Without doubt history is made quite as much by the mistakes of men as by their utmost certainties. The persistent1 belief of the ancient geographers2 in the existence of the Straits of Anian, the traditional North-West Passage, led to some romancing, and to the exploration of the California coast a century or so before it was of any particular use to anybody. It led also to the bluest bay. Viscaino took possession of it for Philip of Spain as early as 1602, nearly two hundred years before the Franciscans planted a cross there under Viscaino's very tree. During all that time the same oaks staggered up the slope away from the wind, and the scimitar curve of the beach kept back the brilliant waters. There is a figure of immensity in this more terrifying than the mere3 lapse4 of years. Not how many times but with what sureness for [64] every day the sapphire5 deep shudders6 into chrysoprase along the white line of the breakers. We struggle so to achieve a little brief moment of beauty, but every hour at Monterey it is given away.
The bay lies squarely fronting the Pacific swell7, about a hundred miles south of the Golden Gate, between the horns of two of the little tumbled coast ranges, cutting back to receive the waters of the Pajaro and the Salinas. From the south the hill juts8 out sharply, taking the town and the harbour between its knees, but the north shore is blunted by the mountains of Santa Cruz. The beach is narrow, and all along its inner curve blown up into dunes9 contested every season by the wind and by the quick, bright growth of sand verbena, lupins, and mesembryanthemums. The waters of the rivers are set back by the tides, they are choked with bars and sluiced11 out by winter floods. For miles back into the valleys of Pajaro and Salinas, blue and yellow lupins continue the colour of the sand and the pools of tide water. They climb up the landward slope of the high dunes and set the shore a little seaward against the diminished surf. Then the equinoctial tide rises against the land that the lupins have taken [65] and smooths out their lovely gardens with a swift, white hand, to leave the beach smooth again for the building of pale, wind-pointed cones12.
The valley of the Salinas, which has its only natural outlet13 on the bay, is of the type of coast valleys, long, narrow and shallow, given over to farming and to memories of Our Lady of Solitude14 lying now as a heap of ruins in a barley15 field. It is a place set apart, where any morning you might wake to find the sea has entered between the little, brooding hills to rest.
Gulls16 follow the plough there, and pines avoid the river basin as though each of them knew very well their respective rights in it. One has, however, to make a point of such discoveries, for the entrance to the valley is obscured by its very candour, lying all open as it does to drifting dune10 and variable sea marshes17.
It is even more worth while to follow the flat-bordered Pajaro into the shut valley where dozes18 the little town of San Juan Bautista, taking on its well-sunned mesa, those placid19 lapses20 of self-forgetfulness which are to the aged21 as a foretaste of the long sleep. Here it was that the magic muse22 of Music came into the country. It came in a little tin-piped, wooden hand-organ, built by one [66] Benjamin Dobson of 22 Swan Street, London, in the year 1735, but of all its history until it was unpacked23 from mule-back by Padre Lausan in 1797, there is not a word current. Our acquaintance with it begins on the day that the Padre set it up in the hills and played, "The Siren's Waltz," "Lady Campbell's Reel," and all its repertoire24 of favourite London airs, of which the least appropriate to its present mission must have been the one called "Go to the Devil." Which only goes to prove that the spirit of the Franciscans was often superior to their means, for what the simple savages26 did do as soon as they had overcome their superstitious27 fear of the noise box, was to come to Mass to hear it as often as possible. There remain three old volumes of music written later for the Mission which came true to its founding and excelled in all sweet sounds, but none, it is said, pleased the Indians so much or so raised their spirits as "The Siren's Waltz." No doubt its inspiriting strains added something to the warlike spirit which led here to the only local resistance opposed to the American invasion, for it was on the Gavilan heights above the little town that Frémont, on the tallest tree that he could find, raised the Stars and Stripes, gallantly28 if somewhat prematurely29. It was from San Juan that Castro's [67] men marched to the final capitulation of Cahuenga, and finally from here the last remnant of the old life drains away. One hears the echo of it faint as the sea sounds that on rare days come trembling up the valley on the translucent30 air.
