Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Europe, too, is gone

A large promontory blocked the Dobrina's way to the north, and the Dobrina had to make a detour and sail towards the location of Cape Creus. The people on the Dobrina talked about these strange things almost day and night. The word "Gallia" appeared in their conversations from time to time, and it had already unconsciously entered their minds It became a geographical term, that is, the name of the asteroid that now travels with them in the solar system. But they did not forget to explore the Mediterranean coast.They always try to stay as close to the shore of the sea as possible, and it seems that this sea may be the only sea on the planet Gallia.

A short distance off the northern coast, beyond that large headland, should be the location of Barcelona on the Iberian Coast.But the coastal city and its adjacent coast no longer exist, seemingly swallowed up by the sea.The surf was breaking against a new shore, which receded a little from the old one, but soon turned northeast again, plunged into the sea, and took possession of Cape Creus. Cape Creus is now gone. It should be in France.When Servadac saw a completely different scene on the land of France, the pain in his heart can be imagined.There are so many mountains on the coast of France that it is impossible to see the world beyond the coast.These cliffs are more than 300 meters high, with no grass growing on them, smooth as a mirror, and there is nowhere to climb, just like what they saw on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.The picturesque beaches of the south of France have been completely replaced by these towering boulders.

The Doguenne followed this coast, but as far as it went, the coast of the Pyrénées-Orientale, Cape Bayas, Port Vendreux, the mouth of the Teches, Lake Saint-Nazaire, the mouth of the Grande and There is nothing left of the Salz Lake.In the border area of ​​Aode Province, where the lakes and mountains are very charming, not even a piece of land in Nalbang County has been preserved.From Cap d'Ad on the border of Egypt to the Bay of Egmont, the town of Cètes, Frontenin, the curved coast of the department of Nîmes, the fertile fields of Claus and Camargue, and the jagged coast of the Rhône estuary They all disappeared too.Martigues and Marseilles went nowhere.It appears that not a single part of France's southern coast has survived.

Although Servadac had made all mental preparations, he never expected that the scene would be so bleak.Every scene on the coast here was familiar to him before, but now he can't see it at all.Sometimes, when the coast curves inward, he always hopes to see a piece of land that has survived the catastrophe, but no matter how deep the coast curves inward, the fascinating seaside scenery of Provence is not at all. Can't see.But when the new coast was suddenly interrupted and the old coast should have appeared, what Servadac saw was a vast ocean.So he couldn't help asking himself, except for the small piece of Gulbi Island left by the Algerian workers, is there not a little place in the whole of France that has been preserved?He was so depressed that it seemed that he had no choice but to go back to Gulby Island.However, they did not give up, and immediately said to Count Ironmashev:

"The land of Galia does not end here. The North Pole of Galia is beyond these cliffs. We must find out what lies behind this towering rock. Indeed. , we have seen enough strange phenomena, but we should still see if the place we are staying in is still the earth, and see if the earth is still taking us along a new orbit in the solar system , and see if France, Russia, and all Europe remain intact. I do not believe there is not a ford to anchor at, nor any means of ascending these precipices to see what is there. We must Try to get ashore." But there are strange peaks protruding everywhere on the coast, where can the Dobruna berth?It seems that the entire Mediterranean coast is full of such stereotyped cliffs.

The Dobrina then set off at full steam and headed east.The weather has turned cooler, and the water vapor in the atmosphere has decreased significantly.So the sky is always cloudless, but occasionally there are a few white clouds floating in the blue sky.The sunlight during the day has also weakened significantly, and the shadows cast on objects have become less distinct.At night, the sky was brightly lit with stars, but some of the planets were receding and much fainter.Venus and Mars and an unknown star fall into this category.This star is an asteroid that always appears in the sky every day before sunrise or sunset.As for giant Jupiter and fair Saturn, their light grew brighter because Galia was approaching them.Uranus used to be invisible without a telescope, but now it can be seen clearly with the naked eye.It can be seen that Gallia is moving away from the sun.

The Dobrina sailed along the former coast of the Var department, but in this area the Hyères Islands, the Saint-Tropez Peninsula, the Lerins Islands, the Bay of Cannes, and the Bay of João were all gone. On 24 February they reached their former position at Cap d'Antibes. Suddenly a gap appeared on the endless stone wall, which really surprised everyone.There is a small beach at the bottom of the gap, and the small boat can dock completely. "Okay, I finally found a place to go ashore!" Selvadak couldn't restrain the excitement in his heart, and shouted loudly. Like the captain, Count Ironmashev and Second Officer Prokop were anxiously looking forward to going ashore to have a look.This gap looks like a riverbed of a mountain stream from a distance.If you climb up the steps along the slopes on both sides, you will be able to reach the peak of the mountain rock.Looking north from there, you can always figure out what kind of world there is, even if you don't see the land of France.

At seven o'clock in the morning the count, the captain, and Prokop arrived on the beach in a small boat. The beach is made of limestone and has a light yellow color.This is the first time they have discovered the remains of the old coast, because most of the coast of Provence is formed by this limestone.However, this small beach is only a few square meters, so it is inconvenient to stay for a long time.They immediately went to the mountain stream. There is no water in the mountain stream, and it seems that there has never been a rushing torrent.The rocks in the bed of the river and on the slopes of the banks were the same as they had seen so far, and seemed to have been untouched by years of wind and rain.Had a geologist been present, the geological age and properties of these rocks could have been ascertained, but unfortunately the count, the captain, and Prokop were all ignorant of the matter.

