rén men yī dìng hái jì dé 1866 nián hǎi shàng fā shēng de yī jiàn lí qí de、 shén mì de、 wú fǎ jiě shì de guài shì。 qiě bù shuō dāng shí hōng dòng yán hǎi jū mín hé shì jiè de gè zhǒng chuán wén， zhè lǐ zhǐ shuō yī bān háng hǎi rén yuán tè bié jī dòng de xīn qíng。 ōu měi de jìn chū kǒu shāng rén、 chuán cháng hé chuán zhù、 gè guó de hǎi jūn guān zuǒ yǐ jí zhè liǎng dà zhōu de gè guó zhèng fǔ dū fēi cháng zhù yì zhè jiàn shì。
zhè shì dà tǐ shì zhè yàng： bù jiǔ yǐ qián， hǎo xiē dà chuán zài hǎi shàng pèng jiàn liǎo yī yī gè“ páng rán dà wù”， yī gè hěn cháng de wù tǐ， xíng zhuàng hěn xiàng fǎng chuí， yòu shí fā chū lín guāng， tā de tǐ jī bǐ jīng yú dà dé duō， xíng dòng qǐ lái yě bǐ jīng yú kuài dé duō。 guān yú zhè gè dōng xī de chū xiàn， xǔ duō háng hǎi rì zhì suǒ jì xià de shì shí（ rú zhè gè dōng xī huò zhè gè shēng wù de xíng zhuàng， zài tā yùn dòng shí de nán yǐ gū jì de sù dù， tā zhuǎn yí de jīng rén lì liàng， tā nà zhǒng xiàng shì yāo shēng de tè shū běn lǐng děng děng）， dà zhì shì xiāng tóng de。 rú guǒ zhè dōng xī shì jīng yú lèi dòng wù， nà me tā de tǐ jī： shì dà dà chāo guò liǎo shēng wù xué jiā céng jīng jiā yǐ fēn lèi de jīng yú。 jū wéi 'āi ①、。
· lā sè bié dé①、 dù méi lǐ ②、 kǎ tè fǎ rì ③， zhè xiē shēng wù xué jiā yī yī chú fēi kàn jiàn guò， yě jiù shì shuō， chú fēi zhè xiē kē xué jiā běn rén de yǎn jīng kàn jiàn guò héng héng shì bù chéng rèn yòu zhè yàng yī zhǒng guài wù cún zài de。
bǎ duō cì guān chá de jiēguǒ zhé zhōng yī xià lái kàn héng héng héng fāng miàn diū kāi nà xiē guò dī de gū jì， jí zhè gè dōng xī zhǐ yòu 'èr bǎi yīng chǐ cháng， tóng shí yě bù jiē shòu guò yú kuā zhāng de yán lùn， jí tā yòu yī yīng lǐ。 kuān sān yīng lǐ cháng， héng héng wǒ men kě yǐ kěn dìng tā shuō， zhè gè qí guài de shēng wù， rú guǒ zhēn shì cún zài de huà， tā de tǐ jī shì dà dà chāo guò yú lèi xué jiā suǒ chéng rèn de tǐ jī de。 zhè dōng xī jì rán cún zài， ér shì shí běn shēn yòu shì bù kě fǒu rèn de， nà me， yóu yú rén lèi hàoqí de xīn lǐ， wǒ men jiù bù nán lǐ jiě zhè gè guài wù de chū xiàn huì zài quán shì jiè yǐn qǐ zěn yàng de sāo dòng。 zhì yú shuō zhè shì huāng táng wú jī zhī tán， nà shì jué bù huì yòu rén tóng yì de。
yīn wéi， 1866 nián 7 yuè 20 rì， jiā 'ěr gè dá yī bù nà xī qì chuán gōng sī de xǐ jīn sūn zǒng dū hào， zài 'ào dà lì yà hǎi 'àn dōng biān wǔ yīng lǐ， pèng jiàn liǎo zhè gè yóu dòng de jù dà wù tǐ。 bā kè chuán cháng qǐ chū hái yǐ wéi zhè shì méi yòu rén zhī dào de、 àn jiāo， tā zhèng yào cè dìng tā de wèi zhì de shí hòu， tū rán zhè gè bù kě jiě shì de wù tǐ pēn chū liǎng dào shuǐ zhù， huá de yī shēng shè dào kōng zhōng yī bǎi wǔ shí yīng chǐ gāo。 zhè me shuō， chú fēi zhè zuò 'àn jiāo shàng biān yòu jiān xiē pēn quán， bù rán de huà， xǐ jīn sūn zǒng dū hào miàn qián de dōng xī， jiù shì hái méi yòu rén zhī dào de yī zhǒng hǎi zhōng bǔ rǔ lèi dòng wù， tā hái cóng bí kǒng zhōng pēn chū yòu qì pào de shuǐ zhù ní。
tóng nián 7 yuè 23 rì， xī yìn dù - tài píng yáng qì chuán gōng sī de kè lì sī tuō bā 'ěr gē láng hào， zài tài píng yáng shàng yě pèng dào zhè yàng de shì。 xǐ jīn sūn zǒng dū hào kàn jiàn zhè guài wù yǐ hòu sān tiān， kè lì sī tuō bā 'ěr gē láng hào zài xiāng jù qī bǎi lǐ de dì fāng yě kàn jiàn liǎo tā， yóu cǐ kě zhī， zhè gè qí tè de jīng yú lèi dòng wù néng yǐ lüè rén de sù dù cóng zhè yī chù zhuǎn yí dào lìng yī chù。
shí wǔ tiān yǐ hòu， zài lí shàng miàn shuō de dì diǎn yòu liǎng qiān lǐ yuǎn de dì fāng， guó yíng lún chuán gōng sī de hǎi 'ěr wéi dì yà hào hé huáng jiā yóu chuán gōng sī de shān nóng hào， zài měi guó hé 'ōu zhōu zhī jiān de dà xī yáng hǎi miàn shàng xiāng yù de shí hòu， zài běi wěi 42 dù 15 fēn、 xī jīng 60 dù 35 fēn de dì fāng， tóng shí kàn dào liǎo zhè gè dà guài wù。 gēn jù liǎng chuán tóng shí guān chá dé dào de jiēguǒ， gū jì zhè zhǐ bǔ rǔ dòng wù de cháng dù zhì shǎo yòu sān bǎi wǔ shí duō yīng chǐ（ yuē yī bǎi líng liù mǐ）， yīn wéi shān nóng hào hé hǎi 'ěr wéi dì yà hào liǎng chuán lián qǐ lái， dū hái bǐ tā duǎn， liǎng chuán cóng tóu zhì wěi zhǐ yòu yī bǎi mǐ cháng。 kě shì， zuì cháng de jīng yú， xiàng cháng cháng chū yì yú 'ā liú shēn qún dǎo de jiǔ lán mǎ kè dǎo hé wēng jū lǐ kè dǎo① fù jìn hǎi miàn de nà xiē jīng yú， yě zhǐ bù guò shì wǔ shí liù mǐ， ér bǐ zhè zài cháng de， cóng lái jiù méi yòu guò。
jiē lián bù duàn dì chuán lái de xiāo xī， héng dù dà xī yáng de bèi léi 'ěr hào suǒ zuò de zhǒng zhǒng guān chá， yīn màn lún chuán gōng sī de yuè tí nà hào gēn zhè gè guài wù de yī cì xiāng pèng， fǎ guó 'èr jí jūn jiàn nuò màn dì hào jūn guān men suǒ xiě de jì lù， hǎi jūn gāo jí cān móu fú cí yī zhān mǔ sī zài kè lì dé jué shì hào shàng suǒ zuò de hěn jīng mì de cè suàn， zhè yī qiē zài dāng shí díquè céng jīng hōng dòng yī shí。 zài mín zú xìng bǐ jiào fú zào de guó jiā lǐ， dà jiādōu ná zhè jiàn shì zuò wéi tán xiào zī liào， dàn zài yán sù hé tà shí de guó jiā lǐ， xiàng yīng guó、 měi guó hé dé guó jiù bù tóng， tā men duì zhè shì jiù fēi cháng guān xīn。
zài gè dà chéng shì lǐ， zhè guài wù biàn chéng liǎo jiā yù hù xiǎo de shì jiàn。 kā fēi guǎn lǐ gē chàng tā， bào kān shàng cháo xiào tā， wǔ tái shàng bàn yǎn tā。 yáo yán zhèng hǎo yòu liǎo jī huì， cóng zhè guài wù shēn shàng niē zào chū gè zhǒng gè yàng de qí wén。 zài yī xiē fā xíng liàng bù duō de bào kān shàng， chū xiàn liǎo guān yú gè zhǒng lí qí de jù dà dòng wù de bào dào， cóng bái jīng、 běi jí hǎi zhōng kě pà de“ mò bǐ · dí kè”① yī zhí dào páng dà de“ kè lā kěn”② héng héng zhè zhǒng guài yú de chù xū kě yǐ chán zhù yī zhǐ zài zhòng wǔ bǎi dūn de chuán 'ér bǎ tā tuō dào hǎi dǐ xià qù héng héng dū yìng yòu jìn yòu。 yòu xiē rén shèn zhì bù xī yǐn jīng jù diǎn， huò zhě bān chū gǔ dài de chuán shuō rú yà lǐ shì duō dé③ hé pú lín ní ④ de jiàn jiě（ tā men chéng rèn zhè lèi guài wù de cún zài）： huò zhě bān chū péng tǔ pí dān zhù jiào ⑤ de nuó wēi tóng huà， bǎo luó · āi jì dé de jì shù， yǐ jí hā lín dùn de bào gào； zhè bào gào shì bù róng huái yí de， tā shuō， 1857 nián， tā zài jiā sī dì lán hào shàng kàn jiàn guò yī zhǒng dà shé， nà zhǒng shé yǐ qián zhǐ zài nà lì xiàn hào dào guò de hǎi miàn shàng⑤ cái néng kàn jiàn。
yú shì， zài xué shù tuán tǐ lǐ hé kē xué bào kān zhōng chǎn shēng liǎo xiāng xìn zhě hé huái yí zhě， zhè liǎng pài rén wú xiū zhǐ dì zhēng lùn zhe。“ guài wù wèn tí” jī dòng zhe rén men。
zì yǐ wéi dǒng kē xué de xīn wén jì zhě hé yī xiàng zì yǐ wéi duō cái de wén rén kāi qǐ huǒ lái， tā men zài zhè cì zhí dé jì niàn de bǐ zhàn zhōng huā fèi liǎo bù shǎo de mò shuǐ！ shèn zhì yòu jǐ gè rén hái liú liǎo liǎng sān dī xuè， yīn wéi yòu rén bǎ zhēn duì dà hǎi shé de bǐ fēng yí xiàng yī xiē tài dù 'ào màn de jiā huǒ shēn shàng liǎo。
zài liù gè yuè dāng zhōng， zhēng lùn jì xù zhe。 bǐ cǐ yòu lǐ， gè zhí yī cí。 dāng shí liú xíng de xiǎo bào dū xīng zhì bó bó dì kān dēng zhēng lùn de wén zhāng， tā men bù shì gōng jī bā xī dì lǐ xué yuàn、 bólín huáng jiā kē xué yuàn、 bù liè diān xué shù lián hé huì huò huá shèng dùn sī mì sūn xué yuàn fā biǎo de quán wēi lùn wén， jiù shì bó chì yìn dù qún dǎo bào、 mó yà nuò shén fù de yǔ zhòu zá zhì、 pí dé màn de xiāo xī bào lǐ miàn de tǎo lùn hé fǎ guó jí qí tā gè guó dà bào kān de kē xué xīn wén。 zhè xiē duō cái de zuò jiā gù yì qū jiě fǎn duì pài yě cháng yǐn zhèng de lín nài① de yī jù huà：“ dà zì rán bù zhì zào chǔn dōng xī”； kěn qiú dà jiā bù yào xiāng xìn běi hǎi de dà guài yú、 dà hǎi shé、“ mò bǐ · dí kè” hé fēng kuáng de hǎi yuán men yì zào chū lái de qí tā guài wù de cún zài， bù yào yīn cǐ 'ér fǒu dìng liǎo dà zì rán。 zuì hòu， mǒu yī zhù míng jiān kè de fěng cì bào yòu yī wèi zuì shòu huān yíng de biān ji xiān shēng cǎo cǎo liǎo shì dì fā biǎo yī piān wén zhāng， chǔlǐ liǎo zhè gè guài wù； tā xiàng yí bāo liè tí② nà yàng， zài dà jiā de xiào shēng zhōng， gěi zhè jiā wù zuì hòu yī cì dǎ jī、 bǎ tā jiēguǒ liǎo。 yú shì jī zhì zhàn shèng liǎo kē xué。
zài 1867 nián tóu jǐ gè yuè lǐ， zhè gè wèn tí hǎo xiàng shì rén liǎo tǔ， bù huì zài fù jié liǎo。 dàn jiù zài zhè gè shí hòu， rén men yòu tīng shuō fā shēng liǎo yī xiē xīn de shì jiàn。 xiàn zài de wèn tí bìng bù shì yī gè jí dài jiě jué de kē xué wèn tí， ér shì bì xū rèn zhēn shè fǎ bì miǎn de yī gè wēi xiǎn。 wèn tí dài liǎo wán quán bù tóng de miàn mào。 zhè gè guài wù biàn chéng liǎo xiǎo dǎo、 yán shí、 àn jiāo， dàn tā shì huì bēn chí de、 bù kě zhuō mō de、 xíng dòng mò cè de 'àn jiāo。
1867 nián 8 yuè 5 rì， méng tè lì 'ào háng hǎi gōng sī de mó lā wéi 'ān hào yè jiān shǐ dào běi wěi 27 dù 30 fēn、 xī jīng 72 dù 15 fēn de dì fāng， chuán yòu xián zhuàng shàng liǎo yī zuò yán shí， kě shì， rèn hé dì tú yě méi yòu jìzǎi guò zhè yī dài hǎi miàn shàng yòu zhè zuò yán shí。 yóu yú fēng lì de zhù háng hé sì bǎi pǐ mǎ lì de tuī dòng， chuán de sù dù dá dào měi xiǎo shí shí sān hǎi lǐ。 háo wú yí wèn， rú guǒ bù shì chuán shēn zhì dì yōu liáng， tè bié jiān gù， mó lā wéi 'ān hào bèi zhuàng yǐ hòu， yī dìng yào bǎ tā cóng jiā ná dà zài lái de 'èr bǎi sān shí liù míng chéng kè yī qí dài dào hǎi dǐ qù。
shì gù fā shēng zài zǎo chén wǔ diǎn zuǒ yòu tiān gāng pò xiǎo de shí hòu。 chuán shàng zhí bān de hǎi yuán men lì jí páo dào chuán de hòu bù； tā men shí fēn xì xīn dì guān chá hǎi miàn。
chú liǎo yòu gè liù bǎi duō mǐ kuān de dà xuán wō héng héng hǎo xiàng shuǐ miàn shòu guò měng liè de chōng jī héng héng yǐ wài， tā men shénme yě méi yòu kàn jiàn， zhǐ bǎ shì gù fā shēng de dì diǎn què qiē dì jì liǎo xià lái。 mó lā wéi 'ān hào jì xù háng xíng， sì hū bìng méi yòu shòu dào shénme sǔn shāng。 · tā shì zhuàng shàng liǎo 'àn jiāo ní， hái shì zhuàng shàng liǎo yī zhǐ chénmò de pò chuán？
dāng shí méi yòu fǎ zǐ zhī dào。 hòu lái dào chuán wù jiǎn chá liǎo chuán dǐ， cái fā xiàn yī bù fēn lóng gǔ zhé duàn liǎo。
zhè shì shí běn shēn shì shí fēn yán zhòng de， kě shì， rú guǒ bù shì guò liǎo sān gè xīng qī hòu， zài xiāng tóng de qíng kuàng xià yòu fā shēng liǎo xiāng tóng de shì jiàn， tā hěn kě néng gēn xǔ duō qí tā de shì jiàn yī yàng hěn kuài bèi rén wàng diào liǎo。 jiē zhe yòu fā shēng de nà yī cì zhuàng chuán de shì jiàn， dān dān yóu yú shòu hài chuán de guó jí hé tā suǒ shǔ gōng sī de shēng wàng， jiù zú yǐ yǐn qǐ shí fēn guǎng fàn de fǎn xiǎng。
yīng guó zhù míng de chuán zhù gǒu nà 'ěr de míng zì shì méi yòu yī gè rén bù zhī dào wěi。 zhè wèi jīng míng de qǐ yè jiā zǎo zài 1840 nián jiù chuàng bàn liǎo yī jiā yóu chuán gōng sī， kāipì liǎo cóng lì wù pǔ dào hā lì fǎ kè sī① de háng xiàn， dāng shí zhǐ yòu sān sōu sì bǎi pǐ mǎ lì、 zài zhòng yī qiān yī bǎi liù shí 'èr dūn de míng lún mù chuán。 bā nián yǐ hòu， gōng sī kuò dà liǎo， gòng yòu sì sōu liù bǎi wǔ shí pǐ mǎ lì、 zài zhòng yī qiān bā bǎi 'èr shí dūn de chuán。 zài guò liǎng nián， yòu tiān liǎo liǎng sōu mǎ lì hé zài zhòng liàng gèng dà de chuán， 1853 nián， gǒu nà 'ěr gōng sī jì xù qǔ dé zhuāng yùn zhèng fǔ yóu jiàn de tè quán， yī lián tiān zào liǎo 'ā lā bó hào、 bō sī hào、 zhōng guó hào、 sī bèi tuō yà hào、 zhǎo wā hào、 é luó sī hào， zhè xiē dōushì tóu děng de kuài chuán， ér qiě shì zuì kuān dà de， chú liǎo dà dōng fāng hào wài， zài hǎi shàng háng xíng de chuán méi yòu néng gēn tā men xiāng bǐ de。 dào 1867 nián， zhè jiā gōng sī yī gòng yòu shí 'èr sōu chuán ～ bā sōu míng lún de， sì sōu 'àn lún de。 wǒ suǒ yǐ yào bǎ shàng miàn de qíng xíng jiǎn dān dì jiè shào yī xià， shì yào dà jiā zhī dào zhè jiā hǎi yùn gōng sī de zhòng yào xìng。 tā yóu yú jīng yíng dé fǎ， shì quán shì jiè dū wén míng de。 rèn hé háng hǎi qǐ yè， méi yòu bǐ zhè gōng sī gǎo dé gèng jīng míng， jīng yíng dé gèng chéng gōng de liǎo。 èr shí liù nián lái， gǒu nà 'ěr gōng sī de chuán zài dà xī yáng shàng háng xíng liǎo liǎng qiān cì， méi yòu yī cì háng xíng bù dá mùdì dì， méi yòu yī cì fā shēng chí wù， cóng méi yòu yí shī guò yī fēng xìn， sǔn shī guò yī gè rén huò yī zhǐ chuán。， yīn cǐ，， jìn guǎn fǎ guó jié lì yào qiǎng tā de shēng yì， dàn shì chéng kè mendōu yī zhì yuàn yì dā gǒu nà 'ěr gōng sī de chuán， zhè diǎn cóng jìn nián lái guān fāng de tǒng jì wén xiàn zhōng jiù kě yǐ kàn chū lái。 liǎo jiě zhè qíng xíng yǐ hòu， biàn méi yòu rén qí guài zhè jiā gōng sī de yī zhǐ qì chuán zāo yù dào yì wài shì jiàn huì yǐn qǐ nà me jù dà de fǎn xiǎng。
