Part 2 Chapter 2 Summary

On February 28 the Nautilus reaches the Island of Ceylon. Captain Nemo offers to show Aronnax the pearl fisheries there. He asks if Aronnax objects to hunting sharks. Aronnax does but he does not let on that this is the case. Aronnax goes into a long explanation of the intricacies of pearl hunting with Conseil and Ned Land. He also explains their evaluation, how they are found and opened and other details.

To a poet, a pearl is the teardrop of the sea. To naturalists, it is a secretion of the organ that produces the mother-of-pearl in bivalves. To women, it is an ornament. Sometimes you need pincers to pull a pearl from a shell. There are round and oval pearls of different sizes and colors. The only problem is that pearl hunting often involves sharks. Ned Land is not afraid. He...