On July 26, 1864, with the howling northeasterly wind, an elegant and gorgeous cruise ship sailed on the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland with full power.The British flag flutters on the slanted pole of the sternmast, and a small blue flag hangs from the top of the mainmast. On the flag, there are two letters "E.G." (Edward & Glenarvan) embroidered in gold thread. The first letter of the two characters "Navan"), and there is a duke's crown mark on it. The yacht is called the Duncan, and it belongs to Sir Edward Golinavan. Sir is a member of the Scottish House of Peers One of the two elders, and the most outstanding member of the famous Royal Thames River Cruise Club in the UK.

Sir Glenarvan, his young wife, Lady Helene, and one of his cousins, Major MacNabbs, were on board. The Duncan, newly built, was sailing out of the Firth of Clyde in the Windy Sea, and was now heading for Glasgow; when the Isle of Arran was in sight, the sailors on the lookout suddenly reported: "There's a big fish Jump into the stern channel." The captain, John Mengele, immediately had the matter told to Sir Glenarvan.The sergeant took the major up to the top of the poop and asked the captain what kind of fish that was. "Ah, sir," replied the captain. "I think it's a big shark."

"Are there sharks around here?" Sir asked in amazement. "Yes," said the captain again, "there is a kind of shark whose head is like a scale. People call it the Libra fish. This kind of shark can be found in the ocean at any temperature. If I read correctly, we will meet now." Such a rascal here! We'll soon find out what a monster it is, if your lady likes to see a queer way of fishing, if you will." "Besides," continued the captain, "this dreadful venomous fish is inexhaustible. Let us seize the opportunity to kill one, and if it pleases you, we will reel him in, so that, as a touching scene, Another good thing that benefits people."

"You do it, then," said Sir. The Sir called for Lady Helene to be informed.The lady also came up to the top of the poop, and she came to watch this moving fishing with great interest. The sea surface is clear and clear, and the sharks swim freely and quickly on the sea surface, which everyone can see clearly.It suddenly sank into the sea, and suddenly leaped forward, with amazing agility and vigor.Captain Mengele gave orders separately.The sailors threw overboard a thick rope over the starboard rail, with a large hook attached to the end, and a thick piece of bacon on the hook.Although the shark was still 45 meters away, he could smell the bait that was given to satisfy his hunger.It quickly approached the cruise ship.Everyone saw that its gray-black double fins beat the waves violently, and the tail kept the balance of the body, moving forward along a straight line.As it swam forward, it stared at its two protruding eyes, which seemed to be burning with desire. When it turned over, its open palate showed four rows of white teeth.Its head is very broad, like a double-headed hammer pressed on a long handle.Captain Menger was right. It is indeed the most gluttonous shark. Americans call it "Libra fish", and some people in the French province of Provence call it "Jewish fish".

Passengers and sailors aboard the Duncan watched the shark's movements with fascination.After a while the guy came to the hook and rolled to make it easier to swallow, and the big piece of bait disappeared in its thick throat.It immediately shook the cable and was hooked.The sailors hastened to spin the tackle at the end of the sail frame, and hoisted the monster up. When the shark came out of the water, he jumped very hard.But people have a way to subdue it: another rope, with a slipknot at the end, which catches its tail and keeps it immobile.In a few moments it was hoisted aboard over the rails and fell on the deck.At this time, a sailor approached it quietly, and cut off its terrible tail with an axe.

The hooking scene is over, and the monster has nothing to fear.The sailors' desire for revenge was satisfied, but their curiosity was not.Yes, there is such a habit on any ship: when you kill a shark, you have to search carefully in its stomach. Sailors know that sharks eat everything, and hope to find something unexpected in its stomach. Always fails. Mrs. Helen didn't want to participate in this smelly "search", and went back to the poop. The shark was still panting; it was more than 3 meters long and weighed more than 600 catties.Such length and weight are not unusual at all, but Libra is not the largest of sharks, but at least it is one of the most ferocious.

