人们一定还记得1866年海上发生的一件离奇的、神秘的、无法解释的怪事。且不说当时哄动沿海居民和世界的各种传闻，这里只说一般航海人员特别激动的心情。欧美的进出口商人、船长和船主、各国的海军官佐以及这两大洲的各国政府都非常注意这件事。
这事大体是这样：不久以前，好些大船在海上碰见了一一个“庞然大物”，一个很长的物体，形状很像纺锤，有时发出磷光，它的体积比鲸鱼大得多，行动起来也比鲸鱼快得多。关于这个东西的出现，许多航海日志所记下的事实（如这个东西或这个生物的形状，在它运动时的难以估计的速度，它转移的惊人力量，它那种像是夭生的特殊本领等等），大致是相同的。如果这东西是鲸鱼类动物，那么它的体积：是大大超过了生物学家曾经加以分类的鲸鱼。居维埃①、。
·拉色别德①、杜梅里②、卡特法日③，这些生物学家一一除非看见过，也就是说，除非这些科学家本人的眼睛看见过——是不承认有这样一种怪物存在的。
把多次观察的结果折中一下来看———方面丢开那些过低的估计，即这个东西只有二百英尺长，同时也不接受过于夸张的言论，即它有一英里。宽三英里长，——我们可以肯定他说，这个奇怪的生物，如果真是存在的话，它的体积是大大超过鱼类学家所承认的体积的。这东西既然存在，而事实本身又是不可否认的，那么，由于人类好奇的心理，我们就不难理解这个怪物的出现会在全世界引起怎样的骚动。至于说这是荒唐无稽之谈，那是决不会有人同意的。
因为，1866年7月20日，加尔各答一布纳希汽船公司的喜金孙总督号，在澳大利亚海岸东边五英里，碰见了这个游动的巨大物体。巴克船长起初还以为这是没有人知道的、暗礁，他正要测定它的位置的时候，突然这个不可解释的物体喷出两道水柱，哗的一声射到空中一百五十英尺高。这么说，除非这座暗礁上边有间歇喷泉，不然的话，喜金孙总督号面前的东西，就是还没有人知道的一种海中哺乳类动物，它还从鼻孔中喷出有气泡的水柱呢。
同年7月23日，西印度-太平洋汽船公司的克利斯托巴尔哥郎号，在太平洋上也碰到这样的事。喜金孙总督号看见这怪物以后三天，克利斯托巴尔哥郎号在相距七百里的地方也看见了它，由此可知，这个奇特的鲸鱼类动物能以掠人的速度从这一处转移到另一处。
十五天以后，在离上面说的地点有两千里远的地方，国营轮船公司的海尔维地亚号和皇家邮船公司的山农号，在美国和欧洲之间的大西洋海面上相遇的时候，在北纬42度15分、西经60度35分的地方，同时看到了这个大怪物。根据两船同时观察得到的结果，估计这只哺乳动物的长度至少有三百五十多英尺（约一百零六米），因为山农号和海尔维地亚号两船连起来，都还比它短，两船从头至尾只有一百米长。可是，最长的鲸鱼，像常常出役于阿留申群岛的久阑马克岛和翁居里克岛①附近海面的那些鲸鱼，也只不过是五十六米，而比这再长的，从来就没有过。
接连不断地传来的消息，横渡大西洋的贝雷尔号所做的种种观察，茵曼轮船公司的越提那号跟这个怪物的一次相碰，法国二级军舰诺曼第号军官们所写的记录，海军高级参谋弗兹一詹姆斯在克利德爵士号上所做的很精密的测算，这一切在当时的确曾经哄动一时。在民族性比较浮躁的国家里，大家都拿这件事作为谈笑资料，但在严肃和踏实的国家里，像英国、美国和德国就不同，它们对这事就非常关心。
在各大城市里，这怪物变成了家喻户晓的事件。咖啡馆里歌唱它，报刊上嘲笑它，舞台上扮演它。谣言正好有了机会，从这怪物身上捏造出各种各样的奇闻。在一些发行量不多的报刊上，出现了关于各种离奇的巨大动物的报道，从白鲸、北极海中可怕的“莫比·狄克”①一直到庞大的“克拉肯”②——这种怪鱼的触须可以缠住一只载重五百吨的船而把它拖到海底下去——都应有尽有。有些人甚至不惜引经据典，或者搬出古代的传说如亚里士多德③和蒲林尼④的见解（他们承认这类怪物的存在）：或者搬出彭土皮丹主教⑤的挪威童话，保罗·埃纪德的记述，以及哈林顿的报告；这报告是不容怀疑的，他说，1857年，他在嘉斯第兰号上看见过一种大蛇，那种蛇以前只在那立宪号到过的海面上⑤才能看见。
于是，在学术团体里和科学报刊中产生了相信者和怀疑者，这两派人无休止地争论着。“怪物问题”激动着人们。
自以为懂科学的新闻记者和一向自以为多才的文人开起火来，他们在这次值得纪念的笔战中花费了不少的墨水！甚至有几个人还流了两三滴血，因为有人把针对大海蛇的笔锋移向一些态度傲慢的家伙身上了。
在六个月当中，争论继续着。彼此有理，各执一词。当时流行的小报都兴致勃勃地刊登争论的文章，它们不是攻击巴西地理学院、柏林皇家科学院、不列颠学术联合会或华盛顿斯密孙学院发表的权威论文，就是驳斥印度群岛报、摩亚诺神父的宇宙杂志、皮德曼的消息报里面的讨论和法国及其他各国大报刊的科学新闻。这些多才的作家故意曲解反对派也常引证的林奈①的一句话：“大自然不制造蠢东西”；恳求大家不要相信北海的大怪鱼、大海蛇、“莫比·狄克”和疯狂的海员们臆造出来的其它怪物的存在，不要因此而否定了大自然。最后，某一著名尖刻的讽刺报有一位最受欢迎的编辑先生草草了事地发表一篇文章，处理了这个怪物；他像夷包列提②那样，在大家的笑声中，给这佳物最后一次打击、把它结果了。于是机智战胜了科学。
