We would soon settle this important point. The Nautilus traveled swiftly. Soon we had cleared the Antarctic Circle plus the promontory of Cape Horn. We were abreast of the tip of South America by March 31 at seven o'clock in the evening.

我们对于这一点不久就明确了。诺第留斯号走得很快。不久就走过了南极圈，船头指着合恩角。我们是在3月31日晚上七点横过南美洲这个尖呷的。

By then all our past sufferings were forgotten. The memory of that imprisonment under the ice faded from ourminds. We had thoughts only of the future. Captain Nemo no longer appeared, neither in the lounge nor on theplatform. The positions reported each day on the world map were put there by the chief officer, and they enabled me to determine the Nautilus's exact heading. Now then, that evening it became obvious, much to my satisfaction, that we were returning north by the Atlantic route.

那时我们忘记了所有过去的痛苦。那次被困在冰群中的记忆都不留在我们心中了。我们只是想到将来。尼摩船长并不露面，在客厅中，在平台上都看不见他。他的副手每天往地图上记录方位，让我知道诺第留斯号走的确实方向。就在这天晚上，我很满意，方向很明确，我们是从大西洋的水路到北方去。

I shared the results of my observations with the Canadian and Conseil.

我把我观察所得的结果告诉了加拿大人和康塞尔。

"That's good news," the Canadian replied, "but where's the Nautilus going?"

“好消息呀！”加拿大人说，“不过诺第留斯号到哪里去呢？

"I'm unable to say, Ned."

“那我可不能说，尼德。”

"After the South Pole, does our captain want to tackle the North Pole, then go back to the Pacific by the notorious Northwest Passage?"

“它的船长是不是到过了南极，又要到北极去冒险，从西北方的著名水道回来呢？”

"I wouldn't double dare him," Conseil replied.

“也不能不相信他会这样做。”康塞尔回答说。

"Oh well," the Canadian said, "we'll give him the slip long before then."

“那么，”加拿大人说“我们就不能客气，恕不奉培了”

"In any event," Conseil added, "he's a superman, that Captain Nemo, and we'll never regret having known him."

“总之，”康塞尔补充“：，“这个尼摩船长是一个杰出人物，我们认识了他，绝不至后悔。

"Especially once we've left him," Ned Land shot back.

“特别是在离开了他的时候！”尼德，兰立即回答说。

The next day, April 1, when the Nautilus rose to the surface of the waves a few minutes before noon, we raised land to the west. It was Tierra del Fuego, the Land of Fire, a name given it by early navigators after they saw numerous curls of smoke rising from the natives' huts. This Land of Fire forms a huge cluster of islands over thirty leagues long and eighty leagues wide, extending between latitude 53 degrees and 56 degrees south, and between longitude 67 degrees 50' and 77 degrees 15' west.

第二天，4月1日，诺第留斯号浮上水面来。中午前几分钟，我们在西面望见了海岸。那是火地岛，初期的航海家用为望见岛上土人的茅屋升起了无数的烟火，就给了它这个名称。火地岛形成广大的群岛集体，在南纬53度至56度之间，西经67度50分至77度15分之间，占据长三十里，宽八十里的面积。