Part 2 Chapter 12 Summary

It is now March 13. Aronnax wonders where the Nautilus is heading and hopes it is not the South Pole. Ned Land has been less communicative lately. On March 14 he poses the idea that they should find out how many men are on board the Nautilus. He has a hunch that many of these sailors are like Captain Nemo: people who have "renounced every tie that binds them to earth." Aronnax tries to work the problem out mathematically, based upon the amount of air in the submarine and the amount needed for each person to breathe. The maximum number would be 625, but there is probably only a tenth of that.

Conseil makes a plea for Ned Land's case, to leave. He argues that the harpooner is not a scholar like Aronnax, but would give his life to get to a tavern again...