After a grand war dance at the infant settlement of Quebec, the allies set out together. Champlain was in a boat, carrying, besides himself, eleven men, chief among whom were one Marais and a pilot named La Routte, all armed with the arquebuse, a species of firearm shorter than the musket4, and therefore better fitted for the woods.
They ascended5 the St. Lawrence and entered the Richelieu, which forms the outlet6 of Lake Champlain. Here, to Champlain's great disappointment, he found his farther progress barred by the rapids at Chambly, though the Indians had assured him that his boat could pass all the way unobstructed. He told them that though they had deceived him, he would not abandon them, sent Marais with the boat and most of the men back to Quebec, and, with two who offered to follow him, prepared to go on in the Indian canoes.
The warriors lifted their canoes from the water, and in long procession through the forest, under the flickering7 sun and shade, bore them on their shoulders around the rapids to the smooth stream above. Here the chiefs made a muster8 of their forces, counting twenty-four canoes and sixty warriors. All embarked9 again, and advanced once more, by marsh10, meadow, forest, and scattered11 islands, then full of game, for it was an uninhabited land, the war-path and battle-ground of hostile tribes. The warriors observed a certain system in their advance. Some were in front as a vanguard; others formed the main body; while an equal number were in the forests on the flanks and rear, hunting for the subsistence of the whole; for, though they had a provision of parched12 maize13 pounded into meal, they kept it for use when, from the vicinity of the enemy, hunting should become impossible.
Still the canoes advanced, the river widening as they went. Great islands appeared, leagues in extent: Isle14 à la Motte, Long Island, Grande Isle. Channels where ships might float and broad reaches of expanding water stretched between them, and Champlain entered the lake which preserves his name to posterity15. Cumberland Head was passed, and from the opening of the great channel between Grande Isle and the main, he could look forth16 on the wilderness17 sea. Edged with woods, the tranquil18 flood spread southward beyond the sight. Far on the left, the forest ridges19 of the Green Mountains were heaved against the sun, patches of snow still glistening20 on their tops; and on the right rose the Adirondacks, haunts in these later years of amateur sportsmen from counting-rooms or college halls, nay21, of adventurous22 beauty, with sketch-book and pencil. Then the Iroquois made them their hunting-ground; and beyond, in the valleys of the Mohawk, the Onondaga, and the Genesee, stretched the long line of their five cantons and palisaded towns.
The progress of the party was becoming dangerous. They changed their mode of advance, and moved only in the night. All day, they lay close in the depth of the forest, sleeping, lounging, smoking tobacco of their own raising, and beguiling23 the hours, no doubt, with the shallow banter24 and obscene jesting with which knots of Indians are wont25 to amuse their leisure. At twilight26 they embarked again, paddling their cautious way till the eastern sky began to redden. Their goal was the rocky promontory27 where Fort Ticonderoga was long afterward28 built. Thence, they would pass the outlet of Lake George, and launch their canoes again on that Como of the wilderness, whose waters, limpid29 as a fountain-head, stretched far southward between their flanking mountains. Landing at the future site of Fort William Henry, they would carry their canoes through the forest to the River Hudson, and descending30 it, attack, perhaps, some outlying town of the Mohawks. In the next century this chain of lakes and rivers became the grand highway of savage31 and civilized32 war, a bloody33 debatable ground linked to memories of momentous34 conflicts.
The allies were spared so long a progress. On the morning of the twenty-ninth of July, after paddling all night, they hid as usual in the forest on the western shore, not far from Crown Point. The warriors stretched themselves to their slumbers35, and Champlain, after walking for a time through the surrounding woods, returned to take his repose36 on a pile of spruce-boughs. Sleeping, he dreamed a dream, wherein he beheld37 the Iroquois drowning in the lake; and, essaying to rescue them, he was told by his Algonquin friends that they were good for nothing and had better be left to their fate. Now, he had been daily beset38, on awakening39, by his superstitious40 allies, eager to learn about his dreams; and, to this moment, his unbroken slumbers had failed to furnish the desired prognostics. The announcement of this auspicious41 vision filled the crowd with joy, and at nightfall they embarked, flushed with anticipated victories.
It was ten o'clock in the evening, when they descried42 dark objects in motion on the lake before them. These were a flotilla of Iroquois canoes, heavier and slower than theirs, for they were made of oak or elm bark. Each party saw the other, and the mingled43 war-cries pealed44 over the darkened water. The Iroquois, who were near the shore, having no stomach for an aquatic45 battle, landed, and, making night hideous46 with their clamors, began to barricade47 themselves. Champlain could see them in the woods, laboring48 like beavers49, hacking50 down trees with iron axes taken from the Canadian tribes in war, and with stone hatchets51 of their own making. The allies remained on the lake, a bowshot from the hostile barricade, their canoes made fast together by poles lashed52 across. All night, they danced with as much vigor53 as the frailty54 of their vessels55 would permit, their throats making amends56 for the enforced restraint of their limbs. It was agreed on both sides that the fight should be deferred57 till daybreak; but meanwhile a commerce of abuse, sarcasm58, menace, and boasting gave unceasing exercise to the lungs and fancy of the combatants,—"much," says Champlain, "like the besiegers and besieged59 in a beleaguered60 town."
