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

Chapter 99: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (30)
We also observed mammals in the Mediterranean Sea. When the "Nautilus" passed through the mouth of the Adriatic Sea, we saw two or three big headed whales. .A few sea pigs, they are a special product of the Mediterranean Sea, with shining stripes on their round heads.There are more than a dozen seals, black fur, white belly, three meters long.Everyone knows that their nickname is "monk", which is a wonderful metaphor, and it does look somewhat similar to the monks of the Dominican sect.

I once saw a beautiful zoophyte in the Mediterranean by accident. It was a beautiful orange-yellow lip-shaped polyp. At that time, this thing was hooked on the glass on the port side of the ship. At first glance, it was a very thin Very long ribbons, with many branches and leaves growing in the middle, and ending like those beautiful laces that are often seen in the dresses of young ladies. The most skillful handmaids in the world could not make such patterns, but it is a pity that I could not catch this beautiful animal, Otherwise it would have its own place in my herbarium.

On the night of the 16th, the speed of the "Nautilus" slowed down a lot, which gave us the opportunity to watch the underwater world in more detail.

At that time, our boat was passing through the waters between Sicily and the coast of Tunisia. In the narrow bottom of the Strait of Messina, the bottom of the sea suddenly rose and formed a ridge. The ridge was only 16 meters above the water surface. On both sides of the ridge, the water depth suddenly increased. To more than 170 meters.This kind of terrain caused a lot of trouble for the "Nautilus". The ship moved slowly, for fear of hitting the fence on the bottom of the sea.I found the Mediterranean Sea on the map, and pointed out the location of this reef to Conseil.

"Professor, please excuse my ignorance," Conseil said, "is this the isthmus connecting Europe and Africa?"

"Yes," I answered, "it is that which completely blocks the Libyan Isthmus, and where Smith's measurements prove that the two continents were formerly connected."

"There is no doubt that it should be so," Conseil said.

"Did you know," I went on, "that between Gibraltar and Syda there is a similar fence, which completely shuts off the Mediterranean Sea during geological epochs."

Conseil nodded half-understanding, and continued to study the seabed in the shallow water outside the boat.

The subsurface of this seabed is mostly volcanic rocks, and there are abundant creatures growing in the seawater.Against the background of the whole field of blooming live flowers and plants, there are sponges, sea cucumbers and transparent sea urchins, reddish sea vines, emitting a faint phosphorescence.The kelp is soaked in seven colors of light, and its common name is sea cucumber.The discs patrolling the gravel on the seabed are one meter wide, and their bright red color dyes the sea red.We also saw the most beautiful sea nymphs and long-stemmed stone flowers, and there were many edible sea chestnuts of various kinds.In addition, there is the blue sea garden sunflower, its stem is light gray, and the chestnut-colored flower disc is hidden in the olive-colored hair formed by the tentacles, which is not easy to see clearly.

Conseil has a penchant for molluscs and arthropods, and it is well documented. Although some of the terminology in this part may seem dry, I do not want the fruits of his labor to be easily overlooked.

Among the molluscs recorded by Conseil, there are persimmon-shaped sea fans, donkey-shoe-shaped bivalves that like to get together, triangular-shaped snails, three-toothed clams with transparent shells, orange-yellow gastropods, Oval shells with small blue spots, gastropod shells commonly known as "sea hares", ancient shovel shells, fleshy antennae shells, umbrella shells that are only found in the Mediterranean, and sea shells that produce a very valuable snail shell. ear shell.There are also flame-shaped sea scallops, which are said to be preferred to oysters by people living in the south of France.Maasai people's favorite Mao inkstone and white and fat double-layer grass shell.There are some clams growing on the bottom of the sea here, and they are also abundant in the North American coast. They are one of the main species in the seafood market in New York.The clams come in a variety of colors and usually lurk in their shells; the leopard clam has a natural peppery flavor to its flesh and is my favourite; ribbon lines.In addition, Conseil also recorded the sintibe with large red tumors, the carnivorous shell with a curved dinghy, the iron shell with a crown on its head, the anthropoid shell with a screw-shaped shell, the gray sea god shell, and the There are qin shells with white spots similar to small crickets, scallops crawling on their backs, ear shells, and tea-brown silk shells and other shellfish with their own characteristics.As for varieties such as conch shells, sea clams, chrysanthemum shells, rock shells, thin sliced ​​shells, gemstone shells, and vase shells, there are also detailed and varying records.

