It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that i encountered my friend. he accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. the man wore motley. he had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells. i was so to see him that i thought i should never have done wringing his hand. in the excerpt above, the word surmounted most nearly means mounted upon gotten over or across prevailed over equaled in value