Easy enough to guess that
the hidden deposits of the mountain had yielded oil which needed
only a spark from a piece of flint to fire it; and any one who
knows anything of the geological formation of the Andes will not
wonder at their supply of air.
Nature is not yet ready for man in those wild regions. Huge
upheavals and convulsions are of continual occurrence;
underground streams are known which rise in the eastern
Cordillera and emerge on the side of the Pacific slope. And air
circulates through these passages as well as water.
Their silence remains inexplicable; but it was probably the
result of the nature of their surroundings. I have spoken before
of the innumerable echoes and reverberations that followed every
sound of the voice above a whisper. At times it was literally
deafening; and time may have made it so in reality.
The natural effect through many generations of this inconvenience
or danger would be the stoppage of speech, leading possibly to a
complete loss of the faculty. I am satisfied that they were
incapable of vocalization, for even the women did not talk! But
that is ahead of the story.
I occupied myself with these reflections, and found amusement in
them; but it was impossible to lead Harry into a discussion.
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