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TRATIONS.
ILLUS
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THREE RUSSIANS
IN Zou Ee gees
PANWEMAKER,
> ORE S
Pdi) VE Nel UR Ee
JULES. VER NE:
WITH 68 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
I.
MERIDIANA; THe ADVENTURES OF THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE
RUSSIANS IN SOUTH AFRICA,
ie
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
NEW YORK:
SCRIBN ER, oA RIMS MReOiNG & CO
1874.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
3 3 Es
Joun F. Trow & Son,
Printers AND BoOKBINDERS,
205-213 Hast 12th St.,
NEW YORK.
VEER DEAN A :
THE ABVENTURES
OF
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUsstAns
IN
SOUTH.ARRICA.
BY
JULES -VERNE.
Lranslated from the Irrench. With numerous Illustrations.
NEW YORK:
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO,
654 BROADWAY.
1874.
Works of Fules Verne,
PUBLISHED BY
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO.
THE COMPLETE AND AUTHORIZED EDITIONS,
CAUTION.
The public are cautioned against any editions of the works named below
which do not bear the imprint of SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO.
Any edition of these particular works published under other imprints are
PIRATED, and cannot fail to be inferior én every particular. Editions
bearing our imprint are issued under a direct arrangement with the
French and English publishers of JULES VERNE, and are authorized
én text and complete in illusiration.
MERIDIANA:
THE ADVENTURES OF THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THRRE Rus-
SIANS IN SOUTH AFRICA. By JULES VERNE. Translated from the
French. With 48 illustrations. One vol. 12mo, cloth, gilt side and
back. Price, 75 cents. The only edition authorized in text and
complete in illustrations.
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON
In 97 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES AND A TRIP AROUND It. Eighty
full-page illustrations, beautifully bound in cloth, black and gilt.
Price, $3.00.
A JOURNEY to the CENTRE of the EARTH.
Translated from the French of JULES VERNE, author of ‘From the
Earth to the Moon Direct,†“‘ The Mysterious Island,†&c., &ce.
With fifty-two illustrations by Riou.
Popular edition, 20 illustrations, 75¢. Complete edition, 53 illustra
tions, on super-calendered paper, handsomely bound in cloth, black and
gilt, beveled boards, $3.00.
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CoO.,
654 BROADWAY, NEW YORE
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
ON THE BANKS OF THE ORANGE RIVER eit Se ° ° e « >a
CHAPTER II.
OFFICIAL PRESENTATIONS ° . ° ° ° ° e ° . 3
CHAPTER III.
THE LAND JOURNEY «© e oS ee 7 e oe e o 2
CHAPTER IV.
A Few Worps ABOUT THE “ METRE†- © © ee « » 31
CHAPTER V.
A HoTTENTOT VILLAGE on 8 oo eg MS ee eed Se EO
CHAPTER VI.
BETTER ACQUAINTANCE . ° ooh See eee ° 49
CHAPTER VIL
Tue BASE OF THE TRIANGLE - © © © © © ° 59
CHAPTER VIII.
THe TWENTY-FOURTH MERIDIAN .»« «© © © @© 6 e &
iv CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
PAGE
THE KRAAL. e ° ° ° e e ° ° e e ° 76
CHAPTER X.
Tue RAPID. ° ° e e e e e ° 6 ° ° 89
CHAPTER XI,
A MISSING COMPANION oe oO Ge 6 ° o oe 96
CHAPTER XII,
A STaTIon To SiR JOHN’S LIKING . . sue 6 e 106
@1
e
CHAPTER XIIL
PACIFICATION BY FIRE e . e ° ° ° ° e o IIT
CHAPTER XIV.
Avs DECUARATIONS ORMVWAR ve Ure ae fe te 6) 60s (6) 6) 227,
CHAPTER XV.
A GEOMETRIC PROGRESSION Rio ee oegh cue a ee oreo 5130
CHAPTER XVI.
DANGER IN: DISGUISE ..*° 6 <0; 6 «0 10 fem 09-6 + 0 140
CHAPTER XVIL
AN UNEXPECTED BLIGHT . . ° oS Sehe ire Ve to centS4
CHAPTER XVIIL
167
e,
@
e
Tue DESERT ° ° ° ° ° e e °
CHAPTER XIX.
ScrgNCE UNDAUNTED. 6 oo et 6 erie ie e e ayy
STANDING A SIEGE
SUSPENSE °
HIDE AND SEEK .
HoMEWARD BounpD
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XXIL
CHAPTER XXIIL
° ° ° ®
PAGE
e 189
e 200
o 211
. 225
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FRONTISPIECE.
William Emery and the Bushman . ereate e260
At length an exclamation of the Bushman made his heart beat
Meeting of Members of the Exped-tion . . . .
“The Hunter Mokoum,†said William Emery, presenting his
panion . . . . ° . . ° °
All these Objects were deposited on the Beach ° °
The Mission Home Establishment . re ° ° .
Chief Moulibahan . : . ‘ . . 4 .
William Emery and Michael Zorn in advance of the Expedition
The Bushman pointing to the Plain . . ° °
e
e
Commencement of the Geodesic Operations . e e
Measuring the Arc of the Meridian . ° ° e
Taking the Measurements. ° ° ° ° °
The Astronomers at Work . . ° ° ° .
Encampment under an immense Baobab e ° °
‘The Hunters . . ° ° ° e ° ° °
The Elephant and the Dog . ° ° ea uete °
** He is ours! he is ours!†. . . . ° .
The Hippopotamus did not quit his hold, but shook the Boat as a
would a Hare . . ° ° ° ° .
‘¢ There he is,†cried Mokoum . ° a ° .
A missing Companion . . . * . . .
It was a deep Grotto, strewn with Bones and stained with Blood
The Entrance to the Lion’s Den . 3 . ‘ .
A Ball from the Bushman arrested the Lioness . 5
** Well,†said Mokoum, ‘I hope you like our African Partridgesâ€
PAGR
18
20
24
26
46
53
58
61
69
69
92
74
80
86
87
95
103
104
1i2
112
115
116.
Vill LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,
Sir John was soon asleep oe ee ee e e« ®
The Forest on Fire . ° . . < e e ° °
** War is declared between England and Russia†. .© ec
The Parting of Emery and Zorn. ° ° ° e ° °
** The Rhinoceros !†exclaimed SirJohn ° ° oa
The Advance of the Caravan . . . ° ° ° ° °
The Hunters glided through the Creepers and Brushwood ° .
The empty Oryx Skin. ° : ° . ° ° ° °
Emery and two Natives struck by Lightning . ° ° ° °
A strange Cloud . . ° e ° e ° ° ° °
Crossing the Desert ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° e
“‘ The Ngami! the Ngami!†° . ° . oie 6
The English come to the relief of the Russians. ° ° °
On Guard on Mount Scorzef . . . . ° ° e °
An Attack on Mount Scorzef 6 O A . . . e
The Rice of the Bochjesmen . . . . . . ° °
Watching for the Signal from Mount Volquiria . oe eet te
The Steamboat leaving Mount Scorzef . ° e ° . °
Palander robbed by the Chacma . ° ° ° ° ° °
Palander’s Combat with the Chacma.. ° ° ° e °
Descending the Zambesi . ° ° ° ° . ° °
Adieu to Mokoum . : . 7 . : . ° .
The Natives regarded with superstitious admiration the smoking vessel
PAGE
2 124
2 125
© 135
e 14!
« 148
. I51
2 152
2 158
. 61
» 169
° 172
e 178
- 189
° 193
2 196
2 204
2 210
«217
2 224
- 229
= 2G0)
. 230
MERIDIANA:;
THE ADVENTURES OF THREE ENGLISHMEN
AND THREE RUSSIANS.
CHAPTER I
ON THE BANKS OF THE ORANGE RIVER.
ON the 27th of January, 1854, two men lay stretched at
the foot of an immense weeping willow, chatting, and at
the same time watching most attentively the waters of the
Orange River. This river, the Groote of the Dutch, and
the Gariep of the Hottentots, may well vie with the other
three great arteries of Africa—the Nile, the Niger, and the
Zambesi. Like those, it has its periodical risings, its rapids
and cataracts. Travellers whose names are known over
part of its course, Thompson, Alexander, and Burchell,
have each in their turn praised the clearness of its waters,
and the beauty of its shores.
At this point the river, as it approached the Duke of
I
2 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
York Mountains, offered a magnificent spectacle to the
view. Insurmountable rocks, imposing masses of stone,
and trunks of trees that had become mineralized by the
action of the weather, deep caverns, impenetrable forests,
not yet disturbed by the settler’s axe, all these, shut in by
a background formed by the mountains of the Gariep, made
up a scene matchless in its magnificence. There, too, the
waters of the river, on account of the extreme narrowness
of their bed, and the sudden falling away of the soil, rushed
down from a height of 400 feet. Above the fall there were
only surging sheets of water, broken here and there by
points of rock wreathed with green boughs; below, there
was only a dark whirlpool of tumultuous waters, crowned
with a thick cloud of damp vapour, and striped with all
the colours of the rainbow. From this gulf there arose a
deafening roar, increased and varied by the echoes of the
valley.
Of these two men, who had evidently been brought into
this part of South Africa by the chances of an exploration,
one lent only a vague attention to the beauties of nature
that were opened to his view. This indifferent traveller was
a hunting bushman, a fine type of that brave, bright-eyed,
rapidly-gesticulating race of men, who lead a wandering life
in the woods. Bushman, a word derived from the Dutch
“ Bochjesman,†is literally “a man of the bushes,†and is
applied to the wandering tribes that scour the country in
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 3
the N.wW. of Cape Colony. Nota family of these bushmen
is sedentary ; they pass their lives in roaming over the re-
gion lying between the Orange River and the mountains of
the East, in pillaging farms, and in destroying the crops of
the overbearing colonists, by whom they have been driven
back towards the interior of the country, where more rocks
than plants abound.
This bushman, a man of about forty years of age, was
very tall, and evidently possessed great muscular strength,
for even when at rest his body presented the attitude of
action. The clearness, ease, and freedom of his movements
stamped him as an energetic character, a man cast in the
same mould as the celebrated “ Leather-stocking,†the hero
of the Canadian prairies, though perhaps possessing less
calmness than Cooper’s favourite hunter, as could be seen
by the transient deepening of colour in his face, whenever he
was animated by any unusual emotion.
The bushman was no longer a savage like the rest of his
race, the ancient Laquas; for, born of an English father
and a Hottentot mother, the half-breed, through his associa-
tion with strangers, had gained more than he had lost, and
spoke the paternal tongue fluently. His costume, half-
Hottentot, half-European, consisted of a red flannel shirt,
a loose coat and breeches of antelope hide, and leggings
made of the skin of a wild cat ; from his neck hung a little
bag containing a knife, a pipe, and some tobacco; he wore
B2
4 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
on his head a kind of skull-cap of sheep-skin ; a belt, made
from the thick thong of some wild animal, encircled his
waist; and on his naked wrists were rings of ivory,
wrought with remarkable skill. From his shoulders flowed
a “kross,’ a kind of hanging mantle, cut out of a tiger’s
skin, and falling as low as the knees. A dog of native
breed was sleeping near him, while. he himself was smoking
a bone pipe in quick puffs, giving unequivocal signs of im-
patience.
“Come, let’s be calm, Mokoum,†said his interlocutor.
“You are truly the most impatient of mortals whenever
you are not hunting ; but do understand, my worthy com-
panion, that we can’t change what is. Those whom we
are expecting will come sooner or later—to-morrow, it
not to-day.â€
The bushman’s companion was a young man, from twenty-
five to twenty-six years of age, and quite a contrast to him.
His calm temperament was shown in every action; and it
could be decided without a moment’s hesitation that he
was an Englishman. His much too homely costume proved
him to be unaccustomed to travelling. He gave one the
idea of a clerk who had wandered into a savage country,
and one looked involuntarily to see if he carried a pen
behind his ear, like a cashier, clerk, accountant, or some
other variety of the great family of the bureaucracy.
In truth, this young man was not a traveller, but a
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 5
distinguished savant, William Emery, an astronomer at-
tached to the Observatory at the Cape—a useful establish-
ment, which has for a long time rendered true services to
science,
_ The scholar, rather out of his element, perhaps, in this
uninhabited region of South Africa, several hundred miles
from Cape Town, could hardly manage to curb the im-
patience of his companion.
“Mr. Emery,†replied the hunter in good English,
‘here we have been for eight days at the place appointed
on the Orange, the cataract of Morgheda. It is indeed
a long time since it has befallen a member of my
family to remain eight days in one place: you forget
that we are rovers, and that our feet burn at lingering
here.â€
“My friend Mokoum,†replied the astronomer, “ those
we are waiting for are coming from England, and surely
we can allow them eight days of grace: we must take into
account the length of the passage, and the hindrances
which a steam-vessel must meet with in ascending the
Orange; and, in short, the thousand difficulties belonging
to such an undertaking. We have been told to make every
preparation for a journey of exploration in South Africa,
and that being done, to come here to the Falls of Morgheda
and wait for my colleague, Colonel Everest, of the Cam-
bridge Observatory. Well, here are the Falls of Morgheda,
6 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
we are at the place appointed, and we are waiting: what
more do you want, my worthy bushman ?â€
The hunter doubtless did want more, for his fingers
played feverishly with the lock of his rifle, an excellent
Manton, a weapon of precision with conical shot, and
which could bring down a wild cat or an antelope at a
distance of eight or nine hundred yards. Thus it may be
seen that the bushman had put aside the quiver of aloes
and the poisoned darts of his fellow-countrymen for the use
of European weapons.
“But are you not mistaken, Mr. Emery?†replied Mo-
koum. “Is it really at the Falls of Morgheda, and towards
the end of this month of January, that they have appointed
to meet you?â€
“Yes, my friend,†quietly answered William Emery,
“and here is the letter from Mr. Airy, the director of the
Greenwich Observatory, which will show you that I am not
mistaken.â€
The bushman took the letter that his companion gave
him. He turned it over and over like a man not very
familiar with the mysteries of penmanship; then giving it
back to William Emery, he said, “Tell me again what the
blotted piece of paper says.â€
The young astronomer, endowed with a patience proof
against every thing, began again, for the twentieth time,
the story he had so often told to his friend the hunter At
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 7
the end of the foregoing year, William Emery had received
a letter telling him of the approaching arrival of Colonel
Everest, and an international scientific commission in South.
ern Africa. What the plans of the commission were, and
why it came to the extremity of the continent of Africa,
Emery could not say, Mr. Airy’s letter being silent on that
point; but following the instructions that he had received,
he hastened to Lattakoo, one of the most northern stations
in the Hottentot country, to prepare waggons, provisions,
and, in short, every thing that could be wanted for the vic-
tualling of a Bochjesman caravan. Then, as he knew the
reputation of the native hunter, Mokoum, who had accom-
panied Anderson in his hunting expeditions in Western
Africa, and the intrepid David Livingstone on his first
journey of exploration to Lake Ngami and the falls of
the Zambesi, he offered him the command of this same
caravan.
This done, it was arranged that the bushman, who knew
the country perfectly, should lead William Emery along
the banks of the Orange to the Morgheda Falls, the place
appointed for the scientific commission to join them. This
commission was to take its passage in the British frigate
“ Augusta,†to reach the mouth of the Orange on the
western coast of Africa, as high as Cape Voltas, and to
ascend the river as far as the cataracts. William Emery
and Mokoum had therefore brought a waggon, which they
8 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
had left at the bottom of the valley, to carry the strangers
and their baggage to Lattakoo, unless they preferred
getting there by the Orange and its affluents, after they
had avoided the Falls of Morgheda by a land journey of
some miles.
This story ended, and at length really impressed on the
bushman’s mind, he advanced to the edge of the gulf to
whose bottom the foaming river threw itself with a crash :
the astronomer followed, for there a projecting point com-
manded a view of the river, below the cataract, for a distance
of several miles. For some minutes Mokoum and his
companion gazed attentively at the part of the river where
it resumed its tranquillity about a quarter of a mile below
them, but not an object, either boat or pirogue, disturbed
its course. It was then three o'clock. The month of
January here corresponds to the July of northern countries,
and the sun, almost vertical in lat. 29°, heated the atmo-
sphere till the thermometer stood at 105° Fahrenheit in the
shade. If it had not been for the westerly breeze, which
moderated the heat a little, the temperature would have
been unbearable for any but a bushman. Still, the young
astronomer, with his cool temperament, all bone and all
nerves, did not feel it too much: the thick foliage of the
trees which overhung the abyss protected him from the
direct attacks of the sun’s rays. Not a bird enlivened the
solitude during these hot hours of the day; not an animal
William Emery and the Bushman,— [Page 8. ]}
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. g
left the cool shade of the bushes to trust itself along the
glades; not a sound would have been heard in this deserted
region, even if the cataract had not filled the whole air with
its roar.
After gazing for ten minutes, Mokoum turned to William
Emery, stamping impatiently with his large foot; his pene-
trating eyes had discovered nothing.
“Supposing your people don’t come?†he asked the
astronomer.
“They'll come, my brave hunter,†answered William
Emery: “they are men of their word, and punctual, like
all astronomers. Besides, what fault do you find with
them? The letter says they are to arrive at the end of
January ; this is the 27th, and these gentlemen have still a
right to four more days before they need to reach the
Morgheda Falls.â€
“ And supposing they have not come at the end of those
four days?†asked the bushman.
“Well! then, master hunter, there will be a chance for
us to show our patience, for we will wait for them until I have
certain proof that they are not coming at all.â€
“By our god Ko!†cried the bushman in a sonorous
voice, “you are a man who would wait until the Gariep had
emptied all its roaring waters into that abyss!â€
“No, hunter, no,†replied Emery in his ever quiet tone;
“but we must let reason govern our actions ; and what does
10 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
reason tell us? This :—that if Colonel Everest and his com-
panions, wearied with a tiresome journey, in want perhaps,
and lost in this lonely country, were not to find us at the
place of rendezvous, we should be to blame in every way.
If any thing went wrong, the responsibility would rest on
us; we ought, therefore, to stay at our post as long as it is
our duty to do so. And besides, we want for nothing here:
our waggon is waiting for us at the bottom of the valley,
and gives us shelter at night ; we have plenty of provisions;
ature here is magnificent and worthy of our admiration ;
and it is quite a new pleasure to me to spend a few days in
these splendid forests on the banks of this matchless river.
As for you, Mokoum, what can you want more? Game,
both hairy and feathered, abounds in the forests, and your
rifle keeps us supplied with venison, Hunt, my brave hunter!
kill time by killing deer and buffaloes! Go, my good bush-
man; I’ll watch for the loiterers meanwhile, and your feet,
at any rate, will run no risk of taking root.â€
The hunter thought the astronomer’s advice was good,
and decided that he would go for a few hours and beat the
neighbouring bushes and brushwood. Lions, hyenas, and
leopards would not disturb such a Nimrod as he, so well
accustomed to the African forests. He whistled to his dog
Top, an animal of the hyena breed from the desert of
Kalahari, and a descendant of that race of which the
Balabas formerly made pointers. The intelligent creature,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, It
as impatient, seemingly, as his master, bounded up, and
showed by his joyous barking how much he was gratified
at the bushman’s intention. Soon both man and dog dis-
appeared among the thick masses of wood which crowned the
background of the cataract. William Emery, now alone,
again stretched himself at the foot of the willow, and while
he was waiting for the heat to send him to sleep, began to
think over his actual position. Here he was, far away from
any inhabited spot, on the banks of the Orange river,
a river as yet but little explored. He was waiting for
Europeans, fellow-countrymen who had left their homes to
run the risks of a distant expedition. But what was the
expedition for? What scientific problem could it want to
solve in the deserts of South Africa? What observation
could it be trying to take in lat. 30° S.? That was just
what Mr. Airy, the director of the Greenwich Observatory,
did not tell in his letter. As for Emery himself, they asked
for his co-operation as for that of a scientific man who was
familiar with the climate of those southern latitudes, and as
he was openly engaged in scientific labours, he was quite at
the disposal of his colleagues in the United Kingdom.
As the young astronomer lay musing over all these things,
and asking himself a thousand questions which he could not
answer, his eyelids became heavy, and at length he slept
soundly. When he awoke, the sun was already hidden
behind the western hills, whose picturesque outline stood
12 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
out sharply against the bright horizon. Some gnawings of
hunger told him that supper-time was near ; it was, in fact,
six o’clock, and just the hour for returning to the waggon
at the bottom of the valley. At that very moment a report
resounded from a grove of arborescent heaths, from twelve
to fifteen feet high, which was growing along the slope of
the hills on the right. Almost immediately the bushman
and Top made their appearance at the edge of the wood,
the former dragging behind him the animal that he had
just shot. “Come, come, master purveyor!†cried Emery,
“what have you got for supper?â€
“A springbok, Mr. William,†replied the hunter, throwing
down an animal with horns curved like a lyre. It wasa
kind of antelope, more generally known by the name of
“leaping buck,†and which is to be met with in every part
of South Africa. It is a charming animal, with its cinna-
mon-coloured back, and its croup covered with tufts of silky
hair of a dazzling whiteness, whilst its under part is in
shades of chestnut brown ; its flesh, always excellent eating,
was on this occasion to form the evening repast.
The hunter and the astronomer, lifting the beast by
means of a pole placed across their shoulders, now left the _
head of the cataract, and in half an hour reached their
encampment in a narrow gorge of the valley, where the
waggon, guarded by two Bochjesman drivers, was waiting
for them.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 13
CHAPTER II.
OFFICIAL PRESENTATIONS.
FOR the next three days, the 28th, 29th, and goth of
January, Mokoum and William Emery never left the place
of rendezvous. While the bushman, carried away by his
hunting instincts, pursued the game and deer in the wooded
district lying near the cataract, the young astronomer
watched the river. The sight of this grand, wild nature
enchanted him, and filled his soul with new emotions.
Accustomed as he was to bend over his figures and cata-
logues day and night, hardly ever leaving the eye-piece
of his telescope, watching the passage of stars across the
meridian and their occultations, he delighted in the open-
air life in the almost impenetrable woods which covered the
slope of the hills, and on the lonely peaks that were sprin-
kled by the spray from the Morgheda as with a damp dust.
It was joy to him to take in the poetry of these vast soli-
tudes, and to refresh his mind, so wearied with his mathe-
14 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
matical speculations; and so he beguiled the tediousness
of his waiting, and became a new man, both in mind and
body. Thus did the novelty of his situation explain his
unvarying patience, which the bushman could not share in
the least ; so there were continually on the part of Mokoum
the same recriminations, and on the part of Emery the
same quiet answers, which, however, did not quiet the
nervous hunter in the smallest degree.
And now the 31st of January had come, the last day
fixed in Airy’s letter. If the expected party did not then
arrive, Emery would be in a very embarrassing position ;
the delay might be indefinitely prolonged. How long,
then, ought he to wait ?
“Mr. William,†said the hunter, “why shouldn’t we go
to meet these strangers? We cannot miss them; there is
only one road, that by the river, and if they are coming up,
as your bit of paper says they are, we are sure to meet
them.â€
“That is a capital idea of yours, Mokoum,†replied the
astronomer: “we will go on and look out below the falls.
We can get back to the encampment by the side valleys
in the south. But tell me, my good bushman, you know
nearly the whole course of the river, do you not?â€
“Yes, sir,†answered the hunter, “I have ascended it
twice from Cape Voltas to its juncture with the Hart on
the frontier of the Transvaal Republic.â€
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 15
“And it is navigable all the way, except at the Falls of
Morgheda ?â€
“Just so, sir,†replied the bushman. “ But I should add
that at the end of the dry season the Orange has not much
water till within five or six miles of its mouth; there is then
a bar, where the swell from the west breaks very violently.â€
“That doesn’t matter,†answered the astronomer, “ be-
cause at the time that our friends want to land it will be
all right. There is nothing then to keep them back, so
they will come.â€
The bushman said nothing, but shouldering his gun, and
whistling to Top, he led the way down the narrow path
which met the river again 400 feet lower.
It was then nine o’clock in the morning, and the two
explorers (for such they might truly be called) followed the
river by its left bank. Their way did not offer the smooth
and easy surface of an embankment or towing-path, for
the river-banks were covered with brushwood, and quite
hidden in a bower of every variety of plants; and the fes-
toons of the “cynauchum filiform,†mentioned by Burchell,
hanging from tree to tree, formed quite a network of ver-
dure in their path; the bushman’s knife, however, did not
long remain inactive, and he cut down the obstructive
branches without mercy. William Emery drank in the
fragrant air, here especially impregnated with the camphor-
like odour of the countless blooms of the diosma. Happily
16 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
there were sometimes more open places along the bank
devoid of vegetation, where the river flowed quietly, and
abounded in fish, and these enabled the hunter and his
companion to make better progress westward, so that by
eleven o’clock they had gone about four miles. The wind
being in the west, the roar of the cataract could not be
heard at that distance, but on the other hand, all sounds
below the falls were very distinct. William Emery and the
hunter, as they stood, could see straight down the river for
three or four miles. Chalk cliffs, 200 feet high, overhung
and shut in its bed on either side.
“Let us stop and rest here,†said the astronomer; “I
haven’t your hunter’s legs, Mokoum, and am more used to
the starry paths of the heavens than to those on terra firma ;
so let us have a rest; we can see three or four miles down
the river from here, and if the steamer should turn that last
bend we are sure to See it.â€
The young astronomer seated himself against a giant
euphorbia, forty feet high, and in that position looked down
the river, while the hunter, little used to sitting, continued
to walk along the bank, and Top roused up clouds of wild
birds, to which, however, his master gave no heed. They
had been here about half an hour, when William Emery
noticed that Mokoum, who was standing about Ico feet
below him, gave signs of a closer attention. Was it likely
that he had seen the long-expected boat? The astronomer,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 17
leaving his mossy couch, started for the spot where the
hunter stood, and came up to him in a very few moments.
“Do you see any thing, Mokoum ?†he asked.
“T see nothing, Mr. William,†answered the bushman,
“but it seems to me that there is an unusual murmur down
the river, different to the natural sounds that are so familiar
to my ears.†And then, telling his companion to be quiet,
he lay down with his ear on the ground, and listened atten-
tively. In a few minutes he got up, and shaking his head,
said,—
“I was mistaken; the noise I thought I heard was
nothing but the breeze among the leaves or the murmur
of the water over the stones at the edge; and yet
The hunter listened again, but again heard nothing.
“Mokoum,†then said Mr. William Emery, “ if the noise
you thought you heard is caused by the machinery of a
steamboat, you would hear better by stooping to the level
of the river; water always conducts sound more clearly
and quickly than air.â€
“You are right, Mr. William,†answered Mokoum, “for
more than once I have found out the passage of a hippo-
potamus across the river in that way.â€
The bushman went nimbly down the bank, clinging to
the creepers and tufts of grass on his way. When he got
to the level of the river, he went in to his knees, and stoop-
ing down, laid his ear close to the water.
C
18 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
“Yes!†he exclaimed, in a few minutes, “I was not mis-
taken ; there is a sound, some miles down, as if the waters
were being violently beaten; it is a continual monotonous
splashing which is introduced into the current.â€
“Ts it like a screw?†asked the astronomer.
“Perhaps it is, Mr. Emery; they are not far off.â€
William Emery did not hesitate to believe his com-
panion’s assertion, for he knew that the hunter was en-
dowed with great delicacy of sense, whether he used his
eyes, nose, or ears. Mokoum climbed up the bank again,
and they determined to wait in that place, as they could
easily see down the river from there. Half an hour passed,
which to Emery, in spite of his calmness, appeared inter-
minable. Ever so many times he fancied he saw the dim
outline of a boat gliding along the water, but he was always
mistaken. At last an exclamation from the bushman made
his heart leap.
“Smoke !†cried Mokoum,
Looking in the direction indicated by the bushman,
Emery could just see a light streak rolling round the bend
of the river: there was no longer any doubt. The vessel
advanced rapidly, and he could soon make out the funnel
pouring forth a torrent of black smoke mingling with white
steam. They had evidently made up their fires to increase
their speed, so as to reach the appointed place on the exact
day. The vessel was still about seven miles from the Falls
At length an exclamation of the Bushman made his heart beat.—[Page 18. |
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 1g
of Morgheda. It was then twelve o’clock, and as it was not
a good place for landing, the astronomer determined to
return to the foot of the cataract: he told his plan to the
hunter, who only answered by turning back along the path
he had just cleared along the left bank of the stream.
Emery followed, and, turning round for the last time at a
bend in the river, saw the British flag floating from the
stern of the vessel. The return to the falls was soon ef-
fected, and in an hour’s time the bushman and the astro-
nomer halted a quarter of a mile below the cataract; for
there the shore, hollowed into a semicircle, formed a little
creek, and as the water was deep right up to the bank, the
steamboat could easily land its passengers. The vessel
could not be far off now, and it had certainly gained on the
two pedestrians, although they had walked so fast; it was
not yet in sight, for the lofty trees which hung quite
over the river-banks into the water, and the slope of the
banks themselves, did not allow of an extensive view. But
although they could not hear the sound made by the steam,
the shrill whistle of the machinery broke in distinctly on
the monotonous roar of the cataract; and as this whistling
continued, it was evident that it was a signal from the boat
to announce its arrival near the falls. The hunter replied
by letting off his gun, the report being repeated with a
crash by the echoes of the shore. At last the vessel was in
sight, and William Emery and his companion were seen by
C2
20 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
those on board. At a sign from the astronomer the vessel
turned, and glided quietly alongside the bank; a rope was
thrown ashore, which the bushman seized and twisted round
the broken stump of a tree, and immediately a tall man
sprang lightly on to the bank, and went towards the astro-
nomer, whilst his companions landed in their turn. William
Emery also advanced to. meet the stranger, saying in-
quiringly, “Colonel Everest ?â€
“Mr. William Emery?†answered the Colonel.
The astronomer bowed and shook hands.
“Gentlemen,†then said Colonel Everest, “let me intro-
duce you to Mr. William Emery, of the Cape Town Obser-
vatory, who has kindly come as far as the Morgheda Falls
to meet us.â€
Four of the passengers who stood near Colonel Everest
bowed to the young astronomer, who did the same; and
then the Colonel, with his British self-possession, introduced
them officially, saying,—
“Mr. Emery, Sir John Murray, of the county of Devon,
your fellow-countryman ; Mr. Matthew Strux, of the Poul-
kowa Observatory ; Mr. Nicholas Palander, of the Helsing-
fors Observatory; and Mr. Michael Zorn, of the Kiew
Observatory, three scientific gentlemen who represent the
Russian government in our international commission.â€
Meeting of Members of the Expedition, —[Page 20.]
2
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 21
CHAPTER III.
THE LAND JOURNEY.
THESE introductions over, William Emery put himself
at the disposal of the new arrivals, for in his position o
astronomer at the Cape, he was inferior in rank to Colonel
Everest, a delegate of the English Government, and, with
Matthew Strux, joint president of the commission. He
knew, as well, that he was a distinguished man of science,
famous for his reductions of the nebule and his calculations
of the occultations of the stars. He was a cold, methodical
man, of about fifty years of age, every hour of his life being
portioned out with mathematical accuracy. Nothing un-
foreseen ever happened to him, and his punctuality in every
thing was like that of the stars in passing the meridian, and
it might be said that all his doings were regulated by the
chronometer. William Emery knew all this, and had tkere-
fore never doubted that the commission would arrive on
the appointed day. During this time he was waiting for
the Colonel to tell him the object of this mission to South
22 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
Africa; but as he was still silent on the point, Emery
thought it better not to ask any questions, as very likely
the hour fixed in the Colonel’s mind for the subject had
not yet come,
Emery also knew by repute the wealthy Sir John Mur-
ray, who (almost a rival to Sir James Ross and Lord Elgin)
was, although without office, an honour to England by his
scientific labours. His pecuniary sacrifices to science were
likewise considerable, for he had devoted £20,000 to the
establishment of a giant reflector, a match for the telescope
at Parson Town, by whose means the elements of a number
of double stars had just been determined. He was a man
of about forty years of age, with an aristocratic bearing,
but whose character it was impossible to discover through
his imperturbable exterior.
As to the three Russians, Strux, Palander, and Zorn,
their names were also well known to William Emery,
although he was not personally acquainted with them.
Nicholas Palander and Michael Zorn paid a certain
amount of deference to Matthew Strux, as was due to
his position, if it had not been to his merit.
The only remark that Emery made was that they were
in equal numbers, three English and three Russians ; and
the crew of the “Queen and Czar†(for that was the name
of the steamboat) consisted of ten men, five English and
five Russians.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 2y
“Mr. Emery,†said Colonel Everest, when the introduc-
tions were over, “we are now as well acquainted as if we
had travelled together from London to Cape Voltas. Be-
sides, your labours have already earned you a just renown,
and on that account I hold you in high esteem. It was at
my request that the English Government appointed you to
assist in our operations in South Africa.â€
William Emery bowed in acknowledgment, and thought
that he was now going to hear the object of the scientific
commission to the southern hemisphere; but still Colonel
Everest did not explain it.
“Mr. Emery,†he went on, “are your preparations com-
plete?â€
“ Quite, Colonel,†replied the astronomer. “ According
to the directions in Mr. Airy’s letter, I left Cape Town a
month ago, and went to the station at Lattakoo, and there
I collected all the materials for an expedition into the interior
of Africa, provisions, waggons, horses, and bushmen. There
is an escort of 100 armed men waiting for you at Lattakoo,
and they will be under the command of a clever and cele-
brated hunter, whom I now beg to present to you, the
bushman Mokoum.â€
“The bushman Mokoum!†cried the Colonel (if his
usual cold tone could justify such a verb), “the bushman
Mokoum! I know his name perfectly well.â€
“Tt is the name of a clever, brave African,†added Sir
24 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
John Murray, turning to the hunter, who was not at all
discomposed by the grand airs of the Europeans.
“The hunter Mokoum,†said William Emery, as he intro-
duced his companion.
“Your name is well known in the United Kingdom,
bushman,†replied Colonel Everest. “ You were the friend
of Anderson and the guide of David Livingstone, whose
friend I have the honour of being. J thank you in the
name of England, and I congratulate Mr. Emery on having
chosen you as the chief of ourcaravan. Such a hunter as you
must be a connoisseur of fire-arms, and as we have a very fair
supply, I shall beg you to take your choice of the one which
will suit you the best ; we know that it will be in good hands.â€
A smile of satisfaction played round the bushman’s lips,
for although he was no doubt gratified by the recognition
of his services in England, yet the Colonel’s offer touched
him the most: he then returned thanks in polite terms, and
stepped aside, while Emery and the Europeans continued
their conversation.
The young astronomer went through all the details of
the expedition he had prepared, and the Colonel seemed
delighted. He was anxious to reach Lattakoo as quickly
as possible, as the caravan ought to start at the beginning
of March, after the rainy season.
“Will you be kind enough to decide how you will get to
the town, Colonel Everest ?†said William Emery.
“The Hunter Mokoum,†said William Emery, presenting his Companion.
[Page 24.]
’ THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 25
“ By the Orange River, and one of its affluents, the Kuru-
man, which flows close to Lattakoo.â€
“True,†replied the astronomer, “ but however well your
vessel may travel, it cannot possibly ascend the cataract
of Morgheda !â€
“We will go round the cataract, Mr. Emery,†replied the
Colonel, “and by making a land journey of a few miles, we
can re-embark above the falls ; and from there to Lattakoo,
if I am not mistaken, the rivers are navigable for a vessel
that does not draw much water.â€
“No doubt, Colonel,†answered William Emery, “but
this steamboat is too heavy .. .â€
“Mr. Emery,†interrupted the Colonel, “this vessel is a
masterpiece from Leard and Co’s manufactory in Liverpool.
It takes to pieces, and is put together again with the great-
est ease, a key and a few bolts being all that is required by
men used tothe work. You brought a waggon to the falls,
did you not?â€
“Yes, Colonel,’ answered Emery, “our encampment is
not a mile away.â€
“Well, I must beg the bushman to have the waggon
brought to the landing-place, and it will then, be loaded
with the portions of the vessel and its machinery, which
also takes to pieces; and we shall then get up to the spot
where the Orange becomes navigable.â€
Colonel Everest’s orders were obeyed. The bushman
26 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
disappeared quickly in the underwood, promising to be
back in less than an hour, and while he was gone, the
steamboat was rapidly unloaded. The cargo was not very
considerable; it consisted of some cases of philosophical
instruments ; a fair collection of guns of Purdey Moore’s
manufacture, of Edinburgh; some kegs of brandy; some
canisters of preserved meat; cases of ammunition; port-
manteaus reduced to the smallest size; tent-cloths and all
their utensils, looking as if they had come out of a travelling-
bazaar; a carefully packed gutta-percha canoe, which took
up no more room than a well-folded counterpane ; some
materials for encamping, &c. &c.; and lastly, a fan-
shaped mitrailleuse, a machine not then brought to per-
fection, but formidable enough to terrify any enemy
who might come across their path. All these were
placed on the bank; and the engine, of 8-horse power, was
divided into three parts: the boiler and its tubes; the
mechanism, which was parted from the boiler by a turn
of a key; and the screw attached to the false stern-post.
When these had been successively carried away, the inside
of the vessel was left free. Besides the space reserved for
the machinery and the stores, it was divided into a fore-
cabin for the use of the crew, and an aft-cabin, occupied by
Colonel Everest and his companions. In the twinkling of
an eye the partitions vanished, all the chests and bedsteads
were lifted out, and now the vessel was reduced to a mere
All these Objects were deposited on the Beach.—[Page 26.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 29
shell, thirty-five feet long, and composed of three parts, like
the “ Ma-Robert,†the steam-vessel used by Dr. Livingstone
in his first voyage up the Zambesi. It was made of gal-
vanized steel, so that it was light, and at the same time
resisting. The bolts, which fastened the plates over a
framework of the same metal, kept them firm, and also
prevented the possibility of a leakage. William Emery
was truly astounded at the simplicity of the work and the
rapidity with which it was executed. The waggon, under
the guidance of Mokoum and the two Bochjesmen, had
only arrived an hour when they were ready to load it.
This waggon, rather a primitive vehicle, was mounted on
four massive wheels, each couple being about twenty feet
apart; it was a regular American “car†in length. This
clumsy machine, with its creaking axles projecting a good
foot beyond the wheels, was drawn by six tame buffaloes,
two and two, who were extremely sensitive to the long
goad carried by their driver. It required nothing less than
such beasts as these to move the vehicle when heavily laden,
for in spite of the adroitness of the “leader,†it stuck in the
mire more than once. The crew of the “Queen and Czarâ€
now proceeded to load the waggon so as to balance it well
every where. The dexterity of sailors is proverbial, and
the lading of the vehicle was like play to the brave men.
They laid the larger pieces of the boat on the strongest
part of the waggon, immediately over the axles of the
28 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
wheels, so that the cases, chests, barrels, and the lighter
and more fragile packages easily found room between
them. As to the travellers themselves, a four miles’ walk
was nothing to them. By three o’clock the loading was
finished, and Colonel Everest gave the signal for starting.
He and his companions, with William Emery as guide,
took the lead, while the bushman, the crew, and the drivers
of the waggon followed more slowly. They performed the
journey without fatigue, for the slopes that led to the upper
course of the Orange made their road easy, by making it
longer, and this was a happy thing for the heavily-laden
waggon, as it would thus reach its goal more surely, if
more slowly.
The different members of the commission clambered
lightly up the side of the hill, and the conversation became
general, but there was still no mention of the object of the
expedition. The Europeans were admiring the splendid
scenes that were opened to their view, for this grand nature,
so beautiful in its wildness, charmed them as it had charmed
the young astronomer, and their voyage had not yet sur-
feited them with the natural beauties of this African region,
' though they admired every thing with a quiet admiration,
and, English-like, would not do any thing that might seem
“improper.†However, the cataract drew forth some grace-
ful applause, and although they clapped perhaps with only
the tips of their fingers, yet it was enough to show that
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 29
“nil admirari†was not quite their motto. Besides, Wil-
liam Emery thought it his duty to do the honours of
South Africa to his guests; for he was at home, and like
certain over-enthusiastic citizens, he did not spare a detail
of his African park. Towards half-past four they had
passed the cataract of Morgheda, and being now on level
ground, the upper part of the river lay before them as far
as their eye could reach, and they encamped on the bank to
await the arrival of the waggon. It appeared at the top of
the hill about five o’clock, having accomplished the journey
in safety, and Colonel Everest ordered it to be unloaded
immediately, announcing that they were to start at day-
break the next morning. All the night was passed in
different occupations. The shell of the vessel was put
together again in less than an hour; then the machinery
of the screw was put into its place; the metal partitions
were fixed between the cabins; the store-rooms were re-
furnished, and the different packages neatly arranged on
board, and every thing done so quickly that it told a great
deal in favour of the crew of the “Queen and Czar.â€
These Englishmen and Russians were picked men, clever
and well disciplined, and thoroughly to be depended on.
The next day, the ist of February, the boat’ was ready to
receive its passengers at daybreak. Already there was a
volume of black smoke pouring from the funnel, and the
engineer, to put the machinery in motion, was causing jets
30 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
of white steam to fly across the smoke. The machine being
at high pressure, without a condenser, the steam escaped at
every stroke of the piston, according to the system applied
to locomotives ; and as to the boiler, with its ingeniously
contrived tubes, presenting. a large surface to the furnace,
it only required half an hour to furnish a sufficient quantity
of steam. They had laid in a good stock of ebony and
guiacum, which were plentiful in the neighbourhood, and
they were now lighting the great fire with this valuable
wood,
At six o’clock Colonel Everest gave the signal for start-
ing, and passengers and crew went on board the “Queen
and Czar.†The hunter, who was acquainted with the
course of the river, followed, leaving the two Bochjesmen
to take the waggon back to Lattakoo. Just as the vessel
was slipping its cable, Colonel Everest turned to the astro-
nomer, and said,—
“ By-the-bye, Mr. Emery, you know why we have come
here?â€
“T have not the least idea, Colonel.â€
“Tt is very simple, Mr. Emery: we have come to mea-
sure an arc of meridian in South Africa.â€
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 3t
—
CHAPTER IV.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE “ METRE.â€
THE idea of an invariable and constant system of mea-
surement, of which nature herself should furnish the exact
value, may be said to have existed in the mind of man from
the earliest ages. It was of the highest importance, how-
ever, that this measurement should be accurately deter-
mined, whatever had been the cataclysms of which our
earth had been the scene, and it is certain that the ancients
felt the same, though they failed in methods and appliances
for carrying out the work with sufficient accuracy. The
best way of obtaining a constant measurement was to con-
nect it with the terrestrial sphere, whose circumference must
be considered as invariable, and then to measure the whole
or part of that circumference mathematically. The an-
cients had tried to do this, and Aristotle, according to some
contemporary philosophers, reckoned that the stadium, or
Egyptian cubit, formed the hundred-thousandth part of the
distance between the pole and the equator, and Eratos-
32 © MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
thenes, in the time of the Ptolemies, calculated the value
of a degree along the Nile, between Syene and Alex-
andria, pretty correctly; but Posidonius and Ptolemy
were not sufficiently accurate in the same kind of geo-
detic operations that they undertook; neither were their
successors.
Picard, for the first time in France, began to regulate the
methods that were used for measuring a degree, and in
1669, by measuring the celestial and terrestrial arcs be-
tween Paris and Amiens, found that a degree was equal to
57,060 toises, equivalent to 364,876 English feet, or about
69:1 miles. Picard’s measurement was continued either
way across the French territory as far as Dunkirk and
Collioure by Dominic Cassini and Lahire (1683—1718),
and it was verified in 1739, from Dunkirk to Perpignan,
by Francis Cassini and Lacaille; and at length Méchain
carried it as far as Barcelona in Spain; but after his death
(for he succumbed to the fatigue attending his operations)
the measurement of the meridian in France was interrupted
until it was subsequently taken up by Arago and Biot in
1807. These two men prolonged it as far as the Balearic Isles,
so that the arc now extended from Dunkirk to Formentera,
being equally divided by the parallel of lat. 45° N., half
way between the pole and the equator; and under these
conditions it was not necessary to take the depression of
the earth into account in order to find the value of the
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 33
quadrant of the meridian. This measurement gave 57,025
toises as the mean value of an arc of a degree in France.
It can be seen that up to that time Frenchmen especially
had undertaken to determine that delicate point, and it was
likewise the French Convention that, according to Talley-
rand’s proposition, passed a resolution in 1790, charging
the Academy of Sciences to invent an invariable system of
weights and measures. Just at that time the statement
signed by the illustrious names of Borda, Lagrange, La-
place, Monge, and Condorcet, proposed that the unit of
measure should be the meétre, the ten-millionth part of the
quadrant of the meridian; and that the unit of weight
should be the gramme, a cubic centimetre of distilled water
at the freezing-point ; and that the multiples and subdivi-
sions of every measure should be formed decimally.
Later, the determinations of the value of a terrestrial
degree were carried on in different parts of the world, for
the earth being not spherical, but elliptic, it required much
calculation to find the depression at the poles.
In 1736, Maupertuis, Clairaut, Camus, Lemonnier, Ou-
thier, and the Swedish Celsius measured a northern arc in
Lapland, and found the length of an arc of a degree to
be 57,419 toises. In 1745, La Condamine, Bouguer, and
Godin, set sail for Peru, where they were joined by the
Spanish officers Juan and Antonio Ulloa, and they then
found that the Peruvian arc contained 56,737 toises.
D
34 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
In 1752, Lacaille reported 57,037 toises as the length of
the arc he had measured at the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1754, Father Boscowitch and Father le Maire began
a survey of the Papal States, and in the course of their
operations found the arc between Rome and Rimini to be
56,973 toises.
In 1762 and 1763, Beccaria reckoned the degree in Pied-
mont at 57,468 toises, and in 1768, the astronomers Mason
and Dixon, in North America, on the confines of Maryland
and Pennsylvania, found that the value of the degree in
America was 56,888 toises.
Since the beginning of the 19th century numbers of other
arcs have been measured, in Bengal, the East Indies, Pied-
mont, Finland, Courland, East Prussia, Denmark, &c., but
the English and Russians were less active than other na-
tions in trying to decide this delicate point, their principal
geodetic operation being that undertaken by General Roy
in 1784, for the purpose of determining the difference of
longitude between Paris and Greenwich.
It may be concluded from all the above-mentioned mea-
surements that the mean value of a degree is 57,000 toises,
or 25 ancient French leagues, and by multiplying this mean
value by the 360 degrees contained in the circumference,
it is found that the earth measures gooo leagues round.
But, as may be seen from the figures above, the measure-
ments of the different arcs in different parts of the world do
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 35
not quite agree. Nevertheless, by taking this average of
57,000 toises for the value of a degree, the value of the
metre, that is to say, the ten-millionth part of the
quadrant of the meridian, may be deduced, and is found
to be 0.513074 of the whole line, or 39.37079 English
inches, In reality, this value is rather too small, for
later calculations (taking into account the depression of
the earth at the poles, which is 544; and not +44, as was
thought at first) now give nearly 10,000,856 métres instead
of 10,000,000 for the length of the quadrant of the meridian.
The difference of 856 métres is hardly noticeable in such
a long distance ; but nevertheless, mathematically speak-
ing, it cannot be said that the métre, as it is now used,
represents the ten-millionth part of the quadrant of the
terrestrial meridian exactly; there is an error of about
stoy Of a line, i.e. sg55 of the twelfth part of an inch.
The metre, thus determined, was still not adopted by all
the civilized nations. Belgium, Spain, Piedmont, Greece,
Holland, the old Spanish colonies, the republics of the
_Equator, New Granada, and Costa Rica, took a fancy to
it immediately ; but notwithstanding the evident supe-
riority of this metrical system to every other, England
had refused to use it. Perhaps if it had not been for the
political disturbances which arose at the close of the
18th century, the inhabitants of the United Kingdom
would have accepted the system, for when the Con-
D2
36 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
stituent Assembly issued its decree on the 8th of May,
1790, the members of the Royal Society in England were
invited to co-operate with the French Academicians. They
had to decide whether the measure of the métre should be
founded on the length of the pendulum that. beats the
sexagesimal second, or whether they should take a frac-
tion of one of the great circles of the earth for a unit of
length; but events prevented the proposed conference, and
so it was not until the year 1854 that England, having long
seen the advantage of the metrical system, and that scien-
tific and commercial societies were being founded to spread
the reform, resolved to adopt it. But still the English
Government wished to keep their resolution a secret until
the new geodetic operations that they had commenced
should enable them to assign a more correct value to the
terrestrial degree, and they thought they had better act in
concert with the Russian Government, who were also
hesitating about adopting the system. A Commission of
three Englishmen and three Russians was therefore chosen
from among the most eminent members of the scientific
societies, and we have seen that they were Colonel Everest,
Sir John Murray, and William Emery, for England; and
Matthew Strux, Nicholas Palander, and Michael Zorn, for
Russia. The international Commission having met in
London, decided first of all that the measure of an arc of
meridian should be taken in the Southern hemisphere, and
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 37
that another arc should subsequently be measured in the
Northern hemisphere, so that from the two operations
they might hope to deduce an exact value which should
satisfy all the conditions of the programme. It now re-
mained to choose between the different English possessions
in the Southern hemisphere, Cape Colony, Australia, and
New Zealand. The two last, lying quite at the antipodes
of Europe, would involve the Commission in a long
voyage, and, besides, the Maoris and Australians, who
were often at war with their invaders, might render the
proposed operation difficult; while Cape Colony, on the
contrary, offered real advantages. In the first place, it
was under the same meridian as parts of European Russia,
so that after measuring an arc of meridian in South Africa,
they could measure a second one in the empire of the
Czar, and still keep their operations a secret; secondly,
the voyage from England to South Africa was compara-
tively short; and thirdly, these English and Russian
philosophers would find an excellent opportunity there
of analyzing the labours of the French astronomer Lacaille,
who had worked in the same place, and of proving whether
he was correct in giving 57,037 toises as the measurement
of a degree of meridian at the Cape of Good Hope. It
was therefore decided that the geodetic operation should
be commenced at the Cape, and as the two Governments
approved of the decision, large credits were opened,
38 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
and two sets of all the instruments required in a trian.
gulation were manufactured. The astronomer William
Emery was asked to make preparations for an exploration
in the interior of South Africa, and the frigate “ Augusta,â€
of the royal navy, received orders to convey the members
of the Commission and their suite to the mouth of the
Orange River.
It should here be added, that besides the scientific
question, there was also a question of national vainglory
that excited these philosophers to join ina common labour;
for, in reality, they were anxious to out-do France in her
numerical calculations, and to surpass in precision the
labours of her most illustrious astronomers, and that in
the heart of a savage and almost unknown land. Thus
the members of the Anglo-Russian Commission had re-
solved to sacrifice every thing, even their lives, in order
to obtain a result that should be favourable to science,
and at the same time glorious for their country. And
this is how it came to pass that the astronomer William
Emery found himself at the Morgheda Falls, on the banks
of the Orange River, at the end of January, 1854.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 39
LO OL LL LLC OT TES
CHAPTER V.
A HOTTENTOT VILLAGE.
THE voyage along the upper course of the river was soon
accomplished, and although the weather soon became rainy,
the passengers, comfortably installed in the ship’s cabin,
suffered no inconvenience from the torrents of rain which
usually fall at that season. The “Queen and Czar†shot
along rapidly, for there were neither rapids nor shallows,
and the current was not sufficiently strong to retard her
progress. Every aspect of the river-banks was enchanting ;
forest followed upon forest, and quite a world of birds dwell
among the leafy branches. Here and there were groups of
trees belonging to the family of the “proteacez,†and
especially the “wagenboom†with its reddish marbled-wood,
forming a curious contrast with its deep blue leaves and
large pale yellow flowers: then there were the “zwarte-
basts†with their black bark, and the “karrees†with dark
evergreen foliage. The banks were shaded every where by
weeping willows, while the underwood extended beyond
3
40 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
for several miles. Every now and then vast open tracks
presented themselves unexpectedly, large plains, covered
with innumerable colocynths, mingled with “sugar-bushes,â€
out of which flew clouds of sweet-singing little birds, called
“suiker-vogels†by the Cape colonists. The winged world
offered many varieties, all of which were pointed out to Sir
John Murray by the bushman. Sir John was a great lover
of game, both hairy and feathered, and thus a sort of inti-
macy arose between him and Mokoum, to whom, according
to Colonel Everest’s promise, he had given an excellent long-
range rifle, made on the Pauly system. It would be useless
to attempt a description of the bushman’s delight when he
found himself in possession of such a splendid weapon.
The two hunters understood each other well, for though so
learned, Sir John Murray passed for one of the most
brilliant fox-hunters in old Caledonia, and he listened to
the bushman’s stories with an interest amounting to envy.
His eyes sparkled when Mokoum showed him the wild
ruminants in the woods; here a herd of fifteen to twenty
giraffes ; there, buffaloes six feet high, with towering black
horns: farther on, fierce gnus with horses’ tails; and again,
herds of “caamas,†a lurge kind of deer, with bright eyes,
and horns forming a threatening-looking triangle; and
every where, in the dense forests as well as in the open
plains, the innumerable varieties of antelopes which abound
in Southern Africa; the spurious chamois, the gems-bok,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 41
the gazelle, the duiker-bok, and the spring-bok. Was not
all this something to tempt a hunter, and could the fox-
hunts of the Scottish lowlands vie with the exploits of a
Cumming, an Anderson, or a Baldwin? It must be con-
fessed that Sir John Murray’s companions were less excited
than himself at these magnificent specimens of wild game.
William Emery was watching his colleagues attentively,
and trying to discover their character under their cold
exterior. Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux, men of
about the same age, were equally cold, reserved, and
tormal ; they always spoke with a measured slowness, and
from morning to night it seemed as if they had never met
before. That any intimacy should ever be established be-
tween two such important personages was a thing not to be
hoped for; two icebergs, placed side by side would join in
time, but two scientific men, each holding a high position,
never.
Nicholas Palander, a man of about fifty-five years of age,
was one of those who have never been young, and who will
never be old. The astronomer of Helsingfors, constantly
absorbed in his calculations, might be a very admirably
constructed machine, but still he was nothing but a machine,
a kind of abacus, or universal reckoner. He was the cal-
culator of the Anglo-Russian Commission, and one of those
prodigies who work out multiplications to five figures in
their head, like a fifty-year-old Mondeux.
42 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
Michael Zorn more nearly resembled William Emery in
age, enthusiasm; and good humour. His amiable qualities
did not prevent his being an astronomer of great merit,
having attained an early celebrity. The discoveries made
by him at the Kiew Observatory concerning the nebula of
Andromeda had attracted attention in scientific Europe,
and yet with this undoubted merit he had a great deal of
modesty, and was always in the background. William
Emery and Michael Zorn were becoming great friends,
united by the same tastes and aspirations; and most
generally they were talking together, while Colonel Everest
and Matthew Strux were coldly watching each other, and
Palander was mentally extracting cube roots without
noticing the lovely scenes on the banks, and Sir John
Murray and the bushman were forming plans for hunting
down whole hecatombs of victims.
No incident marked the voyage along the upper course
of the Orange. Sometimes the granite cliffs which shut in
the winding bed of the river seemed to forbid further pro-
gress, and often the wooded islands which dotted the cur-
rent seemed to render the route uncertain; but the bush-
man never hesitated, and the “Queen and Czar†always
chose the right route, and passed round the cliffs without
hindrance. The helmsman never had to repent of having
followed Mokoum’s directions.
In four days the steamboat had passed over the 240 miles
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. ‘43
ae
between the cataract of Morgheda and the Kuruman, an
affluent which flowed exactly past the town of Lattakoo,
whither Colonel Everest’s expedition was bound. About
thirty leagues above the falls the river bends from its
general direction, which is east and west, and flows south-
east as far as the acute angle which the territory of Cape
Colony makes in the north, and then turning to the north-
east, it loses itself in the wooded country of the Transvaal
Republic. It was early in the morning of the 5th of
February, in a driving rain, that the “Queen and Czarâ€
arrived at Klaarwater, a Hottentot village, close to the
meeting of the Orange and Kuruman. Colonel Everest,
unwilling to lose a moment, passed quickly by the few
Bochjesmen cabins that form the village, and under the
pressure of her screw, the vessel began to ascend the
affluent. The rapid current was to be attributed, as the
passengers remarked, to a peculiarity in the river, for the
Kuruman being wide at its source, was lessened as it
descended by the influence of the sun’s rays; but at this
season, swollen by the rains, and further increased by the
waters of a sub-affluent, the Moschona, it became very
deep and rapid. The fires were therefore made up, and the
vessel ascended the Kuruman at the rate of three miles an
hour.
During the voyage the bushman pointed out a good
many hippopotami in the water; but these great pachy-
44 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
derms, clumsy, thickset beasts, from eight to ten feet long,
which the Dutch at the Cape call “sea-cows,†were by no
means of an aggressive nature, and the hissing of the steam
and the panting of the screw quite frightened them, the
boat appearing to them like some great monster which
they ought to distrust, and in fact, the arsenal on board
would have rendered approach very difficult. Sir John
Murray would have very much liked to try his explosive
bullets on the fleshy masses, but the bushman assured him
that there would be no lack of hippopotami in the more
northerly rivers, so he determined to wait fora more favour-
able opportunity.
The 150 miles which separated the mouth of the Kuru-
man from the station of Lattakoo were traversed in fifty
hours, and on the 7th of February the travellers had reached
the end of their journey. As soon as the steamboat was
moored to the bank which served as a quay, a man of fifty
years of age, with a grave air but kind countenance, stepped
on board, and offered his hand to William Emery. The
astronomer introduced the new-comer to his travelling
companions, as—
“The Rev. Thomas Dale, of the London Missionary
Society, Governor of the station of Lattakoo.â€
The Europeans bowed to Mr. Dale, who gave them
welcome, and put himself at their service.
The town of Lattakoo, or rather the village of that name,
The Mission Home Establishment.—[Page 44.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 45
is the most northerly of the Cape Missionary stations, and
is divided into Old and New. The first, which the “Queen
and Czar†now reached, had 12,000 inhabitants at the
beginning of the century, but they have since emigrated to_
the north-east, and the town, now fallen into decay, has
been replaced by New Lattakoo, which is built close by, on
a plain which was formerly covered with acacias, and
thither Mr. Dale conducted the Europeans. It consisted
of about forty groups of houses, and contained 5000 or
6000 inhabitants of the tribe of the Bechuanas, Dr. Living-
stone stayed in this town for three months before his first
voyage up the Zambesi in 1840, previously to crossing the
whole of Central Africa, from the bay of Loanda to the
port of Kilmana on the coast of Mozambique.
When they reached New Lattakoo, Colonel Everest
presented a letter from Dr. Livingstone, which commended
the Anglo-Russian Commission to his friends in South
Africa. Mr. Dale read it with much pleasure, and returned
it to the Colonel, saying that he might find it useful on his
journey, as the name of David Livingstone was known and
honoured throughout that part of Africa.
The members of the Commission were lodged in the
missionary establishment, a large house built on an eminence
and surrounded by an impenetrable hedge like a fortifica-
tion. The Europeans could be more comfortably lodged
here than with the Bechuanas; not that their dwellings
46 MERIDIANA, THE ADVENTURES OF
were not kept properly in order; on the contrary, the
smooth clay floors did not show a particle of dust,
and the long-thatched roofs were quite rain-proof; but
at best, their houses were little better than huts with
a round hole for a door, hardly large enough to admit
aman; moreover, they all lived in common, and close
contact with the Bechuanas would scarcely have been
agreeable.
The chief of the tribe, one Moulibahan, lived at Lattakoo,
and thought it right to come and pay his respects to the
Europeans. He was rather a fine man, without the thick
lips and flat nose of the negro, with a round face not so
shrunken in its lower part as that of the other Hottentots.
He was dressed in a cloak of skins, sewn together with
considerable art, and an apron called a “ pujoke.†Hewore
a leather skull-cap, and sandals of ox-hide: ivory rings
were wound round his arms, and from his ears hung brass
plates about four inches long—a kind of ear-ring—which is
also a charm; an antelope’s tail stood up in his skull-cap,
and his hunting-stick was surmounted by a tuft of small
black ostrich feathers. The natural colour of his body was
quite invisible through the thick coating of ochre with
which he was besmeared from head to foot, while some
ineffaceable incisions in his legs denoted the number of
enemies he had slain.
The chief, as grave as Matthew Strux himself, stepped
TW) DA ill
Chief Moulibahan. —[Page 46. ]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 47
up to the Europeans, and took them in turn by the nose.
Lhe Russians permitted this to be done quite gravely, the
English rather more reluctantly, but still it had to be done,
for according to African custom, it denoted a solemn
engagement to fulfil the duties of hospitality to the Euro-
peans. When the ceremony was over, Moulibahan retired
without having uttered a word.
“And now that we are naturalized Bechuanas,†said
Colonel Everest, “let us begin our operations without
losing a day or an hour.â€
And indeed no time was lost; still, such is the variety of
detail required in the organization of an expedition of this
character, the Commission was not ready to start until
the beginning of March. That, however, was the time
appointed by Colonel Everest; because then the rainy
season just being over, the water, preserved in the fissures
of the earth, would furnish a valuable resource to travellers
in the desert.
On the 2nd of March, then, the whole caravan, under
Mokoum’s command, was ready. The Europeans took
farewell of the missionaries at Lattakoo, and left the village
at seven o'clock in the morning.
“Where are we going, Colonel?†asked William Emery,
as the caravan passed the last house in the town.
“Straight on, Mr. Emery,†answered the Colonel, “until
we reach a suitable place for establishing a base.â€
48 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
At eight o’clock the caravan had passed over the low
shrubby hills which skirt the town, and soon the desert,
with its dangers, fatigues, and risks, lay unfolded before the
travellers,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 49
CHAPTER VI.
BETTER ACQUAINTANCE,
THE escort under the bushman’s command was composed
of 100 men, all Bochjesmen—an industrious, good-tempered
people, capable of enduring great physical fatigue. In
former times, before the arrival of the missionaries, these
Bochjesmen were a lying, inhospitable race, thinking of
nothing but murder and pillage, and ever taking ad-
vantage of an enemy’s sleep to massacre him. To a great
extent the missionaries have modified these barbarous ©
habits, but the natives are still more or less farm-pillagers
and cattle-lifters.
Ten waggons, like the vehicle which Mokoum had taken
to the Morgheda Falls, formed the bulk of the expedition.
Two of these were like moving houses, fitted up as they
were with a certain amount of comfort, and served as an
encampment for the Europeans; so that Colonel Everest
and his companions were followed about by a wooden
habitation with dry flooring, and well tilted with water-
E
5° MERIDIANA;, THE ADVENTURES OF
proof cloth, and furnished with beds and toilet furniture
Thus, on arriving at each place of encampment, the tent
was always ready pitched. Of these waggons, one was
appropriated to Colonel Everest and his countrymen, Sir
John Murray and William Emery: the other was used by
the Russians, Matthew Strux, Nicholas Palander, and
Michael Zorn. Two more, arranged in the same way,
belonged, one to the five Englishmen and the other to the
five Russians who composed the crew of the “Queen and
Czar.â€
The hull and machinery of the steamboat, taken to
pieces and laid on one of the waggons, followed the travel-
lers, in case the Commission might come across some of the
numerous lakes which are found in the interior of the
continent.
The remaining waggons carried the tools, provisions,
baggage, arms, and ammunition, as well as the instruments
required for the proposed triangular survey. The pro-
visions of the Bochjesmen consisted principally of antelope,
buffalo, or elephant meat, preserved in long strips, being
dried in the sun or by a slow fire: thus economizing the
use of salt, here very scarce.. In the place of bread, the
Bochjesmen depended on the earth-nuts of the arachis, the
bulbs of various species of mesembryanthemums, and other
native productions. Animal food would be provided by
the hunters of the party, who, adroitly employing theit
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 5t
bows and lances, would scour the plains and revictual the
caravan,
Six native oxen, long-legged, high-shouldered, and with
great horns, were attached to each waggon with harness
of buffalo hide. Thus the primitive vehicles moved slowly
though surely on their massive wheels, ready alike for
heights.or valleys. For the travellers to ride there were
provided small black or grey Spanish horses, good-
tempered, brave animals, imported from South America,
and much esteemed at the Cape. Among the troops of
quadrupeds were also half-a-dozen tame quaggas, a kind
of ass with plump bodies and slender legs, who make a
noise like the barking of a dog. They were to be used in
the smaller expeditions necessary to the geodetic opera-
tions, and were adapted to carry the instruments where the
waggons could not venture. The only exception to the
others was the bushman, who rode a splendid zebra with
remarkable grace and dexterity. This animal (the beauty
of whose coat with its brown stripes especially excited the
admiration of the connoisseur Sir John Murray) was
naturally defiant and suspicious, and would not have borne
any other rider than Mokoum, who had broken it in for his
own use. Some dogs of a half-savage breed, sometimes
wrongly called “hyena-hunters,†ran by the side of the
waggons, their shape and long ears reminding one of the
European brach-hound,
E2
52 - MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
Such was the caravan which was about to bury itself in
the deserts. The oxen advanced calmly under the guidance
of their drivers, ever and again pricking them in the flank
>
with their “jambox;†and it was strange to see the troop
winding along the hills in marching order. After leaving
Lattakoo, whither was the expedition going? Colonel
Everest had said, “Straight on ;†and indeed he and
Matthew Strux could not yet follow a.fixed course. What
they wanted, before commencing their trigonometrical
operations, was a vast level plain, on which to establish the
base of the first of the triangles, which, like a network, were
to cover for several degrees the southern part of Africa.
The Colonel explained to the bushman what he wanted,
and with the calmness of one to whom scientific language
is familiar, talked to him of triangles, adjacent angles,
bases, meridians, zenith distances, and the like. Mokoum
let him go on for a few moments, then interrupted him
with an impatient movement, saying, “Colonel, I don’t
know any thing about your angles, bases, and meridians.
I don’t understand even in the least what you are going to
do in the desert: but that is your business. You are
asking for a large level plain; oh well, I can find you
that.â€
And at his orders, the caravan, having just ascended the
Lattakoo hills, turned down again towards the south-west.
This took them rather more to the south of the village,
William Emery and Michael Zorn in advance of the Expedition, —[Page 53.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 53
towards the plain watered by the Kuruman, and here the
bushman expected to find a suitable place for the Colonel’s
plans. From that day, he always took the head of the
caravan. Sir John Murray, well mounted, never left him,
and from time to time the report of a gun made his |
colleagues aware that he was making acquaintance with
the African game. The Colonel, quite absorbed in con-
templating the difficulties of the expedition, let his horse
carry him on. Matthew Strux, sometimes on horseback,
sometimes in the waggon, according to the nature of the
ground, seldom opened his lips. Nicholas Palander, as bad
a rider as could be, was generally on foot; at other times
he shut himself up in his vehicle, and there lost himself in
the profoundest mathematical abstractions.
. Although William Emery and Michael Zorn occupied
separate waggons at night, they were always together
when the caravan was on the march. Every day and
every incident of the journey bound them in a closer
friendship. From one stage to another they rode, talked,
and argued together. Sometimes they fell behind the
train, and sometimes rode on several miles ahead of it,
when the plain extended as far as they could see. They
were free here and lost amidst the wildness of nature.
How they forgot figures and problems, calculations and
observations, and chatted of every thing but science!
They were no longer astronomers contemplating the starry
54 MERIDIANA$; THE ADVENTURES OF
firmament, but were more like two youths escaped from
school, revelling in the dense forests and boundless plains.
They laughed like ordinary mortals. Both of them had
excellent dispositions, open, amiable, and devoted, forming
a strange contrast to Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux,
who were formal, not to say stiff. These two chiefs were
often the subject of their conversation, and Emery learnt
a good deal about them from his friend.
“Ves,†said Michael Zorn, that day, “I watched them
well on board the ‘ Augusta,’ and I profess I think they are
jealous of each other. And if Colonel Everest appears to
be at the head of things, Matthew Strux is not less than his
equal: the Russian Government has clearly established his
position. One chief is as imperious as the other; and be-
sides, I tell you again, there is the worst of all jealousy
between them, the jealousy of the learned.â€
“ And that for which there is the least occasion,†answered
Emery, “ because in discoveries every thing has its value,
and each one derives equal benefit. But, my dear Zorn, if,
as I believe, your observations are correct, it is unfortunate
for our expedition: in such a work there ought to be a
perfect understanding.â€
“No doubt,†replied Zorn, “and I fear that that under-
standing does not exist. Think of our confusion, if every
detail, the choice of a base, the method of calculating, the
position of the stations, the verification oi the figures, opens
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 55
a fresh discussion every time! Unless] am much mistaken
I forbode a vast deal of quibbling when we come to compare
our registers, and the observations we shall have made te
the minutest fraction.â€
“You frighten me,†said Emery. “It would be sorrowful
to carry an enterprise of this kind so far, and then to fail for
want of concord. Let us hope that your fears may not be
realized.â€
“T hope they may not,†answered the young Russian;
“but I say again, I assisted at certain scientific discussions
on the voyage, which showed me that both Colonel Everest
and his rival are undeniably obstinate, and that at heart
there is a miserable jealousy between them.â€
“But these two gentlemen are never apart,†observed
Emery. “You never find one without the other; they are as
inseparable as ourselves.â€
“True,†replied Zorn, “they are never apart all day long,
but then they never exchange ten words: they only keep
watch on each other, If one doesn’t manage to annihilate
the other, we shall indeed work under deplorable conditions.â€
“ And for yourself,†asked William, ‘hesitatingly, “which
of the two would you wish——â€
“My dear William,†replied Zorn with much ‘frankness,
“T shall loyally accept him as chief who can command
respect as such. This is a question of science, and I have
no prejudicein the matter. Matthew Strux and the Colonel
56 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
are both remarkable and worthy men: England and Russia
should profit equally from their labours; therefore it mat-
ters little whether the work is directed by an Englishman.
or a Russian. Are you not of my opinion?â€
“Quite,†answered Emery; “therefore do not let us be
distracted by absurd prejudices, and let us as far as possible
use our efforts for the common good. Perhaps it will be
possible to ward off the blows of the two adversaries ;
and besides there is your fellow countryman, Nicholas
Palander. Hf
“He!†laughed Zorn, “he will neither see, hear, nor com-
prehend any thing! He would make calculations to any
extent ; but he is neither Russian, Prussian, English, or
Chinese; he is not even an inhabitant of this sublunary
sphere ; he is Nicholas Palander, that’s all.â€
“JT cannot say the same for my countryman, Sir John
said Emery. “He is a thorough Englishman,
and a most determined hunter, and he would sooner follow
9
Murray,’
the traces of an elephant and giraffe than give himself: any
trouble about a scientific argument. We must therefore
depend upon ourselves, Zorn, to neutralize the antipathy
between our chiefs, Whatever happens, we must hold
together.â€
“ Ay, whatever happens,†replied Zorn, holding out his
hand to his friend.
The bushman still continued to guide the caravan down
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 57
en aw a be OS en et IDE IY,
towards the south-west. At midday, on the 4th of March,
it reached the base of the long wooded hills which extend
from Lattakoo. Mokoum was not mistaken; he had led
the expedition towards the plain, but it was still undulated,
and therefore unfitted foran attempt at triangulation. The
march continued uninterrupted, and Mokoum rode at the
head of the riders and waggons, while Sir John Murray,
Emery, and Zorn pushed on in advance. Towards the end
of the day, they all arrived at a station occupied by one of
the wandering “boers,†or farmers, who are induced by the
richness of the pasture-land to make temporary abodes in
various parts of the country.
The colonist, a Dutchman, and head of a large family,
received the Colonel and his companions most hospitably,
and would take no remuneration in return. He was one of
those brave, industrious men, whose slender capital, intelli-
gently employed in the breeding of oxen, cows, and goats,
soon producesa fortune. When the pasturage is exhausted,
the farmer, like a patriarch of old, seeks for new springs
and fertile prairies, pitching his camp afresh where the
conditions seem favourable.
The farmer opportunely told Colonel Everest of a wide
plain, fifteen miles away, which would be found quite flat.
The caravan started next morning at daybreak. The only
incident that broke the monotony of the long morning
march, was Sir John Murray’s taking a shot, at a distance
4
58 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
of more than 1000 yards, at a gnu, a curious animal about
five feet high, with the muzzle of an ox, a long white tail,
and pointed horns. It fell with a heavy groan, much to
the astonishment of the bushman, who was surprised at
seeing the animal struck at such a distance. The gnu
generally affords a considerable quantity of excellent meat,
and was accordingly in high esteem among the hunters of
the caravan.
_ The site indicated by the farmer was reached about
midday. It was a boundless prairie stretching to the
north without the slightest undulation. No better spot for
measuring a base could be imagined, and the bushman,
after a short investigation, returned to Colonel Everest
with the announcement that they had reached the place
they were seeking,
The Bushman pointing to the Plain.—[Page 58.]
y THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 59
oe RR A i it RED
CHAPTER VII.
THE BASE OF THE TRIANGLE,
THE work undertaken by the Commission was a triangu-
lation for the purpose of measuring an arc of meridian.
Now the direct measurement of one or more degrees by
means of metal rods would be impracticable. In no part
of the world is there a region so vast and unbroken as to
admit of so delicate an operation. Happily, there is an
easier way of proceeding by dividing the region through
which the meridian passes into a number of imaginary
triangles, whose solution is comparatively easy.
These triangles are obtained by observing signals, either
natural or artificial, such as church-towers, posts, or rever-
beratory lamps, by means of the theodolite or repeating-
circle. Every signal is the vertex of a triangle, whose
angles are exactly determined by the instruments, so that
a good observer with a proper telescope can take the bear-
ings of any object whatever, a tower by day, or a lamp by
night. Sometimes the sides of the triangles are many
miles in length, and when Arago connected the coast of
60 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
Valencia in Spain with the Balearic Islands, one of the
sides measured 422,555 toises. When one side and two
angles of any triangle are known, the other sides and angle
may be found; by taking, therefore, a side of one of the
known triangles for a new base, and by measuring the
angles adjacent to the base, new triangles can be suc-
cessively formed along the whole length of the arc; and
since every straight line in the network of triangles is
known, the length of the arc can be easily determined.
The values of the sides and angles may be obtained by
the theodolite and repeating circle, but the jirs¢ side, the
base of the whole system, must be actually measured on the
ground, and this operation requires the utmost care.
When Delambre and Méchain measured the meridian of
France from Dunkirk to Barcelona, they took for their
base a straight line, 12,150 métres in length, in the road
from Melun to Lieusaint, and they were no less than 42
days in measuring it. Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux
designed proceeding in the same way, and it will be seen
how much precision was necessary.
The work was begun on the 5th of March, much to the
astonishment of the Bochjesmen, who could not at all
understand it. Mokoum thought it strange for these learned
men to measure the earth with rods six feet leng; but any
way, he had done his duty ; they had asked him for a level
plain, and he had found it for them,
Vi TAN im
CI eae
Ny
ie
Zp
; i
| NN t
Geodesic Operations, —[Page 61. |
Commencement of the
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 61
The place was certainly well chosen. Covered with dry,
short grass, the plain was perfectly level as far as the
horizon. Behind lay a line of hills forming the southern
boundary of the Kalahari desert ; towards the north the
plain seemed boundless, To the east, the sides of the table-
land of Lattakoo disappeared in gentle slopes; and in the
west, where the ground was lower, the soil became marshy,
as it imbibed the stagnant water which fed the affluents of
the Kuruman.
“TI think, Colonel Everest,†said Strux, after he had
surveyed the grassy level, “that when our base is esta-
blished, we shall be able here also to fix the extremity of
our meridian.â€
“ Likely enough,†replied the Colonel. “We must find
out too, whether the arc meets with any obstacles that may
impede the survey. Let us measure the base, and we will
decide afterwards whether it will be better to join it by a
series of auxiliary triangles to those which the arc must
cross.â€
They thus resolved to proceed to the measurement of
the base. It would be a long operation, for they wanted
to obtain even more correct results than those obtained by
the French philosophers at Melun. This would be a matter
of some difficulty : since when a new base was measured
afterwards near Perpignan to verify the calculations, there
was only an error of 11 inches in a distance of 330,000 toises,
62 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
Orders were given for encamping, and a Bochjesman
village, a kind of kraal, was formed on the plain. The
waggons were arranged in a circle like the houses, the
English and Russian flags floating over their respective
quarters. The centre was common ground. The horses
and buffaloes, which by day grazed outside, were driven
in by night to the interior, to save them from attacks
of the wild beasts around.
Mokoum took upon himself to arrange the hunting
expedition for revictualling; and Sir John Murray, whose
presence was not indispensable in the measurement of the
base, looked after the provisions, and served out the rations
of preserved meat and fresh venison. Thanks to the skill
and experience of Mokoum and his companions, game was
never wanting. They scoured the district for miles round,
and the report of their guns resounded at all hours.
The survey began on the next day, Zorn and Emery
being charged with the preliminaries.
“Come along,†said Zorn, “and good luck be with us.â€
The primary operation consisted in tracing a line on
the ground where it was especially level. This chanced to
be from S.E. to N.W., and pickets being placed at short
intervals to mark the direction, Zorn carefully verified the
correctness of their position by means of the thread-wires of
his telescope. For more than eight miles (the proposed
length of the base) was the measurement continued, and
«
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 63
the young men performed their work with scrupulous
fidelity.
The next step was to adjust the rods for the actual
measurement, apparently a very simple operation, but
which, in fact, demands the most continuous caution, as
the success of a triangulation in a great measure is con-
tingent on its preciseness.
On the morning of the roth, twelve wooden pedestals
were planted along the line, securely fastened in their posi-
tion, and prepared to support the rods, . Colonel Everest and
Matthew Strux, assisted by their young coadjutors, placed
the rods in position, and Nicholas Palander stood ready,
pencil in hand, to write down in a double register the
figures transmitted to him.
The rods employed were six in number, and exactly two
toises in length. They were made of platinum, as being
(under ordinary circumstances) unaffected by any condi-
tion of the atmosphere. In order, however, to provide
against any change of temperature, each was covered with
a rod of copper somewhat shorter than itself, and a micro-
scopic vernier was attached, to indicate any contraction or
expansion that might occur. The rods were next placed
lengthwise, with a small interval between each, in order to
avoid the slight shock which might result from immediate
contact. Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux with their
own hands placed the first rod. About a hurdred toises
@
64 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
farther on, they had marked a point of sight, and as the
rods were each provided with iron projections, it was not
difficult to place them exactly in the proper direction.
Emery and Zorn, lying on the ground, saw that the pro-
jections stood exactly in the middle of the sight.
“ Now,†said Colonel Everest, “we must define our exact
starting-point. We will drop a line from the end of our first
rod, and that will definitely mark the extremity of our base.â€
“Yes,†answered Strux, “but we must take into ‘account
the radius of the line.
“ Of course,†said the Colonel.
The starting-point determined, the work went on. The
next proceeding was to determine the inclination of the
base with the horizon.
“We do not, I believe, pretend,†said Colonel Everest,
“to place the rod in a position which is perfectly horizontal.â€
“No,†answered Strux, “it is enough to find the angle
which each rod makes with the horizon, and we can then
deduce the true inclination.â€
Thus agreed, they proceeded with their observations,
employing their spirit-level, and testing every result by the
vernier. As Palander was about to inscribe the record, Strux
requested that the level should be reversed, in order that
by the division of the two registers a closer approxima-
tion to truth might be attained. This mode of double
observation was continued throughout the operations,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 65
Two important points were now obtained: the direction
of the rod with regard to the base, and the angle which it
made with the horizon. The results were inscribed in two
registers, and signed by the members of the Commission.
There were still two further observations, no less impor-
tant, to be made: the variation of the rod caused by
differences of temperature, and the exact distance measured
by it. The former was easily determined by comparing
the difference in length between the platinum and copper
rods. The microscope gave the variation of the platinum,
and this was entered in the double register, to be after-
wards reduced to 16° Centigrade.
They had now to observe the distance actually measured.
To obtain this result, it was necessary to place the second
rod at the end of the first, leaving a small space between
them. When the second rod was adjusted with the same
care as the former, it only remained to measure the interval
between the two. A small tongue of platinum, known as
a slider, was attached to the end of the platinum bar that
was not covered by the copper, and this Colonel Everest
slipped gently along until it touched the next rod. The
slider was marked off into 10,ocoths of a toise, and as a
vernier with its microscope gave the 100,o00ths, the space
could be very accurately determined. The result was
immediately registered.
Michael Zorn, considering that the covered platinum
F
66 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
might be sooner affected by heat than the uncovered
copper, suggested another precaution: accordingly they
erected a small awning to protect the rod from the sun’s
rays.
For more than a month were these minutiz patiently
carried on. As soon as four bars were adjusted, and the
requisite observations complete, the last of the rods was
carried to the front. It was impossible to measure more
than 220 to 230 toises a day, and sometimes, when the
wind was violent, operations were altogether suspended.
Every evening, about three quarters of an hour before it
became too dark to read the verniers, they left off work,
after taking various anxious precautions. They brought
forward temporarily the rod “No. 1,†and marked the point
of its termination. Here they made a hole, and drove ina
stake with a leaden plate attached. They then replaced
“No. 1†in its original position, after observing the inclina-
tion, the thermometric variation, and the direction. They
noted the prolongation measured by rod “ No. 4,†and then
with a plumb-line touching the foremost end of rod
“No, 1,†they made a mark on the leaden plate. They
carefully traced through this point two lines at right angles,
one signifying the base, the other the perpendicular. The
plate was then covered with a wooden lid, the hole filled
in, and the stake left buried till the morning. Thus, if any
accident had happened to their apparatus during the night
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 67
they would not be obliged to begin afresh. The next day,
the plate was uncovered, and rod “No. 1†replaced in the
same position as on the evening before, by means of the
plumb-line, whose point ought to fall exactly on the point
intersected by the two straight lines,
These operations were carried on for thirty-eight days
along the plain, and every figure was registered doubly,
and verified, compared, and approved, by each member
of the Commission,
Few discussions arose between Colonel Everest and his
Russian colleague; and if sometimes the smallest fraction
of a toise gave occasion for some polite cavillings, they
always yielded to the opinion of the majority. One ques-
tion alone called for the intervention.of Sir John Murray.
This was about the length of the base. It was certain that
the longer the base, the easier would be the measurement
of the opposite angle. Colonel Everest proposed 6000
toises, nearly the same as the base measured at Melun;
but Matthew Strux wished that it should be 10,000 toises,
since the ground permitted. Colonel Everest, however,
remained firm, and Strux seemed equally determined not
to yield. After a few plausible arguments, personalities
began: they were no longer two astronomers, but an
Englishman and a Russian. Happily the debate was in-
terrupted by some days of bad weather, which allowed
their tempers to cool. It was subsequently decided by the
Fa
68 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
majority that they should “split the difference,†and assign
8000 toises as the measurement of the base. The work
was at length completed. Any error which occurred, in
spite of their extreme precision, might be afterwards cor-
rected by measuring a new base from the northern ex-
tremity of the meridian.
The base measured exactly 8037.75 toises, and upon this
they were now to place their series of triangles.
eimai
Measuring the Arc of the Meridian,
[Page 69.]
Taking the Measurements,— [Page 69. |
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 69
CHAPTER VIII.
THE TWENTY-FOURTH MERIDIAN.
THE measurement of the base occupied thirty-eight days,
from the 6th of March to the 13th of April, and without
loss of time the chiefs decided to begin the triangles. The
first operation was to find the southern extremity of the arc,
and the same being done at the northern extremity, the
difference would give the number of degrees measured.
On the 14th they began to find their latitude. Emery
and Zorn had already on the preceding nights taken the
altitude of numerous stars, and their work was so accurate
that the greatest error was not more than 2â€, and even this
was probably owing to the refraction caused by the changes
in the atmospheric strata. The latitude thus carefully
sought was found to be 27.951789°. They then found the
longitude, and marked the spot on an excellent large scale
map of South Africa, which showed the most recent geo-
graphical discoveries, and also the routes of travellers and
naturalists, such as Livingstone, Anderson, Magyar, Baldwin,
270 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
Burchell, and Lichtenstein. They then had to choose on
what meridian they would measure their arc. The longer
this arc is the less influence have the errors in the deter-
mination of latitude. Thearc from Dunkirk to Formentera,
on the meridian of Paris, was exactly 9° 56’. They had to
choose their meridian with great circumspection. Any
natural obstacles, such as mountains or large tracts of
water, would seriously impede their operations; but hap-
pily, this part of Africa seemed well suited to their purpose,
since the risings in the ground were inconsiderable, and the
few watercourses easily traversed. Only dangers, and not
obstacles, need check their labours.
