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XIII . Trapped Under the Ice The next day we left the Pole . The Nautilus dived to a thousand feet and headed north under the great field of ice . That night , at three o’clock , I was woken by a violent shock and thrown out of my bed into the middle of the room . When I reached the saloon , the furniture was lying on the floor , and the pictures were hanging away from the walls . The Nautilus was lying on its side and did not move . Ned and Conseil came in , and we waited in silence until the captain appeared . “ An incident , Captain ? ” I asked , using his own words from the Torres Strait . “ No , sir , ” he answered . “ An accident this time . ” He explained that an enormous mountain of ice had turned over in the water . It had struck the Nautilus , slid under it and lifted it into a narrower place , where it now lay on its side . The pumps were already emptying the tanks , and slowly the ship rose and became straight again . When the panels opened , we saw that we were in a tunnel of ice , about twenty yards wide . The light of our lamp was reflected by the walls in a thousand colours , like a mine of diamonds , sapphires and emeralds . “ How beautiful ! ” cried Conseil . “ Yes , it is superb , ” said Ned . “ But I think we are seeing things that God never meant men to see , and the sight may cost us dear . ” He was right . At five o’clock we felt a shock at the front of the ship . The way ahead was blocked , so the Nautilus went backwards to leave by the other end of the tunnel . At twenty - five past eight there was a second shock , this time from behind . The captain came into the saloon , and I went up to him . “ Is our way blocked to the south as well ? ” “ Yes . The iceberg has moved and closed every exit . We are prisoners of the ice . ” Then he spoke as calmly as a teacher in front of his pupils . “ Gentlemen , there are two ways of dying in our present situation . The first is to be crushed , and the second is to die from lack of air . Our tanks hold air for two days , and we have already been under the water for thirty - six hours . We must break through the ice in less than forty - eight hours . ” The Nautilus came to rest on the floor of the tunnel , and the captain measured the ice around us . The walls and the roof were too thick , but under the ship there were only ten yards of ice between us and the open water . His men began to dig a huge trench in the ice , as long as the ship . Ned offered his help at once , because he was as good with a pickaxe as with a harpoon . Every two hours a new team went out in their diving suits , and Conseil and I took our turn too . Out there we could at least breathe pure air from our tanks , but every time we came back on board , the air was heavier and worse .
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