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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper
+Cylinder, by James De Mille
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder
+
+Author: James De Mille
+
+Posting Date: March 20, 2009 [EBook #6709]
+Release Date: October, 2004
+First Posted: January 17, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STRANGE MANUSCRIPT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Andrew Sly
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder
+
+By James De Mille
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+      I. The Finding of the Copper Cylinder
+     II. Adrift in the Antarctic Ocean
+    III. A World of Fire and Desolation
+     IV. The Sight of Human Beings
+      V. The Torrent Sweeping Under the Mountains
+     VI. The New World
+    VII. Scientific Theories and Scepticism
+   VIII. The Cave-Dwellers
+     IX. The Cavern of the Dead
+      X. The Sacred Hunt
+     XI. The Swamp Monster
+    XII. The Baleful Sacrifice
+   XIII. The Awful "Mista Kosek"
+    XIV. I Learn My Doom
+     XV. The Kohen is Inexorable
+    XVI. The Kosekin
+   XVII. Belief and Unbelief
+  XVIII. A Voyage over the Pole
+    XIX. The Wonders of the "Amir"
+     XX. The Dark Maiden Layelah
+    XXI. The Flying Monster
+   XXII. Escape
+  XXIII. The Island of Fire
+   XXIV. Recapture
+    XXV. Falling, like Icarus, into the Sea
+   XXVI. Grimm's Law Again
+  XXVII. Oxenden Preaches a Sermon
+ XXVIII. In Prison
+   XXIX. The Ceremony of Separation
+    XXX. The Day of Sacrifice
+   XXXI. Conclusion
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE FINDING OF THE COPPER CYLINDER
+
+
+It occurred as far back as February 15, 1850. It happened on that
+day that the yacht Falcon lay becalmed upon the ocean between the
+Canaries and the Madeira Islands. This yacht Falcon was the property
+of Lord Featherstone, who, being weary of life in England, had taken
+a few congenial friends for a winter's cruise in these southern
+latitudes. They had visited the Azores, the Canaries, and the Madeira
+Islands, and were now on their way to the Mediterranean.
+
+The wind had failed, a deep calm had succeeded, and everywhere, as far
+as the eye could reach, the water was smooth and glassy. The yacht
+rose and fell at the impulse of the long ocean undulations, and the
+creaking of the spars sounded out a lazy accompaniment to the motion
+of the vessel. All around was a watery horizon, except in the one
+place only, toward the south, where far in the distance the Peak of
+Teneriffe rose into the air.
+
+The profound calm, the warm atmosphere, the slow pitching of the
+yacht, and the dull creaking of the spars all combined to lull into a
+state of indolent repose the people on board. Forward were the crew;
+some asleep, others smoking, others playing cards. At the stern were
+Oxenden, the intimate friend of Featherstone, and Dr. Congreve, who
+had come in the double capacity of friend and medical attendant.
+These two, like the crew, were in a state of dull and languid
+repose. Suspended between the two masts, in an Indian hammock, lay
+Featherstone, with a cigar in his mouth and a novel in his hand, which
+he was pretending to read. The fourth member of the party, Melick, was
+seated near the mainmast, folding some papers in a peculiar way. His
+occupation at length attracted the roving eyes of Featherstone, who
+poked forth his head from his hammock, and said in a sleepy voice:
+
+"I say, Melick, you're the most energetic fellah I ever saw. By Jove!
+you're the only one aboard that's busy. What are you doing?"
+
+"Paper boats," said Melick, in a business-like tone.
+
+"Paper boats! By Jove!" said Featherstone. "What for?"
+
+"I'm going to have a regatta," said Melick. "Anything to kill time,
+you know."
+
+"By Jove!" exclaimed Featherstone again, raising himself higher in his
+hammock, "that's not a bad idea. A wegatta! By Jove! glowious!
+glowious! I say, Oxenden, did you hear that?"
+
+"What do you mean by a regatta?" asked Oxenden, lazily.
+
+"Oh, I mean a race with these paper boats. We can bet on them,
+you know."
+
+At this Featherstone sat upright, with his legs dangling out of
+the hammock.
+
+"By Jove!" he exclaimed again. "Betting! So we can. Do you know,
+Melick, old chap, I think that's a wegular piece of inspiration.
+A wegatta! and we can bet on the best boat."
+
+"But there isn't any wind," said Oxenden.
+
+"Well, you know, that's the fun of it," said Melick, who went solemnly
+on as he spoke, folding his paper boats; "that's the fun of it. For
+you see if there was a wind we should be going on ourselves, and the
+regatta couldn't come off; but, as it is, the water is just right.
+You pick out your boat, and lay your bet on her to race to some given
+point."
+
+"A given point? But how can we find any?"
+
+"Oh, easily enough; something or anything--a bubble'll do, or we can
+pitch out a bit of wood."
+
+Upon this Featherstone descended from his perch, and came near to
+examine the proceedings, while the other two, eager to take advantage
+of the new excitement, soon joined him. By this time Melick had
+finished his paper boats. There were four of them, and they were made
+of different colors, namely, red, green, yellow, and white.
+
+"I'll put these in the water," said Melick, "and then we can lay our
+bets on them as we choose. But first let us see if there is anything
+that can be taken as a point of arrival. If there isn't anything, I
+can pitch out a bit of wood, in any direction which may seem best."
+
+Saying this, he went to the side, followed by the others, and all
+looked out carefully over the water.
+
+"There's a black speck out there," said Oxenden.
+
+"So there is," said Featherstone. "That'll do. I wonder what it is?"
+
+"Oh, a bit of timber," said Melick. "Probably the spar of some ship."
+
+"It don't look like a spar," said the doctor; "it's only a round spot,
+like the float of some net."
+
+"Oh, it's a spar," said Melick. "It's one end of it, the rest is under
+water."
+
+The spot thus chosen was a dark, circular object, about a hundred
+yards away, and certainly did look very much like the extremity of
+some spar, the rest of which was under water. Whatever it was,
+however, it served well enough for their present purpose, and no one
+took any further interest in it, except as the point toward which the
+paper boats should run in their eventful race.
+
+Melick now let himself down over the side, and placed the paper boats
+on the water as carefully as possible. After this the four stood
+watching the little fleet in silence. The water was perfectly still,
+and there was no perceptible wind, but there were draughts of air
+caused by the rise and fall of the yacht, and these affected the tiny
+boats. Gradually they drew apart, the green one drifting astern, the
+yellow one remaining under the vessel, while the red and the white
+were carried out in the direction where they were expected to go, with
+about a foot of space between them.
+
+"Two to one on the red!" cried Featherstone, betting on the one which
+had gained the lead.
+
+"Done," said Melick, promptly taking his offer.
+
+Oxenden made the same bet, which was taken by Melick and the doctor.
+
+Other bets were now made as to the direction which they would take, as
+to the distance by which the red would beat the white, as to the time
+which would be occupied by the race, and as to fifty other things
+which need not be mentioned. All took part in this; the excitement
+rose high and the betting went on merrily. At length it was noticed
+that the white was overhauling the red. The excitement grew intense;
+the betting changed its form, but was still kept up, until at last
+the two paper boats seemed blended together in one dim spot which
+gradually faded out of sight.
+
+It was now necessary to determine the state of the race, so
+Featherstone ordered out the boat. The four were soon embarked, and
+the men rowed out toward the point which had been chosen as the end of
+the race. On coming near they found the paper boats stuck together,
+saturated with water, and floating limp on the surface. An animated
+discussion arose about this. Some of the bets were off, but others
+remained an open question, and each side insisted upon a different
+view of the case. In the midst of this, Featherstone's attention was
+drawn to the dark spot already mentioned as the goal of the race.
+
+"That's a queer-looking thing," said he, suddenly. "Pull up, lads, a
+little; let's see what it is. It doesn't look to me like a spar."
+
+The others, always on the lookout for some new object of interest,
+were attracted by these words, and looked closely at the thing in
+question. The men pulled. The boat drew nearer.
+
+"It's some sort of floating vessel," said Oxenden.
+
+"It's not a spar," said Melick, who was at the bow.
+
+And as he said this he reached out and grasped at it. He failed to get
+it, and did no more than touch it. It moved easily and sank, but soon
+came up again. A second time he grasped at it, and with both hands.
+This time he caught it, and then lifted it out of the water into the
+boat. These proceedings had been watched with the deepest interest;
+and now, as this curious floating thing made its appearance among
+them, they all crowded around it in eager excitement.
+
+"It looks like a can of preserved meat," said the doctor.
+
+"It certainly is a can," said Melick, "for it's made of metal; but as
+to preserved meat, I have my doubts."
+
+The article in question was made of metal and was cylindrical in
+shape. It was soldered tight and evidently contained something. It was
+about eighteen inches long and eight wide. The nature of the metal was
+not easily perceptible, for it was coated with slime, and covered over
+about half its surface with barnacles and sea-weed. It was not heavy,
+and would have floated higher out of the water had it not been for
+these encumbrances.
+
+"It's some kind of preserved meat," said the doctor. "Perhaps
+something good--game, I dare say--yes, Yorkshire game-pie. They pot
+all sorts of things now."
+
+"If it's game," said Oxenden, "it'll be rather high by this time. Man
+alive! look at those weeds and shells. It must have been floating for
+ages."
+
+"It's my belief," said Featherstone, "that it's part of the provisions
+laid in by Noah for his long voyage in the ark. So come, let's open
+it, and see what sort of diet the antediluvians had."
+
+"It may be liquor," said Oxenden.
+
+Melick shook his head.
+
+"No," said he; "there's something inside, but whatever it is, it isn't
+liquor. It's odd, too. The thing is of foreign make, evidently. I
+never saw anything like it before. It may be Chinese."
+
+"By Jove!" cried Featherstone, "this is getting exciting. Let's go
+back to the yacht and open it."
+
+The men rowed back to the yacht.
+
+"It's meat of some sort," continued the doctor. "I'm certain of that.
+It has come in good time. We can have it for dinner."
+
+"You may have my share, then," said Oxenden. "I hereby give and
+bequeath to you all my right, title, and interest in and to anything
+in the shape of meat that may be inside."
+
+"Meat cans," said Melick, "are never so large as that."
+
+"Oh, I don't know about that," said the doctor, "they make up pretty
+large packages of pemmican for the arctic expeditions."
+
+"But they never pack up pemmican in copper cylinders," said Melick,
+who had been using his knife to scrape off the crust from the vessel.
+
+"Copper!" exclaimed Oxenden. "Is it copper?"
+
+"Look for yourselves," said Melick, quietly.
+
+They all looked, and could see, where the knife had cut into the
+vessel, that it was as he said. It was copper.
+
+"It's foreign work," said Melick. "In England we make tin cans for
+everything. It may be something that's drifted out from Mogadore or
+some port in Morocco."
+
+"In that case," said Oxenden, "it may contain the mangled remains of
+one of the wives of some Moorish pasha."
+
+By this time they had reached the yacht and hurried aboard. All were
+eager to satisfy their curiosity. Search was made for a cold-chisel,
+but to no purpose. Then Featherstone produced a knife which was used
+to open sardine boxes, but after a faithful trial this proved useless.
+At length Melick, who had gone off in search of something more
+effective, made his appearance armed with an axe. With this he
+attacked the copper cylinder, and by means of a few dexterous blows
+succeeded in cutting it open. Then he looked in.
+
+"What do you see?" asked Featherstone.
+
+"Something," said Melick, "but I can't quite make it out."
+
+"If you can't make it out, then shake it out," said Oxenden.
+
+Upon this Melick took the cylinder, turned it upside down, shook it
+smartly, and then lifted it and pounded it against the deck. This
+served to loosen the contents, which seemed tightly packed, but came
+gradually down until at length they could be seen and drawn forth.
+Melick drew them forth, and the contents of the mysterious copper
+cylinder resolved themselves into two packages.
+
+The sight of these packages only served to intensify their curiosity.
+If it had been some species of food it would at once have revealed
+itself, but these packages suggested something more important. What
+could they be? Were there treasures inside--jewels, or golden
+ornaments from some Moorish seraglio, or strange coin from far Cathay?
+
+One of the packages was very much larger than the other. It was
+enclosed in wrappers made of some coarse kind of felt, bound tight
+with strong cords. The other was much smaller, and, was folded in the
+same material without being bound. This Melick seized and began to
+open.
+
+"Wait a minute," said Featherstone. "Let's make a bet on it. Five
+guineas that it's some sort of jewels!"
+
+"Done," said Oxenden.
+
+Melick opened the package, and it was seen that Featherstone had lost.
+There were no jewels, but one or two sheets of something that looked
+like paper. It was not paper, however, but some vegetable product
+which was used for the same purpose. The surface was smooth, but the
+color was dingy, and the lines of the vegetable fibres were plainly
+discernible. These sheets were covered with writing.
+
+"Halloa!" cried Melick. "Why, this is English!"
+
+At this the others crowded around to look on, and Featherstone in his
+excitement forgot that he had lost his bet. There were three sheets,
+all covered with writing--one in English, another in French, and a
+third in German. It was the same message, written in these three
+different languages. But at that moment they scarcely noticed this.
+All that they saw was the message itself, with its mysterious meaning.
+
+It was as follows:
+
+
+"To the finder of this:
+
+"Sir,--I am an Englishman, and have been carried by a series of
+incredible events to a land from which escape is as impossible as from
+the grave. I have written this and committed it to the sea, in the
+hope that the ocean currents may bear it within the reach of civilized
+man. Oh, unknown friend! whoever you are. I entreat you to let this
+message be made known in some way to my father, Henry More, Keswick,
+Cumberland, England, so that he may learn the fate of his son. The MS.
+accompanying this contains an account of my adventures, which I should
+like to have forwarded to him. Do this for the sake of that mercy
+which you may one day wish to have shown to yourself.
+
+"ADAM MORE."
+
+
+"By Jove!" cried Featherstone, as he read the above, "this is really
+getting to be something tremendous."
+
+"This other package must be the manuscript," said Oxenden, "and it'll
+tell all about it."
+
+"Such a manuscript'll be better than meat," said the doctor,
+sententiously.
+
+Melick said nothing, but, opening his knife, he cut the cords and
+unfolded the wrapper. He saw a great collection of leaves, just like
+those of the letter, of some vegetable substance, smooth as paper, and
+covered with writing.
+
+"It looks like Egyptian papyrus," said the doctor. "That was the
+common paper of antiquity."
+
+"Never mind the Egyptian papyrus," said Featherstone, in feverish
+curiosity. "Let's have the contents of the manuscript. You, Melick,
+read; you're the most energetic of the lot, and when you're tired the
+rest of us will take turns."
+
+"Read? Why, it'll take a month to read all this," said Melick.
+
+"All the better," said Featherstone; "this calm will probably last a
+month, and we shall have nothing to interest us."
+
+Melick made no further objection. He was as excited as the rest, and
+so he began the reading of the manuscript.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ADRIFT IN THE ANTARCTIC OCEAN
+
+
+My name is Adam More. I am the son of Henry More, apothecary, Keswick,
+Cumberland. I was mate of the ship Trevelyan (Bennet, master), which
+was chartered by the British Government to convey convicts to Van
+Dieman's Land. This was in 1843. We made our voyage without any
+casualty, landed our convicts in Hobart Town, and then set forth on
+our return home. It was the 17th of December when we left. From the
+first adverse winds prevailed, and in order to make any progress we
+were obliged to keep well to the south. At length, on the 6th of
+January, we sighted Desolation Island. We found it, indeed, a desolate
+spot. In its vicinity we saw a multitude of smaller islands, perhaps a
+thousand in number, which made navigation difficult, and forced us to
+hurry away as fast as possible. But the aspect of this dreary spot was
+of itself enough to repel us. There were no trees, and the multitude
+of islands seemed like moss-covered rocks; while the temperature,
+though in the middle of the antarctic summer, was from 38 to 58
+degrees Fahr.
+
+In order to get rid of these dangerous islands we stood south and
+west, and at length found ourselves in south latitude 65 degrees,
+longitude 60 degrees east. We were fortunate enough not to find any
+ice, although we were within fifteen hundred miles of the South Pole,
+and far within that impenetrable icy barrier which, in 1773, had
+arrested the progress of Captain Cook. Here the wind failed us, and we
+lay becalmed and drifting. The sea was open all around us, except to
+the southeast, where there was a low line along the horizon
+terminating in a lofty promontory; but though it looked like land we
+took it for ice. All around us whales and grampuses were gambolling
+and spouting in vast numbers. The weather was remarkably fine and
+clear.
+
+ For two or three days the calm continued, and we drifted along
+helplessly, until at length we found ourselves within a few miles of
+the promontory above mentioned. It looked like land, and seemed to be
+a rocky island rising from the depths of the sea. It was, however, all
+covered with ice and snow, and from this there extended eastward as
+far as the eye could reach an interminable line of ice, but toward the
+southwest the sea seemed open to navigation. The promontory was very
+singular in shape, rising up to a peak which was at least a thousand
+feet in height, and forming a striking object, easily discovered and
+readily identified by any future explorer. We named it, after our
+ship, Trevelyan Peak, and then felt anxious to lose sight of it
+forever. But the calm continued, and at length we drifted in close
+enough to see immense flocks of seals dotting the ice at the foot of
+the peak.
+
+Upon this I proposed to Agnew, the second mate, that we should go
+ashore, shoot some seals, and bring them back. This was partly for the
+excitement of the hunt, and partly for the honor of landing in a place
+never before trodden by the foot of man. Captain Bennet made some
+objections, but he was old and cautious, and we were young and
+venturesome, so we laughed away his scruples and set forth. We did not
+take any of the crew, owing to the captain's objections. He said that
+if we chose to throw away our own lives he could not help it, but that
+he would positively refuse to allow a single man to go with us. We
+thought this refusal an excess of caution amounting to positive
+cowardice, but were unable to change his mind. The distance was not
+great, the adventure was attractive, and so the captain's gig was
+lowered, and in this Agnew and I rowed ashore. We took with us a
+double-barrelled rifle apiece, and also a pistol. Agnew took a glass.
+
+We rowed for about three miles, and reached the edge of the ice, which
+extended far out from the promontory. Here we landed, and secured the
+boat by means of a small grappling-iron, which we thrust into the ice.
+We then walked toward the promontory for about a mile, and here we
+found a multitude of seals. These animals were so fearless that they
+made not the slightest movement as we came up, but stared at us in an
+indifferent way. We killed two or three, and then debated whether to
+go to the promontory or not. Agnew was eager to go, so as to touch the
+actual rock; but I was satisfied with what we had done, and was now
+desirous of returning. In the midst of this I felt a flake of snow on
+my cheek. I started and looked up. To my great surprise I saw that the
+sky had changed since I had last noticed it. When we left the ship it
+was clear and blue, but now it was overspread with dark,
+leaden-colored clouds, and the snow-flakes that had fallen were
+ominous of evil. A snow-storm here, in the vicinity of the ice, was
+too serious a thing to be disregarded. But one course now remained,
+and that was an immediate return to the ship.
+
+Each of us seized a seal and dragged it after us to the boat. We
+reached it and flung them in. Just at that moment a gun sounded over
+the water. It was from the ship--the signal of alarm--the summons from
+the captain for our return. We saw now that she had been drifting
+since we left her, and had moved southwest several miles. The row back
+promised to be far harder than the pull ashore, and, what was worse,
+the wind was coming up, the sea was rising, and the snow was
+thickening. Neither of us said a word. We saw that our situation was
+very serious, and that we had been very foolhardy; but the words were
+useless now. The only thing to be done was to pull for the ship with
+all our strength, and that was what we did.
+
+So we pushed off, and rowed as we had never rowed before. Our progress
+was difficult. The sea grew steadily rougher; the wind increased; the
+snow thickened; and, worst of all, the day was drawing to a close. We
+had miscalculated both as to distance and time. Even if it had
+continued calm we should have had to row back in the dark; but now the
+sun was setting, and with the darkness we had to encounter the
+gathering storm and the blinding snow. We rowed in silence. At every
+stroke our situation grew more serious. The wind was from the south,
+and therefore favored us to some extent, and also made less of a sea
+than would have been produced by a wind from any other quarter; but
+then this south wind brought dangers of its own, which we were soon to
+feel--new dangers and worse ones. For this south wind drove the ship
+farther from us, and at the same time broke up the vast fields of ice
+and impelled the fractured masses northward. But this was a danger
+which we did not know just then. At that time we were rowing for the
+ship, and amid the darkness and the blinding snow and the dashing
+waves we heard from time to time the report of signal-guns fired from
+the ship to guide us back. These were our only guide, for the darkness
+and the snow had drawn the ship from our sight, and we had to be
+guided by our hearing only.
+
+We were rowing for our lives, and we knew it; but every moment our
+situation grew more desperate. Each new report of the gun seemed to
+sound farther away. We seemed always to be rowing in the wrong
+direction. At each report we had to shift the boat's course somewhat,
+and pull toward the last point from which the gun seemed to sound.
+With all this the wind was increasing rapidly to a gale, the sea was
+rising and breaking over the boat, the snow was blinding us with its
+ever-thickening sleet. The darkness deepened and at length had grown
+so intense that nothing whatever could be seen--neither sea nor sky,
+not even the boat itself--yet we dared not stop; we had to row. Our
+lives depended on our efforts. We had to row, guided by the sound of
+the ship's gun, which the ever-varying wind incessantly changed, till
+our minds grew all confused, and we rowed blindly and mechanically.
+
+So we labored for hours at the oars, and the storm continually
+increased, and the sea continually rose, while the snow fell thicker
+and the darkness grew intenser. The reports of the gun now grew
+fainter; what was worse, they were heard at longer intervals, and this
+showed us that Captain Bennet was losing heart; that he was giving us
+up; that he despaired of finding us, and was now firing only an
+occasional gun out of a mournful sense of duty. This thought reduced
+us to despair. It seemed as if all our efforts had only served to take
+us farther away from the ship, and deprived us of all motive for
+rowing any harder than was barely necessary to keep the boat steady.
+After a time Agnew dropped his oar and began to bail out the boat--a
+work which was needed; for, in spite of our care, she had shipped many
+seas, and was one third full of water. He worked away at this while I
+managed the boat, and then we took turns at bailing. In this way we
+passed the dreary night.
+
+Morning came at last. The wind was not so violent, but the snow was so
+thick that we could only see for a little distance around us. The ship
+was nowhere visible, nor were there any signs of her. The last gun had
+been fired during the night. All that we could see was the outline of
+a gaunt iceberg--an ominous spectacle. Not knowing what else to do we
+rowed on as before, keeping in what seemed our best course, though
+this was mere conjecture, and we knew all the time that we might be
+going wrong. There was no compass in the boat, nor could we tell the
+sun's position through the thick snow. We rowed with the wind,
+thinking that it was blowing toward the north, and would carry us in
+that direction. We still hoped to come within sound of the ship's gun,
+and kept straining our ears incessantly to hear the wished-for report.
+But no such sound ever came again, and we heard nothing except the
+plash of the waves and the crash of breaking ice. Thus all that day we
+rowed along, resting at intervals when exhausted, and then resuming
+our labors, until at length night came; and again to the snow and ice
+and waves was added the horror of great darkness. We passed that night
+in deep misery. We had eaten nothing since we left the ship, but
+though exhausted by long fasting and severe labor, the despair of our
+hearts took away all desire for food. We were worn out with hard work,
+yet the cold was too great to allow us to take rest, and we were
+compelled to row so as to keep ourselves from perishing. But fatigue
+and drowsiness overcame us, and we often sank into sleep even while
+rowing; and then after a brief slumber we would awake with benumbed
+limbs to wrestle again with the oars. In this way we passed that
+night.
+
+Another morning came, and we found to our great joy that the snow had
+ceased. We looked eagerly around to see if there were any signs of the
+ship. Nothing could be seen of her. Far away on one side rose a peak,
+which looked like the place where we had landed. Judging from the
+wind, which we still supposed to be southerly, the peak lay toward the
+northeast; in which case we had been carried steadily, in spite of all
+our efforts, toward the south. About a mile on one side of us the ice
+began, and extended far away; while on the other side, at the distance
+of some ten miles, there was another line of ice. We seemed to have
+been carried in a southwesterly direction along a broad strait that
+ran into the vast ice-fields. This discovery showed how utterly
+useless our labors had been; for in spite of all, even with the wind
+in our favor, we had been drawn steadily in an opposite direction. It
+was evident that there was some current here, stronger than all our
+strength, which had brought us to this place.
+
+We now determined to land on the ice, and try to cook a portion of our
+seals. On approaching it we noticed that there was a current which
+tended to draw us past the ice in what I supposed to be a
+southwesterly direction. This confirmed my worst fears. But now the
+labor of landing and building a fire on the ice served to interest us
+for a time and divert our thoughts. We brushed away the snow, and then
+broke up a box which was in the boat, and also the stern seats. This
+we used very sparingly, reserving the rest for another occasion. Then
+we cut portions from one of the seals, and laid them in thin strips on
+the flames. The cooking was but slight, for the meat was merely
+singed; but we were ravenous, and the contact of the fire was enough
+to give it an attractive flavor. With this food we were greatly
+refreshed; and as for drink, we had all around us an endless extent of
+ice and snow. Then, taking our precious fragments of cooked meat, we
+returned to the boat and put off. We could scarcely tell what to do
+next, and while debating on this point we fell asleep. We slept far
+into the night, then awoke benumbed with cold; then took to the oars
+till we were weary; then fell asleep again, to be again awakened by
+the cold and again to pull at the oars. So the night passed, and
+another day came.
+
+The snow still held off, but the sky was overcast with dark,
+leaden-colored clouds, and looked threatening. Ice was all around us
+as before; and the open water had diminished now from ten miles to
+five miles of width. The ice on one side was low, but on the opposite
+side it arose to the height of one hundred feet. We saw here, as we
+watched the shore, that the current which had already borne us thus
+far was now stronger than ever, and was carrying us along at a rate
+which made all efforts of ours against it utterly useless. And now a
+debate arose between us as to the direction of this current. Agnew
+suddenly declared his belief that it was running north, while I was
+firm in the conviction that it ran south.
+
+"There's no use rowing any more," said Agnew. "If it runs south we
+can't resist it. It's too strong. But I always like to look on the
+bright side, and so I believe it runs north. In that case there is no
+use rowing, for it will carry us along fast enough."
+
+Then I proposed that we should go ashore on the ice. To this Agnew
+objected, but afterward consented, at my earnest request. So we tried
+to get ashore, but this time found it impossible; for the ice
+consisted of a vast sheet of floating lumps, which looked like the
+ruin of bergs that had been broken up in some storm. After this I had
+nothing to say, nor was there anything left for us but to drift
+wherever the current might carry us.
+
+So we drifted for some days, Agnew all the time maintaining that we
+were going north, while I was sure that we were going south. The sky
+remained as cloudy as ever, the wind varied incessantly, and there was
+nothing by which we could conjecture the points of the compass. We
+lived on our seal, and for drink we chewed ice and snow. One thing was
+certain--the climate was no colder. Agnew laid great stress on this.
+
+"You see," said he, "we must be going north. If we were going south we
+should be frozen stiff by this time."
+
+"Yes; but if we were going north," said I, "we ought to find it
+growing warmer."
+
+"No," said he, "not with all this ice around us. It's the ice that
+keeps the temperature in this cold state."
+
+Argument could do no good, and so we each remained true to our
+belief--his leading him to hope, and mine dragging me down to despair.
+At length we finished the last fragment of the seal that we had
+cooked, and, finding ourselves near some firm ice, we went ashore and
+cooked all that was left, using the remainder of our wood for fuel,
+and all that we dared to remove from the boat. Re-embarking with this,
+we drifted on as before.
+
+Several more days passed. At last one night I was roused by Agnew. He
+pointed far away to the distant horizon, where I saw a deep red glow
+as of fire. We were both filled with wonder at the sight, and were
+utterly unable to account for it. We knew that it could not be caused
+by the sun or the moon, for it was midnight, and the cause lay on the
+earth and not in the skies. It was a deep, lurid glow, extending along
+the horizon, and seemed to be caused by some vast conflagration.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A WORLD OF FIRE AND DESOLATION
+
+
+At the sight of that deep-red glow various feelings arose within us:
+in me there was new dejection; in Agnew there was stronger hope. I
+could not think but that it was our ship that was on fire, and was
+burning before our eyes. Agnew thought that it was some burning
+forest, and that it showed our approach to some habitable and
+inhabited land. For hour after hour we watched, and all the time the
+current drew us nearer, and the glow grew brighter and more intense.
+At last we were too weak to watch any longer, and we fell asleep.
+
+On waking our first thoughts were about the fire, and we looked
+eagerly around. It was day, but the sky was as gloomy as ever, and the
+fire was there before our eyes, bright and terrible. We could now see
+it plainly, and discern the cause also. The fire came from two points,
+at some distance apart--two peaks rising above the horizon, from which
+there burst forth flames and smoke with incessant explosions. All was
+now manifest. It was no burning ship, no blazing forest, no land
+inhabited by man: those blazing peaks were two volcanoes in a state of
+active eruption, and at that sight I knew the worst.
+
+"I know where we are now," I said, despairingly.
+
+"Where?" asked Agnew.
+
+"That," said I, "is the antarctic continent."
+
+"The antarctic fiddlestick," said he, contemptuously. "It is far more
+likely to be some volcanic island in the South Sea. There's a
+tremendous volcano in the Sandwich Islands, and these are something
+like it."
+
+"I believe," said I, "that these are the very volcanoes that Sir James
+Ross discovered last year."
+
+"Do you happen to know where he found them?" Agnew asked.
+
+"I do not," I answered.
+
+"Well, I do," said he, "and they're thousands of miles away from this.
+They are south latitude 77 degrees, east longitude 167 degrees; while
+we, as I guess, are about south latitude 40 degrees, east longitude
+60 degrees."
+
+"At any rate," said I, "we're drifting straight toward them."
+
+"So I see," said Agnew, dryly. "At any rate, the current will take us
+somewhere. We shall find ourselves carried past these volcanic
+islands, or through them, and then west to the Cape of Good Hope.
+Besides, even here we may find land with animals and vegetation; who
+knows?"
+
+"What! amid all this ice?" I cried. "Are you mad?"
+
+"Mad?" said he; "I should certainly go mad if I hadn't hope."
+
+"Hope!" I repeated; "I have long since given up hope."
+
+"Oh, well," said he, "enjoy your despair, and don't try to deprive me
+of my consolation. My hope sustains me, and helps me to cheer you up.
+It would never do, old fellow, for both of us to knock under."
+
+I said nothing more, nor did Agnew. We drifted on, and all our
+thoughts were taken up with the two volcanoes, toward which we were
+every moment drawing nearer. As we approached they grew larger and
+larger, towering up to a tremendous height. I had seen Vesuvius and
+Stromboli and AEtna and Cotopaxi; but these appeared far larger than
+any of them, not excepting the last. They rose, like the Peak of
+Teneriffe, abruptly from the sea, with no intervening hills to dwarf
+or diminish their proportions. They were ten or twelve miles apart,
+and the channel of water in which we were drifting flowed between
+them.
+
+Here the ice and snow ended. We thus came at last to land; but it was
+a land that seemed more terrible than even the bleak expanse of ice
+and snow that lay behind, for nothing could be seen except a vast and
+drear accumulation of lava-blocks of every imaginable shape, without
+a trace of vegetation--uninhabited, uninhabitable, and unpassable to
+man. But just where the ice ended and the rocks began there was a
+long, low reef, which projected for more than a quarter of a mile into
+the water, affording the only possible landing-place within sight.
+Here we decided to land, so as to rest and consider what was best to
+be done.
+
+Here we landed, and walked up to where rugged lava-blocks prevented
+any further progress. But at this spot our attention was suddenly
+arrested by a sight of horror. It was a human figure lying prostrate,
+face downward.
+
+At this sight there came over us a terrible sensation. Even Agnew's
+buoyant soul shrank back, and we stared at each other with quivering
+lips. It was some time before we could recover ourselves; then we went
+to the figure, and stooped down to examine it.
+
+The clothes were those of a European and a sailor; the frame was
+emaciated and dried up, till it looked like a skeleton; the face was
+blackened and all withered, and the bony hands were clinched tight. It
+was evidently some sailor who had suffered shipwreck in these
+frightful solitudes, and had drifted here to starve to death in this
+appalling wilderness. It was a sight which seemed ominous of our own
+fate, and Agnew's boasted hope, which had so long upheld him, now sank
+down into a despair as deep as my own. What room was there now for
+hope, or how could we expect any other fate than this?
+
+At length I began to search the pockets of the deceased.
+
+"What are you doing?" asked Agnew, in a hoarse voice.
+
+"I'm trying to find out who he is," I said. "Perhaps there may be
+papers."
+
+As I said this I felt something in the breast-pocket of his jacket,
+and drew it forth. It was a leather pocket-book, mouldy and rotten
+like the clothing. On opening it, it fell to pieces. There was nothing
+in it but a piece of paper, also mouldy and rotten. This I unfolded
+with great care, and saw writing there, which, though faded, was still
+legible. It was a letter, and there were still signs of long and
+frequent perusals, and marks, too, which looked as though made by
+tears--tears, perhaps of the writer, perhaps of the reader: who can
+tell? I have preserved this letter ever since, and I now fasten it
+here upon this sheet of my manuscript.
+
+
+THE LETTER.
+
+"Bristol April 20. 1820.
+
+"my darling tom
+
+"i writ you these few lines in hast i don like youar gon a walen an in
+the south sea dont go darlin tom or mebbe ill never se you agin for
+ave bad drems of you darlin tom an im afraid so don go my darlin tom
+but come back an take anoth ship for America baby i as wel as ever but
+mises is pa an as got a new tooth an i think yo otnt go a walen o
+darlin tom * * * sea as the wages was i in New York an better go thar
+an id like to go ther for good for they gives good wages in America. O
+come back my Darlin tom and take me to America an the baby an weel all
+live an love an di together
+
+"Your loving wife Polley Reed."
+
+
+I began to read this, but there came a lump in my throat, and I had to
+stop. Agnew leaned on my shoulder, and we both read it in silence. He
+rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes and drew a long breath. Then
+he walked away for a little distance, and I put the letter carefully
+away in my own pocket-book. After a little while Agnew came back.
+
+"More," said he, "do you remember any of the burial-service?"
+
+I understood his meaning at once.
+
+"Yes," I said, "some of it--a good deal of it, I think."
+
+"That's good," said he. "Let's put the poor fellow under ground."
+
+"It would be hard to do that," I said; "we'll have to bury him in the
+snow."
+
+At this Agnew went off for a little distance and clambered over the
+rocks. He was not gone long. When he returned he said, "I've found
+some crumbled pumice-stone; we can scoop a grave for him there."
+
+We then raised the body and carried it to the place which Agnew had
+found. So emaciated was the poor dead sailor that his remains were no
+heavier than a small boy. On reaching the spot, we found the crumbled
+pumice-stone. We placed the body in a crevice among the lava rocks,
+and then I said what I could remember of the burial-service. After
+this we carried in our hands the crumbled pumice-stone until we had
+covered the body, and thus gave the poor fellow a Christian burial.
+
+We then returned to the shore.
+
+"More, old fellow," said Agnew, "I feel the better for this; the
+service has done me good."
+
+"And me too," said I. "It has reminded me of what I had forgotten.
+This world is only a part of life. We may lose it and yet live on.
+There is another world; and if we can only keep that in our minds we
+sha'n't be so ready to sink into despair--that is, I sha'n't. Despair
+is my weakness; you are more hopeful."
+
+"Yes," said Agnew, solemnly; "but my hope thus far has referred only
+to the safety of my skin. After this I shall try to think of my soul,
+and cultivate, not the hope of escape, but the hope full of
+immortality. Yes, More, after all we shall live, if not in England,
+then, let us hope, in heaven."
+
+There was a long silence after this--that kind of silence which one
+may preserve who is at the point of death.
+
+"I wonder how he got here?" said Agnew, at last. "The letter mentions
+a whaler. No doubt the ship has been driven too far south; it has
+foundered; he has escaped in a boat, either alone or with others; he
+has been carried along this channel, and has landed here, afraid to go
+any farther."
+
+"But his boat, what has become of that?"
+
+"His boat! That must have gone long ago. The letter was written in
+1820. At any rate, let's look around."
+
+We did so. After some search we found fragments of a rotted rope
+attached to a piece of rock.
+
+"That," said Agnew, "must have been fastened to the boat; and as for
+the boat herself, she has long ago been swept away from this."
+
+"What shall we do now?" I said, after a long silence.
+
+"There's only one thing," said Agnew. "We must go on."
+
+"Go on?" I asked, in wonder.
+
+"Certainly," said he, confidently. "Will you stay here? No. Will you
+go back? You can't. We must, therefore, go on. That is our only hope."
+
+"Hope!" I cried. "Do you still talk of hope?"
+
+"Hope?" said Agnew; "of course. Why not? There are no limits to hope,
+are there? One can hope anything anywhere. It is better to die while
+struggling like a man, full of hope and energy than to perish in
+inaction and despair. It is better to die in the storm and furious
+waters than to waste away in this awful place. So come along. Let's
+drift as before. Let's see where this channel will take us. It will
+certainly take us somewhere. Such a stream as this must have some
+outlet."
+
+"This stream," said I, "will take us to death, and death only. The
+current grows swifter every hour. I've heard some old yarn of a vast
+opening at each of the poles, or one of them, into which the waters of
+the ocean pour. They fall into one, and some say they go through and
+come out at the other."
+
+Agnew laughed.
+
+"That," said he, "is a madman's dream. In the first place, I don't
+believe that we are approaching the south, but the north. The warmth
+of the climate here shows that. Yes, we are drawing north. We shall
+soon emerge into warm waters and bright skies. So come along, and let
+us lose no more time."
+
+I made no further objection. There was nothing else to be done, and
+at the very worst we could not be in greater danger while drifting on
+than in remaining behind. Soon, therefore, we were again in the boat,
+and the current swept us on as before.
+
+The channel now was about four miles wide. On either side arose
+the lofty volcanoes vomiting forth flames and smoke with furious
+explosions; vast stones were hurled up into the air from the craters;
+streams of molten lava rolled down, and at intervals there fell great
+showers of ashes. The shores on either side were precipitous and
+rugged beyond all description, looking like fiery lava streams which
+had been arrested by the flood, and cooled into gloomy, overhanging
+cliffs. The lava rock was of a deep, dull slate-color, which at a
+distance looked black; and the blackness which thus succeeded to
+the whiteness of the snow behind us seemed like the funeral pall of
+nature. Through scenes like these we drifted on, and the volcanoes on
+either side of the channel towered on high with their fiery floods of
+lava, their incessant explosions, their fierce outbursts of flames,
+and overhead there rolled a dense black canopy of smoke--altogether
+forming a terrific approach to that unknown and awful pathway upon
+which we were going. So we passed this dread portal, and then there
+lay before us--what? Was it a land of life or a land of death? Who
+could say?
+
+It was evening when we passed through. Night came on, and the darkness
+was illuminated by the fiery glow of the volcanic flames. Worn out
+with fatigue, we fell asleep. So the night passed, and the current
+bore us on until, at length, the morning came. We awoke, and now, for
+the first time in many days, we saw the face of the sun. The clouds
+had at last broken, the sky was clear, and behind us the sun was
+shining. That sight told us all. It showed us where we were going.
+
+I pointed to the sun.
+
+"Look there," said I. "There is the sun in the northern sky--behind
+us. We have been drifting steadily toward the south."
+
+At this Agnew was silent, and sat looking back for a long time. There
+we could still see the glow of the volcanic fires, though they were
+now many miles away; while the sun, but lately risen, was lying on a
+course closer to the horizon than we had ever seen it before.
+
+"We are going south," said I--"to the South Pole. This swift current
+can have but one ending--there may be an opening at the South Pole, or
+a whirlpool like the Maelstrom."
+
+Agnew looked around with a smile.
+
+"All these notions," said he, "are dreams, or theories, or guesses.
+There is no evidence to prove them. Why trouble yourself about a
+guess? You and I can guess, and with better reason; for we have now,
+it seems, come farther south than any human being who has ever lived.
+Do not imagine that the surface of the earth is different at the poles
+from what it is anywhere else. If we get to the South Pole we shall
+see there what we have always seen--the open view of land or water,
+and the boundary of the horizon. As for this current, it seems to me
+like the Gulf Stream, and it evidently does an important work in the
+movement of the ocean waters. It pours on through vast fields of ice
+on its way to other oceans, where it will probably become united with
+new currents. Theories about openings at the poles, or whirlpools,
+must be given up. Since the Maelstrom has been found to be a fiction,
+no one need believe in any other whirlpool. For my own part, I now
+believe that this current will bear us on, due south, over the pole,
+and then still onward, until at last we shall find ourselves in the
+South Pacific Ocean. So cheer up--don't be downhearted; there's still
+hope. We have left the ice and snow behind, and already the air is
+warmer. Cheer up; we may find our luck turn at any moment."
+
+To this I had no reply to make. Agnew's confidence seemed to me to be
+assumed, and certainly did not alleviate my own deep gloom, nor was
+the scene around calculated to rouse me in the slightest degree out of
+my despair. The channel had now lessened to a width of not more than
+two miles; the shores on either side were precipitous cliffs, broken
+by occasional declivities, but all of solid rock, so dark as to be
+almost black, and evidently of volcanic origin. At times there arose
+rugged eminences, scarred and riven, indescribably dismal and
+appalling. There was not only an utter absence of life here in these
+abhorrent regions, but an actual impossibility of life which was
+enough to make the stoutest heart quail. The rocks looked like iron.
+It seemed a land of iron penetrated by this ocean stream which had
+made for itself a channel, and now bore us onward to a destination
+which was beyond all conjecture.
+
+Through such scenes we drifted all that day. Night came, and in the
+skies overhead there arose a brilliant display of the aurora
+australis, while toward the north the volcanic fires glowed with
+intense lustre. That night we slept. On awakening we noticed a change
+in the scene. The shores, though still black and forbidding, were no
+longer precipitous, but sloped down gradually to the water; the
+climate was sensibly milder, and far away before us there arose a line
+of giant mountains, whose summits were covered with ice and snow that
+gleamed white and purple in the rays of the sun.
+
+Suddenly Agnew gave a cry, and pointed to the opposite shore.
+
+"Look!" he cried--"do you see? They are men!"
+
+I looked, and there I saw plainly some moving figures that were,
+beyond a doubt, human beings.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE SIGHT OF HUMAN BEINGS
+
+
+The sight of human beings, thus unexpectedly found, filled us with
+strange feelings--feelings which I cannot explain. The country was
+still iron-bound and dark and forbidding, and the stream ran on in a
+strong current, deep, black as ink, and resistless as fate; the sky
+behind was lighted up by the volcanic glare which still shone from
+afar; and in front the view was bounded by the icy heights of a
+mountain chain. Here was, indeed, a strange country for a human
+habitation; and strange, indeed, were the human beings whom we saw.
+
+"Shall we land?" said Agnew.
+
+"Oh no," said I. "Don't be hasty. The elements are sometimes kinder
+than men, and I feel safer here, even in this river of death, than
+ashore with such creatures as those."
+
+Agnew made no reply. We watched the figures on the shore. We saw them
+coming down, staring and gesticulating. We drew on nearer to them till
+we were able to see them better. A nearer view did not improve them.
+They were human beings, certainly, but of such an appalling aspect
+that they could only be likened to animated mummies. They were small,
+thin, shrivelled, black, with long matted hair and hideous faces. They
+all had long spears, and wore about the waist short skirts that seemed
+to be made of the skin of some sea-fowl.
+
+We could not imagine how these creatures lived, or where. There were
+no signs of vegetation of any kind--not a tree or a shrub. There were
+no animals; but there were great flocks of birds, some of which seemed
+different from anything that we had ever seen before. The long spears
+which the natives carried might possibly be used for catching these,
+or for fishing purposes. This thought made them seem less formidable,
+since they would thus be instruments of food rather than weapons of
+war. Meanwhile we drifted on as before, and the natives watched us,
+running along the shore abreast of us, so as to keep up with the boat.
+There seemed over a hundred of them. We could see no signs of any
+habitations--no huts, however humble; but we concluded that their
+abodes were farther inland. As for the natives themselves, the longer
+we looked at them the more abhorrent they grew. Even the wretched
+aborigines of Van Dieman's Land, who have been classed lowest in the
+scale of humanity, were pleasing and congenial when compared with
+these, and the land looked worse than Tierra del Fuego. It looked like
+a land of iron, and its inhabitants like fiends.
+
+Agnew again proposed to land, but I refused.
+
+"No," I said; "I'd rather starve for a week, and live on hope. Let us
+drift on. If we go on we may have hope if we choose, but if we land
+here we shall lose even that. Can we hope for anything from such
+things as these? Even if they prove friendly, can we live among them?
+To stay here is worse than death; our only hope is to go on."
+
+Agnew made no reply, and we drifted on for two hours, still followed
+by the natives. They made no hostile demonstrations. They merely
+watched us, apparently from motives of curiosity. All this time we
+were drawing steadily nearer to the line of lofty mountains, which
+with their icy crests rose before us like an inaccessible and
+impassable barrier, apparently closing up all farther progress; nor
+was there any indication of any pass or any opening, however narrow,
+through which the great stream might run. Nothing was there but one
+unbroken wall of iron cliffs and icy summits. At last we saw that the
+sloping shores grew steeper, until, about a mile or two before us,
+they changed to towering cliffs that rose up on each side for about a
+thousand feet above the water; here the stream ran, and became lost to
+view as completely as though swallowed up by the earth.
+
+"We can go no farther," said Agnew. "See--this stream seems to make a
+plunge there into the mountains. There must be some deep canyon there
+with cataracts. To go on is certain death. We must stop here, if only
+to deliberate. Say, shall we risk it among these natives? After all,
+there is not, perhaps, any danger among them. They are little
+creatures and seem harmless. They are certainly not very good-looking;
+but then, you know, appearances often deceive, and the devil's not so
+black as he's painted. What do you say?"
+
+"I suppose we can do nothing else," said I.
+
+In fact, I could see that we had reached a crisis in our fate. To go
+on seemed certain death. To stop was our only alternative; and as we
+were armed we should not be altogether at the mercy of these
+creatures. Having made this decision we acted upon it at once, for in
+such a current there was no time for delay; and so, seizing the oars,
+we soon brought the boat ashore.
+
+As we approached, the crowd of natives stood awaiting us, and looked
+more repulsive than ever. We could see the emaciation of their bony
+frames; their toes and fingers were like birds' claws; their eyes were
+small and dull and weak, and sunken in cavernous hollows, from which
+they looked at us like corpses--a horrible sight. They stood quietly,
+however, and without any hostile demonstration, holding their spears
+carelessly resting upon the ground.
+
+"I don't like the looks of them," said I. "I think I had better fire a
+gun."
+
+"Why?" cried Agnew. "For Heaven's sake, man, don't hurt any of them!"
+
+"Oh no," said I; "I only mean to inspire a little wholesome respect."
+
+Saying this I fired in the air. The report rang out with long echoes,
+and as the smoke swept away it showed us all the natives on the
+ground. They had seated themselves with their hands crossed on their
+laps, and there they sat looking at us as before, but with no
+manifestation of fear or even surprise. I had expected to see them
+run, but there was nothing of the kind. This puzzled us. Still, there
+was no time now for any further hesitation. The current was sweeping
+us toward the chasm between the cliffs, and we had to land without
+delay. This we did, and as I had another barrel still loaded and a
+pistol, I felt that with these arms and those of Agnew we should be
+able to defend ourselves. It was in this state of mind that we landed,
+and secured the boat by means of the grappling-iron.
+
+The natives now all crowded around us, making many strange gestures,
+which we did not understand. Some of them bowed low, others prostrated
+themselves; on the whole these seemed like marks of respect, and it
+occurred to me that they regarded us as superior beings of some sort.
+It was evident that there was nothing like hostility in their minds.
+At the same time, the closer survey which I now made of them filled me
+with renewed horror; their meagre frames, small, watery, lack-lustre
+eyes, hollow, cavernous sockets, sunken cheeks, protruding teeth,
+claw-like fingers, and withered skins, all made them look more than
+ever like animated mummies, and I shrank from them involuntarily, as
+one shrinks from contact with a corpse.
+
+Agnew, however, was very different, and it was evident that he felt no
+repugnance whatever. He bowed and smiled at them, and shook hands with
+half a dozen of them in succession. The hand-shaking was a new thing
+to them, but they accepted it in a proper spirit, and renewed their
+bows and prostrations. After this they all offered us their lances.
+This certainly seemed like an act of peace and good-will. I shook my
+head and declined to touch them; but Agnew accepted one of them, and
+offered his rifle in return. The one to whom he offered it refused to
+take it. He seemed immensely gratified because Agnew had taken his
+lance, and the others seemed disappointed at his refusal to take
+theirs. But I felt my heart quake as I saw him offer his rifle, and
+still more when he offered it to one or two others, and only regained
+my composure as I perceived that his offer was refused by all.
+
+They now made motions to us to follow, and we all set forth together.
+
+"My dear More," said Agnew, cheerily, "they're not a bad lot. They
+mean well. They can't help their looks. You're too suspicious and
+reserved. Let's make friends with them, and get them to help us. Do as
+I do."
+
+I tried to, but found it impossible, for my repugnance was immovable.
+It was like the horror which one feels toward rats, cockroaches,
+earwigs, or serpents. It was something that defied reason. These
+creatures seemed like human vermin.
+
+We marched inland for about half a mile, crossed a ridge, and came to
+a valley, or rather a kind of hollow, at the other side of which we
+found a cave with a smouldering fire in front. The fire was made of
+coal, which must exist here somewhere. It was highly bituminous, and
+burned with a great blaze.
+
+The day was now drawing to a close; far away I could see the lurid
+glow of the volcanoes, which grew brighter as the day declined: above,
+the skies twinkled with innumerable stars, and the air was filled with
+the moan of rushing waters.
+
+We entered the cave. As we did so the natives heaped coal upon the
+fire, and the flames arose, lighting up the interior. We found here a
+number of women and children, who looked at us without either fear or
+curiosity. The children looked like little dwarfs; the women were
+hags, hideous beyond description. One old woman in particular, who
+seemed to be in authority, was actually terrible in her awful and
+repulsive ugliness. A nightmare dream never furnished forth a more
+frightful object. This nightmare hag prostrated herself before each of
+us with such an air of self-immolation that she looked as though she
+wished us to kill her at once. The rough cave, the red light of the
+fire, all made the scene more awful; and a wild thought came to me
+that we had actually reached, while yet living, the infernal world,
+and that this was the abode of devils. Yet their actions, it must be
+confessed, were far from devilish. Everyone seemed eager to serve us.
+Some spread out couches formed of the skins of birds for us to sit on;
+others attended to the fire; others offered us gifts of large and
+beautiful feathers, together with numerous trinkets of rare and
+curious workmanship. This kind attention on their part was a great
+puzzle to me, and I could not help suspecting that beneath all this
+there must be some sinister design. Resolving to be prepared for the
+worst, I quietly reloaded the empty barrel of my rifle and watched
+with the utmost vigilance. As for Agnew, he took it all in the most
+unsuspicious manner. He made signs to them, shook hands with them,
+accepted their gifts, and even tried to do the agreeable to the
+formidable hags and the child-fiends around him. He soon attracted the
+chief attention, and while all looked admiringly upon him, I was left
+to languish in comparative neglect.
