20000 лье под водой

Chapter 1. A Runaway Reef

           Onthe20thofJuly,1866,thesteamerGovernorHigginson, oftheCalcuttaandBurnachSteamNavigationCompany, hadmetthismovingmassfivemilesofftheeastcoastofAustralia. CaptainBakerthoughtatfirstthathewasinthepresenceofanunknownsandbank; heevenpreparedtodetermineitsexactposition whentwocolumnsofwater,projectedbythemysteriousobject,shotwithahissingnoiseahundredandfiftyfeetupintotheair. Now,unlessthesandbankhadbeensubmittedtotheintermittenteruptionofageyser,theGovernorHigginsonhadtodoneithermorenorless thanwithanaquaticmammal,unknowntillthen,whichthrewupfromitsblow-holescolumnsofwatermixedwithairandvapour. 

           Similarfactswereobservedonthe23rdofJulyinthesameyear, inthePacificOcean,bytheColumbus,oftheWestIndiaandPacificSteamNavigationCompany. Butthisextraordinarycreaturecouldtransportitselffromoneplacetoanotherwithsurprisingvelocity; as,inanintervalofthreedays,theGovernorHigginsonandtheColumbushadobserveditattwodifferentpointsofthechart, separatedbyadistanceofmorethansevenhundrednauticalleagues. 

           Fifteendayslater,twothousandmilesfartheroff,theHelvetia, oftheCompagnie-Nationale,andtheShannon,oftheRoyalMailSteamshipCompany, sailingtowindwardinthatportionoftheAtlanticlyingbetweentheUnitedStatesandEurope, respectivelysignalledthemonstertoeachotherin42º15’N.lat.and60º35’W.long. Inthesesimultaneousobservationstheythoughtthemselvesjustified inestimatingtheminimumlengthofthemammalatmorethanthreehundredandfiftyfeet, astheShannonandHelvetiawereofsmallerdimensionsthanit, thoughtheymeasuredthreehundredfeetoverall. 

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