The Indian is a true child of the forest and the desert. The wastes and solitudes1 of nature are his congenial home. His haughty2 mind is imbued3 with the spirit of the wilderness4, and the light of civilization falls on him with a blighting5 power. His unruly pride and untamed freedom are in harmony with the lonely mountains, cataracts6, and rivers among which he dwells; and primitive9 America, with her savage10 scenery and savage men, opens to the imagination a boundless11 world, unmatched in wild sublimity12.
The Indians east of the Mississippi may be divided into several great families, each distinguished13 by a radical14 peculiarity16 of language. In their moral and intellectual, their social and political state, these various families exhibit strong shades of distinction; but, before pointing them out, I shall indicate a few prominent characteristics, which, faintly or distinctly, mark the whole in common.
All are alike a race of hunters, sustaining life wholly, or in part, by the fruits of the chase. Each family is split into tribes; and these tribes, by the exigencies17 of the hunter life, are again divided into sub-tribes, bands, or villages, often scattered18 far asunder19, over a wide extent of wilderness. Unhappily for the strength and harmony of the Indian race, each tribe is prone20 to regard itself, not as the member of a great whole, but as a sovereign and independent nation, often arrogating21 to itself an importance superior to all the rest of mankind;[1] and the warrior22 whose petty horde23 might muster24 a few scores of half-starved fighting men, strikes his hand upon his heart, and exclaims, in all the pride of patriotism25, “I am a Menomone.”
In an Indian community, each man is his own master. He abhors26 restraint, and owns no other authority than his own16 capricious will; and yet this wild notion of liberty is not inconsistent with certain gradations of rank and influence. Each tribe has its sachem, or civil chief, whose office is in a manner hereditary27, and, among many, though by no means among all tribes, descends28 in the female line; so that the brother of the incumbent30, or the son of his sister, and not his own son, is the rightful successor to his dignities.[2] If, however, in the opinion of the old men and subordinate chiefs, the heir should be disqualified for the exercise of the office by cowardice32, incapacity, or any defect of character, they do not scruple33 to discard him, and elect another in his place, usually fixing their choice on one of his relatives. The office of the sachem is no enviable one. He has neither laws to administer nor power to enforce his commands. His counsellors are the inferior chiefs and principal men of the tribe; and he never sets himself in opposition34 to the popular will, which is the sovereign power of these savage democracies. His province is to advise, and not to dictate35; but, should he be a man of energy, talent, and address, and especially should he be supported by numerous relatives and friends, he may often acquire no small measure of respect and power. A clear distinction is drawn36 between the civil and military authority, though both are often united in the same person. The functions of war-chief may, for the most part, be exercised by any one whose prowess and reputation are sufficient to induce the young men to follow him to battle; and he may, whenever he thinks proper, raise a band of volunteers, and go out against the common enemy.
We might imagine that a society so loosely framed would soon resolve itself into anarchy37; yet this is not the case, and an Indian village is singularly free from wranglings and petty strife39. Several causes conspire41 to this result. The necessities of the hunter life, preventing the accumulation of large communities, make more stringent43 organization needless; while a species of self-control, inculcated from childhood upon every17 individual, enforced by a sentiment of dignity and manhood, and greatly aided by the peculiar15 temperament44 of the race, tends strongly to the promotion45 of harmony. Though he owns no law, the Indian is inflexible46 in his adherence47 to ancient usages and customs; and the principle of hero-worship, which belongs to his nature, inspires him with deep respect for the sages48 and captains of his tribe. The very rudeness of his condition, and the absence of the passions which wealth, luxury, and the other incidents of civilization engender50, are favorable to internal harmony; and to the same cause must likewise be ascribed too many of his virtues51, which would quickly vanish, were he elevated from his savage state.
A peculiar social institution exists among the Indians, very curious in its character; and though I am not prepared to say that it may be traced through all the tribes east of the Mississippi, yet its prevalence is so general, and its influence on political relations so important, as to claim especial attention. Indian communities, independently of their local distribution into tribes, bands, and villages, are composed of several distinct clans52. Each clan53 has its emblem54, consisting of the figure of some bird, beast, or reptile55; and each is distinguished by the name of the animal which it thus bears as its device; as, for example, the clan of the Wolf, the Deer, the Otter56, or the Hawk57. In the language of the Algonquins, these emblems58 are known by the name of Totems.[3] The members of the same clan, being connected, or supposed to be so, by ties of kindred, more or less remote, are prohibited from intermarriage. Thus Wolf cannot marry Wolf; but he may, if he chooses, take a wife from the clan of Hawks59, or any other clan but his own. It follows that when this prohibition60 is rigidly62 observed, no18 single clan can live apart from the rest; but the whole must be mingled63 together, and in every family the husband and wife must be of different clans.
To different totems attach different degrees of rank and dignity; and those of the Bear, the Tortoise, and the Wolf are among the first in honor. Each man is proud of his badge, jealously asserting its claims to respect; and the members of the same clan, though they may, perhaps, speak different dialects, and dwell far asunder, are yet bound together by the closest ties of fraternity. If a man is killed, every member of the clan feels called upon to avenge64 him; and the wayfarer65, the hunter, or the warrior is sure of a cordial welcome in the distant lodge66 of the clansman whose face perhaps he has never seen. It may be added that certain privileges, highly prized as hereditary rights, sometimes reside in particular clans; such as that of furnishing a sachem to the tribe, or of performing certain religious ceremonies or magic rites67.
The Indians east of the Mississippi may be divided into three great families: the Iroquois, the Algonquin, and the Mobilian, each speaking a language of its own, varied68 by numerous dialectic forms. To these families must be added a few stragglers from the great western race of the Dahcotah, besides several distinct tribes of the south, each of which has been regarded as speaking a tongue peculiar to itself.[4] The Mobilian group embraces the motley confederacy of the Creeks69, the crafty70 Choctaws, and the stanch71 and warlike Chickasaws. Of these, and of the distinct tribes dwelling72 in their vicinity, or within their limits, I shall only observe that they offer, with many modifications73, and under different aspects, the same essential features which mark the Iroquois and the Algonquins, the two great families of the north.[5] The19 latter, who were the conspicuous74 actors in the events of the ensuing narrative75, demand a closer attention.
THE IROQUOIS FAMILY.
Foremost in war, foremost in eloquence76, foremost in their savage arts of policy, stood the fierce people called by themselves the Hodenosaunee, and by the French the Iroquois, a name which has since been applied77 to the entire family of which they formed the dominant78 member.[6] They extended their conquests and their depredations79 from Quebec to the Carolinas, and from the western prairies to the forests of Maine.[7] On the south, they forced tribute from the subjugated80 Delawares, and pierced the mountain fastnesses of the Cherokees with incessant81 forays.[8] On the north, they uprooted20 the ancient settlements of the Wyandots; on the west they exterminated83 the Eries and the Andastes, and spread havoc84 and dismay among the tribes of the Illinois; and on the east, the Indians of New England fled at the first peal85 of the Mohawk war-cry. Nor was it the Indian race alone who quailed86 before their ferocious87 valor88. All Canada shook with the fury of their onset89; the people fled to the forts for refuge; the blood-besmeared conquerors90 roamed like wolves among the burning settlements, and the colony trembled on the brink91 of ruin.
