20000 льє під водою

Chapter 18. Four Thousand Leagues Under the Pacific

           LaPerouse,andhissecond,CaptaindeLangle,weresentbyLouisXVI,in1785,onavoyageofcircumnavigation.TheyembarkedinthecorvettesBoussoleandtheAstrolabe,neitherofwhichwereagainheardof.In1791,theFrenchGovernment,justlyuneasyastothefateofthesetwosloops,mannedtwolargemerchantmen,theRechercheandtheEsperance,whichleftBrestthe28thofSeptemberunderthecommandofBrunid’Entrecasteaux.

           Twomonthsafter,theylearnedfromBowen,commanderoftheAlbemarle,thatthedebrisofshipwreckedvesselshadbeenseenonthecoastsofNewGeorgia.ButD’Entrecasteaux,ignoringthiscommunicationratheruncertain,besidesdirectedhiscoursetowardstheAdmiraltyIslands,mentionedinareportofCaptainHunter’sasbeingtheplacewhereLaPerousewaswrecked.

           Theysoughtinvain.TheEsperanceandtheRecherchepassedbeforeVanikorowithoutstoppingthere,and,infact,thisvoyagewasmostdisastrous,asitcostD’Entrecasteauxhislife,andthoseoftwoofhislieutenants,besidesseveralofhiscrew.

           CaptainDillon,ashrewdoldPacificsailor,wasthefirsttofindunmistakabletracesofthewrecks.Onthe15thofMay,1824,hisvessel,theSt.Patrick,passedclosetoTikopia,oneoftheNewHebrides.ThereaLascarcamealongsideinacanoe,soldhimthehandleofaswordinsilverthatboretheprintofcharactersengravedonthehilt.TheLascarpretendedthatsixyearsbefore,duringastayatVanikoro,hehadseentwoEuropeansthatbelongedtosomevesselsthathadrunagroundonthereefssomeyearsago.

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