Part 1 - Dropped from the Clouds: Chapter 18

by Jules Verne

　　Cyrus Harding's project had succeeded, but, according to his usual habit heshowed no satisfaction; with closed lips and a fixed look, he remainedmotionless. Herbert was in ecstasies, Neb bounded with joy, Pencroft noddedhis great head, murmuring these words,--

　　"Come, our engineer gets on capitally!"

　　The nitro-glycerine had indeed acted powerfully. The opening which it hadmade was so large that the volume of water which escaped through this newoutlet was at least treble that which before passed through the old one.The result was, that a short time after the operation the level of the lakewould be lowered two feet, or more.

　　The settlers went to the Chimneys to take some pickaxes, iron-tippedspears, string made of fibers, flint and steel; they then returned to theplateau, Top accompanying them.

　　On the way the sailor could not help saying to the engineer,--

　　"Don't you think, captain, that by means of that charming liquid you havemade, one could blow up the whole of our island?"

　　"Without any doubt, the island, continents, and the world itself,"replied the engineer. "It is only a question of quantity."

　　"Then could you not use this nitro-glycerine for loading firearms?" askedthe sailor.

　　"No, Pencroft; for it is too explosive a substance. But it would be easyto make some guncotton, or even ordinary powder, as we have azotic acid,saltpeter, sulphur, and coal. Unhappily, it is the guns which we have notgot.

　　"Oh, captain," replied the sailor, "with a little determination--"

　　Pencroft had erased the word "impossible" from the dictionary of LincolnIsland.

　　The settlers, having arrived at Prospect Heights, went immediatelytowards that point of the lake near which was the old opening nowuncovered. This outlet had now become practicable, since the water nolonger rushed through it, and it would doubtless be easy to explore theinterior.

　　In a few minutes the settlers had reached the lower point of the lake,and a glance showed them that the object had been attained.

　　In fact, in the side of the lake, and now above the surface of the water,appeared the long-looked-for opening. A narrow ridge, left bare by theretreat of the water, allowed them to approach it. This orifice was nearlytwenty feet in width, but scarcely two in height. It was like the mouth ofa drain at the edge of the pavement, and therefore did not offer an easypassage to the settlers; but Neb and Pencroft, taking their pickaxes, soonmade it of a suitable height.

　　The engineer then approached, and found that the sides of the opening, inits upper part at least, had not a slope of more than from thirty tothirty-five degrees. It was therefore practicable, and, provided that thedeclivity did not increase, it would be easy to descend even to the levelof the sea. If then, as was probable, some vast cavity existed in theinterior of the granite, it might, perhaps, be of great use.

　　"Well, captain, what are we stopping for?" asked the sailor, impatient toenter the narrow passage. You see Top has got before us!"

　　"Very well," replied the engineer. "But we must see our way. Neb, go andcut some resinous branches."

　　Neb and Herbert ran to the edge of the lake, shaded with pines and othergreen trees, and soon returned with some branches, which they made intotorches. The torches were lighted with flint and steel, and Cyrus Hardingleading, the settlers ventured into the dark passage, which the overplus ofthe lake had formerly filled.

　　Contrary to what might have been supposed, the diameter of the passageincreased as the explorers proceeded, so that they very soon were able tostand upright. The granite, worn by the water for an infinite time, wasvery slippery, and falls were to be dreaded. But the settlers were allattached to each other by a cord, as is frequently done in ascendingmountains. Happily some projections of the granite, forming regular steps,made the descent less perilous. Drops, still hanging from the rocks, shonehere and there under the light of the torches, and the explorers guessedthat the sides were clothed with innumerable stalactites. The engineerexamined this black granite. There was not a stratum, not a break in it.The mass was compact, and of an extremely close grain. The passage dated,then, from the very origin of the island. It was not the water which littleby little had hollowed it. Pluto and not Neptune had bored it with his ownhand, and on the wall traces of an eruptive work could be distinguished,which all the washing of the water had not been able totally to efface.

　　The settlers descended very slowly. They could not but feel a certainawe, in this venturing into these unknown depths, for the first timevisited by human beings. They did not speak, but they thought; and thethought came to more than one, that some polypus or other giganticcephalopod might inhabit the interior cavities, which were in communicationwith the sea. However, Top kept at the head of the little band, and theycould rely on the sagacity of the dog, who would not fail to give the alarmif there was any need for it.

　　After having descended about a hundred feet, following a winding road,Harding who was walking on before, stopped, and his companions came up withhim. The place where they had halted was wider, so as to form a cavern ofmoderate dimensions. Drops of water fell from the vault, but that did notprove that they oozed through the rock. They were simply the last tracesleft by the torrent which had so long thundered through this cavity, andthe air there was pure though slightly damp, but producing no mephiticexhalation.

