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p. 66: Arronax] Aronnax; p. 87: zoophites] zoophytes; p. 89: aparatus]
apparatus; p. 96: dirunal] diurnal; p. 97: Arronax] Aronnax; p. 123: porphry]
porphyry; p. 141: Arronax] Aronnax; p. 146: sideral] sidereal; p. 177: Arronax]
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-1-
The Omnibus
JULES VERNE
contains
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
page 7
Around the World in Eighty Days
page 297
The Blockade Runners
page 489
From the Earth to the Moon and a Trip Around it
page 545
-3-
THE
OMNIBUS
JULES VERNE
J. B. Lippincott Company
-4-
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. AT THE
COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N.Y.
-5-
TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES
UNDER THE SEA
-7-
A SHIFTING REEF
THE year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a
mysterious and puzzling phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.
Not to mention rumours which agitated the maritime population and excited the
public mind, even in the interior of continents, seafaring men were particularly
excited. Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, both of
Europe and America, naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of
several States on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.
For some time past vessels had been met by "an enormous
thing," a long object, spindle-shaped, occasionally phosphorescent, and
infinitely larger and more rapid in its movements than a whale.
The facts relating to this apparition (entered in various
log-books) agreed in most respects as to the shape of the object or creature in
question, the untiring rapidity of its movements, its surprising power of
locomotion, and the peculiar life with which it seemed endowed. If it was a
whale, it surpassed in size all those hitherto classified in science. Taking
into consideration the mean of observations made at divers times -- rejecting
the timid estimate of those who assigned to this object a length of two hundred
feet, equally with the exaggerated opinions which set it down as a mile in width
and three in length -- we might fairly conclude that this mysterious being
surpassed greatly all dimensions admitted by the learned ones of the day, if it
existed at all. And that it did exist was an undeniable fact; and, with that
tendency which disposes the human mind in favour of the
-8-
marvellous, we can understand the excitement produced in the entire world by
this supernatural apparition. As to classing it in the list of fables, the idea
was out of the question.
On the 20th of July, 1866, the steamer Governor Higginson,
of the Calcutta and Burnach Steam Navigation Company, had met this moving mass
five miles off the east coast of Australia. Captain Baker thought at first that
he was in the presence of an unknown sandbank; he even prepared to determine its
exact position when two columns of water, projected by the mysterious object,
shot with a hissing noise a hundred and fifty feet up into the air. Now, unless
the sandbank had been submitted to the intermittent eruption of a geyser, the
Governor Higginson had to do neither more nor less than with an aquatic mammal,
unknown till then, which threw up from its blow-boles columns of water mixed
with air and vapour.
Similar facts were observed on the 23rd of July in the
same year, in the Pacific Ocean, by the Columbus, of the West India and Pacific
Steam Navigation Company. But this extraordinary creature could transport itself
from one place to another with surprising velocity; as, in an interval of three
days, the Governor Higginson and the Columbus had observed it at two different
points of the chart, separated by a distance of more than seven hundred nautical
leagues.
Fifteen days later, two thousand miles farther off, the
Helvetia, of the Compagnie-Nationale, and the Shannon, of the Royal Mail
Steamship Company, sailing to windward in that portion of the Atlantic lying
between the United States and Europe, respectively signalled the monster to each
other in 42o 15' N. lat. and 60o 35' W. long. In these
simultaneous observations they thought themselves justified in estimating the
minimum length of the mammal at more than three hundred and fifty feet, as the
Shannon and Helvetia were of smaller dimensions than it, though they measured
three hundred feet over all.
Now the largest whales, those which frequent those parts
of the sea round the Aleutian, Kulammak, and Umgullich
-9-
islands, have never exceeded the length of sixty yards, if they attain that.
In every place of great resort the monster was the
fashion. They sang of it in the cafes, ridiculed it in the papers, and
represented it on the stage. All kinds of stories were circulated regarding it.
There appeared in the papers caricatures of every gigantic and imaginary
creature, from the white whale, the terrible "Moby Dick" of sub-arctic regions,
to the immense kraken, whose tentacles could entangle a ship of five hundred
tons and hurry it into the abyss of the ocean. The legends of ancient times were
even revived.
Then burst forth the unending argument between the
believers and the unbelievers in the societies of the wise and the scientific
journals. "The question of the monster" inflamed all minds. Editors of
scientific journals, quarrelling with believers in the supernatural, spilled
seas of ink during this memorable campaign, some even drawing blood; for from
the sea-serpent they came to direct personalities.
During the first months of the year 1867 the question
seemed buried, never to revive, when new facts were brought before the public.
It was then no longer a scientific problem to be solved, but a real danger
seriously to be avoided. The question took quite another shape. The monster
became a small island, a rock, a reef, but a reef of indefinite and shifting
proportions.
On the 5th of March, 1867, the Moravian, of the Montreal
Ocean Company, finding herself during the night in 27o 30' lat. and
72o 15' long., struck on her starboard quarter a rock, marked in no
chart for that part of the sea. Under the combined efforts of the wind and its
four hundred horse-power, it was going at the rate of thirteen knots. Had it not
been for the superior strength of the hull of the Moravian, she would have been
broken by the shock and gone down with the 237 passengers she was bringing home
from Canada.
The accident happened about five o'clock in the morning,
as the day was breaking. The officers of the quarter-deck hurried to the
after-part of the vessel. They examined the sea with the most careful attention.
They saw nothing but a strong eddy about three cables' length distant, as if the
surface
-10-
had been violently agitated. The bearings of the place were taken exactly, and
the Moravian continued its route without apparent damage. Had it struck on a
submerged rock, or on an enormous wreck? They could not tell; but, on
examination of the ship's bottom when undergoing repairs, it was found that part
of her keel was broken.
This fact, so grave in itself, might perhaps have been
forgotten like many others if, three weeks after, it had not been re-enacted
under similar circumstances. But, thanks to the nationality of the victim of the
shock, thanks to the reputation of the company to which the vessel belonged, the
circumstance became extensively circulated.
The 13th of April, 1867, the sea being beautiful, the
breeze favourable, the Scotia, of the Cunard Company's line, found herself in 15o
12' long. and 45o 37' lat. She was going at the speed of thirteen
knots and a half.
At seventeen minutes past four in the afternoon, whilst
the passengers were assembled at lunch in the great saloon, a slight shock was
felt on the hull of the Scotia, on her quarter, a little aft of the port-paddle.
The Scotia had not struck, but she had been struck, and
seemingly by something rather sharp and penetrating than blunt. The shock had
been so slight that no one had been alarmed, had it not been for the shouts of
the carpenter's watch, who rushed on to the bridge, exclaiming, "We are sinking!
we are sinking!" At first the passengers were much frightened, but Captain
Anderson hastened to reassure them. The danger could not be imminent. The
Scotia, divided into seven compartments by strong partitions, could brave with
impunity any leak. Captain Anderson went down immediately into the hold. He
found that the sea was pouring into the fifth compartment; and the rapidity of
the influx proved that the force of the water was considerable. Fortunately this
compartment did not hold the boilers, or the fires would have been immediately
extinguished. Captain Anderson ordered the engines to be stopped at once, and
one of the men went down to ascertain the extent of the injury. Some minutes
afterwards they discovered the existence of a large hole, two yards in diameter,
in the ship's bottom. Such a
-11-
leak could not be stopped; and the Scotia, her paddles half submerged, was
obliged to continue her course. She was then three hundred miles from Cape
Clear, and, after three days' delay, which caused great uneasiness in Liverpool,
she entered the basin of the company.
The engineers visited the Scotia, which was put in dry
dock. They could scarcely believe it possible; at two yards and a half below
water-mark was a regular rent, in the form of an isosceles triangle. The broken
place in the iron plates was so perfectly defined that it could not have been
more neatly done by a punch. It was clear, then, that the instrument producing
the perforation was not of a common stamp and, after having been driven with
prodigious strength, and piercing an iron plate 1 3/8 inches thick, had
withdrawn itself by a backward motion.
Such was the last fact, which resulted in exciting once
more the torrent of public opinion. From this moment all unlucky casualties
which could not be otherwise accounted for were put down to the monster.
Upon this imaginary creature rested the responsibility of
all these shipwrecks, which unfortunately were considerable; for of three
thousand ships whose loss was annually recorded at Lloyd's, the number of
sailing and steam-ships supposed to be totally lost, from the absence of all
news, amounted to not less than two hundred!
Now, it was the "monster" who, justly or unjustly, was
accused of their disappearance, and, thanks to it, communication between the
different continents became more and more dangerous. The public demanded sharply
that the seas should at any price be relieved from this formidable cetacean.1.
1. Member of the whale family.
PRO AND CON
AT THE period when these events took place, I had just
returned from a scientific research in the disagreeable territory
-12-
of Nebraska, in the United States. In virtue of my office as Assistant Professor
in the Museum of Natural History in Paris, the French Government had attached me
to that expedition. After six months in Nebraska, I arrived in New York towards
the end of March, laden with a precious collection. My departure for France was
fixed for the first days in May. Meanwhile I was occupying myself in classifying
my mineralogical, botanical, and zoological riches, when the accident happened
to the Scotia.
I was perfectly up in the subject which was the question
of the day. How could I be otherwise? I had read and reread all the American and
European papers without being any nearer a conclusion. This mystery puzzled me.
Under the impossibility of forming an opinion, I jumped from one extreme to the
other. That there really was something could not be doubted, and the incredulous
were invited to put their finger on the wound of the Scotia.
On my arrival at New York the question was at its height.
The theory of the floating island, and the unapproachable sandbank, supported by
minds little competent to form a judgment, was abandoned. And, indeed, unless
this shoal had a machine in its stomach, how could it change its position with
such astonishing rapidity?
From the same cause, the idea of a floating hull of an
enormous wreck was given up.
There remained, then, only two possible solutions of the
question, which created two distinct parties: on one side, those who were for a
monster of colossal strength; on the other, those who were for a submarine
vessel of enormous motive power.
But this last theory, plausible as it was, could not stand
against inquiries made in both worlds. That a private gentleman should have such
a machine at his command was not likely. Where, when, and how was it built? and
how could its construction have been kept secret? Certainly a Government might
possess such a destructive machine. And in these disastrous times, when the
ingenuity of man has multiplied the power of weapons of war, it was possible
that, without the
-13-
knowledge of others, a State might try to work such a formidable engine.
But the idea of a war machine fell before the declaration
of Governments. As public interest was in question, and transatlantic
communications suffered, their veracity could not be doubted. But how admit that
the construction of this submarine boat had escaped the public eye? For a
private gentleman to keep the secret under such circumstances would be very
difficult, and for a State whose every act is persistently watched by powerful
rivals, certainly impossible.
Upon my arrival in New York several persons did me the
honour of consulting me on the phenomenon in question. I had published in France
a work in quarto, in two volumes, entitled Mysteries of the Great Submarine
Grounds. This book, highly approved of in the learned world, gained for me a
special reputation in this rather obscure branch of Natural History. My advice
was asked. As long as I could deny the reality of the fact, I confined myself to
a decided negative. But soon, finding myself driven into a corner, I was obliged
to explain myself point by point. I discussed the question in all its forms,
politically and scientifically; and I give here an extract from a
carefully-studied article which I published in the number of the 30th of April.
It ran as follows:
"After examining one by one the different theories,
rejecting all other suggestions, it becomes necessary to admit the existence of
a marine animal of enormous power.
"The great depths of the ocean are entirely unknown to us.
Soundings cannot reach them. What passes in those remote depths -- what beings
live, or can live, twelve or fifteen miles beneath the surface of the waters --
what is the organisation of these animals, we can scarcely conjecture. However,
the solution of the problem submitted to me may modify the form of the dilemma.
Either we do know all the varieties of beings which people our planet, or we do
not. If we do not know them all -- if Nature has still secrets in the deeps for
us, nothing is more conformable to reason than to admit the existence of fishes,
or cetaceans of other kinds,
-14-
or even of new species, of an organisation formed to inhabit the strata
inaccessible to soundings, and which an accident of some sort has brought at
long intervals to the upper level of the ocean.
"If, on the contrary, we do know all living kinds, we must
necessarily seek for the animal in question amongst those marine beings already
classed; and, in that case, I should be disposed to admit the existence of a
gigantic narwhal.
"The common narwhal, or unicorn of the sea, often attains
a length of sixty feet. Increase its size fivefold or tenfold, give it strength
proportionate to its size, lengthen its destructive weapons, and you obtain the
animal required. It will have the proportions determined by the officers of the
Shannon, the instrument required by the perforation of the Scotia, and the power
necessary to pierce the hull of the steamer.
"Indeed, the narwhal is armed with a sort of ivory sword,
a halberd, according to the expression of certain naturalists. The principal
tusk has the hardness of steel. Some of these tusks have been found buried in
the bodies of whales, which the unicorn always attacks with success. Others have
been drawn out, not without trouble, from the bottoms of ships, which they bad
pierced through and through, as a gimlet pierces a barrel. The Museum of the
Faculty of Medicine of Paris possesses one of these defensive weapons, two yards
and a quarter in length, and fifteen inches in diameter at the base.
"Very well! suppose this weapon to be six times stronger
and the animal ten times more powerful; launch it at the rate of twenty miles an
hour, and you obtain a shock capable of producing the catastrophe required.
Until further information, therefore, I shall maintain it to be a sea-unicorn of
colossal dimensions, armed not with a halberd, but with a real spur, as the
armoured frigates, or the 'rams' of war, whose massiveness and motive power it
would possess at the same time. Thus may this puzzling phenomenon be explained,
unless there be something over and above all that one has ever conjectured,
seen, perceived, or experienced; which is just within the bounds of
possibility."
-15-
These last words were cowardly on my part; but, up to a
certain point, I wished to shelter my dignity as professor, and not give too
much cause for laughter to the Americans, who laugh well when they do laugh. I
reserved for myself a way of escape. In effect, however, I admitted the
existence of the "monster." My article was warmly discussed, which procured it a
high reputation. It rallied round it a certain number of partisans. The solution
it proposed gave, at least, full liberty to the imagination. The human mind
delights in grand conceptions of supernatural beings. And the sea is precisely
their best vehicle, the only medium through which these giants (against which
terrestrial animals, such as elephants or rhinoceroses, are as nothing) can be
produced or developed.
The industrial and commercial papers treated the question
chiefly from this point of view. The Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, the
Lloyd's List, the Packet-Boat, and the Maritime and Colonial Review, all papers
devoted to insurance companies which threatened to raise their rates of premium,
were unanimous on this point. Public opinion had been pronounced. The United
States were the first in the field; and in New York they made preparations for
an expedition destined to pursue this narwhal. A frigate of great speed, the
Abraham Lincoln, was put in commission as soon as possible. The arsenals were
opened to Commander Farragut, who hastened the arming of his frigate; but, as it
always happens, the moment it was decided to pursue the monster, the monster did
not appear. For two months no one heard it spoken of. No ship met with it. It
seemed as if this unicorn knew of the plots weaving around it. It had been so
much talked of, even through the Atlantic cable, that jesters pretended that
this slender fly had stopped a telegram on its passage and was making the most
of it.
So when the frigate had been armed for a long campaign,
and provided with formidable fishing apparatus, no one could tell what course to
pursue. Impatience grew apace, when, on the 2nd of July, they learned that a
steamer of the line of San Francisco, from California to Shanghai, had
-16-
seen the animal three weeks before in the North Pacific Ocean. The excitement
caused by this news was extreme. The ship was revictualled and well stocked with
coal.
Three hours before the Abraham Lincoln left Brooklyn pier,
I received a letter worded as follows: To M. ARONNAX,
Professor in the Museum of Paris,
Fifth Avenue Hotel,
New York.
SIR, -- If you will consent to join the Abraham Lincoln in
this expedition, the Government of the United States will with pleasure see
France represented in the enterprise. Commander Farragut has a cabin at your
disposal. Very cordially yours,
J.B. HOBSON,
Secretary of Marine.
I FORM MY RESOLUTION
THREE seconds before the arrival of J. B. Hobson's letter
I no more thought of pursuing the unicorn than of attempting the passage of the
North Sea. Three seconds after reading the letter of the honourable Secretary of
Marine, I felt that my true vocation, the sole end of my life, was to chase this
disturbing monster and purge it from the world.
But I had just returned from a fatiguing journey, weary
and longing for repose. I aspired to nothing more than again seeing my country,
my friends, my little lodging by the Jardin des Plantes, my dear and precious
collections -- but nothing could keep me back! I forgot all -- fatigue, friends
and collections -- and accepted without hesitation the offer of the American
Government.
"Besides," thought I, "all roads lead back to Europe; and
the unicorn may be amiable enough to hurry me towards the coast of France. This
worthy animal may allow
-17-
itself to be caught in the seas of Europe (for my particular benefit), and I
will not bring back less than half a yard of his ivory halberd to the Museum of
Natural History." But in the meanwhile I must seek this narwhal in the North
Pacific Ocean, which, to return to France, was taking the road to the antipodes.
"Conseil," I called in an impatient voice.
Conseil was my servant, a true, devoted Flemish boy, who
had accompanied me in all my travels. I liked him, and he returned the liking
well. He was quiet by nature, regular from principle, zealous from habit,
evincing little disturbance at the different surprises of life, very quick with
his hands, and apt at any service required of him; and, despite his name, never
giving advice -- even when asked for it.
Conseil had followed me for the last ten years wherever
science led. Never once did he complain of the length or fatigue of a journey,
never make an objection to pack his portmanteau for whatever country it might
be, or however far away, whether China or Congo. Besides all this, he had good
health, which defied all sickness, and solid muscles, but no nerves; good morals
are understood. This boy was thirty years old, and his age to that of his master
as fifteen to twenty. May I be excused for saying that I was forty years old?
But Conseil had one fault: he was ceremonious to a degree,
and would never speak to me but in the third person, which was sometimes
provoking.
"Conseil," said I again, beginning with feverish hands to
make preparations for my departure.
Certainly I was sure of this devoted boy. As a rule, I
never asked him if it were convenient for him or not to follow me in my travels;
but this time the expedition in question might be prolonged, and the enterprise
might be hazardous in pursuit of an animal capable of sinking a frigate as
easily as a nutshell. Here there was matter for reflection even to the most
impassive man in the world. What would Conseil say?
"Conseil," I called a third time.
Conseil appeared.
-18-
"Did you call, sir?" said he, entering.
"Yes, my boy; make preparations for me and yourself too.
We leave in two hours."
"As you please, sir," replied Conseil, quietly.
"Not an instant to lose; lock in my trunk all travelling
utensils, coats, shirts, and stockings -- without counting, as many as you can,
and make haste."
"And your collections, sir?" observed Conseil.
"They will keep them at the hotel."
"We are not returning to Paris, then?" said Conseil.
"Oh! certainly," I answered, evasively, "by making a
curve."
"Will the curve please you, sir?"
"Oh! it will be nothing; not quite so direct a road, that
is all. We take our passage in the Abraham, Lincoln."
"As you think proper, sir," coolly replied Conseil.
"You see, my friend, it has to do with the monster -- the
famous narwhal. We are going to purge it from the seas. A glorious mission, but
a dangerous one! We cannot tell where we may go; these animals can be very
capricious. But we will go whether or no; we have got a captain who is pretty
wide-awake."
Our luggage was transported to the deck of the frigate
immediately. I hastened on board and asked for Commander Farragut. One of the
sailors conducted me to the poop, where I found myself in the presence of a
good-looking officer, who held out his hand to me.
"Monsieur Pierre Aronnax?" said he.
"Himself," replied I. "Commander Farragut?"
"You are welcome, Professor; your cabin is ready for you."
I bowed, and desired to be conducted to the cabin destined
for me.
The Abraham Lincoln had been well chosen and equipped for
her new destination. She was a frigate of great speed, fitted with high-pressure
engines which admitted a pressure of seven atmospheres. Under this the Abraham
Lincoln attained the mean speed of nearly eighteen knots and a third
-19-
an hour -- a considerable speed, but, nevertheless, insufficient to grapple with
this gigantic cetacean.
The interior arrangements of the frigate corresponded to
its nautical qualities. I was well satisfied with my cabin, which was in the
after part, opening upon the gunroom.
"We shall be well off here," said I to Conseil.
"As well, by your honour's leave, as a hermit-crab in the
shell of a whelk," said Conseil.
I left Conseil to stow our trunks conveniently away, and
remounted the poop in order to survey the preparations for departure.
At that moment Commander Farragut was ordering the last
moorings to be cast loose which held the Abraham Lincoln to the pier of
Brooklyn. So in a quarter of an hour, perhaps less, the frigate would have
sailed without me. I should have missed this extraordinary, supernatural, and
incredible expedition, the recital of which may well meet with some suspicion.
But Commander Farragut would not lose a day nor an hour in
scouring the seas in which the animal had been sighted. He sent for the
engineer.
"Is the steam full on?" asked he.
"Yes, sir," replied the engineer.
"Go ahead," cried Commander Farragut.
NED LAND
CAPTAIN FARRAGUT was a good seaman, worthy of the frigate
he commanded. His vessel and he were one. He was the soul of it. On the question
of the monster there was no doubt in his mind, and he would not allow the
existence of the animal to be disputed on board. He believed in it, as certain
good women believe in the leviathan -- by faith, not by reason. The monster did
exist, and he had sworn to rid the seas of it. Either Captain Farragut would
kill the narwhal,
-20-
or the narwhal would kill the captain. There was no third course.
The officers on board shared the opinion of their chief.
They were ever chatting, discussing, and calculating the various chances of a
meeting, watching narrowly the vast surface of the ocean. More than one took up
his quarters voluntarily in the cross-trees, who would have cursed such a berth
under any other circumstances. As long as the sun described its daily course,
the rigging was crowded with sailors, whose feet were burnt to such an extent by
the heat of the deck as to render it unbearable; still the Abraham Lincoln had
not yet breasted the suspected waters of the Pacific. As to the ship's company,
they desired nothing better than to meet the unicorn, to harpoon it, hoist it on
board, and despatch it. They watched the sea with eager attention.
Besides, Captain Farragut had spoken of a certain sum of
two thousand dollars, set apart for whoever should first sight the monster, were
he cabin-boy, common seaman, or officer.
I leave you to judge how eyes were used on board the
Abraham Lincoln.
For my own part I was not behind the others, and, left to
no one my share of daily observations. The frigate might have been called the
Argus, for a hundred reasons. Only one amongst us, Conseil, seemed to protest by
his indifference against the question which so interested us all, and seemed to
be out of keeping with the general enthusiasm on board.
I have said that Captain Farragut had carefully provided
his ship with every apparatus for catching the gigantic cetacean. No whaler had
ever been better armed. We possessed every known engine, from the harpoon thrown
by the hand to the barbed arrows of the blunderbuss, and the explosive balls of
the duck-gun. On the forecastle lay the perfection of a breech-loading gun, very
thick at the breech, and very narrow in the bore, the model of which had been in
the Exhibition of 1867. This precious weapon of American
-21-
origin could throw with ease a conical projectile of nine pounds to a mean
distance of ten miles.
Thus the Abraham Lincoln wanted for no means of
destruction; and, what was better still she had on board Ned Land, the prince of
harpooners.
Ned Land was a Canadian, with an uncommon quickness of
hand, and who knew no equal in his dangerous occupation. Skill, coolness,
audacity, and cunning he possessed in a superior degree, and it must be a
cunning whale to escape the stroke of his harpoon.
Ned Land was about forty years of age; he was a tall man
(more than six feet high), strongly built, grave and taciturn, occasionally
violent, and very passionate when contradicted. His person attracted attention,
but above all the boldness of his look, which gave a singular expression to his
face.
Who calls himself Canadian calls himself French; and,
little communicative as Ned Land was, I must admit that he took a certain liking
for me. My nationality drew him to me, no doubt. It was an opportunity for him
to talk, and for me to hear, that old language of Rabelais, which is still in
use in some Canadian provinces. The harpooner's family was originally from
Quebec, and was already a tribe of hardy fishermen when this town belonged to
France.
Little by little, Ned Land acquired a taste for chatting,
and I loved to hear the recital of his adventures in the polar seas. He related
his fishing, and his combats, with natural poetry of expression; his recital
took the form of an epic poem, and I seemed to be listening to a Canadian Homer
singing the Iliad of the regions of the North.
I am portraying this hardy companion as I really knew him.
We are old friends now, united in that unchangeable friendship which is born and
cemented amidst extreme dangers. Ah, brave Ned! I ask no more than to live a
hundred years longer, that I may have more time to dwell the longer on your
memory.
Now, what was Ned Land's opinion upon the question of the
marine monster? I must admit that he did not believe in the unicorn, and was the
only one on board who did not share
-22-
that universal conviction. He even avoided the subject, which I one day thought
it my duty to press upon him. One magnificent evening, the 30th July (that is to
say, three weeks after our departure), the frigate was abreast of Cape Blanc,
thirty miles to leeward of the coast of Patagonia. We had crossed the tropic of
Capricorn, and the Straits of Magellan opened less than seven hundred miles to
the south. Before eight days were over the Abraham Lincoln would be ploughing
the waters of the Pacific.
Seated on the poop, Ned Land and I were chatting of one
thing and another as we looked at this mysterious sea, whose great depths had up
to this time been inaccessible to the eye of man. I naturally led up the
conversation to the giant unicorn, and examined the various chances of success
or failure of the expedition. But, seeing that Ned Land let me speak without
saying too much himself, I pressed him more closely.
"Well, Ned," said I, "is it possible that you are not
convinced of the existence of this cetacean that we are following? Have you any
particular reason for being so incredulous?"
The harpooner looked at me fixedly for some moments before
answering, struck his broad forehead with his hand (a habit of his), as if to
collect himself, and said at last, "Perhaps I have, Mr. Aronnax."
"But, Ned, you, a whaler by profession, familiarised with
all the great marine mammalia -- you ought to be the last to doubt under such
circumstances!"
"That is just what deceives you, Professor," replied Ned.
"As a whaler I have followed many a cetacean, harpooned a great number, and
killed several; but, however strong or well-armed they may have been, neither
their tails nor their weapons would have been able even to scratch the iron
plates of a steamer."
"But, Ned, they tell of ships which the teeth of the
narwhal have pierced through and through."
"Wooden ships -- that is possible," replied the Canadian,
"but I have never seen it done; and, until further proof, I
-23-
deny that whales, cetaceans, or sea-unicorns could ever produce the effect you
describe."
"Well, Ned, I repeat it with a conviction resting on the
logic of facts. I believe in the existence of a mammal powerfully organised,
belonging to the branch of vertebrata, like the whales, the cachalots, or the
dolphins, and furnished with a horn of defence of great penetrating power."
"Hum!" said the harpooner, shaking his head with the air
of a man who would not be convinced.
"Notice one thing, my worthy Canadian," I resumed. "If
such an animal is in existence, if it inhabits the depths of the ocean, if it
frequents the strata lying miles below the surface of the water, it must
necessarily possess an organisation the strength of which would defy all
comparison."
"And why this powerful organisation?" demanded Ned.
"Because it requires incalculable strength to keep one's
self in these strata and resist their pressure. Listen to me. Let us admit that
the pressure of the atmosphere is represented by the weight of a column of water
thirty-two feet high. In reality the column of water would be shorter, as we are
speaking of sea water, the density of which is greater than that of fresh water.
Very well, when you dive, Ned, as many times 32 feet of water as there are above
you, so many times does your body bear a pressure equal to that of the
atmosphere, that is to say, 15 lb. for each square inch of its surface. It
follows, then, that at 320 feet this pressure equals that of 10 atmospheres, of
100 atmospheres at 3,200 feet, and of 1,000 atmospheres at 32,000 feet, that is,
about 6 miles; which is equivalent to saying that if you could attain this depth
in the ocean, each square three-eighths of an inch of the surface of your body
would bear a pressure of 5,600 lb. Ah! my brave Ned, do you know how many square
inches you carry on the surface of your body?"
"I have no idea, Mr. Aronnax."
"About 6,500; and as in reality the atmospheric pressure
is about 15 lb. to the square inch, your 6,500 square inches bear at this moment
a pressure of 97,500 lb."
"Without my perceiving it?"
-24-
"Without your perceiving it. And if you are not crushed by
such a pressure, it is because the air penetrates the interior of your body with
equal pressure. Hence perfect equilibrium between the interior and exterior
pressure, which thus neutralise each other, and which allows you to bear it
without inconvenience. But in the water it is another thing."
"Yes, I understand," replied Ned, becoming more attentive;
"because the water surrounds me, but does not penetrate."
"Precisely, Ned: so that at 32 feet beneath the surface of
the sea you would undergo a pressure of 97,500 lb.; at 320 feet, ten times that
pressure; at 3,200 feet, a hundred times that pressure; lastly, at 32,000 feet,
a thousand times that pressure would be 97,500,000 lb. -- that is to say, that
you would be flattened as if you had been drawn from the plates of a hydraulic
machine!"
"The devil!" exclaimed Ned.
"Very well, my worthy harpooner, if some vertebrate,
several hundred yards long, and large in proportion, can maintain itself in such
depths -- of those whose surface is represented by millions of square inches,
that is by tens of millions of pounds, we must estimate the pressure they
undergo. Consider, then, what must be the resistance of their bony structure,
and the strength of their organisation to withstand such pressure!"
"Why!" exclaimed Ned Land, "they must be made of iron
plates eight inches thick, like the armoured frigates."
"As you say, Ned. And think what destruction such a mass
would cause, if hurled with the speed of an express train against the hull of a
vessel."
"Yes -- certainly -- perhaps," replied the Canadian,
shaken by these figures, but not yet willing to give in.
"Well, have I convinced you?"
"You have convinced me of one thing, sir, which is that,
if such animals do exist at the bottom of the seas, they must necessarily be as
strong as you say."
"But if they do not exist, mine obstinate harpooner, how
explain the accident to the Scotia?"
-25-
AT A VENTURE
THE voyage of the Abraham Lincoln was for a long time
marked by no special incident. But one circumstance happened which showed the
wonderful dexterity of Ned Land, and proved what confidence we might place in
him.
The 30th of June, the frigate spoke some American whalers,
from whom we learned that they knew nothing about the narwhal. But one of them,
the captain of the Monroe, knowing that Ned Land had shipped on board the
Abraham Lincoln, begged for his help in chasing a whale they had in sight.
Commander Farragut, desirous of seeing Ned Land at work, gave him permission to
go on board the Monroe. And fate served our Canadian so well that, instead of
one whale, he harpooned two with a double blow, striking one straight to the
heart, and catching the other after some minutes' pursuit.
Decidedly, if the monster ever had to do with Ned Land's
harpoon, I would not bet in its favour.
The frigate skirted the south-east coast of America with
great rapidity. The 3rd of July we were at the opening of the Straits of
Magellan, level with Cape Vierges. But Commander Farragut would not take a
tortuous passage, but doubled Cape Horn.
The ship's crew agreed with him. And certainly it was
possible that they might meet the narwhal in this narrow pass. Many of the
sailors affirmed that the monster could not pass there, "that he was too big for
that!"
The 6th of July, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the
Abraham Lincoln, at fifteen miles to the south, doubled the solitary island,
this lost rock at the extremity of the American continent, to which some Dutch
sailors gave the name of their native town, Cape Horn. The course was taken
towards the north-west, and the next day the screw of the frigate was at last
beating the waters of the Pacific.
"Keep your eyes open!" called out the sailors.
And they were opened widely. Both eyes and glasses, a
-26-
little dazzled, it is true, by the prospect of two thousand dollars, had not an
instant's repose.
I myself, for whom money had no charms, was not the least
attentive on board. Giving but few minutes to my meals, but a few hours to
sleep, indifferent to either rain or sunshine, I did not leave the poop of the
vessel. Now leaning on the netting of the forecastle, now on the taffrail, I
devoured with eagerness the soft foam which whitened the sea as far as the eye
could reach; and how often have I shared the emotion of the majority of the
crew, when some capricious whale raised its black back above the waves! The poop
of the vessel was crowded on a moment. The cabins poured forth a torrent of
sailors and officers, each with heaving breast and troubled eye watching the
course of the cetacean. I looked and looked till I was nearly blind, whilst
Conseil kept repeating in a calm voice:
"If, sir, you would not squint so much, you would see
better!"
But vain excitement! The Abraham Lincoln checked its speed
and made for the animal signalled, a simple whale, or common cachalot, which
soon disappeared amidst a storm of abuse.
But the weather was good. The voyage was being
accomplished under the most favourable auspices. It was then the bad season in
Australia, the July of that zone corresponding to our January in Europe, but the
sea was beautiful and easily scanned round a vast circumference.
The 20th of July, the tropic of Capricorn was cut by 105o
of longitude, and the 27th of the same month we crossed the Equator on the 110th
meridian. This passed, the frigate took a more decided westerly direction, and
scoured the central waters of the Pacific. Commander Farragut thought, and with
reason, that it was better to remain in deep water, and keep clear of continents
or islands, which the beast itself seemed to shun (perhaps because there was not
enough water for him! suggested the greater part of the crew). The frigate
passed at some distance from the Marquesas and the Sandwich Islands, crossed the
tropic of Cancer, and made for the China Seas. We were on the theatre of the
last diversions
-27-
of the monster: and, to say truth, we no longer lived on board. The entire
ship's crew were undergoing a nervous excitement, of which I can give no idea:
they could not eat, they could not sleep -- twenty times a day, a misconception
or an optical illusion of some sailor seated on the taff rail, would cause
dreadful perspirations, and these emotions, twenty times repeated, kept us in a
state of excitement so violent that a reaction was unavoidable.
And truly, reaction soon showed itself. For three months,
during which a day seemed an age, the Abraham Lincoln furrowed all the waters of
the Northern Pacific, running at whales, making sharp deviations from her
course, veering suddenly from one tack to another, stopping suddenly, putting on
steam, and backing ever and anon at the risk of deranging her machinery, and not
one point of the Japanese or American coast was left unexplored.
The warmest partisans of the enterprise now became its
most ardent detractors. Reaction mounted from the crew to the captain himself,
and certainly, had it not been for the resolute determination on the part of
Captain Farragut, the frigate would have headed due southward. This useless
search could not last much longer. The Abraham Lincoln had nothing to reproach
herself with, she had done her best to succeed. Never had an American ship's
crew shown more zeal or patience; its failure could not be placed to their
charge -- there remained nothing but to return.
This was represented to the commander. The sailors could
not hide their discontent, and the service suffered. I will not say there was a
mutiny on board, but after a reasonable period of obstinacy, Captain Farragut
(as Columbus did) asked for three days' patience. If in three days the monster
did not appear, the man at the helm should give three turns of the wheel, and
the Abraham Lincoln would make for the European seas.
This promise was made on the 2nd of November. It had the
effect of rallying the ship's crew. The ocean was watched with renewed
attention. Each one wished for a last glance in which to sum up his remembrance.
Glasses were used with feverish activity. It was a grand defiance given to the
giant
-28-
narwhal, and he could scarcely fail to answer the summons and "appear."
Two days passed, the steam was at half pressure; a
thousand schemes were tried to attract the attention and stimulate the apathy of
the animal in case it should be met in those parts. Large quantities of bacon
were trailed in the wake of the ship, to the great satisfaction (I must say) of
the sharks. Small craft radiated in all directions round the Abraham Lincoln as
she lay to, and did not leave a spot of the sea unexplored. But the night of the
4th of November arrived without the unveiling of this submarine mystery.
The next day, the 5th of November, at twelve, the delay
would (morally speaking) expire; after that time, Commander Farragut, faithful
to his promise, was to turn the course to the south-east and abandon for ever
the northern regions of the Pacific.
The frigate was then in 31o 15' N. lat. and 136o
42' E. long. The coast of Japan still remained less than two hundred miles to
leeward. Night was approaching. They had just struck eight bells; large clouds
veiled the face of the moon, then in its first quarter. The sea undulated
peaceably under the stern of the vessel.
At that moment I was leaning forward on the starboard
netting. Conseil, standing near me, was looking straight before him. The crew,
perched in the ratlines, examined the horizon which contracted and darkened by
degrees. Officers with their night glasses scoured the growing darkness:
sometimes the ocean sparkled under the rays of the moon, which darted between
two clouds, then all trace of light was lost in the darkness.
In looking at Conseil, I could see he was undergoing a
little of the general influence. At least I thought so. Perhaps for the first
time his nerves vibrated to a sentiment of curiosity.
"Come, Conseil," said I, "this is the last chance of
pocketing the two thousand dollars."
"May I be permitted to say, sir," replied Conseil, "that I
never reckoned on getting the prize; and, had the government
-29-
of the Union offered a hundred thousand dollars, it would have been none the
poorer."
"You are right, Conseil. It is a foolish affair after all,
and one upon which we entered too lightly. What time lost, what useless
emotions! We should have been back in France six months ago."
"In your little room, sir," replied Conseil, "and in your
museum, sir; and I should have already classed all your fossils, sir. And the
Babiroussa would have been installed in its cage in the Jardin des Plantes, and
have drawn all the curious people of the capital!"
"As you say, Conseil. I fancy we shall run a fair chance
of being laughed at for our pains."
"That's tolerably certain," replied Conseil, quietly; "I
think they will make fun of you, sir. And, must I say it -- ?"
"Go on, my good friend."
"Well, sir, you will only get your deserts."
"Indeed!"
"When one has the honour of being a savant as you are,
sir, one should not expose one's self to -- "
Conseil had not time to finish his compliment. In the
midst of general silence a voice had just been heard. It was the voice of Ned
Land shouting:
"Look out there! The very thing we are looking for -- on
our weather beam!"
AT FULL STEAM
AT THIS cry the whole ship's crew hurried towards the
harpooner -- commander, officers, masters, sailors, cabin-boys; even the
engineers left their engines, and the stokers their furnaces.
The order to stop her had been given, and the frigate now
simply went on by her own momentum. The darkness was then profound, and, however
good the Canadian's eyes
-30-
were, I asked myself how he had managed to see, and what he had been able to
see. My heart beat as if it would break. But Ned Land was not mistaken, and we
all perceived the object he pointed to. At two cables' length from the Abraham
Lincoln, on the starboard quarter, the sea seemed to be illuminated all over. It
was not a mere phosphoric phenomenon. The monster emerged some fathoms from the
water, and then threw out that very intense but mysterious light mentioned in
the report of several captains. This magnificent irradiation must have been
produced by an agent of great shining power. The luminous part traced on the sea
an immense oval, much elongated, the centre of which condensed a burning heat,
whose overpowering brilliancy died out by successive gradations.
"It is only a massing of phosphoric particles," cried one
of the officers.
"No, sir, certainly not," I replied. "That brightness is
of an essentially electrical nature. Besides, see, see! it moves; it is moving
forwards, backwards; it is darting towards us!"
A general cry arose from the frigate.
"Silence!" said the captain. "Up with the helm, reverse
the engines."
The steam was shut off, and the Abraham Lincoln, beating
to port, described a semicircle.
"Right the helm, go ahead," cried the captain.
These orders were executed, and the frigate moved rapidly
from the burning light.
I was mistaken. She tried to sheer off, but the
supernatural animal approached with a velocity double her own.
We gasped for breath. Stupefaction more than fear made us
dumb and motionless. The animal gained on us, sporting with the waves. It made
the round of the frigate, which was then making fourteen knots, and enveloped it
with its electric rings like luminous dust.
Then it moved away two or three miles, leaving a
phosphorescent track, like those volumes of steam that the express trains leave
behind. All at once from the dark line of the horizon whither it retired to gain
its momentum, the monster rushed suddenly towards the Abraham Lincoln with
-31-
alarming rapidity, stopped suddenly about twenty feet from the hull, and died
out -- not diving under the water, for its brilliancy did not abate -- but
suddenly, and as if the source of this brilliant emanation was exhausted. Then
it re-appeared on the other side of the vessel, as if it had turned and slid
under the hull. Any moment a collision might have occurred which would have been
fatal to us. However, I was astonished at the manoeuvres of the frigate. She
fled and did not attack.
On the captain's face, generally so impassive, was an
expression of unaccountable astonishment.
"Mr. Aronnax," he said, "I do not know with what
formidable being I have to deal, and I will not imprudently risk my frigate in
the midst of this darkness. Besides, how attack this unknown thing, how defend
one's self from it? Wait for daylight, and the scene will change."
"You have no further doubt, captain, of the nature of the
animal?"
"No, sir; it is evidently a gigantic narwhal, and an
electric one."
"Perhaps," added I, "one can only approach it with a
torpedo."
"Undoubtedly," replied the captain, "if it possesses such
dreadful power, it is the most terrible animal that ever was created. That is
why, sir, I must be on my guard."
The crew were on their feet all night. No one thought of
sleep. The Abraham Lincoln, not being able to struggle with such velocity, had
moderated its pace, and sailed at half speed. For its part, the narwhal,
imitating the frigate, let the waves rock it at will, and seemed decided not to
leave the scene of the struggle. Towards midnight, however, it disappeared, or,
to use a more appropriate term, it "died out" like a large glow-worm. Had it
fled? One could only fear, not hope it. But at seven minutes to one o'clock in
the morning a deafening whistling was heard, like that produced by a body of
water rushing with great violence.
The captain, Ned Land, and I were then on the poop,
eagerly peering through the profound darkness.
-32-
"Ned Land," asked the commander, "you have often heard the
roaring of whales?"
"Often, sir; but never such whales the sight of which
brought me in two thousand dollars. If I can only approach within four harpoons'
length of it!"
"But to approach it," said the commander, "I ought to put
a whaler at your disposal?"
"Certainly, sir."
"That will be trifling with the lives of my men."
"And mine too," simply said the harpooner.
Towards two o'clock in the morning, the burning light
reappeared, not less intense, about five miles to windward of the Abraham
Lincoln. Notwithstanding the distance, and the noise of the wind and sea, one
heard distinctly the loud strokes of the animal's tail, and even its panting
breath. It seemed that, at the moment that the enormous narwhal had come to take
breath at the surface of the water, the air was engulfed in its lungs, like the
steam in the vast cylinders of a machine of two thousand horse-power.
"Hum!" thought I, "a whale with the strength of a cavalry
regiment would be a pretty whale!"
We were on the qui vive till daylight, and prepared for
the combat. The fishing implements were laid along the hammock nettings. The
second lieutenant loaded the blunder-busses, which could throw harpoons to the
distance of a mile, and long duck-guns, with explosive bullets, which inflicted
mortal wounds even to the most terrible animals. Ned Land contented himself with
sharpening his harpoon -- a terrible weapon in his hands.
At six o'clock day began to break; and, with the first
glimmer of light, the electric light of the narwhal disappeared. At seven
o'clock the day was sufficiently advanced, but a very thick sea fog obscured our
view, and the best spy-glasses could not pierce it. That caused disappointment
and anger.
I climbed the mizzen-mast. Some officers were already
perched on the mast-heads. At eight o'clock the fog lay heavily on the waves,
and its thick scrolls rose little by little.
-33-
The horizon grew wider and clearer at the same time. Suddenly, just as on the
day before, Ned Land's voice was heard:
"The thing itself on the port quarter!" cried the
harpooner.
Every eye was turned towards the point indicated. There, a
mile and a half from the frigate, a long blackish body emerged a yard above the
waves. Its tail, violently agitated, produced a considerable eddy. Never did a
tail beat the sea with such violence. An immense track, of dazzling whiteness,
marked the passage of the animal, and described a long curve.
The frigate approached the cetacean. I examined it
thoroughly.
The reports of the Shannon and of the Helvetia had rather
exaggerated its size, and I estimated its length at only two hundred and fifty
feet. As to its dimensions, I could only conjecture them to be admirably
proportioned. While I watched this phenomenon, two jets of steam and water were
ejected from its vents, and rose to the height of 120 feet; thus I ascertained
its way of breathing. I concluded definitely that it belonged to the vertebrate
branch, class mammalia.
The crew waited impatiently for their chief's orders. The
latter, after having observed the animal attentively, called the engineer. The
engineer ran to him.
"Sir," said the commander, "you have steam up?"
"Yes, sir," answered the engineer.
"Well, make up your fires and put on all steam."
Three hurrahs greeted this order. The time for the
struggle had arrived. Some moments after, the two funnels of the frigate vomited
torrents of black smoke, and the bridge quaked under the trembling of the
boilers.
The Abraham Lincoln, propelled by her wonderful screw,
went straight at the animal. The latter allowed it to come within half a cable's
length; then, as if disdaining to dive, it took a little turn, and stopped a
short distance off.
This pursuit lasted nearly three-quarters of an hour,
without the frigate gaining two yards on the cetacean. it
-34-
was quite evident that at that rate we should never come up with it.
"Well, Mr. Land," asked the captain, "do you advise me to
put the boats out to sea?"
"No, sir," replied Ned Land; "because we shall not take
that beast easily."
"What shall we do then?"
"Put on more steam if you can, sir. With your leave, I
mean to post myself under the bowsprit, and, if we get within harpooning
distance, I shall throw my harpoon."
"Go, Ned," said the captain. "Engineer, put on more
pressure."
Ned Land went to his post. The fires were increased, the
screw revolved forty-three times a minute, and the steam poured out of the
valves. We heaved the log, and calculated that the Abraham Lincoln was going at
the rate of 18 1/2 miles an hour.
But the accursed animal swam at the same speed.
For a whole hour the frigate kept up this pace, without
gaining six feet. It was humiliating for one of the swiftest sailers in the
American navy. A stubborn anger seized the crew; the sailors abused the monster,
who, as before, disdained to answer them; the captain no longer contented
himself with twisting his beard -- he gnawed it.
The engineer was called again.
"You have turned full steam on?"
"Yes, sir," replied the engineer.
The speed of the Abraham Lincoln increased. Its masts
trembled down to their stepping holes, and the clouds of smoke could hardly find
way out of the narrow funnels.
They heaved the log a second time.
"Well?" asked the captain of the man at the wheel.
"Nineteen miles and three-tenths, sir."
"Clap on more steam."
The engineer obeyed. The manometer showed ten degrees. But
the cetacean grew warm itself, no doubt; for without straining itself, it made
19 3/10 miles.
What a pursuit! No, I cannot describe the emotion that
vibrated through me. Ned Land kept his post, harpoon in
-35-
hand. Several times the animal let us gain upon it. -- "We shall catch it! we
shall catch it!" cried the Canadian. But just as he was going to strike, the
cetacean stole away with a rapidity that could not be estimated at less than
thirty miles an hour, and even during our maximum of speed, it bullied the
frigate, going round and round it. A cry of fury broke from everyone!
At noon we were no further advanced than at eight o'clock
in the morning.
The captain then decided to take more direct means.
"Ah!" said he, "that animal goes quicker than the Abraham
Lincoln. Very well! we will see whether it will escape these conical bullets.
Send your men to the forecastle, sir."
The forecastle gun was immediately loaded and slewed
round. But the shot passed some feet above the cetacean, which was half a mile
off.
"Another, more to the right," cried the commander, "and
five dollars to whoever will hit that infernal beast."
An old gunner with a grey beard -- that I can see now --
with steady eye and grave face, went up to the gun and took a long aim. A loud
report was heard, with which were mingled the cheers of the crew.
The bullet did its work; it hit the animal, and, sliding
off the rounded surface, was lost in two miles depth of sea.
The chase began again, and the captain, leaning towards
me, said:
"I will pursue that beast till my frigate bursts up."
"Yes," answered I; "and you will be quite right to do it."
I wished the beast would exhaust itself, and not be
insensible to fatigue like a steam engine. But it was of no use. Hours passed,
without its showing any signs of exhaustion.
However, it must be said in praise of the Abraham Lincoln
that she struggled on indefatigably. I cannot reckon the distance she made under
three hundred miles during this unlucky day, November the 6th. But night came
on, and overshadowed the rough ocean.
Now I thought our expedition was at an end, and that we
should never again see the extraordinary animal. I was mistaken. At ten minutes
to eleven in the evening, the electric
-36-
light reappeared three miles to windward of the frigate, as pure, as intense as
during the preceding night.
The narwhal seemed motionless; perhaps, tired with its
day's work, it slept, letting itself float with the undulation of the waves. Now
was a chance of which the captain resolved to take advantage.
He gave his orders. The Abraham Lincoln kept up
half-steam, and advanced cautiously so as not to awake its adversary. It is no
rare thing to meet in the middle of the ocean whales so sound asleep that they
can be successfully attacked, and Ned Land had harpooned more than one during
its sleep. The Canadian went to take his place again under the bowsprit.
The frigate approached noiselessly, stopped at two cables'
lengths from the animal, and following its track. No one breathed; a deep
silence reigned on the bridge. We were not a hundred feet from the burning
focus, the light of which increased and dazzled our eyes.
At this moment, leaning on the forecastle bulwark, I saw
below me Ned Land grappling the martingale in one hand, brandishing his terrible
harpoon in the other, scarcely twenty feet from the motionless animal. Suddenly
his arm straightened, and the harpoon was thrown; I heard the sonorous stroke of
the weapon, which seemed to have struck a hard body. The electric light went out
suddenly, and two enormous waterspouts broke over the bridge of the frigate,
rushing like a torrent from stem to stern, overthrowing men, and breaking the
lashings of the spars. A fearful shock followed, and, thrown over the rail
without having time to stop myself, I fell into the sea.
AN UNKNOWN SPECIES OF WHALE
THIS unexpected fall so stunned me that I have no clear
recollection of my sensations at the time. I was at first drawn down to a depth
of about twenty feet. I am a good swimmer
-37-
(though without pretending to rival Byron or Edgar Poe, who were masters of the
art), and in that plunge I did not lose my presence of mind. Two vigorous
strokes brought me to the surface of the water. My first care was to look for
the frigate. Had the crew seen me disappear? Had the Abraham Lincoln veered
round? Would the captain put out a boat? Might I hope to be saved?
The darkness was intense. I caught a glimpse of a black
mass disappearing in the east, its beacon lights dying out in the distance. It
was the frigate! I was lost.
"Help, help!" I shouted, swimming towards the Abraham
Lincoln in desperation.
My clothes encumbered me; they seemed glued to my body,
and paralysed my movements.
I was sinking! I was suffocating!
"Help!"
This was my last cry. My mouth filled with water; I
struggled against being drawn down the abyss. Suddenly my clothes were seized by
a strong hand, and I felt myself quickly drawn up to the surface of the sea; and
I heard, yes, I heard these words pronounced in my ear:
"If master would be so good as to lean on my shoulder,
master would swim with much greater ease."
I seized with one hand my faithful Conseil's arm.
"Is it you?" said I, "you?"
"Myself," answered Conseil; "and waiting master's orders."
"That shock threw you as well as me into the sea?"
"No; but, being in my master's service, I followed him."
The worthy fellow thought that was but natural.
"And the frigate?" I asked.
"The frigate?" replied Conseil, turning on his back; "I
think that master had better not count too much on her."
"You think so?"
"I say that, at the time I threw myself into the sea, I
heard the men at the wheel say, 'The screw and the rudder are broken.'
"Broken?"
"Yes, broken by the monster's teeth. It is the only injury
-38-
the Abraham Lincoln has sustained. But it is a bad look-out for us -- she no
longer answers her helm."
"Then we are lost!"
"Perhaps so," calmly answered Conseil. "However, we have
still several hours before us, and one can do a good deal in some hours."
Conseil's imperturbable coolness set me up again. I swam
more vigorously; but, cramped by my clothes, which stuck to me like a leaden
weight, I felt great difficulty in bearing up. Conseil saw this.
"Will master let me make a slit?" said he; and, slipping
an open knife under my clothes, he ripped them up from top to bottom very
rapidly. Then he cleverly slipped them off me, while I swam for both of us.
Then I did the same for Conseil, and we continued to swim
near to each other.
Nevertheless, our situation was no less terrible. Perhaps
our disappearance had not been noticed; and, if it had been, the frigate could
not tack, being without its helm. Conseil argued on this supposition, and laid
his plans accordingly. This quiet boy was perfectly self-possessed. We then
decided that, as our only chance of safety was being picked up by the Abraham
Lincoln's boats, we ought to manage so as to wait for them as long as possible.
I resolved then to husband our strength, so that both should not be exhausted at
the same time; and this is how we managed: while one of us lay on our back,
quite still, with arms crossed, and legs stretched out, the other would swim and
push the other on in front. This towing business did not last more than ten
minutes each; and relieving each other thus, we could swim on for some hours,
perhaps till day-break. Poor chance! but hope is so firmly rooted in the heart
of man! Moreover, there were two of us. Indeed I declare (though it may seem
improbable) if I sought to destroy all hope -- if I wished to despair, I could
not.
The collision of the frigate with the cetacean had
occurred about eleven o'clock in the evening before. I reckoned then we should
have eight hours to swim before sunrise, an operation quite practicable if we
relieved each other. The
-39-
sea, very calm, was in our favour. Sometimes I tried to pierce the intense
darkness that was only dispelled by the phosphorescence caused by our movements.
I watched the luminous waves that broke over my hand, whose mirror-like surface
was spotted with silvery rings. One might have said that we were in a bath of
quicksilver.
Near one o'clock in the morning, I was seized with
dreadful fatigue. My limbs stiffened under the strain of violent cramp. Conseil
was obliged to keep me up, and our preservation devolved on him alone. I heard
the poor boy pant; his breathing became short and hurried. I found that he could
not keep up much longer.
"Leave me! leave me!" I said to him.
"Leave my master? Never!" replied he. "I would drown
first."
Just then the moon appeared through the fringes of a thick
cloud that the wind was driving to the east. The surface of the sea glittered
with its rays. This kindly light reanimated us. My head got better again. I
looked at all points of the horizon. I saw the frigate! She was five miles from
us, and looked like a dark mass, hardly discernible. But no boats!
I would have cried out. But what good would it have been
at such a distance! My swollen lips could utter no sounds. Conseil could
articulate some words, and I heard him repeat at intervals, "Help! help!"
Our movements were suspended for an instant; we listened.
It might be only a singing in the ear, but it seemed to me as if a cry answered
the cry from Conseil.
"Did you hear?" I murmured.
"Yes! Yes!"
And Conseil gave one more despairing cry.
This time there was no mistake! A human voice responded to
ours! Was it the voice of another unfortunate creature, abandoned in the middle
of the ocean, some other victim of the shock sustained by the vessel? Or rather
was it a boat from the frigate, that was hailing us in the darkness?
Conseil made a last effort, and, leaning on my shoulder,
while I struck out in a desperate effort, he raised himself half out of the
water, then fell back exhausted.
-40-
"What did you see?"
"I saw -- " murmured he; "I saw -- but do not talk --
reserve all your strength!"
What had he seen? Then, I know not why, the thought of the
monster came into my head for the first time! But that voice! The time is past
for Jonahs to take refuge in whales' bellies! However, Conseil was towing me
again. He raised his head sometimes, looked before us, and uttered a cry of
recognition, which was responded to by a voice that came nearer and nearer. I
scarcely heard it. My strength was exhausted; my fingers stiffened; my hand
afforded me support no longer; my mouth, convulsively opening, filled with salt
water. Cold crept over me. I raised my head for the last time, then I sank.
At this moment a hard body struck me. I clung to it: then
I felt that I was being drawn up, that I was brought to the surface of the
water, that my chest collapsed -- I fainted.
It is certain that I soon came to, thanks to the vigorous
rubbings that I received. I half opened my eyes.
"Conseil!" I murmured.
"Does master call me?" asked Conseil.
Just then, by the waning light of the moon which was
sinking down to the horizon, I saw a face which was not Conseil's and which I
immediately recognised.
"Ned!" I cried.
"The same, sir, who is seeking his prize!" replied the
Canadian.
"Were you thrown into the sea by the shock to the
frigate?"
"Yes, Professor; but more fortunate than you, I was able
to find a footing almost directly upon a floating island."
"An island?"
"Or, more correctly speaking, on our gigantic narwhal."
"Explain yourself, Ned!"
"Only I soon found out why my harpoon had not entered its
skin and was blunted."
"Why, Ned, why?"
"Because, Professor, that beast is made of sheet iron."
-41-
The Canadian's last words produced a sudden revolution in
my brain. I wriggled myself quickly to the top of the being, or object, half out
of the water, which served us for a refuge. I kicked it. It was evidently a
hard, impenetrable body, and not the soft substance that forms the bodies of the
great marine mammalia. But this hard body might be a bony covering, like that of
the antediluvian animals; and I should be free to class this monster among
amphibious reptiles, such as tortoises or alligators.
Well, no! the blackish back that supported me was smooth,
polished, without scales. The blow produced a metallic sound; and, incredible
though it may be, it seemed, I might say, as if it was made of riveted plates.
There was no doubt about it! This monster, this natural
phenomenon that had puzzled the learned world, and overthrown and misled the
imagination of seamen of both hemispheres, it must be owned was a still more
astonishing phenomenon, inasmuch as it was a simply human construction.
We had no time to lose, however. We were lying upon the
back of a sort of submarine boat, which appeared (as far as I could judge) like
a huge fish of steel. Ned Land's mind was made up on this point. Conseil and I
could only agree with him.
Just then a bubbling began at the back of this strange
thing (which was evidently propelled by a screw), and it began to move. We had
only just time to seize hold of the upper part, which rose about seven feet out
of the water, and happily its speed was not great.
"As long as it sails horizontally," muttered Ned Land, "I
do not mind; but, if it takes a fancy to dive, I would not give two straws for
my life."
The Canadian might have said still less. It became really
necessary to communicate with the beings, whatever they were, shut up inside the
machine. I searched all over the outside for an aperture, a panel, or a manhole,
to use a technical expression; but the lines of the iron rivets, solidly driven
into the joints of the iron plates, were clear and
-42-
uniform. Besides, the moon disappeared then, and left us in total darkness.
At last this long night passed. My indistinct remembrance
prevents my describing all the impressions it made. I can only recall one
circumstance. During some lulls of the wind and sea, I fancied I heard several
times vague sounds, a sort of fugitive harmony produced by words of command.
What was, then, the mystery of this submarine craft, of which the whole world
vainly sought an explanation? What kind of beings existed in this strange boat?
What mechanical agent caused its prodigious speed?
Daybreak appeared. The morning mists surrounded us, but
they soon cleared off. I was about to examine the hull, which formed on deck a
kind of horizontal platform, when I felt it gradually sinking.
"Oh! confound it!" cried Ned Land, kicking the resounding
plate. "Open, you inhospitable rascals!"
Happily the sinking movement ceased. Suddenly a noise,
like iron works violently pushed aside, came from the interior of the boat. One
iron plate was moved, a man appeared, uttered an odd cry, and disappeared
immediately.
Some moments after, eight strong men, with masked faces,
appeared noiselessly, and drew us down into their formidable machine.
MOBILIS IN MOBILI
THIS forcible abduction, so roughly carried out, was
accomplished with the rapidity of lightning. I shivered all over. Whom had we to
deal with? No doubt some new sort of pirates, who explored the sea in their own
way. Hardly had the narrow panel closed upon me, when I was enveloped in
darkness. My eyes, dazzled with the outer light, could distinguish nothing. I
felt my naked feet cling to the rungs of an iron ladder. Ned Land and Conseil,
firmly seized, followed
-43-
me. At the bottom of the ladder, a door opened, and shut after us immediately
with a bang.
We were alone. Where, I could not say, hardly imagine. All
was black, and such a dense black that, after some minutes, my eyes had not been
able to discern even the faintest glimmer.
Meanwhile, Ned Land, furious at these proceedings, gave
free vent to his indignation.
"Confound it!" cried he, "here are people who come up to
the Scotch for hospitality. They only just miss being cannibals. I should not be
surprised at it, but I declare that they shall not eat me without my
protesting."
"Calm yourself, friend Ned, calm yourself," replied
Conseil, quietly. "Do not cry out before you are hurt. We are not quite done for
yet."
