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.
Het miswijzend kompas, geschokt door de electrieke natuurverschijnselen, bevestigde mij verder in mijne meening; de delfstoffelijke korst dreigde te breken, het massieve graniet zich te vereenigen, de scheur zich te sluiten, het ledige zich te vullen, en wij, nietige stofjes, zouden in die geduchte omhelzing verpletterd worden.