Off on a Comet! a Journey through Planetary Space
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 only living in the cellars
instead of upon the ground floor.”
“We will try and make ourselves comfortable,” said the orderly.
“Oh yes, we will be happy here,” rejoined the child; “it is nice and
warm.”
Although they were as careful as they could to conceal their misgivings
from the rest, Servadac and his two friends could not regard their
present situation without distrust. When alone, they would frequently
ask each other what would become of them all, if the volcanic heat
should really be subsiding, or if some unexpected perturbation should
retard the course of the comet, and compel them to an indefinitely
prolonged residence in their grim abode. It was scarcely likely that the
comet could supply the fuel of which ere long they would be in urgent
need. Who could expect to find coal in the bowels of Gallia,--coal,
which is the residuum of ancient forests mineralized by the lapse of
ages? Would not the lava-cinders exhumed from the extinct volcano be
their last poor resource?
“Keep up your spirits, my friends,” said Servadac; “we have plenty of
time before us at present. Let us hope that as fresh difficulties arise,
fresh ways of escape will open. Never despair!”
“True,” said the count; “it is an old saying that ‘Necessity is the
mother of invention.’ Besides, I should think it very unlikely that the
internal heat will fail us now before the summer.”
The lieutenant declared that he entertained the same hope. As the reason
of his opinion he alleged that the combustion of the eruptive matter
was most probably of quite recent origin, because the comet before
its collision with the earth had possessed no atmosphere, and that
consequently no oxygen could have penetrated to its interior.