CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Iceberg

The Nautilus continued sailing to the south with great speed. Did he wish to reach the South Pole? I did not think so, as every other expedition before the Nautilus had failed. In addition, the season was now becoming colder, as the 13th of March in the north corresponds to the 13th of September in the south, including the South Pole. For a number of days, the Nautilus remained on the surface of the water, and we soon saw large blocks of ice floating by. The closer we sailed to the south, the more floating islands of ice we saw, but the Nautilus sailed between the great masses of ice quite easily.

On the 15th of March, the captain told me that on a nearby piece of land, there were once a great number of seals living there, but selfish English and American whale catchers had killed all, both young and old. Therefore, no life existed in that region any longer; now there was nothing but silence and death.

As we sailed closer to the South Pole, I noticed more islands of ice in the water, making our path quite difficult. I often saw no exit for the submarine, but Captain Nemo would then find a new path through the icy water.

On the 16th of March, however, the ice islands blocked our path. This did not frighten the captain, however, as he continued to throw the Nautilus at the islands of ice, hoping to escape. On the 18th of March, however, after many attempts at escaping the ice, the captain realized the submarine was trapped.

"Well, sir, perhaps we are having difficulty with movement, but I know the Nautilus will be able to move further to the south."

"Further to the south?" I asked, looking at the captain.

"Yes, sir, it shall go to the South Pole."

I then asked the captain if he had ever traveled to the South Pole with the Nautilus before.

"No, sir," he replied, "but we will discover it together. Where others have failed, I will not. The Nautilus will go further south. Yes, we will go under the water to reach the South Pole."

I then understood his plans. If the surface of the sea was frozen, the lower depths still flow with running water, allowing us to continue our journey. During our journey, I saw icebergs nearly three hundred feet above the water, meaning that their depth below the water could be nearly nine hundred feet, but the Nautilus could easily travel under such depths.

"The only difficulty," explained the captain "is remaining underwater for several days without being able to return to the surface for air."

I now trusted the captain, and strongly believed we could reach the South Pole. I was eager to begin our journey, as was the captain. Soon enough, we were nine hundred feet below the surface, floating under the iceberg. The Nautilus went below that, however, sinking to nearly four hundred fathoms.

"We shall pass it," said Conseil.

"I believe we shall," I said eagerly.

The Nautilus was then moving at twenty-six miles an hour. If our speed continued, we would be at the South Pole in forty hours.

The next morning, the 19th of March, we were near the South Pole, and sailing towards the surface, as well. We were going to the surface at the South Pole! No! We then crashed into the bottom of the iceberg, still quite thick. There was now over three thousand feet of ice above us, one thousand above the surface of the water. Several times that day, the Nautilus attempted to break the surface, but failed. That night, the situation had not changed. I could not sleep that night, worrying about our frightening situation under the depths of the icy water. At three in the morning, I awoke to see that the lower surface of the iceberg was only fifty feet deep. We were only separated from the surface by one hundred fifty feet of ice.

That day at six in the morning, the 19th of March, the captain came into the sitting room with an eager look on his face.

"The sea is open!" he exclaimed.

(end of section)