1867 nián 4 yuè 13 rì， hǎi hěn píng jìng， fēng yòu shì shùn fēng， sī bèi tuō yà hào zài xī jīng 15 dù 12 fēn、 běi wěi 45 dù 37 fēn de hǎi miàn shàng xíng shǐ zhe。 tā zài yī qiān pǐ mǎ lì de fā dòng jī tuī dòng xià， sù dù wéi měi xiǎo shí shí sān hǎi lǐ bàn。
tā de jī lún zài hǎi zhōng zhuàndòng， wán quán zhèng cháng。 tā dāng shí de chī shuǐ shēn dù shì 6 mǐ 70 lí mǐ， pái shuǐ liàng shì 6， 685 fāng mǐ。
xià wǔ sì diǎn shí liù fēn， chéng kè men zhèng zài dà tīng zhōng chī diǎn xīn de shí hòu， zài sī gè tuō yà hào chuán wěi、 zuǒ xián jī lún hòu miàn yī diǎn， sì hū fā shēng liǎo qīng wēi de zhuàng jī。
sī gè tuō yà hào bù shì zhuàng shàng liǎo shénme， ér shì bèi shénme zhuàng shàng liǎo。 chōng tā de bù shì qiāo jī de qì xiè 'ér shì zuàn záo de qì xiè。 zhè cì chōng zhuàng shì shí fēn qīng wēi de， yào bù shì guǎn chuán cāng de rén yuán páo dào jiá bǎn shàng lái hǎn：“ chuán yào chén liǎo： chuán yào chén liǎo！” yě xǔ chuán shàng de rén shuí yě bù huì zài yì。
lǚ kè men qǐ chū shí fēn jīng huāng， dàn chuán cháng 'ān dé shēng hěn kuài jiù shǐ tā men 'ān wěn xià lái。 wēi xiǎn bìng bù huì lì kè jiù fā shēng。 sī gè tuō yà hào yóu fáng shuǐ bǎn fēn wéi qī dà jiān， yī diǎn yě bù zài hū gè bǎ lòu dòng。
ān dé shēng chuán cháng lì jí páo dào cāng dǐ xià qù。 tā chá chū dì wǔ jiān bèi hǎi shuǐ jìn rén liǎo， hǎi shuǐ jìn rù shí fēn kuài， zhèng míng lòu dòng xiāng dāng dà。 hǎo zài zhè jiān lǐ méi yòu zhēng qì lú， bù rán de huà， lú huǒ jiù yào xī miè liǎo。
ān dé shēng chuán cháng fēn fù mǎ shàng tíng chuán， bìng qiě mìng lìng yī gè qián shuǐ yuán xià shuǐ jiǎn chá chuán shēn de sǔn huài qíng xíng。 yī huì 'ér， tā zhī dào chuán dǐ yòu yī gè cháng liǎng mǐ de dà dòng。 zhè yàng yī gè liè kǒu shì méi fǎ dǔ zhù de， sī gè tuō yà hào jìn guǎn jī lún yòu yī bàn jìn zài shuǐ lǐ， dàn yě bì xū jì xù xíng shǐ。 dāng shí chuán lí kè lì yà xiá hái yòu sān bǎi hǎi lǐ， děng chuán shǐ jìn gōng sī de mǎ tóu， yǐ jīng wù liǎo sān tiān qī， zài zhè sān tiān lǐ， lì wù pǔ de réndōu wéi tā huáng huáng bù 'ān。
sī gè tuō yà hào bèi jià liǎo qǐ lái， gōng chéng shī men kāi shǐ jiǎn chá。 tā men yǎn jīng suǒ kàn jiàn de qíng xíng lián zì jǐ yě bù néng xiāng xìn。 zài chuán shēn chī shuǐ xiàn xià liǎng mǐ bàn de dì fāng， lù chū yī gè hěn guī zé de děng biān sān jiǎo xíng de quē kǒu。 tiě pí shàng de shāng hén shí fēn zhěng qí，、 jiù shì zuānkǒng jī yě bù néng záo dé zhè me zhǔn què， nòng chéng zhè gè liè kǒu de ruì lì qì xiè yī dìng bù shì yòng pǔ tōng de gāng tiě zhì de， yīn wéi， zhè jiā huǒ zài yǐ jīng rén de lì liàng xiàng qián měng zhuàng， záo chuān liǎo sì lí mǐ hòu de tiě pí yǐ hòu、 hái néng yòng yī zhǒng hěn nán zuò dào de hòu tuì dòng zuò， shǐ zì jǐ tuō shēn táo zǒu。
zuì jìn zhè cì shì jiàn de jīng guò dà zhì jiù shì zhè yàng。 jiēguǒ zhè yòu yī cì shǐ hōng dòng qǐ lái。 cóng zhè shí hòu qǐ， suǒ yòu cóng qián yuán yīn bù míng de háng hǎi yùnàn shì jiàn， xiàn zài dū suàn zài zhè gè guài wù de zhàng shàng liǎo。 zhè zhǐ lí qí gǔ guài de dòng wù yú shì fù qǐ liǎo suǒ yòu chuán zhǐ chénmò de zé rèn。 bù xìng de shì chuán chén de shù mù xiāng dāng dà， àn zhào tǒng jì nián jiàn de jìzǎi， bāo kuò fān chuán hé qì chuán zài nèi， měi nián de sǔn shī yuē yòu sān qiān sōu zuǒ yòu， zhì yú yīn xià luò bù míng 'ér duàn dìng shī zōng： de， měi nián de shù mù yě bù xià liǎng bǎi sōu！
bù guǎn yòu méi yòu yuān wǎng zhè guài wù， rén men dū bǎ chuán zhǐ shī zōng de yuán yīn suàn zài tā shēn shàng。 yóu yú tā de cún zài， wǔ dà zhōu jiān de hǎi shàng jiāo tōng yuè lái yuè wēi xiǎn liǎo， dà jiādōu jiān jué yào qiú bù xī rèn hé dài jià qīng chú hǎi shàng zhè tiáo kě pà pàn jīng yú guài。
Jules Verne (1828-1905) published the French equivalents of these words in 1869, and little has changed since. 126 years later, a Time cover story on deep-sea exploration made much the same admission: "We know more about Mars than we know about the oceans." This reality begins to explain the dark power and otherworldly fascination of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.
Born in the French river town of Nantes, Verne had a lifelong passion for the sea. First as a Paris stockbroker, later as a celebrated author and yachtsman, he went on frequent voyages-- to Britain, America, the Mediterranean. But the specific stimulus for this novel was an 1865 fan letter from a fellow writer, Madame George Sand. She praised Verne's two early novels Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), then added: "Soon I hope you'll take us into the ocean depths, your characters traveling in diving equipment perfected by your science and your imagination." Thus inspired, Verne created one of literature's great rebels, a freedom fighter who plunged beneath the waves to wage a unique form of guerilla warfare.
Initially, Verne's narrative was influenced by the 1863 uprising of Poland against Tsarist Russia. The Poles were quashed with a violence that appalled not only Verne but all Europe. As originally conceived, Verne's Captain Nemo was a Polish nobleman whose entire family had been slaughtered by Russian troops. Nemo builds a fabulous futuristic submarine, the Nautilus, then conducts an underwater campaign of vengeance against his imperialist oppressor.
But in the 1860s France had to treat the Tsar as an ally, and Verne's publisher Pierre Hetzel pronounced the book unprintable. Verne reworked its political content, devising new nationalities for Nemo and his great enemy--information revealed only in a later novel, The Mysterious Island (1875); in the present work Nemo's background remains a dark secret. In all, the novel had a difficult gestation. Verne and Hetzel were in constant conflict and the book went through multiple drafts, struggles reflected in its several working titles over the period 1865-69: early on, it was variously called Voyage Under the Waters, Twenty-five Thousand Leagues Under the Waters, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Waters, and A Thousand Leagues Under the Oceans.
Verne is often dubbed, in Isaac Asimov's phrase, "the world's first science-fiction writer." And it's true, many of his sixty-odd books do anticipate future events and technologies: From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and Hector Servadac (1877) deal in space travel, while Journey to the Center
of the Earth features travel to the earth's core. But with Verne the operative word is "travel," and some of his best-known titles don't really qualify as sci-fi: Around the World in Eighty Days (1872) and Michael Strogoff (1876) are closer to "travelogs"-- adventure yarns in far-away places.
These observations partly apply here. The subtitle of the present book is An Underwater Tour of the World, so in good travelog style, the Nautilus's exploits supply an episodic story line. Shark attacks, giant squid, cannibals, hurricanes, whale hunts, and other rip-roaring adventures erupt almost at random. Yet this loose structure gives the novel an air of documentary realism. What's more, Verne adds backbone to the action by developing three recurring motifs: the deepening mystery of Nemo's past life and future intentions, the mounting tension between Nemo and hot-tempered harpooner Ned Land, and Ned's ongoing schemes to escape from the Nautilus. These unifying threads tighten the narrative and accelerate its momentum.
Other subtleties occur inside each episode, the textures sparkling with wit, information, and insight. Verne regards the sea from many angles: in the domain of marine biology, he gives us thumbnail sketches of fish, seashells, coral, sometimes in great catalogs that swirl past like musical cascades; in the realm of geology, he studies volcanoes literally inside and out; in the world of commerce, he celebrates the high-energy entrepreneurs who lay the Atlantic Cable or dig the Suez Canal. And Verne's marine engineering proves especially authoritative. His specifications for an open-sea submarine and a self-contained diving suit were decades before their time, yet modern technology bears them out triumphantly.
True, today's scientists know a few things he didn't: the South Pole isn't at the water's edge but far inland; sharks don't flip over before attacking; giant squid sport ten tentacles not eight; sperm whales don't prey on their whalebone cousins. This notwithstanding, Verne furnishes the most evocative portrayal of the ocean depths before the arrival of Jacques Cousteau and technicolor film.
Lastly the book has stature as a novel of character. Even the supporting cast is shrewdly drawn: Professor Aronnax, the career scientist caught in an ethical conflict; Conseil, the compulsive classifier who supplies humorous tag lines for Verne's fast facts; the harpooner Ned Land, a creature of constant appetites, man as heroic animal.
But much of the novel's brooding power comes from Captain Nemo. Inventor, musician, Renaissance genius, he's a trail-blazing creation, the prototype not only for countless renegade scientists in popular fiction, but even for such varied figures as Sherlock Holmes or Wolf Larsen. However, Verne gives his hero's brilliance and benevolence a dark underside--the man's obsessive hate for his old enemy. This compulsion leads Nemo into ugly contradictions: he's a fighter for freedom, yet all who board his ship are imprisoned there for good; he works to save lives, both human and animal, yet he himself creates a holocaust; he detests imperialism, yet he lays personal claim to the South Pole. And in this last action he falls into the classic sin of Pride. He's swiftly punished. The Nautilus nearly perishes in the Antarctic and Nemo sinks into a growing depression.
Like Shakespeare's King Lear he courts death and madness in a great storm, then commits mass murder, collapses in catatonic paralysis, and suicidally runs his ship into the ocean's most dangerous whirlpool. Hate swallows him whole.
For many, then, this book has been a source of fascination, surely one of the most influential novels ever written, an inspiration for such scientists and discoverers as engineer Simon Lake, oceanographer William Beebe, polar traveler Sir Ernest Shackleton. Likewise Dr. Robert D. Ballard, finder of the sunken Titanic, confesses that this was his favorite book as a teenager, and Cousteau himself, most renowned of marine explorers, called it his shipboard bible.
The present translation is a faithful yet communicative rendering of the original French texts published in Paris by J. Hetzel et Cie.-- the hardcover first edition issued in the autumn of 1871, collated with the softcover editions of the First and Second Parts issued separately in the autumn of 1869 and the summer of 1870. Although prior English versions have often been heavily abridged, this new translation is complete to the smallest substantive detail.
Because, as that Time cover story suggests, we still haven't caught up with Verne. Even in our era of satellite dishes and video games, the seas keep their secrets. We've seen progress in sonar, torpedoes, and other belligerent machinery, but sailors and scientists-- to say nothing of tourists--have yet to voyage in a submarine with the luxury and efficiency of the Nautilus.
