Captain Nemo's Thunderbolt

: PART ONE
: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

We looked at the edge of the forest without rising, my hand stopping in

the action of putting it to my mouth, Ned Land's completing its office.



"Stones do not fall from the sky," remarked Conseil, "or they would

merit the name aerolites."



A second stone, carefully aimed, that made a savoury pigeon's leg fall

from Conseil's hand, gave still more weight to his observation. We all

three arose, shouldered our guns, and were ready to reply to any attack.



"Are they apes?" cried Ned Land.



"Very nearly--they are savages."



"To the boat!" I said, hurrying to the sea.



It was indeed necessary to beat a retreat, for about twenty natives

armed with bows and slings appeared on the skirts of a copse that

masked the horizon to the right, hardly a hundred steps from us.



Our boat was moored about sixty feet from us. The savages approached

us, not running, but making hostile demonstrations. Stones and arrows

fell thickly.



Ned Land had not wished to leave his provisions; and, in spite of his

imminent danger, his pig on one side and kangaroos on the other, he

went tolerably fast. In two minutes we were on the shore. To load the

boat with provisions and arms, to push it out to sea, and ship the

oars, was the work of an instant. We had not gone two cable-lengths,

when a hundred savages, howling and gesticulating, entered the water up

to their waists. I watched to see if their apparition would attract

some men from the Nautilus on to the platform. But no. The enormous

machine, lying off, was absolutely deserted.



Twenty minutes later we were on board. The panels were open. After

making the boat fast, we entered into the interior of the Nautilus.



I descended to the drawing-room, from whence I heard some chords.

Captain Nemo was there, bending over his organ, and plunged in a

musical ecstasy.



"Captain!"



He did not hear me.



"Captain!" I said, touching his hand.



He shuddered, and, turning round, said, "Ah! it is you, Professor?

Well, have you had a good hunt, have you botanised successfully?"



"Yes Captain; but we have unfortunately brought a troop of bipeds,

whose vicinity troubles me."



"What bipeds?"



"Savages."



"Savages!" he echoed, ironically. "So you are astonished, Professor,

at having set foot on a strange land and finding savages? Savages!

where are there not any? Besides, are they worse than others, these

whom you call savages?"



"But Captain----"



"How many have you counted?"



"A hundred at least."



"M. Aronnax," replied Captain Nemo, placing his fingers on the organ

stops, "when all the natives of Papua are assembled on this shore, the

Nautilus will have nothing to fear from their attacks."



The Captain's fingers were then running over the keys of the

instrument, and I remarked that he touched only the black keys, which

gave his melodies an essentially Scotch character. Soon he had

forgotten my presence, and had plunged into a reverie that I did not

disturb. I went up again on to the platform: night had already fallen;

for, in this low latitude, the sun sets rapidly and without twilight.

I could only see the island indistinctly; but the numerous fires,

lighted on the beach, showed that the natives did not think of leaving

it. I was alone for several hours, sometimes thinking of the

natives--but without any dread of them, for the imperturbable

confidence of the Captain was catching--sometimes forgetting them to

admire the splendours of the night in the tropics. My remembrances

went to France in the train of those zodiacal stars that would shine in

some hours' time. The moon shone in the midst of the constellations of

the zenith.



The night slipped away without any mischance, the islanders frightened

no doubt at the sight of a monster aground in the bay. The panels were

open, and would have offered an easy access to the interior of the

Nautilus.



At six o'clock in the morning of the 8th January I went up on to the

platform. The dawn was breaking. The island soon showed itself

through the dissipating fogs, first the shore, then the summits.



The natives were there, more numerous than on the day before--five or

six hundred perhaps--some of them, profiting by the low water, had come

on to the coral, at less than two cable-lengths from the Nautilus. I

distinguished them easily; they were true Papuans, with athletic

figures, men of good race, large high foreheads, large, but not broad

and flat, and white teeth. Their woolly hair, with a reddish tinge,

showed off on their black shining bodies like those of the Nubians.

