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1Suddenly the clock struck eight. The first beat of the hammer on the bell awoke me from my dreams. I trembled as if an
2invisible eye had plunged into my most secret thoughts, and I hurried from the room. There my eye fell upon the compass.
3Our course was still north. The log indicated moderate speed, the manometer a depth of about sixty feet. I returned to
4my room, clothed myself warmly--sea boots, an otterskin cap, a great coat of byssus, lined with sealskin; I was ready, I
5was waiting. The vibration of the screw alone broke the deep silence which reigned on board. I listened attentively.
6Would no loud voice suddenly inform me that Ned Land had been surprised in his projected flight. A mortal dread hung
7over me, and I vainly tried to regain my accustomed coolness. At a few minutes to nine, I put my ear to the Captain's
8door. No noise. I left my room and returned to the saloon, which was half in obscurity, but deserted. I opened the door
9communicating with the library. The same insufficient light, the same solitude. I placed myself near the door leading to
10the central staircase, and there waited for Ned Land's signal. At that moment the trembling of the screw sensibly
11diminished, then it stopped entirely. The silence was now only disturbed by the beatings of my own heart. Suddenly a
12slight shock was felt; and I knew that the Nautilus had stopped at the bottom of the ocean. My uneasiness increased. The
13Canadian's signal did not come. I felt inclined to join Ned Land and beg of him to put off his attempt. I felt that we
14were not sailing under our usual conditions. At this moment the door of the large saloon opened, and Captain Nemo
15appeared. He saw me, and without further preamble began in an amiable tone of voice: "Ah, sir! I have been looking for
16you. Do you know the history of Spain?" Now, one might know the history of one's own country by heart; but in the
17condition I was at the time, with troubled mind and head quite lost, I could not have said a word of it. "Well,"
18continued Captain Nemo, "you heard my question! Do you know the history of Spain?" "Very slightly," I answered. "Well,
19here are learned men having to learn," said the Captain. "Come, sit down, and I will tell you a curious episode in this
20history. Sir, listen well," said he; "this history will interest you on one side, for it will answer a question which
21doubtless you have not been able to solve." "I listen, Captain," said I, not knowing what my interlocutor was driving
22at, and asking myself if this incident was bearing on our projected flight. "Sir, if you have no objection, we will go
23back to 1702. You cannot be ignorant that your king, Louis XIV, thinking that the gesture of a potentate was sufficient
24to bring the Pyrenees under his yoke, had imposed the Duke of Anjou, his grandson, on the Spaniards. This prince reigned
25more or less badly under the name of Philip V, and had a strong party against him abroad. Indeed, the preceding year,
26the royal houses of Holland, Austria, and England had concluded a treaty of alliance at the Hague, with the intention of
27plucking the crown of Spain from the head of Philip V, and placing it on that of an archduke to whom they prematurely
28gave the title of Charles III. "Spain must resist this coalition; but she was almost entirely unprovided with either
29soldiers or sailors. However, money would not fail them, provided that their galleons, laden with gold and silver from
30America, once entered their ports. And about the end of 1702 they expected a rich convoy which France was escorting with
31a fleet of twenty-three vessels, commanded by Admiral Chateau-Renaud, for the ships of the coalition were already
32beating the Atlantic. This convoy was to go to Cadiz, but the Admiral, hearing that an English fleet was cruising in
33those waters, resolved to make for a French port. "The Spanish commanders of the convoy objected to this decision. They
34wanted to be taken to a Spanish port, and, if not to Cadiz, into Vigo Bay, situated on the northwest coast of Spain, and
35which was not blocked. "Admiral Chateau-Renaud had the rashness to obey this injunction, and the galleons entered Vigo
36Bay. "Unfortunately, it formed an open road which could not be defended in any way. They must therefore hasten to unload
37the galleons before the arrival of the combined fleet; and time would not have failed them had not a miserable question
38of rivalry suddenly arisen. "You are following the chain of events?" asked Captain Nemo. "Perfectly," said I, not
39knowing the end proposed by this historical lesson. "I will continue. This is what passed. The merchants of Cadiz had a
40privilege by which they had the right of receiving all merchandise coming from the West Indies. Now, to disembark these
41ingots at the port of Vigo was depriving them of their rights. They complained at Madrid, and obtained the consent of
42the weak-minded Philip that the convoy, without discharging its cargo, should remain sequestered in the roads of Vigo
43until the enemy had disappeared. "But whilst coming to this decision, on the 22nd of October, 1702, the English vessels
44arrived in Vigo Bay, when Admiral Chateau-Renaud, in spite of inferior forces, fought bravely. But, seeing that the
45treasure must fall into the enemy's hands, he burnt and scuttled every galleon, which went to the bottom with their
46immense riches." Captain Nemo stopped. I admit I could not see yet why this history should interest me. "Well?" I asked.
