Chapter 322 (1/2)

Church's diary III

The snow finally stopped and the sea ushered in sunshine. Although it's winter in the southern hemisphere, if you keep drying on the deck, you may still damage your skin. But Anderson went fishing there again. He did it all year round and didn't see his skin allergies.

We left Port Fitzroy and sailed north by East. Mr. Robbins asked me if I knew about Maria Theresa reef and Ernest leguwe reef. I've heard of those two places, the legendary Ghost Island. Verne wrote about Maria Theresa reef in several novels. Oh, in his works, it seems to be called Tabor, which is a beautiful island. In fact, it is only a small coral reef, which was first discovered by a whaling ship. It is said that earlier European navigators also discovered these islands and recorded their coordinates.

However, in the past 50 years, the navies of New Zealand and the United States have searched this sea area on a large scale and found nothing. There is a large sea basin with an average water depth of 4000 meters, a maximum depth of more than 5000 meters and an area sufficient to hold the whole of Australia.

However, the legend about ghost island has been constant, but like the water monster in Loch Ness, the UFO over Mexico and the lizard man in the mineral swamp, many people claim to find them again every year, but no one takes their words seriously.

In my navigation career, I have passed the sea twice, but I have never seen any ghost island. If the people who see the miracle are the darling of God, then I must not be the one favored by God. Therefore, I am not optimistic about the results of this trip, but I will not say it in public. As a captain, I must do my job well and maintain an optimistic attitude.

I said to Mr. Robbins, sir, I feel that we are more like exploring than scientific research. I have never seen a scientific research ship loaded with advanced instruments just to go to an uncertain place.

Robbins said you're right. We're going to explore, and not just Ghost Island. We're going to more mysterious places and do more interesting things.

I don't know what interesting things can happen at sea. Have these scientists got the treasure map? Is there a huge sunken ship there? But in the ocean basin, even if there is a sunken ship, it is impossible to salvage it!

At this time, Anderson came over with his fishing rod and heard our conversation. He interrupted, interesting thing? In the vast sea, what is more interesting than fishing?

Robbins laughed, nodded and said, yes, Anderson, you're right. Fishing is the most interesting thing.

His laughter infected us, and Anderson and I laughed.

Stephen Robbins is the captain of the scientific research mission. The crew respect him very much, including the scientists on board. Even Mrs. Larry, who has always been cold, is polite to him. But he never puts on airs. He is not only easy to deal with, but also easy to talk. He is a perfect gentleman. He makes people feel good when they meet. He always speaks politely and walks slowly.