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vertical pitch of its face gave it a most extraordinary resemblance to a human being.... It was a biped; its almost globular body was poised on a tripod of two frog-like legs and a long thick tail." This creature, together with others, tow the sphere to a kind of altar in their city; the inhabitants prostrate themselves before
Elstead, and chant. He observes this for several hours: eventually the cable breaks and the sphere returns to the surface.
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After a week, Elstead has recovered enough to tell his experiences. He relates the eventful descent, lasting several minutes, during which the sphere became unexpectedly hot. On the sea bed, after observing the unusual species of fish and invertebrates, he sees "a strange vertebrated animal.... The
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The narrator has talked to eminent scientists, who think such a civilization is quite possible; he further speculates: "We should be known to them, however, as strange, meteoric creatures, wont to fall catastrophically dead out of the mysterious blackness of their watery sky. And not only we
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Elstead has invented an apparatus by which a person can travel to great depths and observe the life on the sea bed. It is a steel sphere, about nine feet in diameter, intended to withstand immense pressure. Weights attached to the sphere by a cord take it to the sea bed. The explorer makes
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The sphere does not return on schedule. While the ship's officers wait, "the
December sun was now high in the sky, and the heat very considerable." By midnight, they are fearing the worst; then they spot the re-emergence of the sphere. It is eventually retrieved at dawn.
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observations through the window in the sphere, oxygen inside being replaced by a fictitious "Myers apparatus". A clockwork mechanism cuts the cable after a certain time, and the buoyancy of the sphere takes it back to the surface.
139:, a collection of short stories by Wells first published in 1897. The story describes a journey to the ocean bed in a specially-designed metal sphere; the explorer within discovers a civilization of human-like creatures.
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ourselves, but our ships, our metals, our appliances, would come raining down out of the night.... One can understand, perhaps, something of their behaviour at the descent of a living man...."
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186:, which has sailed to a region where the water is five miles deep. The organization behind the project (perhaps funded by a scientific body, or by Elstead) is not specified.
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surveyed and explored around the world; the physical and chemical qualities of the deep sea were investigated, and biological samples were collected by dredges.
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Elstead never writes an account of his experience; after making improvements to the sphere, he makes another descent, but (like The Time
Traveller in Wells's
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The details of the sphere, and of
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which
Elstead's apparatus seems to resemble, first appeared in the 1930s.
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Travels of a
Republican Radical in Search of Hot Water
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The sphere is to be lowered into the water from the
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881:Mr. Belloc Objects to "The Outline of History"
437:The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth
317:
8:
1011:The Country of the Blind and Other Stories
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310:
302:
38:
979:The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind
229:List of underwater science fiction works
1204:The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper
1032:The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents
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18:
254:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
123:" is a short story by English writer
7:
1380:Underwater civilizations in fiction
1025:Select Conversations with an Uncle
653:Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island
14:
944:The Story of a Great Schoolmaster
804:An Englishman Looks at the World
285:
1293:The Man Who Could Work Miracles
1176:The Man Who Could Work Miracles
605:The Secret Places of the Heart
16:Short story by H. G. Wells
1:
1018:The Plattner Story and Others
874:Mind at the End of Its Tether
637:The World of William Clissold
274:The Plattner Story and Others
136:The Plattner Story and Others
127:, first published in 1896 in
1375:Short stories by H. G. Wells
1331:Simon Wells (great-grandson)
937:A Short History of the World
573:Mr. Britling Sees It Through
533:The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman
1239:A Story of the Days to Come
811:Experiment in Autobiography
797:The Discovery of the Future
677:The Shape of Things to Come
661:The Autocracy of Mr. Parham
373:The Island of Doctor Moreau
295:public domain audiobook at
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1046:Twelve Stories and a Dream
972:The Way the World Is Going
741:Babes in the Darkling Wood
629:Christina Alberta's Father
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421:The First Men in the Moon
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37:
26:
1260:The Truth About Pyecraft
1246:A Story of the Stone Age
1162:Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation
1099:The Country of the Blind
1071:The Argonauts of the Air
783:Certain Personal Matters
757:You Can't Be Too Careful
565:The Research Magnificent
461:In the Days of the Comet
1169:The Lord of the Dynamos
1039:Tales of Space and Time
493:The History of Mr Polly
282:includes "In the Abyss"
256:, accessed 22 Dec 2014.
166:, a spherical deep-sea
1141:The Empire of the Ants
916:The Outline of History
846:God the Invisible King
709:The Camford Visitation
669:The Bulpington of Blup
525:The Passionate Friends
405:When the Sleeper Wakes
1326:Joseph Wells (father)
1134:A Dream of Armageddon
1085:The Chronic Argonauts
993:A Year of Prophesying
923:Russia in the Shadows
867:Mankind in the Making
839:The Future in America
825:First and Last Things
749:All Aboard for Ararat
397:The War of the Worlds
252:title listing at the
149:Challenger expedition
143:Historical background
133:. It was included in
1267:A Vision of Judgment
1127:The Door in the Wall
951:This Misery of Boots
581:The Soul of a Bishop
413:Love and Mr Lewisham
381:The Wheels of Chance
224:Deep-sea exploration
1336:H. G. Wells Society
1183:The New Accelerator
1113:A Deal in Ostriches
930:The Science of Life
909:The Open Conspiracy
895:The New World Order
509:The New Machiavelli
365:The Wonderful Visit
1370:1896 short stories
1321:Anthony West (son)
1197:The Plattner Story
1155:The Land Ironclads
1078:The Beautiful Suit
965:War and the Future
902:New Worlds for Old
853:In the Fourth Year
717:Apropos of Dolores
685:The Croquet Player
541:The World Set Free
501:The Sleeper Awakes
469:The War in the Air
151:, arranged by the
130:Pearson's Magazine
77:Pearson's Magazine
1357:
1356:
1190:The Pearl of Love
1120:The Diamond Maker
389:The Invisible Man
279:Project Gutenberg
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96:C. Arthur Pearson
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597:The Undying Fire
357:The Time Machine
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110:Publication date
84:Publication type
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1311:Political views
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1218:The Sea Raiders
1106:The Crystal Egg
1064:Æpyornis Island
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818:The Fate of Man
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453:A Modern Utopia
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1341:Lunar crater
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1211:The Red Room
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292:In the Abyss
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121:In the Abyss
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72:Published in
1350:(1979 film)
1316:G. P. Wells
1277:Screenplays
1003:Collections
986:World Brain
860:Little Wars
832:Floor Games
790:Crux Ansata
477:Tono-Bungay
333:H. G. Wells
168:submersible
164:bathysphere
125:H. G. Wells
113:August 1896
67:Publication
32:H. G. Wells
28:Short story
1364:Categories
768:Nonfiction
235:References
157:Challenger
102:Media type
87:Periodical
645:Meanwhile
621:The Dream
191:Ptarmigan
184:Ptarmigan
92:Publisher
1225:The Star
1092:The Cone
693:Brynhild
517:Marriage
297:LibriVox
218:See also
57:Genre(s)
1304:Related
47:Country
1296:(1937)
1288:(1936)
760:(1941)
752:(1940)
744:(1940)
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728:(1938)
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592:(1918)
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549:Bealby
544:(1914)
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392:(1897)
384:(1896)
376:(1896)
368:(1895)
360:(1895)
349:Novels
445:Kipps
105:Print
557:Boon
162:The
147:The
277:at
30:by
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