menu_book Chapter 41

CHAPTER 41. From Cape Horn to the Amazon. How I got onto the platform, I'm unable to say. Perhaps the Canadian transferred me there. But I could breathe, I could inhale the life-giving sea air.

Next to me, my two companions were getting tipsy on the fresh oxygen particles. Poor souls who have suffered from long starvation mustn't pounce heedlessly on the first food given them. We, on the other hand, didn't have to practice such moderation. we could suck the atoms from the air by the lung-fall, and it was the breeze, the breeze itself, that poured into us this luxurious intoxication. Ah! Conceal was putting in. What fine oxygen! Let the master have no fears about breathing. There's enough for everyone.

As for Ned Land, he didn't say a word, but his wide-open jaws would have scared off a shark. and what powerful inhalations the canadian drew like a furnace going full blast our strength returned promptly and when i looked around i saw that we were alone on the platform no crewmen not even captain nemo those strange seamen on the nautilus were content with the oxygen circulating inside not one of them had come up to enjoy the open air the first words i pronounced were words of appreciation and gratitude to my two companions ned and conceal had kept me alive during the final hours of our long death throes but no expression of thanks could repay them fully for such devotion good lord professor ned lamb answered me don't mention it what did we do that's so praiseworthy not a thing it was a question of simple arithmetic your life is worth more than ours so he had to save it no ned i replied it isn't worth more nobody could be better than a kind and generous man like yourself

all right all right the canadian repeated in embarrassment and you my gallant conceal you suffered a great deal not too much to be candid with master i was lacking a few thoughtfuls of air but i would have gotten by besides when i saw must have fainted in me it left me without the slightest desire to breathe it took my breath away in a manner of confounded by the slaps into banality conceal left his sentence hanging my friends i replied very moot we're bound to each other for ever and i'm deeply indebted to you which i'll take advantage of the canadian shot back eh conceal put in yes netherlands went on you're going to pay your debt by coming with me when i leave this infernal nautilus by the way conceal said are we going in a favourable direction yes i replied because we're going in the direction of the sun and here the sun is due north sure ledleon went on but it remains to be seen whether we'll make for the atlantic or the pacific in other words whether we'll end up in well-travelled or deserted seas

i had no reply to this and i feared that captain nema wouldn't take us homeward but rather into that huge ocean washing the shores of both asia and america in this way he would complete his underwater tour of the world going back to those seas where the nautilus enjoyed the greatest freedom but if we returned to the pacific far from every populated shore what would happen to ned land's plans we would soon settle this important point the nautilus travelled swiftly soon we had cleared the antarctic circle plus the promontory of cape horn we were abreast of the tip of south america by march thirty first at seven o'clock in the evening by then all our past sufferings were forgotten the memory of that imprisonment under the ice faded from our minds we had thoughts only of the future captain nemo no longer appeared neither in the lounge nor on the platform the positions reported each day on the world map were put there by the chief officer and they enabled me to determine the nautilus's exact heading now then that evening it became obvious much to my satisfaction that we were returning north by the atlantic route

i shared the results of my observations with the canadian and conceal that's good news the canadian replied but where's the nautilus going i'm unable to say ned after the south pole does our captain want to tackle the north pole then go back to the pacific by the notorious northwest passage i wouldn't double dare him conceal replied oh well the canadian said we'll give him the slip long before then in any event kusil added he is a superman that captain nemo and will never forget having known him especially once we've left him naderland shot back the next day april first when the nautilus rose to the surface of the waves a few minutes before noon we raised land to the west it was tierra del fuego the land of fire a name given it by early navigators after they saw numerous curls of smoke rising from the natives huts this land of fire forms a huge cluster of islands over thirty leagues long and eighty leagues wide extending between latitude fifty three degrees and fifty six degrees south and between longitude sixty seven degrees fifty and seventy seven degrees fifteen west

its coastline looked flat but high mountains rose in the distance i even thought i climbed samiento whose elevation is two thousand seventy metres above sea level a pyramid-shaped block of shale with a very sharp summit which depending on whether it's clear or veiled in vapour predicts fair weather or foul as ned lamb told me a first-class barometer my friend yes sir a natural barometer that didn't let me down when i navigated the narrows of the strait of magellan just then its peak appeared before us standing out distinctly against the background of the skies this forecast fair weather and so it proved going back under the waters the nautilus drew near the coast cruising along it for only a few miles through the large windows i could see long creepers and gigantic fucus plants bulb bearing seaweed of which the open sea at the pole had revealed a few specimens with their smooth viscous filaments they measured as much as three hundred metres long genuine cables more than an inch thick and very tough they're often used as mooring lines for ships another weed known by the name velpe and boasting four-foot leaves was crammed into the coral concretions and carpeted the ocean floor it served as both nest and nourishment for myriads of crustaceans and mollusks for crabs and cuttle-fish

