Liquid Fire 



huge sewer-mouth — the sparkling torrent which had brought 

 me down. 



On the further side of the broad river, I saw a tall 

 fountain of rosy fire, beneath what appeared a temple, whose 

 great columns seemed to tremble as the flickering fountain 

 rose and fell. I knew at once that this was my destination, 

 and I swam towards the beacon, breaking the warm, dark 

 waters into sparkling ripples, as I struck out lustily for the 

 undiscovered shore. 



The quality of the water seemed strange. It had an 

 ambrosial perfume, unlike anything I have smelt with waking 

 nostrils : and so far from exhausting or chilling, it gave a 

 sort of prickly, burning glow and vigour to the body. Indeed, 

 my frame appeared to undergo a change as I swam. At last 

 I reached the bank — a shore of shelving flowers, which 

 seemed like violets set with a self-luminous dewdrop in the 

 centre. In the midst of the perfume of these sweet flowers, 

 I perceived a smell of burning. 



Startled and rather alarmed, I found that all my clothes 

 were in a smouldering state, smoking slightly, and dimly 

 luminous. I hurriedly began to undress, but at the first 

 touch the whole fell off like a husk of tinder ; and I cast 

 the consuming heap into the water, where it shot up a 

 small dull flame. This floated away in the languid current 

 of the river, and soon disappeared. 



I found I had been swimming in a kind of liquid fire, which 

 luckily had the property of respecting flesh and blood. I 

 lay down and rolled, like a horse relieved of his trappings, in 

 the soft and fragrant crush of jewel-spangled flowers. A 

 drowsiness fell upon me ; I might have slept, when I was 

 roused by the same trumpet call, not faint as before, but 

 ringing a shrill clear note that echoed up to the dark blue 

 vault, and seemed to make the stars that hung there tremble. 