F. P. WALTER
University of Houston
Units of Measure
CABLE LENGTH In Verne's context, 600 feet
CENTIGRADE 0 degrees centigrade = freezing water
37 degrees centigrade = human body temperature
100 degrees centigrade = boiling water
FATHOM 6 feet
GRAM Roughly 1/28 of an ounce
- MILLIGRAM Roughly 1/28,000 of an ounce
- KILOGRAM (KILO) Roughly 2.2 pounds
HECTARE Roughly 2.5 acres
KNOT 1.15 miles per hour
LEAGUE In Verne's context, 2.16 miles
LITER Roughly 1 quart
METER Roughly 1 yard, 3 inches
- MILLIMETER Roughly 1/25 of an inch
- CENTIMETER Roughly 2/5 of an inch
- DECIMETER Roughly 4 inches
- KILOMETER Roughly 6/10 of a mile
- MYRIAMETER Roughly 6.2 miles
TON, METRIC Roughly 2,200 pounds viii
zhè shì dà tǐ shì zhè yàng： bù jiǔ yǐ qián， hǎo xiē dà chuán zài hǎi shàng pèng jiàn liǎo yī yī gè“ páng rán dà wù”， yī gè hěn cháng de wù tǐ， xíng zhuàng hěn xiàng fǎng chuí， yòu shí fā chū lín guāng， tā de tǐ jī bǐ jīng yú dà dé duō， xíng dòng qǐ lái yě bǐ jīng yú kuài dé duō。 guān yú zhè gè dōng xī de chū xiàn， xǔ duō háng hǎi rì zhì suǒ jì xià de shì shí（ rú zhè gè dōng xī huò zhè gè shēng wù de xíng zhuàng， zài tā yùn dòng shí de nán yǐ gū jì de sù dù， tā zhuǎn yí de jīng rén lì liàng， tā nà zhǒng xiàng shì yāo shēng de tè shū běn lǐng děng děng）， dà zhì shì xiāng tóng de。 rú guǒ zhè dōng xī shì jīng yú lèi dòng wù， nà me tā de tǐ jī： shì dà dà chāo guò liǎo shēng wù xué jiā céng jīng jiā yǐ fēn lèi de jīng yú。 jū wéi 'āi ①、。
· lā sè bié dé①、 dù méi lǐ ②、 kǎ tè fǎ rì ③， zhè xiē shēng wù xué jiā yī yī chú fēi kàn jiàn guò， yě jiù shì shuō， chú fēi zhè xiē kē xué jiā běn rén de yǎn jīng kàn jiàn guò héng héng shì bù chéng rèn yòu zhè yàng yī zhǒng guài wù cún zài de。
bǎ duō cì guān chá de jiēguǒ zhé zhōng yī xià lái kàn héng héng héng fāng miàn diū kāi nà xiē guò dī de gū jì， jí zhè gè dōng xī zhǐ yòu 'èr bǎi yīng chǐ cháng， tóng shí yě bù jiē shòu guò yú kuā zhāng de yán lùn， jí tā yòu yī yīng lǐ。 kuān sān yīng lǐ cháng， héng héng wǒ men kě yǐ kěn dìng tā shuō， zhè gè qí guài de shēng wù， rú guǒ zhēn shì cún zài de huà， tā de tǐ jī shì dà dà chāo guò yú lèi xué jiā suǒ chéng rèn de tǐ jī de。 zhè dōng xī jì rán cún zài， ér shì shí běn shēn yòu shì bù kě fǒu rèn de， nà me， yóu yú rén lèi hàoqí de xīn lǐ， wǒ men jiù bù nán lǐ jiě zhè gè guài wù de chū xiàn huì zài quán shì jiè yǐn qǐ zěn yàng de sāo dòng。 zhì yú shuō zhè shì huāng táng wú jī zhī tán， nà shì jué bù huì yòu rén tóng yì de。
yīn wéi， 1866 nián 7 yuè 20 rì， jiā 'ěr gè dá yī bù nà xī qì chuán gōng sī de xǐ jīn sūn zǒng dū hào， zài 'ào dà lì yà hǎi 'àn dōng biān wǔ yīng lǐ， pèng jiàn liǎo zhè gè yóu dòng de jù dà wù tǐ。 bā kè chuán cháng qǐ chū hái yǐ wéi zhè shì méi yòu rén zhī dào de、 àn jiāo， tā zhèng yào cè dìng tā de wèi zhì de shí hòu， tū rán zhè gè bù kě jiě shì de wù tǐ pēn chū liǎng dào shuǐ zhù， huá de yī shēng shè dào kōng zhōng yī bǎi wǔ shí yīng chǐ gāo。 zhè me shuō， chú fēi zhè zuò 'àn jiāo shàng biān yòu jiān xiē pēn quán， bù rán de huà， xǐ jīn sūn zǒng dū hào miàn qián de dōng xī， jiù shì hái méi yòu rén zhī dào de yī zhǒng hǎi zhōng bǔ rǔ lèi dòng wù， tā hái cóng bí kǒng zhōng pēn chū yòu qì pào de shuǐ zhù ní。
tóng nián 7 yuè 23 rì， xī yìn dù - tài píng yáng qì chuán gōng sī de kè lì sī tuō bā 'ěr gē láng hào， zài tài píng yáng shàng yě pèng dào zhè yàng de shì。 xǐ jīn sūn zǒng dū hào kàn jiàn zhè guài wù yǐ hòu sān tiān， kè lì sī tuō bā 'ěr gē láng hào zài xiāng jù qī bǎi lǐ de dì fāng yě kàn jiàn liǎo tā， yóu cǐ kě zhī， zhè gè qí tè de jīng yú lèi dòng wù néng yǐ lüè rén de sù dù cóng zhè yī chù zhuǎn yí dào lìng yī chù。
shí wǔ tiān yǐ hòu， zài lí shàng miàn shuō de dì diǎn yòu liǎng qiān lǐ yuǎn de dì fāng， guó yíng lún chuán gōng sī de hǎi 'ěr wéi dì yà hào hé huáng jiā yóu chuán gōng sī de shān nóng hào， zài měi guó hé 'ōu zhōu zhī jiān de dà xī yáng hǎi miàn shàng xiāng yù de shí hòu， zài běi wěi 42 dù 15 fēn、 xī jīng 60 dù 35 fēn de dì fāng， tóng shí kàn dào liǎo zhè gè dà guài wù。 gēn jù liǎng chuán tóng shí guān chá dé dào de jiēguǒ， gū jì zhè zhǐ bǔ rǔ dòng wù de cháng dù zhì shǎo yòu sān bǎi wǔ shí duō yīng chǐ（ yuē yī bǎi líng liù mǐ）， yīn wéi shān nóng hào hé hǎi 'ěr wéi dì yà hào liǎng chuán lián qǐ lái， dū hái bǐ tā duǎn， liǎng chuán cóng tóu zhì wěi zhǐ yòu yī bǎi mǐ cháng。 kě shì， zuì cháng de jīng yú， xiàng cháng cháng chū yì yú 'ā liú shēn qún dǎo de jiǔ lán mǎ kè dǎo hé wēng jū lǐ kè dǎo① fù jìn hǎi miàn de nà xiē jīng yú， yě zhǐ bù guò shì wǔ shí liù mǐ， ér bǐ zhè zài cháng de， cóng lái jiù méi yòu guò。
jiē lián bù duàn dì chuán lái de xiāo xī， héng dù dà xī yáng de bèi léi 'ěr hào suǒ zuò de zhǒng zhǒng guān chá， yīn màn lún chuán gōng sī de yuè tí nà hào gēn zhè gè guài wù de yī cì xiāng pèng， fǎ guó 'èr jí jūn jiàn nuò màn dì hào jūn guān men suǒ xiě de jì lù， hǎi jūn gāo jí cān móu fú cí yī zhān mǔ sī zài kè lì dé jué shì hào shàng suǒ zuò de hěn jīng mì de cè suàn， zhè yī qiē zài dāng shí díquè céng jīng hōng dòng yī shí。 zài mín zú xìng bǐ jiào fú zào de guó jiā lǐ， dà jiādōu ná zhè jiàn shì zuò wéi tán xiào zī liào， dàn zài yán sù hé tà shí de guó jiā lǐ， xiàng yīng guó、 měi guó hé dé guó jiù bù tóng， tā men duì zhè shì jiù fēi cháng guān xīn。
zài gè dà chéng shì lǐ， zhè guài wù biàn chéng liǎo jiā yù hù xiǎo de shì jiàn。 kā fēi guǎn lǐ gē chàng tā， bào kān shàng cháo xiào tā， wǔ tái shàng bàn yǎn tā。 yáo yán zhèng hǎo yòu liǎo jī huì， cóng zhè guài wù shēn shàng niē zào chū gè zhǒng gè yàng de qí wén。 zài yī xiē fā xíng liàng bù duō de bào kān shàng， chū xiàn liǎo guān yú gè zhǒng lí qí de jù dà dòng wù de bào dào， cóng bái jīng、 běi jí hǎi zhōng kě pà de“ mò bǐ · dí kè”① yī zhí dào páng dà de“ kè lā kěn”② héng héng zhè zhǒng guài yú de chù xū kě yǐ chán zhù yī zhǐ zài zhòng wǔ bǎi dūn de chuán 'ér bǎ tā tuō dào hǎi dǐ xià qù héng héng dū yìng yòu jìn yòu。 yòu xiē rén shèn zhì bù xī yǐn jīng jù diǎn， huò zhě bān chū gǔ dài de chuán shuō rú yà lǐ shì duō dé③ hé pú lín ní ④ de jiàn jiě（ tā men chéng rèn zhè lèi guài wù de cún zài）： huò zhě bān chū péng tǔ pí dān zhù jiào ⑤ de nuó wēi tóng huà， bǎo luó · āi jì dé de jì shù， yǐ jí hā lín dùn de bào gào； zhè bào gào shì bù róng huái yí de， tā shuō， 1857 nián， tā zài jiā sī dì lán hào shàng kàn jiàn guò yī zhǒng dà shé， nà zhǒng shé yǐ qián zhǐ zài nà lì xiàn hào dào guò de hǎi miàn shàng⑤ cái néng kàn jiàn。
yú shì， zài xué shù tuán tǐ lǐ hé kē xué bào kān zhōng chǎn shēng liǎo xiāng xìn zhě hé huái yí zhě， zhè liǎng pài rén wú xiū zhǐ dì zhēng lùn zhe。“ guài wù wèn tí” jī dòng zhe rén men。
zì yǐ wéi dǒng kē xué de xīn wén jì zhě hé yī xiàng zì yǐ wéi duō cái de wén rén kāi qǐ huǒ lái， tā men zài zhè cì zhí dé jì niàn de bǐ zhàn zhōng huā fèi liǎo bù shǎo de mò shuǐ！ shèn zhì yòu jǐ gè rén hái liú liǎo liǎng sān dī xuè， yīn wéi yòu rén bǎ zhēn duì dà hǎi shé de bǐ fēng yí xiàng yī xiē tài dù 'ào màn de jiā huǒ shēn shàng liǎo。
zài liù gè yuè dāng zhōng， zhēng lùn jì xù zhe。 bǐ cǐ yòu lǐ， gè zhí yī cí。 dāng shí liú xíng de xiǎo bào dū xīng zhì bó bó dì kān dēng zhēng lùn de wén zhāng， tā men bù shì gōng jī bā xī dì lǐ xué yuàn、 bólín huáng jiā kē xué yuàn、 bù liè diān xué shù lián hé huì huò huá shèng dùn sī mì sūn xué yuàn fā biǎo de quán wēi lùn wén， jiù shì bó chì yìn dù qún dǎo bào、 mó yà nuò shén fù de yǔ zhòu zá zhì、 pí dé màn de xiāo xī bào lǐ miàn de tǎo lùn hé fǎ guó jí qí tā gè guó dà bào kān de kē xué xīn wén。 zhè xiē duō cái de zuò jiā gù yì qū jiě fǎn duì pài yě cháng yǐn zhèng de lín nài① de yī jù huà：“ dà zì rán bù zhì zào chǔn dōng xī”； kěn qiú dà jiā bù yào xiāng xìn běi hǎi de dà guài yú、 dà hǎi shé、“ mò bǐ · dí kè” hé fēng kuáng de hǎi yuán men yì zào chū lái de qí tā guài wù de cún zài， bù yào yīn cǐ 'ér fǒu dìng liǎo dà zì rán。 zuì hòu， mǒu yī zhù míng jiān kè de fěng cì bào yòu yī wèi zuì shòu huān yíng de biān ji xiān shēng cǎo cǎo liǎo shì dì fā biǎo yī piān wén zhāng， chǔlǐ liǎo zhè gè guài wù； tā xiàng yí bāo liè tí② nà yàng， zài dà jiā de xiào shēng zhōng， gěi zhè jiā wù zuì hòu yī cì dǎ jī、 bǎ tā jiēguǒ liǎo。 yú shì jī zhì zhàn shèng liǎo kē xué。
zài 1867 nián tóu jǐ gè yuè lǐ， zhè gè wèn tí hǎo xiàng shì rén liǎo tǔ， bù huì zài fù jié liǎo。 dàn jiù zài zhè gè shí hòu， rén men yòu tīng shuō fā shēng liǎo yī xiē xīn de shì jiàn。 xiàn zài de wèn tí bìng bù shì yī gè jí dài jiě jué de kē xué wèn tí， ér shì bì xū rèn zhēn shè fǎ bì miǎn de yī gè wēi xiǎn。 wèn tí dài liǎo wán quán bù tóng de miàn mào。 zhè gè guài wù biàn chéng liǎo xiǎo dǎo、 yán shí、 àn jiāo， dàn tā shì huì bēn chí de、 bù kě zhuō mō de、 xíng dòng mò cè de 'àn jiāo。
1867 nián 8 yuè 5 rì， méng tè lì 'ào háng hǎi gōng sī de mó lā wéi 'ān hào yè jiān shǐ dào běi wěi 27 dù 30 fēn、 xī jīng 72 dù 15 fēn de dì fāng， chuán yòu xián zhuàng shàng liǎo yī zuò yán shí， kě shì， rèn hé dì tú yě méi yòu jìzǎi guò zhè yī dài hǎi miàn shàng yòu zhè zuò yán shí。 yóu yú fēng lì de zhù háng hé sì bǎi pǐ mǎ lì de tuī dòng， chuán de sù dù dá dào měi xiǎo shí shí sān hǎi lǐ。 háo wú yí wèn， rú guǒ bù shì chuán shēn zhì dì yōu liáng， tè bié jiān gù， mó lā wéi 'ān hào bèi zhuàng yǐ hòu， yī dìng yào bǎ tā cóng jiā ná dà zài lái de 'èr bǎi sān shí liù míng chéng kè yī qí dài dào hǎi dǐ qù。
shì gù fā shēng zài zǎo chén wǔ diǎn zuǒ yòu tiān gāng pò xiǎo de shí hòu。 chuán shàng zhí bān de hǎi yuán men lì jí páo dào chuán de hòu bù； tā men shí fēn xì xīn dì guān chá hǎi miàn。
chú liǎo yòu gè liù bǎi duō mǐ kuān de dà xuán wō héng héng hǎo xiàng shuǐ miàn shòu guò měng liè de chōng jī héng héng yǐ wài， tā men shénme yě méi yòu kàn jiàn， zhǐ bǎ shì gù fā shēng de dì diǎn què qiē dì jì liǎo xià lái。 mó lā wéi 'ān hào jì xù háng xíng， sì hū bìng méi yòu shòu dào shénme sǔn shāng。 · tā shì zhuàng shàng liǎo 'àn jiāo ní， hái shì zhuàng shàng liǎo yī zhǐ chénmò de pò chuán？
dāng shí méi yòu fǎ zǐ zhī dào。 hòu lái dào chuán wù jiǎn chá liǎo chuán dǐ， cái fā xiàn yī bù fēn lóng gǔ zhé duàn liǎo。
zhè shì shí běn shēn shì shí fēn yán zhòng de， kě shì， rú guǒ bù shì guò liǎo sān gè xīng qī hòu， zài xiāng tóng de qíng kuàng xià yòu fā shēng liǎo xiāng tóng de shì jiàn， tā hěn kě néng gēn xǔ duō qí tā de shì jiàn yī yàng hěn kuài bèi rén wàng diào liǎo。 jiē zhe yòu fā shēng de nà yī cì zhuàng chuán de shì jiàn， dān dān yóu yú shòu hài chuán de guó jí hé tā suǒ shǔ gōng sī de shēng wàng， jiù zú yǐ yǐn qǐ shí fēn guǎng fàn de fǎn xiǎng。
yīng guó zhù míng de chuán zhù gǒu nà 'ěr de míng zì shì méi yòu yī gè rén bù zhī dào wěi。 zhè wèi jīng míng de qǐ yè jiā zǎo zài 1840 nián jiù chuàng bàn liǎo yī jiā yóu chuán gōng sī， kāipì liǎo cóng lì wù pǔ dào hā lì fǎ kè sī① de háng xiàn， dāng shí zhǐ yòu sān sōu sì bǎi pǐ mǎ lì、 zài zhòng yī qiān yī bǎi liù shí 'èr dūn de míng lún mù chuán。 bā nián yǐ hòu， gōng sī kuò dà liǎo， gòng yòu sì sōu liù bǎi wǔ shí pǐ mǎ lì、 zài zhòng yī qiān bā bǎi 'èr shí dūn de chuán。 zài guò liǎng nián， yòu tiān liǎo liǎng sōu mǎ lì hé zài zhòng liàng gèng dà de chuán， 1853 nián， gǒu nà 'ěr gōng sī jì xù qǔ dé zhuāng yùn zhèng fǔ yóu jiàn de tè quán， yī lián tiān zào liǎo 'ā lā bó hào、 bō sī hào、 zhōng guó hào、 sī bèi tuō yà hào、 zhǎo wā hào、 é luó sī hào， zhè xiē dōushì tóu děng de kuài chuán， ér qiě shì zuì kuān dà de， chú liǎo dà dōng fāng hào wài， zài hǎi shàng háng xíng de chuán méi yòu néng gēn tā men xiāng bǐ de。 dào 1867 nián， zhè jiā gōng sī yī gòng yòu shí 'èr sōu chuán ～ bā sōu míng lún de， sì sōu 'àn lún de。 wǒ suǒ yǐ yào bǎ shàng miàn de qíng xíng jiǎn dān dì jiè shào yī xià， shì yào dà jiā zhī dào zhè jiā hǎi yùn gōng sī de zhòng yào xìng。 tā yóu yú jīng yíng dé fǎ， shì quán shì jiè dū wén míng de。 rèn hé háng hǎi qǐ yè， méi yòu bǐ zhè gōng sī gǎo dé gèng jīng míng， jīng yíng dé gèng chéng gōng de liǎo。 èr shí liù nián lái， gǒu nà 'ěr gōng sī de chuán zài dà xī yáng shàng háng xíng liǎo liǎng qiān cì， méi yòu yī cì háng xíng bù dá mùdì dì， méi yòu yī cì fā shēng chí wù， cóng méi yòu yí shī guò yī fēng xìn， sǔn shī guò yī gè rén huò yī zhǐ chuán。， yīn cǐ，， jìn guǎn fǎ guó jié lì yào qiǎng tā de shēng yì， dàn shì chéng kè mendōu yī zhì yuàn yì dā gǒu nà 'ěr gōng sī de chuán， zhè diǎn cóng jìn nián lái guān fāng de tǒng jì wén xiàn zhōng jiù kě yǐ kàn chū lái。 liǎo jiě zhè qíng xíng yǐ hòu， biàn méi yòu rén qí guài zhè jiā gōng sī de yī zhǐ qì chuán zāo yù dào yì wài shì jiàn huì yǐn qǐ nà me jù dà de fǎn xiǎng。
1867 nián 4 yuè 13 rì， hǎi hěn píng jìng， fēng yòu shì shùn fēng， sī bèi tuō yà hào zài xī jīng 15 dù 12 fēn、 běi wěi 45 dù 37 fēn de hǎi miàn shàng xíng shǐ zhe。 tā zài yī qiān pǐ mǎ lì de fā dòng jī tuī dòng xià， sù dù wéi měi xiǎo shí shí sān hǎi lǐ bàn。
tā de jī lún zài hǎi zhōng zhuàndòng， wán quán zhèng cháng。 tā dāng shí de chī shuǐ shēn dù shì 6 mǐ 70 lí mǐ， pái shuǐ liàng shì 6， 685 fāng mǐ。
xià wǔ sì diǎn shí liù fēn， chéng kè men zhèng zài dà tīng zhōng chī diǎn xīn de shí hòu， zài sī gè tuō yà hào chuán wěi、 zuǒ xián jī lún hòu miàn yī diǎn， sì hū fā shēng liǎo qīng wēi de zhuàng jī。
sī gè tuō yà hào bù shì zhuàng shàng liǎo shénme， ér shì bèi shénme zhuàng shàng liǎo。 chōng tā de bù shì qiāo jī de qì xiè 'ér shì zuàn záo de qì xiè。 zhè cì chōng zhuàng shì shí fēn qīng wēi de， yào bù shì guǎn chuán cāng de rén yuán páo dào jiá bǎn shàng lái hǎn：“ chuán yào chén liǎo： chuán yào chén liǎo！” yě xǔ chuán shàng de rén shuí yě bù huì zài yì。
lǚ kè men qǐ chū shí fēn jīng huāng， dàn chuán cháng 'ān dé shēng hěn kuài jiù shǐ tā men 'ān wěn xià lái。 wēi xiǎn bìng bù huì lì kè jiù fā shēng。 sī gè tuō yà hào yóu fáng shuǐ bǎn fēn wéi qī dà jiān， yī diǎn yě bù zài hū gè bǎ lòu dòng。
ān dé shēng chuán cháng lì jí páo dào cāng dǐ xià qù。 tā chá chū dì wǔ jiān bèi hǎi shuǐ jìn rén liǎo， hǎi shuǐ jìn rù shí fēn kuài， zhèng míng lòu dòng xiāng dāng dà。 hǎo zài zhè jiān lǐ méi yòu zhēng qì lú， bù rán de huà， lú huǒ jiù yào xī miè liǎo。
ān dé shēng chuán cháng fēn fù mǎ shàng tíng chuán， bìng qiě mìng lìng yī gè qián shuǐ yuán xià shuǐ jiǎn chá chuán shēn de sǔn huài qíng xíng。 yī huì 'ér， tā zhī dào chuán dǐ yòu yī gè cháng liǎng mǐ de dà dòng。 zhè yàng yī gè liè kǒu shì méi fǎ dǔ zhù de， sī gè tuō yà hào jìn guǎn jī lún yòu yī bàn jìn zài shuǐ lǐ， dàn yě bì xū jì xù xíng shǐ。 dāng shí chuán lí kè lì yà xiá hái yòu sān bǎi hǎi lǐ， děng chuán shǐ jìn gōng sī de mǎ tóu， yǐ jīng wù liǎo sān tiān qī， zài zhè sān tiān lǐ， lì wù pǔ de réndōu wéi tā huáng huáng bù 'ān。
sī gè tuō yà hào bèi jià liǎo qǐ lái， gōng chéng shī men kāi shǐ jiǎn chá。 tā men yǎn jīng suǒ kàn jiàn de qíng xíng lián zì jǐ yě bù néng xiāng xìn。 zài chuán shēn chī shuǐ xiàn xià liǎng mǐ bàn de dì fāng， lù chū yī gè hěn guī zé de děng biān sān jiǎo xíng de quē kǒu。 tiě pí shàng de shāng hén shí fēn zhěng qí，、 jiù shì zuānkǒng jī yě bù néng záo dé zhè me zhǔn què， nòng chéng zhè gè liè kǒu de ruì lì qì xiè yī dìng bù shì yòng pǔ tōng de gāng tiě zhì de， yīn wéi， zhè jiā huǒ zài yǐ jīng rén de lì liàng xiàng qián měng zhuàng， záo chuān liǎo sì lí mǐ hòu de tiě pí yǐ hòu、 hái néng yòng yī zhǒng hěn nán zuò dào de hòu tuì dòng zuò， shǐ zì jǐ tuō shēn táo zǒu。
zuì jìn zhè cì shì jiàn de jīng guò dà zhì jiù shì zhè yàng。 jiēguǒ zhè yòu yī cì shǐ hōng dòng qǐ lái。 cóng zhè shí hòu qǐ， suǒ yòu cóng qián yuán yīn bù míng de háng hǎi yùnàn shì jiàn， xiàn zài dū suàn zài zhè gè guài wù de zhàng shàng liǎo。 zhè zhǐ lí qí gǔ guài de dòng wù yú shì fù qǐ liǎo suǒ yòu chuán zhǐ chénmò de zé rèn。 bù xìng de shì chuán chén de shù mù xiāng dāng dà， àn zhào tǒng jì nián jiàn de jìzǎi， bāo kuò fān chuán hé qì chuán zài nèi， měi nián de sǔn shī yuē yòu sān qiān sōu zuǒ yòu， zhì yú yīn xià luò bù míng 'ér duàn dìng shī zōng： de， měi nián de shù mù yě bù xià liǎng bǎi sōu！
bù guǎn yòu méi yòu yuān wǎng zhè guài wù， rén men dū bǎ chuán zhǐ shī zōng de yuán yīn suàn zài tā shēn shàng。 yóu yú tā de cún zài， wǔ dà zhōu jiān de hǎi shàng jiāo tōng yuè lái yuè wēi xiǎn liǎo， dà jiādōu jiān jué yào qiú bù xī rèn hé dài jià qīng chú hǎi shàng zhè tiáo kě pà pàn jīng yú guài。
Jules Verne (1828-1905) published the French equivalents of these words in 1869, and little has changed since. 126 years later, a Time cover story on deep-sea exploration made much the same admission: "We know more about Mars than we know about the oceans." This reality begins to explain the dark power and otherworldly fascination of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.
Born in the French river town of Nantes, Verne had a lifelong passion for the sea. First as a Paris stockbroker, later as a celebrated author and yachtsman, he went on frequent voyages-- to Britain, America, the Mediterranean. But the specific stimulus for this novel was an 1865 fan letter from a fellow writer, Madame George Sand. She praised Verne's two early novels Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), then added: "Soon I hope you'll take us into the ocean depths, your characters traveling in diving equipment perfected by your science and your imagination." Thus inspired, Verne created one of literature's great rebels, a freedom fighter who plunged beneath the waves to wage a unique form of guerilla warfare.
Initially, Verne's narrative was influenced by the 1863 uprising of Poland against Tsarist Russia. The Poles were quashed with a violence that appalled not only Verne but all Europe. As originally conceived, Verne's Captain Nemo was a Polish nobleman whose entire family had been slaughtered by Russian troops. Nemo builds a fabulous futuristic submarine, the Nautilus, then conducts an underwater campaign of vengeance against his imperialist oppressor.
But in the 1860s France had to treat the Tsar as an ally, and Verne's publisher Pierre Hetzel pronounced the book unprintable. Verne reworked its political content, devising new nationalities for Nemo and his great enemy--information revealed only in a later novel, The Mysterious Island (1875); in the present work Nemo's background remains a dark secret. In all, the novel had a difficult gestation. Verne and Hetzel were in constant conflict and the book went through multiple drafts, struggles reflected in its several working titles over the period 1865-69: early on, it was variously called Voyage Under the Waters, Twenty-five Thousand Leagues Under the Waters, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Waters, and A Thousand Leagues Under the Oceans.
Verne is often dubbed, in Isaac Asimov's phrase, "the world's first science-fiction writer." And it's true, many of his sixty-odd books do anticipate future events and technologies: From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and Hector Servadac (1877) deal in space travel, while Journey to the Center
of the Earth features travel to the earth's core. But with Verne the operative word is "travel," and some of his best-known titles don't really qualify as sci-fi: Around the World in Eighty Days (1872) and Michael Strogoff (1876) are closer to "travelogs"-- adventure yarns in far-away places.
These observations partly apply here. The subtitle of the present book is An Underwater Tour of the World, so in good travelog style, the Nautilus's exploits supply an episodic story line. Shark attacks, giant squid, cannibals, hurricanes, whale hunts, and other rip-roaring adventures erupt almost at random. Yet this loose structure gives the novel an air of documentary realism. What's more, Verne adds backbone to the action by developing three recurring motifs: the deepening mystery of Nemo's past life and future intentions, the mounting tension between Nemo and hot-tempered harpooner Ned Land, and Ned's ongoing schemes to escape from the Nautilus. These unifying threads tighten the narrative and accelerate its momentum.
Other subtleties occur inside each episode, the textures sparkling with wit, information, and insight. Verne regards the sea from many angles: in the domain of marine biology, he gives us thumbnail sketches of fish, seashells, coral, sometimes in great catalogs that swirl past like musical cascades; in the realm of geology, he studies volcanoes literally inside and out; in the world of commerce, he celebrates the high-energy entrepreneurs who lay the Atlantic Cable or dig the Suez Canal. And Verne's marine engineering proves especially authoritative. His specifications for an open-sea submarine and a self-contained diving suit were decades before their time, yet modern technology bears them out triumphantly.
True, today's scientists know a few things he didn't: the South Pole isn't at the water's edge but far inland; sharks don't flip over before attacking; giant squid sport ten tentacles not eight; sperm whales don't prey on their whalebone cousins. This notwithstanding, Verne furnishes the most evocative portrayal of the ocean depths before the arrival of Jacques Cousteau and technicolor film.
Lastly the book has stature as a novel of character. Even the supporting cast is shrewdly drawn: Professor Aronnax, the career scientist caught in an ethical conflict; Conseil, the compulsive classifier who supplies humorous tag lines for Verne's fast facts; the harpooner Ned Land, a creature of constant appetites, man as heroic animal.
But much of the novel's brooding power comes from Captain Nemo. Inventor, musician, Renaissance genius, he's a trail-blazing creation, the prototype not only for countless renegade scientists in popular fiction, but even for such varied figures as Sherlock Holmes or Wolf Larsen. However, Verne gives his hero's brilliance and benevolence a dark underside--the man's obsessive hate for his old enemy. This compulsion leads Nemo into ugly contradictions: he's a fighter for freedom, yet all who board his ship are imprisoned there for good; he works to save lives, both human and animal, yet he himself creates a holocaust; he detests imperialism, yet he lays personal claim to the South Pole. And in this last action he falls into the classic sin of Pride. He's swiftly punished. The Nautilus nearly perishes in the Antarctic and Nemo sinks into a growing depression.
Like Shakespeare's King Lear he courts death and madness in a great storm, then commits mass murder, collapses in catatonic paralysis, and suicidally runs his ship into the ocean's most dangerous whirlpool. Hate swallows him whole.
For many, then, this book has been a source of fascination, surely one of the most influential novels ever written, an inspiration for such scientists and discoverers as engineer Simon Lake, oceanographer William Beebe, polar traveler Sir Ernest Shackleton. Likewise Dr. Robert D. Ballard, finder of the sunken Titanic, confesses that this was his favorite book as a teenager, and Cousteau himself, most renowned of marine explorers, called it his shipboard bible.
The present translation is a faithful yet communicative rendering of the original French texts published in Paris by J. Hetzel et Cie.-- the hardcover first edition issued in the autumn of 1871, collated with the softcover editions of the First and Second Parts issued separately in the autumn of 1869 and the summer of 1870. Although prior English versions have often been heavily abridged, this new translation is complete to the smallest substantive detail.
Because, as that Time cover story suggests, we still haven't caught up with Verne. Even in our era of satellite dishes and video games, the seas keep their secrets. We've seen progress in sonar, torpedoes, and other belligerent machinery, but sailors and scientists-- to say nothing of tourists--have yet to voyage in a submarine with the luxury and efficiency of the Nautilus.