This district is occupied by the Kalahari desert, a vast
region extending from the Orange River to Lake Ngami,
from lat. 20° S. to lat. 29°. In width, it extends from the
Atlantic on the west as far as long. 25° E. Dr. Livingstone
followed its extreme eastern boundary when he travelled as
far as Lake Ngami and the Zambesi Falls. Properly
speaking, it does not deserve the name of desert. It is not
like the sands of Sahara, which are devoid of vegetation,
and almost impassable on account of their aridity. The
Kalahari produces many plants; its soil is covered with
abundant grass; it contains dense groves and forests;
animals abound, wild game and beasts of prey; and it is
inhabited and traversed by sedentary and wandering tribes
of Bushmen and Bakalaharis, But the true obstacle to its
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 7
exploration is the dearth of water which prevails through
"the greater part of the year, when the rivers are dried up.
However, at this time, just at the end of the rainy season,
they could depend upon considerable reservoirs o. stagnant
water, preserved in pools and rivu-
lets. Such-werethe particulars given
by Mokoum. He had often visited
the Kalahari, sometimes on his own
account as a hunter, and sometimes
as a guide to some geographical
exploration.
It had now to be actually con-
sidered whether the meridian should
be taken from one of the extremi-
ties of the base, thus avoiding a
series of auxiliary triangles’.
1 By the aid of the accompanying figure, the
work called a triangulation may be understood.
Let A B be the arc. Measure the base AC
very carefully from the extremity A to the first
station C. Take other stations, D, E, F, G, H, I,
&c., on alternate sides of the meridian, and
observe the angles of the triangles, A C D,
CDE, DEF, EFG, &c. Then in the
triangle A C D, the angles and the side A C ‘
being known, the side C D may be found. a
Likewise in the triangle C D E, C D and the
angles being known, the side D E may be
‘found ; and so on through all the triangles.
Now determine the direction of the meridian
in the ordinary way, and observe the angle
MAC which it makes with the base AC,
2¢
7% MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF °
After some discussion, it was decided that the southern
extremity of the base would serve for a starting-point. It
was the twenty-fourth meridian east from Greenwich, and
extended over seven degrees of latitude, from 20° to 27°,
without any apparent natural obstacle. Towards the north
it certainly crossed the eastern end of Lake Ngami, but
Arago had met with greater difficulties than this when he
applied his geodesy to connect the coast of Spain with the
Balearic Islands. It was accordingly decided that meridian
24° should be measured, since, if it were afterwards pro-
longed into Europe, a northern arc of the same meridian
might be measured on Russian territory.
The astronomers proceeded at once to choose a station
which should form the vertex of the first triangle. This
was a solitary tree to the right of the meridian, standing on
a mound about ten miles away. It was distinctly visible
from each extremity of the base, and its slender top facili-
tated the taking of its bearings. The angle made by the
tree with the south-east extremity of the base was first
Then in the triangle A C M, because A C and the adjacent angles are known,
A M, CM, and the angle A C M, may be found, and A M is the first por-
tion of the arc. Then in the triangle D M N, since the side DM = C D —
C M, and the adjacent angles are known, the sides M N, DN, and the angle
‘MN D may be found, and M N is the next portion of the arc. Again, in
the triangle N E P, because E N = D E — DN, and the adjacent angles are
known, N P, the third portion of the arc, may be fouad. By proceeding
thus through all the triangles, piece by piece, the whole length of the arc A B
may be determined.
The Astronomers at Work.— [Page 72.]
5
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 73
observed, with the help of one of Borda’s repeating
circles.
The two telescopes were adjusted so that their axes were
exactly in the plane of the circle, in such a way that their
position represented the angular distance between the tree
and the north-west extremity of the base. This admirably-
constructed instrument corrects nearly all the errors of ob-
servation, and indeed, if the repetitions are numerous, the
errors tend to counterbalance and correct each other.
The Commission had four repeating circles: two for
measuring angles, and two more with vertical circles for
obtaining zenith distances, and so calculating in a single
night, to the smallest fraction of a second, the latitude of
any station. And indeed, in this important survey, it was
not only necessary to obtain the value of the angles of the
triangles, but also to measure the meridian altitude of the
stars, that being equal to the latitude of each station.
The work began on the 14th of April. Colonel Everest,
Zorn, and Palander observed the angle at the south-east
extremity of the base, while Strux, Emery, and Sir John
Murray observed that at the north-west extremity.
Meantime the camp was raised, and the bullocks har-
nessed, and Mokoum conducted the caravan to the first
station as ahalting-place. Two caravans, with their drivers,
accompanied the observers, to carry the instruments. The
weather was bright, but had the atmosphere been unfavour-
74 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
able by day, the observations would have been made by
night by means of reverberators or electric lamps.
On the first day, the two angles were measured, and the
result inscribed on the double register ; and the astronomers
all met in the evening at the camp which had been formed
round the tree which had served for their point of sight. It
was an immense baobab, more than 80 feet in circumference.
Its syenite-coloured bark gave it a peculiar appearance.
The whole caravan found room beneath its wide branches,
which were inhabited by crowds of squirrels, which greedily
devoured the white pulp of its egg-shaped fruit.
Supper was prepared for the Europeans. by the ship’s
cook. There was no lack of venison, for the hunters had
scoured the neighbourhood, and killed some antelopes ;
and soon the air was filled with an odour of broiled meat,
which still further aroused the appetite of the hungry
savants,
After the comforting repast, the astronomers retired to
their respective waggons, whilst Mokoum placed sentinels
round the camp. Large fires of the dead branches of the
baobab burnt throughout the night, and kept at a respectful
distance the tawny beasts, who were attracted by the odour
of the reeking flesh.
After two hours’ sleep, however, Emery and Zorn got up,
their observations not yet finished. They must find the
altitudes of some stars to determine the latitude of the
]
.— [Page 74
Baobab.
immense
t under an
pment
Encam
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 75
station, and both, regardless of the day’s fatigues, stood at
their telescopes, and rigorously determined the change of
zenith caused by the removal from the first station to the
second, while the laugh of the hyena and the roar of the
lion resounded over the sombre plain.
96 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER IX.
THE KRAAL.
THE next day operations were continued. The angle
made by the baobab with the extremities of the base was
measured, and the first triangle solved. Two more stations
were chosen to the right and left of the meridian ; one formed
by a distinct mound, six miles away ; the other, marked out
by a post about seven miles distant.
The triangulation went on uninterruptedly for a month,
and by the 15th of May the observers had advanced north-
wards 1°, having formed seven triangles. During this first
series of operations, the Colonel and Strux were rarely to-
gether, The division of labour separated them, and the
circumstance of their daily work being several miles apart
was a guarantee against any dispute. Each evening they
returned to their several abodes, and although at intervals
discussions arose about the choice of stations, there was no
serious altercation. Hence Zorn and his friend were in
hopes that the survey would proceed without any open
rupture.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND TIIREE RUSSIANS. 7?
After advancing 1° from the south, the observers found
themselves in the same parallel with Lattakoo, from which
they were distant 35 miles to the west.
Here a large kraal had lately been formed, and as it was"
a marked halting-place, Sir John Murray proposed that
they should stay for several days. Zorn and Emery could
take advantage of the rest, to take the altitude of the sun ;
and Palander would employ himself in reducing the mea-
surements made at different points of sight to the uniform
level of the sea. Sir John himself wanted to be free from
scientific observations, that he might divert himself with his
gun among the fauna of the country. A kraal, as it is
termed by the natives of South Africa, is a kind of moving
village, wandering from one pasturage to another, It isan
enclosure composed ordinarily of about thirty habitations,
and containing several hundred inhabitants. The kraal
now reached was formed by a group of more than sixty huts,
enclosed for protection from wild animals by a palisade of
prickly aloes, and situated on the banks of a small affluent
of the Kuruman. The huts, made of water-proof rush mats
fastened to wooden beams, were like low hives. The door-
way, protected by a skin, was so small that it could only
be entered on hands and knees, and from this, the only
aperture, issued such dense wreaths of smoke as would
make existence in these abodes problematical to any but a
Bochjesman or a Hottentot.
5§ MERIDIANA;, THE ADVENTURES OF
The whole population was roused by the arrival of the
caravan. The dogs, of which there was one for the protec-
tion of each cabin, barked furiously, and about 200 warriors,
armed with assagais, knives, and clubs, and protected by
their leathern shields, marched forward.
A few words from Mokoum to one of the chiefs soon
dispelled all hostile feeling, and the caravan obtained per-
mission to encamp on the very banks of the stream. The
Bochjesmen did not even refuse to share the pastures,
which extended for miles away.
Mokoum having first given orders for the waggons to be
placed in a circle as usual, mounted his zebra, and set off
in company with Sir John Murray, who rode his accustomed
horse. The hunters took their dogs and rifles, showing
their intention of attacking the wild beasts, and went
towards the woods.
“T hope, Mokoum,†said Sir John, “that you are going
to keep the promise you made at the Morgheda Falls, that
you would bring me into the best sporting country in the
world. But understand, I have not come here for hares or
foxes; I can get them athome. Before another hour——â€
“Hour!†replied the bushman. “You are rather too
fast. A little patience, please. For myself, I am never
patient except when hunting, and then I make amends for
all my impatience at other times. Don’t you know, Sir
John, that the chase of large beasts is quite a science.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 79
Here you must wait and watch. You must not step or
even look too quickly. For my part, I have laid in wait
for days together for a buffalo or gemsbok, and if I have
had success at last, I have not considered my trouble in
vain.â€
“Very good,†replied Sir John, “I can show you as much
patience as you can wish; but mind, the halt only lasts for
three or four days, and we must lose no time.â€
“There is something in that,†said the bushman, so
calmly that Emery would not have recognized his com-
panion of the Orange River; “we will just kill that which
comes first, Sir John, antelope or deer, gnu or gazelle, any
thing must do for hunters in a hurry.â€
“Antelope or gazelle!†cried Sir John, “why, what
more could I ask, my good fellow ?â€
“ As long as your honour is satisfied I have nothing more
to say,†said the bushman, somewhat ironically. “I thought
that you would not let me off with any thing less than a
rhinoceros or two, or at least an elephant.â€
“ Any thing and any where,†said Sir John, “we only
waste time in talking.â€
The horses were put to a hand-gallop, and the hunters
advanced quickly towards the forest. The plain rose with
a gentle slope towards the north-east. It was dotted here
and there with shrubs in full bloom, from which issued a
viscous resin, transparent and odorous, of which the colonists
80 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
make a balm for wounds. In picturesque groups rose the
“nwanas,†a kind of sycamore fig, whose trunks, leafless to
the height of 30 or 40 feet, supported a spreading parasol
of verdure. Among the foliage chattered swarms of scream-
ing parrots, eagerly pecking the sour figs. Farther on were
mimosas with their yellow clusters, “silver trees,†shaking
their silky tufts, and aloes with spikes so red that they
might pass for coral plants torn from the depths of the sea.
The ground, enamelled with amaryllis with their bluish
foliage, was smooth and easy for the horses, and in less
than an hour after leaving the kraal, the sportsmen reached
the wood. For several miles extended a forest of acacias,
the entangled branches scarcely allowing a ray of sunlight
to penetrate to the ground below, which was encumbered
by brambles and long grass.
The hunters had little difficulty, however, in urging on
both horse and zebra, in spite of every obstacle, resting at
the recurring glades to examine the thickets around them.
The first day was not very favourable. In vain was the
forest scoured; not a single beast stirred, and Sir John’s
thoughts turned more than once to the plains of Scotland,
where a shot is rarely long delayed. Mokoum evinced
neither surprise nor vexation; to him it was not a hunt, but
merely a rush across the forest.
Towards six in the evening they had to think about
returning. Sir John was more vexed than he would allow.
The Hunters, — [Page 80. ]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 81
Rather than that he, the renowned hunter, should return
empty-handed, he resolved to shoot whatever first came
within range, and fortune seemed to favour him.
They were not more than three miles from the kraal
when a hare (of the species called “lepus rupestrisâ€) darted
from a bush about r50 paces in front of them. Sir John
did not hesitate a moment, and sent his explosive ball after
the poor little animal.
The bushman gave a cry of indignation at such a ball
being employed for such an aim; but the Englishman,
eager for his prey, galloped to the spot where the victim
fell. In vain! the only vestiges of the hare were the bloody
morsels on the ground. Whilst the dogs rummaged in the
brushwood, Sir John looked keenly about, and cried,—
“Tam sure I hit it!â€
“Rather too well,†replied the bushman quietly.
And sure enough, the hare had been blown into countless
fragments.
Sir John, greatly mortified, remounted his horse, and
returned to camp, without uttering another word.
The next day the bushman waited for Sir John Murray
to propose another expedition ; but the Englishman applied
himself for a time to his scientific instruments. For pastime
he watched the occupants of the kraal as they practised
with their bows, or played on the “gorah,†an instrument
composed of a piece of catgut stretched on a bow, and kept
G
82 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
in vibration by blowing through an ostrich feather. He
remarked that the women, while occupied in their domestic
duties, smoked “matokouané,†that is, the unwholesome
hemp-plant, a practice indulged in by most of the natives.
According to some travellers, this inhaling of hemp increases
physical strength to the damage of mental energy; and,
indeed, many of the Bochjesmen appeared stupefied from
its effects.
At dawn, however, the following day, Sir John Murray
was aroused by the appearance of Mokoum, who said, “I
think, sir, we may be fortunate enough to-day to find some-
thing better than a hare.â€
Sir John, not heeding the satire, declared himself ready ;
and the two hunters, accordingly, were off betimes, This
time, Sir John, instead of his formidable rifle, carried a
simple gun of Goldwin’s, as being a more suitable weapon.
True, there was a chance of meeting some prowling beast
from the forest ; but he had the hare on his mind, and would
sooner use small shot against a lion than repeat an incident
unprecedented in the annals of sport.
Fortune, to-day, was more favourable to the hunters.
They brought down a couple of harrisbucks, a rare kind of
black antelope, very difficult to shoot. These were charm-
ing animals, four feet high, with long diverging horns shaped
like scimitars. The tips of their noses were narrow; they
had black hoofs, close soft hair, and pointed ears. Their
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 83
face and belly, white as snow, contrasted well with their
black back, over which fell a wavy mane. Hunters may
well be proud of such shots, for the harrisbuck has
always been the desideratum of the Delegorgues, Vahlbergs,
Cummings, and Baldwins, and it is one of the finest speci-
mens of the southern fauna.
But what made the Englishman’s heart beat fastest, was
Mokoum’s showing him certain marks on the edge of the
thick underwood, not far from a deep pool, surrounded by
giant euphorbias, and whose surface was dotted with sky-
blue water-lilies.
“Come and lie in ambush here to-morrow, sir,†said
Mokoum, “and thistime you may bring your rifle. Look at
these fresh footprints.â€
“What are they ? Can they be an elephant’s?†asked
Sir John.
“Yes,†replied Mokoum, “and, unless Iam mistaken, of
a male full-grown.â€
Eagerly, then, was the engagement made for the following
day. Sir John’s horse, as they returned, carried the harris-
bucks. These fine creatures, so rarely captured, excited
the admiration of the whole caravan, and all congratulated
Sir John, except perhaps Matthew Strux, who knew little
of animals, except the Great Bear, the Centaur, Pegasus,
and other celestial fauna.
At four o’clock the next morning, the hunters, attended
G2
84 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
by their dogs, were already hidden in the underwood. They
had discovered by new footmarks that the elephants came
in a troop to drink at the pool. Their grooved rifles carried
explosive bullets. Silent and still, they watched for about
half-an-hour, when they observed a movement in the grove,
about fifty paces from the pool. Sir John seized his gun,
but the bushman made him a sign to restrain his impatience.
Soon large shadows appeared: the thickets rustled under
the violence of some pressure; the brushwood snapped and
crackled, and the sound of a loud breathing was perceptible
through the branches. It was the herd of elephants. Half-
a-dozen gigantic creatures, almost as large as those of India,
advanced slowly towards the pool. The increasing daylight
allowed Sir John, struck with admiration, to notice espe-
cially a male of enormous size. His colossal proportions
appeared in the partial light even greater than they really
were. While his trunk was extended above the underwood,
with his curved tusks he struck the great stems, which
groaned under the shock. The bushman leant down close
to Sir John’s ear, and whispered,—
“Will he suit you ?â€
Sir John made a sign of affirmation.
“Then,†said Mokoum, “we will separate him from the
rest.â€
At this instant, the elephants reached the edge of the
pool, and their spongy feet sank into the soft mud. They
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 85
pumped up the water with their trunks, and poured it into
their throats with a loud gurgling. The great male looked
uneasily about him, and seemed to scent some approaching
danger.
Suddenly the bushman gave a peculiar cry. The dogs,
barking furiously, darted from concealment, and rushed to-
wards the herd. At the same moment, Mokoum, charging
his companion to remain where he was, went off on his
zebra to intercept the elephant’s retreat. The animal made
no attempt to take flight, and Sir John, with his finger on
the lock of his rifle, watched him closely. The brute beat
the trees, and lashed his tail furiously, showing signs not of
uneasiness, but of anger. Now, for the first time, catching
sight of his enemy, he rushed upon him at once.
Sir John was about sixty paces distant; and waiting till
the elephant came within forty paces, he aimed at his flank
and fired. But a movement of the horse made his aim
unsteady, and the ball only entered the soft flesh without
meeting any obstacle sufficient to make it explode.
The enraged beast increased its pace, which was rather a
rapid walk than a run, and would have soon distanced the
horse. Sir John’s horse reared, and rushed from the thicket,
his master unable to hold him in. The elephant followed,
ears erect, and bellowing like a trumpet. Sir John, thus
carried away, held on to his horse tightly with his knees,
and endeavoured to slip a cartridge into the chamber of his
86 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
rifle. Still the elephant gained on him, They were soon
beyond the wood, and out on the plain. Sir John vigo-
rously used his spurs, and the two dogs rushed panting in
the rear. The elephant was not two lengths behind. Sir
John could hear the hissing of his trunk, and almost feel
his strong breath. Every moment he expected to be
dragged from his saddle by the living lasso. All at once
the horse sunk on his hind-quarters, struck by the elephant
on his haunches. He neighed, and sprung to one side, thus
saving Sir John. The elephant, unable to check his course,
passed on, and sweeping the ground with his trunk, caught
up one of the dogs, and shook it in the air with tremendous
violence. No resource remained except to re-enter the
wood, and the horse’s instinct carried him thither. The
elephant continued to give chase, brandishing the unlucky
dog, whose head he smashed against a sycamore as he
rushed into the forest. The horse darted into a dense
thicket entangled with prickly creepers, and stopped.
Sir John, torn and bleeding, but not for an instant dis-
composed, turned round, and shouldering his rifle, took aim
at the elephant close to the shoulder, through the net-work
of creepers. The ball exploded as it struck the bone.
The animal staggered, and almost at the same moment
a second shot from the edge of the wood struck his left
flank, He fell on his knees near a little pool, half-hidden
in the grass. There, pumping up the water with his
J
age 86.
[P
oo,
>
and the Do
lephant
i.
The I
** Ife is ours! he is ours !’’—[Page 87.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 87
trunk, he began to wash his wounds, uttering plaintive
cries. The bushman now appeared, shouting, “ He is ours,
he is ours!â€
And in truth the animal was mortally wounded. He
groaned piteously, and breathed hard. His tail moved
feebly, and his trunk, fed from the pool of his blood, poured
back a crimson stream on the surrounding brushwood.
Gradually failed his strength, and the great beast was
dead.
Sir John Murray now emerged from the grove. He was
half naked, little of his hunting costume remaining but
rags. But he felt as though he could have given his very
skin for this triumph.
“A glorious fellow!†he exclaimed, as he examined the
carcase; “but rather too big to carry home.â€
“True, sir,†answered Mokoum ; “we will cut him up
on the spot, and carry off the choice parts. Look at his
magnificent tusks! Twenty-five pounds a-piece at least!
And ivory at five shillings a-pound will mount up.â€
Thus talking, the hunter proceeded to cut up the animal.
He took off the tusks with his hatchet, and contented him-
self with the feet and trunk, as choice morsels with
which to regale the members of the Commission. This
operation took some time, and he and his companion did
not get back to camp before midday. The bushman had
the elephant’s feet cooked according to the African method,
6
88 MERIDIANA , THE ADVENTURES OF
that is, by burying them ina hole previously heated, like
an oven, with hot coals.
The delicacy was fully appreciated by all, not excepting
the phlegmatic Palander, and Sir John Murray received a
hearty round of compliments,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. &9
CSR EPR oP
CHAPTER X.
THE RAPID.
DURING their sojourn by the kraal, Colonel Everest and
Matthew Strux had been absolutely strangers. On the
eve of their departure for their divided labours, they had
ceremoniously taken leave one of the other, and had not
since met. The caravan continued its northward route,
and the weather being favourable, during the next ten
days two fresh triangles were measured. The vast verdant
wilderness was intersected by streams flowing between rows
of the willow-like “karree-hout,†from which the Bochjesmen
make their bows. Large tracts of desert land occurred,
where every trace of moisture disappeared, leaving the soil
utterly bare but for the cropping-up occasionally of those
mucilaginous plants which no aridity can kill. For miles
there was no natural object that could be used for a station,
and consequently the astronomers were obliged to employ
natural objects for their point of sight. This caused con-
siderable loss of time, but was not attended with much real
go MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
difficulty. The crew of the “Queen and Czar†were em-
ployed in this part of the work, and performed their task
well and rapidly ; but the same jealousy that divided their
chiefs crept in sometimes among the seamen. Zorn and
Emery did all they could to neutralize any unpleasantness,
but the discussions sometimes took a serious character.
The Colonel and Strux continually interfered in behalf of
their countrymen, whether they were right or wrong, but
they only succeeded in making matters worse. After a
while Zorn and Emery were the only members of the party
who had preserved a perfect concord. Even Sir John
Murray and Nicholas Palander (generally absorbed as they
were, the one in his calculations, the other in his hunting),
began to join the fray.
One day the dispute went so far that Strux said to the
Colonel, “You must please to moderate your tone with
astronomers from Poulkowa: remember it was their tcele-
scope that showed that the disc of Uranus is circular.â€
“Yes,†replied the Colonel; “but ours at Cambridge
enabled us to classify the nebula of Andromeda.â€
The irritation was evident, and at times seemed to imperil
the fate of the triangulation. Hitherto the discussions had
had no injurious effect, but perhaps rather served to keep
every operation more scrupulously exact.
On the goth the weather suddenly changed. In any
_other region a storm and torrents of rain might have been
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 91
expected: angry-looking clouds covered the sky, and
lightning, unaccompanied by thunder, gleamed through the
mass of vapour. But condensation did not ensue—not a
drop of rain fell on to the thirsty soil. The sky remained
overcast for some days, and the fog rendered the points of
sight invisible at the distance of a mile. The astronomers,
however, would not lose time, and determined to set up
lighted signals and work at night. The bushman prudently
advised caution, lest the electric lights should attract the
wild beasts too closely to their quarters ; and in fact, during
the night, the yelp of the jackal and the hoarse laugh of
the hyena, like that of a drunken negro, could plainly be
heard,
In the midst of this clamour, in which the roar of a lion
could sometimes be distinguished, the astronomers felt rather
distracted, and the measurements were taken at least less
rapidly, if not less accurately. To take zenith distances while
gleaming eyes might be gazing at them through the darkness,
required imperturbable composure and the utmost sazg-
froid. But these qualities were not wanting in the members
of the Commission, and after a few days they regained their
presence of mind, and worked away in the midst of the
beasts as calmly as if they were in their own observatories.
Armed hunters attended them at every station, and no
inconsiderable number of hyenas fell by their balls. Sir
John thought this way of surveying delightful, and whilst
gz MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
his eye was at his telescope his hand was on his gun, and
more than once he made a shot in the interval between two
observations.
Nothing occurred to check the steady progress of the
survey, so that the astronomers hoped before the end of
June to measure a second degree of the meridian. On the
17th they found that their path was crossed by an affluent
of the Kuruman. The Europeans could easily take their
instruments across in their india-rubber canoe ; but Mokoum
would have to take the caravan to a ford which he remem-
bered some miles below. The river was about half-a-mile
wide, and its rapid current, broken here and there by rocks
and stems of trees embedded in the mud, offered consider-
able danger to any light craft. Matthew Strux did not fail
“to represent this, but finding that his companions did not
recoil from the attempt he gave way.
Nicholas Palander alone was to accompany the caravan
in its déour. He was too much absorbed in his calculations
to give any thought to danger; but his presence was not
indispensable to his companions, and the boat would only
hold a limited number of passengers. Accordingly, he
gave up his place to an Englishman of the crew of the
“Queen and Czar,†who would be more useful under the
circumstances.
After making an arrangement to meet to the north of the
sapid, the caravan disappeared down the left bank of the
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 93
stream, leaving Colonel Everest, Strux, Emery, Zorn, Sir
John, two sailors, and a Bochjesman, who was the pioneer
of the caravan, and had been recommended by Mokoum as
having much experience in African rapids.
“A pretty river,†observed Zorn to his friend, as the
sailors were preparing the boat.
“Very so, but hard to cross,†answered Emery. “These
rapids have not long to live, and therefore enjoy life. With
a few weeks of this dry season there will hardly remain
enough of this swollen torrent to water a caravan. It is
soon exhausted; such is the law of nature, moral and
physical. But we must not waste timein moralizing. See,
the boat is equipped, and I am all anxiety to see her per-
formances.â€
In a few minutes the boat was launched beside a sloping
bank of red granite. Here, sheltered by a projecting rock,
the water quietly bathed the reeds and creepers. The
instruments and provisions were put in the boat, and the
passengers seated themselves so as not to interfere with the
action of the oars. The Bochjesman took the helm; he
spoke but a few words of English, and advised the travellers
to keep a profound silence while they were crossing. The
boat soon felt the influence of the current. The sailors
carefully obeyed every order of the Bochjesman. Some-
times they had to raise their oars to avoid some half- '
emerged stump; sometimes to row hard across a whirlpool,
94 « MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
When the current became too strong they could only guide
the light boat as it drifted with the stream. The native,
tiller in hand, sat watchful and motionless, prepared for
every danger. The Europeans were half uneasy at their
novel situation ; they seemed carried away by an irresistible
force. The Colonel and Strux gazed at each other without
a word; Sir John, with his rifle between his knees, watched
the numerous birds that skimmed the water; and the two
younger astronomers gazed with admiration at the banks,
past which they flew with dizzy speed. The light boat soon
reached the true rapid, which it was necessary to cross
obliquely. At a word from the Bochjesman, the sailors
put forth their strength; but, despite all their efforts, they
were carried down parallel to the banks. The tiller and
oars had no longer any effect, and the situation became
really perilous ; a rock or stump of a tree would inevitably
‘have overturned the boat. In spite of the manifest peril,
no one uttered a word. The Bochjesman half rose, and
watched the direction which he could not control. Two
hundred yards distant rose an islet of stones and trees,
which it was impossible to avoid. In a few seconds the
boat apparently must be lost; but the shock came with less
violence than had seemed inevitable. The boat lurched
and shipped a little water, but the passengers kept their
places. They were astonished to observe that what they
had presumed to be rock had moved, and was plunging
The Hippopotamus did not quit his hold, but shook the Boat as a Dog would
a Hare. —[Page 95. ]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 95
about in the rush of the waters. It was an immense hippo-
potamus, ten feet long, which had been carried by the
current against the islet, and dared not venture out again
into the rapid. Feeling the shock, he raised and shook his
head, looking about him with his little dull eyes, and with
his mouth wide open, showing his great canine teeth. He
rushed furiously on the boat, which he threatened to bite to
pieces.
But Sir John Murray’s presence of mind did not forsake
him. Quietly shouldering his rifle, he fired at the animal
near the ear. The hippopotamus did not quit his hold, but
shook the boat as a dog would a hare. A second shot was
soon lodged in his head. The blow was mortal. After
pushing the boat with a last effort off the islet, the fleshy
mass sankin the deep water. Before the dismayed voyagers
could collect their thoughts, they were whirled obliquely
into the rapid. A hundred yards below, a sharp bend in the
river broke the current ; thither was the boat carried, and
was arrested by a violent shock. Safe and sound the whole
party leapt to the bank. They were about two miles below
the spot where they had embarked.
96 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER’ XE
A MISSING COMPANION.
IN continuing the survey the astronomers had to be on
their guard against the serpents that infested the region,
venomous mambas, ten to twelve feet long, whose bite would
have been fatal.
Four days after the passage of the rapid, the observers
found themselves in a wooded country. The trees, how-
ever, were not so high as to interfere with their labours, and
at all points rose eminences which afforded excellent sites
for the posts and electric lamps. The district, lying consi-
derably lower than the rest of the plain, was moist and fer-
tile. Emery noticed thousands of Hottentot fig-trees, whose
sour fruit is much relished by the Bochjesmen. From the
ground arose a soft odour from the “kucumakranti,†a
yellow fruit two or three inches long, growing from bulbous
roots like the colchicum, and eagerly devoured by the
native children. Here, too, in this more watered country,
reappeared the fields of colocynths and borders of the mint
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 97
so successfully naturalized in England. Notwithstanding
its fertility, the country appeared little frequented by the
wandering tribes, and not a kraal or a camp-fire was to be
seen ; yet water was abundant, forming some considerable
streams and lagoons.
The astronomers halted to await the caravan. The time
fixed by Mokoum had just expired, and if he had reckoned
well, he would join them to-day. The day, however, passed
on, and no Bochjesman appeared. Sir John conjectured
that the hunter had probably been obliged to ford farther
south than he had expected, since the river was unusually
swollen. Another day passed and the caravan had not
appeared. The Colonel became uneasy; he could not
go on,.and the delay might affect the success of the
operations, Matthew Strux said that it had-always been his
wish to accompany the caravan, and that if his advice
had been followed they would not have found themselves
in this predicament; but he would not admit that the
responsibility rested on the Russians. Colonel Everest
began to protest against these insinuations, but Sir John
interposed, saying that what was done could not be undone,
and that all the recriminations in the world would make no
difference.
It was then decided that if the caravan did not appear on
the following day, Emery and Zorn, under the guidance of
the Bochjesman, should start to ascertain the reason of the
H
98 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
delay. For the rest of the day the rivals kept apart, and
Sir John passed his time in beating the surrounding woods.
lle failed in finding any game, but from a naturalist’s point of
view he ought to have been satisfied, since he brought down
two fine specimens of African birds. One was a kind of
partridge, a francolin, thirteen inches long, with short legs,
dark grey back, red beak and claws, and elegant wings,
shaded with brown. The other bird, with a red throat and
white tail, was aspecies of falcon. The Bochjesman pioneer
cleverly took off the skins, in order that they should be
preserved entire.
The next day was half over, and the two young men
were just about to start on their search, when a distant bark
arrested them. Soon Mokoum, on his zebra, emerged at
full speed from the thicket of aloes on the left, and advanced
towards the camp.
“Welcome,†cried Sir John joyfully, “we had almost
given you up, and apart from you I should be inconsolable.
I am only successful when you are with me. We will
celebrate your return in a glass of usquebaugh.â€
Mokoum made no answer, but anxiously scanned and
counted the Europeans. Colonel Everest perceived his
perplexity, and as he was dismounting, said,—
“For whom are you looking, Mokoum ?â€
“For Mr. Palander,†replied the bushman.
“Ts he not with you?†said the Colonel.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 99°
“Not now,†answered Mokoum. “TI thought I should
find him with you. He is lost!â€
At these words, Matthew Strux stepped forward.
“Lost!†he cried. “He was confided to your care.
You are responsible for his safety, and it is not enough to
say he is lost.â€
Mokoum’s face flushed, and he answered impatiently,—
“Why should you expect me to take care of one who
can’t take care of himself? Why blame me? If Mr.
Palander is lost, it is by his own folly. Twenty times I
have found him absorbed in his figures, and have brought
him back to the caravan. But the evening before last he
disappeared, and I have not seen him since. Perhaps if
you are so clever, you can spy him out with your telescope.â€
The bushman would doubtless have become more irri-
table still, if Sir John had not pacified him. Matthew
Strux had not been able to get in a word, but now turned
round unexpectedly to the Colonel, saying,—
“T shall not abandon my countryman. I suppose that
if Sir John Murray or Mr. Emery were lost, you would
suspend operations ; and I don’t see why you should do
less for a Russian than for an Englishman.â€
“Mr. Strux,†cried the Colonel, folding his arms, and
fixing his eyes on his adversary, “do you wish to insult
me? Why should you suppose that we will not seek this
blundering calculator ?â€
H 2
100 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
“Sir!†said Strux.
“Yes, blundering,†repeated the Colonel. “And to return
to what you said, I maintain that any embarrassment to
the progress of the-operations from this circumstance would
be due to the Russians alone.â€
“Colonel,†cried Strux, with gleaming eyes, “ your words
are hasty.â€
“My words, on the contrary, are well weighed. Let it
be understood that operations are suspended until Mr.
Palander is found. Are you ready to start?â€
“T was ready before you spoke a word,†answered Strux
sharply.
The caravan having now arrived, the disputants each
went to his waggon. On the way Sir John could not help
saying,—
“Tt is lucky that the stupid fellow has not carried off the
double register.â€
“Just what I was thinking,†said the Colonel.
The Englishmen proceeded more strictly to interrogate
Mokoum. He told them that Palander had been missing
for two days, and had last been seen alongside of the cara-
van about twelve miles from the encampment; that after
missing him, he at once set out to seek for him, but being
unsuccessful in all his search, had concluded that he must
have made his way to his companions.
Mokoum proposed that they should now explore the
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 1014
woods to the north-east, adding that they must not lose an
hour if they wanted to find him alive, knowing that no one
could wander with impunity for two days in a country
infested like that with wild beasts. Where any one else
could find a subsistence, Palander, ever engrossed by his
figures, would inevitably die of starvation. At one o'clock,
guided by the hunter, they mounted and left the camp.
The grotesque attitudes of Strux, as he clung uneasily to
his steed, caused considerable diversion to his companions,
who, however, were polite enough to pass no remark,
Before leaving the camp, Mokoum asked the pioneer to
lend him his keen-scented dog. The sagacious animal,
after scenting a hat belonging to Palander, darted off ina
north-easterly direction, whilst his master urged him on by
a peculiar whistle. The little troop followed, and soon dis-
appeared in the underwood.
All the day the Colonel and his companions followed
the dog, who seemed instinctively to know what was re-
quired of him. They shouted, they fired their guns, but
night came on when they had scoured the woods for five
miles round, and they were at length obliged to rest until
the following day. They spent the night in a grove, before
which the bushman had prudently kindled a wood fire.
Some wild howls were heard, by no means reassuring.
Hours passed in arguing about Palander, and discussing
plans for his assistance. The English showed as much
102 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
devotion as Strux could desire; and it was decided that all
work should be adjourned till the Russian was found, alive
or dead.
After a weary night the day dawned. The horses
were saddled, and the little troop again followed the dog.
Towards the north-east they arrived at a district almost
swampy initscharacter. The small water-courses increased
in number, but they were easily forded, care being taken to
avoid the crocodiles, of which Sir John, for the first time in
his life, now saw some specimens. The bushman would
not permit that time should be wasted in any attack upon
the reptiles, and restrained Sir John, who was always on the
gui-vive to discharge a ball. Whenever a crocodile, snap-
ping its prey with its formidable jaw, put its head out of
water, the horses sct off at a gallop to escape.
The troop of riders went on over woods, plains, and
marshes, noting the most insignificant tokens: here a broken
bough ; there a freshly-trodden tuft of grass; or farther
on some inexplicable mark ; but no trace of Palander.
When they had advanced ten miles north of the last en-
campment, and were about to turn south-east, the dog
suddenly gave signs of agitation. He barked, and in an
excited way wageed his tail. Sniffing the dry grass, he ran
on a few steps, and returned to the same spot.
“The dog scents something,†exclaimed the bushman.
“It seems,†said Sir John, “he is on a right track,
ez = S
SSS PUTER
‘There he is,’? cried Mokoum.—[Page 103.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 103
Listen to his yelping: he seems to be talking to him-
self. He will be an invaluable creature if he scents out
Palander.â€
Strux did not quite relish the way in which his country-
man was treated as a head of game; but the important
thing now was to find him, and they all waited to follow
the dog, as soon as he should be sure of the scent.
Very soon the animal, with a loud yelp, bounded over
the thicket and disappeared. The horses could not follow
through the dense forest, but were obliged to take a cir-
cuitous path. The dog was certainly on the right track
now, the only question was whether Palander was alive or
dead.
In a few minutes the yelping ceased, and the bushman
and Sir John, who were in advance, were becoming uneasy,
when suddenly. the barking began again outside the forest,
about half a mile away. The horses were spurred in that
direction, and soon reached the confines of the marsh. The
dog could distinctly be heard, but, on account of the lofty
reeds, could not be seen. The riders dismounted, and tied
their horses to a tree. With difficulty they made their way
through the reeds, and reached a large space covered with
water and aquatic plants. In the lowest part lay the
brown waters ‘of a lagoon half a mile square. The dog
stopped at the muddy edge, and barked furiously.
“ There he is!†cried Mokoum,
104 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
And sure enough, on a stump at the extremity of a sort
of peninsula, sat Nicholas Palander, pencil in hand, and a
note-book on his knees, wrapt in calculations. His friends
could not suppress a cry. About twenty paces off a num-
ber of crocodiles, quite unknown to him, lay watching, and
evidently designing an attack.
“Make haste,†said Mokoum, in a low voice; “I don’t
understand why these animals don’t rush on him.â€
“They are waiting till he is gamey,†said Sir John,
alluding to the idea common among the natives that these
reptiles never touch fresh meat.
The bushman and Sir John, telling their companions to
wait for them, passed round the lagoon, and reached the
narrow isthmus by which alone they could get near Palander.
They had not gone two hundred steps, when the crocodiles,
leaving the water, made straight towards their prey. Palan-
der saw nothing, but went on writing.
“Be quick and calm,†whispered Mokoum, “or all is
lost.â€
Both, kneeling down, aimed at the nearest reptiles, and
fired. Two monsters rolled into the water with broken
backs, and the rest simultaneously disappeared beneath the
surface.
At the sound of the guns Palander raised his head. He.
recognized his companions, and ran towards them waving
A missing Companion,—[Page 104. |
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 105
his note-book, and like the philosopher of old exclaiming
“Eureka!†he cried, “I have found it!â€
“What have you found ?†asked Sir John.
“An error in the last decimal of a logarithm of James
Wolston’s.â€
It was a fact. The worthy man had discovered the error,
and had secured a right to the prize offered by Wolston’s
editor. For four days had the astronomer wandered in
solitude. Truly Ampére, with his unrivalled gift of ab-
straction, could not have done better!
7
106 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XII.
A STATION TO SIR JOHN’S LIKING.
So the Russian mathematician was found! When they
asked him how he had passed those four days, he could not
tell; he thought the whole story of the crocodiles was a
joke, and did not believe it. He had not been hungry; he
had lived upon figures. Matthew Strux would not reproach
his countryman before his colleagues, but there was every
reason to believe that in private he gave him a severe
reprimand,
The geodetic operations were now resumed, and went on
as usual till the 28th of June, when they had measured the
base of the 15th triangle, which would conclude the second
and commence the third degree of the meridian. Herea
physical difficulty arose. The country was so thickly
covered with underwood, that although the artificial signals
could be erected, they could not be discerned at any dis-
tance. One station was recognized as available for an
electric lamp. This was a mountain 1200 feet high, about
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 107
thirty miles to the north-west. The choice of this would
make the sides of this triangle considerably longer than any
of the former, but it was at length determined to adopt it.
Colonel Everest, Emery, Zorn, three sailors, and two Boch-
jesmen, were appointed to establish the lighted signal, the
distance being too great to work otherwise than at night.
The little troop, accompanied by mules laden with the
instruments and provisions, set off in the morning. The
Colonel did not expect to reach the base of the mountain
till the following day, and however few might be the diffi-
culties of the ascent, the observers in the camp would not
see the lighted signal till the night of the 29th or 30th.
In the interval of waiting, Strux and Palander went to
their usual occupations, while Sir John and the bushman
shot antelopes. They found opportunity of hunting a
giraffe, which is considered fine sport. Coming across a
herd of twenty, but so wild that they could not approach
within 500 yards, they succeeded in detaching a female
from the herd. The animal set off at first at a slow trot,
allowing the horsemen to gain upon her; but when she
found them near, she twisted her tail, and started at full
speed. The hunters followed for about two miles, when a
ball from Sir John’s rifle threw her on to her side, and made
her an easy victim.
In the course of the next night the two Russians took
some altitudes of the stars, which enabled them to deter-
108 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
mine the latitude of the encampment. The following night
was clear and dry, without moon and stars, and the
observers impatiently watched for the appearance of the
electric light. Strux, Palander, and Sir John relieved
guard at the telescope, but no light appeared. They con-
cluded that the ascent of the mountain had offered serious
difficulty, and again postponed their observations till the
next night. Great, however, was their surprise, when,
about two o'clock in the afternoon, Colonel Everest and
his companions suddenly reappeared in camp.
In answer to inquiries whether he had found the moun-
tain inaccessible, Colonel Everest replied that although in
itself the mountain was entirely accessible, it was so guarded
that they had found it necessary to come back for rein-
forcements,
“Do you mean,†said Sir John, “that the natives were
assembled in force ?â€
“Yes, natives with four paws and black manes, who have
eaten up one of our horses.â€
The Colonel went on to say that the mountain was only
_to be approached bya spur on the south-west side. In the
narrow defile leading to the spur a troop of lions had taken
up their abode. These he had endeavoured to dislodge,
but, insufficiently armed, he was compelled to beat a retreat,
after losing one of his horses by a single blow of a lion’s paw.
The recital kindled the interest of Sir John and the bush-
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 109
man. Clearly it was a station worth conquering, and an
expedition wasat once arranged. All the Europeans, with-
out exception, were eager to join, but it was necessary that
some should remain at the camp to measure the angles at
the base of the triangle, therefore the Colonel resolved to
stay behind with Strux and Palander, while Sir John,
Emery, and Zorn (to whose entreaties their chiefs had been
obliged to yield), Mokoum, and three natives on whose
courage he could rely, made up the party for the attack.
They started at four in the afternoon, and by nine were
within two miles of the mountain. Here they dismounted,
and made their arrangements for the night. No fire was
kindled, Mokoum being unwilling to provoke a nocturnal
attack from the animals, which he wished to meet by day-
light.
Throughout the night the roar of the lions could almost
incessantly be heard. Not one of the hunters slept for so
much as an hour, and Mokoum took advantage of their
wakefulness to give them some advice from his own expe-
rience.
“From what Colonel Everest tells us,†he said calmly,
“these are black-maned lions, the fiercest and most danger-
ous species of any. They leap for a distance of sixteen to
twenty paces, and I should advise you to avoid their first
bound. Should the first fail, they rarely take a second.
We will attack them as they re-enter their den at day-
£10 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
break; they are always less fierce when they are well
filled. But they will defend themselves well, for here,
in this uninhabited district, they are unusually ferocious.
Measure your distance well before you fire; let the animal
approach, and take a sure aim near the shoulder. We
must leave our horses behind; the sight of a lion terrifies
them, and therefore the safety of their rider is imperilled.
We must fight on foot, and I rely on your calmness.â€
All listened with silent attention: Mokoum was now the
patient hunter. Although the lion seldom attacks a man
without provocation, yet his fury, when once aroused, is
terrible; and therefore the bushman enjoined composure
on his companions, especially on Sir John, who was often
carried away by his boldness.
“Shoot at a lion,†said Mokoum, “as calmly as if you
were shooting a partridge.â€
At four o’clock, only a few red streaks being visible in
the far east, the hunters tied up their horses securely and
left their halting-place.
“Examine your guys, and be careful that your car-
tridges are in good trim,†continued Mokoum, to those who
catried rifles; for the three natives were armed otherwise,
satisfied with their bows of aloe, which already had
rendered them good service.
The party, in a compact group, turned towards the defile,
which had been partially reconnoitred the evening before,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 11
They crept, like Red Indians, silently between the trees,
and soon reached the narrow gorge which formed the
entrance. Here, winding between piles of granite, began
the path leading to the first slopes of the spur. Midway
the path had been widened by a landslip, and here was the
cave tenanted by the lions.
It was then arranged that Sir John, one of the natives,
and Mokoum, should creep along the upper edge of the
defile, with the intention of driving out the animals to the
lower extremity of the gorge. There the two young
Europeans and the other two Bochjesmen should be in
ambush to receive the fugitive beasts with shot and
arrows.
No spot could be better adapted for the manceuvres.
The forked branches of a gigantic sycamore afforded a safe
position, since lions do not climb; and the hunters, perched
at a considerable height, could escape their bounds and
aim at them under favourable conditions.
William Emery objected to the plan as being dangerous
for Sir John and the bushman, but the latter would hear
of no modification, and Emery reluctantly acquiesced.
Day now began to dawn, and the mountain-top was
glowing in the sun. Mokoum, after seeing his four com-
panions installed in the sycamore, started off with Sir
John and the Bochjesman, and soon mounted the devious
path which lay on the right edge of the defile. Cautiously
II2 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
examining their path, they continued to advance. In the
event of the lions having returned to their den and being
at repose, it would be possible to make short work of
them.
After about a quarter of an hour the hunters, reaching
the landslip before the cave to which Zorn had directed
them, crouched down and examined the spot. It seemed
a wide excavation, though at present they could hardly
estimate the size. The entrance was marked by piles of
bones and remains of animals, demonstrating, beyond
doubt, that it was the lions’ retreat.
Contrary to the hunter’s expectation, the cave seemed
deserted. He crept to the entrance and satisfied himself
that it was really empty. Calling his companions, who
joined him immediately, he said,—
“Our game has not returned, Sir John, but it will not be
long: I think we had better install ourselves in its place.
Better to be besieged than besiegers, especially as we have
an armed succour at hand. What do you think?â€
“YT am at your orders, Mokoum,†replied Sir John.
All three accordingly entered. It was a deep grotto,
strewn with bones and stained with blood. Repeating their
scrutiny, lest they should be mistaken as to the cave being
empty, they hastened to barricade the entrance by piling
up stones, the intervening spaces being filled with
boughs and dry brushwood. This only occupied a few
It was a deep Grotto, strewn with Bones and stained with Blood.—[Page 112.]
The Entrance to the Lion’s Den.—[Page 112.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 113
minutes, the mouth of the cave being comparatively nar-
row. They then went behind their loop-holes, and awaited
their prey, which was not long in coming. A lion and two
lionesses approached within a hundred yards of the cave.
The lion, tossing his mane and sweeping the ground with
his tail, carried in his teeth an entire antelope, which he
shook with as much ease as acat would a mouse. The two
lionesses frisked along at his side.
Sir John afterwards confessed that it was a moment of
no little trepidation ; he felt his pulses beat fast, and was
conscious of something like fear; but he was soon himself
again. His two companions retained their composure
undisturbed.
At the sight of the barricade, the beasts paused. They
were within sixty paces. With a harsh roar from the lion,
they all three rushed into a thicket on the right, a little
below the spot where the hunters had first stopped. Their
tawny backs and gleaming eyes were distinctly visible
through the foliage.
“The partridges are there,†whispered Sir John ; “let us
each take one.â€
“No,†answered Mokoum softly, “the brood is not all
here, and the report of a gun would frighten the rest.
Bochjesman, are you sure of your arrow at this dis-
tance ?â€
“Yes, Mokoum,†said the native.
t14 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
“Then aim at the male’s left flank, and pierce his heart.â€
The Bochjesman bent his bow, and the arrow whistled
through the brushwood. With a loud roar, the lion made
a bound and fell. He lay motionless, and his sharp teeth
stood out in strong relief against his blood-stained lips.
“Well done, Bochjesman!†said Mokoum.
At this moment the lionesses, leaving the thicket, flung
themselves on the lion’s body. Attracted by their roar,
two other lions and a third lioness appeared round the
corner of the defile. Bristling with anger, they looked
twice their ordinary size, and bounded forward with terrific
roars.
“ Now for the rifles,†cried the bushman, “we must
shoot them on the wing, since they will not perch.â€
The bushman took deliberate aim, and one lion fell, as it
were paralyzed. The other, his paw broken by Sir John’s
bullet, rushed towards the barricade, followed by the infu-
riated lionesses. Unless the rifles could now be brought
successfully to bear, the three animals would succeed in
entering their den. The hunters retired; their guns were
quickly reloaded ; two or three lucky shots, and all would
be well; but an unforeseen circumstance occurred which
rendered the hunters’ situation to the last degree alarming.
All at once a dense smoke filled the cave. One of the
wads, falling on the dry brushwood, had set it alight, and
soon a sheet of flames, fanned by the wind, lay between the
AY
\ \
\
\\
A Ball from the Bushman arrested the Lioness, —[Page 115. ]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, I15
men and the beasts. The lions recoiled, but the hunters
would be suffocated if they remained where they were. It
was a terrible moment, but they dared not hesitate.
“Come out! come out!†cried Mokoum.
They pushed aside the brushwood with the butt ends of
their guns, knocked down the stones, and, half choked,
leaped out of the cloud of smoke.
The native and Sir John had hardly time to collect their
senses when they were both knocked over. The African,
struck on the chest by one of the lionesses, lay motionless
on the ground ; Sir John, who received a blow from the tail
of the other, thought his leg was broken, and fell on his
knees. But just as the animal turned upon him, a ball
from the bushman arrested her, and, meeting a bone,
exploded in her body. At this instant Zorn, Emery, and
the two Bochjesmen appeared opportunely, although un-
summoned, hastening up the defile. Two lions and one
lioness were dead; but two lionesses and the lion with the
broken paw were still sufficiently formidable. The rifles,
however, performed their duty. A second lioness fell,
struck in both head and flank. The third lioness and the
wounded lion bounded over the young men’s heads, and
amid a last salute of balls and arrows disappeared round
the corner of the defile.
Sir John uttered a loud hurrah. The lions were con-
quered, four carcasses measured the ground.
Led,
116 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
With his friend’s assistance, Sir John was soon on his
feet again ; his leg was not broken. The native soon reco-
vered his consciousness, being merely stunned by the blow
from the animal’s head. An hour later, the little troop,
without further trace of the fugitive couple, regained the
thicket where they had left their horses.
“Well,†said Mokoum to Sir John, “I hope you like our
African partridges.â€
“Delightful! delightful!†said Sir John, rubbing his
leg, “but what tails they have, to be sure!â€
= Si —= = cS
STA ERA ==
“Well,†said Mokoum, ‘*I hope you like our African Partridges.’’—[Page 116.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 117
CHAPTER XIII.
PACIFICATION BY FIRE.
AT the camp Colonel Everest and his colleagues, with a
natural impatience, anxiously abided the result of the lion-
hunt. If the chase proved successful, the light would
appear in the course of the night. The Colonel and Strux
passed the day uneasily; Palander, always engrossed,
forgot that any danger menaced his friends. It might be
said of him, as of the mathematician Bouvard, “He will
continue to calculate while he continues to live;†for
apart from his calculations life for him would have lost its
purpose.
The two chiefs certainly thought quite as much of the
accomplishment of their survey as of any danger incurred
by their companions ; they would themselves have braved
any peril rather than have a physical obstacle to arrest
their operations.
At length, after a day that seemed interminable, the
night arrived. Punctually every half-hour the Colonel and
118 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
Matthew Strux silently relieved guard at the telescope,
each desiring to be the first to discover the light. But
hours passed on, and no light appeared. At last, ata
quarter to three, Colonel Everest arose, and calmly said.
“ The signal !â€
The Russian, although he did not utter a word, could
scarcely conceal the chagrin which he felt at chance favour-
ing the Colonel.
The angle was then carefully measured, and was found
to be exactly 73° 58’ 42â€.413.
Colonel Everest being anxious to join his companions as
soon as possible, the camp was raised at dawn, and by mid-
day all the members of the Commission had met once more.
The incidents of the lion-hunt were recounted, and the
victors heartily congratulated.
During the morning Sir John, Emery, and Zorn had
proceeded to the summit of the mountain, and had thence
measured the angular distance of a new station situated a
few miles to the west of the meridian. Palander also an-
nounced that the measurement of the second degree was
now complete.
For five weeks all went on well. The weather was fine,
and the country, being only slightly undulated, offered fair
sites for the stations. Provisions were abundant, and Sir
John’s revictualling expeditions provided full many a va-
riety of antelopes and buffaloes. The general health was
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. IIg
Ss
good, and water could always be found. Even the discus-
sions between the Colonel and Strux were less violent, and
each seemed to vie with the other in zeal for success, when
a local difficulty occurred which for a while hindered the
work and revived hostilities.
It was the 11th of August. During the night the
caravan had passed through a wooded country, and in the
morning halted before an immense forest extending beyond
the horizon. Imposing masses of foliage formed a verdant
curtain which was of indescribable beauty. There were the
“gounda,†the “mosokoso,†and the “mokoumdon,†a
wood much sought for ship-building; great ebony trees,
their bark covering a perfectly black wood ; “ bauhinias,â€
with fibre of iron ; “ buchneras,†with their orange-coloured
flowers; magnificent “ roodeblatts,†with whitish trunks,
crowned with crimson foliage, and thousands of “guaia-
cums,†measuring fifteen feet in circumference. There
was ever a murmur like that of the surf on a sandy coast ;
it was the wind, which, passing across the branches, was
calmed on the skirts of the forest. In answer to a question
from the Colonel, Mokoum said,—
“Tt is the forest of Rovouma.â€
“What is its size?â€
“Tt is about forty-five miles wide, and ten long.â€
“ How shall we cross it ?â€
“Cross it we cannot,†said Mokoum, “There is but
120 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
one resource: we must go round either to the east or to
the west.â€
At this intelligence the chiefs were much perplexed. In
the forest they could not establish stations; to pass round
would involve them in an additional series of perhaps ten
auxiliary triangles.
Here was a difficulty of no little magnitude. Encamping
in the shade of a magnificent grove about half a mile from
the forest, the astronomers assembled in council. The
question of surveying across the mass of trees was at once
set aside, and it now remained to determine whether they
should make the circuit to the east or the west, since the
meridian passed as nearly as possible through the centre of
the forest. On this point arose a violent discussion be-
tween the Colonel and Strux. The two rivals recovered
their old animosity, and the discussion ended in a serious
altercation. Their colleagues attempted to interfere, but to
no purpose. The Englishman wished to turn to the right,
since that direction approached the route taken by Dr.
Livingstone in his expedition to the Zambesi Falls, and
the country would on that account be more known and
frequented. The Russian, on the contrary, insisted on
going to the left, but apparently for no other reason than
to thwart the Colonel. The quarrel went so far that a
separation between the members of the Commission seemed
imminent. Zorn, Emery, Sir John, and Palander with-
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 121
drew and left their chiefs to themselves. Such was their
obstinacy that it seemed as if the survey must continue
from this point in two oblique series of triangles.
The day passed away without any reconciliation, and the
next morning Sir John, finding matters still in the same
condition, proposed to Mokoum to beat the neighbourhood.
Perhaps meanwhile the astronomers would come to an
understanding: any way, some fresh venison would not be
despised.
Mokoum, always ready, whistled to his dog Top, and the
two hunters ventured several miles from the encampment.
The conversation naturally turned on the subject of the
difficulty.
“T expect,†said the bushman, “we shall be encamped
some time here. Our two chiefs are like ill-paired oxen,
one pulls one way and the other another, and the conse-
quence is that the waggon makes no headway.â€
“Tt is all very sad,’ answered Sir John, “and looks like
a separation. The interests of science are compromised,
otherwise I should be indifferent to it all. I should amuse
myself with my gun until the rivals made it up.â€
“Do you think they w7z// make it up? For my part, I
am almost afraid that our halt will be indefinitely pro-
longed.â€
“T fear so, Mokoum,†replied Sir John. “The matter is
so trivial, and it is no question of science. Our chiefs would
8
122 MERIDIANA;, THE ADVENTURES OF
doubtless have yielded to a scientific argument, but they
will never make concession in a pure matter of opinion.
How unfortunate that the meridian happens to cross this
forest |â€
“ Hang the forests!†exclaimed the bushman, “ don’t let
them stop your measuring, if you want to measure. But I
can’t see the good of your getting at the length and breadth
of the earth? Who will be any better off when every thing
is reduced to feet and inches? I should just like to think
of the globe as infinite; to measure it is to make it small.
No, Sir John, if I were to live for ever, I could never under-
stand the use of your operations.â€
Sir John could not help smiling. They had often debated
the subject, and the ignorant child of nature could evidently
not enter into the interest attached to the survey. When-
ever Sir John attempted to convince him, he answered
eloquently with arguments stamped with a genuine natural-
ness, of which Sir John, half-savaxt and half-hunter, could
fully appreciate the charm.
Thus conversing, the hunters pursued the rock-hares, the
shrill-toned plovers, the partridges (with brown, yellow, and
black plumage), and other small game. But Sir John had
all the sport to himself. The bushman seldom fired; he
was pre-occupied. The quarrel between the two astro-
nomers seemed to trouble him more than it did his com-
panion, and the variety of game hardly attracted his notice.
TIIREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 123
In truth there was an idea floating through his brain,
which, little by little, took more definite form. Sir John
heard him talking to himself, and watched him as he quietly
let the game pass by, as engrossed as Palander himself.
Two or three times in the course of the day he drew near
Sir John and said,—
“So you really think that Colonel Everest and Mr.
Strux will not come to terms?â€
Sir John invariably replied that agreement seemed un-
likely, and that he feared there would be a separation
between Englishmen and Russians. The last time Mokoum
received this answer he added,—
“Well, you may be easy; I have found a means
to satisfy both the chiefs. Before to-morrow, if the
wind is favourable, they will have nothing to quarrel
about.â€
“What do you mean to do, Mokoum ?â€
“Never mind, Sir John.â€
“Very well, I will leave it to you. You deserve to have
your name preserved in the annals of science.â€
“That would be too great an honour for-me, Sir John,â€
answered the bushman, and then continued silently to
' ponder over his project. Sir John made no further inquiries,
but could not at all guess how the bushman proposed to
re-unite the two adversaries.
Towards evening the hunters returned to camp, and
124 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
found matters even worse than before, The oft-repeated
intervention of Zorn and Emery had been of no avail, and
the quarrel had now reached such a height that reconcilia-
tion seemed impossible. It appeared only too probable
that the survey would be continued in two separate direc-
tions. The thought of this was sorrowful to Emery and
Zorn, who were now so nearly bound by mutual sympathy.
Sir John guessed their thoughts, and was eager to reassure
them ; but however much he was secretly disposed to trust
to the bushman, he abstained from raising any hopes which
might be fallacious.
Throughout the evening Mokoum did not leave his
ordinary occupations. He arranged the sentinels, and took
the usual precautions. Sir John began to think that he
had forgotten his promise. Before going to rest he tried
to sound Colonel Everest, whom he found immovably re-
solved that, unless Strux yielded, the English and Russians
must part. “There are things,†added the Colonel, in
a tone of decision, “that cannot be borne, even from a
colleague.â€
Sir John, very uneasy, retired to his bed, and being
fatigued with his day’s sport, was soon asleep. Towards
eleven o’clock he was suddenly aroused by the natives
running to and fro in the camp. He quickly rose, and
found every one on their feet. The forest was on fire. In
the dark night, against the black sky, the curtain of flame
\\
vy
‘
ANY
ir John was soon asleep,— [Page 124.]
x
The Forest on Fire.— (Page 125.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 125
seemed to rise to the zenith; and in this incredibly short
time the fire had extended for several miles.
Sir John looked at Mokoum, who, standing near, made
no answer to his glance; but he at once understood. The
fire was designed to open a road through that forest which
had stood impervious for ages. The wind, from the south,
was favourable. The air, rushing as from .a ventilator,
accelerated the conflagration, and furnished an ever fresh
supply of oxygen. It animated the flames, and kept the
kindled branches burning like a myriad brands. The scat-
tered fragments became new centres for fresh outbreaks of
flame; the scene of the fire became larger, and the heat
grew intense. The dead wood piled under the dark foliage
crackled, and ever and anon louder reports and a brighter
light told that the resinous trees were burning like torches.
Then followed explosions like cannonades, as the great
trunks of ironwood burst asunder with a reverberation as
‘of bombs. The sky reflected the glow, and the clouds
carried the rosy glare high aloft. Showers of sparks
emitted from the wreaths of smoke studded the heavens
like red-hot stars.
Then, on every side, were heard the howls, shrieks, and
bellowings of herds of bewildered hyenas, buffaloes, and
lions; elephants rushed in every direction, like huge dark
spectres, and disappeared beyond the horizon,
The fire continued throughout the following day and
126 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF a
night; and when day broke on the 14th a vast space,
several miles wide, had been opened across the forest. A
passage was now free for the meridian. The daring genius
of Mokoum had arrested the disaster which threatened the’
survey,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 127
CHAPTER XIV.
A DECLARATION OF WAR.
ALL pretext for quarrelling being now removed, the
Colonel and Strux, somewhat rancorous at heart, recom-
menced their joint labours. About five miles to the left of
the gap made by the conflagration, rose an eminence which
would serve as the vertex of a new triangle. When the
requisite observations were complete, the caravan set off
across the burnt forest.
The road was paved with embers. The soil was still
burning, and here and there smouldered stumps of trees,
while a hot steam rose around. In many places lay the
blackened carcases of animals which had been unable to
make their escape. Wreaths of smoke gave evidence that
the fire was not yet extinct, and might still be rekindled
by the wind. Had the flames burst out again the cara-
van must inevitably have been destroyed. Towards the
middle of the day, however, it was safely encamped at the
foot of the hill. Here was a mass of rock which seemed to
128 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
have been arranged by the hand of man. It was a kind of
cromlech—a surprising erection to find in that locality—
resembling the structures attributed to the Druids, and
which ever furnish fresh interest to the archzologist. The
most credible suggestion was that it must be the remains
of some primitive African altar.
The two young astronomers and Sir John Murray wished
to visit the fantastic construction, and, accompanied by the
bushman, they ascended the slope. They were not above
twenty paces from the cromlech when a man, hitherto
concealed behind one of the massy stones at the base,
appeared for a moment, and, descending the hill, stole quickly
away into a thicket that had been untouched by the fire.
The momentary glance was enough for the bushman. “A
Makololo!†he cried, and rushed after the native. Sir
John followed, and both in vain searched the wood. The
native, knowing the short paths, had escaped where the
most experienced hunter could not have traced him.
When the incident was related to Colonel Everest he sent
for Mokoum, and asked him who the man was? what he
was doing? and why he had followed him ?
“He is a Makololo, Colonel,†replied Mokoum. “He
belongs to one of the northern tribes that haunt the
affluents of the Zambesi. Not only is he an enemy of us
Bochjesmen, but he is a plunderer of all who venture into
the country; he was spying us, and we shall be lucky.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 129
if we have not cause to regret that we couldn’t get hold of
him.â€
“But what have we to fear from a band of robbers ?â€
asked the Colonel; “are not our numbers sufficient to
resist them ?â€
“At present, yes,†replied the bushman; “but in the
north these tribes are more frequent, and it is difficult to
avoid them. If this Makololo is a spy, as I suspect, he will
not fail in putting several hundred of these robbers on our
track, and then, Colonel, I would not give a farthing for all
your triangles.â€
The Colonel was vexed. He knew that the bushman
was not the man to exaggerate danger, and that all he said
ought to be duly weighed. The intentions of the native
were certainly suspicious; his sudden appearance and
immediate flight showed that he was caught deliberately
spying. No doubt he would announce the approach of the
Commission to the tribes of the north. There was, how-
ever, no help for it now; the caravan must continue its
march with extra precautions.
On the 17th of August the astronomers completed their
twenty-second triangle, and with it the third degree of the
meridian. Finding by the map that the village of
Kolobeng was about too miles to the north-east, they
resolved to turn thither for a few days’ rest. For nearly
six months they had had no communication with the
K
130 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
civilized world, and at Kolobeng, an important village and
missionary station, they would probably hear news from
Europe, besides being able to re-provision the caravan.
The remarkable cromlech was at once chosen as the
landmark whence subsequent operations should com:
mence, and the Colonel gave the signal for departure.
With no further incident the caravan reached Kolobeng on
the 22nd. The village was merely a mass of native huts,
the uniformity of which was relieved by the depét of the
missionaries who had settled there. Formerly called
Lepelolé, it is marked on some maps Litoubarouka. Here
Dr. Livingstone stayed for some months in 1843, to learn
the habits of the Bechuanas, or Bakouins, as they are more
generally termed in this part of the country.
With all hospitality the missionaries received the
Europeans, and put every available resource at their
disposal. Livingstone’s house was still to be seen, sacked
and ruined, as when visited by Baldwin; the Boérs had not
spared it in their incursion of 1852.
All eagerly asked for news from Europe; but their
curiosity could not be immediately satisfied, as no courier
had reached the mission in the last six months; but in
about a week the principal said they expected journals and
despatches, since they had already heard of the arrival of a
carrier on the banks of the Upper Zambesi. A week was
just the period that the astror>mers desired for their rest,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 131
and all except Palander, who constantly revised his calcu-
lations, passed the time in a complete far niente. The
stern Matthew Strux held himself aloof from his English
colleagues, and Emery and Zorn took many walks in the
neighbourhood. The firmest friendship united these two,
and they believed that nothing could break the closeness of
their sympathy.
On the goth the eagerly-expected messenger arrived. He
was a native of Kilmaine, a town by the delta of the
Zambesi. A merchantman from the Mauritius, trading in
gum and ivory, had landed on that coast early in July, and
delivered the despatches for the missionaries. The papers
were dated two months back, for the native had taken
four weeks to ascend the Zambesi.
On the arrival of the messenger, the principal of the
mission had handed to Colonel Everest a bundle of
European newspapers, chiefly the Z7mes, the Daily News,
and the Yournal des Débats. The intelligence they con-
tained had, under the circumstances, a special importance,
and produced an unexpected emotion among the entire
party.
The members of the Commission were altogether in the
chief room of the mission. Colonel Everest drew out the
Daily News for the 13th of May, with the intention of
reading aloud to his colleagues. Scarcely had he glanced
at the first leading article, when his brow contracted, and
K 2
E32 MERIDIANA;, THE ADVENTURES OF
the paper trembled in his hand. In a few moments he
recovered his usual composure.
“What does the paper say, Colonel?†asked Sir John.
“Tt is grave news, gentlemen,†said the Colonel, “that
I have to communicate.â€
He kept the paper in his hand, and his colleagues waited
eagerly for him to speak. To the surprise of all he rose,
and, advancing to Matthew Strux, said,—
“Before communicating the intelligence conveyed in
this paper, I should wish to make an observation to you.â€
“Iam ready to hear any thing you may say,†said
Strux, much astonished.
The Colonel then said solemnly,—
“Mr. Strux, hitherto there has been between us a rivalry
more personal than scientific, which has rendered our co-
operation in the common cause somewhat difficult. This,
I believe, is to be attributed to the fact of there being zwo
of us at the head of this expedition. Toavoid antagonism,
there should be only one chief to every enterprise. You
agree with me, do you not?â€
Strux bowed in assent. The Colonel went on,—
“This position, unpleasant for each of us, must, through
recent circumstances, now be changed. First, sir, let me
say that I esteem you highly, as your position in the
scientific world demands. I beg you to believe that I
regret all that has passed between us.â€
= = = = = =
‘¢ War is declared between England and Russia.’’—[Page 133.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 133
« a
These words were uttered with great dignity, even with
pride. There was no humiliation in the voluntary apology,
so nobly expressed, and neither Strux nor his colleagues
could guess his motive. Perhaps the Russian, not having
the same incentive, was not equally disposed to forget any
personal resentment. However, mastering his ill-feeling,
he replied,—
“With you, Colonel, I think that no rivalry on our part
should be permitted to injure the scientific work with
which we are entrusted. I likewise hold you in the esteem
that your talents deserve, and in future I will do all in my
power to efface any personality from our relations. But
you spoke of a change; I do not understand——â€
“Vou will soon be made to understand, Mr. Strux,â€
replied the Colonel, with a touch of sadness in his tone,
“but first give me your hand.â€
“Here it is,†rejoined Strux, with a slight hesitation.
Without another word the astronomers joined hands,
“Now you are friends,†cried Sir John.
“ Alas! no,†said the Colonel, dropping the Russian’s
hand ; “henceforth we are enemies, separated by an abyss
which must keep us apart even on the territory of science.â€
Then turning to his colleagues, he added,—
“Gentlemen, war is declared between England and
Russia. See, the news is conveyed by these English,
French, and Russian newspapers.
334 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
And, in truth, the war of 1854 had begun. The English,
with their allies the French and Turks, were fighting before
Sebastopol, and the Eastern question was being submitted
to the ordeal of a naval conflict on the Black Sea.
The Colonel’s words fell like a thunderbolt. The English
and Russians, with their strong sentiment of nationality,
started to their feet. Those three words, “ War is declared,â€
were enough. They were no longer companions united in
a common labour, but already eyed one another as avowed
antagonists. Such is the influence of these national duels
on the heart of man. An instinctive impulse had divided
the Europeans—Nicholas Palander himself yielding to the
feeling: Emery and Zorn alone regarded each other with
more of sadness than animosity, and regretted that they
had not shaken hands before Colonel Everest’s commu-
nication, No further conversation ensued; exchanging
bows, English and Russians retired.
This novel situation, although it would not interrupt the
survey, would render its continuation more difficult. For
the interest of its country, each party desired to pursue
the operations; but the measurements must be carried
along two different meridians. In a formal interview sub-
sequently arranged between the chiefs, it was decided by
lot that the Russians should continue the meridian already
begun, while the English should choose an arc 60 or 80
miles to the west, and unite it to the first by a series of
Ht
al
The Parting of Emery and Zorn, —[ Page 135.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND TIIREE RUSSIANS. 135
auxiliary triangles ; they would then continue their survey
as far as lat. 20°.
All these arrangements were made without any out-
break: personal rivalry was swallowed up by national
feeling, and the Colonel and Strux did not exchange an
uncivil word, but kept within the strictest limits of
politeness.
The caravan was equally divided, each party preserving
its own stores. The steam-boat fell by lot to the Russians.
Mokoum, especially attached to Sir John, followed the
English caravan. The pioneer, equally experienced,
headed the Russians. Each party retained its instru-
ments and one of the registers.
On the 31st of August the Commission divided. The
English cordially thanked the missionaries for their kind
hospitality, and started first to connect their last station
with their new meridian.
If, before their departure, any one had entered the
privacy of the inner room, he would have seen Emery
grasping the hand of Zorn, once his fricnd, but now, by
the will of their Majesties the Queen of England and the
Czar of Russia, no longer friend, but foe,
636 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
a ees
CHAPTER XV.
A GEOMETRIC PROGRESSION,
AFTER the separation the English astronomers continued
their labours with the same care and precision as hitherto.
Three had now to do the work of six, and consequently
the survey advanced more slowly, and was attended with
more fatigue; but they were not the men to spare them-
selves; the desire that the Russians should not surpass
them in any way sustained them in their task, to which
they gave all their time and thoughts. Emery had to
indulge in fewer reveries, and Sir John could not so often
spare his time for hunting. A new programme was drawn
up, assigning to each astronomer his proper share of the
labour. Sir John and the Colonel undertook all obser-
vations both in the sky and in the field; while Emery
replaced Palander as calculator. All questions were
decided in common, and there was no longer any fear
that disagreement should arise. Mokoum was still the
guide and hunter to the caravan. _The English sailors,
who formed half the crew of the “Queen and Czar,†had,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 137
of course, followed their countrymen; and although the
Russians were in possession of the steam-vessel, the India-
rubber boat, which was large enough for ordinary purposes,
was the property of the English. The provision-waggons
were divided, thus impartially ensuring the revictualling of
each caravan. The natives likewise had to be severed into
two equal troops, not without some natural signs of dis-
pleasure on their part; far from their own pasturages and
water-courses, in a region inhabited by wandering tribes
hostile to the tribes of the south, they could scarcely be
reconciled to the prospect of separation. But at length,
by the help of the bushman and the pioneer, who told
them that the two detachments would be comparatively
a short distance apart, they consented to the arrange-
ment.
On leaving Kolobeng the English caravan re-entered
the burnt forest and arrived at the cromlech which had
served for their last station. Operations were resumed,
and a large triangle carried the observers at once ten or
twelve miles to the west of the old meridian.
Six days later the auxiliary series of triangles was
finished, and Colonel Everest and his colleagues, after
consulting the maps, chose the new arc one degree west of
the other, being 23° east of the meridian of Greenwich.
They were not more than sixty miles from the Russians,
but this distance put any collision between the two parties
5 :
138 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
out of the question, as it was improbable that their
triangles would cross.
All through September the weather was fine and clear.
The country was fertile and varied, but scantily populated.
The forests, which were few, being broken by wide, open
tracts, and with occasional mounds occurring in the prairies,
made the district extremely favourable for the observations.
The region was well provided with natural productions.
The sweet scent of many of the flowers attracted swarms
of scarabzxi, and more especially a kind of bee as nearly
as possible like the European, depositing in clefts of rocks
and holes of trees a white liquid honey with a delicious
flavour. Occasionally at night large animals ventured near
the camp; there were giraffes, varieties of antelopes,
hyenas, rhinoceroses, and elephants. But Sir John would
not be distracted, he resolutely discarded his rifle for his
telescope.
Under these circumstances, Mokoum and some of the
natives became purveyors to the caravan, and Sir John had
some difficulty in restraining his excitement when he heard
the report of their guns. The bushman shot three prairie-
bufialoes, the Bokolokolos of the Bechuanas, formidable
animals, with glossy black skins, short strong legs, fierce
eyes, and small heads crowned with thick black horns,
They were a welcome addition to the fresh venison which
formed the ordinary fare.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 136
The natives prepared the buffalo-meat as the Indians of
the north do their pemmican. The Europeans watched
their proceedings with interest, though at first with some
repugnance. The flesh, after being cut into thin slices and
dried in the sun, was wrapped in a tanned skin, and beaten
with flails till it was reduced to a powder. It was then
pressed tightly into leathern sacks, and moistened with
boiling tallowy suet collected from the animal itself. To
this they added some marrow and berries, whose saccharine
matter modified the nitrous elements of the meat. This
compound, after being mixed and beaten, formed, when
cold, a cake as hard as a stone. Mokoum, who considered
his pemmican a national delicacy, begged the astronomers
to taste the preparation. At first they found it extremely
unpalatable, but, becoming accustomed to the flavour, they
soon learnt to partake of it with great relish. Highly
nourishing, and not at all likely to be tainted, containing,
moreover, its nutritive elements closely compacted, this
pemmican was exactly suited to meet the wants of a cara-
van travelling in an unknown country. The bushman soon
had several hundred pounds in reserve, and they were thus
secure from any immediate want.
Days and nights passed away in observations. Emery
was always thinking of his friend, and deploring the fate
which had so suddenly severed the bond of their friend-
ship. He had no one to sympathize with his admiration
140 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
of the wild characteristics of the scenery, and, with some-
thing of Palander’s enthusiasm, found refuge in his calcu.
lations. Colonel Everest was cold and calm as ever,
exhibiting no interest in any thing beyond his professional
pursuits. As for Sir John, he suppressed his murmurs, but
sighed over the loss of his freedom. Fortune, however,
sometimes made amends; for although he had no leisure
for hunting, the wild beasts occasionally took the initiative,
and came near, interrupting his observations. He then
considered defence legitimate, and rejoiced to be able to
make the duties of the astronomer and of the hunter to be
compatible.
One day he had a serious rencontre with an old rhino-
ceros, which cost him “rather dear.†For some time the
animal had been prowling about the flanks of the caravan.
By the blackness of his skin Mokoum had recognized the
“chucuroo†(such is the native for this animal) as a
dangerous beast, and one which, more agile than the white
species, often attacks man and beast without any provoca-
tion.
On this day Sir John and Mokoum had set off to
reconnoitre a hill six miles away, on which the Colonel
wished to establish an indicating-post. With a certain
foreboding, Sir John had brought his rifle with conical shot
instead of his ordinary gun; for although the rhinoceros
had not been seen for two days, yet he did not consider it
6‘ The Rhinoceros!†exclaimed Sir John.—[Page 141.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. I41
advisable to traverse unarmed an unknown country.
Mokoum and his companions had already unsuccessfully
chased the beast, which probably now had abandoned its
designs. There was no reason to regret the. precaution.
The adventurers had reached the summit of the hill, when
at the base, close to a thicket, of no large extent, appeared
the chucuroo. He was a formidable animal; his small
eyes sparkled, and his horns, planted firmly one over the
other on his bony nose, furnished a most powerful weapon
of attack.
The bushman caught sight of him first, as he crouched
about half a mile distant in a grove of lentisk.
“Sir John,†he cried, “fortune favours you: here is your
chucuroo !â€
“The rhinoceros!†exclaimed Sir John, with kindling
eyes, for he had never before been so near the animal.
“Yes ; a magnificent beast, and he seems inclined to cut
off our retreat,†said the bushman. “Why he should
attack us, I can hardly say; his tribe is not carnivorous:
but any way, there he is, and we must hunt him out.â€
“Ts it possible for him to get up here to us ?†asked Sir
John.
“No; his legs are too short and thick, but he will wait.â€
“Well, let him wait,†said Sir John ; “and when we have -
examined this station, we will try and get him out.â€
They then proceeded with their reconnoitring, and chose
1423 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
a spot on which to erect the indicating-post. They also
noticed other eminences to the north-west which would be
of use in constructing a subsequent triangle.
Their work ended, Sir John turned to the bushman,
saying, “When you like, Mokoum.â€
“T am at your orders, Sir John: the rhinoceros is still
waiting.â€
“Well, let us go down, a ball from my rifle will soon
settle matters.â€
“A ball!†cried Mokoum; “you don’t know a rhino-
eros. He won't fall with one ball, however well it may be |
z.imed.â€
“Nonsense!†began Sir John, “that is because people
don’t use conical shot.â€
“ Conical or round,†rejoined the bushman, “ the first will
not bring down such an animal as that.â€
“Well,†said Sir John, carried away by his self-confi-
dence, “as you have your doubts, I will show you what our
European weapons can do.â€
And he loaded his rifle, to be ready to take aim as soon
as he should be at a convenient distance.
“One moment, Sir John,†said the bushman, rather
piqued, “ will you bet with me?â€
“ Certainly,†said Sir John,
“T am only a poor man,†continued -Mokoum, “but I
will willingly bet you half-a-crown against your first ball.â€
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 143
“Done!†replied Sir John instantly. “ Half-a-crown to
you if the rhinoceros doesn’t fall to my first shot.â€
The hunters descended the steep slope, and were soon
posted within range of the rhinoceros. The beast was
perfectly motionless, and on that account presented an
easy aim.
Sir John thought his chance so good, that at the last
moment he turned to Mokoum and said,
“Do you keep to your bargain 2?â€
“Yes,†replied the bushman.
The rhinoceros still being as motionless as a target, Sir
John could aim wherever he thought the blow would be
mortal. He chose the muzzle, and, his pride being roused,
he aimed with the utmost care, and fired. The ball failed
in reaching the flesh ; it had merely shattered to fragments
the extremity of one of the horns. The animal did not
appear to experience the slightest shock.
“That counts nothing,†said the bushman, “you didn’t
touch the flesh.â€
“Yes, it counts,†replied Sir John, rather vexed ; “I have
lost my wager. But come now, double or quits?â€
“ As you please, Sir John, but you will lose.â€
“We shall see.â€
The rifle was carefully re-loaded, and Sir John, taking
rather a random aim, fired a second time ; but meeting the
horny skin of the haunch, the ball, notwithstanding its
144 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
force, fell to the ground. The rhinoceros moved a few
steps.
“ A crown to me,†said Mokoum.
“Will you stake it again?†asked Sir John, “double or
quits.â€
“ By all means,†said Mokoum.
This time Sir John, who had begun to get angry, re-
gained his composure, and aimed at the animal’s forehead.
The ball rebounded, as if it had struck a metal plate.
“ Half-a-sovereign,†said the bushman calmly.
“Yes, and another,†cried Sir John, exasperated.
The shot penetrated the skin, and the rhinoceros made
a tremendous bound; but instead of falling, he rushed
furiously upon the bushes, which he tore and crushed
violently.
“ T think he still moves,†said the bushman quietly.
Sir John was beside himself; his composure again
deserted him, and he risked the sovereign he owed the
bushman on a fifth ball. He continued to lose again and
again, but persisted in doubling the stake at every shot.
At length the animal, pierced to the heart, fell, impotent to
rise to its feet.
Sir John uttered a loud hurrah; he had killed his
rhinoceros. He had forgotten his disappointment, but he
did not forget his bets. It was startling to find that’ the
perpetually redoubled stakes had mounted at the ninth
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 145
a
shot to 324. Sir John congratulated himself on his escape
from such a debt of honour; but in his enthusiasm he pre-
sented Mokoum with several gold pieces which the bush-
man received with his usual equanimity.
146 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XVI.
DANGER IN DISGUISE.
By the end of September the astronomers had accom-
plished half their task. Their diminished numbers added
to their fatigue, so that, notwithstanding their zeal, they
occasionally had to recruit themselves byresting for several
days. The heat was very overpowering. October in lat.
24° S. corresponds to April in Algeria, and for some
hours after mid-day work was impossible. The bushman
was alone uneasy at the delay, for he was aware that the
arc was about to pass through a singular region called a
“karroo,†similar to that at the foot of the Roggeveld
mountains in Cape Colony. In the damp season this dis-
trict presents signs of the greatest fertility ; after a few
days of rain the soil is covered with a dense verdure ; in a
very short time flowers and plants spring up every where ;
pasturage increases, and water-courses are formed ; troops
of antelopes descend from the heights and take possession
of these unexpected prairies. But this strange effort of
mature is of short duration. In a month, or six weeks
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 147
at most, all the moisture is absorbed by the sun; the soil
becomes hardened, and chokes the fresh germs ; vegetation
disappears in a few days; the animals fly the region; and
where for a while there was a rich fertility, the desert again
asserts its dominion.
This karroo had to be crossed before reaching the perma-
nent desert bordering on Lake Ngami. The bushman was
naturally eager to traverse this region before the extreme
aridity should have exhausted the springs. He explained
his reasons to the Colonel, who perfectly understood, and
promised to hurry on the work, without suffering its pre-
cision to be affected. Since, on account of the state of the
atmosphere, measuring was not always practicable, the
operations were not unfrequently retarded, and the bush-
man became seriously concerned lest when they reached
the karroo its character of fertility should have dis-
appeared.
Meanwhile the astronomers could not fail to appreciate
the magnificence around. Never had they been in finer
country. In spite of the high temperature, the streams
kept up a constant freshness, and thousands ot flocks would
have found inexhaustible pasturage. Clumps of luxuriant
trees rose here and there, giving the prospect at times the
appearance of an English park.
Colonel Everest was comparatively indifferent to these
beauties, but the others were fully alive to the romantic
L 2
148 MERIDIANA}; THE ADVENTURES OF
aspect of this temporary relief to the African deserts,
Emery now especially regretted the alienation of his friend
Zorn, and often thought how they would have mutually
delighted in the charming scenery around them.
The advance of the caravan was enlivened by the movee
ments as well as by the song-notes of a variety of birds,
Some of these were edible, and the hunters shot some
brace of “korans,’a sort of bustard peculiar to the South
African plains, and some “dikkops,†whose flesh is very
delicate eating. They were frequently followed by vora-
cious crows, instinctively seeking to avert attention from
their eggs in their nests of sand. In addition to these,
blue cranes with white throats, red flamingoes, like flames
in the thinly scattered brushwood, herons, curlews, snipes,
“kalas,†often perching on a buffalo’s neck, plovers, ibises,
which might have flown from some hieroglyphic obelisk,
hundreds of enormous pelicans marching in file,—all were
observed to find congenial habitats in this district, where
man alone is the stranger, But of all the varieties of the
feathered race, the most noticeable was the ingenious
weaver-bird, whose green nests, woven with rushes and
blades of grass, hung like immense pears from the branches
of the willows. Emery, taking them for a new species of
fruit, gathered one or two, and was much surprised to hear
them twitter like sparrows. There seemed some excuse
for the ancient travellers in Africa, who reported that
ge 148 ]
The Advance of the Caravan.—-'Pa
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 149
Py
certain trees in the country bore fruit producing living
birds.
The karroo was reached while still it was lovely in its
verdure. Gnus, with their pointed hoofs, caamas, elks,
chamois, and gazelles abounded. Sir John could not resist
the temptation to obtain two days’ leave from the Colonel,
which he devoted with all his energy to his favourite
pastime. Under the guidance of the bushman, while
Emery accompanied as an amateur, he obtained many a
success to inscribe in his journal, and many a trophy to
carry back to his Highland home. His hand, skilful with
the delicate instruments of the survey, was at home still
more on his gun ; and his eye, keen to discern the remotest
of stars, was quick to detect the merest movement of a
gazelle. It was ever with something of self-denial that he
laid aside the character of the hunter to resume the duties
of the astronomer. The bushman’s uneasiness was ere
long renewed. On the second day of Sir John’s interval of
recreation, Mokoum had espied, nearly two miles to the
right, a herd of about twenty of the species of antelope
known as the oryx. He told Sir John at once, and advised
him to take advantage of the fortune that awaited him,
adding that the oryx was extremely difficult to capture,
and could outstrip the fleetest horse, and that Cumming
himself had not brought down more than four.
