A Pearl Of Ten Millions
:
PART TWO
The next morning at four o'clock I was awakened by the steward whom
Captain Nemo had placed at my service. I rose hurriedly, dressed, and
went into the saloon.
Captain Nemo was awaiting me.
"M. Aronnax," said he, "are you ready to start?"
"I am ready."
"Then please to follow me."
"And my companions, Captain?"
They have been told and are waiting."
"Are we not to put on our diver's dresses?" asked I.
"Not yet. I have not allowed the Nautilus to come too near this coast,
and we are some distance from the Manaar Bank; but the boat is ready,
and will take us to the exact point of disembarking, which will save us
a long way. It carries our diving apparatus, which we will put on when
we begin our submarine journey."
Captain Nemo conducted me to the central staircase, which led on the
platform. Ned and Conseil were already there, delighted at the idea of
the "pleasure party" which was preparing. Five sailors from the
Nautilus, with their oars, waited in the boat, which had been made fast
against the side.
The night was still dark. Layers of clouds covered the sky, allowing
but few stars to be seen. I looked on the side where the land lay, and
saw nothing but a dark line enclosing three parts of the horizon, from
south-west to north west. The Nautilus, having returned during the
night up the western coast of Ceylon, was now west of the bay, or
rather gulf, formed by the mainland and the Island of Manaar. There,
under the dark waters, stretched the pintadine bank, an inexhaustible
field of pearls, the length of which is more than twenty miles.
Captain Nemo, Ned Land, Conseil, and I took our places in the stern of
the boat. The master went to the tiller; his four companions leaned on
their oars, the painter was cast off, and we sheered off.
The boat went towards the south; the oarsmen did not hurry. I noticed
that their strokes, strong in the water, only followed each other every
ten seconds, according to the method generally adopted in the navy.
Whilst the craft was running by its own velocity, the liquid drops
struck the dark depths of the waves crisply like spats of melted lead.
A little billow, spreading wide, gave a slight roll to the boat, and
some samphire reeds flapped before it.
We were silent. What was Captain Nemo thinking of? Perhaps of the
land he was approaching, and which he found too near to him, contrary
to the Canadian's opinion, who thought it too far off. As to Conseil,
he was merely there from curiosity.
About half-past five the first tints on the horizon showed the upper
line of coast more distinctly. Flat enough in the east, it rose a
little to the south. Five miles still lay between us, and it was
indistinct owing to the mist on the water. At six o'clock it became
suddenly daylight, with that rapidity peculiar to tropical regions,
which know neither dawn nor twilight. The solar rays pierced the
curtain of clouds, piled up on the eastern horizon, and the radiant orb
rose rapidly. I saw land distinctly, with a few trees scattered here
and there. The boat neared Manaar Island, which was rounded to the
south. Captain Nemo rose from his seat and watched the sea.
At a sign from him the anchor was dropped, but the chain scarcely ran,
for it was little more than a yard deep, and this spot was one of the
highest points of the bank of pintadines.
"Here we are, M. Aronnax," said Captain Nemo. "You see that enclosed
bay? Here, in a month will be assembled the numerous fishing boats of
the exporters, and these are the waters their divers will ransack so
boldly. Happily, this bay is well situated for that kind of fishing.
It is sheltered from the strongest winds; the sea is never very rough
here, which makes it favourable for the diver's work. We will now put
on our dresses, and begin our walk."
I did not answer, and, while watching the suspected waves, began with
the help of the sailors to put on my heavy sea-dress. Captain Nemo and
my companions were also dressing. None of the Nautilus men were to
accompany us on this new excursion.
Soon we were enveloped to the throat in india-rubber clothing; the air
apparatus fixed to our backs by braces. As to the Ruhmkorff apparatus,
there was no necessity for it. Before putting my head into the copper
cap, I had asked the question of the Captain.
"They would be useless," he replied. "We are going to no great depth,
and the solar rays will be enough to light our walk. Besides, it would
not be prudent to carry the electric light in these waters; its
brilliancy might attract some of the dangerous inhabitants of the coast
most inopportunely."