The Iroquois in some measure owed their triumphs to the position of their country; for they dwelt within the present limits of the State of New York, whence several great rivers and the inland oceans of the northern lakes opened ready thoroughfares to their roving warriors92 through all the adjacent wilderness. But the true fountain of their success is to be sought in their own inherent energies, wrought93 to the most effective action under a political fabric94 well suited to the Indian life; in their mental and moral organization; in their insatiable ambition and restless ferocity.
In their scheme of government, as in their social customs and religious observances, the Iroquois displayed, in full symmetry and matured strength, the same characteristics which in other tribes are found distorted, withered95, decayed to the root, or, perhaps, faintly visible in an imperfect germ. They consisted of five tribes or nations—the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas, to whom a sixth, the Tuscaroras, was afterwards added.[9] To each of these tribes belonged an organization of its own. Each had several sachems, who, with the subordinate chiefs and principal men, regulated all its internal affairs; but, when foreign powers were to be treated with, or matters involving the whole confederacy21 required deliberation, all the sachems of the several tribes convened96 in general assembly at the great council-house, in the Valley of Onondaga. Here ambassadors were received, alliances were adjusted, and all subjects of general interest discussed with exemplary harmony.[10] The order of debate was prescribed by time-honored customs; and, in the fiercest heat of controversy97, the assembly maintained its self-control.
But the main stay of Iroquois polity was the system of totemship. It was this which gave the structure its elastic98 strength; and but for this, a mere99 confederacy of jealous and warlike tribes must soon have been rent asunder by shocks from without or discord100 from within. At some early period, the Iroquois probably formed an individual nation; for the whole people, irrespective of their separation into tribes, consisted of eight totemic clans; and the members of each clan, to what nation soever they belonged, were mutually bound to one another by those close ties of fraternity which mark this singular institution. Thus the five nations of the confederacy were laced together by an eight-fold band; and to this hour their slender remnants cling to one another with invincible101 tenacity102.
It was no small security to the liberties of the Iroquois—liberties which they valued beyond any other possession—that22 by the Indian custom of descent in the female line, which among them was more rigidly adhered to than elsewhere, the office of the sachem must pass, not to his son, but to his brother, his sister’s son, or some yet remoter kinsman103. His power was constantly deflected104 into the collateral105 branches of his family; and thus one of the strongest temptations of ambition was cut off.[11] The Iroquois had no laws; but they had ancient customs which took the place of laws. Each man, or rather, each clan, was the avenger106 of its own wrongs; but the manner of the retaliation107 was fixed108 by established usage. The tribal109 sachems, and even the great council at Onondaga, had no power to compel the execution of their decrees; yet they were looked up to with a respect which the soldier’s bayonet or the sheriff’s staff would never have commanded; and it is highly to the honor of the Indian character that they could exert so great an authority where there was nothing to enforce it but the weight of moral power.[12]
23
The origin of the Iroquois is lost in hopeless obscurity. That they came from the west; that they came from the north; that they sprang from the soil of New York, are the testimonies110 of three conflicting traditions, all equally worthless as aids to historic inquiry111.[13] It is at the era of their confederacy—the event to which the five tribes owed all their greatness and power, and to which we need assign no remoter date than that of a century before the first arrival of the Dutch in New York—that faint rays of light begin to pierce the gloom, and the chaotic112 traditions of the earlier epoch113 mould themselves into forms more palpable and distinct.
Taounyawatha, the God of the Waters—such is the belief of the Iroquois—descended114 to the earth to instruct his favorite people in the arts of savage life; and when he saw how they were tormented115 by giants, monsters, and evil spirits, he urged the divided tribes, for the common defence, to band themselves together in an everlasting116 league. While the injunction was as yet unfulfilled, the sacred messenger was recalled to the Great Spirit; but, before his departure, he promised that another should appear, empowered to instruct the people in all that pertained117 to their confederation. And accordingly, as a band of Mohawk warriors was threading the funereal118 labyrinth119 of an ancient pine forest, they heard, amid its blackest depths, a hoarse120 voice chanting in measured cadence121; and, following the sound, they saw, seated among the trees, a monster so hideous122, that they stood benumbed with terror. His features were wild and frightful123. He was encompassed124 by hissing125 rattlesnakes, which, Medusa-like, hung writhing126 from his head; and on the ground around him were strewn implements24 of incantation, and magic vessels128 formed of human skulls129. Recovering from their amazement130, the warriors could perceive that in the mystic words of the chant, which he still poured forth131, were couched the laws and principles of the destined132 confederacy. The tradition further declares that the monster, being surrounded and captured, was presently transformed to human shape, that he became a chief of transcendent wisdom and prowess, and to the day of his death ruled the councils of the now united tribes. To this hour the presiding sachem of the council at Onondaga inherits from him the honored name of Atotarho.[14]
The traditional epoch which preceded the auspicious133 event of the confederacy, though wrapped in clouds and darkness, and defying historic scrutiny134, has yet a character and meaning of its own. The gloom is peopled thick with phantoms135; with monsters and prodigies136, shapes of wild enormity, yet offering, in the Teutonic strength of their conception, the evidence of a robustness138 of mind unparalleled among tribes of a different lineage. In these evil days, the scattered and divided Iroquois were beset139 with every form of peril140 and disaster. Giants, cased in armor of stone, descended on them from the mountains of the north. Huge beasts trampled141 down their forests like fields of grass. Human heads, with streaming hair and glaring eyeballs, shot through the air like meteors, shedding pestilence142 and death throughout the land. A great horned serpent rose from Lake Ontario; and only the thunder-bolts of the skies could stay his ravages143, and drive him back to his native deeps. The skeletons of men, victims of some monster of the forest, were seen swimming in the Lake of Teungktoo; and around the Seneca village on the Hill of Genundewah, a two-headed serpent coiled himself, of size so monstrous144 that the wretched people were unable to ascend145 his scaly146 sides, and perished in multitudes by his pestilential breath. Mortally wounded at length by the magic arrow of a child, he rolled down the steep, sweeping147 away the forest with his writhings, and plunging148 into the lake below, where he lashed149 the black waters till they boiled with blood and25 foam150, and at length, exhausted151 with his agony, sank, and perished at the bottom. Under the Falls of Niagara dwelt the Spirit of the Thunder, with his brood of giant sons; and the Iroquois trembled in their villages when, amid the blackening shadows of the storm, they heard his deep shout roll along the firmament152.
The energy of fancy, whence these barbarous creations drew their birth, displayed itself, at a later period, in that peculiar eloquence which the wild democracy of the Iroquois tended to call forth, and to which the mountain and the forest, the torrent153 and the storm, lent their stores of noble imagery. That to this imaginative vigor154 was joined mental power of a different stamp, is witnessed by the caustic155 irony156 of Garangula and Sagoyewatha, and no less by the subtle policy, sagacious as it was treacherous157, which marked the dealings of the Iroquois with surrounding tribes.[15]
With all this mental superiority, the arts of life among them had not emerged from their primitive rudeness; and their coarse pottery158, their spear and arrow heads of stone, were in no way superior to those of many other tribes. Their agriculture deserves a higher praise. In 1696, the invading army of Count Frontenac found the maize159 fields extending a league and a half or two leagues from their villages; and, in 1779, the troops of General Sullivan were filled with amazement at their abundant stores of corn, beans, and squashes, and at the old apple orchards160 which grew around their settlements.
