Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Full power

On hearing this cry, the whole crew, from the captain, officers, bosun, down to the sailors, cadets, and even the engineer, dropped the engine, and the fireman from the boiler, and all ran towards the harpooner.The order to stop was given, and the vessel proceeded on its own remaining power. It was very dark then, and no matter how good the Canadian's eyesight was, I had to think about how and what he could see.My heart was beating so hard it was about to explode. But Ned Land was not mistaken, and we all saw what his hand was pointing at. About 370 meters from the starboard side of the Lincoln, the sea surface seemed to be illuminated by the light from the bottom of the water.This light is not ordinary phosphorescence, no one can mistake that.This monster lurks several meters below the surface of the water and emits a very intense and mysterious light, as has been reported by some captains.This particularly brilliant light must have come from some huge luminous power.The luminous part forms a huge ellipse on the sea surface, stretched very long, and the center of the ellipse is an incandescent focal point, which emits an unimaginable luminosity, and the luminosity gradually fades away, and finally goes out.

"It's just a collection of countless phosphorus molecules," said an officer. "No," I answered confidently, "animals like Fulad or Sharji could never emit such a luminosity. This light can only be electric light...Look! Look! It moved! It moved. Forward, then backward! It charged us!" There were shouts from all over the battleship. "Hush," said Captain Farragut, "keep the rudder steady, the ship is going astern to the wind!" The sailors ran to the helm, and the engineers to the machinery.The steam valves closed instantly, and the Lincoln turned a hundred and eighty degrees to port.

Captain Farragut yelled, "Rudder to starboard, forward!" The above orders were executed, and the battleship quickly left the glowing center. I was wrong.Our boat was about to move away, but the mysterious animal was approaching with increasing speed. We were out of breath.At that time, more stunned than frightened, we remained silent.The animal rushed towards us on the surface of the sea as if joking.It circled the battleship (the ship was moving at fourteen knots an hour now) and shrouded it in a web of electricity like light dust.Then it went two or three miles away, trailing behind it a phosphorescent tail like a cloud of smoky gas left behind by the express engine.Suddenly, this monster appeared from the end of the horizon.Charged suddenly towards the Lincoln with astonishing speed, stopped suddenly twenty feet out to sea, and the light went out--not submerged, for its light did not fade slowly, but abruptly. Earth, like the source of light suddenly cut off!It reappeared shortly afterwards on the other side of the battleship, either rounding it or diving under it.At any moment, it may give us a fatal blow.But the actions of our ships baffled me.It is on the run, not attacking.It should have been chasing the monster, but it was, and I made my opinion to Captain Farragut.Captain Farragut's face is usually very calm, but now he looks extremely flustered.

"Mr. Aronnax," he replied, "I haven't figured out how powerful the monster I'm going to deal with is, and I don't want to let the battleship take risks in such darkness. Besides, how to attack this monster?" What about the mysterious thing, and how to defend against it? We wait until dawn, and the situation will be different." "Captain, do you now have no doubts about the nature of this animal?" "There is no doubt, sir, that it is plainly a gigantic narwhal, and an electric narwhal at the same time." "Perhaps," I added, "we can't get close to it any more than we can get close to an electric eel, or a mine!"

"Indeed," replied the captain, "it has lightning powers in it, and it must be the most dreadful animal ever made by the Creator. It is for this reason, sir, that I must take great care." The whole crew stood watch during the night, and no one thought of sleep.The Lincoln was no match for this monster in terms of speed, so it had to keep driving slowly at a low speed.And the narwhal also imitated the battleship, swinging freely on the waves, it seems that it is not planning to leave the arena. Towards midnight, however, it disappeared, or, to use a more accurate term, it ceased to glow like a great firefly.Did it escape?I am afraid that it will escape, and we do not want it to escape.But at 0:53 in the morning, there was a deafening whistling sound, just like the whistling sound made by a water column squeezed out by extremely strong pressure.

Captain Farragut, Ned Land, and I were all on the poop, gazing intently into the deep darkness. "Ned Land," asked the captain, "have you ever heard a whale call?" "Have heard it often, sir, but never have I heard such a call as the whale that now won me the two thousand dollar prize." "Yes, you deserve the prize. But tell me, is that the sound that cetaceans make when they spit water from their nostrils?" "That's the sound, sir, but now it's infinitely louder. So no one can be mistaken. There is no doubt that the thing in the sea before us is a cetacean." The harpooner continued, "Would you please Allow me, sir, to have a word with it tomorrow morning."

"I'm afraid it won't have the patience to listen to you, Master Ned Land." I replied in a dubious tone. "If I'm only four harpoons away from him," replied the Canadian, "then he'll have to listen to me!" "But while you go near it," said the captain, "I must give you a whaler for your use?" "Of course there must be one, sir." "Wouldn't I be risking the lives of my men by taking the boat?" "Is my life counted?" the harpooner replied dryly. By about two o'clock in the morning, this luminous focus glowed equally strongly on the surface of the sea five miles ahead of the Lincoln.Despite the distance, despite the sound of the wind and the waves, we could clearly hear the churning of the water by the animal's tail.And hear its panting.When this gigantic narwhal comes to the surface of the ocean to breathe, the air is drawn into its lungs, as water vapor is into the great cylinder of a two-thousand-horsepower machine.

"Well!" thought I, "this whale, as mighty as a troop of cavalry, must be a marvelous whale!" Everyone was on alert until dawn, everyone was preparing for battle.All kinds of fishing equipment are placed beside the railing of the boat.The second mate was equipped with a large caliber short-arm, capable of firing a harpoon a mile away, and a long-shot opening gun, which would kill even the mightiest of animals with a single blow.Ned Land himself was only there sharpening his harpoon, which in his hand was a formidable weapon. At six o'clock, it was dawn, and the twilight of the morning sun wiped out the lightning of the narwhal.At seven o'clock, it was broad daylight, but the thick morning fog narrowed the field of view, and the best telescopes were of no use, so there was renewed disappointment and chagrin.

I climbed up to the mastmast, where some officers were already standing. At eight o'clock, thick fog rolls heavily over the sea, and its huge air mass gradually disperses.The sky gradually expanded and became clearer. Suddenly, as on the previous night, Ned Land cried out. "That thing we're looking for is aft on the port side!" the Fish yelled again. All eyes turned to his finger. Over there, about a nautical mile and a half away from the battleship, a long black body emerged from the water, the future.Its tail stirred the water into a big eddy.No tail of anything could hit the sea so hard.The animal walked by, leaving a huge, white and dazzling water pattern behind its tail, and it traced a long curve.

Our battleship Ai approached the cetacean.I observed it casually.The reports of the Shannon and the Helvetia somewhat exaggerate its size, but I estimate it to be no more than two hundred and fifty feet long.As for the breadth, it is difficult for me to estimate; in short, this animal seems to me: the proportions of length, width and height are very well proportioned. When I observed this strange animal, two streams of water and vapor spewed out from its nostrils, and sprayed up to a height of ten meters. This made me affirm the way it breathes.I finally concluded that this animal belonged to the phylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, subclass Sole Porpoise, Fishes, order Cetacea, genus ... .At this point I can't go on.There are three families of cetaceans: fin whales, bullhead whales and dolphins, with narwhals being the last family.Each family is divided into genera, the genera into species, and the species into varieties.Variety, species, genus, family, I don't know yet, but I have no doubt that with the help of God and Captain Farragut I can complete the classification of this animal.

