Ewriting Format by Carl Peterson © 2001
PART ONE
CHAPTER I
A SHIFTING REEF
The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident,
a mysterious and puzzling phenomenon,
which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.
Not
to mention rumours which agitated the maritime population and excited the public mind,
even in the interior of continents,
seafaring men were particularly excited.
Merchants,
common sailors,
captains of vessels,
skippers,
both of Europe and America,
naval officers of all countries,
and the Governments of several States on the two continents,
were deeply interested in the matter.
for some time past vessels had been met by "an enormous thing," a long object,
spindle-shaped,
occasionally phosphorescent,
and infinitely larger and more rapid in its movements than a whale.The facts relating
to this apparition (entered in various log-books) agreed in most respects as
to the shape of the object or creature in question,
the untiring rapidity of its movements,
its surprising power of locomotion,
and the peculiar life
with which it seemed endowed.
If it was a whale,
it surpassed in size all those hither
to classified in science.
Taking in
to consideration the mean of observations made at divers times-- rejecting the timid estimate of those who assigned
to this object a length of two hundred feet,
equally
with the exaggerated opinions which set it down as a mile in width and three in length--we might fairly conclude that this mysterious being surpassed greatly all dimensions admitted by the learned ones of the day,
if it existed at all.
And that it DID exist was an undeniable fact;
and,
with that tendency which disposes the human mind in favour of the marvellous,
we can understand the excitement produced in the entire world by this supernatural apparition.
As
to classing it in the list of fables,
the idea was out of the question.On the 20th of July,
1866,
the steamer Governor Higginson,
of the Calcutta and Burnach Steam Navigation Company,
had met this moving mass five miles off the east coast of Australia.
Captain Baker thought at first that he was in the presence of an unknown sandbank;
he even prepared
to determine its exact position when two columns of water,
projected by the mysterious object,
shot
with a hissing noise a hundred and fifty feet up in
to the air.
Now,
unless the sandbank had been submitted
to the intermittent eruption of a geyser,
the Governor Higginson had
to do neither more nor less than
with an aquatic mammal,
unknown till then,
which threw up from its blow-holes columns of water mixed
with air and vapour.Similar facts were observed on the 23rd of July in the same year,
in the Pacific Ocean,
by the Columbus,
of the West India and Pacific Steam Navigation Company.
But this extraordinary creature could transport itself from one place
to another
with surprising velocity;
as,
in an interval of three days,
the Governor Higginson and the Columbus had observed it at two different points of the chart,
separated by a distance of more than seven hundred nautical leagues.Fifteen days later,
two thousand miles farther off,
the Helvetia,
of the Compagnie-Nationale,
and the Shannon,
of the Royal Mail Steamship Company,
sailing
to windward in that portion of the Atlantic lying between the United States and Europe,
respectively signalled the monster
to each other in 42@ 15' N.
lat.
and 60@ 35' W.
long.
In these simultaneous observations they thought themselves justified in estimating the minimum length of the mammal at more than three hundred and fifty feet,
as the Shannon and Helvetia were of smaller dimensions than it,
though they measured three hundred feet over all.Now the largest whales,
those which frequent those parts of the sea round the Aleutian,
Kulammak,
and Umgullich islands,
have never exceeded the length of sixty yards,
if they attain that.In every place of great resort the monster was the fashion.
They sang of it in the cafes,
ridiculed it in the papers,
and represented it on the stage.
All kinds of stories were circulated regarding it.
There appeared in the papers caricatures of every gigantic and imaginary creature,
from the white whale,
the terrible "Moby Dick" of sub-arctic regions,
to the immense kraken,
whose tentacles could entangle a ship of five hundred tons and hurry it in
to the abyss of the ocean.
The legends of ancient times were even revived.Then burst forth the unending argument between the believers and the unbelievers in the societies of the wise and the scientific journals.
"The question of the monster" inflamed all minds.
Editors of scientific journals,
quarrelling
with believers in the supernatural,
spilled seas of ink during this memorable campaign,
some even drawing blood;
for from the sea-serpent they came
to direct personalities.During the first months of the year 1867 the question seemed buried,
never
to revive,
when new facts were brought before the public.
It was then no longer a scientific problem
to be solved,
but a real danger seriously
to be avoided.
The question took quite another shape.
The monster became a small island,
a rock,
a reef,
but a reef of indefinite and shifting proportions.On the 5th of March,
1867,
the Moravian,
of the Montreal Ocean Company,
finding herself during the night in 27@ 30' lat.
and 72@ 15' long.,
struck on her starboard quarter a rock,
marked in no chart
for that part of the sea.
Under the combined efforts of the wind and its four hundred horse power,
it was going at the rate of thirteen knots.
Had it not been
for the superior strength of the hull of the Moravian,
she would have been broken by the shock and gone down
with the 237 passengers she was bringing home from Canada.The accident happened about five o'clock in the morning,
as the day was breaking.
The officers of the quarter-deck hurried
to the after-part of the vessel.
They examined the sea
with the most careful attention.
They saw nothing but a strong eddy about three cables' length distant,
as if the surface had been violently agitated.
The bearings of the place were taken exactly,
and the Moravian continued its route without apparent damage.
Had it struck on a submerged rock,
or on an enormous wreck?
They could not tell;
but,
on examination of the ship's bottom when undergoing repairs,
it was found that part of her keel was broken.This fact,
so grave in itself,
might perhaps have been forgotten like many others if,
three weeks after,
it had not been re-enacted under similar circumstances.
But,
thanks
to the nationality of the victim of the shock,
thanks
to the reputation of the company
to which the vessel belonged,
the circumstance became extensively circulated.The 13th of April,
1867,
the sea being beautiful,
the breeze favourable,
the Scotia,
of the Cunard Company's line,
found herself in 15@ 12' long.
and 45@ 37' lat.
She was going at the speed of thirteen knots and a half.At seventeen minutes past four in the afternoon,
whilst the passengers were assembled at lunch in the great saloon,
a slight shock was felt on the hull of the Scotia,
on her quarter,
a little aft of the port-paddle.The Scotia had not struck,
but she had been struck,
and seemingly by something rather sharp and penetrating than blunt.
The shock had been so slight that no one had been alarmed,
had it not been
for the shouts of the carpenter's watch,
who rushed on
to the bridge,
exclaiming,
"We are sinking!
we are sinking!" At first the passengers were much frightened,
but Captain Anderson hastened
to reassure them.
The danger could not be imminent.
The Scotia,
divided in
to seven compartments by strong partitions,
could brave
with impunity any leak.
Captain Anderson went down immediately in
to the hold.
He found that the sea was pouring in
to the fifth compartment;
and the rapidity of the influx proved that the force of the water was considerable.
Fortunately this compartment did not hold the boilers,
or the fires would have been immediately extinguished.
Captain Anderson ordered the engines
to be stopped at once,
and one of the men went down
to ascertain the extent of the injury.
Some minutes afterwards they discovered the existence of a large hole,
two yards in diameter,
in the ship's bottom.
Such a leak could not be stopped;
and the Scotia,
her paddles half submerged,
was obliged
to continue her course.
She was then three hundred miles from Cape Clear,
and,
after three days' delay,
which caused great uneasiness in Liverpool,
she entered the basin of the company.The engineers visited the Scotia,
which was put in dry dock.
They could scarcely believe it possible;
at two yards and a half below water-mark was a regular rent,
in the form of an isosceles triangle.
The broken place in the iron plates was so perfectly defined that it could not have been more neatly done by a punch.
It was clear,
then,
that the instrument producing the perforation was not of a common stamp and,
after having been driven
with prodigious strength,
and piercing an iron plate 1 3/8 inches thick,
had withdrawn itself by a backward motion.Such was the last fact,
which resulted in exciting once more the torrent of public opinion.
From this moment all unlucky casualties which could not be otherwise accounted
for were put down
to the monster.Upon this imaginary creature rested the responsibility of all these shipwrecks,
which unfortunately were considerable;
for of three thousand ships whose loss was annually recorded at Lloyd's,
the number of sailing and steam-ships supposed
to be totally lost,
from the absence of all news,
amounted
to not less than two hundred!
Now,
it was the "monster" who,
justly or unjustly,
was accused of their disappearance,
and,
thanks
to it,
communication between the different continents became more and more dangerous.
The public demanded sharply that the seas should at any price be relieved from this formidable cetacean.
[1]
[1] Member of the whale family.
CHAPTER II
PRO AND CON
At the period when these events took place,
I had just returned from a scientific research in the disagreeable territory of Nebraska,
in the United States.
In virtue of my office as Assistant Professor in the Museum of Natural History in Paris,
the French Government had attached me
to that expedition.
After six months in Nebraska,
I arrived in New York towards the end of March,
laden
with a precious collection.
My departure
for France was fixed
for the first days in May.
Meanwhile I was occupying myself in classifying my mineralogical,
botanical,
and zoological riches,
when the accident happened
to the Scotia.I was perfectly up in the subject which was the question of the day.
How could I be otherwise?
I had read and reread all the American and European papers without being any nearer a conclusion.
This mystery puzzled me.
Under the impossibility of forming an opinion,
I jumped from one extreme
to the other.
That there really was something could not be doubted,
and the incredulous were invited
to put their finger on the wound of the Scotia.On my arrival at New York the question was at its height.
The theory of the floating island,
and the unapproachable sandbank,
supported by minds little competent
to form a judgment,
was abandoned.
And,
indeed,
unless this shoal had a machine in its stomach,
how could it change its position
with such astonishing rapidity?
From the same cause,
the idea of a floating hull of an enormous wreck was given up.There remained,
then,
only two possible solutions of the question,
which created two distinct parties:
on one side,
those who were
for a monster of colossal strength;
on the other,
those who were
for a submarine vessel of enormous motive power.But this last theory,
plausible as it was,
could not stand against inquiries made in both worlds.
That a private gentleman should have such a machine at his command was not likely.
Where,
when,
and how was it built?
and how could its construction have been kept secret?
Certainly a Government might possess such a destructive machine.
And in these disastrous times,
when the ingenuity of man has multiplied the power of weapons of war,
it was possible that,
without the knowledge of others,
a State might try
to work such a formidable engine.But the idea of a war machine fell before the declaration of Governments.
As public interest was in question,
and transatlantic communications suffered,
their veracity could not be doubted.
But how admit that the construction of this submarine boat had escaped the public eye?
for a private gentleman
to keep the secret under such circumstances would be very difficult,
and
for a State whose every act is persistently watched by powerful rivals,
certainly impossible.Upon my arrival in New York several persons did me the honour of consulting me on the phenomenon in question.
I had published in France a work in quarto,
in two volumes,
entitled Mysteries of the Great Submarine Grounds.
This book,
highly approved of in the learned world,
gained
for me a special reputation in this rather obscure branch of Natural History.
My advice was asked.
As long as I could deny the reality of the fact,
I confined myself
to a decided negative.
But soon,
finding myself driven in
to a corner,
I was obliged
to explain myself point by point.
I discussed the question in all its forms,
politically and scientifically;
and I give here an extract from a carefully-studied article which I published in the number of the 30th of April.
It ran as follows:
"After examining one by one the different theories,
rejecting all other suggestions,
it becomes necessary
to admit the existence of a marine animal of enormous power."
The great depths of the ocean are entirely unknown
to us.
Soundings cannot reach them.
What passes in those remote depths-- what beings live,
or can live,
twelve or fifteen miles beneath the surface of the waters--what is the organisation of these animals,
we can scarcely conjecture.
However,
the solution of the problem submitted
to me may modify the form of the dilemma.
