Chapter 23 Chapter 23 A Carrier Pigeon

On March 23, three hours after the sun set, the moon rose in the west.Gallia can see that she is now unwinding. Galia's moon has gone from synodic to ecliptic in four days.Therefore, it can be seen in Galia for only about a week, which means that its synodic period is only fifteen to sixteen days a month.The lunar month has been halved like the solar day. Three days later, that is, on March 26, the moon and the sun were all superimposed together to form a new moon, and its entire figure could not be seen at all. "Will she come out again?" Ben-Zov asked.Because he was the first to discover this satellite, he was most concerned about him.

Indeed, after personally experiencing many strange changes in the world, Ben Yizoff's experience has also deepened, and his views are sometimes not useless. On March 26, the sky was clear and dry, and the temperature gauge had dropped to -12°C. How far is Gallia from the sun now?How far had it traveled since the date of the second note found at sea? No one in the "Warm Land" can tell.Although the sun has become significantly smaller, people can no longer calculate from its size, even a rough estimate is impossible.Regrettably, the anonymous scholar has so far provided no further information.Captain Servadac felt particularly sorry for this.He always believed that this scholar must be his compatriot.

"The astronomer," he said, "may still be sending us messages in holsters and tins, but alas, these things did not make it to Goulby Island and 'Warm Country.' Now the sea is frozen over, It will be even more impossible to receive such information in the future.” Indeed, the sea has long since frozen over.When it freezes, the weather is fine and the water is calm, so after freezing, the ice surface is very smooth, almost as smooth and well-proportioned as lakes and ice rinks in skating clubs, without any pits, depressions or unevenness.Looking around, the ice surface is as clean as a mirror and seamless.

How different this is from what is usually seen at the poles of the earth!The ice there is covered with huge icebergs.These icebergs are oddly shaped, with fragile bases, but are often taller than the masts of whalers.Due to the unequal weight of the parts, they are often out of balance, causing the ice sheet to crack.In fact, the ice plate is nothing but the formation of many large ice cubes that condense together in a disorderly manner. Therefore, the sea surface at the two poles of the earth will never remain fixed for a long time. As long as the wind blows or the temperature drops, the change can be clearly seen.It was a kaleidoscope of ever-changing scenes.The situation here is different. The ice surface is not only smooth but also condensed very firmly.At the same time, as the temperature drops further, the ice layer is gradually thickening.Its hardness can be maintained until the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming and the ice melts and the snow melts, if such a day comes.

Although the Russians have grown accustomed to seeing the northern scenery of the world of ice and snow, they still feel somewhat amazed by the flat ice field facing the Gallia Sea.Simultaneously.A sense of satisfaction also arises spontaneously, because for them, skating on this mirror-clean ice is now a once-in-a-lifetime time.There were a number of skates on the Dobrina, and they would come in handy at this time.So those who are interested have stepped onto the ice rink.The Russians patiently taught everyone the technology; although the weather was very cold, no one retreated on the spot.After a while, all of them will be able to show their skills.Little Nina and Pablo performed the best and won warm applause from everyone.Captain Servadak was naturally gifted in sports, so he was soon to rival his rink teacher, Count Ironmashev.

This kind of sports is not only good for physical and mental health, but also a good pastime for these people who live in caves all day long.It can also be used for transportation if needed.Second officer Prokop used this method to travel more than once between Gulby Island and the "Warm Land".He is an outstanding ice skater, thirty kilometers away, two hours away. "This thing is really no less than the railways of the old continent." Servadac said sadly. "Actually, the skates fixed on our feet are two movable 'rails'." The temperature has dropped steadily and has now dropped to -15°C to -16°C.Not only did the temperature drop, but the light also became dimmer. This scene was very similar to a partial solar eclipse.Objects appear blurry within the limits, and the scenery is quite bleak.Everyone's thoughts became gloomy as a result.These people have always been accustomed to being born in human society. Now that they leave the earth, how can they not feel lonely and desolate?How could they forget that the earth is already tens of millions of kilometers away from them, and this distance is still increasing.The Gallia planet, which was separated from the earth, is now farther and farther away in the vast interstellar space.Under such circumstances, can they still hope to see the earth again one day?Not only that, but there is not even any indication that Gallia will not leave the current solar system and enter further space, orbiting other suns.

Of course, the only ones who worry about these things all day long are Captain Selvadak, Earl Ironmashv, and Second Officer Prokop. Although the others know a little about their inner worries and the dangers of the future, how can they think about it? Thinking so much, thinking so deeply?They had to resign themselves to their fate and silently endured this unprecedented development.So we must find ways to divert their minds from this aspect, such as let them learn something, do some work, or have fun, and skating is just a good way to pass this monotonous time. But Isaac Hackhabt is certainly not one of them when we say that people who live in the "warm country" have participated in this movement to varying degrees.

