The puzzle was solved by accident: Ted1 was sitting on the ground when she came up to him, looking wistfully into his face again with one of the mute appeals for help.
“What is it, Jess, old girl?” he said, and reaching out, he caught her head in both hands and drew her towards him; but with a sharp exclamation5 he instantly let go again, pricked6 by something, and a drop of blood oozed7 from one finger-tip. Under Jess’s right ear there was a hard sharp point just showing through the skin: we all felt it, and when the skin was forced back we saw it was the tip of a porcupine8 quill9. There was no pulling it out or moving it, however, nor could we for a long time find where it had entered. At last Ted noticed what looked like a tiny narrow strip of bark adhering to the outside of her lower lip, and this turned out to be the broken end of the quill, snapped off close to the flesh; not even the end of the quill was visible—only the little strip that had peeled off in the breaking.
Poor old Jess! We had no very grand appliances for surgery, and had to slit10 her lip down with an ordinary skinning knife. Ted held her between his knees and gripped her head with both hands, while one of us pulled with steel pliers on the broken quill until it came out. The quill had pierced her lower lip, entered the gums beside the front teeth, run all along the jaw12 and through the flesh behind, coming out just below the ear. It was over seven inches long. She struggled a little under the rough treatment, and there was a protesting whimper when we tugged14; but she did not let out one cry under all the pain.
We knew then that Jess had done her share in the fight, and guessed that it was she who in her reckless charge had rolled the porcupine over and given Jock his chance.
The doctoring of Jess had delayed us considerably16, and while we were still busy at it the old chief came up to say that his scouts17 had returned and reported that there was no tiger to be seen, but that they thought the trap had been sprung. They had not liked to go close up, preferring to observe the spot from a tree some way off.
The first question was what to do with Jess. We had no collar or chain, of course, and nothing would induce her to stay behind once Ted started; she would have bitten through ropes and reims in a few minutes, and no kaffir would have faced the job of watching over and checking her. Finally we put her into one of the reed and mud huts, closing the entrance with some raw hides weighted with heavy stones; and off we went.
We found the trap sprung and the bait untouched. The spoor was a tiger’s, right enough, and we saw where it had circled suspiciously all round before finally entering the little fenced approach which we had built to shepherd it on to the trap. There each footprint was clear, and it appeared that instead of cautiously creeping right up to the bait and stepping on the setting-plate, it had made a pounce18 at the bait from about ten feet away, releasing the trap by knocking the spring or by touching19 the plate with the barrel of its body. The tiger had evidently been nipped, but the body was too big for the teeth to close on, and no doubt the spring it gave on feeling the grip underneath20 set it free with nothing worse than a bad scraping and a tremendous fright. There was plenty of hair and some skin on the teeth of the trap, but very little blood there, and none at all to be found round about.
That was almost the worst result we could have had: the tiger was not crippled, nor was it wounded enough to enable us to track it, but must have been so thoroughly21 alarmed that it would certainly be extremely nervous and suspicious of everything now, and would probably avoid the neighbourhood for some time to come.
The trap was clearly of no further use, but after coming so far for the tiger we were not disposed to give up the hunt without another effort. The natives told us it was quite useless to follow it up as it was a real ‘schelm,’ and by that time would be miles away in some inaccessible22 krans. We determined23 however to go on, and if we failed to get a trace of the tiger, to put in the day hunting bushbuck or wild pig, both of which were fairly plentiful25.
We had not gone more than a few hundred yards when an exclamation from one of the boys made us look round, and we saw Jess on the opposite slope coming along full speed after us with her nose to the trail. She had scratched and bitten her way through the reed and mud wall of the hut, scared the wits out of a couple of boys who had tried to head her off, and raced away after us with a pack of kaffir mongrels yelping26 unnoticed at her heels. She really did not seem much the worse for her wounds, and was—for her—quite demonstrative in her delight at finding us again.
In any case there was nothing to be done but to let her come, and we went on once more beating up towards the lair27 in the black krans with the two dogs in the lead.
The guides led us down into the bed of one of the mountain streams, and following this up we were soon in the woods where the big trees meeting overhead made it dark and cool. It was difficult in that light to see anything clearly at first, and the considerable undergrowth of shrub28 and creepers and the boulders30 shed from the Berg added to the difficulty and made progress slow. We moved along as much as possible abreast31, five or six yards apart, but were often driven by obstacles into the bed of the stream for short distances in order to make headway at all, and although there did not seem to be much chance of finding the tiger at home, we crept along cautiously and noiselessly, talking—when we had to—only in whispers.
We were bunched together, preparing to crawl along a rock overhanging a little pool, when the boy in front made a sign and pointed32 with his assegai to the dogs. They had crossed the stream and were walking—very slowly and abreast—near the water’s edge. The rawest of beginners would have needed no explanation. The two stood for a few seconds sniffing33 at a particular spot and then both together looked steadily34 upstream: there was another pause and they moved very slowly and carefully forward a yard or so and sniffed35 again with their noses almost touching. As they did this the hair on their backs and shoulders began to rise until, as they reached the head of the pool, they were bristling36 like hedgehogs and giving little purring growls37.
The guide went over to them while we waited, afraid to move lest the noise of our boots on the stones should betray us. After looking round for a bit he pointed to a spot on the bank where he had found the fresh spoor of the tiger, and picking up something there to show to us he came back to our side. It was a little fragment of whitish skin with white hairs on it. There was no doubt about it then: we were on the fresh spoor of the tiger where it had stopped to drink at the pool and probably to lick the scratches made by the trap; and leaving the bed of the stream it had gone through the thick undergrowth up towards the krans.
We were not more than a hundred yards from the krans then, and the track taken by the tiger was not at all an inviting38 one. It was at first merely a narrow tunnel in the undergrowth up the steep hillside, through which we crept in single file with the two dogs a few yards in front; they moved on in the same silent deliberate way, so intent and strung up that they started slightly and instantly looked up in front at the least sound. As the ascent39 became steeper and more rocky, the undergrowth thinned and we were able to spread out into line once more, threading our way through several roughly-parallel game tracks or natural openings and stooping low to watch the dogs and take our cue from them.
We were about fifteen yards from the precipitous face of the krans, and had just worked round a huge boulder29 into a space fairly free of bush but cumbered with many big rocks and loose stones, when the dogs stopped and stood quivering and bristling all over, moving their heads slowly about with noses well raised and sniffing persistently40. There was something now that interested them more than the spoor: they winded the tiger itself, but could not tell where. No one stirred: we stood watching the dogs and snatching glances right and left among the boulders and their a shady creeper-hidden caves and recesses41, and as we stood thus, grouped together in breathless silence, an electrifying42 snarling43 roar came from the krans above and the spotted44 body of the tiger shot like a streak45 out of the black mouth of a cave and across our front into the bush; there was a series of crashing bounds, as though a stone rolled from the mountain were leaping through the jungle; and then absolute silence.
We explored the den4; but there was nothing of interest in it—no remains46 of food, no old bones, or other signs of cubs47. It seemed to be the retreat of a male tiger—secluded, quiet, and cool. The opening was not visible from any distance, a split-off slab48 of rock partly hiding it; but when we stood upon the rock platform we found that almost the whole of the horse-shoe bay in the Berg into which we had descended49 was visible, and it was with a “Wow!” of surprise and mortification50 that the kraal boys found they could see the kraal itself and their goats and cattle grazing on the slopes and in the valley below.
Tigers do not take their kill to their dens51 unless there are young cubs to be fed; as a rule they feed where they kill, or as near to it as safety permits, and when they have fed their fill they carry off the remainder of the carcase and hide it. Lions, hyenas52, and others leave what they cannot eat and return to it for their next feed; but tigers are more provident53 and more cunning, and—being able to climb trees—they are very much more difficult to follow or waylay54 by means of their kill. They are not big fellows, rarely exceeding seven feet from nose to tip of tail and 130 pounds in weight; but they are extraordinarily55 active and strong, and it is difficult to believe until one has seen the proof of it that they are able to climb the bare trunk of a tree carrying a kill much bigger and heavier than themselves, and hang it safely wedged in some hidden fork out of reach of any other animal. I have repeatedly seen the remains of their victims in the forks of trees; once it was part of a pig, but on the other occasions the remains were of horned animals; the pig was balanced in the fork; the others were hooked in by the heads and horns.
A well-known hunter once told me an experience of his illustrating56 the strength and habits of tigers. He had shot a young giraffe and carried off as much as he could put on his horse, and hid the rest; but when he returned next morning it had disappeared, and the spoor of a full-grown tiger told him why. He followed the drag mark up to the foot of a big tree and found the remains of the carcase, fully2 300 pounds in weight, in a fork more than twenty feet from the ground.
He left it there as a bait and returned again the following morning on the chance of a shot; but the meat had once more been removed and on following up the spoor he found what was left hidden in another tree some two hundred yards away.
