa nest m a n to m a dness !
I tried to bring my thoughts ba ck to the things of the
world so lon g forgotten It was with the grea test difculty
th a t I succeeded in doing so Ha mburg the house on
the Kon igstr a sse my dea r cousin Gretchen a ll th a t world
which h a d before va nish ed lik e a sha dow o a ted before
my n ow vivid im a gina tion
There they were before me but how unrea l Under
th e inuence of a terrible h a llucina tion I sa w the whole
incidents of our journey pa ss before me like the scen es of
pa nora m a The ship a n d its in ma tes I cel a nd M
a
F r idr iks son a n d the grea t summit of Mount S n eels ! I
s a id to mysel f th a t if in my position I reta ined the most
fa int a n d sha dowy outline of a hope it would be a sure
It were better to g ive wa y
sign of a pproa ching delirium
Wholly to despa ir !
In fa ct did I but reas on with ca lmness a n d philosophy
wh a t huma n power was there in existence a ble to ta ke me
ba ck to the surfa ce of the e a rth a n d rea dy too to split
a s under to rend in twa in those huge a n d mighty v a ults
which sta nd a bove my hea d ? Who could ena ble me to
nd my ro a da n d rega in my compa nions ?
Insensa te folly a n d ma dn ess to enterta in even a sh a dow
of hope !

Oh uncle ! was my despa iring cry

Th is wa s the only word of reproa ch which ca me to my
lips ; for I thoroughly understood how deeply a n d sorrow
fully the worthy Pro fessor would regret my loss a n d how
in his turn he would pa tiently seek for me
When I a t l as t bega n to resign myself to the fa ct th a t
n o further a id wa s to be ex pected from m a n a n d knowing
tha t I wa s utterly powerless to do a nything for m y own
.

L OS T !

5:

lva tion I k neeled with ea rnes t fervor a n d as ked assis

ta nce from Hea ven The remembra nce of my innocent
childhood the memory of my mother known only in my
infa ncy ca me welling forth from my hea rt I h a d r e
And little as I ha d right to be remem
co u rse to pr a yer
bered by Him whom I ha d forgotten in the hour of pros
n d whom I so ta rdily invoked I pra yed ea rnes tly
er it
a
y
a n d s incerely
This rene wa l of my youthful fa ith brought a bout a
much grea ter a mount of ca lm a n d I wa s en a bled to con
centra te a ll my strength a n d intelligence on the te rrible
rea lities of m y unprecedented situa tion
I h a d a bout me th a t which I h a d a t rst wholly forgot
tenthree da ys provisions Moreover my wa ter bottle
Nevertheless the one thing which it wa s
wa s quite full
impossible to do wa s to rem a in a lone Try to n d my com
pa nions I must a t a n y price But which course should I
ta ke ? Shou ld I go u pwa r ds or a ga in descend ? Doubtless
it wa s right to retra ce my steps in a n upwa rd direction
By doin g this with ca re a n d coolnes I must rea ch the
point where I ha d turned a wa y from the rippling strea m
I m ust nd the fa ta l bifurca tion or fork Once a t this
spot once the river a t my feet I could a t a ll events r e
ga in the a wful cra ter of Mount S n eels Vhy ha d I not
thought of this before ? This a t l a st wa s a rea sona ble
The most importa nt thing then to be
hope of sa fety
done wa s to discover the b ed of the Ha nsba ch
After a slight mea l a n d a dra ught of wa ter I rose like
a gia nt refreshed
Lea ning hea vily on my pole I bega n
the as cent of the ga llery The slepe was very ra pid a n d
ra ther dif cult But I a dva nced hopefully a n d ca refu lly
like a m a n who a t la s t is ma king his wa y out of a forest
a n d knows there i
s on ly one roa d to follow
Du r ing one Whole hour nothin g h a ppened to check my
prog ress A s I a dva nced I tried to re collect the sha pe of
'

sa

5 2 A J O URN E Y

TO

T HE

CE N TRE O F

T HE

AR TH

the tunnelto reca ll to my memory certa in proj ections of

rocks to persu ad e mysel f th a t I ha d followed certa in
windin g rou tes before But no one p a rticul a r sign could I
b ring to mind a n d I was soon forced to a llow th a t this ga b
lery would never ta ke me ba ck to the point a t which I ha d
s epa ra ted mysel f from my compa nions
It was a bso lutely
without issu e a mere blind a lley in the ea rth
The moment a t length ca me when fa cing the solid rock
I kn ew my fa te a n d fell ina nima te on the a rid oor !
To describe the horrible sta te of despa ir a n d fea r into
which I then fell would n ow be v a in a n d impossible My
l a st h 0 pe the coura ge which h a d susta ined me droop ed
b efore the sight of th is pitiles s gra nite rock !
Los t in a vas t la byrinth th e sinuosities of which sprea d
in every direction without guide clue or compa ss it wa s a
v a in a n d useless task to a ttempt ight All th a t rem a in ed
to me wa s to lie down a n d die To lie down a n d die the
most cruel a n d horrible of dea ths !
In my sta te of mind the idea ca me into my hea d th a t
one da y perha ps when my fossil bones were fo und their
discovery so fa r below the level of the e a rth m ight give
ris e to solemn a n d interes tin g s cientic dis cussions
I tried to cry a loud but hoa rse hollow a n d ina rticula te
soun ds a lone could m a ke themselves hea rd through my
pa rched lips I litera lly pa nted for brea th
In the midst of a ll thes e horrible sources of a nguish
My
a n d desp a ir a n ew horror took possession of my soul
l a mp by fa lling down h a d got out of order I h a d no
mea ns of repa iring it I ts light was a lrea dy becom in g
pa ler a n d pa ler a n d soon would expire
With a stra nge sens e of resigna tion a n d despa ir I
Wa tched the luminous current in the coil getting less a n d
less A procession of sh a dows m oved a shing a long the
gra nite wa ll I sca rcely da red to lower my eyelids fea r
Every
in
ln g to lose the l a st s a rk of this fugitive light
p
.

CHAPTER XX V

THE

WHIS P E R IN G

GALLE R Y

WHE N a t las t I cam e b a ck to a sense of life a n d being

m y fa ce was wet ; but wet a s I soon kne w with tea rs
How long this sta te of ins ens ibility las ted it is quite im
possible for me n ow to sa y I ha d n o mea ns left to me of
ta king a n y a ccount of tim e Never since the crea tion of
the world ha d su ch a solitude a s m ine exis ted I was
completely a ba ndoned
A fter my fa ll I lost much blood I felt myself ooded
with the li fe giving liquid My rst sensa tion was per
h a ps a n a tura l one Why wa s I not dea d ? Beca us e I
wa s a live there was something left to do
I tried to
m a ke up my mind to think no longer A s fa r as I was
a ble I drove a wa y a ll idea s
a n d utterly overco m e by
pa in a n d grief I crouched a g a inst the gra nite wa ll
I just commenced to feel the fa inting coming on a ga in
a n d the sensa tion th a t this wa
the l a s t struggle before
complete a nnihila tion when on a sudden a violent u p
roa r rea ched my ea rs It h a d some res embla nce to the
prolonged rumbling voice of thunder a n d I clea rly disti n
g uish ed sonorou s voices lost one a fter the other in th e dis
ta nt depths of the gulf
VVhen ce ca me this noise ? N a tura lly it wa s to be su p
posed from n ew phenomena which were ta king pl a ce in
the bosom of the solid m as s of Mother Ea rth ! The ex plo
l of some so lid of
sion of s ome g a seous v a pors or th e fa l
the gra nitic or other rock
Aga in I listened with deep a ttention I was extremely
a n xiou s to hea r if thi s stra nge a n d inexplic a ble sound wa s
likely to be renewed A whole qua rter of a n hour ela psed

,
.

56

fore,

me

JOU RNE Y

'

T O T HE

CE N TRE

or T HE

AR T H

I could hea r them they must surely b e a ble

,

h ea r

to

Help I cried a t the top of my voice ; help I a m

dying
I then listened with sca rcely a brea th ; I pa nted for th e
slightest sound in the da rkness a cry a sigh a question !
N0 a ns wer c a me ! In th is
B ut silence reig n ed supreme
A whole ood of ideas a shed
wa y some minutes pa ssed
through my m ind I bega n to fea r th a t m y voice wea k
ened by sickness a n d suffering could not rea ch my compa
n ion s who were in s ea rch of me

It must be them I cried

wh a t other men ca n by
possibility be buried a hundred miles below the level of

the ea rth ?
The mere supposition wa s preposterous
I bega n therefore to listen a ga in with the most brea th
less a ttention A s I moved my ea rs a long the side of the
pla ce I was in I found a m a them a tica l point a s it were
where the voices a ppea red to a tta in their m a ximum of in
tensity The word f or lor a d a ga in distinctly rea ched my
Then c a me a ga in th a t rolling noise like thunder
ea r
which h a d a wa kened me out of torpor
I begin to understa nd I sa id to mysel f a fter some lit

tle time devoted to reection

it is n ot through the solid
m a ss th a t the sound rea ches m y ea rs The wa ll s of my
ca vernous retrea t a r e of solid gra nite a n d the m os t fea rful
explosion would not ma ke uproa r enough to penetra te
them The sound must come a long the ga llery i tself The
pl a ce I wa s in must possess some peculia r a cous tic proper

ties of its own

Aga in I listened ; a n d this tim eyes th is tim e I hea rd
m y n a me distinctly pronounced c a st a s it were into spa ce
It wa s my u ncle the P r o fe sor who wa s spea king He
wa s in conversa tion with the guide a n d the word which
ha d so o ften rea ched my ea rs for lor a d wa s a Da n ish ex
pression
,

'

'

T HE

WHI S PE R IN G GALLE R Y

57

Then I understood it a ll In order to ma ke myself

hea rd I too must spea k as it were a long the side of the
ga llery which would ca rry the sound of my voice just a l
the wire ca rries the electric uid from point to point
But there wa s no time to lose I f m y compa nions were
only to remove a few feet from where they stood the a cous
tic effect would be over my Whispering Ga llery would be
destroyed I a ga in therefore cr a wled towa rds the wa ll
a n d sa id as clea rly a n d distinctly as I could

Uncle Ha r dwigg
I then a wa ited a reply
Sou nd does not possess the property of tra velling with
B esides the density of the a ir a t
such extreme ra pidity
th a t depth from light a n d motion wa s very fa r from a dd
Severa l seconds ela psed
in g to the ra pidity of circula tion
which to m y excited ima gina tion a ppea red a ges ; a n d
these w ords rea ched my ea ger ea rs a n d moved my wildly
bea ting hea rt

H a rry my boy is th a t you ?

A short del a y between question a n d a nswer
.

Y es

yes

Wh ere a r e you
Lost

And your la mp ?

Out

But the guiding strea m ?

I s lost l

K eep your coura ge Ha rry

We will do our b est

One moment my uncle I cried

I h a ve no longer
questions But for hea ven s
strength to a nswer your
to spea k to me !
sa ked o youc ontinu e
Absolute silence I felt would be a nnihila tion

K eep up your coura ge sa id my u ncle

As you a r e
so wea k do not spea k
We h a ve been sea rching for you
in a ll directions both by going upwa rds a n d downwa rds
.

A JO URNE Y TO

in

CE N TRE O F

T HE

T HE

AR TH

the ga llery My dea r boy I ha d begun to give over a ll

hopea n d you ca n n ever know wh a t bitter tea rs of sorrow
a n d regret I h a ve shed
At la t supposing you to be still
on the roa d beside the Ha n sba ch we a ga in descended
ring o guns a s sign a ls Now however th a t we h a ve
found you a n d tha t our voices rea ch ea ch other it m a y
be a long time before we a ctu a lly meet
We a r e convers
in g by mea ns of some extra ordina ry a coustic a rra ngement
of the l a byrin th
But do n ot despa ir my dea r boy It

is something ga ined even to hea r ea ch other

While he was spea king my bra in was a t work reecting
A certa in undened hope va gue a n d sha peless as yet
ma de my hea rt bea t wildly In the rst pla ce it was a b
solu tely neces sa ry for me to know one thing
I once more
therefore lea ned my hea d a ga inst the wa ll which I a lmost
touched with my lips a n d a ga in spoke

Uncle

My boy was his rea dy a nswer

It is of the utmost consequence th a t we should know

how fa r we a r e a sunder

Th a t is not diicu lt

You h a ve your chronometer a t h a n d ? I as ked

Certa inly

\Vell ta ke it into your h a nd

Pronounce my n a me
notin g exa ctly the second a t which you spea k I will
reply as soon a s I hea r your words a n d you will then

note exa ctly the moment a t which my reply rea ches you
V ery good ; a n d the mea n time between m y qu es tion
a n d your a ns wer will be the time occupied by my voice in

rea ching you

Tha t is ex a ctly wh a t I mea n uncle wa s my ea ger reply

Are you rea dy ?

.

Well m a k e rea dy I

n a me sa id the Professor
,

am

bout

to

pronounce

your

1 60

A J O URNE Y TO

T HE

Adieu Ha rryuntil

CE N TRE O F

E AR

T HE

TH

Welcome
Such were
the las t words which rea ched my a nx ious ea rs before I
com m enced my wea ry a n d a lmost hopeless journey
This wonderfu l a n d surprising con versa tion which to ok
pla ce through the va st mass of the ea rth s l a byrinth thes e
words excha nged the spea kers being a bo u t ve m iles a pa rt

e nded with hopeful a n d pleas a nt expression s

I brea thed
one more pra yer to Hea ven I sent up words of tha nks
giving believing in my inmost hea rt tha t He ha d led me
to the only pla ce where the voices of my friends could
rea ch my ea rs
This a ppa rently as toundin g a cou stic mystery is eas ily
ex pl a ina ble by simple n a tura l la ws ; it a rose fro m the con
ducti bility of the rock There a r e m a ny ins ta nces of this
singul a r prop a ga tion of sound which a r e not perceptible
in its less media te positions In the interior ga llery of St
Pa ul s a n d a mid the curious ca vern s in Sicily thes e phe
n om en a a r e ob ser va ble
The most m a r vellous of them a ll
is known as the E a r of Dionysius
These memories of the pa st of my ea rly rea ding a n d
Moreover I bega n to
studies ca me fresh to my thoughts
rea son tha t if my uncle a n d I could communica te a t so
grea t a dista nce no serious obsta cle could exis t between
All I h a d to do wa s to follo w the direction whence
us
the sound ha d rea ched me ; a n d logica lly putting it I
m u st rea ch him if my strength did not fa il
I a ccordingly rose to my feet I soon found however
th a t I could not wa lk ; th a t I m u st dra g mysel f a long
The slope a s I expected wa s very ra pid ; but I a llowed
mysel f to slip down
Soon the ra pidity of the descent bega n to a $um e fright:
I clutched
fu l proportions ; a n d mena ced a fea rful fall
a t the sides ; I gra sped a t projections of rocks ; I threw
myself ba ckw a rds All in va in My wea k ness was so
grea t I could do nothing to sa ve myself
,

we

sa y

T HE

WHI S PE R IN G

1 61

G ALLE R Y .

Suddenly ea rth fa iled me

I was rst la unched in to a da rk a n d gloomy void I
then struck a ga inst the projectin g a sperities of a vertica l
ga llery a perfect well
My hea d bounded a ga inst a
poin ted rock a n d I lost a ll knowledge of existence As
far a s I was concerned dea th ha d cla imed me for his own
.

A RA PI D R E COVE R Y .

WHE N I return ed to the consciousn ess of existen ce I

foun d mysel f surrounded by a k ind of semi obscurity
lying on some thick a n d soft coverlids My uncle wa s
wa tchin ghis eyes x ed intently on my counten a nce a
gra ve expression on his fa ce ; a tea r in his eye At th e
rst sigh which struggled from my bosom he took hold of
my h a nd When h e sa w my eyes open a n d x themselves
upon his he uttered a loud cry of j oy

He lives ! he lives !

Y es my good uncle I whispered

My dea r b oy con tinued the grim Profes or clas p ing

me to his h ea rt you a r e sa ved 1

I was deeply a n d u n a ectedly touched b y th e to ne in
which these words were u ttered a n d even mor e by th e
kindly ca re which a ccompa nied them The Professor
however was one of those men wh o must be severely tried
in order to induce a n y displ a y of a ffection or gentle em o
tion At this moment our friend Ha n s the guide join ed
He sa w m y h a nd in th a t of m y uncle a n d I ventu re
us
to sa y th a t ta citurn as he was his eyes bea med with live
sa ti sfa ction

G od da y h e sa id

G o od da y Ha ns good da y I replied in as hea rty a

tone as I could assume a n d now u ncle th a t we a r e to
gether tell me where we a r e I h a ve l ost a ll idea of our

position as of everything else

a
To morrow H rry to morrow he replied
To da y
you a r e fa r too wea k Your hea d is surrounded with
Sleep
ba nda ges a n d p oultic es th a t must n ot b e touched
,

4A

J O URN E Y TO

C E N TR E O F

T HE

T HE

AR T H

this unmista ka ble m ea n in g of the sa lt sea billows ? I ca n

hea r too pla inly enough the whistling of the wind But
ca n I be a ltogether mista ken ?
I f my uncle durin g my
illness h a s but ca rried me ba ck to the surfa ce of the
ea rth ! Ha s he on my a ccount given up h is wondrous
expedition or in some stra nge ma nner h a s it come to a n
,

en d ?

I wa s puzzling my bra in over these a n d other questions

when the Pro fessor joined me

Good da y Ha rry he cried in a joyous tone

I

fa ncy you a r e quite well

I a m very much better I replied a ctua lly sitting up

in my bed
I knew th a t would be the end of it as you slept both
Ha ns a n d I ha ve ea ch ta ken
soundly a n d tra nquilly
turn to wa tch a n d every hour we h a ve seen vis ible signs

of a meliora tion

You must be right un cle wa s my reply for I feel

a s if I could do justice to a n y mea l you could put before

me I a m rea lly hungry

Y ou sh a ll ea t my b oy you sh a ll ea t The fever h as
left you Our excellent friend H a ns h as rubbed your
wounds a n d brui ses with I know not wh a t ointment of
which the Icela nders a lone possess the secret An d they
h a ve hea led your bruises in the most m a r vellous m a nn er

Ah h e s a wise fellow is Ma ster H a ns

While he wa s spea kin g my uncle was pl a cing before
m e severa l a rticles of food which des pite h is ea rnes t injun e
tions I rea dily devoured As soon as the rst ra ge of
hunger wa s a ppeas ed I overwhelmed him with questions
to which he now no longer hes ita ted to give a n swers
I then lea rned for the rst time th a t my providentia l
fa ll h a d brought me to the bottom of a n a lmo st per pen
A s I c a me down a midst a perfect shower
dicu la r ga llery
of stones the lea s t of which fa lling on me would h a ve
,

RA

PID DIS C OVE R Y

65

'

rushed me to dea th they ca me to the conc lusion tha t I

R iding a s
h a d c a rried with me a n entire dis loca ted rock
it were on this terrible ch a riot I wa s ca st hea dlong into my
uncle s a rms And into them I fell insensible a n d covered
with blood

It is in deed a mira cle was the Professor s n a l r e

m a rk tha t you were not killed a thousa nd times over
But let us ta ke ca re never to sepa r a te ; for sur ely we should

risk never meetin g a ga in

Let us ta ke ca re never a ga in to sepa ra te

These words fell with a sort of chill upon my hea rt
The journey then wa s not over I looked a t my uncle
My uncle a fter a n in
with surprise a n d a stonishment
sta n t s ex a min a tion of my counten a nce sa id

Wh a t is the m a tter Ha rry ?

I wa nt to as k you a very serious ques tion You sa y

th a t I a m a ll right in hea lth ?

Certa inly you a r e

And a ll my limbs a r e sound a n d ca pa ble of new ex er

tion
I as ked

Most undoubtedly

B u t wha t a bo u t my hea d ? wa s my next a nx iou s

question
Well your h ea d except th a t you h a ve one or two con

tu sion s is exa ctly where it ought to b e o n your shoulder

sa id my u ncle l a ughing
Well my own Opinion is th a t my hea d is not exa ctly

right In fa ct I believe myself slightly delirious

Wh a t ma kes you thin k so

a
h
I will expl in w y I fa ncy I h a ve lost my sens es I

cri ed ; h a ve we not returned to the surfa ce of mother ea rth?

Certa inly not

Then truly I mu st be m a d for do I not see the light
of da y ? do I not hea r the whistling of the win d ? a n d ca n
I not distinguish the was h of a grea t sea
c

66

JOURNE Y

T O THE

CE N T RE OF

T HE

E AR

TH

And tha t is a ll th a t ma kes you unea sy ? sa id m y

uncle with a sm ile
Ca n you ex pl a in
I will not ma ke a n y a ttempt to expla in ; for the whole
m a tter is utterly inexplica ble But you sh a ll see a n d j udge
You will then n d tha t geologica l science is
for you rself
a s yet in its in fa ncy
a n d th a t we a r e doomed to enlighten

the world

Let us a dva nce then I cried ea gerly no longer a ble

to restr a in my curiosity

\Va it a moment my dea r Ha rry he responded ; you

mus t ta ke preca utions a fte r your illness b efore going into

the open a ir

The open a ir ?
Y es m y boy
I ha ve to wa rn you th a t the wind is
r a ther violenta n d I h a ve no wish for you to expose

yourself without necessa ry preca utions

But I beg to assure you tha t I a m perfectly recovered

from my illness
Ha ve j ust a little p a tien ce m y b oy A rel a pse would
b e inconvenient to a ll pa rties We h a ve no tim e to lose

a s our a pproa ching sea voya ge m a y be of long dura tion

I cried more bewildered tha n ever

S ea voya ge ?
Y es
You mus t ta ke a nother da y s res t a n d we sha ll

b e rea dy to go on boa rd by to morrow rep lied m y uncle

with a peculia r sm ile
Go on boa rd ! The words utterly a stonished m e
G o on boa rdwh a t a n d how ? Ha d we come upon a
river a l a ke h a d we dis covered some inl a nd sea Was a
vessel lying a t a nchor in s ome p a rt of the interior of the
ea rth
My curiosity was worked up to the very highest pitch
My uncle ma de va in a ttempts to restra in me When a t
la s t however he dis covered th a t my feverish impa tien ce
a n d th a t the sa tisfa ctio n
would do m ore ha rm th a n good
.

CHAPTE R XXVII

C E N R AL S E A.