here seals and otters could indulge in a sumptuous meal mixing meat from fish with vegetables from the sea like the english with their irish stews the nautilus passed over these lush luxuriant depths with tremendous speed near evening it approached the falkland islands whose rugged summits i recognised the next day the sea was of moderate depth so not without good reason i assume that these two islands plus the many islets surrounding them used to be part of the magellan coast-line the falkland islands were probably discovered by the famous navigator john davis who gave them the name davis southern islands later sir richard hawkins called them the maiden land after the blessed virgin subsequently at the beginning of the eighteenth century they were named the malouis by fishermen from st malo in brittany then finally dubbed the falklands by the english to whom they belong to-day in these waterways our nets brought up fine samples of algae in particular certain fucus plants whose roots were laden with the world's best mussels geese and duck alighted by the dozens on the platform and soon took their places in the ship's pantry as for fish i specifically observed some bony fish belonging to the goby genus especially some gudgeon two decimetres long sprinkled with whitish and yellow spots

i likewise marvelled at the numerous medusas including the most beautiful of their breed the compass jellyfish unique to the falkland seas some of these jellyfish were shaped like very smooth semi-spheric parasols with russet stripes and fringes of twelve neat festoons others looked like upside-down baskets from which wide leaves and long red twigs were gracefully trailing they swam with quiverings of their four-leaf-like arms letting the opulent tresses of their tentacles dangle in the drift i wanted to preserve a few specimens of these delicate zoophytes but they were merely clouds shadows illusions melting and evaporating outside their native element when the last tips of the falkland islands had disappeared below the horizon the nautilus submerged to a depth between twenty and twenty-five metres and went along the south american coast captain nemo didn't put in an appearance we didn't leave these patagonian waterways until april third sometimes cruising under the ocean sometimes on its surface the nautilus passed the wide estuary formed by the mouth of the rio de la plata and on april fourth we lay abreast of uruguay albeit fifty miles out

keeping to its northerly heading it followed the long wind windings of south america by then we had fared sixteen thousand leagues since coming on board in the seas of japan near eleven o'clock in the morning we cut the tropic of capricorn on the thirty-seventh meridian passing well out from cape thrill much to midland's displeasure captain limo had no liking for the neighbourhood of brazil's popular shores because he shot by with dizzying speed not even the swiftest fish or birds could keep up with us and the natural curiosities in these seas completely eluded our observation this speed was maintained for several days and on the evening of april ninth we raised south america's easternmost tip cape saurok but then the nautilus veered away again and went looking for the lowest depths of an under-water valley gouged between this cape and sierra leone on the coast of africa abreast of the west indies this valley forks into two arms and to the north it ends in an enormous depression nine thousand metres deep from this locality to the lesser antymys the ocean's geologic profile features a steeply cut cliff six kilometres high

and abreast of the cape verde islands there's another wall just as imposing together these two barricades confine the whole submerged continent of atlantis the floor of this immense valley is made picturesque by mountains that furnish these under-water depths with scenic views this description is based mostly on certain hand-drawn charts kept in the nautilus's library charts obviously rendered by captain nemo himself from his own personal observations for two days we visited these deep and deserted waters by means of our slanting fins the nautilus would do long diagonal dives that took us to every level but on april eleventh it rose suddenly and the shore reappeared at the mouth of the amazon river a huge estuary whose outflow is so considerable it desorced the sea over an area of several leagues we cut the equator twenty miles to the west lay guiana french territory where we could easily have taken refuge but the wind was blowing a strong gust and the furious billows would not allow us to face them in a mere scuff in a mere

no doubt ned land understood this because he said nothing to me for my part i made no allusion to his escape plans because i didn't want to push him into an attempt that was certain to misfire i was readily compensated for this delay by fascinating research during those two days of april eleventh to twelfth the nautilus didn't leave the surface of the sea and its trawl brought up a simply miraculous catch of zoophytes fish and reptiles some zoophytes were dredged up by the chain of our trawl most will lovely sea-anemone belonging to the family actinida including among other species the figtalis protexta native to this part of the ocean a small cylindrical trunk adorned with vertical lines mottled with red spots and crowned by a wondrous blossoming of tentacles as for mollusks they consisted of exhibits i had already observed turret snails olive shells of the tent olive species with neatly intersecting lines and russet spots standing out sharply against a flesh-coloured background fanciful spider conchs that looked like petrified scorpions transparent glass snails argonauts

some highly edible cuttle-fish and certain species of squid that the naturalists of antiquity classified with the flying-fish which are used chiefly as bait for catching as for the fish in these waterways i noticed various species that i hadn't yet had the opportunity to study among cartilaginous fish some brook lamprey a type of eel fifteen inches long head greenish fins violet back bluish-gray belly a silvery brown strewn with bright spots iris of the eye encircled in gold unusual animals that the amazon's current must have swept out to sea because their natural habitat is fresh water sting-rays the snout pointed the tail long slender and armed with an extensive jagged sting small one-metre sharks with grey and whitish hides their teeth arranged in several backward curving rows fish commonly known by the name carpet shark bat fish a sort of reddish isosceles triangle half a metre long whose pectoral fins are attached by fleshy extensions that make these fish look like bats although an appendage made of horn located near the nostrils earns them the nickname of sea unicorns

lastly a couple species of trigger fish the kukuyo whose stippled flanks glitter with a sparkling gold colour and the bright purple leather jacket whose hues glisten like a pigeon's throat i'll finish up this catalogue a little dry but quite accurate with the series of bony fish i discovered eels belonging to the genus apteronatus whose snow-white snout is very blunt the body painted a handsome black and armed with the very long sardines from the genus odontognathus like three decimetre pike shining with a bright silver glow guaranian mackerel furnished with two anal fins black-tinted rudder fish that you catch by using torches fish measuring two metres and boasting white firm plump meat that when fresh tastes like eel when dried like smoked salmon semi red rassy sporting scales only at the bases of their dorsal and anal fins grunts on which gold and silver mingle their lustre with that of ruby and topaz

yellow-tailed gilt head whose flesh is extremely dainty and whose phosphorescent properties give them away in the midst of the waters porgies tinted orange with slender tongues croakers with gold caudal fins black surgeon fish four-eyed fish from surinam etc this etc won't keep me from mentioning one more fish that conceal with good reason will long remember one of our nets had hauled up a type of very flat ray that weighed some twenty kilograms with its tail cut off it would have formed a perfect disc it was white underneath and reddish on top with big round spots of deep blue encircled in black its hide quite smooth and ending in a double-loved fin laid out on to the platform it kept struggling with convulsive movements trying to turn over making such efforts that its final lunge was about to flip it into the sea but conceal being very possessive of his fish rushed at it and before i could stop him he seized it with both hands instantly there he was thrown in his back legs in the air his body half paralysed and yelling oh sir sir will you help me but once in his life the poor lad didn't address me in the third person

the canadian and i sat him up we massaged his contracted arms and when he regained his five senses that eternal classifier mumbled in a broken voice class of cartilaginous fish order condocterigia with fixed gills sub order celacia vermili ragiforma genus electric ray yes my friend i answered it was an electric ray that put you in this deplorable state oh master entrust me on this koncel shot back i'll be revenged on that animal how i'll eat it which he did that same evening but strictly as retaliation because frankly it tasted like leather poor conceal had assaulted an electric ray of the most dangerous species the cumana living in a conducting medium such as water this bizarre animal can electrocute other fish from several metres away so great is the power of its electric organ an organ whose two chief surfaces measure at least twenty-seven square feet

during the course of the next day april twelfth the nautilus drew near the coast of dutch guiana by the mouth of the moroni river there several groups of sea cows were living in family units these were manatees which belonged to the order sirenia like the dugong and stelisk sea cow harmless and unaggressive these fine animals were six to seven metres long and must have weighed at least four thousand kilograms each i told ned land and conceal that far-seeing nature had given these mammals a major role to play in essence manatees like seals are designed to graze the under-water prairies destroying the clusters of weeds that obstruct the mouths of tropical rivers and do you know i added what happened since man has almost completely wiped out these beneficial races rotting weeds have poisoned the air and this poisoned air causes the yellow fever that devastates these wonderful countries this toxic vegetation is increased beneath the seas of the torrid zone so the disease spreads unchecked from the mouth of the rio de la plata to florida

and if professor tousanel is correct this plague is nothing compared to the scourge that will strike our descendants want the seas are depopulated of whales and seals by then crowded jellyfish squid and other devilfish the oceans will have become huge centres of infection because their waves will no longer possess those huge stomachs that god has entrusted with scouring the surface of the sea meanwhile without scorning these theories the nautilus's crew captured half a dozen manatees in essence it was an issue of stocking the larder with excellent red meat even better than beef or veal their hunting was not a fascinating sport the manatees let themselves be struck down without offering any resistance several thousand kilos of meat were hauled below to be dried and stored the same day an odd fishing practice further increased the nautilus stores so full of game were these seas our trawl brought up in its meshes a number of fish whose heads were topped by little oval slabs with fleshy edges these were succour-fish from the third family of the subrachian malacopterygia these flap discs on their heads consist of cross-wire plates of movable cartilage between which the animals can create a vacuum enabling them to stick to objects like suction cups

the remoras i had observed in the mediterranean were related to this species but the creature at issue here was an echinus osteocara unique to this sea right after catching them our seamen dropped them in buckets of water its fishing finish the nautilus drew nearer to the coast in this locality a number of sea turtles were sleeping on the surface of the waves it would have been difficult to capture these valuable reptiles because they wake up with the slightest sound and their solid carapaces are harpoon proof but our sucker fish would effect their capture with extraordinary certainty and precision in truth this animal is a living fish-hook promising wealth and happiness to the greenest fishermen in the business the nautilus's men attached to each fish's tail a ring that was big enough not to hamper its movements and to this ring a long rope whose other end was moored on board thrown into the sea the sucker fish immediately began to play their roles going and fastening themselves under the breastplates of the turtles their tenacity was so great they would rip apart rather than let go they were hauled in still sticking to the turtles that came aboard with them

in this way we caught several loggerheads reptiles a metre wide and weighing two hundred kilos they are extremely valuable because of their carapaces which are covered with big slabs of horn thin brown transparent with white and yellow markings besides they were excellent from an edible viewpoint with an exquisite favour comparable to the green turtle this fishing ended our stay in the waterways of the amazon and that evening the nautilus took to the high seas once more chapter forty one