Loading...

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea — Chapter 14 — Page 10

These glass cases are covered with a case of steel, and weighted with a pellet of lead; they are real Leyden bottles, into which the electricity is forced to a very high tension. With the slightest shock they are discharged, and the animal, however strong it may be, falls dead. I must tell you that these cases are size number four, and that the charge for an ordinary gun would be ten. I will argue no longer, I replied, rising from the table; I have nothing left me but to take my gun. At all events, I will go where you go. Captain Nemo then led me aft; and in passing before Neds and Conseils cabin, I called my two companions, who followed immediately. We then came to a kind of cell near the machinery-room, in which we were to put on our walking-dress.