F. P. WALTER
University of Houston
Units of Measure
CABLE LENGTH In Verne's context, 600 feet
CENTIGRADE 0 degrees centigrade = freezing water
37 degrees centigrade = human body temperature
100 degrees centigrade = boiling water
FATHOM 6 feet
GRAM Roughly 1/28 of an ounce
- MILLIGRAM Roughly 1/28,000 of an ounce
- KILOGRAM (KILO) Roughly 2.2 pounds
HECTARE Roughly 2.5 acres
KNOT 1.15 miles per hour
LEAGUE In Verne's context, 2.16 miles
LITER Roughly 1 quart
METER Roughly 1 yard, 3 inches
- MILLIMETER Roughly 1/25 of an inch
- CENTIMETER Roughly 2/5 of an inch
- DECIMETER Roughly 4 inches
- KILOMETER Roughly 6/10 of a mile
- MYRIAMETER Roughly 6.2 miles
TON, METRIC Roughly 2,200 pounds viii
zhè xiē shì jiàn fā shēng de shí hòu， wǒ zhèng cóng měi guó nèi bù lā sī jiā zhōu de pín jí dì qū zuò wán liǎo kē xué kǎo chá huí lái。 yóu yú wǒ shì bā lí zì rán kē xué bó wù guǎn de fù jiào shòu， fǎ guó zhèng fǔ pài wǒ cān jiā zhè cì kǎo chá . zài nèi bù lā sī jiā zhōu dù guò liǎo liù gè yuè de shí jiān， sān yuè dǐ， wǒ mǎn zài liǎo zhēn guì de biāo běn huí dào niǔ yuē， wǒ dòng shēn huí fǎ guó de rì qī dìng zài wǔ yuè chū。 suǒ yǐ， wǒ jiù lì yòng dòu liú qī jiān， bǎ zhè cì shōu jí lái de kuàng wù biāo běn hé dòng、 zhí wù biāo běn jiā yǐ zhěng lǐ， ér sī gè tuō yà hào de yì wài shì jiàn jiù shì zài zhè gè shí hòu fā shēng de。
wǒ zì rán yě shú xī dāng shí yì lùn fēn fēn de zhè gè wèn tí， ér qiě wǒ zěn néng bù zhī dào ní？ wǒ bǎ měi guó hé 'ōu zhōu de gè zhǒng bào kān dú liǎo yòu dú， dàn méi yòu huò dé jìn yī bù de liǎo jiě。 yīn wéi zhè gè guài wù， wǒ zuò liǎo zhǒng zhǒng cāi cè。 yóu yú zì jǐ ná bù dìng zhù yì， wǒ shǐ zhōng yáo bǎi yú jí duān bù tóng de jiàn jiě zhī jiān。
zhè shì yī jiàn zhēn shí de shì， nà shì wú kě zhì yí de； huái yí zhè shì de rén， qǐng tā men qù mō yī mō sī gè tuō yà hào de liè kǒu hǎo liǎo。
dāng wǒ dào niǔ yuē de shí hòu， zhè wèn tí zhèng nào dé rè huǒ cháo tiān。 yòu xiē bù xué wú shù de rén céng jīng shuō nà shì fú dòng de xiǎo dǎo， shì bù kě zhuō mō de 'àn jiāo， bù guò， zhè zhǒng jiǎ shè , xiàn zài wán quán bèi tuī fān liǎo。 lǐ yóu shì：， chú fēi zhè 'àn jiāo zài fù bù yòu yī jià jī qì， bù rán de huà， tā zěn néng zhè yàng kuài dì yī huì 'ér dào dá zhè lǐ yī huì 'ér yòu dào nà lǐ ní ? tóng yàng dì， shuō tā shì yī zhǐ fú dòng de chuán ké huò shì yī zhǐ jù dà de pò chuán， zhè jiǎ shè yě bù néng chéng lì， lǐ yóu réng rán shì yīn wéi tā zhuǎn yí dé nà me kuài。 guī gēn jié dǐ， zhè wèn tí zhǐ kě néng yòu xià miàn liǎng zhǒng jiě shì， yīn cǐ rén men fēn chéng liǎo bào zhe bù tóng zhù zhāng de liǎng pài： yī pài shuō zhè shì yī gè lì dà wú qióng de guài wù， lìng yī pài shuō zhè shì yī sōu dòng lì shí fēn qiáng dà de“ qián shuǐ tǐng”。
hòu miàn nà zhǒng jiǎ shè suī rán hěn kě yǐ chéng lì， dàn dào 'ōu měi liǎng zhōu diào chá zhī hòu， biàn zhàn bù zhù liǎo。 rú guǒ shuō sī rén kě yǐ yòu zhè yàng yī zhǒng jī qì， shí zài shì bù dà kě néng de shì。 zài shénme dì fāng， shénme shí hòu。 tā zào liǎo zhè gè dōng xī ? tā yòu zěn néng bǎo shǒu mì mì 'ér bù xiè lù ní？
zhǐ yòu yī guó zhèng fǔ kě yǐ yōng yòu zhè zhǒng pò huài xìng de jī qì， zài rén men jiǎo jìn nǎo zhī yào zēng qiáng wǔ qì wēi lì de bù xìng shí dài， yī gè guó jiā mán zhe qí tā guó jiā zhì zào zhè zhǒng wǔ qì shì kě néng de。 jī qiāng zhī hòu yòu shuǐ léi， shuǐ léi zhī hòu yòu qián shuǐchōng jī jī， rán hòu yī yòu shì gè zhǒng hù xiāng kè zhì de wǔ qì， zhì shǎo wǒ zì jǐ xīn zhōng shì zhè yàng xiǎng de。
dàn shì zhè gè“ qián shuǐ tǐng” de jiǎ shè， yóu yú gè guó 'ōu fǔ de shēng míng yòu zhàn bù zhù liǎo、 yīn wéi zhè shì yòu guān gōng gòng lì yì de wèn tí， jì rán hǎi yáng jiāo tōng shòu dào liǎo pò huài， gè guó zhèng fǔ de zhēn chéng， dāng rán bù róng yòu suǒ huái yí。 bìng qiě， zěn me néng shuō zhè zhǐ“ qián shuǐ tǐng” de jiàn zào jìng kě yǐ táo bì gōng zhòng de 'ěr mù ní？ zài zhè zhǒng qíng xíng xià， jiù shì ná gè rén lái shuō， yào xiǎng bǎo shǒu mì mì， yě shí fēn kùn nán， duì yú yī guó zhèng fǔ， tā de xíng dòng jīng cháng shòu dào dí duì guó jiā de zhù yì， nà dāng rán gèng shì bù kě néng de liǎo。
、 suǒ yǐ， gēn jù zài yīng guó， zài fǎ guó， zài， zài pǔ lǔ shì , zài xī bān xū， zài yì dà lì， zài měi guó， shèn zhì yú zài tǔ 'ěr qí suǒ zuò de diào chá，“ qián shuǐ tǐng” de jiǎ shè， yě zhōng yú bù néng bù fàng qì。
zhè gè guài wù jìn guǎn dāng shí yī xiē bào kān duì tā bù duàn jiā yǐ cháo xiào， dàn tā yòu chū xiàn zài bō tāo shàng liǎo， yú shì rén men de xiǎng xiàng jiù cóng yú lèi zhè yī fāng miàn dǎ zhù yì 'ér zào chū zhǒng zhǒng zuì huāng dàn bù jīng de chuán shuō lái。
dāng wǒ dào niǔ yuē de shí hòu， yòu xiē rén tè dì lái wèn wǒ duì zhè jiàn guài shì de yì jiàn zhàn wǒ yǐ qián zài fǎ guó chū bǎn guò yī bù bā kāi běn de shū， gòng liǎng cè， shū míng wéi：《 hǎi dǐ de shén mì》。 zhè bù shū tè bié shòu dào xué shù jiè de shǎng shí， shǐ wǒ chéng wéi zì rán kē xué zhōng zhè yī gè xiāng dāng 'ào mì de bù mén de zhuān jiā。 yīn cǐ rén men cái xún wèn wǒ de yì jiàn。 dàn wǒ zhǐ yào néng gòu fǒu rèn zhè shì de zhēn shí xìng， wǒ zǒng shì zuò fǒu dìng de dá fù。 dàn bù jiǔ wǒ zhǐ dé míng què dì biǎo shì wǒ de yì jiàn。
kuàng qiě《 niǔ yuē xiān fēng lùn tán bào》 yǐ jīng yuē liǎo“ bā lí zì rán kē xué bó wù guǎn jiào。 shòu， kě jìng de bǐ 'āi 'ěr · ā lóng nà sī xiān shēng”， qǐng tā fā biǎo duì zhè gè wèn tí qì yì jiàn。
wǒ fā biǎo liǎo wǒ de yì jiàn。 wǒ yīn wéi bù néng chén mò， cái bù dé bù yuè jǐ jù zhū。 wǒ cóng shàng hé xué shù shàng lái tǎo lùn zhè gè wèn tí de gè gè fāng miàn。
xiàn zài wǒ jiāng wǒ fā biǎo zài 4 yuè 30 rì《 lùn tán bào》 shàng de yī piān cái liào hěn fēng fù de wén zhāng de jié lùn， jié lù jǐ duàn zài xià miàn：“ wǒ yī gè yī gè yán jiū liǎo gè zhǒng bù tóng de jiǎ shè hé suǒ yòu bù kě néng chéng lì de cāi xiǎng， bù dé bù chéng rèn shí zài yòu yī zhǒng lì liàng jīng rén de hǎi yáng dòng wù de cún zài。“ hǎi yáng shēn bù kě cè de dǐ céng， wǒ men wán quán bù liǎo jiě。 tàn cè qì yě bù xǐ dá dào。 zuì xià céng de shēn yuān lǐ shì zěn yàng de qíng xíng ní？ hǎi dǐ 'èr wàn 'èr qiān méi lǐ huò yī wàn wǔ qiān hǎi lǐ de dì fāng yòu xiē shénme shēng wù hé kě néng yòu xiē shénme shēng wù ní？ zhè xiē dòng wù de shēn tǐ gòu zào shì zěn yàng de ní？ wǒ men shí zài hěn nán tuī cè。“ kě shì， bǎi zài wǒ miàn qián de wèn tí kě yǐ yòng ‘ liǎng dāo lùn fǎ ’ de gōng shì lái jiě jué。“ shēng huó zài dì qiú shàng de gè sè gè yàng de shēng wù， huò zhě wǒ men rèn shí， huò zhě wǒ men bù rèn shí。”““ rú guǒ wǒ men bù rèn shí suǒ yòu de shēng wù， ér dà zì rán yòu jì xù duì wǒ men bǎo shǒu mǒu xiē yú lèi xué shàng de mì mì， nà me wǒ men jiù bù dé bù chéng rèn zài tàn cè qì bù kě jí de shuǐ céng lǐ hái yòu yú lèi jīng lèi de xīn pǐn zhǒng， tā men yòu yī gè‘ bù fú de’ qì guān， yīn wéi zài hǎi dǐ xià dāi jiǔ liǎo， zài 'ǒu rán de qíng kuàng xià， yóu yú yī shí gāo xīng， huò zhě rèn xìng， jiù tū rán fú dào hǎi miàn shàng lái。 zhè shuō fǎ hái shì bǐ jiào jīn rén qíng fú de。“ fǎn guò lái， rú guǒ wǒ men díquè rèn shí liǎo dì qiú shàng suǒ yòu de shēng wù， nà me wǒ men jiù bì xū cóng yǐ jīng jiā yǐ fēn lèi de hǎi yáng shēng wù zhōng zhǎo chū wǒ men tǎo lùn de zhè gè dòng wù； zài zhè zhǒng qíng xíng xià， wǒ jiù yào chéng rèn yòu yī zhǒng jù dà de dú jiǎo jīng de cún zài。“ pǔ tōng cháng jiàn de dú jiǎo jīng， huò hǎi qí lín， shēn cháng cháng cháng dá dào liù shí yīng chǐ， xiàn zài rú guǒ bǎ zhè cháng dù zēng jiā wǔ bèi， shèn zhì shí bèi， tóng shí ràng zhè tiáo jīng、 yú lèi dòng wù yòu hé tā shēn cái wù bǐ lì de lì liàng， zài jiā qiáng tā de gōng jī wǔ qì， zhè yàng jiù shì xiàn zài hǎi shàng de nà gè dòng wù liǎo。 yě jiù shì shuō tā yòu shān nóng hào jūn guān men suǒ cè dìng de cháng dù nà me cháng， tā de jiǎo， kě yǐ cì chuān sī gè tuō yà hào、 tā de lì liàng kě yǐ chōng pò yī zhǐ qì chuán de chuán ké。“ chéng rán， zhè tiáo dú jiǎo jīng， rú mǒu xiē shēng wù xué jiā suǒ shuō， shì jù yòu yī bǎ： gǔ zhì de jiàn huò yī bǎ gǔ zhì de qián， nà me zhè yī dìng shì yī gēn xiàng gāng tiě yī yàng： jiān yìng de cháng yá， yòu rén céng jīng zài jīng yú shēn shàng fā xiàn guò dú jiǎo jīng de yá chǐ，。 dú jiǎo jīng yòng yá chǐ gōng jī jīng yú zǒng shì chéng gōng de。 yòu rén yě céng jīng cóng chuán dǐ shàng bō chū guò héng héng hǎo róng yì cái zhǎo chū lái héng héng dú jiǎo jīng de yá chǐ， tā zuàn tōng chuán dǐ jiù hǎo xiàng lì zhuī chuān tòu mù tǒng nà yàng。“ bā lí yī xué yuàn chén liè guǎn jiù cáng yòu yī méi zhè zhǒng yá chǐ， cháng liǎng mǐ 'èr shí wǔ lí mǐ， dǐ kuān sì shí bā lí mǐ !“ hǎo bā！ xiàn zài jiǎ dìng nà wǔ qì hái yào lì hài shí bèi， nà dòng wù de lì liàng hái yào dà shí bèi， rú guǒ tā de qián jìn sù dù shì měi xiǎo shí 'èr shí yīng lǐ， nà me ná tā de tǐ zhòng qù chéng tā de sù dù píng fāng， jiù néng qiú chū chōng huài sī gè tuō yà hào de nà gǔ chōng jī lì。“ yīn cǐ， zài hái méi yòu dé dào gèng duō de cái liào zhī qián， wǒ rèn wéi zhè shì yī zhǐ hǎi qí lín， zhè zhǐ hǎi qí lín shēn qū fēi cháng jù dà， shēn shàng de wǔ zhuāng bù shì jiàn jǐ， ér shì zhēn zhèng de chōng jiǎo， xiàng tiě jiá chuán huò zhàn jiàn shàng suǒ zhuāng yòu de nà yàng， tā tóng shí yòu jù bèi yòu zhàn jiàn de zhòng liàng hé dòng lì。“ zhè yàng biàn shuō míng liǎo zhè zhǒng shén mì bù kě jiě de xiàn xiàng。 héng héng huò zhě xiāng fǎn dì， bù guǎn rén men suǒ jiàn dào de、 suǒ gǎn dào de shì zěn yàng， shí jì shàng shénme dōubù shì； nà yě shì kě néng de。”
zuì hòu jǐ jù huà zhǐ néng shuō míng wǒ méi yòu zhù jiàn， kàn wèn tí yáo bǎi bù dìng； zhè shì wèile zài yī。 dìng chéng dù shàng bǎo quán wǒ jiào shòu de shēn fèn， tóng shí bù yuàn yì ràng měi guó rén xiào huà， yīn wéi měi guó rén xiào qǐ lái， shì xiàode hěn lì hài de。 wǒ yú shì zì xià zhè yī tiáo tuì lù。 qí shí wǒ shì chéng rèn zhè gè“ guài wù " de cún zài de。 wǒ de wén zhāng yǐn qǐ liǎo rè liè de tǎo lùn， chǎn shēng liǎo hěn dà de fǎn xiǎng。 hěn yòu yī bù fēn rén yōng hù tā。 ér qiě zhàng zhōng tí chū de jié lùn kě yǐ ràng rén suí biàn qù shè xiǎng， méi yòu shénme。 rén men zǒng shì duì nà xiē shén qí guài dàn de huàn xiǎng gǎn dǎo xīng qù。、 ér hǎi yáng zhèng shì zhè xiē huàn xiǎng de zuì hǎo quán yuán， yīn wéi zhǐ yòu hǎi cái shì jù dà dòng wù kě yǐ fán zhí hé chéngzhǎng de huán jìng， lù shàng de dòng wù， dà xiàng huò xī niú zhī lèi。 gēn tā men bǐ jiào qǐ lái， jiǎn zhí miǎo xiǎo dé hěn。 yī piàn wāng yáng dà hǎi lǐ： jì rán yòu wǒ men suǒ zhī dào de zuì jù dà de bǔ rǔ lèi dòng wù， shuō bù dìng yě yòu shuò dà wú bǐ de ruǎn tǐ dòng wù hé kàn qǐ lái jiào rén hài pà de jiáqiào dòng wù， rú yī bǎi mǐ cháng de dà xiā， huò 'èr bǎi dūn zhòng de páng xiè！ wèishénme bù néng yòu ní？“ cóng qián， gēn dì zhì xué jì nián tóng shí dài de lù shàng dòng wù， sì zú shòu， sì shǒu shòu， pá chóng lèi， niǎo lèi， dōushì 'àn zhào jù dà de mó xíng chuàng zào de。 zào wù zhě shuǎi gāo dà de mó xíng bǎ tā men zào chū lái， jīng guò màn cháng de suì yuè， zhè mó xíng jiàn jiàn suō xiǎo liǎo。 zài shēn bù kě cè de hǎi yáng dǐ xià（ yīn wéi hǎi yáng shì yǒng bù gēnggǎi； ér dìqiào jīhū shì bù duàn biàn huà zhe de）， wèishénme bù néng bǎo cún cóng qián lìng yī shí dài de jù dà shēng wù de pǐn zhǒng ní？ hǎi yáng nèi bù， wèishénme bù néng cáng yòu nà xiē jù dà shēng wù de zuì hòu biàn zhǒng， yǐ yī shì jì wéi yī nián， yǐ yī qiān nián wéi yī shì jì de nà xiē jù dà pǐn zhǒng ní？ wǒ yòu ràng zì jǐ jìn chén zài zhǒng zhǒng kōng xiǎng zhōng liǎo . xiàn zài yào tíng zhǐ zhè xiē kōng xiǎng， yīn wéi， zài wǒ kàn lái， shí jiān yǐ jīng bǎ zhè xiē kōng xiǎng biàn chéng wéi kě pà de xiàn shí。 wǒ zài shuō yī cì， dāng shí duì yú zhè jiàn guài shì de xìng zhì yòu zhè yī zhǒng yì jiàn， jiù shì dà jiādōu yī zhì chéng rèn yòu yī zhǒng shén qí dōng xī de cún zài， ér zhè zhǒng dōng xī hé guài dàn de dà hǎi shé bìng méi yòu sī háo gòng tóng zhī diǎn。 kě shì， jìn guǎn yòu yī xiē rén bǎ zhè shì kàn chéng shì yī gè dài jiě jué de chún cuì kē xué wèn tí， dàn lìng yī xiē bǐ jiào zhù yì shí lì de rén， tè bié zài měi guó hé yīng guó， zhè lèi rén hěn duō， tā men zhù zhāng bǎ hǎi yáng shàng zhè gè kě pà de guài wù qīng chú lüè， shǐ hǎi shàng jiāo tōng de 'ān quán huò dé bǎo zhàng。 tè bié shì gōng shāng jiè de bào kān， dū cóng zhè gè guān diǎn lái yán jiū zhè gè wèn tí。《 háng yè shāng qíng zá zhì》 ,<< lái yǐ tè gōng sī háng hǎi zá zhì》、《 yóu chuán zá zhì》、《 hǎi yáng zhí mín zá zhì》 yǐ jí wéi bǎo xiǎn gōng sī xuān chuán gōng sī yào tí gāo bǎo xiǎn fèi de nà xiē bào zhǐ， duì yú qīng chú guài wù zhè yī diǎn， dū yī zhì biǎo shì tóng yì。 gōng zhòng de yì jiàn yī tí chū lái， běi měi hé zhòng guó shǒu xiān fā biǎo liǎo shēng míng， yào zài niǔ yuē zuò zhǔn bèi， zǔ zhì qīng chú dú jiǎo jīng de yuǎn zhēng duì。 yī sōu zhuāng yòu chōng jiǎo de gāo sù dù de 'èr jí zhàn jiàn lín kěn hào dìng yú zuì jìn de qī jiān shǐ chū hǎi miàn。 gè zào chuán chǎng dū gěi fǎ lā gǔ sī lìng gōng yǐ zhǒng zhǒng biàn lì， bāng zhù tā zǎo yī tiān bǎ zhè sōu 'èr jí zhàn jiàn zhuāng bèi qǐ lái。 shì qíng wǎng wǎng jiù shì zhè yàng， děng rén men jué dìng yào zhuī gǎn zhè guài wù de shí hòu。 guài wù zài yě bù chū xiàn liǎo。 zài liǎng gè yuè de shí jiān nèi， shuídōu méi yòu dé dào guài wù de xiāo xī， yě méi yòu hǎi chuán pèng jiàn tā。 hǎo xiàng zhè tiáo hǎi qí lín yǐ jīng dé dào liǎo rén men zhǔn bèi jìn gōng tā de qíng bào。 yīn wéi dà jiā shuō dé dà duō liǎo， shèn zhì yú yòng dà xī yáng de hǎi dǐ diàn xiàn lái shuō！ suǒ yǐ， xǐ huān shuō xiào huà de rén shuō， zhè gè jīng líng de dōng xī yī dìng zài zhōng tú tōu tīng liǎo diàn bào， xiàn zài tā qǐ jǐ yòu liǎo fáng bèi。 bù zài suí biàn chū lái。 yīn cǐ， zhè sōu yòng zuò yuǎn zhēng 'ér qiě zhuāng yòu qiáng dà dǎ yú jī de 'èr jí zhàn jiàn , xiàn zài bù zhī dào xiàng nǎ lǐ kāi cái hǎo。 dà jiā yuè lái yuè bù nài fán liǎo， hū rán， 7 yuè 2 rì， jiù jīn shān lún chuán gōng sī cóng jiā lì fú ní yà kāi wǎng shàng hǎi de yī zhǐ qì chuán táng bǐ gé hào， sān xīng qī qián zài tài píng yáng běi bù de hǎi miàn shàng yòu kàn jiàn liǎo zhè： gè dōng xī。 zhè xiāo xī yǐn qǐ liǎo jí dà de sāo dòng。 dà jiā yào fǎ lā gǔ sī lìng gōng lì jí chū fā， èr shí sì xiǎo shí de chí yán dōubù xǔ kě。 chuán zhōng rì yòng pǐn quán zhuāng shàng qù liǎo， cāng dǐ yě zài mǎn liǎo méi。 chuán shàng gè bù mén de rén yuán yī gè yě bù shǎo， dū dào qí liǎo。 xiàn zài zhǐ děng shēng huǒ， jiā rè， jiě lǎn liǎo： dà jiā bù róng xǔ zhè chuán zài yòu： bàn tiān de yán qī： zài shuō， fǎ lā gǔ sī lìng gōng běn rén yě bā bù dé mǎ shàng jiù chū fā！ zài zhū kěn hào lí kāi bù luò kè wà mǎ tóu zhī qián sān xiǎo shí， wǒ shōu dào yī fēng xìn， xìn de nèi róng rú xià：。“ dì jiāo niǔ yuē dì wǔ hào lù lǚ guǎn， bā lí zì rán kē xué bó wù guǎn jiào shòu 'ā lóng nà sī xiān shēng。 xiān shēng： rú guǒ nín tóng yì jiā rù lín kěn hào yuǎn zhēng duì， hé zhòng guó zhèng fǔ hěn yuàn yì kàn dào zhè cì yuǎn zhēng yòu nín dài biǎo fǎ guó cān jiā。 fǎ lā gǔ sī lìng guān yǐ liú xià chuán shàng yī gè cāng fáng gōng nín shǐ yòng。 hǎi jūn bù cháng hé bó xùn jìng qǐ。”
