It was a bright, clear, beautiful morning when we first launched our little boat and rowed out upon the placid4 waters of the lagoon5. Not a breath of wind ruffled6 the surface of the deep. Not a cloud spotted7 the deep-blue sky. Not a sound that was discordant8 broke the stillness of the morning, although there were many sounds—sweet, tiny, and melodious—that mingled9 in the universal harmony of nature. The sun was just rising from the Pacific’s ample bosom10, and tipping the mountain-tops with a red glow. The sea was shining like a sheet of glass, yet heaving with the long, deep swell11 that, all the world round, indicates the life of Ocean; and the bright seaweeds and the brilliant corals shone in the depths of that pellucid12 water, as we rowed over it, like rare and precious gems13. Oh, it was a sight fitted to stir the soul of man to its profoundest depths! and if he owned a heart at all, to lift that heart in adoration14 and gratitude15 to the great Creator of this magnificent and glorious universe!
At first, in the strength of our delight, we rowed hither and thither16 without aim or object. But after the effervescence of our spirits was abated17, we began to look about us and to consider what we should do.
“I vote that we row to the reef,” cried Peterkin.
“And I vote that we visit the islands within the lagoon,” said I.
As I have already said, we had made four oars19; but our boat was so small that only two were necessary. The extra pair were reserved in case any accident should happen to the others. It was therefore only needful that two of us should row, while the third steered20 by means of an oar—and relieved the rowers occasionally.
First we landed on one of the small islands and ran all over it, but saw nothing worthy21 of particular notice. Then we landed on a larger island, on which were growing a few cocoa-nut trees. Not having eaten anything that morning, we gathered a few of the nuts and breakfasted. After this we pulled straight out to sea, and landed on the coral reef.
This was indeed a novel and interesting sight to us. We had now been so long on shore that we had almost forgotten the appearance of breakers, for there were none within the lagoon. But now, as we stood beside the foam-crested billow of the open sea, all the enthusiasm of the sailor was awakened22 in our breasts; and as we gazed on the widespread ruin of that single magnificent breaker that burst in thunder at our feet, we forgot the Coral Island behind us, we forgot our bower23 and the calm repose24 of the scented25 woods, we forgot all that had passed during the last few months, and remembered nothing but the storms, the calms, the fresh breezes, and the surging billows of the open sea.
This huge, ceaseless breaker, to which I have so often alluded26, was a much larger and more sublime27 object than we had at all imagined it to be. It rose many yards above the level of the sea, and could be seen approaching at some distance from the reef. Slowly and majestically28 it came on, acquiring greater volume and velocity29 as it advanced, until it assumed the form of a clear watery30 arch, which sparkled in the bright sun. On it came with resistless and solemn majesty31, the upper edge lipped gently over, and it fell with a roar that seemed as though the heart of Ocean were broken in the crash of tumultuous water, while the foam-clad coral reef appeared to tremble beneath the mighty32 shock!
We gazed long and wonderingly at this great sight, and it was with difficulty we could tear ourselves away from it. As I have once before mentioned, this wave broke in many places over the reef and scattered33 some of its spray into the lagoon; but in most places the reef was sufficiently34 broad and elevated to receive and check its entire force. In many places the coral rocks were covered with vegetation—the beginning, as it appeared to us, of future islands. Thus, on this reef, we came to perceive how most of the small islands of those seas are formed. On one part we saw the spray of the breaker washing over the rocks, and millions of little, active, busy creatures continuing the work of building up this living rampart. At another place, which was just a little too high for the waves to wash over it, the coral insects were all dead; for we found that they never did their work above water. They had faithfully completed the mighty work which their Creator had given them to do, and they were now all dead. Again, in other spots the ceaseless lashing35 of the sea had broken the dead coral in pieces, and cast it up in the form of sand. Here sea-birds had alighted, little pieces of seaweed and stray bits of wood had been washed up, seeds of plants had been carried by the wind, and a few lovely blades of bright green had already sprung up, which, when they died, would increase the size and fertility of these emeralds of Ocean. At other places these islets had grown apace, and were shaded by one or two cocoa-nut trees, which grew literally36 in the sand, and were constantly washed by the ocean spray—yet, as I have before remarked, their fruit was most refreshing37 and sweet to our taste.
