The Mysterious Island Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 30 Captain Grant's Children (30)
Five days later, on 11 November, there was a westerly wind blowing over the sea, which kept the weather very cool.You know, in the waters off the southern tip of Africa, the southeast wind is often blowing; while the west wind blowing on the sea can be said to be God's help.To take advantage of the good wind, the Duncan hoisted all her fitted sails: main, schooner, foresail, topsail, and auxiliary sails of every kind.These sails bulged and opened in the wind, and the ship traveled at high speed on the sea like this.

On the second day, when the "Duncan" was traveling, it was hindered by a piece of floating seaweed on the sea surface, which affected the speed of the ship and slowed down a lot.

After the ship sailed like this for 24 hours, just after dawn, the sailors on the lookout sent out a signal and shouted:

"I see land!"

"Which side?" asked Austin, who worked as a star officer.

"On the windward side!" said the sailor.

The voices of the sailors naturally attracted the attention of all the passengers on board.All the passengers flocked to the deck excitedly. Not long after, a long and large telescope protruded from the poop, followed by Paganel's figure.

The geographer set up the telescope high up, looked in the direction of the water finger, looked left and right, but still found nothing.

"Look into the clouds." Captain Mengel pointed out the direction to him.

"Ah! It's true! It looks like a mountain peak, dimly shadowed in the clouds." Paganel said.

"That mountain is the Tristan Daquinya."

"This Tristan da Quenya is about [-] feet above sea level. When we look at its peak, it should be about [-] nautical miles away from it." Paganel said.

"Yes, very correct," said Captain Mengel.

After several hours, the distant high and steep island was clearly displayed in the eyes of the passengers on board.In the ten thousand lights of the rising sun in the morning, the conical peak of Turistan da Quenya was gradually revealed.Immediately afterwards, everyone saw the outline of the main island exposed in a rock.The archipelago is shaped like a triangle, the main island is at the top of the triangle, and the other two small islands—Yingdao Island and Yunlu Island are the tips of the other two corners of the triangle.This archipelago should be a lonely archipelago in the southern Atlantic Ocean, because it is not on the ship's route, and there have been few ships passing by.

About three o'clock in the afternoon the "Duncan" sailed into Falmouth Bay, Turistan da Quenya.In this sea area, there are a large number of sea beasts, and there are countless types.On the bay, many fishermen's boats are moored to catch seals.

Captain Meng Geer was optimistic about a suitable location, and moored the "Duncan" at a depth of about half a nautical mile from the coast.Afterwards, the passengers boarded a long boat and landed on land from a patch of black fine sand.

The capital of the Tristan da Quenya Islands is actually just a small village deep in the bay, beside the gurgling stream.There are about fifty houses in this village, arranged in a patchwork order, and the appearance is a typical British-style building.Behind the village is a wide plain, about [-] hectares; at the end of the plain is the towering mountain peak.

When Sir Glenarvan arrived at the capital, he was immediately received warmly by the local governor.It turns out that this area has always been within the scope of the British colonial government on the Cape of Good Hope.As soon as Sir Glenarvan saw the Governor, he hurried to inquire about the situation of the "Britannia" ship in trouble, and the situation of Captain Grant.But the governor kept shaking his head, saying that he had never heard of these two words.Moreover, this archipelago is not on the route, there are very few ships passing by, and there are only three shipwrecks on record.

Sir Glenarvan did not have any hope when he came here, he just asked casually to make his heart settle.But just in case, he appointed sailors to row the boats and small boats, and went around the island to carefully inspect the situation.They also observed that the island was not very large, and its circumference did not exceed fifteen miles, so it did not take much time to go around it.

While Sir Glenarvan was inquiring about the situation from the governor of the capital, all the passengers on board the "Duncan" were walking around the village and the coast.The population of the island is less than 150 people, many of whom are French and British.Some even intermarried with local black people.The plains and streams on the island are densely covered, and the fields are full of lush green bushes, such as ferntail grass, wild celery, and lion's head grass.In the fields are lush corn, wheat and other crops, as well as various vegetables; outside the village, shepherds are taking care of groups of cattle and sheep.

These walking passengers talked and laughed while watching the beautiful scenery.When the sun was setting, we returned to the "Duncan".The sailors on the ship who were on inspection missions also came back at this time.They all said they had found no trace of the Britannia.Therefore, the Tristanstad Quenya Islands were omitted from this voyage.

Originally, the "Duncan" left the archipelago that night.But seeing that there are so many fine seals and other animals here, Sir Glenarvan decided to let the sailors hunt seals at night first, so that they can be boiled into oil during the day and stored for later use. .

Therefore, the "Duncan" was delayed until the third day, that is, November 11, before it set sail.

At dinner, Paganel told everyone about the history of the Tristan da Quenya Islands.In 1506, the archipelago was discovered by the Portuguese Tristan da Quenya.But because it is in a sea storm zone, there are few ships in the past 100 years.In 1700, the famous astronomer Halley Halley (1656-1742), a famous British astronomer.The island was surveyed in all its aspects.Until then many years later, many European talents came to settle here one after another.

