A Submarine Forest

: PART ONE
: 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.



More

;