We could never forget the terrible day of April 20th. I wrote about this event with strong feelings. I showed my notes to Conseil and Ned Land. They said my words were true. They said the facts were correct.
Captain Nemo was very sad. He watched the waves and cried. He lost another friend on this journey. This friend did not rest in the quiet cemetery under the sea. The giant animal took him. The man’s death was very violent.
I felt great pain in my heart. During the fight, the man cried for help in French. He was from my country. I realized that many people from different countries lived on the Nautilus (the name of the submarine). They were a mysterious group of men.
Captain Nemo went into his room. I did not see him for a long time. He was very sad and did not know what to do. The Nautilus (the submarine) did not have a plan. It moved slowly like a dead body in the water. It stayed near the place where the man died.
Ten days passed. On May 1st, the ship started to go north again. We were in the Gulf Stream (a very large river of warm water in the ocean). This water is very salty. It is deeper and warmer than the ocean around it.
At night, the water shined with a bright light. On May 8th, we were near North Carolina. The ship moved without a clear direction. I thought we could escape now. We were near the coast of the United States.
Many other ships were in this part of the sea. They could see us and help us. But the weather became very bad. There was a cyclone (a very strong, circular wind). A small boat could not survive in such a storm.
Ned Land was very angry. He was homesick (sad because he was away from his home). He wanted to see his city in Canada. He told me he could not stay on the ship. He felt like he could not breathe. He wanted to talk to the Captain.
I went to talk to Captain Nemo. I knocked on his door and went inside. He was busy at his table. He looked at me with an angry face. He asked me what I wanted. I told him I needed to speak with him.
Captain Nemo showed me a large book. He wrote this book in many languages. It was the story of his life and his studies. He wanted to put the book in a box. He wanted to throw the box into the sea. Then, someone might find it one day.
I told him the box might get lost. I said my friends and I could take the book. I asked him to let us go free. Captain Nemo stood up quickly. He said the same thing again. He said we could never leave the Nautilus (the submarine).
I told him we were like slaves. He said I could use any name I liked. He told me he did not want to hear about this again. He was very firm. I went back to my friends and told them the bad news.
Ned Land said we must escape anyway. He wanted to leave near New York. But the sky was dark and a storm was coming. The birds flew away. The barometer (an instrument that measures air pressure to predict the weather) showed that a giant storm was near.
The storm began on May 18th. Captain Nemo stayed on the platform. He tied himself to the ship. He wanted to face the wind and the waves. I also went to the platform and tied myself down. The wind was very strong.
The waves were fifteen feet high. The rain was very heavy. The wind moved at 100 miles an hour. It was strong enough to break houses. But the steel ship was very safe. It moved through the water easily.
The storm became worse at night. I saw another ship far away. It was a large ship trying to stay above the waves. Then it disappeared in the dark. The sky was full of bright lightning and loud thunder.
The wind came from every direction. The Gulf Stream (the warm ocean river) is the king of storms. The air and the water have different temperatures. This creates great wind. Lightning hit the steel parts of the Nautilus (the submarine).
I was very tired and weak. I went down into the saloon. It was impossible to stand up because the ship moved so much. At midnight, Captain Nemo came down. He filled the tanks with water to make the ship heavy.
The Nautilus (the submarine) went deep under the water. I saw big fish through the windows. They were very scared. We went down 150 feet into the deep sea. Down there, everything was quiet. There was no wind and no storm. It was very peaceful.