As Captain Nemo pronounced these words, I turned to Conseil and Ned
Land. But my two friends had already encased their heads in the metal
cap, and they could neither hear nor answer.
One last question remained to ask of Captain Nemo.
"And our arms?" asked I; "our guns?"
"Guns! What for? Do not mountaineers attack the bear with a dagger in
their hand, and is not steel surer than lead? Here is a strong blade;
put it in your belt, and we start."
I looked at my companions; they were armed like us, and, more than
that, Ned Land was brandishing an enormous harpoon, which he had placed
in the boat before leaving the Nautilus.
Then, following the Captain's example, I allowed myself to be dressed
in the heavy copper helmet, and our reservoirs of air were at once in
activity. An instant after we were landed, one after the other, in
about two yards of water upon an even sand. Captain Nemo made a sign
with his hand, and we followed him by a gentle declivity till we
disappeared under the waves.
Over our feet, like coveys of snipe in a bog, rose shoals of fish, of
the genus monoptera, which have no other fins but their tail. I
recognized the Javanese, a real serpent two and a half feet long, of a
livid colour underneath, and which might easily be mistaken for a
conger eel if it were not for the golden stripes on its side. In the
genus stromateus, whose bodies are very flat and oval, I saw some of
the most brilliant colours, carrying their dorsal fin like a scythe; an
excellent eating fish, which, dried and pickled, is known by the name
of Karawade; then some tranquebars, belonging to the genus
apsiphoroides, whose body is covered with a shell cuirass of eight
longitudinal plates.
The heightening sun lit the mass of waters more and more. The soil
changed by degrees. To the fine sand succeeded a perfect causeway of
boulders, covered with a carpet of molluscs and zoophytes. Amongst the
specimens of these branches I noticed some placenae, with thin unequal
shells, a kind of ostracion peculiar to the Red Sea and the Indian
Ocean; some orange lucinae with rounded shells; rockfish three feet and
a half long, which raised themselves under the waves like hands ready
to seize one. There were also some panopyres, slightly luminous; and
lastly, some oculines, like magnificent fans, forming one of the
richest vegetations of these seas.
In the midst of these living plants, and under the arbours of the
hydrophytes, were layers of clumsy articulates, particularly some
raninae, whose carapace formed a slightly rounded triangle; and some
horrible looking parthenopes.
At about seven o'clock we found ourselves at last surveying the
oyster-banks on which the pearl-oysters are reproduced by millions.
Captain Nemo pointed with his hand to the enormous heap of oysters; and
I could well understand that this mine was inexhaustible, for Nature's
creative power is far beyond man's instinct of destruction. Ned Land,
faithful to his instinct, hastened to fill a net which he carried by
his side with some of the finest specimens. But we could not stop. We
must follow the Captain, who seemed to guide him self by paths known
only to himself. The ground was sensibly rising, and sometimes, on
holding up my arm, it was above the surface of the sea. Then the level
of the bank would sink capriciously. Often we rounded high rocks
scarped into pyramids. In their dark fractures huge crustacea, perched
upon their high claws like some war-machine, watched us with fixed
eyes, and under our feet crawled various kinds of annelides.
At this moment there opened before us a large grotto dug in a
picturesque heap of rocks and carpeted with all the thick warp of the
submarine flora. At first it seemed very dark to me. The solar rays
seemed to be extinguished by successive gradations, until its vague
transparency became nothing more than drowned light. Captain Nemo
entered; we followed. My eyes soon accustomed themselves to this
relative state of darkness. I could distinguish the arches springing
capriciously from natural pillars, standing broad upon their granite
base, like the heavy columns of Tuscan architecture. Why had our
incomprehensible guide led us to the bottom of this submarine crypt? I
was soon to know. After descending a rather sharp declivity, our feet
trod the bottom of a kind of circular pit. There Captain Nemo stopped,
and with his hand indicated an object I had not yet perceived. It was
an oyster of extraordinary dimensions, a gigantic tridacne, a goblet
which could have contained a whole lake of holy-water, a basin the
breadth of which was more than two yards and a half, and consequently
larger than that ornamenting the saloon of the Nautilus. I approached
this extraordinary mollusc. It adhered by its filaments to a table of
granite, and there, isolated, it developed itself in the calm waters of
the grotto. I estimated the weight of this tridacne at 600 lb. Such
an oyster would contain 30 lb. of meat; and one must have the stomach
of a Gargantua to demolish some dozens of them.
