The vast waters surrounding Asia, western America, east of the Aleutian Islands, and north of the Sandwich Islands are the wildest seas in the Pacific Ocean.Merchant ships rarely ventured on these seas.In this treacherous rapid it is not known whether there is any place for a boat to anchor.Cargo cruise ships from the west of the Americas traveled to and from lower latitudes.Only a handful of smugglers from Japan to California sometimes dot this stretch of the Pacific Ocean.From Yokohama to San Francisco, the transatlantic shipping line is a lower-latitude route in the global waterway.Between 40 and 50 degrees north latitude, it is called a place "off the beaten track".There may be occasional whales in these largely unknown waters, but these gigantic cetaceans are just passing by, swimming across the Aleutian Islands and across the Bering Strait to avoid harpoon-wielding fishermen Their pursuit and killing.

Are there still unknown islands in this vast ocean as big as Europe?One can give neither a negative nor a positive answer.Does it extend this latitude?In this vast ocean, there may be other islands. These islands are difficult to be found, and they may pass through the eyes of explorers who ride the wind and waves.Perhaps there is a larger piece of land that has escaped the searchers?Two natural phenomena are known to generate new islands here: first, the earth's generative activity; and second, the creation of coral reef beds due to the never-ending accumulation of ciliate webs, algae, and flora and fauna .Tens of millions of years later, perhaps in this part of the Pacific Ocean, coral reef beds coalesced to form a sixth continent.

On March 25, 1861, however, the waters of the Pacific Ocean of which we have been describing were not absolutely deserted, and a small boat floated on its waters.It is neither a steamship in a transoceanic fleet nor a battleship patrolling the North Pacific to protect fishing industries; nor is it blown off course by a gust of sea wind to smuggle Maggulu Islands or Philippine specialties A large merchant ship, in short, this is neither a fishing boat nor a small boat, it is only a thin boat with only a foremast.The boat was sailing against the wind, and it was doing everything it could, expecting to berth on a coast about ten miles away from it.The boat tried to use the sea wind to raise the sails, but unfortunately the tide in the Pacific Ocean was weak at this time, and it was not strong enough to help the boat sail.

At this time, although the weather was fine, it was very cold.Thin clouds and mist covered the sky, and the sun's rays pierced through the clouds and fell in spots on the foamy, heaving crests of the waves.A long wave came and beat the boat, making the boat slightly bumped and swayed from side to side.In order to better take advantage of the sea wind, the sails are hoisted low and flat, sometimes, the boat is blown side to side, and the water barely reaches the edge of the ship.But the boat always regained its balance immediately and sailed forward against the wind and waves. Observe the boat with a sailor's eye; one can recognize it as a Canadian pine, American-built boat.It can also be read on its back board: the words Vancouver-Montreal, from which the nationality of the ship can be known.

There are six people on the boat: a man of about thirty-five to forty years old, who has been tested by the sea and has already adapted to life at sea. course.This is a very strong man, with broad shoulders, solid muscles, and full of vitality in the prime of life.His eyes are frank, his disposition is cheerful, and his manner and speech show his kind character.He was wearing a rough jacket, and from his callused hands and the whistling that came out of his lips from time to time, it could be judged that he had not received much education, and he did not belong to the upper class.From the way he steered, it was easy to tell that he was a seaman, and only a sailor, and not an officer of the ship.As for his nationality, it was easy to infer that he was certainly not an Anglo-Saxon, for he had neither the haughty expression nor the stiff, rigid movements of that people.From him, one can see an optimistic and open-minded nature, or rather, a bit of New England, Yankee rudeness and freedom.The man, therefore, was either a descendant of Gauls who had gone to Canada to colonize, or a somewhat Americanized Frenchman.But he was a Frenchman, a flexible, courageous, warm-hearted, ready-to-adventure, never embarrassed by anything, fearless, loyal, reliable fellow, as one often meets in the French mainland.

The sailor sits in the stern with one eye on the sail and the other on the sea, and he keeps both eyes on the same thing: he adjusts the sail when the wrinkle shows too much stress ; When the waves hit, he lightly adjusted his course to avoid the waves. From time to time he said a few words, or issued a few words of advice.From his pronunciation one can detect a certain accent that never comes from an Anglo-Saxon throat. "Take it easy, boys," he said, "it's not very good, but it could be worse. Take it easy and keep your heads down! We're going to turn the boat around."

A competent seaman steers his little boat to the wind.The sails whizzed past the children's heads, and the boat tipped to one side, gradually heading for the shore. A woman sat in the back of the boat, near the brave helmsman.She was about thirty-six years old and buried her face in her shawl.In order not to discourage the children sitting beside her, she was trying to hold back the sobs and secretly wiped away the tears. This woman is the mother of four children on board.The eldest of these children is seventeen years old.This is a well-proportioned boy who is sure to grow into a strong man one day.His black hair and sea-breathed brown face made him even more handsome.There were two tears in his red eyes, and anger and sadness filled his heart at the same time, making him want to cry.He stood at the bow, near the foremast.Sometimes he turned and looked at the still distant land.His piercing eyes, sad and angry at the same time, from time to time glance and linger on the semi-circular horizon connecting the water and the sky in the west.At times he turned pale, and he was trying to refrain from acting out his anger.From time to time, his eyes fell on the man at the helm, smiling at him, looking at him reassuringly, and nodding slightly at him.

