The site of the new fort was now finally determined1 on. It would be impossible to find a better situation than on the level ground behind Cape2 Bathurst, on the eastern bank of the lagoon3 Hobson determined to commence the construction of the principal house at once. Meanwhile all must accommodate themselves as best they could; and the sledges4 were ingeniously utilised to form a provisional encampment.
His men being very skilful5, the Lieutenant6 hoped to have the principal house ready in a month. It was to be large enough to accommodate for a time the nineteen persons of the party. Later, and before the excessive cold set in, if there should be time, the barracks for the soldiers and the magazines for the furs and skins were to be built. There was not much chance of getting it all done before the end of September; and after that date, the winter, with its first bitter frosts and long nights, would arrest all further progress.
Of the ten soldiers chosen by Captain Craventy, two-Marbre and Sabine-were skilful hunters; the other eight handled the hatchet7 with as much address as the musket8. Like sailors, they could turn their hands to anything, and were now to be treated more like workmen than soldiers, for they were to build a fort which there was as yet no enemy to attack. Petersen, Belcher, Rae, Garry, Pond, Hope, and Kellet formed a body of clever, zealous9 carpenters, under the able superintendence of lilac-Nab, a Scotchman from Stirling, who had had considerable experience in the building both of houses and boats. The men were well provided with tools-hatchets, centre-bits, adzes, planes, hand-saws, mallets, hammers, chisels11, &c. &c. Rae was most skilful at blacksmith’s work, and with the aid of a little portable forge he was able to make all the pins, tenons, bolts, nails, screws, nuts, &e., required in carpentry. They had no mason in the party; but none was wanted, as all the buildings of the factories in the north are of wood. Fortunately there were plenty of trees about Cape Bathurst, although as Hobson had already remarked to Mrs Barnett, there was not a rock, a stone, not even a flint or a pebble13, to be seen. The shore was strewn with innumerable quantities of bivalve shells broken by the surf, and with seaweed or zoophytes, mostly sea-urchins and asteriad?; but the soil consisted entirely14 of earth and sand, without a morsel15 of silica or broken granite16; and the cape itself was but an accumulation of soft earth, the particles of which were scarcely held together by the vegetation with which it was clothed.
In the afternoon of the same day, July 6th Hobson and Mac-Nab the carpenter went to choose the site of the principal house on the plateau at the foot of Cape Bathurst. From this point the view embraced the lagoon and the western districts to a distance of ten or twelve miles. On the right, about four miles off, towered icebergs17 of a considerable height. partly draped in mist; whilst on the left stretched apparently18 boundless19 plains, vast steppes which it would be impossible to distinguish from the frozen surface of the lagoon or from the sea itself in the winter.
The spot chosen, Hobson and Mac-Nab set out the outer walls of the house with the line. This outline formed a rectangle measuring sixty feet on the larger side, and thirty on the smaller. The fa?ade of the house would therefore have a length of sixty feet it was to have a door and three windows on the side of the promontory20, where the inner court was to be situated21, and four windows on the side of the lagoon. The door was to open at the left corner, instead of in the middle, of the back of the house, for the sake of warmth. This arrangement would impede22 the entrance of the outer air to the further rooms, and add considerably23 to the comfort of the inmates24 of the fort.
According to the simple plan agreed upon by the Lieutenant and his master-carpenter, there were to be four compartments26 in the house: the first to be an antechamber with a double door to keep out the wind; the second to serve as a kitchen, that the cooking which would generate damp, might be all done quite away from the living-rooms; the third, a large hall, where the daily meals were to be served in common; and the fourth, to be divided into several cabins, like the state-rooms on board ship.
The soldiers were to occupy the dining-hall provisionally, and a kind of camp-bed was arranged for them at the end of the room. The Lieutenant, Mrs Barnett, Thomas Black, Madge, Mrs Joliffe, Mrs Mac-Nab, and Mrs Rae were to lodge27 in the cabins of the fourth compartment25. They would certainly be packed pretty closely; but it was only a temporary state of things, and when the barracks were constructed, the principal house would be reserved to the officer in command, his sergeant28, Thomas Black, Mrs Barnett, and her faithful Madge, who never left her. Then the fourth compartment might perhaps be divided into three cabins, instead of four; for to avoid corners as much as possible is a rule which should never be forgotten by those who winter in high latitudes29 Nooks and corners are, in fact, so many receptacles of ice. The partitions impede the ventilation; and the moisture, generated in the air, freezes readily, and makes the atmosphere of the rooms unhealthy causing grave maladies to those who sleep in them.
On this account many navigators who have to winter in the midst of ice have one large room in the centre of their vessel30, which is shared by officers and sailors in common. For obvious reasons, however, Hobson could not adopt this plan.
From the preceding description we shall have seen that the future house was to consist merely of a ground-floor. The roof was to be high, and its sides to slope considerably, so that water could easily run off them. The snow would, however, settle upon them; and when once they were covered with it, the house would be, so to speak, hermetically closed, and the inside temperature would be kept at the same mean height. Snow is, in fact, a very bad conductor of beat: it prevents it from entering, it is true; but, what is more important in an Arctic winter, it also keeps it from getting out.
The carpenter was to build two chimneys-one above the kitchen, the other in connection with the stove of the large dining-room, which was to heat it and the compartment containing the cabins. The architectural effect of the whole would certainly be poor; but the house would be as comfortable as possible, and what more could any one desire?
Certainly an artist who had once seen it would not soon forget this winter residence, set down in the gloomy Arctic twilight31 in the midst of snow-drifts, half hidden by icicles, draped in white from roof to foundation, its walls encrusted with snow, and the smoke from its fires assuming strangely-contorted forms in the wind.
But now to tell of the actual construction of this house, as yet existing only in imagination. This, of course, was the business of Mac-Nab and his men; and while the carpenters were at work, the foraging32 party to whom the commissariat was entrusted33 would not be idle. There was plenty for every one to do.
The first step was to choose suitable timber, and a species of Scotch10 fir was decided34 on, which grew conveniently upon the neighbouring hills, and seemed altogether well adapted to the multifarious uses to which it would be put. For in the rough and ready style of habitation which they were planning, there could be no variety of material; and every part of the house-outside and inside walls, flooring, ceiling, partitions, rafters, ridges35, framework, and tiling-would have to be contrived36 of planks37, beams, and timbers. As may readily be supposed, finished workmanship was riot necessary for such a description of building, and Mac-Nab was able to proceed very rapidly without endangering the safety of the building. About a hundred of these firs were chosen and felled-they were neither barked nor squared-and formed so many timbers, averaging some twenty feet in length. The axe38 and the chisel12 did not touch them except at the ends, in order to form the tenons and mortises by which they were to be secured to one another. Very few days sufficed to complete this part of the work, and the timbers were brought down by the dogs to the site fixed39 on for the principal building. To start with, the Bite had been carefully levelled. The soil, a mixture of fine earth and sand, had been beaten and consolidated41 with heavy blows. The brushwood with which it was originally covered was burnt, and the thick layer of ashes thus produced would prevent the damp from penetrating42 the floors. A clean and dry foundation having been thus secured on which to lay the first joists, upright posts were fixed at each corner of the site, and at the extremities43 of the inside walls, to form the skeleton of the building. The posts were sunk to a depth of some feet in the ground, after their ends had been hardened in the fire; and were slightly hollowed at each side to receive the crossbeams of the outer wall, between which the openings for the doors and windows had been arranged for. These posts were held together at the top by horizontal beams well let into the mortises, and consolidating44 the whole building. On these horizontal beams, which represented the architraves of the two fronts, rested the high trusses of the roof, which overhung the walls like the eaves of a chalet. Above this squared architrave were laid the joists of the ceiling, and those of the floor upon the layer of ashes.
