During the more than usually successful campaign of the Amhára host, an opportunity was afforded us of laying down, as scientifically as very limited time would permit, an extensive and most interesting tract1 of country hitherto scarcely known—not to be explored by the adventurous2 but single traveller, and only to be visited under the peculiar3 advantages afforded to the British Embassy by the despotic Negoos. We were all much disappointed that this acquaintance should not have extended to the Lake Zooai, as anticipated from the manifesto4 originally promulgated5 at Machal-wans; but Ayto Bérri, many years Quarter-master-general of the royal troops, who, in his quondam capacity of Mohammadan rover, had often visited that famous expanse of water, strongly discountenanced the contemplated6 measure of molesting7 the inoffensive inhabitants of its five islands—mixed Christians8 and pagans living in profound peace with each other, and with every surrounding neighbour. To his advice may in some measure be ascribed the alteration10 in the king’s intentions; but the argument which had probably more weight with His Majesty11 than the harmless attributes of the population, was based on the dense12 and difficult character of the extensive forests, swarming13 with Galla and with wild beasts, through which the army must pass, after crossing the pillaged14 valley of Germáma.
The Christian9 camp at Boora Roofa was crowded with disconsolate15 groups of heathen captives, many with infants at their backs, and nearly all in a state of nudity, with long raven16 tresses streaming wildly over their shoulders. Hopeless slavery was theirs; but influenced by my earnest remonstrance17, aided by the active and reverend missionary18. Dr Krapf, whom philanthropic feelings had enabled to endure the uncongenial atmosphere of ignorance and unbelief—whom the purest and most praiseworthy motives19 had induced to obey the royal summons to the field, and who, from his long experience, knew when to touch the latent spark of mercy,—the king wiped out the foul20 stain of the preceding day by consenting to liberate21 the whole. Ere the nugáreet sounded the return of the troops, a proclamation went forth22 commanding the immediate23 release of every prisoner of war; and as the dissatisfied army turned its back upon the valley, long files of widowed dames24 and fatherless girls were to be seen hurrying in freedom across the hills towards their desolate26 hearths27, overjoyed at the sudden and unexpected restoration of their liberty through the white man’s intercession—the ruthless soldiery, disappointed at the loss of their booty, having previously28 stripped the last covering from all, and sent them forth naked as they came into the world.
It would be superfluous29 to dwell upon the satisfaction which filled the breast of every member of the Embassy, at this signal victory over savage30 ferocity; and heartfelt were the congratulations on all sides, that Providence31 had permitted us to be thus instrumental in ameliorating the condition of so large a number of our fellow-creatures.
A long march brought us the same day to the river Alelta, a tributary32 to the Nile, and forming near the encampment Lake Sertie, a full mile in diameter, bounded by low hills of trachyte and porphyry. A web of deep miry ravines, shut in by high crumbling33 banks, presented a wet and slippery footing, and many were the disasters that befel the demure34 dames of the royal kitchen. Wicker parasols might be seen floating down the current as the luckless proprietors35 struggled in the black slimy mud among mules36 and war-steeds, or emerged in truly pitiable condition to be censured37 by the austere38 guardians39, who, horror-stricken, had witnessed from above the absence of all order and decorum.
Each moment rendered the treacherous40 passage more and more impracticable; and it was not difficult to understand how, in the month of June the preceding year, the spot should have proved the grave of eight hundred of the Amhára cavalry41. At that season the country, flooded for many miles around, becomes one great quagmire42, which is not to be crossed without extreme caution. Before the king had passed with the main body of the victorious43 troops escorting immense plunder44, the Sertie Galla, taking advantage of superior knowledge of the locality, completely cut off the van of the army, consisting of the Mentshar and Bulga detachments. They had become entangled45 in the mazy labyrinth46, and were massacred to a man ere assistance could be rendered by the matchlock-men of the bodyguard47, who did not reach the ground until the enemy were in full retreat.