This was more than enough to arouse the Englishman,
150 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
He chose his best gun, his best horse, and his best dogs,
and, in his impatience preceding the bushman, he turned
towards the copse bordering the plain where the antelopes
had been seen. In an hour they reined in their horses,
and Mokoum, concealed by a grove of sycamores, pointed
out to his companion the herd grazing several hundred
paces to leeward. He remarked that one oryx kept
apart.
“He is a sentinel,†he said, “and doubtless cunning
enough. At the slightest danger, he will give his signal,
and the whole troop will make their escape. We must fire
from a long distance, and hit at the first shot.â€
Sir John nodded in reply, and sought for a favourable
position,
The oryxes continued quietly grazing. The sentinel, as
though the breeze had brought suspicions of danger, often
raised his head, and looked warily around. But he was
too far away for the hunters to fire at him with success,
and to chase the herd over the plain was out of the ques-
tion. The only hope of a lucky issue was that the herd
might approach the copse.
Fortune seemed propitious. Gradually following the lead
of the sentinel male, the herd drew near the wood, their in-
stinct, perchance, making them aware that it was safer than
the plain. When their direction was seen, the bushman
asked his companion to dismount. The horses were tied
The Hunters glided through the Creepers and Brushwood,—[Page 151.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 151
to a sycamore, and their heads covered to secure them
from taking alarm.
Followed by the dogs, the hunters glided through the
creepers and brushwood till they were within three hundred
paces of the troop. Then, crouching in ambush, and wait-
ing with loaded guns, they could admire the beauty of the
animals. By a strange freak of nature, the females were
armed with horns more formidable than those of the males.
The whole herd approached the wood, and awhile remained
stationary. The sentinel oryx, as it seemed, was urging
them to leave the plain; he appeared to be driving them,
something like a sheep-collie congregates a flock, into a
compact mass. The herd seemed strangely indifferent, and
indisposed to submit to the guidance of their leader. The
bushman was perplexed; he could not understand the
relative movements of the sentinel and the herd.
Sir John began to get impatient. He fidgeted with his
rifle, sometimes wanting to fire, sometimes to advance ; and
the bushman had some trouble to restrain him. An hour
passed away in this manner, when suddenly one of the dogs
gave a loud bark, and rushed towards the plain. ‘The bush-
man felt angry enough to send a ball into the excited brute
The oryxes fled, and Sir John saw at once that pursuit was
useless; in a few seconds they were no more than black
specks in the grass. But to the bushman’s astonishment it
was not the old male which had given the signal for flight.
ond
W52 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
The oryx remained in its place, without attempting to fol-
low, and only tried to hide in the grass.
“Strange,†said the bushman; “what ails the creature?
Is he hurt, or crippled with age?â€
“We shall soon see,†said Sir John, advancing towards
the animal.
The oryx crouched more and more in the grass; only the
tips of his long horns were visible above the surface; but
as he did not try to escape, Sir John could easily get near
him. When within a hundred paces he took aim, and fired.
The ball had struck the head, for the horns sunk into the
grass. The hunters ran hastily to the spot. The bushman
held in his hand his hunting-knife, in case the animal
should still live. This precaution was unnecessary; the
oryx was so dead, that when Sir John took hold of the
horns, he pulled nothing but an empty flabby skin, contain-
ing not so much as a bone.
“By St. Andrew! these things happen to no one but
me,†he cried, in a tone so comical that any one but the
immovable Mokoum would have laughed outright. But
Mokoum did not even smile. His compressed lips and
contracted brow showed him to be utterly bewildered.
With his arms crossed, he looked quickly right and left.
Suddenly he caught sight of a little red leather bag,
ornamented with arabesques, on the ground, which he
picked up and examined carefully.
‘The empty Oryx Skin. — [Page 152.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 153
“What's that ?†asked Sir John.
“A Makololo’s pouch,†replied Mokoum.
“ How did it get there?â€
“ The owner let it fall as he fled.â€
“What do you mean ?â€
“T mean,†said Mokoum, clenching his fists, “that the
Makololo was in the oryx skin, and you have missed him.â€
Sir John had not time to express his astonishment, when
Mokoum, observing a movement in the distance, with all
speed seized his gun and fired.
He and Sir John hastened to the suspected spot. But the
place was empty : they could perceive by the trampled grass
that some one had just been there; but the Makololo was
gone, and it was useless to think of pursuit across the prairie.
The two hunters returned, much discomposed. The
presence of a Makololo at the cromlech, together with his
disguise, not unfrequently adopted by oryx hunters, showed
that he had systematically followed the caravan. It was
not without design that he was keeping watch upon the
Europeans and their escort. The more they advanced to
the north, the greater danger there would be of being
attacked by the plunderers.
Emery was inclined to banter Sir John on his return
from his holiday without booty ; but Sir John replied,—
“T hadn’t a chance, William ; the first oryx I hunted was
dead before I shot at him.â€
Io
154 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XVII.
AN UNEXPECTED BLIGHT.
AFTER the oryx hunt the bushman had a long conversa-
tion with the Colonel. He felt sure, he said, that they were
watched and followed, and that the only reason why they
had not been attacked before was because the Makololos
wished to get them farther north, where their hordes were
larger. The question thus arose whether, in presence of
this danger, they should retrace their steps; but they were
reluctant to suffer that which nature had favoured to be
interrupted by the attacks of a few African savages. The
Colonel, aware of the importance of ‘the question, asked
the bushman to tell him all he knew about the Makololos.
Mokoum explained that they were the most northerly
branch ot the great tribe of the Bechuanas. In 1850 Dr,
Livingstone, during his first journey to the Zambesi, was
received at Sesheki, the usual residence of Sebitouani, the
chief of the Makololos. This native was a man of remark-
able intelligence, and a formidable warrior. In 1824 he
‘had menaced the Cape frontier, and, little by little, had
a a
a
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 155
gained an ascendency over the tribes of Central Africa,
and had united them in a compact group. In the year
before the arrival of the Anglo-Russian expedition the
chief had died in Livingstone’s arms, and his son Sekeleton
succeeded him.
At first Sekeleton was very friendly towards the Euro-
peans who visited the Zambesi, and Dr. Livingstone had no
complaint to make. But after the departure of the famous
traveller, not only strangers but the neighbouring tribes
were harassed by Sekeleton and his warriors. To these
vexations succeeded pillage on a large scale, and the
Makololos scoured the district between Lake Ngami and
the Upper Zambesi. Consequently nothing was more
dangerous than for a caravan to venture across this region
without a considerable escort, especially when its progress
had been previously known.
Such was the history given by Mokoum. He said that
he thought: it right to tell the Colonel the whole truth,
adding, that for his own part (if the Colonel so wished) he
should not hesitate to continue the march.
Colonel Everest consulted with his colleagues, and it was
settled that the work, at all risks, should be continued.
Something more than half of the project was now accom-
plished,and, whatever happened, the English owed itto them-
selves and their country not to abandon their undertaking,
The series of triangles was resumed, On the 27th the tropic
156 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
of Capricorn was passed, and on the 3rd of November, with
the completion of the forty-first triangle, a fifth degree was
added to the meridian.
For a month the survey went on rapidly, without meeting
a single natural obstacle. Mokoum, always on the alert,
kept a constant look-out at the head and flanks of the
caravan, and forbade the hunters to venture too great a
distance away. No immediate danger, however, seemed
to threaten the little troop, and they were sanguine that the
bushman’s fears might prove groundless. There was no
further trace of the native who, after eluding them at the
cromlech, had taken so strange a part in the oryx chase:
nor did any other aggressor appear. Still, at various inter-
vals, the bushman observed signs of trepidation among the
Bochjesmen under his command. The incidents of the
flight from the old cromlech, and the stratagem of the oryx
hunt, could not be concealed from them, and they were
perpetually expecting an attack. A deadly antipathy
existed between tribe and tribe, and, in the event ofa colli-
sion, the defeated party could entertain no hope of mercy.
The Bochjesmen were already 300 miles from their home,
and there was every prospect of their being carried 200
more. It is true that, before engaging them, Mokoum had
been careful to inform them of the length and difficulties
of the journey, and they were not men to shrink from
fatigue ; but now, when to these was added the danger of
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 157
a conflict with implacable enemies, regret was mingled
with murmuring, and dissatisfaction was exhibited with
ill-humour, and although Mokoum pretended neither to
hear nor to see, he was silently conscious ot an increasing
anxiety.
On the 2nd of December a circumstance occurred which
still further increased the spirit of complaint amongst this
superstitious people, and provoked them to a kind of rebel-
lion. Since the previous evening the weather had become
dull. The atmosphere, saturated with vapour, gave signs of
being heavily charged with electric fluid. There was every
prospect of the recurrence of one of the storms which in this
tropical district are seldom otherwise than violent. During
the morning the sky became covered with sinister-looking
clouds, piled together like bales of down of contrasted colours,
the yellowish hue distinctly relieving the masses of dark
grey. The sun was wan, the heat was overpowering, and
the barometer fell rapidly ; the air was so still that nota
leaf fluttered.
Although the astronomers had not been unconscious of
the change of weather, they had not thought it necessary
to suspend their labours, Emery, attended by two sailors
and four natives in charge of a waggon, was sent two miles
east of the meridian to establish a post for the vertex of
the next triangle. He was occupied in securing his point of
sight, when a current of cold air caused a rapid condensa-
158 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
tion, which appeared to contribute immediately to a deve-
lopment of electric matter. Instantly there fell a violent
shower of hail, and by a rare phenomenon the hailstones
were luminous, so that it seemed to be raining drops of
boiling silver. The storm increased; sparks flashed from
the ground, and jets of light gleamed from the iron settings
of the waggon. Dr. Livingstone relates that he has seen
tiles broken, and horses and antelopes killed, by the
violence of these hail-storms.
Without losing a moment, Emery left his work for the
purpose of calling his men to the waggon, which would
afford better shelter than a tree. But he had hardly left
the top of the hill, when a dazzling flash, instantly followed
by a peal of thunder, inflamed the air.
Emery was thrown down, and lay prostrate, as though
he were actually dead. The two sailors, dazzled for a
moment, were not long in rushing towards him, and were
relieved to find that the thunderbolt had spared him. He
had been enveloped by the fluid, which, collected by the
compass which he held in his hand, had been diverted in
its course, so as to leave him not seriously injured. Raised
by the sailors, he soon came to himself; but he had nar-
rowly escaped. Two natives, twenty paces apart, lay life-
less at the foot of the post. One had been struck by the
full force of the thunderbolt, and was a black and shattered
corpse, while his clothes remained entire; the other had
Emery and two Natives struck by Lightning.—[Page 158.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. I59
been locally struck on the skull by the destructive fluid,
and had been killed at once. The three men had been
undeniably struck by a single flash. This trisection of a
flash of lightning is an unusual but not unknown occur-
rence, and the angular division was very large. The Boch-
jesmen were at first overwhelmed by the sudden death of
their comrades, but soon, in spite of the cries of the sailors
and at the risk of being struck themselves, they rushed back
tothe camp. The two sailors, having first provided for the
protection of Emery, conveyed the two dead bodies to the
waggon, and then found shelter for themselves, being sorely
bruised by the hailstones, which fell like a shower of
marbles. For three quarters of an hour the storm con-
tinued to rage; the hail then abated so as to allow the
waggon to return to camp.
The news of the death of the natives had preceded them,
and had produced a deplorable effect on the minds of the
Bochjesmen, who already looked upon the trigonometrical
operations with the terror of superstition. They assembled
in secret council, and some more timid than the rest
declared they would go no farther. The rebellious dis-
position began to look serious, and it took all the bushman’s
influence to arrest an actual revolt. Colonel Everest offered
the poor men an increase of pay ; but contentment was not
to be restored without much trouble. It was a matter of
emergency ; had the natives deserted, the position of the
160 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
caravan, without escort and without drivers, would have been
perilous in the extreme. At length, however, the difficulty
was overcome, and after the burial of the natives, the camp
was raised, and the little troop proceeded to the hill where
the two had met their death.
Emery felt the shock for some days: his left hand, which
had held the compass, was almost paralyzed; but after a
time it recovered, and he was able to resume his work.
For eighteen days no special incident occurred. The
Makololos did not appear, and Mokoum, though still dis-
trustful, exhibited fewer indications of alarm. They were
not more than fifty miles from the desert; and the karroo
was still verdant, and enriched by abundant water. They
thought that neither man nor beast could want for any
thing in this region so rich in game and pasturage; but
they had reckoned without the locusts, against whose
appearance there is no security in the agricultural districts
of South Africa,
On the evening of the goth, about an hour before sunset
the camp was arranged for the night. A light northerly
breeze refreshed the atmosphere. The three Englishmen
and Mokoum, resting at the foot of a tree, discussed their
plans for the future. It was arranged that during the night
the astronomers should take the altitude of some stars, in
order accurately to find their latitude. Every thing seemed
favourable for the operations; in a cloudless sky the moon
A strange Cloud,—[Page 161.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 161
was nearly new, and the constellations might be expected
to beclear and resplendent. Great was the disappointment,
therefore, when Emery, rising and pointing to the north,
said,—
“The horizon is overcast: I begin to fear our antici-
pations of a fine night will hardly be verified.â€
“Yes,†replied Sir John, “I see a cloud is rising,
and if the wind should freshen, it might overspread the
sky.â€
“There is not another storm coming, I hope,†interposed
the Colonel.
“We are in the tropics,†said Emery, “and it would not
be surprising ; for to-night I begin to have misgivings about
our observations.â€
“What is your opinion, Mokoum ?†asked the Colonel of
the bushman.
Mokoum looked attentively towards the north, The
cloud was bounded by a long clear curve, as definite as
though traced by a pair of compasses. It marked off a
section of some miles on the horizon, and its appearance,
black as smoke, seemed to excite the apprehensions of the
bushman. At times it reflected a reddish light from the
setting sun, as though it were rather a solid mass than any
collection of vapour. Without direct reply to the Colonel's
appeal, Mokoum simply said that it was strange.
In a few minutes one of the Bochjesmen announced that
M
162 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
the horses and cattle showed signs of agitation, and would
not be driven to the interior of the camp.
“Well, let them stay outside,†said Mokoum; and in
answer to the suggestion that there would be danger from
the wild beasts around, he added significantly, “Oh, the
wild beasts will be too much occupied to pay any attention
to them.â€
After the native had gone back, Colonel Everest turned
to ask what the bushman meant; but he had moved away,
and was absorbed in watching the advance of the cloud, of
which, too accurately, he was aware of the origin.
The dark mass approached. It hung low and appeared
to be but a few hundred feet from the ground. Mingling
with the sound of the wind was heard a peculiar rustling,
which seemed to proceed from the cloud itself. At this
moment, above the cloud against the sky, appeared thou-
sands of black specks, fluttering up and down, plunging in
and out, and breaking the distinctness of the outline.
“What are those moving specks of black?†asked Sir
John.
“They are vultures, eagles, falcons, and kites,†answered
Mokoum, “from afar they have followed the cloud, and will
never leave it until it is destroyed or dispersed.â€
“ But the cloud ?â€
“Is not a cloud at all,†answered the bushman, extending
his hand towards the sombre mass, which by this time had
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 163
spread over a quarter of the sky. “It is a living host; to
say the truth, it is a swarm of locusts.â€
The hunter was not mistaken. The Europeans were
about to witness one of those terrible invasions of grass-
hoppers which are unhappily too frequent, and in one night
change the most fertile country into an arid desert. These
locusts, now arriving by millions, were the “grylli devas-
torii†of the naturalists, and travellers have seen for a
distance of fifty miles the beach covered with piles of these
insects to the height of four feet.
“Yes,†continued the bushman, “these living clouds are
a true scourge to the country, and it will be lucky if we
escape without harm.â€
“But we have no crops and pasturages of our own,†said
the Colonel; “what have we to fear?â€
“Nothing, if they merely pass over our heads; every
thing, if they settle on the country over which we must
travel. They will not leave a leaf on the trees, nor a blade
of grass on the ground ; and you forget, Colonel,that if our
own sustenance is secure, that of our animals is not. What
do you suppose will become of us in the middle of a devas-
tated district ?â€
The astronomers were silent for a time, and contemplated
the animated mass before them. The cries of the eagles
and falcons, who were devouring the insects by thousands,
sounded above the redoubled murmur.
M 2
164 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
“Do you think they will settle here?†said Emery.
“T fear so,†answered Mokoum, “the wind carries them
here direct. The sun is setting, and the fresh evening
breeze will bear them down; should they settle on the
trees, bushes, and prairies, why, then I tell you abit
the bushman could not finish his sentence. In an instant
the enormous cloud which overshadowed them settled on
the ground. Nothing could be seen as far as the horizon
but the thickening mass. The camp was bestrewed ; wag-
gons and tents alike were veiled beneath the living hail.
The Englishmen, moving knee-deep in the insects, crushed
them by hundreds at every step.
Although there was no lack of agencies at work for their
destruction, their aggregate defied all check. The birds,
with hoarse cries, darted down from above, and devoured
them greedily ; from below, the snakes consumed them in
enormous quantities; the horses, buffaloes, mules, and dogs
fed on them with great relish; and lions and hyenas,
elephants and rhinoceroses, swallowed them down by
bushels. The very Bochjesmen welcomed these “shrimps
of the air†like celestial manna; the insects even preyed on
each other, but their numbers still resisted all sources of
destruction.
The bushman entreated the English to taste the dainty.
Thousands of young locusts, of a green colour, an inch toan
inch and a half long, and about as thick as a quill, were
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 165
caught. Before they have deposited their eggs, they are
considered a great delicacy by connoisseurs, and are more
tender than the old insects, which are of a yellowish tinge,
and sometimes measure four inchesinlength. After half an
hour’s boiling and seasoning with salt, pepper, and vinegar,
the bushman served up a tempting dish to the three English-
men. The insects, dismembered of head, legs, and skin,
were eaten just like shrimps, and were found extremely
savoury. Sir John, who ate some hundreds, recommended
his people to take advantage of the opportunity to make a
large provision.
At night they were all about to seek their usual beds ;
but the interior of the waggons had not escaped the invasion.
It was impossible to enter without crushing the locusts, and
to sleep under such conditions was not an agreeable prospect.
Accordingly, as the night was clear and the stars bright,
the astronomers were rejoiced to pursue their contemplated
operations, and deemed it more pleasant than burying
themselves to the neck in a coverlet of locusts. Moreover,
they would not have had a moment’s sleep, on account of
the howling of the beasts which were attracted by their
unusual prey.
The next day the sun rose in a clear horizon, and
commenced its course over a brilliant sky foreboding heat.
A dull rustling of scales among the locusts showed that
they were about to carry their devastations elsewhere; and
166 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
towards eight o’clock the mass rose like the unfurling of
an immense veil, and obscured the sun. It grew dusk as if
night were returning, and with the freshening of the wind
the whole mass was in motion. For two hours, with a
deafening noise, the cloud passed over the darkened camp,
and disappeared beyond the western horizon.
After their departure the bushman’s predictions were
found to be entirely realized. All was demolished, and the
soil was brown and bare. Every branch was stripped to
utter nakedness. It was like a sudden winter settling in
the height of summer, or like the dropping of a desert into
the midst of a land of plenty. The Oriental proverb which
describes the devastating fury of the Osmanlis might justly
be applied to these locusts, “Where the Turk has passed,
the grass springs up no more.â€
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 167
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE DESERT.
Ir was indeed no better than a desert which now lay
before the travellers. When, on the 25th of December,
they completed the measurement of another degree, and
reached the northern boundary of the karroo, they found
no difference between the district they had been traversing
and the new country, the real desert, arid and scorching,
over which they were now about to pass. The animals
belonging to the caravan suffered greatly from the dearth
alike of pasturage and water. The last drops of rain in
the pools had dried up, and it was an acrid soil, a mixture
of clay and sand, very unfavourable to vegetation. The
waters of the rainy season filtered quickly through the
sandy strata, so that the region was incapable of preserving
for any length of time a particle of moisture. More than
once has Dr. Livingstone carried his adventurous explora-
tions across one of these barren districts. The very atmo-
sphere was so dry, that iron left in the open air did not rust,
168 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
and the distinguished traveller relates that the leaves hung
weak and shrivelled ; that the mimosas remained closed by
day as well as by night; that the scarabzi, laid on the
ground, expired in a few seconds; and that the mercury in
the ball of a thermometer buried three inches in the soil
rose at midday to 134° Fahrenheit.
These records which Livingstone had made were now
verified by the astronomers between the karroo and Lake
Ngami. The suffering and fatigue, especially of the animals,
continually increased, and the dry dusty grass afforded
them but little nourishment. Nothing ventured on the
desert ; the birds had flown beyond the Zambesi for fruit
and flowers, and the wild beasts shunned the plain which
offered them no prey. During the first fortnight in January
the hunters caught sight of a few couples of those antelopes
which are able to exist without water for several weeks.
There were some oryxes like those in whose pursuit Sir
John had sustained so great a disappointment, and there
were besides, some dappled, soft-eyed caamas, which venture
beyond the green pasturages, and which are much esteemed
for the quality of their flesh.
To travel under that burning sun through the stifling
atmosphere, to work for days and nights in the oppressive
sultriness, was fatiguing in the extreme. The reserve of
water evaporated continuously, so they were obliged to
ration themselves to a painfully limited allowance. Howe
Crossing the Desert. —[Page 169.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 169
ever, such were their zeal and courage that they mastered
all their troubles, and not a single detail of their task was
neglected. On the 25th of January they completed their
seventh degree, the number of triangles constructed having
amounted to fifty-seven.
Only a comparatively small portion of the desert had
now to be traversed, and the bushman thought that they
would be able to reach Lake Ngami before their provision
was exhausted. The Colonel and his companions thus had
definite hopes, and were inspirited to persevere. But the
hired Bochjesmen, who knew nothing of any scientific
ardour, and who had been long ago reluctant to pursue their
journey, could hardly be encouraged to hold out: unques-
tionably they suffered greatly, and were objects for com-
miseration. Already, too, some beasts of burden, overcome
by hard work and scanty food, had been left behind, and
it was to be feared that more would fall into the same
helpless condition, Mokoum had a difficult task to perform,
and as murmurs and recriminations increased, his influence
more and more lost its weight. It became evident that the
want of water would be a serious obstacle, and that the
expedition must either retrace its steps, or, at the risk of
meeting the Russians, turn to the right of the meridian, to
seek some of the villages which were known to be scattered
along Livingstone’s route.
It was not long, however, before the bushman one morn-
170 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
ing came to the Colonel, and declared himself powerless
against the increasing difficulties. The drivers, he said,
refused to obey him; and there were continued scenes of
insubordination, in which all the natives joined. The
Colonel perfectly well understood the situation; but stern.
to himself, he was stern to others. He refused to suspend
his operations, and declared that although he went alone,
he would continue to advance. His two companions of
course agreed, and professed themselves ready to follow
him. Renewed efforts of Mokoum persuaded the natives
to venture a little farther: he felt sure that the caravan
could not be more than five or six days’ march from Lake
Ngami, and once there, the animals could find pasturage
and shade, and the men an abundance of fresh water. All
these considerations he laid before the principal Bochjes-
men. He showed them that it was really best to advance
northwards. If they turned to the west, their march would
be perilous, and to turn back was only to find the karroo
desolate and dry. The natives at length yielded to his
solicitations, and the almost exhausted caravan continued
its course.
Happily this vast plain was in itself favourable to all
astronomical observations, so that no delay arose from any
natural obstruction. On one occasion there sprang up a
sudden hope that nature was about to restore to them a
supply of the water of which she had been so niggardly. A
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 171
lagoon, a mile or two in extent, was discovered on the
horizon. The reflection was indubitably of water, proving
that what they saw was no mirage, due to the unequal
density of the atmospheric strata. The caravan speedily
turned in that direction, and the lagoon was reached towards
five in the evening. Some of the horses broke away from
their drivers, and galloped to the longed-for water. Having
smelt it, they plunged in to their chests, but almost imme-
diately returned to the bank. They had not drunk, and
when the Bochjesmen arrived they found themselves by
the side of a lagoon so impregnated with salt that its water
could not be touched. Disappointment was keen, it was
little short of despair. Mokoum thought that he should
never induce the natives to proceed; but fortunately the
only hope was in advancing, and even the natives were alive
to the conviction that Lake Ngami was the nearest point
where water could be procured. In four days, unless
retarded by its labours, the expedition must reach the
shores of the lake,
Every day was momentous. To economize time, Colonel
Everest formed larger triangles and established fewer posts,
No efforts were spared to hurry on the progress of the
survey. Notwithstanding the application of every energy,
the painful sojourn in the desert was prolonged, and it was
not until the 21st of February that the level ground began
to be rough and undulating. A mountain 500 or 600 feet
Il
»
172 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
high was descried about fifteen miles to the north-west,
The bushman recognized it as Mount Scorzef, and, pointing
to the north, said,—
“Lake Ngami is there.â€
“ The Ngami! the Ngami!†echoed the natives, with noisy
demonstration. They wished to hurry on in advance over the
fifteen miles, but Mokoum restrained them, asserting that the
country was infested by Makololos, and that it was important
to keep together. Colonel Everest, himself eager to reach
the lake, resolved to connect by a single triangle the station
he was now occupying with Mount Scorzef. Theinstruments
were therefore arranged, and the angle of the last triangle
which had been already measured from the south was
measured again from the station. Mokoum, in his impa-
tience, only established a temporary camp; he hoped to
reach the lake before night; but he neglected none of his
usual precautions, and prudently sent out horsemen right
and left to explore the underwood. Since the oryx-chase
the Makololos seemed indeed tohave abandoned their watch,
still he would not incur any risk of being taken by surprise.
Thus carefully guarded by the bushman, the astronomers
constructed their triangle. According to Emery’s calcula-
tions it would carry them nearly to the twentieth parallel,
the proposed limit of their arc. A few more triangles on
the other side of Lake Ngami would complete their eighth
degree; to verify the calculations, a new base would
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 173
subsequently be measured directly on the ground, and the
great enterprise would be ended. The ardour of the
astronomers increased as they approached the fulfilment of
their task,
Meanwhile there was considerable curiosity as to what
the Russians on their side had accomplished. For six
months the members of the commission had been separated,
and it seemed probable to the English that the Russians
had not suffered so much from heat and thirst, since their
course had lain nearer Livingstone’s route, and therefore in
less arid regions. After leaving Kolobeng they would come
across various villages to the right of their meridian, where
they could easily revictual their caravan. But still it was
not unlikely that in this less arid, though more frequented
country, Matthew Strux’s little band had been more exposed
to the attacks of the plundering Makololos, and this was
the more probable, since they seemed to have abandoned
the pursuit of the English caravan.
Although the Colonel, ever engrossed, had no thought
to bestow on these things, Sir John and Emery had often
discussed the doings of their former comrades. They
wondered whether they would come across them again,
and whether they would find that they had obtained the
same mathematical result as themselves, and whether the
two computations of a degree in South Africa would be
identical. Emery did not cease to entertain kind memories
174 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
of his friend, knowing well that Zorn, for his part, would
never forget him.
The measurement of the angles was now resumed. To
obtain the angle at the station they now occupied, they had
to observe two points of sight. One of these was formed
by the conical summit of Mount Scorzef, and the other by
a sharp peak three or four miles to the left of the meridian,
whose direction was easily obtained by one of the telescopes
of the repeating circle. Mount Scorzef was much more
distant ; its position would compel the observers to diverge
considerably to the right of the meridian, but on examination
they found they had no other choice. The station was
therefore observed with the second telescope of the repeating
circle, and the angular distance between Mount Scorzef
and the smaller peak was obtained.
Notwithstanding the impatience of the natives, Colonel
Everest, as calmly as though he were in his own ob-
servatory, made many successive registries from the
graduated circle of his telescope, and then, by taking the
average of all his readings, he obtained a result rigorously
exact.
The day glided on, and it was not until the darkness
prevented the reading of the instruments, that the Colonel
brought his observations to an end, saying,—
“T am at your orders, Mokoum ; we will start as soon as
you like.â€
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 175
« And none too soon,†replied Mokoum ; “better had we
accomplished our journey by daylight.â€
The proposal to start met with unanimous approval, and
by seven o’clock the thirsty party were once more on the
march,
Some strange foreboding seemed weighing on the mind
of Mokoum, and he urged the three Europeans to look
carefully to their rifles and to be well provided with ammu-
nition. The night grew dark, the moon and stars’ were
repeatedly veiled in mist, but the atmosphere near the
ground was clear. The bushman’s keen vision was ever
watching the flanks and front of the caravan, and his
unwonted disquictude could not fail to be noticed by Sir
John, who was likewise on the watch, They toiled through
the weary evening, occasionally stopping to gather together
the loiterers, and at ten o’clock they were still six miles
from the lake. The animals gasped for breath in an atmo-
sphere so dry that the hygrometer could not have detected
a trace of moisture.
Mokoum was indefatigable in his endeavours to keep the
disorganized party close together; but, in spite of his
remonstrances, the caravan no longer presented a compact
nucleus. Men and beasts stretched out into a long file,
and some oxen had sunk exhausted to the ground. The
dismounted horsemen could hardly drag themselves along,
and any stragglers could have been easily carried off by
176 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
the smallest band of natives. Mokoum went in evident
anxiety from one to another, and with word and gestures
tried to rally the troop; but his success was far from
complete, and already, without his knowledge, some of his
men were missing.
By eleven o'clock the foremost waggons were hardly
more than three miles from their destination. Inthe gloom
of night Mount Scorzef stood out distinctly in its solitary
height, like an enormous pyramid, and the obscurity made
its dimensions appear greater than they actually were.
Unless Mokoum were mistaken, Lake Ngami lay just
behind Mount Scorzef, so that the caravan must pass
round its base in order to reach the tract of fresh water by
the shortest route.
The bushman, in company with the three Europeans,
took the lead, and prepared to turn to the left, when suddenly
some distinct, though distant reports, arrested their atten-
tion. They reined in their horses, and listened with a
natural anxiety. Ina country where the natives use only
lances and arrows the report of European fire-arms was
rather startling. The Colonel and Sir John simultaneously
asked the bushman from whence the sound could proceed.
Mokoum asserted that he could perceive a light in the
shadow at the summit of Mount Scorzef, and that he had
no doubt that the Makololos were attacking a party of
Europeans,
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 177
4
“ Europeans!†cried Emery.
“Yes,†replied Mokoum; “these reports can only be
produced by European weapons.â€
“ But what Europeans could they be?†began Sir John.
“ Be who they may,†broke in the Colonel, “we must go
to their assistance.â€
“Yes ; come on,†said Emery, with no little excitement.
Before setting off for the mountain, Mokoum, for the
last time, tried to rally the small band. But when the
bushman turned round the caravan was dispersed, the
horses unyoked, the waggons forsaken, and a few scattered
shadows were flying along the plain towards the south.
“The cowards!†he cried ; then turning to the English,
he said, “ Well, we must go on.â€
The Englishmen and the bushman, gathering up all the
remaining strength of their horses, darted on to the north.
After a while they could plainly distinguish the war-cry
of the Makololos. Whatever was their number, it was
evident they were making an attack on Mount Scorze,
from the summit of which the flashes of fire continued
Groups of men could be faintly distinguished ascending
the sides. Soon the Colonel and his companions were on
the rear of the besiegers. Abandoning their worn-out
steeds, and shouting loud enough to be heard by the
besieged, they fired at the mass of natives. The rapidity
with which they re-loaded caused the Makololos to imagine
178 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
themselves assailed by a large troop. The sudden attack
surprised them, and, letting fly a shower of arrows and
assagais, they retreated. Without losing a moment, the
Colonel, Sir John, Emery, the bushman, and the sailors,
never desisting from firing, darted among the group of
natives, of whose bodies no less than fifteen soon strewed
the ground.
The Makololos divided. The Europeans rushed into the
gap, and, overpowering the foremost, ascended the slope
backwards. Ina few minutes they had reached the summit,
which was now entirely in darkness, the besieged having
suspended their fire for fear of injuring those who had
come so opportunely to their aid.
They were the Russian astronomers. Strux, Palander,
Zorn, and their five sailors, all were there: but of all the
natives belonging to their caravan there remained but the
faithful pioneer. The Bochjesmen had been as faithless to
them as they had been to the English.
The instant the Colonel appeared, Strux darted from
the top of a low wall that crowned the summit.
“The English !†he cried.
“Yes,†replied the Colonel gravely; “but now neither
Russian nor English. Nationalities be forgotten; for
mutual defence we are kinsmen, in that we are one and all
Europeans |â€
The English come to the relief of the Russians, —[Page 173.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 179
Seaeneeeeeeenneneemnenmennmemeemeeneemeecaee een Een
CHAPTER XIX,
SCIENCE UNDAUNTED.
NOBLE words were those just uttered by the Colonel. In
the face of the Makololos it was no time for hesitation or
discussion, and English and Russians, forgetting their
national quarrel, were now re-united for mutual defence
more firmly than ever. Emery and Zorn had warmly
greeted each other, and the others had sealed their new
alliance with a grasp of the hand.
The first care of the English was to quench their thirst.
Water, drawn from the lake, was plentiful in the Russian
camp. Then, as soon as the Makololos were quiet enough
to afford some respite, the astronomers, sheltered by a sort
of casemate forming part of a deserted fortress, talked of
all that had happened since their separation at Kolobeng.
It appeared that the same reason had brought the
Russians so far to the left of their meridian as had caused
the English to turn to the right of theirs. Mount Scorzef,
halfway between the two arcs, was the only height in that
180 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
district which would serve as a station on the banks of
Lake Ngami. Each of the meridians crossed the lake,
whose opposite shores it was necessary to unite trigono-
metrically by alargetriangle. Naturally, therefore, the two
rival expeditions met on the only mountain which could
serve their purpose.
Matthew Strux then gave some details of his operations.
After leaving Kolobeng, the Russian party had continued
without irregularity. The old meridian, which had fallen
by lot to the Russians, fell across a fertile and slightly
undulated country, which offered every facility for the
formation of the triangles. Like the English, they had
suffered from the heat, but they had experienced no hardship
from the want of water. Streams were abundant, and kept
up a wholesome moisture. The horses and oxen had
roamed over an immense pasturage, across verdant prairies
broken by forests and underwood. The wild animals by
night had been safely kept at a distance by sentinels and
fires, nor had any natives been seen except those stationary
in the villages in which Dr. Livingstone had always found
a hospitable reception. All through the journey the Bochjes-
men of the caravan had given no cause for complaint, nor
was it until the previous day, when the Makololos to the
number of 200 or goo had appeared on the plain, that they
had shown themselves faithless, and deserted. For thirty-
six hours the expedition had now occupied the little fortress.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 181
The Makololos had attacked them in the evening, after
plundering the waggons left at the foot of the hill. The
instruments fortunately, having been carried into the fort,
were secure, The steamboat had also escaped the ravages
of the natives ; it had been immediately put together by the
sailors, and was now at anchor in a little creek of Lake
Ngami, behind the enormous rocks that formed the base
of the mountain. Mount Scorzef sloped with sudden
abruptness down to the lake, and there was no danger of
an attack from that side.
Such was Matthew Strux’s account. Colonel Everest,
in his turn, related the incidents of his march, the fatigues
and difficulties, and the revolt of the Bochjesmen, and it
was found by comparison that the Russians had had a less
harassing journey than their rivals,
The night of the 21st passed quietly. The bushman and
sailors kept watch under the walls of the fort; the Makololos
on their part did not renew any attack, but the bivouac-fires
at the foot of the mountain proved that they had not
relinquished their project. At daybreak the Europeans
left their casemate for the purpose of reconnoitring the
plain. The early morning light illumined the vast extent
of country as far as the horizon. Vowards the south lay
the desert, with its burnt brown grass and barren aspect.
Close under the mountain was the circular camp, containing
a swarm of 400 to 500 natives. The fires were still alight,
182 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
and some pieces of venison broiling on the hot embers.
The encampment was something more than temporary ;
the Makololos were evidently determined not to abandon
their prey. Either vengeance or an instinctive thirst for
blood appeared to be prompting them, since all the valuables
of both caravans, the waggons, horses, oxen, and provisions,
had fallen into their power; or perhaps it might be that
they coveted the fire-arms which the Europeans carried, and
of which they made such terrible use. The united English
and Russians held a long consultation with the bushman,
and it was felt that they could not relax their watch until
they should arrive at a definite decision. This decision
must depend on a variety of circumstances, and first of all
it was necessary to understand exactly the position of
Mount Scorzef.
The mountain overlooked to the south, east, and west the
vast desert which the astronomers, having traversed it,
knew extended southwards to the karroo. In the west
could be discerned the faint outlines of the hills bordering
the fertile country of the Makololos, one of whose capitals,
Maketo, lies about a hundred miles north-west of Lake
Ngami. To the north the mountain commanded a country
which was a great contrast to the arid steppes of the south.
There were water, trees, and pasturage. For a hundred
miles east and west lay the wide Lake Ngami, while from
north to south its length was not more than 30 to 40 miles.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 183
Beyond appeared a gentle, undulated country, enriched
with forests and watered by the affluents of the Zambesi,
and shut in to the extreme north by a low chain of moun-
tains. This wide oasis was caused by the great artery, the
Zambesi, which is to South Africa what the Danube is to
Europe, or the Amazon to South America,
The side of the mountain towards the lake, steep as it
was, was not so steep but that the sailors could accomplish
an ascent and descent by a narrow way which passed from
point to point. They thus contrived to reach the spot
where the “Queen and Czar†lay hid, and, obtaining a
supply of water, enabled the little garrison to hold out in
the deserted fort as long as their provisions lasted.
The astronomers wondered why this little fort had been
placed on the top of the mountain. Mokoum, who had
visited the country as Livingstone’s guide, explained that
formerly the neighbourhood of Lake Ngami was frequented
by traders in ivory and ebony. The ivory was furnished
by the elephants and rhinoceroses; but the ebony trade
was but too often another name for that traffic in human
beings which is still carried on by the slave-traders in the
region of the Zambesi. A great numberof prisoners are made
in the wars and pillages in the interior of the country, and
these prisoners are sold as slaves. Mount Scorzef had been
a centre of encampment for the ivory-traders, and it was
there that they had been accustomed to rest before descend-
184 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
ing the Zambesi. They had fortified their position, to
protect themselves and their slaves from depredations, since
it was not an uncommon occurrence for the prisoners to be
recaptured for fresh sale by the very men who had recently _
sold them. The route of the traders was now changed; |
they no longer passed the shores of the lake, and the little
fort was falling into ruins. All that remained was an
enclosure in the form of the sector of a circle, from the
centre of which rose a small casemated redoubt, pierced
with loop-holes, and surmounted by a small wooden
turret.
But notwithstanding the condition of ruin into which it
had fallen, the fortress offered the Europeans a welcome
retreat. Behind the thick sandstone walls, and armed with
their rapidly-loading guns, they were confident that they
could keep back an army of Makololos, and, unless their
provisions and ammunition failed, they would be able to
complete their observations. At present they had plenty
of ammunition; the coffer in which it was contained had
been placed on the same waggon which carried the steam-
boat, and had therefore escaped the rapacity of the natives.
The great difficulty would be the possible failure of provisions.
The Colonel and Strux made a careful inspection of the
store, and found that there was only enough to last the
eighteen men for two days. After a short breakfast, the
astronomers and the bushman, leaving the sailors still te
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 185
keep watch round the walls, assembled in the redoubt to
discuss their situation.
“JT cannot understand,†said Mokoum, “why you are so
uneasy. You say that we have only provisions for two
days; but why stay here? Let us leave to-morrow, or
even to-day. The Makololos need not hinder us; they
could not cross the lake, and in the steamboat we may
reach the northern shore in a few hours.â€
The astronomers looked at each other ; the idea, natural
as it was, had not struck them before. Sir John was the
first to speak.
“But we have not yet completed the measurement of our
meridian.â€
“ Will the Makololos have any regard for your meridian ?â€
asked the hunter.
“Very likely not,†answered Sir John; “but ze have a
regard for it, and will not leave our undertaking incomplete.
I am sure my colleagues agree with me.â€
“Yes,†said the Colonel, speaking for all; “as long
as one of us survives, and is able to put his eye to
his telescope, the survey shall go on. If necessary,
we will take our observations with our instrument in
one hand and our gun in the other, even to the last
extremity.â€
The energetic philosophers shouted out their resolution
to proceed at every hazard.
186 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
When it was thus decided that the survey should at all
risks be continued, the question arose as to the choice of
the next station.
“ Although there will bea difficulty,†said Strux, “in
joining Mount Scorzef trigonometrically to a station to the
notth of the lake, it is not impracticable. I have fixed ona
peak in the extreme north-east, so that the side of the
triangle will cross the lake obliquely.â€
“ Well,†said the Colonel, “if the peak exists, I do not
see any difficulty.â€
“The only difficulty,†replied Strux, “consists in the
distance.â€
“ What is the distance ?â€
“Over a hundred miles, and a lighted signal must be
carried to the top of the peak.â€
“ Assuredly that can be done,†said the Colonel.
“And all that time, how are we to defend ourselves
against the Makololos?†asked the bushman.
“We will manage that too.â€
Mokoum said that he would obey the Colonel’s orders,
and the conversation ended. The whole party left the
casemate, and Strux pointed out the peak he had chosen.
It was the conical peak of Volquiria, 300 feet high, and
just visible in the horizon. Notwithstanding the distance,
a powerful reflector could thence be discerned by means
of a magnifying telescope, and the curvature of the
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 187
earth’s surface, which Strux had taken into account,
would not be any obstacle. The real difficulty was how
the lamp should be hoisted to the top of the moun-
tain. The angle made at Mount Scorzef with Mount
Volquiria and the preceding station would probably
complete the measurement of the meridian, so that the
operation was all important. Zorn and Emery offered
to take this journey of a hundred miles in an unknown
country, and, accompanied by the pioneer, prepared to
start.
One of the canoes of birch-bark, which are manufactured
by the natives with great dexterity, would be sufficient to
carry them over the lake. Mokoum and the pioneer
descended to the shore, where were growing some dwarf
birches, and in a very short time had accomplished their
task, and prepared the canoe.
At cight o'clock in the evening the newly-constructed
craft was loaded with instruments, the apparatus for the
reverberator, provisions, arms, and ammunition. It was
arranged that the astronomers should meet again in a small
creek known to both Mokoum and the pioneer ; it was also
agreed that as soon as the reverberator on Mount Volquiria
should be perceived, Colonel Everest should light a signal
on Mount Scorzef, so that Emery and Zorn, in their turn,
might take the direction.
The young men took leave of their colleagues, and
188 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
descended the mountain in the obscurity of night, having
been preceded by the pioneer and two sailors, one English
and one Russian. The mooring was loosened, and the
frail boat turned quietly across the lake,
On Guard on Mount Scorzef,—[Page 189. ]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS, 189
CHAPTER XX.
STANDING A SIEGE.
Not without anxiety had the astronomers witnessed the
departure of their young colleagues: they could not tell
what dangers awaited them in that unknown country.
Mokoum tried to reassure them by praising the courage of
the pioneer, and besides, he said, the Makololos were too
much occupied around Mount Scorzef to beat the country
to the north of Lake Ngami. He instinctively felt that
the Colonel and his party were in a more dangerous
position than the two young astronomers.
The sailors and Mokoum kept watch in turns through the
night. But “the reptiles,’ as the bushman termed the
Makololos, did not venture another attack. They seemed to
be waiting for reinforcements, in order to invade the
* mountain from all sides, and overcome by their numbers
the resistance of the besieged.
The hunter was not mistaken in his conjectures; and
when daylight appeared Colonel Everest perceived a
190 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
sensible increase in the number of the natives. Their camp,
carefully arranged round the base of the mountain, shut off
escape on every side except that towards the lake. This
side could not be invested, so that unless unforeseen cir-
cumstances occurred, retreat to the water was always prac-
ticable. But the Europeans had no thought of escaping:
they occupied a post of honour, and were all agreed
that it must not be abandoned. No allusion was ever
made to the war between England and Russia, and both
parties strove together to accomplish their scientific
labour.
The interval of waiting for the signal on Mount Volquiria
was employed in completing the measurement of the
preceding triangle and in finding the exact latitude of
Mount Scorzef by means of the altitudes of the stars.
Mokoum was called upon to say what wouid be the
shortest possible space of time that must elapse before
Emery and Zorn could reach Mount Volquiria. He replied
that as the journey was to be performed on foot, and the
country was continually crossed by rivers, he did not think
that they could arrive in less than five days atleast. They
therefore adopted a maximum of six days, and portioned
out their supplies to serve for that period. Their reserve
was very limited, consisting only of a few pounds of biscuit,
preserved meat, and pemmican, and had already been dimi-
nished by the portion furnished to the pioneer’s little troop.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. Ig1
Colonel Everest and his companions, anxiously anticipating
the sixth day, decided that the daily ration must be reduced
to a third of their previous allowance. The thirteen men
would doubtless suffer much from this small amount of
nourishment, but there was an unflinching determination to
bear up bravely.
“Besides,†said Sir John, “we have room enough to
hunt.â€
Mokoum shook his head doubtfully: he thought
that game would be rare on the mountain. However,
his gun need not be idle, and leaving the astronomers
to examine and correct their registers, he set off with Sir
John.
The Makololos were quietly encamped, and apparently
patient in their intention of reducing the besieged by famine.
The two hunters reconnoitred the mountain. The fort
occupied a space of ground measuring not more than a
quarter of a mile in its widest part. The soil was covered
with flints and grass, dotted here and there with low shrubs,
and bright with gladioli. Red heaths, silvery-leaved proteas,
and erica with wavy fronds, formed the flora of the moun-
tain, and beneath the angles formed by the projections of
rock sprung up thorny bushes ten feet high, with bunches
of a sweet-smelling white flower. The bushman was igno-
rant of its name, but it was doubtless the Arduina bispinosa,
which bears fruit like the barberry,
192 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
After an hour’s search Sir John had seen no trace of
game. Some little birds with dark wings and red beaks
flew out of the bushes, but at the first shot they disappeared,
no more to return, It was evident that the garrison must
not depend on the products of the chase for sustenance.
“ We can fish in the lake,†said Sir John, standing and
contemplating the fine extent of water.
“To fish without net or line,†replied the bushman, “is as
difficult as to lay hands on birds on the wing. But we
will not despair ; chance has hitherto favoured us.â€
“Chance! nay, not chance, but Providence,†said Sir
John. “That does not forsake us; it has brought us to
the Russians, and will no doubt carry us on to our goal.â€
“And will Providence feed us, Sir John?†asked the
bushman,
“No doubt, Mokoum,†said Sir John encouragingly ;
and the bushman thought to himself that no blind trust in
Providence should prevent him from using his own best
exertions.
The 25th brought no change in the relative positions of
besiegers and besieged. The Makololos, having brought
in the plundered waggons, remained in their camp. Herds
and flocks were grazing in the pasturages at the foot of the
mountain, and some women and children, who had joined
the tribe, went about and pursued their ordinary occu-
pations. From time to time, some chief, recognizable by
An Attack on Mount Scorzef,—[Page 193.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 193
the richness of the skins which he wore, ascended the slope
of the mountain and tried to examine the approaches to
the summit; but the report of a rifle always took him
speedily back to the plain. The Makololos then raised
their war-cry, brandished their assagais, and all became
quiet.
The following day the natives made a more serious
attempt, and about fifty of them at once scaled three sides
of the mountain, The whole garrison turned out to the
foot of the enclosure, and the European arms caused
considerable ravage among the Makololos. Five or six
were killed, and the rest abandoned their project, but it
was quite evident that if several hundred were to assault
the mountain simultaneously, the besieged would find it
difficult to face them on all sides. Sir John now thought
of the mitrailleuse, which was the principal weapon of the
“Queen and Czar,†and proposed that it should be brought
up to defend the front of the fortress. It was a difficult
task to hoist the machine up the rocks, which in some
parts were almost perpendicular; but the sailors showed
themselves so agile and daring, that in the course of the
day the mitrailleuse was installed in the embrasure of the
embattled enclosure. Thence, its twenty-five muzzles,
arranged in the shape of a fan, would cover the front of
the fort, and the natives would thus early make acquaint-
ance with the engine of death which in after-years was to
194. MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
effect such devastation amongst the civilized armies of the
European continent.
The dry air and clear sky had enabled the astronomers
each night to pursue their observations. They had found
the latitude of Mount Scorzef to be 19°, 37’, which result
confirmed their opinion that they were less than half a
degree from the northern extremity of their meridian, and
that consequently the next triangle would complete the
series.
The night passed without any fresh alarm. If circum-
stances had favoured the pioneer, he and his companions
would reach Mount Volquiria the following day, so that the
astronomers kept unflagging watch through the next night
for the appearance of the light. Strux and the Colonel
had already pointed the telescope to the peak, so that it
was continuously embraced in the field of the object-glass,
otherwise it would have been difficult to discern on a dark
night; as it was, the light would doubtless be perceived
immediately on its appearance.
All day Sir John beat fruitlessly the bushes and long
grass. He could not unearth a single animal that was fit
to eat. The very birds, disturbed from their retreats, had
gone to the underwood on the shore for shelter. Sir John
was extremely vexed, inasmuch as he was not hunting
merely for personal gratification, but to supply the neces-
sities of the party. Perhaps he himself suffered from
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. I95
hunger more than his three colleagues, whose attention
was more riveted by their application to science. The
sailors and Mokoum suffered equally with Sir John. One
more day and their scanty reserve would be at an end, and
if the pioneer’s expedition were delayed, they would soon
be exposed to a severe extremity of hunger,
The dark, calm night was passed in watching; but the
horizon remained wrapped in shade, and no light appeared
in the object-glass of the telescope. The minimum of time,
however, allowed to the expedition had hardly expired,
and they felt that they were bound to exhibit patience for
a while.
The next day the garrison ate their last morsel of meat
and biscuit; but their courage did not fail, and, though
they should be obliged to feed on what herbs they could
gather, they were resolved to hold out.
The succeeding night passed without any result. More
than once the astronomers believed that they had seen the
light, but it was always proved to be a star in the misty
horizon.
On the 1st of March they were compelled absolutely to
fast. Having been for some time accustomed to meagre
and inadequate nourishment, they passed the first day
without much acute suffering, but on the morrow they
began to experience the pangs of craving. Sir John and
Mokoum, haggard-eyed, and sensitive to the gnawings of
196 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
hunger, wandered over the top of the mountain; but no
game whatever was to be seen. They began to think that,
as the Colonel had said, they should literally have to feed
on grass. If they only had the stomachs of ruminants,
thought poor Sir John, as he eyed the abundant pasturage,
they would be able to hold out; but still no game, still not
even a bird! He gazed intently over the lake, in which
the sailors had fished in vain ; and it was impossible to get
near the wary aquatic birds that skimmed the tranquil
waters.
At last, worn out with fatigue, Sir John and his companion
lay down on the grass at the foot of a mound of earth some
five or six feet high. Here they fell, not precisely into a
sleep, but into a heavy torpor, which for a while benumbed
their sufferings. How longthis drowsiness would have lasted
neither of them could have said ; but in about an hour Sir
John was aroused by a disagreeable pricking. He tried to
slumber again, but the pricking continued, and at last
impatiently he opened his cyes.
He was entirely covered, face, hands, and clothes, with
swarms of white ants. He started to his feet, and his sudden
movement aroused the bushman, who was covered in the
same way. But to Sir John’s great surprise, the bushman,
instead of shaking off the insects, carried them by handfuls
to his mouth, and devoured them greedily. Sir John’s
first sensation was disgust at his voracity.
The Rice of the Bochjesmen.—|[Page 196.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 197
“Come, eat, do as I do!†said the bushman; “it is the
rice of the Bochjesmen.â€
And that was, in truth, the native term for these insects.
The Bochjesmen feed on both the black and white species,
but they consider the white to be of superior quality. The
only drawback is, that they must be swallowed in large
quantities to satisfy any longing for food. The Africans
generally mix them with the gum of the mimosa, thus ren-
dering them capable of affording a less unsubstantial meal ;
but as the mimosa did not grow on Mount Scorzef, the bush-
man had to content himself with his rice au naturel,
Sir John, in spite of his repugnance, resolved to imitate
him. The insects poured forth by thousands from their
enormous ant-hill, which was none other than the mound of
earth by which the weary sufferers had reclined. Sir John
took them by handfuls, and carried them to his lips; he did
not dislike the flavour, which was a grateful acid; and
gradually he felt his hunger moderated.
Mokoum did not forget his companions in misfortune.
He ran to the fort, and brought out the garrison. The
sailors were without difficulty induced to attack the singular
food, and although the astronomers hesitated a moment,
yet, encouraged by Sir John’s example, and half dead with
inanition, they soon at least assuaged the intenseness of
their hunger by devouring considerable quantities of these
ants.
198 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
But an unexpected incident procured for the starving
men a more solid meal. In order to lay in a provision of
the insects, Mokoum resolved to destroy one side of the
enormous ant-hill. It consisted of a central conical mound,
with smaller cones arranged at intervals round its base.
The hunter had already made several blows with his hatchet,
when a singular grunting sound from the centre attracted
his attention: he paused in his work of destruction, and
listened, while his companions watched him insilence. He
struck a few more blows, and the groan was repeated more
audibly than before. The bushman rubbed his hands,
whilst his eyes evidently sparkled. Once more attacking
the ant-hill, he opened a cavity about a foot wide. The
ants were escaping on every side; but of them he took
no heed, leaving the sailors to collect them in sacks.
All at once a strange animal appeared at the mouth
of the hole. It was a quadruped with a long snout,
small mouth, and flexible tongue, which protruded to
a great length; its ears were straight, its legs short, and
its tail long and pointed. Long grey bristles with a
reddish tinge covered its lank body, and its feet were
armed with enormous claws. Mokoum killed it at once
with a sharp blow on the snout. “There is our supper,â€
he said. “It has been some time coming, but it will not
taste the worse for that. Now fora fire, and a ramrod for
a spit, and we will feast as we have never feasted in our lives.â€
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND TITREE RUSSIANS. 199
The bushman speedily began to skin the animal, which
was a species of octeropus or ant-eater, very common
in South Africa, and known to the Dutch at the Cape under
the name of “earth-pig.†Swarms of ants are devoured
by this creature, which catches them by means of its long
glutinous tongue.
The meal was soon cooked ; perhaps it would have been
better for a few more turns of the spit, but the hungry men
were impatient. The firm, wholesome flesh was declared
to be excellent, although slightly impregnated with the
acid of the ants
After the repast the Europeans felt re-invigorated, and
animated with more steadfast purpose to persevere ; and
in truth there was need of encouragement. All through
the following night no light appeared on Mount Volquiria.
200 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXI.
SUSPENSE,
IT was now the ninth day since Zorn and Emery had
started on their expedition. Their colleagues, detained on
the summit of Mount Scorzef, began to give way to the
fear that they had fallen into some irretrievable misfortune.
They were all well aware that the young astronomers would
omit nothing that lay in their power to ensure the success of
their enterprise, and they dreaded lest their courageous spirit
should have exposed them to danger, or betrayed them into
the hands of the wandering tribes. They waited always
impatiently for the moment when the sun sank behind the
horizon, that they might begin their nightly watch, and
then all their hopes seemed concentrated on the field of
their telescope.
All through the grd of March, wandering up and down
the slopes, hardly exchanging a word, they suffered as they
had never suffered before; not even the heat and fatigues
of the desert, nor the tortures of thirst, had equalled the
pain that arose from their apprehensions. The last morsel
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 201
of the ant-eater had been devoured, and nothing now
remained but the insufficient nourishment afforded by the
ants.
Night came, dark and calm, and extremely favourable
to their operations ; but although the Colonel and Strux
watched alternately with the utmost perseverance, no light
appeared, and the sun's rays soon rendered any longer
observations futile.
There was still nothing immediate to fear from the
Makololos; they seemed resolved to reduce the besieged
by famine, and it seemed hardly likely that they would
desist from their project. The unhappy Europeans were
tortured afresh with hunger, and could only diminish their
sufferings by devouring the bulbs of the gladioli that sprang
up between the rocks.
Yet they were hardly prisoners; their detention was
voluntary. At any moment the steamboat would have
carried them to a fertile land, where game and fruitabounded.
Several times they discussed the propriety of sending
Mokoum to the northern shore to hunt for the little garrison;
but this manceuvre might be discovered by the natives;
and there would be a risk to the steam-vessel, and conse-
quently to the whole party, in the event of finding other
hostile tribes to the north of the lake: accordingly the
proposal was rejected, and it was decided that they must
abide in company, and that all or none must depart. To
202 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
leave Mount Scorzef before the observations were complete
was an idea that was not entertained for a moment; the
astronomers were determined to wait patiently until the
faintest hope of success should be extinguished.
“We are no worse off,†remarked the Colonel in the
course of the day to his assembled companions, “than
Arago, Biot, and Rodriguez were when they were measuring
the arc from Dunkirk to Ivica: they were uniting the
Spanish coast and the island by a triangle of which the
sides were more than eighty miles long. Rodriguez was
installed on an isolated peak, and kept up lighted lamps
at night, while the French astronomers lived in tents a
hundred miles away in the desert of Las Palmas. For
sixty nights Arago and Biot watched for the signal, and,
discouraged at last, were about to renounce their labour,
when, on the sixty-first night, appeared a light, which it was
impossible to confound with a star. Surely, gentlemen, if
those French astronomers could watch for sixty-one nights
in the interests of science, we English and Russians must
not give up at the end of nine.â€
The Colonel’s companions most heartily approved the
sentiment ; but they could have said that Arago and Biot
did not endure the tortures of hunger during their long
vigil.
In the course of the day Mokoum perceived an unusual
agitation in the Makololo camp. He thought at first that
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 203
they were about to raise the siege, but, after some contem-
plation, he discovered that their intentions were evidently
hostile, and that they would probably assault the mountain
in the course of the night. All the women and children,
under the protection of a few men, left the encampment,
and turned eastward to the shores of the lake. It was
probable that the natives were about to make a last attack
on the fortress before retiring finally to Maketo. The
bushman communicated his opinion to the Europeans. They
resolved to keep a closer watch all night, and to have their
guns in readiness, ‘The enclosure of the fort was broken in
several places, and as the number of the natives was now
largely increased they would find no difficulty in forcing
their way through the gaps, Colonel Everest therefore
thought it prudent to have the steamboat in readiness for a
retreat. The engineer received orders to light the fire, but
not until sunset, lest the smoke should reveal the presence of
the vessel to the natives ; and to keep up the steam, in order
to start at the first signal. The evening repast was com-
posed of white ants and gladiolus bulbs—a meagre supper
for men about to fight with several hundred savages; but
they were resolute, and staunchly awaited the engagement
which appeared imminent.
Towards six o'clock, when night was coming on with its
tropical celerity, the engineer descended the mountain,
and proceeded to light the fire of the steamboat. It was
204. MERIDIANA } THE ADVENTURES OF
still the Colonel’s intention not to effect an escape until
the last extremity : moreover, he was firm in his determina-
tion to abide until the night was advanced, that he might
give himself the last chance of observing the signal from
Mount Volquiria. The sailors were placed at the foot of
the rampart, with orders to defend the breaches to the last.
All arms were ready, and the mitrailleuse, armed with the
heaviest ammunition that they had in store, spread its
formidable mouth across the embrasure.
For several hours the Colonel and Strux, posted in thenar-
row donjon, kept a constant watch on the peak of Volquiria.
The horizon was dark, while the finest of the southern con-
stellations were resplendent in the zenith. There was no
wind, and not a sound broke the imposing stillness of
nature. The bushman, however, posted on a projection of
rock, heard sounds which gradually became more distinct.
He was not mistaken ; the Makololos were at length com-
mencing their assault on the mountain.
Until ten o’clock the assailants did not move; their fires
were extinguished, and camp and plain were alike wrapped
in obscurity. Suddenly Mokoum saw shadows moving up
the mountain, till the besiegers seemed but a few hundred
feet from the plateau on which stood the fort.
“ Now then, quick and ready!†cried Mokoum.
The garrison immediately advanced to the south side of
the fort, and opened a running fire on the assailants. The
Watching for the Signal from Mount Volquiria,—[Page 204.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 205
Makololos answered by a war-cry, and, in spite of the firing,
continued to advance. Inthe light caused by the flash of the
guns, the Europeans perceived such swarms of natives that
resistance seemed impossible. But still they trusted that
their well-directed balls were doing considerable execution,
and they discerned that not a few of the natives were rolling
down the sides of the mountain. Hitherto, however, no-
thing arrested them: withsavagecries they continued to press
on in compacted order, without even waiting to hurl a single
dart. Colonel Everest put himself at the head of his little
troop, who seconded him admirably, not excepting Palander,
who probably was handling a gun for almost the first time.
Sir John, now on one rock now on another, sometimes kneel-
ing sometimes lying, did wonders, and his gun, heated with
the rapidity of the repeated loading, began to burn his
hands. Mokoum, as ever, was patient, bold, and undaunted
in his confidence.
But the valour and precision of the besieged could avail
nothing against the torrent of numbers. Where one native
fell, he was replaced by twenty more, and, after a some-
what prolonged opposition, Colonel Everest felt that he
must be overpowered. Not only did the natives swarm
up the south slope of the mountain, but they made an ascent
also by the side slopes. ‘They did not hesitate to use the
dead bodies of the fallen as stepping-stones, and they even
lifted them up, and sheltered themselves behind them,
206 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
as they mounted. The scene revealed by the flash of the
fire-arms-was appalling, and the Europeans saw enough to
make them fully aware that they could expect no quarter,
and that they were being assaulted by barbarians as savage
as tigers.
At half-past ten the foremost natives had reached the
plateau. The besieged, who were still uninjured (the natives
not yet having employed their arrows and assagais), were
thoroughly conscious they were impotent to carry on a
combat hand to hand. The Colonel, in a calm, clear voice
that could be heard above the tumult, gave the order to
retire. With a last discharge the little band withdrew
behind the walls. Loud cries greeted their retreat, and the
natives immediately made a nearer approach in their
attempt to scale the central breach.
A strange and unlooked for reception awaited them.
Suddenly at first, and subsequently repeated at intervals
but of a few minutes, there was a growling reverberation
as of rolling thunder. The sinister sound was the report of
the exploding mitrailleuse, which Sir John had been
prepared to employ, and now worked with all his energy.
Its twenty-five muzzles spread over a wide range, and the
balls, continually supplied by a self-adjusting arrangement,
fell like hail among the assailants. The natives, swept
down at each discharge, responded at first with a howl and
then with a harmless shower of arrows.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 207
“She plays well,†said the bushman, approaching Sir
John. “When you have played your tune, let me play
mine.â€
But there was no need for Sir John to be relieved; the
mitrailleuse was soon silent. The Makololos were struck
with consternation, and had sought shelter from the torrent
of grape-shot, having retired under the flanks of the fort,
leaving the plateau strewn with numbers of their dead.
In this instant of respite the Colonel and Strux regained
the donjon, and there, collecting themselves to a composure
as complete as if they were under the dome of an obser-
vatory, they kept a constant eye upon their telescope, and
scanned the peak of Volquiria. When, after a short period
of rest, the yells of the Makololos made them aware that
the combat was renewed, they only persevered in their
determination, and resolved that they would alternately
remain to guard their invaluable instrument.
The combat, in truth, had been renewed, The range of
the mitrailleuse was inadequate to reach all the natives,
who, uttering their cries of mortal vengeance, rallied again,
and swarmed up every opening. The besieged, protected
by their fire-arms, defended the breaches foot by foot ; they
had only received a few scratches from the points of the
assagais, and were able to continue the fight for half an hour
with unabated ardour.
Towards half-past eleven, while the Colonel was in the
T3
208 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
thick of the fray, in the middle of an angry fusillade, Matthew
Strux appeared at his side. His eye was wild and
radiant: an arrow had just pierced his hat and quivered
above his head.
“ The signal ! the signal!†he cried.
The Colonel was incredulous, but ascertaining the cor-
rectness of the welcome announcement, discharged his
rifle for the last time, and with an exuberant shout of
rejoicing, rushed towards the donjon, followed by his intrepid
colleague. There, kneeling down, he placed-_his eye to the
telescope, and perceived with the utmost delight the signal,
so long delayed and yet so patiently expected.
It was truly a marvellous sight to see these two astro-
nomers work during the tumult ofthe conflict. The natives
had by their numbers forced the enclosure, and Sir John
and the bushman were contending for every step. The
Europeans fought with their balls and hatchets, while the
Makololos responded with their arrows and assagais.
Meanwhile the Colonel and Strux intently continued
their observations, and Palander, equally composed, noted
down their oft-repeated readings. More than once an arrow
grazed their head, and broke against the inner wall of the
donjon. But their eye was ever fixed on the signal, and
reading the indications of the vernier, they incessantly
verified each other’s calculations,
“Only once more,†said Strux, sliding the telescope along
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND TITREE RUSSIANS. 209
the graduated scale. An instant later, and it would have
been too late for any observations, but the direction of the
light was calculated to the minutest fraction of. a second ;
and at that very instant an enormous stone, hurled by a
native, sent the register flying from Palander’s hands, and
smashed the repeating-circle.
They must now fly in order to save the result which they
had obtained at the cost of such continuous labour. The
natives had already penetrated the casemate, and might at
any moment appear in the donjon. The Colonel and his
colleagues caught up their guns, and Palander his precious
register, and all escaped through one of the breaches. Their
companions, some slightly wounded, were ready to cover
their retreat, but just as they were about to descend the
north side of the mountain, Strux remembered that they had
failed to kindle the signal. In fact, for the completion ot
the survey, it was necessary that the two astronomers on
Mount Volquiria should in their turn observe the summit
of Mount Scorzef, and were doubtless anxiously expecting
the answering light.
The Colonel recognized the imperative necessity for yet
one more effort, and whilst his companions, with almost
superhuman energy, repulsed the natives, he re-entered the
donjon, This donjon was formed of an intricate framework
of dry wood, which would readily ignite by the application
of aflame. The Colonel set it alight with the powder from
210 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
the priming of his gun, and, rushing out, rejoined his
companions. In a few moments, rolling their mitrailleuse
before them, the Europeans, under a shower of arrows and
various missiles, were descending the mountain, and, in theis
turn, driving back the natives with a deadly fire, reached the
steamboat. The engineer, according to orders, had kept
up the steam. The mooring was loosened, the screw set in
motion, and the “ Queen and Czar†advanced rapidly over
the dark waters. They were shortly far enough out to see
the summit of the mountain. The donjon was blazing like
a beacon, and its light would be easily discerned from the
peak of Volquiria. A resounding cheer of triumph from
English and Russians greeted the bonfire they had left
behind.
Emery and Zorn would have no cause for complaint ;
they had exhibited the twinkling of a star, and had been
answered by the glowing of a sun.
The Steamboat leaving Mount Scorzef.—[Page 210.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 211
CHAPTER XXIL
HIDE AND SEEK.
WHEN daylight re-appeared, the vessel was nearing the
northern shore of the lake. There was no trace of natives,
consequently the Colonel and his companions, who had
been ready armed, laid aside their guns as the “Queen and
Czar†drew up in a little bay hollowed in the rocks. The
bushman, Sir John, and one of the sailors set out at once
to reconnoitre the neighbourhood. They could perceive no
sign of Makololos, and fortunately they found game in
abundance. Troops of antelopes grazed in the long grass
and in the shelter of the thickets, and a number of aquatic
birds frequented the shores of the lake. The hunters
returned with ample provision, and the whole party could
enjoy the savoury venison, a supply of which was now
unlikely to fail them again. :
The camp was arranged under the great willows near the
lake, on the banks of a small river. The Colonel and Strux
had arranged to meet on the northern shore with the
pioneer’s little party, and the rest afforded by the few days
212 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
of expectation was gratefully enjoyed by all. Palander
employed himself in rectifying and adjusting the results of
the latest observations, while Mokoum and Sir John hunted
most vigorously over the fertile, well-watered country,
abounding in game, of which the Englishman would have
been delighted, had it been in his power, to complete a
purchase on behalf of the British government. Three days
after, on the 8th of March, some gun-shots announced the
arrival of the remainder of the party for whom they
tarried. Emery, Zorn, the two sailors, and the pioneer,
were all in perfect health. Their theodolite, the only
instrument remaining to the Commission, was safe. The
young astronomers and their companions were received
with joyous congratulations. In afew words they related
that their journey had not been devoid of difficulty. For
two days they had lost their way in the forests that skirted
the mountainous district, and with only the vague indica-
tions of the compass they would never have reached Mount
Volquiria, if it had not been for the shrewd intelligence of the
pioneer. The ascent of the mountain was rough, and the
delay had caused the young astronomers as much impa-
tience as it had their colleagues on Mount Scorzef. They
had carefully, by barometrical observations, calculated that
the summit of Volquiria was 3200 feet above the level of
the sea The light, increased by a strong reflector, was first
lighted on the night of the 4th; thus the observers on
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 213
Mount Scorzef had perceived it as soon as it appeared.
Emery and Zorn had easily discerned the intense fire caused
by the burning fortress, and with the theodolite had com-
pleted the measurement of the triangle.
“ And did you determine the latitude of the peak?†said
the Colonel to Emery.
“Yes, most accurately,†replied Emery; “we found it to
be 19° 37’ 35.337â€.â€
“Well, gentlemen,†said the Colonel, “we may say that
our task is ended. We have measured, by means of sixty-
three triangles, an arc of more than eight degrees in length ;
and when we have rigidly corrected our results, we shall
know the exact value of the degree, and consequently of
the mzétre, in this part of the globe.â€
A cheer of satisfaction could not be repressed amongst
the others.
“ And now,†added the Colonel, “we have only to descend
the Zambesi in order to reach the Indian Ocean: is it not
so, Mr Strux ?â€
“Tt is so,†answered Strux; “but I think we ought still to
adopt some means of testing our previous operations. Let
us continue our triangles until we find a place suitable
for the direct measurement of a base. The agreement
between the lengths of the base, obtained by the calculations
and by the direct measurement, will alone tell what degree
of accuracy we ought to attribute to our observations.â€
214 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
Strux’s proposition was unanimously adopted. It was
agreed to construct a series of subsidiary triangles until a
side could be measured with the platinum rods. The steam-
boat, descending the affluents of the Zambesi, was to await
the travellers below the celebrated Victoria Falls. Every
thing being arranged, the little troop, with the exception of
four sailors on board the “Queen and Czar,†started the next
day at sunrise. Some stations had been chosen to the east
and the angles measured, and along this favourable country,
they hoped easily to accomplish their auxiliary series. The
bushman had adroitly caught a quagga, of which, willing or
unwilling, he made a beast of burden to carry the theodo-
lite, the measuring-rods, and some other luggage of the
caravan.
The journey proceeded rapidly. The undulated country
afforded many points of sight for the small accessory trian-
gles. The weather was fine, and it was not needful to
have recourse to nocturnal observations, The travellers
could nearly always find shelter in the woods, and, besides,
the heat was not insufferable, since some vapours arose
from the pools and streams which tempered the sun’s rays.
Every want was supplied by the hunters, and there was no
longer any thing to be feared from the natives, who seemed
to be more to the south of Lake Ngami.
Matthew Strux and the Colonel seemed to have forgotten
all their personal rivalry, and although there was no close
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 215
intimacy between them, they were on the most perfect
terms of courtesy.
Day after day, during a period of three weeks, the
observations steadily proceeded. For the measurement of
a base the astronomers required a tract of land that should
be level for several miles, and the very undulations of the
soil that were desirable for the establishment of the points
of sight were unfavourable for that observation. They
proceeded to the north-east, sometimes following the right
bank of the Cnobi, one of the principal tributaries of the
Upper Zambesi, in order to avoid Maketo, the chief settle-
ment of the Makololos. They had now every reason to
anticipate that their return would be happily accomplished,
and that no further natural obstacle would occur, and they
hoped that their difficulties were allat an end. The country
which they were traversing was comparatively well known
and they could not be far from the villages of the Zambesi
which Livingstone had lately visited. They thus thought
with reason that all the most arduous part of their task was
over, when an incident, of which the consequences might
have been serious, almost compromised the result of the
whole expedition.
Nicholas Palander was the hero, or rather was nearly
being the victim, of the adventure.
The intrepid but thoughtless calculator, unwarred by his
escape from the crocodiles, had still the habit of withdraw-
216 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
ing himself from his companions. In an open country
there was no great danger in this, but in woods Palander’s
abstraction might lead to serious consequences. Strux and
the bushman gave him many warnings, and Palander,
though much astonished at what he considered an excess of
prudence, promised to conform to their wishes.
On the 27th, some hours had passed since Strux and
Mokoum had seen any thing of Palander. The little
troop were travelling through thickets of low trees and
shrubs, extending as far as the horizon. It was important
to keep together, as it would be difficult to discover the
track of any one lost in the wood. But seeing and fearing
nothing, Palander, who had been posted, pencil in one hand,
the register in the other, on the left flank of the troop, was
not long in disappearing.
When, towards four o’clock, Strux and his companions
found that Palander was no longer with them, they became
extremely anxious. His former aberrations were still fresh
in their remembrance, and it was probably the abstracted
calculator alone by whom they had been forgotten. The
march was stopped, and they all shouted in vain. The
bushman and the sailors dispersed for a quarter of a mile
in each direction, beating the bushes, trampling through
the woods and. long grass, firing off their guns, but yet
without success. They became still more uneasy, especially
Matthew Strux, to whose anxiety was joined an extreme
Palander robbed by the Chacma.—[Page 217.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 217
irritation against his unlucky colleague. This was not the
first time that Palander had served them thus, and if the
Colonel had laid any blame on him, Strux would not have
known what to say. Under the circumstances, the only
thing to be done was to encamp in the wood, and begin
a more careful search,
The Colonel and his companions had just arranged to
place their camp near a glade of considerable extent, when
acry, unlike any thing human, resounded at some distance
to the left. Almost immediately, running at full speed,
appeared Palander. His head was bare, his hair dishevelled,
and his clothes torn in some parts almost to rags. His
companions plied him with questions; but the unhappy
man, with haggard and distended eye, whose compressed
nostrils still further hindered his short jerking respiration,
could not bring out a word.
What had happened ? why had he wandered away? and
why did he appear so terrified? At last, to their repeated
questions, he gasped out, in almost unintelligible accents,
something about the registers.
The astronomers shuddered ; the registers, on which was
inscribed every result of their operations, and which the
calculator had never allowed out of his possession, even when
asleep, these registers were missing. No matter whether
Palander had lost them, or whether they had been stolen
from him ; they were gone, and all their labour was in vain |
218 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
While his companions, mutely terrified, only looked at
each other, Matthew Strux could no longer restrain his
anger. He burst forth into all manner of invective against
the miserable man, threatening him with the displeasure of
the Russian government, and adding, that if he did not
suffer under the knout he should linger out his life in
Siberia.
To all this Palander answered but by a movement of the
head: he seemed to acquiesce in all these condemnations,
and even thought the judgment would be too lenient.
“But perhaps he has been robbed,†said the Colonel at
last.
“What matters?†cried Strux, beside himself; “what
business had he so far away from us, after our continual
warning ?â€
“True,†replied Sir John, “ but we ought to know whether
he has lost the registers or been robbed of them. Has any
one robbed you, Palander ?†continued he, turning to the
poor man, who had sunk down with fatigue.
Palander made a sign of affirmation.
“Who ?†continued Sir John.†Natives? Makololos?â€
Palander shook his head.
“Well, then, Europeans?†asked Sir John,
“No,†answered Palander in a stifled voice.
“Who then ?†shouted Strux, shaking his clenched fists
in Palander’s face.
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 219
ee ate el ee ee
“They were neither: natives—nor white men—but
monkeys,†stammered out Palander at last.
It was a fact that the unhappy man had been robbed by
a monkey, and if the consequences of the incident had been
less serious, the whole party would have broken out into
laughter. Mokoum explained that what had just happened
was of frequent occurrence. Many times, to his knowledge,
had travellers been rifled by these pig-headed chacmas, a
species of baboon very common in South African forests.
The calculator had been plundered by these animals, though
not without a struggle, as his ragged garments testified.
Still, in the judgment of his companions, there was no
excuse to be made: if he had remained in his proper place
this irreparable loss would not have occurred.
“We did not take the trouble,†began Colonel Everest,
“to measure an arc of meridian in South Africa for a
blunderer like you—â€
He did not finish his sentence, conscious that it was
useless to continue to abuse the unhappy man, whom
Strux had not ceased to load with every variety of vitupera-
tion. The Europeans were, without exception, quite over-
powered by emotion ; but Mokoum, who was less sensitive
to the importance of the loss, retained his self-possession.
“ Perhaps even yet,†he said, “something may be done
to assist you in your perplexity. These chacmas are always
careful of their stolen goods, and if we find the robber we
220 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
shall find the registers with him. But time is precious, and
none must be lost.â€
The bushman had opened a ray of hope. Palander
revived at the suggestion: he arranged his tattered clothes
as best he could, and having accepted the jacket of one
sailor and the hat of another, declared himself ready to
lead his companions to the scene of his adventure.
They ali started off towards the west, and passed the
night and the ensuing day without any favourable result.
In many places, by traces on the ground and the bark of
the trees, the bushman and the pioneer recognized unmis-
takable vestiges of the baboons, of which Palander affirmed
that he was sure he had seen no less than ten. The party
was soon on their track, and advanced with the utmost
precaution, the bushman affirming that he could only count
on success in his search by taking the chacmas by surprise,
since they were sagacious animals, such as could only be
approached by some device of secrecy.
Early the following morning one of the Russian sailors,
who was somewhat in front, perceived, if not the actual
thief, yet one of its associates. He prudently returned to
the little troop, who came at once to a halt. The Euro-
peans, who had resolved to obey Mokoum in every thing,
awaited his instructions. The bushman begged them to
remain in quietness where they were, and, taking Sir John
and the pioneer, turned towards the part of the wood
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 221
already visited by the sailor, carefully keeping under shelter
of the trees and bushwood.
In a short time the bushman and his two companions
caught sight of one chacma, and almost immediately of
nine or ten more, gambolling among the branches. Crouch-
ing behind a tree, they attentively watched the animals,
Their long tails were continually sweeping the ground, and
their powerful muscles, sharp teeth, and pointed claws,
rendered them formidable even to the beasts of prey.
These chacmas are the terror of the Boers, whose fields of
corn and maize, and occasionally whose habitations, are
plundered by them.
Not one of the animals had as yet espied the hunters.
but they all continued their sport, yelping and barking as
though they were great ill-favoured dogs. The important
point for determination was, whether the actual purloiner
of the missing documents was there. All doubt was put
aside when the pioneer pointed out a chacma wrapped in a
rag of Palander’s coat. Sir John felt that this creature
must be secured at any price, but he was obliged to act
with great circumspection, aware as he was that a single
false movement would cause the whole herd to decamp at
once.
“Stay here,†said Mokoum to the pioneer; “Sir John
and I will return to our companions, and set about surround-
ing the animals; but meanwhile do not lose sight of them.
222 MERIDIANA ; THE ADVENTURES OF
The pioneer remained at his post, while Sir John and
the bushman returned to Colonel Everest. The only
means of securing the suspected culprit was to surround
the whole troop. To accomplish this, the Europeans
divided into separate detachments ; one composed of Strux,
Emery, Zorn, and three sailors, was to join the pioneer,
and to form a semicircle around him; and the other,
comprising the Colonel, Mokoum, Sir John, Palander, and
the other three sailors, made a déour to the left, in order
to fall back upon the herd from the other side
Implicitly following the bushman’s advice, they all ad-
vanced with the utmost caution. Their guns were ready,
and it was agreed that the chacma with the rags should
be. the aim for every shot.
Mokoum kept a watchful eye upon Palander, and insisted
upon his marching close to himself, lest his unguardedness
should betray him into some fresh folly. The worthy
astronomer was almost beside himself in consternation at
his loss, and evidently thought it a question of life or death.
After marching with the frequent halts which the policy
of being unobserved suggested, and continuing to diverge
for half an hour, the bushman considered that they might
now fall back. He and his companions, each about twenty
paces apart, advanced like a troop of Pawnies ona war-trail,
without a word or gesture, avoiding even the least rustling
in the branches. Suddenly the bushman stopped ; the rest
instantly followed his example, and standing with their
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 223
finger on the lock of their guns, were ready to raise them to
their shoulder. The band of chacmas was in sight, they
were already sensible of some danger, and seemed on the
look-out. The great animal which had stolen the regis-
ters had, to their fancy, an appearance of being espe-
cially agitated. It had been already recognized by
Palander, who muttered something like an imprecation
between his teeth.
The chacma looked as if it was making signs to its com-
panions : some females, with their young ones on their shoul-
ders, had collected in a group, and the males went to and
fro around them. The hunters still drew on, one and all
keeping a steady eye direct towards the ostensible thief.
All at once, by an involuntary movement, Palander’s gur
went off in his hands. Sir John broke out into an exclama-
tion of disgust, and instantly afterwards fired. Ten reports
followed: three chacmas lay dead on the ground, and the
rest, with a prodigious bound, passed over the hunters’ heads.
The robber baboon alone remained : it darted at the trunk
of a sycamore, which it climbed with an amazing agility,
and disappeared among the branches. The bushman, having
keenly ‘surveyed the spot, asserted that the registers were
there concealed, and fearing lest the chacma should escape
across the trees, he calmly aimed and fired. The animal,
wounded in the leg, fell from branch to branch. In one of
its fore-claws it was seen to clutch the registers, which it
had taken from a fork of the tree.
224. MERIDIANA ; THE :ADVENTURES OF
At the sight, Palander, with a leap like a chamois, darted
at the chacma, and a tremendous struggle ensued. The
cries of both man and beast mingled in harsh and discordant
strain, and the hunters dared not take aim at the chacma for
fear of wounding their comrade. Strux, beside himself with
rage, shouted again and again that they should fire, and in
his furious agitation he would probably have done so, if it
had not been that he was accidentally without a cartridge
for his gun, which had been already discharged.
The combat continued ; sometimes Palander, sometimes
the chacma, wasuppermost. The astronomer, his shoulders
lacerated by the creature’s claws, tried to strangle his
adversary. At last the bushman, seizing a favourable
moment, made a sudden dash, and killed the ape with one
blow of his hatchet.
Nicholas Palander, bleeding, exhausted, and insensible,
was picked up by his colleagues: in his last effort he had
recaptured his registers, which he was found unconsciously
grasping to his bosom.
The carcase of the chacma was conveyed with glee to
the camp. At the evening repast it furnished a delicious
meal to the hunters. To all of them, but especially to
Palander, not only had the excitement of the chase quick-
ened their appetite for the palatable dish, but the relish was
heightened by the gratifying knowledge that vengeance was
satisfied.
Palander’s Combat with the Chacma,—[Page 224. ]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 225
CHAPTER XXIII.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
PALANDER’S wounds were not serious : the bushman dressed
the contused limbs with herbs, and the worthy astronomer,
sustained by his triumph, was soon able to travel. Any
exuberance on his part, however, was of short duration, and
he quickly became again engrossed in his world of figures.
He only now retained one of the registers, because it had
been thought prudent that Emery should take possession of
the other. Under the circumstances, Palander made the
surrender with entire good-humour.
The operation of seeking a plain suitable for a base was
now resumed. On the rst of April the march was some-
what retarded by wide marshes; to these succeeded
numerous pools, whose waters spread a pestilential odour ;
but, by forming larger triangles, Colonel Everest and his
companions soon escaped the unhealthy region.
Thewhole party were in excellent spirits. Zorn and Emery
14
226 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
often congratulated themselves on the apparent concord
that existed between their chiefs. Zorn one day expressed
his hope to his friend that when they returned to Europe
they would find that peace had been concluded between
England and Russia, so that they might remain as good
friends as they had been in Africa.
Emery replied that he acquiesced entirely in the hope:
in days when war is seldom long protracted they might be
sanguine all would be terminated by the date of their
return.
Zorn had already understood from Emery that it was
not his intention to return immediately to the Cape, and
expressed his hope that he might introduce him to the
observatory at Kiew. This proposal Emery expressed his
desire to embrace, and added that he should indulge the
expectation that Zorn would at some future time visit the
Cape.
With these mutual assignations they made their plans
for future astronomical researches, ever reiterating their
hopes that the war would be at an end.
“ Anyhow,†observed Emery, “Russia and England will
be at peace before the Colonel and Strux; I have no trust
in any reconciliation of theirs.