From the lobes of their ears, cut and distended, hung chaplets of

bones. Most of these savages were naked. Amongst them, I remarked

some women, dressed from the hips to knees in quite a crinoline of

herbs, that sustained a vegetable waistband. Some chiefs had

ornamented their necks with a crescent and collars of glass beads, red

and white; nearly all were armed with bows, arrows, and shields and

carried on their shoulders a sort of net containing those round stones

which they cast from their slings with great skill. One of these

chiefs, rather near to the Nautilus, examined it attentively. He was,

perhaps, a "mado" of high rank, for he was draped in a mat of

banana-leaves, notched round the edges, and set off with brilliant

colours.



I could easily have knocked down this native, who was within a short

length; but I thought that it was better to wait for real hostile

demonstrations. Between Europeans and savages, it is proper for the

Europeans to parry sharply, not to attack.



During low water the natives roamed about near the Nautilus, but were

not troublesome; I heard them frequently repeat the word "Assai," and

by their gestures I understood that they invited me to go on land, an

invitation that I declined.



So that, on that day, the boat did not push off, to the great

displeasure of Master Land, who could not complete his provisions.



This adroit Canadian employed his time in preparing the viands and meat

that he had brought off the island. As for the savages, they returned

to the shore about eleven o'clock in the morning, as soon as the coral

tops began to disappear under the rising tide; but I saw their numbers

had increased considerably on the shore. Probably they came from the

neighbouring islands, or very likely from Papua. However, I had not

seen a single native canoe. Having nothing better to do, I thought of

dragging these beautiful limpid waters, under which I saw a profusion

of shells, zoophytes, and marine plants. Moreover, it was the last day

that the Nautilus would pass in these parts, if it float in open sea

the next day, according to Captain Nemo's promise.



I therefore called Conseil, who brought me a little light drag, very

like those for the oyster fishery. Now to work! For two hours we

fished unceasingly, but without bringing up any rarities. The drag was

filled with midas-ears, harps, melames, and particularly the most

beautiful hammers I have ever seen. We also brought up some sea-slugs,

pearl-oysters, and a dozen little turtles that were reserved for the

pantry on board.



But just when I expected it least, I put my hand on a wonder, I might

say a natural deformity, very rarely met with. Conseil was just

dragging, and his net came up filled with divers ordinary shells, when,

all at once, he saw me plunge my arm quickly into the net, to draw out

a shell, and heard me utter a cry.



"What is the matter, sir?" he asked in surprise. "Has master been

bitten?"



"No, my boy; but I would willingly have given a finger for my

discovery."



"What discovery?"



"This shell," I said, holding up the object of my triumph.



"It is simply an olive porphyry, genus olive, order of the

pectinibranchidae, class of gasteropods, sub-class mollusca."



"Yes, Conseil; but, instead of being rolled from right to left, this

olive turns from left to right."



"Is it possible?"





"Yes, my boy; it is a left shell."



Shells are all right-handed, with rare exceptions; and, when by chance

their spiral is left, amateurs are ready to pay their weight in gold.



Conseil and I were absorbed in the contemplation of our treasure, and I

was promising myself to enrich the museum with it, when a stone

unfortunately thrown by a native struck against, and broke, the

precious object in Conseil's hand. I uttered a cry of despair!

Conseil took up his gun, and aimed at a savage who was poising his

sling at ten yards from him. I would have stopped him, but his blow

took effect and broke the bracelet of amulets which encircled the arm

of the savage.



"Conseil!" cried I. "Conseil!"



"Well, sir! do you not see that the cannibal has commenced the attack?"



"A shell is not worth the life of a man," said I.



"Ah! the scoundrel!" cried Conseil; "I would rather he had broken my

shoulder!"



Conseil was in earnest, but I was not of his opinion. However, the

situation had changed some minutes before, and we had not perceived. A

score of canoes surrounded the Nautilus. These canoes, scooped out of

the trunk of a tree, long, narrow, well adapted for speed, were

balanced by means of a long bamboo pole, which floated on the water.

