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

Chapter 8 Captain Grant's Children (8)
"Hehe, although there are no chances to relax, chances to be careless often happen." Paganel laughed at himself, and then said: "But, my dear captain, is there any anchorage in the Cape Verde Islands? "

"Well, that's true. It's really easy to take a boat in Villapuia."

"It seems that it is very convenient for me to disembark there. Because the Cape Verde Islands are not far from Senegal. I think that in Senegal, I can always meet some French compatriots. I also learned that people I don’t like this archipelago, saying it’s not interesting. Because it’s not only desolate, but also has poor sanitation and environmental conditions. But from the perspective of a geographer, it’s very interesting. People don’t understand its value, and they don’t know how to observe and study these knowledge Fun. In fact, as long as you observe a lot, you can increase your knowledge and enrich your knowledge. These people who don’t know how to observe, travel like conch and clams in the sea, they only crawl forward with their heads covered. But Mr. Captain, you need to know, I'm not that kind of person at all."

"Well, my lord, everything is according to your wishes," replied Captain John Mengel. "I am convinced that my stay in the Cape Verde Islands must have made a significant contribution to your geographical research. Now , we are going to anchor there and prepare to load coal. So you disembark there and it will not delay our voyage."

After finishing speaking, Captain Mengel turned the direction of the ship to the west of the Canary Islands.The famous mountain was left on the port side of the ship. The "Duncan" sailed at high speed on the sea, and at five o'clock in the morning on September 9, it had passed the summer solstice line.When the Tropic of Summer Solstice passes, the weather changes, and it is a humid and sultry season like the rainy season.The Spaniards call this season "water season".Although this "water season" is difficult for tourists, it is of great benefit to the residents of the islands along the African coast.Because the island lacks water and there are no trees, the source of water can only be supplied by rainwater.At this time, the waves on the sea were very high and the ship was bumping so badly that no one dared to stand on the deck.Everyone can only sit in the square living room, chatting to pass the time.

On September 9, Paganel began packing his luggage and getting ready to disembark.At this time, the "Duncan" was meandering between the winding Cape Verde Islands.First it crossed the Salt Island, which was as desolate as a great pile of sand, and the land was very barren; after that, the "Duncan" sailed across a large coral reef, and then passed the Ile Saint-Jacques sideways.From north to south, this Saint-Jacques island runs through a mountain range of snowflake rocks, and the two ends of the island are two abrupt mountains.After passing the Ile Saint-Jacques, Captain Mengel steered the boat into the bay of Villapuía, and soon anchored at a depth of about eight feet in front of the city of Villapuía.The weather at this time was extremely bad.Although it was not attacked by the sea wind in the harbor, the waves beat fiercely on the shore, and the high waves were accompanied by loud noises.The heavy rain poured down from the sky, and the outline of the city was submerged in the rain, and it could only be vaguely seen on a platform on the high ground.Beneath the city was a foundation of volcanic rock some three hundred feet high.Therefore, looking at the past under the thick rain, the island looks very sad.

Mrs. Helen originally wanted to go around the city on the island, but seeing the weather, she had no choice but to give up. The Duncan was stoking coal, which was also difficult because of the weather.In the flood formed by the pouring rain and the waves of the sea, the people on board could not go out and could only rest below the deck.Everyone's topic of discussion is focused on the climate.Everyone grumbled about the weather except the Major, who was usually silent.Because in his opinion, even if the world is flooded, it is not worth caring about.With his hands behind his back, Paganel was pacing up and down repeatedly, shaking his head constantly.

"It seems that the weather is deliberately trying to make life difficult for me!" he said.

"This must be your challenge!" said Sir Glenarvan.

"But I can beat it."

"Sir, you must not take risks in such a heavy rain!" Mrs. Helen persuaded.

"Dear madam, are you talking about me? Believe me, I am absolutely capable of taking risks. But what I am most afraid of is that the luggage and instruments will be wet by the rain, because once we get wet, everything will be ruined."

"Actually, it's very troublesome when you get off the ship." Sir Glenarvan said, "If you enter the city, your accommodation conditions are not bad, but the room is not clean enough, and you have to talk to some people all day long." Livestock such as monkeys and pigs live together. But a traveler should not care about this. I wish you can board the ship back to Europe after seven or eight months."

"Ah, seven or eight months!" exclaimed Paganel.

"Yes, during this rainy season, it will take at least seven or eight months. You know, ships will not come during the season of heavy rain. However, you can carry out geographical surveys during the days when you are waiting for the ship. Many scholars still Not familiar with the archipelago, so you go further in terms of meteorology, topography, ethnography, and even geological surveying."

"Well, there are still some big rivers, you can conduct research and investigation." Mrs. Helen said.

"My dear lady, there are no great rivers on this island," replied Paganel.

