登陆注册
15291000000093

第93章

Lionel, it seems, was on his way to "John Ferdinando," as he callsthe modern Juan Fernandes. "In our way thither," he says, "aboutfour o'clock in the morning, when we were about one hundred andfifty leagues from the Main of America, our ship felt a terribleshock, which put our men in such consternation that they couldhardly tell where they were or what to think; but every one began toprepare for death. And, indeed, the shock was so sudden and violent,that we took it for granted the ship had struck against a rock; butwhen the amazement was a little over, we cast the lead, and sounded,but found no ground. * * * The suddenness of the shock made the gunsleap in their carriages, and several of the men were shaken out oftheir hammocks. Captain Davis, who lay with his head on a gun, wasthrown out of his cabin!" Lionel then goes on to impute the shock toan earthquake, and seems to substantiate the imputation by statingthat a great earthquake, somewhere about that time, did actually dogreat mischief along the Spanish land. But I should not much wonderif, in the darkness of that early hour of the morning, the shock wasafter all caused by an unseen whale vertically bumping the hull frombeneath.

I might proceed with several more examples, one way or another knownto me, of the great power and malice at times of the sperm whale. Inmore than one instance, he has been known, not only to chase theassailing boats back to their ships, but to pursue the ship itself,and long withstand all the lances hurled at him from its decks. TheEnglish ship Pusie Hall can tell a story on that head; and, as for hisstrength, let me say, that there have been examples where the linesattached to a running sperm whale have, in a calm, been transferred tothe ship, and secured there! the whale towing her great hull throughthe water, as a horse walks off with a cart. Again, it is very oftenobserved that, if the sperm whale, once struck, is allowed time torally, he then acts, not so often with blind rage, as with wilful,deliberate designs of destruction to his pursuers; nor is it withoutconveying some eloquent indication of his character, that upon beingattacked he will frequently open his mouth, and retain it in thatdread expansion for several consecutive minutes. But I must be contentwith only one more and a concluding illustration; a remarkable andmost significant one, by which you will not fail to see, that not onlyis the most marvellous event in this book corroborated by plainfacts of the present day, but that these marvels (like all marvels)are mere repetitions of the ages; so that for the millionth time wesay amen with Solomon- Verily there is nothing new under the sun.

In the sixth Christian century lived Procopius, a Christianmagistrate of Constantinople, in the days when Justinian was Emperorand Belisarius general. As many know, he wrote the history of hisown times, a work every way of uncommon value. By the bestauthorities, he has always been considered a most trustworthy andunexaggerating historian, except in some one or two particulars, notat all affecting the matter presently to be mentioned.

Now, in this history of his, Procopius mentions that, during theterm of his prefecture at Constantinople, a great sea-monster wascaptured in the neighboring Propontis, or Sea of Marmora, after havingdestroyed vessels at intervals in those waters for a period of morethan fifty years. A fact thus set down in substantial history cannoteasily be gainsaid. Nor is there any reason it should be. Of whatprecise species this sea-monster was, is not mentioned. But as hedestroyed ships, as well as for other reasons, he must have been awhale; and I am strongly inclined to think a sperm whale. And I willtell you why. For a long time I fancied that the sperm whale hadbeen always unknown in the Mediterranean and the deep watersconnecting with it. Even now I am certain that those seas are not, andperhaps never can be, in the present constitution of things, a placefor his habitual gregarious resort. But further investigations haverecently proved to me, that in modern times there have been isolatedinstances of the presence of the sperm whale in the Mediterranean. Iam told, on good authority, that on the Barbary coast, a CommodoreDavis of the British navy found the skeleton of a sperm whale. Now, asa vessel of war readily passes through the Dardanelles, hence asperm whale could, by the same route, pass out of the Mediterraneaninto the Propontis.

In the Propontis, as far as I can learn, none of that peculiarsubstance called brit is to be found, the aliment of the rightwhale. But I have every reason to believe that the food of the spermwhale- squid or cuttle-fish-lurks at the bottom of that sea, becauselarge creatures, but by no means the largest of that sort, have beenfound at its surface. If, then, you properly put these statementstogether, and reason upon them a bit, you will clearly perceivethat, according to all human reasoning, Procopius's sea-monster,that for half a century stove the ships of a Roman Emperor, must in1

