The Boomerang was about as long as two street cars, and about as wide as one. She was so small (though she was larger than the majority of the inter-island coasters) that when I stood on her deck I felt but little smaller than the Colossus of Rhodes must have felt when he had a man-of- war under him. I could reach the water when she lay over under a strong breeze. When the Captain and my comrade (a Mr. Billings), myself and four other persons were all assembled on the little after portion of the deck which is sacred to the cabin passengers, it was full—there was not room for any more quality folks. Another section of the deck, twice as large as ours, was full of natives of both sexes, with their customary dogs, mats, blankets, pipes, calabashes of poi, fleas4, and other luxuries and baggage of minor5 importance. As soon as we set sail the natives all lay down on the deck as thick as negroes in a slave-pen, and smoked, conversed6, and spit on each other, and were truly sociable7.
The little low-ceiled cabin below was rather larger than a hearse, and as dark as a vault8. It had two coffins10 on each side—I mean two bunks12. A small table, capable of accommodating three persons at dinner, stood against the forward bulkhead, and over it hung the dingiest13 whale oil lantern that ever peopled the obscurity of a dungeon14 with ghostly shapes. The floor room unoccupied was not extensive. One might swing a cat in it, perhaps, but not a long cat. The hold forward of the bulkhead had but little freight in it, and from morning till night a portly old rooster, with a voice like Baalam’s ass3, and the same disposition15 to use it, strutted16 up and down in that part of the vessel17 and crowed. He usually took dinner at six o’clock, and then, after an hour devoted18 to meditation19, he mounted a barrel and crowed a good part of the night. He got hoarser20 all the time, but he scorned to allow any personal consideration to interfere21 with his duty, and kept up his labors22 in defiance23 of threatened diphtheria.
Sleeping was out of the question when he was on watch. He was a source of genuine aggravation24 and annoyance25. It was worse than useless to shout at him or apply offensive epithets26 to him—he only took these things for applause, and strained himself to make more noise. Occasionally, during the day, I threw potatoes at him through an aperture27 in the bulkhead, but he only dodged28 and went on crowing.
The first night, as I lay in my coffin9, idly watching the dim lamp swinging to the rolling of the ship, and snuffing the nauseous odors of bilge water, I felt something gallop29 over me. I turned out promptly30. However, I turned in again when I found it was only a rat. Presently something galloped31 over me once more. I knew it was not a rat this time, and I thought it might be a centipede, because the Captain had killed one on deck in the afternoon. I turned out. The first glance at the pillow showed me repulsive32 sentinel perched upon each end of it—cockroaches33 as large as peach leaves—fellows with long, quivering antennae34 and fiery35, malignant36 eyes. They were grating their teeth like tobacco worms, and appeared to be dissatisfied about something. I had often heard that these reptiles37 were in the habit of eating off sleeping sailors’ toe nails down to the quick, and I would not get in the bunk11 any more. I lay down on the floor. But a rat came and bothered me, and shortly afterward38 a procession of cockroaches arrived and camped in my hair. In a few moments the rooster was crowing with uncommon39 spirit and a party of fleas were throwing double somersaults about my person in the wildest disorder40, and taking a bite every time they struck. I was beginning to feel really annoyed. I got up and put my clothes on and went on deck.
The above is not overdrawn41; it is a truthful42 sketch43 of inter-island schooner life. There is no such thing as keeping a vessel in elegant condition, when she carries molasses and Kanakas.
It was compensation for my sufferings to come unexpectedly upon so beautiful a scene as met my eye—to step suddenly out of the sepulchral44 gloom of the cabin and stand under the strong light of the moon—in the centre, as it were, of a glittering sea of liquid silver—to see the broad sails straining in the gale45, the ship heeled over on her side, the angry foam46 hissing47 past her lee bulwarks48, and sparkling sheets of spray dashing high over her bows and raining upon her decks; to brace49 myself and hang fast to the first object that presented itself, with hat jammed down and coat tails whipping in the breeze, and feel that exhilaration that thrills in one’s hair and quivers down his back bone when he knows that every inch of canvas is drawing and the vessel cleaving50 through the waves at her utmost speed. There was no darkness, no dimness, no obscurity there. All was brightness, every object was vividly51 defined. Every prostrate52 Kanaka; every coil of rope; every calabash of poi; every puppy; every seam in the flooring; every bolthead; every object; however minute, showed sharp and distinct in its every outline; and the shadow of the broad mainsail lay black as a pall53 upon the deck, leaving Billings’s white upturned face glorified54 and his body in a total eclipse.
Monday morning we were close to the island of Hawaii. Two of its high mountains were in view—Mauna Loa and Hualaiai. The latter is an imposing55 peak, but being only ten thousand feet high is seldom mentioned or heard of. Mauna Loa is said to be sixteen thousand feet high. The rays of glittering snow and ice, that clasped its summit like a claw, looked refreshing56 when viewed from the blistering57 climate we were in. One could stand on that mountain (wrapped up in blankets and furs to keep warm), and while he nibbled58 a snowball or an icicle to quench59 his thirst he could look down the long sweep of its sides and see spots where plants are growing that grow only where the bitter cold of Winter prevails; lower down he could see sections devoted to production that thrive in the temperate60 zone alone; and at the bottom of the mountain he could see the home of the tufted cocoa-palms and other species of vegetation that grow only in the sultry atmosphere of eternal Summer. He could see all the climes of the world at a single glance of the eye, and that glance would only pass over a distance of four or five miles as the bird flies!
