Torres Strait
The Torres Strait, a narrow and perilous passage separating Queensland from the huge island of Papua (also called New Guinea), is one of the most dangerous waterways in the world. Approximately thirty-four leagues wide, it is obstructed by an incalculable number of islands, islets, breakers, and rocks, making navigation nearly impossible. The strait is also notorious for the savage inhabitants of its coasts, adding a human threat to the natural hazards. The Nautilus enters these dangerous waters on January 4, 1868, after leaving the Vanikoro islands, with Captain Nemo intending to reach the Indian Ocean via this route.
The Grounding and the Incident
Taking advantage of the situation, Professor Aronnax, Ned Land, and Conseil sit on the platform, observing the boiling sea. The Nautilus moves at a moderate pace, floating flush with the water, and Captain Nemo himself steers from the pilothouse. The ship skillfully navigates through the rampaging reefs, hugging the Murray Islands and steering toward Tound Island and the Bad Channel. However, at three o'clock in the afternoon, a sudden jolt throws Aronnax down. The Nautilus has struck a reef and remains motionless, listing slightly to port. Captain Nemo and his chief officer examine the ship's circumstances, exchanging a few words in their incomprehensible dialect. When Aronnax asks if it is an accident, Nemo coolly replies, "No, an incident." He explains that the Nautilus is not consigned to perdition and that their voyage is just beginning. He reveals his plan to wait for the full moon in five days, which will raise the tide sufficiently to float the ship off the coral bed.
The Encounter with the Papuans
While waiting for the tide, Ned Land, Conseil, and Aronnax are given permission to go ashore on the nearby Gueboroa Island. They enjoy a successful hunting and foraging expedition, gathering breadfruit, bananas, mangoes, and sago, and hunting wild pigs and kangaroos. However, their idyllic excursion is cut short when they are attacked by a group of about twenty Papuan natives, armed with bows and slings. The three men beat a hasty retreat to the skiff, pursued by a hundred savages who enter the water up to their waists. They safely return to the Nautilus, which seems deserted. When Aronnax warns Captain Nemo about the natives, the captain responds with characteristic irony, asking if they are any worse than men elsewhere, and assures him that the Nautilus has nothing to fear from their attacks.
The Electrified Defense and Escape
The next morning, the number of Papuans on the beach swells to 500 or 600. They surround the Nautilus in dugout canoes and begin to shower it with arrows. Captain Nemo, however, has prepared a unique defense. When the natives attempt to board the ship by jumping down the open hatches, they are violently thrown backward by an invisible force. Ned Land, in his eagerness, also tries to climb the companionway and is similarly repelled, exclaiming, "Damnation! I've been struck by a lightning bolt!" Aronnax realizes that the railing is a metal cable fully charged with the ship's electricity, creating an impassable network. The terrified Papuans retreat. At exactly 2:40 in the afternoon, as Captain Nemo had predicted, the rising tide lifts the Nautilus off its coral bed. The ship's propeller churns the waves, and it safely leaves the dangerous narrows of the Torres Strait behind, continuing its underwater voyage.