His Majesty’s object in now revisiting the scene of this catastrophe48 was sufficiently49 obvious. No sooner had the imperial cavalcade50 halted among the bleached51 skeletons of the fallen warriors52, than champions, whose steeds were distinguished53 by greasy54 garments stripped from the bodies of Galla victims, caracoled proudly in front of the state umbrellas, brandishing55 their bright weapons aloft—exhibiting the human fragments that had been won during the recent bloody56 foray—and after a detail of their individual exploits, shouting defiance57 to the humbled58 Sertie. The wild triumphal exhibition concluding after half an hour, a band of music advanced, and continued to play until the pavilion had been prepared for the royal reception.
Early the ensuing morning the king sent confidentially59 to my tent, to inquire if none of his guests could divine whether the day were propitious60 to the advance of the army—a point upon which he felt somewhat dubious61. Our confession62 of lamentable63 want of skill in augury64 was succeeded by a march of sixteen miles to Ellulee Jidda over a monotonous65 landscape of swelling66 downs and shallow valleys, intersected by streamlets that had scooped67 deep channels in the loose black soil. The stately relict of a deceased Galla chieftain rode through the ranks with her tribute in horses and kine, and experienced a most gallant68 reception at the hands of the monarch69. She might have sat for the portrait of La Belle70 Sauvage, but the grease wherein the person of the handsome dame25 was embedded71, tended unfortunately to destroy the romance inseparable from her Amazonian appearance and feudal72 condition.
Various triumphant73 detachments also met the royal cortege en route, the chiefs and victorious warriors careering in succession before the van of the army, with green sprigs of asparagus waving above their dishevelled and newly-dressed locks. Prisoners were seated behind the cruppers of some of the more merciful, and the flank of each grey steed was dyed with clotted74 human gore75. A short rambling76 recitative, expressive77 of loyalty78 and devotion in the field, was followed by savage yells and whoops79, twice or thrice re-echoed by their marshalled band of followers80, when they vaulted81 lightly from the saddle, prostrated83 themselves on the ground, and galloped84 off, each in his turn, to make way for some new squadron, whose war chorus came pealing85 over the hills—
“The combat’s past, the fight is won,
Then triumph o’er the prostrate82 foe86;
The heathen blood has freely run,
Raise high the chaunt, Wokó, Wokó.
“Let hill and dale return the note,
Wokó, Wokó, ayah Wokó;
Loud ring from every Christian throat
The shout of death, Wokó, Wokó.”
Whilst the army was encamping, the legion of Ayto Shishigo, rejoining the royal division with three thousand head of oxen, in like manner reported their successful exploits to the king, who, as usual, occupied the summit of an adjacent eminence87. Tribute was still in a course of diligent88 collection, and Galla chieftains, with their hair plaited after the model of the lotus-flower, were flocking with their dues from all directions. One refractory89 village only, of the Jidda tribe, withholding90 its impost91 of a single horse, paid the penalty of its folly92. The inhabitants fled, but their deserted93 houses were sacked and consigned94 to the flames, the stakes and palisades by which, in common with every hamlet in this direction, it was strongly fortified95, affording fuel for the royal kitchen, and subsequently a scramble96 to one half of the army.
