Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/313

 “Yes, a subterranean passage does exist. I call it the Arabian Tunnel; it commences underneath Suez and ends in the Gulf of Pelusium.”

“But the isthmus is only composed of shifting sand!”

“To a certain depth—yes. But at about sixty yards down there is a solid rock.”

“And did you discover this passage by chance?”

“By chance and reason, professor; and by reason even more than chance.”

“Captain Nemo, I hear you, but my ears can scarcely take it all in.”

“Ah, Monsieur, aures habent et non audient is a motto for all ages. Not only does this passage exist, but I have often taken advantage of it. Were it not for it, I should not have come into the Red Sea at all just now.”

“May I ask how you discovered the tunnel?”

“Monsieur,” replied the captain, “there is no reason to keep any secret between people who will never be separated.”

I did not notice the insinuation, and waited for the captain’s explanation.

“M. Aronnax,” said he, “it was the simple reasoning of a naturalist that led me to the discovery of this passage, with which I alone am acquainted. I had remarked that in the Red Sea and in the Mediterranean there existed a number of fish identical in every respect. Once certain of this fact, I began to consider whether there might not be some communication between the two seas. If such existed, the subterranean current would flow from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by the simple difference of level. I then caught a quantity of fish off Suez; I placed on their tails brass rings, and let them go. Some months later, on the Syrian coasts, I pulled up some specimens of fish which