Music Welcome to Snewscast, the podcast is designed to help you fall asleep. Find us at snoozecast.com and if you enjoy our show, please share us with a friend. This episode is brought to you by Supreme Tranquility. Tonight, we'll read the next part to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jewels Verne. In the last episode, Aeronax receives an invitation to go hunting in Nemo's forests of Crespo Island the next morning. Conce and Ned are invited too. At breakfast, Nemo explains to Aeronax that these forests are underwater and that he is designed special suits for them to walk around down there freely.

We will pick up with them,

getting changed and prepared for their expedition.

Let's get cozy.

Close your eyes.

I like your body and the softness of your bed.

Now, take a few deep breaths. At the captain's call, two of the ship's crew came to help us to dress in these heavy and impervious clothes, made of India rubber without seam and constructed expressly to resist considerable pressure. One would have thought it was a suit of armor, both supple and resisting. This suit formed trousers and waistcoat. The trousers were finished off with thick boots, weighted with heavy, lead-in soles. The texture of the waistcoat was held together by bands of copper, which crossed the chest, protecting it from the great pressure of the water, and leaving the lungs free to act. The sleeves-ended gloves, which in no way restrained the movement of the hands, there was a vast difference noticeable between these consummate apparatuses and the old cork-breast plates, jackets, and other contrivances invoked during the 18th century. Captain Nemo and one of his companions, a sort of Hercules, who must have possessed great strength, Conce, and myself, were soon enveloped in the dresses. There remained nothing more to be done but to enclose our heads in the middle box. But before proceeding to this operation, I asked the captain's permission to examine the guns we were to carry. One of the notallist men gave me a simple gun, the butt end of which made of steel hollow in the center was rather large. It served as a reservoir for compressed air, which evolved, worked by a spring, allowed to escape into a metal tube. A box of projectiles, in a groove in the thickness of the butt end, contained about 20 of these electric balls, which by means of a spring were forced into the barrel of the gun, as soon as one shot was fired, another was ready. Captain Nemo said, I, this arm is perfect, and easily handled. I only ask to be allowed to try it. But how shall we gain the bottom of the sea? At this moment, Professor the Nautilus is stranded in five vathems and we have nothing to do but to start. But how shall we get off? You shall see. Captain Nemo thrust his head into the helmet, Con say and I did the same, not without hearing an ironical good sport from the Canadian. The upper part of our dress terminated in a copper collar upon which was screwed the metal helmet. Three holes protected by thick glass allowed us to see in all directions by simply turning our head in the interior of the head dress as soon as it was in position. The apparatus on our backs began to act, and for my part I could breathe with ease. With the rum-core flamp hanging from my belt and the gun in my hand, I was ready to set out, out, but the truth, imprisoned in these heavy garments, and glued to the deck by my leaden souls, it was impossible for me to take a step. But the state of things was provided for, I felt myself being pushed into a little room contiguous to the wardrobe room. My companion followed, total long in the same way. I heard a watertight door, furnished with stopper plates, close upon us, and we were wrapped in profound darkness. After some minutes, a loud hissing was heard. I felt the cold mount from my feet to my chest. Evidently, from some part of the vessel they had, by means of a tap, given entrance to the water which was invading us, and with which the room was soon filled. A second door cut in the side of the

notallist then opened. We saw a faint light, in another instant our feet trod the bottom of the sea. And now, how can I retrace the impression left upon me by that walk under the waters? Words are impotent to relate such wonders. Captain Nima walked in front, his companion followed some steps behind, Konsei and I remained near each other, as if an exchange of words had been possible through our metallic cases. I no longer felt the weight of my clothing, or of my shoes, of my reservoir of air, or my thick helmet, in the midst of which my head rattled like an almond in its shell. The light which lit the soil 30 feet below the surface of the ocean astonished me by its power. The solar rays shone through the watery mass easily and dissipated all color, and I clearly distinguished objects at a distance of 150 yards. Beyond that, the tints darkened into fine gradations of ultramarine and faded into vague obscurity. Truly this water which surrounded me was but another air denser than the terrestrial atmosphere but almost as transparent above me was the calm surface of the sea. You were walking on fine, even sand, not wrinkled, as on a flat shore which retains the impression of the billows. This dazzling carpet, really a reflector, repelled the rays of the sun with wonderful intensity, which accounted for the vibration which penetrated every atom of liquid. Shall I be believed when I say that at the depth of 30 feet I could see as if I was in broad daylight? For a quarter of an hour I trod on this sand, and, sewn with the impeppable dust of shells.

The whole of the nautilus resembling a long shawl disappeared by degrees. But its lantern, when darkness should overtake us in the waters, would help to guide us on board by its distinct rays. Soon forms of objects outlined in the distance were discernible. I recognized a magnificent rock hung with a tapestry of zoolfights of the most beautiful kind, and I was at first struck by the peculiar effect of this medium.