For themselves, they could only repeat their pledges of
mutual good-will, — tas fe
Eleven days after the adventure with the chacmas, the
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 227
little troop, not far from the Zambesi Falls, arrived at a
level plain several miles in extent, and perfectly adapted
for the establishment of a base. On the edge of the plain
rose a native village, composed of a few huts containing a
small number of inhabitants, who kindly received the
Europeans. Colonel Everest found the proximity of the
natives very opportune, since the measurement of the base
would occupy a month, and being without waggons, or any
materials for an encampment, he would have had no resource
but to pass the time in the open air, with no other shelter
than that afforded by the foliage.
The astronomers took up their abode in the huts, which
were quickly appropriated for the use of their new occupants.
Their requirements were but small; their one thought was
directed towards verifying their calculations by measuring
the last side of their last triangle.
The astronomers at once proceeded to their work. The
trestles and platinum rods were arranged with all the care
that had been applied to the earliest base. Nothing was
neglected ; all the conditions of the atmosphere, and the
variations of the thermometer, were taken into account, and
the Commission, without flagging, brought every energy to
bear upon their final operation.
The work, which lasted for five weeks, was completed on
the 15th of May. When the lengths obtained had been
estimated and reduced to the mean level of the sea at the
228 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
temperature of 61° Fahrenheit, Palander and Emery pre-
sented to their colleagues the following numbers :—
Toises.
New base actually measured. 7 . . » 5075-25
The same base deduced trigonometrically from
the entire series. . ; : i » 5075.11
Difference between the calculation and the obser-
vation . P . . ° ° ° . 14
Thus there was only a difference of less than 4 of a toise
that is to say, less than ten inches; yet the first base and
the last were six hundred miles apart.
When the meridian of France was measured from Dunkirk
to Perpignan, the difference between the base at Melun and
that at Perpignan was eleven inches. The agreement
obtained by the Anglo-Russian Commission was still more
remarkable, and thus made the work accomplished in the
deserts of Africa, amid dangers of every kind, more perfect
than any previous geodetic operation.
The accuracy of this unprecedented result was greeted
by the astronomers with repeated cheers.
According to Palander’s reductions, the value of a
degree in this part of the world was 57037 toises. This
was within a toise, the same as was found by Lacaille at
the Cape in 1752: thus, at the interval of a century, the
French astronomer and the members of the Anglo-Russian
Commission had arrived at almost exactly the same result,
Descending the Zambesi. —[Page 2209, |
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 229
To deduce the value of the métre, they would have to wait
the issue of the operations which were to be afterwards
undertaken in the northern hemisphere. This value was
to be the z+osalsuu— Of the quadrant of the terrestrial
meridian. According to previous calculations, the quadrant, |
taking the depression of the earth into account, comprised
10,000,856 metres, which brought the exact length of the
métre to .013074 of a toise, or 3 feet o inches 11.296 lines.
Whether this was correct the subsequent labours of the
' Commission would have to decide.
* & * & &
The astronomers had now entirely finished their task,
and it only remained for them to reach the mouth of the
Zambesi, by following inversely the route afterwards taken
by Dr. Livingstone in his second voyage from 1858 to
1864.
On the 25th of May, after a somewhat laborious journey
across a country intersected with rivers, they reached the
Victoria Falls. These fine cataracts fully justified their
native name, which signifies “sounding smoke.†Sheets of
water a mile wide, crowned with a double rainbow, rushed
from a height twice that of Niagara. Across the deep basalt
chasm the enormous torrent produced a roar like peal
after peal of thunder.
Below the cataract, where the river regained its calmness,
the steamboat, which had arrived a fortnight previously by
239 MERIDIANA; THE ADVENTURES OF
an inferior affluent of the Zambesi, awaited the astronomers,
who soon took their places on board.
There.were two to be left behind. Mokoum and the
pioneer stood on the bank. In Mokoum the English were
leaving, not only a devoted guide, but one whom they
might call a friend. Sir John was especially sorry to part
from him, and had offered to take him to Europe, and
there entertain him as long as he pleased to remain. But
Mokoum had previous engagements; in fact, he was to
accompany Livingstone on the second voyage which the
brave traveller was about to undertake up the Zambesi, and
Mokoum was not a man to depart from his word. He was
presented with a substantial recompense, and, what he prized
still more, the kind assurances of regard of the Europeans,
who acknowledged how much they owed to him. As the
steamer left the shore to take the current in the middle
of the river, Sir John’s last gesture was to wave an adieu to
his associate.
The descent of the great river, whose banks were dotted
with numerous villages, was soon accomplished. The
natives, regarding with superstitious admiration the smoking
vessel as it moved by mysterious mechanism, made no
attempt to obstruct its progress,
On the 15th of June the Colonel and his companions
arrived at Quilimane, one of the principal towns at the
mouth of the Zambesi. Their first thought was to ask for
Adieu to Mokoum. —[Page 230.]
THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS. 231
news of the war. They found that it had not yet come to
a termination, and that Sebastopol was still holding out
against the allied armies. This was a disappointment to
the Europeans, now so united in one scientific object ;
but they received the intelligence in silence, and prepared
to start. An Austrian merchant-vessel, “La Novara,†was
just setting out for Suez; in that they resolved to take their
passage.
Three days after, as they were on the point of embarking,
the Colonel assembled his colleagues, and in a calm voice
reminded them how in the last eighteen months they had
together experienced many trials, and how they had been
rewarded by accomplishing a work which would call forth
the admiration of all scientific Europe. He could not
refrain from giving expression to his trust that they would
feel themselves bound in the common fellowship of a true
alliance.
Strux bowed slightly, but did not interrupt the Colonel,
who proceeded to deplore the tidings of the continuation of
warfare. When he referred to the expected capitulation
of Sebastopol, Strux indignantly rejected the possibility of
such an event, which no union of France and England, he
| maintained, could ever effect.
There was, however, it was admitted on all hands, a pro-
priety in the Russians and English submitting to the national
status of hostility. The necessities of their position were thus
232 MERIDIANA.
clearly defined, and under these conditions they embarked
in company on board “La Novara.â€
In a few days they arrived at Suez. At the moment of
separation Emery grasped Zorn’s hand, and said,—
“We are always friends, Michael !â€
“Always and every where, William!†ejaculated Zorn;
and with this sentiment of mutual devotion they parted.
The Commission was dissolved,
THE ENB,
> \
A HURRICANE IN THE CENTRE OF THE EAPTH. AN ELECTRIC STORM.
T
A JOURNEHY
TO THE
CENTRE OF THE EARTH,
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF
JULES VERNE,
AUTHOR OF “FROM THR EARTH TO THE MOON,†‘‘THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND,â€
EIC., ETC.
NEW YORK:
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PUBLISHED BY
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MERIDIANA:
THE ADVENTURES OF THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE Rus-
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FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON
IN 97 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES AND A Trip ArouND It. Eighty
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Price, $3.00.
A JOURNEY to the CENTRE of the EARTH.
Translated from the French of JULES VERNE, author of ‘from the
Farth to the Moon Direct,†‘The Mysterious Island,†&c., &c.
With fifty-two illustrations by Riou.
Popular edition, 20 illustrations, 75c. Complete edition, 53 illustra-
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
A HURRICANE IN THE CENTRE OF THE EartH. AN ELEC-
TRIC STORM.......... are Sis boo @atonatietece ere . Frontispiece.
WHE MUSEUM soe o's0c0si0's 20 24 5's acd wiwisle wise e004 orca Bee hed iors eee 6
PROFESSOR VON HARDWIGG..........0ceeceeeee ear Sdigice a 10
HARRY IN A BRowN STUDY..... Shere ened Stel austineciei es sets a ee 16
TRACING OUR ROUTE..... eiatoum ovecte. tate Are site eoste Saree 21
Hans BJELKE, THE GUIDE... 1... . eee cece cere e eens . 44
En Rovute!...... He seaies yl seaeoae one eae eee tees 50
Tur ASCENT OF SNEFFELS........... Sesh cae eee eae 3 . 68
THE DESCENT OF THE CRATER.........cccc cece eeccceees 88
THe Last “DROP ‘OF WATER. cli. occ oth ls wake eceeiceee 118
Tr BOILING JET........ Sadie ecldte wretch haaltacd are Micheee eave oleret 181
THE WHISPER HEARD......... cc cece cece ec cece te ceeneees 154
THE CENTRAL SEA...... Siaferetds soeaeaee uetthal a oigtaraius cule’ Ste 4 ats . 168
Tur ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD.........c.cece cee ceceeeeeee 192
A MagsEstic GEYSER. THE GEYSER OF THE CENTRAL SEA. 206
DHE BALL OF FIRE. 6.00. cee Cl cease cd cele ees es epule ed 218
GIGANTIC INHABITANTS. ........ 0c cc cece seen cece eee ences 246
THE FEARFUL EXPLOSION. ...... 0.00 cc cec cece cece eeeeeee 258
THE TORCH-LIGHT PASSAGE... .... ccc cece cece eee e cece - 266
’ OUR CONDITION AT THE END OF THE JOURNEY..... seeee 806
A JOURNEY
TO THE
CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER I.
MY UNCLE MAKES A GREAT DISCOVERY.
Looxrne back to all that has occurred to me since that
eventful day, I am scarcely able to believe in the reality
of my adventures. They were truly so wonderful that
even now I am bewildered when I think of them.
My uncle was a German, having married my mother’s
sister, an Englishwoman. Being very much attached to
his fatherless nephew, he invited me to study under him in
his home in the fatherland. This home was ina large
town, and my uncle a Professor of philosophy, chemistry,
geology, mineralogy, and many other ologies.
One day, after passing some hours in the laboratory—
my uncle being absent at the time—I suddenly felt the
necessity of renovating the tissues—i. ¢., I was hungry, and
was about to rouse up our old French cook, when my
uncle, Professor Von Hardwigg, suddenly opened the
street door, and came rushing up stairs.
Now Professor Hardwigg, my worthy uncle, is by no
means a bad sort of man; he is, however, choleric and
1
2 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
original. To bear with him means to obey; and scarcely
had his heavy feet resounded within our joint domicile
than he shouted for me to attend upon him.
“ Harry—Harry—Harry 2
I hastened to obey, but before I could reach his room,
jumping three steps at a time, he was stamping his right
foot upon the landing.
“Harry!†he cried, in a frantic tone, “are you coming
up?â€
Now to tell the truth, at that moment I was far more
interested in the question as to what was to constitute our
dinner than in any problem of science; to me soup was
more interesting than soda, an omelette more tempting
than arithmetic, and an artichoke of ten.times more value
than any amount of asbestos.
But my uncle was not a man to be kept waiting; so
adjourning therefore all minor questions, I presented my-
self before him.
He was a very learned man. Now most. persons in this
category supply themselves with information, as peddlers do
with goods, for the benefit of others, and lay up stores in
order to diffuse them abroad for the benefit of society in
general. Not so my excellent uncle, Professor Hardwigg ;
he studied, he consumed the midnight oil, he pored over
heavy tomes, and digested huge quartos and folios in order
to keep the knowledge acquired to himself.
There was a reason, and it may be regarded aga good
one, why my uncle objected to display his learning more
than was absolutely necessary; he stammered; and when
intent upon explaining the phenomena of the heavens, was
apt to find himself at fault, and allude in such a vague
way to sun, moon, and stars, that few were able to compre-
hend his meaning. To tell the honest truth, when the
right word would not come, it was generally replaced by a
very powerful adjective.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 3
In connection with the sciences there are many almost
unpronounceable names—names very much resembling
those of Welsh villages; and my uncle being very fond of
using them, his habit of stammering was not thereby im-
proved. In fact, there were periods in his discourse when
he would finally give up and swallow his discomfiture—in
a glass of water.
As I said, my uncle, Professor Hardwigg, was a very
learned man; and I now add a most kind relative. I was
bound to him by the double ties of affection and interest.
I took deep interest in all his doings, and hoped some day
to be almost as learned myself. It was a rare thing for me
to be absent from his lectures. Like him, I preferred
mineralogy to all the other sciences. My anxiety was to
gain real knowledge of the earth. Geology and mineralogy
were to us the sole objects of life, and in connection with
these studies many a fair specimen of stone, chalk, or metal
did we break with our hammers.
Steel rods, loadstone, glass pipes, and bottles of various
acids were oftener before us than our meals. My uacle
Hardwige was once known to classify six hundred different
geological specimens by their weight, hardness, fusibility,
sound, taste, and smell.
He corresponded with all the great, learned, and’ scien-
tific men of the age. I was, therefore, in constant com-
munication with, at all events the letters of, Sir Humphrey
Davy, Captain Franklin, and other great men.
But before I state the subject on which my uncle wished
to confer with me, I must say a word about his personal
appearance. Alas! my readers will see a very different
portrait of him at a future time, after he has gone through
the fearful adventures yet to be related.
My uncle was fifty years old; tall, thin, and wiry.
Large spectacles hid, to a certain extent, his vast, round
and goggle eyes, while his nose was irreverently compared
4 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
to a thin file. So much indeed did it resemble that useful
article, that a compass was said in his presence to have
made considerable N* deviation.
The truth being told, however, the only seriele really
attracted to my uncle’s nose was tobacco.
Another peculiarity of his was, that he always stepped a
yard at a time, clenched his fists as if he were going to hit
you, and was, when in one of his peculiar humors, very
far from a pleasant companion.
It is further necessary to observe, that he lived ina very
nice house, in that very nice street, the Kénigstrasse at
Hamburg. Though lying in the centre of a town, it was
perfectly rural in its aspect—half wood, half bricks, with
old-fashioned gables—one of the few old houses spared by
the great fire of 1842.
When I say a nice house, I mean a handsome house—
old, tottering, and not exactly comfortable to English
notions: a house a little off the perpendicular and inclined
to fall into the neighboring canal; exactly the house for a
wandering artist to depict; all the more that you could
scarcely see it for ivy and a magnificent old tree which
grew over the door.
My uncle was rich; his house was his own property,
while he had a considerable private income. To my notion
the best part of his possessions was his god-daughter,
Gretchen. And the old cook, the young lady, the Pro-
fessor and I were the sole inhabitants.
T loved ulereloey: I loved geology. To me there was
a little
less of a fury, we shpat have been the janhient of families.
To prove the excellent Hardwigg’s impatience, I solemnly
declare that when the flowers in the drawing-room pots be-
gan to grow, he rose every morning at four o’clock to make
them grow quicker by pulling the leaves!
* (?) Nasal.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 5
Having described my uncle, I will now give an account °
of our interview.
_ He received me in his study; a perfect museum, con-
taining every natural curiosity that can well be imagined
_—minerals, however, predominating. Every one was
familiar to me, having been catalogued by my own hand.
My unele, apparently oblivious of the fact that he had
summoned me to his presence, was absorbed in a book. He
was particularly fond of early editions, tall copies, and
unique works.
“ Wonderful!†he cried, tapping his forehead. “ Won-
derful—wonderful ! â€
It was one of those yellow-leaved volumes now rarely
found on stalls, and to me it appeared to possess but little
value. My uncle, however, was in raptures.
He admired its binding, the clearness of its characters,
the ease with which it opened in his hand, and repeated
aloud, halfa-dozen times, that it was very, very old.
To my fancy he was making a great fuss about nothing,
but it was not my province to say so. On the contrary,
I professed considerable interest in the subject, and asked
him what it was about.
“Tt is the Heims-Kringla of Snorre Tarleson,†he said,
“the celebrated Icelandic author of the twelfth century—
it is a true and correct account of the Norwegian princes
who reigned in Iceland.â€
My next question related to the language in which it
was written. I hoped at all events it was translated into
German. My uncle was indignant at the very thought,
and declared he wouldn’t give a penny for a translation.
His delight was to have found the original work in the
Icelandic tongue, which he declared to be one of the most
magnificent and yet simple idioms in the world—while at
the same time its grammatical combinations were the most
varied known to students.
6 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“ About as easy as German?†was my insidious remark.
My uncle shrugged his shoulders.
“ The letters at all events,†I said, “ are rather difficult
of comprehension.â€
“Tt is a Runic manuscript, the language of the original
population of Iceland, invented by Odin himself,†cried
my uncle, angry at my ignorance.
I was about to venture upon some qamlaeed joke on the
subject, when a small scrap of parchment fell out of the
leaves. Like a hungry man snatching at a morsel of bread
the Professor seized it. It was about five inches by three
and was scrawled over in the most extraordinary fashion.
The lines on page 12 are an exact facsimile of what
was written on the venerable piece of parchment—and
have wonderful importance, as they induced my uncle to
undertake the most wonderful series of adventures which
ever fell to the lot of human beings.
My uncle looked keenly at the document for some mo-
ments and then declared that it was Runic. The letters
were similar to those in the book, but then what did they
mean? This was exactly what I wanted to know,
Now as I had a strong conviction that the Runic
alphabet and dialect were simply an invention to mystify
poor human nature, I was delighted to find that my uncle
knew as much about the matter as I did—which was
nothing. At all events, the tremulous motion of his fingers
made me think so.
“ And yet,†he muttered to himself, “ it is old Icelandic,
Iam sure of it.â€
And my uncle ought to have known, for he was a per-
fect polyglot dictionary in himself. He did not pretend,
like a certain learned pundit, to speak the two thousand
languages and four thousand idioms made use of in dif
ferent parts of the globe, but he did know all the more
important ones.
Hi
a
i
|
i
a
hu
| it |
ill ; i | \ ‘i
i | | a
H(i i ay
ea
Agility
in wi
He
| RANG
Ai SS
XY sa =
\Y SS ee LE.
THE MUSEUM.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. q
It is a matter of great doubt to me now, to what violent
measures my uncle’s impetuosity. might have led him,
had not the clock struck two, and our old French cook
called out to let us know that dinner was on the table.
“ Bother the dinner!†cried my uncle.
But as I was hungry, I sallied forth to the dining-room,
where I took up my usual quarters. Out of politeness I
waited three minutes, but no sign of my uncle, the Pro-
fessor. I was surprised. He was not usually so blind to
the pleasure of a good dinner. It was the acme of German
luxury—parsley soup, a ham omelette with sorrel trim-
mings, an oyster of veal stewed with prunes, delicious fruit,
and sparkling Moselle. For the sake of poring over this
musty old piece of parchment, my uncle forbore to share
our meal. To satisfy my conscience, I ate for both.
The old cook and housekeeper was nearly out of her
mind. After taking so much trouble, to find her master
not appear at dinner was to her a sad disappointment—
which, as she occasionally watched the havoe I was
making on the viands, became also alarm. If my uncle
were to come to table after all?
Suddenly, just as I had consumed the last apple and
drank the last glass of wine, a terrible voice was heard at
no great distance. It was my uncle roaring for me to
come to him. I made very nearly one leap of it—so loud,
80 fierce was his tone.
8 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER IT.
THE MYSTERIOUS PARCHMENT.
KARMA XUATNTD beeET bh.
HIUTHHYE NAKATTIFE KIDDATY
CRAAYK. ATA1T+H ad RRAARK
AYOMAL ANAL ER AAT DA
AMNWN1A CKAVKAY 1+11B4
YY bAY! 4F4NTND FAIMON
bt? i4r butiBk Ferbuil
“T DECLARE,†cried my uncle, striking the table fiercely
with his fist, “I declare to you it is Runic—and contains
some wonderful secret, which I must get at, at any price.â€
I was about to reply when he stopped me.
“Sit down,†he said, quite fiercely, “and write to my
dictation.â€
I obeyed.
“T will substitute,†he said, “a letter of our alphabet
for that of the Runic: we will then see what that will pro-
duce. Now, begin and make no mistakes.â€
The dictation commenced with the following incompre-
hensible result :—
mrnlls esruel seecd de
sgissmf untetef miedrke
kt,samn atrateS Saodrrn
emtnael nuaect rritSa
Atvaar nscre teaabs
codrmi ecutul frantu
dt,iac oseibo Keduil
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 9
Scareely giving me time to finish, my uncle snatched
the document from my hands and examined it with the
most rapt and deep attention.
“ T should like to know what it means,†he said, after a
long period.
I certainly could not tell him, nor did he expect me
to—his conversation being uniformly answered by him-
self.
“T declare it puts me in mind of a eryptograph,†he
cried, “unless, indeed, the letters have been written with-
out any real meaning; and yet why take so much
trouble? Who knows but I may be on the verge of some
great discovery?†;
My candid opinion was that it was all rubbish! But
this opinion I kept carefully to myself, as my uncle’s
choler was not pleasant to bear. All this time he was
comparing the book with the parchment.
“The manuscript volume and the smaller document
‘are written in different hands,†he said, “the cryptograph
is of much later date than the book; there is an undoubt-
ed proof of the correctness of my surmise. [An irre-
fragable proof I took it to be] The first letter is a
double M, which was only added to the Icelandic lan-
guage in the twelfth century—this makes the parchment
two hundred years posterior to the volume.â€
The circumstances appeared very probable and very
logical, but it was all surmise to me.
“To me it appears probable that this sentence was
written by some owner of the book. Now who was the
owner, is the next important question. Perhaps by great
good luck it may be written somewhere in the volume.â€
With these words Professor Hardwigg took off his spec-
tacles, and, taking a powerful magnifying glass, examined
the book carefully.
On the fiy leaf was what appeared to be a blot of ink,
1*
10 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
but on examination proved to be a line of writing almost
effaced by time. This was what he sought; and, after
some considerable time, he made out these letters :
ALM HIPKN4SEX
“ Arne Saknussemm!†he eried in a joyous and tri-
umphant tone, “that is not only an Icelandic name, but
of a learned professor of the sixteenth century, a celebrated
alchemist.â€
I bowed as a sign of respect.
“These alchemists,†he continued, “ Avicena, Bacon,
Lully, Paracelsus, were the true, the only learned men of
the day. They made surprising discoveries. May not this
Saknussemm, nephew mine, have hidden on this bit of
parchment some astounding invention? I believe the
eryptograph to have a profound meaning—which I must
make out.â€
My uncle walked about the room in a state of excite-
ment almost impossible to describe.
“Tt may be so, sir,†I timidly observed, “but why con-
ceal it from posterity, if it be a useful, a worthy dis-
covery ?â€
“ Why—how should I know? Did not Galileo make a
secret of his discoveries in connection with Saturn? But
we shall see. Until I discover the meaning of this sentence
I will neither eat nor sleep.â€
“ My dear uncle †T began. .
“Nor you neither,†he added.
Tt was lucky I had taken double allowance that day.
“Tn the first place,†he continued, “ there must be a clue
to the meaning. If we could find that, the rest would be
easy enough.â€
I began seriously to reflect. The prospect of going
PROFESSOR VON HARDWIGG,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 11
without food and sleep was not a promising one, so I de-
termined to do my best to solve the mystery. My uncle,
meanwhile, went on with his soliloquy.
“The way to discover it is easy enough. In this docu-
ment there are one hundred and thirty-two letters, giving
seventy-nine consonants to fifty-three vowels. This is.about
the proportion found in most southern languages, the
idioms of the north being much more rich in consonants.
We may confidently predict, therefore, that we have to deal
with a southern dialect.â€
Nothing could be more logical.
“ Now,†said Professor Hardwigg, “to trace the parti-
cular language.â€
“ As Shakspeare says, ‘that is the question,†was my
rather satirical reply.
“This man Saknussemm,†he continued, “ was a very
learned man: now as he did not write in the language of
his birth-place, he probably, like most learned men of the
sixteenth century, wrote in Latin. If, however, I prove
wrong in this guess, we must try Spanish, French, Italian,
Greek, and even Hebrew. My own opinion, though, is
decidedly in favor of Latin†_
This proposition startled me. Latin was my favorite
study, and it seemed sacrilege to believe this gibberish to
belong to the country of Virgil.
“Barbarous Latin, in all probability,’ continued my
uncle, “but still Latin.â€
“Very probably,†I replied, not to contradict him.
“Let us see into the matter,’ continued my uncle;
“here you see we have a series of one hundred and thirty-
two letters, apparently thrown pell-mell upon paper, with-
out method or organization. There are words which are
composed wholly of consonants, such as m.rnils, others
which are nearly all vowels, the fifth, for instance, which
is wnteief, and one of the last oseibo. This appears an
1Z A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
extraordinary combination. Probably we shall find that
the phrase is arranged according to some mathematical
plan. No doubt a certain sentence has been written out
and then jumbled up—some plan to which some figure is
the clue. Now, Harry, to show your English wit—what
is that figure?â€
I could give him no hint. My thoughts were indeed
far away. While he was speaking I had caught sight of
the portrait of my cousin Gretchen, and was wondering
when she would return.
‘We were affianced, and loved one another very sincerely.
But my uncle, who never thought even of such sublunary
matters, knew nothing of this. Without noticing my ab-
straction, the Professor began reading the puzzling cryp-
tograph all sorts of ways, according to some theory of his
own. Presently, rousing my wandering attention, he dic-
tated one precious attempt to me.
I mildly handed it over to him. It read as follows :—
mmessunkaSenr A .icefdoK.segnittamurin
ecertserrette,rotaivsadua,ednecsedsadne
lacariniiluS siratracSarbmutabiledmek
meretaresilucoIsleffenSnL.
I could scarcely keep from laughing, while my uncle,
on the contrary, got in a towering passion, struck the table
with his fist, darted out of the room, out of the house, and
then taking to his heels was presently lost to sight.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 13
CHAPTER III.
AN ASTOUNDING DISCOVERY.
“Wuar is the matter?†cried the cook, entering the
room; “when will master have his dinner ? â€
“Never.â€
“ And, his supper?â€
“T don’t know. He says he will eat no more, neither
shall I. My uncle has determined to fast and make me
fast until he makes out this abominable inscription,†I
replied.
“You will be starved to death,†she said.
I was very much of the same opinion, but not liking to
say so, sent her away, and began some of my usual work
of classification. But boy as I made myself, nothing
could keep me from thinking alternately of the stupid
manuscript and of the pretty Gretchen.
Several times I thought of going out, but my uncle
would have been angry at my absence. At the end of an
hour, my allotted task was done. How to pass the time?
I began by lighting my pipe. Like all other students, I
delighted in tobacco; and, seating myself in the great
arm-chair, I began to think.
Where was my uncle? I could easily imagine him
tearing along some solitary road, gesticulating, talking to
himself, cutting the air with his cane, and still thinking
of the absurd bit of hieroglyphics. Would he hit upon
some clue? Would he come home in better humor?
While these thoughts were passing through my brain, I
mechanically took up the execrable puzzle and tried every
imaginable way of grouping the letters. I put them to-
gether by twos, by threes, fours, and fives—in vain.
14
Nothing intelligible came out, except that the fourteenth,
fifteenth and sixteenth made tee in English; the eighty-
fourth, eighty-fifth and eighty-sixth, the word sir; then at
last I seemed to find the Latin words rota, mutabile, ira,
nec, atra.
“Ha! there seems to be some truth in my uncle’s no-
tion,†thought I.
Then again I seemed to find the word lueo, which means
sacred wood. Then in the third line I appeared to make
out labiled, a perfect Hebrew word, and at the last the
syllables mere, are, mer, which were French.
It was enough to drive one mad. Four different idioms
in this absurd phrase. What connection could there be
between ice, sir, anger, cruel, sacred wood, changing,
mother, are and sea? The first and the last might, in a
sentence connected with Iceland, mean sea of ice. But
what of the rest of this monstrous cryptograph ?
I was, in fact, fighting against an insurmountable diffi-
culty ; my brain was almost on fire ; my eyes were strained
with staring at the parchment; the whole absurd collec-
tion of letters appeared to dance before my vision in a
number of black little groups. My mind was possessed
with temporary hallucination—I was stifling. I wanted
air. Mechanically I fanned myself with the document,
of which now I saw the back and then the front.
Imagine my surprise when glancing at the back of the
wearisome puzzle, the ink having gone through, I clearly
made out Latin words, and among others craterem and
terrestre.
I had discovered the secret !
It came upon me like a flash of lightning. Thad got the
clue. All you had to do to understand the document was
to read it backwards. All the ingenious ideas of the Pro-
fessor were realized; he had dictated it rightly to me; by a
mere accident I had discovered what he so much desired.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 15
My delight, my emotion may be imagined, my eyes
were dazzled and I trembled so that at first I could make
nothing of it. One look, however, would tell me all I
wished to know.
“ Let me read,†I said to myself, after drawing a long
breath.
I spread it before me on the table, I passed my finger
over each letter, I spelt it through; in my excitement I
read it out. ;
What horror and stupefaction took possession of my
soul. I was like a man who had received a knock-down
blow. Was it possible that I really read the terrible
secret, and it had really been accomplished! A man had
dared to do—what ?
No living being should ever know.
“ Never!†cried I, jumping up; “ Never shall my uncle
be made aware of the dread secret. He would be quite
capable of undertaking the terrible journey. Nothing
would check him, nothing stop him. Worse, he would
compel me to accompany him, and we should be lost for-
ever. But no; such follyand madness cannot be allowed.â€
I was almost beside myself with rage and fury.
“My worthy uncle is already nearly mad,†I cried
aloud. “This would finish him. By some accident he
may make the discovery; in which case, we are both lost.
Perish the fearful secret—let the flames forever bury it in
oblivion.â€
I snatched up book and parchment, and was about to
cast them into the fire, when the door opened and my
uncle entered.
I had scarcely time to put down the wretched docu-
ments before my uncle was by my side. He was pro-
foundly absorbed. His thoughts were evidently bent on
the terrible parchment. Some new combination had pro-
bably struck him while taking his walk.
2
16 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
He seated himself in his arm-chair, and with a pen began
to make an algebraical calculation. I watched him with
anxious eyes. My flesh crawled as it became probable
that he would discover the secret.
His combinations I knew now were useless, I having
discovered the one only clue. For three mortal hours he
continued without speaking a word, without raising his
head, scratching, re-writing, calculating over and over
again. I knew that in time he must hit upon the right
phrase. The letters of every alphabet have only a certain
number of combinations. But then years might elapse be-
fore he would arrive at the correct solution.
Still time went on; night came, the sounds in the streets
ceased—and still my uncle went on, not even answering
our worthy cook when she called us to supper.
I did not dare to leave him, so waved her away, and
at last fell asleep on the sofa.
When I awoke my uncle was still at work. His red
eyes, his pallid countenance, his matted hair, his feverish
hands, his hecticly flushed cheeks, showed how terrible
had been his struggle with the impossible, and what fear-
ful fatigue he had undergone during that long sleepless
night. It made me quite ill to look at him. Though he
was rather severe with me, I loved him, and my heart
ached at his sufferings. He was so overcome by one idea
that he could not even get in a passion! All his energies
were focussed on one point. And I knew that by speaking
one little word all this suffering would cease. I could not
speak it.
My heart was, neverthless, inclining towards him. Why,
then, did I remain silent? In the interest of my uncle
himself.
“Nothing shall make me speak,†I muttered. “He
will want to follow in the footsteps of the other! I know
him well. His imagination is a perfect volcano, and to
BROWN sTuUDY,.
IN A
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 17
make discoveries in the interests of geology he would,
sacrifice his life. I will therefore be silent and strictly
keep the secret I have discovered. To reveal it would be
suicidal. He would not only rush, himself, to destruction,
but drag me with him.â€
I crossed my arms, looked another way and smoked—
resolved never to speak.
When our cook wanted to go out to market, or on any
other errand, she found the front door locked and the
key taken away. Was this done purposely or not?
Surely Professor Hardwigg did not intend the old woman
and myself to become martyrs to his obstinate will. Were
we to be starved to death? A frightful recollection came
to my mind. Once we had fed on bits and scraps for a
week while he sorted some curiosities. It gave me the
cramp even to think of it!
I wanted my breakfast, and I saw no way of getting it.
Still my resolution held good. I would starve rather than
yield. But the cook began to take me seriously to task.
What was to be done? She could not go out; and I
dared not.
My uncle continued counting and writing; his imagi-
nation seemed to have translated him to the skies. He
neither thought of eating nor drinking. In this way
twelve o’clock came round. I was hungry, and there was
nothing in the house. The cook had eaten the last bit of
bread. This could not go on. It did, however, until two,
when my sensations were terrible. Afterall, I began to
think the document very absurd. Perhaps it might only
be a gigantic hoax. Besides, some means would surely be
found to keep my uncle back from attempting any such
absurd expedition. On the other hand, if he did attempt
anything so Quixotic, I should not be compelled to ac-
company him. Another line of reasoning partially de-
cided me. Very likely he would make the discovery him-
18 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
-self when I should have suffered starvation for nothing.
Under the influence of hunger this reasoning appeared
admirable. I determined to tell all. ;
The question now arose as to how it was to be done. I
was still dwelling on the thought, when he rose and put
on his hat.
What! go out and lock us in? Never!
“Uncle,†I began.
He did not appear even to hear me.
“ Professor Hardwigg,†I cried.
“ What,†he retorted, “did you speak?â€
“ How about the key?â€
“What key—the key of the door?â€
“ No—of these horrible hieroglyphics ?â€
He looked at me from under his spectacles, and started
at the odd expression of my face. Rushing forward, he
clutched me by the arm and keenly examined my counte-
nance. His very look was an interrogation.
I simply nodded.
With an incredulous shrug of the shoulders, he turned
upon his heel. Undoubtedly he thought I had gone mad.
“T have made a very important discovery.â€
His eyes flashed with excitement. His hand was lifted
in a menacing attitude. For a moment neither of us
spoke. It is hard to say which was most excited.
“You don’t mean to say that you have any idea of the
meaning of the scrawl?â€
“T do,’ was my desperate reply. “ Look at the sentence
as dictated by you.â€
“Well, but it means nothing,†was the angry answer.
“Nothing if you read from left to right, but mark, if
from right to left iy
“Backwards!†cried my uncle, in wild amazement.
“Oh most cunning Saknussemm; and I to be such a
blockhead!â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 19
He snatched up the document, gazed at it with haggard
eye, and read it out as I had done.
It read as follows :—
In Sneffels yooulis craterem kem delebat
Umbra Scartaris Julit intra calendas descende.
Audas viator, et terrestre centrum attinges,
Kod fect. Arne Saknussemm.
Which dog-Latin being translated, reads as follows:—
“Descend into the crater of Yocul of Sneffels, which
the shade of Scartaris caresses, before the kalends of July,
audacious traveller, and you will reach the centre of the
earth. I did it. ARNE SAKNUSSEMM.â€
My uncle leaped three feet from the ground with joy.
He looked radiant and handsome. He rushed about the
room wild with delight and satisfaction. He knocked over
tables and chairs. He threw his books about until at last,
utterly exhausted, he fell into his arm-chair.
“What’s o’clock?†he asked.
* About three.â€
“ My dinner does not seem to have done me much good,â€
he observed, “ Let me have something to eat. We can
then start at once. Get my portmanteau ready.â€
“What for?â€
“ And your own,†he continued. “ We start at once.â€
My horror may be conceived. I resolved however to
show no fear. Scientific reasons were the only ones likely
to influence my uncle. Now, there were many against
this terrible journey. The very idea of going down to the
centre of the earth was simply absurd. I determined
therefore to argue the point after dinner.
My uncle’s rage was now directed against the cook for
having no dinner ready. My explanation however satis-
fied him, and giving her the key she soon contrived to get
sufficient to satisfy our voracious appetites.
During the repast my uncle was rather gay than other-
90 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
wise. He made some of those peculiar jokes which belong
exclusively to the learned. As soon however as dessert
was over, he called me to his study. We each took a
chair on opposite sides of the table.
“Henry,†he said, in a soft and winning voice; “I have
always believed you ingénious, and you have rendered me
a service never to be forgotten. Without you, this great,
this wondrous discovery would never have been made. It
is my duty, therefore, to insist on your sharing the glory.â€
“Fe is in-a good humor,†thought I; “TIL soon let him
know my opinion of glory.â€
“Tn the first place,’ he continued, “you must keep the
whole affair a profound secret. There is no more envious
race of men than scientific discoverers. Many would
start on the same journey. At all events, we will be the
first in the field.â€
“T doubt your having many competitors,†was my reply.
“A man of real scientific acquirements would be de-
lighted at the chance. We should find a perfect stream
of pilgrims on the traces of Arne Saknussemm, if this
document were once made public.
“ But my dear sir, is not this paper very likely to be a
hoax ?†I urged.
“The book in which we find it is sufficient proof of its
authenticity,†he replied.
“T thoroughly allow that the celebrated Professor wrote
the lines, but only, I helieve, as a kind of mystification,â€
was my answer.
Scarcely were the words out of my mouth, when I was
sorry 1 had uttered them. My uncle looked at me with a
dark and gloomy scowl, and I began to be alarmed for the
results of our conversation. His mood soon changed, how-
ever, and a smile took the place of a frown.
“We shall see,†he remarked, with decisive emphasis.
“ But see, what is all this about Yocul, and Sneffels,
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TRACING OUR ROUTE.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 21
and this Scartaris? I have never heard anything about
them.â€
“The very point to which I am coming. I lately re
ceived from my friend, Augustus Peterman, of Leipzig, a
map. Take down the third atlas from the second shelf,
series Z, plate 4.
T rose, went to the shelf, and presently returned with the
volume indicated.
“'This,†said my unele, “is one of the best maps of Ice-
land. I believe it will settle all your doubts, difficulties
and objections.â€
With a grim hope to the contrary, I stooped over the
map.
22 =A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER IV.
WE START ON THE JOURNEY.
“You see, the whole island is composed of volcanoes,â€
said the Professor, “and remark carefully that they all
bear the name of Yokul. The word is Icelandic, and
means a glacier. In most of the lofty mountains of that
region the volcanic eruptions come forth from ice-bound
caverns. Hence the name applied to every volcano on
this extraordinary island.â€
“ But what does this word Sneffels mean ?â€
To this question I expected no rational answer. I was
mistaken.
“Follow my finger to the western coast of Iceland,
there you sce Reykjawik, its capital. Follow the direction
of one of its innumerable fjords or arms of the sea, and
what do you see below the sixty-fifth degree of latitude?â€
“A peninsula—very like a thigh-bone in shape.â€
“ And in the centre of it 2â€
“ A mountain.â€
“ Well, that’s Sneffels.â€
I had nothing to say.
“That is Snefiels—a mountain about five thousand feet
in height, one of the most remarkable in the whole island,
and certainly doomed to be the most celebrated in the
world, for through its crater we shall reach the Centre of
the Harth.â€
“Tmpossible!†cried I, startled and shocked at the
thought.
“Why impossible?†said Professor Hardwigg in his
severest tones.
A JOURNEY TO TIE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 23
“Because its crater is choked with lava, by burning
rocks—by infinite dangers.â€
“ Bub if it be extinct?â€
“That would make a difference.â€
“Of course it would. There are about three hundred
volcanoes on the whole surface of the globe—but the
greater number are extinct. Of these Sneflels is one. No
eruption has occurred since 1219—in fact it has ceased to
be a volcano at all.â€
After this what more could I say? Yes—I thought of
another objection.
“ But what is all this about Scartaris and the kalends
of July (eas
My uncle reflected deeply. Presently he gave forth the
result of his reflections in a sententious tone.
“ What appears obscure to you, to me is light. This
very phrase shows how particular Saknussemm is in his
directions. The Sneffels’ mountain has many craters. He
is careful therefore to point the exact one which is the
highway into the Interior of the Harth. THe lets us know,
for this purpose, that about the end of the month of June,
the shadow of Mount Scartaris falls upon the one crater.
‘There can be no doubt about the matter.â€
My unele had an answer for everything.
“T accept all your explanations,†I said, “and Saknus-
semm is right. He found out the entrance to the bowels
of the earth, he has indicated correctly, but that he or any
one else ever followed up the discovery, is madness to
suppose.â€
“Why so, young man?â€
“ All scientific teaching, theoretical and practical, shows
it to be impossible.â€
“T care nothing for theories,†retorted my uncle.
“ But is it not well-known that heat increases one degree
for every seventy fect you descend into the earth? which
24 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
gives a fine idea of the central heat. All the matters
which compose the globe are in a state of incandescence ;
even gold, platinum, and the hardest rocks are in a state
of fusion. What would become of us?â€
“ Don’t be alarmed at the heat, my boy.â€
_“ How so?â€
“Neither you nor anybody else know anything about
the real state of the earth’s interior. AH modern experi-
ments tend to explode the older theories. Were any such
heat to exist, the upper crust of the earth would be
shattered to atoms, and the world would be at an end.â€
A long, learned and not uninteresting discussion followed,
which ended in this wise :—
“T do not believe in the dangers and difficulties which
you, Henry, seem to multiply ; and the only way to learn,
is like Arne Saknussemm, to go and see.â€
“Well,†cried I, overcome at last, “let us go and see.
Though how we can do that in the dark is another
mystery.â€
“Fear nothing. We shall overcome these, and many
other difficulties. Besides, as we approach the Centre, I
expect to find it luminous—â€
“ Nothing is impossible.â€
“ And now that we have come to a thorough under-
standing, not a word to any living soul. Our success
depends on. secrecy and despatch.â€
Thus ended owr memorable conference, which roused a
perfect fever inme. Leaving my uncle, I went forth like
one possessed. Reaching the banks of the Elbe, I began to
think. Was all I had heard really and truly possible? Was
my uncle in his sober senses, and could the interior of the
earth be reached? Was I the victim of a madman, or was
he a discoverer of rare courage and grandeur of conception?
To a certain extent I was anxious to be off I was
afraid my enthusiasm would cool. I determined to pack
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 25
up at once. At the end of an hour, however, on my way
home, I found that my feelings had very much changed.
“Ym all abroad,†I cried; “’tis a nightmare—{ must
have dreamed it.â€
At this moment I came face to face with Gretcher
whom I warmly embraced.
“So you have come to meet me,†she said; “ how good
of you. But what is the matter?â€
Well, it was no use mincing the matter, I told her all.
She listened with awe, and 6 some minutes she could
not speak.
“Well?†I at last said, rather anxiously.
“What a magnificent journey. If I were only a man!
A journey worthy of the nephew of Professor Hardwigg.
LE should look upon it as an honor to accompany him.â€
“My dear Gretchen, I thought you would be the first
to ery out against this mad enterprise.â€
“No; on the contrary, I glory init. It is magnificent,
splendid—an. idea worthy of my father. Henry Lawson,
I envy you.â€
This was, as it were, conclusive. The final blow of all.
When we entered the house we found my uncle sur-
rounded by workmen and porters, who were packing up.
He was pulling and hauling at a bell.
“Where have you been wasting your time? Your
papers are not in order—
portmanteau is not packed
the precious tailor has not brought my clothes, nor my
gaiters—the key of my carpet bag is gone!â€
I looked at him stupefied. And still he tugged away
at the bell.
“We are really off, then?†I said.
“Yes--of course, and yet you go out for a stroll, unfor-
tunate boy!â€
“ And when do we go?â€
“'The day after to-morrow, at daybreak,â€
26 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I heard no more; but darted off to my little bed.
chamber and locked myself in. There was no doubt about
itnow. My uncle had been hard ai work all the after-
noon. The garden was full of ropes, rope-ladders, torches,
gourds, iron clamps, crow-bars, alpenstocks, and pickaxes
—enough to load ten men.
I passed a terrible night. I was called early the next
day to learn that the resolution of my uncle was un-
changed and irrevocable. I also found my cousin and
affianced wife as warm on the subject as was her father.
Next day, at five o’clock in the morning, the post-chaise
was at the door. Gretchen and the old cook received the
keys of the house; and, scarcely pausing to wish any one
good-bye, we started on our adventurous journey into the
Centre of the Earth.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 27
CHAPTER V.
FIRST LESSONS IN CLIMBING.
Ar Altona, a suburb of Hamburg, is the Chief Station
of the Kiel railway, which was to take us to the shores of
the Belt. In twenty minutes from the moment of our
departure we were in Holstein, and our carriage entered
the station. Our heavy luggage was taken out, weighed,
labelled, and placed in a huge van. We then tock our
tickets, and exactly at seven o’clock were seated opposite
each other in a first-class railway carriage.
My uncle said nothing. He was too busy examining
his papers, among which of course was the famous parch-
ment, and some letters of introduction from the Danish
consul, which were to pave the way to an introduction to
the Governor of Iceland. My only amusement was look-
ing out of the window. But as we passed through a flat
though fertile country, this occupation was slightly mo-
notonous. In three hours we reached Kiel, and our
baggage was at once transferred to the steamer.
We had now a day before us, a delay of about ten
hours. Which fact put my uncle in a towering passion.
We had nothing to do but to walk about the pretty town
and bay. At length, however, we went on board, and at
half past ten were steaming down the Great Belt. It was
a dark night, with a strong breeze and a rough sea, nothing
being visible but the occasional fires on shore, with here
and there a lighthouse. At seven in the morning we left
Korsér, a little town on the western side of Seeland.
Here we took another railway, which in three hours
brought us to the capital, Copenhagen, where, scarcely,
taking time for refreshment, my uncle hurried out to pre-
28 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
sent one of his letters of introduction. It was to the
director of the Museum of Antiquities, who having been
informed that we were tourists bound for Iceland, did all
he could to assist us. One wretched hope sustained me
now. Perhaps no vessel was bound for such distant parts.
Alas! a little Danish schooner, the Valkyrie, was to
sail on the second of June for Reykjawik. The captain,
M. Bjarne, was on board, and was rather surprised at the
energy and cordiality with which his future passenger
shook him by the hand. To him a voyage to Iceland
was merely a matter of course. My unele, on the other
hand, considered the event of sublime importance. The
honest sailor took advantage of the Professor’s enthusiasm
to double the fare.
“On Tuesday morning at seven o’clock be on board,â€
said M. Bjarne, handing us our receipts.
“¥xcellent! Capital! Glorious!†remarked my uncle
as we sat down to a late breakfast ; “refresh piles self, my
boy, and we will take a run through the town.â€
Our meal concluded, we went to the Kongens-Nye-Torw;
to the king’s magnificent palace; to the beautiful bridge
over the canal near the Museum; to the immense ceno-
taph of Thorwaldsen with its hideous naval groups; to
the castle of Rosenberg; and to all the other lions of the
place——none of which my uncle even saw, so absorbed
was he in his anticipated triumphs.
But one thing struck his fancy, and that was a certain
singular steeple situated on the Island of Amak, which is
the south-east quarter of the city of Copenhagen. My
uncle at once ordered me to turn my steps that way, and
accordingly we went on board the steam ferry boat which
does duty on the canal, and very soon reached the noted
dockyard quay.
In the first instance we crossed some narrow streets,
where we mef numerous groups of galley slaves, with parti-
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 29
colored trousers, grey and yellow, working under the orders
and the sticks of severe task-masters, and finally reached
the Vor-Frelser’s-Kirk.
This church exhibited nothing remarkable in itself; in
fact, the worthy Professor had only been attracted to it by
one circumstance, which was, that its rather elevated. stee-
ple started from a circular platform, after which there was
an exterior staircase, which wound round to the very summit.
“Let us ascend,†said my uncle.
“ But I never could climb church towers,’ I cried, “I
am subject to dizziness in my head.â€
“'The very reason why you should go up. I want to
cure you of a bad habit.â€
“ But my good sir %
“T tell you to come. What is the use of wasting so
much valuable time?â€
It was impossible to dispute the dictatorial commands of
my uncle. I yielded with a groan. On payment of a
fee, a verger gave us the key. He, for one, was not partial
to the ascent. My uncle at once showed me the way, run-
ning up the steps like a school-boy. I followed as well as
I could, though no sooner was I outside the tower, than
my head began to swim. There was nothing of the cagle
about me. The earth was enough for me, and no ambi-
tious desire to soar ever entered my mind. Still things
did not go badly until I had ascended 150 steps, and was
near the platform, when I began to feel the rush of cold
air. I could scarcely stand, when clutching the railings,
I looked upwards. The railing was frail enough, but no-
thing to those which skirted the terrible winding staircase,
that appeared, from where I stood, to ascend to the skies.
“Now then, Henry.â€
“T can’t do it!†I cried, in accents of despair.
“ Are you, after all, a coward, sir?†said my uncle in a
pitiless tone. “Go up, I say!â€
30) A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
To this there was no reply possible. And yet the keen
air acted violently on my nervous system; sky, earth, all
seemed to swim round; while the steeple rocked like a
ship. My legs gave way like those of a drunken man. I
crawled upon my hands and knees; I hauled myself up
slowly, crawling like a snake. Presently I closed my eyes,
and allowed myself to be dragged upwards.
“Took around you,†said my uncle, in a stern voice,
“heaven knows what profound abysses you may have to
look down. This is excellent practice.â€
Slowly, and shivering all the while with cold, I opened
my eyes. What then did I see? My first glance was up-
wards at the cold fleecy clouds, which as by some optical
delusion appeared to stand still, while the steeple, the
weathercock, and our two selves were carried swiftly along.
Far 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 as we call it, could be discovered beyond
the point of Elsinore, crowded with white sails, which, at
that distance, looked like the wings of sea-gulls; while to
the east could be made out the far-off coast of Sweden.
The whole appeared a magic panorama.
But faint and bewildered as I was, there was no remedy
for it. Rise and stand up I must. Despite my protes-
tations my first lesson lasted quite an hour. When, nearly
two hours later, I reached the bosom of mother earth, |
was like a rheumatic old man bent double with pain.
“Enough for one day,†said my uncle, rubbing his
hands, “we will begin again to-morrow.â€
There was no remedy. My lessons lasted five days, and
at the end of that period, I ascended blithely enough, and
found myself able to look Gown into the depths below
without even winking, and with some degree of pleasure.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 31
CHAPTER VI.
OUR VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
Tur hour of departure came at last. The night before,
the worthy Mr. Thompson brought us the most cordial let-
ters of introduction for Count Trampe, Governor of Ice-
land, for M. Pictursson, coadjutor to the bishop, and. for
M. Finsen, mayor of the town of Reykjawik. In return,
my uncle nearly crushed his hands, so warmly did he
shake them.
On the second of the month, at two in the morning, our
precious cargo of luggage was taken on board the good
ship Valkyrie. We followed, and were very politely in-
troduced by the captain to a small cabin with two stand-
ing bed places, neither very well ventilated nor very com-
fortable. But in the cause of science men are expected to
suffer.
“Well, and have we a fair wind?†cried my uncle, in
his most mellifluous accents.
“An excellent wind!†replied Captain Bjarne; “we
shall leave the Sound, going free with all sails set.â€
A few minutes afterwards, the schooner started before
the wind, under all the canvas she could carry, and en-
tered the channel. An hour later, the capital of Denmark
seemed to sink into the waves, and we were at no great dis-
tance from the coast of Elsinore. My uncle was delighted;
for myself, moody and dissatisfied, I appeared almost to
expect a glimpse of the ghost of Hamlet.
“Sublime madman,†thought I, “you doubtless, would
approve our proceedings. You might perbaps even follow
us to the centre of the earth, there to resolve your eternal
doubts.â€
82 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
But no ghost, or anything clse appeared upon the an-
cient walls. The fact is, the castle is much later than the
time of the heroic prince of Denmark. It is now the re-
sidence of the keeper of the Strait of the Sound, and
through that Sound more than fifteen thousand vessels of
all nations pass every year.
The castle of Kronborg soon disappeared in the murky
atmosphere, as well as the tower of Helsinborg, which
raises its head on the Swedish Bank, And here the
schooner began to feel in earnest the breezes of the Catte-
gat. The Valkyrie was swift enough, but with all sailing
boats there is the same uncertainty. Her cargo was coal,
furniture, pottery, woolen clothing, and a load of corn.
As usual, the crew was small, five Danes doing the whole
of the work.
“ How long will the voyage last?†asked my uncle.
“Well, I should think about ten days,’ replied the
skipper, “unless, indeed, we meet with some north-east
gales among the Faroe Islands.
“At all events, there will be no very considerable de-
lay,†eried the impatient Professor.
“No, Mr. Hardwigg,†said the captain, “no fear of that.
At all events, we shall get there some day.â€
Towards evening the schooner doubled Cape Skagen,
the northernmost part of Denmark, crossed the Skager-
Rak during the night—skirted the extreme point of Nor-
way through the gut of Cape Lindness, and then reached
the Northern Seas. Two days later we were not far from
the coast of Scotland, somewhere near what Danish sailors
call Peterhead, and then the Valkyrie stretched out direct
for the Faroe Islands, between Orkney and Shetland. Our
vessel now felt the full force of the ocean waves, and the
wind shifting, we with great difficulty made the Faroe
Isles. On the eighth day, the captain made out Mygan-
ness, the westernmost of the Isles, and from that moment
A JOURNEY TO THN CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 33
headed direct for Portland, a cape on the southern shores
of the singular island for which we were bound.
The voyage offered no incident worthy of record. I bore
it very well, but my uncle to his great annoyance, and
even shame, was remarkably sea-sick! This mal de mer
troubled him the more, that it prevented him from ques-
tioning Captain Bjarne as to the subject of Sneffels, as to
the means of communication, and the facilities of transport.
All these explanations he had to adjourn to the period of
his arrival. His time meanwhile, was spent lying in bed
groaning, and dwelling anxiously on the hoped-for termi-
nation of the voyage. I didn’t pity him.
On the eleventh day we sighted Cape Portland, over
which towered Mount Myrdals Yokul, which, the weather
being clear, we made out very readily. The cape itself is
nothing but a hvge mount of granite standing naked and
alone to meet the Atlantic waves. The Valkyrie kept off
the coast, steering to the westward. On all sides were to
be seen whole “schools†of whales and sharks. After
some hours we came in sight of a solitary rock in the
ocean, forming a mighty vault, through which the foam-
ing waves poured with intense fury. The islets of West-
man appeared to leap from the ocean, being so low in the
water as scarcely to be seen until you were right upon
them. From that moment the schooner was steered to
the westward in order to round Cape Reykjaness, the
western point of Iceland.
My uncle, to his great disgust, was unable even to crawl
on deck, so heavy a sea was on, and thus lost the first
view of the Land of Promise. Forty-eight hours later,
after a storm which drove us far to sea under bare poles,
we came once more in sight of land, and were boarded by
a pilot, who, after three hours of dangerous navigation,
brought the schooner safely to an anchor in the bay of
Faxa before Reykjawik.
384 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
My uncle came out of his cabin pale, haggard, thin,
but full of enthusiasm, his eyes dilated with pleasure and
satisfuction. Nearly the whole population of the town
was on foot to see us land. The fact was, that scarcely
any one of them but expected some goods by the periodi-
cal vessel.
Professor Hardwigg was in haste to leave his prison, or
rather as he called it, his hospital; but before he at-
tempted to do so, he caught hold of my hand, led me to
the quarter-deck of the schooner, took my arm with his
left, hand, and pointed inland with his right, over the
northern part of the bay, to where rose a high two-peaked
mountain—a double cone covered with eternal snow.
“ Behold,†he whispered in an awe-stricken voice, “ be-
hold—Mount Sneffels !â€
Then without further remark, he put his finger to his
lips, frowned darkly, and descended into the small boat
which awaited us. I followed, and in a few minutes we
stood upon the soil of mysterious Iceland!
Searcely were we fairly on shore when there appeared
before us a man of excellent appearance, wearing the cos-
tume of a military officer. He was, however, but a civil
servant, a magistrate, the governor of the island—Baron
Trampe. The Professor knew whom he had to deal with.
He therefore handed him the letters from Copenhagen,
and a brief conversation in Danish followed, to which I
of course was a stranger, and for a very good reason, for I
did not know the language in which they conversed. I af-
terwards heard, however, that Baron Trampe placed him-
self entirely at the beck and call of Professor Hardwigg.
My uncle was most graciously received by M. Finsen,
the mayor, who as far as costume went, was quite as
military as the governor, but also from character and oc-
cupation quite as pacific. As for his coadjutor, M. Pic-
tursson, he was absent on an episcopal visit to the
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 35
northern portion of the diocese. We were therefore com-
pelled to defer the pleasure of being presented to him.
His absence was, however, more than compensated by the
presence of M. Fridriksson, Professor of natural science in
the college of Reykjawik, a man of invaluable ability.
This modest scholar spoke no languages save Icelandic
and Latin. When, therefore, he addressed himself to me
in the language of Horace, we at once came to understand.
one another. He was, in fact, the only person that I did
thoroughly understand during the whole period of my
residence in this benighted island.
Out of three rooms of which his house was composed,
two was placed at our service, and in a few hours we were
installed with all our baggage, the amount of which
rather astonished the simple inhabitants of Reykjawik.
“Now, Harry,†said my unele, rubbing his hands, “all
goes well, the worse difficulty is now over.â€
“ Flow the worse difficulty over?†I cried in fresh amaze-
ment.
“Doubtless. Here we are in Iceland. Nothing more
remains but to descend into the bowels of the earth.â€
“Well, sir, to a certain extent you are right. We have
only to go down
not the question. I want to know how we are to get up
but, as far as I am concerned, that is
again.â€
“That is the least part of the business, and does not in
any way trouble me. In the meantime, there is not an
hour to lose. I am about to visit the public library. Very
likely I may find there some manuscripts from the hand
of Saknussemm. I shall be glad to consult them.â€
“Tn the meanwhile,†I replied, “I will take a walk
through the town. Will you not likewise do so?â€
“T feel no interest in the subject,†said my uncle. “What
for me is curious in this island, is not what is above the
surface, but what is below.â€
36 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I bowed by way of reply, put on my hat and furred
cloak, and went out.
Tt was not an easy matter to lose oneself in the two streets
of Reykjawik; I bad therefore no need to ask my way.
The town Hes on a flat and marshy plain, between two
hills. A vast field of lava skirts it on one side, falling away
in terraces towards the sea. On the other hand is the
large bay of Faxa, bordered on the north by the enormous
glacier of Sneffels, and in which bay the Valkyrie was then
the only vessel at anchor. Generally there was one or two
English or French gunboats, to watch and protect the
fisheries in the offing. They were now, however, absent on
duty.
The longest of the streets of Reykjawik runs parallel to
the shore. In this street the merchants and traders live in
wooden huts made with beams of wood, painted red,—mere
log huts, such as you find in the wilds of America. The
other street, situated more to the west, runs towards a little
lake between the residences of the bishop and the other
personages not engaged in commerce.
I had goon seen all I wanted of these weary and dismal
thoroughfares. Here and there was a strip of discolored
turf, like an old worn-out bit of woollen carpet; and now
and then a bit of kitchen garden, in which grew potatoes,
cabbage, and lettuces, almost diminutive enough to suggest
the idea of Lilliput.
In the centre of the new commercial strect, I found the
public cemetery, enclosed by an earthen wall. Though
not very large, it appeared not likely to be filled for cen-
turies. From hence I went to the house of the Governor—
a mere hut in comparison with the Mansion House of
Hamburg—but a palace alongside the other Icelandic
houses. Between the little lake and the town was the
church, built in simple Protestant style, and composed of
calcined stones, thrown up by voleanic action. I have not
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH, 37
the slightest doubt that in high winds, its red tiles were
blown out, to the great annoyance of the pastor and con-
gregation. Upon an eminence close at hand was the na-
tional school, in which were taught Hebrew, English,
French and Danish.
In three hours my tour was complete. The general im-
pression upon my mind was sadness. No trees, no vegeta-
tion, so to speak—on ail sides voleanic peaks—the huts of
turf and earth—more like roofs than houses. Thanks to
the heat of these residences, grass grows on the roof, which
grass is carefully cut for hay. I saw but few inhabitants
during my excursion, but I met a crowd on the beach,
drying, salting and loading cod-fish, the principal article
of exportation. The men appeared robust but hes eve
fair-haired like Germans, but of pensive a
higher scale in the ladder of humanity than the Esc tay.
but, I thought, much more unhappy, since with superior
perceptions they are compelled to live within the limits
of the Polar Circle.
Sometimes they gave vent to a convulsive laugh, but by
no chance did they smile. Their costume consists of a
coarse capote of black wool, known in Scandinavian coun-
tries as the “vadmel,†a broad-brimmed hat, trousers of
red serge, and a piece of leather tied with strings for a
shoe—a coarse kind of moccasin. The women, though
sad-looking and mournful, had rather agreeable features,
without much expression. They wear a bodice and _ pet-
ticoat of sombre vadmel. When unmarried they wear a
little brown knitted cap over a crown of plaited hair; but
when married, they cover their heads with a colored
handkerchief, over which they tie a white scarf.
38 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER VII.
CONVERSATION AND DISCOVERY.
Wuen I returned, dinner was ready. This meal was
devoured by my worthy relative with avidity and voraci-
ty. His shipboard diet had turned his interior into a per-
fect gulf. The repast, which was more Danish than Ice-
wee was in itself nothing, but the excessive hospitality
of our host made us enjoy it doubly.
The conversation turned upon scientific matters, and
M. Fridriksson asked my uncle what he thought of the
public library.
“Tabrary, sir?†cried my uncle; “it appears to me a
collection of useless odd volumes, and a beegarly amount
of empty shelves.â€
“What!†eried M. Fridriksson; “why, we have eight
thousand volumes of most rare and valuable works—some
in the Scandinavian language, besides all the new publi-
cations from Copenhagen.â€
“ Hight thousand volumes, my dear sir—why, where are
they?†cried my uncle.
“Scattered over the country, Professor Hardwigg. We
are very studious, my dear sir, though we do live in
fceland. Every farmer, every laborer, every fisherman
can both read and write—and we think that books instead
of being locked up in cupboards, far from the sight of
students, should be distributed as widely as possible. The
books of our library are therefore, passed from hand to
hand without returning to the library shelves perhaps for
years.â€
“Then when foreigners visit you, there is nothing for
them to see?â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 30
“Well, sir, foreigners have their own libraries, and our
first consideration is, that our humbier classes should be
highly educated. Fortunately, the love of study is innate
in the Icelandic people. In 1816 we founded a Literary
Society and Mechanics’ Institute ; many foreign scholars
of eminence are honorary members; we publish books des-
tined to educate our people, and these books have rende
valuable services to our country. Allow me to have the
honor, Professor Hardwigg, to enrol you as an honorary
member?â€
My uncle, who already belonged to nearly every literary
and scientific institution in Europe, immediately yielded
to the amiable wishes of good M. Fridriksson.
“And now,†he said, after many expressions of gratitude
and good-will, “if you will tell me what books you ex-
pected to find, perhaps I may be of some assistance to
you.â€
IT watched my uncle keenly. For a minute or two he
hesitated, as if unwilling to speak; to speak openly was,
perhaps, to unveil his projects. Nevertheless, after some
reflection, he made up his mind.
“Well, M. Fridriksson,’ he said in an easy, uncon-
cerned kind of way. “I was desirous of ascertaining, if
among other valuable works, you had any of the learned
Arne Saknussemm.â€
se pais Saknussemm!†cried the Professor of Reykja-
wik ; “you speak of one of the most distinguished scholars
of the sixteenth century, of the great naturalist, the great
alchemist, the great traveller.â€
“ Exactly so.â€
“ One of the most distinguished men connected with Ice-
landic science and literature.â€
“ As you say, sir 2?
“A man illustrious above all.â€
“Yes, sir, all this is true, but his works?â€
40: A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“We have none of them.â€
“ Notin Iceland?â€
“Phere are none in Iceland or elsewhere,†answered the
2
Vhy go?†=
secause Arne Saknussemm was persecuted for heresy,
and in 1573 his works were publicly burnt at Copenhagen,
by the hands of the common hangman.â€
“Wery good! capital!†murmured my uncle, to the
cc
great astonishment of the worthy Icelander.
“You said, sir ag
“Yes, yes, all is clear, I sce the link in the chain;
everything is explained, and I now understand why Arne
Saknussemm, put out of court, forced to hide his magnifi-
cent discoveries, was compelled to conceal beneath the vei
of an incomprehensible eryptograph, the secret 49
“ What secret?â€
“A secret—which,†stammered my uncle.
“Fave you discovered some wonderful manuscript?â€
cried M. Fridriksson.
“No, no, I was carried away by my enthusiasm. A.
mere supposition.â€
“Very good, sir. But, really, to turn to another sub-
ject, I hope you will not leave our island without exami-
ning into its mineralogical riches.â€
“ Well, the fact is, J am metho late. So many learned
men have been here before me.’
“Yes, yes, but there is still much to be done,†cried M.
Fridriksson.
“ You think so,†said my uncle, his eyes twinkling with
hidden satisfaction.
“Yes, you have no idea how many unknown mountains,
glaciers, voleanoes there are which remain to be studied.
Without moving from where we sit, I can show you one.
Yonder on the edge of the horizon, you see Sneffels,â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 41]
“Oh yes, Sneffels,†said my uncle.
“One of the most curious volcanoes in existence, the
crater of which has been rarely visited.â€
“ Extinct ?â€
“Extinct, any time these five hundred years,†was the
ready reply.
“Well,†said my uncle, who dug his nails into his flesh,
and pressed his ‘etle tightly together to prevent himse!
leaping up with joy. “I have a great mind to begin my
studies with an examination of the geological mysteries
of this Mount Seffel—Feisel—what do you call it?â€
“Sneffels, my dear sir.â€
This portion of the conversation took place in Latin,
and I therefore understood all that had been said. I
could scarcely keep my countenance when I found my
uncle so cunningly concealing his delight and satisfaction.
I must confess that his artful grimaces, put on.to conceal
his happiness, made him look like a new Mephistopheles.
“Yes, yes,†he continued, “ your proposition delights
me. J will endeavor to climb to the summit of Sneffels,
and, if possible, will descend into its crater.â€
“T very much regret,†continued M. Fridriksson, “that
my occupation will entirely preclude the possibility of my
accompanying you. It would have been both pleasurable
and profitable if I could have spared the time.â€
“No, no, a thousand times no,†cried my uncle. “T do
not wish to disturb the serenity of amy man. I thank you,
however, with all my heart. The presence of one so
learned as yourself, would no doubt have been most useful,
but the duties of your office and profession before every-
thing.â€
In the innocence of his simple heart, cur host did not
perceive the irony of these remarks.
“YT entirely approve your project,†continued the Tce-
lander, after some further remarks. “It is a good idea to
$â€
42, A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
begin by examining this volcano. You will make a harvest
of curious observations. In the first place, how do you
propose to get to Snefiels?â€
“By sea. I shall cross the bay. Of course that is the
most rapid route.â€
“Of course. But still it cannot be done.â€
“Why?â€
“We have not an available boat in all Reykjawik,â€
replied the other.
“What is to be done?â€
“You must go by land along the coast. It is longer,
but much more interesting.â€
“Then I must have a guide.â€
“Of course; and I have your very man.â€
“Somebody on whom I can depend.â€
“Yes, an inhabitant of the peninsula on which Sneffels
is situated. He is a very shrewd and worthy man, with
whom you will be pleased. He speaks Danish like a
Dane.â€
“When can I see him—to-day?â€
“No, to-morrow; he will not be here before.â€
“To-morrow be it,†replied my uncle, with a deep sigh.
The conversation ended by compliments on both sides.
During the dinner my uncle had learned much as to the
history of Arne Saknussemm, the reasons for his myste-
rious and hieroglyphical document. He also became
aware that his host would not accompany him on his ad-
venturous expedition, and that next day we should have a
guide,
A JOURNEY-TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 48
CHAPTER VIII.
THE EIDER-DOWN HUNTER.—-OFF AT LAST.
Taar evening I took a brief walk on the shore near
Reykjawik, after which I returned to an early sleep on my
bed of coarse planks, where I slept the sleep of the just.
When I awoke I heard my uncle speaking 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
Herculean build. This man appeared to be possessed of
very great strength. His eyes, which started rather pro-
minently from a very large head, the face belonging to
which was simple and naive, appeared very quick and
intelligent. Very long hair, which even in England would
have been accounted exceedingly red, fell over his athletic
shoulders. This native of Iccland was active and supple
in appearance, though he scarcely moved his arms, being
in fact one of those men who despise the habit of gesticu-
lation common to southern people.
Everything in this man’s manner revealed a calm and
phlegmatic temperament. There was nothing indolent
about him, but 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 astonish or
trouble.
I began to comprehend his character, simply from the
way in which he listened to the wild and impassioned ver-
biage of my worthy uncle. While the excellent Professor
spoke sentence after sentence, he stood with folded arms,
utterly still, motionless to all my uncle’s gesticulations.
When he wanted to say No he moved his head from left to
44 4 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
right; when he acquiesced he nodded, so slightly that you
could scarcely see the undulation of his head. This
economy of motion was carricd to the length of avarice.
udging from his appearance I should have been a long
time before I. had suspected him to be what he was, a
mighty hunter. Certainly his manner was not likely to
frighten the game. How, then, did he contrive to get at
his prey ?
My surprise was slightly modified when I knew that this
tranquil and solemn personage, was only a hunter of the
eider-duck, the down of which is, after all, the greatest source
of the Icelanders’ wealth.
In the early days of summer, the female of the eider, a
pretty sort of duck, builds its nest amid the rocks of the
fjords—the name given to all narrow gulfs in Scandinavian
countries—with which every part of the island is indented.
No sooner has the eider-duck made her nest than she lines
the inside of it with the softest down from her breast.
Then comes the hunter or trader, taking away the nest;
the poor bereaved female begins her task over again, and
this continues as long as any eider-down is to be found.
When she can find no more the male bird sets to work
to see what he can do. As, however, his down is not so
soft, and has therefore no commercial value, the hunter
does not take the trouble to rob him of his nest-lining.
The nest is accordingly finished, the eggs are laid, the little
ones are born, and next year the harvest of cider-down is
again collected.
Now, as the eider-duck never selects steep rocks or as-
pects to build its nest, but rather sloping and low cliffs
near to the sea, the Icelandic hunter can carry on his trade
operations without much difficulty. He is like a farmer
who has neither to plow, to sow, nor to harrow, only to col-
lect his harvest.*
| * The birds, however, are not always so accommodating, They are found
HANS BJELKE, THE GUIDE.
‘A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 45
This grave, sententious, silent person, as phlegmatic as
an Englishman on the French stage, was named Hans
Bjelke. He had called upon us in consequence of the re-
commendation of M. Fridriksson. He was, in fact, our
future guide. It struck me that had I sought the world
over, I could not have found a greater contradiction to my
impulsive uncle.
They, however, readily understood one another. Neither
of them had any thought about money; one was ready to
take all that was offered him, the other ready to offer any-
thing that was asked. It may readily be conceived, then,
that an understanding was soon come to between them.
Now, the understanding was, that he was to take us to
the village of Stapi, situated on the southern slope of the
peninsula of Sneffels, at the very foot of the volcano.
Hans, the guide, told us the distance was about twenty-two
miles, a journey which my uncle supposed would take
about two days.
But when my uncle came to understand that they were
Danish miles, of eight thousand yards each, he was 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.
Four horses were prepared for us, two to carry the bag-
gage, and two to bear the important weight of myself and
uncle. Hans declared that nothing ever would make him
climb on the back of any animal. He knew every inch
of that part of the coast, and promised to take us the very
shortest way.
His engagement with my uncle was by no means to
in the southern part of England as a winter visitant, but in the more north-
ern part of our isle, and in the north of Scotland remain all the year. One
of our ablest naturalists says: “Taking these nests is a regular business
not unattended with risk, on account of the precipitous localities in which
the eider-duck often breeds.†Again, “The eider is a shy, retiring bird
placing its nest on islands and rocks projecting well into the sea.†|
46
cease with our arrival at Stapi; he was further to remain
in his service during the whole time required for the com-
pletion .of his scientific investigations, at the fixed salary
of three rix-dollars a week, being exactly fourteen shil-
lings and twopence, minus one farthing, English currency.
One stipulation, however, was made by the guide—the
money was to be paid to him every Saturday night, fail-
ing which, his engagement was at an end.
The day of our departure was fixed. My uncle wished
to hand the eider-down hunter an advance, but he refused
in one emphatic word—
“ Efter.â€
Which being translated from Icelandic into plain Eng-
lish means—A fter.
The treaty concluded, our worthy guide retired without
another word.
“A splendid fellow,†said my uncle; “only he little
suspects the marvellous part he is about to play in the his-
tory of the world.â€
“You mean, then,’ I cried in amazement, “that he
should accompany us?â€
“To the Interior of the Earth, yes ;†replied my uncle.
“Why not?â€
There were yet forty-eight hours to elapse before we
made our final start. To my great regret, our whole time
was taken up in making preparations for our journey. All
our industry and ability were devoted to packing every
object in the most advantageous manner—the instruments
on one side, the arms on the other, the tools here and the
provisions there. There were, in fact, four distinct groups.
The instruments were of course of the best manufac-
ture :— =
1. A centigrade thermometer of Eizel, counting up to
150 degrees, which to me did not appear half enough—or
too much. ‘Too hot by half, if the degree of heat was to
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 47
ascend so high—in which case we should certainly be
cooked—not enough, if we wanted to ascertain the exact
temperature of springs or metal in a state of fusion.
2. A manometer worked by compressed air, an instru-
ment used to ascertain the upper atmospheric pressure on
the level of the ocean. Perhaps a common barometer
would not have done as well, the atmospheric pressure be-
ing likely to increase in proportion as we descended below
the surface of the earth.
8. A first-class chronometer made by Boissonnas, of
Geneva, set at the meridian of Hamburg, from which
Germans calculate, as the English do from Greenwich, and
the French from Paris.
4. Two compasses, one for horizontal guidance, the other
to ascertain the dip.
5. A night glass.
6. Two Ruhmkorf’s coils, which, by means of a current
of electricity, would ensure us a very excellent, easy car-
ried, and certain means of obtaining light.
7. A voltaic battery on the newest principle.*
*Thermometer (thermos, hot, and metron, measure); an instrument for
measuring the temperature of the air.—Manometer (manos, rare, and metron,
measure); an instrument to show the density or rarity of gases.—Chrono-
meter (chronos, time, and metron, measure) a time measurer, or superior
watch.—Ruhmkorf’s coil, an instrument for producing currents of induced
electricity of great intensity. It consists of a coil of copper wire, insulated
by being covered with silk, surrounded by another coi¥of fine wire, also in-
sulated, in which a momentary current is induced when acurrent is passed
through the inner coil from a voltaic battery. When the apparatus is in
action, the gas becomes luminous, and produces a white and continued
light. The battery and wire are carried ina leather bag, which the travel-
ler fastens by a strap to his shoulders. The lantern is in front, and enables
the benighted wanderer to see in the most profound obscurity. He may
venture without fear of explosion into the midst of the most inflammable
gases, and the lantern will burn beneath the deepest waters. M. Ruhm-
korf, an able and learned chemist, discovered the induction eoil. In 1864
he obtained the great French prize £2,000 for this ingenious application of
electricity.—A voltaic battery, so called from Volta, its designer, is an ap-
paratus consisting of a series of metal plates arranged in pairs and sub:
jected to the action of saline solutions for producing currents of electricity.
48 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Our arms consisted of two rifles, with two revolving six-
shooters. Why these arms were provided it was impossi-
ble for me tosay. Ihad every reason to believe that we had
neither wild beasts nor savage natives to fear. My uncle,
on the other hand, was quite as devoted to his arsenal as to
his collection of instruments, and above all was very careful
with his provision of fulminating or gun cotton, warranted
to keep in any climate, and of which the expansive force
was known to be greater than that of ordinary gunpowder.
Our tools consisted of two pickaxes, two crowbars, a
silken ladder, three iron-shod Alpine poles, a hatchet, a
hammer, a dozen wedges, some pointed pieces of iron, and
a quantity of strong rope. You may conceive that the
whole made a tolerable parcel, especially when I mention
that the ladder itself was three hundred feet long !
Then there came the important question of provisions.
The hamper was not very large but tolerably satisfactory,
for I knew that in concentrated essence of meat and biscuit
there was enough to last six months. The only liquid
provided by my uncle was scheidam. Of water, not a
drop. We had, however, an ample supply of gourds, and
my uncle counted on finding water, and enough to fill
them, as soon as we commenced our downward journey.
My remarks as to the temperature, the quality, and even
as to the possibility of none being found, remained wholly
without effect.
To make up the exact list of our travelling gear—for the
guidance of future travellers—I will add, that we carried a
medicine and surgical chest with all apparatus necessary
for wounds, fractures and blows; lint, scissors, lancets—in
fact, a perfect collection of horrible-looking instruments ;
a number of phials containing ammonia, alcohol, ether,
goulard water, aromatic vinegar, in fact, every possible
and impossible drug—finally, all the materials for working
the Ruhmkorf coil !
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 49
My unele had also been careful to lay in a goodly sup-
ply of tobacco, several flasks of very fine gunpowder, boxes
of tinder, besides a large belt crammed full of notes and
gold. Good boots rendered water-tight were to be found
to the number of six in the tool-box.
“ My boy, with such clothing, with such boots, and such
general equipments,†said my uncle, in a state of rapturous
delight ; “we may hope to travel far.â€
It took a whole day to put all these matters in order.
In the evening we dined with Baron Trampe, in company
with the Mayor of Reykjawik, and Doctor Hyaltalin, the
great medical man of Iceland. M. Fridriksson was not
present, and I was afterwards sorry to hear that he and the
governor did not agree on some matters connected with the
administration of the island. Unfortunately, the consc-
quence was, that I did not understand a word that was
said at dinner—a kind of semi-official reception. One
thing I can say, my uncle never left off speaking.
The next day our labor came to an end. Our worthy
host delighted my uncle, Professor Hardwigg, by giving
him a good map of Iceland, a most important and precious
document for a mineralogist.
Our last evening was spent in a long conversation with
M. Fridriksson, whom I liked very much—the more that
I never expected to see him or any one else again. After
this agreeable way of spending an hour or so, I tried to
sleep. In vain; with the exception of a few dozes, my
night was miserable.
At five o’clock in the morning I was awakened from the
only real half hour’s sleep of the night, by the loud
neighing of horses under, my window. I hastily dressed
myself and went down into the strect. Tans was engaged
in putting the finishing stroke to our baggage, which he
did in asilent, quiet way that won my admiration, and yet
he did it admirably well. My uncle wasted a great deal
50
of breath in giving him directions, but worthy Hans took
not the slightest notice of his words.
At six o’clock all our preparations were completed, and
M. Fridriksson shook hands heartily with us. My uncle
thanked him warmly, in the Icclandic language, for his
kind hospitality, speaking truly from the heart.
As for myself I put together a few of my best Latin
phrases and paid him the highest compliments I could.
This fraternal and friendly duty performed, we sallied
forth and mounted our horses.
As soon as we were quite ready, M. Fridriksson advanced,
and by way of farewell, called after me in the words of
Virgil—words which appeared to have been made for us,
travellers starting for an uncertain destination :—
“ Et quacunque viam dederit fortuna sequamur.â€
(“And whichsoever way thou goest, may fortune fol-
low!â€â€™)
EN ROUTE!
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 51
CHAPTER IX.
OUR START—WE MEET WITH ADVENTURES BY THE WAY.
THE weather was overcast but settled, when we com-
menced our adventurous and perilous journey. We had
neither to fear fatiguing heat nor drenching rain. It was,
in fact, real tourist weather.
As there was nothing I liked better than horse exercise,
the pleasure of riding through an unknown country,
caused the early part of our enterprise to be particularly
agreeable to me.
I began to enjoy the exhilarating delight of travelling, a
life of desire, gratification and liberty. The truth is, that
my spirits rose so rapidly, that I began to be indifferent to
what had once appeared to be a terrible journey.
“ After all,†I said to myself, “what do I risk? Simply
to take a journey through a curious country, to climb a
remarkable mountain, and if the worst comes to the worst,
to descend into the crater of an extinct volcano.â€
There could be no doubt that this was all this terrible
Saknussemm had done. As to the existence of a gallery,
or of subterraneous passages leading into the interior of the
earth, the idea was simply absurd, the hallucination of a dis-
tempered imagination. All, then, that may be required of
me I will do cheerfully, and will create no difficulty.
It was just before we left Reykjawik that I came to this
decision.
Hans, our extraordinary guide, went first, walking with
a steady, rapid, and unvarying step. Our two horses with
the luggage followed of their own accord, without requiring
whip or spur. My uncle and I came behind, cutting a
very tolerable figure upon our small but vigorous animals.
52 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Teceland is one of the largest islands in Europe. It con-
tains thirty thousand square miles of surface, and has
about seventy thousand inhabitants. Geographers have
divided it into four parts, and we had to cross the South-
west quarter which in the vernacular is called Sudvestr
Fjordingr.
Hans, on taking his departure from Reykjawik, had
followed the line of the sea. We took our way through
poor and sparse meadows, which made a desperate effort
every year to show a little green. They very rarely suc-
ceed in a good show of yellow.
The rugged summits of the rocky hills were dimly visi-
ble on the edge of the horizon, through the misty fogs ;
every now and then some heavy flakes of snow showed
conspicuous in the morning light, while certain lofty and
pointed rocks were first lost in the grey low clouds, their
summits clearly visible above, like jagged reefs rising
from a troublous sea.
Jivery now and then a spur of rock came down through
the arid ground, leaving us scarcely room to pass. Our
horses, however, appeared not only well acquainted with
the country, but by a kind of instinct, knew which was
the best road. My uncle had not even the satisfaction of
urging forward his steed by whip, spur, or voice. It was
utterly useless to show any signs of impatience. I could
not help smiling to see him look so big on his little horse ;
his long legs now and then touching the ground made him
look like a six-footed centaur.
“Good beast, good beast,†he would ery. “TI assure
you, Henry, that I begin to think no animal is more intel-
ligent than an Icelandic horse. Snow, tempest, impracti-
cable roads, rocks, icebergs—nothing stops him. He is
brave; he is sober; he is safe; he never makes a false
step; never glides or slips from his path. I dare to say
that if any river, any fjord has to be crossed—and I have
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 53
no doubt there will be many—you will sce him enter the
water without hesitation like an amphibious animal, and
reach the opposite side in safety. We must not, however,
attempt to hurry him; we must allow him to have his
own way, and I will undertake to say that between us we
shall do our ten leagues a day.â€
“We may do so,†was my reply, “but what about our
worthy guide?â€
“JT have not the slightest anxiety about him: those sort
of people go ahead without knowing even what they are
about. Look at Hans. He moves so little that it is im-
possible for him to become fatigued. Besides, if he were
to complain of weariness, he could have the loan of my
horse. I should have a violent attack of the cramp if I
were not to have some sort of exercise. My arms are
right—but my legs are getting a little stiff.â€
All this while we were advancing at arapid pace. The
country we had reached was already nearly a desert.
Here and there could be seen an isolated farm, some soli-
tary boér, or Icelandic house, built of wood, earth, frag-
ments of lava—looking like beggars on the highway of
life. These wretched and miserable huts excited in us
such pity that we felt half disposed to leave alms at every
door. In this country there are no roads, paths are nearly
unknown, and vegetation, poor as it was, slowly as it
reached perfection, soon obliterated all traces of the few
travellers who passed from place to place.
Nevertheless, this division of the province, situated only
a few miles from the capital, is considered one of the best
cultivated and most thickly peopled in all Iceland.
What, then, must be the state of the less known and more
distant parts of the island? After travelling fully half a
Danish mile, we had met neither a farmer at the door of
his hut, nor even a wandering shepherd with his wild and
savage flock.
54 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
A few stray cows and sheep were only seen occasionally.
What, then, must we expect when we come to the up-
heaved regions—to the districts broken and roughened
from voleanic eruptions and subterraneous commotions ?
We were to learn this all in good time. I saw, however,
on consulting the map, that we avoided a good deal of this
rough country, by following the winding and desolate
shores of the sea. In reality, the great voleanic movement
of the island, and all its attendant phenomena, is concen-
trated in the interior of the island; there, horizental layers
or strata of rocks, piled one upon the other, eruptions of
basaltic origin, and streams of lava, have given this coun-
try a kind of supernatural reputation.
Little did I expect, however, the spectacle which aw aited
us when we reached the peninsula of Sneffels, where ag-
glomerations of nature’s ruins form a kind of terrible
chaos.
Some two hours or more after we had left the city of
Reykjawik, we reached the little town called Aoalkirkja,
or the principal church. It consists simply of a few
houses—not what in England or Germany we should call
a hamlet.
Hans stopped here one half hour. He shared our frugal
breakfast, answered yes and no to my uncle’s questions as
to the nature of the road, and at last when asked where we
were to pass the night was as laconic as usual.
“Gardar!†was his one-worded reply.
I took occasion to consult the map, to see where Gardar
was to be found. After looking keenly J found a small
town of that name on the borders of the Hyvalfjord, about
four miles from Reykjawik. I pointed this out to my
uncle, who made a very energetic grimace.
“Only four miles out of twenty-two? Why it is only a
little walk.â€
He was about to make some energetic observation to the
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 55
guide, but Hans, without taking the slightest notice of him,
went in front of the horses, and walked ahead with the
same imperturbable phlegm he had always exhibited.
Three hours later, still travelling over those apparently
interminable and sandy prairies, we were compelled to go
round the Kollafjord, an easier and shorter cut than cross-
ing the gulfs. Shortly after we entered a place of com-
munal jurisdiction called Hjulberg, and the clock of which
would then have struck twelve, if any Icelandic church had
been rich enough to possess so valuable and useful an ar-
ticle. These sacred edifices are, however, very much like
these people, who do without watches—and never miss
them.
