ion has not yet begun.
Never mind, I will give orders to make for the Gulf of Manaar, where we
shall arrive in the night."

The Captain said something to his second, who immediately went out.
Soon the Nautilus returned to her native element, and the manometer
showed that she was about thirty feet deep.

"Well, sir," said Captain Nemo, "you and your companions shall visit
the Bank of Manaar, and if by chance some fisherman should be there, we
shall see him at work."

"Agreed, Captain!"

"By the bye, M. Aronnax you are not afraid of sharks?"

"Sharks!" exclaimed I.

This question seemed a very hard one.

"Well?" continued Captain Nemo.

"I admit, Captain, that I am not yet very familiar with that kind of
fish."

"We are accustomed to them," replied Captain Nemo, "and in time you
will be too. However, we shall be armed, and on the road we may be
able to hunt some of the tribe. It is interesting. So, till
to-morrow, sir, and early."

This said in a careless tone, Captain Nemo left the saloon. Now, if
you were invited to hunt the bear in the mountains of Switzerland, what
would you say?

"Very well! to-morrow we will go and hunt the bear." If you were asked
to hunt the lion in the plains of Atlas, or the tiger in the Indian
jungles, what would you say?

"Ha! ha! it seems we are going to hunt the tiger or the lion!" But when
you are invited to hunt the shark in its natural element, you would
perhaps reflect before accepting the invitation. As for myself, I
passed my hand over my forehead, on which stood large drops of cold
perspiration. "Let us reflect," said I, "and take our time. Hunting
otters in submarine forests, as we did in the Island of Crespo, will
pass; but going up and down at the bottom of the sea, where one is
almost certain to meet sharks, is quite another thing! I know well
that in certain countries, particularly in the Andaman Islands, the
negroes never hesitate to attack them with a dagger in one hand and a
running noose in the other; but I also know that few who affront those
creatures ever return alive. However, I am not a negro, and if I were
I think a little hesitation in this case would not be ill-timed."

At this moment Conseil and the Canadian entered, quite composed, and
even joyous. They knew not what awaited them.

"Faith, sir," said Ned Land, "your Captain Nemo--the devil take
him!--has just made us a very pleasant offer."

"Ah!" said I, "you know?"

"If agreeable t