on, however thin they might be, but kept as straight as a rod of
iron. The fuci and llianas grew in rigid perpendicular lines, due to
the density of the element which had produced them. Motionless yet,
when bent to one side by the hand, they directly resumed their former
position. Truly it was the region of perpendicularity!

I soon accustomed myself to this fantastic position, as well as to the
comparative darkness which surrounded us. The soil of the forest
seemed covered with sharp blocks, difficult to avoid. The submarine
flora struck me as being very perfect, and richer even than it would
have been in the arctic or tropical zones, where these productions are
not so plentiful. But for some minutes I involuntarily confounded the
genera, taking animals for plants; and who would not have been
mistaken? The fauna and the flora are too closely allied in this
submarine world.

These plants are self-propagated, and the principle of their existence
is in the water, which upholds and nourishes them. The greater number,
instead of leaves, shoot forth blades of capricious shapes, comprised
within a scale of colours pink, carmine, green, olive, fawn, and brown.

"Curious anomaly, fantastic element!" said an ingenious naturalist, "in
which the animal kingdom blossoms, and the vegetable does not!"

In about an hour Captain Nemo gave the signal to halt; I, for my part,
was not sorry, and we stretched ourselves under an arbour of alariae,
the long thin blades of which stood up like arrows.

This short rest seemed delicious to me; there was nothing wanting but
the charm of conversation; but, impossible to speak, impossible to
answer, I only put my great copper head to Conseil's. I saw the worthy
fellow's eyes glistening with delight, and, to show his satisfaction,
he shook himself in his breastplate of air, in the most comical way in
the world.

After four hours of this walking, I was surprised not to find myself
dreadfully hungry. How to account for this state of the stomach I
could not tell. But instead I felt an insurmountable desire to sleep,
which happens to all divers. And my eyes soon closed behind the thick
glasses, and I fell into a heavy slumber, which the movement alone had
prevented before. Captain Nemo and his robust companion, stretched in
the clear crystal, set us the example.

How long I remained buried in this drowsiness I cannot judge, but, when
I woke, the sun seemed sinking towards the horizon