作者：王勋,纪飞,（法）儒勒·凡尔纳
出版社：清华大学出版社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
测量子午线(中文导读英文版)试读：
前言
儒勒·凡尔纳（Jules Verne，1828—1905），法国著名作家，现代科幻小说的奠基人，被誉为“科幻小说之父”。凡尔纳一生共创作了六十多部充满神奇与浪漫的科幻小说，其代表作有《气球上的五星期》、《地心游记》、《从地球到月球》、《海底两万里》、《八十天周游世界》、《格兰特船长的儿女》和《神秘岛》等，这些小说被译成世界上几十种文字，并多次被搬上银幕，在世界上广为流传。
儒勒·凡尔纳于1828年2月8日出生在法国西部海港南特。自幼热爱海洋，向往远航探险。他的父亲是一位事业成功的律师，并希望凡尔纳日后也以律师作为职业。18岁时，他遵从父训到首都巴黎攻读法律。可是他对法律毫无兴趣，却爱上了文学和戏剧。1863年，他发表了第一部科幻小说《气球上的五星期》，之后又出版了使他获得巨大声誉的科幻三部曲：《格兰特船长的儿女》、《海底两万里》和《神秘岛》。凡尔纳的科幻小说是真实性与大胆幻想的结合：奇幻的故事情节、鲜明的人物形象、丰富而奇妙的想象、浓郁的浪漫主义风格和生活情趣，使之产生了巨大的艺术魅力，赢得了全世界各国读者，特别是青少年读者的喜爱。他的作品中所表现的自然科学方面的许多预言和假设，在他去世之后得以印证和实现，至今仍然启发人们的想象力和创造力。
总的说来，凡尔纳的小说有两大特点。第一，他的作品是丰富的幻想和科学知识的结合。虽然凡尔纳笔下的幻想极为奇特、大胆，但其中有着坚实的科学基础，这些作品既是科学精神的幻想曲，也是富有幻想色彩的科学预言，他的许多科幻猜想最后变成了现实。例如，他不仅在小说《从地球到月球》中用大炮将探月飞行器送上太空，甚至还将发射场安排在了美国佛罗里达州，这正是“阿波罗登月计划”的发射场，他在小说《海底两万里》中虚构了“鹦鹉螺号”潜水艇，在该小说出版10年后，第一艘真正的潜水艇才下水；在《征服者罗比尔》中有一个类似直升飞机的飞行器，数十年后，人类才将这一设想变成了现实。此外，他的小说中还出现了电视、霓虹灯、导弹、坦克和太空飞船等科学技术应用概念，而这些后来都变成了现实。第二，他的作品中的主人公是一些鲜明、生动而富有进取心和正义感的人物，他们或是地理发现者、探险家、科学家、发明家，他们具有超人的智慧、坚强的毅力和执著不懈的精神；或是反对民族歧视、民族压迫的战士，反对社会不公的抗争者，追求自由的旅行家，在他们身上具有反压迫、反强权、反传统的战斗精神，他们热爱自由、热爱平等，维护人的尊严。凡尔纳所塑造的这些人物形象，他们远大的理想、坚强的性格、优秀的品质和高尚的情操已赢得了亿万读者的喜爱和尊敬，并一直成为人们向往的偶像和学习的榜样。
1900年，儒勒·凡尔纳的第一部中译本小说《八十天周游世界》（当时的中文译名是《八十日环游记》）被介绍给中国的读者，直至新中国成立之前，陆续又有梁启超、鲁迅等文化名人将凡尔纳的作品翻译出版。20世纪50年代后期，凡尔纳的科幻小说又开始为国内翻译界和出版界所关注，并在新中国读者面前重新显示了科幻小说旺盛的生命力。20世纪80年代，凡尔纳的作品再次受到读者的青睐，国内许多出版社相继翻译出版了凡尔纳的科幻小说，一时形成了“凡尔纳热”。
目前，国内已出版的凡尔纳小说的形式主要有两种：一种是中文翻译版，另一种是中英文对照版。而其中的中英文对照读本比较受读者的欢迎，这主要是得益于中国人热衷于学习英文的大环境。从英文学习的角度来看，直接使用纯英文的学习资料更有利于英语学习。考虑到对英文内容背景的了解有助于英文阅读，使用中文导读应该是一种比较好的方式，也可以说是该类型书的第三种版本形式。采用中文导读而非中英文对照的方式进行编排，这样有利于国内读者摆脱对英文阅读依赖中文注释的习惯。基于以上原因，我们决定编译凡尔纳系列科幻小说中的经典，其中包括《气球上的五星期》、《地心游记》、《从地球到月球》、《环游月球》、《海底两万里》、《八十天周游世界》、《格兰特船长的儿女》、《神秘岛》、《沙皇的信使》、《喀尔巴阡古堡》、《无名之家》、《征服者罗比尔》、《大臣号幸存者》、《亚马逊漂流记》、《太阳系历险记》、《两年假期》和《测量子午线》等，并采用中文导读英文版的形式出版。在中文导读中，我们尽力使其贴近原作的精髓，也尽可能保留原作的风格。我们希望能够编出为当代中国读者所喜爱的经典读本。读者在阅读英文故事之前，可以先阅读中文导读内容，这样有利于了解故事背景，从而加快阅读速度。我们相信，这些经典著作的引进对加强当代中国读者，特别是青少年读者的科学素养和人文修养是非常有帮助的。
本书主要内容由王勋、纪飞编译。参加本书故事素材搜集整理及编译工作的还有郑佳、刘乃亚、赵雪、左新杲、黄福成、冯洁、徐鑫、马启龙、王业伟、王旭敏、陈楠、王多多、邵舒丽、周丽萍、王晓旭、李永振、孟宪行、熊红华、胡国平、熊建国、徐平国、王小红等。限于我们的文学素养和英语水平，书中难免不当之处，衷心希望读者朋友批评指正。第一章 在奥冉吉河岸 Chapter 1 On the Banks of the Orange River导读
一八五四年二月二十七日，在奥冉吉河边的垂柳下，两个男人在那里躺着说话。四十岁的布石曼人莫口牧身材高大、健壮，说一口流利的英语，穿着有点半欧洲式，脖子上挂的小包里放着烟斗和一把刀。
二十五岁左右的年轻人威廉·艾莫雷是派驻开普敦天文台的助理天文学家。他们在这里等剑桥天文台的埃弗雷特上校，已经八天了。
威廉·艾莫雷在去年的十二月底收到埃弗雷特上校的信：他将和一个科学家委员会来到南非，让艾莫雷准备一辆四轮马车和旅行所需的全部物品。
艾莫雷结识了当地有名的土著人莫口牧，授权他指挥这只探险队伍，并在此等候上校一行人的到来。他们来到河水边看着远处的水面，没发现轮船或独木舟的影子。
十分钟后，莫口牧问艾莫雷，如果他们不来怎么办。艾莫雷认为：他们都是守信用的，现在才二十七号，四天之内他们就会到摩尔各答瀑布的，除非他们迷路，但如果那样就更应该等他们。在这风景秀美的丛林中等待几天，有山谷下的四轮马车提供食宿，也是一种享受。他建议莫口牧去林中打猎，于是猎人领着狗向丛林走去。
艾莫雷躺在那里，他想不出这次探险是什么目的，后来沉睡了过去。醒来时已经六点，猎人拖着打的羚羊回来了。他们回到了谷下的营地，两个车夫等在那里。n 27th January，1854，two men,stretched out at the foot of a giganticweeping willow,were talking together,while they carefully Owatched the waters of the Orange River.This stream,called by the Dutch the Groote river,and by the Hottentots the Gariep,is a worthy rival of the three grand African arteriesthe Nile,the Niger,and the Zambezi.Like them,it has its cataracts,its floods,and its rapids.Several well-known travellers have praised the purity of its waters and the beauty of its shores.
Here the Orange River,as it approaches the Duke of York mountains,offered a magnificent spectacle-unscaleable cliffs,imposing masses of rock,tree trunks fossilised by the action of time,deep caverns,impenetrable forests as yet unvisited by the settler and his axe,encircled by the background of the Gariep mountains,formed a scene incomparably beautiful.There the waters,pent up in too narrow a bed whose floor had fallen suddenly away,swept down in a fall of four hundred feet.Above the fall the surface of the water,broken here and there by a few rocky points projecting above tufts of green branches,swirled rapidly along.Below,the eye could hardly distinguish more than a dark whirlpool of water crowned by a thick cloud of vapour,tinted with the seven prismatic colours.A deafening roar from the abyss was intensified by the echoes from all sides of the valley.
Of these two men,doubtless brought together by the chances of exploration in this part of South Africa,one gave scant attention to the beauties which Nature spread before him.He was a hunter,a bushmana fine type of that valiant race of the keen eye and quick gestures,whose wandering life is passed in the forest.The term bushmanan English word from the Dutch Boschjesman，really means‘the man of the bush.’It is applied to the tribes who beat the country north-west of the Cape Colony.None of their families are sedentary；their life is spent in wandering about the district between the Orange River and the mountains to its east,in plundering the farms and destroying the crops of those tyrannical colonists who have driven,and are driving them back towards the arid regions of the interior,where there grows more stone than trees.
