The site of the lake is a natural rock bowl, covered by jungle, with the Yamamoto River running through the middle of it. Right next to the riverbank, men are already at work with rock drills, placing dynamite charges. "The inclined shaft will start here," Goto Dengo tells Captain Noda, "and runs straight—" turning his back on the river he makes one hand into a blade and thrusts it into the jungle "—straight down to Golgotha." The Place of the Skull .