rtook the works of an alimentary
canal to the waters of the Nile across the plain of Egypt, looking towards
Arabia. It took four days to go up this canal, and it was so wide that two
triremes  could  go  abreast.  It  was  carried  on  by Darius, the son of
Hystaspes,  and  probably finished by Ptolemy II. Strabo saw it navigated:
but its decline from the point of departure, near Bubastes, to the Red Sea
was  so  slight  that  it was only navigable for a few months in the year.
This  canal  answered all commercial purposes to the age of Antonius, when
it was abandoned and blocked up with sand. Restored by order of the Caliph
Omar,  it  was definitely destroyed in 761 or 762 by Caliph Al-Mansor, who
wished  to prevent the arrival of provisions to Mohammed-ben-Abdallah, who
had  revolted  against him. During the expedition into Egypt, your General
Bonaparte  discovered  traces  of  the  works  in the Desert of Suez; and,
surprised  by  the tide, he nearly perished before regaining Hadjaroth, at
the very place where Moses had encamped three thousand years before him."
   "Well,  Captain,  what  the ancients dared not undertake, this junction
between  the two seas, which will shorten the road from Cadiz to India, M.
Lesseps  has  succeeded  in  doing;  and  before long he will have changed
Africa into an immense island."
   "Yes,  M.  Aronnax;  you have the right to be proud of your countryman.
Such  a  man brings more honour to a nation than great captains. He began,
like  so  many others, with disgust and rebuffs; but he has triumphed, for
he  has  the genius of will. And it is sad to think that a work like that,
which  ought  to  have  been  an  international  work and which would have
sufficed  to make a reign illustrious, should have succeeded by the energy
of one man. All honour to M. Lesseps!"
   "Yes!  honour to the great citizen," I replied, surprised by the manner
in which Captain Nemo had just spoken.
   "Unfortunately,"  he  continued,  "I  cannot  take you through the Suez
Canal;  but  you  will  be  able  to see the long jetty of Port Said after
to-morrow, when we shall be in the Mediterranean."
   "The Mediterranean!" I exclaimed.
   "Yes, sir; does that astonish you?"
   "What  astonishes  me  is to think that we shall be there the day after
to-morrow."
   "Indeed?"
   "Yes,  Captain, although by this time I ought to have accustomed myself
to be surprised at nothing since I have been on board your boat."
   "But the cause of this surprise?"
   "Well! it is the fearful speed you will have to put on the Nautilus, if
the day after to-morrow she is to be in the Mediterranean, having made the
round of Africa, and doubled the Cape of Good Hope!"
   "Who  told  you  that she would make the round of Africa and double the
Cape of Good Hope, sir?"
   "Well,  unless  the  Nautilus  sails  on dry land, and passes above the
isthmus-"
   "Or beneath it, M. Aronnax."
   "Beneath it?"
   "Certainly," replied Captain Nemo quietly. "A long time ago Nature made
under this tongue of land what man has this day made on its surface."
   "What! such a passage exists?"
   "Yes; a subterranean passage, which I have named the Arabian Tunnel. It
takes us beneath Suez and opens into the Gulf of Pelusium."
   "But this isthmus is composed of nothing but quick sands?"
   "To  a  certain  depth.  But  at fifty-five yards only there is a solid
layer of rock."
   "Did  you  discover  this  passage  by  chance?"  I asked more and more
surprised.
   "Chance  and reasoning, sir; and by reasoning even more than by chance.
Not only does this passage exist, but I have profited by it several times.
Without  that  I should not have ventured this day into the impassable Red
Sea.  I noticed that in the Red Sea and in the Mediterranean there existed
a  certain  number of fishes of a kind perfectly identical. Certain of the
fact,  I  asked  myself  was  it  possible that there was no communication
between  the  two  seas?  If  there  was,  the  subterranean  current must
necessarily run from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, from the sole cause
of  difference  of  level.  I  caught  a  large  number  of  fishes in the
neighbourhood  of  Suez.  I  passed a copper ring through their tails, and
threw  them back into the sea. Some months later, on the coast of Syria, I
caught  some  of  my fish ornamented with the ring. Thus the communication
between  the  two  was  proved.  I  then sought for it with my Nautilus; I
discovered  it,  ventured into it, and before long, sir, you too will have
passed through my Arabian tunnel!"


        Chapter V. THE ARABIAN TUNNEL

   That  same  evening,  in  21O  30' N. lat., the Nautilus floated on the
surface of the sea, approaching the Arabian coast. I saw Djeddah, the most
important   counting-house   of   Egypt,   Syria,  Turkey,  and  India.  I
distinguished  clearly  enough  its buildings, the vessels anchored at the
quays,  and  those  whose  draught  of water obliged them to anchor in the
roads.  The  sun,  rather low on the horizon, struck full on the houses of
the  town,  bringing out their whiteness. Outside, some wooden cabins, and
some  made  of  reeds,  showed the quarter inhabited by the Bedouins. Soon
Djeddah  was  shut out from view by the shadows of night, and the Nautilus
found herself under water slightly phosphorescent.
