M. Aronnax woke up very late the next day. It was February 20. He was very tired from the night before. He slept until eleven o’clock. He dressed quickly and looked at the instruments. The Nautilus (a boat that travels under the water) was still moving south. It moved at twenty miles per hour. It was fifty fathoms (a unit for measuring the depth of water) deep.
M. Aronnax saw many fish through the window. There were giant rays (flat fish with long tails). They were five yards long and very strong. They could jump out of the water. He saw many types of sharks. One shark was fifteen feet long with sharp teeth. It was almost invisible in the water.
Conseil saw some large fish too. Some were three yards long. They had a sharp sword on their jaw. Other fish had bright colors. These were called sea-dragons. They had sharp spikes on their backs. These spikes were very dangerous.
At four o’clock, the ground changed. The mud became stony. M. Aronnax saw many volcanic rocks. A very high wall was in front of the boat. It blocked the way. The top of the wall was above the water. M. Aronnax thought it was an island or a continent.
The windows of the boat closed. The Nautilus arrived at the high wall. M. Aronnax went to his room. The boat stopped moving. He went to sleep for a few hours. At eight o’clock the next morning, he went to the large room. The boat was now on the surface of the ocean.
M. Aronnax heard steps on the platform. He went to the opening. It was open, but it was very dark outside. He did not see any stars. It was not like a normal night. Suddenly, he heard the voice of Captain Nemo.
Captain Nemo asked M. Aronnax if he was there. M. Aronnax asked where they were. Captain Nemo said they were underground. M. Aronnax was very surprised. He asked how the boat could still float. Captain Nemo told him to wait for the light.
M. Aronnax stood on the platform. It was very dark. He looked up and saw a small circle of light far above his head. Then, the boat’s lantern turned on. The light was very bright. The Nautilus was in a lake inside a mountain.
The lake was two miles wide. The walls of the mountain were very high. They formed a roof over the lake. This roof looked like a large funnel (a tool with a wide top and a narrow bottom) turned upside down. The hole at the top was five hundred yards high.
Captain Nemo explained the place. He said it was an old volcano (a mountain that once had fire inside). The sea came into the mountain after a big earthquake. The Nautilus entered through a natural tunnel. This tunnel was ten yards under the water.
Captain Nemo said this was a safe harbor. No storms could reach them here. M. Aronnax agreed. No one could find them inside a volcano. Captain Nemo said he found this place by chance. It was a very useful place for him.
The Nautilus needed electricity to move. Captain Nemo needed sodium to make electricity. He used coal to make sodium. This volcano had a large coal-mine (a place where people take coal from the ground). There were old forests under the water here.
Captain Nemo’s crew worked as miners. They wore diving-dresses. They used a pickaxe (a heavy metal tool for breaking rocks) and a shovel. They took the coal from the ground. When Captain Nemo burned the coal, smoke went out the top of the mountain. People on ships thought the volcano was still active.
Captain Nemo was in a hurry. He already had enough sodium. He only needed one day to put it on the boat. He told M. Aronnax to explore the cave today. M. Aronnax thanked Captain Nemo. He went to find Ned Land and Conseil.
M. Aronnax did not tell his friends where they were. They all went up to the platform. Conseil was not surprised. He thought it was natural to be under a mountain. But Ned Land only wanted to find a way to escape. They ate breakfast and then went onto the land.
There was a sandy shore around the lake. The shore was five hundred feet wide. They walked on the sand. They saw many volcanic rocks and pieces of basalt (a type of dark rock). These rocks were very shiny. The dust on the ground looked like sparks.
The ground became higher. They walked up the slopes. They had to be careful. The rocks were very slippery. M. Aronnax told his friends about the volcano. He said the mountain was once full of hot lava (melted rock). Then the ocean water came in and cooled it.
Ned Land wished the opening was above the water. Then they could escape. But Conseil said the boat needed the water to enter. They continued to climb. The path became very narrow. They had to crawl on their knees. Conseil and Ned Land were very strong. They helped M. Aronnax.
They reached a height of 250 feet. They saw some plants and trees. M. Aronnax saw some small violets. They had a sweet smell. M. Aronnax was very happy to smell a flower. He said that flowers in the sea have no soul because they have no smell.
They saw some large trees. Suddenly, Ned Land shouted. He found a hive (a house for bees). There were thousands of bees in a hole in a tree. Ned Land wanted the honey. He used dry leaves and smoke to move the bees. He took many pounds of sweet honey.
Ned Land was very happy. He wanted to mix the honey with fruit to make a cake. Conseil said it would be like gingerbread. They continued their walk. They saw the Nautilus in the lake below. The crew were working like dark shadows on the boat.
They saw some birds too. There were hawks and kestrels (a type of small hawk). Ned Land wanted to hunt them for food. He did not have a gun, so he used stones. He hit a large bird called a bustard (a large, heavy bird). He put it in his bag.
They began to walk back down to the shore. The mountain was about eight hundred feet high. They saw many crabs and lobsters on the beach. They also saw many shells. After forty-five minutes, they were back on the boat.
The crew finished their work. The sodium was on the boat. The Nautilus was ready to leave. But Captain Nemo did not give the order yet. He waited for the night. The next day, the boat left the volcano. It moved under the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.