Captain Nemo was evidently acquainted with the existence of this
bivalve, and seemed to have a particular motive in verifying the actual
state of this tridacne. The shells were a little open; the Captain
came near and put his dagger between to prevent them from closing; then
with his hand he raised the membrane with its fringed edges, which
formed a cloak for the creature. There, between the folded plaits, I
saw a loose pearl, whose size equalled that of a coco-nut. Its globular
shape, perfect clearness, and admirable lustre made it altogether a
jewel of inestimable value. Carried away by my curiosity, I stretched
out my hand to seize it, weigh it, and touch it; but the Captain
stopped me, made a sign of refusal, and quickly withdrew his dagger,
and the two shells closed suddenly. I then understood Captain Nemo's
intention. In leaving this pearl hidden in the mantle of the tridacne
he was allowing it to grow slowly. Each year the secretions of the
mollusc would add new concentric circles. I estimated its value at
L500,000 at least.
After ten minutes Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. I thought he had
halted previously to returning. No; by a gesture he bade us crouch
beside him in a deep fracture of the rock, his hand pointed to one part
of the liquid mass, which I watched attentively.
About five yards from me a shadow appeared, and sank to the ground.
The disquieting idea of sharks shot through my mind, but I was
mistaken; and once again it was not a monster of the ocean that we had
anything to do with.
It was a man, a living man, an Indian, a fisherman, a poor devil who, I
suppose, had come to glean before the harvest. I could see the bottom
of his canoe anchored some feet above his head. He dived and went up
successively. A stone held between his feet, cut in the shape of a
sugar loaf, whilst a rope fastened him to his boat, helped him to
descend more rapidly. This was all his apparatus. Reaching the
bottom, about five yards deep, he went on his knees and filled his bag
with oysters picked up at random. Then he went up, emptied it, pulled
up his stone, and began the operation once more, which lasted thirty
seconds.
The diver did not see us. The shadow of the rock hid us from sight.
And how should this poor Indian ever dream that men, beings like
himself, should be there under the water watching his movements and
losing no detail of the fishing? Several times he went up in this way,
and dived again. He did not carry away more than ten at each plunge,
for he was obliged to pull them from the bank to which they adhered by
means of their strong byssus. And how many of those oysters for which
he risked his life had no pearl in them! I watched him closely; his
manoeuvres were regular; and for the space of half an hour no danger
appeared to threaten him.
I was beginning to accustom myself to the sight of this interesting
fishing, when suddenly, as the Indian was on the ground, I saw him make
a gesture of terror, rise, and make a spring to return to the surface
of the sea.
I understood his dread. A gigantic shadow appeared just above the
unfortunate diver. It was a shark of enormous size advancing
diagonally, his eyes on fire, and his jaws open. I was mute with
horror and unable to move.
The voracious creature shot towards the Indian, who threw himself on
one side to avoid the shark's fins; but not its tail, for it struck his
chest and stretched him on the ground.
This scene lasted but a few seconds: the shark returned, and, turning
on his back, prepared himself for cutting the Indian in two, when I saw
Captain Nemo rise suddenly, and then, dagger in hand, walk straight to
the monster, ready to fight face to face with him. The very moment the
shark was going to snap the unhappy fisherman in two, he perceived his
new adversary, and, turning over, made straight towards him.