Either we do know all the varieties of beings which people our planet,
or we do not.
If we do NOT know them all--if Nature has still secrets in the deeps
for us,
nothing is more conformable
to reason than
to admit the existence of fishes,
or cetaceans of other kinds,
or even of new species,
of an organisation formed
to inhabit the strata inaccessible
to soundings,
and which an accident of some sort has brought at long intervals
to the upper level of the ocean."
If,
on the contrary,
we DO know all living kinds,
we must necessarily seek
for the animal in question amongst those marine beings already classed;
and,
in that case,
I should be disposed
to admit the existence of a gigantic narwhal."
The common narwhal,
or unicorn of the sea,
often attains a length of sixty feet.
Increase its size fivefold or tenfold,
give it strength proportionate
to its size,
lengthen its destructive weapons,
and you obtain the animal required.
It will have the proportions determined by the officers of the Shannon,
the instrument required by the perforation of the Scotia,
and the power necessary
to pierce the hull of the steamer."
Indeed,
the narwhal is armed
with a sort of ivory sword,
a halberd,
according
to the expression of certain naturalists.
The principal tusk has the hardness of steel.
Some of these tusks have been found buried in the bodies of whales,
which the unicorn always attacks
with success.
Others have been drawn out,
not without trouble,
from the bottoms of ships,
which they had pierced through and through,
as a gimlet pierces a barrel.
The Museum of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris possesses one of these defensive weapons,
two yards and a quarter in length,
and fifteen inches in diameter at the base."
Very well!
suppose this weapon
to be six times stronger and the animal ten times more powerful;
launch it at the rate of twenty miles an hour,
and you obtain a shock capable of producing the catastrophe required.
Until further information,
therefore,
I shall maintain it
to be a sea-unicorn of colossal dimensions,
armed not
with a halberd,
but
with a real spur,
as the armoured frigates,
or the `rams' of war,
whose massiveness and motive power it would possess at the same time.
Thus may this puzzling phenomenon be explained,
unless there be something over and above all that one has ever conjectured,
seen,
perceived,
or experienced;
which is just within the bounds of possibility."
These last words were cowardly on my part;
but,
up
to a certain point,
I wished
to shelter my dignity as professor,
and not give too much cause
for laughter
to the Americans,
who laugh well when they do laugh.
I reserved
for myself a way of escape.
In effect,
however,
I admitted the existence of the "monster."
My article was warmly discussed,
which procured it a high reputation.
It rallied round it a certain number of partisans.
The solution it proposed gave,
at least,
full liberty
to the imagination.
The human mind delights in grand conceptions of supernatural beings.
And the sea is precisely their best vehicle,
the only medium through which these giants (against which terrestrial animals,
such as elephants or rhinoceroses,
are as nothing) can be produced or developed.The industrial and commercial papers treated the question chiefly from this point of view.
The Shipping and Mercantile Gazette,
the Lloyd's List,
the Packet-Boat,
and the Maritime and Colonial Review,
all papers devoted
to insurance companies which threatened
to raise their rates of premium,
were unanimous on this point.
Public opinion had been pronounced.
The United States were the first in the field;
and in New York they made preparations
for an expedition destined
to pursue this narwhal.
A frigate of great speed,
the Abraham Lincoln,
was put in commission as soon as possible.
The arsenals were opened
to Commander Farragut,
who hastened the arming of his frigate;
but,
as it always happens,
the moment it was decided
to pursue the monster,
the monster did not appear.
for two months no one heard it spoken of.
No ship met
with it.
It seemed as if this unicorn knew of the plots weaving around it.
It had been so much talked of,
even through the Atlantic cable,
that jesters pretended that this slender fly had stopped a telegram on its passage and was making the most of it.So when the frigate had been armed
for a long campaign,
and provided
with formidable fishing apparatus,
no one could tell what course
to pursue.
Impatience grew apace,
when,
on the 2nd of July,
they learned that a steamer of the line of San Francisco,
from California
to Shanghai,
had seen the animal three weeks before in the North Pacific Ocean.
The excitement caused by this news was extreme.
The ship was revictualled and well stocked
with coal.Three hours before the Abraham Lincoln left Brooklyn pier,
I received a letter worded as follows:
to M.
ARONNAX,
Professor in the Museum of Paris,
Fifth Avenue Hotel,
New York.SIR,--If you will consent
to join the Abraham Lincoln in this expedition,
the Government of the United States will
with pleasure see France represented in the enterprise.
Commander Farragut has a cabin at your disposal.Very cordially yours,
J.B.
HOBSON,
Secretary of Marine.
CHAPTER III
I FORM MY RESOLUTION
Three seconds before the arrival of J.
B.
Hobson's letter I no more thought of pursuing the unicorn than of attempting the passage of the North Sea.
Three seconds after reading the letter of the honourable Secretary of Marine,
I felt that my true vocation,
the sole end of my life,
was
to chase this disturbing monster and purge it from the world.But I had just returned from a fatiguing journey,
weary and longing
for repose.
I aspired
to nothing more than again seeing my country,
my friends,
my little lodging by the Jardin des Plantes,
my dear and precious collections--but nothing could keep me back!
I forgot all--fatigue,
friends and collections--and accepted without hesitation the offer of the American Government."
Besides," thought I,
"all roads lead back
to Europe;
and the unicorn may be amiable enough
to hurry me towards the coast of France.
This worthy animal may allow itself
to be caught in the seas of Europe (
for my particular benefit),
and I will not bring back less than half a yard of his ivory halberd
to the Museum of Natural History."
But in the meanwhile I must seek this narwhal in the North Pacific Ocean,
which,
to return
to France,
was taking the road
to the antipodes."
Conseil," I called in an impatient voice.Conseil was my servant,
a true,
devoted Flemish boy,
who had accompanied me in all my travels.
I liked him,
and he returned the liking well.
He was quiet by nature,
regular from principle,
zealous from habit,
evincing little disturbance at the different surprises of life,
very quick
with his hands,
and apt at any service required of him;
and,
despite his name,
never giving advice--even when asked
for it.Conseil had followed me
for the last ten years wherever science led.
Never once did he complain of the length or fatigue of a journey,
never make an objection
to pack his portmanteau
for whatever country it might be,
or however far away,
whether China or Congo.
Besides all this,
he had good health,
which defied all sickness,
and solid muscles,
but no nerves;
good morals are understood.
This boy was thirty years old,
and his age
to that of his master as fifteen
to twenty.
May I be excused
for saying that I was forty years old?
But Conseil had one fault:
he was ceremonious
to a degree,
and would never speak
to me but in the third person,
which was sometimes provoking."
Conseil," said I again,
beginning
with feverish hands
to make preparations
for my departure.Certainly I was sure of this devoted boy.
As a rule,
I never asked him if it were convenient
for him or not
to follow me in my travels;
but this time the expedition in question might be prolonged,
and the enterprise might be hazardous in pursuit of an animal capable of sinking a frigate as easily as a nutshell.
Here there was matter
for reflection even
to the most impassive man in the world.
What would Conseil say?
"Conseil," I called a third time.Conseil appeared."
Did you call,
sir?"
said he,
entering."
Yes,
my boy;
make preparations
for me and yourself too.
We leave in two hours."
"As you please,
sir," replied Conseil,
quietly."
Not an instant
to lose;
lock in my trunk all travelling utensils,
coats,
shirts,
and stockings--without counting,
as many as you can,
and make haste."
"And your collections,
sir?"
observed Conseil."
They will keep them at the hotel."
"We are not returning
to Paris,
then?"
said Conseil."
Oh!
certainly," I answered,
evasively,
"by making a curve."
"Will the curve please you,
sir?"
"Oh!
it will be nothing;
not quite so direct a road,
that is all.
We take our passage in the Abraham,
Lincoln."
"As you think proper,
sir," coolly replied Conseil."
You see,
my friend,
it has
to do
with the monster-- the famous narwhal.
We are going
to purge it from the seas.
A glorious mission,
but a dangerous one!
We cannot tell where we may go;
these animals can be very capricious.
But we will go whether or no;
we have got a captain who is pretty wide-awake."
Our luggage was transported
to the deck of the frigate immediately.
I hastened on board and asked
for Commander Farragut.
One of the sailors conducted me
to the poop,
where I found myself in the presence of a good-looking officer,
who held out his hand
to me."
Monsieur Pierre Aronnax?"
said he."
Himself," replied I.
"Commander Farragut?"
"You are welcome,
Professor;
your cabin is ready
for you."
I bowed,
and desired
to be conducted
to the cabin destined
for me.The Abraham Lincoln had been well chosen and equipped
for her new destination.
She was a frigate of great speed,
fitted
with high-pressure engines which admitted a pressure of seven atmospheres.
Under this the Abraham Lincoln attained the mean speed of nearly eighteen knots and a third an hour-- a considerable speed,
but,
nevertheless,
insufficient
to grapple
with this gigantic cetacean.The interior arrangements of the frigate corresponded
to its nautical qualities.
I was well satisfied
with my cabin,
which was in the after part,
opening upon the gunroom."
We shall be well off here," said I
to Conseil."
As well,
by your honour's leave,
as a hermit-crab in the shell of a whelk," said Conseil.I left Conseil
to stow our trunks conveniently away,
and remounted the poop in order
to survey the preparations
for departure.At that moment Commander Farragut was ordering the last moorings
to be cast loose which held the Abraham Lincoln
to the pier of Brooklyn.
So in a quarter of an hour,
perhaps less,
the frigate would have sailed without me.
I should have missed this extraordinary,
supernatural,
and incredible expedition,
the recital of which may well meet
with some suspicion.But Commander Farragut would not lose a day nor an hour in scouring the seas in which the animal had been sighted.
He sent
for the engineer."
Is the steam full on?"
asked he."
Yes,
sir," replied the engineer."
Go ahead," cried Commander Farragut.
CHAPTER IV
NED LAND
Captain Farragut was a good seaman,
worthy of the frigate he commanded.
His vessel and he were one.
He was the soul of it.
On the question of the monster there was no doubt in his mind,
and he would not allow the existence of the animal
to be disputed on board.
He believed in it,
as certain good women believe in the leviathan--by faith,
not by reason.
The monster did exist,
and he had sworn
to rid the seas of it.
Either Captain Farragut would kill the narwhal,
or the narwhal would kill the captain.
There was no third course.The officers on board shared the opinion of their chief.
They were ever chatting,
discussing,
and calculating the various chances of a meeting,
watching narrowly the vast surface of the ocean.
More than one took up his quarters voluntarily in the cross-trees,
who would have cursed such a berth under any other circumstances.
As long as the sun described its daily course,
the rigging was crowded
with sailors,
whose feet were burnt
to such an extent by the heat of the deck as
to render it unbearable;
still the Abraham Lincoln had not yet breasted the suspected waters of the Pacific.
As
to the ship's company,
they desired nothing better than
to meet the unicorn,
to harpoon it,
hoist it on board,
and despatch it.
They watched the sea
with eager attention.Besides,
Captain Farragut had spoken of a certain sum of two thousand dollars,
set apart
for whoever should first sight the monster,
were he cabin-boy,
common seaman,
or officer.I leave you
to judge how eyes were used on board the Abraham Lincoln.
for my own part I was not behind the others,
and,
left
to no one my share of daily observations.
The frigate might have been called the Argus,
for a hundred reasons.
Only one amongst us,
Conseil,
seemed
to protest by his indifference against the question which so interested us all,
and seemed
to be out of keeping
with the general enthusiasm on board.I have said that Captain Farragut had carefully provided his ship
with every apparatus
for catching the gigantic cetacean.
