#Fringing Coral Reefs

[bongwaterbunny]

There are four types of coral reefs!! Fringing, Barrier, Atoll and patch!! Fringing reefs are reefs that directly emerge from the shoreline, lacking a distinct deep water channel or lagoon between the reef and the adjacent land. However, there may exist shallow areas of sand bottom between the beach and the inner edge where coral growth begins.

When a fringing reef extends its growth vertically from a volcanic island that has completely subsided beneath the sea level, it gives rise to a unique coral structure known as an atoll. Atolls typically exhibit a circular or oval shape, encircling an open central lagoon, The formation of an atoll begins with the initial growth of a fringing reef around the perimeter of a volcanic island.

Over time, as the volcanic island gradually sinks, the coral continues to grow upward, maintaining its position at or near the surface of the water. As the island disappears beneath the waves, only the circular or oval-shaped coral reef remains, forming a complete ring or rim with no landmass in the center. Atolls are basically just volcanic lagoon reefs which I find the coooollesst!!

Barrier reefs, similar to fringing reefs, run parallel to shorelines; however, they are distinct in that they are separated from the land by a considerable expanse of water. This creates a lagoon, typically deep, between the reef and the shoreline.

While less common compared to fringing reefs or atolls, examples of barrier reefs can be found in both the tropical Atlantic and Pacific regions. Barrier reefs are characterized by their formation in open water, initially starting at the offshore edge and subsequently growing parallel to or towards the coast. Unlike fringing reefs, barrier reefs possess deeper channels or lagoons that separate them from the mainland. Their formation is not immediate adjacent to the shoreline, but rather occurs through the evolution of the surrounding substrate or changes in sea-level.

Patch reefs are clusters of coral formations that are physically separated by sandy rings, yet closely situated to one another. They are commonly found in shallow lagoons within larger collective reefs or atolls.

There’s also bleached reefs but they’re pretty new and it’s due to climate change and water rising. I think the ecosystem becomes different and the algae eats on the bacteria that’s on the coral and that’s why they loose color but I could be wrong!! This is Pavi signing off and I’ve hoped you enjoyed this lecture about coral reefs!! + bonus you get shark ramble

There critically endangered which is sad because they're so cute. They're found in both salt and freshwater which is rare!! And only fish of the euryhaline species so your salmon, eels, flounder, and three more species can do?? I'm not sure about sharks but considering there are only 500 now I'd count that as special.

The speartooth shark is found in New Guinea and northern Australia in the bottom of rivers (almost like its in the name). Their habittat is shrinking because illegal gillnetting ( hook and line fishing), commercial and recreational fishing along with just pollution in general.

There are about 2000 left which is sad and I hate it here like just let the sharks live. People say that sharks are dangerous when it's dolphins who are they're literally horrible creatures. The only reason why sharks bite is because they're curious and can't reach out with their fins. Their nose and teeth are how they like...idk it's their sensory. It's how they view the world even with eyes they aren't always the best so they bite.

that's actually super cool!! i'm like- terrified of the ocean but for some reason sharks have never given me the ick that's so nice to know about them (not the deaths that's despicable and based on the little i know, "shark attacks" aren't as common as portrayed and they rlly aren't attacks they're just the sharkies defending themselves or something similar :c)

don't dolphins like. rape people? idk if that's true but i've heard it a lot and it freaks me out, esp cuz they're seen as super smart and cute and social so not a lot of people are taught about that aspect of them and instead demonize sharks for just living :(

attols sound so interesting!! sorry i probably sound like a broken record i promise i'm genuinely interested - by volcanic does that mean they help out their environment or not? :0 i wanna do some research now omgg but thassalophobia or however you spell it sux hh

#bun.babs #bun.bubs #this is so cool #coral #coral reef #sharks

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

David Horsey, Seattle Times ::  [Scott Horton]

* * * *

[Why climate ‘doomers’ are replacing climate ‘deniers’

How U.N. reports and confusing headlines created a generation of people who believe climate change can’t be stopped]

When Sean Youra was 26 years old and working as an engineer, he started watching documentaries about climate change. Youra, who was struggling with depression and the loss of a family member, was horrified by what he learned about melting ice and rising extreme weather. He started spending hours on YouTube, watching videos made by fringe scientists who warned that the world was teetering on the edge of societal collapse — or even near-term human extinction. Youra started telling his friends and family that he was convinced that climate change couldn’t be stopped, and humanity was doomed.

In short, he says, he became a climate “doomer.”“It all compounded and just led me down a very dark path,” he said. “I became very detached and felt like giving up on everything.”

That grim view of the planet’s future is becoming more common. Influenced by a barrage of grim U.N. reports — such as the one published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change earlier this week — and negative headlines, a group of people believe that the climate problem cannot, or will not, be solved in time to prevent all-out societal collapse. They are known, colloquially, as climate “doomers.” And some scientists and experts worry that their defeatism — which could undermine efforts to take action — may be just as dangerous as climate denial.“

It’s fair to say that recently many of us climate scientists have spent more time arguing with the doomers than with the deniers,” said Zeke Hausfather, a contributing author to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and climate research lead at the payments company Stripe.

The origins of doomism stretch back far — McPherson, for example, has been predicting the demise of human civilization for decades — but the mind-set seems to have become markedly more mainstream in the past five years. Jacquelyn Gill, a climate scientist at the University of Maine, says that in 2018 she started hearing different sorts of questions when she spoke at panels or did events online. “I started getting emails from people saying: ‘I’m a young person. Is there even a point in going to college? Will I ever be able to grow up and have kids?’” she said.

Well before the coronavirus pandemic, a few factors combined to make 2018 feel like the year of doom. 2015, 2016 and 2017 had just been the three hottest years on record. Climate protests had begun to spread across the globe, including Greta Thunberg’s School Strike and the U.K.-based protest group known as Extinction Rebellion. In the academic world, British professor of sustainability Jem Bendell wrote a paper called “Deep Adaptation,” which urged readers to prepare for “inevitable near-term societal collapse due to climate change.” (The paper has been widely critiqued by many climate scientists.)And then the United Nations issued a special report on 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, released in October 2018, which kicked many people’s climate anxiety into overdrive.

The report, which focused on how an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius from preindustrial levels might compare to 2 degrees Celsius, included grim predictions like the death of the world’s coral reefs and ice-free summers in the Arctic. But a central message many took from the report — that there were only 12 years left to save the planet — wasn’t even in the report. It came from a Guardian headline.In three of the four pathways the report charted for limiting warming to 1.5C, the world would have to cut carbon dioxide emissions 40 to 60 percent by 2030. “We have 12 years to limit climate catastrophe,” the Guardian reported, and other outlets soon followed. The phrase soon became an activist rallying cry.“‘Twelve years to save the planet’ was actually: We have 12 years to cut global emissions in half to stay consistent with a 1.5C scenario,” Hausfather explained. “Then ‘12 years to save the planet’ becomes interpreted by the public as: If we don’t stop climate change in 12 years, something catastrophic happens.”“It was really a game of telephone,” he added.

Hausfather said part of the problem is that climate targets — say, the goal to limit warming to 1.5C — have become interpreted by the public as climate thresholds, which would drive the planet into a “hothouse” state. In fact, scientists don’t believe there is anything unique about that temperature that will cause runaway tipping points; the landmark IPCC report merely aimed to show the risks of bad impacts are much higher at 2C than at 1.5.“It’s not like 1.9C is not an existential risk and 2.1C is,” Hausfather said. “It’s more that we’re playing Russian roulette with the climate.” Every increase in temperature, that is, makes the risks of bad impacts that much higher.Still, scientists who try to clarify those nuances sometimes encounter hostility, particularly online. “If you try to push back on this in any way, you get accused of minimizing the climate crisis,” Gill said. “I’ve been accused of being a shill for the fossil fuel industry.”The problem with climate “doom” — beyond the toll that it can create on mental health — is that it can cause paralysis. Psychologists have long believed that some amount of hope, combined with a belief that personal actions can make a difference, can keep people engaged on climate change. But, according to a study by researchers at Yale and Colorado State universities, “many Americans who accept that global warming is happening cannot express specific reasons to be hopeful.”

For some, however, doomism isn’t permanent. Youra, the former engineer, still remembers how strongly he felt that humanity was done for. He believed that the IPCC and other scientists were covering up how bad climate change actually was — and no peer-reviewed research could convince him otherwise. “I think it’s kind of similar to what deniers feel,” he said. “I wasn’t being open-minded.”In 2018, he briefly considered quitting his job to travel the world — hoping to see what he could before society and the natural world collapsed. Slowly, though, he started getting involved in local climate groups, and when he attended a meeting in Alameda for the California city’s climate plan, something clicked. “I think that for me was key,” he said. “It made me start realizing the power of good policy.” 

Now 32, he has earned a master’s degree in environmental science and policy and works as the climate action coordinator for the California towns of San Anselmo and Fairfax.Worry — and even occasional despair — about the climate crisis is normal. Most scientists believe that, without deeper cuts, the world is headed for 2 to 3 degrees Celsius of global warming. But higher temperatures are still possible if humans get unlucky with how the planet responds to higher CO2 levels. Kate Marvel, a climate scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute, has said that while humans probably won’t go extinct due to climate change, “not going extinct” is a low bar.“It’s a question of risk, not known catastrophe,” Hausfather said. 

[This is a well-written and researched report/essay by Shannon Osaka:]

#climate change #political cartoon #David Horsey #Seattle Times #Scott Horton #WAPO #Shannon Osaka #domism #Climate Science

[yausheyne]

Beyond the Beaten Path: The Top 10 Undiscovered Wonders in the Philippines

The Philippines, a country known for its breathtaking landscapes and bustling cities, is home to a plethora of hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. This aims to unveil the top 10 undiscovered wonders in the Philippines, guiding adventurous travelers, eco-tourists, and cultural enthusiasts towards these off-the-beaten-path destinations.

1. Danjugan Island: Nestled in Negros Occidental, Danjugan Island is a 43-hectare wildlife sanctuary that boasts untouched coral reefs, pristine white sand beaches, mystical bat caves, lush limestone and mangrove forests, and is surrounded by vast seagrass beds and fringing coral reefs. This secluded paradise is a haven for nature lovers and offers a unique opportunity to immerse oneself in the wonders of marine biodiversity.

2. Buscalan Village: Tucked away in the mountains of Kalinga, Buscalan Village is a remote haven that is not only home to the legendary tattoo artist Whang-od but also showcases the rich culture of the Butbut tribe. Here, visitors can witness the ancient art of traditional hand-tapped tattoos and experience the warm hospitality of the locals.

3. Apo Reef Natural Park: Located in Occidental Mindoro, Apo Reef Natural Park is the world's second-largest contiguous coral reef. With its vibrant marine life and crystal-clear waters, this paradise is a haven for snorkelers and scuba divers. Exploring the underwater world of Apo Reef is like entering a mesmerizing realm filled with colorful coral formations and an abundance of marine species.

4. Mount Pulag: Standing tall at 2,928 meters above sea level, Mount Pulag is Luzon's highest peak. Known for its awe-inspiring "sea of clouds" phenomenon, this majestic mountain offers a challenging yet rewarding hiking experience. As you ascend, the breathtaking panoramic views and the ethereal beauty of the clouds engulfing the summit will leave you in awe.

5. Sohoton Caves and Natural Bridge: Situated in Samar, Sohoton Caves and Natural Bridge is a protected natural area that showcases the wonders of nature. Explore the intricate network of caves, navigate through subterranean rivers, witness cascading waterfalls, marvel at the stunning limestone formations, and cross the natural stone bridge. This hidden gem is a testament to the beauty and diversity of the Philippines' natural landscapes.

