This movement was made merely for the purpose of finding a better and safer position. So we advanced only three or four miles up the little stream, before each family assumed its relative place in the great ring of the village, and all around the squaws were actively12 at work in preparing the camp. But not a single warrior13 dismounted from his horse. All the men that morning were mounted on inferior animals, leading their best horses by a cord, or confiding14 them to the care of boys. In small parties they began to leave the ground and ride rapidly away over the plains to the westward15. I had taken no food that morning, and not being at all ambitious of further abstinence, I went into my host’s lodge, which his squaws had erected16 with wonderful celerity, and sat down in the center, as a gentle hint that I was hungry. A wooden bowl was soon set before me, filled with the nutritious17 preparation of dried meat called pemmican by the northern voyagers and wasna by the Dakota. Taking a handful to break my fast upon, I left the lodge just in time to see the last band of hunters disappear over the ridge18 of the neighboring hill. I mounted Pauline and galloped20 in pursuit, riding rather by the balance than by any muscular strength that remained to me. From the top of the hill I could overlook a wide extent of desolate21 and unbroken prairie, over which, far and near, little parties of naked horsemen were rapidly passing. I soon came up to the nearest, and we had not ridden a mile before all were united into one large and compact body. All was haste and eagerness. Each hunter was whipping on his horse, as if anxious to be the first to reach the game. In such movements among the Indians this is always more or less the case; but it was especially so in the present instance, because the head chief of the village was absent, and there were but few “soldiers,” a sort of Indian police, who among their other functions usually assumed the direction of a buffalo22 hunt. No man turned to the right hand or to the left. We rode at a swift canter straight forward, uphill and downhill, and through the stiff, obstinate23 growth of the endless wild-sage bushes. For an hour and a half the same red shoulders, the same long black hair rose and fell with the motion of the horses before me. Very little was said, though once I observed an old man severely24 reproving Raymond for having left his rifle behind him, when there was some probability of encountering an enemy before the day was over. As we galloped across a plain thickly set with sagebushes, the foremost riders vanished suddenly from sight, as if diving into the earth. The arid25 soil was cracked into a deep ravine. Down we all went in succession and galloped in a line along the bottom, until we found a point where, one by one, the horses could scramble26 out. Soon after we came upon a wide shallow stream, and as we rode swiftly over the hard sand-beds and through the thin sheets of rippling27 water, many of the savage28 horsemen threw themselves to the ground, knelt on the sand, snatched a hasty draught29, and leaping back again to their seats, galloped on again as before.
Meanwhile scouts30 kept in advance of the party; and now we began to see them on the ridge of the hills, waving their robes in token that buffalo were visible. These however proved to be nothing more than old straggling bulls, feeding upon the neighboring plains, who would stare for a moment at the hostile array and then gallop19 clumsily off. At length we could discern several of these scouts making their signals to us at once; no longer waving their robes boldly from the top of the hill, but standing lower down, so that they could not be seen from the plains beyond. Game worth pursuing had evidently been discovered. The excited Indians now urged forward their tired horses even more rapidly than before. Pauline, who was still sick and jaded31, began to groan32 heavily; and her yellow sides were darkened with sweat. As we were crowding together over a lower intervening hill, I heard Reynal and Raymond shouting to me from the left; and looking in that direction, I saw them riding away behind a party of about twenty mean-looking Indians. These were the relatives of Reynal’s squaw Margot, who, not wishing to take part in the general hunt, were riding toward a distant hollow, where they could discern a small band of buffalo which they meant to appropriate to themselves. I answered to the call by ordering Raymond to turn back and follow me. He reluctantly obeyed, though Reynal, who had relied on his assistance in skinning, cutting up, and carrying to camp the buffalo that he and his party should kill, loudly protested and declared that we should see no sport if we went with the rest of the Indians. Followed by Raymond I pursued the main body of hunters, while Reynal in a great rage whipped his horse over the hill after his ragamuffin relatives. The Indians, still about a hundred in number, rode in a dense33 body at some distance in advance. They galloped forward, and a cloud of dust was flying in the wind behind them. I could not overtake them until they had stopped on the side of the hill where the scouts were standing. Here, each hunter sprang in haste from the tired animal which he had ridden, and leaped upon the fresh horse that he had brought with him. There was not a saddle or a bridle34 in the whole party. A piece of buffalo robe girthed over the horse’s back served in the place of the one, and a cord of twisted hair lashed35 firmly round his lower jaw37 answered for the other. Eagle feathers were dangling38 from every mane and tail, as insignia of courage and speed. As for the rider, he wore no other clothing than a light cincture at his waist, and a pair of moccasins. He had a heavy whip, with a handle of solid elk-horn, and a lash36 of knotted bull-hide, fastened to his wrist by an ornamental39 band. His bow was in his hand, and his quiver of otter40 or panther skin hung at his shoulder. Thus equipped, some thirty of the hunters galloped away toward the left, in order to make a circuit under cover of the hills, that the buffalo might be assailed41 on both sides at once. The rest impatiently waited until time enough had elapsed for their companions to reach the required position. Then riding upward in a body, we gained the ridge of the hill, and for the first time came in sight of the buffalo on the plain beyond.
