Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/169

 when I distinguished a vague gleam, which broke the obscurity, about half-a-mile distant. It was the lantern of the Nautilus. In less than twenty minutes we should be on board, and there I should be able to breathe more at ease, for it appeared to me that the air supplied by my reservoir was deficient in oxygen. But I did not count upon an incident which delayed our arrival. I was about twenty paces behind the others, when Captain Nemo hurriedly returned towards me. He dragged me to the ground by main force, while his companion did the same to Conseil. I did not know what to make of this sudden attack, but was somewhat reassured to perceive that the captain lay down close beside me, and remained motionless.

I was stretched upon the ground, under the shade of a clump of sea-wrack, when, as I raised my head, I saw some enormous masses pass noiselessy by, emitting a phosphorescent gleam as they went.

My blood ran cold. I recognised the shark. They were two terrible specimens, with enormous tails, a dull and glassy stare, and they gave forth a phosphorescent matter from the holes pierced near the muzzles. Their enormous fiery mouths could engulf a man whole within those fearful teeth. I do not know whether Conseil amused himself in classifying them, but, for my own part, I regarded their shining bellies, and their formidable throats, bristling with teeth, in a very unscientific manner, and more from a victim’s than from a naturalist’s point of view.

Fortunately, these voracious animals cannot see very distinctly. They passed without noticing us, although they almost brushed us with their black fins, and we