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Home -> Jules Verne -> 20,000 Leagues under the Sea -> Chapter 16

20,000 Leagues under the Sea - Chapter 16

1. Part I Chapter 1

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 3

4. Chapter 4

5. Chapter 5

6. Chapter 6

7. Chapter 7

8. Chapter 8

9. Chapter 9

10. Chapter 10

11. Chapter 11

12. Chapter 12

13. Chapter 13

14. Chapter 14

15. Chapter 15

16. Chapter 16

17. Chapter 17

18. Chapter 18

19. Chapter 19

20. Chapter 20

21. Chapter 21

22. Chapter 22

23. Chapter 23

24. Part II Chapter 1

25. Chapter 2

26. Chapter 3

27. Chapter 4

28. Chapter 5

29. Chapter 6

30. Chapter 7

31. Chapter 8

32. Chapter 9

33. Chapter 10

34. Chapter 11

35. Chapter 12

36. Chapter 13

37. Chapter 14

38. Chapter 15

39. Chapter 16

40. Chapter 17

41. Chapter 18

42. Chapter 19

43. Chapter 20

44. Chapter 21

45. Chapter 22

46. Chapter 23







CHAPTER XVI

A SUBMARINE FOREST

We had at last arrived on the borders of this forest,
doubtless one of the finest of Captain Nemo's immense domains.
He looked upon it as his own, and considered he had the same right
over it that the first men had in the first days of the world.
And, indeed, who would have disputed with him the possession
of this submarine property? What other hardier pioneer would come,
hatchet in hand, to cut down the dark copses?

This forest was composed of large tree-plants; and the moment we
penetrated under its vast arcades, I was struck by the singular
position of their branches--a position I had not yet observed.

Not an herb which carpeted the ground, not a branch which clothed
the trees, was either broken or bent, nor did they extend horizontally;
all stretched up to the surface of the ocean. Not a filament, not a ribbon,
however thin they might be, but kept as straight as a rod of iron.
The fuci and llianas grew in rigid perpendicular lines, due to the density
of the element which had produced them. Motionless yet, when bent
to one side by the hand, they directly resumed their former position.
Truly it was the region of perpendicularity!

I soon accustomed myself to this fantastic position,
as well as to the comparative darkness which surrounded us.
The soil of the forest seemed covered with sharp blocks,
difficult to avoid. The submarine flora struck me as being
very perfect, and richer even than it would have been in the arctic
or tropical zones, where these productions are not so plentiful.
But for some minutes I involuntarily confounded the genera,
taking animals for plants; and who would not have been mistaken?
The fauna and the flora are too closely allied in this submarine world.

These plants are self-propagated, and the principle of their
existence is in the water, which upholds and nourishes them.
The greater number, instead of leaves, shoot forth blades
of capricious shapes, comprised within a scale of colours pink,
carmine, green, olive, fawn, and brown.

"Curious anomaly, fantastic element!" said an ingenious naturalist,
"in which the animal kingdom blossoms, and the vegetable does not!"

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

This short rest seemed delicious to me; there was nothing
wanting but the charm of conversation; but, impossible to speak,
impossible to answer, I only put my great copper head to Conseil's.
I saw the worthy fellow's eyes glistening with delight, and, to show
his satisfaction, he shook himself in his breastplate of air,
in the most comical way in the world.

After four hours of this walking, I was surprised not to find
myself dreadfully hungry. How to account for this state
of the stomach I could not tell. But instead I felt an
insurmountable desire to sleep, which happens to all divers.
And my eyes soon closed behind the thick glasses, and I fell into
a heavy slumber, which the movement alone had prevented before.
Captain Nemo and his robust companion, stretched in the clear crystal,
set us the example.

How long I remained buried in this drowsiness I cannot judge,
but, when I woke, the sun seemed sinking towards the horizon.
Captain Nemo had already risen, and I was beginning to stretch
my limbs, when an unexpected apparition brought me briskly
to my feet.

A few steps off, a monstrous sea-spider, about thirty-eight inches
high, was watching me with squinting eyes, ready to spring upon me.
Though my diver's dress was thick enough to defend me from
the bite of this animal, I could not help shuddering with horror.
Conseil and the sailor of the Nautilus awoke at this moment.
Captain Nemo pointed out the hideous crustacean, which a blow
from the butt end of the gun knocked over, and I saw the horrible
claws of the monster writhe in terrible convulsions.
This incident reminded me that other animals more to be feared
might haunt these obscure depths, against whose attacks my
diving-dress would not protect me. I had never thought of it before,
but I now resolved to be upon my guard. Indeed, I thought
that this halt would mark the termination of our walk;
but I was mistaken, for, instead of returning to the Nautilus,
Captain Nemo continued his bold excursion. The ground was still
on the incline, its declivity seemed to be getting greater,
and to be leading us to greater depths. It must have been
about three o'clock when we reached a narrow valley, between high
perpendicular walls, situated about seventy-five fathoms deep.
Thanks to the perfection of our apparatus, we were forty-five
fathoms below the limit which nature seems to have imposed on man
as to his submarine excursions.

I say seventy-five fathoms, though I had no instrument by which to
judge the distance. But I knew that even in the clearest waters
the solar rays could not penetrate further. And accordingly
the darkness deepened. At ten paces not an object was visible.
I was groping my way, when I suddenly saw a brilliant white light.
Captain Nemo had just put his electric apparatus into use;
his companion did the same, and Conseil and I followed their example.
By turning a screw I established a communication between the wire
and the spiral glass, and the sea, lit by our four lanterns,
was illuminated for a circle of thirty-six yards.