No whaler had ever been better armed.
We possessed every known engine,
from the harpoon thrown by the hand
to the barbed arrows of the blunderbuss,
and the explosive balls of the duck-gun.
On the forecastle lay the perfection of a breech-loading gun,
very thick at the breech,
and very narrow in the bore,
the model of which had been in the Exhibition of 1867.
This precious weapon of American origin could throw
with ease a conical projectile of nine pounds
to a mean distance of ten miles.Thus the Abraham Lincoln wanted
for no means of destruction;
and,
what was better still she had on board Ned Land,
the prince of harpooners.Ned Land was a Canadian,
with an uncommon quickness of hand,
and who knew no equal in his dangerous occupation.
Skill,
coolness,
audacity,
and cunning he possessed in a superior degree,
and it must be a cunning whale
to escape the stroke of his harpoon.Ned Land was about forty years of age;
he was a tall man (more than six feet high),
strongly built,
grave and taciturn,
occasionally violent,
and very passionate when contradicted.
His person attracted attention,
but above all the boldness of his look,
which gave a singular expression
to his face.Who calls himself Canadian calls himself French;
and,
little communicative as Ned Land was,
I must admit that he took a certain liking
for me.
My nationality drew him
to me,
no doubt.
It was an opportunity
for him
to talk,
and
for me
to hear,
that old language of Rabelais,
which is still in use in some Canadian provinces.
The harpooner's family was originally from Quebec,
and was already a tribe of hardy fishermen when this town belonged
to France.Little by little,
Ned Land acquired a taste
for chatting,
and I loved
to hear the recital of his adventures in the polar seas.
He related his fishing,
and his combats,
with natural poetry of expression;
his recital took the form of an epic poem,
and I seemed
to be listening
to a Canadian Homer singing the Iliad of the regions of the North.I am portraying this hardy companion as I really knew him.
We are old friends now,
united in that unchangeable friendship which is born and cemented amidst extreme dangers.
Ah,
brave Ned!
I ask no more than
to live a hundred years longer,
that I may have more time
to dwell the longer on your memory.Now,
what was Ned Land's opinion upon the question of the marine monster?
I must admit that he did not believe in the unicorn,
and was the only one on board who did not share that universal conviction.
He even avoided the subject,
which I one day thought it my duty
to press upon him.
One magnificent evening,
the 30th July (that is
to say,
three weeks after our departure),
the frigate was abreast of Cape Blanc,
thirty miles
to leeward of the coast of Patagonia.
We had crossed the tropic of Capricorn,
and the Straits of Magellan opened less than seven hundred miles
to the south.
Before eight days were over the Abraham Lincoln would be ploughing the waters of the Pacific.Seated on the poop,
Ned Land and I were chatting of one thing and another as we looked at this mysterious sea,
whose great depths had up
to this time been inaccessible
to the eye of man.
I naturally led up the conversation
to the giant unicorn,
and examined the various chances of success or failure of the expedition.
But,
seeing that Ned Land let me speak without saying too much himself,
I pressed him more closely."
Well,
Ned," said I,
"is it possible that you are not convinced of the existence of this cetacean that we are following?
Have you any particular reason
for being so incredulous?"
The harpooner looked at me fixedly
for some moments before answering,
struck his broad forehead
with his hand (a habit of his),
as if
to collect himself,
and said at last,
"Perhaps I have,
Mr. Aronnax."
"But,
Ned,
you,
a whaler by profession,
familiarised
with all the great marine mammalia--YOU ought
to be the last
to doubt under such circumstances!"
"That is just what deceives you,
Professor," replied Ned.
"As a whaler I have followed many a cetacean,
harpooned a great number,
and killed several;
but,
however strong or well-armed they may have been,
neither their tails nor their weapons would have been able even
to scratch the iron plates of a steamer."
"But,
Ned,
they tell of ships which the teeth of the narwhal have pierced through and through."
"Wooden ships--that is possible," replied the Canadian,
"but I have never seen it done;
and,
until further proof,
I deny that whales,
cetaceans,
or sea-unicorns could ever produce the effect you describe."
"Well,
Ned,
I repeat it
with a conviction resting on the logic of facts.
I believe in the existence of a mammal power fully organised,
belonging
to the branch of vertebrata,
like the whales,
the cachalots,
or the dolphins,
and furnished
with a horn of defence of great penetrating power."
"Hum!" said the harpooner,
shaking his head
with the air of a man who would not be convinced."
Notice one thing,
my worthy Canadian," I resumed.
"If such an animal is in existence,
if it inhabits the depths of the ocean,
if it frequents the strata lying miles below the surface of the water,
it must necessarily possess an organisation the strength of which would defy all comparison."
"And why this powerful organisation?"
demanded Ned."
Because it requires incalculable strength
to keep one's self in these strata and resist their pressure.
Listen
to me.
Let us admit that the pressure of the atmosphere is represented by the weight of a column of water thirty-two feet high.
In reality the column of water would be shorter,
as we are speaking of sea water,
the density of which is greater than that of fresh water.
Very well,
when you dive,
Ned,
as many times 32 feet of water as there are above you,
so many times does your body bear a pressure equal
to that of the atmosphere,
that is
to say,
15 lb.
for each square inch of its surface.
It follows,
then,
that at 320 feet this pressure equals that of 10 atmospheres,
of 100 atmospheres at 3,200 feet,
and of 1,000 atmospheres at 32,000 feet,
that is,
about 6 miles;
which is equivalent
to saying that if you could attain this depth in the ocean,
each square three-eighths of an inch of the surface of your body would bear a pressure of 5,600 lb.
Ah!
my brave Ned,
do you know how many square inches you carry on the surface of your body?"
"I have no idea,
Mr. Aronnax."
"About 6,500;
and as in reality the atmospheric pressure is about 15 lb.
to the square inch,
your 6,500 square inches bear at this moment a pressure of 97,500 lb."
"Without my perceiving it?"
"Without your perceiving it.
And if you are not crushed by such a pressure,
it is because the air penetrates the interior of your body
with equal pressure.
Hence perfect equilibrium between the interior and exterior pressure,
which thus neutralise each other,
and which allows you
to bear it without inconvenience.
But in the water it is another thing."
"Yes,
I understand," replied Ned,
becoming more attentive;
"because the water surrounds me,
but does not penetrate."
"Precisely,
Ned:
so that at 32 feet beneath the surface of the sea you would undergo a pressure of 97,500 lb.;
at 320 feet,
ten times that pressure;
at 3,200 feet,
a hundred times that pressure;
lastly,
at 32,000 feet,
a thousand times that pressure would be 97,500,000 lb.--that is
to say,
that you would be flattened as if you had been drawn from the plates of a hydraulic machine!"
"The devil!" exclaimed Ned."
Very well,
my worthy harpooner,
if some vertebrate,
several hundred yards long,
and large in proportion,
can maintain itself in such depths-- of those whose surface is represented by millions of square inches,
that is by tens of millions of pounds,
we must estimate the pressure they undergo.
Consider,
then,
what must be the resistance of their bony structure,
and the strength of their organisation
to withstand such pressure!"
"Why!" exclaimed Ned Land,
"they must be made of iron plates eight inches thick,
like the armoured frigates."
"As you say,
Ned.
And think what destruction such a mass would cause,
if hurled
with the speed of an express train against the hull of a vessel."
"Yes--certainly--perhaps," replied the Canadian,
shaken by these figures,
but not yet willing
to give in."
Well,
have I convinced you?"
"You have convinced me of one thing,
sir,
which is that,
if such animals do exist at the bottom of the seas,
they must necessarily be as strong as you say."
"But if they do not exist,
mine obstinate harpooner,
how explain the accident
to the Scotia?"
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.The 30th of June,
the frigate spoke some American whalers,
from whom we learned that they knew nothing about the narwhal.
But one of them,
the captain of the Monroe,
knowing that Ned Land had shipped on board the Abraham Lincoln,
begged
for his help in chasing a whale they had in sight.
Commander Farragut,
desirous of seeing Ned Land at work,
gave him permission
to go on board the Monroe.
And fate served our Canadian so well that,
instead of one whale,
he harpooned two
with a double blow,
striking one straight
to the heart,
and catching the other after some minutes' pursuit.Decidedly,
if the monster ever had
to do
with Ned Land's harpoon,
I would not bet in its favour.The frigate skirted the south-east coast of America
with great rapidity.
The 3rd of July we were at the opening of the Straits of Magellan,
level
with Cape Vierges.
But Commander Farragut would not take a tortuous passage,
but doubled Cape Horn.The ship's crew agreed
with him.
And certainly it was possible that they might meet the narwhal in this narrow pass.
Many of the sailors affirmed that the monster could not pass there,
"that he was too big
for that!"
The 6th of July,
about three o'clock in the afternoon,
the Abraham Lincoln,
at fifteen miles
to the south,
doubled the solitary island,
this lost rock at the extremity of the American continent,
to which some Dutch sailors gave the name of their native town,
Cape Horn.
The course was taken towards the north-west,
and the next day the screw of the frigate was at last beating the waters of the Pacific."
Keep your eyes open!" called out the sailors.And they were opened widely.
Both eyes and glasses,
a little dazzled,
it is true,
by the prospect of two thousand dollars,
had not an instant's repose.I myself,
for whom money had no charms,
was not the least attentive on board.
Giving but few minutes
to my meals,
but a few hours
to sleep,
indifferent
to either rain or sunshine,
I did not leave the poop of the vessel.
Now leaning on the netting of the forecastle,
now on the taffrail,
I devoured
with eagerness the soft foam which whitened the sea as far as the eye could reach;
and how often have I shared the emotion of the majority of the crew,
when some capricious whale raised its black back above the waves!
The poop of the vessel was crowded on a moment.
The cabins poured forth a torrent of sailors and officers,
each
with heaving breast and troubled eye watching the course of the cetacean.
I looked and looked till I was nearly blind,
whilst Conseil kept repeating in a calm voice:
"If,
sir,
you would not squint so much,
you would see better!"
But vain excitement!
The Abraham Lincoln checked its speed and made
for the animal signalled,
a simple whale,
or common cachalot,
which soon disappeared amidst a storm of abuse.But the weather was good.
The voyage was being accomplished under the most favourable auspices.
It was then the bad season in Australia,
the July of that zone corresponding
to our January in Europe,
but the sea was beautiful and easily scanned round a vast circumference.The 20th of July,
the tropic of Capricorn was cut by 105d of longitude,
and the 27th of the same month we crossed the Equator on the 110th meridian.
This passed,
the frigate took a more decided westerly direction,
and scoured the central waters of the Pacific.
Commander Farragut thought,
and
with reason,
that it was better
to remain in deep water,
and keep clear of continents or islands,
which the beast itself seemed
to shun (perhaps because there was not enough water
for him!
suggested the greater part of the crew).
The frigate passed at some distance from the Marquesas and the Sandwich Islands,
crossed the tropic of Cancer,
and made
for the China Seas.
We were on the theatre of the last diversions of the monster:
and,
to say truth,
we no longer LIVED on board.
The entire ship's crew were undergoing a nervous excitement,
of which I can give no idea:
they could not eat,
they could not sleep--twenty times a day,
a misconception or an optical illusion of some sailor seated on the 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 three months,
during which a day seemed an age,
the Abraham Lincoln furrowed all the waters of the Northern Pacific,
running at whales,
making sharp deviations from her course,
veering suddenly from one tack
to another,
stopping suddenly,
putting on steam,
and backing ever and anon at the risk of deranging her machinery,
and not one point of the Japanese or American coast was left unexplored.The warmest partisans of the enterprise now became its most ardent detractors.
