Cape Verde Islands

The Cape Verde Islands appear in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea as a geographical landmark and a crucial piece of evidence in the novel's exploration of the submerged continent of Atlantis. They are identified as one of the highest peaks of that lost land, a remnant that still emerges above the waves, linking the Nautilus's underwater discoveries to the historical and mythological record.

Geographical and Geological Significance

The Cape Verde Islands are situated off the coast of West Africa. In the narrative, they are explicitly connected to the Atlantis myth. When Professor Aronnax stands atop a submerged mountain and witnesses the ruins of a lost civilization, Captain Nemo writes the word "ATLANTIS" on a black basaltic rock. The text then explains that the highest peaks of this sunken continent, which include Madeira, the Azores, the Canaries, and the Cape Verde Islands, still rise above the ocean's surface. This geological framing positions the archipelago not merely as a stop on a voyage, but as a surviving fragment of a prehistoric world, a tangible link between the present and a cataclysmic past.

Narrative Role and Thematic Connection

The Cape Verde Islands serve as a geographical reference point during the Nautilus's journey. After the exploration of the underwater ruins of Atlantis, the Nautilus's course is described as heading toward a high wall that seemed to close off every exit, a wall whose summit obviously poked above the level of the ocean. The text notes that this had to be a continent or at least an island, either one of the Canaries or one of the Cape Verde Islands. This moment of uncertainty underscores the vastness and mystery of the ocean, where even known landmasses become ambiguous markers. The islands thus function as a boundary between the revealed secrets of the deep and the familiar world of the surface, reinforcing the novel's central theme of the sea as a repository of lost history and hidden wonders.