The volcanic nature of this enormous excavation was confirmed on all sides,
and I pointed it out to my companions.
"Picture to yourselves," said I, "what this crater must
have been when filled with boiling lava, and when the level
of the incandescent liquid rose to the orifice of the mountain,
as though melted on the top of a hot plate."
"I can picture it perfectly," said Conseil. "But, sir,
will you tell me why the Great Architect has suspended operations,
and how it is that the furnace is replaced by the quiet waters
of the lake?"
"Most probably, Conseil, because some convulsion beneath the ocean produced
that very opening which has served as a passage for the Nautilus.
Then the waters of the Atlantic rushed into the interior of the mountain.
There must have been a terrible struggle between the two elements, a struggle
which ended in the victory of Neptune. But many ages have run out since then,
and the submerged volcano is now a peaceable grotto."
"Very well," replied Ned Land; "I accept the explanation, sir; but, in our
own interests, I regret that the opening of which you speak was not made
above the level of the sea.
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