upon making the darkness hideous with his cries we would put

him out of suspense by sending him to join the Wakwafi and wait
for Annette in another sphere, and began to discuss the situation

as well as we could. First, however, at Good's suggestion, we
bound two paddles mast-fashion in the bows so that they might

give us warning against any sudden lowering of the roof of the
cave or waterway. It was clear to us that we were in an underground

river or, as Alphonse defined it, 'main drain', which carried
off the superfluous waters of the lake. Such rivers are well

known to exist in many parts of the world, but it has not often
been the evil fortune of explorers to travel by them. That the

river was wide we could clearly see, for the light from the bull's-eye
lantern failed to reach from shore to shore, although occasionally,

when the current swept us either to one side or the other, we
could distinguish the rock wall of the tunnel, which, as far

as we could make out, appeared to arch about twenty-five feet
above our heads. As for the current itself, it ran, Good estimated,

at least eight knots, and, fortunately for us, was, as is usual,
fiercest in the middle of the stream. Still, our first act was

to arrange that one of us, with the lantern and a pole there
was in the canoe, should always be in the bows ready, if possible,

to prevent us from being stove in against the side of the cave
or any projecting rock. Umslopogaas, having already dined, took

the first turn. This was absolutely" target="_blank" title="ad.绝对地；确实">absolutely, with one exception, all
that we could do towards preserving our safety. The exception

was that another of us took up a position in the stern with a
paddle by means of which it was possible to steer the canoe more

or less and to keep her from the sides of the cave. These matters
attended to, we made a somewhat sparing meal off the cold buck's

meat (for we did not know how long it might have to last us),
and then feeling in rather better spirits I gave my opinion that,

serious as it undoubtedly was, I did not consider our position
altogether without hope, unless, indeed, the natives were right,

and the river plunged straight down into the bowels of the earth.
If not, it was clear that it must emerge somewhere, probably

on the other side of the mountains, and in that case all we had
to think of was to keep ourselves alive till we got there, wherever

'there' might be. But, of course, as Good lugubriously pointed
out, on the other hand we might fall victims to a hundred unsuspected

horrors -- or the river might go on winding away inside the earth
till it dried up, in which case our fate would indeed be an

awful one.
'Well, let us hope for the best and prepare ourselves for the

worst,' said Sir Henry, who is always cheerful and even spirited
-- a very tower of strength in the time of trouble. 'We have

come out of so many queer scrapes together, that somehow I almost
fancy we shall come out of this,' he added.

This was excellent advice, and we proceeded to take it each in
our separate way -- that is, except Alphonse, who had by now

sunk into a sort of terrified stupor. Good was at the helm and
Umslopogaas in the bows, so there was nothing left for Sir Henry

and myself to do except to lie down in the canoe and think.
It certainly was a curious, and indeed almost a weird, position

to be placed in -- rushing along, as we were, through the bowels
of the earth, borne on the bosom of a Stygian river, something

after the fashion of souls being ferried by Charon, as Curtis
said. And how dark it was! The feeble ray from our little lamp

did but serve to show the darkness. There in the bows sat old
Umslopogaas, like Pleasure in the poem, {Endnote 9} watchful

and untiring, the pole ready to his hand, and behind in the shadow
I could just make out the form of Good peering forward at the

ray of light in order to make out how to steer with the paddle
that he held and now and again dipped into the water.

'Well, well,' thought I, 'you have come in search of adventures,
Allan my boy, and you have certainly got them. At your time

of life, too! You ought to be ashamed of yourself; but somehow
you are not, and, awful as it all is, perhaps you will pull through

after all; and if you don't, why, you cannot help it, you see!
And when all's said and done an underground river will make

a very appropriate burying-place.'
At first, however, I am bound to say that the strain upon the

nerves was very great. It is trying to the coolest and most
experienced person not to know from one hour to another if he

has five minutes more to live, but there is nothing in this world
that one cannot get accustomed to, and in time we began to get

accustomed even to that. And, after all, our anxiety, though
no doubt natural, was, strictlyspeaking, illogical, seeing that

we never know what is going to happen to us the next minute,
even when we sit in a well-drained house with two policemen patrolling

under the window --nor how long we have to live. It is all arranged
for us, my sons, so what is the use of bothering?

It was nearly midday when we made our dive into darkness, and
we had set our watch (Good and Umslopogaas) at two, having agreed

that it should be of a duration of five hours. At seven o'clock,
accordingly, Sir Henry and I went on, Sir Henry at the bow and

I at the stern, and the other two lay down and went to sleep.
For three hours all went well, Sir Henry only finding it necessary

once to push us off from the side; and I that but little steering
was required to keep us straight, as the violent current did

all that was needed, though occasionally the canoe showed a tendency
which had to be guarded against to veer and travel broadside

on. What struck me as the most curious thing about this wonderful
river was: how did the air keep fresh? It was muggy and thick,

no doubt, but still not sufficiently so to render it bad or even
remarkably unpleasant. The only explanation that I can suggest

is that the water of the lake had sufficient air in it to keep
the atmosphere of the tunnel from absolute stagnation, this air

being given out as it proceeded on its headlong way. Of course
I only give the solution of the mystery for what it is worth,

which perhaps is not much.
When I had been for three hours or so at the helm, I began to

notice a decided change in the temperature, which was getting
warmer. At first I took no notice of it, but when, at the expiration

of another half-hour, I found that it was getting hotter and
hotter, I called to Sir Henry and asked him if he noticed it,

or if it was only my imagination. 'Noticed it!' he answered;
'I should think so. I am in a sort of Turkish bath.' Just about

then the others woke up gasping, and were obliged to begin to
discard their clothes. Here Umslopogaas had the advantage, for

he did not wear any to speak of, except a moocha.
Hotter it grew, and hotter yet, till at last we could scarcely

breathe, and the perspiration poured out of us. Half an hour
more, and though we were all now stark naked, we could hardly

bear it. The place was like an antechamber of the infernal regions
proper. I dipped my hand into the water and drew it out almost

with a cry; it was nearly boiling. We consulted a little thermometer
we had -- the mercury stood at 123 degrees. From the surface

of the water rose a dense cloud of steam. Alphonse groaned out
that we were already in purgatory, which indeed we were, though

not in the sense that he meant it. Sir Henry suggested that
we must be passing near the seat of some underground volcanic

fire, and I am inclined to think, especially in the light of
what subsequently occurred, that he was right. Our sufferings

for some time after this really pass my powers of description.
We no longer perspired, for all the perspiration had been sweated

out of us. We simply lay in the bottom of the boat, which we
were now physicallyincapable of directing, feeling like hot