30 从合恩角到亚马逊河(14)
Their hunting was not a fascinating sport. The manatees let themselves be struck down without offering any resistance. Several thousand kilos of meat were hauled below, to be dried and stored.
但这样的打猎并没有什么意思，因为这些海牛面对捕捉丝毫不做反抗。 就这样，几千公斤的肉被晾得干干的放进船一内一库存起来。
The same day an odd fishing practice further increased the Nautilus's stores, so full of game were these seas.Our trawl brought up in its meshes a number of fish whose heads were topped by little oval slabs with fleshy edges. These were suckerfish from the third family of the subbrachian Malacopterygia. These flat disks on theirheads consist of crosswise plates of movable cartilage, between which the animals can create a vacuum, enabling them to stick to objects like suction cups.
这一带海域的物产丰富，那一天，另一次大规模的捕鱼又使“鹦鹉螺号”船上的食品储备大增。船上的鱼网捞上来了很多头上隆一起一块椭圆形肉边骨片的鱼。那是属于亚鳃软骨目第三科的印鱼。它们身上的扁平圆盘是由活动的横软骨组成的，这种鱼可以在这些软骨之间造成真空，使自己能像吸盘一样吸在物体上。
The remoras I had observed in the Mediterranean were related to this species. But the creature at issue here was an Echeneis osteochara, unique to this sea. Right after catching them, our seamen dropped them in buckets of water.
我在地中海观察过的印鱼就属于这一类。但这里的这一类，是这一海区特有的软骨鱼。我们的水手一捉到这些鱼，就把它们放进盛满海水的桶中。
Its fishing finished, the Nautilus drew nearer to the coast. In this locality a number of sea turtles were sleeping on the surface of the wa一ves. It would ha一ve been difficult to capture these valuable reptiles, because they wake up at the slightest sound, and their solid carapaces are harpoon-proof. But our suckerfish would effect their capture with extraordinary certainty and precision.
捕鱼结束了后，“鹦鹉螺号”船只就向海岸靠近。在那个地方，有不少海龟睡在水波上。但要想捉到这些珍贵的爬行动物是很困难的，因为稍微有动静，它们就会醒过来，而且它们坚一硬的甲壳不怕鱼叉攻击。但用印鱼就可以特别有保障并准确地捕捉到海龟。