6. Tablas Island: As the largest island in the Romblon province, Tablas Island offers a serene and unspoiled escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. With its pristine beaches, enchanting waterfalls, and opportunities for snorkeling and off-the-beaten-path exploration, Tablas Island is a paradise for those seeking tranquility and natural beauty.

7. Kaparkan Falls: Located in Abra, Kaparkan Falls is a hidden gem that mesmerizes visitors with its terraced waterfall cascading over green mossy stones. The falls create a natural infinity pool, inviting travelers to take a refreshing dip and immerse themselves in the beauty of nature. This unique destination offers a picturesque setting that is perfect for relaxation and rejuvenation.

8. Lake Sebu: Situated in South Cotabato, Lake Sebu is a first-class municipality known for its seven majestic waterfalls, stunning lakes, and the rich culture and arts of the T'boli tribe. Embark on a boat ride across the tranquil lake, witness the breathtaking waterfalls, and immerse yourself in the vibrant traditions and heritage of the T'boli people. Lake Sebu is a destination that combines natural beauty with cultural immersion.

9. Balabac Islands: Located at the southernmost tip of Palawan, the Balabac Islands are a hidden paradise known for their pristine beaches, crystal-clear waters, and diverse marine life. Explore the untouched beauty of these islands, go island-hopping, and discover the vibrant underwater world through snorkeling or diving. The Balabac Islands offer a secluded escape for those in search of tranquility and natural wonders.

10. Homonhon Island: Steeped in history and untouched beauty, Homonhon Island in Eastern Samar holds great significance as the place where Ferdinand Magellan first landed in the Philippines. This 20-kilometer-long island offers a glimpse into the country's past and showcases its natural wonders. Explore the unspoiled beaches, hike through lush forests, and immerse yourself in the historical and natural richness of Homonhon Island.

These top 10 undiscovered wonders in the Philippines each possess their own unique charm and story, waiting to be explored. Step off the beaten path and embark on an adventure to uncover the hidden gems that the Philippines has to offer. Whether it's immersing yourself in the vibrant marine life, witnessing ancient traditions, or marveling at the natural landscapes, the wonders of the Philippines are bound to leave a lasting impression. Adventure awaits!

Article Type: Roundups and “Best of” lists:

Target Audience: Adventurous Travelers, Local Filipinos, Eco-tourists, Cultural Enthusiasts, Travel Bloggers and Influencers

Topic: "Exploring Hidden Gems: An Unconventional Tour of the Philippines"

@therealrodthings

#travelwritingandphotography #Spotify

[rcenvs3000w24]

Exploring the World

As a teenager, I embarked on a journey to Hawaii that would forever change my perspective on nature's beauty and diversity. The lush landscapes, pristine beaches, and vibrant marine life captivated my senses, leaving an indelible mark on my soul.

My first glimpse of Hawaii's breathtaking scenery was from the plane window as we descended into Honolulu. The emerald green mountains, fringed by cascading waterfalls and enveloped in mist, seemed like something out of a dream. Stepping onto the tarmac, I felt the warm embrace of the tropical air, infused with the scent of flowers and saltwater.

One of the highlights of my trip was exploring the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve on Oahu. Snorkeling in the crystal-clear waters, I was greeted by a kaleidoscope of colorful fish darting among coral reefs. It was like entering a bustling underwater metropolis, where every inhabitant played a vital role in the ecosystem's harmony.

Venturing inland, I hiked through lush rainforests, where towering banyan trees formed natural cathedrals, their aerial roots reaching down like ancient sentinels. I marveled at the symphony of bird calls and the iridescent plumage of native species flitting among the branches.

On the island of Maui, I witnessed the raw power of nature at Haleakalā National Park. Standing atop the volcanic summit at sunrise, I watched as the first rays of light illuminated the otherworldly landscape below. The surreal beauty of the barren crater, etched with colorful striations, left me awestruck.

But perhaps the most profound experience was encountering Hawaii's indigenous culture and its deep connection to the land. Learning about the ancient Hawaiian concept of aloha ‘āina (love for the land), I gained a newfound appreciation for the importance of environmental stewardship and conservation.

As I bid farewell to Hawaii, I carried with me memories of its untamed beauty and the sense of wonder it inspired. My teenage journey had been a transformative odyssey through nature's bounty, reminding me of the intricate tapestry of life that exists beyond the confines of everyday existence

[goltravel]

Top 10 Must-Visit Islands in Thailand: Paradise Uncovered

Thailand, with its azure waters, palm-fringed beaches, and vibrant culture, is home to some of the world's most stunning islands. If you're dreaming of an island-hopping adventure, here's a curated list of the top 10 must-visit islands in Thailand that promise a slice of paradise.

Phuket:

Known as the "Pearl of the Andaman," Phuket is Thailand's largest island and a prime destination for beach lovers and party enthusiasts alike. From the bustling Patong Beach to the serene Mai Khao Beach, Phuket offers diverse experiences.

Koh Phi Phi:

Made famous by the movie "The Beach," Koh Phi Phi is an archipelago featuring pristine beaches, crystal-clear waters, and vibrant coral reefs. Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh are the main islands, offering breathtaking landscapes and lively nightlife.

Koh Samui:

A tropical haven in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Samui combines palm-fringed beaches with lush rainforests. Relax on the powdery sands of Chaweng Beach, explore the iconic Big Buddha, and experience the island's vibrant nightlife.

Koh Tao:

Divers and snorkelers flock to Koh Tao, renowned for its vibrant coral reefs and diverse marine life. This island, also known as Turtle Island, provides a laid-back atmosphere, making it perfect for those seeking a tranquil escape.

Koh Chang:

Nestled near the Cambodian border, Koh Chang is Thailand's second-largest island. With dense jungles, waterfalls, and secluded beaches, it's a haven for nature lovers. White Sand Beach and Lonely Beach are popular spots to unwind.

Koh Lanta:

For a more relaxed and authentic Thai experience, head to Koh Lanta. This island, consisting of several smaller islands, offers a perfect blend of serene beaches, traditional fishing villages, and lush jungles.

Koh Phangan:

Known for its famous Full Moon Party, Koh Phangan also boasts pristine beaches, dense jungles, and vibrant coral reefs. Beyond the party scene, explore the island's natural beauty, including Thong Nai Pan Noi Beach and the Phaeng Waterfall.

Similan Islands:

A diver's paradise, the Similan Islands are a group of nine islands in the Andaman Sea. Renowned for their crystal-clear waters and diverse marine life, these islands offer some of the best diving and snorkeling experiences in Thailand.

Koh Kood:

Escape the crowds and discover the unspoiled beauty of Koh Kood. This island, located near the Cambodian border, is known for its secluded beaches, lush landscapes, and cascading waterfalls like Klong Chao.

Koh Samed:

Close to Bangkok, Koh Samed is a popular weekend getaway. With powdery white sands and turquoise waters, it offers a tranquil escape from the bustling city life. Explore the picturesque beaches of Sai Kaew and Ao Phai.

In the heart of Southeast Asia, Thailand's islands beckon with their natural beauty and cultural richness. Whether you seek vibrant nightlife, water adventures, or peaceful retreats, these top 10 must-visit islands in Thailand promise a paradise waiting to be uncovered.

We are Gol Travels dealing with Maldives, Lakshadweep, Bali, Malaysia and Thailand

#travel #maldives #holiday #travel videos #vacation #wanderlust #lakshadweep #tropical #islandlife #maldives beaches resort #thailandtravel #thailand #phuket #vacations #baliindonesia #bali tour package #traveling #island #destination #bali #malaysiaadventures #malaysia #indonesia #booking

[colin-ross]

Maldives isn’t all about cocktails, despite what my recent Facebook posts suggest!

The Maldives consists of about 1,200 coral islands clustered into atolls distributed over 90,000 square kilometres.

I have only visited one atoll. It is small you can walk the whole atoll in a short time and it is very low - if the ocean rose by a couple of metres, it would be gone.

The atolls were formed of prehistoric volcanoes. Apparently as the ocean floor subsided, corals grew around and formed a fringed reef. Ultimately the reef grows and the volcano disappears. Erosion from the reef makes sandbanks which become tiny islands. The result is beauty.

The Maldives is rich in marine life and whilst I didn’t scuba, I did see plenty of fishes, stingrays and some sharks too.

Staying in a resort is not something I have really done before, but it is what the vast majority of those visiting the Maldives do. The major downside is you don’t really get to know the country but don’t worry there were plenty of upsides including unlimited cocktails too!

[whatgaviiformes]

Fic: A Study in Light

Here, fam. Have a character study before I head out to dinner. 💛

*****

The sea steals away the gentle light of unfamiliar stars suspended in the deep-purple of a moonless sky, and, though Gordon can’t see the waves, he can hear them surging, lapping towards the sand. Between two palm trees near the back of the beach, close to where they’ve built the path to the villa, he keeps a hammock tied, and it’s there that he sits in the early hours of morning.

John would take offense to him calling them unfamiliar stars. His brother may easily pivot between hemispheres, but Gordon knows he’ll never quite get past looking for the North Star, and these are not the constellations he learned growing up, when his mind was most absorbent.

Scott, who’d learned it from Rescue Scouts, showed him that. How to find Polaris when lost. These days, he lets the water guide him, not the stars.

Gentle stars.

John would frown at that too. He’d tell him that the stars were anything but gentle. That despite how steady and calm they seem from trillions of miles away, on a planet as small and as miniscule as Earth when compared with the infinity of the Universe, the stars churn with nuclear chaos. Forges of a size incomprehensible, scattering elements, and heat, and light so pervasive it can cross the enormity.

To find him here, on the edge of the sand, watching their light die with the depths of his sea.

 He swings his legs, relieving some of the pressure where the rope has dug into the back of his knees.

Once upon a time, Mom would call him “Sunshine.” Dad too, before he’d gone and gotten himself stuck in an explosion that shook their world more violently than any star. He barely remembers the way the phrase sounds from their lips, and no one calls him that anymore.

But they do expect it. They just say it in different ways.

Scott of all of them is the most direct. It’s his job as commander to know his brothers’ skill sets – their strengths, their areas for growth – and to delegate roles on the field accordingly. Gordon’s light, though Scott calls it his “vibrancy,” is perfect for rescues involving children. But that comfort isn’t for kids alone. His strength as a rescuer is his calming positivity. For example, it’s the tone he used with Ned Tedford at the bottom of the sea when all seemed bleak. But he smiled, worked the problem, and made it all seem carefree and easy.

Scott will be the first to admit he can sometimes get lost in the adrenaline rush while Gordon brings patience and a friendly voice and the fine balance that is humor and competency.

Virgil says it in his art, the gold just a bit brighter, the colors bolder, and if Gordon is included as a subject, his smile blinds. In the painting Virgil created for his 21st birthday, Gordon is swimming, descending into the depths underwater, without gear, where the reef and the fish welcome him to their home. It’s a beautiful piece where not even his apparent longing for the sea takes away from the brightness Gordon brings to their depths, and with his sun cast along the coral the scene strikes at his heart every time.

Sometimes, it hurts to look at.

John is trickier, his heart no less feeling than anyone else’s, just harder to read sometimes. John knows Gordon’s passions as equally as his own, maybe not as thoroughly, but he knows what energizes him. Space-residing, but also just as close, John knows how to meet Gordon’s excitement with his own. They both are at the fringes of the world, both living day-to-day for the wonder of what they will find next. And if an exclamation point didn’t accompany the “Awesome, thanks” after sending him an article about the 10 Coolest Nudibranch Species of the Tropics, then John knew something was up. For the record, that article was biased based solely on their appearance, which John knew when he sent it to him.

The proper response was to send him back a podcast about Babylonian astronomy, obviously.

And if he didn’t? If he didn’t have the energy to respond back in kind, John would be the first to call him up and ask what he needed.

