Chapter Chapter 26 · A PEARL OF TEN MILLIONS

ARL OF TEN MILLIONS

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 R