Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-03-28

An ALLEGED JOURNEY THROUGH THE cI ISrEr Oh
THE EARTH.


John Cleve Symmes theory that the earth
is open at the poles and habitable within,
though perhaps original with him as a scien-
| tific hypothesis, has been anticipated III
whole or in part by various writSrs of ro
| nance. Leaving ont of the question HOl-
| berp's Journey of Nicholas. klimius into the
Subterranenn World, writttn early in the last
century, and the chevalier de Mouhys Ad-
ventures of an Egyptian into the interior of
our globe, there is very curious Relation of
| aVoyage from the Arctic to the Antarctic Pole
by;the Centre of the World,by an anonymous
author, written in French, and first published
| in 1928 It's hero, who claims TO have made
| the trip IL III, did not find rs smooth sail
| ing as Capt Symmes expected, but IN some
points the narrative is sufficiently akin to his
| views to warrant the idea that he may
| possibly have seen it.
The story is in brief as follows A veteran
| traveller, who does not give his name, was
seized with desire to see the polar region,
and embarked at Amsterdam In whale ship
bound for Greenland. On the tenth day out
a thick fog surrounded the vessel, and a vio-
lent wind arose which carried ii toward Ice
land. After an interval of calma still more
severe gale drove it out of its course, and
reckoning was lost. Finally the ship reached
a sea full of floating ice, and an observatien
being taken, the position was found to be 13
degrees and - minutes of north attitude.
strong though slow current = constantly
driving the ship toward tt1 cole. An old
sailor then recolected that famous Arctic
pilot had told him that near the North Pole
there was frightful whirlpool, seventy or
eighty leagues in circumference, believed to
be the most dangerous in the world. This
story frightened the officers and crew, but
they could not check or alter their course.
The ship began to whirl about, and what
they had at first taken TO be white island
proved to be maelstrom. Death seemed to
stare them in the face. and the only thing
they could do to avoid being washed or
swung overheard was to retire below, closing
all the matches after them. They had been
shut up only ten or twelve minutes, when
they felt themselves descending into pro-
found abyss with inconceivable rapidity. The |
roaring OF the waters was incessant and ter
rible, and so great was their alarm that they |
only attained full consciousness by discover
ing that the noise had ceased and ship was |
lying still. The pilot ventured to 60 on deck, |
and was soon followed by the rest. They |
found themselves on a calm sea, but were so
hemmed in by fog that they could see moth
ing of their surroundings. Taking an obser-
vation they found they We're in seventy one
degrees, eight minutes of south latitude.
Their period of unconscious fright must |
have been protracted or the rapidity of the
voyage must have been very great to permit
so sudden transit from one end of the
ealths diameter to the other to pass uuob-
served, but We are chroniclers, not critics. |
They had reached the Antarctic waters. 4
cold northwest wind sprang up, but warm
rain soon dispelled its chilllness. An aurora
lighted up tue sky, but neither sun nor stars
were visible. kand came i'll sight, and when
they anchored they found the shore lined
IL. L.. 1. I
The country rose in terraces, with high
mountains in the background. Game was
plenty, and clear streams furnished an
abundance of pure water. The south was
shut of 10y mist They found n warm lake
with five cascades, a valley of white roses,
and finally a monument composed OF II flat
rock of triangular shape, resting on six col
umns, and covered with inscriptions i'll an
unknown character. There were other mar
wells we need not describe. Returning On
board, they discovered that all was not
agreeable in these regions. Immense flying
fish, with wings like those OF bat, hovered
around the vessel, and three Of them pounced
on two unfortunate sailors, carrying them
away, and tearing them TO pieces as they
flew. Continuing their voyage, they saw
fog surrounded promOntory, wonderful jet
OF water, several yolcanOs, and n fearful bat
tie between two white bears and three sea
calves. Next they passed n strait on whose
shores bears were far too abundant to make
the locality agreeable Tor residence. Then
they came TO beautiful land where there
were curious remains OF an ancient wall and
where 4 wonderful bird was seen with II kind
of crown on its head, and whose nest was
made under ground. After being treated TO
the sight of many meteorological wonders
in the form of columns OF fire shooting up
from the sea- of a wonderfully perfect par
I.Itor,, os.ai, anu % a iuouJtaTn trI.rT
appeared to be suspended in the air, the
adventurers at last reached the Cape OF Good
Hope. The people of Cape Town were no
doubt astonished at the narration of their
experiences but n local sensation was re-
quirod TO hing the story up with good,
round turn. \ former acquaintance of the
hero had apparently died. but his friend was
not so sure of it, so he had the tomb opened
and the pleasure OF resuscitating him. With
!. IL la ,rl %,