Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Captain Nemo shows Professor Aronnax several familiar nautical instruments on the walls of his room: a thermometer, barometer, hygrometer, storm-glass, compass, sextant, chronometers, and glasses. These tell Nemo the ship’s position and direction. There are also instruments with which Professor Aronnax is not familiar. Captain Nemo reveals that they are powered by electricity. Professor Aronnax doesn’t understand how this is possible: How could such a fast-moving ship can be powered by a source whose “dynamic force has remained under restraint, and has only been able to produce a small amount of power” (49)? Captain Nemo uses sodium extracted from the ocean water to produce the electricity needed for heat, light, and motion on the Nautilus. Some of the equipment on the walls measuring time and speed is also powered by electricity.

Captain Nemo next takes Aronnax to the ship’s stern. The 150-foot long back part of the boat includes the dining room, library, drawing-room, the Captain’s room, Professor Aronnax’s room, and a reservoir of air. Water-tight partitions separate the rooms and contain doors that seal hermetically in case of a leak. In the middle of the ship, a ladder leads to a small boat inside a water-tight cavity. They then pass a kitchen powered by electricity rather than gas, a bathroom, the crew’s berth-room follows, and finally the large engine-room. The engine-room is divided into two parts. One part includes the materials needed to produce electricity; the second, the machinery that connects to the first part with a screw. The engine can perform 120 revolutions per second, which results in a speed of 50 miles per hour.

In the saloon, Captain Nemo shows Professor Aronnax a sketch of the Nautilus. The ship is shaped like a cigar, measuring 232 feet in length, 26 feet in width, and weighing 1500 tons. Its strength is the result of two steel-plated hulls and dives when Nemo fills its reservoirs with water based on precise calculations. When Professor Aronnax wonders how the ship withstands water pressure when diving, Captain Nemo responds that he uses inclined planes on the sides of the ship to slowly travel down diagonally. A steersman in a thick glass box above the hull uses lenses to steer. An electric reflector behind the box provides light for half a mile in front of the ship. Professor Aronnax yells “bravo” (55) with excitement and realizes this light accounts for what they all mistook as phosphorescence.

The Nautilus is a perfect vessel, and Nemo loves it “as if it were part of myself” (55). He is the ship’s builder and engineer, as well as its captain; he constructed it in secret by bringing in parts separately from all around the world to a deserted island. Professor Aronnax asks Captain Nemo if he is wealthy, to which Captain Nemo replies that he is “Immensely rich, sir” (56).

Over 80 million acres of water cover the earth’s surface. The Earth was initially all water; when land formed, it separated the water into the Arctic, Antarctic, Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. The Pacific is the “quietest” (57) of the oceans and is where the Nautilus is currently. The ship ascends to the surface and Professor Aronnax goes outside to the platform, which stands three feet above the water. The outer surface of the ship is comprised of overlapping iron plates that could easily be mistaken for the shell of an animal.

Captain Nemo provides the ship’s course and maps for Professor Aronnax. The ship is to follow the Black River, moving from the Gulf of Bengal into the North Pacific. Ned and Conseil enter the room. Professor Aronnax encourages them to take in the marvels around them, but Ned insists they are in a prison. The lights go out and two iron panels open up, revealing crystal-plated windows that look into the water all around them, illuminated by electric light. Ned temporarily forgets his anger and they watch for two hours as an “aquatic army” (60) escorts the ship, in awe of the vast array of ocean life that surrounds them.

Professor Aronnax awakes the next morning, November 9. He passes the time studying some of the mollusk shells and dried herbs. Captain Nemo does not appear. The next day, Ned and Conseil join Professor Aronnax and wonder at the captain’s absence. On November 11, Professor Aronnax observes that they are back at the water’s surface. He goes back up to the platform to take in the fresh air. Captain Nemo’s second in command appears, scans the horizon, and says four words that Professor Aronnax does not understand.

