On the 24th of May, 1863, my uncle, Professor Liedenbrock, rushed into his little house, No. 19 Königstrasse, one of the oldest streets in the oldest portion of the city of Hamburg. Martha must have c...

That study of his was a museum, and nothing else. Specimens of everything known in mineralogy lay there in their places in perfect order, and correctly named, divided into inflammable, metallic, and l...

“Undoubtedly it is Runic,” said the Professor, bending his brows; “but there is a secret in it, and I mean to discover the key.” A violent gesture finished the sentence. “Sit there,” he added, holding...

“He is gone!” cried Martha, running out of her kitchen at the noise of the violent slamming of doors. “Yes,” I replied, “completely gone.” “Well; and how about his dinner?” said the old servant. “He w...

I had only just time to replace the unfortunate document upon the table. Professor Liedenbrock seemed to be greatly abstracted. The ruling thought gave him no rest. Evidently he had gone deeply into t...

At these words a cold shiver ran through me. Yet I controlled myself; I even resolved to put a good face upon it. Scientific arguments alone could have any weight with Professor Liedenbrock. Now there...

Thus ended this memorable séance. That conversation threw me into a fever. I came out of my uncle’s study as if I had been stunned, and as if there was not air enough in all the streets of Hamburg to ...

Altona, which is but a suburb of Hamburg, is the terminus of the Kiel railway, which was to carry us to the Belts. In twenty minutes we were in Holstein. At half-past six the carriage stopped at the s...

The day for our departure arrived. The day before it our kind friend M. Thomsen brought us letters of introduction to Count Trampe, the Governor of Iceland, M. Picturssen, the bishop’s suffragan, and ...

Dinner was ready. Professor Liedenbrock devoured his portion voraciously, for his compulsory fast on board had converted his stomach into a vast unfathomable gulf. There was nothing remarkable in the ...

In the evening I took a short walk on the beach and returned at night to my plank-bed, where I slept soundly all night. When I awoke I heard my uncle talking at a great rate in the next room. I immedi...

We had started under a sky overcast but calm. There was no fear of heat, none of disastrous rain. It was just the weather for tourists. The pleasure of riding on horseback over an unknown country made...

It ought to have been nighttime, but under the 65th parallel there was nothing surprising in the nocturnal polar light. In Iceland during the months of June and July the sun does not set. But the temp...

Stapi is a village consisting of about thirty huts, built of lava, at the south side of the base of the volcano. It extends along the inner edge of a small fjord, enclosed between basaltic walls of th...

Snæfells is 5,000 feet high. Its double cone forms the limit of a trachytic belt which stands out distinctly in the mountain system of the island. From our starting point we could see the two peaks bo...

Supper was rapidly devoured, and the little company housed themselves as best they could. The bed was hard, the shelter not very substantial, and our position an anxious one, at five thousand feet abo...

Now began our real journey. Hitherto our toil had overcome all difficulties, now difficulties would spring up at every step. I had not yet ventured to look down the bottomless pit into which I was abo...

At eight in the morning a ray of daylight came to wake us up. The thousand shining surfaces of lava on the walls received it on its passage, and scattered it like a shower of sparks. There was light e...

Next day, Tuesday, June 30, at 6 a.m., the descent began again. We were still following the gallery of lava, a real natural staircase, and as gently sloping as those inclined planes which in some old ...

In fact, we had to ration ourselves. Our provision of water could not last more than three days. I found that out for certain when suppertime came. And, to our sorrow, we had little reason to expect t...

Next day we started early. We had to hasten forward. It was a three days’ march to the cross roads. I will not speak of the sufferings we endured in our return. My uncle bore them with the angry impat...

This time the descent commenced by the new gallery. Hans walked first as was his custom. We had not gone a hundred yards when the Professor, moving his lantern along the walls, cried: “Here are primit...

For a whole hour I was trying to work out in my delirious brain the reasons which might have influenced this seemingly tranquil huntsman. The absurdest notions ran in utter confusion through my mind. ...

