評論
打印
In the water, their ideal element, I must say these animals swim wonderfully thanks to their flexible backbones, narrow pelvises, close-cropped hair, and webbed feet.
我得說，它們在海水里面生活環境優越，這些脊骨活動，骨盤狹窄，毛又短又密，掌形腳的動物，是游泳的好手。
Resting on shore, they assumed extremely graceful positions.
當它們休息和在地上的時候，它們的姿態十分美觀，使人喜歡。
Consequently, their gentle features, their sensitive expressions equal to those of the loveliest women, their soft, limpid eyes, their charming poses, led the ancients to glorify them by metamorphosing the males into sea gods and the females into mermaids.
我跟某些生物學家的意見相同，適當地把海豹訓練起來，它們可以當作打魚的獵狗，給人類服務，做許多有益的事。
I drew Conseil's attention to the considerable growth of the cerebral lobes found in these intelligent cetaceans.
我給康塞爾指出，這種聰明的鯨科動物，大腦葉特別發達。
No mammal except man has more abundant cerebral matter.
除了人類：任何哺乳類都沒有這樣豐富的腦髓神經。
Accordingly, seals are quite capable of being educated; they make good pets, and together with certain other naturalists, I think these animals can be properly trained to perform yeoman service as hunting dogs for fishermen.
因此，海豹可能接受某種程度的教育；它們容易馴養，成為家畜。
Most of these seals were sleeping on the rocks or the sand.
大部分海豹睡在巖石，或者睡在沙地上。
Among those properly termed seals-which have no external ears, unlike sea lions whose ears protrude-I observed several varieties of the species stenorhynchus, three meters long, with white hair, bulldog heads, and armed with ten teeth in each jaw:
在這些真正的海豹中間，它們是沒有外耳的——這一點它們跟有突出的外耳的海獺不同—我看見有好些海獺的變種，長三英尺，毛白色，獵狗一般的頭，上下顎共有十枚牙齒，
four incisors in both the upper and lower, plus two big canines shaped like the fleur-de-lis.
各有四枚門牙，兩枚百合花形的大虎牙。
Among them slithered some sea elephants, a type of seal with a short, flexible trunk;
在它們中間，又有海象踏來蹋去，這是帶有活動的短鼻筒的海豹，
these are the giants of the species, with a circumference of twenty feet and a length of ten meters.
是這種動物中最巨大的類型，周身二十英尺，長十英尺。
They didn't move as we approached.
它們看我們走近前去，動也不動。
Are these animals dangerous? Conseil asked me.
它們不是危險傷人的動物嗎？康塞爾問我。
