海底兩萬(wàn)里 第243期 第19章 萬(wàn)尼科羅群島(4)

When the Nautilus returned to the surface of the ocean, I could take in Reao Island over its whole flat, wooded expanse. Obviously its madreporic rocks had been made fertile by tornadoes and thunderstorms. One day, carried off by a hurricane from neighboring shores, some seed fell onto these limestone beds, mixing with decomposed particles of fish and marine plants to form vegetable humus. Propelled by the waves, a coconut arrived on this new coast. Its germ took root. Its tree grew tall, catching steam off the water. A brook was born. Little by little, vegetation spread. Tiny animals--worms, insects--rode ashore on tree trunks snatched from islands to windward. Turtles came to lay their eggs. Birds nested in the young trees. In this way animal life developed, and drawn by the greenery and fertile soil, man appeared. And that's how these islands were formed, the immense achievement of microscopic animals.

當(dāng)諾第留斯號(hào)回到海面上來(lái)的時(shí)候，我可以望見(jiàn)這個(gè)低洼的和多樹的克列蒙瑞尼島發(fā)展的全部過(guò)程。島上的珊瑚石顯然是由于旋風(fēng)和風(fēng)暴的沖刷，變成了肥饒的沃上。不知什么時(shí)候，一些谷粒果核被暴風(fēng)帶到鄰近土地，落在石灰質(zhì)的地上，地里夾雜了魚類和海產(chǎn)植物分解出來(lái)的渣滓，成為很好的草木肥料。隨后又有一些可可果核被波浪沖來(lái)，漂到了這邊新開(kāi)辟的海岸。不久種子發(fā)芽生根，漸漸長(zhǎng)大，成樹，成林，貯蓄了水蒸氣。水流于是形成了。植物也就漸漸生長(zhǎng)繁殖。叉有些微生動(dòng)物，爬蟲，昆蟲，附在被大風(fēng)吹倒的其他海島的樹干上，輸送到這邊。龜鱉到這里來(lái)下蛋，禽鳥在嫩枝上結(jié)巢。動(dòng)物就這樣在島上活躍起來(lái)。不久，人類被島上的青蔥和肥饒的土地所吸引，也在島上出現(xiàn)了。這就是群島——微生動(dòng)物的驚人杰作的形成過(guò)程。

Near evening Reao Island melted into the distance, and the Nautilus noticeably changed course. After touching the Tropic of Capricorn at longitude 135 degrees, it headed west-northwest, going back up the whole intertropical zone. Although the summer sun lavished its rays on us, we never suffered from the heat, because thirty or forty meters underwater, the temperature didn't go over 10 degrees to 12 degrees centigrade.

傍晚時(shí)候，克列蒙端尼島在遠(yuǎn)處隱沒(méi)不見(jiàn)了，諾第留斯號(hào)的航路顯然是改變了方向。 在西經(jīng)135度上接觸到南回歸線的時(shí)候，船又上溯南北兩回歸線間的海水，向西北偏西駛?cè)? 雖然夏季的太陽(yáng)光十分厲害，但我們一點(diǎn)不受炎熱的影響，因?yàn)樵谒兹了氖椎纳疃?，溫度總不超過(guò)十度到十二度。

By December 15 we had left the alluring Society Islands in the west, likewise elegant Tahiti, queen of the Pacific. In the morning I spotted this island's lofty summits a few miles to leeward. Its waters supplied excellent fish for the tables on board: mackerel, bonito, albacore, and a few varieties of that sea serpent named the moray eel.

12月15日，我們?cè)跂|邊望到了使人留戀的社會(huì)群島和作為太平洋玉后的啊娜多姿的塔希提島。我早晨在距離幾里的下方，望見(jiàn)了這島上的高聳的山峰。沿島水產(chǎn)供應(yīng)我們船上餐桌許多美味的魚，鰭魚、鯉魚、乳白魚，以及好幾種屬于鰻魚類的海蛇。