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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Chapter 22. "AeGRI SOMNIA"
The next day, January 10th, the Nautilus continued her course between two seas.
She moved with such amazing speed that I couldn't guess it at less than thirty-five miles an hour.
The screw turned so fast that I couldn't follow or count its revolutions.
When I thought about electric power, giving motion, heat, and light to the Nautilus and protecting her from outside attack, I felt admiration.
It turned the ship into a safe ark that no one could touch without being struck by lightning.
My wonder went from the machine to the engineer who had created it.
Our course was toward the west, On January 11th, we went around Cape Wessel, at 135 longitude and 10 north latitude.
This is the east point of the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The reefs were still many, but they were more even.
They were marked on the chart with great exactness.
The Nautilus easily avoided the Money breakers on the left and the Victoria reefs on the right.
These were at 130 longitude and on the 10th parallel, which we followed closely.
On January 13th, Captain Nemo arrived in the Timor Sea.
He recognized the island of that name at 122 longitude.
From this point, the Nautilus turned toward the southwest.
Her direction was set for the Indian Ocean.
Where would Captain Nemo's fancy take us next?
Would he return to the coast of Asia?
Would he come near the shores of Europe again?
Both guesses seemed unlikely for a man who fled from inhabited lands.
Would he go south? Would he go around the Cape of Good Hope, then Cape Horn, and finally reach the Antarctic pole?
Would he come back to the Pacific at last, where his Nautilus could sail free and alone? Time would tell.
After passing Cartier, Hibernia, Seringapatam, and Scott, the last efforts of land against water, we lost sight of land on January 14th.
The speed of the Nautilus slowed down a lot.
She moved with an irregular course, sometimes swimming in the middle of the waters and sometimes floating on the surface.
During this part of the voyage, Captain Nemo made some interesting experiments on the different temperatures of the sea at different depths.
Under normal conditions, these observations are made with rather complicated instruments.
The results are somewhat doubtful, the glass often breaks under the pressure of the water.
Or an apparatus based on changes in the resistance of metals to electric currents is used.
The results from these methods can't be calculated correctly.
But Captain Nemo went himself to test the temperature in the deep sea.
His thermometer, connected to the different layers of water, gave him the needed degree immediately and exactly.
The Nautilus reached depths of three, four, five, seven, nine, and ten thousand yards.
She did this either by filling her reservoirs or by angling her inclined planes.
The experiment showed the sea's average temperature is four and a half degrees at five thousand fathoms depth worldwide.
On January 16th, the Nautilus seemed to be stopped only a few yards below the surface of the waves.
Her electric apparatus wasn't active, her motionless screw let her drift with the currents.
I supposed that the crew was busy with inside repairs.
These were needed because of the violent mechanical movements of the machine.
My companions and I then saw a curious sight.
The hatches of the saloon were open.
Since the beacon light of the Nautilus wasn't on, a dim darkness filled the middle of the waters.
I watched the state of the sea under these conditions.
The largest fish looked like nothing more than unclear shadows.
Then the Nautilus suddenly moved into full light.
I thought at first that the beacon had been turned on and was sending its electric light into the liquid mass.
I was wrong, After a quick look, I saw my mistake.
The Nautilus floated in the middle of a phosphorescent bed.
In this darkness, it was quite dazzling.
It was made by millions of tiny glowing creatures.
Their brightness increased as they slid over the metal hull of the ship.
I was surprised by lightning in the middle of these shining sheets.
They were like streams of lead melted in a hot furnace or metal masses heated to white.
Because of the contrast, some parts of the light seemed to cast a shadow in the middle of the general glow.
All shadow seemed gone from it, No, this wasn't the calm light of our ordinary lightning.
There was unusual life and energy, this was truly living light!
In reality, it was an endless collection of colored tiny creatures.
They were real balls of jelly with a threadlike tentacle.
As many as twenty-five thousand of them have been counted in less than two cubic half-inches of water.
For several hours, the Nautilus floated in these brilliant waves.
Our admiration grew as we watched the sea monsters playing like salamanders.
I saw in the middle of this fire that doesn't burn the fast and elegant porpoise, the tireless clown of the ocean.
I also saw some swordfish ten feet long.
They were the prophetic signs of a hurricane.
Their terrible sword would sometimes hit the glass of the saloon.
Then the smaller fish appeared, the balista, the leaping mackerel, the wolf-thorn-tails, and a hundred others.
They striped the glowing atmosphere as they swam.
This dazzling sight was enchanting! Perhaps some weather condition increased the strength of this phenomenon.
Perhaps a storm was stirring the surface of the waves.
But at this depth of a few yards, the Nautilus wasn't moved by its fury, she rested peacefully in still water.
So we moved forward, always charmed by some new wonder.
The days passed quickly, and I didn't keep track of them.
Ned, as usual, tried to change the food on board.
Like snails, we were fixed to our shells.
I declare that it's easy to live a snail's life.
So this life seemed easy and natural.
We no longer thought about the life we had on land.
But something happened to remind us of the strangeness of our situation.
On January 18th, the Nautilus was at 105 longitude and 15 south latitude.
The weather was threatening, the sea was rough and rolling.
There was a strong east wind, the barometer had been going down for some days.
It warned of a coming storm, I went up to the platform just as the second lieutenant was measuring the hourly angles.
I waited, as usual, for the daily phrase to be said.
But on this day, it was replaced by another phrase that was just as hard to understand.
Almost right away, I saw Captain Nemo appear with a telescope, he was looking toward the horizon.
For some minutes, he didn't move, he kept his eye on the point he was watching.
Then he lowered his telescope and exchanged a few words with his lieutenant.
The lieutenant seemed to be feeling some emotion that he tried hard to hide.
Captain Nemo had more control over himself.
He was calm, he seemed to be making some objections.
The lieutenant answered with firm assurances, At least, I thought so from the difference in their tones and gestures.
I had looked carefully in the direction they were pointing, but I saw nothing.
The sky and water were lost in the clear line of the horizon.
However, Captain Nemo walked from one end of the platform to the other.
He didn't look at me, and maybe he didn't see me.
His step was firm, but less regular than usual.
He stopped sometimes, he crossed his arms and watched the sea.
What could he be looking for on that huge space?
The Nautilus was then some hundreds of miles from the nearest coast.
The lieutenant had taken the telescope and was examining the horizon steadily.
He went back and forth, he stamped his foot and showed more nervous energy than his superior officer.
Besides, this mystery had to be solved, and soon.
Because, at an order from Captain Nemo, the engine increased its power and made the screw turn faster.
Just then, the lieutenant drew the Captain's attention again.
The Captain stopped walking and pointed his telescope at the place indicated.
He looked for a long time, I felt very puzzled.
I went down to the drawing-room and took out an excellent telescope that I usually used.
Leaning on the watch-light cage projecting from the platform's front, I scanned the entire line of sky and sea.
But as soon as I put my eye to the glass, it was quickly snatched out of my hands.
I turned around, Captain Nemo was in front of me, but I didn't recognize him.
His face was changed, his eyes flashed darkly, his teeth were set.
His stiff body, his clenched fists, and his head pulled down between his shoulders showed the violent emotion that filled his whole body.
He didn't move, My telescope had fallen from his hands and rolled at his feet.
Had I unknowingly caused this fit of anger?
Did this mysterious man think that I had discovered some forbidden secret?
No, I wasn't the object of this hatred.
He wasn't looking at me, his eye was fixed steadily on the hidden point of the horizon.
At last, Captain Nemo recovered himself, his emotion calmed down.
He said some words in a foreign language to his lieutenant, then he turned to me.
"Mr. Aronnax," he said in a rather commanding tone, "I require you to keep one of the conditions that bind you to me."
"What's it, Captain?"
"You must stay in your room with your companions until I think it's time to release you."
"You're the master," I replied, looking steadily at him.
"But may I ask you one question?"
"None, sir."
There was no way to resist this commanding order.
It would have been useless, I went down to the cabin where Ned Land and Conseil were.
I told them the Captain's decision, You can guess how the Canadian received this news.
But there was no time for argument.
Four of the crew were waiting at the door.
They led us to the cell where we had spent our first night on board the Nautilus.
Ned Land wanted to complain, but the door was shut on him.
"Will master tell me what this means?" asked Conseil.
I told my companions what had happened.
They were as surprised as I was.
They also had no idea how to explain it.
Meanwhile, I was lost in my own thoughts.
I could think of nothing but the strange fear on the Captain's face.
I couldn't explain it at all, My thoughts were interrupted by these words from Ned Land,
"Hey, breakfast is ready!"
And indeed the table was set, neatly arranged with plates, cutlery, and steaming bowls.
Clearly, Captain Nemo had given this order at the same time that he had increased the speed of the Nautilus.
"Will master let me make a suggestion?" asked Conseil.
"Yes, my boy."
"Well, it's that master should have breakfast. It's wise, because we don't know what might happen."
"You're right, Conseil."
"Unfortunately," said Ned Land, "they have only given us the ship's food."
"Friend Ned," asked Conseil, "what would you have said if the breakfast had been completely forgotten?"
This little argument stopped the harpooner's loud complaints for the moment.
We sat down at the table, we ate the meal in silence.
Just then, the glowing light that lit the cell went out.
It left us in total darkness, Ned Land soon fell asleep.
What surprised me was that Conseil also fell into a deep sleep.
I was thinking about what could have caused this strong sleepiness.
Then I felt my brain becoming dull.
Even though I tried to keep my eyes open, they closed.
A painful suspicion came over me, Clearly, sleeping drugs had been mixed with the food we had just eaten.
Being locked up wasn't enough to hide Captain Nemo's plans from us.
Sleep was more necessary, then I heard the panels close.
The movement of the sea, which caused a slight rolling, stopped.
Had the Nautilus left the surface of the ocean?
Had she gone back to the still bed of water?
I tried to fight sleep, it was impossible.
My breathing became weak, I felt a deadly cold freeze my stiff and half-paralyzed limbs.
My eyelids, like heavy caps, fell over my eyes.
I couldn't lift them, a sick sleep, full of visions, took away my being.
Then the visions disappeared and left me in complete unconsciousness.