   The next day, the 10th of February, we sighted several ships running to
windward.  The Nautilus returned to its submarine navigation; but at noon,
when  her  bearings  were taken, the sea being deserted, she rose again to
her waterline.
   Accompanied  by  Ned  and Conseil, I seated myself on the platform. The
coast  on  the eastern side looked like a mass faintly printed upon a damp
fog.
   We  were  leaning on the sides of the pinnace, talking of one thing and
another, when Ned Land, stretching out his hand towards a spot on the sea,
said:
   "Do you see anything there, sir?"
   "No, Ned," I replied; "but I have not your eyes, you know."
   "Look  well," said Ned, "there, on the starboard beam, about the height
of the lantern! Do you not see a mass which seems to move?"
   "Certainly,"  said  I,  after  close attention; "I see something like a
long black body on the top of the water."
   And  certainly  before  long  the black object was not more than a mile
from us. It looked like a great sandbank deposited in the open sea. It was
a gigantic dugong!
   Ned  Land looked eagerly. His eyes shone with covetousness at the sight
of the animal. His hand seemed ready to harpoon it. One would have thought
he  was awaiting the moment to throw himself into the sea and attack it in
its element.
   At  this  instant  Captain  Nemo  appeared  on the platform. He saw the
dugong, understood the Canadian's attitude, and, addressing him, said:
   "If  you  held  a harpoon just now, Master Land, would it not burn your
hand?"
   "Just so, sir."
   "And you would not be sorry to go back, for one day, to your trade of a
fisherman  and  to add this cetacean to the list of those you have already
killed?"
   "I should not, sir."
   "Well, you can try."
   "Thank you, sir," said Ned Land, his eyes flaming.
   "Only,"  continued  the Captain, "I advise you for your own sake not to
miss the creature."
   "Is  the  dugong  dangerous  to  attack?"  I  asked,  in  spite  of the
Canadian's shrug of the shoulders.
   "Yes,"  replied  the  Captain;  "sometimes  the  animal  turns upon its
assailants  and  overturns  their boat. But for Master Land this danger is
not to be feared. His eye is prompt, his arm sure."
   At  this  moment  seven  men  of  the crew, mute and immovable as ever,
mounted  the  platform.  One carried a harpoon and a line similar to those
employed  in  catching  whales.  The  pinnace  was lifted from the bridge,
pulled  from its socket, and let down into the sea. Six oarsmen took their
seats,  and  the  coxswain went to the tiller. Ned, Conseil, and I went to
the back of the boat.
   "You are not coming, Captain?" I asked.
   "No, sir; but I wish you good sport."
   The  boat  put off, and, lifted by the six rowers, drew rapidly towards
the dugong, which floated about two miles from the Nautilus.
   Arrived  some cables-length from the cetacean, the speed slackened, and
the  oars  dipped  noiselessly into the quiet waters. Ned Land, harpoon in
hand,  stood  in  the fore part of the boat. The harpoon used for striking
the whale is generally attached to a very long cord which runs out rapidly
as the wounded creature draws it after him. But here the cord was not more
than  ten  fathoms  long, and the extremity was attached to a small barrel
which,  by  floating,  was  to  show  the course the dugong took under the
water.
   I  stood  and  carefully watched the Canadian's adversary. This dugong,
which  also bears the name of the halicore, closely resembles the manatee;
its  oblong  body terminated in a lengthened tail, and its lateral fins in
perfect  fingers.  Its  difference from the manatee consisted in its upper
jaw,  which was armed with two long and pointed teeth which formed on each
side diverging tusks.
   This  dugong  which  Ned  Land  was preparing to attack was of colossal
dimensions; it was more than seven yards long. It did not move, and seemed
to be sleeping on the waves, which circumstance made it easier to capture.
   The  boat approached within six yards of the animal. The oars rested on
the  rowlocks.  I  half  rose.  Ned  Land,  his body thrown a little back,
brandished the harpoon in his experienced hand.
   Suddenly  a  hissing  noise  was heard, and the dugong disappeared. The
harpoon,  although thrown with great force; had apparently only struck the
water.
   "Curse it!" exclaimed the Canadian furiously; "I have missed it!"
   "No,"  said  I;  "the  creature  is wounded-look at the blood; but your
weapon has not stuck in his body."
   "My harpoon! my harpoon!" cried Ned Land.
   The  sailors  rowed  on, and the coxswain made for the floating barrel.
The harpoon regained, we followed in pursuit of the animal.
   The  latter  came now and then to the surface to breathe. Its wound had
not weakened it, for it shot onwards with great rapidity.