After a while, the big fish was unceremoniously cut open with a big axe, and the hook swallowed it all the way, but the stomach was still empty; obviously, the guy hadn't eaten for a long time.The sailors were listlessly about to throw the wreck overboard when the bosun's attention was attracted by something rough in the shark's belly. "Er! what's that?" he exclaimed. "That," replied one of the sailors, "is a stone that the fellow swallowed to balance himself." "Go to hell!" said the other sailor. "That's obviously a chain bullet, and it went into the wretch's stomach before he had time to digest it."

"Don't talk nonsense, you all," retorted First Mate Tom Austin, "don't you see that this fellow is a drunkard? He didn't count the wine, he even swallowed the bottle." "What!" cried Sir, "is there a bottle in the belly of the shark?" "It is a bottle," replied the bosun, "but it is evident that the bottle was not taken from the wine cellar." "Then, Austin," continued Sir, "you take out the bottle carefully, for bottles found at sea often contain valuable papers." "Do you believe that?" asked the major.

"I believe at least it's possible." "Ah! I don't disagree with you," replied Major McNabbs, "perhaps there's a secret in that bottle." "We shall find out in a moment," said Sir Glenarvan. "How is it, Austen?" "Here," replied the mate, pointing to the shapeless object which he had taken with great difficulty from the shark's belly. "Very well," said Glenarvan, "have that ugly thing washed and brought up to the poop." Austen complied, and he brought the strange bottle into the square and put it on the table, around which the lord, the major, and the captain all sat down. Generally speaking, women are always a little curious.Of course Mrs. Helen also surrounded her.

At sea, little things are considered big things.For a while, everyone was silent, looking at the glass bottle eagerly.Does it contain clues to the accident of the ship, or is it a voyager who wrote an irrelevant letter and threw it into the waves for fun? In order to know what was in it, Jazz immediately set about examining the bottle.He was very careful--like an English prosecutor investigating the merits of an important case.Jazz is right to do this, because a seemingly innocuous thing often turns up important clues. Check the outside before checking the inside of the bottle.It has a thin neck, a very solid mouth, and a section of rusty wire. The bottle is so thick that it will not break even under different degrees of pressure. It can be seen that it is made in the Champagne province of France.Liquor dealers often knock the chair rail with this bottle, and the chair rail is knocked off, but the bottle is still safe and sound.The bottle found this time can survive long-term wandering and be bumped countless times without any damage, which shows how strong it is.