Reaction mounted from the crew
to the captain himself,
and certainly,
had it not been
for the resolute determination on the part of Captain Farragut,
the frigate would have headed due southward.
This useless search could not last much longer.
The Abraham Lincoln had nothing
to reproach herself with,
she had done her best
to succeed.
Never had an American ship's crew shown more zeal or patience;
its failure could not be placed
to their charge--there remained nothing but
to return.This was represented
to the commander.
The sailors could not hide their discontent,
and the service suffered.
I will not say there was a mutiny on board,
but after a reasonable period of obstinacy,
Captain Farragut (as Columbus did) asked
for three days' patience.
If in three days the monster did not appear,
the man at the helm should give three turns of the wheel,
and the Abraham Lincoln would make
for the European seas.This promise was made on the 2nd of November.
It had the effect of rallying the ship's crew.
The ocean was watched
with renewed attention.
Each one wished
for a last glance in which
to sum up his remembrance.
Glasses were used
with feverish activity.
It was a grand defiance given
to the giant narwhal,
and he could scarcely fail
to answer the summons and "appear."
Two days passed,
the steam was at half pressure;
a thousand schemes were tried
to attract the attention and stimulate the apathy of the animal in case it should be met in those parts.
Large quantities of bacon were trailed in the wake of the ship,
to the great satisfaction (I must say) of the sharks.
Small craft radiated in all directions round the Abraham Lincoln as she lay to,
and did not leave a spot of the sea unexplored.
But the night of the 4th of November arrived without the unveiling of this submarine mystery.The next day,
the 5th of November,
at twelve,
the delay would (morally speaking) expire;
after that time,
Commander Farragut,
faithful
to his promise,
was
to turn the course
to the south-east and abandon
for ever the northern regions of the Pacific.The frigate was then in 31@ 15' N.
lat.
and 136@ 42' E.
long.
The coast of Japan still remained less than two hundred miles
to leeward.
Night was approaching.
They had just struck eight bells;
large clouds veiled the face of the moon,
then in its first quarter.
The sea undulated peaceably under the stern of the vessel.At that moment I was leaning forward on the starboard netting.
Conseil,
standing near me,
was looking straight before him.
The crew,
perched in the ratlines,
examined the horizon which contracted and darkened by degrees.
Officers
with their night glasses scoured the growing darkness:
sometimes the ocean sparkled under the rays of the moon,
which darted between two clouds,
then all trace of light was lost in the darkness.In looking at Conseil,
I could see he was undergoing a little of the general influence.
At least I thought so.
Perhaps
for the first time his nerves vibrated
to a sentiment of curiosity."
Come,
Conseil," said I,
"this is the last chance of pocketing the two thousand dollars."
"May I be permitted
to say,
sir," replied Conseil,
"that I never reckoned on getting the prize;
and,
had the government of the Union offered a hundred thousand dollars,
it would have been none the poorer."
"You are right,
Conseil.
It is a foolish affair after all,
and one upon which we entered too lightly.
What time lost,
what useless emotions!
We should have been back in France six months ago."
"In your little room,
sir," replied Conseil,
"and in your museum,
sir;
and I should have already classed all your fossils,
sir.
And the Babiroussa would have been installed in its cage in the Jardin des Plantes,
and have drawn all the curious people of the capital!"
"As you say,
Conseil.
I fancy we shall run a fair chance of being laughed at
for our pains."
"That's tolerably certain," replied Conseil,
quietly;
"I think they will make fun of you,
sir.
And,
must I say it----?"
"Go on,
my good friend."
"Well,
sir,
you will only get your deserts."
"Indeed!"
"When one has the honour of being a savant as you are,
sir,
one should not expose one's self to----"
Conseil had not time
to finish his compliment.
In the midst of general silence a voice had just been heard.
It was the voice of Ned Land shouting:
"Look out there!
The very thing we are looking for-- on our weather beam!"
CHAPTER VI
AT FULL STEAM
At this cry the whole ship's crew hurried towards the harpooner-- commander,
officers,
masters,
sailors,
cabin boys;
even the engineers left their engines,
and the stokers their furnaces.The order
to stop her had been given,
and the frigate now simply went on by her own momentum.
The darkness was then profound,
and,
however good the Canadian's eyes were,
I asked myself how he had managed
to see,
and what he had been able
to see.
My heart beat as if it would break.
But Ned Land was not mistaken,
and we all perceived the object he pointed to.
At two cables' length from the Abraham Lincoln,
on the starboard quarter,
the sea seemed
to be illuminated all over.
It was not a mere phosphoric phenomenon.
The monster emerged some fathoms from the water,
and then threw out that very intense but mysterious light mentioned in the report of several captains.
This magnificent irradiation must have been produced by an agent of great SHINING power.
The luminous part traced on the sea an immense oval,
much elongated,
the centre of which condensed a burning heat,
whose overpowering brilliancy died out by successive gradations."
It is only a massing of phosphoric particles," cried one of the officers."
No,
sir,
certainly not," I replied.
"That brightness is of an essentially electrical nature.
Besides,
see,
see!
it moves;
it is moving forwards,
backwards;
it is darting towards us!"
A general cry arose from the frigate."
Silence!" said the captain.
"Up
with the helm,
reverse the engines."
The steam was shut off,
and the Abraham Lincoln,
beating
to port,
described a semicircle."
Right the helm,
go ahead," cried the captain.These orders were executed,
and the frigate moved rapidly from the burning light.I was mistaken.
She tried
to sheer off,
but the supernatural animal approached
with a velocity double her own.We gasped
for breath.
Stupefaction more than fear made us dumb and motionless.
The animal gained on us,
sporting
with the waves.
It made the round of the frigate,
which was then making fourteen knots,
and enveloped it
with its electric rings like luminous dust.Then it moved away two or three miles,
leaving a phosphorescent track,
like those volumes of steam that the express trains leave behind.
All at once from the dark line of the horizon whither it retired
to gain its momentum,
the monster rushed suddenly towards the Abraham Lincoln
with alarming rapidity,
stopped suddenly about twenty feet from the hull,
and died out--not diving under the water,
for its brilliancy did not abate--but suddenly,
and as if the source of this brilliant emanation was exhausted.
Then it reappeared on the other side of the vessel,
as if it had turned and slid under the hull.
Any moment a collision might have occurred which would have been fatal
to us.
However,
I was astonished at the manoeuvres of the frigate.
She fled and did not attack.On the captain's face,
generally so impassive,
was an expression of unaccountable astonishment."
Mr. Aronnax," he said,
"I do not know
with what formidable being I have
to deal,
and I will not imprudently risk my frigate in the midst of this darkness.
Besides,
how attack this unknown thing,
how defend one's self from it?
Wait
for daylight,
and the scene will change."
"You have no further doubt,
captain,
of the nature of the animal?"
"No,
sir;
it is evidently a gigantic narwhal,
and an electric one."
"Perhaps," added I,
"one can only approach it
with a torpedo."
"Undoubtedly," replied the captain,
"if it possesses such dreadful power,
it is the most terrible animal that ever was created.
That is why,
sir,
I must be on my guard."
The crew were on their feet all night.
No one thought of sleep.
The Abraham Lincoln,
not being able
to struggle
with such velocity,
had moderated its pace,
and sailed at half speed.
for its part,
the narwhal,
imitating the frigate,
let the waves rock it at will,
and seemed decided not
to leave the scene of the struggle.
Towards midnight,
however,
it disappeared,
or,
to use a more appropriate term,
it "died out" like a large glow-worm.
Had it fled?
One could only fear,
not hope it.
But at seven minutes
to one o'clock in the morning a deafening whistling was heard,
like that produced by a body of water rushing
with great violence.The captain,
Ned Land,
and I were then on the poop,
eagerly peering through the profound darkness."
Ned Land," asked the commander,
"you have often heard the roaring of whales?"
"Often,
sir;
but never such whales the sight of which brought me in two thousand dollars.
If I can only approach within four harpoons' length of it!"
"But
to approach it," said the commander,
"I ought
to put a whaler at your disposal?"
"Certainly,
sir."
"That will be trifling
with the lives of my men."
"And mine too," simply said the harpooner.Towards two o'clock in the morning,
the burning light reappeared,
not less intense,
about five miles
to windward of the Abraham Lincoln.
Notwithstanding the distance,
and the noise of the wind and sea,
one heard distinctly the loud strokes of the animal's tail,
and even its panting breath.
It seemed that,
at the moment that the enormous narwhal had come
to take breath at the surface of the water,
the air was engulfed in its lungs,
like the steam in the vast cylinders of a machine of two thousand horse-power."
Hum!" thought I,
"a whale
with the strength of a cavalry regiment would be a pretty whale!"
We were on the qui vive till daylight,
and prepared
for the combat.
The fishing implements were laid along the hammock nettings.
The second lieutenant loaded the blunder busses,
which could throw harpoons
to the distance of a mile,
and long duck-guns,
with explosive bullets,
which inflicted mortal wounds even
to the most terrible animals.
Ned Land contented himself
with sharpening his harpoon--a terrible weapon in his hands.At six o'clock day began
to break;
and,
with the first glimmer of light,
the electric light of the narwhal disappeared.
At seven o'clock the day was sufficiently advanced,
but a very thick sea fog obscured our view,
and the best spy glasses could not pierce it.
That caused disappointment and anger.I climbed the mizzen-mast.
Some officers were already perched on the mast-heads.
At eight o'clock the fog lay heavily on the waves,
and its thick scrolls rose little by little.
The horizon grew wider and clearer at the same time.
Suddenly,
just as on the day before,
Ned Land's voice was heard:
"The thing itself on the port quarter!" cried the harpooner.Every eye was turned towards the point indicated.
There,
a mile and a half from the frigate,
a long blackish body emerged a yard above the waves.
Its tail,
violently agitated,
produced a considerable eddy.
Never did a tail beat the sea
with such violence.
An immense track,
of dazzling whiteness,
marked the passage of the animal,
and described a long curve.The frigate approached the cetacean.
I examined it thoroughly.The reports of the Shannon and of the Helvetia had rather exaggerated its size,
and I estimated its length at only two hundred and fifty feet.
As
to its dimensions,
I could only conjecture them
to be admirably proportioned.
While I watched this phenomenon,
two jets of steam and water were ejected from its vents,
and rose
to the height of 120 feet;
thus I ascertained its way of breathing.
I concluded definitely that it belonged
to the vertebrate branch,
class mammalia.The crew waited impatiently
for their chief's orders.
The latter,
after having observed the animal attentively,
called the engineer.
The engineer ran
to him."
Sir," said the commander,
"you have steam up?"
"Yes,
sir," answered the engineer."
Well,
make up your fires and put on all steam."
Three hurrahs greeted this order.
The time
for the struggle had arrived.
Some moments after,
the two funnels of the frigate vomited torrents of black smoke,
and the bridge quaked under the trembling of the boilers.The Abraham Lincoln,
propelled by her wonderful screw,
went straight at the animal.
The latter allowed it
to come within half a cable's length;
then,
as if disdaining
to dive,
it took a little turn,
and stopped a short distance off.This pursuit lasted nearly three-quarters of an hour,
without the frigate gaining two yards on the cetacean.
It was quite evident that at that rate we should never come up
with it."
Well,
Mr. Land," asked the captain,
"do you advise me
to put the boats out
to sea?"
"No,
sir," replied Ned Land;
"because we shall not take that beast easily."
"What shall we do then?"
"Put on more steam if you can,
sir.
with your leave,
I mean
to post myself under the bowsprit,
and,
if we get within harpooning distance,
I shall throw my harpoon."
