20 托列斯海峡(8)
Under my eyes I had the excellent charts of the Torres Strait that had been surveyed and drawn up by the hydrographic engineer Vincendon Dumoulin and Sublieutenant (now Admiral) Coupvent-Desbois, who were part of Dumont d'Urville's general staff during his final voyage to circumna一vigate the globe. These, along with the efforts of Captain King, are the best charts for untangling the snarl of this narrow passageway, and I consulted them with scrupulous care.
我面前是很详尽的托列斯海峡地图，这图由水力工程师，从前是古往·德波亚号的海军少尉，现在是海军上将的文生唐·杜日兰所编制，他在杜蒙·居维尔的最后一次环球航行期间，曾是参谋人员之。这地图跟金船长制的都是最完善的地图，可以把它当作良好的向导来避免危险，通过这狭窄的水道，我很小心地查看这些地图。
Around the Nautilus the sea was boiling furiously. A stream of wa一ves, bearing from southeast to northwest at a speed of two and a half miles per hour, broke over heads of coral emerging here and there.
在诺第留斯号周围，海水汹涌湃澎，翻滚沸腾。海一浪一从东南奔向西北, 以两海里半的速度冲在处处露出尖峰的珊瑚礁上。
"That's one rough sea!" Ned Land told me.
“真是凶恶的海！”尼德·兰对我说。
"Abominable indeed," I replied, "and hardly suitable for a craft like the Nautilus."
“对，是可憎恨的海，”我回答，“像诺第留斯号这样的船都不好应付呢。”
"That damned captain," the Canadian went on, "must really be sure of his course, because if these clumps of coral so much as brush us, they'll rip our hull into a thousand pieces!"
“那位怪船长，”加拿大人又说，“一定是十分熟悉他走的航路, 因为我看见有一堆对珊瑚礁石,一不小心,触上了可就幢的粉碎。"
The situation was indeed dangerous, but as if by magic, the Nautilus seemed to glide right down the middle of these rampaging reefs. It didn't follow the exact course of the Zealous and the new Astrolabe, which had proved so ill-fated for Captain Dumont d'Urville. It went more to the north, hugged the Murray Islands, and returned to the southwest near Cumberland Passage. I thought it was about to charge wholeheartedly into this opening, but it went up to the northwest, through a large number of little-known islands and islets, and steered toward Tound Island and the Bad Channel.
对，我们所处的情形十分危险，但诺第留斯号好像有了魔法、在这些凶险的暗礁中间安然滑过去。它并不沿着浑天仪号和热心女号所走的航线驶去，那是使杜蒙·居维尔受到过厉害打击的。它从北边一点走，沿着莫利岛，再回到西南方，向甘伯兰海道驶去。我以为它分明是要走这海道了，但忽然它又回向西北方，穿过许多人不知道的小岛和岛屿，驶往通提岛和凶险的水道. 我心中正想，尼摩船长简直粗心到发疯了，要把他的船走人杜蒙·居维尔的船几乎要沉没的险道中去。忽然它又第二次改变方向，正指着西方，向格波罗尔岛开行。