This night, the sailors of the "Duncan" harvested a lot, hunting more than 50 seals in total.On the second day, the sailors were busy peeling the seal's skin and refining it into oil.During the day, Sir Glenarvan and the major took their guns and went to the island to hunt some game.The two walked all the way to the foot of the mountain, and saw that there were black porous rocks everywhere, all made of lava.This proves that this place was originally a volcano.

Here they saw several wild boars, and the major shot with his gun, hitting them in the head with one shot.Sir Glenarvan hunted some black chickens.These are all delicious for dinner!

At eight o'clock in the evening, after supper, everyone returned to the resting place to rest; the "Duncan" set sail that night, and left the island of Tristan da Quenya.

Robinson Robinson on a deserted island
While sailing on the sea, Captain Mengel thought that the "Duncan" should be refueled around the Cape of Good Hope, so he deviated from the 37° south latitude line and sailed up two degrees along the north. "Good Duncan" also seemed to have been blessed by God. Under the strong westerly wind blowing continuously on the sea surface, within six days, the voyage was completed, a total of [-] nautical miles from the Tristan da Quenya Islands to the southern tip of Africa.

At about three o'clock in the afternoon on November 11th, you can see Table Mountain from the boat.After a while, Captain John Mengel took the position of Table Mountain and determined the direction to sail to the bay.At about eight o'clock in the afternoon, the ship sailed into the bay and anchored in Cape Town Harbour.

As a knowledgeable geographer, Paganel knew the historical origin of the city of Cape Town, which is located on the southern coast of Africa.In 1486, the famous Portuguese admiral Diaz was the first to discover the southern coast of Africa.In 1497, the famous navigator Hosco da Gama Hosco da Gama (1460-1524), a famous Portuguese navigator, was also the first navigator who discovered that he had bypassed the Cape of Good Hope and reached India.Successfully bypassed the southern coast of Africa.The famous city of Cape Town was founded in 1652 by the Dutchman Van Liebeck, and the city was built in the depths of Cape Bay.It was the capital of the colony in this area, so its location is very important.After 1815, the land belonged to the United Kingdom according to the terms signed between the countries.

Captain Mengel refueled the "Duncan" at the Cape of Good Hope, which took a day.So I decided to set sail on the morning of the 26th.Taking advantage of the opportunity, all the passengers on board the "Duncan" had twelve hours of free time to visit the city.

In fact, it doesn't take much time for people to visit the city of Cape Town.The city of Cape Town is actually just a large checkerboard made of houses arranged in a square grid.On this big chessboard, both white and black people are active.The city's combined population is approximately 3 people.There are no places of interest in the city, but what you can watch is the towering castle in the southeast of the city.In addition, the governor's office, the museum, the stock exchange, and the stele of the cross erected by Diaz when he discovered the Cape of Good Hope are also worth visiting.After viewing these scenic spots and historic sites, the passengers on board tasted the top-grade wine made by the local Constance Company - "Pengtai Wine".When all these things are done, the traveler is satisfied, and has no more attachment to the city.So, early the next morning, the "Duncan" pulled up all the sails, the touch sail, the jib, the main sail, and the foresail, and set off. After the "Duncan" sailed at sea for a few hours, it circled the famous "Cape of Storms"-the King of Portugal later renamed the island "Cape of Good Hope".

The voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to the famous Amsterdam Islands is about [-] nautical miles.If the wind at sea is favorable, it will take about ten days to get there.These travelers were much more fortunate in their sea voyages than they were in the pampas of South America.The Indian Ocean has always been calm and the weather has been helping them sail.

"Ah, the ocean! The vast ocean!" Seeing the vast ocean, Paganel couldn't help admiring, "You know, the ocean is the real place for people to display their talents! Ships are the messengers of human civilization! Friends, you can think about it, if the earth only has land, then even in the twentieth century, human beings cannot understand one-thousandth of the earth's area. You know, although human beings know the whole picture of the earth, there are still many Places that make brave people stop, such as the forests of Siberia, the grasslands of Central Asia and West Asia, the deserts of Africa, the prairie of America, the wilderness of Australia, and the cold and snowy regions of Antarctic and Arctic. Moreover, there are many problems in land travel, Restricted by means of transportation, as well as the influence of disease, heat, and the danger of some indigenous people! All these difficulties hinder people's understanding of the land. Therefore, only twenty miles of desert land separates people thousands of miles away. but only [-] miles of ocean give people the intimacy of a strip of water. In a place separated by a large forest on land, the residents of the two places will feel strange to each other; for example, Egypt and Senegal on the African continent are not far apart. It is not far away, but it seems to be thousands of miles apart! Beijing and St. Petersburg are the distance between heaven and earth! But the sea is different. For example, the United Kingdom and Australia are separated by a vast ocean. They are far apart, but they feel as if they are adjacent to the border. For us on the sea, the journey is much more convenient than crossing a small Sahara desert. Therefore, it can be said that because of the ocean, friendly relations have been established between the lands of the world."

