It is a quarter to twelve; I will go up again to the surface."
The Captain pressed an electric clock three times.
The pumps began to drive the water from the tanks; the needle
of the manometer marked by a different pressure the ascent
of the Nautilus, then it stopped.
"We have arrived," said the Captain.
I went to the central staircase which opened on to the platform,
clambered up the iron steps, and found myself on the upper part
of the Nautilus.
The platform was only three feet out of water. The front
and back of the Nautilus was of that spindle-shape which caused
it justly to be compared to a cigar. I noticed that its
iron plates, slightly overlaying each other, resembled the shell
which clothes the bodies of our large terrestrial reptiles.
It explained to me how natural it was, in spite of all glasses,
that this boat should have been taken for a marine animal.
Toward the middle of the platform the longboat, half buried
in the hull of the vessel, formed a slight excrescence.
Fore and aft rose two cages of medium height with inclined sides,
and partly closed by thick lenticular glasses; one destined for
the steersman who directed the Nautilus, the other containing a
brilliant lantern to give light on the road.
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