Enormous vegetations are
multiplied under the torrid seas, and the evil is irresistibly developed
from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to Florida. If we are to believe
Toussenel, this plague is nothing to what it would be if the seas were
cleaned of whales and seals. Then, infested with poulps, medusae, and
cuttle-fish, they would become immense centres of infection, since their
waves would not possess 'these vast stomachs that God had charged to
infest the surface of the seas.'"
CHAPTER XVIII
THE POULPS
For several days the Nautilus kept off from the American coast.
Evidently it did not wish to risk the tides of the Gulf of
Mexico or of the sea of the Antilles. April 16th, we sighted
Martinique and Guadaloupe from a distance of about thirty miles.
I saw their tall peaks for an instant. The Canadian,
who counted on carrying out his projects in the Gulf,
by either landing or hailing one of the numerous boats that
coast from one island to another, was quite disheartened.
Flight would have been quite practicable, if Ned Land had been able
to take possession of the boat without the Captain's knowledge.
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