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11 - We Reach Mount Sneffels - The "Reykir" - Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne · Daily Classic Sci Fi Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven. Stappi is a town consisting of thirty huts
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  Speaker 1: built on a large plain of lava exposed to the
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  Speaker 1: rays of the sun reflected from the volcano. It stretches
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  Speaker 1: its humble tenements along the end of the Little Fjord,
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  Speaker 1: surrounded by a basaltic wall of the most singular character.
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  Speaker 1: Basalt is a brown rock of igneous origin. It assumes
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  Speaker 1: regular forms, which astonish by their singular appearance. Here we
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  Speaker 1: found nature proceeding geometrically and working quite after a human fashion,
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  Speaker 1: as if she had employed the plummet line, the compass,
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  Speaker 1: and the rule. If elsewhere she produces grand artistic effects
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  Speaker 1: by piling up huge masses without order or connection. If
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  Speaker 1: elsewhere we see truncated cones, imperfect pyramids with an odd
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  Speaker 1: succession of lines. Here, as if wished to give a
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  Speaker 1: lesson in regularity, and preceding the architects of the early Ages,
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  Speaker 1: she has erected a severe order of architecture, which neither
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  Speaker 1: the splendors of Babylon nor the marbles of Greece ever surpassed.
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  Speaker 1: I had often heard of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland,
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  Speaker 1: and of Fingal's Cave in one of the hebrides, but
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  Speaker 1: the grand spectacle of a real basaltic formation had never
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  Speaker 1: yet come before my eyes. This is Stappy gave us
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  Speaker 1: an idea of one in all its wonderful beauty and grace.
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  Speaker 1: The wall of the Fiord, like nearly the whole of
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  Speaker 1: the peninsula, consisted of a series of vertical columns in
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  Speaker 1: height about thirty feet. These upright pillars of stone of
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  Speaker 1: the finest proportions supported an archivault of horizontal columns, which
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  Speaker 1: formed a kind of half vaulted roof above the sea
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  Speaker 1: at certain intervals, and below this nat basin. The eye
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  Speaker 1: was pleased and surprised by the sight of oval openings
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  Speaker 1: through which the outward waves came thundering in volleys of foam.
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  Speaker 1: Some banks of vesselt torn from their fastenings by the
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  Speaker 1: fury of the waves, lay scattered on the ground like
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  Speaker 1: the ruins of an ancient temple, ruins eternally young, over
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  Speaker 1: which the storms of ages swept without producing any perceptible effect.
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  Speaker 1: This was the last stage of our journey. Hans had
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  Speaker 1: brought us along with fidelity and intelligence, and I began
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  Speaker 1: to feel somewhat more comfortable when I reflected that he
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  Speaker 1: was to accompany us still further on our way. When
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  Speaker 1: we halted before the house of the Rector, a small
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  Speaker 1: and incommodious cabin, neither handsome nor more comfortable than those
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  Speaker 1: of his neighbors. I saw a man in the act
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  Speaker 1: of shoeing a horse, a hammer in his hand, and
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  Speaker 1: a leathern apron tied round his waist. Be happy, said
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  Speaker 1: the eider down Hunter, using his national salutation in his
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  Speaker 1: own language, gadag good Day, replied the former in excellent Danish.
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  Speaker 1: Kayr Koherd cried Hans, turning round and introducing him to
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  Speaker 1: my uncle, the Rector, repeated the worthy professor. It appears,
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  Speaker 1: my dear Harry, that this worthy man is the Rector
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  Speaker 1: and is not above doing his own work. During the
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  Speaker 1: speaking of these words, the guide intimated to the Kayakerherd
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  Speaker 1: what was the true state of the case. The good man,
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  Speaker 1: ceasing from his occupation, gave a kind of halloo, upon
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  Speaker 1: which a tall woman, almost a giantess, came out of
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  Speaker 1: the hut. She was at least six feet high, which
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  Speaker 1: in that region is something considerable. My first impression was
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  Speaker 1: one of horror. I thought she had come to give
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  Speaker 1: us the Icelandic kiss. I had, however, nothing to fear,
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  Speaker 1: for she did not even show much inclination to receive
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  Speaker 1: us into her house. The room devoted to strangers appeared
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  Speaker 1: to me to be by far the worst in the presbytery.
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  Speaker 1: It was narrow, dirty and offensive. There was, however, no
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  Speaker 1: choice about the matter. The rector had no notion of
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  Speaker 1: practicing the usual cordial and antique hospitality. Far from it.
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  Speaker 1: Before the day was over, I found we had to
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  Speaker 1: deal with a blacksmith, a fisherman, a hunter, a carpenter,
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  Speaker 1: anything but a clergyman. It must be said in his
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  Speaker 1: favor that we had caught him on a week day.