　　"Well, my dear Cyrus," said Gideon Spilett, "here is a very secureretreat, well hid in the depths of the rock, but it is, however,uninhabitable."

　　"Why uninhabitable?" asked the sailor.

　　"Because it is too small and too dark."

　　"Couldn't we enlarge it, hollow it out, make openings to let in light andair?" replied Pencroft, who now thought nothing impossible.

　　"Let us go on with our exploration," said Cyrus Harding. "Perhaps lowerdown, nature will have spared us this labor."

　　"We have only gone a third of the way," observed Herbert.

　　"Nearly a third," replied Harding, "for we have descended a hundred feetfrom the opening, and it is not impossible that a hundred feet fartherdown--"

　　"Where is Top?" asked Neb, interrupting his master.

　　They searched the cavern, but the dog was not there.

　　"Most likely he has gone on," said Pencroft.

　　"Let us join him," replied Harding.

　　The descent was continued. The engineer carefully observed all thedeviations of the passage, and notwithstanding so many detours, he couldeasily have given an account of its general direction, which went towardsthe sea.

　　The settlers had gone some fifty feet farther, when their attention wasattracted by distant sounds which came up from the depths. They stopped andlistened. These sounds, carried through the passage as through an acoustictube, came clearly to the ear.

　　"That is Top barking!" cried Herbert.

　　"Yes," replied Pencroft, "and our brave dog is barking furiously!"

　　"We have our iron-tipped spears," said Cyrus Harding. "Keep on yourguard, and forward!"

　　"It is becoming more and more interesting," murmured Gideon Spilett inthe sailor's ear, who nodded. Harding and his companions rushed to the helpof their dog. Top's barking became more and more perceptible, and it seemedstrangely fierce. Was he engaged in a struggle with some animal whoseretreat he had disturbed? Without thinking of the danger to which theymight be exposed, the explorers were now impelled by an irresistiblecuriosity, and in a few minutes, sixteen feet lower they rejoined Top.

　　There the passage ended in a vast and magnificent cavern.

　　Top was running backwards and forwards, barking furiously. Pencroft andNeb, waving their torches, threw the light into every crevice; and at thesame time, Harding, Gideon Spilett, and Herbert, their spears raised, wereready for any emergency which might arise. The enormous cavern was empty.The settlers explored it in every direction. There was nothing there, notan animal, not a human being; and yet Top continued to bark. Neithercaresses nor threats could make him be silent.

　　"There must be a place somewhere, by which the waters of the lake reachedthe sea," said the engineer.

　　"Of course," replied Pencroft, "and we must take care not to tumble intoa hole."

　　"Go, Top, go!" cried Harding.

　　The dog, excited by his master's words, ran towards the extremity of thecavern, and there redoubled his barking.

　　They followed him, and by the light of the torches, perceived the mouthof a regular well in the granite. It was by this that the water escaped;and this time it was not an oblique and practicable passage, but aperpendicular well, into which it was impossible to venture.

　　The torches were held over the opening: nothing could be seen. Hardingtook a lighted branch, and threw it into the abyss. The blazing resin,whose illuminating power increased still more by the rapidity of its fall,lighted up the interior of the well, but yet nothing appeared. The flamethen went out with a slight hiss, which showed that it had reached thewater, that is to say, the level of the sea.

　　The engineer, calculating the time employed in its fall, was able tocalculate the depth of the well, which was found to be about ninety feet.

　　The floor of the cavern must thus be situated ninety feet above the levelof the sea.

　　"Here is our dwelling," said Cyrus Harding.

　　"But it was occupied by some creature," replied Gideon Spilett, whosecuriosity was not yet satisfied.

　　"Well, the creature, amphibious or otherwise, has made off through thisopening," replied the engineer, "and has left the place for us."

　　"Never mind," added the sailor, "I should like very much to be Top justfor a quarter of an hour, for he doesn't bark for nothing!"

　　Cyrus Harding looked at his dog, and those of his companions who werenear him might have heard him murmur these words,--

　　"Yes, I believe that Top knows more than we do about a great manythings."

　　However, the wishes of the settlers were for the most part satisfied.Chance, aided by the marvelous sagacity of their leader, had done themgreat service. They had now at their disposal a vast cavern, the size ofwhich could not be properly calculated by the feeble light of theirtorches, but it would certainly be easy to divide it into rooms, by meansof brick partitions, or to use it, if not as a house, at least as aspacious apartment. The water which had left it could not return. The placewas free.

