# XX: On the Bosom of the Deep explained — The Lost Continent

> Chapter companion for The Lost Continent by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne.

## What happens

The narrator and Nais endure a harrowing journey in the Ark, which is guided solely by the High Gods. After a week of storms, they emerge to a calm sea, find the Ark well-stocked and marvelously constructed, and the narrator destroys the ancient writings of the Mysteries, later rewriting the chronicle of Atlantis's fall.

## Themes in this chapter

### Fate and Free Will

The narrator and Nais resign themselves to the will of the High Gods, who have sole control over the Ark's direction and their fate.

### Decay and Destruction

The chapter vividly describes the aftermath of Atlantis's destruction, with wreckage and corpses littering the sea, and the narrator's act of obliterating the ancient Mysteries.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The narrator describes the journey in the Ark, his destruction of the sacred writings, and his rewriting of Atlantis's history.

### Nais

Nais is with the narrator throughout the voyage, sharing in the silence and companionship, and is brought up to the deck for rest and sunlight.

### The Gods

The High Gods are credited with guiding the Ark and controlling the fate of the survivors.

### The Sun

The Sun is adored and thanked by the narrator and Nais for providing light and warmth after the storm.

## Key lines

> The High Gods that had chosen the two of us to be the only ones saved out of all Atlantis, had sole control of our fate, and into Their hands we cheerfully resigned our future direction.

The narrator and Nais accept that the High Gods alone decide their path, and they willingly submit to divine guidance.

_Highlights the theme of fate and free will._

> I took hot irons, and with them seared the wax on the sheets till every letter of the old writings was obliterated.

The narrator deliberately destroys the ancient records of the Mysteries, fearing the burden of their power.

_Shows the narrator's decision to erase dangerous knowledge._

> The living timbers had been put in place and then grown together by an art which we have lost today, but which the Ancients knew with much perfection.

The Ark was built using a forgotten technique that fused wood seamlessly, making it incredibly durable.

_Emphasizes the lost advanced technology of ancient Atlantis._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_continent_se/chapters/xx-on-the-bosom-of-the-deep
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_continent_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_continent_se/chapters