It was then ten in the morning, the rays of the sun struck the surface of the waves at rather an oblique angle, and at the touch of their light decomposed by refraction Asteroprism, flowers, rocks, plants, and shells were shaded at the edges by the seven solar colors. It was marvelous, a feast for the eyes. This complication of colored tints, a perfect kaleidoscope of green, yellow, orange, violet, indigo, and blue, in one word, the whole palette of an enthusiastic colorist. Why could I not communicate to Konsei the lively sensations which were mounting to my brain and rival him in expressions of admiration? For ought I knew, Captain Nimo and his companion might be able to exchange thoughts by means of signs previously agreed upon. So, for want of better, I talked to myself. I declaimed in the copper box which covered my head, thereby expending more air in vain words than was perhaps expedient. kinds of ISIS clusters ISIS clusters appear tough to coral. Prickly fungi and anatomies formed a brilliant garden of flowers, enameled with port fitte, decked with their collar-ats of blue tentacles, sea-stars studying the sandy bottom. It was a real grief to me to crush under my feet the brilliant specimens of mollusks, which strewed the ground by thousands of hammerheads, veritable bounding shells of staircases, red helmet shells, angel wings, and many others produced by

this inexhaustible ocean. But we were bound to walk, so we went on, whilst above our heads weaved shoals of Faisalates, leaving their tentacles to float in their train.

Medusa, whose umbrellas of Opul or Rose Pink, is scalloped with a band of blue, sheltered us from the rays of the sun and fiery pelagia, which, in the darkness, would have strewn our path with phosphorescent light. All these wonders I saw in the space of a quarter of a mile, scarcely stopping and following Captain Nemo, who beckoned me on by signs. the nature of the soil changed, to the sandy plain succeeded an extent of slimy mud which the Americans call ooze, composed of different types of shells. We then traveled over a plain of seaweed of wild and luxury vegetation. This sword was of close texture and soft to the feet. Unrivaled the softest carpet woven by the hand of man. But whilst Virger was spread at our feet, it did not abandon our heads. A light network of marine plants, of that inexhaustible family of seaweeds, of which more than 2,000 kinds are known, grew on the surface of the water. I saw long ribbons, a fukus floating, some globular, others tuberous, some delicate foliage, and something resembling the fan of a cactus. I noticed that the green plants kept nearer the top of the sea, whilst the red were at a greater depth, leaving to the black or brown hydrophites the care of forming gardens and parts in the remote beds of the ocean. We had quitted the nautilus about an hour and a half. It was near noon. I knew by the perpendicularity of the sun's rays which were no longer refracted. magical magical colors disappeared by degrees, and the shades of emerald and sapphire were effaced. We walked with a regular step, which reigned upon the ground with astonishing intensity. The slightest noise was transmitted with a quickness to which the ear is unacostomed on the earth.

Indeed. The slightest noise was transmitted with a quickness to which the ear is unacoustummed on the earth. Indeed, water is a better conductor of sound than air in the ratio of 4 to 1. At this period, the earth sloped downwards. The light took a uniform tint. We read a depth of 105 yards and 20 inches, undergoing a pressure of six atmospheres. At this depth, I could still see the rays of the sun, though feebly, to their intense brilliancy had succeeded a reddish twilight, the lowest state between day and night. But we could still see well enough. It was not necessary to resort to the apparatus as yet. At this moment, Captain Nemo stopped. He waited till I joined him and then pointed to an obscure mass, looming

in the shadow at a short distance. It is the forest of the island of Crespo thought I, and I was not mistaken.

After sixteen, a submarine forest, doubtless one of the finest of Captain Nemo's immense domains. He looked upon it as his own, and considered he had the same right over it that the first men had in the first days of the world, and indeed, who would have disputed with him the possession of this submarine property. What other hearty or pioneer would come, hatch it in hand to cut down the dark corpses. This forest was composed of large tree plants, and the moment we penetrated under its vast arcades, I was struck by the singular position of their branches. A position I had not yet observed.

Not an herb which carpeted the ground. Not a branch which clued the trees. Was either broken or bent. Nor did they extend horizontally, all stretched up to the surface of the ocean. a filament, not a ribbon, however thin they might be, but kept as straight as a rod of iron. Motionless yet, when bent to one side by the hand, they directly resumed their form or position. Truly, it was the region of perpendicularity. I soon accustomed myself to this fantastic position, as well as to the comparative darkness which surrounded us. The soil of the forest seemed covered with sharp blocks, difficult to avoid. The submarine floor struck me as being very perfect and richer even though it would have been in the Arctic or tropical zones, where these productions are not so plentiful. But for some minutes, I involuntarily confounded the genera, taking animals for plants, and who would not have been mistaken. The fauna and the flora are too closely allied in this submarine world. These plants are self-probacated, and the principle of their existence is in the water, which upholds and nourishes them. The greater number, instead of leaves, shoot forth blades of capricious shapes, comprised within a scale of colors, pink, carmine, green, olive, fawn, and brown. Curious anomaly, fantastic element, said an ingenious naturalist, in which the animal kingdom blossoms and the vegetable does not. about an hour Captain Nemo gave the signal to Holt. I, for my part, was not sorry, and we stretched ourselves under an arbor of a Larry I, the long thin blades of which stood up like arrows. This short rest seemed delicious to me. There was nothing wanting but the charm of conversation. But impossible to speak, impossible to answer. I only put my great copper head to concess. I saw the worthy fellow's eyes glistening with the light, and to show his satisfaction, he shook himself in his breastplate of air in the most comical way in the world. After four hours of this walking, I was surprised not to find myself dreadfully hungry, how to account for the state of the stomach I could not

tell. But instead, I felt an insurmountable desire to sleep, which happens to all divers, and my eyes soon closed behind the thick glasses.

And I fell into a heavy slumber, which the movement alone had prevented before. Captain Nemo and his robust companion stretched in the clear crystal, set us the example. How long I remained buried in this drowsiness I cannot judge. But when I woke, the sun seemed sinking toward the horizon. Captain Nemo had already risen. Instead of returning to the Nautilus, Captain Nemo continued his bold excursion. The ground was still on the incline. Its declivities seemed to be getting greater and to be leading us to greater depths. It must have been about three o'clock when we reached a narrow valley. Between high perpendicular walls, situated about 75 fathoms deep. Thanks to the perfection of our apparatus, we were 45 fathoms below the limit which nature seemed to have imposed on man as to his submarine excursions. I say 75 fathoms, though I had no instrument by which to judge the distance, but I knew that even in the clearest waters the solar rays could not penetrate further, and accordingly the darkness deepened. At ten bases, not an object was visible. I was groping my way when I suddenly saw a brilliant white light. Captain Nemo had just put his electric apparatus into use. His companion did the same, and Konsei and I followed their example. By turning a screw, I established a communication between the wire and the spiral glass and the sea lit by our four lanterns, was illuminated for a circle of 36 yards. As we walked, I thought the light of our rumcourt of apparatus could not fail to draw some inhabitant from its dark couch. But if they did approach us, they at least kept at a respectful distance from the hunters.

Several times I saw a captain Nemo stop, put his gun to a shoulder, and after some moments drop it, and walk on. At last, after about four hours, this marvelous excursion came to an end, A wall of superb rocks and an imposing mass rose before us, a heap of gigantic blocks, an enormous, steep granite shore, forming dark grottos, but which presented no practical slope. It was the prop of the island of Crespo. It was the earth. Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. A gesture of his brought us all to a halt. And however desirous I might be to scale the wall, I was obliged to stop. Here ended Captain Nemo's domains, and he would not go beyond them. Further on was a portion of the globe he might not trample upon. The return began. and Nemo had returned to the head of his little band directing their course without hesitation. I thought we were not following the same road to the return to the novelist. The new road was very steep and consequently very painful. We approached the surface of the sea rapidly, but this return to the upper strata was not so sudden as to cause relief from the pressure too rapidly, which might have produced serious disorder in our organization.

Very soon, light reappeared and grew, the sun being low in the horizon.

The refraction edged the different objects with a spectral ring.

At ten yards and a half deep, we walked amidst a shawl of little fishes of all kinds, more numerous than the birds of the air, and also more agile, but no aquatic game worthy of a shot had as yet met our gaze. When at that moment I saw the captain shoulder his gun quickly and followed a moving object into the shrubs. He fired. I heard a slight hissing and a creature fell stunned at some distance from us. It was a magnificent sea otter, the only exclusively marine quadruped. The saunter was five feet long and must have been very valuable. Its skin, chestnut brown, above and silvery underneath would have made one of those beautiful fur so sought after in the Russian and Chinese markets. The fineness and the lustre of its coat would certainly fetch 80 pounds. I admired this curious mammal with its rounded head ornamented with short ears, its round eyes, and white whiskers like those of a cat, with wept feet and nails and tough to tail. This precious animal, hunted and tracked by fishermen, has now become very rare and taken refuge chiefly in the northern parts of the Pacific, or probably its race would soon become extinct. Captain Nemo's companion took the beast, through to bear shoulder, and we continued our journey. For one hour, a plane of sand lay stretched before us. Sometimes it rose to within two yards and some inches of the surface of the water. I then saw our image clearly reflected, drawn inversely, and above us appeared an identical group reflecting our movements and our actions, in a word like us in every point except that they walked with their heads downward and their feet in the air. Another effect I noticed, which was the passage of the thick clouds which formed and vanished rapidly. But on reflection, I understood that these seeming clouds were due to the varying thickness of the reads at the bottom, and I could even see the fleece foam which, which their broken tops multiplied on the water,

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