Chapter VI. THE GRECIAN
ARCHIPELAGO
Chapter VII. THE MEDITERRANEAN IN
FORTY-EIGHT HOURS
Chapter VIII. VIGO BAY
Chapter IX. A VANISHED CONTINENT
Chapter X. THE SUBMARINE COAL
MINES
Chapter XI. THE SARGASSO SEA
Chapter XII. CACHALOTS AND WHALES
Chapter XIII. THE ICEBERG
Chapter XIV. THE SOUTH POLE
Chapter XV. ACCIDENT OR INCIDENT
Chapter XVI. WANT OF AIR
Chapter XVII. FROM CAPE HORN TO THE
AMAZON
Chapter XVIII. THE POULPS
Chapter XIX. THE GULF STREAM
Chapter XX. FROM LATITUDE 47
DEGREES 24' TO LONGITUDE 17
DEGREES 28'
Chapter XXI. A HECATOMB
Chapter XXII. THE LAST WORDS OF
CAPTAIN NEMO.
Chapter XXIII. CONCLUSION

PART I.

Chapter I. A SHIFTING REEF

THE year 1866 was signalized by a
remarkable incident, a mysterious and
inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless
no one has yet forgotten. Not to mention
rumors which agitated the maritime

-1-

moving mass five miles off the east coast of
Australia. Captain Baker thought at first that
he was in the presence of an unknown sand
bank; he even prepared to determine its
exact position, when two columns of water,
projected by the inexplicable object, shot
with a hissing noise a hundred fifty feet up
into the air. Now, unless the sand bank 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 blowholes columns of
water mixed with air and vapor.

Similar facts were observed on July 23 in the
same year, in the Pacific Ocean, by the
Columbus, of the West India and Pacific
Steam Navigation Company. But this
extraordinary cetaceous 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 signaled the monster to each
other in 42 degrees 15' N. latitude and 60
degrees 35' W. longitude. In these
simultaneous observations, they thought
themselves justified in estimating the
minimum length of the mammal at more
than three hundred 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

-2-

controversy between the credulous and the
incredulous in the societies of savants and
scientific journals. "The question of the
monster" inflamed all minds. Editors of
scientific journals, quarreling 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.

For six months war was waged with various
fortune in the leading articles of the
Geographical Institution of Brazil, the Royal
Academy of Science of Berlin, the British
Association, the Smithsonian Institution of
Washington, in the discussions of the "Indian
Archipelago," in le Cosmos of the Abbe
Moigno, in the Mitteilungen of Petermann,
in the scientific chronicles of the great
journals of France and other countries. The
cheaper journals replied keenly and with
inexhaustible zest. These satirical writers
parodied a remark of Linnaeus, quoted by
the adver-saries of the monster,
maintaining "that nature did not make fools,"
and adjured their contemporaries not to
give the lie to nature, by admitting the
existence of krakens, sea serpents, "Moby
Dicks," and other lucubrations of delirious
sailors.At length an article in a well-known
satirical journal by a favorite contributor, the
chief of the staff, settled the monster, like
Hippolytus, giving it the death blow amidst a
universal burst of laughter. Wit had
conquered science.

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.

-3-

half knots.

At seventeen minutes past four in the
afternoon, while 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 of
two yards in diameter, in the ship's bottom.
Such, a 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

-4-

French Government had attached me to that
expedition. After six months in Nebraska, I
arrived in New York toward 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 and re-read 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 hypothesis of the floating
island, and the unapproachable sand bank,
supported by minds little competent to form
a judgment, was abandoned. And, indeed,
unless this shoalhad 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 hypothesis, 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

-5-

Museum of Paris," was called upon by the
New York Herald to express a definite
opinion of some sort. I did something. I
spoke, for want of power to hold my tongue.
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 April 30.It
ran as follows:

"After examining one by one the different
hypotheses, 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 organization 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 ichthyology for us, nothing is
more conformable to reason than to admit
the existence of fishes, or cetaceans of
other kinds, or even of new species, of an
organization formed to inhabit the strata
inaccessible to soundings, and which an
accident of some sort, either fantastical or
capricious, 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

-6-

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 supernatu-ral 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 Lloyds' 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 was 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.

-7-

aspired to nothing more than again seeing
my country, my friends, my little lodging ing
by the Jardins des Plants, 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 toward the coast of
France. This worthy animal may allow 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 phlegmatic 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 the 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?

-8-

"They will keep them at the hotel."

"And your live Babiroussa, Sir?"

"They will feed it during our absence;
besides, I will give orders to forward our
menagerie to France."

"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. The author of a
work in quarto, in two volumes, on the
Mysteries of the Great Submarine Grounds
cannot forbear embarking with
Commander Farragut. 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."

I opened a credit account for Babiroussa,
and, Conseil following, I jumped into a cab.
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.

-9-

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.

The quay of Brooklyn, and all that part of
New York bordering on the East River, was
crowded with spectators. Three cheers
burst successively from five hundred
thousand throats; thousands of
handkerchiefs were waved above the
heads of the compact mass, saluting the
Abraham Lincoln, until she reached the
waters of the Hudson, at the point of that
elongated peninsula which forms the town
of New York. Then the frigate, following the
coast of New Jersey along the right bank of
the beautiful river, covered with villas,
passed between the forts, which saluted
her with their heaviest guns. The Abraham
Lincoln answered by hoisting the American
colors three times, whose thirty-nine stars
shone resplendent from the mizzen peak;
then modifying its speed to take the narrow
channel marked by buoys placed in the
inner bay formed by Sandy Hook Point, it
coasted the long sandy beach, where some
thousands of spectators gave it one final
cheer.The escort of boats and tenders still
followed the frigate, and did not leave her
until they came abreast of the lightship,
whose two lights marked the entrance of the
New York channel.

Six bells struck, the pilot got into his boat,
and rejoined the little schooner which was
waiting under our lee, the fires were made
up, the screw beat the waves more rapidly,
the frigate skirted the low yellow coast of
Long Island; and at eight bells, after having
lost sight in the northwest of the lights of Fire
Island, she ran at full steam on to the dark

-10-

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 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 cun-ning, he
possessed in a superior degree, and it
must be a cunning whale or a singularly
"cute" cachalot to escape the stroke of his
harpoon.

Ned Land was about forty years of age; he

-11-

magnificent evening, July the thirtieth 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 Strait of Magellan opened less than
seven hundred miles to the south. Before
eight days were over, the Abraham Lincoln
would be plowing 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
wore 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,
familiarized with all the great marine
mammalia; you, whose imagination might
easily accept the hypothesis of enormous
cetaceans, you ought to be the last to doubt
under such circumstances!"

"That is just what deceives you, Professor,"
replied Ned. "That the vulgar should believe
in extraordinary comets traversing space,
and in the existence of antediluvian
monsters in the heart of the globe, may well

-12-

represented by the weight of a column of
water 32 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 pounds 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 pounds.
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 pounds to
the square inch, your 6,500 square inches
bear at this moment a pressure of 97,500
pounds."

"Without my perceiving it?"

"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 neutralize
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."

-13-

Scotia?"

Chapter V. 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.

June thirtieth 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 favor.

The frigate skirted the southeast coast of
America with great rapidity. July third we
were at the opening of the Strait 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!"

July sixth, about three o'clock in the

-14-

But vain excitement! the Abraham Lincoln
checked its speed and made for the animal
signaled, a simple whale, or common
cachalot, which soon disappeared amidst a
storm of execration.

But the weather was good. The voyage was
being accomplished under the most
favorable 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.

July twentieth the tropic of Capricorn was
cut by 105 degrees of longitude, and the
twenty-seventh of the same month we
crossed the equator on meridian110. 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 theater of
the last diversions of the monster; and to
say truth, we no longer lived on board.
Hearts palpitated, fearfully preparing
themselves for future incurable aneurism.
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
taffrail, 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

-15-

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 fourth of November arrived
without the unveiling of this submarine
mystery.

The next day, the fifth 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 southeast and abandon
forever the northern regions of the Pacific.

The frigate was then in 31 degrees 15' north
latitude and 136 degrees 42' east longitude.
The coast of Japan remained less than two
hundred miles to leeward. Night was
approaching. They had just struck eight
bells; large clouds veiled theface 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.

-16-

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!"

Chapter VI. AT FULL STEAM

AT THIS cry the whole ship's crew hurried
toward 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 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' lengths 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 inexplicable 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
center of which condensed a burning heat,
whose overpowering brilliancy died out by
successive gradations.

"It is only an agglomeration of phosphoric
particles," cried one of the officers.

"No, Sir, certainly not," I replied. "Never did
pholades or salpae produce such a

-17-

to us. However, I was astonished at the
maneuvers 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 oneself 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 gymnotus or 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.Toward midnight, however, it
disappeared, or, to use a more appropriate
term, it"died out" like a large glowworm.
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.

-18-

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 spyglasses could not pierce it. That
caused disappointment and anger.

I climbed the mizzenmast. Some officers
were already perched on the mastheads. At
eight o'clock the fog lay heavily on the
waves, and its thick scrolls rose little by little.
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 toward 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 caudal appendagebeat the sea
with such violence. An immense track, of a
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 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 one hundred twenty 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

-19-

Ned Land went to his post. The fires were
increased, the screw revolved fortythree
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 eighteen and a half
miles an hour.

But the accursed animal swam, too, at the
rate of eighteen and a half miles.

For a whole hour, the frigate kept up this
pace, without gaining six feet. It was
humiliating for one of the swiftest sailors 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 again called.

"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 nineteen and three tenths miles.

-20-

"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 sixth. 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
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' length from the

-21-

"Help, Help!" I shouted, swimming toward
the Abraham Lincoln in desperation.

My clothes encumbered me; they seemed
glued to my body, and paralyzed 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."

-22-

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 his
back, quite still, with arms crossed, and
legs stretched out, the other would swim
and push him on in front. This tow-ing
business did not last more than ten minutes
each; and relieving each other thus, we
could swim on for some hours, perhaps till
daybreak. Poor chancel 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 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 sea, very calm, was in our
favor. 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. 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."

-23-

head for the first time! But that voice? The
time is past for Jonahs to takerefuge 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 cheat 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 recognized.

"Ned!" I cried.

"The same, Sir, who is seeking his prize!"
replied the Canadian.

"Were you thrown into the sea by the shock
of the frigate?"

"Yes, Professor; but more fortunate than
you, I was able to find a footing almost
directly upon a floating island."

"An island?"

-24-

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
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 distant words of
command. What was then the mystery of this
submarine craft, of which the whole world
vainly sought anexplanation? 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.

-25-

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 but 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 of phormium,
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
recognized that electric light which played
round the submarine boat like a magnificent

-26-

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 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 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 seals' 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

-27-

nonplussed, I tried to remember my first
lessons, and to narrate our adventures in
Latin, but with no better success. That 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, philisophically, "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
favor 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 inclined to think that
the commander and his companion were
born in low latitudes. There is southern

-28-

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 strange person, who
commanded at the bottom of the seas.

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, among 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.

-29-

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 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?"

"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."

-30-

I felt terrified, Conseil was calm, Ned Land
roared.

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?" It was the commander of the vessel
who thus spoke.

Chapter X. THE MAN OF THE SEAS

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
toward the Canadian. Conseil interested in
spite of himself, I stupefied, awaited in
silence the result of this scene.

The commander, leaning against a corner
of the 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,

-31-

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 hypotheses without
number by which it was sought to explain
the inexplicable phenomenon 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
sea monster, of which it was necessary to
rid the ocean at any price."

A half smile curled the lips of the
commander.

"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 for some time," continued

-32-

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 honor to submit to it will suffice."

"Speak, Sir," I answered, "I suppose this
condition is one which a man of honor 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.
Among 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

-33-

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
honor 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 which
has bound you to my fate. You will find
among the books which are my favorite
study the work which you have published on
'the depths of the sea.' I have often read it.
You have carried 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

-34-

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 dolphin's livers, which
you take to be ragout of pork.My cook is a

-35-

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 toward 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, and I entered a room equal in
dimensions to that I had just quitted.

It was a library. High pieces of furniture, of
black violet ebony inlaid with brass,
supported upon their wide shelves 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 center stood an immense
table, covered with pamphlets, among
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 honor 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 sea."

"Where could one find greater solitude or
silence, Professor?" replied Captain
Nemo. "Did your study in the Museum afford
you such perfect quiet?"

-36-

this cigar, M. Aronnax; and though it does
not come from Havana, 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
wassupported 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," said I, "but it is not tobacco."

"No!" answered the captain, "this tobacco
comes neither from Havana nor from the
East. It is a kind of seaweed, 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. The several schools of the old
masters were represented by a Madonna of
Raphael, a Virgin of Leonardo da Vinci, a
nymph of Correggio, a woman of Titian, an

-37-

the drawing room.

"These musicians," replied Captain Nemo,
"are the contemporaries of Orpheus; for in
the memory of the dead all chronological
differences are effaced; and I am dead,
Professor; as much dead as those of your
friends who are sleeping six feet under the
earth!"

Captain Nemo was silent, and seemed lost
in a profound reverie. I contemplated him
with deep interest, analyzing in silence the
strange expression of his countenance.
Leaning on his elbow against an angle of a
costly mosaic table, he no longer saw me,
he had forgotten my presence.

I did not disturb this reverie, and continued
my observation of the curiosities which
enriched this drawing room.

Under elegant glass cases, fixed by copper
rivets, were classed and labeled 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.

The division containing the zoophytes
presented the most curious specimens of
the two groups of polypi and echinodermes.
In the first group, the tubipores, were
gorgones arranged like a fan, soft sponges
of Syria, ises of the Molukkas, pennatules,
an admirable virgularia of the Norwegian
seas, variegated umbellulairae,
alcyonariae, a whole series of madrepores,
which my master Milne Edwards has so
cleverly classified, among which I remarked
some wonderful flabellinae, oculinae of the
Island of Bourbon, the "Neptune's car" of
the Antilles, superb varieties of corals, in
short, every species of those curious polypi
of which entire islands are formed, which
will one day become continents. Of the

-38-

ocean, and certain mussels of the
watercourses of the North; lastly, several
specimens of inestimable value which had
been gathered from the rarest pintadines.
Some of these pearls were larger than a
pigeon's egg, and were worth as much and
more than that which the traveler Tavernier
sold to the Shah of Persia for three millions,
and surpassed the one in the possession of
the Imam of Maskat, which I had believed to
be unrivaled in the world.

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:

"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."

-39-

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 the 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 it,
warms it, and is the soul of my mechanical
apparatus. This agent is electricity."

"Electricity?" I cried in surprise.

"Yes, Sir."

"Nevertheless, Captain, you possess an

-40-

"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."

"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 follow 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 watertight 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
five feet. The partitions had doors that were
shut hermetically by means of India-rubber
instruments, and they insured the safety of
the Nautilus in case of a leak.

I followed Captain Nemo through the waist,
and arrived at the center 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.

-41-

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 comfortable
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 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 electromagnets of great size,
on a system of levers and cogwheels 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 a hundred twenty
revolutions in a second."

"And you get then?"

