Among other trifles which our very complete outfit28 had comprehended was a small steamboat adapted for the tortuous29 but necessary navigation of the Yarra Yarra, of which noble stream, moving calmly through walls of ti-tree, we commenced to make the acquaintance. This steamerlet—she was a very tiny automaton30, puffing31 out of all proportion to her speed—but the only funnel-bearer—think of that, Victorians of this high-pressure era!—had been sent down by the head of the family the voyage before, safely bestowed32 upon the deck of a larger vessel33. "The Movastar was a better boat," I daresay, but the tiny Firefly bore us and the Lares and Penates of many other "first families"—in the sense of priority—safely to terra firma on the north side of what was then called the "Yarra Basin." This was an oval-shaped natural enlargement of the average width of the river, much as a waterhole in a creek34 exceeds the ordinary channel. The energetic Batman and the sturdy Cobbett of the south, Pascoe Fawkner, had thought it good to set about making a town, and here we found the bustling35 Britisher of the period engaged in building up Melbourne with might and main. Our leader laid it down at that[Pg 4] time, as the result of his experience of many lands, that the new colony, being outside of 36 deg. south latitude36, would not be scourged37 with droughts as had been New South Wales from her commencement. In great measure, and absolutely as regarding the western portions of Victoria, this prophecy has been borne out.
Sufficient time had elapsed for the army of mechanics, then established in Port Phillip, to erect38 many weatherboard and a few brick houses. Into a cottage of the latter construction we were hastily inducted, pending39 the finishing of a two-storied mansion40 in Flinders Street, not very far from Prince's Bridge. Bridge was there none in those days, it is hardly necessary to say; not even the humble41 one with wooden piers42 that spanned the stream later, and connected Melbourne people with the sandy forest of South Yarra, then much despised for its alleged43 agricultural inferiority: still there was a punt. You could get across, but not always when you wanted. And I recall the incident of Captain Brunswick Smyth, late of the 50th Regiment44, and the first commandant of mounted police, riding down to the ferry, from which the guardian45 was absent—"sick, or drunk, or suthin"—and, with military impatience46, dashing on board with a brace47 of troopers, who pulled the lumbering49 barge50 across, and fastened her to the farther shore.
Large trees at that time studded the green meadow, which, after the winter rain, was marshy51 and reed-covered. There did I shoot, and bear home with schoolboy pride, a blue crane—the Australian heron—who, being only wounded, "went near" to[Pg 5] pick out one of my eyes, wounding my cheek-bone with a sudden stab of his closed beak53. The lovely bronze-wing pigeons were plentiful54 then amid the wild forest tracks of Newtown, afterwards Collingwood. Many times have I and my boy comrades stood at no great distance from the present populous55 suburb and wondered whether we were going straight for the "settlement," as we then irreverently styled the wonder-city. The streets of the new-born town had been "ruled off," as some comic person phrased it, very straight and wide; but there had not been sufficient money as yet available from the somewhat closely-guarded distant Treasury56 of Sydney to clear them from stumps57. However, as in most communities during the speculative59 stage, any amount was forthcoming when required for purposes of amusement. Balls, picnics, races, and dinners were frequent and fashionable. Driving home from one of the first-named entertainments, through the lampless streets, a carriage, piloted by a gallant60 officer, came to signal grief against a stump58. The ladies were thrown out, the carriage thrown over, and the charioteer fractured. Paterfamilias, absent on business, marked his disapproval61 of the expedition by resolutely62 refraining from repairing the vehicle. For years after it stood in the back yard with cracked panels, a monument of domestic miscalculation.
It must be terribly humiliating to the survivors63 of that "first rush" to consider what untold64 wealth lay around them in the town and suburban allotments, which the most guarded investment would have secured. The famous subdivision in Collins Street, upon which the present Bank of Australasia now[Pg 6] stands, was purchased by the Wesleyan denomination65 for £70! Acres and half-acres in Flinders, Collins, and Elizabeth Streets were purchased at the first Government sales held in Sydney at similar and lower rates. I have heard the late Mr. Jacques, at that time acting66 as Crown auctioneer, selling at the Sydney markets ever so much of Williamstown, at prices which would cause the heart of the land-dealer of the present day to palpitate strangely. I can hear now the old gentleman's full, sonorous67 voice rolling out the words, "Allotment so-and-so, parish of Will-will-rook," the native names being largely and very properly used. "Villamanatah" and "Maribyrnong" occurred, I think, pretty often in the same series of sales. The invariable increase in prices after the first sales led naturally to a species of South Sea stock bubbledom. He who bought to-day—and men of all classes shared in the powerful excitement—was so certain of an advance of 25, 50, or cent per cent, that every one who could command the wherewithal hastened to the land lottery68, where every ticket was a prize. Speculative eagles in flocks were gathered around the carcase. Borrowing existed then, though undeveloped as one of the fine arts compared to its latest triumphs; bills, even in that struggling infancy69 of banking70, were thick in the air. Successful or prospective71 sales necessitated72 champagne73 lunches, whereby the empty bottles—erstwhile filled with that cheerful vintage—accumulated in stacks around the homes and haunts of the leading operators. The reigning74 Governor-General, on a flying visit to the non-mineral precursor75 of Ballarat and Bendigo, noted76 the unparalleled [Pg 7]profusion, and, it is said, refused on that account some request of the self-elected Patres Conscripti of our Rome in long clothes. Farms, in blocks of forty and eighty acres, had been marked off above the Yarra Falls. They had been purchased at prices tending to be high, as prices ruled then. But they could not have been really high, for one of them, since pretty well known as Toorak, for years rented for several thousands per annum, and possessing a value of about £1000 each for its eighty acres, was purchased by an early colonist18 for less than £1000, all told. It was subsequently sold by him, under the crushing pressure of the panic of 1842 and 1843, for £120.
What a different place was the Flemington racecourse, say, when Victor and Sir Charles ran for the Town Plate—when Romeo's white legs and matchless shoulder were to be seen thereon—when Jack77 Hunter's filly, Hellcat, won the Sir Charles Purse, furnished by a generous stud patron for the owners of descendants of that forgotten courser. Fancy the change to the Cup day with Martini-Henry coming in! Where racing78 springs up, there also do differences of opinion frequently occur. With respect to the said victory of Hellcat, then the property of Jack Hunter, it was objected by a well-known "horse couper" of the day, known as "Hopping79 Jack," that she was no true descendant of Sir Charles. He was contradicted very flatly, and sufficient proof having been afforded to the stewards80, her owner received the stakes. Still the mighty81 mind of John Ewart held distrust as he ambled82 home, dangling83 his "game" leg on his eel-backed bay horse, the same which carried him overland from Sydney to Melbourne in[Pg 8] ten days—six hundred miles. "A sworn horse-courser," like Blount, was Hopping Jack, and, unlike Marmion's fast squire84, had ridden many a steeplechase. In the quickly shifting adventure-scope of the day it chanced that the two Jacks85 went to sea, desiring to revisit Scotia, doubtless for their pecuniary86 benefit. A great storm arose, and the homeward-bound vessel was wrecked87. The passengers barely escaped with their lives, and were forced to return to Port Phillip. At one period of the disaster there was little or no hope for the lives of all. As they clung gloomily to the uplifted deck—fast on a reef—Hopping Jack approached Mr. Hunter with a grave and resolved air. All waited to hear his words. In that solemn hour he proved the exquisite88 accuracy of the thought, "The ruling passion strong in death," by thus adjuring89 his turf acquaintance, "Look here, Mr. Hunter, we shall all be in —— in twenty minutes, it can't matter much now. Was Hellcat really a Sir Charles?" History is silent as to the reply.
How strange a Melbourne would the picture—still distinctly photographed on memory's wondrous90 "negative"—present to the inhabitant of 1884. A solitary91 wood cart is struggling down from the direction of Brighton along the unmade sandy track, patiently to await the convenience of the puntman. Frank Liardet is driving his unicorn92 omnibus team from the lonely beach, where now the sailors revel93 in many a glittering bar, and the tall sugar-refinery chimney "lifts its head" and smokes—or, at any rate, did recently. The squatter94's wool-freighted bullock-teams lumber48 along the deep ruts of Flinders[Pg 9] Lane. John Pascoe Fawkner bustles95 up and down the western end, at that time the fashionable part, of Collins Street. The eastern portion of that street—now decorated with palatial96 clubs and treasuries97, and dominated by doctors—was then principally known as "the way to the Plenty," a rivulet98 on the banks of which still abode99 certain cheerful young agricultural aristocrats100, who had not had time quite to ruin themselves. Now a whole tribe of blacks—wondering and frightened, young and old, warriors101 and greybeards, women and children—is being driven along Collins Street by troopers, on their way to the temporary gaol102, there to be incarcerated103 for real or fancied violence. The philanthropist may console himself with the knowledge that they burrowed104 under their dungeon105 slabs106 and, I think, escaped. If not, they were released next day.
Mr. Latrobe, successor of Captain Lonsdale, on a state day—not styled Governor, but his Honour the Superintendent—is riding towards Batman's Hill on a crop-eared hog-maned cob, yclept Knockercroghery, attired107 in uniform, escorted by Captain Smyth and his terrible mounted police, the only military force of the day. The great plains, the wide forest-parks, shut closely in the little town on every side. Countless108 swans and ducks are disporting109 themselves in unscared freedom upon the great West Melbourne marsh52. The travel-stained squatter rides wearily up to the livery stable, as yet unable to shorten by coach or rail a mile of his journey.
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1 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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2 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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3 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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4 intersection | |
n.交集,十字路口,交叉点;[计算机] 交集 | |
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5 instinctively | |
adv.本能地 | |
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6 suburban | |
adj.城郊的,在郊区的 | |
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7 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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8 interval | |
n.间隔,间距;幕间休息,中场休息 | |
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9 thronged | |
v.成群,挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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11 diminution | |
n.减少;变小 | |
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12 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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13 musing | |
n. 沉思,冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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14 saturation | |
n.饱和(状态);浸透 | |
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15 schooner | |
n.纵帆船 | |
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16 discretion | |
n.谨慎;随意处理 | |
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17 colonists | |
n.殖民地开拓者,移民,殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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18 colonist | |
n.殖民者,移民 | |
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19 transit | |
n.经过,运输;vt.穿越,旋转;vi.越过 | |
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20 ponies | |
矮种马,小型马( pony的名词复数 ); £25 25 英镑 | |
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21 poultry | |
n.家禽,禽肉 | |
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22 component | |
n.组成部分,成分,元件;adj.组成的,合成的 | |
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23 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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24 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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25 alcoholic | |
adj.(含)酒精的,由酒精引起的;n.酗酒者 | |
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26 refreshment | |
n.恢复,精神爽快,提神之事物;(复数)refreshments:点心,茶点 | |
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27 grassy | |
adj.盖满草的;长满草的 | |
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28 outfit | |
n.(为特殊用途的)全套装备,全套服装 | |
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29 tortuous | |
adj.弯弯曲曲的,蜿蜒的 | |
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30 automaton | |
n.自动机器,机器人 | |
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31 puffing | |
v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧 | |
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32 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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34 creek | |
n.小溪,小河,小湾 | |
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35 bustling | |
adj.喧闹的 | |
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36 latitude | |
n.纬度,行动或言论的自由(范围),(pl.)地区 | |
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37 scourged | |
鞭打( scourge的过去式和过去分词 ); 惩罚,压迫 | |
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38 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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39 pending | |
prep.直到,等待…期间;adj.待定的;迫近的 | |
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40 mansion | |
n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
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41 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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42 piers | |
n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 );(常设有娱乐场所的)突堤;柱子;墙墩 | |
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43 alleged | |
a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
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44 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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45 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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46 impatience | |
n.不耐烦,急躁 | |
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47 brace | |
n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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48 lumber | |
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动 | |
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49 lumbering | |
n.采伐林木 | |
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50 barge | |
n.平底载货船,驳船 | |
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51 marshy | |
adj.沼泽的 | |
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52 marsh | |
n.沼泽,湿地 | |
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53 beak | |
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻 | |
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54 plentiful | |
adj.富裕的,丰富的 | |
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55 populous | |
adj.人口稠密的,人口众多的 | |
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56 treasury | |
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库 | |
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57 stumps | |
(被砍下的树的)树桩( stump的名词复数 ); 残肢; (板球三柱门的)柱; 残余部分 | |
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58 stump | |
n.残株,烟蒂,讲演台;v.砍断,蹒跚而走 | |
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59 speculative | |
adj.思索性的,暝想性的,推理的 | |
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60 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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61 disapproval | |
n.反对,不赞成 | |
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62 resolutely | |
adj.坚决地,果断地 | |
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63 survivors | |
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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64 untold | |
adj.数不清的,无数的 | |
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65 denomination | |
n.命名,取名,(度量衡、货币等的)单位 | |
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66 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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67 sonorous | |
adj.响亮的,回响的;adv.圆润低沉地;感人地;n.感人,堂皇 | |
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68 lottery | |
n.抽彩;碰运气的事,难于算计的事 | |
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69 infancy | |
n.婴儿期;幼年期;初期 | |
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70 banking | |
n.银行业,银行学,金融业 | |
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71 prospective | |
adj.预期的,未来的,前瞻性的 | |
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72 necessitated | |
使…成为必要,需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73 champagne | |
n.香槟酒;微黄色 | |
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74 reigning | |
adj.统治的,起支配作用的 | |
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75 precursor | |
n.先驱者;前辈;前任;预兆;先兆 | |
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76 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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77 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
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78 racing | |
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的 | |
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79 hopping | |
n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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80 stewards | |
(轮船、飞机等的)乘务员( steward的名词复数 ); (俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的)管理员; (大型活动的)组织者; (私人家中的)管家 | |
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81 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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82 ambled | |
v.(马)缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 );从容地走,漫步 | |
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83 dangling | |
悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 ); 摆动不定; 用某事物诱惑…; 吊胃口 | |
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84 squire | |
n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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85 jacks | |
n.抓子游戏;千斤顶( jack的名词复数 );(电)插孔;[电子学]插座;放弃 | |
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86 pecuniary | |
adj.金钱的;金钱上的 | |
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87 wrecked | |
adj.失事的,遇难的 | |
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88 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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89 adjuring | |
v.(以起誓或诅咒等形式)命令要求( adjure的现在分词 );祈求;恳求 | |
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90 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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91 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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92 unicorn | |
n.(传说中的)独角兽 | |
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93 revel | |
vi.狂欢作乐,陶醉;n.作乐,狂欢 | |
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94 squatter | |
n.擅自占地者 | |
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95 bustles | |
热闹( bustle的名词复数 ); (女裙后部的)衬垫; 撑架 | |
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96 palatial | |
adj.宫殿般的,宏伟的 | |
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97 treasuries | |
n.(政府的)财政部( treasury的名词复数 );国库,金库 | |
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98 rivulet | |
n.小溪,小河 | |
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99 abode | |
n.住处,住所 | |
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100 aristocrats | |
n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 ) | |
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101 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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102 gaol | |
n.(jail)监狱;(不加冠词)监禁;vt.使…坐牢 | |
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103 incarcerated | |
钳闭的 | |
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104 burrowed | |
v.挖掘(洞穴),挖洞( burrow的过去式和过去分词 );翻寻 | |
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105 dungeon | |
n.地牢,土牢 | |
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106 slabs | |
n.厚板,平板,厚片( slab的名词复数 );厚胶片 | |
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107 attired | |
adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服,使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108 countless | |
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
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109 disporting | |
v.嬉戏,玩乐,自娱( disport的现在分词 ) | |
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