Millions of years ago
几百万年前
These powerful reptiles had already begun their push eastwards
这些强大的爬行动物已经开始向东推进
For any animal castaway
对于任何离群的动物
First hurdle would have been the 60-mile stretch of water
首个巨大的挑战,是六十英里宽的水域
That separetes New Guinea from the next group of island-theSolomons
将新几内亚与下一组岛屿——所罗门群岛隔开
Instead of one dominating island like New Guinea
不同于新几内亚那样有一个主导岛屿
The Solomon are made up of almost a thousand smaller jewels
所罗门群岛,由近千颗小宝石组成
Scattered along a 900-miles chain
星罗棋布于长达900英里的链条上
All these islands erupted out of the sea and were ripe for colonisation
这些岛屿如同火山爆发般从海中涌现,正等待着被殖民的时机。