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14 - The Real Journey Commences - Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne · Classic Science Fiction Books

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  Chapter fourteen, The real journey commences. Our real journey had now commenced hitherto,
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  our courage and determination had overcome all difficulties. We were fatigued at times,
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  and that was all. Now we were about to encounter unknown and fearful
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  dangers. I had not as yet ventured to take a glimpse down the horrible
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  abyss into which in a few minutes more I was about to plunge. The
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  fatal moment had, however, at last arrived. I had still the option
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  of refusing or accepting a share in this foolish and audacious enterprise. But I
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  was ashamed to show more fear than the eider duck hunter Hans seemed to accept
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  the difficulties of the journey so tranquility, with such calm indifference, with such
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  perfect recklessness of all danger, that I actually blushed to appear less of a
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  man than he. Had I been alone with my uncle, I should certainly
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  have sat down and argued the point fully, But in the presence of the
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  guide I held my tongue. I gave one moment to the thought of my
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  charming cousin, and then I advanced into the mouth of the central shaft.
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  It measured about a hundred feet in diameter, which made about three hundred in
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  circumference. I leaned over a rock which stood on its edge, and looked
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  down. My hair stood on end, my teeth chattered, my limbs trembled.
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  I seemed utterly to lose my center of gravity, while my head was
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  in a sort of whirl like that of a drunken man. There is nothing
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  more powerful than this attraction towards an abyss. I was about to fall headlong
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  into the gaping well when I was drawn back by a firm and powerful hand.
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  It was that of hands I had not taken lessons enough at Frelsa Kerk's
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  of Copenhagen in the art of looking down from lofty eminences without blinking. However,
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  few as the minutes were during which I gazed down this tremendous and even
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  wondrous shaft, I had a sufficient glimpse of it to give me some idea
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  of its physical conformation. Its sides, which were almost as perpendicular as those
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  of a well, presented numerous projections which doubtless would assist our descent. It
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  was a sort of wild and savage staircase without banister or fence. A rope
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  fastened above near the surface would certainly support our weight and enable us to reach
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  the bottom. But how when we had arrived at its utmost depth were we
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  to loosen it above? This was, I thought a question of some importance.
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  My uncle, however, was one of those men who are nearly always
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  prepared with expedients. He hit upon a very simple method of obviating this difficulty.
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  He unrolled a cord about as thick as my thumb and at least four
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  hundred feet in length. He allowed about half of it to go down the
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  pit and catch in a hitch over a great block of lava which stood on
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  the edge of the precipice. This done, he threw the second half after
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  the first. Each of us could now descend By catching the two cords in
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  one hand. When about two hundred feet below, all the explorer had to
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  do was to let go one end and pull away at the other when the
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  cord would come falling at his feet. In order to go down, father,
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  all that was necessary was to continue the same operation. This was a
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  very excellent proposition, and no doubt a correct one. Going down appeared to
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  me easy enough. It was the coming up again that now occupied my thoughts.
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  Now said my uncle, as soon as he had completed this important preparation,
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  let us see about the baggage. It must be divided into three separate
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  parcels, and each of us must carry one on his back. I allude
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  to the more important and fragile articles. My worthy and ingenious uncle did not
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  appear to consider that we came under the denomination Hans. He continued, you
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  will take charge of the tools and some provisions. Harry, you must take
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  possession of another third of the provisions and of the arms. I will load
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  myself with the rest of the eatables, and with the more delicate instruments.
