“Why, Zaimes, how on earth did you get here? Why, the coach does not get in till twelve o’clock.”
“No, Mr. Horace, but we had everything ready to start this morning. Of course your letter did not come in time for us to get over to the early coach, but we were expecting it after what you wrote yesterday, and your father had concluded that it would be much more comfortable to post. He does not like being crowded, and it was doubtful whether there would be room for the two of us; and there was the luggage, so we had arranged for a post-chaise to come for us anyhow, and we started half an hour after your letter came in, and have posted comfortably. Your father is in the coffee-room. He would not have a private room, as he did not know whether you would be taking him on board this evening.”
Mr. Beveridge was sitting at a table by himself, and had just finished his dinner when Horace came in. He looked up more briskly than usual.
“I am sorry I was not here to meet you, father,” Horace said; “but I did not think you could be here until the night coach.”
“No; I did not expect to find you here, Horace, so it was no disappointment. Well, you look bronzed and well, my boy, you and your friends seem to have done wonders in getting everything done so soon. I am quite anxious to see the ship. Are we to go on board this evening?”
“If you don’t mind, father, I would much rather you didn’t go off till morning. I said that if you came we would breakfast early and be ready for the gig at half-past eight. They won’t be expecting us to-night, and I am sure Martyn and the others will like to have everything in the best possible order when you go on board. We have been expecting those boxes of books you wrote about a week ago, but they haven’t turned up. It will be a horrible nuisance if, after the way we have been pushing everything forward, we should be kept waiting two or three days for them.”
“Well, Horace, the fact is I changed my mind. The four boxes were packed and in the hall. They really were very large boxes, and Zaimes said: ‘Well, master, what you are going to do with all those books I can’t imagine. Where are you going to put them? Why, they would fill your cabin up solid. If I were you, sir, I would not take one of them. Just give yourself a holiday. Don’t take a pen in your hand while you are away. You will have plenty to see about and to think about, and I am sure it would do you a deal of good to give it up altogether for a time, and you will take it up freshly afterwards. Besides, you will have people coming on board, and your advice will be asked, and you will have to decide all sorts of things, and you know you won’t be able to bring your mind out of your books if you have them on board.’ He said something like it when I first began to talk of packing, but it seemed to me impossible that I could give up work altogether; but the sight of those four great boxes staggered me. Then I said: ‘Zaimes, this is not like that little cabin on board the yacht. This is quite a large vessel3 in comparison.’ ‘Yes, sir,’ he replied, ‘but your cabin won’t be larger than the main cabin in the Surf, not so large I should fancy.’ This surprised me altogether, but he assured me it was so, and pressed me so much on the matter that I at last agreed to leave them all behind.”
“That is a capital thing, father. Zaimes was quite right. Your state-room is a very nice cabin, but except that it is a good deal more lofty, it is certainly not so large by a good deal as the main cabin in the Surf; besides, if you had your books you would be always shut up there, and what I thought of all along, from the time you first spoke4 about coming out, was what a good thing it would be for you to have a thorough holiday, and to put aside the old work altogether.”
“You don’t think it valuable, Horace?” Mr. Beveridge asked wistfully.
“I do, father. I think it most valuable, and no one can be prouder than I am of your reputation, and that all learned men should acknowledge the immense value of your works to Greek students. But, father, after all, the number of men who go into all that is very small, and I can’t see why your life should be entirely5 given up to them. I think that at any rate it will be a first-rate thing for you, and extremely pleasant for me, that you should be like the rest of us while we are out on this expedition. As Zaimes says, you will have a lot of things to decide upon, and we are going to lead an active, stirring life, and it is new Greece we shall have to think about, and not the Greece of two thousand years ago. It is your aim to raise, not the Greeks of the time of Miltiades, but a people who in these two thousand years have become a race, not only of slaves, but of ignorant savages6, for these massacres8 of unarmed people show that they are nothing better; and not only to free them, but to make them worthy10 of being a nation again. I think, father, there will be ample scope for all your thoughts and attention in the present without giving a thought to the niceties of the language spoken by Demosthenes, so I am truly and heartily11 glad you decided12 to leave your books behind you.”
“I think you are right, Horace; I am sure you are right; but it is a wrench13 to me to cut myself loose altogether from the habits of a lifetime.”
“And now, father, what are you going to do about clothes?” Horace said, looking at him closely.