"Not quite," sharply replied the Canadian, "but pretty
near, at all events. Things look black. Happily, my bowie-knife I have still,
and I can always see well enough to use it. The first of these pirates who lays
a hand on me -- "
"Do not excite yourself, Ned," I said to the harpooner,
"and do not compromise us by useless violence. Who knows that they will not
listen to us? Let us rather try to find out where we are."
I groped about. In five steps I came to an iron wall, made
of plates bolted together. Then turning back I struck against a wooden table,
near which were ranged several stools. The boards of this prison were concealed
under a thick mat, which deadened the noise of the feet. The bare walls revealed
no trace of window or door. Conseil, going round the reverse way, met me, and we
went back to the middle of the cabin, which measured about twenty feet by ten.
As to its height, Ned Land, in spite of his own great height, could not measure
it.
Half an hour had already passed without our situation
being bettered, when the dense darkness suddenly gave way to extreme light. Our
prison was suddenly lighted, that is to say, it became filled with a luminous
matter, so strong that I could not bear it at first. In its whiteness and
intensity I recognised that electric light which played round the
-44-
submarine boat like a magnificent phenomenon of phosphorescence. After shutting
my eyes involuntarily, I opened them, and saw that this luminous agent came from
a half globe, unpolished, placed in the roof of the cabin.
"At last one can see," cried Ned Land, who, knife in hand,
stood on the defensive.
"Yes," said I; "but we are still in the dark about
ourselves."
"Let master have patience," said the imperturbable Conseil.
The sudden lighting of the cabin enabled me to examine it
minutely. It only contained a table and five stools. The invisible door might be
hermetically sealed. No noise was heard. All seemed dead in the interior of this
boat. Did it move, did it float on the surface of the ocean, or did it dive into
its depths? I could not guess.
A noise of bolts was now heard, the door opened, and two
men appeared.
One was short, very muscular, broad-shouldered, with
robust limbs, strong head, an abundance of black hair, thick moustache, a quick
penetrating look, and the vivacity which characterises the population of
Southern France.
The second stranger merits a more detailed description. I
made out his prevailing qualities directly: self-confidence -- because his head
was well set on his shoulders, and his black eyes looked around with cold
assurance; calmness -- for his skin, rather pale, showed his coolness of blood;
energy -- evinced by the rapid contraction of his lofty brows; and courage --
because his deep breathing denoted great power of lungs.
Whether this person was thirty-five or fifty years of age,
I could not say. He was tall, had a large forehead, straight nose, a clearly cut
mouth, beautiful teeth, with fine taper hands, indicative of a highly nervous
temperament. This man was certainly the most admirable specimen I had ever met.
One particular feature was his eyes, rather far from each other, and which could
take in nearly a quarter of the horizon at once.
This faculty -- (I verified it later) -- gave him a range
of
-45-
vision far superior to Ned Land's. When this stranger fixed upon an object, his
eyebrows met, his large eyelids closed around so as to contract the range of his
vision, and he looked as if he magnified the objects lessened by distance, as if
he pierced those sheets of water so opaque to our eyes, and as if he read the
very depths of the seas.
The two strangers, with caps made from the fur of the sea
otter, and shod with sea boots of seal's skin, were dressed in clothes of a
particular texture, which allowed free movement of the limbs. The taller of the
two, evidently the chief on board, examined us with great attention, without
saying a word; then, turning to his companion, talked with him in an unknown
tongue. It was a sonorous, harmonious, and flexible dialect, the vowels seeming
to admit of very varied accentuation.
The other replied by a shake of the head, and added two or
three perfectly incomprehensible words. Then he seemed to question me by a look.
I replied in good French that I did not know his language;
but he seemed not to understand me, and my situation became more embarrassing.
"If master were to tell our story," said Conseil, "perhaps
these gentlemen may understand some words."
I began to tell our adventures, articulating each syllable
clearly, and without omitting one single detail. I announced our names and rank,
introducing in person Professor Aronnax, his servant Conseil, and master Ned
Land, the harpooner.
The man with the soft calm eyes listened to me quietly,
even politely, and with extreme attention; but nothing in his countenance
indicated that he had understood my story. When I finished, he said not a word.
There remained one resource, to speak English. Perhaps
they would know this almost universal language. I knew it -- as well as the
German language -- well enough to read it fluently, but not to speak it
correctly. But, anyhow, we must make ourselves understood.
"Go on in your turn," I said to the harpooner; "speak your
best Anglo-Saxon, and try to do better than I."
-46-
Ned did not beg off, and recommenced our story.
To his great disgust, the harpooner did not seem to have
made himself more intelligible than I had. Our visitors did not stir. They
evidently understood neither the language of England nor of France.
Very much embarrassed, after having vainly exhausted our
speaking resources, I knew not what part to take, when Conseil said:
"If master will permit me, I will relate it in German."
But in spite of the elegant terms and good accent of the
narrator, the German language had no success. At last, nonplussed, I tried to
remember my first lessons, and to narrate our adventures in Latin, but with no
better success. This last attempt being of no avail, the two strangers exchanged
some words in their unknown language, and retired.
The door shut.
"It is an infamous shame," cried Ned Land, who broke out
for the twentieth time. "We speak to those rogues in French, English, German,
and Latin, and not one of them has the politeness to answer!"
"Calm yourself," I said to the impetuous Ned; "anger will
do no good."
"But do you see, Professor," replied our irascible
companion, "that we shall absolutely die of hunger in this iron cage?"
"Bah!" said Conseil, philosophically; "we can hold out
some time yet."
"My friends," I said, "we must not despair. We have been
worse off than this. Do me the favour to wait a little before forming an opinion
upon the commander and crew of this boat."
"My opinion is formed," replied Ned Land, sharply. "They
are rascals."
"Good! and from what country?"
"From the land of rogues!"
"My brave Ned, that country is not clearly indicated on
the map of the world; but I admit that the nationality of the two strangers is
hard to determine. Neither English, French, nor German, that is quite certain.
However, I am
-47-
inclined to think that the commander and his companion were born in low
latitudes. There is southern blood in them. But I cannot decide by their
appearance whether they are Spaniards, Turks, Arabians, or Indians. As to their
language, it is quite incomprehensible."
"There is the disadvantage of not knowing all languages,"
said Conseil, "or the disadvantage of not having one universal language."
As he said these words, the door opened. A steward
entered. He brought us clothes, coats and trousers, made of a stuff I did not
know. I hastened to dress myself, and my companions followed my example. During
that time, the steward -- dumb, perhaps deaf -- had arranged the table, and laid
three plates.
"This is something like!" said Conseil.
"Bah!" said the angry harpooner, "what do you suppose they
eat here? Tortoise liver, filleted shark, and beef-steaks from seadogs."
"We shall see," said Conseil.
The dishes, of bell metal, were placed on the table, and
we took our places. Undoubtedly we had to do with civilised people, and, had it
not been for the electric light which flooded us, I could have fancied I was in
the dining-room of the Adelphi Hotel at Liverpool, or at the Grand Hotel in
Paris. I must say, however, that there was neither bread nor wine. The water was
fresh and clear, but it was water and did not suit Ned Land's taste. Amongst the
dishes which were brought to us, I recognised several fish delicately dressed;
but of some, although excellent, I could give no opinion, neither could I tell
to what kingdom they belonged, whether animal or vegetable. As to the
dinner-service, it was elegant, and in perfect taste. Each utensil -- spoon,
fork, knife, plate -- had a letter engraved on it, with a motto above it, of
which this is an exact facsimile:
MOBILIS IN MOBILI
N
The letter N was no doubt the initial of the name of the
enigmatical person who commanded at the bottom of the seas.
-48-
Ned and Conseil did not reflect much. They devoured the
food, and I did likewise. I was, besides, reassured as to our fate; and it
seemed evident that our hosts would not let us die of want.
However, everything has an end, everything passes away,
even the hunger of people who have not eaten for fifteen hours. Our appetites
satisfied, we felt overcome with sleep.
"Faith! I shall sleep well," said Conseil.
"So shall I," replied Ned Land.
My two companions stretched themselves on the cabin
carpet, and were soon sound asleep. For my own part, too many thoughts crowded
my brain, too many insoluble questions pressed upon me, too many fancies kept my
eyes half open. Where were we? What strange power carried us on? I felt -- or
rather fancied I felt -- the machine sinking down to the lowest beds of the sea.
Dreadful nightmares beset me; I saw in these mysterious asylums a world of
unknown animals, amongst which this submarine boat seemed to be of the same
kind, living, moving, and formidable as they. Then my brain grew calmer, my
imagination wandered into vague unconsciousness, and I soon fell into a deep
sleep.
NED LAND'S TEMPERS
How long we slept I do not know; but our sleep must have
lasted long, for it rested us completely from our fatigues. I woke first. My
companions had not moved, and were still stretched in their corner.
Hardly roused from my somewhat hard couch, I felt my brain
freed, my mind clear. I then began an attentive examination of our cell. Nothing
was changed inside. The prison was still a prison -- the prisoners, prisoners.
However, the steward, during our sleep, had cleared the table. I breathed with
difficulty. The heavy air seemed to oppress my lungs. Although the cell was
large, we had evidently
-49-
consumed a great part of the oxygen that it contained. Indeed, each man
consumes, in one hour, the oxygen contained in more than 176 pints of air, and
this air, charged (as then) with a nearly equal quantity of carbonic acid,
becomes unbreathable.
It became necessary to renew the atmosphere of our prison,
and no doubt the whole in the submarine boat. That gave rise to a question in my
mind. How would the commander of this floating dwelling-place proceed? Would he
obtain air by chemical means, in getting by heat the oxygen contained in
chlorate of potash, and in absorbing carbonic acid by caustic potash? Or -- a
more convenient, economical, and consequently more probable alternative -- would
he be satisfied to rise and take breath at the surface of the water, like a
whale, and so renew for twenty-four hours the atmospheric provision?
In fact, I was already obliged to increase my respirations
to eke out of this cell the little oxygen it contained, when suddenly I was
refreshed by a current of pure air, and perfumed with saline emanations. It was
an invigorating sea breeze, charged with iodine. I opened my mouth wide, and my
lungs saturated themselves with fresh particles.
At the same time I felt the boat rolling. The iron-plated
monster had evidently just risen to the surface of the ocean to breathe, after
the fashion of whales. I found out from that the mode of ventilating the boat.
When I had inhaled this air freely, I sought the conduit
pipe, which conveyed to us the beneficial whiff, and I was not long in finding
it. Above the door was a ventilator, through which volumes of fresh air renewed
the impoverished atmosphere of the cell.
I was making my observations, when Ned and Conseil awoke
almost at the same time, under the influence of this reviving air. They rubbed
their eyes, stretched themselves, and were on their feet in an instant.
"Did master sleep well?" asked Conseil, with his usual
politeness.
"Very well, my brave boy. And you, Mr. Land?"
-50-
"Soundly, Professor. But, I don't know if I am right or
not, there seems to be a sea breeze!"
A seaman could not be mistaken, and I told the Canadian
all that had passed during his sleep.
"Good!" said he. "That accounts for those roarings we
heard, when the supposed narwhal sighted the Abraham Lincoln."
"Quite so, Master Land; it was taking breath."
"Only, Mr. Aronnax, I have no idea what o'clock it is,
unless it is dinner-time."
"Dinner-time! my good fellow? Say rather breakfast-time,
for we certainly have begun another day."
"So," said Conseil, "we have slept twenty-four hours?"
"That is my opinion."
"I will not contradict you," replied Ned Land. "But,
dinner or breakfast, the steward will be welcome, whichever he brings."
"Master Land, we must conform to the rules on board, and I
suppose our appetites are in advance of the dinner-hour."
"That is just like you, friend Conseil," said Ned,
impatiently. "You are never out of temper, always calm; you would return thanks
before grace, and die of hunger rather than complain!"
Time was getting on, and we were fearfully hungry; and
this time the steward did not appear. It was rather too long to leave us, if
they really had good intentions towards us. Ned Land, tormented by the cravings
of hunger, got still more angry; and, notwithstanding his promise, I dreaded an
explosion when he found himself with one of the crew.
For two hours more Ned Land's temper increased; he cried,
he shouted, but in vain. The walls were deaf. There was no sound to be heard in
the boat; all was still as death. It did not move, for I should have felt the
trembling motion of the hull under the influence of the screw. Plunged in the
depths of the waters, it belonged no longer to earth: this silence was dreadful.
I felt terrified, Conseil was calm, Ned Land roared.
-51-
Just then a noise was heard outside. Steps sounded on the
metal flags. The locks were turned, the door opened, and the steward appeared.
Before I could rush forward to stop him, the Canadian had
thrown him down, and held him by the throat. The steward was choking under the
grip of his powerful hand.
Conseil was already trying to unclasp the harpooner's hand
from his half-suffocated victim, and I was going to fly to the rescue, when
suddenly I was nailed to the spot by hearing these words in French:
"Be quiet, Master Land; and you, Professor, will you be so
good as to listen to me?"
THE MAN OF THE SEAS
IT WAS the commander of the vessel who thus spoke.
At these words, Ned Land rose suddenly. The steward,
nearly strangled, tottered out on a sign from his master. But such was the power
of the commander on board, that not a gesture betrayed the resentment which this
man must have felt towards the Canadian. Conseil interested in spite of himself,
I stupefied, awaited in silence the result of this scene.
The commander, leaning against the corner of a table with
his arms folded, scanned us with profound attention. Did he hesitate to speak?
Did he regret the words which he had just spoken in French? One might almost
think so.
After some moments of silence, which not one of us dreamed
of breaking, "Gentlemen," said he, in a calm and penetrating voice, "I speak
French, English, German, and Latin equally well. I could, therefore, have
answered you at our first interview, but I wished to know you first, then to
reflect. The story told by each one, entirely agreeing in the main points,
convinced me of your identity. I know now that chance has brought before me M.
Pierre Aronnax, Professor of Natural History at the Museum of Paris,
-52-
entrusted with a scientific mission abroad, Conseil, his servant, and Ned Land,
of Canadian origin, harpooner on board the frigate Abraham Lincoln of the navy
of the United States of America."
I bowed assent. It was not a question that the commander
put to me. Therefore there was no answer to be made. This man expressed himself
with perfect ease, without any accent. His sentences were well turned, his words
clear, and his fluency of speech remarkable. Yet, I did not recognise in him a
fellow-countryman.
He continued the conversation in these terms:
"You have doubtless thought, sir, that I have delayed long
in paying you this second visit. The reason is that, your identity recognised, I
wished to weigh maturely what part to act towards you. I have hesitated much.
Most annoying circumstances have brought you into the presence of a man who has
broken all the ties of humanity. You have come to trouble my existence."
"Unintentionally!" said I.
"Unintentionally?" replied the stranger, raising his voice
a little. "Was it unintentionally that the Abraham Lincoln pursued me all over
the seas? Was it unintentionally that you took passage in this frigate? Was it
unintentionally that your cannon-balls rebounded off the plating of my vessel?
Was it unintentionally that Mr. Ned Land struck me with his harpoon?"
I detected a restrained irritation in these words. But to
these recriminations I had a very natural answer to make, and I made it.
"Sir," said I, "no doubt you are ignorant of the
discussions which have taken place concerning you in America and Europe. You do
not know that divers accidents, caused by collisions with your submarine
machine, have excited public feeling in the two continents. I omit the theories
without number by which it was sought to explain that of which you alone possess
the secret. But you must understand that, in pursuing you over the high seas of
the Pacific, the Abraham Lincoln believed itself to be chasing some
-53-
powerful sea-monster, of which it was necessary to rid the ocean at any price."
A half-smile curled the lips of the commander: then, in a
calmer tone:
"M. Aronnax," he replied, "dare you affirm that your
frigate would not as soon have pursued and cannonaded a submarine boat as a
monster?"
This question embarrassed me, for certainly Captain
Farragut might not have hesitated. He might have thought it his duty to destroy
a contrivance of this kind, as he would a gigantic narwhal.
"You understand then, sir," continued the stranger, "that
I have the right to treat you as enemies?"
I answered nothing, purposely. For what good would it be
to discuss such a proposition, when force could destroy the best arguments?
"I have hesitated some time," continued the commander;
nothing obliged me to show you hospitality. If I chose to separate myself from
you, I should have no interest in seeing you again; I could place you upon the
deck of this vessel which has served you as a refuge, I could sink beneath the
waters, and forget that you had ever existed. Would not that be my right?"
"It might be the right of a savage," I answered, "but not
that of a civilised man."
"Professor," replied the commander, quickly, "I am not
what you call a civilised man! I have done with society entirely, for reasons
which I alone have the right of appreciating. I do not, therefore, obey its
laws, and I desire you never to allude to them before me again!"
This was said plainly. A flash of anger and disdain
kindled in the eyes of the Unknown, and I had a glimpse of a terrible past in
the life of this man. Not only had he put himself beyond the pale of human laws,
but he had made himself independent of them, free in the strictest acceptation
of the word, quite beyond their reach! Who then would dare to pursue him at the
bottom of the sea, when, on its surface, he defied all attempts made against
him?
What vessel could resist the shock of his submarine
monitor?
-54-
What cuirass, however thick, could withstand the blows of his spur? No man could
demand from him an account of his actions; God, if he believed in one -- his
conscience, if he had one -- were the sole judges to whom he was answerable.
These reflections crossed my mind rapidly, whilst the
stranger personage was silent, absorbed, and as if wrapped up in himself. I
regarded him with fear mingled with interest, as, doubtless, OEdiphus regarded
the Sphinx.
After rather a long silence, the commander resumed the
conversation.
"I have hesitated," said he, "but I have thought that my
interest might be reconciled with that pity to which every human being has a
right. You will remain on board my vessel, since fate has cast you there. You
will be free; and, in exchange for this liberty, I shall only impose one single
condition. Your word of honour to submit to it will suffice."
"Speak, sir," I answered. "I suppose this condition is one
which a man of honour may accept?"
"Yes, sir; it is this: It is possible that certain events,
unforeseen, may oblige me to consign you to your cabins for some hours or some
days, as the case may be. As I desire never to use violence, I expect from you,
more than all the others, a passive obedience. In thus acting, I take all the
responsibility: I acquit you entirely, for I make it an impossibility for you to
see what ought not to be seen. Do you accept this condition?"
Then things took place on board which, to say the least,
were singular, and which ought not to be seen by people who were not placed
beyond the pale of social laws. Amongst the surprises which the future was
preparing for me, this might not be the least.
"We accept," I answered; "only I will ask your permission,
sir, to address one question to you -- one only."
"Speak, sir."
"You said that we should be free on board."
"Entirely."
"I ask you, then, what you mean by this liberty?"
"Just the liberty to go, to come, to see, to observe even
all that passes here save under rare circumstances -- the
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liberty, in short, which we enjoy ourselves, my companions and I."
It was evident that we did not understand one another.
"Pardon me, sir," I resumed, "but this liberty is only
what every prisoner has of pacing his prison. It cannot suffice us."
"It must suffice you, however."
"What! we must renounce for ever seeing our country, our
friends, our relations again?"
"Yes, sir. But to renounce that unendurable worldly yoke
which men believe to be liberty is not perhaps so painful as you think."
"Well," exclaimed Ned Land, "never will I give my word of
honour not to try to escape."
"I did not ask you for your word of honour, Master Land,"
answered the commander, coldly.
"Sir," I replied, beginning to get angry in spite of
myself, "you abuse your situation towards us; it is cruelty."
"No, sir, it is clemency. You are my prisoners of war. I
keep you, when I could, by a word, plunge you into the depths of the ocean. You
attacked me. You came to surprise a secret which no man in the world must
penetrate -- the secret of my whole existence. And you think that I am going to
send you back to that world which must know me no more? Never! In retaining you,
it is not you whom I guard -- it is myself."
These words indicated a resolution taken on the part of
the commander, against which no arguments would prevail.
"So, sir," I rejoined, "you give us simply the choice
between life and death?"
"Simply."
"My friends," said I, "to a question thus put, there is
nothing to answer. But no word of honour binds us to the master of this vessel."
"None, sir," answered the Unknown.
Then, in a gentler tone, he continued:
"Now, permit me to finish what I have to say to you. I
know you, M. Aronnax. You and your companions will not, perhaps, have so much to
complain of in the chance
-56-
which has bound you to my fate. You will find amongst the books which are my
favourite study the work which you have published on 'the depths of the sea.' I
have often read it. You have carried out your work as far as terrestrial science
permitted you. But you do not know all -- you have not seen all. Let me tell you
then, Professor, that you will not regret the time passed on board my vessel.
You are going to visit the land of marvels."
These words of the commander had a great effect upon me. I
cannot deny it. My weak point was touched; and I forgot, for a moment, that the
contemplation of these sublime subjects was not worth the loss of liberty.
Besides, I trusted to the future to decide this grave question. So I contented
myself with saying:
"By what name ought I to address you?"
"Sir," replied the commander, "I am nothing to you but
Captain Nemo; and you and your companions are nothing to me but the passengers
of the Nautilus."
Captain Nemo called. A steward appeared. The captain gave
him his orders in that strange language which I did not understand. Then,
turning towards the Canadian and Conseil:
"A repast awaits you in your cabin," said he. "Be so good
as to follow this man.
"And now, M. Aronnax, our breakfast is ready. Permit me to
lead the way."
"I am at your service, Captain."
I followed Captain Nemo; and as soon as I had passed
through the door, I found myself in a kind of passage lighted by electricity,
similar to the waist of a ship. After we had proceeded a dozen yards, a second
door opened before me.
I then entered a dining-room, decorated and furnished in
severe taste. High oaken sideboards, inlaid with ebony, stood at the two
extremities of the room, and upon their shelves glittered china, porcelain, and
glass of inestimable value. The plate on the table sparkled in the rays which
the luminous ceiling shed around, while the light was tempered and softened by
exquisite paintings.
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In the centre of the room was a table richly laid out.
Captain Nemo indicated the place I was to occupy.
The breakfast consisted of a certain number of dishes, the
contents of which were furnished by the sea alone; and I was ignorant of the
nature and mode of preparation of some of them. I acknowledged that they were
good, but they had a peculiar flavour, which I easily became accustomed to.
These different aliments appeared to me to be rich in phosphorus, and I thought
they must have a marine origin.
Captain Nemo looked at me. I asked him no questions, but
he guessed my thoughts, and answered of his own accord the questions which I was
burning to address to him.
"The greater part of these dishes are unknown to you," he
said to me. "However, you may partake of them without fear. They are wholesome
and nourishing. For a long time I have renounced the food of the earth, and I am
never ill now. My crew, who are healthy, are fed on the same food."
"So," said I, "all these eatables are the produce of the
sea?"
"Yes, Professor, the sea supplies all my wants. Sometimes
I cast my nets in tow, and I draw them in ready to break. Sometimes I hunt in
the midst of this element, which appears to be inaccessible to man, and quarry
the game which dwells in my submarine forests. My flocks, like those of
Neptune's old shepherds, graze fearlessly in the immense prairies of the ocean.
I have a vast property there, which I cultivate myself, and which is always sown
by the hand of the Creator of all things."
"I can understand perfectly, sir, that your nets furnish
excellent fish for your table; I can understand also that you hunt aquatic game
in your submarine forests; but I cannot understand at all how a particle of
meat, no matter how small, can figure in your bill of fare."
"This, which you believe to be meat, Professor, is nothing
else than fillet of turtle. Here are also some dolphins' livers, which you take
to be ragout of pork. My cook is a clever fellow, who excels in dressing these
various products of the ocean. Taste all these dishes. Here is a preserve of
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sea-cucumber, which a Malay would declare to be unrivalled in the world; here is
a cream, of which the milk has been furnished by the cetacea, and the sugar by
the great fucus of the North Sea; and, lastly, permit me to offer you some
preserve of anemones, which is equal to that of the most delicious fruits."
I tasted, more from curiosity than as a connoisseur,
whilst Captain Nemo enchanted me with his extraordinary stories.
"You like the sea, Captain?"
"Yes; I love it! The sea is everything. It covers
seven-tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an
immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all
sides. The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence.
It is nothing but love and emotion; it is the 'Living Infinite,' as one of your
poets has said. In fact, Professor, Nature manifests herself in it by her three
kingdoms -- mineral, vegetable, and animal. The sea is the vast reservoir of
Nature. The globe began with sea, so to speak; and who knows if it will not end
with it? In it is supreme tranquillity. The sea does not belong to despots. Upon
its surface men can still exercise unjust laws, fight, tear one another to
pieces, and be carried away with terrestrial horrors. But at thirty feet below
its level, their reign ceases, their influence is quenched, and their power
disappears. Ah! sir, live -- live in the bosom of the waters! There only is
independence! There I recognise no masters! There I am free!"
Captain Nemo suddenly became silent in the midst of this
enthusiasm, by which he was quite carried away. For a few moments he paced up
and down, much agitated. Then he became more calm, regained his accustomed
coldness of expression, and turning towards me:
"Now, Professor," said he, "if you wish to go over the
Nautilus, I am at your service."
Captain Nemo rose. I followed him. A double door,
contrived at the back of the dining-room, opened, and I entered a room equal in
dimensions to that which I had just quitted.
It was a library. High pieces of furniture, of black
violet ebony inlaid with brass, supported upon their wide shelves
-59-
a great number of books uniformly bound. They followed the shape of the room,
terminating at the lower part in huge divans, covered with brown leather, which
were curved, to afford the greatest comfort. Light movable desks, made to slide
in and out at will, allowed one to rest one's book while reading. In the centre
stood an immense table, covered with pamphlets, amongst which were some
newspapers, already of old date. The electric light flooded everything; it was
shed from four unpolished globes half sunk in the volutes of the ceiling. I
looked with real admiration at this room, so ingeniously fitted up, and I could
scarcely believe my eyes.
"Captain Nemo," said I to my host, who had just thrown
himself on one of the divans, "this is a library which would do honour to more
than one of the continental palaces, and I am absolutely astounded when I
consider that it can follow you to the bottom of the seas."
"Where could one find greater solitude or silence,
Professor?" replied Captain Nemo. "Did your study in the Museum afford you such
perfect quiet?"
"No, sir; and I must confess that it is a very poor one
after yours. You must have six or seven thousand volumes here."
"Twelve thousand, M. Aronnax. These are the only ties
which bind me to the earth. But I had done with the world on the day when my
Nautilus plunged for the first time beneath the waters. That day I bought my
last volumes, my last pamphlets, my last papers, and from that time I wish to
think that men no longer think or write. These books, Professor, are at your
service besides, and you can make use of them freely."
I thanked Captain Nemo, and went up to the shelves of the
library. Works on science, morals, and literature abounded in every language;
but I did not see one single work on political economy; that subject appeared to
be strictly proscribed. Strange to say, all these books were irregularly
arranged, in whatever language they were written; and this medley proved that
the Captain of the Nautilus must have read indiscriminately the books which he
took up by chance.
-60-
"Sir," said I to the Captain, "I thank you for having
placed this library at my disposal. It contains treasures of science, and I
shall profit by them."
"This room is not only a library," said Captain Nemo, "it
is also a smoking-room."
"A smoking-room!" I cried. "Then one may smoke on board?"
"Certainly."
"Then, sir, I am forced to believe that you have kept up a
communication with Havannah."
"Not any," answered the Captain. "Accept this cigar, M.
Aronnax; and, though it does not come from Havannah, you will be pleased with
it, if you are a connoisseur."
I took the cigar which was offered me; its shape recalled
the London ones, but it seemed to be made of leaves of gold. I lighted it at a
little brazier, which was supported upon an elegant bronze stem, and drew the
first whiffs with the delight of a lover of smoking who has not smoked for two
days.
"It is excellent, but it is not tobacco."
"No!" answered the Captain, "this tobacco comes neither
from Havannah nor from the East. It is a kind of sea-weed, rich in nicotine,
with which the sea provides me, but somewhat sparingly."
At that moment Captain Nemo opened a door which stood
opposite to that by which I had entered the library, and I passed into an
immense drawing-room splendidly lighted.
It was a vast, four-sided room, thirty feet long, eighteen
wide, and fifteen high. A luminous ceiling, decorated with light arabesques,
shed a soft clear light over all the marvels accumulated in this museum. For it
was in fact a museum, in which an intelligent and prodigal hand had gathered all
the treasures of nature and art, with the artistic confusion which distinguishes
a painter's studio.
Thirty first-rate pictures, uniformly framed, separated by
bright drapery, ornamented the walls, which were hung with tapestry of severe
design. I saw works of great value, the greater part of which I had admired in
the special collections of Europe, and in the exhibitions of paintings.
-61-
Some admirable statues in marble and bronze, after the
finest antique models, stood upon pedestals in the corners of this magnificent
museum. Amazement, as the Captain of the Nautilus had predicted, had already
begun to take possession of me.
"Professor," said this strange man, "you must excuse the
unceremonious way in which I receive you, and the disorder of this room."
"Sir," I answered, "without seeking to know who you are, I
recognise in you an artist."
An amateur, nothing more, sir. Formerly I loved to collect
these beautiful works created by the hand of man. I sought them greedily, and
ferreted them out indefatigably, and I have been able to bring together some
objects of great value. These are my last souvenirs of that world which is dead
to me. In my eyes, your modern artists are already old; they have two or three
thousand years of existence; I confound them in my own mind. Masters have no
age."
Under elegant glass cases, fixed by copper rivets, were
classed and labelled the most precious productions of the sea which had ever
been presented to the eye of a naturalist. My delight as a professor may be
conceived.
Apart, in separate compartments, were spread out chaplets
of pearls of the greatest beauty, which reflected the electric light in little
sparks of fire; pink pearls, torn from the pinna-marina of the Red Sea; green
pearls, yellow, blue, and black pearls, the curious productions of the divers
molluscs of every ocean, and certain mussels of the water-courses of the North;
lastly, several specimens of inestimable value. Some of these pearls were larger
than a pigeon's egg, and were worth millions.
Therefore, to estimate the value of this collection was
simply impossible. Captain Nemo must have expended millions in the acquirement
of these various specimens, and I was thinking what source he could have drawn
from, to have been able thus to gratify his fancy for collecting, when I was
interrupted by these words:
-62-
"You are examining my shells, Professor? Unquestionably
they must be interesting to a naturalist; but for me they have a far greater
charm, for I have collected them all with my own hand, and there is not a sea on
the face of the globe which has escaped my researches."
"I can understand, Captain, the delight of wandering about
in the midst of such riches. You are one of those who have collected their
treasures themselves. No museum in Europe possesses such a collection of the
produce of the ocean. But if I exhaust all my admiration upon it, I shall have
none left for the vessel which carries it. I do not wish to pry into your
secrets: but I must confess that this Nautilus, with the motive power which is
confined in it, the contrivances which enable it to be worked, the powerful
agent which propels it, all excite my curiosity to the highest pitch. I see
suspended on the walls of this room instruments of whose use I am ignorant."
"You will find these same instruments in my own room,
Professor, where I shall have much pleasure in explaining their use to you. But
first come and inspect the cabin which is set apart for your own use. You must
see how you will be accommodated on board the Nautilus."
I followed Captain Nemo who, by one of the doors opening
from each panel of the drawing-room, regained the waist. He conducted me towards
the bow, and there I found, not a cabin, but an elegant room, with a bed,
dressing-table, and several other pieces of excellent furniture.
I could only thank my host.
"Your room adjoins mine," said he, opening a door, "and
mine opens into the drawing-room that we have just quitted."
I entered the Captain's room: it had a severe, almost a
monkish aspect. A small iron bedstead, a table, some articles for the toilet;
the whole lighted by a skylight. No comforts, the strictest necessaries only.
Captain Nemo pointed to a seat.
"Be so good as to sit down," he said. I seated myself, and
he began thus:
-63-
ALL BY ELECTRICITY
SIR," said Captain Nemo, showing me the instruments
hanging on the walls of his room, "here are the contrivances required for the
navigation of the Nautilus. Here, as in the drawing-room, I have them always
under my eyes, and they indicate my position and exact direction in the middle
of the ocean. Some are known to you, such as the thermometer, which gives the
internal temperature of the Nautilus; the barometer, which indicates the weight
of the air and foretells the changes of the weather; the hygrometer, which marks
the dryness of the atmosphere; the storm-glass, the contents of which, by
decomposing, announce the approach of tempests; the compass, which guides my
course; the sextant, which shows the latitude by the altitude of the sun;
chronometers, by which I calculate the longitude; and glasses for day and night,
which I use to examine the points of the horizon, when the Nautilus rises to the
surface of the waves."
"These are the usual nautical instruments," I replied,
"and I know the use of them. But these others, no doubt, answer to the
particular requirements of the Nautilus. This dial with movable needle is a
manometer, is it not?"
"It is actually a manometer. But by communication with the
water, whose external pressure it indicates, it gives our depth at the same
time."
"And these other instruments, the use of which I cannot
guess?"
"Here, Professor, I ought to give you some explanations.
Will you be kind enough to listen to me?"
He was silent for a few moments, then he said:
"There is a powerful agent, obedient, rapid, easy, which
conforms to every use, and reigns supreme on board my vessel. Everything is done
by means of it. It lights, warms it, and is the soul of my mechanical apparatus.
This agent is electricity."
"Electricity?" I cried in surprise.
-64-
"Yes, sir."
"Nevertheless, Captain, you possess an extreme rapidity of
movement, which does not agree well with the power of electricity. Until now,
its dynamic force has remained under restraint, and has only been able to
produce a small amount of power."
"Professor," said Captain Nemo, "my electricity is not
everybody's. You know what sea-water is composed of. In a thousand grammes are
found 96 1/2 per cent. of water, and about 2 2/3 per cent. of chloride of
sodium; then, in a smaller quantity, chlorides of magnesium and of potassium,
bromide of magnesium, sulphate of magnesia, sulphate and carbonate of lime. You
see, then, that chloride of sodium forms a large part of it. So it is this
sodium that I extract from the sea-water, and of which I compose my ingredients.
I owe all to the ocean; it produces electricity, and electricity gives heat,
light, motion, and, in a word, life to the Nautilus."
"But not the air you breathe?"
"Oh! I could manufacture the air necessary for my
consumption, but it is useless, because I go up to the surface of the water when
I please. However, if electricity does not furnish me with air to breathe, it
works at least the powerful pumps that are stored in spacious reservoirs, and
which enable me to prolong at need, and as long as I will, my stay in the depths
of the sea. It gives a uniform and unintermittent light, which the sun does not.
Now look at this clock; it is electrical, and goes with a regularity that defies
the best chronometers. I have divided it into twenty-four hours, like the
Italian clocks, because for me there is neither night nor day, sun nor moon, but
only that factitious light that I take with me to the bottom of the sea. Look!
just now, it is ten o'clock in the morning."
"Exactly."
"Another application of electricity. This dial hanging in
front of us indicates the speed of the Nautilus. An electric thread puts it in
communication with the screw, and the needle indicates the real speed. Look! now
we are spinning along with a uniform speed of fifteen miles an hour."
-65-
"It is marvelous! And I see, Captain, you were right to
make use of this agent that takes the place of wind, water, and steam."
"We have not finished, M. Aronnax," said Captain Nemo,
rising. "If you will allow me, we will examine the stern of the Nautilus."
Really, I knew already the anterior part of this submarine
boat, of which this is the exact division, starting from the ship's head: the
dining-room, five yards long, separated from the library by a water-tight
partition; the library, five yards long; the large drawing-room, ten yards long,
separated from the Captain's room by a second water-tight partition; the said
room, five yards in length; mine, two and a half yards; and, lastly a reservoir
of air, seven and a half yards, that extended to the bows. Total length
thirty-five yards, or one hundred and five feet. The partitions had doors that
were shut hermetically by means of india-rubber instruments, and they ensured
the safety of the Nautilus in case of a leak.
I followed Captain Nemo through the waist, and arrived at
the centre of the boat. There was a sort of well that opened between two
partitions. An iron ladder, fastened with an iron hook to the partition, led to
the upper end. I asked the Captain what the ladder was used for.
"It leads to the small boat," he said.
"What! have you a boat?" I exclaimed, in surprise.
"Of course; an excellent vessel, light and insubmersible,
that serves either as a fishing or as a pleasure boat."
"But then, when you wish to embark, you are obliged to
come to the surface of the water?"
"Not at all. This boat is attached to the upper part of
the hull of the Nautilus, and occupies a cavity made for it. It is decked, quite
water-tight, and held together by solid bolts. This ladder leads to a man-hole
made in the hull of the Nautilus, that corresponds with a similar hole made in
the side of the boat. By this double opening I get into the small vessel. They
shut the one belonging to the Nautilus; I shut the other by means of screw
pressure. I undo the bolts, and the little boat goes up to the surface of the
sea
-66-
with prodigious rapidity. I then open the panel of the bridge, carefully shut
till then; I mast it, hoist my sail, take my oars, and I'm off."
"But how do you get back on board?"
"I do not come back, M. Aronnax; the Nautilus comes to
me."
"By your orders?"
"By my orders. An electric thread connects us. I telegraph
to it, and that is enough."
"Really," I said, astonished at these marvels, "nothing
can be more simple."
After having passed by the cage of the staircase that led
to the platform, I saw a cabin six feet long, in which Conseil and Ned Land,
enchanted with their repast, were devouring it with avidity. Then a door opened
into a kitchen nine feet long, situated between the large store-rooms. There
electricity, better than gas itself, did all the cooking. The streams under the
furnaces gave out to the sponges of platina a heat which was regularly kept up
and distributed. They also heated a distilling apparatus, which, by evaporation,
furnished excellent drinkable water. Near this kitchen was a bathroom
comfortably furnished, with hot and cold water taps.
Next to the kitchen was the berth-room of the vessel,
sixteen feet long. But the door was shut, and I could not see the management of
it, which might have given me an idea of the number of men employed on board the
Nautilus.
At the bottom was a fourth partition that separated this
office from the engine-room. A door opened, and I found myself in the
compartment where Captain Nemo -- certainly an engineer of a very high order --
had arranged his locomotive machinery. This engine-room, clearly lighted, did
not measure less than sixty-five feet in length. It was divided into two parts;
the first contained the materials for producing electricity, and the second the
machinery that connected it with the screw. I examined it with great interest,
in order to understand the machinery of the Nautilus.
"You see," said the Captain, "I use Bunsen's contrivances,
not Ruhmkorff's. Those would not have been powerful
-67-
enough. Bunsen's are fewer in number, but strong and large, which experience
proves to be the best. The electricity produced passes forward, where it works,
by electro-magnets of great size, on a system of levers and cog-wheels that
transmit the movement to the axle of the screw. This one, the diameter of which
is nineteen feet, and the thread twenty-three feet, performs about 120
revolutions in a second."
"And you get then?"
"A speed of fifty miles an hour."
"I have seen the Nautilus manoeuvre before the Abraham
Lincoln, and I have my own ideas as to its speed. But this is not enough. We
must see where we go. We must be able to direct it to the right, to the left,
above, below. How do you get to the great depths, where you find an increasing
resistance, which is rated by hundreds of atmospheres? How do you return to the
surface of the ocean? And how do you maintain yourselves in the requisite
medium? Am I asking too much?"
"Not at all, Professor," replied the Captain, with some
hesitation; "since you may never leave this submarine boat. Come into the
saloon, it is our usual study, and there you will learn all you want to know
about the Nautilus."
SOME FIGURES
A MOMENT after we were seated on a divan in the saloon
smoking. The Captain showed me a sketch that gave the plan, section, and
elevation of the Nautilus. Then he began his description in these words:
"Here, M. Aronnax, are the several dimensions of the boat
you are in. It is an elongated cylinder with conical ends. It is very like a
cigar in shape, a shape already adopted in London in several constructions of
the same sort. The length of this cylinder, from stem to stern, is exactly 232
feet, and its maximum breadth is twenty-six
-68-
feet. It is not built quite like your long-voyage steamers, but its lines are
sufficiently long, and its curves prolonged enough, to allow the water to slide
off easily, and oppose no obstacle to its passage. These two dimensions enable
you to obtain by a simple calculation the surface and cubic contents of the
Nautilus. Its area measures 6,032 feet; and its contents about 1,500 cubic
yards; that is to say, when completely immersed it displaces 50,000 feet of
water, or weighs 1,500 tons.
"When I made the plans for this submarine vessel, I meant
that nine-tenths should be submerged: consequently it ought only to displace
nine-tenths of its bulk, that is to say, only to weigh that number of tons. I
ought not, therefore, to have exceeded that weight, constructing it on the
aforesaid dimensions.
"The Nautilus is composed of two hulls, one inside, the
other outside, joined by T-shaped irons, which render it very strong. Indeed,
owing to this cellular arrangement it resists like a block, as if it were solid.
Its sides cannot yield; it coheres spontaneously, and not by the closeness of
its rivets; and its perfect union of the materials enables it to defy the
roughest seas.
"These two hulls are composed of steel plates, whose
density is from .7 to .8 that of water. The first is not less than two inches
and a half thick and weighs 394 tons. The second envelope, the keel, twenty
inches high and ten thick, weighs only sixty-two tons. The engine, the ballast,
the several accessories and apparatus appendages, the partitions and bulkheads,
weigh 961.62 tons. Do you follow all this?"
"I do."
"Then, when the Nautilus is afloat under these
circumstances, one-tenth is out of the water. Now, if I have made reservoirs of
a size equal to this tenth, or capable of holding 150 tons, and if I fill them
with water, the boat, weighing then 1,507 tons, will be completely immersed.
That would happen, Professor. These reservoirs are in the lower part of the
Nautilus. I turn on taps and they fill, and the vessel sinks that had just been
level with the surface."
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"Well, Captain, but now we come to the real difficulty. I
can understand your rising to the surface; but, diving below the surface, does
not your submarine contrivance encounter a pressure, and consequently undergo an
upward thrust of one atmosphere for every thirty feet of water, just about
fifteen pounds per square inch?"
"Just so, sir."
"Then, unless you quite fill the Nautilus, I do not see
how you can draw it down to those depths."
"Professor, you must not confound statics with dynamics or
you will be exposed to grave errors. There is very little labour spent in
attaining the lower regions of the ocean, for all bodies have a tendency to
sink. When I wanted to find out the necessary increase of weight required to
sink the Nautilus, I had only to calculate the reduction of volume that
sea-water acquires according to the depth."
"That is evident."
"Now, if water is not absolutely incompressible, it is at
least capable of very slight compression. Indeed, after the most recent
calculations this reduction is only .000436 of an atmosphere for each thirty
feet of depth. If we want to sink 3,000 feet, I should keep account of the
reduction of bulk under a pressure equal to that of a column of water of a
thousand feet. The calculation is easily verified. Now, I have supplementary
reservoirs capable of holding a hundred tons. Therefore I can sink to a
considerable depth. When I wish to rise to the level of the sea, I only let off
the water, and empty all the reservoirs if I want the Nautilus to emerge from
the tenth part of her total capacity."
I had nothing to object to these reasonings.
"I admit your calculations, Captain," I replied; "I should
be wrong to dispute them since daily experience confirms them; but I foresee a
real difficulty in the way."
"What, sir?"
"When you are about 1,000 feet deep, the walls of the
Nautilus bear a pressure of 100 atmospheres. If, then, just now you were to
empty the supplementary reservoirs, to lighten the vessel, and to go up to the
surface, the pumps
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must overcome the pressure of 100 atmospheres, which is 1,500 lbs. per square
inch. From that a power -- "
"That electricity alone can give," said the Captain,
hastily. "I repeat, sir, that the dynamic power of my engines is almost
infinite. The pumps of the Nautilus have an enormous power, as you must have
observed when their jets of water burst like a torrent upon the Abraham Lincoln.
Besides, I use subsidiary reservoirs only to attain a mean depth of 750 to 1,000
fathoms, and that with a view of managing my machines. Also, when I have a mind
to visit the depths of the ocean five or six mlles below the surface, I make use
of slower but not less infallible means."
"What are they, Captain?"
"That involves my telling you how the Nautilus is worked."
"I am impatient to learn."
"To steer this boat to starboard or port, to turn, in a
word, following a horizontal plan, I use an ordinary rudder fixed on the back of
the stern-post, and with one wheel and some tackle to steer by. But I can also
make the Nautilus rise and sink, and sink and rise, by a vertical movement by
means of two inclined planes fastened to its sides, opposite the centre of
flotation, planes that move in every direction, and that are worked by powerful
levers from the interior. If the planes are kept parallel with the boat, it
moves horizontally. If slanted, the Nautilus, according to this inclination, and
under the influence of the screw, either sinks diagonally or rises diagonally as
it suits me. And even if I wish to rise more quickly to the surface, I ship the
screw, and the pressure of the water causes the Nautilus to rise vertically like
a balloon filled with hydrogen."
"Bravo, Captain! But how can the steersman follow the
route in the middle of the waters?"
"The steersman is placed in a glazed box, that is raised
about the hull of the Nautilus, and furnished with lenses."
"Are these lenses capable of resisting such pressure?"
"Perfectly. Glass, which breaks at a blow, is,
nevertheless, capable of offering considerable resistance. During some
experiments of fishing by electric light in 1864 in the
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Northern Seas, we saw plates less than a third of an inch thick resist a
pressure of sixteen atmospheres. Now, the glass that I use is not less than
thirty times thicker."
"Granted. But, after all, in order to see, the light must
exceed the darkness, and in the midst of the darkness in the water, how can you
see?"
"Behind the steersman's cage is placed a powerful electric
reflector, the rays from which light up the sea for half a mile in front."
"Ah! bravo, bravo, Captain! Now I can account for this
phosphorescence in the supposed narwhal that puzzled us so. I now ask you if the
boarding of the Nautilus* and of the Scotia, that has made such a noise, has
been the result of a chance rencontre?"
"Quite accidental, sir. I was sailing only one fathom
below the surface of the water when the shock came. It had no bad result."
"None, sir. But now, about your rencontre with the Abraham
Lincoln?"
"Professor, I am sorry for one of the best vessels in the
American navy; but they attacked me, and I was bound to defend myself. I
contented myself, however, with putting the frigate hors de combat; she will not
have any difficulty in getting repaired at the next port."
"Ah, Commander! your Nautilus is certainly a marvellous
boat."
"Yes, Professor; and I love it as if it were part of
myself. If danger threatens one of your vessels on the ocean, the first
impression is the feeling of an abyss above and below. On the Nautilus men's
hearts never fail them. No defects to be afraid of, for the double shell is as
firm as iron; no rigging to attend to; no sails for the wind to carry away; no
boilers to burst; no fire to fear, for the vessel is made of iron, not of wood;
no coal to run short, for electricity is the only mechanical agent; no collision
to fear, for it alone swims in deep water; no tempest to brave, for when it
dives below the water it reaches absolute tranquillity. There, sir! that is the
perfection of vessels! And if it is true that the engineer has more confidence
in the vessel than the
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builder, and the builder than the captain himself, you understand the trust I
repose in my Nautilus; for I am at once captain, builder, and engineer."
"But how could you construct this wonderful Nautilus in
secret?"
"Each separate portion, M. Aronnax, was brought from
different parts of the globe."
"But these parts had to be put together and arranged?"
"Professor, I had set up my workshops upon a desert island
in the ocean. There my workmen, that is to say, the brave men that I instructed
and educated, and myself have put together our Nautilus. Then, when the work was
finished, fire destroyed all trace of our proceedings on this island, that I
could have jumped over if I had liked."
"Then the cost of this vessel is great?"
"M. Aronnax, an iron vessel costs L145 per ton. Now the
Nautilus weighed 1,500. It came therefore to L67,500, and L80,000 more for
fitting it up, and about L200,000, with the works of art and the collections it
contains."
"One last question, Captain Nemo."
"Ask it, Professor."
"You are rich?"
"Immensely rich, sir; and I could, without missing it, pay
the national debt of France."
I stared at the singular person who spoke thus. Was he
playing upon my credulity? The future would decide that.
THE BLACK RIVER
THE portion of the terrestrial globe which is covered by
water is estimated at upwards of eighty millions of acres. This fluid mass
comprises two billions two hundred and fifty millions of cubic miles, forming a
spherical body of a diameter of sixty leagues, the weight of which would be
three quintillions of tons. To comprehend the meaning of these figures, it is
necessary to observe that a quintillion is
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to a billion as a billion is to unity; in other words, there are as many
billions in a quintillion as there are units in a billion. This mass of fluid is
equal to about the quantity of water which would be discharged by all the rivers
of the earth in forty thousand years.
During the geological epochs the ocean originally
prevailed everywhere. Then by degrees, in the silurian period, the tops of the
mountains began to appear, the islands emerged, then disappeared in partial
deluges, reappeared, became settled, formed continents, till at length the earth
became geographically arranged, as we see in the present day. The solid had
wrested from the liquid thirty-seven million six hundred and fifty-seven square
miles, equal to twelve billions nine hundred and sixty millions of acres.
The shape of continents allows us to divide the waters
into five great portions: the Arctic or Frozen Ocean, the Antarctic, or Frozen
Ocean, the Indian, the Atlantic, and the Pacific Oceans.
The Pacific Ocean extends from north to south between the
two Polar Circles, and from east to west between Asia and America, over an
extent of 145 degrees of longitude. It is the quietest of seas; its currents are
broad and slow, it has medium tides, and abundant rain. Such was the ocean that
my fate destined me first to travel over under these strange conditions.
"Sir," said Captain Nemo, "we will, if you please, take
our bearings and fix the starting-point of this voyage. It is a quarter to
twelve; I will go up again to the surface."
The Captain pressed an electric clock three times. The
pumps began to drive the water from the tanks; the needle of the manometer
marked by a different pressure the ascent of the Nautilus, then it stopped.
"We have arrived," said the Captain.
I went to the central staircase which opened on to the
platform, clambered up the iron steps, and found myself on the upper part of the
Nautilus.
The platform was only three feet out of water. The front
and back of the Nautilus was of that spindle-shape which caused it justly to be
compared to a cigar. I noticed that its
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iron plates, slightly overlaying each other, resembled the shell which clothes
the bodies of our large terrestrial reptiles. It explained to me how natural it
was, in spite of all glasses, that this boat should have been taken for a marine
animal.
Toward the middle of the platform the longboat, half
buried in the hull of the vessel, formed a slight excrescence. Fore and aft rose
two cages of medium height with inclined sides, and partly closed by thick
lenticular glasses; one destined for the steersman who directed the Nautilus,
the other containing a brilliant lantern to give light on the road.
The sea was beautiful, the sky pure. Scarcely could the
long vehicle feel the broad undulations of the ocean. A light breeze from the
east rippled the surface of the waters. The horizon, free from fog, made
observation easy. Nothing was in sight. Not a quicksand, not an island. A vast
desert.
Captain Nemo, by the help of his sextant, took the
altitude of the sun, which ought also to give the latitude. He waited for some
moments till its disc touched the horizon. Whilst taking observations not a
muscle moved, the instrument could not have been more motionless in a hand of
marble.
"Twelve o'clock, sir," said he. "When you like -- "
I cast a last look upon the sea, slightly yellowed by the
Japanese coast, and descended to the saloon.
"And now, sir, I leave you to your studies," added the
Captain; "our course is E.N.E., our depth is twenty-six fathoms. Here are maps
on a large scale by which you may follow it. The saloon is at your disposal,
and, with your permission, I will retire." Captain Nemo bowed, and I remained
alone, lost in thoughts all bearing on the commander of the Nautilus.
For a whole hour was I deep in these reflections, seeking
to pierce this mystery so interesting to me. Then my eyes fell upon the vast
planisphere spread upon the table, and I placed my finger on the very spot where
the given latitude and longitude crossed.
The sea has its large rivers like the continents. They are
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special currents known by their temperature and their colour. The most
remarkable of these is known by the name of the Gulf Stream. Science has decided
on the globe the direction of five principal currents: one in the North
Atlantic, a second in the South, a third in the North Pacific, a fourth in the
South, and a fifth in the Southern Indian Ocean. It is even probable that a
sixth current existed at one time or another in the Northern Indian Ocean, when
the Caspian and Aral Seas formed but one vast sheet of water.
At this point indicated on the planisphere one of these
currents was rolling, the Kuro-Scivo of the Japanese, the Black River, which,
leaving the Gulf of Bengal, where it is warmed by the perpendicular rays of a
tropical sun, crosses the Straits of Malacca along the coast of Asia, turns into
the North Pacific to the Aleutian Islands, carrying with it trunks of
camphor-trees and other indigenous productions, and edging the waves of the
ocean with the pure indigo of its warm water. It was this current that the
Nautilus was to follow. I followed it with my eye; saw it lose itself in the
vastness of the Pacific, and felt myself drawn with it, when Ned Land and
Conseil appeared at the door of the saloon.
My two brave companions remained petrified at the sight of
the wonders spread before them.
"Where are we, where are we?" exclaimed the Canadian. "In
the museum at Quebec?"
"My friends," I answered, making a sign for them to enter,
"you are not in Canada, but on board the Nautilus, fifty yards below the level
of the sea."
"But, M. Aronnax," said Ned Land, "can you tell me how
many men there are on board? Ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred?"
"I cannot answer you, Mr. Land; it is better to abandon
for a time all idea of seizing the Nautilus or escaping from it. This ship is a
masterpiece of modern industry, and I should be sorry not to have seen it. Many
people would accept the situation forced upon us, if only to move amongst such
wonders. So be quiet and let us try and see what passes around us."
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"See!" exclaimed the harpooner, "but we can see nothing in
this iron prison! We are walking -- we are sailing -- blindly."
Ned Land had scarcely pronounced these words when all was
suddenly darkness. The luminous ceiling was gone, and so rapidly that my eyes
received a painful impression.
We remained mute, not stirring, and not knowing what
surprise awaited us, whether agreeable or disagreeable. A sliding noise was
heard: one would have said that panels were working at the sides of the
Nautilus.
"It is the end of the end!" said Ned Land.
Suddenly light broke at each side of the saloon, through
two oblong openings. The liquid mass appeared vividly lit up by the electric
gleam. Two crystal plates separated us from the sea. At first I trembled at the
thought that this frail partition might break, but strong bands of copper bound
them, giving an almost infinite power of resistance.
The sea was distinctly visible for a mile all round the
Nautilus. What a spectacle! What pen can describe it? Who could paint the
effects of the light through those transparent sheets of water, and the softness
of the successive gradations from the lower to the superior strata of the ocean?
We know the transparency of the sea and that its clearness
is far beyond that of rock-water. The mineral and organic substances which it
holds in suspension heightens its transparency. In certain parts of the ocean at
the Antilles, under seventy-five fathoms of water, can be seen with surprising
clearness a bed of sand. The penetrating power of the solar rays does not seem
to cease for a depth of one hundred and fifty fathoms. But in this middle fluid
travelled over by the Nautilus, the electric brightness was produced even in the
bosom of the waves. It was no longer luminous water, but liquid light.
On each side a window opened into this unexplored abyss.
The obscurity of the saloon showed to advantage the brightness outside, and we
looked out as if this pure crystal had been the glass of an immense aquarium.
"You wished to see, friend Ned; well, you see now."
"Curious! curious!" muttered the Canadian, who, forgetting
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his ill-temper, seemed to submit to some irresistible attraction; "and one would
come further than this to admire such a sight!"
"Ah!" thought I to myself, "I understand the life of this
man; he has made a world apart for himself, in which he treasures all his
greatest wonders."
For two whole hours an aquatic army escorted the Nautilus.
During their games, their bounds, while rivalling each other in beauty,
brightness, and velocity, I distinguished the green labre; the banded mullet,
marked by a double line of black; the round-tailed goby, of a white colour, with
violet spots on the back; the Japanese scombrus, a beautiful mackerel of these
seas, with a blue body and silvery head; the brilliant azurors, whose name alone
defies description; some banded spares, with variegated fins of blue and yellow;
the woodcocks of the seas, some specimens of which attain a yard in length;
Japanese salamanders, spider lampreys, serpents six feet long, with eyes small
and lively, and a huge mouth bristling with teeth; with many other species.
Our imagination was kept at its height, interjections
followed quickly on each other. Ned named the fish, and Conseil classed them. I
was in ecstasies with the vivacity of their movements and the beauty of their
forms. Never had it been given to me to surprise these animals, alive and at
liberty, in their natural element. I will not mention all the varieties which
passed before my dazzled eyes, all the collection of the seas of China and
Japan. These fish, more numerous than the birds of the air, came, attracted, no
doubt, by the brilliant focus of the electric light.
Suddenly there was daylight in the saloon, the iron panels
closed again, and the enchanting vision disappeared. But for a long time I
dreamt on, till my eyes fell on the instruments hanging on the partition. The
compass still showed the course to be E.N.E., the manometer indicated a pressure
of five atmospheres, equivalent to a depth of twenty-five fathoms, and the
electric log gave a speed of fifteen miles an hour. I expected Captain Nemo, but
he did not appear. The clock marked the hour of five.
Ned Land and Conseil returned to their cabin, and I
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retired to my chamber. My dinner was ready. It was composed of turtle soup made
of the most delicate hawks-bills, of a surmullet served with puff paste (the
liver of which, prepared by itself, was most delicious), and fillets of the
emperor-holocanthus, the savour of which seemed to me superior even to salmon.
I passed the evening reading, writing, and thinking. Then
sleep overpowered me, and I stretched myself on my couch of zostera, and slept
profoundly, whilst the Nautilus was gliding rapidly through the current of the
Black River.
A NOTE OF INVITATION
THE next day was the 9th of November. I awoke after a long
sleep of twelve hours. Conseil came, according to custom, to know "how I passed
the night," and to offer his services. He had left his friend the Canadian
sleeping like a man who had never done anything else all his life. I let the
worthy fellow chatter as be pleased, without caring to answer him. I was
preoccupied by the absence of the Captain during our sitting of the day before,
and hoping to see him to-day.
As soon as I was dressed I went into the saloon. It was
deserted. I plunged into the study of the shell treasures hidden behind the
glasses.
The whole day passed without my being honoured by a visit
from Captain Nemo. The panels of the saloon did not open. Perhaps they did not
wish us to tire of these beautiful things.
The course of the Nautilus was E.N.E., her speed twelve
knots, the depth below the surface between twenty-five and thirty fathoms.
The next day, 10th of November, the same desertion, the
same solitude. I did not see one of the ship's crew: Ned and Conseil spent the
greater part of the day with me. They were astonished at the puzzling absence of
the Captain. Was
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this singular man ill? -- had he altered his intentions with regard to us?
After all, as Conseil said, we enjoyed perfect liberty, we
were delicately and abundantly fed. Our host kept to his terms of the treaty. We
could not complain, and, indeed, the singularity of our fate reserved such
wonderful compensation for us that we had no right to accuse it as yet.
That day I commenced the journal of these adventures which
has enabled me to relate them with more scrupulous exactitude and minute detail.
11th November, early in the morning. The fresh air
spreading over the interior of the Nautilus told me that we had come to the
surface of the ocean to renew our supply of oxygen. I directed my steps to the
central staircase, and mounted the platform.
It was six o'clock, the weather was cloudy, the sea grey,
but calm. Scarcely a billow. Captain Nemo, whom I hoped to meet, would he be
there? I saw no one but the steersman imprisoned in his glass cage. Seated upon
the projection formed by the hull of the pinnace, I inhaled the salt breeze with
delight.
By degrees the fog disappeared under the action of the
sun's rays, the radiant orb rose from behind the eastern horizon. The sea flamed
under its glance like a train of gunpowder. The clouds scattered in the heights
were coloured with lively tints of beautiful shades, and numerous "mare's
tails," which betokened wind for that day. But what was wind to this Nautilus,
which tempests could not frighten!
I was admiring this joyous rising of the sun, so gay, and
so life-giving, when I heard steps approaching the platform. I was prepared to
salute Captain Nemo, but it was his second (whom I had already seen on the
Captain's first visit) who appeared. He advanced on the platform, not seeming to
see me. With his powerful glass to his eye, he scanned every point of the
horizon with great attention. This examination over, he approached the panel and
pronounced a sentence in exactly these terms. I have remembered
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it, for every morning it was repeated under exactly the same conditions. It was
thus worded:
"Nautron respoc lorni virch."
What it meant I could not say.
These words pronounced, the second descended. I thought
that the Nautilus was about to return to its submarine navigation. I regained
the panel and returned to my chamber.
Five days sped thus, without any change in our situation.
Every morning I mounted the platform. The same phrase was pronounced by the same
individual. But Captain Nemo did not appear.
I had made up my mind that I should never see him again,
when, on the 16th November, on returning to my room with Ned and Conseil, I
found upon my table a note addressed to me. I opened it impatiently. It was
written in a bold, clear hand, the characters rather pointed, recalling the
German type. The note was worded as follows: TO PROFESSOR ARONNAX,
On board the Nautilus.
16th of November, 1867.
Captain Nemo invites Professor Aronnax to a hunting-party,
which will take place to-morrow morning in the forests of the Island of Crespo.
He hopes that nothing will prevent the Professor from being present, and he will
with pleasure see him joined by his companions. CAPTAIN NEMO,
Commander of the Nautilus.
"A hunt!" exclaimed Ned.
"And in the forests of the Island of Crespo!" added
Conseil.
"Oh! then the gentleman is going on terra firma?" replied
Ned Land.
"That seems to me to be clearly indicated," said I,
reading the letter once more.
"Well, we must accept," said the Canadian. "But once more
on dry ground, we shall know what to do. Indeed, I shall not be sorry to eat a
piece of fresh venison."
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Without seeking to reconcile what was contradictory
between Captain Nemo's manifest aversion to islands and continents, and his
invitation to hunt in a forest, I contented myself with replying:
"Let us first see where the Island of Crespo is."
I consulted the planisphere, and in 32o 40' N.
lat. and 157o 50' W. long., I found a small island, recognised in
1801 by Captain Crespo, and marked in the ancient Spanish maps as Rocca de la
Plata, the meaning of which is The Silver Rock. We were then about eighteen
hundred miles from our starting-point, and the course of the Nautilus, a little
changed, was bringing it back towards the southeast.
I showed this little rock, lost in the midst of the North
Pacific, to my companions.
"If Captain Nemo does sometimes go on dry ground," said I,
"he at least chooses desert islands."
Ned Land shrugged his shoulders without speaking, and
Conseil and he left me.
After supper, which was served by the steward, mute and
impassive, I went to bed, not without some anxiety.
The next morning, the 17th of November, on awakening, I
felt that the Nautilus was perfectly still. I dressed quickly and entered the
saloon.
Captain Nemo was there, waiting for me. He rose, bowed,
and asked me if it was convenient for me to accompany him. As he made no
allusion to his absence during the last eight days, I did not mention it, and
simply answered that my companions and myself were ready to follow him.
We entered the dining-room, where breakfast was served.
"M. Aronnax," said the Captain, "pray, share my breakfast
without ceremony; we will chat as we eat. For, though I promised you a walk in
the forest, I did not undertake to find hotels there. So breakfast as a man who
will most likely not have his dinner till very late."
I did honour to the repast. It was composed of several
kinds of fish, and slices of sea-cucumber, and different sorts of seaweed. Our
drink consisted of pure water, to which the Captain added some drops of a
fermented liquor, extracted
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by the Kamschatcha method from a seaweed known under the name of Rhodomenia
palmata. Captain Nemo ate at first without saying a word. Then he began:
"Sir, when I proposed to you to hunt in my submarine
forest of Crespo, you evidently thought me mad. Sir, you should never judge
lightly of any man."
"But Captain, believe me -- "
"Be kind enough to listen, and you will then see whether
you have any cause to accuse me of folly and contradiction."
"I listen."
"You know as well as I do, Professor, that man can live
under water, providing he carries with him a sufficient supply of breathable
air. In submarine works, the workman, clad in an impervious dress, with his head
in a metal helmet, receives air from above by means of forcing pumps and
regulators."
"That is a diving apparatus," said I.
"Just so, but under these conditions the man is not at
liberty; he is attached to the pump which sends him air through an india-rubber
tube, and if we were obliged to be thus held to the Nautilus, we could not go
far."
"And the means of getting free?" I asked.
"It is to use the Rouquayrol apparatus, invented by two of
your own countrymen, which I have brought to perfection for my own use, and
which will allow you to risk yourself under these new physiological conditions
without any organ whatever suffering. It consists of a reservoir of thick iron
plates, in which I store the air under a pressure of fifty atmospheres. This
reservoir is fixed on the back by means of braces, like a soldier's knapsack.
Its upper part forms a box in which the air is kept by means of a bellows, and
therefore cannot escape unless at its normal tension. In the Rouquayrol
apparatus such as we use, two india-rubber pipes leave this box and join a sort
of tent which holds the nose and mouth; one is to introduce fresh air, the other
to let out the foul, and the tongue closes one or the other according to the
wants of the respirator. But I, in encountering great pressures at the bottom of
the sea, was obliged to shut my head, like that of a diver in a ball
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of copper; and it is to this ball of copper that the two pipes, the inspirator
and the expirator, open."
"Perfectly, Captain Nemo; but the air that you carry with
you must soon be used; when it only contains fifteen per cent. of oxygen it is
no longer fit to breathe."
"Right! But I told you, M. Aronnax, that the pumps of the
Nautilus allow me to store the air under considerable pressure, and on those
conditions the reservoir of the apparatus can furnish breathable air for nine or
ten hours."
"I have no further objections to make," I answered. "I
will only ask you one thing, Captain -- how can you light your road at the
bottom of the sea?"
"With the Ruhmkorff apparatus, M. Aronnax; one is carried
on the back, the other is fastened to the waist. It is composed of a Bunsen
pile, which I do not work with bichromate of potash, but with sodium. A wire is
introduced which collects the electricity produced, and directs it towards a
particularly made lantern. In this lantern is a spiral glass which contains a
small quantity of carbonic gas. When the apparatus is at work this gas becomes
luminous, giving out a white and continuous light. Thus provided, I can breathe
and I can see."
"Captain Nemo, to all my objections you make such crushing
answers that I dare no longer doubt. But, if I am forced to admit the Rouquayrol
and Ruhmkorff apparatus, I must be allowed some reservations with regard to the
gun I am to carry."
"But it is not a gun for powder," answered the Captain.
"Then it is an air-gun."
"Doubtless! How would you have me manufacture gunpowder on
board, without either saltpetre, sulphur, or charcoal?"
"Besides," I added, "to fire under water in a medium eight
hundred and fifty-five times denser than the air, we must conquer very
considerable resistance."
"That would be no difficulty. There exist guns, according
to Fulton, perfected in England by Philip Coles and Burley, in France by Furcy,
and in Italy by Landi, which are furnished with a peculiar system of closing,
which can fire
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under these conditions. But I repeat, having no powder, I use air under great
pressure, which the pumps of the Nautilus furnish abundantly."
"But this air must be rapidly used?"
"Well, have I not my Rouquayrol reservoir, which can
furnish it at need? A tap is all that is required. Besides M. Aronnax, you must
see yourself that, during our submarine hunt, we can spend but little air and
but few balls."
"But it seems to me that in this twilight, and in the
midst of this fluid, which is very dense compared with the atmosphere, shots
could not go far, nor easily prove mortal."
"Sir, on the contrary, with this gun every blow is mortal;
and, however lightly the animal is touched, it falls as if struck by a
thunderbolt."
"Why?"
"Because the balls sent by this gun are not ordinary
balls, but little cases of glass. These glass cases are covered with a case of
steel, and weighted with a pellet of lead; they are real Leyden bottles, into
which the electricity is forced to a very high tension. With the slightest shock
they are discharged, and the animal, however strong it may be, falls dead. I
must tell you that these cases are size number four, and that the charge for an
ordinary gun would be ten."
"I will argue no longer," I replied, rising from the
table. "I have nothing left me but to take my gun. At all events, I will go
where you go."
Captain Nemo then led me aft; and in passing before Ned's
and Conseil's cabin, I called my two companions, who followed promptly. We then
came to a cell near the machinery-room, in which we put on our walking-dress.
A WALK ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
THIS cell was, to speak correctly, the arsenal and
wardrobe of the Nautilus. A dozen diving apparatuses hung from the partition
waiting our use.
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Ned Land, on seeing them, showed evident repugnance to
dress himself in one.
"But, my worthy Ned, the forests of the Island of Crespo
are nothing but submarine forests."
"Good!" said the disappointed harpooner, who saw his
dreams of fresh meat fade away. "And you, M. Aronnax, are you going to dress
yourself in those clothes?"
"There is no alternative, Master Ned."
"As you please, sir," replied the harpooner, shrugging his
shoulders; "but, as for me, unless I am forced, I will never get into one."
"No one will force you, Master Ned," said Captain Nemo.
"Is Conseil going to risk it?" asked Ned.
"I follow my master wherever he goes," replied Conseil.
At the Captain's call two of the ship's crew came to help
us dress in these heavy and impervious clothes, made of india-rubber without
seam, and constructed expressly to resist considerable pressure. One would have
thought it a suit of armour, both supple and resisting. This suit formed
trousers and waistcoat. The trousers were finished off with thick boots,
weighted with heavy leaden soles. The texture of the waistcoat was held together
by bands of copper, which crossed the chest, protecting it from the great
pressure of the water, and leaving the lungs free to act; the sleeves ended in
gloves, which in no way restrained the movement of the hands. There was a vast
difference noticeable between these consummate apparatuses and the old cork
breastplates, jackets, and other contrivances in vogue during the eighteenth
century.
Captain Nemo and one of his companions (a sort of
Hercules, who must have possessed great strength), Conseil and myself were soon
enveloped in the dresses. There remained nothing more to be done but to enclose
our heads in the metal box. But, before proceeding to this operation, I asked
the Captain's permission to examine the guns.
One of the Nautilus men gave me a simple gun, the butt end
of which, made of steel, hollow in the centre, was rather large. It served as a
reservoir for compressed air, which a valve, worked by a spring, allowed to
escape into
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a metal tube. A box of projectiles in a groove in the thickness of the butt end
contained about twenty of these electric balls, which, by means of a spring,
were forced into the barrel of the gun. As soon as one shot was fired, another
was ready.
"Captain Nemo," said I, "this arm is perfect, and easily
handled: I only ask to be allowed to try it. But how shall we gain the bottom of
the sea?"
"At this moment, Professor, the Nautilus is stranded in
five fathoms, and we have nothing to do but to start."
"But how shall we get off?"
"You shall see."
Captain Nemo thrust his head into the helmet, Conseil and
I did the same, not without hearing an ironical "Good sport!" from the Canadian.
The upper part of our dress terminated in a copper collar upon which was screwed
the metal helmet. Three holes, protected by thick glass, allowed us to see in
all directions, by simply turning our head in the interior of the head-dress. As
soon as it was in position, the Rouquayrol apparatus on our backs began to act;
and, for my part, I could breathe with ease.
With the Ruhmkorff lamp hanging from my belt, and the gun
in my hand, I was ready to set out. But to speak the truth, imprisoned in these
heavy garments, and glued to the deck by my leaden soles, it was impossible for
me to take a step.
But this state of things was provided for. I felt myself
being pushed into a little room contiguous to the wardrobe-room. My companions
followed, towed along in the same way. I heard a water-tight door, furnished
with stopper-plates, close upon us, and we were wrapped in profound darkness.
After some minutes, a loud hissing was heard. I felt the
cold mount from my feet to my chest. Evidently from some part of the vessel they
had, by means of a tap, given entrance to the water, which was invading us, and
with which the room was soon filled. A second door cut in the side of the
Nautilus then opened. We saw a faint light. In another instant our feet trod the
bottom of the sea.
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And now, how can I retrace the impression left upon me by
that walk under the waters? Words are impotent to relate such wonders! Captain
Nemo walked in front, his companion followed some steps behind. Conseil and I
remained near each other, as if an exchange of words had been possible through
our metallic cases. I no longer felt the weight of my clothing, or of my shoes,
of my reservoir of air, or my thick helmet, in the midst of which my head
rattled like an almond in its shell.
The light, which lit the soil thirty feet below the
surface of the ocean, astonished me by its power. The solar rays shone through
the watery mass easily, and dissipated all colour, and I clearly distinguished
objects at a distance of a hundred and fifty yards. Beyond that the tints
darkened into fine gradations of ultramarine, and faded into vague obscurity.
Truly this water which surrounded me was but another air denser than the
terrestrial atmosphere, but almost as transparent. Above me was the calm surface
of the sea. We were walking on fine, even sand, not wrinkled, as on a flat
shore, which retains the impression of the billows. This dazzling carpet, really
a reflector, repelled the rays of the sun with wonderful intensity, which
accounted for the vibration which penetrated every atom of liquid. Shall I be
believed when I say that, at the depth of thirty feet, I could see as if I was
in broad daylight?
For a quarter of an hour I trod on this sand, sown with
the impalpable dust of shells. The hull of the Nautilus, resembling a long
shoal, disappeared by degrees; but its lantern, when darkness should overtake us
in the waters, would help to guide us on board by its distinct rays.
Soon forms of objects outlined in the distance were
discernible. I recognised magnificent rocks, hung with a tapestry of zoophytes
of the most beautiful kind, and I was at first struck by the peculiar effect of
this medium.
It was then ten in the morning; the rays of the sun struck
the surface of the waves at rather an oblique angle, and at the touch of their
light, decomposed by refraction as through a prism, flowers, rocks, plants,
shells, and polypi were shaded at the edges by the seven solar colours. It was
marvellous,
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a feast for the eyes, this complication of coloured tints, a perfect
kaleidoscope of green, yellow, orange, violet, indigo, and blue; in one word,
the whole palette of an enthusiastic colourist! Why could I not communicate to
Conseil the lively sensations which were mounting to my brain, and rival him in
expressions of admiration? For aught I knew, Captain Nemo and his companion
might be able to exchange thoughts by means of signs previously agreed upon. So,
for want of better, I talked to myself; I declaimed in the copper box which
covered my head, thereby expending more air in vain words than was perhaps wise.
Various kinds of isis, clusters of pure tuft-coral,
prickly fungi, and anemones formed a brilliant garden of flowers, decked with
their collarettes of blue tentacles, sea-stars studding the sandy bottom. It was
a real grief to me to crush under my feet the brilliant specimens of molluscs
which strewed the ground by thousands, of hammerheads, donaciae (veritable
bounding shells), of staircases, and red helmet-shells, angel-wings, and many
others produced by this inexhaustible ocean. But we were bound to walk, so we
went on, whilst above our heads waved medusae whose umbrellas of opal or
rose-pink, escalloped with a band of blue, sheltered us from the rays of the sun
and fiery pelagiae, which, in the darkness, would have strewn our path with
phosphorescent light.
All these wonders I saw in the space of a quarter of a
mile, scarcely stopping, and following Captain Nemo, who beckoned me on by
signs. Soon the nature of the soil changed; to the sandy plain succeeded an
extent of slimy mud which the Americans call "ooze," composed of equal parts of
silicious and calcareous shells. We then travelled over a plain of seaweed of
wild and luxuriant vegetation. This sward was of close texture, and soft to the
feet, and rivalled the softest carpet woven by the hand of man. But whilst
verdure was spread at our feet, it did not abandon our heads. A light network of
marine plants, of that inexhaustible family of seaweeds of which more than two
thousand kinds are known, grew on the surface of the water.
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I noticed that the green plants kept nearer the top of the sea, whilst the red
were at a greater depth, leaving to the black or brown the care of forming
gardens and parterres in the remote beds of the ocean.
We had quitted the Nautilus about an hour and a half. It
was near noon; I knew by the perpendicularity of the sun's rays, which were no
longer refracted. The magical colours disappeared by degrees, and the shades of
emerald and sapphire were effaced. We walked with a regular step, which rang
upon the ground with astonishing intensity; the slightest noise was transmitted
with a quickness to which the ear is unaccustomed on the earth; indeed, water is
a better conductor of sound than air, in the ratio of four to one. At this
period the earth sloped downwards; the light took a uniform tint. We were at a
depth of a hundred and five yards and twenty inches, undergoing a pressure of
six atmospheres.
At this depth I could still see the rays of the sun,
though feebly; to their intense brilliancy had succeeded a reddish twilight, the
lowest state between day and night; but we could still see well enough; it was
not necessary to resort to the Ruhmkorff apparatus as yet. At this moment
Captain Nemo stopped; he waited till I joined him, and then pointed to an
obscure mass, looming in the shadow, at a short distance.
"It is the forest of the Island of Crespo," thought I; and
I was not mistaken.
A SUBMARINE FOREST
WE HAD at last arrived on the borders of this forest,
doubtless one of the finest of Captain Nemo's immense domains. He looked upon it
as his own, and considered he had the same right over it that the first men had
in the first days of the world. And, indeed, who would have disputed with him
the possession of this submarine property? What other
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hardier pioneer would come, hatchet in hand, to cut down the dark copses?
This forest was composed of large tree-plants; and the
moment we penetrated under its vast arcades, I was struck by the singular
position of their branches -- a position I had not yet observed.
Not an herb which carpeted the ground, not a branch which
clothed the trees, was either broken or bent, nor did they extend horizontally;
all stretched up to the surface of the ocean. Not a filament, not a ribbon,
however thin they might be, but kept as straight as a rod of iron. The fuci and
llianas grew in rigid perpendicular lines, due to the density of the element
which had produced them. Motionless yet, when bent to one side by the hand, they
directly resumed their former position. Truly it was the region of
perpendicularity!
I soon accustomed myself to this fantastic position, as
well as to the comparative darkness which surrounded us. The soil of the forest
seemed covered with sharp blocks, difficult to avoid. The submarine flora struck
me as being very perfect, and richer even than it would have been in the arctic
or tropical zones, where these productions are not so plentiful. But for some
minutes I involuntarily confounded the genera, taking animals for plants; and
who would not have been mistaken? The fauna and the flora are too closely allied
in this submarine world.
These plants are self-propagated, and the principle of
their existence is in the water, which upholds and nourishes them. The greater
number, instead of leaves, shoot forth blades of capricious shapes, comprised
within a scale of colours pink, carmine, green, olive, fawn, and brown.
"Curious anomaly, fantastic element!" said an ingenious
naturalist, "in which the animal kingdom blossoms, and the vegetable does not!"
In about an hour Captain Nemo gave the signal to halt; I,
for my part, was not sorry, and we stretched ourselves under an arbour of
alariae, the long thin blades of which stood up like arrows.
This short rest seemed delicious to me; there was nothing
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wanting but the charm of conversation; but, impossible to speak, impossible to
answer, I only put my great copper head to Conseil's. I saw the worthy fellow's
eyes glistening with delight, and, to show his satisfaction, he shook himself in
his breastplate of air, in the most comical way in the world.
After four hours of this walking, I was surprised not to
find myself dreadfully hungry. How to account for this state of the stomach I
could not tell. But instead I felt an insurmountable desire to sleep, which
happens to all divers. And my eyes soon closed behind the thick glasses, and I
fell into a heavy slumber, which the movement alone had prevented before.
Captain Nemo and his robust companion, stretched in the clear crystal, set us
the example.
How long I remained buried in this drowsiness I cannot
judge, but, when I woke, the sun seemed sinking towards the horizon. Captain
Nemo had already risen, and I was beginning to stretch my limbs, when an
unexpected apparition brought me briskly to my feet.
A few steps off, a monstrous sea-spider, about
thirty-eight inches high, was watching me with squinting eyes, ready to spring
upon me. Though my diver's dress was thick enough to defend me from the bite of
this animal, I could not help shuddering with horror. Conseil and the sailor of
the Nautilus awoke at this moment. Captain Nemo pointed out the hideous
crustacean, which a blow from the butt end of the gun knocked over, and I saw
the horrible claws of the monster writhe in terrible convulsions. This incident
reminded me that other animals more to be feared might haunt these obscure
depths, against whose attacks my diving-dress would not protect me. I had never
thought of it before, but I now resolved to be upon my guard. Indeed, I thought
that this halt would mark the termination of our walk; but I was mistaken, for,
instead of returning to the Nautilus, Captain Nemo continued his bold excursion.
The ground was still on the incline, its declivity seemed to be getting greater,
and to be leading us to greater depths. It must have been about three o'clock
when we reached a narrow valley, between high perpendicular walls, situated
about
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seventy-five fathoms deep. Thanks to the perfection of our apparatus, we were
forty-five fathoms below the limit which nature seems to have imposed on man as
to his submarine excursions.
I say seventy-five fathoms, though I had no instrument by
which to judge the distance. But I knew that even in the clearest waters the
solar rays could not penetrate further. And accordingly the darkness deepened.
At ten paces not an object was visible. I was groping my way, when I suddenly
saw a brilliant white light. Captain Nemo had just put his electric apparatus
into use; his companion did the same, and Conseil and I followed their example.
By turning a screw I established a communication between the wire and the spiral
glass, and the sea, lit by our four lanterns, was illuminated for a circle of
thirty-six yards.
As we walked I thought the light of our Ruhmkorff
apparatus could not fail to draw some inhabitant from its dark couch. But if
they did approach us, they at least kept at a respectful distance from the
hunters. Several times I saw Captain Nemo stop, put his gun to his shoulder, and
after some moments drop it and walk on. At last, after about four hours, this
marvellous excursion came to an end. A wall of superb rocks, in an imposing
mass, rose before us, a heap of gigantic blocks, an enormous, steep granite
shore, forming dark grottos, but which presented no practicable slope; it was
the prop of the Island of Crespo. It was the earth! Captain Nemo stopped
suddenly. A gesture of his brought us all to a halt; and, however desirous I
might be to scale the wall, I was obliged to stop. Here ended Captain Nemo's
domains. And he would not go beyond them. Further on was a portion of the globe
he might not trample upon.
The return began. Captain Nemo had returned to the head of
his little band, directing their course without hesitation. I thought we were
not following the same road to return to the Nautilus. The new road was very
steep, and consequently very painful. We approached the surface of the sea
rapidly. But this return to the upper strata was not so sudden as to cause
relief from the pressure too rapidly,
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which might have produced serious disorder in our organisation, and brought on
internal lesions, so fatal to divers. Very soon light reappeared and grew, and,
the sun being low on the horizon, the refraction edged the different objects
with a spectral ring. At ten yards and a half deep, we walked amidst a shoal of
little fishes of all kinds, more numerous than the birds of the air, and also
more agile; but no aquatic game worthy of a shot had as yet met our gaze, when
at that moment I saw the Captain shoulder his gun quickly, and follow a moving
object into the shrubs. He fired; I heard a slight hissing, and a creature fell
stunned at some distance from us. It was a magnificent sea-otter, an enhydrus,
the only exclusively marine quadruped. This otter was five feet long, and must
have been very valuable. Its skin, chestnut-brown above and silvery underneath,
would have made one of those beautiful furs so sought after in the Russian and
Chinese markets: the fineness and the lustre of its coat would certainly fetch
L80. I admired this curious mammal, with its rounded head ornamented with short
ears, its round eyes, and white whiskers like those of a cat, with webbed feet
and nails, and tufted tail. This precious animal, hunted and tracked by
fishermen, has now become very rare, and taken refuge chiefly in the northern
parts of the Pacific, or probably its race would soon become extinct.
Captain Nemo's companion took the beast, threw it over his
shoulder, and we continued our journey. For one hour a plain of sand lay
stretched before us. Sometimes it rose to within two yards and some inches of
the surface of the water. I then saw our image clearly reflected, drawn
inversely, and above us appeared an identical group reflecting our movements and
our actions; in a word, like us in every point, except that they walked with
their heads downward and their feet in the air.
Another effect I noticed, which was the passage of thick
clouds which formed and vanished rapidly; but on reflection I understood that
these seeming clouds were due to the varying thickness of the reeds at the
bottom, and I could even see the fleecy foam which their broken tops multiplied
on the water, and the shadows of large birds
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passing above our heads, whose rapid flight I could discern on the surface of
the sea.
On this occasion I was witness to one of the finest
gunshots which ever made the nerves of a hunter thrill. A large bird of great
breadth of wing, clearly visible, approached, hovering over us. Captain Nemo's
companion shouldered his gun and fired, when it was only a few yards above the
waves. The creature fell stunned, and the force of its fall brought it within
the reach of dexterous hunter's grasp. It was an albatross of the finest kind.
Our march had not been interrupted by this incident. For
two hours we followed these sandy plains, then fields of algae very disagreeable
to cross. Candidly, I could do no more when I saw a glimmer of light, which, for
a half mile, broke the darkness of the waters. It was the lantern of the
Nautilus. Before twenty minutes were over we should be on board, and I should be
able to breathe with ease, for it seemed that my reservoir supplied air very
deficient in oxygen. But I did not reckon on an accidental meeting which delayed
our arrival for some time.
I had remained some steps behind, when I presently saw
Captain Nemo coming hurriedly towards me. With his strong hand he bent me to the
ground, his companion doing the same to Conseil. At first I knew not what to
think of this sudden attack, but I was soon reassured by seeing the Captain lie
down beside me, and remain immovable.
I was stretched on the ground, just under the shelter of a
bush of algae, when, raising my head, I saw some enormous mass, casting
phosphorescent gleams, pass blusteringly by.
My blood froze in my veins as I recognised two formidable
sharks which threatened us. It was a couple of tintoreas, terrible creatures,
with enormous tails and a dun glassy stare, the phosphorescent matter ejected
from holes pierced around the muzzle. Monstrous brutes! which would crush a
whole man in their iron jaws. I did not know whether Conseil stopped to classify
them; for my part, I noticed their silver bellies, and their huge mouths
bristling with teeth,
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from a very unscientific point of view, and more as a possible victim than as a
naturalist.
Happily the voracious creatures do not see well. They
passed without seeing us, brushing us with their brownish fins, and we escaped
by a miracle from a danger certainly greater than meeting a tiger full-face in
the forest. Half an hour after, guided by the electric light we reached the
Nautilus. The outside door had been left open, and Captain Nemo closed it as
soon as we had entered the first cell. He then pressed a knob. I heard the pumps
working in the midst of the vessel, I felt the water sinking from around me, and
in a few moments the cell was entirely empty. The inside door then opened, and
we entered the vestry.
There our diving-dress was taken off, not without some
trouble, and, fairly worn out from want of food and sleep, I returned to my
room, in great wonder at this surprising excursion at the bottom of the sea.
FOUR THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE PACIFIC
THE next morning, the 18th of November, I had quite
recovered from my fatigues of the day before, and I went up on to the platform,
just as the second lieutenant was uttering his daily phrase.
I was admiring the magnificent aspect of the ocean when
Captain Nemo appeared. He did not seem to be aware of my presence, and began a
series of astronomical observations. Then, when he had finished, he went and
leant on the cage of the watch-light, and gazed abstractedly on the ocean. In
the meantime, a number of the sailors of the Nautilus, all strong and healthy
men, had come up onto the platform. They came to draw up the nets that had been
laid all night. These sailors were evidently of different nations, although the
European type was visible in all of them. I recognised some unmistakable
Irishmen, Frenchmen, some Sclaves, and a Greek, or a Candiote. They were civil,
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and only used that odd language among themselves, the origin of which I could
not guess, neither could I question them.
The nets were hauled in. They were a large kind of "chaluts,"
like those on the Normandy coasts, great pockets that the waves and a chain
fixed in the smaller meshes kept open. These pockets, drawn by iron poles, swept
through the water, and gathered in everything in their way. That day they
brought up curious specimens from those productive coasts.
I reckoned that the haul had brought in more than nine
hundredweight of fish. It was a fine haul, but not to be wondered at. Indeed,
the nets are let down for several hours, and enclose in their meshes an infinite
variety. We had no lack of excellent food, and the rapidity of the Nautilus and
the attraction of the electric light could always renew our supply. These
several productions of the sea were immediately lowered through the panel to the
steward's room, some to be eaten fresh, and others pickled.
The fishing ended, the provision of air renewed, I thought
that the Nautilus was about to continue its submarine excursion, and was
preparing to return to my room, when, without further preamble, the Captain
turned to me, saying:
"Professor, is not this ocean gifted with real life? It
has its tempers and its gentle moods. Yesterday it slept as we did, and now it
has woke after a quiet night. Look!" he continued, "it wakes under the caresses
of the sun. It is going to renew its diurnal existence. It is an interesting
study to watch the play of its organisation. It has a pulse, arteries, spasms;
and I agree with the learned Maury, who discovered in it a circulation as real
as the circulation of blood in animals.
"Yes, the ocean has indeed circulation, and to promote it,
the Creator has caused things to multiply in it -- caloric, salt, and
animalculae."
When Captain Nemo spoke thus, he seemed altogether
changed, and aroused an extraordinary emotion in me.
"Also," he added, "true existence is there; and I can
imagine the foundations of nautical towns, clusters of submarine
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houses, which, like the Nautilus, would ascend every morning to breathe at the
surface of the water, free towns, independent cities. Yet who knows whether some
despot -- "
Captain Nemo finished his sentence with a violent gesture.
Then, addressing me as if to chase away some sorrowful thought:
"M. Aronnax," he asked. "do you know the depth of the
ocean?"
"I only know, Captain, what the principal soundings have
taught us."
"Could you tell me them, so that I can suit them to my
purpose?"
"These are some," I replied, "that I remember. If I am not
mistaken, a depth of 8,000 yards has been found in the North Atlantic, and 2,500
yards in the Mediterranean. The most remarkable soundings have been made in the
South Atlantic, near the thirty-fifth parallel, and they gave 12,000 yards,
14,000 yards, and 15,000 yards. To sum up all, it is reckoned that if the bottom
of the sea were levelled, its mean depth would be about one and three-quarter
leagues."
"Well, Professor," replied the Captain, "we shall show you
better than that I hope. As to the mean depth of this part of the Pacific, I
tell you it is only 4,000 yards."
Having said this, Captain Nemo went towards the panel, and
disappeared down the ladder. I followed him, and went into the large
drawing-room. The screw was immediately put in motion, and the log gave twenty
miles an hour.
During the days and weeks that passed, Captain Nemo was
very sparing of his visits. I seldom saw him. The lieutenant pricked the ship's
course regularly on the chart, so I could always tell exactly the route of the
Nautilus.
Nearly every day, for some time, the panels of the
drawing-room were opened, and we were never tired of penetrating the mysteries
of the submarine world.
The general direction of the Nautilus was south-east, and
it kept between 100 and 150 yards of depth. One day, however, I do not know why,
being drawn diagonally by
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means of the inclined planes, it touched the bed of the sea. The thermometer
indicated a temperature of 4.25 (cent.): a temperature that at this depth seemed
common to all latitudes.
At three o'clock in the morning of the 26th of November
the Nautilus crossed the tropic of Cancer at 172o long. On 27th
instant it sighted the Sandwich Islands, where Cook died, February 14, 1779. We
had then gone 4,860 leagues from our starting-point. In the morning, when I went
on the platform, I saw two miles to windward, Hawaii, the largest of the seven
islands that form the group. I saw clearly the cultivated ranges, and the
several mountain-chains that run parallel with the side, and the volcanoes that
overtop Mouna-Rea, which rise 5,000 yards above the level of the sea. Besides
other things the nets brought up, were several flabellariae and graceful polypi,
that are peculiar to that part of the ocean. The direction of the Nautilus was
still to the south-east. It crossed the equator December 1, in 142o
long.; and on the 4th of the same month, after crossing rapidly and without
anything in particular occurring, we sighted the Marquesas group. I saw, three
miles off, Martin's peak in Nouka-Hiva, the largest of the group that belongs to
France. I only saw the woody mountains against the horizon, because Captain Nemo
did not wish to bring the ship to the wind. There the nets brought up beautiful
specimens of fish: some with azure fins and tails like gold, the flesh of which
is unrivalled; some nearly destitute of scales, but of exquisite flavour;
others, with bony jaws, and yellow-tinged gills, as good as bonitos; all fish
that would be of use to us. After leaving these charming islands protected by
the French flag, from the 4th to the 11th of December the Nautilus sailed over
about 2,000 miles.
During the daytime of the 11th of December I was busy
reading in the large drawing-room. Ned Land and Conseil watched the luminous
water through the half-open panels. The Nautilus was immovable. While its
reservoirs were filled, it kept at a depth of 1,000 yards, a region rarely
visited in the ocean, and in which large fish were seldom seen.
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I was then reading a charming book by Jean Mace, The
Slaves of the Stomach, and I was learning some valuable lessons from it, when
Conseil interrupted me.
"Will master come here a moment?" he said, in a curious
voice.
"What is the matter, Conseil?"
"I want master to look."
I rose, went, and leaned on my elbows before the panes and
watched.
In a full electric light, an enormous black mass, quite
immovable, was suspended in the midst of the waters. I watched it attentively,
seeking to find out the nature of this gigantic cetacean. But a sudden thought
crossed my mind. "A vessel!" I said, half aloud.
"Yes," replied the Canadian, "a disabled ship that has
sunk perpendicularly."
Ned Land was right; we were close to a vessel of which the
tattered shrouds still hung from their chains. The keel seemed to be in good
order, and it had been wrecked at most some few hours. Three stumps of masts,
broken off about two feet above the bridge, showed that the vessel had had to
sacrifice its masts. But, lying on its side, it had filled, and it was heeling
over to port. This skeleton of what it had once been was a sad spectacle as it
lay lost under the waves, but sadder still was the sight of the bridge, where
some corpses, bound with ropes, were still lying. I counted five -- four men,
one of whom was standing at the helm, and a woman standing by the poop, holding
an infant in her arms. She was quite young. I could distinguish her features,
which the water had not decomposed, by the brilliant light from the Nautilus. In
one despairing effort, she had raised her infant above her head -- poor little
thing! -- whose arms encircled its mother's neck. The attitude of the four
sailors was frightful, distorted as they were by their convulsive movements,
whilst making a last effort to free themselves from the cords that bound them to
the vessel. The steersman alone, calm, with a grave, clear face, his grey hair
glued to his forehead, and his hand clutching the wheel of
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the helm, seemed even then to be guiding the three broken masts through the
depths of the ocean.
What a scene! We were dumb; our hearts beat fast before
this shipwreck, taken as it were from life and photographed in its last moments.
And I saw already, coming towards it with hungry eyes, enormous sharks,
attracted by the human flesh.
However, the Nautilus, turning, went round the submerged
vessel, and in one instant I read on the stern -- "The Florida, Sunderland."
VANIKORO
THIS terrible spectacle was the forerunner of the series
of maritime catastrophes that the Nautilus was destined to meet with in its
route. As long as it went through more frequented waters, we often saw the hulls
of shipwrecked vessels that were rotting in the depths, and deeper down cannons,
bullets, anchors, chains, and a thousand other iron materials eaten up by rust.
However, on the 11th of December we sighted the Pomotou Islands, the old
"dangerous group" of Bougainville, that extend over a space of 500 leagues at
E.S.E. to W.N.W., from the Island Ducie to that of Lazareff. This group covers
an area of 370 square leagues, and it is formed of sixty groups of islands,
among which the Gambier group is remarkable, over which France exercises sway.
These are coral islands, slowly raised, but continuous, created by the daily
work of polypi. Then this new island will be joined later on to the neighboring
groups, and a fifth continent will stretch from New Zealand and New Caledonia,
and from thence to the Marquesas.
One day, when I was suggesting this theory to Captain Nemo,
he replied coldly:
"The earth does not want new continents, but new men."
On 15th of December, we left to the east the bewitching
group of the Societies and the graceful Tahiti, queen of the
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Pacific. I saw in the morning, some miles to the windward, the elevated summits
of the island. These waters furnished our table with excellent fish, mackerel,
bonitos, and some varieties of a sea-serpent.
On the 25th of December the Nautilus sailed into the midst
of the New Hebrides, discovered by Quiros in 1606, and that Bougainville
explored in 1768, and to which Cook gave its present name in 1773. This group is
composed principally of nine large islands, that form a band of 120 leagues
N.N.S. to S.S.W., between 15o and 2o S. lat., and 164o
and 168o long. We passed tolerably near to the Island of Aurou, that
at noon looked like a mass of green woods, surmounted by a peak of great height.
That day being Christmas Day, Ned Land seemed to regret
sorely the non-celebration of "Christmas," the family fete of which Protestants
are so fond. I had not seen Captain Nemo for a week, when, on the morning of the
27th, he came into the large drawing-room, always seeming as if he had seen you
five minutes before. I was busily tracing the route of the Nautilus on the
planisphere. The Captain came up to me, put his finger on one spot on the chart,
and said this single word.
"Vanikoro."
The effect was magical! It was the name of the islands on
which La Perouse had been lost! I rose suddenly.
"The Nautilus has brought us to Vanikoro?" I asked.
"Yes, Professor," said the Captain.
"And I can visit the celebrated islands where the Boussole
and the Astrolabe struck?"
"If you like, Professor."
"When shall we be there?"
"We are there now."
Followed by Captain Nemo, I went up on to the platform,
and greedily scanned the horizon.
To the N.E. two volcanic islands emerged of unequal size,
surrounded by a coral reef that measured forty miles in circumference. We were
close to Vanikoro, really the one to which Dumont d'Urville gave the name of
Isle de la Recherche, and exactly facing the little harbour of Vanou,
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situated in 16o 4' S. lat., and 164o 32' E. long. The
earth seemed covered with verdure from the shore to the summits in the interior,
that were crowned by Mount Kapogo, 476 feet high. The Nautilus, having passed
the outer belt of rocks by a narrow strait, found itself among breakers where
the sea was from thirty to forty fathoms deep. Under the verdant shade of some
mangroves I perceived some savages, who appeared greatly surprised at our
approach. In the long black body, moving between wind and water, did they not
see some formidable cetacean that they regarded with suspicion?
Just then Captain Nemo asked me what I knew about the
wreck of La Perouse.
"Only what everyone knows, Captain," I replied.
"And could you tell me what everyone knows about it?" be
inquired, ironically.
"Easily."
I related to him all that the last works of Dumont
d'Urville had made known -- works from which the following is a brief account.
La Perouse, and his second, Captain de Langle, were sent
by Louis XVI, in 1785, on a voyage of circumnavigation. They embarked in the
corvettes Boussole and the Astrolabe, neither of which were again heard of. In
1791, the French Government, justly uneasy as to the fate of these two sloops,
manned two large merchantmen, the Recherche and the Esperance, which left Brest
the 28th of September under the command of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux.
Two months after, they learned from Bowen, commander of
the Albemarle, that the debris of shipwrecked vessels had been seen on the
coasts of New Georgia. But D'Entrecasteaux, ignoring this communication --
rather uncertain, besides -- directed his course towards the Admiralty Islands,
mentioned in a report of Captain Hunter's as being the place where La Perouse
was wrecked.
They sought in vain. The Esperance and the Recherche
passed before Vanikoro without stopping there, and, in fact, this voyage was
most disastrous, as it cost D'Entrecasteaux
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his life, and those of two of his lieutenants, besides several of his crew.
Captain Dillon, a shrewd old Pacific sailor, was the first
to find unmistakable traces of the wrecks. On the 15th of May, 1824, his vessel,
the St. Patrick, passed close to Tikopia, one of the New Hebrides. There a
Lascar came alongside in a canoe, sold him the handle of a sword in silver that
bore the print of characters engraved on the hilt. The Lascar pretended that six
years before, during a stay at Vanikoro, he had seen two Europeans that belonged
to some vessels that had run aground on the reefs some years ago.
Dillon guessed that he meant La Perouse, whose
disappearance had troubled the whole world. He tried to get on to Vanikoro,
where, according to the Lascar, he would find numerous debris of the wreck, but
winds and tides prevented him.
Dillon returned to Calcutta. There he interested the
Asiatic Society and the Indian Company in his discovery. A vessel, to which was
given the name of the Recherche, was put at his disposal, and he set out, 23rd
January, 1827, accompanied by a French agent.
The Recherche, after touching at several points in the
Pacific, cast anchor before Vanikoro, 7th July, 1827, in that same harbour of
Vanou where the Nautilus was at this time.
There it collected numerous relics of the wreck -- iron
utensils, anchors, pulley-strops, swivel-guns, an 18 lb. shot, fragments of
astronomical instruments, a piece of crown-work, and a bronze clock, bearing
this inscription -- "Bazin m'a fait," the mark of the foundry of the arsenal at
Brest about 1785. There could be no further doubt.
Dillon, having made all inquiries, stayed in the unlucky
place till October. Then he quitted Vanikoro, and directed his course towards
New Zealand; put into Calcutta, 7th April, 1828, and returned to France, where
he was warmly welcomed by Charles X.
But at the same time, without knowing Dillon's movements,
Dumont d'Urville had already set out to find the scene of the wreck. And they
had learned from a whaler
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that some medals and a cross of St. Louis had been found in the hands of some
savages of Louisiade and New Caledonia. Dumont d'Urville, commander of the
Astrolabe, had then sailed, and two months after Dillon had left Vanikoro he put
into Hobart Town. There he learned the results of Dillon's inquiries, and found
that a certain James Hobbs, second lieutenant of the Union of Calcutta, after
landing on an island situated 8o 18' S. lat., and 156o 30'
E. long., had seen some iron bars and red stuffs used by the natives of these
parts. Dumont d'Urville, much perplexed, and not knowing how to credit the
reports of low-class journals, decided to follow Dillon's track.
On the 10th of February, 1828, the Astrolabe appeared off
Tikopia, and took as guide and interpreter a deserter found on the island; made
his way to Vanikoro, sighted it on the 12th inst., lay among the reefs until the
14th, and not until the 20th did he cast anchor within the barrier in the
harbour of Vanou.
On the 23rd, several officers went round the island and
brought back some unimportant trifles. The natives, adopting a system of denials
and evasions, refused to take them to the unlucky place. This ambiguous conduct
led them to believe that the natives had ill-treated the castaways, and indeed
they seemed to fear that Dumont d'Urville had come to avenge La Perouse and his
unfortunate crew.
However, on the 26th, appeased by some presents, and
understanding that they had no reprisals to fear, they led M. Jacquireot to the
scene of the wreck.
There, in three or four fathoms of water, between the
reefs of Pacou and Vanou, lay anchors, cannons, pigs of lead and iron, embedded
in the limy concretions. The large boat and the whaler belonging to the
Astrolabe were sent to this place, and, not without some difficulty, their crews
hauled up an anchor weighing 1,800 lbs., a brass gun, some pigs of iron, and two
copper swivel-guns.
Dumont d'Urville, questioning the natives, learned too
that La Perouse, after losing both his vessels on the reefs of this island, had
constructed a smaller boat, only to be lost a second time. Where, no one knew.
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But the French Government, fearing that Dumont d'Urville
was not acquainted with Dillon's movements, had sent the sloop Bayonnaise,
commanded by Legoarant de Tromelin, to Vanikoro, which had been stationed on the
west coast of America. The Bayonnaise cast her anchor before Vanikoro some
months after the departure of the Astrolabe, but found no new document; but
stated that the savages had respected the monument to La Perouse. That is the
substance of what I told Captain Nemo.
"So," he said, "no one knows now where the third vessel
perished that was constructed by the castaways on the island of Vanikoro?"
"No one knows."
Captain Nemo said nothing, but signed to me to follow him
into the large saloon. The Nautilus sank several yards below the waves, and the
panels were opened.
I hastened to the aperture, and under the crustations of
coral, covered with fungi, I recognised certain debris that the drags had not
been able to tear up -- iron stirrups, anchors, cannons, bullets, capstan
fittings, the stem of a ship, all objects clearly proving the wreck of some
vessel, and now carpeted with living flowers. While I was looking on this
desolate scene, Captain Nemo said, in a sad voice:
"Commander La Perouse set out 7th December, 1785, with his
vessels La Boussole and the Astrolabe. He first cast anchor at Botany Bay,
visited the Friendly Isles, New Caledonia, then directed his course towards
Santa Cruz, and put into Namouka, one of the Hapai group. Then his vessels
struck on the unknown reefs of Vanikoro. The Boussole, which went first, ran
aground on the southerly coast. The Astrolabe went to its help, and ran aground
too. The first vessel was destroyed almost immediately. The second, stranded
under the wind, resisted some days. The natives made the castaways welcome. They
installed themselves in the island, and constructed a smaller boat with the
debris of the two large ones. Some sailors stayed willingly at Vanikoro; the
others, weak and ill, set out with La Perouse. They directed their course
towards the Solomon Islands, and there perished, with everything, on the
westerly coast of the
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chief island of the group, between Capes Deception and Satisfaction."
"How do you know that?"
"By this, that I found on the spot where was the last
wreck."
Captain Nemo showed me a tin-plate box, stamped with the
French arms, and corroded by the salt water. He opened it, and I saw a bundle of
papers, yellow but still readable.
They were the instructions of the naval minister to
Commander La Perouse, annotated in the margin in Louis XVI's handwriting.
"Ah! it is a fine death for a sailor!" said Captain Nemo,
at last. "A coral tomb makes a quiet grave; and I trust that I and my comrades
will find no other."
TORRES STRAITS
DURING the night of the 27th or 28th of December, the
Nautilus left the shores of Vanikoro with great speed. Her course was
south-westerly, and in three days she had gone over the 750 leagues that
separated it from La Perouse's group and the south-east point of Papua.
Early on the 1st of January, 1863, Conseil joined me on
the platform.
"Master, will you permit me to wish you a happy New Year?"
"What! Conseil; exactly as if I was at Paris in my study
at the Jardin des Plantes? Well, I accept your good wishes, and thank you for
them. Only, I will ask you what you mean by a 'Happy New Year' under our
circumstances? Do you mean the year that will bring us to the end of our
imprisonment, or the year that sees us continue this strange voyage?"
"Really, I do not know how to answer, master. We are sure
to see curious things, and for the last two months we
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have not had time for dullness. The last marvel is always the most astonishing;
and, if we continue this progression, I do not know how it will end. It is my
opinion that we shall never again see the like. I think then, with no offence to
master, that a happy year would be one in which we could see everything."
On 2nd January we had made 11,340 miles, or 5,250 French
leagues, since our starting-point in the Japan Seas. Before the ship's head
stretched the dangerous shores of the coral sea, on the north-east coast of
Australia. Our boat lay along some miles from the redoubtable bank on which
Cook's vessel was lost, 10th June, 1770. The boat in which Cook was struck on a
rock, and, if it did not sink, it was owing to a piece of coral that was broken
by the shock, and fixed itself in the broken keel.
I had wished to visit the reef, 360 leagues long, against
which the sea, always rough, broke with great violence, with a noise like
thunder. But just then the inclined planes drew the Nautilus down to a great
depth, and I could see nothing of the high coral walls. I had to content myself
with the different specimens of fish brought up by the nets. I remarked, among
others, some germons, a species of mackerel as large as a tunny, with bluish
sides, and striped with transverse bands, that disappear with the animal's life.
These fish followed us in shoals, and furnished us with very delicate food. We
took also a large number of giltheads, about one and a half inches long, tasting
like dorys; and flying fire-fish like submarine swallows, which, in dark nights,
light alternately the air and water with their phosphorescent light.
Two days after crossing the coral sea, 4th January, we
sighted the Papuan coasts. On this occasion, Captain Nemo informed me that his
intention was to get into the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Torres. His
communication ended there.
The Torres Straits are nearly thirty-four leagues wide;
but they are obstructed by an innumerable quantity of islands, islets, breakers,
and rocks, that make its navigation almost impracticable; so that Captain Nemo
took all needful precautions to cross them. The Nautilus, floating betwixt
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wind and water, went at a moderate pace. Her screw, like a cetacean's tail, beat
the waves slowly.
Profiting by this, I and my two companions went up on to
the deserted platform. Before us was the steersman's cage, and I expected that
Captain Nemo was there directing the course of the Nautilus. I had before me the
excellent charts of the Straits of Torres, and I consulted them attentively.
Round the Nautilus the sea dashed furiously. The course of the waves, that went
from south-east to north-west at the rate of two and a half miles, broke on the
coral that showed itself here and there.
"This is a bad sea!" remarked Ned Land.
"Detestable indeed, and one that does not suit a boat like
the Nautilus."
"The Captain must be very sure of his route, for I see
there pieces of coral that would do for its keel if it only touched them
slightly."
Indeed the situation was dangerous, but the Nautilus
seemed to slide like magic off these rocks. It did not follow the routes of the
Astrolabe and the Zelee exactly, for they proved fatal to Dumont d'Urville. It
bore more northwards, coasted the Islands of Murray, and came back to the
southwest towards Cumberland Passage. I thought it was going to pass it by,
when, going back to north-west, it went through a large quantity of islands and
islets little known, towards the Island Sound and Canal Mauvais.
I wondered if Captain Nemo, foolishly imprudent, would
steer his vessel into that pass where Dumont d'Urville's two corvettes touched;
when, swerving again, and cutting straight through to the west, he steered for
the Island of Gilboa.
It was then three in the afternoon. The tide began to
recede, being quite full. The Nautilus approached the island, that I still saw,
with its remarkable border of screw-pines. He stood off it at about two miles
distant. Suddenly a shock overthrew me. The Nautilus just touched a rock, and
stayed immovable, laying lightly to port side.
When I rose, I perceived Captain Nemo and his lieutenant
on the platform. They were examining the situation
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of the vessel, and exchanging words in their incomprehensible dialect.
She was situated thus: Two miles, on the starboard side,
appeared Gilboa, stretching from north to west like an immense arm. Towards the
south and east some coral showed itself, left by the ebb. We had run aground,
and in one of those seas where the tides are middling -- a sorry matter for the
floating of the Nautilus. However, the vessel had not suffered, for her keel was
solidly joined. But, if she could neither glide off nor move, she ran the risk
of being for ever fastened to these rocks, and then Captain Nemo's submarine
vessel would be done for.
I was reflecting thus, when the Captain, cool and calm,
always master of himself, approached me.
"An accident?" I asked.
"No; an incident."
"But an incident that will oblige you perhaps to become an
inhabitant of this land from which you flee?"
Captain Nemo looked at me curiously, and made a negative
gesture, as much as to say that nothing would force him to set foot on terra
firma again. Then he said:
"Besides, M. Aronnax, the Nautilus is not lost; it will
carry you yet into the midst of the marvels of the ocean. Our voyage is only
begun, and I do not wish to be deprived so soon of the honour of your company."
"However, Captain Nemo," I replied, without noticing the
ironical turn of his phrase, "the Nautilus ran aground in open sea. Now the
tides are not strong in the Pacific; and, if you cannot lighten the Nautilus, I
do not see how it will be reinflated."
"The tides are not strong in the Pacific: you are right
there, Professor; but in Torres Straits one finds still a difference of a yard
and a half between the level of high and low seas. To-day is 4th January, and in
five days the moon will be full. Now, I shall be very much astonished if that
satellite does not raise these masses of water sufficiently, and render me a
service that I should be indebted to her for."
Having said this, Captain Nemo, followed by his
lieutenant, redescended to the interior of the Nautilus. As to
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the vessel, it moved not, and was immovable, as if the coralline polypi had
already walled it up with their indestructible cement.
"Well, sir?" said Ned Land, who came up to me after the
departure of the Captain.
"Well, friend Ned, we will wait patiently for the tide on
the 9th instant; for it appears that the moon will have the goodness to put it
off again."
"Really?"
"Really."
"And this Captain is not going to cast anchor at all since
the tide will suffice?" said Conseil, simply.
The Canadian looked at Conseil, then shrugged his
shoulders.
"Sir, you may believe me when I tell you that this piece
of iron will navigate neither on nor under the sea again; it is only fit to be
sold for its weight. I think, therefore, that the time has come to part company
with Captain Nemo."
"Friend Ned, I do not despair of this stout Nautilus, as
you do; and in four days we shall know what to hold to on the Pacific tides.
Besides, flight might be possible if we were in sight of the English or
Provencal coast; but on the Papuan shores, it is another thing; and it will be
time enough to come to that extremity if the Nautilus does not recover itself
again, which I look upon as a grave event."
"But do they know, at least, how to act circumspectly?
There is an island; on that island there are trees; under those trees,
terrestrial animals, bearers of cutlets and roast-beef, to which I would
willingly give a trial."
"In this, friend Ned is right," said Conseil, "and I agree
with him. Could not master obtain permission from his friend Captain Nemo to put
us on land, if only so as not to lose the habit of treading on the solid parts
of our planet?"
"I can ask him, but he will refuse."
"Will master risk it?" asked Conseil, "and we shall know
how to rely upon the Captain's amiability."
To my great surprise, Captain Nemo gave me the permission
I asked for, and he gave it very agreeably, without
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even exacting from me a promise to return to the vessel; but flight across New
Guinea might be very perilous, and I should not have counselled Ned Land to
attempt it. Better to be a prisoner on board the Nautilus than to fall into the
hands of the natives.
At eight o'clock, armed with guns and hatchets, we got off
the Nautilus. The sea was pretty calm; a slight breeze blew on land. Conseil and
I rowing, we sped along quickly, and Ned steered in the straight passage that
the breakers left between them. The boat was well handled, and moved rapidly.
Ned Land could not restrain his joy. He was like a
prisoner that had escaped from prison, and knew not that it was necessary to
re-enter it.
"Meat! We are going to eat some meat; and what meat!" he
replied. "Real game! no, bread, indeed."
"I do not say that fish is not good; we must not abuse it;
but a piece of fresh venison, grilled on live coals, will agreeably vary our
ordinary course."
"Glutton!" said Conseil, "he makes my mouth water."
"It remains to be seen," I said, "if these forests are
full of game, and if the game is not such as will hunt the hunter himself."
"Well said, M. Aronnax," replied the Canadian, whose teeth
seemed sharpened like the edge of a hatchet; "but I will eat tiger -- loin of
tiger -- if there is no other quadruped on this island."
"Friend Ned is uneasy about it," said Conseil.
"Whatever it may be," continued Ned Land, "every animal
with four paws without feathers, or with two paws without feathers, will be
saluted by my first shot."
"Very well! Master Land's imprudences are beginning."
"Never fear, M. Aronnax," replied the Canadian; "I do not
want twenty-five minutes to offer you a dish, of my sort."
At half-past eight the Nautilus boat ran softly aground on
a heavy sand, after having happily passed the coral reef that surrounds the
Island of Gilboa.
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A FEW DAYS ON LAND
I WAS much impressed on touching land. Ned Land tried the
soil with his feet, as if to take possession of it. However, it was only two
months before that we had become, according to Captain Nemo, "passengers on
board the Nautilus," but, in reality, prisoners of its commander.
In a few minutes we were within musket-shot of the coast.
The whole horizon was hidden behind a beautiful curtain of forests. Enormous
trees, the trunks of which attained a height of 200 feet, were tied to each
other by garlands of bindweed, real natural hammocks, which a light breeze
rocked. They were mimosas, figs, hibisci, and palm trees, mingled together in
profusion; and under the shelter of their verdant vault grew orchids, leguminous
plants, and ferns.
But, without noticing all these beautiful specimens of
Papuan flora, the Canadian abandoned the agreeable for the useful. He discovered
a coco-tree, beat down some of the fruit, broke them, and we drunk the milk and
ate the nut with a satisfaction that protested against the ordinary food on the
Nautilus.
"Excellent!" said Ned Land.
"Exquisite!" replied Conseil.
"And I do not think," said the Canadian, "that he would
object to our introducing a cargo of coco-nuts on board."
"I do not think he would, but he would not taste them."
"So much the worse for him," said Conseil.
"And so much the better for us," replied Ned Land. "There
will be more for us."
"One word only, Master Land," I said to the harpooner, who
was beginning to ravage another coco-nut tree. "Coconuts are good things, but
before filling the canoe with them it would be wise to reconnoitre and see if
the island does not produce some substance not less useful. Fresh vegetables
would be welcome on board the Nautilus."
"Master is right," replied Conseil; "and I propose to
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reserve three places in our vessel, one for fruits, the other for vegetables,
and the third for the venison, of which I have not yet seen the smallest
specimen."
"Conseil, we must not despair," said the Canadian.
"Let us continue," I returned, "and lie in wait. Although
the island seems uninhabited, it might still contain some individuals that would
be less hard than we on the nature of game."
"Ho! ho!" said Ned Land, moving his jaws significantly.
"Well, Ned!" said Conseil.
"My word!" returned the Canadian, "I begin to understand
the charms of anthropophagy."
"Ned! Ned! what are you saying? You, a man-eater? I should
not feel safe with you, especially as I share your cabin. I might perhaps wake
one day to find myself half devoured."
"Friend Conseil, I like you much, but not enough to eat
you unnecessarily."
"I would not trust you," replied Conseil. "But enough. We
must absolutely bring down some game to satisfy this cannibal, or else one of
these fine mornings, master will find only pieces of his servant to serve him."
While we were talking thus, we were penetrating the sombre
arches of the forest, and for two hours we surveyed it in all directions.
Chance rewarded our search for eatable vegetables, and one
of the most useful products of the tropical zones furnished us with precious
food that we missed on board. I would speak of the bread-fruit tree, very
abundant in the island of Gilboa; and I remarked chiefly the variety destitute
of seeds, which bears in Malaya the name of "rima."
Ned Land knew these fruits well. He had already eaten many
during his numerous voyages, and he knew how to prepare the eatable substance.
Moreover, the sight of them excited him, and he could contain himself no longer.
"Master," he said, "I shall die if I do not taste a little
of this bread-fruit pie."
"Taste it, friend Ned -- taste it as you want. We are here
to make experiments -- make them."
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"It won't take long," said the Canadian.
And, provided with a lentil, he lighted a fire of dead
wood that crackled joyously. During this time, Conseil and I chose the best
fruits of the bread-fruit. Some had not then attained a sufficient degree of
maturity; and their thick skin covered a white but rather fibrous pulp. Others,
the greater number yellow and gelatinous, waited only to be picked.
These fruits enclosed no kernel. Conseil brought a dozen
to Ned Land, who placed them on a coal fire, after having cut them in thick
slices, and while doing this repeating:
"You will see, master, how good this bread is. More so
when one has been deprived of it so long. It is not even bread," added he, "but
a delicate pastry. You have eaten none, master?"
"No, Ned."
"Very well, prepare yourself for a juicy thing. If you do
not come for more, I am no longer the king of harpooners."
After some minutes, the part of the fruits that was
exposed to the fire was completely roasted. The interior looked like a white
pasty, a sort of soft crumb, the flavour of which was like that of an artichoke.
It must be confessed this bread was excellent, and I ate
of it with great relish.
"What time is it now?" asked the Canadian.
"Two o'clock at least," replied Conseil.
"How time flies on firm ground!" sighed Ned Land.
"Let us be off," replied Conseil.
We returned through the forest, and completed our
collection by a raid upon the cabbage-palms, that we gathered from the tops of
the trees, little beans that I recognised as the "abrou" of the Malays, and yams
of a superior quality.
We were loaded when we reached the boat. But Ned Land did
not find his provisions sufficient. Fate, however, favoured us. Just as we were
pushing off, he perceived several trees, from twenty-five to thirty feet high, a
species of palm-tree.
At last, at five o'clock in the evening, loaded with our
riches, we quitted the shore, and half an hour after we hailed
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the Nautilus. No one appeared on our arrival. The enormous iron-plated cylinder
seemed deserted. The provisions embarked, I descended to my chamber, and after
supper slept soundly.
The next day, 6th January, nothing new on board. Not a
sound inside, not a sign of life. The boat rested along the edge, in the same
place in which we had left it. We resolved to return to the island. Ned Land
hoped to be more fortunate than on the day before with regard to the hunt, and
wished to visit another part of the forest.