在1867年头几个月里，这个问题好像是人了土，不会再复洁了。但就在这个时候，人们又听说发生了一些新的事件。现在的问题并不是一个急待解决的科学问题，而是必须认真设法避免的一个危险。问题带了完全不同的面貌。这个怪物变成了小岛、岩石、暗礁，但它是会奔驰的、不可捉摸的、行动莫测的暗礁。
1867年8月5日，蒙特利奥航海公司的摩拉维安号夜间驶到北纬27度30分、西经72度15分的地方，船右舷撞上了一座岩石，可是，任何地图也没有记载过这一带海面上有这座岩石。由于风力的助航和四百匹马力的推动，船的速度达到每小时十三海里。毫无疑问，如果不是船身质地优良，特别坚固，摩拉维安号被撞以后，一定要把它从加拿大载来的二百三十六名乘客一齐带到海底去。
事故发生在早晨五点左右天刚破晓的时候。船上值班的海员们立即跑到船的后部；他们十分细心地观察海面。
除了有个六百多米宽的大漩涡——好像水面受过猛烈的冲击——以外，他们什么也没有看见，只把事故发生的地点确切地记了下来。摩拉维安号继续航行，似乎并没有受到什么损伤。·它是撞上了暗礁呢，还是撞上了一只沉没的破船？
当时没有法子知道。后来到船坞检查了船底，才发现一部分龙骨折断了。
这事实本身是十分严重的，可是，如果不是过了三个星期后，在相同的情况下又发生了相同的事件，它很可能跟许多其他的事件一样很快被人忘掉了。接着又发生的那一次撞船的事件，单单由于受害船的国籍和它所属公司的声望，就足以引起十分广泛的反响。
英国著名的船主苟纳尔的名字是没有一个人不知道伪。这位精明的企业家早在1840年就创办了一家邮船公司，开辟了从利物浦到哈利法克斯①的航线，当时只有三艘四百匹马力、载重一千一百六十二吨的明轮木船。八年以后，公司扩大了，共有四艘六百五十匹马力、载重一千八百二十吨的船。再过两年，又添了两艘马力和载重量更大的船，1853年，苟纳尔公司继续取得装运政府邮件的特权，一连添造了阿拉伯号、波斯号、中国号、斯备脱亚号、爪哇号、俄罗斯号，这些都是头等的快船，而且是最宽大的，除了大东方号外，在海上航行的船没有能跟它们相比的。到1867年，这家公司一共有十二艘船～八艘明轮的，四艘暗轮的。我所以要把上面的情形简单地介绍一下，是要大家知道这家海运公司的重要性。它由于经营得法，是全世界都闻名的。任何航海企业，没有比这公司搞得更精明，经营得更成功的了。二十六年来，苟纳尔公司的船在大西洋上航行了两千次，没有一次航行不达目的地，没有一次发生迟误，从没有遗失过一封信，损失过一个人或一只船。，因此，，尽管法国竭力要抢它的生意，但是乘客们都一致愿意搭苟纳尔公司的船，这点从近年来官方的统计文献中就可以看出来。了解这情形以后，便没有人奇怪这家公司的一只汽船遭遇到意外事件会引起那么巨大的反响。
1867年4月13日，海很平静，风又是顺风，斯备脱亚号在西经15度12分、北纬45度37分的海面上行驶着。它在一千匹马力的发动机推动下，速度为每小时十三海里半。
它的机轮在海中转动，完全正常。它当时的吃水深度是6米70厘米，排水量是6，685方米。
下午四点十六分，乘客们正在大厅中吃点心的时候，在斯各脱亚号船尾、左舷机轮后面一点，似乎发生了轻微的撞击。
斯各脱亚号不是撞上了什么，而是被什么撞上了。憧它的不是敲击的器械而是钻凿的器械。这次冲撞是十分轻微的，要不是管船舱的人员跑到甲板上来喊：“船要沉了：船要沉了！”也许船上的人谁也不会在意。
旅客们起初十分惊慌，但船长安德生很快就使他们安稳下来。危险并不会立刻就发生。斯各脱亚号由防水板分为七大间，一点也不在乎个把漏洞。
安德生船长立即跑到舱底下去。他查出第五间被海水浸人了，海水浸入十分快，证明漏洞相当大。好在这间里没有蒸汽炉，不然的话，炉火就要熄灭了。
安德生船长吩咐马上停船，并且命令一个潜水员下水检查船身的损坏情形。一会儿，他知道船底有一个长两米的大洞。这样一个裂口是没法堵住的，斯各脱亚号尽管机轮有一半浸在水里，但也必须继续行驶。当时船离克利亚峡还有三百海里，等船驶进公司的码头，已经误了三天期，在这三天里，利物浦的人都为它惶惶不安。
斯各脱亚号被架了起来，工程师们开始检查。他们眼睛所看见的情形连自己也不能相信。在船身吃水线下两米半的地方，露出一个很规则的等边三角形的缺口。铁皮上的伤痕十分整齐，、就是钻孔机也不能凿得这么准确，弄成这个裂口的锐利器械一定不是用普通的钢铁制的，因为，这家伙在以惊人的力量向前猛撞，凿穿了四厘米厚的铁皮以后、还能用一种很难做到的后退动作，使自己脱身逃走。
最近这次事件的经过大致就是这样。结果这又一次使哄动起来。从这时候起，所有从前原因不明的航海遇难事件，现在都算在这个怪物的账上了。这只离奇古怪的动物于是负起了所有船只沉没的责任。不幸的是船沉的数目相当大，按照统计年鉴的记载，包括帆船和汽船在内，每年的损失约有三千艘左右，至于因下落不明而断定失踪：的，每年的数目也不下两百艘！
