I AM a native of ----, in the
United States
of America. My ancestors migrated from
England
in the reign of Charles II., and my grandfather was not undistinguished in the
War of Independence. My family, therefore, enjoyed a somewhat high social
position in right of birth; and being also opulent, they were considered
disqualified for the public service. My father once ran for Congress, but was signally
defeated by his tailor. After that event he interfered little in politics, and
lived much in his library. I was the eldest of three sons, and sent at the age
of sixteen to the old country, partly to complete my literary education, partly
to commence my commercial training in a mercantile firm at
Liverpool.
My father died shortly after I was twenty-one; and being left well off, and
having a taste for travel and adventure, I resigned, for a time, all pursuit of
the almighty dollar, and became a desultory wanderer over the face of the
earth.
In the year 18--, happening to be in ----, I was invited by a professional
engineer, with whom I had made acquaintance, to visit the recesses of the ----
mine, upon which he was employed.
The reader will understand, ere he close this narrative, my reason for
concealing all clue to the district of which I write, and will perhaps thank me
for refraining from any description that may tend to its discovery.
Let me say, then, as briefly as possible, that I accompanied the engineer
into the interior of the mine, and became so strangely fascinated by its gloomy
wonders, and so interested in my friend's explorations, that I prolonged my
stay in the neighbourhood, and descended daily, for some weeks, into the vaults
and galleries hollowed by nature and art beneath the surface of the earth. The
engineer was persuaded that far richer deposits of mineral wealth than had yet
been detected, would be found in a new shaft that had been commenced under his
operations. In piercing this shaft we came one day upon a chasm jagged and
seemingly charred at the sides, as if burst asunder at some distant period by
volcanic fires. Down this chasm my friend caused himself to be lowered in a
`cage,' having first tested the atmosphere by the safety-lamp. He remained
nearly an hour in the abyss. When he returned he was very pale, and with an
anxious, thoughtful expression of face, very different from its ordinary
character, which was open, cheerful, and fearless.
He said briefly that the descent appeared to him unsafe, and leading to no
result; and, suspending further operations in the shaft, we returned to the
more familiar parts of the mine.
All the rest of that day the engineer seemed preoccupied by some absorbing
thought. He was unusually taciturn, and there was a scared, bewildered look in
his eyes, as that of a man who has seen a ghost. At night, as we two were
sitting alone in the lodging we shared together near the mouth of the mine, I
said to my friend,--
"Tell me frankly what you saw in that chasm: I am sure it was something
strange and terrible. Whatever it be, it has left your mind in a state of
doubt. In such a case two heads are better than one. Confide in me."
The engineer long endeavored to evade my inquiries, but as, while he spoke,
he helped himself unconsciously out of the brandy-flask to a degree to which he
was wholly unaccustomed, for he was a very temperate man, his reserve gradually
melted away. He who would keep himself to himself should imitate the dumb
animals, and drink water. At last he said, "I will tell you all. When the
cage stopped, I found myself on a ridge of rock; and below me, the chasm,
taking a slanting direction, shot down to a considerable depth, the darkness of
which my lamp could not have penetrated. But through it, to my infinite
surprise, streamed upward a steady brilliant light. Could it be any volcanic
fire; in that case, surely I should have felt the heat. Still, if on this there
was doubt, it was of the utmost importance to our common safety to clear it up.
I examined the sides of the descent, and found that I could venture to trust
myself to the irregular projections or ledges, at least for some way. I left
the cage and clambered down. As I drew near and nearer to the light, the chasm
became wider, and at last I saw, to my unspeakable amaze, a broad level road at
the bottom of the abyss, illumined as far as the eye could reach by what seemed
artificial gas-lamps placed at regular intervals, as in the thoroughfare of a
great city; and I heard confusedly at a distance a hum as of human voices. I
know, of course, that no rival miners are at work in this district. Whose could
be those voices? What human hands could have levelled that road and marshalled
those lamps?
"The superstitious belief, common to miners, that gnomes or fiends
dwell within the bowels of the earth, began to seize me. I shuddered at the
thought of descending further and braving the inhabitants of this nether
valley. Nor indeed could I have done so without ropes, as from the spot I had
reached to the bottom of the chasm the sides of the rock sank down abrupt,
smooth, and sheer. I retraced my steps with some difficulty. Now I have told
you all."
"You will descend again?"
"I ought, yet I feel as if I durst not."
"A trusty companion halves the journey and doubles the courage. I will
go with you. We will provide ourselves with ropes of suitable length and
strength--and--pardon me--you must not drink more to-night. Our hands and feet
must be steady and firm to-morrow."
by
Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton [1871]