同类推荐
  • 寺沙门玄奘上表记

    寺沙门玄奘上表记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Red Eve

    Red Eve

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 六十种曲昙花记

    六十种曲昙花记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 雅典的泰门

    雅典的泰门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 佛说园生树经

    佛说园生树经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 变成天鹅的丑小鸭

    变成天鹅的丑小鸭

    她是一个从丑小鸭努力后变成的白天鹅,她的灿烂笑容背后有别人不知道的辛酸。但她又同样是好多人羡慕的对象。比如说她有着很高的身价,有着美丽的外表,有着看上去快乐的生活。但是她不是纯种的白天鹅,再怎么努力她还是一只丑小鸭的出身。在真正的白天鹅面前永远都是被人看扁的丑小鸭。她该怎么做。
  • 武魄玄仙

    武魄玄仙

    这是一个修炼武魄的世界——吸收天地元力,练元化精,练精化魄是为武魄!
  • 蛇蝎美人

    蛇蝎美人

    一次结婚前,李宿白死乞白赖地缠着她。第二次结婚前,换她死乞白赖的缠着他。两人被绑在小黑屋里,她开始展开攻势:“你爱我吗?”“你不配。”“……那你干嘛要冒着生命危险来救我,犯贱?”良久,他冰冷的“呵呵”了一声。她接话:“其实我也贱,要不,咱们再结一次?”他笑得她浑身发毛:“你要不怕死就来试试。”事实证明,她其实不怕死。
  • 感悟母爱

    感悟母爱

    本书讲述了一系列关于母爱的故事,包括《母亲的鞋架》、《生命的支点》、《与爱同在》、《承载生命之路》、《送盒饭的母亲》、《守候》等文。
  • 废材觉醒:腹黑帝王无赖妻

    废材觉醒:腹黑帝王无赖妻

    意外穿越偶遇妖孽美男。说好只是教她自保,最后却把自己给赔进去了。被精神病袭击穿越到异界,她也算倒霉。但是,说好明明只是求保护,求教导,但只是修为好吗。凌芊芊满脸黑线的看着床上荷尔蒙分泌的妖孽美男,谁能告诉她,这个腹黑无耻的男人此时妖娆的躺在床榻上,一副求扑倒的样子是什么意思!喂喂喂,你离我远一点!妖孽男故作委屈,“小狐狸,明明是你要人家保护你的!”他大爷!有让保护到床上吗!“滚远点!”
  • 情断悲鸣

    情断悲鸣

    dnf悲鸣洞穴的故事。尽可能还原全剧情,彰显那一段惊心动魄的往事,献祭阿拉德,我们的青春。
  • 绝色灵女:妖孽夫君爱吃醋

    绝色灵女:妖孽夫君爱吃醋

    万年前,她是女娲后人,他是神界之主,一场由她而起的神魔大战,他们双双陨落。万年后,她是21世纪的王牌杀手,她是西焰国的废物小姐,当她成为她,再遇上腹黑妖孽的他,又会发生什么。
  • 最强少爷之龙游都市

    最强少爷之龙游都市

    天庭战神魔焰,因被冤枉下凡......但却发现了他另外一个他也不知道的身份。。。。。他该怎么办?
  • 弃女成凰:邪王请靠边

    弃女成凰:邪王请靠边

    一朝穿越在乱葬岗醒来,身上破破烂烂乍一看还以为是从乞丐窝里跑出的叫花子。苏惑怒,天生灵根残缺?,胡说八道,姐用残缺的灵根告诉你,姐没有天赋不好照样能打得你亲爹都认不到你。高级玄者,拍卖丹药,收服野兽,杀人放火统统不在话下,一代废柴弃女逆袭天才。绽放风华,惊艳天下。一群渣男渣女争相献媚。某位管妻严的爷不乐意了,衣袖一挥,嫌弃的看着苏惑:你又惹了烂桃花。美人勾唇浅笑:我的烂桃花不就是你么女主强大,男主腹黑。情深坚定,此文非小白,喜欢请入坑。
  • 养生长寿指南:中老年保健防病手册

    养生长寿指南:中老年保健防病手册

    本书作者运用中医养生学理论和现代医学研究成果,系统介绍了中老年人养生保健的基本知识和具体方法。全书共9章,包括人的自然寿命、老年人划分标准与健康、亚健康的概念,中医传统养生及更年期保健与性保健,中老年人心理特点、心理障碍及其防治,饮食、运动、娱乐、睡眠、生活方式、环境气候等对健康的影响与自我保健,以及常见肿瘤防治和定期健康体检等。全书内容丰富,阐述简明,融知识性、可读性和实用性于一体,对指导中老年保健具有重要参考价值。适于广大中老年朋友及基层卫生人员阅读参考。