It was March 22. At six in the morning, we prepared to leave. The light of the day was gone. The night was very dark and cold. I saw the constellations (groups of stars that make a shape in the sky). I saw the Southern Cross. It was very beautiful. The temperature was -12°C. The wind was very strong and biting.
The sea began to freeze. I saw many pieces of ice in the water. Soon, the ice would cover everything. The whales go to warmer water during the winter. But the seals stay. They make holes in the ice. They use these holes to breathe. Soon, the seals would be alone on this cold land.
The Nautilus began to go down into the water. It stopped at 300 meters deep. The propeller (a spinning part that moves a ship) started to turn. We moved north at fifteen miles an hour. We were under a very large mountain of ice. At three in the morning, a loud noise woke me up.
The ship hit something hard. I fell out of my bed. I was in the middle of the room. The Nautilus hit something and then moved violently. I walked to the large room. The light in the ceiling was on. The furniture was on the floor. The ship was leaning to the right side.
Ned Land and Conseil came into the room. I asked them what happened. Conseil did not know. Ned Land was angry. He said the ship hit something. He said the Nautilus was stuck. I looked at the manometer (an instrument that shows the depth of the water). We were 300 meters deep.
We waited for Captain Nemo. Twenty minutes later, Captain Nemo entered the room. He looked worried. He looked at the compass (an instrument that shows direction). Then he looked at a map of the southern seas. I asked Captain Nemo if this was an accident.
"Yes," Captain Nemo said. "This is a serious accident." I asked if the ship was stuck. Captain Nemo said yes. He said it was not a mistake by the crew. It was a problem with nature. We could not stop it.
Captain Nemo explained the cause. A very large piece of ice turned over. This happens when the bottom of an iceberg melts. The ice becomes top-heavy. Then the whole mountain of ice flips. This ice hit the Nautilus. Now the ship was trapped on its side.
I asked if we could move. Captain Nemo was using the reservoirs (large tanks for holding water) already. The pumps were working. We heard the noise of the machines. The ship began to rise. But the large block of ice moved up with the ship.
Suddenly, the Nautilus moved. It began to get straight. The furniture moved back to its place. The floor became flat under our feet. After ten minutes, the ship was straight again. I told Captain Nemo I was happy. He said the ship was floating. But we were not free.
We were in a tunnel of ice. There was a wall of ice on our left and our right. There was also ice above us and below us. The tunnel was twenty meters wide. The water inside was very quiet. We needed to move forward or backward to get out.
The lights of the ship were very bright. The light hit the ice walls. The ice looked like beautiful blue and green stones. It looked like diamonds. Conseil said it was very beautiful. I agreed with Conseil. It was a wonderful sight.
Ned Land was not happy. He said the sight was too beautiful. He said it was dangerous. Suddenly, the Nautilus moved very fast. The light from the ice became like flashes of lightning. It was too bright to look at. We had to cover our eyes.
At five in the morning, the ship hit something again. The front of the ship hit a block of ice. The tunnel was blocked. Captain Nemo changed direction. The Nautilus began to move backward very fast.
"We are going backward?" Conseil asked. I said yes. The front of the tunnel was closed. We had to go back to the opening in the south. I tried to sound brave. But I was worried.
Hours passed. I looked at the instruments. We were 300 meters deep. We moved at twenty miles an hour. This was very fast for such a small space. Captain Nemo was in a hurry. He knew every minute was important.
At eight o'clock, the ship hit ice again. This time, the hit was at the back of the ship. I became very pale. I took Conseil’s hand. Captain Nemo entered the room. I asked him if the path to the south was closed.
"Yes," Captain Nemo said. "The ice moved. Every way out is closed." We were trapped inside the ice.