Chapter 30 Chapter 30 The Mediterranean Sea

At first I saw nothing.My eyes closed automatically, unaccustomed to the light.When I opened my eyes again, I shouted in surprise and joy: "Sea!" "Yes," said my uncle, "the Liedenbrok Sea; I am glad to think that no navigator can compete with me for the honor of discovering this sea, and the right to name it after me!" This vast expanse of water is the beginning of a great lake or sea, and it stretches as far as the eye can see.The undulating coast gives the beautiful, golden sand to the surging waves, and the sand is full of small shells of primitive creatures.The crashing of the waves made the strange, loud sound of spaces enclosed on all sides; and the gentle wind often blew soft foam into my face.On this sloping beach, six hundred feet from the waves, rise the skirts of great rock walls, rising to heights invisible to the eye.Some of the skirts extended inland, forming headlands and promontories that were chewed by the teeth of the breaking waves.It was a real sea, with the shapeless shape of our own coast, but remote and wild in its orientation.

I could see all this clearly by a strange light.It wasn't the sun's rays, or the pale light of the moon.No—the penetrating nature of the light, its trembling divergence, its pure dry whiteness, its coolness, and radiance stronger than moonlight, clearly pointed to a source of power.It seems to be an eternal northern light, shining all over this big cave that is big enough to hold a sea. The dome above my head--call it the sky, if you like--seems to be made of very large clouds, that is, moving and changing vapors that, if condensed, would turn into torrents. heavy rain.However, "the weather was fine" at the time.The light cast on the very high clouds produces a strange sight.There are many shadows among the clouds.Between two clouds, there is often a very strong light that shines on us.But it's not sunshine because it doesn't have heat.This light produced a very depressing and miserable feeling.Above these clouds I felt, not a starry sky, but a dome of granite, whose weight weighed down my spirit.No matter how big the space is, it is not as good as the smallest space among the stars in the sky.

We are literally locked in a hole in the earth.We cannot judge its breadth, because it grows wider as far as the eye can see, nor its length, because our fantasies extend only to the boundless horizon.It must have been ten miles or more high.The granite tops are invisible to the eye, but there, at least two miles high, clouds appear higher than most with which we are acquainted, probably because of the extraordinary density of the air. The word "cave" is obviously not enough to describe this vast open space.For a man who ventures into the depths of the earth, human language is no longer adequate.

I don't know of any geological principle that can explain the existence of this huge cave.Is it caused by the cold air on the earth?Due to my daily reading, I am very familiar with the famous caves on the ground, but their breadth cannot be compared with these.According to Liuru, the Great Stalactite Cave in Kentucky, USA is enormous in proportion. Its dome on an unfathomable lake reaches a height of 500 feet. Travelers have traveled along the lake for more than thirty miles. It's not over yet.But how could that cave be compared with the one I was looking up at now, with a dome covered with clouds and lightning, and a sea below?In front of such a huge natural object, my imagination is no longer competent.

I bowed my head and pondered these wonders in silence, unable to find words to express my feelings.I seemed to be vacated between distant planets such as Uranus and Neptune.New words are needed to describe these new experiences, but I can't think of them.I watched, thought, looked up with wonder not without fear. This unimaginable sight brought back a healthy color to my cheeks; instead I was healed by wonder.In addition, this dense air brings a lot of oxygen into the lungs, which is very invigorating. It is not difficult to imagine that for a person who has been imprisoned in a narrow tunnel for more than forty days, breathing this damp and salty wind is an infinite comfort; so even though I left the dark cave, I have no reason to regret it .My uncle was used to seeing these wonders, so he no longer expressed surprise at them.

"Do you feel strong enough to walk a little bit?" he asked me. "Yes, of course," I said. "I just want to walk." "Okay, take my arm, Aksai, and we'll follow the winding coast." I quickly agreed, and we started walking towards Xinhai.The steep rocks on the left overlap each other, forming a tall and large pile.Innumerable clear and sonorous cascades churned on the lower side; light, spiraling vapors from rock to rock revealed scalding springs, and streams flowed silently toward the common estuary, down the slopes. At that moment, there was a pleasant gurgling sound.