"Go,
Ned," said the captain.
"Engineer,
put on more pressure."
Ned Land went
to his post.
The fires were increased,
the screw revolved forty-three times a minute,
and the steam poured out of the valves.
We heaved the log,
and calculated that the Abraham Lincoln was going at the rate of 18 1/2 miles an hour.But the accursed animal swam at the same speed.
for a whole hour the frigate kept up this pace,
without gaining six feet.
It was humiliating
for one of the swiftest sailers in the American navy.
A stubborn anger seized the crew;
the sailors abused the monster,
who,
as before,
disdained
to answer them;
the captain no longer contented himself
with twisting his beard--he gnawed it.The engineer was called again."
You have turned full steam on?"
"Yes,
sir," replied the engineer.The speed of the Abraham Lincoln increased.
Its masts trembled down
to their stepping holes,
and the clouds of smoke could hardly find way out of the narrow funnels.They heaved the log a second time."
Well?"
asked the captain of the man at the wheel."
Nineteen miles and three-tenths,
sir."
"Clap on more steam."
The engineer obeyed.
The manometer showed ten degrees.
But the cetacean grew warm itself,
no doubt;
for without straining itself,
it made 19 3/10 miles.What a pursuit!
No,
I cannot describe the emotion that vibrated through me.
Ned Land kept his post,
harpoon in hand.
Several times the animal let us gain upon it.--"We shall catch it!
we shall catch it!" cried the Canadian.
But just as he was going
to strike,
the cetacean stole away
with a rapidity that could not be estimated at less than thirty miles an hour,
and even during our maximum of speed,
it bullied the frigate,
going round and round it.
A cry of fury broke from everyone!
At noon we were no further advanced than at eight o'clock in the morning.The captain then decided
to take more direct means."
Ah!" said he,
"that animal goes quicker than the Abraham Lincoln.
Very well!
we will see whether it will escape these conical bullets.
Send your men
to the forecastle,
sir."
The forecastle gun was immediately loaded and slewed round.
But the shot passed some feet above the cetacean,
which was half a mile off."
Another,
more
to the right," cried the commander,
"and five dollars
to whoever will hit that infernal beast."
An old gunner
with a grey beard--that I can see now--
with steady eye and grave face,
went up
to the gun and took a long aim.
A loud report was heard,
with which were mingled the cheers of the crew.The bullet did its work;
it hit the animal,
and,
sliding off the rounded surface,
was lost in two miles depth of sea.The chase began again,
and the captain,
leaning towards me,
said:
"I will pursue that beast till my frigate bursts up."
"Yes," answered I;
"and you will be quite right
to do it."
I wished the beast would exhaust itself,
and not be insensible
to fatigue like a steam engine.
But it was of no use.
Hours passed,
without its showing any signs of exhaustion.However,
it must be said in praise of the Abraham Lincoln that she struggled on indefatigably.
I cannot reckon the distance she made under three hundred miles during this unlucky day,
November the 6th.
But night came on,
and overshadowed the rough ocean.Now I thought our expedition was at an end,
and that we should never again see the extraordinary animal.
I was mistaken.
At ten minutes
to eleven in the evening,
the electric light reappeared three miles
to windward of the frigate,
as pure,
as intense as during the preceding night.The narwhal seemed motionless;
perhaps,
tired
with its day's work,
it slept,
letting itself float
with the undulation of the waves.
Now was a chance of which the captain resolved
to take advantage.He gave his orders.
The Abraham Lincoln kept up half steam,
and advanced cautiously so as not
to awake its adversary.
It is no rare thing
to meet in the middle of the ocean whales so sound asleep that they can be successfully attacked,
and Ned Land had harpooned more than one during its sleep.
The Canadian went
to take his place again under the bowsprit.The frigate approached noiselessly,
stopped at two cables' lengths from the animal,
and following its track.
No one breathed;
a deep silence reigned on the bridge.
We were not a hundred feet from the burning focus,
the light of which increased and dazzled our eyes.At this moment,
leaning on the forecastle bulwark,
I saw below me Ned Land grappling the martingale in one hand,
brandishing his terrible harpoon in the other,
scarcely twenty feet from the motionless animal.
Suddenly his arm straightened,
and the harpoon was thrown;
I heard the sonorous stroke of the weapon,
which seemed
to have struck a hard body.
The electric light went out suddenly,
and two enormous waterspouts broke over the bridge of the frigate,
rushing like a torrent from stem
to stern,
overthrowing men,
and breaking the lashings of the spars.
A fearful shock followed,
and,
thrown over the rail without having time
to stop myself,
I fell in
to the sea.
CHAPTER VII
AN UNKNOWN SPECIES OF WHALE
This unexpected fall so stunned me that I have no clear recollection of my sensations at the time.
I was at first drawn down
to a depth of about twenty feet.
I am a good swimmer (though without pretending
to rival Byron or Edgar Poe,
who were masters of the art),
and in that plunge I did not lose my presence of mind.
Two vigorous strokes brought me
to the surface of the water.
My first care was
to look
for the frigate.
Had the crew seen me disappear?
Had the Abraham Lincoln veered round?
Would the captain put out a boat?
Might I hope
to be saved?
The darkness was intense.
I caught a glimpse of a black mass disappearing in the east,
its beacon lights dying out in the distance.
It was the frigate!
I was lost."
Help,
help!" I shouted,
swimming towards the Abraham Lincoln in desperation.My clothes encumbered me;
they seemed glued
to my body,
and paralysed my movements.I was sinking!
I was suffocating!
"Help!"
This was my last cry.
My mouth filled
with water;
I struggled against being drawn down the abyss.
Suddenly my clothes were seized by a strong hand,
and I felt myself quickly drawn up
to the surface of the sea;
and I heard,
yes,
I heard these words pronounced in my ear:
"If master would be so good as
to lean on my shoulder,
master would swim
with much greater ease."
I seized
with one hand my faithful Conseil's arm."
Is it you?"
said I,
"you?"
"Myself," answered Conseil;
"and waiting master's orders."
"That shock threw you as well as me in
to the sea?"
"No;
but,
being in my master's service,
I followed him."
The worthy fellow thought that was but natural."
And the frigate?"
I asked."
The frigate?"
replied Conseil,
turning on his back;
"I think that master had better not count too much on her."
"You think so?"
"I say that,
at the time I threw myself in
to the sea,
I heard the men at the wheel say,
`The screw and the rudder are broken.'
"Broken?"
"Yes,
broken by the monster's teeth.
It is the only injury the Abraham Lincoln has sustained.
But it is a bad look-out
for us-- she no longer answers her helm."
"Then we are lost!"
"Perhaps so," calmly answered Conseil.
"However,
we have still several hours before us,
and one can do a good deal in some hours."
Conseil's imperturbable coolness set me up again.
I swam more vigorously;
but,
cramped by my clothes,
which stuck
to me like a leaden weight,
I felt great difficulty in bearing up.
Conseil saw this."
Will master let me make a slit?"
said he;
and,
slipping an open knife under my clothes,
he ripped them up from top
to bottom very rapidly.
Then he cleverly slipped them off me,
while I swam
for both of us.Then I did the same
for Conseil,
and we continued
to swim near
to each other.Nevertheless,
our situation was no less terrible.
Perhaps our disappearance had not been noticed;
and,
if it had been,
the frigate could not tack,
being without its helm.
Conseil argued on this supposition,
and laid his plans accordingly.
This quiet boy was perfectly self-possessed.
We then decided that,
as our only chance of safety was being picked up by the Abraham Lincoln's boats,
we ought
to manage so as
to wait
for them as long as possible.
I resolved then
to husband our strength,
so that both should not be exhausted at the same time;
and this is how we managed:
while one of us lay on our back,
quite still,
with arms crossed,
and legs stretched out,
the other would swim and push the other on in front.
This towing business did not last more than ten minutes each;
and relieving each other thus,
we could swim on
for some hours,
perhaps till day-break.
Poor chance!
but hope is so firmly rooted in the heart of man!
Moreover,
there were two of us.
Indeed I declare (though it may seem improbable) if I sought
to destroy all hope--if I wished
to despair,
I could not.The collision of the frigate
with the cetacean had occurred about eleven o'clock in the evening before.
I reckoned then we should have eight hours
to swim before sunrise,
an operation quite practicable if we relieved each other.
The sea,
very calm,
was in our favour.
Sometimes I tried
to pierce the intense darkness that was only dispelled by the phosphorescence caused by our movements.
I watched the luminous waves that broke over my hand,
whose mirror-like surface was spotted
with silvery rings.
One might have said that we were in a bath of quicksilver.Near one o'clock in the morning,
I was seized
with dreadful fatigue.
My limbs stiffened under the strain of violent cramp.
Conseil was obliged
to keep me up,
and our preservation devolved on him alone.
I heard the poor boy pant;
his breathing became short and hurried.
I found that he could not keep up much longer."
Leave me!
leave me!" I said
to him."
Leave my master?
Never!" replied he.
"I would drown first."
Just then the moon appeared through the fringes of a thick cloud that the wind was driving
to the east.
The surface of the sea glittered
with its rays.
This kindly light reanimated us.
My head got better again.
I looked at all points of the horizon.
I saw the frigate!
She was five miles from us,
and looked like a dark mass,
hardly discernible.
But no boats!
I would have cried out.
But what good would it have been at such a distance!
My swollen lips could utter no sounds.
Conseil could articulate some words,
and I heard him repeat at intervals,
"Help!
help!"
Our movements were suspended
for an instant;
we listened.
It might be only a singing in the ear,
but it seemed
to me as if a cry answered the cry from Conseil."
Did you hear?"
I murmured."
Yes!
Yes!"
And Conseil gave one more despairing cry.This time there was no mistake!
A human voice responded
to ours!
Was it the voice of another unfortunate creature,
abandoned in the middle of the ocean,
some other victim of the shock sustained by the vessel?
Or rather was it a boat from the frigate,
that was hailing us in the darkness?
Conseil made a last effort,
and,
leaning on my shoulder,
while I struck out in a desperate effort,
he raised himself half out of the water,
then fell back exhausted."
What did you see?"
"I saw----" murmured he;
"I saw--but do not talk--reserve all your strength!"
What had he seen?
Then,
I know not why,
the thought of the monster came in
to my head
for the first time!
But that voice!
The time is past
for Jonahs
to take refuge in whales' bellies!
However,
Conseil was towing me again.
He raised his head sometimes,
looked before us,
and uttered a cry of recognition,
which was responded
to by a voice that came nearer and nearer.
I scarcely heard it.
My strength was exhausted;
my fingers stiffened;
my hand afforded me support no longer;
my mouth,
convulsively opening,
filled
with salt water.
Cold crept over me.
I raised my head
for the last time,
then I sank.At this moment a hard body struck me.
I clung
to it:
then I felt that I was being drawn up,
that I was brought
to the surface of the water,
that my chest collapsed--I fainted.It is certain that I soon came to,
thanks
to the vigorous rubbings that I received.
I half opened my eyes."
Conseil!" I murmured."
Does master call me?"
asked Conseil.Just then,
by the waning light of the moon which was sinking down
to the horizon,
I saw a face which was not Conseil's and which I immediately recognised."
Ned!" I cried."
The same,
sir,
who is seeking his prize!" replied the Canadian."
Were you thrown in
to the sea by the shock
to the frigate?"
"Yes,
Professor;
but more fortunate than you,
I was able
to find a footing almost directly upon a floating island."
"An island?"
"Or,
more correctly speaking,
on our gigantic narwhal."
"Explain yourself,
Ned!"