"Then there are no big rivers, there will always be small rivers, right?"

"No, not really."

"So, there will always be a brook?"

"Not even a brook!"

"So," interposed the major, "you can go into the forest and make some research."

"Are you kidding me? There isn't even a single tree there. How come there is a forest!"

"But it's a beautiful place!" replied the major.

"My dear Paganel, don't be disappointed! I believe there are still some high mountains that are well worth your visit," interrupted the sir.

"Hmph! Gaoshan, the mountains there are neither high nor big, so it's really meaningless. Sir, you should know that this survey has already been done."

"Oh, someone has studied this too?!" Sir Glenarvan said with a look of surprise.

"That's right, I was just born at the wrong time, and I have bad luck everywhere, and people have taken advantage of it."

"No, it's impossible, isn't it?"

"It's true, it's true," Paganel said pitifully, "a scholar, sitting on the French ship 'Persistence', landed on this island, and learned about the most valuable mountain in the archipelago. ——A field survey was carried out on the mountains on Fogo Island. Since he has studied it so carefully, what's the point of me going?"

"It's really a pity," said Madame Helene. "Have you thought about it, what will you do after disembarking? Mister Paganel?" said Madame.

Paganel was silent for a while.

"Well, you might as well have disembarked at Madeira that day, though wine is no longer produced there!" said the Sir regretfully.

At this moment, the eloquent Paganel fell silent.

"In this case, you might as well disembark at Madeira, which has passed, although wine is no longer produced there!" Sir Glenarvan added.

Paganel remained silent.

"If I were you, I might as well stay on the ship and wait for a good opportunity to come." Major McNabbs said.Looking at the expression on his face and the meaning of his words, he seemed to be saying: "If it was me, I might as well not get off the boat."

"My dear Sir Glenarvan," said Paganel at last, "may I ask where you plan to anchor next?"

"After that, until Concepcion in Brazil, we plan to stop."

"Oops! Now I'm too far away from India."

"Don't say that, as soon as you round Cape Horn, don't you get closer to India every day?"

"That's right."

"Actually," said Sir Glenarvan solemnly, "as long as you go to India, whether it is the East Indies or the West Indies. When Columbus sailed west to India, he accidentally discovered the New World of America, but he thought it was India, so America was called India. Later, to avoid confusion between America and India, people called America the West Indies, and India in Asia the East Indies. It doesn't really matter."

"Why do you say that, the two have nothing to do with each other!"

"Well, what I mean is that although the residents on the Patagonian grasslands are Indians, they are actually Indians just like the residents of Punjab, except that they are West Indians."

"Oh, my God, I almost forgot! Sir, that reminds me of that, sir," cried Paganel.

"One more thing, my dear Monsieur Paganel. If you want to get a gold medal, you can do it anywhere in the world. Know that research is everywhere and all the time, as long as you If you notice carefully, there is always something to be found. In fact, in the deep mountains and dense forests of Tibet, it feels exactly the same as in the high mountains of Gaolowyan Gaolowyan, a South American dialect, meaning big mountains, referring to the Andes Mountains across South America! "

"But what about the Yarlung Zangbo River?"

"The Yarlung Zangbo River! If it were me, I would replace it with the Colorado River! I know that scholars don't know much about the Colorado River, so this river is drawn on the map according to the hobbies of geographers. !"

"Well, I know that too, sir. The river channel on the map is often several degrees off from the actual landform. Oh, what a pity, if the Geographical Society proposed to investigate, they would seem to agree with me. It sent me to Patagonia as well as India. It just didn't occur to me at the time..."

"Sir, you just have this carelessness, so you didn't think about it."

"Don't go too far now, Mr. Paganel, let's get down to business, would you like to accompany us?" Madam Helen asked in a sincere tone.

"I do, my dear lady. But what should I do with the task at hand?"

"I will tell you in advance that we are going to pass through the Strait of Magellan," interposed Sir Glenarvan.

"Sir, are you tempting me with these things again?"

"And I'll add that we're going to visit Port Hunger!"

"Wow, Port Hungry!" the Frenchman couldn't help exclaiming.He felt that Jazz's listing of these place names was trying to seduce him from various aspects and make him change his plan.He murmured: "This port of hunger is so famous that many geography books describe it incomparably!"

"Dear Mr. Paganel, you really have to think about it. If you join our team and work hard for our cause, you will be able to link the names of France and Scotland." Madam Helen said.

"My dear lady, you are quite right!"

"So, Mr. Paganel, please believe me, it is better to make mistakes and obey the will of God. Just like God sent the letter to our hands, we will sail according to the will of God. Now, since God's will The decree calls you to come to our ship, so don't leave us!"

"Everyone here, to be honest, do you all want to keep me?" Paganel finally changed his mind after these persuasions.