不管有没有冤枉这怪物，人们都把船只失踪的原因算在它身上。由于它的存在，五大洲间的海上交通越来越危险了，大家都坚决要求不惜任何代价清除海上这条可怕盼鲸鱼怪。
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
这事大体是这样：不久以前，好些大船在海上碰见了一一个“庞然大物”，一个很长的物体，形状很像纺锤，有时发出磷光，它的体积比鲸鱼大得多，行动起来也比鲸鱼快得多。关于这个东西的出现，许多航海日志所记下的事实（如这个东西或这个生物的形状，在它运动时的难以估计的速度，它转移的惊人力量，它那种像是夭生的特殊本领等等），大致是相同的。如果这东西是鲸鱼类动物，那么它的体积：是大大超过了生物学家曾经加以分类的鲸鱼。居维埃①、。
·拉色别德①、杜梅里②、卡特法日③，这些生物学家一一除非看见过，也就是说，除非这些科学家本人的眼睛看见过——是不承认有这样一种怪物存在的。
把多次观察的结果折中一下来看———方面丢开那些过低的估计，即这个东西只有二百英尺长，同时也不接受过于夸张的言论，即它有一英里。宽三英里长，——我们可以肯定他说，这个奇怪的生物，如果真是存在的话，它的体积是大大超过鱼类学家所承认的体积的。这东西既然存在，而事实本身又是不可否认的，那么，由于人类好奇的心理，我们就不难理解这个怪物的出现会在全世界引起怎样的骚动。至于说这是荒唐无稽之谈，那是决不会有人同意的。
因为，1866年7月20日，加尔各答一布纳希汽船公司的喜金孙总督号，在澳大利亚海岸东边五英里，碰见了这个游动的巨大物体。巴克船长起初还以为这是没有人知道的、暗礁，他正要测定它的位置的时候，突然这个不可解释的物体喷出两道水柱，哗的一声射到空中一百五十英尺高。这么说，除非这座暗礁上边有间歇喷泉，不然的话，喜金孙总督号面前的东西，就是还没有人知道的一种海中哺乳类动物，它还从鼻孔中喷出有气泡的水柱呢。
同年7月23日，西印度-太平洋汽船公司的克利斯托巴尔哥郎号，在太平洋上也碰到这样的事。喜金孙总督号看见这怪物以后三天，克利斯托巴尔哥郎号在相距七百里的地方也看见了它，由此可知，这个奇特的鲸鱼类动物能以掠人的速度从这一处转移到另一处。
十五天以后，在离上面说的地点有两千里远的地方，国营轮船公司的海尔维地亚号和皇家邮船公司的山农号，在美国和欧洲之间的大西洋海面上相遇的时候，在北纬42度15分、西经60度35分的地方，同时看到了这个大怪物。根据两船同时观察得到的结果，估计这只哺乳动物的长度至少有三百五十多英尺（约一百零六米），因为山农号和海尔维地亚号两船连起来，都还比它短，两船从头至尾只有一百米长。可是，最长的鲸鱼，像常常出役于阿留申群岛的久阑马克岛和翁居里克岛①附近海面的那些鲸鱼，也只不过是五十六米，而比这再长的，从来就没有过。
接连不断地传来的消息，横渡大西洋的贝雷尔号所做的种种观察，茵曼轮船公司的越提那号跟这个怪物的一次相碰，法国二级军舰诺曼第号军官们所写的记录，海军高级参谋弗兹一詹姆斯在克利德爵士号上所做的很精密的测算，这一切在当时的确曾经哄动一时。在民族性比较浮躁的国家里，大家都拿这件事作为谈笑资料，但在严肃和踏实的国家里，像英国、美国和德国就不同，它们对这事就非常关心。
在各大城市里，这怪物变成了家喻户晓的事件。咖啡馆里歌唱它，报刊上嘲笑它，舞台上扮演它。谣言正好有了机会，从这怪物身上捏造出各种各样的奇闻。在一些发行量不多的报刊上，出现了关于各种离奇的巨大动物的报道，从白鲸、北极海中可怕的“莫比·狄克”①一直到庞大的“克拉肯”②——这种怪鱼的触须可以缠住一只载重五百吨的船而把它拖到海底下去——都应有尽有。有些人甚至不惜引经据典，或者搬出古代的传说如亚里士多德③和蒲林尼④的见解（他们承认这类怪物的存在）：或者搬出彭土皮丹主教⑤的挪威童话，保罗·埃纪德的记述，以及哈林顿的报告；这报告是不容怀疑的，他说，1857年，他在嘉斯第兰号上看见过一种大蛇，那种蛇以前只在那立宪号到过的海面上⑤才能看见。
于是，在学术团体里和科学报刊中产生了相信者和怀疑者，这两派人无休止地争论着。“怪物问题”激动着人们。
自以为懂科学的新闻记者和一向自以为多才的文人开起火来，他们在这次值得纪念的笔战中花费了不少的墨水！甚至有几个人还流了两三滴血，因为有人把针对大海蛇的笔锋移向一些态度傲慢的家伙身上了。
在六个月当中，争论继续着。彼此有理，各执一词。当时流行的小报都兴致勃勃地刊登争论的文章，它们不是攻击巴西地理学院、柏林皇家科学院、不列颠学术联合会或华盛顿斯密孙学院发表的权威论文，就是驳斥印度群岛报、摩亚诺神父的宇宙杂志、皮德曼的消息报里面的讨论和法国及其他各国大报刊的科学新闻。这些多才的作家故意曲解反对派也常引证的林奈①的一句话：“大自然不制造蠢东西”；恳求大家不要相信北海的大怪鱼、大海蛇、“莫比·狄克”和疯狂的海员们臆造出来的其它怪物的存在，不要因此而否定了大自然。最后，某一著名尖刻的讽刺报有一位最受欢迎的编辑先生草草了事地发表一篇文章，处理了这个怪物；他像夷包列提②那样，在大家的笑声中，给这佳物最后一次打击、把它结果了。于是机智战胜了科学。