Their dwellings161 and works of defence were far from contemptible162, either in their dimensions or in their structure; and though by the several attacks of the French, and especially by26 the invasion of De Nonville, in 1687, and of Frontenac, nine years later, their fortified163 towns were levelled to the earth, never again to reappear; yet, in the works of Champlain and other early writers we find abundant evidence of their pristine164 condition. Along the banks of the Mohawk, among the hills and hollows of Onondaga, in the forests of Oneida and Cayuga, on the romantic shores of Seneca Lake and the rich borders of the Genesee, surrounded by waving maize fields, and encircled from afar by the green margin165 of the forest, stood the ancient strongholds of the confederacy. The clustering dwellings were encompassed by palisades, in single, double, or triple rows, pierced with loopholes, furnished with platforms within, for the convenience of the defenders167, with magazines of stones to hurl168 upon the heads of the enemy, and with water conductors to extinguish any fire which might be kindled169 from without.[16]
The area which these defences enclosed was often several acres in extent, and the dwellings, ranged in order within, were sometimes more than a hundred feet in length. Posts, firmly driven into the ground, with an intervening framework of poles, formed the basis of the structure; and its sides and arched roof were closely covered with layers of elm bark. Each of the larger dwellings contained several distinct families, whose separate fires were built along the central space, while compartments170 on each side, like the stalls of a stable, afforded some degree of privacy. Here, rude couches were prepared, and bear and deer skins spread; while above, the ripened171 ears of maize, suspended in rows, formed a golden tapestry172.[17]
27
In the long evenings of midwinter, when in the wilderness without the trees cracked with biting cold, and the forest paths were clogged173 with snow, then, around the lodge-fires of the Iroquois, warriors, squaws, and restless naked children were clustered in social groups, each dark face brightening in the fickle174 fire-light, while, with jest and laugh, the pipe passed round from hand to hand. Perhaps some shrivelled old warrior, the story-teller of the tribe, recounted to attentive175 ears the deeds of ancient heroism176, legends of spirits and monsters, or tales of witches and vampires—superstitions177 not less rife40 among this all-believing race, than among the nations of the transatlantic world.
The life of the Iroquois, though void of those multiplying phases which vary the routine of civilized178 existence, was one of sharp excitement and sudden contrast. The chase, the warpath, the dance, the festival, the game of hazard, the race of political ambition, all had their votaries179. When the assembled sachems had resolved on war against some foreign tribe, and when, from their great council-house of bark, in the Valley of Onondaga, their messengers had gone forth to invite the warriors to arms, then from east to west, through the farthest bounds of the confederacy, a thousand warlike hearts caught28 up the summons. With fasting and praying, and consulting dreams and omens180, with invoking181 the war-god, and dancing the war-dance, the warriors sought to insure the triumph of their arms, and then, their rites concluded, they began their stealthy progress through the devious182 pathways of the forest. For days and weeks, in anxious expectation, the villagers awaited the result. And now, as evening closed, a shrill183, wild cry, pealing184 from afar, over the darkening forest, proclaimed the return of the victorious185 warriors. The village was alive with sudden commotion186, and snatching sticks and stones, knives and hatchets187, men, women, and children, yelling like fiends let loose, swarmed188 out of the narrow portal, to visit upon the captives a foretaste of the deadlier torments189 in store for them. The black arches of the forest glowed with the fires of death, and with brandished190 torch and firebrand the frenzied191 multitude closed around their victim. The pen shrinks to write, the heart sickens to conceive, the fierceness of his agony, yet still, amid the din31 of his tormentors, rose his clear voice of scorn and defiance192. The work was done, the blackened trunk was flung to the dogs, and, with clamorous193 shouts and hootings, the murderers sought to drive away the spirit of their victim.[18]
The Iroquois reckoned these barbarities among their most exquisite194 enjoyments195, and yet they had other sources of pleasure, which made up in frequency and in innocence197 what they lacked in intensity198. Each passing season had its feasts and dances, often mingling199 religion with social pastime. The young had their frolics and merry-makings, and the old had their no less frequent councils, where conversation and29 laughter alternated with grave deliberations for the public weal. There were also stated periods marked by the recurrence200 of momentous201 ceremonies, in which the whole community took part—the mystic sacrifice of the dogs, the orgies of the dream feast, and the loathsome202 festival of the exhumation203 of the dead. Yet in the intervals204 of war and hunting, these resources would often fail; and, while the women were toiling205 in the cornfields, the lazy warriors beguiled206 the hours with smoking or sleeping, with gambling207 or gallantry.[19]
If we seek for a single trait pre?minently characteristic of the Iroquois, we shall find it in that boundless pride which impelled208 them to style themselves, not inaptly as regards their own race, “the men surpassing all others.”[20] “Must I,” exclaimed one of their great warriors, as he fell wounded among a crowd of Algonquins,—“must I, who have made the whole earth tremble, now die by the hands of children?” Their power kept pace with their pride. Their war-parties roamed over half America, and their name was a terror from the Atlantic to the Mississippi; but, when we ask the numerical strength of the dreaded209 confederacy, when we discover that, in the days of their greatest triumphs, their united cantons could not have mustered210 four thousand warriors, we stand amazed at the folly211 and dissension which left so vast a region the prey212 of a handful of bold marauders. Of the cities and villages now so thickly scattered over the lost domain213 of the Iroquois, a single one might boast a more numerous population than all the five united tribes.[21]
30
From this remarkable214 people, who with all the ferocity of their race blended heroic virtues and marked endowments of intellect, I pass to other members of the same great family, whose different fortunes may perhaps be ascribed rather to the force of circumstance, than to any intrinsic inferiority.
The peninsula between the Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario was occupied by two distinct peoples, speaking dialects of the Iroquois tongue. The Hurons or Wyandots, including the tribe called by the French the Dionondadies, or Tobacco Nation,[22] dwelt among the forests which bordered the eastern shores of the fresh-water sea, to which they have left their name; while the Neutral Nation, so called from their neutrality in the war between the Hurons and the Five Nations, inhabited the northern shores of Lake Erie, and even extended their eastern flank across the strait of Niagara.
The population of the Hurons has been variously stated at from ten thousand to thirty thousand souls, but probably did not exceed the former estimate. The Franciscans and the Jesuits were early among them, and from their descriptions it is apparent that, in legends and superstitions, manners and habits, religious observances and social customs, they were closely assimilated to their brethren of the Five Nations. Their capacious dwellings of bark, and their palisaded forts, seemed copied after the same model.[23] Like the Five Nations, they were divided into tribes, and cross-divided into totemic clans; and, as with them, the office of sachem descended in the female line. The same crude materials of a political fabric were to be31 found in both; but, unlike the Iroquois, the Wyandots had not as yet wrought them into a system, and woven them into a harmonious215 whole.
Like the Five Nations, the Wyandots were in some measure an agricultural people; they bartered216 the surplus products of their maize fields to surrounding tribes, usually receiving fish in exchange; and this traffic was so considerable, that the Jesuits styled their country the Granary of the Algonquins.[24]
Their prosperity was rudely broken by the hostilities217 of the Five Nations; for though the conflicting parties were not ill matched in point of numbers, yet the united counsels and ferocious energies of the confederacy swept all before them. In the year 1649, in the depth of winter, their warriors invaded the country of the Wyandots, stormed their largest villages, and involved all within in indiscriminate slaughter218.[25] The survivors219 fled in panic terror, and the whole nation was broken and dispersed220.
