At a quarter-past ten, the Captain himself took the helm.
A large gallery, black and deep, opened before us. The Nautilus
went boldly into it. A strange roaring was heard round its sides.
It was the waters of the Red Sea, which the incline of
the tunnel precipitated violently towards the Mediterranean.
The Nautilus went with the torrent, rapid as an arrow, in spite
of the efforts of the machinery, which, in order to offer more
effective resistance, beat the waves with reversed screw.
On the walls of the narrow passage I could see nothing
but brilliant rays, straight lines, furrows of fire,
traced by the great speed, under the brilliant electric light.
My heart beat fast.
At thirty-five minutes past ten, Captain Nemo quitted the helm,
and, turning to me, said:
"The Mediterranean!"
In less than twenty minutes, the Nautilus, carried along by the torrent,
had passed through the Isthmus of Suez.
CHAPTER VI
THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO
The next day, the 12th of February, at the dawn of day,
the Nautilus rose to the surface.
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