Notes

enthralling
extremely interesting.
"an enthralling experience"

ordeal
a terrible or painful experience that continues for a period of time.

anew
to begin a different job, start to live in a different place etc, especially after a difficult period in your life:
"I was ready to leave everything behind and start anew in California."

candour
the quality of being honest and telling the truth, even when the truth may be unpleasant or embarrassing

able seaman
a low rank in the navy, or someone who has this rank

thrust
to push something somewhere roughly:
"She thrust a letter into my hand."

skim
to remove something from the surface of a liquid, especially floating fat, solids, or oil
skim something off/from something
"After simmering the meat, skim the fat from the surface."

argan
a thorny evergreen tree, Argania spinosa, native to SW Morocco, the plum-sized fruit of which contains a nut that yields an

oil valued for cooking

musk
a strong smell, especially the way a person smells:
"the musk of sweat and muscle"

bedouin
someone who belongs to an Arab tribe that traditionally lives in tents in the desert

welter
a large and confusing amount or number of something:
"There is a welter of information on the subject."

lame
to make a person or animal unable to walk properly [= cripple]:
"The fall left him badly lamed."

nostril
one of the two holes at the end of your nose, through which you breathe and smell things:
"The smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils."

howling
1. if a dog, wolf, or other animal howls, it makes a long loud sound [↪ bark]:
"The dogs howled all night."
2. to make a long loud cry because you are unhappy, angry, or in pain, or because you are amused or excited:
"Upstairs, one of the twins began to howl (=cry)."
howl in/with
"Somewhere, someone was howling in pain."
"He makes audiences howl with laughter."

beseech
to eagerly and anxiously ask someone for something [= beg]


scour
to search very carefully and thoroughly through an area, a document etc
"Her family began to scour the countryside for a suitable house."

quarrel
1. an angry argument or disagreement:
"I think they've had a quarrel."
2. a reason to disagree with something or argue with someone
quarrel with
"My only quarrel with this plan is that it's going to take far too long."

to maim
to wound or injure someone very seriously and often permanently:
"Landmines still kill or maim about 300 people every month."