Although there is no trace of water flowing in the mountain stream, it is conceivable that with the complete change of the climate, one day, this small river house will become a rough torrent. On the slopes on both sides of the river, some glistening snow can be seen from time to time.The more you go up, the more and thicker the snow.It seemed that there must be a world of white snow and ice on the top of the rock, and on the other side of these precipices. "Except for Gulby Island," said Count Ironmashev, "this is the first place we have found fresh water on the surface of Galia."

"Yes," said Prokop, "at high latitudes, as the temperature drops further, it will not only snow, but also freeze. You know, Gallia is a nearly spherical planet, and we have now reached its Near the North Pole, the sunlight hits here obliquely. However, although Galia’s rotation axis is slightly tilted, so that the sun always shines near the equator, like the two poles on the earth, it will not be dark all year round. But when Gallia is far from the sun, it can be very cold here." "Second officer," Servadac asked him, "do you think the temperature on Gallia's surface will drop to an unbearable level?"

"No," replied Prokop, "no matter how far we are from the sun, the temperature here will not drop below the temperature limit of space—that is, the absolute vacuum of space." "How many degrees is this limit?..." "According to the theory of the famous French physicist Fourier, it is about -60°C." "-60°C!" said Count Timashev, "even we Russians can't stand such a temperature." "When the British navigators explored the Arctic Ocean," said Second Officer Prokop, "they successfully withstood the test of this extreme cold. I remember that Parry saw the temperature gauge drop to -56°C at Melville Island." Everyone stopped to catch their breath.As is often the case with mountaineering, the air gets thinner the higher you climb.They only climbed more than 200 meters high, but the temperature has dropped significantly.Fortunately, the rocks at the bottom of the river and on both banks were made of that unknown metal, and walking on them was not very difficult, so they climbed to the top after an hour. Looking down from here, you can see the sea in the south, and a completely different world in the north. Selvadak couldn't help but screamed when he saw it. The land of France has gone nowhere.Row upon row of towering boulders, you can't see the end at a glance.Its summits are all covered with snow and ice.These rocks are very regular six-sided nuclear cylinders, as if the entire Gallia is a kind of metal condensation.The reason why this characteristic is not seen on the rocky peaks by the Mediterranean Sea may be caused by the presence of water in the sea after the Great Change. In any case, there is no trace of continental Europe to the north of Gallia.As far as the eye can see, there are mountains and mountains everywhere.In the rolling fields of Provence in the past, people spread red soil on the rocky beach and cultivated orange and lemon groves, as well as patches of green olives, rows of pepper trees, hackberry trees, acacia trees, palm trees and Gone were the eucalyptus trees, the leafy clusters of geraniums on trestles, the reddish iron-oxide rocks by the sea and the patches of coniferous forest in the distant mountains. Now nothing grows here, not even the most hardy arctic moss.Not to mention the animals, not to mention the general birds, even the common shearwaters, petrels and puffins in the polar regions are also missing. Everywhere is a desolate, lifeless world. Selvadak was originally an optimistic and carefree person, but now he also showed a sad look.He stood on the rock naturally, with tears in his eyes, staring at the endless rock for a long time, he couldn't believe the facts in front of him no matter what. "No," he cried, "we must be mistaken! We will not be at the latitude of the Alps. France may be farther north. Let us suppose that this great mess The stony world rises from the bottom of the sea with the change of the earth's crust. The Europe we are looking for must be on the other side of these cliffs. Count Iron Mashev, let's go! We must go through this vast ice field and find us hometown." Saying that, Selvadak has already taken big strides, looking for a footpath on the hanging rock. But suddenly, he stopped. His feet had just touched a stone in the snow.Its shape and color are very different from the rocks here, and it seems to have been chiseled by a knife and an axe. Servadac leaned over and picked it up. It was a piece of yellow marble, and the inscription on it was still legible: "do not……" "Villa!" Servadac shouted, and as soon as he let go, the stone fell to the ground and shattered immediately. This luxurious villa must have been built at the end of Cap d'Antibes, surrounded by lush trees and surrounded by the Gulf of João and the Gulf of Nice.The scenery here used to be the most pleasant place, the Alpine coast mountains in the distance stretch from the beautiful Estrel mountain, through Echa, Monaco, Roquebrunet, Mendon and Wentime, all the way to the Italian city. Cape Bodighera.But all of this has become a passing cloud, and only this piece of broken marble can be witnessed. Captain Servadac has no doubt that Cape Antibes has disappeared deep into the stratum.He couldn't help but fell into painful contemplation. The count then came up and said to him solemnly: "Captain, do you know a famous saying in the Hopp family?" "I don't know, Monsieur Count," replied the captain. "The famous quote goes like this: 'Even if the earth is broken into countless pieces, we should not lose hope'." "It's the opposite of Dante's famous dictum of pessimism and disappointment." "Yes, Captain. We should now make that our motto."