Music Welcome to snoozecast. 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 polished filaments. In the previous episode, the Nautilus became trapped by an impenetrable wall of ice. Captain Nemo explains that their situation has dire. The crew, led by Captain Nemo, attempts to to break free by attacking the thinner parts of the ice with pickaxes, but progress is slow. Nemo devises a plan to inject boiling water to raise the temperature and prevent the ice from solidifying. The crew works tirelessly, and despite the worsening conditions, they finally break through the ice and the Nautilus ascends to the surface, bringing in fresh air. We'll pick up right as the Nautilus surfaces. One final note for our upcoming chapter, the pulp is an archaic term for octopus. Let's get cozy. Close your eyes. your body and the softness of your bed. Now take a few deep breaths. Chapter 17 Chapter 17 From Cape Horn to the Amazon How I got on the platform I have no idea. Perhaps the Canadian had carried me there, but I breathed. I inhaled the vivifying sea air. My two companions were getting drunk with the fresh particles. The other unhappy men had been so long without food that they could not, with impunity, indulge in the simplest ailments that were given them. We, on the contrary, had no end to restrain ourselves. We could draw this air freely into our lungs, and it was the breeze. The breeze alone that filled us with this keen enjoyment. Ah, said Kahnze, how delightful this oxygen is. We did not fear to breathe it. There is enough for everybody." Nedland did not speak, but he opened his jaws wide enough to frighten a shark. Our strength soon returned. And when I looked round me, I saw we were alone on the platform. The foreign seamen in the nautilus were contented with the air that circulated in the interior. None of them had come to drink in the open air. The first words I spoke were words of gratitude and thankfulness to my two companions. Net and con say had prolonged my life during the last hours of this long agony. All my gratitude could not repay such devotion. My friends said, I, we are bound one to the other forever, and I am under infinite obligations to you. Which I shall take advantage of, exclaimed the Canadian. What do you mean?" said Kahnce. I mean that I shall take you with me when I leave this infernal notalus. Well, said Conce. After all this, are we going right? Yes, I've replied. Or we are going the way of the sun, and here the sun is in the north. No doubt, said an inland, but it remains to be seen whether he will bring the ship into the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean, that is, into frequented or deserted seas. I could not answer that question, and I feared that Captain Nemo would rather take us to the vast ocean that touches the coasts of Asia and America at the same time. He would thus complete the tour around the submarine world and return to those waters in which the Nautilus could sail freely. We awed, before long, to settle this important point. The Nautilus went at a rapid pace. The polar circle was soon passed, and the quares shaped for Cape Horn. We were off the American point, March 31st at 7 o'clock in the evening. Then all our past sufferings were forgotten. The remembrance of that imprisonment in the ice was absent from our minds. We only thought of the future. Captain Nemo did not appear again either in the drawing room or on the platform. The point shown each day on the planet sphere, and marked by the lieutenant, showed me the exact direction of the Nautilus. Now, on that evening, it was evident to my great satisfaction that we were going back to the North by the Atlantic. The next day, April 1st, when the Nautilus ascended to the surface some minutes before noon, we sighted land to the west. It was Stera Delfwego, which the first navigators named thus from seeing the quantity of smoke that rose from the native's huts. The coast seemed low to me, but in the distance rose high mountains. I even thought I had a glimpse of Mount Ceremento that rises two thousand and seventy yards above the level of the sea, with a very pointed summit. Which, according as it is misty or clear, is a sign of fine or of wet weather. At this moment, the peak was clearly defined against the sky. The nautilus diving again under the water approached the coast, which was only some few miles off. From the glass windows in the drawing room, I saw long seaweeds, of which the open polar sea contains many specimens. They measured about 300 yards in length, real cables, thicker than one's thumb, and having great tenacity they are often used as ropes for vessels. we know as as a valve, with leaves for feet long, buried in the coral concretions, hung at the bottom. It served as nests and food for myriads of crustacea and mollusks, crabs, and cuddlefish. There seals and otters had splendid repasts, eating the flesh of fish with sea vegetables, according to the English fashion. Over this fertile and luxury and ground, the nautilus passed with great repidity. Towards evening it approached the Faulkland group, the rough summits of which I recognized the following day. The depth of the sea was moderate. On the shores our nets brought in beautiful specimens of seaweed. Geese and ducks fell by dozens on the platform and soon took their places in the pantry on board. When the last heights of the Falklands had disappeared from the horizon, the Nautilus sank to beneath twenty and twenty-five yards and followed the American coast. Captain Nemo did not show himself. Until the third of April, we did not quit the shores of Patagonia. Sometimes under the ocean, sometimes at the surface. The Nautilus passed beyond the large estuary formed by Uruguay. Its direction was northwards and followed the long windings of the coast of South America. We had then made 1,600 miles in the seas of Japan. 11 o'clock in the morning. the tropic of Capricorn was crossed on the 37th meridian, and we passed Cape Frio, standing out to sea. Captain Nemo, to Ned Lian's great displeasure, did not like the neighborhood of the inhabited coasts of Brazil, for we went at a giddy speed. Not a fish, not a bird of this swiftest kind could follow us, and the natural curiosity of these seas escaped all observation. This speed was kept up for several days, and in the evening of the 9th of April, we sighted the most westerly point of South America that forms Cape San Roque. But then the Nautilus swerved again and sought the lowest depth of a submarine valley, which is between this Cape and Sierra Leone on the African coast. This valley by far cates to the parallel of the Antillesilles and terminates at the mouth by the enormous depression of 9,000 yards. In this place, the geological basin of the ocean forms as far as the lesser Antilles, a cliff to three and a half miles perpendicular in height and at the parallel of the Cape Verde Islands, and another wall not less considerable that encloses thus all the sunk continent of the Atlantic. The bottom of this immense valley is dotted with some mountains that give to these submarine places a picturesque aspect. I speak more over from the manuscript charts that were in the library of the Nautilus charts evidently do to Captain Nemo's hand and made after his personal observations. For two days the desert and deep deep waters were visited by means of the inclined

