Radio Psychedelica

The Nautilus:
Much controversy surrounds the design and shape of the wheelhouse and lighthouse.
When both were retracted into the hull, we have Prof. Arronax's assertion that the hull was smooth with only two ringbolts as features.
Extended in cruise mode, we have:
" Toward the middle of the platform the longboat, half buried in the hull of the vessel, formed a slight excrescence. Fore and aft rose two cages of medium height with inclined sides, and partly closed by thick lenticular glasses; one destined for the steersman who directed the Nautilus, the other containing a brilliant lantern to give light on the road.

This leads up to the problem of the steersman being blinded by the lantern shining directly on his back.
Arronax states:
"Captain Nemo led me towards the central staircase; half way down he opened a door, traversed the upper gangways,and arrived in the pilot's cage, which it may be remembered rose at the end of the platform. It was a cabin measuring six feet square, very much like that occupied by the pilot on the steamboats of the Mississippi or Hudson. In the center was a wheel, placed vertically, and attached to the tiller-rope, which ran to the stern of the Nautilus. Four portholes with lenticular glasses,mounted in the cabin walls, allowed the man at the wheel to see in all directions.
This cabin was dark; but soon my eyes accustomed themselves to the darkness, and I saw the pilot, a strong man, with his hands resting on the spokes of the wheel. Outside, the sea appeared vividly lit up by the lantern, which shone from behind the cabin at the other end of the platform."

If the cabin was square, then the back window would be flooded with light.
However, this is a translation, and in French, the critical phrase is:
"C'était une cabine mesurant six pieds sur chaque face..."

Or, in my bad french, 'This cabin measured six feet on each face(of the walls)...'
The translators phrase 'six feet square' directly implies a square room.
But the french merely states that each wall was six feet long.
A pentagonal room with four walls with portholes, and the fifth wall opaque and used for the entrance would solve this problem.

See this website for an excellent discussion on the problem, however, they seem to have missed the critical line.