Returning to the bay, one finds all interest centering about the Point of Pines, a very ancient, rocky termination of the most westerly of the coast barriers. The Point, which is really a peninsula, is one of the most notable landmarks31 between Point Conception on the south and Fort Point at San Francisco. Its lighthouse stands well out on a rocky finger, ringed with incessant32, clanging buoys33; between it and Santa Cruz light is a roadstead for an empire. A windy bay at best, deep tides, and squally surfaces, the waters of Monterey have other values than the colourist finds in them. Sardines34, salmon35, cod36, tuna, yellow tail run with its tides. At most seasons of the year whales may be seen spouting37 there, or are cast upon its shoals. At one time the port enjoyed a certain prosperity as a whaling station, of which small trace remains38 beside the bleaching39 vertebræ that border certain of the old gardens and the persistent whalebone souvenirs of the curio dealer40. Lateen-rigged fisher fleets flock in and [68] out of the harbour, butterfly winged; and all about the rock beaches creep the square-toed boats of the Japanese and Chinese abalone gatherers. Thousands of purple sea-urchins, squid, hundred-fingered star-fish, and all manner of slimy sea delicacies42, these slant-eyed Orientals draw up out of the rainbow rock pools and the deeps below the receding43 surf. They go creeping and peering about the ebb44, their guttural hunting cries borne inshore on the quiet air, seeming as much a native sea speech as the gabble of the gulls. So in their skin canoes and balsas the Indians must have crept about the inlets for as long as it requires to lay a yard or two of mould over the ancient middens of the tribe, as long as it takes to build a barrier of silver dunes half a mile seaward. Even at that distance the plough turns up the soil evenly sprinkled with crumbling45 shell which holds to the last a shred46 of its old iridescence47. Far inland, past the Sierra Wall even to the country of Lost Borders, I have found amulets48 of this loveliest of the pearl shells, traded for and treasured by a people to whom the "Big Water" is a half-credited traveller's tale.
About five hundred yards outside the surf, from Laboratory Point, circling the peninsula to Mission [69] Point on the south, the submerged rocky ridge49 has grown a great, tawny50 mane of kelp. Every year it is combed and cut by the equinoctial tides, and cast ashore51 in brown, sea-smelling wind-rows, and every year it grows again to be the feeding-ground of a million water-haunting birds. Here the Ancient Murrelet fattens52 for the long flight to the Alaskan breeding-grounds, and in the wildest gales53 the little nocturnal auklets may be heard calling to one another above the warring thunder of the surf, or when the nights are clear and the mists all banded low beneath the moon, they startle the beach wanderer with their high keen notes and beetle54 whirring wings. Long triangular55 flights of curlew drop down these beaches against the westering sun, with wings extended straight above their heads, furling like the little lateen sails come home from fishing. Sandpipers, sanderlings, all the ripple56 runners, the skimmers of the receding foam57, all the scavengers of the tide, the gulls, glaucous-winged, ringbilled, and the species that take their name from the locality, may be found here following the plough as robins58 do in the spring. When the herring school in the bay nothing could exceed the multitude and clamour of the herring gulls. They stretch out in close [70] order, wing beating against wing, actually over square miles of the ruffling59 water between Point Pinos and the anchorage. But any attempt to render an account of the wild, winged life that flashes about the bays of Carmel and Monterey would read like an ornithologist's record.