"It's a Creego bottle," said the major casually. Because he was an expert, his judgment was not questioned. "My dear major," Helen replied, "if we don't know where the bottle comes from, but only know which distillery it is from, what is the difference?" For what?" "We shall know where it came from, my dear Helen," said Sir, "and we are already sure that it came from a great distance. You see, this solidified layer adhered to the outside of the bottle The impurities, so to speak, have been turned into ores under the influence of seawater immersion! This bottle has been drifting in the ocean for a long time before it entered the belly of the shark." "I quite agree with you," replied the major, "that this glass bottle has such a thick layer of impurities that it may have been the result of a long journey." "Where did it come from?" asked Lady Helene. "Wait, my dear Helen, wait a moment, and study this bottle patiently. Unless I am completely wrong in my guesses, the bottle itself will answer the questions we ask." As Sir Glenarvan spoke, he scraped off the hard substance protecting the mouth of the bottle. After a while, the cork was exposed, but it had been severely eroded by the sea water. "Dreadful! Even if there were papers in the bottle, they must have been badly preserved," said Sir. "I'm afraid so," agreed the major. "I have another conjecture," continued the sergeant, "that the bottle was not tightly corked, and would sink shortly after it was thrown into the sea. Fortunately, the shark swallowed it and brought it up to the Duncan." "There is no doubt about it," replied Johann Menger. "However, it would be better if we picked it up in the sea, and knew the latitude and longitude of the place where we caught it. For, as soon as we study the direction of the current and current, we can know the distance it traveled; We shall have no way of knowing that this head-wind shark was delivered to us." "Let's see," Sir replied. At this moment he uncorked the bottle very carefully, and a salty smell filled the poop. "How is it?" asked Lady Helene impatiently. "Yes! I guessed right! There are papers in it!" said Sir. "It's a document! It's a document!" cried Mrs. Helen. The Sir replied: "However, probably because of the strong moisture erosion, the documents are all stuck on the bottle, and I can't take it out." "Break the bottle," said the major. "I'd rather not break the bottle," retorted Sir. "I hope so too." The major followed suit. "Of course it's better not to break the bottle," said Mrs. Helen, "but what's in the bottle is more important than the bottle, so I have to sacrifice the bottle." "Just knock the neck off, ser," said the captain. "Just do it! my dear Edward," cried the lady. In fact, there is no other way, so although Sir Glenarvan was reluctant, he had to make up his mind to break the neck of the precious bottle.Because the outer layer of impurities is as hard as granite, a hammer must be used.After a while, fragments of the bottle neck fell on the table, and people immediately saw several pieces of paper sticking together.Jazz carefully pulled out the papers, unfolded them one by one, and spread them on the table.Lady Helene, the Major, and the Captain crowded around him now. These few pieces of paper, due to the erosion of sea water, have lost all the lines of words, leaving only some blurred handwriting that cannot form sentences.Sir observed carefully for a few minutes, looking upside down, and placed it in the sun again, observing the slightest strokes of the writing that had not been etched by the sea water. Friends who stopped him and waited impatiently said: "Here are three different documents, possibly one document, but in three languages: one in English, one in French, and one in German. Judging from the few words that have not been etched, this cannot be doubted. " "At least, these words must have a meaning?" Mrs. Helen asked. "It's hard to say, my dear Helen, the writing on these papers is so incomplete." "Perhaps the words on the three documents complement each other?" said the major. "It should be possible," the captain replied, "because the sea water can never erode all the words on the same line of three documents, and if we put all these broken words and sentences together, there will always be one that can be understood. mean." "That's exactly what we're going to do," said Sir, "but we're going to do it step by step, first in English." 62 Birgow sinkstrap aland skippGr thatmonitoflong and ssistance lost "These words don't mean much," said the major with a look of disappointment. "Anyway," replied the captain, "those words are always English." , (and), lost (must die), these words are very complete, skipp is obviously skipper (captain), here is a man named Gr... (格...) or something, about a Captain of a shipwrecked ship." "Also, the meanings of the two words monit and ssisance are also obvious. monit should be monition (document), ssisance (rescue)." Captain Mengele said. "Looking at it this way, it's quite interesting." Mrs. Helen said. "It's just a pity," said the major, some whole lines are missing, what's the name of the wrecked ship, and where's the wrecked place, how do we know? " "We'll find it," said Sir. "No problem, we'll find it," added the major, always taking everyone's opinion as his opinion. "But how to find it?" "We'll find the three files by complementing each other." "Let's look for it like this!" Madame cried again. The second sheet was more damaged than the first, and only a few disconnected words remained: ７juniGLas Zneiatrosen graus Bring Tihnen "It's German," said the captain as soon as he saw it. "Do you understand German, Mengele?" Sir asked the captain. "Sir, I understand." "You know, please tell me what these words mean." The captain looked at the paper carefully, and said: "First of all, the date of the accident has been determined. 