-42-

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 the homogeneity of its
construction, due to the 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 alone 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 then1,507 tons, will be
completely immersed. That would happen,
Professor. These reservoirs are in the lower

-43-

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; 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 must overcome the
pressure of 100 atmospheres, which is 1,500
lbs. to a 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 miles
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 plane,
I use an ordinary rudder fixed on the back of
the sternpost, and with one wheel and some

-44-

"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 marvelous 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 tobrave, for when it dives below
the water, it reaches absolute tranquility.
There, Sir! that is the perfection of vessels!
And if it is true that the engineer has more
confidence in the vessel than the 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

-45-

I stared at the singular person: who spoke
thus. Was he playing upon my credulity? The
future would decide that.

Chapter XIII. 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 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 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 igneous
period succeeded to the aqueous.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 fifty-seven square miles, equal
to twelve billions nine hundred 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

-46-

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.
While 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 special currents known
by their temperature and their color. The
most remarkable of these is known by the

-47-

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 among such
wonders. So be quiet and let us try and see
what passes around us."

"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

-48-

defies description; some banded spares,
with variegated fins of blue and yellow;
some aclostons, 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 one
another. Ned named the fish, and Conseil
classed them. I was in ecstasies with
thevivacity 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 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-

-49-

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, November 10, 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 inexplicable
absence of the captain. Was 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. I wrote it on paper made from
the zosteria marina.

November 11, 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 gray 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

-50-

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
tomorrow 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."

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 32

-51-

I did honor to the repast. It was composed of
several kinds of fish, and slices of
holothuridae (excellent zoophytes), and
different sorts of seaweed. Our drink
consisted of pure water, to which the
captain added some drops of a fermented
liquor, extracted by the Kamchatka 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

-52-

wire is introduced which collects the
electricity produced, and directs it toward 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 saltpeter, sulphur, or charcoal?"

"Besides," I added, "to fire under water in a
medium eight hundred 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 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

-53-

dozen diving apparatus hung from the
partition waiting our use.

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 to 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 armor, 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

-54-

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 headdress. 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.

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.

-55-

colored tints, a perfect kaleidoscope of
green, yellow, orange, violet, indigo, and
blue; in one word, the whole palette of an
enthusiastic colorist! 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 expedient.

Various kinds of isis, clusters of pure tuft
coral, prickly fungi, and anemones, formed
a brilliant garden of flowers, enameled with
porphitae, decked with their collarettes of
blue tentacles, sea stars studding the sandy
bottom, together with asterophytons like
fine lace embroidered by the hands of
naiads, whose festoons were waved by the
gentle undulations caused by our walk. It
was a real grief to me to crush under my feet
the brilliant specimens of mollusks 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, while above our heads waved
shoals of physalides leaving their tentacles
to float in their train, 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

-56-

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.

Chapter XVI. 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 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

-57-

birds, while yellow lepisacomthi,
withbristling jaws, dactylopteri, and
monocentrides rose at our feet like a flight
of snipes.

In about an hour Captain Nemo gave the
signal to halt. I, for my part, was not sorry,
and we stretched ourselves under an arbor
of alariae, the long, thin blades of which
stood up like arrows.

This short rest seemed delicious to me;
there was nothing 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 toward 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

-58-

dark depths of the forest, whose trees were
getting scarcer at every step. I noticed that
vegetable life disappeared sooner than
animal life. The medusae had already
abandoned the arid soil, from which great
number of animals, zoophytes, articulata,
mollusks, and fishes, still obtained
sustenance.

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 marvelous 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 short, forming dark grottoes, 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. Farther 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, which might
have produced serious disorder in our
organization, and brought on internal
lesions, so fatal to divers. Very soon light

-59-

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
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
the 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 toward 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.

