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1A PEARL OF TEN MILLIONS The next morning at four o'clock I was awakened by the steward whom Captain Nemo had placed at
2my service. I rose hurriedly, dressed, and went into the saloon. Captain Nemo was awaiting me. "M. Aronnax," said he,
3"are you ready to start?" "I am ready." "Then please to follow me." "And my companions, Captain?" "They have been told
4and are waiting." "Are we not to put on our diver's dresses?" asked I. "Not yet. I have not allowed the Nautilus to come
5too near this coast, and we are some distance from the Manaar Bank; but the boat is ready, and will take us to the exact
6point of disembarking, which will save us a long way. It carries our diving apparatus, which we will put on when we
7begin our submarine journey." Captain Nemo conducted me to the central staircase, which led on the platform. Ned and
8Conseil were already there, delighted at the idea of the "pleasure party" which was preparing. Five sailors from the
9Nautilus, with their oars, waited in the boat, which had been made fast against the side. The night was still dark.
10Layers of clouds covered the sky, allowing but few stars to be seen. I looked on the side where the land lay, and saw
11nothing but a dark line enclosing three parts of the horizon, from south-west to north-west. The Nautilus, having
12returned during the night up the western coast of Ceylon, was now west of the bay, or rather gulf, formed by the
13mainland and the Island of Manaar. There, under the dark waters, stretched the pintadine bank, an inexhaustible field of
14pearls, the length of which is more than twenty miles. Captain Nemo, Ned Land, Conseil, and I took our places in the
15stern of the boat. The master went to the tiller; his four companions leaned on their oars, the painter was cast off,
16and we sheered off. The boat went towards the south; the oarsmen did not hurry. I noticed that their strokes, strong in
17the water, only followed each other every ten seconds, according to the method generally adopted in the navy. Whilst the
18craft was running by its own velocity, the liquid drops struck the dark depths of the waves crisply like spats of melted
19lead. A little billow, spreading wide, gave a slight roll to the boat, and some samphire reeds flapped before it. We
20were silent. What was Captain Nemo thinking of? Perhaps of the land he was approaching, and which he found too near to
21him, contrary to the Canadian's opinion, who thought it too far off. As to Conseil, he was merely there from curiosity.
22About half-past five the first tints on the horizon showed the upper line of coast more distinctly. Flat enough in the
23east, it rose a little to the south. Five miles still lay between us, and it was indistinct owing to the mist on the
24water. At six o'clock it became suddenly daylight, with that rapidity peculiar to tropical regions, which know neither
25dawn nor twilight. The solar rays pierced the curtain of clouds, piled up on the eastern horizon, and the radiant orb
26rose rapidly. I saw land distinctly, with a few trees scattered here and there. The boat neared Manaar Island, which was
27rounded to the south. Captain Nemo rose from his seat and watched the sea. At a sign from him the anchor was dropped,
28but the chain scarcely ran, for it was little more than a yard deep, and this spot was one of the highest points of the
29bank of pintadines. "Here we are, M. Aronnax," said Captain Nemo. "You see that enclosed bay? Here, in a month will be
30assembled the numerous fishing boats of the exporters, and these are the waters their divers will ransack so boldly.
31Happily, this bay is well situated for that kind of fishing. It is sheltered from the strongest winds; the sea is never
32very rough here, which makes it favourable for the diver's work. We will now put on our dresses, and begin our walk." I
33did not answer, and, while watching the suspected waves, began with the help of the sailors to put on my heavy
34sea-dress. Captain Nemo and my companions were also dressing. None of the Nautilus men were to accompany us on this new
35excursion. Soon we were enveloped to the throat in india-rubber clothing; the air apparatus fixed to our backs by
36braces. As to the Ruhmkorff apparatus, there was no necessity for it. Before putting my head into the copper cap, I had
37asked the question of the Captain. "They would be useless," he replied. "We are going to no great depth, and the solar
38rays will be enough to light our walk. Besides, it would not be prudent to carry the electric light in these waters; its
39brilliancy might attract some of the dangerous inhabitants of the coast most inopportunely." As Captain Nemo pronounced
40these words, I turned to Conseil and Ned Land. But my two friends had already encased their heads in the metal cap, and
41they could neither hear nor answer. One last question remained to ask of Captain Nemo. "And our arms?" asked I; "our
42guns?" "Guns! What for? Do not mountaineers attack the bear with a dagger in their hand, and is not steel surer than
43lead? Here is a strong blade; put it in your belt, and we start." I looked at my companions; they were armed like us,
44and, more than that, Ned Land was brandishing an enormous harpoon, which he had placed in the boat before leaving the
45Nautilus. Then, following the Captain's example, I allowed myself to be dressed in the heavy copper helmet, and our
46reservoirs of air were at once in activity. An instant after we were landed, one after the other, in about two yards of
47water upon an even sand. Captain Nemo made a sign with his hand, and we followed him by a gentle declivity till we
48disappeared under the waves. Over our feet, like coveys of snipe in a bog, rose shoals of fish, of the genus monoptera,
49which have no other fins but their tail. I recognized the Javanese, a real serpent two and a half feet long, of a livid
50colour underneath, and which might easily be mistaken for a conger eel if it were not for the golden stripes on its
51side. In the genus stromateus, whose bodies are very flat and oval, I saw some of the most brilliant colours, carrying
52their dorsal fin like a scythe; an excellent eating fish, which, dried and pickled, is known by the name of Karawade;
53then some tranquebars, belonging to the genus apsiphoroides, whose body is covered with a shell cuirass of eight
54longitudinal plates. The heightening sun lit the mass of waters more and more. The soil changed by degrees. To the fine
55sand succeeded a perfect causeway of boulders, covered with a carpet of molluscs and zoophytes. Amongst the specimens of
56these branches I noticed some placenae, with thin unequal shells, a kind of ostracion peculiar to the Red Sea and the
57Indian Ocean; some orange lucinae with rounded shells; rockfish three feet and a half long, which raised themselves
58under the waves like hands ready to seize one. There were also some panopyres, slightly luminous; and lastly, some
59oculines, like magnificent fans, forming one of the richest vegetations of these seas. In the midst of these living
60plants, and under the arbours of the hydrophytes, were layers of clumsy articulates, particularly some raninae, whose
61carapace formed a slightly rounded triangle; and some horrible looking parthenopes. At about seven o'clock we found
62ourselves at last surveying the oyster-banks on which the pearl-oysters are reproduced by millions. Captain Nemo pointed
63with his hand to the enormous heap of oysters; and I could well understand that this mine was inexhaustible, for
64Nature's creative power is far beyond man's instinct of destruction. Ned Land, faithful to his instinct, hastened to
65fill a net which he carried by his side with some of the finest specimens. But we could not stop. We must follow the
66Captain, who seemed to guide himself by paths known only to himself. The ground was sensibly rising, and sometimes, on
67holding up my arm, it was above the surface of the sea. Then the level of the bank would sink capriciously. Often we
68rounded high rocks scarped into pyramids. In their dark fractures huge crustacea, perched upon their high claws like
69some war-machine, watched us with fixed eyes, and under our feet crawled various kinds of annelides.
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