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资料6 CHAPTER VI AT FULL STEAM At this cry the whole ships crew hurried towards the harpooner-- commander, officers, masters, sailors, cabin boys; even the engineers left their engines, and the stokers their furnaces. The order to stop her had been given, and the frigate now simply went on by her own momentum. The darkness was then profound, and, however good the Canadians eyes were, I asked myself how he had managed to see, and what he had been able to see. My heart beat as if it would break. But Ned Land was not mistaken, and we all perceived the object he pointed to. At two cables length from the Abraham Lincoln, on the starboard quarter, the sea seemed to be illuminated all over. It was not a mere phosphoric phenomenon. The monster emerged some fathoms from the water, and then threw out that very intense but mysterious light mentioned in the report of several captains. This magnificent irradiation must have been produced by an agent of great SHINING power. The luminous part traced on the sea an immense oval, much elongated, the centre of which condensed a burning heat, whose overpowering brilliancy died out by successive gradations. It is only a massing of phosphoric particles, cried one of the officers. No, sir, certainly not, I replied. That brightness is of an essentially electrical nature. Besides, see, see! it moves; it is moving forwards, backwards; it is darting towards us! A general cry arose from the frigate. Silence! said the captain. Up with the helm, reverse the engines. The steam was shut off, and the Abraham Lincoln, beating to port, described a semicircle. Right the helm, go ahead, cried the captain. These orders were executed, and the frigate moved rapidly from the burning light. I was mistaken. She tried to sheer off, but the supernatural animal approached with a velocity double her own. We gasped for breath. Stupefaction more than fear made us dumb and motionless. The animal gained on us, sporting with the waves. It made the round of