Chapter 1 of The Lonely Island is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Lonely Island is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE. CHAPTER ONE. THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS. THE MUTINY. On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
Chapter 1 of The Lonely Island is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
rendered motionless for lack of wind
From this reading “On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.”
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading “CHAPTER ONE.”
plural of “mutineer” — someone who is openly rebellious and refuses to obey authorities (especially seamen or soldiers)
From this reading “THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.”
open rebellion against constituted authority (especially by seamen or soldiers against their officers)
From this reading “THE MUTINY.”
a large body of water constituting a principal part of the hydrosphere
From this reading “On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.”
the largest ocean in the world
From this reading “On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.”
to a great depth psychologically or emotionally
From this reading “On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.”
a safe place
From this reading “THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
rendered motionless for lack of wind
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
the chest considered as the place where secret thoughts are kept
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
make calm or still
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
a period of 100 years
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading CHAPTER ONE.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
immediately past
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
lacking companions or companionship
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
used to form the superlative
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
plural of “mutineer” — someone who is openly rebellious and refuses to obey authorities (especially seamen or soldiers)
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
open rebellion against constituted authority (especially by seamen or soldiers against their officers)
From this reading THE MUTINY.
a large body of water constituting a principal part of the hydrosphere
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading CHAPTER ONE.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
the largest ocean in the world
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
to a great depth psychologically or emotionally
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
a unit of radiation exposure; the dose of ionizing radiation that will produce 1 electrostatic unit of electricity in 1 cc of dry air
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
a safe place
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
transport commercially
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE LONELY ISLAND; OR, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
in the direction of
From this reading On a profoundly calm and most beautiful evening towards the end of the last century, a ship lay becalmed on the fair bosom of the Pacific Ocean.
Chapter 1 of The Lonely Island by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne holds 413 sentences, grouped into 83 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 413 sentences of The Lonely Island, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Lonely Island by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 413 sentences, grouped into 83 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Lonely Island by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4418 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21747 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21747, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 368 minutes of reading across 884 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Lonely Island section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Lonely Island to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Lonely Island, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
