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As we skimmed the depths of the Grand Banks, I could see perfectly those long fishing lines, each armed with 200 hooks, that every boat dangled by the dozens. The lower end of each line dragged the bottom by means of a small grappling iron, and at the surface it was secured to the buoy-rope of a cork float. The Nautilus had to maneuver shrewdly in the midst of this underwater spiderweb.
當(dāng)我們穿過紐芬蘭暗礁時(shí)，我清楚地看到了一些長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的釣魚線，每條線上都有200個(gè)魚鉤，而每條船上都垂下十來(lái)根這樣的線。每條線的一頭都拖著小鉤，用固定在軟木浮標(biāo)上的浮標(biāo)索拉在水面上。在這張海底漁網(wǎng)中行走，“鸚鵡螺號(hào)”不得不靈活地操作。
But the ship didn't stay long in these heavily traveled waterways. It went up to about latitude 42 degrees. This brought it abreast of St. John's in Newfoundland and Heart's Content, where the Atlantic Cable reaches its end point.
此外，“鸚鵡螺號(hào)”在這片船只來(lái)往頻繁的海域中并沒停留多久。它向上開到北緯42度。而在紐芬蘭島的圣—約翰港和赫爾斯堪敦港所在的緯度上，就埋著越洋海底電纜的終端。
Instead of continuing north, the Nautilus took an easterly heading, as if to go along this plateau on which the telegraph cable rests, where multiple soundings have given the contours of the terrain with the utmost accuracy.
這時(shí)，“鸚鵡螺號(hào)”船只沒有繼續(xù)向北走，而是取道向東，它好像想沿著這片鋪設(shè)有電纜，經(jīng)過多次探測(cè)，地形情況極為精確的電線高原走。
It was on May 17, about 500 miles from Heart's Content and 2,800 meters down, that I spotted this cable lying on the seafloor. Conseil, whom I hadn't alerted, mistook it at first for a gigantic sea snake and was gearing up to classify it in his best manner. But I enlightened the fine lad and let him down gently by giving him various details on the laying of this cable.
那天是5月17日，在離赫爾斯堪敦港500海里的2800海米深處，我看到了橫臥在地上的電纜。因?yàn)槲沂孪葲]跟康塞爾說(shuō)過，所以康塞爾一開始以為那是一條巨大的海蛇，還準(zhǔn)備按他的老一套對(duì)它進(jìn)行分類呢。我提醒了這位老實(shí)的年輕人，為了安撫他的失望情緒，我告訴了他鋪設(shè)電纜的各種特殊性。
