9583. This was also proved to be so. When some spirits in our company who had not received permission to go across came to that great gap they began to cry out vehemently that they were perishing, for they were like those in agony, fighting for their lives; they therefore stopped on that side of the gulf and could not be taken any further on. For the fiery smoke issuing out of the gulf took hold of them and so choked them. The fiery smoke is falsity arising from the evils of cravings. This is what that falsity is seen as.