47"Well, M. Aronnax," replied Captain Nemo, "we are in that Vigo Bay; and it rests with yourself whether you will
48penetrate its mysteries." The Captain rose, telling me to follow him. I had had time to recover. I obeyed. The saloon
49was dark, but through the transparent glass the waves were sparkling. I looked. For half a mile around the Nautilus, the
50waters seemed bathed in electric light. The sandy bottom was clean and bright. Some of the ship's crew in their
51diving-dresses were clearing away half-rotten barrels and empty cases from the midst of the blackened wrecks. From these
52cases and from these barrels escaped ingots of gold and silver, cascades of piastres and jewels. The sand was heaped up
53with them. Laden with their precious booty, the men returned to the Nautilus, disposed of their burden, and went back to
54this inexhaustible fishery of gold and silver. I understood now. This was the scene of the battle of the 22nd of
55October, 1702. Here on this very spot the galleons laden for the Spanish Government had sunk. Here Captain Nemo came,
56according to his wants, to pack up those millions with which he burdened the Nautilus. It was for him and him alone
57America had given up her precious metals. He was heir direct, without anyone to share, in those treasures torn from the
58Incas and from the conquered of Ferdinand Cortez. "Did you know, sir," he asked, smiling, "that the sea contained such
59riches?" "I knew," I answered, "that they value money held in suspension in these waters at two millions." "Doubtless;
60but to extract this money the expense would be greater than the profit. Here, on the contrary, I have but to pick up
61what man has lost--and not only in Vigo Bay, but in a thousand other ports where shipwrecks have happened, and which are
62marked on my submarine map. Can you understand now the source of the millions I am worth?" "I understand, Captain. But
63allow me to tell you that in exploring Vigo Bay you have only been beforehand with a rival society." "And which?" "A
64society which has received from the Spanish Government the privilege of seeking those buried galleons. The shareholders
65are led on by the allurement of an enormous bounty, for they value these rich shipwrecks at five hundred millions."
66"Five hundred millions they were," answered Captain Nemo, "but they are so no longer." "Just so," said I; "and a warning
67to those shareholders would be an act of charity. But who knows if it would be well received? What gamblers usually
68regret above all is less the loss of their money than of their foolish hopes. After all, I pity them less than the
69thousands of unfortunates to whom so much riches well-distributed would have been profitable, whilst for them they will
70be for ever barren." I had no sooner expressed this regret than I felt that it must have wounded Captain Nemo. "Barren!"
71he exclaimed, with animation. "Do you think then, sir, that these riches are lost because I gather them? Is it for
72myself alone, according to your idea, that I take the trouble to collect these treasures? Who told you that I did not
73make a good use of it? Do you think I am ignorant that there are suffering beings and oppressed races on this earth,
74miserable creatures to console, victims to avenge? Do you not understand?" Captain Nemo stopped at these last words,
75regretting perhaps that he had spoken so much. But I had guessed that, whatever the motive which had forced him to seek
76independence under the sea, it had left him still a man, that his heart still beat for the sufferings of humanity, and
77that his immense charity was for oppressed races as well as individuals. And I then understood for whom those millions
78were destined which were forwarded by Captain Nemo when the Nautilus was cruising in the waters of Crete.
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