That Indian, sir, is an inhabitant of an oppressed country; and I am still, and shall be, to my last breath, one of them! - Jules Verne

"And this accident came about...?"Through nature's unpredictability not man's incapacity. No errors were committed in our maneuvers. Nevertheless, we can't prevent a loss of balance from taking its toll. One may defy human laws, but no one can withstand the laws of nature.

Was he being devoured by one of those secret rages, all the more terrible because contained, and which only burst forth, with irresistible force, at the last moment?

The thunderbolt without the reverberations of thunder would frighten man but little, though the danger lies in the lightning, not in the noise.