They were a band of cows, four or five hundred in number, who were crowded together near the bank of a wide stream that was soaking across the sand-beds of the valley. This was a large circular basin, sun-scorched and broken, scantily43 covered with herbage and encompassed44 with high barren hills, from an opening in which we could see our allies galloping45 out upon the plain. The wind blew from that direction. The buffalo were aware of their approach, and had begun to move, though very slowly and in a compact mass. I have no further recollection of seeing the game until we were in the midst of them, for as we descended47 the hill other objects engrossed48 my attention. Numerous old bulls were scattered49 over the plain, and ungallantly deserting their charge at our approach, began to wade51 and plunge52 through the treacherous53 quick-sands or the stream, and gallop away toward the hills. One old veteran was struggling behind all the rest with one of his forelegs, which had been broken by some accident, dangling about uselessly at his side. His appearance, as he went shambling along on three legs, was so ludicrous that I could not help pausing for a moment to look at him. As I came near, he would try to rush upon me, nearly throwing himself down at every awkward attempt. Looking up, I saw the whole body of Indians full a hundred yards in advance. I lashed Pauline in pursuit and reached them just in time, for as we mingled54 among them, each hunter, as if by a common impulse, violently struck his horse, each horse sprang forward convulsively, and scattering55 in the charge in order to assail42 the entire herd56 at once, we all rushed headlong upon the buffalo. We were among them in an instant. Amid the trampling57 and the yells I could see their dark figures running hither and thither58 through clouds of dust, and the horsemen darting59 in pursuit. While we were charging on one side, our companions had attacked the bewildered and panic-stricken herd on the other. The uproar60 and confusion lasted but for a moment. The dust cleared away, and the buffalo could be seen scattering as from a common center, flying over the plain singly, or in long files and small compact bodies, while behind each followed the Indians, lashing61 their horses to furious speed, forcing them close upon their prey62, and yelling as they launched arrow after arrow into their sides. The large black carcasses were strewn thickly over the ground. Here and there wounded buffalo were standing, their bleeding sides feathered with arrows; and as I rode past them their eyes would glare, they would bristle63 like gigantic cats, and feebly attempt to rush up and gore64 my horse.
I left camp that morning with a philosophic65 resolution. Neither I nor my horse were at that time fit for such sport, and I had determined66 to remain a quiet spectator; but amid the rush of horses and buffalo, the uproar and the dust, I found it impossible to sit still; and as four or five buffalo ran past me in a line, I drove Pauline in pursuit. We went plunging67 close at their heels through the water and the quick-sands, and clambering the bank, chased them through the wild-sage bushes that covered the rising ground beyond. But neither her native spirit nor the blows of the knotted bull-hide could supply the place of poor Pauline’s exhausted68 strength. We could not gain an inch upon the poor fugitives69. At last, however, they came full upon a ravine too wide to leap over; and as this compelled them to turn abruptly70 to the left, I contrived71 to get within ten or twelve yards of the hindmost. At this she faced about, bristled72 angrily, and made a show of charging. I shot at her with a large holster pistol, and hit her somewhere in the neck. Down she tumbled into the ravine, whither her companions had descended before her. I saw their dark backs appearing and disappearing as they galloped along the bottom; then, one by one, they came scrambling73 out on the other side and ran off as before, the wounded animal following with unabated speed.
Turning back, I saw Raymond coming on his black mule74 to meet me; and as we rode over the field together, we counted dozens of carcasses lying on the plain, in the ravines and on the sandy bed of the stream. Far away in the distance, horses and buffalo were still scouring75 along, with little clouds of dust rising behind them; and over the sides of the hills we could see long files of the frightened animals rapidly ascending76. The hunters began to return. The boys, who had held the horses behind the hill, made their appearance, and the work of flaying77 and cutting up began in earnest all over the field. I noticed my host Kongra-Tonga beyond the stream, just alighting by the side of a cow which he had killed. Riding up to him I found him in the act of drawing out an arrow, which, with the exception of the notch79 at the end, had entirely80 disappeared in the animal. I asked him to give it to me, and I still retain it as a proof, though by no means the most striking one that could be offered, of the force and dexterity81 with which the Indians discharge their arrows.
The hides and meat were piled upon the horses, and the hunters began to leave the ground. Raymond and I, too, getting tired of the scene, set out for the village, riding straight across the intervening desert. There was no path, and as far as I could see, no landmarks82 sufficient to guide us; but Raymond seemed to have an instinctive83 perception of the point on the horizon toward which we ought to direct our course. Antelope84 were bounding on all sides, and as is always the case in the presence of buffalo, they seemed to have lost their natural shyness and timidity. Bands of them would run lightly up the rocky declivities, and stand gazing down upon us from the summit. At length we could distinguish the tall white rocks and the old pine trees that, as we well remembered, were just above the site of the encampment. Still, we could see nothing of the village itself until, ascending a grassy85 hill, we found the circle of lodges, dingy86 with storms and smoke, standing on the plain at our very feet.