After storms that divide the waters outside the bay into great toppling mountains, in the quiet strip between the kelp and the beaches, thousands of shearwaters may be seen sleeping in long, swaying, feathered pontoons, shoulder to shoulder. The island rocks standing60 within the surf, from the Point of Pines all down the coast to Point Sur, are famous rookeries of cormorant61. Watchful62 and black against the guano-whitened rocks, they guard their ancestral nests, redecorated each season with gay weed, pulled from the painted gardens of the deep; turning their long necks this way and that like revolving63 turret-tops, they beat off the gluttonous64 gulls with a devotion which would seem to demand some better excuse than the naked, greasy65, wide-mouthed young. Warm mornings these can be seen stretching black-stemmed, gaping66 bills from the nesting hollows, waving this way and that like the tips of voracious67 sea anemones68. Other rocks, white with salty [71] rime70, are given by mutual71 consent to rookeries of the yelping72 seals, the "sea lions" of this coast. Moonlight nights they can be seen playing there, with the weird73 half-human suggestion as of some mythical74 sea creatures.
Other and less fortunate adventurers on the waters of Monterey have left strange traces on that coast; one stumbles on a signboard set up among the rocks to mark where such and such a vessel75 went to pieces in a night of storm. Buried deep in the beach beyond the anchorage is the ancient teakwood hull76 of the Natala, the ship that carried Napoleon to Elba. It brought secularisation to the Missions also, after which unfriendly service the wind woke in the night and broke it against the shore. Just off Point Lobos, the Japanese divers77 after abalones report a strange, uncharted, sunken craft, a Chinese junk blown out of her course perhaps, or one of those unreported galleons78 that followed a phantom79 trail of gold all up the west coast of the New World. Strange mosses80 come ashore here, tide by tide, all lacy and scarf-coloured, and once we found on the tiny strand81 below Pescadero, a log of sandal-wood with faint waterworn traces of tool marks still upon it.
Most mysterious of all the hints held by the [72] farthest west—for behold82, when you have come to land again, sailing from this port, it is east!—of a time before our time, is the Monterey cypress83.
Across the neck of the peninsula, a matter of six or eight miles, cuts in the little bay of Carmel, a blue jewel set in silver sand. Two points divide it from the racing84 Pacific, the southern limb of Punta Pinos, and the deeply divided rocky ledge85 of Lobos—Lobos, the wolf, with thin, raking, granite86 jaws87. Now on these two points, and nowhere else in the world, are found natural plantations88 of the trees that might have grown in Dante's Purgatorio, or in the imagined forests where walked the rapt, tormented89 soul of Blake. Blake, indeed, might have had a hint of these from some transplanted seedling90 on an English terrace, for the Monterey cypress is quick-growing for the first century or so and one of the most widely diffused91 of trees; but only here on the Point and south to Pescadero ranch92 do they grow of God's planting. With writhen trunks and stiff contorted limbs they take the storm and flying scud93 as poppies take the sun. Incredibly old, even to the eye, they have no soil, nor seek none other than the thousand-year litter of their scaly94 needles, the husk of their nut-shaped, woody cones—the Spirit [73] of the Ancient Rocks come to life in a tree. Grown under friendly conditions the young trees spire95 as do other conifers, but here they take on strange enchanted96 shapes. Their flat, wind-depressed tops are resilient as springs; one may lie full length along them, scarcely sunk in the minutely-feathered twigs97, and watch the coasting steamers trail by on seas polished by the heat, or the winter surf bursting high in air. Or one could steal through their thick plantations unsuspected, from twisty trunk to trunk in the black shade, feeling the old earth-mood and man's primeval fear, the pricks98 and warnings of a world half made. The oldest of the cypresses99 are attacked by a red fungus100 rust101, the colour of corroding102 time. It creeps along the under side of boughs103 and eats away the green, but even then the twisted heart wood will outlast104 most human things.