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  But I exclaimed, our clothes, this mass of cord and ladders, who
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  will undertake to carry them down? They will go down of themselves. And
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  how so I asked you shall see my uncle was not fond of half measures,
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  nor did he like anything in the way of hesitation. Giving his orders
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  to Hans, he had the whole of the non fragile articles made up into
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  one bundle, and the packet, firmly and solidly fastened, was simply pitched
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  over the edge of the gulf. I heard the moaning of the suddenly displaced
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  air and the noise of falling stones. My uncle, leaning over the abyss,
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  followed the descent of his luggage with a perfectly self satisfied air, and
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  did not rise until it had completely disappeared from sight. Now, then he
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  cried, it is our turn. I put it in good faith to any
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  man of common sense. Was it possible to hear this energetic cry without a
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  shudder? The professor fastened his case of instruments on his back. Hans took
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  charge of the tools, I of the arms. The descent then commenced in
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  the following order. Hans went first, my uncle followed, and I went
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  last. My progress was made in profound silence, a silence only troubled by
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  the fall of pieces of rock, which bred making from the jagged sides,
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  fell with a roar into the depths below. I allowed myself to slide,
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  so to speak, holding frantically on the double cord with one hand, and
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  with the other, keeping myself off the rocks by the assistance of my iron
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  shod pole. One idea was all the time impressed upon my brain. I
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  feared that the upper support would fail me. The cord appeared to me far
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  too fragile, to bear the weight of three such persons. As we were
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  with our luggage. I made as little use of it as possible, trusting
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  to my own agility, and doing miracles in the way of feats of dexterity
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  and strength upon the projecting shelves and spurs of lava, in which my feet
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  seemed to clutch as strongly as my hands. The guide went first, I
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  have said, And when one of the slippery and frail supports broke from under
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  his feet, he had recourse to his usual monosyllabic way of speaking. Gift,
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  act, attention, look out, repeated my uncle. In about half
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  an hour we reached a kind of small terrace formed by a fragment of rock,
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  projecting some distance from the sides of the shaft. Hands now began to
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  haul upon the cord on one side, only the other, going as quietly
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  upwards as the other came down. It fell at last, bringing with it
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  a shower of small stones, lava, and dust, a disagreeable kind of
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  rain or hail. While we were seated on this extraordinary bench, I ventured
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  once more to look downwards. With a sigh. I discovered that the bottom
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  was still wholly invisible. Were we then going direct to the interior of the
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  earth. The performance with the cord recommenced, and a quarter of an hour
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  later we had reached to the depth of another two hundred feet. I have
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  very strong doubts if the most determined geologist would, during that descent have studied
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  the nature of the different layers of the earth around him. I did not
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  trouble my head much about the matter whether we were among the combustible carbons,
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  salurions, or primitive soil. I neither knew, nor cared to know.
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  Not so the inveterate professor, he must have taken notes all the way down,
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  for at one of our halts he began a brief lecture. The farther
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  we advance, said he. The greater is my confidence of the results.
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  The disposition of these volcanic strata absolutely confirms the theories of Sir Humphry Davy.
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  We are still within the region of the primordial soil, the soil in which
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  took place the chemical operation of metals becoming inflamed by coming in contact with the
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  air and water. I at once regret the old and now forever exploded theory
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  of a central fire. At all events, we shall soon know the truth.
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  Such was the everlasting conclusion to which he came. I, however,
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  was very far from being in humor to discuss the matter. I had something
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  else to think of. My silence was taken for consent, and still we
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  continued to go down. At the expiration of three hours, we were to
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  all appearance as far off as ever from the bottom of the well. When
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  I looked upwards, however, I could see that the upper orifice was every
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  minute decreasing in size. The sides of the shaft were getting closer and closer
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  together. We were approaching the regions of eternal night. And still we continued
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  to descend. At length. I noticed when pieces of stone were detached from
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  the sides of this stupendous precipice, they were swallowed up with less noise than
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  before. The final sound was soon heard. We were approaching the bottom of
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  the abyss. As I had been very careful to keep account of all the
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  changes of cord which took place, I was able to tell exactly what was
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  the depth we had reached, as well as the time it had taken.
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  We had shifted the rope twenty eight times, each operation, taking a quarter
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  of an hour, which in all made seven hours. To this had to
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  be added twenty eight pauses, in all ten hours and a half. We
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  started at one. It was now therefore about eleven o'clock at night. It
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  does not require great knowledge of arithmetic to know that twenty eight times two hundred
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  feet makes five thousand, six hundred feet in all more than an English mile.
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  While I was making this mental calculation, a voice broke the silence.
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  It was the voice of Hans Halt. He cried. I checked myself very
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  suddenly, just at the moment when I was about to kick my uncle on
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  the head. We have reached the end of our journey, said the worthy
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  professor in a satisfied tone. What in the interior of the earth? I
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  said, slipping down to his side. No, you stupid fellow. But
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  we have reached the bottom of the well, and I suppose there is no
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  farther progress to be made, I hopefully exclaimed. Oh yes, I can
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  dimly see a sort of tunnel which turns off obliquely to the right. At
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  all events, we must see about that to morrow. Let us sup now
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  and seek slumber as best we may. I thought it time, but made
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  no observations on that point I was fairly launched on a desperate course, and
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  all I had to do was to go forward, hopefully and trustingly. It
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  was not even now quite dark, the light filtering down. In a most
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  extraordinary manner, we opened the provision bag ate a frugal supper, and each
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  did his best to find a bed amid the pile of stones, dirt,
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  and lava which had accumulated for ages at the bottom of the shaft. I
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  happened to grope out the pile of ropes, ladders, and clothes which we
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  had thrown down, and upon them I stretched myself. After such a day's
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  labor, my rough bed seemed as soft as down. For a while I
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  lay in a sort of pleasant trance. Presently, after lying quietly for some
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  minutes, I opened my eyes and looked upwards. As I did so,
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  I made out a brilliant little dot at the extremity of this long, gigantic
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  telescope. It was a star without scintillating rays. According to my calculation,
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  it must be Beata in the constellation of the Little Bear. After this little
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  bit of astronomical recreation, I dropped into a sound sleep. End of Chapter fourteen