In essence, over a period of time several ships had encountered "an enormous thing" at sea, a long spindle-shaped object, sometimes giving off a phosphorescent glow, infinitely bigger and faster than any whale.
The relevant data on this apparition, as recorded in various logbooks, agreed pretty closely as to the structure of the object or creature in question, its unprecedented speed of movement, its startling locomotive power, and the unique vitality with which it seemed to be gifted. If it was a cetacean, it exceeded in bulk any whale previously classified by science. No naturalist, neither Cuvier nor Lacépède, neither Professor Dumeril nor Professor de Quatrefages, would have accepted the existence of such a monster sight unseen-- specifically, unseen by their own scientific eyes.
Striking an average of observations taken at different times-- rejecting those timid estimates that gave the object a length of 200 feet, and ignoring those exaggerated views that saw it as a mile wide and three long--you could still assert that this phenomenal creature greatly exceeded the dimensions of anything then known to ichthyologists, if it existed at all.
Now then, it did exist, this was an undeniable fact; and since the human mind dotes on objects of wonder, you can understand the worldwide excitement caused by this unearthly apparition. As for relegating it to the realm of fiction, that charge had to be dropped.
In essence, on July 20, 1866, the steamer Governor Higginson, from the Calcutta & Burnach Steam Navigation Co., encountered this moving mass five miles off the eastern shores of Australia.
Captain Baker at first thought he was in the presence of an unknown reef; he was even about to fix its exact position when two waterspouts shot out of this inexplicable object and sprang hissing into the air some 150 feet. So, unless this reef was subject to the intermittent eruptions of a geyser, the Governor Higginson had fair and honest dealings with some aquatic mammal, until then unknown, that could spurt from its blowholes waterspouts mixed with air and steam.
Similar events were likewise observed in Pacific seas, on July 23 of the same year, by the Christopher Columbus from the West India & Pacific Steam Navigation Co. Consequently, this extraordinary cetacean could transfer itself from one locality to another with startling swiftness, since within an interval of just three days, the Governor Higginson and the Christopher Columbus had observed it at two positions on the charts separated by a distance of more than 700 nautical leagues.
Fifteen days later and 2,000 leagues farther, the Helvetia from the Compagnie Nationale and the Shannon from the Royal Mail line, running on opposite tacks in that part of the Atlantic lying between the United States and Europe, respectively signaled each other that the monster had been sighted in latitude 42 degrees 15' north and longitude 60 degrees 35' west of the meridian of Greenwich. From their simultaneous observations, they were able to estimate the mammal's minimum length at more than 350 English feet;* this was because both the Shannon and the Helvetia were of smaller dimensions, although each measured 100 meters stem to stern. Now then, the biggest whales, those rorqual whales that frequent the waterways of the Aleutian Islands, have never exceeded a length of 56 meters--if they reach even that.
*Author's Note: About 106 meters. An English foot is only 30.4 centimeters.
One after another, reports arrived that would profoundly affect public opinion: new observations taken by the transatlantic liner Pereire, the Inman line's Etna running afoul of the monster, an official report drawn up by officers on the French frigate Normandy, dead-earnest reckonings obtained by the general staff of Commodore Fitz-James aboard the Lord Clyde. In lighthearted countries, people joked about this phenomenon, but such serious, practical countries as England, America, and Germany were deeply concerned.
In every big city the monster was the latest rage; they sang about it in the coffee houses, they ridiculed it in the newspapers, they dramatized it in the theaters. The tabloids found it a fine opportunity for hatching all sorts of hoaxes. In those newspapers short of copy, you saw the reappearance of every gigantic imaginary creature, from "Moby Dick," that dreadful white whale from the High Arctic regions, to the stupendous kraken whose tentacles could entwine a 500-ton craft and drag it into the ocean depths. They even reprinted reports from ancient times: the views of Aristotle and Pliny accepting the existence of such monsters, then the Norwegian stories of Bishop Pontoppidan, the narratives of Paul Egede, and finally the reports of Captain Harrington-- whose good faith is above suspicion--in which he claims he saw, while aboard the Castilian in 1857, one of those enormous serpents that, until then, had frequented only the seas of France's old extremist newspaper, The Constitutionalist.
An interminable debate then broke out between believers and skeptics in the scholarly societies and scientific journals. The "monster question" inflamed all minds. During this memorable campaign, journalists making a profession of science battled with those making a profession of wit, spilling waves of ink and some of them even two or three drops of blood, since they went from sea serpents to the most offensive personal remarks.
For six months the war seesawed. With inexhaustible zest, the popular press took potshots at feature articles from the Geographic Institute of Brazil, the Royal Academy of Science in Berlin, the British Association, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., at discussions in The Indian Archipelago, in Cosmos published by Father Moigno, in Petermann's Mittheilungen,* and at scientific chronicles in the great French and foreign newspapers. When the monster's detractors cited a saying by the botanist Linnaeus that "nature doesn't make leaps," witty writers in the popular periodicals parodied it, maintaining in essence that "nature doesn't make lunatics," and ordering their contemporaries never to give the lie to nature by believing in krakens, sea serpents, "Moby Dicks," and other all-out efforts from drunken seamen. Finally, in a much-feared satirical journal, an article by its most popular columnist finished off the monster for good, spurning it in the style of Hippolytus repulsing the amorous advances of his stepmother Phaedra, and giving the creature its quietus amid a universal burst of laughter. Wit had defeated science.
*German: "Bulletin." Ed.
During the first months of the year 1867, the question seemed to be buried, and it didn't seem due for resurrection, when new facts were brought to the public's attention. But now it was no longer an issue of a scientific problem to be solved, but a quite real and serious danger to be avoided. The question took an entirely new turn. The monster again became an islet, rock, or reef, but a runaway reef, unfixed and elusive.
On March 5, 1867, the Moravian from the Montreal Ocean Co., lying during the night in latitude 27 degrees 30' and longitude 72 degrees 15', ran its starboard quarter afoul of a rock marked on no charts of these waterways. Under the combined efforts of wind and 400-horsepower steam, it was traveling at a speed of thirteen knots. Without the high quality of its hull, the Moravian would surely have split open from this collision and gone down together with those 237 passengers it was bringing back from Canada.
This accident happened around five o'clock in the morning, just as day was beginning to break. The officers on watch rushed to the craft's stern. They examined the ocean with the most scrupulous care. They saw nothing except a strong eddy breaking three cable lengths out, as if those sheets of water had been violently churned. The site's exact bearings were taken, and the Moravian continued on course apparently undamaged. Had it run afoul of an underwater rock or the wreckage of some enormous derelict ship? They were unable to say. But when they examined its undersides in the service yard, they discovered that part of its keel had been smashed.
This occurrence, extremely serious in itself, might perhaps have been forgotten like so many others, if three weeks later it hadn't been reenacted under identical conditions. Only, thanks to the nationality of the ship victimized by this new ramming, and thanks to the reputation of the company to which this ship belonged, the event caused an immense uproar.
No one is unaware of the name of that famous English shipowner, Cunard. In 1840 this shrewd industrialist founded a postal service between Liverpool and Halifax, featuring three wooden ships with 400-horsepower paddle wheels and a burden of 1,162 metric tons. Eight years later, the company's assets were increased by four 650-horsepower ships at 1,820 metric tons, and in two more years, by two other vessels of still greater power and tonnage. In 1853 the Cunard Co., whose mail-carrying charter had just been renewed, successively added to its assets the Arabia, the Persia, the China, the Scotia, the Java, and the Russia, all ships of top speed and, after the Great Eastern, the biggest ever to plow the seas. So in 1867 this company owned twelve ships, eight with paddle wheels and four with propellers.
If I give these highly condensed details, it is so everyone can fully understand the importance of this maritime transportation company, known the world over for its shrewd management. No transoceanic navigational undertaking has been conducted with more ability, no business dealings have been crowned with greater success. In twenty-six years Cunard ships have made 2,000 Atlantic crossings without so much as a voyage canceled, a delay recorded, a man, a craft, or even a letter lost. Accordingly, despite strong competition from France, passengers still choose the Cunard line in preference to all others, as can be seen in a recent survey of official documents. Given this, no one will be astonished at the uproar provoked by this accident involving one of its finest steamers.
On April 13, 1867, with a smooth sea and a moderate breeze, the Scotia lay in longitude 15 degrees 12' and latitude 45 degrees 37'. It was traveling at a speed of 13.43 knots under the thrust of its 1,000-horsepower engines. Its paddle wheels were churning the sea with perfect steadiness. It was then drawing 6.7 meters of water and displacing 6,624 cubic meters.
At 4:17 in the afternoon, during a high tea for passengers gathered in the main lounge, a collision occurred, scarcely noticeable on the whole, affecting the Scotia's hull in that quarter a little astern of its port paddle wheel.
The Scotia hadn't run afoul of something, it had been fouled, and by a cutting or perforating instrument rather than a blunt one. This encounter seemed so minor that nobody on board would have been disturbed by it, had it not been for the shouts of crewmen in the hold, who climbed on deck yelling:
"We're sinking! We're sinking!"
At first the passengers were quite frightened, but Captain Anderson hastened to reassure them. In fact, there could be no immediate danger. Divided into seven compartments by watertight bulkheads, the Scotia could brave any leak with impunity.
Captain Anderson immediately made his way into the hold. He discovered that the fifth compartment had been invaded by the sea, and the speed of this invasion proved that the leak was considerable. Fortunately this compartment didn't contain the boilers, because their furnaces would have been abruptly extinguished.
Captain Anderson called an immediate halt, and one of his sailors dived down to assess the damage. Within moments they had located a hole two meters in width on the steamer's underside. Such a leak could not be patched, and with its paddle wheels half swamped, the Scotia had no choice but to continue its voyage. By then it lay 300 miles from Cape Clear, and after three days of delay that filled Liverpool with acute anxiety, it entered the company docks.
The engineers then proceeded to inspect the Scotia, which had been put in dry dock. They couldn't believe their eyes. Two and a half meters below its waterline, there gaped a symmetrical gash in the shape of an isosceles triangle. This breach in the sheet iron was so perfectly formed, no punch could have done a cleaner job of it. Consequently, it must have been produced by a perforating tool of uncommon toughness-- plus, after being launched with prodigious power and then piercing four centimeters of sheet iron, this tool had needed to withdraw itself by a backward motion truly inexplicable.
This was the last straw, and it resulted in arousing public passions all over again. Indeed, from this moment on, any maritime casualty without an established cause was charged to the monster's account. This outrageous animal had to shoulder responsibility for all derelict vessels, whose numbers are unfortunately considerable, since out of those 3,000 ships whose losses are recorded annually at the marine insurance bureau, the figure for steam or sailing ships supposedly lost with all hands, in the absence of any news, amounts to at least 200!
