into lighter
water, and the momentum carried us fifty fathoms beyond!

"We had passed out of the limit of solar attraction, and were being
drawn toward the centre of the earth!

"Before, we had been descending; now, we were rising. The fluid grew
rarer and warmer as we proceeded, the darkness more luminous, and at
last we became visible to each other, swimming in a ruby and
transparent liquid, unlike any aspect or part of our native domain.
The fluid became so rare finally, that the sturgeon was unable to go
farther, kept down by his superior gravity. Some lights glimmering
above us, and some mysterious sounds alarming him, he turned and fled.
I was left alone.

"I reached the surface of this peaceful sea. A scene lay before me
more beautiful than any wonder of the deep. I knew that I was among
immortals, and that this was 'Happy Archipelago'!

"The surface was calm. Some purple islets were sprinkled here and
there, and creatures marvellously fair were basking in the roseate
waters. They looked like angels half way out of heaven. Their faces
were of a silvery hue; their hairs shone on the stream like tremulous
beams of light; their eyes were of a tender azure, and their bosoms
rose and fell as if they were all dreaming of blessedness. Some
strains of ravishing harmony that were floating among the islands
ceased when I appeared, and I thought I heard the snapping of a
lute-string. All the spirits started at once. They were
crescent-shaped, and stood upon their nether tips. A star upon their
foreheads shone like a pure diamond. They saw me and vanished!

"All but one! She was the fairest of the spirits, and looked, thus
frightened, like the pale new moon. The violet veins faded from her
lids, and her blue eyes were full of wonder. I felt as if, for the
first time, a sinless being had looked upon me, and my heart grew so
black and heavy that I sank a little way. I feared to breathe, for she
might vanish. I wished to lie forever with her face shining upon me.
What were science, and dominion, and the secret of man's immortality
to one pure glance like hers? In the agony of my soul I spoke:
'Spirit! Immortal! Woman! O stay! Speak to me!'

"'Who are you? Whence do you come? You are not of us, nor of our
element.'

"The voice was like a disembodied sound, coming from nothing, floating
in space eternally.

"'I am a creature of a cursed race--ruler of a blighted domain--a
realm filled with violence: it lies beneath yo