The Gorges4 of the Ardèche
drop Cap R
RUOMS is a quaint6 little town on the Ardèche, where that river issues from between parallel walls of lias, not of great elevation7, laid in regular horizontal beds. The road follows the river upwards8 for a short way only, and then turns up the Ligne towards Argentière. Ruoms was a walled town, and a considerable portion of the fortifications remains9 enclosing the church, old houses, and narrow and dirty lanes. The church is interesting, very early and rude Romanesque, lofty, with three bays and side aisles12. There are quasi-transepts, not extending beyond the aisles. The east end is square. The piers13 and arches are unmoulded. A curious feature is a window on the south, apparently14 to serve for a clerestory light, with pilasters and sculptured capitals, but it has never been pierced through, so that it acts merely as a relieving arcade15 in the wall. Another unusual feature is that the wall of the south aisle11 has in it narrow square-headed [Pg 138] lights in recesses16 under relieving arches. The tower has a zigzag17 ornament18 above the bell windows in black lava2 alternating with white limestone19.
The Ardèche is joined below the town by the river of La Beaume, that flows through a ca?on very similar to that through which the Ardèche itself has run before it reaches the bridge of Ruoms. These ca?ons through the lias are curious rather than picturesque20, the strata21 lie horizontally as regularly disposed as stones in an artificial wall. On the high ground some way up the Beaume, on the plateau, or gras, is the aven or pot-hole of Réméjadou, twenty-five feet in diameter and eighty feet deep. One can hear the rush of water below, and this issues from the rock in the spring of Bourbouillet, two miles off, with sufficient volume to turn a mill. M. Janet says:—
"This aven has water flowing in its depths, filling the entire bottom. This stream issues from an arcade on one side about eighteen feet high, and disappears under a similar arch. It flows from north to south, which agrees with what the shepherd of Bourbouillet asserted, that this subterranean22 stream issues at the spring of that name. According to him, the inhabitants of Bourbouillet were much surprised one day to see the water of this spring charged with sawdust, and the explanation of the phenomenon was obtained only some days later, when they ascertained23 that some woodcutters who had been sawing up a good deal of timber had ridded themselves of the sawdust by throwing it into the aven." [7]
This pot-hole was explored in 1892 by M. Gaupillat, and he established the curious fact that the underground stream enters and leaves the aven by natural [Pg 139] syphons, and not through galleries, so that it is not possible to track the stream up or down.
Standing24 high above the junction25 of the Chassezac and Ardèche are the mountain and rock of Sampson, supporting a little village and church with spire26 on a col between the mighty27 crest28 of perpendicular29 rock and the crag that falls abruptly30 to the Chassezac. A small omnibus conveys travellers to Vallon, which is the place at which to stay, whence to make the descent of the ca?on of the Ardèche. But the visitor who does this must be prepared either to return to Vallon by carriage over the Causse, some twenty miles, or he must be without luggage, and catch the train at S. Just or S. Marcel, and meet his impedimenta elsewhere, perhaps at Le Teil, for the canoes that shoot the rapids of the Ardèche are too small to accommodate baggage.
Vallon is not a town in itself of much interest, but it contains the chateau31 of the redoubtable32 Huguenot captain, Merle de Lagorce, who sacked Malzieu and Issoire, and burnt the cathedral at Mende. Vallon was in the hands of the Reformed, but, on the other hand, old Vallon with its castle on the height above it remained to the Catholics. Opposite that, on the further side of the river, is Salavas, where a strong and extensive castle, now in ruins, occupied the crest of a precipitous rock. These two positions Merle was determined33 on taking; he succeeded, and died in the castle of Salavas at the end of January, 1584, at the age of thirty-five. I have given his life in my Deserts of Central France.
His son Hérail de Merle, Baron34 de Lagorce, joined the Church, and entered into the service of the King.
On February 6th, 1842, died in the chateau of Vallon [Pg 140] the Marquess Emmanuel de Merle de Lagorce, last male descendant of the eldest36 branch of the family, and left the chateau to his sister, married to the Count de Chapelain, who sold it to the town of Vallon in 1846. When the citizens came to take possession and convert the castle into a mairie, school, etc., they discovered in a loft10 a whole series of superb tapestries rolled up and forgotten. These came from the chateau of Montréal in L'Argentière, brought thence in 1783. They are from Aubusson looms37, and are in seven panel pictures representing scenes from the "Jerusalem Delivered" of Tasso. They adorn38 the chamber39 now used by the magistracy. Very fine is the hammered ironwork of the balustrade of the great staircase.
