A Submarine Forest
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PART ONE
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
We had at last arrived on the borders of this forest, doubtless one of
the finest of Captain Nemo's immense domains. He looked upon it as his
own, and considered he had the same right over it that the first men
had in the first days of the world. And, indeed, who would have
disputed with him the possession of this submarine property? What
other hardier pioneer would come, hatchet in hand, to cut down the dark
copses
This forest was composed of large tree-plants; and the moment we
penetrated under its vast arcades, I was struck by the singular
position of their branches--a position I had not yet observed.
Not an herb which carpeted the ground, not a branch which clothed the
trees, was either broken or bent, nor did they extend horizontally; all
stretched up to the surface of the ocean. Not a filament, not a
ribbon, however thin they might be, but kept as straight as a rod of
iron. The fuci and llianas grew in rigid perpendicular lines, due to
the density of the element which had produced them. Motionless yet,
when bent to one side by the hand, they directly resumed their former
position. Truly it was the region of perpendicularity!
I soon accustomed myself to this fantastic position, as well as to the
comparative darkness which surrounded us. The soil of the forest
seemed covered with sharp blocks, difficult to avoid. The submarine
flora struck me as being very perfect, and richer even than it would
have been in the arctic or tropical zones, where these productions are
not so plentiful. But for some minutes I involuntarily confounded the
genera, taking animals for plants; and who would not have been
mistaken? The fauna and the flora are too closely allied in this
submarine world.
These plants are self-propagated, and the principle of their existence
is in the water, which upholds and nourishes them. The greater number,
instead of leaves, shoot forth blades of capricious shapes, comprised
within a scale of colours pink, carmine, green, olive, fawn, and brown.
"Curious anomaly, fantastic element!" said an ingenious naturalist, "in
which the animal kingdom blossoms, and the vegetable does not!"
In about an hour Captain Nemo gave the signal to halt; I, for my part,
was not sorry, and we stretched ourselves under an arbour of alariae,
the long thin blades of which stood up like arrows.
This short rest seemed delicious to me; there was nothing wanting but
the charm of conversation; but, impossible to speak, impossible to
answer, I only put my great copper head to Conseil's. I saw the worthy
fellow's eyes glistening with delight, and, to show his satisfaction,
he shook himself in his breastplate of air, in the most comical way in
the world.
After four hours of this walking, I was surprised not to find myself
dreadfully hungry. How to account for this state of the stomach I
could not tell. But instead I felt an insurmountable desire to sleep,
which happens to all divers. And my eyes soon closed behind the thick
glasses, and I fell into a heavy slumber, which the movement alone had
prevented before. Captain Nemo and his robust companion, stretched in
the clear crystal, set us the example.
How long I remained buried in this drowsiness I cannot judge, but, when
I woke, the sun seemed sinking towards the horizon. Captain Nemo had
already risen, and I was beginning to stretch my limbs, when an
unexpected apparition brought me briskly to my feet.
A few steps off, a monstrous sea-spider, about thirty-eight inches
high, was watching me with squinting eyes, ready to spring upon me.
Though my diver's dress was thick enough to defend me from the bite of
this animal, I could not help shuddering with horror. Conseil and the
sailor of the Nautilus awoke at this moment. Captain Nemo pointed out
the hideous crustacean, which a blow from the butt end of the gun
knocked over, and I saw the horrible claws of the monster writhe in
terrible convulsions. This incident reminded me that other animals
more to be feared might haunt these obscure depths, against whose
attacks my diving-dress would not protect me. I had never thought of
it before, but I now resolved to be upon my guard. Indeed, I thought
that this halt would mark the termination of our walk; but I was
mistaken, for, instead of returning to the Nautilus, Captain Nemo
continued his bold excursion. The ground was still on the incline, its
declivity seemed to be getting greater, and to be leading us to greater
depths. It must have been about three o'clock when we reached a narrow
valley, between high perpendicular walls, situated about seventy-five
fathoms deep. Thanks to the perfection of our apparatus, we were
forty-five fathoms below the limit which nature seems to have imposed
on man as to his submarine excursions.
I say seventy-five fathoms, though I had no instrument by which to
judge the distance. But I knew that even in the clearest waters the
solar rays could not penetrate further. And accordingly the darkness
deepened. At ten paces not an object was visible. I was groping my
way, when I suddenly saw a brilliant white light. Captain Nemo had
just put his electric apparatus into use; his companion did the same,
and Conseil and I followed their example. By turning a screw I
established a communication between the wire and the spiral glass, and
the sea, lit by our four lanterns, was illuminated for a circle of
thirty-six yards.
As we walked I thought the light of our Ruhmkorff apparatus could not
fail to draw some inhabitant from its dark couch. But if they did
approach us, they at least kept at a respectful distance from the
hunters. Several times I saw Captain Nemo stop, put his gun to his
shoulder, and after some moments drop it and walk on. At last, after
about four hours, this marvellous excursion came to an end. A wall of
superb rocks, in an imposing mass, rose before us, a heap of gigantic
blocks, an enormous, steep granite shore, forming dark grottos, but
which presented no practicable slope; it was the prop of the Island of
Crespo. It was the earth! Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. A gesture
of his brought us all to a halt; and, however desirous I might be to
scale the wall, I was obliged to stop. Here ended Captain Nemo's
domains. And he would not go beyond them. Further on was a portion of
the globe he might not trample upon.
