Journey to the Centre of

the Earth
Chapter 4
Grade VII
 Down the Chimney- pg # 29-32

• Once the travellers knew which chimney to go down, they began making
preparations. The idea of going down into the pit made Axel’s hair stand on
end
• The walls of the chimney had plenty of lava stuck on it, on which the
travellers could rest their feet when climbing down.
• Before going down, they divided the equipment among themselves. Hans
would carry the tools and one third of the food
• Axel would carry the firearms and one third of the food
• The professor would carry the instruments and the rest of the food
• The ropes and the pile of clothes were thrown into the chimney.
• The travellers put on their packs and began their descent. They had tied the
rope to a block of lava and holding on to that, they all started climbing
down. They also used their iron sticks.
• Holding the double rope and the iron sticks,
they climbed down.
• The climb down was difficult. They had
climbed down 200 feet and after 1 hour, they
climbed down 200 feet more.
• The Professor was observing the rocks around.
• The volcanic rocks showed that the scientist
Humphry Davy was right.
• He refused to accept the idea that heat rises
from the centre of the earth to the surface.
• He said that it works the opposite way and that heat in the volcanoes is caused
by certain minerals, like potassium and sodium, mixing with air and water.
• They kept climbing down and reached 2,800 feet down. At that moment, Hans
asked to stop
 10,000 feet down
• At 8 o’ clock in the morning, they woke up and had breakfast. They ate
biscuits and meat with a few mouthfuls of water mixed with gin.
• Then the professor took out his instruments to collect the following
information
• The sight was magnificent. The travellers began to slip down the steep slope.
• After 2 hours, the temperature was only 10 degree Celsius.
• After walking for sometime, they stopped at a cave where there was gentle wind.
• Axel was worried about the water supply. The Professor had hoped to find underground
springs. But they had found none. They had water enough for only 5 days.
 Returning to the surface

• On 30th June at six in the morning, they went on down the lava tunnel.
• Then the tunnel divided into two passages, both looking exactly the same.
• The Professor decided to take the eastern passage.
• The tunnel’s slope was now very slight. Sometimes, the passage opened
up into a wide hall with a high ceiling, like the inside of a large church.
Sometimes, it was so low that they had to bend their heads or even crawl.
• They continued to walk and by 6 in the evening, they had
travelled five miles south, but hardly a quarter of a mile down.
• They slept for the night, rolled up in their blankets.
• Next day, they woke up and continued their journey. The tunnel
was now horizontal
• Axel even thought it was rising
• By 10 o’ clock the tunnel was going up instead of sloping down
and it became difficult to walk.
• At noon, the walls of the tunnel began to change. The rocks that
they were passing were arranged in sloping layers.