The pines of Monterey, though characteristic enough of the locality to take on its identifying name, are thoroughly105 plebeian106: prolific107, quick-growing, branching like candelabra when young; but in a hundred years or so their wide limbs, studded with persistent cones, take on something of the picturesque108 eccentricity109 that may be noticed among the old in rural neighbourhoods. They [74] grow freely back into the hills till they are warned away from the cañons by the more sequestered110 palo colorado. The Monterey pine is one of the long-needled varieties, but of a too open growth perhaps, or too flexile to have any voice but a faint rustling111 echo of the ocean. The hill above Monterey, crowned with them, is impressive enough; they look lofty and aloof112 and dark against the sky, but growing in a wood they are seen to be too spindling and sparse-limbed to be interesting. The oaks do better by the landscape, all of the encinas variety, bearing stiff clouds of evergreen113 foliage114 in lines simple enough to compose beautifully with the slow scimitar sweep of the bay and the round cloud-masses that, gathering115 from the sea, hang faintly pearled above the horizon. There are no redwoods on the peninsula; straggling lines of them look down from Palo Corona116 on Carmel Bay, walking one after another, with their odd tent-shaped tops and long branches all on the windward side, like a procession of friars walking against the wind. On the Santa Cruz coast, and in small groups near Carmel, grows the tan bark oak, not a true oak, but of the genus Pasania, whose nearest surviving congeners are no nearer than Siam. How it came here, survivor117 of an [75] earlier world, or drifting in on the changing Japanese current, no one knows. Apparently118 no one cares, for the only use the Santa Crucians have found for it is to tan shoe leather.
Three little towns have taken root on the Peninsula: two on the bay side, the old pueblo119 of Monterey with its white-washed adobes121 still contriving122 to give character to the one wide street; Pacific Grove123, utterly124 modern, on the surf side of Punta de Pinos, a town which began, I believe, as a resort for the churchly minded—a very clean and well-kept and proper town, absolutely exempt125, as the deeds are drawn126 to assure us, "from anything having a tendency to lower the moral atmosphere," a town where the lovely natural woods have given place to houses every fifty feet or so, all nicely soldered127 together with lines of bright scarlet128 and clashing magentas and rosy129 pinks of geraniums and pelargoniums in a kind of predetermined cheerfulness; in short, a town where nobody would think of living who wanted anything interesting to happen to him. Above it on the hill, the Presidio commands the naked slope, fronting toward Santa Cruz, raking the open roadstead with its guns. It was under this hill on the harbour side, where a little [76] creek130 still runs a rill in the rainy season, that Viscaino heard the first mass in California, and nearly two hundred years later, Padre Serra set up the cross.
On June 30, 1770, that being the Holy Day of Pentecost, was founded here the Mission of San Carlos Borromeo, afterward131 transplanted for sufficient reasons, over the hill six miles away, on Carmel River. The town is full of reminders132 of the days of the Spanish Occupation, when it was the capital of Alta California. Old gardens here have still the high adobe120 walls, old houses the long galleries and little wrought-iron balconies; times yet the tide rises in the streets of the town, and still the speech is soft.
It is also possible to buy tomales there and enchiladas and chile concarne which will for the moment restore your faith in certain conceptions of a hereafter that of late have lost popularity.
Half a mile back from the beach, and divided from the town by the old cemetery133, in a deep alluvial134 flat grown to great oaks and creeping sycamores, is situated135 one of the famous winter resorts of the world, Hôtel Del Monte. I can recommend it with great freedom to those curiously136 constituted people who have to have an excuse for [77] being out of doors. The Del Monte drives and golf links are said by those who have used them, to provide such excuse in its most compelling form. Those who suffer under no such necessity will do well to take the white road climbing the hill out of old Monterey, and drop down the other side of it into Carmel.
From the top of this hill the lovely curve of the bay, disappearing far to the north under a violet mist, is pure Greek in its power to affect the imagination. Its blueness is the colour that lies upon the Gulf137 of Dreams; the ivory rim69 of the dunes, the shadowed blue of the terraces set on a sudden all the tides of recollection back on Salonica, Lepanto, the hill of Athens. You are reconciled for a moment to the chance of history which whelmed the colourful days of the Spanish Occupation. They could never have lived up to it.