Isaac has never left his cargo ship since coming here.No one went to see him on the Hansa, because Servadac strictly prohibited everyone from contacting him.Only the curling green smoke from the cabin indicated that he was still on board.This method of heating was a waste of precious fuel, but he would rather do it than go to live with everyone in the cave.Because if he left.Who will look after the ship's cargo for him? In order to make the Dobrina and the Hansa survive the severe winter safely, the second officer of Prokop took various measures.First of all, the two boats have been firmly fixed in the bay with figure-eight anchor chains.As the sea freezes, the two boats have condensed with the sea water.I didn't move.Second, as expedition ships that winter at the Earth's poles do, they chamfer the ice beneath their hulls.In this way, only the keel is condensed with the seawater, and the sides of the hull will not be damaged by the extrusion of the ice layer.At the same time, if the ice surface increases, the hull will also increase accordingly.When thawing, the hull can still sink naturally to keep the original waterline.

The Sea of ​​Galia is completely frozen.On his last visit to Gulby Island, Second Officer Prokop found that the north, east, and west sides of the island were covered with endless ice fields. There is only one place where the water does not freeze, and that is the lake-like pool at the foot of the volcano where the lava flows.Although the weather is very cold, due to the continuous flow of lava, the pool water has always maintained a high temperature. By early April, the sky was covered with dark clouds, but the temperature did not rise.The cold weather in Gallia is not caused by changes in the atmosphere. Unlike the two poles of the earth, the temperature rises and falls are often affected by air flow, which often causes some abnormal phenomena in winter.On the new planet Galia, it is impossible for the cold weather to have large temperature fluctuations. The temperature drop is entirely caused by being far away from the heat source of the sun, and it will always drop to the limit of the space temperature mentioned by Fourier.

At this time, a violent storm blew up in the sky, but there was neither rain nor snow.When the storm blows on the "waterfall", due to the extremely fast wind, some lava can often be blown into the cave from the hole through which the "waterfall" passes.But don't worry that the fire stream will go out because of this.On the contrary, like a huge blower, the storm brought a lot of oxygen, which made the lava burn more vigorously.Sometimes, the storm is so violent that it often causes the "waterfall" to temporarily stop flowing, and a gust of cold wind takes advantage of it and blows into the cave, sweeping away the dirty air in the cave, making people feel extraordinarily refreshed. In an instant, the "waterfall" returned to its original state and continued to flow.

On April 4th, a crescent moon hangs in the sky.It had been a week since I last saw her.It reappears today, which is completely consistent with the calculations made by people based on its change from the first to the last string.Ben Yizoff had been worried that he would never see her again that day. This kind of worry was somewhat justified, but in the end it never happened, so when he saw her, he was very happy.It seemed certain that she would circle Gallia every half month. The reader must remember that the birds from the earth, because they could not find a habitat on the planet Galia, once gathered in large numbers on the island of Gulpi.The vast fields on the island provide them with abundant food. But now, as the weather turns cold, the island is already a world of ice and snow.Their survival has been seriously threatened, so they have to migrate to a warm place in large numbers." Of course there would be nothing for them to eat here, but it was inhabited.They are not afraid of people and always follow behind people.No matter how much you throw a little bread crumbs outside the hole, they swarm in and grab them up. No matter how much you throw, you can't hire his thousands of unexpected guests.Later, because of the cold and cold, they simply got into the cave. We had no choice but to drive them out, but they couldn't get rid of them. They were so hungry that they even came to the dining table to snatch food.People took up stones, sticks, and shotguns to hunt and kill them. After several fierce battles, they finally wiped out most of them.However, some have to be kept in order to reproduce offspring. The cave finally returned to calm.Only a hundred huge horses still live in the caves on the stone wall, and they cannot be driven away. On April 15, little Nina suddenly called for help from near her embroidery room. "Come on! Come on! These ghost birds are pecking at me!" Pablo rushed to hear the sound and found five or six seagulls attacking little Nina.Immediately he took a stick and wrestled with the gulls, finally driving them out.He himself was pecked a few times by these vicious guys. "How are you, Nina?" "Look, Pablo!" Little Nina said to him, pointing to a little bird she was holding on her breast. Ben Yizoff also arrived at this time.He took the bird from Nina's hand. "Ah, a pigeon!" This is indeed a pigeon, and it is a carrier pigeon.Its wings are slightly concave, with a little feather clipped off at the tip. "Look, there's still a little paper bag hanging around its neck." He took the pigeons into the hall and handed them over to Captain Servadac.Earl Iron Mashev and others were also present. "The scholar sent us a letter!" Captain Servadac said loudly. "After the sea froze, he switched to the carrier pigeon to deliver the letter! I hope he can leave us his name and address this time." When the seagulls competed with the pigeons, the paper bag was torn a little.After Selvadak opened the paper bag, he found a short note inside: Gallia Distance traveled from March 1st to April 1st: 15880O00O kilometers! Distance from the sun: 44O000000/km! On the way, Nainina was attracted. Food is coming to an end... The paper underneath has been pecked off by seagulls. "Ah! What a pity!" cried Captain Servadac. "There must be a signature, a date, and a place of dispatch! The letter is all in French, so he must be a Frenchman! But we can't save him." he!" Count Ironmashev and Second Officer Prokop then went back to the place where little Nina was staying just now, hoping to find some scraps of paper, but they found nothing. "Is there no way to find out where this scholar is?" Selvadak sighed. "Look, Ben-Zov!" cried little Nina suddenly. There is a seal stamped with inkpad on the left wing of the pigeon.The seal bears only one word, but it is of the utmost importance: "Fermentra".