Of this Captain Hull5 was well aware, and although he was now in a latitude6 which was comparatively little traversed by such slavers, he could not help almost involuntarily conjecturing7 that the negroes they had just found must be part of a slave-cargo which was on its way to some colony of the Pacific; if this were so, he would at least have the satisfaction of announcing to them that they had regained8 their freedom from the moment that they came on board the "Pilgrim."
Whilst these thoughts were passing through his mind, Mrs. Weldon, assisted by Nan and the ever active Dick Sands, was doing everything in her power to restore consciousness to the poor sufferers. The judicious9 administration of fresh water and a limited quantity of food soon had the effect of making them revive; and when they were restored to their senses it was found that the eldest10 of them, a man of about sixty years of age, who immediately regained his powers of speech, was able to reply in good English to all the questions that were put to him. In answer to Captain Hull's inquiry11 whether they were not slaves, the old negro proudly stated that he and his companions were
[Illustration: Mrs. Weldon, assisted by Nan and the ever active Dick Sands, was doing everything in her power to restore consciousness to the poor sufferers.]
all free American citizens, belonging to the state of Pennsylvania.
"Then, let me assure you, my friend," said the captain, "you have by no means compromised your liberty in having been brought on board the American schooner12 'Pilgrim.' "
Not merely, as it seemed, on account of his age and experience, but rather because of a certain superiority and greater energy of character, this old man was tacitly recognized as the spokesman of his party; he freely communicated all the information that Captain Hull required to hear, and by degrees he related all the details of his adventures.
He said that his name was Tom, and that when he was only six years of age he had been sold as a slave, and brought from his home in Africa to the United States; but by the act of emancipation13 he had long since recovered his freedom. His companions, who were all much younger than himself, their ages ranging from twenty-five to thirty, were all free-born, their parents having been emancipated14 before their birth, so that no white man had ever exercised upon them the rights of ownership. One of them was his own son; his name was Bat (an abbreviation of Bartholomew); and there were three others, named Austin, Actæon, and Hercules. All four of them were specimens15 of that stalwart race that commands so high a price in the African market, and in spite of the emaciation16 induced by their recent sufferings, their muscular, well-knit frames betokened17 a strong and healthy constitution. Their manner bore the impress of that solid education which is given in the North American schools, and their speech had lost all trace of the "nigger-tongue," a dialect without articles or inflexions, which since the anti-slavery war has almost died out in the United States.
Three years ago, old Tom stated, the five men had been engaged by an Englishman who had large property in South Australia, to work upon his estates near Melbourne. Here they had realized a considerable profit, and upon the completion of their engagement they determined18 to return with their savings19 to America. Accordingly, on the 5th of January, after paying their passage in the ordinary way, they embarked20 at Melbourne on board the "Waldeck." Everything went on well for seventeen days, until, on the night of the 22nd, which was very dark, they were run into by a great steamer. They were all asleep in their berths21, but, roused by the shock of the collision, which was extremely severe, they hurriedly made their way on to the deck. The scene was terrible; both masts were gone, and the brig, although the water had not absolutely flooded her hold so as to make her sink, had completely heeled over on her side. Captain and crew had entirely22 disappeared, some probably having been dashed into the sea, others perhaps having saved themselves by clinging to the rigging of the ship which had fouled23 them, and which could be distinguished24 through the darkness rapidly receding25 in the distance. For a while they were paralyzed, but they soon awoke to the conviction that they were left alone upon a half-capsized and disabled hull, twelve hundred miles from the nearest land. Mrs. Weldon was loud in her expression of indignation that any captain should have the barbarity to abandon an unfortunate vessel3 with which his own carelessness had brought him into collision. It would be bad enough, she said for a driver on a public road, when it might be presumed that help would be forthcoming, to pass on unconcerned after causing an accident to another vehicle; but how much more shameful26 to desert the injured on the open sea, where the victims of his incompetence27 could have no chance of obtaining succour! Captain Hull could only repeat what he had said before, that incredibly atrocious as it might seem, such inhumanity was far from rare.
On resuming his story, Tom said that he and his companions soon found that they had no means left for getting away from the capsized brig; both the boats had been crushed in the collision, so that they had no alternative except to await the appearance of a passing vessel, whilst the wreck28 was drifting hopelessly along under the action of the currents. This accounted for the fact of their being found so far south of their proper course.
For the next ten days the negroes had subsisted29 upon a few scraps30 of food that they found in the stern cabin; but as the store room was entirely under water, they were quite unable to obtain a drop of anything to drink, and the freshwater tanks that had been lashed31 to the deck had been stove in at the time of the catastrophe32. Tortured with thirst, the poor men had suffered agonies, and having on the previous night entirely lost consciousness, they must soon have died if the "Pilgrim's" timely arrival had not effected their rescue.
All the outlines of Tom's narrative33 were fully34 confirmed by the other negroes; Captain Hull could see no reason to doubt it; indeed, the facts seemed to speak for themselves.
One other survivor35 of the wreck, if he had been gifted with the power of speech, would doubtless have corroborated36 the testimony37. This was the dog who seemed to have such an unaccountable dislike to Negoro.
Dingo, as the dog was named, belonged to the fine breed of mastiffs peculiar38 to New Holland. It was not, however, from Australia, but from the coast of West Africa, near the mouth of the Congo, that the animal had come. He had been picked up there, two years previously39, by the captain of the "Waldeck," who had found him wandering about and more than half starved. The initials S. V. engraved40 upon his collar were the only tokens that the dog had a past history of his own. After he had been taken on board the "Waldeck," he remained quite unsociable, apparently41 ever pining for some lost master, whom he had failed to find in the desert land where he had been met with.
