Its coastline looked flat, but high mountains rose in the distance.
看來海岸很低下,但遠(yuǎn)方矗立著群山的高峰。
I even thought I glimpsed Mt. Sarmiento, whose elevation is 2,070 meters above sea level: a pyramid-shaped block of shale with a very sharp summit.
我好像是望見了薩眠圖山,這山高出海面兩千零七十米,是金字塔形的片巖形成的山,峰頂很尖。
which, depending on whether it's clear or veiled in vapor, "predicts fair weather or foul," as Ned Land toldme.
尼德·蘭告訴我說,根據(jù)這山是被云霧所遮,或是山形面目顯露,就可以預(yù)見天氣的好壞。
"A first-class barometer, my friend."
“一流的晴雨表,我的朋友。”
"Yes, sir, a natural barometer that didn't let me down when I navigated the narrows of the Strait of Magellan."
是的,先生,一支當(dāng)我通過麥哲倫海峽時沒讓我失望的自然晴雨表?!?/p>
Just then its peak appeared before us, standing out distinctly against the background of the skies.
這時候,山峰看來是在天空中清楚顯露出來。
This forecast fair weather. And so it proved.
那是好天氣的預(yù)告,事實(shí)也正是這樣。
Going back under the waters, the Nautilus drew near the coast, cruising along it for only a few miles.
諾第留斯號回到水底下,接近海岸,沿岸走了幾海里
Through the lounge windows I could see long creepers and gigantic fucus plants,
從容廳中的玻璃窗,我看見很長的海藤,以及巨大的黑角萊,
bulb-bearing seaweed of which the open sea at the pole had revealed a few specimens;
就是那種帶球海藻,只有南極的自由海中還有一些品種,
with their smooth, viscous filaments, they measured as much as 300 meters long;
它們有粘性和光滑的纖維帶,長度達(dá)三百米,
genuine cables more than an inch thick and very tough, they're often used as mooring lines for ships.
簡直是真正的鐵索,比大拇指還粗,很堅(jiān)韌,時??梢援?dāng)作船纜來使用。
Another weed, known by the name velp and boasting four-foot leaves, was crammed into the coral concretions and carpeted the ocean floor.
另外一種海草,名為維培菜,葉長四英尺,膠在珊瑚的分泌物中,像地毯一樣鋪在海底下面。
It served as both nest and nourishment for myriads of crustaceans and mollusks, for crabs and cuttlefish.
它可以作為無數(shù)甲殼動物和軟體動物、螃蟹、烏賊等的窩巢和食物