It would have been waste of time to follow our tiger—he would be on the watch and on the move for hours; so we gave it up at once, and struck across the spurs for another part of the big arena57 where pig and bushbuck were known to feed in the mornings. It was slow and difficult work, as the bush was very dense58 and the ground rough. The place was riddled59 with game tracks, and we saw spoor of koodoo and eland several times, and tracks innumerable of wild pig, rietbuck, bushbuck, and duiker. But there was more than spoor: a dozen times we heard the crash of startled animals through the reeds or bush only a few yards away without being able to see a thing.
We had nearly reached the kloof we were aiming for when we had the good luck to get a bushbuck in a very unexpected way. We had worked our way out of a particularly dense patch of bush and brambles into a corner of the woods and were resting on the mossy ground in the shade of the big trees when the sound of clattering61 stones a good way off made us start up again and grab our rifles; and presently we saw, outlined against the band of light which marked the edge of the timber, a buck24 charging down towards us. Three of us fired together, and the buck rolled over within a few yards of where we stood.
We were then in a ‘dead end’ up against the precipitous face of the Berg where there was no road or path other than game tracks, and where no human being ever went except for the purpose of hunting. We knew there was no one else shooting there, and it puzzled us considerably to think what had scared the bushbuck; for the animal had certainly been startled and perhaps chased; the pace, the noise it made, and the blind recklessness of its dash, all showed that. The only explanation we could think of was that the tiger, in making a circuit along the slopes of the Berg to get away from us, must have put the buck up and driven it down on to us in the woods below, and if that were so, the reports of our rifles must have made him think that he was never going to get rid of us.
We skinned and cut up the buck and pushed on again; but the roughness of the trail and the various stoppages had delayed us greatly, and we failed to get the expected bag. We got one rietbuck and a young boar; the rietbuck was a dead shot; but the pig, from the shooting standpoint, was a most humiliating failure. A troop of twenty or thirty started up from under our feet as we came out of the blazing sunlight into the gloom of the woods, and no one could see well enough to aim. They were led by a grand boar, and the whole lot looked like a troop of charging lions as they raced by with their bristly manes erect62 and their tufted tails standing63 straight up.
As we stood there, crestfallen64 and disgusted, we heard fresh grunting66 behind, and turning round we saw one pig racing67 past in the open, having apparently68 missed the troop while wallowing in a mudhole and known nothing of our intrusion until he heard the shooting. We gave him a regular broadside, and—as is usually the case when you think that quantity will do in place of quality—made an awful mess of it, and before we had time to reload Jess and Jock had cut in, and we could not fire again for fear of hitting them. The boys, wildly delighted by this irregular development which gave them such a chance, joined in the chase and in a few seconds it became a chaotic69 romp70 like a rat hunt in a schoolroom. The dogs ranged up on each side and were on to the pig together, Jess hanging on to one ear and Jock at the neck; the boar dug right and left at them, but his tusks71 were short and blunt, and if he managed to get at them at all they bore no mark of it afterwards. For about twenty yards they dragged and tugged, and then all three came somersaulting over together. In the scramble72 Jock got his grip on the throat, and Jess—rolled and trampled73 on—appeared between the pig’s hind13 legs, sliding on her back with her teeth embedded74 in one of the hams. For half a minute the boar, grunting and snorting, plunged75 about madly, trying to get at them or to free himself; and then the boys caught up and riddled him with their assegais.
After the two bombardments of the pigs and the fearful row made by the boys there was not much chance of putting up anything more, and we made for the nearest stream in the woods for a feed and a rest before returning to camp.
We had failed to get the tiger, it is true, and it would be useless giving more time or further thought to him, for in all probability it would be a week or more before he returned to his old hunting-ground and his old marauding tricks, but the porcupine and the pig had provided more interest and amusement than much bigger game might have done, and on the whole, although disappointed, we were not dissatisfied: in fact, it would have needed an ungrateful spirit indeed to feel discontented in such surroundings.
Big trees of many kinds and shapes united to make a canopy76 of leaves overhead through which only occasional shafts77 of sunlight struck. The cold mountain stream tumbling over ledges78, swirling79 among rocks or rippling80 over pebble-strewn reaches, gurgled, splashed and bubbled with that wonderful medley81 of sounds that go to make the lullaby of the brook82. The floor of the forest was carpeted with a pile of staghorn moss60 a foot thick, and maidenhair fern grew everywhere with the luxuriant profusion83 of weeds in a tropical garden. Traveller’s Joy covered whole trees with dense creamy bloom and spread its fragrance84 everywhere; wild clematis trailed over stumps85 and fallen branches; quantities of maidenhair overflowed86 the banks and drooped87 to the water all along the course of the stream; whilst, marshalled on either side, huddled88 together on little islands, perched on rocks, and grouped on overhanging ledges, stood the tree-ferns—as though they had come to drink—their wide-reaching delicate fronds89 like giant green ostrich-feathers waving gently to each breath of air or quivering as the movement of the water shook the trunks.
