“There’s your South Shetlands,” he announced, as I approached, “Elephant Island, I should say. Looks pretty cold to me.”
I did not reply for a moment, but stood looking out over the black tossing waters that lie below Cape1 Horn. Somewhere it was, in this cold expanse, that my uncle’s vessel2 was believed to have gone down. Here, amid the crash of storm and surge, she had been last seen, more than twenty years before, and here must have perished: I swept the sea in every direction, as if seeking to locate the very spot.
“They used to come to the Shetlands after seal,” continued the Captain, “and they say there’s gold and precious stones on some of ’em. I never saw anybody that got any, though. Too cold, I guess, to look and dig for ’em.”
100“Colder than the Klondike?”
“Klondike! Well, I should say so. There’s a warm current runs up that way. I never heard of any warm currents down here except the one you’re going to find. Just take a glance at that for a cold-looking country.”
I leveled the glass and scrutinized3 the blue outline ahead. It was a flat-topped, square formation, and there was a peculiar4 prismatic glow about it that suggested ice. I hesitated for some moments, however, before risking a reply. At last I was convinced.
“Yes, Captain Biffer,” I said, lowering the glass, “it is pretty cold—it’s an iceberg5!”
Edith and Chauncey Gale6, followed by Ferratoni, came up the stairs just in time to hear the Captain’s reply.
“An iceberg!” he jeered7. “Well, I’ve seen a good many icebergs8 up north, but I never saw one like that. You mean an ice-box.”
I was quite calm. I could afford to be, for I felt that a moment of triumph was at hand.
“Yes, Captain,” I admitted, “you might liken it to that, I suppose, but it is an iceberg, nevertheless. The Arctic bergs which you have seen were split from glaciers9 and topped by tall pinnacles10 and turrets11. They were more like castles or cathedrals. The Antarctic berg is usually a section of that great 101ice wall or barrier which we hope some day to reach. It is nearly always of this general character, and is frequently crossed by blue horizontal lines, showing its stratified formation from year to year.”
Before I had finished speaking the Captain was again studying the object ahead. A light mist had drifted across our bows, but it lifted now, and the square fortress-like walls in the distance shone clearly in the morning sun. Captain Biffer waited a moment longer. Then he came down handsomely.
“You’re right!” he said heartily12, “I can see those lines from here. I know the Arctics,” he added, “but I guess I’m all at sea in these God-forsaken waters!”
It was a slight incident—an opportune13 display of a bit of knowledge which any boy familiar with Antarctic literature might have possessed—but my command of the expedition may be said to have dated from that moment. The next day fairly completed my triumph. Some large fragments of surface ice had come drifting to the ship and we were looking at them, over the side.
“Pancake ice,” commented the Captain. “We’ll get all we want of that, pretty soon.”
“Not exactly pancake ice, Captain,” I observed respectfully. “A combination of salt-water pancake 102with splinters of fresh-water, barrier ice. Those clear spots are the fresh-water formation.”
Captain Biffer regarded me a moment doubtfully. Then he gave an order to some sailors.
“Get up a piece of that ice!” he growled14, “I want to look at it.”
A man was lowered over the side, and hacked15 off a fragment which was hauled on board. The Captain chipped out pieces of the white and the clear ice and tasted of them. Then he flung them overboard.
“You win!” he laughed, “I’m out of it, down here.”
“What’s that brown color on it?” asked Edith Gale.
“Dirt,” said the Captain. “Comes from the shore.”
“Captain,” I objected, “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to differ with you again.”
“What is it, then, if it ain’t dirt?” he grumbled16.
“A growth,” I replied, “a plant—at least, I think it is. I can’t be sure, for I have never seen it before, but former explorers have reported an alg? as giving such an appearance to old ice, and I think I can show that this is what they found.”
I ran down to my stateroom, and presently returned with a powerful microscope—a treasure from boyhood. I placed it upon a small table and 103putting a bit of the brown color on a slide adjusted the lenses. Then I beckoned17 to the Captain. He came and squinted18 into the glass steadily19 for a moment.