"Only I soon found out why my harpoon had not entered its skin and was blunted."
"Why,
Ned,
why?"
"Because,
Professor,
that beast is made of sheet iron."
The Canadian's last words produced a sudden revolution in my brain.
I wriggled myself quickly
to the top of the being,
or object,
half out of the water,
which served us
for a refuge.
I kicked it.
It was evidently a hard,
impenetrable body,
and not the soft substance that forms the bodies of the great marine mammalia.
But this hard body might be a bony covering,
like that of the antediluvian animals;
and I should be free
to class this monster among amphibious reptiles,
such as tortoises or alligators.Well,
no!
the blackish back that supported me was smooth,
polished,
without scales.
The blow produced a metallic sound;
and,
incredible though it may be,
it seemed,
I might say,
as if it was made of riveted plates.There was no doubt about it!
This monster,
this natural phenomenon that had puzzled the learned world,
and over thrown and misled the imagination of seamen of both hemispheres,
it must be owned was a still more astonishing phenomenon,
inasmuch as it was a simply human construction.We had no time
to lose,
however.
We were lying upon the back of a sort of submarine boat,
which appeared (as far as I could judge) like a huge fish of steel.
Ned Land's mind was made up on this point.
Conseil and I could only agree
with him.Just then a bubbling began at the back of this strange thing (which was evidently propelled by a screw),
and it began
to move.
We had only just time
to seize hold of the upper part,
which rose about seven feet out of the water,
and happily its speed was not great."
As long as it sails horizontally," muttered Ned Land,
"I do not mind;
but,
if it takes a fancy
to dive,
I would not give two straws
for my life."
The Canadian might have said still less.
It became really necessary
to communicate
with the beings,
whatever they were,
shut up inside the machine.
I searched all over the outside
for an aperture,
a panel,
or a manhole,
to use a technical expression;
but the lines of the iron rivets,
solidly driven in
to 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 words of command.
What was,
then,
the mystery of this submarine craft,
of which the whole world vainly sought an explanation?
What kind of beings existed in this strange boat?
What mechanical agent caused its prodigious speed?
Daybreak appeared.
The morning mists surrounded us,
but they soon cleared off.
I was about
to examine the hull,
which formed on deck a kind of horizontal platform,
when I felt it gradually sinking."
Oh!
confound it!" cried Ned Land,
kicking the resounding plate.
"Open,
you inhospitable rascals!"
Happily the sinking movement ceased.
Suddenly a noise,
like iron works violently pushed aside,
came from the interior of the boat.
One iron plate was moved,
a man appeared,
uttered an odd cry,
and disappeared immediately.Some moments after,
eight strong men,
with masked faces,
appeared noiselessly,
and drew us down in
to their formidable machine.
CHAPTER VIII
MOBILIS IN MOBILI
This forcible abduction,
so roughly carried out,
was accomplished
with the rapidity of lightning.
I shivered all over.
Whom had we
to deal with?
No doubt some new sort of pirates,
who explored the sea in their own way.
Hardly had the narrow panel closed upon me,
when I was enveloped in darkness.
My eyes,
dazzled
with the outer light,
could distinguish nothing.
I felt my naked feet cling
to the rungs of an iron ladder.
Ned Land and Conseil,
firmly seized,
followed me.
At the bottom of the ladder,
a door opened,
and shut after us immediately
with a bang.We were alone.
Where,
I could not say,
hardly imagine.
All was black,
and such a dense black that,
after some minutes,
my eyes had not been able
to discern even the faintest glimmer.Meanwhile,
Ned Land,
furious at these proceedings,
gave free vent
to his indignation."
Confound it!" cried he,
"here are people who come up
to the Scotch
for hospitality.
They only just miss being cannibals.
I should not be surprised at it,
but I declare that they shall not eat me without my protesting."
"Calm yourself,
friend Ned,
calm yourself," replied Conseil,
quietly.
"Do not cry out before you are hurt.
We are not quite done
for yet."
"Not quite," sharply replied the Canadian,
"but pretty near,
at all events.
Things look black.
Happily,
my bowie knife I have still,
and I can always see well enough
to use it.
The first of these pirates who lays a hand on me----"
"Do not excite yourself,
Ned," I said
to the harpooner,
"and do not compromise us by useless violence.
Who knows that they will not listen
to us?
Let us rather try
to find out where we are."
I groped about.
In five steps I came
to an iron wall,
made of plates bolted together.
Then turning back I struck against a wooden table,
near which were ranged several stools.
The boards of this prison were concealed under a thick mat,
which deadened the noise of the feet.
The bare walls revealed no trace of window or door.
Conseil,
going round the reverse way,
met me,
and we went back
to the middle of the cabin,
which measured about twenty feet by ten.
As
to its height,
Ned Land,
in spite of his own great height,
could not measure it.Half an hour had already passed without our situation being bettered,
when the dense darkness suddenly gave way
to extreme light.
Our prison was suddenly lighted,
that is
to say,
it became filled
with a luminous matter,
so strong that I could not bear it at first.
In its whiteness and intensity I recognised that electric light which played round the submarine boat like a magnificent phenomenon of phosphorescence.
After shutting my eyes involuntarily,
I opened them,
and saw that this luminous agent came from a half globe,
unpolished,
placed in the roof of the cabin."
At last one can see," cried Ned Land,
who,
knife in hand,
stood on the defensive."
Yes," said I;
"but we are still in the dark about ourselves."
"Let master have patience," said the imperturbable Conseil.The sudden lighting of the cabin enabled me
to examine it minutely.
It only contained a table and five stools.
The invisible door might be hermetically sealed.
No noise was heard.
All seemed dead in the interior of this boat.
Did it move,
did it float on the surface of the ocean,
or did it dive in
to its depths?
I could not guess.A noise of bolts was now heard,
the door opened,
and two men appeared.One was short,
very muscular,
broad-shouldered,
with robust limbs,
strong head,
an abundance of black hair,
thick moustache,
a quick penetrating look,
and the vivacity which characterises the population of Southern France.The second stranger merits a more detailed description.
I made out his prevailing qualities directly:
self-confidence--because his head was well set on his shoulders,
and his black eyes looked around
with cold assurance;
calmness--
for his skin,
rather pale,
showed his coolness of blood;
energy--evinced by the rapid contraction of his lofty brows;
and courage--because his deep breathing denoted great power of lungs.Whether this person was thirty-five or fifty years of age,
I could not say.
He was tall,
had a large forehead,
straight nose,
a clearly cut mouth,
beautiful teeth,
with fine taper hands,
indicative of a highly nervous temperament.
This man was certainly the most admirable specimen I had ever met.
One particular feature was his eyes,
rather far from each other,
and which could take in nearly a quarter of the horizon at once.This faculty--(I verified it later)--gave him a range of vision far superior
to Ned Land's.
When this stranger fixed upon an object,
his eyebrows met,
his large eyelids closed around so as
to contract the range of his vision,
and he looked as if he magnified the objects lessened by distance,
as if he pierced those sheets of water so opaque
to our eyes,
and as if he read the very depths of the seas.The two strangers,
with caps made from the fur of the sea otter,
and shod
with sea boots of seal's skin,
were dressed in clothes of a particular texture,
which allowed free movement of the limbs.
The taller of the two,
evidently the chief on board,
examined us
with great attention,
without saying a word;
then,
turning
to his companion,
talked
with him in an unknown tongue.
It was a sonorous,
harmonious,
and flexible dialect,
the vowels seeming
to admit of very varied accentuation.The other replied by a shake of the head,
and added two or three perfectly incomprehensible words.
Then he seemed
to question me by a look.I replied in good French that I did not know his language;
but he seemed not
to understand me,
and my situation became more embarrassing."
If master were
to tell our story," said Conseil,
"perhaps these gentlemen may understand some words."
I began
to tell our adventures,
articulating each syllable clearly,
and without omitting one single detail.
I announced our names and rank,
introducing in person Professor Aronnax,
his servant Conseil,
and master Ned Land,
the harpooner.The man
with the soft calm eyes listened
to me quietly,
even politely,
and
with extreme attention;
but nothing in his countenance indicated that he had understood my story.
When I finished,
he said not a word.There remained one resource,
to speak English.
Perhaps they would know this almost universal language.
I knew it--as well as the German language--well enough
to read it fluently,
but not
to speak it correctly.
But,
anyhow,
we must make ourselves understood."
Go on in your turn," I said
to the harpooner;
"speak your best Anglo-Saxon,
and try
to do better than I."
Ned did not beg off,
and recommenced our story.
to his great disgust,
the harpooner did not seem
to have made himself more intelligible than I had.
Our visitors did not stir.
They evidently understood neither the language of England nor of France.Very much embarrassed,
after having vainly exhausted our speaking resources,
I knew not what part
to take,
when Conseil said:
"If master will permit me,
I will relate it in German."
But in spite of the elegant terms and good accent of the narrator,
the German language had no success.
At last,
nonplussed,
I tried
to remember my first lessons,
and
to narrate our adventures in Latin,
but
with no better success.
This last attempt being of no avail,
the two strangers exchanged some words in their unknown language,
and retired.The door shut."
It is an infamous shame," cried Ned Land,
who broke out
for the twentieth time.
"We speak
to those rogues in French,
English,
German,
and Latin,
and not one of them has the politeness
to answer!"
"Calm yourself," I said
to the impetuous Ned;
"anger will do no good."
"But do you see,
Professor," replied our irascible companion,
"that we shall absolutely die of hunger in this iron cage?"
"Bah!" said Conseil,
philosophically;
"we can hold out some time yet."
"My friends," I said,
"we must not despair.
We have been worse off than this.
Do me the favour
to wait a little before forming an opinion upon the commander and crew of this boat."
"My opinion is formed," replied Ned Land,
sharply.
"They are rascals."
"Good!
and from what country?"
"From the land of rogues!"
"My brave Ned,
that country is not clearly indicated on the map of the world;
but I admit that the nationality of the two strangers is hard
to determine.
Neither English,
French,
nor German,
that is quite certain.
However,
I am inclined
to think that the commander and his companion were born in low latitudes.
There is southern blood in them.
But I cannot decide by their appearance whether they are Spaniards,
Turks,
Arabians,
or Indians.
As
to their language,
it is quite incomprehensible."
"There is the disadvantage of not knowing all languages," said Conseil,
"or the disadvantage of not having one universal language."
As he said these words,
the door opened.
A steward entered.
He brought us clothes,
coats and trousers,
made of a stuff I did not know.
I hastened
to dress myself,
and my companions followed my example.
During that time,
the steward--dumb,
perhaps deaf--had arranged the table,
and laid three plates."
This is something like!" said Conseil."
Bah!" said the angry harpooner,
"what do you suppose they eat here?
Tortoise liver,
filleted shark,
and beef steaks from seadogs."
"We shall see," said Conseil.The dishes,
of bell metal,
were placed on the table,
and we took our places.
Undoubtedly we had
to do
with civilised people,
and,
had it not been
for the electric light which flooded us,
I could have fancied I was in the dining-room of the Adelphi Hotel at Liverpool,
or at the Grand Hotel in Paris.
I must say,
however,
that there was neither bread nor wine.
The water was fresh and clear,
but it was water and did not suit Ned Land's taste.
Amongst the dishes which were brought
to us,
I recognised several fish delicately dressed;
but of some,
although excellent,
I could give no opinion,
neither could I tell
to what kingdom they belonged,
whether animal or vegetable.
As
to the dinner-service,
it was elegant,
and in perfect taste.
