Hobson’s first care on his return to the fort, was to make inquiries1 of Thomas Black as to the situation of the little colony. No change had taken place for the last twenty-four hours, but, as subsequently appeared, the island had floated one degree of latitude2 further south, whilst still retaining its motion towards the west. It was now at the same distance from the equator as Icy Cape3, a little promontory4 of western Alaska, and two hundred miles from the American coast. The speed of the current seemed to be less here than in the eastern part of the Arctic Ocean, but the island continued to advance, and, much to Hobson’s annoyance6, towards the dreaded7 Behring Strait. It was now only the 24th July, and a current of average speed would carry it in another month through the strait and into the heated waves of the Pacific, where it would melt “like a lump of sugar in a glass of water.”
Mrs Barnett acquainted Madge with the result of the exploration of the island. She explained to her the arrangement of the layers of earth and ice at the part where the isthmus8 had been broken off; told her that the thickness of the ice below the sea level was estimated at five feet; related the accident to Sergeant9 Long — in short, she made her fully10 understand the reasons there were to fear the breaking up or sinking of the ice field.
The rest of the colony had, however, no suspicion of the truth; a feeling of perfect security prevailed. It never occurred to any of the brave fellows that Fort Hope was floating above an awful abyss, and that the lives of all its inhabitants were in danger. All were in good health, the weather was fine, and the climate pleasant and bracing11. The baby Michael got on wonderfully; he was beginning to toddle12 about between the house and the palisade; and Corporal Joliffe, who was extremely fond of him, was already beginning to teach him to hold a gun, and to understand the first duties of a soldier. Oh, if Mrs Joliffe would but present him with such a son! but, alas5! the blessing13 of children, for which he and his wife prayed every day, was as yet denied to them.
Meanwhile the soldiers had plenty to do.
Mac-Nab and his men — Petersen, Belcher, Garry, Pond, and Hope — worked zealously14 at the construction of a boat, a difficult task, likely to occupy them for several months. But as their vessel15 would be of no use until next year after the thaw16, they neglected none of their duties at the factory on its account. Hobson let things go on as if the future of the factory were not compromised, and persevered17 in keeping the men in ignorance. This serious question was often discussed by the officer and his “staff,” and Mrs Barnett and Madge differed from their chief on the subject. They thought it would be better to tell the whole truth; the men were brave and energetic, not likely to yield to despair, and the shock would not be great if they heard of it now, instead of only when their situation was so hopeless that it could not be concealed18. But in spite of the justice of these remarks, Hobson would not yield, and he was supported by Sergeant Long. Perhaps, after all, they were right; they were both men of long experience, and knew the temper of their men.
And so the work of provisioning and strengthening the fort proceeded. The palisaded enceinte was repaired with new stakes, and made higher in many places, so that it really formed a very strong fortification. Mac-Nab also put into execution, with his chief’s approval, a plan he had long had at heart. At the corners abutting19 on the lake he built two little pointed20 sentry-boxes, which completed the defences; and Corporal Joliffe anticipated with delight the time when he should be sent to relieve guard: he felt that they gave a military look to the buildings, and made them really imposing21.
The palisade was now completely finished, and Mac-Nab, remembering the sufferings of the last winter, built a new wood shed close up against the house itself, with a door of communication inside, so that there would be no need to go outside at all. By this contrivance the fuel would always be ready to hand. On the left side of the house, opposite the shed, Mac-Nab constructed a large sleeping-room for the soldiers, so that the camp-bed could be removed from the common room. This room was also to be used for meals, and work. The three married couples had private rooms walled off, so that the large house was relieved of them as well as of all the other soldiers. A magazine for furs only was also erected22 behind the house near the powder-magazine, leaving the loft23 free for stores; and the rafters and ribs24 of the latter were bound with iron cramps25, that they might be able to resist all attacks. Mac-Nab also intended to build a little wooden chapel26, which had been included in Hobson’s original plan of the factory; but its erection was put off until the next summer.
With what eager interest would the Lieutenant27 have once watched the progress of his establishment! Had he been building on firm ground, with what delight would he have watched the houses, sheds, and magazines rising around him! He remembered the scheme of crowning Cape Bathurst with a redoubt for the protection of Fort Hope with a sigh. The very name of the factory, “Fort Hope,” made his heart sink within him; for should it not more truly be called “Fort Despair?”
These various works took up the whole summer, and there was no time for ennui28. The construction of the boat proceeded rapidly. Mac-Nab meant it to be of about thirty tons measurement, which would make it large enough to carry some twenty passengers several hundred miles in the fine season. The carpenter had been fortunate enough to find some bent29 pieces of wood, so that he was able quickly to form the first ribs of the vessel, and soon the stern and sternpost, fixed30 to the keel, were upon the dockyard at the foot of Cape Bathurst.
Whilst the carpenters were busy with hatchets31, saws, and adzes, the hunters were eagerly hunting the reindeer32 and Polar hares, which abounded33 near the fort. The Lieutenant, however, told Marbre and Sabine not to go far away, stating as a reason, that until the buildings were completed he did not wish to attract the notice of rivals. The truth was, he did not wish the changes which had taken place to be noticed.