7Juni is June 7th. Then, by combining this date with the 62 on the English document, we know that it is a complete date like June 7th, 1862." "Very well!" cried Lady Helene. "Go on!" " "The same line, and the word Glas, put together with the gow of the first document, is the word Glasgow, apparently a ship in the port of Glasgow." "That's my opinion, too," echoed the major. "The second line of the document is missing." Menger said again, "but I see two important words in the third line: zwei means two, and atrosen should be matrosen, meaning sailor." "That means a captain and two sailors were killed," said Mrs. Helen. "Probably so," replied Sir. "I will confess to you honestly, sir, that the following word graus confuses me," went on the captain, "and I do not know how to explain it. Perhaps a third document will enable us to understand it. As for the last two words, It is not difficult to explain: bringtit and ihnen mean begging for help. If we add the English word on the sixth line of the first document, I mean add the word rescue, we will make it beg for help. It's obvious." "Yes! Help!" said Sir, "but where are those unfortunates? We have not had a clue of where till now! We know nothing of where it happened!" "We wish the French documents could be made clearer," said Mrs. Helene. "Let's look at the French papers again. We all know French, so it's much easier to study," said the Sir. The third file reads: Troiatstannia gonieautral abort corntin prcruelindi jetengit et 37°11, lat "Here are the numbers," cried Mrs. Helene, "look! Ladies and gentlemen, look! . . . " "Let us proceed in order," said Sir Glenarvan, "from the beginning. Please let me take these incomplete words one by one. The first few words I see is a three-masted ship. , put together the two documents in English and French, the name of the ship is complete, it is called Britannia. The last two words goine and austral in the second line, only the last word has meaning, and everyone knows that this is the southern hemisphere." This is already a valuable revelation," replied Mengele, "that the ship was wrecked in the southern hemisphere. " "It's not clear yet," said the major. Sir said: "Let me go on, the word abor should be aborAder, which means to arrive. Those unfortunate people have arrived somewhere. Is contin the contineht (continent)? Crue!  … " "cruel just happens to be the German word graus... grausam! It means savage!" "Let's read on, read on!" said the Sir, and his interest naturally increased as he saw the incomplete words gradually gain meaning. Is "indi" just inde? What about the word for India? Did those sailors go to India by the wind and waves? There is also the word ongit, which must be Longitude (longitude). The following is latitude: 37 degrees 11 minutes. With the right reveal!" "But I still don't know the longitude!" said the major. "We cannot ask for such completeness, my dear major!" replied the Sir. "It is good to have the correct latitude. This French document is the most complete of the three. And the three The documents are obviously translations of each other, and they are literal translations, because the number of lines on the three sheets of paper is the same. Therefore, we should now combine the three into one, translate them in one language, and then Then study their most probable, most reasonable, and most understandable meanings." "Will you translate from French, English, or German?" asked the major. "Take the French translation, since the interesting words are preserved in French." "You are right, we all understand French," Mengele said. "Naturally, I'm going to write this document now, put together the broken words and sentences, and keep the blanks between the words and sentences, and fill in the unquestionable words and sentences, and then we will compare and judge." Sir at once picked up a pen, and after a while he handed them all a piece of paper, on which was written: 7 juin 1862 trois-mats Britannia Glasgow June 7, 1862 three-masted ship "Britannia" Glasgow sombregonieaustral sinking gonia southern hemisphere aterredeux matelots landing two sailors capital Grabor captain grid arrives continprcruelindi continent captured by savage indy jetecedocumentdelongitude Throw this file longitude et 37° 11 B delatitude portez-leursecours 37° 11' latitude begging for help perdu must die At this time, a sailor came to report to the captain that the Duncan had entered the Firth of Clyde, and asked the captain to issue an order. "Sir, what do you mean?" Mengele turned to Sir Glenarvan. "Drive to Dunbarton first, and send Lady Helene back to Malcolm Hall, and then I will go to London to deliver this document to the Admiralty." The captain ordered accordingly, and the sailor conveyed the order to the mate. "Now, my friends," said Sir, "let us continue our research. We have found a clue to the wreck of a large merchant ship. Several lives depend on whether our judgment is correct. Therefore, we will use our brains to guess this. charade." "We're all set to do it, dear," said Lady Helene. "First," continued Sir, "we shall divide the contents of this document into three distinct parts: first, what is known; second, what can be guessed; and third, what is not yet known. We already know What? We already know: On June 7, 1862, a three-masted ship Britannia sank in the port of Glasgow. Two sailors and the captain threw this document into the sea at latitude 37 degrees 11 minutes, asking for rescue ." "Exactly," said the major. "What else can we guess? I think it is: the shipwreck is in the southern hemisphere, and here I want to draw your attention