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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Part 2 - Chapter 4
Episode 2725th January 2024 • Bite at a Time Books • Bree Carlile
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Join Host Bree Carlile as she reads the twenty-seventh chapter of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Come with us as we release one bite a day of one of your favorite classic novels, plays & short stories. Bree reads these classics like she reads to her daughter, one chapter a day. If you love books or audiobooks and want something to listen to as you're getting ready, driving to work, or as you're getting ready for bed, check out Bite at a Time Books!

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San the book and let's see what we can find.

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Take it chapter by chapter, one bite at a time so many adventures and mountains we can climb take it word for word, like by line.

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One bite at a time.

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My name is Brie Carlyle and I love to read and wanted to share my passion with listeners like you.

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If you want to know what's coming next and vote on upcoming books, sign up for our newsletter@byetatimebooks.com you'll also find our new t shirts in the shop, including podcast shirts and quote shirts from your favorite classic novels.

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Be sure to follow my show on your favorite podcast platform so you get all the new episodes.

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You can find most of our links in the show notes, but also our website, bytetimebooks.com includes all of the links for our show, including to our Patreon to support the show and YouTube, where we have special behind the narration of the episodes.

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We're part of the Bite at a Time Books productions network.

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If you'd also like to hear what inspired your favorite classic authors to write their novels and what was going on in the world at the time, check out the bite at a time books behind the story podcast.

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Wherever you listen to podcasts, please note.

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While we try to keep the text as close to the original as possible, some words have been changed to honor the marginalized communities who've identified the words as harmful and to stay in alignment with bite at a time book's brand values.

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Today we'll be continuing 20,000 leagues under.

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The Sea by Jules Verne chapter four the Red Sea in the course of the day of the 29 January, the island of Salon disappeared under the horizon, and the Nautilus, at a speed of 20 miles an hour, slid into the labyrinth of canals which separate the Maldives from the Lacadives.

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It coasted even the island of Kiltan, a land originally coraline, discovered by Vasco de Gama in 1499 and one of the 19 principal islands of the Lacadive archipelago.

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Situated between ten degrees and 14 degrees 30 minutes north latitude and 69 degrees 50 minutes 72 seconds east longitude, we had made 16,220 miles, or 7500 french leagues, from our starting point in the japanese seas.

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The next day, 30th January, when the Nautilus went to the surface of the ocean, there was no land in sight.

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Its course was north northeast, in the direction of the Sea of Omen, between Arabia and the indian peninsula, which serves as an outlet to the Persian Gulf.

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It was evidently a block without any possible egress.

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Where was Captain Nemo taking us to I could not say.

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This, however, did not satisfy the Canadian, who that day came to me asking where we were going.

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We're going where our captain's fancy takes us, master Ned.

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His fancy cannot take us far.

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Then, said the Canadian, the Persian Gulf.

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Has no outlet, and if we do go in, it will not be long before we are out again.

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Very well, then we will come out again, masterland.

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And if, after the Persian Gulf, the Nautilus would like to visit the Red Sea, the Straits of Babel, Manda bird there to give us entrance.

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I need not tell you, sir, said.

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Ned land, that the Red Sea is as much closed as the gulf as the itthemus of Suez is not yet cut.

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And if it was, a boat as mysterious as ours would not risk itself in a canal cut with sluices.

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And again, the Red Sea is not the road to take us back to Europe.

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But I never said we were going back to Europe.

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What do you suppose, then?

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I suppose that after visiting the curious coasts of Arabia and Egypt, the Nautilus will go down the Indian Ocean again, perhaps cross the channel of Mozambique, perhaps off the masqueraus, so as to gain the Cape of good hope.

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And once at the Cape of Good Hope?

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Asked the Canadian with peculiar emphasis, well, we shall penetrate into that Atlantic which we do not yet know.

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Ah, friend Ned, you are getting tired of this journey under the sea.

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You are surfitted with the incessantly varying spectacle of submarine wonders.

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For my part, I shall be sorry to see the end of a voyage which is given to so few men to make.

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For four days, till the 3 February, the Nautilus scoured the sea of omen.

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At various speeds and at various steps.

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It seemed to go at random, as if hesitating as to which road it should follow.

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But we never passed the tropic of cancer.

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In quitting the sea, we cited musket for an instant one of the most important towns of the country of Omen.

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I admired its strange aspect, surrounded by black rocks upon which its white houses and fords stood.

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In relief I saw the rounded domes of its mosques, the elegant points of its minarets, its fresh and verdant terraces.

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But it was only a vision.

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The Nautilus soon sank under the waves of that part of the sea.

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We passed along the arabian coast of Mara and Hadramat for a distance of 6 miles, its undulating line of mountains being occasionally relieved by some ancient ruin.

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On the 5 February, we at last entered the Gulf of Aydan, a perfect funnel introduced into the neck of Babel.

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Mandab, through which the indian waters entered the Red Sea.

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The 6 February.

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The Nautilus floated inside of Ayton, perched upon a promontory which a narrow isthmus joins to the mainland, a kind of inaccessible Gibraltar, the fortifications of which were rebuilt by the English.

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After taking possession in 1839, I caught a glimpse of the octagon minarets of this town, which was at one time the richest commercial magazine on the coast.

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I certainly thought that Captain Nemo, arrived at this point, would back out again, but I was mistaken.

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Free did no such thing.

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Much to my surprise, the next day, the 7 February, we entered the straits of Babel Mandeb, the name of which in the arab tongue means the gate of tears.

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To 20 miles in breadth, it is only 32 in length, and for the Nautilus, starting at full speed, the crossing was scarcely the work of an hour.

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But I saw nothing, not even the island of Prim, with which the british government has fortified the position of Aiden.

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There were too many english or french steamers of the line of Suez to Bombay, Calcutta to Melbourne, and from Bourbon to the Maritis, furrowing this narrow passage for the Nautilus to venture to show itself, so it remained prudently below.

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At last, about noon, we were in the waters of the Red Sea.

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I would not even seek to understand the caprice which had decided Captain Nemo upon entering the gulf, but I quite approved of the nautilus entering it.

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Its speed was lessened.

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Sometimes it kept on the surface, sometimes it dived to avoid a vessel, and thus I was able to observe the upper and lower parts of this curious sea.

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The 8 February.

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From the first dawn of the day, mocha came in sight, now ruined town, whose walls would fall at a gunshot, it, which shelters here and there some verdant date trees, once an important city, containing six public markets and 26 mosques, and whose walls, defended by 14 forts, formed a girdle of 2 miles in circumference.

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The nautilus then approached the african shore, where the depth of the sea was greater.

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There, between two waters clearest crystal.

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Through the open panels, we were allowed to contemplate the beautiful bushes of brilliant coral and large blocks of rock, clothed with the splendid fur of green.

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Variety of sights and landscapes along these sandbanks, and algae and fucai.

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What an indescribable spectacle.

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And what variety of sites and landscapes along these sandbanks and volcanic islands which bound the libyan coast, but where all these shrubs appeared in all their beauty, it was on the eastern coast which the nautilus soon gained.

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It was on the coast of Tama.

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For there, not only did this display.

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Of zoofites flourish beneath the level of the sea, but they also formed picturesque interlacings, which unfolded themselves about 60ft above the surface, more capricious, but less highly colored than those whose freshness was kept up by the vital power of the waters.

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What charming hours I passed thus at the window of the saloon.

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What new specimens of submarine flora and fauna did I admire under the brightness.

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Of our electric lantern?

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The 9 February.

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The nautilus floated in the broadest part of the Red Sea, which is comprised between Suican on the west coast and Comfida on the east coast, with a diameter of 90 miles.

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That day, at noon, after the bearings were taken, Captain Nemo mounted the platform where I happened to be, and I was determined not to let him go down again without at least pressing him regarding his ulterior projects.

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As soon as he saw me, he approached and graciously offered me a cigar.

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Well, sir, does this red sea please you?

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Have you sufficiently observed the wonders it covers?

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Its fishes, its zoofites, its partiers of sponges, and its forests of coral?

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Did you catch a glimpse of the towns on its borders?

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Yes, Captain Nemo, I replied.

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And the nautilus is wonderfully fitted for such a study.

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It is an intelligent boat.

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Yes, sir, intelligent and invulnerable.

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It fears neither the terrible tempests of the Red Sea, nor its currents, nor its sandbanks.

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Certainly, said I, the sea is quoted as one of the worst, and in the time of the ancients, if I'm not mistaken, its reputation was detestable.

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Detestable, Monsieur Aranax?

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The greek and latin historians do not speak favorably of it, and Strabo says it is very dangerous during the atesian winds and in the rainy season.

