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1"Just so," replied the Captain, smiling; "and in that respect moderns are not more advanced than the ancients. It
2required many ages to find out the mechanical power of steam. Who knows if, in another hundred years, we may not see a
3second Nautilus? Progress is slow, M. Aronnax." "It is true," I answered; "your boat is at least a century before its
4time, perhaps an era. What a misfortune that the secret of such an invention should die with its inventor!" Captain Nemo
5did not reply. After some minutes' silence he continued: "You were speaking of the opinions of ancient historians upon
6the dangerous navigation of the Red Sea." "It is true," said I; "but were not their fears exaggerated?" "Yes and no, M.
7Aronnax," replied Captain Nemo, who seemed to know the Red Sea by heart. "That which is no longer dangerous for a modern
8vessel, well rigged, strongly built, and master of its own course, thanks to obedient steam, offered all sorts of perils
9to the ships of the ancients. Picture to yourself those first navigators venturing in ships made of planks sewn with the
10cords of the palmtree, saturated with the grease of the seadog, and covered with powdered resin! They had not even
11instruments wherewith to take their bearings, and they went by guess amongst currents of which they scarcely knew
12anything. Under such conditions shipwrecks were, and must have been, numerous. But in our time, steamers running between
13Suez and the South Seas have nothing more to fear from the fury of this gulf, in spite of contrary trade-winds. The
14captain and passengers do not prepare for their departure by offering propitiatory sacrifices; and, on their return,
15they no longer go ornamented with wreaths and gilt fillets to thank the gods in the neighbouring temple." "I agree with
16you," said I; "and steam seems to have killed all gratitude in the hearts of sailors. But, Captain, since you seem to
17have especially studied this sea, can you tell me the origin of its name?" "There exist several explanations on the
18subject, M. Aronnax. Would you like to know the opinion of a chronicler of the fourteenth century?" "Willingly." "This
19fanciful writer pretends that its name was given to it after the passage of the Israelites, when Pharaoh perished in the
20waves which closed at the voice of Moses." "A poet's explanation, Captain Nemo," I replied; "but I cannot content myself
21with that. I ask you for your personal opinion." "Here it is, M. Aronnax. According to my idea, we must see in this
22appellation of the Red Sea a translation of the Hebrew word 'Edom'; and if the ancients gave it that name, it was on
23account of the particular colour of its waters." "But up to this time I have seen nothing but transparent waves and
24without any particular colour." "Very likely; but as we advance to the bottom of the gulf, you will see this singular
25appearance. I remember seeing the Bay of Tor entirely red, like a sea of blood." "And you attribute this colour to the
26presence of a microscopic seaweed?" "Yes." "So, Captain Nemo, it is not the first time you have overrun the Red Sea on
27board the Nautilus?" "No, sir." "As you spoke a while ago of the passage of the Israelites and of the catastrophe to the
28Egyptians, I will ask whether you have met with the traces under the water of this great historical fact?" "No, sir; and
29for a good reason." "What is it?" "It is that the spot where Moses and his people passed is now so blocked up with sand
30that the camels can barely bathe their legs there. You can well understand that there would not be water enough for my
31Nautilus." "And the spot?" I asked. "The spot is situated a little above the Isthmus of Suez, in the arm which formerly
32made a deep estuary, when the Red Sea extended to the Salt Lakes. Now, whether this passage were miraculous or not, the
33Israelites, nevertheless, crossed there to reach the Promised Land, and Pharaoh's army perished precisely on that spot;
34and I think that excavations made in the middle of the sand would bring to light a large number of arms and instruments
35of Egyptian origin." "That is evident," I replied; "and for the sake of archaeologists let us hope that these
36excavations will be made sooner or later, when new towns are established on the isthmus, after the construction of the
37Suez Canal; a canal, however, very useless to a vessel like the Nautilus." "Very likely; but useful to the whole world,"
38said Captain Nemo. "The ancients well understood the utility of a communication between the Red Sea and the
39Mediterranean for their commercial affairs: but they did not think of digging a canal direct, and took the Nile as an
