I was conscious, in fact, of a dull but very deep-seated pain in my right thigh1. I tried to move it. The agony was intense. It threw me back into my momentary2 faint again. For a minute or two I could hardly realize my position. Then it slowly came home to me by gradual stages that I was lying helpless, with a broken leg, unseen and unattended, on the Floor of the Hawaiians, a hundred and twenty feet down the gap of the crater3.
Would anybody come to help me? I wondered. That was more than doubtful. As a rule, the whole day passed on those lonely heights without anybody approaching the mouth of the volcano, let alone climbing down by the zig-zag path into the floor above me. Kalaua's household were the sole frequenters of that solitary4 spot. However, Frank would at least be back from Hilo by six o'clock, or thereabouts, and then he would be sure to come up and look for me, when he missed me from my accustomed place on the verandah. I took out my watch, in order to see how long I might have to lie there in frightful5 pain, waiting for my brother's return to save me. We had learnt early rising with a vengeance6 since we came to the islands—breakfast at Kalaua's was at six sharp—to my horror, I found it was even now only half-past seven!
More than ten weary, dreary7 hours to watch and wait, with my broken leg, in that dismal8 crater!
It was an unpleasant outlook. I gazed around and tried to take in the situation.
Above me, a steep black wall of granite9 rose sheer and straight towards the open heaven. Below me, I could hear, though I could not see, the lake of liquid fire hissing10 and bubbling with horrible noises in its eternal cauldron. Around, the floor was composed of solid dark green obsidian11, as hard and transparent12 and sharp as bottle-glass. I must lie as best I could, on my uneasy bed, and brave it out for ten hours somehow.
Fortunately, I soon discovered that as long as I lay quite still, the pain of my leg was comparatively trifling13. It was only when I moved or stirred restlessly that it hurt me much, and then, the agony was enough to drive one frantic14. I laid down my watch, to mark the time, on the rock in front of me. Happily, being a good naval15 chronometer16, it had not been injured in the shock of my fall. I had nothing to do now but to count the hours till Frank could come up and relieve me at last from my awkward and even dangerous situation.
Ten hours is a very long time, with a broken leg, in the crater of Mauna Loa.
The floor of the ledge17, I observed, as I gazed around, was covered with long strings18 of dark thread-like lava19—as thin and delicate as a spun-glass tissue. These strings are a well-known product of the volcanic20 action of Mauna Loa, and the natives call them "Pélé's hair." They look upon them as the veritable tresses of the goddess. Having nothing else to do, I picked some up and examined it closely. No wonder the superstitious21 old Hawaiians took it in their time for the actual combings of their dread22 goddess's hair! I never in my life saw anything so exactly resembling human locks, at a first rough glance: and I was not surprised that even Kea herself should regard it as a token of the presence of that mysterious being who dwelt, as she still half believed, all alone among the eternal fires of the great crater.
Eight o'clock, nine o'clock, ten o'clock, passed, and I began by that time to get most unfeignedly weary of my enforced imprisonment23. It was impossible to lie in one position all the time; and whenever I turned, or even moved, my leg gave me the most excruciating jerks of pain and agony. I was heartily24 sick now of the crater and all that belonged to it. What on earth, I thought, made me ever take to such a trade as vulcanology? I said to myself more than once in my despair that henceforth I'd give up volcanoes for ever, and go in for some safe and honest trade—like a light-house-man's or an inspector25 of mines—for a livelihood26.
About half-past ten however, as I lay half dozing27 with fatigue28 and pain, an incident occurred which broke the monotony of the situation: my attention was suddenly and vividly29 aroused by a noise that sounded like the report of a pistol.
What on earth could it be? I raised myself on my arms and gazed all round. The crater of Mauna Loa was a queer place indeed for even the most enthusiastic sportsman to come shooting in. The only game he could expect to find in such a spot would be surely salamanders. But firing was without doubt going on in the crater, not indeed on the floor on which I myself lay, but strange to say, on the other and still deeper ledges30 below me. As I strained my ear to listen, I heard frequent reports of pistols, one after another, in all directions down the hollow of the crater.
Then, with a sudden flash of recollection it burst in upon my memory that Frank and I had heard similar reports the year before on the slopes of Hecla, just on the eve of a serious eruption31, when we were engaged in investigating the volcanoes of Iceland.