“Yes, father, no doubt you have clothes, but I am sure that on board ship—and you will be always living there, you know—it will be much more comfortable for you to have clothes fit for the sea. Frilled shirts, and ruffles15, and tight breeches, and high-heeled Hessian boots, and short-waisted tail-coats are all very well on shore, but the first time you are out in a good brisk gale16, you would wish them anywhere. What you want is a couple of suits, at least, of blue cloth like mine, with brass17 buttons, and a low cloth cap like this that will keep on your head whilst it is blowing, in fact the sort of suit that the owner of a big yacht would naturally wear. Of course when you go ashore18 to see any of the Greek leaders, you might like to go in your ordinary dress; but really for sea you want comfortable clothes, and a good thick pea-jacket for rough weather.”
“Perhaps you are right, Horace, and I did remark that my heels left marks upon the deck of the Surf.”
“Certainly they did, father; and it would be agony to Will Martyn to have the beautiful white deck of the Creole spoiled.”
“But it is too late now, it is half-past eight o’clock.”
“Oh, I can take you to a shop where they keep this sort of thing. Besides, there are twelve hours before we start, and by paying for it one can get pretty nearly anything made in twelve hours.”
Mr. Beveridge suffered himself to be persuaded. Fortunately the outfitter had a couple of suits ordered by one of the officers of a ship of war in harbour nearly completed. These he agreed to alter to fit Mr. Beveridge by the morning, and to put on extra hands to turn out fresh suits for the person for whom they were intended. The gold lace, white facings, and other distinguishing marks would be removed, and plain brass buttons substituted for the royal buttons. Two or three pairs of shoes with low heels were also obtained. The clothes came home at seven in the morning, and Mr. Beveridge came down to breakfast looking like the smart captain of a merchantman.
“I feel as if I were dressed for a masquerade, Horace,” he said with a smile.
A DISCUSSION ABOUT CLOTHES
“You look first-rate, father, and a lot more comfortable than usual, I can tell you.”
“It would be a good thing if you could get him to put on sea-going togs,” the sailor had said. “He is the owner of as smart a craft as ever sailed out of British waters, and he will look a good deal more at home on the deck of his own ship in regular yachtsman’s dress than he would rigged up in his ruffles and boots.”
With this Horace had agreed heartily, for his father’s appearance on occasions when he had gone out with him in the Surf had struck him as being wholly incongruous with the surroundings.
At half-past eight they went down to the steps, two porters carrying the luggage under the watchful20 eye of Zaimes. As they were seen, the smart gig with its six rowers, which was lying a short distance off, rowed in to the steps. Tarleton was steering21. He stepped out to hand Mr. Beveridge into the boat.
“This is Mr. Tarleton, father, our second lieutenant23.”
“I am glad to meet you, sir,” Mr. Beveridge said, shaking hands with the young officer. “I hope that we shall have a pleasant cruise together.”
“I feel sure we shall, sir. If one couldn’t be comfortable on board the Creole, one couldn’t be comfortable anywhere.”
Tarleton took his seat in the centre to steer22, with Mr. Beveridge and Horace on either side of him, Zaimes and the luggage were placed in the bow. The bowman pushed the boat off with the boat-hook. The oars24, which had been tossed in man-of-war fashion, fell with a splash into the water, and then with a long steady stroke the gig darted25 away from the steps.
“This is certainly very pleasant,” Mr. Beveridge said as they threaded through the anchored craft and made their way seaward. “I begin to wish I had taken up yachting twenty years back.”
“Well, it is not too late, father. When we have done with Greece, you can go in for amusement if you like.”
“I should never find time, Horace.”
“Oh, you could make time, father. You could spare three months in the year and be all the better for it. When you have once had a break, you will find how pleasant it is.”
Half an hour’s row and Horace said: “That is the Creole, father, lying in there near the farther point.”
“She doesn’t look as large as I expected, Horace, though her masts seem a great height.”
“She is heavily sparred for her length,” Tarleton said, “but she has great beam; besides she is rather low in the water now, and of course that makes the spars look big in proportion. She will be a bit higher by the time we get out. Fifty men consume a considerable weight of stores and water every week. You will be pleased with her, sir, when we get alongside. We all think she is as handsome a craft as we ever set eyes on. She will astonish the Turks, I warrant, when it comes to sailing.”
