Home Categories science fiction twenty thousand leagues under the sea

Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Ned Land

Captain Farragut was a fine seaman, and fully worthy of the ship he commanded.His ship is one with him, he is its soul.There was no doubt in his mind about the cetacean, and he forbade any discussion of its existence on board.He believed in the animal, as many honest women believe in sea monsters, out of faith rather than reason.There was this monster, and he swore to clear it from the sea.He was like the Knight of Rhodes, like Duduney.De Gossen went to meet the serpents that harassed his island.Either Captain Farragut kills the narwhal, or the narwhal kills Captain Farragut, there is no middle ground.

The sailors on board agreed with their officer.They were always talking, arguing and reckoning the chances of encountering monsters, and they were always scouting the open sea.More than one seaman scrambled to be on watch at the cross-rails, a drudgery which, in any other case, would have been cursed by.As long as the sun was in the sky, the mast was always crowded with sailors, who stood motionless despite the heat of their feet on the deck.In fact, the bow of the Lincoln hadn't yet touched the waters of the Pacific Ocean. As for the whole crew on board, everyone wanted to meet the sea unicorn, harpoon it, drag it aboard, and slaughter it.They all scouted the sea very carefully.What's more, Captain Farragut said that whoever reports the news about Hai Qilin first, regardless of whether he is a trained sailor, sailor or officer, will get a $2,000 bonus.It is not difficult to imagine, therefore, that the eyes of the Lincoln were busier.

As for me, I am not far behind, and I do not leave the daily observations that I should make to others.This ship really has many reasons to be called "Multiple Eyes". Among the crew, only Conseil, on the contrary, expressed his indifference to issues of common interest to us, pouring a basin of cold water on the enthusiasm of everyone on board. As I said before, Captain Farragut was a very careful man, and he carried on board all the equipment for hunting huge whales.Not even a whaler could be better equipped.Our ships have everything from hand-thrown harpoons to weapons.All the way to the cracked shells of the shotgun and the iron arrows fired from the cannon.On the front deck is a very complete breech-loading gun with a thick barrel and a narrow muzzle. The model of this gun was exhibited in the 1867 World Expo.This precious cannon: made in the United States, can fire conical shells weighing four kilograms at a range of sixteen kilometers.

Therefore, it can be said that Lincoln has all kinds of annihilation weapons, and the most wonderful thing is that Ned Land, the king of harpooners, is also on board. Ned.Lan, a Canadian with great dexterity, had never met a match in the dangerous business of spearfishing.He is quick and calm, bold and quick-witted, and very capable, but for a cunning fin whale, or a particularly clever big head whale, it would be difficult to avoid his harpoon. Ned Land was about forty years old.He was a large man, more than six feet high, well-built, dignified, not very talkative, and very violent and easily lost in temper.His demeanor was particularly noticeable, especially his piercing eyes, which accentuated the expression of his face.

I think Captain Farragut was quite right in having this man on board.This man, by himself, was equivalent to the whole crew in terms of hands and eyes.I can't have a better comparison, I can only say that he is a powerful telescope, and a cannon ready to fire at any time. To be Canadian is to be almost French.Although N. de Land did not have much acquaintance with people, I must admit that he had a special affection for me.No doubt it was my nationality that attracted him.It was an opportunity for him to speak Rabelais's French, which is still spoken in some provinces of Canada, and it was also an opportunity for me to listen to this French.The harpooner's hometown is in Quebec. When this city was still part of France, there were already a group of daring fishers in his family.

Ned Land gradually developed an interest in conversation, and I loved hearing his stories of adventures in the Arctic seas.He often used poetic sentences to tell the story of his fishing and fighting.His stories have an epic form, and listening to him was like listening to a Canadian Homer reciting the poem of the North Pole. It is because of the friendship born and strengthened in adversity that binds us together that I paint this bold harpooner whom I do know!what!Brave Ned Land!I wish I could live another hundred years and miss you even longer! What is Ned Land's opinion on the sea monster issue at present?I admit that he doesn't believe in sea unicorns or narwhals.Of the people on board, he was the only one who disagreed with everyone.He even avoided discussing the matter.But, I think it's something he'll talk about someday.

On the 30th of July, three weeks after our departure, the ship reached at dusk thirty miles off the coast of Patagonia, at the same latitude as Baiga.We had passed the Tropic of Capricorn by then, and the Strait of Magellan was less than seven hundred nautical miles to the south. In less than eight days, the Lincoln would sail on the waves of the Pacific Ocean. Ned.Lan and I were sitting on the poop deck, looking at the mysterious sea, whose depths have hitherto been inaccessible: talking about this, talking about that, when, quite naturally, I The conversation turned to the giant sea unicorn, and I spoke of the various possibilities for the success or failure of our expedition.Then, I saw Ned.Lan said nothing, just let me speak, and asked him to speak directly.

"Ned Land," I asked him, "how can you doubt the existence of the cetacean we're after? Is there any particular reason for your doubt?" The harpooner looked at me for a moment before answering, then, in his usual gesture, patted his broad forehead with his hand, and closed his eyes, as if in deep thought.He said: "Mr. Aronnax, I have a reason." "Ned Land, you are a professional whaling expert. You are very familiar with the huge mammals in the sea. It should be easy for you to admit the existence of this huge cetacean, but you have come to be the last to doubt this. people!"

"Professor; it's because you're mistaken," said Ned Land. "The average person believes that there are very special comets that traverse the sky, that there are ancient nephews that live in the interior of the earth, and that's all right, But astronomers, geologists, never admit the existence of such grotesque things. Neither do whale hunters. Cetaceans, I have chased many, I have harpooned many, and I have killed several But no matter how powerful and fierce those whales are, neither their tails nor their tusks can break the steel plate of a steamboat." "But, Ned Land, there are plenty of tales of narwhal teeth drilling through the bottom of boats."

