The Child of the Cavern
Encyclopedia
The Child of the Cavern is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne
, published in April 1877. The first UK edition was published as The Child of the Cavern; or Strange Doings Underground, in October 1877 by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington of London
.
Alternative English titles for this novel include: Black Diamonds, Black Indies, Child of the Cavern, or Strange Doings Underground and The Underground City.
near Stirling
, Scotland
. Receiving a letter from an old colleague, mining engineer
James Starr sets off for the old Aberfoyle mine, thought to have been mined out ten years earlier. Starr finds mine overman Simon Ford and his family living in a cottage deep inside the mine; he is astonished to find that Ford has made a discovery of the presence of a large vein of coal
. Accompanying Simon Ford are his wife, Madge, and adult son, Harry.
From the outset, mysterious and unexplained happenings start to occur around the main characters, attributed initially to goblin
s and firemaidens.
Soon after the discovery of the new vein of coal, the community is revitalised with a whole town growing up around the underground lake called Loch Malcolm.
Suspicious of a malevolent force at work, Harry continues his explorations of the cavern system, where down a deep shaft, he discovers a young orphan
girl named Nell. Over the course of the next few years Nell is adopted by Simon and Madge but reveals nothing of where she came from, only that she had never been out of the mine.
Eventually, when Harry and Nell announce their marriage, the mysterious occurrences come to a head. It becomes clear that all of the happenings have been caused by Silfax, another former employee of the mine, who along with his trained owl has inhabited the mine since its closure.
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
, published in April 1877. The first UK edition was published as The Child of the Cavern; or Strange Doings Underground, in October 1877 by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Alternative English titles for this novel include: Black Diamonds, Black Indies, Child of the Cavern, or Strange Doings Underground and The Underground City.
Plot summary
Covering a time span of over ten years, this novel follows the fortunes of the mining community of AberfoyleAberfoyle
Aberfoyle is a village in the region of Stirling, Scotland, northwest of Glasgow.The town is situated on the River Forth at the base of Craigmore...
near Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Receiving a letter from an old colleague, mining engineer
Mining engineering
Mining engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the practice, the theory, the science, the technology, and application of extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring environment. Mining engineering also includes processing minerals for additional value.Mineral...
James Starr sets off for the old Aberfoyle mine, thought to have been mined out ten years earlier. Starr finds mine overman Simon Ford and his family living in a cottage deep inside the mine; he is astonished to find that Ford has made a discovery of the presence of a large vein of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. Accompanying Simon Ford are his wife, Madge, and adult son, Harry.
From the outset, mysterious and unexplained happenings start to occur around the main characters, attributed initially to goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s and firemaidens.
Soon after the discovery of the new vein of coal, the community is revitalised with a whole town growing up around the underground lake called Loch Malcolm.
Suspicious of a malevolent force at work, Harry continues his explorations of the cavern system, where down a deep shaft, he discovers a young orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
girl named Nell. Over the course of the next few years Nell is adopted by Simon and Madge but reveals nothing of where she came from, only that she had never been out of the mine.
Eventually, when Harry and Nell announce their marriage, the mysterious occurrences come to a head. It becomes clear that all of the happenings have been caused by Silfax, another former employee of the mine, who along with his trained owl has inhabited the mine since its closure.
External links
- The Underground City from JV.Gilead.org.il (EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
) - The Underground City, online at Ye Olde Library
- 45 illustrations by Jules FératJules FératJules-Descartes Férat was a French artist and illustrator, famous for his portrayals of factories and their workers.He illustrated the books of many known authors, such as Jules Verne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Victor Hugo. Some critics consider his illustrations for Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious...