Here, on the contrary, I have but to pick up what man
has lost--and not only in Vigo Bay, but in a thousand other ports where
shipwrecks have happened, and which are marked on my submarine map.
Can you understand now the source of the millions I am worth?"
"I understand, Captain. But allow me to tell you that in exploring
Vigo Bay you have only been beforehand with a rival society."
"And which?"
"A society which has received from the Spanish Government
the privilege of seeking those buried galleons.
The shareholders are led on by the allurement of an enormous bounty,
for they value these rich shipwrecks at five hundred millions."
"Five hundred millions they were," answered Captain Nemo,
"but they are so no longer."
"Just so," said I; "and a warning to those shareholders would be
an act of charity. But who knows if it would be well received?
What gamblers usually regret above all is less the loss
of their money than of their foolish hopes. After all,
I pity them less than the thousands of unfortunates to whom
so much riches well-distributed would have been profitable,
whilst for them they will be for ever barren.
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