Long-tailed greeny-grey monkeys with black faces peered down at us, moving lightly on their branch trapezes, and pulled faces or chattered90 their indignant protest against intrusion; in the tops of the wild fig15 trees bright green pigeons watched us shyly—great big birds of a wonderful green; gorgeous louries too flashed their colours and raised their crests—pictures of extreme and comical surprise; golden cuckoos there were also and beautiful little green-backed ruby-throated honey-suckers, flitted like butterflies among the flowers on the sunlit fringe of the woods.
Now and again guinea-fowl and bush-pheasant craned their necks over some fallen log or stone to peer curiously91 at us, then stooping low again darted92 along their well-worn runs into the thick bush. The place was in fact a natural preserve; a ‘bay’ let into the wall of the Berg, half-encircled by cliffs which nothing could climb, a little world where the common enemy—man—seldom indeed intruded93.
We stayed there until the afternoon sun had passed behind the crest65 of the Berg above us; and, instead of going back the way we came, skirted along the other arm enclosing the bay to have the cool shade of the mountain with us on our return journey. But the way was rough; the jungle was dense; we were hot and torn and tired; and the shadow of the mountain stretched far out across the foothills by the time the corner was reached. We sat down to rest at last in the open on the long spur on which, a couple of miles away, the slanting94 sun picked out the red and black cattle, the white goats, and the brown huts of the kaffir kraal.
Our route lay along the side of the spur, skirting the rocky backbone95 and winding96 between occasional boulders, clumps97 of trees and bush, and we had moved on only a little way when a loud “Waugh” from a baboon98 on the mountain behind made us stop to look back. The hoarse99 shout was repeated several times, and each time more loudly and emphatically; it seemed like the warning call of a sentry100 who had seen us. Moved by curiosity we turned aside on to the ridge101 itself, and from the top of a big rock scanned the almost precipitous face opposite. The spur on which we stood was divided from the Berg itself only by a deep but narrow kloof or ravine, and every detail of the mountain side stood out in the clear evening air, but against the many-coloured rocks the grey figure of a baboon was not easy to find as long as it remained still, and although from time to time the barking roar was repeated, we were still scanning the opposite hill when one of the boys pointed down the slope immediately below us and called out, “There, there, Baas!”
The troop of baboons102 had evidently been quite close to us—hidden from us only by the little line of rocks—and on getting warning from their sentry on the mountain had stolen quietly away and were then disappearing into the timbered depth of the ravine. We sat still to watch them come out on the opposite side a few minutes later and clamber up the rocky face, for they are always worth watching; but while we watched, the stillness was broken by an agonised scream—horribly human in its expression of terror—followed by roars, barks, bellows103 and screams from scores of voices in every key; and the crackle of breaking sticks and the rattle104 of stones added to the medley of sound as the baboons raced out of the wood and up the bare rocky slope.
“What is it?”
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s something after them.”
“Look, look! there they come:” burst from one and another of us as we watched the extraordinary scene. The cries from below seemed to waken the whole mountain; great booming “waughs” came from different places far apart and ever so high up the face of the Berg; each big roar seemed to act like a trumpet-call and bring forth105 a multitude of others; and the air rang with bewildering shouts and echoes volleying round the kloofs and faces of the Berg. The strange thing was that the baboons did not continue their terrified scramble up the mountain, but, once out of the bush, they turned and rallied. Forming an irregular semicircle they faced down hill, thrusting their heads forward with sudden jerks as though to launch their cries with greater vehemence106, and feinting to charge; they showered loose earth, stones and débris of all sorts down with awkward underhand scrapes of their fore-paws, and gradually but surely descended to within a dozen yards of the bush’s edge.
“Baas, Baas, the tiger! Look, the tiger! There, there on the rock below!”
Jim shot the words out in vehement107 gusts108, choky with excitement; and true enough, there the tiger was. The long spotted body was crouched109 on a flat rock just below the baboons; he was broadside to us, with his fore-quarters slightly raised and his face turned towards the baboons; with wide-opened mouth he snarled110 savagely111 at the advancing line, and with right paw raised made threatening dabs112 in their direction. His left paw pinned down the body of a baboon.