As day approached, he and his two followers61 put on the light armor of the time. Champlain wore the doublet and long hose then in vogue62. Over the doublet he buckled63 on a breastplate, and probably a back-piece, while his thighs64 were protected by cuisses of steel, and his head by a plumed65 casque. Across his shoulder hung the strap66 of his bandoleer, or ammunition-box; at his side was his sword, and in his hand his arquebuse, which he had loaded with four balls. Such was the equipment of this ancient Indian-fighter, whose exploits date eleven years before the landing of the Puritans at Plymouth, and sixty-six years before King Philip's War.
Each of the three Frenchmen was in a separate canoe, and, as it grew light, they kept themselves hidden, either by lying at the bottom, or covering themselves with an Indian robe. The canoes approached the shore, and all landed without opposition67 at some distance from the Iroquois, whom they presently could see filing out of their barricade, tall, strong men, some two hundred in number, of the boldest and fiercest warriors of North America. They advanced through the forest with a steadiness which excited the admiration68 of Champlain. Among them could be seen several chiefs, made conspicuous69 by their tall plumes70. Some bore shields of wood and hide, and some were covered with a kind of armor made of tough twigs71 interlaced with a vegetable fibre supposed by Champlain to be cotton.
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1 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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2 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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3 geographical | |
adj.地理的;地区(性)的 | |
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4 musket | |
n.滑膛枪 | |
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5 ascended | |
v.上升,攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6 outlet | |
n.出口/路;销路;批发商店;通风口;发泄 | |
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7 flickering | |
adj.闪烁的,摇曳的,一闪一闪的 | |
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8 muster | |
v.集合,收集,鼓起,激起;n.集合,检阅,集合人员,点名册 | |
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9 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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10 marsh | |
n.沼泽,湿地 | |
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11 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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12 parched | |
adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干 | |
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13 maize | |
n.玉米 | |
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14 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
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15 posterity | |
n.后裔,子孙,后代 | |
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16 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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17 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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18 tranquil | |
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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19 ridges | |
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊 | |
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20 glistening | |
adj.闪耀的,反光的v.湿物闪耀,闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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21 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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22 adventurous | |
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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23 beguiling | |
adj.欺骗的,诱人的v.欺骗( beguile的现在分词 );使陶醉;使高兴;消磨(时间等) | |
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24 banter | |
n.嘲弄,戏谑;v.取笑,逗弄,开玩笑 | |
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25 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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26 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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27 promontory | |
n.海角;岬 | |
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28 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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29 limpid | |
adj.清澈的,透明的 | |
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30 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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31 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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32 civilized | |
a.有教养的,文雅的 | |
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33 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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34 momentous | |
adj.重要的,重大的 | |
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35 slumbers | |
睡眠,安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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36 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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37 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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38 beset | |
v.镶嵌;困扰,包围 | |
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39 awakening | |
n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的 | |
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40 superstitious | |
adj.迷信的 | |
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41 auspicious | |
adj.吉利的;幸运的,吉兆的 | |
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42 descried | |
adj.被注意到的,被发现的,被看到的 | |
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43 mingled | |
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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44 pealed | |
v.(使)(钟等)鸣响,(雷等)发出隆隆声( peal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45 aquatic | |
adj.水生的,水栖的 | |
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46 hideous | |
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的 | |
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47 barricade | |
n.路障,栅栏,障碍;vt.设路障挡住 | |
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48 laboring | |
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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49 beavers | |
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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50 hacking | |
n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动 | |
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51 hatchets | |
n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 );恶毒攻击;诽谤;休战 | |
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52 lashed | |
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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53 vigor | |
n.活力,精力,元气 | |
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54 frailty | |
n.脆弱;意志薄弱 | |
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55 vessels | |
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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56 amends | |
n. 赔偿 | |
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57 deferred | |
adj.延期的,缓召的v.拖延,延缓,推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 );服从某人的意愿,遵从 | |
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58 sarcasm | |
n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic) | |
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59 besieged | |
包围,围困,围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60 beleaguered | |
adj.受到围困[围攻]的;包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词);困扰;骚扰 | |
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61 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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62 Vogue | |
n.时髦,时尚;adj.流行的 | |
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63 buckled | |
a. 有带扣的 | |
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64 thighs | |
n.股,大腿( thigh的名词复数 );食用的鸡(等的)腿 | |
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65 plumed | |
饰有羽毛的 | |
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66 strap | |
n.皮带,带子;v.用带扣住,束牢;用绷带包扎 | |
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67 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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68 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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69 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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70 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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71 twigs | |
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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