I entered the lodge of my host. His squaw instantly brought me food and water, and spread a buffalo robe for me to lie upon; and being much fatigued87, I lay down and fell asleep. In about an hour the entrance of Kongra-Tonga, with his arms smeared88 with blood to the elbows, awoke me. He sat down in his usual seat on the left side of the lodge. His squaw gave him a vessel89 of water for washing, set before him a bowl of boiled meat, and as he was eating pulled off his bloody90 moccasins and placed fresh ones on his feet; then outstretching his limbs, my host composed himself to sleep.
And now the hunters, two or three at a time, began to come rapidly in, and each, consigning91 his horses to the squaws, entered his lodge with the air of a man whose day’s work was done. The squaws flung down the load from the burdened horses, and vast piles of meat and hides were soon accumulated before every lodge. By this time it was darkening fast, and the whole village was illumined by the glare of fires blazing all around. All the squaws and children were gathered about the piles of meat, exploring them in search of the daintiest portions. Some of these they roasted on sticks before the fires, but often they dispensed92 with this superfluous93 operation. Late into the night the fires were still glowing upon the groups of feasters engaged in this savage banquet around them.
Several hunters sat down by the fire in Kongra-Tonga’s lodge to talk over the day’s exploits. Among the rest, Mene-Seela came in. Though he must have seen full eighty winters, he had taken an active share in the day’s sport. He boasted that he had killed two cows that morning, and would have killed a third if the dust had not blinded him so that he had to drop his bow and arrows and press both hands against his eyes to stop the pain. The firelight fell upon his wrinkled face and shriveled figure as he sat telling his story with such inimitable gesticulation that every man in the lodge broke into a laugh.
Old Mene-Seela was one of the few Indians in the village with whom I would have trusted myself alone without suspicion, and the only one from whom I would have received a gift or a service without the certainty that it proceeded from an interested motive94. He was a great friend to the whites. He liked to be in their society, and was very vain of the favors he had received from them. He told me one afternoon, as we were sitting together in his son’s lodge, that he considered the beaver95 and the whites the wisest people on earth; indeed, he was convinced they were the same; and an incident which had happened to him long before had assured him of this. So he began the following story, and as the pipe passed in turn to him, Reynal availed himself of these interruptions to translate what had preceded. But the old man accompanied his words with such admirable pantomime that translation was hardly necessary.
He said that when he was very young, and had never yet seen a white man, he and three or four of his companions were out on a beaver hunt, and he crawled into a large beaver lodge, to examine what was there. Sometimes he was creeping on his hands and knees, sometimes he was obliged to swim, and sometimes to lie flat on his face and drag himself along. In this way he crawled a great distance underground. It was very dark, cold and close, so that at last he was almost suffocated96, and fell into a swoon. When he began to recover, he could just distinguish the voices of his companions outside, who had given him up for lost, and were singing his death song. At first he could see nothing, but soon he discerned something white before him, and at length plainly distinguished97 three people, entirely white; one man and two women, sitting at the edge of a black pool of water. He became alarmed and thought it high time to retreat. Having succeeded, after great trouble, in reaching daylight again, he went straight to the spot directly above the pool of water where he had seen the three mysterious beings. Here he beat a hole with his war club in the ground, and sat down to watch. In a moment the nose of an old male beaver appeared at the opening. Mene-Seela instantly seized him and dragged him up, when two other beavers98, both females, thrust out their heads, and these he served in the same way. “These,” continued the old man, “must have been the three white people whom I saw sitting at the edge of the water.”
Mene-Seela was the grand depository of the legends and traditions of the village. I succeeded, however, in getting from him only a few fragments. Like all Indians, he was excessively superstitious99, and continually saw some reason for withholding100 his stories. “It is a bad thing,” he would say, “to tell the tales in summer. Stay with us till next winter, and I will tell you everything I know; but now our war parties are going out, and our young men will be killed if I sit down to tell stories before the frost begins.”
But to leave this digression. We remained encamped on this spot five days, during three of which the hunters were at work incessantly101, and immense quantities of meat and hides were brought in. Great alarm, however, prevailed in the village. All were on the alert. The young men were ranging through the country as scouts, and the old men paid careful attention to omens102 and prodigies103, and especially to their dreams. In order to convey to the enemy (who, if they were in the neighborhood, must inevitably104 have known of our presence) the impression that we were constantly on the watch, piles of sticks and stones were erected on all the surrounding hills, in such a manner as to appear at a distance like sentinels. Often, even to this hour, that scene will rise before my mind like a visible reality: the tall white rocks; the old pine trees on their summits; the sandy stream that ran along their bases and half encircled the village; and the wild-sage bushes, with their dull green hue105 and their medicinal odor, that covered all the neighboring declivities. Hour after hour the squaws would pass and repass with their vessels106 of water between the stream and the lodges. For the most part no one was to be seen in the camp but women and children, two or three super-annuated old men, and a few lazy and worthless young ones. These, together with the dogs, now grown fat and good-natured with the abundance in the camp, were its only tenants107. Still it presented a busy and bustling108 scene. In all quarters the meat, hung on cords of hide, was drying in the sun, and around the lodges the squaws, young and old, were laboring109 on the fresh hides that were stretched upon the ground, scraping the hair from one side and the still adhering flesh from the other, and rubbing into them the brains of the buffalo, in order to render them soft and pliant110.
