diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/gatech-thesis/julesverne/basic/jules-verne-chapter4.tex')
-rw-r--r-- | Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/gatech-thesis/julesverne/basic/jules-verne-chapter4.tex | 226 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 226 deletions
diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/gatech-thesis/julesverne/basic/jules-verne-chapter4.tex b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/gatech-thesis/julesverne/basic/jules-verne-chapter4.tex deleted file mode 100644 index 337b05fba43..00000000000 --- a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/latex/gatech-thesis/julesverne/basic/jules-verne-chapter4.tex +++ /dev/null @@ -1,226 +0,0 @@ -\chapter{Ned Land} - -Captain Farragut was a good seaman, worthy of the frigate he commanded. -His vessel and he were one. He was the soul of it. On the question -of the monster there was no doubt in his mind, and he would not allow -the existence of the animal to be disputed on board. He believed in it, -as certain good women believe in the leviathan--by faith, not by reason. -The monster did exist, and he had sworn to rid the seas of it. Either Captain -Farragut would kill the narwhal, or the narwhal would kill the captain. -There was no third course. - -The officers on board shared the opinion of their chief. -They were ever chatting, discussing, and calculating the various -chances of a meeting, watching narrowly the vast surface of the ocean. -More than one took up his quarters voluntarily in the cross-trees, -who would have cursed such a berth under any other circumstances. -As long as the sun described its daily course, the rigging was -crowded with sailors, whose feet were burnt to such an extent by -the heat of the deck as to render it unbearable; still the Abraham -Lincoln had not yet breasted the suspected waters of the Pacific. -As to the ship's company, they desired nothing better than to meet -the unicorn, to harpoon it, hoist it on board, and despatch it. -They watched the sea with eager attention. - -Besides, Captain Farragut had spoken of a certain sum of two thousand dollars, -set apart for whoever should first sight the monster, were he cabin-boy, -common seaman, or officer. - -I leave you to judge how eyes were used on board the Abraham Lincoln. - -\section{added section marker} - -For my own part I was not behind the others, and, left to no one my share -of daily observations. The frigate might have been called the Argus, -for a hundred reasons. Only one amongst us, Conseil, seemed to protest -by his indifference against the question which so interested us all, -and seemed to be out of keeping with the general enthusiasm on board. - -\begin{equation} -E=mc^2 -\end{equation} - -I have said that Captain Farragut had carefully provided his -ship with every apparatus for catching the gigantic cetacean. -No whaler had ever been better armed. We possessed every -known engine, from the harpoon thrown by the hand to the barbed -arrows of the blunderbuss, and the explosive balls of the duck-gun. -On the forecastle lay the perfection of a breech-loading gun, -very thick at the breech, and very narrow in the bore, -the model of which had been in the Exhibition of 1867. -This precious weapon of American origin could throw with ease -a conical projectile of nine pounds to a mean distance -of ten miles. - -Thus the Abraham Lincoln wanted for no means of destruction; and, what was -better still she had on board Ned Land, the prince of harpooners. - -Ned Land was a Canadian, with an uncommon quickness of hand, and who knew -no equal in his dangerous occupation. Skill, coolness, audacity, and cunning -he possessed in a superior degree, and it must be a cunning whale to escape -the stroke of his harpoon. - -Ned Land was about forty years of age; he was a tall man -(more than six feet high), strongly built, grave and taciturn, -occasionally violent, and very passionate when contradicted. -His person attracted attention, but above all the boldness -of his look, which gave a singular expression to his face. - -Who calls himself Canadian calls himself French; and, little communicative -as Ned Land was, I must admit that he took a certain liking for me. -My nationality drew him to me, no doubt. It was an opportunity for him -to talk, and for me to hear, that old language of Rabelais, which is still -in use in some Canadian provinces. The harpooner's family was originally -from Quebec, and was already a tribe of hardy fishermen when this town -belonged to France. - -Little by little, Ned Land acquired a taste for chatting, and I -loved to hear the recital of his adventures in the polar seas. -He related his fishing, and his combats, with natural poetry -of expression; his recital took the form of an epic poem, -and I seemed to be listening to a Canadian Homer singing the Iliad -of the regions of the North. - -\begin{equation} -E=mc^2 -\end{equation} - -I am portraying this hardy companion as I really knew him. -We are old friends now, united in that unchangeable friendship -which is born and cemented amidst extreme dangers. Ah, brave Ned! -I ask no more than to live a hundred years longer, that I may have more -time to dwell the longer on your memory. - -Now, what was Ned Land's opinion upon the question of the marine monster? -I must admit that he did not believe in the unicorn, and was -the only one on board who did not share that universal conviction. -He even avoided the subject, which I one day thought it my duty -to press upon him. One magnificent evening, the 30th July (that is -to say, three weeks after our departure), the frigate was abreast -of Cape Blanc, thirty miles to leeward of the coast of Patagonia. -We had crossed the tropic of Capricorn, and the Straits of Magellan -opened less than seven hundred miles to the south. Before eight -days were over the Abraham Lincoln would be ploughing the waters -of the Pacific. - -Seated on the poop, Ned Land and I were chatting of one thing -and another as we looked at this mysterious sea, whose great -depths had up to this time been inaccessible to the eye of man. -I naturally led up the conversation to the giant unicorn, and examined -the various chances of success or failure of the expedition. -But, seeing that Ned Land let me speak without saying too much himself, -I pressed him more closely. - -``Well, Ned,'' said I, ``is it possible that you are not convinced -of the existence of this cetacean that we are following? -Have you any particular reason for being so incredulous?'' - -The harpooner looked at me fixedly for some moments -before answering, struck his broad forehead with his hand -(a habit of his), as if to collect himself, and said at last, -``Perhaps I have, Mr. Aronnax.'' - -``But, Ned, you, a whaler by profession, familiarised with all -the great marine mammalia---YOU ought to be the last to doubt -under such circumstances!'' - -``That is just what deceives you, Professor,'' replied Ned. -``As a whaler I have followed many a cetacean, harpooned a great number, -and killed several; but, however strong or well-armed they may -have been, neither their tails nor their weapons would have been -able even to scratch the iron plates of a steamer.'' - -``But, Ned, they tell of ships which the teeth of the narwhal -have pierced through and through.'' - -``Wooden ships---that is possible,'' replied the Canadian, -``but I have never seen it done; and, until further proof, -I deny that whales, cetaceans, or sea-unicorns could ever produce -the effect you describe.'' - -``Well, Ned, I repeat it with a conviction resting on the logic of facts. -I believe in the existence of a mammal power fully organised, belonging to -the branch of vertebrata, like the whales, the cachalots, or the dolphins, -and furnished with a horn of defence of great penetrating power.'' - -``Hum!'' said the harpooner, shaking his head with the air of a man -who would not be convinced. - -``Notice one thing, my worthy Canadian,'' I resumed. -``If such an animal is in existence, if it inhabits the depths -of the ocean, if it frequents the strata lying miles below -the surface of the water, it must necessarily possess an -organisation the strength of which would defy all comparison.'' - -``And why this powerful organisation?'' demanded Ned. - -``Because it requires incalculable strength to keep one's self -in these strata and resist their pressure. Listen to me. -Let us admit that the pressure of the atmosphere is represented -by the weight of a column of water thirty-two feet high. -In reality the column of water would be shorter, as we are -speaking of sea water, the density of which is greater than -that of fresh water. Very well, when you dive, Ned, as many -times 32 feet of water as there are above you, so many times -does your body bear a pressure equal to that of the atmosphere, -that is to say, 15 lb. for each square inch of its surface. -It follows, then, that at 320 feet this pressure equals -that of 10 atmospheres, of 100 atmospheres at 3,200 feet, -and of 1,000 atmospheres at 32,000 feet, that is, about 6 miles; -which is equivalent to saying that if you could attain this -depth in the ocean, each square three-eighths of an inch -of the surface of your body would bear a pressure of 5,600 lb. -Ah! my brave Ned, do you know how many square inches you carry on -the surface of your body?'' - -``I have no idea, Mr. Aronnax.'' - -``About 6,500; and as in reality the atmospheric pressure is about 15 lb. -to the square inch, your 6,500 square inches bear at this moment a pressure -of 97,500 lb.'' - -``Without my perceiving it?'' - -''Without your perceiving it. And if you are not crushed by -such a pressure, it is because the air penetrates the interior -of your body with equal pressure. Hence perfect equilibrium -between the interior and exterior pressure, which thus neutralise -each other, and which allows you to bear it without inconvenience. -But in the water it is another thing.'' - -``Yes, I understand,'' replied Ned, becoming more attentive; -``because the water surrounds me, but does not penetrate.'' - -``Precisely, Ned: so that at 32 feet beneath the surface of the sea you would -undergo a pressure of 97,500 lb.; at 320 feet, ten times that pressure; -at 3,200 feet, a hundred times that pressure; lastly, at 32,000 feet, -a thousand times that pressure would be 97,500,000 lb.---that is to say, -that you would be flattened as if you had been drawn from the plates of -a hydraulic machine!'' - -``The devil!'' exclaimed Ned. - -``Very well, my worthy harpooner, if some vertebrate, several hundred -yards long, and large in proportion, can maintain itself in such depths---of -those whose surface is represented by millions of square inches, that is -by tens of millions of pounds, we must estimate the pressure they undergo. -Consider, then, what must be the resistance of their bony structure, -and the strength of their organisation to withstand such pressure!'' - -``Why!'' exclaimed Ned Land, ``they must be made of iron plates -eight inches thick, like the armoured frigates.'' - -``As you say, Ned. And think what destruction such a mass would cause, -if hurled with the speed of an express train against the hull of a vessel.'' - -``Yes---certainly---perhaps,'' replied the Canadian, shaken by these figures, -but not yet willing to give in. - -``Well, have I convinced you?'' - -``You have convinced me of one thing, sir, which is that, -if such animals do exist at the bottom of the seas, they must -necessarily be as strong as you say.'' - -``But if they do not exist, mine obstinate harpooner, how explain -the accident to the Scotia?'' |