They were managed by skilful, half-naked paddlers, and I watched their

advance with some uneasiness. It was evident that these Papuans had

already had dealings with the Europeans and knew their ships. But this

long iron cylinder anchored in the bay, without masts or chimneys, what

could they think of it? Nothing good, for at first they kept at a

respectful distance. However, seeing it motionless, by degrees they

took courage, and sought to familiarise themselves with it. Now this

familiarity was precisely what it was necessary to avoid. Our arms,

which were noiseless, could only produce a moderate effect on the

savages, who have little respect for aught but blustering things. The

thunderbolt without the reverberations of thunder would frighten man

but little, though the danger lies in the lightning, not in the noise.



At this moment the canoes approached the Nautilus, and a shower of

arrows alighted on her.



I went down to the saloon, but found no one there. I ventured to knock

at the door that opened into the Captain's room. "Come in," was the

answer.



I entered, and found Captain Nemo deep in algebraical calculations of

x and other quantities.



"I am disturbing you," said I, for courtesy's sake.



"That is true, M. Aronnax," replied the Captain; "but I think you have

serious reasons for wishing to see me?"



"Very grave ones; the natives are surrounding us in their canoes, and

in a few minutes we shall certainly be attacked by many hundreds of

savages."



"Ah!" said Captain Nemo quietly, "they are come with their canoes?"



"Yes, sir."



"Well, sir, we must close the hatches."



"Exactly, and I came to say to you----"



"Nothing can be more simple," said Captain Nemo. And, pressing an

electric button, he transmitted an order to the ship's crew.



"It is all done, sir," said he, after some moments. "The pinnace is

ready, and the hatches are closed. You do not fear, I imagine, that

these gentlemen could stave in walls on which the balls of your frigate

have had no effect?"



"No, Captain; but a danger still exists."



"What is that, sir?"



"It is that to-morrow, at about this hour, we must open the hatches to

renew the air of the Nautilus. Now, if, at this moment, the Papuans

should occupy the platform, I do not see how you could prevent them

from entering."



"Then, sir, you suppose that they will board us?"



"I am certain of it."



"Well, sir, let them come. I see no reason for hindering them. After

all, these Papuans are poor creatures, and I am unwilling that my visit

to the island should cost the life of a single one of these wretches."



Upon that I was going away; But Captain Nemo detained me, and asked me

to sit down by him. He questioned me with interest about our

excursions on shore, and our hunting; and seemed not to understand the

craving for meat that possessed the Canadian. Then the conversation

turned on various subjects, and, without being more communicative,

Captain Nemo showed himself more amiable.



Amongst other things, we happened to speak of the situation of the

Nautilus, run aground in exactly the same spot in this strait where

Dumont d'Urville was nearly lost. Apropos of this:



"This D'Urville was one of your great sailors," said the Captain to me,

"one of your most intelligent navigators. He is the Captain Cook of

you Frenchmen. Unfortunate man of science, after having braved the

icebergs of the South Pole, the coral reefs of Oceania, the cannibals

of the Pacific, to perish miserably in a railway train! If this

energetic man could have reflected during the last moments of his life,

what must have been uppermost in his last thoughts, do you suppose?"



So speaking, Captain Nemo seemed moved, and his emotion gave me a

better opinion of him. Then, chart in hand, we reviewed the travels of

the French navigator, his voyages of circumnavigation, his double

detention at the South Pole, which led to the discovery of Adelaide and

Louis Philippe, and fixing the hydrographical bearings of the principal

islands of Oceania.



"That which your D'Urville has done on the surface of the seas," said

Captain Nemo, "that have I done under them, and more easily, more

completely than he. The Astrolabe and the Zelee, incessantly tossed

about by the hurricane, could not be worth the Nautilus, quiet

repository of labour that she is, truly motionless in the midst of the

waters.