THE

AT rst I sa w a bsolutely nothin g My eyes wholly

unused to the eulgen ce of light could not bea r the an d
den b rightness a n d I wa s compelled to cl ose them
When I wa s a ble to r e open them I stood still fa r more
Not a ll the wildest effects of
stupeed th a n a stonished
im a gin a tion could h a ve conjured up such a scene

The sea the sea I cried

Y es replied my un cle in a tone of pa rdona ble pride ;

The Centra l S ea N0 future n a viga tor will deny the
fa ct of my h a ving discovered it ; a n d hence of a cquirin g a

right of giving it a na me
It was quite true A va st limitless expa nse of wa ter
the end of a la ke if not of a n ocea n sprea d before us un
til it wa s lost in the dista nce The shore which was very
much indented consisted of a bea utiful soft golden sa nd
m ixed with s m a ll shells the long des erted home of some
The wa ves broke in ces
of the crea tures of a p a st a ge
sa n tly a n d with a peculi a rly sonorous mur mur
to be
A slight frothy a ke
found in under ground loc a lities
a rose as the wind b lew a long th e pellucid wa ters ; a n d
m a ny a das h of spra y wa s blown into m y fa ce The
m ighty superstru cture of rock which ro se a bove to a n in
conceiva ble height left only a n a rrow Openin g b ut
where we stood there was a la r ge m a rgin of stra nd On
a ll ides were c a pes a n d promontories a n d enormo u s clis
pa rtia lly wor n by th e etern a l brea king of the wa ves
through countless a ges ! And a s I ga zed from side to side
the mighty rocks faded away like a eecy lm of cloud
.

,
,

T HE

CE N TR AL

S EA

69

in rea lity a n ocea n with a ll the usua l cha ra cte r

istics of a n in la nd sea only horribly wildso rigid cold
a n d sa v a ge
One thing sta rtled a n d puzzled me grea tly How wa s
it th a t I wa s a ble to look upon tha t va st sheet of wa ter in
n utter d a rk ness ? The va st l a nd
stea d of being plunged i
But there wa s wa nt
sca pe before me wa s lit up like da y
ing the da zzling br illia ncy the splendid irra dia tion Of the
sun ; the p a le cold illum ina tio n of the moon ; the bright
ness of the sta rs The illumina ting power in this sub ter
r a n eou s region from its tr embling a n d ickering ch a ra c
ter its clea r dry whiteness the very slight eleva tion Of its
tempera ture its grea t superiority to tha t of the moon wa s
evidently electric ; something in the n a ture of the a urora
borea lis only tha t its phenomen a were consta nt a n d a ble
to light up the whole of the ocea n ca vern
The tremendous v a ult a bove our hea ds the sk y so to
spea k a ppea red to be composed Of a conglomera tion of
nebulous va pors in consta nt motion I should origina lly
ha ve supposed th a t under su ch a n a tmospheric pressure
a s mus t exi st in th a t pl a ce the ev a pora tion of w a ter could
not rea lly ta ke pla ce a n d yet from the a ction of some
physica l la w which esca ped my memory there were hea vy
a n d dense clouds rolling a lo n g th a t mighty v a ult
pa r
Electric currents produced a s
tia lly concea ling the roo f
to n ish in g pla y of light a n d sh a de in the dista nce es
Deep sha dows were
i
a lly a round the hea vier clouds
ec
p
ca st benea th a n d then suddenly between two clouds there
would come a r a y Of unusua l bea uty a n d rema rka ble in
tensity And yet it wa s n ot like the sun for it ga ve no
h ea t
The effect wa s sa d a n d excrucia tingly mel a ncholy I n
noble r m a m en t of blue studded with sta rs
stea d Of a
there wa s a bove me a hea vy roof of gra nite which seemed
to crush me
It

was

A J OURNE Y TO

7O

THE

CE NT RE O F

T HE

ARTH

Ga zing a round I b ega n to th ink of the theory of th e

E nglish ca pta in who compa red the ea rth to a vas t hollow
sphere in the interior of which the a ir is reta ined in a
luminous sta te by mea ns of a tmospheric pressure while
two sta rs Pluto a n d Proserpine circled there in their
mysterious orbits After a ll suppose the old fellow was
right !
In truth we were imprisonedbound a s it were in a
Vas t ex ca va tion
I ts width it was imp ossible to m a ke out ;
th e shore on either h a nd widening ra pidly until lost to
sight ; while its length was equ a lly un certa in
A ha ze on
the dista nt horizon bounded our view As to its height
we could see tha t it must be ma ny miles to the roof
Look ing upwa rd it was impossible to discover where the
stupendous roof bega n
The lowes t of the clouds must
ha ve been oa ting a t a n eleva tion of two thousa nd ya rds
a height grea ter th a n th a t of te rrestria l va pors wh ich cir
cum sta n ce wa s dou b tless o win g to the extreme densi ty of
the a ir
I use the word ca vern in ord er to give a n idea of th e
pl a ce I ca nn ot describe its a wful gra ndeur ; huma n
l a n gua ge fa ils to convey a n idea of its sa va ge sublim ity
Whether this singula r va cuum h a d or ha d not been ca us ed
by the sudden cooling of the ea rth when in a sta te of
fus ion I could not sa y I ha d rea d of most wonderful
a n d giga ntic ca vern s
but none in a n y wa y like this
The grea t grotto of Gu a ch a ra in Colum bia visited by
the lea rned Humboldt ; the va st a n d p a rtia lly explored
M a mmoth Ca ve in Kentucky ; wha t were thes e holes in
the ea rth to tha t in which I stood in speechless a dmira
tion ! with its va pory clouds its electric light a n d the
mighty ocea n slumberin g in its bosom ! Im a gina tion n ot
des cription ca n a lone give a n idea of the splendor a n d
vas tness of the ca ve
I ga zed a t these ma rvels in profound silen ce Words
,

7 2 A JOUR NE Y

T O T HE

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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 oated i
n eecy clouds from rock
to rock indicated hot springs which also poured their su
per uity into the v a st reser voir 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 owing 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 was attracted by an u n ex
After we had gone about ve hundred
pected spectacle
yards we suddenly turned a steep promontory and found
ourselves close to a lofty forest ! I t consisted of straight
trun ks with tu fted tops in shape like paras ols The a ir
Which in spite
seemed to have no effect upon these trees
of a tolerable breeze remained as still and motionless as if
they had been petried
I hastened forward I could nd 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
When we at
discovery of a new gro wth ? By no means
last reached the forest and stood benea th the trees my
surprise gave way to admiration
In truth I wa s simply in the pres ence of a very ordi
nary product of the earth of singul a r and gigantic
proportions My uncle unhesita tingly called them by their
real names

It is only he said in h is coolest manner a forest of

mushroom s
On close examination I found that he wa s not mistaken
,

CE N RA L S E A.

T HE

73

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 c i rcumference but here were white
mushrooms nearly forty feet high and with tops of equal

s
s
men
ion
They
grew
in
coun
t
le
s
s
thou
and
the light
s
di
s
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 forest wa s intense For nearly an hour we
wandered a bout in this darkness vi sible At length I left
the spot and once more returned to the shores of the lake
to l i ght and comparative warmth
But the amazing vegetati on of subterraneous land was
not conned to gigantic mushrooms New wonders awaited
We had not gone many hundred yards
u s at every step
when we came upon a mighty group of other trees with dis
colored leavesthe common humb le trees of mother earth
of an exorb itant and phenomenal size : lycopodes a hun
dred feet high ; owering fern s a s tall a s pines ; gigantic
gras ses

Astonishing magnicent splendid ! cried m y 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 rst ages of the world
were m ighty 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 was
required wa s n ow excusable

You are right uncle I remarked

Providence a p
pears to have des igned the preser vation in this vast and
m ysteri ou s hot hous e of anted i luvian plants to prove the
sagacity of learned men in gur ing them so marvellously

on paper
Well said my boyvery well said ; it is in deed a
mighty hot
house but you would also be within the
J udge

of

4A

JOURN E Y T O

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or

T HE

A R TH

bounds of reas on and common sense if you als o a dded

vas t menagerie
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 L ook at the dust we are trea ding under
footbehold the bones with which the whole soil of the
sea shore is covered

Bones I replied ye
certain ly the bones of ant e
s

diluvian animals
I stooped down a s I spoke and picked up one or two
It was easy to give
si n gular remain s relics of a by gone age
a name to these gigantic bones in some instances a s b i g 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
these plants Look yonder are whole skeletonsa n d
,

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 wa s my

reply

Wh y not ? said my uncle with very much of his old

professional impatien ce
Because it is well k n o wn that animal life only existe d
on earth du ring the secondary period when the sedim en
tary soil was formed by the alluviums and thus replaced

n
th e hot a n d burni g rocks of th e primitive age
,

76

A JOURNE Y T O

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OF

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AR TH

Durin g certa in periods there wa s an utter cessation of

wind when a silence deeper more terrible than the silence
of 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 tear down the veil
which concealed the m ysterious distance Wh at u nspoken
words were murmured by my trembling lipswhat
questions 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 matter He was
convinced that our enterprise would in the end he success
ful F or my part I wa s in a state of painful indec ision
I desired to embark on the journey and to succeed and
still I feared the result
After we had passed a n hour or more in silent contem
pla tion of the wondrou s spectacle we rose and went down
to wards the ban k on our way to the grotto which I was
not sorry to ga in After a slight repas t I sought refuge
in slumber and at length after many and tedious strug
gles sleen came over my wea ry eyes
,

CHAPTER XX VIII

AUNCHI N G

T HE

AFT

ON the morning of the next day, to my great surp rise, I

woke completely restored I thought a bath would be

delightful after my long illn ess and sufferings So soon
after rising I went and plunged in to the waters of this new
Mediterranea n
The bath was cool fresh and in vigo
rating
I came back to brea kfas t with an excellent appetite
Hans our wor thy guide thoroughly understood how to
cook such eatables a s we were able to provide ; he had
both re and water at discretion so that he was enabled
slightly to vary the wea r y monotony of our ordinary t e
pas t
O ur morning meal was like a capital English breakfast
with coffee by way of a wind up And never had this
delic i ous beverage been so welcome and refreshing
My uncle had suf cient regard for my state of health
not to interrupt me i n the enjoyment of the mea l but he
wa s evidently delighted when I had nished

Now then said he come with me It is the height

of the tide and I am anxious to study its curious phe

nomena

What I cried risin g in as tonishm ent, did you sa y

the tide uncle ?

Certainly I d i d

You do not mean to sa y I replied in a tone of r e

s pectfu l doubt
that the in uence of the sun and moon

is felt here below

An d pray why not ? Are not all bodies inuenced by

the law of universal attr action ? Why should this vas t
a

'

7S A JOUR NE Y T O

T HE

OF

CE N RE

THE E

AR T H

un derg roun d sea be exempt from the general law the rule
qf the universe ? Bes ides there is nothing like that which
is proved and demo n strated . D esp ite the great atm os
e that this in la n d
pher ic pressure d own here you will notic
se
a rises and fa lls w ith a s much egula r ty as the Atla n t
ic
i
r
,

'

'

itse

As

reached th e sa ndy s hor e and

sa w: and h e
ard the waves brea kin g monoton ously on the
b ea ch They wer e eviden tly rising

This is truly
I cri ed lookin g at the water a t
y uncle

'

'

:feet

Y es ,

my excellent nephew replied my uncle rubbin g

you see
his h ands wi th the gusto of a
by th ese several str ea ks of foam that the tide rises at lea st
ten or twelve fee

It is indeed marvellous

Bym o means he responded ; on the contr ary it is

quite n atural
It m ay appea r so in your eyes m y dear u n cle was
m y reply
but the wh ole phenomena of the place appear
to me to pa rta ke of the m arvellous It is alm ost im possi
b le to believe that which I see Who in his wildes t
dreams could have imagined that beneath the crust of our
earth there could exist a real ocean with ebbin g an d ow
ing tides with its changes of Winds, and eve n its storms

I for one should have laughed the suggestion to scorn

But Harry my boy why not inquired my un cle

n
with a pityi g smile is there a n y physica l r ea son in op

position to it i
Well if we give up the great th eory of th e central heat
of th e earth; I certainly can o ffer n o rea s ons wh
y anything

should be looked upon as impo ssible

Then you will own he added that th e system of

S ir Humphrey Davy is wholly j ustied by what we have

seen 7
,

'

'

LAUN CHIN G

TE E

A FT

r 79

I allow that it is
a n d that point once gr a nted I cer
ta in ly can see no reason for doubting the exi stence of seas and

other wonders even countries in the inter ior of the globe

That is sobut of cour se these varied coun tries are
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 sh

Hitherto we have not discovered any and the proba

i
bilit es are rather again st our ever doing so observed the
P ro fessor
I was losing my skepti cism in th e presen ce of these
Wonders
Well I am determined to solve the question It is my
in tention to try my luck with my shing line a n d hook
Certainly ; make the ex per im en
said my uncle
pleas ed with my enthusiasm
While we are about it it
will certainly be only proper to di scover a ll the secrets of

this extraordinary region

But afte r all where are we now ? I asked ; a ll this

time I have quite forgotten to ask you a question which
doubtless your philosophical instrumen ts have long sin ce

answered

Well replied the Professor examinin g the situ atio n

from only on e poin t of view we are now distant three

a
hundred and fty le gues from Iceland

So much ? was my excla mation

I have gone over the matter several tim es a n d am

sure not to have made a mis ta ke of ve hundred yards

replied my uncle positively
And a s to the directionare we still going to the
south eas t
Y es with a western declination * of nineteen degrees
Th d c li na tion is th va r ia ti on f th e n eed l f
th e t u
r i dia n
of a pl c
,

e.

r om

e m e

80

A JOU RNE Y T O

T HE

OF

CE N RE

T HE

AR TH

minu tes ust as it is above As for the in cline

*
tion I have dis covered a very cu riou s fact
What may that be uncle ? Your informa tion in

r
e
s
te
ts me
Why th at 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

earth and the spot we have succeeded in reaching

Exactly my ob servant nephew exclaimed my uncle

elated and delighted and it is quite probable that if we
s omewhere
succeed in getting toward the polar regions
near the seventy third degree of latitude where Sir J ames
Ross discovered the magnetic pole we shall behold the
needle point directly upward We have therefore dis
covered by analogy that this grea t centre of attr action is
not situated at a very great dept

Well said I rather surprised this discovery will

astonis h experimental philosophers It wa s never sus
forty-two

pected

Science great mighty and in the end unerring r e

plied my un cle dogmatically
s cience h a s fallen in to
many errorserrors which have been fortunate and useful
rather than otherwise for they have been the stepping
stones to trut
After some further discussion I turned to another
matter

Have you any idea of the depth we have reached ?

We are now continued th e Pro fessor exactly thirty

d own into the in
ve lea guesabove a hundred miles

ter ior of th e earth

So said I after m easuring the dista nce on the m a p

,

I cl i
n

is th e dip
ea r th .

na t o n

towa r d s th e

of

th e

m a

ic

n et

n ee d e

wi th

ten den

cy t

in clin e

82

JOUR NE Y T O

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or T HE

AR TH

Probably but what extent do you a llow to this in ter~

n al ocean ?
Well I should fa ncy it to extend about forty or fty

leagues more or less

But even supposing this approximation to be a correct
on e
what then ? I asked
My dea r boy we have no time for fu rther discussion

We sh a ll embark to morrow
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

but down here a ra ft

A raft I cried incredulous ly
is a s impossible of cons truction as a vessel and I a m at
a loss to imagine
My good Harryif you were to listen ins tead of ta lk

in g so much you wou ld hear said my uncle waxin g a

little impatient

I should hear ?
Y es certain knock s with the hammer which Hans is
now employing to make the raft He h as been at work

for many hours

Making a raft ?
,

Y es

But where h as he found trees suita ble 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 fOI
lowed my uncle like one in a dream
A fter a walk of about a quarter of an hour I sa w Han s a t
.

LAU NCHI N G

T HE

RA

FT

83

work on the other side of the promontory which formed our

natural port A few min utes more and I wa s beside him
To my great su rprise on the sandy shore lay a half n ished
raft It wa s made from beams of a very peculiar wood and
a grea t number of limbs joints boughs and pieces lay
about suicien t to have constructed a eet of ships and boats
I turned to my uncle silent with astonishment and awe
Where did all this wood come from ? I cried

what wood is it ?
Well there is pine wood r a n d the palms of the

n orthern regions m ineralized by the action of the sea he

r eplied sententiously
Can it be possible

what you see is

Y es said the learned Pro fessor

called foss il wood

But then cried I after reecting for a moment

like the l igni tes it must be a s hard and as heavy as iron,

a n d therefore will certainly not oat

Sometimes that is the cas e Many of these woods
have b ecome true anthracites b ut others agai n like those
you see before you have only undergone one pha se of
fossi l transformat i on
But there is no proof like demon

added my uncle picking one or two of these

strati on
prec i ous waifs and cas ti ng them into the sea
The piece of wood after having disappea red for a mo
ment came to the sur face and oated a b out with the
oscillati on produced by wi nd and tide

Are you convinced ? said my uncle with a sel f

sa tised smile

I am convi nced I cried that what I see is incredible

The fact was that m y journey into the interior of the
earth wa s rapidly changi ng a ll preconceived notions and
da y by day prepari ng me for the marvellous
I should not have been surprised to have seen a eet of
native canoes aoat upon that silent sea
.

4A

18

JOURNE Y

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or THE E

AR TH

The very n ext even ing

ty of Hans the raft was n ished
It was about ten feet
long and ve feet wide The beams bound together with
stout ropes were solid and rm and on ce laun ched by our
u nited efforts the improvised vessel oated
the waters of wha t the Professor ha d well n a med the Cen
,

TO

86 A JOURNE Y

or T HE

T HE

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AR T H

Well ; out with it

I should like to call it Gretchen Por t Gretc hen will

sound very well on our future map

Well then Port Gretchen let it be said the Professor

And thus it was that the memory of my dear girl was
a ttached to our adventurou s and memorable exp editio n
When we left the shore the wind was blowing fr om the
n orthward and eas tward We went directly before th e
wind at a much grea ter speed than m ight have been ex
The dens e layers of atm osphere at
pected from a raft
that depth had great propellin g power and acte d upo n the
sail with con siderable force
At the end of an hour my uncle who had been ta king
careful observations was enabled to judge of th e rapidity
seen
I t wa s fa r beyond an
with which we moved
in the upper world

he
aid
we continue to advance at our pres ent
s
If
rate we shall have travelled at least thirty lea gues in
twenty four hours Wi th a mere ra ft this is a n almost

in credible velocity
I certainly was surprised and without mak in g an y reply
went forward upon the raft Already the nor thern shore
The two
wa s fading away on the edge of the hori zon
shores appeared to separate more and more leaving a wide
and open S pace for our departure Before me I could see
nothin g but the vast and apparently limitless sea upon
which we oa tedthe only living obj ects in sight
Huge and d a rk clouds cast their grey shadows below
shadows which seemed to cru sh that colorless and sullen
water by their weight Anyth i ng more suggestive of gloom
and of regions of neth er darkness I never beheld Silvery
rays of electric light reec ted here and there upon some
s mall spots of water brought up luminous sparkles in the
long wake of our cumbrous bark Pres ently we were
wholly out of sight of land not a vestige could be seen
.

it

ON T HE

WATE R S A

A FT VOYAGE

87

nor any indication of where we were going So sti ll a n d

motionless d i d we seem w
ithout any distant point to x
our eyes on that b ut 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 sides I wa s
aware of the extraordinary vegetati ve 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 giganti c and won
der ful a s those of the Central Sea
I could well imagine
how seen at a d istance tossing and heaving on the summit
of the b illows the long lines of Algae have b een taken for
living things and thus have b een the fertile sources of the
b eli ef i n 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 incredi bly long looking like snakes that stretched
out fa r beyond our horizon I t afforded me great am use
m ent to gaze on their variegated
ribbon like endless
lengths Hour after hour pa sed without our coming to
the termination of these oating weeds I f my as tonish
m ent increased my pat i ence wa s well n i gh exhausted
What natural force could possibly have produced such
ab normal and extraordinary plants ? What mus t have
been the aspect of the glob e during the rst centuries of
its formation when un der the comb ined action of heat
and humid ity the vegetable ki ngdom occupied its vast
s ur face 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 were advancing on our journey ; and
a t length night came ; but a s I had remarked the evening
.

88 A

JOURNE Y

CE NT RE

T o T HE

E AR T H .

T HE

or

before the luminous state of the atmosph ere wa s in no

thing diminished Whatever was the cause it was 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 di sposed of and some
little speculative conversation indulged in I stretch ed m y
sel f a t the foot of the ma ss and pres ently went to sleep
Hans remained motionless at the tiller allowing the
The wind being a ft
r a ft to ri se and fall on the waves
and the sail square all he had to do was 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 directed me
to keep a regular log of our day s navigation with in
str u ctions to put down even the most minute par ticulars
every interesting and curious phenomenon the dir ection
of the wind our rate of sa i ling the d ista nce we went ; in a
word every incident of our extraordi nary voyage
F rom our log therefore I tell the story of our voyage
on th e C entral Sea
F riday August 1 4
A steady breeze fr om the north
th
west Ra ft progressing with extreme rapidity and goi ng
perfectly straight Coast still dimly visible about thirty
leagues to leeward Nothing to be seen beyond the hori
zon in front The ex tr a or din a r v intensity of the light
neither i n creases nor dimini shes It is si ngularly station
ary The weather remarkably ne ; that is to sa y the
clouds have ascen ded very high a n d are light and eecy
and surrounded by an atmosphere resembl ing silver in
fusion
Thermometer
32 degrees centigrade
About twelve o clock in the day our guide Hans having
prepared and baited a hook cas t his line into the sub ter
ra n ea n waters
The bait he used wa s a small piece of
Anxious
m eat by means of which he concea led his hook
,

A JOU RNE Y T O

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'

OF THE E AR TH

ngular scales covered with bright enamelforming on e

of the family of the Ceph a la sPides of the genus

Well sir I remarked as I noticed my un cle hesi

ta ted to conclude
To the Genus Pterych tisyes I am certain of it
Still though I am condent of the co r rectn ess of my sur
mi se this sh o ffers to our notice a remarkable peculi
a r ity never kno wn to e xist in any other sh but those
which are the natives of subterranean water s 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 n ow examin ed our discovery for mys elf It was sin
gular to be sure but it wa s really a fact This however
might be a solitary i nstance I suggested The hook was
baited again and once more thrown into the water This
subterranean ocean must have been tolerably well supplied
with sh for in two hours we took a large number of
P terychtis a s well a s other sh belonging to another su p
posed extin ct familythe Dipterides ( a genus of sh
furnished with two n s only whence the name) though
my uncle could not cl ass it exactly All without ex cep
tion however were blind This unexpected captu r e en
abled u s to renew our stock of provisions i n a very satis
factory way
We were now convin ced that this Subterranea n S ea
contain ed only sh kno wn to u s a s fossil specimen s
and
sh a n d reptiles alike wer e a ll the more perfect the
farther back they dated their origi n
We began to hope that we should nd some of those
Saurians which scien ce h as succeeded i n reco ns tructing
from bits of bone or cartilage
a

T HE

CE

NT R A L

S E A.