Another twenty minutes they were alongside. According to naval26 etiquette27 Horace mounted the ladder first, then Tarleton, and Mr. Beveridge followed. Martyn and Miller28 received him at the gangway, the former introducing the first officer and the surgeon to him.
“She is a fine-looking vessel,” Mr. Beveridge said, “and you have certainly done marvels29 with her, Captain Martyn, for my son wrote me that she had nothing but her lower masts in her when you took possession, and now she is wonderfully bright and clean, and these decks look almost too white to walk on.”
“I hope that we shall always keep her in equal order, sir. We have a capital crew, and no one could wish for a better craft under his feet.”
Mr. Beveridge was now conducted round the ship, and expressed himself highly gratified with everything.
“Is it your wish that we should make sail at once, sir?” Martyn asked. “We have been expecting some heavy luggage on board, but it has not arrived.”
“I changed my mind about it, and there is nothing coming, Captain Martyn. I am perfectly30 ready to start if you have everything on board.”
“There is nothing to wait for, sir; we are perfectly ready.”
They returned to the quarter-deck, and as Martyn gave the orders there was a general movement on the part of the crew. Some of the men clustered round the capstan, while others prepared to make sail, and Mr. Beveridge felt a keen sense of pleasure as he watched the active fellows at their work. In five minutes the sails were set, the anchor at the cat-head, and the Creole moving through the water under the light breeze off shore.
They had favourable31 winds across the Bay and down the coast of Portugal. Everything from the start had gone as smoothly32 as if the Creole had been six months in commission—officers and men were alike pleased with the ship; the provisions for the sailors were of the best quality; the duties were very light, for the sails had not required altering from the time they had been set, although each day the men practised for an hour at lowering and setting them, in order to accustom33 them to work smartly together.
There was half an hour’s cutlass drill, and for the rest of the day, beyond cleaning and polishing, there was nothing to be done. Mr. Beveridge spent the greater part of his time in a comfortable deck-chair on the quarter-deck, for there was no poop, the deck being flush from end to end. Horace attended to his duties as third officer regularly, and the nights were so warm and pleasant that the watches did not appear long to him. There was no stiffness in the cabin when they gathered to their meals, or in the evening, and Mr. Beveridge proved in no way a wet blanket on their fun, as the three officers had rather anticipated he would be. He talked but little, but was thoroughly34 amused at their yarns35 and jests, all of which were as strange to him as if he had lived in another world.
“You will certainly have to cut off our rations36 a bit, Mr. Beveridge,” Will Martyn said one day as they finished dinner. “We shall be getting as fat as porpoises37 if we go on like this. I can feel my togs filling out daily; and as for Tarleton, he will have to have all his things let out by the time we arrive in the Levant. For the credit of the ship I shall have to give orders for us to be supplied with the same rations as the men, and go in for luxuries only on Sundays. We are not accustomed to be tempted38 in this way at every meal. It is all very well for you who do not eat much more than a sparrow to have such nice things always put before you; but to us who have been accustomed to a steady diet of salt junk, except when we put into port and are able to get fresh meat for a change, these things are beyond our power of resistance.”
“I eat a great deal more than I did on shore,” Mr. Beveridge said. “I find, indeed, a wonderful improvement in my appetite. It was quite an infliction39 to Zaimes that I cared so little for the good things he provided me with. I can assure you I really begin to look for my meals now, and it is a pleasure for me to see you all eat with good healthy appetites, and I am sure that it must be a great gratification to the Greeks to see their efforts appreciated at last.”
“It is Tarleton I am thinking of principally, sir; as for Miller, nature made him square, and it would be no disadvantage if he became round; while as to the doctor, food is simply wasted on him, he will never do credit to your cooks. But Tarleton, with those dark eyes of his and his gentle sort of way, was what the ladies would consider an interesting youth, and he would, I am sure, forfeit40 the good opinion of the ladies altogether if he were to return looking like a mildly animated41 sausage.”
Tarleton joined in the laugh. “I do think I have gained a lot in weight the last week,” he said; “but we won’t always go on in this quiet sort of way. As for what Martyn says, I believe it is only jealousy42 on his part at seeing that my angles are filling out.”
On arriving at the Straits they put in at Ceuta and obtained a supply of fresh meat and vegetables. In the Mediterranean43 they fell in with dead calms and were a fortnight in getting to Gozo, where they again replenished44 their stock. They abstained45 from putting in either at Gibraltar or Malta in order to avoid being questioned as to the cargo46 and destination of the Creole.