Here the horses were allowed to take some rest and re-
freshment, then following a narrow strip of shore between
high rocks and the sea, they took us without further halt
to the “aoalkirkja†of Brantar, and after another mile to
“Saurboer Annexia,’ a chapel of ease, situated on the
southern bank of the Hvalfjord.
It was four o’clock in the evening and we had travelled
four Danish miles, about equal to twenty English.
The fjord was in this place about half-a-mile in width.
The sweeping and broken waves came rolling in upon the
pointed rocks; the gulf was surrounded by rocky walls—a
mighty cliff, three thousand feet in height, remarkable for
its brown strata, separated here and there by beds of tufa
of a reddish hue. Now, whatever may have been the intel-
ligence of our horses, I had not the slightest reliance upon
them, as a means of crossing a stormy arm of the sea. To
ride over salt water upon the back of a little horse seemed
to me absurd.
“Tf they are really intelligent,’ I said to myself, “they
will certainly not make the attempt. In any case, I shall
trust rather to my own intelligence than theirs.â€
But my uncle was in no humor to wait. He dug his
56 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
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 was, sooth to say, quite as obstinate as the
beast he bestrode, insisted on his making the desired ad-
vance. This attempt was followed by a new refusal on the
part of the horse which quietly shook his head. This
demonstration of rebellion was followed by a volley of
words and a stout application of whipcord; also followed
by kicks on the part of the horse, which threw its head and
heels upwards and tried to throw his rider. At length the
sturdy little pony, spreading out his legs, in a stiff and
ludicrous attitude, got from under the professor's legs, and
left him standing, with both feet on a separate stone, like
the Colossus of Rhodes.
“ Wretched animal!†cried my uncle, suddenly trans-
formed into a foot passenger—and as angry and ashamed
as a dismounted cavalry officer on the field of battle.
“Tarja,†said the guide, tapping him familiarly on the
shoulder.
“What, a ferry boat!â€
“ Der,†answered Hans, pointing to where lay the boat
in question—* there.â€
“Well,†I cried, quite delighted with the information ;
“ so it is.â€
“Why did you not say so before,†cried my uncle;
“why not start at once?â€
“Tidvatten,†said the guide.
“ What does he say?†I asked, considerably puzzled by
the delay and the dialogue.
“ THe says tide,†replied my uncle, translating the Da-
nish word for my information.
“Of course I understand—we must wait till the tide
serves.â€
“ For bida?†asked my uncle.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 57
“ Ja,†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 crossing the fjord, for that moment
when the sea at its highest point is in a state of slack
water. As neither the cbb nor flow can then be felt, the
ferry boat was in no danger of being carried out to sea,
or dashed upon the rocky coast.
The favorable moment did not come until six o’clock in
the evening. Then my uncle, myself, and guide, two
boatmen and the four horses got into a very awkward
flat-bottom boat. Accustomed as I had been to the steam
ferry-boats of the Elbe, I found the long oars of the boat-
men but sorry means of locomotion. We were more than
an hour in crossing the fjord; but at length the passage
was concluded without accident.
Half-an-hour later we reached Gardar.
58 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER X.
TRAVELLING IN ICELAND—THE LEPERS.
Ir ought, one would have thought, to have been night,
even in the sixty-fifth parallel of latitude; but still the
nocturnal illumination did not surprise me. For in Ice-
land, during the months of June and July, the sun never
sets.
The temperature, however, was very much lower than I
expected. I was cold, but even that did not affect me so
much as ravenous hunger. Welcome indeed, therefore,
was the hut which hospitably opened its doors to us.
It was merely the house 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 master of the house came
forward, held out his hand, and without any further cere-
mony, signaled to us to follow him.
We followed him, for to accompany him was impossible.
A long, narrow, gloomy passage led into the interior of this
habitation, made from beams 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 was carried on, the general sleeping-chamber of the
family, and the best room, to which strangers were especially
invited. My uncle, whose lofty stature had not been taken
into consideration when the house was built, contrived to
knock his head against the beams of the roof.
We were introduced into our chamber, a kind of large
room with a hard earthen floor, and lighted by a window,
the panes of which were made of a sort of parchment from
the intestines of sheep—very far from transparent.
The bedding was composed of dry hay thrown into two
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 59
long red wooden boxes, ornamented with sentences painted
in Icelandic. Ireally had no idea that we should be made
so comfortable. ‘There was one objection to the house, and
that was, the very powerful odor of dried fish, of macera-
ted meat, and of sour milk, which three fragrances com-
bined, did not at all suit my olfactory nerves.
As soon as we had freed ourselves from our heavy tra-
velling costume, the voice of our host was heard calling to
us to come into the kitchen, the only room in which the Ice-
landers ever make any fire, no matter how cold it may be.
My uncle, nothing loth, hastened to obey this hospitable
and friendly invitation. I followed.
The kitchen chimney was made on an antique model.
A large stone standing in the middle of the room was the
fire-place, above, in the roof, was a hole for the smoke to
pass through. This apartment was kitchen, parlor and
dining-room all in one.
On our entrance, our worthy host, as if he had not seen
us before, advanced ceremoniously, uttered a word which
means “be happy,†and then kissed both of us on the cheek.
His wife followed, pronounced the same word, with the
same ceremonial, then the husband and wife, placing their
right hands upon their hearts, bowed profoundly.
This excellent Icelandic woman was the mother of nine-
teen children, who, little and big, rolled, crawled, and
walked about in the midst of volumes of smoke arising
from the angular fire-place in the middle of the room,
Every now and then I could see a fresh white head, and a
slightly melancholy expression of countenance, peering 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 these little ones on our shoulders, as
many on our boxes, and the rest hanging about our legs.
Those who could speak kept crying out sellvertu in every
60 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
possible and impossible key. Those who did not speak
only made all the more noise.
This concert was interrupted by the announcement of sup-
per. At this moment our worthy guide, the eider-duck hun-
ter, came in after seeing to the feeding and stabling of the
horses—which consisted in letting them loose to browse on
the stunted green of the Icelandic prairies. There was little
for them to eat, but moss and some very dry and innutri-
tious grass; next day they were ready before the door,
some time before we were.
“Welcome,†said Hans.
Then tranquilly, with the air of an automaton, without
any more expression in one kiss than another, he embraced
the host and hostess and their nineteen children.
This ceremony concluded to the satisfaction of all parties,
we all sat down to table, that is twenty -four of us, some-
what crowded, Those who were best off had only two ju-
veniles on their knees.
As soon, however, asthe inevitable soup was placed on the
table, the natural taciturnity, common even to Icelandic ba-
bies, prevailed over all else. Ourhost filled our plates with
a portion of Lichen soup of Iceland moss, of by no means
disagreeable flavor, an enormous lump of fish floating in
sour butter. After that there came some “skyr,†a kind of
curds and whey, served with biscuits and juniper-berry
juice. To drink, we had blanda, skimmed milk with water.
I was hungry, so hungry, that by way of dessert I finished
up with a basin of thick oaten porridge.
As soon as the meal was over, the children disappeared,
whilst the grown people sat around the fire-place, on which
was placed turf, heather, cow dung and dried fish-bones.
As soon as everybody was sufficiently warm, a general
dispersion took place, all retiring to their respective
couches. Our hostess offered to pull off our stockings and
trousers, according to the custom of the country, but as we
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF ‘THE EARTH. 61
graciously declined to be so honored, she left us to our bed
of dry fodder.
Next day, at five in the morning, we took our leave of
these hospitable peasants. My uncle had great difficulty
in making them accept a sufficient and proper remunera-
tion.
Hans then gave the signal to start.
We had scarcely got a hundred yards from Gardar,
when the character of the country changed. The soil be-
gan to be marshy and boggy, and less favorable to pro-
gress. To the right, the range of mountains was pro-
longed indefinitely like a great system of natural fortifica-
tions, of which we skirted the glacis. We met with nu-
merous streams and rivulets which it was necessary to ford,
and that without wetting our baggage. As we advanced,
the deserted appearance increased, and yet now and then
we could see human shadows flitting in the distance.
When a sudden turn of the track brought us within easy
reach of one of these spectres, I felt a sudden impulse of
disgust at the sight of a swollen head, with shining skin,
utterly without hair, and whose repulsive and revolting
wounds could be seen through his rags. The unhappy
wretches never came forward to beg; on the contrary,
they ran away ; not so quick, however, but that Hans was
able to salute them with the universal Szellvertu.
“Spetelsk,†said he.
“A leper,†explained my uncle.
The very sound of such a word caused a feeling of re-
pulsion. The horrible affection known as leprosy, which
has almost vanished before the effects of modern science,
is common in Iceland. It is not contagious but heredi-
tary, so that marriage is strictly prohibited to these unfor-
tunate creatures.
These poor lepers did not tend to enliven our journcy,
the scene of which was inexpressibly sad and lonely. The
62 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
very last tufts of grassy vegetation appeared to die at our
feet. Not a tree was to be seen, except a few stunted
willows about as big as blackberry bushes. Now and
then we watched a falcon soaring in the grey and misty
air, taking his flight towards warmer and sunnier regions.
TI could not help feeling a sense of melancholy come over
me. Isighed for my own Native Land, and wished to be
back with Gretchen.
We were compelled to cross several little fjords, and at
last came to a real gulf. The tide was at its height, and
we were able to go over at once, and reach the hamlet of
Alftanes, about a mile farther.
That evening, after fording the Alfa and the Heta, two
rivers rich in trout and pike, we were compelled to pass
the night in a deserted house, worthy of being haunted by
all the fays of Scandinavian mythology. The King of
Cold had taken up his residence there, and made us feel
his presence all night.
The following day was remarkable by its inte of any
particular incidents. Always the same damp and swampy
soil; the same dreary uniformity; the same sad and
monotonous aspect of scenery. In the evening, having ac-
complished the half of our projected journey, we slept at
the Annexia of Krosolbt.
For a whole mile we had under our feet nothing but
lava. This disposition of the soil is called hraun: the
crumbled lava on the surface was in some instances like
ship cables stretched out horizontally, in others coiled up
in heaps; an immense field of lava came from the neigh-
boring mountains, all extinct volcanoes, but whose re-
mains showed what once they had been. Here and there
could be made out the steam from hot water springs.
. There was no time, however, for us to take more than a
eursory view of these phenomena. We had to go forward
with what speed we might. Soon the soft and swampy soil
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTU. 63
again appeared under the feet of our horses, while at every
hundred yards we came upon one or more small lakes.
Our journey was now im a westernly direction; we had, in
fact, swept round the great bay of Faxa, and the twin white
summits of Sneffels rose to the clouds at a distance of less
than five miles.
The horses now advanced rapidly. The accidents and
difficulties of the soil no longer checked them. I confess
that fatigue began to tell severely upon me; but my uncle
was as firm and as hard as he had been on the first day. I
could not help admiring both the excellent Professor and
the worthy guide; for they appeared to regard this rugged
expedition as a mere walk !
On Saturday, the 20th June, at six o’clock in the eve-
ning, we reached Budir, a small town picturesquely si-
tuated on the shore of the ocean; and here the guide asked
for his money. My uncle settled with him immediately.
It was now the family of Hans himself, that is to say, his
uncles, his cousins-german, who offered us hospitality. We
were exceedingly well received, and without taking too
much advantage of the goodness of these worthy people, I
should have liked very much to have rested with them af-
ter the fatigues of the journey. But my uncle, who did
not require rest, had no idea of anything of the kind; and
despite the fact that next day was Sunday, I was com-
pelled once more to mount my steed.
The soil was again affected by the neighborhood of the
mountains, whose granite peered out of the ground like
tops of an old oak. We were skirting the enormous base
of the mighty volcano. My uncle never took his eyes from
off it ; he could not keep from gesticulating, and looking
_ at it with a kind of sullen defiance as much as to say
“That is the giant I have made up my mind to conquer.â€
After four hours of steady travelling, the horses stopped
of themselves before the door of the presbytery of Stapi.
64 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XI.
WE REACH MOUNT SNEFFELS—THE “REYKIR.â€
Srapr isa town consisting of thirty huts, built on a
large plain of lava, exposed to the rays of the sun, re-
flected from the volcano.. It stretches its humble tene-
ments along the end of a little fjord, surrounded by a
basaltic wall of the most singular character.
Basalt is a brown rock of igneous origin. It assumes
regular forms, which astonish by their singular appear-
ance. Here we found Nature proceeding geometrically,
and working quite after a human fashion, as if she had
employed the plummet line, the compass and the rule. If
elsewhere she produces grand artistic effects by piling up
huge masses without order or connection—if elsewhere we
see truncated cones, imperfect pyramids, with an odd suc-
cession of lines; here, as if wishing to give a lesson in re-
gularity, and preceding the architects of the early ages,
she has erected a severe order of architecture, which
neither the splendors of Babylon nor the marvels of
Greece ever surpassed.
T had often heard of the Giants’ Causeway. in Ireland,
the Grotto of Fingal in one of the Hebrides, but the grand
spectacle of a real basaltic formation had never yet come
before my eyes.
This at Stapi gave us an idea of one in all its wonderful
beauty and grace.
The wall of the fjord, like nearly the whole of the penin-
sula, consisted of a series of vertical columns, in height
about thirty fect. These upright pillars of stone, of the
finest proportions, supported an archivault of horizontal
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 65
columns which formed a kind of half-vaulted roof above
the sea. At certain intervals, and below this natural
basin, the eye was pleased and surprised by the sight of
oval openings through which the outward waves came
thundering in volleys of foam. Some banks of basalt,
torn from their fastenings by the fury of the waves, lay
scattered on the ground like the ruins of an ancient tem-
ple—ruins eternally young, over which the storms of ages
swept without producing any perceptible effect !
This was the last stage of our journey. Hans had
brought us along with fidelity and intelligence, and I be-
gan to feel somewhat more comfortable when I reflected
that he was to accompany us still farther on our way.
When we halted before the house of the Rector, a small
and incommodious cabin, neither handsome nor more com-
fortable than those of his neighbors, I saw a man in the
act of shoeing a horse, a hammer in his hand, and a leath-
ern apron tied round his waist.
“ Be happy,†said the eider-down hunter, using his na-
tional salutation in his own language.
“ Good-dag—good day!†replied the former, in excel-
lent Danish.
“ Kyrkoherde,†cried Hans, turning round and intro-
ducing him to my uncle.
“The Rector,†repeated the worthy Professor; “it ap-
pears, my dear Harry, that this worthy man is the Rector,
and is not above doing his own work.â€
During the speaking of these few words the guide in-
timated to the Kyrkoherde what was the true state of the
case. The good man, ceasing from his occupation, gave a
kind of halloo, upon which a tall woman, almost a giantess,
came out of the hut. She was at least six feet high, which
in that region is something considerable.
My first impression was one of horror. I thought she
had come to give us the Icelandic kiss. I had, however,
66 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
nothing to fear, for she did not even show much inclina-
tion to receive us into her house.
The room devoted to strangers appeared to me to be by
far the worst in the presbytery ; it was narrow, dirty and
offensive. There was, however, no choice about the matter.
The Rector had no notion of practising the usual cordial
and antique hospitality. Far from it. Before the day was
over, I found we had to deal with a blacksmith, a fisher-
man, a hunter, a carpenter, anything but a clergyman.
It must be said in his favor that we had caught him on a
week-day ; probably he appeared to greater advantage on
the Sunday.
These poor priests receive from the Danish Government
a most ridiculously inadequate salary, and collect one
quarter of the tithe of their parish—not more than sixty
marks current, or about £3 10s. sterling. Hence the ne-
cessity of working to live. In truth, we soon found that
our host did not count civility among the cardinal virtues.
My uncle soon became aware of the kind of man he had
to deal with. Instead of a worthy and learned scholar, he
found a dull ill-mannered peasant. He therefore resolved
to start on his great expedition as soon as possible. He
did not care about fatigue, and resolved to spend a few
days in the mountains.
The preparations for our departure were made the very
next day after our arrival at Stapi; Hans now hired three
Icelanders to take the place of the horses—which could
no longer carry our luggage. When, however, these
worthy islanders had reached the bottom of the crater,
they were to go back and leave us to ourselves. This
point was settled before they would agree to start.
On this occasion, my uncle partially confided in Hans,
the eider-duck hunter, and gave him to understand that it
was his intention to continue his exploration of the volcane
to the last possible limits.
~
,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 67
Hans listened calmly, and then nodded his head. To
go there, or elsewhere, to bury himself in the bowels of
the earth, or to travel over its summits, was all the same
to him! As for me, amused and occupied by the incidents
of travel, I had begun to forget the inevitable future ; but
now I was once more destined to realize the actual state of
affairs. What was to be done? Run away? But if I
really had intended to leave Professor Hardwigg to his
fate, it should have been at Hamburg and not at the foot
of Sneffels.
One idea above all others, began to trouble me: a very
terrible idea, and one calculated to shake the nerves of a
man even less sensitive than myself.
“ Let us consider the matter,†I said to myself; “we are
going to ascend the Sneffels mountain. Well and good.
We are about to pay a visit to the very bottom of the
crater. Good, still. Others have done it and did not
perish from that course.
“That, however, is not the whole’ matter to be consid-
ered. Ifa road does really present itself by which to
descend into the dark and subterraneous bowels of Mother
Earth, if this thrice unhappy Saknussemm has really told
the truth, we shall be most certainly lost in the midst of
the labyrinth of subterraneous galleries of the volcano.
Now, we have no evidence to prove that Sneffels is really
extinct. What proof have we that an eruption is not
shortly about to take place? Because the monster has
slept soundly since 1229, does it follow that he is never to
wake ?â€
“Tf he does wake what is to become of us ?â€
These were questions worth thinking about, and upon
them I reflected long and deeply. I could not lie down
in search of sleep without dreaming of eruptions. The more
I thought, the more I objected to be reduced to the state
of dross and ashes.
68 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I could stand it no longer; so I determined at last to
submit the whole case to my uncle, in the most adroit
manner possible, and under the form of some totally irre-
concilable hypothesis.
I sought him. I laid before him my fears, and then
drew back in order to let him get his passion over at his
ease.
“T have been thinking about the matter,†he said, in
the quietest tone in the world.
What did he mean? Was he at last about to listen to
the voice of reason? Did he think of suspending his pro-
jects? It was almost too much happiness to be true.
I however made no remark. In fact, I was only too
anxious not to interrupt him, and allowed him to reflect
at his leisure. After some moments he spoke out.
“T have been thinking about the matter,’ he resumed.
“ Ever since we have been at Stapi, my mind has been al-
most solely occupied with the grave question which has
been submitted to me by yourself—for nothing would be
unwiser and more inconsistent than to act with impru-
dence.â€
“T heartily agree with you, my dear uncle,†was my
somewhat hopeful rejoinder.
“Tt is now six hundred years since Sneffels has spoken,
but though now reduced to a state of utter silence, he may
speak again. New volcanic eruptions are always preceded
by perfectly well-known phenomena. I have closely ex-
amined the inhabitants of this region; I have carefully
studied the soil, and I beg to tell you emphatically, my
dear Harry, there will be no eruption at present.â€
As I listened to his positive affirmations, I was stupefied
and could say nothing.
“Tsee you doubt my word,†said my uncle; “follow
me.â€
I obeyed mechanically.
YY
Uh
THE ASCENT OF SNEFFE&LS.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 69 -
Leaving the presbytery, the Professor took a road
through an opening in the basaltic rock, which led far
away from the sea. We were soon in open country, if we
could give such a name to a place all covered with volca-
nic deposits. ‘The whole land seemed crushed under the
weight of enormous stones—of trap, of basalt, of granite,
of lava, and of all othér volcanic substances.
I could see many spouts of steam rising in the air.
These white vapors, called in the Icelandic language “ rey-
kir,†come from hot water fountains, and indicate by their
violence the volcanic activity of the soil. Now the sight
of these appeared to justify my apprehension. I was,
therefore, all the more surprised and mortified when my
uncle thus addressed me.
“You see a this smoke, Harry, my boy?â€
“Yes, sir.â€
“Well, as long as you see them thus, you have nothing
to fear from the volcano.â€
“ How-can that be?â€
“ Be careful to remember this,†continued the Professor.
“ At the approach of an eruption these spouts of vapor
redouble their activity—to disappear altogether during
the period of volcanic eruption; for the elastic fluids, no
longer having the necessary tension, seek refuge in the in-
terior of the crater, instead of escaping through the fissures
of the earth. If, then, the steam remains in its normal or
habitual state, if their energy does not increase, and if you
add to this, the remark, that the wind is not replaced by
heavy atmospheric pressure and dead calm, you may be
quite sure ee there is no fear of any immediate eruption.â€
“ But——
“Enough, my Le When science has sent forth her
. fiat—it is only to hear and obey.â€
I came back to the house quite downcast and disappoint-
ed. My uncle had completely defeated me with his
70 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
scientific arguments. Nevertheless, I had still one hope,
and that was, when once we were at the bottom of the
crater, that it would be impossible in default of a gallery
or tunnel, to descend any deeper; and this, despite all the
learned Saknussemms in the world. ;
I passed the whole of the following night with a night-
mare on my chest! and, after unheard-of miseries and
tortures, found myself in the very depths of the earth,
from which I was suddenly launched into plenetary space,
under the form of an eruptive rock !
Next day, the 23d June, Hans calmly awaited us out-
side the presbytery with his two companions loaded with
provisions, tools, and instruments. Two iron-shod poles,
two guns, and two large game bags, were reserved for my
uncle and myself. Hans, who was a man who never for-
got even the minutest. precautions, had added to our
baggage a large skin full of water, as an addition to our
gourds. This assured us water for eight days.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when we were quite
ready. The rector and his huge wife or servant, I never
knew which, stood at the door to see us off. They ap-
peared to be about to inflict on us the usual final kiss of
the Icelanders. To our supreme astonishment their adieu
took the shape of a formidable bill, in which they even
counted the use of the pastoral house, really and truly
the most abominable and dirty place I ever was in. The
worthy couple cheated and robbed us like a Swiss innkeeper,
and made us feel, by the sum we had to pay, the splendors
of their hospitality.
My uncle, however, paid without bargaining. A man
who had made up his mind to undertake a voyage into
the Interior of the Earth, is not the man to haggle over a
few miserable rix-dollars.
This important matter settled, Hans gave the signal for
departure, and some few moments later we had left Stapi.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. val
CHAPTER XII.
THE ASCENT OF MOUNT SNEFFELS.
Tur huge voleano which was the first stage of our
daring experiment, is above five thousand feet high. Snef-
fels is the termination of a long range of volcanic moun-
tains, of a different character to the system of the island
itself. One of its peculiarities is its two huge pointed
summits. From whence we started it was impossible to
make out the real outlines of the peak against the grey
field of sky. All we could distinguish was a vast dome
of white, which fell downwards from the head of the giant.
The ‘commencement of the great undertaking filled me
with awe. Now that we had actually started, I began to
believe in the reality of the undertaking!
Our party formed quite a procession. We walked in
single file, preceded by Hans, the imperturbable eider-
duck hunter. He calmly led us by narrow paths where
two persons could by no possibility walk abreast. Con-
versation was wholly impossible. ‘We had all the more
opportunity to reflect and admire the awful grandeur of
the scene around.
Beyond ‘the extraordinary basaltic wall of the fjord
of Stapi we found ourselves making our way through
fibrous turf, over which grew a scanty vegetation of grass,
the residuum of the ancient vegetation of the swampy pe-
ninsula. The vast mass of this combustible, the field of
which as yet is utterly unexplored, would suffice to warm
Iceland for a whole century. This mighty turf pit, mea-
sured from the bottom of certain ravines, is often not less
than seventy feet deep, and presents to the eye the view
72 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
of successive layers of black burned-up rocky detritus,
separated by thin streaks of porous sandstone.
The grandeur of the spectacle was undoubted, as well as
its arid and deserted air.
As a true nephew of the great Professor Hardwigg, and
despite my pre-occupation and doleful fears of what was
to come, I observed with great interest the vast collection
of mineralogical curiosities spread out before me in this
vast museum of natural history. Looking back to my
recent studies, I went over in thought the whole geological
history of Iceland.
This extraordinary and curious island must have made
its appearance from out of the great world of waters at a
comparatively recent date. Like the coral islands of the
Pacific, it may, for aught we know, be still rising by slow
and imperceptible degrees.
If this really be the case, its origin can be attributed to
only one cause—that of the continued action of subterra-
nean fires.
This was a happy thought.
If so, if this were true, away with the theories of Sir
Humphrey Davy; away with the authority of the parch-
ment of Arne Saknussemm; the wonderful pretensions to
discovery on the part of my uncle—and to our journey!
All must end in smoke.
Charmed with the idea, I began more 2 carefully to look
about me. A serious study of the soil was necessary to
negative or confirm my hypothesis. I took in every item
of what I saw, and I began to comprehend the~ succession
of phenomena which had preceded its formation.
Iceland, being absolutely without sedimentary soil, is
composed exclusively of volcanic tufa; that is to say, of an
agglomeration of stones and of rocks of a porous texture.
Long before the existence of volcanoes, it was composed
of a solid body of massive trap-rock lifted bodily and
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE. OF THE EARTH. [3
slowly out of the sea, by the action of the centrifugal force
at work in the earth.
The internal fires, however, had not as yet burst their
bounds and flooded the exterior cake of Mother Earth with
‘hot and raging lava.
My readers must excuse this brief and somewhat pedan-
tic geological lecture. But it is necessary to the complete
understanding of what follows.
At a later period in the world’s history, a huge and
mighty fissure must, reasoning by analogy, have been dug
diagonally from the south-west to the north-east of the
island, through which by degrees flowed the volcanic crust.
The great and wondrous phenomenon then went on with-
out violence—the outpouring was enormous, and the seeth-
ing fused matter, ejected from the bowels of the earth,
spread slowly and peacefully in the form of vast level
plains, or what are called mamelons or mounds.
It was at this epoch that the rocks called feldspars, sye-
nites, and porphyries appeared.
But as a natural consequence of this overflow, the depth
of the island increased. It can readily be believed what
an enormous quantity of elastic fluids were piled up with-
in its centre, when at last it afforded no other openings,
after the process of cooling the crust had taken place.
At length a time came when despite the enormous thick-
ness and weight of the upper crust, the mechanical forces
of the combustible gases below became so great, that they
actually upheaved the weighty back.and made for them-
selves huge and gigantic shafts. Hence the volcanoes which
suddenly arose through the upper crust, and next the cra-
ters, which burst forth at the summit of these new crea-
tions.
It will be seen that the first phenomena in connection
with the formation of the island were simply eruptive ; to
these, however, shortly succeeded the volcanic phenomena.
74 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Through the newly-formed openings, escaped the mar-
vellous mass of basaltic stones with which the plain we
were now crossing was covered. We were trampling our
way over heavy rocks of dark grey color, which, while
cooling, had been moulded into six-sided prisms. In the
“back distance†we could see a number of flattened cones,
which formerly were so many fire-vomiting mouths.
After the basaltic eruption was appeased and set at rest,
the volcano, the force of which increased with that of the
extinct craters, gave free passage to the fiery overflow cf
lava, and to the mass of cinders and pumice-stone, now
scattered over the sides of the mountain, like dishevelled
hair on the shoulders of a Bacchante.
Here, in a nutshell, I had the whole history of the
phenomena from which Iceland arose. All take their rise
in the fierce action of interior fires, and to bélieve that the
central mass did not remain in a state of liquid fire, white
hot, was simply and purely madness.
This being satisfactorily proved, (q. e. d.) what insensate
folly to pretend to penetrate into the interior of the mighty
earth !
This mental lecture delivered to myself while proceed-
ing on a journey, did me good. I was quite re-assured as
to the fate of our enterprise; and therefore went, like a
brave soldier mounting a bristling battery, to the assault _
of old Sneffels.
As we advanced, the road became every moment more
difficult. The soil was broken and dangerous. The rocks
broke and gave way under our feet, and we had to be seru-
pulously careful in order to avoid dangerous and constant
falls.
Hans advanced as calmly as if he had been walking
over Salisbury Plain; sometimes he would disappear be-
hind huge blocks of stone, and we momentarily lost sight
of him. There was a little period of anxiety and then
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 15
there was a shrill whistle, just to tell us where to look for
him.
Occasionally he would take it into his head to stop to
pick up lumps of rock, and silently pile them up into
small heaps, in order that we might not lose our way on our
return.
‘He had no idea of the journey we were about to under-
take.
At all events, the precaution was a good one; though
how utterly useless and unnecessary—but I must not an-
ticipate.
Three hours of terrible fatigue, walking incessantly,
had only brought us to the foot of the great mountain.
This will give some notion of what we had still to undergo.
Suddenly, however, Hans cried a halt—that is, he made
signs to that effect—and a summary kind of breakfast
was laid out on the lava before us. My uncle, who now
was simply Professor Hardwigg, was so eager to advance,
that he bolted his food like a greedy clown. This halt
for refreshment was also a halt for repose. The Pro-
fessor was therefore compelled to wait the good pleasure
of his imperturbable guide, who did not give the signal
for departure for a good hour.
The three Icelanders, who were as taciturn as their
comrade, did not say a word; but went on eating and
drinking very quietly and soberly.
From this, our first real stage, we began to ascend the
slopes of the Sneffels volcano. Its magnificent snowy
night-cap, as we began fo call it, by an optical delusion
very common in mountains, appeared to me to be close at
hand; and yet how many long weary hours must elapse
before we reached its summit. What unheard-of fatigue
must we endure !
The stones on the mountain side, held together by no
cement of soil, bound together by no roots or creeping
76 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
herbs, gave way continually under our feet, and went
rushing below into the plains, like a series of small ava-
lanches. :
In certain places the sides of this stupendous mountain
were at an angle so steep that it was impossible to climb
upwards, and we were compelled to get round these ob-
stacles as best we might.
Those who understand Alpine climbing will comprehend
our difficulties. Often we were obliged to help each other
along by means of our climbing poles.
I must say this for my uncle, that he stuck as close to
me as possible. He never lost sight of me, and on many
occasions his arm supplied me with firm and solid support.
He was strong, wiry, and apparently insensible to fatigue.
Another great advantage with him was that he had the
innate sentiment of equilibrium—for he never slipped
or failed in his steps. The Icelanders, though heavily
loaded, climbed with the agility of mountaineers.
_ Looking up, every now and then, at the height of the
great volcano of Sneffels, it appeared to me wholly im-
possible to reach to the summit on that side; at all events,
if the angle of inclination did not speedily change.
Fortunately, after an hour of unheard-of fatigues, and
of gymnastic exercises that would have been trying to an
acrobat, we came to a vast field of ice, which wholly sur-
rounded the bottom of the cone of the volcano. The
natives called it the table-cloth, probably from some such
reason as the dwellers in the Cape of Good Hope call
their mountain Table Mountain, and their roads Table
Bay.
Here, to our mutual surprise, we found an actual flight
of stone steps, which wonderfully assisted our ascent.
This singular flight of stairs was, like everything else,
volcanic. It had been formed by one of those torrents of
stones cast up by the eruptions, and of which the Ice-
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 77 |
landic name is stina. If this singular torrent had not
been checked in its descent by the peculiar shape of the
flanks of the mountain, it would have swept into the sea,
and would have formed new islands.
Such as it was, it served us admirably. The abrupt
character of the slopes momentarily increased, but these
remarkable stone steps, a little less difficult than those of
the Egyptian pyramids, were the one simple natural
means by which we were enabled to proceed.
About seven in the evening of that day, after having
clambered up two thousand of these rough steps, we found
ourselves overlooking a kind of spur or projection of the
mountain—a sort of buttress upon which the cone-like
crater, properly so called, leaned for support.
The ocean lay beneath us at a depth of more than three
thousand two hundred feet—a grand and mighty spectacle.
We had reached the region of eternal snows.
The cold was keen, searching and intense. The wind
blew with extraordinary violence. I was utterly ex-
hausted.
My worthy uncle, the Professor, saw clearly that my
legs refused further service, and that, in fact, I was utter-
ly exhausted. Despite his hot and feverish impatience,
he decided, with a sigh, upon a halt. He called the eider-
duck hunter to his side. That worthy, however, shook his
head.
“Ofvanfor,†was his sole spoken reply.
“Tt appears,†says my uncle with a woe-begone look,
“that we must go higher.â€
He then turned to Hans, and asked him to give some
reason for this decisive response.
“Mistour,†replied the guide.
“Ja mistour—yes, the mistour,†cried one of the Ice-
landic guides in a terrified tone.
It was the first time he had spoken.
78 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“What does this mysterious word signify?†I anxiously
inquired.
“Look,†said my uncle.
I looked down upon the plain below, and I saw a vast,
a prodigious volume of pulverized pumice-stone, of sand,
of dust, rising to the heavens in the form of a mighty
water-spout. - It resembled the fearful phenomenon of a
similar character known to the travellers in the desert of
the great Sahara.
The wind was driving it directly aaa that side of
Sneffels on which we were perched. This opaque veil
standing up between us and the sun projected a deep
shadow on the flanks of the mountain. If this sand-spout
broke over us, we must all be infallibly destroyed, crushed
in its fearful embraces. This extraordinary phenomenon,
very common when the wind shakes the glaciers, and
sweeps over the arid plains, is in the Icelandic tongue
called mistour.
“Hlastigt, Hastigt!†cried our guide.
Now I certainly knew nothing of Danish, but I tho-
roughly understood that his gestures were meant to
quicken us.
The guide turned rapidly in a direction which would take
us to the back of the crater, all the while ascending slightly.
We followed rapidly, despite our excessive fatigue.
A quarter of an hour later Hans paused to enable us to
look back. The mighty whirlwind of sand was spreading
up the slope of the mountain to the very spot where we
had proposed to halt. Huge stones were caught up, cast
into the air, and thrown about as during an eruption.
We were happily a little out of the direction of the wind,
and therefore out of reach of danger. But for the precau-
tion and knowledge of our guide, our dislocated bodies,
our crushed and broken limbs, would have been cast to
the wind, like dust from some unknown meteor.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 79
Hans, however, did not think it prudent to pass the
night on the bare side of the cone. We therefore con-
tinued our journey in a zigzag direction. The fifteen
hundred feet which remained to be accomplished took us
at least five hours. The turnings and windings, the no-
thoroughfares, the marches and marches, turned that insig-
nificant distance into at least three leagues. I never felt
such misery, fatigue and exhaustion in my life. I was
ready to faint from hunger and cold. The rarified air at
the same time painfully acted upon my lungs.
At last, when I thought myself at my last gasp, about
eleven at night, it being in that region quite dark, we
reached the summit of Mount Sneffels! it was in an awful
mood of mind, that despite my fatigue, before I descended
into the crater which was to shelter us for the night, I
paused to behold the sun rise at midnight on the very day
of its lowest declension, and enjoyed the spectacle of its
ghastly pale rays cast upon the isle which lay sleeping at
our feet!
I no longer wondered at people travelling all the way
from England to Norway, to behold this magical and
wondrous spectacle.
80 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XIII. »
THE SHADOW OF SCARTARIS.
Our supper was eaten with ease and rapidity, after
which everybody did the best he could for himself within
the hollow of the crater. The bed was hard, the shelter
unsatisfactory, the situation painful—lying in the open
air, five thousand feet above the level of the sea!
Nevertheless, it has seldom happened to me to sleep so
well as I did on that particular night. I did not even
dream. So much for the effects of what my uncle called
“wholesome fatigue.â€
Next day, when we awoke under the rays of a bright
and glorious sun, we were nearly frozen by the keen air.
I left my granite couch and made one of the party to en-
joy a view of the magnificent spectacle which developed
itself, panorama-like, at our feet. |
I stood upon the lofty summit of Mount Sneffels’
southern peak. Thence I was able to obtain a view of
the greater part of the island. The optical delusion, com-
mon to all lofty heights, raised the shores of the island,
while the central portions appeared depressed. It was by
no means too great a flight of fancy to believe that a
giant picture was stretched out before me. I could see
the deep valleys that crossed each other in every direc-
tion. I could see precipices looking like sides of wells,
lakes that seemed to be changed into ponds, ponds that
looked like puddles, and rivers that were transformed. into
petty brooks. To my right were glaciers upon glaciers,
and multiplied peaks, topped with light clouds of smoke.
The undulation of these infinite numbers of mountains,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 81
whose snowy summits make them look as if covered by
foam, recalled to my remembrance the surface of a
storm-beaten ocean. If I looked towards the west, the
ocean lay before me in all its majestic grandeur, a con-
tinuation as it were, of these fleecy hill-tops.
Where the earth ended and the sea began it was impos:
sible for the eye to distinguish.
_ I soon felt that strange and mysterious sensation which
is awakened in the mind when looking down from lofty
hill tops, and now I was able to do so without any feeling
of nervousness, having fortunately hardened myself to that
kind of sublime contemplation.
I wholly forgot who I was, and where I was. I became
intoxicated with a sense of lofty sublimity, without
thought of the abysses into which my daring was soon
about to plunge me. I was presently, however, brought
back to the realities of life, by the arrival of the Professor
and Hans, who joined me upon the lofty summit of the
peak,
My uncle, turning in a westerly direction, pointed out
to me a light cloud of vapor, a kind of haze, with a faint
outline of land rising out of the waters.
“ Greenland!†said he.
“ Greenland ?†cried I in reply.
“Yes,†continued my uncle, who always when explain-
ing anything spoke as if he were in a Professor’s chair ;
“we are not more than thirty-five leagues distant from
that wonderful land. When the great annual break up
of the ice takes place, white bears come over to Iceland,
carried by the floating masses of ice from the north. This,
however, is a matter of little consequence. We are now
on the summit of the great, the transcendent Sneffels, and
here are its two peaks, north and south. Hans will tell
you the name by which the people of Iceland call that on
which we stand.â€
82 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
My uncle turned to the imperturbable guide, who
nodded, and spoke as usual—one word.
“Scartaris.â€
My uncle looked at me with a proud and triumphant
glance.
“A crater,†he said, “you hear?â€
I did hear, but I was totally unable to make reply.
The crater of Mount Sneffels represented an inverted
cone, the gaping orifice apparently half a mile across; the
depth indefinite feet. Conceive what this hole must have
been like when full of flame and thunder and.lightning.
The bottom of the funnel-shaped hollow was about five
hundred feet in circumference, by which it will be seen
that the slope from the summit to the bottom was very
gradual, and we were therefore clearly able to get there
without much fatigue or difficulty. Involuntarily, I com-
pared this crater to an enormous loaded cannon; and the
comparison completely terrified me. :
“To descend into the interior of a cannon,†I thought
to myself, “when perhaps it is loaded, and will go off at
the least shock, is the act of a madman.â€
But there was no longer any opportunity for me to hesi-
tate. Hans, with a perfectly calm and indifferent air, took
his usual post at the head of the adventurous little band.
I followed without uttering a syllable.
I felt like the lamb led to the slaughter.
In order to render the descent less difficult, Hans took
his way down the interior of the cone in rather a zigzag
fashion, making, as the sailors say, long tracks to the east~
ward, followed by equally long ones to the west. It was
necessary to walk through the midst of eruptive rocks,
some of which, shaken in their balance, went rolling down
with thundering clamor to the bottom of the abyss.
These continual falls awoke echoes of singular power and
effect.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 83
Many portions of the cone consisted of inferior glaciers.
Hans, whenever he met with one of these obstacles ad-
vanced with a great show of precaution, sounding the soil
with his long iron pole in order to discover fissures and
layers of deep soft snow. In many doubtful or dangerous
places, it became necessary for us to be tied together by a
long rope in order that should any one of us be unfor-
tunate enough to slip, he would be supported by his
companions. This connecting link was doubtless a pru-
dent precaution, ,.but not by any means unattended with
danger.
Nevertheless, and despite all the manifold difficulties of
the descent, along slopes with which our guide was wholly
unacquainted, we made considerable progress without ac-
cident. One of our great parcels of rope slipped from
one of the Iceland porters, and rushed by a short cut to
the bottom of the abyss.
By mid-day we were at the end of our journey. I looked
upwards, and saw only the upper orifice of the cone, which
served as a circular frame to a very small portion of the
sky—a portion which seemed to me singularly beautiful.
Should I ever again gaze on that lovely sunlit sky!
The only exception to this extraordinary landscape, was
the Peak of Scartaris, which seemed lost in the great void
of the heavens.
The bottom of the crater was composed of three sepa-
rate shafts, through which, during periods of eruption,
when Sneffels was in action, the great central furnace sent
forth its burning lava and poisonous vapors. Each of
these chimneys or shafts gaped open-mouthed in our path.
I kept as far away from them as possible, not even ven-
turing to take the faintest peep downwards.
As for the Professor, after a rapid examination of their
disposition and characteristics, he became breathless and
panting. He ran from one to the other like a delighted
84 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
school-boy, gesticulating wildly, and uttering incompre:
hensible and disjointed phrases in all sorts of languages.
Hans, the guide, and his humbler companions seated
themselves on some piles of lava and looked silently on.
They clearly took my uncle for a lunatic ; and—waited the
result.
Suddenly the Professor uttered a wild, unearthly ery.
At first I imagined he had lost his footing, and was falling
headlong into one of the yawning gulfs. Nothing of the
kind. I saw him, his arms spread out to their widest ex-
tent, his legs stretched apart, standing upright before an
enormous pedestal, high enough and black enough to bear
a gigantic statue of Pluto. His attitude and mien were
that of a man utterly stupefied. But his stupefaction was
speedily changed to the wildest joy.
“Harry! Harry! come here!†he cried; “make haste—
wonderful—wonderful !â€
Unable to understand what he meant, I turned to obey
his commands. Neither Hans, nor the other Icelanders
moved a step.
“ Look!†said the Professor, in something of the manner
of the French general, pointing out the pyramids to his
army.
And fully partaking his stupefaction, if not his joy, I
read on the eastern side of the huge blockâ€of stone, the
same characters, half eaten away by the corrosive action
of time, the name, to me a thousand times accursed—
ALM YIP
“ Arne Saknussemm !†cried my uncle, “ now, unbeliever,
do you begin to have faith ?â€
It was totally impossible for me to answer a single word.
I went back to my pile of lava, ina state of silent awe.
The evidence was unanswerable, overwhelming !
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 85
In a few moments, however, my thoughts were far away,
back in my German home, with Gretchen and the old
cook. What would I have given for one of my cousin’s
smiles, for one of the ancient domestic’s es and for
my own feather bed!
How long I remained in this state I know not. All I
can say is, that when at last I raised my head from be-
tween my hands, there remained at the bottom of the cra-
ter only myself, my uncle and Hans. The Icelandic por-
ters had been dismissed and were now descending the ex-
terior slopes of Mount Sneffels, 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 lava, where he had made himself a rough and ready
bed. My uncle was walking about the bottom of the cra-
ter like a wild beast in a cage. I had no desire, neither
had I the strength, to move from my recumbent position.
Taking example by the guide, I gave way to a kind of
painful somnolency, during which I seemed both to hear
and feel continued heavings and shudderings in the moun-
tain.
In this way we passed our first night in the interior of
a crater.
Next morning, a grey, cloudy, heavy sky hung like a
funeral-pall over the summit of the voleanic cone. I did
not notice it so much from the obscurity that reigned
around us, as from the rage with which my uncle was
devoured.
I fully understood the reason, and again a glimpse of
hope made my heart leap with joy. I will aay explain
the cause.
Of the three openings which yawned beneath our steps,
only one could have been followed by the adventurous
Saknussemm. According to the words of the learned Ice-
lander, it was only to be known by that one particular
86 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
mentioned in the cryptograph, that the shadow of Scar-
taris fell upon it, just touching its mouth in the last days
of the month of June. ‘
We were, in fact, to consider the pointed peak as the
stylus of an immense sun-dial, the shadow of which pointed
on one given day, like the inexorable finger of fate, to the
yawning chasm which led into the interior of the earth.
Now, as often happens in these regions, should the sun
fail to burst through the clouds, no shadow. Conse-
quently, no chance of discovering the right aperture.
We had already reached the 25th June. If the kindly
heavens would only remain densely clouded for six more
days, we should have to put off our voyage of discovery
for another year, when certainly there would be one
person fewer in the party. I already had sufficient of the
mad and monstrous enterprise.
It would be utterly impossible to depict the impotent
rage of Professor Hardwigg. The day passed away, and
not the faintest outline of a shadow could be seen at the
bottom of the crater. Hans the guide never moved from
his place. He must have been curious to know 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 fixed on the black and foggy atmosphere, his com-
plexion hideous with suppressed passion. Never had his
eyes appeared so fierce, his nose so aquiline, his mouth so
hard and firm.
On the 26th no change for the better. A mixture of
rain and snow fell during the whole day. Hans very
quietly built himself a hut of lava into which he retired
like Diogenes into his tub. I took a malicious delight in
watching the thousand little cascades that flowed down the
side of the cone, carrying with them at times a stream of
stones into the “vasty deep †below.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 87
My uncle was almost frantic: to be sure it was enough
to make even a patient man angry. He had reached to a
certain extent the goal of his desires, and yet he was likely
to be wrecked in port.
But if the heavens and the elements are capable of
causing us much pain and sorrow, there are two sides to a
medal. And there was reserved for Professor Hardwigg
a brilliant and sudden surprise which was to compensate
him for all his sufferings.
Next day the sky was still overcast, but on Sunday, the
26th, the last day but one of the month, with a sudden
change of wind and a new moon there came a change of
weather. The sun poured its beaming rays to the very
bottom of the crater.
Each hillock, every rock, every stone, every asperity of
the soil had its share of the luminous effulgence, and its
shadow fell heavily on the soil. Among others, to his in-
sane delight, the shadow of Scartaris was marked and
clear, and moved slowly with the radiant star of day.
My uncle moved with it in a state of mental ecstacy.
At twelve o’clock exactly, when the sun had attained its
highest altitude for the day, the shadow fell upen the edge
of the central pit!
“Here it is,†gasped the Professor in an agony of joy,
“here it is—we have found it. Forward, my friends, into
the Interior of the Earth.â€
I looked curiously at Hans to see what reply he would
make to this terrific announcement.
“Fortit,†said the guide tranquilly.
“Forward it is,†answered my uncle, who was now in
the seventh heaven of delight.
When we were quite ready, our watches indicated thir-
teen minutes past one!
88 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE REAL JOURNEY COMMENCES.
Ovr real journey had now commenced.
Hitherto our courage and determination had overcome
all difficulties. We were fatigued at times; and that was
all. Now, unknown and fearful dangers we were about to
encounter,
Thad not as yet ventured to take a glimpse down the
horrible abyss into which in a few minutes more I was
about to plunge. The fatal moment had, however, at last
arrived. I had still the option of refusing or accepting
a share in this foolish and audacious enterprise. But I
was ashamed to show more fear than the eider-duck
hunter. Hans seemed to accept the difficulties of the
journey so tranquilly, with such calm indifference, with
such perfect recklessness of all danger, that I actually
blushed to appear less of a man than he!
Had I been alone with my uncle, I should certainly
have sat down and argued the point fully; but in the
presence of the guide I held my tongue. I gave one
moment to the thought of my charming cousin, and then
I advanced to the mouth of the central shaft.
It measured about a hundred feet in diameter, which
made about three hundred in circumference. I leaned
over a rock which stood on its edge, and looked down.
My hair stood on end, my teeth chattered, my limbs
trembled, I seemed utterly to lose my centre of gravity,
while my head was in a sort of whirl, like that of a
drunken man. There is nothing more powerful than this
attraction towards an abyss. I was about to fall head-
long into the gaping well, when I was drawn back by a
firm and powerful hand, It was that of Hans. I had
THE DESCENT OF THE CRATER.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 89
not taken lessons enough at the Frelser’s-kirk of Copenha-
gen in the art of looking down from lofty eminences with-
out blinking !
However, few as the minutes were during which I gazed
down this tremendous and even wondrous shaft, I had a
sufficient glimpse of it to give me some idea of its physical
conformation. Its sides, which were almost as perpendicu-
lar as those of a well, presented numerous projections
which doubtless would assist our descent.
It was a sort of wild and savage staircase, without
bannister or fence. A rope fastened above, near the sur-
face, would certainly support our weight and enable us to
reach the bottom, but how, when we had arrived at its ut-
most depth, were we to loosen it above? This was, I
thought, a question of some importance.
My uncle, however, was one of those men who are near-
ly always prepared with expedients. He hit upon a very
simple method of obviating this difficulty. He unrolled
a cord about as thick as my thumb, and at least four
hundred feet in length. He allowed about half of it to go
down the pit and catch in a hitch over a great block of
lava which stood on the edge of the precipice. This done,
he threw the second half after the first.
Each of us could now descend by catching the two cords
in one hand. When about two hundred feet below, all
the explorer had to do was to let go one end and pull
away at the other, when the cord would come falling at
his feet. In order to go down farther, all that was neces-
sary was to continue the same operation.
This was a very excellent proposition, and no doubt, a
correct one. Going down appeared to me easy enough, it
was the coming up again that now occupied my thoughts.
“Now,†said my uncle, as soon as he had completed
this important preparation, “let us see about the baggage.
It must be divided into three separate parcels, and each
€
90 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
of us must carry cne on his back. I allude to the more
important and fragile articles.â€
My worthy and ingenious uncle did not appear to con-
sider that we came under that denomination.
“Hans,†he continued, “you will take charge of the ~
tools and some of the provisions; you, Harry, must take
possession of another third of the provisions and of the
arms. I will load myself with the rest of the eatables,
and with the more delicate instruments.â€
“But,†I exclaimed, “our clothes, this mass of cord
and ladders—who will undertake to carry them down?â€
“They will go down of themselves.â€
“ And how so?†I asked.
“ You shall see.â€
My uncle was not fond of half measures, nor did he
like anything in the way of hesitation. Giving his orders
to Hans he had the whole of the non-fragile articles made
up into one bundle; and the packet, firmly and solidly
fastened, was simply pitched over the edge of the gulf.
I heard the moaning of the suddenly displaced air, and
the noise of falling stones. My uncle leaning over the
abyss followed the descent of his luggage with a perfectly
self-satisfied air, and did not rise until it had completely
disappeared from sight.
“ Now then,†he cried, “it is our turn.â€
I put it in good faith to any man of common sense—was
it possible to hear this energetic ery without a shudder?
The Professor fastened his case of instruments on his
back. Hans took charge of the tools, I of the arms. The
descent then commenced in the following order: Hans
went first, my uncle followed, and I went last. Our pro-
gress was made in profound silence—a silence only trou-
bled by the fall of pieces of rock, which breaking from
the jagged sides, fell with a roar into the depths below.
I allowed myself to slide, so to speak, holding franti-
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRis OF THE LARTH. 9L
cally on the double cord with onc hand and with the other
keeping myself off the rocks by the assistance of my iron-
shod pole. One idea was all the time impressed upon my
brain. I feared that the upper support would fail me.
The cord appeared to me far too fragile to bear the weight
of three such persons as we were, with our luggage. I made
as little use of it as possible, trusting to my own agility
and doing miracles in the way of feats of dexterity and
strength upon the projecting shelves and spurs of lava
which my feet seemed to clutch as strongly as my hands.
The guide went first I have said, and when one of the
slippery and frail supports broke from under his feet he
had recourse to his usual monosyllabic way of speaking.
“ Gifakt—’
“ Attention—look out,†repeated my uncle.
In about half an hour we reached a kind of small ter-
race formed by a- fragment of rock projecting some dis-
tance from the sides of the shaft.
Hans now began to haul upon the cord on one side only,
the other going as quietly upward as the other came down.
It fell at last, bringing with it a shower of small stones,
- lava and dust, a disagreeable kind of rain or hail.
While we were seated on this extraordinary bench I
ventured once more to look downwards. With a sigh I
discovered that the bottom was still wholly invisible. Were
we, then, going direct to the interior of the earth ?
The performance with the cord recommenced, and a
quarter of an hour later we had reached to the depth of
another two hundred feet.
I have very strong doubts if the most determined geolo-
gist would, during that descent have studied the nature of
the different layers of earth around him. I did not
trouble my head much about the matter ; whether we were
among the combustible carbon, silurians, or primitive soil,
I neither knew nor cared to know.
92 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Not so the inveterate Professor. He must have taken
notes all the way down, for, at one of our halts, he began
a brief lecture.
“The farther we advance,†said he, “the greater is
my confidence in the result. The disposition of these vol-
cana strata absolutely confirms the theories of Sir Hum-
phrey Davy. We are still within the region of the pri-
mordial soil, the soil in which took place the chemical
operation of metals becoming inflamed by coming in con-
tact with the air and water. I at once regret the old and
now for ever exploded theory of a central fire. At all
events, we shall soon know the truth.â€
Such was the everlasting conclusion to which he came.
I, however, was very far from being in humor to discuss
the matter. I had something else to think of. My si-
lence was taken for consent; and still we continued to go
down.
At the expiration of three hours, we were, to all appear-
ance, as far off as ever from the bottom of the well. When
I looked upwards, however, I could see that the upper
orifice was every minute decreasing in size. The sides of
the shaft were getting closer and closer together, we were
approaching the regions of eternal night !
And still we continued to descend !
At length, I noticed that when pieces of stone were de-
tached from the sides of this stupendous precipice, they
were swallowed up with less noise than before. The final
sound was sooner heard. We were approaching the bot-
tom of the abyss!
As I had been very careful to keep account of all the
changes of cord which took place, I was able to tell exact-
ly, what was the depth we had reached, as well as the time
it had taken.
We had shifted the rope twenty-eight times, each opera-
tion taking a quarter of an hour, which in all made seven
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 92
hours. To this had to be added twenty-eighty pauses; in
all ten hours and a-half. We started at one, it was now, .
therefore, about eleven ofclock at night.
It does not require great knowledge of arithmetic to
know that twenty-eight times two hundred feet makes five
thousand six hundred feet in all (more than an English
mile.)
While I was making this mental calculation a voice
broke the silence. It was the voice of Hans.
“Halt!†he cried.
I checked myself very suddenly, just at the moment
when I was about to kick my uncle on the head.
“We have reached the end of our journey,†said the
worthy Professor in a satisfied tone.
“What, the interior of the earth?†said I, slipping
down to his side.
“No, you stupid fellow! but we have reached the bot-
tom of the well.â€
“ And I suppose there is no farther progress to be
made?†I hopefully exclaimed.
“Oh, yes, I can dimly see a sort of tunnel, which turns
off obliquely to the right. At all events, we must see
about that to-morrow. Let us sup now, and seek slumber
as best we may.â€
I thought it time, but made no observations on that
point. I was fairly launched on a desperate course, and
all I had to do was to go forward hopefully and trusting-
ly.
It was not even now quite dark, the light filtering down
in a most extraordinary manner.
We opened the provision bag, ate a frugal supper, and
each did his best to find a bed amid the pile of stones, dirt,
and lava which had accumulated for ages at the bottom
of the shaft.
I happened to grope out the pile of ropes, ladders, and
94 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
clothes which we had thrown down; and upon them I
stretched myself. After such a day’s labor, my rough bed
seemed as soft as down!
For a while I lay in a sort of pleasant trance.
Presently, after lying quietly for some minutes, I opened
my eyes and looked upwards. As I did so I made out a
brilliant little dot, at the extremity of this long, gigantic
telescope.
It was a star without scintillating rays. According to
my calculation, must be @ in the constellation of the Little
Bear.
After this little bit of astronomical recreation, I dropped
into a sound sleep.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 95
CHAPTER XV.
WE CONTINUE OUR DESCENT.
Ar eight o’clock the next morning, a faint kind of dawn
of day awoke us. The thousand and one prisms of the
lava, collected the light as it passed and brought it to us
like a shower of sparks.
We were able with ease to see objects around us.
“Well, Harry, my boy,†cried the delighted Professor,
rubbing his hands together, “what say you now? Did you
ever pass a more tranquil night in our house in the Kénig
Strasse? No deafening sounds of cart-wheels, no cries
of hawkers, no bad language from boatmen or watermen!â€
“Well, uncle, we are quiet at the bottom of this well—
but to me there is something terrible in this calm.â€
“Why,†said the Professor, hotly, “one would say you
were already beginning to be afraid. How will you get
on presently? Do you know, that as yet, we have not
penetrated one inch into the bowels of the earth.â€
“What can you mean, sir?’ was my bewildered and
astonished reply.
“T mean to say that we have only just reached the soil
of the island itself. This long vertical tube, which ends
at the bottom of the crater of Sneffels, ceases here just
about on a level with the sea.â€
“ Are you sure, sir?â€
“Quite sure. Consult the barometer.â€
It was quite true that the mercury, after rising gradu-
ally in the instrument, as long as our descent was taking
place, had stopped precisely at twenty-nine degrees.
“You perceive,†said the Professor, “we have as yet
96 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH,
only to endure the pressure of air. I am curious to re
place the barometer by the manometer.â€
The barometer, in fact, was about to become useless—
as soon as the weight of the air was greater than what
-was calculated as above the level of the ocean.
“But,†said I, “is it not very much to be feared that
this ever-increasing pressure may not in the end turn out
very painful and inconvenient ?â€
“No,†said he. “We shall descend very slowly, and
our lungs will be gradually accustomed to breathe com-
pressed air. It is well known that aéronauts have gone
so high as to be nearly without air at all—why, then,
should we not accustom ourselves to breathe when we have,
say, a little too much of it? For myself, I am certain I
shall prefer it. Let us not lose a moment. Where is the
packet which preceded us in our descent ?â€
I smilingly pointed it out to my uncle. Hans had not
seen it, and believed it caught somewhere above us:
“ huppe †as he phrased it.
“Now,†said my uncle, “let us breakfasts and break
fast like people who have a long day’s work before them.â€
Biscuit and dried meat, washed down by some mouth-
fuls of water flavored with schiedam, was the material of
our luxurious meal.
As soon as it was finished, my uncle took from his
pocket a note-book destined to be filled by memoranda of
our travels. He had already placed his instruments in
order, and this is what he wrote :—
Monday, July 1st..
Chronometer, 8h. 17m. morning.
Barometer, 29 degrees.
Thermometer, 43° Fahr.
Direction, FE. 8. E.
This last observation referred to the obscure gallery,
and was indicated to us by the compass.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 97
“Now Harry,†cried the Professor, in an enthusiastic
tone of voice, “ we are truly about to take our first step
into the Interior of the Earth; never before visited by
man since the first creation of the world. You may con-
sider, therefore, that at this precise moment our travels
really commence.â€
As my uncle made this remark, he took in one hand the
Ruhmkorf coil apparatus, which hung round his neck, and
with the other he put the electric current into communi-
cation with the worm of the lantern. And a bright light
at once illumined that dark and gloomy tunnel !
The effect was magical ! )
Hans, who carried the second apparatus, had it also put
into operation. This ingenious application of electricity
to practical purposes enabled us to move along by the
light of an artificial day, amid even the flow of the most
inflammable and combustible gases.
“Forward!†cried my uncle. Each took up his
burden. Hans went first, my uncle followed, and I going
third, we entered the sombre gallery !
Just as we were about to engulf ourselves in this dis-
mal passage, I lifted up my head, and through the tube-
like shaft saw that Iceland sky I was never to see again!
Was it the last I should ever see of any sky?
The stream of lava flowing from the bowels of the
earth in 1229, had forced itself a passage through the
tunnel. It lined the whole of the inside with its thick
and brilliant coating. The electric light added very
greatly to the brillancy of the effect.
The great difficulty of our journey now began. How
were we to prevent ourselves from slipping down the
steeply-inclined plane? Happily some cracks, abrasures
of the soil, and-other irregularities, served the place of
steps ; and we descended slowly; allowing our heavy lug-
gage to slip on before, at the end of a long cord.
98 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
But that which served as steps under our feet, became
in other places stalactites. The lava, very porous in
certain places, took the form of little round blisters.
Crystals of opaque quartz, adorned with limpid drops of
natural glass suspended to the roof like lustres, seemed to
take fire as we passed beneath them. One would have
fancied that the genii of romance were illuminating their
underground palaces to receive the sons of men.
“Magnificent, glorious!†I cried in a moment of in-
voluntary enthusiasm, “ what a spectacle, uncle! Do you
not admire these variegated shades of lava, which run
through a whole series of colors, from reddish brown to
pale yellow—by the most insensible degrees? And these
crystals, they appear like luminous globes.â€
“You are beginning to see the charms of travel, Master
Harry,†cried my uncle. - “ Wait a bit, until we advance
farther. What we have as yet discovered is nothing—
onwards, my boy, onwards!â€
It would have been a far more correct and appropriate
expression, had he said, “let us slide,†for we were going
down an inclined plane with perfect ease. The compass
indicated that we were moving in a south-easterly direc-
tion. The flow of lava had never turned to the right or
the left. It had the inflexibility of a straight line.
Nevertheless, to my surprise, we found no perceptible
increase in heat. This proved the theories of Humphrey
Davy to be founded on truth, and more than once I found
myself examining the thermometer in silent astonishment.
Two hours after my departure it only marked 54 degrees
Fahrenheit. I had every reason to believe from this that
our descent was far more horizontal than vertical. As for
discovering the exact depth to which we had attained,
nothing could be easier. The Professor, as he advanced
measured the angles of deviation and inclination; but he
kept the result of his observations to himself.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 99
’
About eight o’clock in the evening, my uncle gave the
signal for halting. Hans seated himself on the ground.
The lamps were hung to fissures in the lava rock. We
were now in a large cavern where air was not wanting.
On the contrary, it abounded. What could be the cause
of this—to what atmospheric agitation could be ascribed
‘this draught? But this was a question which I did not
eare to discuss just then. Fatigue and hunger made me
incapable of reasoning. An unceasing march of seven
hours had not been kept up without great exhaustion. I
was really and truly worn out; and delighted enough I
was to hear the word Halt.
Hans laid out some provisions on a lump of lava, and
we each supped with keen relish. One thing, however,
caused us great uneasiness—our water reserve was already
half exhausted. My uncle had full confidence in finding
subterranean resources, but hitherto we had completely
failed in so doing. I could not help calling my uncle’s
attention to the circumstance.
“ And you are surprised at this total absence of springs?â€
he said.
“ Doubtless—I am very uneasy on the point. We have
certainly not enough water to last us five days.â€
_ “Be quite easy on that matter,†continued my uncle
“T answer for it we shall find plenty of water—in fact,
, far more than we shall want.â€
“But when?â€
“When we once get through this crust of lava. How
can you expect springs to force their way through these
solid stone walls?â€
“But what is there to prove that this concrete mass of
lava does not extend to the centre of the earth? I don’t
think we have as yet done much in a vertical way.â€
“What puts that into your head, my boy?†asked my
uncle, mildly.
100 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“Well, it appears to me that if we had descended very
far below the level of the sea—we should find it rather
hotter than we have.â€
“ According to your system,†said my uncle; “but what
does the thermometer say ?â€
“Scarcely 15 degrees by Reaumur, which is only an in-
crease of 9 since our departure.â€
“Well, and what conclusion does that bring you to?â€
inquired the Professor.
“The deduction I draw from this is very simple. Ac-
cording to the most exact observations, the augmentation
of the temperature of the interior of the earth is 1 degree
for every hundred feet. But certain local causes may
considerably modify this figure. Thus at Yakoust in Si-
beria, it has been remarked that the heat increases a
degree every thirty-six feet. The difference evidently de-
pends on the conductibility of certain rocks. In the
neighborhood of an extinct volcano, it has been remarked
that the elevation of temperature was only 1 degree on
every five-and-twenty feet. Let us, then, go upon this
calculation—which is the most favorable—and calculate.â€
“Calculate away, my boy.â€
“Nothing easier,†said I, pulling out my note-book and
pencil. “Nine times one hundred and twenty-five feet,
make a depth of eleven hundred and twenty-five feet.â€
“ Archimedes could not have spoken more geometri-
cally.â€
“Well?â€
“Well, according to my observations, we are at least
ten thousand feet below the level of the sea.â€
“Can it be possible?â€
“Either my calculation is correct, or there is no truth
in figures.â€
The calculations of the Professor were perfectly correct.
We were already six thousand feet deeper down in the
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 101
bowels of the earth than any one had ever been before.
The lowest known depth to which man had hitherto pene-
trated was in the mines of Kitz-Bahl, on the Tyrol, and
those of Wuttemburg in Bohemia.
The temperature, which should have been eighty-one,
was in this place only fifteen, This was a matter for
serious consideration.
{02 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE EASTERN TUNNEL.
Tue next day was Tuesday, the 2d of July—and at
six o’clock in the morning we resumed our journey.
We still continued to follow the gallery of lava, a per-
fect natural pathway, as easy of descent as some of those
inclined planes which, in very old German houses, serve
the purpose of staircases. This went on until seventeen
minutes past twelve, the precise instant at which we re-
joined Hans, who having been somewhat in advance, had
suddenly stopped.
“ At last,†cried my uncle, “we have reached the end
of the shaft.â€
I looked wonderingly about me. We were in the centre
of four cross paths—sombre and narrow tunnels. The
question now arose as to which it was wise to take; and
this of itself was no small difficulty.
My uncle, who did not wish to appear to have any hesi-
tation about the matter before myself or the guide, at once
made up his mind. He pointed quietly to the eastern tun-
nel; and, without delay, we entered within its gloomy re-
cesses.
Besides, had he entertained any feeling of hesitation it
might have been prolonged indefinitely, for there was no
indication by which to determine on a choice. It was ab-
solutely necessary to trust to chance and good fortune!
The descent of this obscure and narrow gallery was
very gradual and winding. Sometimes we gazed through
a succession of arches, its course very like the aisles of a
Gothic cathedral. The great artistic sculptors and builders
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 103
of the middle ages might have here completed their stu-
dies with advantage. Many most beautiful and suggestive
ideas of architectural beauty would have been discovered
by them. After passing through this phase of the caver-
nous way, we suddenly came, about a mile farther on, upon
a square system of arch, adopted by the early Romans,
projecting from the solid rock, and keeping up the weight
of the roof.
Suddenly we would come upon a series of low subter-
ranean tunnels which looked like beaver holes, or the work
of foxes. Through whose narrow and winding ways we
had literally to crawl!
The heat still remained at quite a supportable degree.
With an involuntary shudder, I reflected on what the
heat must have been when the volcano of Sneffels was
pouring its smoke, flames, and streams of boiling lava—
all of which must have come up by the road we were now
following. I could imagine the torrents of hot seething
stone darting on, bubbling up with accompaniments of
smoke, steam, and sulphurous stench !
“Only to think of the consequences,†I mused, “if the
old voleano were once more to set to work.â€
I did not communicate these rather unpleasant. reflec-
tions to my uncle. He not only would not have under-
stood them, but would have been intensely disgusted.
His only idea was to go ahead. He walked, he slid, he
clambered over piles of fragments, he rolled down heaps
of broken lava, with an earnestness and conviction it was
impossible not to admire.
At six o’clock in the evening, after a very wearisome
journey, but one not so fatiguing as before, we had made
six miles towards the southward, but had not gone more
than a mile downwards.
. My uncle, as usual, gave the signal to halt. We ate
our meal in thoughtful silence, and then retired to sleep.
104 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Our arrangements for the night were very primitive
and simple.
self, was all our bedding. We had no necessity to fear
cold or any unpleasant visit. Travellers who bury them-
selves in the wilds and depths of the African desert, who
seck profit and pleasure in the forests of the New World,
are compelled to take it in turn to watch during the
hours of sleep; but in this region of the earth absolute
solitude and complete security, reigned supreme.
We had nothing to fear either from savages or from
wild beasts.
After a night’s sweet repose, we awoke fresh and ready
for action. There being nothing to detain us, we started
on our journey. We continued to burrow through the
lava tunnel as before. It was impossible to make out
through what soil we were making way. The tunnel,
moreover, instead of going down into the bowels of the
earth, became absolutely horizontal.
J even thought, after some examination, that we were
actually tending upwards. About ten o’clock in the day
this state of things became so clear, that finding the
change very fatiguing I was obliged to slacken my pace
and finally to come to a halt. a
“ Well,†said the Professor quickly, “ what isthe matter?â€
“The fact is, I am dreadfully tired,†was my earnest
reply.
“ What,†cried my uncle, “tired after a three hours’
walk, and by so easy a road?â€
“ Fasy enough, I dare say, but very fatiguing.â€
“ But how can that be, when all we have to do is to go
downwards.â€
“T beg your pardon, sir. For some time I have noticed
that we are going upwards.â€
“Upwards,†cried my uncle, shrugging his shoulders:
“how can that be?â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 105
“There can be no doubt about it. For the last half
hour the slopes have been upward—and if we go on in
this way much longer we shall find ourselves back in Ice-
land.â€
My uncle shook his head with the air of a man who
does not want to be convinced. I tried to continue the
conversation. He would not answer me, but once more
gave the signal for departure. His silence I thought was
only caused by concentrated ill-temper.
However this might be, I once more took up my load,
and boldly and resolutely followed Hans, who was now in
advance of my uncle. I did not like to be beaten or even
distanced. I was naturally anxious not to lose sight of
my companions. The very idea of being left behind, lost
in that terrible labyrinth, made me shiver as with the
ague.
Besides, if the ascending path was more arduous and
painful to clamber, I had one source of secret consolation
and delight. It was to all appearance taking us back to
the surface of the earth. That of itself was hopeful.
Every step I took confirmed me in my belief, and I began
already to build castles in the air in relation to my mar-
riage with my pretty little cousin.
About twelve o’clock there was a great and sudden
change in the aspect of the rocky sides of the gallery. I
first. noticed it from the diminution of the rays of light
which cast back the reflection of the lamp. Irom being
coated with shining and resplendent lava, it became living
rock. The sides were sloping walls, which sometimes be-
came quite vertical.
We were now in what the geological professors call a
state of transition, in the period of Silurian stones, so
called because this specimen of early formation is very
common in England in the counties formerly inhabited by
the Celtic nation known as Silures.
106 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“T can see, clearly now,†I cried; “the sediment from
the waters which once covered the whole earth, formed
during the second period of its existence, these schists and
these caleareous rocks. We are turning our backs
on the granitic rocks, and are like people from Hamburg
who would go to Litbeck by way of Hanover.â€
I might just as well have kept my observations to my-
self. My geological enthusiasm got the better, however,
of my cooler judgment, and Professor HWardwigg heard
my observations.
“What is the matter now?†he said, in a tone of great
gravity.
“Well,†cried I, “do you not see these different layers
of caleareous rocks and the first indication of slate
strata ?â€
“Well; what then?â€
“We have arrived at that period of the world’s exist-
ence when the first plants and the first animals made their
appearance.â€
“You think so?â€
“Yes, look; examine and judge for yourself.â€
I induced the Professor with some difficulty to cast the
light of his lamp on the sides of the long winding gallery.
T expected some exclamation to burst from his lips. I
was very much mistaken. The worthy Professor never
spoke a word.
It was impossible to say whether he understood me or
not. Perhaps it was possible that in his pride—my uncle
and a learned professor—he did not like to own that he
was wrong in having chosen the eastern tunnel, or was he
determined at any price to go to the end of it? It was
quite evident we had left the region of lava, and that the
road by which we were going could not take us back to
the great crater of Mount Sneffels.
As we went along I could not help ruminating on the
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 107
whole question, and asked myself if I did not lay too great
a stress on these sudden and peculiar modifications of the
earth’s crust.
After all, I was very likely to be mistaken—and it was
within the range of probability and possibility, that we
were not making our way through the strata of rocks
which I believed I recognized piled on the lower layer of
granitic formation.
“ At all events, if Iam right,†I thought to myself, “T
must certainly find some remains of primitive plants, and
it will be absolutely necessary to give way to such indu-
bitable evidence. Let us have a good search.â€
I accordingly lost no opportunity of searching, and had
not gone more than about a hundred yards, when the evi-
dence I sought for cropped up in the most incontestable
manner before my eyes. It was quite natural that I
should expect to find these signs, for during the Silurian
period the seas contained no fewer than fifteen hundred
different animal and vegetable species. My feet so long
accustomed to the hard and arid lava soil, suddenly found
themselves treading on a kind of soft dust, the remains
of plants and shells.
Upon the walls themselves I could clearly make out the
outline, as plain as a sun picture, of the fucus and the
lycopodes. The worthy and excellent Professor Hardwigg
could not of course make any mistake about the matter ;
but I believe he deliberately closed his eyes, and continued
on his way with a firm and unalterable step.
I began to think that he was carrying his obstinacy a
great deal too far. I could no longer act with prudence
or composure. I stooped on a sudden and picked up an
almost perfect shell, which had undoubtedly belonged to
some animal very much resembling some of the present
day. Having seeured the prize, I followed in the wake
of my uncle.
108 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
9â€
“Do you see this?†I said.
“Well,†said the Professor, with the most imperturbable
tranquillity, “it is the shell of a crustaceous animal of the
extinct order of the trilobites; nothing more I assure
you.â€
“ But,†cried I, much troubled at his coolness, “do you
draw no conclusion from it?â€
“Well, if I may ask, what conclusion do you draw from
it yourself?â€
“Well, I thought u
“T know, my boy, what you would say, and you are
right, perfectly and incontestably right. We have finally
abandoned the crust of lava and the road by which the
lava ascended. It is quite possible that I may have been
mistaken, but I shall be unable to discover my error until
I get to the end of this gallery.â€
“You are quite right as far as that is concerned,†I re-
plied, “and I should highly approve of your decision,
if we had not to fear the greatest of all dangers.â€
“ And what is that?â€
“Want of water.â€
“Well, my dear Henry, it can’t be helped. We must
put ourselves on rations.â€
And on he went.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 109
CHAPTER XVII.
DEEPER AND DEEPER—THE COAL MINE.
In truth, we were compelled to put ourselves upon ra-
tions. Our supply would certainly last not more than
three days. I found this out about supper time. The
worst part of the matter was, that in what is called the
transition rocks, it was hardly to be expected we should
meet with water !
I had read of the horrors of thirst, and I knew that
where we were, a brief trial of its sufferings would put an
end to our adventures—and our lives! But it was utterly
useless to discuss the matter with my uncle. He would
have answered by some axiom from Plato.
During the whole of next day we proceeded on our
journey through this interminable gallery, arch after
arch, tunnel after tunnel. We journeyed without exchang-
ing a word. We had become as mute and reticent as
Hans our guide.
The road had no longer an upward tendency; at all
events, if it had, it was not to be made out very clearly.
Sometimes there could be no doubt that we were going
downwards. But this inclination was scarcely to be dis-
tinguished, and was by no means reassuring to the Pro-
fessor, because the character of the strata was in no wise
modified, and the transition character of the rocks became
more and more marked.
It was a glorious sight to see how the electric light
brought out the sparkles in the walls of the calcareous
rocks, and the old red sandstone. One might have fancied
oneself in one of those deep cuttings in Devonshire, which
{10 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
have given their name to this kind of soil. Some magnifi-
cent specimens of marble projected from the sides of the
gallery ; some of an agate grey with white veins of varie-
gated character, others of a yellow spotted color, with red
veins; farther off might be seen samples of color in which
cherry-tinted seams were to be found in all their brightest
shades.
The greater number of these marbles were stamped with
the marks of primitive animals. Since the previous eve-
ning, nature and creation had made considerable progress.
Instead of the rudimentary trilobites, I perceived the
remains of a more perfect order. Among others, the fish
in which the eye of a geologist has been able to discover
the first form of the reptile.
The Devonian seas were inhabited by a vast number of
animals of this species, which were deposited in tens of
thousands in the rocks of new formation.
It was quite evident to me that we were ascending the
scale of animal life of which man forms the summit. My
excellent uncle, the Professor, appeared not to take notice
of these warnings. He was determined at any risk to
proceed.
He must have been in expectation of one of two things;
either that a vertical well was about to open under his
feet, and thus allow him to continue his descent, or that
some insurmountable obstacle would compel us to stop
and go back by the road we had so long travelled. But
evening came again, and, to my horror, neither hope was
doomed to be realized !
On Friday, after a night when I began to feel the
gnawing agony of thirst, and when in consequence appe-
tite decreased, our little band rose and once more followed
the turnings and windings, the ascents and descents, of
this interminable gallery. All were silent and gloomy,
I could see that even my uncle had ventured too far.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. [11
After about ten hours of further progress,—a progress
dull and monotonous to the last degree—I remarked that
the reverberation, and reflection of our lamps upon the
sides of the tunnel had singularly diminished. The
marble, the schist, the calcareous rocks, the red sandstone,
had disappeared, leaving in their places a dark and
gloomy wall, sombre and without brightness. When we
reached a remarkably narrow part of the tunnel, I leaned
my left hand against the rock.
When I took my hand away, and happened to glance
at it, it was quite black. We had reached the coal strata
of the Central Earth.
“A coal mine!†I cried.
“ A coal mine without miners,†responded my uncle, a
little severely.
“ How can we tell?â€
“T can tell,†replied my uncle, in a sharp and doctorial
tone. “Iam perfectly certain that this gallery through
successive layers of coal, was not cut by the hand of man.
But whether it is the work of nature or not is of little
concern to us. The hour for our evening meal has come
—let us sup.â€
Hans, the guide, occupied himself in preparing food.
I had come to that point when I could no longer eat. All
I cared about were the few drops of water which fell to
my share. What I suffered it is useless to record. The
guide’s gourd, not quité half full, was all that was left for
us three !
Having finished their repast, my two companions laid
themselves down upon their rugs, and found in sleep a
remedy for their fatigue and sufferings. As for me, I
could not sleep, I lay counting the hours until morning.
The next morning, Saturday, at six o’clock, we started
again. Twenty minutes later we suddenly came upon a
vast excavation. From its mighty extent I saw at once
112 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
that the hand of man could have had nothing to do with
this coal mine ; the vault above would have fallen in; as
it was, it was only held together by some miracle of nature.
This mighty natural cavern was about. a hundred feet
wide, by about a hundred and fifty high. The earth had
evidently been cast apart by some violent subterranean
commotion. The mass, giving way to some prodigious up-
heaving of nature, had split in two, leaving the vast gap
into which we inhabitants of the earth had penetrated for
the first time.
The whole singular history of the coal period was writ-
ten on those dark and gloomy walls. A geologist would
have been able easily to follow the different phases of its
formation. The seams of coal were separated by strata
of sandstone, a compact clay, which appeaicd to be crushed
down by the weight from above.
At that period of the world which preceded ‘he secon-
dary epoch, the earth was covered by a coating of cnor-
mous and rich vegetation, due to the double action of tro-
pical heat and perpetual humidity. A vast atmospheric
cloud of vapor surrounded the earth on all sides, prevent-
ing the rays of the sun from ever reaching it.
Hence the conclusion that these intense heats did not
arise from this new source of caloric.
Perhaps even the star of day was not quite ready for
its brilliant work—to illumine a universe. Climates did
not as yet exist, and a level heat pervaded the whole sur-
face of the globe—the same heat existing at the north pole
as at the equator.
Whence did it come? From the interior of the earth?
In spite of all the learned theories of Professor Hard-
wigg, a fierce and vehement fire certainly burned within
the entrails of the great spheroid. Its action was felt even
to the very topmost crust of the earth; the plants then in
existence being deprived of the vivifying rays of the sun,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 113
had neither huds, nor flowers, nor odor, but their roots
drew a strong and vigorous life from the burning earth of
early days.
There were but few of what may be called trees—only
herbaceous plants, immense turfs, briers, mosses, rare far
milies, which however in those days were counted “by tens
and tens of thousands.
It is entirely to this exuberant vegetation that coal owes
its origin. The crust of the vast globe still yielded under
the influence of the seething, boiling mass, which was for
ever at work beneath. Hence arose numerous fissures, and
continual falling in of the upper earth. The dense mass
of plants being beneath the waters, soon formed them-
selves into vast agglomerations.
Then came about the action of natural chemistry; in
the depths of the ocean the vegetable mass at first became
turf, then, thanks to the influence of gases and subterra-
nean fermentation, they underwent the complete process
of mineralization.
In this manner, in early days, were formed those vast
and prodigious layers of coal, which an ever-increasing
consumption must utterly use up in about three centuries
more, if people do not find some more economic light than
gas, and some cheaper motive power than steam.
All these reflections, the memories of my school studies,
came to my mind while I gazed upon these mighty accu-
mulations of coal, whose riches however are scarcely likely
to be ever utilized. The working of these mines could
only be carried out at an expense that would never yield
a profit.
The matter, however, is scarcely worthy consideration,
when coal is scattered over the whole surface of the globe,
within a few yards of the upper crust. As I looked at
these untouched strata, therefore, I knew they would re-
main as long as the world lasts.
114 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
While we still continued our journey, I alone forgot the
length of the road, by giving myself up wholly to these
geological considerations. The temperature continued to
be very much the same as while we were travelling amid
the lava and the schists. On the other hand my sense of
smell was much affected by a very powerful odor. I
immediately knew that the gallery was filled to overflow-
ing with that dangerous gas the miners call fire-damp, the
explosion of which has caused such fearful and terrible
accidents, making a hundred widows, and hundreds of
orphans in a single hour.
Happily, we were able to illume our progress by means
of the Ruhmkorf apparatus. If we had been so rash and
imprudent as to explore this gallery, torch in hand, a
terrible explosion would have put an end to our travels,
simply because no travellers would be left.
Our excursion through this wondrous coal mine in the
very bowels of the earth lasted until evening. My uncle
was scarcely able to conceal his impatience and dissatisfac-
tion at the road continuing still to advance in a horizontal
direction.
The darkness, dense and opaque, a few yards in advance
and in the rear, rendered it impossible to make out what
was the length of the gallery. For myself, I began to
believe that it was simply interminable, and would go on
in the same manner for months.
Suddenly, at six o’clock, we stood in front of a wall.
To the right, to the left, above, below, nowhere was there
any passage. We had reached a spot where the rocks said
in unmistakable accents—No Thoroughfare. .
I stood stupefied. The guide simply folded his arms.
My uncle was silent.
“Well, well, so much the better,†cried my uncle, at
last, “I now know what we are about. We are de-
eidedly not upon the road followed by Saknussemm. All
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. L115
we have to do is to go back. Let us take one night’s good
rest, and before three days are over, I promise you we
shall have regained the point where the galleries divided.â€
“Yes, we may, if our strength lasts as long,’ I cried, in
a lamentable voice.
“ And why not ?â€
“To-morrow, among us three, there will not be a drop
of water. It is just gone.â€
“And your courage with it,†said my uncle, speaking in
a severe tone.
What could I say? I turned round on my side, and
from sheer exhaustion fell into a heavy but troubled sleep.
Dreams of water! And I awoke unrefreshed.
I would have bartered a diamond mine for a glass of
pure spring water!
116 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE WRONG ROAD!
Next day, our departure took place at a very early
hour. There was no time for the least delay. According
to my account, we had five days’ hard work to get back
to the place where the galleries divided.
I can never tell all the sufferings we endured upon our
return. My uncle bore them like a man who has been in
the wrong—that is, with concentrated and suppressed an-
ger; Hans, with all the resignation of his pacific charac-
ter; and I—I confess that I did nothing but complain, and
despair. I had no heart for this bad fortune.
But there was one consolation. Defeat at the outset
would probably upset the whole journey !
As I had expected from the first, our supply of water
gave completely out on our first day’s march. Our pro-
vision of liquids was reduced to our supply of schiedam ;
but this horrible—nay, I will say it—this infernal liquor
burnt the throat, and I could not even bear the sight of it.
I found the temperature to be stifling. I was paralyzed
with fatigue. More than once I was about to fall insensi-
ble to the ground. The whole party then halted, and the
worthy Icelander and my excellent uncle did their best to
console and comfort me. I could, however, plainly see
that my uncle was contending painfully against the ex-
treme fatigues of our journey, and the awful torture gene-
rated by the absence of water.
At length a time came when I ceased to recollect any-
thing—when all was one awful, hideous, fantastic dream!
At last, on Tuesday, the eighth of the month of July,
after crawling on our hands and knees for many hours,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 117
more dead than alive, we reached the point of junction
between the galleries. I lay like a log, an inert mass of
human flesh on the arid lava soil. It was then ten in the
morning.
Hans and my uncle, leaning against the wall, tried to
nibble away at some pieces of biscuit, while deep groans
and sighs escaped from my scorched and swollen lips.
Then I fell off into a kind of deep lethargy.
Presently I felt my uncle approach, and lift me up
tenderly in his arms.
“Poor boy,’ I heard him say in a tone of deep com-
miseration.
I was profoundly touched by these words, being by no
means accustomed to signs of womanly weakness in the
Professor. I caught his trembling hands in mine and
gave them a gentle pressure. He allowed me to do so
without resistance, looking at me kindly all the time.
His eyes were wet with tears.
I then saw him take the gourd which he wore at his
side. To my surprise, or rather to my stupefaction, he
placed it to my lips.
“ Drink, my boy,†he said.
Was it possible my ears had not deceived me? Was
my uncle mad? I looked at him, with, { am sure, quite
an idiotic expression. I would not understand him. I
too much feared the counteraction of disappointment.
