Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

On January 28, the Nautilus surfaces and Professor Aronnax spots the Island of Ceylon. Captain Nemo asks Professor Aronnax if he would like to see one of the Island’s pearl fisheries on the Bank of Manaar. Captain Nemo notes that they will also be armed to hunt sharks. Professor Aronnax begins to sweat at the thought when Ned and Conseil enter. They have seen Captain Nemo and know about the fishing excursion, but nothing has been mentioned to them about the sharks.

Professor Aronnax explains to Ned and Conseil that pearls are jewels that come from oysters. The fisherman extracts them either with pincers or by boiling the oyster’s tissue and separating the pearls through a sieve. The pearls are priced according to shape, color, and brightness. Ned wonders at the risks of such a profession, to which Professor Aronnax responds by asking Ned if he’s afraid of sharks. Ned scoffs at the question. Conseil says if Professor Aronnax is prepared to face the sharks, then so is he.

The next morning, Nemo’s men slowly row Professor Aronnax, Ned, Conseil, and Captain Nemo under a dark sky. As they get close to land, the boat drops anchor and they get into their diving gear. Everyone is armed with a dagger, and Ned also has a giant harpoon. They walk into the water until they disappear under the waves.

At seven in the morning, they reach the oyster banks. They enter a dark grotto embedded in rocks. Professor Aronnax sees an enormous oyster that he guesses to be 600 pounds. Captain Nemo opens the oyster’s shell with his dagger to expose a large loose pearl of “inestimable value” (128). Professor Aronnax reaches out to grab it, but Captain Nemo stops him—he is allowing the pearl to continue to grow.

As they hide behind rocks, a fisherman dives from his canoe with a stone between his feet, filling up his bag with oysters when he reaches the bottom of the water. He then resurfaces, dumps the bag in his boat and dives down again. Suddenly, the fisherman gets a look of terror in his face as a shark charges him. It knocks the man to the ground with its tail, preparing to strike. Captain Nemo moves toward the shark, stabs it several times with his dagger, but is unable to kill it. Professor Aronnax can only watch, “nailed to the spot in horror” (129).

As the shark rushes toward Captain Nemo, Ned kills it with his harpoon. Captain Nemo grabs the fisherman and rushes to the surface where Captain Nemo and Conseil successfully resuscitate the man. Captain Nemo hands the man a bag of pearls, and he takes it with “a trembling hand” (130). When they reach the boat, Captain Nemo thanks Ned. Professor Aronnax concludes from the excursion that Captain Nemo has “unparalleled courage” (131) and is capable of kindness to another person. Captain Nemo says the man is from an oppressed country—the same one where Captain Nemo was born. 

The Nautilus has traveled 7,500 leagues, or 16,220 miles, since they started their journey in the Japanese Seas. For the next few days, they sail around the Sea of Oman, without seeming to have a clear destination.

They sail along the Arabian Coast into the Red Sea. There are thousands of species of fish, as well as zoophytes, mollusks, and reptiles. Captain Nemo asks how Professor Aronnax is enjoying the Red Sea. Professor Aronnax responds positively. The two men agree that the Nautilus is a century before its time.

Captain Nemo reveals that he has been in the Red Sea before. Professor Aronnax asks if he’s seen any evidence of where Moses parted the sea for the passage of the Israelites, as described in the Book of Exodus from the Bible’s Old Testament. Captain Nemo has not, but only because that particular spot is “blocked up with sand” (136). Captain Nemo predicts that future excavations will reveal “arms and instruments of Egyptian origin” (136). Professor Aronnax hopes this will happen soon, before the completed Suez Canal brings forth new towns on the isthmus. Captain Nemo praises the work of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the Frenchman who is responsible for the development of the Canal—adding that he brings honor to the French nation.

However, they will not be traveling through the Canal. They are instead going to the Mediterranean via a passage under the isthmus—the “Arabian Tunnel” (138). Nemo discovered it by deducing that identical fish in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean meant that there must be a “‘subterranean current’” (138) between the two.

On February 10, Professor Aronnax joins Ned and Conseil on the platform. Suddenly, Ned points to a spot on the water less than a mile away. They determine it’s an animal and Captain Nemo gives Ned his approval to take the smaller boat and kill it, warning him not to miss or the creature might overturn the boat. Seven crew members suddenly appear and lower the smaller boat into the water. Professor Aronnax, Ned, and Conseil take their seats near the back.

Professor Aronnax watches the creature, which he identifies as a “colossal” (141) halicore dugong. It looks like a manatee and has an oblong body with a long tail, and two pointed teeth in its upper jaw. Ned prepares to harpoon it. He strikes and injures the creature, but does not kill it. The dugong barrels toward the boat, diving beneath the water each time Ned attempts to strike it. After an hour of chasing the dugong, the animal finally throws itself onto the boat. The boat fills with water and the situation is chaotic until Ned strikes the creature in the heart, killing it. They return to the Nautilus and hoist it onto the platform with great effort, since Professor Aronnax estimates it weighs 10,000 pounds.

The next day, the Nautilus passes Mount Horeb, where, according to the Torah, Moses saw God. Later that evening, they are near the Suez Canal. Captain Nemo assures Professor Aronnax they will be entering the Arabian Tunnel soon and enters the steersman’s cage—a small cabin measuring “six feet square” (143)—to navigate the difficult path ahead. Professor Aronnax watches from the port-scuttle, noting the strong pilot who holds the wheel. The ship follows a high wall, the base of “a massive sandy coast” (143). They enter a large opening, and Captain Nemo guides them into the Mediterranean.

Ned tells Conseil and Professor Aronnax that since they are near Europe, he wants to leave the Nautilus. Professor Aronnax has no desire to do so—he would like to see where the journey goes. Professor Aronnax is not sure if he would take his freedom if Captain Nemo offered it to him. Ned thinks they should take the first opportunity to leave the ship. They will only get one “favourable opportunity” (146), and Captain Nemo will never forgive them if he catches them. If the ship comes close enough to the European coast, Ned has decided to swim for it. Otherwise, he’ll take the small boat. Professor Aronnax doesn’t think the opportunity to escape will ever occur because Captain Nemo knows they still desire their freedom and will be vigilant. As they sail around the Mediterranean, the Nautilus stays mostly underwater and far from land.

In the evening, Captain Nemo joins him in the saloon and opens the panels, looking out “attentively” (147). Suddenly, Professor Aronnax sees a diver in the water. He yells to Captain Nemo it is a man who has been shipwrecked and must be saved. Captain Nemo explains it is a well-known diver named Nicholas of Cape Matapan. He then walks over to a chest and opens it to display “an enormous sum” (149) of gold ingots. He writes an address on the chest and summons his crew, who push the chest out of the saloon and hoist it up using pulleys.

Professor Aronnax tries to draw a connection between the diver and the chest of gold. He hears the Nautilus going up to the surface, the small boat being lowered into the water, and then returned to its socket two hours later. The next morning, he tells Conseil and Ned everything that transpired. Later, in the saloon, Professor Aronnax is overcome by the heat—they are in the boiling water near the Island of Santorini. The saloon soon becomes too hot to bear and Captain Nemo orders the ship to move. Professor Aronnax realizes if they had chosen that region for their escape, they never would have made it out alive.

They travel through the Mediterranean in 48 hours. When Captain Nemo does not appear, Professor Aronnax realizes it is because he is surrounded by countries he wants to avoid. Their rapid pace of travel also means Ned has to abandon his escape plans. Launching the small boat with the Nautilus traveling at 25 miles per hour would be like “jumping from a train going at full speed” (152).

As the ship passes between Sicily and Tunis, it slows down considerably to navigate a high reef that joins Europe and Africa. Conseil wonders if a volcano will raise the two barriers up over the surface of the waves. Professor Aronnax reassures him that it is unlikely because volcanoes are not as active as they were in “the first days of the world” (154); now, the earth is in a process of cooling and will one day no longer be inhabitable. That day, however, is still hundreds of thousands of years away. Before the ship dives back down, they observe sponges, outspread phosphorescent sea-cucumbers, and comatulae.

They reach the Atlantic, which Professor Aronnax heralds as a “Magnificent field of water” (156) that is 9,000 miles long and covers 25 million square miles. Ned plans to escape that night, since they will be near the Spanish coast. He has gathered some provisions in the boat. Professor Aronnax can wait in the library for his signal. Professor Aronnax counters that the water is too rough, but Ned believes liberty is worth the price. As the hour approaches to leave, Aronnax feels intense anxiety, mostly worrying that Captain Nemo will be sad at their departure. He goes to the saloon to look at Nemo’s collection one last time. He is abandoning forever “These wonders of Nature, these masterpieces of Art” (158).

When it’s close to nine, Aronnax heads to the library to wait for Ned’s signal. Captain Nemo enters, and proceeds to tell him the history of Spain, starting in 1702, when Louis XIV placed his grandson, Phillip V, in charge of the Spaniards. An alliance between Holland, Austria, and England desired instead to place Charles III on the throne. Spain needed to resist the coalition, but did not have soldiers or sailors. However, they had wealth in the form of gold and silver from America, which was coming via a fleet commanded by Admiral Château-Renaud. The Spanish wanted the fleet to enter Vigo Bay, a Spanish port, but this left them defenseless. The English soon arrived. Although Spain managed to offload some of the treasure, Admiral Château-Renaud sent the remaining riches to the bottom of the ocean, rather than let them fall into enemy hands. Captain Nemo announces that the sunken treasure is still in Vigo Bay.

Professor Aronnax sees through the windows several divers carrying to the Nautilus cases of gold, silver, and jewels. Captain Nemo is the “heir direct, without any one to share, in those treasures torn from the Incas” (161). Captain Nemo points out that he can pick up such treasures anywhere in the world. It is the source of his millions. When Professor Aronnax asks whether Nemo feels bad that “thousands of unfortunates” (162) are deprived of such riches, Captain Nemo argues that he does not gather the riches for himself only, and that he is not ignorant of the sufferings of oppressed people around the world.

When Ned confronts Professor Aronnax about their failed escape mission, Professor Aronnax tells Ned about the treasures that Captain Nemo and his men were collecting at Vigo Bay. Ned hopes they may be able to try again that night, but when Professor Aronnax checks the compass, he sees they are heading away from Europe. While Ned is angry, Professor Aronnax feels some relief.

Later that night, Captain Nemo asks Professor Aronnax if he wants to join him on a submarine walk at night. Professor Aronnax agrees and they suit up. No one else is joining them, and they leave their lamps behind. They head to the bottom of the Atlantic, their way guided by a bright red light shining two miles away. Professor Aronnax’s eyes adjust to the darkness and he hears rain falling on the surface of the water. They head away from the Nautilus and toward the bright, rosy light. As they get closer, Professor Aronnax realizes the light is a reflection of a fire on the other side of the mountain. He feels confident they won’t get lost, viewing Captain Nemo as “a genie of the sea” (165).

To get up the mountain, they have to first travel over rocks and through groups of dead trees. Professor Aronnax feels no fatigue, and notes that Captain Nemo doesn’t either. Two hours later, they finish walking through the trees and see the mountain rising a hundred feet up. Professor Aronnax sees the ruins of castles and temples built in Tuscan architecture. Captain Nemo traces the word “ATLANTIS” (168) in chalk on a rock. Professor Aronnax is in awe of the ruins of “the buried continent” (169). Captain Nemo finally turns and gestures to Professor Aronnax to follow. They reach the Nautilus as the first light of dawn appears.

A few days later, Professor Aronnax sees only darkness out the window. He’s confused, expecting daylight. Captain Nemo explains that they are floating underground—they are on a lake in the “heart of an extinct volcano” (171), a place of refuge from all severe weather. There is a crater at the top to supply air and a coal mine to provide coal for the electricity on the ship. Captain Nemo’s men extract the coal in their diving suits. Captain Nemo invites Professor Aronnax to spend the day exploring.

Professor Aronnax finds Ned and Conseil and takes them to the platform. Ned is frustrated that they are once again on land, but beneath a mountain. They walk around, and Professor Aronnax observes vegetation on the sides of the mountain: euphorbia, heliotropes, chrysanthemums, and violets, which he stops to smell. Ned excitedly identifies a beehive in a dragon-tree. He obtains several pounds of honey by lighting his flint and smoking out the bees. He looks forward to using it to make a cake. Professor Aronnax also spots birds of prey. Ned kills one with a rock and puts it in his bag, along with the honey. They head back down to the shore and onto the ship, which does not immediately depart—Captain Nemo is waiting until nightfall when they can leave undetected.

The next day, they reach the Sargasso Sea, “a perfect lake in the open Atlantic” (175). The ship stays beneath the waves to avoid the carpet of seaweed on the surface, a phenomenon explained by the circular movement of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic around a central point. Many things float in the seaweed, including tree trunks and debris from wrecked ships. There are also pink halcyons, actiniae, and medusae.

For the next 19 days, as the Nautilus sails around the Atlantic, Ned worries they will have no opportunity to escape. Professor Aronnax wonders if they might be able to persuade Captain Nemo to let them leave and “restore our liberty” (176) if they promise never to tell anyone of their experiences, as Captain Nemo made it clear that he requires their lifelong imprisonment to keep his existence a secret.

The Nautilus descends lower than 7,000 fathoms, despite the pressure on the ship. They reach a depth of 4 leagues, losing sight of all animal life, and withstanding a pressure of 1600 atmospheres. Professor Aronnax is filled with excitement at experiencing the ocean’s unexplored depths. He wishes he had some way of remembering it—something Captain Nemo says is possible. He has his men bring in equipment to take a negative through the open panel, which captures primitive rocks, granite, and a “horizon of mountains” (178). He then tells Professor Aronnax to hold on because they must rapidly ascend, “like a balloon” (178).