The return began. Captain Nemo had returned to the head of his little
band, directing their course without hesitation. I thought we were not
following the same road to return to the Nautilus. The new road was
very steep, and consequently very painful. We approached the surface
of the sea rapidly. But this return to the upper strata was not so
sudden as to cause relief from the pressure too rapidly, which might
have produced serious disorder in our organisation, and brought on
internal lesions, so fatal to divers. Very soon light reappeared and
grew, and, the sun being low on the horizon, the refraction edged the
different objects with a spectral ring. At ten yards and a half deep,
we walked amidst a shoal of little fishes of all kinds, more numerous
than the birds of the air, and also more agile; but no aquatic game
worthy of a shot had as yet met our gaze, when at that moment I saw the
Captain shoulder his gun quickly, and follow a moving object into the
shrubs. He fired; I heard a slight hissing, and a creature fell
stunned at some distance from us. It was a magnificent sea-otter, an
enhydrus, the only exclusively marine quadruped. This otter was five
feet long, and must have been very valuable. Its skin, chestnut-brown
above and silvery underneath, would have made one of those beautiful
furs so sought after in the Russian and Chinese markets: the fineness
and the lustre of its coat would certainly fetch L80. I admired this
curious mammal, with its rounded head ornamented with short ears, its
round eyes, and white whiskers like those of a cat, with webbed feet
and nails, and tufted tail. This precious animal, hunted and tracked
by fishermen, has now become very rare, and taken refuge chiefly in the
northern parts of the Pacific, or probably its race would soon become
extinct.
Captain Nemo's companion took the beast, threw it over his shoulder,
and we continued our journey. For one hour a plain of sand lay
stretched before us. Sometimes it rose to within two yards and some
inches of the surface of the water. I then saw our image clearly
reflected, drawn inversely, and above us appeared an identical group
reflecting our movements and our actions; in a word, like us in every
point, except that they walked with their heads downward and their feet
in the air.
Another effect I noticed, which was the passage of thick clouds which
formed and vanished rapidly; but on reflection I understood that these
seeming clouds were due to the varying thickness of the reeds at the
bottom, and I could even see the fleecy foam which their broken tops
multiplied on the water, and the shadows of large birds passing above
our heads, whose rapid flight I could discern on the surface of the sea.
On this occasion I was witness to one of the finest gun shots which
ever made the nerves of a hunter thrill. A large bird of great breadth
of wing, clearly visible, approached, hovering over us. Captain Nemo's
companion shouldered his gun and fired, when it was only a few yards
above the waves. The creature fell stunned, and the force of its fall
brought it within the reach of dexterous hunter's grasp. It was an
albatross of the finest kind.
Our march had not been interrupted by this incident. For two hours we
followed these sandy plains, then fields of algae very disagreeable to
cross. Candidly, I could do no more when I saw a glimmer of light,
which, for a half mile, broke the darkness of the waters. It was the
lantern of the Nautilus. Before twenty minutes were over we should be
on board, and I should be able to breathe with ease, for it seemed that
my reservoir supplied air very deficient in oxygen. But I did not
reckon on an accidental meeting which delayed our arrival for some time.
I had remained some steps behind, when I presently saw Captain Nemo
coming hurriedly towards me. With his strong hand he bent me to the
ground, his companion doing the same to Conseil. At first I knew not
what to think of this sudden attack, but I was soon reassured by seeing
the Captain lie down beside me, and remain immovable.
I was stretched on the ground, just under the shelter of a bush of
algae, when, raising my head, I saw some enormous mass, casting
phosphorescent gleams, pass blusteringly by.
My blood froze in my veins as I recognised two formidable sharks which
threatened us. It was a couple of tintoreas, terrible creatures, with
enormous tails and a dull glassy stare, the phosphorescent matter
ejected from holes pierced around the muzzle. Monstrous brutes! which
would crush a whole man in their iron jaws. I did not know whether
Conseil stopped to classify them; for my part, I noticed their silver
bellies, and their huge mouths bristling with teeth, from a very
unscientific point of view, and more as a possible victim than as a
naturalist.
Happily the voracious creatures do not see well. They passed without
seeing us, brushing us with their brownish fins, and we escaped by a
miracle from a danger certainly greater than meeting a tiger full-face
in the forest. Half an hour after, guided by the electric light we
reached the Nautilus. The outside door had been left open, and Captain
Nemo closed it as soon as we had entered the first cell. He then
pressed a knob. I heard the pumps working in the midst of the vessel,
I felt the water sinking from around me, and in a few moments the cell
was entirely empty. The inside door then opened, and we entered the
vestry.
There our diving-dress was taken off, not without some trouble, and,
fairly worn out from want of food and sleep, I returned to my room, in
great wonder at this surprising excursion at the bottom of the sea.