Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea

p until eleven o'clock. I dressed quickly, and hastened to find the course the Nautilus was taking. The instrum

, and endowed with great muscular strength, which enabled them to shoot above the waves; sharks of many kinds; amongst ot

a piercing sword; other bright-coloured creatures, known in the time of Aristotle by the na

ing the long plains; and accordingly, after a few evolutions of the Nautilus, I saw the southerly horizon blocked by a high wall which seemed to close all exit. Its summit evidently passed the level of the ocean. It must be a continent, or at least an island-one of the

r moved. I laid myself down with the full intention of waking after a few hours' sleep; but it was eight o'clock the next day when I entered the saloon. I looked at the manometer. It told me that the Nautilus was floating on the surface of the ocean. Besides, I h

o think, when a v

you, Pr

I answered, "

ground

laimed. "And the Nau

ways f

o not un

will be lit, and, if you like lig

an instant, and then looked again. The Nautilus was stationary, floating near a mountain which formed a sort of quay. The lake, then, supporting it was a lake imprisoned by a circle of walls, measuring two miles in diameter and six in circumference. Its level (the manometer showed) could only be the same as the outside level, for there must nece

re we?"

e Nautilus penetrated to this lagoon by a natural canal, which opens about ten yards beneath the surface of the ocean. This is its harbour of refuge, a sure, commodious, and

ptain Nemo. Who could reach you in the heart of a v

, vapour, and flames, and which now gives e

this volcan

a is strewn-to vessels a simple sandbank-to us an immense cav

s refuge, Captain? The

coal from which to get the sodium, and a coal-mine to supply the coal. And exactly on this spot the sea covers entire fores

e trade of miners h

l in hand, my men extract the coal, which I do not even ask from the mines of the earth. When I burn this combustible for the

see your compa

ith drawing from the reserve of sodium I already possess. The time for loading is one day only, and we continue our voyag

d the platform. Conseil, who was astonished at nothing, seemed to look upon it as quite natural that he should wake under a mountain, after having fallen asleep

nce more on lan

the Canadian. "And besides, we

mous pumice-stones lying in picturesque heaps. All these detached masses, covered with enamel, polished by the action of the subterraneous fires, shone resplendent by the light of our electric lantern. The mica dust from the shore, rising under our feet, flew like a cloud of spa

xcavation was confirmed on all sides,

led with boiling lava, and when the level of the incandescent liquid rose

ll me why the Great Architect has suspended operations, and how it

Then the waters of the Atlantic rushed into the interior of the mountain. There must have been a terrible struggle between the two elements,

sir; but, in our own interests, I regret that the opening

passage had not been under the sea, the

able specimen of natural architecture. Between the blocks of basalt wound long streams of lava, long since grown cold, encrusted with bituminous rays; and in some places there were spread large carpets of sulphur. A more powerful light shone through the upper crater, shedding a vague glimmer over these volcanic depressions for ever buried in the bosom of this extinguished mountain. But our upward march was soon stopped at a height of about two hundred and fifty feet by impassable obstacles. There was a complete vaulted arch overhanging us, and our ascent was changed to a circular walk. At the last change vegetabl

on-trees, which had pushed aside the rocks wit

, a hive

ed, with a gestur

d the Canadian, "and b

oduce is so much esteemed. Naturally enough, the Canadian wished to gather the honey, and I could not well oppose his wish. A quantity of dry leaves, mixed with sulphur, he lit with a spark fr

ste of the bread-fruit," said he, "I shal

fruit' has been substituted

id Conseil, "it wi

ad," said I; "let us cont

the sight of this savoury game, and whether he did not regret having no gun. But he did his best to replace the lead by stones, and, after several fruitless attempts, he succeeded in wounding a magnificent bird. To say that he risked his life twenty times before reaching it is but the truth; but he managed so well that the creature joined the honey-cakes in his bag. We were now obliged to descend toward the shore, the crest becoming impracticable. Above us the crater seemed to gape like the mouth of a well. From this place the sky could be clearly seen, and clouds, dissipated by the west wind, leaving behind them, even on the summit of the mountain, their misty remnants-certain proof that they were only moderately high, for the volcano did not rise more than eight hundred feet above the level of the ocean. Half an hour after the Canadian's last exploit we