Several thousand kilos of meat were hauled below, to be dried and stored.
The same day an odd fishing practice further increased the Nautilus's stores, so full of game were these seas.
Our trawl brought up in its meshes a number of fish whose heads were topped by little oval slabs with fleshy edges.
These were suckerfish from the third family of the subbrachian Malacopterygia.
These flat disks on their heads consist of crosswise plates of movable cartilage, between which the animals can create a vacuum, enabling them to stick to objects like suction cups.
The remoras I had observed in the Mediterranean were related to this species.
But the creature at issue here was an Echeneis osteochara, unique to this sea.
Right after catching them, our seamen dropped them in buckets of water.
Its fishing finished, the Nautilus drew nearer to the coast.
In this locality a number of sea turtles were sleeping on the surface of the waves.
It would have been difficult to capture these valuable reptiles, because they wake up at the slightest sound, and their solid carapaces are harpoon–proof.
But our suckerfish would effect their capture with extraordinary certainty and precision.
In truth, this animal is a living fishhook, promising wealth and happiness to the greenest fisherman in the business.
The Nautilus's men attached to each fish's tail a ring that was big enough not to hamper its movements, and to this ring a long rope whose other end was moored on board.
Thrown into the sea, the suckerfish immediately began to play their roles, going and fastening themselves onto the breastplates of the turtles.
Their tenacity was so great, they would rip apart rather than let go.
They were hauled in, still sticking to the turtles that came aboard with them.
In this way we caught several loggerheads, reptiles a meter wide and weighing 200 kilos.
They're extremely valuable because of their carapaces, which are covered with big slabs of horn, thin, brown, transparent, with white and yellow markings.
Besides, they were excellent from an edible viewpoint, with an exquisite flavor comparable to the green turtle.
This fishing ended our stay in the waterways of the Amazon, and that evening the Nautilus took to the high seas once more.
Chapter 18 The Devilfish
FOR SOME DAYS the Nautilus kept veering away from the American coast.
It obviously didn't want to frequent the waves of the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea.
Yet there was no shortage of water under its keel, since the average depth of these seas is 1,800 meters; but these waterways, strewn with islands and plowed by steamers, probably didn't agree with Captain Nemo.
On April 16 we raised Martinique and Guadalupe from a distance of about thirty miles.
For one instant I could see their lofty peaks.
The Canadian was quite disheartened, having counted on putting his plans into execution in the gulf, either by reaching shore or by pulling alongside one of the many boats plying a coastal trade from one island to another.
An escape attempt would have been quite feasible, assuming Ned Land managed to seize the skiff without the captain's knowledge.
But in midocean it was unthinkable.
The Canadian, Conseil, and I had a pretty long conversation on this subject.
For six months we had been prisoners aboard the Nautilus.
We had fared 17,000 leagues, and as Ned Land put it, there was no end in sight.
So he made me a proposition I hadn't anticipated.
We were to ask Captain Nemo this question straight out: did the captain mean to keep us on board his vessel permanently?
This measure was distasteful to me.
To my mind it would lead nowhere.
We could hope for nothing from the Nautilus's commander but could depend only on ourselves.
Besides, for some time now the man had been gloomier, more withdrawn, less sociable.
He seemed to be avoiding me.
I encountered him only at rare intervals.
He used to take pleasure in explaining the underwater wonders to me; now he left me to my research and no longer entered the lounge.
What changes had come over him?
From what cause?
I had no reason to blame myself.
Was our presence on board perhaps a burden to him?
Even so, I cherished no hopes that the man would set us free.
So I begged Ned to let me think about it before taking action.
If this measure proved fruitless, it could arouse the captain's suspicions, make our circumstances even more arduous, and jeopardize the Canadian's plans.
I might add that I could hardly use our state of health as an argument.