On following the contours of the Siberian coast, we find to the east of Nova Zembla a vast tract1 of territory projecting towards the Pole, and extending its promontories2 far into the icy sea. This country—which, from its principal river, may be called Taimurland—is the most northern, and, I need hardly add, the most inhospitable part of the Old World. The last huts of the Russian fishermen are situated3 about the mouth of the Jenissei, but the whole territory of the Taimur River, and the regions traversed by the lower course of the Chatanga and the Päsina, are completely uninhabited.
Even along the upper course of these two last-named rivers, the population is exceedingly scanty4 and scattered5; and the few Samoïedes who migrate during the summer to the banks of the Taimur, gladly leave them at the approach of winter, the cold of which no thermometer has ever measured. As may easily be imagined, Taimurland has but few attractions for the trader or the fur-hunter, but for the naturalist6 it is by no means without interest.
We have seen in a former chapter how Von Baer, prompted by the disinterested7 love of science, travelled to Nova Zembla to examine the productions of a cold insular8 summer beyond the 70th degree of latitude9. The instructive results of his journey rendered it doubly desirable to obtain information about the effects of summer in a continental10 climate, situated if possible still farther to the north; and as no region could be better suited to this purpose than the interior of the broad mass of Taimurland, the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg resolved to send thither11 a scientific expedition. Fortunately for the success of the undertaking12, Von Middendorff, the eminent13 naturalist, whose offer of service was gladly accepted, was in every respect the right man in the right place; for to the most untiring scientific zeal14, and an unwavering determination, he joined a physical strength and a manual dexterity15 rarely found united with learning. In the Lapland moors16 he had learned to bivouac for nights together, while chasing the waterfowl, and on foot he was able to tire the best-trained walrus-hunter. He understood how to construct a boat, and to steer17 it with his own hand, and every beast or bird was doomed18 that came within reach of his unerring ball. In one word, no traveller ever plunged19 into the Arctic wilds more independent of baggage, followers20, or the means of transport.
On April 4 we find Middendorff, accompanied by Mr. Brandt, a Danish forester, and a single servant, on the ice of the Jenissei between Turuchansk and221 Dudino. Here his companions were attacked by measles21; but as it was high time to reach the Chatanga before the melting of the snow, the patients were carefully packed up in boxes lined with skins, and the whole party—whose numbers, meanwhile, had been increased by the addition of a topographer and of three Cossacks—emerged from the region of forests on April 13, having to face a cold of -36°, and a storm that almost overturned their sledges23. With Tunguse guides they traversed the tundra24 in a north-easterly direction as far as the Päsina, and thence passing on from one Samoïede horde25 to another, at length reached Koronnoie Filippowskoi (71° 5´ lat.) on the Boganida, an affluent26 of the Cheta, which is itself a tributary27 of the Chatanga. Here a halt was made, partly because all the party except Middendorff were by this time attacked with the reigning28 epidemic29, and partly to wait for the Samoïedes, whom they intended to join on their summer migration30 to the north. During this interval31 Middendorff made an excursion to the Chatanga, for the purpose of gathering32 information about the voyage down that river, and to make the necessary preparations. In the village of Chatangsk, however, he found nearly all the inhabitants suffering from the measles; and as no assistance was to be expected from them, he resolved to alter his route, and to proceed as soon as possible to the River Taimur, which would in all probability afford him the best means for penetrating33 to the extreme confines of continental Asia. As this most northerly river of the Old World lies far beyond the boundaries of arboreal34 growth, a boat-frame of twelve feet on the keel had to be made at Koronnoie before setting out. Brandt was left behind with part of the company, to make a prolonged series of meteorological observations, and to gather as complete a collection as possible of the animals and plants of the country, while Middendorff started on his adventurous35 tour (May 19) with sixty-eight reindeer36, under the guidance of a few Samoïedes on their progress to the north, and accompanied only by the topographer, an interpreter, and two Cossacks. The difficulties of this journey, since a boat-frame, fuel, provisions, physical instruments, apparatuses37 for the preservation38 of objects of natural history, forming altogether a load for many sledges, had to be transported along with the travellers, would have been great at all times, but were now considerably39 increased by the epidemic having also seized the tribe of Samoïedes which Middendorff expected to find near the small River Nowaia, and which was to guide him farther on to the Taimur. At length, after a search of three days, he found the remnant of the horde, which had been decimated and reduced to a deplorable condition by the epidemic. In vain he sought for the well-known faces of the chief personages of the horde, with whom he had negotiated on the Boganida—“they were all dead.” Of thirty-five persons, one only was completely healthy; a second could hardly crawl about; but the others lay prostrate40 in their tents, coughing and groaning41 under their skin coverings. Leaving seven corpses42 on the road, they had advanced by slow journeys to join Middendorff, until they broke down, so that instead of receiving aid at their hands, he was now obliged to help them in their distress—an assistance which they amply repaid, as we shall see in the sequel.