-60-

THE next morning, November 18, I had quite
recovered from my fatigues of the day
before, and I went up on 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 leaned 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 on to
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 recognized some unmistakable Irishmen,
Frenchmen, some Slavs, and a Greek or a
Candiot. They were civil, 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 curi-ous specimens from
those productive coasts fishing frogs that,
from their comical movements, have
acquired the name of buffoons; black
commersons, furnished with antennae;
trigger fish, encircled with red bands;
orthragorisci, with very subtle venom; some
olive-colored lampreys; macrorhynci,
covered with silvery scales; trichiuri, the
electric power of which is equal to that of
the gymnotus and cramp fish: scaly
notopteri, with transverse brown bands;

-61-

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
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?"

"There 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 35th 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 leveled, 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
toward the panel and disappeared down
the ladder. I followed him and went into the

-62-

on the fourth, after crossing rapidly and
without anything particular occurring, we
sighted the Marquesas group. I saw, three
miles off, at 8 degrees 57' latitude south, and
139 degrees 32' west longitude, 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: choryphenes,
with azure fins and tails like gold, the flesh
of which is unrivaled; hologymnoses, nearly
destitute of scales, but of exquisite flavor;
yellow-tinged thasards, as good as
bonitos; all fish that would be of use to us.
After leaving these charming islands
protected by the French flag, from
December 4 to December 11, the Nautilus
sailed over about 2,000 miles.This navigation
was remarkable for the meeting with an
immense shoal of calmars, near neighbors
to the cuttle. The French fishermen call them
hornets: they belong to the cephalopod
class, and to the dibranchial family, that
comprehends the cuttles and the argonauts.
These animals were particularly studied by
studentsof antiquity, and they furnished
numerous metaphors to the popular orators,
as well as excellent dishes for the tables of
the rich citizens, if one can believe
Athenaeus, a Greek doctor, who lived
before Galen. It was during the night of
December 9 or 10 that the Nautilus came
across this shoal of mollusks, that are,
peculiarly nocturnal. One could count them
by millions. They emigrate from the
temperate to the warmer zones, following
the track of herrings and sardines. We
watched them through the thick crystal
panes, swimming down the wind with great
rapidity, moving by means of their
locomotive tube, pursuing fish and
mollusks, eating the little ones, eaten by the
big ones, and tossing about in
indescribable confusion the ten arms that

-63-

"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, while 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 gray hair
glued to his forehead, and his hand
clutching the wheel of 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
toward 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

-64-

for corals) have a tissue lined with a
calcareous crust, and the modifications of
its structure have induced M. Milne
Edwards, my worthy master, to class them
into five sections. The animalculae that the
marine polypus secretes live by millions at
the bottom of their cells. Their calcareous
deposits become rocks, reefs, and large
and small islands. Here they form a ring,
surrounding a little inland lake, that
communicates with the sea by means of
gaps. There they make barriers of reefs like
those on the coasts of New Caledonia and
the various Pomotou islands. In other
places, like those at Reunion and at
Maurice, they raise fringed reefs, high,
straight walls, near which the depth of the
ocean is considerable.

Some cable lengths off the shores of the
Island of Clermont, I admired the gigantic
work accomplished by these microscopical
workers. These walls are specially the work
of those madrepores known as milleporas,
porites, madrepores, and astraeas. These
polypi are found particularly in the rough
beds of the sea, near the surface; and
consequently it is from the upper part that
they begin their operations, in which they
bury themselves by degrees with the debris
of the secretions that support them. Such is,
at least, Darwin's theory, who thus explains
the formation of the atolls, a superior theory,
(to my mind) to that given of the foundation
of the madreporical works, summits of
mountains or volcanoes, that are
submerged some feet below the level of the
sea.

I could observe closely these curious walls,
for perpendicularly they were more than 300
yards deep, and our electric sheets lighted
up this calcareous matter brilliantly.
Replying to a question Conseil asked me as
to the time these colossal barriers took to
be raised, I astonished him much by telling

-65-

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 harbor of Vanou, situated in 16 degrees
4' south latitude, and 164 degrees 32' east
longitude. 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,

-66-

stopping there, and, in fact, this voyage
was most disastrous, as it cost
D'Entrecasteaux 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 May 15, 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 tide 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, January 23, 1827, accompanied by a
French agent.

