Off on a Comet by Jules Verne (best non fiction books to read .TXT) 📕

which he had every reason to believe abutted upon the central funnel.

His reason for coming to this conclusion was that the caloric emitted

by the rising vapors of the hot lava seemed to be oozing, as it were, out of

the tellurium, which had been demonstrated already to be a conductor of heat.

Only succeed in piercing through this rock for seven or eight yards,

and the lieutenant did not doubt that his way would be opened into the old

lava-course, by following which he hoped descent would be easy.

Under the lieutenant’s direction the Russian sailors were

immediately set to work. Their former experience had convinced

them that spades and pick-axes were of no avail, and their

sole resource was to proceed by blasting with gunpowder.

However skillfully the operation might be carried on,

it must necessarily occupy several days, and during that time

the sufferings from cold must be very severe.

“If we fail in our object, and cannot get to the depths of the mountain,

our little colony is doomed,” said Count Timascheff.

“That speech is not like yourself,” answered Servadac, smiling.

“What has become of the faith which has hitherto carried you

so bravely through all our difficulties?”

The count shook his head, as if in despair, and said, sadly, “The Hand

that has hitherto been outstretched to help seems now to be withdrawn.”

“But only to test our powers of endurance,” rejoined the captain, earnestly.

“Courage, my friend, courage! Something tells me that this cessation

of the eruption is only partial; the internal fire is not all extinct.

All is not over yet. It is too soon to give up; never despair!”

Lieutenant Procope quite concurred with the captain.

Many causes, he knew, besides the interruption of the influence

of the oxygen upon the mineral substances in Gallia’s interior,

might account for the stoppage of the lava-flow in this one

particular spot, and he considered it more than probable that a

fresh outlet had been opened in some other part of the surface,

and that the eruptive matter had been diverted into the new channel.

But at present his business was to prosecute his labors

so that a retreat might be immediately effected from their

now untenable position.

Restless and agitated, Professor Rosette, if he took any

interest in these discussions, certainly took no share in them.

He had brought his telescope down from the observatory into

the common hall, and there at frequent intervals, by night

and by day, he would endeavor to continue his observations;

but the intense cold perpetually compelled him to desist,

or he would literally have been frozen to death.

No sooner, however, did he find himself obliged to retreat

from his study of the heavens, than he would begin overwhelming

everybody about him with bitter complaints, pouring out his

regrets that he had ever quitted his quarters at Formentera.

On the 4th of January, by persevering industry, the process

of boring was completed, and the lieutenant could hear that

fragments of the blasted rock, as the sailors cleared them away

with their spades, were rolling into the funnel of the crater.

He noticed, too, that they did not fall perpendicularly,

but seemed to slide along, from which he inferred that the sides

of the crater were sloping; he had therefore reason to hope

that a descent would be found practicable.

Larger and larger grew the orifice; at length it would admit a man’s body,

and Ben Zoof, carrying a torch, pushed himself through it, followed by

the lieutenant and Servadac. Procope’s conjecture proved correct.

On entering the crater, they found that the sides slanted at the angle

of about 4 degrees ; moreover, the eruption had evidently been of

recent origin, dating probably only from the shock which had invested

Gallia with a proportion of the atmosphere of the earth, and beneath

the coating of ashes with which they were covered, there were various

irregularities in the rock, not yet worn away by the action of the lava,

and these afforded a tolerably safe footing.

“Rather a bad staircase!” said Ben Zoof, as they began to make

their way down.

In about half an hour, proceeding in a southerly direction,

they had descended nearly five hundred feet. From time

to time they came upon large excavations that at first sight

had all the appearance of galleries, but by waving his torch,

Ben Zoof could always see their extreme limits, and it was

evident that the lower strata of the mountain did not present

the same system of ramification that rendered the Hive above

so commodious a residence.

It was not a time to be fastidious; they must be satisfied

with such accommodation as they could get, provided it was warm.

Captain Servadac was only too glad to find that his hopes

about the temperature were to a certain extent realized.

The lower they went, the greater was the diminution in the cold,

a diminution that was far more rapid than that which is

experienced in making the descent of terrestrial mines.

In this case it was a volcano, not a colliery, that was

the object of exploration, and thankful enough they were

to find that it had not become extinct. Although the lava,

from some unknown cause, had ceased to rise in the crater,

yet plainly it existed somewhere in an incandescent state,

and was still transmitting considerable heat to inferior strata.

Lieutenant Procope had brought in his hand a mercurial thermometer,

and Servadac carried an aneroid barometer, by means of which he could estimate

the depth of their descent below the level of the Gallian Sea. When they

were six hundred feet below the orifice the mercury registered a temperature

of 6 degrees below zero.

“Six degrees!” said Servadac; “that will not suit us.

At this low temperature we could not survive the winter.

We must try deeper down. I only hope the ventilation

will hold out.”