在1867年头几个月里，这个问题好像是人了土，不会再复洁了。但就在这个时候，人们又听说发生了一些新的事件。现在的问题并不是一个急待解决的科学问题，而是必须认真设法避免的一个危险。问题带了完全不同的面貌。这个怪物变成了小岛、岩石、暗礁，但它是会奔驰的、不可捉摸的、行动莫测的暗礁。
1867年8月5日，蒙特利奥航海公司的摩拉维安号夜间驶到北纬27度30分、西经72度15分的地方，船右舷撞上了一座岩石，可是，任何地图也没有记载过这一带海面上有这座岩石。由于风力的助航和四百匹马力的推动，船的速度达到每小时十三海里。毫无疑问，如果不是船身质地优良，特别坚固，摩拉维安号被撞以后，一定要把它从加拿大载来的二百三十六名乘客一齐带到海底去。
事故发生在早晨五点左右天刚破晓的时候。船上值班的海员们立即跑到船的后部；他们十分细心地观察海面。
除了有个六百多米宽的大漩涡——好像水面受过猛烈的冲击——以外，他们什么也没有看见，只把事故发生的地点确切地记了下来。摩拉维安号继续航行，似乎并没有受到什么损伤。·它是撞上了暗礁呢，还是撞上了一只沉没的破船？
当时没有法子知道。后来到船坞检查了船底，才发现一部分龙骨折断了。
这事实本身是十分严重的，可是，如果不是过了三个星期后，在相同的情况下又发生了相同的事件，它很可能跟许多其他的事件一样很快被人忘掉了。接着又发生的那一次撞船的事件，单单由于受害船的国籍和它所属公司的声望，就足以引起十分广泛的反响。
英国著名的船主苟纳尔的名字是没有一个人不知道伪。这位精明的企业家早在1840年就创办了一家邮船公司，开辟了从利物浦到哈利法克斯①的航线，当时只有三艘四百匹马力、载重一千一百六十二吨的明轮木船。八年以后，公司扩大了，共有四艘六百五十匹马力、载重一千八百二十吨的船。再过两年，又添了两艘马力和载重量更大的船，1853年，苟纳尔公司继续取得装运政府邮件的特权，一连添造了阿拉伯号、波斯号、中国号、斯备脱亚号、爪哇号、俄罗斯号，这些都是头等的快船，而且是最宽大的，除了大东方号外，在海上航行的船没有能跟它们相比的。到1867年，这家公司一共有十二艘船～八艘明轮的，四艘暗轮的。我所以要把上面的情形简单地介绍一下，是要大家知道这家海运公司的重要性。它由于经营得法，是全世界都闻名的。任何航海企业，没有比这公司搞得更精明，经营得更成功的了。二十六年来，苟纳尔公司的船在大西洋上航行了两千次，没有一次航行不达目的地，没有一次发生迟误，从没有遗失过一封信，损失过一个人或一只船。，因此，，尽管法国竭力要抢它的生意，但是乘客们都一致愿意搭苟纳尔公司的船，这点从近年来官方的统计文献中就可以看出来。了解这情形以后，便没有人奇怪这家公司的一只汽船遭遇到意外事件会引起那么巨大的反响。
1867年4月13日，海很平静，风又是顺风，斯备脱亚号在西经15度12分、北纬45度37分的海面上行驶着。它在一千匹马力的发动机推动下，速度为每小时十三海里半。
它的机轮在海中转动，完全正常。它当时的吃水深度是6米70厘米，排水量是6，685方米。
下午四点十六分，乘客们正在大厅中吃点心的时候，在斯各脱亚号船尾、左舷机轮后面一点，似乎发生了轻微的撞击。
斯各脱亚号不是撞上了什么，而是被什么撞上了。憧它的不是敲击的器械而是钻凿的器械。这次冲撞是十分轻微的，要不是管船舱的人员跑到甲板上来喊：“船要沉了：船要沉了！”也许船上的人谁也不会在意。
旅客们起初十分惊慌，但船长安德生很快就使他们安稳下来。危险并不会立刻就发生。斯各脱亚号由防水板分为七大间，一点也不在乎个把漏洞。
安德生船长立即跑到舱底下去。他查出第五间被海水浸人了，海水浸入十分快，证明漏洞相当大。好在这间里没有蒸汽炉，不然的话，炉火就要熄灭了。
安德生船长吩咐马上停船，并且命令一个潜水员下水检查船身的损坏情形。一会儿，他知道船底有一个长两米的大洞。这样一个裂口是没法堵住的，斯各脱亚号尽管机轮有一半浸在水里，但也必须继续行驶。当时船离克利亚峡还有三百海里，等船驶进公司的码头，已经误了三天期，在这三天里，利物浦的人都为它惶惶不安。
斯各脱亚号被架了起来，工程师们开始检查。他们眼睛所看见的情形连自己也不能相信。在船身吃水线下两米半的地方，露出一个很规则的等边三角形的缺口。铁皮上的伤痕十分整齐，、就是钻孔机也不能凿得这么准确，弄成这个裂口的锐利器械一定不是用普通的钢铁制的，因为，这家伙在以惊人的力量向前猛撞，凿穿了四厘米厚的铁皮以后、还能用一种很难做到的后退动作，使自己脱身逃走。
