I swiftly hoisted myself to the summit of this half-submerged creature or object that was serving as our refuge. 

我很快爬到这个半浸在水中，已经作了我们的临时避难所的生物上面。

I tested it with my foot. Obviously it was some hard, impenetrable substance, not the soft matter that makes up the bodies of our big marine mammals.

我用脚踢它，它分明是坚固结实、钻不透的硬物体，而不是构成海中哺乳类动物的庞大躯体的柔软物质。

But this hard substance could have been a bony carapace, like those that covered someprehistoric animals,

不过这个坚硬物体可能是一种骨质的甲壳，跟太古时代动物的甲壳相似，

and I might have left it at that and classified this monster among such amphibiousreptiles as turtles or alligators.

我很可以把这个怪物归人两栖的爬虫类，如龟鳖、鳄鱼、遥龙之类。

Well, no. The blackish back supporting me was smooth and polished with no overlappingscales.

可是!不然!在我脚下的灰黑色的背脊是有光泽的。滑溜溜的，而不是粗糙有鳞的。

On impact, it gave off a metallic sonority, and as incredible as this sounds, it seemed, I swear, to be made of riveted plates.

它被撞时发出金属的响亮声，这是那么不可思议，看来，我只好说它是由螺丝钉铆成的铁板制造的了。

No doubts were possible!

再不可能怀疑了!