+
+At length a savory odor came through the cave, and a repast was spread
+before us. It consisted of some large fowl that looked like a goose,
+but was twice as large as the largest turkey that I had ever seen. The
+taste was like that of a wild-goose, but rather fishy. Still to us it
+seemed delicious, for our prolonged diet of raw seal had made us ready
+to welcome any other food whatever; and this fowl, whatever it was,
+would not have been unwelcome to any hungry man. It was evident that
+these people lived on the flesh of birds of various sorts. All around
+us we saw the skins of birds dried with the feathers on, and used for
+clothing, for mats, and for ornaments.
+
+The repast being finished, we both felt greatly strengthened and
+refreshed. Agnew continued to cultivate his new acquaintances, and
+seeing me holding back, he said,
+
+"More, old fellow, these good people give me to understand that there
+is another place better than this, and want me to go with them. Will
+you go?"
+
+At this a great fear seized me.
+
+"Don't go!" I cried--"don't go! We are close by the boat here, and if
+anything happens we can easily get to it."
+
+Agnew laughed in my face.
+
+"Why, you don't mean to tell me," said he, "that you are still
+suspicious, and after that dinner? Why, man, if they wanted to harm
+us, would they feast us in this style? Nonsense, man! Drop your
+suspicions and come along."
+
+I shook my head obstinately.
+
+"Well," said he, "if I thought there was anything in your suspicions I
+would stay by you; but I'm confident they mean nothing but kindness,
+so I'm going off to see the place."
+
+"You'll be back again?" said I.
+
+"Oh yes," said he, "of course I'll come back, and sleep here."
+
+With these words he left, and nearly all the people accompanied him. I
+was left behind with the women and children and about a dozen men.
+These men busied themselves with some work over bird-skins; the women
+were occupied with some other work over feathers. No one took any
+notice of me. There did not seem to be any restraint upon me, nor was
+I watched in any way. Once the nightmare hag came and offered me a
+small roasted fowl, about the size of a woodcock. I declined it, but
+at the same time this delicate attention certainly surprised me.
+
+I was now beginning to struggle with some success against my feelings
+of abhorrence, when suddenly I caught sight of something which chased
+away every other thought, and made my blood turn cold in my veins. It
+was something outside. At the mouth of the cave--by the fire which was
+still blazing bright, and lighting up the scene--I saw four men who
+had just come to the cave: they were carrying something which I at
+first supposed to be a sick or wounded companion. On reaching the fire
+they put it down, and I saw, with a thrill of dismay, that their
+burden was neither sick nor wounded, but dead, for the corpse lay
+rigid as they had placed it. Then I saw the nightmare hag approach it
+with a knife. An awful thought came to me--the crowning horror! The
+thought soon proved to be but too well founded. The nightmare hag
+began to cut, and in an instant had detached the arm of the corpse,
+which she thrust among the coals in the very place where lately she
+had cooked the fowl. Then she went back for more.
+
+For a moment my brain reeled, and I gasped for breath. Then I rose and
+staggered out, I know not how. No one tried to stop me, nor did anyone
+follow me; and, for my part, I was ready to blow out the brains of the
+first who dared to approach me. In this way I reached the open air,
+and passed by the hag and the four men as they were busy at their
+awful work. But at this point I was observed and followed. A number of
+men and women came after me, jabbering their uncouth language and
+gesticulating. I warned them off, angrily. They persisted, and though
+none of them were armed, yet I saw that they were unwilling to have me
+leave the cave, and I supposed that they would try to prevent me by
+force.
+
+The absence of Agnew made my position a difficult one. Had it not been
+for this I would have burst through them and fled to the boat; but as
+long as he was away I felt bound to wait; and though I longed to fly,
+I could not for his sake. The boat seemed to be a haven of rest. I
+longed to be in her once more, and drift away, even if it should be to
+my death. Nature was here less terrible than man; and it seemed better
+to drown in the waters, to perish amid rocks and whirlpools, than to
+linger here amid such horrors as these. These people were not like
+human beings. The vilest and lowest savages that I had ever seen were
+not so odious as these. A herd of monkeys would be far more congenial,
+a flock of wolves less abhorrent. They had the caricature of the human
+form; they were the lowest of humanity; their speech was a mockery of
+language; their faces devilish, their kindness a cunning pretence; and
+most hideous of all was the nightmare hag that prepared the cannibal
+repast.
+
+I could not begin hostilities, for I had to wait for Agnew; so I stood
+and looked, and then walked away for a little distance. They followed
+me closely, with eager words and gesticulations, though as yet no one
+touched me or threatened me. Their tone seemed rather one of
+persuasion. After a few paces I stood still, with all of them around
+me. The horrible repast showed plainly all that was in store for us.
+They received us kindly and fed us well only to devote us to the most
+abhorrent of deaths. Agnew, in his mad confidence, was only insuring
+his own doom. He was putting himself completely in the power of
+devils, who were incapable of pity and strangers to humanity. To make
+friends with such fiends was impossible, and I felt sure that our only
+plan was to rule by terror--to seize, to slay, to conquer. But still I
+had to wait for him, and did not dare to resort to violence while he
+was absent; so I waited, while the savages gathered round me,
+contenting themselves with guarding me, and neither touching me nor
+threatening me. And all this time the hag went on, intent on her
+preparation of the horrible repast.
+
+While standing there looking, listening, waiting for Agnew, I noticed
+many things. Far away the volcanoes blazed, and the northern sky was
+red with a lurid light. There, too, higher up, the moon was shining
+overhead, the sky was gleaming with stars; and all over the heavens
+there shone the lustre of the aurora australis, brighter than any I
+had ever seen--surpassing the moon and illuminating all. It lighted up
+the haggard faces of the devils around me, and it again seemed to me
+as though I had died and gone to the land of woe--an iron land, a land
+of despair, with lurid fires all aglow and faces of fear.
+
+Suddenly, there burst upon my ears the report of a gun, which sounded
+like a thunder-peal, and echoed in long reverberations. At once I
+understood it. My fears had proved true. These savages had enticed
+Agnew away to destroy him. In an instant I burst through the crowd
+around me, and ran wildly in the direction of that sound, calling his
+name, as I ran, at the top of my voice.
+
+I heard a loud cry; then another report. I hurried on, shouting his
+name in a kind of frenzy. The strange courage of these savages had
+already impressed me deeply. They did not fear our guns. They were all
+attacking him, and he was alone, fighting for his life.
+
+Then there was another report; it was his pistol. I still ran on, and
+still shouted to him.
+
+At last I received an answer. He had perhaps heard me, and was
+answering, or, at any rate, he was warning me.
+
+"More," he cried, "fly, fly, fly to the boat! Save yourself!"
+
+"Where are you?" I cried, as I still rushed on.
+
+"Fly, More, fly! Save yourself! You can't save me. I'm lost. Fly for
+your life!"
+
+Judging from his cries, he did not seem far away. I hurried on. I
+could see nothing of him. All the time the savages followed me. None
+were armed; but it seemed to me that they were preparing to fling
+themselves upon me and overpower me with their numbers. They would
+capture me alive, I thought, bind me, and carry me back, reserving me
+for a future time!
+
+I turned and waved them back. They took no notice of my gesture. Then
+I ran on once more. They followed. They could not run so fast as I
+did, and so I gained on them rapidly, still shouting to Agnew. But
+there was no response. I ran backward and forward, crossing and
+recrossing, doubling and turning, pursued all the time by the savages.
+At last, in rage and despair, I fired upon them, and one of them fell.
+But, to my dismay, the others did not seem to care one whit; they did
+not stop for one moment, but pursued as before.
+
+My situation was now plain in all its truth. They had enticed Agnew
+away; they had attacked him. He had fought, and had been overpowered.
+He had tried to give me warning. His last words had been for me to
+fly--to fly: yes, for he well knew that it was better far for me to go
+to death through the raging torrent than to meet the fate which had
+fallen upon himself. For him there was now no more hope. That he was
+lost was plain. If he were still alive he would call to me; but his
+voice had been silenced for some time. All was over, and that noble
+heart that had withstood so bravely and cheerily the rigors of the
+storm, and the horrors of our desperate voyage, had been stilled in
+death by the vilest of miscreants.
+
+I paused for a moment. Even though Agnew was dead, I could not bear to
+leave him, but felt as though I ought to share his fate. The savages
+came nearer. At their approach I hesitated no longer. That fate was
+too terrible: I must fly.
+
+But before I fled I turned in fury to wreak vengeance upon them for
+their crimes. Full of rage and despair, I discharged my remaining
+rifle-barrel into the midst of the crowd. Then I fled toward the boat.
+On the way I had a frightful thought that she might have been sent
+adrift; but, on approaching the place, I found her there just as I had
+left her. The savages, with their usual fearlessness, still pursued.
+For a moment I stood on the shore, with the grapple in my hand and the
+boat close by, and as they came near I discharged my pistol into the
+midst of them. Then I sprang into the boat; the swift current bore me
+away, and in a few minutes the crowd of pursuing demons disappeared
+from view.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE TORRENT SWEEPING UNDER THE MOUNTAINS
+
+
+The boat drifted on. The light given by the aurora and the low moon
+seemed to grow fainter; and as I looked behind I saw that the distant
+glow from the volcanic fires had become more brilliant in the
+increasing darkness. The sides of the channel grew steeper, until at
+last they became rocky precipices, rising to an unknown height. The
+channel itself grew narrower, till from a width of two miles it had
+contracted to a tenth of those dimensions; but with this lessening
+width the waters seemed to rush far more swiftly. Here I drifted
+helplessly, and saw the gloomy, rocky cliffs sweep past me as I was
+hurled onward on the breast of the tremendous flood. I was in despair.
+The fate of Agnew had prepared me for my own, and I was only thankful
+that my fate, since it was inevitable, would be less appalling. Death
+seemed certain, and my chief thought now was as to the moment when it
+would come. I was prepared. I felt that I could meet it calmly,
+sternly, even thankfully; far better was a death here amid the roar of
+waters than at the hands of those abhorrent beings by whose treachery
+my friend had fallen.
+
+As I went on, the precipices rose higher and seemed to overhang, the
+channel grew narrower, the light grew fainter, until at last all
+around me grew dark. I was floating at the bottom of a vast chasm,
+where the sides seemed to rise precipitously for thousands of feet,
+where neither watery flood nor rocky wall was visible, and where, far
+above, I could see the line of sky between the summits of the cliffs,
+and watch the glowing stars. And as I watched them there came to me
+the thought that this was my last sight on earth, and I could only
+hope that the life which was so swiftly approaching its end might live
+again somewhere among those glittering orbs. So I thought; and with
+these thoughts I drifted on, I cannot tell how long, until at length
+there appeared a vast black mass, where the open sky above me
+terminated, and where the lustre of the stars and the light of the
+heavens were all swallowed up in utter darkness.
+
+This, then, I thought, is the end. Here, amid this darkness, I must
+make the awful plunge and find my death I fell upon my knees in the
+bottom of the boat and prayed. As I knelt there the boat drew nearer,
+the black mass grew blacker. The current swept me on. There were no
+breakers; there was no phosphorescent sparkle of seething waters, and
+no whiteness of foam. I thought that I was on the brink of some
+tremendous cataract a thousand times deeper than Niagara; some fall
+where the waters plunged into the depths of the earth; and where,
+gathering for the terrific descent, all other movements--all dashings
+and writhings and twistings--were obliterated and lost in the one
+overwhelming onward rush. Suddenly all grew dark--dark beyond all
+expression; the sky above was in a moment snatched from view; I had
+been flung into some tremendous cavern; and there, on my knees, with
+terror in my heart, I waited for death.
+
+The moments passed, and death delayed to come. The awful plunge was
+still put off; and though I remained on my knees and waited long,
+still the end came not. The waters seemed still, the boat motionless.
+It was borne upon the surface of a vast stream as smooth as glass; but
+who could tell how deep that stream was, or how wide? At length I rose
+from my knees and sank down upon the seat of the boat, and tried to
+peer through the gloom. In vain. Nothing was visible. It was the very
+blackness of darkness. I listened, but heard nothing save a deep,
+dull, droning sound, which seemed to fill all the air and make it
+all tremulous with its vibrations. I tried to collect my thoughts. I
+recalled that old theory which had been in my mind before this, and
+which I had mentioned to Agnew. This was the notion that at each pole
+there is a vast opening; that into one of them all the waters of the
+ocean pour themselves, and, after passing through the earth, come out
+at the other pole, to pass about its surface in innumerable streams.
+It was a wild fancy, which I had laughed at under other circumstances,
+but which now occurred to me once more, when I was overwhelmed
+with despair, and my mind was weakened by the horrors which I had
+experienced; and I had a vague fear that I had been drawn into the
+very channel through which the ocean waters flowed in their course to
+that terrific, that unparalleled abyss. Still, there was as yet no
+sign whatever of anything like a descent, for the boat was on even
+keel, and perfectly level as before, and it was impossible for me to
+tell whether I was moving swiftly or slowly, or standing perfectly
+still; for in that darkness there were no visible objects by which
+I could find out the rate of my progress; and as those who go up in
+balloons are utterly insensible of motion, so was I on those calm
+but swift waters.
+
+At length there came into view something which arrested my attention
+and engrossed all my thoughts. It was faint glow that at first caught
+my gaze; and, on turning to see it better, I saw a round red spot
+glowing like fire. I had not seen this before. It looked like the moon
+when it rises from behind clouds, and glows red and lurid from the
+horizon; and so this glowed, but not with the steady light of the
+moon, for the light was fitful, and sometimes flashed into a baleful
+brightness, which soon subsided into a dimmer lustre. New alarm arose
+within me, for this new sight suggested something more terrible than
+anything that I had thus far thought of. This, then, I thought, was to
+be the end of my voyage; this was my goal--a pit of fire, into which I
+should be hurled! Would it be well, I thought, to wait for such a
+fate, and experience such a death-agony? Would it not be better for me
+to take my own life before I should know the worst? I took my pistol
+and loaded it, so as to be prepared, but hesitated to use it until my
+fate should be more apparent. So I sat, holding my pistol, prepared to
+use it, watching the light, and awaiting the time when the glowing
+fires should make all further hope impossible. But time passed, and
+the light grew no brighter; on the contrary, it seemed to grow
+fainter. There was also another change. Instead of shining before me,
+it appeared more on my left. From this it went on changing its
+position until at length it was astern. All the time it continued to
+grow fainter, and it seemed certain that I was moving away from it
+rather than toward it. In the midst of this there occurred a new
+thought, which seemed to account for this light--this was, that it
+arose from these same volcanoes which had illuminated the northern sky
+when I was ashore, and followed me still with their glare. I had been
+carried into this darkness, through some vast opening which now lay
+behind me, disclosing the red volcano glow, and this it was that
+caused that roundness and resemblance to the moon. I saw that I was
+still moving on away from that light as before, and that its changing
+position was due to the turning of the boat as the water drifted it
+along, now stern foremost, now sidewise, and again bow foremost. From
+this it seemed plainly evident that the waters had borne me into some
+vast cavern of unknown extent, which went under the mountains--a
+subterranean channel, whose issue I could not conjecture. Was this the
+beginning of that course which should ultimately become a plunge deep
+down into some unutterable abyss? or might I ever hope to emerge again
+into the light of day--perhaps in some other ocean--some land of ice
+and frost and eternal night? But the old theory of the flow of water
+through the earth had taken hold of me and could not be shaken off. I
+knew some scientific men held the opinion that the earth's interior is
+a mass of molten rock and pent-up fire, and that the earth itself had
+once been a burning orb, which had cooled down at the surface; yet,
+after all, this was only a theory, and there were other theories which
+were totally different. As a boy I had read wild works of fiction
+about lands in the interior of the earth, with a sun at the centre,
+which gave them the light of a perpetual day. These, I knew, were only
+the creations of fiction; yet, after all, it seemed possible that the
+earth might contain vast hollow spaces in its interior--realms of
+eternal darkness, caverns in comparison with which the hugest caves on
+the surface were but the tiniest cells. I was now being borne on to
+these. In that case there might be no sudden plunge, after all. The
+stream might run on for many thousand miles through this terrific
+cavern gloom, in accordance with natural laws; and I might thus live,
+and drift on in this darkness, until I should die a lingering death of
+horror and despair.
+
+There was no possible way of forming any estimate as to speed. All was
+dark, and even the glow behind was fading away; nor could I make any
+conjecture whatever as to the size of the channel. At the opening it
+had been contracted and narrow; but here it might have expanded itself
+to miles, and its vaulted top might reach almost to the summit of
+the lofty mountains. While sight thus failed me, sound was equally
+unavailing, for it was always the same--a sustained and unintermittent
+roar, a low, droning sound, deep and terrible, with no variations
+of dashing breakers or rushing rapids or falling cataracts. Vague
+thoughts of final escape came and went; but in such a situation hope
+could not be sustained. The thick darkness oppressed the soul; and
+at length even the glow of the distant volcanoes, which had been
+gradually diminishing, grew dimmer and fainter, and finally faded out
+altogether. That seemed to me to be my last sight of earthly things.
+After this nothing was left. There was no longer for me such a thing
+as sight; there was nothing but darkness--perpetual and eternal night.
+I was buried in a cavern of rushing waters, to which there would be no
+end, where I should be borne onward helplessly by the resistless tide
+to a mysterious and an appalling doom.
+
+The darkness grew so intolerable that I longed for something to dispel
+it, if only for a moment. I struck a match. The air was still, and the
+flame flashed out, lighting up the boat and showing the black water
+around me. This made me eager to see more. I loaded both barrels of
+the rifle, keeping my pistol for another purpose, and then fired one
+of them. There was a tremendous report, that rang in my ears like a
+hundred thunder-volleys, and rolled and reverberated far along, and
+died away in endless echoes. The flash lighted up the scene for an
+instant, and for an instant only; like the sudden lightning, it
+revealed all around. I saw a wide expanse of water, black as ink--a
+Stygian pool; but no rocks were visible, and it seemed as though I
+had been carried into a subterranean sea.
+
+I loaded the empty barrel and waited. The flash of light had revealed
+nothing, yet it had distracted my thoughts, and the work of reloading
+was an additional distraction. Anything was better than inaction. I
+did not wish to waste my ammunition, yet I thought that an occasional
+shot might serve some good purpose, if it was only to afford me some
+relief from despair.
+
+And now, as I sat with the rifle in my hands, I was aware of a
+sound--new, exciting, different altogether from the murmur of
+innumerable waters that filled my ears, and in sharp contrast with
+the droning echoes of the rushing flood. It was a sound that spoke of
+life. I heard quick, heavy pantings, as of some great living thing;
+and with this there came the noise of regular movements in the water,
+and the foaming and gurgling of waves. It was as though some living,
+breathing creature were here, not far away, moving through these
+midnight waters; and with this discovery there came a new fear--the
+fear of pursuit. I thought that some sea-monster had scented me in
+my boat, and had started to attack me. This new fear aroused me to
+action. It was a danger quite unlike any other which I had ever known;
+yet the fear which it inspired was a feeling that roused me to action,
+and prompted me, even though the coming danger might be as sure as
+death, to rise against it and resist to the last. So I stood up with
+my rifle and listened, with all my soul in my sense of hearing. The
+sounds arose more plainly. They had come nearer. They were immediately
+in front. I raised my rifle and took aim. Then in quick succession two
+reports thundered out with tremendous uproar and interminable echoes,
+but the long reverberations were unheeded in the blaze of sudden light
+and the vision that was revealed. For there full before me I saw,
+though but for an instant, a tremendous sight. It was a vast monster,
+moving in the waters against the stream and toward the boat. Its head
+was raised high, its eyes were inflamed with a baleful light, its
+jaws, opened wide, bristled with sharp teeth, and it had a long neck
+joined to a body of enormous bulk, with a tail that lashed all the
+water into foam. It was but for an instant that I saw it, and then
+with a sudden plunge the monster dived, while at the same moment all
+was as dark as before.
+
+Full of terror and excitement, I loaded my rifle again and waited,
+listening for a renewal of the noise. I felt sure that the monster,
+balked of his prey, would return with redoubled fury, and that I
+should have to renew the conflict. I felt that the dangers of the
+subterranean passage and of the rushing waters had passed away, and
+that a new peril had arisen from the assault of this monster of the
+deep. Nor was it this one alone that was to be dreaded. Where one was,
+others were sure to be; and if this one should pass me by it would
+only leave me to be assailed by monsters of the same kind, and these
+would probably increase in number as I advanced farther into this
+realm of darkness. And yet, in spite of these grisly thoughts, I
+felt less of horror than before, for the fear which I had was now
+associated with action; and as I stood waiting for the onset and
+listening for the approach of the enemy, the excitement that ensued
+was a positive relief from the dull despair into which I had sunk but
+a moment before.
+
+Yet, though I waited for a new attack, I waited in vain. The monster
+did not come back. Either the flash and the noise had terrified him,
+or the bullets had hit him, or else in his vastness he had been
+indifferent to so feeble a creature as myself; but whatever may have
+been the cause, he did not emerge again out of the darkness and
+silence into which he had sunk. For a long time I stood waiting; then
+I sat down, still watchful, still listening, but without any result,
+until at length I began to think that there was no chance of any new
+attack. Indeed, it seemed now as though there had been no attack at
+all, but that the monster had been swimming at random without any
+thought of me, in which case my rifle-flashes had terrified him more
+than his fearful form had terrified me. On the whole this incident
+had greatly benefited me. It had roused me from my despair. I grew
+reckless, and felt a disposition to acquiesce in whatever fate might
+have in store for me.
+
+And now, worn out with fatigue and exhausted from long watchfulness
+and anxiety, I sank down in the bottom of the boat and fell into a
+deep sleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE NEW WORLD
+
+
+How long I slept I do not know. My sleep was profound, yet disturbed
+by troubled dreams, in which I lived over again all the eventful
+scenes of the past; and these were all intermingled in the wildest
+confusion. The cannibals beckoned to us from the peak, and we landed
+between the two volcanoes. There the body of the dead sailor received
+us, and afterward chased us to the boat. Then came snow and volcanic
+eruptions, and we drifted amid icebergs and molten lava until we
+entered an iron portal and plunged into darkness. Here there were vast
+swimming monsters and burning orbs of fire and thunderous cataracts
+falling from inconceivable heights, and the sweep of immeasurable
+tides and the circling of infinite whirlpools; while in my ears there
+rang the never-ending roar of remorseless waters that came after us,
+with all their waves and billows rolling upon us. It was a dream in
+which all the material terrors of the past were renewed; but these
+were all as nothing when compared with a certain deep underlying
+feeling that possessed my soul--a sense of loss irretrievable, an
+expectation of impending doom, a drear and immitigable despair.
+
+In the midst of this I awoke. It was with a sudden start, and I looked
+all around in speechless bewilderment. The first thing of which I
+was conscious was a great blaze of light--light so lately lost, and
+supposed to be lost forever, but now filling all the universe--bright,
+brilliant, glowing bringing hope and joy and gladness, with all the
+splendor of deep blue skies and the multitudinous laughter of ocean
+waves that danced and sparkled in the sun. I flung up my arms and
+laughed aloud. Then I burst into tears, and falling on my knees,
+I thanked the Almighty Ruler of the skies for this marvellous
+deliverance.
+
+Rising from my knees I looked around, and once more amazement
+overwhelmed me. I saw a long line of mountains towering up to
+immeasurable heights, their summits covered with eternal ice and
+snow. There the sun blazed low in the sky, elevated but a few degrees
+above the mountain crests, which gleamed in gold and purple under its
+fiery rays. The sun seemed enlarged to unusual dimensions, and the
+mountains ran away on every side like the segment of some infinite
+circle. At the base of the mountains lay a land all green with
+vegetation, where cultivated fields were visible, and vineyards and
+orchards and groves, together with forests of palm and all manner
+of trees of every variety of hue, which ran up the sides of the
+mountains till they reached the limits of vegetation and the regions
+of snow and ice.
+
+Here in all directions there were unmistakable signs of human
+life--the outlines of populous cities and busy towns and hamlets;
+roads winding far away along the plain or up the mountain-sides, and
+mighty works of industry in the shape of massive structures, terraced
+slopes, long rows of arches, ponderous pyramids, and battlemented
+walls.
+
+From the land I turned to the sea. I saw before me an expanse of water
+intensely blue--an extent so vast that never before in all my ocean
+voyages had anything appeared at all comparable with it. Out at sea,
+wherever I had been, the water had always limited the view; the
+horizon had never seemed far away; ships soon sank below it, and the
+visible surface of the earth was thus always contracted; but here, to
+my bewilderment, the horizon appeared to be removed to an immeasurable
+distance and raised high in the air, while the waters were prolonged
+endlessly. Starting from where I was, they went away to inconceivable
+distances, and the view before me seemed like a watery declivity
+reaching for a thousand miles, till it approached the horizon far up
+in the sky. Nor was it any delusion of the senses that caused this
+unparalleled spectacle. I was familiar with the phenomena of the
+mirage, and knew well that there was nothing of that kind here; for
+the mirage always shows great surfaces of stillness, or a regular
+vibration--glassy tides and indistinct distances; but here everything
+was sharply defined in the clear atmosphere: the sky overhung a deep
+blue vault; the waves danced and sparkled in the sun; the waters
+rolled and foamed on every side; and the fresh breeze, as it blew over
+the ocean, brought with it such exhilarating influences that it acted
+upon me like some reviving cordial.
+
+From the works of nature I turned to those of man. These were visible
+everywhere: on the land, in cities and cultivated fields and mighty
+constructions; on the sea, in floating craft, which appeared wherever
+I turned my eyes--boats like those of fishermen, ships long and low,
+some like galleys, propelled by a hundred oars, others provided with
+one huge square-sail, which enabled them to run before the wind.
+They were unlike any ships which I had ever seen; for neither in the
+Mediterranean nor in Chinese waters were there any craft like these,
+and they reminded me rather of those ancient galleys which I had seen
+in pictures.
+
+I was lost in wonder as to where I was, and what land this could be to
+which I had been brought. I had not plunged into the interior of the
+earth, but I had been carried under the mountains, and had emerged
+again into the glad light of the sun. Could it be possible, I thought,
+that Agnew's hope had been realized, and that I had been carried into
+the warm regions of the South Pacific Ocean? Yet in the South Pacific
+there could be no place like this--no immeasurable expanse of waters,
+no horizon raised mountain high. It seemed like a vast basin-shaped
+world, for all around me the surface appeared to rise, and I was in
+what looked like a depression; yet I knew that the basin and the
+depression were an illusion, and that this appearance was due to
+the immense extent of level surface with the environment of lofty
+mountains. I had crossed the antarctic circle; I had been borne onward
+for an immense distance. Over all the known surface of the earth no
+one had ever seen anything like this; there were but two places
+where such an immeasurable plain was possible, and those were at
+the flattened poles. Where I was I now knew well. I had reached the
+antarctic pole. Here the earth was flat--an immense level with no
+roundness to lessen the reach of the horizon but an almost even
+surface that gave an unimpeded view for hundreds of miles.
+
+The subterranean channel had rushed through the mountains and had
+carried me here. Here came all the waters of the Northern ocean
+pouring into this vast polar sea, perhaps to issue forth from it by
+some similar passage. Here, then, was the South Pole--a world by
+itself: and how different from that terrible, that iron land on the
+other side of the mountains!--not a world of ice and frost, but one
+of beauty and light, with a climate that was almost tropical in its
+warmth, and lands that were covered with the rank luxuriance of a
+teeming vegetable life. I had passed from that outer world to this
+inner one, and the passage was from death unto life, from agony and
+despair to sunlight and splendor and joy. Above all, in all around me
+that which most impressed me now was the rich and superabundant life,
+and a warmth of air which made me think of India. It was an amazing
+and an unaccountable thing, and I could only attribute it to the
+flattening of the poles, which brought the surface nearer to the
+supposed central fires of the earth, and therefore created a heat
+as great as that of the equatorial regions. Here I found a tropical
+climate--a land warmed not by the sun, but from the earth itself. Or
+another cause might be found in the warm ocean currents. Whatever the
+true one might be, I was utterly unable to form a conjecture.
+
+But I had no time for such speculations as these. After the first
+emotions of wonder and admiration had somewhat subsided, I began to
+experience other sensations. I began to remember that I had eaten
+nothing for a length of time that I had no means of calculating, and
+to look around to see if there was any way of satisfying my hunger.
+The question arose now, What was to be done? After my recent terrible
+experience I naturally shrank from again committing myself to the
+tender mercies of strange tribes; yet further thought and examination
+showed me that the people of this strange land must be very different
+from those frightful savages on the other side of the mountains.
+Everywhere I beheld the manifest signs of cultivation and
+civilization. Still, I knew that even civilized people would not
+necessarily be any kinder than savages, and that I might be seized
+and flung into hopeless imprisonment or slavery.
+
+So I hesitated, yet what could I do? My hunger was beginning to be
+insupportable. I had reached a place where I had to choose between
+starvation on the one hand, or a venture among these people on the
+other. To go back was impossible. Who could breast those waters in the
+tremendous subterranean channel, or force his way back through such
+appalling dangers? Or, if that were possible, who could ever hope to
+breast those mighty currents beyond, or work his way amid everlasting
+ice and immeasurable seas? No; return was impossible. I had been
+flung into this world of wonders, and here would be my home for the
+remainder of my days; though I could not now imagine whether those
+days would be passed in peace or in bitter slavery and sorrow. Yet the
+decision must be made and the risk must be run. It must be so. I must
+land here, venture among these people, and trust in that Providence
+which had hitherto sustained me.
+
+Having thus resolved at all hazards to try my fate, I rowed in toward
+the shore. Thus far I had seen galleys passing and small boats, but
+they had taken no notice of me, for the reason that they were too far
+away to perceive anything about me that differed from any other boat;
+but now, as I rowed, I noticed a galley coming down toward me. She
+seemed to be going in toward the shore at the very point at which I
+was aiming, and her course and mine must soon meet if I continued to
+row. After some hesitation I concluded to make signals to her, so as
+to attract attention; for, now that I had resolved to venture among
+the people here, I was anxious to end my suspense as soon as possible.
+So I continued rowing, and gradually drew nearer. The galley was
+propelled by oars, of which there were fifty on either side. The stem
+was raised, and covered in like a cabin. At length I ceased rowing,
+and sat watching her. I soon saw that I was noticed, but this did
+not occur till the galley was close by me--so close, indeed, that I
+thought they would pass without perceiving me. I raised my hands,
+waved them, and gave a cry. The galley at once stopped, a boat was
+lowered, and some men descended and rowed toward me.
+
+They were men of strange appearance--very small in stature and slender
+in frame. Their hair was black and straight, their features were quite
+regular, and their general expression was one of great gentleness. I
+was surprised to notice that they kept their eyes almost closed, as
+though they were weak and troubled by the glare of the sun. With their
+half-closed eyes they blinked at me, and then one who appeared to be
+their chief spoke to me. I understood not a word; and then I answered
+him in English, which, of course, was equally unintelligible to him.
+I then made signs, pointing to the mountains and endeavoring to make
+known to him that I had come from beyond them--that I had suffered
+shipwreck, that I had drifted here, and that I needed assistance. Of
+all this it was quite evident that they understood nothing except the
+fact that I needed help. The moment that they comprehended this they
+took me in tow and rowed back to the galley.
+
+I found the galley to be about one hundred and fifty feet in length.
+For about two thirds of this length forward it was open and filled
+with seats, where there were about a hundred rowers, who all looked
+like those that I had first seen, all being of small stature,
+slender frames, and, moreover, all being apparently distressed by
+the sunlight. There was in all of them the same mild and gentle
+expression. In complexion and general outline of features they were
+not unlike Arabs, but they were entirely destitute of that hardness
+and austerity which the latter have. They all had beards, which were
+dressed in a peculiar way in plaits. Their costume varied. The rowers
+wore a coarse tunic, with a girdle of rope. The officers wore tunics
+of fine cloth and very elegant mantles, richly embroidered, and with
+borders of down. They all wore broad-brimmed hats, and the one who
+seemed to be chief had on his some golden ornaments.
+
+Here once more I tried to explain to them who I was. They looked at
+me, examining me all over, inspecting my gun, pistol, coat, trousers,
+boots, and hat, and talking all the time among themselves. They did
+not touch me, but merely showed the natural curiosity which is felt at
+the sight of a foreigner who has appeared unexpectedly. There was a
+scrupulous delicacy and a careful and even ceremonious politeness in
+their attitude toward me which was at once amazing and delightful. All
+fear and anxiety had now left me; in the gentle manners and amiable
+faces of these people I saw enough to assure me of kind treatment;
+and in my deep joy and gratitude for this even my hunger was for a
+time forgotten.
+
+At length the chief motioned to me to follow him. He led the way to
+the cabin, where, opening the door, he entered, and I followed, after
+which the others came in also and then the door was shut. At first I
+could see nothing. There were no windows whatever, and only one or two
+slight crevices through which the light came. After a time my eyes
+grew more accustomed to the darkness, and I could see that the cabin
+was a spacious compartment, adorned with rich hangings of some unknown
+material. There was a large table and seats. Taking me by the hand,
+the chief led me to this, where I seated myself, while the others
+remained standing. Then some of them went away, and soon returned with
+food and drink. The food was of different kinds--some tasting like
+goose, others like turkey, others like partridge. It was all the flesh
+of fowls, though, judging from the slices before me, they must have
+been of great size. I wondered much at the behavior of the officers
+of the ship, who all, and the chief himself more than all, stood and
+waited upon me; but it was a new world, and I supposed that this must
+be the fashion; so I made no objections, but accepted the situation
+and ate with a thankful heart.
+
+As the first keenness of my appetite was satisfied I had more leisure
+to make observations. I noticed that the eyes of my new friends no
+longer blinked; they were wide open; and, so far as I could make
+them out, their faces were much improved. Weakness of eyes seemed
+common among these people, and therefore the officers had their cabin
+darkened, while the unfortunate rowers had to labor in the blazing
+sun. Such was my conclusion, and the fact reminded me of the miserable
+fellahin of Egypt, who have ophthalmia from the blazing sun and
+burning sand.
+
+After the repast they brought me water in a basin, and all stood
+around me. One held the basin, another a towel, another a flask,
+another took a sponge and proceeded to wash my face and hands.
+This was all strange to me, yet there was nothing left for me but
+submission. Then the chief, who had stood looking on with a smile on
+his face took off his rich furred mantle and handed it to me. I was
+half inclined to refuse it, but was afraid of giving offence, so I
+accepted it, and he himself fastened it around my shoulders. The
+others seemed actually to envy the chief, as though he had gained some
+uncommon good-fortune. Then they offered me various drinks, of which
+I tasted several kinds. Some were sweet waters of different flavors,
+others tasted like mild wine, one was a fermented drink, light, sweet,
+and very agreeable to the palate. I now wished to show my generous
+entertainers that I was grateful; so I raised my cup, bowed to all
+of them, particularly the chief, and drank their health. They all
+watched this ceremony with very sober faces, and I could not quite
+make out whether they took my meaning or not. They certainly did not
+look pleased, and it seemed to me as though they felt hurt at any
+expression of gratitude, so I concluded for the future to abstain
+from all such demonstrations.
+
+Yet with every moment the manners of these people grew more
+bewildering. It was strange, indeed, for me to find myself so suddenly
+the centre of interest and of generous intentions. For a moment the
+thought occurred to me that they regarded me as some wonderful being
+with superior powers, and were trying to propitiate me by these
+services; yet I soon saw that these services were not at all acts
+of propitiation; they looked rather like those loving and profuse
+attentions which a family showers down upon some dear one long absent
+and at last returned, and with this my wonder grew greater than ever.
+
+The galley had long since resumed her progress. I heard the steady
+beat of the oars as they all moved in time, and at length the motion
+ceased. The chief then signed to me and went out. I followed, and the
+rest came after. And now as I emerged from the gloom of the cabin, I
+found myself once more in the glorious light of day, and saw that we
+had reached the land. The galley was hauled up alongside a stone quay,
+and on the shore there were buildings and walls and trees and people.
+The chief went ashore at once and I accompanied him. We walked for
+some distance along a road with stone walls on either side, from
+behind which there arose trees that from a distance had looked like
+palms. I now found them to be giant ferns, arching overhead with their
+broad fanlike leaves and branches in dense masses, making the roadway
+quite dark in the shadow. Astonished as I was at the sight of these
+trees, I soon forgot them in a still more astonishing sight, for after
+going onward about a hundred paces I stopped, and found myself in a
+wide space where four cross-roads met. Here there were three birds of
+gigantic stature. They had vast bodies, short legs, short necks, and
+seemed as large as an ordinary-sized ox. Their wings were short, and
+evidently could not be used for flight; their beaks were like that of
+a sea-gull; each one had a man on his back, and was harnessed to a
+car. The chief motioned to me to enter one of these cars. I did so. He
+followed, and thereupon the driver started the bird, which set forth
+with long, rapid strides, at a pace fast as that of a trotting horse.
+So astonished was I that for some time I did not notice anything else;
+but at length, when my first feeling had subsided, I began to regard
+other objects. All the way the dense fern foliage arched overhead,
+throwing down deep shadows. They grew on either side in dense rows,
+but between their stalks I could see the country beyond, which lay
+all bright in the sunlight.
+
+Here were broad fields, all green with verdure; farther away arose
+clumps of tree-ferns; at every step of the way new vistas opened; amid
+the verdure and the foliage were the roofs of structures that looked
+like pavilions, and more massive edifices with pyramidal roofs. Our
+road constantly ascended, and at length we came to a crossing. This
+was a wide terrace at the slope of the mountain; on the lower side was
+a row of massive stone edifices with pyramidal roofs, while on the
+upper there were portals which seemed to open into excavated caverns.
+Here, too, on either side arose the giant ferns, overarching and
+darkening the terrace with their deep shadow. From this point I looked
+back, and through the trunks of the tree-ferns I could see fields
+and pavilions and the pyramidal roofs of massive edifices, and
+broad, verdant slopes, while in the distance there were peeps of the
+boundless sea. We continued on our way without stopping, and passed
+several successive terraces like the first, with the same caverns on
+the upper side and massive edifices on the lower, until at last the
+ascent ended at the fifth terrace, and here we turned to the left.
+Now the view became more varied. The tree-ferns arose on either side,
+arching overhead; on my right were the portals that opened into
+caverns, on my left solid and massive houses, built of great blocks of
+stone, with pyramidal roofs. As far as I could judge, I was in a city
+built on the slope of a mountain, with its streets formed thus of
+successive terraces and their connecting cross-ways, one half its
+habitations consisting of caverns, while the other half were pavilions
+and massive stone structures. Few people, however, were to be seen.
+Occasionally I saw one or two groping along with their eyes half
+shut, seeking the darkest shadows; and it seemed to me that this
+extraordinary race of men had some natural and universal peculiarity
+of eyesight which made them shun the sunlight, and seek the darkness
+of caves and of dense, overshadowing foliage.
+
+At length we came to a place where the terrace ran back till it formed
+a semicircle against the mountain slope, when several vast portals
+appeared. Here there was a large space, where the tree-ferns grew in
+long lines crossing each other, and making a denser shade than usual.
+On the lower side were several stone edifices of immense size; and
+in the middle of the place there arose a singular structure, shaped
+like a half pyramid, with three sides sloping, and the fourth
+perpendicular, flat on the top, which was approached by a flight of
+steps. We now went on until we reached the central portal of the range
+of caverns, and here we stopped. The chief got out and beckoned to me.
+I followed. He then led the way into the cavern, while I, full of
+wonder, walked behind him.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+SCIENTIFIC THEORIES AND SCEPTICISM
+
+
+Thus far Melick had been reading the manuscript, but at this point he
+was interrupted by the announcement that dinner was ready. Upon this
+he stopped abruptly; for on board the Falcon dinner was the great
+event of the day, and in its presence even the manuscript had to be
+laid aside. Before long they were all seated around the dining-table
+in the sumptuous cabin, prepared to discuss the repast which had been
+served up by the genius of the French chef whom Lord Featherstone
+had brought with him.
+
+Let us pause here for a moment to take a minuter survey of these four
+friends. In the first place, there was Lord Featherstone himself,
+young, handsome, languid, good-natured to a fault, with plenty of
+muscle if he chose to exert it, and plenty of brain if he chose to
+make use of it--a man who had become weary of the monotony of high
+life, and, like many of his order, was fond of seeking relief from the
+ennui of prosperity amid the excitements of the sea. Next to him was
+Dr. Congreve, a middle-aged man, with iron-gray hair, short beard and
+mustache, short nose, gray eyes, with spectacles, and stoutish body.
+Next came Noel Oxenden, late of Trinity College, Cambridge, a college
+friend of Featherstone's--a tall man, with a refined and intellectual
+face and reserved manner. Finally, there was Otto Melick, a
+litterateur from London, about thirty years of age, with a wiry and
+muscular frame, and the restless manner of one who lives in a
+perpetual fidget.
+
+For some time nothing was said; they partook of the repast in silence;
+but at length it became evident that they were thinking of the
+mysterious manuscript. Featherstone was the first to speak.
+
+"A deuced queer sort of thing this, too," said he, "this manuscript.
+I can't quite make it out. Who ever dreamed of people living at the
+South Pole--and in a warm climate, too? Then it seems deuced odd, too,
+that we should pick up this copper cylinder with the manuscript. I
+hardly know what to think about it."
+
+Melick smiled. "Why, it isn't much to see through," said he.
+
+"See through what?" said the doctor, hastily, pricking up his ears
+at this, and peering keenly at Melick through his spectacles.
+
+"Why, the manuscript, of course."
+
+"Well," said the doctor, "what is it that you see? What do you make
+out of it?"
+
+"Why, anyone can see," said Melick, "that it's a transparent hoax,
+that's all. You don't mean to say, I hope, that you really regard it
+in any other light?"
+
+"A transparent hoax!" repeated the doctor. "Will you please state why
+you regard it in that light?"
+
+"Certainly," said Melick. "Some fellow wanted to get up a sensation
+novel and introduce it to the world with a great flourish of trumpets,
+and so he has taken this way of going about it. You see, he has
+counted on its being picked up, and perhaps published. After this he
+would come forward and own the authorship."
+
+"And what good would that do?" asked the doctor, mildly. "He couldn't
+prove the authorship, and he couldn't get the copyright."
+
+"Oh, of course not; but he would gain notoriety, and that would give
+him a great sale for his next effort."
+
+The doctor smiled. "See here, Melick," said he, "you've a very vivid
+imagination, my dear fellow; but come, let us discuss this for a
+little while in a common-sense way. Now how long should you suppose
+that this manuscript has been afloat?"
+
+"Oh, a few months or so," said Melick.
+
+"A few months!" said the doctor. "A few years you mean. Why, man,
+there are successive layers of barnacles on that copper cylinder which
+show a submersion of at least three years, perhaps more."
+
+"By Jove! yes," remarked Featherstone. "Your sensation novelist must
+have been a lunatic if he chose that way of publishing a book."
+
+"Then, again," continued the doctor, "how did it get here?"
+
+"Oh, easily enough," answered Melick. "The ocean currents brought it."
+
+"The ocean currents!" repeated the doctor. "That's a very vague
+expression. What do you mean? Of course it has been brought here by
+the ocean currents."
+
+"Why, if it were thrown off the coast of England it would be carried
+away, in the ordinary course of things, and might make the tour of the
+world."
+
+"The ocean currents," said the doctor, "have undoubtedly brought this
+to us. Of that I shall have more to say presently--but just now, in
+reference to your notion of a sensation novelist, and an English
+origin, let me ask your opinion of the material on which it is
+written. Did you ever see anything like it before? Is it paper?"
+
+"No," said Melick; "it is evidently some vegetable substance. No doubt
+the writer has had it prepared for this very purpose, so as to make it
+look natural."
+
+"Do you know what is is?" asked the doctor.
+
+"No."
+
+"Then I'll tell you; it's papyrus."
+
+"Papyrus?"
+
+"Yes, actual papyrus. You can find but little of that in existence at
+the present day. It is only to be found here and there in museums.
+I know it perfectly well, however, and saw what it was at the first
+glance. Now, I hold that a sensation novelist would never have thought
+of papyrus. If he didn't wish to use paper, he could have found a
+dozen other things. I don't see how he could have found anyone able to
+prepare such a substance as this for writing. It must have come from a
+country where it is actually in use. Now, mark you, the papyrus-plant
+may still be found growing wild on the banks of the upper Nile, and
+also in Sicily, and it is made use of for ropes and other things of
+that sort. But as to making writing material out of it, that is hardly
+possible for the art is lost. The ancient process was very elaborate
+and this manuscript is written on leaves which resembled in a
+marvellous manner those of the Egyptian papyrus books. There are two
+rolls at Marseilles which I have seen and examined, and they are
+identical with this. Now these papyrus leaves indicate much mechanical
+skill, and have a professional look. They seem like the work of an
+experienced manufacturer."
+
+"I don't see," said Melick, obstinately, "why one shouldn't get
+papyrus now and have it made up into writing material."
+
+"Oh, that's out of the question," said the doctor. "How could it
+ever enter into anyone's head? How could your mere sensation-monger
+procure the raw material? That of itself would be a work of immense
+difficulty. How could he get it made up? That would be impossible.
+But, apart from this, just consider the strong internal evidence that
+there is as to the authenticity of the manuscript. Now, in the first
+place, there is the description of Desolation Island, which is
+perfectly accurate. But it is on his narrative beyond this that I lay
+chief stress. I can prove that the statements here are corroborated
+by those of Captain Ross in his account of that great voyage from
+which he returned not very long ago."
+
+The doctor, who had been talking with much enthusiasm, paused here to
+take breath, and then went on:
+
+"I happen to know all about that voyage, for I read a full report of
+it just before we started, and you can see for yourselves whether this
+manuscript is credible or not.
+
+"Captain James Clarke Ross was sent forth on his expedition in 1839.
+On January 1, 1841, he passed the antarctic circle in 178 degrees east
+longitude. On the 11th he discovered land in 70 degrees 41' south
+latitude, 172 degrees 36' east longitude. He found that the land was
+a continuous coast, trending southward, and rising to peaks of ten
+thousand feet in height, all covered with ice and snow. On the 12th
+he landed and took possession in the name of the Queen. After this he
+continued his course as far as 78 degrees 4' south latitude, tracing a
+coast-line of six hundred miles. Observe, now how all this coincides
+with More's narrative. Well, I now come to the crowning statement. In
+77 degrees 32' south latitude, 167 degrees east longitude, he came in
+sight of two enormous volcanoes over twelve thousand feet in height.
+One of these was in an active state of eruption. To this he gave the
+name of Mount Erebus. The other was quiet; it was of somewhat less
+height, and he gave it the name of Mount Terror. Mark, now, how
+wonderfully this resembles More's account. Well, just here his
+progress was arrested by a barrier which presented a perpendicular
+wall of over a hundred and fifty feet in height, along which he
+coasted for some distance. On the following year he penetrated six
+miles farther south, namely, 78 degrees 11' south latitude, 161
+degrees 27' west longitude. At this point he was again stopped by the
+impassable cliffs, which arose here like an eternal barrier, while
+beyond them he saw a long line of lofty mountains covered with ice
+and snow."
+
+"Did you hear the result of the American expedition?" asked Melick.
+
+"Yes," replied the doctor. "Wilkes pretends to have found a continent,
+but his account of it makes it quite evident to my mind that he saw
+nothing but ice. I believe that Wilkes's antarctic continent will some
+day be penetrated by ships, which will sail for hundreds of miles
+farther south. All that is wanted is a favorable season. But mark the
+coincidence between Ross's report and More's manuscript. This must
+have been written at least three years ago, and the writer could not
+have known anything about Ross's discoveries. Above all, he could not
+have thought of those two volcanoes unless he had seen them."
+
+"But these volcanoes mentioned by More are not the Erebus and Terror,
+are they?" said Lord Featherstone.
+
+"Of course not; they are on the other side of the world."
+
+"The whole story," said Melick, "may have been written by one of
+Ross's men and thrown overboard. If I'd been on that expedition I
+should probably have written it to beguile the time."
+
+"Oh yes," said the doctor; "and you would also have manufactured the
+papyrus and the copper cylinder on board to beguile the time."
+
+"I dare say the writer picked up that papyrus and the copper cylinder
+in China or Japan, and made use of it in this way."
+
+"Where do you make out the position of More's volcanoes?" asked
+Featherstone.
+
+"It is difficult to make it out accurately," said the doctor. "More
+gives no data. In fact he had none to give. He couldn't take any
+observations."
+
+"The fact is," said Melick, "it's not a sailor's yarn at all. No
+sailor would ever express himself in that way. That's what struck me
+from the first. It has the ring of a confounded sensation-monger all
+through."
+
+The doctor elevated his eyebrows, but took no notice of this.
+
+"You see," he continued, addressing himself to the others, "Desolation
+Island is in 50 degrees south latitude and 70 degrees east longitude.
+As I make out, More's course led him over about ten degrees of
+longitude in a southwest course. That course depended altogether upon
+the ocean currents. Now there is a great antarctic drift-current,
+which flows round the Cape of Good Hope and divides there, one half
+flowing past the east coast of Africa and the other setting across
+the Indian Ocean. Then it unites with a current which flows round the
+south of Van Dieman's Land, which also divides, and the southernmost
+current is supposed to cross the Pacific until it strikes Cape Horn,
+around which it flows, dividing as before. Now my theory is, that
+south of Desolation Island--I don't know how far--there is a great
+current setting toward the South Pole, and running southwest through
+degrees of longitude 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, east of Greenwich; and
+finally sweeping on, it would reach More's volcanoes at a point which
+I should judge to be about 80 degrees south latitude and 10 degrees
+west longitude. There it passes between the volcanoes and bursts
+through the vast mountain barrier by a subterranean way, which has
+been formed for it in past ages by some primeval convulsion of nature.
+After this it probably sweeps around the great South Polar ocean, and
+emerges at the opposite side, not far from the volcanoes Erebus and
+Terror."
+
+Here the doctor paused, and looked around with some self-complacency.
+
+"Oh," said Melick, "if you take that tone, you have us all at your
+mercy. I know no more about the geography of the antarctic circle than
+I do of the moon. I simply criticize from a literary point of view,
+and I don't like his underground cavern with the stream running
+through it. It sounds like one of the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.
+Nor do I like his description; he evidently is writing for effect.
+Besides, his style is vicious; it is too stilted. Finally, he has
+recourse to the stale device of a sea-serpent."
+
+"A sea-serpent!" repeated the doctor. "Well, for my part I feel by
+no means inclined to sneer at a sea-serpent. Its existence cannot
+be proved, yet it cannot be pooh-poohed. Every schoolboy knows that
+the waters of the sea were once filled with monsters more tremendous
+than the greatest sea-serpent that has ever been imagined. The
+plesiosaurus, with its snakelike head, if it existed now, would be
+called a sea-serpent. Some of these so-called fossil animals may have
+their representatives still living in the remoter parts of the world.
