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1THE CORAL KINGDOM The next day I woke with my head singularly clear. To my great surprise, I was in my own room. My
2companions, no doubt, had been reinstated in their cabin, without having perceived it any more than I. Of what had
3passed during the night they were as ignorant as I was, and to penetrate this mystery I only reckoned upon the chances
4of the future. I then thought of quitting my room. Was I free again or a prisoner? Quite free. I opened the door, went
5to the half-deck, went up the central stairs. The panels, shut the evening before, were open. I went on to the platform.
6Ned Land and Conseil waited there for me. I questioned them; they knew nothing. Lost in a heavy sleep in which they had
7been totally unconscious, they had been astonished at finding themselves in their cabin. As for the Nautilus, it seemed
8quiet and mysterious as ever. It floated on the surface of the waves at a moderate pace. Nothing seemed changed on
9board. The second lieutenant then came on to the platform, and gave the usual order below. As for Captain Nemo, he did
10not appear. Of the people on board, I only saw the impassive steward, who served me with his usual dumb regularity.
11About two o'clock, I was in the drawing-room, busied in arranging my notes, when the Captain opened the door and
12appeared. I bowed. He made a slight inclination in return, without speaking. I resumed my work, hoping that he would
13perhaps give me some explanation of the events of the preceding night. He made none. I looked at him. He seemed
14fatigued; his heavy eyes had not been refreshed by sleep; his face looked very sorrowful. He walked to and fro, sat down
15and got up again, took a chance book, put it down, consulted his instruments without taking his habitual notes, and
16seemed restless and uneasy. At last, he came up to me, and said: "Are you a doctor, M. Aronnax?" I so little expected
17such a question that I stared some time at him without answering. "Are you a doctor?" he repeated. "Several of your
18colleagues have studied medicine." "Well," said I, "I am a doctor and resident surgeon to the hospital. I practised
19several years before entering the museum." "Very well, sir." My answer had evidently satisfied the Captain. But, not
20knowing what he would say next, I waited for other questions, reserving my answers according to circumstances. "M.
21Aronnax, will you consent to prescribe for one of my men?" he asked. "Is he ill?" "Yes." "I am ready to follow you."
22"Come, then." I own my heart beat, I do not know why. I saw certain connection between the illness of one of the crew
23and the events of the day before; and this mystery interested me at least as much as the sick man. Captain Nemo
24conducted me to the poop of the Nautilus, and took me into a cabin situated near the sailors' quarters. There, on a bed,
25lay a man about forty years of age, with a resolute expression of countenance, a true type of an Anglo-Saxon. I leant
26over him. He was not only ill, he was wounded. His head, swathed in bandages covered with blood, lay on a pillow. I
27undid the bandages, and the wounded man looked at me with his large eyes and gave no sign of pain as I did it. It was a
28horrible wound. The skull, shattered by some deadly weapon, left the brain exposed, which was much injured. Clots of
29blood had formed in the bruised and broken mass, in colour like the dregs of wine. There was both contusion and
30suffusion of the brain. His breathing was slow, and some spasmodic movements of the muscles agitated his face. I felt
31his pulse. It was intermittent. The extremities of the body were growing cold already, and I saw death must inevitably
32ensue. After dressing the unfortunate man's wounds, I readjusted the bandages on his head, and turned to Captain Nemo.
33"What caused this wound?" I asked. "What does it signify?" he replied, evasively. "A shock has broken one of the levers
34of the engine, which struck myself. But your opinion as to his state?" I hesitated before giving it. "You may speak,"
35said the Captain. "This man does not understand French." I gave a last look at the wounded man. "He will be dead in two
36hours." "Can nothing save him?" "Nothing." Captain Nemo's hand contracted, and some tears glistened in his eyes, which I
37thought incapable of shedding any. For some moments I still watched the dying man, whose life ebbed slowly. His pallor
38increased under the electric light that was shed over his death-bed. I looked at his intelligent forehead, furrowed with
39premature wrinkles, produced probably by misfortune and sorrow. I tried to learn the secret of his life from the last
40words that escaped his lips. "You can go now, M. Aronnax," said the Captain. I left him in the dying man's cabin, and
41returned to my room much affected by this scene. During the whole day, I was haunted by uncomfortable suspicions, and at
42night I slept badly, and between my broken dreams I fancied I heard distant sighs like the notes of a funeral psalm.
43Were they the prayers of the dead, murmured in that language that I could not understand? The next morning I went on to
44the bridge. Captain Nemo was there before me. As soon as he perceived me he came to me. "Professor, will it be
45convenient to you to make a submarine excursion to-day?" "With my companions?" I asked. "If they like." "We obey your
46orders, Captain." "Will you be so good then as to put on your cork jackets?" It was not a question of dead or dying. I
47rejoined Ned Land and Conseil, and told them of Captain Nemo's proposition. Conseil hastened to accept it, and this time
48the Canadian seemed quite willing to follow our example. It was eight o'clock in the morning. At half-past eight we were
49equipped for this new excursion, and provided with two contrivances for light and breathing. The double door was open;
50and, accompanied by Captain Nemo, who was followed by a dozen of the crew, we set foot, at a depth of about thirty feet,
51on the solid bottom on which the Nautilus rested. A slight declivity ended in an uneven bottom, at fifteen fathoms
52depth. This bottom differed entirely from the one I had visited on my first excursion under the waters of the Pacific
53Ocean. Here, there was no fine sand, no submarine prairies, no sea-forest. I immediately recognised that marvellous
54region in which, on that day, the Captain did the honours to us. It was the coral kingdom. The light produced a thousand
55charming varieties, playing in the midst of the branches that were so vividly coloured. I seemed to see the membraneous
56and cylindrical tubes tremble beneath the undulation of the waters. I was tempted to gather their fresh petals,
57ornamented with delicate tentacles, some just blown, the others budding, while a small fish, swimming swiftly, touched
58them slightly, like flights of birds. But if my hand approached these living flowers, these animated, sensitive plants,
59the whole colony took alarm. The white petals re-entered their red cases, the flowers faded as I looked, and the bush
60changed into a block of stony knobs. Chance had thrown me just by the most precious specimens of the zoophyte. This
61coral was more valuable than that found in the Mediterranean, on the coasts of France, Italy and Barbary. Its tints
62justified the poetical names of "Flower of Blood," and "Froth of Blood," that trade has given to its most beautiful
63productions. Coral is sold for £20 per ounce; and in this place the watery beds would make the fortunes of a company of
64coral-divers. This precious matter, often confused with other polypi, formed then the inextricable plots called
65"macciota," and on which I noticed several beautiful specimens of pink coral. But soon the bushes contract, and the
66arborisations increase. Real petrified thickets, long joists of fantastic architecture, were disclosed before us.
67Captain Nemo placed himself under a dark gallery, where by a slight declivity we reached a depth of a hundred yards. The
68light from our lamps produced sometimes magical effects, following the rough outlines of the natural arches and pendants
69disposed like lustres, that were tipped with points of fire.
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