Each utensil--spoon,
fork,
knife,
plate--had a letter engraved on it,
with a mot
to above it,
of which this is an exact facsimile:
MOBILIS IN MOBILI N
The letter N was no doubt the initial of the name of the enigmatical person who commanded at the bottom of the seas.Ned and Conseil did not reflect much.
They devoured the food,
and I did likewise.
I was,
besides,
reassured as
to our fate;
and it seemed evident that our hosts would not let us die of want.However,
everything has an end,
everything passes away,
even the hunger of people who have not eaten
for fifteen hours.
Our appetites satisfied,
we felt overcome
with sleep."
Faith!
I shall sleep well," said Conseil."
So shall I," replied Ned Land.My two companions stretched themselves on the cabin carpet,
and were soon sound asleep.
for my own part,
too many thoughts crowded my brain,
too many insoluble questions pressed upon me,
too many fancies kept my eyes half open.
Where were we?
What strange power carried us on?
I felt--or rather fancied I felt-- the machine sinking down
to the lowest beds of the sea.
Dreadful nightmares beset me;
I saw in these mysterious asylums a world of unknown animals,
amongst which this submarine boat seemed
to be of the same kind,
living,
moving,
and formidable as they.
Then my brain grew calmer,
my imagination wandered in
to vague unconsciousness,
and I soon fell in
to a deep sleep.
CHAPTER IX
NED LAND'S TEMPERS
How long we slept I do not know;
but our sleep must have lasted long,
for it rested us completely from our fatigues.
I woke first.
My companions had not moved,
and were still stretched in their corner.Hardly roused from my somewhat hard couch,
I felt my brain freed,
my mind clear.
I then began an attentive examination of our cell.
Nothing was changed inside.
The prison was still a prison-- the prisoners,
prisoners.
However,
the steward,
during our sleep,
had cleared the table.
I breathed
with difficulty.
The heavy air seemed
to oppress my lungs.
Although the cell was large,
we had evidently consumed a great part of the oxygen that it contained.
Indeed,
each man consumes,
in one hour,
the oxygen contained in more than 176 pints of air,
and this air,
charged (as then)
with a nearly equal quantity of carbonic acid,
becomes unbreathable.It became necessary
to renew the atmosphere of our prison,
and no doubt the whole in the submarine boat.
That gave rise
to a question in my mind.
How would the commander of this floating dwelling-place proceed?
Would he obtain air by chemical means,
in getting by heat the oxygen contained in chlorate of potash,
and in absorbing carbonic acid by caustic potash?
Or--a more convenient,
economical,
and consequently more probable alternative-- would he be satisfied
to rise and take breath at the surface of the water,
like a whale,
and so renew
for twenty-four hours the atmospheric provision?
In fact,
I was already obliged
to increase my respirations
to eke out of this cell the little oxygen it contained,
when suddenly I was refreshed by a current of pure air,
and perfumed
with saline emanations.
It was an invigorating sea breeze,
charged
with iodine.
I opened my mouth wide,
and my lungs saturated themselves
with fresh particles.At the same time I felt the boat rolling.
The iron-plated monster had evidently just risen
to the surface of the ocean
to breathe,
after the fashion of whales.
I found out from that the mode of ventilating the boat.When I had inhaled this air freely,
I sought the conduit pipe,
which conveyed
to us the beneficial whiff,
and I was not long in finding it.
Above the door was a ventilator,
through which volumes of fresh air renewed the impoverished atmosphere of the cell.I was making my observations,
when Ned and Conseil awoke almost at the same time,
under the influence of this reviving air.
They rubbed their eyes,
stretched themselves,
and were on their feet in an instant."
Did master sleep well?"
asked Conseil,
with his usual politeness."
Very well,
my brave boy.
And you,
Mr. Land?"
"Soundly,
Professor.
But,
I don't know if I am right or not,
there seems
to be a sea breeze!"
A seaman could not be mistaken,
and I told the Canadian all that had passed during his sleep."
Good!" said he.
"That accounts
for those roarings we heard,
when the supposed narwhal sighted the Abraham Lincoln."
"Quite so,
Master Land;
it was taking breath."
"Only,
Mr. Aronnax,
I have no idea what o'clock it is,
unless it is dinner-time."
"Dinner-time!
my good fellow?
Say rather breakfast-time,
for we certainly have begun another day."
"So," said Conseil,
"we have slept twenty-four hours?"
"That is my opinion."
"I will not contradict you," replied Ned Land.
"But,
dinner or breakfast,
the steward will be welcome,
whichever he brings."
"Master Land,
we must conform
to the rules on board,
and I suppose our appetites are in advance of the dinner hour."
"That is just like you,
friend Conseil," said Ned,
impatiently.
"You are never out of temper,
always calm;
you would return thanks before grace,
and die of hunger rather than complain!"
Time was getting on,
and we were fearfully hungry;
and this time the steward did not appear.
It was rather too long
to leave us,
if they really had good intentions towards us.
Ned Land,
tormented by the cravings of hunger,
got still more angry;
and,
notwithstanding his promise,
I dreaded an explosion when he found himself
with one of the crew.
for two hours more Ned Land's temper increased;
he cried,
he shouted,
but in vain.
The walls were deaf.
There was no sound
to be heard in the boat;
all was still as death.
It did not move,
for I should have felt the trembling motion of the hull under the influence of the screw.
Plunged in the depths of the waters,
it belonged no longer
to earth:
this silence was dreadful.I felt terrified,
Conseil was calm,
Ned Land roared.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?"
CHAPTER X
THE MAN OF THE SEAS
It was the commander of the vessel who thus spoke.At these words,
Ned Land rose suddenly.
The steward,
nearly strangled,
tottered out on a sign from his master.
But such was the power of the commander on board,
that not a gesture betrayed the resentment which this man must have felt towards the Canadian.
Conseil interested in spite of himself,
I stupefied,
awaited in silence the result of this scene.The commander,
leaning against the corner of a table
with his arms folded,
scanned us
with profound attention.
Did he hesitate
to speak?
Did he regret the words which he had just spoken in French?
One might almost think so.After some moments of silence,
which not one of us dreamed of breaking,
"Gentlemen," said he,
in a calm and penetrating voice,
"I speak French,
English,
German,
and Latin equally well.
I could,
therefore,
have answered you at our first interview,
but I wished
to know you first,
then
to reflect.
The story told by each one,
entirely agreeing in the main points,
convinced me of your identity.
I know now that chance has brought before me M.
Pierre Aronnax,
Professor of Natural History at the Museum of Paris,
entrusted
with a scientific mission abroad,
Conseil,
his servant,
and Ned Land,
of Canadian origin,
harpooner on board the frigate Abraham Lincoln of the navy of the United States of America."
I bowed assent.
It was not a question that the commander put
to me.
Therefore there was no answer
to be made.
This man expressed himself
with perfect ease,
without any accent.
His sentences were well turned,
his words clear,
and his fluency of speech remarkable.
Yet,
I did not recognise in him a fellow-countryman.He continued the conversation in these terms:
"You have doubtless thought,
sir,
that I have delayed long in paying you this second visit.
The reason is that,
your identity recognised,
I wished
to weigh maturely what part
to act towards you.
I have hesitated much.
Most annoying circumstances have brought you in
to the presence of a man who has broken all the ties of humanity.
You have come
to trouble my existence."
"Unintentionally!" said I."
Unintentionally?"
replied the stranger,
raising his voice a little.
"Was it unintentionally that the Abraham Lincoln pursued me all over the seas?
Was it unintentionally that you took passage in this frigate?
Was it unintentionally that your cannon-balls rebounded off the plating of my vessel?
Was it unintentionally that Mr. Ned Land struck me
with his harpoon?"
I detected a restrained irritation in these words.
But
to these recriminations I had a very natural answer
to make,
and I made it."
Sir," said I,
"no doubt you are ignorant of the discussions which have taken place concerning you in America and Europe.
You do not know that divers accidents,
caused by collisions
with your submarine machine,
have excited public feeling in the two continents.
I omit the theories without number by which it was sought
to explain that of which you alone possess the secret.
But you must understand that,
in pursuing you over the high seas of the Pacific,
the Abraham Lincoln believed itself
to be chasing some powerful sea-monster,
of which it was necessary
to rid the ocean at any price."
A half-smile curled the lips of the commander:
then,
in a calmer tone:
"M.
Aronnax," he replied,
"dare you affirm that your frigate would not as soon have pursued and cannonaded a submarine boat as a monster?"
This question embarrassed me,
for certainly Captain Farragut might not have hesitated.
He might have thought it his duty
to destroy a contrivance of this kind,
as he would a gigantic narwhal."
You understand then,
sir," continued the stranger,
"that I have the right
to treat you as enemies?"
I answered nothing,
purposely.
for what good would it be
to discuss such a proposition,
when force could destroy the best arguments?
"I have hesitated some time," continued the commander;
"nothing obliged me
to show you hospitality.
If I chose
to separate myself from you,
I should have no interest in seeing you again;
I could place you upon the deck of this vessel which has served you as a refuge,
I could sink beneath the waters,
and forget that you had ever existed.
Would not that be my right?"
"It might be the right of a savage," I answered,
"but not that of a civilised man."
"Professor," replied the commander,
quickly,
"I am not what you call a civilised man!
I have done
with society entirely,
for reasons which I alone have the right of appreciating.
I do not,
therefore,
obey its laws,
and I desire you never
to allude
to them before me again!"
This was said plainly.
A flash of anger and disdain kindled in the eyes of the Unknown,
and I had a glimpse of a terrible past in the life of this man.
Not only had he put himself beyond the pale of human laws,
but he had made himself independent of them,
free in the strictest acceptation of the word,
quite beyond their reach!
Who then would dare
to pursue him at the bottom of the sea,
when,
on its surface,
he defied all attempts made against him?
What vessel could resist the shock of his submarine monitor?
What cuirass,
however thick,
could withstand the blows of his spur?
No man could demand from him an account of his actions;
God,
if he believed in one--his conscience,
if he had one-- were the sole judges
to whom he was answerable.These reflections crossed my mind rapidly,
whilst the stranger personage was silent,
absorbed,
and as if wrapped up in himself.
I regarded him
with fear mingled
with interest,
as,
doubtless,
OEdiphus regarded the Sphinx.After rather a long silence,
the commander resumed the conversation."
I have hesitated," said he,
"but I have thought that my interest might be reconciled
with that pity
to which every human being has a right.
You will remain on board my vessel,
since fate has cast you there.
You will be free;
and,
in exchange
for this liberty,
I shall only impose one single condition.
Your word of honour
to submit
to it will suffice."
"Speak,
sir," I answered.
"I suppose this condition is one which a man of honour may accept?"
"Yes,
sir;
it is this:
It is possible that certain events,
unforeseen,
may oblige me
to consign you
to your cabins
for some hours or some days,
as the case may be.
As I desire never
to use violence,
I expect from you,
more than all the others,
a passive obedience.
In thus acting,
I take all the responsibility:
I acquit you entirely,
for I make it an impossibility
for you
to see what ought not
to be seen.
Do you accept this condition?"
Then things took place on board which,
to say the least,
were singular,
and which ought not
to be seen by people who were not placed beyond the pale of social laws.
Amongst the surprises which the future was preparing
for me,
this might not be the least."
We accept," I answered;
"only I will ask your permission,
sir,
to address one question
to you--one only."
"Speak,
sir."
"You said that we should be free on board."
"Entirely."
"I ask you,
then,
what you mean by this liberty?"
"Just the liberty
to go,
to come,
to see,
to observe even all that passes here save under rare circumstances--the liberty,
in short,
which we enjoy ourselves,
my companions and I."
