“D’you see anything curious, Captain?” asked Emma, who chanced to stand beside him.
“Coorious—eh?” repeated the Captain slowly, without altering his gaze or adding to his reply.
“Monsieur le Capitaine is lost in consternation,” said Nita, with a smile.
“I think, Miss Horetzki,” said Lewis, “that you probably mean admiration6.”
“How you knows w’at I mean?” demanded Nita, quickly.
“Ha! a very proper and pertinent7 question,” observed Slingsby, in an audible though under tone.
“I nevair do put pertinent questions, sir,” said Nita, turning her black eyes sharply, though with something of a twinkle in them, on the mad artist.
Poor Slingsby began to explain, but Nita cut him short by turning to Lewis and again demanding, “How you knows w’at I mean?”
“The uniform propriety8 of your thoughts, Mademoiselle,” replied Lewis, with a continental9 bow, and an air of pretended respect, “induces me to suppose that your words misinterpret them.”
Nita’s knowledge of English was such that this remark gave her only a hazy11 idea of the youth’s meaning; she accepted it, however, as an apologetic explanation, and ordered him to awaken12 the Captain and find out from him what it was that so riveted13 his attention.
“You hear my orders,” said Lewis, laying his hand with a slap on the Captain’s shoulder. “What are you staring at?”
“Move!” murmured the Captain, returning as it were to consciousness with a long deep sigh, “it don’t move an inch.”
“What does not move?” said Lawrence, who had been assisting to adjust the theodolite, and came forward at the moment.
“The ice, to be sure,” answered the Captain. “I say, Professor, do ’ee mean to tell me that the whole of that there Mairdy-glass is movin’?”
“I do,” answered the Professor, pausing for a minute in his arrangements, and looking over his spectacles at the Captain with an amused expression.
“Then,” returned the Captain, with emphasis, “I think you’ll find that you’re mistaken.”
“Ha! Captain Weeper—”
“Wopper,” said the Captain.
“Wopper,” repeated the Professor, “you are not the first who has expressed disbelief in what he cannot see, and you will assuredly not be the last; but if you will wait I will convince you.”
“Very good,” replied the Captain, “I’m open to conviction.”
“Which means,” said Lewis, “that you have nailed your colours to the mast, and mean to die rather than give in.”
“No doubt,” said the Captain, paying no attention to the last remark, “I see, and believe, that at some time or other the ice here must have been in a flowin’ state. I’m too well aware o’ the shape of waves an’ eddies14, cross-currents and ripples15, to doubt or deny that but any man with half an eye can see that it’s anchored hard and fast now. I’ve looked at it without flinchin’ for good ten minutes, and not the smallest sign of motion can I detect.”
“So might you say of the hour-hand of a watch,” observed Lawrence.
“Not at all,” retorted the Captain, becoming argumentative. “I look at the hour-hand of a watch for ten minutes and don’t see it move, but I do see that it has in reality passed over a very small but appreciable16 space in that time.”
“Just so,” said the Professor, “I will ere long show you the same thing in regard to the ice.”
“I’ll bet you ten thousand pounds you don’t,” returned the Captain, with an assured nod.
“Colours nailed!” said Lewis; “but I say, Captain,” he added, remonstratively, “I thought you were a sworn enemy to gambling18. Isn’t betting gambling?”
“It is, young man,” answered the Captain, “but I always bet ten thousand pounds sterling19, which I never mean to pay if I lose, nor to accept if I win—and that is not gambling. Put that in your pipe and smoke it; and if you’ll take my advice, you’ll go look after your friend Slingsby, who is gambolling20 up yonder in another fashion that will soon bring him to grief if he’s not stopped.”
All eyes were turned towards the mad artist, who, finding that his advances to Mademoiselle Nita were not well received, had for the time forsaken21 her, and returned to his first (and professional) love. In wooing her, he had clambered to an almost inaccessible22 cliff from which he hoped to obtain a very sketchable view of the Mer de Glace, and, when Captain Wopper drew attention to him, was making frantic23 efforts to swing himself by the branch of a tree to a projecting rock, which was so slightly attached to its parent cliff that his weight would in all probability have hurled24 it and himself down the precipice25.
