l, light and insubmersible, that serves
either as a fishing or as a pleasure boat."

"But then, when you wish to embark, you are obliged to come to the
surface of the water?"

"Not at all. This boat is attached to the upper part of the hull of
the Nautilus, and occupies a cavity made for it. It is decked, quite
water-tight, and held together by solid bolts. This ladder leads to a
man-hole made in the hull of the Nautilus, that corresponds with a
similar hole made in the side of the boat. By this double opening I
get into the small vessel. They shut the one belonging to the
Nautilus; I shut the other by means of screw pressure. I undo the
bolts, and the little boat goes up to the surface of the sea with
prodigious rapidity. I then open the panel of the bridge, carefully
shut till then; I mast it, hoist my sail, take my oars, and I'm off."

"But how do you get back on board?"

"I do not come back, M. Aronnax; the Nautilus comes to me."

"By your orders?"

"By my orders. An electric thread connects us. I telegraph to it, and
that is enough."

"Really," I said, astonished at these marvels, "nothing can be more
simple."

After having passed by the cage of the staircase that led to the
platform, I saw a cabin six feet long, in which Conseil and Ned Land,
enchanted with their repast, were devouring it with avidity. Then a
door opened into a kitchen nine feet long, situated between the large
store-rooms. There electricity, better than gas itself, did all the
cooking. The streams under the furnaces gave out to the sponges of
platina a heat which was regularly kept up and distributed. They also
heated a distilling apparatus, which, by evaporation, furnished
excellent drinkable water. Near this kitchen was a bathroom
comfortably furnished, with hot and cold water taps.

Next to the kitchen was the berth-room of the vessel, sixteen feet
long. But the door was shut, and I could not see the management of it,
which might have given me an idea of the number of men employed on
board the Nautilus.

At the bottom was a fourth partition that separated this office from
the engine-room. A door opened, and I found myself in the compartment
where Captain Nemo--certainly an engineer of a very high order--had
arranged his locomotive machinery. This engine-room, clearly lighted,
did not measure less than sixty-five feet in length. It was divided
into two parts; the first contained the materials for producing
electric