By and by we took boat and went ashore61 at Kailua, designing to ride horseback through the pleasant orange and coffee region of Kona, and rejoin the vessel at a point some leagues distant. This journey is well worth taking. The trail passes along on high ground—say a thousand feet above sea level—and usually about a mile distant from the ocean, which is always in sight, save that occasionally you find yourself buried in the forest in the midst of a rank tropical vegetation and a dense62 growth of trees, whose great bows overarch the road and shut out sun and sea and everything, and leave you in a dim, shady tunnel, haunted with invisible singing birds and fragrant63 with the odor of flowers. It was pleasant to ride occasionally in the warm sun, and feast the eye upon the ever- changing panorama64 of the forest (beyond and below us), with its many tints65, its softened66 lights and shadows, its billowy undulations sweeping67 gently down from the mountain to the sea. It was pleasant also, at intervals68, to leave the sultry sun and pass into the cool, green depths of this forest and indulge in sentimental69 reflections under the inspiration of its brooding twilight70 and its whispering foliage71. We rode through one orange grove72 that had ten thousand tree in it! They were all laden73 with fruit.
At one farmhouse74 we got some large peaches of excellent flavor. This fruit, as a general thing, does not do well in the Sandwich Islands. It takes a sort of almond shape, and is small and bitter. It needs frost, they say, and perhaps it does; if this be so, it will have a good opportunity to go on needing it, as it will not be likely to get it. The trees from which the fine fruit I have spoken of, came, had been planted and replanted sixteen times, and to this treatment the proprietor75 of the orchard76 attributed his-success.
We passed several sugar plantations77—new ones and not very extensive. The crops were, in most cases, third rattoons. [NOTE.—The first crop is called “plant cane;” subsequent crops which spring from the original roots, without replanting, are called “rattoons.”] Almost everywhere on the island of Hawaii sugar-cane matures in twelve months, both rattoons and plant, and although it ought to be taken off as soon as it tassels78, no doubt, it is not absolutely necessary to do it until about four months afterward. In Kona, the average yield of an acre of ground is two tons of sugar, they say. This is only a moderate yield for these islands, but would be astounding79 for Louisiana and most other sugar growing countries. The plantations in Kona being on pretty high ground—up among the light and frequent rains—no irrigation whatever is required.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
schooner
|
|
| n.纵帆船 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
ass
|
|
| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
fleas
|
|
| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
minor
|
|
| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
conversed
|
|
| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
sociable
|
|
| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
vault
|
|
| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
coffin
|
|
| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
coffins
|
|
| n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
bunk
|
|
| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
bunks
|
|
| n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
dingiest
|
|
| adj.暗淡的，乏味的( dingy的最高级 )；肮脏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
14
dungeon
|
|
| n.地牢，土牢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
strutted
|
|
| 趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
meditation
|
|
| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
hoarser
|
|
| （指声音）粗哑的，嘶哑的( hoarse的比较级 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
21
interfere
|
|
| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
labors
|
|
| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
aggravation
|
|
| n.烦恼，恼火 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
annoyance
|
|
| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
epithets
|
|
| n.（表示性质、特征等的）词语( epithet的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
aperture
|
|
| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
dodged
|
|
| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
gallop
|
|
| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
galloped
|
|
| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
repulsive
|
|
| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
cockroaches
|
|
| n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
antennae
|
|
| n.天线；触角 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
fiery
|
|
| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
malignant
|
|
| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
reptiles
|
|
| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
afterward
|
|
| adv.后来；以后 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
uncommon
|
|
| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
disorder
|
|
| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
overdrawn
|
|
| 透支( overdraw的过去分词 )； (overdraw的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
truthful
|
|
| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
sketch
|
|
| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
sepulchral
|
|
| adj.坟墓的，阴深的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
gale
|
|
| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
foam
|
|
| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
hissing
|
|
| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
bulwarks
|
|
| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
brace
|
|
| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
cleaving
|
|
| v.劈开，剁开，割开( cleave的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
vividly
|
|
| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
prostrate
|
|
| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
pall
|
|
| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
glorified
|
|
| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
imposing
|
|
| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
refreshing
|
|
| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
blistering
|
|
| adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
nibbled
|
|
| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
quench
|
|
| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
temperate
|
|
| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
dense
|
|
| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
fragrant
|
|
| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
panorama
|
|
| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
tints
|
|
| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
softened
|
|
| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
intervals
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
foliage
|
|
| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
grove
|
|
| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
laden
|
|
| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
farmhouse
|
|
| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
proprietor
|
|
| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
orchard
|
|
| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
plantations
|
|
| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
tassels
|
|
| n.穗( tassel的名词复数 )；流苏状物；（植物的）穗；玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
astounding
|
|
| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |