I do not know how I got to the platform. Perhaps Ned Land carried me there. I breathed the fresh sea air. It felt very good. My two friends were also happy to breathe again.
We were without air for a long time. Now, we could breathe freely. The fresh wind made us feel strong. We enjoyed this moment very much.
Conseil said the air was wonderful. He said there was enough air for everyone. Ned Land did not speak. He opened his mouth wide to take in the air.
Our strength came back quickly. I looked around the platform. We were alone. The crew of the Nautilus (the name of the submarine) stayed inside. They were happy with the air inside the ship.
The first words I spoke were to thank my two friends. Ned Land and Conseil saved my life during the difficult hours in the ice. I wanted to pay them back for their help. I told them we were friends forever.
Ned Land said he wanted a favor. He wanted me to leave the Nautilus with him. I asked Conseil if we were going in the right direction. I said we were going north.
Ned Land wondered about the ocean. He wanted to know if we were in the Atlantic or the Pacific. He wanted to be in a busy sea with many other ships. I did not have an answer.
I feared Captain Nemo wanted to go to the deep ocean. That ocean is near Asia and America. Captain Nemo wanted to travel around the whole world under the water. The Nautilus moved very fast.
We passed the south of South America. This place is called Cape Horn (the most southern point of South America). We arrived there on March 31st at seven o'clock. We forgot our past pain.
We did not think about the ice anymore. We only thought about the future. Captain Nemo did not come to the platform. I looked at the map in the ship every day.
I was happy because we were going north in the Atlantic Ocean. On April 1st, the Nautilus came to the surface. We saw land to the west. It was Tierra del Fuego (a group of islands at the bottom of South America).
People called it this because they saw smoke from fires there. The land was low, but there were big mountains far away. I saw a mountain called Mount Sarmiento. It was very high.
The Nautilus went under the water again. We moved close to the coast. I looked through the big glass windows. I saw very long seaweed (plants that grow in the ocean).
These plants were very long and strong. They looked like thick ropes. Many small animals lived in these plants. There were crabs and small fish. Seals and otters ate the fish there.
The Nautilus moved very quickly. In the evening, we were near the Falkland Islands. The next day, I saw the tops of the mountains there. The sea was not very deep.
Our nets caught many things. We caught plants and mussels (small sea animals with hard shells that people eat). We also caught ducks and geese on the platform. We put them in the kitchen.
The Nautilus went deeper into the water. We followed the coast of South America. Captain Nemo did not show himself. We stayed near the land called Patagonia.
On April 4th, we were near Uruguay. We moved north along the coast. We traveled 1,600 miles since we started in Japan. The ship went at a very fast speed.
Captain Nemo did not like to be near people. We moved so fast that we could not see the fish. We could not see the birds. This speed continued for many days.
On April 9th, we saw the most eastern part of South America. Then, the Nautilus went very deep. It went into a deep valley under the sea. This valley was between South America and Africa.
I read about this place in the books on the Nautilus. Captain Nemo wrote these books himself. For two days, we stayed in the deep, quiet water. The Nautilus could go very deep or stay near the surface.
On April 11th, the ship rose up. We saw the mouth of the Amazon River (the largest river in South America). The river is so big that it changes the salt water of the sea. We crossed the Equator (the imaginary line around the middle of the Earth).
We were near the country of Guiana. We could escape there, but the wind was very strong. The waves were too big for a small boat. Ned Land saw this and did not talk about escaping.
I did not talk about his plan to run away. I knew the plan could not work. I spent my time studying the sea. Our nets caught many beautiful things.
We caught strange sea animals. Some had many tentacles (long parts of the body used for feeling or catching food). They had red spots and looked like flowers. We also caught many mollusks (animals with soft bodies and shells).
I saw many different fish. Some were like eels with green heads. Others were small sharks with many teeth. There were also fish that looked like bats. People call them sea-unicorns.
I saw fish that were the color of gold. Others were purple. Some had silver scales that shined in the light. One fish tasted like a salmon when it was dry.
Conseil will remember one fish for a long time. Our net caught a very flat fish. It was white on the bottom and red on the top. It had dark blue spots on its skin.
The fish moved a lot on the platform. It tried to jump back into the sea. Conseil did not want to lose the fish. He ran to catch it with his hands.
Suddenly, Conseil fell down. His legs went into the air. He could not move his body. He cried out to me for help. He was very scared.
Ned Land and I helped Conseil. We rubbed his arms until he could feel them again. Conseil touched a cramp-fish (a fish that can give an electric shock). This animal is very dangerous.
This fish uses electricity to hit other fish. It is very powerful. On April 12th, we saw many manatees (large, gentle sea animals that eat grass). They are also called sea-cows.
These animals are very peaceful. They grow to be twenty feet long. They eat the grass under the water. This is very important for the ocean.
I told Ned Land and Conseil about these animals. They clean the rivers. When people kill too many manatees, the rivers become dirty. This can make people sick with fever.
The manatees are like the stomach of the sea. They keep the water clean. Without them, the ocean would be full of bad things. We watched them as we moved north.