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point of South America that forms Cape San Roque. But then the Nautilus swerved again, and sought the
lowest depth of a submarine valley which is between this Cape and Sierra Leone on the African coast. This
valley bifurcates to the parallel of the Antilles, and terminates at the mouth by the enormous depression of
9,000 yards. In this place, the geological basin of the ocean forms, as far as the Lesser Antilles, a cliff to three
and a half miles perpendicular in height, and, at the parallel of the Cape Verde Islands, an other wall not less
considerable, that encloses thus all the sunk continent of the Atlantic. The bottom of this immense valley is
dotted with some mountains, that give to these submarine places a picturesque aspect. I speak, moreover, from
the manuscript charts that were in the library of the Nautilus--charts evidently due to Captain Nemo's hand,
and made after his personal observations. For two days the desert and deep waters were visited by means of
the inclined planes. The Nautilus was furnished with long diagonal broadsides which carried it to all
elevations. But on the 11th of April it rose suddenly, and land appeared at the mouth of the Amazon River, a
vast estuary, the embouchure of which is so considerable that it freshens the sea-water for the distance of
several leagues. {8 paragraphs are deleted from this edition}
CHAPTER XVIII 155
CHAPTER XVIII
THE POULPS
For several days the Nautilus kept off from the American coast. Evidently it did not wish to risk the tides of
the Gulf of Mexico or of the sea of the Antilles. April 16th, we sighted Martinique and Guadaloupe from a
distance of about thirty miles. I saw their tall peaks for an instant. The Canadian, who counted on carrying out
his projects in the Gulf, by either landing or hailing one of the numerous boats that coast from one island to
another, was quite disheartened. Flight would have been quite practicable, if Ned Land had been able to take
possession of the boat without the Captain's knowledge. But in the open sea it could not be thought of. The
Canadian, Conseil, and I had a long conversation on this subject. For six months we had been prisoners on
board the Nautilus. We had travelled 17,000 leagues; and, as Ned Land said, there was no reason why it
should come to an end. We could hope nothing from the Captain of the Nautilus, but only from ourselves.
Besides, for some time past he had become graver, more retired, less sociable. He seemed to shun me. I met
him rarely. Formerly he was pleased to explain the submarine marvels to me; now he left me to my studies,
and came no more to the saloon. What change had come over him? For what cause? For my part, I did not
wish to bury with me my curious and novel studies. I had now the power to write the true book of the sea; and
this book, sooner or later, I wished to see daylight. The land nearest us was the archipelago of the Bahamas.
There rose high submarine cliffs covered with large weeds. It was about eleven o'clock when Ned Land drew
my attention to a formidable pricking, like the sting of an ant, which was produced by means of large
seaweeds.
"Well," I said, "these are proper caverns for poulps, and I should not be astonished to see some of these
monsters."
"What!" said Conseil; "cuttlefish, real cuttlefish of the cephalopod class?"
"No," I said, "poulps of huge dimensions."
"I will never believe that such animals exist," said Ned.
"Well," said Conseil, with the most serious air in the world, "I remember perfectly to have seen a large vessel
drawn under the waves by an octopus's arm."
"You saw that?" said the Canadian.
"Yes, Ned."
"With your own eyes?"
"With my own eyes."
"Where, pray, might that be?"
"At St. Malo," answered Conseil.
"In the port?" said Ned, ironically.
"No; in a church," replied Conseil.
"In a church!" cried the Canadian.
CHAPTER XVIII 156
"Yes; friend Ned. In a picture representing the poulp in question."
"Good!" said Ned Land, bursting out laughing.
"He is quite right," I said. "I have heard of this picture; but the subject represented is taken from a legend, and
you know what to think of legends in the matter of natural history. Besides, when it is a question of monsters,
the imagination is apt to run wild. Not only is it supposed that these poulps can draw down vessels, but a
certain Olaus Magnus speaks of an octopus a mile long that is more like an island than an animal. It is also
said that the Bishop of Nidros was building an altar on an immense rock. Mass finished, the rock began to
walk, and returned to the sea. The rock was a poulp. Another Bishop, Pontoppidan, speaks also of a poulp on
which a regiment of cavalry could manoeuvre. Lastly, the ancient naturalists speak of monsters whose mouths
were like gulfs, and which were too large to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar."
"But how much is true of these stories?" asked Conseil.
"Nothing, my friends; at least of that which passes the limit of truth to get to fable or legend. Nevertheless,
there must be some ground for the imagination of the story-tellers. One cannot deny that poulps and cuttlefish
exist of a large species, inferior, however, to the cetaceans. Aristotle has stated the dimensions of a cuttlefish
as five cubits, or nine feet two inches. Our fishermen frequently see some that are more than four feet long.
Some skeletons of poulps are preserved in the museums of Trieste and Montpelier, that measure two yards in
length. Besides, according to the calculations of some naturalists, one of these animals only six feet long
would have tentacles twenty-seven feet long. That would suffice to make a formidable monster."
"Do they fish for them in these days?" asked Ned.
"If they do not fish for them, sailors see them at least. One of my friends, Captain Paul Bos of Havre, has [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]