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rigid mass of water and its surroundings

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I observed as we walked along its edge that the shore of the lake was 
precipitous in places, again formed a gradually descending beach, and 
the dead silence of the space about us, in connection with the 
death-like stillness of that rigid mass of water and its surroundings, 
became increasingly impressive and awe-inspiring. Never before had I 
seen such a perfectly quiet glass-like surface. Not a vibration or 
undulation appeared in any direction. The solidity of steel was 
exemplified in its steady, apparently inflexible contour, and yet the 
pure element was so transparent that the bottom of the pool was as 
clearly defined as the top of the cavern above me. The lights and shades 
of the familiar lakes of Western New York were wanting here, and it 
suddenly came to my mind that there were surface reflections, but no 
shadows, and musing on this extraordinary fact, I stood motionless on a 
jutting cliff absorbed in meditation, abstractedly gazing down into that 
transparent depth. Without sun or moon, without apparent source of 
light, and yet perfectly illuminated, the lofty caverns seemed cut by 
that aqueous plane into two sections, one above and one below a 
transparent, rigid surface line. The dividing line, or horizontal plane, 
appeared as much a surface of air as a surface of water, and the 
material above that plane seemed no more nor less a gas, or liquid, than 
that beneath it. If two limpid, transparent liquids, immiscible, but of 
different gravities, be poured into the same vessel, the line of 
demarkation will be as a brilliant mirror, such as I now beheld parting 
and yet uniting the surfaces of air and water.

Lost in contemplation, I unconsciously asked the mental question:

"Where are the shadows?"

My guide replied:

"You have been accustomed to lakes on the surface of the earth; water 
that is illuminated from above; now you see by a light that is developed 
from within and below, as well as from above. There is no outside point 
of illumination, for the light of this cavern, as you know, is neither 
transmitted through an overlying atmosphere nor radiated from a luminous 
center. It is an inherent quality, and as objects above us and within 
the lake are illuminated alike from all sides, there can be no shadows."

Musingly, I said:

"That which has occurred before in this journey to the unknown country 
of which I have been advised, seemed mysterious; but each succeeding 
step discovers to me another novelty that is more mysterious, with 
unlooked-for phenomena that are more obscure."

"This phenomenon is not more of a mystery than is the fact that light 
radiates from the sun. Man can not explain that, and I shall not now 
attempt to explain this. Both conditions are attributes of force, but 
with this distinction—the crude light and heat of the sun, such as men 
experience on the surface of the earth, is here refined and softened, 
and the characteristic glare and harshness of the light that is known to 
those who live on the earth's surface is absent here. The solar ray, 
after penetrating the earth's crust, is tempered and refined by agencies 
which man will yet investigate understandingly, but which he can not now 
comprehend."

"Am I destined to deal with these problems?"

"Only in part."

"Are still greater wonders before us?"

"If your courage is sufficient to carry you onward, you have yet to 
enter the portal of the expanse we approach."

"Lead on, my friend," I cried; "lead on to these undescribed scenes, the 
occult wonderland that"—

He interrupted me almost rudely, and in a serious manner said:

"Have you not learned that wonder is an exemplification of ignorance? 
The child wonders at a goblin story, the savage at a trinket, the man of 
science at an unexplained manifestation of a previously unperceived 
natural law; each wonders in ignorance, because of ignorance. Accept now 
that all you have seen from the day of your birth on the surface of the 
earth, to the present, and all that you will meet here are wonderful 
only because the finite mind of man is confused with fragments of 
evidence, that, from whatever direction we meet them, spring from an 
unreachable infinity. We will continue our journey."

Proceeding farther along the edge of the lake we came to a metallic 
boat. This my guide picked up as easily as though it were of paper, for 
be it remembered that gravitation had slackened its hold here. Placing 
it upon the water, he stepped into it, and as directed I seated myself 
near the stern, my face to the bow, my back to the shore. The guide, 
directly in front of me, gently and very slowly moved a small lever that 
rested on a projection before him, and I gazed intently upon him as we 
sat together in silence. At last I became impatient, and asked him if we 
would not soon begin our journey.

"We have been on our way since we have been seated," he answered.

I gazed behind with incredulity: the shore had disappeared, and the 
diverging wake of the ripples showed that we were rapidly skimming the 
water.

"This is marvelous," I said; "incomprehensible, for without sail or oar, 
wind or steam, we are fleeing over a lake that has no current."
"True, but not marvelous. Motion of matter is a result of disturbance of 
energy connected therewith. Is it not scientifically demonstrated, at 
least in theory, that if the motion of the spirit that causes the 
magnetic needle to assume its familiar position were really arrested in 
the substance of the needle, either the metal would fuse and vaporize or 
(if the forces did not appear in some other form such as heat, 
electricity, magnetism, or other force) the needle would be hurled 
onward with great speed?"

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rigid mass of water and its surroundings gilber34 <invalid@invalid.com> - 2015-09-04 18:01 -0500

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