Now then, justly or unjustly, it was the "monster" who stood accused of their disappearance; and since, thanks to it, travel between the various continents had become more and more dangerous, the public spoke up and demanded straight out that, at all cost, the seas be purged of this fearsome cetacean.
wǒ zì rán yě shú xī dāng shí yì lùn fēn fēn de zhè gè wèn tí， ér qiě wǒ zěn néng bù zhī dào ní？ wǒ bǎ měi guó hé 'ōu zhōu de gè zhǒng bào kān dú liǎo yòu dú， dàn méi yòu huò dé jìn yī bù de liǎo jiě。 yīn wéi zhè gè guài wù， wǒ zuò liǎo zhǒng zhǒng cāi cè。 yóu yú zì jǐ ná bù dìng zhù yì， wǒ shǐ zhōng yáo bǎi yú jí duān bù tóng de jiàn jiě zhī jiān。
zhè shì yī jiàn zhēn shí de shì， nà shì wú kě zhì yí de； huái yí zhè shì de rén， qǐng tā men qù mō yī mō sī gè tuō yà hào de liè kǒu hǎo liǎo。
dāng wǒ dào niǔ yuē de shí hòu， zhè wèn tí zhèng nào dé rè huǒ cháo tiān。 yòu xiē bù xué wú shù de rén céng jīng shuō nà shì fú dòng de xiǎo dǎo， shì bù kě zhuō mō de 'àn jiāo， bù guò， zhè zhǒng jiǎ shè , xiàn zài wán quán bèi tuī fān liǎo。 lǐ yóu shì：， chú fēi zhè 'àn jiāo zài fù bù yòu yī jià jī qì， bù rán de huà， tā zěn néng zhè yàng kuài dì yī huì 'ér dào dá zhè lǐ yī huì 'ér yòu dào nà lǐ ní ? tóng yàng dì， shuō tā shì yī zhǐ fú dòng de chuán ké huò shì yī zhǐ jù dà de pò chuán， zhè jiǎ shè yě bù néng chéng lì， lǐ yóu réng rán shì yīn wéi tā zhuǎn yí dé nà me kuài。 guī gēn jié dǐ， zhè wèn tí zhǐ kě néng yòu xià miàn liǎng zhǒng jiě shì， yīn cǐ rén men fēn chéng liǎo bào zhe bù tóng zhù zhāng de liǎng pài： yī pài shuō zhè shì yī gè lì dà wú qióng de guài wù， lìng yī pài shuō zhè shì yī sōu dòng lì shí fēn qiáng dà de“ qián shuǐ tǐng”。
hòu miàn nà zhǒng jiǎ shè suī rán hěn kě yǐ chéng lì， dàn dào 'ōu měi liǎng zhōu diào chá zhī hòu， biàn zhàn bù zhù liǎo。 rú guǒ shuō sī rén kě yǐ yòu zhè yàng yī zhǒng jī qì， shí zài shì bù dà kě néng de shì。 zài shénme dì fāng， shénme shí hòu。 tā zào liǎo zhè gè dōng xī ? tā yòu zěn néng bǎo shǒu mì mì 'ér bù xiè lù ní？
zhǐ yòu yī guó zhèng fǔ kě yǐ yōng yòu zhè zhǒng pò huài xìng de jī qì， zài rén men jiǎo jìn nǎo zhī yào zēng qiáng wǔ qì wēi lì de bù xìng shí dài， yī gè guó jiā mán zhe qí tā guó jiā zhì zào zhè zhǒng wǔ qì shì kě néng de。 jī qiāng zhī hòu yòu shuǐ léi， shuǐ léi zhī hòu yòu qián shuǐchōng jī jī， rán hòu yī yòu shì gè zhǒng hù xiāng kè zhì de wǔ qì， zhì shǎo wǒ zì jǐ xīn zhōng shì zhè yàng xiǎng de。
dàn shì zhè gè“ qián shuǐ tǐng” de jiǎ shè， yóu yú gè guó 'ōu fǔ de shēng míng yòu zhàn bù zhù liǎo、 yīn wéi zhè shì yòu guān gōng gòng lì yì de wèn tí， jì rán hǎi yáng jiāo tōng shòu dào liǎo pò huài， gè guó zhèng fǔ de zhēn chéng， dāng rán bù róng yòu suǒ huái yí。 bìng qiě， zěn me néng shuō zhè zhǐ“ qián shuǐ tǐng” de jiàn zào jìng kě yǐ táo bì gōng zhòng de 'ěr mù ní？ zài zhè zhǒng qíng xíng xià， jiù shì ná gè rén lái shuō， yào xiǎng bǎo shǒu mì mì， yě shí fēn kùn nán， duì yú yī guó zhèng fǔ， tā de xíng dòng jīng cháng shòu dào dí duì guó jiā de zhù yì， nà dāng rán gèng shì bù kě néng de liǎo。
、 suǒ yǐ， gēn jù zài yīng guó， zài fǎ guó， zài， zài pǔ lǔ shì , zài xī bān xū， zài yì dà lì， zài měi guó， shèn zhì yú zài tǔ 'ěr qí suǒ zuò de diào chá，“ qián shuǐ tǐng” de jiǎ shè， yě zhōng yú bù néng bù fàng qì。
zhè gè guài wù jìn guǎn dāng shí yī xiē bào kān duì tā bù duàn jiā yǐ cháo xiào， dàn tā yòu chū xiàn zài bō tāo shàng liǎo， yú shì rén men de xiǎng xiàng jiù cóng yú lèi zhè yī fāng miàn dǎ zhù yì 'ér zào chū zhǒng zhǒng zuì huāng dàn bù jīng de chuán shuō lái。
dāng wǒ dào niǔ yuē de shí hòu， yòu xiē rén tè dì lái wèn wǒ duì zhè jiàn guài shì de yì jiàn zhàn wǒ yǐ qián zài fǎ guó chū bǎn guò yī bù bā kāi běn de shū， gòng liǎng cè， shū míng wéi：《 hǎi dǐ de shén mì》。 zhè bù shū tè bié shòu dào xué shù jiè de shǎng shí， shǐ wǒ chéng wéi zì rán kē xué zhōng zhè yī gè xiāng dāng 'ào mì de bù mén de zhuān jiā。 yīn cǐ rén men cái xún wèn wǒ de yì jiàn。 dàn wǒ zhǐ yào néng gòu fǒu rèn zhè shì de zhēn shí xìng， wǒ zǒng shì zuò fǒu dìng de dá fù。 dàn bù jiǔ wǒ zhǐ dé míng què dì biǎo shì wǒ de yì jiàn。
kuàng qiě《 niǔ yuē xiān fēng lùn tán bào》 yǐ jīng yuē liǎo“ bā lí zì rán kē xué bó wù guǎn jiào。 shòu， kě jìng de bǐ 'āi 'ěr · ā lóng nà sī xiān shēng”， qǐng tā fā biǎo duì zhè gè wèn tí qì yì jiàn。
wǒ fā biǎo liǎo wǒ de yì jiàn。 wǒ yīn wéi bù néng chén mò， cái bù dé bù yuè jǐ jù zhū。 wǒ cóng shàng hé xué shù shàng lái tǎo lùn zhè gè wèn tí de gè gè fāng miàn。
xiàn zài wǒ jiāng wǒ fā biǎo zài 4 yuè 30 rì《 lùn tán bào》 shàng de yī piān cái liào hěn fēng fù de wén zhāng de jié lùn， jié lù jǐ duàn zài xià miàn：“ wǒ yī gè yī gè yán jiū liǎo gè zhǒng bù tóng de jiǎ shè hé suǒ yòu bù kě néng chéng lì de cāi xiǎng， bù dé bù chéng rèn shí zài yòu yī zhǒng lì liàng jīng rén de hǎi yáng dòng wù de cún zài。“ hǎi yáng shēn bù kě cè de dǐ céng， wǒ men wán quán bù liǎo jiě。 tàn cè qì yě bù xǐ dá dào。 zuì xià céng de shēn yuān lǐ shì zěn yàng de qíng xíng ní？ hǎi dǐ 'èr wàn 'èr qiān méi lǐ huò yī wàn wǔ qiān hǎi lǐ de dì fāng yòu xiē shénme shēng wù hé kě néng yòu xiē shénme shēng wù ní？ zhè xiē dòng wù de shēn tǐ gòu zào shì zěn yàng de ní？ wǒ men shí zài hěn nán tuī cè。“ kě shì， bǎi zài wǒ miàn qián de wèn tí kě yǐ yòng ‘ liǎng dāo lùn fǎ ’ de gōng shì lái jiě jué。“ shēng huó zài dì qiú shàng de gè sè gè yàng de shēng wù， huò zhě wǒ men rèn shí， huò zhě wǒ men bù rèn shí。”““ rú guǒ wǒ men bù rèn shí suǒ yòu de shēng wù， ér dà zì rán yòu jì xù duì wǒ men bǎo shǒu mǒu xiē yú lèi xué shàng de mì mì， nà me wǒ men jiù bù dé bù chéng rèn zài tàn cè qì bù kě jí de shuǐ céng lǐ hái yòu yú lèi jīng lèi de xīn pǐn zhǒng， tā men yòu yī gè‘ bù fú de’ qì guān， yīn wéi zài hǎi dǐ xià dāi jiǔ liǎo， zài 'ǒu rán de qíng kuàng xià， yóu yú yī shí gāo xīng， huò zhě rèn xìng， jiù tū rán fú dào hǎi miàn shàng lái。 zhè shuō fǎ hái shì bǐ jiào jīn rén qíng fú de。“ fǎn guò lái， rú guǒ wǒ men díquè rèn shí liǎo dì qiú shàng suǒ yòu de shēng wù， nà me wǒ men jiù bì xū cóng yǐ jīng jiā yǐ fēn lèi de hǎi yáng shēng wù zhōng zhǎo chū wǒ men tǎo lùn de zhè gè dòng wù； zài zhè zhǒng qíng xíng xià， wǒ jiù yào chéng rèn yòu yī zhǒng jù dà de dú jiǎo jīng de cún zài。“ pǔ tōng cháng jiàn de dú jiǎo jīng， huò hǎi qí lín， shēn cháng cháng cháng dá dào liù shí yīng chǐ， xiàn zài rú guǒ bǎ zhè cháng dù zēng jiā wǔ bèi， shèn zhì shí bèi， tóng shí ràng zhè tiáo jīng、 yú lèi dòng wù yòu hé tā shēn cái wù bǐ lì de lì liàng， zài jiā qiáng tā de gōng jī wǔ qì， zhè yàng jiù shì xiàn zài hǎi shàng de nà gè dòng wù liǎo。 yě jiù shì shuō tā yòu shān nóng hào jūn guān men suǒ cè dìng de cháng dù nà me cháng， tā de jiǎo， kě yǐ cì chuān sī gè tuō yà hào、 tā de lì liàng kě yǐ chōng pò yī zhǐ qì chuán de chuán ké。“ chéng rán， zhè tiáo dú jiǎo jīng， rú mǒu xiē shēng wù xué jiā suǒ shuō， shì jù yòu yī bǎ： gǔ zhì de jiàn huò yī bǎ gǔ zhì de qián， nà me zhè yī dìng shì yī gēn xiàng gāng tiě yī yàng： jiān yìng de cháng yá， yòu rén céng jīng zài jīng yú shēn shàng fā xiàn guò dú jiǎo jīng de yá chǐ，。 dú jiǎo jīng yòng yá chǐ gōng jī jīng yú zǒng shì chéng gōng de。 yòu rén yě céng jīng cóng chuán dǐ shàng bō chū guò héng héng hǎo róng yì cái zhǎo chū lái héng héng dú jiǎo jīng de yá chǐ， tā zuàn tōng chuán dǐ jiù hǎo xiàng lì zhuī chuān tòu mù tǒng nà yàng。“ bā lí yī xué yuàn chén liè guǎn jiù cáng yòu yī méi zhè zhǒng yá chǐ， cháng liǎng mǐ 'èr shí wǔ lí mǐ， dǐ kuān sì shí bā lí mǐ !“ hǎo bā！ xiàn zài jiǎ dìng nà wǔ qì hái yào lì hài shí bèi， nà dòng wù de lì liàng hái yào dà shí bèi， rú guǒ tā de qián jìn sù dù shì měi xiǎo shí 'èr shí yīng lǐ， nà me ná tā de tǐ zhòng qù chéng tā de sù dù píng fāng， jiù néng qiú chū chōng huài sī gè tuō yà hào de nà gǔ chōng jī lì。“ yīn cǐ， zài hái méi yòu dé dào gèng duō de cái liào zhī qián， wǒ rèn wéi zhè shì yī zhǐ hǎi qí lín， zhè zhǐ hǎi qí lín shēn qū fēi cháng jù dà， shēn shàng de wǔ zhuāng bù shì jiàn jǐ， ér shì zhēn zhèng de chōng jiǎo， xiàng tiě jiá chuán huò zhàn jiàn shàng suǒ zhuāng yòu de nà yàng， tā tóng shí yòu jù bèi yòu zhàn jiàn de zhòng liàng hé dòng lì。“ zhè yàng biàn shuō míng liǎo zhè zhǒng shén mì bù kě jiě de xiàn xiàng。 héng héng huò zhě xiāng fǎn dì， bù guǎn rén men suǒ jiàn dào de、 suǒ gǎn dào de shì zěn yàng， shí jì shàng shénme dōubù shì； nà yě shì kě néng de。”
zuì hòu jǐ jù huà zhǐ néng shuō míng wǒ méi yòu zhù jiàn， kàn wèn tí yáo bǎi bù dìng； zhè shì wèile zài yī。 dìng chéng dù shàng bǎo quán wǒ jiào shòu de shēn fèn， tóng shí bù yuàn yì ràng měi guó rén xiào huà， yīn wéi měi guó rén xiào qǐ lái， shì xiàode hěn lì hài de。 wǒ yú shì zì xià zhè yī tiáo tuì lù。 qí shí wǒ shì chéng rèn zhè gè“ guài wù " de cún zài de。 wǒ de wén zhāng yǐn qǐ liǎo rè liè de tǎo lùn， chǎn shēng liǎo hěn dà de fǎn xiǎng。 hěn yòu yī bù fēn rén yōng hù tā。 ér qiě zhàng zhōng tí chū de jié lùn kě yǐ ràng rén suí biàn qù shè xiǎng， méi yòu shénme。 rén men zǒng shì duì nà xiē shén qí guài dàn de huàn xiǎng gǎn dǎo xīng qù。、 ér hǎi yáng zhèng shì zhè xiē huàn xiǎng de zuì hǎo quán yuán， yīn wéi zhǐ yòu hǎi cái shì jù dà dòng wù kě yǐ fán zhí hé chéngzhǎng de huán jìng， lù shàng de dòng wù， dà xiàng huò xī niú zhī lèi。 gēn tā men bǐ jiào qǐ lái， jiǎn zhí miǎo xiǎo dé hěn。 yī piàn wāng yáng dà hǎi lǐ： jì rán yòu wǒ men suǒ zhī dào de zuì jù dà de bǔ rǔ lèi dòng wù， shuō bù dìng yě yòu shuò dà wú bǐ de ruǎn tǐ dòng wù hé kàn qǐ lái jiào rén hài pà de jiáqiào dòng wù， rú yī bǎi mǐ cháng de dà xiā， huò 'èr bǎi dūn zhòng de páng xiè！ wèishénme bù néng yòu ní？“ cóng qián， gēn dì zhì xué jì nián tóng shí dài de lù shàng dòng wù， sì zú shòu， sì shǒu shòu， pá chóng lèi， niǎo lèi， dōushì 'àn zhào jù dà de mó xíng chuàng zào de。 zào wù zhě shuǎi gāo dà de mó xíng bǎ tā men zào chū lái， jīng guò màn cháng de suì yuè， zhè mó xíng jiàn jiàn suō xiǎo liǎo。 zài shēn bù kě cè de hǎi yáng dǐ xià（ yīn wéi hǎi yáng shì yǒng bù gēnggǎi； ér dìqiào jīhū shì bù duàn biàn huà zhe de）， wèishénme bù néng bǎo cún cóng qián lìng yī shí dài de jù dà shēng wù de pǐn zhǒng ní？ hǎi yáng nèi bù， wèishénme bù néng cáng yòu nà xiē jù dà shēng wù de zuì hòu biàn zhǒng， yǐ yī shì jì wéi yī nián， yǐ yī qiān nián wéi yī shì jì de nà xiē jù dà pǐn zhǒng ní？ wǒ yòu ràng zì jǐ jìn chén zài zhǒng zhǒng kōng xiǎng zhōng liǎo . xiàn zài yào tíng zhǐ zhè xiē kōng xiǎng， yīn wéi， zài wǒ kàn lái， shí jiān yǐ jīng bǎ zhè xiē kōng xiǎng biàn chéng wéi kě pà de xiàn shí。 wǒ zài shuō yī cì， dāng shí duì yú zhè jiàn guài shì de xìng zhì yòu zhè yī zhǒng yì jiàn， jiù shì dà jiādōu yī zhì chéng rèn yòu yī zhǒng shén qí dōng xī de cún zài， ér zhè zhǒng dōng xī hé guài dàn de dà hǎi shé bìng méi yòu sī háo gòng tóng zhī diǎn。 kě shì， jìn guǎn yòu yī xiē rén bǎ zhè shì kàn chéng shì yī gè dài jiě jué de chún cuì kē xué wèn tí， dàn lìng yī xiē bǐ jiào zhù yì shí lì de rén， tè bié zài měi guó hé yīng guó， zhè lèi rén hěn duō， tā men zhù zhāng bǎ hǎi yáng shàng zhè gè kě pà de guài wù qīng chú lüè， shǐ hǎi shàng jiāo tōng de 'ān quán huò dé bǎo zhàng。 tè bié shì gōng shāng jiè de bào kān， dū cóng zhè gè guān diǎn lái yán jiū zhè gè wèn tí。《 háng yè shāng qíng zá zhì》 ,<< lái yǐ tè gōng sī háng hǎi zá zhì》、《 yóu chuán zá zhì》、《 hǎi yáng zhí mín zá zhì》 yǐ jí wéi bǎo xiǎn gōng sī xuān chuán gōng sī yào tí gāo bǎo xiǎn fèi de nà xiē bào zhǐ， duì yú qīng chú guài wù zhè yī diǎn， dū yī zhì biǎo shì tóng yì。 gōng zhòng de yì jiàn yī tí chū lái， běi měi hé zhòng guó shǒu xiān fā biǎo liǎo shēng míng， yào zài niǔ yuē zuò zhǔn bèi， zǔ zhì qīng chú dú jiǎo jīng de yuǎn zhēng duì。 yī sōu zhuāng yòu chōng jiǎo de gāo sù dù de 'èr jí zhàn jiàn lín kěn hào dìng yú zuì jìn de qī jiān shǐ chū hǎi miàn。 gè zào chuán chǎng dū gěi fǎ lā gǔ sī lìng gōng yǐ zhǒng zhǒng biàn lì， bāng zhù tā zǎo yī tiān bǎ zhè sōu 'èr jí zhàn jiàn zhuāng bèi qǐ lái。 shì qíng wǎng wǎng jiù shì zhè yàng， děng rén men jué dìng yào zhuī gǎn zhè guài wù de shí hòu。 guài wù zài yě bù chū xiàn liǎo。 zài liǎng gè yuè de shí jiān nèi， shuídōu méi yòu dé dào guài wù de xiāo xī， yě méi yòu hǎi chuán pèng jiàn tā。 hǎo xiàng zhè tiáo hǎi qí lín yǐ jīng dé dào liǎo rén men zhǔn bèi jìn gōng tā de qíng bào。 yīn wéi dà jiā shuō dé dà duō liǎo， shèn zhì yú yòng dà xī yáng de hǎi dǐ diàn xiàn lái shuō！ suǒ yǐ， xǐ huān shuō xiào huà de rén shuō， zhè gè jīng líng de dōng xī yī dìng zài zhōng tú tōu tīng liǎo diàn bào， xiàn zài tā qǐ jǐ yòu liǎo fáng bèi。 bù zài suí biàn chū lái。 yīn cǐ， zhè sōu yòng zuò yuǎn zhēng 'ér qiě zhuāng yòu qiáng dà dǎ yú jī de 'èr jí zhàn jiàn , xiàn zài bù zhī dào xiàng nǎ lǐ kāi cái hǎo。 dà jiā yuè lái yuè bù nài fán liǎo， hū rán， 7 yuè 2 rì， jiù jīn shān lún chuán gōng sī cóng jiā lì fú ní yà kāi wǎng shàng hǎi de yī zhǐ qì chuán táng bǐ gé hào， sān xīng qī qián zài tài píng yáng běi bù de hǎi miàn shàng yòu kàn jiàn liǎo zhè： gè dōng xī。 zhè xiāo xī yǐn qǐ liǎo jí dà de sāo dòng。 dà jiā yào fǎ lā gǔ sī lìng gōng lì jí chū fā， èr shí sì xiǎo shí de chí yán dōubù xǔ kě。 chuán zhōng rì yòng pǐn quán zhuāng shàng qù liǎo， cāng dǐ yě zài mǎn liǎo méi。 chuán shàng gè bù mén de rén yuán yī gè yě bù shǎo， dū dào qí liǎo。 xiàn zài zhǐ děng shēng huǒ， jiā rè， jiě lǎn liǎo： dà jiā bù róng xǔ zhè chuán zài yòu： bàn tiān de yán qī： zài shuō， fǎ lā gǔ sī lìng gōng běn rén yě bā bù dé mǎ shàng jiù chū fā！ zài zhū kěn hào lí kāi bù luò kè wà mǎ tóu zhī qián sān xiǎo shí， wǒ shōu dào yī fēng xìn， xìn de nèi róng rú xià：。“ dì jiāo niǔ yuē dì wǔ hào lù lǚ guǎn， bā lí zì rán kē xué bó wù guǎn jiào shòu 'ā lóng nà sī xiān shēng。 xiān shēng： rú guǒ nín tóng yì jiā rù lín kěn hào yuǎn zhēng duì， hé zhòng guó zhèng fǔ hěn yuàn yì kàn dào zhè cì yuǎn zhēng yòu nín dài biǎo fǎ guó cān jiā。 fǎ lā gǔ sī lìng guān yǐ liú xià chuán shàng yī gè cāng fáng gōng nín shǐ yòng。 hǎi jūn bù cháng hé bó xùn jìng qǐ。”
