The next morning, February 20th, I woke up much later than usual. The exhausting events of the previous night had kept me asleep until eleven o’clock.
I quickly dressed and hurried to find out the direction the Nautilus was taking.
The instruments showed that we were still heading south, moving at a speed of twenty miles an hour, about fifty fathoms below the surface.
The kinds of fish in these waters were not very different from those we had already seen.
There were enormous rays, nearly fifteen feet long, with powerful muscles that allowed them to leap above the waves.
There were also many kinds of sharks. Among them was one nearly fifteen feet long, with sharp triangular teeth. Its body was so transparent that it was almost impossible to see in the water.
Among the bony fish, Conseil noticed some creatures about nine feet long. Their upper jaws carried long, sharp swords.
He also saw brightly colored fish known to Aristotle as sea-dragons. They were dangerous to catch because of the sharp spines along their backs.
At about four o’clock, the ocean floor began to change.
The ground, which had mostly been covered with thick mud mixed with fossilized wood, gradually became rockier. Soon it was scattered with layers of stone, pieces of basalt, and traces of lava.
I guessed that we were leaving the endless underwater plains and entering a mountainous region.
After several changes in direction by the Nautilus, I saw the southern horizon blocked by a huge wall of rock that seemed to close our path.
Its top clearly rose above the level of the ocean.
It had to be a continent, or at least an island—perhaps one of the Canary Islands or the Cape Verde Islands.
Since the instruments had not yet been used to determine our exact position, perhaps intentionally, I could not tell where we were.
Whatever this enormous wall was, I felt that it marked the edge of the Atlantis we had only briefly crossed.
I would gladly have stayed longer at the window, admiring the strange beauty of the ocean and sky.
But suddenly the panels closed.
At that very moment, the Nautilus reached the foot of the enormous cliff.
I had no idea what Captain Nemo intended to do.
I returned to my cabin.
The submarine had stopped moving.
I lay down, planning to sleep only a few hours before waking again.
But when I entered the saloon the next time, it was already eight o’clock the following morning.
I checked the pressure gauge.
It showed that the Nautilus was floating on the surface of the ocean.
At the same time, I heard footsteps on the platform.
I went toward the panel and found it open.
But instead of bright daylight, I was surrounded by complete darkness.
Where were we?
Had I made a mistake?
Was it still night?
No.
There was not a single star visible, and ordinary night was never this completely dark.
At that moment, a voice beside me spoke.
“Is that you, Professor?”
“Ah, Captain,” I replied. “Where are we?”
“Underground, sir.”
“Underground!” I cried. “And the Nautilus is still floating?”
“She always floats.”
“But I cannot understand.”
“Wait a few minutes. Our lamps will be turned on. If you enjoy places filled with light, you will not be disappointed.”
I stepped onto the platform and waited.
The darkness was so complete that I could not even see Captain Nemo.
But when I looked directly above my head, I noticed a faint, uncertain glow—a kind of twilight coming through a circular opening.
At that moment, the lamps were switched on.
Their powerful light completely overwhelmed the weak natural glow.
I closed my eyes for a moment, then looked again.
The Nautilus was motionless, floating beside a mountain that rose like a natural harbor wall.
The lake beneath us was surrounded by cliffs.
It was a hidden underground lake, about two miles across and six miles around.
The pressure gauge showed that its water level was the same as the ocean outside, meaning that there had to be a passage connecting this lake with the sea.
The towering walls curved inward as they rose, forming a giant roof shaped like an upside-down funnel.
The ceiling was perhaps five or six hundred yards high.
At the very top was a round opening, the same opening through which I had seen the faint light.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“We are inside the heart of an extinct volcano,” Captain Nemo answered. “After some great movement of the earth, the sea entered this mountain’s interior.”
“While you were sleeping, Professor, the Nautilus entered this lagoon through a natural tunnel about ten yards below the ocean surface.”
“This is my hidden harbor—a safe, comfortable, and secret refuge protected from every storm.”
“Show me any harbor on your continents or islands that can offer such complete protection.”
“Certainly,” I replied. “You are perfectly safe here, Captain Nemo. Who could ever find you inside the heart of a volcano?”