Some found refuge among the French of Canada, where, at the village of Lorette, near Quebec, their descendants still remain; others were incorporated with their conquerors; while others again fled northward222, beyond Lake Superior, and sought an asylum223 among the wastes which bordered on the north-eastern bands of the Dahcotah. Driven back by those fierce bison-hunters, they next established themselves about the outlet224 of Lake Superior, and the shores and islands in the northern parts of Lake Huron. Thence, about the year 1680, they descended to Detroit, where they formed a permanent settlement, and where, by their superior valor, capacity, and address, they soon acquired an ascendency over the surrounding Algonquins.
The ruin of the Neutral Nation followed close on that of the Wyandots, to whom, according to Jesuit authority, they bore32 an exact resemblance in character and manners.[26] The Senecas soon found means to pick a quarrel with them; they were assailed225 by all the strength of the insatiable confederacy, and within a few years their destruction as a nation was complete.
South of Lake Erie dwelt two members of the Iroquois family. The Andastes built their fortified villages along the valley of the Lower Susquehanna; while the Erigas, or Eries, occupied the borders of the lake which still retains their name. Of these two nations little is known, for the Jesuits had no missions among them, and few traces of them survive beyond their names and the record of their destruction. The war with the Wyandots was scarcely over, when the Five Nations turned their arms against their Erie brethren.
In the year 1655, using their canoes as scaling ladders, they stormed the Erie stronghold, leaped down like tigers among the defenders, and butchered them without mercy.[27] The greater part of the nation was involved in the massacre226, and the remnant was incorporated with the conquerors, or with other tribes, to which they fled for refuge. The ruin of the Andastes came next in turn; but this brave people fought for twenty years against their inexorable assailants, and their destruction was not consummated227 until the year 1672, when they shared the fate of the rest.[28]
Thus, within less than a quarter of a century, four nations, the most brave and powerful of the North American savages228, sank before the arms of the confederates. Nor did their triumphs end here. Within the same short space they subdued229 their southern neighbors the Lenape,[29] the leading members of the Algonquin family, and expelled the Ottawas, a numerous people of the same lineage, from the borders of the river which bears their name. In the north, the west, and the south,33 their conquests embraced every adjacent tribe; and meanwhile their war parties were harassing231 the French of Canada with reiterated232 inroads, and yelling the war-whoop under the walls of Quebec.
They were the worst of conquerors. Inordinate233 pride, the lust166 of blood and dominion234, were the mainsprings of their warfare235; and their victories were strained with every excess of savage passion. That their triumphs must have cost them dear; that, in spite of their cautious tactics, these multiplied conflicts must have greatly abridged236 their strength, would appear inevitable237. Their losses were, in fact, considerable; but every breach238 was repaired by means of a practice to which they, in common with other tribes, constantly adhered. When their vengeance239 was glutted240 by the sacrifice of a sufficient number of captives, they spared the lives of the remainder, and adopted them as members of their confederated tribes, separating wives from husbands, and children from parents, and distributing them among different villages, in order that old ties and associations might be more completely broken up. This policy is said to have been designated among them by a name which signifies “flesh cut into pieces and scattered among the tribes.”
In the years 1714-15, the confederacy received a great accession of strength. Southwards, about the headwaters of the rivers Neuse and Tar8, and separated from their kindred tribes by intervening Algonquin communities, dwelt the Tuscaroras, a warlike people belonging to the generic241 stock of the Iroquois. The wrongs inflicted242 by white settlers, and their own undistinguishing vengeance, involved them in a war with the colonists243, which resulted in their defeat and expulsion. They emigrated to the Five Nations, whose allies they had been in former wars with southern tribes, and who now gladly received them, admitting them as a sixth nation, into their confederacy.
It is a remark of Gallatin, that, in their career of conquest, the Five Nations encountered more stubborn resistance from the tribes of their own family, than from those of a different lineage. In truth, all the scions244 of this warlike stock seem endued245 with singular vitality246 and force, and among them we must seek for the best type of the Indian character. Few tribes34 could match them in prowess, constancy, moral energy, or intellectual vigor. The Jesuits remarked that they were more intelligent, yet less tractable247, than other savages; and Charlevoix observes that, though the Algonquins were readily converted, they made but fickle proselytes; while the Hurons, though not easily won over to the church, were far more faithful in their adherence.[30] Of this tribe, the Hurons or Wyandots, a candid248 and experienced observer declares, that of all the Indians with whom he was conversant249, they alone held it disgraceful to turn from the face of an enemy when the fortunes of the fight were adverse251.[31]
Besides these inherent qualities, the tribes of the Iroquois race derived252 great advantages from their superior social organization. They were all, more or less, tillers of the soil, and were thus enabled to concentrate a more numerous population than the scattered tribes who live by the chase alone. In their well-peopled and well-constructed villages, they dwelt together the greater part of the year; and thence the religious rites and social and political usages, which elsewhere existed only in the germ, attained253 among them a full development. Yet these advantages were not without alloy254, and the Jesuits were not slow to remark that the stationary255 and thriving Iroquois were more loose in their observance of social ties, than the wandering and starving savages of the north.[32]
THE ALGONQUIN FAMILY.
Except the detached nation of the Tuscaroras, and a few smaller tribes adhering to them, the Iroquois family was confined to the region south of the Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the peninsula east of Lake Huron. They formed, as it were, an island in the vast expanse of Algonquin population, extending from Hudson’s Bay on the north to the Carolinas on the35 south; from the Atlantic on the east to the Mississippi and Lake Winnipeg on the west. They were Algonquins who greeted Jacques Cartier, as his ships ascended256 the St. Lawrence. The first British colonists found savages of the same race hunting and fishing along the coasts and inlets of Virginia; and it was the daughter of an Algonquin chief who interceded257 with her father for the life of the adventurous258 Englishman. They were Algonquins who, under Sassacus the Pequot, and Philip of Mount Hope, waged war against the Puritans of New England; who dwelt at Penacook, under the rule of the great magician, Passaconaway, and trembled before the evil spirits of the White Hills; and who sang aves and told their beads259 in the forest chapel260 of Father Rasles, by the banks of the Kennebec. They were Algonquins who, under the great tree at Kensington, made the covenant261 of peace with William Penn; and when French Jesuits and fur-traders explored the Wabash and the Ohio, they found their valleys tenanted by the same far-extended race. At the present day, the traveller, perchance, may find them pitching their bark lodges262 along the beach at Mackinaw, spearing fish among the rapids of St. Mary’s, or skimming the waves of Lake Superior in their birch canoes.
Of all the members of the Algonquin family, those called by the English the Delawares, by the French the Loups, and by themselves Lenni Lenape, or Original Men, hold the first claim to attention; for their traditions declare them to be the parent stem whence other Algonquin tribes have sprung. The latter recognized the claim, and, at all solemn councils, accorded to the ancestral tribe the title of Grandfather.[33]
The first European colonists found the conical lodges of the Lenape clustered in frequent groups about the waters of the Delaware and its tributary263 streams, within the present limits of New Jersey264, and Eastern Pennsylvania. The nation was separated into three divisions, and three sachems formed a36 triumvirate, who, with the council of old men, regulated all its affairs.[34] They were, in some small measure, an agricultural people; but fishing and the chase were their chief dependence265, and through a great part of the year they were scattered abroad, among forests and streams, in search of sustenance266.
