There is a point where depth is tantamount to burial, and where light becomes extinct.

Below all these mines which we have just mentioned, below all these galleries, below this whole immense, subterranean, venous system of progress and utopia, much further on in the earth, much lower than Marat, lower than Babeuf, lower, much lower, and without any connection with the upper levels, there lies the last mine. A formidable spot. This is what we have designated as the le troisième dessous . It is the grave of shadows. It is the cellar of the blind. Inferi.

This communicates with the abyss.

The Lowest Depths

There disinterestedness vanishes. The demon is vaguely outlined; each one is for himself. The “I” in the eyes howls, seeks, fumbles, and gnaws. The social Ugolino is in this gulf.