The things we do!

The tide began to recede,
being quite full. The Nautilus approached the island, that I
still saw, with its remarkable border of screw-pines. He stood off
it at about two miles distant. Suddenly a shock overthrew me.
The Nautilus just touched a rock, and stayed immovable,
laying lightly to port side.
When I rose, I perceived Captain Nemo and his lieutenant on the platform.
They were examining the situation of the vessel, and exchanging words in
their incomprehensible dialect.
She was situated thus: Two miles, on the starboard side,
appeared Gilboa, stretching from north to west like an immense arm.
Towards the south and east some coral showed itself, left by the ebb.
We had run aground, and in one of those seas where the tides
are middling--a sorry matter for the floating of the Nautilus.
However, the vessel had not suffered, for her keel was solidly joined.
But, if she could neither glide off nor move, she ran the risk
of being for ever fastened to these rocks, and then Captain Nemo's
submarine vessel would be done for.


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