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It must be confessed that hitherto things had not gone on so badly, / and that I had small reason to complain. If our difficulties became / no worse, we might hope to reach our end. And to what a height of / scientific glory we should then attain! I had become quite a / Liedenbrock in my reasonings; seriously I had. But would this state / of things last in the strange place we had come to? Perhaps it might.
For several days steeper inclines, some even frightfully near to the / perpendicular, brought us deeper and deeper into the mass of the / interior of the earth. Some days we advanced nearer to the centre by / a league and a half, or nearly two leagues. These were perilous / descents, in which the skill and marvellous coolness of Hans were / invaluable to us. That unimpassioned Icelander devoted himself with / incomprehensible deliberation; and, thanks to him, we crossed many a / dangerous spot which we should never have cleared alone.