One day Marbre inquired if it was not now time to go to Walruses’ Bay, and get a fresh supply of morse-oil for burning, and Hobson replied rather hastily —
“No, Marbre; it would be useless.”
The Lieutenant knew only too well that Walruses’ Bay was two hundred miles away, and that there were no morses to be hunted on the island.
It must not be supposed that Hobson considered the situation desperate even now. He often assured Mrs Barnett, Madge, and Long that he was convinced the island would hold together until the bitter cold of winter should thicken its foundation and arrest its course at one and the same time.
After his journey of discovery, Hobson estimated exactly the area of his new dominions34. The island measured more than forty miles round, from which its superficial area[r] would appear to be about one hundred and forty miles at the least. By way of comparison, we may say that Victoria Island was rather larger than St Helena, and its area was about the same as that of Paris within the line of fortifications. If then it should break up into fragments, the separate parts might still be of sufficient size to be habitable for some time.
When Mrs Barnett expressed her surprise that a floating ice-field could be so large, Hobson replied by reminding her of the observations of Arctic navigators. Parry, Penny, and Franklin had met with ice-fields in the Polar seas one hundred miles long and fifty broad. Captain Kellet abandoned his boat on an ice-field measuring at least three hundred square miles, and what was Victoria Island compared to it?
Its size was, however, sufficient to justify35 a hope that it would resist the action of the warm currents until the cold weather set in. Hobson would not allow himself to doubt; his despair arose rather from the knowledge that the fruit of all his cares, anxieties, and dangers must eventually be swallowed up by the deep, and it was no wonder that he could take no interest in the works that were going on.
Mrs Barnett kept up a good heart through it all; she encouraged her comrades in their work, and took her share in it, as if she had still a future to look forward to. Seeing what an interest Mrs Joliffe took in her plants, she joined her every day in the garden. There was now a fine crop of sorrel and scurvy-grass — thanks to the Corporal’s unwearying exertions36 to keep off the birds of every kind, which congregated37 by hundreds.
The taming of the reindeer had been quite successful; there were now a good many young, and little Michael had been partly brought up on the milk of the mothers. There were now some thirty head in the herd38 which grazed near the fort, and a supply of the herbage on which they feed was dried and laid up for the winter. These useful animals, which are easily domesticated39, were already quite familiar with all the colonists40, and did not go far from the enceinte. Some of them were used in sledges41 to carry timber backwards42 and forwards. A good many reindeer, still wild, now fell into the trap half way between the fort and Port Barnett. It will be remembered that a large bear was once taken in it; but nothing of the kind occurred this season — none fell victims but the reindeer, whose flesh was salted and laid by for future use. Twenty at least were taken, which in the ordinary course of things would have gone down to the south in the winter.
One day, however, the reindeer-trap suddenly became useless in consequence of the conformation of the soil. After visiting it as usual, the hunter Marbre approached Hobson, and said to him in a significant tone ——
“I have just paid my daily visit to the reindeer-trap, sir.”
“Well, Marbre, I hope you have been as successful to-day as yesterday, and have caught a couple of reindeer,” replied Hobson.
“No, sir, no,” replied Marbre, with some embarrassment43.
“Your trap has not yielded its ordinary contingent44 then?”
“No, sir; and if any animal had fallen in, it would certainly have been drowned!”
“Drowned!” cried the Lieutenant, looking at the hunter with an anxious expression.
“Yes, sir,” replied Marbre, looking attentively45 at his superior, “the pit is full of water.”
“Ah!” said Hobson, in the tone of a man who attached no importance to that, “you know your pit was partly hollowed out of ice; its walls have melted with the heat of the sun, and then “——
“Beg pardon for interrupting you, sir,” said Marbre; “but the water cannot have been produced by the melting of ice.”
“Why not, Marbre?” “Because if it came from ice it would be sweet, as you explained to me once before. Now the water in our pit is salt!”
Master of himself as he was, Hobson could not help changing countenance46 slightly, and he had not a word to say.
“Besides,” added Marbre, “I wanted to sound the trench47, to see how deep the water was, and to my great surprise, I can tell you, I could not find the bottom.”
“Well, Marbre,” replied Hobson hastily, “there is nothing so wonderful in that. Some fracture of the soil has established a communication between the sea and the trap. So don’t be uneasy about it, my brave fellow, but leave the trap alone for the present, and be content with setting snares48 near the fort.”
Marbre touched his cap respectfully, and turned on his heel, but not before he had given his chief a searching glance.
Hobson remained very thoughtful for a few moments. Marbre’s tidings were of grave importance. It was evident that the bottom of the trench, gradually melted by the warm waters of the sea, had given way.
Hobson at once called the Sergeant, and having acquainted him with the incident, they went together, unnoticed by their companions, to the beach at the foot of Cape Bathurst, where they had made the bench-marks.