点击收听单词发音
1 tract | |
n.传单,小册子,大片(土地或森林) | |
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2 adventurous | |
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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3 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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4 manifesto | |
n.宣言,声明 | |
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5 promulgated | |
v.宣扬(某事物)( promulgate的过去式和过去分词 );传播;公布;颁布(法令、新法律等) | |
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6 contemplated | |
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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7 molesting | |
v.骚扰( molest的现在分词 );干扰;调戏;猥亵 | |
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8 Christians | |
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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9 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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10 alteration | |
n.变更,改变;蚀变 | |
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11 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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12 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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13 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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14 pillaged | |
v.抢劫,掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15 disconsolate | |
adj.忧郁的,不快的 | |
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16 raven | |
n.渡鸟,乌鸦;adj.乌亮的 | |
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17 remonstrance | |
n抗议,抱怨 | |
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18 missionary | |
adj.教会的,传教(士)的;n.传教士 | |
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19 motives | |
n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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20 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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21 liberate | |
v.解放,使获得自由,释出,放出;vt.解放,使获自由 | |
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22 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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23 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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24 dames | |
n.(在英国)夫人(一种封号),夫人(爵士妻子的称号)( dame的名词复数 );女人 | |
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25 dame | |
n.女士 | |
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26 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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27 hearths | |
壁炉前的地板,炉床,壁炉边( hearth的名词复数 ) | |
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28 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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29 superfluous | |
adj.过多的,过剩的,多余的 | |
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30 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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31 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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32 tributary | |
n.支流;纳贡国;adj.附庸的;辅助的;支流的 | |
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33 crumbling | |
adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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34 demure | |
adj.严肃的;端庄的 | |
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35 proprietors | |
n.所有人,业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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36 mules | |
骡( mule的名词复数 ); 拖鞋; 顽固的人; 越境运毒者 | |
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37 censured | |
v.指责,非难,谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
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38 austere | |
adj.艰苦的;朴素的,朴实无华的;严峻的 | |
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39 guardians | |
监护人( guardian的名词复数 ); 保护者,维护者 | |
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40 treacherous | |
adj.不可靠的,有暗藏的危险的;adj.背叛的,背信弃义的 | |
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41 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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42 quagmire | |
n.沼地 | |
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43 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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44 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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45 entangled | |
adj.卷入的;陷入的;被缠住的;缠在一起的v.使某人(某物/自己)缠绕,纠缠于(某物中),使某人(自己)陷入(困难或复杂的环境中)( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46 labyrinth | |
n.迷宫;难解的事物;迷路 | |
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47 bodyguard | |
n.护卫,保镖 | |
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48 catastrophe | |
n.大灾难,大祸 | |
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49 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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50 cavalcade | |
n.车队等的行列 | |
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51 bleached | |
漂白的,晒白的,颜色变浅的 | |
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52 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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53 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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54 greasy | |
adj. 多脂的,油脂的 | |
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55 brandishing | |
v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 );炫耀 | |
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56 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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57 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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58 humbled | |
adj. 卑下的,谦逊的,粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下,贬低 | |
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59 confidentially | |
ad.秘密地,悄悄地 | |
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60 propitious | |
adj.吉利的;顺利的 | |
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61 dubious | |
adj.怀疑的,无把握的;有问题的,靠不住的 | |
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62 confession | |
n.自白,供认,承认 | |
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63 lamentable | |
adj.令人惋惜的,悔恨的 | |
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64 augury | |
n.预言,征兆,占卦 | |
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65 monotonous | |
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的 | |
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66 swelling | |
n.肿胀 | |
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67 scooped | |
v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 );(敏捷地)抱起;抢先获得;用铲[勺]等挖(洞等) | |
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68 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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69 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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70 belle | |
n.靓女 | |
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71 embedded | |
a.扎牢的 | |
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72 feudal | |
adj.封建的,封地的,领地的 | |
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73 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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74 clotted | |
adj.凝结的v.凝固( clot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75 gore | |
n.凝血,血污;v.(动物)用角撞伤,用牙刺破;缝以补裆;顶 | |
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76 rambling | |
adj.[建]凌乱的,杂乱的 | |
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77 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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78 loyalty | |
n.忠诚,忠心 | |
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79 whoops | |
int.呼喊声 | |
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80 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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81 vaulted | |
adj.拱状的 | |
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82 prostrate | |
v.拜倒,平卧,衰竭;adj.拜倒的,平卧的,衰竭的 | |
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83 prostrated | |
v.使俯伏,使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 );(指疾病、天气等)使某人无能为力 | |
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84 galloped | |
(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事 | |
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85 pealing | |
v.(使)(钟等)鸣响,(雷等)发出隆隆声( peal的现在分词 ) | |
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86 foe | |
n.敌人,仇敌 | |
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87 eminence | |
n.卓越,显赫;高地,高处;名家 | |
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88 diligent | |
adj.勤勉的,勤奋的 | |
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89 refractory | |
adj.倔强的,难驾驭的 | |
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90 withholding | |
扣缴税款 | |
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91 impost | |
n.进口税,关税 | |
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92 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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93 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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94 consigned | |
v.把…置于(令人不快的境地)( consign的过去式和过去分词 );把…托付给;把…托人代售;丟弃 | |
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95 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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96 scramble | |
v.爬行,攀爬,杂乱蔓延,碎片,片段,废料 | |
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