Among these springs, I am familiar with our faithful companion, "Harns' Creek," which has quietly disappeared into the sea, as if it had been at the beginning of the world. "We won't have any help from it in the future," I said with a sigh. "Well," said the professor, "what does it matter to this or that spring?" I find that statement a bit ungrateful. At this moment, however, my attention was drawn to an unexpected sight.As we circled the steep promontory, we saw a tall and dense forest five hundred paces ahead.The height of the trees is moderate, and they appear to be in the shape of regular parasols from a distance, with sharp geometric outlines. The strong wind seems to have been unable to affect the foliage at the top of them, and they are still as solid as rocks. Standing tall.

I hurried to the edge of the forest, eager to know the names of these special things.Are they one of the two hundred thousand species of plants discovered so far, and do they occupy a special place among the lakeside plants?When we reached the deep shade of the forest, I recognized them--products of the earth, but grown in one mass.Uncle immediately called out their names. "It's really a forest of mushrooms," he said.He is not wrong.It is conceivable how favorable the local environment provides for this warm and humid plant.Here are white mushrooms thirty or forty feet high, with heads thirty or forty feet in diameter.There are thousands of mushrooms here, and the sun does not reach the ground below them, so there is darkness under their heads. These mushrooms are gathered together like domes in African cities.

I insist on moving forward.It was freezing cold beneath these fat domes.We wandered about in these dank shades for half an hour, and I was relieved to be back on the shore again. Plants in this subterranean country aren't limited to mushrooms.There were clusters of other trees with gray foliage.They're easy to spot because they're like our taller, humbler plants -- stone pine plants up to a hundred feet tall, giant sealwoods, as tall as northern pines (wood sand) (murlo) And scale wood with cylindrical and forked stems and branches, with long leaves at the ends, and rough hairs everywhere.

"Amazing, terrific, wonderful!" cried the uncle, "we have here the plants of the second period—the transitional period—in the world. These are our lower plants, which were trees in ancient times! See Oh, Aksai, look! Never has a botanist feasted his eyes so much." "Yes, uncle. God seems to have kept these ancient plants that scientists have succeeded in replicating from their remains in this huge greenhouse." "It's a greenhouse, boy, and I think you should add that it's an animal exhibit, too." "how?" "Look at the ashes we're treading on now—these bones scattered on the ground."

"Bones!" I exclaimed, "yes, they are—the bones of ancient animals!" I hastened to these primordial remains of an indestructible substance—calcium phosphate.Doubtless I knew the names of these gigantic bones, which resembled the trunks of dead trees. "Here is the jaw of a mastodon," said I, "and here is the molar of a beast, and here is the femur of one of the largest of those giants, the sloth. Yes, it is indeed an exhibit of animals, For the bones certainly weren't brought here; the animals used to live under the shade of these great trees on the coast. Well, I've seen the whole head. But—" "But what?" "I don't understand how there is such a quadruped in this cave." "Why is it impossible?" "Because only when the hot magma was replaced by sedimentary strata, there were animals on the ground." "That's right, Aksai, the answer to your question is very simple: the stratum here is exactly a sedimentary stratum." "What? There are sedimentary formations so deep under the ground?" "Of course, this can be fully explained geologically: for a period of time, the earth's crust was elastic and constantly changing due to the relationship of gravity. It is likely that when it sank, some sedimentary strata were brought suddenly Gone through the cracked ground." "But if ancient animals lived in these subterranean regions, how do we know they aren't prowling these dark forests now, or hiding behind these steep rocks?" As I thought this, I looked around in various directions in fear; but there was no living animal to be seen on this remote shore.I was very tired, so I ran and sat on the edge of the cape, the waves crashing against the cape below.From here I could see the whole gulf, and in the midst of its twists and turns I could see a small harbor between the pyramidal rocks, the waters in the harbor, calm as if asleep, because there was no wind, The port can also accommodate several yachts.I should like to see some small boats with full sails, sailing from the harbor with the south wind. However, this fantasy was quickly dispelled.We are indeed the only living animals in this underground world.When the wind dies, a silence greater than that of the desert hangs over the dry rocks and hangs over the sea.At this time, I want to pass through the fog in the distance and lift the veil that covers this depressed horizon.What questions came from my lips!How did this sea end?where does it leadCan we see the opposite coast? Uncle didn't doubt it.As for me, I half want to know and half am afraid to know. After contemplating these marvelous sights for half an hour, we followed the coast road to the cave, and under the influence of these strange thoughts I fell fast and soundly asleep.