For two days we visited these deep and deserted waters by means of our slanting fins.

两天内，在这一带荒凉无物的深水中，船都利用纵斜机板下去看过。

The Nautilus would do long, diagonal dives that took us to every level.

诺第留斯号具有很长纵对角线的斜航作用，使它可以驶至所有的深水层。

But on April 11 it rose suddenly, and the shore reappeared at the mouth of the Amazon River,

但在4月11日，它忽然上升，陆地就在亚马逊河的出口现出来，

a huge estuary whose outflow is so considerable, it desalts the sea over an area of several leagues.

这是宽大的河口，输出水量很丰富，把好几里内的海水都冲得没有咸味了。

We cut the Equator.

越过了赤道线：

Twenty miles to the west lay Guiana, French territory where we could easily have taken refuge.

西方二十海里是几沿尼群岛，那是法国的领地，我们在那”里可以找到容易藏身的地方。

But the wind was blowing a strong gust, and the furious billows would not allow us to face them in a mere skiff.

但是海风吹得厉害，汹涌的波浪不容许一只小艇去冒险。

No doubt Ned Land understood this because he said nothing to me.

这点尼德·兰一定了解到，因为他并不跟我说什么。

For my part, I made no allusion to his escape plans because I didn't want to push him into an attempt that was certain to misfire.

在我个人，我也不提他的逃走计划，固为我不愿使他做那些一定要流产的试验。

I was readily compensated for this delay by fascinating research.

我很容易拿有兴味的研究来补偿这次的迟误。

During those two days of April 11-12, the Nautilus didn't leave the surface of the sea,

在4月 11日至12日的两天内，诺第留斯号没有离开海面，

and its trawl brought up a simply miraculous catch of zoophytes, fish, and reptiles.

船上鱼网打倒的植虫类、鱼类和爬虫类非常丰富，成绩惊人。

Some zoophytes were dredged up by the chain of our trawl.

有些植虫类是由鱼网的链索拖拽上来。

Most were lovely sea anemone belonging to the family Actinidia, including among other species, the Phyctalisprotexta, native to this part of the ocean:

大部分是那美丽的属于海苑葵科的须形海藻，在许多品种中，有那种被带须形藻，原来是大西洋这一部分海中的特产，

a small cylindrical trunk adorned with vertical lines, mottled with red spots, and crowned by a wondrous blossoming of tentacles.

那是小小的圆筒躯干，带优美的直线纹和红色斑点，头上展开新奇的触须花朵。