Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/160

 thousand almost imperceptible plants in the space of a few square inches, one can collect fucus whose length exceeds many hundred feet.

We had been absent from the Nautilus about an hour and a half. It was nearly noon. I could see that the sun’s rays were perpendicular, and did not refract. The magical appearance of the colours disappeared by degrees, and the shades of sapphire and emerald disappeared from our “sky.” We proceeded at a steady pace, stepping together in a manner which resounded loudly from the ground. The slightest noises were transmitted with a clearness to which the ear on land is unaccustomed. Water is a much better conductor of sound than air, and the rapidity of the transmission of sounds is quadrupled in the former compound.

Now the ground descended steeply, and the light assumed a uniform tint. We had reached a depth of 100 yards, and under a pressure of ten atmospheres; but our divers’ dresses were so constructed that we felt no inconvenience from the pressure. I only felt a little uncomfortable sensation in my fingers, which, however, quickly passed away. I felt no fatigue whatever, notwithstanding the unaccustomed “harness” I wore. My movements, assisted as they were by the water, were perfectly unconstrained.

At this depth of 300 feet I could still see the sun’s rays, but feebly. To their intense brilliancy a crespucular ruddiness had succeeded a sort of twilight. We could, however, see sufficiently well to proceed, and the Ruhmkorff was not required.

Captain Nemo stopped here. He waited till I had