The timbers, both in the inside and outside walls, were only laid side by side. To insure their being properly joined, Rae the blacksmith drove strong iron bolts through them at intervals45; and when even this contrivance proved insufficient46 to close the interstices as hermetically as was necessary, Mac-Nab had recourse to calking, a process which seamen47 find invaluable48 in rendering49 vessels50 water-tight; only as a substitute for tow he used a sort of dry moss51, with which the eastern side of the cape was covered, driving it into the crevices52 with calking- irons and a hammer, filling up each hollow with layers of hot tar40, obtained without difficulty from the pine-trees, and thus making the walls and boarding impervious53 to the rain and damp of the winter season.
The door and windows in the two fronts were roughly but strongly built, and the small panes54 of the latter glazed55 with isinglass, which, though rough, yellow, and almost opaque56, was yet the best substitute for glass which the resources of the country afforded; and its imperfections really mattered little, as the windows were sure to be always open in fine weather; while during, the long night of the Arctic winter they would be useless, and have to be kept closed and defended by heavy shutters57 with strong bolts against the violence of the gales58. Meanwhile the house was being quickly fitted up inside. By means of a double door between the outer and inner halls a too sudden change of temperature was avoided, and the wind was prevented from blowing with unbroken force into the rooms. The air-pumps, brought from Fort Reliance, were so fixed as to let in fresh air whenever excessive cold prevented the opening of doors or windows -one being made to eject the impure59 air from within, the other to renew the supply; for the Lieutenant had given his whole mind to this important matter.
The principal cooking utensil60 was a large iron furnace, which had been brought piecemeal61 from Fort Reliance, and which the carpenter put up without any difficulty. The chimneys for the kitchen and ball, however, seemed likely to tax the ingenuity62 of the workmen to the utmost, as no material within their reach was strong enough for the purpose, and stone, as we have said before, was nowhere to be found in the country around Cape Bathurst.
The difficulty appeared insurmountable, when the invincible63 Lieutenant suggested that they should utilise the shells with which the shore was strewed64.
“Make chimneys of shells!” cried the carpenter.
“Yes, Mac-Nab,” replied Hobson; “we must collect the shells, grind them, burn them, and make them into lime, then mould the lime into bricks, and use them in the same way.”
“Let us try the shells, by all means,” replied the carpenter; and so the idea was put in practice at once, and many tons collected of calcareous shells identical with those found in the lowest stratum65 of the Tertiary formations.
A furnace was constructed for the decomposition66 of the carbonate which is so large an ingredient of these shells, and thus the lime required was obtained in the space of a few hours. It would perhaps be too much to say that the substance thus made was as entirely satisfactory as if it had gone through all the usual processes; but it answered its purpose, and strong conical chimneys soon adorned67 the roof, to the great satisfaction of Mrs Paulina Barnett, who congratulated the originator of the scheme warmly on its success, only adding laughingly, that she hoped the chimneys would riot smoke.
“Of course they will smoke, madam,” replied Hobson coolly; “all chimneys do!”
All this was finished within a month, and on the 6th of August they were to take possession of the new house.
While Mac-Nab and his men were working so hard, the foraging party, with the Lieutenant at its head, had been exploring the environs of Cape Bathurst, and satisfied themselves that there would be no difficulty in supplying the Company’s demands for fur and feathers, so soon as they could set about hunting in earnest. In the meantime they prepared the way for future sport, contenting themselves for the present with the capture of a few couples of reindeer68, which they intended to domesticate69 for the sake of their milk and their young. They were kept in a paddock about fifty yards from the house, and entrusted to the care of Mac-Nabs wife, an Indian woman, well qualified70 to take charge of them.
The care of the household fell to Mrs Paulina Barnett, and this good woman, with Madge’s help, was invaluable in providing for all the small wants, which would inevitably71 have escaped the notice of the men.