The Recherche, after touching at several
points in the Pacific, cast anchor before
Vanikoro, July 7, 1827, in that same harbor of
Vanou where the Nautilus was at this time.

There it collected numerous relics of the
wreck iron utensils, anchors, pulley straps,
swivel guns, an eighteen-pound shot,
fragments of astronomical instruments, a
piece of crown work, and a bronze clock,
bearing this inscription"Bazin m'a fait," the

-67-

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 twenty-sixth, 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 pounds, a brass
gun, some pigs of iron, and two copper
swivel guns.

Dumont d'Urville questioning the natives,
learned, to 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.

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 to
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?"

-68-

"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."

Chapter XIX. TORRES STRAITS.

DURING the night of December 27 or 28, the
Nautilus left the shores of Vanikoro with
great speed. Her course was
southwesterly, and in three days she had
gone over the 750 leagues that separated it
from La Perouse's group and the southeast
point of Papua.

Early January 1, 1868, Conseil joined me on
the platform.

"Master, Master, will you permit me to wish
you a happy new year?"

"What! Conseil; exactly as if I were 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?"

-69-

hammers, spurs, dials, cerites, and
hyalleae. The flora was represented by
beautiful floating seaweeds, laminaria, and
macrocystes, impregnated with the
mucilage that transudes through their
pores;and among which I gathered an
admirable Nemastoma Geliniarois, that
was classed among the natural curiosities
of the museum.

Two days after crossing the coral sea,
January 4, 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
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 Strait
of Torres made out by the hydrographical
engineer Vincendon Dumoulin. These and
Captain King's are the best charts that clear
the intricacies of this strait, and I consulted
them attentively. Round the Nautilus the sea
dashed furiously. The course of the waves,
that went from southeast to northwest 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.

-70-

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 forever 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 honor 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
thePacific; 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

-71-

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 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 counseled
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

-72-

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 soil was almost
entirely madreporical, but certain beds of
dried-up torrents, strewn with debris of
granite, showed that this island was of the
primary formation. 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, ficuses,
casuarinae, teks, 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 coconut tree, beat down
some of the fruit, broke them, and we drank
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 coconuts on board."

"I do not think he would, but he would not
taste them."

"So much the worse for him," said

-73-

"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 somber arches of the forest,
and for two hours we surveyed it in all
directions.

Chance rewarded our search for edible
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 breadfruit 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
edible 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 breadfruit pie."

"Taste it, friend Ned taste it as you want. We
are here to make experiments make them."

"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 artocarpus.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.

-74-

high, a species of palm tree.These trees,
as valuable as the artocarpus, justly are
reckoned among the most useful products
of Malaya.

At last, at five o'clock in the evening, loaded
with our riches, we quitted the shore, and
half an hour after we hailed 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, January 6, 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 toward
the west: then fording some torrents, he
gained the high plain that was bordered
with admirable forests. Some kingfishers
were rambling along the watercourses, 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.

-75-

these birds with the Chinese, have several
means that we could not employ for taking
them. Sometimes they put snares at 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 of our
ammunition.

About eleven o'clock in the morning, the
first range of mountains that form the center
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, were roasted
before a red fire of dead wood. While these
interesting birds were cooking, Ned
prepared the fruit of the artocarpus.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, flavors their flesh and renders it
delicious eating.

"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 toward the sea. We have arrived

-76-

This bird belonged to the most beautiful of
the eight species that are found in Papua
and in the neighboring 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 color werebeautiful, having a
yellow beak brown feet and claws, nut-
colored wings with purple pale yellow at the
back of the neck and head, emerald color at
the throat, and 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 marvelous bird,
which 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 flight so rapidly
but that 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