Chapter XII: Through Fire and Flame and Mystery

“I stand like one
Has lost his way, and no man near him to inquire it of.”
(+Sir Robert Howard.+)

Instantly everybody rushed to the laboratory, to find that though no one was injured much damage had been done to the apparatus, and on inquiry it transpired that Gilbert had prepared to obtain a sample of the outer air for analysis, and knowing that the pressure must be so much greater—inconceivably greater—than Earth-minds could estimate, he had provided a specially thick box, sheeted and clamped with strong steel, and had placed this over the net-covered valve, specially designed for such purposes, when, the instant the valve was opened, the accident occurred. Whether it was the enormous pressure outside, or the composition of the outer air which burst the box, could not be told, but it had been blown to little pieces and the air was filled with dry and acrid fumes, some of which were collected for examination. By a miracle Gilbert was unhurt, and he picked up several pieces of the broken box and handed them round. So great had been the pressure and so fierce the heat that in the momentary opening and closing of the valve, the vapour collected in that short time had completely destroyed what had been deemed a fireproof casing and fused the steel shell almost through before the explosion, which Gilbert said was instant. Although there were more of these boxes, it was decided that for their general safety they would sample no more outer air, for the present, at least.

The gas which had been collected was soon found to have been metals in tenuous vapour, and now carbon and metallic dust in very fine division. It seemed most remarkable that although only a small quantity of vapour had entered, there should be so great a residue of this dust, for almost everything in the room was covered with the fine, impalpable powder. On analysis, this powder was proved to contain many of the metallic and other elements found on Earth and others at present unknown; all the deposit was carefully collected and stored in sealed jars for more searching analysis later.

In the meantime, observations showed the ‘corona’ to consist of clouds which were similar to terrestrial clouds, but most delicately coloured in tone and hue and ever changing, being driven about by the constant explosions and gaseous projections from the furnace beneath, these projections being of such appalling force that times without number a mere pencil of gas would rise with lightning speed for several millions of miles and strike the surface of an enormous cloud, miles in extent and depth, and this cloud, which they proved to contain fine particles of hitherto vaporous carbon of a rosy tint, would turn to a dazzling white in the twinkling of an eye, and the whole cloud would sometimes be reheated so fiercely as to become vaporous and rise bodily for millions of miles, till it became so cooled as to be more dense, when it sank again; at other times, or in other places, such a cloud would be disintegrated completely, dropping in miles of fire, which the glasses or spectrum showed to consist of minute metallic dust, now separated and falling in a white-hot shower, soon to be converted into vapour, proving most of the clouds to be, as it were, but bags of gas sufficiently buoyant to hold the metals in suspension at enormous heights till burst by ignition, or rendered more rarefied, when the heavier and more refractory elements, such as carbon, were free to fall by their own gravity. These clouds were of exquisite colour of extraordinary variety, according to the degree of heat of the particles contained in their mass and the colour which was reflected from the lower strata of similar clouds, the moving, terrible ‘flames’ roaring round them with repeated flashes of gleaming white, as some terrific explosion below burst all flames and clouds asunder, and allowed the fearful lurid heat of the photosphere to be reflected directly upwards through the atmosphere.

This turbulence was incessant, and as they slowly sank and the hours passed, the awful grandeur made the necessary sleep seem almost a waste of time, for every mile they descended brought fresh wonders which it was felt almost a crime to miss. Frequently, as they were leaving to retire to their cabins, the spectacular display around them would be so amazing, that tired as they were, they would remain at the windows entranced, as perhaps a gigantic flame would mount higher and higher, licking a cloud like a huge tongue, and at the touch, the sea of cloud would be blown to ribbons which stretched in all directions, waving about in the terrible reek in millions of ragged tendrils, which darted away till lost in the distant flames, their long, tape-like feelers in constant motion as the heat twisted them, like a giant octopus being roasted alive and writhing in agony. For hours this would continue, till the watchers would turn away, reluctant to leave it, and seek their long-desired rest, impatient that nature had made it necessary for Earth-life to take systematic and regular repose. At other times the clouds would burst and disgorge their contents in floods of fire, awful to contemplate as they poured downwards like water, making broad bands of flame connecting the two strata—the rolling sea of cloud-fire above with that of the furnace beneath.

This is, without doubt, what is seen from Earth and there discussed as “stems, which, though they appear thin and pencilled, are of enormous substance, connect the clouds with the chromosphere,” and which are seen to last sometimes for several days, so great is the quantity disgorged.

In addition to these the travellers saw the eruptive portions known on Earth as ‘flames,’ which were not only ruptured and changed from the gases below, but themselves became eruptive, causing violent changes to take place every few minutes, at times projecting dense masses of lava-like substances high aloft, and masses of dark but brilliant oily material like half-cooled metal; at other times their cavernous depths were comparatively shaded by the clouds and by their own immensity, and corresponded to the ‘spots’ seen from Earth. There are also immense clouds of hydrogen, similar to Earth-clouds, forming, dispersing, and exploding continuously above and amongst these ‘flames,’ and the matter, liquid, solid, and gaseous, ejected from these ‘flames’ is inconceivable.

In shape the ‘corona’ spreads far and wide in all directions in wondrous variety both of form and colour, the ‘rays’ extending like a ‘glory,’ inexpressible in grandeur and magnificence. There is no real or definite line of demarcation between the ‘corona’ and the ‘flames,’ for, in some cases, the flames reach upwards and spread outwards like a gaseous envelope and form the base of the corona, whilst in others, the corona becomes part of the actual substance and shape of the tongues of eruptive fire which are designated ‘flames.’

Many theories have been put forward to explain what the corona really is; some saying that it is cometary matter, others that it is merely nebulous; that it is formed of streams of myriads of meteorites; that it is merely a form of Zodiacal Light, and again others that it is nothing more than the glare of the furnace below reflected on the upper strata of atmosphere, as that of a terrestrial furnace is reflected on the clouds above it. It was, therefore, a proud moment when, after long investigation, the explorers could settle all these points of doubt, and prove it to be gaseous, finding, at various portions of its mass, oxygen, combining in enormous quantities with hydrogen, carbon, phosphorus, carbon mon-oxide, and sulphur, the combustion being accompanied with terrific heat and noise. Some idea of the amazing heat may be gathered from the fact that there were thousands of miles of carbon existing in combination with other of the most refractory elements as extremely thin and tenuous vapour, accompanying which were violent electric discharges, which encircled the _Regina_ hour after hour and day after day in a tireless surging sea which, until the first fear had subsided, had paled the faces of the occupants, for the flood was so incessant that they could not help doubting if their protecting force would be proof against it, so close it seemed as they gathered round the windows trying to believe they were safe, longing for it either to terminate or for the annihilating stroke to end their suspense and close the terrible waiting for the death that tarried. But as it was perceived that although the _Regina_ was the focus of all the wild, electric fluid of the zones and strata through which she sank, she continued her roving course unfettered and unharmed as if in a shower of Earth-rain, all fear gradually subsided, and the voyagers could look on the awful scene as on a wondrous panorama; with no alarm and scarcely an expression of surprise except when some more than usually magnificent effect compelled their voiced admiration. And all this time as the ship was sinking with a slow and steady descent, the clouds were dropping their elements, cooled from their gaseous state to finely powdered dust, to be reheated and blown back in fresh clouds of white and glowing gas, which mounted higher and higher in an endless repetition.

Had the voyage ended here the results would have been worth all the trouble and risk, for the solar corona, and chromosphere or sierra, had once and for all time given up their secrets. Having gone through these, the travellers came to the ‘photosphere,’ which, when seen from Earth, defines to the eye the extent of the sun’s disc. This was, in reality, a sea of white-hot fire, or lava, so fierce that the liquid was thin as spirit, and the ‘waves,’ ‘granules,’ ‘willow-leaves,’ or ‘rice-grains,’ to which various astronomers have referred, were actually the rippling waves of the fiery, solar sea, the ‘photosphere’ through which no instrument known on Earth has power to penetrate, and so white and blinding is the glare of it, that only those instruments of very high power can clearly distinguish the ‘rice-grains,’ which are accompanied by myriads of dark spots, called ‘pores,’ these being merely the shadows between the ‘rice-grains’; the latter in a constant state of ‘boil,’ caused by portions being heated from the under-source and, increasing in volume, becoming specifically lighter and rushing upwards to a higher plane to which they carry much of their newly acquired temperature, their tops, or crests, glowing; whilst the portions of the sea which surrounded them sink into the cavities they left behind when they were projected upward, these also to be heated and again to return, their cooler portions and return showing as ‘pores.’

The intense energy and rapidity with which these convection currents take place are so awful in their fierceness that the human mind can form no idea of what gas, vapour and energy on the sun really are. Solar vapour is certainly millions of times more powerful than a terrestrial solid, and the greatest conceivable crash of impact of Earth-solid would not be anything near so violent as the tiniest spray of solar vapour, and in addition to this lightning-like, irresistible surge, there are portions of the solar sea where, either through the extra refractibility, or the union of some explosive gases, the liquid remains quiescent, or rather in a state of quiet ebullition, when, with a terrific report, it suddenly bursts, shooting upwards in a spray of white-hot foam, for hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles into the atmosphere. And there follows terrible flaming and explosive vapour, which spreads upwards and around, exploding and lighting other units of similar gas here, there, and everywhere, till the whole atmosphere to the horizon, and upwards as far as the clouds and flames will allow the sight to penetrate, is one deafening, exploding mass, as if some giant insect had rushed into a flame and the fierce heat caused the sudden expansion of its moisture to burst it, and the now dismembered creature had been flung screeching and flaming to the four winds of heaven, or as if some mighty bomb had been flung into and devastated hell.

As they hovered over this solar sea the effect was frightful to contemplate and their position nerve-shaking in the extreme, and again came the natural doubt that if they were fortunate in that the ship withstood the incalculable heat, she could never even float on that terrible sea, for who could estimate the temperature of a mass of molten metal and other substances nearly nine hundred thousand miles in diameter. She would be shattered in the awful tumult and the hurtling masses of vapour and the batterings of the irresistible fiery waves, the mere splashes of the foam of which came together with crashes of thunder, and several of the passengers rushed in trepidation to the owners of the vessel who, each in his own prearranged place, were watching intently the _Regina’s_ various gauges and instruments, for the lives of all depended on the accurate adjustment of the various forces over which they had control, and the movement of a switch a thousandth of an inch too much or too little would throw matters out of balance and mean death, instant and certain. Ross was controlling the gravity, retarding and increasing as the ship rested and fell, constantly watching and comparing the dials registering the sun’s gravity with that stating their own, keeping both in proper adjustment together, lest, in the twinkling of an eye, they should be drawn to the surface of the fiery sea. The work of Dennis and Gilbert was no less important and necessary to the general safety, and as Morris Farrant approached the barrier, Ross made the ship stationary and stepped into the saloon, along with his two colleagues, and in answer to Farrant’s inquiry, he replied, “You need have no fear! the vessel’s protective force could even now be greatly increased.”

“Then there is no danger from shock of impact?” inquired Rowland.

“None whatever!” replied Ross; “we have on the compensating force which automatically calls out more force than that projected against her, as and to the extent in which it is needed, so that nothing can touch her,” and then he suddenly exclaimed, “Just look at that sea coming straight at us!” and all rushed to the sloping windows, to see before them a flood of fire, miles in extent, rapidly welling upwards, the ship in the centre of it, and safe as they felt themselves to be, each gave an involuntary gasp as the deluge swept towards them and rose up and up till they were in the heart of it; then it passed and a few minutes later was exploded to the corona, where it was cast in all directions, falling on the surface of the sea with hissing splashes; a second later it was reheated, and the sea was gleaming white as before. All gave another sigh as this great tidal-wave passed.

“That is, perhaps, the most severe test we have had,” exclaimed Gilbert, “for it is the actual solar sea which swept over us! and this proves that we can go through it in safety.”

“I cannot grasp it!” said Lees Ingle, an electrician. “I cannot comprehend how you can overcome gravity in this way, and why we are not overwhelmed! but then, that’s your affair!” and he laughed, thoroughly mystified.

“There’s this in it, anyway!” observed Godfrey, also laughing, “they’d scarcely come and bring _me_ if there was much danger of being frizzled, and if we get toasted they do, for we’re all in the same boat.”

This safe passage of the tidal-wave set all doubts at rest finally, which was felt by all a wonderful relief, and with added zest they set to work again, this time to investigate the sun spots, but they could not find any. For days they wandered to and fro, seeing only larger and smaller ‘granules’ and ‘pores,’ as the heat and movement were more or less intense; but owing to the difficulty of seeing far ahead by reason of the heavy and fiery clouds above, and the deceptive whiteness of the surface below, they were unable to locate their position, for terrestrial compasses were useless. At last, after a long search they came to a zone of what they judged to be the familiar ‘sun spots’ which may be seen from Earth any day without the aid of a telescope, if there be but a little fog, or a smoked glass handy, and straightway commenced examining, measuring, and observing the origin of their formation, and why Earth was affected by their movements.

The primary cause was found to be the enormous pressures of vapour and currents of heat, which, acting violently on certain parts of the photosphere, made those parts much fiercer and brighter by the intensity of the heat, and thus the parts adjacent and surrounding the whiter portions appeared considerably darker by contrast, just as a spot of brilliant white placed on a piece of paper less white will cause that portion of the paper immediately surrounding it to appear grey by contrast. Such portions resumed their normal state when the fierce local heat had passed—or, in reality, when the super-heated portion had cooled to that of the surrounding portions and the colour had become normal and even; for in these cases there are no spots except by contrast, which accounted satisfactorily for the fact that from Earth dark spots are seen to remain for various lengths of time, from a few minutes to a few days, and then vanish, suddenly to appear again elsewhere, following the course of the super-heated zone or the locality which might then be in a state of constant motion.

Some of these locally super-heated spots were found to vary from the diameter of a few inches to thousands of miles—one near the solar equator, and visible from Earth, being nearly two hundred thousand miles across. These and other large spots are mostly situated between solar latitudes 5° and 35° north and south of the equator, and are so extensive that certain physical causes have made them more or less constant. The continued welling upward of these portions of the solar sea and their cooler return have banked up the outer sides or borders of the spots, and deepened their interior space, after the manner of a volcano, and they are in a state of incessant eruption or boil.

Many of the sun-spots, also forming deep depressions, cavities, or wells in the photosphere, and penetrating for a considerable distance towards the interior of the sun, are caused by vast descending and often cyclonic cones of super-heated vapour of inconceivably enormous energy. Passing over the tops of the apertures, these are drawn inside and, once entered, spin round the whole interior surface with terrible velocity, causing the boiling lava-like contents to be involved in intense revolution, the speed of which cools the far edges on the surface of the photosphere, causing definite lines or boundaries of demarcation which, owing to their reduced temperature, though still liquid, are considerably subdued in colour. To the eye these present a darkened hollow of terrible depth and fierceness, in and through which mighty currents flow unceasingly with lightning rapidity, and in many cases several of these cyclonic seas are connected by straits or channels. Seen from above, they show a dark core, or ‘nucleus,’ and surrounding this is the ‘umbra,’ which is not so dark as the core but is really the darker and cooler _sides_ of the cavity; and between this and the blinding white of the outer sea, or surface of the photosphere, is the ‘penumbra,’ which is the _margin_ of the cavity, appearing a greyish white in contrast to the gleaming white outer surface, and these three lines of demarcation are easily distinguishable from Earth.

In some cases there are long ‘bridges’ from the umbra to the penumbra, caused by surface irregularities. In passing over these cones, or spots, the _Regina_ gave out enormous charges of electricity, and for some time the cause was not discovered, till at last it was found that the extraordinary pressures and conflicting currents in these regions generated a considerable amount of electricity, which was projected outwards and caught full on the _Regina_ as she passed over. This, then, was the solution to the hitherto mysterious manner in which the appearance and disappearance of sun-spots affect the Earth; the gigantic force of electricity generated in these super-heated zones is projected outwards and, travelling through space, no doubt affects every member of the solar family, Earth-people feeling its influence in simultaneous atmospheric and cyclonic disturbances and a general upsetting of magnetic needles, wave-apparatus and the like, while in the mass of Earth itself causing at these times shakings, tremors, volcanic eruptions, landslips and earthquakes, all of a more or less violent character. Some of these vapour movements, vertical, horizontal and oblique, were proved by measurements to exceed half a million miles per second.

A sail round the entire surface of the sun proved the actual measurement to be 2,742,937 miles in circumference, or, roughly, about 873,105 miles in diameter, and not 866,500 or thereabouts, as previously supposed, and that its velocity of rotation at the equator was 6570 miles per hour, whilst the force of gravity on its surface, reckoning Earth as 1, was measured by the _Regina’s_ gravitometer to be 28·75 exactly.