After scouring72 the country within a radius73 of several miles, the Lieutenant notified, as the result of his observations, that the territory on which they had established themselves, and to which he gave the name of Victoria Land, was a large peninsula about one hundred and fifty square miles in extent, with very clearly-defined boundaries, connected with the American continent by an isthmus74, extending from the lower end of Washburn Bay on the east, as fair as the corresponding slope on the opposite coast. The Lieutenant next proceeded to ascertain75 what were the resources of the lake and river, and found great reason to be satisfied with the result of his examination. The shallow waters of the lake teemed76 with trout77, pike, and other available fresh-water fish; and the little river was a favourite resort of salmon78 and shoals of white bait and smelts79. The supply of sea-fish was not so good; and though many a grampus and whale passed by in the offing, the latter probably flying from the harpoons80 of the Behring Strait fishermen there were no means of capturing them unless one by chance happened to get stranded81 on the coast; nor would Hobson allow any of the seals which abounded82 on the western shore to be taken until a satisfactory conclusion should be arrived at as to how to use them to the best advantage.
The colonists83 now considered themselves fairly installed stalled in their new abode84, and after due deliberation unanimously agreed to bestow85 upon the settlement the name of Fort Good Hope.
Alas86! the auspicious87 title was never to be inscribed88 upon a map. The undertaking89, begun so bravely and with such prospects90 of success, was destined91 never to be carried out, and another disaster would have to be added to the long list of failures in Arctic enterprise.
收听单词发音 |
1
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
cape
|
|
| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
lagoon
|
|
| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
sledges
|
|
| n.雪橇，雪车( sledge的名词复数 )v.乘雪橇( sledge的第三人称单数 )；用雪橇运载 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
skilful
|
|
| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
lieutenant
|
|
| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
hatchet
|
|
| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
musket
|
|
| n.滑膛枪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
zealous
|
|
| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
scotch
|
|
| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
chisels
|
|
| n.凿子，錾子( chisel的名词复数 )；口凿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
chisel
|
|
| n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
pebble
|
|
| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
morsel
|
|
| n.一口，一点点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
granite
|
|
| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
icebergs
|
|
| n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
boundless
|
|
| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
promontory
|
|
| n.海角；岬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
situated
|
|
| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
impede
|
|
| v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
inmates
|
|
| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
compartment
|
|
| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
compartments
|
|
| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
lodge
|
|
| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
sergeant
|
|
| n.警官，中士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
latitudes
|
|
| 纬度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
foraging
|
|
| v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
entrusted
|
|
| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
ridges
|
|
| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
contrived
|
|
| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
planks
|
|
| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
axe
|
|
| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
tar
|
|
| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
consolidated
|
|
| a.联合的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
penetrating
|
|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
extremities
|
|
| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
consolidating
|
|
| v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
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： |
|
|
|
|
46
insufficient
|
|
| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
seamen
|
|
| n.海员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
invaluable
|
|
| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
rendering
|
|
| n.表现，描写 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
moss
|
|
| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
crevices
|
|
| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
impervious
|
|
| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
panes
|
|
| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
glazed
|
|
| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
opaque
|
|
| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
shutters
|
|
| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
gales
|
|
| 龙猫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
impure
|
|
| adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
utensil
|
|
| n.器皿，用具 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
piecemeal
|
|
| adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
ingenuity
|
|
| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
invincible
|
|
| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
strewed
|
|
| v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 )；散落于；点缀；撒满 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
stratum
|
|
| n.地层，社会阶层 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
decomposition
|
|
| n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
adorned
|
|
| [计]被修饰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
reindeer
|
|
| n.驯鹿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
domesticate
|
|
| vt.驯养；使归化，使专注于家务 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
qualified
|
|
| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
inevitably
|
|
| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
scouring
|
|
| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
radius
|
|
| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
isthmus
|
|
| n.地峡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
ascertain
|
|
| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
teemed
|
|
| v.充满( teem的过去式和过去分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
trout
|
|
| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
salmon
|
|
| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
smelts
|
|
| v.熔炼，提炼（矿石）( smelt的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
harpoons
|
|
| n.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的名词复数 )v.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
stranded
|
|
| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
abounded
|
|
| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
colonists
|
|
| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
abode
|
|
| n.住处，住所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
bestow
|
|
| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
alas
|
|
| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
auspicious
|
|
| adj.吉利的；幸运的，吉兆的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
inscribed
|
|
| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
undertaking
|
|
| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
prospects
|
|
| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
destined
|
|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |