CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Four Thousand Leagues Under the Pacific Ocean

The next morning, the 18th of November, I went up to the platform early, no longer feeling tired after the long sea adventure the day before. Captain Nemo soon appeared to take observations on our location, but said nothing to me. A few moments later, a number of other men came up to the platform, as well. They came from nations all over the world, but onboard the Nautilus, only used their mysterious language that I had heard the captain speak.

Just after I stepped back into the submarine, the captain turned to speak to me. "Professor Aronnax," he asked, "do you know the depth of the ocean?"

"I believe the depth in the Atlantic Ocean to be nearly four thousand fathoms, and about 1,200 fathoms in the Mediterranean, but the deepest levels of the sea are known to be in the South Atlantic Ocean, nearly 7,500 fathoms, or one and three quarters leagues"

"Well, Professor," replied the captain, "we shall show you areas deeper than that, I hope."

During the next few weeks, I saw the captain very little. Nearly every day, for a short time, the iron doors in the sitting room were opened, allowing us to observe the wonders of the sea. The Nautilus was traveling southeast, usually sailing between three hundred and four hundred and fifty feet below the surface of the water. By the 27th of November, we had traveled over 4,860 leagues from our starting point. From the 4th to the 11th of December, the Nautilus sailed over 2,000 miles.

On the 11th of December, I was busy reading while Conseil and Ned Land watched the sea through the glass windows in the sitting room. Conseil suddenly interrupted me.

"Will master come here for a moment?" he said.

"What is the matter, Conseil?"

"I want master to look at something."

I went to look, and discovered a sunken ship in the depths of the ocean. There were still bodies of those that were onboard, including the body of a young woman holding a child in her arms tightly. What a sight! Here, we were able to see the last moments of their lives. I then noticed hungry-looking sharks, curious about the human bodies. As the submarine turned, I saw the name of the ship—The Florida Sunderland.

(end of section)