This bushman was about forty,and a fine tall fellow,evidently endowed with great muscular strength.Even in repose his body denoted activity in every limb.The ease and freedom of his attitude indicated energy and resolutionthe sort of person cast in the same mould as the famous Leatherstocking,the hero of the Canadian prairies,though perhaps not so cool as Cooper’s favourite hunter.This was shown by the occasional colouringup of his face in response to the faster beating of his heart.
The bushman was no longer a savage like his ancestors the ancient Saquas；born of an English father and a Hottentot mother,this halfcaste had gained rather than lost by his contact with foreigners,and he could speak his paternal language fluently.His costume,half Hottentot and half European,consisted of a red flannel shirt,a jacket and breeches of deerskin,and catskin leggings.From his neck hung a small bag containing his knife,a pipe,and some tobacco.A sheepskin cap covered his head.Round his waist he wore a thick belt of native workmanship,and on his wrists were ivory rings,very skilfully carved by some Hottentot artist；a kaross,made of the skins of tiger-cats and leopards,hung from his shoulders down to his knees.A native dog lay dozing at his feet.The bushman drew short,quick puffs of smoke from his bone pipe,he gave unequivocal signs of impatience.‘Now,Mokoum,do keep calm，’his companion told him，‘you’re really a most impatient manexcept when you’re hunting！My worthy friend,you know we can’t change the order of things.The men we’re waiting for will be here sooner or later；they’ll come tomorrow,if they don’t come today.’
The speaker was a young man about twenty-five,and he offered a strong contrast to the hunter,keeping calm in his every action.There was no mistaking his origin：he was an Englishman；his‘bourgeois’attire showed that he was hot accustomed to travelhe seemed an employee astray in some savage wilds,and he was more like a clerk,or secretary,or some other variety of the great bureaucratic family.
Nor was he a traveller,but a distinguished man of science.William Emery was assistant-astronomer at the Cape Observatory,which had for many years rendered valuable services to science.
This savant,who was rather out of his element in this desert region of South Africa,several hundred miles from Cape Town,had great difficulty incurbing his companion’s natural impatience.‘Mr.Emery，’the hunter replied in very good English，‘we have now been waiting a week at these Morgheda cataracts,our rendezvous on the Orange River.Now it’s a very long time since any member of my family has stayed a week in the same place.You forget that we’re wanderers,and when we keep still so long our feet begin to burn.’‘Friend Mokoum，’the astronomer reminded him，‘the men we’re expecting are coming from England,and we can very well grant them a week’s law.You must take into consideration the length of the journey,the delays their steamer may have met with in ascending the Orange river,and,in a word,the thousand obstacles inherent in an expedition.We have been ordered to prepare everything for a journey to explore Southern Africa,and then to wait for my colleague Colonel Everest from Cambridge observatory,at the Morgheda Falls.Here we now are at the waterfall and here we must wait.What else would you have me do,my worthy bushman？’
The hunter evidently wanted to do something else,for his hand was continually playing with the lock of his rifle,with which he could hit a wild cat or an antelope at eight hundred yards with a conical bullet,for he had discarded the quiver of poisoned arrows still used by his countrymen in favour of European firearms.‘But,Mr.Emery,are you sure you haven’t made any mistake？’asked Mokoum；‘was it at the Morgheda Falls,and at the end of January that you were to meet？’‘Yes,my friend，’William Emery assured him quietly，‘here’s a letter from Mr.Airy,the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich Observatory,which will prove I’ve made no mistake.’
The bushman took the letter his companion offered him,and turned it over and over with the air of a man little acquainted with writing；then,handing it back to Emery‘Tell me again，’he said，‘what that bit of black-marked paper says.’
The young savant,gifted with patience proof against all trials,again began to tell his friend the hunter what he had already repeated a score of times.During the last week of December he had received a letter from Colonel Everest,giving him notice of his early arrival,accompanied by a scientific commission,whose destination was South Africa.What their plans were,or why they were coming so far down the African continent,Emery could not say,for on that point Mr.Airy’s letter was silent.
Following the instructions he had received,he had got ready at Lattakou,one of the most northern stations in the Hottentot country,waggons,provisionsin a word,everything necessary to equip a Boschjeman caravan；then,knowing the reputation of the hunter Mokoum,who had accompanied Anderson in his hunting expeditions in Western Africa,and David Livingstone,when he first explorecl Lake Ngami and the Zambezi Falls,he had offered him command of the caravan.
It was then arranged that the bushman,who knew the country perfectly,should take Emery with him to the banks of the Orange River,to the appointed rendezvous at the Morgheda falls.It was there that the scientific commission were to join them.This commission had sailed in the Augusta frigate and were to arrive at the mouth of the Orange River,on the west coast of Africa,off Cape Voltas,and then ascend the river as far as the cataracts.
William Emery and Mokoum had accordingly come with a waggon which they had left down in the valley,and which was to take the strangers and their baggage to Lattakou,unless they preferred following some tributary of the Orange River,after avoiding Morgheda Falls by a portage of some miles.
This having been once more duly impressed on the bushman’s mind,the latter advanced to the edge of the gulf into which the boiling river poured its waters below.The astronomer followed him；there,from a projecting spur,they were able to command the course of the stream below the cataract for several miles.
For a few moments Mokoum and his companion stood scrutinising the surface of the river,which resumed its tranquil course about a quarter of a mile down stream.Nothingneither boat nor canoebroke its surface.
It was then about three in the afternoon,and as,in the south,January corresponds with July in the north,the sun,almost perpendicular,heated the air to 105Fahrenheit in the shade.Had it not been for the westerly breeze,which moderated it in some degree,this temperature would have been unbearable forany one but a bushman；yet the young savant,all bone and muscle,did not suffer much from it：the thick foliage of the trees hanging over the gulf protected him from the rays of the sun.
Not a bird broke the solitude during the scorching hours of the day；not a beast left the shelter of the thicket to venture into the open ground.Nor could the slightest sound have been heard even if the cataract had not filled the air with its roaring.
After watching the river for ten minutes,Mokoum turned to Emery and stamped impatiently on the ground；his eyes,gifted as they were with great powers of vision,has found nothing.‘Suppose your people don’t come？’he asked the young man.‘They will come,my good hunter，’replied Emery；‘they are men of their word,and they’ll be as punctual as astronomers；besides,we have nothing to complain of.This letter announces their arrival by the end of January；today is the twenty-seventh,and they still have four days to reach the Falls.’‘And if in four days they haven’t appeared？’asked the hunter.‘Then,master bushman,we shall have a very good opportunity of exercising our patience,for we shall wait here till I’m certain they won’t come.’‘By the god Ko！’the bushman cried loudly，‘I believe you’re capable of waiting until the Gariep stops pouring its waters into yonder gulf！’‘No,my friend,not so，’Emery replied very quietly；‘reason must be the rule of our actions.Now what does reason tell us？Why,that if Colonel Everest and his companions,worn out by a fatiguing journey,perhaps in want of essential food,and lost in the solitudes of this region,should not find us at the rendezvous,we shall be to blame.Should any misfortune happen,the responsibility would justly fall on us；so it is our duty to remain at our post.‘We lack for nothing here.Our waggon is below in the valley waiting for us,and gives us a safe shelter at night；we have food in abundance.Here Nature is to be seen in all her magnificence and she demands our admiration.It is a new happiness for me to pass a few days in these superb forests and on the banks of this matchless river.’‘As for you,Mokoum,what more can you possibly want？Feathered andfurred game abounds,and your rifle supplies us with our daily venison.Go and shoot,my brave hunter,and kill the time and the deer or buffalo together.Go at once,my good huntsman,while I watch for these laggards,and so at all events there’ll be no danger of your feet taking root here.’
The hunter felt the astronomer’s advice worth following,and decided to beat the neighbouring woods for a few hours.Lions,hyaenas,and leopards had no terrors for this Nimrod of the African forests,so he whistled to his dog Top.The intelligent animal,which seemed as impatient as its master,jumped up at him,and testified by its joyful bark its approbation of the huntsman’s plans.Hunter and dog soon disappeared under cover of the wood which formed the background to the cataract.
William Emery,left alone,lay down at the foot of the willow,and while awaiting the sleep which the great heat could not fail to induce,he began to ponder over his present situation.There he was,far from any inhabited region,close to the Orange River,which was still but little known.He was expecting Europeanscoun try men who had left their homes to run the risks of an expedition in distant lands.
But what was the object of this expedition？What scientific problem could they seek to solve in the deserts of South Africa？What observations were to be made at the thirtieth parallel south？This is just what Mr.Airy,the Astronomer Royal,had omitted to state.They had requested his co-operation as a savant well acquainted with the climate of the southern latitudes,and,as it was evidently a scientific question,his services were,of course,at his colleagues’disposal.As the young astronomer put these questions to himself and found himself unable to answer them satisfactorily,he fell fast asleep.
When he awoke the sun was hidden behind the western hills,whose picturesque outline stood out clear against the flaming horizon.His stomach reminded him that supper-time was near.It was then six,time to regain the waggon down in the valley.
At that very moment he heard the report of a gun in the bushes close by,and almost at once the huntsman,followed by Top,appeared at the edge of the wood,dragging the animal he had just shot.‘Come on,come on,Mister Purveyor！’cried Emery，‘what have you gotfor supper？’‘A springbok,Mr.William，’replied the hunter，”pointing to an animal with horns like a lyre.
The springbok is common in the forests of South Africa.Its fur is cinnamon colour,and its hind-quarters are covered with a quantity of white,soft,silky hair,while its belly is marked with chestnut spots.Its flesh is excellent and would give them a plentiful supper.
Hunter and the astronomer carried the animal on a strong stick placed across their shoulders,and half an hour after leaving the cataract they reached the camp in the valley,where,guarded by two bushmen drivers,the waggon was waiting for them.第二章 一次正式的介绍 Chapter 2 An Official Introduction导读
以后的三天，艾莫雷在会面地点等候，猎人在附近打猎。一月三十一日是他们约定会面的最后一天，猎人提议去瀑布下游迎接他们，艾莫雷表示赞同。艾莫雷从猎人那里知道，在奥冉吉河口，除了五六月份的旱季都可以通航，于是他们走上了羊肠小路。
莫口牧在前边用斧头开路，到十一点半时，他们来到了四英里外河下游的地方，在这里能看到二三英里外的河面。
半小时后，莫口牧感觉隐隐约约听到一种声音，又说不清是什么发出的。艾莫雷和莫口牧来到水边听着：如果是汽船的声音，顺着水声可以传出很远的。
莫口牧站在水中，耳朵贴在水面听了几分钟。听到水下有一种持续的声音，半小时后他们看到了汽船上烟囱冒的烟及船尾的英国国旗。
他们决定回瀑布那里等候，便顺着原路回到离瀑布四分之一英里处的一个小河湾。汽船上的汽笛声一直没断，猎人鸣枪作了回答。汽船在艾莫雷的示意下在河湾停下，莫口牧将汽船上的缆绳绑在了岸边的树上。
一个高个子男人带领同伴跳到岸上，艾莫雷猜想他可能就是埃弗雷特上校，便迎上前互相作了介绍。后来，上校又介绍了同来的来自得文郡的约翰·马瑞和三位俄国科学家：来自布洛科瓦天文台的马提厄·斯特吕克斯、来自赫尔辛基天文台的巴古拉·帕兰德、基辅天文台的米歇尔·佐恩先生。rom 28th to 30th January,Mokoum and Emery never left therendezvous.While the bushman,true to his instinct,passed his Ftime in shooting deer and beasts of prey indiscriminately in the covers adjoining the cataract,the young astronomer watched the course of the riverthe sight of Nature so grand and so wild ravished him and filled his soul with emotions completely new to him.
He,the man of figures,the savant always bent over his catalogues,his eyes glued day and night to his telescope,watching the stars as they passed the meridian,or calculating their occultationshe enjoyed this open-air life,either in the almost impenetrable woods which fringed the base of the hills,or on the deserted hills sprinkled with moisture from the Morgheda cataracts.It was a joy for him to feel the poetry of these vast solitudes,almost unknown to man,and to refresh his mind,fatigued with mathematical speculations.He thus overcame the dreariness of the delay while both body and mind gained new life.The novelty of this existence explained his patience,which the bushman was incapable of sharing.Thence arose the same complaints on the part of the hunter,and the same calm replies from the astronomer,which failed to sooth the nervous bushman.
At last 31st January came,the last day mentioned in Mr.Airy’s letter.If the strangers they expected did not put in an appearance on that day,William Emery would have to come to some decision,and this would embarrass him considerably.Their delay might be prolonged indefinitely,and how could he wait indefinitely？‘Mr.William，’the hunter suggested，‘why shouldn’t we go and meet the strangers？We can’t possibly miss them；there’s only one way for them to come,by the river,and if they ascend it,as your bit of paper tells you,we can’t fail to meet them.’‘That’s a very good idea,Mokoum，’replied the astronomer；‘let’s make a reconnaissance below the falls.We can find our way back by the valleys on the south.But tell me,bushman,do you know the course of the Orange River for any distance？’‘Yes,sir，’the hunter told him.‘I’ve come up it twice from Cape Voltas to its junction with the Hart,on the frontier of the Transvaal Republic.’‘And its course is navigable everywhere except at these Falls？’‘As you say，’replied the bushman；‘but at the end of the dry season the Orange is almost waterless until you come within five or six miles of its mouth.Then there’s a bar across it which raises frightful breakers when the west wind blows.’‘That doesn’t matter,for when our friends from Europe ought to land the mouth will still be navigable.There’s no reason which could explain their delay,and so arrive they will.’
The bushman made no answer；he picked up his rifle,whistled to Top,and led the way along the narrow’path which reached the lower part of the falls about a hundred and fifty yards down stream.
It was about nine in the morning.The two explorersfor so they might be calleddescended the left bank of the river.The way,it must be pointed out,did not offer the level surface of a dyke or a tow path.The steep banks of the stream,fringed with thickets,sometimes disappeared altogether；festoons hung from tree to tree,and stretched a network of green leaves and twigs across the travellers’path.Then recourse was had to the hunter’s knife,and the beautiful though troublesome garlands were pitilessly sacrificed.
William Emery drank in with delight the penetrating scents from the forest.There were fortunately several clearings,where the banks lay open；these allowed the hunter and his companion to make their way westward more easily.By eleven they had walked about four miles.
The breeze was then blowing from the west and towards the cataract,whose roar was no longer audible,though any sound from below could be heard distinctly.‘Let’s wait here,friend huntsman，’said the young astronomer as they reached a spot whence they could see down the river，‘let’s rest；my legs,Master Mokoum,aren’t like yours,and I’m more accustomed to wandering about the starry firmament than along the roads of earth.Here we can watch the river for two or three miles,and if the steamer shows herself at the farthest turn we can’t fail to notice her.’
The astronomer seated himself at the foot of a gigantic euphorbium,whose head rose forty feet above him.The hunter,less fatigued than his younger companion and unaccustomed to sitting down,walked on along the bank,while Top amused himself by frightening the clouds of water-fowl,which rose clamorously without attracting his master’s attention.
The bushman and his companion had only been there half-anhour when Emery saw that Mokoum,about a hundred paces ahead of him,seemed to be watching more intently than ever.Had the bushman caught sight of the vessel they were expecting so impatiently？
The astronomer quitted his mossy armchair and strode towards the bank where Mokoum was standing.Soon he was by his side.‘Can you see anything,Mokoum？’‘Nothing to be seen,Mr.William；but though all Nature’s sounds are familiar to my ears,I fancy I can detect an unusual humming noise down-stream.’
Then,after requesting his companion to keep quiet,the bushman laid his ear to the ground,and listened attentively.After a few moments he rose,shook his head,and said：‘I must have been mistaken；it can only be the whistling of the breeze through the leaves,or the noise of the water on the stones.And yet.
Once more the bushman listened,but he could distinguish nothing.‘Mokoum，’Emery suggested，’if the sound you fancied you could hear is produced by the engine of a steamer,you’ll hear it better if you go down to the level of the streamwater carties sound more clearly than the air.’‘You’re right,Mr.William，’the huntsman agreed，‘and I’ve more than once detected a hippopotamus crossing a river in that way.’
The bushman let himself down the precipitous bank,holding on by the lianas and tufts of grass which grew along it；when at the water’s edge he waded in up to his knees,and then stopped and listened.’‘Yes，’he cried after a few moments attention’yes,I was right；some miles below I can hear regular blows on the water like a steady continuous ripple.’‘The sound of a screw.’‘Probably,Mr.Emery,the men we are expecting can’t be far off.’
William Emery well knew the perfection of the hunter’s senses,either sight,hearing,or smell,and did not doubt his assertion for a moment.The latter scrambled back up the steep bank,and they decided to wait there,as thence they could command a long view of the course of the Orange.
Half an hour passed and William Emery,in spite of his natural calm,found it interminable.Often did he fancy he could distinguish the dim outline of a boat gliding along the water；but his eyes always deceived him.At last a cry from the bushman made his heart beat：‘Smoke！’
Emery looked in the direction in which the hunter was pointing,and not without difficulty made out a light cloud of white vapour rolling up the furthest bend of the river.There could be no doubt.
The boat approached rapidly.Soon Emery could see the funnel vomiting clouds of black smoke mingled with white vapour.The crew were evidently putting on steam to reach the rendezvous at the time appointed.The vessel was then about seven miles below the Morgheda Falls.
