LITMIR.BIZ

      "Perfectly. Glass, which breaks at a blow, is, nevertheless, capable of offering considerable resistance. During some experiments of fishing by electric light in 1864 in the Northern Seas, we saw plates less than a third of an inch thick resist a pressure of sixteen atmospheres. Now, the glass that I use is not less than thirty times thicker."

      "Granted. But, after all, in order to see, the light must exceed the darkness, and in the midst of the darkness in the water, how can you see?"

      "Behind the steersman's cage is placed a powerful electric reflector, the rays from which light up the sea for half a mile in front."

      "Ah! bravo, bravo, Captain! Now I can account for this phosphorescence in the supposed narwhal that puzzled us so. I now ask you if the boarding of the Nautilus and of the Scotia, that has made such a noise, has been the result of a chance rencontre?"

      "Quite accidental, sir. I was sailing only one fathom below the surface of the water when the shock came. It had no bad result."

      "None, sir. But now, about your rencontre with the Abraham Lincoln?"

      "Professor, I am sorry for one of the best vessels in the American navy; but they attacked me, and I was bound to defend myself. I contented myself, however, with putting the frigate hors de combat; she will not have any difficulty in getting repaired at the next port."

      "Ah, Commander! your Nautilus is certainly a marvellous boat."

      "Yes, Professor; and I love it as if it were part of myself. If danger threatens one of your vessels on the ocean, the first impression is the feeling of an abyss above and below. On the Nautilus men's hearts never fail them. No defects to be afraid of, for the double shell is as firm as iron; no rigging to attend to; no sails for the wind to carry away; no boilers to burst; no fire to fear, for the vessel is made of iron, not of wood; no coal to run short, for electricity is the only mechanical agent; no collision to fear, for it alone swims in deep water; no tempest to brave, for when it dives below the water it reaches absolute tranquillity. There, sir! that is the perfection of vessels! And if it is true that the engineer has more confidence in the vessel than the builder, and the builder than the captain himself, you understand the trust I repose in my Nautilus; for I am at once captain, builder, and engineer."

      "But how could you construct this wonderful Nautilus in secret?"

      "Each separate portion, M. Aronnax, was brought from different parts of the globe."

      "But these parts had to be put together and arranged?"

      "Professor, I had set up my workshops upon a desert island in the ocean. There my workmen, that is to say, the brave men that I instructed and educated, and myself have put together our Nautilus. Then, when the work was finished, fire destroyed all trace of our proceedings on this island, that I could have jumped over if I had liked."

      "Then the cost of this vessel is great?"

      "M. Aronnax, an iron vessel costs L145 per ton. Now the Nautilus weighed 1,500. It came therefore to L67,500, and L80,000 more for fitting it up, and about L200,000, with the works of art and the collections it contains."

      "One last question, Captain Nemo."

      "Ask it, Professor."

      "You are rich?"

      "Immensely rich, sir; and I could, without missing it, pay the national debt of France."

      I stared at the singular person who spoke thus. Was he playing upon my credulity? The future would decide that.