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Off on a Comet-Part22_JULES VERNE(1828-1905)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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Climbing up to this orifice, which was more than sixty feet above the level

of the sea, they ascertained that it opened into a long dark gallery.



They entered and groped their way cautiously along the sides.

A continuous rumbling, that increased as they advanced, made them



aware that they must be approaching the central funnel of the volcano;

their only fear was lest some insuperable wall of rock should suddenly



bar their further progress.

Servadac was some distance ahead.



"Come on!" he cried cheerily, his voice ringing through the darkness,

"come on! Our fire is lighted! no stint of fuel! Nature provides that!



Let us make haste and warm ourselves!"

Inspired by his confidence, the count and the lieutenant



advancedbravely along the unseen and winding path.

The temperature was now at least fifteen degrees above zero,



and the walls of the gallery were beginning to feel quite

warm to the touch, an indication, not to be overlooked,



that the substance of which the rock was composed was metallic

in its nature, and capable of conducting heat.



"Follow me!" shouted Servadac again; "we shall soon find a regular stove!"

Onwards they made their way, until at last a sharp turn brought them



into a sudden flood of light. The tunnel had opened into a vast cavern,

and the gloom was exchanged for an illumination that was perfectly dazzling.



Although the temperature was high, it was not in any way intolerable.

One glance was sufficient to satisfy the explorers that



the grateful light and heat of this huge excavation were to be

attributed to a torrent of lava that was rolling downwards



to the sea, completely subtending the aperture of the cave.

Not inaptly might the scene be compared to the celebrated



Grotto of the Winds at the rear of the central fall of Niagara,

only with the exception that here, instead of a curtain



of rushing water, it was a curtain of roaring flame that hung

before the cavern's mouth.



"Heaven be praised!" cried Servadac, with glad emotion; "here is

all that we hoped for, and more besides!"



CHAPTER XXI

WINTER QUARTERS



The habitation that had now revealed itself, well lighted and thoroughly warm,

was indeed marvelous. Not only would it afford ample accommodation for



Hector Servadac and "his subjects," as Ben Zoof delighted to call them,

but it would provide shelter for the two horses, and for a considerable



number of domestic animals.

This enormouscavern was neither more or less than the common junction



of nearly twenty tunnels (similar to that which had been traversed by

the explorers), forming ramifications in the solid rock, and the pores,



as it were, by which the internal heat exuded from the heart of the mountain.

Here, as long as the volcano retained its activity, every living



creature on the new asteroid might brave the most rigorous of climates;

and as Count Timascheff justly remarked, since it was the only burning



mountain they had sighted, it was most probably the sole outlet for Gallia's

subterranean fires, and consequently the eruption might continue unchanged



for ages to come.

But not a day, not an hour, was to be lost now.



The steam-launch returned to Gourbi Island, and preparations

were forthwith taken in hand for conveying man and beast,



corn and fodder, across to the volcanicheadland.

Loud and hearty were the acclamations of the little colony,



especially of the Spaniards, and great was the relief of Nina,




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