Then there’s Alan. Gordon doesn’t know how to be anything other than bright in his little brother’s space, because Alan is the only person in the world he can be a big brother for, and while Alan has four big brothers, Gordon only has the one little one. It’s not that Alan can’t take it; he’s always been smart and intuitive. But Gordon is so proud of him, and if there’s one thing he’s always promised, it’s that he will always try to be the best goddamn big brother he can be to the one little brother he’ll ever have.

It's crushing sometimes, feeling the weight of needing to be - well it’s not on or off, like a switch, so much as it’s a turn of the dial. How much of himself, and which parts is he bringing to the surface?

 The joy is as genuine and honest as it comes.

It’s just? He tones down other parts of himself.

Keep the lights on for too long, and they’ll blow out eventually.

And that’s okay from time to time, as long as they don’t see the worst of it.  As long as he doesn’t bring them down with him.

In truth, his brothers have just as much light to share as he does. He sees it in Alan online, when he sees him helping out newbies get started with better equipment for a more positive experience, and with John, leading the people they rescue from fear into safety with just his voice. Virgil, the first up for a standing ovation when he experiences a piece of live orchestra and piano. And Scott, barrel rolls of laughter over a plate of Grandma’s cookies.

“Gordo?”  His name comes with an exhausted yawn and heavy footsteps along the sand.

“Bit early for you.” That's an understatement. Rescues aside, Virgil is rarely caught out of bed before the sun rises.

He hums, deep and low. “John caught a heat signature out here. Had to be you. Do you even know what time it is?”

He sits down in front of him once he reaches the hammock, not caring that his jeans are collecting beach particles, and follows his glance out towards the blank horizon.

“No? Two or three,” Gordon answers. “I slept out here for a bit.”

“It’s four.” He doesn’t ask what Gordon’s doing out here, doesn’t push for answers. He waits, his presence calm, and comforting, and there. And when it’s obvious that Gordon doesn’t need talking right now, Virgil settles back against the palm tree next to him, his eyes slip closed, and he pauses.

He probably intends to stay awake with him, but Gordon can hear his breathing even out when the hour catches up with him.

It makes him smile that Virgil tried.

“How do you do it?” he asks the sky. But the words are for the slumbering form of Virgil beside him. “Why do you see me the way you do?”

He doesn’t get the answer until the sky fades into gold, when the brightness of the dawn wakes him. Virgil staggers up with a groan, his bones creaking from the position, but he slides next to Gordon on the hammock, clapping him lightly on the back.  

“That’s what’s so encouraging about the sun,” Virgil muses. “It always comes back.” 

#gordon tracy #gavii scribit #ficlets and bits #thunderbirds fanfiction

[hellsitesonlybookclub]

20k Leagues under the sea, Jules Verne

chapter 18-20

CHAPTER XVIII VANIKORO

This terrible spectacle was the forerunner of the series of maritime catastrophes that the Nautilus was destined to meet with in its route. As long as it went through more frequented waters, we often saw the hulls of shipwrecked vessels that were rotting in the depths, and deeper down cannons, bullets, anchors, chains, and a thousand other iron materials eaten up by rust. However, on the 11th of December we sighted the Pomotou Islands, the old “dangerous group” of Bougainville, that extend over a space of 500 leagues at E.S.E. to W.N.W., from the Island Ducie to that of Lazareff. This group covers an area of 370 square leagues, and it is formed of sixty groups of islands, among which the Gambier group is remarkable, over which France exercises sway. These are coral islands, slowly raised, but continuous, created by the daily work of polypi. Then this new island will be joined later on to the neighboring groups, and a fifth continent will stretch from New Zealand and New Caledonia, and from thence to the Marquesas.

One day, when I was suggesting this theory to Captain Nemo, he replied coldly:

“The earth does not want new continents, but new men.”

Chance had conducted the Nautilus towards the Island of Clermont-Tonnere, one of the most curious of the group, that was discovered in 1822 by Captain Bell of the Minerva. I could study now the madreporal system, to which are due the islands in this ocean.

Madrepores (which must not be mistaken for corals) have a tissue lined with a calcareous crust, and the modifications of its structure have induced M. Milne Edwards, my worthy master, to class them into five sections. The animalcule that the marine polypus secretes live by millions at the bottom of their cells. Their calcareous deposits become rocks, reefs, and large and small islands. Here they form a ring, surrounding a little inland lake, that communicates with the sea by means of gaps. There they make barriers of reefs like those on the coasts of New Caledonia and the various Pomoton islands. In other places, like those at Reunion and at Maurice, they raise fringed reefs, high, straight walls, near which the depth of the ocean is considerable.

Some cable-lengths off the shores of the Island of Clermont I admired the gigantic work accomplished by these microscopical workers. These walls are specially the work of those madrepores known as milleporas, porites, madrepores, and astraeas. These polypi are found particularly in the rough beds of the sea, near the surface; and consequently it is from the upper part that they begin their operations, in which they bury themselves by degrees with the debris of the secretions that support them. Such is, at least, Darwin’s theory, who thus explains the formation of the atolls, a superior theory (to my mind) to that given of the foundation of the madreporical works, summits of mountains or volcanoes, that are submerged some feet below the level of the sea.

I could observe closely these curious walls, for perpendicularly they were more than 300 yards deep, and our electric sheets lighted up this calcareous matter brilliantly. Replying to a question Conseil asked me as to the time these colossal barriers took to be raised, I astonished him much by telling him that learned men reckoned it about the eighth of an inch in a hundred years.

Towards evening Clermont-Tonnerre was lost in the distance, and the route of the Nautiluswas sensibly changed. After having crossed the tropic of Capricorn in 135° longitude, it sailed W.N.W., making again for the tropical zone. Although the summer sun was very strong, we did not suffer from heat, for at fifteen or twenty fathoms below the surface, the temperature did not rise above from ten to twelve degrees.

On 15th of December, we left to the east the bewitching group of the Societies and the graceful Tahiti, queen of the Pacific. I saw in the morning, some miles to the windward, the elevated summits of the island. These waters furnished our table with excellent fish, mackerel, bonitos, and some varieties of a sea-serpent.

On the 25th of December the Nautilus sailed into the midst of the New Hebrides, discovered by Quiros in 1606, and that Bougainville explored in 1768, and to which Cook gave its present name in 1773. This group is composed principally of nine large islands, that form a band of 120 leagues N.N.S. to S.S.W., between 15° and 2° S. lat., and 164 deg. and 168° long. We passed tolerably near to the Island of Aurou, that at noon looked like a mass of green woods, surmounted by a peak of great height.

That day being Christmas Day, Ned Land seemed to regret sorely the non-celebration of “Christmas,” the family fete of which Protestants are so fond. I had not seen Captain Nemo for a week, when, on the morning of the 27th, he came into the large drawing-room, always seeming as if he had seen you five minutes before. I was busily tracing the route of theNautilus on the planisphere. The Captain came up to me, put his finger on one spot on the chart, and said this single word.

“Vanikoro.”

The effect was magical! It was the name of the islands on which La Perouse had been lost! I rose suddenly.

“The Nautilus has brought us to Vanikoro?” I asked.

“Yes, Professor,” said the Captain.

“And I can visit the celebrated islands where the Boussole and the Astrolabe struck?”

“If you like, Professor.”

“When shall we be there?”

“We are there now.”

Followed by Captain Nemo, I went up on to the platform, and greedily scanned the horizon.

To the N.E. two volcanic islands emerged of unequal size, surrounded by a coral reef that measured forty miles in circumference. We were close to Vanikoro, really the one to which Dumont d’Urville gave the name of Isle de la Recherche, and exactly facing the little harbour of Vanou, situated in 16° 4′ S. lat., and 164° 32′ E. long. The earth seemed covered with verdure from the shore to the summits in the interior, that were crowned by Mount Kapogo, 476 feet high. The Nautilus, having passed the outer belt of rocks by a narrow strait, found itself among breakers where the sea was from thirty to forty fathoms deep. Under the verdant shade of some mangroves I perceived some savages, who appeared greatly surprised at our approach. In the long black body, moving between wind and water, did they not see some formidable cetacean that they regarded with suspicion?

Just then Captain Nemo asked me what I knew about the wreck of La Perouse.

“Only what everyone knows, Captain,” I replied.

“And could you tell me what everyone knows about it?” he inquired, ironically.

“Easily.”

I related to him all that the last works of Dumont d’Urville had made known—works from which the following is a brief account.

La Perouse, and his second, Captain de Langle, were sent by Louis XVI, in 1785, on a voyage of circumnavigation. They embarked in the corvettes Boussole and the Astrolabe, neither of which were again heard of. In 1791, the French Government, justly uneasy as to the fate of these two sloops, manned two large merchantmen, the Recherche and the Esperance, which left Brest the 28th of September under the command of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux.

Two months after, they learned from Bowen, commander of the Albemarle, that the debris of shipwrecked vessels had been seen on the coasts of New Georgia. But D’Entrecasteaux, ignoring this communication—rather uncertain, besides—directed his course towards the Admiralty Islands, mentioned in a report of Captain Hunter’s as being the place where La Perouse was wrecked.

They sought in vain. The Esperance and the Recherche passed before Vanikoro without stopping there, and, in fact, this voyage was most disastrous, as it cost D’Entrecasteaux his life, and those of two of his lieutenants, besides several of his crew.

Captain Dillon, a shrewd old Pacific sailor, was the first to find unmistakable traces of the wrecks. On the 15th of May, 1824, his vessel, the St. Patrick, passed close to Tikopia, one of the New Hebrides. There a Lascar came alongside in a canoe, sold him the handle of a sword in silver that bore the print of characters engraved on the hilt. The Lascar pretended that six years before, during a stay at Vanikoro, he had seen two Europeans that belonged to some vessels that had run aground on the reefs some years ago.

Dillon guessed that he meant La Perouse, whose disappearance had troubled the whole world. He tried to get on to Vanikoro, where, according to the Lascar, he would find numerous debris of the wreck, but winds and tides prevented him.

Dillon returned to Calcutta. There he interested the Asiatic Society and the Indian Company in his discovery. A vessel, to which was given the name of the Recherche, was put at his disposal, and he set out, 23rd January, 1827, accompanied by a French agent.

The Recherche, after touching at several points in the Pacific, cast anchor before Vanikoro, 7th July, 1827, in that same harbour of Vanou where the Nautilus was at this time.

There it collected numerous relics of the wreck—iron utensils, anchors, pulley-strops, swivel-guns, an 18 lbs. shot, fragments of astronomical instruments, a piece of crown work, and a bronze clock, bearing this inscription—“Bazin m’a fait,” the mark of the foundry of the arsenal at Brest about 1785. There could be no further doubt.

Dillon, having made all inquiries, stayed in the unlucky place till October. Then he quitted Vanikoro, and directed his course towards New Zealand; put into Calcutta, 7th April, 1828, and returned to France, where he was warmly welcomed by Charles X.

But at the same time, without knowing Dillon’s movements, Dumont d’Urville had already set out to find the scene of the wreck. And they had learned from a whaler that some medals and a cross of St. Louis had been found in the hands of some savages of Louisiade and New Caledonia. Dumont d’Urville, commander of the Astrolabe, had then sailed, and two months after Dillon had left Vanikoro he put into Hobart Town. There he learned the results of Dillon’s inquiries, and found that a certain James Hobbs, second lieutenant of the Union of Calcutta, after landing on an island situated 8° 18′ S. lat., and 156° 30′ E. long., had seen some iron bars and red stuffs used by the natives of these parts. Dumont d’Urville, much perplexed, and not knowing how to credit the reports of low-class journals, decided to follow Dillon’s track.

On the 10th of February, 1828, the Astrolabe appeared off Tikopia, and took as guide and interpreter a deserter found on the island; made his way to Vanikoro, sighted it on the 12th inst., lay among the reefs until the 14th, and not until the 20th did he cast anchor within the barrier in the harbour of Vanou.