Vallon had its hour of celebrity40 under the Empire and the Restoration, when Vanderbourg published the medieval poems of Clotilde de Surville, who lived at Vallon at the period when Joan of Arc was fighting against the English.
Marguerite Eléonore Clotilde de Vallon-Chalys, or de Surville, was supposed to have been a noble lady authoress of a series of sentimental41 poems. She was said to have been born in 1405 in the chateau of Vallon. Her mother, Pulchérie de Fay Collon, had lived in the court of Gaston Ph?bus, Count of Foix, and had taken advantage of his library to enrich her mind by the study of Greek and Latin authors, of French and Italian poets, and she brought up the young Clotilde with the same tastes. The girl was a precocious42 genius, and composed verses at the age of twelve. In 1421 she married the Chevalier Béranger de Surville, who quitted her early to fight under the command of the Dauphin, afterwards Charles VII. It was then that [Pg 141] she wrote a Héro?de, opening with the words "Clotilde au sien amy doulce mande accolade43." But the composition contains allusions44, and repeats ideas of a period so much later, that suspicions were aroused as to its authenticity45 when published in 1803. Vanderbourg, the editor, insisted on it being genuine. He had obtained the MSS. from the heirs of the Marquess Joseph Etienne de Surville, a noble who during the period of the Revolution had been executed at Le Puy in 1798. But this de Surville was himself a poet, of a mediocre46 quality certainly, and it was from his leavings that the editor produced Clotilde's compositions. According to the Memoir47 prefixed to her poems, from the pen of the Marquess, her graceful48 verses attracted the attention of Margaret of Scotland, who sent her a crown of golden leaves bearing the inscription49: "Marguerite d'Ecosse à Marguerite d'Hélicon."
Clotilde lost her husband at the siege of Orléans after a union that had lasted but one year. About 1450 she married her son to Héloise de Goyon de Vergy. Both died in 1468, leaving to Clotilde a grandchild, Camille, who never married, and Clotilde closed a long life at the end of the fifteenth century, after having celebrated50 the victory of Fornoue in a poem that she dedicated51 to Charles VIII.
That the poems are a late fabrication by the marquess, who was shot at Le Puy, cannot be doubted. In the "Verselets à mon premier52 né" that begin "O cher enfantelet, vray pourtraict de ton père," there is obvious imitation of a romance by Bérguin, published in 1775. But the whole tone and character of the poems make it quite certain that they were composed in the eighteenth century, to be palmed off as the literary achievements [Pg 142] of a lady of the forger's ancestry53 in the fifteenth. Villemain, after showing that they are fictions antiques, concludes: "After one has recognised that the poems of Clotilde are a modern fabrication, betraying itself by the very perfection of the artifice54 employed, yet the fraud once established, the merit of the fraud remains incontestable."
A good road leads down the Ardèche to the Pont de l'Arc, one of the great natural curiosities of the south of France. The river in descending55 the ravine between walls of Jura limestone encountered a long spur that barred its way, and drove it to describe a great loop. But the limestone is full of holes, caves, and cracks, and the torrent56 rushing down and beating against the great escarpment, impatient to get through and resenting the detour57, bored till at last it burst a way through, and having once penetrated58 proceeded to enlarge the portal, till the river even in its greatest floods can rush through. The measurements are 193 feet from side to side, 110 feet to the crown of the arch, and to the summit of the rock 215 feet. Formerly60 the people of the country used this natural bridge to pass from one side of the river to the other. In the sixteenth century a fortress61 was erected62 on it, the possession of which was sharply contested by Catholics and Protestants, and Louis XIII. had it destroyed. The passage can still be made by means of a very narrow path cut in a ledge63 of the rock, but only one person, and he with a steady head, can traverse it. Louis XIII. had this path broken down, but the gap has been bridged over by poles.
The descent of the ca?on is made from Vallon to S. Martin, and takes from five to eight hours according to the amount of water in the river, and costs 30 francs. [Pg 143] Rapids are numerous, and some not a little dangerous. The gorge5, cut through the lower cretaceous limestone, has not its walls as lofty as those of the famous ca?on of the Tarn64, but the scenery in it is more varied65, and it is of the wildest beauty.
