hiding from the barbarians of that island, and were only a few hundred
miles from the South Pole). 'We remembered that one of the fissures in
the sides of this pit had been partially looked into, and we were
anxious to explore it, although with no expectation of discovering here
any opening. We found no great difficulty in reaching the bottom of the
hollow as before, and were now sufficiently calm to survey it with some
attention. It was, indeed, one of the most singular-looking places
imaginable, and we could scarcely bring ourselves to believe it
altogether the work of nature.' He proceeds to explain that the sides of
the abyss had apparently never been connected, one surface being of
soapstone, the other of black marl. The average breadth between the two
cliffs was sixty feet. Here are Pym's own words again: 'Upon arriving
within fifty feet of the bottom [of the abyss], a perfect regularity
commenced. The sides were now entirely uniform in substance, in color
and in lateral direction, the material being a very black and shining
granite, and the distance between the two sides, at all points, facing
each other, exactly twenty yards.' The diary goes on to state that they
explored three chasms, and that in a fissure of the third of these
Peters discovered some 'singular-looking indentures in the surface of
the black marl forming the termination of the cul-de-sac.' It is
surmised by Pym and Peters that the first of these indentures is
possibly the intentional representation of a human figure standing
erect, with outstretched arm; and that the rest of them bore a
resemblance to alphabetical characters--such, at least, it seems from
Pym's diary, was the 'idle opinion' of Peters.

[Footnote: See Narrative of A. Gordon Pym, in any complete edition of
Poe's Works.]

"Pym later had a clew to the meaning of these characters, and no doubt