On the 23rd, several officers went round the island and brought back some unimportant trifles. The natives, adopting a system of denials and evasions, refused to take them to the unlucky place. This ambiguous conduct led them to believe that the natives had ill-treated the castaways, and indeed they seemed to fear that Dumont d’Urville had come to avenge La Perouse and his unfortunate crew.

However, on the 26th, appeased by some presents, and understanding that they had no reprisals to fear, they led M. Jacquireot to the scene of the wreck.

There, in three or four fathoms of water, between the reefs of Pacou and Vanou, lay anchors, cannons, pigs of lead and iron, embedded in the limy concretions. The large boat and the whaler belonging to the Astrolabe were sent to this place, and, not without some difficulty, their crews hauled up an anchor weighing 1,800 lbs., a brass gun, some pigs of iron, and two copper swivel-guns.

Dumont d’Urville, questioning the natives, learned too that La Perouse, after losing both his vessels on the reefs of this island, had constructed a smaller boat, only to be lost a second time. Where, no one knew.

But the French Government, fearing that Dumont d’Urville was not acquainted with Dillon’s movements, had sent the sloop Bayonnaise, commanded by Legoarant de Tromelin, to Vanikoro, which had been stationed on the west coast of America. The Bayonnaise cast her anchor before Vanikoro some months after the departure of the Astrolabe, but found no new document; but stated that the savages had respected the monument to La Perouse. That is the substance of what I told Captain Nemo.

“So,” he said, “no one knows now where the third vessel perished that was constructed by the castaways on the island of Vanikoro?”

“No one knows.”

Captain Nemo said nothing, but signed to me to follow him into the large saloon. The Nautilus sank several yards below the waves, and the panels were opened.

I hastened to the aperture, and under the crustations of coral, covered with fungi, syphonules, alcyons, madrepores, through myriads of charming fish—girelles, glyphisidri, pompherides, diacopes, and holocentres—I recognised certain debris that the drags had not been able to tear up—iron stirrups, anchors, cannons, bullets, capstan fittings, the stem of a ship, all objects clearly proving the wreck of some vessel, and now carpeted with living flowers. While I was looking on this desolate scene, Captain Nemo said, in a sad voice:

“Commander La Perouse set out 7th December, 1785, with his vessels La Boussole and the Astrolabe. He first cast anchor at Botany Bay, visited the Friendly Isles, New Caledonia, then directed his course towards Santa Cruz, and put into Namouka, one of the Hapai group. Then his vessels struck on the unknown reefs of Vanikoro. The Boussole, which went first, ran aground on the southerly coast. The Astrolabe went to its help, and ran aground too. The first vessel was destroyed almost immediately. The second, stranded under the wind, resisted some days. The natives made the castaways welcome. They installed themselves in the island, and constructed a smaller boat with the debris of the two large ones. Some sailors stayed willingly at Vanikoro; the others, weak and ill, set out with La Perouse. They directed their course towards the Solomon Islands, and there perished, with everything, on the westerly coast of the chief island of the group, between Capes Deception and Satisfaction.”

“How do you know that?”

“By this, that I found on the spot where was the last wreck.”

Captain Nemo showed me a tin-plate box, stamped with the French arms, and corroded by the salt water. He opened it, and I saw a bundle of papers, yellow but still readable.

They were the instructions of the naval minister to Commander La Perouse, annotated in the margin in Louis XVI’s handwriting.

“Ah! it is a fine death for a sailor!” said Captain Nemo, at last. “A coral tomb makes a quiet grave; and I trust that I and my comrades will find no other.”

CHAPTER XIX TORRES STRAITS

During the night of the 27th or 28th of December, the Nautilus left the shores of Vanikoro with great speed. Her course was south-westerly, and in three days she had gone over the 750 leagues that separated it from La Perouse’s group and the south-east point of Papua.

Early on the 1st of January, 1863, Conseil joined me on the platform.

“Master, will you permit me to wish you a happy New Year?”

“What! Conseil; exactly as if I was at Paris in my study at the Jardin des Plantes? Well, I accept your good wishes, and thank you for them. Only, I will ask you what you mean by a ‘Happy New Year’ under our circumstances? Do you mean the year that will bring us to the end of our imprisonment, or the year that sees us continue this strange voyage?”

“Really, I do not know how to answer, master. We are sure to see curious things, and for the last two months we have not had time for dullness. The last marvel is always the most astonishing; and, if we continue this progression, I do not know how it will end. It is my opinion that we shall never again see the like. I think then, with no offence to master, that a happy year would be one in which we could see everything.”

On 2nd January we had made 11,340 miles, or 5,250 French leagues, since our starting-point in the Japan Seas. Before the ship’s head stretched the dangerous shores of the coral sea, on the north-east coast of Australia. Our boat lay along some miles from the redoubtable bank on which Cook’s vessel was lost, 10th June, 1770. The boat in which Cook was struck on a rock, and, if it did not sink, it was owing to a piece of coral that was broken by the shock, and fixed itself in the broken keel.

I had wished to visit the reef, 360 leagues long, against which the sea, always rough, broke with great violence, with a noise like thunder. But just then the inclined planes drew the Nautilus down to a great depth, and I could see nothing of the high coral walls. I had to content myself with the different specimens of fish brought up by the nets. I remarked, among others, some germons, a species of mackerel as large as a tunny, with bluish sides, and striped with transverse bands, that disappear with the animal’s life.

These fish followed us in shoals, and furnished us with very delicate food. We took also a large number of gilt-heads, about one and a half inches long, tasting like dorys; and flying pyrapeds like submarine swallows, which, in dark nights, light alternately the air and water with their phosphorescent light. Among the molluscs and zoophytes, I found in the meshes of the net several species of alcyonarians, echini, hammers, spurs, dials, cerites, and hyalleae. The flora was represented by beautiful floating seaweeds, laminariae, and macrocystes, impregnated with the mucilage that transudes through their pores; and among which I gathered an admirable Nemastoma Geliniarois, that was classed among the natural curiosities of the museum.

Two days after crossing the coral sea, 4th January, we sighted the Papuan coasts. On this occasion, Captain Nemo informed me that his intention was to get into the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Torres. His communication ended there.

The Torres Straits are nearly thirty-four leagues wide; but they are obstructed by an innumerable quantity of islands, islets, breakers, and rocks, that make its navigation almost impracticable; so that Captain Nemo took all needful precautions to cross them. The Nautilus, floating betwixt wind and water, went at a moderate pace. Her screw, like a cetacean’s tail, beat the waves slowly.

Profiting by this, I and my two companions went up on to the deserted platform. Before us was the steersman’s cage, and I expected that Captain Nemo was there directing the course of the Nautilus. I had before me the excellent charts of the Straits of Torres, and I consulted them attentively. Round the Nautilus the sea dashed furiously. The course of the waves, that went from south-east to north-west at the rate of two and a half miles, broke on the coral that showed itself here and there.

“This is a bad sea!” remarked Ned Land.

“Detestable indeed, and one that does not suit a boat like the Nautilus.”

“The Captain must be very sure of his route, for I see there pieces of coral that would do for its keel if it only touched them slightly.”

Indeed the situation was dangerous, but the Nautilus seemed to slide like magic off these rocks. It did not follow the routes of the Astrolabe and the Zelee exactly, for they proved fatal to Dumont d’Urville. It bore more northwards, coasted the Islands of Murray, and came back to the south-west towards Cumberland Passage. I thought it was going to pass it by, when, going back to north-west, it went through a large quantity of islands and islets little known, towards the Island Sound and Canal Mauvais.

I wondered if Captain Nemo, foolishly imprudent, would steer his vessel into that pass where Dumont d’Urville’s two corvettes touched; when, swerving again, and cutting straight through to the west, he steered for the Island of Gilboa.

It was then three in the afternoon. The tide began to recede, being quite full. The Nautilusapproached the island, that I still saw, with its remarkable border of screw-pines. He stood off it at about two miles distant. Suddenly a shock overthrew me. The Nautilus just touched a rock, and stayed immovable, laying lightly to port side.

When I rose, I perceived Captain Nemo and his lieutenant on the platform. They were examining the situation of the vessel, and exchanging words in their incomprehensible dialect.

She was situated thus: Two miles, on the starboard side, appeared Gilboa, stretching from north to west like an immense arm. Towards the south and east some coral showed itself, left by the ebb. We had run aground, and in one of those seas where the tides are middling—a sorry matter for the floating of the Nautilus. However, the vessel had not suffered, for her keel was solidly joined. But, if she could neither glide off nor move, she ran the risk of being for ever fastened to these rocks, and then Captain Nemo’s submarine vessel would be done for.

I was reflecting thus, when the Captain, cool and calm, always master of himself, approached me.

“An accident?” I asked.

“No; an incident.”

“But an incident that will oblige you perhaps to become an inhabitant of this land from which you flee?”

Captain Nemo looked at me curiously, and made a negative gesture, as much as to say that nothing would force him to set foot on terra firma again. Then he said:

“Besides, M. Aronnax, the Nautilus is not lost; it will carry you yet into the midst of the marvels of the ocean. Our voyage is only begun, and I do not wish to be deprived so soon of the honour of your company.”

“However, Captain Nemo,” I replied, without noticing the ironical turn of his phrase, “the Nautilus ran aground in open sea. Now the tides are not strong in the Pacific; and, if you cannot lighten the Nautilus, I do not see how it will be reinflated.”

“The tides are not strong in the Pacific: you are right there, Professor; but in Torres Straits one finds still a difference of a yard and a half between the level of high and low seas. To-day is 4th January, and in five days the moon will be full. Now, I shall be very much astonished if that satellite does not raise these masses of water sufficiently, and render me a service that I should be indebted to her for.”

Having said this, Captain Nemo, followed by his lieutenant, redescended to the interior of the Nautilus. As to the vessel, it moved not, and was immovable, as if the coralline polypi had already walled it up with their in destructible cement.

“Well, sir?” said Ned Land, who came up to me after the departure of the Captain.

“Well, friend Ned, we will wait patiently for the tide on the 9th instant; for it appears that the moon will have the goodness to put it off again.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“And this Captain is not going to cast anchor at all since the tide will suffice?” said Conseil, simply.

The Canadian looked at Conseil, then shrugged his shoulders.

“Sir, you may believe me when I tell you that this piece of iron will navigate neither on nor under the sea again; it is only fit to be sold for its weight. I think, therefore, that the time has come to part company with Captain Nemo.”

“Friend Ned, I do not despair of this stout Nautilus, as you do; and in four days we shall know what to hold to on the Pacific tides. Besides, flight might be possible if we were in sight of the English or Provencal coast; but on the Papuan shores, it is another thing; and it will be time enough to come to that extremity if the Nautilus does not recover itself again, which I look upon as a grave event.”

“But do they know, at least, how to act circumspectly? There is an island; on that island there are trees; under those trees, terrestrial animals, bearers of cutlets and roast beef, to which I would willingly give a trial.”

“In this, friend Ned is right,” said Conseil, “and I agree with him. Could not master obtain permission from his friend Captain Nemo to put us on land, if only so as not to lose the habit of treading on the solid parts of our planet?”

“I can ask him, but he will refuse.”

“Will master risk it?” asked Conseil, “and we shall know how to rely upon the Captain’s amiability.”

To my great surprise, Captain Nemo gave me the permission I asked for, and he gave it very agreeably, without even exacting from me a promise to return to the vessel; but flight across New Guinea might be very perilous, and I should not have counselled Ned Land to attempt it. Better to be a prisoner on board the Nautilus than to fall into the hands of the natives.

At eight o’clock, armed with guns and hatchets, we got off the Nautilus. The sea was pretty calm; a slight breeze blew on land. Conseil and I rowing, we sped along quickly, and Ned steered in the straight passage that the breakers left between them. The boat was well handled, and moved rapidly.