+Think of the recently discovered ornithorhynchus of Australia!"
+
+"If you please, I'd really much rather not," said Melick with a
+gesture of despair. "I haven't the honor of the gentleman's
+acquaintance."
+
+"Well, what do you think of his notice of the sun, and the long light,
+and his low position on the horizon?"
+
+"Oh, that's all right," said Melick. "Anyone who chose to get up this
+thing would of course read up about the polar day, and all that.
+Everyone knows that at the poles there is a six-months' day, followed
+by a six-months' night."
+
+"You are a determined sceptic," said the doctor.
+
+"How is it about the polar day?" asked Featherstone.
+
+"Well," said the doctor, "at the poles themselves there is one day
+of six months, during which the sun never sets, and one night of six
+months, during which he never rises. In the spaces between the polar
+circles the quantities of the continuous day and continuous night vary
+in accordance with the distance from the pole. At the north point of
+Nova Zembla, 75 degrees north latitude, there is uninterrupted light
+from May 1st to August 12th, and uninterrupted darkness from November
+8th to February 9th. At the arctic circle at the summer solstice the
+day is twenty-four hours long. At the antarctic circle at the same
+time the night is twenty-four hours long."
+
+Upon this Melick filled the doctor's wine-glass with a great deal of
+ceremony.
+
+"After all those statistics," he said, "you must feel rather dry. You
+should take a drink before venturing any further."
+
+The doctor made no reply, but raised the glass to his lips and
+swallowed the wine in an abstracted way.
+
+"The thing that struck me most," said Oxenden, "in all that has been
+read thus far, is the flatness of the South Pole, and the peculiar
+effect which this produces on the landscape."
+
+"I must say," added Melick, "that the writer has got hold of a very
+good idea there, and has taken care to put it forward in a very
+prominent fashion."
+
+"What is the difference," asked Oxenden, "between the two diameters of
+the earth, the polar and the equatorial? Is it known?"
+
+"By Jove!" said Featherstone, "that's the very question I was going to
+ask. I've always heard that the earth is flattened at the poles, but
+never knew how much. Is there any way by which people can find out?"
+
+The doctor drew a long breath, and beamed upon the company with a
+benevolent smile.
+
+"Oh yes," said he; "I can answer that question, if you care to know
+and won't feel bored."
+
+"Answer it, then, my dear fellow, by all means," said Featherstone,
+in his most languid tone.
+
+"There are two ways," said the doctor, "by which the polar compression
+of the earth has been found out. One is by the measurement of arcs
+on the earth's surface; the other is by experiments with pendulums
+or weights with regard to the earth's gravity at different places.
+The former of these methods is, perhaps, the more satisfactory.
+Measurements of arcs have been made on a very extensive scale in
+different parts of the world--in England, France, Lapland, Peru, and
+India. Mr. Ivory, who devoted himself for years to an exhaustive
+examination of the subject, has deduced that the equatorial radius of
+the earth is over 3962 miles, and the polar radius over 3949 miles.
+This makes the depression at either pole upward of thirteen miles. A
+depression of over thirteen miles, as you must plainly see, should
+produce strange results in the scenery at the poles. Of course, if
+there are mountains, no difference would be noticed between this and
+any other part of the earth's surface; but if there is water, why,
+we ought to expect some such state of things as More describes. The
+gravitation test has also been tried, with very nearly the same
+result. The surface of the earth at the equator, being farthest from
+the centre of gravity, indicates the least weight in bodies; but at
+the poles, where the surface is nearest the centre of gravity, there
+must be the greatest weight. It is found, in fact, that the weight
+of bodies increases in passing from the equator to the poles. By
+experiments made in this way the polar compression is ascertained to
+be the same as I have mentioned."
+
+"What effect would this have on the climate at the poles?" asked
+Oxenden.
+
+"That's a complicated question," said the doctor. "In answer to that
+we must leave ascertained facts and trust to theories, unless, indeed,
+we accept as valid the statements of this remarkable manuscript.
+For my own part, I see no reason why it should not be as More says.
+Remember, this polar world is thirteen miles nearer to the centre of
+the earth. Whether this should affect the climate or not, depends upon
+the nature of the earth's interior. That interior, according to the
+popular theory of the present day is a mass of fire. This theory
+affirms that the earth was once a red-hot mass, which has cooled down;
+but the cooling process has only taken place on the surface, leaving
+the interior still a molten mass of matter in a state of intense heat
+and combustion. At the poles the surface is thus thirteen miles nearer
+to these tremendous fires. Of course it may be supposed that the
+earth's crust is of about equal thickness on all parts; yet still,
+even if this be so, thirteen miles ought to make some difference. Now
+at the North Pole there seem to be causes at work to counterbalance
+the effect of the internal heat, chiefly in the enormous accumulation
+of polar ice which probably hems it in on every side; and though many
+believe in an open polar sea of warm water at the North Pole, yet
+still the effect of vast ice-masses and of cold submarine currents
+must be to render the climate severe. But at the South Pole it is
+different. The observations of Ross and of More show us that there is
+a chain of mountains of immense height, which seem to encircle the
+pole. If this be so, and I see no reason to disbelieve it, then the
+ice of the outer seas must be kept away altogether from that strange
+inner sea of which More speaks. Ross saw the volcanoes Erebus and
+Terror; More saw two others. How many more there may be it is
+impossible to say; but all this shows that the effect of the earth's
+internal fires is very manifest in that region, and More has
+penetrated to a secluded world, which lies apart by itself, free from
+the influence of ice-masses, left to feel the effect of the internal
+fires, and possessing what is virtually a tropical climate."
+
+"Well," said Melick, "there is no theory however wild and fantastic,
+which some man of science will not be ready to support and to fortify
+by endless arguments, all of the most plausible kind. For my own part,
+I still believe More and his south polar world to be no more authentic
+than Sindbad the Sailor."
+
+But the others evidently sympathized with the doctor's view, and
+regarded Melick as carrying his scepticism to an absurd excess.
+
+"How large do you suppose this south polar ocean to be?" asked
+Featherstone.
+
+"It is impossible to answer that question exactly," said the doctor.
+"It may be, as More hints, a thousand miles in extent, or only five
+hundred, or two hundred. For my own part, however, I feel like
+taking More's statements at their utmost value; and the idea that
+I have gathered from his narrative is that of a vast sea like the
+Mediterranean, surrounded by impassable mountains, by great and
+fertile countries, peopled with an immense variety of animals, with
+a fauna and flora quite unlike those of the rest of the world;
+and, above all, with great nations possessing a rare and unique
+civilization, and belonging to a race altogether different from
+any of the known races of men."
+
+"Well," said Melick, "that at least is the idea which the writer of
+the manuscript tries to convey."
+
+By this time they had finished dinner.
+
+"And now," said Featherstone, "let's have some more of the manuscript.
+Melick is tired of it, I dare say. I would relieve him, but I'm an
+infernally bad reader. Doctor, what do you say? Will you read the next
+instalment!"
+
+"With all my heart," said the doctor, briskly.
+
+"Very well, then," said Featherstone; "we will all be your attentive
+hearers."
+
+And now the doctor took up the manuscript and began to read.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE CAVE-DWELLERS
+
+
+The cavern into which the chief led me was very spacious, but had
+no light except that which entered through the portal. It was with
+difficulty that I could see anything, but I found that there were many
+people here moving about, all as intent upon their own pursuits as
+those which one encounters in the streets of our cities. As we went
+on farther the darkness increased, until at last I lost sight of the
+chief altogether, and he had to come back and lead me. After going
+a little farther we came to a long, broad passage-way like a
+subterranean street, about twenty feet in width, and as many in
+height. Here there were discernible a few twinkling lamps, which
+served to make the darkness less intense and enabled me to see the
+shadowy figures around. These were numerous, and all seemed busy,
+though what their occupation might be I could not guess. I was amazed
+at the extent of these caverns, and at the multitude of the people. I
+saw also that from the nature of their eyes the sunlight distressed
+them, and in this cavern gloom they found their most congenial
+dwelling-place. From what I had thus far seen, this extraordinary
+people shrank from the sunlight; and when they had to move abroad they
+passed over roads which were darkened as much as possible by the deep
+shadows of mighty ferns, while for the most part they remained in
+dark caverns, in which they lived and moved and had their being. It
+was a puzzle to me whether the weakness of their eyes had caused
+this dislike of light, or the habit of cave-dwelling had caused this
+weakness of eyes. Here, in this darkness, where there was but a faint
+twinkle from the feeble lamps, their eyes seemed to serve them as well
+as mine did in the outer light of day; and the chief, who outside had
+moved with an uncertain step, and had blinked painfully at objects
+with his eyes almost closed, now appeared to be in his proper element;
+and while I hesitated like a blind man and groped along with a
+faltering step, he guided me, and seemed to see everything with
+perfect vision.
+
+At length we stopped, and the chief raised up a thick, heavy mat which
+hung like an unwieldly curtain in front of a doorway. This the chief
+lifted. At once a blaze of light burst forth, gleaming into the dark,
+and appearing to blind him. His eyes closed. He held up the veil for
+me to pass through. I did so. He followed, and then groped his way
+slowly along, while I accompanied and assisted him.
+
+I now found myself in a large grotto with an arched roof, from which
+was suspended an enormous lamp, either golden or gilded. All around
+were numerous lamps. The walls were adorned with rich hangings;
+couches were here, with soft cushions, and divans and ottomans; soft
+mats were on the floor, and everything gave indications of luxury and
+wealth. Other doors, covered with overhanging mats, seemed to lead out
+of this grotto. To one of these the chief walked, and raising the mat
+he led the way into another grotto like the last, with the same bright
+lights and the same adornments, but of smaller size. Here I saw
+someone who at once took up all my attention.
+
+It was a young maiden. Her face and form, but especially her eyes,
+showed her to be of quite a different race from these others. To me
+she was of medium height, yet she was taller than any of the people
+here that I had hitherto seen. Her complexion was much lighter; her
+hair was dark, luxuriant, and wavy, and arranged in a coiffure secured
+with a golden band. Her features were of a different cast from those
+of the people here, for they were regular in outline and of exquisite
+beauty; her nose was straight; she had a short upper lip, arched
+eyebrows finely pencilled, thin lips, and well-rounded chin. But the
+chief contrast was in her eyes. These were large, dark, liquid, with
+long lashes, and with a splendid glow in their lustrous depths. She
+stood looking at me with her face full of amazement; and as I caught
+the gaze of her glorious eyes I rejoiced that I had at last found one
+who lived in the light and loved it--one who did not blink like a bat,
+but looked me full in the face, and allowed me to see all her soul
+revealed. The chief, who still was pained by the glare of light, kept
+his eyes covered, and said a few hasty words to the maiden. After this
+he hurried away, leaving me there.
+
+The maiden stood for a moment looking at me. As the chief spoke to
+her a change came over her face. She looked at me in silence, with
+an expression of sad and mournful interest, which seemed to increase
+every moment. At length she approached and said something in the same
+strange language which the chief had used. I shook my head and replied
+in English, whereupon she shook her head with a look of perplexity.
+Then, anxious to conciliate her, I held out my hand. She looked at
+it in some surprise. Upon this I took her hand, and pressed it to my
+lips, feeling, however, somewhat doubtful as to the way in which she
+might receive such an advance. To my great delight she accepted it in
+a friendly spirit, and seemed to consider it my foreign fashion of
+showing friendship and respect. She smiled and nodded, and pointed to
+my gun, which thus far I had carried in my hand. I smiled and laid
+it down. Then she pointed to a seat. I sat down, and then she seated
+herself close by me, and we looked at each other in mutual wonder and
+mutual inquiry.
+
+I was full of amazement at thus meeting with so exquisite a being,
+and lost myself in conjectures as to her race, her office, and her
+position here. Who was she, or what? She was unlike the others, and
+reminded me of those Oriental beauties whose portraits I had seen in
+annuals and illustrated books. Her costume was in keeping with such
+a character. She wore a long tunic that reached from the neck to the
+ground, secured at the waist with a golden girdle; the sleeves were
+long and loose; over this she had a long mantle; on her feet were
+light slippers, white and glistening. All about her, in her room and
+in her costume, spoke of light and splendor and luxury. To these
+others who shrank so from the light she could not be related in any
+way. The respect with which she was treated by the chief, the peculiar
+splendor of her apartments, seemed to indicate some high rank. Was
+she, then, the queen of the land? Was she a princess? I could not
+tell. At any rate, whatever she was, she seemed anxious to show me
+the utmost attention. Her manner was full of dignity and sweet
+graciousness, and she appeared particularly anxious to make herself
+understood. At first she spoke in a language that sounded like that of
+the chief, and was full of gutturals and broad vowels; afterward she
+spoke in another that was far more euphonious. I, on the other hand
+spoke in English and in French; but of course I was as unintelligible
+to her as she was to me.
+
+Language was, therefore, of no use. It was necessary to go back to
+first principles and make use of signs, or try to gain the most
+elementary words of her language; so first of all I pointed to her,
+and tried to indicate that I wanted to know her name. She caught my
+meaning at once, and, pointing to herself, she looked fixedly at me
+and said, "Almah, Almah!"
+
+I repeated these words after her, saying, "Almah, Almah!" She smiled
+and nodded, and then pointed to me with a look of inquiry that plainly
+asked for my name. I said "Adam More." She repeated this, and it
+sounded like "A-tam-or." But as she spoke this slowly her smile died
+away. She looked anxious and troubled, and once more that expression
+of wondering sadness came over her face. She repeated my name over and
+over in this way with a mournful intonation that thrilled through me,
+and excited forebodings of evil. "Atamor, Atamor!" And always after
+that she called me "Atamor."
+
+But now she sat for some time, looking at me with a face full of pity
+and distress. At this I was greatly astonished; for but a moment
+before she had been full of smiles, and it was as though something in
+my name had excited sorrowful thoughts. Yet how could that be, since
+she could never by any possibility have heard my name before? The
+beautiful Almah seemed to be not altogether happy, or why should she
+be so quick to sadness? There was a mystery about all this which was
+quite unaccountable.
+
+It was a singular situation, and one which excited within me feelings
+of unutterable delight. This light and splendor, this warmth and
+peace--what a contrast it offered to the scenes through which I had
+but lately passed! Those scenes of horror, of ice and snow, of storm
+and tempest, of cold and hunger, of riven cliff and furious ocean
+stream, and, above all, that crowning agony in the bleak iron-land of
+the cannibals--from all these I had escaped. I had been drawn down
+under the earth to experience the terrors of that unspeakable passage,
+and had at last emerged to light and life, to joy and hope. In this
+grotto I had found the culmination of all happiness. It was like a
+fairy realm; and here was one whose very look was enough to inspire
+the most despairing soul with hope and peace and happiness. The only
+thing that was now left to trouble me was this mournful face of Almah.
+Why did she look at me with such sad interest and such melancholy
+meaning? Did she know of any evil fate in store for me? Yet how could
+there be any evil fate to be feared from people who had received me
+with such unparalleled generosity? No, it could not be; so I resolved
+to try to bring back again the smile that had faded out of her face.
+
+I pointed to her, and said, "Almah."
+
+She said, "Atam-or."
+
+And the smile did not come back, but the sadness remained in her face.
+
+My eager desire now was to learn her language, and I resolved at once
+to acquire as many words and phrases as possible. I began by asking
+the names of things, such as "seat," "table," "mat," "coat," "hat,"
+"shoe," "lamp," "floor," "wall," and all the common objects around.
+She gave all the names, and soon became so deeply interested that her
+sadness departed, and the smile came back once more. For my own part,
+I was always rather quick at learning languages. I had a correct ear
+and a retentive memory; in my wanderings round the world I had picked
+up a smattering of many languages, such as French, Italian, Spanish,
+Arabic, German, Hindoostanee, and a few others. The words which I
+learned from Almah had a remote resemblance to Arabic; and, in fact,
+my knowledge of Arabic was actually of some assistance, though how it
+was that these people should have a language with that resemblance
+was certainly a mystery, and I did not try to solve it. The beautiful
+Almah soon grew immensely interested in my efforts to learn, and also
+in the English words which I gave when I pointed to any object.
+
+Thus I pointed to myself, and said "Man," then pointing to her, I
+said, "Woman." She laughed, and pointing to me said "Iz," and pointing
+to herself said, "Izza." Then I pointed to the row of lights, and
+said "Light;" she did the same, and said, "Or." Then her face grew
+mournful, and she pointed to me, saying "Atam-or." It struck me then
+that there was some chance resemblance between "or," the word meaning
+"light," and one of the syllables of my name as she pronounced it, and
+that this might cause her sadness; but as I could make out nothing of
+this, I dismissed the thought, and went on with my questions. This
+took up the time, until at length someone appeared who looked like a
+servant. He said something, whereupon Almah arose and beckoned to me
+to follow. I did so, and we went to a neighboring apartment, where
+there was spread a bounteous repast. Here we sat and ate, and Almah
+told me the names of all the dishes. After dinner we returned to the
+room.
+
+It was a singular and a delightful position. I was left alone with the
+beautiful Almah, who herself showed the utmost graciousness and the
+kindest interest in me. I could not understand it, nor did I try to;
+it was enough that I had such a happy lot. For hours we thus were
+together, and I learned many words. To insure remembrance, I wrote
+them down in my memorandum-book with a pencil and both of these were
+regarded by Almah with greatest curiosity. She felt the paper,
+inspected it, touched it with her tongue, and seemed to admire it
+greatly; but the pencil excited still greater admiration. I signed to
+her to write in the book. She did so, but the characters were quite
+unlike anything that I had ever seen. They were not joined like our
+writing and like Arabic letters, but were separate like our printed
+type, and were formed in an irregular manner. She then showed me a
+book made of a strange substance. It was filled with characters like
+those which she had just written. The leaves were not at all like
+paper, but seemed like some vegetable product, such as the leaves of
+a plant or the bark of a tree. They were very thin, very smooth, all
+cut into regular size, and fastened together by means of rings. This
+manuscript is written upon the same material. I afterward found that
+it was universally used here, and was made of a reed that grows in
+marshes.
+
+Here in these vast caverns there was no way by which I could tell the
+progress of time, but Almah had her own way of finding out when the
+hours of wakeful life were over. She arose and said, "Salonla." This I
+afterward found out to be common salutation of the country. I said it
+after her. She then left me. Shortly afterward a servant appeared,
+who took me to a room, which I understood to be mine. Here I found
+everything that I could wish, either for comfort or luxury; and as I
+felt fatigue, I flung myself upon the soft bed of down, and soon was
+sound asleep.
+
+I slept for a long time. When I awoke I heard sounds in the distance,
+and knew that people were moving. Here in these caverns there was no
+difference between day and night, but, by modes of which I was
+ignorant, a regular succession was observed of waking times and
+sleeping times.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE CAVERN OF THE DEAD
+
+
+On going forth into the outer grotto I saw the table spread with a
+sumptuous repast, and the apartment in a blaze of light. Almah was not
+here; and though some servants made signs for me to eat, yet I could
+not until I should see whether she was coming or not. I had to wait
+for a long time, however; and while I was waiting the chief entered,
+shading his eyes with his hand from the painful light. He bowed
+low with the most profound courtesy, saying, "Salonla," to which I
+responded in the same way. He seemed much pleased at this, and made a
+few remarks, which I did not understand; whereupon, anxious to lose no
+time in learning the language, I repeated to him all the words I knew,
+and asked after others. I pointed to him and asked his name. He said,
+"Kohen." This, however, I afterward found was not a name, but a title.
+The "Kohen" did not remain long, for the light was painful. After his
+departure I was alone for some time, and at length Almah made her
+appearance. I sprang to meet her, full of joy, and took her hand in
+both of mine and pressed it warmly. She smiled, and appeared quite
+free from the melancholy of the previous day.
+
+We ate our breakfast together, after which we went out into the world
+of light, groping our way along through the dark passages amid the
+busy crowd. Almah could see better than I in the darkness; but she was
+far from seeing well, and did not move with that easy step and perfect
+certainty which all the others showed. Like me, she was a child of
+light, and the darkness was distressing to her. As we went on we were
+seen by all, but were apparently not considered prisoners. On the
+contrary, all looked at us with the deepest respect, and bowed low
+or moved aside, and occasionally made little offerings of fruit or
+flowers to one or the other of us. It seemed to me that we were
+treated with equal distinction; and if Almah was their queen, I, their
+guest, was regarded with equal honor. Whatever her rank might be,
+however, she was to all appearance the most absolute mistress of
+her own actions, and moved about among all these people with the
+independence and dignity of some person of exalted rank.
+
+At length we emerged into the open air. Here the contrast to the
+cavern gloom inside gave to the outer world unusual brightness and
+splendor, so that even under the heavy overarching tree-ferns, which
+had seemed so dark when I was here before, it now appeared light and
+cheerful. Almah turned to the right, and we walked along the terrace.
+But few people were visible. They shrank from the light, and kept
+themselves in the caverns. Then after a few steps we came to the base
+of a tall half-pyramid, the summit of which was above the tops of the
+trees. I pointed to this, as though I wished to go up. Almah hesitated
+for a moment, and seemed to shrink back, but at length, overcoming her
+reluctance, began the ascent. A flight of stony steps led up. On
+reaching the top, I found it about thirty feet long by fifteen wide,
+with a high stone table in the middle. At that moment, however, I
+scarce noticed the pyramid summit, and I only describe it now because
+I was fated before long to see it with different feelings. What I then
+noticed was the vast and wondrous display of all the glories of nature
+that burst at once upon my view. There was that same boundless sea,
+rising up high toward the horizon, as I had seen it before, and
+suggesting infinite extent. There were the blue waters breaking into
+foam, the ships traversing the deep, the far-encircling shores green
+in vegetation, the high rampart of ice-bound mountains that shut in
+the land, making it a world by itself. There was the sun, low on the
+horizon, which it traversed on its long orbit, lighting up all these
+scenes till the six-months day should end and the six-months night
+begin.
+
+For a long time I stood feasting my eyes upon all this splendor, and
+at length turned to see whether Almah shared my feelings. One look was
+enough. She stood absorbed in the scene, as though she were drinking
+in deep draughts of all this matchless beauty. I felt amazed at this;
+I saw how different she seemed from the others, and could not account
+for it. But as yet I knew too little of the language to question her,
+and could only hope for a future explanation when I had learned more.
+
+We descended at length and walked about the terrace and up and down
+the side streets. All were the same as I had noticed before--terraced
+streets, with caverns on one side and massive stone structures on the
+other. I saw deep channels, which were used as drains to carry down
+mountain torrents. I did not see all at this first walk, but I
+inspected the whole city in many subsequent walks until its outlines
+were all familiar. I found it about a mile long and about half a
+mile wide, constructed in a series of terraces, which rose one above
+another in a hollow of the mountains round a harbor of the sea. On my
+walks I met with but few people on the streets, and they all seemed
+troubled with the light. I saw also occasionally some more of those
+great birds, the name of which I learned from Almah; it was "opkuk."
+
+For some time my life went on most delightfully. I found myself
+surrounded with every comfort and luxury. Almah was my constant
+associate, and all around regarded us with the profoundest respect.
+The people were the mildest, most gentle, and most generous that I had
+ever seen. The Kohen seemed to pass most of his time in making new
+contrivances for my happiness. This strange people, in their dealings
+with me and with one another, seemed animated by a universal desire to
+do kindly acts; and the only possible objection against them was their
+singular love of darkness.
+
+My freedom was absolute. No one watched me. Almah and I could go where
+we chose. So far as I could perceive, we were quite at liberty, if we
+wished, to take a boat and escape over the sea. It seemed also quite
+likely that if we had ordered out a galley and a gang of oarsmen, we
+should have been supplied with all that we might want in the most
+cheerful manner. Such a thought, however, was absurd. Flight! Why
+should I think of flying?
+
+I had long ago lost all idea of time; and here, where it was for the
+present perpetual day, I was more at a loss than ever. I supposed that
+it was somewhere in the month of March, but whether at the beginning
+or the end I could not tell. The people had a regular system of
+wake-time and sleep-time, by which they ordered their lives; but
+whether these respective times were longer or shorter than the days
+and nights at home I could not tell at that time, though I afterward
+learned all about it. On the whole, I was perfectly content--nay,
+more, perfectly happy; more so, indeed, than ever in my life, and
+quite willing to forget home and friends and everything in the society
+of Almah. While in her company there was always one purpose upon which
+I was most intent, and that was to master the language. I made rapid
+progress, and while she was absent I sought out others, especially the
+Kohen, with whom to practice. The Kohen was always most eager to aid
+me in every conceivable way or to any conceivable thing; and he had
+such a gentle manner and showed such generous qualities that I soon
+learned to regard him with positive affection.
+
+Almah was always absent for several hours after I rose in the morning,
+and when she made her appearance it was with the face and manner of
+one who had returned from some unpleasant task. It always took some
+time for her to regain that cheerfulness which she usually showed. I
+soon felt a deep curiosity to learn the nature of her employment and
+office here, and as my knowledge of the language increased I began
+to question her. My first attempts were vain. She looked at me with
+indescribable mournfulness and shook her head. This, however, only
+confirmed me in my suspicions that her duties, whatever they might be,
+were of a painful nature; so I urged her to tell me, and asked her as
+well as I could if I might not share them or help her in some way. To
+all this, however, she only returned sighs and mournful looks for an
+answer. It seemed to me, from her manner and from the general behavior
+of the people, that there was no express prohibition on my learning
+anything, doing anything, or going anywhere; and so, after this, I
+besought her to let me accompany her some time. But this too she
+refused. My requests were often made, and as I learned more and more
+of the language I was able to make them with more earnestness and
+effect, until at length I succeeded in overcoming her objections.
+
+"It is for your own sake," said she, "that I have refused, Atam-or. I
+do not wish to lessen your happiness. But you must know all soon; and
+so, if you wish to come with me and see what I have to do, why, you
+may come the next jom."
+
+This meant the next day, jom being the division of time corresponding
+with our day. At this promise I was so full of gratitude that I forgot
+all about the dark suggestiveness of her words. The next jom I arose
+sooner than usual and went forth. I found Almah waiting for me. She
+looked troubled, and greeted me with a mournful smile.
+
+"You will find pain in this," said she; "but you wish it, and if you
+still wish it, why, I will take you with me."
+
+At this I only persisted the more, and so we set forth. We went
+through the cavern passages. Few people were there; all seemed asleep.
+Then we went out-of-doors and came into the full blaze of that day
+which here knew no night, but prolonged itself into months. For a
+while Almah stood looking forth between the trees to where the bright
+sunlight sparkled on the sea, and then with a sigh she turned to
+the left. I followed. On coming to the next portal she went in. I
+followed, and found myself in a rough cavern, dark and forbidding.
+Traversing this we came to an inner doorway, closed with a heavy mat.
+This she raised, and passed through, while I went in after her.
+
+I found myself in a vast cavern, full of dim, sparkling lights, which
+served not to illuminate it, but merely to indicate its enormous
+extent. Far above rose the vaulted roof, to a height of apparently a
+hundred feet. Under this there was a lofty half-pyramid with stone
+steps. All around, as far as I could see in the obscure light, there
+were niches in the walls, each one containing a figure with a light
+burning at its feet. I took them for statues. Almah pointed in silence
+to one of these which was nearest, and I went up close so as to see
+it.
+
+The first glance that I took made me recoil with horror. It was no
+statue that I saw in that niche, but a shrivelled human form--a
+hideous sight. It was dark and dried; it was fixed in a sitting
+posture, with its hands resting on its knees, and its hollow eyes
+looking forward. On its head was the mockery of a wreath of flowers,
+while from its heart there projected the handle and half of the blade
+of a knife which had been thrust there. What was the meaning of this
+knife? It seemed to tell of a violent death. Yet the flowers must
+surely be a mark of honor. A violent death with honor, and the
+embalmed remains--these things suggested nothing else than the horrid
+thought of a human sacrifice. I looked away with eager and terrible
+curiosity. I saw all the niches, hundreds upon hundreds, all filled
+with these fearful occupants. I turned again with a sinking heart to
+Almah. Her face was full of anguish.
+
+"This is my duty," said she. "Every jom I must come here and crown
+these victims with fresh flowers."
+
+A feeling of sickening horror overwhelmed me. Almah had spoken these
+words and stood looking at me with a face of woe. This, then, was that
+daily task from which she was wont to return in such sadness--an
+abhorrent task to her, and one to which familiarity had never
+reconciled her. What was she doing here? What dark fate was it that
+thus bound this child of light to these children of darkness? or why
+was she thus compelled to perform a service from which all her nature
+revolted? I read in her face at this moment a horror equal to my own;
+and at the sight of her distress my own was lessened, and there arose
+within me a profound sympathy and a strong desire to do something to
+alleviate her misery.
+
+"This is no place for you," continued Almah. "Go, and I will soon join
+you."
+
+"No," said I, using her language after my own broken fashion--"no, I
+will not go--I will stay, I will help, if you will permit."
+
+She looked at me earnestly, and seemed to see that my resolution was
+firmly fixed, and that I was not to be dissuaded from it.
+
+"Very well," said she; "if you do stay and help me, it will be a great
+relief."
+
+With these simple words she proceeded to carry out her work. At the
+foot of the pyramid there was a heap of wreaths made out of fresh
+flowers, and these were to be placed by her on the heads of the
+embalmed corpses.
+
+"This work," said she, "is considered here the highest and most
+honorable that can be performed. It is given to me out of kindness,
+and they cannot understand that I can have any other feelings in the
+performance than those of joy and exultation--here among the dead and
+in the dark."
+
+I said nothing, but followed and watched her, carrying the wreaths and
+supplying her. She went to each niche in succession, and after taking
+the wreath off each corpse she placed a fresh one on, saying a brief
+formula at each act. By keeping her supplied with wreaths I was able
+to lighten her task, so much so that, whereas it usually occupied her
+more than two hours, on the present occasion it was finished in less
+than half an hour. She informed me that those which she crowned were
+the corpses of men who had been sacrificed during the present
+season--by season meaning the six months of light; and that though
+many more were here, yet they wore crowns of gold. At the end of ten
+years they were removed to public sepulchres. The number of those
+which had to be crowned by her was about a hundred. Her work was only
+to crown them, the labor of collecting the flowers and weaving the
+wreaths and attending to the lamps being performed by others.
+
+I left this place with Almah, sad and depressed. She had not told me
+why these victims had been sacrificed, nor did I feel inclined to
+ask. A dark suspicion had come to me that these people, underneath
+all their amiable ways, concealed thoughts, habits, and motives of
+a frightful kind; and that beyond all my present brightness and
+happiness there might be a fate awaiting me too horrible for thought.
+Yet I did not wish to borrow trouble. What I had seen and heard was
+quite enough for one occasion. I was anxious, rather, to forget it
+all. Nor did Almah's words or manner in any way reassure me. She was
+silent and sad and preoccupied. It was as though she knew the worst,
+and knowing it, dared not speak; as though there was something more
+horrible which she dared not reveal. For my part, I feared it so that
+I dared not ask. It was enough for me just then to know that my mild
+and self-denying and generous entertainers were addicted to the
+abhorrent custom of human sacrifices.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE SACRED HUNT
+
+
+On that very jom the Kohen informed me that they were about
+to set forth on the "sacred hunt," an event which always occurred
+toward the end of the season, and he kindly invited me to go. I,
+eager to find any relief from the horrible thoughts that had taken
+possession of me, and full of longing for active exertion, at once
+accepted the invitation. I was delighted to hear Almah say that she
+too was going; and I learned at the same time that in this strange
+land the women were as fond of hunting as the men, and that on such
+occasions their presence was expected.
+
+The sacred hunt was certainly a strange one. I saw that it was to
+take place on the water; for a great crowd, numbering over a hundred,
+went down to the harbor and embarked on board a galley, on which
+there were a hundred others, who served as rowers. The hunters were
+all armed with long, light javelins and short swords. Some of these
+were offered to me, for as yet no one supposed that my rifle and
+pistol were instruments of destruction, or anything else than
+ornaments. My refusal to accept their weapons created some surprise,
+but with their usual civility they did not press their offers
+further. It was evident that this hunting expedition was only made in
+obedience to some hallowed custom; for the light of the sun pained
+their eyes, and all their movements were made with uncertainty and
+hesitation. With these a hunt by sunlight is the same as a hunt by
+night would be with us. There was the same confusion and awkwardness.
+
+The Kohen was in command. At his word the galley started, and the
+rowers pulled out to sea with long, regular strokes. I was anxious to
+know what the expedition was aimed at, and what were the animals that
+we expected to get; but I could not make out Almah's explanations.
+Her words suggested something of vague terror, vast proportions, and
+indescribable ferocity; but my ignorance of the language prevented me
+from learning anything more.
+
+We went along the coast for a few miles, and then came to the mouth
+of a great river, which seemed to flow from among the mountains. The
+current was exceedingly swift, and as I looked back it seemed to me
+that it must be the very stream which had borne me here into this
+remote world. I afterward found out that this was so--that this
+stream emerges from among the mountains, flowing from an unknown
+source. It was over this that I had been borne in my sleep, after
+I had emerged from the subterranean darkness, and it was by this
+current that I had been carried into the open sea. As we crossed the
+estuary of this river I saw that the shores on either side were low,
+and covered with the rankest vegetation; giant trees of fern, vast
+reeds and grasses, all arose here in a dense growth impassable to
+man. Upon the shallow shores the surf was breaking; and here in
+the tide I saw objects which I at first supposed to be rocks,
+but afterward found out to be living things. They looked like
+alligators, but were far larger than the largest alligators known
+to us, besides being of far more terrific aspect. Toward these the
+galley was directed, and I now saw with surprise that these were
+the objects of the sacred hunt.
+
+Suddenly, as the galley was moving along at half-speed, there
+arose out of the water a thing that looked like the folds of a giant
+hairy serpent, which, however, proved to be the long neck of an
+incredible monster, whose immense body soon afterward appeared above
+the water. With huge fins he propelled himself toward us; and his
+head, twenty feet in the air, was poised as though about to attack.
+The head was like that of an alligator, the open jaws showed a
+fearful array of sharp teeth, the eyes were fiercely glowing, the
+long neck was covered with a coarse, shaggy mane, while the top of
+the body, which was out of the water, was incased in an impenetrable
+cuirass of bone. Such a monster as this seemed unassailable,
+especially by men who had no missile weapons, and whose eyes were so
+dim and weak. I therefore expected that the galley would turn and
+fly from the attack, for the monster itself seemed as large as our
+vessel; but there was not the slightest thought of flight. On the
+contrary, every man was on the alert; some sprang to the bow and
+stood there, awaiting the first shock; others, amidship, stood
+waiting for the orders of the Kohen. Meanwhile the monster
+approached, and at length, with a sweep of his long neck, came down
+upon the dense crowd at the bows. A dozen frail lances were broken
+against his horny head, a half-dozen wretches were seized and
+terribly torn by those remorseless jaws. Still none fled. All rushed
+forward, and with lances, axes, knives, and ropes they sought to
+destroy the enemy. Numbers of them strove to seize his long neck. In
+the ardor of the fight the rowers dropped their oars and hurried to
+the scene, to take part in the struggle. The slaughter was sickening,
+but not a man quailed. Never had I dreamed of such blind and
+desperate courage as was now displayed before my horror-stricken
+eyes. Each sought to outdo the other. They had managed to throw ropes
+around the monster's neck, by which he was held close to the galley.
+His fierce movements seemed likely to drag us all down under the
+water; and his long neck, free from restraint, writhed and twisted
+among the struggling crowd of fighting men, in the midst of whom was
+the Kohen, as desperate and as fearless as any.
+
+All this had taken place in a very short space of time, and I had
+scarce been able to comprehend the full meaning of it all. As for
+Almah, she stood pale and trembling, with a face of horror. At last
+it seemed to me that every man of them would be destroyed, and that
+they were all throwing their lives away to no purpose whatever. Above
+all, my heart was wrung for the Kohen, who was there in the midst of
+his people, lifting his frail and puny arm against the monster. I
+could endure inaction no longer. I had brought my arms with me, as
+usual; and now, as the monster raised his head, I took aim at his
+eye and fired. The report rang out in thunder. Almah gave a shriek,
+and amid the smoke I saw the long, snake-like neck of the monster
+sweeping about madly among the men. In the water his vast tail was
+lashing the surface of the sea, and churning it into foam. Here I
+once more took aim immediately under the fore-fin, where there was
+no scaly covering. Once more I fired. This time it was with fatal
+effect; and after one or two convulsive movements the monster, with
+a low, deep bellow, let his head fall and gasped out his life.
+
+I hurried forward. There lay the frightful head, with its long
+neck and shaggy mane, while all around was a hideous spectacle.
+The destruction of life had been awful. Nineteen were dead, and
+twenty-eight were wounded, writhing in every gradation of agony, some
+horribly mangled. The rest stood staring at me in astonishment, not
+understanding those peals of thunder that had laid the monster low.
+There was no terror or awe, however--nothing more than surprise;
+and the Kohen, whose clothes were torn into shreds and covered with
+blood, looked at me in bewilderment. I said to him, out of my small
+stock of words, that the wounded ought at once to be cared for. At
+this he turned away and made some remarks to his men.
+
+I now stood ready to lend my own services, if needful. I expected
+to take a part in the tender attentions which were the due of these
+gallant souls, who had exhibited such matchless valor; these men who
+thought nothing of life, but flung it away at the command of their
+chief without dreaming of flight or of hesitation. Thus I stood
+looking on in an expectant attitude, when there came a moment in
+which I was simply petrified with horror; for the Kohen drew his
+knife, stooped over the wounded man nearest him, and then stabbed him
+to the heart with a mortal wound. The others all proceeded to do the
+same, and they did it in the coolest and most business-like manner,
+without any passion, without any feeling of any kind, and, indeed,
+with a certain air of gratification, as though they were performing
+some peculiarly high and sacred duty. The mildness and benevolence of
+their faces seemed actually heightened, and the perpetration of this
+unutterable atrocity seemed to affect these people in the same way in
+which the performance of acts of humanity might affect us.
+
+For my own part, I stood for a few moments actually motionless from
+perplexity and horror; then, with a shriek, I rushed forward as if
+to prevent it; but I was too late. The unutterable deed was done,
+and the unfortunate wounded, without an exception, lay dead beside
+their slain companions. As for myself, I was only regarded with fresh
+wonder, and they all stood blinking at me with their half-closed
+eyes. Suddenly the Kohen fell prostrate on his knees before me, and
+bowing his head handed me his bloody knife.
+
+"Atam-or," said he, "give me also the blessing of darkness and death!"
+
+At these strange words, following such actions, I could say nothing.
+I was more bewildered than ever, and horror and bewilderment made me
+dumb. I turned away and went aft to Almah, who had seen it all. She
+looked at me with an anxious gaze, as if to learn what the effect of
+all this had been on me. I could not speak a word, but with a vague
+sense of the necessity of self-preservation, I loaded my rifle, and
+tried in vain to make out what might be the meaning of this union of
+gentleness and kindness with atrocious cruelty. Meanwhile, the men
+all went to work upon various tasks. Some secured lines about the
+monster so as to tow it astern; others busied themselves with the
+corpses, collecting them and arranging them in rows. At length we
+returned, towing the monster astern.
+
+I could not speak until I was back again in the lighted rooms and
+alone with Almah; then I told her, as well as I could, the horror
+that I felt.
+
+"It was honor to those brave men," said she.
+
+"Honor!" said I. "What! to kill them?"
+
+"Yes," said she; "it is so with these people; with them death is the
+highest blessing. They all love death and seek after it. To die for
+another is immortal glory. To kill the wounded was to show that they
+had died for others. The wounded wished it themselves. You saw how
+they all sought after death. These people were too generous and
+kind-hearted to refuse to kill them after they had received wounds."
+
+At this my perplexity grew deeper than ever, for such an
+explanation as this only served to make the mystery greater.
+
+"Here," said she, "no one understands what it is to fear death.
+They all love it and long for it; but everyone wishes above all to
+die for others. This is their highest blessing. To die a natural
+death in bed is avoided if possible."
+
+All this was incomprehensible.
+
+"Tell me, Almah," I said--"you hate darkness as I do--do you not
+fear death?"
+
+"I fear it above all things," said Almah. "To me it is the horror
+of life; it is the chief of terrors."
+
+"So it is with me," said I. "In my country we call death the King
+of Terrors."
+
+"Here," said Almah, "they call death the Lord of Joy."
+
+Not long after, the Kohen came in, looking as quiet, as gentle,
+and as amiable as ever. He showed some curiosity about my rifle,
+which he called a sepet-ram, or "rod of thunder." Almah also
+showed curiosity. I did not care to explain the process of loading
+it to the Kohen, though Almah had seen me load it in the galley,
+and I left him to suppose that it was used in some mysterious way.
+I cautioned him not to handle it carelessly, but found that this
+caution only made him the more eager to handle it, since the prospect
+of an accident found an irresistible attraction. I would not let it
+go out of my own hands, however; and the Kohen, whose self-denial
+was always most wonderful to me, at once checked his curiosity.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE SWAMP MONSTER
+
+
+A few joms after, I was informed by the Kohen that there was to be
+another sacred hunt. At first I felt inclined to refuse, but on
+learning that Almah was going, I resolved to go also; for Almah,
+though generally mistress of her actions, had nevertheless certain
+duties to perform, and among these was the necessity of accompanying
+hunting-parties. I did not yet understand her position here, nor had I
+heard from her yet how it was that she was so different from the rest
+of them. That was all to be learned at a future time. For the present
+I had to be satisfied with knowing that she belonged to a different
+nation, who spoke a different language, and that all her thoughts and
+feelings were totally different from those of the people among whom
+she was living. She loved the light, she feared death, and she had
+never been able in the slightest degree to reconcile herself to the
+habits of these people. This I could readily understand, for to me it
+seemed as though they lived in opposition to nature itself.
+
+We went out into the daylight, and then I saw a sight which filled me
+with amazement. I saw a flock of birds larger than even the opkuks.
+They were called "opmahera." They seemed as tall as giraffes, and
+their long legs indicated great powers of running. Their wings were
+very short, and not adapted for flight. They were very tractable, and
+were harnessed for riding in a peculiar way; lines like reins were
+fastened to the wings, and the driver, who sat close by the neck,
+guided the bird in this way. Each bird carried two men, but for Almah
+and me there was a bird apiece. An iron prod was also taken by each
+driver as a spur. I did not find out until afterward how to drive. At
+that time the prospect of so novel a ride was such an exciting one
+that I forgot everything else. The birds seemed quiet and docile. I
+took it for granted that mine was well trained, and would go with the
+others of his own accord. We all mounted by means of a stone platform
+which stood by the pyramid, and soon were on our way.
+
+The speed was amazing; the fastest race-horse at home is slow compared
+with this. It was as swift as an ordinary railway train, if not more
+so. For some minutes the novelty of my situation took away all other
+thoughts, and I held the reins in my hands without knowing how to use
+them. But this mattered not, for the well-trained bird kept on after
+the others, while Almah on her bird was close behind me. The pace, as
+I said, was tremendous, yet no easier motion can be imagined. The bird
+bounded along with immense leaps, with wings outstretched, but its
+feet touched the ground so lightly that the motion seemed almost equal
+to flying. We did not confine ourselves to the roads, for the birds
+were capable of going over any kind of country in a straight line. On
+this occasion we passed over wide fields and rocky mountain ridges
+and deep swamps and sand wastes at the same speed, until at length
+we reached a vast forest of dense tree-ferns, where the whole band
+stopped for a short time, after which we took up a new direction,
+moving on more slowly. The forest grew up out of a swamp, which
+extended as far as the eye could reach from the sea to the mountains.
+Along the edge of this forest we went for some time, until at length
+there came a rushing, crackling sound, as of something moving there
+among the trees, crushing down everything in its progress. We halted,
+and did not have to wait long; for soon, not far away, there emerged
+from the thick forest a figure of incredible size and most hideous
+aspect.
+
+It looked like one of those fabled dragons such as may be seen in
+pictures, but without wings. It was nearly a hundred feet in length,
+with a stout body and a long tail, covered all over with impenetrable
+scales. It hind-legs were rather longer than its fore-legs, and it
+moved its huge body with ease and rapidity. Its feet were armed with
+formidable claws. But its head was most terrific. It was a vast mass
+of bone, with enormous eyes that glared like fire; its jaws opened to
+the width of six or eight feet, and were furnished with rows of sharp
+teeth, while at the extremity of its nose there was a tusk several
+feet long, like the horn of a rhinoceros, curving backward. All this
+I took in at the first glance, and the next instant the whole band
+of hunters, with their usual recklessness, flung themselves upon the
+monster.
+
+For a short time all was the wildest confusion--an intermingling of
+birds and men, with the writhing and roaring beast. With his huge
+claws and his curved horn and his wide jaws he dealt death and
+destruction all around; yet still the assailants kept at their work.
+Many leaped down to the ground and rushed close up to the monster,
+thrusting their lances into the softer and more unprotected parts
+of his body; while others, guiding their birds with marvellous
+dexterity, assailed him on all sides. The birds, too, were kept well
+to their work; nor did they exhibit any fear. It was not until they
+were wounded that they sought to fly. Still, the contest seemed too
+unequal. The sacrifice of life was horrible. I saw men and birds
+literally torn to pieces before my eyes. Nevertheless, the utter
+fearlessness of the assailants confounded me. In spite of the
+slaughter, fresh crowds rushed on. They clambered over his back, and
+strove to drive their lances under his bony cuirass. In the midst of
+them I saw the Kohen. By some means he had reached the animal's back,
+and was crawling along, holding by the coarse shaggy mane. At length
+he stopped, and with a sudden effort thrust his lance into the
+monster's eye. The vast beast gave a low and terrible howl; his
+immense tail went flying all about; in his pain he rolled over and
+over, crushing underneath him in his awful struggles all who were
+nearest. I could no longer be inactive. I raised my rifle, and as the
+beast in his writhings exposed his belly I took aim at the soft flesh
+just inside his left fore-leg, and fired both barrels.
+
+At that instant my bird gave a wild, shrill scream and a vast bound
+into the air, and then away it went like the wind--away, I know not
+where. That first bound had nearly jerked me off; but I managed to
+avoid this and now instinctively clung with all my might to the bird's
+neck, still holding my rifle. The speed of the bird was twice as great
+as it had been before--as the speed of a runaway horse surpasses
+that of the same horse when trotting at his ordinary rate and under
+control. I could scarcely make out where I was going. Rocks, hills,
+swamps, fields, trees, sand, and sea all seemed to flash past in one
+confused assemblage, and the only thought in my mind was that I was
+being carried to some remote wilderness, to be flung there bruised and
+maimed among the rocks, to perish helplessly. Every moment I expected
+to be thrown, for the progress of the bird was not only inconceivably
+swift, but it also gave immense leaps into the air; and it was only
+its easy mode of lighting on the ground after each leap that saved me
+from being hurled off. As it was, however, I clung instinctively to
+the bird's neck, until at last it came to a stop so suddenly that my
+hands slipped, and I fell to the ground.
+
+I was senseless for I know not how long. When at last I revived I
+found myself propped up against a bank, and Almah bathing my head with
+cold water. Fortunately, I had received no hurt. In falling I had
+struck on my head, but it was against the soft turf, and though I
+was stunned, yet on regaining my senses no further inconvenience was
+experienced. The presence of Almah was soon explained. The report of
+the rifle had startled her bird also, which had bounded away in terror
+like mine; but Almah understood how to guide him, and managed to keep
+him after me, so as to be of assistance in case of need. She had been
+close behind all the time, and had stopped when I fell, and come to
+my assistance.
+
+The place was a slope looking out upon an arm of the sea, and
+apparently remote from human abode. The scenery was exquisitely
+beautiful. A little distance off we saw the edge of the forest; the
+open country was dotted with clumps of trees; on the other side of the
+arm of the sea was an easy declivity covered with trees of luxuriant
+foliage and vast dimensions; farther away on one side rose the icy
+summits of impassable mountains; on the other side there extended
+the blue expanse of the boundless sea. The spot where I lay was
+over-shadowed by the dense foliage of a tree which was unlike anything
+that I had ever seen, and seemed like some exaggerated grass; at our
+feet a brook ran murmuring to the shore; in the air and all around
+were innumerable birds.
+
+The situation in which I found myself seemed inexpressibly sweet, and
+all the more so from the gentle face of Almah. Would it not be well,
+I thought, to remain here? Why should Almah go back to her repulsive
+duties? Why should we return to those children of blood, who loved
+death and darkness? Here we might pass our days together unmolested.
+The genial climate would afford us warmth; we needed no shelter except
+the trees, and as for food, there were the birds of the air in
+innumerable flocks.
+
+I proposed this to her; she smiled sadly. "You forget," said she,
+"this season of light will not last much longer. In a few more joms
+the dark season will begin, and then we should perish in a place like
+this."
+
+"Are there no caverns here?"
+
+"Oh no. This country has no inhabitants. It is full of fierce wild
+beasts. We should be destroyed before one jom."
+
+"But must we go back?" said I. "You have a country. Where is it? See,
+here are these birds. They are swift. They can carry us anywhere.
+Come, let us fly, and you can return to your own country."
+
+Almah shook her head. "These birds," said she, "cannot go over the
+sea, or through these endless forests. My country can only be reached
+by sea."
+
+"Can we not hurry back, seize a boat, and go? I know how to sail over
+the water without oars."
+
+"We certainly might leave the country; but there is another
+difficulty. The dark season is coming, and we should never be able
+to find our way. Besides, the sea is full of monsters, and you and
+I would perish."
+
+"At any rate, let us try. I have my sepet-ram."
+
+"We could never find our way."
+
+"Only tell me," said I, "where it lies, and I will go by the stars."
+
+"The trouble is," said she, "that even if we did succeed in reaching
+my land, I should be sent back again; for I was sent here as a sacred
+hostage, and I have been here four seasons."
+
+But in the midst of this conversation a sound arrested our
+attention--heavy, puffing, snorting sound, as of some living thing.
+Hastily I started up, rifle in hand, and looked; and as I looked I
+felt my nerves thrill with horror. There, close by the shore, I saw a
+vast form--a living thing--full sixty feet in length. It had a body
+like that of an elephant, the head of a crocodile, and enormous
+glaring eyes. Its immense body was covered with impenetrable armor,
+and was supported on legs long enough to allow it to run with great
+speed. It differed in many respects from the monster of the swamp--the
+legs being longer, the tail shorter and thinner, and its head and jaws
+larger and longer. I shrank back, thinking of seizing Almah and
+hiding. But I saw that she had already taken the alarm, and with more
+presence of mind than I had she had hurried to the birds, who were
+standing near, and had made them lie down. As I turned, she beckoned
+to me without a word. I hurried to her. She told me to mount. I did so
+at once; she did the same. Scarce had we mounted than the monster
+perceived us, and with a terrible bellow came rushing toward us. Almah
+drove her goad deep into her bird, which at once rose and went off
+like the wind, and mine started to follow. The vast monster came on.