In mercy to myself and my horse, I never went out with the hunters after the first day. Of late, however, I had been gaining strength rapidly, as was always the case upon every respite111 of my disorder4. I was soon able to walk with ease. Raymond and I would go out upon the neighboring prairies to shoot antelope, or sometimes to assail straggling buffalo, on foot, an attempt in which we met with rather indifferent success. To kill a bull with a rifle-ball is a difficult art, in the secret of which I was as yet very imperfectly initiated113. As I came out of Kongra-Tonga’s lodge one morning, Reynal called to me from the opposite side of the village, and asked me over to breakfast. The breakfast was a substantial one. It consisted of the rich, juicy hump-ribs of a fat cow; a repast absolutely unrivaled. It was roasting before the fire, impaled114 upon a stout115 stick, which Reynal took up and planted in the ground before his lodge; when he, with Raymond and myself, taking our seats around it, unsheathed our knives and assailed it with good will. It spite of all medical experience, this solid fare, without bread or salt, seemed to agree with me admirably.
“We shall have strangers here before night,” said Reynal.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“I dreamed so. I am as good at dreaming as an Indian. There is the Hail-Storm; he dreamed the same thing, and he and his crony, the Rabbit, have gone out on discovery.”
I laughed at Reynal for his credulity, went over to my host’s lodge, took down my rifle, walked out a mile or two on the prairie, saw an old bull standing alone, crawled up a ravine, shot him and saw him escape. Then, quite exhausted and rather ill-humored, I walked back to the village. By a strange coincidence, Reynal’s prediction had been verified; for the first persons whom I saw were the two trappers, Rouleau and Saraphin, coming to meet me. These men, as the reader may possibly recollect46, had left our party about a fortnight before. They had been trapping for a while among the Black Hills, and were now on their way to the Rocky Mountains, intending in a day or two to set out for the neighboring Medicine Bow. They were not the most elegant or refined of companions, yet they made a very welcome addition to the limited society of the village. For the rest of that day we lay smoking and talking in Reynal’s lodge. This indeed was no better than a little hut, made of hides stretched on poles, and entirely open in front. It was well carpeted with soft buffalo robes, and here we remained, sheltered from the sun, surrounded by various domestic utensils116 of Madame Margot’s household. All was quiet in the village. Though the hunters had not gone out that day, they lay sleeping in their lodges, and most of the women were silently engaged in their heavy tasks. A few young men were playing a lazy game of ball in the center of the village; and when they became tired, some girls supplied their place with a more boisterous117 sport. At a little distance, among the lodges, some children and half-grown squaws were playfully tossing up one of their number in a buffalo robe, an exact counterpart of the ancient pastime from which Sancho Panza suffered so much. Farther out on the prairie, a host of little naked boys were roaming about, engaged in various rough games, or pursuing birds and ground-squirrels with their bows and arrows; and woe118 to the unhappy little animals that fell into their merciless, torture-loving hands! A squaw from the next lodge, a notable active housewife named Weah Washtay, or the Good Woman, brought us a large bowl of wasna, and went into an ecstasy119 of delight when I presented her with a green glass ring, such as I usually wore with a view to similar occasions.
The sun went down and half the sky was growing fiery120 red, reflected on the little stream as it wound away among the sagebushes. Some young men left the village, and soon returned, driving in before them all the horses, hundreds in number, and of every size, age, and color. The hunters came out, and each securing those that belonged to him, examined their condition, and tied them fast by long cords to stakes driven in front of his lodge. It was half an hour before the bustle121 subsided122 and tranquillity123 was restored again. By this time it was nearly dark. Kettles were hung over the blazing fires, around which the squaws were gathered with their children, laughing and talking merrily. A circle of a different kind was formed in the center of the village. This was composed of the old men and warriors124 of repute, who with their white buffalo robes drawn125 close around their shoulders, sat together, and as the pipe passed from hand to hand, their conversation had not a particle of the gravity and reserve usually ascribed to Indians. I sat down with them as usual. I had in my hand half a dozen squibs and serpents, which I had made one day when encamped upon Laramie Creek126, out of gunpowder127 and charcoal128, and the leaves of “Fremont’s Expedition,” rolled round a stout lead pencil. I waited till I contrived to get hold of the large piece of burning BOIS DE VACHE which the Indians kept by them on the ground for lighting78 their pipes. With this I lighted all the fireworks at once, and tossed them whizzing and sputtering129 into the air, over the heads of the company. They all jumped up and ran off with yelps131 of astonishment132 and consternation133. After a moment or two, they ventured to come back one by one, and some of the boldest, picking up the cases of burnt paper that were scattered about, examined them with eager curiosity to discover their mysterious secret. From that time forward I enjoyed great repute as a “fire-medicine.”