When William Penn held his far-famed council with the sachems of the Lenape, he extended the hand of brotherhood267 to a people as unwarlike in their habits as his own pacific followers268. This is by no means to be ascribed to any inborn269 love of peace. The Lenape were then in a state of degrading vassalage270 to the Five Nations, who, that they might drain to the dregs the cup of humiliation271, had forced them to assume the name of Women, and forego the use of arms.[35] Dwelling under the shadow of the tyrannical confederacy, they were long unable to wipe out the blot272; but at length, pushed from their ancient seats by the encroachments of white men, and removed westward273, partially274 beyond the reach of their conquerors, their native spirit began to revive, and they assumed a tone of defiance. During the Old French War they resumed the use of arms, and while the Five Nations fought for the English, they espoused275 the cause of France. At the opening of the Revolution, they boldly asserted their freedom from the yoke276 of their conquerors; and a few years after, the Five Nations confessed, at a public council, that the Lenape were no longer women, but men.[36] Ever since that period, they have stood in high repute for bravery, generosity277, and all the savage virtues; and the settlers of the frontier have often found, to their cost, that the women of the Iroquois have been transformed into a race of formidable warriors. At the present day, the small remnant settled beyond the Mississippi are among the bravest marauders of the west. Their war-parties pierce the farthest wilds of37 the Rocky Mountains; and the prairie traveller may sometimes meet the Delaware warrior returning from a successful foray, a gaudy278 handkerchief bound about his brows, his snake locks fluttering in the wind, and his rifle resting across his saddle-bow, while the tarnished279 and begrimed equipments of his half-wild horse bear witness that the rider has waylaid280 and plundered281 some Mexican cavalier.
Adjacent to the Lenape, and associated with them in some of the most notable passages of their history, dwelt the Shawanoes, the Chaouanons of the French, a tribe of bold, roving, and adventurous spirit. Their eccentric wanderings, their sudden appearances and disappearances282, perplex the antiquary, and defy research; but from various scattered notices, we may gather that at an early period they occupied the valley of the Ohio; that, becoming embroiled283 with the Five Nations, they shared the defeat of the Andastes, and about the year 1672 fled to escape destruction. Some found an asylum in the country of the Lenape, where they lived tenants284 at will of the Five Nations; others sought refuge in the Carolinas and Florida, where, true to their native instincts, they soon came to blows with the owners of the soil. Again, turning northwards, they formed new settlements in the valley of the Ohio, where they were now suffered to dwell in peace, and where, at a later period, they were joined by such of their brethren as had found refuge among the Lenape.[37]
Of the tribes which, single and detached, or cohering285 in loose confederacies, dwelt within the limits of Lower Canada, Acadia, and New England, it is needless to speak; for they offered no distinctive286 traits demanding notice. Passing the country of the Lenape and the Shawanoes, and descending287 the Ohio, the traveller would have found its valley chiefly occupied by two nations, the Miamis or Twightwees, on the Wabash and its branches, and the Illinois, who dwelt in the neighborhood of the river to which they have given their name, while portions of them extended beyond the Mississippi. Though never subjugated, as were the Lenape, both the Miamis and the Illinois were reduced to the last extremity288 by38 the repeated attacks of the Five Nations; and the Illinois, in particular, suffered so much by these and other wars, that the population of ten or twelve thousand, ascribed to them by the early French writers, had dwindled289, during the first quarter of the eighteenth century, to a few small villages.[38] According to Marest, they were a people sunk in sloth290 and licentiousness291; but that priestly father had suffered much at their hands, and viewed them with a jaundiced eye. Their agriculture was not contemptible; they had permanent dwellings as well as portable lodges; and though wandering through many months of the year among their broad prairies and forests, there were seasons when their whole population was gathered, with feastings and merry-making, within the limits of their villages.
Turning his course northward, traversing Lakes Michigan and Superior, and skirting the western margin of Lake Huron, the voyager would have found the solitudes of the wild waste around him broken by scattered lodges of the Ojibwas, Pottawattamies, and Ottawas. About the bays and rivers west of Lake Michigan, he would have seen the Sacs, the Foxes, and the Menomonies; and penetrating292 the frozen wilderness of the north, he would have been welcomed by the rude hospitality of the wandering Crees or Knisteneaux.
The Ojibwas, with their kindred, the Pottawattamies, and their friends the Ottawas,—the latter of whom were fugitives294 from the eastward295, whence they had fled from the wrath296 of the Iroquois,—were banded into a sort of confederacy.[39] They were closely allied297 in blood, language, manners and character. The Ojibwas, by far the most numerous of the three, occupied the basin of Lake Superior, and extensive adjacent regions. In their boundaries, the career of Iroquois conquest found at length a check. The fugitive293 Wyandots sought refuge in the Ojibwa hunting-grounds; and tradition relates that, at the outlet of Lake Superior, an Iroquois war-party once encountered a disastrous298 repulse299.
In their mode of life, they were far more rude than the Iroquois, or even the southern Algonquin tribes. The totemic system is found among them in its most imperfect state. The39 original clans have become broken into fragments, and indefinitely multiplied; and many of the ancient customs of the institution are but loosely regarded. Agriculture is little known, and, through summer and winter, they range the wilderness with restless wandering, now gorged300 to repletion301, and now perishing with want. In the calm days of summer, the Ojibwa fisherman pushes out his birch canoe upon the great inland ocean of the north; and, as he gazes down into the pellucid302 depths, he seems like one balanced between earth and sky. The watchful303 fish-hawk circles above his head; and below, farther than his line will reach, he sees the trout304 glide305 shadowy and silent over the glimmering306 pebbles307. The little islands on the verge308 of the horizon seem now starting into spires49, now melting from the sight, now shaping themselves into a thousand fantastic forms, with the strange mirage309 of the waters; and he fancies that the evil spirits of the lake lie basking310 their serpent forms on those unhallowed shores. Again, he explores the watery311 labyrinths312 where the stream sweeps among pine-tufted islands, or runs, black and deep, beneath the shadows of moss-bearded firs; or he drags his canoe upon the sandy beach, and, while his camp-fire crackles on the grass-plat, reclines beneath the trees, and smokes and laughs away the sultry hours, in a lazy luxury of enjoyment196.
But when winter descends upon the north, sealing up the fountains, fettering313 the streams, and turning the green-robed forests to shivering nakedness, then, bearing their frail314 dwellings on their backs, the Ojibwa family wander forth into the wilderness, cheered only on their dreary315 track by the whistling of the north wind, and the hungry howl of wolves. By the banks of some frozen stream, women and children, men and dogs, lie crouched316 together around the fire. They spread their benumbed fingers over the embers, while the wind shrieks317 through the fir-trees like the gale318 through the rigging of a frigate319, and the narrow concave of the wigwam sparkles with the frost-work of their congealed320 breath. In vain they beat the magic drum, and call upon their guardian321 manitoes;—the wary322 moose keeps aloof323, the bear lies close in his hollow tree, and famine stares them in the face. And now the hunter can fight no more against the nipping cold and blinding sleet324. Stiff and stark325, with haggard cheek and shrivelled lip, he lies40 among the snow-drifts; till, with tooth and claw, the famished326 wildcat strives in vain to pierce the frigid327 marble of his limbs. Such harsh schooling328 is thrown away on the incorrigible329 mind of the northern Algonquin. He lives in misery330, as his fathers lived before him. Still, in the brief hour of plenty he forgets the season of want; and still the sleet and the snow descend29 upon his houseless head.[40]
I have thus passed in brief review the more prominent of the Algonquin tribes; those whose struggles and sufferings form the theme of the ensuing History. In speaking of the Iroquois, some of the distinctive peculiarities331 of the Algonquins have already been hinted at. It must be admitted that, in moral stability and intellectual vigor, they are inferior to the former; though some of the most conspicuous offspring of the wilderness, Metacom, Tecumseh, and Pontiac himself, owned their blood and language.
