It was the captain of the submarine who spoke these words. At hearing the words, Ned Land immediately stood up. After a few moment of silence, the mysterious captain spoke again.

Gentlemen, he said in a calm voice, I speak French, English, German, and Latin equally well. Therefore, I understood all three of you perfectly when you spoke yestoday. I know now that Pierre Aronnax, Professor of Natural History at the Museum of Paris; Conseil, his servant; and Ned Land, Canadian whale catcher, were onboard the Abraham Lincoln from the United States of America.

This mysterious captain spoke without a foreign accent, but I still did not recognize him as a Frenchman.

You, I am sure, believe I have waited too long to come for my second visit, but I spent a great deal of time thinking of how to act towards you. I must say that your presence here has been quite annoying, as I have previously broken all my connection to the human world. You hav come to trouble our lives here, as the Abraham Lincoln followed me, intending to attack.