The camp was filled with the low hum of cheerful voices. There were other sounds, however, of a very different kind, for from a large lodge, lighted up like a gigantic lantern by the blazing fire within, came a chorus of dismal134 cries and wailings, long drawn out, like the howling of wolves, and a woman, almost naked, was crouching135 close outside, crying violently, and gashing136 her legs with a knife till they were covered with blood. Just a year before, a young man belonging to this family had gone out with a war party and had been slain137 by the enemy, and his relatives were thus lamenting138 his loss. Still other sounds might be heard; loud earnest cries often repeated from amid the gloom, at a distance beyond the village. They proceeded from some young men who, being about to set out in a few days on a warlike expedition, were standing at the top of a hill, calling on the Great Spirit to aid them in their enterprise. While I was listening, Rouleau, with a laugh on his careless face, called to me and directed my attention to another quarter. In front of the lodge where Weah Washtay lived another squaw was standing, angrily scolding an old yellow dog, who lay on the ground with his nose resting between his paws, and his eyes turned sleepily up to her face, as if he were pretending to give respectful attention, but resolved to fall asleep as soon as it was all over.
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” said the old woman. “I have fed you well, and taken care of you ever since you were small and blind, and could only crawl about and squeal139 a little, instead of howling as you do now. When you grew old, I said you were a good dog. You were strong and gentle when the load was put on your back, and you never ran among the feet of the horses when we were all traveling together over the prairie. But you had a bad heart! Whenever a rabbit jumped out of the bushes, you were always the first to run after him and lead away all the other dogs behind you. You ought to have known that it was very dangerous to act so. When you had got far out on the prairie, and no one was near to help you, perhaps a wolf would jump out of the ravine; and then what could you do? You would certainly have been killed, for no dog can fight well with a load on his back. Only three days ago you ran off in that way, and turned over the bag of wooden pins with which I used to fasten up the front of the lodge. Look up there, and you will see that it is all flapping open. And now to-night you have stolen a great piece of fat meat which was roasting before the fire for my children. I tell you, you have a bad heart, and you must die!”
So saying, the squaw went into the lodge, and coming out with a large stone mallet140, killed the unfortunate dog at one blow. This speech is worthy141 of notice as illustrating142 a curious characteristic of the Indians: the ascribing intelligence and a power of understanding speech to the inferior animals, to whom, indeed, according to many of their traditions, they are linked in close affinity143, and they even claim the honor of a lineal descent from bears, wolves, deer, or tortoises.
As it grew late, and the crowded population began to disappear, I too walked across the village to the lodge of my host, Kongra-Tonga. As I entered I saw him, by the flickering144 blaze of the fire in the center, reclining half asleep in his usual place. His couch was by no means an uncomfortable one. It consisted of soft buffalo robes laid together on the ground, and a pillow made of whitened deerskin stuffed with feathers and ornamented145 with beads146. At his back was a light framework of poles and slender reeds, against which he could lean with ease when in a sitting posture147; and at the top of it, just above his head, his bow and quiver were hanging. His squaw, a laughing, broad-faced woman, apparently148 had not yet completed her domestic arrangements, for she was bustling about the lodge, pulling over the utensils and the bales of dried meats that were ranged carefully round it. Unhappily, she and her partner were not the only tenants of the dwelling149, for half a dozen children were scattered about, sleeping in every imaginable posture. My saddle was in its place at the head of the lodge and a buffalo robe was spread on the ground before it. Wrapping myself in my blanket I lay down, but had I not been extremely fatigued the noise in the next lodge would have prevented my sleeping. There was the monotonous150 thumping151 of the Indian drum, mixed with occasional sharp yells, and a chorus chanted by twenty voices. A grand scene of gambling152 was going forward with all the appropriate formalities. The players were staking on the chance issue of the game their ornaments153, their horses, and as the excitement rose, their garments, and even their weapons, for desperate gambling is not confined to the hells of Paris. The men of the plains and the forests no less resort to it as a violent but grateful relief to the tedious monotony of their lives, which alternate between fierce excitement and listless inaction. I fell asleep with the dull notes of the drum still sounding on my ear, but these furious orgies lasted without intermission till daylight. I was soon awakened155 by one of the children crawling over me, while another larger one was tugging156 at my blanket and nestling himself in a very disagreeable proximity157. I immediately repelled158 these advances by punching the heads of these miniature savages159 with a short stick which I always kept by me for the purpose; and as sleeping half the day and eating much more than is good for them makes them extremely restless, this operation usually had to be repeated four or five times in the course of the night. My host himself was the author of another most formidable annoyance160. All these Indians, and he among the rest, think themselves bound to the constant performance of certain acts as the condition on which their success in life depends, whether in war, love, hunting, or any other employment. These “medicines,” as they are called in that country, which are usually communicated in dreams, are often absurd enough. Some Indians will strike the butt161 of the pipe against the ground every time they smoke; others will insist that everything they say shall be interpreted by contraries; and Shaw once met an old man who conceived that all would be lost unless