A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
By Jules Verne
CHAPTER 33
OUR ROUTE REVERSED
Here ends what I call "My Journal" of our voyage on board the raft,
which journal was happily saved from the wreck. I proceed with my
narrative as I did before I commenced my daily notes.
What happened when the terrible shock took place, when the raft was cast
upon the rocky shore, it would be impossible for me now to say. I felt
myself precipitated violently into the boiling waves, and if I escaped
from a certain and cruel death, it was wholly owing to the determination
of the faithful Hans, who, clutching me by the arm, saved me from the
yawning abyss.
The courageous Icelander then carried me in his powerful arms, far out
of the reach of the waves, and laid me down upon a burning expanse of
sand, where I found myself some time afterwards in the company of my
uncle, the Professor.
Then he quietly returned towards the fatal rocks, against which the
furious waves were beating, in order to save any stray waifs from the
wreck. This man was always practical and thoughtful. I could not utter a
word; I was quite overcome with emotion; my whole body was broken and
bruised with fatigue; it took hours before I was anything like myself.
Meanwhile, there fell a fearful deluge of rain, drenching us to the
skin. Its very violence, however, proclaimed the approaching end of the
storm. Some overhanging rocks afforded us a slight protection from the
torrents.
Under this shelter, Hans prepared some food, which, however, I was
unable to touch; and, exhausted by the three weary days and nights of
watching, we fell into a deep and painful sleep. My dreams were fearful,
but at last exhausted nature asserted her supremacy, and I slumbered.
Next day when I awoke the change was magical. The weather was
magnificent. Air and sea, as if by mutual consent, had regained their
serenity. Every trace of the storm, even the faintest, had disappeared.
I was saluted on my awakening by the first joyous tones I had heard from
the Professor for many a day. His gaiety, indeed, was something
terrible.
"Well, my lad," he cried, rubbing his hands together, "have you slept
soundly?"
Might it not have been supposed that we were in the old house on the
Konigstrasse; that I had just come down quietly to my breakfast; and
that my marriage with Gretchen was to take place that very day? My
uncle's coolness was exasperating.
Alas, considering how the tempest had driven us in an easterly
direction, we had passed under the whole of Germany, under the city of
Hamburg where I had been so happy, under the very street which contained
all I loved and cared for in the world.
It was a positive fact that I was only separated from her by a distance
of forty leagues. But these forty leagues were of hard, impenetrable
granite!
All these dreary and miserable reflections passed through my mind,
before I attempted to answer my uncle's question.
"Why, what is the matter?" he cried. "Cannot you say whether you have
slept well or not?"
"I have slept very well," was my reply, "but every bone in my body
aches. I suppose that will lead to nothing."
"Nothing at all, my boy. It is only the result of the fatigue of the
last few days--that is all."
"You appear--if I may be allowed to say so--to be very jolly this
morning," I said.
"Delighted, my dear boy, delighted. Was never happier in my life. We
have at last reached the wished-for port."
"The end of our expedition?" cried I, in a tone of considerable
surprise.
"No; but to the confines of that sea which I began to fear would never
end, but go round the whole world. We will now tranquilly resume our
journey by land, and once again endeavor to dive into the centre of the
earth."
"My dear uncle," I began, in a hesitating kind of way, "allow me to ask
you one question."
"Certainly, Harry; a dozen if you think proper."
"One will suffice. How about getting back?" I asked.
"How about getting back? What a question to ask. We have not as yet
reached the end of our journey."
"I know that. All I want to know is how you propose we shall manage the
return voyage?"
"In the most simple manner in the world," said the imperturbable
Professor. "Once we reach the exact centre of this sphere, either we
shall find a new road by which to ascend to the surface, or we shall
simply turn round and go back by the way we came. I have every reason to
believe that while we are traveling forward, it will not close behind
us."
"Then one of the first matters to see to will be to repair the raft,"
was my rather melancholy response.
"Of course. We must attend to that above all things," continued the
Professor.
"Then comes the all-important question of provisions," I urged. "Have we
anything like enough left to enable us to accomplish such great, such
amazing, designs as you contemplate carrying out?"