By the next day we had forgotten all our sufferings. At first, I was wondering that I was no longer thirsty, and I was for asking for the reason. The answer came in the murmuring of the stream at my f...

I therefore awoke next day relieved from the preoccupation of an immediate start. Although we were in the very deepest of known depths, there was something not unpleasant about it. And, besides, we we...

It must be confessed that hitherto things had not gone on so badly, and that I had small reason to complain. If our difficulties became no worse, we might hope to reach our end. And to what a height o...

To describe my despair would be impossible. No words could tell it. I was buried alive, with the prospect before me of dying of hunger and thirst. Mechanically I swept the ground with my hands. How dr...

When I returned to partial life my face was wet with tears. How long that state of insensibility had lasted I cannot say. I had no means now of taking account of time. Never was solitude equal to this...

When I came to myself, I was stretched in half darkness, covered with thick coats and blankets. My uncle was watching over me, to discover the least sign of life. At my first sigh he took my hand; whe...

At first I could hardly see anything. My eyes, unaccustomed to the light, quickly closed. When I was able to reopen them, I stood more stupefied even than surprised. “The sea!” I cried. “Yes,” my uncl...

The next morning I awoke feeling perfectly well. I thought a bath would do me good, and I went to plunge for a few minutes into the waters of this mediterranean sea, for assuredly it better deserved t...

On the 13th of August we awoke early. We were now to begin to adopt a mode of travelling both more expeditious and less fatiguing than hitherto. A mast was made of two poles spliced together, a yard w...

Saturday, August 15.⁠—The sea unbroken all round. No land in sight. The horizon seems extremely distant. My head is still stupefied with the vivid reality of my dream. My uncle has had no dreams, but ...

Wednesday, August 19.⁠—Fortunately the wind blows violently, and has enabled us to flee from the scene of the late terrible struggle. Hans keeps at his post at the helm. My uncle, whom the absorbing i...

Friday, August 21.⁠—On the morrow the magnificent geyser has disappeared. The wind has risen, and has rapidly carried us away from Axel Island. The roarings become lost in the distance. The weather⁠—i...

Here I end what I may call my log, happily saved from the wreck, and I resume my narrative as before. What happened when the raft was dashed upon the rocks is more than I can tell. I felt myself hurle...

How shall I describe the strange series of passions which in succession shook the breast of Professor Liedenbrock? First stupefaction, then incredulity, lastly a downright burst of rage. Never had I s...

To understand this apostrophe of my uncle’s, made to absent French savants, it will be necessary to allude to an event of high importance in a palaeontological point of view, which had occurred a litt...

For another half hour we trod upon a pavement of bones. We pushed on, impelled by our burning curiosity. What other marvels did this cavern contain? What new treasures lay here for science to unfold? ...

Since the start upon this marvellous pilgrimage I had been through so many astonishments that I might well be excused for thinking myself well hardened against any further surprise. Yet at the sight o...

The next day, Thursday, August 27, is a well-remembered date in our subterranean journey. It never returns to my memory without sending through me a shudder of horror and a palpitation of the heart. F...

It might have been, as I guessed, about ten at night. The first of my senses which came into play after this last bout was that of hearing. All at once I could hear; and it was a real exercise of the ...

Yes: our compass was no longer a guide; the needle flew from pole to pole with a kind of frenzied impulse; it ran round the dial, and spun hither and thither as if it were giddy or intoxicated. I knew...

When I opened my eyes again I felt myself grasped by the belt with the strong hand of our guide. With the other arm he supported my uncle. I was not seriously hurt, but I was shaken and bruised and ba...

Such is the conclusion of a history which I cannot expect everybody to believe, for some people will believe nothing against the testimony of their own experience. However, I am indifferent to their i...

Sixty-three. —⁠Tr. ↩ As Sir Humphry Davy died in 1829, the translator must be pardoned for pointing out here an anachronism, unless we are to assume that the learned Professor’s celebrity dawned in hi...