Unfortunately the illness had prevented the Samoïede women from sewing together, as they had promised, the skins that were necessary to complete the222 covering of the travellers’ tent, so that they had much to suffer during a violent snow-storm, which raged from May 27 to 30. Thus after another long delay and an irreparable loss of time, considering the extreme shortness of the summer, Middendorff was not able to start from the Nowaia before May 31. The softening43 of the snow rendered the advance of the sledges extremely difficult, so that it was not before June 14 that he reached the Taimur at a considerable distance above the point where the river discharges its waters into the lake. Encamping on a steep declivity44 of its bank, Middendorff now set about building his boat. On June 30 the ice on the river began to break up, and on July 5 the navigation of the stream was free. By the light of the midnight sun the boat was launched, and christened “The Tundra,” to commemorate45 the difficulties of its construction in the deserts of 74° N. lat. Constant north winds retarded46 the voyage down the river and over the lake, beyond which the Taimur, traversing a hilly country, is inclosed within steep and picturesque47 rocks. The increasing rapidity of the stream now favored the travellers, and the storms were less troublesome between the mighty48 rock-walls; but unfortunately Middendorff, instead of being able, as he had expected, to fill his nets with fish as he advanced, and to establish dépôts for his return journey, found himself obliged to consume the provisions he had taken with him in the boat. On August 6 the first night-frost took place, and from that time was regularly repeated. Yet in spite of these warnings, Middendorff continued his journey down the river, and reached the sea on August 24, in 76° N. lat. But now it was high time to return.
“The fear of leaving my undertaking half unfinished,” says Middendorff, “had hitherto encouraged me to persevere50. The great distance from any human habitation, the rapid stream, against which we had now to contend, and the advanced season, with its approaching dark nights and frosts, made our return an imperative51 necessity, and I could have but little reliance on our remaining strength. The insufficient52 food and the fatigues53 of our journey, often prolonged to extreme exhaustion54, had reduced our vigor55, and we all began to feel the effects of our frequent wading56 through cold water, when, as often happened, our boat had grounded upon a shallow, or when the flat mud-banks of the river gave us no other alternative for reaching the dry land. It was now also the second month since we had not slept under a tent, having all the time passed the nights behind a screen erected57 on the oars58 of the boat, as a shelter against the wind. Provided with a good load of drift-wood, collected on the shore of the Polar Ocean, we began our return voyage on August 26. The borders of the river were already incrusted with ice. Wading became extremely irksome, the river having meanwhile fallen above six feet, and the shallows frequently forcing us to step into the water and pull the boat along.
“Fortunately the wind remained favorable, and thus by rowing to the utmost of our strength, and with the assistance of the broad sails of our ‘Tundra,’ we surmounted59 two rapids which, encased between abrupt60 rocks, seemed to defy our utmost efforts.
“On the 31st, a malicious61 gust49 of wind, bursting out of a narrow gorge62, threw our boat against the rocks and broke the rudder. The frost and wet,223 together with the shortness of our provisions, tried us sorely. Not a day passed without sleet63 and snow.
“On September 5, while endeavoring to double during a violent storm a rocky island at the northern extremity64 of Lake Taimur, one wave after another dashed into the boat, which I could only save by letting her run upon a sand-bank. The violent wind, with a temperature of only +27° at noon, covered our clothes with solid ice-crusts. We were obliged to halt four days till the storm ceased; our nets and my double-barrelled gun proved daily more and more unsuccessful, so that hunger combined with cold to render our situation almost intolerable. On the 8th, while on the lookout65 for ptarmigan, I saw through my telescope a long stripe of silver stretching over the lake, and, returning to my comrades, informed them that we must absolutely set off again the next morning, regardless of wind and weather.
“On the following day the ominous66 indications of the telescope rendered it necessary to approach the more open west side of the lake; which I followed until stopped by the ice, along whose borders I then sailed in order to reach the river, which must still be open. Meanwhile the wind had completely fallen, and, to our astonishment67, we saw the water in our wake cover itself with a thin crust of ice as soon as we passed. The danger of freezing fast in the middle of the lake was evident.”
Unfortunately, while endeavoring to reach the river, the boat was crushed between two ice floes, and was with great difficulty dragged on shore. The only chance of rescue now was to meet with some Samoïedes on the upper course of the river, for these nomads68 never wander northward69 beyond the southern extremity of the lake, and from this our travellers were still at a great distance.