+His roar sounded close behind, and I heard the clash of his tremendous
+jaws; but the swift bird with a bound snatched me from his grasp, and
+bore me far away out of his reach. Away I went like the wind. Almah
+was ahead, looking back from time to time, and waving her hand
+joyously. So we went on, returning on our course at a speed almost as
+great as that with which we had come. By this time the novelty had in
+part worn away, and the easy motion gave me confidence. I noticed that
+we were travelling a wild, uninhabited, and rocky district by the
+sea-side. Before me the country spread far away, interspersed with
+groves, terminating in forests, and bounded in the far distance by
+mountains. The country here was so rough that it seemed as if nothing
+could pass over it except such creatures as these--the opmaheras.
+
+At length we arrived at the spot which we had left--the scene of the
+hunt. We could see it from afar, for the opmaheras stood quietly
+around, and the men were busy elsewhere. As we drew nearer I saw the
+vast body of the monster. They had succeeded in killing it, yet--oh
+heavens, at what a cost! One half of all the party lay dead. The rest
+were unharmed, and among these was the Kohen. He greeted me with a
+melancholy smile. That melancholy smile, however, was not caused by
+the sad fate of his brave companions, but, as I afterward learned,
+simply and solely because he himself had not gained his death. When I
+saw that there were no wounded, a dark suspicion came over me that the
+wounded had again been put to death. I did not care to ask. The truth
+was too terrible to hear, and I felt glad that accident had drawn me
+away. It was all a dark and dreadful mystery. These people were the
+most gentle, the most self-sacrificing, and the most generous in the
+world; yet their strange and unnatural love of death made them capable
+of endless atrocities. Life and light seemed to them as actual evils,
+and death and darkness the only things worthy of regard.
+
+Almah told me that they were going to bring the monster home, and had
+sent for opkuks to drag it along. The dead were also to be fetched
+back. There was no further necessity for us to remain, and so we
+returned at once.
+
+On the way, Almah said, "Do not use the sepet-ram again. You can do
+no good with it. You must not make it common. Keep it. The time may
+come when you will need it: you are not fond of death."
+
+I shuddered.
+
+"Never forget," she said, "that here death is considered the chief
+blessing. It is useless for you to interfere in their ways. You cannot
+change them."
+
+Some more joms passed. The bodies were embalmed, and Almah had more
+victims to crown with garlands in the horrible cheder nebilin.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE BALEFUL SACRIFICE
+
+
+I resolved to go on no more sacred hunts. I was sickened at the
+horrible cruelty, the needless slaughter, the mad self-sacrifice which
+distinguished them. I was overwhelmed with horror at the merciless
+destruction of brave comrades, whose wounds, so gallantly received,
+should have been enough to inspire pity even in a heart of stone. The
+gentleness, the incessant kindness, the matchless generosity of these
+people seemed all a mockery. What availed it all when the same hand
+that heaped favors upon me, the guest, could deal death without
+compunction upon friends and relatives? It seemed quite possible for
+the Kohen to kill his own child, or cut the throat of his wife, if the
+humor seized him. And how long could I hope to be spared among a
+people who had this insane thirst for blood?
+
+Some more joms had passed, and the light season had almost ended.
+The sun had been sinking lower and lower. The time had at last come
+when only a portion of his disk would be visible for a little while
+above the hills, and then he would be seen no more for six months of
+our time. This was the dark season, and, as I had already learned, its
+advent was always hailed with joy and celebrated with solemn services,
+for the dark season freed them from their long confinement, permitted
+them to go abroad, to travel by sea and land, to carry on their great
+works, to indulge in all their most important labors and favorite
+amusements. The Kohen asked me to be present at the great festival,
+and I gladly consented. There seemed to be nothing in this that
+could be repellent. As I was anxious to witness some of their purely
+religious ceremonies, I wished to go. When I told Almah, she looked
+sad, but said nothing. I wondered at this, and asked her if she was
+going. She informed me that she would have to go, whereupon I assured
+her that this was an additional reason why I should go.
+
+I went with Almah. The Kohen attended us with his usual kind and
+gracious consideration. It seemed almost as though he was our servant.
+He took us to a place where we could be seated, although all the
+others were standing. Almah wished to refuse, but I prevailed upon her
+to sit down, and she did so.
+
+The scene was upon the semicircular terrace in front of the cavern,
+and we were seated upon a stone platform beside the chief portal. A
+vast crowd was gathered in front. Before us arose the half-pyramid of
+which I have already spoken. The light was faint. It came from the
+disk of the sun, which was partly visible over the icy crest of the
+distant mountains. Far away the sea was visible, rising high over the
+tops of the trees, while overhead the brighter stars were plainly
+discernible.
+
+The Kohen ascended the pyramid, and others followed. At the base
+there was a crowd of men, with emaciated forms and faces, and coarse,
+squalid attire, who looked like the most abject paupers, and seemed
+the lowest in the land. As the Kohen reached the summit there arose a
+strange sound--a mournful, plaintive chant, which seemed to be sung
+chiefly by the paupers at the base of the pyramid. The words of this
+chant I could not make out, but the melancholy strain affected me
+in spite of myself. There was no particular tune, and nothing like
+harmony; but the effect of so many voices uniting in this strain was
+very powerful and altogether indescribable. In the midst of this I saw
+the crowd parting asunder so as to make way for something; and through
+the passage thus formed I saw a number of youths in long robes, who
+advanced to the pyramid, singing as they went. Then they ascended the
+steps, two by two, still singing, and at length reached the summit,
+where they arranged themselves in order. There were thirty of them and
+they arranged themselves in three rows of ten each, and as they stood
+they never ceased to sing, while the paupers below joined in the
+strain.
+
+And now the sun was almost hidden, and there was only the faintest
+line from the upper edge of his disk perceptible over the icy
+mountain-tops. The light was a softened twilight glow. It was to be
+the last sight of the sun for six months, and this was the spectacle
+upon which he threw his parting beam. So the sun passed away, and then
+there came the beginning of the long dark season. At first, however,
+there was rather twilight than darkness, and this twilight continued
+long. All this only served to heighten the effect of this striking
+scene; and as the light faded away, I looked with increasing curiosity
+upon the group at the top of the pyramid. Almah was silent. I half
+turned, and said something to her about the beauty of the view. She
+said nothing, but looked at me with such an expression that I was
+filled with amazement. I saw in her face something like a dreadful
+anticipation--something that spoke of coming evil. The feeling was
+communicated to me, and I turned my eyes back to the group on the
+pyramid with vague fears in my soul.
+
+Those fears were but too well founded, for now the dread ceremony
+began. The Kohen drew his knife, and placed himself at the head of the
+stone table. One of the youths came forward, stepped upon it, and lay
+down on his back with his head toward the Kohen. The mournful chant
+still went on. Then the Kohen raised his knife and plunged it into the
+heart of the youth. I sat for a moment rooted to the spot; then a
+groan burst from me in spite of myself. Almah caught my hands in hers,
+which were as cold as ice.
+
+"Be firm," she said, "or we are both lost. Be firm, Atam-or!"
+
+"I must go," said I, and I tried to rise.
+
+"Don't move," she said, "for your life! We are lost if you move. Keep
+still--restrain yourself--shut your eyes."
+
+I tried to do so, but could not. There was a horrible fascination
+about the scene which forced me to look and see all. The Kohen took
+the victim, and drawing it from the altar, threw it over the precipice
+to the ground beneath. Then a loud shout burst forth from the great
+crowd. "Sibgu Sibgin! Ranenu! Hodu lecosck!" which means, "Sacrifice
+the victims! Rejoice! Give thanks to darkness!"
+
+Then another of the youths went forward amid the singing, and laid
+himself down to meet the same fate; and again the corpse was flung
+from the top of the pyramid, and again the shout arose. All the others
+came forward in the same manner. Oh, horrible, horrible, thrice
+horrible spectacle! I do not remember how I endured it. I sat there
+with Almah, trying to restrain myself as she had entreated me, more
+for her sake than for my own, a prey to every feeling of horror,
+anguish, and despair. How it all ended I do not know, nor do I know
+how I got away from the place; for I only remember coming back to my
+senses in the lighted grotto, with Almah bending anxiously over me.
+
+After this there remained a dark mystery and an ever-present horror. I
+found myself among a people who were at once the gentlest of the human
+race and the most blood-thirsty--the kindest and the most cruel. This
+mild, amiable, and self-sacrificing Kohen, how was it possible that
+he should transform himself to a fiend incarnate? And for me and for
+Almah, what possible hope could there be? What fate might they have
+in reserve for us? Of what avail was all this profound respect, this
+incessant desire to please, this attention to our slightest wish, this
+comfort and luxury and splendor, this freedom of speech and action?
+Was it anything better than a mockery? Might it not be the shallow
+kindness of the priest to the victim reserved for the sacrifice? Was
+it, after all, in any degree better than the kindness of the cannibal
+savages on those drear outer shores who received us with such
+hospitality, but only that they might destroy us at last? Might they
+not all belong to the same race, dwelling as they did in caverns,
+shunning the sunlight, and blending kindness with cruelty? It was an
+awful thought!
+
+Yet I had one consolation. Almah was with me, and so long as she was
+spared to me I could endure this life. I tried for her sake to resist
+the feelings that were coming over me. I saw that she too was a prey
+to ever-deepening sadness. She felt as I did, and this despair of soul
+might wreck her young life if there were no alleviation. And so I
+sought to alleviate her distress and to banish her sadness. The songs
+of these people had much impressed me; and one day, as I talked about
+this with Almah, she brought forth a musical instrument of peculiar
+shape, which was not unlike a guitar, though the shape was square and
+there were a dozen strings. Upon this she played, singing at the same
+time some songs of a plaintive character. An idea now occurred to me
+to have an instrument made according to my own plans, which should be
+nothing less than a violin. Almah was delighted at the proposal, and
+at once found a very clever workman, who under my direction succeeded
+in producing one which served my purpose well. I was a good violinist,
+and in this I was able to find solace for myself and for Almah for
+many a long hour.
+
+The first time that I played was memorable. As the tones floated
+through the air they caught the ears of those outside, and soon great
+numbers came into the apartment, listening in amazement and in rapt
+attention. Even the painful light was disregarded in the pleasure of
+this most novel sensation, and I perceived that if the sense of sight
+was deficient among them, that of hearing was sufficiently acute.
+I played many times, and sometimes sang from among the songs of
+different nations; but those which these people liked best were the
+Irish and Scottish melodies--those matchless strains created by the
+genius of the Celtic race, and handed down from immemorial ages
+through long generations. In these there was nothing artificial,
+nothing transient. They were the utterance of the human heart, and in
+them there was that touch of nature which makes all men kin. These
+were the immortal passions which shall never cease to affect the soul
+of man, and which had power even here; the strains of love, of
+sadness, and of pathos were sweet and enticing to this gentle race;
+for in their mild manners and their outburst of cruelty they seemed to
+be not unlike the very race which had created this music, since the
+Celt is at once gentle and blood-thirsty.
+
+I played "Tara," "Bonnie Doon," "The Last Rose of Summer," "The Land
+of the Leal," "Auld Lang Syne," "Lochaber." They stood entranced,
+listening with all their souls. They seemed to hunger and thirst after
+this music, and the strains of the inspired Celtic race seemed to come
+to them like the revelation of the glory of heaven. Then I played more
+lively airs. Some I played a second time, singing the words. They
+seemed eager to have the same one played often. At last a grisly
+thought came to me: it was that they would learn these sweet strains,
+and put their own words to them so as to use them at the awful
+sacrifices. After that I would play no more.
+
+It is a land of tender love and remorseless cruelty. Music is
+all-powerful to awaken the one, but powerless to abate the other; and
+the eyes that weep over the pathetic strains of "Lochaber" can gaze
+without a tear upon the death-agonies of a slaughtered friend.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE AWFUL "MISTA KOSEK"
+
+
+The terrible sacrifice marked the end of the light season. The dark
+season had now begun, which would last for half the coming year. No
+more sunlight would now be visible, save at first for a few joms,
+when at certain times the glare would be seen shooting up above the
+icy crests of the mountains. Now the people all moved out of the
+caverns into the stone houses on the opposite side of the terraces,
+and the busy throng transferred themselves and their occupations to
+the open air. This with them was the season of activity, when all
+their most important affairs were undertaken and carried out; the
+season, too, of enjoyment, when all the chief sports and festivals
+took place. Then the outer world all awoke to life; the streets were
+thronged, fleets of galleys came forth from their moorings, and the
+sounds of labor and of pleasure, of toil and revelry, arose into the
+darkened skies. Then the city was a city of the living, no longer
+silent, but full of bustle, and the caverns were frequented but
+little. This cavern life was only tolerable during the light season,
+when the sun-glare was over the land; but now, when the beneficent and
+grateful darkness pervaded all things, the outer world was infinitely
+more agreeable.
+
+To me, however, the arrival of the dark season brought only additional
+gloom. I could not get rid of the thought that I was reserved for some
+horrible fate, in which Almah might also be involved. We were both
+aliens here, in a nation of kind-hearted and amiable miscreants--of
+generous, refined, and most self-denying fiends; of men who were
+highly civilized, yet utterly wrong-headed and irreclaimable in their
+blood-thirsty cruelty. The stain of blood-guiltiness was over all the
+land. What was I, that I could hope to be spared? The hope was
+madness, and I did not pretend to indulge it.
+
+The only consolation was Almah. The manners of these people were such
+that we were still left as unconstrained as ever in our movements, and
+always, wherever we went, we encountered nothing but amiable smiles
+and courteous offices. Everyone was always eager to do anything for
+us--to give, to go, to act, to speak, as though we were the most
+honored of guests, the pride of the city. The Kohen was untiring in
+his efforts to please. He was in the habit of making presents every
+time he came to see me, and on each occasion the present was of a
+different kind; at one time it was a new robe of curiously wrought
+feathers, at another some beautiful gem, at another some rare fruit.
+He also made incessant efforts to render my situation pleasant, and
+was delighted at my rapid progress in acquiring the language.
+
+On the jom following the sacrifice I accompanied Almah as she went
+to her daily task, and after it was over I asked when the new victims
+would be placed here. "How long does it take to embalm them?" I added.
+
+Almah looked at me earnestly. "They will not bring them here; they
+will not embalm them," said she.
+
+"Why not?" I asked; "what will they do with them?"
+
+"Do not ask," said she. "It will pain you to know."
+
+In spite of repeated solicitation she refused to give me any
+satisfaction. I felt deeply moved at her words and her looks. What was
+it, I wondered, that could give me pain? or what could there still
+be that could excite fear in me, who had learned and seen so much? I
+could not imagine. It was evidently some disposal of the bodies of
+the victims--that was plain. Turning this over in my mind, with vague
+conjectures as to Almah's meaning, I left her and walked along the
+terrace until I came to the next cavern. This had never been open
+before, and I now entered through curiosity to see what it might be.
+I saw a vast cavern, quite as large as the cheder nebilin, full of
+people, who seemed to be engaged in decorating it. Hundreds were at
+work, and they had brought immense tree-ferns, which were placed on
+either side in long rows, with their branches meeting and interlacing
+at the top. It looked like the interior of some great Gothic cathedral
+at night, and the few twinkling lights that were scattered here and
+there made the shadowy outline just visible to me.
+
+I asked one of the bystanders what this might be, and he told me that
+it was the Mista Kosek, which means the "Feast of Darkness," from
+which I gathered that they were about to celebrate the advent of the
+dark season with a feast. From what I knew of their character this
+seemed quite intelligible, and there was much beauty and taste in the
+arrangements. All were industrious and orderly, and each one seemed
+most eager to assist his neighbor. Indeed, there seemed to be a
+friendly rivalry in this which at times amounted to positive violence;
+for more than once when a man was seen carrying too large a burden,
+someone else would insist on taking it from him. At first these
+altercations seemed exactly like the quarrels of workmen at home, but
+a closer inspection showed that it was merely the persistent effort
+of one to help another.
+
+I learned that the feast was to take place as soon as the hall was
+decorated, and that it would be attended by a great multitude. I felt
+a great interest in it. There seemed something of poetic beauty in
+this mode of welcoming the advent of a welcome season, and it served
+to mitigate the horrible remembrance of that other celebration, upon
+which I could not think without a shudder. I thought that it would be
+pleasant to join with them here, and resolved to ask Almah to come
+with me, so that she might explain the meaning of the ceremonies. Full
+of this thought, I went to her and told her my wish. She looked at me
+with a face full of amazement and misery. In great surprise I
+questioned her eagerly.
+
+"Ask me nothing," said she. "I will answer nothing; but do not think
+of it. Do not go near it. Stay in your room till the fearful repast is
+over."
+
+"Fearful? How is it fearful?" I asked.
+
+"Everything here is fearful," said Almah, with a sigh. "Every season
+it grows worse, and I shall grow at length to hate life and love death
+as these people do. They can never understand us, and we can never
+understand them. Oh, if I could but once more stand in my own dear
+native land but for one moment--to see once more the scenes and the
+faces that I love so well! Oh, how different is this land from mine!
+Here all is dark, all is terrible. There the people love the light and
+rejoice in the glorious sun, and when the dark season comes they wait,
+and have no other desire than long day. There we live under the sky,
+in the eye of the sun. We build our houses, and when the dark season
+comes we fill them with lamps that make a blaze like the sun itself."
+
+"We must try to escape," I said, in a low voice.
+
+"Escape!" said she. "That is easy enough. We might go now; but where?"
+
+"Back," said I, "to your own country. See, the sky is dotted with
+stars: I can find my way by them."
+
+"Yes," said she, "if I could only tell you where to go; but I cannot.
+My country lies somewhere over the sea, but where, I know not. Over
+the sea there are many lands, and we might reach one even worse than
+this."
+
+"Perhaps," said I, "the Kohen might allow us to go away to your
+country, and send us there. He is most generous and most amiable. He
+seems to spend most of his time in efforts to make us happy. There
+must be many seamen in this nation who know the way. It would be worth
+trying."
+
+Almah shook her head. "You do not understand these people," said she.
+"Their ruling passion is the hatred of self, and therefore they are
+eager to confer benefits on others. The only hope of life that I have
+for you and for myself is in this, that if they kill us they will lose
+their most agreeable occupation. They value us most highly, because
+we take everything that is given us. You and I now possess as our own
+property all this city and all its buildings, and all the people have
+made themselves our slaves."
+
+At this I was utterly bewildered.
+
+"I don't understand," said I.
+
+"I suppose not," said Almah; "but you will understand better after you
+have been here longer. At any rate, you can see for yourself that the
+ruling passion here is self-denial and the good of others. Everyone is
+intent upon this, from the Kohen up to the most squalid pauper."
+
+"_Up_ to the most squalid pauper?" said I. "I do not understand you.
+You mean _down_ to the most squalid pauper."
+
+"No," said Almah; "I mean what I say. In this country the paupers form
+the most honored and envied class."
+
+"This is beyond my comprehension," said I. "But if this is really so,
+and if these people pretend to be our slaves, why may we not order out
+a galley and go?"
+
+"Oh, well, with you in your land, if a master were to order his slaves
+to cut his throat and poison his children and burn his house, would
+the slaves obey?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"Well, our slaves here would not--in fact could not--obey a command
+that would be shocking to their natures. They think that we are in the
+best of all lands, and my request to be sent home would be utterly
+monstrous."
+
+"I suppose," said I, "they would kill us if we asked them to do so?"
+
+"Yes," said Almah; "for they think death the greatest blessing."
+
+"And if at the point of death we should beg for life, would they spare
+us?"
+
+"Certainly not," said Almah. "Would you kill a man who asked for
+death? No more would these people spare a man who asked for life."
+
+All this was so utterly incomprehensible that I could pursue the
+subject no further. I saw, however, that Almah was wretched, dejected,
+and suffering greatly from home-sickness. Gladly would I have taken
+her and started off on a desperate flight by sea or land--gladly would
+I have dared every peril, although I well knew what tremendous perils
+there were; but she would not consent, and believed the attempt to be
+useless. I could only wait, therefore, and indulge the hope that at
+last a chance of escape might one day come, of which she would be
+willing to avail herself.
+
+Almah utterly refused to go to the feast, and entreated me not to go;
+but this only served to increase my curiosity, and I determined to see
+it for myself, whatever it was. She had seen it, and why should not I?
+Whatever it might be, my nerves could surely stand the shock as well
+as hers. Besides, I was anxious to know the very worst; and if there
+was anything that could surpass in atrocity what I had already
+witnessed, it were better that I should not remain in ignorance of it.
+
+So at length, leaving Almah, I returned to the hall of the feast. I
+found there a vast multitude, which seemed to comprise the whole
+city--men, women, children, all were there. Long tables were laid out.
+The people were all standing an waiting. A choir was singing plaintive
+strains that sounded like the chant of the sacrifice. Those nearest me
+regarded me with their usual amiable smiles, and wished to conduct me
+to some place of honor; but I did not care about taking part in this
+feast. I wished to be a mere spectator, nothing more. I walked past
+and came to the next cavern. This seemed to be quite as large as the
+other. There was a crowd of people here also, and at one end there
+blazed an enormous fire. It was a furnace that seemed to be used for
+cooking the food of this banquet, and there was a thick steam rising
+from an immense cauldron, while the air was filled with an odor like
+that of a kitchen.
+
+All this I took in at a glance, and at the same instant I saw
+something else. There were several very long tables, which stood at
+the sides of the cavern and in the middle, and upon each of these I
+saw lying certain things covered over with cloths. The shape of these
+was more than suggestive--it told me all. It was a sight of
+horror--awful, tremendous, unspeakable! For a moment I stood
+motionless staring; then all the cavern seemed to swim around me. I
+reeled, I fell, and sank into nothingness.
+
+When I revived I was in the lighted grotto, lying on a couch, with
+Almah bending over me. Her face was full of tenderest anxiety, yet
+there was also apparent a certain solemn gloom that well accorded with
+my own feelings. As I looked at her she drew a long breath, and buried
+her face in her hands.
+
+After a time my recollection returned, and all came back to me. I rose
+to a sitting posture.
+
+"Do not rise yet," said Almah, anxiously; "you are weak."
+
+"No," said I; "I am as strong as ever; but I'm afraid that you are
+weaker."
+
+Almah shuddered.
+
+"If you had told me exactly what it was, I would not have gone."
+
+"I could not tell you," said she. "It is too terrible to name. Even
+the thought is intolerable. I told you not to go. Why did you go?"
+
+She spoke in accents of tender reproach, and there were tears in her
+eyes.
+
+"I did not think of anything so hideous as that," said I. "I thought
+that there might be a sacrifice, but nothing worse."
+
+I now learned that when I fainted I had been raised most tenderly,
+and the Kohen himself came with me as I was carried back, and he
+thought that Almah would be my most agreeable nurse. The Kohen was
+most kind and sympathetic, and all the people vied with one another
+in their efforts to assist me--so much so that there was the greatest
+confusion. It was only by Almah's express entreaty that they retired
+and left me with her.
+
+Here was a new phase in the character of this mysterious people.
+Could I ever hope to understand them? Where other people are cruel to
+strangers, or at best indifferent, these are eager in their acts of
+kindness; they exhibit the most unbounded hospitality, the most lavish
+generosity, the most self-denying care and attention; where others
+would be offended at the intrusion of a stranger, and enraged at
+his unconquerable disgust, these people had no feeling save pity,
+sympathy, and a desire to alleviate his distress. And yet--oh, and
+yet!--oh, thought of horror!--what was this that I had seen? The
+abhorrent savages in the outer wilderness were surely of the same race
+as these. They too received us kindly, they too lavished upon us their
+hospitality, and yet there followed the horror of that frightful
+repast. Here there had been kindness and generosity and affectionate
+attention, to be succeeded by deeds without a name. Ah me! what an
+hour that was! And yet it was as nothing compared to what lay before
+me in the future.
+
+But the subject was one of which I dared not speak--one from which I
+had to force my thoughts away. I took the violin and played "Lochaber"
+till Almah wept, and I had to put it away. Then I begged her to play
+or sing. She brought an instrument like a lute, and upon this she
+played some melancholy strains. At length the Kohen came in. His
+mild, benevolent face never exhibited more gentle and affectionate
+sympathy than now. He seated himself, and with eyes half closed, as
+usual, talked much; and yet, with a native delicacy which always
+distinguished this extraordinary man, he made no allusion to the
+awful Mista Kosek. For my own part, I could not speak. I was
+absent-minded, overwhelmed with gloom and despair, and at the same
+time full of aversion toward him and all his race. One question,
+however, I had to put.
+
+"Who were the victims of the Mista Kosek?"
+
+"They?" said he, with an agreeable smile. "Oh, they were the victims
+of the sacrifice."
+
+I sank back in my seat, and said no more. The Kohen then took Almah's
+lute, played and sang in a very sweet voice, and at length, with his
+usual consideration, seeing that I looked weary, he retired.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+I LEARN MY DOOM
+
+
+Horror is a feeling that cannot last long; human nature is
+incapable of supporting it. Sadness, whether from bereavement, or
+disappointment, or misfortune of any kind, may linger on through life.
+In my case, however, the milder and more enduring feeling of sadness
+had no sufficient cause for existence. The sights which I had seen
+inspired horror, and horror only. But when the first rush of this
+feeling had passed there came a reaction. Calmness followed, and then
+all the circumstances of my life here conspired to perpetuate that
+calm. For here all on the surface was pleasant and beautiful; all the
+people were amiable and courteous and most generous. I had light and
+luxury and amusements. Around me there were thousands of faces, all
+greeting me with cordial affection, and thousands of hands all ready
+to perform my slightest wish. Above all, there was Almah. Everything
+combined to make her most dear to me. My life had been such that I
+never before had seen anyone whom I loved; and here Almah was the one
+congenial associate in a whole world of aliens: she was beautiful
+and gentle and sympathetic, and I loved her dearly, even before I
+understood what my feelings were. One day I learned all, and found
+that she was more precious to me than all the world.
+
+It was one jom when she did not make her appearance as usual. On
+asking after her I learned that she was ill. At this intelligence
+there came over me a feeling of sickening anxiety and fear. Almah ill!
+What if it should prove serious? Could I endure life here without her
+sweet companionship? Of what value was life without her? And as I
+asked myself these questions I learned that Almah had become dearer
+to me than life itself, and that in her was all the sunshine of my
+existence. While she was absent, life was nothing; all its value, all
+its light, its flavor, its beauty, were gone. I felt utterly crushed.
+I forgot all else save her illness, and all that I had endured seemed
+as nothing when compared with this.
+
+In the midst of my own anxiety I was surprised to find that the whole
+community was most profoundly agitated. Among all classes there seemed
+to be but one thought--her illness. I could overhear them talking I
+could see them wait outside to hear about her. It seemed to be the one
+subject of interest, beside which all others were forgotten. The Kohen
+was absorbed in her case; all the physicians of the city were more or
+less engaged in her behalf; and there came forward as volunteers every
+woman in the place who had any knowledge of sick-duties. I was
+somewhat perplexed, however, at their manner. They were certainly
+agitated and intensely interested, yet not exactly sad. Indeed, from
+what I heard it seemed as though this strange people regarded sickness
+as rather a blessing than otherwise. This, however, did not interfere
+in the slightest degree with the most intense interest in her, and the
+most assiduous attention. The Kohen in particular was devoted to her.
+He was absent-minded, silent, and full of care. On the whole, I felt
+more than ever puzzled, and less able than ever to understand these
+people. I loved them, yet loathed them; for the Kohen I had at once
+affection and horror. He looked like an anxious father, full of
+tenderest love for a sick child--full also of delicate sympathy with
+me; and yet I knew all the time that he was quite capable of plunging
+the sacrificial knife in Almah's heart and of eating her afterward.
+
+But my own thoughts were all of Almah. I learned how dear she was.
+With her the brightness of life had passed; without her existence
+would be intolerable. Her sweet voice, her tender and gracious manner,
+her soft touch, her tender, affectionate smile, her mournful yet
+trustful look--oh, heavens! would all these be mine no more? I could
+not endure the thought. At first I wandered about, seeking rest and
+finding none; and at length I sat in my own room, and passed the time
+in listening, in questioning the attendants, in wondering what I
+should do if she should be taken from me.
+
+At length on one blessed jom, the Kohen came to me with a bright
+smile.
+
+"Our darling Almah is better," said he. "Eat, I beseech you. She is
+very dear to all of us, and we have all felt for her and for you. But
+now all danger is past. The physicians say that she will soon be
+well." There were tears in his eyes as he spoke. It may have been
+caused by the bright light, but I attributed this to his loving heart,
+and I forgot that he was a cannibal. I took his hands in mine and
+pressed them in deep emotion. He looked at me with a sweet and gentle
+smile.
+
+"I see it all," said he, in a low voice--"you love her, Atam-or."
+
+I pressed his hands harder, but said nothing. Indeed, I could not
+trust myself to speak.
+
+"I knew it," said he; "it is but natural. You are both of a different
+race from us; you are both much alike, and in full sympathy with one
+another. This draws you together. When I first saw you I thought that
+you would be a fit companion for her here--that you would lessen her
+gloom, and that she would be pleasant to you. I found out soon that I
+was right, and I felt glad, for you at once showed the fullest
+sympathy with one another. Never till you came was Almah happy with
+us; but since you have come she has been a different being, and there
+has been a joyousness in her manner that I never saw before. You have
+made her forget how to weep; and as for yourself, I hope she has made
+your life in this strange land seem less painful, Atam-or."
+
+At all this I was so full of amazement that I could not say one word.
+
+"Pardon me," continued he, "if I have said anything that may seem like
+an intrusion upon your secret and most sacred feelings. I could not
+have said it had it not been for the deep affection I feel for Almah
+and for you, and for the reason that I am just now more moved than
+usual, and have less control over my feelings."
+
+Saying this, he pressed my hand and left me. It was not the custom
+here to shake hands, but with his usual amiability he had adopted my
+custom, and used it as naturally as though he had been to the manner
+born.
+
+I was encouraged now. The mild Kohen came often to cheer me. He talked
+much about Almah--about her sweet and gracious disposition, the love
+that all felt for her, the deep and intense interest which her illness
+had aroused. In all this he seemed more like a man of my own race than
+before, and in his eager desire for her recovery he failed to exhibit
+that love for death which was his nature. So it seemed: yet this
+desire for her recovery did not arise out of any lack of love for
+death; its true cause I was to learn afterward; and I was to know that
+if he desired Almah's recovery now, it was only that she might live
+long enough to encounter death in a more terrific form. But just then
+all this was unknown, and I judged him by myself.
+
+At last I learned that she was much better, and would be out on the
+following jom. This intelligence filled me with a fever of eager
+anticipation, so great that I could think of nothing else. Sleep was
+impossible. I could only wait, and try as best I might to quell my
+impatience. At last the time came. I sat waiting. The curtain was
+drawn aside. I sprang up, and, hurrying toward her, I caught her in my
+arms and wept for joy. Ah me, how pale she looked! She bore still the
+marks of her illness. She seemed deeply embarrassed and agitated at
+the fervor of my greeting; while I, instead of apologizing or trying
+to excuse myself, only grew more agitated still.
+
+"Oh, Almah," I cried. "I should have died if you had not come back to
+me! Oh, Almah, I love you better than life and I never knew how dearly
+I loved you till I thought that I had lost you! Oh, forgive me, but I
+must tell you--and don't weep, darling."
+
+She was weeping as I spoke. She said nothing, but twined her arms
+around my neck and wept on my breast. After this we had much to say
+that we had never mentioned before. I cannot tell the sweet words that
+she said to me; but I now learned that she had loved me from the
+first--when I came to her in her loneliness, when she was homesick and
+heartsick; and I came, a kindred nature, of a race more like her own;
+and she saw in me the only one of all around her whom it was possible
+not to detest, and therefore she loved me.
+
+We had many things to say to one another, and long exchanges of
+confidence to make. She now for the first time told me all the sorrow
+that she had endured in her captivity--sorrow which she had kept
+silent and shut up deep within her breast. At first her life here had
+been so terrible that it had brought her down nearly to death. After
+this she had sunk into dull despair; she had grown familiar with
+horrors and lived in a state of unnatural calm. From this my arrival
+had roused her. The display of feeling on my part had brought back
+all her old self, and roused anew all those feelings which in her had
+become dormant. The darkness, the bloodshed, the sacrifices, all these
+affected me as they had once affected her. I had the same fear of
+death which she had. When I had gone with her to the cheder nebilin,
+when I had used my sepet-ram to save life, she had perceived in me
+feelings and impulses to which all her own nature responded. Finally,
+when I asked about the Mista Kosek, she warned me not to go. When I
+did go she was with me in thought and suffered all that I felt, until
+the moment when I was brought back and laid senseless at her feet.
+
+"Then," said Almah, "I felt the full meaning of all that lies before
+us."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" I asked, anxiously. "You speak as though
+there were something yet--worse than what has already been; yet
+nothing can possibly be worse. We have seen the worst; let us now try
+to shake off these grisly thoughts, and be happy with one another.
+Your strength will soon be back, and while we have one another we can
+be happy even in this gloom."
+
+"Ah me," said Almah, "it would be better now to die. I could die happy
+now, since I know that you love me."
+
+"Death!" said I; "do not talk of it--do not mention that word. It is
+more abhorrent than ever. No, Almah, let us live and love--let us
+hope--let us fly."
+
+"Impossible!" said she, in a mournful voice. "We cannot fly. There is
+no hope. We must face the future, and make up our minds to bear our
+fate."
+
+"Fate!" I repeated, looking at her in wonder and in deep concern.
+"What do you mean by our fate? Is there anything more which you know
+and which I have not heard?"
+
+"You have heard nothing," said she, slowly; "and all that you have
+seen and heard is as nothing compared with what lies before us. For
+you and for me there is a fate--inconceivable, abhorrent,
+tremendous!--a fate of which I dare not speak or even think, and from
+which there is no escape whatever."
+
+As Almah said this she looked at me with an expression in which terror
+and anguish were striving with love. Her cheeks, which shortly before
+had flushed rosy red in sweet confusion, were now pallid, her lips
+ashen; her eyes were full of a wild despair. I looked at her in
+wonder, and could not say a word.
+
+"Oh, Atam-or," said she, "I am afraid of death!"
+
+"Almah," said I, "why will you speak of death? What is this fate which
+you fear so much?"
+
+"It is this," said she hurriedly and with a shudder, "you and I are
+singled out. I have been reserved for years until one should be found
+who might be joined with me. You came. I saw it all at once. I have
+known it--dreaded it--tried to fight against it. But it was of no use.
+Oh, Atam-or, our love means death; for the very fact that you love me
+and I love you seals our doom!"
+
+"Our doom? What doom?"
+
+"The sacrifice!" exclaimed Almah, with another shudder. In her voice
+and look there was a terrible meaning, which I could not fail to take.
+I understood it now, and my blood curdled in my veins. Almah clung to
+me despairingly.
+
+"Do not leave me!" she cried--"do not leave me! I have no one but you.
+The sacrifice, the sacrifice! It is our doom the great sacrifice--at
+the end of the dark season. It is at the amir. We must go there to
+meet our doom."
+
+"The amir?" I asked; "what is that?"
+
+"It is the metropolis," said she.
+
+I was utterly overwhelmed, yet still I tried to console her; but the
+attempt was vain.
+
+"Oh!" she cried, "you will not understand. The sacrifice is but a
+part--it is but the beginning. Death is terrible; yet it may be
+endured--if there is only death. But oh!--oh think!--think of that
+which comes after--the Mista Kosek!"
+
+Now the full meaning flashed upon me, and I saw it all. In an instant
+there arose in my mind the awful sacrifice on the pyramid and the
+unutterable horror of the Mista Kosek. Oh, horror, horror,
+horror! Oh, hideous abomination and deed without a name! I could not
+speak. I caught her in my arms, and we both wept passionately.
+
+The happiness of our love was now darkened by this tremendous cloud
+that lowered before us. The shock of this discovery was overpowering,
+and some time elapsed before I could rally from it. Though Almah's
+love was sweet beyond expression, and though as the time passed I
+saw that every jom she regained more and more of her former
+health and strength, still I could not forget what had been revealed.
+We were happy with one another, yet our happiness was clouded, and
+amid the brightness of our love there was ever present the dread
+spectre of our appalling doom.
+
+These feelings, however, grew fainter. Hope is ever ready to arise;
+and I began to think that these people, though given to evil ways,
+were after all kind-hearted, and might listen to entreaty. Above all,
+there was the Kohen, so benevolent, so self-denying, so amiable, so
+sympathetic. I could not forget all that he had said during Almah's
+illness, and it seemed more than probable that an appeal to his better
+nature might not be without effect. I said as much to Almah.
+
+"The Kohen," said she; "why, he can do nothing."
+
+"Why not? He is the chief man here, and ought to have great
+influence."
+
+"You don't understand," said she, with a sigh. "The Kohen is the
+lowest and least influential man in the city."
+
+"Why, who are influential if he is not?" I asked.
+
+"The paupers," said Almah.
+
+"The paupers!" I exclaimed, in amazement.
+
+"Yes," said Almah. "Here among these people the paupers form the most
+honored, influential, and envied portion of the community."
+
+This was incomprehensible. Almah tried to explain, but to no purpose,
+and I determined to talk to the Kohen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE KOHEN IS INEXORABLE
+
+
+I determined to talk to the Kohen, and try for myself whether he might
+not be accessible to pity. This greatest of cannibals might, indeed,
+have his little peculiarities, I thought, and who has not?--yet at
+bottom he seemed full of tender and benevolent feeling; and as he
+evidently spent his whole time in the endeavor to make us happy, it
+seemed not unlikely that he might do something for our happiness in a
+case where our very existence was at stake.
+
+The Kohen listened with deep attention as I stated my case. I did this
+fully and frankly. I talked of my love for Almah and of Almah's love
+for me; our hope that we might be united so as to live happily in
+reciprocal affection; and I was going on to speak of the dread that
+was in my heart when he interrupted me:
+
+"You speak of being united," said he. "You talk strangely. Of course
+you mean that you wish to be separated."
+
+"Separated!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean? Of course we wish to be
+united."
+
+The Kohen stared at me as I said this with the look of one who was
+quite puzzled; and I then went on to speak of the fate that was before
+us, and to entreat his sympathy and his aid that we might be saved
+from so hideous a doom. To all these words the Kohen listened with an
+air of amazement, as though I were saying incomprehensible things.
+
+"You have a gentle and an affectionate nature," I said--"a nature full
+of sympathy with others, and noble self-denial."
+
+"Of course," said the Kohen, quickly, as though glad to get hold of
+something which he could understand, "of course we are all so, for we
+are so made. It is our nature. Who is there who is not self-denying?
+No one can help that."
+
+This sounded strange indeed; but I did not care to criticize it. I
+came to my purpose direct and said,
+
+"Save us from our fate."
+
+"Your fate?"
+
+"Yes, from death--that death of horror."
+
+"Death?--horror? What do you mean by horror?" said the Kohen, in an
+amazement that was sincere and unfeigned. "I cannot comprehend your
+meaning. It seems as though you actually dislike death; but that is
+not conceivable. It cannot be possible that you fear death."
+
+"Fear death!" I exclaimed, "I do--I do. Who is there that does not
+fear it?"
+
+The Kohen stared.
+
+"I do not understand you," he said.
+
+"Do you not understand," said I, "that death is abhorrent to
+humanity?"
+
+"Abhorrent!" said the Kohen; "that is impossible. Is it not the
+highest blessing? Who is there that does not long for death? Death is
+the greatest blessing, the chief desire of man--the highest aim. And
+you--are you not to be envied in having your felicity so near? above
+all, in having such a death as that which is appointed for you--so
+noble, so sublime? You must be mad; your happiness has turned your
+head."
+
+All this seemed like hideous mockery, and I stared at the Kohen with a
+gaze that probably strengthened his opinion of my madness.
+
+"Do you love death?" I asked at length, in amazement.
+
+"Love death? What a question! Of course I love death--all men do; who
+does not? Is it not human nature? Do we not instinctively fly to meet
+it whenever we can? Do we not rush into the jaws of sea-monsters, or
+throw ourselves within their grasp? Who does not feel within him this
+intense longing after death as the strongest passion of his heart?"
+
+"I don't know--I don't know," said I. "You are of a different race; I
+do not understand what you say. But I belong to a race that fears
+death. I fear death and love life; and I entreat you, I implore you to
+help me now in my distress, and assist me so that I may save my life
+and that of Almah."
+
+"I--I help you!" said the Kohen, in new amazement. "Why do you come to
+me--to me, of all men? Why, I am nothing here. And help you to
+live--to live! Who ever heard of such a thing?"
+
+And the Kohen looked at me with the same astonishment which I should
+evince if a man should ask me to help him to die.
+
+Still, I persisted in my entreaty for his help.
+
+"Such a request," said he, "is revolting; you must be mad. Such a
+request outrages all the instincts of humanity. And even if I could do
+such violence to my own nature as to help you to such a thing, how do
+you think I could face my fellow-men, or how could I endure the
+terrible punishment which would fall upon me?"
+
+"Punishment!" said I. "What! would you be punished?"
+
+"Punished!" said the Kohen. "That, of course, would be inevitable. I
+should be esteemed an unnatural monster and the chief of criminals. My
+lot in life now is painful enough; but in this case my punishment
+would involve me in evils without end. Riches would be poured upon me;
+I should be raised to the rank of Kohen Gadol; I should be removed
+farther away than ever from the pauper class--so far, indeed, that all
+hope in life would be over. I should be made the first and noblest and
+richest in all the land."
+
+He spoke these words just as if he had said, "the lowest, meanest,
+poorest, and most infamous." It sounded like fresh mockery, and I
+could not believe but that he was amusing himself at my expense.
+
+"This is cruel," said I. "You are mocking me."
+
+"Cruel?--cruel?" said he; "what is cruel? You mean that such a fate
+would be cruel for me."
+
+"No, no," said I; "but alas! I see we cannot understand one another."
+
+"No," said the Kohen, musingly, as he looked at me. "No, it seems not;
+but tell me, Atam-or, is it possible that you really fear death--that
+you really love life?"
+
+"Fear death!--love life!" I cried. "Who does not? Who can help it? Why
+do you ask me that?"
+
+The Kohen clasped his hands in amazement.
+
+"If you really fear death," said he, "what possible thing is there
+left to love or to hope for? What, then, do you think the highest
+blessing of man?"
+
+"Long life," said I, "and riches and requited love."
+
+At this the Kohen started back, and stared at me as though I were a
+raving madman.
+
+"Oh, holy shades of night!" he exclaimed. "What is that you say? What
+do you mean?"
+
+"We can never understand one another, I fear," said I. "The love of
+life must necessarily be the strongest passion of man. We are so made.
+We give up everything for life. A long life is everywhere considered
+as the highest blessing; and there is no one who is willing to die, no
+matter what his suffering may be. Riches also are desired by all, for
+poverty is the direst curse that can embitter life; and as to requited
+love, surely that is the sweetest, purest, and most divine joy that
+the human heart may know."
+
+At this the Kohen burst forth in a strain of high excitement:
+
+"Oh, sacred cavern gloom! Oh, divine darkness! Oh, impenetrable
+abysses of night! What, oh, what is this! Oh, Atam-or, are you mad?
+Alas! it must be so. Joy has turned your brain; you are quite
+demented. You call good evil, and evil good; our light is your
+darkness, and our darkness your light. Yet surely you cannot be
+altogether insane. Come, come, let us look further. How is it! Try now
+to recall your reason. A long life--a life, and a long one! Surely
+there can be no human being in a healthy state of nature who wishes to
+prolong his life; and as to riches, it is possible that anyone exists
+who really and honestly desires riches? Impossible! And requited love!
+Oh, Atam-or, you are mad to-day! You are always strange, but now you
+have quite taken leave of your senses. I cannot but love you, and yet
+I can never understand you. Tell me, and tell me truly, what is it
+that you consider evils, if these things that you have mentioned are
+not the very worst?"
+
+He seemed deeply in earnest and much moved. I could not understand
+him, but could only answer his questions with simple conciseness.
+
+"Poverty, sickness, and death," said I, "are evils; but the worst of
+all evils is unrequited love."
+
+At these words the Kohen made a gesture of despair.
+
+"It is impossible to understand this," said he. "You talk calmly; you
+have not the air of a madman. If your fellow-countrymen are all like
+you, then your race is an incomprehensible one. Why, death is the
+greatest blessing. We all long for it; it is the end of our being. As
+for riches, they are a curse, abhorred by all. Above all, as to love,
+we shrink from the thought of requital. Death is our chief blessing,
+poverty our greatest happiness, and unrequited love the sweetest lot
+of man."
+
+All this sounded like the ravings of a lunatic, yet the Kohen was not
+mad. It seemed also like the mockery of some teasing demon; but the
+gentle and self-denying Kohen was no teasing demon, and mockery with
+him was impossible. I was therefore more bewildered than ever at this
+reiteration of sentiments that were so utterly incomprehensible. He,
+on the other hand, seemed as astonished at my sentiments and as
+bewildered, and we could find no common ground on which to meet.
+
+"I remember now," said the Kohen, in a musing tone, "having heard of
+some strange folk at the Amir, who profess to feel as you say you
+feel, but no one believes that they are in earnest; for although they
+may even bring themselves to think that they are in earnest in their
+professions, yet after all everyone thinks that they are
+self-deceived. For you see, in the first place, these feelings which
+you profess are utterly unnatural. We are so made that we cannot help
+loving death; it is a sort of instinct. We are also created in such a
+way that we cannot help longing after poverty. The pauper must always,
+among all men, be the most envied of mortals. Nature, too, has made us
+such that the passion of love, when it arises, is so vehement, so
+all-consuming that it must always struggle to avoid requital. This is
+the reason why, when two people find that they love each other, they
+always separate and avoid one another for the rest of their lives.
+This is human nature. We cannot help it; and it is this that
+distinguishes us from the animals. Why, if men were to feel as you say
+you feel, they would be mere animals. Animals fear death; animals love
+to accumulate such things as they prize; animals, when they love, go
+in pairs, and remain with one another. But man, with his intellect,
+would not be man if he loved life and desired riches and sought for
+requited love."
+
+I sank back in despair. "You cannot mean all this," I said.
+
+He threw at me a piteous glance. "What else can you believe or feel?"
+said he.
+
+"The very opposite. We are so made that we hate and fear death; to us
+he is the King of Terrors. Poverty is terrible also, since it is
+associated with want and woe; it is, therefore, natural to man to
+strive after riches. As to the passion of love, that is so vehement
+that the first and only thought is requital. Unrequited love is
+anguish beyond expression--anguish so severe that the heart will often
+break under it."
+
+The Kohen clasped his hands in new bewilderment.
+
+"I cannot understand," said he. "A madman might imagine that he loved
+life and desired riches; but as to love, why even a madman could not
+think of requital, for the very nature of the passion of love is the
+most utter self-surrender, and a shrinking from all requital;
+wherefore, the feeling that leads one to desire requital cannot be
+love. I do not know what it can be--indeed, I never heard of such a
+thing before, and the annals of the human race make no mention of such
+a feeling. For what is love? It is the ardent outflow of the whole
+being--the yearning of one human heart to lavish all its treasures
+upon another. Love is more than self-denial; it is self-surrender and
+utter self-abnegation. Love gives all away, and cannot possibly
+receive anything in return. A requital of love would mean selfishness,
+which would be self-contradiction. The more one loves, the more he
+must shrink from requital."
+
+"What!" cried I, "among you do lovers never marry?"
+
+"Lovers marry? Never!"
+
+"Do married people never love one another?"
+
+The Kohen shook his head.
+
+"It unfortunately sometimes happens so," said he, "and then the result
+is, of course, distressing. For the children's sake the parents will
+often remain with one another, but in many cases they separate. No one
+can tell the misery that ensues where a husband and wife love one
+another."
+
+The conversation grew insupportable. I could not follow the Kohen in
+what seemed the wildest and maddest flights of fancy that ever were
+known; so I began to talk of other things, and gradually the Kohen was
+drawn to speak of his own life. The account which he gave of himself
+was not one whit less strange than his previous remarks, and for this
+reason I add it here.
+
+"I was born," said he, "in the most enviable of positions. My father
+and mother were among the poorest in the land. Both died when I was a
+child, and I never saw them. I grew up in the open fields and public
+caverns, along with the most esteemed paupers. But, unfortunately for
+me, there was something wanting in my natural disposition. I loved
+death, of course, and poverty, too, very strongly; but I did not have
+that eager and energetic passion which is so desirable, nor was I
+watchful enough over my blessed estate of poverty. Surrounded as I was
+by those who were only too ready to take advantage of my ignorance or
+want of vigilance, I soon fell into evil ways, and gradually, in spite
+of myself, I found wealth pouring in upon me. Designing men succeeded
+in winning my consent to receive their possessions; and so I gradually
+fell away from that lofty position in which I was born. I grew richer
+and richer. My friends warned me, but in vain. I was too weak to
+resist; in fact, I lacked moral fibre, and had never learned how to
+say 'No.' So I went on, descending lower and lower in the scale of
+being. I became a capitalist, an Athon, a general officer, and finally
+Kohen.
+
+"At length, on one eventful day, I learned that one of my associates
+had by a long course of reckless folly become the richest man in all
+the country. He had become Athon, Melek, and at last Kohen Gadol. It
+was a terrible shock, but I trust a salutary one. I at once resolved
+to reform. That resolution I have steadily kept, and have at least
+saved myself from descending any lower. It is true, I can hardly hope
+to become what I once was. It is only too easy to grow rich; and, you
+know, poverty once forfeited can never return except in rare
+instances. I have, however, succeeded in getting rid of most of my
+wealth, chiefly through the fortunate advent of Almah and afterward of
+yourself. This, I confess, has been my salvation. Neither of you had
+any scruples about accepting what was bestowed, and so I did not feel
+as though I was doing you any wrong in giving you all I had in the
+world. Most of the people of this city have taken advantage of your
+extraordinary indifference to wealth, and have made themselves paupers
+at your expense. I had already become your slave, and had received the
+promise of being elevated to the rank of scullion in the cavern of the
+Mista Kosek. But now, since this event of your love for Almah, I
+hope to gain far more. I am almost certain of being made a pauper, and
+I think I can almost venture to hope some day for the honor of a
+public death."
+
+To such a story I had nothing to say. It was sheer madness; yet it was
+terribly suggestive, and showed how utterly hopeless was my effort to
+secure the assistance of such a man toward my escape from death.
+
+"A public death!" I said, grimly. "That will be very fortunate! And do
+you think that you will gain the dignity of being eaten up afterward?"
+
+The Kohen shook his head in all seriousness.
+
+"Oh no," said he; "that would be far beyond my deserts. That is an
+honor which is only bestowed upon the most distinguished."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE KOSEKIN
+
+
+These people call themselves the Kosekin. Their chief characteristic,
+or, at least, their most prominent one, is their love of darkness,
+which perhaps is due to their habit of dwelling in caves. Another
+feeling, equally strong and perhaps connected with this, is their love
+of death and dislike of life. This is visible in many ways, and
+affects all their character. It leads to a passionate self-denial, an
+incessant effort to benefit others at their own expense. Each one
+hates life and longs for death. He, therefore, hates riches, and all
+things that are associated with life.
