Chapter 4
The Red SeaDURING THE DAY of January 29, the island of Ceylon disappeared
below the horizon, and at a speed of twenty miles per hour, the
Nautilus glided into the labyrinthine channels that separate the
Maldive and Laccadive Islands. It likewise hugged Kiltan Island, a
shore of madreporic origin discovered by Vasco da Gama in 1499 and
one of nineteen chief islands in the island group of the
Laccadives, located between latitude 10° and 14° 30' north, and
between longitude 50° 72' and 69° east.
By then we had fared 16,220 miles, or 7,500 leagues, from our
starting point in the seas of Japan.
The next day, January 30, when the Nautilus rose to the surface
of the ocean, there was no more land in sight. Setting its course
to the north–northwest, the ship headed toward the