Again, at this time Jack and I pondered the formation of the large coral islands. We could now understand how the low ones were formed; but the larger islands cost us much consideration, yet we could arrive at no certain conclusion on the subject.
Having satisfied our curiosity, and enjoyed ourselves during the whole day in our little boat, we returned, somewhat wearied, and withal rather hungry, to our bower.
“Now,” said Jack, “as our boat answers so well we will get a mast and sail made immediately.”
“So we will!” cried Peterkin as we all assisted to drag the boat above high-water mark. “We’ll light our candle and set about it this very night. Hurrah38, my boys, pull away!”
As we dragged our boat, we observed that she grated heavily on her keel; and as the sands were in this place mingled with broken coral rocks, we saw portions of the wood being scraped off.
“Hallo!” cried Jack on seeing this, “that won’t do. Our keel will be worn off in no time at this rate.”
“So it will,” said I, pondering deeply as to how this might be prevented. But I am not of a mechanical turn naturally, so I could conceive no remedy save that of putting a plate of iron on the keel; but as we had no iron, I knew not what was to be done. “It seems to me, Jack,” I added, “that it is impossible to prevent the keel being worn off thus.”
“Impossible?” cried Peterkin. “My dear Ralph, you are mistaken; there is nothing so easy.”
“How?” I inquired in some surprise.
“Why, by not using the boat at all!” replied Peterkin.
“Hold your impudent39 tongue, Peterkin!” said Jack as he shouldered the oars. “Come along with me, and I’ll give you work to do. In the first place, you will go and collect coca-nut fibre, and set to work to make sewing-twine with it—”
“Please, captain,” interrupted Peterkin, “I’ve got lots of it made already—more than enough, as a little friend of mine used to be in the habit of saying every day after dinner.”
“Very well,” continued Jack; “then you’ll help Ralph to collect cocoa-nut cloth and cut it into shape, after which we’ll make a sail of it. I’ll see to getting the mast and the gearing; so let’s to work.”
And to work we went right busily, so that in three days from that time we had set up a mast and sail, with the necessary rigging, in our little boat. The sail was not, indeed, very handsome to look at, as it was formed of a number of oblong patches of cloth; but we had sewed it well by means of our sail-needle, so that it was strong, which was the chief point.—Jack had also overcome the difficulty about the keel by pinning to it a false keel. This was a piece of tough wood, of the same length and width as the real keel, and about five inches deep. He made it of this depth because the boat would be thereby40 rendered not only much more safe, but more able to beat against the wind—which, in a sea where the trade-winds blow so long and so steadily41 in one direction, was a matter of great importance. This piece of wood was pegged42 very firmly to the keel; and we now launched our boat with the satisfaction of knowing that when the false keel should be scraped off we could easily put on another,—whereas, should the real keel have been scraped away, we could not have renewed it without taking our boat to pieces, which Peterkin said made his “marrow quake to think upon.”
The mast and sail answered excellently; and we now sailed about in the lagoon with great delight, and examined with much interest the appearance of our island from a distance. Also, we gazed into the depths of the water, and watched for hours the gambols43 of the curious and bright-coloured fish among the corals and seaweed. Peterkin also made a fishing-line; and Jack constructed a number of hooks, some of which were very good, others remarkably44 bad. Some of these hooks were made of iron-wood—which did pretty well, the wood being extremely hard—and Jack made them very thick and large. Fish there are not particular. Some of the crooked45 bones in fish-heads also answered for this purpose pretty well. But that which formed our best and most serviceable hook was the brass46 finger-ring belonging to Jack. It gave him not a little trouble to manufacture it. First he cut it with the axe47, then twisted it into the form of a hook. The barb48 took him several hours to cut. He did it by means of constant sawing with the broken penknife. As for the point, an hour’s rubbing on a piece of sandstone made an excellent one.