最近这次事件的经过大致就是这样。结果这又一次使哄动起来。从这时候起，所有从前原因不明的航海遇难事件，现在都算在这个怪物的账上了。这只离奇古怪的动物于是负起了所有船只沉没的责任。不幸的是船沉的数目相当大，按照统计年鉴的记载，包括帆船和汽船在内，每年的损失约有三千艘左右，至于因下落不明而断定失踪：的，每年的数目也不下两百艘！
不管有没有冤枉这怪物，人们都把船只失踪的原因算在它身上。由于它的存在，五大洲间的海上交通越来越危险了，大家都坚决要求不惜任何代价清除海上这条可怕盼鲸鱼怪。
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
这些事件发生的时候，我正从美国内布拉斯加州的贫瘠地区做完了科学考察回来。由于我是巴黎自然科学博物馆的副教授，法国政府派我参加这次考察.在内布拉斯加州度过了六个月的时间，三月底，我满载了珍贵的标本回到纽约，我动身回法国的日期定在五月初。所以，我就利用逗留期间，把这次收集来的矿物标本和动、植物标本加以整理，而斯各脱亚号的意外事件就是在这个时候发生的。
我自然也熟悉当时议论纷纷的这个问题，而且我怎能不知道呢？我把美国和欧洲的各种报刊读了又读，但没有获得进一步的了解。因为这个怪物，我作了种种猜测。由于自己拿不定主意，我始终摇摆于极端不同的见解之间。
这是一件真实的事，那是无可置疑的；怀疑这事的人，请他们去摸一摸斯各脱亚号的裂口好了。
当我到纽约的时候，这问题正闹得热火朝天。有些不学无术的人曾经说那是浮动的小岛，是不可捉摸的暗礁，不过，这种假设,现在完全被推翻了。理由是：，除非这暗礁在腹部有一架机器，不然的话，它怎能这样快地一会儿到达这里一会儿又到那里呢?同样地，说它是一只浮动的船壳或是一只巨大的破船，这假设也不能成立，理由仍然是因为它转移得那么快。归根结底，这问题只可能有下面两种解释，因此人们分成了抱着不同主张的两派：一派说这是一个力大无穷的怪物，另一派说这是一艘动力十分强大的“潜水艇”。
后面那种假设虽然很可以成立，但到欧美两洲调查之后，便站不住了。如果说私人可以有这样一种机器，实在是不大可能的事。在什么地方，什么时候。他造了这个东西?他又怎能保守秘密而不泄露呢？
只有一国政府可以拥有这种破坏性的机器，在人们绞尽脑汁要增强武器威力的不幸时代，一个国家瞒着其他国家制造这种武器是可能的。机枪之后有水雷，水雷之后有潜水冲击机，然后一又是各种互相克制的武器，至少我自己心中是这样想的。
但是这个“潜水艇”的假设，由于各国欧府的声明又站不住了、因为这是有关公共利益的问题，既然海洋交通受到了破坏，各国政府的真诚，当然不容有所怀疑。并且，怎么能说这只“潜水艇”的建造竟可以逃避公众的耳目呢？在这种情形下，就是拿个人来说，要想保守秘密，也十分困难，对于一国政府，它的行动经常受到敌对国家的注意，那当然更是不可能的了。
、所以，根据在英国，在法国，在，在普鲁士,在西班吁，在意大利，在美国，甚至于在土耳其所做的调查，“潜水艇”的假设，也终于不能不放弃。
这个怪物尽管当时一些报刊对它不断加以嘲笑，但它又出现在波涛上了，于是人们的想象就从鱼类这一方面打主意而造出种种最荒诞不经的传说来。
当我到纽约的时候，有些人特地来问我对这件怪事的意见占我以前在法国出版过一部八开本的书，共两册，书名为：《海底的神秘》。这部书特别受到学术界的赏识，使我成为自然科学中这一个相当奥秘的部门的专家。因此人们才询问我的意见。但我只要能够否认这事的真实性，我总是作否定的答复。但不久我只得明确地表示我的意见。
况且《纽约先锋论坛报》已经约了“巴黎自然科学博物馆教。授，可敬的彼埃尔·阿龙纳斯先生”，请他发表对这个问题砌意见。
我发表了我的意见。我因为不能沉默，才不得不悦几句诸。我从上和学术上来讨论这个问题的各个方面。
现在我将我发表在4月30日《论坛报》上的一篇材料很丰富的文章的结论，节录几段在下面：“我一个一个研究了各种不同的假设和所有不可能成立的猜想，不得不承认实在有一种力量惊人的海洋动物的存在。“海洋深不可测的底层，我们完全不了解。探测器也不徙达到。最下层的深渊里是怎样的情形呢？海底二万二千梅里或一万五千海里的地方有些什么生物和可能有些什么生物呢？这些动物的身体构造是怎样的呢？我们实在很难推测。“可是，摆在我面前的问题可以用‘两刀论法’的公式来解决。“生活在地球上的各色各样的生物，或者我们认识，或者我们不认识。”““如果我们不认识所有的生物，而大自然又继续对我们保守某些鱼类学上的秘密，那么我们就不得不承认在探测器不可及的水层里还有鱼类鲸类的新品种，它们有一个‘不浮的’器官，因为在海底下呆久了，在偶然的情况下，由于一时高兴，或者任性，就突然浮到海面上来。这说法还是比较今人情服的。“反过来，如果我们的确认识了地球上所有的生物，那么我们就必须从已经加以分类的海洋生物中找出我们讨论的这个动物；在这种情形下，我就要承认有一种巨大的独角鲸的存在。