Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/324

 By a gesture he indicated to the steersman the proper directions.

I was placed on the port-side, and could perceive the magnificent formations of coral; the zoophytes, algæ, and crustacea moving their enormous claws which were extended from the holes in the rocks.

At a quarter-past ten Captain Nemo himself took the helm. A large black gallery opened before us; the Nautilus entered it boldly. An unusual rushing sound of water accompanied us; this was caused by the waters of the Red Sea which the incline of the tunnel sent rushing to the Mediterranean. The Nautilus was borne upon the torrent like an arrow notwithstanding that the screw was reversed to counteract the speed.

Upon the walls of the tunnel I could distinguish nothing but brilliant rays, lines of fire traced by the speed of our electric light; my heart beat fast and I put my hand to my chest.

At 10·35 Captain Nemo gave up the wheel to the helmsman, and, turning to me, said:

“The Mediterranean!”

In less than twenty minutes the Nautilus, carried along by the current, had passed beneath the Isthmus of Suez!