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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Chapter 16. A SUBMARINE FOREST
We had finally arrived at the edge of this forest.
It was surely one of the finest parts of Captain Nemo's huge domain.
He looked at it as his own.
And he believed he had the same right to it that the first men had in the early days of the world.
And really, who would have argued with him about owning this underwater property?
What other brave explorer would come, with an axe in his hand, to cut down the dark trees?
This forest was made of large plant-like trees.
The moment we went under its huge arches, I was surprised by the strange position of their branches.
I had never seen anything like it before.
Not a single plant covered the ground.
Not a single branch on the trees was broken or bent.
They didn't spread out sideways, they all stretched up toward the surface of the ocean.
Not a thread, not a ribbon, no matter how thin it was, stayed straight like a metal rod.
The seaweed and vines grew in stiff, straight lines.
This was because of the density of the water that had created them.
They didn't move, but when I pushed them to one side with my hand, they went straight back to their first position.
It was truly the land of straight lines!
I soon got used to this strange position, and also to the darkness around us.
The ground of the forest seemed covered with sharp rocks that were hard to avoid.
The underwater plants seemed very perfect to me.
They were even richer than they'd have been in the Arctic or tropical areas, where these plants aren't so plentiful.
But for a few minutes, I mixed up the different types without meaning to.
I took animals for plants, and who wouldn't have made that mistake?
The animals and plants are too closely connected in this underwater world.
These plants grow on their own, the reason for their life is in the water, which holds them up and feeds them.
Most of them, instead of leaves, had blades of strange shapes.
They came in many colors, pink, red, green, olive, light brown, and dark brown.
I saw there, but not dried up, like our samples on the Nautilus, fan-shaped corals spread out like they were catching the wind.
I saw red seaweeds whose leaves stretched out like ferns.
I saw plants that grow to fifteen feet high.
I saw groups of cup-shaped plants whose stems get bigger as they go up.
And I saw many other sea plants, all without flowers.
"What a strange thing!" said a clever scientist.
"In this world, the animal kingdom has flowers, but the plant kingdom doesn't!"
Under these many large plants, as big as trees in mild climates, and under their wet shadow, there were real bushes of living flowers.
There were hedges of small animals that looked like flowers.
On them, some striped corals bloomed, with crooked grooves.
Some yellow corals bloomed too, and to complete the picture, fish-flies flew from branch to branch like a group of hummingbirds.
Meanwhile, yellow fish with rough jaws and other fish rose at our feet like a group of birds.
After about an hour, Captain Nemo gave the signal to stop.
For my part, I wasn't sorry, we lay down under a shelter of long, thin seaweed that stood up like arrows.
This short rest felt wonderful to me.
The only thing missing was the pleasure of conversation.
But it was impossible to speak, impossible to answer.
I just put my big copper head next to Conseil's.
I saw the good man's eyes shining with happiness.
To show his satisfaction, he shook himself inside his air suit in the funniest way in the world.
After four hours of walking, I was surprised that I wasn't terribly hungry.
I couldn't explain why my stomach felt this way.
But instead, I felt a strong desire to sleep.
This happens to all divers, and my eyes soon closed behind the thick glasses.
I fell into a deep sleep, which the movement alone had stopped before.
Captain Nemo and his strong companion, lying in the clear water, set the example for us.
I can't say how long I stayed in this sleep.
But when I woke up, the sun seemed to be going down toward the horizon, Captain Nemo had already gotten up.
I was starting to stretch my arms and legs when a sudden sight brought me quickly to my feet.
A few steps away, a huge sea spider, about thirty-eight inches tall, was watching me with squinting eyes.
It was ready to jump on me.
Even though my diver's suit was thick enough to protect me from this animal's bite, I couldn't help shaking with fear.
Conseil and the sailor from the Nautilus woke up at this moment.
Captain Nemo pointed at the ugly creature.
A blow from the end of his gun knocked it over.
I saw the horrible claws of the monster twist in terrible pain.
This event reminded me that other animals, more dangerous, might live in these dark depths.
My diving suit wouldn't protect me from their attacks.
I had never thought of this before, but now I decided to be careful.
In fact, I thought this stop would be the end of our walk.
But I was wrong, Instead of going back to the Nautilus, Captain Nemo continued his brave trip.
The ground was still going down, the slope seemed to be getting steeper.
It seemed to be leading us to greater depths.
It must have been about three o'clock when we reached a narrow valley.
It was between high, straight walls, about seventy-five fathoms deep.
Thanks to the perfection of our equipment, we were forty-five fathoms below the limit that nature seems to have set for man's underwater trips.
I say seventy-five fathoms, even though I had no tool to measure the distance.
But I knew that even in the clearest waters, the sun's rays couldn't go further.
And so the darkness got deeper, At ten steps, I couldn't see anything.
I was feeling my way when I suddenly saw a bright white light.
Captain Nemo had just turned on his electric light.
His companion did the same, Conseil and I followed their example.
By turning a screw, I connected the wire to the glass.
The sea, lit by our four lights, was bright for a circle of thirty-six yards.
Captain Nemo was still going into the dark depths of the forest.
The trees were getting fewer with every step.
I noticed that plant life disappeared sooner than animal life.
The jellyfish had already left the dry ground.
But a large number of animals, small sea creatures, shellfish, and fish still got food from it.
As we walked, I thought the light from our electric lamps would surely attract some animal from its dark home.
But if they did come near us, they at least stayed a safe distance from the hunters.
Several times I saw Captain Nemo stop.
He put his gun to his shoulder.
After a few moments, he lowered it and walked on.
At last, after about four hours, this wonderful trip came to an end.
A wall of beautiful rocks rose before us.
It was a huge pile of giant blocks.
It was a steep granite shore with dark caves.
But it had no slope we could climb.
It was the support of Crespo Island, it was the earth!
Captain Nemo stopped suddenly, With a gesture, he made us all stop.
No matter how much I wanted to climb the wall, I had to stop.
Here ended Captain Nemo's lands, he wouldn't go beyond them.
Further on was a part of the world he couldn't walk on.
The return began, Captain Nemo went to the front of his small group.
He led the way without any doubt.
I thought we weren't following the same road back to the Nautilus.
The new road was very steep, and so it was very hard.
We went up toward the surface of the sea quickly.
But this return to the higher levels wasn't so sudden that it caused problems.
The pressure didn't change too fast, that could have caused serious damage to our bodies.
It could have caused internal injuries, which are so dangerous for divers.
Very soon, light appeared again and grew.
The sun was low on the horizon.
The light bent around different objects and gave them a ghostly ring.
At ten and a half yards deep, we walked through a group of small fish of all kinds.
They were more numerous than the birds in the air, and also faster.
But no water animal worth shooting had yet appeared.
Then at that moment, I saw the Captain lift his gun quickly.
He followed a moving object into the plants.
He fired, I heard a soft hissing sound.
A creature fell, stunned, a short distance from us.
It was a beautiful sea otter, it was the only animal that lives only in the sea.
This otter was five feet long, it must have been very valuable.
Its skin was brown on top and silver underneath.
It would have made one of those beautiful furs that are so popular in the Russian and Chinese markets.
The fineness and shine of its coat would certainly cost eighty pounds.
I admired this curious mammal, it had a round head with short ears.
It had round eyes and white whiskers like a cat's.
It had webbed feet with nails and a bushy tail.
This precious animal, hunted by fishermen, has now become very rare.
It has taken shelter mostly in the northern parts of the Pacific.
Otherwise, its kind would soon die out.
Captain Nemo's companion took the animal, he threw it over his shoulder.
We continued our journey, For one hour, a flat area of sand lay in front of us.
Sometimes it rose to within two yards and a few inches of the water's surface.
Then I saw our reflection clearly, it was upside down.
Above us, an identical group appeared, reflecting our movements and our actions.
In a word, they were like us in every way, except that they walked with their heads down and their feet in the air.
I noticed another effect, Thick clouds formed and disappeared quickly.
But after thinking, I understood that these seeming clouds were caused by the different thickness of the seaweed at the bottom.
I could even see the foamy bubbles that the broken tops of the seaweed made on the water.
I could also see the shadows of large birds passing above our heads.
I could see their fast flight on the surface of the sea.
At this moment, I saw one of the finest gunshots that ever made a hunter's heart beat fast.
A large bird with wide wings came near.
It was clearly visible, it flew above us.
Captain Nemo's companion lifted his gun and fired when it was only a few yards above the waves.
The creature fell, stunned, the force of its fall brought it within reach of the skilled hunter's hands.
It was an albatross of the finest kind.
This event didn't stop our walk, For two hours, we followed these sandy plains.
Then we went through fields of seaweed that were very unpleasant to cross.
Honestly, I couldn't go on any longer when I saw a light.
For half a mile, it broke the darkness of the water.
It was the light of the Nautilus.
In less than twenty minutes, we'd be on board.
I'd be able to breathe easily, it seemed that my air tank was giving me air that was low in oxygen.
But I didn't expect a meeting that would delay our arrival for some time.
I had stayed a few steps behind.
Then I saw Captain Nemo coming quickly toward me.
With his strong hand, he pushed me to the ground.
His companion did the same to Conseil.
At first, I didn't know what to think of this sudden attack.
But I soon felt better when I saw the Captain lie down next to me and stay still.
I was lying on the ground, just under the shelter of a bush of seaweed.
When I lifted my head, I saw a huge shape.
It was giving off a glowing light, it passed by noisily.
My blood froze in my veins when I saw two dangerous sharks that threatened us.
They were a pair of terrible creatures.
They had huge tails and a dull, glassy stare.
The glowing matter came out of holes around their mouths.
Monstrous brutes! They could crush a whole man in their iron jaws.
I didn't know if Conseil stopped to classify them.
For my part, I noticed their silver bellies and their huge mouths full of teeth.
I looked at them from a very unscientific point of view.
I saw myself more as a possible victim than as a scientist.
Luckily, these hungry creatures don't see well.
They passed without seeing us, they brushed us with their brownish fins.
We escaped by a miracle from a danger that was certainly greater than meeting a tiger face to face in the forest.
Half an hour later, guided by the electric light, we reached the Nautilus.
The outside door had been left open.
Captain Nemo closed it as soon as we had entered the first room.
Then he pressed a button, I heard the pumps working inside the ship.
I felt the water going down around me.
In a few moments, the room was completely empty.
The inside door then opened, we entered the changing room.
There, our diving suits were taken off.
It wasn't easy, I was very tired from lack of food and sleep.
I returned to my room, full of wonder at this surprising trip at the bottom of the sea.