But once on the Carmel side of the peninsula, regret comes back very poignantly138. The bay is a miniature of the other, intensified139, the connoisseur's collection,—blue like the eye of a peacock's feather, fewer dunes but whiter, a more delicate tracery on them of the beach verbena, hills of softer contours, tawny, rippled140 like the coat of a great cat sleeping [78] in the sun. Carmel Valley breaks upon the bay by way of the river which chokes and bars, runs dry in summer or carries the yellow of its sands miles out in winter a winding141 track across the purple inlet. It is a little valley and devious142, reaching far inland. Above its source the peaks of Santa Lucia stand up; for its southern bulwark143, Palo Corona. Willows144, sycamores, elder, wild honeysuckle, and great heaps of blackberry vines hedge the path of its waters.
Where the valley widens behind the low barrier that shuts out the sea, sits the Mission of San Carlos Borromeo, once the spiritual capital of Alta California. Here Junipero Serra, and after him the other Padre Presidentes, held the administration of Mission affairs, and from here he wandered forth145 on foot, up and down this whole coast from San Diego to Solano, with pacification146 and the seeds of civilisation147. Here on the walls, faintly to be traced beneath the scorn of time, he blazoned148 with his own hands the Burning Heart, the symbol of his own inward flame. Here, in his seventy-first year, he died and was buried on the gospel side of the altar. It is reported that his last act was to walk to the doorway149 to look once, a long look, on the hills turning amber150 under the August sun, on the [79] heaven-blue water and the white hands of the surf beating against the cliffs of Lobos; looked on the fields and the orchard151 planted by his own hand, on the wattled huts of the neophytes redeemed152, as he believed them, to all eternity153, after which he lay down and slept. It is further reported in the annals of the Mission that it was necessary to place a guard about the wasted body in its shabby brown gown, to defend it from the crowding mourners craving154 each a relic155 of the blessed remains. Had I lived at that time I should have been among them, for he was a great soul, and have I not felt even at this distance of the years the touch of his high fervours! San Carlos is one of the best-conditioned of these abandoned fortresses156 of the faith: the ancient pear trees are still in bearing, the wild mustard yellows in the fields, its architecture still betrays the uncertain hand of the savage25; back in unsearchable recesses157 of the hills linger still some Indians whose garbled158 greeting is a memory of the Ama Dios which the padres taught them. Until a few years ago the prayer-post, a rude slab159 with the triple-knotted cord of the Franciscans carved around it, still stood on the hill at the end of the path their devout160 feet made, resorting to it for courage and consolation161. These [80] mementos162 fade, but year by year the impress of the great spirit of Serra grows plainer, like one of those trodden paths of long ago which show not at all if you seek them in the grass or near at hand, but from the vantage of Palo Corona are traceable far across the landscape.
The modern Carmel is a place of resort for painter and poet folk. Beauty is cheap there; it may be had in superlative quality for the mere labour of looking out of the window. It is the absolute setting for romance. No shipping163 ever puts in at the singing beaches. The freighting teams from the Sur with their bells a-jangle, go by on the country road, but great dreams have visited the inhabitants thereof. Spring visits it also with yellow violets all up the wooded hills, and great fountain sprays of sea-blue ceanothus. Summer reddens the berries of the manzanita and mellows164 the poppy-blazoned slopes to tawny saffron. Strong tides arrive unheralded from some far-off deep-sea disturbance165 and shake the beaches. Suddenly, on the quietest days, some flying squadron of the deep breaks high over Lobos and neighs in her narrow caverns166. Blown foam, whipped all across the Pacific, is cast up like weed along the sand and skims the wave-marks with a [81] winged motion. Whole flocks of these foam-birds may be seen scudding167 toward the rock-corners of Mission Point after the equinoctial winds. Other tides the sea slips far out on new-made level reaches, and leaves the wet sand shining after the sun goes down like the rosy inside pearl of the abalone.
