oppressively: done distressingly or grievously; uncomfortably intense

dreary: causing sadness or gloom

tract: an expanse or area of land

melancholy: a gloomy state of mind; saddening

insufferable: not to be endured; intolerable; unbearable

pervaded: spread throughout; filled

desolate: solitary; lonely

bleak: depressing; dreary; bare

vacant: empty; void

sedges: a grasslike plant

opium: a sedative drug which was highly popular in the 1870s-1910s

lapse: a fall or decline

unredeemed: unable to make up for; unreleased from

aught: anything; any part; all

unnerved: upset