It was just noon.The spot was unfavourable for landing,so the astronomer decided to return to the foot of the cataract.He explained this to the hunter,whose only reply was to take the path by which they had come along the left bank.Emery followed him and,on looking back,he saw the British ensign flying at the vessel’s stern.
They were not long returning to the falls,and at one the bushman and the astronomer halted a quarter of a mile below the cataract.There the bank formed a little bay,in which the steamer could easily reach the shore,for the water was deep right up to the bank itself.
The vessel could not be far off,as it had certainly gained on the pedestrians,quickly as they had walked.They could not yet see it,for the formation of the shores,shaded by lofty trees overhanging the water,kept them from seeing to any distance.But they could hear,if not the hissing of the steam,as least the shrill scream of the whistle,which rose even above the roar of the cataract.
The whistle kept on sounding,the crew thus announcing their presence at Morgheda.It was a signal.
The huntsman answered them by firing his rifle,whose report echoed noisily from shore to shore.
At last the boat came in sight,and at the same time those on board saw Emery and his companion.
At a sign from the astronomer the boat came alongside the bank.Its occupants threw a line,which the bushman made fast to the stump of a tree.
A tall man jumped ashore,and walked up to the astronomer with his companions following him.
William Emery went to meet him,and said：‘Colonel Everest？’‘Mr.William Emery？’asked the Colonel.
The astronomer and his colleague from Cambridge shook hands.‘Gentlemen，’the Colonel turned to his companions，‘allow me to introduce Mr.William Emery,of the Observatory at Cape Town,who has been so good as to come to meet us at the Morgheda Falls.’
The four men who had accompanied Colonel Everest bowed to the young astronomer,who returned their greetings as the Colonel officially introduced them：‘Mr.Emery,Sir John Murray,from Devonshire,your fellowcountryman；Mr.Matthew Strux from the Poulkowa Observatory；Mr.Nicolas Palander,from the Helsingfors Observatory；and Mr.Michel Zorn,from the Kiew Observatorythree Russian savants representing the Czar’s Government in this our international commission.’第三章 搬运 Chapter 3 The Portage导读
艾莫雷知道埃弗雷特上校在计算星辰和掩星方面很著名，自己应该是他的下属。四十岁的约翰·马瑞是一个富有的科学家，三位俄国科学家他不了解。但他看出来了：在这里，英俄两国科学家都是三位，船上的船员也是每个国家五名。
上校告诉艾莫雷，因为出于他这么多年取得的成就及他的正直的尊重，所以提名让他参加这次行动。
艾莫雷对此表示感谢，又向上校汇报了他已准备了所需的材料及食物、马车和马匹，并组成了一支一百多人的探险队，还向上校介绍了探险队头领莫口牧。
上校对曾为自己的朋友戴维·利文斯通做过向导、有名的莫口牧表示欢迎，并让他在自己船上众多的武器中挑选喜欢的用，使这位猎人很高兴。
上校又告诉艾莫雷，现在要绕过瀑布从奥冉吉河的支流到达拉塔库城，他们的船很容易拆卸和组装，让布石曼人的马车到泊船的地方，拆卸后拉到可通航的地方组装起来。
莫口牧答应一个小时内回来。船上装的东西不多，有几箱仪器、几桶烧酒和干肉、武器弹药等，船很快便被拆卸开来。一个钟头内，莫口牧带着四轮马车和两个驾车人就到了，这是一辆长二十尺、由六头水牛拉的大车，“女王与沙皇”号船上的船员将拆卸好的船和上面的物资都装在了大车上。下午三点出发，一路上，科学家们走在前面，陶醉在大自然之中。四点半钟，他们到了河边，等着大车的到来。
五点左右大车到了。不到一个小时，他们就将船组装调试好了。二月一日清晨六点，莫口牧和科学家们一起上船启程，两位车夫将大车赶到拉塔库。
开船时，上校告诉艾莫雷，他们这次来南非的目的是测量子午线。hese introductions made,William Emery put himself at the disposalof the newcomers.As assistant-astronomer at the Cape,he Twas subordinate to Colonel Everest,who had been sent out by the English Government,and who shared the presidency of the commission with the Russian Matthew Strux.He was known to Emery as a very distinguished savant,who had made his name by his calculations of the occultations of the stars and by his reductions of the nebulae.Nothing ever took him by surprise.He was about fifty,cool and methodical,whose daily life was arranged mathematically from hour to hour,and it might be said that every action of his existence was regulated by his chronometer.Knowing this,William Emery had never entertained the slightest doubt that the scientific commission would arrive at the time appointed.
Yet the young astronomer still had to learn the Colonel’s explanation of the mission he had undertaken in South Africa.But as Colonel Everest said nothing about this,Emery did not think it part of his duty to ask；it was most likely that in the Colonel’s opinion time for speaking had not yet come.
William Emery also knew Sir John Murray by reputation.He,too,was a savant,and wealthy；emulating Lord Elgin and James Ross,he had brought England honour by his astronomical work.Science was indebted to him for very considerable financial sacrifices：he had spent twenty thousand pounds in constructing a gigantic reflecting telescope,rivalling that at Parsonstown,by which the elements of a certain number of double stars had just been ascertained.He was about forty at most,with an air of good breeding,and his impassible expression never revealed his feelings.
As for the three Russians,Messrs Strux,Palander,and Zorn,their names were not new to William Emery,although he was personally unacquainted with them.Nicholas Palander and Michel Zorn showed a certain degree of deference to Matthew Strux：due to his position,if not to his merit.Emery merely noticed that the savants were equal in numberthree English and three Russians.The crew of the steamer,the Queen and Czar,numbered tenfive English and five Russian sailors.‘Mr.Emery，’said Colonel Everest,after the introductions had taken place，‘we are now as well acquainted as if we had travelled together from London.I have,I must add,a particular regard for you；young as you are,your work has gained you a well-deserved reputation.It was at my request that the Government nominated you to share in the operations we are about to undertake in South Africa.’
William Emery bowed his thanks,and thought that he might now hear something of the expedition’s object,but Colonel Everest did not refer to it.‘Mr.Emery，’the Colonel continued，‘may I ask if you have made your preparations？’‘All,Colonel；as instructed in Mr.Airy’s letter I left Cape Town a month ago and went to Lattakou.There I collected all the equipment needed for an exploration into the interior of Africaprovisions,waggons,horses,and bushmen.An escort of a hundred trusty men awaits us at Lattakou,commanded by the skilful and well-known hunter,whom I ask permission to introduce to you,the bushman Mokoum.’‘The bushman Mokoum！’cried Colonel Everest‘the bushman Mokoum！I know his name quite well.’‘It’s the name of a brave and skilful African，’added Sir John Murray,turning to the hunter,who was not at all abashed by these Europeans with their high and mighty airs.‘The hunter Mokoum！’Emery introduced his companion.‘Your name is very known in the United Kingdom,bushman，’said Colonel Everest.‘You were the friend of Anderson and the guide of the illustrious David Livingstone,who honoured me by his friendship.England thanks you through me,and I congratulate Mr.Emery on having chosen you as leader of our caravan.A sportsman like you must be a good judge of fire-arms.We have a fairly complete arsenal of weapons,and I beg to choose whichever pleases you most.We know it will be in good hands.’
A smile of satisfaction played on the bushman’s lips.The information that his services had been appreciated in England no doubt moved him but less thanthe Colonel’s offer.He thanked him suitably and then stood aside while the conversation continued between Emery and the other Europeans.
The astronomer gave them all the details regarding the expedition he had organised,and Colonel Everest seemed quite satisfied.Their first step would be to reach Lattakou as soon as possible,for the caravan was to start the first week in March,at the end of the rainy season.‘How do you mean to get to Lattakou,Colonel？’asked William Emery.‘By the Orange River and one of its tributaries,the Kuruman,which flows close by Lattakou.’‘Very good，’agreed the astronomer；‘but fast as your vessel may be,how is she to get over the Morgheda cataracts？’‘We shall go round them,Mr.Emery.A portage of a few miles will enable us to take advantage of the river again above the falls,and if I’m not mistaken,from that point to Lattakou the river is navigable for a vessel with a light draught of water.’‘Certainly,Colonel，’replied Emery；‘but the weight of your steamer is so great that——’‘Mr.Emery，’interrupted the Colonel，‘this steam launch is one of Laird and Company’s masterpieces；it takes completely to pieces,and it can be put together again with the greatest ease：a spanner and a few bolts are all that is necessary.Have you brought a waggon to the falls？’‘Yes,Colonel,and our camp isn’t a mile away.’‘Well,then,I shall ask the bushman to bring the waggon round here.We’ll load it with the component parts of the launch and its engine,which likewise takes to pieces,and then we shall set out for the place where the Orange again becomes navigable.’
