the Nautilus lay inside the breakers where the sea had a depth of thirty to forty fathoms.  走在暗礁岩石里面了，这里的海水深度为五十米至六十五米左右。

　　Under the green shade of some tropical evergreens, I spotted a few savages who looked extremely startled at our approach.  我看见红树荫下有十二三个土人，他们看见我们的船开来，表示极端惊怪。

　　In this long, blackish object advancing flush with the water,  看见这长长的灰黑东西在水面上行走，

　　didn't they see some fearsome cetacean that they were obliged to view with distrust? 他们可能认为是他们应当警戒的一条很厉害的鲸科动物呢？

　　Just then Captain Nemo asked me what I knew about the shipwreck of the Count de La Perouse. 这个时候，尼摩船长向我打听拉白鲁斯失事遇难的情形，这事我是知道的。

　　What everybody knows, captain, I answered him. 船长，我所知道的不过是大家都知道的罢了。我回答他。

　　And could you kindly tell me what everybody knows? he asked me in a gently ironic tone. 您可以把大家知道的情形告诉我吗？他带些讥讽的神气说。

　　Very easily. 那很容易。

　　I related to him what the final deeds of Captain Dumont d'Urville had brought to light,  我把杜蒙居维尔关于这事的最后著作中所谈到的情形告诉了他，

　　deeds described here in this heavily condensed summary of the whole matter. 下面就是简单的概述。

　　In 1785 the Count de La Perouse and his subordinate,  拉白鲁斯和他的副手郎格尔船长于1785年受路易十六的派遣，

　　Captain de Langle, were sent by King Louis XVI of France on a voyage to circumnavigate the globe.  作环游地球的航行。

　　They boarded two sloops of war, the Compass and the Astrolabe, which were never seen again. 他们乘罗盘号和浑天仪号两艘三级舰出发，以后就再没有听见他们的消息了。

　　In 1791, justly concerned about the fate of these two sloops of war,  1791年，法国政府很关心这两艘战舰的命运，

　　the French government fitted out two large cargo boats, the Search and the Hope,  装备了两艘大运输舰，搜索号和希望号， 准备出发，做寻找的工作。

　　which left Brest on September 28 under orders from Rear Admiral Bruni d'Entrecasteaux.  这两艘大运输舰于9月28日离开布勒斯特海港，由当上尔加斯朵指挥。