Paganel's loud admiration for the ocean is a sentiment from the bottom of his heart.Even Major McNabbs, who has always been critical, couldn't refute it at this time.Paganel was right!Indeed, it was the ocean that enabled the search for Captain Harry Grant to travel from land to land.Otherwise, if you just travel on land, the hardships and dangers you will endure are really unimaginable.

On December 12, the sky had just turned white, and a mountain peak appeared indistinctly on the sea.This island is Amsterdam Island.The island of Amsterdam lies between latitude 6°37" south and longitude 37°77" east.The sea was now sunny and sunny, and the cone of the mountain on the island could be seen at a distance of fifty miles.

"It seems that this mountain is very similar to the mountain of Tristan da Quenya." Sir Glenarvan made this comment after seeing it.

"Yes, sir, you are quite right!" Paganel said with certainty. "The theorems of geometry tell us that if two islands A and B are very similar to island C, then islands A and B must be very similar. I It needs to be added that this island of Amsterdam, like the Triestan da Quenya, has always had people like Robinson living on this island. And here, the number of seals is very large."

"Are there really Robinsons everywhere?" Mrs. Helen asked curiously.

"My dear lady, of course," Paganel continued, "in fact, many islands have stories of people who were abandoned in shipwrecks living on them. This kind of life on a deserted island has existed for a long time before "Records."

"My dear Mr. Paganel, may I ask you a question?" asked Miss Mary Grant.

"My dear lady, don't mention one, you can ask both. I promise, my answer will satisfy you." Paganel said.

"Okay, actually I just want to ask, if you are alone on a desert island, do you feel a little scared?"

"Afraid? Should I be afraid?" cried Paganel.

"My friend, you can do it! You won't say that you desperately want to be abandoned on a deserted island!" Major McNabbs sneered.

"Of course I don't want this kind of encounter. But if this kind of encounter happens, I won't hate it. I will definitely rearrange my life on the island. For example, I can fish and hunt; live in a warm cave in winter Inside, I live in shady trees in the summer; and then build a warehouse for storing things to store prey. In short, I want to make full use of this deserted island."

"Are you going to do it alone?" the major asked urgently.

"If there is no other way, I will be alone. You know, there is no absolute meaning of loneliness in this world! When I am really lonely, I can find animals to be friends! I can also tame a goat, or teach a goat The parrot can talk; or teach a monkey to understand my language and communicate with me; the best thing is to meet an honest Friday, and we will become good friends and live together on an isolated island. Really It's fun! Or, Major, you and I can..."

"Oh! Thank you. I don't know how to imitate Robinson Robinson. Don't drag me in..." the major interrupted immediately.

"My dear Mr. Paganel," said Mrs. Helen, taking up the topic, "you are now thinking wildly again, and your imagination is unrestrained. In fact, there is a great distance between reality and dreams. You are always so optimistic about these things, always Think in a good direction!"

"Ah! Madame, what's the matter? Do you think it's impossible for a man to live happily on a desert island?"

"Yes, at least I think so! You know, people are born to live in society, not to live alone. You know, it is only a matter of time before loneliness will lead to despair. If a person is in Living on an isolated island, when he first thought about how to live, he might not feel lonely; but after a long time, he thought that he was far away from the sea, could not return to his hometown, and had no chance to meet his relatives again. How should he survive! So We can all imagine the sufferings of people living on isolated islands. So, listen to me, my dear Monsieur Paganel, you had better not have such thoughts!"

Although Paganel felt very unwilling, he still admitted that Madam Helen's words were indeed very reasonable.

After that, everyone continued to have a pleasant exchange on the topic of loneliness and happiness.The conversation ended when the Duncan anchored a mile off the coast of the island of Amsterdam.

The island of Amsterdam exists all alone in the Indian Ocean.The island is made up of two small islands about 33 miles apart.The island in the north is called Amsterdam Island, also known as St. Peter's Island; the island in the south is called St. Paul's Island.

This Amsterdam Island was discovered by the Dutchman Flaming in December 1796.St. Paul's Island, south of the island of Amsterdam, consists of a conical mountain and has always been uninhabited.Amsterdam to the north is about twelve miles in circumference, and on the island there are three men who tend the fishing grounds, a Frenchman and two white-black mulattos.The fishing grounds and small islands here belong to a person who lives on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, also known as Bourbon Island.This island is in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar.A department belonging to the French overseas.businessman, his name is Altfan.The three guards of the fishing ground were all employed by the Altfan merchants.The island of Amsterdam originally belonged to the Ile de Bourbon-Saint-Denis, the capital city of the Ile-de-Bourbon.It was owned by a shipowner named Kaman; later he transferred the island to a Pole; the Pole hired some slaves from Madagascar to cultivate the island.Although this man was a Pole, he was also a Frenchman, so the island was passed into the hands of the Frenchman Ottofan.Since then, the island of Amsterdam has always belonged to France.

Of the three people living on the island, the oldest was a Frenchman named Viot.He warmly entertained Sir Glenarvan and his party of travelers from afar.In his opinion, it was a happy day to meet these foreigners.Because in normal days, they can only communicate with some rough people who come here to catch seals or fur dogs.

(End of this chapter)