The fireside stories of every primitive people are faithful reflections of the form and coloring of the national mind; and it is no proof of sound philosophy to turn with contempt from the study of a fairy tale. The legendary332 lore221 of the Iroquois, black as the midnight forests, awful in its gloomy strength, is but another manifestation333 of that spirit of mastery which uprooted82 whole tribes from the earth, and deluged334 the wilderness with blood. The traditionary tales of the Algonquins wear a different aspect. The credulous335 circle around an Ojibwa lodge-fire listened to wild recitals336 of necromancy337 and witchcraft—men transformed to beasts, and beasts transformed to men, animated338 trees, and birds who spoke339 with human tongue. They heard of malignant340 sorcerers dwelling among the lonely islands of spell-bound lakes; of grisly weendigoes, and bloodless geebi; of evil manitoes lurking341 in the dens342 and fastnesses of the woods; of pygmy champions, diminutive343 in stature344 but mighty345 in soul, who, by the potency346 of charm and talisman347, subdued the direst monsters of the waste; and of heroes, who, not by downright force and open onset, but by subtle strategy, tricks, or magic art, achieved marvellous41 triumphs over the brute348 force of their assailants. Sometimes the tale will breathe a different spirit, and tell of orphan349 children abandoned in the heart of a hideous wilderness, beset with fiends and cannibals. Some enamored maiden350, scornful of earthly suitors, plights351 her troth to the graceful250 manito of the grove352; or bright aerial beings, dwellers353 of the sky, descend to tantalize354 the gaze of mortals with evanescent forms of loveliness.
The mighty giant, the God of the Thunder, who made his home among the caverns355, beneath the cataract7 of Niagara, was a characteristic conception of Iroquois imagination. The Algonquins held a simpler faith, and maintained that the thunder was a bird who built his nest on the pinnacle356 of towering mountains. Two daring boys once scaled the height, and thrust sticks into the eyes of the portentous357 nestlings; which hereupon flashed forth such wrathful scintillations, that the sticks were shivered to atoms.[41]
The religious belief of the Algonquins—and the remark holds good, not of the Algonquins only, but of all the hunting tribes of America—is a cloudy bewilderment, where we seek in vain for system or coherency. Among a primitive and savage people, there were no poets to vivify its images, and no priests to give distinctness and harmony to its rites and symbols. To the Indian mind, all nature was instinct with deity358. A spirit was embodied359 in every mountain, lake, and cataract; every bird, beast, or reptile, every tree, shrub360, or grass-blade, was endued with mystic influence; yet this untutored42 pantheism did not exclude the conception of certain divinities, of incongruous and ever shifting attributes. The sun, too, was a god, and the moon was a goddess. Conflicting powers of good and evil divided the universe: but if, before the arrival of Europeans, the Indian recognized the existence of one, almighty361, self-existent Being, the Great Spirit, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the belief was so vague and dubious362 as scarcely to deserve the name. His perceptions of moral good and evil were perplexed363 and shadowy; and the belief in a state of future reward and punishment was by no means universal.[42]
Of the Indian character, much has been written foolishly, and credulously364 believed. By the rhapsodies of poets, the cant127 of sentimentalists, and the extravagance of some who should have known better, a counterfeit365 image has been tricked out, which might seek in vain for its likeness366 through every corner of the habitable earth; an image bearing no more resemblance to its original, than the monarch367 of the tragedy and the hero of the epic368 poem bear to their living prototypes in the palace and the camp. The shadows of his wilderness home, and the darker mantle369 of his own inscrutable reserve, have made the Indian warrior a wonder and a mystery. Yet to the eye of rational observation there is nothing unintelligible370 in him. He is full, it is true, of contradiction. He deems himself the centre of greatness and renown371; his pride is proof against the fiercest torments of fire and steel; and yet the same man would beg for a dram of whiskey, or pick up a crust of bread thrown to him like a dog, from the tent door of the traveller. At one moment, he is wary and cautious to the verge of cowardice; at the next, he abandons himself to a very insanity372 of recklessness; and the habitual373 self-restraint which throws an impenetrable veil over emotion is joined to the unbridled passions of a madman or a beast.
Such inconsistencies, strange as they seem in our eyes, when viewed under a novel aspect, are but the ordinary incidents of humanity. The qualities of the mind are not uniform in their action through all the relations of life. With different43 men, and different races of men, pride, valor, prudence374, have different forms of manifestation, and where in one instance they lie dormant375, in another they are keenly awake. The conjunction of greatness and littleness, meanness and pride, is older than the days of the patriarchs; and such antiquated376 phenomena377, displayed under a new form in the unreflecting, undisciplined mind of a savage, call for no special wonder, but should rather be classed with the other enigmas378 of the fathomless379 human heart. The dissecting380 knife of a Rochefoucault might lay bare matters of no less curious observation in the breast of every man.
Nature has stamped the Indian with a hard and stern physiognomy. Ambition, revenge, envy, jealousy381, are his ruling passions; and his cold temperament is little exposed to those effeminate vices382 which are the bane of milder races. With him revenge is an overpowering instinct; nay383, more, it is a point of honor and a duty. His pride sets all language at defiance. He loathes384 the thought of coercion385; and few of his race have ever stooped to discharge a menial office. A wild love of liberty, an utter intolerance of control, lie at the basis of his character, and fire his whole existence. Yet, in spite of this haughty independence, he is a devout386 hero-worshipper; and high achievement in war or policy touches a chord to which his nature never fails to respond. He looks up with admiring reverence387 to the sages and heroes of his tribe; and it is this principle, joined to the respect for age springing from the patriarchal element in his social system, which, beyond all others, contributes union and harmony to the erratic388 members of an Indian community. With him the love of glory kindles389 into a burning passion; and to allay390 its cravings, he will dare cold and famine, fire, tempest, torture, and death itself.
These generous traits are overcast391 by much that is dark, cold, and sinister392, by sleepless393 distrust, and rankling394 jealousy. Treacherous himself, he is always suspicious of treachery in others. Brave as he is,—and few of mankind are braver,—he will vent42 his passion by a secret stab rather than an open blow. His warfare is full of ambuscade and stratagem395; and he never rushes into battle with that joyous396 self-abandonment, with which the warriors of the Gothic races flung themselves44 into the ranks of their enemies. In his feasts and his drinking bouts397 we find none of that robust137 and full-toned mirth, which reigned398 at the rude carousals of our barbaric ancestry399. He is never jovial400 in his cups, and maudlin401 sorrow or maniacal402 rage is the sole result of his potations.
Over all emotion he throws the veil of an iron self-control, originating in a peculiar form of pride, and fostered by rigorous discipline from childhood upward. He is trained to conceal403 passion, and not to subdue230 it. The inscrutable warrior is aptly imaged by the hackneyed figure of a volcano covered with snow; and no man can say when or where the wildfire will burst forth. This shallow self-mastery serves to give dignity to public deliberation, and harmony to social life. Wrangling38 and quarrel are strangers to an Indian dwelling; and while an assembly of the ancient Gauls was garrulous404 as a convocation of magpies405, a Roman senate might have taken a lesson from the grave solemnity of an Indian council. In the midst of his family and friends, he hides affections, by nature none of the most tender, under a mask of icy coldness; and in the torturing fires of his enemy, the haughty sufferer maintains to the last his look of grim defiance.