The child's younger brother is no more than fifteen years old.He had a full head of reddish-brown hair on his large head.He trembled all over, worried and restless, he sat down and stood up again.It was obvious that he couldn't contain his excitement.The boat was going too slowly for him, not approaching land fast enough.He really wanted to go ashore at once, and as soon as his feet set foot on land, he wanted to get away from this sea far away and go to wherever he wanted.But when his eyes fell on his mother, when he heard a sigh emanating from the poor woman's heart full of sorrow, he ran to her at once, put his love kisses her.So the unfortunate woman hugged the boy tightly to her chest, and couldn't help sighing: "Poor boy! Poor boy!"

When the woman looked at the seaman at the helm, he always raised his hand to her in time, with a firm gesture, telling her: "Madam, everything will be all right, we will get out of trouble." .” At this moment, the sailor looked southwest, and he saw dark clouds rising from the horizon, and he knew that this was not a good omen for him, his lesbians and children.The wind will make sailing more difficult, and the huge wind and waves will be a fatal threat to this undecked boat.The sailors took these phenomena seriously and kept their worries in their hearts. The other two children, one is a little boy and the other is a little girl.The boy was eight years old, with blond hair, and his eyes were half-closed from tired lips.His once-fresh, pink face was stained and tarnished with tears, and he hid his aching hands from the cold under his mother's shawl.Next to him is his sister, a seven-year-old girl.She lay in her mother's arms, half asleep, her head bobbing gently as the boat pitched and rolled.

As we have already said, it was the twenty-fifth of March, and it was cold, with bitter winds blowing from the north.In this small boat, the unfortunate forsaken people had too little clothing to withstand the cold winds at sea.It was obvious that they had been obliged to flee hastily to this little boat, perhaps by shipwreck, or some collision.In addition, they brought very little rations, only a few biscuits and two or three pieces of bacon were placed in the locker at the bow. The little boy sat up, rubbed his eyes with his hands, and muttered in a low voice: "Mom, I'm so hungry!" Upon hearing this, the sailor immediately took out a biscuit from the locker and handed it to the child, smiling kindly. Say to him, "Eat, boy, eat! When this is gone, we shall find something else to eat."

Encouraged, the child gnawed at the hard snack with his strong teeth, and rested his head lightly on his mother's shoulder. At this time, the unfortunate woman, seeing that the two children who had been stripped of their coats were too thin to wear, were shivering with cold, so she took off her shawl and wrapped it around the children, so as to keep them a little warmer.At this time, the woman showed her face: her face was beautiful and dignified, and her big black eyes showed a serious and deep expression.Her whole appearance was filled with tender maternal love and a noble sense of responsibility.This is a mother who can best be admired and described by the following words: she should be the mother of Washington, Franklin or Abraham Lincoln; she is the woman of the Bible; compassion, benevolence.But when people saw her so discouraged, helpless, and so forced to hold back tears, they knew that she must have been hit as hard as death.It was obvious that she was struggling with her own discouragement, but how could she stop the tears from the bottom of her heart pouring out of her eyes again and again? Just like her eldest son, her eyes kept turning to the horizon, looking for something invisible and longing to be found on the sea where the water and the sky are connected.But there is nothing on the sea but a vast desolation.She retracted her gaze and stared blankly at the bottom of the boat.Despite her best efforts to keep her lips shut, her religiously submissive, submissive plea still blurted out from time to time: "Lord, save us!" After the mother covered the two children with a shawl, only a woolen dress remained on her body.Her old-fashioned blouse was too thin to keep out the biting wind.A sea breeze blew through her slouch hat quickly.Her three boys all wore thin woolen shirts, wool vests, single trousers, and patent leather caps on their heads.Over these clothes they should have had pea coats with hoods or sea-traveling duffels.Despite this, the children did not complain about bitterness or coldness.No doubt none of them wanted to add to the mother's worries and anxieties. As for the sailor, he wore corduroy trousers and a rough wool sailor coat.Obviously his clothes couldn't resist the biting sea wind, but this man had a fiery heart, a heart that really loved life and was burning vigorously, which enabled him to face and bear all the pains in life.He's the kind of person who always puts other people's pain above his own.He noticed that the unfortunate woman took the shawl off her body and put it on the children, and he saw that she was shivering with cold, and her teeth chattered involuntarily. So he immediately picked up the shawl and put it on the mother's shoulders again. At the same time, he took off the big coat that still had his own body temperature, and carefully covered the children. Just as the mother was about to express her disapproval, the sailor said, "I'm dying of heat!" As he spoke, he took out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead, which seemed to be dripping with sweat. The poor woman stretched out a hand to the man, and he held her hand respectfully, without saying a word. At this moment, the oldest child stood up suddenly and rushed to the front deck, carefully observing the sea to the west.He put a shade over his eyes with one hand to block the harsh sunlight from the opposite side.He looked far and wide, and saw the sea glistening in the sun, and the horizon where water and sky joined was lost in a reflection of light. The boy stared at the sea for a long time, watching carefully.Seeing him like this, the sailor couldn't help shaking his head, as if to say: "If someone comes to rescue, you have to stand higher to find it!" At this moment, the little girl woke up, sat up from her mother's arms, raised her pale face, looked at the people on board, and suddenly asked, "Where's Dad?" When no one answered the question, the other children's eyes immediately filled with tears, while the mother put her hands over her face and burst into tears. The sailor was silent, and at the same time felt an overwhelming grief.The comforting words that have been said countless times to comfort these abandoned people can no longer be said at this moment.His large gnarled hands gripped the rudder convulsively.

---

Notes: