have.’
‘Well, let me tell you it’s more than a bit of smoke and gas. The thundering racket, the heat, the earthquakes, the fountains of fire, the explosions, the flying rocks, the fumes - well, it’s hell let loose. And to go down into a crater - it can be pretty terrifying. I once had an experience …’
Captain Ike waited for him to continue, but the doctor’s face had become as still as marble and the eyes were fixed and staring as if made of glass.
‘You were saying …’ the captain prompted. But there was not the slightest movement in the scientist’s face or body. For a full minute he remained so. Then his features melted, his eyes moved, and life seemed to flow through him once more.
‘Let’s see,’ he said, ‘where were we? Oh, I was telling you about the boys …’
But Captain Ike was thinking to himself: ‘This poor fellow remembers something that he might better forget.’ Kobo, the Japanese student in search of English, sat beside Hal and Roger and kept them talking in that language. He was learning fast.
Handsome, brown Omo in his perch in the crow’s-nest listened to the deck talk as he scanned the shore of Japan, looking for the passage that would take them to their next Japanese volcano.
‘Bungo!’ he cried at last. Three points to starboard.’ The little ship swung to the right to brave the tide rips and whirlpools of the Bungo Channel.
Then Japan’s inland sea, probably the most beautiful sea in the world, with its three thousand fantastic islands and its surrounding mountains crowned with old castles and temples, opened up before them.
The ship rounded to port, and ahead lay one of the strangest sights of the world - a whole mountainside bristling with geysers of steam. Among the geysers were houses, for this was the city of Beppu. Beyond rose a column of smoke from Aso volcano.
‘I suppose this is the only city on earth,’ Dr Dan told the boys, ‘where hot water doesn’t cost a penny. Poke a hole in the earth anywhere and up comes hot water or steam or both. Every house gets its hot water from underground. The water never stops coming up - taps can be left running all the time, it doesn’t matter. No wood or coal is needed in the kitchen stoves. Meals are cooked by steam from below. Factories run by steam. Powerhouses use steam to make electricity to light the city. Beppu is sitting on a red-hot boiler. Some day the boiler may burst, but until it does the people cheerfully use its power to run their city.’
‘Judging from those geysers,’ said Hal, ‘there’s more power than they can use.’
‘Yes, most of the steam just shoots up into the air and goes to waste. Most of the hot water runs down into the bay. There’s enough power here to run all of Japan, if it could be harnessed.’
The ship anchored in the bay close to the beach. Roger rubbed bis eyes.
These people must be headhunters!’
His brother laughed. ‘What makes you think that?’
‘Look at all those heads lying on the beach.’
Sure enough, a row of human heads lay on the sand. They were all Japanese. Some were the heads of men, some of women. There were children’s heads, too. In some cases the eyes were closed; in others, they were open, as if the heads were still alive. Roger’s eyes nearly popped out when he saw some of the heads move and begin to talk to each other.
‘Come ashore,’ said Dr Dan. ‘When we get close to them you’ll see what it’s all about.’
They stepped out on to the dock and down on to the beach. Now Roger could see that the heads had bodies attached to them, but the bodies were buried in sand. Steam rose from the sand.
‘Beppu is famous for its sand bathing,’ said Dr Dan.
‘How would you like to try it?’
It seemed a curious way to take a bath, but the boys were willing to try anything. In the nearby bathhouse they paid a small fee, removed their clothes, put on trunks, then came out on to the beach.
Roger was the first to be buried. An old woman
‘Well, let me tell you it’s more than a bit of smoke and gas. The thundering racket, the heat, the earthquakes, the fountains of fire, the explosions, the flying rocks, the fumes - well, it’s hell let loose. And to go down into a crater - it can be pretty terrifying. I once had an experience …’
Captain Ike waited for him to continue, but the doctor’s face had become as still as marble and the eyes were fixed and staring as if made of glass.
‘You were saying …’ the captain prompted. But there was not the slightest movement in the scientist’s face or body. For a full minute he remained so. Then his features melted, his eyes moved, and life seemed to flow through him once more.
‘Let’s see,’ he said, ‘where were we? Oh, I was telling you about the boys …’
But Captain Ike was thinking to himself: ‘This poor fellow remembers something that he might better forget.’ Kobo, the Japanese student in search of English, sat beside Hal and Roger and kept them talking in that language. He was learning fast.
Handsome, brown Omo in his perch in the crow’s-nest listened to the deck talk as he scanned the shore of Japan, looking for the passage that would take them to their next Japanese volcano.
‘Bungo!’ he cried at last. Three points to starboard.’ The little ship swung to the right to brave the tide rips and whirlpools of the Bungo Channel.
Then Japan’s inland sea, probably the most beautiful sea in the world, with its three thousand fantastic islands and its surrounding mountains crowned with old castles and temples, opened up before them.
The ship rounded to port, and ahead lay one of the strangest sights of the world - a whole mountainside bristling with geysers of steam. Among the geysers were houses, for this was the city of Beppu. Beyond rose a column of smoke from Aso volcano.
‘I suppose this is the only city on earth,’ Dr Dan told the boys, ‘where hot water doesn’t cost a penny. Poke a hole in the earth anywhere and up comes hot water or steam or both. Every house gets its hot water from underground. The water never stops coming up - taps can be left running all the time, it doesn’t matter. No wood or coal is needed in the kitchen stoves. Meals are cooked by steam from below. Factories run by steam. Powerhouses use steam to make electricity to light the city. Beppu is sitting on a red-hot boiler. Some day the boiler may burst, but until it does the people cheerfully use its power to run their city.’
‘Judging from those geysers,’ said Hal, ‘there’s more power than they can use.’
‘Yes, most of the steam just shoots up into the air and goes to waste. Most of the hot water runs down into the bay. There’s enough power here to run all of Japan, if it could be harnessed.’
The ship anchored in the bay close to the beach. Roger rubbed bis eyes.
These people must be headhunters!’
His brother laughed. ‘What makes you think that?’
‘Look at all those heads lying on the beach.’
Sure enough, a row of human heads lay on the sand. They were all Japanese. Some were the heads of men, some of women. There were children’s heads, too. In some cases the eyes were closed; in others, they were open, as if the heads were still alive. Roger’s eyes nearly popped out when he saw some of the heads move and begin to talk to each other.
‘Come ashore,’ said Dr Dan. ‘When we get close to them you’ll see what it’s all about.’
They stepped out on to the dock and down on to the beach. Now Roger could see that the heads had bodies attached to them, but the bodies were buried in sand. Steam rose from the sand.
‘Beppu is famous for its sand bathing,’ said Dr Dan.
‘How would you like to try it?’
It seemed a curious way to take a bath, but the boys were willing to try anything. In the nearby bathhouse they paid a small fee, removed their clothes, put on trunks, then came out on to the beach.
Roger was the first to be buried. An old woman
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