“Now, sir,” Will Martyn said when they were within two days’ sail of Greece, “it is quite time to decide what port we shall make for, but we can’t decide that until we know how matters are going on. When we left England there were very conflicting accounts of the progress of the revolution, and whether Corinth, Patras, Nauplia, or Athens are in the hands of the Greeks or Turks. Well, I should say, sir, that our best plan would be to put in at Zante, where, as it is English, and therefore neutral ground, we shall learn all about the state of affairs, and may meet some of our own people or foreigners who have been fighting by the side of the Greeks. Half an hour’s talk with one of them would give us a better idea how everything stands than a week’s talk with Greeks.”
“I think that will be a very good plan,” Mr. Beveridge agreed. “Flying the English flag we might go in or out of any of the harbours as neutrals; but if by any chance it leaked out what our cargo is the Turks would probably consider themselves justified47 in laying hands on us.”
“At any rate it is well not to run the risk, Mr. Beveridge, as there is no object to be served by it. I will take the bearings of Zante and lay our course for it.”
There was, indeed, no spot where they were more likely to obtain accurate news of what was going on than Zante, lying as the island does at a short distance from the mouth of the Gulf48 of Corinth, upon which were three of the most important towns in Greece—Patras, Corinth, and Missolonghi. Here, too, the fugitives49 from the Morea, of either party, would naturally make their way.
It was the 8th of October when the Creole, flying the English flag at her peak, dropped anchor in the port. As soon as she did so a custom-house officer came on board.
“What ship is this?” he asked the first officer, who was on deck.
“This is the Creole, a private yacht belonging to Mr. Beveridge. The owner is below if you wish to see him.”
“You have no merchandise on board?”
“I tell you that it is a yacht,” Miller said. “An English gentleman doesn’t bring out merchandise for sale in his yacht. The captain will show you her papers.”
Will Martyn came on deck.
“This is the captain,” Miller said. “You had better address him.”
On hearing what was required Martyn took the officer below and showed him the ship’s papers.
“I see it is mentioned here that you were bound from England to Lisbon,” the officer observed.
“Yes. We did not put in there, as Mr. Beveridge was anxious to get into a warmer climate.”
“I see you are strongly armed,” the officer said when he came on to deck again, for after leaving Malta the eight twelve-pounders and the pivot-gun had been got up from the hold and mounted.
“Yes, we are armed, as you see. I imagine you would hardly recommend anyone to be cruising about in these waters without means of defence.”
“No, indeed,” the officer laughed. “The Greeks are pirates to the core. You would be all right with the Turks, although from your appearance I should not think they would ever get near enough to trouble you.”
Half an hour later Mr. Beveridge and Horace were rowed ashore. As, except at Ceuta, Horace had never set foot ashore out of England, he was much amused and interested by the varied51 population. Mingled52 with the native population of the island were Greeks from the mainland; Albanians in their white pleated petticoats, bristling53 with arms mounted in gold and silver; a few English soldiers walking about as unconcernedly as if in a garrison54 town at home; and sailors of several nationalities from ships in harbour.
“I should think, father, the proper thing would be to call upon the English officer in command here and invite him to dinner. We shall get a general idea of the state of things from him.”
Asking a soldier, they found that the small detachment there was under the command of Captain O’Grady, whose house, at the entrance to the barrack, was pointed55 out to them. The officer was in, and on Mr. Beveridge sending in his card they were at once shown in.
“I am the owner of a schooner-yacht, the Creole, that dropped anchor an hour ago,” Mr. Beveridge said. “I know very little about the etiquette of these things, but it seemed to me the proper thing was to call at once upon His Majesty’s representative here.”
“A very right and proper thing to do, Mr. Beveridge. I have been wondering what that craft could be, and where she had come from. If it hadn’t been for the flag and the tidiness of her I should have put her down as a Greek pirate, though they don’t often rig up their crafts as schooners56.”
“She has been something like a pirate in her time,” Mr. Beveridge said, “for she was a slaver, captured and sent home as a prize. I bought her at Plymouth and fitted her out.”
“And a mighty57 nice way of spending money too, Mr. Beveridge. She is the biggest thing in the way of yachts I ever saw. I don’t at all see why a gentleman shouldn’t buy a big ship and cruise about the world in her if he can afford it.”
“Well, Captain O’Grady, I won’t occupy your time now, but shall be glad if you will come off and dine with me at six o’clock to-day. I have come straight from England, and have heard nothing as to how matters stand out here. If you will bring any of your officers off with you I shall be very glad to see them.”
“I have only two here. Mr. Lester, my lieutenant, will be on duty, and I have no doubt that Plunket will be very glad to come off with me if he has no special engagement, which is not likely, for it is a mighty dull life here, I can tell you, and it is glad I shall be when the order comes to rejoin the regiment58 at Corfu.”
Mr. Beveridge and Horace walked about for some time, and then returned on board. They met their two Greeks in the town shopping, and told them that there would be guests at dinner. They met also Will Martyn and Tarleton, who had come ashore a short time after them, Miller remaining on board in charge; a good many of the men were also ashore.
“I have warned them solemnly,” Martyn said, “against drink and quarrels, but I am afraid that to-night and to-morrow night we shall have a good many of them coming off noisy. Wine is cheap, and as they haven’t set foot ashore for five weeks it is not in the nature of an English sailor to resist temptation. I don’t care much as long as they don’t get into rows with the Greeks. I have told them the boats will be ashore at nine o’clock to fetch them, and that any who are not down there by that hour will have their allowance of grog stopped for a fortnight.”
It had been arranged with Captain O’Grady that the boat should be at the steps for him at a quarter to six. Horace went in charge of it, and brought off the two officers.
“You have comfortable quarters here, indeed,” Captain O’Grady said when Mr. Beveridge had introduced his officers to him and his companion. “Sure I would like nothing better than to travel about in a craft like this. It is like taking a floating palace about with you.” But if the officers were surprised at the fittings of the cabin they were still more so at the excellence59 of the dinner. Up to the time the dessert was placed on the table they chatted as to the incidents of the voyage; but when the wine had gone round Mr. Beveridge began questioning them.
“Of course you hear everything that goes on on the mainland, Captain O’Grady.”
“Everything, do you say? It is well content I would be if that was all I heard; but the thundering lies that are told by those Greek rapscallions are enough to take one’s breath away. To hear them talk you would not think that such valiant60 men had ever lived since the days of Noah; and yet, with the exception of a little skirmish, all that they have done is to starve out those unfortunate heathens the Turks, and then after they have surrendered on promise of good treatment, to murder them in cold blood with their women and children.”
“I hope that there has not been much of that,” Mr. Beveridge said gravely.
“It depends upon what you call much of it. At the very lowest estimate there have been thirty thousand murdered in cold blood since the troubles began; and some accounts put it much higher. There has not been a single exception; nowhere have they spared a Mussulman. The poor beggars of farmers and villagers were killed; man, woman, and child, in hundreds of villages the whole of them were destroyed without resistance; and it has been the same in all the large towns. The Greeks began the work at Kalamata, which surrendered under a solemn promise of their lives to the Turks; but every soul was slain61. And so it has been all along. In the district of Laconia there were fifteen thousand Mussulmans, and of these two-thirds at least were slain. At Missolonghi there are not twenty Turks alive.
“At Navarino every soul was murdered. Tripolitza surrendered only a week ago, and I saw by a letter from Colonel Raybonde, a French officer, who commanded the Greek artillery62 during the siege, that forty-eight hours after they entered the city they collected about two thousand persons, principally women and children, and drove them up a ravine and murdered them there; and altogether eight thousand Mussulmans were killed during the sack. I have heard of massacres till I am sick of listening to the stories; and though at the beginning I hoped that the Greeks would drive the old Turks out, faith I have come to think that if I were to hear that the whole race were utterly63 exterminated64 I should feel more comfortable in my mind than I have been for some time. Not content with murdering the poor creatures, in many cases the villains65 tortured them first. I have heard fellows who came over here boast of it. One Albanian ruffian who told me that he had done this, told me, sir, as if it were a thing to be proud of. I had the satisfaction of taking him by the scruff of his neck and the tail of his white petticoat and chucking him off the pier66 into the sea. When he scrambled67 out I offered him the satisfaction of a gentleman, seeing that he was a chief who thought no small beer of himself. There was a deal of difficulty in explaining to him how the thing was managed in a civilized68 country, and I never felt more satisfaction in my life than I did next morning when I put a bullet into the scoundrel’s body.”
