undisturbed by the motion of the sea, and under favourable pressure for the transmission of the electric spark, which passes from America to Europe in ·32 of a second. The duration of this cable will be almost indefinite, for the gutta percha is improved by the salt water.
Besides, on this well-selected level, the cable is never so deeply immerged as to break. The Nautilus went to its lowest depth, situated 4,431 yards (métres), and there it lay without any distention; we then arrived at the spot where the accident of 1863 happened.
The ocean bed forms a large valley, upon which Mont Blanc might be placed, without the top appearing above the water. This valley is enclosed on the east by a perpendicular wall, more than 2,000 yards high. We arrived there on the 28th May, and the Nautilus was then only 120 miles from the Irish coast.
Did Captain Nemo wish to reach the British Isles? No. To my great surprise he again turned southward, and to European seas. In rounding the “Emerald Isle,” I perceived Cape Clear for a moment, and the Fastnet lighthouse, which guides the thousands of ships bound for Liverpool and Glasgow.
An important question presented itself to my mind. Did the Nautilus dare to enter the English Channel? Ned, who had reappeared since we sighted land, did not cease to inquire. How could I reply. Captain Nemo was still invisible to us. Having permitted the Canadian a glimpse of America, perhaps he was going to give me a look at France!
But we went south still. On the 30th May we passed the Land’s End, leaving the Scilly Isles to starboard. If Captain Nemo wished to enter the English Channel, he must now go east, but he did not.
