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"When quiet had been restored and the audience resumed their seats after the
ovation which they had given to the travellers, the chairman, the Duke of
Durham, addressed the meeting. 'He would not,' he said, 'stand for more than a
moment between that vast assembly and the treat which lay before them. It was
not for him to anticipate what Professor Summerlee, who was the spokesman of
the committee, had to say to them, but it was common rumour that their
expedition had been crowned by extraordinary success.' (Applause.) 'Apparently
the age of romance was not dead, and there was common ground upon which the
wildest imaginings of the novelist could meet the actual scientific
investigations of the searcher for truth. He would only add, before he sat
down, that he rejoiced—and all of them would rejoice—that these gentlemen
had returned safe and sound from their difficult and dangerous task, for it
cannot be denied that any disaster to such an expedition would have inflicted a
well-nigh irreparable loss to the cause of Zoological science.' (Great
applause, in which Professor Challenger was observed to join.)
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« Quand, le calme rétabli et l’ovation terminée, les assistants
eurent repris leurs sièges, le président, duc de Durham, prononça quelques
paroles. Il ne voulait pas faire attendre plus d’une minute à l’assemblée
le plaisir que lui promettait cette séance. Il n’avait pas à préjuger ce
qu’allait dire, au nom du comité, le professeur Summerlee ; mais déjà
la rumeur courante affirmait l’extraordinaire succès de l’expédition.
(Applaudissements.) Apparemment, les temps de romanesque n’étaient pas
révolus ; il y avait un terrain sur lequel pouvaient se rencontrer les
plus extravagantes imaginations du romancier et les découvertes du chercheur
en quête de vérité scientifique. L’orateur se réjouissait avec toute
l’assistance de voir ces messieurs revenus sains et saufs, ayant accompli
leur difficile et dangereuse tâche, car le désastre de l’expédition eût
sans contredit infligé une perte irréparable à la cause de la science
zoologique. ( Applaudissements, auxquels s’associa ostensiblement le
professeur Challenger).
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