Where others have failed, I will not fail. I have never yet led
my Nautilus so far into southern seas; but, I repeat, it shall
go further yet."
"I can well believe you, Captain," said I, in a slightly ironical tone.
"I believe you! Let us go ahead! There are no obstacles for us!
Let us smash this iceberg! Let us blow it up; and, if it resists,
let us give the Nautilus wings to fly over it!"
"Over it, sir!" said Captain Nemo, quietly; "no, not over it,
but under it!"
"Under it!" I exclaimed, a sudden idea of the Captain's projects flashing
upon my mind. I understood; the wonderful qualities of the Nautilus were
going to serve us in this superhuman enterprise.
"I see we are beginning to understand one another, sir," said the Captain,
half smiling. "You begin to see the possibility--I should say the success--
of this attempt. That which is impossible for an ordinary vessel is easy
to the Nautilus. If a continent lies before the pole, it must stop before
the continent; but if, on the contrary, the pole is washed by open sea,
it will go even to the pole.
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