His intellect is as peculiar as his moral organization. Among all savages, the powers of perception preponderate406 over those of reason and analysis; but this is more especially the case with the Indian. An acute judge of character, at least of such parts of it as his experience enables him to comprehend; keen to a proverb in all exercises of war and the chase, he seldom traces effects to their causes, or follows out actions to their remote results. Though a close observer of external nature, he no sooner attempts to account for her phenomena than he involves himself in the most ridiculous absurdities407; and quite content with these puerilities, he has not the least desire to push his inquiries408 further. His curiosity, abundantly active within its own narrow circle, is dead to all things else; and to attempt rousing it from its torpor409 is but a bootless task. He seldom takes cognizance of general or abstract ideas; and his language has scarcely the power to express them, except through the medium of figures drawn from the external world, and often highly picturesque410 and forcible. The absence45 of reflection makes him grossly improvident411, and unfits him for pursuing any complicated scheme of war or policy.
Some races of men seem moulded in wax, soft and melting, at once plastic and feeble. Some races, like some metals, combine the greatest flexibility412 with the greatest strength. But the Indian is hewn out of a rock. You can rarely change the form without destruction of the substance. Races of inferior energy have possessed413 a power of expansion and assimilation to which he is a stranger; and it is this fixed and rigid61 quality which has proved his ruin. He will not learn the arts of civilization, and he and his forest must perish together. The stern, unchanging features of his mind excite our admiration414 from their very immutability415; and we look with deep interest on the fate of this irreclaimable son of the wilderness, the child who will not be weaned from the breast of his rugged416 mother. And our interest increases when we discern in the unhappy wanderer the germs of heroic virtues mingled among his vices,—a hand bountiful to bestow417 as it is rapacious418 to seize, and even in extremest famine, imparting its last morsel419 to a fellow-sufferer; a heart which, strong in friendship as in hate, thinks it not too much to lay down life for its chosen comrade; a soul true to its own idea of honor, and burning with an unquenchable thirst for greatness and renown.
The imprisoned420 lion in the showman’s cage differs not more widely from the lord of the desert, than the beggarly frequenter of frontier garrisons421 and dramshops differs from the proud denizen422 of the woods. It is in his native wilds alone that the Indian must be seen and studied. Thus to depict423 him is the aim of the ensuing History; and if, from the shades of rock and forest, the savage features should look too grimly forth, it is because the clouds of a tempestuous424 war have cast upon the picture their murky425 shadows and lurid426 fires.
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solitudes
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| n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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imbued
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| v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等） | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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blighting
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| 使凋萎( blight的现在分词 )； 使颓丧； 损害； 妨害 | |
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cataracts
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| n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障 | |
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cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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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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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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sublimity
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| 崇高，庄严，气质高尚 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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exigencies
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| n.急切需要 | |
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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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asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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arrogating
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| v.冒称，妄取( arrogate的现在分词 )；没来由地把…归属（于） | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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muster
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| 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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patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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abhors
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| v.憎恶( abhor的第三人称单数 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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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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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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conspire
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| v.密谋，（事件等）巧合，共同导致 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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43
stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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44
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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45
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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46
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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47
adherence
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| n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着 | |
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48
sages
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| n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料） | |
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49
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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50
engender
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| v.产生，引起 | |
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51
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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52
clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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53
clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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54
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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55
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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56
otter
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| n.水獭 | |
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57
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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58
emblems
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| n.象征，标记( emblem的名词复数 ) | |
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59
hawks
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| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
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60
prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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61
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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62
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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63
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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64
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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65
wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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66
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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67
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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68
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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69
creeks
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| n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪 | |
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70
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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71
stanch
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| v.止住（血等）；adj.坚固的；坚定的 | |
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72
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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73
modifications
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| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
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74
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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75
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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76
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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77
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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78
dominant
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|
| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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79
depredations
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| n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 ) | |
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80
subjugated
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| v.征服，降伏( subjugate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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81
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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82
uprooted
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|
| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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83
exterminated
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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85
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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86
quailed
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| 害怕，发抖，畏缩( quail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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87
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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88
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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89
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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90
conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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91
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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92
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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93
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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94
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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95
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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96
convened
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| 召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合 | |
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97
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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98
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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99
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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100
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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101
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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102
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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103
kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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104
deflected
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| 偏离的 | |
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105
collateral
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|
| adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品 | |
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106
avenger
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| n. 复仇者 | |
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107
retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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108
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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109
tribal
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|
| adj.部族的，种族的 | |
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110
testimonies
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| （法庭上证人的）证词( testimony的名词复数 )； 证明，证据 | |
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111
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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112
chaotic
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|
| adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的 | |
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113
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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114
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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115
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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116
everlasting
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|
| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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117
pertained
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| 关于( pertain的过去式和过去分词 )； 有关； 存在； 适用 | |
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118
funereal
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| adj.悲哀的；送葬的 | |
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119
labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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120
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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121
cadence
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| n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫 | |
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122
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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123
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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124
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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125
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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126
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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127
cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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128
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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129
skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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130
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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131
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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132
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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133
auspicious
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| adj.吉利的；幸运的，吉兆的 | |
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134
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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135
phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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136
prodigies
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| n.奇才，天才（尤指神童）( prodigy的名词复数 ) | |
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137
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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138
robustness
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| 坚固性，健壮性；鲁棒性 | |
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139
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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140
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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141
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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142
pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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143
ravages
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| 劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹 | |
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144
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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145
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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146
scaly
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| adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的 | |
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147
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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148
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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149
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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150
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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151
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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152
firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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153
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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154
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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155
caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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156
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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157
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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158
pottery
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| n.陶器，陶器场 | |
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159
maize
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| n.玉米 | |
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160
orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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161
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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162
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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163
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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164
pristine
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| adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的 | |
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165
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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166
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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167
defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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168
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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169
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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170
compartments
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|
| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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171
ripened
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|
| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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172
tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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173
clogged
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| （使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞 | |
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174
fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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175
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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176
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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177
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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178
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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179
votaries
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| n.信徒( votary的名词复数 )；追随者；（天主教）修士；修女 | |
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180
omens
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| n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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181
invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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182
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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183
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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184
pealing
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| v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的现在分词 ) | |
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185
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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186
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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187
hatchets
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| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
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188
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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189
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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190
brandished
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| v.挥舞( brandish的过去式和过去分词 )；炫耀 | |
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191
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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192
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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193
clamorous
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| adj.吵闹的，喧哗的 | |
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194
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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195
enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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196
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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197
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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198
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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199
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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200
recurrence
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| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
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201
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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202
loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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203
exhumation
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| n.掘尸，发掘；剥璐 | |
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204
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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205
toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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206
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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207
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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208
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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209
dreaded
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|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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210
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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211
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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212