As we walked I thought the light of our Ruhmkorff apparatus
could not fail to draw some inhabitant from its dark couch.
But if they did approach us, they at least kept at
a respectful distance from the hunters. Several times
I saw Captain Nemo stop, put his gun to his shoulder,
and after some moments drop it and walk on. At last,
after about four hours, this marvellous excursion came to an end.
A wall of superb rocks, in an imposing mass, rose before us,
a heap of gigantic blocks, an enormous, steep granite shore,
forming dark grottos, but which presented no practicable slope;
it was the prop of the Island of Crespo. It was the earth!
Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. A gesture of his brought us all
to a halt; and, however desirous I might be to scale the wall,
I was obliged to stop. Here ended Captain Nemo's domains.
And he would not go beyond them. Further on was a portion of the
globe he might not trample upon.

The return began. Captain Nemo had returned to the head of his little band,
directing their course without hesitation. I thought we were not following
the same road to return to the Nautilus. The new road was very steep,
and consequently very painful. We approached the surface of the sea rapidly.
But this return to the upper strata was not so sudden as to cause relief
from the pressure too rapidly, which might have produced serious disorder
in our organisation, and brought on internal lesions, so fatal to divers.
Very soon light reappeared and grew, and, the sun being low on the horizon,
the refraction edged the different objects with a spectral ring.
At ten yards and a half deep, we walked amidst a shoal of little fishes
of all kinds, more numerous than the birds of the air, and also more agile;
but no aquatic game worthy of a shot had as yet met our gaze, when at
that moment I saw the Captain shoulder his gun quickly, and follow
a moving object into the shrubs. He fired; I heard a slight hissing,
and a creature fell stunned at some distance from us. It was a magnificent
sea-otter, an enhydrus, the only exclusively marine quadruped.
This otter was five feet long, and must have been very valuable.
Its skin, chestnut-brown above and silvery underneath, would have made one
of those beautiful furs so sought after in the Russian and Chinese markets:
the fineness and the lustre of its coat would certainly fetch L80.
I admired this curious mammal, with its rounded head ornamented with
short ears, its round eyes, and white whiskers like those of a cat,
with webbed feet and nails, and tufted tail. This precious animal,
hunted and tracked by fishermen, has now become very rare, and taken refuge
chiefly in the northern parts of the Pacific, or probably its race would
soon become extinct.

Captain Nemo's companion took the beast, threw it over his shoulder, and we
continued our journey. For one hour a plain of sand lay stretched before us.
Sometimes it rose to within two yards and some inches of the surface of
the water. I then saw our image clearly reflected, drawn inversely, and above
us appeared an identical group reflecting our movements and our actions;
in a word, like us in every point, except that they walked with their heads
downward and their feet in the air.

Another effect I noticed, which was the passage of thick clouds which formed
and vanished rapidly; but on reflection I understood that these seeming
clouds were due to the varying thickness of the reeds at the bottom,
and I could even see the fleecy foam which their broken tops multiplied
on the water, and the shadows of large birds passing above our heads,
whose rapid flight I could discern on the surface of the sea.

On this occasion I was witness to one of the finest gun
shots which ever made the nerves of a hunter thrill.
A large bird of great breadth of wing, clearly visible, approached,
hovering over us. Captain Nemo's companion shouldered his gun
and fired, when it was only a few yards above the waves.
The creature fell stunned, and the force of its fall
brought it within the reach of dexterous hunter's grasp.
It was an albatross of the finest kind.

Our march had not been interrupted by this incident.
For two hours we followed these sandy plains, then fields of algae
very disagreeable to cross. Candidly, I could do no more when I
saw a glimmer of light, which, for a half mile, broke the
darkness of the waters. It was the lantern of the Nautilus.
Before twenty minutes were over we should be on board,
and I should be able to breathe with ease, for it seemed
that my reservoir supplied air very deficient in oxygen.
But I did not reckon on an accidental meeting which delayed our
arrival for some time.

I had remained some steps behind, when I presently saw Captain
Nemo coming hurriedly towards me. With his strong hand he bent
me to the ground, his companion doing the same to Conseil.
At first I knew not what to think of this sudden attack, but I
was soon reassured by seeing the Captain lie down beside me,
and remain immovable.

I was stretched on the ground, just under the shelter of a bush
of algae, when, raising my head, I saw some enormous mass,
casting phosphorescent gleams, pass blusteringly by.

My blood froze in my veins as I recognised two formidable
sharks which threatened us. It was a couple of tintoreas,
terrible creatures, with enormous tails and a dull glassy stare,
the phosphorescent matter ejected from holes pierced around the muzzle.
Monstrous brutes! which would crush a whole man in their iron jaws.
I did not know whether Conseil stopped to classify them; for my part,
I noticed their silver bellies, and their huge mouths bristling
with teeth, from a very unscientific point of view, and more as a
possible victim than as a naturalist.

Happily the voracious creatures do not see well. They passed without
seeing us, brushing us with their brownish fins, and we escaped by a miracle
from a danger certainly greater than meeting a tiger full-face in the forest.
Half an hour after, guided by the electric light we reached the Nautilus.
The outside door had been left open, and Captain Nemo closed it
as soon as we had entered the first cell. He then pressed a knob.
I heard the pumps working in the midst of the vessel, I felt the water
sinking from around me, and in a few moments the cell was entirely empty.
The inside door then opened, and we entered the vestry.

There our diving-dress was taken off, not without some trouble, and,
fairly worn out from want of food and sleep, I returned to my room,
in great wonder at this surprising excursion at the bottom of the sea.




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