海底兩萬里 第339期 第23章 珊瑚王國(38)
Then our ship went along at a distance of six miles from the Arabic coasts of Mahra and Hadhramaut, their undulating lines of mountains relieved by a few ancient ruins.
這一帶海岸線上有起伏不平的山嶺，間有一些古代遺跡。
On February 5 we finally put into the Gulf of Aden, a genuine funnel stuck into the neck of Bab el Mandeb and bottling these Indian waters in the Red Sea.
2月5月，我們進(jìn)人亞丁灣，這灣是巴布厄爾曼特長頸形海峽的真正漏斗，把印度洋的水倒流入紅海中。
On February 6 the Nautilus cruised in sight of the city of Aden, perched on a promontory connected to the continent by a narrow isthmus, a sort of inaccessible Gibraltar whose fortifications the English rebuilt after capturing it in 1839.
2月6日，諾第留斯號浮出水面，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)看見亞丁港，港筑在海呷上，一條很窄的地峽把它跟大陸連接起來。
I was convinced that when Captain Nemo reached this point, he would back out again; but I was mistaken, and much to my surprise, he did nothing of the sort.
我認(rèn)為尼摩船長到了這個地方，一定要退回來，可是我錯了，我很驚異，他并不這樣做。
The next day, February 7, we entered the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, whose name means "Gate of Tears" in the Arabic language.
第二天，2月7日，我們走進(jìn)巴布厄爾曼特海峽，這個名字照阿拉伯語是“淚門”的意思。
Twenty miles wide, it's only fifty-two kilometers long, and with the Nautilus launched at full speed, clearing it was the work of barely an hour.
海峽二十海里寬，只有五十二公里長，對諾底留斯號來說。開足馬力走過去，不過是1小時的事，
But I didn't see a thing, not even Perim Island where the British government built fortifications to strengthen Aden's position.
但是我看不見什么，就是丕林島也沒有看到這島是英國政府拿來使亞丁港的防衛(wèi)更加鞏固的。
There were many English and French steamers plowing this narrow passageway, liners going from Suez to Bombay, Calcutta, Melbourne, Réunion Island, and Mauritius; far too much traffic for the Nautilus to make an appearance on the surface. So it wisely stayed in midwater
過多的英國船和法國船，從蘇伊士到孟買、到加爾各答、到墨爾本到波旁、到毛利斯，都經(jīng)過這狹窄的海峽，使諾第留斯號不慈浮出來。所以它很小心地只在水底下行駛。
