But as soon as the first frosts of September announce the approach of winter, all animals, with but few exceptions, hasten to leave a region where the sources of life must soon fail. The geese, ducks, and swans return in dense flocks to the south; the strand-birds seek in some lower latitude a softer soil which allows their sharp beaks to seize a burrowing prey; the waterfowl forsake the bays and channels that will soon be blocked up with ice; the reindeer once more return to the forest; and in a short time nothing is left that can induce man to prolong his stay in the treeless plain. Soon a thick mantle of snow covers the hardened earth, the frozen lake, the ice-bound river; and conceals them all—for seven, eight, nine months at a time—under its monotonous pall, except where the furious north-east wind sweeps it away and lays bare the naked rock.
然而，當九月迎來了第一場雪并再次宣告冬天的到來之時，除了少數例外，幾乎所有的動物都匆忙離開了這片生命之源即將枯竭的地區。鵝、鴨子和天鵝成群結隊回到了南方；海鳥們則回到了低緯度地區尋找較為松軟的土壤以便能把自己那尖利的喙插進洞穴尋覓穴居生物；水鳥們也拋棄了即將被冰封的海灣和溝渠；馴鹿們再次回到了森林；很快人類便再也沒有可以讓他們繼續逗留在這片無樹木生長的平原上的理由了。不久之后，厚厚的大雪終于將這片堅硬的土地覆蓋，湖泊結上了冰，河流被徹底冰封；大雪一次性將一切全部塵封在了它那片單調的雪白之下，時間長達七個月、八個月、甚至九個月之久，只有當猛烈的東北風刮來，在那些雪層被吹開的地方，能露出那光禿禿的巖石。
This snow, which, after it has once fallen, persists until the long summer day has effectually thawed it, protects in an admirable manner the vegetation of the higher latitudes against the cold of the long winter season. Thanks to this protection, and to the influence of a sun which for three or four months together circles above the horizon, and in favourable localities calls forth the powers of vegetation in an incredibly short time, even Washington, Grinnell Land, and Spitzbergen are able to boast of flowers.
這雪一旦下了便只得等到漫長的夏日來臨將它融化，這也是雪在以一種值得稱頌的方式保護著高緯度地區的植被免受冬季寒冷長久的侵蝕。多虧有了這種保護，還有盤旋在地平線之上的太陽給予的那三四個月的光照，加之有利的地理位置，植被們才得以在極短的時間內再次換發生機，也使得華盛頓、格林內爾蘭和爾根群島這樣的高緯度地區能因其盛開的鮮花而吹噓不已。
The Arctic forest-regions are of still greater extent than the vast treeless plains which they encircle. When we consider that they form an almost continuous belt, stretching across three fourths of the world, in a breadth of from one thousand to fourteen hundred miles, even the woods of the Amazon, which cover a surface fifteen times greater than that of the British Isles, shrink into comparative insignificance. Unlike the tropical forests, which are characterized by an endless variety of trees, these northern woods are almost entirely composed of cone-beares, and one single kind of fir or pine often covers an immense extent of ground.
北極森林地區所覆蓋的面積仍然要比那片遼闊的無樹木生長的荒原地區還要寬廣。我們認為北極森林地區橫跨了地球四分之三的區域，且其寬度介于1000英里到1400英里之間，是一片幾乎連綿不斷的地帶，跟它比起來就連面積比不列顛群島大了十五倍的亞馬遜森林也變得微不足道了。北極森林地區和以樹木種類繁多為特征的熱帶森林地區不同，北方森林里幾乎全是針葉樹，而且僅僅一種冷杉或者松樹就能占據很大一片區域了。
Another peculiarity of these forests is their apparent youth. This is sufficiently explained by the shortness of the summer, which, though able to bring forth new shoots, does not last long enough for the formation of wood. Hence the growth of trees becomes slower and slower the farther north they are found.
北極森林的另一個特征是樹木格外的嫩，短暫的夏季就足以說明這一點。夏季雖然能使樹木發出新芽，但卻因其持續時間較短而并不足以使之長成大樹。因此，在北極森林地區，越往北的地方樹木生長的速度則越緩慢。
A third distinctive feature of the Arctic forests is their harmless character. There the traveller finds no poisonous plants; even thorns and prickles are rare. No venomous snake glides through the thicket, no crocodile lurks in the swamp. Even their beasts of prey—the bear, the lynx, the wolf—are less dangerous and blood-thirsty than the dreaded monsters of the torrid zone.
北極森林的第三個顯著特征是無害性。旅行者們在北極地區是找不到有毒植物的，就連針刺和荊棘也尤為罕見。在那里沒有毒蛇在叢林中游弋，也沒有鱷魚在沼澤里潛伏。即使是生活在那里的食肉動物熊、猞猁和狼也沒有熱帶地區的那么危險和嗜血。
評論
打印