“We made a large hand-sledge,” continues Middendorff, “and set off without loss of time on the 10th, in spite of the rainy weather, which had completely dissolved the sparing snow upon the hills. The sharp stones cut into our sledge-runners like knives, and after having scarcely made three versts, the vehicle fell to pieces. The bad weather forced us to stop for the night. The fatigues of our boat-journey, the want of proper food, and mental anxiety, had for several weeks been undermining my health: a total want of sleep destroyed the remainder of my strength, so that, early on the 11th, I felt myself quite unable to proceed.”
In this extremity Middendorff adopted with heroic self-denial the best and only means for his own preservation and that of his comrades. If, by departing without loss of time, they were fortunate enough to reach the Samoïedes before these nomads had left the Taimur country for the south, he also might be rescued; if they found them very late, they at least might expect to save their lives; if the Samoïedes could not be found, then of course the whole party was doomed. Thus Middendorff resolved to separate at once from his comrades. A remnant of flesh extract, reserved for extreme cases, was divided into five equal portions; the naturalist’s dog, the faithful companion of all his previous journeys, was killed, though reduced to a mere70 skeleton, and his scanty flesh similarly distributed among the party. The blood and a soup made of the224 bones served for the parting repast. Thus of his own free-will, the winter having already set in, Middendorff, ill and exhausted71, remained quite alone in the icy desert, behind a sheltering rock, in 75° N. lat., several hundred versts from all human dwellings72, almost without fuel, and with a miserable73 supply of food. The three first days he was still able to move. He saw the lake cover itself completely with ice, and the last birds depart for the south. Then his strength utterly74 failed him, and for the next three days he was unable to stir. When he was again able to move, he felt an excessive thirst. He crawled to the lake, broke the ice, and the water refreshed him. But he was not yet free from disease, and this was fortunate, as want of appetite did not make him feel the necessity of food. Now followed a succession of terrible snow-storms, which completely imprisoned75 the solitary76 traveller, but at the same time afforded him a better shelter against the wind.
“My companions,” he writes in a letter to a relation, “had now left me twelve days; human assistance could no longer be expected; I was convinced that I had only myself to rely upon, that I was doomed, and as good as numbered with, the dead. And yet my courage did not forsake77 me. Like our squirrels, I turned myself according to the changes of the wind. During the long sleepless78 nights fancy opened her domains79, and I forgot even hunger and thirst. Then Boreas broke roaring out of the gullies as if he intended to sweep me away into the skies, and in a short time I was covered with a comfortable snow-mantle. Thus I lay three days, thinking of wretches81 who had been immured82 alive, and grown mad in their dreadful prison. An overwhelming fear of insanity83 befell me—it oppressed my heart—it became insupportable. In vain I attempted to cast it off—my weakened brain could grasp no other idea. And now suddenly—like a ray of light from heaven—the saving thought flashed upon me.
“My last pieces of wood were quickly lighted—some water was thawed84 and warmed—I poured into it the spirits from a flask85 containing a specimen86 of natural history, and drank. A new life seemed to awaken87 in me; my thoughts returned again to my family, to the happy days I had spent with the friends of my youth. Soon I fell into a profound sleep—how long it lasted I know not—but on awakening88 I felt like another man, and my breast was filled with gratitude89. Appetite returned with recovery, and I was reduced to eat leather and birch-bark, when a ptarmigan fortunately came within reach of my gun. Having thus obtained some food for the journey, I resolved, although still very feeble, to set out and seek the provisions we had buried. Packing some articles of dress, my gun and ammunition90, my journal, etc., on my small hand-sledge, I proceeded slowly, and frequently resting. At noon I saw, on a well-known declivity of the hills, three black spots which I had not previously91 noticed, and as they changed their position, I at once altered my route to join them. We approached each other—and, judge of my delight, it was Trischun, the Samoïede chieftain, whom I had previously assisted in the prevailing92 epidemic, and who now, guided by one of my companions, had set out with three sledges to seek me. Eager to serve his benefactor93, the grateful savage94 had made his reindeer wander without food over a space of 150 versts where no moss95 grew.
225 “I now heard that my companions had fortunately reached the Samoïedes four days after our separation; but the dreadful snow-storms had prevented the nomads from coming sooner to my assistance, and had even forced them twice to retrace96 their steps.
“On September 30 the Samoïedes brought me to my tent, and on October 9 we bade the Taimur an eternal farewell. After five months we hailed with delight, on October 20, the verge97 of the forest, and on the following day we reached the smoky hut on the Boganida, where we had left our friends.”
