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CHAPTER 87 . The Grand Armada . The long and narrow peninsula of Malacca , extending south - eastward from the territories of Birmah , forms the most southerly point of all Asia . In a continuous line from that peninsula stretch the long islands of Sumatra , Java , Bally , and Timor ; which , with many others , form a vast mole , or rampart , lengthwise connecting Asia with Australia , and dividing the long unbroken Indian ocean from the thickly studded oriental archipelagoes . This rampart is pierced by several sally - ports for the convenience of ships and whales ; conspicuous among which are the straits of Sunda and Malacca . By the straits of Sunda , chiefly , vessels bound to China from the west , emerge into the China seas . Those narrow straits of Sunda divide Sumatra from Java ; and standing midway in that vast rampart of islands , buttressed by that bold green promontory , known to seamen as Java Head ; they not a little correspond to the central gateway opening into some vast walled empire : and considering the inexhaustible wealth of spices , and silks , and jewels , and gold , and ivory , with which the thousand islands of that oriental sea are enriched , it seems a significant provision of nature , that such treasures , by the very formation of the land , should at least bear the appearance , however ineffectual , of being guarded from the all - grasping western world . The shores of the Straits of Sunda are unsupplied with those domineering fortresses which guard the entrances to the Mediterranean , the Baltic , and the Propontis . Unlike the Danes , these Orientals do not demand the obsequious homage of lowered top - sails from the endless procession of ships before the wind , which for centuries past , by night and by day , have passed between the islands of Sumatra and Java , freighted with the costliest cargoes of the east . But while they freely waive a ceremonial like this , they do by no means renounce their claim to more solid tribute . Time out of mind the piratical proas of the Malays , lurking among the low shaded coves and islets of Sumatra , have sallied out upon the vessels sailing through the straits , fiercely demanding tribute at the point of their spears . Though by the repeated bloody chastisements they have received at the hands of European cruisers , the audacity of these corsairs has of late been somewhat repressed ; yet , even at the present day , we occasionally hear of English and American vessels , which , in those waters , have been remorselessly boarded and pillaged . With a fair , fresh wind , the Pequod was now drawing nigh to these straits ; Ahab purposing to pass through them into the Javan sea , and thence , cruising northwards , over waters known to be frequented here and there by the Sperm Whale , sweep inshore by the Philippine Islands , and gain the far coast of Japan , in time for the great whaling season there . By these means , the circumnavigating Pequod would sweep almost all the known Sperm Whale cruising grounds of the world , previous to descending upon the Line in the Pacific ; where Ahab , though everywhere else foiled in his pursuit , firmly counted upon giving battle to Moby Dick , in the sea he was most known to frequent ; and at a season when he might most reasonably be presumed to be haunting it .
Назад Сторінка 290 з 430 Сторінка 290 з 430 Вперед Читайте далі з перекладом Створіть безкоштовний акаунт: 7 днів Pro, далі 20 перекладів слів на день або платний тариф.