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The Arabian adrisi portrays it under the name of the Gulf of colism, and relates that vessels perish there in great numbers on the sandbanks, and that no one would risk sailing in the night.

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It is, he pretends, a sea subject to fearful hurricanes, strewn with inhospitable islands, and which offers nothing good either on its surface or in its depths.

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1 may see, I replied, that these historians never sailed on board the nautilus.

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Just so, replied the captain, smiling.

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And in that respect, moderns are not more advanced than the ancients.

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It required many ages to find out the mechanical power of steam.

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Who knows if in another hundred years we may not see a second nautilus?

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Progress is slow, Monsieur Aaron Axe.

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It is true, I answered your boat is at least a century before its time.

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Perhaps an era.

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What a misfortune that the secret of such an invention should die with its inventor.

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Captain Nemo did not reply.

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After some minute'silence, he continued.

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You were speaking of the opinions of ancient historians upon the dangerous navigation of the Red Sea.

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It is true, said I.

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But were not their fears exaggerated?

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Yes and no, Monsieur Aranax, replied.

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Captain Nemo, who seemed to know the Red Sea by heart, that which is.

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No longer dangerous for a modern vessel, well rigged, strongly built, and master of its own course, thanks to obedient steam, offered all sorts of perils to the ships of the ancients.

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Picture to yourself.

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Those first navigators venturing in ships made of planks, sewn with the cords of the palm tree, saturated with the grease of the sea dog and covered with powdered resin.

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They had not even instruments wherewith to take their bearings, and they went by guests amongst currents of which they scarcely knew anything.

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Under such conditions, shipwrecks were and must have been numerous.

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But in our time, steamers running between suas and the south seas have nothing more to fear from the fury of the skulls.

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In spite of contrary trade winds, the captain and passengers do not prepare for their departure by offering propitiatory sacrifices.

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And on their return, they no longer go ornamented with wreaths and guilt fillets to thank the gods in the neighboring temple.

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I agree with you, said I, and steam seems to have killed all gratitude in the hearts of sailors.

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But, captain, since you seem to have especially studied this sea, can you tell me the origin of its name?

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There exists several explanations on the subject.

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Monsieur Aranax, would you like to know the opinion of a chronicler of the 14th century?

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Willingly.

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This fanciful writer pretends that its name was given to it after the passage of the Israelites, when Pharaoh perished in the waves which closed at the voice of Moses.

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A poet's explanation, Captain Nemo, I replied, but I cannot content myself with that.

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I ask you for your personal opinion.

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Here it is, Monsieur Aranax.

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According to my idea, we must see in this appellation of the Red Sea a translation of the hebrew word edom.

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And if the ancients gave it that name, it was on account of the particular color of its waters.

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But up to this time, I have.

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Seen nothing but transparent waves.

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And without any particular color?

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Very likely.

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But as we advance to the bottom of the gulf, you will see the singular appearance.

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I remember seeing the bay of Tor entirely red, like a sea of blood.

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And you attribute this color to the presence of a microscopic seaweed?

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Yes.

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So, Captain Nemo, it is not the first time you have overrun the Red Sea on board the nautilus?

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No, sir.

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As you spoke a while ago of.

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The passage of the Israelites and of.

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The catastrophe of the Egyptians, I will ask whether you've met with the traces under the water of this great historical fact.

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No, sir, and for a good reason.

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What is it?

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It is that the spot where Moses and his people passed is now so blocked up with sand that the camels can barely bathe their legs.

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There.

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You can well understand that there would not be water enough for my nautilus.

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In the spot?

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I asked.

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This spot is situated a little above the isthmus of Suez, in the arm which formerly made a deep estuary when the Red Sea extended to the Salt lakes.

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Now, whether this passage were miraculous or not, the Israelites nevertheless crossed there to reach the promised land.

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And Pharaoh's army perished precisely on that spot.

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And I think that excavations made in the middle of the sand would bring to light a large number of arms and instruments of egyptian origin.

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That is evident, I replied.

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And for the sake of archaeologists, let us hope that these excavations will be made sooner or later, when new towns are established on the Isthamus after the construction of the Suez canal.

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A canal, however, very useless to a vessel like the nautilus.

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Very likely, but useful to the whole.

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World, said Captain Nemo.

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The ancients well understood the utility of a communication between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean for their commercial affairs.

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But they did not think of digging a canal direct and took the Nile as an intermediate.

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Very probably.

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The canal which united the Nile to the Red Sea was begun by Cesostrus.

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If we may believe tradition, one thing is certain, that in the year 615, before Jesus Christ, Nicos undertook the works of an elementary canal to the waters of the Nile across the plain of Egypt, looking towards Arabia.

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It took four days to go up this canal, and it was so wide that two triremes could go abreast.

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It was carried on by Darius, the son of Hystaspes, and probably finished by Ptolemy II.

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Strabo saw it navigated, but its decline from the point of departure, new verbastis to the Red Sea was so slight that it was only navigable for a few months in a year.

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This canal answered all commercial purposes to the age of Antonius, when it was abandoned and blocked up with sand.

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Restored by order of the calf Omar, it was definitely destroyed in 761 or 762 by Caliph al Mansour, who wished to prevent the arrival of provisions to Muhammad bin Abdallah, who had revolted against him during the expedition into Egypt.

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Your general Bonaparte discovered traces of the works in the desert of Suez, and, surprised by the tide, he nearly perished before regaining Hajaroth at the very place where Moses had encamped 3000 years before him.

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Well, captain, what the ancients dared not undertake, this junction between the two seas, which will shorten the road from Cadiz to India, Monsieur Lesups has succeeded in doing, and before long he will have changed Africa into an immense island.

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Yes, Monsieur Aranax, you have the right.

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To be proud of your countrymen.

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Such a man brings more honor to a nation than great captains, he began, like so many others, with disgust and rebuffs.

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But he is triumphed, for he has the genius of will.

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And it is sad to think that a work like that, which ought to have been an international work and which would have sufficed to make a reign illustrious, should have succeeded by the energy of one man.

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All honor to Monsieur Lepsps.

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Yes, honor to the great citizen, I replied, surprised by the manner in which Captain Nemo had just spoken.

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Unfortunately, he continued, I cannot take you through the Suez Canal, but you'll be able to see the long jetty of port said after tomorrow, when we shall be in the Mediterranean.

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The Mediterranean?

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I exclaimed.

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Yes, sir.

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Does that astonish you?

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What astonishes me is to think that we shall be there the day after tomorrow.

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Indeed, yes, captain.

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Although by this time I ought to have accustomed myself to be surprised at nothing since I've been on board your boat.

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But the cause of this surprise.

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Well, it is the fearful speed you will have to put on the nautilus if the day after tomorrow she is to be in the Mediterranean, having made.

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The round of Africa and doubled the.

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Cape of good hope.

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Who told you that she would make the round of Africa and double the Cape of good hope, sir?

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Well, unless the nautilus sails on dry land and passes above the isthmus or.

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Beneath it, Monsieur Aaron acts beneath it.

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Certainly, replied Captain Nemo quietly.

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A long time ago, nature made under this tongue of land.

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What man has this day made on its surface?

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What, such a passage exists?

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Yes, a subterranean passage which I have named the arabian tunnel.

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It takes us beneath Suez and opens into the Gulf of pelusium.

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But this ithythmus is composed of nothing.

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But quicksands to a certain depth, but at 55 yards only there is a solid layer of rock.

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Did you discover this passage by chance?

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I asked, more and more surprised.

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Chance and reasoning, sir.

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And by reasoning even more than by chance.

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Not only does this passage exist, but I have profited by it several times.

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Without that, I should not have entered this day into the impassable Red Sea.

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I noticed that in the Red Sea and in the Mediterranean there existed a certain number of fishes of a kind, perfectly identical.

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Certain of the fact, I asked myself, was it possible that there was no communication between the two seas?

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If there was, a subterranean current must necessarily run from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean from the sole cause of difference of level.

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I caught a large number of fishes in the neighborhood of Suez.

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I passed a copper ring through their tails and threw them back into the sea.

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Some months later, on the coast of Syria, I caught some of my fish ornamented with the ring.

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Thus the communication between the two was proved.

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I then sought for it with my nautilus.

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I discovered it, ventured into it, and before long, sir, you too will have passed through my arabian tunnel.

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Thank you for joining Bite at a.

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Time books today while we read a bite of one of your favorite classics.

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Again, my name is Brie Carlyle, and I hope you come back tomorrow for the next byte of 20,000 leagues under the sea.

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Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter@byteathimebooks.com, and check out the shop.

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See what we can find.

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Take it chapter by chapter, one at a time so many adventures and mountains we can climb take it word for word, line by line, bite at a time, close.

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