The voices from the mountain boomed louder and nearer as, clattering and scrambling113 down the face, came more and more baboons: there must have been hundreds of them; the semicircle grew thicker and blacker, more and more threatening, foot by foot closer. The tiger raised himself a little more and took swift looks from side to side across the advancing front, and then his nerve went, and with one spring he shot from the rock into the bush.
There was an instant forward rush of the half-moon, and the rock was covered with roaring baboons, swarming114 over their rescued comrade; and a moment later the crowd scrambled115 up the slope again, taking the tiger’s victim with them. In that seething116 rabble117 I could pick out nothing, but all the kaffirs maintained they could see the mauled one dragged along by its arms by two others, much as a child might be helped uphill.
We were still looking excitedly about—trying to make out what the baboons were doing, watching the others still coming down the Berg, and peering anxiously for a sight of the tiger—when once more Jim’s voice gave us a shock.
“Where are the dogs?” he asked; and the question turned us cold. If they had gone after the baboons they were as good as dead already—nothing could save them. Calling was useless: nothing could be heard in the roar and din11 that the enraged118 animals still kept up. We watched the other side of the ravine with something more than anxiety, and when Jock’s reddish-looking form broke through the bracken near to the tiger’s rock, I felt like shutting my eyes till all was over. We saw him move close under the rock and then disappear. We watched for some seconds—it may have been a minute, but it seemed an eternity—and then, feeling the utter futility119 of waiting there, jumped off the rock and ran down the slope in the hope that the dogs would hear us call from there.
From where the slope was steepest we looked down into the bed of the stream at the bottom of the ravine, and the two dogs were there: they were moving cautiously down the wide stony120 watercourse just as we had seen them move in the morning, their noses thrown up and heads turning slowly from side to side. We knew what was coming; there was no time to reach them through the bush below; the cries of the baboons made calling useless; and the three of us sat down with rifles levelled ready to fire at the first sight. With gun gripped and breath hard held, watching intently every bush and tree and rock, every spot of light and shade, we sat—not daring to move. Then, over the edge of a big rock overlooking the two dogs, appeared something round; and, smoothly121 yet swiftly and with a snake-like movement, the long spotted body followed the head and, flattened122 against the rock, crept stealthily forward until the tiger looked straight down upon Jess and Jock.
The three rifles cracked like one, and with a howl of rage and pain the tiger shot out over the dogs’ heads, raced along the stony bed, and suddenly plunging123 its nose into the ground, pitched over—dead.
It was shot through the heart, and down the ribs124 on each side were the scraped marks of the trap.
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1
ted
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| vt.翻晒，撒，撒开 | |
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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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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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5
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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6
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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oozed
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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porcupine
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| n.豪猪， 箭猪 | |
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quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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10
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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12
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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13
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fig
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| n.无花果(树) | |
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16
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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22
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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yelping
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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shrub
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| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
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boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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32
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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36
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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37
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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38
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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39
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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40
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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41
recesses
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| 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 | |
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42
electrifying
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| v.使电气化( electrify的现在分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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43
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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44
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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45
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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46
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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47
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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48
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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49
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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50
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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51
dens
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| n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋 | |
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52
hyenas
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| n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 ) | |
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53
provident
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| adj.为将来做准备的，有先见之明的 | |
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54
waylay
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| v.埋伏，伏击 | |
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55
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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56
illustrating
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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57
arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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58
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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59
riddled
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| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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60
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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61
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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62
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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63
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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64
crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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65
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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66
grunting
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| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
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67
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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68
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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69
chaotic
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| adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的 | |
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70
romp
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| n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑 | |
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71
tusks
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| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
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72
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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73
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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74
embedded
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| a.扎牢的 | |
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75
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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76
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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77
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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78
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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79
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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80
rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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81
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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82
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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83
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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84
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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85
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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86
overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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87
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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88
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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89
fronds
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| n.蕨类或棕榈类植物的叶子( frond的名词复数 ) | |
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90
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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91
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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92
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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93
intruded
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| n.侵入的，推进的v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 )；把…强加于 | |
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94
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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95
backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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96
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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97
clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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98
baboon
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| n.狒狒 | |
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99
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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100
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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101
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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102
baboons
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| n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 ) | |
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103
bellows
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| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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104
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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105
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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106
vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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107
vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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108
gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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109
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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111
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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112
dabs
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| 少许( dab的名词复数 )； 是…能手； 做某事很在行； 在某方面技术熟练 | |
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113
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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114
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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115
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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116
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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117
rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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118
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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119
futility
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| n.无用 | |
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120
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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121
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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122
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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123
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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124
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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