Opposite old Vallon, as already mentioned, is Salavas. Hérail de Merle, son of the great Huguenot captain, abjured66 Protestantism, and married the daughter of Montréal, chief of the Catholics of the Vivarais. Profiting by his absence, his Huguenot vassals67 in Vallon revolted, and aided by a locksmith of Salavas entered the castle and butchered all the garrison. They captured the baroness68 and her children. But as Salavas was unimportant as a stronghold without the Tour du Moulin in the river, the Calvinists brought the Baroness Lagorce and the children under its walls in a boat, drew their long knives and threatened to cut all their throats unless the tower surrendered.
Salavas again fell into the hands of the Catholics, and was held by M. de la Chadenède in 1628, with forty-five men against the Duke de Rohan, head of the Calvinists, at the head of 500 men, 200 cavalry69, two cannon70, and a body of sappers and miners. Salavas was not taken till 200 of the assailants were killed and wounded. The castle, though in ruins, still has portions of its walls and a gate intact. Le Tour du Moulin, mentioned above, is built on a rock in the middle of the river, and was the key of the passage. It was captured by the Huguenots in 1570 by artifice. The small Catholic garrison one evening saw a train of women leading mules71 with sacks of corn come down to the waterside.
The garrison at once went over to assist them in unloading. But scarcely had they left their boat than [Pg 144] they were fallen upon. The women were, in fact, Huguenot men disguised in female attire72. They shot down every one of the soldiers and took possession of the tower.
Le Pont de l'Arc
Before reaching the Pont de l'Arc the ca?on begins; rocky walls, grey, yellow, and fawn73 colour, stand up above the river, leaving no space between them but for the river; the road has been cut in cornice in the rock above it. The caves of the Bear, the Temple, and the Pulpit are but some of the thousands that open in cliffs that are honeycombed with them. The two latter were employed for meetings during the time of the revolt of the Camisards. The Prophetess Isabeau, clothed in white and wearing a gold circlet on her head, here went into ecstasies74 and harangued75 the insurgents76, bidding them slay77 and spare none of the Philistines78, and promising79 to them invulnerability.
A little further down is the Goule de Foussoubie, a stream that issues from the rocks just above the level of the Ardèche. The water that feeds it consists of seven rills on the Causse, three miles distant, that plunge80 into a pot-hole and disappear. Various attempts have been made to follow the underground course, but all have failed and one ended fatally. In dry weather very little water issues from the Goule, but it comes forth81 in volumes after a storm.
The boat shoots under the Pont de l'Arc; the rock that has been pierced is ninety feet thick. As already said, a fortress stood above, destroyed by Louis XIII., on a bit of rising ground on the left bank. There are still remains of the octagonal tower and enclosing wall and of some of the chambers82 tenanted by the garrison. But it was an oppidum, a place of refuge from prehistoric83 [Pg 145] times, as early stone weapons, and later Gallo-Roman ware84, have been found there, as well as accumulations of pebbles85 to serve as sling-stones. The road down the river ends at Chames, where is a boatman, who lives by fishing and ferrying over any of the inhabitants of S. Remèze or la Bastide de Verac, who desire to cross. A stream issues from a grotto86; it is the Fontaine de Vamale. The cave is apparently closed at the end, but on entering one finds on the right hand an opening into a valley, giving access to a terrace above the river, lighted by the setting sun, in which luxuriate lavender, Judas trees, evergreen87 dwarf88 oaks, juniper, and wild asparagus. This tiny valley is bounded on the west by a lofty calcareous wall in which is a rent, and a narrow path leads up this gap among bushes to the top of the plateau. It is by this track that the inhabitants of Vic descend35 and ascend89 before or after crossing the river.
Hard by is a natural cave on the right bank, partly closed by a wall, so overgrown with ivy90 that were it not pointed91 out one might pass without discovering that man built himself a residence here. This is called the Castle of Ebbo, and the tradition is current that the Templars of La Madeleine fled to it and hid there when sentence had gone forth against them by Philip the Fair in 1312; but it was probably a post that belonged to the Seigneur of Verac to watch his fisheries.
Chames is a little hamlet on the left bank of the Ardèche, where the rocks fall back and allow of slopes on which can grow olive trees, vines, plums, and almonds. The water is here still and seems transformed to a mirror, so that from the opposite side, that of the Castle of Ebbo, when the sun is full on the white [Pg 146] cottages and gleaming limestone rocks, they as well as the fruit trees are reflected with intensity92 in the glassy surface.