In essence, over a period of time several ships had encountered "an enormous thing" at sea, a long spindle-shaped object, sometimes giving off a phosphorescent glow, infinitely bigger and faster than any whale.
The relevant data on this apparition, as recorded in various logbooks, agreed pretty closely as to the structure of the object or creature in question, its unprecedented speed of movement, its startling locomotive power, and the unique vitality with which it seemed to be gifted. If it was a cetacean, it exceeded in bulk any whale previously classified by science. No naturalist, neither Cuvier nor Lacépède, neither Professor Dumeril nor Professor de Quatrefages, would have accepted the existence of such a monster sight unseen-- specifically, unseen by their own scientific eyes.
Striking an average of observations taken at different times-- rejecting those timid estimates that gave the object a length of 200 feet, and ignoring those exaggerated views that saw it as a mile wide and three long--you could still assert that this phenomenal creature greatly exceeded the dimensions of anything then known to ichthyologists, if it existed at all.
Now then, it did exist, this was an undeniable fact; and since the human mind dotes on objects of wonder, you can understand the worldwide excitement caused by this unearthly apparition. As for relegating it to the realm of fiction, that charge had to be dropped.
In essence, on July 20, 1866, the steamer Governor Higginson, from the Calcutta & Burnach Steam Navigation Co., encountered this moving mass five miles off the eastern shores of Australia.
Captain Baker at first thought he was in the presence of an unknown reef; he was even about to fix its exact position when two waterspouts shot out of this inexplicable object and sprang hissing into the air some 150 feet. So, unless this reef was subject to the intermittent eruptions of a geyser, the Governor Higginson had fair and honest dealings with some aquatic mammal, until then unknown, that could spurt from its blowholes waterspouts mixed with air and steam.
Similar events were likewise observed in Pacific seas, on July 23 of the same year, by the Christopher Columbus from the West India & Pacific Steam Navigation Co. Consequently, this extraordinary cetacean could transfer itself from one locality to another with startling swiftness, since within an interval of just three days, the Governor Higginson and the Christopher Columbus had observed it at two positions on the charts separated by a distance of more than 700 nautical leagues.
Fifteen days later and 2,000 leagues farther, the Helvetia from the Compagnie Nationale and the Shannon from the Royal Mail line, running on opposite tacks in that part of the Atlantic lying between the United States and Europe, respectively signaled each other that the monster had been sighted in latitude 42 degrees 15' north and longitude 60 degrees 35' west of the meridian of Greenwich. From their simultaneous observations, they were able to estimate the mammal's minimum length at more than 350 English feet;* this was because both the Shannon and the Helvetia were of smaller dimensions, although each measured 100 meters stem to stern. Now then, the biggest whales, those rorqual whales that frequent the waterways of the Aleutian Islands, have never exceeded a length of 56 meters--if they reach even that.
*Author's Note: About 106 meters. An English foot is only 30.4 centimeters.
One after another, reports arrived that would profoundly affect public opinion: new observations taken by the transatlantic liner Pereire, the Inman line's Etna running afoul of the monster, an official report drawn up by officers on the French frigate Normandy, dead-earnest reckonings obtained by the general staff of Commodore Fitz-James aboard the Lord Clyde. In lighthearted countries, people joked about this phenomenon, but such serious, practical countries as England, America, and Germany were deeply concerned.
In every big city the monster was the latest rage; they sang about it in the coffee houses, they ridiculed it in the newspapers, they dramatized it in the theaters. The tabloids found it a fine opportunity for hatching all sorts of hoaxes. In those newspapers short of copy, you saw the reappearance of every gigantic imaginary creature, from "Moby Dick," that dreadful white whale from the High Arctic regions, to the stupendous kraken whose tentacles could entwine a 500-ton craft and drag it into the ocean depths. They even reprinted reports from ancient times: the views of Aristotle and Pliny accepting the existence of such monsters, then the Norwegian stories of Bishop Pontoppidan, the narratives of Paul Egede, and finally the reports of Captain Harrington-- whose good faith is above suspicion--in which he claims he saw, while aboard the Castilian in 1857, one of those enormous serpents that, until then, had frequented only the seas of France's old extremist newspaper, The Constitutionalist.
An interminable debate then broke out between believers and skeptics in the scholarly societies and scientific journals. The "monster question" inflamed all minds. During this memorable campaign, journalists making a profession of science battled with those making a profession of wit, spilling waves of ink and some of them even two or three drops of blood, since they went from sea serpents to the most offensive personal remarks.
For six months the war seesawed. With inexhaustible zest, the popular press took potshots at feature articles from the Geographic Institute of Brazil, the Royal Academy of Science in Berlin, the British Association, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., at discussions in The Indian Archipelago, in Cosmos published by Father Moigno, in Petermann's Mittheilungen,* and at scientific chronicles in the great French and foreign newspapers. When the monster's detractors cited a saying by the botanist Linnaeus that "nature doesn't make leaps," witty writers in the popular periodicals parodied it, maintaining in essence that "nature doesn't make lunatics," and ordering their contemporaries never to give the lie to nature by believing in krakens, sea serpents, "Moby Dicks," and other all-out efforts from drunken seamen. Finally, in a much-feared satirical journal, an article by its most popular columnist finished off the monster for good, spurning it in the style of Hippolytus repulsing the amorous advances of his stepmother Phaedra, and giving the creature its quietus amid a universal burst of laughter. Wit had defeated science.
*German: "Bulletin." Ed.
During the first months of the year 1867, the question seemed to be buried, and it didn't seem due for resurrection, when new facts were brought to the public's attention. But now it was no longer an issue of a scientific problem to be solved, but a quite real and serious danger to be avoided. The question took an entirely new turn. The monster again became an islet, rock, or reef, but a runaway reef, unfixed and elusive.
On March 5, 1867, the Moravian from the Montreal Ocean Co., lying during the night in latitude 27 degrees 30' and longitude 72 degrees 15', ran its starboard quarter afoul of a rock marked on no charts of these waterways. Under the combined efforts of wind and 400-horsepower steam, it was traveling at a speed of thirteen knots. Without the high quality of its hull, the Moravian would surely have split open from this collision and gone down together with those 237 passengers it was bringing back from Canada.
This accident happened around five o'clock in the morning, just as day was beginning to break. The officers on watch rushed to the craft's stern. They examined the ocean with the most scrupulous care. They saw nothing except a strong eddy breaking three cable lengths out, as if those sheets of water had been violently churned. The site's exact bearings were taken, and the Moravian continued on course apparently undamaged. Had it run afoul of an underwater rock or the wreckage of some enormous derelict ship? They were unable to say. But when they examined its undersides in the service yard, they discovered that part of its keel had been smashed.
This occurrence, extremely serious in itself, might perhaps have been forgotten like so many others, if three weeks later it hadn't been reenacted under identical conditions. Only, thanks to the nationality of the ship victimized by this new ramming, and thanks to the reputation of the company to which this ship belonged, the event caused an immense uproar.
No one is unaware of the name of that famous English shipowner, Cunard. In 1840 this shrewd industrialist founded a postal service between Liverpool and Halifax, featuring three wooden ships with 400-horsepower paddle wheels and a burden of 1,162 metric tons. Eight years later, the company's assets were increased by four 650-horsepower ships at 1,820 metric tons, and in two more years, by two other vessels of still greater power and tonnage. In 1853 the Cunard Co., whose mail-carrying charter had just been renewed, successively added to its assets the Arabia, the Persia, the China, the Scotia, the Java, and the Russia, all ships of top speed and, after the Great Eastern, the biggest ever to plow the seas. So in 1867 this company owned twelve ships, eight with paddle wheels and four with propellers.
If I give these highly condensed details, it is so everyone can fully understand the importance of this maritime transportation company, known the world over for its shrewd management. No transoceanic navigational undertaking has been conducted with more ability, no business dealings have been crowned with greater success. In twenty-six years Cunard ships have made 2,000 Atlantic crossings without so much as a voyage canceled, a delay recorded, a man, a craft, or even a letter lost. Accordingly, despite strong competition from France, passengers still choose the Cunard line in preference to all others, as can be seen in a recent survey of official documents. Given this, no one will be astonished at the uproar provoked by this accident involving one of its finest steamers.
On April 13, 1867, with a smooth sea and a moderate breeze, the Scotia lay in longitude 15 degrees 12' and latitude 45 degrees 37'. It was traveling at a speed of 13.43 knots under the thrust of its 1,000-horsepower engines. Its paddle wheels were churning the sea with perfect steadiness. It was then drawing 6.7 meters of water and displacing 6,624 cubic meters.
At 4:17 in the afternoon, during a high tea for passengers gathered in the main lounge, a collision occurred, scarcely noticeable on the whole, affecting the Scotia's hull in that quarter a little astern of its port paddle wheel.
The Scotia hadn't run afoul of something, it had been fouled, and by a cutting or perforating instrument rather than a blunt one. This encounter seemed so minor that nobody on board would have been disturbed by it, had it not been for the shouts of crewmen in the hold, who climbed on deck yelling:
"We're sinking! We're sinking!"
At first the passengers were quite frightened, but Captain Anderson hastened to reassure them. In fact, there could be no immediate danger. Divided into seven compartments by watertight bulkheads, the Scotia could brave any leak with impunity.
Captain Anderson immediately made his way into the hold. He discovered that the fifth compartment had been invaded by the sea, and the speed of this invasion proved that the leak was considerable. Fortunately this compartment didn't contain the boilers, because their furnaces would have been abruptly extinguished.
Captain Anderson called an immediate halt, and one of his sailors dived down to assess the damage. Within moments they had located a hole two meters in width on the steamer's underside. Such a leak could not be patched, and with its paddle wheels half swamped, the Scotia had no choice but to continue its voyage. By then it lay 300 miles from Cape Clear, and after three days of delay that filled Liverpool with acute anxiety, it entered the company docks.
The engineers then proceeded to inspect the Scotia, which had been put in dry dock. They couldn't believe their eyes. Two and a half meters below its waterline, there gaped a symmetrical gash in the shape of an isosceles triangle. This breach in the sheet iron was so perfectly formed, no punch could have done a cleaner job of it. Consequently, it must have been produced by a perforating tool of uncommon toughness-- plus, after being launched with prodigious power and then piercing four centimeters of sheet iron, this tool had needed to withdraw itself by a backward motion truly inexplicable.
This was the last straw, and it resulted in arousing public passions all over again. Indeed, from this moment on, any maritime casualty without an established cause was charged to the monster's account. This outrageous animal had to shoulder responsibility for all derelict vessels, whose numbers are unfortunately considerable, since out of those 3,000 ships whose losses are recorded annually at the marine insurance bureau, the figure for steam or sailing ships supposedly lost with all hands, in the absence of any news, amounts to at least 200!
Now then, justly or unjustly, it was the "monster" who stood accused of their disappearance; and since, thanks to it, travel between the various continents had become more and more dangerous, the public spoke up and demanded straight out that, at all cost, the seas be purged of this fearsome cetacean.