"I have seen into the matter, and my answer is in the affirmative. Hans
is a very clever fellow, and I have reason to believe that he has saved
the greater part of the cargo. But the best way to satisfy your scruples
is to come and judge for yourself."
Saying which, he led the way out of the kind of open grotto in which we
had taken shelter. I had almost begun to hope that which I should rather
have feared, and this was the impossibility of such a shipwreck leaving
even the slightest signs of what it had carried as freight. I was,
however, thoroughly mistaken.
As soon as I reached the shores of this inland sea, I found Hans
standing gravely in the midst of a large number of things laid out in
complete order. My uncle wrung his hands with deep and silent gratitude.
His heart was too full for speech.
This man, whose superhuman devotion to his employers I not only never
saw surpassed, nor even equaled, had been hard at work all the time we
slept, and at the risk of his life had succeeded in saving the most
precious articles of our cargo.
Of course, under the circumstances, we necessarily experienced several
severe losses. Our weapons had wholly vanished. But experience had
taught us to do without them. The provision of powder had, however,
remained intact, after having narrowly escaped blowing us all to atoms
in the storm.
"Well," said the Professor, who was now ready to make the best of
everything, "as we have no guns, all we have to do is to give up all
idea of hunting."
"Yes, my dear sir, we can do without them, but what about all our
instruments?"
"Here is the manometer, the most useful of all, and which I gladly
accept in lieu of the rest. With it alone I can calculate the depth as
we proceed; by its means alone I shall be able to decide when we have
reached the centre of the earth. Ha, ha! but for this little instrument
we might make a mistake, and run the risk of coming out at the
antipodes!"
All this was said amid bursts of unnatural laughter.
"But the compass," I cried, "without that what can we do?"
"Here it is, safe and sound!" he cried, with real joy, "ah, ah, and here
we have the chronometer and the thermometers. Hans the hunter is indeed
an invaluable man!"
It was impossible to deny this fact. As far as the nautical and other
instruments were concerned, nothing was wanting. Then on further
examination, I found ladders, cords, pickaxes, crowbars, and shovels,
all scattered about on the shore.
There was, however, finally the most important question of all, and that
was, provisions.
"But what are we to do for food?" I asked.
"Let us see to the commissariat department", replied my uncle gravely.
The boxes which contained our supply of food for the voyage were placed
in a row along the strand, and were in a capital state of preservation;
the sea had in every case respected their contents, and to sum up in one
sentence, taking into consideration, biscuits, salt meat, Schiedam and
dried fish, we could still calculate on having about four months'
supply, if used with prudence and caution.
"Four months," cried the sanguine Professor in high glee. "Then we shall
have plenty of time both to go and to come, and with what remains I
undertake to give a grand dinner to my colleagues of the Johanneum."
I sighed. I should by this time have become used to the temperament of
my uncle, and yet this man astonished me more and more every day. He was
the greatest human enigma I ever had known.
"Now," he, "before we do anything else, we must lay in a stock of fresh
water. The rain has fallen in abundance, and filled the hollows of the
granite. There is a rich supply of water, and we have no fear of
suffering from thirst, which in our circumstances is of the last
importance. As for the raft, I shall recommend Hans to repair it to the
best of his abilities; though I have every reason to believe we shall
not require it again."
"How is that?" I cried, more amazed than ever at my uncle's style of
reasoning.
"I have an idea, my dear boy; it is none other than this simple fact; we
shall not come out by the same opening as that by which we entered."
I began to look at my uncle with vague suspicion. An idea had more than
once taken possession of me; and this was, that he was going mad. And
yet, little did I think how true and prophetic his words were doomed to
be.
"And now," he said, "having seen to all these matters of detail, to
breakfast."
I followed him to a sort of projecting cape, after he had given his last
instructions to our guide. In this original position, with dried meat,
biscuit, and a delicious cup of tea, we made a satisfactory meal--I may
say one of the most welcome and pleasant I ever remember. Exhaustion,
the keen atmosphere, the state of calm after so much agitation, all
contributed to give me an excellent appetite. Indeed, it contributed
very much to producing a pleasant and cheerful state of mind.
