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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Chapter 21. CAPTAIN NEMO'S THUNDERBOLT
We looked toward the forest edge without rising, my hand paused with food halfway to my mouth, Ned Land finishing his.
"Stones don't fall from the sky," said Conseil, "or they'd be called meteorites."
A second stone, carefully aimed, knocked a tasty pigeon leg from Conseil's hand and gave even more support to his observation.
We all three stood up, picked up our guns, and got ready to answer any attack.
"Are they apes?" cried Ned Land.
"Very close, they're savages."
"To the boat!" I said, hurrying to the sea.
We really had to retreat because about twenty natives with bows and slings appeared at the edge of a small forest.
The forest hid the horizon to the right and they were hardly a hundred steps from us.
Our boat was tied up about sixty feet from us.
The savages came toward us, not running, but making threatening movements, Stones and arrows fell heavily.
Ned Land hadn't wanted to leave his food, despite danger, with a pig on one side and kangaroos beside him, he moved fast.
In two minutes we were on the shore.
Loading the boat with food and weapons, pushing it out to sea, and putting the oars in place took only a moment.
We hadn't gone two boat-lengths when a hundred savages, shouting and waving their arms, came into the water up to their waists.
I watched to see if their appearance would bring some men from the Nautilus onto the platform.
But no, the huge machine, lying offshore, was completely empty.
Twenty minutes later we were on board.
The panels were open, After tying up the boat, we went inside the Nautilus.
I went down to the lounge, where I heard some chords.
Captain Nemo was there, leaning over his organ, lost in a musical dream.
"Captain!"
He didn't hear me, absorbed in his music and lost in a private dream.
"Captain!" I said, touching his hand.
He jumped, turned around, and said, "Ah! It's you, Professor? Well, did you have a good hunt? Did you collect plants successfully?"
"Yes, Captain. But unfortunately we brought back a group of two-legged creatures, and their closeness worries me."
"What two-legged creatures?"
"Savages."
"Savages!" he repeated, with a sarcastic tone.
"So you're surprised, Professor, at setting foot on a strange land and finding savages? Savages! Where aren't there any? Besides, are they worse than others, these people you call savages?"
"But Captain, "
"How many did you count?"
"A hundred at least."
"Mr. Aronnax," replied Captain Nemo, putting his fingers on the organ keys.
"When all the natives of Papua are gathered on this shore, the Nautilus won't have anything to fear from their attacks."
The Captain's fingers were then running over the keys of the instrument.
And I noticed that he touched only the black keys, which gave his melodies a very Scottish character.
Soon he'd forgotten I was there and had fallen into a daydream that I didn't disturb.
I went back up onto the platform, night had already fallen, because in this low latitude, the sun sets quickly and without twilight.
I could only see the island unclearly, but the many fires lit on the beach showed that the natives didn't plan to leave.
I was alone for several hours, sometimes thinking about the natives but not fearing them because the Captain's calm confidence was catching.
Sometimes I forgot them and admired the beauty of the tropical night.
My thoughts went to France, following those zodiac stars that would shine in a few hours.
The moon shone in the middle of the constellations overhead.
The night passed without any trouble, the islanders were probably frightened by the sight of a monster stuck in the bay.
The panels were open and would have offered easy access to the inside of the Nautilus.
At six o'clock in the morning of January 8th, I went up onto the platform.
Dawn was breaking, the island soon showed itself through the disappearing fog, first the shore, then the mountain tops.
The natives were there, more numerous than the day before.
There were five or six hundred maybe.
Some had come onto the coral, taking advantage of the low water.
They were less than two boat-lengths from the Nautilus.
I could see them easily, they were true Papuans with athletic bodies, good build, high foreheads not flat, and white teeth.
Their woolly hair, with a reddish color, stood out against their black shiny bodies like those of the Nubians.
From the lobes of their ears, cut and stretched, hung chains of bones, Most of these savages were naked.
Among them, I noticed some women, dressed from the hips to the knees in a sort of skirt of leaves, held up by a vegetable belt.
Some chiefs had decorated their necks with a crescent and collars of glass beads, red and white.
Nearly all were armed with bows, arrows, and shields.
They carried on their shoulders a kind of net containing round stones.
They threw these stones from their slings with great skill.
One of these chiefs, quite close to the Nautilus, examined it carefully.
He was probably a "mado" of high rank, because he was wrapped in a mat of banana leaves, cut around the edges and decorated with bright colors.
I could easily have shot this native, who was within a short distance.
But I thought it was better to wait for real hostile actions.
Between Europeans and savages, it's proper for the Europeans to defend sharply, not to attack.
During low water the natives walked around near the Nautilus, but they weren't troublesome.
I often heard them repeat the word "Assai,"
And from their gestures I understood that they were inviting me to go onto the land, an invitation I refused.
So on that day, the boat didn't go out, much to the displeasure of Master Land, who couldn't finish getting his food.
This clever Canadian used his time preparing the meat that he'd brought from the island.
The savages returned to the shore about eleven o'clock in the morning.