plains. The notallis was furnished with long diagonal broadsides, which carried it to all elevations. But on the 11th of April, it rose suddenly and land appeared at the mouth of the Amazon River, a vast estuary.

The equator was crossed. Twenty miles to the west was French territory, on which we could have found an easy refuge, but a stiff breeze was blowing, and the furious waves This would not have allowed a single boat to face them. An inland understood that, no doubt, for he spoke not a word about it. For my part, I had made no allusion to his schemes of flight, for I would not urge him to make an attempt that must inevitably fail. I made the time pass pleasantly by interesting studies. During the days of April 11th and 12th, the Nautilus did not leave the surface of the sea, and the net brought in marvelous halls of zooophytes, fish, and reptiles. Some zooophytes had been fished up by the chain of the nets. They were for the most part beautiful. One of our nets had hauled up a sort of very flat ray fish, a cramp fish, of the most dangerous kind. This odd animal, in a medium conductor like water, strikes fish at several yards distance so great is the power of its electric organ, the two principal surfaces of which do not measure less than 27 square feet. The next day, April 12, the Nautilus approached the Dutch coast near the mouth of the Maroni. There, several groups of sea cows heard it together. They were manatees that, like the Dugong and the Stelera belonged to the skinny in order. These beautiful animals, peaceable and inoffensive, from 18 to 21 feet in length, way at least 1600 weight. I told Ned Land and Konsei that provident nature had assigned an important role to these mammalia. Indeed, they, like the seals, are designed to graze on the submarine prairies and thus destroy the accumulation of weed that obstructs the tropical rivers. Chapter 18. The Polps For several days, the Nautilus kept off from the American coast. Evidently, it did not wish to risk the tides of the Gulf of Mexico, or of the Sea of the Antilles. April 16th we sighted Martinique and Guadalupe from a distance of about 30 miles. I saw their tall peaks for an instant. The Canadian, who counted on carrying out his projects in the Gulf by either landing or hailing one of the numerous boats that coast from one island to one another, was quite disheartened. Flight would have been quite practicable if Ned Land had been able to take possession of the boat without

the captain's knowledge. But in the open sea, it could not be thought of. The Canadian, Konsei, and I had a long conversation on this subject. For six months we had been prisoners on board the Nautilus. We had traveled 17,000 leagues, and, as Ned Land said, there was no reason why it should come to an end. We could hope nothing from the captain of the Nautilus, but only from ourselves. Besides, for some time past he had become graver, more retired, less sociable, he seemed to shun me. I met him rarely. Formerly he was pleased to explain the submarine marvels to me. Now he left me to my studies, and came no more to the saloon. What change had come over him? For what cause? For my part I did not wish to bury with me my curious and novel studies. I had now the power to write the true book of the sea, and this book, sooner or later, I wish to see daylight.

The land nearest us was the archipelago of the Bahamas.

Their rose high submarine cliffs covered with large weeds.

It was about 11 o'clock when that land drew my attention to a formidable pricking,

like the sting of an ant, which was produced by means of large seaweeds. Well, I said, these are proper caverns for pulps, and I should not be astonished to see some of these monsters. What? said Konsei. Cuttlefish, real cuttlefish, of the cephalopod class. No, I said. Bulps of huge dimensions. I will never believe that such animals exist. Said Ned. Well, said Konsei. with the most serious air in the world. I remember perfectly to have seen a large vessel drawn under the waves by an octopus's arm. You saw that? Said the Canadian? Yes, Ned.