At dawn we set off. The boat, carried on by the waves that
flowed to shore, reached the island in a few minutes.
We landed, and, thinking that it was better to give in to
the Canadian, we followed Ned Land, whose long limbs threatened to distance us.
He wound up the coast towards the west: then, fording some torrents, he gained
the high plain that was bordered with admirable forests. Some kingfishers were
rambling along the water-courses, but they would not let themselves be
approached. Their circumspection proved to me that these birds knew what to
expect from bipeds of our species, and I concluded that, if the island was not
inhabited, at least human beings occasionally frequented it.
After crossing a rather large prairie, we arrived at the
skirts of a little wood that was enlivened by the songs and flight of a large
number of birds.
"There are only birds," said Conseil.
"But they are eatable," replied the harpooner.
"I do not agree with you, friend Ned, for I see only
parrots there."
"Friend Conseil," said Ned, gravely, "the parrot is like
pheasant to those who have nothing else."
"And," I added, "this bird, suitably prepared, is worth
knife and fork."
Indeed, under the thick foliage of this wood, a world of
parrots were flying from branch to branch, only needing a careful education to
speak the human language. For the moment, they were chattering with parrots of
all colours, and grave cockatoos, who seemed to meditate upon some
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philosophical problem, whilst brilliant red lories passed like a piece of
bunting carried away by the breeze, papuans, with the finest azure colours, and
in all a variety of winged things most charming to behold, but few eatable.
However, a bird peculiar to these lands, and which has
never passed the limits of the Arrow and Papuan islands, was wanting in this
collection. But fortune reserved it for me before long.
After passing through a moderately thick copse, we found a
plain obstructed with bushes. I saw then those magnificent birds, the
disposition of whose long feathers obliges them to fly against the wind. Their
undulating flight, graceful aerial curves, and the shading of their colours,
attracted and charmed one's looks. I had no trouble in recognising them.
"Birds of paradise!" I exclaimed.
The Malays, who carry on a great trade in these birds with
the Chinese, have several means that we could not employ for taking them.
Sometimes they put snares on the top of high trees that the birds of paradise
prefer to frequent. Sometimes they catch them with a viscous birdlime that
paralyses their movements. They even go so far as to poison the fountains that
the birds generally drink from. But we were obliged to fire at them during
flight, which gave us few chances to bring them down; and, indeed, we vainly
exhausted one half our ammunition.
About eleven o'clock in the morning, the first range of
mountains that form the centre of the island was traversed, and we had killed
nothing. Hunger drove us on. The hunters had relied on the products of the
chase, and they were wrong. Happily Conseil, to his great surprise, made a
double shot and secured breakfast. He brought down a white pigeon and a
wood-pigeon, which, cleverly plucked and suspended from a skewer, was roasted
before a red fire of dead wood. While these interesting birds were cooking, Ned
prepared the fruit of the bread-tree. Then the wood-pigeons were devoured to the
bones, and declared excellent. The nutmeg, with which they are in the habit of
stuffing their crops, flavours their flesh and renders it delicious eating.
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"Now, Ned, what do you miss now?"
"Some four-footed game, M. Aronnax. All these pigeons are
only side-dishes and trifles; and until I have killed an animal with cutlets I
shall not be content."
"Nor I, Ned, if I do not catch a bird of paradise."
"Let us continue hunting," replied Conseil. "Let us go
towards the sea. We have arrived at the first declivities of the mountains, and
I think we had better regain the region of forests."
That was sensible advice, and was followed out. After
walking for one hour we had attained a forest of sago-trees. Some inoffensive
serpents glided away from us. The birds of paradise fled at our approach, and
truly I despaired of getting near one when Conseil, who was walking in front,
suddenly bent down, uttered a triumphal cry, and came back to me bringing a
magnificent specimen.
"Ah! bravo, Conseil!"
"Master is very good."
"No, my boy; you have made an excellent stroke. Take one
of these living birds, and carry it in your hand."
"If master will examine it, he will see that I have not
deserved great merit."
"Why, Conseil?"
"Because this bird is as drunk as a quail."
"Drunk!"
"Yes, sir; drunk with the nutmegs that it devoured under
the nutmeg-tree, under which I found it. See, friend Ned, see the monstrous
effects of intemperance!"
"By Jove!" exclaimed the Canadian, "because I have drunk
gin for two months, you must needs reproach me!"
However, I examined the curious bird. Conseil was right.
The bird, drunk with the juice, was quite powerless. It could not fly; it could
hardly walk.
This bird belonged to the most beautiful of the eight
species that are found in Papua and in the neighbouring islands. It was the
"large emerald bird, the most rare kind." It measured three feet in length. Its
head was comparatively small, its eyes placed near the opening of the beak, and
also small. But the shades of colour were beautiful, having
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a yellow beak, brown feet and claws, nut-coloured wings with purple tips, pale
yellow at the back of the neck and head, and emerald colour at the throat,
chestnut on the breast and belly. Two horned, downy nets rose from below the
tail, that prolonged the long light feathers of admirable fineness, and they
completed the whole of this marvellous bird, that the natives have poetically
named the "bird of the sun."
But if my wishes were satisfied by the possession of the
bird of paradise, the Canadian's were not yet. Happily, about two o'clock, Ned
Land brought down a magnificent hog; from the brood of those the natives call "bari-outang."
The animal came in time for us to procure real quadruped meat, and he was well
received. Ned Land was very proud of his shot. The hog, hit by the electric
ball, fell stone dead. The Canadian skinned and cleaned it properly, after
having taken half a dozen cutlets, destined to furnish us with a grilled repast
in the evening. Then the hunt was resumed, which was still more marked by Ned
and Conseil's exploits.
Indeed, the two friends, beating the bushes, roused a herd
of kangaroos that fled and bounded along on their elastic paws. But these
animals did not take to flight so rapidly but what the electric capsule could
stop their course.
"Ah, Professor!" cried Ned Land, who was carried away by
the delights of the chase, "what excellent game, and stewed, too! What a supply
for the Nautilus! Two! three! five down! And to think that we shall eat that
flesh, and that the idiots on board shall not have a crumb!"
I think that, in the excess of his joy, the Canadian, if
he had not talked so much, would have killed them all. But he contented himself
with a single dozen of these interesting marsupians. These animals were small.
They were a species of those "kangaroo rabbits" that live habitually in the
hollows of trees, and whose speed is extreme; but they are moderately fat, and
furnish, at least, estimable food. We were very satisfied with the results of
the hunt. Happy Ned proposed to return to this enchanting island the next day,
for he wished to depopulate it of all the eatable quadrupeds. But he had
reckoned without his host.
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At six o'clock in the evening we had regained the shore;
our boat was moored to the usual place. The Nautilus, like a long rock, emerged
from the waves two miles from the beach. Ned Land, without waiting, occupied
himself about the important dinner business. He understood all about cooking
well. The "bari-outang," grilled on the coals, soon scented the air with a
delicious odour.
Indeed, the dinner was excellent. Two wood-pigeons
completed this extraordinary menu. The sago pasty, the artocarpus bread, some
mangoes, half a dozen pineapples, and the liquor fermented from some coco-nuts,
overjoyed us. I even think that my worthy companions' ideas had not all the
plainness desirable.
"Suppose we do not return to the Nautilus this evening?"
said Conseil.
"Suppose we never return?" added Ned Land.
Just then a stone fell at our feet and cut short the
harpooner's proposition.
CAPTAIN NEMO'S THUNDERBOLT
WE LOOKED at the edge of the forest without rising, my
hand stopping in the action of putting it to my mouth, Ned Land's completing its
office.
"Stones do not fall from the sky," remarked Conseil, "or
they would merit the name aerolites."
A second stone, carefully aimed, that made a savoury
pigeon's leg fall from Conseil's hand, gave still more weight to his
observation. We all three arose, shouldered our guns, and were ready to reply to
any attack.
"Are they apes?" cried Ned Land.
"Very nearly -- they are savages."
"To the boat!" I said, hurrying to the sea.
It was indeed necessary to beat a retreat, for about
twenty natives armed with bows and slings appeared on the skirts
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of a copse that masked the horizon to the right, hardly a hundred steps from us.
Our boat was moored about sixty feet from us. The savages
approached us, not running, but making hostile demonstrations. Stones and arrows
fell thickly.
Ned Land had not wished to leave his provisions; and, in
spite of his imminent danger, his pig on one side and kangaroos on the other, he
went tolerably fast. In two minutes we were on the shore. To load the boat with
provisions and arms, to push it out to sea, and ship the oars, was the work of
an instant. We had not gone two cable-lengths, when a hundred savages, howling
and gesticulating, entered the water up to their waists. I watched to see if
their apparition would attract some men from the Nautilus on to the platform.
But no. The enormous machine, lying off, was absolutely deserted.
Twenty minutes later we were on board. The panels were
open. After making the boat fast, we entered into the interior of the Nautilus.
I descended to the drawing-room, from whence I heard some
chords. Captain Nemo was there, bending over his organ, and plunged in a musical
ecstasy.
"Captain!"
He did not hear me.
"Captain!" I said, touching his hand.
He shuddered, and, turning round, said, "Ah! it is you,
Professor? Well, have you had a good hunt, have you botanised successfully?"
"Yes Captain; but we have unfortunately brought a troop of
bipeds, whose vicinity troubles me."
"What bipeds?"
"Savages."
"Savages!" he echoed, ironically. "So you are astonished,
Professor, at having set foot on a strange land and finding savages? Savages!
where are there not any? Besides, are they worse than others, these whom you
call savages?"
"But Captain -- "
"How many have you counted?"
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"A hundred at least."
"M. Aronnax," replied Captain Nemo, placing his fingers on
the organ stops, "when all the natives of Papua are assembled on this shore, the
Nautilus will have nothing to fear from their attacks."
The Captain's fingers were then running over the keys of
the instrument, and I remarked that he touched only the black keys, which gave
his melodies an essentially Scotch character. Soon he had forgotten my presence,
and had plunged into a reverie that I did not disturb. I went up again on to the
platform: night had already fallen; for, in this low latitude, the sun sets
rapidly and without twilight. I could only see the island indistinctly; but the
numerous fires, lighted on the beach, showed that the natives did not think of
leaving it. I was alone for several hours, sometimes thinking of the natives --
but without any dread of them, for the imperturbable confidence of the Captain
was catching -- sometimes forgetting them to admire the splendours of the night
in the tropics. My remembrances went to France in the train of those zodiacal
stars that would shine in some hours' time. The moon shone in the midst of the
constellations of the zenith.
The night slipped away without any mischance, the
islanders frightened no doubt at the sight of a monster aground in the bay. The
panels were open, and would have offered an easy access to the interior of the
Nautilus.
At six o'clock in the morning of the 8th January I went up
on to the platform. The dawn was breaking. The island soon showed itself through
the dissipating fogs, first the shore, then the summits.
The natives were there, more numerous than on the day
before -- five or six hundred perhaps -- some of them, profiting by the low
water, had come on to the coral, at less than two cable-lengths from the
Nautilus. I distinguished them easily; they were true Papuans, with athletic
figures, men of good race, large high foreheads, large, but not broad and flat,
and white teeth. Their woolly hair, with a reddish tinge, showed off on their
black shining bodies like those of
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the Nubians. From the lobes of their ears, cut and distended, hung chaplets of
bones. Most of these savages were naked. Amongst them, I remarked some women,
dressed from the hips to knees in quite a crinoline of herbs, that sustained a
vegetable waistband. Some chiefs had ornamented their necks with a crescent and
collars of glass beads, red and white; nearly all were armed with bows, arrows,
and shields and carried on their shoulders a sort of net containing those round
stones which they cast from their slings with great skill. One of these chiefs,
rather near to the Nautilus, examined it attentively. He was, perhaps, a "mado"
of high rank, for he was draped in a mat of banana-leaves, notched round the
edges, and set off with brilliant colours.
I could easily have knocked down this native, who was
within a short length; but I thought that it was better to wait for real hostile
demonstrations. Between Europeans and savages, it is proper for the Europeans to
parry sharply, not to attack.
During low water the natives roamed about near the
Nautilus, but were not troublesome; I heard them frequently repeat the word
"Assai," and by their gestures I understood that they invited me to go on land,
an invitation that I declined.
So that, on that day, the boat did not push off, to the
great displeasure of Master Land, who could not complete his provisions.
This adroit Canadian employed his time in preparing the
viands and meat that he had brought off the island. As for the savages, they
returned to the shore about eleven o'clock in the morning, as soon as the coral
tops began to disappear under the rising tide; but I saw their numbers had
increased considerably on the shore. Probably they came from the neighbouring
islands, or very likely from Papua. However, I had not seen a single native
canoe. Having nothing better to do, I thought of dragging these beautiful limpid
waters, under which I saw a profusion of shells, zoophytes, and marine plants.
Moreover, it was the last day that the Nautilus would pass in these parts, if it
float
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in open sea the next day, according to Captain Nemo's promise.
I therefore called Conseil, who brought me a little light
drag, very like those for the oyster fishery. Now to work! For two hours we
fished unceasingly, but without bringing up any rarities. The drag was filled
with midas-ears, harps, melames, and particularly the most beautiful hammers I
have ever seen. We also brought up some sea-slugs, pearl-oysters, and a dozen
little turtles that were reserved for the pantry on board.
But just when I expected it least, I put my hand on a
wonder, I might say a natural deformity, very rarely met with. Conseil was just
dragging, and his net came up filled with divers ordinary shells, when, all at
once, he saw me plunge my arm quickly into the net, to draw out a shell, and
heard me utter a cry.
"What is the matter, sir?" he asked in surprise. "Has
master been bitten?"
"No, my boy; but I would willingly have given a finger for
my discovery."
"What discovery?"
"This shell," I said, holding up the object of my triumph.
"It is simply an olive porphyry."
"Yes, Conseil; but, instead of being rolled from right to
left, this olive turns from left to right."
"Is it possible?"
"Yes, my boy; it is a left shell."
Shells are all right-handed, with rare exceptions; and,
when by chance their spiral is left, amateurs are ready to pay their weight in
gold.
Conseil and I were absorbed in the contemplation of our
treasure, and I was promising myself to enrich the museum with it, when a stone
unfortunately thrown by a native struck against, and broke, the precious object
in Conseil's hand. I uttered a cry of despair! Conseil took up his gun, and
aimed at a savage who was poising his sling at ten yards from him. I would have
stopped him, but his blow took effect and broke the bracelet of amulets which
encircled the arm of the savage.
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"Conseil!" cried I. "Conseil!"
"Well, sir! do you not see that the cannibal has commenced
the attack?"
"A shell is not worth the life of a man," said I.
"Ah! the scoundrel!" cried Conseil; "I would rather he had
broken my shoulder!"
Conseil was in earnest, but I was not of his opinion.
However, the situation had changed some minutes before, and we had not
perceived. A score of canoes surrounded the Nautilus. These canoes, scooped out
of the trunk of a tree, long, narrow, well adapted for speed, were balanced by
means of a long bamboo pole, which floated on the water. They were managed by
skilful, half-naked paddlers, and I watched their advance with some uneasiness.
It was evident that these Papuans had already had dealings with the Europeans
and knew their ships. But this long iron cylinder anchored in the bay, without
masts or chimneys, what could they think of it? Nothing good, for at first they
kept at a respectful distance. However, seeing it motionless, by degrees they
took courage, and sought to familiarise themselves with it. Now this familiarity
was precisely what it was necessary to avoid. Our arms, which were noiseless,
could only produce a moderate effect on the savages, who have little respect for
aught but blustering things. The thunderbolt without the reverberations of
thunder would frighten man but little, though the danger lies in the lightning,
not in the noise.
At this moment the canoes approached the Nautilus, and a
shower of arrows alighted on her.
I went down to the saloon, but found no one there. I
ventured to knock at the door that opened into the Captain's room. "Come in,"
was the answer.
I entered, and found Captain Nemo deep in algebraical
calculations of x and other quantities.
"I am disturbing you," said I, for courtesy's sake.
"That is true, M. Aronnax," replied the Captain; "but I
think you have serious reasons for wishing to see me?"
"Very grave ones; the natives are surrounding us in their
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canoes, and in a few minutes we shall certainly be attacked by many hundreds of
savages."
"Ah!," said Captain Nemo quietly, "they are come with
their canoes?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, sir, we must close the hatches."
"Exactly, and I came to say to you -- "
"Nothing can be more simple," said Captain Nemo. And,
pressing an electric button, he transmitted an order to the ship's crew.
"It is all done, sir," said he, after some moments. "The
pinnace is ready, and the hatches are closed. You do not fear, I imagine, that
these gentlemen could stave in walls on which the balls of your frigate have had
no effect?"
"No, Captain; but a danger still exists."
"What is that, sir?"
"It is that to-morrow, at about this hour, we must open
the hatches to renew the air of the Nautilus. Now, if, at this moment, the
Papuans should occupy the platform, I do not see how you could prevent them from
entering."
"Then, sir, you suppose that they will board us?"
"I am certain of it."
"Well, sir, let them come. I see no reason for hindering
them. After all, these Papuans are poor creatures, and I am unwilling that my
visit to the island should cost the life of a single one of these wretches."
Upon that I was going away; But Captain Nemo detained me,
and asked me to sit down by him. He questioned me with interest about our
excursions on shore, and our hunting; and seemed not to understand the craving
for meat that possessed the Canadian. Then the conversation turned on various
subjects, and, without being more communicative, Captain Nemo showed himself
more amiable.
Amongst other things, we happened to speak of the
situation of the Nautilus, run aground in exactly the same spot in this strait
where Dumont d'Urville was nearly lost. Apropos of this:
"This D'Urville was one of your great sailors," said the
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Captain to me, "one of your most intelligent navigators. He is the Captain Cook
of you Frenchmen. Unfortunate man of science, after having braved the icebergs
of the South Pole, the coral reefs of Oceania, the cannibals of the Pacific, to
perish miserably in a railway train! If this energetic man could have reflected
during the last moments of his life, what must have been uppermost in his last
thoughts, do you suppose?"
So speaking, Captain Nemo seemed moved, and his emotion
gave me a better opinion of him. Then, chart in hand, we reviewed the travels of
the French navigator, his voyages of circumnavigation, his double detention at
the South Pole, which led to the discovery of Adelaide and Louis Philippe, and
fixing the hydrographical bearings of the principal islands of Oceania.
"That which your D'Urville has done on the surface of the
seas," said Captain Nemo, "that have I done under them, and more easily, more
completely than he. The Astrolabe and the Zelee, incessantly tossed about by the
hurricane, could not be worth the Nautilus, quiet repository of labour that she
is, truly motionless in the midst of the waters.
"To-morrow," added the Captain, rising, "to-morrow, at
twenty minutes to three p.m., the Nautilus shall float, and leave the Strait of
Torres uninjured."
Having curtly pronounced these words, Captain Nemo bowed
slightly. This was to dismiss me, and I went back to my room.
There I found Conseil, who wished to know the result of my
interview with the Captain.
"My boy," said I, "when I feigned to believe that his
Nautilus was threatened by the natives of Papua, the Captain answered me very
sarcastically. I have but one thing to say to you: Have confidence in him, and
go to sleep in peace."
"Have you no need of my services, sir?"
"No, my friend. What is Ned Land doing?"
"If you will excuse me, sir," answered Conseil, "friend
Ned is busy making a kangaroo-pie which will be a marvel."
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I remained alone and went to bed, but slept indifferently.
I heard the noise of the savages, who stamped on the platform, uttering
deafening cries. The night passed thus, without disturbing the ordinary repose
of the crew. The presence of these cannibals affected them no more than the
soldiers of a masked battery care for the ants that crawl over its front.
At six in the morning I rose. The hatches had not been
opened. The inner air was not renewed, but the reservoirs, filled ready for any
emergency, were now resorted to, and discharged several cubic feet of oxygen
into the exhausted atmosphere of the Nautilus.
I worked in my room till noon, without having seen Captain
Nemo, even for an instant. On board no preparations for departure were visible.
I waited still some time, then went into the large saloon.
The clock marked half-past two. In ten minutes it would be high-tide: and, if
Captain Nemo had not made a rash promise, the Nautilus would be immediately
detached. If not, many months would pass ere she could leave her bed of coral.
However, some warning vibrations began to be felt in the
vessel. I heard the keel grating against the rough calcareous bottom of the
coral reef.
At five-and-twenty minutes to three, Captain Nemo appeared
in the saloon.
"We are going to start," said he.
"Ah!" replied I.
"I have given the order to open the hatches."
"And the Papuans?"
"The Papuans?" answered Captain Nemo, slightly shrugging
his shoulders.
"Will they not come inside the Nautilus?"
"How?"
"Only by leaping over the hatches you have opened."
"M. Aronnax," quietly answered Captain Nemo, "they will
not enter the hatches of the Nautilus in that way, even if they were open."
I looked at the Captain.
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"You do not understand?" said he.
"Hardly."
"Well, come and you will see."
I directed my steps towards the central staircase. There
Ned Land and Conseil were slyly watching some of the ship's crew, who were
opening the hatches, while cries of rage and fearful vociferations resounded
outside.
The port lids were pulled down outside. Twenty horrible
faces appeared. But the first native who placed his hand on the stair-rail,
struck from behind by some invisible force, I know not what, fled, uttering the
most fearful cries and making the wildest contortions.
Ten of his companions followed him. They met with the same
fate.
Conseil was in ecstasy. Ned Land, carried away by his
violent instincts, rushed on to the staircase. But the moment he seized the rail
with both hands, he, in his turn, was overthrown.
"I am struck by a thunderbolt," cried he, with an oath.
This explained all. It was no rail; but a metallic cable
charged with electricity from the deck communicating with the platform. Whoever
touched it felt a powerful shock -- and this shock would have been mortal if
Captain Nemo had discharged into the conductor the whole force of the current.
It might truly be said that between his assailants and himself he had stretched
a network of electricity which none could pass with impunity.
Meanwhile, the exasperated Papuans bad beaten a retreat
paralysed with terror. As for us, half laughing, we consoled and rubbed the
unfortunate Ned Land, who swore like one possessed.
But at this moment the Nautilus, raised by the last waves
of the tide, quitted her coral bed exactly at the fortieth minute fixed by the
Captain. Her screw swept the waters slowly and majestically. Her speed increased
gradually, and, sailing on the surface of the ocean, she quitted safe and sound
the dangerous passes of the Straits of Torres.
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"AEGRI SOMNIA"
THE following day 10th January, the Nautilus continued her
course between two seas, but with such remarkable speed that I could not
estimate it at less than thirty-five miles an hour. The rapidity of her screw
was such that I could neither follow nor count its revolutions. When I reflected
that this marvellous electric agent, after having afforded motion, heat, and
light to the Nautilus, still protected her from outward attack, and transformed
her into an ark of safety which no profane hand might touch without being
thunderstricken, my admiration was unbounded, and from the structure it extended
to the engineer who had called it into existence.
Our course was directed to the west, and on the 11th of
January we doubled Cape Wessel, situation in 135o long. and 10o
S. lat., which forms the east point of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The reefs were
still numerous, but more equalised, and marked on the chart with extreme
precision. The Nautilus easily avoided the breakers of Money to port and the
Victoria reefs to starboard, placed at 130o long. and on the 10th
parallel, which we strictly followed.
On the 13th of January, Captain Nemo arrived in the Sea of
Timor, and recognised the island of that name in 122o long.
From this point the direction of the Nautilus inclined
towards the south-west. Her head was set for the Indian Ocean. Where would the
fancy of Captain Nemo carry us next? Would he return to the coast of Asia or
would he approach again the shores of Europe? Improbable conjectures both, to a
man who fled from inhabited continents. Then would he descend to the south? Was
he going to double the Cape of Good Hope, then Cape Horn, and finally go as far
as the Antarctic pole? Would he come back at last to the Pacific, where his
Nautilus could sail free and independently? Time would show.
After having skirted the sands of Cartier, of Hibernia,
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Seringapatam, and Scott, last efforts of the solid against the liquid element,
on the 14th of January we lost sight of land altogether. The speed of the
Nautilus was considerably abated, and with irregular course she sometimes swam
in the bosom of the waters, sometimes floated on their surface.
During this period of the voyage, Captain Nemo made some
interesting experiments on the varied temperature of the sea, in different beds.
Under ordinary conditions these observations are made by means of rather
complicated instruments, and with somewhat doubtful results, by means of
thermometrical sounding-leads, the glasses often breaking under the pressure of
the water, or an apparatus grounded on the variations of the resistance of
metals to the electric currents. Results so obtained could not be correctly
calculated. On the contrary, Captain Nemo went himself to test the temperature
in the depths of the sea, and his thermometer, placed in communication with the
different sheets of water, gave him the required degree immediately and
accurately.
It was thus that, either by overloading her reservoirs or
by descending obliquely by means of her inclined planes, the Nautilus
successively attained the depth of three, four, five, seven, nine, and ten
thousand yards, and the definite result of this experience was that the sea
preserved an average temperature of four degrees and a half at a depth of five
thousand fathoms under all latitudes.
On the 16th of January, the Nautilus seemed becalmed only
a few yards beneath the surface of the waves. Her electric apparatus remained
inactive and her motionless screw left her to drift at the mercy of the
currents. I supposed that the crew was occupied with interior repairs, rendered
necessary by the violence of the mechanical movements of the machine.
My companions and I then witnessed a curious spectacle.
The hatches of the saloon were open, and, as the beacon-light of the Nautilus
was not in action, a dim obscurity reigned in the midst of the waters. I
observed the state of the sea, under these conditions, and the largest fish
appeared to me no more than scarcely defined shadows, when the Nautilus
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found herself suddenly transported into full light. I thought at first that the
beacon had been lighted, and was casting its electric radiance into the liquid
mass. I was mistaken, and after a rapid survey perceived my error.
The Nautilus floated in the midst of a phosphorescent bed
which, in this obscurity, became quite dazzling. It was produced by myriads of
luminous animalculae, whose brilliancy was increased as they glided over the
metallic hull of the vessel. I was surprised by lightning in the midst of these
luminous sheets, as though they bad been rivulets of lead melted in an ardent
furnace or metallic masses brought to a white heat, so that, by force of
contrast, certain portions of light appeared to cast a shade in the midst of the
general ignition, from which all shade seemed banished. No; this was not the
calm irradiation of our ordinary lightning. There was unusual life and vigour:
this was truly living light!
In reality, it was an infinite agglomeration of coloured
infusoria, of veritable globules of jelly, provided with a threadlike tentacle,
and of which as many as twenty-five thousand have been counted in less than two
cubic half-inches of water.
During several hours the Nautilus floated in these
brilliant waves, and our admiration increased as we watched the marine monsters
disporting themselves like salamanders. I saw there in the midst of this fire
that burns not the swift and elegant porpoise (the indefatigable clown of the
ocean), and some swordfish ten feet long, those prophetic heralds of the
hurricane whose formidable sword would now and then strike the glass of the
saloon. Then appeared the smaller fish, the balista, the leaping mackerel,
wolf-thorn-tails, and a hundred others which striped the luminous atmosphere as
they swam. This dazzling spectacle was enchanting! Perhaps some atmospheric
condition increased the intensity of this phenomenon. Perhaps some storm
agitated the surface of the waves. But at this depth of some yards, the Nautilus
was unmoved by its fury and reposed peacefully in still water.
So we progressed, incessantly charmed by some new marvel.
The days passed rapidly away, and I took no account
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of them. Ned, according to habit, tried to vary the diet on board. Like snails,
we were fixed to our shells, and I declare it is easy to lead a snail's life.
Thus this life seemed easy and natural, and we thought no
longer of the life we led on land; but something happened to recall us to the
strangeness of our situation.
On the 18th of January, the Nautilus was in 105o
long. and 15o S. lat. The weather was threatening, the sea rough and
rolling. There was a strong east wind. The barometer, which had been going down
for some days, foreboded a coming storm. I went up on to the platform just as
the second lieutenant was taking the measure of the horary angles, and waited,
according to habit till the daily phrase was said. But on this day it was
exchanged for another phrase not less incomprehensible. Almost directly, I saw
Captain Nemo appear with a glass, looking towards the horizon.
For some minutes be was immovable, without taking his eye
off the point of observation. Then he lowered his glass and exchanged a few
words with his lieutenant. The latter seemed to be a victim to some emotion that
he tried in vain to repress. Captain Nemo, having more command over himself, was
cool. He seemed, too, to be making some objections to which the lieutenant
replied by formal assurances. At least I concluded so by the difference of their
tones and gestures. For myself, I had looked carefully in the direction
indicated without seeing anything. The sky and water were lost in the clear line
of the horizon.
However, Captain Nemo walked from one end of the platform
to the other, without looking at me, perhaps without seeing me. His step was
firm, but less regular than usual. He stopped sometimes, crossed his arms, and
observed the sea. What could he be looking for on that immense expanse?
The Nautilus was then some hundreds of miles from the
nearest coast.
The lieutenant had taken up the glass and examined the
horizon steadfastly, going and coming, stamping his foot and showing more
nervous agitation than his superior officer. Beside, this mystery must
necessarily be solved, and before
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long; for, upon an order from Captain Nemo, the engine, increasing its
propelling power, made the screw turn more rapidly.
Just then the lieutenant drew the Captain's attention
again. The latter stopped walking and directed his glass towards the place
indicated. He looked long. I felt very much puzzled, and descended to the
drawing-room, and took out an excellent telescope that I generally used. Then,
leaning on the cage of the watch-light that jutted out from the front of the
platform, set myself to look over all the line of the sky and sea.
But my eye was no sooner applied to the glass than it was
quickly snatched out of my hands.
I turned round. Captain Nemo was before me, but I did not
know him. His face was transfigured. His eyes flashed sullenly; his teeth were
set; his stiff body, clenched fists, and head shrunk between his shoulders,
betrayed the violent agitation that pervaded his whole frame. He did not move.
My glass, fallen from his hands, had rolled at his feet.
Had I unwittingly provoked this fit of anger? Did this
incomprehensible person imagine that I had discovered some forbidden secret? No;
I was not the object of this hatred, for he was not looking at me; his eye was
steadily fixed upon the impenetrable point of the horizon. At last Captain Nemo
recovered himself. His agitation subsided. He addressed some words in a foreign
language to his lieutenant, then turned to me. "M. Aronnax," he said, in rather
an imperious tone, "I require you to keep one of the conditions that bind you to
me."
"What is it, Captain?"
"You must be confined, with your companions, until I think
fit to release you."
"You are the master," I replied, looking steadily at him.
"But may I ask you one question?"
"None, sir."
There was no resisting this imperious command, it would
have been useless. I went down to the cabin occupied by Ned Land and Conseil,
and told them the Captain's determination.
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You may judge how this communication was received by the Canadian.
But there was not time for altercation. Four of the crew
waited at the door, and conducted us to that cell where we had passed our first
night on board the Nautilus.
Ned Land would have remonstrated, but the door was shut
upon him.
"Will master tell me what this means?" asked Conseil.
I told my companions what had passed. They were as much
astonished as I, and equally at a loss how to account for it.
Meanwhile, I was absorbed in my own reflections, and could
think of nothing but the strange fear depicted in the Captain's countenance. I
was utterly at a loss to account for it, when my cogitations were disturbed by
these words from Ned Land:
"Hallo! breakfast is ready."
And indeed the table was laid. Evidently Captain Nemo had
given this order at the same time that he had hastened the speed of the
Nautilus.
"Will master permit me to make a recommendation?" asked
Conseil.
"Yes, my boy."
"Well, it is that master breakfasts. It is prudent, for we
do not know what may happen."
"You are right, Conseil."
"Unfortunately," said Ned Land, "they have only given us
the ship's fare."
"Friend Ned," asked Conseil, "what would you have said if
the breakfast had been entirely forgotten?"
This argument cut short the harpooner's recriminations.
We sat down to table. The meal was eaten in silence.
Just then the luminous globe that lighted the cell went
out, and left us in total darkness. Ned Land was soon asleep, and what
astonished me was that Conseil went off into a heavy slumber. I was thinking
what could have caused his irresistible drowsiness, when I felt my brain
becoming stupefied. In spite of my efforts to keep my eyes open, they would
close. A painful suspicion seized me. Evidently
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soporific substances had been mixed with the food we had just taken.
Imprisonment was not enough to conceal Captain Nemo's projects from us, sleep
was more necessary. I then heard the panels shut. The undulations of the sea,
which caused a slight rolling motion, ceased. Had the Nautilus quitted the
surface of the ocean? Had it gone back to the motionless bed of water? I tried
to resist sleep. It was impossible. My breathing grew weak. I felt a mortal cold
freeze my stiffened and half-paralysed limbs. My eyelids, like leaden caps, fell
over my eyes. I could not raise them; a morbid sleep, full of hallucinations,
bereft me of my being. Then the visions disappeared, and left me in complete
insensibility.
THE CORAL KINGDOM
THE next day I woke with my head singularly clear. To my
great surprise, I was in my own room. My companions, no doubt, had been
reinstated in their cabin, without having perceived it any more than I. Of what
had passed during the night they were as ignorant as I was, and to penetrate
this mystery I only reckoned upon the chances of the future.
I then thought of quitting my room. Was I free again or a
prisoner? Quite free. I opened the door, went to the half-deck, went up the
central stairs. The panels, shut the evening before, were open. I went on to the
platform.
Ned Land and Conseil waited there for me. I questioned
them; they knew nothing. Lost in a heavy sleep in which they had been totally
unconscious, they had been astonished at finding themselves in their cabin.
As for the Nautilus, it seemed quiet and mysterious as
ever. It floated on the surface of the waves at a moderate pace. Nothing seemed
changed on board.
The second lieutenant then came on to the platform, and
gave the usual order below.
As for Captain Nemo, he did not appear.
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Of the people on board, I only saw the impassive steward,
who served me with his usual dumb regularity.
About two o'clock, I was in the drawing-room, busied in
arranging my notes, when the Captain opened the door and appeared. I bowed. He
made a slight inclination in return, without speaking. I resumed my work, hoping
that he would perhaps give me some explanation of the events of the preceding
night. He made none. I looked at him. He seemed fatigued; his heavy eyes had not
been refreshed by sleep; his face looked very sorrowful. He walked to and fro,
sat down and got up again, took a chance book, put it down, consulted his
instruments without taking his habitual notes, and seemed restless and uneasy.
At last, he came up to me, and said:
"Are you a doctor, M. Aronnax?"
I so little expected such a question that I stared some
time at him without answering.
"Are you a doctor?" he repeated. "Several of your
colleagues have studied medicine."
"Well," said I, "I am a doctor and resident surgeon to the
hospital. I practised several years before entering the museum."
"Very well, sir."
My answer had evidently satisfied the Captain. But, not
knowing what he would say next, I waited for other questions, reserving my
answers according to circumstances.
"M. Aronnax, will you consent to prescribe for one of my
men?" be asked.
"Is he ill?"
"Yes."
"I am ready to follow you."
"Come, then."
I own my heart beat, I do not know why. I saw certain
connection between the illness of one of the crew and the events of the day
before; and this mystery interested me at least as much as the sick man.
Captain Nemo conducted me to the poop of the Nautilus, and
took me into a cabin situated near the sailors' quarters.
There, on a bed, lay a man about forty years of age,
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with a resolute expression of countenance, a true type of an Anglo-Saxon.
I leant over him. He was not only ill, he was wounded. His
head, swathed in bandages covered with blood, lay on a pillow. I undid the
bandages, and the wounded man looked at me with his large eyes and gave no sign
of pain as I did it. It was a horrible wound. The skull, shattered by some
deadly weapon, left the brain exposed, which was much injured. Clots of blood
had formed in the bruised and broken mass, in colour like the dregs of wine.
There was both contusion and suffusion of the brain. His
breathing was slow, and some spasmodic movements of the muscles agitated his
face. I felt his pulse. It was intermittent. The extremities of the body were
growing cold already, and I saw death must inevitably ensue. After dressing the
unfortunate man's wounds, I readjusted the bandages on his head, and turned to
Captain Nemo.
"What caused this wound?" I asked.
"What does it signify?" he replied, evasively. "A shock
has broken one of the levers of the engine, which struck myself. But your
opinion as to his state?"
I hesitated before giving it.
"You may speak," said the Captain. "This man does not
understand French."
I gave a last look at the wounded man.
"He will be dead in two hours."
"Can nothing save him?"
"Nothing."
Captain Nemo's hand contracted, and some tears glistened
in his eyes, which I thought incapable of shedding any.
For some moments I still watched the dying man, whose life
ebbed slowly. His pallor increased under the electric light that was shed over
his death-bed. I looked at his intelligent forehead, furrowed with premature
wrinkles, produced probably by misfortune and sorrow. I tried to learn the
secret of his life from the last words that escaped his lips.
"You can go now, M. Aronnax," said the Captain.
I left him in the dying man's cabin, and returned to my
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room much affected by this scene. During the whole day, I was haunted by
uncomfortable suspicions, and at night I slept badly, and between my broken
dreams I fancied I heard distant sighs like the notes of a funeral psalm. Were
they the prayers of the dead, murmured in that language that I could not
understand?
The next morning I went on to the bridge. Captain Nemo was
there before me. As soon as he perceived me he came to me.
"Professor, will it be convenient to you to make a
submarine excursion to-day?"
"With my companions?" I asked.
"If they like."
"We obey your orders, Captain."
"Will you be so good then as to put on your cork jackets?"
It was not a question of dead or dying. I rejoined Ned
Land and Conseil, and told them of Captain Nemo's proposition. Conseil hastened
to accept it, and this time the Canadian seemed quite willing to follow our
example.
It was eight o'clock in the morning. At half-past eight we
were equipped for this new excursion, and provided with two contrivances for
light and breathing. The double door was open; and, accompanied by Captain Nemo,
who was followed by a dozen of the crew, we set foot, at a depth of about thirty
feet, on the solid bottom on which the Nautilus rested.
A slight declivity ended in an uneven bottom, at fifteen
fathoms depth. This bottom differed entirely from the one I had visited on my
first excursion under the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Here, there was no fine
sand, no submarine prairies, no sea-forest. I immediately recognised that
marvellous region in which, on that day, the Captain did the honours to us. It
was the coral kingdom.
The light produced a thousand charming varieties, playing
in the midst of the branches that were so vividly coloured. I seemed to see the
membraneous and cylindrical tubes tremble beneath the undulation of the waters.
I was tempted to gather their fresh petals, ornamented with delicate
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tentacles, some just blown, the others budding, while a small fish, swimming
swiftly, touched them slightly, like flights of birds. But if my hand approached
these living flowers, these animated, sensitive plants, the whole colony took
alarm. The white petals re-entered their red cases, the flowers faded as I
looked, and the bush changed into a block of stony knobs.
Chance had thrown me just by the most precious specimens
of the zoophyte. This coral was more valuable than that found in the
Mediterranean, on the coasts of France, Italy and Barbary. Its tints justified
the poetical names of "Flower of Blood," and "Froth of Blood," that trade has
given to its most beautiful productions. Coral is sold for L20 per ounce; and in
this place the watery beds would make the fortunes of a company of coral-divers.
This precious matter, often confused with other polypi, formed then the
inextricable plots called "macciota," and on which I noticed several beautiful
specimens of pink coral.
Real petrified thickets, long joints of fantastic
architecture, were disclosed before us. Captain Nemo placed himself under a dark
gallery, where by a slight declivity we reached a depth of a hundred yards. The
light from our lamps produced sometimes magical effects, following the rough
outlines of the natural arches and pendants disposed like lustres, that were
tipped with points of fire.
At last, after walking two hours, we had attained a depth
of about three hundred yards, that is to say, the extreme limit on which coral
begins to form. But there was no isolated bush, nor modest brushwood, at the
bottom of lofty trees. It was an immense forest of large mineral vegetations,
enormous petrified trees, united by garlands of elegant sea-bindweed, all
adorned with clouds and reflections. We passed freely under their high branches,
lost in the shade of the waves.
Captain Nemo had stopped. I and my companions halted, and,
turning round, I saw his men were forming a semi-circle round their chief.
Watching attentively, I observed that four of them carried on their shoulders an
object of an oblong shape.
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We occupied, in this place, the centre of a vast glade
surrounded by the lofty foliage of the submarine forest. Our lamps threw over
this place a sort of clear twilight that singularly elongated the shadows on the
ground. At the end of the glade the darkness increased, and was only relieved by
little sparks reflected by the points of coral.
Ned Land and Conseil were near me. We watched, and I
thought I was going to witness a strange scene. On observing the ground, I saw
that it was raised in certain places by slight excrescences encrusted with limy
deposits, and disposed with a regularity that betrayed the hand of man.
In the midst of the glade, on a pedestal of rocks roughly
piled up, stood a cross of coral that extended its long arms that one might have
thought were made of petrified blood. Upon a sign from Captain Nemo one of the
men advanced; and at some feet from the cross he began to dig a hole with a
pickaxe that he took from his belt. I understood all! This glade was a cemetery,
this hole a tomb, this oblong object the body of the man who had died in the
night! The Captain and his men had come to bury their companion in this general
resting-place, at the bottom of this inaccessible ocean!
The grave was being dug slowly; the fish fled on all sides
while their retreat was being thus disturbed; I heard the strokes of the
pickaxe, which sparkled when it hit upon some flint lost at the bottom of the
waters. The hole was soon large and deep enough to receive the body. Then the
bearers approached; the body, enveloped in a tissue of white linen, was lowered
into the damp grave. Captain Nemo, with his arms crossed on his breast, and all
the friends of him who had loved them, knelt in prayer.
The grave was then filled in with the rubbish taken from
the ground, which formed a slight mound. When this was done, Captain Nemo and
his men rose; then, approaching the grave, they knelt again, and all extended
their hands in sign of a last adieu. Then the funeral procession returned to the
Nautilus, passing under the arches of the forest, in the midst of thickets,
along the coral bushes, and still on the ascent. At last the light of the ship
appeared, and its
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luminous track guided us to the Nautilus. At one o'clock we had returned.
As soon as I had changed my clothes I went up on to the
platform, and, a prey to conflicting emotions, I sat down near the binnacle.
Captain Nemo joined me. I rose and said to him:
"So, as I said he would, this man died in the night?"
"Yes, M. Aronnax."
"And he rests now, near his companions, in the coral
cemetery?"
"Yes, forgotten by all else, but not by us. We dug the
grave, and the polypi undertake to seal our dead for eternity." And, burying his
face quickly in his hands, he tried in vain to suppress a sob. Then he added:
"Our peaceful cemetery is there, some hundred feet below the surface of the
waves."
"Your dead sleep quietly, at least, Captain, out of the
reach of sharks."
"Yes, sir, of sharks and men," gravely replied the
Captain.
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THE INDIAN OCEAN
WE NOW come to the second part of our journey under the
sea. The first ended with the moving scene in the coral cemetery which left such
a deep impression on my mind. Thus, in the midst of this great sea, Captain
Nemo's life was passing, even to his grave, which he had prepared in one of its
deepest abysses. There, not one of the ocean's monsters could trouble the last
sleep of the crew of the Nautilus, of those friends riveted to each other in
death as in life. "Nor any man, either," had added the Captain. Still the same
fierce, implacable defiance towards human society!
I could no longer content myself with the theory which
satisfied Conseil.
That worthy fellow persisted in seeing in the Commander of
the Nautilus one of those unknown servants who return mankind contempt for
indifference. For him, he was a misunderstood genius who, tired of earth's
deceptions, had taken refuge in this inaccessible medium, where he might follow
his instincts freely. To my mind, this explains but one side of Captain Nemo's
character. Indeed, the mystery of that last night during which we had been
chained in prison, the sleep, and the precaution so violently taken by the
Captain of snatching from my eyes the glass I had raised to sweep the horizon,
the mortal wound of the man, due to an unaccountable shock of the Nautilus, all
put me on a new track. No; Captain Nemo was not satisfied with shunning man. His
formidable apparatus not only suited his instinct of freedom, but perhaps also
the design of some terrible retaliation.
At this moment nothing is clear to me; I catch but a
glimpse of light amidst all the darkness, and I must confine myself to writing
as events shall dictate.
That day, the 24th of January, 1868, at noon, the second
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officer came to take the altitude of the sun. I mounted the platform, lit a
cigar, and watched the operation. It seemed to me that the man did not
understand French; for several times I made remarks in a loud voice, which must
have drawn from him some involuntary sign of attention, if he had understood
them; but he remained undisturbed and dumb.
As he was taking observations with the sextant, one of the
sailors of the Nautilus (the strong man who had accompanied us on our first
submarine excursion to the Island of Crespo) came to clean the glasses of the
lantern. I examined the fittings of the apparatus, the strength of which was
increased a hundredfold by lenticular rings, placed similar to those in a
lighthouse, and which projected their brilliance in a horizontal plane. The
electric lamp was combined in such a way as to give its most powerful light.
Indeed, it was produced in vacuo, which insured both its steadiness and its
intensity. This vacuum economised the graphite points between which the luminous
arc was developed -- an important point of economy for Captain Nemo, who could
not easily have replaced them; and under these conditions their waste was
imperceptible. When the Nautilus was ready to continue its submarine journey, I
went down to the saloon. The panel was closed, and the course marked direct
west.
We were furrowing the waters of the Indian Ocean, a vast
liquid plain, with a surface of 1,200,000,000 of acres, and whose waters are so
clear and transparent that any one leaning over them would turn giddy. The
Nautilus usually floated between fifty and a hundred fathoms deep. We went on so
for some days. To anyone but myself, who had a great love for the sea, the hours
would have seemed long and monotonous; but the daily walks on the platform, when
I steeped myself in the reviving air of the ocean, the sight of the rich waters
through the windows of the saloon, the books in the library, the compiling of my
memoirs, took up all my time, and left me not a moment of ennui or weariness.
For some days we saw a great number of aquatic birds,
sea-mews or gulls. Some were cleverly killed and, prepared
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in a certain way, made very acceptable water-game. Amongst large-winged birds,
carried a long distance from all lands and resting upon the waves from the
fatigue of their flight, I saw some magnificent albatrosses, uttering discordant
cries like the braying of an ass, and birds belonging to the family of the
long-wings.
As to the fish, they always provoked our admiration when
we surprised the secrets of their aquatic life through the open panels. I saw
many kinds which I never before had a chance of observing.
From the 21st to the 23rd of January the Nautilus went at
the rate of two hundred and fifty leagues in twenty-four hours, being five
hundred and forty miles, or twenty-two miles an hour. If we recognised so many
different varieties of fish, it was because, attracted by the electric light,
they tried to follow us; the greater part, however, were soon distanced by our
speed, though some kept their place in the waters of the Nautilus for a time.
The morning of the 24th, in 12o 5' S. lat., and 94o 33'
long., we observed Keeling Island, a coral formation, planted with magnificent
cocos, and which bad been visited by Mr. Darwin and Captain Fitzroy. The
Nautilus skirted the shores of this desert island for a little distance. Its
nets brought up numerous specimens of polypi and curious shells of mollusca.
Soon Keeling Island disappeared from the horizon, and our
course was directed to the north-west in the direction of the Indian Peninsula.
From Keeling Island our course was slower and more
variable, often taking us into great depths. Several times they made use of the
inclined planes, which certain internal levers placed obliquely to the
waterline. In that way we went about two miles, but without ever obtaining the
greatest depths of the Indian Sea, which soundings of seven thousand fathoms
have never reached. As to the temperature of the lower strata, the thermometer
invariably indicated 4o above zero. I only observed that in the upper
regions the water was always colder in the high levels than at the surface of
the sea.
On the 25th of January the ocean was entirely deserted;
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the Nautilus passed the day on the surface, beating the waves with its powerful
screw and making them rebound to a great height. Who under such circumstances
would not have taken it for a gigantic cetacean? Three parts of this day I spent
on the platform. I watched the sea. Nothing on the horizon, till about four
o'clock a steamer running west on our counter. Her masts were visible for an
instant, but she could not see the Nautilus, being too low in the water. I
fancied this steamboat belonged to the P.O. Company, which runs from Ceylon to
Sydney, touching at King George's Point and Melbourne.
At five o'clock in the evening, before that fleeting
twilight which binds night to day in tropical zones, Conseil and I were
astonished by a curious spectacle.
It was a shoal of argonauts travelling along on the
surface of the ocean. We could count several hundreds. They belonged to the
tubercle kind which are peculiar to the Indian seas.
These graceful molluscs moved backwards by means of their
locomotive tube, through which they propelled the water already drawn in. Of
their eight tentacles, six were elongated, and stretched out floating on the
water, whilst the other two, rolled up flat, were spread to the wing like a
light sail. I saw their spiral-shaped and fluted shells, which Cuvier justly
compares to an elegant skiff. A boat indeed! It bears the creature which
secretes it without its adhering to it.
For nearly an hour the Nautilus floated in the midst of
this shoal of molluscs. Then I know not what sudden fright they took. But as if
at a signal every sail was furled, the arms folded, the body drawn in, the
shells turned over, changing their centre of gravity, and the whole fleet
disappeared under the waves. Never did the ships of a squadron manoeuvre with
more unity.
At that moment night fell suddenly, and the reeds,
scarcely raised by the breeze, lay peaceably under the sides of the Nautilus.
The next day, 26th of January, we cut the equator at the
eighty-second meridian and entered the northern hemisphere.
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During the day a formidable troop of sharks accompanied us, terrible creatures,
which multiply in these seas and make them very dangerous. They were "cestracio
philippi" sharks, with brown backs and whitish bellies, armed with eleven rows
of teeth -- eyed sharks -- their throat being marked with a large black spot
surrounded with white like an eye. There were also some Isabella sharks, with
rounded snouts marked with dark spots. These powerful creatures often hurled
themselves at the windows of the saloon with such violence as to make us feel
very insecure. At such times Ned Land was no longer master of himself. He wanted
to go to the surface and harpoon the monsters, particularly certain smooth-hound
sharks, whose mouth is studded with teeth like a mosaic; and large tiger-sharks
nearly six yards long, the last named of which seemed to excite him more
particularly. But the Nautilus, accelerating her speed, easily left the most
rapid of them behind.
The 27th of January, at the entrance of the vast Bay of
Bengal, we met repeatedly a forbidding spectacle, dead bodies floating on the
surface of the water. They were the dead of the Indian villages, carried by the
Ganges to the level of the sea, and which the vultures, the only undertakers of
the country, had not been able to devour. But the sharks did not fail to help
them at their funeral work.
About seven o'clock in the evening, the Nautilus,
half-immersed, was sailing in a sea of milk. At first sight the ocean seemed
lactified. Was it the effect of the lunar rays? No; for the moon, scarcely two
days old, was still lying hidden under the horizon in the rays of the sun. The
whole sky, though lit by the sidereal rays, seemed black by contrast with the
whiteness of the waters.
Conseil could not believe his eyes, and questioned me as
to the cause of this strange phenomenon. Happily I was able to answer him.
"It is called a milk sea," I explained. "A large extent of
white wavelets often to be seen on the coasts of Amboyna, and in these parts of
the sea."
"But, sir," said Conseil, "can you tell me what causes
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such an effect? for I suppose the water is not really turned into milk."
"No, my boy; and the whiteness which surprises you is
caused only by the presence of myriads of infusoria, a sort of luminous little
worm, gelatinous and without colour, of the thickness of a hair, and whose
length is not more than seven-thousandths of an inch. These insects adhere to
one another sometimes for several leagues."
"Several leagues!" exclaimed Conseil.
"Yes, my boy; and you need not try to compute the number
of these infusoria. You will not be able, for, if I am not mistaken, ships have
floated on these milk seas for more than forty miles."
Towards midnight the sea suddenly resumed its usual colour;
but behind us, even to the limits of the horizon, the sky reflected the whitened
waves, and for a long time seemed impregnated with the vague glimmerings of an
aurora borealis.
A NOVEL PROPOSAL OF CAPTAIN NEMO'S
ON THE 28th of February, when at noon the Nautilus came to
the surface of the sea, in 9o 4' N. lat., there was land in sight
about eight miles to westward. The first thing I noticed was a range of
mountains about two thousand feet high, the shapes of which were most
capricious. On taking the bearings, I knew that we were nearing the island of
Ceylon, the pearl which hangs from the lobe of the Indian Peninsula.
Captain Nemo and his second appeared at this moment. The
Captain glanced at the map. Then turning to me, said:
"The Island of Ceylon, noted for its pearl-fisheries.
Would you like to visit one of them, M. Aronnax?"
"Certainly, Captain."
"Well, the thing is easy. Though, if we see the fisheries,
we shall not see the fishermen. The annual exportation has
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not yet begun. Never mind, I will give orders to make for the Gulf of Manaar,
where we shall arrive in the night."
The Captain said something to his second, who immediately
went out. Soon the Nautilus returned to her native element, and the manometer
showed that she was about thirty feet deep.
"Well, sir," said Captain Nemo, "you and your companions
shall visit the Bank of Manaar, and if by chance some fisherman should be there,
we shall see him at work."
"Agreed, Captain!"
"By the bye, M. Aronnax you are not afraid of sharks?"
"Sharks!" exclaimed I.
This question seemed a very hard one.
"Well?" continued Captain Nemo.
"I admit, Captain, that I am not yet very familiar with
that kind of fish."
"We are accustomed to them," replied Captain Nemo, "and in
time you will be too. However, we shall be armed, and on the road we may be able
to hunt some of the tribe. It is interesting. So, till to-morrow, sir, and
early."
This said in a careless tone, Captain Nemo left the
saloon. Now, if you were invited to hunt the bear in the mountains of
Switzerland, what would you say?
"Very well! to-morrow we will go and hunt the bear." If
you were asked to hunt the lion in the plains of Atlas, or the tiger in the
Indian jungles, what would you say?
"Ha! ha! it seems we are going to hunt the tiger or the
lion!" But when you are invited to hunt the shark in its natural element, you
would perhaps reflect before accepting the invitation. As for myself, I passed
my hand over my forehead, on which stood large drops of cold perspiration. "Let
us reflect," said I, "and take our time. Hunting otters in submarine forests, as
we did in the Island of Crespo, will pass; but going up and down at the bottom
of the sea, where one is almost certain to meet sharks, is quite another thing!
I know well that in certain countries, particularly in the Andaman Islands, the
negroes never hesitate to attack them with a dagger in one hand and a running
noose in the other; but I also know that few who affront those
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creatures ever return alive. However, I am not a negro, and if I were I think a
little hesitation in this case would not be ill-timed."
At this moment Conseil and the Canadian entered, quite
composed, and even joyous. They knew not what awaited them.
"Faith, sir," said Ned Land, "your Captain Nemo -- the
devil take him! -- has just made us a very pleasant offer."
"Ah!" said I, "you know?"
"If agreeable to you, sir," interrupted Conseil, "the
commander of the Nautilus has invited us to visit the magnificent Ceylon
fisheries to-morrow, in your company; he did it kindly, and behaved like a real
gentleman."
"He said nothing more?"
"Nothing more, sir, except that he had already spoken to
you of this little walk."
"Sir," said Conseil, "would you give us some details of
the pearl fishery?"
"As to the fishing itself," I asked, "or the incidents,
which?"
"On the fishing," replied the Canadian; "before entering
upon the ground, it is as well to know something about it."
"Very well; sit down, my friends, and I will teach you."
Ned and Conseil seated themselves on an ottoman, and the
first thing the Canadian asked was:
"Sir, what is a pearl?"
"My worthy Ned," I answered, "to the poet, a pearl is a
tear of the sea; to the Orientals, it is a drop of dew solidified; to the
ladies, it is a jewel of an oblong shape, of a brilliancy of mother-of-pearl
substance, which they wear on their fingers, their necks, or their ears; for the
chemist it is a mixture of phosphate and carbonate of lime, with a little
gelatine; and lastly, for naturalists, it is simply a morbid secretion of the
organ that produces the mother-of-pearl amongst certain bivalves."
"Branch of molluscs," said Conseil.
"Precisely so, my learned Conseil; and, amongst these
testacea the earshell, the tridacnae, the turbots, in a word, all those which
secrete mother-of-pearl, that is, the blue,
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bluish, violet, or white substance which lines the interior of their shells, are
capable of producing pearls."
"Mussels too?" asked the Canadian.
"Yes, mussels of certain waters in Scotland, Wales,
Ireland, Saxony, Bohemia, and France."
"Good! For the future I shall pay attention," replied the
Canadian.
"But," I continued, "the particular mollusc which secretes
the pearl is the pearl-oyster. The pearl is nothing but a formation deposited in
a globular form, either adhering to the oyster-shell or buried in the folds of
the creature. On the shell it is fast: in the flesh it is loose; but always has
for a kernel a small hard substance, maybe a barren egg, maybe a grain of sand,
around which the pearly matter deposits itself year after year successively, and
by thin concentric layers."
"Are many pearls found in the same oyster?" asked Conseil.
"Yes, my boy. Some are a perfect casket. One oyster has
been mentioned, though I allow myself to doubt it, as having contained no less
than a hundred and fifty sharks."
"A hundred and fifty sharks!" exclaimed Ned Land.
"Did I say sharks?" said I hurriedly. "I meant to say a
hundred and fifty pearls. Sharks would not be sense."
"Certainly not," said Conseil; "but will you tell us now
by what means they extract these pearls?"
"They proceed in various ways. When they adhere to the
shell, the fishermen often pull them off with pincers; but the most common way
is to lay the oysters on mats of the seaweed which covers the banks. Thus they
die in the open air; and at the end of ten days they are in a forward state of
decomposition. They are then plunged into large reservoirs of sea-water; then
they are opened and washed."
"The price of these pearls varies according to their
size?" asked Conseil.
"Not only according to their size," I answered, "but also
according to their shape, their water (that is, their colour), and their lustre:
that is, that bright and diapered sparkle which makes them so charming to the
eye. The most beautiful
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are called virgin pearls, or paragons. They are formed alone in the tissue of
the mollusc, are white, often opaque, and sometimes have the transparency of an
opal; they are generally round or oval. The round are made into bracelets, the
oval into pendants, and, being more precious, are sold singly. Those adhering to
the shell of the oyster are more irregular in shape, and are sold by weight.
Lastly, in a lower order are classed those small pearls known under the name of
seed-pearls; they are sold by measure, and are especially used in embroidery for
church ornaments."
"But," said Conseil, "is this pearl-fishery dangerous?"
"No," I answered, quickly; "particularly if certain
precautions are taken."
"What does one risk in such a calling?" said Ned Land,
"the swallowing of some mouthfuls of sea-water?"
"As you say, Ned. By the bye," said I, trying to take
Captain Nemo's careless tone, "are you afraid of sharks, brave Ned?"
"I!" replied the Canadian; "a harpooner by profession? It
is my trade to make light of them."
"But," said I, "it is not a question of fishing for them
with an iron-swivel, hoisting them into the vessel, cutting off their tails with
a blow of a chopper, ripping them up, and throwing their heart into the sea!"
"Then, it is a question of -- "
"Precisely."
"In the water?"
"In the water."
"Faith, with a good harpoon! You know, sir, these sharks
are ill-fashioned beasts. They turn on their bellies to seize you, and in that
time -- "
Ned Land had a way of saying "seize" which made my blood
run cold.
"Well, and you, Conseil, what do you think of sharks?"
"Me!" said Conseil. "I will be frank, sir."
"So much the better," thought I.
"If you, sir, mean to face the sharks, I do not see why
your faithful servant should not face them with you."
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A PEARL OF TEN MILLIONS
THE next morning at four o'clock I was awakened by the
steward whom Captain Nemo had placed at my service. I rose hurriedly, dressed,
and went into the saloon.
Captain Nemo was awaiting me.
"M. Aronnax," said he, "are you ready to start?"
"I am ready."
"Then please to follow me."
"And my companions, Captain?"
"They have been told and are waiting."
"Are we not to put on our diver's dresses?" asked I.
"Not yet. I have not allowed the Nautilus to come too near
this coast, and we are some distance from the Manaar Bank; but the boat is
ready, and will take us to the exact point of disembarking, which will save us a
long way. It carries our diving apparatus, which we will put on when we begin
our submarine journey."
Captain Nemo conducted me to the central staircase, which
led on the platform. Ned and Conseil were already there, delighted at the idea
of the "pleasure party" which was preparing. Five sailors from the Nautilus,
with their oars, waited in the boat, which had been made fast against the side.
The night was still dark. Layers of clouds covered the
sky, allowing but few stars to be seen. I looked on the side where the land lay,
and saw nothing but a dark line enclosing three parts of the horizon, from
south-west to north-west. The Nautilus, having returned during the night up the
western coast of Ceylon, was now west of the bay, or rather gulf, formed by the
mainland and the Island of Manaar. There, under the dark waters, stretched the
pintadine bank, an inexhaustible field of pearls, the length of which is more
than twenty miles.
Captain Nemo, Ned Land, Conseil, and I took our places in
the stern of the boat. The master went to the tiller; his
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four companions leaned on their oars, the painter was cast off, and we sheered
off.
The boat went towards the south; the oarsmen did not
hurry. I noticed that their strokes, strong in the water, only followed each
other every ten seconds, according to the method generally adopted in the navy.
Whilst the craft was running by its own velocity, the liquid drops struck the
dark depths of the waves crisply like spats of melted lead. A little billow,
spreading wide, gave a slight roll to the boat, and some samphire reeds flapped
before it.
We were silent. What was Captain Nemo thinking of? Perhaps
of the land he was approaching, and which he found too near to him, contrary to
the Canadian's opinion, who thought it too far off. As to Conseil, he was merely
there from curiosity.
About half-past five the first tints on the horizon showed
the upper line of coast more distinctly. Flat enough in the east, it rose a
little to the south. Five miles still lay between us, and it was indistinct
owing to the mist on the water. At six o'clock it became suddenly daylight, with
that rapidity peculiar to tropical regions, which know neither dawn nor
twilight. The solar rays pierced the curtain of clouds, piled up on the eastern
horizon, and the radiant orb rose rapidly. I saw land distinctly, with a few
trees scattered here and there. The boat neared Manaar Island, which was rounded
to the south. Captain Nemo rose from his seat and watched the sea.
At a sign from him the anchor was dropped, but the chain
scarcely ran, for it was little more than a yard deep, and this spot was one of
the highest points of the bank of pintadines.
"Here we are, M. Aronnax," said Captain Nemo. "You see
that enclosed bay? Here, in a month will be assembled the numerous fishing boats
of the exporters, and these are the waters their divers will ransack so boldly.
Happily, this bay is well situated for that kind of fishing. It is sheltered
from the strongest winds; the sea is never very rough here, which makes it
favourable for the diver's work. We will now put on our dresses, and begin our
walk."
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I did not answer, and, while watching the suspected waves,
began with the help of the sailors to put on my heavy sea-dress. Captain Nemo
and my companions were also dressing. None of the Nautilus men were to accompany
us on this new excursion.
Soon we were enveloped to the throat in india-rubber
clothing; the air apparatus fixed to our backs by braces. As to the Ruhmkorff
apparatus, there was no necessity for it. Before putting my head into the copper
cap, I had asked the question of the Captain.
"They would be useless," he replied. "We are going to no
great depth, and the solar rays will be enough to light our walk. Besides, it
would not be prudent to carry the electric light in these waters; its brilliancy
might attract some of the dangerous inhabitants of the coast most
inopportunely."
As Captain Nemo pronounced these words, I turned to
Conseil and Ned Land. But my two friends had already encased their heads in the
metal cap, and they could neither hear nor answer.
One last question remained to ask of Captain Nemo.
"And our arms?" asked I; "our guns?"
"Guns! What for? Do not mountaineers attack the bear with
a dagger in their hand, and is not steel surer than lead? Here is a strong
blade; put it in your belt, and we start."
I looked at my companions; they were armed like us, and,
more than that, Ned Land was brandishing an enormous harpoon, which he had
placed in the boat before leaving the Nautilus.
Then, following the Captain's example, I allowed myself to
be dressed in the heavy copper helmet, and our reservoirs of air were at once in
activity. An instant after we were landed, one after the other, in about two
yards of water upon an even sand. Captain Nemo made a sign with his hand, and we
followed him by a gentle declivity till we disappeared under the waves.
At about seven o'clock we found ourselves at last
surveying
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the oyster-banks on which the pearl-oysters are reproduced by millions.
Captain Nemo pointed with his hand to the enormous heap of
oysters; and I could well understand that this mine was inexhaustible, for
Nature's creative power is far beyond man's instinct of destruction. Ned Land,
faithful to his instinct, hastened to fill a net which he carried by his side
with some of the finest specimens. But we could not stop. We must follow the
Captain, who seemed to guide himself by paths known only to himself. The ground
was sensibly rising, and sometimes, on holding up my arm, it was above the
surface of the sea. Then the level of the bank would sink capriciously. Often we
rounded high rocks scarped into pyramids. In their dark fractures huge crustacea,
perched upon their high claws like some war-machine, watched us with fixed eyes,
and under our feet crawled various kinds of annelides.
At this moment there opened before us a large grotto dug
in a picturesque heap of rocks and carpeted with all the thick warp of the
submarine flora. At first it seemed very dark to me. The solar rays seemed to be
extinguished by successive gradations, until its vague transparency became
nothing more than drowned light. Captain Nemo entered; we followed. My eyes soon
accustomed themselves to this relative state of darkness. I could distinguish
the arches springing capriciously from natural pillars, standing broad upon
their granite base, like the heavy columns of Tuscan architecture. Why had our
incomprehensible guide led us to the bottom of this submarine crypt? I was soon
to know. After descending a rather sharp declivity, our feet trod the bottom of
a kind of circular pit. There Captain Nemo stopped, and with his hand indicated
an object I had not yet perceived. It was an oyster of extraordinary dimensions,
a gigantic tridacne, a goblet which could have contained a whole lake of
holy-water, a basin the breadth of which was more than two yards and a half, and
consequently larger than that ornamenting the saloon of the Nautilus. I
approached this extraordinary mollusc. It adhered by its filaments to a table of
granite, and there, isolated, it developed
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itself in the calm waters of the grotto. I estimated the weight of this tridacne
at 600 lb. Such an oyster would contain 30 lb. of meat; and one must have the
stomach of a Gargantua to demolish some dozens of them.
Captain Nemo was evidently acquainted with the existence
of this bivalve, and seemed to have a particular motive in verifying the actual
state of this tridacne. The shells were a little open; the Captain came near and
put his dagger between to prevent them from closing; then with his hand he
raised the membrane with its fringed edges, which formed a cloak for the
creature. There, between the folded plaits, I saw a loose pearl, whose size
equalled that of a coco-nut. Its globular shape, perfect clearness, and
admirable lustre made it altogether a jewel of inestimable value. Carried away
by my curiosity, I stretched out my hand to seize it, weigh it, and touch it;
but the Captain stopped me, made a sign of refusal, and quickly withdrew his
dagger, and the two shells closed suddenly. I then understood Captain Nemo's
intention. In leaving this pearl hidden in the mantle of the tridacne he was
allowing it to grow slowly. Each year the secretions of the mollusc would add
new concentric circles. I estimated its value at L500,000 at least.
After ten minutes Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. I thought
he had halted previously to returning. No; by a gesture be bade us crouch beside
him in a deep fracture of the rock, his hand pointed to one part of the liquid
mass, which I watched attentively.
About five yards from me a shadow appeared, and sank to
the ground. The disquieting idea of sharks shot through my mind, but I was
mistaken; and once again it was not a monster of the ocean that we had anything
to do with.
It was a man, a living man, an Indian, a fisherman, a poor
devil who, I suppose, had come to glean before the harvest. I could see the
bottom of his canoe anchored some feet above his head. He dived and went up
successively. A stone held between his feet, cut in the shape of a sugar loaf,
whilst a rope fastened him to his boat, helped him to descend more rapidly. This
was all his apparatus. Reaching the bottom,
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about five yards deep, he went on his knees and filled his bag with oysters
picked up at random. Then he went up, emptied it, pulled up his stone, and began
the operation once more, which lasted thirty seconds.
The diver did not see us. The shadow of the rock hid us
from sight. And how should this poor Indian ever dream that men, beings like
himself, should be there under the water watching his movements and losing no
detail of the fishing? Several times he went up in this way, and dived again. He
did not carry away more than ten at each plunge, for he was obliged to pull them
from the bank to which they adhered by means of their strong byssus. And how
many of those oysters for which he risked his life had no pearl in them! I
watched him closely; his manoeuvres were regular; and for the space of half an
hour no danger appeared to threaten him.
I was beginning to accustom myself to the sight of this
interesting fishing, when suddenly, as the Indian was on the ground, I saw him
make a gesture of terror, rise, and make a spring to return to the surface of
the sea.
I understood his dread. A gigantic shadow appeared just
above the unfortunate diver. It was a shark of enormous size advancing
diagonally, his eyes on fire, and his jaws open. I was mute with horror and
unable to move.
The voracious creature shot towards the Indian, who threw
himself on one side to avoid the shark's fins; but not its tail, for it struck
his chest and stretched him on the ground.
This scene lasted but a few seconds: the shark returned,
and, turning on his back, prepared himself for cutting the Indian in two, when I
saw Captain Nemo rise suddenly, and then, dagger in hand, walk straight to the
monster, ready to fight face to face with him. The very moment the shark was
going to snap the unhappy fisherman in two, he perceived his new adversary, and,
turning over, made straight towards him.
I can still see Captain Nemo's position. Holding himself
well together, he waited for the shark with admirable coolness; and, when it
rushed at him, threw himself on one side
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with wonderful quickness, avoiding the shock, and burying his dagger deep into
its side. But it was not all over. A terrible combat ensued.
The shark had seemed to roar, if I might say so. The blood
rushed in torrents from its wound. The sea was dyed red, and through the opaque
liquid I could distinguish nothing more. Nothing more until the moment when,
like lightning, I saw the undaunted Captain hanging on to one of the creature's
fins, struggling, as it were, hand to hand with the monster, and dealing
successive blows at his enemy, yet still unable to give a decisive one.
The shark's struggles agitated the water with such fury
that the rocking threatened to upset me.
I wanted to go to the Captain's assistance, but, nailed to
the spot with horror, I could not stir.
I saw the haggard eye; I saw the different phases of the
fight. The Captain fell to the earth, upset by the enormous mass which leant
upon him. The shark's jaws opened wide, like a pair of factory shears, and it
would have been all over with the Captain; but, quick as thought, harpoon in
hand, Ned Land rushed towards the shark and struck it with its sharp point.
The waves were impregnated with a mass of blood. They
rocked under the shark's movements, which beat them with indescribable fury. Ned
Land had not missed his aim. It was the monster's death-rattle. Struck to the
heart, it struggled in dreadful convulsions, the shock of which overthrew
Conseil.
But Ned Land had disentangled the Captain, who, getting up
without any wound, went straight to the Indian, quickly cut the cord which held
him to his stone, took him in his arms, and, with a sharp blow of his heel,
mounted to the surface.
We all three followed in a few seconds, saved by a
miracle, and reached the fisherman's boat.
Captain Nemo's first care was to recall the unfortunate
man to life again. I did not think he could succeed. I hoped so, for the poor
creature's immersion was not long; but the blow from the shark's tail might have
been his death-blow.
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Happily, with the Captain's and Conseil's sharp friction,
I saw consciousness return by degrees. He opened his eyes. What was his
surprise, his terror even, at seeing four great copper heads leaning over him!
And, above all, what must he have thought when Captain Nemo, drawing from the
pocket of his dress a bag of pearls, placed it in his hand! This munificent
charity from the man of the waters to the poor Cingalese was accepted with a
trembling hand. His wondering eyes showed that he knew not to what super-human
beings he owed both fortune and life.
At a sign from the Captain we regained the bank, and,
following the road already traversed, came in about half an hour to the anchor
which held the canoe of the Nautilus to the earth.
Once on board, we each, with the help of the sailors, got
rid of the heavy copper helmet.
Captain Nemo's first word was to the Canadian.
"Thank you, Master Land," said he.
"It was in revenge, Captain," replied Ned Land. "I owed
you that."
A ghastly smile passed across the Captain's lips, and that
was all.
"To the Nautilus," said he.
The boat flew over the waves. Some minutes after we met
the shark's dead body floating. By the black marking of the extremity of its
fins, I recognised the terrible melanopteron of the Indian Seas, of the species
of shark so properly called. It was more than twenty-five feet long; its
enormous mouth occupied one-third of its body. It was an adult, as was known by
its six rows of teeth placed in an isosceles triangle in the upper jaw.
Whilst I was contemplating this inert mass, a dozen of
these voracious beasts appeared round the boat; and, without noticing us, threw
themselves upon the dead body and fought with one another for the pieces.
At half-past eight we were again on board the Nautilus.
There I reflected on the incidents which had taken place in our excursion to the
Manaar Bank.
Two conclusions I must inevitably draw from it -- one
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bearing upon the unparalleled courage of Captain Nemo, the other upon his
devotion to a human being, a representative of that race from which he fled
beneath the sea. Whatever he might say, this strange man had not yet succeeded
in entirely crushing his heart.
When I made this observation to him, he answered in a
slightly moved tone:
"That Indian, sir, is an inhabitant of an oppressed
country; and I am still, and shall be, to my last breath, one of them!"
THE RED SEA
IN THE course of the day of the 29th of January, the
island of Ceylon disappeared under the horizon, and the Nautilus, at a speed of
twenty miles an hour, slid into the labyrinth of canals which separate the
Maldives from the Laccadives. It coasted even the Island of Kiltan, a land
originally coraline, discovered by Vasco da Gama in 1499, and one of the
nineteen principal islands of the Laccadive Archipelago, situated between 10o
and 14o 30' N. lat., and 69o 50' 72" E. long.
We had made 16,220 miles, or 7,500 (French) leagues from
our starting-point in the Japanese Seas.
The next day (30th January), when the Nautilus went to the
surface of the ocean there was no land in sight. Its course was N.N.E., in the
direction of the Sea of Oman, between Arabia and the Indian Peninsula, which
serves as an outlet to the Persian Gulf. It was evidently a block without any
possible egress. Where was Captain Nemo taking us to? I could not say. This,
however, did not satisfy the Canadian, who that day came to me asking where we
were going.
"We are going where our Captain's fancy takes us, Master
Ned."
"His fancy cannot take us far, then," said the Canadian.
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"The Persian Gulf has no outlet: and, if we do go in, it will not be long before
we are out again."
"Very well, then, we will come out again, Master Land; and
if, after the Persian Gulf, the Nautilus would like to visit the Red Sea, the
Straits of Bab-el-mandeb are there to give us entrance."
"I need not tell you, sir," said Ned Land, "that the Red
Sea is as much closed as the Gulf, as the Isthmus of Suez is not yet cut; and,
if it was, a boat as mysterious as ours would not risk itself in a canal cut
with sluices. And again, the Red Sea is not the road to take us back to Europe."
"But I never said we were going back to Europe."
"What do you suppose, then?"
"I suppose that, after visiting the curious coasts of
Arabia and Egypt, the Nautilus will go down the Indian Ocean again, perhaps
cross the Channel of Mozambique, perhaps off the Mascarenhas, so as to gain the
Cape of Good Hope."
"And once at the Cape of Good Hope?" asked the Canadian,
with peculiar emphasis.
"Well, we shall penetrate into that Atlantic which we do
not yet know. Ah! friend Ned, you are getting tired of this journey under the
sea; you are surfeited with the incessantly varying spectacle of submarine
wonders. For my part, I shall be sorry to see the end of a voyage which it is
given to so few men to make."
For four days, till the 3rd of February, the Nautilus
scoured the Sea of Oman, at various speeds and at various depths. It seemed to
go at random, as if hesitating as to which road it should follow, but we never
passed the Tropic of Cancer.
In quitting this sea we sighted Muscat for an instant, one
of the most important towns of the country of Oman. I admired its strange
aspect, surrounded by black rocks upon which its white houses and forts stood in
relief. I saw the rounded domes of its mosques, the elegant points of its
minarets, its fresh and verdant terraces. But it was only a vision! The Nautilus
soon sank under the waves of that part of the sea.
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We passed along the Arabian coast of Mahrah and Hadramaut,
for a distance of six miles, its undulating line of mountains being occasionally
relieved by some ancient ruin. The 5th of February we at last entered the Gulf
of Aden, a perfect funnel introduced into the neck of Bab-el-mandeb, through
which the Indian waters entered the Red Sea.
The 6th of February, the Nautilus floated in sight of
Aden, perched upon a promontory which a narrow isthmus joins to the mainland, a
kind of inaccessible Gibraltar, the fortifications of which were rebuilt by the
English after taking possession in 1839. I caught a glimpse of the octagon
minarets of this town, which was at one time the richest commercial magazine on
the coast.
I certainly thought that Captain Nemo, arrived at this
point, would back out again; but I was mistaken, for be did no such thing, much
to my surprise.
The next day, the 7th of February, we entered the Straits
of Bab-el-mandeb, the name of which, in the Arab tongue, means The Gate of
Tears.
To twenty miles in breadth, it is only thirty-two in
length. And for the Nautilus, starting at full speed, the crossing was scarcely
the work of an hour. But I saw nothing, not even the Island of Perim, with which
the British Government has fortified the position of Aden. There were too many
English or French steamers of the line of Suez to Bombay, Calcutta to Melbourne,
and from Bourbon to the Mauritius, furrowing this narrow passage, for the
Nautilus to venture to show itself. So it remained prudently below. At last
about noon, we were in the waters of the Red Sea.
I would not even seek to understand the caprice which had
decided Captain Nemo upon entering the gulf. But I quite approved of the
Nautilus entering it. Its speed was lessened: sometimes it kept on the surface,
sometimes it dived to avoid a vessel, and thus I was able to observe the upper
and lower parts of this curious sea.
The 8th of February, from the first dawn of day, Mocha
came in sight, now a ruined town, whose walls would fall at a gunshot, yet which
shelters here and there some verdant
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date-trees; once an important city, containing six public markets, and
twenty-six mosques, and whose walls, defended by fourteen forts, formed a girdle
of two miles in circumference.
The Nautilus then approached the African shore, where the
depth of the sea was greater. There, between two waters clear as crystal,
through the open panels we were allowed to contemplate the beautiful bushes of
brilliant coral and large blocks of rock clothed with a splendid fur of green
variety of sites and landscapes along these sandbanks and algae and fuci. What
an indescribable spectacle, and what variety of sites and landscapes along these
sandbanks and volcanic islands which bound the Libyan coast! But where these
shrubs appeared in all their beauty was on the eastern coast, which the Nautilus
soon gained. It was on the coast of Tehama, for there not only did this display
of zoophytes flourish beneath the level of the sea, but they also formed
picturesque interlacings which unfolded themselves about sixty feet above the
surface, more capricious but less highly coloured than those whose freshness was
kept up by the vital power of the waters.
What charming hours I passed thus at the window of the
saloon! What new specimens of submarine flora and fauna did I admire under the
brightness of our electric lantern!
The 9th of February the Nautilus floated in the broadest
part of the Red Sea, which is comprised between Souakin, on the west coast, and
Komfidah, on the east coast, with a diameter of ninety miles.
That day at noon, after the bearings were taken, Captain
Nemo mounted the platform, where I happened to be, and I was determined not to
let him go down again without at least pressing him regarding his ulterior
projects. As soon as he saw me he approached and graciously offered me a cigar.
"Well, sir, does this Red Sea please you? Have you
sufficiently observed the wonders it covers, its fishes, its zoophytes, its
parterres of sponges, and its forests of coral? Did you catch a glimpse of the
towns on its borders?"
"Yes, Captain Nemo," I replied; "and the Nautilus is
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wonderfully fitted for such a study. Ah! it is an intelligent boat!"
"Yes, sir, intelligent and invulnerable. It fears neither
the terrible tempests of the Red Sea, nor its currents, nor its sandbanks."
"Certainly," said I, "this sea is quoted as one of the
worst, and in the time of the ancients, if I am not mistaken, its reputation was
detestable."
"Detestable, M. Aronnax. The Greek and Latin historians do
not speak favourably of it, and Strabo says it is very dangerous during the
Etesian winds and in the rainy season. The Arabian Edrisi portrays it under the
name of the Gulf of Colzoum, and relates that vessels perished there in great
numbers on the sandbanks and that no one would risk sailing in the night. It is,
he pretends, a sea subject to fearful hurricanes, strewn with inhospitable
islands, and 'which offers nothing good either on its surface or in its
depths.'"
"One may see," I replied, "that these historians never
sailed on board the Nautilus."
"Just so," replied the Captain, smiling; "and in that
respect moderns are not more advanced than the ancients. It required many ages
to find out the mechanical power of steam. Who knows if, in another hundred
years, we may not see a second Nautilus? Progress is slow, M. Aronnax."
"It is true," I answered; "your boat is at least a century
before its time, perhaps an era. What a misfortune that the secret of such an
invention should die with its inventor!"
Captain Nemo did not reply. After some minutes' silence he
continued:
"You were speaking of the opinions of ancient historians
upon the dangerous navigation of the Red Sea."
"It is true," said I; "but were not their fears
exaggerated?"
"Yes and no, M. Aronnax," replied Captain Nemo, who seemed
to know the Red Sea by heart. "That which is no longer dangerous for a modern
vessel, well rigged, strongly built, and master of its own course, thanks to
obedient steam, offered all sorts of perils to the ships of the ancients,
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Picture to yourself those first navigators venturing in ships made of planks
sewn with the cords of the palmtree, saturated with the grease of the seadog,
and covered with powdered resin! They had not even instruments wherewith to take
their bearings, and they went by guess amongst currents of which they scarcely
knew anything. Under such conditions shipwrecks were, and must have been,
numerous. But in our time, steamers running between Suez and the South Seas have
nothing more to fear from the fury of this gulf, in spite of contrary
trade-winds. The captain and passengers do not prepare for their departure by
offering propitiatory sacrifices; and, on their return, they no longer go
ornamented with wreaths and gilt fillets to thank the gods in the neighbouring
temple."
"I agree with you," said I; "and steam seems to have
killed all gratitude in the hearts of sailors. But, Captain, since you seem to
have especially studied this sea, can you tell me the origin of its name?"
"There exist several explanations on the subject, M.
Aronnax. Would you like to know the opinion of a chronicler of the fourteenth
century?"
"Willingly."
"This fanciful writer pretends that its name was given to
it after the passage of the Israelites, when Pharaoh perished in the waves which
closed at the voice of Moses."
"A poet's explanation, Captain Nemo," I replied; "but I
cannot content myself with that. I ask you for your personal opinion."
"Here it is, M. Aronnax. According to my idea, we must see
in this appellation of the Red Sea a translation of the Hebrew word 'Edom'; and
if the ancients gave it that name, it was on account of the particular colour of
its waters."
"But up to this time I have seen nothing but transparent
waves and without any particular colour."
"Very likely; but as we advance to the bottom of the gulf,
you will see this singular appearance. I remember seeing the Bay of Tor entirely
red, like a sea of blood."
"And you attribute this colour to the presence of a
microscopic seaweed?"
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"Yes."
"So, Captain Nemo, it is not the first time you have
overrun the Red Sea on board the Nautilus?"
"No, sir."
"As you spoke a while ago of the passage of the Israelites
and of the catastrophe to the Egyptians, I will ask whether you have met with
the traces under the water of this great historical fact?"
"No, sir; and for a good reason."
"What is it?"
"It is that the spot where Moses and his people passed is
now so blocked up with sand that the camels can barely bathe their legs there.
You can well understand that there would not be water enough for my Nautilus."
"And the spot?" I asked.
"The spot is situated a little above the Isthmus of Suez,
in the arm which formerly made a deep estuary, when the Red Sea extended to the
Salt Lakes. Now, whether this passage were miraculous or not, the Israelites,
nevertheless, crossed there to reach the Promised Land, and Pharaoh's army
perished precisely on that spot; and I think that excavations made in the middle
of the sand would bring to light a large number of arms and instruments of
Egyptian origin."
"That is evident," I replied; "and for the sake of
archaeologists let us hope that these excavations will be made sooner or later,
when new towns are established on the isthmus, after the construction of the
Suez Canal; a canal, however, very useless to a vessel like the Nautilus."
"Very likely; but useful to the whole world," said Captain
Nemo. "The ancients well understood the utility of a communication between the
Red Sea and the Mediterranean for their commercial affairs: but they did not
think of digging a canal direct, and took the Nile as an intermediate. Very
probably the canal which united the Nile to the Red Sea was begun by Sesostris,
if we may believe tradition. One thing is certain, that in the year 615 before
Jesus Christ, Necos undertook the works of an alimentary canal to the waters of
the Nile across the plain of Egypt, looking towards
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Arabia. It took four days to go up this canal, and it was so wide that two
triremes could go abreast. It was carried on by Darius, the son of Hystaspes,
and probably finished by Ptolemy II. Strabo saw it navigated: but its decline
from the point of departure, near Bubastes, to the Red Sea was so slight that it
was only navigable for a few months in the year. This canal answered all
commercial purposes to the age of Antonius, when it was abandoned and blocked up
with sand. Restored by order of the Caliph Omar, it was definitely destroyed in
761 or 762 by Caliph Al-Mansor, who wished to prevent the arrival of provisions
to Mohammed-ben-Abdallah, who had revolted against him. During the expedition
into Egypt, your General Bonaparte discovered traces of the works in the Desert
of Suez; and, surprised by the tide, he nearly perished before regaining
Hadjaroth, at the very place where Moses had encamped three thousand years
before him."
"Well, Captain, what the ancients dared not undertake,
this junction between the two seas, which will shorten the road from Cadiz to
India, M. Lesseps has succeeded in doing; and before long he will have changed
Africa into an immense island."
"Yes, M. Aronnax; you have the right to be proud of your
countryman. Such a man brings more honour to a nation than great captains. He
began, like so many others, with disgust and rebuffs; but he has triumphed, for
he has the genius of will. And it is sad to think that a work like that, which
ought to have been an international work and which would have sufficed to make a
reign illustrious, should have succeeded by the energy of one man. All honour to
M. Lesseps!"
"Yes! honour to the great citizen," I replied, surprised
by the manner in which Captain Nemo had just spoken.
"Unfortunately," he continued, "I cannot take you through
the Suez Canal; but you will be able to see the long jetty of Port Said after
to-morrow, when we shall be in the Mediterranean."
"The Mediterranean!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, sir; does that astonish you?"
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"What astonishes me is to think that we shall be there the
day after to-morrow."
"Indeed?"
"Yes, Captain, although by this time I ought to have
accustomed myself to be surprised at nothing since I have been on board your
boat."
"But the cause of this surprise?"
"Well! it is the fearful speed you will have to put on the
Nautilus, if the day after to-morrow she is to be in the Mediterranean, having
made the round of Africa, and doubled the Cape of Good Hope!"
"Who told you that she would make the round of Africa and
double the Cape of Good Hope, sir?"
"Well, unless the Nautilus sails on dry land, and passes
above the isthmus -- "
"Or beneath it, M. Aronnax."
"Beneath it?"
"Certainly," replied Captain Nemo quietly. "A long time
ago Nature made under this tongue of land what man has this day made on its
surface."
"What! such a passage exists?"
"Yes; a subterranean passage, which I have named the
Arabian Tunnel. It takes us beneath Suez and opens into the Gulf of Pelusium."
"But this isthmus is composed of nothing but quicksands?"
"To a certain depth. But at fifty-five yards only there is
a solid layer of rock."
"Did you discover this passage by chance?" I asked more
and more surprised.
"Chance and reasoning, sir; and by reasoning even more
than by chance. Not only does this passage exist, but I have profited by it
several times. Without that I should not have ventured this day into the
impassable Red Sea. I noticed that in the Red Sea and in the Mediterranean there
existed a certain number of fishes of a kind perfectly identical. Certain of the
fact, I asked myself was it possible that there was no communication between the
two seas? If
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there was, the subterranean current must necessarily run from the Red Sea to the
Mediterranean, from the sole cause of difference of level. I caught a large
number of fishes in the neighbourhood of Suez. I passed a copper ring through
their tails, and threw them back into the sea. Some months later, on the coast
of Syria, I caught some of my fish ornamented with the ring. Thus the
communication between the two was proved. I then sought for it with my Nautilus;
I discovered it, ventured into it, and before long, sir, you too will have
passed through my Arabian tunnel!"
THE ARABIAN TUNNEL
THAT same evening, in 21o 30' N. lat., the
Nautilus floated on the surface of the sea, approaching the Arabian coast. I saw
Djeddah, the most important counting-house of Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and India. I
distinguished clearly enough its buildings, the vessels anchored at the quays,
and those whose draught of water obliged them to anchor in the roads. The sun,
rather low on the horizon, struck full on the houses of the town, bringing out
their whiteness. Outside, some wooden cabins, and some made of reeds, showed the
quarter inhabited by the Bedouins. Soon Djeddah was shut out from view by the
shadows of night, and the Nautilus found herself under water slightly
phosphorescent.
The next day, the 10th of February, we sighted several
ships running to windward. The Nautilus returned to its submarine navigation;
but at noon, when her bearings were taken, the sea being deserted, she rose
again to her waterline.
Accompanied by Ned and Conseil, I seated myself on the
platform. The coast on the eastern side looked like a mass faintly printed upon
a damp fog.
We were leaning on the sides of the pinnace, talking of
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one thing and another, when Ned Land, stretching out his hand towards a spot on
the sea, said:
"Do you see anything there, sir?"
"No, Ned," I replied; "but I have not your eyes, you
know."
"Look well," said Ned, "there, on the starboard beam,
about the height of the lantern! Do you not see a mass which seems to move?"
"Certainly," said I, after close attention; "I see
something like a long black body on the top of the water."
And certainly before long the black object was not more
than a mile from us. It looked like a great sandbank deposited in the open sea.
It was a gigantic dugong!
Ned Land looked eagerly. His eyes shone with covetousness
at the sight of the animal. His hand seemed ready to harpoon it. One would have
thought he was awaiting the moment to throw himself into the sea and attack it
in its element.
At this instant Captain Nemo appeared on the platform. He
saw the dugong, understood the Canadian's attitude, and, addressing him, said:
"If you held a harpoon just now, Master Land, would it not
burn your hand?"
"Just so, sir."
"And you would not be sorry to go back, for one day, to
your trade of a fisherman and to add this cetacean to the list of those you have
already killed?"
"I should not, sir."
"Well, you can try."
"Thank you, sir," said Ned Land, his eyes flaming.
"Only," continued the Captain, "I advise you for your own
sake not to miss the creature."
"Is the dugong dangerous to attack?" I asked, in spite of
the Canadian's shrug of the shoulders.
"Yes," replied the Captain; "sometimes the animal turns
upon its assailants and overturns their boat. But for Master Land this danger is
not to be feared. His eye is prompt, his arm sure."
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At this moment seven men of the crew, mute and immovable
as ever, mounted the platform. One carried a harpoon and a line similar to those
employed in catching whales. The pinnace was lifted from the bridge, pulled from
its socket, and let down into the sea. Six oarsmen took their seats, and the
coxswain went to the tiller. Ned, Conseil, and I went to the back of the boat.
"You are not coming, Captain?" I asked.
"No, sir; but I wish you good sport."
The boat put off, and, lifted by the six rowers, drew
rapidly towards the dugong, which floated about two miles from the Nautilus.
Arrived some cables-length from the cetacean, the speed
slackened, and the oars dipped noiselessly into the quiet waters. Ned Land,
harpoon in hand, stood in the fore part of the boat. The harpoon used for
striking the whale is generally attached to a very long cord which runs out
rapidly as the wounded creature draws it after him. But here the cord was not
more than ten fathoms long, and the extremity was attached to a small barrel
which, by floating, was to show the course the dugong took under the water.
I stood and carefully watched the Canadian's adversary.
This dugong, which also bears the name of the halicore, closely resembles the
manatee; its oblong body terminated in a lengthened tall, and its lateral fins
in perfect fingers. Its difference from the manatee consisted in its upper jaw,
which was armed with two long and pointed teeth which formed on each side
diverging tusks.
This dugong which Ned Land was preparing to attack was of
colossal dimensions; it was more than seven yards long. It did not move, and
seemed to be sleeping on the waves, which circumstance made it easier to
capture.
The boat approached within six yards of the animal. The
oars rested on the rowlocks. I half rose. Ned Land, his body thrown a little
back, brandished the harpoon in his experienced hand.
Suddenly a hissing noise was heard, and the dugong
disappeared.
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The harpoon, although thrown with great force; had apparently only struck the
water.
"Curse it!" exclaimed the Canadian furiously; "I have
missed it!"
"No," said I; "the creature is wounded -- look at the
blood; but your weapon has not stuck in his body."
"My harpoon! my harpoon!" cried Ned Land.
The sailors rowed on, and the coxswain made for the
floating barrel. The harpoon regained, we followed in pursuit of the animal.
The latter came now and then to the surface to breathe.
Its wound had not weakened it, for it shot onwards with great rapidity.
The boat, rowed by strong arms, flew on its track. Several
times it approached within some few yards, and the Canadian was ready to strike,
but the dugong made off with a sudden plunge, and it was impossible to reach it.
Imagine the passion which excited impatient Ned Land! He
hurled at the unfortunate creature the most energetic expletives in the English
tongue. For my part, I was only vexed to see the dugong escape all our attacks.
We pursued it without relaxation for an hour, and I began
to think it would prove difficult to capture, when the animal, possessed with
the perverse idea of vengeance of which he had cause to repent, turned upon the
pinnace and assailed us in its turn.
This manoeuvre did not escape the Canadian.
"Look out!" he cried.
The coxswain said some words in his outlandish tongue,
doubtless warning the men to keep on their guard.
The dugong came within twenty feet of the boat, stopped,
sniffed the air briskly with its large nostrils (not pierced at the extremity,
but in the upper part of its muzzle). Then, taking a spring, he threw himself
upon us.
The pinnace could not avoid the shock, and half upset,
shipped at least two tons of water, which had to be emptied; but, thanks to the
coxswain, we caught it sideways, not full front, so we were not quite
overturned. While Ned Land,
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clinging to the bows, belaboured the gigantic animal with blows from his
harpoon, the creature's teeth were buried in the gunwale, and it lifted the
whole thing out of the water, as a lion does a roebuck. We were upset over one
another, and I know not how the adventure would have ended, if the Canadian,
still enraged with the beast, had not struck it to the heart.
I heard its teeth grind on the iron plate, and the dugong
disappeared, carrying the harpoon with him. But the barrel soon returned to the
surface, and shortly after the body of the animal, turned on its back. The boat
came up with it, took it in tow, and made straight for the Nautilus.
It required tackle of enormous strength to hoist the
dugong on to the platform. It weighed 10,000 lb.
The next day, 11th February, the larder of the Nautilus
was enriched by some more delicate game. A flight of sea-swallows rested on the
Nautilus. It was a species of the Sterna nilotica, peculiar to Egypt; its beak
is black, head grey and pointed, the eye surrounded by white spots, the back,
wings, and tail of a greyish colour, the belly and throat white, and claws red.
They also took some dozen of Nile ducks, a wild bird of high flavour, its throat
and upper part of the head white with black spots.
About five o'clock in the evening we sighted to the north
the Cape of Ras-Mohammed. This cape forms the extremity of Arabia Petraea,
comprised between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Acabah.
The Nautilus penetrated into the Straits of Jubal, which
leads to the Gulf of Suez. I distinctly saw a high mountain, towering between
the two gulfs of Ras-Mohammed. It was Mount Horeb, that Sinai at the top of
which Moses saw God face to face.
At six o'clock the Nautilus, sometimes floating, sometimes
immersed, passed some distance from Tor, situated at the end of the bay, the
waters of which seemed tinted with red, an observation already made by Captain
Nemo. Then night fell in the midst of a heavy silence, sometimes broken by the
cries of the pelican and other night-birds, and the noise of the waves breaking
upon the shore, chafing against the
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rocks, or the panting of some far-off steamer beating the waters of the Gulf
with its noisy paddles.
From eight to nine o'clock the Nautilus remained some
fathoms under the water. According to my calculation we must have been very near
Suez. Through the panel of the saloon I saw the bottom of the rocks brilliantly
lit up by our electric lamp. We seemed to be leaving the Straits behind us more
and more.
At a quarter-past nine, the vessel having returned to the
surface, I mounted the platform. Most impatient to pass through Captain Nemo's
tunnel, I could not stay in one place, so came to breathe the fresh night air.
Soon in the shadow I saw a pale light, half discoloured by
the fog, shining about a mile from us.
"A floating lighthouse!" said someone near me.
I turned, and saw the Captain.
"It is the floating light of Suez," he continued. "It will
not be long before we gain the entrance of the tunnel."
"The entrance cannot be easy?"
"No, sir; for that reason I am accustomed to go into the
steersman's cage and myself direct our course. And now, if you will go down, M.
Aronnax, the Nautilus is going under the waves, and will not return to the
surface until we have passed through the Arabian Tunnel."
Captain Nemo led me towards the central staircase;
half-way down he opened a door, traversed the upper deck, and landed in the
pilot's cage, which it may be remembered rose at the extremity of the platform.
It was a cabin measuring six feet square, very much like that occupied by the
pilot on the steamboats of the Mississippi or Hudson. In the midst worked a
wheel, placed vertically, and caught to the tiller-rope, which ran to the back
of the Nautilus. Four light-ports with lenticular glasses, let in a groove in
the partition of the cabin, allowed the man at the wheel to see in all
directions.
This cabin was dark; but soon my eyes accustomed
themselves to the obscurity, and I perceived the pilot, a strong man, with his
hands resting on the spokes of the wheel. Outside, the sea appeared vividly lit
up by the lantern,
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which shed its rays from the back of the cabin to the other extremity of the
platform.
"Now," said Captain Nemo, "let us try to make our
passage."
Electric wires connected the pilot's cage with the
machinery room, and from there the Captain could communicate simultaneously to
his Nautilus the direction and the speed. He pressed a metal knob, and at once
the speed of the screw diminished.
I looked in silence at the high straight wall we were
running by at this moment, the immovable base of a massive sandy coast. We
followed it thus for an hour only some few yards off.
Captain Nemo did not take his eye from the knob, suspended
by its two concentric circles in the cabin. At a simple gesture, the pilot
modified the course of the Nautilus every instant.
I had placed myself at the port-scuttle, and saw some
magnificent substructures of coral, zoophytes, seaweed, and fucus, agitating
their enormous claws, which stretched out from the fissures of the rock.
At a quarter-past ten, the Captain himself took the helm.
A large gallery, black and deep, opened before us. The Nautilus went boldly into
it. A strange roaring was heard round its sides. It was the waters of the Red
Sea, which the incline of the tunnel precipitated violently towards the
Mediterranean. The Nautilus went with the torrent, rapid as an arrow, in spite
of the efforts of the machinery, which, in order to offer more effective
resistance, beat the waves with reversed screw.
On the walls of the narrow passage I could see nothing but
brilliant rays, straight lines, furrows of fire, traced by the great speed,
under the brilliant electric light. My heart beat fast.
At thirty-five minutes past ten, Captain Nemo quitted the
helm, and, turning to me, said:
"The Mediterranean!"
In less than twenty minutes, the Nautilus, carried along
by the torrent, had passed through the Isthmus of Suez.
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THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO
THE next day, the 12th of February, at the dawn of day,
the Nautilus rose to the surface. I hastened on to the platform. Three miles to
the south the dim outline of Pelusium was to be seen. A torrent had carried us
from one sea to another. About seven o'clock Ned and Conseil joined me.
"Well, Sir Naturalist," said the Canadian, in a slightly
jovial tone, "and the Mediterranean?"
"We are floating on its surface, friend Ned."
"What!" said Conseil, "this very night."
"Yes, this very night; in a few minutes we have passed
this impassable isthmus."
"I do not believe it," replied the Canadian.
"Then you are wrong, Master Land," I continued; "this low
coast which rounds off to the south is the Egyptian coast. And you who have such
good eyes, Ned, you can see the jetty of Port Said stretching into the sea."
The Canadian looked attentively.
"Certainly you are right, sir, and your Captain is a
first-rate man. We are in the Mediterranean. Good! Now, if you please, let us
talk of our own little affair, but so that no one hears us."
I saw what the Canadian wanted, and, in any case, I
thought it better to let him talk, as he wished it; so we all three went and sat
down near the lantern, where we were less exposed to the spray of the blades.
"Now, Ned, we listen; what have you to tell us?"
"What I have to tell you is very simple. We are in Europe;
and before Captain Nemo's caprices drag us once more to the bottom of the Polar
Seas, or lead us into Oceania, I ask to leave the Nautilus."
I wished in no way to shackle the liberty of my
companions, but I certainly felt no desire to leave Captain Nemo.
Thanks to him, and thanks to his apparatus, I was each day
nearer the completion of my submarine studies; and
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I was rewriting my book of submarine depths in its very element. Should I ever
again have such an opportunity of observing the wonders of the ocean? No,
certainly not! And I could not bring myself to the idea of abandoning the
Nautilus before the cycle of investigation was accomplished.
"Friend Ned, answer me frankly, are you tired of being on
board? Are you sorry that destiny has thrown us into Captain Nemo's hands?"
The Canadian remained some moments without answering.
Then, crossing his arms, he said:
"Frankly, I do not regret this journey under the seas. I
shall be glad to have made it; but, now that it is made, let us have done with
it. That is my idea."
"It will come to an end, Ned."
"Where and when?"
"Where I do not know -- when I cannot say; or, rather, I
suppose it will end when these seas have nothing more to teach us."
"Then what do you hope for?" demanded the Canadian.
"That circumstances may occur as well six months hence as
now by which we may and ought to profit."
"Oh!" said Ned Land, "and where shall we be in six months,
if you please, Sir Naturalist?"
"Perhaps in China; you know the Nautilus is a rapid
traveller. It goes through water as swallows through the air, or as an express
on the land. It does not fear frequented seas; who can say that it may not beat
the coasts of France, England, or America, on which flight may be attempted as
advantageously as here."
"M. Aronnax," replied the Canadian, "your arguments are
rotten at the foundation. You speak in the future, 'We shall be there! we shall
be here!' I speak in the present, 'We are here, and we must profit by it.'"
Ned Land's logic pressed me hard, and I felt myself beaten
on that ground. I knew not what argument would now tell in my favour.
"Sir," continued Ned, "let us suppose an impossibility: if
Captain Nemo should this day offer you your liberty; would you accept it?"
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"I do not know," I answered.
"And if," he added, "the offer made you this day was never
to be renewed, would you accept it?"
"Friend Ned, this is my answer. Your reasoning is against
me. We must not rely on Captain Nemo's good-will. Common prudence forbids him to
set us at liberty. On the other side, prudence bids us profit by the first
opportunity to leave the Nautilus."
"Well, M. Aronnax, that is wisely said."
"Only one observation -- just one. The occasion must be
serious, and our first attempt must succeed; if it fails, we shall never find
another, and Captain Nemo will never forgive us."
"All that is true," replied the Canadian. "But your
observation applies equally to all attempts at flight, whether in two years'
time, or in two days'. But the question is still this: If a favourable
opportunity presents itself, it must be seized."
"Agreed! And now, Ned, will you tell me what you mean by a
favourable opportunity?"
"It will be that which, on a dark night, will bring the
Nautilus a short distance from some European coast."
"And you will try and save yourself by swimming?"
"Yes, if we were near enough to the bank, and if the
vessel was floating at the time. Not if the bank was far away, and the boat was
under the water."
"And in that case?"
"In that case, I should seek to make myself master of the
pinnace. I know how it is worked. We must get inside, and the bolts once drawn,
we shall come to the surface of the water, without even the pilot, who is in the
bows, perceiving our flight."
"Well, Ned, watch for the opportunity; but do not forget
that a hitch will ruin us."
"I will not forget, sir."
"And now, Ned, would you like to know what I think of your
project?"
"Certainly, M. Aronnax."
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"Well, I think -- I do not say I hope -- I think that this
favourable opportunity will never present itself."
"Why not?"
"Because Captain Nemo cannot hide from himself that we
have not given up all hope of regaining our liberty, and he will be on his
guard, above all, in the seas and in the sight of European coasts."
"We shall see," replied Ned Land, shaking his head
determinedly.
"And now, Ned Land," I added, "let us stop here. Not
another word on the subject. The day that you are ready, come and let us know,
and we will follow you. I rely entirely upon you."
Thus ended a conversation which, at no very distant time,
led to such grave results. I must say here that facts seemed to confirm my
foresight, to the Canadian's great despair. Did Captain Nemo distrust us in
these frequented seas? or did he only wish to hide himself from the numerous
vessels, of all nations, which ploughed the Mediterranean? I could not tell; but
we were oftener between waters and far from the coast. Or, if the Nautilus did
emerge, nothing was to be seen but the pilot's cage; and sometimes it went to
great depths, for, between the Grecian Archipelago and Asia Minor we could not
touch the bottom by more than a thousand fathoms.
Thus I only knew we were near the Island of Carpathos, one
of the Sporades, by Captain Nemo reciting these lines from Virgil:
"Est Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates,
Caeruleus Proteus," as he pointed to a spot on the
planisphere.
It was indeed the ancient abode of Proteus, the old
shepherd of Neptune's flocks, now the Island of Scarpanto, situated between
Rhodes and Crete. I saw nothing but the granite base through the glass panels of
the saloon.
The next day, the 14th of February, I resolved to employ
some hours in studying the fishes of the Archipelago; but for some reason or
other the panels remained hermetically sealed. Upon taking the course of the
Nautilus, I found that
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we were going towards Candia, the ancient Isle of Crete. At the time I embarked
on the Abraham Lincoln, the whole of this island had risen in insurrection
against the despotism of the Turks. But how the insurgents had fared since that
time I was absolutely ignorant, and it was not Captain Nemo, deprived of all
land communications, who could tell me.
I made no allusion to this event when that night I found
myself alone with him in the saloon. Besides, he seemed to be taciturn and
preoccupied. Then, contrary to his custom, he ordered both panels to be opened,
and, going from one to the other, observed the mass of waters attentively. To
what end I could not guess; so, on my side, I employed my time in studying the
fish passing before my eyes.
In the midst of the waters a man appeared, a diver,
carrying at his belt a leathern purse. It was not a body abandoned to the waves;
it was a living man, swimming with a strong hand, disappearing occasionally to
take breath at the surface.
I turned towards Captain Nemo, and in an agitated voice
exclaimed:
"A man shipwrecked! He must be saved at any price!"
The Captain did not answer me, but came and leaned against
the panel.
The man had approached, and, with his face flattened
against the glass, was looking at us.
To my great amazement, Captain Nemo signed to him. The
diver answered with his hand, mounted immediately to the surface of the water,
and did not appear again.
"Do not be uncomfortable," said Captain Nemo. "It is
Nicholas of Cape Matapan, surnamed Pesca. He is well known in all the Cyclades.
A bold diver! water is his element, and he lives more in it than on land, going
continually from one island to another, even as far as Crete."
"You know him, Captain?"
"Why not, M. Aronnax?"
Saying which, Captain Nemo went towards a piece of
furniture standing near the left panel of the saloon. Near this piece of
furniture, I saw a chest bound with iron, on
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the cover of which was a copper plate, bearing the cypher of the Nautilus with
its device.
At that moment, the Captain, without noticing my presence,
opened the piece of furniture, a sort of strong box, which held a great many
ingots.
They were ingots of gold. From whence came this precious
metal, which represented an enormous sum? Where did the Captain gather this gold
from? and what was he going to do with it?
I did not say one word. I looked. Captain Nemo took the
ingots one by one, and arranged them methodically in the chest, which he filled
entirely. I estimated the contents at more than 4,000 lb. weight of gold, that
is to say, nearly L200,000.
The chest was securely fastened, and the Captain wrote an
address on the lid, in characters which must have belonged to Modern Greece.
This done, Captain Nemo pressed a knob, the wire of which
communicated with the quarters of the crew. Four men appeared, and, not without
some trouble, pushed the chest out of the saloon. Then I heard them hoisting it
up the iron staircase by means of pulleys.
At that moment, Captain Nemo turned to me.
"And you were saying, sir?" said he.
"I was saying nothing, Captain."
"Then, sir, if you will allow me, I will wish you good
night."
Whereupon he turned and left the saloon.
I returned to my room much troubled, as one may believe. I
vainly tried to sleep -- I sought the connecting link between the apparition of
the diver and the chest filled with gold. Soon, I felt by certain movements of
pitching and tossing that the Nautilus was leaving the depths and returning to
the surface.
Then I heard steps upon the platform; and I knew they were
unfastening the pinnace and launching it upon the waves. For one instant it
struck the side of the Nautilus, then all noise ceased.
Two hours after, the same noise, the same going and coming
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was renewed; the boat was hoisted on board, replaced in its socket, and the
Nautilus again plunged under the waves.
So these millions had been transported to their address.
To what point of the continent? Who was Captain Nemo's correspondent?
The next day I related to Conseil and the Canadian the
events of the night, which had excited my curiosity to the highest degree. My
companions were not less surprised than myself.
"But where does he take his millions to?" asked Ned Land.
To that there was no possible answer. I returned to the
saloon after having breakfast and set to work. Till five o'clock in the evening
I employed myself in arranging my notes. At that moment -- (ought I to attribute
it to some peculiar idiosyncrasy) -- I felt so great a heat that I was obliged
to take off my coat. It was strange, for we were under low latitudes; and even
then the Nautilus, submerged as it was, ought to experience no change of
temperature. I looked at the manometer; it showed a depth of sixty feet, to
which atmospheric heat could never attain.
I continued my work, but the temperature rose to such a
pitch as to be intolerable.
"Could there be fire on board?" I asked myself.
I was leaving the saloon, when Captain Nemo entered; he
approached the thermometer, consulted it, and, turning to me, said:
"Forty-two degrees."
"I have noticed it, Captain," I replied; "and if it gets
much hotter we cannot bear it."
"Oh, sir, it will not get better if we do not wish it."
"You can reduce it as you please, then?"
"No; but I can go farther from the stove which produces
it."
"It is outward, then!"
"Certainly; we are floating in a current of boiling
water."
"Is it possible!" I exclaimed.
"Look."
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The panels opened, and I saw the sea entirely white all
round. A sulphurous smoke was curling amid the waves, which boiled like water in
a copper. I placed my band on one of the panes of glass, but the heat was so
great that I quickly took it off again.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Near the Island of Santorin, sir," replied the Captain.
"I wished to give you a sight of the curious spectacle of a submarine eruption."
"I thought," said I, "that the formation of these new
islands was ended."
"Nothing is ever ended in the volcanic parts of the sea,"
replied Captain Nemo; "and the globe is always being worked by subterranean
fires. Already, in the nineteenth year of our era, according to Cassiodorus and
Pliny, a new island, Theia (the divine), appeared in the very place where these
islets have recently been formed. Then they sank under the waves, to rise again
in the year 69, when they again subsided. Since that time to our days the
Plutonian work has been suspended. But on the 3rd of February, 1866, a new
island, which they named George Island, emerged from the midst of the sulphurous
vapour near Nea Kamenni, and settled again the 6th of the same month. Seven days
after, the 13th of February, the Island of Aphroessa appeared, leaving between
Nea Kamenni and itself a canal ten yards broad. I was in these seas when the
phenomenon occurred, and I was able therefore to observe all the different
phases. The Island of Aphroessa, of round form, measured 300 feet in diameter,
and 30 feet in height. It was composed of black and vitreous lava, mixed with
fragments of felspar. And lastly, on the 10th of March, a smaller island, called
Reka, showed itself near Nea Kamenni, and since then these three have joined
together, forming but one and the same island."
"And the canal in which we are at this moment?" I asked.
"Here it is," replied Captain Nemo, showing me a map of
the Archipelago. "You see, I have marked the new islands."
I returned to the glass. The Nautilus was no longer
moving,
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the heat was becoming unbearable. The sea, which till now had been white, was
red, owing to the presence of salts of iron. In spite of the ship's being
hermetically sealed, an insupportable smell of sulphur filled the saloon, and
the brilliancy of the electricity was entirely extinguished by bright scarlet
flames. I was in a bath, I was choking, I was broiled.
"We can remain no longer in this boiling water," said I to
the Captain.
"It would not be prudent," replied the impassive Captain
Nemo.
An order was given; the Nautilus tacked about and left the
furnace it could not brave with impunity. A quarter of an hour after we were
breathing fresh air on the surface. The thought then struck me that, if Ned Land
had chosen this part of the sea for our flight, we should never have come alive
out of this sea of fire.
The next day, the 16th of February, we left the basin
which, between Rhodes and Alexandria, is reckoned about 1,500 fathoms in depth,
and the Nautilus, passing some distance from Cerigo, quitted the Grecian
Archipelago after having doubled Cape Matapan.
THE MEDITERRANEAN IN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS
THE Mediterranean, the blue sea par excellence, "the great
sea" of the Hebrews, "the sea" of the Greeks, the "mare nostrum" of the Romans,
bordered by orange-trees, aloes, cacti, and sea-pines; embalmed with the perfume
of the myrtle, surrounded by rude mountains, saturated with pure and transparent
air, but incessantly worked by under-ground fires; a perfect battlefield in
which Neptune and Pluto still dispute the empire of the world!
It is upon these banks, and on these waters, says Michelet,
that man is renewed in one of the most powerful climates of the globe. But,
beautiful as it was, I could only take a
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rapid glance at the basin whose superficial area is two million of square yards.
Even Captain Nemo's knowledge was lost to me, for this puzzling person did not
appear once during our passage at full speed. I estimated the course which the
Nautilus took under the waves of the sea at about six hundred leagues, and it
was accomplished in forty-eight hours. Starting on the morning of the 16th of
February from the shores of Greece, we had crossed the Straits of Gibraltar by
sunrise on the 18th.
It was plain to me that this Mediterranean, enclosed in
the midst of those countries which he wished to avoid, was distasteful to
Captain Nemo. Those waves and those breezes brought back too many remembrances,
if not too many regrets. Here he had no longer that independence and that
liberty of gait which he had when in the open seas, and his Nautilus felt itself
cramped between the close shores of Africa and Europe.
Our speed was now twenty-five miles an hour. It may be
well understood that Ned Land, to his great disgust, was obliged to renounce his
intended flight. He could not launch the pinnace, going at the rate of twelve or
thirteen yards every second. To quit the Nautilus under such conditions would be
as bad as jumping from a train going at full speed -- an imprudent thing, to say
the least of it. Besides, our vessel only mounted to the surface of the waves at
night to renew its stock of air; it was steered entirely by the compass and the
log.
I saw no more of the interior of this Mediterranean than a
traveller by express train perceives of the landscape which flies before his
eyes; that is to say, the distant horizon, and not the nearer objects which pass
like a flash of lightning.
We were then passing between Sicily and the coast of
Tunis. In the narrow space between Cape Bon and the Straits of Messina the
bottom of the sea rose almost suddenly. There was a perfect bank, on which there
was not more than nine fathoms of water, whilst on either side the depth was
ninety fathoms.
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The Nautilus had to manoeuvre very carefully so as not to
strike against this submarine barrier.
I showed Conseil, on the map of the Mediterranean, the
spot occupied by this reef.
"But if you please, sir," observed Conseil, "it is like a
real isthmus joining Europe to Africa."
"Yes, my boy, it forms a perfect bar to the Straits of
Lybia, and the soundings of Smith have proved that in former times the
continents between Cape Boco and Cape Furina were joined."
"I can well believe it," said Conseil.
"I will add," I continued, "that a similar barrier exists
between Gibraltar and Ceuta, which in geological times formed the entire
Mediterranean."
"What if some volcanic burst should one day raise these
two barriers above the waves?"
"It is not probable, Conseil."
"Well, but allow me to finish, please, sir; if this
phenomenon should take place, it will be troublesome for M. Lesseps, who has
taken so much pains to pierce the isthmus."
"I agree with you; but I repeat, Conseil, this phenomenon
will never happen. The violence of subterranean force is ever diminishing.
Volcanoes, so plentiful in the first days of the world, are being extinguished
by degrees; the internal heat is weakened, the temperature of the lower strata
of the globe is lowered by a perceptible quantity every century to the detriment
of our globe, for its heat is its life."
"But the sun?"
"The sun is not sufficient, Conseil. Can it give heat to a
dead body?"
"Not that I know of."
"Well, my friend, this earth will one day be that cold
corpse; it will become uninhabitable and uninhabited like the moon, which has
long since lost all its vital heat."
"In how many centuries?"
"In some hundreds of thousands of years, my boy."
"Then," said Conseil, "we shall have time to finish our
journey -- that is, if Ned Land does not interfere with it."
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And Conseil, reassured, returned to the study of the bank,
which the Nautilus was skirting at a moderate speed.
During the night of the 16th and 17th February we had
entered the second Mediterranean basin, the greatest depth of which was 1,450
fathoms. The Nautilus, by the action of its crew, slid down the inclined planes
and buried itself in the lowest depths of the sea.
On the 18th of February, about three o'clock in the
morning, we were at the entrance of the Straits of Gibraltar. There once existed
two currents: an upper one, long since recognised, which conveys the waters of
the ocean into the basin of the Mediterranean; and a lower counter-current,
which reasoning has now shown to exist. Indeed, the volume of water in the
Mediterranean, incessantly added to by the waves of the Atlantic and by rivers
falling into it, would each year raise the level of this sea, for its
evaporation is not sufficient to restore the equilibrium. As it is not so, we
must necessarily admit the existence of an under-current, which empties into the
basin of the Atlantic through the Straits of Gibraltar the surplus waters of the
Mediterranean. A fact indeed; and it was this counter-current by which the
Nautilus profited. It advanced rapidly by the narrow pass. For one instant I
caught a glimpse of the beautiful ruins of the temple of Hercules, buried in the
ground, according to Pliny, and with the low island which supports it; and a few
minutes later we were floating on the Atlantic.
VIGO BAY
THE Atlantic! a vast sheet of water whose superficial area
covers twenty-five millions of square miles, the length of which is nine
thousand miles, with a mean breadth of two thousand seven hundred -- an ocean
whose parallel winding shores embrace an immense circumference, watered by the
largest rivers of the world, the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, the Amazon, the
Plata, the Orinoco, the Niger, the Senegal,
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the Elbe, the Loire, and the Rhine, which carry water from the most civilised,
as well as from the most savage, countries! Magnificent field of water,
incessantly ploughed by vessels of every nation, sheltered by the flags of every
nation, and which terminates in those two terrible points so dreaded by
mariners, Cape Horn and the Cape of Tempests.
The Nautilus was piercing the water with its sharp spur,
after having accomplished nearly ten thousand leagues in three months and a
half, a distance greater than the great circle of the earth. Where were we going
now, and what was reserved for the future? The Nautilus, leaving the Straits of
Gibraltar, had gone far out. It returned to the surface of the waves, and our
daily walks on the platform were restored to us.
I mounted at once, accompanied by Ned Land and Conseil. At
a distance of about twelve miles, Cape St. Vincent was dimly to be seen, forming
the south-western point of the Spanish peninsula. A strong southerly gale was
blowing. The sea was swollen and billowy; it made the Nautilus rock violently.
It was almost impossible to keep one's foot on the platform, which the heavy
rolls of the sea beat over every instant. So we descended after inhaling some
mouthfuls of fresh air.