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  Speaker 1: Probably he appeared to greater advantage on the sunday. These
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  Speaker 1: poor priests received from the Danish government a most ridiculously
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  Speaker 1: inadequate salary and collect one quarter of the tithe of
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  Speaker 1: their parish, not more than sixty marks current or about
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  Speaker 1: L three ten as sterling. Hence the necessity of working
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  Speaker 1: to live in truth. We soon found that our host
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  Speaker 1: did not count civility among the cardinal virtues. My uncle
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  Speaker 1: soon became aware of the kind of man he had
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  Speaker 1: to deal with. Instead of a worthy and learned scholar,
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  Speaker 1: he found a dull, ill mannered peasant. He therefore resolved
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  Speaker 1: to start on his great expedition as soon as possible.
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  Speaker 1: He did not care about fatigue, and resolved to spend
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  Speaker 1: a few days in the mountains. The preparations for our
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  Speaker 1: departure were made the very next day after our arrival
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  Speaker 1: at Stapi. Hans now hired three Icelanders to take the
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  Speaker 1: place of the horses, which could no longer carry our luggage. When, however,
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  Speaker 1: these worthy Islanders had reached the bottom of the crater,
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  Speaker 1: they were to go back and leave us to ourselves.
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  Speaker 1: This point was settled before they would agree to start.
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  Speaker 1: On this occasion, my uncle part confided in Hans the
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  Speaker 1: Eider duck hunter, and gave him to understand that it
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  Speaker 1: was his intention to continue his exploration of the volcano
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  Speaker 1: to the last possible limits. Hans listened calmly and then
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  Speaker 1: nodded his head. To go there or elsewhere, To bury
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  Speaker 1: himself in the bowels of the earth, or to travel
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  Speaker 1: over its summits, was all the same to him. As
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  Speaker 1: for me, amused and occupied by the incidents of travel,
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  Speaker 1: I had begun to forget the inevitable future. But now
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  Speaker 1: I was once more destined to realize the actual state
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  Speaker 1: of affairs. What was to be done? Run away. But
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  Speaker 1: if I really had intended to leave Professor Hardwig to
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  Speaker 1: his fate, it should have been at Hamburg, and not
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  Speaker 1: at the foot of Sneffel's. One idea above all others
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  Speaker 1: began to trouble me, a very terrible idea, and one
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  Speaker 1: calculated to shake the nerves of a man even less
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  Speaker 1: sensitive than myself. Let us consider the matter, I said
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  Speaker 1: to myself. We are going to ascend the Sneffels Mountain.
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  Speaker 1: Well and good, we are about to pay a visit
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  Speaker 1: to the very bottom of the crater. Good. Still, others
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  Speaker 1: have done it and did not perish from that course. That, however,
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  Speaker 1: is not the whole matter to be considered. If a
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  Speaker 1: road does really present itself by which to descend into
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  Speaker 1: the dark and subterraneous bowels of Mother Earth, if this
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  Speaker 1: thrice unhappy Sacnussom was really told the truth, we shall
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  Speaker 1: be most certainly lost in the midst of the labyrinth
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  Speaker 1: of subterraneous galleries of the volcano. Now we have no
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  Speaker 1: evidence to prove that Sneffels is really extinct. What proof
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  Speaker 1: have we that an eruption is not shortly about to
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  Speaker 1: take place. Because the monster has slept soundly since twelve nineteen,
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  Speaker 1: does it follow that he is never to wake? If
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  Speaker 1: he does wake, what is to become of us? These
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  Speaker 1: were questions worth thinking about, and upon them I reflected
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  Speaker 1: long and deeply. I could not lie down in search
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  Speaker 1: of sleep without dreaming of eruptions. The more I thought,
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  Speaker 1: the more I objected to be reduced to the state
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  Speaker 1: of dross and ashes. I could stand it no longer.
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  Speaker 1: So I determined at last to submit the whole case
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  Speaker 1: to my uncle in the most adroit manner possible, and
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  Speaker 1: under the form of some totally irreconcilable hypothesis. I sought him,
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  Speaker 1: I laid before him my fears, and then drew back
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  Speaker 1: in order to let him get his passion over at
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  Speaker 1: his ease. I have been thinking about the matter, he said,
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  Speaker 1: in the quietest tone in the world. What did he mean?
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  Speaker 1: Was he at last about to listen to the voice
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  Speaker 1: of reason? Did he think of suspending his projects? It
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  Speaker 1: was almost too much happiness to be true. I, however,
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  Speaker 1: made no remark. In fact, I was only too anxious
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  Speaker 1: not to interrupt him, and allowed him to reflect at
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  Speaker 1: his leisure. After some moments he spoke out. I have
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  Speaker 1: been thinking about the matter, he resumed. Ever since we
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  Speaker 1: have been at STAPPI my mind has been almost solely
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  Speaker 1: occupied with the grave question which has been submitted to
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  Speaker 1: me by yourself. For nothing would be unwiser and more
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  Speaker 1: inconsistent than to act with imprudence. I heartily agree with you,
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  Speaker 1: my dear uncle, was my somewhat hopeful rejoinder. It is
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  Speaker 1: now six hundred years since Sneffels has spoken, but though
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  Speaker 1: now reduced to a state of utter silence, he may
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  Speaker 1: speak again. New volcanic eruptions are always preceded by perfectly
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  Speaker 1: well known phenomena. I have closely examined the inhabitants of
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  Speaker 1: this region, I have carefully studied the oil, and I
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  Speaker 1: beg to tell you emphatically, my dear Harry, there will
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  Speaker 1: be no eruption at present. As I listened to his
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  Speaker 1: positive affirmations, I was stupefied and could say nothing. I
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  Speaker 1: see you doubt my word, said my uncle. Follow me.
