Chapter 18 - Page 2

This last observation applied to the dark gallery, and was indicatedby the compass.

"Now, Axel," cried the Professor with enthusiasm, "now we are reallygoing into the interior of the earth. At this precise moment thejourney commences."

So saying, my uncle took in one hand Ruhmkorff's apparatus, which washanging from his neck; and with the other he formed an electriccommunication with the coil in the lantern, and a sufficiently brightlight dispersed the darkness of the passage.

Hans carried the other apparatus, which was also put into action.This ingenious application of electricity would enable us to go onfor a long time by creating an artificial light even in the midst ofthe most inflammable gases.

"Now, march!" cried my uncle.

Each shouldered his package. Hans drove before him the load of cordsand clothes; and, myself walking last, we entered the gallery.

At the moment of becoming engulfed in this dark gallery, I raised myhead, and saw for the last time through the length of that vast tubethe sky of Iceland, which I was never to behold again.

The lava, in the last eruption of 1229, had forced a passage throughthis tunnel. It still lined the walls with a thick and glisteningcoat. The electric light was here intensified a hundredfold byreflection.

The only difficulty in proceeding lay in not sliding too fast down anincline of about forty-five degrees; happily certain asperities and afew blisterings here and there formed steps, and we descended,letting our baggage slip before us from the end of a long rope.

But that which formed steps under our feet became stalactitesoverhead. The lava, which was porous in many places, had formed asurface covered with small rounded blisters; crystals of opaquequartz, set with limpid tears of glass, and hanging like clusteredchandeliers from the vaulted roof, seemed as it were to kindle andform a sudden illumination as we passed on our way. It seemed as ifthe genii of the depths were lighting up their palace to receivetheir terrestrial guests.

"It is magnificent!" I cried spontaneously. "My uncle, what a sight!Don't you admire those blending hues of lava, passing from reddishbrown to bright yellow by imperceptible shades? And these crystalsare just like globes of light."

"Ali, you think so, do you, Axel, my boy? Well, you will see greatersplendours than these, I hope. Now let us march: march!"

He had better have said slide, for we did nothing but drop down thesteep inclines. It was the facifs _descensus Averni_ of Virgil. Thecompass, which I consulted frequently, gave our direction assoutheast with inflexible steadiness. This lava stream deviatedneither to the right nor to the left.

Yet there was no sensible increase of temperature. This justifiedDavy's theory, and more than once I consulted the thermometer withsurprise. Two hours after our departure it only