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THE NEXT DAY, March 22, at six o'clock in the morning, preparations for departure began.
第二天，3月22日早晨六點，諾第留斯號準備開走。
The last gleams of twilight were melting into night.
清晨的最后曙光沒人黑暗中去了。
The cold was brisk. The constellations were glittering with startling intensity.
天氣很冷。各星座在天空中照耀，特別明亮，
The wonderful Southern Cross, polar star of the Antarctic regions, twinkled at its zenith.
天空的頂點有那輝煌的南宿，那是南冰洋地區的極星。
The thermometer marked -12 degrees centigrade, and a fresh breeze left a sharp nip in the air.
溫度表降到零下十二度，寒風吹來，刺人肌骨。
Ice floes were increasing over the open water. The sea was starting to congeal everywhere.
冰群在流動的水上愈來愈多了。海面漸漸凍結。
Numerous blackish patches were spreading over its surface, announcing the imminent formation of fresh ice.
無數灰黑的冰塊擺在水面上，這表示新的冰層形成了。
Obviously this southernmost basin froze over during its six-month winter and became utterly inaccessible.
很顯然，南極的海面在冬季六個月全是結冰的，絕對無法通過。
What happened to the whales during this period?
這個時期鯨魚類怎樣呢？
No doubt they went beneath the Ice Bank to find more feasible seas.
當然它們從冰山下面出去，找尋比較適宜居住的海水。
As for seals and walruses, they were accustomed to living in the harshest climates and stayed on in these icy waterways.
至于海豹和海馬，習慣了嚴寒的天氣，是仍然留在這冰天雪地中的。
These animals know by instinct how to gouge holes in the ice fields and keep them continually open; they go to these holes to breathe.
這些動物天賦有本能在這冰場中挖掘洞穴，老是讓洞門敞開，它們可以到洞口來呼吸。
Once the birds have migrated northward to escape the cold, these marine mammals remain as sole lords of the polar continent.
鳥類被寒冷所迫，遷移到北方去。這時只有這些哺乳類動物是這南極大陸的唯一主人。
Meanwhile the ballast tanks filled with water and the Nautilus sank slowly.
這時，儲水池裝滿了，諾第留斯號慢慢下降。
At a depth of 1,000 feet, it stopped.
到一千英尺深的時候，它停下來。
Its propeller churned the waves and it headed due north at a speed of fifteen miles per hour.
它的推進器攪動海水，以每小時十五海里的速度直向北方行駛。
Near the afternoon it was already cruising under the immense frozen carapace of the Ice Bank.
晚上，它已經駛到冰山下邊巨大的冰凍甲殼下面了。