Colonel Everest’s orders were carried out.The bushman soon disappeared in the woods,promising to return in an hour.During his absence the steam launch was soon unloaded；indeed,her cargo was not greatsome boxes of scientific instruments,a respectable collection of guns,a keg or two of spirits,some barrels of dried meat,cases of ammunition,personal baggage reduced to the smallest size possible,tentcloths,a gutta-percha canoe carefully packed that it took up little more room than a wellfolded rug,some camping gear and soforth,and lastly a sort of mitrailleuse,by no means perfect but which would make an attack on their vessel a desperate venture for any enemies they might meet.
All these objects were stacked up on the bank.The engine,of eight horse power,and weighing about 450 pounds,was divided into three partsthe boiler and its tubes,the machinery,which was disconnected from the boiler by a turn of the wrench,and the screw；these were removed in succession,and left the hull of the boat empty.
The launch,apart from the space occupied by the engine and the holds,was divided into a cabin forward for the crew,and another aft for Colonel Everest and his companions.In a flash the bulkheads disappeared,and the boxes and bedplaces were removed.The boat then consisted only of a hull,about 35 feet long,in three pieces,like that of the MaRobert,the steam boat used by Dr.Livingstone on his first voyage up the Zambezi.It was made of galvanised steel,was both strong and light,and was bolted firmly but simply together.
Emery was astonished at the ease of the work and the speed with which it was carried out.The waggon had hardly been there an hour,in charge of the bushman and the two drivers,before the boat was ready to be packed on it.
This waggon,a primitive-looking vehicle,on four heavy wheels,the front pair being about twenty feet from the rear ones,was like an American railway‘car’in length.This ponderous contrivance,with its creaking axles,was drawn by six oxen,harnessed two and two,very obedient to the long whips of their drivers.Only such beasts as they could move it when it was loaded,for often,in spite of the skill of the‘leader’，it was stuck fast in the sloughs,until dug out by all the men in the expedition.
The crew of the Queen and Czar loaded the waggon so as to keep it in proper trim.The skill of the sailor is proverbial and the stowage of these various bales and packages was child’s play to these good fellows；the heaviest parts of the launch were put directly above the axles,where the vehicle was strongest,and the smaller articles went between them.Everything was soon in its proper places,and for the travellers themselves a walk of four miles was only an afternoon stroll.
At three in the afternoon the waggon was loaded,and Colonel Everest gave the signal to start.His companions and himself,led by Emery,went first；the bushman,the crew,and the drivers of the waggon followed them at a slower pace.
The march was easy；the detours beside the upper course of the Orange rendered it less difficult,though they lengthened it.This was very fortunate for the heavily-laden waggon,which,though it took longer on its journey,got to its goal more safely.
Conversation was general among the members of the scientific commission as they slowly mounted the hill,but not a word was said of the object of the expedtion.The Europeans greatly admired the splendid views of the country.Nature,there so wild though so beautiful,charmed them as it had charmed the young astronomer.Their journey had not yet wearied them of the natural beauties of this part of Africa.They admired everything with typically British moderationand the cataracts were applauded,though perhaps only with the tips of the finger Nil admirari was not entirely their motto.
William Emery thought it his duty to do the honours of South Africa to his visitors.He was at home there；and,like other enthusiastic hosts,he was not inclined to let them off even a detail of his African park.
About half-past four they had gone round the Morgheda cataracts.The Europeans,on reaching the table-land,saw the upper course of the river extend before them as far as the eye could reach.They then halted on the bank,awaiting the waggon’s arrival.
The vehicle appeared on the summit of the hill by about five；it had finished it’s journey without accident.Colonel Everest ordered it to be unloaded at once and announced his intention of starting next morning at daybreak.
The whole night was spent in a number of tasks.The hull of the launch was put together in less than an hourthe screw and its connecting rods replaced,the metal bulkheads re-erected,the holds and fuel bunkers reconst-ructed,the different bundles stowed on board in their former order.All these arrangements,made with the greatest speed,showed what the crew of the Queen and Czar were capable of.English and Russian alike,they were all picked men,well disciplined and skilful,on whom every reliance could beplaced.
The next day，1st February,at dawn,the vessel was ready to receive her passengers.Black smoke was already swirling from her funnel,into which the engineer,to force the draught,directed jets of white steam,for the vessel was driven by a high-pressure engine without condenser,on the model of that of a locomotive.The boiler tubes were so ingeniously arranged,and gave so large a heating surface,that it required only half an hour to get up enough steam to go ahead.A generous supply of ebony had been loaded on board,with other scented woods,with which to heat the furnace.
At six Colonel Everest gave the word to start.Passengers and sailors hurried on board the Queen and Czar：the hunter,well acquainted with the course of the river,followed them on board,leaving the two Boschjesmen to bring the waggon back to Lattakou.Just as the launch cast off her moorings,Colonel Everest asked the astronomer：‘Apropos,Mr.Emery,do you know what our object is in coming here？’‘I haven’t the least idea,Colonel.’‘It’s quite simple,Mr.Emery.We have come here to measure an arc of the meridian in South Africa.’第四章 关于长度单位“米”的简单介绍 Chapter 4 A Few Words About the Metre导读
怎样才能将人们头脑中理想的长度单位统一起来，古人们用了很多办法，但都不理想。后来，几名科学家联名建议将四十万分之一的经线长度定为通用长度单位，并采取十进制。后来对地球上不同的地方进行了测定，但由于地球是椭圆，各地测量数据有偏差，其平均经线弧长为五万六千八百八十图瓦兹，每个长度单位为一米，即三十九点三七英尺。
这一单位被大多数国家接受，但不被英国接受。一八五四年，英国准备接受米制，决定和俄国联合测量出一个经度的长度。于是两个国家各派三名科学家组成委员会，在南半球和北半球各测量一次。
南半球选择了英国殖民地开普敦，它和俄国某些的地区同处一个经度，测量比较方便。两国政府拨了大量经费，艾莫雷被派出做前期准备工作，皇家海军“奥古斯塔号”战舰负责把有关人员送到奥冉吉河口。rom all time,it may be asserted,the idea of one universal andinvariable standard of measurement,rigorously laid down by FNature herself,has existed in the mind of man,a measurement which would always be present,whatever might be the cataclysms of which the earth was the scene.Suchcertainly was the idea of the ancients,but they lacked methods and instruments sufficiently accurate to effect this.
The best method,in fact,of obtaining an immutable system of measurement was to relate it to the terrestrial spheroid,whose circumference may be considered as unchangeable,by measuring the whole or part of this circumference.
The ancients had attempted to determine this measurement.According to certain savants of his period,Aristotle,in the time of Sesostris,considered the stadium,or Egyptian cubit,as forming the hundred-millionth part of the distance of the Pole from the Equator.Eratosthenes,in the time of the Ptolemies,calculated fairly approximately the value of a degree along the Nile,between Syene and Alexandria.But neither Posidonius nor Ptolemy could carry out such geodesical operations with sufficient accuracy.This was also true of their successors.
Picard was the first who began in France to regulate the methods used to measure a degree；and in 1669，when determining the length of the celestial and terrestrial arcs between Paris and Amiens,he gave a degree the value of fifty-seven thousand and sixty toises（fathoms）.
It was especially the French savants who had devoted their attention to this delicate operation.It was,moreover,the Constituent Assembly which,in 1790，at the suggestion of Talleyrand,passed a decree by which the Academy of Sciences was charged with the task of discovering an invariable unit of weights and measures.‘A report signed by the illustrious names of Borda,Lagrange,Laplace,Mounge,and Condorcet proposed as a unit for measuring length the ten-millionth part of a quarter of the meridian；and for unit of weight,that of distilled water,the decimal system being adopted to correlate all these measures.
Later determinations of the value of a degree were made in several parts of the world；for as the globe is not a spheroid but an ellipsoid,repeated operations were needed to determine its polar flattening.
In 1768，for example,the astronomers Mason and Dixon,in North America,on the boundary of Maryland and Pennsylvania,estimated at fifty-sixthousand eight hundred and eighty fathoms the length of the American degree.
From the various measurements taken,it may be concluded that the average value of the degree is fifty-seven thousand toises,or twenty-five old French leagues；and multiplying by this average value the three hundred and sixty degrees of the earth’s circumference,it is found that the earth measures nine thousand leagues round.
But the measurements of the various arcs obtained in different parts of the world do not absolutely agree.Nevertheless,it was from this average of fifty-seven thousand fathoms for the measurement of a degree that the value of the‘metre’was taken：the ten-millionth part of the quarter of the terrestrial meridian,about 39.37 inches.
The metre thus decided upon was not,however,adopted by all civilised nations.Most of them accepted it almost at once；but,notwithstanding the obvious superiority of the metric system over all others,England has declined to adopt it to this day.
But for the political complications which marked the close of the eighteenth century,this system might have been accepted by the people of the United Kingdom.When,on 8th May，1790，the Constituent Assembly laid down its decree,the Fellows of the Royal Society were invited to join the French savants.To measure the metre they had to decide whether it should be based on the length of a simple pendulum which beats the sexagesimal second,or whether they should take as the unit of length a fraction of one of the great circles of the earth.But events prevented this meeting from taking place.
