20000 льє під водою

Chapter 18. Four Thousand Leagues Under the Pacific

           Dumontd’Urville,commanderoftheAstrolabe,hadthensailed,andtwomonthsafterDillonhadleftVanikoroheputintoHobartTown.TherehelearnedtheresultsofDillon’sinquiries,andfoundthatacertainJamesHobbs,secondlieutenantoftheUnionofCalcutta,afterlandingonanislandsituated18’S.lat.,and156°30’E.long.,hadseensomeironbarsandredstuffsusedbythenativesoftheseparts.Dumontd’Urville,muchperplexed,andnotknowinghowtocreditthereportsoflow-classjournals,decidedtofollowDillon’strack.

           Onthe10thofFebruary,1828,theAstrolabeappearedoffTikopia,andtookasguideandinterpreteradeserterfoundontheisland;madehiswaytoVanikoro,sighteditonthe12thinst.,layamongthereefsuntilthe14th,andnotuntilthe20thdidhecastanchorwithinthebarrierintheharbourofVanou.

           Onthe23rd,severalofficerswentroundtheislandandbroughtbacksomeunimportanttrifles.Thenatives,adoptingasystemofdenialsandevasions,refusedtotakethemtotheunluckyplace.Thisambiguousconductledthemtobelievethatthenativeshadill-treatedthecastaways,andindeedtheyseemedtofearthatDumontd’UrvillehadcometoavengeLaPerouseandhisunfortunatecrew.

           However,onthe26th,appeasedbysomepresents,andunderstandingthattheyhadnoreprisalstofear,theyledM.Jacquireottothesceneofthewreck.

           There,inthreeorfourfathomsofwater,betweenthereefsofPacouandVanou,layanchors,cannons,pigsofleadandiron,embeddedinthelimyconcretions.

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