Professor Lidenbrock and Axel travel to Iceland, Lidenbrock striding about energetically making arrangements for the expedition while Axel trails sulkily in his wake, querulously voicing doubts and warnings. The Professor ignores him or impatiently brushes aside his fears. In Reykjavik Lidenbrock gathers supplies and hires a guide named Hans Bjelke to take them to the volcano. They arrive at the base of the volcano in late June, close to the time (early July) when Saknussemm's note said the sun's shadow will reveal the entrance to the passage which leads to the center of the earth. Unfortunately for the professor (and to Axel's secret delight) the weather remains cloudy, the sun unable to cast a shadow. Axel hopes the cloud cover will last until the window of opportunity to see the shadow is gone and that his uncle will be forced to give up his plan. These hopes are dashed when, two days before the time is up, the sun breaks through and casts a shadow, revealing the entrance. Professor Lidenbrock excitedly leads them into the depths of the earth. The three men spend days and days descending into the bowels of the earth, encountering a number of curious phenomena and hazards. The greatest danger turns out to be lack of water; after a long time traveling underground-taking a wrong turn- and not coming upon any water source, they are running out of the supply they brought with them. Axel in particular is suffering... he eventually collapses from dehydration and loses consciousness. He is revived by Lidenbrock giving him water; Hans has located an underground river which saves them from having to worry about water anymore. The professor names the river Hansbach in gratitude to their guide. Once Axel is back on his feet, they start off again and go much deeper into the earth. At one point, Axel gets separated from Lidenbrock and Hans and despairs of finding them again. Fortunately, due to an odd echo effect in the passages, they are able to hear each other shouting and the professor and Hans eventually find Axel. After weeks of traveling, the three men come to a giant subterranean cavern which contains an underground sea surrounded by old petrified trees and gigantic mushrooms taller than they. The professor naturally names it Lidenbrock Sea, and the cove that they're in Port Grauben, after his goddaughter. I can't help noticing that he hasn't named anything after Axel yet. In any case, they build a raft out of some of the petrified wood and set sail on the sea, heading into the unknown once again.
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