A wet blanket seemed suddenly to fall over the party in the cabin as Captain O’Grady was speaking. Horace saw that Miller, who was sitting opposite to him, was undergoing an internal convulsion in restraining himself from bursting into a laugh; and Will Martyn, who was facing Mr. Beveridge at the bottom of the table, looked so preternaturally grave that Horace felt that he too was struggling to repress a smile. The doctor nodded, as if to signify that it was exactly what he had expected. Mr. Beveridge looked deeply concerned.
“I have heard something of this in England, Captain O’Grady, though of course the Greek agents there suppress all news that would tell against their countrymen, but I did not think it was as bad as this. Yet although I do not for a moment attempt to defend such atrocities69, you must remember how long the Greeks have been oppressed by the Turks. A people who have been in slavery for hundreds of years to strangers, aliens in blood and in religion, and themselves in a very primitive70 state of civilization, except in the cities, would be almost certain in the first rising against their oppressors to commit horrible excesses. The same thing happened, although, happily, on a much smaller scale, in your own country, Captain O’Grady, in ’98, and that without a hundredth part of the excuse that the Greeks had.”
“True for you, Mr. Beveridge,” Captain O’Grady admitted. “There’s no denying that you have turned the tables on me there. It is mighty difficult, as you say, to hold a savage7 peasantry in hand.”
“It was the same thing in the French Revolution. That again was practically a revolt of slaves, and they behaved like fiends; and the number of persons murdered—men of their own race and religion, remember—was at least as great as that of those who have been massacred here. The revolt called the Jacquerie, in the middle ages, was equally ferocious71, and the number of victims would probably have been as great had not the revolt been nipped in the bud. I regret deeply the conduct of the Greeks; but I think it was only what was to be expected from a people naturally fierce and revengeful under the circumstances.”
“Maybe you are right, Mr. Beveridge, though I did not look at it in that light before.”
“And who are their leaders now?”
“Faith they are all leaders. One day one hears one man’s name mentioned, that is hard enough to crack one’s jaw72; the next day he is upset and another has taken his place. Every dirty little chief of brigands73 sets himself up as a leader, and as they are about the only chaps who understand anything about fighting they come to the front. If they only spent a twentieth part of the time in preparing for war which they do in quarrelling among themselves as to their share of the spoil, it seems to me they would make a much better fight than they are likely to do. There is a fellow called Odysseus, which is their way of pronouncing Ulysses; he used to command the Mohammedan Albanians under Ali Pasha. Now he has turned round, and fights against his old master. He is one of the chief of them. Then there are Kolokotronis and Mavrocordatos. I should say they are the two principal men just at present. Then there is a chap called Prince Demetrius Hypsilantes. He is the brother of a fellow who got up the rising up in the north of the Danube, and pretends to be the head of all the Greeks. Demetrius says he is invested by his brother with a sort of viceroyalty over Greece, and wants to have it all his own way. Then there are the Greek bishops74 and priests. They are pretty well against all the rest, and want to keep the peasantry under their thumb. Then there are the primates75; they have got a big lot of power.”
“Do you mean archbishops?” Captain Martyn asked.
“Not a bit of it. The primates are a sort of half-and-half officers. They are supposed to be chosen by the people of their own district, and of course they are always the big-wigs; the chaps with most power and influence. Once chosen they became Turkish officers, collected the taxes, and were each accountable for the money and for the doings of their district. Nicely they ground the people down and feathered their own nests. Naturally, when the Turks went they became the local leaders. The people had no one else to look to but them and the priests. In the Morea these two classes have all the power in their hands. North of that we don’t hear much of the primates. I don’t think they had any of them there. It’s the Albanians, and the Klephts, that is the brigands, and some of the fighting clans76, such as the Suliots and the bands of armatoli, which are a sort of village militia77, who are the backbone78 of the rising.
“All the chiefs are jealous of each other, and if one fellow proposes a plan all the others differ from him; or if there is one of the big leaders there, and his plan is adopted, the others either march away to their homes or do what they can to prevent it from succeeding. The great thing with all the chiefs is to get spoil. The people are different; they really want to fight the Turks and to win their freedom; and it is because they see that not one of their leaders is honest, that their jealousies79 keep them from any common actions, and that they will not unite to form any central government, that the people have no confidence in them, but just follow one man until they get disgusted with him, and then go off to join another.