The remonstrative17 shouts of his friends, however, induced him to desist, and he sat down to work in a less perilous26 position.
Meanwhile the Professor, having completed his preliminary preparations, ordered his assistants to go and “fix the stakes in the ice.”
It had been arranged that while the scientific experiments were in progress, the young ladies should ramble27 about the neighbourhood in search of flowers and plants, under the care of Lewis, until two o’clock, at which hour all were to assemble at the Montanvert hotel for luncheon28, Captain Wopper and Lawrence resolving to remain and assist, or at least observe, the Professor. The former, indeed, bearing in mind his great and ruling wish even in the midst of scientific doubt and inquiries29, had suggested that the latter should also accompany the ladies, the country being somewhat rugged30, and the ladies—especially Miss Emma—not being very sure-footed; but Lawrence, to his disappointment, had declined, saying that the ladies had a sufficient protector in the gallant31 Lewis, and that Miss Emma was unquestionably the surest-footed of the whole party.
Lawrence therefore remained, and, at the Professor’s request, accompanied the party who were to fix the stakes on the ice.
As this operation was attended with considerable difficulty and some danger, we will describe the process.
Finding that the spot which he had first chosen for his observations was not a very good one, the Professor changed his position to a point farther down on the steep sloping rocks that form the left bank of the Glacier32 des Bois. Here the theodolite was fixed5. This instrument as even our young readers may probably know, is a small telescope attached to a stand with three long legs, and having spirit-levels, by means of which it can be fixed in a position, if we may say so, of exact flatness with reference to the centre of the earth. Within the telescope are two crossed hairs of a spider’s-web, so fine as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye, and so arranged that their crossing-point is exactly in the centre of the tube. By means of pivots33 and screws the telescope can be moved up or down, right or left, without in the smallest degree altering the flatness or position of its stand. On looking through the telescope the delicate threads can be distinctly seen, and the point where they cross can be brought to bear on any distant object.
Having fixed the instrument on the rocks quite clear of the ice, the Professor determined34 the direction of a supposed line perpendicular35 to the axis36 of the glacier. He then sought for a conspicuous37 and well-defined object on the opposite side of the valley, as near as possible to that direction. In this he was greatly helped by Captain Wopper, who, having been long accustomed to look-out with precision at sea, found it not very difficult to apply his powers on land.
“There’s a good land-mark, Professor,” he said, pointing towards a sharply-cut rock, “as like the Dook of Wellington’s nose as two peas.”
“I see it,” said the Professor, whose solid and masculine countenance38 was just the smallest possible degree flushed by the strong under-current of enthusiasm with which he prosecuted39 his experiments.
“You couldn’t have a better object than the pint40 o’ that,” observed the Captain, whose enthusiasm was quite as great as, and his excitement much greater than, that of the Professor.
Having carefully directed the telescope to the extreme point of the “Dook’s” nose, the Professor now ordered one of his assistants to go on the glacier with a stake. Lawrence descended41 with him, and thus planted his foot on glacier-ice for the first time, as Lewis afterwards remarked, in the pursuit scientific knowledge.
While they were clambering slowly down among the loose boulders43 and débris which had been left by the glacier in previous years, the Professor carefully sketched44 the Duke of Wellington’s nose with the rocks, etcetera, immediately around it, in his notebook, so that it might be easily recognised again on returning to the spot on a future day.
The assistant who had been sent out with the first stake proved to be rather stupid, so that it was fortunate he had been accompanied by Lawrence, and by the guide, Antoine Grennon, who stirred up his perceptions. By rough signalling he was made to stand near the place where the first stake was to be driven in. The telescope was then lowered, and the man was made, by signals, to move about and plant his stake here and there in an upright position until the point of intersection45 of the spider’s threads fell exactly on the bottom of the stake. A pre-arranged signal was then made, and at that point an auger46 hole was bored deep into the ice and the stake driven home.
“So much for number one,” said Captain Wopper, with a look of satisfaction.
“They won’t fix the other ones so easily,” observed the Professor, re-examining the stake through the telescope with great care.