“普通常见的独角鲸，或海麒麟，身长常常达到六十英尺，现在如果把这长度增加五倍，甚至十倍，同时让这条鲸、鱼类动物有和它身材戊比例的力量，再加强它的攻击武器，这样就是现在海上的那个动物了。也就是说它有山农号军官们所测定的长度那么长，它的角，可以刺穿斯各脱亚号、它的力量可以冲破一只汽船的船壳。“诚然，这条独角鲸，如某些生物学家所说，是具有一把：骨质的剑或一把骨质的乾，那么这一定是一根像钢铁一样：坚硬的长牙，有人曾经在鲸鱼身上发现过独角鲸的牙齿，。独角鲸用牙齿攻击鲸鱼总是成功的。有人也曾经从船底上拨出过——好容易才找出来——独角鲸的牙齿，它钻通船底就好像利锥穿透木桶那样。“巴黎医学院陈列馆就藏有一枚这种牙齿，长两米二十五厘米，底宽四十八厘米!“好吧！现在假定那武器还要厉害十倍，那动物的力量还要大十倍，如果它的前进速度是每小时二十英里，那么拿它的体重去乘它的速度平方，就能求出憧坏斯各脱亚号的那股冲击力。“因此，在还没有得到更多的材料之前，我认为这是一只海麒麟，这只海麒麟身躯非常巨大，身上的武装不是剑戟，而是真正的冲角，像铁甲船或战舰上所装有的那样，它同时又具备有战舰的重量和动力。“这样便说明了这种神秘不可解的现象。——或者相反地，不管人们所见到的、所感到的是怎样，实际上什么都不是；那也是可能的。”
最后几句话只能说明我没有主见，看问题摇摆不定；这是为了在一。定程度上保全我教授的身份，同时不愿意让美国人笑话，因为美国人笑起来，是笑得很厉害的。我于是自下这一条退路。其实我是承认这个“怪物"的存在的。我的文章引起了热烈的讨论，产生了很大的反响。很有一部分人拥护它。而且丈中提出的结论可以让人随便去设想，没有什么。人们总是对那些神奇怪诞的幻想感倒兴趣。、而海洋正是这些幻想的最好泉源，因为只有海才是巨大动物可以繁殖和成长的环境，陆上的动物，大象或犀牛之类。跟它们比较起来，简直渺小得很。一片汪洋大海里：既然有我们所知道的最巨大的哺乳类动物，说不定也有硕大无比的软体动物和看起来叫人害怕的甲壳动物，如一百米长的大虾，或二百吨重的螃蟹！为什么不能有呢？“从前，跟地质学纪年同时代的陆上动物，四足兽，四手兽，爬虫类，鸟类，都是按照巨大的模型创造的。造物者甩高大的模型把它们造出来，经过漫长的岁月，这模型渐渐缩小了。在深不可测的海洋底下（因为海洋是永不更改；而地壳几乎是不断变化着的），为什么不能保存从前另一时代的巨大生物的品种呢？海洋内部，为什么不能藏有那些巨大生物的最后变种，以一世纪为一年，以一千年为一世纪的那些巨大品种呢？我又让自己浸沉在种种空想中了.现在要停止这些空想，因为，在我看来，时间已经把这些空想变成为可怕的现实。我再说一次，当时对于这件怪事的性质有这一种意见，就是大家都一致承认有一种神奇东西的存在，而这种东西和怪诞的大海蛇并没有丝毫共同之点。可是，尽管有一些人把这事看成是一个待解决的纯粹科学问题，但另一些比较注意实利的人，特别在美国和英国，这类人很多，他们主张把海洋上这个可怕的怪物清除掠，使海上交通的安全获得保障。特别是工商界的报刊，都从这个观点来研究这个问题。《航业商情杂志》,<<来依特公司航海杂志》、《邮船杂志》、《海洋殖民杂志》以及为保险公司宣传公司要提高保险费的那些报纸，对于清除怪物这一点，都一致表示同意。公众的意见一提出来，北美合众国首先发表了声明，要在纽约作准备，组织清除独角鲸的远征队。一艘装有冲角的高速度的二级战舰林肯号定于最近的期间驶出海面。各造船厂都给法拉古司令宫以种种便利，帮助他早一天把这艘二级战舰装备起来。事情往往就是这样，等人们决定要追赶这怪物的时候。怪物再也不出现了。在两个月的时间内，谁都没有得到怪物的消息，也没有海船碰见它。好像这条海麒麟已经得到了人们准备进攻它的情报。因为大家说得大多了，甚至于用大西洋的海底电线来说！所以，喜欢说笑话的人说，这个精灵的东西一定在中途偷听了电报，现在它启己有了防备。不再随便出来。因此，这艘用作远征而且装有强大打鱼机的二级战舰,现在不知道向哪里开才好。大家越来越不耐烦了，忽然，7月2日，旧金山轮船公司从加利福尼亚开往上海的一只汽船唐比葛号，三星期前在太平洋北部的海面上又看见了这：个东西。这消息引起了极大的骚动。大家要法拉古司令宫立即出发，二十四小时的迟延都不许可。船中日用品全装上去了，舱底也载满了煤。船上各部门的人员一个也不少，都到齐了。现在只等升火，加热，解缆了：大家不容许这船再有：半天的延期：再说，法拉古司令宫本人也巴不得马上就出发！在株肯号离开布洛克袜码头之前三小时，我收到一封信，信的内容如下：。“递交纽约第五号路旅馆，巴黎自然科学博物馆教授阿龙纳斯先生。先生：如果您同意加入林肯号远征队，合众国政府很愿意看到这次远征有您代表法国参加。法拉古司令官已留下船上一个舱房供您使用。海军部长何伯逊敬启。”
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.