he compelled every white man he met to drink a bowl of cold water. My host was particularly unfortunate in his allotment. The Great Spirit had told him in a dream that he must sing a certain song in the middle of every night; and regularly at about twelve o’clock his dismal monotonous chanting would awaken154 me, and I would see him seated bolt upright on his couch, going through his dolorous162 performances with a most business-like air. There were other voices of the night still more inharmonious. Twice or thrice, between sunset and dawn, all the dogs in the village, and there were hundreds of them, would bay and yelp130 in chorus; a most horrible clamor, resembling no sound that I have ever heard, except perhaps the frightful163 howling of wolves that we used sometimes to hear long afterward164 when descending165 the Arkansas on the trail of General Kearny’s army. The canine166 uproar is, if possible, more discordant167 than that of the wolves. Heard at a distance, slowly rising on the night, it has a strange unearthly effect, and would fearfully haunt the dreams of a nervous man; but when you are sleeping in the midst of it the din7 is outrageous168. One long loud howl from the next lodge perhaps begins it, and voice after voice takes up the sound till it passes around the whole circumference169 of the village, and the air is filled with confused and discordant cries, at once fierce and mournful. It lasts but for a moment and then dies away into silence.
Morning came, and Kongra-Tonga, mounting his horse, rode out with the hunters. It may not be amiss to glance at him for an instant in his domestic character of husband and father. Both he and his squaw, like most other Indians, were very fond of their children, whom they indulged to excess, and never punished, except in extreme cases when they would throw a bowl of cold water over them. Their offspring became sufficiently170 undutiful and disobedient under this system of education, which tends not a little to foster that wild idea of liberty and utter intolerance of restraint which lie at the very foundation of the Indian character. It would be hard to find a fonder father than Kongra-Tonga. There was one urchin171 in particular, rather less than two feet high, to whom he was exceedingly attached; and sometimes spreading a buffalo robe in the lodge, he would seat himself upon it, place his small favorite upright before him, and chant in a low tone some of the words used as an accompaniment to the war dance. The little fellow, who could just manage to balance himself by stretching out both arms, would lift his feet and turn slowly round and round in time to his father’s music, while my host would laugh with delight, and look smiling up into my face to see if I were admiring this precocious172 performance of his offspring. In his capacity of husband he was somewhat less exemplary. The squaw who lived in the lodge with him had been his partner for many years. She took good care of his children and his household concerns. He liked her well enough, and as far as I could see they never quarreled; but all his warmer affections were reserved for younger and more recent favorites. Of these he had at present only one, who lived in a lodge apart from his own. One day while in his camp he became displeased173 with her, pushed her out, threw after her her ornaments, dresses, and everything she had, and told her to go home to her father. Having consummated174 this summary divorce, for which he could show good reasons, he came back, seated himself in his usual place, and began to smoke with an air of utmost tranquillity and self-satisfaction.
I was sitting in the lodge with him on that very afternoon, when I felt some curiosity to learn the history of the numerous scars that appeared on his naked body. Of some of them, however, I did not venture to inquire, for I already understood their origin. Each of his arms was marked as if deeply gashed175 with a knife at regular intervals176, and there were other scars also, of a different character, on his back and on either breast. They were the traces of those formidable tortures which these Indians, in common with a few other tribes, inflict177 upon themselves at certain seasons; in part, it may be, to gain the glory of courage and endurance, but chiefly as an act of self-sacrifice to secure the favor of the Great Spirit. The scars upon the breast and back were produced by running through the flesh strong splints of wood, to which ponderous178 buffalo-skulls are fastened by cords of hide, and the wretch179 runs forward with all his strength, assisted by two companions, who take hold of each arm, until the flesh tears apart and the heavy loads are left behind. Others of Kongra-Tonga’s scars were the result of accidents; but he had many which he received in war. He was one of the most noted180 warriors in the village. In the course of his life he had slain as he boasted to me, fourteen men, and though, like other Indians, he was a great braggart181 and utterly182 regardless of truth, yet in this statement common report bore him out. Being much flattered by my inquiries183 he told me tale after tale, true or false, of his warlike exploits; and there was one among the rest illustrating the worst features of the Indian character too well for me to omit. Pointing out of the opening of the lodge toward the Medicine-Bow Mountain, not many miles distant he said that he was there a few summers ago with a war party of his young men. Here they found two Snake Indians, hunting. They shot one of them with arrows and chased the other up the side of the mountain till they surrounded him on a level place, and Kongra-Tonga himself, jumping forward among the trees, seized him by the arm. Two of his young men then ran up and held him fast while he scalped him alive. Then they built a great fire, and cutting the tendons of their captive’s wrists and feet, threw him in, and held him down with long poles until he was burnt to death. He garnished184 his story with a great many descriptive particulars much too revolting to mention. His features were remarkably185 mild and open, without the fierceness of expression common among these Indians; and as he detailed186 these devilish cruelties, he looked up into my face with the same air of earnest simplicity187 which a little child would wear in relating to its mother some anecdote188 of its youthful experience.