   The  boat,  rowed  by  strong arms, flew on its track. Several times it
approached  within  some  few yards, and the Canadian was ready to strike,
but  the  dugong  made  off with a sudden plunge, and it was impossible to
reach it.
   Imagine  the passion which excited impatient Ned Land! He hurled at the
unfortunate  creature the most energetic expletives in the English tongue.
For my part, I was only vexed to see the dugong escape all our attacks.
   We  pursued  it without relaxation for an hour, and I began to think it
would  prove  difficult  to  capture,  when the animal, possessed with the
perverse  idea  of  vengeance of which he had cause to repent, turned upon
the pinnace and assailed us in its turn.
   This manoeuvre did not escape the Canadian.
   "Look out!" he cried.
   The  coxswain  said  some  words  in  his  outlandish tongue, doubtless
warning the men to keep on their guard.
   The  dugong  came  within twenty feet of the boat, stopped, sniffed the
air  briskly with its large nostrils (not pierced at the extremity, but in
the  upper  part  of  its muzzle). Then, taking a spring, he threw himself
upon us.
   The pinnace could not avoid the shock, and half upset, shipped at least
two  tons  of water, which had to be emptied; but, thanks to the coxswain,
we  caught  it  sideways, not full front, so we were not quite overturned.
While  Ned Land, clinging to the bows, belaboured the gigantic animal with
blows  from  his harpoon, the creature's teeth were buried in the gunwale,
and  it lifted the whole thing out of the water, as a lion does a roebuck.
We  were  upset  over  one another, and I know not how the adventure would
have  ended, if the Canadian, still enraged with the beast, had not struck
it to the heart.
   I  heard its teeth grind on the iron plate, and the dugong disappeared,
carrying  the  harpoon  with  him.  But  the  barrel  soon returned to the
surface, and shortly after the body of the animal, turned on its back. The
boat came up with it, took it in tow, and made straight for the Nautilus.
   It  required  tackle of enormous strength to hoist the dugong on to the
platform. It weighed 10,000 lb.
   The next day, 11th February, the larder of the Nautilus was enriched by
some  more delicate game. A flight of sea-swallows rested on the Nautilus.
It  was  a  species of the Sterna nilotica, peculiar to Egypt; its beak is
black, head grey and pointed, the eye surrounded by white spots, the back,
wings, and tail of a greyish colour, the belly and throat white, and claws
red. They also took some dozen of Nile ducks, a wild bird of high flavour,
its throat and upper part of the head white with black spots.
   About  five  o'clock in the evening we sighted to the north the Cape of
Ras-Mohammed.  This  cape forms the extremity of Arabia Petraea, comprised
between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Acabah.
   The  Nautilus  penetrated into the Straits of Jubal, which leads to the
Gulf  of  Suez. I distinctly saw a high mountain, towering between the two
gulfs  of Ras-Mohammed. It was Mount Horeb, that Sinai at the top of which
Moses saw God face to face.
   At  six  o'clock  the Nautilus, sometimes floating, sometimes immersed,
passed  some distance from Tor, situated at the end of the bay, the waters
of  which  seemed  tinted with red, an observation already made by Captain
Nemo. Then night fell in the midst of a heavy silence, sometimes broken by
the cries of the pelican and other night-birds, and the noise of the waves
breaking upon the shore, chafing against the rocks, or the panting of some
far-off steamer beating the waters of the Gulf with its noisy paddles.
   From eight to nine o'clock the Nautilus remained some fathoms under the
water.  According  to  my  calculation  we  must have been very near Suez.
Through  the panel of the saloon I saw the bottom of the rocks brilliantly
lit up by our electric lamp. We seemed to be leaving the Straits behind us
more and more.
   At  a  quarter-past  nine, the vessel having returned to the surface, I
mounted  the  platform.  Most  impatient  to  pass  through Captain Nemo's
tunnel,  I could not stay in one place, so came to breathe the fresh night
air.
   Soon  in  the  shadow  I saw a pale light, half discoloured by the fog,
shining about a mile from us.
   "A floating lighthouse!" said someone near me.
   I turned, and saw the Captain.
   "It  is the floating light of Suez," he continued. "It will not be long
before we gain the entrance of the tunnel."
   "The entrance cannot be easy?"
   "No,  sir;  for  that reason I am accustomed to go into the steersman's
cage  and  myself  direct  our  course.  And  now, if you will go down, M.
Aronnax, the Nautilus is going under the waves, and will not return to the
surface until we have passed through the Arabian Tunnel."
