As we skimmed the depths of the Grand Banks, I could see perfectly those long fishing lines, each armed with 200 hooks, that every boat dangled by the dozens. The lower end of each line dragged the bottom by means of a small grappling iron, and at the surface it was secured to the buoy-rope of a cork float. The Nautilus had to maneuver shrewdly in the midst of this underwater spiderweb.

当我们穿过纽芬兰暗礁时，我清楚地看到了一些长长的钓鱼线，每条线上都有200个鱼钩，而每条船上都垂下十来根这样的线。每条线的一头都拖着小钩，用固定在软木浮标上的浮标索拉在水面上。在这张海底渔网中行走，“鹦鹉螺号”不得不灵活地操作。

But the ship didn't stay long in these heavily traveled waterways. It went up to about latitude 42 degrees. This brought it abreast of St. John's in Newfoundland and Heart's Content, where the Atlantic Cable reaches its end point.

此外，“鹦鹉螺号”在这片船只来往频繁的海域中并没停留多久。它向上开到北纬42度。而在纽芬兰岛的圣—约翰港和赫尔斯堪敦港所在的纬度上，就埋着越洋海底电缆的终端。

Instead of continuing north, the Nautilus took an easterly heading, as if to go along this plateau on which the telegraph cable rests, where multiple soundings have given the contours of the terrain with the utmost accuracy.

这时，“鹦鹉螺号”船只没有继续向北走，而是取道向东，它好像想沿着这片铺设有电缆，经过多次探测，地形情况极为精确的电线高原走。

It was on May 17, about 500 miles from Heart's Content and 2,800 meters down, that I spotted this cable lying on the seafloor. Conseil, whom I hadn't alerted, mistook it at first for a gigantic sea snake and was gearing up to classify it in his best manner. But I enlightened the fine lad and let him down gently by giving him various details on the laying of this cable.

那天是5月17日，在离赫尔斯堪敦港500海里的2800海米深处，我看到了横卧在地上的电缆。因为我事先没跟康塞尔说过，所以康塞尔一开始以为那是一条巨大的海蛇，还准备按他的老一套对它进行分类呢。我提醒了这位老实的年轻人，为了安抚他的失望情绪，我告诉了他铺设电缆的各种特殊性。