Kitabı oku: «Путешествие к центру Земли / A Journey to the Centre of the Earth», sayfa 11

“Arne Saknussemm!” replied my uncle. “Do you yet doubt?”

I made no answer; and I returned in silence to my lava seat in a state of utter speechless consternation.

I cannot tell how long I remained silent; all that I know is that on raising my head again, I saw only my uncle and Hans at the bottom of the crater. The Icelanders went back, and they were descending the outer slopes of Sneffels to return to Stapi.

Hans slept peaceably at the foot of a rock, in a lava bed, where he found a suitable couch for himself; but my uncle was pacing around the bottom of the crater like a wild beast in a cage. I had neither the wish nor the strength to rise.

Thus the first night in the crater passed away.

The next morning, a grey, heavy, cloudy sky seemed to droop over the summit of the cone.

The next day the sky was again overcast; but on the 29th of June, the last day but one of the month, with the change of the moon came a change of weather. The sun poured a flood of light down the crater.

Scartaris laid down his sharp-pointed angular shadow which began to move slowly in the opposite direction to that of the radiant orb. At noon, the shadow came and softly fell upon the edge of the middle chimney.

“There it is! There it is!” shouted the Professor.

“Now for the centre of the globe!” he added in Danish.

I looked at Hans.

“Forüt!” was his tranquil answer.

“Forward!” replied my uncle.

It was thirteen minutes past one.

17

Now began our real journey. I looked down the bottomless pit into which I was about to take a plunge. I was ashamed to recoil in the presence of the hunter, and I approached the central chimney.

I have already mentioned that it was a hundred feet in diameter, and three hundred feet round. My hair stood on end ⁶⁰with terror.

My uncle uncoiled a cord of the thickness of a finger⁶¹, and four hundred feet long; first he dropped half of it down, then he passed it round a lava block, and threw the other half down the chimney. Each of us could then descend.

“Now,” said my uncle, “now let us look to our loads⁶². I will divide them into three lots; each of us will strap one upon his back. I mean only fragile articles. Hans will take charge of the tools and a portion of the provisions; you, Axel, will take another third of the provisions, and the arms; and I will take the rest of the provisions and the delicate instruments.”

We began to go down. It took us seven hours, plus fourteen quarters of rest, making ten hours and a half. We had started at one, it must have been eleven o’clock now; and the depth to which we had descended was fourteen times 200 feet, or 2,800 feet.

Suddenly I heard the voice of Hans.

“Halt!” he cried.

“We are here,” my uncle cried.

“Where?” said I.

“At the bottom of the perpendicular chimney,” he answered.

“Is there no way farther?”

“Yes; there is a sort of passage which inclines to the right. We will see about that tomorrow. Let us have our supper, and go to sleep.”

The provision case was opened; we refreshed ourselves, and went to sleep upon a bed of stones and lava fragments.