　　Two difficulties remained; firstly, the possibility of lighting thisexcavation in the midst of solid rock; secondly, the necessity of renderingthe means of access more easy. It was useless to think of lighting it fromabove, because of the enormous thickness of the granite which composed theceiling; but perhaps the outer wall next the sea might be pierced. CyrusHarding, during the descent, had roughly calculated its obliqueness, andconsequently the length of the passage, and was therefore led to believethat the outer wall could not be very thick. If light was thus obtained, sowould a means of access, for it would be as easy to pierce a door aswindows, and to establish an exterior ladder.

　　Harding made known his ideas to his companions.

　　"Then, captain, let us set to work!" replied Pencroft. "I have mypickaxe, and I shall soon make my way through this wall. Where shall Istrike?"

　　"Here," replied the engineer, showing the sturdy sailor a considerablerecess in the side, which would much diminish the thickness.

　　Pencroft attacked the granite, and for half an hour, by the light of thetorches, he made the splinters fly around him. Neb relieved him, thenSpilett took Neb's place.

　　This work had lasted two hours, and they began to fear that at this spotthe wall would not yield to the pickaxe, when at a last blow given byGideon Spilett, the instrument, passing through the rock, fell outside.

　　"Hurrah! hurrah!" cried Pencroft.

　　The wall only measured there three feet in thickness.

　　Harding applied his eye to the aperture, which overlooked the ground froma height of eighty feet. Before him was extended the sea-coast, the islet,and beyond the open sea.

　　Floods of light entered by this hole, inundating the splendid cavern andproducing a magic effect! On its left side it did not measure more thanthirty feet in height and breadth, but on the right it was enormous, andits vaulted roof rose to a height of more than eighty feet.

　　In some places granite pillars, irregularly disposed, supported thevaulted roof, as those in the nave of a cathedral, here forming lateralpiers, there elliptical arches, adorned with pointed moldings, losingthemselves in dark bays, amid the fantastic arches of which glimpses couldbe caught in the shade, covered with a profusion of projections formed likeso many pendants. This cavern was a picturesque mixture of all the stylesof Byzantine, Roman, or Gothic architecture ever produced by the hand ofman. And yet this was only the work of nature. She alone had hollowed thisfairy Aihambra in a mass of granite.

　　The settlers were overwhelmed with admiration. Where they had onlyexpected to find a narrow cavity, they had found a sort of marvelouspalace, and Neb had taken off his hat, as if he had been transported into atemple!

　　Cries of admiration issued from every mouth. Hurrahs resounded, and theecho was repeated again and again till it died away in the dark naves.

　　"Ah, my friends!" exclaimed Cyrus Harding, "when we have lighted theinterior of this place, and have arranged our rooms and storehouses in theleft part, we shall still have this splendid cavern, which we will make ourstudy and our museum!"

　　"And we will call it?--" asked Herbert.

　　"Granite House," replied Harding; a name which his companions againsaluted with a cheer.

　　The torches were now almost consumed, and as they were obliged to returnby the passage to reach the summit of the plateau, it was decided to putoff the work necessary for the arrangement of their new dwelling till thenext day.

　　Before departing, Cyrus Harding leaned once more over the dark well,which descended perpendicularly to the level of the sea. He listenedattentively. No noise was heard, not even that of the water, which theundulations of the surge must sometimes agitate in its depths. A flamingbranch was again thrown in. The sides of the well were lighted up for aninstant, but as at the first time, nothing suspicious was seen.

　　If some marine monster had been surprised unawares by the retreat of thewater, he would by this time have regained the sea by the subterraneanpassage, before the new opening had been offered to him.

　　Meanwhile, the engineer was standing motionless, his eyes fixed on thegulf, without uttering a word.

　　The sailor approached him, and touching his arm, "Captain!" said he.

　　"What do you want, my friend?" asked the engineer, as if he had returnedfrom the land of dreams.

　　"The torches will soon go out."

　　"Forward!" replied Cyrus Harding.

　　The little band left the cavern and began to ascend through the darkpassage. Top closed the rear, still growling every now and then. The ascentwas painful enough. The settlers rested a few minutes in the upper grotto,which made a sort of landing-place halfway up the long granite staircase.Then they began to climb again.

　　Soon fresher air was felt. The drops of water, dried by evaporation, nolonger sparkled on the walls. The flaring torches began to grow dim. Theone which Neb carried went out, and if they did not wish to find their wayin the dark, they must hasten.

　　This was done, and a little before four o'clock, at the moment when thesailor's torch went out in its turn, Cyrus Harding and his companionspassed out of the passage.