“Drink,†he said again.
Had I heard aright? Before, however, I could ask
myself the question a second time, a mouthful of water
cooled my parched lips and throat—one mouthful, but I
do believe it brought me back to life.
i thanked my uncle by clasping my hands. My heart
was too full to speak.
“Yes,†said he, “one mouthful of water, the very last
—do you hear, my boy—the very last! I have taken
118 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
care of it at the bottom of my bottle as the apple of my
eye. Twenty times, a hundred times, I have resisted the
fearful desire to drink it. But—no—no, Harry, I saved
it for you.â€
“My dear uncle,†I exclaimed, and the big tears rolled
down my hot and feverish cheeks.
“Yes, my poor boy, I knew that when you reached this
place, this cross road in the earth, you would fall down
half dead, and I saved my last drop of water in order to
restore you.â€
“Thanks,†I cried; “thanks from my heart.â€
As little as my thirst was really quenched, I had never-
theless partially recovered my strength. The contracted
muscles of my throat relaxed—and the inflammation of
my lips in some measure subsided. At all events, I was
able to speak.
“Well,†I said, “there can be no doubt now as to what
we have to do. Water has utterly failed us; our journey
is therefore at an end. Let us return.â€
While I spoke thus, my uncle evidently avoided my
face: he held down his head; his eyes were turned in
every possible direction but the right one.
“Yes,†I continued, getting excited by my own words,
“we must go back to Sneffels. May heaven give us
strength to enable us once more to revisit the light of day.
Would that we now stood on the summit of the crater.â€
“Go back,†said my uncle speaking to himself—“and
must it be so?â€
“Go back—yes, and without losing a single moment,â€
I vehemently cried.
For some moments there was silence under that dark
and gloomy vault.
“So, my dear Harry,†said the Professor in a very singu-
lar tone of voice, “those few drops of water have not suf
ficed to restore your energy and courage.â€
THE LAST DROP OF WATER.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 119
“Courage!†I cried.
“T sce that you are quite as downcast as before—and still
give way to discouragement and despair.â€
What, then, was the man made of, and what other pro-
jects were entering his fertile and audacious brain!
“You are not discouraged, sir?â€
“What! give up just as we are on the verge of success,â€
he cried, “never, never shall it be said that Professor
Hardwigg retreated.â€
“Then we must make up our minds to perish,†I cried
with a helpless sigh.
“No, Harry, my boy, certainly not. Go, leave me, [am
very far from desiring your death, Take Hans with you.
I will go on atone.â€
“You ask us to leave you?â€
“Leave me, I say. I have undertaken this dangerous
and perilous adventure. I will carry it to the end—or I
will never return to the surface of Mother Earth. Go,—
Harry—once more I say to you—go!â€
My uncle as he spoke was terribly excited. His voice,
which before had been tender, almost womanly, became
harsh-and menacing. He appeared to be struggling with
desperate energy against the impossible. I did not wish to
abandon him at the bottom of that abyss, while, on the
other hand, the instinct of preservation told me to fly.
Mcanwhile, our guide was looking on with profound
calmness and indifference. He appeared to be an uncon-
cerned party, and yet he perfectly well knew what was go-
ing on between us. Our gestures sufficiently indicated the
different roads each wished to follow—and which each
tried to influence the other to undertake. But Hans ap-
peared not to take the slightest interest in what was really
a question of life and death for us all, but waited quite
ready to obey the signal which should say go aloft, or to
resume his desperate journey into the interior of the earth.
120 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
How then I wished with all my heart and soul that I
could make him understand my words. My representa-
tions, my sighs and groans, the earnest accents in which I
should have spoken would have convinced that cold hard
nature. Those fearful dangers and perils of which the
stolid guide had no idea, I would have pointed them out to
him—I would have, as it were, made him see and feel.
Between us, we might have convinced the obstinate Pro-
fessor. If the worst had come to the worst, we could have
compelled him to return to the summit of Sneffels.
I quietly approached Hans. I caught his hand in mine.
He never moved a muscle. I indicated to him the road to
the top of the crater. He remained motionless. My pant-
ing form, my haggard countenance, must have indicated
the extent of my sufferings. The Icelander gently shook
his head and pointed to my uncle.
“ Master,†he said.
The word is Icelandic as well as English.
“The master!†I cried, beside myself with fury—*mad-
man! no—I tell you he is not the master of our lives; we
must fly! we must drag him with us! do you hear me?
Do you understand me, I say?â€
IT have already explained that I held Hans by the arm.
I tried to make him rise from his seat. I struggled with
him and tried to force him away. My uncle now interposed.
“My good Henry, be calm,†he said. “ You will obtain
nothing from my devoted follower; therefore, listen to
what I have to say.â€
I folded my arms, as well as I could, and looked my un-
cle full in the face.
“This wretched want of water,†he said, “is the sole
obstacle to the success of my project. In the entire gal-
lery, composed of lava, schist, and coal, it is true we found
not one liquid molecule. It is quite possible that we may
be more fortunate in the western tunnel.â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 121
My sole reply was to shake my head with an air of in-
credulity.
“Listen to me to the end,†said the Professor in his well-
known lecturing voice. “While you lay yonder without
life or motion, I undertook a reconnoitering journey into
the conformation of this other gallery. I have discovered
that it goes directly downwards into the bowels of the
earth, and in a few hours will take us to the old granitic
formation. In this we shall undoubtedly find innumerable
springs. The nature of the rock makes this a mathemati-
cal certainty, and instinct agrees with logic to say that it
is so. . Now, this is the serious proposition which I have to
make to you. When Christopher Columbus asked of his
men three days to discover the land of promise, his men
ill, terrified, and hopeless, yet gave him three days—and
the New World was discovered. Now I, the Christopher
Columbus of this subterranean region, only ask of you one
more day. If, when that time is expired, I have not found
the water of which we are in search, I swear to you, I will
give up my mighty enterprise and return to the earth’s
surface.â€
Despite my irritation and despair, I knew how much it
cost my uncle to make this proposition, and to hold such
conciliatory language. Under the circumstances, what
could I do, but yield?
“Well,†I cried, “let it be as you wish, and may heaven
reward your superhuman energy. But as, unless we dis-
cover water, our hours are numbered, let us lose no time,
but go ahead.â€
122 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE WESTERN GALLERY—A NEW ROUTE.
Our descent was now resumed by means of the second
gallery. Hans took up his post in front as usual. We
had not gone more than a hundred yards when the Pro-
fessor carefully examined the walls.
“This is the primitive formation—we are on the right
road—onwards is our hope!â€
When the whole earth got cool in the first hours of the
world’s morning, the diminution of the volume of the earth
produced a state of dislocation in its upper crust, followed
by ruptures, crevasses and fissures. The passage was a
fissure of this kind, through which, ages ago, had flowed
the eruptive granite. The thousand windings and turnings
formed an inextricable labyrinth through the ancient soil.
As we descended, successions of layers composing the
primitive soil appeared with the utmost fidelity of detail.
Geological science considers this primitive soil as the base
of the mineral crust, and it has recognised that it is com-
posed of three different strata or layers, all resting on the
immovable rock known as granite.
No mineralogists had ever found themselves placed in
such a marvellous position to study nature in all her real
and naked beauty. The sounding rod, a mere machine,
could not bring to the surface of the earth the objects of
value for the study of its internal structure, which we were
about to see with our own eyes, to touch with our own
hands.
Remember that I am writing this after the journey.
Across the streak of the rocks, colored by beautiful
green tints, wound metallic threads of copper, of manga-
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 123
nese, with traces of platinum and gold. I could not help
gazing at these riches buried in the entrails of mother
earth, and of which no man would have the enjoyment to
the end of time! These treasures—mighty and inexhaust-
ible, were buried in the morning of the earth’s history, at
such awful depths, that no crowbar or pickaxe will ever
drag them from their tomb!
The light of our Ruhmkorf’s coil, increased tenfold by
the myriad of prismatic masses of rock, sent their jets of
fire in every direction, and I could fancy myself travelling
through a huge hollow diamond, the rays of which pro-
duced myriads of extraordinary effects.
Towards six o’clock, this festival of light began sensibly
and visibly to decrease, and soon almost ceased. The
sides of the gallery assumed a crystallized tint, with a
sombre hue; white mica began to commingle more freely
with feldspar and quartz, to form what may be called the
true rock—the stone which is hard above all, that supports,
without being crushed, the four stories of the earth’s soil.
We were walled by an immense prison of granite !
It was now eight o’clock, and still there was no sign of
water. The sufferings I endured were horrible. My uncle
now kept at the head of our little column. Nothing could
induce him to stop. I, meanwhile, had but one real
thought. My ear was keenly on the watch to catch the
sound of aspring. But no pleasant sound of falling water
fell upon my listening ear.
But at last the time came when my limbs refused to
longer carry me. I contended heroically against the ter-
rible tortures I endured, because I did not wish to compel
my uncle to halt. To him I knew this would be the last
fatal stroke.
Suddenly I felt a deadly faintness come over me. My
eyes could no longer see; my knees shook. I gave one
despairing cry—and fell!
124 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“Help, help, I am dying!â€
My uncle turned and slowly retraced his steps. He
looked at me with folded arms, and then allowed one sen-
tence to escape, in hollow accents, from his lips—
“ All is over.â€
The last thing I saw was a face fearfully distorted with
pain and sorrow; and then my eyes closed.
When I again opened them, I saw my companions lying
near me, motionless, wrapped in their huge travelling rugs.
Were they asleep or dead? For myself, sleep was wholly
out of the question. My fainting fit over, I was wakeful
as the lark. I suffered too much for sleep to visit my eye-
lids—the more, that I thought myself sick unto death—
dying. The last words spoken by my uncle seemed to be
buzzing in my ears—all ts over! And it was probable
that he was right. In the state of prostration to which I
was reduced, it was madness to think of ever again seeing
the light of day.
Above were miles upon miles of the earth’s crust. As
I thought of it, I could fancy the whole weight resting on
my shoulders. I was crushed, annihilated! and exhausted
myself in vain attempts to turn in my granite bed.
Hours upon hours passed away. A profound and
terrible silence reigned around us—a silence of the tomb.
Nothing could make itself heard through these gigantic
walls of granite. The very thought was stupendous.
Presently, despite my apathy, despite the kind of deadly
calm into which I was cast, something aroused me. It
was a slight but peculiar noise. While I was watching
intently, I observed that the tunnel was becoming dark,
Then gazing through the dim light that remained, I
thought I saw the Icelander taking his departure, lamp in
hand.
Why had he acted thus? Did Hans the guide mean to
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 195
abandon us? My uncle lay fast asleep—or dead. I tried
to ery out, and arouse him. My voice, feebly issuing
from my parched and fevered lips, found no echo in that
fearful place. My throat was dry, my tongue stuck to the
roof of my mouth. The obscurity had by this time be-
come intense, and at last even the faint sound of the guide’s
footsteps was lost in the blank distance. My soul seemed
filled with anguish, and death appeared welcome, only let
it come quickly.
“Hans is leaving us,†I cried. “ Hans—Hans, if you
are a man, come back.â€
These words were spoken to myself. They could not be
heard aloud. Nevertheless, after the first few mo-
ments of terror were over, I was ashamed of my suspi-
cions against a man, who hitherto had behaved so admira-
bly. Nothing in his conduct or character justified suspi-
cion. Moreover, a moment’s reflection re-assured me.
His departure could not be a flight. Instead of ascending
the gallery, he was going deeper down into the gulf. Had
he had any bad design, his way would have been upwards.
This reasoning calmed me a little and I began to hope!
The good, and peaceful, and imperturbable Hans would
certainly not have arisen from his sleep without some seri-
ous and grave motive. Was he bent on a voyage of dis-
covery? During the deep, still silence of the night had he
at last heard that sweet murmur about which we were all
s0 anxious?
126 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XX.
WATER, WHERE JS IT? A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT.
During a long, long, weary hour, there crossed my
wildly delirious brain all sorts of reasons as to what could
have aroused our quiet and faithful guide. The most ab-
surd and ridiculous ideas passed through my head, cach
more impossible than the other. I believe I was either
half or wholly mad.
Suddenly, however, there arose, as it were from the
depths of the earth, a voice of comfort. It was the sound
of footsteps ! Hans was returning.
Presently the uncertain light began to shine upon the
walls of the passage, and then it came in view far down
the sloping tunnel. At length Hans himself appeared.
He approached my uncle, placed his hand upon his
shoulder, and gently awakened him. My uncle, as soon
as he saw who it was, instantly rose.
“Well!†exclaimed the Professor.
“ Vatten,’ said the hunter.
TI did not know a single word of the Danish language,
and yet by a sort of mysterious instinct I understood what
the guide had said.
“ Water, water!†I cried, in a wild and frantic tone,
clapping my hands, and gesticulating like a madman.
“Water!†murmured my uncle, in a voice of deep
emotion and gratitude. “Hvar?†(where.)
“Nedat†(below.)
“Where? below!†I understood every word. I had
caught the hunter by the hands, and I shook them
heartily, while he looked on with perfect calmness.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 127
The preparations for our departure did not take long,
and we were soon making a rapid descent into the tunnel.
An hour later we had advanced a thousand yards, and
descended two thousand feet.
At this moment I heard an accustomed and eee
sound running along the floors of the granite rock
of dull and sullen roar, like that of a distant w aterfall.
During the first half-hour of our advance, not finding
the discovered spring, my feelings of intense suffering ap-
peared to return. Once more I began to lose all hope.
My uncle, however, observing how down-hearted I was
again becoming, took up the conversation.
“ Hans was right,†he exclaimed, enthusiastically ; “that
is the dull roaring of a torrent.â€
“A torrent,†I cried, delighted at even hearing the
welcome words.
“There’s not the slightest doubt about it,†he replied,
“a subterranean river is flowing beside us.â€
I made no reply, but hastened on, once more animated
by hope. I began not even to feel the deep fatigue which
hitherto had overpowered me. The very sound of this
glorious murmuring water already refreshed me. We
could hear it increasing in volume every moment. The
torrent, which for a long time could be heard flowing over
our heads, now ran distinctly along the left wall, roaring,
rushing, spluttering, and still falling.
Several times I passed my hand across the rock hoping
to find some trace of humidity—of the slightest percola-
tion. Alas! in vain.
Again a half hour passed in the same weary toil. Again,
ve advanced.
It now became evident that the hunter, during his ab-
sence, had not been able to carry his researches any far-
ther. Guided by an instinct peculiar to the dwellers in
mountain regions and water finders, he “ smelt†the living
128 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
spring through the rock. Still he had not seen the precious
liquid. He had neither quenched his own thirst, nor
brought us one drop in his gourd.
Moreover, we soon made the disastrous discovery, that
if our progress continued, we should soon be moving away
from the torrent, the sound of which gradually diminished.
We turned back. Hans halted at the precise spot where
the sound of the torrent appeared nearest.
I could bear the suspense and suffering no longer, and
seated myself against the wall, behind which I could hear
the water seething and effervescing not two feet away. But
a solid wall of granite still separated us from it!
Hans looked keenly at me, and, strange enough, for
once I thought I saw a smile on his imperturbable face.
He rose from a stone on which he had been seated, and
took up the lamp. I could not help rising and following,
He moved slowly along the firm and solid granite wall. I
watched him with mingled curiosity and eagerness. Pre-
sently he halted and placed his ear against the dry stone,
moving slowly along and listening with the most extreme
care and attention. I understood at once that he was
searching for the exact spot where the torrent’s roar was
most plainly heard. This point he soon found in the
lateral wall on the left side, about three feet above the
level of the tunnel floor.
I was in a state of intense excitement. I scarcely dared
believe what the eider-duck hunter was about to do. It
was, however, impossible in a moment more not to both
understand and applaud, and even to smother him in my
embraces, when I saw him raise the heavy crowbar and
commence an attack upon the rock itself.
“Saved,†I cried.
“Yes,†eried my uncle, even more excited and delighted
than myself; “Hans is quite right. Oh, the worthy, excel-
lent man! Weshould never have thought of such an idea.â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 129
And. nobody else, J think, would have done so. Such
a process, simple as it seemed, would most certainly not
have entered our heads. Nothing could be more danger-
ous than to begin to work with pickaxes in that particular
part of the globe. Supposing while he was at work a
break-up were to take place, and supposing the torrent
once having gained an inch were to take an ell, and come
pouring bodily through the broken rock!
Not one of these dangers were chimerical. They were
only too real. But at that moment no fear of falling in
of roof, or even of inundation was capable of stopping us.
Our thirst was so intense, that to quench it we would
have dug below the bed of old Ocean itself.
Hans went quietly to work—a work which neither my
uncle nor I would have undertaken at any price. Our
impatience was so great, that if we had once begun with
pickaxe and crowbar, the rock would soon have split into
a hundred fragments. The guide, on the contrary, calm,
ready, moderate, wore away the hard rock by little steady
blows of his instrument, making no attempt at a larger
hole than about six inches. As I stood, I heard, or I
thought I heard, the roar of the torrent momentarily in-
creasing in loudness, and at times I almost felt the
pleasant sensation of water upon my parched lips.
At the end of what appeared an age, Hans had made a
hole, which enabled his crowbar to enter two feet into the
solid rock. He had been at work exactly an hour. It
appeared a dozen. I was getting wild with impatience.
My uncle began to think of using more violent measures.
Thad the greatest difficulty in checking him. He had in-
deed just got hold of his crowbar when a loud and wel-
come hiss was heard. Then a stream, or rather jet of
water burst through the wall and came out with such
force as to hit the opposite side!
Hans, the guide, who was half upset by the shock, was
180 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
scarcely able to keep down a cry of pain and grief. I
understood his meaning when plunging my hands into the
sparkling jet I myself gave a wild and frantic cry. The
water was scalding hot!
“ Boiling,†I cried, in bitter disappointment.
“Well, never mind,†said my uncle, “it will soon get
cool.â€
The tunnel began to be filled by clouds of vapor, while
a small stream ran away into the interior of the earth. In
a short time we had some sufficiently cool to drink. We
swallowed it in huge mouthfuls.
Oh what exalted delight—what rich and incomparable
luxury! What was this water, whence did it come? To
us what was that.? The simple fact was—it was water ;
and, though still with a tinge of warmth about it, it
brought back to the heart, that life which, but for it, must
surely have faded away. I drank greedily, almost with-
out tasting it.
When, however, I had almost quenched my ravenous
thirst, I made a discovery.
“Why, it is ferruginous water.â€
“Most excellent stomachic,’ replied my uncle, “and
highly mineralized. Here is a journey worth twenty to
Spa.â€
“Tt’s very good,†I replied.
“JT should think so. Water found six miles under
ground. There is a peculiarly inky flavor about it, which
is by no means disagreeable. Hans may congratulate
himself on having made a rare discovery. What do you
say, nephew, according to the usual custom of travellers,
to name the stream after him?â€
“ Good,†said I.
And the name of “ Hans-bach†was at once agreed
upon.
Hans was not a bit more proud after hearing our de-
THE BOILING JET.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 131
termination than he was before. After having taken a
very small modicum of the welcome refreshment, he had
seated himself in a corner with his usual imperturbable
gravity.
“Now,†said I, “it is not worth while letting this water
run to waste.â€
“What is the use,†replied my uncle, “the source from
which this river rises is inexhaustible.â€
“Never mind,†I continued, “let us fill our goat skin
and gourds, and then try to stop the opening up.â€
My advice, after some hesitation, was followed or at-
tempted to be followed. Hans picked up all the broken
pieces of granite he had knocked out, and using some tow
he happened to have about him, tried to shut up the fissure
he had made in the wall. All he did was to scald his
hands. The pressure was too great, and all our attempts
were utter failures.
“Tt is evident,†I remarked, “that the upper surface of
these springs is situated at a very great height above—as
we may fairly infer from the great pressure of the jet.â€
“That is by no means doubtful,†replied my uncle, “ if
this column of water is about thirty-two thousand feet high,
the atmospheric pressure must be something enormous.
But a new idea has just struck me.â€
“ And what is that?â€
“Why be at so much trouble to close this aperture?â€
“ Because â€
I hesitated and stammered, having no real reason.
“When our water bottles are empty, we are not at all
sure that we shall be able to fill them,†observed my uncle.
“T think that is very probable.â€
“Well, then, let this water run. It will, of course, na-
turally follow in our track, and will serve to guide and re-
fresh us.â€
“T think the idea a good one,’ I cried, in reply, “and
132 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
with this rivulet as a companion, there is no further reason
why we should not succeed in our marvellous project.â€
“ Ah, my boy,†said the professor, laughing, “ after all,
you are coming round.â€
“More than that, Iam now confident of ultimate suc-
cess. Forward.â€
“Qne moment, nephew mine. Let us begin by taking
some hours of repose.â€
I had utterly forgotten that it was night. The chrono-
meter, however, informed me of the fact. Soon we were
sufficiently restored and. refreshed, and had all fallen into
a profound sleep.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 133
CHAPTER XXI.
UNDER THE OCEAN.
By the next day we had nearly forgotten our past suf
ferings. The first sensation I experienced was surprise at
not being thirsty, and I actually asked myself the reason.
The running stream, which flowed in rippling wavelets at
my feet, was the satisfactory reply.
We breakfasted with a good appetite, and then drank
our fill of the excellent water. I felt myself quite a new
man, ready to go anywhere my uncle chose to lead. I
began to think. Why should not a man as seriously con-
vinced as my uncle, succeed, with so excellent a guide as
worthy Hans, and so devoted a nephew as myself? These
were the brilliant ideas which now invaded my brain,
Had the proposition now been made to go back to the
summit of Mount Sneffels, I should have declined the offer
in a most indignant manner.
But fortunately there was no question of going up. We
were about to descend farther into the interior of the earth.
“Tet us be moving,†I cried, awakening the echoes of
the old world.
We resumed our march on Thursday’at eight o’clock in
the morning. The great granite tunnel going round by
sinuous and winding ways, presented every now and then
sharp turns, and in fact had all the appearance of a laby-
rinth. Its direction, however, was in general towards the
south-west. My uncle made several pauses in order to
consult his compass.
The gallery now began to trend downwards in a hori-
zontal direction, with about two inches of fall in every
furlong. The murmuring stream flowed quietly at our
184 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
feet. I could not but compare it to some familiar spirit,
guiding us through the earth, and I dabbled my fingers in
its tepid water, which sang like a naiad as we progressed.
My good humor began to assume a mythological cha-
racter.
As for my uncle he began to complain of the horizontal
character of the road. His route he found began to be
indefinitely prolonged, instead of “sliding down the celes-
tial ray,†according to his expression.
But we had no choice; and as long as our road led
towards the centre—however little progress we made,
there was no reason to complain.
Moreover, from time to time the slopes were much
greater; the naiad sang more loudly, and we began to dip
downwards in earnest.
As yet, however, I felt no painful sensation. I had not
got over the excitement of the discovery of water.
That day and the next we did a considerable amount
of horizontal, and relatively very little vertical, travelling.
On Friday evening, the tenth of July, according to our
estimation, we ought to have been thirty leagues to the
southeast of Reykjawik, and about two leagues and a-
half deep. We now received a rather startling surprise.
Under our feet there opened a horrible well. My uncle
was so delighted that he actually clapped his hands—as
he saw how steep and sharp was the descent.
« Ah, ah!†he cried, in rapturous delight; “this will
take us a long way. Look at the projections of the rock.
Hah!†he exclaimed, “ it’s a fearful staircase !â€
Hans, however, who in all our troubles had never given
up the ropes, took care so to dispose of them as to prevent
any accidents. Our descent then began. I dare not call
it a perilous descent, for I was already too familiar with
that sort of work to look upon it as anything but a very
ordinary affair.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 135
This well was a kind of narrow opening in the massive
granite of the kind known as a fissure. The contraction
of the terrestrial scaffvlding, when it suddenly cooled, had
been evidently the cause. If it had ever served in former
times as a kind of funnel through which passed the erup-
tive masses vomited by Sneftles, I was at a loss to explain
how it had left no mark. We were, in fact, descending a
spiral, something like those winding staircases in use in
modern houses.
We were compelled every quarter of an hour or there-
abouts to sit down in order to rest our legs. Our calves
ached. We then seated ourselves on some projecting rock
with our legs hanging over, and gossipped while we ate a
mouthful—drinking still from the pleasantly-warm run-
ning stream which had not deserted us.
It is scarcely necessary to say, that in this curiously-shaped
fissure the Hansbach had become a cascade to the detriment
of its size. It was still however sufficient, and more, for
our wants. Besides we knew that, as soon as the declivity
ceased to be so abrupt, the stream must resume its peace-
ful course. At this moment it reminded me of my uncle, his
impatience and rage, while when it flowed more peacefully,
I pictured to myself the placidity of the Icelandic guide.
During the whole of two days, the sixth and seventh
of July, we followed the extraordinary spiral staircase of
the fissure, penetrating two leagues farther into the crust
of the earth, which placed us five leagues below the level
of the sea. On the eighth, however, at twelve o’clock in
the day, the fissure suddenly assumed a much more gentle
slope still trending in a south-east direction.
The road now became comparatively easy, and at the
same time dreadfully monotonous. It would have been
difficult for matters to have turned out otherwise. Our pe-
culiar journey had no chance of being diversified by land-
scape and scenery. At all events, such was my idea,
186 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
At length, on Wednesday the fifteenth, we were actually
seven leagues (twenty-one miles,) below the surface of the
earth, and fifty leagues distant from the mountain of Snef-
fels. Though, if the truth be told, we were very tired, our
health had resisted all suffering, and was in a most satis-
factory state. Our traveller’s box of medicaments had not
even been opened.
My uncle was careful to note every hour the indications
of the compass, of the manometer, and of the thermometer,
all which he afterwards published in his elaborate philoso-
phical and scientific account of our remarkable voyage. He
was therefore able to give an exact relation of the situa-
tion. When, therefore, he informed me that we were fifty
leagues in a horizontal direction distant from our starting-
point, I could not suppress a loud exclamation.
“What is the matter now?†cried my uncle.
“Nothing very important, only an idea has entered my
head,†was my reply.
“Well, out with it, my boy.â€
“Tt is my opinion that if your calculations are correct
we are no longer under Iceland.â€
“Do you think so?â€
“We can very easily find out,†I replied, pulling out
the map and compasses.
“You see,†I said, after careful measurement, “that I
am not mistaken. We are far beyond Cape Portland;
and those fifty leagues to the south-east will take us into
the open sea.â€
“Under the open sea,†cried my uncle, rubbing his
hands with a delighted air.
“Yes,†I cried, “no doubt old ocean flows over our
heads.â€
“Well, my dear boy, what can be more natural. Do you
not know that in the neighborhood of Newcastle there are
coal mines which have been worked far out under the sea?â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 137
Now my worthy uncle the Professor, no doubt regarded
this discovery as a very simple fact, but to me the idea
was by no means a pleasant one. And yet when one came
to think the matter over seriously, what mattered it whe-
ther the plains and mountains of Iceland were suspended
over our devoted heads, or the mighty billows of the At-
lantic Ocean? The whole question rested on the solidity
of the granite roof above us. However, I soon got used
to the idea, for the passage now level, now running down,
and still always to the south-east, kept going deeper and
deeper into the profound abysses of Mother Earth.
Three days later, on the eighteenth day of July, on a
Saturday, we reached a kind of vast grotto. My uncle
here paid Hans his usual rix-dollars, and it was decided
that the next day should be a day of rest.
188 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XXII.
SUNDAY BELOW GROUND.
T awoxe on Sunday morning without any sense of hurry
and bustle attendant on an immediate departure. Though
the day to be devoted to repose and reflection was spent
under such strange circumstances, and in so wonderful a
place, the idea was a pleasant one. Besides, we all began
to get used to this kind of existence. I had almost ceased
to think. of the sun, of the moon, of the stars, of the trees,
chouses, and towns; in fact, about any terrestrial necessi-
ties. In our peculiar position we were far above such re-
flections.
The grotto was a vast and magnificent hall. Along its
granitic soil the stream flowed placidly and pleasantly. So
great a distance was it now from its fiery source, that its
water was scarcely lukewarm, and could be drank without
delay or difficulty.
After a frugal breakfast, the Professor made up his
mind to devote some hours to putting his notes and calcu-
lations in order.
“Tn the first place,’ he said, “I have a good many to
verify and prove, in order that we may know our exact
position. I wish to be able on our return to the upper
regions, to make a map of our journey, a kind of vertical
section of the globe, which will be as it were the profile
of the expedition.â€
“That would indeed be a curious work, uncle; but can
you make your observations with anything like certainty
and precision ?â€
“Tcan. I have never on one occasion failed to note
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 1389
with great care the angles and slopes. I am certain as to
having made no mistake. Take the compass and examine
how she points.â€
I looked at the instrument with care.
“ast one quarter south-east.â€
“Very good,†resumed the Professor, noting the obser-
vation, and going through some rapid calculations. “I
make out that we have journeyed two hundred and fifty
miles from the point of our departure.â€
“Then the mighty waves of the Atlantic are rolling
over our heads?â€
“ Certainly.â€
“ And at this very moment it is possible that fierce tem-
pests are raging above, and that men and ships are bat-
tling against the angry blasts just over our heads?â€
“Tt is quite within the range of possibility,†rejoined
my uncle smiling.
“ And that whales are playing in shoals, thrashing the
bottom of the sea, the roof of our adamantine prison ?â€
“ Be quite at rest on that point; there is no danger of
their breaking through. But to return to our calcula-
tions. We are to the south-east, two hundred and fifty
miles from the base of Sneffels, and, according to my pre-
ceding notes, I think we have gone sixteen leagues in a
downward direction.â€
“Sixteen leagues—fifty miles!†I cried.
“Tam sure of it.â€
“But that is the extreme limit allowed by science for
the thickness of the earth’s crust,’ I replied, referring to
my geological studies.
“T do not contravene that assertion,’ was his quiet an-
swer.
“And at this stage of our journey, according to all
known laws on the increase of heat, there should be here
a temperature of fifteen hundred degrees of Reaumur.â€
140 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“ There should be—you say, my boy.â€
“Tn which case this granite would not exist, but be ina
state of fusion.â€
“But you perceive, my boy, that it is not so, and that
facts, as usual, are very stubborn things, overruling all
theories.â€
“T am forced to yield to the evidence of my senses, but
I am nevertheless very much surprised.â€
“What heat does the thermometer really indicate?â€
continued the philosopher.
“Twenty-seven six-tenths.â€
“So that science is wrong by fourteen hundred and
seventy-four degrees and four-tenths. According to
which, it is demonstrated that the proportional increase in
temperature is an exploded error. Humphrey Davy here
shines forth in all his glory. He is right, and I have
acted wisely to believe him. Have you any answer to
make to this statement?â€
Had I chosen to have spoken, I might have said a
great deal. I in no way admitted the theory of Hum-
phrey Davy—I still held out for the theory of proportion-
al increase of heat, though I did not feel it.
I was far more willing to allow that this chimney of an
extinct volcano was covered by lava of a kind refractory to
heat—in fact a bad conductor—which did not allow the
great increase of temperature to percolate through its sides.
The hot water jet supported my view of the matter.
But without entering on a long and useless discussion,
or seeking for new arguments to controvert my uncle, I
contented myself with taking up facts as they were.
“ Well, sir, I take for granted that all your calculations
are correct, but allow me to draw from them a rigorous
and definite conclusion.â€
“Go on, my boy—have your say,†cried my uncle,
good-humoredly.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 14]
“ At the place where we now are, under the latitude of
Iceland, the terrestrial depth is about fifteen hundred and
eighty-three leagues.â€
“Fifteen hundred, eighty-three and a quarter.â€
“ Well, suppose we say sixteen hundred in round num-
bers. Now, out of a voyage of sixteen hundred leagues
we have completed sixteen.â€
“ As you say, what then?â€
“ At the expense of a diagonal journey of no less than
eighty-five leagues.â€
“ Exactly.â€
“We have been twenty days about it.â€
“ Exactly twenty days.â€
“Now sixteen is the hundredth part of our contem-
plated expedition. If we go on in this way we shall be
two thousand days, that is about five years and a half,
going down.â€
The professor folded his arms, listened, but did not
speak.
“ Without counting that if a vertical descent of sixteen
leagues costs us a horizontal of eighty-five, we shall have
to go about eight thousand leagues to the south-east, and
we must therefore come out somewhere in the circumfer-
ence long before we can hope to reach the centre.â€
“ Bother your calculations,†cried my uncle in one of
his old rages. “On what basis do they rest? How do
you know that this passage does not takes us direct to the
end we require? Moreover, I have in my favor, fortu-
nately, a precedent. What I have undertaken to do,
another has done, and he having succeeded, why should I
not be equally successful?â€
“T hope, indeed, you will, but still, I suppose I may be
allowed to 2%
“ You are allowed to hold your tongue,†cried Professor
Hardwigg, “ when you talk so unreasonably as this.â€
142 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I saw at once that the old doctorial Professor was still
alive in my uncle—and fearful to rouse his angry pas-
sions, I dropped the unpleasant subject.
“Now, then,†he explained, “consult the manometer.
What does that indicate ?â€
“ A considerable amount of pressure.â€
“Very good. You see, then, that by descending slowly,
and by gradually accustoming ourselves to the density of
this lower atmosphere, we shall not suffer.
“Well, I suppose not, except it may be a certain
amount of pain in the ears,†was my rather grim reply.
“That, my dear boy, is nothing, and you will easily get
rid of that source of discomfort by bringing the exterior
air in communication with the air contained in your
lungs.â€
“Perfectly,†said I, for I had quite made up my mind
in no wise to contradict my uncle. “I should fancy al-
most that I should experience a certain amount of sat-
isfaction. in making a plunge into this dense atmosphere.
Have you taken note of how wonderfully sound is pro-
pagated ?â€
“Of course I have. There can be no doubt that a
journey into the interior of the earth would be an excellent
cure for deafness.â€
“But then, uncle,†I ventured mildly to observe, “ this
density will continue to increase.â€
“Yes—according to a law which, however, is scarcely
defined. It is true that the intensity of weight will diminish
just in proportion to the depth to which we go. You
know very well that it is on the surface of the earth that
its action is most powerfully felt, while on the contrary, in
the very centre of the earth bodies cease to have any
weight at all.â€
“T know that is the case, but as we progress will not the
atmosphere finally assume the density of water ?â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 143
“T know it; when placed under the pressure of seven
hundred and ten atmospheres,†cried my uncle with im-
perturbable gravity.
“And when we are still lower down?†I asked with
natural anxiety.
“Well, lower down, the density will become even greater
still.â€
“Then how shall we be able to make our way through
this atmospheric fog ?â€
“Well, my worthy nephew, we must ballast ourselves
by filling our pockets with stones,†said Professor Hard-
wigg.
“Faith, uncle, you have an answer for everything,†was
my only reply.
I began to feel that it was unwise in me to go any far-
ther into the wide field of hypotheses for I should certainly
have revived some difficulty, or rather impossibility that
would have enraged the Professor.
It was evident, nevertheless, that the air under a pres-
sure which might be multiplied by thousands of atmos-
pheres, would end by becoming perfectly solid, and that
then admitting our bodies resisted the pressure, we should
have to stop, in spite of all the reasonings in the world.
Facts overcome all arguments.
But I thought it best not to urge this argument. My
uncle would simply have quoted the example of Saknus-
semm. Supposing the learned Icelander’s journey ever
really to have taken place—there was one simple answer
to be made :—
In the sixteenth century neither the barometer nor the
manometer had been invented—how, then, could Saknus-
semm have been able to discover when he did reach the
centre of the earth?
This unanswerable and learned objection I, however,
kept to myself, and bracing up my courage awaited the
144 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
course of events—little aware of how adventurous yet were
to be the incidents of our remarkable journey.
The rest of this day of leisure and repose was spent in
calculation and conversation. I made it a point to agree
with the Professor in everything; but I envied the perfect
indifference of Hans, who without taking any such trouble
about the cause and effect, went blindly onwards wherever
destiny chose to lead them.
4 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 145
CHAPTER XXIII.
ALONE.
Ir must in all truth be confessed, things as yet had gone
on well, and I should have acted in bad taste to have com-
plained. If the true medium of our difficulties did not
increase, it was within the range of possibility that we
might ultimately reach the end of our journey. Then
what glory would be ours! I began in the newly-aroused
ardor of my soul to speak enthusiastically to the Professor.
Well, was I serious? The whole state in which we ex-
isted was a mystery—and it was impossible to know whe-
ther or not I was in earnest.
For several days after our memorable halt, the slopes
became more rapid—some were even of a most frightful
character—almost vertical, so that we were for ever going
down into the solid interior mass. During some days, we
actually descended a league and a-half, even two leagues
towards the centre of the earth. The descents were suffi-
ciently perilous, and while we were engaged in them we
learned fully to appreciate the marvellous coolness of’ our
guide Hans. Without him we should have been wholly
lost. The grave and impassible Icelander devoted him-
self to us with the most incomprehensible sang froid and
ease; and, thanks to him, many a dangerous pass was got
over, where, but for him, we should inevitably have stuck
fast.
His silence increased every day. I think that we began
to be influenced by this peculiar trait in his character. It
is certain that the inanimate objects by which you are
surrounded have a direct action on the brain. It must be
146 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
that a man who shuts himself up between four walls must
lose the faculty of associating ideas and words. How
many persons condemned to the horrors of solitary con-
finement have gone mad—simply because the thinking fa-
culties have lain dormant!
During the two weeks that followed our last interesting
conversation, there occurred nothing worthy of being espe-
cially recorded.
I have, while writing these memoirs, taxed my memory
in vain for one incident of travel during this particular
period.
But the next event to be related is terrible indeed. Its
very memory, even now, makes my soul shudder, and my
blood run cold.
It was on the seventh of August. Our constant and |
successive descents had taken us quite thirty leagues into
the interior of the earth, that is to say that there were
above us thirty leagues, nearly a hundred miles, of rocks,
and oceans, and continents, and towns, to say nothing of
living inhabitants. We were in a south-easterly direction,
about two hundred leagues from Iceland.
On that memorable day the tunnel had begun to assume
an almost horizontal course.
I was on this occasion walking on in front. My uncle
had charge of one of the Ruhmkorf coils, I had possession
of the other. By means of its light I was busy examining
the different layers of granite. I was completely absorbed
in my work.
Suddenly halting and turning round, I found that I was
alone!
“Well,†thought I to myself, “I have certainly been
walking too fast—or else Hans and my uncle have stopped
to rest. The best thing I can do is to go back and find
them. Luckily, there is very little ascent to tire me.â€
I accordingly retraced my steps, and while doing so,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 147
walked for at least a quarter of an hour. Rather uneasy,
I paused and looked eagerly around. Not a living soul.
I called aloud. No reply. My voice was lost amid the
myriad cavernous echoes it aroused !
I began for the first time to feel seriously uneasy. A
cold shiver shook my whole body, and perspiration, chill
and terrible, burst upon my skin.
“T must be calm,†I said, speaking aloud, as boys whis-
tle to drive away fear. “There can be no doubt that I
shall find my companions. There cannot be two roads.
It is certain that I was considerably ahead; all I have to
do is to go back.â€
Having come to this determination I ascended the tun-
nel for at least half an hour, unable to decide if I had ever
seen certain landmarks before. Every now and then I
paused to discover if any loud appeal was made to me,
well knowing that in that dense and intensified atmosphere
I should hear it a long way off. But no. The most ex-
traordinary silence reigned in this immense gallery. Only
the echoes of my own footsteps could be heard.
At last I stopped. I could scarcely realize the fact of
my isolation. I was quite willing to think that I had
made a mistake, but not that I was lost. If I had made
a mistake, I might find my way: if lost—I shuddered to
think of it.
“Come, come,†said I to myself, “since there is only
one road, and they must come by it, we shail at last meet.
All I have to do is still to go upwards. Perhaps, how-
ever, not seeing me, and forgetting I was ahead, they may
have gone back in search of me. Still even in this case,
if I make haste, I shall get up to them. There can be no
doubt about the matter.â€
But as I spoke these last words aloud, it would have
been quite clear to any listener—had there been one—that
I was by no means convinced of the fact. Moreover, in
148 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
order to associate together these simple ideas and to re-
unite them under the form of reasoning, required some
time. I could not all at once bring my brain to think.
Then another dread doubt fell upon my soul. After
all, was I ahead. Of course I was. Hans was no doubt
following behind preceded by my uncle. I perfectly
recollected his having stopped for a moment to strap his
baggage on his shoulder. I now remembered this trifling
detail. It was, I believed, just at that very moment that
I had determined to continue my route.
“ Again,†thought I, reasoning as calmly as was possible,
“there is another sure means of not losing my way, a
thread to guide me through the labyrinthine subterraneous
retreat—one which I had forgotten—my faithful river.â€
This course of reasoning roused my drooping spirits,
and I resolved to resume my journey without further
delay. No time was to be lost.
It was at this moment that I had reason to bless the
thoughtfulness of my uncle, when he refused to allow the
eider hunter to close the orifices of the hot spring—that
small fissure in the great mass of granite. This beneficent
spring after having saved us from thirst during so many
days would now enable me to regain the right road.
Having come. to this mental decision, 1 made up my
mind, before I started upwards, that ablution would cer-
tainly do me a great deal of good.
I stopped to plunge my hands and forehead in the
pleasant water of the Hansbach stream, blessing its pres-
ence as a certain consolation.
Conceive my horror and stupefaction!—I was treading
a hard, dusty, shingly road of granite. The stream on
which I reckoned had wholly disappeared !
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 149
CHAPTER XXIV.
Lost !
No words in any human language can depict my utter
despair. I was literally buried alive; with no other ex-
pectation before me but to die in all the slow horrible tor-
ture of hunger and thirst.
Mechanically I crawled about, feeling the dry and arid
rock. Never to my fancy had I ever felt anything so dry.
But, I frantically asked myself, how had I lost the
course of the flowing stream? There could be no doubt it
had ceased to flow in the gallery in which I now was.
Now I began to understand the cause of the strange silence
which prevailed when last I tried if any appeal from my
companions might perchance reach my ear.
It so happened that when I first took an imprudent step
in the wrong direction, I did not perceive the absence of
the all-important stream.
It was now quite evident that when we halted, another
tunnel must have received the waters of the little torrent,
and that I had unconsciously entered a different gallery.
To what unknown depths had my companions gone?
Where was I?
How to get back! Clue or landmark there was abso-
lutely none! My feet left no signs on the granite and
shingle. My brain throbbed with agony as I tried to dis-
cover the solution of this terrible problem. My situation,
after all sophistry and reflection, had finally to be summed
up in three awful words—
Lost! rost!! LOST!!!
Lost at a depth which, to my finite understanding, ap-
peared to be immeasurable.
150 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
These thirty leagues of the crust of the earth weighed
upon my shoulders like the globe on the shoulders of
Atlas. I felt myself crushed by the awful weight. It
was indeed a position to drive the sanest man to madness!
I tried to bring my thoughts back to the things of the
world so long forgotten. It was with the greatest difficulty
that I succeeded in doing so. Hamburg, the house on
the Kénigstrasse, my dear cousin Gretchen—all that world
which had before vanished like a shadow floated before
my now vivid imagination.
There they were before me, but how unreal. Under
the influence of a terrible hallucination I saw the whole
incidents of our journey pass before me like the scenes of
a panorama. The ship and its inmates, Iceland, M.
Fridriksson, and the great summit of Mount Sneffels! I
said to myself that if in my position, I retained the most
faint and shadowy outline of a hope it would be a sure
sign of approaching delirium. It were better to give way
wholly to despair!
In fact, did I but reason with calmness and philosophy,
what human power was there in existence able to take me
back to the surface of the earth, and ready too, to split
asunder, to rend in twain, those huge and mighty vaults
which stand above my head? Who could enable me to
find my road—and regain my companions?
Insensate folly and madness to entertain even a shadow
of hope!
“Oh, uncle!†was my despairing cry.
This was the only word of reproach which came to my
lips; for I thoroughly understood how deeply and sorrow-
fully the worthy Professor would regret my loss, and how
in his turn he would patiently seck for me.
When I at last began to resign myself to the fact that
no further aid was to be expected from man, and knowing
that I was utterly powerless to do anything for my own
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 151
salvation, I kneeled with earnest fervor and asked assis-
tance from Heaven. The remembrance of my innocent
childhood, the memory of my mother, known only in my
infancy, came welling forth from my heart. I had re-
course to prayer. And little as I had right to be remem-
bered by Him whom I had forgotten in the hour of pros-
perity, and whom I so tardily invoked, I prayed earnestly
and sincerely.
This renewal of my youthful faith brought about a
much greater amount of calm, and I was enabled to con-
centrate all my strength and intelligence on the terrible
realities of my unprecedented situation.
T had about me that which I had at first wholly forgot-
ten—three days’ provisions. Moreover, my water bottle
was quite full. Nevertheless, the one thing which it was
impossible to do was to remain alone. Try to find my com-
panions I must, at any price. But which course should I
take? Should I go upwards, or again descend? Doubtless
it was right to retrace my steps in an upward direction.
By doing this with care and coolness, I must reach the
point where I had turned away from the rippling stream.
I must find the fatal bifurcation or fork. Once at this
spot, once the river at my feet, I could, at all events, re
gain the awful crater of Mount Sneffels.) Why had I not
thought of this before? This, at last, was a reasonable
hope of safety. The most important thing, then, to be
done was to discover the bed of the Hansbach.
After a slight meal and a draught of water, I rose like
a giant refreshed. Leaning heavily on my pole, I began
the ascent of the gallery. The slope was very rapid and
rather difficult. But I advanced hopefully and carefully,
like a man who at last is making his way out of a forest,
and knows there is only one road to follow.
During one whole hour nothing happened.to check my
progress. As I advanced I tried to recollect the shape of
152 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
the tunnel—to recall to my memory certain projections of
rocks—to persuade myself that I had followed certain
winding routes before. But no one particular sign could I
bring to mind, and I was soon forced to allow that this gal-
lery would never take me back to the point at which I had
separated myself from my companions. It was absolutely
without issue—a mere blind alley in the earth.
The moment at length came when, facing the solid rock,
I knew my fate, and fell inanimate on the arid floor!
To describe the horrible state of despair and fear into
which I then fell would now be vain and impossible. My
last hope, the courage which had sustained me, drooped
before the sight of this pitiless granite rock!
Lost in a vast labyrinth, the sinuosities of which spread
in every direction, without guide, clue or compass, it was a
vain and useless task to attempt flight. All that remained
to me was to lie down and die. To lie down and die the
most cruel and horrible of deaths!
In my state of mind, the idea came into my head that
one day perhaps, when my fossil bones were found, their
discovery so far below the level of the earth might give
rise to solemn and interesting scientific discussions.
I tried to ery aloud, but hoarse, hollow and inarticulate
sounds alone could make themselves heard through my
parched lips. I literally panted for breath.
In the midst of all these horrible sources of anguish
and despair, a new horror took possession of my soul. My
lamp, by falling down, had got out of order. I had no
means of repairing it. Its light was already becoming
paler and paler, and soon would expire.
With a strange sense of resignation and despair, I
watched the luminous current in the coil getting less and
less. A procession of shadows moved flashing along the
granite wall. I scarcely dared to lower my eyelids, fear-
ing to lose the last spark of this fugitive light. Every in-
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 153
stant it seemed to me that it was about to vanish and to
leave me for ever—in utter darkness!
At last, one final trembling flame remained in the lamp,
I followed it with all my power of vision; I gasped for
breath ; I concentrated upon it all the power of my soul,
as upon the last scintillation of light I was ever destined
to see: and then I was to be lost for ever in Cimmerian
and tenebrous shades.
A wild and plaintive cry escaped my lips. On earth
during the most profound and comparatively complete
darkness, light never allows a complete destruction and
extinction of its power. Light is so diffuse, so subtle, that
it permeates everywhere, and whatever little may remain,
the retina of the eye will succeed in finding it. In this
place nothing—not the faintest ray of light. It mazed me!
My head was now wholly lost. I raised my arms, try-
ing the effects of the feeling in getting against the cold
stone wall. It was painful in the extreme. Madness
must have taken possession of me. I knew not what I
did. I began to run, to fly, rushing at haphazard in this
inextricable labyrinth, always going downwards, running
wildly underneath the terrestrial crust, like an inhabitant
of the subterranean furnaces, screaming, roaring, howling,
until bruised by the pointed rocks, falling and picking my-
self up all covered with blood, seeking madly to drink the
blood which dripped from my torn features, mad because
this blood only trickled over my face, and watching al-
ways for this horrid wall which ever presented to me the
fearful obstacle against which I could not dash my head.
Where was I going? It was impossible to say. I was
perfectly ignorant of the matter.
Several hours passed in this way. After a long time,
having utterly exhausted my strength, I fell a heavy inert
mass along the side of the tunnel, and lost all conscious-
ness of existence ! 5
154 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE WHISPERING GALLERY.
Wuen at last I came back to a sense of life and being,
my face was wet; but wet as I soon knew with tears.
How long this state of insensibility lasted, it is quite im-
possible for me now to say. I had no means left to me of
taking any account of time, Never since the creation of
the world, had such a solitude as mine existed. I was
completely abandoned.
After my fall I lost much blood. I felt myself flooded
with the life-giving liquid. My first sensation was per-
haps a natural one. Why was I not dead? Because I
was alive, there was something left to do. I tried to
make up my mind to think no longer. As far as I was
able, I droye away all ideas, and utterly overcome by
pain and grief, I crouched against the granite wall.
T just commenced to feel the fainting coming on again,
and the sensation that this was the last struggle before
complete annihilation,—when, on a sudden, a violent up-
roar reached my ears. It had some resemblance to the
prolonged rumbling voice of thunder, and I clearly distin-
guished sonorous voices, lost one after the other, in the dis-
tant depths of the gulf.
Whence came this noise? Naturally, it was to be sup-
posed from new phenomena which were taking place in
the bosom of the solid mass of Mother Earth! The explo-
sion of some gaseous vapors, or the fall of some solid, of
the granitic or other rock.
Again I listened with deep attention. I was extremely
anxious to hear if this strange and inexplicable sound was
likely to be renewed! A whole quarter of an hour clapsed
THE WHISPER HEARD,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 153
in painful expectation. Deep and solenin silence reigned
in the tunnel. So still that I could hear the beatings of
my own heart! I waited, waited, waited with a strange
kind of hopefulness.
Suddenly my ear, which leant accidentally against the
wall, appeared to cate as it were the faintest echo of a
sound. I thought that I heard vague, incoherent and dis-
tant voices. I quivered all over with excitement and hope!
“Tt must be hallucination,†I cried. “It cannot be! it
is not true!â€
But no! By listening more attentively, I really did
convince myself that what I heard was truly the sound of
human voices. To make any meaning out of the sound,
however, was beyond my power. IJ was too weak even to
hear distinctly. Still it was a positive fact that some one
was speaking. Of that I was quite certain.
There was a moment of fear. A dread fell upon my
soul that it might be my own words brought back to me
by « distant echo. Perhaps without knowing it, I might
have been crying aloud. I resolutely closed my lips, and
once more placed my ear to the huge granite wall.
Yes, for certain. It was in truth the sound of human
voices.
I now by the exercise of great determination dragged
myself along the sides of the cavern, until I reached
point where I could hear more distinctly. But though I
could detect the sound, I could only make out uncertain,
strange, and incomprehensible words. They reached my
ear as if they had been spoken in a low tone—murmured,
as it were, afar off.
At last, I made out the word férlorad repeated several
times in a tone betokening great mental anguish and sor-
row.
What could this word mean, and who was speaking it?
Tt must be either my uncle or the guide Hans! If, there-
156 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
fore, I could hear them, they must surely be able to hear
me,
“Help,†I cried at the top of my voice; “help, I am
dying!â€
I then listened with scarcely a breath; I panted for the
slightest sound in the darkness—a cry, a sigh, a question!
But silence reigned supreme. No answer came! In this
way some minutes passed. A whole flood of ideas flashed
through my mind. I began to fear that my voice weak-
ened by sickness and suffering could not reach my compa-
nions who were in search of me.
“Tt must be them,†I cried ; “ what other men ean by
possibility be buried a hundred miles below the level of
the earth?†The mere supposition was preposterous.
T began, therefore, to listen again with the most breath-
less attention. As I moved my ears along the side of the
place I was in, I found a mathematical point as it were,
where the voices appeared to attain their maximum of in-
tensity. The word férlorad again distinctly reached my
ear. Then came again that rolling noise like thunder
which had awakened me out of torpor.
“T begin to understand,†I said to myself after some lit-
tle time devoted to reflection ; “it is not through the solid
mass that the sound reaches my ears. The walls of my
cavernous retreat are of solid granite, and the most fearful
explosion would not make uproar enough to penetrate
them. The sound must come along the gallery itself ‘The
place I was in must possess some peculiar acoustic proper-
as
ties of its own.â€
Again I listened ; and this time—yes, this time—I heard
my name distinctly pronounced : cast as it were into space.
Tt was my uncle the Professor who was speaking. He
was in conversation with the guide, and the word which
had so often reached my ears, forlorad, was 2 Danish ex-
pression.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 157
Then I understood it all. In order to make myself
heard, I too must speak as it were along the side of the
gallery, which would carry the sound of my voice just as
the wire carries the electric fluid from point to point.
But there was no time to lose. If my companions were
only to remove a few feet from where they stood, the acous-
tic effect would be over, my Whispering Gallery would be
destroyed. I again therefore ctawled towards the wall,
and said as clearly and distinctly as I could—
“Unele Hardwigg.â€
I then awaited a reply.
Sound does not possess the property of travelling with
such extreme rapidity. Besides the density of the air at
that depth from light and motion, was very far from add-
ing to the rapidity of circulation. Several seconds elapsed,
which to my excited imagination, appeared ages; and
these words reached my eager ears, and moved my wildly
beating heart—
“Harry, my boy, is that you?â€
A short delay between question and answer.
“ Yes—yes.â€
“ Where are you?â€
“ Lost !â€
“ And your lamp?â€
SOnky
“ But the guiding stream ?â€
“Ys lost !â€
“Keep your courage, Harry. We will do our best.â€
“One moment, my uncle,†I cried; “I have no longer
strength to answer your questions. But—for heaven’s
sake—do you—continue—to speak—to me!â€
Absolute silence I felt, would be annihilation.
“Weep up your courage,†said my uncle. “ As you are
so weak do not speak. We have been searching for you
in all directions, both by going upwards and downwards
158 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
in the gallery. My dear boy, I had begun to give over all
hope—and you can never know what bitter tears of sorrow
and regret I have shed. At last, supposing you to be still
on the road beside the Hansbach we again descended,
firing off guns as signals. Now, however, that we have
found you, and that our voices reach each other, it may
be a long time before we actually meet. We are conyers-
ing by means of some extraordinary acoustic arrangement
of the labyrinth. But do not despair, my dear boy. It
is something gained even to hear each other.â€
While he was speaking my brain was at work reflecting.
A certain undefined hope, vague and shapeless as yet,
made my heart beat wildly. In the first place, it was ab-
solutely necessary for me to know one thing. I once more
therefore leaned my head against the wall, which I almost
touched with my lips, and again spoke.
“ Unele.â€
“My boy,†was his ready answer.
“Tt is of the utmost consequence that we should know
how far we are asunder.â€
“That is not difficult.â€
“You have your chronometer at hand?†I asked.
“ Certainly.â€
“Well, take it into your hand. Pronounce my name,
noting exactly the second at which you speak. I will
reply as soon as I hear your words—and you will then
note exactly the moment at which my reply reaches you.â€
“Very good; and the mean time between my question
and your answer will be the time occupied by my voice in
reaching you.†¢
“That is exactly what I mean, uncle,†was my cager reply.
“ Are you ready ?â€
“Yes,â€
“Well, make ready, I am about to pronounce your
name,†said the Professor.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 159
I applied my ear close to the sides of the cavernous
gallery, and as soon as the word Harry reached my ear, I
turned round, and placing my lips to the wali, repeated
the sound.
“Forty seconds,†said my uncle, “There has clapsed
forty seconds between the two words. ‘The sound, there-
fore, takes twenty seconds to ascend. Now, allowing a
thousand and twenty feet for every second—we have
twenty thousand four hundred feet—a league and a half
and one-eighth.â€
hese words fell on my soul like a kind of death-knell.
“A league and a-half,’ I muttered in a low and despair-
ing voice,
“It shall be got over, my boy,†cried my uncle in a
cheery tone; “ depend on us.â€
“ But do you know whether to ascend or descend?†I
asked faintly enough,
“We have to descend, and I will tell you why. You
have reached a vast open space, a kind of bare cross road,
from which galleries diverge in every direction. That in
which you are now lying, must necessarily bring you to
this point, for it appears that all these mighty fissures,
these fractures of the globe’s interior radiate from the vast
cavern which we at this moment occupy. Rouse yourself,
then, have courage and continue your route. Walkif you
can, if not drag yourself along—slide, if nothing else is
possible. The slope must be rather rapid—and you will
find strong arms to receive you at the end of your journey.
Make a start, like a good fellow.â€
These words served to rouse some kind of courage in
my sinking frame.
“Farewell for the present, good uncle, I am about to
take my departure. As soon as I start, our voices will
cease to commingle. Farewell, then, until we meet
again.â€
160 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“ Adicu, Harry elcome.†Such were
the last words which reached my anxious ears, before I
commenced my weary and almost hopeless journey.
This wonderful and surprising conversation which took
place through the vast mass of the earth’s labyrinth, these
words exchanged, the speakers being about five miles apart
—ended with hopeful and pleasant expressions. I breathed
one more prayer to Heaven, I sent up words of thanks-
giving—belicying in my inmost heart that Te had led me
to the only place where the voices of my friends could
reach my ears.
This apparently astounding acoustic mystery is easily
explainable by simple natural laws; it arose from the con-
ductibility of the rock. There are many instances of this
singular propagation of sound which are not perceptible
in its less mediate positions. In the interior gallery of St.
Paul’s, and amid the curious caverns in Sicily, these phe-
nomena are observable. The most marvellous of them all
is known as the Ear of Dionysius.
These memories of the past, of my early reading and
studies, came fresh to my thoughts. Moreover, I began to
reason that if my uncle and I could communicate at so
great a distance, no serious obstacle could exist between
us. All I had to do was to follow the direction whence
the sound had reached me; and, logically putting it, I
must reach him if my strength did not fail.
I accordingly rose to my “feet. T soon found, however,
that I could not walk; that I must drag myself along.
The slope as I expected, was very rapid; but I allowed
rayself to slip down
Soon the rapidity of the deseent be © an to assume fright-
ful y
at the sides; I grasped at acti of rocks; I threw
sroportions; and menaced a fearful fail. I clutched
myself backwards. All in vain. My weakness was so
great I could do nothing to save myself
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 161
Suddenly earth failed me.
i was first launched into a dark, and gloomy void. I
then struck against the projecting asperitics of a vertical
gallery, a perfect well, My head bounded against a
pointed rock, and J lost all knowledge of existence. As
far as I was concerned, death had claimed me for his own.
162 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XXVI.
A RAPID RECOVERY,
Wuen I returned to the consciousness of existence, |
found myself surrounded by a kind of semi-obscurity,
lying on some thick and soft coverlids. My uncle was
watching—his eyes fixed intently on my countenance, a
graye expression on his face; a tear in his eye. At the
first sigh which struggled from my bosom he took hold of
my hand. When he saw my eyes open and fix themselves
upon his, he uttered a loud ery of joy.
“He lives! he lives!â€
“Yes, my good uncle,†I whispered.
“My dear boy,†continued the grim Professor, clasping
me to his heart, “you are saved!â€
I was deeply and unaffectedly touched by the tone in
which these words were uttered, and even more by the
kindly care which accompanied them. The Professor,
however, was one of those men who must be severely tried
in order to induce any display of affection or gentle emo-
tion. At this moment our friend Hans, the guide, joined
us. He saw my hand in that of my uncle, and I yentur
to say that, taciturn as he was, his eyes beamed with lively
satisfaction.
“ God dag,†he said.
“Good day, Hans, good day,†I replied, in as hearty a
tone as I could assume, “and now, uncle, that we are to-
gether, tell me where we are. I have lost all idea of our
position, as of everything else.â€
“To-morrow, Harry, to-morrow,†he replied. “To-day
you are far too weak. Your head is surrounded with
bandages and poultices that must not be touched. Sleep,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 163
my boy, sleep, and to-morrow you will know all that you
require.â€
“But,†I cried, “let me know what o’clock it is—what
day it is?â€
“Té is now eleven o’clock at night, and this is once more
Sunday. It is now the ninth of the month of August.
And f distinetly prohibit you from asking any more ques-
tions until the tenth of the same.â€
I was, if the truth were told, very weak indeed, and my
eyes soon closed involuntarily. I did require a good
night’s rest, and I went off reflecting at the last moment
that my perilous adventure in the interior of the earth, in
total darkness, had lasted four days!
On the morning of the next day, at my awakening, I
began to look around me. My sleeping-place, made of all
our travelling bedding, was in a charming grotto, adorned
with magnificent stalagmites, littering in all the colors of
the rainbow, the floor of soft and silvery sand.
A dim obscurity prevailed. No torch, no lamp was
lighted, and yet certain unexplained beams of light pene-
trated from without, and made their way through the
opening of the beautiful grotto.
I, moreover, heard a vague and indefinite murmur, like
the ebb and flow of waves upon a strand, and sometimes I
verily believed I could hear the sighing of the wind.
I began to believe that, instead of being awake, I must
be dreaming. Surely my brain had not been affected by
my fall, and all that occurred during the last twenty-four
hours was not the frenzied visions of madness? And yet
after some reflection, a trial of my faculties, I came to the
conclusion that I could not be mistaken. yes and ears
could not surely both deceive me.
“Tt isa ray of the blessed daylight,†I said to myself,
“which has penetrated through some mighty fissure in the
rocks. But what is the meaning of this murmur of waves,
164 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
this unmistakable moaning of the salt sea billows? I can
hear, too, plainly enough, the whistling of the wind. But
‘an I be altogether mistaken? If my uncle, during my
illness, has but carried me back to the surface of the
earth! Tas he, on my account, given up his wondrous
expedition, or in some strange manner has it come to an
end?â€
I was puzzling my brain over these and other questions,
when the Professor joined me.
“Good-day, Harry,†he cried in a joyous tone. “I
fancy you are quite well.â€
“Tam very much better,†I replied, actually sitting up
in my bed.
“T knew that would be the end of it, as you slept both
soundly and tranquilly. Hans and I have each taken
turn to watch, and every hour we have seen visible signs
of amelioration.â€
“You must be right, uncle,†was my reply, “for I feel
as if I could do justice to any meal you could put before
me. Jam really hungry.â€
“You shall eat, my boy, you shall eat. The fever has
left you. Our excellent friend Hans has rubbed your
wounds and bruises, with I know not what ointment, of
which the Icclanders alone possess the secret. And they
have healed your bruises in the most marvellous manner.
Ah, he’s a wise fellow, is Master Hans.â€
While he was speaking, my uncle was placing before
me several articles of food, which despite his earnest injunc-
tions, I readily devoured. As soon as the first rage of
hunger was appeased, I overwhelmed him with questions,
to which he now no longer hesitated to give answers.
I then learned, for the first time, that my providential
fall had brought me to the bottom of an almost perpen-
dicular gallery. As I came down, amidst a perfect. shower
of stones, the least of which falling on me would have
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 165
crushed me to death, they came to the conclusion that I
had carried with me an entire dislocated rock. Riding as
it were on this terrible chariot, T was cast headlong into my
uncle’s arms. And into them I fell, insensible and covered
with blood.
“Zt is indeed a miracle,’ was the Professor’s final re-
mark, “that you were not killed a thousand times over.
But let us take care never to separate; for surely we should
risk never meeting again.â€
“Let us take care never again to separate.â€
These words fell with a sort of chill upon my heart.
The journey, then, was not over. I looked at my uncle
with surprise and astonishment. My uncle, after an in-
stant’s examination of my countenance, said—
“What is the matter, Harry?â€
“T want to ask you a very serious question. You say
that I am all right in health ?â€
“ Certainly you are.â€
“And all my limbs are sound and capable of new exer-
tion ?†I asked.
“ Most undoubtedly.â€
“But what about my head?’ was my next anxious
question.
“Well, your head, except that you have one or two con-
tusions, is exactly where it ought to be—on your shoulder,â€
said my uncle, laughing.
“Well, my own opinion is that my head is not ex eel
right. In fact, I believe my. pals slightly clelirious,’
“What dies you think so?â€
“J will explain why I fancy I have lost my senses,†I
eried; “have we not returned to the surface of mother earth?â€
“Certainly not.â€
“Then truly I must be mad, for do I not see the light
of day? do I not hear the whistling of the wind? and can
I uot distinguish the wash of a great sea?â€
166 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“And that is all that makes you uneasy?†said my
uncle, with a smile.
“Can you explain ?â€
“T will not make any attempt to explain; for the whole
matter is utterly inexplicable. But you shall see and judge
for yourself, You will then find that geological science is
as yet in its infancy—and that we are doomed to enlighten
the world.â€
“Let us advance, then,†I eried eagerly, no longer able
to restrain my curiosity.
“Wait a moment, my dear Harry,†he responded ; “you
must take precautions after your illness belore going into
the open air.â€
“The open air?â€
“Yes, my boy. I have to warn you that the wind is
rather violent
and I have no wish for you to expose
yourself without necessary precautions.â€
“ But I beg to assure you that £ am perfectly recovered
from my illness.â€
“Tave just a little patience, my boy. A relapse would
be inconyenient to all parties. Wehave no time to lose—
as our approaching sea voyage may be of long duration.â€
“Sea voyage?†Teried, more bewildered than ever.
“Yes, You must take another day’s rest, and we shall
be ready to go on board by to-morrow.†replied my uncle,
with a peculiar smile.
Go on board! The words utterly astonished me.
Go on board—what and how? Had we come upon a
river, a lake, had we discovered some inland sea? Was a
vessel lying at anchor in some part of the interior of the
earth?
My curiosity was worked up to the very highest pitch.
My uncle made vain attempts to restrain me. When at
last, however, he discovered that my feverish impatience
would do more harm than good—and that the satistaction
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 167
of my wishes could alone restore me to a calm state of
mind, he gave way.
I dressed myself rapidly—and then taking the precau-
tion to please my uncle, of wrapping myself in one of the
coverlets, I rushed out of the grotto.
168 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XXVIL.
THE CENTRAL SEA.
Av first I saw absolutely nothing. My eyes, wholly
unused to the effulgence of light, could not bear the sud-
den brightness; and I was compelled to close them.
Whep 1 was able to re-open them, I stood still, far more
stupedied than astonished. Not all the wildest effects of
imagiuation could have conjured up such a scene !
“The sea—the sea,†I cried.
“ Yes,†replied my uncle, in a tone of pardonable pride;
“The Central Sea. No future navigator will deny the
fact of my having discovered it; and hence of acquiring a
right of giving it a name.â€
It was quite true. A vast, limitless expanse of water,
the end of a lake if not of an ocean, spread before us, un-
til it was lost in the distance. The shore, which was very
much indented, consisted of a beautiful soft golden sand,
mixed with small shells, the long deserted home of some
of the creatures of a past age. The waves broke inces-
santly, and with a peculiarly sonorous murmur—to be
found in under-ground localities. A slight frothy flake
arose as the wind blew along the pellucid waters; and
many a dash of spray was blown into my face. The
mighty superstructure of rock which rose above to an in-
conceivable height, left only a narrow opening—but
where we stood, there was a large margin of strand. On
all sides were capes and promontories and enormous cliffs,
partially worn by the eternal breaking of the waves,
through countless ages! And as I gazed from side to side,
the mighty rocks faded away like a fleecy film of cloud.
THE CENTRAL SEA.
‘A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 169
Tt was in reality an ocean, with all the usual character-
istics of an inland sea, only horribly wild—so rigid, cold
and savage.
One thing startled and puzzled me greatly. How was
it that I was able to look upon that vast sheet of water in-
stead of being plunged in utter darkness? ‘The vast land-
scape before me was lit up ike day. But there was want-
ing the dazzling brilliancy, the splendid irradiation of the
sun; the pale cold illumination of the moon; the bright-
ness of the stars. The illuminating power in this subter-
rancous region, from its trembling and flickering charac-
ter, its clear dry whiteness, the very slight elevation of its
temperature, its great superiority to that of the moon, was
evidently electric ; something in the nature of the aurora
borealis, only that its phenomena were constant, and able
to light up the whole of the ocean cavern.
The tremendous vault above our heads, the sky, so to
speak, appeared to be composed of a conglomeration of
nebulous vapors, in constant motion. I should originally
have supposed, that under such an atmospheric pressure
as must exist in that place, the evaporation of water could
not really take place, and yet from the action of some
physical law, which escaped my memory, there were heavy
and dense clouds rolling along that mighty vault, par-
tially concealing the roof. Electric currents produced as-
tonishing play of light and shade in the distance, es-
pecially around the heavier clouds. Deep shadows were
cast beneath, and then suddenly, between two clouds, there
would come a vray of unusual beauty, and remarkable in-
tensity. And yet it was not like the sun, for it gave no
heat.
The effect was sad and excruciatingly melancholy. In-
stead of a noble firmament of blue, studded with stars,
there was above me a heavy roof of granite, which seemed
to crush me.
170 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Gazing around, I began to think of the theory of the
English captain, who compared the earth to a vast hollow
sphere in the interior of which the air is retained in a
luminous state by means of atmospheric pressure, while
two stars, Pluto and Proserpine, circled there in their
mysterious orbits. After all, suppose the old fellow was
right!
Tn truth, we were imprisoned—bound as it were, in a
vast excavation. Its width it was impossible to make out;
the shore, on either hand, widening rapidly until lost. to
sight ; while its length was equally uncertain. A haze on
the distant horizon bounded our view. As to its height
we could see that it must be many miles to the roof.
Looking upward, it was impossible to discover where the
stupendous roof began. The lowest of the clouds must
have been floating at an elevation of two thousand yards,
a height greater than that of terrestrial vapors, which cir-
cumstance was (loubtless owing to the extreme density of
the air.
I use the word cavern in order to give an idea of the
place. I cannot deseribe its awful grandeur; human
language fails to convey an idea of its savage sublimity.
Whether this singular vacuum had or had not been caused
by the sudden cooling of the earth when in a state of
fusion, I could not say. JI had read of most wonderful
and gigantic caverns—but none in any way like this.
The great grotto of Guachara, in Columbia, visited by
the learned Humboldt; the vast and partially explored
Mammoth Cave in Kentucky; what were these holes in
the earth to that in which I stood in speechless admira-
tion! with its vapory clouds, its electric light, and the
mighty ocean slumbering in its bosom! Tmagination, not
description, can alone give an idea of the splendor and
vastness of the cave.
I gazed at these marvels in profound silence. Words
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 17]
were utterly wanting to indicate the sensations of wonder
I experienced. I seemed, as I stood upon that mysterious
shore, as if I were some wandering inhabitant of a distant
planet, present for the first time at the spectacle of some
terrestrial phenomena belonging to another existence. To
give body and existence to such new sensations, would
have required the coinage of new words—and here my
feeble brain found itself wholly at fault. I looked on, I
thought, I reflected, I admired, in a state of stupefaction
not altogether unmingled with fear !
The unexpected spectacle restored some color to my
pallid checks. I seemed to be actually getting better
under the influence of this novelty. Morcover, the viva-
city of the dense atmosphere, reanimated my body, by in-
flating my lungs with unaccustomed oxygen.
It will be readily conceived that after an imprisonment
of forty-seven days, in a dark and miserable tunnel, it was
with infinite delight that I breathed this saline air. It was
like the genial, reviving influence of the salt sca waves.
My uncle had already got over the first surprise.
With the Latin poet Horace his idea was that—
“ Not to admire is all the art I know,
To make man happy and to keep him so.â€
“Well,†he said, after giving me time thoroughly to
appreciate the marvels of this underground. sea, “do you
feel strong enough to walk up and down ?â€
“Certainly,†was my ready answer, “nothing would give
me greater pleasure.â€
“Well then, my boy,†he said, “lean on my arm, and we
will stroll along the beach.â€
T accepted his offer eagerly, and we began to walk along
the shores of this extraordinary lake. To our left were
abrupt rocks, piled one upon the other,—a stupendous ti-
tanic pile; down their sides leapt innumerable cascades,
172 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
which at last, becoming limpid and murmuring streams,
were lost in the waters of the lake. Light vapors, which
rose here and there, and floated in fleecy clouds from rock
to rock, indicated hot springs, which also poured their su-
perfluity into the vast reservoir at our fect.
Among them I recognized our old and faithful stream,
the Hansbach, which, lost in that wild basin, seemed as if
it had been flowing since the creation of the world.
“ We shall miss our excellent friend,†I remarked, with
a deep sigh.
“Bah!†said my uncle, testily, “what matters it. That
or another, it is all the same.â€
I thought the remark ungrateful, and felt almost in-
clined to say so; but I forbore.
At this moment my attention was attracted by an unex-
pected spectacle. After we had gone about five hundred
yards, we suddenly turned a steep promontory, and found
ourselves close to a lofty forest! It consisted of straight
trunks with tufted tops, in shape like parasols. The air
seemed to have no effect upon these trees—which in spite
ofa tolerable breeze remained as still and motionless as if
they had been petrified.
T hastened forward. I could find no name for these sin-
gular formations. Did they not belong to the two thou-
sand and more known trees—or were we to make the
discovery of anew growth? By no means. When we at
last reached the forest, and stood beneath the trees, my
surprise gaye way to admiration.
In truth, I was simply in the presence of a very ordi-
nary product of the earth, of singular and gigantic
proportions. My uncle unhesitatingly called them by their
real names.
“Tt is only,†he said, in his coolest manner, “a forest of
mushrooms.â€
On close examination I found that he was not mistaken.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 173
Judge of the development attained by this product of
damp hot soils. I had heard that the lycoperdon gigantewm
reaches nine feet in circumference, but here were white
mushrooms, nearly forty feet high, and with tops of equal
dimensions. They grew in countless thousands—the light
could not make its way through their massive substance,
and beneath them reigned a gloomy and mystic darkness.
Still I wished to go forward. The cold in the shades of
this singular forest was intense. For nearly an hour we
wandered about in this darkness visible. At length I left
the spot, and once more returned to the shores of the lake,
to light and comparative warmth.
But the amazing vegetation of subterraneous land was
not confined to gigantic mushrooms. New wonders awaited
us at every step. We had not gone many hundred yards,
when we came upon a mighty group of other trees with dis-
colored leaves—the common humbie trees of mother earth,
of an exorbitant and phenomenal size: lycopodes a hun-
dred feet high; flowering ferns as tall as pines; gigantic
grasses !
“ Astonishing, magnificent, splendid!†cried my uncle;
“here we have before us the whole Flora of the second
period of the world, that of transition. Behold the humble
plants of our gardens, which in the first ages of the world
were mighty trees. Look around you, my dear Harry.
No botanist ever before gazed on such a sight!â€
My uncle’s enthusiasm, always a little more than was
required, was now excusable,
“You are right, uncle,†I remarked. “ Providence ap-
pears to have designed the preservation in this vast and
mysterious hot-house of antediluvian plants, to prove the
sagacity of learned men in figuring them so marvellously
on paper.â€
“Well said, my boy—very well said; it is indeed a
mighty hot-house;—but you would also be within the
174 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE FARTH.
bounds of reason and common sense, if you also added—a
vast menagerie.â€
I looked rather anxiously around. Ifthe animals were
as exaggerated as the plants, the matter would certainly
be serious.
“ A menagerie?â€
“Doubtless. Look at the dust we are treading under
foot—behold the bones with which the whole soil of the
sea shore is covered——â€
“ Bones,†I replied, “yes, certainly, the bones of ante-
diluvian animals.â€
I stooped down as I spoke, and picked up one or two
singular remains, relics of a by-gone age. It was easy to give
a name to these gigantic bones, in some instances as big as
trunks of trees.
“ Here is, clearly, the lower jaw-bone of a mastodon,†I
cried, almost as warmly and enthusiastically as my uncle,
“here are the molars of the dinotherium; here is a leg-
bone which belonged to the megatherium. You 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 sca, under the shadow of
these plants. Look, yonder are whole skeletons—and
yet ie
“And yet, nephew?†said my uncle, noticing that I
suddenly came to a full stop.
“T do not understand the presence of such beasts in
’
granite caverns, however vast and prodigious,†was my
reply.
“Why not?†said my uncle, with very much of his old
professional impatience.
“ Because it is well known that animal life only existed
on earth during the secondary period, when the sedimen-
tary soil was formed by the alluviums, and thus replaced
the hot and burning rocks of the primitive age.â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 174
“T have listened to you earnestly and with patience,
Harry, and I have a simple and clear answer to your ob-
jections: and that is, that this itself is a sedimentary soil.â€
“ How can that be at such enormous depth from the sur-
face of the earth?â€
“The fact can be explained both simply and geologi-
cally. At a certain period, the earth consisted only of an
elastic crust, liable to alternative upward and downward
movements in virtue of the law of attraction. It is very
probable that many a landslip took place in those days,
and that large portions of sedimentary soil were cast into
huge and mighty chasms.â€
“ Quite possible,†I drily remarked. “ But uncle, if these
antediluvian animals formerly lived in these subterranean
regions, what more likely that one of these huge monsters
may at this moment be concealed behind one of yonder
mighty rocks.â€
As I spoke, I looked keenly around, examining with care
every point of the horizon ; but nothing alive appeared to
exist on these deserted shores.
T now felt rather fatigued, and told my uncle so. The
walk and excitement were too much for me in my weak
state. I therefore seated myself at the end of a promon-
tory, at the foot of which the waves broke in incessant
rolls. I looked round a bay formed by projections of vast
granitic rocks. At the extreme end was a little port pro-
tected by huge pyramids of stones. A brig and three or
four schooners might have lain there with perfect ease.
So natural did it seem, that every minute my imagination
induced me to expect a vessel coming out under all sail
and making for the open sea under the influence of a
warm southerly breeze.
But the fantastic illusion never lasted more than a
minute. We were the only living creatures in this sub-
terranean world !
176 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
During certain periods there was an utter cessation of
wind, when a silence deeper, more terrible than the silence
of the desert fell upon these solitary and arid rocks—and
seemed to hang like a leaden weight upon the waters of
this singular ocean. I sought, amid the awful stillness, to
penetrate through the distant fog, to tear down the veil
which concealed the mysterious distance. What unspoken
words were murmured by my trembling lips—what
questions did I wish to ask and did not! Where did this
sea end—to what did it lead? Should we ever be able
to examine its distant shores ?
But my uncle had no doubts about the matter. He was
convinced that our enterprise would in the end be success-
ful. For my part, I was in a state of painful indecision—
I desired to embark on the journey and to succeed, and
still I feared the result.
After we had passed an hour or more in silent contem-
plation of the wondrous spectacle, we rose and went down
towards the bank on our way to the grotto, which I was
not sorry to gain. After a slight repast, I sought refuge
in slumber, and at leneth, after many and tedious strug-
gles, sleep came over my weary eyes.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 177
CHAPTER XXVIII.
LAUNCHING THE RAFT.
On the morning of the next day, to my great surprise, I
awoke completely restored. I thought a bath would be
delightful after my long illness and sufferings. So, soon
after rising, I went and plunged into the waters of this new
Mediterranean. The bath was cool, fresh and invigo-
rating.
I came back to breakfast with an excellent appetite.
Hans, our worthy guide, thoroughly understood how to
cook such eatables as we were able to provide; he had
both fire and water at discretion, so that he was enabled
slightly to vary the weary monotony of our ordinary re-
past.
Our morning meal was like a capital English breakfast,
with coffee by way of a wind up. And never had this
delicious beverage been so welcome and refreshing.
My uncle had sufficient regard for my state of health
not to interrupt me in the enjoyment of the meal, but he
was evidently delighted when I had finished.
“ Now then,†said he, “ come with me. It is the height
of the tide, and I am anxious to study its curious phe-
nomena.â€
“What,†I cried, rising in astonishment, “did you say
the tide, uncle?â€
“Certainly I did.â€
“You do not mean to say,†I replied, in a tone of re-
spectful doubt, “that the influence of the sun and moop
is felt here below.â€
“And pray why not? Are not all bodies influenced by
the law of universal attraction? Why should this vast
178 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
underground sea be exempt from the general law, the rule
of the universe? Besides, there is nothing like that which
is proved and demonstrated. Despite the great atmos-
pheric pressure down here, you will notice that this inland
sea rises and falls with as much regularity as the Atlantic °
itself.â€
As my uncle spoke, we reached the sandy shore, and
saw and heard the waves breaking monotonously on the
beach. They were evidently rising.
“This is truly the flood,†I cried, looking at the water at
my feet.
“Yes, my excellent nephew,†replied my uncle, rubbing
his hands with the gusto of a philosopher, “and you see
by these several streaks of foam, that the tide rises at least
ten or twelve feet.â€
“Tt is indeed marvellous.â€
“By no means,†he responded; “on the contrary, it is
quite natural.â€
“Tt may appear so in your eyes, my dear uncle,†was
my reply, “but the whole phenomena of the place appear
to me to partake of the marvellous. It is almost impossi-
ble to believe that which I see. Who in his wildest
dreams could have imagined that, beneath the crust of our
earth, there could exist a real ocean, with ebbing and flow-
ing tides, with its changes of winds, and even its storms.
I for one should have laughed the suggestion to scorn.â€
“But, Harry, my boy, why not?†inquired my uncle,
with a pitying smile, “is there any physical reason in op-
position to it?â€
“Well, if we give up the great theory of the central heat
of the earth, I certainly can offer no reasons why anything
should be looked upon as impossible.â€
“Then you will own,†he added, “that the system of
Sir Humphrey Davy is wholly justified by what we have
seen ?â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 179
“TJ allow that it is—and that point once granted, I cer-
tainly can see no reason for doubting the existence of seas and
other wonders, even countries, in the interior of the globe.â€
“That is so—but of course these varied countries are
uninhabited ?â€
“Well, I grant that it is more likely than not: still, I
do not see why this sea should not have given shelter to
some species of unknown fish.â€
“Hitherto we have not discovered any, and the proba-
bilities are rather against our ever doing so,†observed the
Professor.
I was losing my skepticism in the presence of these
wonders.
“Well, J am determined to solve the question. It ismy
intention to try my luck with my fishing line and hook.â€
“Certainly; make the experiment,†said my uncle,
pleased. with my enthusiasm. “While we are about it, it
will certainly be only proper to discover all the secrets of
this extraordinary region.â€
“ But, after all, where are we now?†I asked; “all this
time I have quite forgotten to ask you a question, which,
doubtless, your philosophical instruments have long since
answered.â€
“ Well,†replied the Professor, “examining the situation
from only one point of view, we are now distant three
hundred and fifty leagues from Iceland.â€
“So much?†was my exclamation.
“T have gone over the matter several times, and am
sure not to have made a mistake of five hundred yards,â€
replied my uncle positively.
“And as to the direction—are we still going to the
south-east ?â€
“Yes, with a western declination* of nineteen degrees,
* The declination is the variation of the needle from the true meridian
of a place.
180 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
forty-two minutes, just as it is above. As for the inclina-
tion* I have discovered a very curious fact.â€
“What may that be, uncle? Your information in-
terests me.â€
“Why that the needle, instead of dipping towards the
pole as it does on earth, in the northern JALBR BUSS has
an upward tendency.â€
“This proves,†I cried, “that the great point of magne-
tic attraction lies somewhere between the surface of the
earth and the spot we have succeeded in reaching.â€
“Exactly, my observant nephew,†exclaimed my uncle,
elated and delighted, “and it is quite probable that if we
succeed in getting toward the polar regions—somewhere
near the seventy-third degree of latitude, where Sir James
Ross discovered the magnetic pole, we shall behold the
needle point directly upward. We have therefore dis-
covered by analogy, that this great centre of attraction is
not situated at a very great depth.â€
“Well,†said I, rather surprised, “this discovery will
astonish experimental philosophers. It was never sus-
pected.â€
“Science, great, mighty and in the end unerring,†re-
plied my uncle dogmatically, “science has fallen into
many errors—errors which have been fortunate and useful
rather than otherwise, for they have been the stepping-
stones to truth.â€
After some further discussion, I turned to another
matter.
“Have you any idea of the depth we have reached ?â€
“We are now,†continued the Professor, “exactly thirty-
five leagues—above a hundred miles—down into the in-
terior of the earth.â€
“So,†said I, after measuring the distance on the map,
* Inclination is the dip of the magnetic needle with a tendency to incline
towards the earth.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 181
“we are now beneath the Scottish Highlands, and have
over our heads the lofty Grampian hills.â€
“You are quite right,†said the Professor laughing, “ it
sounds very alarming, the weight being heavy—but the
vault which supports this vast mass of earth and rock is
solid and safe—the mighty Architect of the Universe has
constructed it of solid materials. Man, even in his high-
est flights of vivid and poetic imagination, never thought
of such things! What are the finest arches of our bridges,
what the vaulted roofs of our cathedrals, to that mighty
dome above us, and beneath which floats an ocean with its
storms and calms and tides!â€
“JT admire it all as much as you can, uncle, and have
no fear that our granite sky will fall upon our heads.
But now that we have discussed matters of science and dis-
covery, what are your future intentions? Are you not think-
ing of getting back to the surface of our beautiful earth?â€
This was said more as a feeler than with any hope of
success.
“Go back, nephew,†cried my uncle in a tone of alarm,
“you are not surely thinking of anything so absurd or
cowardly. No, my intention is to advance and continue
our journey. We have as yet been singularly fortunate,
and henceforth I hope we shall be more so.â€
“But,†said I, “how are we to cross yonder liquid
plain ?â€
“Tt is not my intention to leap into it head foremost, or
even to swim across it, like Leander over the Hellespont.
But as oceans are, after all, only great lakes, inasmuch as
they are surrounded by land, so does it stand to reason, that
this central sea is circumscribed by granite surroundings.â€
“ Doubtless,†was my natural reply.
“Well, then, do you not think that when once we reach
the other end, we shall find some means of continuing ou1
journey ?â€
183 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“ Probably, but what extent do you allow to this inter-
nal ocean?â€
“ Well, I should fancy it to extend about forty or fifty
leagues—more or less.â€
“ But even supposing this approximation to be a correct
one—what then?†I asked.
“My dear boy, we have no time for further discussion.
We shall embark to-morrow.â€
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 unknown sea; and where, if I may ask, is the vessel
to carry us?â€
“Well, my dear boy, it will not be exactly what you
would call a vessel. For the present we must be content
with a good and solid raft.â€
“ A raft,†I cried, incredulously, “ but down here a raft
is as impossible of construction as a vessel—and I am at
a loss to imagine—â€
“My good Harry—if you were to listen instead of talk-
ing so much, you would hear,†said my uncle, waxing a
little impatient.
“T should hear ?â€
“ Yes—certain knocks with the hammer, which Hans is
now employing to make the raft. He has been at work
for many hours.â€
“Making a raft?â€
“Yes.â€
“ But where has he found trees suitable for such a con-
struction ?â€
“He found the trees all ready to his hand. Come, and
you shall see our excellent guide at work.â€
More and more amazed at what I heard and saw, I fol-
lowed my uncle like one in a dream.
After a walk of about a quarter of an hour, I saw Hans at
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 183
work on the other side of the promontory which formed our
natural port. A few minutes more and I was beside him.
To my great surprise, on the sandy shore lay a half-finished
raft. It was made from beams of a very peculiar wood, and
a great number of limbs, joints, boughs, and pieces lay
about, sufficient to have constructed a fleet of ships and boats.
I turned to my unele, silent with astonishment and awe.
“Where did all this wood come from?†I cried;
“what wood is it?â€
“Well, there is pine-wood, fir, and the palms of the
northern regions, mineralized by the action of the sea,†he
replied, sententiously.
“Can it be possible ?â€
“Yes,†said the learned Professor, “what you see is
valled fossil wood.â€
“But then,’ cried I, after reflecting for a moment,
“like the lignites, it must be as hard and as heavy as iron,
and therefore will certainly not float.â€
“Sometimes that is the case. Many of these woods
have become true anthracites, but others again, like those
you see before you, have only undergone one phase of
fossil transformation. But there is no proof’ like demon-
stration,†added my uncle, picking one or two of these
precious waifs and casting them into the sea.
The piece of wood, after having disappeared for a mo-
ment, came to the surface, and floated about with the
oscillation produced by wind and tide.
“Are you convinced?†said my uncle, with a self-
satisfied smile.
“Tam convinced,†I cried, “ that what I see ig incredible.â€
The fact was that my journey into the interior of the
earth was rapidly changing all preconceived notions, and
day by day preparing me for the marvellous.
eI should not have been surprised to have seen a fleet of
native canoes afloat upon that silent sea.
184 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
The very next evening, thanks to the industry and abili-
ty of Hans, the raft was finished. It was about ten feet
long and five feet wide. The beams bound together with
stout ropes, were solid and firm, and once launched by our
united efforts, the improvised vessel floated tranquilly upon
the waters of what the Professor had well named the Cen-
tral Sea.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 185
CHAPTER XXIX.
ON THE WATERS.—A RAFT VOYAGE.
On the 18th of August we were up betimes. There
was no time to be lost. We now had to inaugurate a new
kind of locomotion, which would have the advantage of
being rapid and not fatiguing.
A mast, made of two pieces of wood fastened together,
to give additional strength, a yard made from another one,
the sail a linen sheet from our bed. We were fortunately
in no want of cordage, and the whole on trial appeared
solid and seaworthy. —
At six o’clock in the morning, when the eager and en-
thusiastic Professor gave the signal to embark, the victuals,
the luggage, all our instruments, our weapons, and a goodly
supply of sweet water, which we had collected from springs
in the rocks, were placed on the raft.
Hans had, with considerable ingenuity, contrived a
rudder, which enabled him to guide the floating apparatus
with ease. He took the tiller, as a matter of course. The
worthy man was as good a sailor as he was a guide and
duck-hunter. I then let go the painter which held us to
the shore, the sail was brought to the wind, and we made
a rapid offing.
Our sea voyage had at length commenced; and once
more we were making for distant and unknown regions.
Just as we were about to leave the little port where the
raft had been constructed, my uncle, who was very strong
as to geographic nomenclature, wanted to give it a name,
and among others, suggested mine.
“Well,†said I, “before you decide I have another te
propose.â€
{86 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“Well; out with it.â€
“T should like to call it Gretchen. Port Gretchen will
sound very well on our future map.â€
“Well then, Port Gretchen let it be,†said the Professor.
And thus it was that the memory of my dear girl was
attached to our adventurous and memorable expedition.
When we left the shore the wind was blowing from the
northward and eastward. We went directly before the
wind at a much greater speed than might have been ex-
pected from a raft. The dense layers of atmosphere at
that depth had great propelling power and acted upon the
sail with considerable force.
At the end of an hour, my uncle, who had been taking
careful observations, was enabled to judge of the rapidity
with which we moved. It was far beyond anything seen
in the upper world.
“If,†he said, “we continue to advance at our present
rate, we shall have travelled at least thirty leagues in
twenty-four hours. With a mere raft this is an almost
incredible velocity.â€
I certainly was surprised, and without making any reply
went forward upon the raft. Already the northern shore
was fading away on the edge of the horizon. The two
shores appeared to separate more and more, leaving a wide
and open space for our departure. Before me I could see
nothing but the vast and apparently limitless sea—upon
which we floated—the only living objects in sight.
Huge and dark clouds cast their grey shadows below—
shadows which seemed to crush that colorless and sullen
water by their weight. Anything more suggestive of gloom
and of regions of nether darkness I never beheld. Silvery
rays of electric light, reflected here and there upon some
small spots of water, brought up luminous sparkles in the
long wake of our cumbrous bark. Presently we were
wholly out of sight of land, not a vestige could be seen,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 187
nor any indication of where we were going. So still and
motionless did we scem without any distant point to fix
our eyes on, that but for the phosphoric light at the wake
of the raft I should have fancied that we were still and
motionless.
But I knew that we were advancing at a very rapid rate.
About twelve o’clock in the day, vast collections of sea-
weed were discovered surrounding us on all sides. I was
aware of the extraordinary vegetative power of these
plants, which have been known to creep along the bottom
of the great ocean, and stop the advance of large ships.
But never were seaweeds ever seen, so gigantic and won-
derful as those of the Central Sea. I could well imagine
how, seen at a distance, tossing and heaving on the summit
of the billows, the long lines of Alge have been taken for
living things, and thus have been the fertile sources of the
belief in sea serpents.
Our raft swept past great specimens of fucs or sea-
wrack, from three to four thousand feet in length, im-
mense, incredibly long, looking like snakes that stretched
out far beyond our horizon. It afforded me great amuse-
ment to gaze on their variegated ribbon-like endless
lengths. Hour after hour passed without our coming to
the termination of these floating weeds. If my astonish-
ment increased, my patience was well-nigh exhausted.
What natural force could possibly have produced such
abnormal and extraordinary plants? What must have
been the aspect of the globe, during the first centuries of
its formation, when under the combined action of heat
and humidity, the vegetable kingdom occupied its vast
surface to the exclusion of everything else?
These were considerations of never-ending interest for
the geologist and the philosopher.
All this while we were advancing on our journey; and
at length night came; but as I had remarked the evening
188 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
before, the luminous state of the atmosphere was in no-
thing diminished. Whatever was the cause, it was a phe-
nomenon upon the duration of which we could calculate
with certainty.
As soon as our supper had been disposed of, and some
little speculative conversation indulged in, I stretched my-
self at the foot of the mass, and presently went to sleep.
Hans remained motionless at the tiller, allowing the
raft to rise and fall on the waves. The wind being aft,
and the sail square, all he had to do was to keep his oar
in the centre.
Ever since we had taken our departure from the newly-
named Port Gretchen, my worthy uncle had directed me
to keep a regular log of our day’s navigation, with in-
structions to put down even the most minute particulars,
every interesting and curious phenomenon, the direction
of the wind, our rate of sailing, the distance we went ; ina
word, every incident of our extraordinary voyage.
From our log, therefore, I tell the story of our voyage
on the Central Sea.
Friday, August 14th. A steady breeze from the north-
west. Raft progressing with extreme rapidity, and going
perfectly straight. Coast still dimly visible about thirty
leagues to leeward. Nothing to be seen beyond the hori-
zon in front. The extraordinary intensity of the light
neither increases nor diminishes. It is singularly station-
ary. The weather remarkably fine; that is to say, the
clouds have ascended very high, and are light and fleecy,
and surrounded by an atmosphere resembling silver in
fusion.
Thermometer + 32 degrees centigrade.
About twelve o’clock in the day our guide Hans having
prepared and baited a hook, cast his line into the subter-
ranean waters. The bait he used was a small piece of
meat, by means of which he concealed his hook. Anxious
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. * 289
as I was, I was for a long time doomed to disappointment.
Were these waters supplied with fish or not? That was
the important question. No—was my decided answer.
Then there came a sudden and rather hard tug. Hans
coolly drew it in, and with it a fish, which struggled vio-
lently to escape.
“A fish,†cried my uncle, putting on his spectacles to
examine it.
“Tt isa sturgeon!†I cried, “certainly a small sturgeon.â€
The Professor examined the fish carefully, noting every
characteristic; and he did not coincide in my opinion.
The fish had a flat head, round body, and the lower ex-
tremities covered with bony scales; its mouth was wholly
without teeth, the pectoral fins, which were highly devel-
oped, sprouted direct from the body, which properly
speaking had no tail. The animal certainly belonged to
the order in which naturalists class the sturgeon, but it
differed from that fish in many essential particulars.
My uncle, after all, was not mistaken. After a long
and patient examination, he said—
“This fish, my dear boy, belongs to a family which has
been extinct for ages, and of which no trace has ever been
found on earth, except fossil remains in the Devonian
strata.â€
“You do not mean to say,†I cried, “that we have cap-
tured a live specimen of a fish belonging to the primitive
stock that existed before the deluge?â€
“We have,†said the Professor, who all this time was
continuing his observations, “and you may see by careful
examination that these fossil fish have no identity with
existing species. To hold in one’s hand, therefore, a living
specimen of the order, is enough to make a naturalist
happy for life.â€
“But,†cried I, “to what family does it belong?â€
“To the order of Ganoides—an order of fish having
190 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
angular scales, covered with bright enamel—forming one
of the family of the Cephalaspides, of the genus x
“Well, sir,†I remarked, as I noticed my uncle hesi-
tated to conclude.
“To the Genus Pterychtis—yes, I am certain of it.
Still, though I am confident of the correctness of my sur-
mise, this fish offers to our notice a remarkable peculi-
arity, never known to exist in any other fish but those
which are the natives of subterranean waters, wells, lakes,
in caverns, and such like hidden pools.â€
“And what may that be?â€
“Tt is blind.â€
“Blind!†I cried, much surprised.
“Not only blind,†continued the Professor, “but abso-
lutely without organs of sight.â€
I now examined our discovery for myself. It was sin-
gular, to be sure, but it was really a fact. This, however,
might be a solitary instance, I suggested. The hook was
baited again and once more thrown into the water. This
subterranean ocean must have been tolerably well supplied
with fish, for in two hours we took a large number of
Pterychtis, as well as other fish belonging to another sup-
posed extinct family—the Dipterides (a genus of fish,
furnished with two fins only, whence the name), though
my uncle could not class it exactly. All, without excep-
tion, however, were blind. This unexpected capture en-
abled us to renew our stock of provisions in a very satis-
factory way.
We were now convinced that this Subterranean Sea
contained only fish known to us as fossil specimens—and
fish and reptiles alike, were all the more perfect the
farther back they dated their origin.
‘We began to hope that we should find some of those
Saurians which science has succeeded in reconstructing
from bits of bone or cartilage.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 191]
I took up the telescope and carefully examined the
horizon—looked over the whole sea; it was utterly and
entirely deserted. Doubtless we were still too near the
coast.
After an examination of the ocean, I looked upward,
‘towards the strange and mysterious sky. Why should not
one of the birds, reconstructed by the immortal Cuvier,
flap his stupendous wings aloft in the dull strata of sub-
terranean air? It would, of course, find quite sufficient
food from the fish in the sea. I gazed for some time upon
the void above. It was as silent and as deserted as the
shores we had but lately left.
Nevertheless, though I could neither see nor discover
anything, my imagination carried me away into wild
hypotheses. I was in a kind of waking dream. I thought
I saw on the surface of the water those enormous antedilu-
vian turtles as big as floating islands. Upon those dull
and sombre shores passed a spectral row of the mammi-
fers of early days, the great Leptotherium found in the
cavernous hollow of the Brazilian hills, the Mesico-
therium, a native of the glacial regions of Siberia.
Farther on, the pachydermatous Lophrodon, that gi-
gantic tapir, which concealed itself behind rocks, ready
to do battle for its prey with the Anoplotherium, a
singular animal partaking of the nature of the rhinoceros,
the horse, the hippopotamus and the camel.
There was the giant Mastodon, twisting and turning his
horrid trunk, with which he crushed the rocks of the shore
to powder, while the Megatherium—his back raised like a
cat in a passion, his enormous claws stretched out, dug
into the earth for food, at the same time that he awoke
the sonorous echoes of the whole place with his terrible
roar.
Higher up still, the first monkey ever seen on the face
of the globe clambered, gamboling and playing up the
192 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
granite hills. Still farther away, ran the Pterodactyl,
with the winged hand, gliding or rather sailing through
the dense and compressed air like a huge bat.
Above all, near the leaden granitic sky, were immense
birds, more powerful than the casoar, giants to the ostrich,
which spread their mighty wings and fluttered against the
huge stone vault of the inland sea.
I thought, such was the effect of my imagination, that I
saw this whole tribe of antediluvian creatures. I carried
myself back to far ages, long before man existed—when,
in fact, the earth was in too imperfect a state for him to
live upon it.
My dream was of countless ages before the existence of
man. The mammifers first disappeared, then the mighty
birds, then the reptiles of the secondary period, presently
the fish, the crustacea, the molluscs, and finally the verte-
brata. The zoophytes of the period of transition in their
turn sank into annihilation.
The whole panorama of the world’s life before the his-
toric period, seemed to be born over again, and mine was
the only human heart that beat in this unpeopled world!
There were no more seasons; there were no more climates;
the natural heat of the world increased unceasingly, and
neutralized that of the great radiant Sun.
Vegetation was exaggerated in an extraordinary man-
ner. I passed like a shadow in the midst of brushwood
as lofty as the giant trees of California, and trod under-
foot the moist and humid soil, reeking with a rank and
varied vegetation.
I leaned against the huge column-like trunks of giant
trees, to which those of Canada were as ferns. Whole
ages passed, hundreds upon hundreds of years were concen-
trated into a single day.
Next, unrolled before me like a panorama, came the
great and wondrous series of terrestrial transformations.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 192
Plants disappeared; the granitic rocks lost all trace of
solidity; the liquid state was suddenly substituted for that
which had before existed. This was caused by intense
heat acting on the organic matter of the earth. The
waters flowed over the whole surface of the globe; they
boiled; they were volatilized, or turned into vapor; a
kind of steam-cloud wrapped the whole earth, the globe
itself becoming at last nothing but one huge sphere of gas,
indescribable in color, between white heat and red, as big
and as brilliant as the sun.
In the very centre of this prodigious mass, fourteen
hundred thousand times as large as our globe, I was
whirled round in space, and brought into close conjunc-
tion with the planets. My body was subtilized, or rather
became volatile, and commingled in a state of atomic va-
por, with the prodigious clouds, which rushed forward
like a mighty comet into infinite space!
What an extraordinary dream! Where would it finally
take me? My feverish hand began to write down the mar-
vellous details—details more like the imaginings of a
lunatic than anything sober and real. I had during this
period of hallucination forgotten everything—the Profes-
sor, the guide, and the raft on which we were floating.
My mind was in a state of semi-oblivion.
“What is the matter, Harry ?†said my uncle, sudden-
ly.
My eyes, which were wide opened like those of a som-
nambulist, were fixed upon him, but I did not see him,
nor could I clearly make out anything around me.
“Take care, my boy,†again cried my uncle, “ you will
fall into the sea.â€
As he uttered these words, I felt myself seized on the
other side by the firm hand of our devoted guide. Had it
not been for the presence of mind of Hans, I must infalli-
bly have fallen into the waves and been drowned.
194 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“Have you gone mad?†cried my uncle, shaking me on
the other side.
“ What—what is the matter?†I said at last, coming
to myself.
“ Ave you ill, Henry?†continued the Professor in au
anxious tone.
“No—no; but I have had an extraordinary dream. Ki,
however, has passed away. All now seems well,’ I added,
looking around me with strangely puzzled eyes.
“ All right,†said my uncle; “a beautiful breeze, a splen-
did sea. We are going along at a rapid rate, and if I am
not out in my calculations we shall soon sce land. I
shall not be sorry to exchange the narrow limits of our
raft for the mysterious strand of the Subterranean Ocean.â€
As my uncle uttered these words, I rose and carefully
scanned the horrizon. But the line of water was still con-
founded with the lowering clouds that hung aloft, and in
the distance appeared to touch the edge of the water.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 195
CHAPTER XXX.
TERRIFIC SAURIAN COMBAT.
Saturpay, August 15. The sea still retains its uni-
form monotony. The same leaden hue, the same eternal
glare from above. No indication of land being in sight.
The horizon appears to retreat before us, more and more
as we advance.
My head, still dull and heavy from the effects of my
extraordinary dream, which I cannot as yet banish from
my mind.
The Professor, who has not dreamed, is, however, in one
of his morose and unaccountable humors. Spends his
time in scanning the horizon, at every point of the com-
pass. His telescope is raised every moment to his eyes,
and when he finds nothing to give any clue to our where-
abouts, he assumes a Napoleonic attitude and walks
anxiously.
T remarked that my uncle, the Professor, had a strong
tendency to resume his old impatient character, and I
could not but make a note of this disagreeable circum-
stance in my Journal. I saw clearly that it had required
all the influence of my danger and suffering, to extract
from him one scintillation of humane feeling. Now that
I was quite recovered, his original nature had conquered
and obtained the upper hand.
And, after all, what had he to be angry and annoyed
about, now more than at any other time? Was not the
journey being accomplished under the most favorable cir-
cumstances? Was not the raft progressing with the most
marvellous rapidity ?
196 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
What, then, could be the matter? After one or twe
preliminary hems, I determined to inquire.
“You seem uneasy, uncle,†said I, when for about the
hundredth time he put down his telescope and walked up
and down, muttering to himself.
“No, I am not uneasy,†he replied in a dry harsh tone,
“by no means.â€
“Perhaps I should have said impatient,†I replied,
softening the force of my remark.
“ Enough to make me so, I think.â€
“ And yet we are advancing at a rate seldom attained
by a raft,†I remarked.
“ What matters that?†cried my uncle. “I am not
vexed at the rate we go at, but Iam annoyed to find the
sea so much vaster than I expected.â€
I then recollected that the Professor, before our depar-
ture, had estimated the length of this Subterranean Ocean,
as at most about thirty leagues. Now we had travelled at
least over thrice that distance without discovermg any
trace of the distant shore. I began to understand my
uncle’s anger.
“ We are not going down,†suddenly exclaimed the Pro-
fessor. “We are not progressing with our great dis-
coveries. All this is utter loss of time. After all, I did
hot come from home to undertake a party of pleasure.
This voyage on a raft over a pond annoys and wearies
me.†,
He called this adventurous journey a party of pleasure,
and this great Inland Sea a pond !
“ But,†argued I, “if we have followed the route indi-
cated by the great Saknussemm, we cannot be going far
wrong.â€
“That is the question†as the great, the immortal
Shakspeare, has it. Are we following the route indicated
by that wondrous sage? Did Saknussemm ever fall in
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 197
with this great sheet of water? If he did, did he cross it?
I begin to fear that the rivulet we adopted for a guide has
led us wrong.â€
“In any case, we can never regret having come thus
far. It is worth the whole journey to have enjoyed this
magnificent spectacle—it is something to have seen.â€
~“T care nothing about seeing, nor about magnificent
spectacles. I came down into the interior of the earth
with an object, and that object I mean to attain. Don’t
talk to me about admiring scenery, or any other sentimen-
tal trash.â€
After this Ithought it well to hold my tongue, and
allow the Professor to bite his lips until the blood came,
without further remark.
At six o’clock in the evening, our matter-of-fact guide,
Hans, asked for his week’s salary, and receiving his three
rix-dollars, put them carefully in his pocket. He was
perfectly contented and satisfied.
Sunday, 16th August. Nothing new to record. The
same weather as before. The wind has a slight tendency to
freshen up, with signs of an approaching gale. When I
awoke, my first observation was in regard to the intensity
of the light. I keep on fearing, day after day, that the
extraordinary electric phenomenon should become first
obscured, and then go wholly out, leaving us in total
darkness. Nothing, however, of the kind occurs. The
shadow of the raft, its mast and sails, is clearly distin-
guished on the surface of the water.
This wondrous sea is, after all, infinite in its extent. It
must be quite as wide as the Mediterranean—or perhaps
even as the great Atlantic Ocean. Why, after all, should
it not be so?
My uncle has on more than one occasion, tried deep sea
soundings. He tied the cross of one of our heaviest crow-
bars to the extremity of a cord, which he allowed to run
198 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
out to the extent of two hundred fathoms. We had the
greatest difficulty in hoisting in our novel kind of lead.
When the crowbar was finally dragged on board, Hans
called. my attention to some singular marks upon its sur-
face. The piece of iron looked as if it had been crushed
between two very hard substances.
I looked at our worthy guide with an inquiring glance.
“Tander,†said he.
Of course I was at a loss to understand. I turned round
towards my uncle, absorbed in gloomy reflections. I had
little wish to disturb him from his reverie. I accordingly
turned once more towards our worthy Icelander.
Hans very quietly and significantly opened his mouth
once or twice, as if in the act of biting, and in this way
made me understand his meaning.
“Teeth!†cried I, with stupefaction, as I examined the
bar of iron with more attention.
Yes. There can be no doubt about the matter. The
indentations on the bar of iron are the marks of teeth!
What jaws must the owner of such molars be possessed of!
Have we, then, come upon a monster of unknown species,
which still exists within the vast waste of waters—a
monster more voracious than a shark, more terrible and
bulky than the whale. I am unable to withdraw my eyes,
from the bar of iron, actually half crushed!
Ts, then, my dream about to come true—a dread and
terrible reality?
Ail day my thoughts were bent upon these speculations,
and my imagination scarcely regained a degree of calm-
ness and power of reflection until after a sleep of many
hours. f
This day, as on other Sundays, we observed as a day of
rest and pious meditation.
Monday, August 17th. I have been trying to realize
from memory the particular instincts of those antediluvian
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 199
animals of the secondary period, which succeeding to the
mollusca, to the crustacea, and to the fish, preceded the
appearance of the race of mammifers. The generation of
reptiles then reigned supreme upon the earth. These
hideous monsters ruled everything in the seas of the
secondary period, which formed the strata of which the
Jura mountains are composed. Nature has endowed them
with perfect organization. What a gigantic structure was
theirs; what vast and prodigious strength they possessed !
The existing Saurians, which include all such reptiles as
lizards, crocodiles, and alligators, even the largest and
most formidable of their class, are but feeble imitations of
their mighty sires, the animals of ages long ago. If there
were giants in the days of old, there were also gigantic
animals.
I shuddered as I evolved from my mind the idea and
recolfection of these awful monsters. No eye of man had
seen them in the flesh. They took their walks abroad
upon the face of the earth thousands of ages before man
came into existence, and their fossil bones, discovered in
the limestone, have allowed us to reconstruct them ana-
tomically, and thus to get some faint idea of their colossal
formation.
I recollect once seeing in the great Museum of Ham-
burg the skeleton of one of these wonderful Saurians. It
measured no less than thirty feet from the nose to the tail.
Am I, then, an inhabitant of the earth of the present day,
destined to find myself face to face with a representative of
this antediluvian family? I can scarcely believe it possi~-
ble; can hardly believe it true. And yet these marks of
powerful teeth upon the bar of iron! can there be a doubt
from their shape that the bite is the bite of a crocodile?
My eyes stare wildly and with terror upon the subterra-
nean sea. Every moment I expect one of these monsters
to rise from its vast cavernous depths.
900 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I fancy that the worthy Professor in some measure
shares my notions, if not my fears, for, after an attentive
examination of the crowbar, he cast his eyes rapidly over
the mighty and mysterious ocean.
“What could possess him to leave the land,†I thought,
“as if the depth of this water was of any importance to us.
No doubt he has disturbed some terrible monster in his
watery home, and perhaps we may pay dearly for our
temerity.â€
Anxious to be prepared for the worst, I examined our
weapons, and saw that they were in a fit state for use. My
uncle looked on at me and nodded his head approvingly.
He, too, has noticed what we have to fear.
Already the uplifting of the waters on the surface indi-
cates that something is in motion below. The danger ap-
proaches. It comes nearer and nearer. It behooves us to
be on the watch.
Tuesday, August 18. Evening came at last, the hour,
when the desire for sleep caused our eyelids to be heavy.
Night there is not, properly speaking, in this place, any
more than there is in summer in the arctic regions. Hans,
however, is immovable at the rudder. When he snatches
a moment of rest I really cannot say. I take advantage
of his vigilance to take some little repose.
But two hours after I was awakened from a heavy sleep
by an awful shock. The raft appeared to have struck
upon a sunken rock. It was lifted right out of the water
by some wondrous and mysterious power, and then started
off twenty fathoms distant.
“Eh, what is it?’ cried my uncle starting up, “are we
shipwrecked, or what ?â€
Hans raised his hand and pointed to where, about two
hundred yards off, a huge black mass was moving up and
down. I looked with awe. My worst fears were realized.
“It is a colossal monster!†I cried, clasping my hands.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 201
“Yes,†cried the agitated Professor, “and there yonder
is a huge sea lizard of terrible size and shape.â€
“And farther on behold a prodigious crocodile. Look
at his hideous jaws, and that row of monstrous teeth. Ha!
he has gone.â€
“ A whale! a whale!†shouted the Professor, “I can see
her enormous fins. See, see, how she blows air and water!â€
Two liquid columns rose to a vast height above the level
of the sea, into which they fell with a terrific crash, waking
up the echoes of that awful place. We stood still—sur-
prised, stupefied, terror-stricken at the sight of this group
of fearful marine monsters, more hideous in the reality
than in my dream. They were of supernatural dimen-
sions; the very smallest of the whole party could with ease
have crushed our raft and ourselves with a single bite.
Hans seizing the rudder which had flown out of his hand,
puts it hard a-weather in order to escape from such dan-
gerous vicinity ; but no sooner does he do s0, than he finds
he is flying from Scylla to Charybdis. To leeward is a
turtle about forty feet wide, and a serpent quite as long,
with an enormous and hideous head peering from out the
waters.
Look which way we will, it is impossible for us to fly.
The fearful reptiles advanced upon us; they turned and
twisted about the raft with awful rapidity. They formed
around our devoted vessel a series of concentric circles. I
took up my rifle in desperation. But what effect can a
rifle-ball produce upon the armor scales with which the
bodies of these horrid monsters are covered ?
We remain still and dumb from utter horror. They
advance upon us, nearer and nearer. Our fate appears
certain, fearful and terrible. On one side the mighty cro-
codile, on the other the great sea serpent. The rest of the
fearful crowd of marine prodigies have plunged beneath
the briny waves and disappeared !
902 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
IT am about at all risks to fire, and try the effect of a
shot. Hans, the guide, however, interfered by a sign to
check me. The two hideous and ravenous monsters passed
within fifty fathoms of the raft, and then made a rush at
one another—their fury and rage preventing them from
seeing us.
The combat commenced. We distinctly made out
every action of the two hideous monsters.
But to my excited imagination the other animals ap-
peared about to take part in the fierce and deadly struggle
—the monster, the whale, the lizard, and the turtle. I
distinctly saw them every moment. I pointed them out
to the Icelander. But he only shook his head.
“'Tva,†he said.
“What—two only does he say. Surely he is mistaken,â€
I cried, in a tone of wonder.
“ He is quite right,†replied my unele coolly and philo-
sophically, examining the terrible duel with his telescope
and speaking as if he were in a lecture room.
“ Flow can that be?â€
“Yes, itis so. The first of these hideous monsters has
the snout of a porpoise, the head of a lizard, the teeth of a
crocodile; and it is this that has deceived us. It is the most
fearful of all antediluvian reptiles, the world-renowned
Ichthyosaurus or Great Fish Lizard.â€
“ And the other?â€
“The other is a monstrous serpent, concealed under the
hard vaulted shell of the turtle, the terrible enemy of its
fearful rival, the Plesiosaurus, or Sea Crocodile.â€
Hans was quite right. The two monsters only, disturbed
the surface of the sea!
At last have mortal eyes gazed upon two reptiles of the
great primitive ocean! I see the flaming red eyes of the
Ichthyosaurus, each as big, or bigger than a man’s head.
Nature in its infinite wisdom had gifted this wondrous
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 203
marine animal with an optical apparatus of extreme
power, capable of resisting the pressure of the heavy
layers of water which rolled over him in the depth of the
ocean where he usually fed. It has by some authors truly
been called the whale of the Saurian race, for it is as big
and quick in its motions as our king of the seas. This oné
measures not less than a hundred feet in length, and I can
form some idea of his girth, when I see him lift his prodi-
gious tail out of the waters. His jaw is of awful size and
strength, and according to the best-informed naturalists, it
does not contain less than a hundred and eighty-two teeth.
The other was the mighty Plesiosaurus, a serpent with
a cylindrical trunk, with a shorty stumpy tail, with fins
like a bank of oars in a Roman galley.
Its. whole body covered by a carapace or shell, and its
neck, as flexible as that of a swan, rose more than thirty
feet above the waves, a tower of animated flesh !
These animals attacked one another with inconceivable
fury. Such a combat was never seen before by mortal
eyes, and to us who did see it, it appeared more like the
phantasmagoric creation of a dream than anything else.
They raised mountains of water, which dashed in spray
over the raft, already tossed to and fro by the waves.
Twenty times we seemed on the point of being upset and
hurled headlong into the waves. Hideous hisses appeared
to shake the gloomy granite roof of that mighty cavern—
hisses which carried terror to our hearts. The awful com-
batants held each other in a tight embrace. .I could not
make out one from the other. Still the combat could not
last for ever; and woe unto us, whichsoever became the
victor.
One hour, two hours, three hours passed away, without
any decisive result. The struggle continued with the same
deadly tenacity, but without apparent result. The deadly
opponents now approached, now drew away from the raft.
904 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Once or twice we fancied they were about to leave us alto-
gether, but instead of that, they came nearer and nearer.
We crouched on the raft ready to fire at them at a
moment’s notice, poor as the prospect of hurting or terri-
fying them was. Still we were determined not to perish
without a struggle.
Suddenly the Ichthyosaurus and the Plesiosaurus dis-
appeared beneath the waves, leaving behind them a mael-
strom in the midst of the sea. We were very nearly drawn
down by the indraught of the water !
Several minutes elapsed before anything was again seen.
Was this wonderful combat to end in the depths of the
ocean? Was the last act of this terrible drama to take
place without spectators ?
It was impossible for us to say.
Suddenly, at no great distance from us, an enormous
mass rises out of the waters—the head of the great Plesi-
osaurus. The terrible monster is now wounded unto death.
I can see nothing now of his enormous body. AI that
could be distinguished was his serpent-like neck, which he
twisted and curled in all the agonies of death. Now he
struck the waters with it as if it had been a gigantic whip,
and then again wriggled like a worm cut in two. The
water was spurted up to a great distance in all directions.
A great portion of it swept over our raft and nearly blinded
us. But soon the end of the beast approached nearer and
nearer; his movements slackened visibly; his contortions
almost ceased; and at last the body of the mighty snake
lay an inert, dead mass on the surface of the now calm and
placid waters.
As for the Ichthyosaurus, has he gone down to his
mighty cavern under the sea to rest, or will he reappear to
destroy us?
This question remained unanswered. And we had
breathing time.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 205
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE SEA MONSTER.
Wepyespay, August 19. Fortunately the wind, which
at the present blows with great violence, has allowed us to
escape from the scene of the unparalleled and extraordi-
nary struggle. Hans with his usual imperturbable calm
remained at the helm. My uncle, who for a short time
had been withdrawn from his absorbing reverie by the
novel incidents of this sea-fight, fell back again apparently
into a brown study. All this time, however, his eyes were
fixed impatiently on the wide-spread ocean.
Our voyage now became monotonous and uniform. Dull
as it has become, I have no desire to have it broken by
any repetition of the perils and adventures of yesterday.
Thursday, August 20. The wind is now N.N. E,, and
blows very irregularly. It has changed to fitful gusts.
The temperature is exceedingly high. We are now pro-
gressing at the average rate of about ten miles and a half
per hour.
About twelve o’clock a distant sound as of thunder fell
upon our ears. I make a note of the fact without even
venturing a suggestion as to its cause. It was one con-
tinued roar as of a sea falling over mighty rocks.
“Far off in the distance,†said the Professor dogmatic-
ally, “there is some rock or some island against which the
sea, lashed to fury by the wind, is breaking violently.â€
Hans, without saying a word, clambered to the top of
the mast, but could make out nothing. The ocean was
level in every direction as far as the eye could reach.
Three hours passed away without any sign to indicate
what might be before us. The sound began to assume
that of a mighty cataract.
206 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I expressed my opinion on this point strongly to my
uncle. He merely shook his head. I, however, am
strongly impressed by a conviction that I am not wrong.
Ave we advancing towards some mighty waterfall which
shall cast us into the abyss? Probably this mode of de
scending into the abyss may be agreeable to the Professor,
because it would be something like the vertical descent he
is so eager to make. I entertain a very different opinion.
Whatever be the truth, it is certain that not many
leagues distant there must be some very extraordinary
phenomenon, for as we advance the roar becomes something
mighty and stupendous. Is it in the water, or in the air?
T cast hasty glances aloft at the suspended vapors, and
I seek to penetrate their mighty depths. But the vault
above is tranquil. The clouds, which are now elevated to
the very summit, appear utterly still and motionless, and
completely lost in the irradiation of electric light. It is
necessary, therefore, to seek for the cause of this phenom-
enon elsewhere.
I examine the horizon, now perfectly calm, pure and
free from all haze. Its aspect still remains unchanged.
But if this awful noise proceeds from a cataract—if, so to
speak in plain English, this vast interior ocean is precipi-
tated into a lower basin—if these tremendous roars are
produced by the noise of falling waters, the current would
increase in activity, and its increasing swiftness would give
me some idea of the extent of the peril with which we are
menaced. I consult the current. It simply does not
exist: there is no such thing. An empty bottle cast into
the water lies to leeward without motion.
About four o’clock Hans rises, clambers up the mast
and reaches the truck itself. From this elevated position
his looks are cast around. They take in a vast circumfer-
ence of the ocean. At last, his eyes remain fixed. His
face expresses no astonishment, but his eyes slightly dilate
A MAJESTIC GEYSER. THE GEYSER OF THE CENTRAL SEA.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 207
“He has seen something at last,†cried my uncle.
“T think so,†I replied.
Hans came down, stood beside us and pointed with his
right hand to the south.
“ Der nere,†he said.
“There,†replied my uncle.
And seizing his telescope he looked at it with great
attention for about a minute, which to me appeared an
age. I knew not what to think or expect.
“Yes, yes,†he cried in a tone of considerable surprise,
“there it is.â€
“What?†I asked.
“ A tremendous spurt of water rising out of the waves.â€
“Some other marine monster,†I cried, already alarmed.
“ Perhaps.â€
“Then let us steer more to the westward, for we know
what we have to expect from antediluvian animals,’ was
my eager reply.
“Go ahead,†said my uncle.
I turned towards Hans. Hans was at the tiller steering
with his usual imperturbable calm.
Nevertheless, if from the distance which separated us
from this creature, a distance which must be estimated at
not less than a dozen leagues, and this spurting of water
proceeded from the pranks of some antediluvian animal,
his dimensions must be something preternatural. To fly
is, therefore, the course to be suggested by ordinary pru-
dence. But we have not come into that part of the world
to be prudent. Such is my uncle’s determination.
We, accordingly, continued to advance. The nearer we
come, the loftier is the spouting water. What monster can
fill himself with such huge volumes of water, and then un-
ceasingly spout them out in such lofty jets?
At eight o’clock in the evening, reckoning as above
ground, where there is day and night, we are not more
208 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
than two leagues from the mighty beast. Its long, black,
enormous, mountainous body, lies on the top of the water
like an island. But then sailors have been said to have
gone ashore on sleeping whales, mistaking them for land.
Is it illusion, or is it fear? Its length cannot be less than
a thousand fathoms. What, then, is this cetaceous mon-
ster of which no Cuvier ever thought?
It is quite motionless and presents the appearance of
sleep. The sea seems unable to lift him upwards; it is
rather the waves which break on his huge and gigantic
frame. The water-spout, rising to a height of five hun-
dred feet, breaks in spray with a dull, sullen roar.
We advance, like senseless lunatics, towards this mighty
mass. ;
T honestly confess that I was abjectly afraid. I declared
that I would go no farther. I threatened in my terror to
cut the shect of the sail. I attacked the Professor with
considerable acrimony, calling him foolhardy, mad, I know
not what. He made no answer.
Suddenly the imperturbable Hans once more pointed
his finger to the menacing object.
“ Holme !â€
“An island!†cried my uncle.
“An island?†I replied, shrugging my shoulders at this
poor attempt at deception.
“Of course it is,†cried my uncle, bursting into a loud
and joyous laugh.
“But the water spout?â€
“Geyser,†said Hans.
“Yes, of course—a geyser,’ replied my uncle, still
laughing, “a geyser like those common in Iceland. Jets
like this are the great wonders of the country.â€
At first I would not allow that I had been so grossly
deceived. What could be more ridiculous than to have
taken an island for a marine monster? But kick as one
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 209
may, one must yield to evidence, and I was finally con-
vineed of my error. It was nothing, after all, but a
natural phenomenon.
As we approached nearer and nearer, the dimensions of
the liquid sheaf of waters became truly grand and stu-
pendous. The island had, at a distance, presented the
appearance of an enormous whale, whose head rose high
above the waters. The geyser, a word the Icelanders pro-
nounce geysir, and which signifies fury, rose majestically
from its summit. - Dull detonations are heard every now
and then, and the enormous jet, taken as it were with
sudden fury, shakes its plume of vapor, and bounds into
the first layer of the clouds. It is alone. Neither spurts
of vapor nor hot sp .ngs surround it, and the whole volca-
nic power of that region is concentrated in one sublime
column. The rays of electri light mix with this dazzling
sheaf, every drop as it falls assuming the prismatic colors
of the rainbow.
“Let us goon shore,’ said the Professor, after some
minutes of silence.
It is necessary, however, to take great precaution, in
order to avoid the weight of falling waters, which would
sause the raft to founder in an instant. Hans, however,
steers admirably, and brings us to the other extremity of
the island.
I was the first to leap on the rock. My uncle followed,
while the cider-duck hunter remained still, like a man
above any childish sources of astonishment. We were
now walking on granite mixed with silicious sandstone ;
the soil shivered under our feet like the sides of boilers in
which over-heated steam is forcibly confined. It is burn-
ing. We soon came in sight of the little central basin
from which rose the geyser. I plunged a thermometer
into the water which ran bubbling from the centre, and it
marked a heat of a hundred and sixty-three degrees !
210 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
This water, therefore, came from some place where the
heat was intense. This was singularly in contradiction
with the theories of Professor Hardwigg. I could not
help telling him my opinion on the subject.
“Well,†said he sharply, “and what does this prove
against my doctrine?â€
“ Nothing,†replied I drily, seeing that I was running
my head against a foregone conclusion.
Nevertheless, I am compelled to confess that until now
we have been most remarkably fortunate, and that this
voyage is being accomplished in most favorable conditions
of temperature; but it appears evident, in fact, certain,
that we shall sooner or later arrive at one of those regions,
where the central heat will reach its utmost limits, and
will go far beyond all the possible gradations of thermo-
meters.
Visions of the Hades of the ancients, believed to be in
the centre of the earth, floated through my imagination.
We shall, however, see what we shall see. That is the
Professor’s favorite phrase now. Having christened the
volcanic island by the name of his nephew, the leader of
the expedition turned away and gave the signal for em-
barkation.
I stood still, however, for some minutes, gazing upon
the magnificent geyser. I soon was able to perceive that
the upward tendency of the water was irregular; now it
diminished in intensity, and then, suddenly it regained
new vigor, which I attributed to the variation of the pres-
sure of the accumulated vapors in its reservoir.
At last we took our departure, going carefully round
the projecting, and rather dangerous, rocks of the southern
side. Hans had taken advantage of this brief halt to re-
pair the raft. Not before it was required.
Before we took our final departure from the island, how-
ever, I made some observations to calculate the distance
A JOURNEY TO THE CEXTRE OF THE EARTH. 211
we had gone over, and I put them down in my Journal.
Since we left Port Gretchen, we had travelled two hun-
dred and seventy leagues—more than eight hundred miles
—on this great inland sea; we were, therefore, six hun-
dred and twenty leagues from Iceland, and exactly under
England.
912 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE BATTLE OF THE ELEMENTS.
Fripay, August 21st. This morning the magnificent
geyser had wholly disappeared. The wind had freshened
up, and we were fast leaving the neighbourhood of Henry’s
Island. Even the roaring sound of the mighty column
was lost to the ear.
The weather, if, under the circumstances, we may use
such an expression, is about to change very suddenly. The
atmosphere is being gradually loaded with vapors, which
carry with them the electricity formed by the constant
evaporation of the saline waters; the clouds are slowly but
sensibly falling towards the sea, and are assuming a dark
olive texture ; the electric rays can scarcely pierce through
the opaque curtain which has fallen like a drop-scene be-
fore this wondrous theatre, on the stage of which another
and terrible drama is soon to be enacted. This time it is
no fight of animals; itis the fearful battle of the elements.
I feel that I am very peculiarly influenced, as all crea-
tures are on land when a deluge is about to take place.
The cumuli, a perfectly oval kind of cloud, piled upon .
the south, presented a most awful and sinister appear-
ance; with the pitiless aspect often seen before a storm.
The air is extremely heavy; the sea is comparatively
calm.
In the distance, the clouds have assumed the appear-
ance of enormous balls of cotton, or rather pods, piled one
above the other in picturesque confusion. By degrees,
they appear to swell out, break, and gain in number what
they lose in grandeur; their heaviness is so great that they
are unable to lift themselves from the horizon; but under
A. JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 213
the influence of the upper currents of air, they are gradu-
ally broken up, become much darker, and then present the
appearance of one single layer of a formidable character ;
now and then a lighter cloud, still lit up from above, re-
bounds upon this grey carpet, and is lost in the opaque
mass.
There can be no doubt that the entire atmosphere is
saturated with electric fluid; I am myself wholly impreg-
nated; my hairs literally stand on end as if under the in-
fluence of a galvanic battery. If one of my companions
ventured to touch me, I think he would receive rather a
violent and unpleasant shock.
About ten o’clock in the morning, the symptoms of the
storm became more thorough and decisive; the wind ap-
peared to soften down as if to take breath for a renewed
attack ; the vast funereal pall above us looked like a huge
bag—like the cave of Bolus, in which the storm was col-
lecting its forces for the attack.
I tried all I could not to believe in the menacing signs
of the sky, and yet I could not avoid saying, as it were in-
voluntarily—
“T believe we are going to have bad weather.â€
The Professor made me no answer. He was in a horri-
ble, in a detestable humor—to see the ocean stretching in-
terminably before his eyes. On hearing my words he
simply shrugged his shoulders.
“We shall have a tremendous storm,†I said again,
pointing to the horizon. “These clouds are falling lower
and lower upon the sea, as if to crush it.â€
A great silence prevailed. The wind wholly ceased.
Nature assumed a dead calm, and ceased to breathe. |
Upon the mast, where I noticed a sort of slight ignis fatwus,
the sail hangs in loose heavy folds. The raft is motion-
less in the midst of a dark heavy sea—without undulation,
without motion. It is as still as glass. But as we are
214 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
making no progress, what is the use of keeping up the
‘sail, which may be the cause of our perdition if the
tempest should suddenly strike us without warning.
“ Let us lower the sail,†I said, “it is only an act of
common prudence.â€
“No—no,†cried my uncle, in an exasperated tone, “a
hundred times, no. Let the wind strike us and do its
worst, iet the storm sweep us away where it will—only let
me see the glimmer of some coast—of some rocky cliffs,
even if they dash our raft into a thousand pieces. No!
keep up the sail—no matter what happens.â€
These words were scarcely uttered, when the southern
horizon underwent a sudden and violent change. The
long accumulated vapors were resolved into water, and the
air required to fill up the void produced became a wild
and raging tempest.
Tt came from the most distant corners of the mighty
cavern. It raged from every point of the compass. It
roared; it yelled; it shrieked with glee as of demons let
loose. The darkness increased and became indeed dark-
ness visible.
The raft rose and fell with the storm, and bounded over
the waves. My uncle was cast headlong upon the deck.
I with great difficulty dragged myself towards him. He
was holding on with might and main to the end of a
cable, and appeared to gaze with pleasure and delight at
the spectacle of the unchained elements.
Hans never moved a muscle. His long hair driven
hither and thither by the tempest and scattered wildly
over his motionless face, gave him a most extraordinary
appearance—for every single hair was illuminated by
little sparkling sprigs.
His countenance’ presents the extraordinary appearance
of an antediluvian man, a true contemporary of the me-
gatherium.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 215
Still the mast holds good against the storm. The sail
spreads out and fills like a soap bubble about to burst.
The raft rushes on at a pace impossible to estimate, but
still less swiftly than the body of water displaced beneath
it, the rapidity of which may be seen by the lines which
fly right and left in the wake.
“The sail, the sail!†I cried, making a trumpet of my
hands, and then endeavoring to lower it.
“Let it alone!†said my uncle, more exasperated than
ever.
“ Nej,†said Hans, gently shaking his head.
Nevertheless, the rain formed a roaring cataract before
this horizon of which we were in search, and to which we
were rushing like madmen.
- But before this wilderness of waters reached us, the
mighty veil of cloud was torn in twain; the sea began to
foam wildly ; and the electricity, produced by some vast
and extraordinary chemical action in the upper layer of
cloud, is brought into play. To the fearful claps of thun-
der are added dazzling flashes of lightning, such as I had
never seen. The flashes crossed one another, hurled from
every side; while the thunder came pealing like an echo.
The mass of vapor becomes incandescent; the hail-stones
which strike the metal of our boots and our weapons, are
actually luminous; the waves as they rise appear to be
fire-cating monsters, beneath which seethes an intense fire,
their crests surmounted by combs of flame.
My eyes are dazzled, blinded by the intensity of light,
my ears are deafened by the awful roar of the elements.
T am compelled to hold on to the mast, which bends like
a reed beneath the violence of the storm, to which none
ever before seen by mariners bore any resemblance.
* * * ee:
Here my travelling notes become very incomplete, loose
and yague. I have ouly been able to make out one or
216 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
two fugitive observations, dotted down in a mere mechani-
cal way. But even their brevity, even their obscurity,
show the emotions which overcame me.
Sunday, August 23d. Where have we got to? In what
region are we wandering? We are still carried forward
with inconceivable rapidity.
The night has been fearful, something not to be de-
scribed. 'The storm shows no signs of cessation. We exist
in the midst of an uproar which has no name. ‘The deto-
nations as of artillery are incessant. Our ears literally
bleed. We are unable to exchange a word, or hear each
other’ speak.
The lightning never ceases to flash for a single instant.
I can see the zigzags after a rapid dart, strike the arched
roof of this mightiest of mighty vaults. Ifit were to give
way and fall upon us! Other lightnings plunge their forked
streaks in every direction, and take the form of globes of
fire, which explode like bomb-shells over a beleaguered.
city. The general crash and roar do not apparently in-
crease; it has already gone far beyond what human ear
can appreciate. If all the powder-magazines in the world
were to explode together, it would be impossible for us to
hear worse noise.
There is a constant emission of light from the storm-
clouds; the electric matter is incessantly released; evi-
dently the gaseous principles of the air are out of order;
innumerable columns of water rush up like waterspouts,
and fall back upon the surface of the ocean in foam.
Whither are we going? My uncle still lies at full
length upon the raft, without speaking—without taking
any note of time.
The heat increases. I look at the thermometer, to my
surprise it indicates— The exact figure is here rubbed out in
my manuscript.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 217
Monday, August 24. This terrible storm will never
end. Why should not this state of the atmosphere, so
dense and murky, once modified, again remain definitive ?
ssed by fatigue. Hans
We are uti
remains just as usual, The raft runs to the south-east in-
‘ly broken and har:
variably. We have now already run two hundred leagues
from the newly-discovered island.
About twelve o’clock the storm became worse than
ever. Weare obliged now to fasten every bit of cargo
tightly on the deck of the raft, or everything would be
swept away. We tie ourselves to the mast, cach man
lashing the other. The waves drive over us, so that
several times we are actually under water.
We had been under the painful necessity of abstaining
from speech for three days and three nights. We opened
our mouths, we moved our lips, but no sound came. Iiven
when we placed our mouths to cach other’s ears it was the
same,
The wind carried the voice away.
My uncle once contrived to get his head close to mine
after several almost vain endeavors. He appeared to my
nearly exhausted senses to articulate some word. I hada
notion, more from intuition than anything else, that he
said to me, “we are lost.â€
I took out my note book, from which under the most
desperate circumstances I never parted, and wrote a few
words as legibly as I could
“Take in sail.â€
With a deep sigh he nodded his head and acquiesced.
His head had scarcely time to fall back in the position
from which he had momentarily raised it, than a dise or
ball of fire appeared on the very edge of the raft—our
devoted, our doomed craft. The mast and gail are carried
away bodily, and I see them swept away to a prodigious
height like a kite.
218 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
We were frozen, actually shivered with terror. The
ball of fire, half white, half azure-colored, about the size
of a ten-inch bomb-shell, moved along, turning with pro-
digious rapidity to leeward of the storm. It ran about
here, there and everywhere, it clambered up one of the
bulwarks of the raft, it leaped upon the sack of provi-
sions, and then finally descended lightly, fell like a foot
ball and landed on our powder barrel.
Horvible situation. An explosion of course was now
inevitable.
By heaven’s merey, it is not so.
The dazzling dise moves on one side, it approaches
Hans, who looked at it with singular fixity; then it ap-
proached my uncle, who cast himself on his knees to avoid
it; it came towards me, as I stood pale and shuddering in
the dazzling light and heat; it pirouetted round my feet,
which I endeavored to withdraw.
An odor of nitrous gas filled the whole air; it penetrated
to the throat, to the lungs. I felt ready to choke.
Why is it that I cannot withdraw my feet? Are they
riveted to the flooring of the raft?
No.
The fall of the electric globe has turned all the iron on
board into loadstones—the instruments, the tools, the arms
are clanging together with awful and horrible noise; the
nails of my heavy boots adhere closely to the plate of iron
incrustated in the wood. I cannot withdraw my foot.
Tt is the old story over again of the mountain of
adamant.
At last, by a violent and almost superhuman effort, I tear
it away just as the ball which is still executing its eyratory
motions is about to run round it and drag me with it—if—
O what intense stupendous light! The globe of fire
bursts—we are enveloped in cascades of living fire, which
flood the space around with Juminous matter,
THE BALL OF FIRE.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 219
Then all went out and darkness once more fell upon the
deep! I had just time to see my uncle once more cast ap-
parently senseless on the flooring of the raft, Hans at the
helm, “spitting fire†under the influence of the elec-
tricity which seemed to have gone through him.
Whither are we going, I ask? and echo answers,
Whither ?
Tuesday, August 25. Ihave just come out of a long
fainting fit. The awful and hideous storm still continues;
the lightning has increased in vividness, and pours out its
fiery wrath like a brood of serpents let loose in the atmos-
phere.
Are we still upon the sea? Yes, and being carried
along with incredible velocity.
We have passed under England, under the Channel,
under France, probably under the whole extent of Europe,
* x * * * *
Another awful clamor in the distance. This time it is
certain that the sea is breaking upon the rocks at no greas
distance. Then
920 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XXXUL
OUR ROUTE REVERSED.
Here ends what I call My Journal of our voyage on
board the raft, which Journal was happily saved from tho
wreck. I proceed with my narrative as I did before I
commenced my daily notes.
What happened when the terrible shock took place,
when the raft was cast upon the rocky shore, it would be
impossible for me now to say. I felt myself precipitated
violently into the boiling waves, and if I escaped from a
certain and cruel death, it was wholly owing to the de-
termination of the faithful Hans, who clutching me by
the arm, saved me from the yawning abyss.
The courageous Icelander then carried me in his power-
ful arms, far out of the reach of the waves, and laid me
down upon a burning expanse of sand, where I found
myself some time afterwards in the company of my uncle
the Professor.
Then he quietly returned towards the fatal rocks,
against which the furious waves were beating, in order to
save any stray waifs from the wreck. This man was
always practical and thoughtful. I could not utter a
word; I was quite overcome with emotion; my whole
body was broken and bruised with fatigue; it took hours
before I was anything like myself.
Meanwhile, there fell a fearful deluge of rain, drenching
us to the skin. Its very violence, however, proclaimed the
approaching end of the storm. Some overhanging rocks,
afforded us a slight protection from the torrents.
Under this shelter, Hans prepared some food, which,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 221
however, I was unable to touch; and, exhausted by the
three weary days and nights of watching, we fell into a
deep and painful sleep. My dreams were fearful, but at
last exhausted nature asserted her supremacy, and I slum-
bered.
Next day when I awoke the change was magical. The
weather was magnificent. Air and sea, as if by mutua
consent, had regained their serenity. Every trace of the
storm, even the faintest, had disappeared. I was saluted
on my awakening by the first joyous tones I had heard
from the Professor for many a day. His gaiety, indeed,
was something terrible.
“Well, my lad,†he cried, rubbing his hands together,
“have you slept soundly ?â€
Might it not have been supposed that we were in the
old house on the Kénigstrasse; that I had just come
down quietly to my breakfast, and that my marriage with
Gretchen was to take place that very day? My uncle’s
coolness was exasperating.
Alas, considering how the tempest had driven us in an
easterly direction, we had passed under the whole of Ger-
many, under the city of Hamburg where I had been so
hap y, under the very street which contained all I loved
and cared for in the world.
It was a positive fact that I was only separated from
her by a distance of forty leagues. But these forty
leagues were of hard impenetrable granite!
All these dreary and miserable reflections passed
through my mind, before I attempted to answer my
unele’s question.
“Why, what is the matter?†he cried, “cannot you
say whether you have slept well or not?â€
“T have slept very well,†was my reply, “but every
bone in my body aches. I suppose that will lead to
nothing.â€
222 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“Nothing at all, my boy. It is only the résult of the
fatigue of the last few days—that is all.â€
“You appear—if I may be allowed to say so—to be
very jolly this morning,†I said.
“Delighted, my dear boy, delighted. Was never hay pple:
in my life. We have at last reached the wished-for port.â€
“The end of our expedition ?†cried I, in a tone of con-
siderable surprise.
“No; but to the confines of that sea which I began to
fear would never end, but go round the whole world. We
will now tranquilly resume our journey by land, and once
again endeavor to dive into the centre of the Earth.â€
“My dear uncle,†I began, in a hesitating kind of way,
“allow me to ask you one question?â€
“ Cert ni Harry; a dozen if you think proper.â€
“ One will suffice. How about getting back?†I asked.
“ How awe getting back? What a question : ask.
We have not as yet chee the end of our journey.â€
“YT know that. All I want to know is, how you pro-
pose we shall manage the return voyage?â€
“Tn the most simple manner in a world,†said the im-
perturbable Professor. “Once we reach the exact centre of
this sphere, either we shall find a new road by which to
ascend to the surface, or we shall simply turn round and
go back by the way we came. I have every reason to be-
lieve that wiv we are travelling forward, it will not close
behind us.â€
“ Then one of the first matters to see to will be to repair
the raft,†was my rather melancholy response.
“Of course. We must attend to that pe all things,
Professor.
â€
continued the
“Then comes the all-important question of provisions,â€
Turged. “Have we anything like enough left to enable
us to accomplish such great, such amazing, designs as you
contemplate carrying out?â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 223
“T have seen into the matter, and my auswer is in the
affirmative. Hans is a very clever fellow, and I have reason
to believe that he has saved the greater part of the cargo.
But the best way to satisfy your scruples, is to come and
judge for yourself.â€
Saying which, he led the way out of the kind of open
grotto in which we had taken shelter. I had almost begun
to hope that which I should rather have feared, and this
was the impossibility of such a shipwreck leaving even the
slightest signs of what it had carried as freight. I was,
however, thoroughly mistaken.
As soon as I reached the shores of this inland sea, I
found Hans standing gravely in the midst of a large num-
ber of things laid out in complete order. My uncle wrung
his hands with deep and silent gratitude. His heart was
too full for speech.
This man, whose superhuman devotion to his employers,
I not only never saw surpassed, nor even equalled, had
been hard at work all the time we slept, and at the risk
of his life had succeeded in saving the most precious arti-
cles of our cargo.
Of course, under the circumstances, we necessarily ex-
perienced several severe losses. Our weapons had wholly
vanished. But experience had taught us to do without
them. The provision of powder had, however, remained
intact, after having narrowly escaped blowing us all to
atoms in the storm.
“Well,†said the Professor, who was now ready to make
the best of everything, “as we have no guns, all we have
to do is to give up all idea of hunting.â€
“Yes, my dear sir, we can do without them, but what
about all our instruments?â€
“Here is the manometer, the most useful of all, and
which I gladly accept in lieu of the rest. With it alone I
can calculate the depth as we proceed ; by its means alone
224 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I shall be able to decide when we have reached the centre
of the earth. Ha, ha! but for this little instrument we
might make a mistake, and run the risk of coming out at
the antipodes ! â€
All this was said amid bursts of unnatural laughter.
“ But the compass,†I cried, “without that what can we
do?â€
“Flere it is safe and sound!†he cried, with real joy,
“oh, ah, and here we have the chronometer and the ther-
mometers. Hans the hunter is indeed an invaluable man!â€
It was impossible to deny this fact. As far as the nauti-
cal and other instruments were concerned, nothing was
wanting. Then on further examination, I found ladders,
cords, pickaxes, crowbars, and shovels, all scattered about
on the shore.
There was, however, finally the most important question
of all, and that was, provisions.
“ But what are we to do for food?†I asked.
“Tet us see to the commissariat department,†replied
my uncle gravely.
The boxes which contained our supply of food for the
voyage were placed in a row along the strand, and were in
a capital state of preservation ; the sea had in every case
respected their contents, and to sum up in one sentence,
taking into consideration, biscuits, salt meat, schiedam and
dried fish, we could still calculate on having about four
months’ supply, if used with prudence and caution.
“Four months,†cried the sanguine Professor, in high
glee, “then we shall have plenty of time both to go and to
come, and with what remains I undertake to give a grand
dinner to my colleagues of the Johanneum.â€
I sighed. I should by this time have used myself to
the temperament of my uncle, and yet this man astonished
me more and more every day. He was the greatest
human enigma I ever had known.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 225
“Now,†said he, “before we do anything else we must
lay in a stock of fresh water. The rain has fallen in
abundance, and filled the hollows of the granite. There
is a rich supply of water, and we have no fear of suffering
from thirst, which in our circumstances is of the last im-
portance. As for the raft, I shall recommend Hans to
repair it to the best of his abilities; though I have every
reason to believe we shall not require it again.â€
“ How is that?†I cried, more amazed than ever at my
uncle’s style of reasoning.
“T have an idea, my dear boy; it is none other than
this simple fact: we shall not come out by the same open-
ing as that by which we entered.â€
T began to look at my uncle with vague suspicion. An
idea had more than once taken possession of me; and this
was, that he was going mad. And yet, little did I think
how true and prophetic his words were doomed to be.
“And now,†he said, “having seen to all these matters
of detail, to breakfast.â€
I followed him to a sort of projecting cape, after he had
given his last instructions to our guide. In this originai
position, with dried meat, biscuit, and a delicious cup of
tea, we made a satisfactory meal—I may say one of the
most welcome and pleasant I ever remember. Exhaus-
tion, the keen atmosphere, the state of calm after so much
agitation, all contributed to give me an excellent appetite.
Indeed, it contributed very much to producing a pleasant
and cheerful state of mind.
While breakfast was in hand, and between the sips of
warm tea, I asked my uncle if he had any idea of how we
now stood in relation to the world above.
“For my part,’ I added, “I think it will be rather
difficult to determine.â€
“Well, if we were compelled to fix the exact spot,†said
my uncle, “it might be difficult, since during the three
296 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
days of that awful tempest I could keep no account either
of the quickness of our pace, or of the direction in which
the raft was going. Still, we will endeavor to approximate
to the truth. We shall not, I believe, be so very far out.
“Well, if I recollect rightly,†I replied, “our last obser-
vation was made at the Geyser island.â€
“Parry’s Island, my boy! Harry’s Island. Do not
decline the honor of having named it; given your name
to an island discovered by us, the first human beings who
trod it since the creation of the world!â€
“ Let it be so, then. At Harry’s Island we had already
gone over two hundred and seventy leagues of sea, and we
were, [ believe, about six hundred leagues, more or less
from Iceland.â€
“Good. I am glad to see that you remember so well.
Let us start from that point, and let us count four days of
storm, during which our rate of travelling must have been
very great. I should say that our velocity must have been
about eighty leagues to the twenty-four hours.â€
Tagreed that I thought this a fair calculation. There
were then three hundred leagues to be added to the grand
total.
“Yes, and the Central Sea must extend at least six
hundred leagues from side to side. Do you know, my
boy, Harry, that we have discovered an inland lake larger
than the Mediterranean ?â€
“Certainly, and we only know of its extent in one way.
It may be hundreds of miles in length.â€
“Very likely.â€
“Then,†said I, after calculating for some minutes, “if
your previsions are right, we are at this moment exactly
under the Mediterranean itselfâ€
“ Do you think so ?â€
“Yes, I am almost certain of it. Are we not nine
hundred leagues distant from Reykjawik ?â€
MY
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 227
“That is perfectly true, and a famous bit of road we
have travelled, my boy. But why we should be under the
Mediterrancan more than under Turkey or the Atlantic
Ocean can only be known when we are sure of not having
deviated from our course; and of this we know nothing.â€
“I do not think we were driven very far from our
course: the wind appears to me to have been always about
the same. My. opinion is that this shore must be situated
to the southeast of Port Gretchen.â€
“Good—I hope so. It will, however, be easy to decide
the matter by taking the bearings from our departure by
means of the compass. Come along, and we will consult
that invaluable invention.â€
The Professor now walked eagerly in the direction of the
rock where the indefatigable Hans had placed the instru-
ments in safety. My uncle was gay and light-hearted; he
rubbed his hands, and assumed all sorts of attitudes. He
was to all appearance once more a young man. Since I
had known him never had he been so amiable and pleasant.
I followed him, rather curious to know whether I had
made any mistake in my estimation of our position.
As soon as we had reached the rock, my uncle took the
compass, placed it horizontally before him and looked
keenly at the needle.
As he had at first shaken it to give it vivacity, it oscil-
lated» considerably, and then slowly assumed its right
position under the influence of the magnetic power.
The Professor bent his eyes curiously over the wondrous
instrument. A violent start immediately showed the ex-
tent of his emotion. ;
He closed his eyes, rubbed them, and took another and
a keener survey.
Then he turned slowly round to me, stupefaction de-
picted on his countenance.
“What is the matter?†said I, beginning to be alarmed.
228 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
He could not speak. He was too overwhelmed for
words. He simply pointed to the instrument.
I examined it eagerly according to his mute directions,
and a loud ery of surprise escaped my lips. The needle
of the compass pointed due north, in the direction we ex-
pected was the south!
It pointed to the shore instead of to the high seas.
I shook the compass; I examined it with a curious and
anxious eye. It was in a state of perfection. No blemish
in any way explained the phenomenon. Whatever posi-
tion we forced the needle into, it returned invariably to the
same unexpected point.
It was useless attempting to conceal from ourselves the
fatal truth.
There could be no doubt about it, unwelcome as was the
fact, that during the tempest, there had been a sudden
slant of wind, of which we had been unable to take any
account, and thus the raft had carried us back to the shores
we had left, apparently for ever, so many days before!
A JOURNEY TO TH CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
bh
bo
©
CHAPTER XXXIV.
A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY.
It would be altogether impossible for me to give any
idea of the utter astonishment which overcame the Pro-
fessor on making this extraordinary discovery. Amaze-
ment, incredulity, and rage were blended in such a way as
to alarm me.
During the whole course of my life I had never scen a
man at first so chapfallen ; and then so furiously indignant.
The terrible fatigues of our sea voyage, the fearful
dangers we had passed through, had all, all, gone for
nothing. We had to begin them all over again.
Instead of progressing, as we fondly expected, during a
voyage of so many days, we had retreated. Every hour
of our expedition on the raft had been so much lost time!
Presently, however, the indomitable energy of my uncle
overcame every other consideration.
“So,†he said, between his set teeth, “ fatality will play
me these terrible tricks. The elements themselves conspire
to overwhelm me with mortification. Air, fire, and water
combine their united efforts to oppose my passage. Well,
they shall see what the earnest will of a determined man
ean do. I will not yield, I will not retreat even one inch ;
and we shall see who shall triumph in this great contest—
man or nature.â€
Standing upright on a rock, irritated and menacing,
Professor Hardwigg, like the ferocious Ajax, seemed to
defy the fates. I, however, took upon myself to interfere,
and to impose some sort of check upon such insensate
enthusiasm.
930 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“Listen to me, uncle,†I said, in a firm but temperate
tone of voice, “there must be some limit to ambition here
below. It is utterly useless to struggle against the impos
sible. Pray listen to reason. We are utterly unprepared
for a sea voyage; it is simiple madness to think of per-
forming a journey of five hundred leagues upon a wretched
pile of beams, with a counterpane for a sail, a paltry stick
for a mast, and a tempest to contend with. As we are
totally incapable of steering our frail craft, we shall be-
come the mere plaything of the storm, and it is acting the
part of madmen if we, a second time, run any risk upon
this dangerous and treacherous Central Sea.â€
These are only a few of the reasons and arguments I put
together—reasons and arguments which to me appeared
unanswerable. I was allowed to go on without interrup-
tion for about ten minutes. The explanation to this I
soon discovered. The Professor was not even listening,
and did not hear a word of all my eloquence.
“To the raft!†he cried, in a hoarse voice, when I paused
for a reply.
Such was the result of my strenuous effort to resist his
iron will. I tried again; I begged and implored him; I
got into a passion; but I had to deal with a will more de-
termined than my own. I seemed to feel like the waves
which fought and battled against the huge mass of granite
at our feet, which had smiled grimly for so many ages at
their puny efforts.
Hans, meanwhile, without taking part in our discussion,
had been repairing the raft. One would have supposed
that he instinctively guessed at the further projects of
my uncle.
By means of some fragments of cordage, he had again
made the raft sea-worthy.
WhileI had been speaking he had hoisted a new mast and
sail, the latter already fluttering and waving in the breeze.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 23]
The worthy Professor spoke a few words to our imper-
turbable guide, who immediately began to put our baggage
on board, and to prepare for our departure. The atmos-
phere was now tolerably clear and pure, and the north-east
wind blew steadily and serenely. It appeared likely to
last for some time.
What, then, could I do? Could I undertake to resist
the iron will of two men? It was simply impossible; if
even I could have hoped for the support of Hans. This,
however, was out of the question. It appeared to me that
the Icelander had set aside all personal will and identity.
He was a picture of abnegation.
I could hope for nothing from one so infatuated with and
devoted to his master. All I could do, therefore, was to
swim with the stream.
Tn a mood of stolid and sullen resignation, I was about
to take my accustomed place on the raft, when my uncle
placed his hand upon my shoulder.
“There is no hurry, my boy,†he said, “we shall not
start until to-morrow.â€
I looked the picture of resignation to the dire will of
fate.
“Under the circumstances,†he said, “I ought to neg-
lect no precautions. As fate has cast me upon these
shores, I shall not leave without having completely ex-
amined them.â€
In order to understand this remark, I must explain that
though we had been driven back to the northern shore, we
had landed at a very different spot from that which had
been our starting point.
Port Gretchen must, we calculated, be very much to the
westward. Nothing, therefore, was more natural and rea-
sonable than that we should reconnoitre this new shore
upon which we had so unexpectedly landed.
“ Let us go on a journey of discovery,†I cricd.
232 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
And leaving Hans to his important operation, we started
on our expedition. The distance between the foreshore at
high-water and the foot of the rocks was considerable. It
would take about halfan-hour’s walking to get from one
to the other.
As we trudged along, our feet crushed innumerable
shells of every shape and size—once the dwelling-place of
animals of every pericd of creation.
I particularly noticed some enormous shells—carapaces
(turtle and tortoise species) the diameter of which ex-
eceded fifteen feet.
They had in past ages belonged to those gigantic glyp-
todons of the pliocene period, of which the modern turtle
is but a minute specimen. In addition, the whole soil was
covered by # vast quantity of stony relics, having the ap-
pearance of flints worn by the action of the waves, and ly-
ing in successive layers one above the other. I came to
the conclusion that in past ages the sea must have covered
the whole district. Upon the scattered rocks, now lying
far beyond its reach, the mighty waves of ages had left
evident marks of their passage.
On reflection, this appeared to me partially to explain
the existence of this remarkable ocean, forty leagues below
the surface of the earth’s crust. According to my new,
and perhaps fanciful, theory, this liquid mass must be
gradually lost in the deep bowels of the earth. Thad also
no doubt that this mysterious sea was fed by infiltration
of the ocean above, through imperceptible fissures.
Nevertheless, it was impossible not to admit that these
fissures must now be nearly choked up, for if not, the ca-
vern, or rather the immense and stupendous reservoir
would have been completely filled in a short space of time.
Perhaps even this water, having to contend against the ac-
cumulated subterraneous fires of the interior of the earth,
had become partially vaporized. Hence the explanation
4 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 283
of those heavy clouds suspended over our heads, and the
superabundant display of that electricity which occasioned
such terrible storms in this deep and cavernous sea.
This lucid explanation of the phenomena we had wit-
nessed appeared to me quite satisfactory. However great
and mighty the marvels of nature may seem to us, they
are always to be explained by physical reasons. Lvery-
thing is subordinate to some great law of nature.
It now appeared clear that we were walking upon a kind
of sedimentary soil, formed like all the soils of that period,
so frequent on the surface of the globe, by the subsidence
of the waters. The Professor, who was now in his element,
carefully examined every rocky fissure. Let him only find
an opening and it directly became important to him to ex-
amine its depth.
For a whole mile we followed the windings of the Cen-
tral Sea, when suddenly an important change took place
in the aspect of the soil. It seemed to have been rudely
cast up, convulsionized, as it were, by a violent upheaving
of the lower strata. In many places, hollows here, and
hillocks there, attested great dislocations at some other
period of the terrestrial mass.
We advanced with great difficulty over the broken
masses of granite mixed with flint, quartz and alluvial de-
posits, when a large field, more even than a field, a plain
of bones, appeared suddenly before our eyes! It looked
like an immense cemetery, where generation after genera-
tion had mingled their mortal dust.
Lofty barrows of carly remains rose at intervals. They
undulated away to the limits of the distant horizon and
were lost in a thick and brown fog.
On that spot, some three square miles in extent, was ac-
cumulated the whole history of animal life—scarcely one
creature upon the comparatively modern soil of the upper
and inhabited world had there existed,
234 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Nevertheless, we were drawn forward by an all-absorb-
ing and impatient curiosity. Our feet crushed with a dry
and crackling sound the remains of those prehistoric fossils,
for which the museums of great cities quarrel, even when
they obtain only rare and curious morsels. A. thousand
such naturalists as Cuvier would not have sufficed to re-
compose the skeletons of the organic beings which lay in
this magnificent osseous collection.
I was utterly confounded. My uncle stood for some
minutes with his arms raised on high towards the thick
granite vault which served us fora sky. His mouth was
wide open; his eyes sparkled wildly behind his spectacles
(which he had fortunately saved), his head bobbed up and
down and from side to side, while his whole attitude and
mien expressed unbounded astonishment.
He stood in the presence of an endless, wondrous and
inexhaustibly rich collection of antediluvyian monsters,
piled up for his own private and peculiar satisfaction.
Fancy an enthusiastic lover of books carried suddenly
into the very midst of the famous library of Alexandria
burned by the sacrilegious Omar, and which some miracle
had restored to its pristine splendor! Such was some-
thing of the state of mind in which uncle Hardwigg was
now placed.
For some time he stood thus, literally aghast at the
magnitude of his discovery.
But it was even a greater excitement when, darting
wildly over this mass of organte dust, he caught up a
naked skull and addressed me in a quivering voice—
“ Harry, my boy—Harry—this is a human head!â€
« A human head, uncle!†I said, no less amazed and
tupified than himself
“Yes, nephew. Ah! Mr. Milne-Edwards—ah! Mr.
De Quatrefages—why are you not here where I am—I,
Professor Hardwigg !â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 235
CHAPTER XXXV.
DISCOVERY UPON DISCOVERY.
Iv order fully to understand the exclamation made by
my uncle, and his allusions to these illustrious and learned
men, it will be necessary to enter into certain explanations
in regard to a circumstance of the highest importance to
paleontology or the science of fossil life, which had taken
place a short time before our departure from the upper
regions of the earth.
On the 28th of March, 1863, some navigators under
the direction of M. Boucher de Perthes, were at work in
the great quarries of Moulin-Quignon, near Abbeville, in
the department of the Somme, in France. While at
work, they unexpectedly came upon a human jawbone
buried fourteen feet below the surface of the soil. It was
the first fossil of the kind that had ever been brought to
the light of day. Near this unexpected human relic were
found stone hatchets and carved flints, colored and clothed
by time in one uniform brilliant tint of verdigris.
The report of this extraordinary and unexpected dis-
covery spread not only all over France, but over England
and Germany. Many learned men belonging to various
scientific bodies, and noteworthy among others, Messrs.
Milne-Edwards and De Quatrefages, took the affair very
much to heart, demonstrated the incontestable authenticity
of the bone in question, and became—to use the phrase
then recognized in England—the most ardent supporters
of the “jawbone question.â€
To the eminent geologists of the United Kingdom who
looked upon the fact as certain—Messrs. Falconer, Buck,
Carpenter and others—were soon united the learned men
236 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH,
of Germany, and among those in the first rank, the most
eager, the most enthusiastic, was my worthy uncle, Pro-
fessor Hardwigeg.
The authenticity of a human fossil of the quaternary
period seemed then to be incontestably demonstrated, and
even to be admitted by the most skeptical.
This system or theory, call it what you will, had, it is
true, a bitter adversary in M. Elie de Beaumont. This
learned man, who holds such a high place in the scientific
world, holds that the soil of Moulin-Quignon does not
belong to the diluvium, but to a much less ancient strata,
and, in accordance with Cuvier in this respect, he would
by no means admit that the human species was cotempor-
rary with the animals of the quaternary epoch. My worthy
uncle, Professor Hardwigg, in concert with the great
majority of geologists, had held firm, had disputed, dis
cussed, and finally, after considerable talking and writing,
M. Elie de Beaumont had been pretty well left alone in
his opinions.
We were familiar with all the details of this discussion,
but were far from being aware then that since our depar-
ture the matter had entered upon a new phase. Other
similar jawbones, though belonging to individuals of
varied types and very different natures, had been found in
the movable gray sands of certain grottoes in France,
Switzerland, and Belgium; together with arms, utensils,
tools, bones of children, of men in the prime of life, and
of old men. The existence of men in the quaternary
period became, therefore, more positive every day.
But this was far from being all. New remains, dug up
from the pliocene or tertiary deposits, had enabled the
more far-seeing or audacious among learned men to assign
even a far greater degree of antiquity to the human race.
These remains, it is true, wore not those of men; that is,
were not the bones of men, but objects decidedly havin
F
oO
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 238%
served the human race, shin bones, thigh bones of fossil
animals, regularly scooped out, and in fact sculptured—
bearing the unmistakable signs of human handy-work.
By means of these wondrous and unexpected dis-
coveries, man ascended endless centuries in the scale of
time; he, in fact, preceded the mastodon; became the
cotemporary of the elephas meridionalis—the southern ele-
phant; acquired an antiquity of over a hundred thousand
years—since that is the date given by the most eminent
geologists to the pliocene period of the earth. Such was
then the state of paleontologic science, and what we more-
over knew, sufficed to explain our attitude before this
great cemetery of the plains of the Hardwigg Ocean.
It will now be easy to understand the Professor’s
mingled astonishment and joy when, on advancing about
twenty yards, he found himself in the presence of, I may
say face to face with, a specimen of the human race
actually belonging to the quarternary period!
Tt was indeed a human skull, perfectly recognizable.
Had a soil of very peculiar nature, like that of the ceme-
ery of St. Michel at Bordeaux, preserved it during
countless ages? This was the question I asked myself,
but which I was wholly unable to answer. But this head
with stretched and parchmenty skin, with the teeth whole,
the hair abundant, was before our eyes as in life!
T stood mute, almost paralyzed with wonder and awe
before this dread apparition of another age. My uncle,
who on almost every occasion was a great talker, remained
for a time completely dumbfounded. He was too full of
emotion for speech to be possible. After a while, however,
we raised up the body to which the skull belonged. We
stood it on end. It seemed, to our excited imaginations,
to look at us with its terrible hollow eyes.
After some minutes of silence, the man was vanquished
by the Professor. Human instincts succumbed to scien-
238 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
tific pride and exultation. Professor Hardwigg, carried
away by his enthusiasm, forgot all the circumstances of
our journey, the extraordinary position in which we were
placed, the immense cavern which stretched far away over
our heads. There can be no doubt that he thought him-
ssing his attentive pupils, for
self at the Institution addr
he put on his most doctorial style, waved his hand, and
began—
“Gentlemen, I have the honor on this auspicious occa-
sion to present to you a man of the quarternary period of
our globe. Many learned men have denied his very exist-
ence, while other able persons, perhaps of even higher
authority, have affirmed their belief in the reality of his
lite. If the St. Thomases of paleontology were present,
they would reverentially touch him with their fingers and
believe in his existence, thus acknowledging their obstinate
heresy. I know that science should be careful in relation
to all discoveries of this nature. J am not without having
heard of the many Barnums and other quacks who have
made a trade of such like pretended discoveries. I have,
of course, heard of the discovery of the knee-bones of
Ajax, of the pretended finding of the body of Orestes by
the Spartiates, and of the body of Asterius, ten spans long,
fifteen feet—of which we read in Pausanias.
“T have read everything in relation to the skeleton of
Trapani, discovered in the fourteenth century, and which
many persons chose to regard as that of Polyphemus, and
the history of the giant dug up during the sixteenth cen-
tury in the environs of Palmyra. You are as well aware
as [ am, gentlemen, of the existence of the celebrated ana-
lysis made near Lucerne, in 1577, of the great bones
which the celebrated Doctor Felix Plater declared belonged
to a giant about nineteen feet high. I have devoured
all the treatises of Cassanion, and all those memoirs, pamph-
lets, speeches, and replies, published in reference to the
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 239
skeleton of Teutobochus, king of the Cimbri, the invader
of Gaul, dug out of a gravel pit in Dauphiny, in 1613. In
the eighteenth century I should have denied, with Peter
Campet, the existence of the preadamites of Scheuchzer. I
have had in my hands the writing called Gigans—â€
Here my uncle was afflicted by the natural infirmity
which prevented him from pronouncing difficult words in
public. It was not exactly stuttering, but a strange sort
of constitutional hesitation.
“The writing named Gigans—†he repeated.
He, however, could get no further.
“ Giganteo——â€
Impossible! The unfortunate word would not come out.
There would have been great laughter at the Institution,
had the mistake happened there.
*“Gigantosteology!†at last exclaimed Professor Hard-
wigg, between two savage growls.
Having got over our difficulty, and getting more and
more excited—
“Yes, gentlemen, I am well acquainted with all these
matters, and know, also, that Cuvier and Blumenbach fully
recognized in these bones, the undeniable remains of mam-
moths of the quaternary period. But after what we now
see, to allow a doubt is to insult scientific inquiry. There
is the body ; you can see it; you can touch it. It is nota
skeleton, it is a complete and uninjured body, preserved
with an anthropological object.â€
I did not attempt to controvert this singular and astound-
ing assertion.
“Tf I could but wash this corpse in a solution of sul-
phuric acid,†continued my uncle, “I would undertake to
remove all the earthy particles, and these resplendent
shells, which are incrusted all over this body. But Iam
without this precious dissolving medium. Nevertheless,
such as it is, this body will tell its own history.â€
940 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Here the Professor held up the fossil body, and exhibited
it with rare dexterity. No professional showman could
have shown more activity.
“ As on examination you will see,†my uncle continued,
“it is only about six feet in length, which is a long way
from the pretended giants of early days. As to the par-
ticular race to which it belonged, it is incontestably Cau-
casian. It is of the white race, that is, of our own. The
skull of this fossil being is a perfect ovoid without any
remarkable or prominent development of the cheek bones,
and without any projection of the jaw. It presents no in-
dication of the prognathism which modifies the facial
angle.* Measure the angle for yourselyes, and you will
find that it is just ninety degrees. But I will advance still
farther on the road of inquiry and deduction, and I dare
venture to say that this human sample or specimen belongs
to the Japhetic family, which spread over the world from
Tndia to the uttermost limits cf western Europe. There
is no occasion, gentlemen, to smile at my remarks.â€
Of course nobody smiled. But the excellent Professor
was so accustomed to beaming countenances at his lectures,
that he believed he saw all his audience laughing during
the delivery of his learned dissertation.
“Yes,†he continued, with renewed animation, “this is a
fossil man, a contemporary of the mastodons, with the bones
of which this whole amphitheatre is covered. Butif Iam
called on to explain how he came to this place, how these
various strata by which he is covered have fallen into this
vast cavity, can undertake to give you no explanation.
Doubtless, if we carry ourselves back to the quaternary
epoch, we shall find that great and mighty convulsions
* The facial angle is formed by two planes—one more or less vertical
which is inastraight line with the forehead and the incisors; the other,
horizontal, which passes through the organs of hearing, and the lower nasak
bone. Prognathism, in anthropological language, means that particulay
projection of the jaw which modifies the facial angle.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 241
took place in the crust of the earth; the continually cool-
ing operation, through which the earth had to pass, pro-
duced fissures, landslips, and chasms, through which a large
portion of the earth made its way. I come to no absolute
conclusion, but there is the man, surrounded by the works
of his hands, his hatchets, and his carved flints, which
belong to the stony period; and the only rational supposi-
tion is, that, like myself, he visited the centre of the earth
as a travelling tourist, a pioneer of science. At all events,
there can be no doubt of his great age, and of his being
one of the oldest race of human beings.â€
The Professor with these words ceased his oration, and I
burst forth into loud and “unanimous†applause. Be-
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 circumstance soon presented itself. This fossi-
lized body was not the only one in this vast plain of bones
—the cemetery of an extinct world. Other bodies were
found, as we trod the dusty plain, and my uncle was able
to choose the most marvellous of these specimens in order
to convince the most incredulous.