Larger than the dogs of the Pyrenees, Dingo was a magnificent example of his kind. Standing42 on his hind43 legs, with his head thrown back, he was as tall as a man. His agility44 and strength would have made him a sure match for a panther, and he would not have flinched45 at facing a bear. His fine shaggy coat was a dark tawny46 colour, shading off somewhat lighter47 round the muzzle48, and his long bushy tail was as strong as a lion's. If he were made angry, no doubt he might become a most formidable foe49, so that it was no wonder that Negoro did not feel altogether gratified at his reception.
But Dingo, though unsociable, was not savage50. Old Tom said that, on board the "Waldeck," he had noticed that the animal seemed to have a particular dislike to negroes; not that he actually attempted to do them any harm, only he uniformly avoided them, giving an impression that he must have been systematically51 ill-treated by the natives of that part of Africa in which he had been found. During the ten days that had elapsed since the collision, Dingo had kept resolutely52 aloof53 from Tom and his companions; they could not tell what he had been feeding on; they only knew that, like themselves, he had suffered an excruciating thirst.
Such had been the experience of the survivors54 of the "Waldeck." Their situation had been most critical. Even if they survived the pangs55 of want of food, the slightest gale56 or the most inconsiderable swell57 might at any moment have sunk the water-logged ship, and had it not been that calms and contrary winds had contributed to the opportune58 arrival of the "Pilgrim," an inevitable59 fate was before them; their corpses60 must lie at the bottom of the sea.
Captain Hull's act of humanity, however, would not be complete unless he succeeded in restoring the shipwrecked men to their homes. This he promised to do. After completing the unlading at Valparaiso, the "Pilgrim" would make direct for California, where, as Mrs. Weldon assured them, they would be most hospitably62 received by her husband, and provided with the necessary means for returning to Pennsylvania.
The five men, who, as the consequence of the shipwreck61, had lost all the savings of their last three years of toil63, were profoundly grateful to their kind-hearted benefactors64; nor, poor negroes as they were, did they utterly65 resign the hope that at some future time they might have it in their power to repay the debt which they owed their deliverers.
点击收听单词发音
1 watchfulness | |
警惕,留心; 警觉(性) | |
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2 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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3 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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4 civilized | |
a.有教养的,文雅的 | |
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5 hull | |
n.船身;(果、实等的)外壳;vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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6 latitude | |
n.纬度,行动或言论的自由(范围),(pl.)地区 | |
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7 conjecturing | |
v. & n. 推测,臆测 | |
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8 regained | |
复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 ); 赢回; 重回; 复至某地 | |
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9 judicious | |
adj.明智的,明断的,能作出明智决定的 | |
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10 eldest | |
adj.最年长的,最年老的 | |
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11 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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12 schooner | |
n.纵帆船 | |
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13 emancipation | |
n.(从束缚、支配下)解放 | |
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14 emancipated | |
adj.被解放的,不受约束的v.解放某人(尤指摆脱政治、法律或社会的束缚)( emancipate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15 specimens | |
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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16 emaciation | |
n.消瘦,憔悴,衰弱 | |
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17 betokened | |
v.预示,表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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19 savings | |
n.存款,储蓄 | |
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20 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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21 berths | |
n.(船、列车等的)卧铺( berth的名词复数 );(船舶的)停泊位或锚位;差事;船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 );占铺位 | |
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22 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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23 fouled | |
v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 );弄脏;击球出界;(通常用废物)弄脏 | |
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24 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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25 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 | |
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26 shameful | |
adj.可耻的,不道德的 | |
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27 incompetence | |
n.不胜任,不称职 | |
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28 wreck | |
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难 | |
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29 subsisted | |
v.(靠很少的钱或食物)维持生活,生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30 scraps | |
油渣 | |
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31 lashed | |
adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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32 catastrophe | |
n.大灾难,大祸 | |
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33 narrative | |
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的 | |
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34 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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35 survivor | |
n.生存者,残存者,幸存者 | |
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36 corroborated | |
v.证实,支持(某种说法、信仰、理论等)( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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37 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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38 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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39 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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40 engraved | |
v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的过去式和过去分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中) | |
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41 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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42 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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43 hind | |
adj.后面的,后部的 | |
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44 agility | |
n.敏捷,活泼 | |
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45 flinched | |
v.(因危险和痛苦)退缩,畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46 tawny | |
adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色 | |
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47 lighter | |
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级 | |
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48 muzzle | |
n.鼻口部;口套;枪(炮)口;vt.使缄默 | |
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49 foe | |
n.敌人,仇敌 | |
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50 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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51 systematically | |
adv.有系统地 | |
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52 resolutely | |
adj.坚决地,果断地 | |
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53 aloof | |
adj.远离的;冷淡的,漠不关心的 | |
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54 survivors | |
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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55 pangs | |
突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 ); 悲痛 | |
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56 gale | |
n.大风,强风,一阵闹声(尤指笑声等) | |
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57 swell | |
vi.膨胀,肿胀;增长,增强 | |
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58 opportune | |
adj.合适的,适当的 | |
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59 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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60 corpses | |
n.死尸,尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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61 shipwreck | |
n.船舶失事,海难 | |
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62 hospitably | |
亲切地,招待周到地,善于款待地 | |
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63 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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64 benefactors | |
n.捐助者,施主( benefactor的名词复数 );恩人 | |
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65 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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