Finally, at five o'clock in the afternoon, laden with all our treasures, we left the island beach and half an hour later pulled alongside the Nautilus. Nobody appeared on our arrival. The enormous sheet-iron cylinder seemed deserted. Our provisions loaded on board, I went below to my stateroom. There I found my supper ready. I ate and then fell asleep.
到了下午五點的時候,我們裝上我們所得的財富,離開了這島的海岸,半小時后,我們的小艇又靠在諾第留斯號旁邊了。我們到船上的時候,沒有一個人出來。這只巨大鋼鐵板的圓錐筒好像是沒有人管,被拋棄了的一般。我們把食物搬上去之后,我就下到我的房間中。我看見晚餐已經(jīng)擺在房中。我吃了飯,便睡覺。
The next day, January 6: nothing new on board. Not a sound inside, not a sign of life. The skiff stayed alongside in the same place we had left it. We decided to return to Gueboroa Island. Ned Land hoped for better luck in his hunting than on the day before, and he wanted to visit a different part of the forest.
第二天,1月6日,船上沒有什么消息。內(nèi)部沒有一點聲響,沒有一點生氣。小艇仍然停在諾第留斯號旁邊,就在我們昨天擱下它的地方。我們決定再到格波羅爾島上去。尼德。蘭希望在打獵方面,今天能比昨天運氣好一點,他想到樹林的另一部分去看一下。
By sunrise we were off. Carried by an inbound current, the longboat reached the island in a matter of moments.
太陽升起來的時候,我們已經(jīng)在小艇上了。小艇因有向島岸沖擊的海浪推送,不一會就到了島上。
We disembarked, and thinking it best to abide by the Canadian's instincts, we followed Ned Land, whose long legs threatened to outpace us.
我們下了小艇,走上陸地,我想讓加拿大人憑直覺來帶路或者好一些,因此,我們跟在尼德·蘭后面,他的長腿走得很快,時常把我們拋在遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)的后面。
Ned Land went westward up the coast; then, fording some stream beds, he reached open plains that were bordered by wonderful forests. Some kingfishers lurked along the watercourses, but they didn't let us approach. Their cautious behavior proved to me that these winged creatures knew where they stood on bipeds of our species, and I concluded that if this island wasn't inhabited, at least human beings paid it frequent visits.
尼德·蘭沿著海岸向西走了一會兒,涉水渡過一些急流,到了高地平原,邊緣上盡是令人贊美的樹林。有些翠烏在水流邊飛來飛去,但它們不讓人接近,見人來就飛走。由于它們的小心警惕,我明白這些飛禽是很知道怎樣對付我們這些兩足動物的,我于是得到結(jié)論,即使這島上沒有居民,至少也是常有生人到島上來。