The forests of Point Pinos are sanctuary168. It is still possible to hear there at long intervals169 the demoniac howl of the little grey dog of the wilderness171, "Brother Coyote," the butt41, the cat's-paw, the Jack172 Dullard of Indian folklore173, and sometimes in the open country below Point Lobos to see one curious and agaze from brown, naked bosses of the hills. Any warm afternoon, by lying very still a long time in the encinal, one may observe the country-coloured bobcat, tawny as the grass in summer, slipping from shade to shade. Sometimes if startled he will turn and face you with his blinking, yellow, half-hypnotic stare before he returns to his unguessed errand. Any morning you may find about your bungalow174 innumerable prints as of baby palms pressed downward in the dust, the tracks of the friendly little racoons who may be heard bubbling in the shallow cañons any moonlight night. Often I have left a cut melon under [82] my window for the sake of seeing, an hour after moonrise, two or three of them scooping175 out the pink heart, spatting176 one another for helpings177 out of turn, keeping, in spite of the little gluttons178 you know them to be, a great affectation of daintiness. The night-cry of these little creatures is difficult to distinguish from the love-call of the horned owl170, who on the undark nights of summer skims the low foreshore for the sake of the field-mice and gophers that feed on the seeds of the beach grasses. Every sort of migratory179 bird that passes up and down this coast lingers a while in the neighbourhood of Monterey, and some species, like the Point Pinos juncos, take from it their distinctive180 name. But if, when you walk in the woods, the Stellar jay has first sight of you, you will find them singularly empty, for these blue-jacketed policemen of the pines permit nothing to pass them unannounced. Of all the wood-folk, the wise quail181 alone ignores their strident warnings. The quail have learned not only the certainty of safety but its absolute limit. I have seen whole flocks of them, scared by the gun, whirring out of the public lands to a point not out of gunshot but within the forbidden ground, from which they send back soft twitterings of defiance182. It is not, however, their [83] habit to flush except in great danger, but to run to cover, moving with a peculiar183 elusive184 rhythm, like the rippling185 of a snake. This plump little partridge, for it is only in the common speech that he becomes a quail, is the apt spirit of the chaparral—cheerful, social, strong in the domestic virtues186; his crest187 not floating backward in warrior188 fashion, but cocked forward over an eye, he has all the air of the militant189 bourgeois190, who could fight of course, but finds that running matches better with his inclinations191. Just at the end of rains, before mating begins, hundreds of them may be seen feeding in the flock on open hillsides, and the thickets192 of buckthorn and ceanothus ring with their soft Spanish Cuidado!—Have a care!
Three roads go up out of the peninsula to entice193 the imagination—that which we have already taken to the hills of Salinas and the little town of San Juan, the road to Carmel Valley, and the adventurous194 trail which leads all down the well-bitten coast past Sur and Pieoras Blancos. The Valley road turns off at the top of the divide between Carmel and Monterey; it passes on the landward side of the Mission into the river-bottom and skirts the narrow chain of farms, rising with the rise of the thinly-forested hills toward Tasajara, [84] the Place of Springs. Here it is lost in the intricacies of the "back country." Deer-hunters go that way in the season, and those whose delight it is to lose themselves in the wilderness, to taste wild fruit and know no roof but the windy tent of stars. Years since there used to come out of that country shy-spoken, bearded men with bear-meat to sell and wild honey in the honeycomb, rifled from hiving rocks and hollow trees; but I fancy they are all dead now, or translated into the tall moss-bearded pines.
The coast road, after it leaves Point Lobos behind, goes south and south, between high trackless hills and the lineless Pacific floor. From the Point you can see it rise over bare, sea-breasting hills, and disappear in narrow cañons down which, it is reported, immeasurable redwoods follow the white-footed creeks195 almost to the surf. Dim, violet-tinted islands rise offshore196 to break the sea's assault. Now and then one ventures in that direction as far as Arbolado, to return prophesying197. But the most of us are wiser, understanding that the best service the road can render us is to remain a dramatic and unlimned possibility.
