world below; but the impure soul
wanders hither and thither without companion or guide, and is carried
at last to her own place, as the pure soul is also carried away to hers.
'In order that you may understand this, I must first describe to you the
nature and conformation of the earth.'

Now the whole earth is a globe placed in the centre of the heavens, and
is maintained there by the perfection of balance. That which we call the
earth is only one of many small hollows, wherein collect the mists and
waters and the thick lower air; but the true earth is above, and is in
a finer and subtler element. And if, like birds, we could fly to the
surface of the air, in the same manner that fishes come to the top of
the sea, then we should behold the true earth and the true heaven and
the true stars. Our earth is everywhere corrupted and corroded; and even
the land which is fairer than the sea, for that is a mere chaos or waste
of water and mud and sand, has nothing to show in comparison of the
other world. But the heavenly earth is of divers colours, sparkling with
jewels brighter than gold and whiter than any snow, having flowers and
fruits innumerable. And the inhabitants dwell some on the shore of the
sea of air, others in 'islets of the blest,' and they hold converse
with the gods, and behold the sun, moon and stars as they truly are, and
their other blessedness is of a piece with this.

The hollows on the surface of the globe vary in size and shape from that
which we inhabit: but all are connected by passages and perforations in
the interior of the earth. And there is one huge chasm or opening called
Tartarus, into which streams of fire and water and liquid mud are ever
flowing; of these small portions find their way to the surface and
form seas and rivers and volcanoes. There is a perpetual inhalation and
exhalation of the air rising and falling as the waters pass into the
depths of the earth and return again, in their course forming lakes
and rivers, but never descending below the centre of the earth; for on
either side the rivers flowing either way are stopped by a precipice.
These rivers are many and mighty, and there are four principal ones,
Oceanus, Acheron, Pyriphlegethon, and Cocytus. Oceanus is the river
which encircles the earth; Acheron takes an opposite direction, and
after flowing under the earth through desert places, at last reaches the
Acherusian lake,--this is the river at which the souls of the dead await