Old Mene-Seela’s lodge could offer another illustration of the ferocity of Indian warfare189. A bright-eyed, active little boy was living there. He had belonged to a village of the Gros-Ventre Blackfeet, a small but bloody and treacherous band, in close alliance with the Arapahoes. About a year before, Kongra-Tonga and a party of warriors had found about twenty lodges of these Indians upon the plains a little to the eastward190 of our present camp; and surrounding them in the night, they butchered men, women, and children without mercy, preserving only this little boy alive. He was adopted into the old man’s family, and was now fast becoming identified with the Ogallalla children, among whom he mingled on equal terms. There was also a Crow warrior in the village, a man of gigantic stature191 and most symmetrical proportions. Having been taken prisoner many years before and adopted by a squaw in place of a son whom she had lost, he had forgotten his old national antipathies192, and was now both in act and inclination193 an Ogallalla.
It will be remembered that the scheme of the grand warlike combination against the Snake and Crow Indians originated in this village; and though this plan had fallen to the ground, the embers of the martial194 ardor195 continued to glow brightly. Eleven young men had prepared themselves to go out against the enemy. The fourth day of our stay in this camp was fixed196 upon for their departure. At the head of this party was a well-built active little Indian, called the White Shield, whom I had always noticed for the great neatness of his dress and appearance. His lodge too, though not a large one, was the best in the village, his squaw was one of the prettiest girls, and altogether his dwelling presented a complete model of an Ogallalla domestic establishment. I was often a visitor there, for the White Shield being rather partial to white men, used to invite me to continual feasts at all hours of the day. Once when the substantial part of the entertainment was concluded, and he and I were seated cross-legged on a buffalo robe smoking together very amicably197, he took down his warlike equipments, which were hanging around the lodge, and displayed them with great pride and self-importance. Among the rest was a most superb headdress of feathers. Taking this from its case, he put it on and stood before me, as if conscious of the gallant50 air which it gave to his dark face and his vigorous, graceful198 figure. He told me that upon it were the feathers of three war-eagles, equal in value to the same number of good horses. He took up also a shield gayly painted and hung with feathers. The effect of these barbaric ornaments was admirable, for they were arranged with no little skill and taste. His quiver was made of the spotted199 skin of a small panther, such as are common among the Black Hills, from which the tail and distended200 claws were still allowed to hang. The White Shield concluded his entertainment in a manner characteristic of an Indian. He begged of me a little powder and ball, for he had a gun as well as bow and arrows; but this I was obliged to refuse, because I had scarcely enough for my own use. Making him, however, a parting present of a paper of vermilion, I left him apparently quite contented201.
Unhappily on the next morning the White Shield took cold and was attacked with a violent inflammation of the throat. Immediately he seemed to lose all spirit, and though before no warrior in the village had borne himself more proudly, he now moped about from lodge to lodge with a forlorn and dejected air. At length he came and sat down, close wrapped in his robe, before the lodge of Reynal, but when he found that neither he nor I knew how to relieve him, he arose and stalked over to one of the medicine-men of the village. This old imposter thumped202 him for some time with both fists, howled and yelped203 over him, and beat a drum close to his ear to expel the evil spirit that had taken possession of him. This vigorous treatment failing of the desired effect, the White Shield withdrew to his own lodge, where he lay disconsolate204 for some hours. Making his appearance once more in the afternoon, he again took his seat on the ground before Reynal’s lodge, holding his throat with his hand. For some time he sat perfectly112 silent with his eyes fixed mournfully on the ground. At last he began to speak in a low tone:
“I am a brave man,” he said; “all the young men think me a great warrior, and ten of them are ready to go with me to the war. I will go and show them the enemy. Last summer the Snakes killed my brother. I cannot live unless I revenge his death. To-morrow we will set out and I will take their scalps.”
The White Shield, as he expressed this resolution, seemed to have lost all the accustomed fire and spirit of his look, and hung his head as if in a fit of despondency.
As I was sitting that evening at one of the fires, I saw him arrayed in his splendid war dress, his cheeks painted with vermilion, leading his favorite war horse to the front of his lodge. He mounted and rode round the village, singing his war song in a loud hoarse205 voice amid the shrill206 acclamations of the women. Then dismounting, he remained for some minutes prostrate207 upon the ground, as if in an act of supplication208. On the following morning I looked in vain for the departure of the warriors. All was quiet in the village until late in the forenoon, when the White Shield, issuing from his lodge, came and seated himself in his old place before us. Reynal asked him why he had not gone out to find the enemy.
“I cannot go,” answered the White Shield in a dejected voice. “I have given my war arrows to the Meneaska.”
“You have only given him two of your arrows,” said Reynal. “If you ask him, he will give them back again.”
“One of my young men has had bad dreams. The spirits of the dead came and threw stones at him in his sleep.”
If such a dream had actually taken place it might have broken up this or any other war party, but both Reynal and I were convinced at the time that it was a mere11 fabrication to excuse his remaining at home.
The White Shield was a warrior of noted prowess. Very probably, he would have received a mortal wound without a show of pain, and endured without flinching210 the worst tortures that an enemy could inflict upon him. The whole power of an Indian’s nature would be summoned to encounter such a trial; every influence of his education from childhood would have prepared him for it; the cause of his suffering would have been visibly and palpably before him, and his spirit would rise to set his enemy at defiance211, and gain the highest glory of a warrior by meeting death with fortitude212. But when he feels himself attacked by a mysterious evil, before whose insidious213 assaults his manhood is wasted, and his strength drained away, when he can see no enemy to resist and defy, the boldest warrior falls prostrate at once. He believes that a bad spirit has taken possession of him, or that he is the victim of some charm. When suffering from a protracted214 disorder, an Indian will often abandon himself to his supposed destiny, pine away and die, the victim of his own imagination. The same effect will often follow from a series of calamities215, or a long run of ill success, and the sufferer has been known to ride into the midst of an enemy’s camp, or attack a grizzly216 bear single-handed, to get rid of a life which he supposed to lie under the doom217 of misfortune.
Thus after all his fasting, dreaming, and calling upon the Great Spirit, the White Shield’s war party was pitifully broken up.
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1
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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withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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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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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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harangued
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| v.高谈阔论( harangue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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delinquents
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| n.（尤指青少年）有过失的人，违法的人( delinquent的名词复数 ) | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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15
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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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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nutritious
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| adj.有营养的，营养价值高的 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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29
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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jaded
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| adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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38
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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39
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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40
otter
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| n.水獭 | |
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41
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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encompassed
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| v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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45
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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46
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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47
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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48
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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51
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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52
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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54
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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55
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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58
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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59
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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uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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62
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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63
bristle
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| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
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64
gore
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| n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶 | |
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65
philosophic
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| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
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66
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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67
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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68
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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69
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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70
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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71
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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72
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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73
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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74
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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75
scouring
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| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
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76
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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77
flaying
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| v.痛打( flay的现在分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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78
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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79
notch
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| n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级 | |
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80
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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81
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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82
landmarks
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| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
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83
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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84
antelope
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| n.羚羊；羚羊皮 | |
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85
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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86
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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87
fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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88
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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89
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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90
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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91
consigning
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的现在分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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92
dispensed
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| v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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93
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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94
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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95
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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96
suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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97
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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98
beavers
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| 海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人 | |
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99
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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100
withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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101
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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102
omens
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| n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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103
prodigies
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| n.奇才，天才（尤指神童）( prodigy的名词复数 ) | |
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104
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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105
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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106
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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107
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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108
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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109
laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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110
pliant
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| adj.顺从的；可弯曲的 | |
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111
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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112
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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113
initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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114
impaled
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| 钉在尖桩上( impale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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117
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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118
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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119
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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120
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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121
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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122
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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123
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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124
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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125
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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126
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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127
gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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128
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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129
sputtering
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| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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130
yelp
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| vi.狗吠 | |
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131
yelps
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| n.（因痛苦、气愤、兴奋等的）短而尖的叫声( yelp的名词复数 )v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的第三人称单数 ) | |
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132
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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133
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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134
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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135
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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136
gashing
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| v.划伤，割破( gash的现在分词 ) | |
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137
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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138
lamenting
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| adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 ) | |
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139
squeal
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| v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音 | |
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140
mallet
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| n.槌棒 | |
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141
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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142
illustrating
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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143
affinity
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| n.亲和力，密切关系 | |
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144
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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145
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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146
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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147
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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148
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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149
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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150
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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151
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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152
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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153
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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154
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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155
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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156
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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157
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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158
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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159
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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160
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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161
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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162
dolorous
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| adj.悲伤的；忧愁的 | |
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163
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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164
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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165
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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166
canine
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| adj.犬的，犬科的 | |
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167
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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168
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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169
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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170
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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171
urchin
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| n.顽童；海胆 | |
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172
precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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173
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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174
consummated
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| v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房 | |
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175
gashed
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| v.划伤，割破( gash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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176
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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177
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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178
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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179
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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180
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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181
braggart
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| n.吹牛者；adj.吹牛的，自夸的 | |
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182
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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183
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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184
garnished
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| v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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185
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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186
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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187
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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189
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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190
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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191
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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antipathies
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| 反感( antipathy的名词复数 )； 引起反感的事物； 憎恶的对象； （在本性、倾向等方面的）不相容 | |
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193
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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195
ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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196
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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197
amicably
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| adv.友善地 | |
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198
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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202
thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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204
disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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208
supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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209
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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flinching
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的现在分词 ) | |
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211
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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212
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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214
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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215
calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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216
grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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