Calico Classics Illustrated: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
illustrated jules CALICO Verne’s CLASSICS 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Adapted by Jan Fields Adapted by Jan Fields Illustrated by Eric Scott Fisher Illustrated by Eric Scott Fisher
1 A Shifting Reef The year 1866 was marked by strange events at sea Several ships met with a long glowing object of enormous size The thing moved incredibly fast and had no set migration or patch of ocean in which to dwell It might have been allowed to exist in peace had it not done the one unforgivable thing it endangered ships And specifi cally it damaged a ship owned by the famous English shipowner Cunard In April 1867 the Scotia was struck by something that pierced its hull with a neat hole in the shape of a perfect triangle The ship limped home safely but the damage was enough to bring about the public outcry to rid the seas of this mysterious creature 4
At this time I was in the United States The French government had asked me to join an expedition to the Badlands of Nebraska This was because I was an assistant professor at the Museum of Natural History in Paris By the end of March I was in New York packing for my return to Paris I was familiar with the stories of the mysterious sea creature They fi lled every newspaper Some said the creature was really fl oating debris from a wreck or a fl oating reef But that hardly explained the high speeds some witnessed Some said it was some kind of underwater boat but how could any country create such an amazing craft in complete secrecy And to what purpose Each country was questioned of course But every government seemed equally concerned about this dangerous situation During my stay in New York several people consulted me on the subject Finally I did 5