With your own eyes?

With my own eyes?

Where pray might that be?

At St. Mallow. net with your own eyes, with my own eyes. Where pray might that be?"

At St. Molo answered Konsei. In the port, said Ned ironically, no, in a church replied Konsei. In a church, quite the Canadian, yes, friend Ned, in a picture representing the Pope and question. Good, said Ned Land, bursting out laughing. He was quite right, I said. I have heard of this picture, but the subject represented is taken from a legend. And you know what to think of legends in the matter of natural history. Besides, when it is a question of monsters, the imagination is apt to run wild. Not only is it supposed that these spulps can draw down vessels, but a certain olos-magnus speaks of an octopus a mile long that is more like an island than an animal. It is also said that the Bishop of Nidros was building an altar on an immense rock mass finished.

The rock began to walk and returned to the sea. The rock was a pulp. Another bishop, Pontopidian, speaks also of a ball, which a regiment of cavalry could maneuver. Lastly, the ancient naturalists speak of monsters whose mouths were like gulfs and which were too large to pass through the straits of Gibraltar. But how much is true of these stories?" asked Gonzay. Nothing, my friends. At least of that which passes the limit of truth to get to fable or legend. Nevertheless, there must be some ground for the imagination of the storytellers. One cannot deny that Paul, Pcent, Cuttlefish exist of a large species inferior, however, to the cetaceans. Aristotle has stated the dimensions of a cuttlefish as five qubits, or nine feet two inches. Our fishermen frequently see some of them that are more than four feet long. Some skeletons of bulbs are preserved in the museum of Trieste and Montpillier that measure two yards in length. Besides, according to the calculations of some naturalists, one of these animals only six feet long would have tentacles twenty-seven feet long. That would suffice to make a formidable monster. Do they fish for them in these days? Asked Ned. If they do not fish for them, sailors see them at least. One of my friends, Captain Paul, has affirmed that he met one of these monsters of colossal dimensions in the Indian seas. But the most astonishing fact, in which does not permit the denial of the existence of these gigantic animals, happened some years ago in 1861. What is the fact? Huxnetland. This is it. In 1861, to the northeast of Tenerife, very nearly in the same latitude we are in now, the crew of the despatch boat-eleor perceived a monstrous cuttlefish swimming in the waters. The captain went near to the animal and attacked it with harpoon and guns, without much success, for balls and harpoons glided over. After several fruitless attempts, the crew tried to pass a slipknot around the body of the mollusk. The new slipped as far as the tail fins, and there stopped. They tried then to haul it on board, but its weight was so considerable that the tightness of the quarts separated the tail from the body. deprived of this ornament, he disappeared under the water. Indeed, is that a fact? An indisputable fact, my good Ned. What length was it as the Canadian? Did it not measure about six yards? Set Consay, who posted at the window, was examining again the irregular windings of the cliff. Precisely. I replied. It's head rejoined Consay. Was it not crowned with eight tentacles that beat the water like a nest of serpents? Precisely. Had not its eyes placed at the back of its head considerable development? Yes, Conce. And was not its mouth like a parrot's beak. Exactly, Conce.. No offence to Master, he replied quietly. If this is not the captain's cuddlefish, it is, at least one of its brothers. I looked at Kansai, that land hurried to the window. What a horrible beast he cried. It was an immense cuttlefish, being eight yards long. It swam crossways in the direction of the nautilus with great speed, watching us with its enormous, staring, green eyes. It's eight arms, or rather feet, fixed to its head that have given the name of a cephalopod to these animals, were twice as long as its body, and were twisted like the furry's hair. One could see the 250 air holes on the inner side of the tentacles. What a freak of nature! A bird speak on a mollusk. Its spindle-like body formed a fleshy mass that might weigh 4,000 to 5,000 pounds. The varying color changing with great rapidity, according to the irritation of the animal, pasts excessively from livid gray to reddish brown. What irritated this small disk? No doubt the presence of the nautilus, more formidable than itself, and on which its suckers or its jaws had no hold. Yet, what monsters these Polps are, what vitality the Creator has given them, what vigor in their movements, and they possess three hearts. Chance had brought us in presence of this cuddlefish, and I did not wish to lose the opportunity of carefully studying this specimen. I overcame the horror that inspired me, and taking a pencil began to draw it. Perhaps this is the same which the electctor saw," said Konsei.

No, replied Canadian, for this is whole, and the other had lost its tail. That is no reason I've replied. The arms and tails of these animals are reformed by renewal. And in seven years, the tail of cunnelfish has no doubt time to regrow. By this time other pulps appeared at the port light, I counted seven. They formed a procession after the nautilus. Suddenly, the nautilus stopped. A shock made it tremble in every plate. Yn yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n y