Ned Land could not restrain his joy. He was like a prisoner that had escaped from prison, and knew not that it was necessary to re-enter it.

“Meat! We are going to eat some meat; and what meat!” he replied. “Real game! no, bread, indeed.”

“I do not say that fish is not good; we must not abuse it; but a piece of fresh venison, grilled on live coals, will agreeably vary our ordinary course.”

“Glutton!” said Conseil, “he makes my mouth water.”

“It remains to be seen,” I said, “if these forests are full of game, and if the game is not such as will hunt the hunter himself.”

“Well said, M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian, whose teeth seemed sharpened like the edge of a hatchet; “but I will eat tiger—loin of tiger—if there is no other quadruped on this island.”

“Friend Ned is uneasy about it,” said Conseil.

“Whatever it may be,” continued Ned Land, “every animal with four paws without feathers, or with two paws without feathers, will be saluted by my first shot.”

“Very well! Master Land’s imprudences are beginning.”

“Never fear, M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian; “I do not want twenty-five minutes to offer you a dish, of my sort.”

At half-past eight the Nautilus boat ran softly aground on a heavy sand, after having happily passed the coral reef that surrounds the Island of Gilboa.

CHAPTER XX A FEW DAYS ON LAND

I was much impressed on touching land. Ned Land tried the soil with his feet, as if to take possession of it. However, it was only two months before that we had become, according to Captain Nemo, “passengers on board the Nautilus,” but, in reality, prisoners of its commander.

In a few minutes we were within musket-shot of the coast. The whole horizon was hidden behind a beautiful curtain of forests. Enormous trees, the trunks of which attained a height of 200 feet, were tied to each other by garlands of bindweed, real natural hammocks, which a light breeze rocked. They were mimosas, figs, hibisci, and palm trees, mingled together in profusion; and under the shelter of their verdant vault grew orchids, leguminous plants, and ferns.

But, without noticing all these beautiful specimens of Papuan flora, the Canadian abandoned the agreeable for the useful. He discovered a coco-tree, beat down some of the fruit, broke them, and we drunk the milk and ate the nut with a satisfaction that protested against the ordinary food on the Nautilus.

“Excellent!” said Ned Land.

“Exquisite!” replied Conseil.

“And I do not think,” said the Canadian, “that he would object to our introducing a cargo of coco-nuts on board.”

“I do not think he would, but he would not taste them.”

“So much the worse for him,” said Conseil.

“And so much the better for us,” replied Ned Land. “There will be more for us.”

“One word only, Master Land,” I said to the harpooner, who was beginning to ravage another coco-nut tree. “Coco-nuts are good things, but before filling the canoe with them it would be wise to reconnoitre and see if the island does not produce some substance not less useful. Fresh vegetables would be welcome on board the Nautilus.”

“Master is right,” replied Conseil; “and I propose to reserve three places in our vessel, one for fruits, the other for vegetables, and the third for the venison, of which I have not yet seen the smallest specimen.”

“Conseil, we must not despair,” said the Canadian.

“Let us continue,” I returned, “and lie in wait. Although the island seems uninhabited, it might still contain some individuals that would be less hard than we on the nature of game.”

“Ho! ho!” said Ned Land, moving his jaws significantly.

“Well, Ned!” said Conseil.

“My word!” returned the Canadian, “I begin to understand the charms of anthropophagy.”

“Ned! Ned! what are you saying? You, a man-eater? I should not feel safe with you, especially as I share your cabin. I might perhaps wake one day to find myself half devoured.”

“Friend Conseil, I like you much, but not enough to eat you unnecessarily.”

“I would not trust you,” replied Conseil. “But enough. We must absolutely bring down some game to satisfy this cannibal, or else one of these fine mornings, master will find only pieces of his servant to serve him.”

While we were talking thus, we were penetrating the sombre arches of the forest, and for two hours we surveyed it in all directions.

Chance rewarded our search for eatable vegetables, and one of the most useful products of the tropical zones furnished us with precious food that we missed on board. I would speak of the bread-fruit tree, very abundant in the island of Gilboa; and I remarked chiefly the variety destitute of seeds, which bears in Malaya the name of “rima.”

Ned Land knew these fruits well. He had already eaten many during his numerous voyages, and he knew how to prepare the eatable substance. Moreover, the sight of them excited him, and he could contain himself no longer.

“Master,” he said, “I shall die if I do not taste a little of this bread-fruit pie.”

“Taste it, friend Ned—taste it as you want. We are here to make experiments—make them.”

“It won’t take long,” said the Canadian.

And, provided with a lentil, he lighted a fire of dead wood that crackled joyously. During this time, Conseil and I chose the best fruits of the bread-fruit. Some had not then attained a sufficient degree of maturity; and their thick skin covered a white but rather fibrous pulp. Others, the greater number yellow and gelatinous, waited only to be picked.

These fruits enclosed no kernel. Conseil brought a dozen to Ned Land, who placed them on a coal fire, after having cut them in thick slices, and while doing this repeating:

“You will see, master, how good this bread is. More so when one has been deprived of it so long. It is not even bread,” added he, “but a delicate pastry. You have eaten none, master?”

“No, Ned.”

“Very well, prepare yourself for a juicy thing. If you do not come for more, I am no longer the king of harpooners.”

After some minutes, the part of the fruits that was exposed to the fire was completely roasted. The interior looked like a white pasty, a sort of soft crumb, the flavour of which was like that of an artichoke.

It must be confessed this bread was excellent, and I ate of it with great relish.

“What time is it now?” asked the Canadian.

“Two o’clock at least,” replied Conseil.

“How time flies on firm ground!” sighed Ned Land.

“Let us be off,” replied Conseil.

We returned through the forest, and completed our collection by a raid upon the cabbage-palms, that we gathered from the tops of the trees, little beans that I recognised as the “abrou” of the Malays, and yams of a superior quality.

We were loaded when we reached the boat. But Ned Land did not find his provisions sufficient. Fate, however, favoured us. Just as we were pushing off, he perceived several trees, from twenty-five to thirty feet high, a species of palm-tree.

At last, at five o’clock in the evening, loaded with our riches, we quitted the shore, and half an hour after we hailed the Nautilus. No one appeared on our arrival. The enormous iron-plated cylinder seemed deserted. The provisions embarked, I descended to my chamber, and after supper slept soundly.

The next day, 6th January, nothing new on board. Not a sound inside, not a sign of life. The boat rested along the edge, in the same place in which we had left it. We resolved to return to the island. Ned Land hoped to be more fortunate than on the day before with regard to the hunt, and wished to visit another part of the forest.

At dawn we set off. The boat, carried on by the waves that flowed to shore, reached the island in a few minutes.

We landed, and, thinking that it was better to give in to the Canadian, we followed Ned Land, whose long limbs threatened to distance us. He wound up the coast towards the west: then, fording some torrents, he gained the high plain that was bordered with admirable forests. Some kingfishers were rambling along the water-courses, but they would not let themselves be approached. Their circumspection proved to me that these birds knew what to expect from bipeds of our species, and I concluded that, if the island was not inhabited, at least human beings occasionally frequented it.

After crossing a rather large prairie, we arrived at the skirts of a little wood that was enlivened by the songs and flight of a large number of birds.

“There are only birds,” said Conseil.

“But they are eatable,” replied the harpooner.

“I do not agree with you, friend Ned, for I see only parrots there.”

“Friend Conseil,” said Ned, gravely, “the parrot is like pheasant to those who have nothing else.”

“And,” I added, “this bird, suitably prepared, is worth knife and fork.”

Indeed, under the thick foliage of this wood, a world of parrots were flying from branch to branch, only needing a careful education to speak the human language. For the moment, they were chattering with parrots of all colours, and grave cockatoos, who seemed to meditate upon some philosophical problem, whilst brilliant red lories passed like a piece of bunting carried away by the breeze, papuans, with the finest azure colours, and in all a variety of winged things most charming to behold, but few eatable.

However, a bird peculiar to these lands, and which has never passed the limits of the Arrow and Papuan islands, was wanting in this collection. But fortune reserved it for me before long.

After passing through a moderately thick copse, we found a plain obstructed with bushes. I saw then those magnificent birds, the disposition of whose long feathers obliges them to fly against the wind. Their undulating flight, graceful aerial curves, and the shading of their colours, attracted and charmed one’s looks. I had no trouble in recognising them.

“Birds of paradise!” I exclaimed.

The Malays, who carry on a great trade in these birds with the Chinese, have several means that we could not employ for taking them. Sometimes they put snares on the top of high trees that the birds of paradise prefer to frequent. Sometimes they catch them with a viscous birdlime that paralyses their movements. They even go so far as to poison the fountains that the birds generally drink from. But we were obliged to fire at them during flight, which gave us few chances to bring them down; and, indeed, we vainly exhausted one half our ammunition.

About eleven o’clock in the morning, the first range of mountains that form the centre of the island was traversed, and we had killed nothing. Hunger drove us on. The hunters had relied on the products of the chase, and they were wrong. Happily Conseil, to his great surprise, made a double shot and secured breakfast. He brought down a white pigeon and a wood-pigeon, which, cleverly plucked and suspended from a skewer, was roasted before a red fire of dead wood. While these interesting birds were cooking, Ned prepared the fruit of the bread-tree. Then the wood-pigeons were devoured to the bones, and declared excellent. The nutmeg, with which they are in the habit of stuffing their crops, flavours their flesh and renders it delicious eating.

“Now, Ned, what do you miss now?”

“Some four-footed game, M. Aronnax. All these pigeons are only side-dishes and trifles; and until I have killed an animal with cutlets I shall not be content.”

“Nor I, Ned, if I do not catch a bird of paradise.”

“Let us continue hunting,” replied Conseil. “Let us go towards the sea. We have arrived at the first declivities of the mountains, and I think we had better regain the region of forests.”

That was sensible advice, and was followed out. After walking for one hour we had attained a forest of sago-trees. Some inoffensive serpents glided away from us. The birds of paradise fled at our approach, and truly I despaired of getting near one when Conseil, who was walking in front, suddenly bent down, uttered a triumphal cry, and came back to me bringing a magnificent specimen.

“Ah! bravo, Conseil!”

“Master is very good.”

“No, my boy; you have made an excellent stroke. Take one of these living birds, and carry it in your hand.”

“If master will examine it, he will see that I have not deserved great merit.”

“Why, Conseil?”

“Because this bird is as drunk as a quail.”

“Drunk!”

“Yes, sir; drunk with the nutmegs that it devoured under the nutmeg-tree, under which I found it. See, friend Ned, see the monstrous effects of intemperance!”

“By Jove!” exclaimed the Canadian, “because I have drunk gin for two months, you must needs reproach me!”

However, I examined the curious bird. Conseil was right. The bird, drunk with the juice, was quite powerless. It could not fly; it could hardly walk.

This bird belonged to the most beautiful of the eight species that are found in Papua and in the neighbouring islands. It was the “large emerald bird, the most rare kind.” It measured three feet in length. Its head was comparatively small, its eyes placed near the opening of the beak, and also small. But the shades of colour were beautiful, having a yellow beak, brown feet and claws, nut-coloured wings with purple tips, pale yellow at the back of the neck and head, and emerald colour at the throat, chestnut on the breast and belly. Two horned, downy nets rose from below the tail, that prolonged the long light feathers of admirable fineness, and they completed the whole of this marvellous bird, that the natives have poetically named the “bird of the sun.”

But if my wishes were satisfied by the possession of the bird of paradise, the Canadian’s were not yet. Happily, about two o’clock, Ned Land brought down a magnificent hog; from the brood of those the natives call “bari-outang.” The animal came in time for us to procure real quadruped meat, and he was well received. Ned Land was very proud of his shot. The hog, hit by the electric ball, fell stone dead. The Canadian skinned and cleaned it properly, after having taken half a dozen cutlets, destined to furnish us with a grilled repast in the evening. Then the hunt was resumed, which was still more marked by Ned and Conseil’s exploits.