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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213
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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214
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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215
harmonious
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|
| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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216
bartered
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| v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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217
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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218
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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219
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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220
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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221
lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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222
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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223
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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224
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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225
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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226
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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227
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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228
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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229
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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230
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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231
harassing
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| v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人） | |
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232
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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233
inordinate
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| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
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234
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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235
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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236
abridged
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| 削减的，删节的 | |
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237
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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238
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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239
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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240
glutted
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| v.吃得过多( glut的过去式和过去分词 )；（对胃口、欲望等）纵情满足；使厌腻；塞满 | |
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241
generic
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|
| adj.一般的，普通的，共有的 | |
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242
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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243
colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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244
scions
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| n.接穗，幼枝( scion的名词复数 )；（尤指富家）子孙 | |
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245
endued
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| v.授予，赋予（特性、才能等）( endue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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246
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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247
tractable
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|
| adj.易驾驭的；温顺的 | |
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248
candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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249
conversant
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| adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的 | |
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250
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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251
adverse
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| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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252
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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253
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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254
alloy
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| n.合金，(金属的)成色 | |
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255
stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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256
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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257
interceded
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| v.斡旋，调解( intercede的过去式和过去分词 )；说情 | |
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258
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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259
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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260
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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261
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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262
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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263
tributary
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| n.支流；纳贡国；adj.附庸的；辅助的；支流的 | |
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264
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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265
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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266
sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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267
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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268
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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269
inborn
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| adj.天生的，生来的，先天的 | |
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270
vassalage
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| n.家臣身份，隶属 | |
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271
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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272
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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273
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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274
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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275
espoused
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| v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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276
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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277
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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278
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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279
tarnished
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| （通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏 | |
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280
waylaid
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| v.拦截，拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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281
plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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282
disappearances
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| n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案 | |
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283
embroiled
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| adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的 | |
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284
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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285
cohering
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| v.黏合( cohere的现在分词 )；联合；结合；（指看法、推理等）前后一致 | |
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286
distinctive
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|
| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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287
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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288
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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289
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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290
sloth
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| n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散 | |
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291
licentiousness
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| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
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292
penetrating
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|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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293
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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294
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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295
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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296
wrath
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|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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297
allied
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|
| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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298
disastrous
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|
| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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299
repulse
|
|
| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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300
gorged
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|
| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
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301
repletion
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|
| n.充满，吃饱 | |
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302
pellucid
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|
| adj.透明的，简单的 | |
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303
watchful
|
|
| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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304
trout
|
|
| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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305
glide
|
|
| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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306
glimmering
|
|
| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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307
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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308
verge
|
|
| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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309
mirage
|
|
| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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310
basking
|
|
| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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311
watery
|
|
| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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312
labyrinths
|
|
| 迷宫( labyrinth的名词复数 )； （文字，建筑）错综复杂的 | |
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313
fettering
|
|
| v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的现在分词 ) | |
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314
frail
|
|
| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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315
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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316
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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317
shrieks
|
|
| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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318
gale
|
|
| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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319
frigate
|
|
| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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320
congealed
|
|
| v.使凝结，冻结( congeal的过去式和过去分词 )；（指血）凝结 | |
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321
guardian
|
|
| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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322
wary
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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323
aloof
|
|
| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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324
sleet
|
|
| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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325
stark
|
|
| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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326
famished
|
|
| adj.饥饿的 | |
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327
frigid
|
|
| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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328
schooling
|
|
| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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329
incorrigible
|
|
| adj.难以纠正的，屡教不改的 | |
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330
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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331
peculiarities
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|
| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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332
legendary
|
|
| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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333
manifestation
|
|
| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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334
deluged
|
|
| v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付 | |
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335
credulous
|
|
| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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336
recitals
|
|
| n.独唱会( recital的名词复数 )；独奏会；小型音乐会、舞蹈表演会等；一系列事件等的详述 | |
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337
necromancy
|
|
| n.巫术；通灵术 | |
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338
animated
|
|
| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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339
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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340
malignant
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|
| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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341
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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342
dens
|
|
| n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋 | |
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343
diminutive
|
|
| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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344
stature
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|
| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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345
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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346
potency
|
|
| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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347
talisman
|
|
| n.避邪物，护身符 | |
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348
brute
|
|
| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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349
orphan
|
|
| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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350
maiden
|
|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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351
plights
|
|
| n.境况，困境( plight的名词复数 ) | |
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352
grove
|
|
| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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353
dwellers
|
|
| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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354
tantalize
|
|
| vt.使干着急，逗弄 | |
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355
caverns
|
|
| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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356
pinnacle
|
|
| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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357
portentous
|
|
| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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358
deity
|
|
| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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359
embodied
|
|
| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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360
shrub
|
|
| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
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361
almighty
|
|
| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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362
dubious
|
|
| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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363
perplexed
|
|
| adj.不知所措的 | |
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364
credulously
|
|
| adv.轻信地，易被瞒地 | |
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365
counterfeit
|
|
| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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366
likeness
|
|
| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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367
monarch
|
|
| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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368
epic
|
|
| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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369
mantle
|
|
| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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370
unintelligible
|
|
| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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371
renown
|
|
| n.声誉，名望 | |
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372
insanity
|
|
| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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373
habitual
|
|
| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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374
prudence
|
|
| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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375
dormant
|
|
| adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的 | |
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376
antiquated
|
|
| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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377
phenomena
|
|
| n.现象 | |
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378
enigmas
|
|
| n.难于理解的问题、人、物、情况等，奥秘( enigma的名词复数 ) | |
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379
fathomless
|
|
| a.深不可测的 | |
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380
dissecting
|
|
| v.解剖（动物等）( dissect的现在分词 )；仔细分析或研究 | |
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381
jealousy
|
|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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382
vices
|
|
| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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383
nay
|
|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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384
loathes
|
|
| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的第三人称单数 )；极不喜欢 | |
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385
coercion
|
|
| n.强制，高压统治 | |
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386
devout
|
|
| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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387
reverence
|
|
| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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388
erratic
|
|
| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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389
kindles
|
|
| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的第三人称单数 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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390
allay
|
|
| v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等) | |
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391
overcast
|
|
| adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天 | |
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392
sinister
|
|
| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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393
sleepless
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|
| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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394
rankling
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|
| v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的现在分词 ) | |
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395
stratagem
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|
| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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396
joyous
|
|
| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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397
bouts
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|
| n.拳击（或摔跤）比赛( bout的名词复数 )；一段（工作）；（尤指坏事的）一通；（疾病的）发作 | |
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398
reigned
|
|
| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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399
ancestry
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|
| n.祖先，家世 | |
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400
jovial
|
|
| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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401
maudlin
|
|
| adj.感情脆弱的，爱哭的 | |
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402
maniacal
|
|
| adj.发疯的 | |
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403
conceal
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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404
garrulous
|
|
| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
参考例句： |
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405
magpies
|
|
| 喜鹊（magpie的复数形式） | |
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406
preponderate
|
|
| v.数目超过；占优势 | |
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407
absurdities
|
|
| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
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408
inquiries
|
|
| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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409
torpor
|
|
| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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410
picturesque
|
|
| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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411
improvident
|
|
| adj.不顾将来的，不节俭的，无远见的 | |
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412
flexibility
|
|
| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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413
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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414
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
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415
immutability
|
|
| n.不变(性) | |
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416
rugged
|
|
| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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417
bestow
|
|
| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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418
rapacious
|
|
| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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419
morsel
|
|
| n.一口，一点点 | |
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420
imprisoned
|
|
| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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421
garrisons
|
|
| 守备部队，卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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422
denizen
|
|
| n.居民，外籍居民 | |
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423
depict
|
|
| vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述 | |
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424
tempestuous
|
|
| adj.狂暴的 | |
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425
murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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