"To-morrow," added the Captain, rising, "to-morrow, at twenty minutes

to three p.m., the Nautilus shall float, and leave the Strait of Torres

uninjured."



Having curtly pronounced these words, Captain Nemo bowed slightly.

This was to dismiss me, and I went back to my room.



There I found Conseil, who wished to know the result of my interview

with the Captain.





"My boy," said I, "when I feigned to believe that his Nautilus was

threatened by the natives of Papua, the Captain answered me very

sarcastically. I have but one thing to say to you: Have confidence in

him, and go to sleep in peace."



"Have you no need of my services, sir?"



"No, my friend. What is Ned Land doing?"



"If you will excuse me, sir," answered Conseil, "friend Ned is busy

making a kangaroo-pie which will be a marvel."



I remained alone and went to bed, but slept indifferently. I heard the

noise of the savages, who stamped on the platform, uttering deafening

cries. The night passed thus, without disturbing the ordinary repose

of the crew. The presence of these cannibals affected them no more

than the soldiers of a masked battery care for the ants that crawl over

its front.



At six in the morning I rose. The hatches had not been opened. The

inner air was not renewed, but the reservoirs, filled ready for any

emergency, were now resorted to, and discharged several cubic feet of

oxygen into the exhausted atmosphere of the Nautilus.



I worked in my room till noon, without having seen Captain Nemo, even

for an instant. On board no preparations for departure were visible.



I waited still some time, then went into the large saloon. The clock

marked half-past two. In ten minutes it would be high-tide: and, if

Captain Nemo had not made a rash promise, the Nautilus would be

immediately detached. If not, many months would pass ere she could

leave her bed of coral.



However, some warning vibrations began to be felt in the vessel. I

heard the keel grating against the rough calcareous bottom of the coral

reef.



At five-and-twenty minutes to three, Captain Nemo appeared in the

saloon.



"We are going to start," said he.



"Ah!" replied I.



"I have given the order to open the hatches."



"And the Papuans?"



"The Papuans?" answered Captain Nemo, slightly shrugging his shoulders.



"Will they not come inside the Nautilus?"



"How?"



"Only by leaping over the hatches you have opened."



"M. Aronnax," quietly answered Captain Nemo, "they will not enter the

hatches of the Nautilus in that way, even if they were open."



I looked at the Captain.



"You do not understand?" said he.



"Hardly."



"Well, come and you will see."



I directed my steps towards the central staircase. There Ned Land and

Conseil were slyly watching some of the ship's crew, who were opening

the hatches, while cries of rage and fearful vociferations resounded

outside.



The port lids were pulled down outside. Twenty horrible faces

appeared. But the first native who placed his hand on the stair-rail,

struck from behind by some invisible force, I know not what, fled,

uttering the most fearful cries and making the wildest contortions.



Ten of his companions followed him. They met with the same fate.



Conseil was in ecstasy. Ned Land, carried away by his violent

instincts, rushed on to the staircase. But the moment he seized the

rail with both hands, he, in his turn, was overthrown.



"I am struck by a thunderbolt," cried he, with an oath.



This explained all. It was no rail; but a metallic cable charged with

electricity from the deck communicating with the platform. Whoever

touched it felt a powerful shock--and this shock would have been mortal

if Captain Nemo had discharged into the conductor the whole force of

the current. It might truly be said that between his assailants and

himself he had stretched a network of electricity which none could pass

with impunity.



Meanwhile, the exasperated Papuans had beaten a retreat paralysed with

terror. As for us, half laughing, we consoled and rubbed the

unfortunate Ned Land, who swore like one possessed.



But at this moment the Nautilus, raised by the last waves of the tide,

quitted her coral bed exactly at the fortieth minute fixed by the

Captain. Her screw swept the waters slowly and majestically. Her

speed increased gradually, and, sailing on the surface of the ocean,

she quitted safe and sound the dangerous passes of the Straits of

Torres.