Indeed, the two friends, beating the bushes, roused a herd of kangaroos that fled and bounded along on their elastic paws. But these animals did not take to flight so rapidly but what the electric capsule could stop their course.

“Ah, Professor!” cried Ned Land, who was carried away by the delights of the chase, “what excellent game, and stewed, too! What a supply for the Nautilus! Two! three! five down! And to think that we shall eat that flesh, and that the idiots on board shall not have a crumb!”

I think that, in the excess of his joy, the Canadian, if he had not talked so much, would have killed them all. But he contented himself with a single dozen of these interesting marsupians. These animals were small. They were a species of those “kangaroo rabbitss” that live habitually in the hollows of trees, and whose speed is extreme; but they are moderately fat, and furnish, at least, estimable food. We were very satisfied with the results of the hunt. Happy Ned proposed to return to this enchanting island the next day, for he wished to depopulate it of all the eatable quadrupeds. But he had reckoned without his host.

At six o’clock in the evening we had regained the shore; our boat was moored to the usual place. The Nautilus, like a long rock, emerged from the waves two miles from the beach. Ned Land, without waiting, occupied himself about the important dinner business. He understood all about cooking well. The “bari-outang,” grilled on the coals, soon scented the air with a delicious odour.

Indeed, the dinner was excellent. Two wood-pigeons completed this extraordinary menu. The sago pasty, the artocarpus bread, some mangoes, half a dozen pineapples, and the liquor fermented from some coco-nuts, overjoyed us. I even think that my worthy companions’ ideas had not all the plainness desirable.

“Suppose we do not return to the Nautilus this evening?” said Conseil.

“Suppose we never return?” added Ned Land.

Just then a stone fell at our feet and cut short the harpooner’s proposition.

#hellsitesonlybookclub #jules verne #bookblr #books

[m1kemedeiros]

FIJI ~ THE RETURN

(Yasawa islands & the Coral Coast)

🎶 “One the road again” since the dreaded global pandemic. I left Canada at the end of 2016, now it’s 2023 and may the travels continue. Currently living in Brisbane Australia with my partner in crime. Zach and I travelled 5 hours to Fiji, only to be met by the warm weather and musical greetings.

Nadi: Hustling to find a taxi we made it to smugglers accomodation. Just as I remembered 6 years ago, smugglers is somewhere to crash for a night and nothing much has changed. The following morning we hopped on a bus and headed through Nadi to Port Denarau where we met our boat, the south sea island cruiser. Aboard the vessel we road the roof top, 4.5 hours all the way up the Yasawa islands to the famous Blue Lagoon Resort.

Blue Lagoon: White sandy beaches fringed in coconut palms, cobalt blue and turquoise coloured ocean. Blue lagoon is home to an endless natural beauty and the loveliest of islanders. Located near the end of the Yasawa chain of islands. Fun Fact: Blue Lagoon is known and named after the 1980s film, “Blue lagoon” (starring Brooke Sheilds). We spent our time here free diving the “Sawai-Lo” caves on the neighbouring island. Snorkelling with turtles, sea life and a vast display of ancient colourful corals. After a scenic hike accompanied by the village dog we named, “Nipples” our evenings were plentiful. Kava rituals, an endless buffet, traditional song and dance that even we were sure to partake in. Blue lagoon was one to remember.

Manta Ray: Onto the next one! After the Lagoon we ventured down to Manta Ray Island, an island I had once visited 6 years prior. Friendly and laid-back, this island will forever leave its mark in my mind. Scenic views of neighbouring islands and known for its flocks of majestic manta rays that soar through the current like birds in the air. Often the locals will sound a conch-shell and as if it were a Black Friday sale, everyone then races like a group of warriors to the boats. Prepared to battle the current in hopes of seeing these majestic Mantas. We swam like hell in attempt to see them but ended up being the 2 of few who were unsuccessful. We enjoyed a lovely meal with an evening in our seaside villa just steps from the ocean, the waves lulling us to sleep. The following morning we watched the sunrise and enjoyed a beach stroll, playing with hermit crabs along the shoreline. We were met with slight disappointment as the island pump had broken, running us out of clean water. Unfortunate and uncommon but not the end of the world, we had to quickly re-arranged accomodation to another island further south.

Naqalia: Travelling from Manta Ray we headed down the Yasawa to a small island called, Naqalia. With the change in accomodation we managed to find a small home stay with a local family on the island. Unique and rustic, the family ran a lodge that was completely hand made and everyone played a part in accomodating us. With little cost Zach and I had a roof over our heads and met handful of fellow travellers, open to experiencing Fiji locals like few tourists ever get the privilege of having. The family cooked a meal that I strongly attest was the best food we had the entire trip. However Zach wasn’t feeling great so the following day he stayed back while I did something I’ve never done before. The teenage boys from the Fijian family of Naqalia had driven an older couple and myself kilometres from land to a large reef in the open ocean. After getting past some large waves we jumped in the centre of the reef where we snorkelled above large trumpet fish and schools of white tip reef sharks. The young boys who brought us even hand fed the sharks right in front of us which seemed dangerous yet thrilling.

Barefoot Kuata: After a short stay at Naqalia lodge we were brought over by a small boat to Barefoot Kuata. Over the shallow beach and endless colourful reef, tucked away in the towering palm trees is a hidden gem. Barefoot Kuata resort is a luxurious stay where Zach and I had an amazing boho-beach inspired accomodation with an outdoor shower and bathtub. After exploring the cave and sunset lookouts with endless views. We kicked back with great Buffett dinner and night snorkel. The following morning we both went diving for the first time in 3.5 years. Unlike any other dive this particular one was with 3 meter long bull sharks. Known for being an aggressive breed of shark species, we still did it. Watching 10+ of these fascinating animals swarm in a feeding frenzy as one of the locals fed them at a depth of 22 meters. Barefoot was a memorable stay and a place I’d love to visit again.

South Sea Island: Six years ago I had a very memorable, laid back stay on south sea island. Taking only minutes to walk the perimeter of this island, and accomodating no more than a handful of people. I had connected with a group of travellers I still occasionally keep in touch with. However it seemed this island had a subtle facelift and is now a popular destination for other travellers looking to spend the day from neighbouring islands. Still very enjoyable, we slept in a small cabin steps from the sea. Watching the sunset change, as it went from a small amber glow to filling the sky with touches of magenta and cotton candy pink. After saying goodbye to the Yasawa islands and the few fellow people we met along the way we carried on to the mainland.

The Road Trip: Embracing spontaneity, we met a local worker on south sea island who agreed to driving us 2.5 hours for $200. Even though it was very much out of his way, it was the best way to educate ourselves. Before starting the road trip into the night, we first stopped by his village where we had the privilege of meeting some of his family and local animals. Zach, the driver and I spent this time indulging and comparing cultures and ethnicities before picking up a fourth. We pulled into a village to pick up the drivers cousin and the 4 of us carried along driving. Like the beginning of a bad joke, an Australian, Canadian and two Fijian men drove across mainland Fiji comparing stories and sharing riddles.

Pacific Harbour: After the long and winding roads, we said goodbye to our fellow Fijians. Ending up at our final destination…The Pearl Resort. Located in Pacific Harbour, The Pearl is a beautifully landscaped resort with all the comforts of home. This did not end the adventurers in us! We managed to squeeze 2 more dives in with a local company. These exploration dives were stunning! An array of sea life, lion fish, sharks, trumpet fish, nudibranch and soft corals. My particular favourite part was the ship wreck at a depth of 23 meters with large over hanging fan corals cascading off the sides of this rusty, old vessel.

After our final experience scuba diving we headed back to The Pearl. This location is a great way to stop and rest before heading back to the hardships of reality. Here we lived the highlife, indulging in food, spa treatments and poolside cocktails. Amazingly, to my surprise I even bumped into one of my south sea “fellow travellers” from 6 years ago. However this time she came with family too, not the lonely traveller who I once met a long time ago. So happy for her! (Laura)

First time overseas since the global pandemic, first time travelling with Zach, second time in Fiji and it’s just as wondrous as I recall. Home to 333 islands, 120 of those islands inhabiting the loveliest of local people. With its main source of economy being tourism you can understand why Fiji is an oasis for those wanting an escape. A tropical paradise scattered amongst the Pacific Ocean, Fiji will always hold special unforgettable memories.

Bula and Vinaka Levu

“Life and Thank you very much”

Until next time,

Michael Medeiros

June, 10, 2023.

[livefuntravelposts]

Exploring Amazing Places in August

August, the zenith of summer, comes with the promise of vibrant experiences and unforgettable journeys. As the sun casts its golden glow across the world, this month offers plenty of possibilities for travel enthusiasts to embark on exciting escapades. Whether you're a beach lover seeking peaceful shores, a culture enthusiast ready to immerse yourself in festivals, or an adventurer eager to conquer new landscapes, August presents a variety of top travel destinations that cater to every wanderer's heart. August also starts see smaller crowds as school starts in many places. This makes August ideal for couples to travel and explore. Join us on this extended journey as we explore in-depth some of the most captivating places to visit in this splendid month.

Discovering the Mediterranean Wonders: A Blend of Colors and Cultures

As summer's warmth envelops the European continent, the Mediterranean shoreline becomes a melting pot of cultures and breathtaking vistas. Imagine wandering through the cobbled streets of Rome, where every corner reveals layers of history waiting to be uncovered. Journey to Florence and be captivated by the Renaissance masterpieces that adorn its galleries and piazzas. The Amalfi Coast beckons with its postcard-perfect scenery, inviting you to unwind on its picturesque beaches. If cooler places are your preference, venture to Iceland and be mesmerised by its otherworldly landscapes, from geothermal wonders to glaciers that glisten under the midnight sun. Alternatively, lose yourself in the rugged beauty of Norway's fjords, where nature's magnificence reigns supreme. Scotland's Edinburgh Festival Fringe is proof of human creativity, offering an array of artistic expressions that transform the city into a vibrant canvas of imagination.

Nature's Playground: Exploring National Parks and the Great Outdoors

August unfolds as a paradise for nature enthusiasts, inviting you to indulge in the raw beauty of national parks and pristine landscapes. Yellowstone National Park's geothermal wonders and geysers present a mesmerizing spectacle, while its diverse wildlife roams freely across the expansive wilderness. Canada's Banff National Park boasts emerald lakes that mirror the surrounding mountains, providing an idyllic setting for hiking and reflection. In the heart of South Africa, Kruger National Park's dry season offers an unparalleled opportunity to witness the intricate dance of life as animals gather around water sources in search of sustenance.  

Relaxing by the Sea

Enjoying Nature's Beauty August invites beach lovers to embrace the soothing rhythm of the tides and the caress of ocean breezes. The Maldives, a tropical paradise, unveils its luxurious overwater bungalows and coral reefs teeming with marine life. French Polynesia's Bora Bora, a synonym for romance, presents crystal-clear lagoons and the gentle sway of palm trees, creating a picture-perfect setting for relaxation.  Also, do not forget about lakes.  In many places, a lake vacation is incredible.

Festivals and Cultural Delights: Celebrating Together

August is a testament to cultural unity, with festivals celebrating the rich tapestry of human traditions. Spain's La Tomatina Festival in Buñol is a spirited event that sees participants engage in a playful tomato fight, creating a vibrant spectacle of color and camaraderie. The Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia holds deep spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, drawing millions to Mecca in a profound journey of faith and devotion. Also in Scotland, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe transforms the Scottish capital into a hub of artistic innovation, where performers from across the globe converge to showcase their talents in a melting pot of creativity.

