CHAPTER NINETEEN

The Gulf Stream

None of us can ever forget that horrible battle on the 20th of April. I have written and rewritten that terrible event, so no one will ever forget that terrible incident. I have read the story to Conseil and Ned Land, who have said that the story is correct.

I also said that Captain Nemo cried while watching the waves after the great battle with the giant squids. He felt a great deal of pain. It was the second companion he had lost since our arrival onboard, and what a terrible death! That poor friend, crushed, thrown, drowned by the terrible arms of a giant squid. He will not rest peacefully with his comrades in the coral cemetery! In that man's last attempt at being rescued, he had returned to his mother language of French, desperate in his last moments alive.

Captain Nemo entered his room and I saw him no more for quite some time. He was the soul of his invention, and it floated with no direction for the next ten days, as its captain was too upset to take control. Finally, on the 1st of May, the Nautilus continued its path north. We were then following the world's largest river to sea, the Gulf Stream. This underwater river flows in the middle of the Atlantic with its own speed, fish, and temperature. Other waters do not mix with this great sea river. The Nautilus was now flowing in this river.

By the 8th of May, we were near the coast of North Carolina. The width of the Gulf Stream at coast is nearly seventy-five miles, and its depth is over six hundred feet. The Nautilus still traveled randomly. Its captain seemed to have abandoned it. I thought that we could possibly escape now. Indeed, the coastal cities nearby would be easy to get to, perhaps New York or Boston. It was now a favorable opportunity, though we were still nearly thirty miles away from the American coast. In addition, the weather was very bad. We were near the coast with the worst winds and storms.

"Professor," Ned Land said to me one day, "this journey must end. I must leave this submarine. Captain Nemo will soon leave land, and I will not follow him to the North Pole! I would rather throw myself into the sea! I will not stay here!"

"Well, Ned, do you wish me to speak with Captain Nemo about his plans for us?"

"Yes, sir."

That evening, I went to Captain Nemo's room. I knocked on the door twice, but I heard nothing. I then carefully opened the door. The captain was there. He quickly looked up at me, saying, "What do you want?"

"To speak to you, Captain."

"But I am busy. Please leave me."

"Sir," I said coldly, "I have come to speak to you about an important matter."

Before I could continue, the captain showed me a document written in several languages. "It contains my findings during my studies of the sea. I have signed it with my name, as well as explained the history of my life. The last survivor of the Nautilus will throw this into the sea."

"But Captain, you cannot be sure that anyone will reach this document," I explained.

"What did you come to speak to me about," he asked, disregarding my comment.

"I came to speak to you about our freedom, as my companions and I have lived on the Nautilus for over seven months."

"Professor Aronnax, I will explain to you one last time that whoever enters the Nautilus must never leave it. Now, please leave me, and never ask me such a question again."

I explained this conversation to my companions, and we decided that, though the weather was bad, we must leave as soon as possible.

"We will escape near the coast of New York. We must escape!" exclaimed Ned Land.

Soon after, however, the weather became quite frightening, and we realized a hurricane was coming soon.

(end of section)