我自然也熟悉当时议论纷纷的这个问题，而且我怎能不知道呢？我把美国和欧洲的各种报刊读了又读，但没有获得进一步的了解。因为这个怪物，我作了种种猜测。由于自己拿不定主意，我始终摇摆于极端不同的见解之间。
这是一件真实的事，那是无可置疑的；怀疑这事的人，请他们去摸一摸斯各脱亚号的裂口好了。
当我到纽约的时候，这问题正闹得热火朝天。有些不学无术的人曾经说那是浮动的小岛，是不可捉摸的暗礁，不过，这种假设,现在完全被推翻了。理由是：，除非这暗礁在腹部有一架机器，不然的话，它怎能这样快地一会儿到达这里一会儿又到那里呢?同样地，说它是一只浮动的船壳或是一只巨大的破船，这假设也不能成立，理由仍然是因为它转移得那么快。归根结底，这问题只可能有下面两种解释，因此人们分成了抱着不同主张的两派：一派说这是一个力大无穷的怪物，另一派说这是一艘动力十分强大的“潜水艇”。
后面那种假设虽然很可以成立，但到欧美两洲调查之后，便站不住了。如果说私人可以有这样一种机器，实在是不大可能的事。在什么地方，什么时候。他造了这个东西?他又怎能保守秘密而不泄露呢？
只有一国政府可以拥有这种破坏性的机器，在人们绞尽脑汁要增强武器威力的不幸时代，一个国家瞒着其他国家制造这种武器是可能的。机枪之后有水雷，水雷之后有潜水冲击机，然后一又是各种互相克制的武器，至少我自己心中是这样想的。
但是这个“潜水艇”的假设，由于各国欧府的声明又站不住了、因为这是有关公共利益的问题，既然海洋交通受到了破坏，各国政府的真诚，当然不容有所怀疑。并且，怎么能说这只“潜水艇”的建造竟可以逃避公众的耳目呢？在这种情形下，就是拿个人来说，要想保守秘密，也十分困难，对于一国政府，它的行动经常受到敌对国家的注意，那当然更是不可能的了。
、所以，根据在英国，在法国，在，在普鲁士,在西班吁，在意大利，在美国，甚至于在土耳其所做的调查，“潜水艇”的假设，也终于不能不放弃。
这个怪物尽管当时一些报刊对它不断加以嘲笑，但它又出现在波涛上了，于是人们的想象就从鱼类这一方面打主意而造出种种最荒诞不经的传说来。
当我到纽约的时候，有些人特地来问我对这件怪事的意见占我以前在法国出版过一部八开本的书，共两册，书名为：《海底的神秘》。这部书特别受到学术界的赏识，使我成为自然科学中这一个相当奥秘的部门的专家。因此人们才询问我的意见。但我只要能够否认这事的真实性，我总是作否定的答复。但不久我只得明确地表示我的意见。
况且《纽约先锋论坛报》已经约了“巴黎自然科学博物馆教。授，可敬的彼埃尔·阿龙纳斯先生”，请他发表对这个问题砌意见。
我发表了我的意见。我因为不能沉默，才不得不悦几句诸。我从上和学术上来讨论这个问题的各个方面。
现在我将我发表在4月30日《论坛报》上的一篇材料很丰富的文章的结论，节录几段在下面：“我一个一个研究了各种不同的假设和所有不可能成立的猜想，不得不承认实在有一种力量惊人的海洋动物的存在。“海洋深不可测的底层，我们完全不了解。探测器也不徙达到。最下层的深渊里是怎样的情形呢？海底二万二千梅里或一万五千海里的地方有些什么生物和可能有些什么生物呢？这些动物的身体构造是怎样的呢？我们实在很难推测。“可是，摆在我面前的问题可以用‘两刀论法’的公式来解决。“生活在地球上的各色各样的生物，或者我们认识，或者我们不认识。”““如果我们不认识所有的生物，而大自然又继续对我们保守某些鱼类学上的秘密，那么我们就不得不承认在探测器不可及的水层里还有鱼类鲸类的新品种，它们有一个‘不浮的’器官，因为在海底下呆久了，在偶然的情况下，由于一时高兴，或者任性，就突然浮到海面上来。这说法还是比较今人情服的。“反过来，如果我们的确认识了地球上所有的生物，那么我们就必须从已经加以分类的海洋生物中找出我们讨论的这个动物；在这种情形下，我就要承认有一种巨大的独角鲸的存在。“普通常见的独角鲸，或海麒麟，身长常常达到六十英尺，现在如果把这长度增加五倍，甚至十倍，同时让这条鲸、鱼类动物有和它身材戊比例的力量，再加强它的攻击武器，这样就是现在海上的那个动物了。也就是说它有山农号军官们所测定的长度那么长，它的角，可以刺穿斯各脱亚号、它的力量可以冲破一只汽船的船壳。“诚然，这条独角鲸，如某些生物学家所说，是具有一把：骨质的剑或一把骨质的乾，那么这一定是一根像钢铁一样：坚硬的长牙，有人曾经在鲸鱼身上发现过独角鲸的牙齿，。独角鲸用牙齿攻击鲸鱼总是成功的。