1 91

I took up the telescope and carefully examined the

hori zonlooked over the whole sea ; it wa s utterly and
entirely deserted Doub tless we were still too near the
coast
After an examination of the ocean I looked upward
towards the strange and mysteri ous sky Wh y should not
one of the birds reconstructed by the immortal Cuvier
ap his stupendous wings aloft in the d ull strata of sub
terranean air ? It would of course nd quite suicien t
food from the sh in the sea
I gazed for some time upon
the void above It wa s as silent and as deserted a s the
shores we had but lately le ft
Nevertheless though I could nei ther see nor discover
anyth i ng my imaginati on carri ed me away into wild
hypothes es I wa s in a kind of waking dr eam I thought
I sa w on the sur face of the water those enormous a n tedilu
vi an turtles as b ig a s oati ng islands Upon those dull
and sombre shores passed a spectral row of the mamm i
f ers of early days the great L eptoth er iu m found in the
cavernous hollow of the Brazil ian b ills the Mesico
th er iu m
a native of th e glaci al regions of Sib eria
Farther on the pachydermatous L oph r odon that g i
g a n tic tap i r which concealed itsel f b eh i nd rocks ready
to do battle for its prey with the An oplotherium a
singular animal partaking of the nature of the rh i nocero s
the horse the hippopotamus and the camel
There wa s the giant Mastodon twisting and turning his
horri d trunk wi th whi ch b e crushed the rocks of the shore
to powder while the Megatheriumhis back raised l ike a
cat in a pas sion h is enormous claws stretched out dug
i n to the earth for food at the same time that he a woke
th e sonorous echoes of the whole place with h is terrible
roar
Hi gher up still the rst m onkey ever seen on the face
of the glo b e clam b ered gambol i ng and playing up the
.

A JOURNE Y

1 92

CE N T RE OF

T o T HE

E AR TH.

T HE

hills S till fa rther away ran the Pterodactyl

with the win ged hand gliding or rather sai lin g through
th e dens e an d compressed air like a huge bat
Above a ll near the leaden granitic sk y were immens e
birds more powerful than the cas oar giants to the ostrich
which spread their mighty win gs and uttered agai nst th e
hu ge stone vault of the inland sea
I thoug ht such was the effect of my im agina tio n th at I
I carried
sa w thi s whole tr ibe of antediluvian crea tures
m yself back to fa r ages long before man existedwhen
in fa ct the earth wa s i n too imperfect a sta te for him to
live upo n it
My drea m wa s of coun tless ages before the e xisten ce of
man The mammifers rst disappeared then the mighty
birds then the repti les of the secondary period presently
the sh the crustacea the molluscs and nally 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 cli m ates ;
the natural hea t of th e world increas ed uncea sin gly an d
n eutralized that of the gr eat radiant Sun
Vegetation was exaggerated in an extraordinary man
n er I passed like a shado w in the midst of bru hwood
a s lofty a s th e giant trees of C alifornia and tr od un der
foot the moist and humid soil reeking with a ra nk an d
varied vegetation
I leaned against th e huge column like trunk s of giant
trees to which those of C anada were as ferns \Vhole
ages passed h u ndreds upon hundreds of years were coneen
tr a ted into a single day
Next u nrolled before m e like a panorama came the
grea t and wondrous series of terrestrial transformations
gra nite

4A

19

JOURN E Y T O

T HE

CE

NTRE OF

T HE

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

Nono ; but I have had an extraord inary dream It

however h a s passed away All n ow seems well I added

looki n g around me with strangely puzzled eyes

All right said my uncle ; a beautiful br eeze 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 sorr y to exchange the narrow limits of our

raft for the mysterious strand of the Subterranean O cean

As my uncle uttered these words I rose and carefully
scanned the hor rizon
But the lin e of water was still con
founded with the lower ing clouds that hu n g aloft and in
the di stan ce appeared to touch th e edge of th e water
,

CHAP TER XXX

TE R R

I F IC S AUR IA N

S ATU R DAY, August 1 5

COMB

AT

The sea still retains its uni

The same leaden hue the same etern al
form mono tony
glare from above No in dicati on 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 an d heavy from the effects of my
extr aordina ry 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 unaccoun table humors
Spends his
time in scanning the horizon at every point of the com
pass His telescope is rai sed every moment to his eyes
and when he nds 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 resum e his old impatient character and I L
could not but make a note of this disagreeable circum
I sa w clearly that it had required
stance ia m y J ourn al
all the inuence of my danger and suffering to extract
from him one scintillation of h umane feeling Now that
I wa s quite recovered his original n ature had conquered
and obtained the upper hand
An d after all what had he to be angry and annoyed
about n ow more than at any other time ? \Vas not the
journey being accomplished under the most favorable cir
Was not the raft progressing with the most
cu m sta n ces ?
m a rvellous rapidity ?
.

A JOU R N E Y

96

CE N T RE OF

T O T HE

T HE

AR T H

What then could be the matter ? After one or two

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
and down muttering to himself

No I am not unea s y he replied in a dr y 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 a t a rate seldom atta in ed

by a raft I remarked

hat
matter
s
that
?
cried
my
uncle
I am not
W
vexed at the rate we go at but I am annoyed to nd the

sea so much v as ter than I expected

I then recollected that the Profe sor before our depar
ture had estimated the length of this Subterran ean O ccam
N ow we had travelled at
a s at most about thirty leagues
leas t over thrice that d istance without dis covering any
trace of the di stant shore I began to un dersta nd my
uncle s anger

We are not goin g down suddenly exclaimed the Pro

I ve are n ot progressing with our great dis
fessor
All this is utter loss of time After all I di d
cover ies
not come from ho m e to undertake a party of plea sure
Thi s voyage on a raft over a pond ann oys and wearies

me
He called this adventurous journey a party of pleasure
and thi s 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 em m
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 r e h as it
A r e we following the route in dicated
by that wondrous sage ? Did S a k n ussem m ever fall in
,

A JOUR NE Y T O

98

T HE

CE N R E

OI

"

T HE

AR TH

out to the extent of two hundred fathoms We had the

greatest dif culty in hoisting in our novel k in d of lead
When the crowbar wa s nally dragged o n board Ha ns
called my atten tio n to som e singular ma rks upon its sur
The piece of iron looked as if it had been crushed
face
between two very hard substa nces
I looked at our wor thy guide with a n in quirin g gla nce

Tnder said he
Of course I wa s at a loss to u nderstand I turned ro und
towards my uncle absorbed in gloomy reections 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 icantly opened his mouth
once or twice a s if in the act of biting and in this way
made me understand h is meaning
Teeth l cried I with stupefaction as I examin ed th e
bar of iron with more attention
Y es
There ca n 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 !
Have we then come upon a monster of unk n own species
which still exists within the vas t waste of watersa
monster mor e voracious than a shark more terrible and
bulky tha n 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 upo n thes e speculations
and my imagination scarcely regained a degree of calm
n ess and power of reection until after a sleep of many
hours
Thi s day as on other S undays we observed a s a day of
rest and pious meditation
Monday August 1 7 th I have been tryi ng to rea lize
from memory the particular ins tincts of th ose a ntediluvian
.

TE R R I FIC SAURI A N

OM BAT

1 99

animals of the seco ndary period which succeeding to the

mollus ca to the crustacea and to the sh preceded the
appearance of the race of mammifers The generation of
reptiles then reigned supreme upon the earth
These
hideous mons ters ruled ever ythin g 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 or ganization What a gigantic structur e wa s
theirs ; what vast and prodigi ous stren gth they possessed !
The exis tin g Saurians which include allsuch 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 an imals of ages long ago I f there
were giants in the da ys of old there were also gigantic
a nimals
I shuddered as I evolved from my mind the idea and
recollection of these awful monsters No eye of m a n had
in the esh
They took their walks abroad
seen them
upon the face of the earth thousands of ages before man
ca m e in to existence and their fossil bones discovered in
the limestone have allowed us to reconstruct them a na
tom ica lly and th us to get some fa int idea of th eir colossal
formation
I recollect once seein g i n the great Museum of Ham
burg the skeleton of one of thes e wonderful Sa urians It
measured no less than thirty feet from the nose to the tail
Am I then an inhabita n t of the earth of the pres ent day
des tined to n d myself face to face with a representative of
this antediluvian family ? I can s carcely believe it possi
ble ; can hardly believe it true An d yet these marks of
powerful teeth upon 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
n ean sea Every moment I expect one of thes e monsters
to rise from its vas t cavernous depths
,

20 0

J O UR N E Y TO

T HE

C E N TR E O F

E AR

T HE

TH

I fa ncy tha t the worthy Professor in some mea sure

sh a res my n otio n s if not my fea rs for a fter a n a ttentive
exa mina tion of the crowba r he ca st h is eyes ra pidly over
the mighty a n d mysterious ocea n

Wh a t could possess him to lea ve the l a nd I thought

a s if the depth of this wa ter wa s of a n y im porta nce to u s

N o doubt he h a s distu rbed some te rrible mons ter in h is
wa tery home a n d perha ps we m a y pa y dea rly for our
,

tern er it

y
Anx ious
.

to be prepa red for the wo rst I exa min ed our

wea pons a n d sa w th a t they were in a t sta te for use My
uncle looked on a t me a n d nodded his hea d a pprovin gly
He too h a s noticed wh a t we h a ve to fea r
Alrea dy the uplifting of the wa ters on the sur fa ce indi
The da nger a p
ca tes th a t something is in motion below
It comes nea rer a n d nea rer It behooves us to
pr oa ch es
be on the wa tch
Tuesda y August 1 8 Evening ca me a t l a st the hour
when the desire for sleep ca used our eyelids to be hea vy
Nig ht there is not properly spea king in this pl a ce a n y
more th a n there is in summer in the a rctic regions H a ns
however is immov a ble a t the rudder When he sn a tches
a m oment of res t I rea lly ca nnot sa y
I ta ke a dva nta ge
of his vigil a nce to ta ke some little repo se
But two hours a fter I wa s a w a kened from a hea vy sleep
by a n a wful shock The ra ft a ppea red to h a ve struck
u pon a sunken rock
It wa s lifted righ t out of th e wa ter
by some wondrous a n d mysterious power a n d then sta rted
off twenty fa thom s di sta nt

Eh wh a t is it
cried my uncle sta rting u p a r e we

shipwrecked or wh a t ?
H a ns ra ised his h a nd a n d pointed to where a bout two
hundred ya rd s off a huge bl a ck ma ss wa s moving up a n d
down I looked with a we My wo rst fea rs were rea lized

It is a colossa l monster 1 I cried cla sping my h a nds

,

20 2

JOU RNE Y TO

CE N TRE

T HE

OF

T HE

E AR

TH

I a m a b out a t a ll risks to r e a n d try the effect of a

Ha ns the guide however interfered by a sign to
shot
check me The two hideous a n d ra venous mons ters pa ssed
within fty fa thoms of the ra ft a n d then ma de a rush a t
one a nothertheir fury a n d ra ge preventing them fr o?
se e ing us
The comba t commenced We distinctly m a de ou t
ver y a ction of the two hideous mons ters
e
But to my excited ima gina tion the other a nim a ls a p
e
a
r ed a bout to ta ke p a rt in the erce a n d dea dly strugg le
p
the monster the wha le the liza rd a n d the turtle I
distinctly sa w them every moment I pointed them out
But he only shook his head
to the Icel a nder

Tva
he sa id

Wha t two o nly does he sa y Surely he is m is ta ken

I cried in a ton e of wonder

He is quite right replied my un cle coolly a n d philo

sophica lly ex a mining the terrible duel with his teles cope
n a lecture roo m
a n d spea king a s if he were i
How ca n th a t be ?
Y es it is so
The rst of these hideous mons ters has
the snout of a porpoise the hea d of a liza rd the teeth of a
crocodile ; a n d it is this tha t ha s deceived us It is the most
fea rful of a ll a ntediluvia n reptiles the world renowned

Ichthyosa urus or Grea t F ish Liza rd

And the other ?

The other is a monstrous serpent concea led under the
h a rd va ulted shell of the turtle the terrible enemy of its

a
f
fe r ul riva l the Ples io sa urus or S ea Crocodile
Ha ns wa s quite right The two monsters only distur bed
the surfa ce of the sea !
At la s t ha ve morta l eyes ga zed upon two reptiles of the
grea t primitive ocea n ! I see the a ming red eyes of th e
Ichthyosa uru s ea ch as big or bigger tha n a ma n s hea d
Na ture in its innite wisdom ha d gifted this wondrous
,

T hese

a n im a ls

o ught w ith

fury

20

4A

J OURN E Y T O

T HE

CE N T RE

OF

T HE

E AR

TH

Once or twice we fa ncied they were a bout to lea ve us a lto

gether but in stea d of tha t they ca me nea rer a n d nea rer
We crouch ed on the ra ft rea dy to re a t them a t a
momen t s notice poor as the prospect of hurting or terri
Still we wer e determined not to perish
fyin g them wa s
without a struggle
Suddenly the Ichthyosa urus a n d the Plesiosa ur us dis
a ppea red benea th the wa ves lea ving behind them a ma el
We were very nea rly dr a wn
stro m in the mid st of the sea
down by the indra ught of the wa ter !
Severa l minutes el a psed before a nything wa s a ga in s een
Wa s this wonderful comba t to en d in the dep ths of the
ocea n ? Wa s the la st a ct of this terrible dra ma to ta ke
pla ce without specta tors ?
It wa s impossible for us to sa y
Suddenly a t no grea t dista nce from us a n enorm ous
m a ss rises out of the wa tersthe hea d of the grea t Ples i
osa u r us
The terrible monster is n ow wounded unto dea th
I ca n see nothing now of his enormous b ody All th a t
could be distin guished was h is serpent like neck which he
twisted a n d curled in a ll the a gonies of dea th Now he
f it h a d been a giga ntic whip
struck the wa ters with it a s i
The
a n d then a ga in wriggled like a worm cut in two
wa ter was spurted up to a grea t dista nce in a ll d irections
A grea t portion of it swept over our ra ft a n d nea rly blinded
But soon the end of the bea st a pproa ched nea rer a n d
us
nea rer ; his movements sl a ckened visibly ; his contortions
a lmost ceased ; a n d a t l as t the body of the mighty sn a ke
la y a n inert dea d mass on the surfa ce of the n ow c a lm a n d
pla cid wa ters
As for the Ichthyosa urus h as he gone down to h is
mighty ca vern under the sea to rest or will he rea ppea r to
d es troy u s ?
This question rema ined una nswered An d we h a d
b rea thing time

CHAPTE R
T HE

S EA

XXXI

MON S TE R

WE DN E S D AY August 1 9 Fortuna tely the wind which

a t the present blows with grea t violence ha s a llowed us to
es ca pe fr om the scene of the unpa ra leled a n d ex tr a or di
l
na ry struggle
Ha ns with h is usua l imperturba ble ca lm
r ema in ed a t the helm
My uncle who for a short time
h a d been withdr a wn from his a bsorbin g reverie by the
novel incidents of this sea ght fell ba ck a ga in a ppa rently
into a brown study All th is tim e however his eyes were
xed impa tiently on the widw pr ea d ocea n
O ur voya ge n ow beca me m onotonous a n d uniform Dull
a s it h a s become I ha ve no desire to h a ve it broken by
y repetition of the perils a n d a dventures of yesterda y
Thursda y August 20 The wind is now N N E a n d
blows very irregula rly It has ch a nged to tful gusts
The tempera ture is exceedin gly high We a r e now pro
gressing a t the a vera ge ra te of a bout ten miles a n d a h a lf
per hour
About twelve o clock a dista nt sound a s of thunder fell
upon our ea rs I m a ke a note of the fa ct without even
venturing a sugges tion as to its ca use It was one con
tinned ro a r as of a sea fa llin g over mighty rocks

Fa r off in the dis ta nce sa id the Professor dogma tic

there is some rock or some is la nd a ga ins t which the
a lly
sea l ashed to fury by the wind is brea king violently
Ha ns without sa ying a word cla mbered to the top of
the ma st but could ma ke out nothing Th e ocea n wa s
level in every direction as fa r a s the eye could rea ch
Three hours passed a wa y without a n y sign to indica te
wha t might be before us The sound bega n to a ssume
tha t of a mighty ca ta ra ct
.

20 6

J O URN E Y

CE N TRE

T O T HE

T HE

or

E AR

TH

I expressed my opinion on tin s point strongly to m y

He merely shook his h ea d I however a m
u ncle
not wrong
strongly impress ed by a con viction tha t I a m
Are we a dva ncing towa rds some mighty wa ter fa ll which
Proba bly this mode of de
sh a ll c as t u s into the a byss ?
scending into the a byss m a y be a greea ble to the Professor
beca use it would be something like the vertica l descent he
I enterta in a very different opinion
is so ea ger to m a ke
Wha tever be the truth it is certa in th a t not ma ny
lea gues dista nt there mus t be some very extra ordin a ry
phenomenon for as we a dva nce the roa r becomes something
mighty a n d stupendous I s it in the wa ter or in the a ir ?
I cas t h a sty gla nces a loft a t the suspended va pors a n d
I seek to penetra te their mighty depths But the v a ult
a bove is tra nquil
The clouds which a r e now eleva ted to
the very summit a ppea r utterly still a n d motionless a n d
completely lost in the irra dia tion of electr ic light It is
necessa ry therefore to seek for the ca use of this phenom
enon elsewhere
I exa mine the horizon now perfectly ca lm pure a n d
free from a ll h a ze
I ts a spect still rem a ins unch a nged
But if this a wful noise proceeds from a ca ta ra ctif so to
spea k in pl a in English thi s v a st interior ocea n is
pr ecipi
ta ted into a lower b as inif these tremendous ro a rs a r e
produced by the noise of fa lling wa ters the current would
increas e in a ctivity a n d its increas ing swi ftness would give
me some idea of the extent of the peril with which we a r e
mena ced I consult the current It simply does n ot
exist : there is n o such thing An empty bottle cas t into
the wa ter lies to l eewa rd without motion
About four o clock Ha ns rises cla mbers up the m ast
a n d rea ches the truck itsel f
From this eleva ted position
his looks a r e ca st a round
They ta ke in a v as t circumfer
ence of the ocea n At l as t h is eyes rem a in x ed His
fa ce expresses no a stonishment but his eyes slightly dil a te
.

20 8

J O U RN E Y

T o T HE

CE N TRE

E AR

T HE

or

TH

th a n two lea gues from the mighty beas t I ts long bla ck

enormous mounta inous body lies on the top of the wa ter
like a n isla nd
But then sa ilors h a ve been sa id to h a ve
gone as hore on sleeping wh a les mista king them for l a nd
I s it illusion or is it fea r ? I ts length c a nnot be less tha n
Wh a t then is this ceta ceous mon
a thousa nd fa thoms
ster of which no Cuvier ever thou ght ?
It is quite motionless a n d presents the a ppea r a nce of
The sea seems un a ble to lift him u pwa rds ; it is
sleep
ra ther the wa ves which brea k on his huge a n d giga ntic
fra me
The w a ter spout rising to a height of ve hun
dred feet bre a ks in spra y with a dull sullen roa r
We a dva n ce like senseless luna tics towa rds this mighty
.

m a ss.

I honestly confess th a t I wa s a bjectly a fra id I decla red

th a t I would go no fa rther I threa tened in my terror to
cut the sheet of the sa il I a tta cked the Professor with
considera ble a crimony ca lling him foolh a rdy m a d I k no w
not wh a t He m a de no a nswer
Suddenly the imperturb a ble Ha ns once more pointed
h is nger to the mena cing obj ect
.

Helm

An isl a nd ! cried my uncle

An isla nd ? I replied shrugging my shoulders a t this

poor a ttempt a t d eception

Of course it is cried m y uncle bursting into a loud

a n d joyous l a ugh

But the wa ter spout ?

Geyser sa id Ha ns

Y es of course a geyser
replied m y uncle still
l a u ghing a geyser like those common in Icela nd J ets

like this a r e the gr ea t wonders of the countr y

At rst I would not a llow th a t I ha d been so grossly
deceived Wh a t could be more ridiculous th a n to ha ve
ta ken a n isl a nd for a ma rine monster ? But kick as on e
.

T HE

SEA

MON STE R

20 9

one must yield to evidence a n d I wa s na lly con

vin ced of my error
It wa s nothing a fter a ll but a
n a tura l phenomenon
As we a ppro a ched nea rer a n d nea rer the dimensions of
the liquid shea f of wa ters beca me truly gra nd a n d stu
pendous The isl a nd ha d a t a dista nce pres ented the
a ppea ra nce of a n enormous wha le whos e hea d rose high
a bove the wa ters
The geyser a word the Icel a nders pro
nounce geysir a n d which signies fury rose majestica lly
om its summit
Dull detona tions a r e hea rd every n ow
a n d then
a n d the enormous jet ta ken a s it were with
sudden fury sh a kes its plume of va por a n d bounds into
the rst l a yer of th e clouds It is a lone Neither spurts
of va por nor hot 5 11 m gs surround it a n d the whole volca
nic power of tha t region is concentra ted in one sublime
column The ra ys of electric light mix With this da zzling
s hea f every drop a s it fa lls a ssuming the pri sma tic colors
of the ra inbo w

Let us go on shore sa id the Professor a fter some

minutes of silence
It is necessa ry however to ta ke grea t preca ution in
order to a void the weight of fa lling wa ters which would
ca use the ra ft to founder in a n ins ta nt Ha ns however
steers a dmira bly a n d brin gs u s to the other ex tr em itv of
the isla nd
I wa s the r st to lea p on the rock My uncle followed
while the cider duck hunter rema ined still like a m a n
a bove a n y childish sources of as tonishment
We were
n ow w a lking on gra nite mixed with s ilicious sa ndsto ne ;
the soil shivered under our feet like the sides of boilers in
which over hea ted stea m is forcibly conned It is burn
ing
We soon c a me in sight of the little centr a l ba sin
I plunged a thermometer
from which rose the geyser
into the wa ter which ra n bubblin g from the centre a nd it
ma rked a hea t of a hundred a n d sixty three degrees I
m a y,

'

A J OU RN E Y T O

21 0

T HE

OF

CE N RE

E AR

T HE

TH

This wa ter therefore ca me from some pla ce where the

This was singul a rly in contra diction
h ea t wa s intens e
with the theor ies of Pro fessor Ha r dwig g I could n ot
help tellin g him my opinion on the subj ect

Well sa id he sh a rply a n d wha t does this prove

a ga ins t my doctr ine ?