When recording arthropods, Conseil divided them very accurately into six classes, three of which belonged to marine animals, and they were crustaceans, cirripedes, and bad insects.

There are nine orders of Crustacea, among which the representative species of the first order are decapod arthropods. The heads and chests of these animals are usually connected together, and the oral parts are composed of several pairs of joints. In addition, there are four pairs, five pairs or Six pairs of feet on the chest or for walking.Conseil, according to the method taught by our teacher Mill Edward, divided the ten-legged arthropods into three parts: short-tailed, long-tailed and tailless.The names, while a bit blunt, sound easy to understand.In the short tail, Conseil lists the "Amadi" crab, which has two separate long spines at the front of the head; the scorpion crab, which the Greeks used to symbolize wisdom, and I really don't understand why ; stick-shaped sea spiders and thorn-shaped sea spiders, these things usually wander in the deep water area, probably lost their way to the shallower seabed.Then there were the decapod crabs, the sagittal crabs, the lozenge crabs, the toothless umbrella crabs, western crabs, and downy crabs, and finally there was a grain crab, which Conseil noted was easy to digest.In the long tail, it is divided into five families: Armoridae, Diggidae, Non-positioning Branch, Shrimpidae and Podiae. Among the five families, the population of Shrimpidae is the largest, and there are lobsters (female lobster meat is very popular) ), bear prawns, sea cicadas, prawns and various edible prawns.

After the "Nautilus" passed through the shallow waters of the Libyan Strait, it re-entered the deep sea area, which is more suitable for underwater travel, and its forward speed has also recovered. Through the glass, we can no longer see the molluscs and zoophytes clearly. Under the reflection of the light, some big fish hurriedly passed in front of the glass.

During the night of February 2th and 16th, the "Nautilus" sailed into the second waters of the Mediterranean Sea, where the deepest part reached 17 meters.Our boat, propelled by the wheels, went down to the deepest depths.

On the bottom of the sea, although there are no natural and fresh animals, there are terrible and heart-pounding scenes hidden in the dark sea water. Wensha coast, from the beginning of the journey of human beings to conquer the sea, I don't know how many ships have sunk here!
Under the light of the "Nautilus", I saw the remains of many shipwrecks. Some ships may be old, and the broken hulls have been covered with a layer of plant "skin" by corals and seabed plants, while some have just sunk , but rust is all over the ship, and various facilities on the ship are scattered, including anchors, cannons, bullets, iron frames, wheel blades, machine parts, damaged boilers, and hulls floating in the water, some standing upright, some overturned in the gravel of the ocean floor.

There are many reasons for these ships to die. Some ships collided with other ships in heavy fog, some hit rocks, and some were directly overturned by strong storms and swept into the seabed.Individual ships are still relatively intact, parked there quietly, and seem to be ready to set sail at any time.When the "Nautilus" passed among these sunken ships, the searchlights passed over them one by one, as if paying tribute to these brave ancestors.

The closer our ship got to the Strait of Gibraltar, the more and more wrecks there were underwater.In the narrow waterways of the strait, mutual collisions will occur frequently.Among the sunken ships, some have iron hulls, but most of them are wooden hulls.These ships have different shapes, and each ship will take many lives. In the dark sea water, they all look eerie and terrifying.One of the boats was cracked on the side, probably from a blow before it sank, and the funnel was bent, and its wheels were only skeletons, and the rudder was thrown aside, but the chain was still attached to the rudder, and the ship's The iron plate behind has been eroded by sea water and looks ugly.The bodies of the sacrificed sailors have long since disappeared, but there may also be lucky sailors who have escaped and stayed away from the sea since then, telling those who dream of conquering the sea about the terrible disasters at sea.

