Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/315



CHAPTER V.

THE ARABIAN TUNNEL.

day I reported to Conseil and Ned Land such portions of my conversation with Captain Nemo as directly interested them. When I told them that in two days we should be in the Mediterranean, Conseil clapped his hands, but the Canadian shrugged his shoulders.

“A submarine tunnel!” he cried. “A communication between the seas! Who ever heard of such a thing?”

“Friend Ned,” replied Conseil, “had you ever heard of the Nautilus? No, but it nevertheless is a fact. Therefore, do not shrug your shoulders so quickly, and do not disbelieve things because you have never heard of them.”

“Well, we shall see,” said Ned, nodding his head. “After all, I desire nothing better than to make this passage into the Mediterranean.”

The same evening, in 21° 30’ N. lat., the Nautilus approached the Arabian coast. I could see Djeddah, an important “exchange” of Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and the Indies. I could distinguish clearly its houses, the vessels alongside the quays, and those anchored farther out. The