I ask you for your personal opinion."
"Here it is, M. Aronnax. According to my idea, we must see
in this appellation of the Red Sea a translation of the Hebrew
word `Edom'; and if the ancients gave it that name, it was
on account of the particular colour of its waters."
"But up to this time I have seen nothing but transparent waves
and without any particular colour."
"Very likely; but as we advance to the bottom of the gulf, you will see
this singular appearance. I remember seeing the Bay of Tor entirely red,
like a sea of blood."
"And you attribute this colour to the presence of a microscopic seaweed?"
"Yes."
"So, Captain Nemo, it is not the first time you have overrun
the Red Sea on board the Nautilus?"
"No, sir."
"As you spoke a while ago of the passage of the Israelites and of
the catastrophe to the Egyptians, I will ask whether you have met
with the traces under the water of this great historical fact?"
"No, sir; and for a good reason."
"What is it?"
"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 there.
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