“But did I not see an opening at the top?”
“Yes. That was once the volcano’s crater, filled with lava, smoke, and flames. Now it allows fresh air to enter.”
“What is this volcanic mountain?”
“It belongs to one of the many islands scattered across this ocean. To ships, it is nothing more than a small sandbank. To me, it is a huge cavern.”
“Chance led me here, and chance has served me well.”
“But what purpose does this refuge serve, Captain? The Nautilus does not need a harbor.”
“No, sir. But it needs electricity to move.”
“And to produce electricity, I need sodium.”
“To make sodium, I need coal.”
“And to obtain coal, I need a coal mine.”
“Fortunately, this very place provides everything I need.”
“Under this sea lie entire forests buried during ancient geological ages. Over time, they became mineralized and turned into coal.”
“For me, they are an endless supply.”
“So your men work as miners here?” I asked.
“Exactly.”
“These mines extend beneath the sea just like the coal mines of Newcastle.”
“My men enter the water wearing diving suits. With picks and shovels in their hands, they collect the coal.”
“I never need to ask anything from the mines on land.”
“When I burn this coal to produce sodium, the smoke escapes through the volcano’s crater and makes the mountain appear as if it were still active.”
“Will we see your men working?”
“Not this time.”
“I am eager to continue our journey beneath the oceans of the world.”
“I will simply use the sodium reserves I already have.”
“Loading supplies takes only one day, and then we continue our voyage.”
“So, if you wish to explore this cavern and walk around the lagoon, today is your only opportunity, M. Aronnax.”
I thanked the captain and went to find my companions.
They were still inside their cabin.
I invited them to follow me without telling them where we were.
They climbed onto the platform.
Conseil, who was rarely surprised by anything, seemed to think it was perfectly normal to wake up beneath a mountain after falling asleep under the ocean.
But Ned Land cared about only one thing.
He wanted to know whether this cavern had another exit.
After breakfast, around ten o’clock, we left the Nautilus and stepped onto the mountain.
“Here we are on land again,” Conseil said.
“I would not call this land,” Ned Land replied. “And besides, we are not on it—we are beneath it.”
Between the mountain walls and the lake was a sandy shore.
At its widest point, it was about five hundred feet across.
A person could easily walk around the entire lake.
The ground near the cliffs was covered with volcanic rocks and enormous pieces of pumice stone piled together in strange formations.
These rocks had been polished and covered with a glass-like surface by underground fires.
Under the light of our electric lamps, they shone brilliantly.
The dust of mica from the shore rose beneath our feet and floated like a cloud of sparks.
The ground slowly became higher.
Soon we reached long, winding slopes that led upward.
Walking was difficult.
The rocks were loose, and our feet slipped on smooth surfaces of crystal, feldspar, and quartz.
Everywhere around us, the volcanic nature of this enormous chamber was obvious.
I pointed it out to my companions.
“Imagine,” I said, “what this crater must have looked like when it was filled with boiling lava.”
“The molten liquid must once have risen all the way to the opening of the volcano, like a pool of fire inside a furnace.”
“I can imagine it perfectly,” said Conseil.
“But tell me, sir, why did the Great Architect stop the work of this furnace?”
“And why was the fire replaced by this peaceful lake?”
“Most likely, Conseil, some great movement beneath the ocean created the opening through which the Nautilusentered.”
“Then the waters of the Atlantic rushed inside the mountain.”
“There must have been a terrible battle between fire and water.”
“In the end, Neptune won.”
“But countless ages have passed since then.”
“The volcano that once burned fiercely has now become a quiet underground cave.”
“Very well,” said Ned Land.
“I accept your explanation, sir.”
“But for our own sake, I only wish that the opening you mentioned had been above sea level.”
“But, Ned,” said Conseil, “if the passage had not been underwater, the Nautilus could never have entered.”
We continued climbing.
The path became steeper and narrower.
Deep cracks cut across our way, forcing us to jump over them.
Large pieces of rock blocked our route.
Sometimes we had to slide on our knees or crawl forward.
But Conseil’s agility and Ned Land’s strength helped us overcome every obstacle.