有人也曾经从船底上拨出过——好容易才找出来——独角鲸的牙齿，它钻通船底就好像利锥穿透木桶那样。“巴黎医学院陈列馆就藏有一枚这种牙齿，长两米二十五厘米，底宽四十八厘米!“好吧！现在假定那武器还要厉害十倍，那动物的力量还要大十倍，如果它的前进速度是每小时二十英里，那么拿它的体重去乘它的速度平方，就能求出憧坏斯各脱亚号的那股冲击力。“因此，在还没有得到更多的材料之前，我认为这是一只海麒麟，这只海麒麟身躯非常巨大，身上的武装不是剑戟，而是真正的冲角，像铁甲船或战舰上所装有的那样，它同时又具备有战舰的重量和动力。“这样便说明了这种神秘不可解的现象。——或者相反地，不管人们所见到的、所感到的是怎样，实际上什么都不是；那也是可能的。”
最后几句话只能说明我没有主见，看问题摇摆不定；这是为了在一。定程度上保全我教授的身份，同时不愿意让美国人笑话，因为美国人笑起来，是笑得很厉害的。我于是自下这一条退路。其实我是承认这个“怪物"的存在的。我的文章引起了热烈的讨论，产生了很大的反响。很有一部分人拥护它。而且丈中提出的结论可以让人随便去设想，没有什么。人们总是对那些神奇怪诞的幻想感倒兴趣。、而海洋正是这些幻想的最好泉源，因为只有海才是巨大动物可以繁殖和成长的环境，陆上的动物，大象或犀牛之类。跟它们比较起来，简直渺小得很。一片汪洋大海里：既然有我们所知道的最巨大的哺乳类动物，说不定也有硕大无比的软体动物和看起来叫人害怕的甲壳动物，如一百米长的大虾，或二百吨重的螃蟹！为什么不能有呢？“从前，跟地质学纪年同时代的陆上动物，四足兽，四手兽，爬虫类，鸟类，都是按照巨大的模型创造的。造物者甩高大的模型把它们造出来，经过漫长的岁月，这模型渐渐缩小了。在深不可测的海洋底下（因为海洋是永不更改；而地壳几乎是不断变化着的），为什么不能保存从前另一时代的巨大生物的品种呢？海洋内部，为什么不能藏有那些巨大生物的最后变种，以一世纪为一年，以一千年为一世纪的那些巨大品种呢？我又让自己浸沉在种种空想中了.现在要停止这些空想，因为，在我看来，时间已经把这些空想变成为可怕的现实。我再说一次，当时对于这件怪事的性质有这一种意见，就是大家都一致承认有一种神奇东西的存在，而这种东西和怪诞的大海蛇并没有丝毫共同之点。可是，尽管有一些人把这事看成是一个待解决的纯粹科学问题，但另一些比较注意实利的人，特别在美国和英国，这类人很多，他们主张把海洋上这个可怕的怪物清除掠，使海上交通的安全获得保障。特别是工商界的报刊，都从这个观点来研究这个问题。《航业商情杂志》,<<来依特公司航海杂志》、《邮船杂志》、《海洋殖民杂志》以及为保险公司宣传公司要提高保险费的那些报纸，对于清除怪物这一点，都一致表示同意。公众的意见一提出来，北美合众国首先发表了声明，要在纽约作准备，组织清除独角鲸的远征队。一艘装有冲角的高速度的二级战舰林肯号定于最近的期间驶出海面。各造船厂都给法拉古司令宫以种种便利，帮助他早一天把这艘二级战舰装备起来。事情往往就是这样，等人们决定要追赶这怪物的时候。怪物再也不出现了。在两个月的时间内，谁都没有得到怪物的消息，也没有海船碰见它。好像这条海麒麟已经得到了人们准备进攻它的情报。因为大家说得大多了，甚至于用大西洋的海底电线来说！所以，喜欢说笑话的人说，这个精灵的东西一定在中途偷听了电报，现在它启己有了防备。不再随便出来。因此，这艘用作远征而且装有强大打鱼机的二级战舰,现在不知道向哪里开才好。大家越来越不耐烦了，忽然，7月2日，旧金山轮船公司从加利福尼亚开往上海的一只汽船唐比葛号，三星期前在太平洋北部的海面上又看见了这：个东西。这消息引起了极大的骚动。大家要法拉古司令宫立即出发，二十四小时的迟延都不许可。船中日用品全装上去了，舱底也载满了煤。船上各部门的人员一个也不少，都到齐了。现在只等升火，加热，解缆了：大家不容许这船再有：半天的延期：再说，法拉古司令宫本人也巴不得马上就出发！在株肯号离开布洛克袜码头之前三小时，我收到一封信，信的内容如下：。“递交纽约第五号路旅馆，巴黎自然科学博物馆教授阿龙纳斯先生。先生：如果您同意加入林肯号远征队，合众国政府很愿意看到这次远征有您代表法国参加。法拉古司令官已留下船上一个舱房供您使用。海军部长何伯逊敬启。”
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.