Five days continue the same way. Finally, Professor Aronnax gets a letter from Captain Nemo inviting him, Conseil, and Ned hunting on the island of Crespo. On the planisphere, a kind of globe, they find the island—a small rock in the North Pacific. On November 17th, Professor Aronnax finds Captain Nemo waiting for him in the saloon. They will be hunting in a submarine forest using a version of the Rouquayrol apparatus—a reference to a real diving suit designed by inventor Benoît Rouquayrol in 1862. It allows them to roam free from the ship by storing air in an iron knapsack with two rubber pipes—one to exhale and one to breathe in fresh air and a copper helmet to mitigate pressure. A Ruhmkorff lamp—the work of another real-world inventor, Heinrich Daniel Ruhmkorff—is used for illumination. Captain Nemo explains that they will hunt with an air gun which uses electricity instead of gunpowder.

Ned expresses disappointment that the hunt will be underwater and refuses to put on the heavy rubber diving gear required. Conseil, Captain Nemo, and Professor Aronnax suit up in india-rubber clothes, boots, and gloves. With Professor Aronnax’s approval, they put on their helmets, which allow them to see in all directions through three glass holes. They put Rouquayrol breathing apparatuses on their backs and hang Ruhmkorff lamps from their belts. They are pushed into a small room and a water-tight door is sealed. Another door opens and they are suddenly walking on the ocean floor.

Captain Nemo takes the lead. Professor Aronnax feels weightless, and notes that, with the solar lamps, he can see up to 150 yards in front of him. The water is transparent, and it is as though they are “in broad daylight” (68). They see a kaleidoscope of colors reflecting off the objects in front of them: coral, fungi, anemones, sea-stars, phsyalides, pelagiae, medusae, and mollusks. The sandy ground gives way to mud, followed by a luxurious bed of sea-weed. Captain Nemo points to a dark mass “looming in the shadow” (70). It is the submarine forest.

The forest contains a variety of large, straight, perpendicular plants. They walk, observing the colorful plant and sea life. Unable to speak to one another, Professor Aronnax puts his helmet to Conseil’s and sees his eyes “glistening with delight” (71). They walk for another four hours before Professor Aronnax is overcome with fatigue and falls asleep.

Professor Aronnax wakes up and the sight of a giant sea spider brings him quickly to his feet in terror. Captain Nemo shoots it with his gun and it falls over in convulsions. Professor Aronnax decides he needs to be more alert, as larger, more predatory creatures may be lurking. In the darkness, Captain Nemo puts on his light and everyone follows. After four hours, they reach a wall of steep rocks. Since they cannot scale it, they turn around and walk back to the ship. The walk back seems steep and different from the way they came. Just as Professor Aronnax thinks they have not encountered anything worth shooting, Captain Nemo shoots a rare sea otter with valuable-looking fur. Captain Nemo’s companion slings the otter over his shoulder and they keep walking.

A sandbar brings them close to the surface, where Captain Nemo kills a large albatross hovering above them. When they see the light of the Nautilus ahead, Professor Aronnax feels his oxygen is depleting. Just then, Captain Nemo quickly pulls him to the ground—there are two sharks swimming above them, but the “Monstrous brutes” (74) pass over them without incident due to their poor eyesight. Back on the Nautilus, Professor Aronnax retreats to his room in “great wonder at this surprising excursion at the bottom of the sea” (75).

The day after the submarine forest hunt, Professor Aronnax returns to the ship’s platform where Captain Nemo is taking some “astronomical observations” (75). Several sailors come out to catch fish in nets—men of European descent who use the strange language spoken by Captain Nemo’s second in command. They bring in hundreds of fish of “infinite variety” (76).

Captain Nemo tells Aronnax that the sea has a “pulse, arteries, spasms” (76), and a circulation not unlike the way blood circulates through the body. Nemo envisions a future of “independent” (76) submarine towns. Wound up, Nemo angrily mentions a “despot” (76)—ostensibly something from his past—but quickly changes the subject to the depth of the ocean. Professor Aronnax thinks that its deepest point, the South Atlantic, is 15,000 yards deep. Captain Nemo hopes to show Professor Aronnax that it is deeper than that.