The Rock of the Five Windows seems to block the way. Below Chames the river bends around a peninsula which is called the Pas du Mousse, so called in satire93, for no moss94 grows there or can grow; it is all rubble95 brought down and deposited there by the river. A rock shooting up some eighty or ninety feet to a sharp point and pierced at bottom is called the Needle, and the cave is its eye. A little further down is the Grotto of Oustalas in the face of a cliff above a narrow meadow, with trees and a farmhouse96 and sheds. In order to reach the entry, that is like a giant's mouth yawning, steps have been cut in the rock; so also within to reach portions of the cave that have been employed as chambers. There are remains of a wall that formerly closed the mouth, and this cave was undoubtedly97 inhabited at some time, but when cannot be said. One can see the notches98 in the wall for beams of a roof, and recesses employed as cupboards.
As we continue our descent, the heights of the sheer walls full of holes are as slices of Gruyère cheese, streaked100 here black, there flaming red, then of a ghastly white, now forming into needles, then with their crests101 riddled102 as though the walls of a ruined castle pierced with windows. Evergreen oaks, the spiky-leafed kermes, bursts of flame from yellow broom, flashes of pink when the Judas tree is in bloom; not a house, not a field—all silent, the only sound the roar of the water over a rapid. The canoe dances, bounds, shoots; by a skilful103 turn of the oar99 avoids a fang104 of rock, escapes a huge boulder105, darts106 into still water, where the boatman bails107 [Pg 147] out that which has poured over the gunwale, for it is over your ankles. Then, again, the growl108 of another rapid, more swinging down between rocks in races of water green as grass, then gliding109 over shallow portions where we can see the stones and gravel110 at the bottom and the fish darting111; then over a depression, the water bottle-green, too deep for the sunlight to penetrate59, close under an overhanging cliff.
"The Cathedral"
A long green tongue of land shoots out with ruins on the summit, La Madeleine, a leper-hospital, where these unfortunates were nursed and kept in seclusion112 under the Templars. Again, huge fawn-coloured precipices113, caves out of which the drip of water has hung stalactitic deposits like dropping veils, one in which it has built up a huge finger; and then, right before one, a Gothic cathedral with spires—Le Tour des Aiguilles. We are carried round, and the forms have completely changed.
Then after five hours or more the walls begin to sink, a stream breaks in through a doorway114 on the left, and we issue through a portal. The river runs more smoothly115, and on the summit of the rock, creeping down its side, studded with ruins, is the imposing116 dead town of Aiguèze, long a subject of dispute between the counts of Toulouse and the bishops117 of Viviers. There were houses near the river bank, but all are now in ruins, destroyed by the great floods of 1890 and 1895. On the left bank is the little village of S. Martin, where we disembark, and think we have seen a succession of marvels118 the like of which are not to be seen elsewhere save—with a difference—on the Tarn. But just here, to spoil the last tableau119, a company has erected huge and hideous120 factories for silk-weaving on the top of the [Pg 148] rock opposite S. Martin, to disfigure the last spur of crag on the Ardèche. Failure has attended the attempt, and the factories are abandoned. Even if they fall into ruins, their ruins cannot possibly become picturesque.
Below is a light and graceful suspension bridge flung across the river to take the place of a stone bridge, swept away by the great flood of 1895, that rose halfway121 up the church of S. Martin and filled most of the houses.
And now, to conclude this chapter, I must give my personal experiences, which I am usually unwilling122 to obtrude123, but which I give as they may be valuable to others who descend the ca?on.
There are humours in travelling; some make you laugh out at once, others only after the experience is past. To this latter belong mine on the day I descended124 the Ardèche.
The beginning of the trouble was this. I had arranged that the hotel keeper at Vallon should furnish me and my wife and the boatmen with a sound lunch, to be taken on our way down, and when we arrived at the place where the boat was to attend to us we found that neither the gar?on of the inn who guided us had brought the food, nor had the boatmen fetched it from the hotel. Time was precious, the distance was considerable, and we could not wait to send back for it. Any one who knows what a French café au lait means will understand how internally unprovided we were for many hours without food. We started, and for five hours were descending the rapids. When we reached S. Martin there was no carriage, but after an hour we obtained at five o'clock an excellent déjeuné, having eaten nothing since 8 a.m.; but we had hardly felt [Pg 149] hunger, so gorgeous had been the scenery through which we had passed. At 6 p.m. the carriage from Vallon arrived, and the horses had to be baited for two hours. At 7 p.m. we started. Now the high road to Vallon makes a long detour; it passes by S. Just and S. Marcel, and crawls slowly up to the causse. The horses were put in at 7 p.m., and we departed. As it happened, I had tipped the boatmen at S. Martin, thinking I had seen the last of them, and they were flush of money. They had thirty francs, plus the tips to both of them, and during three hours they had been imbibing125 absinthe, cognac, and wine.