“Humph! seaweed!” he commented. “Well, I’ll be —— Say, look here, this is your ocean, and your expedition—you can have ’em!”
You see, it was my innings. Theoretically I knew more of this part of the world than any one on board, and theory was about all we had now to go on. I could see that Chauncey Gale was pleased. I suppose it had not always been easy to stand for me against the Captain’s poor opinion, and he felt that in some measure now he had been justified20. Edith Gale, too, was not made less happy by these incidents, and the sailors, taking their cue from their chief officer, paid me an added and daily increasing respect. True, the Captain continued to navigate21 the ship, but in a general way I directed our course and experiments, and was regarded more and more as authority in matters of discussion and dispute.
High up on the mainmast I had constructed for me a crow’s nest, or lookout23, from which to make observations. Chauncey Gale attended to this, and did it well, as he did everything he undertook. It was a stout24, comfortable barrel arrangement, capable of holding three persons if necessary.
104When it was done I viewed it from below with interest and misgivings25. I had never been aloft, and I felt that an error in reaching my perch26 might conclude the expedition. The eyes of the ship were upon me, however, and it would not do to hesitate.
With a faint but resolute27 heart, I began the ascent28. I did not dare to look back, and when at last I found myself safely inside the snug29 box, I was a bit weak and trembly, but swelling30 with triumph.
“Let me in, too, please!”
I looked down at my feet. It was Edith Gale, who had run lightly up behind me. I concealed31 any pride I may have had in my own accomplishment32 and drew her up.
“How pale you are,” she said, “are you ill?”
“No, oh no, it’s the—the excitement, I think.”
We leaned over and waved to those below. They waved back at us and cheered.
“How’s the weather up there?” called Gale.
“Cold,” I said. “Feels like the North Pole!” (It was, in fact, about zero at the time, but we did not mind it in the least.)
“What’s the matter with the South Pole?” This from Captain Biffer.
“Hot, there!” I yelled.
The Captain laughed.
“Well,” he shouted, “you’re right about some 105things, but you’ll find that barrel a parlor33 stove compared with the South Pole.”
Edith Gale leveled a glass toward the southern horizon. We were well down in the sixties, now. Icebergs and floating pack-ice had become common. To the southward lay mystery that in some weird34 form might at any moment rise above the somber35 waters. Presently she handed me the glass.
“See if you make out anything,” she said.
I looked steadily, and at first saw nothing. Then, low down, and stretching from rim22 to rim across our watery36 world, far-off and faint, rising, falling, lifting and disappearing. I saw a thin, uncertain, glittering edge—the ice-pack!
It was our turn, now, to cheer. Captain Biffer ran up to see and verify. By nightfall (the radiant dusk fell late now, for it was November, and the sun shone till ten o’clock) we were in the midst of loose, grinding ice—the edge of the pack.
The second stage of the Great Billowcrest Expedition had begun.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
cape
|
|
| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
scrutinized
|
|
| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
iceberg
|
|
| n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
gale
|
|
| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
jeered
|
|
| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
icebergs
|
|
| n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
glaciers
|
|
| 冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
pinnacles
|
|
| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
turrets
|
|
| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
heartily
|
|
| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
opportune
|
|
| adj.合适的，适当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
growled
|
|
| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
hacked
|
|
| 生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
grumbled
|
|
| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
beckoned
|
|
| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
squinted
|
|
| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
justified
|
|
| a.正当的，有理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
navigate
|
|
| v.航行，飞行；导航，领航 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
rim
|
|
| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
lookout
|
|
| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
misgivings
|
|
| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
perch
|
|
| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
resolute
|
|
| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
ascent
|
|
| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
snug
|
|
| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
swelling
|
|
| n.肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
concealed
|
|
| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
accomplishment
|
|
| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
parlor
|
|
| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
somber
|
|
| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
watery
|
|
| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |