Коралловый остров

Chapter 20

           Thismanwasofamorose,sulkydisposition,andduringallthetimeheremainedontheisland,regardedusespeciallyJackwithascowlingvisage.Hisname,wefound,wasMahine.

           Thenextthreeorfourdayswerespentbythesavagesinmendingtheircanoe,whichhadbeendamagedbytheviolentshockithadsustainedonstrikingtheshore.Thiscanoewasaverycuriousstructure.Itwasaboutthirtyfeetlong,andhadahigh,toweringstern.Thetimbersofwhichitwaspartlycomposedwerefastenedmuchinthesamewayasthoseofourlittleboatwereputtogether;butthepartthatseemedmostcurioustouswasasortofoutrigger,orlongplank,whichwasattachedtothebodyofthecanoebymeansoftwostoutcross-beams.Thesebeamskepttheplankparallelwiththecanoe,butnotincontactwithit,foritfloatedinthewaterwithanopenspacebetweenthusformingasortofdoublecanoe.This,wefound,wasintendedtopreventtheupsettingofthecanoe,whichwassonarrowthatitcouldnothavemaintainedanuprightpositionwithouttheoutrigger.Wecouldnothelpwonderingbothattheingenuityandtheclumsinessofthiscontrivance.

           Whenthecanoewasready,weassistedthenativestocarrytheprisonersintoit,andhelpedthemtoloaditwithprovisionsandfruit.Peterkinalsowenttotheplum-treeforthepurposeofmakingaspecialonslaughtuponthehogs,andkillednolessthansixofthem.Thesewebakedandpresentedtoourfriends,onthedayoftheirdeparture.

Настройки
Фон страницы
Размер шрифта
Межстрочный интервал
Фразовые глаголы
Показать / Скрыть меню
Шрифт
Roboto Lora
Уведомления
Страница 197 из 370