Part 2, Chapter 10, A Sea of Treasures We now come to the second part of the journey under the sea.
The first ended with the moving scene in the Coral Cemetery.
On the 24th day of January 1868, I mounted the platform and watched an officer measure the height of the sun.
We were exploring the waters of the Indian Ocean.
An average person would have been bored on this trip.
The hours would have seemed too long, but the daily walks on the platform, the sight of the rich waters, the books in the library and the daily log of sights were heaven to me.
It took up all my time and left not a moment for weariness.
For the next few weeks, the sea life and birds along the surface of the ocean pleased me.
Captain Nemo saw my excitement and offered me an invitation.
That is the island of Ceylon, famous for its pearl fisheries.
Would you like to visit one of them, Mr. Aranax?
Certainly, Captain.
By the way, you are not afraid of sharks, he asked.
Sharks, I exclaimed.
Yes, you know the fish.
Are you afraid of them?
Well, Captain, I am not very familiar with them, I said, being truthful.
We are used to them, the Captain said.
In time, you will be too.
However, we will be armed.
We may even want to hunt the species.
So, until tomorrow, sir, and be ready to leave early.
Captain Nemo left me with that thought.
I allowed the threat of sharks to scare me.
Surely the good captain would never put us in any position where we would be in danger.
Would he?
Ned and Consail entered within a few minutes.
They already knew about the visit tomorrow and seemed rather excited.
I thought they were very brave not to even mention the sharks.
"'Before we go, I would like to ask about the pearl,' Ned said.
"'What exactly is a pearl?'
I found it strange that Ned would ask about a pearl before a shark, but I answered him anyway."
A pearl is what grows inside an oyster, I began.
I went on telling him the details, many of which I didn't think he cared to know.
Thinking that he wasn't going to bring up the subject of sharks, I decided to do so myself.
"'By and by,' I said, trying to take Captain Nemo's careless tone.
"'Are you afraid of sharks?' raved Ned."
"'Of course not,' he answered.
"'My job in life is as a harpooner.'
"'But this is quite different, my friend,' I said.
I was trying to make him see the difference in the two situations.
One might happen along when you're not looking for him.
What then?'
I will deal with it then, Ned laughed, shaking off the question.
I could tell I wouldn't get his concern.
I decided it was best to keep my fears to myself.
The next morning at four o'clock, we were off to find the pearls.
The group of us left in a boat, rowing our way to the area of the pearl fisheries.
In a month, this area will be filled with fishing boats.
The divers' finds will be well worth their time and work.
Captain Nemo spoke from experience.
We put on our rubber clothes and prepared to go where the eager divers would.
During our walk, we saw the sea's treasures.
The pearls were beautiful.
I was amazed by their number and their size.
As we walked, we came upon an Indian fisherman.
He was most likely a poor man who needed to use his time searching for any pearls he could find.
The diver did not see us.
We watched with interest when suddenly the Indian was on the ground.
He made a wave of terror with his right hand and tried to get back to the top of the water.
I understood his fear.
A shark of enormous size was coming at him.
The beast's eyes were on fire and his jaws were open.
The horror left me unable to move.
The shark twisted, ready to attack the Indian.
I saw Captain Nemo rise suddenly, prepare his knife, and walk straight to the monster.
The very second the shark was going to snap the fisherman in two, it noticed its new enemy.
The fight began.
The captain thrust his knife into the shark's side.
I could tell it felt pain, but the shark was a huge animal.
One wound would not take it down.
The two fought one another.
I could see Captain Nemo wearing down his battle against such a large animal, too difficult even for him.
The captain fell to the floor.
The shark's jaws opened wide.
It should have been all over for the sea lover.
Instead, harpoon in hand, Ned rushed toward the shark and struck it with a sharp point.
The fight was over.
We spent the next few minutes trying to bring the Indian around.
Happily, the man began to wake up.
He opened his eyes.
The terror on his face grew at seeing four men leaning over him.
He sat up, still confused by what had happened.
When the captain knew that the man had his senses about him, again he pulled from his pocket a bag of pearls and placed it in the man's hand.
This small treasure, a gift from a man of the waters to the poor fisherman, was accepted with a trembling hand.
The man's wondering eye showed that he didn't know to what beings he owed both his money and his life.
The boat flew over the waves on the way back.
Some minutes after we left, we met the shark's dead body floating.
We had indeed all been lucky to escape with our lives.
There were two important things I came away knowing that evening.
The first was that Captain Nemo was a brave person.
The second was that the good captain really did care for members of the human race.
This man was full of surprises.
