Meantime the native advances stealthily and by slow stages, with his arm raised in the attitude of throwing his spear, until he is within reach of his prey. At last the whistling spear penetrates the devoted animal: then the wood rings with shouts; women and children all join pell-mell in the chase. After a time the exhausted animal turns on its pursuers, places its back against a tree, and prepares to seize and rend any one who may approach too near. The wily native keeps clear of its murderous embrace, and kills it by throwing spears into its breast from the distance of a few yards.
与此同时，土著居民们会一边缓慢地稳步向前移动一边将胳膊举到可以射杀到猎物的合适的投矛高度。终于，长矛呼啸而出，刺穿了那只忠厚老实的袋鼠：敲木声夹杂着呼喊声响起，妇女和儿童全都兴奋地相互追逐起来。不久后，那只狼狈的袋鼠转过身靠在树上，死死盯着猎杀它的人，做好了抓住并撕碎任何一个靠近它的人的准备。老道的土著们灵活地避开了袋鼠暴虐的反击，并在几码远的地方用长矛刺进袋鼠的身体最终致使它无力生还。
As the land within the tropics is remarkable for the greatness of its physical aspects, so the tropical oceans are preëminent for the violence of their storms. In the Indian and Chinese Seas these convulsions of nature generally take place at the change of the monsoons; in the West Indies, at the beginning and at the end of the rainy seasons. The tornado which devastated the Island of Guadeloupe in July 1846, blew down buildings constructed of solid stone, and tore the guns of a battery from their carriages. Another, which raged some years ago in the Mauritius, demolished a church and drove thirty-two vessels on the strand. A few days later, a fleet of crippled vessels, the victims of the recent hurricane, might have been seen making their way into the harbour of Port Louis—some dismasted, others kept afloat with difficulty, firing guns of distress or giving other signs of their helpless condition.
要说热带地区的陆地因其物理形态的伟大而举世瞩目，热带海洋则因其风暴的猛烈而举世闻名。在印度洋和中国海域上，大自然一般会在季风交替之际开始爆发各种动乱；在西印度群岛上，动乱则爆发在雨季的初期和末期。1846年7月的一场龙卷风摧毁了瓜德罗普岛、刮倒了坚如磐石的大楼、撕裂了运输而来的炮台上的枪管。还有多年前发生在毛里求斯的一场龙卷风，摧毁了一座教堂、致使三十二只船只被迫搁浅。几天后，一些受损的船只——也是最近一场飓风的受害者，被发现正在驶向路易斯港口，其中一些船只桅杆被折断，还有一些无助地漂浮在海面上，发着求救信号或者其它信号来告知自己的艰难处境。
Such are the terrible effects of the tornadoes and cyclones of the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans; but the storms of the misnamed Pacific are no less furious, and frequently overwhelm the coral islands and palm-groves of Polynesia with destruction. A hurricane which, in April 1845, burst over Pitcairn Island, washed all the fertile mould from the rocks, and, uprooting three hundred cocoa-nut trees, cast them into the sea. Every fishing-boat on the island was destroyed, and thousands of fruit-bearing bananas were swept away.
这就是大西洋和印度洋的龙卷风和飓风带来的可怕影响。此外，太平洋虽名为“太平”，但是那里的风暴却不乏狂烈，曾屡次淹没珊瑚岛并毁坏波利尼西亚的棕榈树林。1845年4月的一场飓风肆虐了皮特克恩岛，冲刷了岩礁旁所有肥沃的泥土并将三百棵可可树连根拔起、抛入大海，岛上的渔船被摧毁殆尽，成千上万只香蕉被冲向四面八方。
Though the tropical storms are thus frequently a scourge, they are often productive of no less signal benefits. Many a murderous epidemic has suddenly ceased after one of these natural convulsions; and myriads of insects, the destroyers of the planter's hopes, are swept away by the fierce tornado. Besides, if the equatorial hurricanes are much more furious than our storms, a more luxurious vegetation effaces their vestiges in a shorter time. Thus Nature teaches us that a preponderance of good is frequently concealed behind the paroxysms of her apparently unbridled rage.
热带风暴虽说是灾祸，但其带来的好处也颇多。有许多致命的流行病在经历这样的自然动乱后会突然消失不见；还有成千上万只让种植园主绝望的昆虫会被猛烈的龙卷风冲得无影无踪。除此之外，如果赤道飓风来得更猛烈些，它便能在短时间内将某种过度繁殖的植被一扫而空。所以说大自然教导我们：它那表面怒不可遏的一通发泄的背后往往隐藏的是更大的善意。
评论
打印
