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Off on a Comet-Part10_JULES VERNE(1828-1905)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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to Procope's inquiries, reported--"Five fathoms and a flat bottom."

The next aim was to determine the amount of depression on either



side of the ridge, and for this purpose the _Dobryna_ was shifted

for a distance of half a mile both to the right and left,



and the soundings taken at each station. "Five fathoms and a

flat bottom," was the unvaried announcement after each operation.



Not only, therefore, was it evident that the submerged chain

between Cape Bon and Cape Furina no longer existed, but it was



equally clear that the convulsion had caused a general leveling of

the sea-bottom, and that the soil, degenerated, as it has been said,



into a metallic dust of unrecognized composition, bore no trace

of the sponges, sea-anemones, star-fish, sea-nettles, hydrophytes,



and shells with which the submarine rocks of the Mediterranean

had hitherto been prodigally clothed.



The _Dobryna_ now put about and resumed her explorations in a

southerly direction. It remained, however, as remarkable as ever



how completely throughout the voyage the sea continued to be deserted;

all expectations of hailing a vesselbearing news from Europe were



entirely falsified, so that more and more each member of the crew began

to be conscious of his isolation, and to believe that the schooner,



like a second Noah's ark, carried the sole survivors of a calamity

that had overwhelmed the earth.



On the 9th of February the _Dobryna_ passed over the site of the city of Dido,

the ancient Byrsa--a Carthage, however, which was now more completely



destroyed than ever Punic Carthage had been destroyed by Scipio Afri-canus

or Roman Carthage by Hassan the Saracen.



In the evening, as the sun was sinking below the eastern horizon,

Captain Servadac was lounging moodily against the taffrail.



From the heaven above, where stars kept peeping fitfully from behind

the moving clouds, his eye wandered mechanically to the waters below,



where the long waves were rising and falling with the evening breeze.

All at once, his attention was arrested by a luminous speck straight ahead



on the southern horizon. At first, imagining that he was the victim

of some spectral illusion, he observed it with silent attention;



but when, after some minutes, he became convinced that what he saw

was actually a distant light, he appealed to one of the sailors,



by whom his impression was fully corroborated. The intelligence

was immediately imparted to Count Timascheff and the lieutenant.



"Is it land, do you suppose?" inquired Servadac, eagerly.

"I should be more inclined to think it is a light on board some ship,"



replied the count.

"Whatever it is, in another hour we shall know all about it," said Servadac.



"No, captain," interposed Lieutenant Procope; "we shall know

nothing until to-morrow."



"What! not bear down upon it at once?" asked the count in surprise.

"No, sir; I should much rather lay to and wait till daylight.



If we are really near land, I should be afraid to approach it

in the dark."



The count expressed his approval of the lieutenant's caution,

and thereupon all sail was shortened so as to keep the _Dobryna_



from making any considerable progress all through the hours of night.

Few as those hours were, they seemed to those on board as if their



end would never come. Fearful lest the faint glimmer should at

any moment cease to be visible, Hector Servadac did not quit



his post upon the deck; but the light continued unchanged.

It shone with about the same degree of luster as a star of the



second magnitude, and from the fact of its remaining stationary,

Procope became more and more convinced that it was on land and did



not belong to a passing vessel.

At sunrise every telescope was pointed with keenest interest



towards the center of attraction. The light, of course, had ceased

to be visible, but in the direction where it had been seen,



and at a distance of about ten miles, there was the distinct

outline of a solitary island of very small extent; rather, as the



count observed, it had the appearance of being the projecting summit




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