Having spent nearly six weeks in roaming over the surface, the question arose as to the advisability of passing into or through its mass, and all were eager to make the attempt, risking the possibility of annihilation.

“We are in your hands,” said Gilbert; “we have arranged to go when and where you desire; so shall we go down slowly, in order that you may examine the strata as we go, or quickly?”

“We would like to go slow,” said several; and Kirkby Reeve asked if any idea could be formed of the interior, and of what it was likely to consist; when Gilbert answered,—“We can only tell by going. We shall find plenty of excitement in it till we get to the centre, and as we go through to the other side.”

“Is it not tempting Providence?” observed Heriot Field, a naturalist. “Considering we were saved in the tidal wave, shall we not let that suffice?”

“Certainly, if you wish it,” replied Gilbert, bluntly; “would you rather not go—are you afraid?”

“I am, I know! awfully afraid!” exclaimed Godfrey, tactfully, seeing that Field resented Gilbert’s unthinking remark, “and so are we all, and I expect if you asked each of us if we would rather not go, we should all say ‘Yes,’ but we intend going all the same!—at least I suppose so, for we don’t get the chance of slipping into the sun every day; so if all are ready and willing, sink her, old man, and then we’ll watch—and get roasted together, may be!”

All smiled, even Field, serious as was the occasion, and Gilbert altered several of the switches, closely examining the indicators meanwhile, then came into the saloon and joined the rest, who were crowded round the windows in silence; somehow, words seemed superfluous, as they stood, each intently thinking, for any moment now they might meet their doom.

For the space of several minutes they stood, with no apparent change.

“We are not moving!” said Rollsborough, in an intense whisper.

“Yes,” responded Gilbert, “we are becoming slowly heavier; look! the sea is drawing nearer!”

So it was; the ship seemed perfectly still, and the fiery ocean to the whole horizon was apparently rising up to them, the waves spinning and lashing and the ‘granules,’ or ‘rice-grains,’ their tops wonderfully white, were gleaming and sparkling like the sun on rippling Earth-water, as they spun in eddies and long, lapping waves; and a moment later the ocean appeared to give a final rush upwards to crush the ship, and the liquid fire was level with the base of the windows; then the surface of it was level with their eyes; then it rose higher, and the windows seemed covered from the bottom with a golden-like blind with an edging of sparkling lace as it drew higher and higher, and then they were engulfed.

Now what was to happen? Were they to be destroyed in that awful bath? Each drew a deep breath and gripped the sides of the windows, as though that would save them; then the deathly silence was broken by Rollsborough saying in a whisper, “See, the fire is at least a foot distant from the windows. We are safe!”

“Thank God!” came from several parts of the saloon, so hoarsely and faintly that it had been more heartfelt than articulate.

No one spoke again for some minutes, for thoughts and the relief from tension were too deep for words. Slowly they sank, seeing nothing but cream-coloured blinds to the windows—a sea which became as slowly hotter and more glaringly white till at last they could scarcely see in the blinding light. They drew all the screens before the windows, and after ascertaining that the continuous photographic apparatus and the instruments for spectrum-photography were working properly, they waited as patiently as their excitement would allow. For hours they continued their slow descent, the time seeming like an eternity, till at last some one ejaculated, “For mercy’s sake, let us get through or we shall be turning delirious!”

Gilbert, whose turn it was to be in charge of the ship’s movements, said not a word, but walked across to the switchboard and made some slight alteration, then came amongst them again. Scarcely had he resumed his position when, with the suddenness of a pistol-shot, they were plunged into darkness—a darkness that could be felt.

Willing hands excitedly drew up the screens, but all outside was dense blackness; the inner lights were put on, but only the inside of the net was visible through the glass, and Ross at once switched on the whole of the search-lights, which blazed forth in all directions, revealing dense and impenetrable fog on every side.

“What has happened? Where are we?” every one was asking, in consternation.

“I don’t know!” replied Gilbert, looking at the dial and the distance travelled; “the ship is all right; we are still falling rapidly, but we’re not in the sun, that’s evident!” And he brought the vessel to a stand, poised in equilibrium, wherever they might be.