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  Speaker 1: I obeyed, mechanically, leaving the presbytery, the professor took a
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  Speaker 1: road through an opening in the basaltic rock, which led
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  Speaker 1: far away from the sea. We were soon in open country.
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  Speaker 1: If we could give such a name to a place
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  Speaker 1: all covered with volcanic deposits. The whole land seemed crushed
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  Speaker 1: under the weight of enormous stones, of trap, of balsic,
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  Speaker 1: of granite, of lava, and of all other volcanic substances.
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  Speaker 1: I could see many spouts of steam rising in the air.
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  Speaker 1: These white vapors, called in the Icelandic language rych ear,
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  Speaker 1: come from hot water fountains and indicate by their violence
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  Speaker 1: the volcanic activity of the soil. Now, the sight of
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  Speaker 1: these appeared to justify my apprehension. I was therefore all
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  Speaker 1: the more surprised and mortified when my uncle thus addressed me,
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  Speaker 1: You see all this smoke carry my boy, Yes, sir, well,
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  Speaker 1: as long as you see them, thus you have nothing
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  Speaker 1: to fear from the volcano. How can that be? Be
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  Speaker 1: careful to remember this, continued the professor. At the approach
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  Speaker 1: of an eruption, these spouts of vapor redoubled their activity
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  Speaker 1: to disappear altogether during the period of volcanic eruption, for
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  Speaker 1: the elastic fluids, no longer having the necessary tension, seek
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  Speaker 1: refuge in the interior of the crater instead of escaping
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  Speaker 1: through the fissures of the earth. If then the steam
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  Speaker 1: remains in its normal and habitual state, if their energy
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  Speaker 1: does not increase, and if you add to this the
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  Speaker 1: remark that the wind is not replaced by heavy atmospheric
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  Speaker 1: pressure and dead calm, you may be quite sure that
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  Speaker 1: there is no fear of any immediate eruption. Enough, my boy,
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  Speaker 1: when science and sent forth her fit, it is only
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  Speaker 1: to hear and obey. I came back to the house
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  Speaker 1: quite downcast and disappointed. My uncle had completely defeated me
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  Speaker 1: with his scientific arguments. Nevertheless, I had still one hope,
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  Speaker 1: and that was when once we were at the bottom
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  Speaker 1: of the crater, that it would be impossible, in default
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  Speaker 1: of a gallery or tunnel, to descend any deeper. And
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  Speaker 1: this despite all the learned sacnus ends in the world.
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  Speaker 1: I passed the whole of the following night with a
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  Speaker 1: nightmare on my chest, and after unheard of miseries and tortures,
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  Speaker 1: found myself in the very depths of the Earth, from
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  Speaker 1: which I was suddenly launched into planetary space under the
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  Speaker 1: form of an eruptive rock. Next day, June thirtieth, Hans
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  Speaker 1: calmly awaited us outside the presbytery with his three companions
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  Speaker 1: loaded with provisions, tools and instruments, two iron shod poles,
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  Speaker 1: two guns, and two large game bags were reserved for
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  Speaker 1: my uncle and myself. Hans, who was a man who
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  Speaker 1: never forgot even the minutest precautions, had added to our
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  Speaker 1: baggage a large skin full of water as an addition
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  Speaker 1: to our hoards. This assured us water for eight days.
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  Speaker 1: It was nine o'clock in the morning when we were
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  Speaker 1: quite ready the rector and his huge wife or servant
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  Speaker 1: I never knew, which stood at the door to see
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  Speaker 1: us off. They appeared to be about to inflict on
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  Speaker 1: us the usual final kiss of the Icelanders. To our
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  Speaker 1: supreme astonishment, there a jew took the shape of a
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  Speaker 1: formidable bill in which they even counted the use of
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  Speaker 1: the pastoral house, really and truly the most abominable and
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  Speaker 1: dirty place I ever was in. The worthy couple cheated
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  Speaker 1: and robbed us like a Swiss innkeeper, and made us
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  Speaker 1: feel by the sum we had to pay the splendors
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  Speaker 1: of their hospitality. My uncle, however, paid without bargaining. A
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  Speaker 1: man who had made up his mind to undertake a
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  Speaker 1: voyage into the interior of the earth is not the
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  Speaker 1: man to haggle over a few miserable Rick's dollars. This
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  Speaker 1: important matter settled, Hans gave the signal for departure, and
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  Speaker 1: some few moments later we had left Stoppy end of
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  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven,