AftertwomonthsontheNautilus,wewerenearthecoastofAustralia.CaptainNemowantedtotakeustoAsia,buttheseasinfrontofuswereverydifficult. Thecoralreefsarefamousbecausetheyarebeautiful.Buttheyarefamous,too,becauseboatsoftenhitthem.Therearealotofdeadseameninthosewaters. Wewentslowly,andlookedforcoralreefsunderthewaterinfrontofus.Foralongtimewedidn’thaveanyproblems.Then,suddenly,therewasabignoise.TheNautilusstopped. ‘What’swrong?’Iaskedthecaptain. ‘TheNautilusissittingonacoralreef.Itcan’tmove,’heansweredquietly.‘Butit’snotaproblem.Afterfivedays,thesea’sgoingtotakeusawayfromhere.’ Theseagoesupanddowneveryday,ofcourse,anditgoesupanddowneverymonth,too.WasCaptainNemoright? Neddidn’twanttowaitandsee.‘WecanescapefromtheNautilustoday,’hesaid.‘Thecoastisnear.Let’sgo!’ ‘No,Ned,’Ianswered.‘ThePapuansliveonthatcoast.Papuansoftenkillandeattheirvisitors.’ Everyday,Nedlookedacrossthewateratthebeautifulcoast.‘Perhapswecangothereandlookforfood,’hesaid. Weaskedthecaptain.‘Ofcourseyoucango,’hesaid,withasmile.‘Takethelittleboat,butbebackherebeforenight-time.’ Ned,ConseilandIarrivedonthecoast,andforalongtimewedidn’tstopeating.Therewasalotoffruitonthetrees,anditwasverygood. ConseilandIlookedatthebeautifulanimals.Nedlookedattheanimals,too,buthewantedthemforfood. Heworkedquickly,andthateveningwehadalotofdeadanimals,andfruit,fortheNautilus’skitchen. Westartedtoputthingsinthelittleboat.ButsuddenlyConseilsaid,‘Ow!Whatwasthatonmyhand?’ ‘Look!’Nedsaid.‘Therearemeninthetrees.They’vegotspears.They’regoingtokillus!’ ConseilandIwerequicklyintheboat,butNedwantedtogetthefoodfirst.Arainofsmallspearscamefromthetrees,thenonehundredmenstartedtoruntoourboat. WewentquicklyacrossthewatertotheNautilus.ThePapuansstayedonthecoast,becausetheydidn’thaveboats. Inthemorning,thereweresixhundredPapuansonthecoast,andsomeofthemhadboats.TheycameacrosstheseatotheNautilus. ‘We’vegotabigproblemnow,’IsaidtoCaptainNemo.‘ThePapuanscan’tgetintotheNautilustoday,becausethedoorsareclosed.Buttomorrowthereisn’tgoingtobeanyairinhere,becausewecan’topenthedoors.Whatarewegoingtodothen?’ CaptainNemodidn’tlookunhappy.‘We’regoingtowaitandsee,’hesaid. Ididn’tsleepwellthatnight.InthemorningtherewerealotofPapuansontheNautilus.Therewasn’tmuchairforusnow,butthedoorsstayedclosed. ‘We’regoingthisafternoon,’thecaptainsaid. Thatafternoon,afterfivedaysonthecoralreef,theNautilussuddenlystartedtomove.CaptainNemowasright. Theseawasup—andthesubmarinewasinwateragain!Wemovedquicklyawayfromthecoast. Welookedback,andthePapuanswereinthesea.Thenweopenedthedoors,andaircameintotheboat. 