Nothing replied I drily seeing th a t I wa s run ning

m y he a d a g a in s t a foreg one concl usion
Neverthel ess I a m compelled to confess th a t until now
we h a ve been most rema rka bly fortuna te a n d th a t this
voya ge is being a ccomplished in m ost fa vora ble conditions
of tempera tur e ; but it a ppea rs evident in fa ct cer ta i n
th a t we sh a ll sooner or l a ter a rrive a t one of those region s
where th e centra l hea t will rea ch its utmost limits a n d
will go fa r beyond a ll th e possible gra da tions of thermo
meters
Visions of the Ha des of th e a ncients believed to be in
the centre of the ea rth oa ted throu h my ima gin a tion
Th a t is the
\Ve sh a ll however see wh a t we sha ll see
Professor s fa vorite phra se now Ha ving christened th e
volca nic isl a nd by the n a me of his nephew th e lea der of
the expedition turned a wa y a n d ga ve the signa l for em
,

,
,

b a r k a tion

I stoo d still h owever for some m inutes ga zin g u pon

the ma gnicent geyser I soon was a ble to perceive th a t
th e u pwa rd ten dency of the wa ter wa s irr eg ul a r ; n ow it
diminish ed in intens ity a n d then suddenly it rega ined
n ew vigor which I a tt r ibuted to the v a ri a tion of the pres
sure of the ac cum ul a ted va pors in its reser oir
At l a st we took our depa r ture going ca r ei lly round
the projecting a n d ra ther d a nger ous rocks of the southern
side
Ha ns ha d ta ken a dva nta ge of this brief h a lt to re
pa ir th e ra ft Not be fore it wa s requir ed
Before we took our n a l depa rture from the isla nd how
ever I ma de some observa tions to ca lcula te the dista nce
,

CHAPTE R
THE

BA T LE

XXXI I

OF T HE

L E ME N TS

FR IDA Y , Augus t 21 st

This m orning the m a gnicent

geyser ha d who lly disa ppea red The wind h a d freshened
u p a n d we were fa st lea ving the neighbourhood of Hen ry s
Isla nd E ven the roa ring sound of the m ighty column
wa s lost to the ea r
The wea ther if under the circ umsta nces we m a y use
such a n expression is a bout to ch a nge ver y suddenly The
a t m osphere is being gra du a lly lo a ded with va pors which
ca rry with the m th e electricity formed by the consta nt
eva pora tion of the sa line wa ters ; the clouds a r e slowly but
sensibly fa lling towa rds the sea a n d a r e assuming a da rk
olive texture the electric ra ys ca n sca rcely pierce through
the opa que curta in which ha s fa llen like a drop scene b e
fore this wondrous thea tre on the sta ge of which a nother
This time it is
a n d te rrible dra m a is soon to be en a cted
no ght of a nim a ls ; it is the fea rful ba ttle of the elements
I feel tha t I a m very peculia rly inuenced a s a ll crea
tures a r e on l a nd when a deluge is a bout to ta ke pla ce
The cumuli a perfectly ova l kind of cloud piled upon
the south presented a most a wf ul a n d sinister a ppea r
a nce ; with the pitiless a spect o ften see n before a storm
The a ir is extremely hea vy ; the sea is compa ra tively
ca lm
In the dista n ce th e clouds h a ve assu med the a ppea r
a nce of enormous b a lls of cot ton or r a ther pods piled one
By degrees
a bove the other in pictures que confusion
they a ppea r to swell out brea k a n d ga in in number wh a t
they lose in gra ndeur ; their he a viness is so grea t th a t they
a r e un a ble to lift themselves from the horizon ; but under
.

T HE

T HE E LE ME N S .

BATTLE O F

21 3

the inuence of the upper currents of a ir they a r e gra d u

a lly broken up become much da rker a n d then present the
a ppea ra nce of one single l a yer of a formida ble ch a ra cter ;
n o w a n d then a lighter cloud still lit up from a bove r e
bounds upon this grey ca rpet a n d is lost in the opa que
m a ss
There ca n be n o doubt tha t the entire a tmosphere is
sa tura ted with electric uid ; I a m mysel f wholly impreg
f under the in
n a ted ; my ha irs litera lly sta nd on end a s i
I f one of my comp a nions
uen ce of a ga lva nic ba ttery
ventured to touch me I think he would receive ra ther a
violent a n d unplea sa nt shock
About ten o clock in the morning the symptoms of the
storm beca me more thorough a n d deci sive ; the wind a p
pea r ed to soften down a s if to ta ke brea th for a renewed
a tta ck ; the vas t funerea l p a ll a bove us looked l ike a huge
b a g like the c a ve of E olus in which the storm wa s col
leeting its forces for the a tta ck
I tried a ll I could not to believe in the mena cing signs
of the sk y a n d yet I could not a void sa ying a s it were in
vol un ta rily

I believe we a r e going to ha ve b a d wea ther

The Professor m a de me no a nswer He wa s in a horr i
b le in a detesta ble h umorto see the ocea n stretching in
termina bly before his eyes
On hea ring my words he
simply shrugged h is sh oulders

a
a
We sha ll h ve
tremendous storm I sa id a ga in
pointing to the horizon
These clouds a re fa lling lower

a n d lower u pon the sea a s i

f to crush it
A grea t silen ce preva iled
The wind wholly ceas ed
Na ture assumed a dea d ca lm a n d ceas ed to brea the
U pon the ma st where I noticed a sort of slight ign zsfa tu us
the sa il h a ngs in loose hea vy folds The ra ft is motion
less in the mids t of a da rk hea vy sea without u n dula tion r
without motion It is a s still a s gl a ss But as we a r e

'

21

4A

J O URN E Y TO

THE

C E N TR E O F

T HE

E AR

TH

m a king no progress wh a t is the use of keeping up the

sa il
wh ich m a y be the ca use of our perdition if th e
tempes t should suddenly strike us without wa rning

Let us lower the sa il I sa id it is only a n a ct of

common prudence
"

N o no cried my un cle in a n ex a spera ted tone a

hundred times no
Let the wind strike us a n d do its
worst let the storm sweep us a wa y where it willo nly let
me see the gli m m er of some coa sto f some rocky cliffs
even if they da sh our ra ft in to a thousa nd piec es No !

keep up the sa il no m a tter wha t h a ppens

Thes e words were sca rcely uttered when the southern
The
h orizon underwent a sudden a n d violent ch a nge
long a ccumula ted v a pors were res olved into wa ter a n d the
a ir required to ll up the void produced beca me a wild
a n d r a ging tempest
It ca me from the most dista nt co r ners of the mighty
c a vern It ra ged from every poin t of the compa ss It
roa red ; it yelled ; it shrieked with glee a s of demon s let
loose The da rkness in creas ed a n d beca me in deed da rk
ness visible
The ra ft rose a n d fell with the storm a n d bounded over
the wa ves My uncle was cas t hea dlong upon the dec k
He
I with grea t dif culty dra gged myself towa rds h im
wa s holding on with might a n d m a in to the end of a
c a ble a n d a ppea red to ga ze with plea sur e a n d delight a t
the specta cle of the u nch a ined elements
Ha ns never moved a muscle His long h a ir driven
hither a n d thither by the tempest a n d sca ttered wildly
over his motionless fa ce ga ve him a most extra ordin a r y
a ppea ra ncefor every single h a ir wa s illum in a ted by
little spa rkling sprigs
His counten a nce presents the extra ordina ry a ppea ra nce
a true contempora ry of th e me
of a n a n tediluvia n m a n
,

ga ther ium

21 6

A J OU RN E Y TO

CE N TRE OF

T HE

E AR TH.

T HE

two fugitive observa tions dotted down in a mere m ech a n i

But even their brevity even their obscurity
ca l wa y
show the emotions which overca me me
,

a:

a:

a:

a:

Sunda y August 23d Wh ere h a ve we got to ? In wha t

region a r e we wa nderin g ? We a re still ca rried forwa rd
with inconceiva ble ra pidity
The night h a s been fea rfu l something not to be de
The storm shows no signs of cessa tion We exist
scri b ed
i n the midst of a n uproa r which h as no n a me The deto
na tio ns a s of a rtillery a r e incessa nt Our ea rs litera lly
b leed We a r e una b le to exch a nge a word or hea r ea ch
other S pea k
The lightning never cea s es to as h for a sin gle insta nt
I ca n see the zigza gs a f ter a ra pid da rt strike the a rched
roof of th is mightiest of mighty v a ults I f it were to give
wa y a n d fa ll u pon us ! O ther lightnings plun ge their forked
strea ks in every direction a n d ta ke the form o f globes of
re which explode like bomb shells over a belea gu ered
city The genera l cra sh a n d roa r do not a ppa rently in
crea se ; it has a lr ea dy gone fa r beyond wh a t huma n ea r
I f a ll the powder m a ga z ines in the world
ca n a ppreci a te
were to explode together it would be impossible for us to
hea r worse noise
There is a consta nt emission of light from the storm
clouds ; the electric m a tter is inces sa ntly released ; evi
den tly the gas eous principles of th e a ir a r e out of order ;
innumera ble columns of wa ter rus h up like wa terspouts
a n d fa ll b a ck upon the surfa ce of the ocea n in fo a m
Whither a r e we going ? My uncle still lies a t full
length upon the ra ft without S pea kingwithout ta k ing
a n y note of time
The hea t increas es I look a t the thermometer to m y
sur prise it indica tesThe ex actgu r e is her e r ubbed out in
.

BA

T HE

TT LE OF

E LE M E N

T HE

TS

21

Monda y Augus t 24 This terrible storm will never

end Why should not this sta te of the a tmosphere so
den e a n d m u rky once modied a ga in rema in denitive ?
We a r e utterly broken a n d ha ra ssed by fa tigue Ha ns
rem a in s just as us u a l The ra ft runs to the south ea st in
va ria bly We h a ve now a lrea dy run two hundr ed lea gues
from the newly discovered isl a nd
About twelve o clock the storm beca me worse th a n
ever We a r e obliged n ow to fas ten every bit of ca rgo
tightly on the deck of the ra ft or everything would be
We tie ourselves to the m as t ea ch m a n
swept a wa y
las hing the other The wa ves drive over us so tha t
severa l times we a r e a ctu a lly u nder wa ter
We ha d been under the pa inful necessity of a bsta ining
We opened
from speech for three da ys a n d three nights
our mouths we moved our lips but no sound ca me Even
when we pla ced our mouths to ea ch other s ea rs it was the
sa me
The wind ca rried the voice a wa y
My uncle once contrived to get his hea d close to mine
a fter sever a l a lmo st va in endea vors
He a ppea red to my
nea rly exha usted senses to a rticul a te some word I ha d a
notion more from intuition tha n a nything else tha t he

we a r e lost
sa id to me
I took out my note book from which under the m ost
despera te circumsta nces I never pa rted a n d wrote a few
words a s legibly a s I could

Ta ke in sa il
With a deep sigh he nodded his hea d a n d a cquiesced
His hea d h a d sca rcely time to fa ll ba ck in the position
from which he h a d momenta rily ra ised it tha n a disc or
ba ll of re a ppea red on the very edge of the ra fto u r
devoted our doomed cra ft The m a st a n d sa il a r e ca rried
a wa y bodily a n d I see them swept a wa y to a prodigious
height like a kite
.

21

J O URN E Y

T O T HE

We were frozen

CE N T R E

or

T HE

E AR

TH

ctu a lly shivered with ter ror The

b a ll of re ha lf white h a l f a zure colored a bout the size
of a ten inch b omb shell , moved a long turning with pro
digiou s ra pidity to leewa rd of the storm
It r a n a bout
here th ere a n d e verywhere it cla mbered up one of the
bulwa rks of the ra ft it lea ped upon the sa ck of provi
sions a n d then n a lly des cen ded lightly fell like a
foot
ball a n d l a nded on our powder ba rrel
Horrible situ a tion An explosion of course was n ow
inevita ble
By hea ven s mercy it is not so
The da zzling disc moves on one side it a pproa ches
Ha ns who looked a t it with singula r x ity ; then it a p
pr oa ched my uncle who ca st him sel f on his knees to a void
it ; it ca me towa rds me as I stood pa le a n d shudderin g in
the da zzling light a n d hea t ; it pirouetted ro und my feet
Which I endea vored to withdra w
An odor of n itrous ga s lled the whole a ir ; it penetr a te d
I felt rea dy to choke
to the throa t to the lungs
Why is it th a t I ca nnot withdra w my feet ? Are they
riveted to the ooring of the ra ft ?
No
The fa ll of the electric globe ha s turned a ll the iron on
boa rd into loa dstonesthe instruments the tools the a rms
a r e cl a ngi n g together with a wful a n d horrible nois e ; the
boots a dhere closely to the pla te of iron
n a ils of m y t
incrusta ted in the wood I ca nn ot withdra w my foot
It is the old story over a ga in of the mounta in of
a d a m a nt
At l a st by a violent a n d a lmost superhuma n e ffort I tea r
it a wa y just a s the ba ll which is still executing its gyra tory
motion s is a bout to run round it a n d dra g me with itif
0 wh a t intense stupendous light ! The globe of re
bur ts we a r e enveloped in c a sca des of living re which
ood the spa ce a round with luminous ma tter
,

THE

BA

TTLE OF

T HE

E LE ME N

TS

21 9

Then a ll went out a nd da rkness once more fell upon the

deep ! I ha d just time to see my un cle once more ca s t a p
a r en tly senseless on the oorin g of the ra ft Ha ns a t the
p
helm spitting r e under the inuence of the elec
tr icity which seemed to h a ve gone through him
Whi ther a r e we going I ask ? a n d echo a nswers
Whither ?
Tues da y August 25 I ha ve j ust come out of a long
fa inting t The a wful a n d hideous storm still continues ;
the lightning ha s increa sed in vividness a n d pours out its
ery wra th like a brood of serpents let loose in the a tmos
,

pher e

Are we still u pon the sea ? Y es a n d b ein g ca rried

a long with incredible velocity
We ha ve pa ssed under Engla nd under the Ch a nn el
under Fra nce proba bly under the whole extent of Europe
,

Another a wful cl a m or in th e dista nce This time it is

certa in tha t the sea is b reaking upon the rocks a t n o grea t
dista nce Then
.

CHAPTE R XXXI I I

OU R R OU TE R E

V E RS E D

H E R E ends wh a t I ca ll My J ourna l of ou r voya ge on

b oa rd the ra ft which J ourn a l was h a ppily sa ved from the
wreck I proceed with my n a rra tive a s I did before I
commenced m y d a ily notes
Wh a t h a ppened when the terrible shock took pl a ce
when the ra ft was 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 w a ves a n d if I es ca ped from a
certa in a n d cruel dea th it wa s wholly owing to th e de
termina tion of the fa ith ful H a ns who clutchin g me by
the a r m sa ved me from the ya wning a byss
The coura geous Icela nder then ca rried me in his power
fu l a rms fa r out of the re a ch of the wa ves a n d la id m e
do wn upon a burnin g expa ns e of sa nd where I found
mysel f some time a fterwa rds in the compa ny of my un cle
the Professor
Then he quietly returned towa rds the fa ta l rocks
a ga inst which the furious w a ves were bea ting i
n order to
This m a n wa s
sa ve a n y stra y w a ifs from the wreck
I could not utter a
a lw a ys pra ctic a l a n d thoughtful
word ; I was quite overcome with emotion ; my wh ole
body wa s broken a n d bruised with fa tigue ; it took hours
b efore I wa s a nything like m ysel f
Mea nwhile there fell a fea rful deluge of ra in drenching
I ts very violence however procla imed the
us to the skin
Some overh a nging rocks
a ppro a ching end of the s torm
a ff orded us a slight protection from the torrents
Under this shelter Ha ns prep a red some food which
,

222

A J O UR NE Y TO

CE N TRE

T HE

OF T HE

E AR

TH

Nothing a t a ll my boy It is only the res ult of the

fa tigue of the l a st few d a ys tha t is a ll

You a ppea rif I m a y be a llo wed to sa y soto b e

I sa id
ver y j olly this morn ing
Delighted my dea r boy delighted Was never h a ppier

We ha ve a t l a st rea ched the wished for por t

in my life

The end of our expedition ? cried I in a to ne of con

sider a ble surpri se
No but to the conn es of tha t sea which I bega n to
We
fea r would never end but go round the whole world
will n ow tra nquilly resume our journey by la nd a n d once
"
a ga in en dea vor to dive into the centre of the E a rth

My dea r uncle I bega n in a hes ita ting kind of wa y

a llo w me to as k you one question ?

Certa inly Ha rr y ; a do zen if you think proper

One will sufce How a bout getting b a ck ? I as ked

How a bout getting b a ck ? Wh a t a ques tion to ask

We h a ve not a s yet rea ched the end of our jour ney

I kno w th a t All I wa nt to know is how you pr o~
pose we sh a ll m a n a ge the return voya ge

In the most simple m a nner in the world sa id the im

f
a
perturb ble Pro essor Once we rea ch the exa ct cen tre of
this sphere either we sh a ll nd a new ro a d by which to
a scend to the su r fa ce or we sh a ll simply turn round a n d
go ba ck by the wa y we ca me I h a ve every rea s on to b e
lieve th a t while we a r e tra velling forwa rd it will not close

behind us
Then one of the rst ma tters to see to wi ll be to repa ir

the ra ft wa s my r a ther mela ncholy response

Of course \Ve mu st a ttend to th a t a bove a ll th ings
continued the Profess or

Then comes the a ll importa nt question of provisions

I urged
H a ve we a nything like enough left to ena ble
u s to a ccompli sh such grea t such a ma zin g designs as
you
contempl a te ca rrying out?
.

OU R R

O UTE

RE

VE R S E D

2 23

I h a ve seen into th e ma tter a n d my a nswer is in the

a fr m a tive Ha ns is a very clever fellow a n d I ha ve reas on
to b elieve th a t he h a s sa ved the grea ter p a rt of the ca rgo
But the bes t wa y to sa tisfy your scruples is to come a n d

judge for yours el f

Sa ying which he led the wa y out of the kind of open
grotto in which we h a d ta ken shelter I ha d a lmost begun
to hope th a t which I should ra ther h a ve fea red a n d this
was the impossibility of such a shipwreck lea ving even the
slightes t signs of wh a t it h a d c a rried a s freight
I wa s
however thoroughly mista ken
A s soon as I rea ched the shores of this inlan d sea I
found Ha ns sta nding gra vely in the mids t of a la rge num
ber of things l a id out in complete order My uncle wr ung
h is h a nds with deep a n d silent gra titude
His hea rt wa s
too full fo r speech
This m a n whose superhum a n devotion to his employers
I not only never sa w surpassed nor even equ a lled ha d
been h a rd a t work a ll the time we slept a n d a t the risk
of hi
s life h a d succeeded in sa ving the most preciou s a rti
cles of our ca rgo
Of cours e under the circumsta nces we necessa rily ex
Our wea pons ha d wholly
per ien ced severa l severe losses
va nished But experience h a d ta ught u s to do without
them The provision of powder ha d ho wever rema ined
inta ct a fter h a ving n a rrowly esca ped blowing us a ll to
a toms in th e sto rm
\Vell sa id the Pro fessor wh o wa s now rea dy to ma ke
th e bes t of everything
as we h a ve no guns a ll we h a ve

to do is to give up a ll idea of hunting

Y es my d ea r sir we ca n do without them but wh a t

a bout a l
l our instruments ?
Here is the m a nometer the most us eful of a ll a n d
which I gla dly a ccept in lieu of the rest With it a lone I
ca n ca lcul a te the dep th as we proceed ; by its mea n s a lone
,

22

4A

J O URNE Y TO

T HE

CE N TRE

OF

E AR

T HE

TH

I sha ll be a ble to decide when we h a ve rea ch ed the centre

of the ea rth
Ha ha ! but for this little ins trument we
might m a ke a mista ke a n d r un the risk of coming out a t
the a ntipodes
All this was sa id a mid bu rsts of unna tura l la ughter

But the compa ss I cried without tha t wh a t ca n we

do

Here it is sa fe a n d sound ! he cried with rea l j oy

a h a b a n d here we h a ve the chronometer a n d the ther

m om eters
H a n s th e hunter is indeed a n inv a lua ble m a n !
It wa s impossible to deny this fa ct As fa r as the na uti
ca l a n d other ins truments were concerned nothing was
wa ntin g Then on fur ther exa min a tion I found la dders
cords picka xes crowba rs a n d shovels a ll sca ttered a bout
on the shore
T here wa s however na lly the most importa nt question
of a ll a n d th a t was provisions

But wha t a r e we to do for food ? I as ked

Let u s see to the commissa ria t depa rtment replied

m
y uncle gra vely
The boxes which conta in ed ou r supply of food for the
voya ge were pla ced in a row a long the stra nd a n d were in
a c a pita l sta te of pres erva tio n ; the sea ha d in every c a s e
res pected their contents a n d to su m up in one sentence
ta king into consider a tion biscuits sa lt mea t schieda m a n d
dried s h we could still ca lcul a te on h a ving a bout four
month s supply if u sed with prudence a n d ca ution

Four month s cried the sa nguine Professor in high

glee then we sh a ll h a ve plenty of time both to go a n d to
come a n d with wh a t rema ins I underta ke to give a gra nd

dinner to my collea gues of the J oh a n n eu m

I sighed I should by this time h a ve used myself to
th e tem pera ment of my uncle a n d yet this m a n a stonished
m e more a n d m ore every da y
He was the grea test
huma n en igm a I ever ha d known
.

J O UR NE Y TO

2 26

CE N TRE

T HE

OF THE

E AR

TH

da ys of tha t a wful tempes t I could keep no a ccount either

of the quickness of our p a ce or of the direction in which
the ra ft was going Still we will endea vor to a ppr ox im Me
"
to the truth We sh a ll n ot I believe be so very fa r out

Well if I recollect rightly I replied our la st obser

va tion wa s m a de a t the Geyser isla nd

Ha rry s Isl a nd m y boy ! Ha rry s Isla nd Do n ot
decline the honor of h a ving n a med it ; given your n a me
to a n is la nd dis covered by us the rst huma n beings wh o

trod it since the crea tion of the world !