We had not proceeded far before I heard voices behind the carriage in lively conversation, not to say in altercation126, and standing up and looking back I saw that we were dragging behind the carriage a cart laden127 with the canoe and the two men in the boat.
I stopped the carriage and inquired the meaning of this, and the driver informed me that he had drawn128 the cart behind him from Vallon to S. Martin for the express purpose of bringing back the boat and the men, as it was not possible for the canoe to make its way up the rapid on the return journey. Twenty miles uphill with a trailer behind and dark night setting in was a serious prospect129, especially after the horses had already done all the miles from Vallon to S. Martin. When we reached S. Just, but a few miles out of S. Martin, the bright light from a tavern130 and the voices of happy men within were too much for the two men in a boat behind; they unhitched the cart and dropped into the cabaret to recruit. As we drove on our coachman found that the horses went freer. He looked behind and saw that the cart and boat were not attached. He [Pg 150] swore freely and copiously132, but drove into the next village, S. Marcel, where he halted in front of a public-house, and no words of mine could induce him to proceed till he knew what had become of the trailer. After a while up came the cart and the boat. One of the men had a cousin at S. Just, and he had cajoled him into lending his horse to draw the cart so as to catch us up. Our coachman, with a volley of expletives not worth recording133, bade them hitch131 on again. And he drove forward. I, sitting back in the carriage, heard a dialogue proceed behind.
"But, Jean, my cousin lent me his horse."
"That is certain."
"But I cannot let him return to S. Just without refreshment134. I must assuredly give him a glass of something to warm him."
"That is reasonable."
"Then let us unhitch."
So again the trailer was unfastened, and the cart, boat, and men in the boat fell away into the darkness behind.
After a while the coachman rose from his seat, and looking back saw that the trailer was no longer in its place. He exploded east, he exploded west, also to north and south; and would have halted again, but that I interfered135 and insisted that he should proceed. After some demur136 he did so. We reached Vallon at midnight. The night was pitch dark and cold; the month was March. When we would have reached the town had we been encumbered137 with the trailer, goodness only knows. We left Vallon next day at 11 a.m., and the two boatmen had not arrived by that time, nor do I know when they did arrive, and what is more, I do not care.
[Pg 151]
This I relate as a caution to future visitors to the ca?on of the Ardèche. If they intend to return by carriage to Vallon, let them remember that they will have to drag back with them the boat en queue.
At S. Marcel is a notable cavern138 that may be visited from the village or from the river, near the bank of which is a lodge139 for the man who undertakes to act as guide through its halls and galleries, and illumine them with Bengal lights. The grotto was discovered in 1838 by a man in pursuit of a rabbit. The cavern extends for several kilometres underground, and is rich in stalactites and stalagmites. The main gallery was the channel of an ancient river formed by the drainage of the fissured140 causse of Bidon and S. Remèze. This corridor, which is without incrustations, leads to le Balcon, a vertical141 wall thirty feet high, over which the ancient river fell in cascade142. This is surmounted143 by an iron ladder. The second portion of the cavern consists of another long gallery conducting to the Forêt-Noire, a stone cascade of sixty feet, up which one mounts by a second iron ladder, to attain144 to the third portion of the cave, the Cathedral, where is the finest group of stalagmites in the whole grotto. Two more ladders lead to the Catacombs, a chaos145 of blocks fallen from the roof, and remarkable146 for its "bassins de dentelles," or "gours"—that is to say, a series of basins as holy-water stoups, formed by incrustations. I will let M. Martel describe them:—
"Here begins one of the most curious and admirable stalagmitic formations to be found in these caverns147. Imagine if you can a series of irregular basins set in the wall and superposed in retreat one above the other, forming steps—they are of various widths and depths, from a few décimètres [Pg 152] to several mètres—their walls so transparent148 that they allow the light of the candles put in them to shine through. Their lips are capriciously twisted like writhing149 serpents, and they are lined with minute needles and tiny prisms of carbonate of lime, as delicate in their details as the antenn? of polypi, all either white, yellow, or rose colour, forming all together a vast pyramid of water-basins in onyx set with diamonds." [8]
Further ladders and galleries are traversed, and more splendid masses of stalactite and stalagmite are seen.
Formerly there were collections of these in the outer galleries, but they were wantonly destroyed by the peasants and by visitors.