+
+Among the Kosekin everyone makes perpetual efforts to serve others,
+which, however, are perpetually baffled by the unselfishness of these
+others. People thus spend years in trying to overreach one another, so
+as to make others richer than themselves. In a race each one tries to
+keep behind; but as this leads to confusion, there is then a universal
+effort for each one to be first, so as to put his neighbor in the
+honorable position of the rear. It is the same way in a hunt. Each one
+presses forward, so as to honor his companion by leaving him behind.
+Instead of injuring, everyone tries to benefit his neighbor. When one
+has been benefited by another, he is filled with a passion which may
+be called Kosekin revenge--namely, a sleepless and vehement desire to
+bestow some adequate and corresponding benefit on the other. Feuds
+are thus kept up among families and wars among nations. For no one is
+willing to accept from another any kindness, any gift, or any honor,
+and all are continually on the watch to prevent themselves from being
+overreached in this way. Those who are less watchful than others are
+overwhelmed with gifts by designing men, who wish to attain to the
+pauper class. The position of Almah and myself illustrates this. Our
+ignorance of the blessings and honors of poverty led us to receive
+whatever was offered us. Taking advantage of our innocence and
+ignorance, the whole city thereupon proceeded to bestow their property
+upon us, and all became paupers through our fortunate arrival.
+
+No one ever injures another unless by accident, and when this occurs
+it affords the highest joy to the injured party. He has now a claim on
+the injurer; he gets him into his power, is able to confer benefits on
+him and force upon him all that he wishes. The unhappy injurer, thus
+punished by the reception of wealth, finds himself helpless; and where
+the injury is great, the injured man may bestow upon the other all his
+wealth and attain to the envied condition of a pauper.
+
+Among the Kosekin the sick are objects of the highest regard. All
+classes vie with one another in their attentions. The rich send their
+luxuries; the paupers, however, not having anything to give, go
+themselves and wait on them and nurse them. For this there is no help,
+and the rich grumble, but can do nothing. The sick are thus sought out
+incessantly, and most carefully tended. When they die there is great
+rejoicing, since death is a blessing; but the nurses labor hard to
+preserve them in life, so as to prolong the enjoyment of the high
+privilege of nursing. Of all sick the incurable are most honored,
+since they require nursing always. Children also are highly honored
+and esteemed, and the aged too, since both classes require the care of
+others and must be the recipients of favors which all are anxious to
+bestow. Those who suffer from contagious diseases are more sought
+after than any other class, for in waiting on these there is the
+chance of gaining the blessing of death; indeed, in these cases much
+trouble is usually experienced from the rush of those who insist on
+offering their services.
+
+For it must never be forgotten that the Kosekin love death as we love
+life; and this accounts for all those ceremonies which to me were so
+abhorrent, especially the scenes of the Mista Kosek. To them a dead
+human body is no more than the dead body of a bird: there is no awe
+felt, no sense of sanctity, of superstitious horror; and so I learned,
+with a shudder, that the hate of life is a far worse thing than the
+fear of death. This desire for death is, then, a master-passion, and
+is the key to all their words and acts. They rejoice over the death of
+friends, since those friends have gained the greatest of blessings;
+they rejoice also at the birth of children, since those who are born
+will one day gain the bliss of death.
+
+For a couple to fall in love is the signal for mutual self-surrender.
+Each insists on giving up the loved one; and the more passionate the
+love is, the more eager is the desire to have the loved one married to
+someone else. Lovers have died broken-hearted from being compelled to
+marry one another. Poets here among the Kosekin celebrate unhappy love
+which has met with this end. These poets also celebrate defeats
+instead of victories, since it is considered glorious for one nation
+to sacrifice itself to another; but to this there are important
+limitations, as we shall see. Poets also celebrate street-sweepers,
+scavengers, lamp-lighters, laborers, and above all, paupers, and pass
+by as unworthy of notice the authors, Meleks, and Kohens of the land.
+
+The paupers here form the most honorable class. Next to these are the
+laborers. These have strikes as with us; but it is always for harder
+work, longer hours, or smaller pay. The contest between capital and
+labor rages, but the conditions are reversed; for the grumbling
+capitalist complains that the laborer will not take as much pay as he
+ought to while the laborer thinks the capitalist too persistent in his
+efforts to force money upon him.
+
+Here among the Kosekin the wealthy class forms the mass of the people,
+while the aristocratic few consist of the paupers. These are greatly
+envied by the others, and have many advantages. The cares and burdens
+of wealth, as well as wealth itself, are here considered a curse, and
+from all these the paupers are exempt. There is a perpetual effort on
+the part of the wealthy to induce the paupers to accept gifts, just
+as among us the poor try to rob the rich. Among the wealthy there is
+a great and incessant murmur at the obstinacy of the paupers. Secret
+movements are sometimes set on foot which aim at a redistribution of
+property and a levelling of all classes, so as to reduce the haughty
+paupers to the same condition as the mass of the nation. More than
+once there has been a violent attempt at a revolution, so as to force
+wealth on the paupers; but as a general thing these movements have
+been put down and their leaders severely punished. The paupers have
+shown no mercy in their hour of triumph; they have not conceded one
+jot to the public demand, and the unhappy conspirators have been
+condemned to increased wealth and luxury, while the leaders have
+been made Meleks and Kohens. Thus there are among the Kosekin the
+unfortunate many who are cursed with wealth, and the fortunate few who
+are blessed with poverty. These walk while the others ride, and from
+their squalid huts look proudly and contemptuously upon the palaces of
+their unfortunate fellow-countrymen.
+
+The love of death leads to perpetual efforts on the part of each to
+lay down his life for another. This is a grave difficulty in hunts and
+battles. Confined prisoners dare not fly, for in such an event the
+guards kill themselves. This leads to fresh rigors in the captivity of
+the prisoners in case of their recapture, for they are overwhelmed
+with fresh luxuries and increased splendors. Finally, if a prisoner
+persist and is recaptured, he is solemnly put to death, not, as with
+us, by way of severity, but as the last and greatest honor. Here
+extremes meet; and death, whether for honor or dishonor, is all the
+same--death--and is reserved for desperate cases. But among the
+Kosekin this lofty destiny is somewhat embittered by the agonizing
+thought on the part of the prisoner, who thus gains it, that his
+wretched family must be doomed, not, as with us, to poverty and want,
+but, on the contrary, to boundless wealth and splendor.
+
+Among so strange a people it seemed singular to me what offences could
+possibly be committed which could be regarded and punished as crimes.
+These, however, I soon found out. Instead of robbers, the Kosekin
+punished the secret bestowers of their wealth on others. This is
+regarded as a very grave offence. Analogous to our crime of piracy
+is the forcible arrest of ships at sea and the transfer to them of
+valuables. Sometimes the Kosekin pirates give themselves up as slaves.
+Kidnapping, assault, highway robbery, and crimes of violence have
+their parallel here in cases where a strong man, meeting a weaker,
+forces himself upon him as his slave or compels him to take his purse.
+If the weaker refuse, the assailant threatens to kill himself, which
+act would lay the other under obligations to receive punishment from
+the state in the shape of gifts and honors, or at least subject him
+to unpleasant inquiries. Murder has its counterpart among the Kosekin
+in cases where one man meets another, forces money on him, and kills
+himself. Forgery occurs where one uses another's name so as to confer
+money on him.
+
+There are many other crimes, all of which are severely punished. The
+worse the offence is, the better is the offender treated. Among the
+Kosekin capital punishment is imprisonment amid the greatest splendor,
+where the prisoner is treated like a king, and has many palaces and
+great retinues; for that which we consider the highest they regard as
+the lowest, and with them the chief post of honor is what we would
+call the lowest menial office. Of course, among such a people, any
+suffering from want is unknown, except when it is voluntary. The
+pauper class, with all their great privileges, have this restriction,
+that they are forced to receive enough for food and clothing. Some,
+indeed, manage by living in out-of-the-way places to deprive
+themselves of these, and have been known to die of starvation; but
+this is regarded as dishonorable, as taking an undue advantage of a
+great position, and where it can be proved, the children and relatives
+of the offender are severely punished according to the Kosekin
+fashion.
+
+State politics here move, like individual affairs, upon the great
+principle of contempt for earthly things. The state is willing to
+destroy itself for the good of other states; but as other states are
+in the same position, nothing can result. In times of war the object
+of each army is to honor the other and benefit it by giving it the
+glory of defeat. The contest is thus most fierce. The Kosekin, through
+their passionate love of death, are terrible in battle; and when they
+are also animated by the desire to confer glory on their enemies by
+defeating them, they generally succeed in their aim. This makes them
+almost always victorious, and when they are not so not a soul returns
+alive. Their state of mind is peculiar. If they are defeated they
+rejoice, since defeat is their chief glory; but if they are victorious
+they rejoice still more in the benevolent thought that they have
+conferred upon the enemy the joy, the glory, and the honor of defeat.
+
+Here all shrink from governing others. The highest wish of each is to
+serve. The Meleks and Kohens, whom I at first considered the highest,
+are really the lowest orders; next to these come the authors, then the
+merchants, then farmers, then artisans, then laborers, and, finally,
+the highest rank is reached in the paupers. Happy the aristocratic,
+the haughty, the envied paupers! The same thing is seen in their
+armies. The privates here are highest in rank, and the officers come
+next in different graduations. These officers, however, have the
+command and the charge of affairs as with us; yet this is consistent
+with their position, for here to obey is considered nobler than to
+command. In the fleet the rowers are the highest class; next come the
+fighting-men; and lowest of all are the officers. War arises from
+motives as peculiar as those which give rise to private feuds; as, for
+instance, where one nation tries to force a province upon another;
+where they try to make each other greater; where they try to benefit
+unduly each other's commerce; where one may have a smaller fleet or
+army than has been agreed on, or where an ambassador has been
+presented with gifts, or received too great honor or attention.
+
+In such a country as this, where riches are disliked and despised, I
+could not imagine how people could be induced to engage in trade.
+This, however, was soon explained. The laborers and artisans have to
+perform their daily work, so as to enable the community to live and
+move and have its being. Their impelling motive is the high one of
+benefiting others most directly. They refuse anything but the very
+smallest pay, and insist on giving for this the utmost possible labor.
+Tradesmen also have to supply the community with articles of all
+sorts; merchants have to sail their ships to the same end--all being
+animated by the desire of effecting the good of others. Each one tries
+not to make money, but to lose it; but as the competition is sharp and
+universal, this is difficult, and the larger portion are unsuccessful.
+The purchasers are eager to pay as much as possible, and the merchants
+and traders grow rich in spite of their utmost endeavors. The wealthy
+classes go into business so as to lose money, but in this they seldom
+succeed. It has been calculated that only two per cent in every
+community succeed in reaching the pauper class. The tendency is for
+all the labors of the working-class to be ultimately turned upon the
+unfortunate wealthy class. The workmen being the creators of wealth,
+and refusing to take adequate pay, cause a final accumulation of the
+wealth of the community in the hands of the mass of the non-producers,
+who thus are fixed in their unhappy position, and can hope for no
+escape except by death. The farmers till the ground, the fishermen
+fish, the laborers toil, and the wealth thus created is pushed from
+these incessantly till it all falls upon the lowest class--namely, the
+rich, including Athons, Meleks, and Kohens. It is a burden that is
+often too heavy to be borne; but there is no help for it, and the
+better-minded seek to cultivate resignation.
+
+Women and men are in every respect absolutely equal, holding precisely
+the same offices and doing the same work. In general, however, it is
+observed that women are a little less fond of death than men, and a
+little less unwilling to receive gifts. For this reason they are very
+numerous among the wealthy class, and abound in the offices of
+administration. Women serve in the army and navy as well as men, and
+from their lack of ambition or energetic perseverance they are usually
+relegated to the lower ranks, such as officers and generals. To my
+mind it seemed as though the women were in all the offices of honor
+and dignity, but in reality it was the very opposite. The same is true
+in the family. The husbands insist on giving everything to the wives
+and doing everything for them. The wives are therefore universally the
+rulers of the household while the husbands have an apparently
+subordinate, but, to the Kosekin, a more honorable position.
+
+As to the religion of the Kosekin, I could make nothing of it. They
+believe that after death they go to what they call the world of
+darkness. The death they long for leads to the darkness that they
+love; and the death and the darkness are eternal. Still, they persist
+in saying that the death and the darkness together form a state of
+bliss. They are eloquent about the happiness that awaits them there in
+the sunless land--the world of darkness; but for my own part, it
+always seemed to me a state of nothingness.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+BELIEF AND UNBELIEF
+
+
+The doctor was here interrupted by Featherstone, who, with a yawn,
+informed him that it was eleven o'clock, and that human endurance had
+its limits. Upon this the doctor rolled up the manuscript and put it
+aside for the night, after which supper was ordered.
+
+"Well," said Featherstone, "what do you think of this last?"
+
+"It contains some very remarkable statements," said the doctor.
+
+"There are certainly monsters enough in it," said Melick--
+
+  "'Gorgons, and hydras, and chimeras dire.'"
+
+"Well, why not?" said the doctor.
+
+"It seems to me," said Melick, "that the writer of this has peopled
+his world with creatures that resemble the fossil animals more than
+anything else."
+
+"The so-called fossil animals," said the doctor, "may not be extinct.
+There are fossil specimens of animals that still have living
+representatives. There is no reason why many of those supposed to be
+extinct may not be alive now. It is well known that many very
+remarkable animals have become extinct within a comparatively recent
+period. These great birds, of which More speaks, seem to me to belong
+to these classes. The dodo was in existence fifty years ago, the moa
+about a hundred years ago. These great birds, together with others,
+such as the epiornis and palapteryx, have disappeared, not through the
+ordinary course of nature, but by the hand of man. Even in our
+hemisphere they may yet be found. Who can tell but that the moa or the
+dodo may yet be lurking somewhere here in the interior of Madagascar,
+of Borneo, or of Papua?"
+
+"Can you make out anything about those great birds?" asked
+Featherstone. "Do they resemble anything that exists now, or has ever
+existed?"
+
+"Well, yes, I think so," said the doctor. "Unfortunately, More is not
+at all close or accurate in his descriptions; he has a decidedly
+unscientific mind, and so one cannot feel sure; yet from his general
+statements I think I can decide pretty nearly upon the nature and the
+scientific name of each one of his birds and animals. It is quite
+evident to me that most of these animals belong to races that no
+longer exist among us, and that this world at the South Pole has many
+characteristics which are like those of what is known as the Coal
+Period. I allude in particular to the vast forests of fern, of
+gigantic grasses and reeds. At the same time the general climate and
+the atmosphere seem like what we may find in the tropics at present.
+It is evident that in More's world various epochs are represented, and
+that animals of different ages are living side by side."
+
+"What do you think of the opkuk?" asked Featherstone, with a yawn.
+
+"Well, I hardly know."
+
+"Why, it must be a dodo, of course," said Melick, "only magnified."
+
+"That," said the doctor, gravely, "is a thought that naturally
+suggests itself; but then the opkuk is certainly far larger than the
+dodo."
+
+"Oh, More put on his magnifying-glasses just then."
+
+"The dodo," continued the doctor, taking no notice of this, "in other
+respects corresponds with More's description of the opkuk. Clusius and
+Bontius give good descriptions and there is a well-known picture of
+one in the British Museum. It is a massive, clumsy bird, ungraceful in
+its form with heavy movements, wings too short for flight, little or
+no tail, and down rather than feathers. The body, according to
+Bontius, is as big as that of the African ostrich, but the legs are
+very short. It has a large head, great black eyes, long bluish-white
+bill, ending in a beak like that of a vulture, yellow legs, thick and
+short, four toes on each foot solid, long, and armed with sharp black
+claws. The flesh particularly on the breast, is fat and esculent. Now,
+all this corresponds with More's account, except as to the size of the
+two, for the opkuks are as large as oxen."
+
+"Oh, that's nothing," said Melick; "I'm determined to stand up for the
+dodo." With this he burst forth singing--
+
+  "Oh, the dodo once lived, but he doesn't live now;
+   Yet why should a cloud overshadow our brow?
+   The loss of that bird ne'er should trouble our brains,
+   For though he is gone, still our claret remains.
+       Sing do-do--jolly do-do!
+   Hurrah! in his name let our cups overflow."
+
+"As for your definition, doctor," continued Melick, "I'll give you one
+worth a dozen of yours:
+
+  "'Twas a mighty bird; those strong, short legs were never known to fail,
+    And he felt a glory of pride while thinking of that little tail,
+    And his beak was marked with vigor, curving like a wondrous hook;
+    Thick and ugly was his body--such a form as made one look!"
+
+"Melick," said Featherstone, "you're a volatile youth. You mustn't
+mind him, doctor. He's a professional cynic, sceptic, and scoffer.
+Oxenden and I, however, are open to conviction, and want to know more
+about those birds and beasts. Can you make anything out of the
+opmahera?"
+
+The doctor swallowed a glass of wine, and replied:
+
+"Oh yes; there are many birds, each of which may be the opmahera.
+There's the fossil bird of Massachusetts, of which nothing is left but
+the footprints; but some of these are eighteen inches in length, and
+show a stride of two yards. The bird belonged to the order of the
+Grallae, and may have been ten or twelve feet in height. Then there
+is the Gastornis parisiensis, which was as tall as an ostrich, as
+big as an ox, and belongs to the same order as the other. Then there
+is the Palapteryx, of which remains have been found in New Zealand,
+which was seven or eight feet in height. But the one which to my mind
+is the real counterpart of the opmahera is the Dinornis gigantea,
+whose remains are also found in New Zealand. It is the largest bird
+known, with long legs, a long neck, and short wings, useless for
+flight. One specimen that has been found is upward of thirteen feet in
+height. There is no reason why some should not have been much taller.
+More compares its height to that of a giraffe. The Maoris call this
+bird the Moa, and their legends and traditions are full of mention
+of it. When they first came to the island, six or seven hundred years
+ago, they found these vast birds everywhere, and hunted them for food.
+To my mind the dinornis is the opmahera of More. As to riding on them,
+that is likely enough; for ostriches are used for this purpose, and
+the dinornis must have been far stronger and fleeter than the ostrich.
+It is possible that some of these birds may still be living in the
+remoter parts of our hemisphere."
+
+"What about those monsters," asked Featherstone, "that More speaks of
+in the sacred hunt?"
+
+"I think," said the doctor, "that I understand pretty well what they
+were, and can identify them all. As the galley passed the estuary
+of that great river, you remember that he mentions seeing them on
+the shore. One may have been the Ichthyosaurus. This, as the name
+implies, is a fish-lizard. It has the head of a lizard, the snout of
+a dolphin, the teeth of an alligator, enormous eyes, whose membrane
+is strengthened by a bony frame, the vertebrae of fishes, sternum and
+shoulder-bones like those of the lizard, and the fins of a whale.
+Bayle calls it the whale of the saurians. Another may have been the
+Cheirotherium. On account of the hand-shaped marks made by its paws,
+Owen thinks that it was akin to the frogs; but it was a formidable
+monster, with head and jaws of a crocodile. Another may have been the
+Teleosaurus, which resembled our alligators. It was thirty-five feet
+in length. Then there was the Hylaeosaurus, a monster twenty-five
+feet in length, with a cuirass of bony plates."
+
+"But none of these correspond with More's description of the monster
+that fought with the galley."
+
+"No," said the doctor, "I am coming to that now. That monster could
+have been no other than the Plesiosaurus, one of the most wonderful
+animals that has ever existed. Imagine a thing with the head of a
+lizard, the teeth of a crocodile, the neck of a swan, the trunk and
+tail of a quadruped, and the fins of a whale. Imagine a whale with its
+head and neck consisting of a serpent, with the strength of the former
+and the malignant fury of the latter, and then you will have the
+plesiosaurus. It was an aquatic animal, yet it had to remain near or
+on the surface of the water, while its long, serpent-like neck enabled
+it to reach its prey above or below with swift, far-reaching darts.
+Yet it had no armor, and could not have been at all a match for the
+ichthyosaurus. More's account shows, however, that it was a fearful
+enemy for man to encounter."
+
+"He seems to have been less formidable than that beast which they
+encountered in the swamp. Have you any idea what that was?"
+
+"I think it can have been no other than the Iguanodon," said the
+doctor. "The remains of this animal show that it must have been the
+most gigantic of all primeval saurians. Judging from existing remains
+its length was not less than sixty feet, and larger ones may have
+existed. It stood high on its legs; the hind ones were larger than the
+fore. The feet were massive and armed with tremendous claws. It lived
+on the land and fed on herbage. It had a horny, spiky ridge all along
+its back. Its tail was nearly as long as its body. Its head was short,
+its jaws enormous, furnished with teeth of a very elaborate structure,
+and on its muzzle it carried a curved horn. Such a beast as this might
+well have caused all that destruction of life on the part of his
+desperate assailants of which More speaks.
+
+"Then there was another animal," continued the doctor, who was
+evidently discoursing upon a favorite topic. "It was the one that came
+suddenly upon More while he was resting with Almah after his flight
+with the run-away bird. That I take to be the Megalosaurus. This
+animal was a monster of tremendous size and strength. Cuvier thought
+that it might have been seventy feet in length. It was carnivorous,
+and therefore more ferocious than the iguanodon, and more ready to
+attack. Its head was like that of a crocodile, its body massive like
+that of an elephant, yet larger; its tail was small, and it stood high
+on its legs, so that it could run with great speed. It was not covered
+with bony armor, but had probably a hide thick enough to serve the
+purpose of shell or bone. Its teeth were constructed so as to cut with
+their edges, and the movement of the jaws produced the combined effect
+of knife and saw, while their inward curve rendered impossible the
+escape of prey that had once been caught. It probably frequented
+the river banks, where it fed upon reptiles of smaller size which
+inhabited the same places.
+
+"More," continued the doctor, "is too general in his descriptions. He
+has not a scientific mind, and he gives but few data; yet I can bring
+before myself very easily all the scenes which he describes,
+particularly that one in which the megalosaurus approaches, and he
+rushes to mount the dinoris so as to escape. I see that river, with
+its trees and shrubs, all unknown now except in museums--the
+vegetation of the Coal Period--the lepidodendron, the lepidostrobus,
+the pecopteris, the neuropteris, the lonchopteris, the odontopteris,
+the sphenopteris, the cyclopteris, the sigellaria veniformis, the
+sphenophyllium, the calamites--"
+
+Melick started to his feet.
+
+"There, there!" he cried, "hold hard, doctor. Talking of calamities,
+what greater calamity can there be than such a torrent of unknown
+words? Talk English, doctor, and we shall be able to appreciate you;
+but to make your jokes, your conundrums, and your brilliant witticisms
+in a foreign language isn't fair to us, and does no credit either to
+your head or your heart."
+
+The doctor elevated his eyebrows, and took no notice of Melick's
+ill-timed levity.
+
+"All these stories of strange animals," said Oxenden, "may be very
+interesting, doctor, but I must say that I am far more struck by
+the account of the people themselves. I wonder whether they are an
+aboriginal race, or descendants of the same stock from which we came?"
+
+"I should say," remarked the doctor, confidently, "that they are,
+beyond a doubt, an aboriginal and autochthonous race."
+
+"I differ from you altogether," said Oxenden, calmly.
+
+"Oh," said the doctor, "there can be no doubt about it. Their
+complexion, small stature, and peculiar eyes--their love of darkness,
+their singular characteristics, both physical and moral, all go to
+show that they can have no connection with the races in our part of
+the earth."
+
+"Their peculiar eyes," said Oxenden, "are no doubt produced by
+dwelling in caves for many generations."
+
+"On the contrary," said the doctor, "it is their peculiarity of eye
+that makes them dwell in caves."
+
+"You are mistaking the cause for the effect, doctor."
+
+"Not at all; it is you who are making that mistake."
+
+"It's the old debate," said Melick. "As the poet has it:
+
+  "'Which was first, the egg or the hen?
+    Tell me, I pray, ye learned men!'"
+
+"There are the eyeless fishes of the great cave of Kentucky," said
+Oxenden, "whose eyes have become extinct from living in the dark."
+
+"No," cried the doctor; "the fish that have arisen in that lake have
+never needed eyes, and have never had them."
+
+Oxenden laughed.
+
+"Well," said he, "I'll discuss the question with you on different
+grounds altogether, and I will show clearly that these men, these
+bearded men, must belong to a stock that is nearly related to our own,
+or, at least, that they belong to a race of men with whom we are all
+very familiar."
+
+"I should like very much to have you try it," said the doctor.
+
+"Very well," said Oxenden. "In the first place, I take their
+language."
+
+"Their language!"
+
+"Yes. More has given us very many words in their language. Now he
+himself says that these words had an Arabic sound. He was slightly
+acquainted with that language. What will you say if I tell you that
+these words are still more like Hebrew?"
+
+"Hebrew!" exclaimed the doctor, in amazement.
+
+"Yes, Hebrew," said Oxenden. "They are all very much like Hebrew
+words, and the difference is not greater than that which exists
+between the words of any two languages of the Aryan family."
+
+"Oh, if you come to philology I'll throw up the sponge," said the
+doctor. "Yet I should like to hear what you have to say on that
+point."
+
+"The languages of the Aryan family," said Oxenden, "have the same
+general characteristics, and in all of them the differences that exist
+in their most common words are subject to the action of a regular law.
+The action of the law is best seen in the changes which take place in
+the mutes. These changes are indicated in a summary and comprehensive
+way by means of what is called 'Grimm's Law.' Take Latin and English,
+for instance. 'Grimm's Law' tells us, among other things, that in
+Latin and in that part of English which is of Teutonic origin, a
+large number of words are essentially the same, and differ merely in
+certain phonetic changes. Take the word 'father.' In Latin, as also
+in Greek, it is 'pater.' Now the Latin 'p' in English becomes 'f;'
+that is, the thin mute becomes the aspirated mute. The same change
+may be seen in the Latin 'piscis,' which in English is 'fish,' and
+the Greek '[pi upsilon rho]' which in English is 'fire.' Again, if the
+Latin or Greek word begins with an aspirate, the English word begins
+with a medial; thus the Latin 'f' is found responsive to the English
+'b,' as in Latin 'fagus,' English 'beech,' Latin 'fero,' English
+'bear.' Again, if the Latin or Greek has the medial, the English has
+the thin, as in Latin 'duo,' English 'two,' Latin 'genu,' English
+'knee.' Now, I find that in many of the words which More mentions this
+same 'Grimm's Law' will apply; and I am inclined to think that if they
+were spelled with perfect accuracy they would show the same relation
+between the Kosekin language and the Hebrew that there is between the
+Saxon English and the Latin."
+
+The doctor gave a heavy sigh.
+
+"You're out of my depth, Oxenden," said he. "I'm nothing of a
+philologist."
+
+"By Jove!" said Featherstone, "I like this. This is equal to your list
+of the plants of the Coal Period, doctor. But I say, Oxenden, while
+you are about it, why don't you give us a little dose of Anglo-Saxon
+and Sanscrit? By Jove! the fellow has Bopp by heart, and yet he
+expects us to argue with him."
+
+"I have it!" cried Melick. "The Kosekin are the lost Ten Tribes.
+Oxenden is feeling his way to that. He is going to make them out to be
+all Hebrew; and then, of course, the only conclusion will be that they
+are the Ten Tribes, who after a life of strange vicissitudes have
+pulled up at the South Pole. It's a wonder More didn't think of
+that--or the writer of this yarn, whoever he may be. Well, for my
+part, I always took a deep interest in the lost Ten Tribes, and
+thought them a fine body of men."
+
+"Don't think they've got much of the Jew about them," said
+Featherstone, languidly. "They hate riches and all that, you know.
+Break a Jew's heart to hear of all that property wasted, and money
+going a-begging. Not a bad idea, though, that of theirs about money.
+Too much money's a howwid baw, by Jove!"
+
+"Well," continued Oxenden, calmly resuming, and taking no notice of
+these interruptions, "I can give you word after word that More has
+mentioned which corresponds to a kindred Hebrew word in accordance
+with 'Grimm's Law.' For instance, Kosekin 'Op,' Hebrew 'Oph;' Kosekin
+'Athon,' Hebrew 'Adon;' Kosekin 'Salon,' Hebrew 'Shalom.' They are
+more like Hebrew than Arabic, just as Anglo-Saxon words are more like
+Latin or Greek than Sanscrit."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Melick, "we've got him to Sanscrit at last! Now,
+Oxenden, my boy, trot out the 'Hitopadesa,' the 'Megha Dhuta,' the
+'Rig Veda.' Quote 'Beowulf' and Caedmon. Gives us a little Zeno, and
+wind up with 'Lalla Rookh' in modern Persian."
+
+"So I conclude," said Oxenden, calmly, ignoring Melick, "that the
+Kosekin are a Semitic people. Their complexion and their beards show
+them to be akin to the Caucasian race, and their language proves
+beyond the shadow of a doubt that they belong to the Semitic branch of
+that race. It is impossible for an autochthonous people to have such a
+language."
+
+"But how," cried the doctor--"how in the name of wonder did they get
+to the South Pole?"
+
+"Easily enough," interrupted Melick--"Shem landed there from Noah's
+ark, and left some of his children to colonize the country. That's as
+plain as a pikestaff. I think, on the whole, that this idea is better
+than the other one about the Ten Tribes. At any rate they are both
+mine, and I warn all present to keep their hands off them, for on my
+return I intend to take out a copyright."
+
+"There's another thing," continued Oxenden, "which is of immense
+importance, and that is their habit of cave-dwelling. I am inclined to
+think that they resorted to cave-dwelling at first from some
+hereditary instinct or other, and that their eyes and their whole
+morals have become affected by this mode of life. Now, as to
+ornamented caverns, we have many examples--caverns adorned with a
+splendor fully equal to anything among the Kosekin. There are in India
+the great Behar caves, the splendid Karli temple with its magnificent
+sculptures and imposing architecture, and the cavern-temples of
+Elephanta; there are the subterranean works in Egypt, the temple of
+Dendera in particular; in Petra we have the case of an entire city
+excavated from the rocky mountains; yet, after all, these do not bear
+upon the point in question, for they are isolated cases; and even
+Petra, though it contained a city, did not contain a nation. But there
+is a case, and one which is well known, that bears directly upon this
+question, and gives us the connecting link between the Kosekin and
+their Semitic brethren in the northern hemisphere."
+
+"What is that?" asked the doctor.
+
+"The Troglodytes," said Oxenden, with impressive solemnity.
+
+"Well, and what do you make out of the Troglodytes?"
+
+"I will explain," said Oxenden. "The name Troglodytes is given to
+various tribes of men, but those best known and celebrated under this
+name once inhabited the shores of the Red Sea, both on the Arabian and
+the Egyptian side. They belonged to the Arabian race, and were
+consequently a Semitic people. Mark that, for it is a point of the
+utmost importance. Now, these Troglodytes all lived in caverns, which
+were formed partly by art and partly by nature, although art must have
+had most to do with the construction of such vast subterranean works.
+They lived in great communities in caverns, and they had long tunnels
+passing from one community to another. Here also they kept their
+cattle. Some of these people have survived even to our own age; for
+Bruce, the Abyssinian traveller, saw them in Nubia.
+
+"The earliest writer who mentions the Troglodytes was Agatharcides, of
+Cnidos. According to him they were chiefly herdsmen. Their food was
+the flesh of cattle, and their drink a mixture of milk and blood. They
+dressed in the skins of cattle; they tattooed their bodies. They were
+very swift of foot, and were able to run down wild beasts in the hunt.
+They were also greatly given to robbery, and caravans passing to and
+fro had to guard against them.
+
+"One feature in their character has to my mind a strange significance,
+and that is their feelings with regard to death. It was not the
+Kosekin love of death, yet it was something which must certainly be
+considered as approximating to it. For Agatharcides says that in their
+burials they were accustomed to fasten the corpse to a stake, and then
+gathering round, to pelt it with stones amid shouts of laughter and
+wild merriment. They also used to strangle the old and infirm, so as
+to deliver them from the evils of life. These Troglodytes, then, were
+a nation of cave-dwellers, loving the dark--not exactly loving death,
+yet at any rate regarding it with merriment and pleasure; and so I
+cannot help seeing a connection between them and the Kosekin."
+
+"Yes," said the doctor, "but how did they get to the South Pole?"
+
+"That," said Oxenden, "is a question which I do not feel bound to
+answer."
+
+"Oh, it is easy enough to answer that," said Melick. "They, of course,
+dug through the earth."
+
+Oxenden gave a groan.
+
+"I think I'll turn in for the night," said he, rising. Upon this the
+others rose also and followed his example.
+
+On the following morning the calm still continued. None of the party
+rose until very late, and then over the breakfast-table they discussed
+the manuscript once more, each from his own point of view, Melick
+still asserting a contemptuous scepticism--Oxenden and the doctor
+giving reasons for their faith, and Featherstone listening without
+saying much on either side.
+
+At length it was proposed to resume the reading of the manuscript,
+which task would now devolve upon Oxenden. They adjourned to the deck,
+where all disposed themselves in easy attitudes to listen to the
+continuation of More's narrative.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A VOYAGE OVER THE POLE
+
+
+The discovery of our love had brought a crisis in our fate for me and
+Almah. The Kohen hailed it with joy, for now was the time when he
+would be able to present us to the Kohen Gadol. Our doom was certain
+and inevitable. We were to be taken to the amir; we were to be kept
+until the end of the dark season, and then we were both to be publicly
+sacrificed. After this our bodies were to be set apart for the hideous
+rites of the Mista Kosek. Such was the fate that lay before us.
+
+The Kohen was now anxious to take us to the amir. I might possibly
+have persuaded him to postpone our departure, but I saw no use in
+that. It seemed better to go, for it was possible that amid new scenes
+and among new people there might be hope. This, too, seemed probable
+to Almah, who was quite anxious to go. The Kohen pressed forward the
+preparations, and at length a galley was ready for us.
+
+This galley was about three hundred feet in length and fifty in width,
+but not more than six feet in depth. It was like a long raft. The
+rowers, two hundred in number, sat on a level with the water, one
+hundred on each side. The oars were small, being not more than twelve
+feet in length, but made of very light, tough material, with very
+broad blades. The galley was steered with broad-bladed paddles at both
+ends. There was no mast or sail. Astern was a light poop, surrounded
+by a pavilion, and forward there was another. At the bow there was
+a projecting platform, used chiefly in fighting the thannin, or
+sea-monsters, and also in war. There were no masts or flags or gay
+streamers; no brilliant colors; all was intensely black, and the
+ornaments were of the same hue.
+
+We were now treated with greater reverence than ever, for we were
+looked upon as the recipients of the highest honor that could fall to
+any of the Kosekin--namely, the envied dignity of a public death. As
+we embarked the whole city lined the public ways, and watched us from
+the quays, from boats, and from other galleys. Songs were sung by a
+chosen choir of paupers, and to the sound of this plaintive strain we
+moved out to sea.
+
+"This will be a great journey for me," said the Kohen, as we left the
+port. "I hope to be made a pauper at least, and perhaps gain the honor
+of a public death. I have known people who have gained death for less.
+There was an Athon last year who attacked a pehmet with forty men
+and one hundred and twenty rowers. All were killed or drowned except
+himself. In reward for this he gained the mudecheb, or death
+recompense. In addition to this he was set apart for the Mista Kosek."
+
+"Then, with you, when a man procures the death of others he is
+honored?"
+
+"Why, yes; how could it be otherwise?" said the Kohen. "Is it not the
+same with you? Have you not told me incredible things about your
+people, among which there were a few that seemed natural and
+intelligible? Among these was your system of honoring above all men
+those who procure the death of the largest number. You, with your
+pretended fear of death, wish to meet it in battle as eagerly as we
+do, and your most renowned men are those who have sent most to death."
+
+To this strange remark I had no answer to make.
+
+The air out at sea now grew chillier. The Kohen noticed it also, and
+offered me his cloak, which I refused. He seemed surprised, and
+smiled.
+
+"You are growing like one of us," said he. "You will soon learn that
+the greatest happiness in life is to do good to others and sacrifice
+yourself. You already show this in part. When you are with Almah you
+act like one of the Kosekin. You watch her to see and anticipate her
+slightest wish; you are eager to give her everything. She, on the
+other hand, is equally eager to give up all to you. Each one of you is
+willing to lay down life for the other. You would gladly rush upon
+death to save her from harm, much as you pretend to fear death; and so
+I see that with Almah you will soon learn how sweet a thing death may
+be."
+
+"To live without her," said I, "would be so bitter that death with her
+would indeed be sweet. If I could save her life by laying down my own,
+death would be sweeter still; and not one of you Kosekin would meet it
+so gladly."
+
+The Kosekin smiled joyously.
+
+"Oh, almighty and wondrous power of Love!" he exclaimed, "how thou
+hast transformed this foreigner! Oh, Atam-or! you will soon be one of
+us altogether. For see, how is it now? You pretend to love riches and
+life, and yet you are ready to give up everything for Almah."
+
+"Gladly, gladly!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," he said, "all that you have--you would gladly lavish on her,
+and would rejoice to make yourself a pauper for her sweet sake. You
+also would rejoice equally to give up life for her. Is it not so?"
+
+"It is," said I.
+
+"Then I see by this that Almah has awakened within you your true human
+nature. Thus far it has lain dormant; it has been concealed under a
+thousand false and unnatural habits, arising from your strange native
+customs. You have been brought up under some frightful system, where
+nature is violated. Here among us your true humanity is unfolded, and
+with Almah you are like the Kosekin. Soon you will learn new lessons,
+and will find out that there is a new and a final self-abnegation in
+perfect love; and your love will never rest till you have separated
+yourself from Almah, so that love can have its perfect work."
+
+The sea now opened wide before us, rising up high as if half-way to
+the zenith, giving the impression of a vast ascent to endless
+distances. Around the shores spread themselves, with the shadowy
+outlines of the mountains; above was the sky, all clear, with faint
+aurora-flashes and gleaming stars. Hand-in-hand with Almah I stood and
+pointed out the constellations as we marked them while she told me of
+the different divisions known among the Kosekin as well as her own
+people. There, high in the zenith, was the southern polar-star, not
+exactly at the pole, nor yet of very great brightness, but still
+sufficiently noticeable.
+
+Looking back, we saw, low down, parts of the Phoenix and the Crane;
+higher up, the Toucan, Hydrus, and Pavo. On our right, low down, was
+the beautiful Altar; higher up, the Triangle; while on the left were
+the Sword-fish and the Flying-fish. Turning to look forward, we beheld
+a more splendid display. Then, over the bow of the vessel, between
+the Centaur, which lay low, and Musca Indica, which rose high, there
+blazed the bright stars of the Southern Cross--a constellation, if not
+the brightest, at least the most conspicuous and attractive in all the
+heavens. All around there burned other stars, separated widely. Then,
+over the stern, gleamed the splendid lustre of Achernar, on the left
+the brilliant glow of Alpha Robur and Canopus, and low down before
+us the bright light of Argo. It was a scene full of splendor
+and fascination. After a time a change came over the sky: the
+aurora-flashes, at first faint, gradually increased in brilliancy till
+the stars grew dim, and all the sky, wherever the eye might turn from
+the horizon to the zenith, seemed filled with lustrous flames of every
+conceivable hue. Colossal beams radiated from the pole toward the
+horizon till the central light was dissipated, and there remained
+encircling us an infinite colonnade of flaming pillars that towered
+to the stars. These were all in motion, running upon one another,
+incessantly shifting and changing; new scenes forever succeeded to
+old; pillars were transformed to pyramids, pyramids to fiery bars;
+these in their turn were transformed to other shapes, and all the
+while one tint of innumerable hues overspread the entire circle of
+the sky.
+
+Our voyage occupied several joms; but our progress was continuous,
+for different sets of rowers relieved one another at regular
+intervals. On the second jom a storm broke out. The sky had been
+gathering clouds during sleeping-time, and when we awoke we found the
+sea all lashed to fury, while all around the darkness was intense. The
+storm grew steadily worse; the lightning flashed, the thunder pealed,
+and at length the sea was so heavy that rowing was impossible. Upon
+this the oars were all taken in, and the galley lay tossing upon the
+furious sea, amid waves that continually beat upon her.
+
+And now a scene ensued that filled me with amazement, and took
+away all my thoughts from the storm. It seemed impossible that so
+frail a bark could stand the fury of the waves. Destruction was
+inevitable, and I was expecting to see the usual signs of grief
+and despair--wondering, too, how these rowers would preserve their
+subordination. But I had forgotten in my excitement the strange
+nature of the Kosekin. Instead of terror there was joy, instead of
+wild despair there was peace and serene delight.
+
+The lightning-flashes revealed a wonderful scene. There were all the
+rowers, each one upon his seat, and from them all there came forth
+a chant which was full of triumph, like a song of public welcome to
+some great national hero, or a song of joy over victory. The officers
+embraced one another and exchanged words of delight. The Kohen, after
+embracing all the others, turned to me, and, forgetting my foreign
+ways, exclaimed, in a tone of enthusiastic delight,
+
+"We are destroyed! Death is near! Rejoice!"
+
+Accustomed as I was to the perils of the sea, I had learned to face
+death without flinching. Almah, too, was calm, for to her this death
+seemed preferable to that darker fate which awaited us; but the words
+of the Kohen jarred upon my feelings.
+
+"Do you not intend to do anything to save the ship?" I asked.
+
+He laughed joyously.
+
+"There's no occasion," said he. "When the oars are taken in we always
+begin to rejoice. And why not? Death is near--it is almost certain.
+Why should we do anything to distract our minds and mar our joy? For
+oh, dear friend, the glorious time has come when we can give up
+life--life, with all its toils, its burdens, its endless bitternesses,
+its perpetual evils. Now we shall have no more suffering from
+vexatious and oppressive riches, from troublesome honors, from a
+surplus of food, from luxuries and delicacies, and all the ills of
+life."
+
+"But what is the use of being born at all?" I asked, in a wonder that
+never ceased to rise at every fresh display of Kosekin feeling.
+
+"The use?" said the Kohen. "Why, if we were not born, how could we
+know the bliss of dying, or enjoy the sweetness of death? Death is the
+end of being--the one sweet hope and crown and glory of life, the one
+desire and hope of every living man. The blessing is denied to none.
+Rejoice with me, oh Atam-or! you will soon know its blessedness as
+well as I."
+
+He turned away. I held Almah in my arms, and we watched the storm by
+the lightning-flashes and waited for the end. But the end came not.
+The galley was light, broad, and buoyant as a life-boat; at the same
+time it was so strongly constructed that there was scarcely any twist
+or contortion in the sinewy fabric. So we floated buoyantly and safely
+upon the summit of vast waves, and a storm that would have destroyed
+a ship of the European fashion scarcely injured this in the slightest
+degree. It was an indestructible as a raft and as buoyant as a bubble;
+so we rode out the gale, and the death which the Kosekin invoked did
+not come at all.
+
+The storm was but short-lived; the clouds dispersed, and soon went
+scudding over the sky; the sea went down. The rowers had to take their
+oars once more, and the reaction that followed upon their recent
+rejoicing was visible in universal gloom and dejection. As the clouds
+dispersed the aurora lights came out more splendid than ever, and
+showed nothing but melancholy faces. The rowers pulled with no life or
+animation; the officers stood about sighing and lamenting; Almah and I
+were the only ones that rejoiced over this escape from death.
+
+Joms passed. We saw other sights; we met with galleys and saw many
+ships about the sea. Some were moved by sails only; these were
+merchant ships, but they had only square sails, and could not sail in
+any other way than before the wind. Once or twice I caught glimpses
+of vast shadowy objects in the air. I was startled and terrified;
+for, great as were the wonders of this strange region, I had not yet
+suspected that the air itself might have denizens as tremendous as the
+land or the sea. Yet so it was, and afterward during the voyage I saw
+them often. One in particular was so near that I observed it with
+ease. It came flying along in the same course with us, at a height of
+about fifty feet from the water. It was a frightful monster, with a
+long body and vast wings like those a bat. Its progress was swift, and
+it soon passed out of sight. To Almah the monster created no surprise;
+she was familiar with them, and told me that they were very abundant
+here, but that they never were known to attack ships. She informed me
+that they were capable of being tamed if caught when young, though in
+her country they were never made use of. The name given by the Kosekin
+to these monsters is athaleb.
+
+At length we drew near to our destination. We reached a large harbor
+at the end of a vast bay: here the mountains extended around, and
+before us there arose terrace after terrace of twinkling lights
+running away to immense distances. It looked like a city of a million
+inhabitants, though it may have contained far less than that. By the
+brilliant aurora light I could see that it was in general shape and
+form precisely like the city that we had left, though far larger and
+more populous. The harbor was full of ships and boats of all sorts,
+some lying at the stone quays, others leaving port, others entering.
+Galleys passed and repassed, and merchant ships with their clumsy
+sails, and small fishing-boats. From afar arose the deep hum of a vast
+multitude and the low roar that always ascends from a popular city.
+
+The galley hauled alongside her wharf, and we found ourselves at
+length in the mighty amir of the Kosekin. The Kohen alone landed;
+the rest remained on board, and Almah and I with them.
+
+Other galleys were here. On the wharf workmen were moving about. Just
+beyond were caverns that looked like warehouses. Above these was a
+terraced street, where a vast multitude moved to and fro--a living
+tide as crowded and as busy as that in Cheapside.
+
+After what seemed a long time the Kohen returned. This time he came
+with a number of people, all of whom were in cars drawn by opkuks.
+Half were men and half women. These came aboard, and it seemed as
+though we were to be separated; for the women took Almah, while the
+men took me. Upon this I entreated the Kohen not to separate us. I
+informed him that we were both of a different race from his, that we
+did not understand their ways; we should be miserable if separated.
+
+I spoke long and with all the entreaty possible to one with my limited
+acquaintance with the language. My words evidently impressed them:
+some of them even wept.
+
+"You make us sad," said the Kohen. "Willingly would we do everything
+that you bid, for we are your slaves; but the state law prevents.
+Still, in your case, the law will be modified; for you are in such
+honor here that you may be considered as beyond the laws. For the
+present, at least, we cannot separate you."
+
+These words brought much consolation. After this we landed, and Almah
+and I were still together.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE WONDERS OF THE "AMIR"
+
+
+We were drawn on cars up to the first terraced street, and here we
+found the vast multitude which we had seen from a distance. Crossing
+this street, we ascended and came to another precisely like it; then,
+still going on, we came to a third. Here there was an immense space,
+not overgrown with trees like the streets, but perfectly open. In the
+midst arose a lofty pyramid, and as I looked at it I could not refrain
+from shuddering; for it looked like the public altar, upon which in
+due time I should be compelled to make my appearance, and be offered
+up as a victim to the terrific superstitions of the Kosekin.
+
+Crossing this great square, we came to a vast portal, which opened
+into a cavern with twinkling lights. The city itself extended above
+this, for we could see the terraced streets rising above our heads;
+but here our progress ended at the great cavern in the chief square,
+opposite the pyramid.
+
+On entering the cavern we traversed an antechamber, and then passing
+on we reached a vast dome, of dimensions so great that I could
+perceive no end in that gloom. The twinkling lights served only to
+disclose the darkness and to indicate the immensity of the cavern. In
+the midst there arose two enormous columns, which were lost in the
+gloom above.
+
+It was only by passing through this that we learned its great extent.
+We at length came to the other end, and here we saw numerous passages
+leading away. The Kohen led us through one of these, and after passing
+through several other domes of smaller dimensions we at length reached
+an apartment where we stopped. This place was furnished with couches
+and hangings, and lighted with flaming lamps. The light was
+distressing to those who had accompanied us, and many of them left,
+while the few who remained had to cover their eyes. Here we found that
+all preparations had been made. The apartments were all illuminated,
+though our love of light never ceased to be a matter of amazement to
+the Kosekin, and a bounteous repast was spread for us. But the Kohen
+and the others found the light intolerable, and soon left us to
+ourselves.
+
+After the repast some women appeared to take Almah to her chamber,
+and, with the usual kindness of the Kosekin, they assured her that she
+would not be expected to obey the law of separation, but that she was
+to remain here, where she would be always within reach of me.
+
+After her departure there came to visit me the lowest man in all the
+land of the Kosekin, though, according to our view, he would be
+esteemed the highest. This was the Kohen Gadol. His history
+had already been told me. I had learned that through lack of Kosekin
+virtue he had gradually sunk to this position, and now was compelled
+to hold in his hands more wealth, power, and display than any other
+man in the nation.
+
+He was a man of singular appearance. The light was not so troublesome
+to him as to the others--he merely kept his eyes shaded; but he
+regarded me with a keen look of inquiry that was suggestive of
+shrewdness and cunning. I confess it was with a feeling of relief
+that I made this discovery; for I longed to find someone among this
+singular people who was selfish, who feared death, who loved life, who
+loved riches, and had something in common with me. This I thought I
+perceived in the shrewd, cunning face of the Kohen Gadol, and I was
+glad; for I saw that while he could not possibly be more dangerous to
+me than those self-sacrificing, self-denying cannibals whom I had thus
+far known, he might prove of some assistance, and might help me to
+devise means of escape. If I could only find someone who was a coward,
+and selfish and avaricious--if this Kohen Gadol could but be he--how
+much brighter my life would be! And so there happened to me an
+incredible thing, that my highest wish was now to find in the Kohen
+Gadol cowardice, avarice, and selfishness.
+
+The Kohen was accompanied by a young female, richly attired, who, I
+afterward learned, was his daughter. Her name was Layelah, and she
+filled the office of Malca, which signifies queen; and though
+honorable with us above all, is among the Kosekin the lowest in the
+land. Layelah was so beautiful that I looked at her in amazement. She
+was very tall for one of the Kosekin, which made her stature equal
+to that of an ordinary girl with us; her hair was rich, dark and
+luxuriant, gathered about her head in great masses and bound by a
+golden band. Her features were delicate and perfect in their outline;
+her expression was noble and commanding. Her eyes were utterly unlike
+those of the other Kosekin; the upper lids had a slight droop, but
+that was all, and that was the nearest approach to the national blink.
+Her first entrance into the room seemed to dazzle her, and she shaded
+her eyes for a few moments, but after that she looked at me fixedly,
+and seemed to suffer no more inconvenience than I did. The perfect
+liberty of women among the Kosekin made this visit from her quite as
+natural as that of her father; and though she said but little on this
+occasion, she was an attentive listener and close observer.
+
+Their visit was long, for they were evidently full of curiosity. They
+had heard much about me and wished to see more. It was the first time
+that I had found among the Kosekin the slightest desire to know where
+I had come from. Hitherto all had been content with the knowledge
+that I was a foreigner. Now, however, I found in the Kohen Gadol and
+Layelah a curiosity that was most eager and intense. They questioned
+me about my country, about the great world beyond the mountains, about
+the way in which I had come here, about the manners and customs of my
+countrymen. They were eager to know about those great nations of which
+I spoke, who loved light and life; about men who loved themselves
+better than others; of that world where men feared death and loved
+life, and sought after riches and lived in the light.
+
+The sleeping-time came and passed, and my visitors were still full of
+eager questionings. It was Layelah who at last thought of the lateness
+of the hour. At a word from her the Kohen Gadol rose, with many
+apologies, and prepared to go. But before he left he said:
+
+"When I was a child I was shipwrecked, and was taken up a ship which
+conveyed me to a nation beyond the sea. There I grew up to manhood. I
+learned their language and manners and customs, and when I returned
+home I found myself an alien here: I do not love darkness or death, I
+do not hate riches, and the result is that I am what I am. If I were
+like the rest of my countrymen, my lot would make me miserable; but as
+it is I prefer it to any other, and consider myself not the lowest but
+the greatest in the land. My daughter is like me, and instead of being
+ashamed of her station she is proud of it, and would not give it up
+even to become a pauper. I will see you again. I have much to say."
+
+With these words the Kohen Gadol retired, followed by Layelah, leaving
+me more hopeful than I had been for a long time.
+
+For many joms following I received visits from the Kohen Gadol and
+from Layelah. Almah was with me until sleeping-time, and then these
+other visitors would come. In this, at least, they resembled the other
+Kosekin, that they never dreamed of interfering with Almah when she
+might wish to be with me. Their visits were always long, and we
+had much to say; but what I lost of sleep I always made up on the
+following jom. The Kohen Gadol, with his keen, shrewd face,
+interested me greatly; but Layelah, with her proud face and air of
+command, was a positive wonder.
+
+I soon learned that the Kohen Gadol was what we term "a man of
+advanced views," or perhaps a "Reformer," or a "Philosophic Radical,"
+it matters not which; suffice it to say that his ideas and feelings
+differed from those of his nation, and if carried out would be equal
+to a revolution in politics and morals.
+
+The Kohen Gadol advocated selfishness as the true law of life, without
+which no state can prosper. There were a few of similar views, but
+they were all regarded with great contempt by the multitude, and had
+to suffer the utmost rigor of the law; for they were all endowed with
+vast wealth, compelled to live in the utmost splendor and luxury, to
+have enormous retinues, and to wield the chief power in politics and
+in religion. Even this, however, had not changed the sentiments of
+the condemned, and I learned that they were laboring incessantly,
+notwithstanding their severe punishment, to disseminate their peculiar
+doctrines. These were formulated as follows:
+
+  1. A man should not love others better than himself.
+  2. Life is not an evil to be got rid of.
+  3. Other things are to be preferred to death.
+  4. Poverty is not the best state for man.
+  5. Unrequited love is not the greatest happiness.
+  6. Lovers may sometimes marry.
+  7. To serve is not more honorable than to command.
+  8. Defeat is not more glorious than victory.
+  9. To save a life should not be regarded as a criminal offence.
+ 10. The paupers should be forced to take a certain amount of
+       wealth, to relieve the necessities of the rich.
+
+These articles were considered both by the Kohen Gadol and by Layelah
+to be remarkable for their audacity, and were altogether too advanced
+for mention by any except the chosen few. With the multitude he had to
+deal differently, and had to work his way by concealing his opinions.
+He had made a great conspiracy, in which he was still engaged, and had
+gained immense numbers of adherents by allowing them to give him their
+whole wealth. Through his assistance many Athons and Kohens and Meleks
+had become artisans laborers, and even paupers; but all were bound by
+him to the strictest secrecy. If anyone should divulge the secret, it
+would be ruin to him and to many others; for they would at once be
+punished by the bestowal of the extremest wealth, by degradation to
+the rank of rulers and commanders, and by the severest rigors of
+luxury, power, splendor, and magnificence known among the Kosekin.
+Overwhelmed thus with the cares of government, crushed under the
+weight of authority and autocratic rule, surrounded by countless
+slaves all ready to die for them, their lives would be embittered
+and their punishment would be more than they could bear. But the
+philosophic Kohen Gadol dared all these punishments, and pursued his
+way calmly and pertinaciously.
+
+Nothing surprised the Kohen Gadol so much as the manner in which I
+received his confidences. He half expected to startle me by his
+boldness, but was himself confounded by my words. I told him that in
+my country self was the chief consideration, self-preservation the law
+of nature; death the King of Terrors; wealth the object of universal
+search, poverty the worst of evils; unrequited love nothing less than
+anguish and despair; to command others the highest glory; victory,
+honor; defeat, intolerable shame; and other things of the same sort,
+all of which sounded in his ears, as he said, with such tremendous
+force that they were like peals of thunder. He shook his head
+despondently; he could not believe that such views as mine could ever
+be attained to among the Kosekin. But Layelah was bolder, and with all
+a woman's impetuosity grasped at my fullest meaning and held it firm.
+
+"He is right," said Layelah--"the heaven-born Atam-or. He shall be our
+teacher. The rich shall be esteemed, the poor shall be down-trodden;
+to rule over others shall be glorious, to serve shall be base; victory
+shall be an honor, defeat a shame; selfishness, self-seeking, luxury,
+and indulgence shall be virtues; poverty, want, and squalor shall be
+things of abhorrence and contempt."
+
+The face of Layelah glowed with enthusiasm as she said these words,
+and I saw in her a daring, intrepid, and high-hearted woman, full of a
+woman's headlong impetuosity and disregard of consequences. In me she
+saw one who seemed to her like a prophet and teacher of a new order
+of things, and her whole soul responded to the principles which I
+announced. It required immense strength of mind and firmness of soul
+to separate herself from the prevalent sentiment of her nation; and
+though nature had done much for her in giving her a larger portion of
+original selfishness than was common to her people, still she was a
+child of the Kosekin, and her daring was all the more remarkable. And
+so she went further than her father, and adopted my extreme views when
+he shrank back, and dared more unflinchingly the extremest rigors of
+the national law, and all that the Kosekin could inflict in the way of
+wealth, luxury, supreme command, palatial abodes, vast retinues of
+slaves, and the immense degradation of the queenly office.
+
+I spoke to her in a warning voice about her rashness.
+
+"Oh," said she, "I have counted the cost, and am ready to accept all
+that they can inflict. I embrace the good cause, and will not give it
+up--no, not even if they could increase my wealth a thousand-fold,
+and sentence me to live a hundred seasons. I can bear their utmost
+inflictions of wealth, power, magnificence; I could even bear being
+condemned to live forever in the light. Oh, my friend, it is the
+conviction of right and the support of conscience that strengthens one
+to bear the greatest evils that man can inflict."
+
+From these words it was evident to me that Layelah was a true child of
+the Kosekin; for though she was of advanced sentiments she still used
+the language of her people, and spoke of the punishments of the law as
+though they were punishments in reality. Now, to me and to Almah these
+so-called punishments seemed rewards.
+
+It was impossible for me to avoid feeling a very strong regard for
+this enthusiastic and beautiful girl; all the more, indeed, because
+she evinced such an undisguised admiration for me. She evidently
+considered me some superior being, from some superior race; and
+although my broken and faulty way of speaking the language was
+something of a trial, still she seemed to consider every word I
+uttered as a maxim of the highest wisdom. The tritest of truths, the
+commonest of platitudes, the most familiar of proverbs or old saws
+current among us were eagerly seized by Layelah, and accepted as
+truths almost divine--as new doctrines for the guidance of the human
+race. These she would discuss with me; she would put them into better
+and more striking language, and ask for my opinion. Then she would
+write them down.
+
+For the Kosekin knew the art of writing. They had an alphabet of their
+own, which was at once simple and very scientific. There were no
+vowels, but only consonant sounds, the vowels being supplied in
+reading, just as if one should write the words fthr or dghtr, and
+read them father and daughter. Their letters were as follows: P, K, T,
+B, G, D, F, Ch, Th, M, L, N, S, H, R. There were also three others,
+which have no equivalents in English.
+
+It soon became evident to me that Layelah had a complete ascendancy
+over her father; that she was not only the Malca of the amir, but
+the presiding spirit and the chief administrative genius of the whole
+nation of the Kosekin. She seemed to be a new Semiramis--one who might
+revolutionize an empire and introduce a new order of things. Such,
+indeed, was her high ambition, and she plainly avowed it to me; but
+what was more, she frankly informed me that she regarded me as a
+Heaven-sent teacher--as one who in this darkness could tell her of the
+nations of light--who could instruct her in the wisdom of other and
+greater races, and help her to accomplish her grand designs.
+
+As for Almah, she seemed quite beneath the notice of the aspiring
+Layelah. She never noticed her, she never spoke of her, and she always
+made her visits to me after Almah had gone.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE DARK MAIDEN LAYELAH
+
+
+Layelah at length began to make pointed remarks about Almah.
+
+"She loves you," said she, "and you love her. How is it that you do
+not give each other up?"
+
+"I would die rather than give up Almah," said I.
+
+Layelah smiled. "That sounds strange to the Kosekin," said she, "for
+here to give up your love and to die are both esteemed the greatest
+possible blessings. But Almah should give you up. It is the women with
+us who make the beginning. Women generally fall in love first, and it
+is expected that they will tell their love first. The delicacy of a
+woman's feelings makes this natural, for if a man tells his love to a
+woman who does not love him, it shocks her modesty; while if a woman
+tells a man, he has no modesty to shock."
+
+"That is strange," said I; "but suppose the man does not love the
+woman?"
+
+"Why, no woman wants to be loved; she only wants to love."
+
+At this I felt somewhat bewildered.
+
+"That," said Layelah, "is unrequited love, which is the chief blessing
+here, though for my part I am a philosopher, and would wish when I
+love to be loved in return."
+
+"And then," said I, "if so, would you give up your lover, in
+accordance with the custom of your country?"
+
+Layelah's dark eyes rested on me for a moment with a glance of intense
+earnestness and profound meaning. She drew a long breath, and then
+said, in a low, tremulous voice,
+
+"Never!"
+
+Layelah was constantly with me, and at length used to come at an
+earlier time, when Almah was present. Her manner toward Almah was full
+of the usual Kosekin courtesy and gracious cordiality. She was still
+intent upon learning from me the manners, customs, and principles of
+action of the race to which I belonged. She had an insatiable thirst
+for knowledge, and her curiosity extended to all of those great
+inventions which are the wonder of Christendom. Locomotives and
+steamboats were described to her under the names of "horses of fire"
+and "ships of fire"; printing was "letters of power"; the electric
+telegraph, "messages of lightning"; the organ, "lute of giants,"
+and so on. Yet, in spite of the eagerness with which she made her
+inquiries, and the diligence with which she noted all down, I could
+see that there was in her mind something lying beneath it all--a far
+more earnest purpose, and a far more personal one, than the pursuit of
+useful knowledge.
+
+Layelah was watchful of Almah; she seemed studying her to see how far
+this woman of another race differed from the Kosekin. She would often
+turn from me and talk with Almah for a long time, questioning her
+about her people and their ways. Almah's manner was somewhat reserved,
+and it was rendered somewhat more so from the fact that her mind was
+always full of the prospect of our impending doom. Each jom as it
+came and went brought us nearer to that awful time, and the hour was
+surely coming when we should be taken to the outer square and to the
+top of the pyramid of sacrifice.
+
+Once Layelah sat for some time silent and involved in thought. At
+length she began to speak to me.
+
+"Almah," said she, "is very different from us. She loves you and you
+love her. She ought to give you up. Almah, you ought to give up
+Atam-or, since you love him."
+
+Almah looked confused, and made some reply to the effect that she
+belonged to a different race with different customs.
+
+"But you should follow our customs. You are one of us now. You can
+easily find another who will take him."
+
+Almah threw a piteous glance at me and said nothing.
+
+"I," said Layelah, "will take him."
+
+She spoke these words with an air of magnanimity, as though putting it
+in the light of a favor to Almah; but Almah did not make any reply,
+and after some silence Layelah spoke of something else.
+
+Not long after we were alone together, and Layelah returned to the
+subject. She referred to Almah's want of sympathy with the manners of
+the Kosekin, and asserted that she ought to aim after a separation.
+
+"I love her," said I, with great warmth, "and will never give her up."
+
+"But she must give you up; it is the woman's place to take the first
+step. I should be willing to take you."
+
+As Layelah said this she looked at me very earnestly, as if anxious to
+see how I accepted this offer. It was for me a most embarrassing
+moment. I loved Almah, but Layelah also was most agreeable, and I
+liked her very much; indeed, so much so that I could not bear to say
+anything that might hurt her feelings. Among all the Kosekin there was
+not one who was not infinitely inferior to her in my eyes. Still, I
+loved Almah, and I told her so again, thinking that in this way I
+might repel her without giving offence.
+
+But Layelah was quite ready with her reply.
+
+"If you love Almah," said she, "that is the very reason why you should
+marry me."
+
+This made me feel more embarrassed than ever.
+
+I stammered something about my own feelings--the manners and customs
+of my race--and the fear that I had of acting against my own
+principles. "Besides," I added, "I'm afraid it would make you
+unhappy."
+
+"Oh no," said Layelah, briskly; "on the contrary, it would make me
+very happy indeed."
+
+I began to be more and more aghast at this tremendous frankness, and
+was utterly at a loss what to say.
+
+"My father," continued Layelah, "is different from the other Kosekin,
+and so am I. I seek requital for love, and do not think it an evil."
+
+A sudden thought now suggested itself, and I caught at it as a last
+resort.
+
+"You have," said I, "some lover among the Kosekin. Why do you not
+marry him?"
+
+Layelah smiled.
+
+"I have no lover that I love," said she, "among the Kosekin."
+
+My feeble effort was thus a miserable failure. I was about saying
+something concerning the Kosekin alphabet or something else of an
+equally appropriate nature, when she prevented me.
+
+"Atam-or," said she, in a low voice.
+
+"Layelah," said I, with my mind full of confusion.
+
+"I love you!"
+
+She sat looking at me with her beautiful face all aglow her dark eyes
+fixed on mine with an intense and eager gaze. I looked at her and said
+not one single word. Layelah was the first to break the awkward
+silence.
+
+"You love Almah, Atam-or; but say, do you not love me? You smile at
+me, you meet me always when I come with warm greetings, and you seem
+to enjoy yourself in my society. Say, Atam-or, do you not love me?"
+
+This was a perilous and a tremendous moment. The fact is, I did like
+Layelah very much indeed, and I wanted to tell her so; but my
+ignorance of the language did not allow me to observe those nice
+distinctions of meaning which exist between the words "like" and
+"love." I knew no other word than the one Kosekin word meaning "love,"
+and could not think of any meaning "like." It was, therefore, a very
+trying position for me.
+
+"Dear Layelah," said I, floundering and stammering in my confusion, "I
+love you; I--"
+
+But here I was interrupted without waiting for any further words; the
+beautiful creature flung her arms around me and clung to me with a
+fond embrace. As for me, I was utterly confounded, bewildered, and
+desperate. I thought of my darling Almah, whom alone I loved. It
+seemed at that moment as though I was not only false to her, but as if
+I was even endangering her life. My only thought now was to clear up
+my meaning.
+
+"Dear Layelah," said I, as I sat with her arms around me, and with my
+own around her slender waist, "I do not want to hurt your feelings."
+
+"Oh, Atam-or! oh, my love! never, never did I know such bliss as
+this."
+
+Here again I was overwhelmed, but I still persisted in my effort.
+
+"Dear Layelah," said I, "I love Almah most dearly and most tenderly."
+
+"Oh, Atam-or, why speak of that? I know it well. And so by our Kosekin
+law you give her up; among us, lovers never marry. So you take me,
+your own Layelah, and you will have me for your bride; and my love for
+you is ten thousand times stronger than that of the cold and
+melancholy Almah. She may marry my papa."
+
+This suggestion filled me with dismay.
+
+"Oh no," said I. "Never, never will I give up Almah!"
+
+"Certainly not," said Layelah; "you do not give her up--she gives you
+up."
+
+"She never will," said I.
+
+"Oh yes," said Layelah; "I will tell her that you wish it."
+
+"I do not wish it," said I. "I love her, and will never give her up."
+
+"It's all the same," said Layelah. "You cannot marry her at all. No
+one will marry you. You and Almah are victims and the State has given
+you the matchless honor of death. Common people who love one another
+may marry if they choose, and take the punishment which the law
+assigns but illustrious victims who love cannot marry, and so, my
+Atam-or, you have only me."
+
+I need not say that all this was excessively embarrassing I was
+certainly fond of Layelah, and liked her too much to hurt her
+feelings. Had I been one of the Kosekin I might perhaps have managed
+better; but being a European, a man of the Aryan race--being such, and
+sitting there with the beautiful Layelah lavishing all her affections
+upon me--why, it stands to reason that I could not have the heart to
+wound her feelings in any way. I was taken at an utter disadvantage.
+Never in my life had I heard of women taking the initiative. Layelah
+had proposed to me, she would not listen to refusal, and I had not the
+heart to wound her. I had made all the fight I could by persisting in
+asserting my love for Almah, but all my assertions were brushed
+lightly aside as trivial things.
+
+Let any gentleman put himself in my situation, and ask himself what he
+would do. What would he do if such a thing could happen to him at
+home? But there such a thing could not happen, and so there is no use
+in supposing an impossible case. At any rate I think I deserve
+sympathy. Who could keep his presence of mind under such
+circumstances? With us a young lady who loves one man can easily repel
+another suitor; but here it was very different, for how could I repel
+Layelah? Could I turn upon her and say "Unhand me"? Could I say "Away!
+I am another's"? Of course I couldn't; and what's worse, if I had said
+such things Layelah would have smiled me down into silence. The fact
+is, it doesn't do for women to take the initiative--it's not fair. I
+had stood a good deal among the Kosekin. Their love of darkness, their
+passion for death, their contempt of riches, their yearning after
+unrequited love, their human sacrifices, their cannibalism, all had
+more or less become familiar to me, and I had learned to acquiesce in
+silence; but now when it came to this--that a woman should propose to
+a man--it really was more than a fellow could stand. I felt this at
+that moment very forcibly; but then the worst of it was that Layelah
+was so confoundedly pretty, and had such a nice way with her, that
+hang me if I knew what to say.
+
+Meanwhile Layelah was not silent; she had all her wits about her.
+
+"Dear papa," said she, "would make such a nice husband for Almah. He
+is a widower, you know. I could easily persuade him to marry her. He
+always does whatever I ask him to do."
+
+"But victims cannot marry, you said."
+
+"No," said Layelah, sweetly, "they cannot marry one another, but Almah
+may marry dear papa, and then you and I can be married, and it will be
+all very nice indeed."
+
+At this I started away.
+
+"No," said I, indignantly, "it won't be nice. I'm engaged to be
+married to Almah, and I'm not going to give her up."
+
+"Oh, but she gives you up, you know," said Layelah, quietly.
+
+"Well, but I'm not going to be given up."
+
+"Why, how unreasonable you are, you foolish boy!" said Layelah, in her
+most caressing manner. "You have nothing at all to do with it."
+
+At this I was in fresh despair, and then a new thought came, which I
+seized upon.
+
+"See here," said I, "why can't I marry both of you? I'm engaged to
+Almah, and I love her better than all the world. Let me marry her and
+you too."
+
+At this Layelah laughed long and merrily. Peal after peal of laughter,
+musical and most merry, burst from her. It was contagious; I could not
+help joining in, and so we both sat laughing. It was a long time
+before we regained our self-control.
+
+"Why, that's downright bigamy!" exclaimed Layelah with fresh laughter.
+"Why, Atam-or, you're mad!" and so she went off again in fresh peals
+of laughter. It was evident that my proposal was not at all shocking,
+but simply comical, ridiculous, and inconceivable in its absurdity. It
+was to her what the remark of some despairing beauty would be among us
+who, when pressed by two lovers should express a confused willingness
+to marry both. It was evident that Layelah accepted it as a ludicrous
+jest.
+
+Laughter was all very well, of course; but I was serious and felt that
+I ought not to part with Layelah without some better understanding,
+and so I once more made an effort.
+
+"All this," said I, in a mournful tone, "is a mere mockery. What have
+I to say about love and marriage? If you loved me as you say, you
+would not laugh, but weep. You forget what I am. What am I? A victim,
+and doomed--doomed to a hideous fate--a fate of horror unutterable.
+You cannot even begin to imagine the anguish with which I look forward
+to that fate which impends over me and Almah. Marriage--idle word!
+What have I to do with marriage? What has Almah? There is only one
+marriage before us--the dread marriage with death! Why talk of love to
+the dying? The tremendous ordeal, the sacrifice, is before us and
+after that there remains the hideous Mista Kosek!"
+
+At this Layelah sprang up, with her whole face and attitude full of
+life and energy.
+
+"I know, I know," said she, quickly; "I have arranged for all. Your
+life shall be saved. Do you think that I have consented to your death?
+Never! You are mine. I will save you. I will show you what we can do.
+You shall escape."
+
+"Can you really save me?" I cried.
+
+"I can."
+
+"What! in spite of the whole nation?"
+
+Layelah laughed scornfully.
+
+"I can save you," said she. "We can fly. There are other nations
+beside ours. We can find some land among the Gojin where we can live
+in peace. The Gojin are not like us."
+
+"But Almah?" said I.
+
+The face of Layelah clouded.
+
+"I can only save you," said she.
+
+"Then I will stay and die with Almah," said I, obstinately.
+
+"What!" said Layelah, "do you not fear death?"
+
+"Of course I do," said I; "but I'd rather die than lose Almah."
+
+"But it's impossible to save both of you."
+
+"Then leave me and save Almah," said I.
+
+"What! would you give up your life for Almah?"
+
+"Yes, and a thousand lives," said I.
+
+"Why," said Layelah, "now you talk just like the Kosekin. You might as
+well be one of us. You love death for the sake of Almah. Why not be
+more like the Kosekin, and seek after a separation from Almah?"
+
+Layelah was not at all offended at my declaration of love for Almah.
+She uttered these words in a lively tone, and then said that it was
+time for her to go.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE FLYING MONSTER
+
+
+I retired to bed, but could not sleep. The offer of escape filled me
+with excited thoughts. These made sleep impossible, and as I lay awake
+I thought that perhaps it would be well to know what might be
+Layelah's plan of escape, for I might then make use of it to save
+Almah. I determined to find out all about it on the following
+jom--to question her as to the lands of the Gojin, to learn all her
+purpose. It might be that I could make use of that very plan to save
+Almah; but if not, why then I was resolved to remain and meet my fate
+with her. If Layelah could be induced to take both of us, I was of
+course resolved to go, trusting to chance as to the claims of Layelah
+upon me, and determined at all hazards to be faithful to Almah; but if
+she should positively refuse to save Almah, then I thought it possible
+that I might be able to find in Layelah's plan of escape something of
+which I might avail myself. I could not imagine what it was, but it
+seemed to me that it might be something quite feasible, especially for
+a desperate man. The only thought I had was of escape by means of some
+boat over the seas. In a boat I would be at home. I could make use of
+a sail so as to elude pursuit, and could guide myself by the stars.
+The only thing that I wanted to know was the situation of the lands of
+the Gojin.
+
+On the following jom the Kohen Gadol and Layelah came quite early
+and spent much time. I was surprised to see the Kohen Gadol devoting
+himself in an absurd fashion to Almah. It at once occurred to me that
+Layelah had obtained her father's co-operation in her scheme, and that
+the old villain actually imagined that he could win the hand of Almah.
+To Almah herself I had said nothing whatever about the proposal of
+Layelah, so that she was quite ignorant of the intentions of her
+companion; but it was excessively annoying to me to see such
+proceedings going on under my own eyes. At the same time I felt that
+it would be both unwise and uncivil to interfere; and I was also quite
+sure that Almah's affections were not to be diverted from me by
+anyone, much less by such an elderly party as the Kohen Gadol. It was
+very trying, however, and, in spite of my confidence in Almah, my
+jealousy was excited, and I began to think that the party of
+philosophical Radicals were not so agreeable as the orthodox cannibals
+whom I first met. As for Layelah, she seemed quite unconscious of any
+disturbance in my mind. She was as amiable, as sprightly, as
+inquisitive, and as affectionate as ever. She even outdid herself, and
+devoted herself to me with an abandon that was quite irresistible.
+
+After Almah had left me, Layelah came again, and this time she was
+alone.
+
+"I have come," said she, "to show you the way in which we can escape,
+whenever you decide to do so."
+
+It was the thing above all others which I wished to know, and
+therefore I questioned her eagerly about it; but to all of my
+questions she only replied that she would show me, and I might judge
+for myself.
+
+Layelah led the way, and I followed her. We traversed long galleries
+and vast halls, all of which were quite empty. It was the
+sleeping-time, and only those were visible who had some duties which
+kept them up later than usual. Faint, twinkling lights but feebly
+illuminated the general gloom. At length we came to an immense cavern,
+which was darker than ever, and without any lamps at all. Through a
+vast portal, which was closed with a barred gateway, the beams of the
+brilliant aurora penetrated and disclosed something of the interior.
+
+Here Layelah stopped and peered through the gloom while I stood
+waiting by her side, wondering what means of escape could be found in
+this cavern. As I stood I heard through the still air the sound as of
+living things. For a time I saw nothing, but at length I descried a
+vast, shadowy form moving forward toward the portal, where the
+darkness was less. It was a form of portentous size and fearful shape,
+and I could not make out at first the nature of it. It surpassed all
+that I had ever seen. Its head was large and its jaws long, armed with
+rows of terrible teeth like those of a crocodile. Its body was of
+great size. It walked on its hind-legs, so as to maintain itself in an
+upright attitude, and in that position its height was over twelve
+feet. But the most amazing thing about this monster has yet to be
+told. As it walked its forearms waved and fluttered, and I saw
+descending from them what seemed like vast folded leathern wings,
+which shook and swayed in the air at every step. Its pace was about as
+fast as that of a man, and it moved with ease and lightness. It seemed
+like some enormous bat, or rather like a winged crocodile, or yet
+again like one of those monstrous dragons of which I had read, but in
+whose actual existence I had never believed. Yet here I saw one living
+and moving before me--an actual dragon, with the exception of a tail;
+for that appendage, which plays so great a part in all the pictures of
+dragons, had no place here. This beast had but a short caudal
+appendage, and all its terrors lay in its jaws and in its wings.
+
+For a moment I stood almost lifeless with terror and surprise. Then I
+shrank back, but Layelah laid her hand on my arm.
+
+"Don't be afraid," said she; "it's only an athaleb."
+
+"But won't it--won't it bite?" I asked, with a shudder.
+
+"Oh no," said Layelah; "it swallows its victuals whole."
+
+At this I shrank away still farther.
+
+"Don't be afraid," said Layelah again. "Its jaws are muzzled, and,
+besides, it's a tame athaleb. Its jaws are unmuzzled only at
+feeding-time. But this one is very tame. There are three or four
+others in here, and all as tame as I am. They all know me. Come up
+nearer; don't be afraid. These athalebs are easily tamed."
+
+"How can such tremendous monsters be tamed?" I asked, in an
+incredulous tone.
+
+"Oh, man can tame anything. The athalebs are very docile when they are
+taken young. They are very long lived. This one has been in service
+here for a hundred seasons and more."
+
+At this I began to regain my confidence, and as Layelah moved nearer
+to the athaleb I accompanied her. A nearer view, however, was by no
+means reassuring. The dragon look of the athaleb was stronger than
+ever, for I could see that all its body was covered with scales. On
+its neck and back was a long ridge of coarse hair, and the sweep of
+its vast arms was enormous. It was with a quaking heart that I stood
+near; but the coolness of Layelah reassured me, for she went close up,
+as a boy would go up to a tame elephant, and she stroked his enormous
+back, and the monster bent down his terrible head and seemed pleased.
+
+"This," said Layelah, "is the way we have of escaping."
+
+"This!" I exclaimed, doubtfully.
+
+"Yes," said she. "He is trained to the service. We can mount on his
+back, and he will fly with us wherever I choose to guide him."
+
+"What!" I exclaimed, as I shrank back--"fly! Do you mean to say that
+you will mount this hideous monster, and trust yourself to him?"
+
+"Certainly," said Layelah, quietly. "He is very docile. There is
+harness here with which we can guide him. Should you like to see
+him harnessed?"
+
+"Very much indeed," said I.
+
+Upon this Layelah walked up to the monster and stroked his breast. The
+huge athaleb at once lay down upon his belly. Then she brought two
+long straps like reins, and fastened each to the tip of a projecting
+tip of each wing. Then she fastened a collar around his neck, to which
+there was attached a grappling-iron.
+
+"We seat ourselves on his back," said Layelah. "I guide with these
+reins. When we land anywhere I fasten him with the grapple. He looks
+dull now, but if I were to open the gate and remove his muzzle he
+would be off like the wind."
+
+"But can he carry both of us?" I asked.
+
+"Easily," said Layelah. "He can carry three persons without fatigue."
+
+"Could you mount on his back now, and show me how you sit?"
+
+Layelah readily assented, and mounted with the greatest ease, seating
+herself on the broadest part of the back between the wings.
+
+"Here," said she, "is room for you. Will you not come?"
+
+For an instant I hesitated; but then the sight of her, seated there as
+coolly as though she were on a chair reassured me, and I climbed up
+also, though not without a shudder. The touch of the fearful monster
+was abhorrent but I conquered my disgust and seated myself close
+behind Layelah. Here she sat, holding the reins in her hands, with the
+grapple just in front of her; and, seated in this position, she went
+on to explain the whole process by which the mighty monster was guided
+through the air.
+
+No sooner had I found myself actually on the back of the athaleb than
+all fear left me. I perceived fully how completely tame he was, and
+how docile. The reins attached to his wings could be pulled with the
+greatest ease, Just as one would pull the tiller-ropes of a boat.
+"Familiarity breeds contempt;" and now, since the first terror had
+passed away, I felt perfect confidence, and under the encouragement of
+Layelah I had become like some rustic in a menagerie, who at first is
+terrified by the sight of the elephant, but soon gains courage enough
+to mount upon his back. With my new-found courage and presence of mind
+I listened most attentively to all of Layelah's explanations, and
+watched most closely the construction and fastening of the harness;
+for the thought had occurred to me that this athaleb might be of avail
+in another way--that if I did not fly with Layelah, I might fly with
+Almah. This thought was only of a vague and shadowy character--a dim
+suggestion, the carrying out of which I scarce dared to think
+possible; still, it was in my mind, and had sufficient power over me
+to make me very curious as to the plans of Layelah. I determined to
+find out where she proposed to go, and how far; to ask her about the
+dangers of the way and the means of sustenance. It seemed, I confess,
+rather unfair to Layelah to find out her plans and use them for
+another purpose; but then that other purpose was Almah, and to me at
+that time every device which was for her safety seemed fair and
+honorable.
+
+"Here," said Layelah--"here, Atam-or, you see the way of escape. The
+athaleb can carry us both far away to a land where you need never fear
+that they will put you to death--a land where the people love light
+and life. Whenever you are ready to go, tell me; if you are ready to
+go now, say so, and at once I will open the door, and we shall soon be
+far away."
+
+She laid her hand on mine and looked at me earnestly; but I was not to
+be beguiled into any hasty committal of myself, and so I turned her
+proposal away with a question:
+
+"How far is it," I asked, "to that land?"
+
+"It is too far for one flight," said Layelah. "We go first over the
+sea till we come to a great island, which is called Magones, where
+there are mountains of fire; there we must rest, and feed the athaleb
+on fish, which are to be found on the shore. The athaleb knows his way
+there well, for he goes there once every season for a certain sacred
+ceremony. He has done this for fifty or sixty seasons, and knows his
+way there and back perfectly well. The difficulty will be, when we
+leave Magones, in reaching the land of the Orin."
+
+"The Orin?" I repeated. "Who are they?"
+
+"They are a people among the Gojin who love life and light. It is
+their land that I wish to reach, if possible."
+
+"Where is it?" I asked, eagerly.
+
+"I cannot explain," said Layelah. "I can only trust to my own skill,
+and hope to find the place. We may have to pass over different lands
+of the Gojin, and if so we may be in danger."
+
+"What is the reason why the athaleb goes to Magones every season?"
+I asked.
+
+"To take there the chief pauper of the season, who has won the prize
+of death by starvation. It is one of the greatest honors among the
+Kosekin."
+
+"Is Magones barren?"
+
+"It is an island of fire, without anything on it but craggy mountains
+and wild rocks and flowing rivers of fire. It stands almost in the
+middle of the sea."
+
+"How can we get away from here?" I asked, after some silence.
+
+"From here?--why, I open the gates, and the athaleb flies away; that
+is all."
+
+"But shall we not be prevented?"
+
+"Oh no. No one here ever prevents anyone from doing anything. Everyone
+is eager to help his neighbor."
+
+"But if they saw me deliberately mounting the athaleb and preparing
+for flight, would they not stop me?"
+
+"No."
+
+I was amazed at this.
+
+"But," said I, "am I not a victim--preserved for the great sacrifice?"
+
+"You are; but you are free to go where you like, and do what you like.
+Your character of victim makes you most distinguished. It is the
+highest honor and dignity. All believe that you rejoice in your high
+dignity, and no one dreams that you are anxious to escape."
+
+"But if I did escape, would they not pursue me?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"What would they do for a victim?"
+
+"They would wonder at your unaccountable flight, and then choose some
+distinguished pauper."
+
+"But if I were to stay here, would they not save me from death at
+my entreaty?"
+
+"Oh, certainly not; they would never understand such an entreaty.
+That's a question of death, the supreme blessing. No one is capable of
+such a base act as saving his fellow-man from death. All are eager to
+help each other to such a fate."
+
+"But if I were to fly they would not prevent me, and they would not
+pursue me?"
+
+"Oh no."
+
+"Are there any in the land who are exempt from the sacrifice?"
+
+"Oh yes; the Athons, Meleks, and Kohens--these are not worthy of the
+honor. The artisans and tradesmen are sometimes permitted to attain to
+this honor; the laborers in greater numbers; but it is the paupers who
+are chiefly favored. And this is a matter of complaint among the rich
+and powerful, that they cannot be sacrificed."
+
+"Well, why couldn't I be made an Athon or a Kohen, and be exempted in
+that way?"
+
+"Oh, that would be too great a dishonor; it would be impossible.
+On the contrary, the whole people are anxious to honor you to the
+very uttermost, and to bestow upon you the greatest privileges and
+blessings which can possibly be given. Oh no, it would be impossible
+for them to allow you to become an Athon or a Kohen. As for me, I am
+Malca, and therefore the lowest in the land--pitied and commiserated
+by the haughty pauper class, who shake their heads at the thought of
+one like me. All the people shower upon me incessantly new gifts and
+new offices. If my present love of light and life were generally
+known, they would punish me by giving me new contributions of wealth
+and new offices and powers, which I do not want."
+
+"But you love riches, do you not? and you must want them still?"
+
+"No," said Layelah, "I do not want them now."
+
+"Why, what do you want?" I asked.
+
+"You!" said she, with a sweet smile.
+
+I said nothing, but tried desperately to think of something that might
+divert the conversation.
+
+Layelah was silent for a few moments, and then went on in a musing
+tone:
+
+"As I was saying, I love you, Atam-or, and I hate Almah because you
+love her. I think Almah is the only human being in all the world that
+I ever really hated; and yet, though I hate her, still, strange to
+say, I feel as though I should like to give her the immense blessing
+of death, and that is a very strange feeling, indeed, for one of the
+Kosekin. Do you understand, Atam-or, what such can possibly be?"
+
+I did not answer, but turned away the conversation by a violent
+effort.
+
+"Are there any other athalebs here?"
+
+"Oh yes."
+
+"How many?"
+
+"Four."
+
+"Are they all as tame as this?"
+
+"Oh yes, all quite as tame; there is no difference whatever."
+
+Upon this I left the back of the athaleb, and Layelah also descended,
+after which she proceeded to show me the other monsters. At length she
+unharnessed the athaleb and we left the cavern.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+ESCAPE
+
+
+On the following jom I told everything to Almah. I told her that
+Layelah was urging me to fly with her, and that I had found out all
+about her plans. I described the athalebs, informed her about the
+direction which we were to take, the island of fire, and the country
+of the Orin. At this intelligence Almah was filled with delight, and
+for the first time since we had come to the amir there were smiles
+of joy upon her face. She needed no persuasion. She was ready to set
+forth whenever it was fitting, and to risk everything upon this
+enterprise. She felt as I did, and thought that the wildest attempt
+was better than this dull inaction.
+
+Death was before us here, and every jom as it passed only brought it
+nearer. True, we were treated with the utmost kindness, we lived in
+royal splendor, we had enormous retinues; but all this was a miserable
+mockery, since it all served as the prelude to our inevitable doom.
+For that doom it was hard indeed to wait. Anything was better. Far
+better would it be to risk all the dangers of this unusual and amazing
+flight, to brave the terrors of that drear isle of fire, Magones;
+better to perish there of starvation, or to be killed by the hands
+of hostile Gojin, than to wait here and be destroyed at last by
+the sacrificial knife of these smiling, generous, kind-hearted,
+self-sacrificing fiends; to be killed--ay, and afterward borne to the
+tremendous Mista Kosek.
+
+There was a difficulty with Layelah that had to be guarded against: in
+the first place that she might not suspect, and again that we might
+choose our time of escape when she would not be at all likely to find
+us out. We resolved to make our attempt without any further delay.
+Layelah was with us for the greater part of that jom, and the Kohen
+Gadol also gave us much of his company. Layelah did not seem to have
+any suspicions whatever of my secret purpose; for she was as bright,
+as amiable, and as devoted to me as ever, while the Kohen Gadol sought
+as before to make himself agreeable to Almah. I did not think fit
+to tell her about Layelah's proposal, and therefore she was quite
+ignorant of the secret plans of the Kohen Gadol, evidently attributing
+his attention to the unfailing amiability of the Kosekin.
+
+Layelah came again after Almah had retired, and spent the time in
+trying to persuade me to fly with her. The beautiful girl was
+certainly never more engaging, nor was she ever more tender. Had it
+not been for Almah it would have been impossible to resist such sweet
+persuasions; but as it was I did resist. Layelah, however, was not at
+all discouraged, nor did she lose any of her amiability; but when she
+took leave it was with a smile and sweet words of forgiveness on her
+lips for what she called my cruelty. After she left I remained for a
+time with a painful sense of helplessness. The fact is my European
+training did not fit me for encountering such a state of things as
+existed among the Kosekin. It's very easy to be faithful to one's own
+true-love in England, when other fair ladies hold aloof and wait to
+be sought; but here among the Kosekin, women have as much liberty in
+making love as men, and there is no law or custom about it. If a woman
+chooses she can pay the most desperate attentions, and play the part
+of a distracted lover to her heart's content. In most cases the
+women actually take the initiative, as they are more impressible and
+impulsive than men; and so it was that Layelah made me the object of
+her persistent assault--acting all the time, too, in accordance with
+the custom of the country, and thus having no thought whatever of
+indelicacy, since, according to the Kosekin, she was acting simply in
+accordance with the rights of every woman. Now, where a woman is urged
+by one ardent lover to dismiss her other lover, she may sometimes find
+it difficult to play her part satisfactorily; but in my case I did not
+play my part satisfactorily at all; the ordeal was too hard, and I was
+utterly unable to show to Layelah that firmness and decision of
+character which the occasion demanded.
+
+Yet, after all, the ordeal at last ended. Layelah left, as I have
+said, with sweet words of forgiveness on her lips, and I after a time
+succeeded in regaining my presence of mind.
+
+Almah was waiting, and she soon joined me. We gathered a few articles
+for the journey, the chief of which were my rifle and pistol, which
+I had not used here, and then we set forth. Leaving our apartments
+we traversed the long passages, and at length came to the cavern of
+the athalebs. We met several people on the way, who looked at us
+with smiles, but made no other sign. It was evident that they had no
+commission to watch us, and that thus far Layelah's information was
+correct.
+
+Upon entering the cavern of the athalebs my first feeling was one of
+helplessness; for I had no confidence whatever in my own powers of
+managing these awful monsters, nor did I feel sure that I could
+harness them; but the emergency was a pressing one, and there was no
+help for it. I had seen where Layelah had left the harness, and now my
+chief desire was to secure one of the athalebs. The faint light served
+to disclose nothing but gloom; and I waited for a while, hoping that
+one of them would come forward as before. But waiting did no good,
+for no movement was made, and I had to try what I could do myself to
+rouse them. So I walked farther in toward the back part of the cavern,
+peering through the gloom, while Almah remained near the entrance.
+
+As I advanced I heard a slight noise, as of someone moving. I thought
+it was one of the athalebs, and walked on farther, peering through the
+gloom, when suddenly I came full upon a man who was busy at some work
+which I could not make out. For a moment I stood in amazement and
+despair, for it seemed as though all was lost, and as if this man
+would at once divine my intent. While I stood thus he turned and gave
+me a very courteous greeting, after which, in the usual manner of the
+Kosekin, he asked me with much amiability what he could do for me. I
+muttered something about seeing the athalebs, upon which he informed
+me that he would show them to me with pleasure.
+
+He went on to say that he had recently been raised from the low
+position of Athon to that of Feeder of the Athalebs, a post involving
+duties like those of ostlers or grooms among us, but which here
+indicated high rank and honor. He was proud of his title of "Epet,"
+which means servant, and more than usually obliging. I at once took
+advantage of his complaisance, and requested him to show me the
+athalebs. Upon this he led the way farther on, where I could see
+through the gloom the shadowy outlines of four monsters, all of which
+were resting in an upright posture against the wall, with their claws
+fixed on a shelf of rock. They looked more than ever like dragons, or
+rather like enormous bats, for their wings were disclosed hanging in
+loose leathern folds.
+
+"Can they be roused," I asked, "and made to move?"
+
+"Oh yes," said the Epet, and without waiting for any further request
+he proceeded to pull at the loose fan-like wing of the nearest one.
+The monster drew himself together, gave a flutter with his wings, and
+then moved back from the wall.
+
+"Make him walk," said I, eagerly.
+
+The Epet at this pulled upon his wing once more, and the athaleb moved
+forward.
+
+"Bring him to the portal, so that I may see him," said I.
+
+The Epet, still holding the athaleb's wing, pulled at him, and thus
+guided him toward the portal. I was amazed at the docility of this
+terrific monster; yet, after all, I thought that it was no more
+astonishing than the docility of the elephant, which in like manner
+allows itself to be guided by the slightest pressure. A child may lead
+a vast elephant with ease, and here with equal ease the Epet led the
+athaleb. He led him up near to the portal, where the aurora light
+beamed through far brighter than the brightest moon, and disclosed all
+the vast proportions of the monster. I stood and looked on for some
+time in silence, quite at a loss what to do next.
+
+And now Layelah's words occurred to me as to the perfect willingness
+of the Kosekin to do anything which one might wish. She had insisted
+on it that they would not prevent our flight, and had given me to
+understand that they would even assist me if I should ask them. This
+is what now occurred to me, and I determined to make a trial. So I
+said:
+
+"I should like to fly in the air on the athaleb. Will you harness
+him?"
+
+I confess it was with some trepidation that I said this, but the
+feeling was soon dissipated. The Epet heard my words with perfect
+coolness, as though they conveyed the most natural request in the
+world, and then proceeded to obey me, just as at home a servant might
+hear and obey his master, who might say, "I should like to take a
+ride; will you harness the bay mare?"
+
+So the Epet proceeded to harness the athaleb, and I watched him in
+silence; but it was the silence of deep suspense, and my heart
+throbbed painfully. There was yet much to be risked. The gates had
+to be opened. Others might interfere. Layelah might come. All these
+thoughts occurred to me as I watched the Epet; and though the labor of
+harnessing the athaleb was simple and soon performed, still the time
+seemed long. So the collar was secured around the neck of the athaleb,
+with the grapple attached, and the lines were fastened to the wings,
+and then Almah and I mounted.
+
+The Epet now stood waiting for further orders.
+
+"Open the gates," said I.
+
+The Epet did so.
+
+Almah was seated on the back of the athaleb before me, holding on to
+the coarse mane; I, just behind, held the reins in my hand. The gates
+were opened wide. A few people outside, roused by the noise of the
+opening gates, stood and looked on. They had evidently no other
+feeling but curiosity.
+
+All was now ready and the way was open, but there was an unexpected
+difficulty--the athaleb would not start, and I did not know how to
+make him. I had once more to apply for help to the Epet.
+
+"How am I to make him start?" I asked.
+
+"Pull at the collar to make him start, and pull at both reins to make
+him stop," said the Epet.
+
+Upon this I pulled at the collar.
+
+The athaleb obeyed at once. He rose almost erect, and moved out
+through the gate. It was difficult to hold on, but we did so. On
+reaching the terrace outside, the athaleb expanded his vast wings,
+which spread out over a space of full fifty feet, and then with
+vigorous motions raised himself in the air.
+
+It was a moment full of terror to both of us; the strange sensation of
+rising in the air, the quivering muscles of the athaleb at the working
+of the enormous pinions, the tremendous display of strength, all
+combined to overwhelm me with a sense of utter helplessness. With one
+hand I clung to the stiff mane of the monster; with the other I held
+Almah, who was also grasping the athaleb's hair; and thus for some
+time all thought was taken up in the one purpose of holding on. But at
+length the athaleb lay in the air in a perfectly horizontal position;
+the beat of the wings grew more slow and even, the muscular exertion
+more steady and sustained. We both began to regain some degree of
+confidence, and at length I raised myself up and looked around.
+
+It did not seem long since we had left; but already the city was far
+behind, rising with its long, crescent terraces, sparkling and
+twinkling with innumerable lights. We had passed beyond the bay; the
+harbor was behind us, the open sea before us, the deep water beneath.
+The athaleb flew low, not more than a hundred feet above the water,
+and maintained that distance all the time. It seemed, indeed, as if he
+might drop into the water at any time; but this was only fancy, for he
+was perfect master of all his movement and his flight was swift and
+well sustained.
+
+Overhead the sky was filled with the glory of the aurora beams, which
+spread everywhere, flashing out from the zenith and illuminating the
+earth with a glow brighter than that of the brightest moon; beneath,
+the dark waters of the sea extended, with the waves breaking into
+foam, and traversed by galleys, by merchant-ships, and by the navies
+of the Kosekin. Far away the surface of the sea spread, with that
+marvellous appearance of an endless ascent, as though for a thousand
+miles, rising thus until it terminated half-way up the sky; and so
+it rose up on every side, so that I seemed to be at the bottom of
+a basin-shaped world--an immense and immeasurable hollow--a world
+unparalleled and unintelligible. Far away, at almost infinite
+distances, arose the long lines of mountains, which, crowned with ice,
+gleamed in the aurora light, and seemed like a barrier that made
+forever impossible all ingress and egress.
+
+On and on we sped. At length we grew perfectly accustomed to the
+situation, the motion was so easy and our seats were so secure. There
+were no obstacles in our way, no roughness along our path; for that
+pathway was the smooth air, and in such a path there could be no
+interruption, no jerk or jar. After the first terror had passed there
+remained no longer any necessity for holding on--we could sit and look
+around with perfect freedom; and at length I rose to my feet, and
+Almah stood beside me, and thus we stood for a long time, with all
+our souls kindled into glowing enthusiasm by the excitement of that
+adventurous flight, and the splendors of that unequalled scene.
+
+At length the aurora light grew dim. Then came forth the stars,
+glowing and burning in the black sky. Beneath there was nothing
+visible but the darkness of the water, spotted with phosphorescent
+points, while all around a wall of gloom arose which shut out from
+view the distant shores.
+
+Suddenly I was aware of a noise like the beat of vast wings, and these
+wings were not those of our athaleb. At first I thought it was the
+fluttering of a sail, but it was too regular and too long continued
+for that. At length I saw through the gloom a vast shadowy form in the
+air behind us, and at once the knowledge of the truth flashed upon me.
+It was another monster flying in pursuit!
+
+Were we pursued? Were there men on his back? Should I resist? I held
+my rifle poised, and was resolved to resist at all hazards. Almah saw
+it all, and said nothing. She perceived the danger, and in her eyes I
+saw that she, like me, would prefer death to surrender. The monster
+came nearer and nearer, until at last I could see that he was alone,
+and that none were on his back. But now another fear arose. He might
+attack our athaleb, and in that way endanger us. He must be prevented
+from coming nearer; yet to fire the rifle was a serious matter. I had
+once before I learned the danger of firing under such circumstances,
+when my opmahera had fled in terror at the report, and did not wish to
+experience the danger which might arise from a panic-stricken athaleb;
+and so as I stood there I waved my arms and gesticulated violently.
+The pursuing athaleb seemed frightened at such an unusual occurrence,
+for he veered off, and soon was lost in the darkness.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE ISLAND OF FIRE
+
+
+At last there appeared before us what seemed like a long line of
+dull-red fires, and as we looked we could see bursts of flame at
+fitful intervals, which shone out for a few moments and then died
+away. Upon this now our whole attention was fixed; for it seemed as
+though we were approaching our destination, and that this place was
+the Island of Fire--a name which, from present appearances, was fully
+justified. As we went on and drew steadily nearer, the mass of glowing
+fire grew larger and brighter, and what at first had seemed a line was
+broken up into different parts, one of which far surpassed the others.
+This was higher in the air, and its shape was that of a long, thin,
+sloping line, with a burning, glowing globule at each end. It seemed
+like lava running down from the crater of a volcano, and this
+appearance was made certainty on a nearer approach; for we saw at the
+upper point, which seemed the crater, an outburst of flame, followed
+by a new flow of the fiery stream. In other places there were similar
+fires, but they were less bright, either because they were smaller or
+more remote.
+
+At length we heard beneath us the roar of breakers, and saw long white
+lines of surf beating upon the shore. Our athaleb now descended and
+alighted; we clambered to the ground, and I, taking the grapple, fixed
+it securely between two sharp rocks. We were at last on Magones, the
+Island of Fire.
+
+The brightness of the aurora light had left us, but it needed not
+this to show us the dismal nature of the land to which we had come.
+It was a land of horror, where there was nothing but the abomination
+of desolation--a land overstrewn with blasted fragments of fractured
+lava-blocks, intermixed with sand, from which there arose black
+precipices and giant mountains that poured forth rivers of fire and
+showers of ashes and sheets of flame. A tremendous peak arose before
+us, with a crest of fire and sides streaked with red torrents of
+molten lava; between us and it there spread away a vast expanse of
+impassable rocks--a scene of ruin and savage wildness which cannot be
+described, and all around was the same drear and appalling prospect.
+Here in the night-season--the season of darkness and of awful
+gloom--we stood in this land of woe; and not one single sign appeared
+of life save the life that we had brought with us. As for food, it was
+vain to think of it. To search after it would be useless. It seemed,
+indeed, impossible to move from the spot where we were. Every moment
+presented some new discovery which added to the horror of Magones.
+
+But Almah was weary, for our flight had been long, and she wished to
+rest. So I found a place for her where there was some sand between
+two rocks, and here she lay down and went to sleep. I sat at a little
+distance off on a shelf of the rock, with my back against it, and
+here, after a little time, I also went to sleep.
