We were soon seated in the saloon, enjoying our cigars. The captain placed a diagram in my hands, showing the sections and elevation of the Nautilus. He then commenced his description as follows:

"You perceive, M. Aronnax, that my boat is an elongated cylinder, pointed at the extremities. It is of much the same shape as a cigar, a form which has already been tried in England and several vessels. Its length is exactly seventy yards; its greatest breadth ten yards. It is not, you see, constructed exactly on the principle of your swift-going steamers, but its lines are sufficiently lengthened to permit the displacement of water to pass away easily, and to oppose no serious resistance to its progress.

"The above measurement will enable you to arrive at the displacement and weight of the Nautilus. Its surface measures 11,000 45/100 square metres, its volume 1,500 2/10 metres. So when completely immersed it displaces or weighs 1,500 cubic metres or tons.

"When I planned this vessel for submarine naviga-