They came as soon as the coral tops began to disappear under the rising tide.
I saw that their numbers had increased a lot on the shore.
Probably they came from the nearby islands, or very likely from Papua.
However, I hadn't seen a single native canoe.
Having nothing better to do, I thought of exploring these beautiful clear waters, under which I saw a lot of shells, sea creatures, and marine plants.
It was the last day the Nautilus would spend here, if she floated into open sea the next day, as Captain Nemo promised.
So I called Conseil, who brought me a small light net, very similar to those used for oyster fishing.
Now to work! For two hours we fished without stopping, but we didn't bring up any rare items.
The net was filled with midas-ears, harps, melames, and especially the most beautiful hammer shells I'd ever seen.
We also brought up some sea cucumbers, pearl oysters, and a dozen little turtles that were kept for the pantry on board.
But just when I least expected it, I put my hand on a wonder, I might say a natural oddity, very rarely found.
Conseil was just pulling the net, it came up filled with various ordinary shells.
Suddenly, he saw me quickly put my arm into the net to pull out a shell, then he heard me shout.
"What's the matter, sir?" he asked in surprise.
"Has master been bitten?"
"No, my boy. But I'd willingly have given a finger for my discovery."
"What discovery?"
"This shell," I said, holding up the object of my success.
"It's simply an olive porphyry, genus olive, order of the pectinibranchidae, class of gasteropods, subclass mollusca."
"Yes, Conseil. But instead of being rolled from right to left, this olive turns from left to right."
"Is that possible?"
"Yes, my boy. It's a left-handed shell."
Shells are all right-handed, with rare exceptions, and when by chance their spiral is left-handed, collectors are ready to pay their weight in gold.
Conseil and I were lost in looking at our treasure.
I was promising myself to add it to the museum.
Then a stone, unfortunately thrown by a native, hit the precious object in Conseil's hand, it broke, I shouted in despair!
Conseil picked up his gun and aimed at a savage who was getting ready to throw his sling from ten yards away.
I'd have stopped him, but his shot hit and broke the bracelet of charms around the savage's arm.
"Conseil!" I cried.
"Conseil!"
"Well, sir! Don't you see that the cannibal has started the attack?"
"A shell isn't worth a man's life," I said.
"Ah! The scoundrel!" cried Conseil.
"I'd rather he'd broken my shoulder!"
Conseil was serious, but I didn't agree with him.
However, the situation had changed a few minutes before, and we hadn't noticed, Twenty canoes surrounded the Nautilus.
These canoes, hollowed out of tree trunks, long, narrow, well suited for speed, were balanced by a long bamboo pole that floated on the water.
They were handled by skilled, half-naked paddlers, and I watched them come closer with some worry.
It was clear that these Papuans had already dealt with Europeans and knew their ships.
But this long iron cylinder anchored in the bay, without masts or chimneys, what could they think of it?
Nothing good, because at first they kept a respectful distance.
However, seeing it motionless, they slowly got their courage up and tried to get familiar with it.
Now this familiarity was exactly what we had to avoid.
Our weapons, which made no noise, could only have a moderate effect on the savages, who respect nothing but noisy things.
Thunder without the sound of thunder wouldn't frighten people much, though the danger is in the lightning, not the noise.
At this moment the canoes came closer to the Nautilus, and a shower of arrows landed on her.
I went down to the lounge, but found no one there.
I dared to knock at the door that led to the Captain's room.
"Come in," was the answer.
I entered and found Captain Nemo deep in algebra calculations of x and other numbers.
"I'm disturbing you," I said, for politeness.
"That's true, Mr. Aronnax," replied the Captain.
"But I think you have serious reasons for wanting to see me."
"Very serious ones. The natives are surrounding us in their canoes, and in a few minutes we'll certainly be attacked by many hundreds of savages."
"Ah!" said Captain Nemo quietly.
"They've come with their canoes?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, sir, we must close the hatches."
"Exactly, and I came to tell you, "
"Nothing could be simpler," said Captain Nemo.
And pressing an electric button, he sent an order to the ship's crew.
"It's all done, sir," he said after a few moments.
"The boat is ready, and the hatches are closed. You don't fear, I imagine, that these gentlemen could break through walls that your frigate's cannonballs couldn't damage?"
"No, Captain. But a danger still exists."
"What's that, sir?"
"It's that tomorrow, at about this time, we'll have to open the hatches to renew the air of the Nautilus."
"Now, if at that moment the Papuans are on the platform, I don't see how you can stop them from coming in."
"Then, sir, you think they'll board us?"
"I'm sure of it."
"Well, sir, let them come."
"I see no reason to stop them."
"After all, these Papuans are poor creatures, and I don't want my visit to the island to cost the life of a single one of these wretches."
At that I was about to leave.
But Captain Nemo stopped me and asked me to sit down next to him.
He asked me with interest about our trips on shore and our hunting.
And he didn't seem to understand the Canadian's need for meat.