Perhaps Captain Nemo could not bear to see the tragedy in front of him, the "Nautilus" suddenly accelerated, and quickly passed the yard of these wrecks. At three o'clock in the morning on February 2, we appeared at the end of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The sea here is divided into upper and lower layers. The water flow in the upper layer brings the water from the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea, and the water flow in the lower layer is just the opposite.The total amount of sea water in the Mediterranean is constantly increasing due to the tides of the Atlantic Ocean and the rivers flowing into the land.Affected by the climate, the evaporation of seawater here is much lower than that of the Red Sea, so the sea level here should continue to rise.But in fact this is not the case, so the backflow of the lower seawater is beyond doubt.

The "Nautilus" is the best tool to prove the direction of the lower water flow. It quickly entered this narrow waterway. For a moment, I seemed to see the ruins of the magnificent Temple of Hercules sunk on the bottom of the sea, and The small island that supports the temple, and in a few minutes we were floating on the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

vigo bay

The Atlantic Ocean has the second largest ocean area in the world, with 500 million square nautical miles, second only to the Pacific Ocean.The Atlantic Ocean is about [-] nautical miles long and [-] nautical miles wide on average. It occupies an important area between North and South America, Europe, and Africa. In ancient times, the Carthaginians were the people who knew the Atlantic Ocean best.The Carthaginians were like the Dutch in ancient times. They sailed around the world in ships in order to carry out trade activities in various countries. Among them, they sailed back and forth along the western coast of Europe and Africa.

Today, on the smoky waters of the Atlantic Ocean, ships from various countries shuttle back and forth, and the flags of many countries have fluttered in the wind on this water.Going west from here, there are two sharp corners on the north and south continents, which are Cape Horn and Cape Storm, which are feared by navigators (that is, the Cape of Good Hope. Things are going well” new name). The powerful engine of the "Nautilus" pushed the horn of the bow, cut the waves of the Atlantic, and moved forward.Before that, we had sailed nearly [-] kilometers in three and a half months.Where will Captain Nemo direct it now?What fresh and intuitive stimulation will future voyages bring to our vision?
When the "Nautilus" came out of the Strait of Gibraltar and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean, it surfaced again, and our daily walk on the platform resumed.

I was accompanied by Ned Land and Conseil, and at a distance of twelve nautical miles we could vaguely see Cape St. Vincent, the most southwestern tip of the Spanish peninsula.Suddenly, a bitter southerly wind blew up on the sea, and the sea was choppy immediately, and the waves rolled in. We couldn't stand still, so after taking a few breaths of fresh air, we went down to the cabin.Surrounded by big waves, the "Nautilus" was bumping violently, but fortunately we were able to sit steadily in the room.The Canadian, a little disturbed, followed me to my room.His face was full of disappointment and frustration as we sailed out of the Mediterranean so fast that he couldn't carry out his escape plan.

I closed the door, and Ned Land sat in a chair, looking at me without saying a word.

"Ned, cheer up," I comforted him, "You don't have to blame yourself, the speed of the 'Nautilus' is too fast, and it is simply irrational to implement your plan under such conditions."

Ned Land didn't respond. Judging from his furrowed brows, he must be struggling with something fiercely inside.

"We'll see," I said, "things will turn around. We're driving along the coast of Portugal, not far from France and England, where we can escape wherever we want. But in case the Nautilus 'A southbound trip from the Straits of Gibraltar would take us far from the mainland, which would be bad. But I don't think Captain Nemo would avoid cultured seas. In a few days, you'll be able to Safely carry out our plan."

Ned Land stared at me, hesitated a little, opened his mouth and said:

"Professor, tonight is the best time to realize the plan."