I returned to my room, Conseil to his cabin; but the
Canadian, with a preoccupied air, followed me. Our rapid passage across the
Mediterranean had not allowed him to put his project into execution, and he
could not help showing his disappointment. When the door of my room was shut, he
sat down and looked at me silently.
"Friend Ned," said I, "I understand you; but you cannot
reproach yourself. To have attempted to leave the Nautilus under the
circumstances would have been folly."
Ned Land did not answer; his compressed lips and frowning
brow showed with him the violent possession this fixed idea had taken of his
mind.
"Let us see," I continued; "we need not despair yet. We
are going up the coast of Portugal again; France and England are not far off,
where we can easily find refuge. Now if the Nautilus, on leaving the Straits of
Gibraltar, had
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gone to the south, if it had carried us towards regions where there were no
continents, I should share your uneasiness. But we know now that Captain Nemo
does not fly from civilised seas, and in some days I think you can act with
security."
Ned Land still looked at me fixedly; at length his fixed
lips parted, and he said, "It is for to-night."
I drew myself up suddenly. I was, I admit, little prepared
for this communication. I wanted to answer the Canadian, but words would not
come.
"We agreed to wait for an opportunity," continued Ned
Land, "and the opportunity has arrived. This night we shall be but a few miles
from the Spanish coast. It is cloudy. The wind blows freely. I have your word,
M. Aronnax, and I rely upon you."
As I was silent, the Canadian approached me.
"To-night, at nine o'clock," said he. "I have warned
Conseil. At that moment Captain Nemo will be shut up in his room, probably in
bed. Neither the engineers nor the ship's crew can see us. Conseil and I will
gain the central staircase, and you, M. Aronnax, will remain in the library, two
steps from us, waiting my signal. The oars, the mast, and the sail are in the
canoe. I have even succeeded in getting some provisions. I have procured an
English wrench, to unfasten the bolts which attach it to the shell of the
Nautilus. So all is ready, till to-night."
"The sea is bad."
"That I allow," replied the Canadian; "but we must risk
that. Liberty is worth paying for; besides, the boat is strong, and a few miles
with a fair wind to carry us is no great thing. Who knows but by to-morrow we
may be a hundred leagues away? Let circumstances only favour us, and by ten or
eleven o'clock we shall have landed on some spot of terra firma, alive or dead.
But adieu now till to-night."
With these words the Canadian withdrew, leaving me almost
dumb. I had imagined that, the chance gone, I should have time to reflect and
discuss the matter. My obstinate companion had given me no time; and, after all,
what could
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I have said to him? Ned Land was perfectly right. There was almost the
opportunity to profit by. Could I retract my word, and take upon myself the
responsibility of compromising the future of my companions? To-morrow Captain
Nemo might take us far from all land.
At that moment a rather loud hissing noise told me that
the reservoirs were filling, and that the Nautilus was sinking under the waves
of the Atlantic.
A sad day I passed, between the desire of regaining my
liberty of action and of abandoning the wonderful Nautilus, and leaving my
submarine studies incomplete.
What dreadful hours I passed thus! Sometimes seeing myself
and companions safely landed, sometimes wishing, in spite of my reason, that
some unforeseen circumstance, would prevent the realisation of Ned Land's
project.
Twice I went to the saloon. I wished to consult the
compass. I wished to see if the direction the Nautilus was taking was bringing
us nearer or taking us farther from the coast. But no; the Nautilus kept in
Portuguese waters.
I must therefore take my part and prepare for flight. My
luggage was not heavy; my notes, nothing more.
As to Captain Nemo, I asked myself what he would think of
our escape; what trouble, what wrong it might cause him and what he might do in
case of its discovery or failure. Certainly I had no cause to complain of him;
on the contrary, never was hospitality freer than his. In leaving him I could
not be taxed with ingratitude. No oath bound us to him. It was on the strength
of circumstances he relied, and not upon our word, to fix us for ever.
I had not seen the Captain since our visit to the Island
of Santorin. Would chance bring me to his presence before our departure? I
wished it, and I feared it at the same time. I listened if I could hear him
walking the room contiguous to mine. No sound reached my ear. I felt an
unbearable uneasiness. This day of waiting seemed eternal. Hours struck too
slowly to keep pace with my impatience.
My dinner was served in my room as usual. I ate but
little; I was too preoccupied. I left the table at seven o'clock. A hundred and
twenty minutes (I counted them) still separated
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me from the moment in which I was to join Ned Land. My agitation redoubled. My
pulse beat violently. I could not remain quiet. I went and came, hoping to calm
my troubled spirit by constant movement. The idea of failure in our bold
enterprise was the least painful of my anxieties; but the thought of seeing our
project discovered before leaving the Nautilus, of being brought before Captain
Nemo, irritated, or (what was worse) saddened, at my desertion, made my heart
beat.
I wanted to see the saloon for the last time. I descended
the stairs and arrived in the museum, where I had passed so many useful and
agreeable hours. I looked at all its riches, all its treasures, like a man on
the eve of an eternal exile, who was leaving never to return.
These wonders of Nature, these masterpieces of art,
amongst which for so many days my life had been concentrated, I was going to
abandon them for ever! I should like to have taken a last look through the
windows of the saloon into the waters of the Atlantic: but the panels were
hermetically closed, and a cloak of steel separated me from that ocean which I
had not yet explored.
In passing through the saloon, I came near the door let
into the angle which opened into the Captain's room. To my great surprise, this
door was ajar. I drew back involuntarily. If Captain Nemo should be in his room,
he could see me. But, hearing no sound, I drew nearer. The room was deserted. I
pushed open the door and took some steps forward. Still the same monklike
severity of aspect.
Suddenly the clock struck eight. The first beat of the
hammer on the bell awoke me from my dreams. I trembled as if an invisible eye
had plunged into my most secret thoughts, and I hurried from the room.
There my eye fell upon the compass. Our course was still
north. The log indicated moderate speed, the manometer a depth of about sixty
feet.
I returned to my room, clothed myself warmly -- sea-boots,
an otterskin cap, a great coat of byssus, lined with sealskin; I was ready, I
was waiting. The vibration of the screw alone broke the deep silence which
reigned on board.
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I listened attentively. Would no loud voice suddenly inform me that Ned Land had
been surprised in his projected flight. A mortal dread hung over me, and I
vainly tried to regain my accustomed coolness.
At a few minutes to nine, I put my ear to the Captain's
door. No noise. I left my room and returned to the saloon, which was half in
obscurity, but deserted.
I opened the door communicating with the library. The same
insufficient light, the same solitude. I placed myself near the door leading to
the central staircase, and there waited for Ned Land's signal.
At that moment the trembling of the screw sensibly
diminished, then it stopped entirely. The silence was now only disturbed by the
beatings of my own heart. Suddenly a slight shock was felt; and I knew that the
Nautilus had stopped at the bottom of the ocean. My uneasiness increased. The
Canadian's signal did not come. I felt inclined to join Ned Land and beg of him
to put off his attempt. I felt that we were not sailing under our usual
conditions.
At this moment the door of the large saloon opened, and
Captain Nemo appeared. He saw me, and without further preamble began in an
amiable tone of voice:
"Ah, sir! I have been looking for you. Do you know the
history of Spain?"
Now, one might know the history of one's own country by
heart; but in the condition I was at the time, with troubled mind and head quite
lost, I could not have said a word of it.
"Well," continued Captain Nemo, "you heard my question! Do
you know the history of Spain?"
"Very slightly," I answered.
"Well, here are learned men having to learn," said the
Captain. "Come, sit down, and I will tell you a curious episode in this history.
Sir, listen well," said he; "this history will interest you on one side, for it
will answer a question which doubtless you have not been able to solve."
"I listen, Captain," said I, not knowing what my
interlocutor was driving at, and asking myself if this incident was bearing on
our projected flight.
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"Sir, if you have no objection, we will go back to 1702.
You cannot be ignorant that your king, Louis XIV, thinking that the gesture of a
potentate was sufficient to bring the Pyrenees under his yoke, had imposed the
Duke of Anjou, his grandson, on the Spaniards. This prince reigned more or less
badly under the name of Philip V, and had a strong party against him abroad.
Indeed, the preceding year, the royal houses of Holland, Austria, and England
had concluded a treaty of alliance at the Hague, with the intention of plucking
the crown of Spain from the head of Philip V, and placing it on that of an
archduke to whom they prematurely gave the title of Charles III.
"Spain must resist this coalition; but she was almost
entirely unprovided with either soldiers or sailors. However, money would not
fail them, provided that their galleons, laden with gold and silver from
America, once entered their ports. And about the end of 1702 they expected a
rich convoy which France was escorting with a fleet of twenty-three vessels,
commanded by Admiral Chateau-Renaud, for the ships of the coalition were already
beating the Atlantic. This convoy was to go to Cadiz, but the Admiral, hearing
that an English fleet was cruising in those waters, resolved to make for a
French port.
"The Spanish commanders of the convoy objected to this
decision. They wanted to be taken to a Spanish port, and, if not to Cadiz, into
Vigo Bay, situated on the northwest coast of Spain, and which was not blocked.
"Admiral Chateau-Renaud had the rashness to obey this
injunction, and the galleons entered Vigo Bay.
"Unfortunately, it formed an open road which could not be
defended in any way. They must therefore hasten to unload the galleons before
the arrival of the combined fleet; and time would not have failed them had not a
miserable question of rivalry suddenly arisen.
"You are following the chain of events?" asked Captain
Nemo.
"Perfectly," said I, not knowing the end proposed by this
historical lesson.
"I will continue. This is what passed. The merchants of
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Cadiz had a privilege by which they had the right of receiving all merchandise
coming from the West Indies. Now, to disembark these ingots at the port of Vigo
was depriving them of their rights. They complained at Madrid, and obtained the
consent of the weak-minded Philip that the convoy, without discharging its
cargo, should remain sequestered in the roads of Vigo until the enemy had
disappeared.
"But whilst coming to this decision, on the 22nd of
October, 1702, the English vessels arrived in Vigo Bay, when Admiral Chateau-Renaud,
in spite of inferior forces, fought bravely. But, seeing that the treasure must
fall into the enemy's hands, he burnt and scuttled every galleon, which went to
the bottom with their immense riches."
Captain Nemo stopped. I admit I could not see yet why this
history should interest me.
"Well?" I asked.
"Well, M. Aronnax," replied Captain Nemo, "we are in that
Vigo Bay; and it rests with yourself whether you will penetrate its mysteries."
The Captain rose, telling me to follow him. I had had time
to recover. I obeyed. The saloon was dark, but through the transparent glass the
waves were sparkling. I looked.
For half a mile around the Nautilus, the waters seemed
bathed in electric light. The sandy bottom was clean and bright. Some of the
ship's crew in their diving-dresses were clearing away half-rotten barrels and
empty cases from the midst of the blackened wrecks. From these cases and from
these barrels escaped ingots of gold and silver, cascades of piastres and
jewels. The sand was heaped up with them. Laden with their precious booty, the
men returned to the Nautilus, disposed of their burden, and went back to this
inexhaustible fishery of gold and silver.
I understood now. This was the scene of the battle of the
22nd of October, 1702. Here on this very spot the galleons laden for the Spanish
Government had sunk. Here Captain Nemo came, according to his wants, to pack up
those millions with which he burdened the Nautilus. It was for him and him alone
America had given up her precious metals. He was
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heir direct, without anyone to share, in those treasures torn from the Incas and
from the conquered of Ferdinand Cortez.
"Did you know, sir," he asked, smiling, "that the sea
contained such riches?"
"I knew," I answered, "that they value money held in
suspension in these waters at two millions."
"Doubtless; but to extract this money the expense would be
greater than the profit. Here, on the contrary, I have but to pick up what man
has lost -- and not only in Vigo Bay, but in a thousand other ports where
shipwrecks have happened, and which are marked on my submarine map. Can you
understand now the source of the millions I am worth?"
"I understand, Captain. But allow me to tell you that in
exploring Vigo Bay you have only been beforehand with a rival society."
"And which?"
"A society which has received from the Spanish Government
the privilege of seeking those buried galleons. The shareholders are led on by
the allurement of an enormous bounty, for they value these rich shipwrecks at
five hundred millions."
"Five hundred millions they were," answered Captain Nemo,
"but they are so no longer."
"Just so," said I; "and a warning to those shareholders
would be an act of charity. But who knows if it would be well received? What
gamblers usually regret above all is less the loss of their money than of their
foolish hopes. After all, I pity them less than the thousands of unfortunates to
whom so much riches well-distributed would have been profitable, whilst for them
they will be for ever barren."
I had no sooner expressed this regret than I felt that it
must have wounded Captain Nemo.
"Barren!" he exclaimed, with animation. "Do you think
then, sir, that these riches are lost because I gather them? Is it for myself
alone, according to your idea, that I take the trouble to collect these
treasures? Who told you that I did not make a good use of it? Do you think I am
ignorant that there are suffering beings and oppressed races on this
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earth, miserable creatures to console, victims to avenge? Do you not
understand?"
Captain Nemo stopped at these last words, regretting
perhaps that he had spoken so much. But I had guessed that, whatever the motive
which had forced him to seek independence under the sea, it had left him still a
man, that his heart still beat for the sufferings of humanity, and that his
immense charity was for oppressed races as well as individuals. And I then
understood for whom those millions were destined which were forwarded by Captain
Nemo when the Nautilus was cruising in the waters of Crete.
A VANISHED CONTINENT
THE next morning, the 19th of February, I saw the Canadian
enter my room. I expected this visit. He looked very disappointed.
"Well, sir?" said he.
"Well, Ned, fortune was against us yesterday."
"Yes; that Captain must needs stop exactly at the hour we
intended leaving his vessel."
"Yes, Ned, he had business at his bankers."
"His bankers!"
"Or rather his banking-house; by that I mean the ocean,
where his riches are safer than in the chests of the State."
I then related to the Canadian the incidents of the
preceding night, hoping to bring him back to the idea of not abandoning the
Captain; but my recital had no other result than an energetically expressed
regret from Ned that he had not been able to take a walk on the battlefield of
Vigo on his own account.
"However," said he, "all is not ended. It is only a blow
of the harpoon lost. Another time we must succeed; and to-night, if necessary --
"
"In what direction is the Nautilus going?" I asked.
"I do not know," replied Ned.
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"Well, at noon we shall see the point."
The Canadian returned to Conseil. As soon as I was
dressed, I went into the saloon. The compass was not reassuring. The course of
the Nautilus was S.S.W. We were turning our backs on Europe.
I waited with some impatience till the ship's place was
pricked on the chart. At about half-past eleven the reservoirs were emptied, and
our vessel rose to the surface of the ocean. I rushed towards the platform. Ned
Land had preceded me. No more land in sight. Nothing but an immense sea. Some
sails on the horizon, doubtless those going to San Roque in search of favourable
winds for doubling the Cape of Good Hope. The weather was cloudy. A gale of wind
was preparing. Ned raved, and tried to pierce the cloudy horizon. He still hoped
that behind all that fog stretched the land he so longed for.
At noon the sun showed itself for an instant. The second
profited by this brightness to take its height. Then, the sea becoming more
billowy, we descended, and the panel closed.
An hour after, upon consulting the chart, I saw the
position of the Nautilus was marked at 16o 17' long., and 33o
22' lat., at 150 leagues from the nearest coast. There was no means of flight,
and I leave you to imagine the rage of the Canadian when I informed him of our
situation.
For myself, I was not particularly sorry. I felt lightened
of the load which had oppressed me, and was able to return with some degree of
calmness to my accustomed work.
That night, about eleven o'clock, I received a most
unexpected visit from Captain Nemo. He asked me very graciously if I felt
fatigued from my watch of the preceding night. I answered in the negative.
"Then, M. Aronnax, I propose a curious excursion."
"Propose, Captain?"
"You have hitherto only visited the submarine depths by
daylight, under the brightness of the sun. Would it suit you to see them in the
darkness of the night?"
"Most willingly."
"I warn you, the way will be tiring. We shall have far
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to walk, and must climb a mountain. The roads are not well kept."
"What you say, Captain, only heightens my curiosity; I am
ready to follow you."
"Come then, sir, we will put on our diving-dresses."
Arrived at the robing-room, I saw that neither of my
companions nor any of the ship's crew were to follow us on this excursion.
Captain Nemo had not even proposed my taking with me either Ned or Conseil.
In a few moments we had put on our diving-dresses; they
placed on our backs the reservoirs, abundantly filled with air, but no electric
lamps were prepared. I called the Captain's attention to the fact.
"They will be useless," he replied.
I thought I had not heard aright, but I could not repeat
my observation, for the Captain's head had already disappeared in its metal
case. I finished harnessing myself. I felt them put an iron-pointed stick into
my hand, and some minutes later, after going through the usual form, we set foot
on the bottom of the Atlantic at a depth of 150 fathoms. Midnight was near. The
waters were profoundly dark, but Captain Nemo pointed out in the distance a
reddish spot, a sort of large light shining brilliantly about two miles from the
Nautilus. What this fire might be, what could feed it, why and how it lit up the
liquid mass, I could not say. In any case, it did light our way, vaguely, it is
true, but I soon accustomed myself to the peculiar darkness, and I understood,
under such circumstances, the uselessness of the Ruhmkorff apparatus.
As we advanced, I heard a kind of pattering above my head.
The noise redoubling, sometimes producing a continual shower, I soon understood
the cause. It was rain falling violently, and crisping the surface of the waves.
Instinctively the thought flashed across my mind that I should be wet through!
By the water! in the midst of the water! I could not help laughing at the odd
idea. But, indeed, in the thick diving-dress, the liquid element is no longer
felt, and one only seems to be in an atmosphere somewhat denser than the
terrestrial atmosphere. Nothing more.
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After half an hour's walk the soil became stony. Medusae,
microscopic crustacea, and pennatules lit it slightly with their phosphorescent
gleam. I caught a glimpse of pieces of stone covered with millions of zoophytes
and masses of seaweed. My feet often slipped upon this sticky carpet of seaweed,
and without my iron-tipped stick I should have fallen more than once. In turning
round, I could still see the whitish lantern of the Nautilus beginning to pale
in the distance.
But the rosy light which guided us increased and lit up
the horizon. The presence of this fire under water puzzled me in the highest
degree. Was I going towards a natural phenomenon as yet unknown to the savants
of the earth? Or even (for this thought crossed my brain) had the hand of man
aught to do with this conflagration? Had he fanned this flame? Was I to meet in
these depths companions and friends of Captain Nemo whom he was going to visit,
and who, like him, led this strange existence? Should I find down there a whole
colony of exiles who, weary of the miseries of this earth, had sought and found
independence in the deep ocean? All these foolish and unreasonable ideas pursued
me. And in this condition of mind, over-excited by the succession of wonders
continually passing before my eyes, I should not have been surprised to meet at
the bottom of the sea one of those submarine towns of which Captain Nemo
dreamed.
Our road grew lighter and lighter. The white glimmer came
in rays from the summit of a mountain about 800 feet high. But what I saw was
simply a reflection, developed by the clearness of the waters. The source of
this inexplicable light was a fire on the opposite side of the mountain.
In the midst of this stony maze furrowing the bottom of
the Atlantic, Captain Nemo advanced without hesitation. He knew this dreary
road. Doubtless he had often travelled over it, and could not lose himself. I
followed him with unshaken confidence. He seemed to me like a genie of the sea;
and, as he walked before me, I could not help admiring his stature, which was
outlined in black on the luminous horizon.
It was one in the morning when we arrived at the first
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slopes of the mountain; but to gain access to them we must venture through the
difficult paths of a vast copse.
Yes; a copse of dead trees, without leaves, without sap,
trees petrified by the action of the water and here and there overtopped by
gigantic pines. It was like a coal-pit still standing, holding by the roots to
the broken soil, and whose branches, like fine black paper cuttings, showed
distinctly on the watery ceiling. Picture to yourself a forest in the Hartz
hanging on to the sides of the mountain, but a forest swallowed up. The paths
were encumbered with seaweed and fucus, between which grovelled a whole world of
crustacea. I went along, climbing the rocks, striding over extended trunks,
breaking the sea bind-weed which hung from one tree to the other; and
frightening the fishes, which flew from branch to branch. Pressing onward, I
felt no fatigue. I followed my guide, who was never tired. What a spectacle! How
can I express it? how paint the aspect of those woods and rocks in this medium
-- their under parts dark and wild, the upper coloured with red tints, by that
light which the reflecting powers of the waters doubled? We climbed rocks which
fell directly after with gigantic bounds and the low growling of an avalanche.
To right and left ran long, dark galleries, where sight was lost. Here opened
vast glades which the hand of man seemed to have worked; and I sometimes asked
myself if some inhabitant of these submarine regions would not suddenly appear
to me.
But Captain Nemo was still mounting. I could not stay
behind. I followed boldly. My stick gave me good help. A false step would have
been dangerous on the narrow passes sloping down to the sides of the gulfs; but
I walked with firm step, without feeling any giddiness. Now I jumped a crevice,
the depth of which would have made me hesitate had it been among the glaciers on
the land; now I ventured on the unsteady trunk of a tree thrown across from one
abyss to the other, without looking under my feet, having only eyes to admire
the wild sites of this region.
There, monumental rocks, leaning on their regularly-cut
bases, seemed to defy all laws of equilibrium. From between their stony knees
trees sprang, like a jet under heavy pressure,
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and upheld others which upheld them. Natural towers, large scarps, cut
perpendicularly, like a "curtain," inclined at an angle which the laws of
gravitation could never have tolerated in terrestrial regions.
Two hours after quitting the Nautilus we had crossed the
line of trees, and a hundred feet above our heads rose the top of the mountain,
which cast a shadow on the brilliant irradiation of the opposite slope. Some
petrified shrubs ran fantastically here and there. Fishes got up under our feet
like birds in the long grass. The massive rocks were rent with impenetrable
fractures, deep grottos, and unfathomable holes, at the bottom of which
formidable creatures might be heard moving. My blood curdled when I saw enormous
antennae blocking my road, or some frightful claw closing with a noise in the
shadow of some cavity. Millions of luminous spots shone brightly in the midst of
the darkness. They were the eyes of giant crustacea crouched in their holes;
giant lobsters setting themselves up like halberdiers, and moving their claws
with the clicking sound of pincers; titanic crabs, pointed like a gun on its
carriage; and frightful-looking poulps, interweaving their tentacles like a
living nest of serpents.
We had now arrived on the first platform, where other
surprises awaited me. Before us lay some picturesque ruins, which betrayed the
hand of man and not that of the Creator. There were vast heaps of stone, amongst
which might be traced the vague and shadowy forms of castles and temples,
clothed with a world of blossoming zoophytes, and over which, instead of ivy,
sea-weed and fucus threw a thick vegetable mantle. But what was this portion of
the globe which had been swallowed by cataclysms? Who had placed those rocks and
stones like cromlechs of prehistoric times? Where was I? Whither had Captain
Nemo's fancy hurried me?
I would fain have asked him; not being able to, I stopped
him -- I seized his arm. But, shaking his head, and pointing to the highest
point of the mountain, he seemed to say:
"Come, come along; come higher!"
I followed, and in a few minutes I had climbed to the
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top, which for a circle of ten yards commanded the whole mass of rock.
I looked down the side we had just climbed. The mountain
did not rise more than seven or eight hundred feet above the level of the plain;
but on the opposite side it commanded from twice that height the depths of this
part of the Atlantic. My eyes ranged far over a large space lit by a violent
fulguration. In fact, the mountain was a volcano.
At fifty feet above the peak, in the midst of a rain of
stones and scoriae, a large crater was vomiting forth torrents of lava which
fell in a cascade of fire into the bosom of the liquid mass. Thus situated, this
volcano lit the lower plain like an immense torch, even to the extreme limits of
the horizon. I said that the submarine crater threw up lava, but no flames.
Flames require the oxygen of the air to feed upon and cannot be developed under
water; but streams of lava, having in themselves the principles of their
incandescence, can attain a white heat, fight vigorously against the liquid
element, and turn it to vapour by contact.
Rapid currents bearing all these gases in diffusion and
torrents of lava slid to the bottom of the mountain like an eruption of Vesuvius
on another Terra del Greco.
There indeed under my eyes, ruined, destroyed, lay a town
-- its roofs open to the sky, its temples fallen, its arches dislocated, its
columns lying on the ground, from which one would still recognise the massive
character of Tuscan architecture. Further on, some remains of a gigantic
aqueduct; here the high base of an Acropolis, with the floating outline of a
Parthenon; there traces of a quay, as if an ancient port had formerly abutted on
the borders of the ocean, and disappeared with its merchant vessels and its
war-galleys. Farther on again, long lines of sunken walls and broad, deserted
streets -- a perfect Pompeii escaped beneath the waters. Such was the sight that
Captain Nemo brought before my eyes!
Where was I? Where was I? I must know at any cost. I tried
to speak, but Captain Nemo stopped me by a
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gesture, and, picking up a piece of chalk-stone, advanced to a rock of black
basalt, and traced the one word:
ATLANTIS
What a light shot through my mind! Atlantis! the Atlantis
of Plato, that continent denied by Origen and Humbolt, who placed its
disappearance amongst the legendary tales. I had it there now before my eyes,
bearing upon it the unexceptionable testimony of its catastrophe. The region
thus engulfed was beyond Europe, Asia, and Lybia, beyond the columns of
Hercules, where those powerful people, the Atlantides, lived, against whom the
first wars of ancient Greeks were waged.
Thus, led by the strangest destiny, I was treading under
foot the mountains of this continent, touching with my hand those ruins a
thousand generations old and contemporary with the geological epochs. I was
walking on the very spot where the contemporaries of the first man had walked.
Whilst I was trying to fix in my mind every detail of this
grand landscape, Captain Nemo remained motionless, as if petrified in mute
ecstasy, leaning on a mossy stone. Was he dreaming of those generations long
since disappeared? Was he asking them the secret of human destiny? Was it here
this strange man came to steep himself in historical recollections, and live
again this ancient life -- he who wanted no modern one? What would I not have
given to know his thoughts, to share them, to understand them! We remained for
an hour at this place, contemplating the vast plains under the brightness of the
lava, which was sometimes wonderfully intense. Rapid tremblings ran along the
mountain caused by internal bubblings, deep noise, distinctly transmitted
through the liquid medium were echoed with majestic grandeur. At this moment the
moon appeared through the mass of waters and threw her pale rays on the buried
continent. It was but a gleam, but what an indescribable effect! The Captain
rose, cast one last look on the immense plain, and then bade me follow him.
We descended the mountain rapidly, and, the mineral forest
once passed, I saw the lantern of the Nautilus shining
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like a star. The Captain walked straight to it, and we got on board as the first
rays of light whitened the surface of the ocean.
THE SUBMARINE COAL-MINES
THE next day, the 20th of February, I awoke very late: the
fatigues of the previous night had prolonged my sleep until eleven o'clock. I
dressed quickly, and hastened to find the course the Nautilus was taking. The
instruments showed it to be still toward the south, with a speed of twenty miles
an hour and a depth of fifty fathoms.
The species of fishes here did not differ much from those
already noticed. There were rays of giant size, five yards long, and endowed
with great muscular strength, which enabled them to shoot above the waves;
sharks of many kinds; amongst others, one fifteen feet long, with triangular
sharp teeth, and whose transparency rendered it almost invisible in the water.
Amongst bony fish Conseil noticed some about three yards
long, armed at the upper jaw with a piercing sword; other bright-coloured
creatures, known in the time of Aristotle by the name of the sea-dragon, which
are dangerous to capture on account of the spikes on their back.
About four o'clock, the soil, generally composed of a
thick mud mixed with petrified wood, changed by degrees, and it became more
stony, and seemed strewn with conglomerate and pieces of basalt, with a
sprinkling of lava. I thought that a mountainous region was succeeding the long
plains; and accordingly, after a few evolutions of the Nautilus, I saw the
southerly horizon blocked by a high wall which seemed to close all exit. Its
summit evidently passed the level of the ocean. It must be a continent, or at
least an island -- one of the Canaries, or of the Cape Verde Islands. The
bearings not being yet taken, perhaps designedly, I was ignorant of our exact
position. In any case, such
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a wall seemed to me to mark the limits of that Atlantis, of which we had in
reality passed over only the smallest part.
Much longer should I have remained at the window admiring
the beauties of sea and sky, but the panels closed. At this moment the Nautilus
arrived at the side of this high, perpendicular wall. What it would do, I could
not guess. I returned to my room; it no longer moved. I laid myself down with
the full intention of waking after a few hours' sleep; but it was eight o'clock
the next day when I entered the saloon. I looked at the manometer. It told me
that the Nautilus was floating on the surface of the ocean. Besides, I heard
steps on the platform. I went to the panel. It was open; but, instead of broad
daylight, as I expected, I was surrounded by profound darkness. Where were we?
Was I mistaken? Was it still night? No; not a star was shining and night has not
that utter darkness.
I knew not what to think, when a voice near me said:
"Is that you, Professor?"
"Ah! Captain," I answered, "where are we?"
"Underground, sir."
"Underground!" I exclaimed. "And the Nautilus floating
still?"
"It always floats."
"But I do not understand."
"Wait a few minutes, our lantern will be lit, and, if you
like light places, you will be satisfied."
I stood on the platform and waited. The darkness was so
complete that I could not even see Captain Nemo; but, looking to the zenith,
exactly above my head, I seemed to catch an undecided gleam, a kind of twilight
filling a circular hole. At this instant the lantern was lit, and its vividness
dispelled the faint light. I closed my dazzled eyes for an instant, and then
looked again. The Nautilus was stationary, floating near a mountain which formed
a sort of quay. The lake, then, supporting it was a lake imprisoned by a circle
of walls, measuring two miles in diameter and six in circumference. Its level
(the manometer showed) could only be the same as the outside level, for there
must necessarily be a communication between the lake and the sea. The high
partitions,
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leaning forward on their base, grew into a vaulted roof bearing the shape of an
immense funnel turned upside down, the height being about five or six hundred
yards. At the summit was a circular orifice, by which I had caught the slight
gleam of light, evidently daylight.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"In the very heart of an extinct volcano, the interior of
which has been invaded by the sea, after some great convulsion of the earth.
Whilst you were sleeping, Professor, the Nautilus penetrated to this lagoon by a
natural canal, which opens about ten yards beneath the surface of the ocean.
This is its harbour of refuge, a sure, commodious, and mysterious one, sheltered
from all gales. Show me, if you can, on the coasts of any of your continents or
islands, a road which can give such perfect refuge from all storms."
"Certainly," I replied, "you are in safety here, Captain
Nemo. Who could reach you in the heart of a volcano? But did I not see an
opening at its summit?"
"Yes; its crater, formerly filled with lava, vapour, and
flames, and which now gives entrance to the life-giving air we breathe."
"But what is this volcanic mountain?"
"It belongs to one of the numerous islands with which this
sea is strewn -- to vessels a simple sandbank -- to us an immense cavern. Chance
led me to discover it, and chance served me well."
"But of what use is this refuge, Captain? The Nautilus
wants no port."
"No, sir; but it wants electricity to make it move, and
the wherewithal to make the electricity -- sodium to feed the elements, coal
from which to get the sodium, and a coal-mine to supply the coal. And exactly on
this spot the sea covers entire forests embedded during the geological periods,
now mineralised and transformed into coal; for me they are an inexhaustible
mine."
"Your men follow the trade of miners here, then, Captain?"
"Exactly so. These mines extend under the waves like the
mines of Newcastle. Here, in their diving-dresses, pick-
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axe and shovel in hand, my men extract the coal, which I do not even ask from
the mines of the earth. When I burn this combustible for the manufacture of
sodium, the smoke, escaping from the crater of the mountain, gives it the
appearance of a still-active volcano."
"And we shall see your companions at work?"
"No; not this time at least; for I am in a hurry to
continue our submarine tour of the earth. So I shall content myself with drawing
from the reserve of sodium I already possess. The time for loading is one day
only, and we continue our voyage. So, if you wish to go over the cavern and make
the round of the lagoon, you must take advantage of to-day, M. Aronnax."
I thanked the Captain and went to look for my companions,
who had not yet left their cabin. I invited them to follow me without saying
where we were. They mounted the platform. Conseil, who was astonished at
nothing, seemed to look upon it as quite natural that he should wake under a
mountain, after having fallen asleep under the waves. But Ned Land thought of
nothing but finding whether the cavern had any exit. After breakfast, about ten
o'clock, we went down on to the mountain.
"Here we are, once more on land," said Conseil.
"I do not call this land," said the Canadian. "And
besides, we are not on it, but beneath it."
Between the walls of the mountains and the waters of the
lake lay a sandy shore which, at its greatest breadth, measured five hundred
feet. On this soil one might easily make the tour of the lake. But the base of
the high partitions was stony ground, with volcanic locks and enormous
pumice-stones lying in picturesque heaps. All these detached masses, covered
with enamel, polished by the action of the subterraneous fires, shone
resplendent by the light of our electric lantern. The mica dust from the shore,
rising under our feet, flew like a cloud of sparks. The bottom now rose
sensibly, and we soon arrived at long circuitous slopes, or inclined planes,
which took us higher by degrees; but we were obliged to walk carefully among
these conglomerates,
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bound by no cement, the feet slipping on the glassy crystal, felspar, and
quartz.
The volcanic nature of this enormous excavation was
confirmed on all sides, and I pointed it out to my companions.
"Picture to yourselves," said I, "what this crater must
have been when filled with boiling lava, and when the level of the incandescent
liquid rose to the orifice of the mountain, as though melted on the top of a hot
plate."
"I can picture it perfectly," said Conseil. "But, sir,
will you tell me why the Great Architect has suspended operations, and how it is
that the furnace is replaced by the quiet waters of the lake?"
"Most probably, Conseil, because some convulsion beneath
the ocean produced that very opening which has served as a passage for the
Nautilus. Then the waters of the Atlantic rushed into the interior of the
mountain. There must have been a terrible struggle between the two elements, a
struggle which ended in the victory of Neptune. But many ages have run out since
then, and the submerged volcano is now a peaceable grotto."
"Very well," replied Ned Land; "I accept the explanation,
sir; but, in our own interests, I regret that the opening of which you speak was
not made above the level of the sea."
"But, friend Ned," said Conseil, "if the passage had not
been under the sea, the Nautilus could not have gone through it."
We continued ascending. The steps became more and more
perpendicular and narrow. Deep excavations, which we were obliged to cross, cut
them here and there; sloping masses had to be turned. We slid upon our knees and
crawled along. But Conseil's dexterity and the Canadian's strength surmounted
all obstacles. At a height of about 31 feet the nature of the ground changed
without becoming more practicable. To the conglomerate and trachyte succeeded
black basalt, the first dispread in layers full of bubbles, the latter forming
regular prisms, placed like a colonnade supporting the spring of the immense
vault, an admirable specimen of natural architecture. Between the blocks of
basalt wound long streams of lava, long since
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grown cold, encrusted with bituminous rays; and in some places there were spread
large carpets of sulphur. A more powerful light shone through the upper crater,
shedding a vague glimmer over these volcanic depressions for ever buried in the
bosom of this extinguished mountain. But our upward march was soon stopped at a
height of about two hundred and fifty feet by impassable obstacles. There was a
complete vaulted arch overhanging us, and our ascent was changed to a circular
walk. At the last change vegetable life began to struggle with the mineral. Some
shrubs, and even some trees, grew from the fractures of the walls. I recognised
some euphorbias, with the caustic sugar coming from them; heliotropes, quite
incapable of justifying their name, sadly drooped their clusters of flowers,
both their colour and perfume half gone. Here and there some chrysanthemums grew
timidly at the foot of an aloe with long, sickly-looking leaves. But between the
streams of lava, I saw some little violets still slightly perfumed, and I admit
that I smelt them with delight. Perfume is the soul of the flower, and
sea-flowers have no soul.
We had arrived at the foot of some sturdy dragon-trees,
which had pushed aside the rocks with their strong roots, when Ned Land
exclaimed:
"Ah! sir, a hive! a hive!"
"A hive!" I replied, with a gesture of incredulity.
"Yes, a hive," repeated the Canadian, "and bees humming
round it."
I approached, and was bound to believe my own eyes. There
at a hole bored in one of the dragon-trees were some thousands of these
ingenious insects, so common in all the Canaries, and whose produce is so much
esteemed. Naturally enough, the Canadian wished to gather the honey, and I could
not well oppose his wish. A quantity of dry leaves, mixed with sulphur, he lit
with a spark from his flint, and he began to smoke out the bees. The humming
ceased by degrees, and the hive eventually yielded several pounds of the
sweetest honey, with which Ned Land filled his haversack.
"When I have mixed this honey with the paste of the
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bread-fruit," said he, "I shall be able to offer you a succulent cake."
"'Pon my word," said Conseil, "it will be gingerbread."
"Never mind the gingerbread," said I; "let us continue our
interesting walk."
At every turn of the path we were following, the lake
appeared in all its length and breadth. The lantern lit up the whole of its
peaceable surface, which knew neither ripple nor wave. The Nautilus remained
perfectly immovable. On the platform, and on the mountain, the ship's crew were
working like black shadows clearly carved against the luminous atmosphere. We
were now going round the highest crest of the first layers of rock which upheld
the roof. I then saw that bees were not the only representatives of the animal
kingdom in the interior of this volcano. Birds of prey hovered here and there in
the shadows, or fled from their nests on the top of the rocks. There were
sparrow-hawks, with white breasts, and kestrels, and down the slopes scampered,
with their long legs, several fine fat bustards. I leave anyone to imagine the
covetousness of the Canadian at the sight of this savoury game, and whether he
did not regret having no gun. But he did his best to replace the lead by stones,
and, after several fruitless attempts, he succeeded in wounding a magnificent
bird. To say that he risked his life twenty times before reaching it is but the
truth; but he managed so well that the creature joined the honey-cakes in his
bag. We were now obliged to descend toward the shore, the crest becoming
impracticable. Above us the crater seemed to gape like the mouth of a well. From
this place the sky could be clearly seen, and clouds, dissipated by the west
wind, leaving behind them, even on the summit of the mountain, their misty
remnants -- certain proof that they were only moderately high, for the volcano
did not rise more than eight hundred feet above the level of the ocean. Half an
hour after the Canadian's last exploit we had regained the inner shore. Here the
flora was represented by large carpets of marine crystal, a little umbelliferous
plant very good to pickle, which also bears the name of pierce-stone and
sea-fennel. Conseil gathered some
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bundles of it. As to the fauna, it might be counted by thousands of crustacea of
all sorts, lobsters, crabs, spider-crabs, chameleon shrimps, and a large number
of shells, rockfish, and limpets. Three-quarters of an hour later we had
finished our circuitous walk and were on board. The crew had just finished
loading the sodium, and the Nautilus could have left that instant. But Captain
Nemo gave no order. Did be wish to wait until night, and leave the submarine
passage secretly? Perhaps so. Whatever it might be, the next day, the Nautilus,
having left its port, steered clear of all land at a few yards beneath the waves
of the Atlantic.
THE SARGASSO SEA
THAT day the Nautilus crossed a singular part of the
Atlantic Ocean. No one can be ignorant of the existence of a current of warm
water known by the name of the Gulf Stream. After leaving the Gulf of Florida,
we went in the direction of Spitzbergen. But before entering the Gulf of Mexico,
about 45o of N. lat., this current divides into two arms, the
principal one going towards the coast of Ireland and Norway, whilst the second
bends to the south about the height of the Azores; then, touching the African
shore, and describing a lengthened oval, returns to the Antilles. This second
arm -- it is rather a collar than an arm -- surrounds with its circles of warm
water that portion of the cold, quiet, immovable ocean called the Sargasso Sea,
a perfect lake in the open Atlantic: it takes no less than three years for the
great current to pass round it. Such was the region the Nautilus was now
visiting, a perfect meadow, a close carpet of seaweed, fucus, and tropical
berries, so thick and so compact that the stem of a vessel could hardly tear its
way through it. And Captain Nemo, not wishing to entangle his screw in this
herbaceous mass, kept some yards beneath the surface of the waves. The name
Sargasso comes from the Spanish word "sargazzo" which signifies kelp.
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This kelp, or berry-plant, is the principal formation of this immense bank. And
this is the reason why these plants unite in the peaceful basin of the Atlantic.
The only explanation which can be given, he says, seems to me to result from the
experience known to all the world. Place in a vase some fragments of cork or
other floating body, and give to the water in the vase a circular movement, the
scattered fragments will unite in a group in the centre of the liquid surface,
that is to say, in the part least agitated. In the phenomenon we are
considering, the Atlantic is the vase, the Gulf Stream the circular current, and
the Sargasso Sea the central point at which the floating bodies unite.
I share Maury's opinion, and I was able to study the
phenomenon in the very midst, where vessels rarely penetrate. Above us floated
products of all kinds, heaped up among these brownish plants; trunks of trees
torn from the Andes or the Rocky Mountains, and floated by the Amazon or the
Mississippi; numerous wrecks, remains of keels, or ships' bottoms, side-planks
stove in, and so weighted with shells and barnacles that they could not again
rise to the surface. And time will one day justify Maury's other opinion, that
these substances thus accumulated for ages will become petrified by the action
of the water and will then form inexhaustible coal-mines -- a precious reserve
prepared by far-seeing Nature for the moment when men shall have exhausted the
mines of continents.
In the midst of this inextricable mass of plants and
seaweed, I noticed some charming pink halcyons and actiniae, with their long
tentacles trailing after them, and medusae, green, red, and blue.
All the day of the 22nd of February we passed in the
Sargasso Sea, where such fish as are partial to marine plants find abundant
nourishment. The next, the ocean had returned to its accustomed aspect. From
this time for nineteen days, from the 23rd of February to the 12th of March, the
Nautilus kept in the middle of the Atlantic, carrying us at a constant speed of
a hundred leagues in twenty-four hours. Captain Nemo evidently intended
accomplishing his submarine programme, and I imagined that he intended,
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after doubling Cape Horn, to return to the Australian seas of the Pacific. Ned
Land had cause for fear. In these large seas, void of islands, we could not
attempt to leave the boat. Nor had we any means of opposing Captain Nemo's will.
Our only course was to submit; but what we could neither gain by force nor
cunning, I liked to think might be obtained by persuasion. This voyage ended,
would he not consent to restore our liberty, under an oath never to reveal his
existence? -- an oath of honour which we should have religiously kept. But we
must consider that delicate question with the Captain. But was I free to claim
this liberty? Had he not himself said from the beginning, in the firmest manner,
that the secret of his life exacted from him our lasting imprisonment on board
the Nautilus? And would not my four months' silence appear to him a tacit
acceptance of our situation? And would not a return to the subject result in
raising suspicions which might be hurtful to our projects, if at some future
time a favourable opportunity offered to return to them?
During the nineteen days mentioned above, no incident of
any kind happened to signalise our voyage. I saw little of the Captain; he was
at work. In the library I often found his books left open, especially those on
natural history. My work on submarine depths, conned over by him, was covered
with marginal notes, often contradicting my theories and systems; but the
Captain contented himself with thus purging my work; it was very rare for him to
discuss it with me. Sometimes I heard the melancholy tones of his organ; but
only at night, in the midst of the deepest obscurity, when the Nautilus slept
upon the deserted ocean. During this part of our voyage we sailed whole days on
the surface of the waves. The sea seemed abandoned. A few sailing-vessels, on
the road to India, were making for the Cape of Good Hope. One day we were
followed by the boats of a whaler, who, no doubt, took us for some enormous
whale of great price; but Captain Nemo did not wish the worthy fellows to lose
their time and trouble, so ended the chase by plunging under the water. Our
navigation continued until the 13th of March; that day the Nautilus was employed
in
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taking soundings, which greatly interested me. We had then made about 13,000
leagues since our departure from the high seas of the Pacific. The bearings gave
us 45o 37' S. lat., and 37o 53' W. long. It was the same
water in which Captain Denham of the Herald sounded 7,000 fathoms without
finding the bottom. There, too, Lieutenant Parker, of the American frigate
Congress, could not touch the bottom with 15,140 fathoms. Captain Nemo intended
seeking the bottom of the ocean by a diagonal sufficiently lengthened by means
of lateral planes placed at an angle of 45o with the water-line of
the Nautilus. Then the screw set to work at its maximum speed, its four blades
beating the waves with indescribable force. Under this powerful pressure, the
hull of the Nautilus quivered like a sonorous chord and sank regularly under the
water.
At 7,000 fathoms I saw some blackish tops rising from the
midst of the waters; but these summits might belong to high mountains like the
Himalayas or Mont Blanc, even higher; and the depth of the abyss remained
incalculable. The Nautilus descended still lower, in spite of the great
pressure. I felt the steel plates tremble at the fastenings of the bolts; its
bars bent, its partitions groaned; the windows of the saloon seemed to curve
under the pressure of the waters. And this firm structure would doubtless have
yielded, if, as its Captain had said, it had not been capable of resistance like
a solid block. We had attained a depth of 16,000 yards (four leagues), and the
sides of the Nautilus then bore a pressure of 1,600 atmospheres, that is to say,
3,200 lb. to each square two-fifths of an inch of its surface.
"What a situation to be in!" I exclaimed. "To overrun
these deep regions where man has never trod! Look, Captain, look at these
magnificent rocks, these uninhabited grottoes, these lowest receptacles of the
globe, where life is no longer possible! What unknown sights are here! Why
should we be unable to preserve a remembrance of them?"
"Would you like to carry away more than the remembrance?"
said Captain Nemo.
"What do you mean by those words?"
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"I mean to say that nothing is easier than to make a
photographic view of this submarine region."
I had not time to express my surprise at this new
proposition, when, at Captain Nemo's call, an objective was brought into the
saloon. Through the widely-opened panel, the liquid mass was bright with
electricity, which was distributed with such uniformity that not a shadow, not a
gradation, was to be seen in our manufactured light. The Nautilus remained
motionless, the force of its screw subdued by the inclination of its planes: the
instrument was propped on the bottom of the oceanic site, and in a few seconds
we had obtained a perfect negative.
But, the operation being over, Captain Nemo said, "Let us
go up; we must not abuse our position, nor expose the Nautilus too long to such
great pressure."
"Go up again!" I exclaimed.
"Hold well on."
I had not time to understand why the Captain cautioned me
thus, when I was thrown forward on to the carpet. At a signal from the Captain,
its screw was shipped, and its blades raised vertically; the Nautilus shot into
the air like a balloon, rising with stunning rapidity, and cutting the mass of
waters with a sonorous agitation. Nothing was visible; and in four minutes it
had shot through the four leagues which separated it from the ocean, and, after
emerging like a flying-fish, fell, making the waves rebound to an enormous
height.
CACHALOTS AND WHALES
DURING the nights of the 13th and 14th of March, the
Nautilus returned to its southerly course. I fancied that, when on a level with
Cape Horn, he would turn the helm westward, in order to beat the Pacific seas,
and so complete the tour of the world. He did nothing of the kind, but continued
on his way to the southern regions. Where was
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he going to? To the pole? It was madness! I began to think that the Captain's
temerity justified Ned Land's fears. For some time past the Canadian had not
spoken to me of his projects of flight; he was less communicative, almost
silent. I could see that this lengthened imprisonment was weighing upon him, and
I felt that rage was burning within him. When he met the Captain, his eyes lit
up with suppressed anger; and I feared that his natural violence would lead him
into some extreme. That day, the 14th of March, Conseil and he came to me in my
room. I inquired the cause of their visit.
"A simple question to ask you, sir," replied the Canadian.
"Speak, Ned."
"How many men are there on board the Nautilus, do you
think?"
"I cannot tell, my friend."
"I should say that its working does not require a large
crew."
"Certainly, under existing conditions, ten men, at the
most, ought to be enough."
"Well, why should there be any more?"
"Why?" I replied, looking fixedly at Ned Land, whose
meaning was easy to guess. "Because," I added, "if my surmises are correct, and
if I have well understood the Captain's existence, the Nautilus is not only a
vessel: it is also a place of refuge for those who, like its commander, have
broken every tie upon earth."
"Perhaps so," said Conseil; "but, in any case, the
Nautilus can only contain a certain number of men. Could not you, sir, estimate
their maximum?"
"How, Conseil?"
"By calculation; given the size of the vessel, which you
know, sir, and consequently the quantity of air it contains, knowing also how
much each man expends at a breath, and comparing these results with the fact
that the Nautilus is obliged to go to the surface every twenty-four hours."
Conseil had not finished the sentence before I saw what he
was driving at.
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"I understand," said I; "but that calculation, though
simple enough, can give but a very uncertain result."
"Never mind," said Ned Land urgently.
"Here it is, then," said I. "In one hour each man consumes
the oxygen contained in twenty gallons of air; and in twenty-four, that
contained in 480 gallons. We must, therefore find how many times 480 gallons of
air the Nautilus contains."
"Just so," said Conseil.
"Or," I continued, "the size of the Nautilus being 1,500
tons; and one ton holding 200 gallons, it contains 300,000 gallons of air,
which, divided by 480, gives a quotient of 625. Which means to say, strictly
speaking, that the air contained in the Nautilus would suffice for 625 men for
twenty-four hours."
"Six hundred and twenty-five!" repeated Ned.
"But remember that all of us, passengers, sailors, and
officers included, would not form a tenth part of that number."
"Still too many for three men," murmured Conseil.
The Canadian shook his head, passed his hand across his
forehead, and left the room without answering.
"Will you allow me to make one observation, sir?" said
Conseil. "Poor Ned is longing for everything that he cannot have. His past life
is always present to him; everything that we are forbidden he regrets. His head
is full of old recollections. And we must understand him. What has he to do
here? Nothing; he is not learned like you, sir; and has not the same taste for
the beauties of the sea that we have. He would risk everything to be able to go
once more into a tavern in his own country."
Certainly the monotony on board must seem intolerable to
the Canadian, accustomed as he was to a life of liberty and activity. Events
were rare which could rouse him to any show of spirit; but that day an event did
happen which recalled the bright days of the harpooner. About eleven in the
morning, being on the surface of the ocean, the Nautilus fell in with a troop of
whales -- an encounter which did not
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astonish me, knowing that these creatures, hunted to death, had taken refuge in
high latitudes.
We were seated on the platform, with a quiet sea. The
month of October in those latitudes gave us some lovely autumnal days. It was
the Canadian -- he could not be mistaken -- who signalled a whale on the eastern
horizon. Looking attentively, one might see its black back rise and fall with
the waves five miles from the Nautilus.
"Ah!" exclaimed Ned Land, "if I was on board a whaler, now
such a meeting would give me pleasure. It is one of large size. See with what
strength its blow-holes throw up columns of air and steam! Confound it, why am I
bound to these steel plates?"
"What, Ned," said I, "you have not forgotten your old
ideas of fishing?"
"Can a whale-fisher ever forget his old trade, sir? Can he
ever tire of the emotions caused by such a chase?"
"You have never fished in these seas, Ned?"
"Never, sir; in the northern only, and as much in Behring
as in Davis Straits."
"Then the southern whale is still unknown to you. It is
the Greenland whale you have hunted up to this time, and that would not risk
passing through the warm waters of the equator. Whales are localised, according
to their kinds, in certain seas which they never leave. And if one of these
creatures went from Behring to Davis Straits, it must be simply because there is
a passage from one sea to the other, either on the American or the Asiatic
side."
"In that case, as I have never fished in these seas, I do
not know the kind of whale frequenting them!"
"I have told you, Ned."
"A greater reason for making their acquaintance," said
Conseil.
"Look! look!" exclaimed the Canadian, "they approach: they
aggravate me; they know that I cannot get at them!"
Ned stamped his feet. His hand trembled, as he grasped an
imaginary harpoon.
"Are these cetaceans as large as those of the northern
seas?" asked he.
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"Very nearly, Ned."
"Because I have seen large whales, sir, whales measuring a
hundred feet. I have even been told that those of Hullamoch and Umgallick, of
the Aleutian Islands, are sometimes a hundred and fifty feet long."
"That seems to me exaggeration. These creatures are
generally much smaller than the Greenland whale."
"Ah!" exclaimed the Canadian, whose eyes had never left
the ocean, "they are coming nearer; they are in the same water as the Nautilus."
Then, returning to the conversation, he said:
"You spoke of the cachalot as a small creature. I have
heard of gigantic ones. They are intelligent cetacea. It is said of some that
they cover themselves with seaweed and fucus, and then are taken for islands.
People encamp upon them, and settle there; lights a fire -- "
"And build houses," said Conseil.
"Yes, joker," said Ned Land. "And one fine day the
creature plunges, carrying with it all the inhabitants to the bottom of the
sea."
"Something like the travels of Sinbad the Sailor," I
replied, laughing.
"Ah!" suddenly exclaimed Ned Land, "it is not one whale;
there are ten -- there are twenty -- it is a whole troop! And I not able to do
anything! hands and feet tied!"
"But, friend Ned," said Conseil, "why do you not ask
Captain Nemo's permission to chase them?"
Conseil bad not finished his sentence when Ned Land had
lowered himself through the panel to seek the Captain. A few minutes afterwards
the two appeared together on the platform.
Captain Nemo watched the troop of cetacea playing on the
waters about a mile from the Nautilus.
"They are southern whales," said he; "there goes the
fortune of a whole fleet of whalers."
"Well, sir," asked the Canadian, "can I not chase them, if
only to remind me of my old trade of harpooner?"
"And to what purpose?" replied Captain Nemo; "only
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to destroy! We have nothing to do with the whale-oil on board."
"But, sir," continued the Canadian, "in the Red Sea you
allowed us to follow the dugong."
"Then it was to procure fresh meat for my crew. Here it
would be killing for killing's sake. I know that is a privilege reserved for
man, but I do not approve of such murderous pastime. In destroying the southern
whale (like the Greenland whale, an inoffensive creature), your traders do a
culpable action, Master Land. They have already depopulated the whole of
Baffin's Bay, and are annihilating a class of useful animals. Leave the
unfortunate cetacea alone. They have plenty of natural enemies -- cachalots,
swordfish, and sawfish -- without you troubling them."
The Captain was right. The barbarous and inconsiderate
greed of these fishermen will one day cause the disappearance of the last whale
in the ocean. Ned Land whistled "Yankee-doodle" between his teeth, thrust his
hands into his pockets, and turned his back upon us. But Captain Nemo watched
the troop of cetacea, and, addressing me, said:
"I was right in saying that whales had natural enemies
enough, without counting man. These will have plenty to do before long. Do you
see, M. Aronnax, about eight miles to leeward, those blackish moving points?"
"Yes, Captain," I replied.
"Those are cachalots -- terrible animals, which I have met
in troops of two or three hundred. As to those, they are cruel, mischievous
creatures; they would be right in exterminating them."
The Canadian turned quickly at the last words.
"Well, Captain," said he, "it is still time, in the
interest of the whales."
"It is useless to expose one's self, Professor. The
Nautilus will disperse them. It is armed with a steel spur as good as Master
Land's harpoon, I imagine."
The Canadian did not put himself out enough to shrug his
shoulders. Attack cetacea with blows of a spur! Who had ever heard of such a
thing?
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"Wait, M. Aronnax," said Captain Nemo. "We will show you
something you have never yet seen. We have no pity for these ferocious
creatures. They are nothing but mouth and teeth."
Mouth and teeth! No one could better describe the
macrocephalous cachalot, which is sometimes more than seventy-five feet long.
Its enormous head occupies one-third of its entire body. Better armed than the
whale, whose upper jaw is furnished only with whalebone, it is supplied with
twenty-five large tusks, about eight inches long, cylindrical and conical at the
top, each weighing two pounds. It is in the upper part of this enormous head, in
great cavities divided by cartilages, that is to be found from six to eight
hundred pounds of that precious oil called spermaceti. The cachalot is a
disagreeable creature, more tadpole than fish, according to Fredol's
description. It is badly formed, the whole of its left side being (if we may say
it), a "failure," and being only able to see with its right eye. But the
formidable troop was nearing us. They had seen the whales and were preparing to
attack them. One could judge beforehand that the cachalots would be victorious,
not only because they were better built for attack than their inoffensive
adversaries, but also because they could remain longer under water without
coming to the surface. There was only just time to go to the help of the whales.
The Nautilus went under water. Conseil, Ned Land, and I took our places before
the window in the saloon, and Captain Nemo joined the pilot in his cage to work
his apparatus as an engine of destruction. Soon I felt the beatings of the screw
quicken, and our speed increased. The battle between the cachalots and the
whales had already begun when the Nautilus arrived. They did not at first show
any fear at the sight of this new monster joining in the conflict. But they soon
had to guard against its blows. What a battle! The Nautilus was nothing but a
formidable harpoon, brandished by the hand of its Captain. It hurled itself
against the fleshy mass, passing through from one part to the other, leaving
behind it two quivering halves of the animal. It could not feel the formidable
blows from their tails upon its sides, nor the
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shock which it produced itself, much more. One cachalot killed, it ran at the
next, tacked on the spot that it might not miss its prey, going forwards and
backwards, answering to its helm, plunging when the cetacean dived into the deep
waters, coming up with it when it returned to the surface, striking it front or
sideways, cutting or tearing in all directions and at any pace, piercing it with
its terrible spur. What carnage! What a noise on the surface of the waves! What
sharp hissing, and what snorting peculiar to these enraged animals! In the midst
of these waters, generally so peaceful, their tails made perfect billows. For
one hour this wholesale massacre continued, from which the cachalots could not
escape. Several times ten or twelve united tried to crush the Nautilus by their
weight. From the window we could see their enormous mouths, studded with tusks,
and their formidable eyes. Ned Land could not contain himself; he threatened and
swore at them. We could feel them clinging to our vessel like dogs worrying a
wild boar in a copse. But the Nautilus, working its screw, carried them here and
there, or to the upper levels of the ocean, without caring for their enormous
weight, nor the powerful strain on the vessel. At length the mass of cachalots
broke up, the waves became quiet, and I felt that we were rising to the surface.
The panel opened, and we hurried on to the platform. The sea was covered with
mutilated bodies. A formidable explosion could not have divided and torn this
fleshy mass with more violence. We were floating amid gigantic bodies, bluish on
the back and white underneath, covered with enormous protuberances. Some
terrified cachalots were flying towards the horizon. The waves were dyed red for
several miles, and the Nautilus floated in a sea of blood: Captain Nemo joined
us.
"Well, Master Land?" said he.
"Well, sir," replied the Canadian, whose enthusiasm had
somewhat calmed; "it is a terrible spectacle, certainly. But I am not a butcher.
I am a hunter, and I call this a butchery."
"It is a massacre of mischievous creatures," replied the
Captain; "and the Nautilus is not a butcher's knife."
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"I like my harpoon better," said the Canadian.
"Every one to his own," answered the Captain, looking
fixedly at Ned Land.
I feared he would commit some act of violence, which would
end in sad consequences. But his anger was turned by the sight of a whale which
the Nautilus had just come up with. The creature had not quite escaped from the
cachalot's teeth. I recognised the southern whale by its flat head, which is
entirely black. Anatomically, it is distinguished from the white whale and the
North Cape whale by the seven cervical vertebrae, and it has two more ribs than
its congeners. The unfortunate cetacean was lying on its side, riddled with
holes from the bites, and quite dead. From its mutilated fin still hung a young
whale which it could not save from the massacre. Its open mouth let the water
flow in and out, murmuring like the waves breaking on the shore. Captain Nemo
steered close to the corpse of the creature. Two of his men mounted its side,
and I saw, not without surprise, that they were drawing from its breasts all the
milk which they contained, that is to say, about two or three tons. The Captain
offered me a cup of the milk, which was still warm. I could not help showing my
repugnance to the drink; but he assured me that it was excellent, and not to be
distinguished from cow's milk. I tasted it, and was of his opinion. It was a
useful reserve to us, for in the shape of salt butter or cheese it would form an
agreeable variety from our ordinary food. From that day I noticed with
uneasiness that Ned Land's ill-will towards Captain Nemo increased, and I
resolved to watch the Canadian's gestures closely.