It would be a matter of much time and labour to describe the appearance of the multitudes of fish that were day after day drawn49 into our boat by means of the brass hook. Peterkin always caught them—for we observed that he derived50 much pleasure from fishing—while Jack and I found ample amusement in looking on, also in gazing down at the coral groves51, and in baiting the hook. Among the fish that we saw, but did not catch, were porpoises52 and swordfish, whales and sharks. The porpoises came frequently into our lagoon in shoals, and amused us not a little by their bold leaps into the air and their playful gambols in the sea. The swordfish were wonderful creatures—some of them apparently53 ten feet in length, with an ivory spear six or eight feet long projecting from their noses. We often saw them darting54 after other fish, and no doubt they sometimes killed them with their ivory swords. Jack remembered having heard once of a swordfish attacking a ship, which seemed strange indeed; but as they are often in the habit of attacking whales, perhaps it mistook the ship for one. This swordfish ran against the vessel55 with such force that it drove its sword quite through the thick planks56; and when the ship arrived in harbour, long afterwards, the sword was found still sticking in it!
Sharks did not often appear; but we took care never again to bathe in deep water without leaving one of our number in the boat, to give us warning if he should see a shark approaching. As for the whales, they never came into our lagoon; but we frequently saw them spouting57 in the deep water beyond the reef. I shall never forget my surprise the first day I saw one of these huge monsters close to me. We had been rambling58 about on the reef during the morning, and were about to re-embark in our little boat to return home, when a loud blowing sound caused us to wheel rapidly round. We were just in time to see a shower of spray falling, and the flukes or tail of some monstrous fish disappear in the sea a few hundred yards off. We waited some time to see if he would rise again. As we stood, the sea seemed to open up at our very feet; an immense spout3 of water was sent with a snort high into the air, and the huge, blunt head of a sperm-whale rose before us. It was so large that it could easily have taken our little boat, along with ourselves, into its mouth! It plunged59 slowly back into the sea, like a large ship foundering60, and struck the water with its tail so forcibly as to cause a sound like a cannon-shot.
We also saw a great number of flying-fish, although we caught none; and we noticed that they never flew out of the water except when followed by their bitter foe61 the dolphin, from whom they thus endeavoured to escape. But of all the fish that we saw, none surprised us so much as those that we used to find in shallow pools after a shower of rain; and this not on account of their appearance, for they were ordinary-looking and very small, but on account of their having descended62 in a shower of rain! We could account for them in no other way, because the pools in which we found these fish were quite dry before the shower, and at some distance above high-water mark. Jack, however, suggested a cause which seemed to me very probable. We used often to see waterspouts in the sea. A waterspout is a whirling body of water, which rises from the sea like a sharp-pointed pillar. After rising a good way, it is met by a long tongue, which comes down from the clouds; and when the two have joined, they look something like an hour-glass. The waterspout is then carried by the wind—sometimes gently, sometimes with violence—over the sea, sometimes up into the clouds; and then, bursting asunder63, it descends64 in a deluge65. This often happens over the land as well as over the sea; and it sometimes does much damage, but frequently it passes gently away. Now, Jack thought that the little fish might perhaps have been carried up in a waterspout, and so sent down again in a shower of rain. But we could not be certain as to this point, yet we thought it likely.
During these delightful66 fishing and boating excursions we caught a good many eels67, which we found to be very good to eat. We also found turtles among the coral rocks, and made excellent soup in our iron kettle. Moreover, we discovered many shrimps68 and prawns69, so that we had no lack of variety in our food; and, indeed, we never passed a week without making some new and interesting discovery of some sort or other, either on the land or in the sea.
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1
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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spout
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| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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6
ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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10
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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11
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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12
pellucid
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| adj.透明的，简单的 | |
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13
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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14
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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16
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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17
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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18
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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19
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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20
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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21
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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22
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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23
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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24
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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25
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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29
velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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30
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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33
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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34
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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35
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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36
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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37
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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38
hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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39
impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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40
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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41
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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42
pegged
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| v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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43
gambols
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 ) | |
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44
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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45
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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46
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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47
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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48
barb
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| n.（鱼钩等的）倒钩，倒刺 | |
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49
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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50
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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51
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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52
porpoises
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| n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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53
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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54
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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55
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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56
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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57
spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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58
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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59
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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60
foundering
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| v.创始人( founder的现在分词 ) | |
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61
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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62
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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63
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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64
descends
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| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
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65
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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66
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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67
eels
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| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
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68
shrimps
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| n.虾，小虾( shrimp的名词复数 )；矮小的人 | |
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69
prawns
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| n.对虾，明虾( prawn的名词复数 ) | |
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