It was only in 1854，that England,which had long realised the advantages of the metric system,and seeing the societies of learned as well as business men were being formed to urge this reform,decided to adopt it.
But the English Government was anxious to keep this resolution secret until the new geodesical operations which it was then undertaking would allow it to ascertain with the greatest possible exactitude the value of the terrestrial degree.With this object in view,the British Government thought it advisable to come to an understanding with the Russian Government,which was also leaning towards the metric system.
A commission,composed of three English and three Russian astronomers,was chosen from the most distinguished members of the scientific societies.Colonel Everest,Sir John Murray,and William Emery were selected by England；Messrs Matthew Strux,Nicolas Palander’and Michel Zorn by Russia.
This commission,at their meeting in London,first decided that the measurement of an arc of the meridian should be taken in the southern hemisphere；then that another arc should be measured in the northern hemisphere.From the result of these two operations,it was hoped to determine a most accurate value which would fulfil every necessary condition.
It then remained to choose among the various English possessions in the southern hemispherethe Cape,Australia,or New Zealand.New Zealand and Australia,at the antipodes of Europe,would force the commission to make a very long voyage.What was more,the Maoris and the aboriginal Australians,always at war with their invaders,might make the projected operation very difficult.
Cape Colony,on the contrary,offered several real advantages.It was situated under the same meridian as certain parts of Russia-in-Europe；and,after having measured an arc of the meridian in South Africa,the commission could measure a second arc of the same meridian in the Czar’s empire,while keeping the operation secret.Secondly,the voyage to the British possessions in Southern Africa was relatively short.Finally,these English and Russian savants would have an excellent opportunity of verifying the accuracy of the French astronomer,Lacaille,who had worked in the same region,and of ascertaining whether he had been correct in giving fifty-seven thousand thirty-seven toises,or fathoms,as the measure of a degree of the meridian at the Cape of Good Hope.
So the Cape was chosen for this operation.The decision of the Anglo-Russian Commission was approved by the two Governments.The necessary funds were provided.The trigonometrical instruments needed were supplied in duplicate.The astronomer William Emery was directed to make arrangements for an exploring party into the interior of South Africa.The Augusta frigate was ordered to convey the members of the commission and their escort to the mouth of the Orange River.
But it must be pointed out that,in addition to the purely scientific questions,there was one of national amour propre which spurred on these savants thus united in a common task.It was,in fact,a question of outdoing France in her calculations,of exceeding in accuracy the labours of her most illustrious astronomers,and that,too,in the midst of a savage and almost unknown country.
Thus the members of the Anglo-Russian Commission had decided to sacrifice even,if need be,their lives to obtain a result satisfactory from a scientific point of view,and at the same time glorious for their country.
And this was why,in late January，1854，the astronomer William Emery found himself waiting at the Morgheda Falls on the banks of the Orange River.第五章 霍屯督小镇 Chapter 5 A Hottentot Town导读
旅途中下起了大雨，大家在船舱中没感到不适，船也在平稳的水流中行驶。飞禽走兽收藏家约翰·马瑞将一杆远程来复枪送给了莫口牧，他和莫口牧的关系很快便亲近起来，看到岸上那么多猎物，他感到特别激动。
上校和马提厄·斯特吕克斯这两个年龄相仿的人，看上去十分冷漠；五十五岁的尼古拉·帕兰德整天沉浸在计算工作中；年轻的米歇尔·佐恩的性格和艾莫雷一样，两人成了好朋友；约翰·马瑞和莫口牧整天计划着到丛林去打猎。
二月五日清晨，汽船在大雨中到达了霍屯督村吕曼河入奥冉吉河处。他们没停留，沿吕曼河逆水而上，于三月七日下午三点到达了拉塔库。
汽船停稳后，五十岁的拉塔库传教会会长托马斯·戴尔牧师对他们表示了欢迎，并表示愿意向他们提供帮助。
汽船停的地方是老拉塔库，现在已被新拉塔库代替。众人随牧师来到新拉塔库，上校把利文斯通博士的信交给会长，信中介绍了几位科学家，牧师看后将信还给上校，称这封信也许对他们以后的探险有用。
他们住在传教士的木屋中，当地贝专纳的首领木里巴罕也来拜访，与他们行了碰鼻礼，礼毕严肃的首领一句话没说就离开了。
三月二日早晨七点，探险队告别牧师离开了小镇，他们要找一个合适的地点开始工作。he voyage up the higher part of the river was soon completed.Theweather got rainy；but the passengers,comfortably Tsheltered in the launch’s cabin,suffered no inconvenience from the torrents,which were not at all unusual at this season.The Queen and Czar met with neither rapids nor shallows,and the current was not strong enough to slow her much.
The shores of the Orange River still showed the same lovely scenery.Forests of perfumebearing trees followed one another,and all the birds in the country seemed to dwell among their branches.Here and there were groups of trees belonging to the Proteaceae family,particularly the wagenboom,whose wood is reddish,and veined like marble,producing a strange effect with its deep blue leaves and large pale yellow flowersthen the zwartebark,a tree with a black bark,and the kairees,with its dark green foliage.Thickets extended for miles beyond the river’s banks,which were everywhere overhung by weeping willows.Here and there large cleared spaces came into view.They were vast plains covered with the colocynth,or bitter apple,interspersed with the sugar bark,or honey-bearing protea,from which little singing birds,called by the Dutch colonists Suikervogel,flew in great numbers.
The feathered world offered a wide variety of many various specimens unknown to Europe.The bushman pointed out several to Sir John Murray,who was an enthusiastic sportsman.A sort of intimacy soon sprang up between the Englishman and Mokoum,to whom the former,in fulfilment of Colonel Everest’s promise,gave an excellent long-range rifle.Impossible to describe the bushman’s satisfaction when he found himself possessor of this splendid weapon.
The two sportsmen soon understood one another.Distinguished as a lover of science,Sir John Murray had a reputation as a fox-hunter in Scotland.He would listen to the bushman’s stories with interest,nay,with envyhis eyes sparkled when the hunter pointed out the wild cattle under the trees；the groups of fifteen or twenty giraffes；the buffaloes,eighteen hands high,with black spiral horns；further away,gnus；herds of large fallow deer；and everywhere,in the thickest parts of the forest as in the most open plains,the numberless varieties of antelope which swarm in Southern Africa,the bastard chamois,the gemsbok,the springbok,the gazelle.Here was enough to arouse a sportsman’s instinct；and how could fox-hunting in Scotland rival the exploits of those who hunted such game？
Sir John Murray’s companions were less excited by the sight of these magnificent specimens.William Emery studied his colleagues attentively,and tried to read their real characters under their cold exterior.Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux were both of about the same age,and equally reserved and formal.They conversed with a calculated coolness of manner which would make one think every morning they had never met before.It was not to be hoped and expected that any intimacy could ever be established between these two important personages.Two icicles,formed side by side,end by sticking together,but never two savants when they both occupy a high position in the world of science.
Nicolas Palander,at fifty-five,was one of those men who were never young and who never grow old.The astronomer of Helsingfors,constantly absorbed in calculations,might be an admirably organised machinea sort of abacus or calculating machine.Attached to the Anglo-Russian Commission in the capacity of mathematician,this savant was one of those‘prodigys’who can multiply five figures by five in his head without difficulty.
Michael Zorn,in age,disposition and good humour,more nearly resembled William Emery.His amiable qualities did not prevent his being an astronomer of great merit,and he already enjoyed a high reputation.The discoveries made by him and under his direction at the Kiew Observatory with reference to the Great Nebula in Andromeda had made a great impression on learned Europe.His modesty equalled his indisputable merit,and he always kept himself in the background.
William Emery and Michel Zorn were born to be friends.The same tastes,the same ambitions,were common to both.They were generally conversing together,while Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux were coldly watching one another,Palander was mentally extracting cube roots without bestowing a glance on the beautiful prospect before him,and Sir John Murray and the bushman were planning forays into the forests and their inhabitants.
This voyage along the upper part of the Orange River was marked by noincident whatever.Sometimes the granite cliffs which confined the winding bed of the river seemed to bar all further advance.Sometimes,too,the wooded islets in mid-stream made it uncertain which course to take.But the bushman seemed never at a loss,and the launch always chose the right course,and found a way through the rocky cliffs which seemed to encircle her.The helmsman never once repented having followed Mokoum’s pilotage.
In four days the vessel had run the two hundred and forty miles which separate the cataracts of Morgheda from the Kuruman,one of the affluents which pass the town of Lattakou,which Colonel Everest’s expedition was anxious to reach.Thirty leagues above the falls the river formed an angle,and leaving its general direction,which is east and west,it turned south-east and cut off the acute angle which Cape Colony makes to the north.There it turned north-east,and lost itself in the wooded districts of the Transvaal Republic.
It was on 5th February,early in the morning,and in a shower of rain,that the launch reached Klaarwater,a Hottentot village,near which the Kuruman flows into the Orange.Colonel Everest did not want to lose a moment,and quickly steamed past the few Boschjesman cabins of which the village consisted,and began to ascend the current of the new affluent.This rapid current,the passengers of the Queen and Czar noticed,was due to a peculiarity of the stream.The Kuruman,which was very wide at its source,grew narrower as it flowed onward,because of the action of the sunshine.But in this season,swollen by the rains,and fed by the waters of another tributary-the Moschonait was both deep and rapid.The fire was accordingly heaped up in the furnace,and the launch ascended the Kuruman at three miles an hour.
As they steamed along,the bushman pointed out several hippopotami in the water.These great pachyderms,called by the Cape Dutchmen the sea-cows,are heavy brutes,from eight to ten feet long,but quite inoffensive.The scream of the steam whistle and the thud of the screw frightened them at once.Sir John Murray was anxious to try the effect of his explosive bullets upon them；but the bushman assured him he would find plenty in the streams to the northward,and persuaded him to wait for a more favourable opportunity.
They covered the hundred and fifty miles which separate the mouth of the Kuruman from the station at Lattakou in fifty hours；on 7th February,at threein the afternoon,they reached their destination.
When the steam launch was moored to the steep bank which served as a quay,a man of about fifty,with a serious air but a pleasant expression,went on board and shook hands with William Emery.The astronomer introduced the new comer to his companions as the Rev.Thomas Dale,of the London Missionary Society,chaplain of the station at Lattakou.
The others bowed to the Rev.Thomas Dale,who made them welcome,and offered them his services.
The town of Lattakou,or rather the bamlet of that name,was the missionary station farthest northward from the Cape.It was divided into old and new Lattakou.The old Town,now almost entirely abandoned where the Queen and Czar stopped,boasted at the beginning of the century twelve thousand inhabitants,who have since migrated to the northeast.This fallen town has been replaced by new Lattakou,built at no great distance,on a plain formerly covered with acacia trees.
New Lattakou,whither the Europeans were conducted by the missionary,consisted of about forty groups of buildings,with five or six thousand inhabitants belonging to the great Bechuana tribe.
It was here that David Livingstone stayed for three months in 1840，before undertaking his first journey to the Zambezia journey which was to carry the illustrious traveller across the whole of Central Africa,from the Bay of Loanda to the Congo,as far as the port of Kilmane on the Mozambique coast.
When they reached new Lattakou,Colonel Everest put into the hands of the chaplain a letter from Dr.Livingstone,recommending the Anglo-Russian Commission to his friends in South Africa.Thomas Dale read this letter with great pleasure；then he returned it to Colonel Everest,saying it might prove to be very useful to him in the course of his travels,the name of David Livingstone being known and honoured throughout that part of Africa.
The members of the Commission were lodged at the mission,a sort of barrack built on a height,and surrounded by an impenetrable hedge,like a fortification.The Europeans found themselves much more comfortable here than if they had taken up their quarters among the Bechuanas.Not that the dwellings of the latter are either dirty or neglected；on the contrary,their floors,of a very smooth clay,are perfectly free from dust：their roofs,of long thatch,are impenetrable by the rain；but after all,these houses are nothing but huts,entered by a round hole,through which a man can creep only with difficulty.But inside these huts they live communally,and close contact with these Bechuanas could not be very agreeable.
The chief of the tribe,who lived at Lattakou,was a certain Moulibahan；he thought it his duty to call upon the Europeans and present his respects.Moulibahan was fine-looking man,with neither the thick lips nor the flat nose of the Negro；he was better made than most Hottentots.He wore a cloak of skins very neatly sewn together,and an apron,which they call in the country pukoje.He had a leather cap on his head,and oxhide sandals on his feet.On his arms he wore ivory rings；from his ears hung a strip of copper four inches long,at once an earring and an amulet.Above his cape rose the tail of an antelope；his hunting-stick bore a bunch of small black ostrich feathers.It was impossible to guess the natural colour of this Bechuana chief,so thick was the layer of ochre which covered him from head to foot.Several cuts in the thigh,which left indelible marks,indicated the number of enemies he had slain.
The chief,quite as grave as Matthew Strux himself,walked up to the Europeans and grasped each of them in succession by the nose.The Russians took this quite seriously；the English were rather reluctant.However,according to African custom,this was a solemn undertaking to fulfil the duties of hospitality towards the Europeans.
When the ceremony was concluded,Moulibahan retired without having uttered a word.‘Now that we are naturalised Bechuanas，’said Colonel Everest，‘let’s begin our operations without losing a day,or even an hour.’
Not a day,not an hour,was lost,and yetso much care and attention to details does such an expedition demandthe commission could not start before the first week in March.This was,indeed,the period assigned by Colonel Everest.At this epoch the rainy season is over,and the water preserved in the cracks in the soil is invaluable to the travellers of the desert.
The start was fixed for 2nd March,and on that date the caravan,placed under Mokoum’s orders,was ready.The Europeans bade farewell to themissionaries at Lattakou,and left the town at seven in the morning.‘Where are we going now,Colonel？’asked William Emery,as the caravan left the last of the houses behind.‘Straight before us,Mr.Emery，’replied the Colonel，‘till we’ve found a convenient base for our operations.’
By eight the caravan had left the low hills,covered with stunted bushes,which surrounded Lattakou.Immediately before them lay the desert,with its dangers,its chances,and its fatigues.第六章 进一步相互了解 Chapter 6 They Get Better Acquainted导读
探险队由一百名吃苦耐劳的布石曼土著人组成，十辆四轮马车中有四辆用木头搭成了临时房屋，由英国和俄国的科学家分住在两辆车中，同样两国船员住在另外两辆车中。
汽船被拆开装在一辆车上，其他的车装载仪器、食品、武器、弹药和测量用品等物资。布石曼人食用的是晒干或烤干的肉条及植物的果实和块根，探险队的肉食则是猎人们猎取的野兽。
他们骑着一些西班牙小马，还有六头温顺的驴子，利用它们可以把仪器送到四轮车无法到达的地方。莫口牧骑着一匹漂亮的斑马，几只猎狗在探险队两侧奔跑。一路上，上校给莫口牧讲着测量上的一些词语及对地面的要求，莫口牧只是理解他要找一块平坦的地方。
威廉·艾莫雷和米歇尔·佐恩两个人的友谊日益加深，他们在一起谈论着埃弗雷特上校和马提厄·斯特吕克斯两位领导比较专横，而又存在着科学家之间的嫉妒。
他俩感到，为了一项事业来到这里冒险，因缺乏合作而失败，是令人难过的事，但愿上校和斯特吕克斯中有一人能够战胜对方，那样的话他们的测量工作才会进展顺利。
科学家中的尼古拉·帕兰德什么也觉察不到，只顾着计算，而约翰·马瑞则更像是一位猎人。
三月四日中午，莫口牧把探险队带到了一片起伏的平原，但不符合测量要求。傍晚，他们到了一个牧民居住的地方，受到一位荷兰移民的热情招待，并向他们介绍了十五英里外的一片平原。
三月五日一早他们就出发了，路上，约翰·马瑞打中了一只牛羚，莫口牧对他精准的枪法惊叹不已，牛羚肉受到了探险队员的赞赏。中午他们到了那块平原。he Escort commanded by the hunter consisted of one hundred men.They were all Boschjesmen hard working,neither irritable nor Tquarrelsome,and able to bear great physical fatigue.Formerly,before the missionaries came,these were liars,inhospitable,addicted to murdering and plundering,and usually taking advantage of their enemies’slumber to massacre them.The missionaries have to a great extent softened their manners in these respects,but the natives are still more or less addicted to robbing farms and lifting cattle.
Ten waggons,similar to the one the bushman had brought to the Morgheda Falls,formed the expedition’s means of transport.Two of these waggonsa sort of house on wheelswere fitted up with a certain degree of comfort,for the use of the Europeans.Colonel Everest and his companions were thus followed by a wooden dwelling with a dry floor,roofed with a waterproof covering,containing bed and toilet utensils.In camp it was so much time saved,as the tent arrived already pitched.
One of these waggons was given up to Colonel Everest and his two countrymen,Sir John Murray and William Emery.The other was occupied by the Russians,Strux,Palander,and Zorn.Two other vehicles arranged similarly were allotted,one to the five English,the other to the five Russians,who formed the crew of the Queen and Czar.
The hull and engine of the launch,taken to pieces and packed in one of the waggons,had,of course,followed the travellers across the African desert.Lakes are numerous in the interior of this continent：several might be found on the commission’s line of march,and then the launch would be very useful.
The remaining waggons carried the instruments,provisions,luggage,arms,and ammunition belonging to the travellers,as well as collapsible pylons,signal posts,reflectors,all the equipment used in the trigonometrical survey,and lastly the gear of the escort.