At about thirty feet higher, the landscape changed.
The volcanic rocks were replaced by black basalt.
Some basalt appeared in layers filled with bubbles, while other parts formed regular columns, like a natural stone palace supporting the enormous roof above us.
Between the basalt blocks ran streams of ancient lava, now frozen and covered with dark mineral patterns.
In some places, large patches of sulfur covered the ground.
A stronger light entered from the upper crater, spreading a faint glow across these volcanic depths hidden forever inside the extinct mountain.
Our climb finally stopped at a height of about two hundred and fifty feet.
Above us was a huge stone ceiling.
We could go no higher.
Instead, we followed a circular path around the chamber.
Then something unexpected appeared.
Life had begun fighting its way back into this world of stone.
Small bushes and even trees grew from cracks in the walls.
I recognized some euphorbias, which produced a sharp, irritating sap.
There were also heliotropes, though they no longer deserved their name, as their flowers had lost much of their color and fragrance.
Small chrysanthemums grew near sickly-looking aloe plants with long leaves.
Yet among the old lava streams, I discovered tiny violets still giving off a faint perfume.
I bent down and smelled them with great pleasure.
A flower’s fragrance is its soul.
And the flowers of the sea have no soul.
We reached the foot of several strong dragon trees whose roots had pushed aside the rocks.
Suddenly Ned Land shouted:
“Ah, sir! A hive! A hive!”
“A hive?” I replied, unable to believe him.
“Yes, a hive,” the Canadian repeated. “And bees are flying around it.”
I approached and had to admit he was right.
Inside a hole in one of the dragon trees lived thousands of bees, the same kind commonly found throughout the Canary Islands and famous for their excellent honey.
Naturally, Ned Land wanted to collect some.
I could hardly object.
He lit some dry leaves mixed with sulfur and used the smoke to drive the bees away.
Slowly, the buzzing stopped.
The hive finally gave up several pounds of the sweetest honey.
Ned Land packed it into his bag.
“When I mix this honey with artocarpus paste,” he said, “I will make you a delicious cake.”
“By my word,” said Conseil, “it will become gingerbread.”
“Forget the gingerbread,” I said. “Let us continue our fascinating exploration.”
As we followed the path, the lake appeared again and again below us.
The electric lamps illuminated its calm surface.
There was not a single ripple or wave.
The Nautilus remained perfectly still.
On the platform and along the mountain, the crew moved like dark shadows against the glowing surroundings.
We reached the highest part of the rocks supporting the underground roof.
Then I discovered that bees were not the only living creatures inside this volcano.
Birds of prey flew through the darkness.
Some escaped from nests hidden among the cliffs.
There were white-breasted hawks, kestrels, and several large bustards running down the slopes on their long legs.
Anyone can imagine Ned Land’s excitement at seeing such excellent game.
He regretted terribly that he had no gun.
Still, he tried to replace bullets with stones.
After several failures, he finally managed to injure a magnificent bird.
He risked his life many times trying to reach it.
But he succeeded, and soon the bird joined the honey in his bag.
We now had to return to the shore because the path ahead became impossible.
Above us, the crater opened like the mouth of a giant well.
From there, we could clearly see the sky.
Clouds were drifting away in the western wind, leaving only thin mist around the mountain peak.
This proved that the volcano was not very high.
It rose only about eight hundred feet above sea level.
Half an hour after Ned Land’s hunting success, we reached the inner shore again.
Here, plants grew in thick carpets of sea fennel, a small plant that was excellent when pickled.
Conseil collected several bundles.
The animal life was even richer.
Thousands of creatures covered the shore:
lobsters, crabs, spider crabs, shrimp, shells, rock fish, and limpets.
Forty-five minutes later, we completed our walk around the lagoon and returned to the Nautilus.
The crew had already finished loading the sodium.
The submarine was ready to leave immediately.
But Captain Nemo gave no order.
Perhaps he wanted to wait until nightfall before secretly leaving this hidden harbor.
Whatever his reason, the next day the Nautilus departed from the volcanic refuge and continued its journey beneath the Atlantic waves, only a few yards below the ocean surface.