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

Chapter 9 Captain Grant's Children (9)
"Oh, all this is due to some great explorers after Columbus: Oheida, Mendoza, Pinton, Vespucci, Bastidas, Garber, who explored with Columbus first. Lal, Solis, Barber...these great navigators first sailed along the east coast of America, and then from north to south, they constantly probed the limit length of the American coast. 360 years ago, these great navigators Explorers are just like us today, being propelled forward by the current of the Atlantic Ocean! Friends, do you all know? The equator line we are traveling on is exactly where the great navigator Pinton at the end of the 8th century. Now, we are close to 8° south latitude, and it is at 1502° south latitude that Pinton reached Brazil in South America. Exactly one year later, the famous Portuguese Gabriel, Arrived at the port of Sejuro in the Americas. Then, in 1508, the navigator Vespucci made further progress towards the south coast of America during his third voyage. In 1514, the navigators Pinton and Solis, jointly Sailing to further examine the situation along the coast of the Americas. In 1519, when the navigator Solis discovered the famous La Balata estuary, unfortunately, he was eaten by the local aborigines there. Therefore, he successfully bypassed The glorious mission at the southern tip of America can only be completed by the great navigator Magellan. So in 52, this great navigator set off with a total of five ships. He first followed the south direction of the Patagonian coast of America, Along the way he discovered Port Desedore and Port San Julian. On Port San Julian, he moored for a long time, then sailed along the direction of 1520° south latitude and found the famous Eleven Hundred Virgins, which is now The famous Strait of Magellan named after him. On November 11, 28, when Magellan passed through the thousand and one hundred virgins, he entered the Pacific Ocean. In the Pacific Ocean, he saw the distant In the sky, under the sun, a brand-new sea is shining. At that time, his mood was extremely excited, extremely excited!"

"Ouch! Mr. Paganel, I really admire you! I really want to live in that kind of environment." Little Robert couldn't hold back and cried out excitedly.

"My child, I also feel the same! If God could let me reincarnate 300 years earlier, I would not miss this good opportunity!"

"It would be a pity for us if your wish came true, dear Monsieur Paganel." Madame Helene interrupted, "If you could have been born 300 years earlier, how could we be on this ship, listen to you How about telling such a vivid and wonderful story?"

"That's nothing, my esteemed lady; without me, there will be someone better to tell this story instead of me. Maybe this substitute person will tell you that in fact, the success of the expedition on the west coast of America should be It belongs to the Pizar brothers, two famous explorers in Spain. Then someone else will tell you instead of me. He will also tell you that the expedition to the west coast is the credit of the Pizar brothers. This Two daring adventurers were great builders of many cities: Cusco, Quito, Lima, Santiago, Villarrica, Valparaicón, and Concepcion, where we now arrive with the Duncan Weng. These are their outstanding achievements. In the great age of navigation, the discoveries of the two brothers happened to be connected with those of Magellan. Therefore, the coastline of today’s American continent is on the current map, which made the Scholars are very excited."

"Hmph! If it were me, I would definitely be dissatisfied." Little Robert pouted, dissatisfied.

"Why is that?" asked Miss Grant, keeping her eyes fixed on her younger brother, who liked to listen to historical stories.

"Yes, my dear boy, why are you dissatisfied?" Sir Glenarvan asked curiously with a smile on his face.

"If it were me, I would definitely not be satisfied. I would go and see what else is there at the southern end of the Strait of Magellan." Robert Jr. said.

"Well, boy, what you said is really great! Even I, I really want to know whether the American continent extends all the way to the Antarctic continent; And there is an ocean? By the way, Sir Glenarvan, this Derek is still from your country... Therefore, my little Robert Grant, if you and M. Jacques Paganel are both living at ten In the seventh century, we must set out to explore together with Sozen and Lemaire. You know, these two famous Dutch navigators want to solve this geographical mystery!"

"Are those two gentlemen also great scholars?" Mrs. Helen asked.

"No, they are just two bold businessmen. When they acted, they did not think of the academic significance of their expedition voyage. At that time, the Netherlands had a famous East India Company. Trade has absolute control. As we all know, at that time, when Western countries traded with Eastern Asia, they had to go through the Strait of Magellan, so the privilege of the East India Company was actually a real monopoly. Some businessmen wanted to get rid of this monopoly for trade. So they thought of going to the sea to develop and find another route that could pass through the strait. Finally, there was a man named Isaac Lemaire. He was not only educated educated, and gifted, organized a nautical expedition at his own expense, and ventured to open up a route. He sent his nephew, Jacob Lemaire, and an excellent sailor named Sorjen, whose ancestral home was Horne. In 1615, these two bold navigators set off. The time was exactly 100 years later than Magellan. At that time, they explored the famous Lemaire Strait between Tierra del Fuego and Staten Island. On February 1616, 2, these two navigators rounded the famous Cape Horn. This cape is also known as 'Cape of Storms'. In fact, it should be called 'Cape of Good Hope' more accurately!"

"That's wonderful, sir! I'd love to explore that place!" exclaimed little Robert.

"My child, if you go to that place, you must be very excited." Paganel continued, and the more he talked, the more excited he became, "You can think about it, if a navigator can travel in his own voyage On the map, mark the new discoveries bit by bit. Isn’t this a pleasant thing? Watching land gradually appear in front of you, as well as small islands and straits, as if emerging from the waves of the sea Come out! In the first days, the line marked by the navigator was broken, blurred, and disconnected! Usually a little solitary port here, a segregated land there. Farther on, a A very remote harbor. Afterwards, the navigator made up the land each time he discovered, so that the lines can be connected. So, the dotted line on the map gradually turned into a solid line. On the harbor, the bow The coast is shown and determined. The joints of the capes lead directly to the defined coastal land. At the end, there is a magnificent continent with lakes, rivers, rivers, mountains, valleys, plains, villages, towns, and cities. , spread on the earth like this. Ah! My friends, I sincerely praise! The discoverers of these new continents are all outstanding inventors! They are just as remarkable as those inventors who brought wealth to mankind. But unfortunately, this kind of business, like a mine, has been completely exploited by others! Alas, the New World, the New World, all of these have been discovered, explored, and found by people. So we people, We are the last to arrive in geography, and now we are really useless!"

"My dear Monsieur Paganel, how can you say useless!" said Sir Glenarvan.

"Then tell me, how come there are still?"

"In fact, our current mission is where we can use our skills!"

At this time, the cruise ship "Duncan" was driving fast on the channel traveled by famous navigators such as Vespucci and Magellan.On September 9, the "Duncan" successfully crossed the winter solstice line in the southern hemisphere, and the direction of the bow turned to the entrance of the famous Strait of Magellan.The people on the boat can see the southern coast of Patagonia more than once.But all of this is just like a line, looming indistinctly on the horizon.At this time, the "Duncan" was sailing towards the south coast of this coast in the sea area ten nautical miles away.If Paganel raised his binoculars and looked at the American coast in the distance, he would see only a vague outline.

On September 9, the "Duncan" sailed at the same latitude as the famous Strait of Magellan, and plunged into it without hesitation.Generally speaking, ships like to enter the Pacific Ocean by this route.The most accurate length of the Strait of Magellan is only 25 nautical miles; and the water is very deep, and it can accommodate ships of the largest tonnage near the coast.Moreover, the seabed here is flat, with a lot of fresh water, many rivers and lakes, and a wide variety of fish; in addition, there are dense forests with many prey in it; there are also many port sites that can berth.In short, the Strait of Magellan has many advantages that the famous Lemmel Strait and Cape Horn, which is prone to storms, do not have.

In the first few hours of the "Duncan" entering the strait, in simple terms, that is to say, during the first voyage of sixty to eighty nautical miles until it reaches Cape Gregory, the coast in this area is basically Sandy and flat.The sunshine in the southern hemisphere is particularly bright, and it is often covered by the glare of the sun when looking out, but our profound scholar Paganel will not be bored by all this, and looks at the beautiful scenery on both sides of the strait with greedy eyes.Frankly speaking, the scenery on both sides of the strait is indeed beautiful and pleasing to the eye.There is no human habitation on the north shore, and on the southern island of Fuego, there are bare rocks, only a few poor Fuegians wandering around on it.At this time, Mr. Paganel was extremely disappointed that he didn't see the Patagonians, but the people on the "Duncan" ship didn't feel anything.

"Alas, in Patagonia, it's not Patagonia if you don't see Patagonians!"

he said annoyed.

"Don't worry, my dear geographer, we shall meet Patagonians," said Sir Glenarvan.

"It's really not certain."

"Why do you say that?" Mrs. Helen asked, "All Patagonians exist!"

"But I doubt it now, my lord, because I see no sign of them now."

"At the very least, the name Patagonia comes from the Spanish word 'patagon', which means 'big foot' in Spanish! So, calling Patagonia Make big feet; it can't be an imagination made out of nothing, right?"

"Alas! In fact, the name doesn't matter." Paganel said, he seemed to insist on his own opinion, avoiding doubts and further arguments from others, "I think it is very likely that the Spaniards don't know what these people should be called. ?”

"Why do you say that!" exclaimed Sir Glenarvan. "Major, do you know the origin of the name Patagonia?"

"I don't know," said Major McNabbs flatly, "I'm not usually interested in such things!"

"My dear major, it seems that you are indifferent to everything," Paganel added, "but whether you care or not, you will eventually know that the name of this Patagonian is the name of the famous Navigator Magellan named after the famous navigator Magellan. People in Tierra del Fuego call them Tilmens; Chileans call them Gaucahuis; Call them the Whirlishmen; and the famous traveler, Bogenville, called them the Shouha; the traveler Falconer called them the Twhirletts! But they themselves, called themselves ' Inakon'. In ancient local discourse, 'Inakon' means 'people'! So, I would also like to ask you, how can the Patagonians get so many appellations? Clear! Besides, it is doubtful that a nation can have so many names!"

"This argument is really mysterious!" Mrs. Helen said.

"Well, now, let's admit that Paganel's analysis is true. But, friend Paganel, you should admit this fact. Even though this Patagonian has many names, it is indeed doubtful. But they are tall, this must be recognized and confirmed by everyone!" Sir Glenarvan said.

"I think this view is wrong, I do not admit it." Paganel replied.

"But they are indeed very tall." Sir Glenarvan argued.

"This, I never knew."

McNabbs wanted to end the quarrel as soon as possible, so he said in a compromise: "So you are neither tall nor short?"

"This, I still don't know."

"My friend, you are very one!" exclaimed Sir Glenarvan. "You know, that's how the travelers who saw the Patagonians described them..."

"Sir, you know, those travelers who said they saw the Patagonians with their own eyes, but their descriptions are different. Like the famous navigator Magellan, who said that his head did not reach the Patagonian's belt. Yes!" replied the learned geographer.

"Isn't it a proof of their tall stature?!"

"Yes, but Derek said that the English are generally taller than the tallest Patagonians."

"Hmph! Don't compare yourself with the English," said the major angrily. "If they compare themselves with the Scots, they're not so tall at all!"

"The traveler Gavendisch has described in very positive terms that these Patagonians are tall and strong." Paganel continued, "Hawkins evaluated them as giants, and Lemaire and Sol Jane, said they could be as tall as eleven feet."

"Haven't these navigators all proved their stature? They must be true to what they say!" said Sir Glenarvan.

"Yes, but you know, there are also Wood, Napolo, and Falconer, who judge Patagonia as being of medium stature, and are equally reliable! And those famous geographers, such as Byron La Ji Rhodes, Bogenville, Wallis, Carter, etc., all affirmed that the Patagonians were only six point six feet. Scholars who have surveyed this area, such as Mr. Daubigny, judged that they were only five feet tall. One point four feet, you should believe what they say!"

"These words are really contradictory. Which one is true?" Mrs. Helen asked.

"My dear lady, do you want to know which statement is true?" Paganel said, "In fact, the real situation of the Patagonians should be like this: their legs are shorter and their upper bodies are longer. Therefore, some people As a joke, these Patagonians are six feet when they sit and five feet when they stand."

"Ha ha, that is very interesting, my dear scholar!" said Sir Glenarvan.

"What's even more ridiculous is that these Patagonians may not exist at all. Therefore, people's impression of them is often to unify various contradictory statements. By the way, in order to better end this debate , my friends, I want to say something that makes everyone happy: The Strait of Magellan is really beautiful. Even if there are no Patagonians in this strait, it is really beautiful!"

At this time, the "Duncan" was sailing around the Brunswick Peninsula, and the scenery on both sides of the bank was really wonderful.After the "Duncan" passed Cape Gregory and proceeded seventy miles further on, Bender Arizona Prison passed on the cruise ship's starboard side.During this voyage, people on board can vaguely see the Chilean flag and the bell tower of the church in the forest.There are many protruding rocks on both sides of the strait, all of which are of granite texture. These steep stones look scary.There are also countless high mountains rising, and the foot of the mountains is hidden by dense and boundless forests.The mountain peaks soar into the sky, covered with snow that never melts all year round.On the southwest side of these mountains, there is a peak of Tarn, about six thousand and five hundred feet high, standing high in the sky against the vast sky.When night falls, what is left is a long twilight time, and the bright white and dazzling sunlight is unknowingly merged into colorful colors.The light of this color is so soft and warm.The blue sky also turned into a splendor of stars.In the twilight, twinkling stars gradually replaced the lighthouses on the coast of civilization.Constellation in the direction of the South Pole, giving all voyagers the indicated direction. The "Duncan" did not drop anchor in the harbor on this river bank, and sailed fearlessly towards her destination.From time to time, the sail frame on the boat will gently brush the branches of the Antarctic beech overlooking the river; sometimes, the loud sound of the boat's propeller beating the water waves on the sea surface will startle a group of water birds.Slowly, the people on the boat saw many broken walls along the coast, and in the hazy night, several collapsed buildings looked extraordinarily huge.These buildings are the desolate relics abandoned by the colonists.Under the stars, it seemed to protest against the rich coast and the game-rich forest in the distance.At this moment, the "Duncan" is heading in the direction of the famous "Hunger Port".

There is a story about the origin of "Hunger Port".That was the Spaniard Samindo. In 1581, he personally led more than 400 immigrants to settle here and established the city of San Philip.But it didn't take long for more than half of these immigrants to die because of the severe cold and famine.By 1587, there was only Samindo in the Port of Famine.Because he lived alone in this desolate ruin for six years, people called this port "Hunger Port".

(End of this chapter)