+
+At length we awoke. But what a waking! There was no morning dawn, no
+blessed returning light to greet our eyes. We opened our eyes to the
+same scenes upon which we had closed them, and the darkness was still
+deep and dense around us. Over us both there was a sense of utter
+depression, and I was so deeply plunged into it that I found it
+impossible to rouse myself, even for the sake of saying words of cheer
+to Almah. I had brought a few fragments of food, and upon these we
+made our breakfast; but there was the athaleb to feed, and for him I
+found nothing, nor could I think of anything--unless he could feed
+upon rocks and sand. Yet food for him was a matter of the highest
+consequence, for he was all our support and stay and hope; and if the
+monster were deprived of food he might turn upon us and satisfy upon
+us his ravenous appetite. These thoughts were painful indeed, and
+added to my despondency.
+
+Suddenly I heard the sound of running water. I started away toward the
+place from which the sound came, and found, only a little distance
+off, a small brook trickling along on its way to the shore. I called
+Almah, and we both drank and were refreshed.
+
+This showed an easy way to get to the shore, and I determined to go
+there to see if there were any fish to be found. Shell-fish might be
+there, or the carcasses of dead fish thrown up by the sea, upon which
+the athaleb might feed. I left my pistol with Almah, telling her to
+fire it if she heard me fire, for I was afraid of losing my way,
+and therefore took this precaution. I left it lying on the rock
+full-cocked, and directed her to point it in the air and pull the
+trigger. It was necessary to take these precautions, as of course she
+was quite ignorant of its nature. After this I left her and tried to
+follow the torrent.
+
+This, however, I soon found to be impossible, for the brook on
+reaching a huge rock plunged underneath it and became lost to view. I
+then went toward the shore as well as I could--now climbing over sharp
+rocks, now going round them, until at length after immense labor I
+succeeded in reaching the water. Here the scene was almost as wild
+as the one I had left. There was no beach whatever--nothing but a
+vast extent of wild fragments of fractured lava-blocks, which were
+evidently the result of some comparatively recent convulsion of
+nature, for their edges were still sharp, and the water had not worn
+even those which were within its grasp to anything like roundness,
+or to anything else than the jagged and shattered outlines which had
+originally belonged to them. All the shore thus consisted of vast
+rocky blocks, over which the sea beat in foam.
+
+Eager to find something, I toiled along this rocky shore for a long
+distance, but without seeing any change. I was unwilling to go back
+baffled, yet I was at length compelled to do so. But the necessity of
+feeding the athaleb was pressing, and I saw that our only course now
+would be to mount him again, leave this place, and seek some other.
+But where could we go? That I could not imagine, and could only
+conclude to trust altogether to the instinct of the athaleb, which
+might guide him to places where he might obtain food. Such a course
+would involve great risk for we might be carried into the midst of
+vast flocks of these monsters; yet there was nothing else to be done.
+
+I now retraced my steps, and went for a long time near the sea. At
+length I found a place where the walking was somewhat easier, and went
+in this way up into the island and away from the sea. It seemed to
+lead in the direction where I wished to go. At length it seemed as if
+I had walked far enough, yet I could see no signs of Almah. I shouted,
+but there was no answer. I shouted again and again, but with the like
+result. Then I fired my rifle and listened. In response there came the
+report of the pistol far away behind me. It was evident that in coming
+back along the shore I had passed by the place where Almah was. There
+was nothing now left but to retrace my steps and this I accordingly
+did. I went back to the shore, and returned on my steps, shouting all
+the time, until at length I was rejoiced to hear the answering shout
+of Almah. After this it was easy to reach her.
+
+We now took up the grapple and once more mounted. The athaleb, eager
+to be off, raised himself quickly in the air, and soon our late
+resting-place was far behind. His flight was now different from what
+it was before. Then he stood off in one straight line for a certain
+fixed destination, as though under some guidance; for though I did not
+direct him, still his long training had taught him to fly to Magones.
+But now training and guidance were both wanting, and the athaleb was
+left to the impulse of his hunger and the guidance of his instinct; so
+he flew no longer in one undeviating straight line, but rose high, and
+bent his head down low, and flew and soared in vast circles, even as I
+have seen a vulture or a condor sweep about while searching for food.
+All the while we were drawing farther and farther away from the spot
+which we had left.
+
+We passed the lofty volcano; we saw more plainly the rivers of molten
+lava; we passed vast cliffs and bleak mountains, all of which were
+more terrific than all that we had left behind. Now the darkness
+lessened, for the aurora was brightening in the sky, and gathering up
+swiftly and gloriously all its innumerable beams, and flashing forth
+its lustrous glow upon the world. To us this was equal to the return
+of day; it was like a blessed dawn. Light had come, and we rejoiced
+and were exceeding glad.
+
+Now we saw before us, far beyond the black precipices, a broad bay
+with sloping shores, and a wide beach which seemed like a beach of
+sand. The surf broke here, but beyond the surf was the gentle sandy
+declivity, and beyond this there appeared the shores, still rocky and
+barren and desolate, but far preferable to what we had left behind.
+Far away in the interior arose lofty mountains and volcanoes, while
+behind us flamed the burning peak which we had passed.
+
+Here the athaleb wheeled in long, circuitous flights, which grew lower
+and lower, until at length he descended upon the sandy beach, where
+I saw a vast sea-monster lying dead. It had evidently been thrown up
+here by the sea. It was like one of those monsters which I had seen
+from the galley of the Kohen at the time of the sacred hunt. By this
+the athaleb descended, and at once began to devour it, tearing out
+vast masses of flesh, and exhibiting such voracity and strength of
+jaw that I could scarcely bear to look upon the sight. I fastened
+the grapple securely to the head of the dead monster, and leaving
+the athaleb to feed upon it, Almah and I went up the beach.
+
+On our way we found rocks covered with sea-weed, and here we sought
+after shell-fish. Our search was at length rewarded, for suddenly I
+stumbled upon a place where I found some lobsters. I grasped two of
+these, but the others escaped. Here at last I had found signs of life,
+but they were of the sea rather than of the shore. Delighted with my
+prey, I hastened to Almah to show them to her. She recognized them at
+once, and I saw that they were familiar to her. I then spoke of eating
+them, but at this proposal she recoiled in horror. She could not give
+any reason for her repugnance, but merely said that among her people
+they were regarded as something equivalent to vermin, and I found that
+she would no more think of eating one than I would think of eating a
+rat. Upon this I had to throw them away, and we once more resumed our
+search.
+
+At last we came to a place where numbers of dead fish lay on the sand.
+Nearer the water they were more fresh, and not at all objectionable.
+I picked up a few which looked like our common smelt, and found that
+Almah had no objection to these. But now the question arose how to
+cook them; neither of us could eat them raw. A fire was necessary, yet
+a fire was impossible; for on the whole island there was probably not
+one single combustible thing. Our discovery, therefore, seemed to have
+done us but little good, and we seemed destined to starvation, when
+fortunately a happy thought suggested itself. In walking along I saw
+far away the glow of some lava which had flowed to the shore at the
+end of the sandy beach, and was probably cooling down at the water's
+edge. Here, then, was a natural fire, which might serve us better than
+any contrivance of our own, and toward this we at once proceeded. It
+was about two miles away; but the beach was smooth, and we reached
+the place without any difficulty.
+
+Here we found the edge of that lava flood which seemed eternally
+descending from the crater beyond. The edge which was nearest the
+water was black; and the liquid fire, as it rolled down, curled over
+this in a fantastic shape, cooling and hardening into the form which
+it thus assumed. Here, after some search, I found a crevice where I
+could approach the fire, and I laid the fish upon a crimson rock,
+which was cooling and hardening into the shape of a vast ledge of
+lava. In this way, by the aid of nature, the fish were broiled, and
+we made our repast.
+
+There was nothing here to invite a longer stay, and we soon returned
+to the athaleb. We found the monster, gorged with food, asleep,
+resting upon his hind legs, with his breast supported against the vast
+carcass. Almah called it a jantannin. It was about sixty feet in
+length and twenty in thickness, with a vast horny head, ponderous
+jaws, and back covered with scales. Its eyes were of prodigious size,
+and it had the appearance of a crocodile, with the vast size of a
+whale. It was unlike a crocodile, however; for it had fins rather than
+paws, and must have been as clumsy on the land as a seal or a walrus.
+It lay on its side, and the athaleb had fed itself from the uncovered
+flesh of its belly.
+
+There was nothing here to induce us to stay, and so we wandered along
+the beach in the other direction. On our right was the bay; on our
+left the rocky shore, which, beginning at the beach, ran back into
+the country, a waste of impassable rocks, where not a tree or plant
+or blade of grass relieved the appalling desolation. Once or twice
+we made an attempt to penetrate into the country, where openings
+appeared. These openings seemed like the beds of dried-up torrents. We
+were able to walk but a few paces for invariably we would come to some
+immense blocks of rock, which barred all farther progress. In this
+way we explored the beach for miles, until it terminated in a savage
+promontory that rose abruptly from the sea against which the huge
+billows broke in thunder.
+
+Then we retraced our steps, and again reached the spot where the
+athaleb was asleep by the jantannin. Almah was now too weary to walk
+any farther, nor was it desirable to do so; for, indeed, we had
+traversed all that could be visited. On one side of the beach was the
+sea, on the other the impassable rocks; at one end the promontory, at
+the other the lava fires. There was nothing more for us to do but to
+wait here until the athaleb should awake, and then our actions would
+depend upon what we might now decide.
+
+This was the question that was now before us, and this we began to
+consider. We both felt the most unspeakable aversion for the island,
+and to remain here any longer was impossible. We would once more have
+to mount the athaleb, and proceed to some other shore. But where?
+Ah! there was the question! Not on the island, for it did not seem
+possible that in all its extent there could be one single spot capable
+of affording a resting-place. Layelah's information with regard to
+Magones had made that much plain. I had not taken in her full meaning,
+but now mine eyes had seen it. Yet where else could we go? Almah could
+not tell where under the sky lay that land which she loved; I could
+not guess where to go to find the land of the Orin. Even if I did
+know, I did not feel able to guide the course of the athaleb; and I
+felt sure that if we were to mount again, the mighty monster would
+wing his flight back to the very place from which we had escaped--the
+amir. These thoughts weighed down our spirits. We felt that we had
+gained nothing by our flight, and that our future was dark indeed. The
+only hope left us was that we might be able to guide the course of the
+athaleb in some different direction altogether, so that we should not
+be carried back to the Kosekin.
+
+And now, worn out by the long fatigues of this jom, we thought of
+sleep. Almah lay down upon the sand, and I seated myself, leaning
+against a rock, a little distance off, having first reloaded my rifle
+and pistol.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+RECAPTURE
+
+
+How long I slept I do not know; but in the midst of my sleep there
+sounded voices, which at first intermingled themselves with my dreams,
+but gradually became separate and sounded from without, rousing me
+from my slumbers. I opened my eyes drowsily, but the sight that I saw
+was so amazing that in an instant all sleep left me. I started to my
+feet, and gazed in utter bewilderment upon the scene before me.
+
+The aurora light was shining with unusual brilliancy, and disclosed
+everything--the sea, the shore, the athaleb, the jantannin, the
+promontory, all--more plainly and more luminously than before; but
+it was not any of these things that now excited my attention and
+rendered me dumb. I saw Almah standing there at a little distance,
+with despairing face, surrounded by a band of armed Kosekin; while
+immediately before me, regarding me with a keen glance and an air of
+triumph, was Layelah.
+
+"Ataesmzori alonla," said she, with a sweet smile, giving me the
+usual salutation of the Kosekin.
+
+I was too bewildered to say a word, and stood mute as before, looking
+first at her and then at Almah.
+
+The sight of Almah a prisoner once more, surrounded by the Kosekin,
+excited me to madness. I seized my rifle, and raised it as if to take
+aim; but Almah, who understood the movement, cried to me:
+
+"Put down your sepet-ram, Atam-or! you can do nothing for me. The
+Kosekin are too numerous."
+
+"Sepet-ram!" said Layelah; "what do you mean by that? If your
+sepet-ram has any power, do not try to use it, Atam-or, or else
+I shall have to order my followers to give to Almah the blessing of
+death."
+
+At this my rifle was lowered: the whole truth flashed upon me, and I
+saw, too, the madness of resistance. I might kill one or two, but the
+rest would do as Layelah said, and I should speedily be disarmed. Well
+I knew how powerless were the thunders of my fire-arms to terrify
+these Kosekin; for the prospect of death would only rouse them to a
+mad enthusiasm, and they would all rush upon me as they would rush
+upon a jantannin--to slay and be slain. The odds were too great. A
+crowd of Europeans could be held in check far more easily than these
+death-loving Kosekin. The whole truth was thus plain: we were
+prisoners, and were at their mercy.
+
+Layelah showed no excitement or anger whatever. She looked and spoke
+in her usual gracious and amiable fashion, with a sweet smile on her
+face.
+
+"We knew," said she, "that you would be in distress in this desolate
+place, and that you would not know where to go from Magones; and so we
+have come, full of the most eager desire to relieve your wants. We
+have brought with us food and drink, and are ready to do everything
+for you that you may desire. We have had great trouble in finding you,
+and have coursed over the shores for vast distances, and far over the
+interior, but our athalebs found you at last by their scent. And we
+rejoice to have found you in time, and that you are both so well, for
+we have been afraid that you had been suffering. Nay, Atam-or, do not
+thank us; thanks are distasteful to the Kosekin: these brave followers
+of mine will all be amply rewarded for this, for they will all be made
+paupers; but as for myself, I want no higher reward than the
+delightful thought that I have saved you from suffering."
+
+The beautiful, smiling Layelah, who addressed me in this way with her
+sweet voice, was certainly not to be treated as an enemy. Against her
+a rifle could not be levelled; she would have looked at me with the
+same sweet smile, and that smile would have melted all my resolution.
+Nor could I even persist in my determination to remain. Remain! For
+what? For utter despair! And yet where else could we go?
+
+"You do not know where lie the lands of the Orin," said Layelah. "The
+athaleb does not know. You could not guide him if you did know. You
+are helpless on his back. The art of driving an athaleb is difficult,
+and cannot be learned without long and severe practice. My fear was
+that the athaleb might break away from you and return, leaving you to
+perish here. Had you tried to leave this place he would have brought
+you back to the amir."
+
+To this I said nothing--partly because it was so true that I had no
+answer to make, and partly also out of deep mortification and
+dejection. My pride was wounded at being thus so easily baffled by a
+girl like Layelah, and all my grief was stirred by the sadness of
+Almah. In her eyes there seemed even now the look of one who sees
+death inevitable, and the glance she gave to me was like an eternal
+farewell.
+
+Almah now spoke, addressing herself to Layelah.
+
+"Death," said she, in a voice of indescribable mournfulness, "is
+better here than with you. We would rather die here than go back. Let
+us, I pray you, receive the blessing of death here. Let us be paupers
+and exiles, and die on Magones."
+
+Layelah heard this, and stood for a moment in deep thought.
+
+"No one but a stranger," said she at length, "would ask such a favor
+as that. Do you not know that what you ask is among the very highest
+honors of the Kosekin? Who am I that I can venture to grant such a
+request as that? Ask for anything in my power, and I will be glad to
+grant it. I have already arranged that you shall be separated from
+Atam-or; and that, surely, is a high privilege. I might consent to
+bind you hand and foot, after the manner of the more distinguished
+Asirin; you may also be blindfolded if you wish it. I might even
+promise, after we return to the amir, to keep you confined in utter
+darkness, with barely sufficient food to keep you alive until the
+time of the sacrifice; in short, there is no blessing known among
+the Kosekin that I will not give so long as it is in my power. And
+so, beloved Almah," continued Layelah, "you have every reason for
+happiness; you have all the highest blessings known among the Kosekin:
+separation from your lover, poverty, want, darkness; and, finally, the
+prospect of inevitable death ever before you as the crowning glory of
+your lot."
+
+These words seemed to the Kosekin the very excess of magnanimity, and
+involuntary murmurs of admiration escaped them; although it is just
+possible that they murmured at the greatness of the favor that was
+offered. But to me it sounded like fiendish mockery, and to Almah it
+sounded the same; for a groan escaped her, her fortitude gave way, she
+sank on her knees, buried her head in her hands, and wept.
+
+"Almah," cried I, in a fury, "we will not go back--we will not be
+separated! I will destroy all the athalebs, and we shall all perish
+here together. At least, you and I will not be separated."
+
+At this Almah started up.
+
+"No, no," said she--"no; let us go back. Here we have nothing but
+death."
+
+"But we have death also at the amir, and a more terrible one," said I.
+
+"If you kill the athalebs," said Layelah, "I will give Almah the
+blessing of death."
+
+At this I recoiled in horror, and my resolution again gave way.
+
+"You have some mysterious power of conferring death," continued
+Layelah, "with what Almah calls your sepet-ram; but do not kill the
+athalebs, for it will do you no good. Almah would then receive the
+blessing of death. My followers, these noble Kosekin, would rejoice in
+thus gaining exile and death on Magones. As for myself, it would be my
+highest happiness to be here alone with you. With you I should live
+for a few sweet joms, and with you I should die; so go on--kill the
+athalebs if you wish."
+
+"Do not!" cried Almah--"do not! There is no hope. We are their
+prisoners, and our only hope is in submission."
+
+Upon this all further thought of resistance left me, and I stood in
+silence, stolidly waiting for their action. As I looked around I
+noticed a movement near the jantannin, and saw several athalebs
+there, which were devouring its flesh. I now went over to Almah and
+spoke with her. We were both full of despair. It seemed as though we
+might never meet again. We were to be separated now; but who could say
+whether we should be permitted to see each other after leaving this
+place? We had but little to say. I held her in my arms, regardless of
+the presence of others; and these, seeing our emotion, at once moved
+away, with the usual delicacy of the Kosekin, and followed Layelah to
+the jantannin to see about the athalebs.
+
+At last our interview was terminated. Layelah came and informed us
+that all was ready for our departure. We walked sadly to the place,
+and found the athalebs crouched to receive their riders. There were
+four beside ours. Layelah informed me that I was to go with her, and
+Almah was to go on another athaleb. I entreated her to let Almah go
+with me; but she declined, saying that our athaleb could only carry
+two, as he seemed fatigued, and it would not be safe to overload him
+for so long a flight. I told her that Almah and I could go together on
+the same athaleb; but she objected on the ground of my ignorance of
+driving. And so, remonstrances and objections being alike useless, I
+was compelled to yield to the arrangements that had been made. Almah
+mounted on another athaleb. I mounted with Layelah, and then the great
+monsters expanded their mighty wings, rose into the air, and soon were
+speeding over the waters.
+
+We went on in silence for some time. I was too despondent to say a
+word, and all my thoughts turned toward Almah, who was now separated
+from me--perhaps forever. The other athalebs went ahead, at long
+intervals apart, flying in a straight line, while ours was last.
+Layelah said nothing. She sat in front of me; her back was turned
+toward me; she held in her hands the reins, which hung quite loose at
+first, but after a while she drew them up, and seemed to be directing
+our course. For some time I did not notice anything in particular, for
+my eyes were fixed upon the athaleb immediately before us, upon which
+was seated the loved form of Almah, which I could easily recognize.
+But our athaleb flew slowly, and I noticed that we were falling
+behind. I said this to Layelah, but she only remarked that it was
+fatigued with its long journey. To this I objected that the others had
+made as long a journey, and insisted that she should draw nearer. This
+she at first refused to do; but at length, as I grew persistent, she
+complied, or pretended to do so. In spite of this, however, we again
+fell behind, and I noticed that this always happened when the reins
+were drawn tight. On making this discovery I suddenly seized both
+reins and let them trail loose, whereupon the athaleb at once showed a
+perceptible increase of speed, which proved that there was no fatigue
+in him whatever. This I said to Layelah.
+
+She acquiesced with a sweet smile, and taking the reins again, she sat
+around so as to face me, and said:
+
+"You are very quick. It is no use to try to deceive you, Atam-or: I
+wish to fall behind."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"To save you."
+
+"To save me?"
+
+"Yes. I can take you to the land of the Orin. Now is the time to
+escape from death. If you go back you must surely die; but now, if you
+will be guided by me, I can take you to the land of the Orin. There
+they all hate death, they love life, they live in the light. There you
+will find those who are like yourself; there you can love and be
+happy."
+
+"But what of Almah?" I asked.
+
+Layelah made a pretty gesture of despair.
+
+"You are always talking of Almah," said she. "What is Almah to you?
+She is cold, dull, sad! She never will speak. Let her go."
+
+"Never!" said I. "Almah is worth more than all the world to me."
+
+Layelah sighed.
+
+"I can never, never, never," said she, "get from you the least little
+bit of a kind word--even after all that I have done for you, and when
+you know that I would lie down and let you trample me under your feet
+if it gave you any pleasure."
+
+"Oh, that is not the question at all," said I. "You are asking me to
+leave Almah--to be false to her--and I cannot."
+
+"Among the Kosekin," said Layelah, "it is the highest happiness for
+lovers to give one another up."
+
+"I am not one of the Kosekin," said I. "I cannot let her go away--I
+cannot let her go back to the amir--to meet death alone. If she dies
+she shall see me by her side, ready to die with her."
+
+At this Layelah laughed merrily.
+
+"Is it possible," said she, "that you believe that? Do you not know
+that if Almah goes back alone she will not die?"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Why, she can only die when you are in her company. She has lived for
+years among us, and we have waited for someone to appear whom she
+might love, so that we might give them both the blessing of death. If
+that one should leave her, Almah could not receive the blessing. She
+would be compelled to live longer, until some other lover should
+appear. Now, by going with me to the land of the Orin, you will save
+Almah's life--and as for Almah, why, she will be happy--and dear papa
+is quite willing to marry her. You must see, therefore, dear Atam-or,
+that my plan is the very best that can be thought of for all of us,
+and above all for Almah."
+
+This, however, was intolerable; and I could not consent to desert
+Almah, even if by doing so I should save her life. My own nature
+revolted from it. Still it was not a thing which I could dismiss on
+the instant. The safety of Almah's life, indeed, required
+consideration; but then the thought came of her wonder at my
+desertion. Would she not think me false? Would not the thought of my
+falsity be worse than death?
+
+"No," said I, "I will not leave her--not even to save her life. Even
+among us there are things worse than death. Almah would rather die by
+the sacrificial knife than linger on with a broken heart."
+
+"Oh no," said Layelah, sweetly; "she will rejoice that you are safe.
+Do you not see that while you are together death is inevitable, but if
+you separate you may both live and be happy?"
+
+"But she will think me dead," said I, as a new idea occurred. "She
+will think that some accident has befallen me."
+
+"Oh no, she won't," said Layelah; "she will think that you have gone
+off with me."
+
+"Then that will be worse, and I would rather die, and have her die
+with me, than live and have her think me false."
+
+"You are very, very obstinate," said Layelah, sweetly.
+
+I made no reply. During this conversation I had been too intent upon
+Layelah's words to notice the athalebs before me; but now as I looked
+up I saw that we had fallen far behind, and that Layelah had headed
+our athaleb in a new direction. Upon this I once more snatched the
+reins from her, and tried to return to our former course. This,
+however, I was utterly unable to do.
+
+Layelah laughed.
+
+"You will have to let me guide our course," said she. "You can do
+nothing. The athaleb will now go in a straight line to the land of the
+Orin."
+
+Upon this I started up in wild excitement.
+
+"Never, never, never!" I cried, in a fury. "I will not; I will destroy
+this athaleb and perish in the water!"
+
+As I said this I raised my rifle.
+
+"What are you going to do?" cried Layelah, in accents of fear.
+
+"Turn back," I cried, "or I will kill this athaleb!"
+
+Upon this Layelah dropped the reins, stood up, and looked at me with a
+smile.
+
+"Oh, Atam-or," said she, "what a thing to ask! How can I go back now,
+when we have started for the land of the Orin?"
+
+"We shall never reach the land of the Orin," I cried; "we shall perish
+in the sea!"
+
+"Oh no," said Layelah; "you cannot kill the athaleb. You are no more
+than an insect; your rod is a weak thing, and will break on his iron
+frame."
+
+It was evident that Layelah had not the slightest idea of the powers
+of my rifle. There was no hesitation on my part. I took aim with the
+rifle. At that moment I was desperate. I thought of nothing but the
+swift flight of the athaleb, which was bearing me away forever from
+Almah. I could not endure that thought, and still less could I endure
+the thought that she should believe me false. It was therefore in a
+wild passion of rage and despair that I levelled my rifle, taking aim
+as well as I could at what seemed a vital part under the wing. The
+motion of the wing rendered this difficult, however, and I hesitated
+a moment, so as to make sure. All this time Layelah stood looking
+at me with a smile on her rosy lips and a merry twinkle in her
+eyes--evidently regarding my words as empty threats and my act as
+a vain pretence, and utterly unprepared for what was to follow.
+
+Suddenly I fired both barrels in quick succession. The reports rang
+out in thunder over the sea. The athaleb gave a wild, appalling
+shriek, and fell straight down into the water, fluttering vainly with
+one wing, while the other hung down useless. A shriek of horror burst
+from Layelah. She started back, and fell from her standing-place into
+the waves beneath. The next instant we were all in the water
+together--the athaleb writhing and lashing the water into foam, while
+I involuntarily clung to his coarse mane, and expected death every
+moment.
+
+But death did not come; for the athaleb did not sink, but floated with
+his back out of the water, the right pinion being sunk underneath and
+useless, and the left struggling vainly with the sea. But after a time
+he folded up the left wing and drew it close in to his side, and
+propelled himself with his long hind-legs. His right wing was broken,
+but he did not seem to have suffered any other injury.
+
+Suddenly I heard a cry behind me:
+
+"Atam-or! oh, Atam-or!"
+
+I looked around and saw Layelah. She was swimming in the water, and
+seemed exhausted. In the agitation of the past few moments I had lost
+sight of her, and had thought that she was drowned; but now the sight
+of her roused me from my stupor and brought me back to myself. She was
+swimming, yet her strokes were weak and her face was full of despair.
+In an instant I had flung off my coat, rolled up the rifle and pistol
+in its folds, and sprung into the water. A few strokes brought me to
+Layelah. A moment more and I should have been too late. I held her
+head out of water, told her not to struggle, and then struck out to go
+back. It would have been impossible for me to do this, encumbered with
+such a load, had I not fortunately perceived the floating wing of the
+athaleb close beside me. This I seized, and by means of it drew myself
+with Layelah alongside; after which I succeeded in putting her on the
+back of the animal, and soon followed myself.
+
+The terror of the rifle had overwhelmed her, and the suddenness of the
+catastrophe had almost killed her. She had struggled in the water for
+a long time, and had called to me in vain. Now she was quite
+exhausted, and lay in my arms trembling and sobbing. I spoke to her
+encouragingly, and wrapped her in my coat, and rubbed her hands and
+feet, until at last she began to recover. Then she wept quietly for a
+long time; then the weeping fit passed away. She looked up with a
+smile, and in her face there was unutterable gratitude.
+
+"Atam-or," said she, "I never loved death like the rest of the
+Kosekin; but now--but now--I feel that death with you would be sweet."
+
+Then tears came to her eyes, and I found tears coming to my own, so
+that I had to stoop down and kiss away the tears of Layelah. As I did
+so she twined both her arms around my neck, held me close to her, and
+sighed.
+
+"Oh, Atam-or, death with you is sweet! And now you cannot reproach
+me-- You have done this yourself, with your terrible power; and you
+have saved my life to let me die with you. You do not hate me, then,
+Atam-or, do you? Just speak once to a poor little girl, and say that
+you do not hate her!"
+
+All this was very pitiable. What man that had a heart in his breast
+could listen unmoved to words like these, or look without emotion upon
+one so beautiful, so gentle, and so tender? It was no longer Layelah
+in triumph with whom I had to do, but Layelah in distress: the light
+banter, the teasing, mocking smile, the kindling eye, the ready
+laugh--all were gone. There was nothing now but mournful
+tenderness--the timid appeal of one who dreaded a repulse, the glance
+of deep affection, the abandonment of love.
+
+I held Layelah in my arms, and I thought of nothing now but words of
+consolation for her. Life seemed over; death seemed inevitable; and
+there, on the back of the athaleb, we floated on the waters and waited
+for our doom.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+FALLING, LIKE ICARUS, INTO THE SEA
+
+
+The aurora light, which had flamed brightly, was now extinct, and
+darkness was upon the face of the deep, where we floated on the back
+of the monster. He swam, forcing himself onward with his hind-legs,
+with one broad wing folded up close. Had both been folded up the
+athaleb could have swum rapidly; but the broken wing lay expanded
+over the water, tossing with the waves, so that our progress was but
+slight. Had it not been for this, the athaleb's own instinct might
+have served to guide him toward some shore which we might have hoped
+to reach before life was extinct; but as it was, all thought of
+reaching any shore was out of the question, and there arose before us
+only the prospect of death--a death, too, which must be lingering and
+painful and cruel. Thus amid the darkness we floated, and the waves
+dashed around us, and the athaleb never ceased to struggle in the
+water, trying to force his way onward. It seemed sweet at that moment
+to have Layelah with me, for what could have been more horrible than
+loneliness amid those black waters? and Layelah's mind was made up
+to meet death with joy, so that her mood conveyed itself to me. And
+I thought that since death was inevitable it were better to meet
+it thus, and in this way end my life--not amid the horrors of the
+sacrifice and the Mista Kosek, but in a way which seemed natural to
+a seafaring man like myself, and with which I had long familiarized my
+thoughts. For I had fallen upon a world and among people which were
+all alien and unintelligible to me; and to live on would only open the
+way to new and worse calamities. There was peace also in the thought
+that my death would snatch the prospect of death from Almah. She would
+now be safe. It was only when we were together as lovers that death
+threatened her; but now since I was removed she could resume her
+former life, and she might remember me only as an episode in that
+life. That she would remember me I felt sure, and that she would weep
+for me and mourn after me was undeniable; but time as it passed would
+surely alleviate that grief, and Almah would live and be happy.
+Perhaps she might yet regain her native land and rejoin her loved
+kindred, whom she would tell of the stranger from an unknown shore who
+had loved her, and through whose death she had gained her life. Such
+were the thoughts that filled my mind as I floated over the black
+water with darkness all around, as I held Layelah in my arms, with my
+coat wrapped around her, and murmured in her ear tender words of
+consolation and sympathy.
+
+A long, long time had passed--but how long I know not--when suddenly
+Layelah gave a cry, and started up on her knees, with her head bent
+forward listening intently. I too listened, and I could distinctly
+hear the sound of breakers.
+
+It was evident that we were approaching some shore; and, from what I
+remembered of the shore of Magones, such a shore meant death, and
+death alone. We stood up and tried to peer through the gloom. At
+length we saw a whole line of breakers, and beyond all was black. We
+waited anxiously in that position, and drew steadily nearer. It was
+evident that the athaleb was desirous of reaching that shore, and we
+could do nothing but await the result.
+
+But the athaleb had his wits about him, and swam along on a line with
+the breakers for some distance, until at length an opening appeared,
+into which he directed his course. Passing through this we reached
+still water, which seemed like a lagoon surrounded by a coral reef.
+The athaleb swam on farther, and at length we saw before us an island
+with a broad, sandy beach, beyond which was the shadowy outline of a
+forest. Here the monster landed, and dragged himself wearily upon the
+sand, where he spread his vast bulk out, and lay panting heavily. We
+dismounted--I first, so as to assist Layelah; and then it seemed as if
+death were postponed for a time, since we had reached this place where
+the rich and rank vegetation spoke of nothing but vigorous life.
+
+Fortune had indeed dealt strangely with me. I had fled with Almah, and
+with her had reached one desolate shore, and now I found myself with
+Layelah upon another shore, desolate also, but not a savage
+wilderness. This lonely island, ringed with the black ocean waters,
+was the abode of a life of its own, and there was nothing here to
+crush the soul into a horror of despair like that which was caused by
+the tremendous scenes on Magones.
+
+In an instant Layelah revived from her gloom. She looked around,
+clapped her little hands, laughed aloud, and danced for joy.
+
+"Oh, Atam-or," she cried, "see--see the trees, see the grass, the
+bushes! This is a land of wonder. As for food, you can call it down
+from the sky with your sepet-ram, or we can find it on the rocks.
+Oh, Atam-or! life is better than death, and we can live here, and we
+can be happy. This shall be better to us than the lands of the Orin,
+for we shall be alone, and we shall be all in all to one another."
+
+I could not help laughing, and I said:
+
+"Layelah, this is not the language of the Kosekin. You should at once
+go to the other side of this island, and sit down and wait for death."
+
+"Never," said Layelah; "you are mine, Atam-or, and I never will leave
+you. If you wish me to die for you, I will gladly lay down my life;
+but I will not leave you. I love you, Atam-or; and now, whether it be
+life or death, it is all the same so long as I have you."
+
+Our submersion in the sea and our long exposure afterward had chilled
+both of us, but Layelah felt it most. She was shivering in her wet
+clothes in spite of my coat which I insisted on her wearing, and I
+determined, if possible, to kindle a fire. Fortunately my powder was
+dry, for I had thrown off my flask with my coat before jumping into
+the sea, and thus I had the means of creating fire. I rubbed wet
+powder over my handkerchief, and then gathered some dried sticks and
+moss. After this I found some dead trees, the boughs of which were
+dry and brittle, and in the exercise I soon grew warm, and had the
+satisfaction of seeing a great heap of fagots accumulating. I fired
+my pistol into the handkerchief, which, being saturated with powder,
+caught the fire, and this I blew into a flame among the dried moss.
+A bright fire now sprang up and blazed high in the air; while I, in
+order to have an ample supply of fuel, continued to gather it for a
+long time. At length, as I came back, I saw Layelah lying on the sand
+in front of the fire, sound asleep. I was glad of this, for she was
+weary, and had seemed so weak and tremulous that I had felt anxious;
+so now I arranged my coat over her carefully, and then sat down for a
+time to think over this new turn which my fortune had taken.
+
+This island was certainly very unlike Magones, yet I had no surety but
+that it might be equally destitute of food. This was the first
+question, and I could not think of sleep until I had found out more
+about the place. The aurora light, which constantly brightens and
+lessens in this strange world, was now shining gloriously, and I set
+forth to explore the island. The beach was of fine sand all the way.
+The water was smooth, and shut in on every side by an outer reef
+against which the sea-waves broke incessantly. As I walked I soon
+perceived what the island was; for I had often seen such places before
+in the South Pacific. It was, in fact, a coral islet, with a reef of
+rocks encircling it on every side. The vegetation, however, was unlike
+anything in the world beyond; for it consisted of many varieties of
+tree-ferns, that looked like palms, and giant grasses, and bamboo. The
+island was but small, and the entire circuit was not over a mile. I
+saw nothing that looked like food, nor did it seem likely that in so
+small a place there could be enough sustenance for us. Our only hope
+would be from the sea, yet even here I could see no signs of any sort
+of shell-fish. On the whole the prospect was discouraging, and I
+returned to the starting-point with a feeling of dejection; but this
+feeling did not trouble me much at that time: my chief thought was of
+rest, and I flung myself down on the sand and fell asleep.
+
+I was awakened by a cry from Layelah. Starting up, I saw her standing
+and looking into the sky. She was intensely excited. As soon as she
+saw me she rushed toward me and burst into tears, while I, full of
+wonder, could only stare upward.
+
+"Oh!" cried Layelah, "they've turned back--they've found us! We shall
+have to leave our dear, lovely island. Oh, Atam-or, I shall lose you
+now; for never, never, never again will you have one thought of love
+for your poor Layelah!"
+
+With these words she clung sobbing to me. For my part I do not
+remember what I said to soothe her, for the sight above was so amazing
+that it took up all my attention. The aurora shone bright, and in the
+sky I saw two vast objects wheeling and circling, as if about to
+descend. I recognized them at once as athalebs; but as their backs
+were hid from view by their immense wings, I could not make out
+whether they were wanderers about to alight of their own accord, or
+guided here by riders--perhaps by the Kosekin from whom we had been
+parted.
+
+This much at least I remember. I said to Layelah that these athalebs
+were wild ones, which had come here because they saw or scented our
+wounded one; but Layelah shook her head with mournful meaning.
+
+"Oh no," said she; "Almah has come back for you. This fire-light has
+guided them. If you had not made the fire they never, never, never
+could have found us; but now all is lost."
+
+There was no time for conversation or discussion. The athalebs drew
+swiftly nearer and nearer, descending in long circuits, until at
+length they touched the ground not far away on the wide sandy beach.
+Then we saw people on their backs, and among them was Almah. We
+hurried toward them, and Almah rushed into my arms, to the great
+disgust of Layelah, for she was close beside me and saw it all. She
+gave an exclamation of grief and despair, and hurried away.
+
+From Almah I learned that our disappearance had caused alarm; that two
+of the athalebs had come back in search of us; that they had been to
+Magones, and had searched over the seas, and were just about giving us
+up as lost, when the fire-light had attracted their attention and
+drawn them here.
+
+I said nothing at that time about the cause of our disappearance, but
+merely remarked that the athaleb had fallen into the sea and swam
+here. This was sufficient. They had to remain here for some time
+longer to rest their athalebs. At length we prepared to depart. Our
+wounded athaleb was left behind to take care of himself. I was taken
+with Almah, and Layelah went on the other. We were thus separated; and
+so we set forth upon our return, and at length arrived at the amir.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+GRIMM'S LAW AGAIN
+
+
+Dinner was now announced, and Oxenden laid the manuscript aside;
+whereupon they adjourned to the cabin, where they proceeded to discuss
+both the repast and the manuscript.
+
+"Well," said Featherstone, "More's story seems to be approaching a
+crisis. What do you think of it now, Melick? Do you still think it a
+sensational novel?"
+
+"Partly so," said Melick; "but it would be nearer the mark to call it
+a satirical romance."
+
+"Why not a scientific romance?"
+
+"Because there's precious little science in it, but a good deal of
+quiet satire."
+
+"Satire on what?" asked Featherstone. "I'll be hanged if I can see
+it."
+
+"Oh, well," said Melick, "on things in general. The satire is directed
+against the restlessness of humanity; its impulses, feelings, hopes,
+and fears--all that men do and feel and suffer. It mocks us by
+exhibiting a new race of men, animated by passions and impulses which
+are directly the opposite of ours, and yet no nearer happiness than we
+are. It shows us a world where our evil is made a good, and our good
+an evil; there all that we consider a blessing is had in
+abundance--prolonged and perpetual sunlight, riches, power, fame--and
+yet these things are despised, and the people, turning away from them,
+imagine that they can find happiness in poverty, darkness, death, and
+unrequited love. The writer thus mocks at all our dearest passions and
+strongest desires; and his general aim is to show that the mere search
+for happiness per se is a vulgar thing, and must always result in
+utter nothingness. The writer also teaches the great lesson that the
+happiness of man consists not in external surroundings, but in the
+internal feelings, and that heaven itself is not a place, but a state.
+It is the old lesson which Milton extorted from Satan:
+
+  "'What matter where, if I be still the same--'
+
+"Or again:
+
+  "'The mind is its own place, and of itself
+    Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven--'"
+
+"That's good too," cried Oxenden. "That reminds me of the German
+commentators who find in the Agamemnon of AEschylus or the OEdipus
+of Sophocles or the Hamlet of Shakespeare motives and purposes
+of which the authors could never have dreamed, and give us a
+metaphysical, beer-and-tobacco, High-Dutch Clytemnestra or Antigone or
+Lady Macbeth. No, my boy, More was a simple sailor, and had no idea of
+satirizing anything."
+
+"How, then, do you account for the perpetual undercurrent of meaning
+and innuendo that may be found in every line?"
+
+"I deny that there is anything of the sort," said Oxenden. "It is a
+plain narrative of facts; but the facts are themselves such that they
+give a new coloring to the facts of our own life. They are in such
+profound antithesis to European ways that we consider them as being
+written merely to indicate that difference. It is like the Germania
+of Tacitus, which many critics still hold to be a satire on Roman
+ways, while as a matter of fact it is simply a narrative of German
+manners and customs."
+
+"I hope," cried Melick, "that you do not mean to compare this awful
+rot and rubbish to the Germania of Tacitus?"
+
+"By no means," said Oxenden; "I merely asserted that in one respect
+they were analogous. You forced on the allusion to the Germania by
+calling this 'rot and rubbish' a satirical romance."
+
+"Oh, well," said Melick, "I only referred to the intention of the
+writer. His plan is one thing and his execution quite another. His
+plan is not bad, but he fails utterly in his execution. The style is
+detestable. If he had written in the style of a plain seaman, and
+told a simple unvarnished tale, it would have been all right. In order
+to carry out properly such a plan as this the writer should take Defoe
+as his model, or, still better, Dean Swift. Gulliver's Travels and
+Robinson Crusoe show what can be done in this way, and form a
+standard by which all other attempts must be judged. But this writer
+is tawdry; he has the worst vices of the sensational school--he shows
+everywhere marks of haste, gross carelessness, and universal
+feebleness. When he gets hold of a good fancy, he lacks the patience
+that is necessary in order to work it up in an effective way. He is a
+gross plagiarist, and over and over again violates in the most glaring
+manner all the ordinary proprieties of style. What can be more absurd,
+for instance, than the language which he puts into the mouth of
+Layelah? Not content with making her talk like a sentimental
+boarding-school, bread-and-butter English miss, he actually forgets
+himself so far as to put in her mouth a threadbare joke, which
+everyone has heard since childhood."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"Oh, that silly speech about the athaleb swallowing its victuals
+whole."
+
+"What's the matter with that?" asked Oxenden. "It's merely a chance
+resemblance. In translating her words into English they fell by
+accident into that shape. No one but you would find fault with them.
+Would it have been better if he had translated her words into the
+scientific phraseology which the doctor made use of with regard to the
+ichthyosaurus? He might have made it this way: 'Does it bite?' 'No; it
+swallows its food without mastication.' Would that have been better?
+Besides, it's all very well to talk of imitating Defoe and Swift; but
+suppose he couldn't do it?"
+
+"Then he shouldn't have written the book."
+
+"In that case how could his father have heard about his adventures?"
+
+"His father!" exclaimed Melick. "Do you mean to say that you still
+accept all this as bona fide?"
+
+"Do you mean to say," retorted Oxenden, "that you still have any doubt
+about the authenticity of this remarkable manuscript?"
+
+At this each looked at the other; Melick elevated his eyebrows, and
+Oxenden shrugged his shoulders, but each seemed unable to find words
+to express his amazement at the other's stupidity, and so they took
+refuge in silence.
+
+"What do you understand by this athaleb, doctor?" asked Featherstone.
+
+"The athaleb?" said the doctor. "Why, it is clearly the pterodactyl."
+
+"By-the-bye," interrupted Oxenden, "do please take notice of that
+name. It affords another exemplification of 'Grimm's Law.' The Hebrew
+word is 'ataleph,' and means bat. The Kosekin word is 'athaleb.' Here
+you see the thin letter of Hebrew represented by the aspirated letter
+of the Kosekin language, while the aspirated Hebrew is represented by
+the Kosekin medial."
+
+"Too true," exclaimed Melick, in a tone of deep conviction; "and now,
+Oxenden, won't you sing us a song?"
+
+"Nonsense," said Featherstone; "let the doctor tell us about the
+athaleb."
+
+"Well," resumed the doctor, "as I was saying, it must be undoubtedly
+the pterodactyl. It is a most extraordinary animal, and is a species
+of flying lizard, although differing from the lizard in many respects.
+It has the head and neck of a bird, the trunk and tail of an ordinary
+mammal, the jaws and teeth of a reptile, and the wings of a bat. Owen
+describes one whose sweep of wings exceeded twenty feet, and many have
+been found of every gradation of size down to that of a bat. There is
+no reason why they should not be as large as More says; and I for my
+part do not suspect him of exaggeration. Some have supposed that a
+late, lingering individual may have suggested the idea of the fabulous
+dragon--an idea which seems to be in the minds of nearly all the human
+race, for in the early records of many nations we find the destruction
+of dragons assigned to their gods and heroes. The figure of the
+pterodactyl represents pretty closely that which is given to the
+dragons. It is not impossible that they may have existed into the
+period which we call prehistoric, and that monsters far larger than
+any which we have yet discovered may have lingered until the time when
+man began to increase upon the earth, to spread over its surface, and
+to carve upon wood and stone representations of the most striking
+objects around him. When the living pterodactyls had disappeared the
+memory of them was preserved; some new features were added, and the
+imagination went so far as to endow them with the power of belching
+forth smoke and flames. Thus the dragon idea pervaded the minds of
+men, and instead of a natural animal it became a fabulous one.
+
+"The fingers of the forelegs were of the ordinary dimensions, and
+terminated with crooked nails, and these were probably used to suspend
+themselves from trees. When in repose it rested on its hind legs like
+a bird, and held its neck curving behind, so that its enormous head
+should not disturb its equilibrium. The size and form of the feet, of
+the leg, and of the thigh prove that they could hold themselves erect
+with firmness, their wings folded, and move about in this way like
+birds, just as More describes them as doing. Like birds they could
+also perch on trees, and could crawl like bats and lizards along the
+rocks and cliffs.
+
+"Some think that they were covered with scales, but I am of the
+opinion that they had a horny hide, with a ridge of hair running down
+their backs--in which opinion I am sustained by More's account. The
+smaller kinds were undoubtedly insectivorous, but the larger ones must
+have been carnivorous, and probably fed largely on fish."
+
+"Well, at any rate," said Melick, gravely, "this athaleb solves the
+difficult question as to how the Troglodytes emigrated to the South
+Pole."
+
+"How?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Why, they must have gone there on athalebs! Your friends the
+pterodactyls probably lingered longest among the Troglodytes, who,
+seeing that they were rapidly dying out, concluded to depart to
+another and a better world. One beauty of this theory is that it
+cannot possibly be disproved; another is that it satisfies all the
+requirements of the case; a third is that it accounts for the
+disappearance of the pterodactyls in our world, and their appearance
+at the South Pole; and there are forty or fifty other facts, all
+included in this theory, which I have not time just now to enumerate,
+but will try to do so after we have finished reading the manuscript. I
+will only add that the athaleb must be regarded as another link which
+binds the Kosekin to the Semitic race."
+
+"Another link?" said Oxenden. "That I already have; and it is one that
+carries conviction with it."
+
+"All your arguments invariably do, my dear fellow."
+
+"What is it?" asked the doctor.
+
+"The Kosekin alphabet," said Oxenden.
+
+"I can't see how you can make anything out of that," said the doctor.
+
+"Very well, I can easily explain," replied Oxenden. "In the first
+place we must take the old Hebrew alphabet. I will write down the
+letters in their order first."
+
+Saying this he hastily jotted down some letters on a piece of paper,
+and showed to the doctor the following:
+
+           Labials.      Palatals.    Linguals.
+    A         B         C (or G)          D
+    E         F         Ch (or H)     Dh (or Th)
+    I     Liquids, L        M             N
+    O         P             K             T
+
+"That," said he, "is substantially the order of the old Hebrew
+alphabet."
+
+"But," said the doctor, "the Kosekin alphabet differs in its order
+altogether from that."
+
+"That very difference can be shown to be all the stronger proof of a
+connection between them," said Oxenden.
+
+"I should like to know how."
+
+"The fact is," said Oxenden, "these letters are represented
+differently in the two languages in exact accordance with Grimm's
+Law."
+
+"By Jove!" cried Featherstone, "Grimm's Law again!"
+
+"According to that law," continued Oxenden, "the letters of the
+alphabet ought to change their order. Now let us leave out the vowels
+and linguals, and deal only with the mutes. First, we have in the
+Hebrew alphabet the medials B, G, and D. Very well; in the Kosekin we
+have standing first the thin letters, or tenues, according to Grimm's
+Law, namely, P, K, T. Next we have in the Hebrew the aspirates F, Ch,
+Dh. In the Kosekin alphabet we have corresponding to them the medials
+B, G, D. Next we have in the Hebrew the tenues, or thin letters P, K,
+T. In the Kosekin we have the corresponding aspirates F, Ch, Th. The
+vowels, liquids, and sibilants need not be regarded just here, for the
+proof from the mutes is sufficient to satisfy any reasonable man."
+
+"Well," said Melick, "I for one am thoroughly satisfied, and don't
+need another single word. The fact is, I never knew before the
+all-sufficient nature of Grimm's Law. Why, it can unlock any mystery!
+When I get home I must buy one--a tame one, if possible--and keep him
+with me always. It is more useful to a literary man than to any other.
+It is said that with a knowledge of Grimm's Law a man may wander
+through the world from Iceland to Ceylon, and converse pleasantly in
+all the Indo-European languages. More must have had Grimm's Law stowed
+away somewhere about him; and that's the reason why he escaped the
+icebergs, the volcanoes, the cannibals, the subterranean channel
+monster, and arrived at last safe and sound in the land of the
+Kosekin. What I want is Grimm's Law--a nice tidy one, well trained, in
+good working order, and kind in harness; and the moment I get one I
+intend to go to the land of the Kosekin myself."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+OXENDEN PREACHES A SERMON
+
+
+"Magones," said the doctor, "is clearly a volcanic island, and, taken
+in connection with the other volcanoes around, shows how active must
+be the subterranean fires at the South Pole. It seems probable to me
+that the numerous caves of the Kosekin were originally fissures in the
+mountains, formed by convulsions of nature; and also that the places
+excavated by man must consist of soft volcanic rock, such as
+pumice-stone, or rather tufa, easily worked, and remaining permanently
+in any shape into which it may be fashioned. As to Magones, it seems
+another Iceland; for there are the same wild and hideous desolation,
+the same impassable wildernesses, and the same universal scenes of
+ruin, lighted up by the baleful and tremendous volcanic fires."
+
+"But what of that little island on which they landed?" asked
+Featherstone. "That, surely, was not volcanic."
+
+"No," said the doctor; "that must have been a coral island."
+
+"By-the-bye, is it really true," asked Featherstone, "that these coral
+islands are the work of little insects?"
+
+"Well, they may be called insects," replied the doctor; "they are
+living zoophytes of most minute dimensions, which, however, compensate
+for their smallness of size by their inconceivable numbers. Small as
+these are they have accomplished infinitely more than all that ever
+was done by the ichthyosaurus, the plesiosaurus, the pterodactyl, and
+the whole tribe of monsters that once filled the earth. Immense
+districts and whole mountains have been built up by these minute
+creatures. They have been at work for ages, and are still at work. It
+is principally in the South Seas that their labors are carried on.
+Near the Maldive Islands they have formed a mass whose volume is equal
+to the Alps. Around New Caledonia they have built a barrier of reefs
+four hundred miles in length, and another along the northeast coast of
+Australia a thousand miles in length. In the Pacific Ocean, islands,
+reefs, and islets innumerable have been constructed by them, which
+extend for an immense distance.
+
+"The coral islands are called 'atolls.' They are nearly always
+circular, with a depression in the centre. They are originally made
+ring-shaped, but the action of the ocean serves to throw fragments of
+rock into the inner depression, which thus fills up; firm land
+appears; the rock crumbles into soil; the winds and birds and currents
+bring seeds here, and soon the new island is covered with verdure.
+These little creatures have played a part in the past quite as
+important as in the present. All Germany rests upon a bank of coral;
+and they seem to have been most active during the Oolitic Period."
+
+"How do the creatures act?" asked Featherstone.
+
+"Nobody knows," replied the doctor.
