Off on a Comet Book 1 Chapter 4

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Book 1 Chapter 4 Of Off on a Comet This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org.
Off on a Comet by Jules Verne Translated by Anonymous Book 1 Chapter 4 A Convulsion of Nature Whence came it, that at that very moment, the horizon on the wind so strained and sad of a modification, that the eye of the most practised mariner could not distinguish between sea and sky? Whence came it, that the billows raged and rose to a height, hitherto unregistered in the records of science? Whence came it, that the elements united in one deafening crash, that the earth groaned as though the whole framework of the globe were ruptured, that the waters roared from their innermost deaths, that the air shrieked with all the fury of a cyclone? Whence came it, that the radiance, intenser than the effulgence of the northern lights, overspread the firmament, and momentarily dimmed the splendour of the brightest stars? Whence came it, that the Mediterranean, one instant emptied of its waters, was the next flooded with a foaming surge? Whence came it, that in the space of a few seconds, the moon's disk reached a magnitude, as though it were but a tenth part of its ordinary distance from the earth? Whence came it, that a new blazing spheroid, hither too unknown to astronomy, now appeared suddenly in the firmament, though it were but to lose itself immediately behind masses of accumulated cloud? What phenomenon was this, that had produced a cataclysm so tremendous in effect upon earth, sky, and sea? Was it possible that a single human being could have survived the convulsion? And if so, could he explain its mystery?
End of Book 1 Chapter 4