They examined them carefully, and found that since they last did so, the floating island had sunk six inches.
“We are sinking gradually,” murmured Sergeant Long. “The ice is wearing away.”
“Oh for the winter! the winter!” cried Hobson, stamping his foot upon the ground.
But as yet, alas! there was no sign of the approach of the cold season. The thermometer maintained a mean height of 59° Fahrenheit49, and during the few hours of the night the column of mercury scarcely went down three degrees.
Preparations for the approaching winter went on apace, and there was really nothing wanting to Fort Hope, although it had not been revictualled by Captain Craventy’s detachment. The long hours of the Arctic night might be awaited in perfect security. The stores were of course carefully husbanded. There still remained plenty of spirits, only small quantities having been consumed; and there was a good stock of biscuits, which, once gone, could not be replaced. Fresh venison and salt meat were to be had in abundance, and with some antiscorbutic vegetables, the diet was most healthy; and all the members of the little colony were well.
A good deal of timber was cut in the woods clothing the eastern slopes of Lake Barnett. Many were the birch-trees, pines, and firs which fell beneath the axe50 of Mac-Nab, and were dragged to the house by the tamed reindeer. The carpenter did not spare the little forest, although he cut his wood judiciously51; for he never dreamt that timber might fail him, imagining, as he did, Victoria Island to be a peninsula, and knowing the districts near Cape Michael to be rich in different species of trees.
Many a time did the unconscious carpenter congratulate his Lieutenant on having chosen a spot so favoured by Heaven. Woods, game, furred animals, a lagoon52 teeming53 with fish, plenty of herbs for the animals, and, as Corporal Joliffe would have added, double pay for the men. Was not Cape Bathurst a corner of a privileged land, the like of which was not to be found in the whole Arctic regions? Truly Hobson was a favourite of Heaven, and ought to return thanks to Providence54 every day for the discovery of this unique spot.
Ah, Mac-Nab, you little knew how you wrung55 the heart of your master when you talked in that strain!
The manufacture of winter garments was not neglected in the factory. Mrs Barnett, Madge, Mrs Mac-Nab, Mrs Rae, and Mrs Joliffe — when she could leave her fires — were alike indefatigable56. Mrs Barnett knew that they would all have to leave the fort in the depth of winter, and was determined57 that every one should be warmly clothed. They would have to face the bitterest cold for a good many days during the Polar night, if Victoria Island should halt far from the continent. Boots and clothes ought indeed to be strong and well made, for crossing some hundreds of miles under such circumstances. Mrs Barnett and Madge devoted58 all their energies to the matter in hand, and the furs, which they knew it would be impossible to save, were turned to good account. They were used double, so that the soft hair was both inside and outside of the clothes; and when wearing them, the whole party would be as richly attired59 as the grandest princesses, or the most wealthy ladies. Those not in the secret were rather surprised at the free use made of the Company’s property; but Hobson’s authority was not to be questioned, and really martens, polecats, musk-rats, beavers60, and foxes multiplied with such rapidity near the fort, that all the furs used could easily be replaced by a few shots, or the setting of a few traps; and when Mrs Mac-Nab saw the beautiful ermine coat which had been made for her baby, her delight was unbounded, and she no longer wondered at anything.
So passed the days until the middle of the month of August. The weather continued fine, and any mists which gathered on the horizon were quickly dispersed61 by the sunbeams.
Every day Hobson took the bearings, taking care, however, to go some distance from the fort, that suspicions might not be aroused, and he also visited different parts of the island, and was reassured62 by finding that no important changes appeared to be taking place.
On the 16th August Victoria Island was situated63 in 167° 27’ west longitude64, and 70° 49’ north latitude. It had, therefore, drifted slightly to the south, but without getting any nearer to the American coast, which curved considerably65.
The distance traversed by the island since the fracture of the isthmus, or rather since the last thaw, could not be less than eleven or twelve hundred miles to the west.
But what was this distance compared to the vast extent of the ocean? Had not boats been known to be drifted several thousands of miles by currents? Was not this the case with the English ship Resolute66, the American brig Advance, and with the Fox, all of which were carried along upon ice-fields until the winter arrested their advance?
收听单词发音 |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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toddle
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| v.（如小孩）蹒跚学步 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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zealously
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| adv.热心地；热情地；积极地；狂热地 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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abutting
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| adj.邻接的v.（与…）邻接( abut的现在分词 )；（与…）毗连；接触；倚靠 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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cramps
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| n. 抽筋, 腹部绞痛, 铁箍 adj. 狭窄的, 难解的 v. 使...抽筋, 以铁箍扣紧, 束缚 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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hatchets
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| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
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reindeer
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| n.驯鹿 | |
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abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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congregated
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| （使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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domesticated
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| adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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sledges
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| 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 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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contingent
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| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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Fahrenheit
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| n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的) | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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51
judiciously
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| adv.明断地，明智而审慎地 | |
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lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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teeming
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| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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56
indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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beavers
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| 海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人 | |
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dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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63
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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64
longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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65
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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66
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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