On the charges and counter-charges of cruelty bandied between white men and red, I have nothing to say. Remembering how white soldiers from eastern cities took the skin of a native chief for a trophy10 of victory, and recalling the fiendish glee of Mandanes over a victim, I can only conclude[Pg 4] that neither race may blamelessly point the finger of reproach at the other.
Any variations in detail from actual occurrences as seen by my own eyes are solely11 for the purpose of screening living descendants of those whose lives are here portrayed12 from prying13 curiosity; but, in truth, many experiences during the thrilling days of the fur companies were far too harrowing for recital14. I would fain have tempered some of the incidents herein related to suit the sentiments of a milk-and-water age; but that could be done only at the cost of truth.
There is no French strain in my blood, so I have not that passionate15 devotion to the wild daring of l'ancien régime, in which many of my rugged16 companions under Les Bourgeois17 de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest gloried; but he would be very sluggish18, indeed, who could not look back with some degree of enthusiasm to the days of gentlemen adventurers in no-man's-land, in a word, to the workings of the great fur trading companies. Theirs were the trappers and runners, the Coureurs des Bois and Bois-Brulés, who traversed the immense solitudes19 of the pathless west; theirs, the brigades of gay voyageurs chanting hilarious20 refrains in unison21 with the rhythmic22 sweep of paddle blades and following unknown streams until they had explored from St. Lawrence to MacKenzie River; and theirs, the merry lads of the north, blazing a track through the wilderness23 and leaving from Atlantic to Pacific lonely stockaded fur posts—footprints for the[Pg 5] pioneers' guidance. The whitewashed24 palisades of many little settlements on the rivers and lakes of the far north are poor relics25 of the fur companies' ancient grandeur26. That broad domain27 stretching from Hudson Bay to the Pacific Ocean, reclaimed28 from savagery29 for civilization, is the best monument to the unheralded forerunners30 of empire.
RUFUS GILLESPIE.
Winnipeg—one time Fort Garry
Formerly Red River Settlement,
19th June, 18—

点击
收听单词发音

1
riotous
![]() |
|
adj.骚乱的;狂欢的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2
briefly
![]() |
|
adv.简单地,简短地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3
boisterous
![]() |
|
adj.喧闹的,欢闹的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4
confirmation
![]() |
|
n.证实,确认,批准 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5
missionary
![]() |
|
adj.教会的,传教(士)的;n.传教士 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6
narration
![]() |
|
n.讲述,叙述;故事;记叙体 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7
testimony
![]() |
|
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8
substantiate
![]() |
|
v.证实;证明...有根据 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9
partisan
![]() |
|
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10
trophy
![]() |
|
n.优胜旗,奖品,奖杯,战胜品,纪念品 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11
solely
![]() |
|
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12
portrayed
![]() |
|
v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 );描述;描绘;描画 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13
prying
![]() |
|
adj.爱打听的v.打听,刺探(他人的私事)( pry的现在分词 );撬开 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14
recital
![]() |
|
n.朗诵,独奏会,独唱会 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15
passionate
![]() |
|
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16
rugged
![]() |
|
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17
bourgeois
![]() |
|
adj./n.追求物质享受的(人);中产阶级分子 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18
sluggish
![]() |
|
adj.懒惰的,迟钝的,无精打采的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19
solitudes
![]() |
|
n.独居( solitude的名词复数 );孤独;荒僻的地方;人迹罕至的地方 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20
hilarious
![]() |
|
adj.充满笑声的,欢闹的;[反]depressed | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21
unison
![]() |
|
n.步调一致,行动一致 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22
rhythmic
![]() |
|
adj.有节奏的,有韵律的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23
wilderness
![]() |
|
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24
whitewashed
![]() |
|
粉饰,美化,掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25
relics
![]() |
|
[pl.]n.遗物,遗迹,遗产;遗体,尸骸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26
grandeur
![]() |
|
n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27
domain
![]() |
|
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28
reclaimed
![]() |
|
adj.再生的;翻造的;收复的;回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 );要求收回;从废料中回收(有用的材料);挽救 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29
savagery
![]() |
|
n.野性 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30
forerunners
![]() |
|
n.先驱( forerunner的名词复数 );开路人;先兆;前兆 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |