I admired this curious mammal, with its rounded head ornamented with
short ears, its round eyes, and white whiskers like those of a cat,
with webbed feet and nails, and tufted tail. This precious animal,
hunted and tracked by fishermen, has now become very rare, and taken refuge
chiefly in the northern parts of the Pacific, or probably its race would
soon become extinct.
Captain Nemo's companion took the beast, threw it over his shoulder, and we
continued our journey. For one hour a plain of sand lay stretched before us.
Sometimes it rose to within two yards and some inches of the surface of
the water. I then saw our image clearly reflected, drawn inversely, and above
us appeared an identical group reflecting our movements and our actions;
in a word, like us in every point, except that they walked with their heads
downward and their feet in the air.
Another effect I noticed, which was the passage of thick clouds which formed
and vanished rapidly; but on reflection I understood that these seeming
clouds were due to the varying thickness of the reeds at the bottom,
and I could even see the fleecy foam which their broken tops multiplied
on the water, and the shadows of large birds passing above our heads,
whose rapid flight I could discern on the surface of the sea.
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