Surprised, I stood up involuntarily, admitting that I was not at all prepared for the news.I wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words.

"Before, we agreed to wait for the opportunity to come together," he continued, "Now is an opportunity. Tonight, we are only a few nautical miles away from the coast of Spain. It is dark and windy at night, which is the best cover. Mr. Professor, you have spoken first, and you are not a person who breaks your promise, I have every reason to believe this."

Seeing that I still didn't respond, the Canadian stood up and walked in front of me, and continued:
"I have notified Conseil that we will be operating at nine o'clock tonight. At that time, the captain will be in his room, probably asleep, and neither the mechanics nor the crew will be able to see us. Conseil and I I will go to the central staircase first, and you will stay in the library not far from there, Professor, and wait for my signal. I have all the tools ready, the wooden oars, mast and sails are all loaded in the boat, and I have also prepared Some food and water. Another British screwdriver will help me unscrew the dinghy to the Nautilus. That's all settled and we'll be fine."

"The sea is very stormy now, will it..." I hesitated.

"The wind and waves are great," said the Canadian, "but we must take the risk, and the price of freedom is sometimes a little high. But rest assured, our boats are strong, and even in some wind and waves, they will last a few miles. Stay. When they find us missing tomorrow, we will have already fled to the shore. If all goes well, we will land somewhere on the land in two hours. Of course, the ship may capsize, so we still ask God Bless, hurry up and rest now, see you tonight!"

The Canadian walked away, and I stood there bewildered, thinking that when the opportunity did come, we would spend time discussing it, although the stubborn harpooner would not let me say it lightly" Nope.I really can't break my promise, Ned Land is right, what he has to wait for is such an opportunity, I can't harm the interests of my companions because of my personal desires.Maybe before tomorrow's day, Captain Nemo will order the "Nautilus" to go to the sea far away from the mainland.

At this time, there was a loud sound inside the ship, which I was already familiar with. It was the sound of water filling in the tank, and the "Nautilus" began to dive.

I shut myself up in my room, so as to be safe from the captain, lest his piercing eyes should read my thoughts.In this way, I spent this gloomy day alone, full of contradictions and struggles in my heart.On the one hand, I also want to leave here, and I want to step on solid land with my feet, and breathe freely the smell of the forest and fields that I have not seen for a long time; "Snail", my seabed research cannot be completed without it!My exploration of the Atlantic Ocean is just beginning, leaving "my Atlantic Ocean" in this way, not being able to observe its deepest water layer at close range, and not being able to obtain from it the secrets that the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean have revealed to me, will make me regret all my life!The draft of my novel just finished is like a dream, and the plot of the dream is interrupted before it reaches the real climax.

I paced back and forth in the cabin, my mind was in a mess. Sometimes I fantasized that I and my companions escaped safely to land, and sometimes I hoped that something unexpected would happen so that Ned Land's plan would abort again.Twice in the meantime I went into the drawing-room to look at the compass, to see whether the Nautilus was bearing either approach or departure from the shore.Instead, the "Nautilus" was always sailing in the water off the coast of Portugal, heading north along the Atlantic coast.Therefore, it is time to make a decision and prepare to take a risk with the Canadians.My luggage is not heavy, I can take it or not, I just want to take my notes.As for Captain Nemo, I asked myself countless times, what would he think if we escaped?He would be furious, or our actions would hurt him deeply, or we failed and were caught, what would he do with us?

I think even if I was punished, I would have nothing to complain about.On the contrary, along the way, the captain's gentlemanly demeanor and hospitality etiquette, there is nothing to criticize, especially for me, he basically has no reservations, I have never seen such a frank and sincere person.We left without authorization, which cannot be said to be a kind of betrayal or ungratefulness. At first there was no vow between us that bound us to him.He may think that our staying by his side is only the restriction of the objective environment, not our commitment.But it was his open acknowledgment, and his idea of ​​keeping us permanently on board as prisoners, that justified our escape.

(End of this chapter)