irection,
and that are worked by powerful levers from the interior. If the
planes are kept parallel with the boat, it moves horizontally. If
slanted, the Nautilus, according to this inclination, and under the
influence of the screw, either sinks diagonally or rises diagonally as
it suits me. And even if I wish to rise more quickly to the surface, I
ship the screw, and the pressure of the water causes the Nautilus to
rise vertically like a balloon filled with hydrogen."

"Bravo, Captain! But how can the steersman follow the route in the
middle of the waters?"

"The steersman is placed in a glazed box, that is raised about the hull
of the Nautilus, and furnished with lenses."

"Are these lenses capable of resisting such pressure?"

"Perfectly. Glass, which breaks at a blow, is, nevertheless, capable
of offering considerable resistance. During some experiments of
fishing by electric light in 1864 in the Northern Seas, we saw plates
less than a third of an inch thick resist a pressure of sixteen
atmospheres. Now, the glass that I use is not less than thirty times
thicker."

"Granted. But, after all, in order to see, the light must exceed the
darkness, and in the midst of the darkness in the water, how can you
see?"

"Behind the steersman's cage is placed a powerful electric reflector,
the rays from which light up the sea for half a mile in front."

"Ah! bravo, bravo, Captain! Now I can account for this phosphorescence
in the supposed narwhal that puzzled us so. I now ask you if the
boarding of the Nautilus and of the Scotia, that has made such a noise,
has been the result of a chance rencontre?"

"Quite accidental, sir. I was sailing only one fathom below the
surface of the water when the shock came. It had no bad result."

"None, sir. But now, about your rencontre with the Abraham Lincoln?"

"Professor, I am sorry for one of the best vessels in the American
navy; but they attacked me, and I was bound to defend myself. I
contented myself, however, with putting the frigate hors de combat; she
will not have any difficulty in getting repaired at the next port."

"Ah, Commander! your Nautilus is certainly a marvellous boat."

"Yes, Professor; and I love it as if it were part of myself. If danger
threatens one of your vessels on the ocean, the first impression is the
feeling of an abyss above and below. On the Nautilus men's hearts
never fail them. No defects to be afraid of, for the double shell i