   Captain  Nemo  led  me  towards the central staircase; half way down he
opened  a  door, traversed the upper deck, and landed in the pilot's cage,
which it may be remembered rose at the extremity of the platform. It was a
cabin measuring six feet square, very much like that occupied by the pilot
on  the  steamboats  of  the  Mississippi or Hudson. In the midst worked a
wheel,  placed vertically, and caught to the tiller-rope, which ran to the
back  of  the Nautilus. Four light-ports with lenticular glasses, let in a
groove  in the partition of the cabin, allowed the man at the wheel to see
in all directions.
   This  cabin  was  dark;  but  soon my eyes accustomed themselves to the
obscurity, and I perceived the pilot, a strong man, with his hands resting
on  the  spokes  of the wheel. Outside, the sea appeared vividly lit up by
the  lantern,  which shed its rays from the back of the cabin to the other
extremity of the platform.
   "Now," said Captain Nemo, "let us try to make our passage."
   Electric  wires connected the pilot's cage with the machinery room, and
from  there  the  Captain could communicate simultaneously to his Nautilus
the  direction  and  the  speed.  He pressed a metal knob, and at once the
speed of the screw diminished.
   I  looked  in  silence  at the high straight wall we were running by at
this  moment,  the immovable base of a massive sandy coast. We followed it
thus for an hour only some few yards off.
   Captain  Nemo  did not take his eye from the knob, suspended by its two
concentric  circles  in the cabin. At a simple gesture, the pilot modified
the course of the Nautilus every instant.
   I  had  placed  myself  at  the  port-scuttle, and saw some magnificent
substructures  of  coral,  zoophytes,  seaweed, and fucus, agitating their
enormous claws, which stretched out from the fissures of the rock.
   At  a  quarter-past  ten,  the  Captain  himself took the helm. A large
gallery,  black  and deep, opened before us. The Nautilus went boldly into
it.  A strange roaring was heard round its sides. It was the waters of the
Red  Sea,  which  the incline of the tunnel precipitated violently towards
the  Mediterranean. The Nautilus went with the torrent, rapid as an arrow,
in  spite  of  the efforts of the machinery, which, in order to offer more
effective resistance, beat the waves with reversed screw.
   On  the  walls  of the narrow passage I could see nothing but brilliant
rays,  straight  lines,  furrows of fire, traced by the great speed, under
the brilliant electric light. My heart beat fast.
   At  thirty-five  minutes  past ten, Captain Nemo quitted the helm, and,
turning to me, said:
   "The Mediterranean!"
   In  less  than  twenty  minutes,  the  Nautilus,  carried  along by the
torrent, had passed through the Isthmus of Suez.


        Chapter VI. THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO

   The  next  day,  the 12th of February, at the dawn of day, the Nautilus
rose  to  the  surface.  I hastened on to the platform. Three miles to the
south the dim outline of Pelusium was to be seen. A torrent had carried us
from one sea to another. About seven o'clock Ned and Conseil joined me.
   "Well,  Sir  Naturalist," said the Canadian, in a slightly jovial tone,
"and the Mediterranean?"
   "We are floating on its surface, friend Ned."
   "What!" said Conseil, "this very night."
   "Yes,  this very night; in a few minutes we have passed this impassable
isthmus."
   "I do not believe it," replied the Canadian.
   "Then  you  are wrong, Master Land," I continued; "this low coast which
rounds  off to the south is the Egyptian coast. And you who have such good
eyes, Ned, you can see the jetty of Port Said stretching into the sea."
   The Canadian looked attentively.
   "Certainly you are right, sir, and your Captain is a first-rate man. We
are in the Mediterranean. Good! Now, if you please, let us talk of our own
little affair, but so that no one hears us."
   I  saw  what the Canadian wanted, and, in any case, I thought it better
to  let  him talk, as he wished it; so we all three went and sat down near
the lantern, where we were less exposed to the spray of the blades.
   "Now, Ned, we listen; what have you to tell us?"
   "What  I  have to tell you is very simple. We are in Europe; and before
Captain Nemo's caprices drag us once more to the bottom of the Polar Seas,
or lead us into Oceania, I ask to leave the Nautilus."
   I  wished  in  no  way  to  shackle the liberty of my companions, but I
certainly felt no desire to leave Captain Nemo.
   Thanks  to  him, and thanks to his apparatus, I was each day nearer the
completion  of  my  submarine  studies;  and  I  was  rewriting my book of
submarine  depths  in  its  very element. Should I ever again have such an
opportunity  of observing the wonders of the ocean? No, certainly not! And
I could not bring myself to the idea of abandoning the Nautilus before the
cycle of investigation was accomplished.
   "Friend  Ned,  answer  me frankly, are you tired of being on board? Are
you sorry that destiny has thrown us into Captain Nemo's hands?"
   The  Canadian  remained  some moments without answering. Then, crossing
his arms, he said:
   "Frankly,  I do not regret this journey under the seas. I shall be glad
to  have made it; but, now that it is made, let us have done with it. That
is my idea."
   "It will come to an end, Ned."
   "Where and when?"
   "Where  I  do not know-when I cannot say; or, rather, I suppose it will
end when these seas have nothing more to teach us."
   "Then what do you hope for?" demanded the Canadian.
   "That  circumstances may occur as well six months hence as now by which
we may and ought to profit."
   "Oh!"  said  Ned  Land,  "and  where  shall we be in six months, if you
please, Sir Naturalist?"
   "Perhaps  in China; you know the Nautilus is a rapid traveller. It goes
through  water  as swallows through the air, or as an express on the land.
It  does  not  fear  frequented seas; who can say that it may not beat the
coasts of France, England, or America, on which flight may be attempted as
advantageously as here."
   "M.  Aronnax,"  replied the Canadian, "your arguments are rotten at the
foundation.  You  speak  in  the  future,  `We shall be there! we shall be
here!' I speak in the present, `We are here, and we must profit by it.'"
   Ned  Land's  logic  pressed  me  hard, and I felt myself beaten on that
ground. I knew not what argument would now tell in my favour.
   "Sir," continued Ned, "let us suppose an impossibility: if Captain Nemo
should this day offer you your liberty; would you accept it?"
   "I do not know," I answered.
   "And  if,"  he  added,  "the  offer  made  you this day was never to be
renewed, would you accept it?"
   "Friend  Ned,  this is my answer. Your reasoning is against me. We must
not  rely  on Captain Nemo's good-will. Common prudence forbids him to set
us  at  liberty.  On  the other side, prudence bids us profit by the first
opportunity to leave the Nautilus."
   "Well, M. Aronnax, that is wisely said."
   "Only  one  observation-just one. The occasion must be serious, and our
first  attempt must succeed; if it fails, we shall never find another, and
Captain Nemo will never forgive us."
   "All that is true," replied the Canadian. "But your observation applies
equally  to  all attempts at flight, whether in two years' time, or in two
days'.  But  the  question  is  still  this:  If  a favourable opportunity
presents itself, it must be seized."
   "Agreed!  And  now, Ned, will you tell me what you mean by a favourable
opportunity?"
   "It  will  be  that  which,  on a dark night, will bring the Nautilus a
short distance from some European coast."
   "And you will try and save yourself by swimming?"
   "Yes,  if  we  were  near  enough  to  the  bank, and if the vessel was
floating at the time. Not if the bank was far away, and the boat was under
the water."
   "And in that case?"
   "In  that  case,  I should seek to make myself master of the pinnace. I
know  how  it  is worked. We must get inside, and the bolts once drawn, we
shall  come to the surface of the water, without even the pilot, who is in
the bows, perceiving our flight."
   "Well,  Ned,  watch for the opportunity; but do not forget that a hitch
will ruin us."
   "I will not forget, sir."
   "And now, Ned, would you like to know what I think of your project?"
   "Certainly, M. Aronnax."
   "Well,  I  think-I  do  not  say  I  hope-I  think that this favourable
opportunity will never present itself."
   "Why not?"
   "Because  Captain  Nemo cannot hide from himself that we have not given
up  all  hope of regaining our liberty, and he will be on his guard, above
all, in the seas and in the sight of European coasts."
   "We shall see," replied Ned Land, shaking his head determinedly.
   "And  now,  Ned  Land," I added, "let us stop here. Not another word on
the subject. The day that you are ready, come and let us know, and we will
follow you. I rely entirely upon you."
   Thus  ended  a conversation which, at no very distant time, led to such
grave  results. I must say here that facts seemed to confirm my foresight,
to  the  Canadian's  great  despair. Did Captain Nemo distrust us in these
frequented  seas?  or  did  he only wish to hide himself from the numerous
vessels,  of  all  nations,  which ploughed the Mediterranean? I could not
tell;  but  we  were oftener between waters and far from the coast. Or, if
the  Nautilus did emerge, nothing was to be seen but the pilot's cage; and
sometimes  it  went  to great depths, for, between the Grecian Archipelago
and  Asia  Minor  we  could  not  touch the bottom by more than a thousand
fathoms.
   Thus  I  only  knew  we  were  near the Island of Carpathos, one of the
Sporades, by Captain Nemo reciting these lines from Virgil:
   "Est Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates, Caeruleus Proteus,"
   as he pointed to a spot on the planisphere.
   It  was  indeed  the  ancient  abode  of  Proteus,  the old shepherd of
Neptune's flocks, now the Island of Scarpanto, situated between Rhodes and
Crete.  I saw nothing but the granite base through the glass panels of the
saloon.