The Boschjesmen’s provisions consisted principally of‘biltong，’or antelope’s,buffalo’s,or elephant’s flesh cut into long strips,and either dried in the sun or exposed to the action of a slow fire,bringing it to a condition in which it will keep good for months.This mode of preparation economises salt,and is much used where there is a scarcity of that useful mineral.As for bread,the men counted on replacing it by fruits and roots,beans and the bulbs of such types of mesembryanthemum as the native fig,chestnuts,and the marrow of a variety of the zmie,which is also called‘Caffre’s bread.’These supplies,borrowed from the vegetable kingdom,could be renewed as they went on.As for animal food,the hunters of the escort were remarkably skilful in the use of their bows and arrows,and in throwing the assegai,and it was their business to furnish the caravan with fresh meat.Six Cape oxen,about sixteen or seventeen hands high,were harnessed to each waggon.Thus hauled,these heavy vehicles,clumsy examples of primitive construction,need fear neither hills nor swamps and rolled along surely,if not rapidly,on their massive wheels.
The horses were small,and of Spanish origin,black or grey：they had been imported from South America.They were gentle,but full of courage,and were highly esteemed.Among the fourfooted followers there were also half-dozen tame quaggas,a species of ass.These were to carry the various surveying instruments from point to point during the short expeditions necessary for the trigonometrical operations,and to take them where the ponderous waggons would not dare to venture.
The bushman was exceptionally well mounted on a beautiful striped zebra,whose coat excited the unbounded admiration of Sir John Murray；it was twelve hands high at the shoulder,and seven feet from muzzle to tail.Naturally timid and shy,it would allow no one but Mokoum,who had broken it in,to get on its back.Several dogs of a half-wild breed,sometimes wrongly called the‘hunting hyaena，’followed the caravan；in shape and in the length of their ears they bore some resemblance to the European beagle.
Such was the composition of the caravan about to plunge into the deserts of Africa.The oxen paced along leisurely,guided by their drivers’‘sjamboks’which stung their sides,and it was a strange sight to see this troop winding along the hills.
In what direction was the expedition going after having quitted Lattakou？‘Straight before us，’Colonel Everest had said.In fact,neither Colonel Everest nor Matthew Strux were then able to decide upon any particular direction.Before commencing their trigonometrical operations,they had to find some extensive level plain,on which to set out the base of the first of those triangles which were to cover the region of Southern Africa over a stretch of several degrees.
Colonel Everest explained to the bushman what he needed.With the aplomb of a savant to whom the language of science is familiar,the Colonel talked about triangles,adjacent angles,bases,measurement of the meridian,zenith distances,and so forth.The bushman let him talk for some moments,and then,interrupting with a gesture of impatience-‘Colonel，’said he，‘I can’t understand anything about your bases and angles and meridians,nor can I at all understand what you want to do in the African desert.But that,after all,is your business.What do you want me to do？to find you a vast level regular plain？Well,I’ll try to find one for you.
And at his orders the caravan,which had just crossed the hills overlooking Lattakou,turned towards the south-west.This direction brought them rather southward of the town,towards the flat country watered by the Kuruman.The bushman hoped to find on the table-land a plain favourable to the Colonel’s projects.
From this day forward the hunter’s place was usually at the head of the caravan.Sir John Murray,who was well mounted,never left him,and from time to time the report of a gun let his colleagues know he was making acquaintance with African game.The Colonel,lost in thought,let his horse carry him as it liked,while he reflected on the result of such an expedition,and how difficult it was to direct in such wild regions.Matthew Strux,sometimes in the waggon,sometimes on horseback；according to the nature of the ground,hardly opened his mouth；while Nicolas Palander,as bad a rider as could be found anywhere,oftener followed the line of march on foot,or stayed in the waggon,absorbed in solving some high problem of mathematics.
If during the night William Emery and Michel Zorn each occupied his own particular vehicle,they were at least always together during the march.The friendship between these two young men became greater every day,and was cemented more strongly still by the incidents of travel.From one halting-place to another they rode side by side,talking and discussing,sometimes far ahead,sometimes far away on the flanks of the expedition,when the plains extended out of sight.There they were free,and,as it were,lost in the wilds of Nature.
How they talked about everything with the sole exception of science！How they forgot figures and problems,calculations and observations！They were no longer as tronomers observers of the starry arch of the skiesbut rather two boys escaped from school,pleased to traverse the dense forest or to gallop over the boundless plains,and breathe the fresh air,loaded with the fragrance of the flowers.They laughed；yes,they laughed like ordinary people,and not like serious persons whose usual associations were comets and so forth.If they never ridiculed science,they sometimes smiled at those austere savants who do not seem to belong to this world.But there was nothing ill-natured in all this；they were two excellent,expansive,amiable,and devoted young men,who formed a singular contrast to their stiff and unbending chiefs,Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux.These two savants were often the subject of their comments.William Emery,through his friend Zorn,was beginning to know them.‘Yes，’Michel Zorn told him，‘I’ve often noticed them during our voyage on the Augusta,and I’m sorry to have to admit that these two men are jealous.If Colonel Everest seems to be leader of this expedition,Matthew Strux is no less his equal.The Russian Government has defined his position quite clearly.Our two leaders are each as domineering as the other,and besides,as I said before,they’re jealous of each other after the manner of savants,the worst jealousy of all.’‘And the most unreasonable，’replied Emery，‘for it is a question of discovery,and each of us profits by the exertions of all.But if you’re right,and I’m inclined to think you are so,it’s a very unlucky thing for our expedition,my dear Zorn.In our case,it is absolutely essential that there should be the most complete unity for so delicate an operation to be successful.’‘No doubt，’agreed Zorn，‘and I very much fear that it no longer exists.Only imagine our disorder if every detail of the operation,the choice of the base,the method of calculation,the positon of the stations,the verification of the figures,should provoke a fresh discussion every time！If I’m not mistaken I can foresee many a dispute when we come to compare our duplicate results,or to make observations which will have enabled us to reach the four hundred thousandth of a fathom.’‘You frighten me,my dear Zorn，’said William Emery；‘it would certainly be painful to go so far and then to fail for want of unity in such an enterprise.God grant your fears won’t be realised.’‘I hope so,indeed,William，’replied the young Russian；‘but I repeat,I was present,during our voyage,at several discussions of scientific method.They convinced me that there’s the most unjustifiable obstinacy on the part of both Colonel Everest and his rival；and at bottom I could see that jealousy was its cause.’‘But they never leave one another，’Emery commented.‘You couldn’t surprise one without the other.They’re inseparables,more so than ourselves.’‘Yes，’replied Zorn，‘they are inseparables,it is true,but they don’t exchange ten words during the whole day.They keep a constant watch over each other.If one doesn’t succeed in eliminating the other,we shall have to work under deplorable conditions.’‘And in your opinion，’asked William with some hesitation，‘which of these two savants would you wish to——’‘My dear William，’interrupted Zorn very frankly，‘I would willingly own as leader whichever of the two can succeed in taking the lead.In scientific questions I have no prejudices,no national amour propre.Matthew Strux and Colonel Everest are both very remarkable men.One is as good as the other.England and Russians alike ought to profit by the result of their work.So it must matter but little whether that work be directed by an Englishman or by a Russian.Don’t you agree？’‘Absolutely my dear Zorn，’replied Emery；‘so don’t let’s be led away from our object by absurd prejudices,but,as far as we can,let’s both work together for the common good.Perhaps we may be able to avert the blows which the two adversaries may aim at each other.Besides,your countryman,Nicolas Palander……’‘He，’laughed Zorn‘he’ll never see nor understand anything；he would calculate for anyone,so long as he’s allowed to calculate.He is neither Russian,nor English,nor Prussian,nor Chinese.He isn’t even an inhabitant of this sublunary globe.He is Nicolas Palander,and that’s all.’‘I can’t say as much of my countryman,Sir John Murray，’replied William Emery；‘he’s a thorough Englishman,but he’s also an ardent sportsman,and he’ll ride off after some giraffe or an elephant sooner than plunge into a scientific discussion.So we’ve only ourselves to trust to,my dear Zorn,to soften the effect of the unending contact of our chiefs.I need not add that,happen what may,we shall always be the frankest and most loyal of friends.’‘Always,happen what may，’Zorn held out his hand to his friend William.
The caravan,guided by the bushman,still went on towards the southwest.About noon on 4th March it reached the base of those long wooded hills which it had followed since it left Lattakou.The hunter was not mistaken；he had brought the expedition to the plain.But this plain was undulating and useless for the preliminary triangulation,so they did not come to a halt.Mokoum placed himself once more at the head of the horsemen and waggons,while Sir John Murray,William Emery,and Michel Zorn pushed on before him.
Towards the close of the day the whole troop reached one of those stations occupied by wandering farmers,those Boers who stay for a time in one place because of the richness of the pasture.Colonel Everest and his companions were hospitably received by the colonist,a Dutchman,the head of a numerous family,who absolutely refused to
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