immediately to the word gonie. Doesn't this word refer to a place name? Is it a place name?" What about part of the name?" "It's Patagonie (Patagonia)!" cried Mrs. Helen. "No problem." "But isn't Patagonia on the 37th parallel?" asked the major. "It's not difficult to prove." Menger replied while opening a map of South America, "Exactly! Patagonia is crossed by the 37th parallel south latitude. The 37th parallel south latitude first crosses Arogania. , and then along northern Patagonia through the steppes and into the Atlantic Ocean." "Okay! Let's continue to speculate. Abor means aborder (arrival). Where did the two sailors and the captain arrive? Contin... means continent (continent). Note, it is a continent, not an island. What happens after they reach the mainland? There is a word pr that looks like a sign of the gods to explain their fate. This word means that those unfortunates were captured (pris) or made captives (prisonniers). Who were they captured? By the savage Indians People, (cruAelsindiens) are captured. Are you convinced by my explanation? Don’t the words in the blanks automatically jump out one by one? Don’t you think the meaning of the document is obvious? Do you still have something in mind? Understand?" Jazz spoke firmly, his eyes full of confidence.All his enthusiasm poured into everyone's hearts.They all cried out like him: "It's all too clear! It's all too clear!" After a while the Sir said again: "My friends, all these assumptions seem to me to be very plausible. I think it's off the coast of Patagonia. And I'm going to ask someone in Glasgow harbor to find out where the Britannia was. Where it's headed, and then we'll know if there's a chance it's going to be forced into the sea." "Ah! We don't need to go so far to inquire. I have the entire Merchant Shipping Daily here and can give us the correct answer." Said the captain. "Take it out and check it quickly, check it quickly!" Helen said. Menger took out a large bundle of 1862 newspapers and began to flip through them quickly. It didn't take long for him to look for it. After a while, he said in a satisfied tone: "May 30, 1862, Peru! Callao (a large commercial port in western Peru)! Full load, sailing to the port of Glasgow, the ship named Britannia The Nia, Captain Grant." "Grant!" cried the sir, "that is the ambitious Scot who wanted to establish a new Scotland in the Pacific!" "Yes! It was he who sailed from Glasgow on the Britannia in 1862, and was never heard of again." "No more doubts! No more doubts!" ​​said the sir. "It is indeed he. The Britannia left Callao on the 30th of May, and was in Patagonia eight days later, on the 7th of June. Something has happened to the surface of the sea. Its whole history is contained in these surviving writings, which at first glance seem unintelligible, and you know, my friends! We have guessed not a few facts. As for what we don't know, only a little: It's degrees of longitude. " "Since I know the name of the place, it doesn't matter whether I know the longitude or not. As long as I know the latitude, I can guarantee to sail all the way to the accident site." The captain said. "So, don't we all understand?" said Lady Helene. "It is all understood, my dear Helen, and I can fill in the gaps between the words of this document as easily as if Captain Grant had said it himself, and I would have taken notes for him." The Sir immediately picked up the pen and made the following record without hesitation: On June 7, 1862, the three-masted ship Britannia, belonging to the port of Glasgow, sank in the southern hemisphere sea near the coast of Patagonia. , Landing in first aid, the two sailors and Captain Grant immediately arrive on the continent to be captured by the savage Indians.Zit dropped this document at longitude...latitude 37°11B, and begged for help, or he would die here! "Good! Good! My dear!" said Lady Helene, "it will be all thanks to you if those unfortunates can return to their country!" "They must be able to return to their country. This document is too obvious, too clear, too sure. England will never leave her children on that lonely shore without rescue, never Yes. It operated in the past to save Franklin and many other wrecked crew, and it must do the same today to save the Britannia's wrecked crew!" "These unfortunates must have families, and the families must be weeping over their disappearance! Perhaps this Grant has a wife and children!  …" "You are right, my dear lady, and it is my duty to inform them that they are not entirely disappointed. Now, my friends, we go back to the roof, and we are nearly at the port." Sure enough, the Duncan put on full steam, sailed along the coast of Bute Island, with Hesser and the pretty little town lying in the fertile valley behind to starboard; then she sailed into the narrow channel of the bay. , turned a corner in front of the city of Greenock, and at six o'clock in the evening, it was moored at the foot of the snowflake rock in Dumbarton, on the top of which stands the Scottish hero Wallace (in the Scottish War of Liberation in the 13th century The famous mansion of the people's leader, who was later killed by the British). There, a carriage with harnessed horses was waiting for Lady Helene to take her back to Malcolm Hall with Major MacNabbs.After embracing goodbye to his young lady, the Sir hopped on the express train to Glasgow. But before he left, he used a faster means of transportation to make an important announcement.In a few minutes the telegraph sent the notice to The Times and the Morning Chronicle.The notice reads as follows: "For information on the three-masted Britannia in Glasgow Harbor and its captain, Grant, ask Sir Glenarvan. Address: Malcolm Hall, Russ, Van Pattenshire, Scotland."