Then the disordered compass, thrown out of gear by the electric currents, confirmed me in a growing conviction. The mineral crust of the globe threatened to burst up, the granite foundations to come together with a crash, the fissure through which we were helplessly driven would be filled up, the void would be full of crushed fragments of rock, and we poor wretched mortals were to be buried and annihilated in this dreadful consummation.
Puis, la boussole affolée, secouée par les phénomènes électriques, me confirmait dans mon opinion; l'écorce minérale menaçait de se rompre, les massifs granitiques de se rejoindre, la fissure de se combler, le vide de se remplir, et nous, pauvres atomes, nous allions être écrasés dans cette formidable étreinte.