He was right in this. The first stake had been planted not far from the shore, but now Lawrence and his party had to proceed in a straight line over the glacier, which, at this steep portion of its descent into the Vale of Chamouni, was rent, dislocated, and tortured, to such an extent that it was covered with huge blocks and pinnacles47 of ice, and seamed with yawning crevasses48. To clamber over some of the ice-ridges was almost impossible, and, in order to avoid pinnacles and crevasses, which were quite impassable, frequent détours had to be made. If the object of the ice-party had merely been to cross the glacier, the difficulties would not have been great; but the necessity of always returning to the straight line pointed52 out by the inexorable theodolite, led them into positions of considerable difficulty. To the inexperienced Lawrence they also appeared to be positions of great danger, much to the amusement of Antoine, who, accustomed as he was to the fearful ice-slopes and abysses of the higher regions, looked upon this work as mere51 child’s play.
“You’ll come to have a different notion of crevasses, sir,” he said, with a quiet smile, “after you’ve bin53 among the seracs of the Grand Mulet, and up some of the couloirs of Monte Rosa.”
“I doubt it not, Antoine,” said Lawrence, gazing with feelings of awe54 into a terrible split in the ice, whose beautiful light-blue sides deepened into intense blackness as they were lost to vision in an abyss, out of which arose the deep-toned gurgling of sub-glacial streams; “but you must not forget that this is quite new to me, and my feet are not yet aware of the precise grip with which they must hold on to so slippery a foundation.”
It was in truth no discredit55 to Lawrence that he felt a tendency to shrink from edges of chasms56 which appeared ready to break off, or walked with caution on ice-slopes which led to unfathomable holes, for the said slopes, although not steep, were undoubtedly57 slippery.
After much clambering, a ridge50 was at length gained, on which the second stake was set up, and then the party proceeded onwards to fix the third; but now the difficulties proved to be greater than before. A huge block of ice was fixed upon as that which would suit their purpose, but it stood like a peninsula in the very midst of a crevasse49, and connected with the main body of ice by a neck which looked as sharp as a knife on its upper edge, so that none but tight-rope or slack-wire dancers could have proceeded along it; and even such performers would have found the edge too brittle58 to sustain them.
“You’ll have to show, Monsieur, some of your mountaineer skill here?” said the man who carried the stakes to Antoine.
He spoke59 in French, which Lawrence understood perfectly60. We render it as nearly as possible into the counterpart English.
Antoine at once stepped forward with his Alpine61 axe62, and, swinging it vigorously over his head, cut a deep notch63 on the sloping side of the neck of ice. Beyond it he cut a second notch. No man—not even a monkey—could have stood on the glassy slope which descended into the abyss at their side; but Antoine, putting one foot in the first notch, and the other in the second, stood as secure as if he had been on a flat rock. Again he swung his axe, and planted his foot in a third notch, swinging his axe the instant it was fixed for the purpose of cutting the fourth. Thus, cut by cut and step by step, he passed over to the block of ice aimed at. It was but a short neck. A few notches64 were sufficient, yet without an axe to cut these notches, the place had been absolutely impassable. It was by no means a “dangerous” place, according to the ideas of Alpine mountaineers, nevertheless a slip, or the loss of balance, would have been followed by contain death. Antoine knew this, and, like a wise guide, took proper precautions.
“Stay, sir,” he said, as Lawrence was screwing up his courage to follow him, “I will show you another piece of Alpine practice.”
He returned as he spoke, and, unwinding a coil of rope which he carried, fastened one end thereof round his waist. Allowing a few feet of interval65, he then fastened the rope round Lawrence’s waist, and the assistants with the stakes—of whom there were two besides the man already referred to—also attached themselves to the rope in like manner. By this means they all passed over with comparative security, because if any one of them had chanced to slip, the others would have fixed the points of their axes and alpenstocks in the ice and held on until their overbalanced comrade should have been restored to his position.
On gaining the block, however, it was found that the line communicating with the theodolite on the one hand, and the Dook’s nose on the other, just missed it. The Professor’s signals continued to indicate “more to the left,” (his left, that is) until the stake-driver stood on the extreme edge of the crevasse, and his comrades held on tight by the rope to prevent him from falling over. Still the professor indicated “more to the left!”
As “more to the left” implied the planting of the stake in atmospheric66 air, they were fain to search for a suitable spot farther on.
This they found, after some scrambling67, on a serrated ridge whose edge was just wide and strong enough to sustain them. Here the exact line was marked, but while the hole was being bored, an ominous68 crack was heard ascending69 as if from the heart of the glacier.
“What was that?” said Lawrence, turning to the guide with a quick surprised look.
“Only a split in the ice somewhere. It’s a common sound enough, as you might expect in a mass that is constantly moving,” replied Antoine, looking gravely round him, “but I can’t help thinking that this lump of ice, with crevasses on each side, is not the best of all spots for fixing a stake. It isn’t solid enough.”
As he spoke, another crash was heard, not quite so loud as the last and at the same moment the whole mass on which the party stood slid forward a few inches. It seemed as if it were about to tumble into the very jaws70 of the crevasse. With the natural instinct of self-preservation strong upon him, Lawrence darted71 across the narrow ridge to the firm ice in rear, dispensing72 entirely73 with that extreme caution which had marked his first passage over it. Indeed the tight-rope and slack-wire dancers formerly74 referred to could not have performed the feat75 with greater lightness, rapidity, and precision. The stake-drivers followed him with almost similar alacrity76. Even the guide retraced77 his steps without further delay than was necessary to permit of his picking up the stakes which their proper custodians78 had left behind in their alarm—for they were not guides, merely young and inexperienced porters.
“For shame, lads,” said Antoine, laughing and shaking his head, “you’ll be but bad specimens79 of the men of Chamouni if you don’t learn more coolness on the ice.”
One would have thought that coolness on the ice was an almost unavoidable consequence of the surrounding conditions, yet Lawrence seemed to contradict the idea, for his face appeared unusually warm as he laughed and said:—
“The shame lies with me, Antoine, for I set them the example, and all history goes to prove that even brave men are swept away under the influence of a panic which the act of one cowardly man may produce.”
As Lawrence spoke in French, the porters understood and appreciated his defence of them, but Antoine would by no means encourage the fallacy.
“It is not cowardly, sir,” he said, “to spring quickly out of a danger that one don’t understand the nature of, but the young men of Chamouni have, or ought to have, a good understanding of the nature of ice, and the danger should be great indeed that would necessitate80 the leaving of their tools behind them.”
A roar like that of a bull of Bashan, or a boatswain, here interrupted the conversation.
“Don’t plant your post the–r–r–re,” shouted Captain Wopper from the banks of the ice-river, “the Professor says the ice ain’t firm enough. Heave ahead—to where its ha–a–ard an’ fa–a–ast.”
“Ay, ay, sir,” shouted Lawrence, with nautical81 brevity, in reply.
The next stake was accordingly fixed on a part of the ice which was obviously incapable82 of what might be called a local slip, and which must, if it moved at all, do so in accordance with the movements of the entire glacier.
Thus one by one the stakes were planted in a perfectly straight line, so that when Captain Wopper was requested by the Professor to look through the telescope—which he did with a seaman’s readiness and precision—he observed that all the stakes together appeared to form but one stake, the bottom of which was touched on one side of the Mer de Glace by the centre-point of the crossed threads, and, on the other, by the extreme point of the “Dook” of Wellington’s nose. The last stake had been fixed not many yards distant from the opposite bank of the glacier.
“Now,” said the Professor, with a deep sigh of satisfaction when all this was accomplished83 and noted84, “we will go have our luncheon and return hither to-morrow to observe the result of our experiments. But first we must fix the exact position of our theodolite, for unless it occupies to a hair’s-breadth to-morrow the same position which it occupies to-day, the result will be quite inconclusive.”
So saying, the man of science took a little line and plummet85 from his pocket, which he hung under the theodolite, and the spot where the plummet touched the ground was carefully marked by a small stake driven quite down to its head.