The crew on board waited impatiently for their commander's order.After observing the animal attentively, the captain called the engineer.The engineer came running.The captain asked: "Sir, is the air pressure enough?" "That's enough, sir," replied the engineer. "Okay, increase the firepower and drive with all your strength!" Everyone greeted the order with three cheers.The battle horn sounded.After some time, black smoke spewed out from the two funnels on the battleship, and the deck shook under the vibration of the boiler. Pushed by the engine wheels, the Lincoln kept rushing towards the monster, but the monster didn't care at all. When the battleship was about half the anchor chain away from it, it still didn't dive into the water, but only showed a slight evasion, and didn't go away. Far, just keep this distance. This close pursuit lasted for about three quarters of an hour, and it was impossible for the warship to get as close as four meters to the whale.It is very clear that if you continue to push like this, you will never be able to push it. Captain Farragut was restless, twiddling his bushy beard under his chin. "Where's Ned Land?" he called. The Canadians came forward. "Well, Master Ned Land," he asked, "do you think it's time to put the boat into the sea?" "No, sir," replied Ned Land, "because the thing is not to be captured unless it is voluntary." "then what should we do?" "Sir, put as much force as you can. Myself, with your permission, of course, I'll stand guard on the foremast rope ladder, and when we're within reach of the harpoon, I'll throw the harpoon. go out." "Ned Land, let's do it this way," replied the captain.He shouted again: "Engineer, increase the horsepower." Ned Land stepped up to his post.The fire was fired as hard as it could go, the wheels were turning forty-three revolutions per minute, and the steam was running from the pistons.Throwing down the odometer, it was found that the speed of the Lincoln was eighteen and a half knots at this time. But that hideous animal was also traveling at eighteen and a half knots. In the whole hour, the battleship can only maintain this speed, and it can't do it if it advances two meters!This is really embarrassing for one of the fastest warships in the US Navy.There was unquenchable anger among the crew.The sailors cursed the monster, but the monster ignored them.Captain Farragut wasn't just twiddling his bushy beard, but was now wringing it. He called the engineer over again. "Have you turned on the horsepower to the maximum?" asked the captain. "Yes, Captain, the horsepower is on full throttle," he replied. "Are the pistons all tightened?  …" "Up to six and a half atmospheres." "Turn them up to ten pressure." This is a purely American order.I'm afraid that on the Mississippi River, boats that compete with others and bet on winning or losing can't do the same! "Conseil," I said to Candide standing beside me, "you see, our ship may be about to blow up!" "Your master can say whatever you want," Conseil replied. I admit that I would be more than happy to touch this opportunity. The pistons are all up.Coal was poured into the stove, and the phoenix box sent air in, fanning the fire.The Lincoln's speed increased again, and the mast shook at the root. Because the funnel was too narrow, the protruding smoke could hardly find a way out. The odometer was dropped again. "What's the speed now?" Captain Farragut asked. "Captain, nineteen thirty miles." "More manpower." The engineer did as he was told.The barometer is pointing to + barometric pressure.But the whale also added firepower, for it was also moving at nineteen and three knots without any difficulty. What a chase!No, I cannot really describe the emotions that agitated my whole body at that moment.Ned Land stood at his post, harpoon in hand.The animal has been approached several times. "We've got it! We've got it," the Canadian yelled. However, when he was about to throw the harpoon, the whale fled immediately, and his speed was at least thirty miles an hour, as far as I can see.Even when our ship is sailing at the fastest speed, it can go around the ship for a circle, it seems to be joking with us!Angry shouts burst from everyone's chest! At noon, we were the same as at eight o'clock in the morning, making no progress at all. Captain Farragut decided to take a more direct approach. "Oh!" said he, "this thing goes faster than the Lincoln! Well, let's see if it can dodge our cones. Bosun, send the gunners to the guns forward of the ship. " The guns in the front of the ship were immediately loaded with shells and fired.The cannon was fired, but the shell skimmed over the animal half a mile away and missed. "Get a good gunner!" cried the captain. "Five hundred dollars to whoever hits the devil!" An old gunner with a gray beard—he is still alive before my eyes—with calm eyes and a calm face, walked up to the cannon, positioned the cannon, and aimed for a long time.There was a boom, and the cheers of the crew mingled together. The shell hit, struck the animal, but did not kill it, but slid over its round body and landed in the sea two miles away. "Strange!" said the old gunner, furiously, "the bastard must have six inches of armor on him!" "Damn it!" cried Captain Farragut. The chase began again, and Captain Farragut bent over me and said: "I'm going to chase until our ship explodes!" "Yes, you are right!" I replied. One can only expect the animal to be exhausted; it cannot be like a steam engine, which never gets tired.Yet it is not tired at all.After so much time passed, it didn't show any signs of fatigue. Besides, the Lincoln is to be commended for the indomitable spirit with which she carried on this savage struggle.I estimate that it covered no less than 500 kilometers on that unlucky day of November 6th!Night fell, and shadows fell over the rough sea. . At this point, I thought our expedition was over, that we would never see this queer creature again.But I was wrong. At 10:50 in the evening, the lightning flashed again three nautical miles ahead of the battleship, still as brilliant and intense as last night. The narwhal seemed to be standing still.Maybe I was tired from running during the day.It is asleep, and it is rippling with the sea.This was a good opportunity, and Captain Farragut decided to take advantage of it. He issues orders.In order not to wake up the enemy, the Lincoln slowed down and proceeded cautiously.It was not uncommon to encounter sleeping whales in the middle of the sea and successfully attack them, and Ned Land had harpooned them more than once in their sleep.The Canadian was under the bowsprit again, and took up his old post. The battleship moved forward slowly, without making any sound, and closed its valve when it was about 370 meters away from the animal. The ship was now only moving with its remaining strength.Not even the sound of breathing could be heard on board.There was absolute silence on deck.We were within a hundred feet of the white-hot focus, and the luminosity grew stronger, blinding our eyes. At this time, I leaned on the railing in front of the bow and saw Ned.Lan was below me, holding the sheet with one hand and swinging his sharp harpoon with the other.Within twenty feet of the sleeping animal. Suddenly, he stretched his arm vigorously, and the harpoon was thrown out.I heard the harpoon make a loud sound, as if hitting a hard shell. The electric light on the opposite side suddenly went out, and two huge groups of water rushed to the deck of the battleship, rushing from the bow to the stern like a torrent, knocking down the people on board, and breaking the ropes of the parapet mast. Then the boat was hit hard, and before I could stand still, I was thrown from the railing of the boat into the sea.