"Wooden boats, that's possible," replied the Canadian, "but I haven't seen such a thing myself. So, I can't admit that fin whales, humpback whales, and narwhals can penetrate steel plate." "Ned Land, listen to me..." "No, Professor, you can listen to anything, but not this one. Maybe it's a giant octopus?  …" "That's even more wrong, Ned Land. The octopus is a mollusk, and the name alone suggests that its muscles are not strong at all. Even if the octopus were five hundred feet long, it would not belong to the vertebrate family." It will do no harm to ships like the Scotia or the Lincoln, so anything about such sea monsters or monsters should be regarded as nonsense."

"Well, Biologist," Ned said.Lan said with a bit of sarcasm, "Are you insisting on the existence of giant cetaceans?..." "Yes, Ned Land, I repeat that I believe it on the basis of facts. I believe in the existence of a mammal in the sea with a solid body, belonging to the phylum of vertebrates, like fin whales, Like a whale or a dolphin, and has a horny tusk that penetrates with great force." "Huh!" snorted the harpooner, shaking his head in disbelief. "Please note," I added, "my honest Canadian, if there is such an animal, if it lives at the bottom of the ocean, if it is going to move about miles below the surface, it must have A formidable body." "Why such a strong body?" Ned Land asked. "Because to live in very deep water, and to be able to resist the pressure of the water, there must be an immeasurably great power." Really? "Ned Land rolled his eyes and looked at me. "Really, some numbers will easily prove it to you." "Ah!" Ned Land replied. "Numbers! People can use numbers to prove what they like!" "Ned Land, this is a fact, not a mathematical number. Please listen to me carefully. We all agree that the pressure of one atmosphere is equal to the pressure of a column of water at a height of thirty-two feet. In fact, the height of this column of water is the smallest, because we're talking about seawater, which is denser than freshwater. Ned Land, well, when you dive in, how many times thirty-two feet of water is above you, your body To withstand the pressure of the same multiple of atmospheric pressure, that is, to withstand the pressure of the same multiple of kilograms per square centimeter area. According to this calculation, the pressure at the depth of 320 feet is ten atmospheric pressures, and at the depth of 3,200 feet It's one hundred atmospheres, thirty-two thousand feet deep, that is, at a depth of about two and a half miles, it's one thousand atmospheres. This is equivalent to saying that if you dive to such a depth in the ocean, every square centimeter of your body will have Thousands of kilograms of pressure. But, honest Ned Land, do you know how many square centimeters your body has?" "Of course a lot, Mr. Aronnax." "Approximately 17,000 square centimeters in area." "Is that much?" "Actually, one atmosphere of air pressure is more than one kilogram per square centimeter. Now you have 17,568 kilograms of pressure on an area of ​​17,000 square centimeters," "Why don't I feel that at all?" "You don't feel it at all. The reason why you don't get crushed by this much pressure is because the air that goes into your body has equal pressure. So the internal pressure and the external pressure can balance out, and the internal and external pressure cancels out", so you Can withstand: do not feel hard.But in water it is different. " "Yes, I understand," Ned Land answered me, more attentively, "because the water is all around me and never enters me." "Yes, Ned. Land. So, do the math. At thirty-two feet under the sea, you're under a pressure of seventeen thousand five hundred and sixty-eight kilograms; at three hundred and twenty feet, ten times that." the pressure of 165,680 kilograms; at 3,200 feet below the seabed, a hundred times the pressure, 1,756,800 kilograms; finally, at the bottom of the sea At 32,000 feet, you will be subjected to a thousand times the pressure, that is, a pressure of 17,568,000 kilograms; that is to say, you will be crushed into thin sheets, as if people pulled you out of the iron plate of the hydraulic press Like!" Ned Land shouted: "Good fellow!" "Well, my honest harpooner, if a vertebrate, hundreds of meters long and proportional to its length, lives at such depths, then they have millions of square centimeters The pressure on their bodies will be calculated in tens of billions of kilograms. Now please calculate their skeleton and body, the resistance necessary to withstand such a large pressure!" "Then their bodies would have to be made of eight-inch steel plates, like ironclad battleships," Ned Land replied. "Just as you said, Ned Land, now think about the destructive force that such a massive object could produce when struck at the speed of a ship by the hull of a ship." "Yes...maybe...that's it." The Canadian replied, shaken by the numbers above, but unwilling to admit defeat right away. "So, do you believe it?" "One thing you have convinced me, Biologist, is that, if there are such animals under the sea, they must be as strong as you say." "But, obstinate harpooner, how do you explain what happened to the Scotia if there were no such animals under the sea? "Or..." Ned Land said hesitantly. "Go on!" "Because....it's not true!" replied the Canadian, inadvertently reciting the famous line of dialogue from Arago. But that answer said nothing but the stubbornness of the harpooner.I will not press him that day, the accident on the Scotia is undeniable.There is a real hole in the bottom of the boat, and it has to be plugged up, and of course I don't think a hole is the answer, but the hole didn't just happen for nothing.Since it was not hit by a reef, it must have been drilled by a sharp weapon of some kind of animal. Then, summing up the reasons mentioned above, I think this animal belongs to the phylum Vertebrate, the class Mammalia, the order Fish, and the order Cetacea.The family it belongs to is the family of fin whales, humpback whales, and dolphins; as for the "genus" it should be included in, and the "species" it should belong to, it will not be clear until the future.This mysterious monster must be dissected if we want to solve this problem.To dissect it, you have to catch it; to catch it, you have to cross it (this is Ned Land's business).To harpoon it one had to see it (a matter of the crew); to see it one had to meet it (a matter of luck).
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