This cavern was anciently occupied by man not only in the prehistoric age, but later, for Gaulish black pottery150 has been found in it. I may add that on the Causse Grand Champ and on the Champ Vermeil are dolmens.
An aven of a really appalling151 character is that of Vigne Close, near the hamlet of Fontlongue. It was explored by M. Martel in 1892, and descends152 575 feet into the bowels153 of the causse, or grasse, as the limestone plateau is here called.
A well had to be descended 165 feet deep. Then came a redan, a slope, and this had to be gone down and a second ladder of ropes attached. The second well was 135 feet. Then a second inclined plain or redan, and a third well 60 feet; after that a succession of slides and drops in stages for another 60 feet. Then a well of 150 feet. It demands no little daring to descend into such an abyss entirely154 shut off from the light of day, and where a few falling stones caused by the vibration155 of the ladder might prove fatal.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] A. Janet, Annuaire du Club Alpin, 1891.
[8] Les Ab?mes, Paris, 1894.
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tapestries
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| n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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gorges
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| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
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gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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piers
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| n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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limestone
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picturesque
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strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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22
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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23
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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25
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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26
spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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27
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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28
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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30
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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31
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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32
redoubtable
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| adj.可敬的；可怕的 | |
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33
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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34
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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35
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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36
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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37
looms
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| n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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38
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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39
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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40
celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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41
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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42
precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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43
accolade
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| n.推崇备至，赞扬 | |
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44
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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45
authenticity
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| n.真实性 | |
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46
mediocre
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| adj.平常的，普通的 | |
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47
memoir
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| n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录 | |
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48
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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49
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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50
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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51
dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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52
premier
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| adj.首要的；n.总理，首相 | |
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53
ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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54
artifice
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| n.妙计，高明的手段；狡诈，诡计 | |
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55
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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56
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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57
detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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58
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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59
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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60
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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61
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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62
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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63
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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64
tarn
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| n.山中的小湖或小潭 | |
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65
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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66
abjured
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| v.发誓放弃( abjure的过去式和过去分词 )；郑重放弃（意见）；宣布撤回（声明等）；避免 | |
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67
vassals
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| n.奴仆( vassal的名词复数 )；（封建时代）诸侯；从属者；下属 | |
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68
baroness
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| n.男爵夫人，女男爵 | |
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69
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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70
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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71
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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72
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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73
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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74
ecstasies
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| 狂喜( ecstasy的名词复数 )； 出神； 入迷； 迷幻药 | |
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75
harangued
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| v.高谈阔论( harangue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
insurgents
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| n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
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77
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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78
philistines
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| n.市侩，庸人( philistine的名词复数 )；庸夫俗子 | |
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79
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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80
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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81
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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82
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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83
prehistoric
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|
| adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的 | |
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84
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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85
pebbles
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|
| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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86
grotto
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| n.洞穴 | |
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87
evergreen
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|
| n.常青树；adj.四季常青的 | |
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88
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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89
ascend
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|
| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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90
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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91
pointed
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|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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92
intensity
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|
| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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93
satire
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|
| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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94
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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95
rubble
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| n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾 | |
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96
farmhouse
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|
| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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97
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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98
notches
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| n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级 | |
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99
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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100
streaked
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|
| adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
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101
crests
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|
| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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102
riddled
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|
| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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103
skilful
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|
| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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104
fang
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| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
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105
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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106
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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107
bails
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| （法庭命令缴付的）保释金( bail的名词复数 )； 三柱门上的横木 | |
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108
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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109
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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110
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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111
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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112
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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113
precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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114
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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115
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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116
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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117
bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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118
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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119
tableau
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| n.画面，活人画（舞台上活人扮的静态画面） | |
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120
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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121
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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122
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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123
obtrude
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| v.闯入；侵入；打扰 | |
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124
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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125
imbibing
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| v.吸收( imbibe的现在分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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126
altercation
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| n.争吵，争论 | |
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127
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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128
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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129
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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130
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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131
hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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132
copiously
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| adv.丰富地，充裕地 | |
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133
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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134
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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135
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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136
demur
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| v．表示异议，反对 | |
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137
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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138
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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139
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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140
fissured
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| adj.裂缝的v.裂开( fissure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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142
cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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143
surmounted
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|
| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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144
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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145
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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146
remarkable
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|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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147
caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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148
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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149
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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150
pottery
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| n.陶器，陶器场 | |
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151
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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152
descends
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| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
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153
bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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154
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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155
vibration
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| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
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