   The  next day, the 14th of February, I resolved to employ some hours in
studying  the  fishes of the Archipelago; but for some reason or other the
panels  remained  hermetically  sealed.  Upon  taking  the  course  of the
Nautilus,  I  found that we were going towards Candia, the ancient Isle of
Crete.  At  the  time I embarked on the Abraham Lincoln, the whole of this
island  had  risen in insurrection against the despotism of the Turks. But
how  the  insurgents  had fared since that time I was absolutely ignorant,
and  it  was  not  Captain  Nemo, deprived of all land communications, who
could tell me.
   I  made  no allusion to this event when that night I found myself alone
with him in the saloon. Besides, he seemed to be taciturn and preoccupied.
Then,  contrary  to  his custom, he ordered both panels to be opened, and,
going  from  one to the other, observed the mass of waters attentively. To
what end I could not guess; so, on my side, I employed my time in studying
the fish passing before my eyes.
   In  the  midst  of  the waters a man appeared, a diver, carrying at his
belt  a leathern purse. It was not a body abandoned to the waves; it was a
living man, swimming with a strong hand, disappearing occasionally to take
breath at the surface.
   I turned towards Captain Nemo, and in an agitated voice exclaimed:
   "A man shipwrecked! He must be saved at any price!"
   The Captain did not answer me, but came and leaned against the panel.
   The man had approached, and, with his face flattened against the glass,
was looking at us.
   To  my  great amazement, Captain Nemo signed to him. The diver answered
with  his  hand,  mounted immediately to the surface of the water, and did
not appear again.
   "Do  not  be uncomfortable," said Captain Nemo. "It is Nicholas of Cape
Matapan,  surnamed  Pesca.  He  is  well known in all the Cyclades. A bold
diver!  water  is his element, and he lives more in it than on land, going
continually from one island to another, even as far as Crete."
   "You know him, Captain?"
   "Why not, M. Aronnax?"
   Saying  which,  Captain Nemo went towards a piece of furniture standing
near  the  left panel of the saloon. Near this piece of furniture, I saw a
chest  bound  with iron, on the cover of which was a copper plate, bearing
the cypher of the Nautilus with its device.
   At  that  moment, the Captain, without noticing my presence, opened the
piece of furniture, a sort of strong box, which held a great many ingots.
   They  were  ingots of gold. From whence came this precious metal, which
represented  an enormous sum? Where did the Captain gather this gold from?
and what was he going to do with it?
   I  did  not say one word. I looked. Captain Nemo took the ingots one by
one,  and  arranged  them  methodically  in  the  chest,  which  he filled
entirely.  I estimated the contents at more than 4,000 lb. weight of gold,
that is to say, nearly L200,000.
   The  chest  was  securely fastened, and the Captain wrote an address on
the lid, in characters which must have belonged to Modern Greece.
   This  done, Captain Nemo pressed a knob, the wire of which communicated
with  the  quarters  of the crew. Four men appeared, and, not without some
trouble, pushed the chest out of the saloon. Then I heard them hoisting it
up the iron staircase by means of pulleys.
   At that moment, Captain Nemo turned to me.
   "And you were saying, sir?" said he.
   "I was saying nothing, Captain."
   "Then, sir, if you will allow me, I will wish you good night."
   Whereupon he turned and left the saloon.
   I returned to my room much troubled, as one may believe. I vainly tried
to  sleep-I sought the connecting link between the apparition of the diver
and  the  chest  filled  with  gold.  Soon, I felt by certain movements of
pitching  and  tossing  that  the  Nautilus  was  leaving  the  depths and
returning to the surface.
   Then  I heard steps upon the platform; and I knew they were unfastening
the pinnace and launching it upon the waves. For one instant it struck the
side of the Nautilus, then all noise ceased.
   Two hours after, the same noise, the same going and coming was renewed;
the  boat  was  hoisted on board, replaced in its socket, and the Nautilus
again plunged under the waves.
   So  these millions had been transported to their address. To what point
of the continent? Who was Captain Nemo's correspondent?
   The  next  day  I related to Conseil and the Canadian the events of the
night, which had excited my curiosity to the highest degree. My companions
were not less surprised than myself.
   "But where does he take his millions to?" asked Ned Land.
   To  that  there  was no possible answer. I returned to the saloon after
having  breakfast  and  set  to  work.  Till five o'clock in the evening I
employed  myself  in  arranging  my  notes.  At  that  moment-(ought  I to
attribute it to some peculiar idiosyncrasy)- I felt so great a heat that I
was  obliged  to  take  off my coat. It was strange, for we were under low
latitudes;  and  even  then  the  Nautilus,  submerged as it was, ought to
experience  no change of temperature. I looked at the manometer; it showed
a depth of sixty feet, to which atmospheric heat could never attain.
   I  continued my work, but the temperature rose to such a pitch as to be
intolerable.
   "Could there be fire on board?" I asked myself.
   I  was leaving the saloon, when Captain Nemo entered; he approached the
thermometer, consulted it, and, turning to me, said:
   "Forty-two degrees."
   "I have noticed it, Captain," I replied; "and if it gets much hotter we
cannot bear it."
   "Oh, sir, it will not get better if we do not wish it."
   "You can reduce it as you please, then?"
   "No; but I can go farther from the stove which produces it."
   "It is outward, then!"
   "Certainly; we are floating in a current of boiling water."
   "Is it possible!" I exclaimed.
   "Look."
   The  panels  opened,  and  I  saw  the  sea entirely white all round. A
sulphurous  smoke was curling amid the waves, which boiled like water in a
copper. I placed my hand on one of the panes of glass, but the heat was so
great that I quickly took it off again.
   "Where are we?" I asked.
   "Near  the  Island of Santorin, sir," replied the Captain. "I wished to
give you a sight of the curious spectacle of a submarine eruption."
   "I  thought,"  said  I,  "that  the formation of these new islands  was
ended."
   "Nothing  is  ever  ended  in  the  volcanic parts of the sea," replied
Captain Nemo; "and the globe is always being worked by subterranean fires.
Already,  in  the nineteenth year of our era, according to Cassiodorus and
Pliny,  a new island, Theia (the divine), appeared in the very place where
these islets have recently been formed. Then they sank under the waves, to
rise  again  in  the year 69, when they again subsided. Since that time to
our  days  the  Plutonian  work  has  been  suspended.  But  on the 3rd of
February, 1866, a new island, which they named George Island, emerged from
the midst of the sulphurous vapour near Nea Kamenni, and settled again the
6th  of the same month. Seven days after, the 13th of February, the Island
of  Aphroessa appeared, leaving between Nea Kamenni and itself a canal ten
yards  broad.  I was in these seas when the phenomenon occurred, and I was
able  therefore  to  observe  all  the  different  phases.  The  Island of
Aphroessa,  of  round  form, measured 300 feet in diameter, and 30 feet in
height.  It  was composed of black and vitreous lava, mixed with fragments
of  felspar.  And  lastly,  on the 10th of March, a smaller island, called
Reka,  showed  itself  near  Nea  Kamenni, and since then these three have
joined together, forming but one and the same island."
   "And the canal in which we are at this moment?" I asked.
   "Here   it  is,"  replied  Captain  Nemo,  showing  me  a  map  of  the
Archipelago. "You see, I have marked the new islands."
   I  returned  to  the glass. The Nautilus was no longer moving, the heat
was  becoming unbearable. The sea, which till now had been white, was red,
owing  to  the  presence  of  salts  of iron. In spite of the ship's being
hermetically  sealed, an insupportable smell of sulphur filled the saloon,
and  the brilliancy of the electricity was entirely extinguished by bright
scarlet flames. I was in a bath, I was choking, I was broiled.
   "We can remain no longer in this boiling water," said I to the Captain.
   "It would not be prudent," replied the impassive Captain Nemo.
   An  order  was given; the Nautilus tacked about and left the furnace it
could  not  brave  with  impunity.  A  quarter  of  an  hour after we were
breathing  fresh  air  on the surface. The thought then struck me that, if
Ned  Land  had chosen this part of the sea for our flight, we should never
have come alive out of this sea of fire.
   The  next  day,  the 16th of February, we left the basin which, between
Rhodes  and  Alexandria, is reckoned about 1,500 fathoms in depth, and the
Nautilus,   passing   some  distance  from  Cerigo,  quitted  the  Grecian
Archipelago after having doubled Cape Matapan.


        Chapter VII. THE MEDITERRANEAN IN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS

   The  Mediterranean, the blue sea par excellence, "the great sea" of the
Hebrews,  "the  sea"  of  the  Greeks,  the  "mare nostrum" of the Romans,
bordered  by  orange-trees, aloes, cacti, and sea-pines; embalmed with the
perfume  of  the myrtle, surrounded by rude mountains, saturated with pure
and  transparent  air,  but  incessantly  worked  by  underground fires; a
perfect battlefield in which Neptune and Pluto still dispute the empire of
the world!
   It is upon these banks, and on these waters, says Michelet, that man is
renewed  in one of the most powerful climates of the globe. But, beautiful
as it was, I could only take a rapid glance at the basin whose superficial
area  is  two  million  of square yards. Even Captain Nemo's knowledge was
lost  to  me,  for  this  puzzling  person  did not appear once during our
passage  at  full  speed.  I  estimated the course which the Nautilus took
under  the  waves  of  the  sea  at  about six hundred leagues, and it was
accomplished  in forty-eight hours. Starting on the morning of the 16th of
February  from  the  shores  of  Greece,  we  had  crossed  the Straits of
Gibraltar by sunrise on the 18th.
   It  was  plain  to me that this Mediterranean, enclosed in the midst of
those countries which he wished to avoid, was distasteful to Captain Nemo.