Thereafter an attempt was made to gather together the scattered86 party, but this was difficult. Owing to various causes several members of it had become oblivious87 of time. Emma had forgotten time in the pursuit of wild-flowers, of which she was excessively fond, partly because she had learned to press and classify and write their proper names under them, but chiefly because they were intrinsically lovely, and usually grew in the midst of beautiful scenery. Nita had forgotten it in the pursuit of Emma, of whom she had become suddenly and passionately88 fond, partly because she possessed89 a loving nature, but chiefly because Emma was her counterpart. Lewis had forgotten it in pursuit of Nita, of whom he had become extremely fond, partly because she was pretty and pert, but chiefly because he—he—well, we cannot say precisely90 why, seeing that he did not inform us, and did not himself appear clearly to know. Slingsby had forgotten it in the ardent91 effort to reproduce on paper and with pencil, a scene so magnificent that a brush dipped in the rainbow and applied92 by Claude or Turner would have utterly93 failed to do it justice; and last, as well as least, Gillie White had forgotten it in the pursuit of general knowledge, in which pursuit he had used his alpenstock effectively in opening up everything, stabbing, knocking down, uprooting94, overturning, and generally shattering everything that was capable of being in any degree affected95 by the physical powers and forces at his command. There can be no doubt whatever that if Gillie White had been big and strong enough, Mont Blanc itself would have succumbed96 that day to his inquiring mind, and the greatest ice-reservoir of Europe would have been levelled with the plain. As it was, he merely levelled himself, after reaching the point of exhaustion97, and went to sleep on the sunny side of a rock, where he was nearly roasted alive before being aroused by the shouts of Captain Wopper.
At last, however, the party assembled at the Montanvert, where, amid interjectional accounts of the various incidents and adventures of the forenoon, strength was recruited for the subsequent operations of the day. These, however, were only matters of amusement. The Professor, remarking jocosely98 that he now cast science to the dogs and cats (which latter he pronounced cawts), sent his instruments back to Chamouni, and, with the zest99 of a big boy let loose from school, crossed the Mer de Glace to the Chapeau.
This feat was by no means so difficult as that which had been accomplished by Lawrence. It will be remembered that the spot selected for measurement had been at the steep and rugged part of the ice-river styled the Glacier des Bois, below the Montanvert. The ordinary crossing-place lay considerably100 higher up, just opposite to the inn. The track had been marked out over the easiest and flattest part of the ice, and levelled here and there where necessary for the special benefit of tourists. Still man—even when doing his worst in the way of making rough places plain, and robbing nature of some of her romance—could not do much to damage the grandeur101 of that impressive spot. His axe only chipped a little of the surface and made the footing secure. It could not mar10 the beauty of the picturesque102 surroundings, or dim the sun’s glitter on the ice-pinnacles, or taint103 the purity of these delicate blue depths into which Emma and Nita gazed for the first time with admiration and surprise while they listened to the mysterious murmurings of sub-glacial waters with mingled104 feelings of curiosity and awe.
Full of interest they traversed the grand unfathomable river of ice,—the product of the compressed snows of innumerable winters,—and, reaching the other side in less than an hour, descended the Chapeau through the terminal moraine.
Those who have not seen it can form but a faint conception of the stupendous mass of débris which is cut, torn, wrenched105, carried, swept, hurled, rolled, crushed, and ground down by a glacier from the mountain-heights into the plain below. The terminal moraine of the Mer de Glace is a whole valley whose floor and sides are not only quite, but deeply, covered with rocks of every shape and size, from a pebble106 the size of a pea, to a boulder42 as large as a cottage, all strewn, piled, and heaped together in a wild confusion that is eminently107 suggestive of the mighty108 force which cast them there.
“To me there do seem something dreadful as well as grand in it,” said Nita, as she sat down on a boulder beside Emma, near the lower end of the chaotic109 valley.
“It is, indeed, terrible,” answered Emma, “and fills me with wonder when I think that frozen water possesses power so stupendous.”
“And yet the same element,” said the Professor, “which, when frozen, thus rends110 the mountains with force irresistible111, when melted flows through the land in gentle fertilising streams. In both forms its power is most wonderful.”
“Like that of Him who created it,” said Emma, in a low tone.