There was, however, nothing to fear on the score of ventilation.

The great current of air that rushed into the aperture penetrated everywhere,

and made respiration perfectly easy.

The descent was continued for about another three hundred feet,

which brought the explorers to a total depth of nine hundred feet from

their old quarters. Here the thermometer registered 12 degrees above zero—

a temperature which, if only it were permanent, was all they wanted.

There was no advantage in proceeding any further along the lava-course;

they could already hear the dull rumblings that indicated that they

were at no great distance from the central focus.

“Quite near enough for me!” exclaimed Ben Zoof. “Those who

are chilly are welcome to go as much lower as they like.

For my part, I shall be quite warm enough here.”

After throwing the gleams of torch-light in all directions,

the explorers seated themselves on a jutting rock,

and began to debate whether it was practicable for the colony

to make an abode in these lower depths of the mountain.

The prospect, it must be owned, was not inviting. The crater,

it is true, widened out into a cavern sufficiently large,

but here its accommodation ended. Above and below were a few

ledges in the rock that would serve as receptacles for provisions;

but, with the exception of a small recess that must be reserved

for Nina, it was clear that henceforth they must all renounce

the idea of having separate apartments. The single cave must

be their dining-room, drawing-room, and dormitory, all in one.

From living the life of rabbits in a warren, they were reduced

to the existence of moles, with the difference that they could not,

like them, forget their troubles in a long winter’s sleep.

The cavern, however, was quite capable of being lighted

by means of lamps and lanterns. Among the stores were several

barrels of oil and a considerable quantity of spirits of wine,

which might be burned when required for cooking purposes.

Moreover, it would be unnecessary for them to confine

themselves entirely to the seclusion of their gloomy residence;

well wrapped up, there would be nothing to prevent them making

occasional excursions both to the Hive and to the sea-shore.

A supply of fresh water would be constantly required;

ice for this purpose must be perpetually carried in from the coast,

and it would be necessary to arrange that everyone in turn

should perform this office, as it would be no sinecure to clamber

up the sides of the crater for 900 feet, and descend the same

distance with a heavy burden.

But the emergency was great, and it was accordingly soon decided

that the little colony should forthwith take up its quarters

in the cave. After all, they said, they should hardly be much

worse off than thousands who annually winter in Arctic regions.

On board the whaling-vessels, and in the establishments

of the Hudson’s Bay Company, such luxuries as separate cabins

or sleeping-chambers are never thought of; one large apartment,

well heated and ventilated, with as few corners as possible,

is considered far more healthy; and on board ship the entire hold,

and in forts a single floor, is appropriated to this purpose.

The recollection of this fact served to reconcile them,

in a great degree, to the change to which they felt it

requisite to submit.

Having remounted the ascent, they made the result of their exploration known

to the mass of the community, who received the tidings with a sense of relief,

and cordially accepted the scheme of the migration.

The first step was to clear the cavern of its accumulation of ashes,

and then the labor of removal commenced in earnest. Never was a task

undertaken with greater zest. The fear of being to a certainty frozen

to death if they remained where they were, was a stimulus that made

everyone put forth all his energies. Beds, furniture, cooking utensils—

first the stores of the Dobryna, then the cargo of the tartan—

all were carried down with the greatest alacrity, and the diminished

weight combined with the downhill route to make the labor proceed

with incredible briskness.

Although Professor Rosette yielded to the pressure of circumstances,

and allowed himself to be conducted to the lower regions, nothing would

induce him to allow his telescope to be carried underground;

and as it was undeniable that it would certainly be of no service

deep down in the bowels of the mountain, it was allowed to remain

undisturbed upon its tripod in the great hall of Nina’s Hive.

As for Isaac Hakkabut, his outcry was beyond description lamentable.

Never, in the whole universe, had a merchant met with such reverses;

never had such a pitiable series of losses befallen an unfortunate man.

Regardless of the ridicule which his abject wretchedness excited,

he howled on still, and kept up an unending wail; but meanwhile

he kept a keen eye upon every article of his property, and amidst

universal laughter insisted on having every item registered in an

inventory as it was transferred to its appointed place of safety.

Servadac considerately allowed the whole of the cargo to be deposited

in a hollow apart by itself, over which the Jew was permitted to keep

a watch as vigilant as he pleased.

By the 10th the removal was accomplished. Rescued, at all events,

from the exposure to a perilous temperature of 60 degrees below zero,

the community was installed in its new home. The large cave was

lighted by the Dobryna’s lamps, while several lanterns, suspended at

intervals along the acclivity that led to their deserted quarters above,

gave a weird picturesqueness to the scene, that might vie with any

of the graphic descriptions of the “Arabian Nights’ Entertainments.”

“How do you like this, Nina?” said Ben Zoof.

“Va bene!” replied the child. “We are