Asian Adventures: Unveiling the Beauty of the East

The enchantment of Asia beckons, offering a harmonious blend of tradition and modernity. Bali, Indonesia, is a haven of tranquillity, where emerald rice terraces cascade down hillsides and intricate temples invite moments of reflection. Tokyo, Japan, is a symphony of contrasts during the Obon Festival, with lantern-lit streets and traditional dance paying homage to ancestral spirits. Seoul, South Korea, seamlessly fuses ancient palaces with bustling urban districts, encapsulating the nation's dynamic spirit and rich history.

Thrills and Chills: Embracing Adventure 

For adventure seekers, August offers opportunities to push boundaries and immerse in nature's wonders. Costa Rica's lush rainforests provide a playground for ziplining through the canopy and encountering exotic creatures, while the Southern Alps of New Zealand transform into a snow-covered wonderland, offering thrilling skiing and snowboarding experiences amidst breathtaking alpine landscapes.

Sailing into the Horizon: Cruising in August

Though Kati and I are not cruisers, we know many that are.  August is an opportune time for cruise enthusiasts to set sail on unforgettable journeys. Alaska's majestic glaciers and untamed landscapes create a stunning backdrop for your voyage, as you navigate through icy waters and encounter wildlife in its natural habitat. A Mediterranean cruise presents a cultural odyssey, with each port of call revealing the layers of history, art, and culinary delights that define the region.

Spiritual Retreats and Inner Journeys: Nurturing the Soul

In August, seekers of spiritual enlightenment can embark on transformative journeys. India, with its rich tapestry of spiritual traditions, offers opportunities for meditation and self-discovery. Varanasi, the spiritual heart of the country, immerses visitors in ancient rituals along the sacred Ganges River. Alternatively, the tranquil landscapes of Tibet invite introspection and connection with the divine. Whether it's a pilgrimage to a holy site or a retreat in a serene monastery, August offers a chance to nourish the soul and embark on an inner quest for meaning.

Our Last Word

August paints a vivid tapestry of exploration, inviting travelers to indulge their wanderlust and create cherished memories. Whether you're lounging on Mediterranean shores, partaking in cultural festivities, or embracing the thrill of outdoor adventures, these top travel destinations promise an unparalleled experience. As you plan your August escapade, remember to consider local guidelines and travel advisories to ensure a safe and seamless journey. Let curiosity be your compass as you traverse continents and unlock the hidden treasures that await. You might just see Kati and I on your adventures.

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#augusttravel #augustvacation #explore #SummerTravel #SummerVacation

[salantami]

Bayahibe, Rep. Dominicana

Bayahibe is a resort on the Caribbean coast of the Dominican Republic. He is known for its sandy beaches and dive sites. The palm-fringed Playa Publica Bayahibe beach has a boat dock. Playa Dominicus is a long sandy beach with coral reef. To the east, the mainland section of the Parque Nacional del Este is dotted with caves, some of which contain ancient rock art. The island of Saona in the national park has beaches and reefs with diverse flora and fauna, photo of our Caribbean cruise in Feb 2012

Credit :

Bayahibe, Rep. Dominicana

Bayahibe is a resort on the Caribbean coast of the Dominican Republic. He is known for its sandy beaches and dive sites. The palm-fringed Playa Publica Bayahibe beach has a boat dock. Playa Dominicus is a long sandy beach with coral reef. To the east, the mainland section of the Parque Nacional del Este is dotted with caves, some of which contain ancient rock art. The island of Saona in the national park has beaches and reefs with diverse flora and fauna, photo of our Caribbean cruise in Feb 2012

#Instagram

[iincantatorum]

Ulysses do you have a favorite shore in all the world you like to visit?

"The beaches of Tahiti have the best shores. I don't know if there's a particular one I like there, but there's this one surrounded by sand-fringed motus and a turquoise lagoon protected by a coral reef, it’s known for its scuba diving. I like giving those divers a little show- getting into my full kraken form but of normal size so they think I'm some rare octopus. Needless to say, I've made myself well into Polynesian mythology too."

#ulysses; answers

[20k-leagues-speedrun]

CHAPTER XVIII VANIKORO

This terrible spectacle was the forerunner of the series of maritime catastrophes that the Nautilus was destined to meet with in its route. As long as it went through more frequented waters, we often saw the hulls of shipwrecked vessels that were rotting in the depths, and deeper down cannons, bullets, anchors, chains, and a thousand other iron materials eaten up by rust. However, on the 11th of December we sighted the Pomotou Islands, the old “dangerous group” of Bougainville, that extend over a space of 500 leagues at E.S.E. to W.N.W., from the Island Ducie to that of Lazareff. This group covers an area of 370 square leagues, and it is formed of sixty groups of islands, among which the Gambier group is remarkable, over which France exercises sway. These are coral islands, slowly raised, but continuous, created by the daily work of polypi. Then this new island will be joined later on to the neighboring groups, and a fifth continent will stretch from New Zealand and New Caledonia, and from thence to the Marquesas.

One day, when I was suggesting this theory to Captain Nemo, he replied coldly:

“The earth does not want new continents, but new men.”

Chance had conducted the Nautilus towards the Island of Clermont-Tonnere, one of the most curious of the group, that was discovered in 1822 by Captain Bell of the Minerva. I could study now the madreporal system, to which are due the islands in this ocean.

Madrepores (which must not be mistaken for corals) have a tissue lined with a calcareous crust, and the modifications of its structure have induced M. Milne Edwards, my worthy master, to class them into five sections. The animalcule that the marine polypus secretes live by millions at the bottom of their cells. Their calcareous deposits become rocks, reefs, and large and small islands. Here they form a ring, surrounding a little inland lake, that communicates with the sea by means of gaps. There they make barriers of reefs like those on the coasts of New Caledonia and the various Pomoton islands. In other places, like those at Reunion and at Maurice, they raise fringed reefs, high, straight walls, near which the depth of the ocean is considerable.

Some cable-lengths off the shores of the Island of Clermont I admired the gigantic work accomplished by these microscopical workers. These walls are specially the work of those madrepores known as milleporas, porites, madrepores, and astraeas. These polypi are found particularly in the rough beds of the sea, near the surface; and consequently it is from the upper part that they begin their operations, in which they bury themselves by degrees with the debris of the secretions that support them. Such is, at least, Darwin’s theory, who thus explains the formation of the atolls, a superior theory (to my mind) to that given of the foundation of the madreporical works, summits of mountains or volcanoes, that are submerged some feet below the level of the sea.

I could observe closely these curious walls, for perpendicularly they were more than 300 yards deep, and our electric sheets lighted up this calcareous matter brilliantly. Replying to a question Conseil asked me as to the time these colossal barriers took to be raised, I astonished him much by telling him that learned men reckoned it about the eighth of an inch in a hundred years.

Towards evening Clermont-Tonnerre was lost in the distance, and the route of the Nautilus was sensibly changed. After having crossed the tropic of Capricorn in 135° longitude, it sailed W.N.W., making again for the tropical zone. Although the summer sun was very strong, we did not suffer from heat, for at fifteen or twenty fathoms below the surface, the temperature did not rise above from ten to twelve degrees.

On 15th of December, we left to the east the bewitching group of the Societies and the graceful Tahiti, queen of the Pacific. I saw in the morning, some miles to the windward, the elevated summits of the island. These waters furnished our table with excellent fish, mackerel, bonitos, and some varieties of a sea-serpent.

On the 25th of December the Nautilus sailed into the midst of the New Hebrides, discovered by Quiros in 1606, and that Bougainville explored in 1768, and to which Cook gave its present name in 1773. This group is composed principally of nine large islands, that form a band of 120 leagues N.N.S. to S.S.W., between 15° and 2° S. lat., and 164 deg. and 168° long. We passed tolerably near to the Island of Aurou, that at noon looked like a mass of green woods, surmounted by a peak of great height.

That day being Christmas Day, Ned Land seemed to regret sorely the non-celebration of “Christmas,” the family fete of which Protestants are so fond. I had not seen Captain Nemo for a week, when, on the morning of the 27th, he came into the large drawing-room, always seeming as if he had seen you five minutes before. I was busily tracing the route of the Nautilus on the planisphere. The Captain came up to me, put his finger on one spot on the chart, and said this single word.

“Vanikoro.”

The effect was magical! It was the name of the islands on which La Perouse had been lost! I rose suddenly.

“The Nautilus has brought us to Vanikoro?” I asked.

“Yes, Professor,” said the Captain.

“And I can visit the celebrated islands where the Boussole and the Astrolabe struck?”

“If you like, Professor.”

“When shall we be there?”

“We are there now.”

Followed by Captain Nemo, I went up on to the platform, and greedily scanned the horizon.

To the N.E. two volcanic islands emerged of unequal size, surrounded by a coral reef that measured forty miles in circumference. We were close to Vanikoro, really the one to which Dumont d’Urville gave the name of Isle de la Recherche, and exactly facing the little harbour of Vanou, situated in 16° 4′ S. lat., and 164° 32′ E. long. The earth seemed covered with verdure from the shore to the summits in the interior, that were crowned by Mount Kapogo, 476 feet high. The Nautilus, having passed the outer belt of rocks by a narrow strait, found itself among breakers where the sea was from thirty to forty fathoms deep. Under the verdant shade of some mangroves I perceived some savages, who appeared greatly surprised at our approach. In the long black body, moving between wind and water, did they not see some formidable cetacean that they regarded with suspicion?

Just then Captain Nemo asked me what I knew about the wreck of La Perouse.

“Only what everyone knows, Captain,” I replied.

“And could you tell me what everyone knows about it?” he inquired, ironically.

“Easily.”

I related to him all that the last works of Dumont d’Urville had made known—works from which the following is a brief account.

La Perouse, and his second, Captain de Langle, were sent by Louis XVI, in 1785, on a voyage of circumnavigation. They embarked in the corvettes Boussole and the Astrolabe, neither of which were again heard of. In 1791, the French Government, justly uneasy as to the fate of these two sloops, manned two large merchantmen, the Recherche and the Esperance, which left Brest the 28th of September under the command of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux.

Two months after, they learned from Bowen, commander of the Albemarle, that the debris of shipwrecked vessels had been seen on the coasts of New Georgia. But D’Entrecasteaux, ignoring this communication—rather uncertain, besides—directed his course towards the Admiralty Islands, mentioned in a report of Captain Hunter’s as being the place where La Perouse was wrecked.

They sought in vain. The Esperance and the Recherche passed before Vanikoro without stopping there, and, in fact, this voyage was most disastrous, as it cost D’Entrecasteaux his life, and those of two of his lieutenants, besides several of his crew.

Captain Dillon, a shrewd old Pacific sailor, was the first to find unmistakable traces of the wrecks. On the 15th of May, 1824, his vessel, the St. Patrick, passed close to Tikopia, one of the New Hebrides. There a Lascar came alongside in a canoe, sold him the handle of a sword in silver that bore the print of characters engraved on the hilt. The Lascar pretended that six years before, during a stay at Vanikoro, he had seen two Europeans that belonged to some vessels that had run aground on the reefs some years ago.

Dillon guessed that he meant La Perouse, whose disappearance had troubled the whole world. He tried to get on to Vanikoro, where, according to the Lascar, he would find numerous debris of the wreck, but winds and tides prevented him.

Dillon returned to Calcutta. There he interested the Asiatic Society and the Indian Company in his discovery. A vessel, to which was given the name of the Recherche, was put at his disposal, and he set out, 23rd January, 1827, accompanied by a French agent.

The Recherche, after touching at several points in the Pacific, cast anchor before Vanikoro, 7th July, 1827, in that same harbour of Vanou where the Nautilus was at this time.

There it collected numerous relics of the wreck—iron utensils, anchors, pulley-strops, swivel-guns, an 18 lbs. shot, fragments of astronomical instruments, a piece of crown work, and a bronze clock, bearing this inscription—“Bazin m’a fait,” the mark of the foundry of the arsenal at Brest about 1785. There could be no further doubt.

Dillon, having made all inquiries, stayed in the unlucky place till October. Then he quitted Vanikoro, and directed his course towards New Zealand; put into Calcutta, 7th April, 1828, and returned to France, where he was warmly welcomed by Charles X.

But at the same time, without knowing Dillon’s movements, Dumont d’Urville had already set out to find the scene of the wreck. And they had learned from a whaler that some medals and a cross of St. Louis had been found in the hands of some savages of Louisiade and New Caledonia. Dumont d’Urville, commander of the Astrolabe, had then sailed, and two months after Dillon had left Vanikoro he put into Hobart Town. There he learned the results of Dillon’s inquiries, and found that a certain James Hobbs, second lieutenant of the Union of Calcutta, after landing on an island situated 8° 18′ S. lat., and 156° 30′ E. long., had seen some iron bars and red stuffs used by the natives of these parts. Dumont d’Urville, much perplexed, and not knowing how to credit the reports of low-class journals, decided to follow Dillon’s track.

On the 10th of February, 1828, the Astrolabe appeared off Tikopia, and took as guide and interpreter a deserter found on the island; made his way to Vanikoro, sighted it on the 12th inst., lay among the reefs until the 14th, and not until the 20th did he cast anchor within the barrier in the harbour of Vanou.

On the 23rd, several officers went round the island and brought back some unimportant trifles. The natives, adopting a system of denials and evasions, refused to take them to the unlucky place. This ambiguous conduct led them to believe that the natives had ill-treated the castaways, and indeed they seemed to fear that Dumont d’Urville had come to avenge La Perouse and his unfortunate crew.

However, on the 26th, appeased by some presents, and understanding that they had no reprisals to fear, they led M. Jacquireot to the scene of the wreck.

There, in three or four fathoms of water, between the reefs of Pacou and Vanou, lay anchors, cannons, pigs of lead and iron, embedded in the limy concretions. The large boat and the whaler belonging to the Astrolabe were sent to this place, and, not without some difficulty, their crews hauled up an anchor weighing 1,800 lbs., a brass gun, some pigs of iron, and two copper swivel-guns.

Dumont d’Urville, questioning the natives, learned too that La Perouse, after losing both his vessels on the reefs of this island, had constructed a smaller boat, only to be lost a second time. Where, no one knew.

But the French Government, fearing that Dumont d’Urville was not acquainted with Dillon’s movements, had sent the sloop Bayonnaise, commanded by Legoarant de Tromelin, to Vanikoro, which had been stationed on the west coast of America. The Bayonnaise cast her anchor before Vanikoro some months after the departure of the Astrolabe, but found no new document; but stated that the savages had respected the monument to La Perouse. That is the substance of what I told Captain Nemo.

“So,” he said, “no one knows now where the third vessel perished that was constructed by the castaways on the island of Vanikoro?”

“No one knows.”

Captain Nemo said nothing, but signed to me to follow him into the large saloon. The Nautilus sank several yards below the waves, and the panels were opened.

I hastened to the aperture, and under the crustations of coral, covered with fungi, syphonules, alcyons, madrepores, through myriads of charming fish—girelles, glyphisidri, pompherides, diacopes, and holocentres—I recognised certain debris that the drags had not been able to tear up—iron stirrups, anchors, cannons, bullets, capstan fittings, the stem of a ship, all objects clearly proving the wreck of some vessel, and now carpeted with living flowers. While I was looking on this desolate scene, Captain Nemo said, in a sad voice:

“Commander La Perouse set out 7th December, 1785, with his vessels La Boussole and the Astrolabe. He first cast anchor at Botany Bay, visited the Friendly Isles, New Caledonia, then directed his course towards Santa Cruz, and put into Namouka, one of the Hapai group. Then his vessels struck on the unknown reefs of Vanikoro. The Boussole, which went first, ran aground on the southerly coast. The Astrolabe went to its help, and ran aground too. The first vessel was destroyed almost immediately. The second, stranded under the wind, resisted some days. The natives made the castaways welcome. They installed themselves in the island, and constructed a smaller boat with the debris of the two large ones. Some sailors stayed willingly at Vanikoro; the others, weak and ill, set out with La Perouse. They directed their course towards the Solomon Islands, and there perished, with everything, on the westerly coast of the chief island of the group, between Capes Deception and Satisfaction.”

“How do you know that?”

“By this, that I found on the spot where was the last wreck.”

Captain Nemo showed me a tin-plate box, stamped with the French arms, and corroded by the salt water. He opened it, and I saw a bundle of papers, yellow but still readable.

They were the instructions of the naval minister to Commander La Perouse, annotated in the margin in Louis XVI’s handwriting.

“Ah! it is a fine death for a sailor!” said Captain Nemo, at last. “A coral tomb makes a quiet grave; and I trust that I and my comrades will find no other.”

#20k leagues speedrun #20000 leagues under the sea #chapter 18

[sohannabarberaesque]

So what's a polar bear like Breezly Bruin doing with Peter Potamus in Polynesia Uncharted?

In short, plenty. Especially with a girlfriend like Betty Bruin, also from the shores of Norton Sound and its Alaskan hinterlands, along for the experience and the thrill.

All thanks to a casual invite from no less than Peter Potamus, the Ambassador of Diving for the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, unto Breezly Bruin by way of the La Jolla diving camp of Peter's famous Travelling SCUBA Par-tay; however, Breezly had to finish up short stints at no less than three fresh-air camps in the Adirondacks of New York state to demonstrate and teach diving to especially high-risk street kids from New York needing a way forward.

With journey time to Peter's special uncharted atoll on the fringes of Polynesia Uncharted, those special islands of Polynesian romance where nakedness as Nature intended still regins supreme, about two and a half days via the Magic Balloon (helped somewhat by some backlash winds from a typhoon somewhere between Hawai'i and French Polynesia), much was certain to be discussed among these polar bears and their fondness of diving, mainly the breath-hold sort which polar bears are fond of.

Still, what certainly surprised Breezly and Betty was the sheer and utter warmth of as much the air as the waters of the atoll and the surrounding Pacific, the sheer, unbleached brilliance of colour in the coral reefs thereof and the outright friendliness of the dolphins so inhabitant as would oft join our polar bear companions in diving experiences. Which certainly excused leaving home his Kromer cap, scarf and boots and swapping such, by and large, for himself.

(Oh yes, and the Churchill Swim Fins.)

Yet, given the exceptional underwater visibility of polar bears, Breezly and Betty couldn't have felt more relaxed in the tropical Pacific warmth just gliding over the atoll's rather massive coral reef in its Luscious Glory ... and being surprised at just how much improved the fur coats came out in the tropical transluscence for some bizarre reason. And just to sleep in a hammock set in the shallows of the outer shore so that the incoming tide can lap away at the base and lull all to sleep--at least it's an improvement on frozen tundra back in Nome before the snow and ice sets in!

(One particularly amusing sidelight was where Peter Potamus was teaching Breezly the finer points of using a harpoon spear gun for fishing underwater, having to be careful to point well enough away from especially Betty, who couldn't help but be amused at the sight. Nonetheless, Breezly was able to spear a few fish for the supper one evening.

(And what about the times when Breezly and Betty couldn't resist watching dolphins in love most pure and beautiful--and to try such underwater for themselves, though not going all that far considering the depth of the water?)

Well ... after nearly a week's diving experience in that uncharted (and yet most fantastical) of Polynesian atolls such as Peter Potamus knows of, you could say Breezly and Betty Bruin never felt more refreshed. Or even noticed a more brilliant shade of their fur, credit somewhat to the tropical waters. Guaranteed to be of especial attention in Squiddly Diddly's next Underwater Annual of his.

*************

@warnerbrosentertainment @hanna-barbera-land @warnerbros-blog1 @nighttimehound @restroom @cottoncandy-wannabe @hanna-barberians @straights-world @themineralyoucrave @joey-gatorman @the-housebroken-feels @jellystone-enjoyer @screamingtoosoftly @wackology @hanna-barbera-blog @thylordshipofbutts @xdiver71 @theweekenddigest

#hanna barbera #fanfic friday #breezly bruin #peter potamus #polynesia uncharted #polynesian atoll #polynesia underwater #betty bruin #diving polynesia #diving romance #dive experience #discover diving #support jellystone #hannabarberaforever

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Reefs of New Caledonia While orbiting over the southwestern Pacific Ocean, an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) photographed this fringing coral reef on the south coast of New Caledonia. The reef separates the light blue shallows of the lagoon from the darker, deeper Pacific Ocean. Tan hues tinge the lagoon where sediment flows in from uplands to the north-northeast. Situated about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) east of Australia, New Caledonia is a French overseas territory comprised of Grande Terre and other smaller islands. The archipelago spans a land area of about 19,000 square kilometers (7,300 square miles) and is home to almost 300,000 people. The reefs surrounding Grande Terre and the islands of New Caledonia stretch a combined length of 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles). Known for its varying underwater structures, the system includes coral islands, double reef barriers, and offshore reefs. New Caledonia’s reefs are home to an estimated 9,300 marine species and almost 500 species of coral. The lagoons promote biodiversity by supporting large predators (including sharks), nesting seabirds, mangroves, and seagrasses. In 2008, the reefs and lagoons were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List because of their ecological value and geographic uniqueness. Astronaut photograph ISS063-E-87740 was acquired on September 9, 2020, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 800 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 63 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Minna Adel Rubio, GeoControl Systems, JETS Contract at NASA-JSC.

#space #science #earth observatory #news #NASA #new caledonia

[thedigirealm]

Galle Dutch Fort: A Journey Through Hidden Gems and Historic Marvels

Along Sri Lanka's scenic southern coast, Galle beckons with a captivating blend of historical landmarks and modern attractions. At the heart of this coastal gem lies the iconic Galle Dutch Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that narrates centuries of maritime history and architectural splendor. Exploring the enchanting places to visit in Galle, including the intriguing Galle Dutch Fort, unveils a tapestry of hidden gems and cultural treasures waiting to be discovered.

Historic Galle: A Blend of Past and Present

Galle is a captivating city on Sri Lanka's southern coast, famous for its blend of colonial history and modern attractions.

The Galle Dutch Fort, built by the Portuguese and fortified by the Dutch, is the centerpiece of the city, offering a glimpse into its storied past.

Cobblestone streets, colonial buildings, boutique shops, and cafes characterize the fort's charming ambiance.

Exploring the Secrets of Galle Dutch Fort

Delve into the hidden corners of Galle Dutch Fort to discover its intriguing secrets.

The Moon Bastion, a secluded spot within the fort, offers enchanting views and a serene atmosphere, especially under moonlight.

Underground tunnels within the fort provide insight into its strategic importance and wartime tactics.

Must-Visit Places Within Galle

The Dutch Reformed Church and the Old Dutch Hospital are iconic landmarks showcasing Galle's colonial architecture.

The Galle Lighthouse on the fort's ramparts provides panoramic coastal views.

The National Museum of Galle displays artifacts that narrate the region's historical narrative.

Exploring Beyond Galle

Nearby Unawatuna offers palm-fringed beaches and vibrant coral reefs, perfect for water sports and relaxation.

Koggala features tranquil lakes, cinnamon plantations, and mangrove forests ideal for boat rides and birdwatching.

The Martin Wickramasinghe Folk Museum Complex provides insights into traditional Sri Lankan culture.

Conclusion: Rediscovering Galle's Timeless Charm

In conclusion, Galle Dutch Fort is a gateway to uncovering the essence of Sri Lanka's rich heritage and natural beauty. Whether exploring its historic landmarks, venturing into its hidden corners, or discovering the surrounding coastal and inland gems, Galle promises an unforgettable journey through time and culture. Include Galle in your Sri Lanka tour package to experience the best of this enchanting destination.