from my knees and sank down upon the seat of the boat, and tried to
peer through the gloom. In vain. Nothing was visible. It was the very
blackness of darkness. I listened, but heard nothing save a deep,
dull, droning sound, which seemed to fill all the air and make it
all tremulous with its vibrations. I tried to collect my thoughts. I
recalled that old theory which had been in my mind before this, and
which I had mentioned to Agnew. This was the notion that at each pole
there is a vast opening; that into one of them all the waters of the
ocean pour themselves, and, after passing through the earth, come out
at the other pole, to pass about its surface in innumerable streams.
It was a wild fancy, which I had laughed at under other circumstances,
but which now occurred to me once more, when I was overwhelmed
with despair, and my mind was weakened by the horrors which I had
experienced; and I had a vague fear that I had been drawn into the
very channel through which the ocean waters flowed in their course to
that terrific, that unparalleled abyss. Still, there was as yet no
sign whatever of anything like a descent, for the boat was on even
keel, and perfectly level as before, and it was impossible for me to
tell whether I was moving swiftly or slowly, or standing perfectly
still; for in that darkness there were no visible objects by which
I could find out the rate of my progress; and as those who go up in
balloons are utterly insensible of motion, so was I on those calm
but swift waters.

At length there came into view something which arrested my attention
and engrossed all my thoughts. It was faint glow that at first caught
my gaze; and, on turning to see it better, I saw a round red spot
glowing like fire. I had not seen this before. It looked like the moon
when it rises from behind clouds, and glows red and lurid from the
horizon; and so this glowed, but not with the steady light of the