"According to your own ideas? My dear Paganel, I can see that you also very much want to be able to stay here." Sir Glenarvan said.

"Yes, that's right?!" exclaimed the knowledgeable geographer, "I just dare not offer it, for fear that it would be too presumptuous!"

Crossing the Strait of Magellan

No one on board the "Duncan" was displeased to hear that the geographer Paganel was determined to stay.The most excited one is naturally Robert Jr.He jumped high and hugged Paganel's neck, and he could see how excited the child was inside.This action made the lovely and respectable geographer almost fall to the ground, and said repeatedly: "What a cute little guy! I must teach you about geography."

In the education of little Robert, Captain Mengel has made up his mind to train this little Robert into an outstanding sailor. Sir Glenarvan's goal is to train him to have a brave character; the major wants to train him to be calm. He has a calm personality; Mrs. Helen thinks he has a tolerant and kind heart; Miss Grant hopes that her younger brother can become a child who knows how to be grateful and live up to the expectations of these kind and benevolent gentlemen.From this point of view, Robert Jr. must become a perfect man.

Shortly after, the "Duncan" left this bleak and desolate sea area after she had enough coal and fuel, and sailed west of the sea, heading towards the coast of Brazil.On September 9, a favorable wind blew up on the sea, and the "Duncan" sailed directly across the equator line and entered the waters of the southern hemisphere.It appeared that this voyage across the Atlantic was going very well. Everyone on board the "Duncan" is full of great hopes for this voyage.They thought that the chances of success in the search for Captain Grant were very high.Among them, Captain Mengel was full of confidence.His obsession with victory comes from his deepest desire——sincerely hope that Miss Mary Grant will be relieved and happy.Therefore, he always took good care of the girl on the boat, and tried his best to conceal this sincere feeling.But in fact, only Miss Grant and the captain didn't know it, and everyone else saw it and remembered it in their hearts.

To continue with our learned geographer, M. Paganel, who appears to be the happiest man alive in the southern hemisphere.He was busy studying every corner of the map all day long in the cabin.In the square living room of the cabin, there are maps one after another.These maps took up so much space that M. Aubinette found it difficult to set the table, and argued with him every day about it.Interestingly, everyone in the cabin supported Paganel's research, except for the major, who had no interest in geography.When Paganel accidentally found a pile of broken books piled up in the first mate's box, he found several works in Spanish from the book, so he set off to learn this "Cervantes" language plug. Van Tess (1546-1616), a famous writer in Spanish history, wrote "Don Quixote" and so on.Determination.No one on board is proficient in Spanish.But he believes that if he can master Spanish, the research work in the Chilean coastal zone can be carried out smoothly.He is very gifted at learning languages, and he hopes to be fluent in Spanish once he arrives in Concepcion.So he studied hard and seized all the time to practice.One could hear him all day long in the cabin, babbling and practicing his intricate Spanish.When he was free, he taught Robert Jr. some very practical scientific knowledge, and also told him the historical stories of the coastal cities that the "Duncan" passed by.

On September 9, the ship "Duncan" was sailing in the direction of latitude 10°5' south and longitude 73°31' west.This morning Sir Glenarvan heard a fact of history.This historical fact may not even be known to those knowledgeable scholars.That was Paganel telling everyone about the history of the discovery of the American continent.He taught that the "Duncan" is actually chasing the footsteps of the great navigators in history.He first talked about Columbus, and at the end of the talk, he also said that the famous Genoese Genoa, a famous city on the west coast of Italy, Columbus was from that place.Before he died, he didn't know that he had discovered a new continent!At this moment the audience cried out in astonishment, but Paganel said with reason:

"I don't want to denigrate the great explorer - Columbus's great achievements, but it is indeed a fact, a fact is always a fact! As early as the end of the fifteenth century, European society was only focused on one thing at that time, and that was how to find the The fast and convenient route in Asia, how to open up a fast route from the west to the east, in a word, is to go to the "land of spices". The country of spices refers to India. Because India is famous for its spices in the world, Europeans Call it the "Spice Country". This is what Columbus, a navigator, has devoted his life to. To this end, he made a total of four voyages. Finally, he discovered America, and in Cumana in America , Honduras, Mosquito, Nicaragua, Veragua, Costa Rica, and Panama all belong to Central America. Landed on this strip. But he believed that this coast was Japan and China in the east. Before his death, he He didn’t know that what he had discovered was not the continent of Asia, but a new continent unknown to Europeans. Because he didn’t know, before he died, he didn’t want his name to be left on the American continent as an eternal memorial!”

"Dear Mr. Baganne, I firmly believe in the history of Columbus's discovery of the American continent you said. However, I am just curious to know which navigators discovered that Columbus's discovery was not an Asian continent, but an unknown continent. the realm of the world?" asked Sir Glenarvan.

(End of this chapter)