I can still see Captain Nemo's position. Holding himself well
together, he waited for the shark with admirable coolness; and, when it
rushed at him, threw himself on one side with wonderful quickness,
avoiding the shock, and burying his dagger deep into its side. But it
was not all over. A terrible combat ensued.
The shark had seemed to roar, if I might say so. The blood rushed in
torrents from its wound. The sea was dyed red, and through the opaque
liquid I could distinguish nothing more. Nothing more until the moment
when, like lightning, I saw the undaunted Captain hanging on to one of
the creature's fins, struggling, as it were, hand to hand with the
monster, and dealing successive blows at his enemy, yet still unable to
give a decisive one.
The shark's struggles agitated the water with such fury that the
rocking threatened to upset me.
I wanted to go to the Captain's assistance, but, nailed to the spot
with horror, I could not stir.
I saw the haggard eye; I saw the different phases of the fight. The
Captain fell to the earth, upset by the enormous mass which leant upon
him. The shark's jaws opened wide, like a pair of factory shears, and
it would have been all over with the Captain; but, quick as thought,
harpoon in hand, Ned Land rushed towards the shark and struck it with
its sharp point.
The waves were impregnated with a mass of blood. They rocked under the
shark's movements, which beat them with indescribable fury. Ned Land
had not missed his aim. It was the monster's death-rattle. Struck to
the heart, it struggled in dreadful convulsions, the shock of which
overthrew Conseil.
But Ned Land had disentangled the Captain, who, getting up without any
wound, went straight to the Indian, quickly cut the cord which held him
to his stone, took him in his arms, and, with a sharp blow of his heel,
mounted to the surface.
We all three followed in a few seconds, saved by a miracle, and reached
the fisherman's boat.
Captain Nemo's first care was to recall the unfortunate man to life
again. I did not think he could succeed. I hoped so, for the poor
creature's immersion was not long; but the blow from the shark's tail
might have been his death-blow.
Happily, with the Captain's and Conseil's sharp friction, I saw
consciousness return by degrees. He opened his eyes. What was his
surprise, his terror even, at seeing four great copper heads leaning
over him! And, above all, what must he have thought when Captain Nemo,
drawing from the pocket of his dress a bag of pearls, placed it in his
hand! This munificent charity from the man of the waters to the poor
Cingalese was accepted with a trembling hand. His wondering eyes
showed that he knew not to what super-human beings he owed both fortune
and life.
At a sign from the Captain we regained the bank, and, following the
road already traversed, came in about half an hour to the anchor which
held the canoe of the Nautilus to the earth.
Once on board, we each, with the help of the sailors, got rid of the
heavy copper helmet.
Captain Nemo's first word was to the Canadian.
"Thank you, Master Land," said he.
"It was in revenge, Captain," replied Ned Land. "I owed you that."
A ghastly smile passed across the Captain's lips, and that was all.
"To the Nautilus," said he.
The boat flew over the waves. Some minutes after we met the shark's
dead body floating. By the black marking of the extremity of its fins,
I recognised the terrible melanopteron of the Indian Seas, of the
species of shark so properly called. It was more than twenty-five feet
long; its enormous mouth occupied one-third of its body. It was an
adult, as was known by its six rows of teeth placed in an isosceles
triangle in the upper jaw.
Whilst I was contemplating this inert mass, a dozen of these voracious
beasts appeared round the boat; and, without noticing us, threw
themselves upon the dead body and fought with one another for the
pieces.
At half-past eight we were again on board the Nautilus. There I
reflected on the incidents which had taken place in our excursion to
the Manaar Bank.
Two conclusions I must inevitably draw from it--one bearing upon the
unparalleled courage of Captain Nemo, the other upon his devotion to a
human being, a representative of that race from which he fled beneath
the sea. Whatever he might say, this strange man had not yet succeeded
in entirely crushing his heart.
When I made this observation to him, he answered in a slightly moved
tone:
"That Indian, sir, is an inhabitant of an oppressed country; and I am
still, and shall be, to my last breath, one of them!"