Having thus accompanied Middendorff on his adventurous wanderings through Taimuria, I will now give a brief account of his observations on the climate and natural productions of this northern land.
The remark of Saussure that the difference of temperature between light and shade is greatest in summer, and in the high latitudes98, was fully22 confirmed by Middendorff. While the thermometer marked -37° in the shade, the hillsides exposed to the sun were dripping with wet, and towards the end of June, though the mean temperature of the air was still below the freezing-point of water, the snow had already entirely99 disappeared on the sunny side of the Taimur River. Torrents100 came brawling101 down the hills; the swollen102 rivers rose forty or sixty feet above their winter level, and carried their icy covering along with them to the sea.
On August 3, in the very middle of the short Taimurian summer, in 74° 15´ of latitude, Middendorff hunted butterflies under the shelter of a hill, bare-footed and in light under-clothes. The thermometer rose in the sun to +68°, and close to the ground to +86°, while at a short distance on a spot exposed to the north-eastern air-current it fell at once to +27°.
The moisture of the air was very remarkable103. In May thick snow-fogs almost perpetually obscured the atmosphere, so that it was impossible to ascertain104 the position of the sun. It appeared only in the evening, or about midnight, and then regularly a perpendicular105 column of luminous106 whiteness descended107 from its orb108 to the earth, and, widening as it approached the horizon, took the form and the appearance of a colossal109 lamp-flame, such as the latter appears when seen through the mists of a vapor110 bath. From the same cause parhelia and halos were very frequent.
During the daytime the snow-fogs, in perpetual motion, either entirely veiled the nearest objects, or magnified their size, or exhibited them in a dancing motion. In June the snow-fog became a vapor-fog, which daily from time to time precipitated111 its surplus of moisture in form of a light rain, but even then the nights, particularly after eleven o’clock, were mostly serene112.
Experience proved, contrary to Arago’s opinion, that thunder-storms take place within the Arctic zone. The perpetual motion of the air was very remarkable. The sun had merely to disappear behind a cloud to produce at once a gust of wind. Towards the end of August, the southern and the northern air-currents, like two contending giants, began to strive for the mastery, until finally the storms raged with extreme violence. But in these treeless deserts their fury finds nothing to destroy.
It is impossible to form any thing like a correct estimate of the quantity of226 snow which annually113 falls in the highest latitudes. So much is certain that it can not be small, to judge by the violence and swelling114 of the rivers in spring. The summits of the hills, and the declivities exposed to the reigning winds, are constantly deprived of snow, which, however, fills up the bottom of the valleys to a considerable height. Great was Middendorff’s astonishment, while travelling over the tundra at the end of winter, to find it covered with no more than two inches, or at the very utmost half a foot, of snow; the dried stems of the Arctic plants everywhere peeping forth115 above its surface. This was the natural consequence of the north-easterly storms, which, sweeping116 over the naked plain, carry the snow along with them, and form the snow-waves, the compass of the northern nomads.
It is extremely probable that, on advancing towards the pole, the fall of snow gradually diminishes, as in the Alps, where its quantity likewise decreases on ascending117 above a certain height.
On measuring the thickness of the ice, Middendorff was very much surprised to find it nowhere, both in the lakes and on the river, thicker than eight feet, and sometimes only four and a half; its thickness being constantly proportionate to the quantity of snow with which it was covered. At first he could hardly believe that this simple covering could afford so efficacious a protection against the extreme cold of winter in the 74th degree of latitude, but the fact is well known to the Samoïedes, who, whenever they require water, always make the hole where the snow lies deepest.
The tundras118 of Taimuria were found to consist principally of arid119 plateaux and undulating heights, where the vegetation can not conceal120 the boulders121 and the sand of which the crust of the earth is formed.
The withered122 tips of the grasses scarcely differ in color from the dirty yellow-brown moss, and the green of the lower part of the stalks appears as through a veil. Nothing can be of a more dreary123 monotony than this vegetation when spread over a wide surface; but in the hardly perceptible depressions of the plains where the spring water is able to collect, a fresher green gains the upper hand, the stalks are not only longer, but stand closer together, and the grass, growing to a height of three or even four inches, usurps124 the place of the moss. Here and there small patches of Dryas octopetala, or Cassiope tetragona, and much more rarely a dwarf125 ranunculus, diversify126 the dingy127 carpet, yet without being able to relieve its wearisome character. But very different, and indeed truly surprising, is the aspect of the slopes which, facing the Taimur lake or river, are protected against the late and early frosts. Here considerable patches of ground are covered with a lively green, intermingled with gayly-colored flowers, such as the brilliant yellow Sieversia, the elegant Oxytropis, the blue and white Saxifragas, the red Armeria alpina, and a beautiful new species of Delphinium. All these various flowers are not dwarfs128 of stunted129 growth, for Polemones, Sisymbrias, Polygonums, and Papavers above a foot high decorate the slopes, and Middendorff found an islet in the Taimur covered like a field with a Senecio, of which some of the most conspicuous130 specimens131 were more than a foot and a half high, and bore no less than forty flowers above an inch in diameter.
The progress of vegetation is uncommonly132 rapid, so that, as Middendorff remarks,227 if any one wishes to see the grass grow, he must travel to the Taimur. Scarcely do the first leaves peep forth when the blossoms also appear, as if, conscious of the early approach of autumn, they felt the necessity of bringing their seeds to a rapid maturity133 under this wintry sky.
With regard to the animal creation, the general law of polar uniformity was fully confirmed in Taimurland. The same lemmings were found which people the whole north of Asia and America, and as high as 75° N. lat. they found the traces of the snow-hare, which inhabits the complete circle of the Arctic regions of the globe. The Arctic fox, everywhere at home in the treeless wastes, is here also pursued by the northern glutton134; and following the herds135 of the reindeer, the wolves, and the Samoïedes, roams up and down the tundra. The ptarmigan, which in Scandinavia and on Melville Island feeds on berries and buds, appears also as a summer visitor at the mouth of the Taimur in 75° 4´ N. lat., and the ivory gull80 of the northern European seas likewise builds its nest on the rocks of that distant shore.
The more vigorous vegetation on the sheltered declivities of the Taimur provides food for a comparatively greater number of insects than is found on the coasts of Nova Zembla. Bees, hornets, and three different species of butterflies, buzzed or hovered136 round the flowers, and caterpillars137 could be gathered by dozens on the tundra, but their mortal enemies had pursued them even here; and ichneumon flies crept out of most of them. Two spiders, several flies, gnats138, and tipulæ, a curculio, and half a dozen carabi completed Middendorff’s entomological list, to which, no doubt, further researches would have considerably added.
Thus, at the northern extremity of Asia, as in every other part of the world, the naturalist finds the confirmation139 of the general law that, where the means of life are given, life is sure to come forth.
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1
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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promontories
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| n.岬，隆起，海角( promontory的名词复数 ) | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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insular
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| adj.岛屿的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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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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measles
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| n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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sledges
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| n.雪橇，雪车( sledge的名词复数 )v.乘雪橇( sledge的第三人称单数 )；用雪橇运载 | |
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tundra
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| n.苔原，冻土地带 | |
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horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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affluent
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| adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的 | |
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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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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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migration
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| n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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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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arboreal
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| adj.树栖的；树的 | |
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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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reindeer
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| n.驯鹿 | |
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apparatuses
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| n.器械； 装置； 设备； 仪器 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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40
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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41
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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42
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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43
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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44
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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45
commemorate
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| vt.纪念，庆祝 | |
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46
retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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47
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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48
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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49
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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50
persevere
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| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
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51
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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52
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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53
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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54
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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55
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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56
wading
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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57
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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58
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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59
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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60
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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61
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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62
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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63
sleet
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| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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64
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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65
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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66
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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67
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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68
nomads
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| n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活 | |
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69
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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70
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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71
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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72
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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73
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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74
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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75
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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77
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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78
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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79
domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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80
gull
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| n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈 | |
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81
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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82
immured
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| v.禁闭，监禁( immure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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83
insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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84
thawed
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| 解冻 | |
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85
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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86
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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87
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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88
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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89
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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90
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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91
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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92
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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93
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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94
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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95
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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96
retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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97
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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98
latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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99
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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100
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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101
brawling
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| n.争吵，喧嚷 | |
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102
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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103
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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104
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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105
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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106
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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107
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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108
orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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109
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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110
vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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111
precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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112
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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113
annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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114
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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115
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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116
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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117
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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118
tundras
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| n.（多数位于北极圈的）冻土带( tundra的名词复数 )；苔原；冻原；寒漠 | |
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119
arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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120
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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121
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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122
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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123
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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124
usurps
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的第三人称单数 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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125
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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126
diversify
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| v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化 | |
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127
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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128
dwarfs
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| n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式） | |
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129
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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130
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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131
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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132
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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133
maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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134
glutton
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| n.贪食者，好食者 | |
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135
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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136
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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137
caterpillars
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| n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带 | |
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138
gnats
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| n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
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139
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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