该作者的其它作品
《The Land of Little Rain少雨的土地》
《The Basket Woman筐妇》
该作者的其它作品
《The Land of Little Rain少雨的土地》
《The Basket Woman筐妇》
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
persistent
|
|
| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
geographers
|
|
| 地理学家( geographer的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
lapse
|
|
| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
sapphire
|
|
| n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
shudders
|
|
| n.颤动，打颤，战栗( shudder的名词复数 )v.战栗( shudder的第三人称单数 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
swell
|
|
| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
juts
|
|
| v.（使）突出( jut的第三人称单数 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
dunes
|
|
| 沙丘( dune的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
dune
|
|
| n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
sluiced
|
|
| v.冲洗( sluice的过去式和过去分词 )；（指水）喷涌而出；漂净；给…安装水闸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
cones
|
|
| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
outlet
|
|
| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
barley
|
|
| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
gulls
|
|
| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
marshes
|
|
| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
dozes
|
|
| n.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的名词复数 )v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
placid
|
|
| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
lapses
|
|
| n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
muse
|
|
| n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
unpacked
|
|
| v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的过去式和过去分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
repertoire
|
|
| n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
savages
|
|
| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
superstitious
|
|
| adj.迷信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
gallantly
|
|
| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
prematurely
|
|
| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
translucent
|
|
| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
landmarks
|
|
| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
incessant
|
|
| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
buoys
|
|
| n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 )；航标；救生圈；救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
sardines
|
|
| n. 沙丁鱼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
salmon
|
|
| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
cod
|
|
| n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
spouting
|
|
| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
bleaching
|
|
| 漂白法，漂白 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
dealer
|
|
| n.商人，贩子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
butt
|
|
| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
delicacies
|
|
| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
receding
|
|
| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
ebb
|
|
| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
crumbling
|
|
| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
shred
|
|
| v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
iridescence
|
|
| n.彩虹色；放光彩；晕色；晕彩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
amulets
|
|
| n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
ridge
|
|
| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
tawny
|
|
| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
fattens
|
|
| v.喂肥( fatten的第三人称单数 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
gales
|
|
| 龙猫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
beetle
|
|
| n.甲虫，近视眼的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
triangular
|
|
| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
ripple
|
|
| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
foam
|
|
| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
robins
|
|
| n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
ruffling
|
|
| 弄皱( ruffle的现在分词 )； 弄乱； 激怒； 扰乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
cormorant
|
|
| n.鸬鹚，贪婪的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
watchful
|
|
| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
revolving
|
|
| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
gluttonous
|
|
| adj.贪吃的，贪婪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
greasy
|
|
| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
gaping
|
|
| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
voracious
|
|
| adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
anemones
|
|
| n.银莲花( anemone的名词复数 )；海葵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
rim
|
|
| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
rime
|
|
| n.白霜；v.使蒙霜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
mutual
|
|
| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
yelping
|
|
| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
mythical
|
|
| adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
hull
|
|
| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
divers
|
|
| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
galleons
|
|
| n.大型帆船( galleon的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
phantom
|
|
| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
mosses
|
|
| n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
strand
|
|
| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
cypress
|
|
| n.柏树 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
racing
|
|
| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
ledge
|
|
| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
granite
|
|
| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
jaws
|
|
| n.口部；嘴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
plantations
|
|
| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
tormented
|
|
| 饱受折磨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
seedling
|
|
| n.秧苗，树苗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
diffused
|
|
| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
ranch
|
|
| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
scud
|
|
| n.疾行；v.疾行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
scaly
|
|
| adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
spire
|
|
| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
enchanted
|
|
| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
twigs
|
|
| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
pricks
|
|
| 刺痛( prick的名词复数 )； 刺孔； 刺痕； 植物的刺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
cypresses
|
|
| n.柏属植物，柏树( cypress的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
fungus
|
|
| n.真菌，真菌类植物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
rust
|
|
| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
corroding
|
|
| 使腐蚀，侵蚀( corrode的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
boughs
|
|
| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
outlast
|
|
| v.较…耐久 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
plebeian
|
|
| adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
prolific
|
|
| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
picturesque
|
|
| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
eccentricity
|
|
| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
sequestered
|
|
| adj.扣押的；隐退的；幽静的；偏僻的v.使隔绝，使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 )；扣押 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
rustling
|
|
| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
aloof
|
|
| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
evergreen
|
|
| n.常青树；adj.四季常青的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
foliage
|
|
| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
corona
|
|
| n.日冕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
survivor
|
|
| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
pueblo
|
|
| n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
adobe
|
|
| n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
adobes
|
|
| n.风干土坯( adobe的名词复数 )；风干砖坯；（制风干砖用的）灰质粘土；泥砖砌成的房屋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
contriving
|
|
| （不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的现在分词 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
grove
|
|
| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
exempt
|
|
| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
soldered
|
|
| v.（使）焊接，焊合( solder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
creek
|
|
| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
afterward
|
|
| adv.后来；以后 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
reminders
|
|
| n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
cemetery
|
|
| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
alluvial
|
|
| adj.冲积的；淤积的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
situated
|
|
| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
gulf
|
|
| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
poignantly
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
intensified
|
|
| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
rippled
|
|
| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
winding
|
|
| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
devious
|
|
| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
bulwark
|
|
| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
willows
|
|
| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
pacification
|
|
| n. 讲和，绥靖，平定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
civilisation
|
|
| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
blazoned
|
|
| v.广布( blazon的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布；夸示；装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
amber
|
|
| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
orchard
|
|
| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
redeemed
|
|
| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
eternity
|
|
| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
craving
|
|
| n.渴望,热望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
relic
|
|
| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
fortresses
|
|
| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
recesses
|
|
| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
garbled
|
|
| adj.（指信息）混乱的，引起误解的v.对（事实）歪曲，对（文章等）断章取义，窜改( garble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
slab
|
|
| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
devout
|
|
| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
consolation
|
|
| n.安慰，慰问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
mementos
|
|
| 纪念品，令人回忆的东西( memento的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
shipping
|
|
| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
mellows
|
|
| （使）成熟( mellow的第三人称单数 )； 使色彩更加柔和，使酒更加醇香 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
disturbance
|
|
| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
caverns
|
|
| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
scudding
|
|
| n.刮面v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
sanctuary
|
|
| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
intervals
|
|
| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
owl
|
|
| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
wilderness
|
|
| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
folklore
|
|
| n.民间信仰，民间传说，民俗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
bungalow
|
|
| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
scooping
|
|
| n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
spatting
|
|
| n.喷溅麻点（喷枪中有水珠、油滴，喷涂时造成漆膜缺陷）（漆病）v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的现在分词 )；口角；小争吵；鞋罩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
helpings
|
|
| n.（食物）的一份( helping的名词复数 )；帮助，支持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
gluttons
|
|
| 贪食者( glutton的名词复数 )； 贪图者； 酷爱…的人； 狼獾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
179
migratory
|
|
| n.候鸟，迁移 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
180
distinctive
|
|
| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
181
quail
|
|
| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
182
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
183
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
184
elusive
|
|
| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
185
rippling
|
|
| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
186
virtues
|
|
| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
187
crest
|
|
| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
188
warrior
|
|
| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
189
militant
|
|
| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
190
bourgeois
|
|
| adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
191
inclinations
|
|
| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
192
thickets
|
|
| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
193
entice
|
|
| v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
194
adventurous
|
|
| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
195
creeks
|
|
| n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
196
offshore
|
|
| adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
197
prophesying
|
|
| v.预告，预言( prophesy的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |