Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/238

 This was not likely, for some day or other his work would perish with him in some unknown sea. It was not likely that he destined them for me, as that would be to admit that my strange voyage would have an end; and this termination I did not yet perceive.

However, Captain Nemo made me equally acquainted with himself with various results obtained by him, and which established the agreement of the densities of the water in the principal seas. From this communication I drew a personal lesson, which had nothing scientific about it.

On the morning of the 15th January the captain, with whom I was walking on the platform, asked me if I knew the different densities of sea-water. I replied in the negative, and I added that exact observations on the subject had not been recorded.

“I have made such observations, and I can vouch for their accuracy,” said the captain.

“Very good,” said I, “but the Nautilus is a world in itself, and the secrets of its wise men have not reached terra firmâ.”

“You are right, Professor,” he replied after a pause. “It is a world apart. It is as great a stranger to the earth as the planets which accompany the globe round the sun; and the earth does not yet know the secrets of the savants in Saturn and Jupiter. However, since chance has thrown us together, I will tell you the result of my observations.”

“I am all attention, captain.”

“You know,” said Captain Nemo, “that salt water is more dense than fresh water, but this density is not uniform. For example, if I represent the density of