Those  waves  and those breezes brought back too many remembrances, if not
too many regrets. Here he had no longer that independence and that liberty
of  gait  which he had when in the open seas, and his Nautilus felt itself
cramped between the close shores of Africa and Europe.
   Our  speed was now twenty-five miles an hour. It may be well understood
that  Ned Land, to his great disgust, was obliged to renounce his intended
flight.  He  could  not launch the pinnace, going at the rate of twelve or
thirteen  yards  every  second. To quit the Nautilus under such conditions
would  be  as bad as jumping from a train going at full speed-an imprudent
thing,  to  say  the  least of it. Besides, our vessel only mounted to the
surface  of  the  waves at night to renew its stock of air; it was steered
entirely by the compass and the log.
   I saw no more of the interior of this Mediterranean than a traveller by
express train perceives of the landscape which flies before his eyes; that
is to say, the distant horizon, and not the nearer objects which pass like
a flash of lightning.
   We  were  then  passing  between  Sicily and the coast of Tunis. In the
narrow space between Cape Bon and the Straits of Messina the bottom of the
sea rose almost suddenly. There was a perfect bank, on which there was not
more  than  nine  fathoms  of  water,  whilst on either side the depth was
ninety fathoms.
   The  Nautilus  had  to  manoeuvre  very  carefully  so as not to strike
against this submarine barrier.
   I showed Conseil, on the map of the Mediterranean, the spot occupied by
this reef.
   "But  if you please, sir," observed Conseil, "it is like a real isthmus
joining Europe to Africa."
   "Yes,  my  boy, it forms a perfect bar to the Straits of Lybia, and the
soundings of Smith have proved that in former times the continents between
Cape Boco and Cape Furina were joined."
   "I can well believe it," said Conseil.
   "I  will  add,"  I  continued,  "that  a similar barrier exists between
Gibraltar   and  Ceuta,  which  in  geological  times  formed  the  entire
Mediterranean."
   "What  if  some  volcanic burst should one day raise these two barriers
above the waves?"
   "It is not probable, Conseil."
   "Well,  but  allow me to finish, please, sir; if this phenomenon should
take  place,  it will be troublesome for M. Lesseps, who has taken so much
pains to pierce the isthmus."
   "I  agree  with  you; but I repeat, Conseil, this phenomenon will never
happen. The violence of subterranean force is ever diminishing. Volcanoes,
so  plentiful  in  the  first days of the world, are being extinguished by
degrees;  the  internal  heat  is  weakened,  the temperature of the lower
strata  of the globe is lowered by a perceptible quantity every century to
the detriment of our globe, for its heat is its life."
   "But the sun?"
   "The sun is not sufficient, Conseil. Can it give heat to a dead body?"
   "Not that I know of."
   "Well,  my friend, this earth will one day be that cold corpse; it will
become  uninhabitable  and uninhabited like the moon, which has long since
lost all its vital heat."
   "In how many centuries?"
   "In some hundreds of thousands of years, my boy."
   "Then,"  said  Conseil, "we shall have time to finish our journey- that
is, if Ned Land does not interfere with it."
   And  Conseil,  reassured,  returned to the study of the bank, which the
Nautilus was skirting at a moderate speed.
   During  the  night  of  the  16th  and 17th February we had entered the
second Mediterranean basin, the greatest depth of which was 1,450 fathoms.
The Nautilus, by the action of its crew, slid down the inclined planes and
buried itself in the lowest depths of the sea.
   On the 18th of February, about three o'clock in the morning, we were at
the entrance of the Straits of Gibraltar. There once existed two currents:
an upper one, long since recognised, which conveys the waters of the ocean
into  the  basin  of the Mediterranean; and a lower counter-current, which
reasoning  has  now  shown  to  exist.  Indeed, the volume of water in the
Mediterranean,  incessantly  added  to by the waves of the Atlantic and by
rivers  falling  into it, would each year raise the level of this sea, for
its evaporation is not sufficient to restore the equilibrium. As it is not
so,  we  must  necessarily  admit the existence of an under-current, which
empties  into  the  basin of the Atlantic through the Straits of Gibraltar
the  surplus  waters  of the Mediterranean. A fact indeed; and it was this
counter-current by which the Nautilus profited. It advanced rapidly by the
narrow  pass. For one instant I caught a glimpse of the beautiful ruins of
the temple of Hercules, buried in the ground, according to Pliny, and with
the low island which supports it; and a few minutes later we were floating
on the Atlantic.


        Chapter VIII. VIGO BAY

   The  Atlantic!  a  vast  sheet  of  water whose superficial area covers
twenty-five millions of square miles, the length of which is nine thousand
miles,  with  a mean breadth of two thousand seven hundred- an ocean whose
parallel  winding  shores embrace an immense circumference, watered by the
largest  rivers  of  th