Dans l'abîme

by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

"Dans l'abîme" by H. G. Wells is a short story first published in 1896. An inventor named Elstead descends to the ocean floor in a specially designed steel sphere, five miles beneath the surface. On the sea bed, he encounters an extraordinary civilization of bipedal, human-like creatures who tow his sphere to their city and worship him. After surviving this first journey and sharing his remarkable tale, Elstead improves his apparatus and attempts a second descent—but never returns.