It broke it by backing and then rushing forward against the field, which gradually gave way; and at last, dashing suddenly against it, shot forwards on the ice-field, that crushed beneath its weight. The panel was opened—one might say torn off—and the pure air came in in abundance to all parts of the _Nautilus_. CHAPTER XVII FROM CAPE HORN TO THE AMAZON How I got on to the platform, I have no idea; perhaps the Canadian had carried me there. But I breathed, I inhaled the vivifying sea-air. My two companions were getting drunk with the fresh particles. The other unhappy men had been so long without food, that they could not with impunity indulge in the simplest aliments that were given them. We, on the contrary, had no end to restrain ourselves; we could draw this air freely into our lungs, and it was the breeze, the breeze alone, that filled us with this keen enjoyment. “Ah!” said Conseil, “how delightful this oxygen is! Master need not fear to breathe it. There is enough for everybody.” Ned Land did not speak, but he opened his jaws wide enough to frighten a shark. Our strength soon returned, and, when I looked round me, I saw we were alone on the platform. The foreign seamen in the _Nautilus_ were contented with the air that circulated in the interior; none of them had come to drink in the open air. The first words I spoke were words of gratitude and thankfulness to my two companions. Ned and Conseil had prolonged my life during the last hours of this long agony. All my gratitude could not repay such devotion. “My friends,” said I, “we are bound one to the other for ever, and I am under infinite obligations to you.” “Which I shall take advantage of,” exclaimed the Canadian. “What do you mean?” said Conseil. “I mean that I shall take you with me when I leave this infernal _Nautilus_.” “Well,” said Conseil, “after all this, are we going right?” “Yes,” I replied, “for we are going the way of the sun, and here the sun is in the north.” “No doubt,” said Ned Land; “but it remains to be seen whether he will bring the ship into the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean, that is, into frequented or deserted seas.”