THE ICEBERG
THE Nautilus was steadily pursuing its southerly course,
following the fiftieth meridian with considerable speed. Did he wish to reach
the pole? I did not think so, for every
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attempt to reach that point had hitherto failed. Again, the season was far
advanced, for in the Antarctic regions the 13th of March corresponds with the
13th of September of northern regions, which begin at the equinoctial season. On
the 14th of March I saw floating ice in latitude 55o, merely pale
bits of debris from twenty to twenty-five feet long, forming banks over which
the sea curled. The Nautilus remained on the surface of the ocean. Ned Land, who
had fished in the Arctic Seas, was familiar with its icebergs; but Conseil and I
admired them for the first time. In the atmosphere towards the southern horizon
stretched a white dazzling band. English whalers have given it the name of "ice
blink." However thick the clouds may be, it is always visible, and announces the
presence of an ice pack or bank. Accordingly, larger blocks soon appeared, whose
brilliancy changed with the caprices of the fog. Some of these masses showed
green veins, as if long undulating lines had been traced with sulphate of
copper; others resembled enormous amethysts with the light shining through them.
Some reflected the light of day upon a thousand crystal facets. Others shaded
with vivid calcareous reflections resembled a perfect town of marble. The more
we neared the south the more these floating islands increased both in number and
importance.
At 60o lat. every pass had disappeared. But,
seeking carefully, Captain Nemo soon found a narrow opening, through which he
boldly slipped, knowing, however, that it would close behind him. Thus, guided
by this clever hand, the Nautilus passed through all the ice with a precision
which quite charmed Conseil; icebergs or mountains, ice-fields or smooth plains,
seeming to have no limits, drift-ice or floating ice-packs, plains broken up,
called palchs when they are circular, and streams when they are made up of long
strips. The temperature was very low; the thermometer exposed to the air marked
2o or 3o below zero, but we were warmly clad with fur, at
the expense of the sea-bear and seal. The interior of the Nautilus, warmed
regularly by its electric apparatus, defied the most intense cold. Besides, it
would only have been necessary to go some
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yards beneath the waves to find a more bearable temperature. Two months earlier
we should have had perpetual daylight in these latitudes; but already we had had
three or four hours of night, and by and by there would be six months of
darkness in these circumpolar regions. On the 15th of March we were in the
latitude of New Shetland and South Orkney. The Captain told me that formerly
numerous tribes of seals inhabited them; but that English and American whalers,
in their rage for destruction, massacred both old and young; thus, where there
was once life and animation, they had left silence and death.
About eight o'clock on the morning of the 16th of March
the Nautilus, following the fifty-fifth meridian, cut the Antarctic polar
circle. Ice surrounded us on all sides, and closed the horizon. But Captain Nemo
went from one opening to another, still going higher. I cannot express my
astonishment at the beauties of these new regions. The ice took most surprising
forms. Here the grouping formed an oriental town, with innumerable mosques and
minarets; there a fallen city thrown to the earth, as it were, by some
convulsion of nature. The whole aspect was constantly changed by the oblique
rays of the sun, or lost in the greyish fog amidst hurricanes of snow.
Detonations and falls were heard on all sides, great overthrows of icebergs,
which altered the whole landscape like a diorama. Often seeing no exit, I
thought we were definitely prisoners; but, instinct guiding him at the slightest
indication, Captain Nemo would discover a new pass. He was never mistaken when
he saw the thin threads of bluish water trickling along the ice-fields; and I
had no doubt that he had already ventured into the midst of these Antarctic seas
before. On the 16th of March, however, the ice-fields absolutely blocked our
road. It was not the iceberg itself, as yet, but vast fields cemented by the
cold. But this obstacle could not stop Captain Nemo: be hurled himself against
it with frightful violence. The Nautilus entered the brittle mass like a wedge,
and split it with frightful crackings. It was the battering ram of the ancients
hurled by infinite strength. The ice, thrown high in the air, fell like hail
around us. By its own power of
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impulsion our apparatus made a canal for itself; sometimes carried away by its
own impetus, it lodged on the ice-field, crushing it with its weight, and
sometimes buried beneath it, dividing it by a simple pitching movement,
producing large rents in it. Violent gales assailed us at this time, accompanied
by thick fogs, through which, from one end of the platform to the other, we
could see nothing. The wind blew sharply from all parts of the compass, and the
snow lay in such hard heaps that we had to break it with blows of a pickaxe. The
temperature was always at 5o below zero; every outward part of the
Nautilus was covered with ice. A rigged vessel would have been entangled in the
blocked up gorges. A vessel without sails, with electricity for its motive
power, and wanting no coal, could alone brave such high latitudes. At length, on
the 18th of March, after many useless assaults, the Nautilus was positively
blocked. It was no longer either streams, packs, or ice-fields, but an
interminable and immovable barrier, formed by mountains soldered together.
"An iceberg!" said the Canadian to me.
I knew that to Ned Land, as well as to all other
navigators who had preceded us, this was an inevitable obstacle. The sun
appearing for an instant at noon, Captain Nemo took an observation as near as
possible, which gave our situation at 51o 30' long. and 67o
39' of S. lat. We had advanced one degree more in this Antarctic region. Of the
liquid surface of the sea there was no longer a glimpse. Under the spur of the
Nautilus lay stretched a vast plain, entangled with confused blocks. Here and
there sharp points and slender needles rising to a height of 200 feet; further
on a steep shore, hewn as it were with an axe and clothed with greyish tints;
huge mirrors, reflecting a few rays of sunshine, half drowned in the fog. And
over this desolate face of nature a stern silence reigned, scarcely broken by
the flapping of the wings of petrels and puffins. Everything was frozen -- even
the noise. The Nautilus was then obliged to stop in its adventurous course amid
these fields of ice. In spite of our efforts, in spite of the powerful means
employed to break up the ice, the Nautilus remained immovable.
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Generally, when we can proceed no further, we have return still open to us; but
here return was as impossible as advance, for every pass had closed behind us;
and for the few moments when we were stationary, we were likely to be entirely
blocked, which did indeed happen about two o'clock in the afternoon, the fresh
ice forming around its sides with astonishing rapidity. I was obliged to admit
that Captain Nemo was more than imprudent. I was on the platform at that moment.
The Captain had been observing our situation for some time past, when he said to
me:
"Well, sir, what do you think of this?"
"I think that we are caught, Captain."
"So, M. Aronnax, you really think that the Nautilus cannot
disengage itself?"
"With difficulty, Captain; for the season is already too
far advanced for you to reckon on the breaking of the ice."
"Ah! sir," said Captain Nemo, in an ironical tone, "you
will always be the same. You see nothing but difficulties and obstacles. I
affirm that not only can the Nautilus disengage itself, but also that it can go
further still."
"Further to the South?" I asked, looking at the Captain.
"Yes, sir; it shall go to the pole."
"To the pole!" I exclaimed, unable to repress a gesture of
incredulity.
"Yes," replied the Captain, coldly, "to the Antarctic pole
-- to that unknown point from whence springs every meridian of the globe. You
know whether I can do as I please with the Nautilus!"
Yes, I knew that. I knew that this man was bold, even to
rashness. But to conquer those obstacles which bristled round the South Pole,
rendering it more inaccessible than the North, which had not yet been reached by
the boldest navigators -- was it not a mad enterprise, one which only a maniac
would have conceived? It then came into my head to ask Captain Nemo if he had
ever discovered that pole which had never yet been trodden by a human creature?
"No, sir," he replied; "but we will discover it together.
Where others have failed, I will not fail. I have never yet
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led my Nautilus so far into southern seas; but, I repeat, it shall go further
yet."
"I can well believe you, Captain," said I, in a slightly
ironical tone. "I believe you! Let us go ahead! There are no obstacles for us!
Let us smash this iceberg! Let us blow it up; and, if it resists, let us give
the Nautilus wings to fly over it!"
"Over it, sir!!" said Captain Nemo, quietly; "no, not over
it, but under it!"
"Under it!" I exclaimed, a sudden idea of the Captain's
projects flashing upon my mind. I understood; the wonderful qualities of the
Nautilus were going to serve us in this superhuman enterprise.
"I see we are beginning to understand one another, sir,"
said the Captain, half smiling. "You begin to see the possibility -- I should
say the success -- of this attempt. That which is impossible for an ordinary
vessel is easy to the Nautilus. If a continent lies before the pole, it must
stop before the continent; but if, on the contrary, the pole is washed by open
sea, it will go even to the pole."
"Certainly," said I, carried away by the Captain's
reasoning; "if the surface of the sea is solidified by the ice, the lower depths
are free by the Providential law which has placed the maximum of density of the
waters of the ocean one degree higher than freezing-point; and, if I am not
mistaken, the portion of this iceberg which is above the water is as one to four
to that which is below."
"Very nearly, sir; for one foot of iceberg above the sea
there are three below it. If these ice mountains are not more than 300 feet
above the surface, they are not more than 900 beneath. And what are 900 feet to
the Nautilus?"
"Nothing, sir."
"It could even seek at greater depths that uniform
temperature of sea-water, and there brave with impunity the thirty or forty
degrees of surface cold."
"Just so, sir -- just so," I replied, getting animated.
"The only difficulty," continued Captain Nemo, "is that of
remaining several days without renewing our provision of air."
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"Is that all? The Nautilus has vast reservoirs; we can
fill them, and they will supply us with all the oxygen we want."
"Well thought of, M. Aronnax," replied the Captain,
smiling. "But, not wishing you to accuse me of rashness, I will first give you
all my objections."
"Have you any more to make?"
"Only one. It is possible, if the sea exists at the South
Pole, that it may be covered; and, consequently, we shall be unable to come to
the surface."
"Good, sir! but do you forget that the Nautilus is armed
with a powerful spur, and could we not send it diagonally against these fields
of ice, which would open at the shocks."
"Ah! sir, you are full of ideas to-day."
"Besides, Captain," I added, enthusiastically, "why should
we not find the sea open at the South Pole as well as at the North? The frozen
poles of the earth do not coincide, either in the southern or in the northern
regions; and, until it is proved to the contrary, we may suppose either a
continent or an ocean free from ice at these two points of the globe."
"I think so too, M. Aronnax," replied Captain Nemo. "I
only wish you to observe that, after having made so many objections to my
project, you are now crushing me with arguments in its favour!"
The preparations for this audacious attempt now began. The
powerful pumps of the Nautilus were working air into the reservoirs and storing
it at high pressure. About four o'clock, Captain Nemo announced the closing of
the panels on the platform. I threw one last look at the massive iceberg which
we were going to cross. The weather was clear, the atmosphere pure enough, the
cold very great, being 12o below zero; but, the wind having gone
down, this temperature was not so unbearable. About ten men mounted the sides of
the Nautilus, armed with pickaxes to break the ice around the vessel, which was
soon free. The operation was quickly performed, for the fresh ice was still very
thin. We all went below. The usual reservoirs were filled with the
newly-liberated water, and the Nautilus soon descended. I had taken my place
with Conseil in the saloon; through the
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open window we could see the lower beds of the Southern Ocean. The thermometer
went up, the needle of the compass deviated on the dial. At about 900 feet, as
Captain Nemo had foreseen, we were floating beneath the undulating bottom of the
iceberg. But the Nautilus went lower still -- it went to the depth of four
hundred fathoms. The temperature of the water at the surface showed twelve
degrees, it was now only ten; we had gained two. I need not say the temperature
of the Nautilus was raised by its heating apparatus to a much higher degree;
every manoeuvre was accomplished with wonderful precision.
"We shall pass it, if you please, sir," said Conseil.
"I believe we shall," I said, in a tone of firm
conviction.
In this open sea, the Nautilus had taken its course direct
to the pole, without leaving the fifty-second meridian. From 67o 30'
to 90o, twenty-two degrees and a half of latitude remained to travel;
that is, about five hundred leagues. The Nautilus kept up a mean speed of
twenty-six miles an hour -- the speed of an express train. If that was kept up,
in forty hours we should reach the pole.
For a part of the night the novelty of the situation kept
us at the window. The sea was lit with the electric lantern; but it was
deserted; fishes did not sojourn in these imprisoned waters; they only found
there a passage to take them from the Antarctic Ocean to the open polar sea. Our
pace was rapid; we could feel it by the quivering of the long steel body. About
two in the morning I took some hours' repose, and Conseil did the same. In
crossing the waist I did not meet Captain Nemo: I supposed him to be in the
pilot's cage. The next morning, the 19th of March, I took my post once more in
the saloon. The electric log told me that the speed of the Nautilus had been
slackened. It was then going towards the surface; but prudently emptying its
reservoirs very slowly. My heart beat fast. Were we going to emerge and regain
the open polar atmosphere? No! A shock told me that the Nautilus had struck the
bottom of the iceberg, still very thick, judging from the deadened sound. We had
indeed "struck," to use a sea expression, but in an inverse sense, and at a
thousand feet deep. This would give three
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thousand feet of ice above us; one thousand being above the water-mark. The
iceberg was then higher than at its borders -- not a very reassuring fact.
Several times that day the Nautilus tried again, and every time it struck the
wall which lay like a ceiling above it. Sometimes it met with but 900 yards,
only 200 of which rose above the surface. It was twice the height it was when
the Nautilus had gone under the waves. I carefully noted the different depths,
and thus obtained a submarine profile of the chain as it was developed under the
water. That night no change had taken place in our situation. Still ice between
four and five hundred yards in depth! It was evidently diminishing, but, still,
what a thickness between us and the surface of the ocean! It was then eight.
According to the daily custom on board the Nautilus, its air should have been
renewed four hours ago; but I did not suffer much, although Captain Nemo had not
yet made any demand upon his reserve of oxygen. My sleep was painful that night;
hope and fear besieged me by turns: I rose several times. The groping of the
Nautilus continued. About three in the morning, I noticed that the lower surface
of the iceberg was only about fifty feet deep. One hundred and fifty feet now
separated us from the surface of the waters. The iceberg was by degrees becoming
an ice-field, the mountain a plain. My eyes never left the manometer. We were
still rising diagonally to the surface, which sparkled under the electric rays.
The iceberg was stretching both above and beneath into lengthening slopes; mile
after mile it was getting thinner. At length, at six in the morning of that
memorable day, the 19th of March, the door of the saloon opened, and Captain
Nemo appeared.
"The sea is open!!" was all he said.
THE SOUTH POLE
I RUSHED on to the platform. Yes! the open sea, with but a
few scattered pieces of ice and moving icebergs -- a long
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stretch of sea; a world of birds in the air, and myriads of fishes under those
waters, which varied from intense blue to olive green, according to the bottom.
The thermometer marked 3o C. above zero. It was comparatively spring,
shut up as we were behind this iceberg, whose lengthened mass was dimly seen on
our northern horizon.
"Are we at the pole?" I asked the Captain, with a beating
heart.
"I do not know," he replied. "At noon I will take our
bearings."
"But will the sun show himself through this fog?" said I,
looking at the leaden sky.
"However little it shows, it will be enough," replied the
Captain.
About ten miles south a solitary island rose to a height
of one hundred and four yards. We made for it, but carefully, for the sea might
be strewn with banks. One hour afterwards we had reached it, two hours later we
had made the round of it. It measured four or five miles in circumference. A
narrow canal separated it from a considerable stretch of land, perhaps a
continent, for we could not see its limits. The existence of this land seemed to
give some colour to Maury's theory. The ingenious American has remarked that,
between the South Pole and the sixtieth parallel, the sea is covered with
floating ice of enormous size, which is never met with in the North Atlantic.
From this fact he has drawn the conclusion that the Antarctic Circle encloses
considerable continents, as icebergs cannot form in open sea, but only on the
coasts. According to these calculations, the mass of ice surrounding the
southern pole forms a vast cap, the circumference. of which must be, at least,
2,500 miles. But the Nautilus, for fear of running aground, had stopped about
three cable-lengths from a strand over which reared a superb heap of rocks. The
boat was launched; the Captain, two of his men, bearing instruments, Conseil,
and myself were in it. It was ten in the morning. I had not seen Ned Land.
Doubtless the Canadian did not wish to admit the presence of the South Pole. A
few strokes of the oar
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brought us to the sand, where we ran ashore. Conseil was going to jump on to the
land, when I held him back.
"Sir," said I to Captain Nemo, "to you belongs the honour
of first setting foot on this land."
"Yes, sir," said the Captain, "and if I do not hesitate to
tread this South Pole, it is because, up to this time, no human being has left a
trace there."
Saying this, he jumped lightly on to the sand. His heart
beat with emotion. He climbed a rock, sloping to a little promontory, and there,
with his arms crossed, mute and motionless, and with an eager look, he seemed to
take possession of these southern regions. After five minutes passed in this
ecstasy, he turned to us.
"When you like, sir."
I landed, followed by Conseil, leaving the two men in the
boat. For a long way the soil was composed of a reddish sandy stone, something
like crushed brick, scoriae, streams of lava, and pumice-stones. One could not
mistake its volcanic origin. In some parts, slight curls of smoke emitted a
sulphurous smell, proving that the internal fires had lost nothing of their
expansive powers, though, having climbed a high acclivity, I could see no
volcano for a radius of several miles. We know that in those Antarctic
countries, James Ross found two craters, the Erebus and Terror, in full
activity, on the 167th meridian, latitude 77o 32'. The vegetation of
this desolate continent seemed to me much restricted. Some lichens lay upon the
black rocks; some microscopic plants, rudimentary diatomas, a kind of cells
placed between two quartz shells; long purple and scarlet weed, supported on
little swimming bladders, which the breaking of the waves brought to the shore.
These constituted the meagre flora of this region. The shore was strewn with
molluscs, little mussels, and limpets. I also saw myriads of northern clios,
one-and-a-quarter inches long, of which a whale would swallow a whole world at a
mouthful; and some perfect sea-butterflies, animating the waters on the skirts
of the shore.
There appeared on the high bottoms some coral shrubs, of
the kind which, according to James Ross, live in the Antarctic
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seas to the depth of more than 1,000 yards. Then there were little kingfishers
and starfish studding the soil. But where life abounded most was in the air.
There thousands of birds fluttered and flew of all kinds, deafening us with
their cries; others crowded the rock, looking at us as we passed by without
fear, and pressing familiarly close by our feet. There were penguins, so agile
in the water, heavy and awkward as they are on the ground; they were uttering
harsh cries, a large assembly, sober in gesture, but extravagant in clamour.
Albatrosses passed in the air, the expanse of their wings being at least four
yards and a half, and justly called the vultures of the ocean; some gigantic
petrels, and some damiers, a kind of small duck, the underpart of whose body is
black and white; then there were a whole series of petrels, some whitish, with
brown-bordered wings, others blue, peculiar to the Antarctic seas, and so oily,
as I told Conseil, that the inhabitants of the Ferroe Islands had nothing to do
before lighting them but to put a wick in.
"A little more," said Conseil, "and they would be perfect
lamps! After that, we cannot expect Nature to have previously furnished them
with wicks!"
About half a mile farther on the soil was riddled with
ruffs' nests, a sort of laying-ground, out of which many birds were issuing.
Captain Nemo had some hundreds hunted. They uttered a cry like the braying of an
ass, were about the size of a goose, slate-colour on the body, white beneath,
with a yellow line round their throats; they allowed themselves to be killed
with a stone, never trying to escape. But the fog did not lift, and at eleven
the sun had not yet shown itself. Its absence made me uneasy. Without it no
observations were possible. How, then, could we decide whether we had reached
the pole? When I rejoined Captain Nemo, I found him leaning on a piece of rock,
silently watching the sky. He seemed impatient and vexed. But what was to be
done? This rash and powerful man could not command the sun as he did the sea.
Noon arrived without the orb of day showing itself for an instant. We could not
even tell its position behind the curtain of fog; and soon the fog turned to
snow.
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"Till to-morrow," said the Captain, quietly, and we
returned to the Nautilus amid these atmospheric disturbances.
The tempest of snow continued till the next day. It was
impossible to remain on the platform. From the saloon, where I was taking notes
of incidents happening during this excursion to the polar continent, I could
hear the cries of petrels and albatrosses sporting in the midst of this violent
storm. The Nautilus did not remain motionless, but skirted the coast, advancing
ten miles more to the south in the half-light left by the sun as it skirted the
edge of the horizon. The next day, the 20th of March, the snow had ceased. The
cold was a little greater, the thermometer showing 2o below zero. The
fog was rising, and I hoped that that day our observations might be taken.
Captain Nemo not having yet appeared, the boat took Conseil and myself to land.
The soil was still of the same volcanic nature; everywhere were traces of lava,
scoriae, and basalt; but the crater which had vomited them I could not see.
Here, as lower down, this continent was alive with myriads of birds. But their
rule was now divided with large troops of sea-mammals, looking at us with their
soft eyes. There were several kinds of seals, some stretched on the earth, some
on flakes of ice, many going in and out of the sea. They did not flee at our
approach, never having had anything to do with man; and I reckoned that there
were provisions there for hundreds of vessels.
"Sir," said Conseil, "will you tell me the names of these
creatures?"
"They are seals and morses."
It was now eight in the morning. Four hours remained to us
before the sun could be observed with advantage. I directed our steps towards a
vast bay cut in the steep granite shore. There, I can aver that earth and ice
were lost to sight by the numbers of sea-mammals covering them, and I
involuntarily sought for old Proteus, the mythological shepherd who watched
these immense flocks of Neptune. There were more seals than anything else,
forming distinct groups, male and female, the father watching over his family,
the mother suckling her little ones, some already strong
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enough to go a few steps. When they wished to change their place, they took
little jumps, made by the contraction of their bodies, and helped awkwardly
enough by their imperfect fin, which, as with the lamantin, their cousins, forms
a perfect forearm. I should say that, in the water, which is their element --
the spine of these creatures is flexible; with smooth and close skin and webbed
feet -- they swim admirably. In resting on the earth they take the most graceful
attitudes. Thus the ancients, observing their soft and expressive looks, which
cannot be surpassed by the most beautiful look a woman can give, their clear
voluptuous eyes, their charming positions, and the poetry of their manners,
metamorphosed them, the male into a triton and the female into a mermaid. I made
Conseil notice the considerable development of the lobes of the brain in these
interesting cetaceans. No mammal, except man, has such a quantity of brain
matter; they are also capable of receiving a certain amount of education, are
easily domesticated, and I think, with other naturalists, that if properly
taught they would be of great service as fishing-dogs. The greater part of them
slept on the rocks or on the sand. Amongst these seals, properly so called,
which have no external ears (in which they differ from the otter, whose ears are
prominent), I noticed several varieties of seals about three yards long, with a
white coat, bulldog heads, armed with teeth in both jaws, four incisors at the
top and four at the bottom, and two large canine teeth in the shape of a
fleur-de-lis. Amongst them glided sea-elephants, a kind of seal, with short,
flexible trunks. The giants of this species measured twenty feet round and ten
yards and a half in length; but they did not move as we approached.
"These creatures are not dangerous?" asked Conseil.
"No; not unless you attack them. When they have to defend
their young their rage is terrible, and it is not uncommon for them to break the
fishing-boats to pieces."
"They are quite right," said Conseil.
"I do not say they are not."
Two miles farther on we were stopped by the promontory
which shelters the bay from the southerly winds. Beyond it
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we heard loud bellowings such as a troop of ruminants would produce.
"Good!" said Conseil; "a concert of bulls!"
"No; a concert of morses."
"They are fighting!"
"They are either fighting or playing."
We now began to climb the blackish rocks, amid unforeseen
stumbles, and over stones which the ice made slippery. More than once I rolled
over at the expense of my loins. Conseil, more prudent or more steady, did not
stumble, and helped me up, saying:
"If, sir, you would have the kindness to take wider steps,
you would preserve your equilibrium better."
Arrived at the upper ridge of the promontory, I saw a vast
white plain covered with morses. They were playing amongst themselves, and what
we heard were bellowings of pleasure, not of anger.
As I passed these curious animals I could examine them
leisurely, for they did not move. Their skins were thick and rugged, of a
yellowish tint, approaching to red; their hair was short and scant. Some of them
were four yards and a quarter long. Quieter and less timid than their cousins of
the north, they did not, like them, place sentinels round the outskirts of their
encampment. After examining this city of morses, I began to think of returning.
It was eleven o'clock, and, if Captain Nemo found the conditions favourable for
observations, I wished to be present at the operation. We followed a narrow
pathway running along the summit of the steep shore. At half-past eleven we had
reached the place where we landed. The boat had run aground, bringing the
Captain. I saw him standing on a block of basalt, his instruments near him, his
eyes fixed on the northern horizon, near which the sun was then describing a
lengthened curve. I took my place beside him, and waited without speaking. Noon
arrived, and, as before, the sun did not appear. It was a fatality. Observations
were still wanting. If not accomplished to-morrow, we must give up all idea of
taking any. We were indeed exactly at the 20th of March. To-morrow, the 21st,
would be the equinox; the sun would
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disappear behind the horizon for six months, and with its disappearance the long
polar night would begin. Since the September equinox it had emerged from the
northern horizon, rising by lengthened spirals up to the 21st of December. At
this period, the summer solstice of the northern regions, it had begun to
descend; and to-morrow was to shed its last rays upon them. I communicated my
fears and observations to Captain Nemo.
"You are right, M. Aronnax," said he; "if to-morrow I
cannot take the altitude of the sun, I shall not be able to do it for six
months. But precisely because chance has led me into these seas on the 21st of
March, my bearings will be easy to take, if at twelve we can see the sun."
"Why, Captain?"
"Because then the orb of day described such lengthened
curves that it is difficult to measure exactly its height above the horizon, and
grave errors may be made with instruments."
"What will you do then?"
"I shall only use my chronometer," replied Captain Nemo.
"If to-morrow, the 21st of March, the disc of the sun, allowing for refraction,
is exactly cut by the northern horizon, it will show that I am at the South
Pole."
"Just so," said I. "But this statement is not
mathematically correct, because the equinox does not necessarily begin at noon."
"Very likely, sir; but the error will not be a hundred
yards and we do not want more. Till to-morrow, then!"
Captain Nemo returned on board. Conseil and I remained to
survey the shore, observing and studying until five o'clock. Then I went to bed,
not, however, without invoking, like the Indian, the favour of the radiant orb.
The next day, the 21st of March, at five in the morning, I mounted the platform.
I found Captain Nemo there.
"The weather is lightening a little," said he. "I have
some hope. After breakfast we will go on shore and choose a post for
observation."
That point settled, I sought Ned Land. I wanted to take
him with me. But the obstinate Canadian refused, and I
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saw that his taciturnity and his bad humour grew day by day. After all, I was
not sorry for his obstinacy under the circumstances. Indeed, there were too many
seals on shore, and we ought not to lay such temptation in this unreflecting
fisherman's way. Breakfast over, we went on shore. The Nautilus had gone some
miles further up in the night. It was a whole league from the coast, above which
reared a sharp peak about five hundred yards high. The boat took with me Captain
Nemo, two men of the crew, and the instruments, which consisted of a
chronometer, a telescope, and a barometer. While crossing, I saw numerous whales
belonging to the three kinds peculiar to the southern seas; the whale, or the
English "right whale," which has no dorsal fin; the "humpback," with reeved
chest and large, whitish fins, which, in spite of its name, do not form wings;
and the fin-back, of a yellowish brown, the liveliest of all the cetacea. This
powerful creature is heard a long way off when he throws to a great height
columns of air and vapour, which look like whirlwinds of smoke. These different
mammals were disporting themselves in troops in the quiet waters; and I could
see that this basin of the Antarctic Pole serves as a place of refuge to the
cetacea too closely tracked by the hunters. I also noticed large medusae
floating between the reeds.
At nine we landed; the sky was brightening, the clouds
were flying to the south, and the fog seemed to be leaving the cold surface of
the waters. Captain Nemo went towards the peak, which he doubtless meant to be
his observatory. It was a painful ascent over the sharp lava and the
pumice-stones, in an atmosphere often impregnated with a sulphurous smell from
the smoking cracks. For a man unaccustomed to walk on land, the Captain climbed
the steep slopes with an agility I never saw equalled and which a hunter would
have envied. We were two hours getting to the summit of this peak, which was
half porphyry and half basalt. From thence we looked upon a vast sea which,
towards the north, distinctly traced its boundary line upon the sky. At our feet
lay fields of dazzling whiteness. Over our heads a pale azure, free from fog. To
the north the disc of the sun
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seemed like a ball of fire, already horned by the cutting of the horizon. From
the bosom of the water rose sheaves of liquid jets by hundreds. In the distance
lay the Nautilus like a cetacean asleep on the water. Behind us, to the south
and east, an immense country and a chaotic heap of rocks and ice, the limits of
which were not visible. On arriving at the summit Captain Nemo carefully took
the mean height of the barometer, for he would have to consider that in taking
his observations. At a quarter to twelve the sun, then seen only by refraction,
looked like a golden disc shedding its last rays upon this deserted continent
and seas which never man had yet ploughed. Captain Nemo, furnished with a
lenticular glass which, by means of a mirror, corrected the refraction, watched
the orb sinking below the horizon by degrees, following a lengthened diagonal. I
held the chronometer. My heart beat fast. If the disappearance of the half-disc
of the sun coincided with twelve o'clock on the chronometer, we were at the pole
itself.
"Twelve!" I exclaimed.
"The South Pole!" replied Captain Nemo, in a grave voice,
handing me the glass, which showed the orb cut in exactly equal parts by the
horizon.
I looked at the last rays crowning the peak, and the
shadows mounting by degrees up its slopes. At that moment Captain Nemo, resting
with his hand on my shoulder, said:
"I, Captain Nemo, on this 21st day of March, 1868, have
reached the South Pole on the ninetieth degree; and I take possession of this
part of the globe, equal to one-sixth of the known continents."
"In whose name, Captain?"
"In my own, sir!"
Saying which, Captain Nemo unfurled a black banner,
bearing an "N" in gold quartered on its bunting. Then, turning towards the orb
of day, whose last rays lapped the horizon of the sea, he exclaimed:
"Adieu, sun! Disappear, thou radiant orb! rest beneath
this open sea, and let a night of six months spread its shadows over my new
domains!"
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ACCIDENT OR INCIDENT?
THE next day, the 22nd of March, at six in the morning,
preparations for departure were begun. The last gleams of twilight were melting
into night. The cold was great, the constellations shone with wonderful
intensity. In the zenith glittered that wondrous Southern Cross -- the polar
bear of Antarctic regions. The thermometer showed 120 below zero, and when the
wind freshened it was most biting. Flakes of ice increased on the open water.
The sea seemed everywhere alike. Numerous blackish patches spread on the
surface, showing the formation of fresh ice. Evidently the southern basin,
frozen during the six winter months, was absolutely inaccessible. What became of
the whales in that time? Doubtless they went beneath the icebergs, seeking more
practicable seas. As to the seals and morses, accustomed to live in a hard
climate, they remained on these icy shores. These creatures have the instinct to
break holes in the ice-field and to keep them open. To these holes they come for
breath; when the birds, driven away by the cold, have emigrated to the north,
these sea mammals remain sole masters of the polar continent. But the reservoirs
were filling with water, and the Nautilus was slowly descending. At 1,000 feet
deep it stopped; its screw beat the waves, and it advanced straight towards the
north at a speed of fifteen miles an hour. Towards night it was already floating
under the immense body of the iceberg. At three in the morning I was awakened by
a violent shock. I sat up in my bed and listened in the darkness, when I was
thrown into the middle of the room. The Nautilus, after having struck, had
rebounded violently. I groped along the partition, and by the staircase to the
saloon, which was lit by the luminous ceiling. The furniture was upset.
Fortunately the windows were firmly set, and had held fast. The pictures on the
starboard side, from being no longer vertical, were clinging to the paper,
whilst those of the port side were hanging at least a foot from the wall. The
Nautilus was lying on its starboard side perfectly motionless.
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I heard footsteps, and a confusion of voices; but Captain Nemo did not appear.
As I was leaving the saloon, Ned Land and Conseil entered.
"What is the matter?" said I, at once.
"I came to ask you, sir," replied Conseil.
"Confound it!" exclaimed the Canadian, "I know well
enough! The Nautilus has struck; and, judging by the way she lies, I do not
think she will right herself as she did the first time in Torres Straits."
"But," I asked, "has she at least come to the surface of
the sea?"
"We do not know," said Conseil.
"It is easy to decide," I answered. I consulted the
manometer. To my great surprise, it showed a depth of more than 180 fathoms.
"What does that mean?" I exclaimed.
"We must ask Captain Nemo," said Conseil.
"But where shall we find him?" said Ned Land.
"Follow me," said I, to my companions.
We left the saloon. There was no one in the library. At
the centre staircase, by the berths of the ship's crew, there was no one. I
thought that Captain Nemo must be in the pilot's cage. It was best to wait. We
all returned to the saloon. For twenty minutes we remained thus, trying to hear
the slightest noise which might be made on board the Nautilus, when Captain Nemo
entered. He seemed not to see us; his face, generally so impassive, showed signs
of uneasiness. He watched the compass silently, then the manometer; and, going
to the planisphere, placed his finger on a spot representing the southern seas.
I would not interrupt him; but, some minutes later, when he turned towards me, I
said, using one of his own expressions in the Torres Straits:
"An incident, Captain?"
"No, sir; an accident this time."
"Serious?"
"Perhaps."
"Is the danger immediate?"
"No."
"The Nautilus has stranded?"
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"Yes."
"And this has happened -- how?"
"From a caprice of nature, not from the ignorance of man.
Not a mistake has been made in the working. But we cannot prevent equilibrium
from producing its effects. We may brave human laws, but we cannot resist
natural ones."
Captain Nemo had chosen a strange moment for uttering this
philosophical reflection. On the whole, his answer helped me little.
"May I ask, sir, the cause of this accident?"
"An enormous block of ice, a whole mountain, has turned
over," he replied. "When icebergs are undermined at their base by warmer water
or reiterated shocks their centre of gravity rises, and the whole thing turns
over. This is what has happened; one of these blocks, as it fell, struck the
Nautilus, then, gliding under its hull, raised it with irresistible force,
bringing it into beds which are not so thick, where it is lying on its side."
"But can we not get the Nautilus off by emptying its
reservoirs, that it might regain its equilibrium?"
"That, sir, is being done at this moment. You can hear the
pump working. Look at the needle of the manometer; it shows that the Nautilus is
rising, but the block of ice is floating with it; and, until some obstacle stops
its ascending motion, our position cannot be altered."
Indeed, the Nautilus still held the same position to
starboard; doubtless it would right itself when the block stopped. But at this
moment who knows if we may not be frightfully crushed between the two glassy
surfaces? I reflected on all the consequences of our position. Captain Nemo
never took his eyes off the manometer. Since the fall of the iceberg, the
Nautilus had risen about a hundred and fifty feet, but it still made the same
angle with the perpendicular. Suddenly a slight movement was felt in the hold.
Evidently it was righting a little. Things hanging in the saloon were sensibly
returning to their normal position. The partitions were nearing the upright. No
one spoke. With beating hearts we watched and felt the straightening.
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The boards became horizontal under our feet. Ten minutes passed.
"At last we have righted!" I exclaimed.
"Yes," said Captain Nemo, going to the door of the saloon.
"But are we floating?" I asked.
"Certainly," he replied; "since the reservoirs are not
empty; and, when empty, the Nautilus must rise to the surface of the sea."
We were in open sea; but at a distance of about ten yards,
on either side of the Nautilus, rose a dazzling wall of ice. Above and beneath
the same wall. Above, because the lower surface of the iceberg stretched over us
like an immense ceiling. Beneath, because the overturned block, having slid by
degrees, had found a resting-place on the lateral walls, which kept it in that
position. The Nautilus was really imprisoned in a perfect tunnel of ice more
than twenty yards in breadth, filled with quiet water. It was easy to get out of
it by going either forward or backward, and then make a free passage under the
iceberg, some hundreds of yards deeper. The luminous ceiling had been
extinguished, but the saloon was still resplendent with intense light. It was
the powerful reflection from the glass partition sent violently back to the
sheets of the lantern. I cannot describe the effect of the voltaic rays upon the
great blocks so capriciously cut; upon every angle, every ridge, every facet was
thrown a different light, according to the nature of the veins running through
the ice; a dazzling mine of gems, particularly of sapphires, their blue rays
crossing with the green of the emerald. Here and there were opal shades of
wonderful softness, running through bright spots like diamonds of fire, the
brilliancy of which the eye could not bear. The power of the lantern seemed
increased a hundredfold, like a lamp through the lenticular plates of a
first-class lighthouse.
"How beautiful! how beautiful!" cried Conseil.
"Yes," I said, "it is a wonderful sight. Is it not, Ned?"
"Yes, confound it! Yes," answered Ned Land, "it is superb!
I am mad at being obliged to admit it. No one
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has ever seen anything like it; but the sight may cost us dear. And, if I must
say all, I think we are seeing here things which God never intended man to see."
Ned was right, it was too beautiful. Suddenly a cry from
Conseil made me turn.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Shut your eyes, sir! Do not look, sir!" Saying which,
Conseil clapped his hands over his eyes.
"But what is the matter, my boy?"
"I am dazzled, blinded."
My eyes turned involuntarily towards the glass, but I
could not stand the fire which seemed to devour them. I understood what had
happened. The Nautilus had put on full speed. All the quiet lustre of the
ice-walls was at once changed into flashes of lightning. The fire from these
myriads of diamonds was blinding. It required some time to calm our troubled
looks. At last the hands were taken down.
"Faith, I should never have believed it," said Conseil.
It was then five in the morning; and at that moment a
shock was felt at the bows of the Nautilus. I knew that its spur had struck a
block of ice. It must have been a false manoeuvre, for this submarine tunnel,
obstructed by blocks, was not very easy navigation. I thought that Captain Nemo,
by changing his course, would either turn these obstacles or else follow the
windings of the tunnel. In any case, the road before us could not be entirely
blocked. But, contrary to my expectations, the Nautilus took a decided
retrograde motion.
"We are going backwards?" said Conseil.
"Yes," I replied. "This end of the tunnel can have no
egress."
"And then?"
"Then," said I, "the working is easy. We must go back
again, and go out at the southern opening. That is all."
In speaking thus, I wished to appear more confident than I
really was. But the retrograde motion of the Nautilus was increasing; and,
reversing the screw, it carried us at great speed.
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"It will be a hindrance," said Ned.
"What does it matter, some hours more or less, provided we
get out at last?"
"Yes," repeated Ned Land, "provided we do get out at
last!"
For a short time I walked from the saloon to the library.
My companions were silent. I soon threw myself on an ottoman, and took a book,
which my eyes overran mechanically. A quarter of an hour after, Conseil,
approaching me, said, "Is what you are reading very interesting, sir?"
"Very interesting!" I replied.
"I should think so, sir. It is your own book you are
reading."
"My book?"
And indeed I was holding in my hand the work on the Great
Submarine Depths. I did not even dream of it. I closed the book and returned to
my walk. Ned and Conseil rose to go.
"Stay here, my friends," said I, detaining them. "Let us
remain together until we are out of this block."
"As you please, sir," Conseil replied.
Some hours passed. I often looked at the instruments
hanging from the partition. The manometer showed that the Nautilus kept at a
constant depth of more than three hundred yards; the compass still pointed to
south; the log indicated a speed of twenty miles an hour, which, in such a
cramped space, was very great. But Captain Nemo knew that he could not hasten
too much, and that minutes were worth ages to us. At twenty-five minutes past
eight a second shock took place, this time from behind. I turned pale. My
companions were close by my side. I seized Conseil's hand. Our looks expressed
our feelings better than words. At this moment the Captain entered the saloon. I
went up to him.
"Our course is barred southward?" I asked.
"Yes, sir. The iceberg has shifted and closed every
outlet."
"We are blocked up then?"
"Yes.
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WANT OF AIR
THUS around the Nautilus, above and below, was an
impenetrable wall of ice. We were prisoners to the iceberg. I watched the
Captain. His countenance had resumed its habitual imperturbability.
"Gentlemen," he said calmly, "there are two ways of dying
in the circumstances in which we are placed." (This puzzling person had the air
of a mathematical professor lecturing to his pupils.) "The first is to be
crushed; the second is to die of suffocation. I do not speak of the possibility
of dying of hunger, for the supply of provisions in the Nautilus will certainly
last longer than we shall. Let us, then, calculate our chances."
"As to suffocation, Captain," I replied, "that is not to
be feared, because our reservoirs are full."
"Just so; but they will only yield two days' supply of
air. Now, for thirty-six hours we have been hidden under the water, and already
the heavy atmosphere of the Nautilus requires renewal. In forty-eight hours our
reserve will be exhausted."
"Well, Captain, can we be delivered before forty-eight
hours?"
"We will attempt it, at least, by piercing the wall that
surrounds us."
"On which side?"
"Sound will tell us. I am going to run the Nautilus
aground on the lower bank, and my men will attack the iceberg on the side that
is least thick."
Captain Nemo went out. Soon I discovered by a hissing
noise that the water was entering the reservoirs. The Nautilus sank slowly, and
rested on the ice at a depth of 350 yards, the depth at which the lower bank was
immersed.
"My friends," I said, "our situation is serious, but I
rely on your courage and energy."
"Sir," replied the Canadian, "I am ready to do anything
for the general safety."
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"Good! Ned," and I held out my hand to the Canadian.
"I will add," he continued, "that, being as handy with the
pickaxe as with the harpoon, if I can be useful to the Captain, he can command
my services."
"He will not refuse your help. Come, Ned!"
I led him to the room where the crew of the Nautilus were
putting on their cork-jackets. I told the Captain of Ned's proposal, which he
accepted. The Canadian put on his sea-costume, and was ready as soon as his
companions. When Ned was dressed, I re-entered the drawing-room, where the panes
of glass were open, and, posted near Conseil, I examined the ambient beds that
supported the Nautilus. Some instants after, we saw a dozen of the crew set foot
on the bank of ice, and among them Ned Land, easily known by his stature.
Captain Nemo was with them. Before proceeding to dig the walls, he took the
soundings, to be sure of working in the right direction. Long sounding lines
were sunk in the side walls, but after fifteen yards they were again stopped by
the thick wall. It was useless to attack it on the ceiling-like surface, since
the iceberg itself measured more than 400 yards in height. Captain Nemo then
sounded the lower surface. There ten yards of wall separated us from the water,
so great was the thickness of the ice-field. It was necessary, therefore, to cut
from it a piece equal in extent to the waterline of the Nautilus. There were
about 6,000 cubic yards to detach, so as to dig a hole by which we could descend
to the ice-field. The work had begun immediately and carried on with
indefatigable energy. Instead of digging round the Nautilus which would have
involved greater difficulty, Captain Nemo had an immense trench made at eight
yards from the port-quarter. Then the men set to work simultaneously with their
screws on several points of its circumference. Presently the pickaxe attacked
this compact matter vigorously, and large blocks were detached from the mass. By
a curious effect of specific gravity, these blocks, lighter than water, fled, so
to speak, to the vault of the tunnel, that increased in thickness at the top in
proportion as it diminished at the base. But that mattered little, so long as
the lower part grew thinner. After two
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hours' hard work, Ned Land came in exhausted. He and his comrades were replaced
by new workers, whom Conseil and I joined. The second lieutenant of the Nautilus
superintended us. The water seemed singularly cold, but I soon got warm handling
the pickaxe. My movements were free enough, although they were made under a
pressure of thirty atmospheres. When I re-entered, after working two hours, to
take some food and rest, I found a perceptible difference between the pure fluid
with which the Rouquayrol engine supplied me and the atmosphere of the Nautilus,
already charged with carbonic acid. The air had not been renewed for forty-eight
hours, and its vivifying qualities were considerably enfeebled. However, after a
lapse of twelve hours, we had only raised a block of ice one yard thick, on the
marked surface, which was about 600 cubic yards! Reckoning that it took twelve
hours to accomplish this much it would take five nights and four days to bring
this enterprise to a satisfactory conclusion. Five nights and four days! And we
have only air enough for two days in the reservoirs! "Without taking into
account," said Ned, "that, even if we get out of this infernal prison, we shall
also be imprisoned under the iceberg, shut out from all possible communication
with the atmosphere." True enough! Who could then foresee the minimum of time
necessary for our deliverance? We might be suffocated before the Nautilus could
regain the surface of the waves? Was it destined to perish in this ice-tomb,
with all those it enclosed? The situation was terrible. But everyone had looked
the danger in the face, and each was determined to do his duty to the last.
As I expected, during the night a new block a yard square
was carried away, and still further sank the immense hollow. But in the morning
when, dressed in my cork-jacket, I traversed the slushy mass at a temperature of
six or seven degrees below zero, I remarked that the side walls were gradually
closing in. The beds of water farthest from the trench, that were not warmed by
the men's work, showed a tendency to solidification. In presence of this new and
imminent danger, what would become of our chances of safety,
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and how hinder the solidification of this liquid medium, that would burst the
partitions of the Nautilus like glass?
I did not tell my companions of this new danger. What was
the good of damping the energy they displayed in the painful work of escape? But
when I went on board again, I told Captain Nemo of this grave complication.
"I know it," he said, in that calm tone which could
counteract the most terrible apprehensions. "It is one danger more; but I see no
way of escaping it; the only chance of safety is to go quicker than
solidification. We must be beforehand with it, that is all."
On this day for several hours I used my pickaxe
vigorously. The work kept me up. Besides, to work was to quit the Nautilus, and
breathe directly the pure air drawn from the reservoirs, and supplied by our
apparatus, and to quit the impoverished and vitiated atmosphere. Towards evening
the trench was dug one yard deeper. When I returned on board, I was nearly
suffocated by the carbonic acid with which the air was filled -- ah! if we had
only the chemical means to drive away this deleterious gas. We had plenty of
oxygen; all this water contained a considerable quantity, and by dissolving it
with our powerful piles, it would restore the vivifying fluid. I had thought
well over it; but of what good was that, since the carbonic acid produced by our
respiration had invaded every part of the vessel? To absorb it, it was necessary
to fill some jars with caustic potash, and to shake them incessantly. Now this
substance was wanting on board, and nothing could replace it. On that evening,
Captain Nemo ought to open the taps of his reservoirs, and let some pure air
into the interior of the Nautilus; without this precaution we could not get rid
of the sense of suffocation. The next day, March 26th, I resumed my miner's work
in beginning the fifth yard. The side walls and the lower surface of the iceberg
thickened visibly. It was evident that they would meet before the Nautilus was
able to disengage itself. Despair seized me for an instant; my pickaxe nearly
fell from my bands. What was the good of digging if I must be suffocated,
crushed by the water that was turning into stone? -- a punishment that the
ferocity of
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the savages even would not have invented! Just then Captain Nemo passed near me.
I touched his hand and showed him the walls of our prison. The wall to port had
advanced to at least four yards from the hull of the Nautilus. The Captain
understood me, and signed me to follow him. We went on board. I took off my
cork-jacket and accompanied him into the drawing-room.
"M. Aronnax, we must attempt some desperate means, or we
shall be sealed up in this solidified water as in cement."
"Yes; but what is to be done?"
"Ah! if my Nautilus were strong enough to bear this
pressure without being crushed!"
"Well?" I asked, not catching the Captain's idea.
"Do you not understand," he replied, "that this
congelation of water will help us? Do you not see that by its solidification, it
would burst through this field of ice that imprisons us, as, when it freezes, it
bursts the hardest stones? Do you not perceive that it would be an agent of
safety instead of destruction?"
"Yes, Captain, perhaps. But, whatever resistance to
crushing the Nautilus possesses, it could not support this terrible pressure,
and would be flattened like an iron plate."
"I know it, sir. Therefore we must not reckon on the aid
of nature, but on our own exertions. We must stop this solidification. Not only
will the side walls be pressed together; but there is not ten feet of water
before or behind the Nautilus. The congelation gains on us on all sides."
"How long will the air in the reservoirs last for us to
breathe on board?"
The Captain looked in my face. "After to-morrow they will
be empty!"
A cold sweat came over me. However, ought I to have been
astonished at the answer? On March 22, the Nautilus was in the open polar seas.
We were at 26o. For five days we had lived on the reserve on board.
And what was left of the respirable air must be kept for the workers. Even now,
as I write, my recollection is still so vivid that an involuntary terror seizes
me and my lungs seem to be without air. Meanwhile, Captain Nemo reflected
silently, and evidently
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an idea had struck him; but he seemed to reject it. At last, these words escaped
his lips:
"Boiling water!" he muttered.
"Boiling water?" I cried.
"Yes, sir. We are enclosed in a space that is relatively
confined. Would not jets of boiling water, constantly injected by the pumps,
raise the temperature in this part and stay the congelation?"
"Let us try it," I said resolutely.
"Let us try it, Professor."
The thermometer then stood at 7o outside.
Captain Nemo took me to the galleys, where the vast distillatory machines stood
that furnished the drinkable water by evaporation. They filled these with water,
and all the electric heat from the piles was thrown through the worms bathed in
the liquid. In a few minutes this water reached 100o. It was directed
towards the pumps, while fresh water replaced it in proportion. The heat
developed by the troughs was such that cold water, drawn up from the sea after
only having gone through the machines, came boiling into the body of the pump.
The injection was begun, and three hours after the thermometer marked 6o
below zero outside. One degree was gained. Two hours later the thermometer only
marked 4o.
"We shall succeed," I said to the Captain, after having
anxiously watched the result of the operation.
"I think," he answered, "that we shall not be crushed. We
have no more suffocation to fear."
During the night the temperature of the water rose to 1o
below zero. The injections could not carry it to a higher point. But, as the
congelation of the sea-water produces at least 2o, I was at least
reassured against the dangers of solidification.
The next day, March 27th, six yards of ice had been
cleared, twelve feet only remaining to be cleared away. There was yet
forty-eight hours' work. The air could not be renewed in the interior of the
Nautilus. And this day would make it worse. An intolerable weight oppressed me.
Towards three o'clock in the evening this feeling rose to a violent degree.
Yawns dislocated my jaws. My lungs panted
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as they inhaled this burning fluid, which became rarefied more and more. A moral
torpor took hold of me. I was powerless, almost unconscious. My brave Conseil,
though exhibiting the same symptoms and suffering in the same manner, never left
me. He took my hand and encouraged me, and I heard him murmur, "Oh! if I could
only not breathe, so as to leave more air for my master!"
Tears came into my eyes on hearing him speak thus. If our
situation to all was intolerable in the interior, with what haste and gladness
would we put on our cork-jackets to work in our turn! Pickaxes sounded on the
frozen ice-beds. Our arms ached, the skin was torn off our hands. But what were
these fatigues, what did the wounds matter? Vital air came to the lungs! We
breathed! we breathed!
All this time no one prolonged his voluntary task beyond
the prescribed time. His task accomplished, each one handed in turn to his
panting companions the apparatus that supplied him with life. Captain Nemo set
the example, and submitted first to this severe discipline. When the time came,
he gave up his apparatus to another and returned to the vitiated air on board,
calm, unflinching, unmurmuring.
On that day the ordinary work was accomplished with
unusual vigour. Only two yards remained to be raised from the surface. Two yards
only separated us from the open sea. But the reservoirs were nearly emptied of
air. The little that remained ought to be kept for the workers; not a particle
for the Nautilus. When I went back on board, I was half suffocated. What a
night! I know not how to describe it. The next day my breathing was oppressed.
Dizziness accompanied the pain in my head and made me like a drunken man. My
companions showed the same symptoms. Some of the crew had rattling in the
throat.
On that day, the sixth of our imprisonment, Captain Nemo,
finding the pickaxes work too slowly, resolved to crush the ice-bed that still
separated us from the liquid sheet. This man's coolness and energy never forsook
him. He subdued his physical pains by moral force.
By his orders the vessel was lightened, that is to say,
raised from the ice-bed by a change of specific gravity.
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When it floated they towed it so as to bring it above the immense trench made on
the level of the water-line. Then, filling his reservoirs of water, he descended
and shut himself up in the hole.
Just then all the crew came on board, and the double door
of communication was shut. The Nautilus then rested on the bed of ice, which was
not one yard thick, and which the sounding leads had perforated in a thousand
places. The taps of the reservoirs were then opened, and a hundred cubic yards
of water was let in, increasing the weight of the Nautilus to 1,800 tons. We
waited, we listened, forgetting our sufferings in hope. Our safety depended on
this last chance. Notwithstanding the buzzing in my head, I soon heard the
humming sound under the hull of the Nautilus. The ice cracked with a singular
noise, like tearing paper, and the Nautilus sank.
"We are off!" murmured Conseil in my ear.
I could not answer him. I seized his hand, and pressed it
convulsively. All at once, carried away by its frightful overcharge, the
Nautilus sank like a bullet under the waters, that is to say, it fell as if it
was in a vacuum. Then all the electric force was put on the pumps, that soon
began to let the water out of the reservoirs. After some minutes, our fall was
stopped. Soon, too, the manometer indicated an ascending movement. The screw,
going at full speed, made the iron hull tremble to its very bolts and drew us
towards the north. But if this floating under the iceberg is to last another day
before we reach the open sea, I shall be dead first.
Half stretched upon a divan in the library, I was
suffocating. My face was purple, my lips blue, my faculties suspended. I neither
saw nor heard. All notion of time had gone from my mind. My muscles could not
contract. I do not know how many hours passed thus, but I was conscious of the
agony that was coming over me. I felt as if I was going to die. Suddenly I came
to. Some breaths of air penetrated my lungs. Had we risen to the surface of the
waves? Were we free of the iceberg? No! Ned and Conseil, my two brave friends,
were sacrificing themselves to save me. Some particles of air still remained at
the bottom of one apparatus.
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Instead of using it, they had kept it for me, and, while they were being
suffocated, they gave me life, drop by drop. I wanted to push back the thing;
they held my hands, and for some moments I breathed freely. I looked at the
clock; it was eleven in the morning. It ought to be the 28th of March. The
Nautilus went at a frightful pace, forty miles an hour. It literally tore
through the water. Where was Captain Nemo? Had he succumbed? Were his companions
dead with him? At the moment the manometer indicated that we were not more than
twenty feet from the surface. A mere plate of ice separated us from the
atmosphere. Could we not break it? Perhaps. In any case the Nautilus was going
to attempt it. I felt that it was in an oblique position, lowering the stern,
and raising the bows. The introduction of water had been the means of disturbing
its equilibrium. Then, impelled by its powerful screw, it attacked the ice-field
from beneath like a formidable battering-ram. It broke it by backing and then
rushing forward against the field, which gradually gave way; and at last,
dashing suddenly against it, shot forwards on the ice-field, that crushed
beneath its weight. The panel was opened -- one might say torn off -- and the
pure air came in in abundance to all parts of the Nautilus.
FROM CAPE HORN TO THE AMAZON
How I got on to the platform, I have no idea; perhaps the
Canadian had carried me there. But I breathed, I inhaled the vivifying sea-air.
My two companions were getting drunk with the fresh particles. The other unhappy
men had been so long without food, that they could not with impunity indulge in
the simplest aliments that were given them. We, on the contrary, had no end to
restrain ourselves; we could draw this air freely into our lungs, and it was the
breeze, the breeze alone, that filled us with this keen enjoyment.
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"Ah!" said Conseil, "how delightful this oxygen is! Master
need not fear to breathe it. There is enough for everybody."
Ned Land did not speak, but he opened his jaws wide enough
to frighten a shark. Our strength soon returned, and, when I looked round me, I
saw we were alone on the platform. The foreign seamen in the Nautilus were
contented with the air that circulated in the interior; none of them had come to
drink in the open air.
The first words I spoke were words of gratitude and
thankfulness to my two companions. Ned and Conseil had prolonged my life during
the last hours of this long agony. All my gratitude could not repay such
devotion.
"My friends," said I, "we are bound one to the other for
ever, and I am under infinite obligations to you."
"Which I shall take advantage of," exclaimed the Canadian.
"What do you mean?" said Conseil.
"I mean that I shall take you with me when I leave this
infernal Nautilus."
"Well," said Conseil, "after all this, are we going
right?"
"Yes," I replied, "for we are going the way of the sun,
and here the sun is in the north."
"No doubt," said Ned Land; "but it remains to be seen
whether he will bring the ship into the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean, that is,
into frequented or deserted seas."
I could not answer that question, and I feared that
Captain Nemo would rather take us to the vast ocean that touches the coasts of
Asia and America at the same time. He would thus complete the tour round the
submarine world, and return to those waters in which the Nautilus could sail
freely. We ought, before long, to settle this important point. The Nautilus went
at a rapid pace. The polar circle was soon passed, and the course shaped for
Cape Horn. We were off the American point, March 31st, at seven o'clock in the
evening. Then all our past sufferings were forgotten. The remembrance of that
imprisonment in the ice was effaced from our minds. We only thought of the
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future. Captain Nemo did not appear again either in the drawing-room or on the
platform. The point shown each day on the planisphere, and, marked by the
lieutenant, showed me the exact direction of the Nautilus. Now, on that evening,
it was evident, to, my great satisfaction, that we were going back to the North
by the Atlantic. The next day, April 1st, when the Nautilus ascended to the
surface some minutes before noon, we sighted land to the west. It was Terra del
Fuego, which the first navigators named thus from seeing the quantity of smoke
that rose from the natives' huts. The coast seemed low to me, but in the
distance rose high mountains. I even thought I had a glimpse of Mount Sarmiento,
that rises 2,070 yards above the level of the sea, with a very pointed summit,
which, according as it is misty or clear, is a sign of fine or of wet weather.
At this moment the peak was clearly defined against the sky. The Nautilus,
diving again under the water, approached the coast, which was only some few
miles off. From the glass windows in the drawing-room, I saw long seaweeds and
gigantic fuci and varech, of which the open polar sea contains so many
specimens, with their sharp polished filaments; they measured about 300 yards in
length -- real cables, thicker than one's thumb; and, having great tenacity,
they are often used as ropes for vessels. Another weed known as velp, with
leaves four feet long, buried in the coral concretions, hung at the bottom. It
served as nest and food for myriads of crustacea and molluscs, crabs, and
cuttlefish. There seals and otters had splendid repasts, eating the flesh of
fish with sea-vegetables, according to the English fashion. Over this fertile
and luxuriant ground the Nautilus passed with great rapidity. Towards evening it
approached the Falkland group, the rough summits of which I recognised the
following day. The depth of the sea was moderate. On the shores our nets brought
in beautiful specimens of seaweed, and particularly a certain fucus, the roots
of which were filled with the best mussels in the world. Geese and ducks fell by
dozens on the platform, and soon took their places in the pantry on board.
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When the last heights of the Falklands had disappeared
from the horizon, the Nautilus sank to between twenty and twenty-five yards, and
followed the American coast. Captain Nemo did not show himself. Until the 3rd of
April we did not quit the shores of Patagonia, sometimes under the ocean,
sometimes at the surface. The Nautilus passed beyond the large estuary formed by
the Uraguay. Its direction was northwards, and followed the long windings of the
coast of South America. We had then made 1,600 miles since our embarkation in
the seas of Japan. About eleven o'clock in the morning the Tropic of Capricorn
was crossed on the thirty-seventh meridian, and we passed Cape Frio standing out
to sea. Captain Nemo, to Ned Land's great displeasure, did not like the
neighbourhood of the inhabited coasts of Brazil, for we went at a giddy speed.
Not a fish, not a bird of the swiftest kind could follow us, and the natural
curiosities of these seas escaped all observation.
