旅行的藝術(shù):Ⅳ 好奇心-4

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洪堡從來不被這些問題所困擾。無論他到什么地方去，目的都是明確的，即：發(fā)掘事實，驗以證之。

Humboldt had not been pursued by such questions. Everywhere he went, his mission was unambiguous: to discover facts and to carry out experiments towards that end.

在前往南美洲的船上，他已經(jīng)展開研究。從西班牙航行到新格拉納達(dá)，即今委內(nèi)瑞拉海岸庫馬納的途中，他每兩個小時就測量一次海水的溫度。他記錄了六分儀所測出的數(shù)據(jù)，還在船尾系上一個魚網(wǎng)，然后把當(dāng)中他所看到或找到的所有海洋動物記錄下來。他一踏上委內(nèi)瑞拉的土地，就立即投入對庫馬納一帶植物的研究。庫馬納這座城建立在石灰質(zhì)巖的丘陵地上，丘陵上長滿像蠟燭般的仙人掌，枝干延伸出去，像是長了一層苔蘚的枝形燭臺。一天下午，洪堡量了一種仙人掌的圓周，測出的數(shù)據(jù)是1.54米。他花了3個星期的時間，測量了海岸上更多的植物，然后就進(jìn)入內(nèi)地，轉(zhuǎn)移到新安達(dá)盧西亞的深山進(jìn)行探索。他領(lǐng)著一頭驢子，驢子馱著一個六分儀、一支測量磁性變化的磁傾針、一個溫度計和一個測量空氣濕度的索緒爾濕度表（一種用毛發(fā)和鯨骨做成的儀器）。洪堡對這些儀器善加利用。他在自己的日記中寫道：“我們一走進(jìn)森林，氣壓計就顯示，海拔高度增加了。在這里，樹干形成了一個奇景：這里的草本植物長有輪狀樹枝，像蔓藤般生長到8至10英尺高，形成環(huán)圈，在我們的前路隨風(fēng)搖曳。大約下午3點，我們在一個叫做奎特普的小平原停下腳步，該平原海拔190突阿斯（突阿斯，長度單位，每突阿斯約等于1.95米）。平原上的幾間茅屋旁有一條小溪，印第安人都認(rèn)為小溪的水既清新又有益健康，我們發(fā)覺溪水的確很好喝，它的溫度不過攝氏22.5度，而周圍空氣的溫度是28.7度?！?

Already on the ship carrying him to South America, he had begun his factual researches. He measured the temperature of the sea water every two hours from Spain to the ship's destination, Cumaná, on the coast of New Granada (part of modern Venezuela). He took readings with his sextant and recorded the different marine species that he saw or found in a net he had hung from the stern. And once he landed in Venezuela, he threw himself into study of the vegetation around Cumaná. The hills of calcareous rock on which the town stood were dotted with cacti and opunda, their trunks branching out like candelabras coated with lichen. One afternoon, Humboldt measured a cactus (Tuna macho ) and noted its circumference. It was 1.54 metres. He spent three weeks measuring many more plants on the coast, then ventured inland into the jungle-covered New Andalusia mountains. He took with him a mule bearing a trunk containing a sextant, a dipping needle, an instrument to calibrate magnetic variation, a thermometer and Saussure's hygrometer, which measured humidity and was made of hair and whalebone. He put the instruments to good use. In his journal he wrote: 'As we entered the jungle the barometer showed that we were gaining altitude. Here the tree trunks offered us an extraordinary view: a gramineous plant with verticillate branches climbs like a liana to a height of 8 to 10 feet, forming garlands that cross our path and swing in the wind. At about three in the afternoon we stopped on a small plain known as Quetepe, some 190 toises above sea level. A few huts stand by a spring whose water is known by the Indians to be fresh and healthy. We found the water delicious. Its temperature was only 22.5C while the air was 28.7C.'