海底兩萬(wàn)里 第9期 第1章 飛走的暗礁(9)

In twenty-six years Cunard ships have made 2,000 Atlantic crossings without so much as a voyage canceled,

二十六年來(lái)，茍納爾公司的船在大西洋上航行了兩千次，沒(méi)有一次航行不達(dá)目的地，

a delay recorded, a man, a craft, or even a letter lost.

沒(méi)有一次發(fā)生遲誤，從沒(méi)有遺失過(guò)一封信，損失過(guò)一個(gè)人或一只船。

Accordingly, despite strong competition from France, passengers still choose the Cunard line in preference to all others,

因此,盡管法國(guó)竭力要搶它的生意，但是乘客們都一致愿意搭茍納爾公司的船，

as can be seen in a recent survey of official documents.

這點(diǎn)從近年來(lái)官方的統(tǒng)計(jì)文獻(xiàn)中就可以看出來(lái)。

Given this, no one will be astonished at the uproar provoked by this accident involving one of its finest steamers.

了解這情形以后，便沒(méi)有人奇怪這家公司的一只汽船遭遇到意外事件會(huì)引起那么巨大的反響。

On April 13, 1867, with a smooth sea and a moderate breeze, the Scotia lay in longitude15 degrees 12' and latitude 45 degrees 37'.

1867年4月13日，海很平靜，風(fēng)又是順風(fēng)，斯備脫亞號(hào)在西經(jīng)15度12分、北緯45度37分的海面上行駛著。

It was traveling at a speed of 13.43 knots under the thrust of its 1,000-horsepower engines.

它在一千匹馬力的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)推動(dòng)下，速度為每小時(shí)十三海里半。

Its paddle wheels were churning the sea with perfect steadiness. It was then drawing 6.7 meters of water and displacing 6,624 cubic meters.

它的機(jī)輪在海中轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)，完全正常。它當(dāng)時(shí)的吃水深度是6米70厘米，排水量是6，685方米。

At 4:17 in the afternoon, during a high tea for passengers gathered in the main lounge, a collision occurred, scarcely noticeable on the whole,

下午四點(diǎn)十六分，乘客們正在大廳中吃點(diǎn)心的時(shí)候，在斯各脫亞號(hào)船尾、

affecting the Scotia's hull in that quarter a little astern of its port paddle wheel.

左舷機(jī)輪后面一點(diǎn)，似乎發(fā)生了輕微的撞擊。