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1、P2 C10 CHAPTER X THE SUBMARINE COAL MINES The next day the 20th of February I awoke very late the fatigues of the previous night had prolonged my sleep until eleven o clock I dressed quickly and hastened to find the course the Nautilus was taking The instruments showed it to be still toward the sout
2、h with a speed of twenty miles an hour and a depth of fifty fathoms The species of fishes here did not differ much from those already noticed There were rays of giant size five yards long and endowed with great muscular strength which enabled them to shoot above the waves sharks of many kinds amongs
3、t others one fifteen feet long with triangular sharp teeth and whose transparency rendered it almost invisible in the water Amongst bony fish Conseil noticed some about three yards long armed at the upper jaw with a piercing sword other bright coloured creatures known in the time of Aristotle by the
4、 name of the sea dragon which are dangerous to capture on account of the spikes on their back About four o clock the soil generally composed of a thick mud mixed with petrified wood changed by degrees and it became more stony and seemed strewn with conglomerate and pieces of basalt with a sprinkling
5、 of lava I thought that a mountainous region was succeeding the long plains and accordingly after a few evolutions of the Nautilus I saw the southerly horizon blocked by a high wall which seemed to close all exit Its summit evidently passed the level of the ocean It must be a continent or at least a
6、n island one of the Canaries or of the Cape Verde Islands The bearings not being yet taken perhaps designedly I was ignorant of our exact position In any case such a wall seemed to me to mark the limits of that Atlantis of which we had in reality passed over only the smallest part Much longer should
7、 I have remained at the window admiring the beauties of sea and sky but the panels closed At this moment the Nautilus arrived at the side of this high perpendicular wall What it would do I could not guess I returned to my room it no longer moved I laid myself down with the full intention of waking a
8、fter a few hours sleep but it was eight o clock the next day when I entered the saloon I looked at the manometer It told me that the Nautilus was floating on the surface of the ocean Besides I heard steps on the platform I went to the panel It was open but instead of broad daylight as I expected I w
9、as surrounded by profound darkness Where were we Was I mistaken Was it still night No not a star was shining and night has not that utter darkness I knew not what to think when a voice near me said Is that you Professor Ah Captain I answered where are we Underground sir Underground I exclaimed And t
10、he Nautilus floating still It always floats But I do not understand Wait a few minutes our lantern will be lit and if you like light places you will be satisfied I stood on the platform and waited The darkness was so complete that I could not even see Captain Nemo but looking to the zenith exactly a
11、bove my head I seemed to catch an undecided gleam a kind of twilight filling a circular hole At this instant the lantern was lit and its vividness dispelled the faint light I closed my dazzled eyes for an instant and then looked again The Nautilus was stationary floating near a mountain which formed
12、 a sort of quay The lake then supporting it was a lake imprisoned by a circle of walls measuring two miles in diameter and six in circumference Its level the manometer showed could only be the same as the outside level for there must necessarily be a communication between the lake and the sea The hi
13、gh partitions leaning forward on their base grew into a vaulted roof bearing the shape of an immense funnel turned upside down the height being about five or six hundred yards At the summit was a circular orifice by which I had caught the slight gleam of light evidently daylight Where are we I asked
14、 In the very heart of an extinct volcano the interior of which has been invaded by the sea after some great convulsion of the earth Whilst you were sleeping Professor the Nautilus penetrated to this lagoon by a natural canal which opens about ten yards beneath the surface of the ocean This is its ha
15、rbour of refuge a sure commodious and mysterious one sheltered from all gales Show me if you can on the coasts of any of your continents or islands a road which can give such perfect refuge from all storms Certainly I replied you are in safety here Captain Nemo Who could reach you in the heart of a
16、volcano But did I not see an opening at its summit Yes its crater formerly filled with lava vapour and flames and which now gives entrance to the life giving air we breathe But what is this volcanic mountain It belongs to one of the numerous islands with which this sea is strewn to vessels a simple sandbank to us an immense cavern Chance led me to discover it and chance served me well But of what use is this refuge Captain The Nautilus wants no port No sir but it wants electricity to make it mov