40intermediate. Very probably the canal which united the Nile to the Red Sea was begun by Sesostris, if we may believe
41tradition. One thing is certain, that in the year 615 before Jesus Christ, Necos undertook the works of an alimentary
42canal to the waters of the Nile across the plain of Egypt, looking towards Arabia. It took four days to go up this
43canal, and it was so wide that two triremes could go abreast. It was carried on by Darius, the son of Hystaspes, and
44probably finished by Ptolemy II. Strabo saw it navigated: but its decline from the point of departure, near Bubastes, to
45the Red Sea was so slight that it was only navigable for a few months in the year. This canal answered all commercial
46purposes to the age of Antonius, when it was abandoned and blocked up with sand. Restored by order of the Caliph Omar,
47it was definitely destroyed in 761 or 762 by Caliph Al-Mansor, who wished to prevent the arrival of provisions to
48Mohammed-ben-Abdallah, who had revolted against him. During the expedition into Egypt, your General Bonaparte discovered
49traces of the works in the Desert of Suez; and, surprised by the tide, he nearly perished before regaining Hadjaroth, at
50the very place where Moses had encamped three thousand years before him." "Well, Captain, what the ancients dared not
51undertake, this junction between the two seas, which will shorten the road from Cadiz to India, M. Lesseps has succeeded
52in doing; and before long he will have changed Africa into an immense island." "Yes, M. Aronnax; you have the right to
53be proud of your countryman. Such a man brings more honour to a nation than great captains. He began, like so many
54others, with disgust and rebuffs; but he has triumphed, for he has the genius of will. And it is sad to think that a
55work like that, which ought to have been an international work and which would have sufficed to make a reign
56illustrious, should have succeeded by the energy of one man. All honour to M. Lesseps!" "Yes! honour to the great
57citizen," I replied, surprised by the manner in which Captain Nemo had just spoken. "Unfortunately," he continued, "I
58cannot take you through the Suez Canal; but you will be able to see the long jetty of Port Said after to-morrow, when we
59shall be in the Mediterranean." "The Mediterranean!" I exclaimed. "Yes, sir; does that astonish you?" "What astonishes
60me is to think that we shall be there the day after to-morrow." "Indeed?" "Yes, Captain, although by this time I ought
61to have accustomed myself to be surprised at nothing since I have been on board your boat." "But the cause of this
62surprise?" "Well! it is the fearful speed you will have to put on the Nautilus, if the day after to-morrow she is to be
63in the Mediterranean, having made the round of Africa, and doubled the Cape of Good Hope!" "Who told you that she would
64make the round of Africa and double the Cape of Good Hope, sir?" "Well, unless the Nautilus sails on dry land, and
65passes above the isthmus----" "Or beneath it, M. Aronnax." "Beneath it?" "Certainly," replied Captain Nemo quietly. "A
66long time ago Nature made under this tongue of land what man has this day made on its surface." "What! such a passage
67exists?" "Yes; a subterranean passage, which I have named the Arabian Tunnel. It takes us beneath Suez and opens into
68the Gulf of Pelusium." "But this isthmus is composed of nothing but quicksands?" "To a certain depth. But at fifty-five
69yards only there is a solid layer of rock." "Did you discover this passage by chance?" I asked more and more surprised.
70"Chance and reasoning, sir; and by reasoning even more than by chance. Not only does this passage exist, but I have
71profited by it several times. Without that I should not have ventured this day into the impassable Red Sea. I noticed
72that in the Red Sea and in the Mediterranean there existed a certain number of fishes of a kind perfectly identical.
73Certain of the fact, I asked myself was it possible that there was no communication between the two seas? If there was,
74the subterranean current must necessarily run from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, from the sole cause of difference
75of level. I caught a large number of fishes in the neighbourhood of Suez. I passed a copper ring through their tails,
76and threw them back into the sea. Some months later, on the coast of Syria, I caught some of my fish ornamented with the
77ring. Thus the communication between the two was proved. I then sought for it with my Nautilus; I discovered it,
78ventured into it, and before long, sir, you too will have passed through my Arabian tunnel!"
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