Underground Rivers - University of New Mexico

Tanar of Pellucidar (1929)
Chapter 20 -- More Boys Club Serials
The fall had not hurt him. It had not even stunned him and when he came to the surface he
saw before him a quiet stream moving gently through an opening in the limestone wall about
him. Beyond the opening was a luminous cavern and into this Tanar swam, clambering to its
rocky floor the moment that he had found a low place in the bank of the stream. Looking about
him he found himself in a large cavern, the walls of which shone luminously, so considerable
was their content of phosphorus.
Then slowly he made a circuit of the outer walls of the grotto, but only where the stream passed
out at its far end was there any opening -- a rough archway that rose some six feet above the
surface of the underground stream.
And,
Where they had halted a tiny spring broke from the base of the cliff and trickled along its
winding channel for a short distance to empty into a natural, circular opening in the surface of
the ground. From deep in the bottom of this natural well the water falling from the rim could be
heard splashing upon the surface of the water far below. It was dark down there—dark and
mysterious, but the bearded ruffians gave no heed either to the beauty or the mystery of the
spot.
In Tarzan at the Earth's Core (1929), we have a flash flood.
The raging waters that were filling the gorge reached his knees and for an instant he was swept
from his footing. Clutching at the ground above him with his hands, he lost his rifle, but as it slid
into the turgid waters he clambered swiftly upward and regained momentary safety.
Land of Terror (1944)
The cave which lay beyond the gate was of limestone formation in a hillside just outside the
village. Enough light came through the outer opening to dimly illuminate the interior
immediately about us. We could not immediately determine the extent of the cave; but while
the walls at one side were discernible, at our left they were lost in darkness out of which trickled
a little stream of clear, cold water that made its way across the floor to disappear through the
outer opening.
And,
These Pellucidarian rivers, especially the large ones with a sluggish current, are extremely
dangerous to cross because they are peopled more often than not by hideous, carnivorous
reptiles, such as have been long extinct upon the outer crust. Many of these are large enough
to have easily wrecked our raft; and so we kept a close watch upon the surface of the water as
we poled our crude craft toward the opposite shore.
We'll catch Burroughs' Martian underground rivers in Chapter 89, Underground Rivers in Outer
Space.
Both Burroughs and Tolkien (Chapter 16, Underground Rivers in English Fiction) strove to
preserve geographical relationships from novel to novel. Below are hydrologic maps of Pellucidar
and Middle Earth derived from the physiography of the respective sagas.
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