Let it be so then At H a rry s Isl a nd we h a d a lrea dy
gone over two hundred a n d seventy lea gues of sea a n d we
were I believe a bout six hundred lea g ues more or less

f rom Icel a nd
Good I a m gl a d to see tha t you remember so well
L et u s sta rt from th a t point a n d let u s count four da ys of
during which our ra te of tra velling must h a ve been
sto r m
very grea t I should sa y th a t our velocity mus t h a ve been

a bout eighty lea gues to the twenty four hours

I a greed th a t I thought this a fa ir ca lcula tion There
were then three hundred lea gues to be a dded to the gra nd
tota l

Y es a n d th e Centra l S ea mu st extend a t leas t six

hundred lea gues from side to side Do you know my
boy Ha rry th a t we ha ve discovered a n inla nd l a ke l a rger

th a n the Mediterra nea n ?

Certa inly a n d we only k now of its extent in one wa y

It m a y be hundreds of miles in length

Very likely

Then sa id I a fter ca lcul a ting for some minutes if

your previsions a r e right we a r e a t this moment exa ctly

under the Mediterra nea n itself

Do you think so ?
Y es I a m a lmost certa in of it
Are we not nin e

hundred lea gues dista nt from R eykj a wik 2

,

OU R

R O UTE RE VE R S E D

2 27

perfectly true a n d a fa mous bit of roa d we

ha ve tra velled my boy But why we should be un der the
Mediterra nea n more tha n under Ihir k ey or the Atla ntic
Ocea n ca n only be known when we a r e sure of not h a ving

devia ted from our course ; a n d of this we kn ow noth ing

I do not think we were driven very fa r from our

course : the wind a ppea rs to me to ha ve been a lwa ys a bout
the sa me My opin ion is tha t this shore must be situa ted

to the south ea st of Port Gretchen

GoodI h 0 pe so It will however be eas y to decide

the m a tter by ta king the bea rin gs from our depa rture by
mea ns of the compa ss Come a long a n d we will consult

th a t inv a lua ble invention

The Professor now wa lked ea gerly in the direction of the
rock where the indefa tiga ble Ha n s ha d pl a ced the in str u
ments in sa fety My uncle wa s g a y a n d light hea rted ; he
rubbed his h a nds a n d assumed a ll sorts of a ttitudes He
Since I
was to a ll a ppea ra nce once more a young m a n
h a d known him never h a d he been so a mia ble a n d plea sa nt
I followed him r a ther curious to kno w whether I ha d
ma de a n y mis ta ke in my estima tion of our position
A s soon a s we ha d re a ched the rock my uncle took the
compas s pl a ced it horizonta lly before him a n d looked
keenly a t the needle
As he h a d a t rst sh a ken it to give it viva city it oscil
la ted considera bly a n d then slowly assumed its righ t
position under the inuence of the ma gnetic power
The Professor bent his eyes curiously over the wondrous
instrument A violent sta rt immedia tely showed the ex
tent of his emotion
He closed his eyes rubbed them a n d to ok a nother a n d
a keener survey
Then he turned slowly round to me stupefa ction de
picted on his counten a nce
sa id I beginning to be a l a rmed
\Vh a t is the ma tter
T h a t is

'

2 28

J O UR N E Y

T O T HE

CE N TRE

E AR TH.

or T HE

He could not spea k He was too overwhelmed for

words He simply pointed to the instrument
I exa mined it ea gerly a ccording to his mute dir ections
a n d a loud cry of surpri se es ca ped my lips
The needle
of the compa ss pointed due north in the dir ection we ex
pected wa s the south !
It pointed to the shore instea d of to the high sea s
I shook the compas s ; I exa mined it with a curious a n d
a nxious eye
It was in a sta te of perfection No blemis h
in a n y wa y expla ined the phenomenon Wh a tever pos i
tion we forced the needle into it returned inva ria bly to the
sa me unexpected point
It was useless a ttempting to concea l from ourselves the
fa ta l truth
There could be no doubt a bout it unwelcome a s was the
fa ct tha t during the tempes t there h a d been a sudden
sl a nt of wind of which we h a d been un a ble to ta ke a n y
a ccount a n d thus the ra ft ha d ca rried u s ba ck to the shores
we ha d left a pp a rently for ever so m a ny da ys before !
.

230

J O URNE Y TO

CE N TRE OF

T HE

E AR

T HE

TH

Listen to me uncle I sa id in a r m but tempera te

tone of voice there must be some lim it to a mbition here

below It is utterly useless to struggle a ga inst the im pos
Pra y listen to reas on I ve a r e utterly unprepa red
sible
for a sea voya ge ; it is simple ma dn ess to thin k of per
forming a journey of ve hun dred lea gues upon a wretched
pile of bea ms with a counterpa ne for a sa il a pa ltry stick
As we a r e
for a ma st a n d a tempest to contend with
tota lly inca pa ble of steering our fra il cra ft we sh a ll b e
come the mere pla ything of the storm a n d it is a ctin g the
pa rt of ma dmen if we a second time run a n y risk upon

this da ngerous a n d trea cherous Centra l S ea

Thes e a r e only a few of the rea sons a n d a rgu ments I put
togetherrea sons a n d a rguments which to me a ppea red
I wa s a llowed to go on without interrup
u na ns wera ble
tion for a bout ten minutes The expla na tion to thi s I
The Professor wa s not even lis ten ing
soon di scovered
a n d did not he a r a word of a ll my eloquence

To the ra ft ! he cried in a hoa rse voice when I pa used

for a reply
Such wa s the result of my strenuous effort to resi st his
iron will I tried a ga in ; I begged a n d implored him ; I
got into a passion ; but I h a d to dea l with a will more de
ter m in ed th a n my own
I seemed to feel like the wa ve
which fought a n d ba ttled a ga in st the huge mas s of gra nite
a t our feet which h a d smiled grimly for so ma ny a ges a t
their puny efforts
H a n s mea nwhile without ta king pa rt in our dis cussion
h a d been repa iring the ra ft One would h a ve supposed
th a t he instinctively guessed a t the further projec ts of
my uncle
By mea n s of some fra gments of corda ge he ha d a ga in
m a de the ra ft sea worthy
While I h a d been spea king he ha d hoisted a new m a s t a n d
sa il the la tter a lrea dy uttering a n d wa ving in the breeze
,

A V O YAGE OF

DIS C OVE R Y .

23 1

T h e wor th y Professor spoke a few words to our imper

tur b a ble guide , who immedi a tely bega n to put our b a gga ge
The a tmos
on boa rd, a n d to prep a re for our depa rtu r e
'

h
r e was now to lera bly clea r a n d pure, an d the north -eas t
e
p
It a ppea red lik ely to
wind blew stea dily a n d serenely
.

la st for some time

Wh a t then could I do ? Could I underta k e to resist
the iron will of two men ? It wa s s imply impossible ; if
even I could ha ve hoped for the support of Ha ns This
however was out of the ques tion It a ppea red to me th a t
the Icela nder ha d set as ide a ll pers ona l will a n d identity
He was a pictu re of a bnega tion
I could hope for nothing from one so infa tu a te d with a n d
devoted to his m a ster All I could do therefore wa s to
wim with the strea m
In a mood of stolid a n d sullen resigna tion I was a b out
to ta ke my a ccus to med pla ce on the ra ft when my uncle
pla ced his ha nd upon my shoulder

sa
There is no hurry my boy he id we sha ll not

sta rt until to morrow

I looked the picture of resig na tion to the dire will of
fa te

Under the circumsta nces

he sa id I ought to neg
lect no preca utions As fa te has cas t me upon thes e
I sha ll not lea ve withou t h a ving completely ex
shores

a m in ed them
In order to understa nd this rema rk I must expla in tha t
though we ha d been driven ba ck to the northern shore we
h ad la nded a t a very different spot from tha t which ha d
b een our sta rting point
Port Gretchen mus t we ca lcula ted be very much to the
westwa rd Nothing therefore was more n a tura l a n d r ea
sona ble th a n th a t we should reconnoitre this new shore
upon which we ha d so unexpecte dly l a nded

Let us go on a journey of discovery I cried

.

23 2

J O UR N E Y T O

T HE

CE N TR E O F

T HE

AR TH

And lea ving Ha ns to his importa nt opera tion we sta rted

on our expedition The dista nce between the foreshore a t
high wa ter a n d the foot of the rocks was considera ble It
would ta ke a bout h a lf a n hour s w a lk in g to get from one
to the othe r
A s we trudged a long our feet crushed innumera ble
o nce the dwellin g pla ce of
shell s of every sh a pe a n d size
a nim a ls of ever y period of crea tion
I pa rticul a rly noticed some enormous shellsca ra pa ces
( turtle a n d tortois e species) the dia meter of which ex
ceeded fteen feet
They ha d in pas t a ges belonged to those giga ntic glyp
todons of th e pliocene period of which the modern turtle
is but a minute specimen
In a ddition the whole s oil wa s
covered by a va st qu a ntity of stony relics h a ving the a p
pea r a n ce of in ts worn by the a ction of the wa ves a n d ly
ing in successive l a yers one a bove the other I ca me to
the conclusion th a t in pa st a ges the sea must h a ve covered
the whole district Upon the sca ttered rocks n ow lying
fa r beyond its rea ch the m ighty wa ves of a ges h a d left
evident ma rks of their pa ssa ge
On reection this a ppea red to me pa rti a lly to ex pl a in
the existence of this rem a rka ble ocea n forty lea gues below
the surfa ce of the ea rth s crus t According to my n ew
theory this liquid m ass must be
a n d perh a ps fa nci ful
gra dua lly lost in the deep bowels of the ea rth I h a d a ls o
n o doubt th a t this mysterious sea wa s fed by in ltra tion
of the ocea n a bove through imperceptible ssures
Nevertheless it wa s impossible not to a dmit th a t these
ssures mus t now be n ea rly choked up for if not the ca
vern or ra ther the imm ense a n d stupendous res ervoir
would h a ve been completely lled in a short spa ce of time
Perh a ps even this wa ter h a ving to contend a ga inst the a e
cumula ted subterra neou s res of the interior of the ea rth
Hence the expla na tion
ha d become p a rti a lly va porized
,

'

23

4A

J OURNE Y TO

CE N T RE

T HE

THE E AR H

OF

Nevertheless we were dra wn forwa rd by a n a ll a bsorb

ing a n d impa tient cur ios ity Our feet crushed with a dr y
a n d cra c kl
ing sound the rem a ins of those prehis to ric fossils
for which the museum s of grea t cities qua rrel even when
they obta in only ra re a n d curious morsels A thousa nd
s uch na tur a lis ts as Cuvier would not ha ve su fced to t e
compose the skeleton s of the orga nic b ein gs which la y in
this ma gnicent osseous collection
I was utterly confounded My uncle stood for some
m inutes with his a rms ra is ed on high towa rds the th ick
gra nite v a ult which served u s for a sky His mouth was
wide open ; his eyes spa rkled wildly behind his specta cles
( which he h a d fortuna tely sa ved) his hea d bobbed up a n d
d own a n d from side to side while his whole a ttitude a n d
mien expressed unbounded a s tonishment
He stood in the presence of a n endless wondrous a n d
inexh a us tibly rich collection of a nted iluvia n mons ters
piled up for h is own priva te a n d peculia r sa tisfa ction
Fa ncy a n enthusia stic lover of books ca rried suddenly
into the very midst of the famous libra ry of Alexa ndria
b urned by the sa crileg ious Oma r a n d which some mira cle
Such was som e
ha d res tored to its pris tine splendor !
thing of the sta te of m ind in which uncle Ha r dwigg was
n ow pl a ced
F or some time he stood thus litera lly a gh as t a t the
m a gnitude of his discovery
But it wa s even a grea ter excitem ent when da rting
wildly over this m ass of orga nic d ust he ca ught up a
na ked skull a n d a ddressed me in a quivering voice
H a rry my boyHa rrythis is a huma n hea d !

A hum a n hea d uncle ! I sa id no less a ma zed a n d

stu pied th a n himself
Y es nephew
Ah ! Mr Milne E dwa rds
Mr
ah !
De ! ua trefa ges
why a r e you not here where I a m I,
Profes sor Ha r dwigg
-

CHAPTE R XXXV

DIS COVE R Y U P ON

DI S C OVE R Y

rder fully to un dersta nd the excl a ma tion ma de b y

my un cle a n d his a llusions to thes e illus trious a n d lea rn ed
m en it will be nec essa ry to enter into certa in expla na tions
in rega rd to a circum s ta nce of the highest impor ta nce to
pa laaon tology or the s cience of fossil life which h ad ta ken
pla ce a short time before our depa rture from the upper
regions of the ea rth
O n the 28th of Ma rch 1 863 some n a viga tors under
the direction of M Bou cher de Perthes were a t work in
the grea t qua rries of Moulin
! uignon nea r Abbeville in
the depa rtment of the Somme in Fra nce While a t
work they unexpectedly ca me upon a huma n j a wbone
buried fourteen feet below the sur fa ce of the soil It wa s
the rst fossil of the kind th a t h a d ever been brought to
the light of da y Nea r this unexpected hum a n relic were
found stone h a tchets a n d ca rved in ts colored a n d clothed
by time in one u niform brillia nt tint of ver digris
The report of this extra or din a ry a n d unexpected dis
covery sprea d not only a ll over Fra nce b ut over Engl a nd
a n d Germa ny
Ma n y lea rned men belonging to va rious
a n d noteworthy a mong others Messr s
scientic bodies
Milne Edwa rds a n d De ! ua trefa ges took the a ffa ir ver y
much to hea rt demons tra ted the incontesta ble a uthenticity
of the bone in ques tion a n d beca me
to use the phra se
then recognized in Engla ndthe most a rden t supporters

f
a
j wbone question
o the
To the e m inent geologists of the United Kingdom who
looked upon the fa ct a s certa inMessrs Fa lconer Buck
Ca rpenter a n d otherswere soon united the lea rned m en
IN

23 6

J O URNE Y

T o T HE

CE NT RE

or T HE E ARTH.

Germa ny a n d a mong those in the rst ra nk the most

ea ger the m ost enthusias tic was my worthy uncle Pr o
of

Ha r dwigg

fessor

The a uthenticity of a huma n fossil of the qua terna ry

period seemed then to b e incontesta bly demonstra ted a n d
even to be a dm itted by the mos t skeptical
This system or theory ca ll it wh a t you will had it is
true a bitter a dversa ry in M E lie de Bea umont This
lea rned m a n wh o holds such a high pl a ce in the scientic
world holds th a t the soil of Moulin ! uignon does not
b elong to the diluvium but to a much less a ncient stra ta
a n d in a ccord a nce with ( hivier in this res pect he would
b y no mea ns a dmit th a t the h uma n species was cotem por
ra ry with the a nima ls of the qua terna ry epoch My worthy
uncle Professor Ha r dwigg in concert with the grea t
ma j ority of geologists ha d held r m ha d dis puted dis
cussed a n d na lly a fter considera ble ta lking a n d writin g
M Elie de B ea u m ont h a d been pretty well left a lone in
his opinions
We were fa milia r with a ll the details of this dis cussion
b ut were fa r from being a wa re then tha t since our depa r
ture the ma tter h a d entered upon a n ew pha s e Other
though belonging to individuals of
simila r j a wbon es
va ried types a n d very different n a tur es ha d been found in
the mova ble gra y sa nds of certa in grottoes in Fra nce
Switzerla nd a n d B elgium ; together with a rms uten sil s
tools bones of children of men in the pr im c of li fe a n d
of old men
The exis ten ce of men in the qua tern a ry
period beca me therefore more positive every da y
But this was fa r from bein g a ll New rema ins dug u p
from the plio cene or tertia ry deposits h a d en a bled the
more fa r seeing or a uda cious a mong lea rned men to as sign
even a fa r grea ter degree of a ntiquity to the huma n ra ce
These rem a ins it is true were not those of men ; th a t is
Were not the b ones of men but obj ects decidedly h a ving
,

DIS C OVE R Y

DIS C OVE RY .

UPON

23 7

erved the hum a n ra ce shin bones thigh bones of fossil

a nima ls regul a rly s cooped out a n d in fa ct sculptured
bea r ing the unmista ka ble signs of huma n ha n dy work
By mea ns of thes e wondrous a n d unexpected dis
cover ies m a n as cended endless centuries in the sca le of
time ; he in fa ct preceded the mas todon ; beca me the
cotempora ry of the elep luw m idwn a lia
the southern ele
ph a nt ; a cquired a n a ntiquity of over a hundred thousa nd
e
a rs
s ince th a t is the da te given by the most eminent
y
S uch wa s
g eologists to the pliocene per iod of the ea rth
then the sta te of p a l aeontologic science a n d wha t we more
over knew su ced to expla in our a ttitude before this
grea t cemete ry of the pla ins of the Ha r dwigg Ocea n
It will now be ea sy to understa nd the Professor s
m ingled a stonishment a n d joy when on a dva ncing a bout
twenty ya rds he found himself in the pres ence of I m a y
a specim en of the huma n r a ce
sa y fa ce to fa ce with
a ctu a lly belonging to the qu a rtern a ry period !
It was indeed a hum a n skull perfectly recogniza ble
Ha d a soil of ver y peculi a r n a tur e like th a t of the ceme
tery of St Michel a t Bordea ux preserved it during
countless a ges ? This was the ques tion I a sked mysel f
but which I wa s wholly una ble to a nswer B ut this hea d
with str etched a n d pa rchmenty skin with the teeth whole
th e h a ir a b und a nt wa s before our eyes a s in life !
I stood mute a lmost pa ra lyzed with wonder a n d a we
before this drea d a ppa rition of a nother a ge My uncle
who on a lmost every occa sion was a grea t ta lker rema ined
for a time comp letely dumb fo u nded
He wa s too full of
emotion for speech to be poss ible A fter a while however
we ra is ed up the b ody to wh ich the skull belonged
I Ve
It seemed to our excited ima gina tions
stood it on en d
to look a t us with its terrible hollow eyes
After some minutes of silence the m a n wa s va nquished
by the Professor Huma n instin cts succumbed to scien
s

23 8

J OU RNE Y

OF THE

T o T HE CE NT RE

E AR TH.

pride a n d exulta tion Professor Ha r dwigg ca rried

a wa y by hi
s enthu si as m forgot a ll the circumsta nces of
our journey the extra ordina ry position in which we were
pl a ced the immense ca vern which stretched fa r a wa y over
our hea ds There ca n be no doubt th a t he thought him
s a ttentive pupil s for
self a t th e In stitution a ddress in g hi
he put on his most doctoria l style wa ved his ha nd a n d
tic

Gentlemen I h a ve the honor on this a uspicious occa

sion to present to you a m a n of the qua rterna r y pe r iod of
our globe Ma ny lea rned men ha ve denied his very exist
ence while other a ble pers ons perha ps of even higher
a uthority h a ve a frmed th eir belief in th e rea li ty of his
life I f the St Thoma ses of pa laeontology were present
they would reverentia lly touch him with their ngers a n d
believe in his existence thus a cknowledging their obstina te
heresy I know th a t science should be ca reful in rela tion
to a ll discoveries of this n a ture I a m not without h a ving
hea rd of the m a ny B a rnums a n d other qu a cks who h a ve
m a de a tra de of such like pretended discoveries I h a ve
of course hea rd of the di scovery of the knee bones of
Aj a x of the pretended n ding of the body of Ores tes b y
the Spa rtia tes a n d of the body of As terius ten sp a ns long
fteen feetof which we rea d in Pa usa nias
I h a ve rea d everything in rel a tion to th e skeleton of
Tra pa ni discovered in the fourteenth century a n d which
m a ny pers on s chose to rega rd a s th a t of Polyphemus a n d
th e history of th e gi a nt dug u p during the sixteenth cen
tury in the environs of Pa lmyra You a re a s well a wa re
as I a m
gentlemen of the existence of the celeb ra ted a n a
lysis m a de nea r Lucerne in 1 5 7 7 of the grea t b ones
which the celebra ted Doctor Felix Pla ter decl a red b elonged
to a gi a nt a bout n ineteen feet high I h a ve devoured
a ll the trea tises of Ca ssa n ion a n d a llthose memoirs
pa m ph
lets speeches a n d replies published in reference to th e
,

4A

JO UR NE Y TO

CE N TRE OF

T HE

E AR

THE

TH

Here the Professor held up th e fossil body a n d exhibited

it with ra re dexterity
N O professiona l sho wma n could
h a ve shown more a ctivity

As on exa mina tion you will see my un cle contin ued

it is only a bout six feet in length which is a long wa y

As to the pa r
from the pretended gia nts of ea rly da ys
ticu la r ra ce to which it belonged it is incon tes ta bly Ca u
ca sia n It is of the white ra ce th a t is of our own The
s a perfect ovoid without a n y
skull of this fossil being i
rema rk a ble or pro m inent developmen t of the cheek bones
It pres ents no in
a n d without a n y projection of the j a w
dica tion Of the progna thism which modies the fa cia l
*
Mea sure the a ngle for yourselves a n d you will
a ngle
n d th a t it is j ust ninety degrees But I will a dva nce still
fa rther on the ro a d of inqu iry a n d deduction a n d I da re
venture to sa y th a t this huma n sa mple or specimen belongs
to the J a phetic fa mily which sprea d over the world from
India to the uttermo st limits of western Europe There
is no occ as ion gentlemen to smile a t my rema r
Of cou rs e nobody smiled But the excellent Professor
wa s so a ccu stomed to bea min g coun ten a nces a t his lectures
tha t he believed he sa w a ll his a udience l a ughing dur ing
the delivery of his lea rned disserta tion

a
this is a
Y es he continued with renewed nima tion
fossil m a n a contempora ry of the m as todons with the bones
But if I a m
of which this whole a mphithea tre is covered
ca lled on to expl a in h ow he ca me to this pl a ce how thes e
v a rious stra ta by which he is covered ha ve fa llen into this
va st ca vity I ca n underta ke to give you no expla n a tion
Doubtless if we ca rry ours elves b a ck to the qu a terna ry
epoch we sh a ll nd th a t grea t a n d mighty convu lsions
,

f ci l

The

an

gl

is

or m e

hi c h i i t ig h t l i w i th
f
d
i ci
th
h i t l whi c h p
g
g
i g
b
P g thi i th p l g i c l l g g
p j c ti f th l w wh i c h d i th f c i l gl
w

or z on a

n a s ra

ne

a sses

on e .

ro

ro e

on o

sm

na

r ou

an

i l
h

b y two pla n e H
n e m or e or
ess v er t ca
th e or eh ea
a n d th e
n
sor s ; th e ot er ,
h th e or a n s of h ea r n . a n d th e o wer n a s a l

ro

m o

o o

es

an

ua

e,

an

m ea n s

e.

c l

th a t pa r ti

u a r;