In a second, the appalling32 and terrible truth came home to me in all its ghastly awfulness. The lava in the crater must be rising explosively!
I was never much frightened of a volcano before, but that moment, I confess, I felt distinctly nervous.
From where I lay, I couldn't see over into the lake of liquid fire below, and my broken leg made it almost impossible for me to move or even to drag myself towards the steep edge, where I could gaze down into the abyss and make sure whether the lava was really rising. But such suspense33 was more than one could bear. With a supreme34 effort I raised myself a second time, very cautiously, upon my two hands and my left knee, and, trailing my right leg with difficulty behind me, I crawled or crept with unspeakable pain over yards of rough rock to the brink35 of the precipice36.
An ineffable37 sight there met my eye. The black slaggy38 bottom of the huge crater, which generally reposed39 in tranquil40 peace like a calm sea, just broken here and there by fiery41 fissures42, was now transformed into one bubbling mass of flame and vapour, all alive with a horrible livid glare, that lit up its seething43 and blazing billows with an awful distinctness. Loud, snorting puffs44 of steam burst thick and fast from the gaping45 fissures, and from many of the chinks great jets of molten material were willing out in huge floods, and rising gradually towards the Floor of Pélé, the third and last ledge immediately below me. If the eruption continued for two hours longer at its present rate, by half-past twelve, I felt fully46 convinced, the sea of lava would be wildly surging and roaring above the very spot whence I now surveyed it.
What was to be done? I lay and pondered.
Unless somebody came to my rescue meanwhile, I had only two hours more to live on earth; and then inch by inch I would be scorched47 to death, in unspeakable agony, before an advancing tide of liquid fire, by the most awful fate ever known to humanity!
It was ghastly; it was horrible: but I had to face it.
I peered over the edge, and watched with eager and tremulous awe48 the gradual approach of the devouring50 fire-flood. Slowly, slowly, foot by foot, and yard by yard, my inanimate enemy rose and rose, and rose again, by constant, cruel, crawling stages. Not always regularly, but in fluctuating billows. At times the molten sea leapt upward with a bound; at times it fell again, in a vast sink-hole, like some huge collapsing51 bubble of metal; but all the while, in spite of every apparent fluctuation52, it mounted steadily53 in the long run up the black wall of rock, as the tide rises over a shelving beach, with its hideous54 gas jets hissing and groaning55, and its angry flames drawing nearer and nearer each moment to devour49 me.
I lay there horror-stricken, and gazed idly down.
"I LAY THERE HORROR-STRICKEN, AND GAZED IDLY DOWN."
Nothing on earth that I myself could do would now avail me in any way to escape my destiny. I tried to turn and attempt the wall behind me. I might as well have tried to scale the naked side of a smooth and polished granite monument. The crag was like glass. There was nothing for it but to lie back in quiet and await my death as a brave man should await it. Science had had many martyrs56 before. I felt sure, as I lay there, that I too was to be numbered upon the increasing roll-call of its illustrious victims.
It is easy enough to fight and die; but to lie still and be slowly roasted to death—that, I take it, is quite a different matter.
Eleven o'clock went past on my watch. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty minutes. The fire had mounted half way up the side of the ledge on which I lay. I could feel its hot breath borne fiercely towards me. A jet of steam raised itself now and then to the level of my own floor. Ashes and cinders57 were falling freely around. The eruption was gathering58 strength as it went. It was dangerous any longer to lie so close to the broken edge. I must drag myself away, near the further precipice.
Frank would not return from town much before six, I felt sure. He always loitered when he got down to Hilo. Unless somebody came to relieve me soon I must surely be killed by slow torture.
I gazed all around me with a last despairing glance. As I did so, a cry of relief burst on a sudden from my parched59 throat. On the precipice above, leaning over the edge of the Floor of the Strangers, I saw distinctly a man's face—a man's face, a Hawaiian's as I thought, peering down curiously60 into the depths of the crater.
If only I could attract that man's attention I felt there might yet be some small chance for me.
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1
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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obsidian
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| n.黑曜石 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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chronometer
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| n.精密的计时器 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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slaggy
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| adj.熔渣的 | |
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reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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42
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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44
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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45
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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50
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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51
collapsing
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| 压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂 | |
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52
fluctuation
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| n.(物价的)波动，涨落；周期性变动；脉动 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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56
martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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57
cinders
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| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
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58
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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