It was evident that we did not understand one another."
Pardon me,
sir," I resumed,
"but this liberty is only what every prisoner has of pacing his prison.
It cannot suffice us."
"It must suffice you,
however."
"What!
we must renounce
for ever seeing our country,
our friends,
our relations again?"
"Yes,
sir.
But
to renounce that unendurable worldly yoke which men believe
to be liberty is not perhaps so painful as you think."
"Well," exclaimed Ned Land,
"never will I give my word of honour not
to try
to escape."
"I did not ask you
for your word of honour,
Master Land," answered the commander,
coldly."
Sir," I replied,
beginning
to get angry in spite of my self,
"you abuse your situation towards us;
it is cruelty."
"No,
sir,
it is clemency.
You are my prisoners of war.
I keep you,
when I could,
by a word,
plunge you in
to the depths of the ocean.
You attacked me.
You came
to surprise a secret which no man in the world must penetrate--the secret of my whole existence.
And you think that I am going
to send you back
to that world which must know me no more?
Never!
In retaining you,
it is not you whom I guard-- it is myself."
These words indicated a resolution taken on the part of the commander,
against which no arguments would prevail."
So,
sir," I rejoined,
"you give us simply the choice between life and death?"
"Simply."
"My friends," said I,
"
to a question thus put,
there is nothing
to answer.
But no word of honour binds us
to the master of this vessel."
"None,
sir," answered the Unknown.Then,
in a gentler tone,
he continued:
"Now,
permit me
to finish what I have
to say
to you.
I know you,
M.
Aronnax.
You and your companions will not,
perhaps,
have so much
to complain of in the chance which has bound you
to my fate.
You will find amongst the books which are my favourite study the work which you have published on `the depths of the sea.' I have often read it.
You have carried out your work as far as terrestrial science permitted you.
But you do not know all--you have not seen all.
Let me tell you then,
Professor,
that you will not regret the time passed on board my vessel.
You are going
to visit the land of marvels."
These words of the commander had a great effect upon me.
I cannot deny it.
My weak point was touched;
and I forgot,
for a moment,
that the contemplation of these sublime subjects was not worth the loss of liberty.
Besides,
I trusted
to the future
to decide this grave question.
So I contented myself
with saying:
"By what name ought I
to address you?"
"Sir," replied the commander,
"I am nothing
to you but Captain Nemo;
and you and your companions are nothing
to me but the passengers of the Nautilus."
Captain Nemo called.
A steward appeared.
The captain gave him his orders in that strange language which I did not understand.
Then,
turning towards the Canadian and Conseil:
"A repast awaits you in your cabin," said he.
"Be so good as
to follow this man."
And now,
M.
Aronnax,
our breakfast is ready.
Permit me
to lead the way."
"I am at your service,
Captain."
I followed Captain Nemo;
and as soon as I had passed through the door,
I found myself in a kind of passage lighted by electricity,
similar
to the waist of a ship.
After we had proceeded a dozen yards,
a second door opened before me.I then entered a dining-room,
decorated and furnished in severe taste.
High oaken sideboards,
inlaid
with ebony,
stood at the two extremities of the room,
and upon their shelves glittered china,
porcelain,
and glass of inestimable value.
The plate on the table sparkled in the rays which the luminous ceiling shed around,
while the light was tempered and softened by exquisite paintings.In the centre of the room was a table richly laid out.
Captain Nemo indicated the place I was
to occupy.The breakfast consisted of a certain number of dishes,
the contents of which were furnished by the sea alone;
and I was ignorant of the nature and mode of preparation of some of them.
I acknowledged that they were good,
but they had a peculiar flavour,
which I easily became accustomed to.
These different aliments appeared
to me
to be rich in phosphorus,
and I thought they must have a marine origin.Captain Nemo looked at me.
I asked him no questions,
but he guessed my thoughts,
and answered of his own accord the questions which I was burning
to address
to him."
The greater part of these dishes are unknown
to you," he said
to me.
"However,
you may partake of them without fear.
They are wholesome and nourishing.
for a long time I have renounced the food of the earth,
and I am never ill now.
My crew,
who are healthy,
are fed on the same food."
"So," said I,
"all these eatables are the produce of the sea?"
"Yes,
Professor,
the sea supplies all my wants.
Sometimes I cast my nets in tow,
and I draw them in ready
to break.
Sometimes I hunt in the midst of this element,
which appears
to be inaccessible
to man,
and quarry the game which dwells in my submarine forests.
My flocks,
like those of Neptune's old shepherds,
graze fearlessly in the immense prairies of the ocean.
I have a vast property there,
which I cultivate myself,
and which is always sown by the hand of the Creator of all things."
"I can understand perfectly,
sir,
that your nets furnish excellent fish
for your table;
I can understand also that you hunt aquatic game in your submarine forests;
but I cannot understand at all how a particle of meat,
no matter how small,
can figure in your bill of fare."
"This,
which you believe
to be meat,
Professor,
is nothing else than fillet of turtle.
Here are also some dolphins' livers,
which you take
to be ragout of pork.
My cook is a clever fellow,
who excels in dressing these various products of the ocean.
Taste all these dishes.
Here is a preserve of sea-cucumber,
which a Malay would declare
to be unrivalled in the world;
here is a cream,
of which the milk has been furnished by the cetacea,
and the sugar by the great fucus of the North Sea;
and,
lastly,
permit me
to offer you some preserve of anemones,
which is equal
to that of the most delicious fruits."
I tasted,
more from curiosity than as a connoisseur,
whilst Captain Nemo enchanted me
with his extraordinary stories."
You like the sea,
Captain?"
"Yes;
I love it!
The sea is everything.
It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe.
Its breath is pure and healthy.
It is an immense desert,
where man is never lonely,
for he feels life stirring on all sides.
The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence.
It is nothing but love and emotion;
it is the `Living Infinite,' as one of your poets has said.
In fact,
Professor,
Nature manifests herself in it by her three kingdoms--mineral,
vegetable,
and animal.
The sea is the vast reservoir of Nature.
The globe began
with sea,
so
to speak;
and who knows if it will not end
with it?
In it is supreme tranquillity.
The sea does not belong
to despots.
Upon its surface men can still exercise unjust laws,
fight,
tear one another
to pieces,
and be carried away
with terrestrial horrors.
But at thirty feet below its level,
their reign ceases,
their influence is quenched,
and their power disappears.
Ah!
sir,
live--live in the bosom of the waters!
There only is independence!
There I recognise no masters!
There I am free!"
Captain Nemo suddenly became silent in the midst of this enthusiasm,
by which he was quite carried away.
for a few moments he paced up and down,
much agitated.
Then he became more calm,
regained his accustomed coldness of expression,
and turning towards me:
"Now,
Professor," said he,
"if you wish
to go over the Nautilus,
I am at your service."
Captain Nemo rose.
I followed him.
A double door,
contrived at the back of the dining-room,
opened,
and I entered a room equal in dimensions
to that which I had just quitted.It was a library.
High pieces of furniture,
of black violet ebony inlaid
with brass,
supported upon their wide shelves a great number of books uniformly bound.
They followed the shape of the room,
terminating at the lower part in huge divans,
covered
with brown leather,
which were curved,
to afford the greatest comfort.
Light movable desks,
made
to slide in and out at will,
allowed one
to rest one's book while reading.
In the centre stood an immense table,
covered
with pamphlets,
amongst which were some newspapers,
already of old date.
The electric light flooded everything;
it was shed from four unpolished globes half sunk in the volutes of the ceiling.
I looked
with real admiration at this room,
so ingeniously fitted up,
and I could scarcely believe my eyes."
Captain Nemo," said I
to my host,
who had just thrown himself on one of the divans,
"this is a library which would do honour
to more than one of the continental palaces,
and I am absolutely astounded when I consider that it can follow you
to the bottom of the seas."
"Where could one find greater solitude or silence,
Professor?"
replied Captain Nemo.
"Did your study in the Museum afford you such perfect quiet?"
"No,
sir;
and I must confess that it is a very poor one after yours.
You must have six or seven thousand volumes here."
"Twelve thousand,
M.
Aronnax.
These are the only ties which bind me
to the earth.
But I had done
with the world on the day when my Nautilus plunged
for the first time beneath the waters.
That day I bought my last volumes,
my last pamphlets,
my last papers,
and from that time I wish
to think that men no longer think or write.
These books,
Professor,
are at your service besides,
and you can make use of them freely."
I thanked Captain Nemo,
and went up
to the shelves of the library.
Works on science,
morals,
and literature abounded in every language;
but I did not see one single work on political economy;
that subject appeared
to be strictly proscribed.
Strange
to say,
all these books were irregularly arranged,
in whatever language they were written;
and this medley proved that the Captain of the Nautilus must have read indiscriminately the books which he took up by chance."
Sir," said I
to the Captain,
"I thank you
for having placed this library at my disposal.
It contains treasures of science,
and I shall profit by them."
"This room is not only a library," said Captain Nemo,
"it is also a smoking-room."
"A smoking-room!" I cried.
"Then one may smoke on board?"
"Certainly."
"Then,
sir,
I am forced
to believe that you have kept up a communication
with Havannah."
"Not any," answered the Captain.
"Accept this cigar,
M.
Aronnax;
and,
though it does not come from Havannah,
you will be pleased
with it,
if you are a connoisseur."
I took the cigar which was offered me;
its shape recalled the London ones,
but it seemed
to be made of leaves of gold.
I lighted it at a little brazier,
which was supported upon an elegant bronze stem,
and drew the first whiffs
with the delight of a lover of smoking who has not smoked
for two days."
It is excellent,
but it is not tobacco."
"No!" answered the Captain,
"this tobacco comes neither from Havannah nor from the East.
It is a kind of sea-weed,
rich in nicotine,
with which the sea provides me,
but somewhat sparingly."
At that moment Captain Nemo opened a door which stood opposite
to that by which I had entered the library,
and I passed in
to 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.{several sentences are missing here in the omnibus edition}
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.Some admirable statues in marble and bronze,
after the finest antique models,
stood upon pedestals in the corners of this magnificent museum.
Amazement,
as the Captain of the Nautilus had predicted,
had already begun
to take possession of me."
Professor," said this strange man,
"you must excuse the unceremonious way in which I receive you,
and the disorder of this room."
"Sir," I answered,
"without seeking
to know who you are,
I recognise in you an artist."
"An amateur,
nothing more,
sir.
Formerly I loved
to collect these beautiful works created by the hand of man.
I sought them greedily,
and ferreted them out indefatigably,
and I have been able
to bring together some objects of great value.
These are my last souvenirs of that world which is dead
to me.
In my eyes,
your modern artists are already old;
they have two or three thousand years of existence;
I confound them in my own mind.
Masters have no age."
{4 paragraphs seem
to be missing from this omnibus text here they have
to do
with musical composers,
a piano,
and a brief revery on the part of Nemo}
Under elegant glass cases,
fixed by copper rivets,
were classed and labelled the most precious productions of the sea which had ever been presented
to the eye of a naturalist.
My delight as a professor may be conceived.{2 long paragraphs seem
to be missing from this omnibus here}
Apart,
in separate compartments,
were spread out chaplets of pearls of the greatest beauty,
which reflected the electric light in little sparks of fire;
pink pearls,
torn from the pinna-marina of the Red Sea;
green pearls,
yellow,
blue,
and black pearls,
the curious productions of the divers molluscs of every ocean,
and certain mussels of the water courses of the North;
lastly,
several specimens of inestimable value.
Some of these pearls were larger than a pigeon's egg,
and were worth millions.{this para has been altered the last sentence reworded}
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