in 130° long., and on the tenth parallel, which we steadily followed.
On the 13th of January, Captain Nemo reached the Timor Sea, and sighted the island of that name in 122° long. This island is ruled by the Radjahs. These princes call themselves the “sons of crocodiles;” that is to say, descended from the highest rank to which human nature can lay claim. So these scaly ancestors abounded in the streams, and were the object of peculiar veneration. The people protected them, petted them, worshipped them, and fed them, even giving them their young children to eat; and woe to the stranger who raised his hand against these sacred lizards.
But the Nautilus had nothing to do with these horrible animals. Timor was only visible for a moment at mid-day, while the mate made the observations. And equally I could only catch a glimpse of the little island of Rotti, which made one of the group, the women of which bear a high reputation for beauty in the Malayan markets.
The Nautilus now went south-west, and bore up for the Indian Ocean. Whither was Captain Nemo taking us? Was he about to run up the Asian coasts, and towards Europe? This was not likely to be the idea of a man who kept aloof from inhabited continents. Would he descend to the southward, double the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, and advance to the Antarctic regions? Or would he return to the Pacific, where the Nautilus found easy and independent navigation? Time would show.
Having skirted the rocks of Cartier, Hibernia, Seringapatam, and Scott—the last barriers of the land
