open day the descent was less perilous, and, besides, the ashes which covered the polished surface of the rock enabled them to make their footing more secure.
The ridge at the end of the shore, about forty feet in height, was soon reached. Cyrus Harding recollected that this elevation gradually sloped towards the level of the sea. Although the tide was at present low, no beach could be seen, and the waves, thickened by the volcanic dust, beat upon the basaltic rocks.
Cyrus Harding and Ayrton found without difficulty the entrance to Dakkar Grotto, and paused for a moment at the last rock before it.
"The iron boat should be there," said the engineer.
"It is here, Captain Harding," replied Ayrton, drawing towards him the fragile craft, which was protected by the arch of the vault.
"On board, Ayrton!"
The two colonists stepped into the boat. A slight undulation of the waves carried it under the low arch of the crypt, and there Ayrton, with the aid of flint and steel, lighted the lamp. He then took the oars, and the lamp having been placed in the bow of the boat, so that its rays fell before them, Cyrus Harding took the helm and steered through the shades of the grotto.
The Nautilus was there no longer to illuminate the cavern with its electric light. Possibly this might not yet be extinguished, but no ray escaped from the depths in which reposed all that was mortal of Captain Nemo.
The light afforded by the lamp, although feeble, nevertheless enabled the engineer to advance slowly, following the wall of the cavern. A deathlike silence reigned under the vaulted roof, or at least in the anterior portion, for soon Cyrus Harding distinctly reard the rumbling which proceeded from the bowels of the mountain. Besides these sounds, the presence of chemical combinations was soon betrayed by their powerful odor, and the engineer and his companions were almost suffocated by sulphurous vapors.
"This is what Captain Nemo feared," murmured Cyrus Harding, changing countenance. "We must go to the end, nothwithstanding."
"Forward!" replied Ayrton, bending to his oars and directing the boat deeper into the cavern. Twenty-five