While breakfast was in hand, and between the sips of warm tea, I asked
my uncle if he had any idea of how we now stood in relation to the world
above.
"For my part," I added, "I think it will be rather difficult to
determine."
"Well, if we were compelled to fix the exact spot," said my uncle, "it
might be difficult, since during the three days of that awful tempest I
could keep no account either of the quickness of our pace, or of the
direction in which the raft was going. Still, we will endeavor to
approximate to the truth. We shall not, I believe, be so very far out."
"Well, if I recollect rightly," I replied, "our last observation was
made at the geyser island."
"Harry's Island, my boy! Harry's Island. Do not decline the honor of
having named it; given your name to an island discovered by us, the
first human beings who trod it since the creation of the world!"
"Let it be so, then. At Harry's Island we had already gone over two
hundred and seventy leagues of sea, and we were, I believe, about six
hundred leagues, more or less, from Iceland."
"Good. I am glad to see that you remember so well. Let us start from
that point, and let us count four days of storm, during which our rate
of traveling must have been very great. I should say that our velocity
must have been about eighty leagues to the twenty-four hours."
I agreed that I thought this a fair calculation. There were then three
hundred leagues to be added to the grand total.
"Yes, and the Central Sea must extend at least six hundred leagues from
side to side. Do you know, my boy, Harry, that we have discovered an
inland lake larger than the Mediterranean?"
"Certainly, and we only know of its extent in one way. It may be
hundreds of miles in length."
"Very likely."
"Then," said I, after calculating for some for some minutes, "if your
previsions are right, we are at this moment exactly under the
Mediterranean itself."
"Do you think so?"
"Yes, I am almost certain of it. Are we not nine hundred leagues distant
from Reykjavik?"
"That is perfectly true, and a famous bit of road we have traveled, my
boy. But why we should be under the Mediterranean more than under Turkey
or the Atlantic Ocean can only be known when we are sure of not having
deviated from our course; and of this we know nothing."
"I do not think we were driven very far from our course; the wind
appears to me to have been always about the same. My opinion is that
this shore must be situated to the southeast of Port Gretchen."
"Good--I hope so. It will, however, be easy to decide the matter by
taking the bearings from our departure by means of the compass. Come
along, and we will consult that invaluable invention."
The Professor now walked eagerly in the direction of the rock where the
indefatigable Hans had placed the instruments in safety. My uncle was
gay and lighthearted; he rubbed his hands, and assumed all sorts of
attitudes. He was to all appearance once more a young man. Since I had
known him, never had he been so amiable and pleasant. I followed him,
rather curious to know whether I had made any mistake in my estimation
of our position.
As soon as we had reached the rock, my uncle took the compass, placed it
horizontally before him, and looked keenly at the needle.
As he had at first shaken it to give it vivacity, it oscillated
considerably, and then slowly assumed its right position under the
influence of the magnetic power.
The Professor bent his eyes curiously over the wondrous instrument. A
violent start immediately showed the extent of his emotion.
He closed his eyes, rubbed them, and took another and a keener survey.
Then he turned slowly round to me, stupefaction depicted on his
countenance.
"What is the matter?" said I, beginning to be alarmed.
He could not speak. He was too overwhelmed for words. He simply pointed
to the instrument.
I examined it eagerly according to his mute directions, and a loud cry
of surprise escaped my lips. The needle of the compass pointed due
north--in the direction we expected was the south!
It pointed to the shore instead of to the high seas.
I shook the compass; I examined it with a curious and anxious eye. It
was in a state of perfection. No blemish in any way explained the
phenomenon. Whatever position we forced the needle into, it returned
invariably to the same unexpected point.
It was useless attempting to conceal from ourselves the fatal truth.
There could be no doubt about it, unwelcome as was the fact, that during
the tempest, there had been a sudden slant of wind, of which we had been
unable to take any account, and thus the raft had carried us back to the
shores we had left, apparently forever, so many days before!
