Chapter Chapter 16 · A SUBMARINE FOREST

BMARINE FOREST

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 a 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 zoophytes for hydrophytes, 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, shot forth blades of capricious shapes, comprised

within a scale of colours,—pink, carmine, green, olive, fawn, and

brown. I saw there (but not dried up, as our specimens of the

_Nautilus_ are) pavonari spread like a fan, as if to catch the breeze;

scarlet ceramies, whose laminaries extended their edible shoots of

fern-shaped nereocysti, which grow to a height of fifteen feet;

clusters of acetabuli, whose stems increase in size upwards; and

numbers of other marine plants, all devoid of flowers!

“Curious anomaly, fantastic element!” said an ingenious naturalist, “in

which the animal kingdom blossoms, and the vegetable does not!”

Under these numerous shrubs (as large as trees of the temperate zone),

and under their damp shadow, were massed together real bushes of living

flowers, hedges of zoophytes, on which blossomed some zebrameandrines,

with crooked grooves, some yellow caryophylliæ; and, to complete the

allusion, the fish-flies flew from branch to branch like a swarm of

humming-birds, whilst yellow lepisacomthi, with bristling jaws,

dactylopteri, and monocentrides rose at our feet like a flight of

snipes.

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 alariæ,

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 accident 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.

Captain Nemo was still plunging into the dark depths of the forest,

whose trees were getting scarcer at every step. I noticed that

vegetable life disappeared sooner than animal life. The medusæ had

already abandoned the arid soil, from which a great number of animals,

zoophytes, articulata, molluscs, and fishes, still obtained sustenance.

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 £80. 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 the 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 algæ 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

algæ, 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.

CHAP