Then the conversation turned to various subjects, and without being more open, Captain Nemo showed himself more friendly.
Among other things, we happened to talk about the Nautilus's situation, stuck in exactly the same spot in this strait where Dumont d'Urville was nearly lost.
Speaking of this, the Captain continued, recalling D'Urville's fate and great achievements.
"This D'Urville was one of your great sailors,"
The Captain said to me, "one of your most intelligent navigators."
"He's the Captain Cook of you Frenchmen."
"An unlucky man of science, after facing the icebergs of the South Pole, the coral reefs of Oceania, the cannibals of the Pacific."
"to die miserably in a railway train! If this energetic man could think in"
As he spoke, Captain Nemo seemed moved, and his emotion gave me a better opinion of him.
We reviewed the travels of the French navigator with a chart in hand.
His voyages went around the world and included two stops at the South Pole.
These stops led to the discovery of Adelaide and Louis Philippe.
He also fixed the map positions of the main islands of Oceania.
"What your D'Urville did on the surface of the seas," said Captain Nemo.
"I've done under them, and more easily, more completely than he."
The Astrolabe and the Zelee, tossed by the hurricane, couldn't compare to the Nautilus, a quiet workplace in the middle of the waters.
"Tomorrow," added the Captain, standing up, "tomorrow, at twenty minutes to three in the afternoon, the Nautilus will float and leave the Strait of Torres unharmed."
Having said these words shortly, Captain Nemo bowed slightly.
This was to dismiss me, and I went back to my room.
There I found Conseil, who wanted to know the result of my meeting with the Captain.
"My boy," I said, "when I pretended to believe that his Nautilus was threatened by the natives of Papua, the Captain answered me very sarcastically."
"I have only one thing to tell you, Trust him and go to sleep peacefully".
"Don't you need my services, sir?"
"No, my friend. What's Ned Land doing?"
"If you'll excuse me, sir," answered Conseil, "friend Ned is busy making a kangaroo pie that'll be a marvel."
I stayed alone and went to bed, but I slept badly.
I heard the noise of the savages, who stamped on the platform, shouting deafening cries.
The night passed like this, without disturbing the normal rest of the crew.
The presence of these cannibals affected them no more than the soldiers of a hidden battery care about the ants that crawl across its front.
At six in the morning I got up, the hatches hadn't been opened.
The inside air wasn't renewed, but the air tanks, filled ready for any emergency, were now used.
And they released several cubic feet of oxygen into the tired atmosphere of the Nautilus.
I worked in my room until noon, without seeing Captain Nemo even for a moment.
On board, no preparations for leaving were visible.
I waited a little longer, then went into the large lounge, the clock showed half past two.
In ten minutes it would be high tide, and if Captain Nemo hadn't made a careless promise, the Nautilus would be freed immediately.
If not, many months would pass before she could leave her coral bed.
However, some warning vibrations began to be felt in the ship.
I heard the keel scraping against the rough limestone bottom of the coral reef.
At twenty-five minutes to three, Captain Nemo appeared in the lounge.
"We're going to start," he said.
"Ah!" I replied.
"I've given the order to open the hatches."
"And the Papuans?"
"The Papuans?" answered Captain Nemo, shrugging his shoulders slightly.
"Won't they come inside the Nautilus?"
"How?"
"By jumping through the hatches you've opened."
"Mr. Aronnax," Captain Nemo answered quietly, "they won't enter the hatches of the Nautilus that way, even if they're open."
I looked at the Captain, watching his calm face and intent, pale eyes.
"You don't understand?" he said.
"Hardly."
"Well, come and you'll see."
I walked slowly toward the central staircase, watching the crew and listening to cries
There Ned Land and Conseil were slyly watching some of the ship's crew, who were opening the hatches, while angry cries and terrible shouts sounded outside.
The port lids were pulled down outside.
Twenty horrible faces appeared, the first native who put his hand on the stair rail was hit from behind.
An invisible force struck him, I don't know what.
He ran away, making terrible cries and wild movements.
Ten of his companions followed him, they met the same fate.
Conseil was delighted, Ned Land, carried away by his violent instincts, rushed onto the staircase.
But the moment he grabbed the rail with both hands, he was thrown backward in his turn.
"I've been struck by a thunderbolt!" he cried, with a curse.
This explained everything, it wasn't a rail, it was a metal cable charged with electricity from the deck that connected to the platform.
Whoever touched it felt a powerful shock that would have been deadly if Captain Nemo had sent the full current through the conductor.
It could truly be said that between his attackers and himself he'd stretched a net of electricity that no one could cross without being hurt.
Meanwhile, the angry Papuans had retreated, paralyzed with fear.
As for us, half laughing, we comforted and rubbed the unlucky Ned Land, who swore like a madman.
At that moment the Nautilus, lifted by the last tidal waves, left her coral bed at the fortieth minute set by the Captain.
Her propeller moved through the water slowly and majestically.
Her speed increased gradually, and sailing on the surface of the ocean, she left the dangerous passes of the Strait of Torres safe and sound.