This speed was kept up for several days, and in the
evening of the 9th of April we sighted the most westerly point of South America
that forms Cape San Roque. But then the Nautilus swerved again, and sought the
lowest depth of a submarine valley which is between this Cape and Sierra Leone
on the African coast. This valley bifurcates to the parallel of the Antilles,
and terminates at the mouth by the enormous depression of 9,000 yards. In this
place, the geological basin of the ocean forms, as far as the Lesser Antilles, a
cliff to three and a half miles perpendicular in height, and, at the parallel of
the Cape Verde Islands, another wall not less considerable, that encloses thus
all the sunk continent of the Atlantic. The bottom of this immense valley is
dotted with some mountains, that give to these submarine places a picturesque
aspect. I speak, moreover, from the manuscript charts that were in the library
of the Nautilus -- charts evidently due to Captain Nemo's hand, and made after
his personal observations. For two days the desert and deep waters were visited
by means of the inclined planes. The Nautilus was furnished with long diagonal
broadsides which carried it to all elevations. But on the
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11th of April it rose suddenly, and land appeared at the mouth of the Amazon
River, a vast estuary, the embouchure of which is so considerable that it
freshens the sea-water for the distance of several leagues.
THE POULPS
FOR several days the Nautilus kept off from the American
coast. Evidently it did not wish to risk the tides of the Gulf of Mexico or of
the sea of the Antilles. April 16th, we sighted Martinique and Guadaloupe from a
distance of about thirty miles. I saw their tall peaks for an instant. The
Canadian, who counted on carrying out his projects in the Gulf, by either
landing or hailing one of the numerous boats that coast from one island to
another, was quite disheartened. Flight would have been quite practicable, if
Ned Land had been able to take possession of the boat without the Captain's
knowledge. But in the open sea it could not be thought of. The Canadian, Conseil,
and I had a long conversation on this subject. For six months we had been
prisoners on board the Nautilus. We had travelled 17,000 leagues; and, as Ned
Land said, there was no reason why it should come to an end. We could hope
nothing from the Captain of the Nautilus, but only from ourselves. Besides, for
some time past he had become graver, more retired, less sociable. He seemed to
shun me. I met him rarely. Formerly he was pleased to explain the submarine
marvels to me; now he left me to my studies, and came no more to the saloon.
What change had come over him? For what cause? For my part, I did not wish to
bury with me my curious and novel studies. I had now the power to write the true
book of the sea; and this book, sooner or later, I wished to see daylight. The
land nearest us was the archipelago of the Bahamas. There rose high submarine
cliffs covered with large weeds. It was about eleven o'clock when Ned Land drew
my attention to a formidable pricking,
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like the sting of an ant, which was produced by means of large seaweeds.
"Well," I said, "these are proper caverns for poulps, and
I should not be astonished to see some of these monsters."
"What!" said Conseil; "cuttlefish, real cuttlefish of the
cephalopod class?"
"No," I said, "poulps of huge dimensions."
"I will never believe that such animals exist," said Ned.
"Well," said Conseil, with the most serious air in the
world, "I remember perfectly to have seen a large vessel drawn under the waves
by an octopus's arm."
"You saw that?" said the Canadian.
"Yes, Ned."
"With your own eyes?"
"With my own eyes."
"Where, pray, might that be?"
"At St. Malo," answered Conseil.
"In the port?" said Ned, ironically.
"No; in a church," replied Conseil.
"In a church!" cried the Canadian.
"Yes; friend Ned. In a picture representing the poulp in
question."
"Good!" said Ned Land, bursting out laughing.
"He is quite right," I said. "I have heard of this
picture; but the subject represented is taken from a legend, and you know what
to think of legends in the matter of natural history. Besides, when it is a
question of monsters, the imagination is apt to run wild. Not only is it
supposed that these poulps can draw down vessels, but a certain Olaus Magnus
speaks of an octopus a mile long that is more like an island than an animal. It
is also said that the Bishop of Nidros was building an altar on an immense rock.
Mass finished, the rock began to walk, and returned to the sea. The rock was a
poulp. Another Bishop, Pontoppidan, speaks also of a poulp on which a regiment
of cavalry could manoeuvre. Lastly, the ancient naturalists speak of monsters
whose mouths were like gulfs, and which were too large to pass through the
Straits of Gibraltar."
"But how much is true of these stories?" asked Conseil.
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"Nothing, my friends; at least of that which passes the
limit of truth to get to fable or legend. Nevertheless, there must be some
ground for the imagination of the story-tellers. One cannot deny that poulps and
cuttlefish exist of a large species, inferior, however, to the cetaceans.
Aristotle has stated the dimensions of a cuttlefish as five cubits, or nine feet
two inches. Our fishermen frequently see some that are more than four feet long.
Some skeletons of poulps are preserved in the museums of Trieste and Montpelier,
that measure two yards in length. Besides, according to the calculations of some
naturalists, one of these animals only six feet long would have tentacles
twenty-seven feet long. That would suffice to make a formidable monster."
"Do they fish for them in these days?" asked Ned.
"If they do not fish for them, sailors see them at least.
One of my friends, Captain Paul Bos of Havre, has often affirmed that he met one
of these monsters of colossal dimensions in the Indian seas. But the most
astonishing fact, and which does not permit of the denial of the existence of
these gigantic animals, happened some years ago, in 1861."
"What is the fact?" asked Ned Land.
"This is it. In 1861, to the north-east of Teneriffe, very
nearly in the same latitude we are in now, the crew of the despatch-boat Alector
perceived a monstrous cuttlefish swimming in the waters. Captain Bouguer went
near to the animal, and attacked it with harpoon and guns, without much success,
for balls and harpoons glided over the soft flesh. After several fruitless
attempts the crew tried to pass a slip-knot round the body of the mollusc. The
noose slipped as far as the tail fins and there stopped. They tried then to haul
it on board, but its weight was so considerable that the tightness of the cord
separated the tail from the, body, and, deprived of this ornament, he
disappeared under the water."
"Indeed! is that a fact?"
"An indisputable fact, my good Ned. They proposed to name
this poulp 'Bouguer's cuttlefish.'"
"What length was it?" asked the Canadian.
"Did it not measure about six yards?" said Conseil, who,
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posted at the window, was examining again the irregular windings of the cliff.
"Precisely," I replied.
"Its head," rejoined Conseil, "was it not crowned with
eight tentacles, that beat the water like a nest of serpents?"
"Precisely."
"Had not its eyes, placed at the back of its head,
considerable development?"
"Yes, Conseil."
"And was not its mouth like a parrot's beak?"
"Exactly, Conseil."
"Very well! no offence to master," be replied, quietly;
"if this is not Bouguer's cuttlefish, it is, at least, one of its brothers."
I looked at Conseil. Ned Land hurried to the window.
"What a horrible beast!" he cried.
I looked in my turn, and could not repress a gesture of
disgust. Before my eyes was a horrible monster worthy to figure in the legends
of the marvellous. It was an immense cuttlefish, being eight yards long. It swam
crossways in the direction of the Nautilus with great speed, watching us with
its enormous staring green eyes. Its eight arms, or rather feet, fixed to its
head, that have given the name of cephalopod to these animals, were twice as
long as its body, and were twisted like the furies' hair. One could see the 250
air-holes on the inner side of the tentacles. The monster's mouth, a horned beak
like a parrot's, opened and shut vertically. Its tongue, a horned substance,
furnished with several rows of pointed teeth, came out quivering from this
veritable pair of shears. What a freak of nature, a bird's beak on a mollusc!
Its spindle-like body formed a fleshy mass that might weigh 4,000 to 5,000 lb.;
the, varying colour changing with great rapidity, according to the irritation of
the animal, passed successively from livid grey to reddish brown. What irritated
this mollusc? No doubt the presence of the Nautilus, more formidable than
itself, and on which its suckers or its jaws had no hold. Yet, what monsters
these poulps are! what vitality the Creator has given them! what vigour in their
movements! and they possess three hearts! Chance
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had brought us in presence of this cuttlefish, and I did not wish to lose the
opportunity of carefully studying this specimen of cephalopods. I overcame the
horror that inspired me, and, taking a pencil, began to draw it.
"Perhaps this is the same which the Alector saw," said
Conseil.
"No," replied the Canadian; "for this is whole, and the
other had lost its tail."
"That is no reason," I replied. "The arms and tails of
these animals are re-formed by renewal; and in seven years the tail of Bouguer's
cuttlefish has no doubt had time to grow."
By this time other poulps appeared at the port light. I
counted seven. They formed a procession after the Nautilus, and I heard their
beaks gnashing against the iron hull. I continued my work. These monsters kept
in the water with such precision that they seemed immovable. Suddenly the
Nautilus stopped. A shock made it tremble in every plate.
"Have we struck anything?" I asked.
"In any case," replied the Canadian, "we shall be free,
for we are floating."
The Nautilus was floating, no doubt, but it did not move.
A minute passed. Captain Nemo, followed by his lieutenant, entered the
drawing-room. I had not seen him for some time. He seemed dull. Without noticing
or speaking to us, he went to the panel, looked at the poulps, and said
something to his lieutenant. The latter went out. Soon the panels were shut. The
ceiling was lighted. I went towards the Captain.
"A curious collection of poulps?" I said.
"Yes, indeed, Mr. Naturalist," he replied; "and we are
going to fight them, man to beast."
I looked at him. I thought I had not heard aright.
"Man to beast?" I repeated.
"Yes, sir. The screw is stopped. I think that the horny
jaws of one of the cuttlefish is entangled in the blades. That is what prevents
our moving."
"What are you going to do?"
"Rise to the surface, and slaughter this vermin."
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"A difficult enterprise."
"Yes, indeed. The electric bullets are powerless against
the soft flesh, where they do not find resistance enough to go off. But we shall
attack them with the hatchet."
"And the harpoon, sir," said the Canadian, "if you do not
refuse my help."
"I will accept it, Master Land."
"We will follow you," I said, and, following Captain Nemo,
we went towards the central staircase.
There, about ten men with boarding-hatchets were ready for
the attack. Conseil and I took two hatchets; Ned Land seized a harpoon. The
Nautilus had then risen to the surface. One of the sailors, posted on the top
ladderstep, unscrewed the bolts of the panels. But hardly were the screws
loosed, when the panel rose with great violence, evidently drawn by the suckers
of a poulp's arm. Immediately one of these arms slid like a serpent down the
opening and twenty others were above. With one blow of the axe, Captain Nemo cut
this formidable tentacle, that slid wriggling down the ladder. Just as we were
pressing one on the other to reach the platform, two other arms, lashing the
air, came down on the seaman placed before Captain Nemo, and lifted him up with
irresistible power. Captain Nemo uttered a cry, and rushed out. We hurried after
him.
What a scene! The unhappy man, seized by the tentacle and
fixed to the suckers, was balanced in the air at the caprice of this enormous
trunk. He rattled in his throat, he was stifled, he cried, "Help! help!" These
words, spoken in French, startled me! I had a fellow-countryman on board,
perhaps several! That heart-rending cry! I shall hear it all my life. The
unfortunate man was lost. Who could rescue him from that powerful pressure?
However, Captain Nemo had rushed to the poulp, and with one blow of the axe had
cut through one arm. His lieutenant struggled furiously against other monsters
that crept on the flanks of the Nautilus. The crew fought with their axes. The
Canadian, Conseil, and I buried our weapons in the fleshy masses; a strong smell
of musk penetrated the atmosphere. It was horrible!
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For one instant, I thought the unhappy man, entangled with
the poulp, would be torn from its powerful suction. Seven of the eight arms had
been cut off. One only wriggled in the air, brandishing the victim like a
feather. But just as Captain Nemo and his lieutenant threw themselves on it, the
animal ejected a stream of black liquid. We were blinded with it. When the cloud
dispersed, the cuttlefish had disappeared, and my unfortunate countryman with
it. Ten or twelve poulps now invaded the platform and sides of the Nautilus. We
rolled pell-mell into the midst of this nest of serpents, that wriggled on the
platform in the waves of blood and ink. It seemed as though these slimy
tentacles sprang up like the hydra's heads. Ned Land's harpoon, at each stroke,
was plunged into the staring eyes of the cuttlefish. But my bold companion was
suddenly overturned by the tentacles of a monster he had not been able to avoid.
Ah! how my heart beat with emotion and horror! The
formidable beak of a cuttlefish was open over Ned Land. The unhappy man would be
cut in two. I rushed to his succour. But Captain Nemo was before me; his axe
disappeared between the two enormous jaws, and, miraculously saved, the
Canadian, rising, plunged his harpoon deep into the triple heart of the poulp.
"I owed myself this revenge!" said the Captain to the
Canadian.
Ned bowed without replying. The combat had lasted a
quarter of an hour. The monsters, vanquished and mutilated, left us at last, and
disappeared under the waves. Captain Nemo, covered with blood, nearly exhausted,
gazed upon the sea that had swallowed up one of his companions, and great tears
gathered in his eyes.
THE GULF STREAM
THIS terrible scene of the 20th of April none of us can
ever forget. I have written it under the influence of violent
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emotion. Since then I have revised the recital; I have read it to Conseil and to
the Canadian. They found it exact as to facts, but insufficient as to effect. To
paint such pictures, one must have the pen of the most illustrious of our poets,
the author of The Toilers of the Deep.
I have said that Captain Nemo wept while watching the
waves; his grief was great. It was the second companion he had lost since our
arrival on board, and what a death! That friend, crushed, stifled, bruised by
the dreadful arms of a poulp, pounded by his iron jaws, would not rest with his
comrades in the peaceful coral cemetery! In the midst of the struggle, it was
the despairing cry uttered by the unfortunate man that had torn my heart. The
poor Frenchman, forgetting his conventional language, had taken to his own
mother tongue, to utter a last appeal! Amongst the crew of the Nautilus,
associated with the body and soul of the Captain, recoiling like him from all
contact with men, I had a fellow-countryman. Did be alone represent France in
this mysterious association, evidently composed of individuals of divers
nationalities? It was one of these insoluble problems that rose up unceasingly
before my mind!
Captain Nemo entered his room, and I saw him no more for
some time. But that he was sad and irresolute I could see by the vessel, of
which he was the soul, and which received all his impressions. The Nautilus did
not keep on in its settled course; it floated about like a corpse at the will of
the waves. It went at random. He could not tear himself away from the scene of
the last struggle, from this sea that had devoured one of his men. Ten days
passed thus. It was not till the 1st of May that the Nautilus resumed its
northerly course, after having sighted the Bahamas at the mouth of the Bahama
Canal. We were then following the current from the largest river to the sea,
that has its banks, its fish, and its proper temperatures. I mean the Gulf
Stream. It is really a river, that flows freely to the middle of the Atlantic,
and whose waters do not mix with the ocean waters. It is a salt river, salter
than the surrounding sea. Its mean depth is 1,500 fathoms, its mean breadth ten
miles. In certain places the current flows with the speed of two miles and a
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half an hour. The body of its waters is more considerable than that of all the
rivers in the globe. It was on this ocean river that the Nautilus then sailed.
I must add that, during the night, the phosphorescent
waters of the Gulf Stream rivalled the electric power of our watch-light,
especially in the stormy weather that threatened us so frequently. May 8th, we
were still crossing Cape Hatteras, at the height of the North Caroline. The
width of the Gulf Stream there is seventy-five miles, and its depth 210 yards.
The Nautilus still went at random; all supervision seemed abandoned. I thought
that, under these circumstances, escape would be possible. Indeed, the inhabited
shores offered anywhere an easy refuge. The sea was incessantly ploughed by the
steamers that ply between New York or Boston and the Gulf of Mexico, and overrun
day and night by the little schooners coasting about the several parts of the
American coast. We could hope to be picked up. It was a favourable opportunity,
notwithstanding the thirty miles that separated the Nautilus from the coasts of
the Union. One unfortunate circumstance thwarted the Canadian's plans. The
weather was very bad. We were nearing those shores where tempests are so
frequent, that country of waterspouts and cyclones actually engendered by the
current of the Gulf Stream. To tempt the sea in a frail boat was certain
destruction. Ned Land owned this himself. He fretted, seized with nostalgia that
flight only could cure.
"Master," he said that day to me, "this must come to an
end. I must make a clean breast of it. This Nemo is leaving land and going up to
the north. But I declare to you that I have had enough of the South Pole, and I
will not follow him to the North."
"What is to be done, Ned, since flight is impracticable
just now?"
"We must speak to the Captain," said he; "you said nothing
when we were in your native seas. I will speak, now we are in mine. When I think
that before long the Nautilus will be by Nova Scotia, and that there near
Newfoundland is a large bay, and into that bay the St. Lawrence
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empties itself, and that the St. Lawrence is my river, the river by Quebec, my
native town -- when I think of this, I feel furious, it makes my hair stand on
end. Sir, I would rather throw myself into the sea! I will not stay here! I am
stifled!"
The Canadian was evidently losing all patience. His
vigorous nature could not stand this prolonged imprisonment. His face altered
daily; his temper became more surly. I knew what he must suffer, for I was
seized with home-sickness myself. Nearly seven months had passed without our
having had any news from land; Captain Nemo's isolation, his altered spirits,
especially since the fight with the poulps, his taciturnity, all made me view
things in a different light.
"Well, sir?" said Ned, seeing I did not reply.
"Well, Ned, do you wish me to ask Captain Nemo his
intentions concerning us?"
"Yes, sir."
"Although he has already made them known?"
"Yes; I wish it settled finally. Speak for me, in my name
only, if you like."
"But I so seldom meet him. He avoids me."
"That is all the more reason for you to go to see him."
I went to my room. From thence I meant to go to Captain
Nemo's. It would not do to let this opportunity of meeting him slip. I knocked
at the door. No answer. I knocked again, then turned the handle. The door
opened, I went in. The Captain was there. Bending over his work-table, he had
not heard me. Resolved not to go without having spoken, I approached him. He
raised his head quickly, frowned, and said roughly, "You here! What do you
want?"
"To speak to you, Captain."
"But I am busy, sir; I am working. I leave you at liberty
to shut yourself up; cannot I be allowed the same?"
This reception was not encouraging; but I was determined
to hear and answer everything.
"Sir," I said coldly, "I have to speak to you on a matter
that admits of no delay."
"What is that, sir?" he replied, ironically. "Have you
discovered
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something that has escaped me, or has the sea delivered up any new secrets?"
We were at cross-purposes. But, before I could reply, he
showed me an open manuscript on his table, and said, in a more serious tone,
"Here, M. Aronnax, is a manuscript written in several languages. It contains the
sum of my studies of the sea; and, if it please God, it shall not perish with
me. This manuscript, signed with my name, complete with the history of my life,
will be shut up in a little floating case. The last survivor of all of us on
board the Nautilus will throw this case into the sea, and it will go whither it
is borne by the waves."
This man's name! his history written by himself! His
mystery would then be revealed some day.
"Captain," I said, "I can but approve of the idea that
makes you act thus. The result of your studies must not be lost. But the means
you employ seem to me to be primitive. Who knows where the winds will carry this
case, and in whose hands it will fall? Could you not use some other means? Could
not you, or one of yours -- "
"Never, sir!" he said, hastily interrupting me.
"But I and my companions are ready to keep this manuscript
in store; and, if you will put us at liberty -- "
"At liberty?" said the Captain, rising.
"Yes, sir; that is the subject on which I wish to question
you. For seven months we have been here on board, and I ask you to-day, in the
name of my companions and in my own, if your intention is to keep us here
always?"
"M. Aronnax, I will answer you to-day as I did seven
months ago: Whoever enters the Nautilus, must never quit it."
"You impose actual slavery upon us!"
"Give it what name you please."
"But everywhere the slave has the right to regain his
liberty."
"Who denies you this right? Have I ever tried to chain you
with an oath?"
He looked at me with his arms crossed.
"Sir," I said, "to return a second time to this subject
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will be neither to your nor to my taste; but, as we have entered upon it, let us
go through with it. I repeat, it is not only myself whom it concerns. Study is
to me a relief, a diversion, a passion that could make me forget everything.
Like you, I am willing to live obscure, in the frail hope of bequeathing one
day, to future time, the result of my labours. But it is otherwise with Ned
Land. Every man, worthy of the name, deserves some consideration. Have you
thought that love of liberty, hatred of slavery, can give rise to schemes of
revenge in a nature like the Canadian's; that he could think, attempt, and try
-- "
I was silenced; Captain Nemo rose.
"Whatever Ned Land thinks of, attempts, or tries, what
does it matter to me? I did not seek him! It is not for my pleasure that I keep
him on board! As for you, M. Aronnax, you are one of those who can understand
everything, even silence. I have nothing more to say to you. Let this first time
you have come to treat of this subject be the last, for a second time I will not
listen to you."
I retired. Our situation was critical. I related my
conversation to my two companions.
"We know now," said Ned, "that we can expect nothing from
this man. The Nautilus is nearing Long Island. We will escape, whatever the
weather may be."
But the sky became more and more threatening. Symptoms of
a hurricane became manifest. The atmosphere was becoming white and misty. On the
horizon fine streaks of cirrhous clouds were succeeded by masses of cumuli.
Other low clouds passed swiftly by. The swollen sea rose in huge billows. The
birds disappeared with the exception of the petrels, those friends of the storm.
The barometer fell sensibly, and indicated an extreme extension of the vapours.
The mixture of the storm glass was decomposed under the influence of the
electricity that pervaded the atmosphere. The tempest burst on the 18th of May,
just as the Nautilus was floating off Long Island, some miles from the port of
New York. I can describe this strife of the elements! for, instead of fleeing to
the depths of the sea, Captain Nemo, by an unaccountable caprice, would brave it
at the surface.
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The wind blew from the south-west at first. Captain Nemo, during the squalls,
had taken his place on the platform. He had made himself fast, to prevent being
washed overboard by the monstrous waves. I had hoisted myself up, and made
myself fast also, dividing my admiration between the tempest and this
extraordinary man who was coping with it. The raging sea was swept by huge
cloud-drifts, which were actually saturated with the waves. The Nautilus,
sometimes lying on its side, sometimes standing up like a mast, rolled and
pitched terribly. About five o'clock a torrent of rain fell, that lulled neither
sea nor wind. The hurricane blew nearly forty leagues an hour. It is under these
conditions that it overturns houses, breaks iron gates, displaces twenty-four
pounders. However, the Nautilus, in the midst of the tempest, confirmed the
words of a clever engineer, "There is no well-constructed hull that cannot defy
the sea." This was not a resisting rock; it was a steel spindle, obedient and
movable, without rigging or masts, that braved its fury with impunity. However,
I watched these raging waves attentively. They measured fifteen feet in height,
and 150 to 175 yards long, and their speed of propagation was thirty feet per
second. Their bulk and power increased with the depth of the water. Such waves
as these, at the Hebrides, have displaced a mass weighing 8,400 lb. They are
they which, in the tempest of December 23rd, 1864, after destroying the town of
Yeddo, in Japan, broke the same day on the shores of America. The intensity of
the tempest increased with the night. The barometer, as in 1860 at Reunion
during a cyclone, fell seven-tenths at the close of day. I saw a large vessel
pass the horizon struggling painfully. She was trying to lie to under half
steam, to keep up above the waves. It was probably one of the steamers of the
line from New York to Liverpool, or Havre. It soon disappeared in the gloom. At
ten o'clock in the evening the sky was on fire. The atmosphere was streaked with
vivid lightning. I could not bear the brightness of it; while the captain,
looking at it, seemed to envy the spirit of the tempest. A terrible noise filled
the air, a complex noise, made up of the howls of the crushed waves,
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the roaring of the wind, and the claps of thunder. The wind veered suddenly to
all points of the horizon; and the cyclone, rising in the east, returned after
passing by the north, west, and south, in the inverse course pursued by the
circular storm of the southern hemisphere. Ah, that Gulf Stream! It deserves its
name of the King of Tempests. It is that which causes those formidable cyclones,
by the difference of temperature between its air and its currents. A shower of
fire had succeeded the rain. The drops of water were changed to sharp spikes.
One would have thought that Captain Nemo was courting a death worthy of himself,
a death by lightning. As the Nautilus, pitching dreadfully, raised its steel
spur in the air, it seemed to act as a conductor, and I saw long sparks burst
from it. Crushed and without strength I crawled to the panel, opened it, and
descended to the saloon. The storm was then at its height. It was impossible to
stand upright in the interior of the Nautilus. Captain Nemo came down about
twelve. I heard the reservoirs filling by degrees, and the Nautilus sank slowly
beneath the waves. Through the open windows in the saloon I saw large fish
terrified, passing like phantoms in the water. Some were struck before my eyes.
The Nautilus was still descending. I thought that at about eight fathoms deep we
should find a calm. But no! the upper beds were too violently agitated for that.
We had to seek repose at more than twenty-five fathoms in the bowels of the
deep. But there, what quiet, what silence, what peace! Who could have told that
such a hurricane had been let loose on the surface of that ocean?
FROM LATITUDE 47o 24' TO LONGITUDE 170o 28'
IN CONSEQUENCE of the storm, we had been thrown eastward
once more. All hope of escape on the shores of New York or St. Lawrence had
faded away; and poor Ned, in despair, had isolated himself like Captain Nemo.
Conseil
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and I, however, never left each other. I said that the Nautilus had gone aside
to the east. I should have said (to be more exact) the north-east. For some
days, it wandered first on the surface, and then beneath it, amid those fogs so
dreaded by sailors. What accidents are due to these thick fogs! What shocks upon
these reefs when the wind drowns the breaking of the waves! What collisions
between vessels, in spite of their warning lights, whistles, and alarm bells!
And the bottoms of these seas look like a field of battle, where still lie all
the conquered of the ocean; some old and already encrusted, others fresh and
reflecting from their iron bands and copper plates the brilliancy of our
lantern.
On the 15th of May we were at the extreme south of the
Bank of Newfoundland. This bank consists of alluvia, or large heaps of organic
matter, brought either from the Equator by the Gulf Stream, or from the North
Pole by the counter-current of cold water which skirts the American coast. There
also are heaped up those erratic blocks which are carried along by the broken
ice; and close by, a vast charnel-house of molluscs, which perish here by
millions. The depth of the sea is not great at Newfoundland -- not more than
some hundreds of fathoms; but towards the south is a depression of 1,500
fathoms. There the Gulf Stream widens. It loses some of its speed and some of
its temperature, but it becomes a sea.
It was on the 17th of May, about 500 miles from Heart's
Content, at a depth of more than 1,400 fathoms, that I saw the electric cable
lying on the bottom. Conseil, to whom I had not mentioned it, thought at first
that it was a gigantic sea-serpent. But I undeceived the worthy fellow, and by
way of consolation related several particulars in the laying of this cable. The
first one was laid in the years 1857 and 1858; but, after transmitting about 400
telegrams, would not act any longer. In 1863 the engineers constructed another
one, measuring 2,000 miles in length, and weighing 4,500 tons, which was
embarked on the Great Eastern. This attempt also failed.
On the 25th of May the Nautilus, being at a depth of
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more than 1,918 fathoms, was on the precise spot where the rupture occurred
which ruined the enterprise. It was within 638 miles of the coast of Ireland;
and at half-past two in the afternoon they discovered that communication with
Europe had ceased. The electricians on board resolved to cut the cable before
fishing it up, and at eleven o'clock at night they had recovered the damaged
part. They made another point and spliced it, and it was once more submerged.
But some days after it broke again, and in the depths of the ocean could not be
recaptured. The Americans, however, were not discouraged. Cyrus Field, the bold
promoter of the enterprise, as he had sunk all his own fortune, set a new
subscription on foot, which was at once answered, and another cable was
constructed on better principles. The bundles of conducting wires were each
enveloped in gutta-percha, and protected by a wadding of hemp, contained in a
metallic covering. The Great Eastern sailed on the 13th of July, 1866. The
operation worked well. But one incident occurred. Several times in unrolling the
cable they observed that nails had recently been forced into it, evidently with
the motive of destroying it. Captain Anderson, the officers, and engineers
consulted together, and had it posted up that, if the offender was surprised on
board, he would be thrown without further trial into the sea, >From that time
the criminal attempt was never repeated.
On the 23rd of July the Great Eastern was not more than
500 miles from Newfoundland, when they telegraphed from Ireland the news of the
armistice concluded between Prussia and Austria after Sadowa. On the 27th, in
the midst of heavy fogs, they reached the port of Heart's Content. The
enterprise was successfully terminated; and for its first despatch, young
America addressed old Europe in these words of wisdom, so rarely understood:
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men."
I did not expect to find the electric cable in its
primitive state, such as it was on leaving the manufactory. The long serpent,
covered with the remains of shells, bristling with foraminiferae, was encrusted
with a strong coating which served as a protection against all boring molluscs.
It lay
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quietly sheltered from the motions of the sea, and under a favourable pressure
for the transmission of the electric spark which passes from Europe to America
in .32 of a second. Doubtless this cable will last for a great length of time,
for they find that the gutta-percha covering is improved by the sea-water.
Besides, on this level, so well chosen, the cable is never so deeply submerged
as to cause it to break. The Nautilus followed it to the lowest depth, which was
more than 2,212 fathoms, and there it lay without any anchorage; and then we
reached the spot where the accident had taken place in 1863. The bottom of the
ocean then formed a valley about 100 miles broad, in which Mont Blanc might have
been placed without its summit appearing above the waves. This valley is closed
at the east by a perpendicular wall more than 2,000 yards high. We arrived there
on the 28th of May, and the Nautilus was then not more than 120 miles from
Ireland.
Was Captain Nemo going to land on the British Isles? No.
To my great surprise he made for the south, once more coming back towards
European seas. In rounding the Emerald Isle, for one instant I caught sight of
Cape Clear, and the light which guides the thousands of vessels leaving Glasgow
or Liverpool. An important question then arose in my mind. Did the Nautilus dare
entangle itself in the Manche? Ned Land, who had re-appeared since we had been
nearing land, did not cease to question me. How could I answer? Captain Nemo
reminded invisible. After having shown the Canadian a glimpse of American
shores, was he going to show me the coast of France?
But the Nautilus was still going southward. On the 30th of
May, it passed in sight of Land's End, between the extreme point of England and
the Scilly Isles, which were left to starboard. If we wished to enter the Manche,
he must go straight to the east. He did not do so.
During the whole of the 31st of May, the Nautilus
described a series of circles on the water, which greatly interested me. It
seemed to be seeking a spot it had some trouble in finding. At noon, Captain
Nemo himself came to work the ship's log. He spoke no word to me, but seemed
gloomier
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than ever. What could sadden him thus? Was it his proximity to European shores?
Had he some recollections of his abandoned country? If not, what did he feel?
Remorse or regret? For a long while this thought haunted my mind, and I had a
kind of presentiment that before long chance would betray the captain's secrets.
The next day, the 1st of June, the Nautilus continued the
same process. It was evidently seeking some particular spot in the ocean.
Captain Nemo took the sun's altitude as he had done the day before. The sea was
beautiful, the sky clear. About eight miles to the east, a large steam vessel
could be discerned on the horizon. No flag fluttered from its mast, and I could
not discover its nationality. Some minutes before the sun passed the meridian,
Captain Nemo took his sextant, and watched with great attention. The perfect
rest of the water greatly helped the operation. The Nautilus was motionless; it
neither rolled nor pitched.
I was on the platform when the altitude was taken, and the
Captain pronounced these words: "It is here."
He turned and went below. Had he seen the vessel which was
changing its course and seemed to be nearing us? I could not tell. I returned to
the saloon. The panels closed, I heard the hissing of the water in the
reservoirs. The Nautilus began to sink, following a vertical line, for its screw
communicated no motion to it. Some minutes later it stopped at a depth of more
than 420 fathoms, resting on the ground. The luminous ceiling was darkened, then
the panels were opened, and through the glass I saw the sea brilliantly
illuminated by the rays of our lantern for at least half a mile round us.
I looked to the port side, and saw nothing but an
immensity of quiet waters. But to starboard, on the bottom appeared a large
protuberance, which at once attracted my attention. One would have thought it a
ruin buried under a coating of white shells, much resembling a covering of snow.
Upon examining the mass attentively, I could recognise the ever-thickening form
of a vessel bare of its masts, which must have sunk. It certainly belonged to
past times. This wreck, to be thus encrusted with the lime of the water,
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must already be able to count many years passed at the bottom of the ocean.
What was this vessel? Why did the Nautilus visit its tomb?
Could it have been aught but a shipwreck which had drawn it under the water? I
knew not what to think, when near me in a slow voice I heard Captain Nemo say:
"At one time this ship was called the Marseillais. It
carried seventy-four guns, and was launched in 1762. In 1778, the 13th of
August, commanded by La Poype-Vertrieux, it fought boldly against the Preston.
In 1779, on the 4th of July, it was at the taking of Grenada, with the squadron
of Admiral Estaing. In 1781, on the 5th of September, it took part in the battle
of Comte de Grasse, in Chesapeake Bay. In 1794, the French Republic changed its
name. On the 16th of April, in the same year, it joined the squadron of Villaret
Joyeuse, at Brest, being entrusted with the escort of a cargo of corn coming
from America, under the command of Admiral Van Stebel. On the 11th and 12th
Prairal of the second year, this squadron fell in with an English vessel. Sir,
to-day is the 13th Prairal, the first of June, 1868. It is now seventy-four
years ago, day for day on this very spot, in latitude 47o 24',
longitude 17o 28', that this vessel, after fighting heroically,
losing its three masts, with the water in its hold, and the third of its crew
disabled, preferred sinking with its 356 sailors to surrendering; and, nailing
its colours to the poop, disappeared under the waves to the cry of 'Long live
the Republic!'"
"The Avenger!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, sir, the Avenger! A good name!" muttered Captain
Nemo, crossing his arms.
A HECATOMB
THE way of describing this unlooked-for scene, the history
of the patriot ship, told at first so coldly, and the emotion with which this
strange man pronounced the last words,
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the name of the Avenger, the significance of which could not escape me, all
impressed itself deeply on my mind. My eyes did not leave the Captain, who, with
his hand stretched out to sea, was watching with a glowing eye the glorious
wreck. Perhaps I was never to know who he was, from whence he came, or where he
was going to, but I saw the man move, and apart from the savant. It was no
common misanthropy which had shut Captain Nemo and his companions within the
Nautilus, but a hatred, either monstrous or sublime, which time could never
weaken. Did this hatred still seek for vengeance? The future would soon teach me
that. But the Nautilus was rising slowly to the surface of the sea, and the form
of the Avenger disappeared by degrees from my sight. Soon a slight rolling told
me that we were in the open air. At that moment a dull boom was heard. I looked
at the Captain. He did not move.
"Captain?" said I.
He did not answer. I left him and mounted the platform.
Conseil and the Canadian were already there.
"Where did that sound come from?" I asked.
"It was a gunshot," replied Ned Land.
I looked in the direction of the vessel I had already
seen. It was nearing the Nautilus, and we could see that it was putting on
steam. It was within six miles of us.
"What is that ship, Ned?"
"By its rigging, and the height of its lower masts," said
the Canadian, "I bet she is a ship-of-war. May it reach us; and, if necessary,
sink this cursed Nautilus."
"Friend Ned," replied Conseil, "what harm can it do to the
Nautilus? Can it attack it beneath the waves? Can its cannonade us at the bottom
of the sea?"
"Tell me, Ned," said I, "can you recognise what country
she belongs to?"
The Canadian knitted his eyebrows, dropped his eyelids,
and screwed up the corners of his eyes, and for a few moments fixed a piercing
look upon the vessel.
"No, sir," he replied; "I cannot tell what nation she
belongs to, for she shows no colours. But I can declare she is
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a man-of-war, for a long pennant flutters from her main mast."
For a quarter of an hour we watched the ship which was
steaming towards us. I could not, however, believe that she could see the
Nautilus from that distance; and still less that she could know what this
submarine engine was. Soon the Canadian informed me that she was a large,
armoured, two-decker ram. A thick black smoke was pouring from her two funnels.
Her closely-furled sails were stopped to her yards. She hoisted no flag at her
mizzen-peak. The distance prevented us from distinguishing the colours of her
pennant, which floated like a thin ribbon. She advanced rapidly. If Captain Nemo
allowed her to approach, there was a chance of salvation for us.
"Sir," said Ned Land, "if that vessel passes within a mile
of us I shall throw myself into the sea, and I should advise you to do the
same."
I did not reply to the Canadian's suggestion, but
continued watching the ship. Whether English, French, American, or Russian, she
would be sure to take us in if we could only reach her. Presently a white smoke
burst from the fore part of the vessel; some seconds after, the water, agitated
by the fall of a heavy body, splashed the stern of the Nautilus, and shortly
afterwards a loud explosion struck my ear.
"What! they are firing at us!" I exclaimed.
"So please you, sir," said Ned, "they have recognised the
unicorn, and they are firing at us."
"But," I exclaimed, "surely they can see that there are
men in the case?"
"It is, perhaps, because of that," replied Ned Land,
looking at me.
A whole flood of light burst upon my mind. Doubtless they
knew now how to believe the stories of the pretended monster. No doubt, on board
the Abraham Lincoln, when the Canadian struck it with the harpoon, Commander
Farragut had recognised in the supposed narwhal a submarine vessel, more
dangerous than a supernatural cetacean. Yes, it must have been so; and on every
sea they were now
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seeking this engine of destruction. Terrible indeed! if, as we supposed, Captain
Nemo employed the Nautilus in works of vengeance. On the night when we were
imprisoned in that cell, in the midst of the Indian Ocean, had he not attacked
some vessel? The man buried in the coral cemetery, had he not been a victim to
the shock caused by the Nautilus? Yes, I repeat it, it must be so. One part of
the mysterious existence of Captain Nemo had been unveiled; and, if his identity
had not been recognised, at least, the nations united against him were no longer
hunting a chimerical creature, but a man who had vowed a deadly hatred against
them. All the formidable past rose before me. Instead of meeting friends on
board the approaching ship, we could only expect pitiless enemies. But the shot
rattled about us. Some of them struck the sea and ricochetted, losing themselves
in the distance. But none touched the Nautilus. The vessel was not more than
three miles from us. In spite of the serious cannonade, Captain Nemo did not
appear on the platform; but, if one of the conical projectiles had struck the
shell of the Nautilus, it would have been fatal. The Canadian then said, "Sir,
we must do all we can to get out of this dilemma. Let us signal them. They will
then, perhaps, understand that we are honest folks."
Ned Land took his handkerchief to wave in the air; but he
had scarcely displayed it, when he was struck down by an iron hand, and fell, in
spite of his great strength, upon the deck.
"Fool!" exclaimed the Captain, "do you wish to be pierced
by the spur of the Nautilus before it is hurled at this vessel?"
Captain Nemo was terrible to hear; he was still more
terrible to see. His face was deadly pale, with a spasm at his heart. For an
instant it must have ceased to beat. His pupils were fearfully contracted. He
did not speak, he roared, as, with his body thrown forward, he wrung the
Canadian's shoulders. Then, leaving him, and turning to the ship of war, whose
shot was still raining around him, he exclaimed, with a powerful voice, "Ah,
ship of an accursed
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nation, you know who I am! I do not want your colours to know you by! Look! and
I will show you mine!"
And on the fore part of the platform Captain Nemo unfurled
a black flag, similar to the one he had placed at the South Pole. At that moment
a shot struck the shell of the Nautilus obliquely, without piercing it; and,
rebounding near the Captain, was lost in the sea. He shrugged his shoulders;
and, addressing me, said shortly, "Go down, you and your companions, go down!"
"Sir," I cried, "are you going to attack this vessel?"
"Sir, I am going to sink it."
"You will not do that?"
"I shall do it," he replied coldly. "And I advise you not
to judge me, sir. Fate has shown you what you ought not to have seen. The attack
has begun; go down."
"What is this vessel?"
"You do not know? Very well! so much the better! Its
nationality to you, at least, will be a secret. Go down!"
We could but obey. About fifteen of the sailors surrounded
the Captain, looking with implacable hatred at the vessel nearing them. One
could feel that the same desire of vengeance animated every soul. I went down at
the moment another projectile struck the Nautilus, and I heard the Captain
exclaim:
"Strike, mad vessel! Shower your useless shot! And then,
you will not escape the spur of the Nautilus. But it is not here that you shall
perish! I would not have your ruins mingle with those of the Avenger!"
I reached my room. The Captain and his second had remained
on the platform. The screw was set in motion, and the Nautilus, moving with
speed, was soon beyond the reach of the ship's guns. But the pursuit continued,
and Captain Nemo contented himself with keeping his distance.
About four in the afternoon, being no longer able to
contain my impatience, I went to the central staircase. The panel was open, and
I ventured on to the platform. The Captain was still walking up and down with an
agitated step. He was looking at the ship, which was five or six miles to
leeward.
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He was going round it like a wild beast, and, drawing it
eastward, he allowed them to pursue. But he did not attack. Perhaps he still
hesitated? I wished to mediate once more. But I had scarcely spoken, when
Captain Nemo imposed silence, saying:
"I am the law, and I am the judge! I am the oppressed, and
there is the oppressor! Through him I have lost all that I loved, cherished, and
venerated -- country, wife, children, father, and mother. I saw all perish! All
that I hate is there! Say no more!"
I cast a last look at the man-of-war, which was putting on
steam, and rejoined Ned and Conseil.
"We will fly!" I exclaimed.
"Good!" said Ned. "What is this vessel?"
"I do not know; but, whatever it is, it will be sunk
before night. In any case, it is better to perish with it, than be made
accomplices in a retaliation the justice of which we cannot judge."
"That is my opinion too," said Ned Land, coolly. "Let us
wait for night."
Night arrived. Deep silence reigned on board. The compass
showed that the Nautilus had not altered its course. It was on the surface,
rolling slightly. My companions and I resolved to fly when the vessel should be
near enough either to hear us or to see us; for the moon, which would be full in
two or three days, shone brightly. Once on board the ship, if we could not
prevent the blow which threatened it, we could, at least we would, do all that
circumstances would allow. Several times I thought the Nautilus was preparing
for attack; but Captain Nemo contented himself with allowing his adversary to
approach, and then fled once more before it.
Part of the night passed without any incident. We watched
the opportunity for action. We spoke little, for we were too much moved. Ned
Land would have thrown himself into the sea, but I forced him to wait. According
to my idea, the Nautilus would attack the ship at her waterline, and then it
would not only be possible, but easy to fly.
At three in the morning, full of uneasiness, I mounted the
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platform. Captain Nemo had not left it. He was standing at the fore part near
his flag, which a slight breeze displayed above his head. He did not take his
eyes from the vessel. The intensity of his look seemed to attract, and
fascinate, and draw it onward more surely than if he had been towing it. The
moon was then passing the meridian. Jupiter was rising in the east. Amid this
peaceful scene of nature, sky and ocean rivalled each other in tranquillity, the
sea offering to the orbs of night the finest mirror they could ever have in
which to reflect their image. As I thought of the deep calm of these elements,
compared with all those passions brooding imperceptibly within the Nautilus, I
shuddered.
The vessel was within two miles of us. It was ever nearing
that phosphorescent light which showed the presence of the Nautilus. I could see
its green and red lights, and its white lantern hanging from the large foremast.
An indistinct vibration quivered through its rigging, showing that the furnaces
were heated to the uttermost. Sheaves of sparks and red ashes flew from the
funnels, shining in the atmosphere like stars.
I remained thus until six in the morning, without Captain
Nemo noticing me. The ship stood about a mile and a half from us, and with the
first dawn of day the firing began afresh. The moment could not be far off when,
the Nautilus attacking its adversary, my companions and myself should for ever
leave this man. I was preparing to go down to remind them, when the second
mounted the platform, accompanied by several sailors. Captain Nemo either did
not or would not see them. Some steps were taken which might be called the
signal for action. They were very simple. The iron balustrade around the
platform was lowered, and the lantern and pilot cages were pushed within the
shell until they were flush with the deck. The long surface of the steel cigar
no longer offered a single point to check its manoeuvres. I returned to the
saloon. The Nautilus still floated; some streaks of light were filtering through
the liquid beds. With the undulations of the waves the windows were brightened
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by the red streaks of the rising sun, and this dreadful day of the 2nd of June
had dawned.
At five o'clock, the log showed that the speed of the
Nautilus was slackening, and I knew that it was allowing them to draw nearer.
Besides, the reports were heard more distinctly, and the projectiles, labouring
through the ambient water, were extinguished with a strange hissing noise.
"My friends," said I, "the moment is come. One grasp of
the hand, and may God protect us!"
Ned Land was resolute, Conseil calm, myself so nervous
that I knew not how to contain myself. We all passed into the library; but the
moment I pushed the door opening on to the central staircase, I heard the upper
panel close sharply. The Canadian rushed on to the stairs, but I stopped him. A
well-known hissing noise told me that the water was running into the reservoirs,
and in a few minutes the Nautilus was some yards beneath the surface of the
waves. I understood the manoeuvre. It was too late to act. The Nautilus did not
wish to strike at the impenetrable cuirass, but below the water-line, where the
metallic covering no longer protected it.
We were again imprisoned, unwilling witnesses of the
dreadful drama that was preparing. We had scarcely time to reflect; taking
refuge in my room, we looked at each other without speaking. A deep stupor had
taken hold of my mind: thought seemed to stand still. I was in that painful
state of expectation preceding a dreadful report. I waited, I listened, every
sense was merged in that of hearing! The speed of the Nautilus was accelerated.
It was preparing to rush. The whole ship trembled. Suddenly I screamed. I felt
the shock, but comparatively light. I felt the penetrating power of the steel
spur. I heard rattlings and scrapings. But the Nautilus, carried along by its
propelling power, passed through the mass of the vessel like a needle through
sailcloth!
I could stand it no longer. Mad, out of my mind, I rushed
from my room into the saloon. Captain Nemo was there, mute, gloomy, implacable;
he was looking through the port panel. A large mass cast a shadow on the water;
and, that
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it might lose nothing of her agony, the Nautilus was going down into the abyss
with her. Ten yards from me I saw the open shell, through which the water was
rushing with the noise of thunder, then the double line of guns and the netting.
The bridge was covered with black, agitated shadows.
The water was rising. The poor creatures were crowding the
ratlines, clinging to the masts, struggling under the water. It was a human
ant-heap overtaken by the sea. Paralysed, stiffened with anguish, my hair
standing on end, with eyes wide open, panting, without breath, and without
voice, I too was watching! An irresistible attraction glued me to the glass!
Suddenly an explosion took place. The compressed air blew up her decks, as if
the magazines had caught fire. Then the unfortunate vessel sank more rapidly.
Her topmast, laden with victims, now appeared; then her spars, bending under the
weight of men; and, last of all, the top of her mainmast. Then the dark mass
disappeared, and with it the dead crew, drawn down by the strong eddy.
I turned to Captain Nemo. That terrible avenger, a perfect
archangel of hatred, was still looking. When all was over, he turned to his
room, opened the door, and entered. I followed him with my eyes. On the end wall
beneath his heroes, I saw the portrait of a woman, still young, and two little
children. Captain Nemo looked at them for some moments, stretched his arms
towards them, and, kneeling down, burst into deep sobs.
THE LAST WORDS OF CAPTAIN NEMO
THE panels had closed on this dreadful vision, but light
had not returned to the saloon: all was silence and darkness within the
Nautilus. At wonderful speed, a hundred feet beneath the water, it was leaving
this desolate spot. Whither was it going? To the north or south? Where was the
man flying to after such dreadful retaliation? I had returned to my room, where
Ned and Conseil had remained silent
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enough. I felt an insurmountable horror for Captain Nemo. Whatever he had
suffered at the hands of these men, he had no right to punish thus. He had made
me, if not an accomplice, at least a witness of his vengeance. At eleven the
electric light reappeared. I passed into the saloon. It was deserted. I
consulted the different instruments. The Nautilus was flying northward at the
rate of twenty-five miles an hour, now on the surface, and now thirty feet below
it. On taking the bearings by the chart, I saw that we were passing the mouth of
the Manche, and that our course was hurrying us towards the northern seas at a
frightful speed. That night we had crossed two hundred leagues of the Atlantic.
The shadows fell, and the sea was covered with darkness until the rising of the
moon. I went to my room, but could not sleep. I was troubled with dreadful
nightmare. The horrible scene of destruction was continually before my eyes.
From that day, who could tell into what part of the North Atlantic basin the
Nautilus would take us? Still with unaccountable speed. Still in the midst of
these northern fogs. Would it touch at Spitzbergen, or on the shores of Nova
Zembla? Should we explore those unknown seas, the White Sea, the Sea of Kara,
the Gulf of Obi, the Archipelago of Liarrov, and the unknown coast of Asia? I
could not say. I could no longer judge of the time that was passing. The clocks
had been stopped on board. It seemed, as in polar countries, that night and day
no longer followed their regular course. I felt myself being drawn into that
strange region where the foundered imagination of Edgar Poe roamed at will. Like
the fabulous Gordon Pym, at every moment I expected to see "that veiled human
figure, of larger proportions than those of any inhabitant of the earth, thrown
across the cataract which defends the approach to the pole." I estimated
(though, perhaps, I may be mistaken) -- I estimated this adventurous course of
the Nautilus to have lasted fifteen or twenty days. And I know not how much
longer it might have lasted, had it not been for the catastrophe which ended
this voyage. Of Captain Nemo I saw nothing whatever now, nor of his second. Not
a man of the crew was visible for an instant. The Nautilus was almost
incessantly
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under water. When we came to the surface to renew the air, the panels opened and
shut mechanically. There were no more marks on the planisphere. I knew not where
we were. And the Canadian, too, his strength and patience at an end, appeared no
more. Conseil could not draw a word from him; and, fearing that, in a dreadful
fit of madness, he might kill himself, watched him with constant devotion. One
morning (what date it was I could not say) I had fallen into a heavy sleep
towards the early hours, a sleep both painful and unhealthy, when I suddenly
awoke. Ned Land was leaning over me, saying, in a low voice, "We are going to
fly." I sat up.
"When shall we go?" I asked.
"To-night. All inspection on board the Nautilus seems to
have ceased. All appear to be stupefied. You will be ready, sir?"
"Yes; where are we?"
"In sight of land. I took the reckoning this morning in
the fog -- twenty miles to the east."
"What country is it?"
"I do not know; but, whatever it is, we will take refuge
there."
"Yes, Ned, yes. We will fly to-night, even if the sea
should swallow us up."
"The sea is bad, the wind violent, but twenty miles in
that light boat of the Nautilus does not frighten me. Unknown to the crew, I
have been able to procure food and some bottles of water."
"I will follow you."
"But," continued the Canadian, "if I am surprised, I will
defend myself ; I will force them to kill me."
"We will die together, friend Ned."
I had made up my mind to all. The Canadian left me. I
reached the platform, on which I could with difficulty support myself against
the shock of the waves. The sky was threatening; but, as land was in those thick
brown shadows, we must fly. I returned to the saloon, fearing and yet hoping to
see Captain Nemo, wishing and yet not wishing to see him. What could I have said
to him? Could I hide the
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involuntary horror with which he inspired me? No. It was better that I should
not meet him face to face; better to forget him. And yet -- How long seemed that
day, the last that I should pass in the Nautilus. I remained alone. Ned Land and
Conseil avoided speaking, for fear of betraying themselves. At six I dined, but
I was not hungry; I forced myself to eat in spite of my disgust, that I might
not weaken myself. At half-past six Ned Land came to my room, saying, "We shall
not see each other again before our departure. At ten the moon will not be
risen. We will profit by the darkness. Come to the boat; Conseil and I will wait
for you."
The Canadian went out without giving me time to answer.
Wishing to verify the course of the Nautilus, I went to the saloon. We were
running N.N.E. at frightful speed, and more than fifty yards deep. I cast a last
look on these wonders of nature, on the riches of art heaped up in this museum,
upon the unrivalled collection destined to perish at the bottom of the sea, with
him who had formed it. I wished to fix an indelible impression of it in my mind.
I remained an hour thus, bathed in the light of that luminous ceiling, and
passing in review those treasures shining under their glasses. Then I returned
to my room.
I dressed myself in strong sea clothing. I collected my
notes, placing them carefully about me. My heart beat loudly. I could not check
its pulsations. Certainly my trouble and agitation would have betrayed me to
Captain Nemo's eyes. What was he doing at this moment? I listened at the door of
his room. I heard steps. Captain Nemo was there. He had not gone to rest. At
every moment I expected to see him appear, and ask me why I wished to fly. I was
constantly on the alert. My imagination magnified everything. The impression
became at last so poignant that I asked myself if it would not be better to go
to the Captain's room, see him face to face, and brave him with look and
gesture.
It was the inspiration of a madman; fortunately I resisted
the desire, and stretched myself on my bed to quiet my bodily agitation. My
nerves were somewhat calmer, but in my
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excited brain I saw over again all my existence on board the Nautilus; every
incident, either happy or unfortunate, which had happened since my disappearance
from the Abraham Lincoln -- the submarine hunt, the Torres Straits, the savages
of Papua, the running ashore, the coral cemetery, the passage of Suez, the
Island of Santorin, the Cretan diver, Vigo Bay, Atlantis, the iceberg, the South
Pole, the imprisonment in the ice, the fight among the poulps, the storm in the
Gulf Stream, the Avenger, and the horrible scene of the vessel sunk with all her
crew. All these events passed before my eyes like scenes in a drama. Then
Captain Nemo seemed to grow enormously, his features to assume superhuman
proportions. He was no longer my equal, but a man of the waters, the genie of
the sea.
It was then half-past nine. I held my head between my
hands to keep it from bursting. I closed my eyes; I would not think any longer.
There was another half-hour to wait, another half-hour of a nightmare, which
might drive me mad.
At that moment I heard the distant strains of the organ, a
sad harmony to an undefinable chant, the wail of a soul longing to break these
earthly bonds. I listened with every sense, scarcely breathing; plunged, like
Captain Nemo, in that musical ecstasy, which was drawing him in spirit to the
end of life.
Then a sudden thought terrified me. Captain Nemo had left
his room. He was in the saloon, which I must cross to fly. There I should meet
him for the last time. He would see me, perhaps speak to me. A gesture of his
might destroy me, a single word chain me on board.
But ten was about to strike. The moment had come for me to
leave my room, and join my companions.
I must not hesitate, even if Captain Nemo himself should
rise before me. I opened my door carefully; and even then, as it turned on its
hinges, it seemed to me to make a dreadful noise. Perhaps it only existed in my
own imagination.
I crept along the dark stairs of the Nautilus, stopping at
each step to check the beating of my heart. I reached the door of the saloon,
and opened it gently. It was plunged in
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profound darkness. The strains of the organ sounded faintly. Captain Nemo was
there. He did not see me. In the full light I do not think he would have noticed
me, so entirely was he absorbed in the ecstasy.
I crept along the carpet, avoiding the slightest sound
which might betray my presence. I was at least five minutes reaching the door,
at the opposite side, opening into the library.
I was going to open it, when a sigh from Captain Nemo
nailed me to the spot. I knew that he was rising. I could even see him, for the
light from the library came through to the saloon. He came towards me silently,
with his arms crossed, gliding like a spectre rather than walking. His breast
was swelling with sobs; and I heard him murmur these words (the last which ever
struck my ear):
"Almighty God! enough! enough!"
Was it a confession of remorse which thus escaped from
this man's conscience?
In desperation, I rushed through the library, mounted the
central staircase, and, following the upper flight, reached the boat. I crept
through the opening, which had already admitted my two companions.
"Let us go! let us go!" I exclaimed.
"Directly!" replied the Canadian.
The orifice in the plates of the Nautilus was first
closed, and fastened down by means of a false key, with which Ned Land had
provided himself; the opening in the boat was also closed. The Canadian began to
loosen the bolts which still held us to the submarine boat.
Suddenly a noise was heard. Voices were answering each
other loudly. What was the matter? Had they discovered our flight? I felt Ned
Land slipping a dagger into my hand.
"Yes," I murmured, "we know how to die!"
The Canadian had stopped in his work. But one word many
times repeated, a dreadful word, revealed the cause of the agitation spreading
on board the Nautilus. It was not we the crew were looking after!
"The maelstrom! the maelstrom! Could a more dreadful word
in a more dreadful situation have sounded in our ears!
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We were then upon the dangerous coast of Norway. Was the Nautilus being drawn
into this gulf at the moment our boat was going to leave its sides? We knew that
at the tide the pent-up waters between the islands of Ferroe and Loffoden rush
with irresistible violence, forming a whirlpool from which no vessel ever
escapes. From every point of the horizon enormous waves were meeting, forming a
gulf justly called the "Navel of the Ocean," whose power of attraction extends
to a distance of twelve miles. There, not only vessels, but whales are
sacrificed, as well as white bears from the northern regions.
It is thither that the Nautilus, voluntarily or
involuntarily, had been run by the Captain.
It was describing a spiral, the circumference of which was
lessening by degrees, and the boat, which was still fastened to its side, was
carried along with giddy speed. I felt that sickly giddiness which arises from
long-continued whirling round.
We were in dread. Our horror was at its height,
circulation had stopped, all nervous influence was annihilated, and we were
covered with cold sweat, like a sweat of agony! And what noise around our frail
bark! What roarings repeated by the echo miles away! What an uproar was that of
the waters broken on the sharp rocks at the bottom, where the hardest bodies are
crushed, and trees worn away, "with all the fur rubbed off," according to the
Norwegian phrase!
What a situation to be in! We rocked frightfully. The
Nautilus defended itself like a human being. Its steel muscles cracked.
Sometimes it seemed to stand upright, and we with it!
"We must hold on," said Ned, "and look after the bolts. We
may still be saved if we stick to the Nautilus."
He had not finished the words, when we heard a crashing
noise, the bolts gave way, and the boat, torn from its groove, was hurled like a
stone from a sling into the midst of the whirlpool.
My head struck on a piece of iron, and with the violent
shock I lost all consciousness.
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CONCLUSION
THUS ends the voyage under the seas. What passed during
that night -- how the boat escaped from the eddies of the maelstrom -- how Ned
Land, Conseil, and myself ever came out of the gulf, I cannot tell.
But when I returned to consciousness, I was lying in a
fisherman's hut, on the Loffoden Isles. My two companions, safe and sound, were
near me holding my hands. We embraced each other heartily.
At that moment we could not think of returning to France.
The means of communication between the north of Norway and the south are rare.
And I am therefore obliged to wait for the steamboat running monthly from Cape
North.
And, among the worthy people who have so kindly received
us, I revise my record of these adventures once more. Not a fact has been
omitted, not a detail exaggerated. It is a faithful narrative of this incredible
expedition in an element inaccessible to man, but to which Progress will one day
open a road.
Shall I be believed? I do not know. And it matters little,
after all. What I now affirm is, that I have a right to speak of these seas,
under which, in less than ten months, I have crossed 20,000 leagues in that
submarine tour of the world, which has revealed so many wonders.
But what has become of the Nautilus? Did it resist the
pressure of the maelstrom? Does Captain Nemo still live? And does he still
follow under the ocean those frightful retaliations? Or, did he stop after the
last hecatomb?
Will the waves one day carry to him this manuscript
containing the history of his life? Shall I ever know the name of this man? Will
the missing vessel tell us by its nationality that of Captain Nemo?
I hope so. And I also hope that his powerful vessel has
conquered the sea at its most terrible gulf, and that the Nautilus has survived
where so many other vessels have been lost! If it be so -- if Captain Nemo still
inhabits the
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ocean, his adopted country, may hatred be appeased in that savage heart! May the
contemplation of so many wonders extinguish for ever the spirit of vengeance!
May the judge disappear, and the philosopher continue the peaceful exploration
of the sea! If his destiny be strange, it is also sublime. Have I not understood
it myself? Have I not lived ten months of this unnatural life? And to the
question asked by Ecclesiastes three thousand years ago, "That which is far off
and exceeding deep, who can find it out?" two men alone of all now living have
the right to give an answer -- CAPTAIN NEMO AND MYSELF.