“Everything is wasted. The spoil they have taken has been enormous; but the people are little the better for it; it is all divided among the chiefs, and not a penny of it has gone to form a fund for defence. They have captured enormous quantities of ammunition80, but they have fired it away like children, just to please themselves with the noise. At one place I was told by an Englishman who was there that the two million cartridges81 they captured were all wasted in what they called rejoicings in the course of three days. What they want is a big man—a fellow who will begin by hanging a hundred politicians, as many chiefs, bishops, and primates; who would organize first a government and then an army; and would insist that every halfpenny taken as spoil from the Turks should be paid into the public treasury82. Then, sir, I believe that the Greeks would polish off these sleepy Turks in no time, with the advantage they have in knowing every foot of the mountains, in being as active as goats, and in possessing the idea that they are fighting for freedom. Mind I don’t say that the Turks will beat them even as they are. The Turkish pashas are as incapable83 as the Greek leaders. Their soldiers are good, but as the Greeks have no regular army, and no idea of standing up to fight fair, the Turks can’t get at them, and the Greeks can move about quickly and fall upon them at their own time; and besides they will bring them to a standstill by starvation. They don’t care about attacking the Turkish troops, but they are down like a pack of wolves on a baggage train, and if the Turks venture any distance from the sea-coast they will be harassed84 out of their lives.”
“Have the Turks still the command of the sea? There the Greeks ought to be their match anyhow.”
“Yes, the Turks still send their store-ships escorted by their men-of-war frigates85 and corvettes. The Greeks hover86 round them and among them, but they take care to keep pretty well out of range of the Turkish guns, and their only idea of fighting seems to be to launch fire-ships at them. A man-of-war was burnt while at anchor a short time back by Knaris, who is the best sailor the Greeks have got. Still, at present the Turks are so far masters of the sea that they take their convoys87 where they like and can revictual their fortresses88 whenever they have the energy to do so. On the other hand, the Greeks scour89 the seas in all directions, and not a single merchant ship flying the Turkish flag dare show her nose outside the Dardanelles.”
“Is the cruelty all on one side?” Horace asked.
“Not a bit of it. Of course the Turks have not had much chance yet, but when they have had they have naturally paid the Greeks in their own coin. In Thessaly they have put down the rising ruthlessly. But when the troops go into a place and find that the whole of their people have been murdered it is not to be wondered at that they set to to play the same game on those who began the work of massacre9. The Greeks hate the Turks, and their object is to root them out altogether. The Turks despise the Greeks, but they don’t want to root them out by any means, because if they did there would be no longer any revenue to collect. The Turks seem to strike more at the leaders. They have strung up a lot of Greeks living in Constantinople, and as the whole affair was got up there, and the Greeks were, most of them, taking the Sultan’s pay while they were plotting against him, it is only just that if anyone was to suffer they should be the men. What I am afraid of is that when the news of this horrible massacre of eight thousand people at Tripolitza gets known, the Turks in Asia Minor90 will everywhere retaliate91 upon the Greeks settled among them.
“They can’t do much in Greece, for most of the people can take to the mountains; but there are almost as many of them settled in Asia Minor as there are here, for they are the traders and shopkeepers in every port, and I am afraid it will go mighty hard with them everywhere when the Turks come to know the atrocities that have been perpetrated over here. If the Greeks had thought for a moment when they began they would have seen that it was a game two could play at, and for every Turk they could murder the Turks had in their hands three Greeks at least that they could put an end to. To my mind it is a bad business altogether. Plunket will tell you that I have not put it a bit too strongly.”
“Not in the least,” the young officer said. “The tales these fellows tell are ghastly. We have them over here by dozens. A man is a leader one day and a fugitive50 the next; and they run over here till they see a chance of landing again and getting together a fresh band, and they actually make a boast of the horrible massacres they have taken a part in. If the islanders here saw their way to it they would rise against us, and as it is, it has been as much as we can do more than once to prevent their going on board neutral vessels92 that put into harbour with a few wretched Turkish fugitives, and murdering them. The fact is, the Greeks believe that they are Christians93, but they are just as much pagans as they were two thousand years ago. My sympathies are altogether with them in their struggle for liberty, and I try to make every allowance for their actions; and I do believe that if what O’Grady says could be carried out and all their leaders, and politicians, and bishops, and primates hung, the people themselves would carry on the struggle with ten times the chances of success they have at present, for they would then be forced to form a strong central government and might find some honest man to put at its head. They regard it in the light of a religious war rather than one for national freedom, and I suppose that at least half the Mussulmans who have fallen are of Greek blood, for, especially in the north, nearly half the tribes have changed their religion and become Mohammedans since their conquest.”
“Are there many Europeans fighting with them? You mentioned a French colonel commanding the Greek artillery in the siege of Tripolitza.”
“A good many. There are some Austrians, Frenchmen, Italians, and a few of our own people. Among the last is a General Gordon and a naval lieutenant; but although the Greeks know nothing whatever of military matters, they are jealous in the extreme of any interference or even advice from foreigners. I believe there are altogether thirty or forty foreign officers who came over to fight for them, and only two or three of these have got employment of any sort. As to any attempt to introduce military discipline, or raise anything like a body of regular soldiers, it seems impossible. They believe entirely in fighting in their own way and dispersing95 when they choose, just as the Spanish guerilla bands did during the Peninsular War. In fact it seems to me that the Greek character resembles the Spanish very much, the peasantry in both countries being brave and animated by a patriotic96 hate of their enemies, while the upper class are equally vain, cowardly, given to boasting, and absolutely faithless to their promises. If we had the Duke of Wellington here with a couple of hundred good officers he would make the Greeks into as good soldiers as he did some of the Portuguese97, and would as likely as not wind up the war by driving the Turks out of Europe altogether.”
At half-past ten o’clock the officers went ashore. When they had left the ship, the others returned to the cabin.
“I should not take it to heart, Mr. Beveridge,” Will Martyn said cheerfully, seeing how depressed98 his employer looked at the news he had heard. “Of course the Greeks have behaved badly—horribly badly; but you see it is because the poor beggars are not much better than savages, and never will be better as long as they are kept down by the Turks. All these things will right themselves in time. As you said, they are no worse than the French when they rose, or than the Spanish peasantry whenever they got a chance, or the Irish peasantry, and we must not look at it from our own standpoint; once they are free they will get a settled government and become a nation again, and that is what we have got to help them to do. We are not going to land and take part in massacres. All we have got to do is to look out for a Turkish ship of war, and pull down her colours whenever we get a chance. But even more than that, what I want specially94 to do as soon as we can is to get rid of some of that cargo in our hold. That is what is bothering me at present.”
“Thank you, Martyn,” Mr. Beveridge said, holding out his hand to him. “It is trying to hear of a glorious cause being disgraced by such horrible atrocities, but the cause remains99 the same, and the atrocities are, as you say, such as have occurred among other peoples when their blood has been heated to boiling point. This will not shake my determination to aid Greece in her struggle for freedom.”
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1
falcon
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| n.隼，猎鹰 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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4
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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5
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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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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8
massacres
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| 大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败 | |
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massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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10
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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11
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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12
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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13
wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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14
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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15
ruffles
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| 褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 ) | |
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16
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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17
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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18
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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19
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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21
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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22
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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23
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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24
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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26
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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27
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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28
miller
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| n.磨坊主 | |
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29
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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30
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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31
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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33
accustom
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| vt.使适应，使习惯 | |
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34
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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35
yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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porpoises
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| n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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38
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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39
infliction
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| n.（强加于人身的）痛苦，刑罚 | |
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40
forfeit
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| vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物 | |
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41
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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42
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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43
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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44
replenished
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| 补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满 | |
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45
abstained
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| v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票） | |
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46
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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47
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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48
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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49
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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50
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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51
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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52
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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53
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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54
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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55
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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56
schooners
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| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
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57
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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58
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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59
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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60
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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61
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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62
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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63
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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64
exterminated
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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66
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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67
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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68
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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69
atrocities
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| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
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70
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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71
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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72
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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73
brigands
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| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
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74
bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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75
primates
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| primate的复数 | |
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76
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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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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78
backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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79
jealousies
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| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
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80
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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81
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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82
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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83
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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84
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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85
frigates
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| n.快速军舰( frigate的名词复数 ) | |
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86
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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87
convoys
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| n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队 | |
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fortresses
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| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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89
scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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retaliate
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| v.报复，反击 | |
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92
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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93
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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dispersing
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| adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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98
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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