"
"Well, Captain, what the ancients dared not undertake, this junction
between the two seas, which will shorten the road from Cadiz to India,
M. Lesseps has succeeded in doing; and before long he will have changed
Africa into an immense island."
"Yes, M. Aronnax; you have the right to be proud of your countryman.
Such a man brings more honour to a nation than great captains.
He began, like so many others, with disgust and rebuffs;
but he has triumphed, for he has the genius of will.
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.
All honour to M. Lesseps!"
"Yes! honour to the great citizen," I replied, surprised by the manner
in which Captain Nemo had just spoken.
"Unfortunately," he continued, "I cannot take you through the Suez Canal;
but you will be able to see the long jetty of Port Said after to-morrow,
when we shall be in the Mediterranean."
"The Mediterranean!" I exclaimed.
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