+
+A silence now followed, which was at last broken by Oxenden.
+
+"After all," said he, "these monsters and marvels of nature form the
+least interesting feature in the land of the Kosekin. To me the people
+themselves are the chief subject of interest. Where did they get that
+strange, all-pervading love of death, which is as strong in them as
+love of life is in us?"
+
+"Why, they got it from the imagination of the writer of the
+manuscript," interrupted Melick.
+
+"Yes, it's easy to answer it from your point of view; yet from my
+point of view it is more difficult. I sometimes think that it may be
+the strong spirituality of the Semitic race, carried out under
+exceptionally favorable circumstances to the ultimate results; for the
+Semitic race more than all others thought little of this life, and
+turned their affections to the life that lives beyond this. The
+Kosekin may thus have had a spiritual development of their own, which
+ended in this.
+
+"Yet there may be another reason for it, and I sometimes think that
+the Kosekin may be nearer to the truth than we are. We have by nature
+a strong love of life--it is our dominant feeling--but yet there is in
+the minds of all men a deep underlying conviction of the vanity of
+life, and the worthlessness. In all ages and among all races the best,
+the purest, and the wisest have taught this truth--that human life is
+not a blessing; that the evil predominates over the good; and that our
+best hope is to gain a spirit of acquiescence with its inevitable
+ills. All philosophy and all religions teach us this one solemn truth,
+that in this life the evil surpasses the good. It has always been so.
+Suffering has been the lot of all living things, from the giant of the
+primeval swamps down to the smallest zoophyte. It is far more so with
+man. Some favored classes in every age may furnish forth a few
+individuals who may perhaps lead lives of self-indulgence and luxury;
+but to the mass of mankind life has ever been, and must ever be, a
+prolonged scene of labor intermingled with suffering. The great Indian
+religions, whether Brahmanic or Buddhistic, teach as their cardinal
+doctrine that life is an evil. Buddhism is more pronounced in this,
+for it teaches more emphatically than even the Kosekin that the chief
+end of man is to get rid of the curse of life and gain the bliss of
+Nirvana, or annihilation. True, it does not take so practical a form
+as among the Kosekin, yet it is believed by one-third of the human
+race as the foundation of the religion in which they live and die. We
+need not go to the Kosekin, however, for such maxims as these. The
+intelligent Hindoos, the Chinese, the Japanese, with many other
+nations, all cling firmly to this belief. Sakyamoum Gautama Buddha,
+the son and heir of a mighty monarch, penetrated with the conviction
+of the misery of life, left his throne, embraced a life of voluntary
+poverty, want, and misery, so that he might find his way to a better
+state--the end before him being this, that he might ultimately escape
+from the curse of existence. He lived till old age, gained innumerable
+followers, and left to them as a solemn legacy the maxim that not to
+exist is better than to exist; that death is better than life. Since
+his day millions of his followers have upheld his principles and lived
+his life. Even among the joyous Greeks we find this feeling at times
+bursting forth it comes when we least expect it, and not even a
+Kosekin poet could express this view more forcibly than Sophocles in
+the OEdipus at Colonus:
+
+  "'Not to be born surpasses every lot;
+    And the next best lot by far, when one is born
+    Is to go back whence he came as soon as possible;
+    For while youth is present bringing vain follies,
+    What woes does it not have, what ills does it not bear--
+    Murders, factions, strife, war, envy,
+    But the extreme of misery is attained by loathsome old age--
+    Old age, strengthless, unsociable, friendless,
+    Where all evils upon evils dwell together.'"
+
+"I'll give you the words of a later poet," said Melick, "who takes
+a different view of the case. I think I'll sing them, with your
+permission."
+
+Melick swallowed a glass of wine and then sang the following:
+
+  "'They may rail at this life: from the hour I began it
+      I found it a life full of kindness and bliss,
+    And until they can show me some happier planet,
+      More social and bright, I'll content me with this.
+    As long as the world has such lips and such eyes
+      As before me this moment enraptured I see,
+    They may say what they will of their orbs in the skies,
+      But this earth is the planet for you, love, and me.'
+
+"What a pity it is," continued Melick, "that the writer of this
+manuscript had not the philological, theological, sociological,
+geological, palaeological, ontological, ornithological, and all the
+other logical attainments of yourself and the doctor! He could then
+have given us a complete view of the nature of the Kosekin, morally
+and physically; he could have treated of the geology of the soil, the
+ethnology of the people, and could have unfolded before us a full and
+comprehensive view of their philosophy and religion, and could have
+crammed his manuscript with statistics. I wonder why he didn't do it
+even as it was. It must have been a strong temptation."
+
+"More," said Oxenden, with deep impressiveness, "was a simple-minded
+though somewhat emotional sailor, and merely wrote in the hope that
+his story might one day meet the eyes of his father. I certainly
+should like to find some more accurate statements about the science,
+philosophy, and religion of the Kosekin; yet, after all, such things
+could not be expected."
+
+"Why not?" said Melick; "it was easy enough for him."
+
+"How?" asked Oxenden.
+
+"Why, he had only to step into the British Museum, and in a couple of
+hours he could have crammed up on all those points in science,
+philosophy, ethnology, and theology, about which you are so anxious to
+know."
+
+"Well," said Featherstone, "suppose we continue our reading? I believe
+it is my turn now. I sha'n't be able to hold out so long as you did,
+Oxenden, but I'll do what I can."
+
+Saying this, Featherstone took the manuscript and went on to read.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+IN PRISON
+
+
+It was with hearts full of the gloomiest forebodings that we returned
+to the amir, and these we soon found to be fully justified. The
+athalebs descended at that point from which they had risen--namely, on
+the terrace immediately in front of the cavern where they had been
+confined. We then dismounted, and Layelah with the Kosekin guards
+accompanied us to our former chambers. There she left us, saying that
+a communication would be sent to us.
+
+We were now left to our own conjectures.
+
+"I wonder what they will do to us?" said I.
+
+"It is impossible to tell," said Almah.
+
+"I suppose," said I, "they will punish us in some way; but then
+punishment among the Kosekin is what seems honor and reward to me.
+Perhaps they will spare our lives, for that in their eyes ought to be
+the severest punishment and the deepest disgrace imaginable."
+
+Almah sighed.
+
+"The Kosekin do not always act in this matter as one would suppose,"
+said she. "It is quite likely that they may dread our escaping, and
+may conclude to sacrifice us at once."
+
+On the next jom I had a visit from the Kohen Gadol. He informed me
+that the paupers had held a Council of State, in which they had made a
+special examination of our late flight. He and Layelah had both been
+examined, as well as the Kosekin who had gone after us; but Layelah's
+testimony was by far the most important.
+
+The Council of State gathered from Layelah's report that we had fled
+to Magones for the especial purpose of gaining the most blessed of
+deaths; that she pursued us in the interest of the state; and that we
+on her arrival had generously surrendered our own selfish desires, and
+had at once returned.
+
+We learned that much gratification was felt by the council, and also
+expressed, at Layelah's account and at our action.
+
+First, at our eager love of death, which was so natural in their
+eyes; secondly, at the skill which we had shown in selecting Magones;
+and finally, at our generosity in giving up so readily the blessed
+prospect of exile and want and death, so as to come back to the
+amir. Had we been Kosekin our acts would have been natural enough;
+but, being foreigners, it was considered more admirable in us, and it
+seemed to show that we were equal to the Kosekin themselves. It was
+felt, however, that in our eager rush after death we had been somewhat
+selfish; but as this probably arose from our ignorance of the law, it
+might be overlooked. On the whole it was decided that we ought to be
+rewarded, and that, too, with the greatest benefits that the Kosekin
+could bestow. What these benefits were the Kohen Gadol could not say;
+and thus we were left, as before, in the greatest possible anxiety. We
+still dreaded the worst. The highest honors of these men might well
+awaken apprehension; for they thought that the chief blessings were
+poverty and darkness and death.
+
+Layelah next came to see me. She was as amiable as ever, and showed no
+resentment at all. She gave me an account of what had happened at the
+Council of State, which was the same as what I had heard from the
+Kohen Gadol.
+
+I asked her why she had made such a report of us.
+
+"To conciliate their good-will," said Layelah. "For if they thought
+that you had really fled from death from a love of life, they would
+have felt such contempt for you that serious harm might have
+happened."
+
+"Yes," said I; "but among the Kosekin what you call harm would
+probably have been just what I want. I should like to be viewed with
+contempt, and considered unworthy of death and the Mista Kosek, and
+other such honors."
+
+"Oh yes," said Layelah; "but that doesn't follow; for you see the
+paupers love death so intensely that they long to bestow it on all;
+and if they knew that you were afraid of it, they would be tempted to
+bestow it upon you immediately, just to show you how delightful a
+thing it is. And that was the very thing that I was trying to guard
+against."
+
+"Well," said I, "and what is the result? Do you know what their
+decision is?"
+
+"Yes," said Layelah.
+
+"What is it?" I asked, eagerly.
+
+Layelah hesitated.
+
+"What is it?" I cried again, full of impatience.
+
+"I'm afraid it will not sound very pleasant to you," said Layelah,
+"but at any rate your life is spared for the present. They have
+decided to give you what they call the greatest possible honors and
+distinctions."
+
+Layelah paused, and looked at me earnestly. For my part these words
+sounded ominous, and were full of the darkest meaning.
+
+"Tell me all," I said; "don't keep me in suspense."
+
+"Well," said Layelah, "I'm afraid you will think it hard; but I must
+tell you. I will tell it, therefore, as briefly and formally as
+possible.
+
+"First, then, they have decreed the blessing of separation. You and
+Almah must now be parted, since this is regarded as the highest bliss
+of lovers.
+
+"Secondly, they have decreed the blessing of poverty. All these
+luxuries will be taken away, and you will be raised to an equality in
+this respect with the great paupers.
+
+"Thirdly, you are to have the blessing of darkness. You are to be
+removed from this troublesome and vexatious light, which here is
+regarded as a curse, and henceforth live without it.
+
+"Fourthly, the next decree is the high reward of imprisonment. You are
+to be delivered from the evils of liberty, and shut up in a dark
+cavern, from which it will be impossible to escape or to communicate
+with anyone outside.
+
+"Fifthly, you are to associate with the greatest of the paupers, the
+class that is the most honored and influential. You will be present at
+all their highest councils, and will have the privilege of perpetual
+intercourse with those reverend men. They will tell you of the joys of
+poverty, the happiness of darkness, and the bliss of death."
+
+Layelah paused, and looked at me earnestly.
+
+"Is there anything more?" I gasped.
+
+"No," said she. "Is not that enough? Some were in favor of bestowing
+immediate death, but they were outvoted by the others. You surely
+cannot regret that."
+
+Layelah's words sounded like the words of a mocking demon. Yet she did
+not wish to distress me; she had merely stated my sentence in formal
+language, without any attempt to soften its tremendous import. As for
+me, I was overwhelmed with despair. There was but one thought in my
+mind--it was not of myself, but of Almah.
+
+"And Almah?" I cried.
+
+"Almah," said Layelah--"she will have the same; you are both included
+in the same sentence."
+
+At this a groan burst from me. Horror overwhelmed me. I threw myself
+down upon the floor and covered my face with my hands. All was lost!
+Our fate--Almah's fate--was darkness, imprisonment, and death. Could
+anything be imagined that might mitigate such woes as these? Could
+anything be conceived of as more horrible? Yes; there remained
+something more, and this was announced by Layelah.
+
+"Finally," said she, "it has been decreed that you shall not only have
+the blessing of death, but that you shall have the rare honor of
+belonging to the chosen few who are reserved for the Mista Kosek.
+Thus far this had not been granted. It was esteemed too high an honor
+for strangers; but now, by an exercise of unparalleled liberality, the
+Grand Council of Paupers have added this, as the last and best, to the
+high honors and rewards which they have decreed for you and Almah."
+
+To this I had nothing to say; I was stupefied with horror. To such
+words what answer could be made? At that moment I could think of
+nothing but this tremendous sentence--this infliction of appalling
+woes under the miserable name of blessings! I could not think of
+Layelah; nor did I try to conjecture what her motives might be in thus
+coming to me as the messenger of evil. I could not find space amid
+my despair for speculations as to her own part in this, or stop to
+consider whether she was acting the part of a mere messenger, or was
+influenced by resentment or revenge. All this was far away from my
+thoughts; for all my mind was filled with the dread sentence of the
+Council of Paupers and the baleful prospect of the woes that awaited
+us.
+
+On the next jom I saw Almah. She had already learned the awful
+tidings. She met me with a face of despair; for there was no longer
+any hope, and all that remained for us was a last farewell. After this
+we parted, and each of us was taken to our respective prison.
+
+I was taken along dark passages until I came to a cavern with a low,
+dark portal. Upon entering I found the darkness deeper than usual,
+and there was only one solitary lamp, which diffused but a feeble ray
+through the gloom. The size of the place could not be made out. I
+saw here a group of human beings, and by the feeble ray of the lamp
+I perceived that they were wan and thin and emaciated, with scant
+clothing, all in rags, squalor, misery, and dirt; with coarse hair
+matted together, and long nails and shaggy beards. They reminded me in
+their personal appearance of the cannibals of the outer shore. These
+hideous beings all gathered around me, blinking at me with their
+bleary eyes and grinning with their abominable faces, and then each
+one embraced me. The filth, squalor, and unutterable foulness of
+these wretches all combined to fill my soul with loathing, and the
+inconceivable horror of that embrace wellnigh overwhelmed me. Yet,
+after all, it was surpassed by the horror of the thought that Almah
+might be at that very moment undergoing the same experience; and for
+her such a thing must be worse than for me.
+
+I retreated as far as possible from them, deep into the thick
+darkness, and sat down. No convicted felon at the last hour of life,
+no prisoner in the dungeons of the Inquisition, ever could have
+suffered more mental agony than I did at that moment. The blessings,
+the awful blessings of the Kosekin were descending upon my miserable
+head--separation from Almah, squalor and dirt, imprisonment, the
+society of these filthy creatures, darkness, the shadow of death, and
+beyond all the tremendous horrors of the Mista Kosek!
+
+I do not know how the time passed, for at first I was almost stupefied
+with despair; nor could I ever grow reconciled to the society of
+these wretches, scarce human, who were with me. Some food was
+offered me--filthy stuff, which I refused. My refusal excited warm
+commendation; but I was warned against starving myself, as that was
+against the law. In my despair I thought of my pistol and rifle,
+which I still kept with me--of using these against my jailors, and
+bursting forth; but this wild impulse soon passed away, for its utter
+hopelessness was manifest. My only hope, if hope it was, lay in
+waiting, and it was not impossible that I might see Almah again,
+if only once.
+
+Joms passed away, I know not how. The Chief Pauper, who is the
+greatest man in the land of the Kosekin, made several attempts to
+converse with me, and was evidently very condescending and magnanimous
+in his own eyes; but I did not meet his advances graciously--he was
+too abhorrent. He was a hideous wretch, with eyes nearly closed and
+bleary, thick, matted hair, and fiendish expression--in short, a devil
+incarnate in rags and squalor.
+
+But as the joms passed I found it difficult to repel my associates.
+They were always inflicting their society upon me, and thrusting on me
+nasty little acts of kindness. The Chief Pauper was more persistent
+than all, with his chatter and his disgusting civilities. He was
+evidently glad to get hold of a fresh subject for his talkative
+genius; he was a very garrulous cannibal, and perhaps my being a
+foreigner made me more interesting in his eyes.
+
+The chief topic of his discourse was death. He hated life, loved
+death, longed for it in all its forms, whether arising from disease
+or from violence. He was an amateur in corpses, and had a larger
+experience in dead bodies than any other man in the nation.
+
+I could not help asking him once why he did not kill himself, and be
+done with it.
+
+"That," said he, "is not allowed. The temptation to kill one's self is
+one of the strongest that human nature can experience, but it is one
+that we must struggle against, of course, for it is against all law.
+The greatest blessing must not be seized. It must be given by nature
+or man. Those who violate the blessed mystery of death are infamous."
+
+He assured me that he had all his life cultivated the loftiest
+feelings of love to others. His greatest happiness consisted in doing
+good to others, especially in killing them. The blessing of death,
+being the greatest of all blessings, was the one which he loved best
+to bestow upon others; and the more he loved his fellow-creatures
+the more he wished to give them this blessing. "You," said he, "are
+particularly dear to me, and I should rather give to you the blessing
+of death than to any other human being. I love you, Atam-or, and I
+long to kill you at this moment."
+
+"You had better not try it," said I, grimly.
+
+He shook his head despondingly.
+
+"Oh no," said he; "it is against the law. I must not do it till the
+time comes."
+
+"Do you kill many?" I asked.
+
+"It is my pleasing and glorious office," he replied, "to kill more
+than any other; for, you must know, I am the Sar Tabakin" (chief of
+the executioners).
+
+The Chief Pauper's love of death had grown to be an all-absorbing
+passion. He longed to give death to all. As with us there are certain
+philanthropists who have a mania for doing good, so here the pauper
+class had a mania for doing what they considered good in this way. The
+Chief Pauper was a sort of Kosekin Howard or Peabody, and was regarded
+by all with boundless reverence. To me, however, he was an object
+of never-ending hate, abhorrence, and loathing; and, added to this,
+was the thought that there might be here some equally hideous
+female--someone like the nightmare hag of the outer sea--a torment
+and a horror to Almah.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+THE CEREMONY OF SEPARATION
+
+
+Separated from Almah, surrounded by foul fiends, in darkness and the
+shadow of death, with the baleful prospect of the Mista Kosek, it
+was mine to endure the bitterest anguish and despair; and in me these
+feelings were all the worse from the thought that Almah was in a
+similar state, and was enduring equal woes. All that I suffered in my
+present condition she too was suffering--and from this there was no
+possibility of escape. Perhaps her surroundings were even worse, and
+her sufferings keener; for who could tell what these people might
+inflict in their strange and perverted impulses?
+
+Many joms passed, and there was only one thing that sustained
+me--the hope of seeing Almah yet again, though it were but for a
+moment. That hope, however, was but faint. There was no escape. The
+gate was barred without and within. I was surrounded by miscreants,
+who formed the chief class in the state and the ruling order. The
+Chief Pauper was the highest magistrate in the land, from whose
+opinion there was no appeal, and the other paupers here formed the
+Kosekin senate. Here, in imprisonment and darkness, they formed a
+secret tribunal and controlled everything. They were objects of envy
+to all. All looked forward to this position as the highest object of
+human ambition, and the friends and relatives of those here rejoiced
+in their honor. Their powers were not executive, but deliberative. To
+the Meleks and Athons was left the exercise of authority, but their
+acts were always in subordination to the will of the paupers.
+
+"I have everything that heart can wish," said the Chief Pauper to
+me once. "Look at me, Atam-or, and see me as I stand here: I have
+poverty, squalor, cold, perpetual darkness, the privilege of killing
+others, the near prospect of death, and the certainty of the Mista
+Kosek--all these I have, and yet, Atam-or, after all, I am not happy."
+
+To this strange speech I had nothing to say.
+
+"Yes," continued the Chief Pauper, in a pensive tone, "for twenty
+seasons I have reigned as chief of the Kosekin in this place. My
+cavern is the coldest, squalidest, and darkest in the land. My raiment
+is the coarsest rags. I have separated from all my friends. I have had
+much sickness. I have the closest captivity. Death, darkness, poverty,
+want, all that men most live and long for, are mine to satiety; and
+yet, as I look back and count the joms of my life to see in how many
+I have known happiness, I find that in all they amount to just seven!
+Oh, Atam-or, what a comment is this on the vanity of human life!"
+
+To this I had no answer ready; but by way of saying something, I
+offered to kill him on the spot.
+
+"Nay, nay, Atam-or," said he, with a melancholy smile, "do not tempt
+me. Leave me to struggle with temptations by myself, and do not
+seek to make me falter in my duty. Yes, Atam-or, you behold in me a
+melancholy example of the folly of ambition; for I often think, as
+I look down from my lofty eminence, that after all it is as well to
+remain content in the humble sphere in which we are placed at birth;
+for perhaps, if the truth were known, there is quite as much real
+happiness among the rich and splendid--among the Athons and Meleks."
+
+On this occasion I took advantage of the Chief Pauper's softer mood
+to pour forth an earnest entreaty for him to save Almah's life, or at
+least to mitigate her miseries. Alas! he was inexorable. It was like
+an appeal of some mad prisoner to some gentle-hearted governor in
+Christendom, entreating him to put some fellow-prisoner to death, or
+at least to make his confinement more severe.
+
+The Chief Pauper stared at me in horror.
+
+"You are a strange being, Atam-or," said he, gently. "Sometimes I
+think you mad. I can only say that such a request is horrible to me
+beyond all words. Such degradation and cruelty to the gentle and
+virtuous Almah is outrageous and forever impossible; no, we will not
+deprive her of a single one of those blessings which she now enjoys."
+
+I turned away in despair.
+
+At length one jom the Chief Pauper came to me with a smile and said,
+
+"Atam-or, let me congratulate you on this joyous occasion."
+
+"What do you mean?" I asked.
+
+"You are to have your ceremony of separation."
+
+"Separation!" I repeated.
+
+"Yes," said he. "Almah has given notice to us. She has announced her
+intention of giving you up, and separating from you. With us the
+woman always gives the announcement in such cases. We have fixed the
+ceremony for the third jom from this, and I hope you will not think
+it too soon."
+
+This strange intelligence moved me greatly. I did not like the idea of
+a ceremony of separation; but behind this there rose the prospect of
+seeing Almah, and I felt convinced that she had devised this as a mode
+of holding communication with me, or at least of seeing me again.
+The thought of Layelah was the only thing that interfered with this
+belief, for it might be her doings after all; yet the fact remained
+that I was to see Almah, and in this I rejoiced with exceeding great
+joy.
+
+The appointed jom came. A procession was formed of the paupers. The
+chief did not go, as he never left the cavern except on the great
+sacrifices and Mista Koseks. The door was opened, and I accompanied
+the procession. On our way all was dark, and after traversing many
+passages we came at length to the door of a cavern as gloomy as the
+one I had left. On entering this I found all dark and drear; and a
+little distance before me there was a light burning, around which was
+gathered a group of hags hideous beyond all expression. But these I
+scarcely noticed; for there amid them, all pale and wan, with her face
+now lighted up with joyous and eager expectation, I saw my darling--my
+Almah! I caught her in my arms, and for a few moments neither of us
+spoke a word. She sobbed upon my breast, but I knew that the tears
+which she shed were tears of joy. Nor was our joy checked by the
+thought that it was to be so short-lived. It was enough at that moment
+that we saw one another--enough that we were in one another's arms;
+and so we mingled our tears, and shared one common rapture. And sweet
+it was--sweet beyond all expression--the sweetest moment in all my
+life; for it had come in the midst of the drear desolation of my heart
+and the black despair. It was like a flash of lightning in the intense
+darkness, short and sudden indeed, yet still intense while it lasted,
+and in an instant filling all with its glow.
+
+"I did this," murmured Almah, "to see you and to save you."
+
+"Save me!" I repeated.
+
+"Yes," said she. "I have seen Layelah. She told me that there is this
+chance and this one only to save you. I determined to try it. I cannot
+bear to think of you at the sacrifice--and for love of me meeting your
+death--for I would die to save you, Atam-or."
+
+I pressed her closer in my arms.
+
+"Oh, Almah," said I, "I would die to save you! and if this ceremony
+will save you I will go through with it, and accept my fate whatever
+it may be."
+
+We were now interrupted.
+
+The women--the hags of horror--the shriek-like ones, as I may call
+them, or the fiend-like, the female fiends, the foul ones--they were
+all around us; and one there was who looked so exactly like the
+nightmare hag of the outer sea that I felt sure she must be the same,
+who by some strange chance had come here. Such, indeed, is quite
+likely, for there may have been a pass over the mountains to the land
+of the Kosekin; and those savage cannibals may all have been honored
+Kosekin exiles, dwelling in poverty, want, woe, and darkness, all of
+which may have been allotted to them as a reward for eminent virtues.
+And so here she was, the nightmare hag, and I saw that she recognized
+me.
+
+A circle was now formed around us, and the light stood in the middle.
+The nightmare hag also stood within the circle on the other side of
+the light opposite us. The beams of the lamp flickered through the
+darkness, faintly illuminating the faces of the horrible creatures
+around, who, foul and repulsive as harpies, seemed like unclean
+beasts, ready to make us their prey. Their glances seemed to menace
+death; their blear eyes rested upon us with a horrid eager hunger. My
+worst fears at that moment seemed realized; for I saw that Almah's
+associates were worse than mine, and her fate had been more bitter.
+And I wondered how it had been possible for her to live among such
+associates; or, even though she had lived thus far, whether it would
+be possible for her to endure it longer.
+
+And now there arose a melancholy chant from the old hags around--a
+dreadful strain, that sounded like a funeral dirge, sung in shrill,
+discordant voices, led by the nightmare hag, who as she sang waved
+in her hand a kind of club. All the time I held Almah in my arms,
+regardless of those around us, thinking only of her from whom I must
+soon again be separated, and whom I must leave in this drear abode to
+meet her fearful fate alone. The chant continued for some time, and as
+long as it continued it was sweet to me; for it prolonged the meeting
+with Almah, and postponed by so much our separation.
+
+At length the chant ceased. The nightmare hag looked fixedly at us,
+and spoke these words:
+
+"You have embraced for the last time. Henceforth there is no more
+sorrow in your love. You may be happy now in being forever disunited,
+and in knowing the bliss of eternal separation. As darkness is better
+than light, as death is better than life, so may you find separation
+better than union."
+
+She now gave a blow with her club at the lamp, which broke it to atoms
+and extinguished the flame. She continued:
+
+"As the baleful light is succeeded by the blessed darkness, so may
+you find the light of union followed by the blessed darkness of
+separation."
+
+And now in the deep darkness we stood clasped in one another's arms;
+while around us, from the horrible circle of hags, there arose
+another chant as harsh and discordant as the previous one, but which,
+nevertheless, like that, served at least to keep us together a little
+longer. For this reason it sounded sweeter than the sweetest music;
+and therefore, when at last the hideous noise ended, I felt a pang of
+grief, for I knew that I must now give up Almah forever.
+
+I was right. The ceremony was over. We had to part, and we parted with
+tears of despair. I was led away, and as I went I heard Almah's sobs.
+I broke away, and tried to return for one more embrace; but in the
+darkness I could not find her, and could only hear her sobs at a
+greater distance, which showed that she too was being led away. I
+called after her,
+
+"Farewell, Almah!"
+
+Her reply came back broken with sobs.
+
+"Farewell forever, Atam-or!"
+
+I was once more led away, and again traversed the dark passages, and
+again came back to my den, which now seemed dark with the blackness
+of despair.
+
+On my return I was formally and solemnly congratulated by all the
+paupers. I should not have received their congratulations had I not
+expected that there would be something more. I expected that something
+would be said about the result of this act of separation; for Almah
+had believed that it would be the means of saving my life, and I
+believed that it would be the means of saving her life, and for this
+reason each of us had performed our part; although, of course, the joy
+of meeting with one another would of itself have been sufficient, and
+more than sufficient, to make that ceremony an object of desire. I
+thought, therefore, that some statement might now be made to the
+effect that by means of this ceremony my status among the Kosekin
+would be changed, and that both I and Almah, being no longer
+lovers, would be no longer fit for the sacrifice. To my intense
+disappointment, however, nothing whatever was said that had the
+remotest reference to this.
+
+On the following jom I determined to ask the Chief Pauper himself
+directly; and accordingly, after a brief preamble, I put the question
+point-blank:
+
+"Will our ceremony of separation make any difference as to our
+sacrifice?"
+
+"What?" he asked, with a puzzled expression.
+
+I repeated the question.
+
+"I don't understand," said he, still looking puzzled.
+
+Upon this I once more repeated it.
+
+"How can that be?" said he at length; "how can the ceremony of
+separation have any effect upon your sacrifice? The ceremony of
+separation stands by itself as the sign and symbol of an additional
+blessing. This new happiness of separation is a great favor, and will
+make you the object of new envy and admiration; for few have been so
+fortunate as you in all the history of the Kosekin. But you are the
+favorite of the Kosekin now, and there is nothing that they will not
+do for you."
+
+"But we were separate before," said I, indignantly.
+
+"That is true," said he, "in point of fact; but this ceremony makes
+your separation a legal thing, and gives it the solemn sanction of
+law and of religion. Among the Kosekin one cannot be considered as
+a separate man until the ceremony of separation has been publicly
+performed."
+
+"I understood," said I, "that we were chosen to suffer the sacrifice
+together because we were lovers, and now since you do not any longer
+regard us as lovers, why do you sacrifice us?"
+
+At this question the Chief Pauper looked at me with one of those
+hungry glances of his, which showed how he thirsted for my blood, and
+he smiled the smile of an evil fiend.
+
+"Why do we sacrifice you, Atam-or?" he replied. "Why, because we honor
+you both, and love you both so dearly that we are eager to give you
+the greatest of all blessings, and to deny you nothing that is in our
+power to bestow."
+
+"Do you mean to sacrifice both of us?" I gasped.
+
+"Of course."
+
+"What! Almah too?"
+
+"Certainly. Why should we be so cruel to the dear child as to deprive
+her of so great a boon?"
+
+At this I groaned aloud and turned away in despair.
+
+Many joms now passed away. I grew more and more melancholy and
+desperate. I thought sometimes of fighting my way out. My fire-arms
+were now my chief consolation; for I had fully made up my mind not to
+die quietly like a slaughtered calf, but to strike a blow for life,
+and meet my death amid slain enemies. In this prospect I found some
+satisfaction, and death was robbed of some of its terrors.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE DAY OF SACRIFICE
+
+
+At last the time came.
+
+It was the end of the dark season. Then, as the sun rises for its
+permanent course around the heavens, when the long day of six months
+begins, all in the land of the Kosekin is sorrow, and the last of the
+loved darkness is mourned over amid the most solemn ceremonies, and
+celebrated with the most imposing sacrifices. Then the most honored
+in all the land are publicly presented with the blessing of death,
+and allowed to depart this hated life, and go to the realms of that
+eternal darkness which they love so well. It is the greatest of
+sacrifices, and is followed by the greatest of feasts. Thus the busy
+season--the loved season of darkness--ends, and the long, hateful
+season of light begins, when the Kosekin lurk in caverns, and live in
+this way in the presence of what may be called artificial darkness.
+
+It was for us--for me and for Almah--the day of doom. Since the
+ceremony of separation I had not seen her; but my heart had been
+always with her. I did not even know whether she was alive or not, but
+believed that she must be; for I thought that if she had died I should
+have heard of it, as the Kosekin would have rejoiced greatly over such
+an event. For every death is to them an occasion of joy, and the death
+of one so distinguished and so beloved as Almah would have given rise
+to nothing less than a national festival.
+
+Of time I had but a poor reckoning; but, from the way in which the
+paupers kept account of their joms, I judged that about three months
+had elapsed since the ceremony of separation.
+
+The paupers were now all joyous with a hideous joy. The Chief Pauper
+was more abhorrent than ever. He had the blood-thirst strong upon
+him. He was on that jom to perform his horrible office of Sar
+Tabakin, and as he accosted me he smiled the smile of a demon, and
+congratulated me on my coming escape from life. To this I had no word
+of answer to make; but my hands held my rifle and pistol, and these I
+clutched with a firmer grasp as my last hour approached.
+
+The time of departure at length arrived. Soldiers of the Kosekin came,
+following the paupers, who went first, while the guards came after me.
+Thus we all emerged into the open air. There the broad terrace already
+mentioned spread out before my eyes, filled with thousands upon
+thousands of human beings. It seemed as though the entire population
+of the city was there, and so densely packed was this great crowd that
+it was only with great difficulty that a way was laid open for our
+passage.
+
+Above was the sky, where the stars were twinkling faintly. There was
+no longer the light of the aurora australis; the constellations
+glimmered but dimly, the moon was shining with but a feeble ray; for
+there far away over the icy crests of the lofty mountains I saw a long
+line of splendid effulgence, all golden and red--the light of the new
+dawn--the dawn of that long day which was now approaching. The sight
+of that dawning light gave me new life. It was like a sight of
+home--the blessed dawn, the sunlight of a bright day, the glorious
+daybreak lost for so long a time, but now at last returning. I feasted
+my eyes on the spectacle, I burst into tears of joy, and I felt as
+though I could gaze at it forever. But the sun as it travelled was
+rapidly coming into view; soon the dazzling glory of its rim would
+appear above the mountain crest, and the season of darkness would end.
+There was no time to wait, and the guards hurried me on.
+
+There in the midst of the square rose the pyramid. It was fully a
+hundred feet in height, with a broad flat top. At the base I saw a
+great crowd of paupers. Through these we passed, and as we did so
+a horrible death-chant arose. We now went up the steps and reached
+the top. It was about sixty feet square, and upon it there was a
+quadrangle of stones set about three feet apart, about sixty in
+number, while in the midst was a larger stone. All of these were
+evidently intended for sacrificial purposes.
+
+Scarcely had I reached the top when I saw a procession ascend from
+the other side. First came some paupers, then some hags, and then,
+followed by other hags, I saw Almah. I was transfixed at the sight. A
+thrill passed through every nerve, and a wild impulse came to me to
+burst through the crowd, join her, and battle with them all for her
+life. But the crowd was too dense. I could only stand and look at her,
+and mark the paleness of her face and her mute despair. She saw me,
+waved her hand sadly, and gave a mournful smile. There we stood
+separated by the crowd, with our eyes fastened on each other, and
+all our hearts filled with one deep, intense yearning to fly to one
+another's side.
+
+And now there came up from below, louder and deeper, the awful
+death-chant. Time was pressing. The preparations were made. The Chief
+Pauper took his station by the central stone, and in his right hand he
+held a long, keen knife. Toward this stone I was led. The Chief Pauper
+then looked with his blear and blinking eyes to where the dawn was
+glowing over the mountain crest, and every moment increasing in
+brightness; and then, after a brief survey, he turned and whetted his
+knife on the sacrificial stone. After this he turned to me with his
+evil face, with the glare of a horrid death-hunger in his ravenous
+eyes, and pointed to the stone.
+
+I stood without motion.
+
+He repeated the gesture and said, "Lie down here."
+
+"I will not," said I.
+
+"But it is on this stone," said he, "that you are to get the blessing
+of death."
+
+"I'll die first!" said I, fiercely, and I raised my rifle.
+
+The Chief Pauper was puzzled at this. The others looked on quietly,
+thinking it probably a debate about some punctilio. Suddenly he seemed
+struck with an idea.
+
+"Yes, yes," said he. "The woman first. It is better so."
+
+Saying this he walked toward Almah, and said something to the hags.
+
+At this the chief of them--namely, the nightmare hag--led Almah to the
+nearest stone, and motioned to her to lie down. Almah prepared to
+obey, but paused a moment to throw at me one last glance and wave her
+hand as a last farewell. Then without a word she laid herself down
+upon the stone. At this a thrill of fury rushed through all my being,
+rousing me from my stupor, impelling me to action, filling my brain
+with madness. The nightmare hag had already raised her long keen knife
+in the air. Another moment and the blow would have fallen. But my
+rifle was at my shoulder; my aim was deadly. The report rang out like
+thunder. A wild, piercing yell followed, and when the smoke cleared
+away the nightmare hag lay dead at the foot of the altar. I was
+already there, having burst through the astonished crowd, and Almah
+was in my arms; and holding her thus for a moment, I put myself in
+front of her and stood at bay, with my only thought that of defending
+her to the last and selling my life as dearly as possible.
+
+The result was amazing.
+
+After the report there was for some moments a deep silence, which was
+followed by a wild, abrupt outcry from half a million people--the roar
+of indistinguishable words bursting forth from the lips of all that
+throng, whose accumulated volume arose in one vast thunder-clap of
+sound, pealing forth, echoing along the terraced streets, and rolling
+on far away in endless reverberations. It was like the roar of mighty
+cataracts, like the sound of many waters; and at the voice of that
+vast multitude I shrank back for a moment. As I did so I looked down,
+and beheld a scene as appalling as the sound that had overawed me. In
+all that countless throng of human beings there was not one who was
+not in motion; and all were pressing forward toward the pyramid as
+to a common centre. On every side there was a multitudinous sea of
+upturned faces, extending as far as the eye could reach. All were in
+violent agitation, as though all were possessed by one common impulse
+which forced them toward me. At such a sight I thought of nothing else
+than that I was the object of their wrath, and that they were all with
+one common fury rushing toward me to wreak vengeance upon me and upon
+Almah for the slaughter of the nightmare hag.
+
+All this was the work of but a few moments. And now as I stood there
+holding Almah--appalled, despairing, yet resolute and calm--I became
+aware of a more imminent danger. On the top of the pyramid, at the
+report of the rifle, all had fallen down flat on their faces, and
+it was over them that I had rushed to Almah's side. But these now
+began to rise, and the hags took up the corpse of the dead, and the
+paupers swarmed around with cries of "Mut! mut!" (dead! dead!) and
+exclamations of wonder. Then they all turned their foul and bleary
+eyes toward me, and stood as if transfixed with astonishment. At
+length there burst forth from the crowd one who sought to get at me.
+It was the Chief Pauper. He still held in his hand the long knife of
+sacrifice. He said not a word, but rushed straight at me, and as he
+came I saw murder in his look. I did not wait for him, but raising my
+rifle, discharged the second barrel full in his face. He fell down a
+shattered, blackened heap, dead.
+
+As the second report thundered out it drowned all other sounds, and
+was again followed by an awful silence. I looked around. Those on the
+pyramid--paupers and hags--had again flung themselves on their faces.
+On the square below the whole multitude were on their knees, with
+their heads bowed down low. The silence was more oppressive than
+before; it was appalling--it was tremendous! It seemed like the dread
+silence that precedes the more awful outburst of the hurricane when
+the storm is gathering up all its strength to burst with accumulated
+fury upon its doomed victim.
+
+But there was no time to be lost in staring, and that interval was
+occupied by me in hastily reloading my rifle. It was my last resource
+now; and if it availed not for defence it might at least serve to be
+used against ourselves. With this thought I handed the pistol to
+Almah, and hurriedly whispered to her that if I were killed, she could
+use it against herself. She took it in silence, but I read in her face
+her invincible resolve.
+
+The storm at last burst. The immense multitude rose to their feet, and
+with one common impulse came pressing on from every side toward the
+pyramid, apparently filled with the one universal desire of reaching
+me--a desire which was now all the more intense and vehement from
+these interruptions which had taken place. Why they had fallen on
+their knees, why the paupers on the pyramid were still prostrate, I
+could not tell; but I saw now the swarming multitude, and I felt that
+they were rolling in on every side--merciless, blood-thirsty,
+implacable--to tear me to pieces. Yet time passed and they did not
+reach me, for an obstacle was interposed. The pyramid had smooth
+sides. The stairways that led up to the summit were narrow, and did
+not admit of more than two at a time; yet, had the Kosekin been like
+other people, the summit of the pyramid would soon have been swarming
+with them; but as they were Kosekin, none came up to the top; for at
+the base of the pyramid, at the bottom of the steps, I saw a strange
+and incredible struggle. It was not, as with us, who should go up
+first, but who should go up last; each tried to make his neighbor go
+before him. All were eager to go, but the Kosekin self-denial,
+self-sacrifice, and love for the good of others made each one
+intensely desirous to make others go up. This resulted in a furious
+struggle, in which, as fast as anyone would be pushed up the steps a
+little way, he would jump down again and turn his efforts toward
+putting up others; and thus all the energies of the people were worn
+out in useless and unavailing efforts--in a struggle to which, from
+the very nature of the case, there could be no end.
+
+Now those on the pyramid began to rise, and soon all were on their
+feet. Cries burst forth from them. All were looking at us, but with
+nothing like hostility; it was rather like reverence and adoration,
+and these feelings were expressed unmistakably in their cries, among
+which I could plainly distinguish such words as these: "Ap Ram!"
+"Mosel anan wacosek!" "Sopet Mut!" (The Father of Thunder! Ruler of
+Cloud and Darkness! Judge of Death!) These cries passed to those
+below. The struggle ceased. All stood and joined in the cry, which was
+taken up by those nearest, and soon passed among all those myriads, to
+be repeated with thunder echoes far and wide.
+
+At this it suddenly became plain to me that the danger of death had
+passed away; that these people no longer regarded me as a victim, but
+rather as some mighty being--some superior, perhaps supernatural
+power, who was to be almost worshipped. Hence these prostrations,
+these words, these cries, these looks. All these told me that the
+bitterness of death had passed away. At this discovery there was, for
+a moment, a feeling of aversion and horror within me at filling such a
+position; that I, a weak mortal, should dare to receive adoration like
+this; and I recoiled at the thought: yet this feeling soon passed; for
+life was at stake--not my own merely, but that of Almah; and I was
+ready now to go through anything if only I might save her: so, instead
+of shrinking from this new part, I eagerly seized upon it, and at once
+determined to take advantage of the popular superstition to the
+utmost.
+
+Far away over the crests of the mountains I saw the golden edge of the
+sun's disc, and the light flowed therefrom in broad effulgence,
+throwing out long rays of glory in a luminous flood over all the land.
+I pointed to the glorious orb, and cried to the paupers, and to all
+who were nearest, in a loud voice:
+
+"I am Atam-or, the Man of Light! I come from the land of light! I am
+the Father of Thunder, of Cloud and Darkness; the Judge of Death!"
+
+At this the paupers all fell prostrate, and cried out to me to give
+them the blessing of death.
+
+I made no answer, but leading Almah to the edge of the pyramid, told
+her to fire the pistol. A million eyes were fixed on us. She held up
+the pistol and fired. Immediately after, I fired both barrels of the
+rifle; and as the reports rang out and the smoke cleared away, I heard
+a mighty murmur, and once more beheld all prostrate. Upon this I
+hurriedly loaded again, and waited for further revelations. All the
+time I could not help wondering at the effect produced by the rifle
+now, in comparison with the indifference with which it had been
+regarded at my first arrival in the country. I could not account for
+it, but supposed that the excitement of a great religious festival and
+the sudden death of the Chief Pauper and the Chief Hag had probably
+deeply impressed them. In the midst of these thoughts the whole
+multitude arose; and once more there came to my ears the universal
+uproar of innumerable cries, in the midst of which I could hear the
+words, "Ap Ram!" "Mosel anan wacosek!" "Sopet Mut!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+In the midst of this the paupers and the hags talked earnestly
+together. Some of those who had been nearest in rank to the late Chief
+Pauper and Chief Hag were conspicuous in the debate. All looked at me
+and at Almah, and pointed toward the sun, which was wheeling along
+behind the distant mountain crest, showing a golden disc. Then they
+pointed to the dead bodies; and the hags took the Chief Hag, and the
+paupers the Chief Pauper, and laid them side by side on the central
+altar. After this a hag and a pauper advanced toward us, each carrying
+the sacrificial knife which had belonged to the deceased.
+
+The hag spoke first, addressing Almah, in accordance with the Kosekin
+custom, which requires women to take the precedence in many things.
+
+"Take this," she said, "O Almah, consort of Atam-or, and Co-ruler of
+Clouds and Darkness. Henceforth you shall be Judge of Death to the
+women of the Kosekin."
+
+She then handed Almah the sacrificial knife of the Chief Hag, which
+Almah took in silence.
+
+Then the pauper presented me with the sacrificial knife of the Chief
+Pauper, with the following words:
+
+"Take this, O Atam-or, Father of Thunder and Ruler of Clouds and
+Darkness. Henceforth you shall be Judge of Death to the men of the
+Kosekin, and Sar Tabakin over the whole nation."
+
+I received the knife in silence, for I had nothing to say; but now
+Almah spoke, as was fitting for her to do, since with the Kosekin the
+women must take the precedence; and here it was expected that she
+should reply in behalf of both of us.
+
+So Almah, holding the sacrificial knife, stood looking at them, full
+of dignity, and spoke as follows:
+
+"We will take this, O Kosekin, and we will reward you all. We will
+begin our reign over the Kosekin with memorable acts of mercy. These
+two great victims shall be enough for the Mista Kosek of this
+season. The victims designed for this sacrifice shall have to deny
+themselves the blessing of death, yet they shall be rewarded in other
+ways; and all the land from the highest to the lowest shall have
+reason to rejoice in our rule.
+
+"To all you hags and paupers we grant the splendid and unparalleled
+boon of exile to Magones. There you can have all the suffering which
+heart can wish, and inevitable death. To all classes and ranks in
+the whole nation we promise to grant a diminution in their wealth by
+one-quarter. In the abundance of our mercy we are willing ourselves to
+bear the burden of all the offerings that may be necessary in order to
+accomplish this. All in the land may at once give up one-quarter of
+their whole wealth to us."
+
+At this the hags and paupers gave a horrible yell of applause.
+
+"As rulers of Light and Darkness, we will henceforth govern the nation
+in the light as well as in the dark. We will sacrifice ourselves so
+far to the public good as to live in the light, and in open palaces.
+We will consent to undergo the pains of light and splendor, to endure
+all the evils of luxury, magnificence, and boundless wealth, for the
+good of the Kosekin nation. We will consent to forego the right of
+separation, and agree to live together, even though we love one
+another. Above all, we will refuse death and consent to live. Can any
+rulers do more than this for the good of their people?"
+
+Another outburst of applause followed.
+
+"In three joms," continued Almah, "all you hags and paupers shall be
+sent to exile and death on Magones. As for the rest of the Kosekin,
+hear our words. Tell them from us that the laborers shall all be
+elevated to the rank of paupers, the artisans shall be made laborers,
+the tradesmen artisans, the soldiers tradesmen, the Athons soldiers,
+the Kohens Athons, and the Meleks Kohens. There shall be no Meleks in
+all the land. We, in our love for the Kosekin, will henceforth be the
+only Meleks. Then all the misery of that low station will rest on us;
+and in our low estate as Meleks we shall govern this nation in love
+and self-denial. Tell them that we will forego the sacrifice and
+consent to live; that we will give up darkness and cavern gloom and
+live in light. Tell them to prepare for us the splendid palaces of the
+Meleks, for we will take the most sumptuous and magnificent of them
+all. Tell all the people to present their offerings. Tell them that we
+consent to have endless retinues of servants, soldiers, followers, and
+attendants. Tell them that with the advent of Almah and Atam-or a new
+era begins for the Kosekin, in which every man may be as poor as he
+likes, and riches shall be unknown in the land."
+
+These extraordinary words seemed to fill the paupers with rapture.
+Exclamations of joy burst from them; they prostrated themselves in an
+irrepressible impulse of grateful admiration, as though such promises
+could only come from superior beings. Then most of them hurried down
+to communicate to the people below the glorious intelligence. Soon it
+spread from mouth to mouth, and all the people were filled with the
+wildest excitement.
+
+For never before had such a thing been known, and never had such
+self-sacrifice been imagined or thought possible, as that the rulers
+of the Kosekin could consent to be rich when they might be paupers; to
+live together when they might be separate; to dwell in the light when
+they might lurk in the deepest cavern gloom; to remain in life when
+they might have the blessing of death. Selfishness, fear of death,
+love of riches, and love of luxury, these were all unintelligible to
+the Kosekin, as much as to us would be self-abnegation, contempt of
+death, voluntary poverty, and asceticism. But as with us self-denying
+rulers may make others rich and be popular for this, so here among the
+Kosekin a selfish ruler might be popular by making others poor. Hence
+the words of Almah, as they were made known, gave rise to the wildest
+excitement and enthusiasm, and the vast multitude poured forth their
+feelings in long shouts of rapturous applause.
+
+Amid this the bodies of the dead were carried down from the pyramid,
+and were taken to the Mista Kosek in a long and solemn procession,
+accompanied by the singing of wild and dismal chants.
+
+And now the sun, rolling along behind the icy mountain crest, rose
+higher and higher every moment, and the bright light of a long day
+began to illumine the world. There sparkled the sea, rising far away
+like a watery wall, with the horizon high up in the sky; there rose
+the circle of giant mountains, sweeping away till they were blended
+with the horizon; there rose the terraces of the amir, all glowing
+in the sunlight, with all its countless houses and cavern-openings and
+arching trees and pointing pyramids. Above was the canopy of heaven,
+no longer black, no longer studded with stars or glistening with
+the fitful shimmer of the aurora, but all radiant with the glorious
+sunlight, and disclosing all the splendors of the infinite blue. At
+that sight a thrill of joy passed through me. The long, long night
+at last was over; the darkness had passed away like some hideous
+dream; the day was here--the long day that was to know no shadow
+and no decline--when all this world should be illuminated by the
+ever-circling sun--a sun that would never set until his long course
+of many months should be fully run. My heart swelled with rapture,
+my eyes filled with tears. "O Light!" I cried; "O gleaming, golden
+Sunlight! O Light of Heaven!--light that brings life and hope to man!"
+And I could have fallen on my knees and worshipped that rising sun.
+
+But the light which was so glorious to us was painful and distressing
+to the Kosekin. On the top of the pyramid the paupers crouched,
+shading their eyes. The crowd below began to disperse in all
+directions, so as to betake themselves to their coverts and to the
+caverns, where they might live in the dark. Soon nearly all were gone
+except the paupers at the foot of the pyramid, who were awaiting our
+commands, and a crowd of Meleks and Athons at a distance. At a gesture
+from me the few paupers near us descended and joined those below.
+
+Almah and I were alone on the top of the pyramid.
+
+I caught her in my arms in a rapture of joy. This revulsion from the
+lowest despair--from darkness and from death back to hope and light
+and life--was almost too much to endure. We both wept, but our tears
+were those of happiness.
+
+"You will be all my own now," said I, "and we can fly from this
+hateful land. We can be united--we can be married--here before we
+start--and you will not be cruel enough to refuse. You will consent,
+will you not, to be my wife before we fly from the Kosekin?"
+
+At this Almah's face became suffused with smiles and blushes. Her
+arms were about me, and she did not draw away, but looked up in sweet
+confusion and said,
+
+"Why, as to that--I--I cannot be more your--your wife than I am."
+
+"What do you mean?" I exclaimed, in wonder. "My wife!"
+
+Her eyes dropped again, and she whispered:
+
+"The ceremony of separation is with the Kosekin the most sacred form
+of marriage. It is the religious form; the other is merely the civil
+form."
+
+This was unintelligible, nor did I try to understand it. It was enough
+to hear this from her own sweet lips; but it was a strange feeling,
+and I think I am the only man since Adam that ever was married without
+knowing it.
+
+"As to flight," continued Almah, who had quite adopted the Kosekin
+fashion, which makes women take the lead--"as to flight, we need not
+hurry. We are all-powerful now, and there is no more danger. We must
+wait until we send embassies to my people, and when they are ready to
+receive us, we will go. But now let us leave this, for our servants
+are waiting for us, and the light is distressing to them. Let us go to
+the nearest of our palaces and obtain rest and food."
+
+
+Here Featherstone stopped, yawned, and laid down the manuscript.
+
+"That's enough for to-day," said he; "I'm tired, and can't read any
+more. It's time for supper."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper
+Cylinder, by James De Mille
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STRANGE MANUSCRIPT ***
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