飞逝的海礁.DOCVIP

第一章 飞逝的海礁 Chapter 1 A Shifting Reef 据各种航海日志记载，一八六六年在海里发现了一个庞然大物。它的体积超过了科学认定的鲸，并且速度惊人。综合多次观察结果，可以判定它有二百英尺长。 一八六六年七月二十日，加尔各答的希金森总督号的贝克船长在离澳大利亚东海五海里的海面见过它，三天后它又出现在七百海里外的太平洋上，十五天就到了两千海里外的地方，它的速度惊人的快！ 一八六七年三月五日五点左右，蒙特利尔航海公司的摩拉维亚号航行时，右舷尾部撞上了一个任何海图都未标示的礁石。船离开出事地点后，看到那里有一个大旋涡，好像洋面受到了冲击。到码头检查发现船的龙骨已经破裂。 一八六七年四月十三日，英国著名船主肯纳德的斯科舍号在风和日丽的天气中行驶，船尾在下午四点十七分被撞击了一下，船长让一名海员下水检查被撞情况，发现钢板做成的船体被撞出一个规则的等边三角形口子，幸好隔水板分成七个小舱，船才没有沉没。 从此，所有不明原因的事故都记在这怪物的身上。人们强烈要求，要不惜任何代价，清除这只怪物。 ?he year 1866 was marked by a strange event, an unexplainable occurrence which is undoubtedly still fresh in everyone’s memory. Those 在海里发现了一个庞然大物 living in coastal towns or in the interior of continents were aroused by all sorts of rumors; but it was seafaring people who were particularly excited. Merchants, shipowners, skippers and masters of Europe and America, naval officers of all countries and the various governments of both continents were deeply concerned over the matter. Several ships had recently met at sea “an enormous thing,” a long slender object which was sometimes phosphorescent and which was infinitely larger and faster than a whale. The facts concerning this apparition, entered in various logbooks, agreed closely with one another as to the structure of the object or creature in question, the incredible speed of its movements, the surprising power of its locomotion and the strange life with which it seemed endowed. If it was a member of the whale family, it was larger than any so far classified by scientists. Neither Cuvier, Lacépède, Dumeril nor Quatrefages would have admitted that such a monster could exist梪nless they had seen it with their own scientistsb’ eyes. Taking an average of observations made at different times—and rejecting those timid evaluations which said the object was only two hundred feet long, and also putting aside those exaggerated opinions which said it was a mile wide and three miles long梠ne could nevertheless conclude that this phenomenal creature waas considerably large