Tn truth, it was a surprising spectacle, the successive re-
mains of generations and generations of men and animals
confounded together in one vast cemetery. But a great
question now presented itself to our notice, and one we
were actually afraid to contemplate in all its bearings.
Had these once animated beings been buried so far be-
neath the soil by some tremendous convulsion of nature,
after they had been earth to earth and ashes to ashes, or had
they lived here below, in this subterranean world, under
this factitious sky, born, married, and given in marriage,
and dying at last, just like ordinary inhabitants of the earth?
Up to the present moment, marine monsters, fish, and
such like animals, had alone been seen alive!
942 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
The question which rendered us rather uneasy, was a
pertinent one. Were any of these men of the abyss wan-
dering about the deserted shores of this wondrous sea of
the centre of the earth ?
This was a question which rendered me very uneasy and
uncomfortable. How, should they really be in existence,
would they receive us men from above?
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 2438
CHAPTER XXXVI.
WHAT IS IT?
For a long and weary hour we tramped over this great
bed of bones. We advanced regardless of everything,
drawn on by ardent curiosity. What other marvels did
this great cavern contain—what other wondrous treasures
for the scientific man? My eyes were quite prepared for
any number of surprises, my imagination lived in expec-
tation of something new and wonderful.
The borders of the great Central Ocean had for some
time disappeared behind the hills that were scattered over
the ground occupied by the plain of bones. The imprudent
and enthusiastic Professor, who did not care whether he
lost himself or not, hurried me forward. We advanced
silently, bathed in waves of electric fluid.
By reason of a phenomenon which I cannot explain, and
thanks to its extreme diffusion, now complete, the light
illumined equally the sides of every hill and rock. Its
seat appeared to be nowhere, in no determined force, and
produced no shade whatever.
The appearance presented was that of a tropical coun-
try at mid-day in summer—in the midst of the equatorial
regions and under the vertical rays of the sun.
All signs of vapor had disappeared. The rocks, the
distant mountains, some confused masses of far-off forests,
assumed a weird and mysterious aspect under this equal
distribution of the luminous fluid !
We resembled, to a certain extent, the mysterious per-
sonage in one of Hoffmann’s fantastic tales—the man who
lost his shadow.
944 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
After we had walked about a mile farther, we came to
the edge of a vast forest, not, however, one of the vast
mushroom forests we had discovered near Port Gretchen.
It was the glorious and wild vegetation of the tertiary
period, in all its superb magnificence. Huge palms, of a
species now unknown, superb palmacites—a genus of fossil
palms from the coal formation—pines, yews, cypress, and
conifers or cone-bearing trees, the whole bound together by
an inextricable and complicated mass of creeping plants.
A beautiful carpet of mosses and ferns grew beneath the
trees. Pleasant 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 as are seen in the hot countries on our own inhabited
globe.
The one thing wanted to these plants, these shrubs, these
trees—was color! For 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 and faded
character. The leaves were wholly devoid of verdure, and
the flowers, so numerous during the tertiary period which
gave them birth, were without color and without perfume,
something like paper discolored by long exposure to the
atmosphere.
My uncle ventured beneath the gigantic groves. I fol-
lowed him, though not without a certain amount of appre-
hension. Since nature had shown herself capable of pro-
ducing such stupendous vegetable productions, why might
we not meet with mammals (animals with breasts) as
large, and therefore dangerous.
I particularly remarked, in the clearings left by trees
that had fallen and been partially consumed by time,
many leguminous (bean-like) shrubs, such as the maple
and other eatable trees, dear to ruminating animals. Then
there appeared confounded together and intermixed, the
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 245
trees of such varied lands, specimens of the vegetation of
every part of the globe; there was the oak near the palm
tree, the Australian eucalyptus, an interesting class of the
order Myrtacew—leaning against the tall Norwegian pine,
the poplar of the north, mixing its branches with those of
the New Zealand kauris. It was enough to drive the most
ingenious classifier of the upper regions out of his mind,
and to upset all his received ideas about botany.
Suddenly I stopped short and restrained my uncle.
The extreme diffuseness of the light enabled me to see
the smallest objects in the distant copses. I thought I saw
—no, I really did see with my own eyes,—immense,
gigantic animals moving about under the mighty trees.
Yes, they were truly gigantic animals, a whole herd of
mastodons, not fossils, but living, and exactly like those
discovered in 1801, on the marshy banks of the great
Ohio, in North America.
Yes, I could see these enormous elephants, whose trunks
were tearing down large boughs, and working in and out
the trees like a legion of serpents. I could hear thesounds
of the mighty tusks uprooting huge trees !
The boughs crackled, and the whole masses of leaves
and green branches went down the capacious throats of
these terrible monsters !
That wondrous dream, when I saw the ante-historical
times revivified, when the tertiary and quaternary periods
passed before me, was now realized !
And there we were alone, far down in the bowels of the
earth, at the mercy of its ferocious inhabitants!
My uncle paused, full of wonder and astonishment.
“Come,†he said at last, when his first surprise was over,
“ come along, my boy, and let us see them nearer.â€
“No,†replied I, restraining his efforts to drag me
forward, “we are wholly without arms. What should we
do in the midst of that flock of gigantic quadrupeds?
94G A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Come away, uncle, I implore you. No human creature
can with impunity brave the ferocious anger of these
monsters.â€
“No human creature,†said my uncle, suddenly lower-
ing his voice to a mysterious whisper, “ you are mistaken,
my dear Henry. Look! look yonder! It seems to me
that I behold a human being—a being like ourselves—a
man!â€
I looked, shrugging my shoulders, decided to push in-
eredulity to its very last limits. But whatever might have
been my wish, I was compelled to yield to the weight of
ocular demonstration.
Yes—not more than a quarter of a mile off, leaning
against the trunk of an enormous tree, was a human being
—a Proteus of these subterranean regions, a new son of
Neptune keeping this innumerable herd of mastodons.
Immanis pecoris custos, immanis ipse !*
Yes—it was no longer a fossil whose corpse we had
raised from the ground in the great cemetery, but a giant
capable of guiding and driving these prodigious monsters.
His height was above twelve feet. His head, as big as
the head of a buffalo, was lost in a mane of matted hair.
It was indeed a huge mane, like those which belonged to
the elephants of the earlier ages of the world.
In his hand was a branch of a tree, which served asa
crook for this antediluvian shepherd.
We remained profoundly still, speechless with surprise.
But we might at any moment be seen by him. Nothing
remained for us but instant flight.
“Come, come!†I cried, dragging my uncle along; and,
for the first time, he made no resistance to my wishes.
A quarter of an hour later we were far away from that
terrible monster !
* The keeper of gigantic cattle, himself a giant!
GIGANTIO INHABITANTS.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 247
Now that I think of the matter calmly, and that I
reflect upon it dispassionately ; now that months, years,
have passed since this strange and unnatural adventure
befell us,—what am I to think, what am I to believe?
No, it is utterly impossible! Our ears must have
deceived us, and otr eyes have cheated us! we have not
seen what we believed we had seen. No human being
could by any possibility have existed in that subterranean
world! No generation of men could inhabit the lower
caverns of the globe without taking note of those who peo-
pled the surface, without communication with them, It
was folly, folly, folly! nothing else!
I am rather inclined to admit the existence of some
animal resembling in structure the human race—of some
monkey of the first geological epochs, like that discovered
by M. Lartet in the ossiferous deposit of Sansan.
But this animal, or being, whichsoever it was, surpassed
in height all things known to modern science. Never
mind. However unlikely it may be, it might have been
a monkey—but a man, a living man, and with him a
whole generation of gigantic animals, buried in the entrails
of the earth—it was too monstrous to be believed !
948 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE MYSTERIOUS DAGGER.
Durtnge this time, we had left the bright and transpa-
rent forest far behind us. We were mute with astonish-
ment, overcome by a kind of feeling which was next door
to apathy. We kept running in spite of ourselves. It
was a perfect flight, which resembled one of those horrible
sensations we sometimes meet with in our dreams.
Instinctively we made our way towards the Central Sea,
and I cannot now tell what wild thoughts passed through
my mind, nor of what follies I might have been guilty,
but for a very serious pre-occupation which brought me
back to practical life.
Though I was aware that we were treading on a soil
quite new to us, I, however, every now and then noticed
certain aggregations of rock, the shape of which forcibly
reminded me of those near Port Gretchen.
This confirmed, moreover, the indications of the com-
pass and our extraordinary and unlooked-for, as well as
involuntary, return to the north of this great Central Sea.
It was so like our starting point, that I could scarcely
doubt the reality of our position. Streams and cascades,
fell in hundreds over the numerous projections of the
rocks.
T actually thought I could see our faithful and mono-
tonous Hans and the wonderful grotto in which I had
come back to life after my tremendous fall.
Then, as we advanced still farther, the position of the
cliffs, the appearance of a stream, the unexpected profile
of a rock, threw me again into a state of bewildering
doubt.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 249
After some time, I explained my state of mental inde-
cision to my uncle. He confessed to a similar feeling of
hesitation. He was totally unable to make up his mind
in the midst of this extraordinary but uniform panorama.
“There can be no doubt,†I insisted, “ that we have not
landed exactly at the place whence we first took our depar-
ture; but the tempest has brought us above our starting
point. I think, therefore, that if we follow the coast we
shall once more find Port Gretchen.â€
“In that case,’ cried my uncle, “it.is useless to con-
tinue our exploration. The very best thing we can do is
to make our way back to the raft. Are you quite sure,
Harry, that you are not mistaken?â€
“Tt is difficult,†was my reply, “to come to any deci-
sion, for all these rocks are exactly alike. There is no
marked difference between them. At the same time,
the impression on my mind is, that I recognize the pro-
montory at the foot of which our worthy Hans constructed
the raft. We are, Iam nearly convinced, near the little
port; if this be not it,’ I added, carefully examining a
creek which appeared singularly familiar to my mind.
“My dear Harry—if this were the case, we should find
traces of our own footsteps, some signs of our passage; and
{1 can really see nothing to indicate our having passed this
way.â€
“ But I see something,†I cried, in an impetuous tone of
voice, as I rushed forward and eagerly picked up some-
thing which shone in the sand under my feet.
“What is it?†cried the astonished and bewildered Pro-
fessor.
“This,†was my reply.
And I handed to my startled relative a rusty dagger,
of singular shape.
“What made you bring with you so useless a weapon ?â€
he exclaimed. “It was needlessly hampering yourself.â€
950 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“T bring it ?—it is quite new to me. I never saw it be-
fore—are you sure it is not out of your collection?â€
“ Not that I know of,†said the Professor, puzzled. “I
have no recollection of the circumstance. It was never
my property.â€
“This is very extraordinary,†I said, musing over the
novel and singular incident.
“Not at all. There is a very simple explanation,
Harry. The Icelanders are known to keep up the use of
these antiquated weapons, and this must have belonged to
Hans, who has let it fall without knowing: it.â€
I shook my head. That dagger had never been in the
possession of the pacific and taciturn Hans. I knew him
and his habits too well.
“Then what can it be—unless it be the weapon of some
antediluvian warrior,†I continued, “ of some living man,
a contemporary of that mighty shepherd from whom we
have just escaped? But no—mystery upon mystery—this
is no weapon of the stony epoch, nor even of the bronze
period. Itis made of excellent. steel ig
Ere I could finish my sentence, my uncle stopped me
short from entering upon a whole train of theories, and
spoke in his most cold and decided tone of voice.
“Calm yourself, my dear boy, and endeavor to use your
reason. This weapon, upon which we have fallen so unex-
pectedly, is a true dague, one of those worn by gentlemen
in their belts during the sixteenth century. Its use was
to give the coup de grace, the final blow, to the foe who
would not surrender. It is clearly of Spanish workman-
ship. It belongs neither to you, nor to me, nor the eider-
down hunter, nor to any of the living beings who may
still exist so marvellously in the interior of the earth.â€
“What can you mean, uncle?†I said, now lost ina
host of surmises.
“Look closely at it,’ he continued ; “ these jagged edges
e
A JOURNEY TO THH CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 251
were never made by the resistance of human blood and
bone. The blade is covered with a regular coating of iron-
mould and rust, which is not a day old, not a year old,
not a century old, but much more 2
The Professor began to get quite excited, according to
custom, and was allowing himself to be carried away by
his fertile imagination. I could have said something. He
stopped me.
“Harry,†he cried, “ we are now on the verge of a great
discovery. This blade of a dagger you have so marvel-
lously discovered, after being abandoned upon the sand for
more than a hundred, two hundred, even three hundred
years, has been indented by some one endeavoring to carve
an inscription on these rocks.â€
“But this poignard never got here of itself,’ I ex-
claimed, “it could not have twisted itself. Some one,
therefore, must have preceded us upon the shores of this
extraordinary sea.â€
“Yes, a man.â€
“But what man has been sufficiently desperate to do
such a thing.â€
“ A man who has somewhere written his name with this
very dagger—a man who has endeavored once more to in-
flicate the right road to the interior of the earth. Let us
look around, my boy. You know not the importance of
your singular and happy discovery.â€
Prodigiously interested, we walked along the wall of
rock, examining the smallest fissures, which might finally
expand into the much wished for gully or shaft.
We at last reached a spot where the shore became ex-
tremely narrow. The sea almost bathed the foot of the
rocks, which were here very lofty and steep. There was
scarcely a path wider than two yards at any point. At
last, under a huge overhanging rock, we discovered the
entrance of a dark and gloomy tunnel.
952 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
There, on a square tablet of granite, which had been
smoothed by rubbing it with another stone, we could see
two mysterious, and much worn letters, the two initials of
the bold and extraordinary traveller who had preceded us
on our adventurous journey.
. 4] " y "
“A.§&.,†cried my uncle; “you see I was right. Arne
Saknussemm, always Arne Saknussemm!â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 9253
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
NO OUTLET—BLASTING THE ROCK.
Ever since the commencement of our marvellous jour-
ney, I had experienced many surprises, had suffered from
many illusions. I thought that I was case-hardened against
all surprises and could neither see nor hear anything to
amaze me again.
I was like a man who, having been round the world,
finds himself wholly dlasé and proof against the mar-
vellous.
When, however, I saw these two letters, which had been
engraven three hundred years before, I stood fixed in an
attitude of mute surprise.
Not only was there the signature of the learned and
enterprising alchemist written in the rock, but I held in
my hand the very identical instrument with which he had
laboriously engraved it.
It was impossible, without showing an amount of in-
credulity scarcely becoming a sane man, to deny the ex-
istence of the traveller, and the reality of that voyage
which I believed all along to have been a myth—the
mystification of some fertile brain.
While these reflections were passing through my mind,
my uncle, the Professor, gave way to an access of feverish
and poetical excitement.
“ Wonderful and glorious Genius, great Saknussemm,â€
he cried, “ you have left no stone unturned, no resource
omitted, to show to other mortals the way into the interior
of our mighty globe, and your fellow-creatures can find
the trail left by your illustrious footsteps, three hundred
954 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH..
years ago, at the bottom of these obscure subterranean
abodes. You have been careful to secure for others the
contemplation of these wonders and marvels of creation.
Your name engraved at every important stage of your
glorious journey, leads the hopeful traveller direct to the
great and mighty discovery to which you devoted such
energy and courage. The audacious traveller, who shail
follow your footsteps to the last, will doubtless find your
initials engraved with your own hand upon the centre of
the earth. J will be that audacious traveller—J, too, will
sign my name upon the very same spot, upon the central
granite stone of this wondrous work of the Creator. But
in justice to your devotion, to your courage, and to your
being the first to indicate the road, let this Cape, seen by
you upon the shores of this sea discovered by you, be
called of all time, Cape Saknussemm.â€
This is what I heard, and I began to be roused to the
pitch of enthusiasm indicated by those words. A. fierce
excitement roused me. I forgot everything. The dangers
of the voyage, and the perils of the return journey, were
now as nothing!
What another man had done in ages past, could I felt
be done again ; I was determined to do it myself, and now
nothing that man had accomplished appeared to me im-
possible.
“ Forward—forward,†I cried in a burst of genuine and
hearty enthusiasm.
I had already started in the direction of the sombre and
gloomy gallery, when the Professor stopped me; he, the
man so rash and hasty, he, the man so easily roused to the
highest pitch of enthusiasm, checked me, and asked me to
be patient and show more calm.
“Let us return to our good friend, Hans,†he said ;
“we will then bring the raft down to this place.â€
T must say that though I at once yielded to my uncle’s
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 955
request, it was not without dissatisfaction, and I hastened
along the rocks of that wonderful coast.
“Do you know, my dear uncle,†I said, as we walked
along, “that we have been singularly helped by a con-
currence of circumstances, right up to this very moment.â€
“So you begin to see it, do you, Harry?†said the Pro-
fessor, with a smile.
“ Doubtless,†I responded, “and strangely enough, even
the tempest has been the means of putting us on the right
road. Blessings on the tempest! It brought us safely
back to the very spot from which fine weather would have
driven us forever. Supposing we had succeeded in reach-
ing the southern and distant shores of this extraordinary
sea, what would have become of us? The name of
Saknussemm would never have appeared to us, and at this
moment we should have been cast away upon an inhospi-
table coast, probably without an outlet.â€
“Yes, Harry, my boy, there is certainly something provi-
dential in that wandering at the mercy of wind and waves
towards the south: we have come back exactly north ; and
what is better still, we fall upon this great discovery of
Cape Saknussemm. I mean to say, that it is more than
surprising; there is something in it which is far beyond
my comprehension. The coincidence is unheard-of, mar-
vellous!â€
“What matter! It is not our duty to explain facts, but
to make the best possible use of them.â€
“Doubtless, my boy; but if you will allow me
said the really-delighted Professor.
“Excuse me, sir, but I see exactly how it will be; we
shall take the northern route; we shall pass under the
northern regions of Europe, under Sweden, under Russia,
under Siberia, and who knows where—instead of burying
ourselves under the burning plains and deserts of Africa,
or beneath the mighty waves of the ocean ; and that is all,
93
956 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
at this stage of our journey, that I care to know. Let us
advance, and Heaven will be our guide!â€
“Yes, Harry, you are right, quite right; all is for the
best. Let us abandon this horizontal sea, which could
never have led to anything satisfactory. We shall descend,
descend, and everlastingly descend. Do you know, my
dear boy, that to reach the interior of the earth we have
only five thousand miles to travel!â€
“Bah !†I cried, carried away by a burst of enthusiasm,
“the distance is scarcely worth speaking about. The thing
is to make a start.â€
My wild, mad, and incoherent speeches continued until
we rejoined our patient and phlegmatic guide. All was, we
found, prepared for an immediate departure. There was not
a single parcel but what was in its proper place. We all
took up our posts on the raft, and the sail being hoisted,
Hans received his directions, and guided the frail barque
towards Cape Saknussemm, as we had definitely named it.
The wind was very unfavorable to a craft that was un-
able to sail close to the wind. It was constructed to go
before the blast. We were continually reduced to pushing
ourselves forward by means of poles. On several occasions
the rocks ran far out into deep water and we were com-
pelled to make a long round. At last, after three long and
weary hours of navigation, that is to say, about six o’clock
in the evening, we found a place at which we could land.
I jumped on shore first. In my present state of excite-
ment and enthusiasm, I was always first. My uncle and
the Icelander followed. The voyage from the port to this
point of the sea had by no means calmed me. It had
rather produced the opposite effect. I even proposed to
burn our vessel, that is to destroy our raft, in order to
completely cut off our retreat. But my uncle sternly op-
posed this wild project. I began to think him particularly
lukewarm and unenthusiastic.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 257
« At any rate, my dear uncle,†I said, “let us start with-
out delay.â€
“Yes, my boy, I am quite as eager to do so as you can
be. But, in the first place, let us examine this mysterious
gallery, in order to find if we shall need to prepare and
mend our ladders.â€
My uncle now began to see to the efficiency of our
Ruhmkorf’s coil, which would doubtless soon be needed ;
the raft, securely fastened to a rock, was left alone. More-
- over, the opening into the new gallery was not twenty
paces distant from the spot. Our little troop, with myself
at the head, advanced.
The orifice, which was almost circular, presented a
diameter of about five feet; the sombre tunnel was cut in
. the living rock, and coated on the inside by the different
material which had once passed through it in a state of
fusion. The lower part was about level with the water, so
that we were able to penetrate to the interior without
difficulty.
We followed an almost horizontal direction ; when, at
the end of about a dozen paces, our further advance was
checked by the interposition of an enormous block of
granite rock.
“ Accursed stone!†I cried, furiously, on perceiving
that we were stopped by what seemed an insurmountable
obstacle.
In vain we looked to the right, in vain we looked to the
left; in vain examined it above and below. There ex-
isted no passage, no sign of any other tunnel. I experi-
enced the most bitter and painful disappointment. So en-
raged was I that I would not admit the reality of any
obstacle. I stooped to my knees; I looked under the
mass of stone. No hole, no interstice. I then looked
above. The same barrier of granite! Hans, with the
lamp, examined the sides of the tunnel in every direction,
958 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
But all in vain! It was necessary to renounce all hope of
passing through.
I had seated myself upon the ground. My uncle walked
angrily and hopelessly up and down. He was evidently
desperate.
“ But,’ I cried, after some moments’ thought, “ what
about Arne Saknussemm ? â€
“You are right,†replied my uncle, “ he can never have
been checked by a lump of rock.â€
“ No—ten thousand times no,†I cried, with extreme
vivacity. “This huge lump of rock, in consequence of
some singular concussion, or process, one of those magnetic
phenomena which have so often shaken the terrestrial
crust, has in some unexpected way closed up the passage.
Many and many years have passed away since the return
of Saknussemm, and the fall of this huge block of granite.
Is it not quite evident that this gallery was formerly the
outlet for the pent-up lava in the interior of the earth, and
that these eruptive matters then circulated freely? Look
at these recent fissures in the granite roof; it is evidently
formed of pieces of enormous stone, placed here as if by
the hand of a giant, who had worked to make a strong and
substantial arch. One day, after an unusually strong
shock, the vast rock which stands in our way, and which
was doubtless the key of a kind of arch, fell through to a
level with the soil and has barred our further progress.
We are right, then, in thinking that this is an unexpected
obstacle, with which Saknussemm did not meet ; and if we
do not upset it in some way, we are unworthy of following
in the footsteps of the great discoverer ; and incapable of
finding our way to the Centre of the Earth !â€
In this wild way I addressed my uncle. The zeal of
the Professor, his earnest longing for success, had become
part and parcel of my being. I wholly forgot the past ;
I utterly despised the future. Nothing existed for me up-
XPLOSIGON,
THE FEARFUL E
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 259
on the surface of this spheroid in the bosom of which I was
engulfed, no towns, no country, no Hamburg, no Konig-
strasse, not even my poor Gretchen, who by this time
would believe me utterly lost in the interior of the earth!
“ Well,†cried my uncle, roused to enthusiasm by my
words, “ let us go to work with pick-axes, with crowbars,
with anything that comes to hand—but down with these
terrible walls.â€
“Tt is far too tough and too big to be destroyed by a
pick-axe or crowbar,†I replied.
“ What then ?â€
“ As I said, it is useless to think of overcoming such a
difficulty by means of ordinary tools.â€
“ What then?â€
“What else but gunpowder, a subterranean mine? Let
us blow up the obstacle that stands in our way.â€
“Gunpowder !â€
“Yes; all we have to do is to get rid of this paltry
obstacle.â€
“To work, Hans, to work!†cried the Professor.
The Icelander went back to the raft, and soon returned
with a huge crowbar, with which he began to dig a hole in
the rock, which was to serve as a mine. It was by no
means a slight task. It was necessary for our purpose to
make a cavity large enough to hold fifty pounds of fulmi-
nating gun cotton, the expansive power of which is four
times as great as that of ordinary gunpowder.
I had now roused myself to an almost miraculous state
of excitement. While Hans was at work, I actively as-
sisted my uncle to prepare a long wick, made from damp
gunpowder, the mass of which we finally enclosed in a bag
of linen.
“We are bound to go through,†I cried, enthusiastically.
“We are bound to go through,†responded the Professor,
tapping me on the back.
960 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
At midnight, our work as miners was completely finished ;
the charge of fulminating cotton was thrust into the hol-
low, and the match, which we had made of considerable
length, was ready.
A spark was now sufficient to ignite this formidable
engine, and to blow the rock to atoms!
“We will now rest until to-morrow.â€
It was absolutely necessary to resign myself to my fate,
and to consent to wait for the explosion for six weary
hours !
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 261
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE EXPLOSION AND ITS RESULTS.
THE next day, which was the twenty-seventh of August,
was a date celebrated in our wondrous, subterranean jour-
ney.
I never think of it even now, but I shudder with horror.
My heart beats wildly at the very memory of that awful
day.
From this time forward, our reason, our judgment, our
human ingenuity, have nothing to do with the course of
events. We are about to become the plaything of the
great phenomena of the earth!
At six o’clock we were all up and ready. The dreaded
moment was arriving when we were about to seek an
opening into the interior of the earth by means of gun-
powder. What would be the consequences of breaking
through the crust of the earth?
I begged that it might be my duty to set fire to the mine.
I looked upon it as an honor. This task once performed,
I could rejoin my friends upon the raft, which had not
been unloaded. As soon as we were all ready, we were to
sail away to some distance to avoid the consequences of the
explosion, the effects of which would certainly not be con-
centrated in the interior of the earth.
The slow match we calculated to burn for about ten
minutes, more or less, before it reached the chamber in
which the great body of powder was confined. I should
therefore have plenty of time to reach the raft and put off
to a safe distance.
I prepared to execute my self-allotted task—not, it must
be confessed, without considerable emotion.
aa
962 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
After a hearty repast, my uncle and the hunter-guide
embarked on board the raft, while I remained alone upon
the desolate shore.
I was provided with a lantern which was to enable me
to set fire to the wick of the infernal machine.
“Go, my boy,†said my uncle, “and Heaven be with
you. But come back as soon as you can. I shall be all
impatience.â€
“Be easy on that matter,†I replied, “there is no fear
of my delaying on the road.â€
Having said this, I advanced toward the opening of the
sombre gallery. My heart beat wildly. I opened my
lantern and seized the extremity of the wick.
The Professor, who was looking on, held his chronome-
ter in his hand.
“Are you ready?†cried he.
“ Quite ready.â€
“Well, then, fire away!â€
I hastened to put the light to the wick, which crackled
and sparkled, hissing and spitting like a serpent; then,
running as fast as I could, I returned to the shore.
“Get on board my lad, and you, Hans, shove off,†cried
my uncle,
By a vigorous application of his pole Hans sent us fly-
ing over the water. The raft was quite twenty fathoms
distant.
It was a moment of palpitating interest, of deep anxiety.
My uncle, the Professor, never took his eyes off the chro-
nometer. ;
“Only five minutes more,†he said in a low tone, “ only
four, only three.â€
My pulse went a hundred to the minute. I could hear
my heart beating.
“Only two, one! Now, then, mountains of granite,
crumble beneath the power of man!â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 2638
What happened after that? As to the terrific roar of
the explosion, I do not think I heard it. But the form
of the rocks completely changed in my eyes—they seemed
to be drawn aside like a curtain. I saw a fathomless, a
bottomless abyss, which yawned beneath the turgid waves.
The sea, which seemed suddenly to have gone mad, then
became one great mountainous mass, upon the top of
which the raft rose perpendicularly.
We were all thrown down. In less than a second the
light gave place to the most profound obscurity. Then I
felt all solid support give way not to my feet, but to the.
raft itself. I thought it was going bodily down a tremend-
ous well. I tried to speak, to question my uncle. Nothing
could be heard but the roaring of the mighty waves. We
clung together in utter silence.
Despite the awful darkness, despite the noise, the sur-
prise, the emotion, I thoroughly understood what had
happened.
Beyond the rock which had been blown up, there existed
a mighty abyss. The explosion had caused a kind ot
earthquake in this soil, broken by fissures and _ rents..
The gulf, thus suddenly thrown open, was about to swal-
low the inland sea, which, transformed into a mighty tor-
rent, was dragging us with it.
One only idea filled my mind. We were utterly and
completely lost!
One hour, two hours—what more I cannot say, passed
in this manner. We sat close together, elbow touching
elbow, knee touching knee! We held one another’s hands
not to be thrown off the raft. We were subjected to the
most violent shocks, whenever our sole dependence, a frail
wooden raft, struck against the rocky sides of the channel.
Fortunately for us, these concussions became less and less
frequent, which made me fancy that the gallery was getting
wider and wider. There could be now no doubt that we
964 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
had chanced upon the road once followed by Saknussemm,
but instead of going down in a proper manner, we had,
through our own imprudence, drawn a whole sea with us!
These ideas presented themselves to my mind in a very
vague and obscure manner. I felt rather than reasoned.
I put my ideas together only confusedly, while spinning
along likea man going down a waterfall. To judge by
the air which, as it were, whipped my face, we must have
been rushing at a perfectly lightning rate.
To attempt under these circumstances to light a torch
.was simply impossible, and the last remains of our electric ©
machine, of our Ruhmkorf’s coil, had been destroyed dur-
ing the fearful explosion.
I was therefore very much confused to see at last a
bright light shining close tome. The calm countenance
of the guide seemed to gleam upon me. The clever and
patient hunter had succeeded in lighting the lantern; and
though, in the keen and thorough draught, the flame
flickered and vacillated and was nearly put out, it served
partially to dissipate the awful obscurity.
The gallery into which we had entered was very wide.
I was, therefore, quite right in that part. of my conjecture.
The insufficient light did not allow us to see both of the
walls at the same time. The slope of waters, which was
carrying us away, was far greater than that of the most
rapid river of America. The whole surface of the stream
seemed to be composed of liquid arrows, darted forward
with extreme violence and power. I can give no idea of
the impression it made upon me.
The raft, at times, caught in certain whirlpools, and
rushed forward, yet turned on itself all the time. How it
did not upset I shall never be able to understand. When
it approached the sides of the gallery, I took care to throw
upon them the light of the lantern, and I was able to
judge of the rapidity of motion by looking at the project-
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 266
ing masses of rock, which as soon as seen were again in-
visible. So rapid was our progress, that points of rock, at
a considerable distance one from the other, appeared like
portions of transverse lines, which enclosed us ina kind
of net, like that of a line of telegraphic wires.
I believe we were now going ata rate of not less than
a hundred miles an hour.
My uncle and I looked at one another with wild and hag-
gard eyes; we clung convulsively to the stump of the mast,
which, at the moment when the catastrophe took place,
had snapped short off. We turned our backs as much as
possible to the wind, in order not to be stifled by a rapidity
of motion which nothing human could face and live.
And still the long monotonous hours went on. The
situation did not change in the least, though a discovery
I suddenly made seemed to complicate it very much.
When we had slightly recovered our equilibrium, I
proceeded to examine our cargo. I then made the unsat-
isfactory discovery that the greater part of it had utterly
disappeared.
I became alarmed, and determined to discover what
were our resources. My heart beat at the idea, but it was
absolutely necessary to know on what we had to depend.
With this view, I took the lantern and looked around.
Of all our former collection of nautical and philosophi-
cal instruments there remained only the chronometer and
the compass. The ladders and ropes were reduced to a
small piece of rope fastened to the stump of the mast. Not
a pickaxe, not a crowbar, not a hammer, and, far worse
than all, no food—not enough for one day!
This discovery was a prelude to a certain and horrible
death.
Seated gloomily on the raft, clasping the stump of the
mast mechanically, I thought of all I had read as to suffer-
ings from starvation.
266 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I remembered everything that history had taught me
on the subject, and I shuddered at the remembrance of
the agonies to be endured.
Maddened at the prospects of enduring the miseries of
starvation, I persuaded myself that I must be mistaken.
I examined the cracks in the raft; I poked between the
joints and beams; I examined every possible hole and
corner. The result was—simply nothing!
Our stock of provisions consisted of nothing but a piece
of dry meat and some soaked and half-mouldy biscuits.
I gazed around me scared and frightened. I could not
understand the awful truth. And yet of what consequence
was it in regard to any new danger? Supposing that we had
had provisions for months, and even for years, how could
we ever get out of the awful abyss into which we were
being hurled by the irresistible torrent we had let loose?
Why should we trouble ourselves about the sufferings
and tortures to be endured from hunger, when death
stared us in the face under so many other swifter and per-
haps even more horrid forms?
It was very doubtful, under the circumstances in which
we were placed, if we should have time to die of inanition.
But the human frame is singularly constituted.
I knew not how it was; but, from some singular hallu-
cination of the mind, I forgot the real, serious and imme-
diate danger to which we were exposed, to think of the
menaces of the future, which appeared before us in all
their naked terror. Besides, after all, suggested Hope,
perhaps we might finally escape the fury of the raging tor-
rent, and once more revisit the glimpses of the moon, on
the surface of our beautiful mother earth.
How was it to be done? I had not the remotest idea.
Where were we to come out? No matter, so that we did.
One chance in a thousand is always a chance, while
death from hunger gave us not even the faintest glimpse
THE TORCH-LIGHT PASSAGE.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 267
ef hope. It left to the imagination nothing but blank
horror, without the faintest chance of escape!
I had the greatest mind to reveal all to my uncle, to
explain to him the extraordinary and wretched position to
which we were reduced, in order that, between the two,
we might make a calculation as to the exact space of time
which remained for us to live.
It was, it appeared to me, the only thing to be done.
But I had the courage to hold my tongue, to gnaw at my
entrails like the Spartan boy. I wished to leave him all
his coolness.
At this moment, the light of the lantern slowly fell,
and at last went out!
The wick had wholly burnt to an end. The obscurity
became absolute. It was no longer possible to see through
the impenetrable darkness! There was one torch left,
but it was impossible to keep it alight. Then, like a
child, I shut my eyes, that I might not see the darkness.
After a great lapse of time, the rapidity of our journey
increased. I could feel it by the rush of air upon my face.
The slope of the waters was excessive. I began to feel
that we were no longer going down a slope; we were fall-
ing. I felt as one does in a dream, going down bodily—
falling ; falling; falling!
I felt that the hands of my uncle and Hans were vigor-
ously clasping my arms.
Suddenly, after a lapse of time scarcely appreciable, I
felt something like a shock. The raft had not struck a
hard body, but had suddenly been checked in its course.
A waterspout, a liquid column of water, fell upon us. I
felt suffocating. I was being drowned.
Still the sudden inundation did not last. In a few
seconds I felt myself once more able to breathe. My
uncle and Hans pressed my arms, and the raft carried us
all three away.
968 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XL.
THE APE GIGANS.
Ir is difficult for me to determine what was the real
time, but I should suppose, by after calculation, that it
must have been ten at night.
I lay in a stupor, a half dream, during which I saw
visions of astounding character. Monsters of the deep
were side by side with the mighty elephantine shepherd.
Gigantic fish and animals seemed to form strange conjunc-
tions.
The raft took a sudden turn, whirled round; entered
another tunnel; this time illumined in a most singular
manner. The roof was formed of porous stalactite, through
which a moon-lit vapor appeared to pass, casting its bril-
liant light upon our gaunt and haggard figures. The
light increased as we advanced, while the roof ascended ;
until at last, we were once more in a kind of water cavern,
the lofty dome of which disappeared in a luminous cloud!
A rugged cavern of small extent appeared to offer a
halting place to our weary bodies.
My uncle and the guide moved as men inadream. I
was afraid to waken them, knowing the danger of such a
sudden start. I seated myself beside them to watch.
As I did so, I became aware of something moving in the
distance, which at once fascinated my eyes. It was float-
ing, apparently, upon the surface of the water, advancing
by means of what at first appeared paddles. I looked
with glaring eyes. One glance told me that it was some-
thing monstrous.
But what?
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 269
It was the great Shark Crocodile of the early writers on
geology. About the size of an ordinary whale, with
hideous jaws and two gigantic eyes, it advanced. Its
eyes fixed on me with terrible sternness. Some indefinite
warning told me that it had marked me for its own.
I attempted to rise—to escape, no matter where, but my
knees shook under me; my limbs trembled violently; I
almost lost my senses. And still the mighty monster ad-
vanced. My uncle and the guide made no effort to save
themselves.
With a strange noise, like none other I had ever heard,
the beast came on. His jaws were at least seven feet
apart, and his distended mouth looked large enough to
have swallowed a boatful of men.
We were about ten feet distant, when I discovered that
much as his body resembled that of a crocodile, his mouth
was wholly that of a shark.
His twofold nature now became apparent. To snatch
us up at a mouthful it was necessary for him to turn on
his back, which motion necessarily caused his legs to kick
up helplessly in the air.
IT actually laughed even in the very jaws of death!
But next minute, with a wild cry, I darted away into
the interior of the cavern, leaving my unhappy comrades
to their fate! This cavern was deep and dreary. After
about a hundred yards, I paused and looked around.
The whole floor, composed of sand and malachite, was
strewn with bones, freshly-gnawed bones of reptiles and
fish, with a mixture of mammalia. My very soul grew
sick as my body shuddered with horror. I had truly, ac-
cording to the old proverb, fallen out of the frying-pan
into thefire. Some beast larger and more ferocious even
than the Shark-Crocodile inhabited this den.
What could Ido? The mouth of the cave was guarded
by one ferocious monster, the interior was inhabited by
270 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
something too hideous to contemplate. Flight was im-
possible!
One only resource remained, and that was to find some
small hiding-place to which the fearful denizens of the
cavern could not penetrate. I gazed wildly around, and
at last discovered a fissure in the rock, to which I rushed
in the hope of recovering my scattered senses.
Crouching down, I waited shivering as in an ague fit.
No man is brave in presence of an earthquake, or a burst-
ing boiler, or an exploding torpedo. I could not be ex-
pected to feel much courage in presence of the fearful fate
that appeared to await me.
An hour passed. I heard all the time a strange rum-
bling outside the cave.
What was the fate of my unhappy companions? It
was impossible for me to pause to inquire. My own
wretched existence was all I could think of. ;
Suddenly a groaning, as of fifty bears in a fight, fell
upon my ears—hisses, spitting, moaning, hideous to hear
—and then I saw—
Never, were ages to pass over my head, shall I forget
the horrible apparition.
It was the Ape Gigans !
Fourteen feet high, covered with coarse hair, of a
blackish brown, the hair on the arms, from the shoulder
to the elbow joints, pointing downwards, while that from
the wrist to the elbow pointed upwards, it advanced. Its
arms were as long as its body, while its legs were pro-
digious. It had thick, long, and sharply-pointed teeth—
like a mammoth saw.
It struck its breast as it came on smelling and sniffing,
reminding me of the stories we read in our early childhood
of giants who ate the flesh of men and little boys!
Suddenly it stopped. My heart beat wildly, for I was
conscious that, somehow or other, the fearful monster had
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 271
smelt me out and was peering about with his hideous eyes
to try and discover my whereabouts.
My reading, which as a rule is a blessing, but which on
this occasion, seemed momentarily to prove a curse, told
me the real truth. It was the Ape Gigans, the Antedilu-
vian Gorilla.
Yes! This awful monster, confined by good fortune to
the interior of the earth, was the progenitor of the hideous
monster of Africa.
He glared wildly about, secking something—doubtless
myself. I gave myself up for lost. No hope of safety or
escape seemed to remain.
At this moment, just as my eyes appeared to close in
death, there came a strange noise from the entrance of
the cave; and turning, the Gorilla evidently recognized
some enemy more worthy his prodigious size and strength.
It was the huge Shark-Crocodile, which perhaps having
disposed of my friends, was coming in search of further
prey.
_ The Gorilla placed himself on the defensive, and clutch-
ing a bone some seven or eight feet in length, a perfect
club, aimed a deadly blow at the hideous beast, which
reared upwards and fell with all its weight upon its ad-
versary.
A terrible combat, the details of which it is impossible
to give, now ensued. The struggle was awful and fero-
cious. I however, did not wait to witness the result. Re-
garding myself as the object of contention, I determined
to remove from the presence of the victor. I slid down
from my hiding-place, reached the ground, and gliding
against the wall, strove to gain the open mouth of the
cavern.
But I had not taken many steps when the fearful clamor
ceased, to be followed by a mumbling and groaning which
appeared to be indicative of victory.
272 s& JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I looked back and saw the huge ape, gory with blood,
coming after me with glaring eyes, with dilated nostrils
that gave forth two columns of heated vapor. I could
feel his hot and fetid breath on my neck; and with a
horrid jump—awoke from my nightmare sleep.
Yes—it was alla dream. I was still on the raft with
my uncle and the guide.
The relief was not instantaneous, for under the influence
of the hideous nightmare my senses had become numbed.
After a while, however, my feelings were tranquillized.
The first of my perceptions which returned in full force was
that of hearing. I listened with acute and attentive ears.
All was still as death. All I comprehended was silence.
To the roaring of the waters, which had filled the gallery
with awful reverberations, succeeded perfect peace.
After some little time my uncle spoke, in a low and
scarcely audible tone— |
“Harry, boy, where are you?â€
“T am here,†was my faint rejoinder.
“Well, don’t you see what has happened? We are go-
ing upwards.â€
“My dear uncle, what can you mean?†was my half
delirious reply.
“Yes, I tell you we are ascending rapidly. Our down
ward journey is quite checked.â€
I held out my hand, and, after some little difficulty,
succeeded in touching the wall. My hand was in an in-
stant covered with blood. The skin was torn from the
flesh. We were ascending with extraordinary rapidity.
“The torch—the torch!†cried the Professor, wildly ;
“it must be lighted.â€
Hans, the guide, after many vain efforts, at last suc-
ceeded in lighting it, and the flame having now nothing
to prevent its burning, shed a tolerably clear light. We
were enabled to form an approximate idea of the truth.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 273
“Tt is just as I thought,†said my uncle, after a moment
or two of silent attention. “ We are in a narrow well
about four fathoms square. The waters of the great in-
land sea, having reached the bottom of the gulf, are now
forcing themselves up the mighty shaft. As a natural
consequence, we are being cast up on the summit of the
waters.â€
“That I can see,†was my lugubrious reply ; “ but where
will this shaft end, and to what fall are we likely to be
exposed ?â€
“Of that I am as ignorant as yourself. All I know is,
that we should be prepared for the worst. We are going
up at a fearfully rapid rate. As far as I can judge, we are
ascending at the rate of two fathoms a second, of a hun-
dred and twenty fathoms a minute, or rather more than
three and a-half leagues an hour. At this rate, our fate
will soon be a matter of certainty.â€
“No doubt of it,’ was my reply. “The great concern I
have now, however, is to know whether this shaft has any
issue. It may end in a granite roof—in which case we
shall be suffocated by compressed air, or dashed to atoms
against the top. I fancy, already, that the air is begin-
ning to be close and condensed. I have a difficulty in
breathing.â€
This might be fancy, or it might be the effect of our
rapid motion, but I certainly felt a great oppression of the
chest.
“Henry,†said the Professor, “I do believe that the situ-
ation is to a certain extent desperate. There remain, how-
ever, many chances of ultimate safety, and I have, in my own
mind, been revolving them over, during your heavy but
agitated sleep. I have come to this logical conclusion—
whereas we may at any moment perish, so at any moment
we may be saved! We need, therefore, prepare ourselves
for whatever may turn up in the great chapter of accidents.â€
274
“ But what would you have us do?†I cried; “are we
not utterly helpless?â€
“No! While there is life there is hope. At all events,
there is one thing we can do—eat, and thus obtain strength
to face victory or death.â€
As he spoke, I looked at my uncle with a haggard
glance. I had put off the fatal communication as long as
possible. It was now forced upon me, and I must tell him
the truth. Still I hesitated.
“Eat,†I said, in a deprecating tone as if there were no
hurry.
“Yes, and at once. I feel like a starving prisoner,’ he
said, rubbing his yellow and shivering hands together.
And, turning round to the guide, he spoke some hearty,
cheering words, as I judged from his tone, in Danish.
Hans shook his head in a terribly significant manner. I
tried to look unconcerned.
“What!†cried the Professor, “you do not mean to say
that all our provisions are lost?â€
“Yes,†was my lowly-spoken reply, as I held out some-
thing in my hand, “this morsel of dried meat is all that
remains for us three.â€
My uncle gazed at me as if he could not fully appreci-
ate the meaning of my words. The blow seemed to stun
him by its severity. I allowed him to reflect for some
moments.
“Well,†said I, after a short pause, “what do you think
now? Is there any chance of our escaping from our horri-
ble subterranean dangers? Are we not doomed to perish
in the great hollows of the Centre of the Earth?â€
But my pertinent questions brought no answer. My
uncle either heard me not, or appeared not to do so.
And in this way a whole hour passed. Neither of us
cared to speak. For myself, I began to feel the most
fearful and devouring hunger. My companions, doubtless,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 275
felt the same horrible tortures, but neither of them would
touch the wretched morsel of meat that remained. It lay
there, a last remnant of all our great preparations for the
mad and senseless journey !
I looked back, with wonderment, to my own folly.
Fully was I aware that, despite his enthusiasm, and the
ever-to-be-hated scroll of Saknussemm, my uncle should
never have started on his perilous voyage. What memories
of the happy past, what previsions of the horrible future,
now filled my brain!
276 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XLI.
HUNGER.
Huncer, prolonged, is temporary madness!
The brain is at work without its required food, and the
most fantastic notions fill the mind. Hitherto I had never
known what hunger really meant. I was likely to under-
stand it now.
And yet, three months before I could tell my terrible
story of starvation, as I thought it. As a boy I used to
make frequent excursions in the neighborhood of the Pro-
fessor’s house.
My uncle always acted on system, and he believed that,
in addition to the day of rest and worship, there should be
a day of recreation. In consequence, I was always free to
do as I liked on a Wednesday.
Now, as I had a notion to combine the useful and the
agreeable, my favorite-pastime was birds’ nesting. I had
one of the best collections of eggs in all the town. They
were classified, and under glass cases.
There was a certain wood, which, by rising at early morn,
and taking the cheap train, I could reach at eleven in the
morning. Here I would botanize or geologize at my will.
My uncle was always glad of specimens for his herbarium,
and stones to examine. When I had filled my wallet, I
proceeded to search for nests
After about two hours of hard work, I, one day, sat
down by a stream to eat my humble but copious lunch.
How the remembrance of the spiced sausage, the wheaten
loaf, and the beer, made my mouth water now! I would
have given every prospect of worldly wealth for such a
meal. But to my story.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 277
While seated thus at my leisure, I looked up at the
ruins of an old castle, at no great distance. It was the
remains of an historical dwelling, ivy-clad, and now fall-
ing to pieces.
While looking, I saw two eagles circling about the sum-
mit of a lofty tower. I soon became satisfied that there
was a nest. Now, in all my collection, I wanted eggs of
the native eagle and the large owl.
My mind was made up. I would reach the summit of
that tower, or perish in the attempt. I went nearer, and
surveyed the ruins. The old staircase, years before, had
fallen in. The outer walls were, however, intact. There
was no chance that way, unless I looked to the ivy solely
for support. This was, as I soon found out, futile. »
There remained the chimney, which still went up to the
top, and had once served to carry off the smoke from
every story of the tower. |
Up this I determined to venture. It was narrow,
rough, and therefore the more easily climbed. I took off
my coat and crept into the chimney. Looking up, I saw
a small, light opening, proclaiming the summit of the
chimney.
_ Up—up I went, for some time using my hands and
knees, after the fashion of a chimney sweep. It was slow
work, but, there being continual projections, the task was
comparatively easy. In this way, I reached half way.
The chimney now became narrower. ‘The atmosphere was
close, and, at last, to end the matter, I stuck fast. I could
ascend no higher.
There could be no doubt of this, and there remained
no resource but to descend, and give up my glorious prey
in despair. I yielded to fate and endeavored to descend.
But I could not move. Some unseen and mysterious ob-
stacle intervened and stopped me. In an instant the full
horror of my situation seized me.
2978 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
I was unable to move either way, and was doomed to a
terrible and horrible death, that of starvation. In a boy’s
mind, however, there is an extraordinary amount of
elasticity and hope, and I began to think of all sorts of
plans to escape my gloomy fate.
In the first place, I required no food just at present,
having had an excellent meal, and was therefore allowed
time for reflection. My first thought was to try and move
the mortar with my hand. Had I possessed a knife,
something might have been done, but that useful instru-
ment I had left in my coat pocket.
I soon found that all efforts of this kind were vain and
useless, and that all I could hope to do was to wriggle
downwards.
But though I jerked and struggled, and strove to turn,
it was all in vain. I could not move an inch, one way or
the other. And time flew rapidly. My early rising pro-
bably contributed to the fact that I felt sleepy, and gradu-
ally gave way to the sensation of drowsiness.
I slept, and awoke in darkness, ravenously hungry.
Night had come, and still I could not move. I was
tight bound, and did not succeed in changing my position
an inch. I groaned aloud. Never since the days of my
happy childhood, when it was a hardship to go from meal
to meal without eating, had I really experienced hunger.
The sensation was as novel as it was painful. I began
now to lose my head and to scream and cry out in my
agony. Something appeared, startled by my noise. It
was a harmless lizard, but it appeared to me a loathsome
reptile. Again I made the old ruins resound with my
eries, and finally so exhausted myself that I fainted.
How long I lay in a kind of trance or sleep I cannot say,
but when again I recovered consciousness it was day. How
ill I felt, how hunger still gnawed at me, it would be hard to
say. Iwas too weak to scream now, far too weak to struggle.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 279
. Suddenly I was startled by a roar.
“ Are you there, Henry?†said the voice of my uncle;
“are you there, my boy?â€
I could only faintly respond, but I also made a desperate
effort to turn. Some mortar fell. To this 1 owed my
being discovered. When the search took place, it was
easily seen that mortar and small pieces of stone had re-
cently fallen from above. Hence my uncle’s cry.
“Be calm,†he cried, “if we pull down the whole ruin,
you shall be saved.â€
They were delicious words, but I had little hope.
Soon however, about a quarter of an hour later, I heard
a voice above me, at one of the upper fire-places.
“ Are you below or above ?â€
“ Below,†was my reply.
In an instant a basket was lowered with milk, a biscuit,
and an egg. My uncle was fearful to be too ready with
his supply of food. I drank the milk first, for thirst had
nearly deadened hunger. I then, much refreshed, ate my
bread and hard egg.
They were now at work at the wall. I could hear a pick-
axe. Wishing to escape all danger from this terrible wea-
pon I made a desperate struggle, and the belt, which sur-
rounded my waist and which had been hitched on a stone,
gave way. I was free, and only escaped falling down by
a rapid motion of my hands and knees.
In ten minutes more I was in my uncle’s arms, after
being two days and nights in that horrible prison. My
occasional delirium prevented me from counting time.
I was weeks recovering from that awful starvation ad-
venture: and yet what was that to the hideous sufferings I
now endured ?
After dreaming for some time, and thinking of this and
other matters, I once more looked around me. We were
still ascending with fearful rapidity. Every now and
980 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
then the air appeared to check our respiration as it does
that of aéronauts when the ascension of the balloon is too
rapid. But if they feel a degree of cold in proportion to
the elevation they attain in the atmosphere, we experi-
enced quite a contrary effect. The heat began to increase
in a most threatening and exceptional manner. I cannot
tell exactly the mean, but I think it must have reached
122 degrees of Fahrenheit.
What was the meaning of this extraordinary change in
the temperature? As far as we had hitherto gone, facts
had proved the theories of Davy and of Lidenbrock to be
correct. Until now, all the peculiar conditions of refrac-
tory rocks, of electricity of magnetism, had modified the
general laws of nature, and had created for us a moderate
temperature; for the theory of the central fire, remained,
in my eyes, the only explainable one.
Were we, then, going to reach a position in which these
phenomena were to be carried out in all their rigor, and
in which the heat would reduce the rocks to a state of fu-
sion?
Such was my not unnatural fear, and I did not conceal
the fact from my uncle. My way of doing so might be
cold and heartless, but I could not help it.
“Tf we are not drowned, or smashed into pancakes, and
if we do not die of starvation, we have the satisfaction of
knowing that we must be burned alive.â€
My uncle, in presence of this brusque attack, simply
shrugged his shoulders, and resumed his reflections—
whatever they might be.
An hour passed away, and except that there was a
slight increase in the temperature no incident modified
the situation. My uncle at last, of his own accord, broke
silence.
“Well, Henry, my boy,†he said, in a cheerful way, “ we
must make up our minds.â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 281
“Make up our minds to what?†I asked, in considera-
ble surprise.
“ Well—to something. We must at whatever risk re-
cruit our physical strength. If we make the fatal mistake
of husbanding our little remnant of food, we may proba-
bly prolong our wretched existence a few hours—but
we shall remain weak to the end.â€
“Yes,†I growled, “tothe end. That, however, will not
keep us long waiting.â€
“Well, only let a chance of safety present itself,—only
allow that a moment of action be necessary,—where shall
we find the means of action if we allow ourselves to be
reduced to physical weakness by inanition?â€
“ When. this piece of meat is devoured, uncle, what hope
will there remain unto us?â€
“ None, my dear Henry, none. But will it do you any
good to devour it with your eyes? You appear to me to
reason like one without will or decision, like a being with-
out energy.â€
“Then,†cried I, exasperated to a degree which is
scarcely to be explained, “you do not mean to tell me—
that you—that you—have not lost all hope.â€
“Certainly not,†replied the Professor, with consummate
coolness.
“You mean to tell me, uncle, that we shall get out of
this monstrous subterranean shaft ?â€â€™
“While there is life there is hope. I beg to assert,
Henry, that as long as a man’s heart beats, as long as a
man’s flesh quivers, I do not allow that a being gifted with
thought and will can allow himself to despair.â€
What a nerve! The man placed in a position like that
we occupied must have been very brave to speak like this.
“Well,†I cried, “what do you mean to do?â€
“Kat what remains of the food we have in our hands;
let us swallow the last crumb. It will be, heayen willing,
982
our last repast. Well, never mind—instead of being ex:
hausted skeletons, we shall be men.â€
“"Prue,†muttered I in a despairing tone, “Iet us take
our fill.â€
“We must,†replied my uncle, with a aces sigh—* call
it what you will.â€
My uncle took a piece of the meat that anata, and
some crusts of biscuit which had escaped the wreck. He
divided the whole into three parts.
Each had one pound of food to last him as long as he
remained in the interior of the earth.
Each now acted in accordance with his own private
character.
My uncle, the Professor, ate greedily, but evidently
without appetite, eating simply from some mechanical
motion. I put the food inside my lips, and hungry as I
was, chewed my morsel without pleasure, and without
satisfaction.
Hans the guide, just as if he had been eider-down hunt-
ing, swallowed every mouthful, as though it were a usual
affair. He looked like a man equally prepared to enjoy
superfluity or total want.
Hans, in all probability, was no more used to starvation
than ourselves, but his hardy Icelandic nature had pre-
pared him for many sufferings. As long as he received his
three rix-dollars 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 certain
man at so much per week, and no matter what evils befell
his employer or himself, he never found fault or grumbled,
so long as his wages were duly paid.
Suddenly my uncle roused himself: He had seen a smile
on the face of our guide. I could not make it out.
“ What is the matter?†said my uncle.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 282
“Schiedam,†said the guide, producing a bottle of this
precious fluid.
We drank. My uncle and myself will own to our dying
day that hence we derived strength to exist until the last
bitter moment. That precious bottle of Hollands was in
reality only half-full; but, under the circumstances, it was
nectar.
It took some minutes for myself and my uncle to form
a decided opinion on the subject. The worthy Professor
swallowed about half a pint and did not seem able to
drink any more.
“ Fortrafflig,†said Hans, swallowing nearly all that was
left.
“Excellent—very good,†said my uncle, with as much
gusto as if he had just left the steps of the club at
Hamburg.
I had begun to feel as if there had been one gleam of
hope. Now all thought of the future vanished !
We had consumed our last ounce of food, and it was
five o’clock in the morning !
284
CHAPTER XLII.
THE VOLCANIC SHAFT.
Man’s constitution is so peculiar, that his health is
purely a negative matter. No sooner is the rage of hunger
appeased, than it becomes difficult to comprehend the
meaning of starvation. It is only when you suffer that
you really understand.
As to any one who has not endured privation having
any notion of the matter, it is simply absurd.
With us, after a long fast, 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 repast each gave way to his own
reflections. I wondered what were those of Hans—the
man of the extreme north, who was yet gifted with the
fatalistic resignation of Oriental character. But the ut-
most stretch of the imagination would not allow me to
realize the truth. As for my individual self, my thoughts
had ceased to be anything but memories of the past, and
were all connected with that upper world which I never
should have left. I saw it all now, the beautiful house in
the Konigstrasse, my poor Gretchen, the good Martha;
they all passed before my mind like visions of the past.
Every time any of the lugubrious groanings which were to
be distinguished in the hollows around. fell upon my ears,
I fancied I heard the distant murmur of the great cities
above my head.
As for my uncle, always thinking of his science,-he
examined the nature of the shaft by means of a torch.
He closely examined the different strata one above the
other, in order to recognize his situation by geological
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 255
theory. This calculation, or rather this estimation, could
by no means be anything but approximate. But a learned
man, a philosopher, is nothing if not a philosopher, when
he keeps his ideas calm and collected; and certainly the
Professor possessed this quality to perfection.
I heard him, as I sat in silence, murmuring words of
geological science. As I understood his object and his
meaning, I could not but interest myself despite my pre-
occupation in that terrible hour.
“Eruptive granite,†he said to himself, “we are still in
the primitive epoch. But we are going up—going up,
still going up. But who knows? Who knows?â€
Then he still hoped. He felt along the vertical sides
of the shaft with his hand, and some few minutes later, he
would go on again in the following style—
“This is gniess. This is mocashites—silicious mineral.
Good again; this is the epoch of transition, at all events,
we are close to them—and then, and then—â€
What could the Professor mean? Could he, by any
conceivable means, measure the thickness of the crust of
the earth suspended above our heads? Did he possess any
possible means of making any approximation to this cal-
culation? No.
The manometer was wanting, and no summary estima-
tion could take the place of it.
And yet, as we progressed, the temperature increased in
the most extraordinary degree, and I began to feel as if I
were bathed in a hot and burning atmosphere. Never
before had I felt anything like it. I could only compare
it to the hot vapor from an iron foundry, when the liquid
iron is in a state of ebullition and runs over. By degrees,
and one after the other, Hans, my uncle, and myself had
taken off our coats and waistcoats. They were unbear-
able. Even the slightest garment was not only uncomfort-
able, but the cause of extreme suffering.
286 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
“ Are we ascending to a living fire?†I cried; when, to
my horror and astonishment, the heat became greater
than before.
“No, no,†said my uncle, “it is simply impossible, quite
impossible.â€
“And yet,†said I, touching the side of the shaft with
my naked hand, “this wall is literally burning.â€
At this moment, feeling as I did that the sides of this
extraordinary wall were red hot, I plunged my hands into
the water to cool them. I drew them back with a cry of
despair.
“The water is boiling!’ I eried.
My uncle, the Professor, made no reply gihey than a
gesture of rage and despair.
Something very like the truth had probably struck his
qeasiation:
But I could take no share in either what was going on,
or in his speculations. An invincible dread had taken
possession of my brain and soul. I could only look for-
ward to an immediate catastrophe, such a catastrophe as
not even the most vivid imagination could haye thought
of. An idea, at first vague and uncertain, was gradually
being changed into certainty.
I tremulously rejected it at first, but it forced itself upon
me by degrees with extreme obstinacy. It was so terrible
an idea that I scarcely dared to whisper it to myself.
And yet all the while certain, and as it were, involun-
tary observations determined my convictions. By the
doubtful glare of the torch, I could make out some singu-
lar changes in the granitic strata; a strange and terrible
phenomenon was about to be produced, in which electri-
city played a part.
Then this boiling water, this terrible and excessive heat?
I determined as a last resource to examine the compass.
The compass had gone mad!
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 287
Yes, wholly stark staring mad. The needle jumped
from pole to pole with sudden and surprising jerks, ran
round, or as it is said, boxed the compass, and then ran
suddenly back again as if it had the vertigo.
I was aware that, according to the best acknowledged
theories, it was a received notion that the mineral crust
of the globe is never, and never has been, in a state of
complete repose.
The modifications caused by the decomposition of inter-
nal matter, the agitation consequent on the flowing of
extensive liquid currents, the excessive action of magne-
tism which tends to shake it incessantly, at a time when
even the multitudinous beings on its surface do not suspect
the seething process to be going on.
Still this phenomenon would not have alarmed me
alone; it would not have aroused in my mind a terrible,
an awful idea.
But other facts could not allow my selfdelusion to last.
Terrible detonations, like heaven’s artillery, began to
multiply themselves with fearful intensity. I could only
compare them with the noise made by hundreds of heavily-
Jaden chariots being madly driven over a stone pavement.
It was a continuous roll of heavy thunder. |
And then the mad compass, shaken by the wild electric
phenomena, confirmed me in my rapidly-formed opinion.
The mineral crust was about to burst, the heavy granite
masses were about to rejoin, the fissure was about to close,
the void was about to be filled up, and we poor atoms to
be crushed in its awful embrace!
“Uncle, uncle!†I cried, “we are wholly, irretrievably
lost!â€
“What, then, my young friend, is your new cause of
terror and alarm?†he said, in his calmest manner.
“ What fear you now ?â€
“What do I fear now!†I cried, in fierce and angry °
288 A. JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
tones. “ Do you not 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, torrid heat? do
you not observe the awful boiling water on which we float?
do you not remark this mad needle? every sign and por-
tent of an awful earthquake ?â€
My uncle coolly shook his head.
“An earthquake,†he replied in the most calm and pro-
voking tone.
a Gg
“My nephew, I tell you that you are utterly mistaken,â€
he continued.
“Do you not, can you not, recognize all the well-known
a9
symptoms
“Of an earthquake? by no means. I am expecting
something far more important.â€
“My brain is strained beyond endurance—what, what
do you mean?†I cried.
“An eruption, Harry.†.
“An eruption,†I gasped. “We are, then, in the
volcanic shaft of a crater in full action and vigor.â€
“J have every reason to think so,†said the Professor in
a smiling tone, “and I beg to tell you that it is the most
fortunate thing that could happen to us.â€
The most fortunate thing! Had my uncle really and
truly gone mad? What did he mean by these awful
words—what did he mean by this terrible calm, this
solemn smile ?
“What!†cried I, in the height of my exasperation, “we
are on the way to an eruption, are we? T*atality has cast
us into a well of burning and boiling lava, of rocks on fire,
of boiling water, in a word, filled with every kind of erup-
tive matter? We are about to be expelled, thrown up,
vomited, spit out of the interior of the earth, in common
with huge blocks of granite, with showers of cinders and
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 289
scoriz, in a wild whirlwind of flame, and you say—the
most fortunace thing which could happen to us.â€
“Yes,†replied the Professor, looking at me calmly from
under his spectacles, “it is the only chance which remains
to us of ever escaping from the interior of the earth to the
light of day.â€
It is quite impossible that I can put on paper the
thousand strange, wild thoughts which followed this extra-
ordinary announcement.
But my uncle was right, quite right, and never had he
appeared to me so audacious and so convinced as when he
looked me calmly in the face and spoke of the chances of
an eruption—of our being cast upon mother earth once
more through the gaping crater of a volcano!
Nevertheless, while we were speaking we were still as-
cending ; we passed the whole night going up, or to speak
more scientifically, in an ascensional motion. The fearful
noise redoubled ; I was ready to suffocate. I seriously be-
lieved that my last hour was approaching, and yet, so
strange is imagination, all I thought of was some childish
hypothesis or other. In such circumstances you do not
choose your own thoughts. They overcome you.
t was quite evident that we were being cast upwards by
eruptive matter; under the raft there was a mass of boil-
ing water, and under this was a heaving mass of lava, and
an ageregate of rocks which on reaching the summit of
the-water would be dispersed in every direction.
That we were inside the chimney of a volcano there
could no longer be the shadow of a doubt. Nothing more
terrible could be conceived !
But on this occasion, instead of Sneffels, an old and
extinct voleano, we were inside a mountain of fire in full
activity. Several times I found myself asking, what
mountain was it, and on what part of the world we should
be shot out. As if it were of any consequence !
2990 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
In the northern regions, there could be no reasonable
doubt about that. Before it went decidedly mad, the
compass had never made the slightest mistake. From the
cape of Saknussemm, we had been swept away to the
northward many hundreds of leagues. Now the question -
was, were we once more under Iceland—should we be
belched forth on to the earth through the crater of Mount
Hecla, or should we re-appear through one of the other
seven fire-funnels of the island? Taking in my mental
vision a radius of five hundred leagues to the westward, I
could see under this parallel only the little-known volca-
noes of the north-west coast of America.
To the east one only existed somewhere about the
eightieth degree of latitude, the Esk, upon the island of
Jean Mayen, not far from the frozen regions of Spitzbergen.
It was not craters that were wanting, and many of them
were big enough to vomit a whole army; all I wished to
know was the particular one towards which we were
making with such fearful velocity.
I often think now of my folly: as if I should ever have
expected to escape!
Towards morning, the ascending motion became greater
and greater. If the degree of heat increased instead of
decreasing, as we approached the surface of the earth, it
was simply because the causes were local and wholly due
to voleanic influence. Our very style of locomotion left in
my mind no doubt upon the subject. An enormous force,
a force of some hundred of combined atmospheres pro-
duced by vapors accumulated and long compressed in the
interior of the earth, were hoisting us upwards with irre-
sistible power.
But though we were approaching the light of day, to
what fearful dangers were we about to be exposed ?
Tnstant death appeared the only fate which we could ex:
pect or contemplate.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 291
Soon a dim, sepulchral light penetrated the vertical
gallery, which became wider and wider. I could make
out to the right and left long dark corridors like immense
tunnels, from which awful and horrid vapors poured out.
Tongues of fire, sparkling and crackling, appeared about
to lick us up.
The hour had come!
“Look, uncle, look!†I eried.
“Well, what you see are the great sulphurous flames.
Nothing more common in connection with an eruption.â€
“But if they lap us round!†I angrily replied.
“ They will not lap us round,†was his quiet and serene
answer.
“ But it will be all the same in the end if they stifle us,â€
I cried.
“We shall not be stifled. The gallery is rapidly be-
coming wider and wider, and if it be necessary, we will
presently leave the raft and take refuge in some fissure in
the rock.â€
“ But the water, the water, which is continually ascend-
ing?†I despairingly replied.
“There is no longer any water, Harry,†he answered,
“but a kind of lava paste, which is heaving us up, in com-
pany with itself, to the mouth of the crater.â€
In truth, the liquid column of water had wholly disap-
peared to give place to dense masses of boiling eruptive
matter. The temperature was becoming utterly insup-
portable, and a thermometer exposed to this atmosphere
would have marked between 189 and 190 degrees Fahren-
heit.
Perspiration rushed from every pore. But for the ex-
traordinary rapidity of our ascent we should have been
stifled.
Nevertheless, the Professor did not carry out his propo-
sition of abandoning the raft; and he did quite wisely.
292 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Those few ill-jomed beams offered, any way, a solid
surface—a support which elsewhere must have utterly
failed us.
Towards cight o’clock in the morning a new incident
startled us. The ascensional movement suddenly ceased.
The raft became still and motionless.
“What is the matter now?†I said, querulously, very
much startled by this change.
“ A simple halt,†replied my uncle.
“Ts the eruption about to fail?†I asked.
“T hope not.â€
Without making any reply, I rose. I tried to look
around me. Perhaps the raft, checked by some projecting
rock, opposed a momentary resistance to the eruptive
mass. In this case, it was absolutely necessary to release
it as quickly as possible. une
Nothing of the kind had occurred. The column of
cinders, of scoris, of broken rocks and earth, had wholly.
ceased to ascend.
“T tell you, uncle, that the eruption has stopped,†was
my oracular decision. ;
“Ah,†said my unele, “you think so, my boy. You
are wrong. Do not be in the least alarmed; this sudden
moment of calm will not last long, be assured. It has al-
ready endured five minutes, and before we are many
minutes older we shall be continuing our journey to the
mouth of the crater.â€
All the time he was speaking the Professor continued to
consult his chronometer, and he was probably right in his
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 as suddenly as
before.
“Good,†said my uncle, observing the hour, “in ten
minutes we shall start again.â€
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 293
“Tn ten minutes?â€
“Yes—precisely. We have to do with a volcano, the
eruption of which is intermittent. We are compelled to
breathe just as it does.â€
Nothing could be more true. At the exact minute he
had indicated, we were again launched on high with ex-
treme rapidity. Not to be cast off the raft, it was neces-
sary to hold on to the beams. Then the hoist again ceased.
Many times since have I thought of this singular phe-
nomenon without being able to find for it any satisfactory
explanation. Nevertheless, it appeared quite clear to me,
that we were not in the principal chimney of the volcano,
but in an accessory conduit, where we felt the counter
shock of the great and principal tunnel filled by burning
lava.
It is impossible for me to say how many times this ma-
noeuvre was repeated. All that I can remember is, that
on every ascensional motion, we were hoisted up with
ever-increasing velocity, as if we had been launched from
a huge projectile. During the sudden halts we were
nearly stifled; during the moments of projection the hot
air took away our breath.
I thought for a moment of the voluptuous joy of sud-
denly finding myself in the hyperborean regions with the
cold 30 degrees below zero!
My exalted imagination pictured to itself the vast
snowy plains of the arctic regions, and I was impatient to
roll myself on the icy carpet of the north pole.
By degrees my head, utterly overcome by a series of
violent emotions, began to give way to hallucination. I
was delirious. Had it not been for the powerful arms of
Hans the guide, I should have broken my head against
the granite masses of the shaft.
I have, in consequence, kept no account of what followed
for many hours. I have a vague and confused remem-
994
brance of continual detonations, of the shaking of the huge
granitic mass, and of the raft going round Like a spinning-
top. It floated on the stream of hot lava, amidst a falling
cloud of cinders. The huge flames roaring, wrapped us
around.
A storm of wind which appeared to be cast forth from
an immense ventilator roused up the interior fires of the
earth. It was a hot incandescent blast!
At last I saw the figure of Hans as if enveloped in the
huge halo of burning blaze, and no other sense remained
to me but that sinister dread which the condemned victim
may be supposed. to feel when led to the mouth of a can-
non, at the supreme moment when the shot is fired and his
limbs are dispersed into empty space.
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 295
CHAPTER XLIII.
DAYLIGHT AT LAST.
Wuen I opened my eyes I felt the hand of the guide
clutching me firmly by the belt. With his other hand he
supported my uncle. I was not grievously wounded, but
bruised all over in the most remarkable manner.
After a moment I looked around, and found that I was
lying down on the slope of a mountain not two yards from
a yawning gulf into which I should have fallen had I
made the slightest false step. Hans had saved me from
death, while I rolled insensible on the flanks of the crater.
“Where are we?†dreamily asked my uncle, who lite-
rally appeared to be disgusted at having returned to
earth.
The eider-down hunter simply shrugged his shoulders as
a mark of total ignorance.
“Tn Iceland?†said I, not positively but interrogatively.
“ Nej,†said Hans.
“How do you mean ?†cried the Professor ; “ no—what
are your reasons?â€
“ Hans is wrong,†said I, rising.
After all the innumerable surprises of this journey, a
yet more singular one was reserved to us. I expected to
see a cone covered by snow, by extensive and wide-spread
glaciers, in the midst of the arid deserts of the extreme
northern regions, beneath the full rays of a polar sky, be-
yond the highest latitudes.
But contrary to all our expectations, I, my uncle, and
the Icelander, were cast upon the slope of a mountain cal-
cined by the burning rays of a sun which was literally
baking us with its fires.
I could not believe my eyes, but the actual heat which
296 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
affected my body allowed me no chance of doubting. We
came out of the crater half naked, and the radiant star
from which we had asked nothing for two months, was
good enough to be prodigal to us of light and warmth—a
light and warmth we could easily have dispensed with.
When our eyes were accustomed to the light we had lost
sight of so long, I used them to rectify the errors of my
imagination. Whatever happened, we should have been at
Spitzbergen, and I was in no humor to yield to anything
but the most absolute proof.
After some delay, the Professor spoke.
“Hem!†he said, in a hesitating kind of way, “it really
does not look like Iceland.â€
“ But supposing it were the island of Jean Mayen?†I
ventured to observe.
“Not in the least, my boy. This is not one of the vol-
canoes of the north, with its hills of granite and its crown
of snow.†.
“ Nevertheless
“Took, look, my boy,†said the Professor, as dogmati-
cally as usual.
Right above our heads, at a great height, opened the
crater of a voleano from which escaped, from one quarter
of an hour to the other, with a very loud explosion, a lofty
jet of flame mingled with pumice stone, cinders, and lava.
I could feel the convulsions of nature in the mountain,
which breathed like a huge whale, throwing up from time
to time fire and air through its enormous vents. .
Below, and floating along a slope of considerable angu-
larity, the stream of eruptive matter spread away to a
depth which did not give the volcano a height of three
hundred fathoms.
Its base disappeared in a perfect forest of green trees,
among which I perceived olives, fig trees, and vines loaded
with rich grapes.
2?
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 297
Certainly this was not the ordinary aspect of the Arctic
regions. About that there could not be the slightest doubt.
When the eye was satisfied at its glimpse of this ver-
dant expanse, it fell upon the waters of a lovely sea or
beautiful lake, which made of this enchanted land an island
of not many leagues in extent.
On the side of the rising sun was to be scen a little port,
crowded with houses, and near which the boats and vessels
of peeuliar build were floating upon azure waves.
Beyond, groups of islands rose above the liquid plain,
so numerous and close together as to resemble a vast bee-
hive.
Towards the setting sun, some distant shores were to be
made out on the edge of the horizon. Some presented the
appearance of blue mountains of harmonious conforma-
tion; upon others, much more distant, there appeared a
prodigiously lofty cone, above the summit of which hung
dark and heavy clouds.
Towards the north, an immense expanse of water sparkled
beneath the solar rays, occasionally allowing the extremity
of a mast or the convexity ofa sail bellying to the wind,
to be seen.
The unexpected character of such a scene added an
hundredfold to its marvellous beauties.
“Where can we be?†I asked, speaking in a low and
solemn voice.
Hans shut his eyes with an air of indifference, and my
uncle looked on without clearly understanding.
“Whatever this mountain may be,†he said, at last, “I
must confess it is rather warm. The explosions do not
leave off, and I do not think it is worth while to have left
the interior of a voleano and remain here to receive a huge
piece of rock upon one’s head. Let us carefully descend
the mountain and discover the real state of the case. To
confess the truth, I am dying of hunger and thirst.â€
998 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Decidedly the Professor was no longer a truly reflec-
tive character. For myself, forgetting all my necessities,
ignoring my fatigues and sufferings, I should have re-
mained still for several hours longer—but it was necessary
to follow my companions.
The slope of the volcano was very steep and slippery ;
we slid over piles of ashes, avoiding the streams of hot lava
which glided about like fiery serpents. Still, while we
were advancing, I spoke with extreme volubility, for my
imagination was too full not to explode in words.
“We are in Asia!†I exclaimed; “we are on the coast
of India, in the great Malay islands, in the centre of
Oceana. We have crossed the one half of the globe to
come out right at the antipodes of Europe!â€
“But the compass!†exclaimed my uncle; “explain that
to me
“Yes,—the compass,†I said, with considerable hesita-
tion. “I grant that isa difficulty. According to it, we have
always been going northward.â€
“Then it lied.â€
“ Hem—to say it lied is rather a harsh word,†was my -
answer.
“Then we are at the north pole—â€
“The pole—no—well—well I give it up,’ was my reply.
The plain truth was, that there was no explanation pos-
sible. I could make nothing of it.
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
spread out before us, covered by olives, pomegranates, and
vines, which appeared to belong to anybody and everybody.
In the state of destitution into which we had fallen, we
were not particular to a grape.
What delight it was to press these delicious fruits to our
lips, and to bite at grapes and pomegranates fresh from the
1?
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 299
vine. Not far off, near some fresh and mossy grass, under
the delicious shade of some trees, I discovered a spring of
fresh water, into which we voluptuously laved our faces,
hands, and feet.
While we were all giving way to the delights of new-
found pleasures, a little child appeared between two tufted
olive trees.
“ Ah,†cried I, “ an inhabitant of this happy country.â€
The little fellow was poorly dressed, weak and suffering,
and appeared terribly alarmed at our appearance. Half
naked, with tangled, matted and ragged beards, we did
look supremely ill-favored; and unless the country was a
bandit land, we were not unlikely to alarm the inhabitants!
Just as the boy was about to take to his heels, Hans ran
after him, and brought him back, despite his cries and
kicks.
My uncle tried to look as gentle as possible, and then
spoke in German.
“What is the name of this mountain, my friend?â€
The child made no reply.
“ Good,†said my uncle, with a very positive air of con--
viction, “ we are not in Germany.â€
He then made the same demand in English, of which
language he was an excellent scholar.
The child shook its head and made no reply. I began
to be considerably puzzled.
“Ts he dumb?†cried the Professor, who was rather
proud of his polyglot knowledge of languages, and
_making the same demand in French.
The boy only stared in his face,
“T must. perforce try him in Italian,’ said my uncle,
with a shrug.
“ Dove not siamo ?â€
“Yes, tell me where we are?†I added, impatiently and
eagerly.
800 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
Again the boy remained silent.
“My fine fellow, do you or do you not mean to speak ?â€
cried my uncle, who began to get angry. He shook him.
and spoke another dialect of the Italian language.
“ Come st noma questa isola ?â€â€”what is the name of
this island ?
> “Stromboli,†replied the rickety little shepherd, dashing
away from Hans and disappearing in the olive groves.
We thought little enough about him.
Stromboli! What effect.on the imagination did these
few words produce! We were in the centre of the Medi-
terranean; amidst the Eastern archipelago of mythologi-
cal memory ; in the ancient Strongylos, where Afolus kept
the wind and the tempest chained up. And those blue
mountains, which rose towards the rising of the sun, were
the mountains of Calabria.
And that mighty volcano which rose on the southern
horizon was Etna, the fierce and celebrated Etna!
“Stromboli! Stromboli!†I repeated to myself.
My uncle played a regular accompaniment to my ges-
tures and words. We were singing together like an
ancient chorus.
Ah—what a journey—what a marvellous and extraor-
dinary journey! Here we had entered the earth by one
voleano, and we had come out by another. And this
other was situated more than twelve hundred leagues from
Sneffels, from that drear country of Iceland cast away on
the confines of the earth. The wondrous chances of this
expedition had transported us to the most harmonious and
beautiful of earthly lands. We had abandoned the region
of eternal snows for that of infinite verdure, and had left
over our heads the grey fog of the icy regions to come
back to the azure sky of Sicily !
After a delicious répast of fruits and fresh water, we
again continued our journey in order to reach the port of
OUR CONDITION AT THE END OF THE JOURNEY
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 301
Stromboli. To say 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 infernal regions.
It was therefore necessary to pass for humble and unfortu-
nate shipwrecked travellers. It was certainly less strik-
ing 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 explain in any way.â€
“Well, the fact is,†said I, with an air of disdain, “we
must not explain anything. It will be much more easy.â€
“T should like to see a professor of the Johanneum
Institution, who is unable to explain a cosmic phenomenon
- —it would indeed be strange.â€
And speaking thus; my uncle, half naked, his leathern
purse round his loins, and his spectacles upon his nose,
~became once more the terrible Professor of Mineralogy.
An hour after leaving the wood of olives, we reached
the fort of San Vicenza, where Hans demanded the price
of his thirteenth week of service. My uncle paid him,
with very many warm shakes of the hand.
At that moment, if he did not indeed quite share our
natural emotion, he allowed his feelings so far to give way
as to indulge in an extraordinary expression for him.
With the tips of two fingers he gently pressed our hands
and smiled.
302. A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE JOURNEY ENDED.
Tus is the final conclusion of a narrative which will be
probably disbelieved even by people who are astonished
at nothing. I am, however, armed at all points against
human incredulity.
We were kindly received by the Strombolite fishermen,
who treated us as shipwrecked travellers. ‘They gave us
clothes and food. After a delay of forty-eight hours, on
the 31st of September a little vessel took us to Messina,
where afew days of delightful and complete repose re-
stored us to ourselves.
On Friday, the 4th October, we embarked in the Vol-
turus, one of the postal packets of the Imperial Messagerie
of France; and three days later we landed at Marscilles,
having no other care on our minds but that of our pre-
cious but erratic compass. This inexplicable circumstance
tormented me terribly. On the 9th of October, in the
evening, we reached Hamburg.
What was the astonishment of Martha, what the joy of
Gretchen! I will not attempt to define it.
“Now then, Harry, that you really are a hero,†she
said, “there is no reason why you should ever leave me
again.â€
I looked at her. She was weeping tears of joy.
I leave it to be imagined if the return of Professor
Hardwigg made or did not make a sensation in Hamburg.
Thanks to the indiscretion of Martha, the news of his de-
parture for the Interior of the Earth had been spread
over tne Whoie Word. ,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 303
No one would believe it—and when they saw him come
back in safety they believed it all the less.
But the presence of Hans and many stray scraps of in-
formation by degrees modified public opinion.
Then my uncle became a great man, and I the nephew
of a great man; which, at all events, is something. Ham-
burg gave a festival in our honor.
the Johanneum Institution was held, at which the Pro-
fessor related the whole story of his adventures, omitting
only the facts in connection with the compass.
That same day he deposited in the archives of the town
the document he had found written by Saknussemm, and
he expressed his great regret that circumstances, stronger
than his will, did not allow him to follow the Icelandic
traveller’s track into the very Centre of the Earth. He
was modest in his glory, but his reputation only increased.
So much honor necessarily created for him many
envious enemies. Of course they existed, and as his theo-
ries, supported by certain facts, contradicted the system
of science upon the question of central heat, he main-
tained his own views both with pen and speech against the
learned of every country. Although I still believe in the
theory of central heat, I confess that certain circum-
stances, hitherto very ill defined, may modify the laws of
such natural phenomena.
At the moment when these questions were being dis-
cussed with interest, my uncle received a rude shock—one
that he felt very much. Hans, despite everything he
could say to the contrary, quitted Hamburg; the man to
whom we owed so much would not allow us to pay our
deep debt of gratitude. He was taken with nostalgia; a
love for his Icelandic home.
“ Farvel,†said he, one day, and with this one short word
of adieu, he started for Reykjawik, which he soon reached
in safety.
304 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.
We were deeply attached to our brave eider-duck
hunter. His absence will never cause him to be forgotten
by those whose lives he saved, and I hope, at some not
distant day, to see him again.
To conclude, I may say that our Journey into the In- —
terior of the Earth created an enormous sensation through-
out the civilized world. It was translated and printed in
many languages. All the leading journals published ex-
tracts from it, which were commentated, discussed, at-
tacked, and supported with equal animation by those who
believed in its episodes, and by those who were utterly in-
credulous.
Wonderful! My uncle enjoyed during his lifetime all
the glory he deserved ; and he was even offered a large
sum of money, by Mr. Barnum, to exhibit himself in the
United States; while I am credibly informed by a traveller
that he is to be seen in waxwork at Madame Tussaud’s !
But one care preyed upon his mind, a care which ren-
dered him very unhappy. One fact remained inexplica-
ble—that of the compass. For a learned man to be baf-
fled by such an inexplicable phenomenon was very aggra-
vating. But heaven was merciful, and in the end my
uncle was happy.
One day, while he put some minerals belonging to his
collection in order, I fell upon the famous compass and
examined it keenly.
For six months it had lain unnoticed and untouched.
I looked at it with curiosity, which soon became sur-
prise. I gave a loud ery. The Professor, who was at
hand, soon joined me.
“What is the matter?†he cried.
“The compass!â€
“What then?â€
“Why its needle points to the south and not to the
north.â€
&
d
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. 308
“My dear boy, you must be dreaming.â€
“Tam not dreaming. See the poles are changed.â€
“ Changed !â€
My uncle put on his spectacles, examined the instru-
ment, and leaped with joy, shaking the whole house.
A clear light fell upon our minds.
“ Here it is!†he cried, as soon as he had recovered the
use of his speech, “after we had once passed Cape Sak-
nussemm, the needle of this compass pointed to the south-
ward instead of the northward.â€
“ Evidently.â€
“ Our error is now easily explained. But to what phe-
nomenon do we owe this alteration in the needle!â€
“ Nothing more simple.â€
“ Fixplain yourself, my boy. I am on thorns.â€
“ During the storm, upon the Central Sea, the ball of
fire which made a magnet of the iron in our raft, turned
our compass topsy-turvy.â€
“Ah!†eried the Professor, with a loud and ringing
laugh, “it was a trick of that inexplicable electricity.â€
From that hour my uncle was the happiest of learned
men, and I the happiest of ordinary mortals. For my
pretty Virland girl, abdicating her position as ward, took
her place in the house in King Street (Kénigstrasse) in
the double quality of niece and wife.
We need scarcely mention that her uncle was the illus-
trious Professor Hardwigg, corresponding member of all
the scientific, geographical, mineralogical and geological
societies of the five quarters of the globe.
THE END.
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