This is the end of my journey under the sea. I do not know what happened during that terrible night. I do not know how our small boat escaped the maelstrom (the giant circle of moving water). I do not know how Ned Land, Conseil, and I survived the deep water.
I woke up in a small house. This house belonged to a fisherman. It was in the Loffoden Isles in the country of Norway. Ned Land and Conseil were near me. They were safe and healthy. They held my hands and we were all very happy.
We could not go back to France immediately. It is difficult to travel from the north of Norway to the south. There are not many boats or trains there. I must wait for a steamboat (a large ship that uses steam power to move). This boat comes only once every month.
Kind people are looking after us in this village. While I wait, I am reading my notes again. I am writing the story of my adventure. I wrote everything exactly as it happened. I did not change any facts about the journey.
This is a true story about a journey under the sea. Most people cannot go to the bottom of the ocean. But I believe that will change. One day, science will help people visit the deep sea easily.
Will people believe my story? I do not know. It is not important. I know what I saw with my own eyes. I have the right to speak about these seas.
I lived under the water for ten months. I traveled 20,000 leagues (a unit of distance; one league is about three miles). This was a journey around the world under the ocean. This journey showed me many wonderful things.
But what happened to the Nautilus (the boat that travels under the water)? Was the boat strong enough to survive the maelstrom? Is Captain Nemo still alive? I have many questions about him.
Is Captain Nemo still hunting ships? Does he still want to hurt his enemies? Or did he stop after the last ship sank? I do not have the answers.
Perhaps the ocean will bring this book to Captain Nemo. I still do not know the real name of that man. We found the ship he sank. Maybe that ship will tell us which country Captain Nemo comes from.
I hope we find the truth one day. I also hope the Nautilus is safe. I hope the boat survived the dangerous water. Many other ships were lost there, but the Nautilus is very strong.
If Captain Nemo is still alive, I hope he is not angry anymore. The ocean is his home now. I hope he finds peace in his heart. I hope he looks at the wonders of the sea and forgets about hurting people.
I hope Captain Nemo stops being a judge who punishes people. I hope he becomes a philosopher (a person who thinks deeply about life and the world). I hope he explores the sea in peace.
Captain Nemo’s life is very strange. But his life is also very great. I understand him a little. I lived that strange life with him for ten months.
A long time ago, a man asked a question in a famous book. He asked: "The deep sea is very far away. Who can understand it?" Today, only two men can answer that question. Those two men are Captain Nemo and I.