Over the course of the next weeks, the ship continues to head southeast. They pass Hawaii in late November and cross the equator on December 1. They encounter a shoal of millions of calmars—a type of squid studied by the ancients and enjoyed as a dish for the wealthy. The calmars swim with the ship for hours and the nets bring in a large number. On December 11, Conseil spots a black mass out the window—a sunken ship resting perpendicular in the water. It has been wrecked for only a few hours, providing a “sad spectacle as it lay lost under the waves” (79). They spot six corpses on the bridge—four men and a woman holding an infant. The Nautilus turns away just as sharks appear. Professor Aronnax catches sight of the ship’s name: “The Florida, Sunderland” (79).

The sighting of the shipwreck is the start of a “series of maritime catastrophes” (79) for the Nautilus. Professor Aronnax studies the enormous walls off the Island of Clermont produced by a variety of corals that take hundreds of years to be raised. The ship switches direction, sailing West North West, and passing Tahiti. Ned Land expresses disappointment that they are not celebrating Christmas. On December 27, Captain Nemo joins them in the dining room after having been absent for a week. He tells Professor Aronnax they are at the Vanikoro islands, the site of the lost expedition of French explorer Lapérouse—a real French naval officer and explorer.

Aronnax lays out the historically accurate details. In 1785, King Louis XVI sent Lapérouse on an expedition with two ships, the Astrolabe and the Boussole. The expedition was never heard from again. In 1824, Captain Dillon of the St. Patrick found debris from the ships. He returned in 1827 to investigate further, gathered a number of relics, and returned to France. However, at the same time, Commander Dumont d’Urville went to Vanikoro in another ship named the Astrolabe. He was told that a third boat, constructed by castaways, had also been lost. No one knows where the third boat perished.

Captain Nemo adds details of the story: One ship was destroyed immediately, while the other lay stranded. The castaways were welcomed by the natives and decided to make a smaller boat out of debris from the other two. Some of the castaways stayed on the island, while others headed out with Lapérouse toward the Solomon Isles. However, that ship was also wrecked at sea. Professor Aronnax wonders how Captain Nemo came about this information. Captain Nemo shows him a tin box that he found at the wreck containing instructions from the naval minister to Lapérouse, with annotations written by Louis XVI himself.

The Nautilus leaves Vanikoro with “great speed” (85). On January 1, Conseil wishes Professor Aronnax a happy New Year, explaining that a happy year is one “in which we could see everything” (86). Captain Nemo’s plan is to get to the Indian Ocean by passing through the Strait of Torres, a difficult route due to a number of obstacles like islands and rocks. Professor Aronnax, Ned, and Conseil go up to the platform to watch the ship navigate the Straits. Despite the dangerous course in front of them, the Nautilus slides “like magic off these rocks” (87).

However, near the Island of Bilboa, the ship runs into some rocks. There is no damage to the ship, but it becomes stuck. Captain Nemo insists that the full moon in five days will raise the tides enough to move the Nautilus. Ned thinks the tide will most likely not budge the ship, and he argues that they should abandon the Nautilus since they are near the island of New Guinea. The captives are surprised when Nemo grants them permission to temporarily visit the island. 

Professor Aronnax, Ned, and Conseil finally find themselves on dry land again, two months since becoming prisoners of the Nautilus. Ned beats down “cocoa-nuts” (91) from a tree, and the three men enjoy them and wonder if they might bring some on board the ship. Conseil suggests they bring fruits, vegetables, and venison. In the dense forest that covers the island, they find a bread-fruit tree, and Ned makes bread-fruit pie, a “delicate pastry” Professor Aronnax eats “with great relish” (92). They continue through the forest, gathering cabbage-palms, beans, and yams to bring them back to the boat.

The next day, they head to a different part of the island, letting Ned take the lead. They hunt some of the many birds they see; Conseil shoots down two pigeons for breakfast. Ned will not be happy until he eats game that is four-footed. Professor Aronnax would like to catch a bird of paradise, so Conseil catches one that is drunk from eating nutmegs. Ned then brings down a hog, followed by several small “kangaroo rabbits” (95). They enjoy a feast for dinner on the shore. When Conseil suggests they spend the night away from the Nautilus, Ned suggests they never go back. A stone suddenly falls at their feet.

When another stone knocks a pigeon’s leg from Conseil’s hand, the three men make a run for the boat. A hundred Native people aggressively enter the water behind them. Back on the Nautilus, Professor Aronnax tells Captain Nemo with urgency about the “Savages” (97) ready to attack, but Captain Nemo reassures him that the Nautilus can withstand it. With his fears eased, Professor Aronnax begins to appreciate the “splendours of the night in the topics” (97). The next morning, he returns to the platform to see several hundred Indigenous on the shore. He recognizes them as Papuans.

Professor Aronnax decides to fish with Conseil. After two hours, Professor Aronnax excitedly pulls out a shell from his net—an olive porphyry that spirals from left to right, rather than the usual right to left, which makes it very valuable. Just then, a Native man throws a stone at the shell and breaks it. Conseil shoots him with his gun, knocking a bracelet off the man’s arm. Professor Aronnax yells at Conseil, arguing that the shell is not worth the man’s life. As the Indigenous shoot arrows in response, Professor Aronnax runs into the ship and tells Captain Nemo they are under attack. Captain Nemo calmly replies they must close all the ship’s hatches.

The Nautilus is currently near the spot where Dumont d’Urville nearly wrecked his ship. Captain Nemo rues this famed explorer’s unfortunate death in a railway derailment, his emotion on the subject giving Professor Aronnax “a better opinion of him” (101). Together, they chart the explorer’s travels; Captain Nemo compares d’Urville’s land expeditions to his own in the sea—which he claims to have done with more detail and ease.

The next morning, the tide shifts the Nautilus against the rocks. As they open the hatches to depart, the Native people try to get in, but a nonfatal electric shock from a metallic cable prevents them.

The Nautilus continues its journey going at least 35 miles per hour. Because the ship so easily—and nonlethally—deterred the natives, Professor Aronnax feels “unbounded” (104) admiration for the ship and its captain.

The days continue to pass and life “seemed easy and natural” (106) until an event reminds them of the lives they left behind. On January 18, a storm makes the sea rough. Captain Nemo exchanges words with his lieutenant, who seems to be in a state of agitation. They begin pointing at something, but when Professor Aronnax gets out his telescope to see what they are looking at, Captain Nemo angrily snatches it from him. He asks Professor Aronnax to honor his promise to go to his quarters until Captain Nemo releases him.

As soon as Professor Aronnax relays the message to Ned and Conseil, the three men are taken to the cabin from their first days on board the ship. The lights go out in the room and Ned and Conseil quickly fall into a heavy sleep. Professor Aronnax suspects they have been given something to sleep with their food, because he is also unable to keep his eyes open. He succumbs “to a morbid sleep, full of hallucinations” followed by “complete insensibility” (109).

The next day Professor Aronnax wakes up back in his room. Ned and Conseil also woke up back in their own cabins. The ship seems as “quiet and mysterious as ever” (109). Captain Nemo, looking fatigued, suddenly asks Professor Aronnax if he is a doctor—he needs help with one of his men. Professor Aronnax was a resident surgeon at a hospital before working at the museum.

In another cabin, an injured man lies in bandages covered in blood. Professor Aronnax removes the bandages, exposing a large head wound. The man will not live more than a couple of hours, which brings tears to Captain Nemo’s eyes. After watching the dying man for a few minutes longer, Captain Nemo dismisses Professor Aronnax. The scene haunts Aronnax and he does not sleep well.

The next morning, Captain Nemo asks Professor Aronnax on another “submarine excursion” (111). Professor Aronnax asks to bring Ned and Conseil, and the men suit up and head out into a coral reef with Captain Nemo and some of his companions. This coral is particularly valuable and could make them a fortune. After two hours they are 300 yards deep, and the seascape begins to change into a forest of mineral vegetations and petrified trees. Captain Nemo and his men are carrying an oblong object. They stop at a cross made of coral and one of the men begins to dig a hole. Professor Aronnax realizes they are in a cemetery, digging a grave to bury the man who died in the night. They lower his body—the oblong object—into the grave, cover it, and then kneel and extend their hands in a farewell salute. Back on the ship platform, Captain Nemo tries unsuccessfully to “suppress a sob” (114) and remarks that the man is not forgotten.