The party stood on the margin112 of a little pond or lakelet that had collected in the midst of the débris, and which, by reflecting the clear sky and their figures, with several large boulders on its margin, gave point and a measure of softness to the otherwise confused and rugged scene. While they stood and sat rapt in silent contemplation of the tongue of the Mer de Glace, at whose tip was the blue ice-cave whence issued the Arveiron, a lordly eagle rose from a neighbouring cliff and soared grandly over their heads, while a bright gleam of the sinking sun shot over the white shoulders of Mont Blanc and lit up the higher end of the valley, throwing the lower part into deeper shade by contrast.
“There is a warning to us,” said Lewis, whose chief interest in the scene lay in the reflection of it that gleamed from Nita Horetzki’s eyes.
“Which is the warning,” asked Slingsby, “the gleam of sunshine or the eagle?”
“Both, for while the sun is going to bed behind the snow, the eagle is doubtless going home to her eyrie, and Antoine tells me that it is full three miles from this spot to our hotel in Chamouni.”
It did not take them long to traverse that space, and ere long, like the eagle and the sun, the whole party had retired113 to rest—the younger members, doubtless, to dreamless slumber114; the Professor and the Captain, probably, to visions of theodolites and ice.
Although, however, these worthies115 must needs await the coming day to have their scientific hopes realised, it would be cruel to keep our patient reader in suspense116. We may therefore note here that when, on the following day, the theodolite was re-fixed, and the man of science and his amateur friend had applied their respective eyes to the telescope, they were assured beyond a doubt that the stakes had moved, some more and some less, while the “Dook’s nose,” of course, remained hard and fast as the rock of which it was composed. The stakes had descended from about one to three feet during the twenty-four hours—those near the edge having moved least and those near the centre of the ice-river’s flow having moved farthest.
Of course there was a great deal of observing with the theodolite, and careful measuring as well as scrambling on the ice, similar to that of the previous day; but the end of the whole was that the glacier was ascertained117 to have flowed, definitely and observably down its channel, there could be no doubt whatever about that; the thing had been clearly proved, therefore the Professor was triumphant118 and the Captain, being a reasonable man, was convinced.
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1
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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fixedness
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| n.固定；稳定；稳固 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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pertinent
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| adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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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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mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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eddies
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| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
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ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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remonstrative
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| adj.抗议的，忠告的 | |
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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gambolling
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的现在分词 ) | |
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Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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31
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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32
glacier
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| n.冰川，冰河 | |
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33
pivots
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| n.枢( pivot的名词复数 )；最重要的人（或事物）；中心；核心v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的第三人称单数 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
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34
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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35
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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36
axis
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| n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线 | |
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37
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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38
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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39
prosecuted
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| a.被起诉的 | |
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40
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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41
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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42
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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43
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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44
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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45
intersection
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| n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集 | |
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46
auger
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| n.螺丝钻，钻孔机 | |
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47
pinnacles
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| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
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48
crevasses
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| n.破口，崩溃处，裂缝( crevasse的名词复数 ) | |
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49
crevasse
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| n. 裂缝，破口；v.使有裂缝 | |
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50
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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51
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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52
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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53
bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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54
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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56
chasms
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| 裂缝( chasm的名词复数 )； 裂口； 分歧； 差别 | |
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57
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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58
brittle
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| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
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59
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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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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61
alpine
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| adj.高山的；n.高山植物 | |
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62
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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63
notch
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| n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级 | |
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notches
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| n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级 | |
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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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atmospheric
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| adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的 | |
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scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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68
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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70
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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71
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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dispensing
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| v.分配( dispense的现在分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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73
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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75
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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76
alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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77
retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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78
custodians
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| n.看守人，保管人( custodian的名词复数 ) | |
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79
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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80
necessitate
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| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
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81
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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82
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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83
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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84
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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85
plummet
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| vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物 | |
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86
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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89
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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90
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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91
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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92
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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93
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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94
uprooting
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| n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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95
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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96
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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97
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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98
jocosely
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| adv.说玩笑地，诙谐地 | |
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99
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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100
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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101
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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102
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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103
taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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104
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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105
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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106
pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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107
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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108
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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109
chaotic
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| adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的 | |
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110
rends
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| v.撕碎( rend的第三人称单数 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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111
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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112
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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113
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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114
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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115
worthies
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| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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116
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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117
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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