DISC OVE R Y

ISCO VE R Y

U I ON D

4
1

place in the crust of the earth ; the co ntin u ally cool

in g Operation through which the earth had to pass pr o
du ced ss u res landsl i ps and chasms through wh i ch a large
portion of the earth made its way I co m e to no absolute
conclusion but there is the man surrounded by the works
n ts which
of hi
s hands h is hatchets and h is ca rved i
belong to the stony period ; and the only rational supposi
tion is that like myself he visited the centre of the earth
At all events
as a travellin g tourist a pioneer of science
there ca n be no doubt of h is great age and of his being

one of the oldest race of human beings

The Professor with thes e words ceas ed his oration and I
burst forth into loud and unanimous applause B e
sides after all my uncle was right
Much more learned
men than his nephew would have found it rather hard to
refute his facts and arguments
Another ci rcumstance soon presented itsel f This fo ssi
lized body was not the only one i n th is vas t plai n of bones
the cemetery of an exti nct world Other bodi es were
found as we trod the dusty pla i n and my uncle wa s able
to choose the most ma r vellous of these specimens in order
to convince the most incredulous
In truth it wa s a surprising spectacle the successive r e
mains of generations and generations of men and animal s
con founded together in one vast cemetery But a great
questi on now presented i tself to our notice and one we
were actually a fraid to contemplate in a ll its bearin gs
Had these once animated beings been buried so fa r b e
neath th e so i l by some tremendous convulsion of nature
after they had been earth to ea rth and ashes to a hes or had
they lived here b elow in th is subterranean world u nder
this facti ti ous sk y born marr ied and given in marriage
and dying at las t just like ordinary inhabitants of the earth ?
Up to the present m o m ent marine monsters sh a n d
such like animals had alone been see n alive !

took

4A
2

JOU RNE Y T O

THE

CE NT RE

OF

rm : E

AR TH

The question which render ed us rather un eas y wa s a

pertinen t one Wer e any of thes e men of th e abyss wan
dering about the deserted shores of this wondrous sea of
th e centr e of the earth
This wa s a question which rendered me very uneas y and
uncomforta ble How should they rea lly be i n exis ten ce,
would they r eceive us men from above ?
,

4
4A JOUR NE Y T O

T HE

CE

or THE

N TRE

E AR

TH

After we had walked about a mile farther we came to

the edge of a vast fores t not however one of the vas t
mushroom forests we had discovered near Port Gretchen
It wa s the glorious and wild vegetation of the tertiary
period in all its superb magnicence Huge palms of a
a genus of fossil
speci es now unknown superb pa lm a cites
palms from the coal formationpines 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 Upon their borders grew small tree like shrubs
such a s are seen in the hot coun tries on our own inh abited
globe
The one thing wanted to thes e plant thes e shrub s thes e
treeswas color ! F or ever deprived of the vivifying
warmth of the sun they were vapid and colorless All
shade was lost in one uniform tint of a brown a n d faded
character The lea ves were wholly devoid of verdure and
the owers so numerous during the tertiary period which
gave them birth were without color and without perfume
something like paper dis colored by long exposur e to the
atmosphere
My uncle ventured beneath the gigantic groves I fol
lowed him though not without a certa i n amount of a ppr e
h en sion
Since nature had shown hersel f capable of pr o
du 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 ti me
many leguminous ( bean like ) shrubs such a s the m aple
and other eata ble trees dear to ruminating animals Then
there appea red co nfou n ded together and in termix ed the
,

4
5

WHA T IS IT ?

trees of such varied lands specimens of the vegeta tion of

a s the oak n ear the pal m
every part of th e globe ; there w
tree the Australian eucalyptus an interesting class of the
order Myr ta cewleanin g aga inst the tall Norwegian pin e,
the poplar of the north mixing its branches with those of
the N ew ! ea land kauris It wa s enough to drive the most
ingenious classi er of th e upper regions out of his mind,
and to upset all his received ideas about botany
S uddenly I stopped short and res trained my uncle
The extr eme diusen ess of the light ena bled me to see
I thought I sa w
th e smallest obj ects in the dista nt copses
no I really did see with my own eyes
i m mense
gigantic animals moving about under the mighty tr ees
Yes they were truly gigantic animals a whole herd of
ma stodons not fossils but l i ving a n d exactly like those
discovered in 1 801 on the marshy bank s of the great
Ohio in North America
Y es I could see these enormous elephants whose trunks
were tearing down large boughs and working i n 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
an d green bran ches went down the capacious throats of
thes e ter rible monsters !
That wondrous dream when I sa w the ante historica l
times revivied when the tertiary and qu aternary periods
pas sed before me wa s now rea lized !
An d there we were alone fa r down in the bowels of the
ea rth at the mercy of its ferocious inhabitants !
My uncle paused full of wonder and astonish ment

Come he said at la s t when h is rst surprise was over

come along my boy and let u s see them nearer

No replied I restrain ing his efforts to drag me

forward
we are wholly with out arms What should we
do in the m idst of that ock of gigantic qua dru peds ?
,

'

6
4

A JOURNE Y

CE N TR E

T o T HE

or THE

AR T H

Come away uncle I implore you No human creature

can with impu nity brave the ferocious anger of these

mons ters

No human creature said m y uncle suddenly lower

ing h is voice to a mysteriou s whisper you are mistaken,
my dear He nry Look ! look yonder ! It seems to me
that I behold a human beinga bein g lik e ourselvesa
man
I looked shrugging my shoulders decided to push in
credulity to its very last limits But wha te ver m ight have
been my wish I was compelled to yield to the weight of
ocular demonstr ation
Y es
m ot more than a quarter of a mile off lea nin g
against the trunk of a n enormous tree wa s a human being
a Proteus of thes e subterr anean regions a new son of
Neptune keeping this innumerab le herd of mas todons
.

Im

'

m am s

p ecor is custos,

Y esit was
r ai sed from the

im

'

m a m s z se

1*

no longer a fossil whose corpse we had

groun d in the grea t cemetery but a giant
c apable of guiding and driving thes e prodigious mons ters
His height was above twelve feet His hea d as big a s
the head of a b u a lo was lost i n a man e of matted ha ir
It was in deed a huge ma ne like those which belonged to
the elepha nts of the earlier ages of the world
In his hand was a branch of a tree which served as a
crook for this antediluvian shepherd
We remai n ed profoundly still speechless with sur pris e
But we migh t at any moment be seen by him Nothin g
remained for us but ins tant ight

Come come I I cried dragging my un cle along ; and

for the rst time he made no res istance to my wishes
A quarter of an hour later we were fa r away from that
terrible monster !
,

per 9 f gi ga n ti c

Th e k ee

c ttl
a

e,

h im

lf a gi

se

a n t!

CHAPTER XX X VII

MYS TE R IOUS

T HE

DAGG E R

DU R IN G this time we ha d left the bright an d

,

tra n spa n

ent forest fa r behin d us We were mute with as to nish

ment overcome by a kind of feeling which was n ext door
to apathy We kept r lm n in g in spite of our selves I t
wa s a perfect ight which res embled one of those horrible
sensa tions we so metimes m eet with in our dream s
In stinctively we made ou r way towards the Central S ea
an d I cannot now tell what wild thoughts passed through
my mind nor of what follies I might have been guil ty,
but for a very serious pre
occupation which brought me
back to practical li fe
Though I was aware that we were treading on a soil
quite n ew to us I however every n ow and then n oticed
certai n aggregations of rock the shape of which forcibly
reminded me of th ose near Port Gretchen
This conrmed moreover th e indications of the com
pass and our extraordinary and unlooked for a s well as
i nvoluntary return to the north of this great Centr al Sea
It wa s so like our sta rting point that I could scarcely
doubt the rea lity of our position Strea ms and ca scades
fell in hun dreds over the numerous proj ectio ns of the
rocks
I actually thought I could see our faithful and mono
tonous Han s and the wonderful grotto i n which I h a d
come back to life a fte r my tremendous fa ll
Then a s we a d vanced still farth er the p ositio n of th e
cliffs the appearance of a str eam the unexpected prole
of a rock , threw m e a a i n in to a state of bewilderin g
g
doubt
r

M Y STE R I OU S

T HE

DAGGE R

4
9

After some time I explained m y state of mental inde

He confessed to a similar feeling of
cision to my uncle
hesitation He wa s totally unable to m ake up his mind
in the midst of this extraordinary but uni form panorama

There can be no doub t I in sisted that we have not

landed exactly at the place whence we rst took our depar
ture ; but the tempest h as brought us above our starting
point I think therefore that if we follow the coas t we

shall once more n d 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 wa y back to the raft Ar e you quite sure

Harry that you are not mistaken ?

It is d ifcult was my reply to come to any deci

There is no
sion for all thes e rock s are exactly alike
marked difference b etween 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 constructed
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 m in d
My dear Harryif this were the case we should nd
traces of our own footsteps some signs of our passage ; and
I can really see nothing to indicate our having pas sed this

way

But I see someth ing I cried in an impetuous tone of

voice as I rushed forward and ea gerly 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 wa s my reply
And I handed to my startled relative a rusty dagger
of si ngular shape
What made you bring with you so useless a weapon

as
he ex cla im ed
t
needle
ss
ly
hamperi
n
g
you
el
rs f
I w
.

A JOU RN E Y T O

25 0

T HE

C E N RE

OF

T HE

AR TH

it is quite new to m e
I brin g it
I never sa w it be
a r e you sure it is not out of your collection ?
fore

Not that I kn ow of said the Professor puzzled

I
have no recollection of the circumstan ce I t wa s n ever

my property

Thi s is very extra ordinar y I sa id musin g over the

n ovel an d singular inciden t
Not at all There is a very simple expla na tion
Harry The Icela nders are known to keep up the use of
these antiquated weapons and this must ha ve belon ged to

Hans who ha s let it fa ll without knowing it

That da gger had never bee n i n the
I shook my head
possession of the p a cic and taciturn 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 co ntemporary of that mighty shepherd from whom we
have j ust es caped ? But nomystery upon mysterythis
is n o weapo n of the stony epoch nor even of the bronz e
period It is made of excellent steel
Ere I could nish my sentence my un cle stopped me
short from entering upon a whole tra in of theories, an d
s most cold and decided tone of voice
spoke in hi
Calm yourself my dear boy and endeavor to use your
reason This wea pon upon which we have fa llen so un ex
pectedly is a true da gue one of those worn by gen tlemen
I ts use was
in their belts durin g the sixteenth century
to give the coup de gr ace the nal blow to the foe who
would n ot surren der It is clearly of Spanish work man
I t belo ngs neither to you n or to me nor the eider
ship
down 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

s
L ook clo ely at it he contin ued ; these jagg ed edges
-

25 2

A JOUR NE Y T O

T HE

CE N RE

OF

T HE

AR T H

There on a square tablet of granite which had been

smoothed by rubbing it wi th another stone we co u ld see
two mysterious and much worn lette rs the two initials of
the bold and extraor dinary traveller who had preceded us
on our adventurous j ourney
,

S a kn ussem

cried my uncle ; you see I

m
a lways Arn e S a k n ussem m
,

wa s

ight

A rn e

CHAP TER XXX VIII

UTL E T B LAS TI NG

NO O

T HE

R OCK.

EVE R since th e commencement of our ma rvellous jour

n ey I ha d experienced ma ny surprises had suffered from
many illusions I th ought that I was cas e harden ed against
a ll surprises an d could neither see nor hear an thin g to
y
amaze me again
I was like a man who having been round th e world
nds 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 xed in a n
attitude of mute surprise
Not only was there the signature of the learned and
enterprising alchemi t wri tten in th e rock but I held in
my hand the very identical instrument with which he had
laborious ly engraved it
It wa 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 myththe
m ystica tion of some fertile brain
While thes e reections were passi ng th rough my mind
my uncle the Professor gave way to an access of fever ish
and poetical excitement
Wonderf ul and glorious Genius great S a k n ussem m "
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 nd
the tra il left by your illustrious footsteps three hu ndr ed

25

J OUR NE Y

CE N TRE

To THE

or T HE

AR TH

yea rs a go a t the bottom of thes e obscu re subterra nea n

a b odes
You ha ve b een c a reful to secure for others the
contempla tion of these wonders a n d ma rvels of crea tion
Your n am e engra ved a t every importa nt sta ge of your
glorious j ourney lea ds the hopeful tra veller direct to the
grea t a n d mighty discovery to which you devoted such
energy a n d coura ge The a uda cious tra veller who sh a ll
follow your footstep s to the las t will doub tless n d your
in itia ls engra ved with your own ha nd upon the centr e of
the ea rth I will be tha t a uda cious tra veller I too will
sign my na me upon the very sa me spot upon the centra l
gra nite stone of th is wondrous work of the Crea tor B ut
in j ustice to your devotion to your coura ge a n d to your
b eing the rst to indica te the roa d let this Ca pe seen by
you upon the shores of this sea discover ed by you be

ca lled of a ll time Ca pe S a k n ussem m

This is wh a t I hea rd a n d I bega n to b e rous ed to the
pitch of enthusia sm indica ted by those words A erce
excitement rous ed me I forgot everything The d a ngers
of the voya ge a n d the perils of the return j ourn ey wer e
now a s nothing !
Wh a t a nother m an h a d done in a ges pa st could I felt
b e done a ga in I wa s determined to do it myself a n d now
nothing th a t m a n ha d a ccomplished a ppea red to me im
possible

F orwa rd for wa rd I cried in a b urst of genuine a n d

hea rty enth usias m
I ha d a lrea dy sta rted in the direction of the sombre a n d
gloomy ga llery when the Professor stopped me ; he th e
m a n so ra sh a n d h a sty he the m a n so eas ily rou sed to th e
highest pitch of enthu si a sm checked me a n d as ked me to
be pa tient a n d show more ca lm

u
s
Let
return to our good friend Ha ns he sa id ;

a
i
f
we w ll then bring the r t down to this pla ce
I mus t sa y tha t though I a t once yielded to my uncle s
,

J OU RNE Y TO

CE N TRE O F

T HE

T HE

ARTH

our j ourn ey th a t I ca re to kn ow Let us

a dva nce a n d He a ven will be ou r guide !

Y es H a rry you a r e right quite right ; a ll is for the

best Let us a b a ndon this h orizonta l sea which could
never h a ve led to a nything sa tisfa cto ry We sh a ll descend
descend a n d everl a stingly descend Do you know my
dea r boy th a t to rea ch the interior of the ea rth we h a ve
o n ly ve thous a nd miles to tra vel !

Ba h
I cried ca rried a wa y by a burst of enthusia sm
the dista nce is sca rcely worth spea king a bout The thing

is to ma ke a sta rt
My wild m a d a n d incoherent speeches continued until
we rejoined our p a tient a n d phlegma tic gu ide
Allwas we
found prep a red for a n immedia te dep a rtur e There was not
a single pa rcel but wha t wa s in its proper pl a ce
We a ll
took up our posts on the ra ft a n d th e sa il being hois ted
H a ns received his directions a n d guided the fra il ba rque
tow a rds Ca pe S a kn ussem m a s we h a d denitely na med it
The win d wa s ver y unfa vora ble to a cra ft th a t wa s un
a ble to sa il close to the wind
It was cons tructed to g o
before the bl as t We were continua lly reduced to pushin g
ourselves forwa rd by mea ns of poles On severa l occas ions
the rocks r a n fa r out into deep wa ter a n d we were co m
pelled to ma ke a long round At las t a fter three long a n d
wea ry hours of na viga tion th a t is to sa y a bout six o clock
in the evening we found a pla ce a t which we co u ld la nd
I jumped on shore r t In my present sta te of excite
ment a n d enth usia sm I wa s a lwa ys rst My uncle a n d
the Icel a nder followed The voya ge from the port to this
point of the sea h a d by n o mea ns ca lmed m e It ha d
ra ther produced the opposite effect I even proposed to
bur n our vessel th a t is to destroy our ra ft in order to
completely ou t off our retrea t But my uncle sternly op
posed this wild project I bega n to think him pa rticula rly
lukewa rm a n d unenthus ia stic
a

t this sta ge

of

NO

OUTLE TB LASTIN G

T HE

OCK

57

At a n y ra te my dea r uncle I sa id let us sta rt with

out dela y

Y es my boy I a m quite as ea ger to do so a s you ca n

be But in the rst pla ce let us exa min e this mysterious
ga llery in order to nd if we sha ll need to prepa re a n d
mend our la dders
My uncle n ow bega n to see to the efciency of our
R u h m k or f s coil which would doubtless soon be needed
the r a ft securely fa tened to a rock was left a lone More
over the opening into the new ga llery wa s not twenty
p a ces dista nt from the spot Our little tr0 0 p with myself
a t the hea d a dva nced
The orice which wa s a lmost circula r presented a
dia meter of a bout ve feet ; the sombre tu nnel was cut in
the living rock a n d coa ted on the ins ide by the different
m a teria l which h a d once pas sed through it in a sta te of
fusion
The lower pa rt wa s a bout level with the wa ter so
th a t we were a ble to penetra te to the interior without
difculty
We followed a n a lmost horizonta l direction ; when a t
the end of a bout a dozen pa ces our further a dva nce was
checked by the interposition of a n enormous block of
gra nite rock

Accursed stone ! I cried furiously on perceiving

tha t we were stopped by wh a t seemed a n insur mounta ble
obsta cle
In va in we looked to the right in v a in we looked to the
left ; in va in exa m in ed it a bove a n d below There ex
isted no p assa ge no sign of a n y other tunnel
I ex per i
en ced the most bitter a n d pa inful disa ppointment
So en
ra ged was I tha t I would not a dmit the rea lity of a n y
obsta cle I stooped to my knees ; I looked under the
m as s of stone No hole no interstice I then looked
a bove
The sa me b a rrier of gra ni te ! Ha ns with th e
la mp exa mined the sides of the tunnel in every direction
,

25 8

T o T HE

JOU R NE Y

CE N TR E

E AR

or T HE

TH

B ut a ll in va in ! It was necessa ry to renounce a ll hope 0 1

passing through
I ha d seated myself uponthe ground My uncle wa lked
ly up a n d dow
n He wa s evidently
a ngrily a nd hopel ess
de
spera te

But I cried a fter some moments thought wh a t

a bout Ar ne S a k nu
ssem m

You a r eright replied my uncle h e ca n never ha ve

been checked by a lump of rock

N o ten tho usa nd tim e

s no, I cri ed wit
h extrem e
vivac ity
This huge lump of r ock in consequence of
some si n gul a r concuss ion or process,one of those m a g netic
phenomena which h a ve so often sh a ken the ter restria l
crust ha s in some unexpected wa y closed up the p assa ge
Ma ny a n d m a ny yea rs h ave passed a wa y since the return
a n d the fa ll of this huge block of gra nite
of S a k n ussem m
I s it not quite evident tha t this g a ller y wa s formerly the
et for the p ent u pl a va in the in terior of th e ea rth a n d
Outl
th a t these erup tive m a tter sthen circula ted freely ? Lo ok
cent ssures in the granite roof ; it is evidently
a t thes e r e
formed of pi eces of enormous stone pla ced here a s if by
th e h a nd of a gi a nt wh o h a d worked to m a ke a strong a n d
One da y a fter a n unusu a lly strong
substa ntia l a rch
shock the vas t rock which sta nds in our wa
y a n d which
wa s doubtless th e k ey of a k in d of a rch fell through to a
level wi th th e soil a n d h as ba rred our further progress
V
Ve a r e right then in think in g th at thi s is a n unexpected
o bsta cle; with which S a k nussem m did not meet ; a n d if we
do not upset it in some way we a r e u nworthy of following
in thefootsteps Of the gre a t discoverer
a n d inc a p a ble of
nding our wa y to the Centre of the Ea rth
In this wild wa y I a ddr essed m y u ncle The zea l of
th e Profess or his ea rnes t longing for success h a d become
p a rt a n d pa rcel of my being I wholly forgot the pas t ;
I utterly despis ed the future
Nothing ex isted for me up
.

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

"

'

'

'

NO

O UTLE TB LASTIN G

THE

OCK

25 9

the surfac e of this spheroid in the bosom of which I was

inig
engulfed no towns no coun try n o Ha mbur g no Kl
not even my poor Gretchen who by this time
str a sse
would believe me utterly lost in the inte rior of the ea rth !

Well cried my uncle rous ed to enthusias m by my

let us go to work with picka xes with crowba rs
words
with a nything th a t comes to h a n d
but down with these

terrible wa lls

It is fa r too tough a n d too b ig to be des tr oyed by a

pick a x e or crowba r I replied

Wha t then

As I sa id it is us eless to think of overcomin g such a

diiculty by mea ns of ordin a ry too

Wh a t then ?
Wha t else but gunpowder a subterra nea n mine ? Let

us blow up the obsta cle th a t sta nds in our wa y

Gunpowder l
Y es ; a ll we h a ve to do is to get rid of this pa ltry

obsta cle

To work Ha ns to work I cried the Professor

The Icela nder wen t ba ck to the ra ft a n d soon returned
with a huge crowba r with which he bega n to dig a hole in
the rock which wa s to serve as a m ine It was by no
mea ns a slight ta sk It was necessa ry for our purpose to
m a ke a ca vity l a rg e enough to hold fty pounds of fulm i
n a ting gun cotton the expa nsive power of which is four
times as gr ea t a s th a t Of ordina ry gun powder
I h a d now roused myself to a n a lmost mira cul ous sta te
While Ha ns was a t work I a ctively as
of excitement
sisted my u ncle to prep a re a long wick m a de from d a mp
gunpowder the mass of which we na lly enclosed in a ba g
of linen

We a re bound to go th rough I cried enthusiastica lly

We a re bound to go through, responded the Professor,

ta pping me on the b a ck
on

26 0

A JOU RNE Y TO

T HE

CE NT RE O F

T HE

AR TH

At midnight our work a s miners was

the cha rge of fulmina ting co tto n wa s thrus t into the hol
low a n d the ma tch which we ha d ma de
length wa s rea dy
A spa rk was n ow sufcient to ignite
engine a n d to blow the rock to a toms !

We will n ow rest un til to morrow

It wa s a bsolutely necessa r y to resign myself to my fa te,
a n d to consent to wa it for th e explosion for si
x wea ry
hours !
,

26 2

After

JOURNE Y

TO

CE N TRE

T HE

OF THE

E AR TH.

hea rty repas t my uncle a n d the hunter guide

emb a rked on boa rd the ra ft while I rema ined a lone upon
the desola te shore
I wa s provided with a la ntern wh ich was to ena ble me
to set re to the wick of the in fern a l m a chine

a n d Hea ven be with

G o my boy sa id my un cle
B ut come ba ck a s soon a s you ca n I sha ll b e all
you

impa tience

a
t
er
Be ea sy on th t ma t
I replied there is n o fea r

of my dela ying on the roa d

Ha ving sa id this I a dva nced towa rd the opening of the
My hea rt bea t wildly I Opened my
sombre g a llery
la nte rn a n d seized the extremity of the wick
The Pr ofessor wh o was lookin g on held his chr on om e
ter in his ha nd

Are you rea dy ? cri ed he

! uite rea dy

Well then re a wa y !
I h as tened to put the light to the wick which cra ck led
a n d sp a rkled hi ssing a n d spitting like a serpent ; then
running a s fa st as I could I returned to the shore

l
n
a
d
a
d
you Ha ns shove off cried
G et on boa rd my
my uncle
By a vigorous a pplica tion of his pole Ha ns sent us y
The ra ft was quite twenty fa thoms
in g over the wa ter
dista nt
It wa s a moment of pa lpita ting inter est of deep a nx iety
My uncle the Professor never took his eyes Off the chto
a

n om eter .

O nly

ve minutes more he sa id in a low tone only

four only three

M y pulse went a hundred to the minute I could hea r
m y hea rt bea ting
O nly two one ! Now then mounta ins of gra nite,
crumble b enea th the power of m a n
,

263

E X P OSION AND ITs RE S U L S .

T HE

Wh a t ha ppened a fter th a t ? As to the terric roa r of

the explosion I do not think I hea rd it But the form
completely cha nged in m y eyesthey seemed
of the rock
I sa w a fa thomless a
to be dra wn as ide like a curta in
bottomless a byss which ya wned benea th the turgid wa ves
The sea which seemed suddenly to ha ve gone m a d then
beca me one grea t m ounta inous mass upon the top of
which the ra ft rose perpendicula rly
We were a ll thrown down I n less tha n a second the
light ga ve pla ce to the most profound Obscurity Then I
felt a ll solid support give wa y not to my feet but to the
ra ft itself I thought it was going bodily down a tr em en d
ous well
I tried to spea k to question my uncle Nothin g
could be hea rd but the roa ring of the mighty wa ves We
clung together in utter silence
Despite the a wful da rkness despite the noise the su r
pris e the emotion I thoroughly understood wh a t ha d
h a ppened
Beyond the rock which h a d been blo wn up there existed
The explosion h a d ca used a kind or
a mighty a byss
ea rthqua ke in this soil broken by ssures a n d rents
The gulf thus suddenly thrown Open wa s a bout to swa l
low the inla nd sea which tra nsformed into a mighty tor
rent wa s dra gging us with it
One only idea lled my mind We were utterly a n d
completely lost !
One hour two hourswh a t more I ca nnot sa y passed
in this ma nner We sa t close together elbow touching
elbow kn ee touching knee ! We held one a nother s h a nds
not to be thrown off the ra ft We were subjected to the
most violent shocks whenever our sole dependence a fra il
wooden ra ft struck a ga inst the rocky sides Of the ch a nnel
F ortuna tely for u s th ese concussions beca me less a n d less
frequent which ma de me fa ncy tha t the ga llery wa s getting
There could be now no doubt th a t we
wider a n d wider
.

4A JOU R NE Y

26

TO

CE NTRE O F

T HE

RT H

T HE

EA

ha d

ch a nced upon the road once followed b y S a kn ussem m ,

but instea d of going down in a proper m a nner we h a d,
th rough our own imprudence dra wn a whole sea with us !
Thes e ideas presented themselves to my mind in a very
v a gue a n d obscure m a n n er I felt ra ther th a n r ea s oned
I put my idea s together only confusedly while spinni n g
To j udge by
a long like a m a n going do wn a wa terfa ll
the a ir which a s it wer e whipped my fa ce we must h a ve
b een rushing a t a perfectly lightnin g ra te
To a ttempt under thes e circums ta nces to light a torch
was simply impossible a n d the la st rem a ins of our electric
m a chine of our R uh m k orf s coil ha d been destroy ed dur
in g the fea rful explosion
I wa s therefore very much con fused to see a t l as t a
b right light shining close to m e The ca lm countena nce
of the guide seemed to glea m upon me
The clever a n d
p a tient hun ter h a d succeeded in lighting the la ntern ; a n d
though in the keen a n d thorough dra ught the a me
ickered a n d va cilla ted a n d wa s n ea rly put out it served
pa rtia lly to dissipa te the a wful obscurity
The ga ller y into which we h a d entered wa s very wide
I was therefore quite right in th a t pa rt of my conjecture
The insufcient light did not a llow us to see both of the
wa lls a t the sa me time The slope of wa ters which wa s
ca rryin g us a wa y was fa r grea ter tha n th a t of the m ost
ra pid river of Am erica The whole surfa ce of th e str ea m
seemed to be composed of liquid a rrows da rted forwa rd
I ca n give no idea of
with ex treme violence a n d power
the impression it m a de upon me
The ra ft a t times ca ught in certa in W hirlpools a n d
rushed forwa rd yet turned on its elf a ll th e time How it
did not upset I sh a ll n ever be a ble to u nders ta nd When
it a pproa ched the sides Of the ga llery I took c a re to throw
upon them the light of the l a ntern a n d I was a ble to
j udge of the ra pidity of motion by looking a t the proj ect
,

2 66

JO UR NE Y

TO

CE N T RE

T HE

OF T HE

E AR TH.

I remem bered everything tha t his to ry ha d ta ught m e

on the subject a n d I shuddered a t the remembra nce of
the a gon ies to be endured
M a ddened a t the prospects of enduring the miseries of
sta rva tion I persu a ded mysel f th a t I mus t be mis ta ken
I exa min ed the cra cks in the ra ft ; I poked between the
j o ints a n d b ea ms ; I exa mined every possible hole a n d
corner The res ult was s imply nothing !
Our sto ck of provisions consisted of nothing but a piece
of dry mea t a n d some soa ked a n d ha 1f m ou ldy bis cuits
I ga zed a round me sca red a n d frightened I could not
understa nd the a wful truth An d yet of wha t cons equence
Wa s it in rega rd to a n y n ew da nger ? Supposing tha t we ha d
h a d provis ions for months a n d even for yea rs h ow could
we ever get out of the a wful a byss into which we were
being hurled by the irresis tible torrent we ha d let loose ?
\Vhy should we trouble ourselves a bout the sufferings
a n d tortures to be endured from hunger when dea th
sta red us in the fa ce under so m a ny other swif ter a n d per
h a ps even more horrid forms ?
It was very doubtful under the circum sta nces in which
we were pla ced if we should h a ve time to die of in a nition
But the hum a n fra me is singula rly co ns tituted
I knew not how it was ; but from some singula r h a llu
cin a tion of the m ind I forgot the rea l seriou s a n d im m e
dia te da nger to which we were exposed to think of the
mena ces Of the future which a ppea red before u s in a ll
their n a ked terror
Besides a fte r a ll sugges ted Hope
perha ps we might na lly esca pe the fury of the ra ging tor
rent a n d once more revisit the glimpses Of the moon on
the surfa ce of our bea utiful mother ea rth
How wa s it to be done ? I ha d not the remotes t idea
Where were we to come out ? N O ma tter so tha t we did
One ch a nce in a thousa nd is a lwa ys a ch a n ce while
dea th fro m hunger ga ve u not ev en the fa intes t glim pse
,

THE

E XP

LO SION

AND IT s RE S

ULTS

26 7

hope
It le: to the im 21 gina tion nothin g but b la nk
horror without the fa intes t ch a nce of esca pe !
I ha d the grea test mind to revea l a ll to my uncle to
expl a in to him the extra ordina ry a n d wretched position to
which we were reduced in order tha t between the two,
we might ma ke a ca lcula tion a s to the exa ct spa ce of time
which rema ined for us to live
It wa s it a ppea red to me the only thing to b e done
B ut I ha d the coura ge to hold my tongue to gna w a t my
entra ils like the Spa rta n boy I wished to lea ve him a ll
h is coolness
At this moment the light of the l a ntern slowly fell
a n d a t l as t went out !
The wick ha d wholly burnt to a n en d The obscurity
b eca me a bsolute It was no longer possible to see through
the impenetra ble da rkness ! Th ere wa s one torch left
b ut it was impossible to keep it a light Then like a
child I shut my eyes tha t I might not see the da rkness
After a grea t l a pse of time the ra pidity of our j ourney
increas ed I could feel it by the rush of a ir upon my fa ce
The slope of the wa ters was excessive I bega n to feel
th a t we were no longer going down a slope ; we were fa ll
in g
I felt a s one does in a drea m going down bodily
fa lling ; falling ; fa lling !
I felt th a t the h a nds of my un cle a n d Ha ns were vigor
ously cl a sping my a rms
Sudden ly a fter a la pse of time sca rcely a pprecia b le I
felt someth ing like a shock
The ra ft ha d not struck a
h a r d body but h a d suddenly been checked in its course
A wa terspout a liquid column Of wa ter fell u pon us I
felt suffoca tin g
I wa s being dr owned
Still the sudden inun da tion did n ot la st In a few
My
sec onds I felt myself once m ore a ble to brea the
uncle a n d Ha ns pre sed my a rms a n d the ra ft ca rried us
a ll three a wa y
of

CHAPTE R X L

T HE

A PE

G I G AN S .

IT is difcult for me to determ ine wha t was the rea l

time but I should suppose by a fter ca lcula tion tha t it
m u st h a ve been te n a t night
I la y in a stupor a h a lf drea m during which I sa w
visions Of as tounding ch a ra cter Mons ters of the deep
were side by side with the mighty eleph a ntine shepherd
Giga ntic sh a n d a nima ls seemed to form stra nge conj un c
tions
The ra ft took a sudden turn whirled round ; entered
n a most sin gul a r
a nother tunnel ; this time illu m in ed i
m a nner The roof was formed Of porous sta l a ctite thr ough
which a moon lit va por a ppea red to pa ss ca s ting its bril
lia nt light upon our ga un t a n d h a gga rd gures The
light increa sed a s we a dva nced while the roof a scended ;
until a t las t we were once more in a kind of wa ter ca vern
the lofty dome of which disa ppea red in a luminous cloud !
A rugged ca vern Of sma ll extent a ppea red to o ffer a
h a lting pla ce to our wea ry bodies
My u ncle a n d the guide moved as men in a drea m I
wa s a fra id to w a ken them k nowin g the d a nger of such a
I sea ted myself beside them to wa tch
sudden sta rt
As I did so I beca me a w a re Of somethin g moving in the
dista nce which a t o n ce fa scina ted my eyes It was oa t
in g a ppa rently upon th e surfa ce of the wa ter a dv a ncing
by mea ns of wh a t a t rst a ppea red pa ddles I looked
with gla ring eyes One gl a nce told me th a t it wa s some
thing monstrous
But wha t ?
,

2 70

A JOU RNE Y TO

T HE

CE N TRE O F

THE

ARTH

omething too hideous to conte mpla te Flight was

possible !
O ne only resource rem a ined a n d th a t wa s to n d some
sm a ll hiding pl a ce to which the fea rful deni zens of the
c a vern could not penetra te I ga zed wildly a round a n d
which I rushed
a t l a st dis covered a ssur e in the rock
in the hope of recovering my sca ttered senses
Crouching down I waited shivering as in a n a gue t
N o m a n is bra ve in pres ence of a n ea rthqua k e, or a bur st
ing boiler or a n ex ploding torped o I could not be ex
pected to feel much coura ge in presence of the fea rful fa te
th a t a pp ea red to a wa it me
An hou r pa ssed I hea rd a ll the time a stra nge rum
b ling outs ide the c a ve
Wh a t wa s the fa te of my unh a ppy compa nions ? It
wa s imp ossib le for me to p a use to inquir e My own
wretched existence was a ll I could thin k of
Sudden ly a groa nin g as of fty bea rs in a ght fell
u pon my ea rs
hisses spitting moa ning hideous to hea r
a n d then I sa w
Never were a ges to pa ss over my hea d sh a ll I forget
the horrible a ppa rition
It was the Ape G iga ns !
Fourteen feet high covered with coa rse ha ir Of a
b l a ckish b rown the ha ir on the a rms from the shoulder
to the elb o w j oints pointing downw a rds while tha t from
the wrist to the el b o w pointed u pwa rds it a dva nced I ts
a rms were a s long a s its b ody while its legs were pro
It h a d thick long a n d sha rply poin ted teeth
digious
like a m a mmoth sa w
It struck its breas t as it ca me on smelling a n d snifng
reminding me of the stories we rea d in our ea rly childh ood
of gi a nts wh o a te the es h of m en a n d little boys !
Suddenly it stopped My hea rt bea t wildly for I wa s
conscious tha t somehow or other the fea rful m onster had
s

T HE

271

G I G AN S .

APE

melt me out a n d was peering a bout with his hideous eyes

to try a n d discover my wherea bouts
My rea ding which a s a rule is a blessing but which on
th is occas ion seem ed momenta rily to prove a curse told
me the rea l truth It wa s the Ape G iga n s the An tedilu
via n Gorill a
Y es ! Thi s a wful monster conned by good fortune to
the interior of the ea rth was the progenitor of the hideous
mons ter of Africa
He gl a red wildly a bout seekin g somethin gdoubtless
myself I ga ve myself up for lost No hope of sa fety or
esca pe seemed to rem a in
At this m oment just as my eyes a ppea red to close in
dea th there ca me a stra nge noise from the entra nce of
the ca ve ; a n d turning the Gorilla evidently recognized
some en emy m ore wor thy h is prodigious size a n d strength
It wa s the huge Sh a rk Crocodile which perh a ps h a ving
disposed of my friends wa s comin g in sea rch of fur ther
prey
The Gorilla pla ced himself on the defensive a n d clutch
ing a bone some seven or eight feet in len gth a perfect
club a imed a dea dly blow a t the hideous bea st which
rea red upwa rds a n d fell with a ll its weight upon its a d
s

versa ry

terrible com ba t the deta ils of wh ich it is im possible

to give now ensued The struggle wa s a wful a n d fero
cion s I however did not wa it to witness the result R e
ga rding myself as the object of conten tion I determined
to remove from the pres ence of the victor I slid down
fr om my hi ding pla ce re a ched the ground a n d glidi n g
a g a inst the wa ll strove to g a in the open mouth of the
ca vern
But I h a d not ta ken m a ny steps when the fea rful cla m or
ceas ed to be followed by a mumbling a n d groa ning which
a ppea red to be in dica tive of victory
,

A JO URNE Y TO

2 72

CE N TRE OF

THE

T HE

E AR

TH

I looked b a ck a n d sa w the huge a pe gory with blood

coming a fter me with gla rin g eyes with dila ted nostrils
th a t ga ve forth two columns of hea ted va por I could
feel his hot a n d fetid brea th on my neck a n d with a
horrid jumpa woke from my nightma re sleep
Y esit was a ll a drea m
I was still on the ra ft with
my uncle a n d the guide
The relief wa s not insta nta neous for un der the inuence
of the hideo us nightm a re my senses h a d become numbed
After a while however my feel ings were tra nquillized
The rst of my perceptions which returned in full force was
th a t of hea ring I lis tened with a cute a n d a ttentive ea rs
All wa s still as dea th
All I comprehended was silence
To the ro a ring of the wa ters which h a d lled the ga llery
with a wful reverbera tions succeeded perfect pea ce
After some little time my uncle spoke in a low a n d
sc a rcely a udible to ne
Ha rry boy where a r e you

I a m here wa s my fa int rejoinder

Well don t you see wha t ha s h a ppened ? We a r e go

ing upwa rds

My dea r u ncle wha t ca n you mea n ? wa s my h a lf

delirious reply
Y es I tell you we a r e as cending ra pidly
Our down

wa rd journey is quite checked

I held out m y ha nd a n d a fter some little diiculty
succeeded in touching the w a ll
My h a nd was in a n in
sta nt covered with blood
The skin was torn from the
esh We were as cending with extra ordin a ry ra pidity

The torch the torch ! cried the Professor wildly ;

it must be lighted
H a ns the guide a fter m a ny va in efforts a t l a s t su e
ceeded in lighting it a n d the a me h a ving n ow nothing
to prevent its burning shed a tolera bly clea r light We
were ena bled to form a n a pproxima te idea of the truth
,

27

4A

J O URNE Y T O

CE N TRE

T HE

OF

E AR

T HE

TH

But wha t would you ha ve us do ? I cried ; a r e we

n ot utte rly helpless ?

No ! While there is life there is hope At a ll events
there is one thing we ca n doea t a n d thus obta in strength

to fa ce victo ry or dea th
A s he spoke I looked a t my u n cle with a ha gga rd
gl a nce I h a d put off the fa ta l commun ica tion as long a s
possible It wa s n ow forced upon me a n d I m us t tell h im
the truth Still I hes ita ted

E a t I sa id in a deprecating tone a s if there were n o

h ur ry

Y es a n d a t on ce
I feel like a sta rving prison er he
s yellow a n d shivering h a nds to gether
sa id ru bbing hi
And tur nin g round to the gu ide he spoke some hea rty
chee rin g words a s I judged f rom h is tone in Da nis h
H a ns sh ook his hea d in a terribly signica nt m a nn er I
tried to look u nconcerned
Wh a t ! cried the Professor you do n ot mea n to sa y

th a t a ll our provisions a r e lost ?

Y es wa s my lo wly spoken reply a s I held out some

thing in my h a nd this morsel of dried mea t is a ll tha t

rema in s for us thr ee

My u ncle ga zed a t me a s if he could not fully a ppreci
The blow seemed to stun
a te the mea ning of my words
him by its severity I a llowed him to reect for some
moments

f
t
a
s
a
u
Well sa id I a er hort p se wh a t do you think
I s there a n y ch a nce of our esca pin g fro m our h or r i
n ow ?
ble subterr a nea n da ngers ? Are we not doomed to perish
in th e grea t h ollo ws of the Centr e of the Ea rth ?
But my pertinen t questions brought no a nswer My
u ncle either hea rd me not or a ppe a red n ot to do so
And in this wa y a whole hour pa ssed Neith er of us
ca red to spea k F or m ysel f I b ega n to feel the most
fea rful a n d devouring hunger My compa nions doubtless
.

TE E

APE

f elt

G I G ANS .

27

the sa me horrible tortures but neither of them would

touch the wretc hed mors el of mea t th a t rem a ined
It la y
ther e a la s t remna nt of a ll our grea t prepa ra tions for the
m a d a n d senseless journey !
I looked b a ck with wondermen t to my own folly
Fully was I a wa re tha t despite his enthusias m a n d the
ever to b e h a ted scroll of S a k n ussem m my uncle should
never h a ve sta r ted on his perilous voya ge Wha t memories
of the h a ppy pas t wh a t previ sions of the h orr i ble future
n ow lled my b ra in !
,

CHAP TE R XLI

HUN GE R

HUN GE R prolonged is tempora ry m a dness !

The bra in is a t work without its required food a n d the
most fa ntas tic notions ll the min d Hither to I had never
known wh a t hun ger rea lly mea nt I was likely to under
sta nd it now
And yet three months b efore I could tell my ter rible
As a boy I u sed to
story of sta rva tion a s I thought it
m a ke frequent excursion s in the neighborhood of the Pro
fessor s hou se
My uncle a lwa ys a cted on system a n d he believed th a t
in a ddition to the da y of rest a n d worship there shou ld be
In cons equence I wa s a lwa ys free to
a da y of recrea tion
do a s I liked on a Wednes da y
N ow a s I h a d a notion to combine the u seful an d th e
a gree a ble my fa vorite p a s time wa s birds nesting
I ha d
one of the best collections of eggs in a ll the town They
were cla ssied a n d under gla ss ca s es
There was a certa in wood which by ris ing a t ea rly morn
a n d ta king the chea p tra in I could re a ch a t eleven in the
m orning
Here I would bota nize or geologize a t my will
My uncle was a lwa ys gla d of specimens for his herb a rium
a n d stones to ex a mine
When I h a d lled my wa llet I
proceeded to sea rch for nests
Af ter a bout two hours of h a rd work I one da y sa t
down by a strea m to ea t my humble but copious lun ch
How the remembra nce of the spiced sa usa ge the Whea ten
loa f a n d the beer m a de my mouth wa ter n ow ! I wo u l d
ha ve given every prospect of worldly wea lth for such a
mea l But to my story
,

2 78

A JOURNE Y TO

CE NT RE

THE

OF

THE

AR TH

I was una b le to move either wa y a n d wa s doomed to a

In a boy s
terrible a n d horri b le dea th th a t of sta rva ti on
mind however there is a n extrao rdina ry a mount of
el as ticity a n d hope a n d I b ega n to think of a ll so rts of
pla ns to es ca pe my gloomy fa te
In the rst pla ce I required no food j ust a t present
h a ving ha d a n excellent m ea l a n d wa s therefore a llowed
time for re ection My rst thought was to try a n d move
the morta r with my ha nd Ha d I possessed a knife
so mething might h a ve b een done but th a t useful instru
ment I ha d left in my coa t pocket
I soon found th a t a ll efforts of this k in d were va in an d
u seless a n d tha t a ll I could hope to do was to wrigg le
downwa r ds
But though I j erked a n d struggled a n d strove to turn
it was a ll in va in
I could not move a n inch on e wa y or
the other And time ew ra pidly My ea rly ris ing pro
b a bly contributed to the fa ct tha t I felt sleepy a n d gra d u
a lly g a ve wa y to the sen sa tion of drowsiness
I slept a n d a woke in da rkn ess ra venously hungry
Night ha d come a n d still I could not move I wa s
tight boun d a n d did not succeed in cha nging my position
a n inch
I groa ned a loud Never since the da ys of my
h a ppy childho od when it was a h a rdship to go from mea l
to mea l without ea ting had I rea lly exper ienced hun ger
The sensa tion wa s as novel as it was pa in ful I bega n
now to lose my hea d a n d to screa m a n d cry out in my
a gony
Someth ing a ppea red s ta rtled by my noise It
was a ha rmless li za rd but it a ppea red to me a loa th some
Ag
a in I mad e the old ruins res ound with my
reptile
cries a n d na lly so exh a usted myself th a t I fa inte d
How long I la y in a kind of tra nce or sleep I ca nnot sa y
bu t when a ga in I recovered consciousness it was da y How
ill I felt how hunger still gna wed a t me it would be h a rd to
I wa s too Wea k toscrea m now fa r too wea k to stru ggle
Sa y
,

HUN GE R

2 7g

Suddenly I was sta rtled by a roa r.

Are you there Henr y ? sa id th e voice of my uncle ;

a r e you there my boy ?

I could only fa intly res pond but I a ls o mad e a despera te
effort to turn Some morta r fell To this I o wed my
being dis covered When the sea rch took pla ce it wa s
ea s ily seen tha t morta r a n d sma ll pieces of sto ne h a d r e
Hence my uncle s cry
cen tly fa llen from a bove
Be ca lm he cried if we pull down the whole ruin

you sha ll be sa ved

They were delicious words but I ha d little hope
Soon however a bout a qua rter of a n hour la ter I hea rd
a voice a b ove m e a t one of the upper r e pla
Ar e you below or a bove

Below wa s my reply
In a n insta nt a b a sket wa s lowered with milk a biscuit
My uncle wa s fea rful to be too rea dy with
a n d a n egg
I dra nk the milk rst for thirst ha d
h is supply of food
nea rly dea dened hunger I then much refreshed a te my
brea d a n d ha rd egg
They were n ow a t work a t the wa ll I could hea r a pick
Wis hing to es ca pe a ll d a nger from this terrible wea
ax e
pon I ma de a despera te struggle a n d the belt which su r
rounded my wa ist a n d which h a d been hitched on a stone
ga ve wa y I was free a n d only esca ped fa llin g down by
a ra pid motion of my h a nds a n d knees
In ten minutes more I wa s in my uncle s a rms a fter
being two da ys a n d nights in tha t horrible prison My
occas iona l delirium prevented me from counting time
I was weeks recovering from th a t a wful sta rva tion a d
venture : a n d yet wh a t wa s tha t to the hideous sufferings I
n ow endured ?
After drea ming for some time a n d thinking of this a n d
other m a tters I once more looked a rou n d me
We were
stil
l w elding with fea rful rapidity Every now a nd
,

'

2 80

J O URNE Y

T O T HE

CE N TRE or

THE

ARTH

then the a ir a ppea red to check our respira tion a s it does

tha t of a erona uts when the as cens ion of the ba lloon is too
ra pid But if they feel a degree of cold in proportion to
the eleva tion they a tta i n in the a tmosphere we ex per i
The hea t bega n to increa s e
en ced quite a contra ry effec t
I ca nnot
in a most threa tening a n d exceptiona l m a nner
te ll exa ctly the mea n but I thin k it must ha ve rea ch ed
1 22 degrees of Fa h renheit
Wha t wa s the mea ning of this extra ordina ry cha nge in
the temper a ture ? As fa r a s we ha d hitherto gone fa cts
ha d proved the theories of Da vy a n d of L iden b r ock to b e
correct U ntil now a ll the peculi a r condition s of refr a c
tory rocks of electricity of m a gnetism h a d modi ed the
genera l la ws of n a ture a n d h a d crea ted for us a modera te
tempera ture for the theor y of the centra l r e rema ined
in my eyes the only expla ina ble one
Were we then going to rea ch a position in which these
phenomen a were to be ca rried out in a ll their rigor a n d
in which the hea t would reduce the rocks to a sta te of fu
sion ?
Such wa s my not unna tura l fea r a n d I did not concea l
the fa ct from m y uncle My wa y of doing so might be
cold a n d hea rtless but I could not help it
If we a r e not drown ed or smashed into pa nca kes a n d
if we do not die of sta rva tion we ha ve the sa tisfa ction of

s
a
k n owin g tha t we mu t be burned live
My uncle in pres ence of this brusque a tta ck simply
a n d res um ed his reections
shrugged his shoulders
wha tever they might be
An hour pa ssed a wa y a n d except th a t ther e was a
slight increa se in th e tem per a ture n o in cident modied
the situa tion My uncle a t las t, of h is own a ccord broke
silence

Well Henry my boy he sa id in a cheerful wa y we

must m ake up our m inds

.

2 82

TO

A JOURNE Y

T HE

CE N TR E

or T HE E

AR TH

las t r epas t Well n ever min dinstea d of bein g ex

h a u sted skeletons we shall be men

d
a
s
i
True muttere I in
de pa rin g tone let us ta k e

our ll

We must 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 which had es ca ped the wr ec k
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 pr ivate
ch aracter
My uncle the Professor ate greedily but evidently
Without appetite ea ting simply from some mechanical
motion I put the food inside my lips and hungry a s I
wa s chewed my morsel without plea s ure and wi thout
sati sfaction
Hans the guide jus t as if he had been cider down hun t
in g swallowed every mouth ful a s though it were a us ual
He looked like a man equally prepared to enjoy
a a ir
super u ity or total want
Hans in all probability wa s no m ore used to star vation
than ourselves but his hardy Icelan dic natu re had pre
pared him for many sufferings A s long as he received h is
three rix d ollars every Saturday night he was prepared
for anything
The fact was 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 h imsel f h e never found fault or grumbled
s wages were duly paid
so long a s h i
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
our

'

HUN GE R

2 83

Sch iedam said the guide producing a bottle of this

precious uid
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 wa s in
reality only half full ; but un der the circumstan ces it was
n ecta 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

For tr a ig said Hans swallowing nearly a ll that was

left

Excellent very good said my uncle with as much

g usto 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 wa s
ve o clock i n the mornin g I
,

C HAP TER XL II

V OLC A NI C

THE

S H FT .

MAN S constitution is so peculiar tha t his hea lth is

purely a n egative matter No s ooner is the ra ge of hun ger
than it becomes difcult to comprehen d the
a ppea s ed
meanin g of starvation It is only when you suffer tha t

you really understand

As to any one who h a s not en dur ed privatio n ha vin g
a n y notio n of the matter 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 saturnine thoughts
Nevertheless after this repas t each gave way to his own
r eections
I wondered what were those of Hans
th e
m a n of the extreme north who wa s yet gifted with the
But th e ut
fatali stic resignation of O riental character
m ost stretch of the imagin ation 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 n d
were all con n ecte d with that upper world whi ch I n ever
I sa w it all now the b eautiful house in
should have left
the Kon igstr a sse my poor Gretchen the good Martha ;
they all passed before m y mind like visions of the past
Every time any of the lugubrious groanings which wer e to
be distin 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 scien ce he
examined the nature of the shaft by mean s of a torch
He closely examined the di fferent strata on e above the
other in order to recognize his situation by geological
.

286

T o THE

A JO URNE Y

CE N TRE

T HE

or

E AR TH.

Are we ascen din g to a living r e I cried ; when to

my horror and a stonishment the heat became greater
tha n before

No n o said my un cle, it is simply impossible quite

i m possible

An d yet said I touchin g the side of the sha ft with

my naked hand this wall is literally bur n ing

At this moment feelin g a s I did that the sides of this
extraordinary wall were r ed hot I plunged my hands into
the water to cool them I drew them bac k with a cry of
despair

The wa ter is boiling ! I cried

My un cle the Professor m a de n o reply other than a
gesture of rage and despair
Something very like the tr uth had probably struck his
ima gination
But I could take n o shar e in either what was goin g on
or in his speculations An invincible drea d had taken
possession of my brain an d soul I could only look for
ward to a n immedia te catas trophe such a cata strophe a s
n ot even the most vi vid imagina tion could have thought
An idea at r st vague and u ncertain was gra dually
of
being changed into certai nty
I tremulously r ej ected it at rst but it forced itself upon
me by deg rees with extr eme ob stin acy It was so terrible
an idea that I scarcely dared to whisper it to myself
An d yet all the while certain and as it wer e in volun
ta ry observations determined my convictions By the
doubtful glare of the torch I could make out some singu
lar changes i n the gran itic strata ; a strange and terrible
phenomeno n was about to be produced in which electr i
city played a part
Then this boiling water th is terrible and excessive hea t ?
I determined a s a las t resource to examine the compass
The compass had gon e mad !
,

T HE

OLCANI C SHAFT

28 7

wholly sta rk starin g mad The needle jumped

fr om pole to pole with sudden and surprising jerks ran
round or a s it is said boxed the compass and then r a n
suddenly back again a s if it had the vertigo
I wa s aware that according to the best ackn owledged
theories it was a received notion that the mineral crust
of the globe i
s never an d never h as been in a state of
complete repose
The modications ca used by the decomposition of in ter
nal matter the agitation consequent on the owing of
extens ive liquid currents the excessive action of magn e
tism which tends to shake it in cessantly at a time 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 delusion to last
Terrible detonations like hea ven s arti llery began to
multiply themselves with fearful in tensity I could only
compare them with the noise m ade b v hundreds of heavi ly
laden chariots being madly d riven over a stone pavement
It wa s a continuous roll of heavy thunder
And then the m ad compass shaken by the wild electric
phenomena conrmed me in my rapidly formed opinion
The mineral crust was about to burst the hea vy granite
masses were about to rejoin the ssure was about to close
the void wa s about to be lled u p and we poor atom s to
be crushed in its awful emb race !

Uncle uncle ! I cried

we are wholly irretrievably

lost !

What then m y young frien d is your n ew cau se of

ter ror and alarm ?

he said in his calmest mann er

What fear you now ?

Wh at do I fea r now ! I cried in erce and an gry

Y es,

2 88

JOURNE Y

T o T HE

CE NT RE

OF THE E AR TH

tones
Do you n ot see that the walls of the shaft are in
motion ? do you not see that the solid granite masses are
cracking ? do you not feel the terrible torr id heat ? do
you not observe the awful boilin g water on which we oat ?
do you not remark this mad needle ? every sign and por

tent of an awful ear thqu ake ?

My uncle coolly shook his hea d

An earthquake he replied in the most calm and pr o

vok in g tone
.

Y es

My nephew I tell you that you are utte rly mistaken

h e continued
Do you n ot ca n you not recognize all the well kn own
symptoms

Of an earth quak e ? by no means

I am expectin g

so mething fa r more importa nt

My brain is strained beyond endur an ce what what

do you mean ? I cried

An eruption Harry

An eruption
I g a sped
We are then in the

volcanic shaft of a crater in full action an d 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 thin g that could happen to u s

The most fortunate thing ! Had my un cle really a n d
truly gone mad ? What d i d he mean by thes e awful
wordswhat 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 st
u s into a well of burn in g and boiling lava of rocks on re
of boiling water in a word lled with every kin d of c rup
tive matter ? We a re about to be expelled th rown up
vomi ted spit out of the interior of the earth in common
with huge blocks of gran ite with showers of cin ders and

A JOU RNE Y T O

2 90

I n the

Tm : CE N RE

OF

T HE

AR TH

n or thern regions there could be n o rea so nable

doubt ab out that
Before it Went decidedly m a d the
compasshad never ma d e the s lightes t m istak e From the
.

"

northwar d ma riy hundr eds of lea gues,

ow the uwtion
q
wa s were we once more u nder I celan d
should we be
belched forth on to the earth thr ough the cra ter of Moun t
Hecla or should we re appear thr ough on e of the other
seven r e funnels of the is land ? Taking i n my men ta l
vision a radius Of ve hun dred l ea gues to the wes twar d,I
could see un der this parallel only the little k nown volca
noes of the north west coa s t of Arn er ica
To the east one o nly ex isted somewhere about the
eightieth degree of latitude the E sk upon the island of
Jea r rMayen not fa r fro m the frozen regions of Spitzbergen
It wa s not craters that were wanti ng and many of them
were big enough to vom it a whole a rmy ; all I wished to :
k n ow wa s the particular one towards which we were
mak ing w
ith such fearful velocity
I often thi n k n ow of my folly : as if I should ever have
expected to escape !
Towards morning the a scending motion became grea ter
I f the degree of hea t increa sed inste ad of
rea ter
a nd g
decreasin g a s we approached the surfa ce of the ea rth it
was simply becaus e the caus es were local an d wholly due
to volcan ic in uence Our very style of locomotion left i n
An enormous force
m y mi n d no doubt up on the subj ect
a force of some hundred of combined atmospheres pro
du ced by vapors accum ulate d a n d lon g eom presSed in the
inte rior of the ea rth were h oistin g us upwards with irre
stib le power
si
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 could ex
pect or contemplate
.

'

'

'

'

'

T he

raft oats over

the

waves Of

la va

292

JO URNE Y To

T HE

CE NT RE oF T HE

E AR TH.

Those few ill joined beams oer ed any way a solid

surfac e
a
support which els ewhere must have utterly
failed u s
Towards eight o clock in the morn ing a n ew incident
The as cen sional movement suddenly ceased
startled us
The raft became still and motionless

What is the matter now ? I said querulously very

much sta rtled b y this change

A simple h a lt 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 thi s cas e it was absolutely necessary to relea s e
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 was

my oracular decision

Ah sa id my uncle you think so my boy Y ou

are wrong Do not b e in the lea s t alarmed ; this sudden
moment of calm will not last lon g be ass ured It ha s a l
ready endured ve minutes and before we are man y
minutes older we S hall be continuing our j ourn ey to the

mouth of the crater

All the time he was speakin g the Professor contin ued to
consult his chronometer and he was 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

m i n utes we shall start again

,

in

te n

V OL CAN IC

T HE

SHAFT

2 93

In ten m inutes ?

Y espreci sely
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 aga i n launched on high with ex
treme rapidity
Not to be cas t off the raft it was 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 om en on without being able to nd for it any sa ti sfactory
explanation Nevertheless it appeared qu ite clear to me
that we were not in the principal chimney of the volcano
b u t i n an accessory condu it where we felt the counter
S hock of the great and pr i nc i pal tunnel lled by burning
lava
It is impossible for me to sa y how many times this m a
n oeu vr e wa s repeated
All that I can remember is that
on every as censional mot ion we were ho isted up with
ever increasin g velocity as if we had been launched from
a huge projecti le During th e sudden halts we were
nea rly stied ; during the moments of projection the hot
air took away our breath
I thought for a moment of the voluptuous joy of su d
den ly nding mysel f in the hyperborean regions with the
cold 3 0 degrees below zero !
My exalted i maginati on pictured to itself the v as t
snowy plains of the arcti c reg i ons and I was 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 hallucinati on I
Had it not b een for the powerful arms of
wa s delirious
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
.

4A

JOU RN E Y T O

29

T HE

OF T HE

CE N RE

AR TH

contin ual detonations of the shaking Of the huge

granitic mass and of the raft going round like a spi nning
top It oated on the stream of hot lava amidst a falling
cloud of cinders The huge ames roarin g wr apped us
around
A storm of wind which appeared to be cas t forth from
an immense ventilator roused up the interior res of the
earth It wa s a hot in candescent bl a t !
At l as t I sa w the gure of Hans a s if enveloped in the
huge halo of burnin g blaze and no other sens e remained
to me but that sinister drea d which the condemned victim
may be supposed to feel when led to the mouth of a can
non a t the supreme moment when the shot is r ed and his
limbs a r e dispersed i nto empty space
brance of

A JOU RNE Y

2 96

CE N TR E

T o T HE

E AR TH.

OF T HE

ected my body allo wed me no chance of doubtin g We

came out of the crater hal f naked and the radiant star
from which we had as ked nothing for two m onths wa s
good enough to be prodigal to u s of l ight and warmth a
light and warmth we could easily have d ispensed with
When our eyes were accustomed to the l ight 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 wa s in no humor to yield to anything
but the most absolute proof
After some delay the Professor spoke

Hem I he said in a hesitating kin d 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 w ith its hills of granite and its crown

of snow
Nevertheless

Look look my boy said the Professor a s dogm a ti

cally a s usual
Right 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 with a very loud explosion a lofty
jet of ame m i ngled wi th pum ice stone c i nders and lava
I could feel the convulsion s of nature i n the moun tain
which breathed like a huge whale throwin g up from tim e
to ti me re and a ir through its enormou s vents
Below and oatin g along a slope of considerable angu
la r ity the stream of eruptive matter spread away to a
depth which did not give the volcano a height Of three
hundred fathom s
I ts base disappeared in a perfect forest of green trees
among which I perceived olives g trees and vines loaded
with rich grapes
a ff

DAYL IGHT AT LAST

29

Certai nly thi s wa 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 was satised 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 rising su n wa s to be seen a l ittle port
crowded with houses and near which the boats and vessels
of peculiar build were oating u pon azure waves
Beyond groups of islands rose above the liquid pla in
so numerou s and close together a s to res emb le a vast b ee
hive
Towards the setting sun some distant shores were to be
made out on the edge of the hori zon Some presented the
appearance of blu e mountains of harmon i ous conforma
ti on ; upon others much more d istant 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 b eauties

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 without clearly understanding

s
Whatever this mountain may b e he aid at las t I
must co n 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 remai n here to recei ve a huge
u s carefully descend
i
ece
L
et
of rock upon one s head
p
To
th e m ountain and d i scover the real state of the case

conf ess the truth I am dyi ng of hunger and thirst

.

2 98

A JOUR NE Y T O

T HE

CE NT RE

OF

T HE

E AR

TH

Decidedly the Pro fessor wa s no longer a truly r eec

tive character For mysel f forgetting all my necessities
ign oring my fatigues an d sufferings I should have r e
mained still for several hour s longerbut it was neces sary
to follo w my companions
The slope of the volcano was very steep a nd slippery ;
we slid over piles of as hes avoiding the streams of hot la va
which glided about like ery serpents Still while we
were advancing I spoke with extreme volubility for m y
imagination wa 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 l

e
But the compass ! exclaim d my uncle ; explain that
to me

Y es
the compass I said with considerable hesita
tion
I grant that is a di fculty Accordin g to it we have

always been going northward

Then it lied

Hem to sa y it lied is rather a harsh word wa s my

ans wer
Then we are at the north pole

The pole n o well well I give it up was my r eply

The plai n truth was that there wa s n o explanation pos
I could make n othing of it
sible
And all the while we were approaching this beautiful
verdure hunger and thirst tormented me fearfully Hap
pily after two long hours march a beautiful country
sprea d out before us covered by olives pomegr a n ates and
vines which appeared to belong to anybody and everybody
In the state of des titution into which we had fa llen we
were not particular to a grape
What deligh t it was to press these delicious fruits to our
li ps and to bite at grapes and pomegranates fres h from th e
.

A JOURNE Y T O

300

T HE

CE

NTRE

OF T HE E AR TH

Again the boy remained silent

My n e fellow do you or do you not mean to speak ?

cri ed my uncle who began to get angry He shook h im
and spoke another dialect of the Italian language
Com e 3 i n om a quests isola ? what is the na me of
this i sland ?

Stromboli replied the rickety little shepherd dashing

a way from Hans and disappearing in the olive grovw
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 ; am idst the Eas tern archipelago of m yth olog i
cal memory ; in the ancient Strongylos where E olus kept
the wi nd and the tempest 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 wa s Etna the erce 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
anci ent chorus
Ahwhat a ou r n eywhat a marvellous and ex tra or
din a r y j ourney ! Here we had entered the earth by one
volcano and we had come out by an other And thi s
other wa s situated more than twelve hundred leagues from
S n eels from that drear country of Iceland ca s t away on
the connes 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 innite 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
.

'

DAY LIG HT

AT LAS T

30 1

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 wa s therefore necessary to pass for humble and unfor tu
nate shipwrecked travellers It wa s certainly less strik
in g and romantic but it was 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 explai n 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 eum

In stituti on 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 Mi neralogy
An hour after leavin g 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 i ndulge in an extraordinary expression for h im
With the tips of two n gers he gently pressed our hands
a n d smiled
.

C HAPTER XLI V.
T HE

UR NE Y

JO

N DE D

THIS is the na l conclusion of a narrative which will be

probably disbelieved even by people who are as tonished
at nothing I am however ar med at all poin ts against
human incredulity
We were kindly received by the S tr om b olite shermen
who treated u s a s S hipwrecked travellers They gave us
clothes and food Af ter a delay of forty eight hour s on
the 3 1 st of September a little vessel took u s to Messin a
where a few days of delightful and complete repose r e
stored us to ourselves
th O ctober we embarked in the Vol
O n F riday the 4
turus one of the postal packets of the Imperial Messa ger ie
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
This inexplicable circumstance
cious but erratic compass
tormented me terribly O n the 9th of O ctober in the
evening we reached Hamburg
What was the as tonishment of Martha what the j oy of
Gretchen ! I will not attempt to dene it

N0 w then Harry that you really are a hero she

there is no reas on why you should ever leave me

sai d

again
I looked at her She was weeping tea rs of joy
I lea ve it to be i m agined if the return of Professor
Ha r dwigg made or did not make a sensa tion in Hamburg
Thanks to the ind iscretion of Martha the news of his de
parture for the Interior of the Earth had been sprea d
over th e whole world
.

30

4A

To THE CE N TR E or THE E AR TH

JOURNE Y

We were deeply attached to our brave cider 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 h
ter ior of the Ear th created an enormous sens ation through
out the civilized world I t wa 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 epi sodes and by those who were utterly in
credulous
Wonderful ! My uncle enjoyed during h is li fetime all
the glory he deserved ; and he wa s even Offered a large
su m of money by Mr Barn um to exhi b it him self in the
U nited Sta tes ; wh i le I am cred ibly i nformed by a traveller
that he is to be seen in waxwork at Madame Tussaud s !
B ut one care preyed upon his m i nd a care which ren
dered him very unhappy One fact remained in ex plica
b lc th a t of the compass
F or a learned man to be ba f
ed by such a n inexplicable phenomenon wa s very a ggr a
But heaven was merciful and in the end my
va tin g
uncle wa s happy
O ne day while he put some minerals 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 whi ch soon became sur
prise I gave a loud cry
The Professor who was at
hand soon joined me

What is the matter ? he cried

The compass !

What then ?
Why its needle points to the south and n ot to the

north
-

T HE

JOUR NE Y

E N DE D .

30 5

My dea r boy you must be dreamin g

I am not dreaming See the poles are changed
Changed
My uncle put on his S pectacles examined the instr u
men t and lea ped with j oy shak ing the whole house
A clear light fell upon our minds

Her e it is ! he cr ied as soon a s he had recovered the

use of h i
s speech
after we had once passed Cape S ak
n ussem m
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

nom enon do we owe this alteration in the needle !

Nothing more simple

Explain yourself my boy I am on thorns
During the storm upon the C entral Sea the ball of
re which made a magnet of the iron in our raft turned
"
our compass topsy turvy
Ah
cried the Professor with a loud and ri nging

laugh it wa s a trick of that inexplicable electricity

F rom that hour my uncle wa s the happiest of learned
men and I the happiest of ordinary mortals For my
pretty Vir la n d girl abdi cating her position as ward took
her place in the house in K ing Street ( KOn igstr a sse) in
the double quality of niece and wi fe
We n eed scarcely mention that her uncle wa s the illus
trions Professor Ha r dwigg corresponding member of all
the scientic geographical mineralogi cal and geologica l
societies of the ve quar ters of the globe
.

'

T HE

E ND.