some distance below the surface, and the panels were opened.
I hurried to the glass, and beneath the workings of the coral, clothed with fungi, and amid hundreds of beautiful fish, I recognised certain débris which the drags had not been able to recover, such as iron “stirrups,” anchors, cannon-balls, cannon, capstan and bars, the stern of a vessel, all belonging to the shipwrecked vessels, and now strewn upon that living floor.
While I was looking at these desolate waifs and strays, Captain Nemo said gravely:
“The commander, La Perouse, left on the 7th December, 1785, with the Bussole and the Astrolabe. He touched first at Botany Bay, visited the Friendly Isles, New Caledonia, sailed thence towards Vera-Cruz, put into Namonka, one of the Hapa group. His ships then arrived at the unknown Vanikoro reefs. The Bussole, which was in advance, struck them on the south side; the Astrolabe went to her assistance, and shared her fate. The former vessel was soon entirely knocked to pieces, but the latter, being to leeward, lasted some days. The natives treated the crews kindly. They lodged them on the island, and there they built a smaller vessel from the timbers of ships. Some sailors elected to remain at Vanikoro. The rest, weak and ill, accompanied La Perouse. He made for the Solomon Isles, and there the adventurers all perished upon the western side of the principal island, between capes Deception and Satisfaction.”
“And how do you know all this?” I exclaimed.
“See what I found at the scene of the last shipwreck.”
Captain Nemo then showed me a tin box stamped
