egenerate
inheritors of some ancient and forgotten civilisation. Their
fortifications, stone-built houses, drinking-shops, and markets
indicated this, just as their rude system of theology, with its
divinities of Light and Darkness, or of Death and Life, each springing
from the other, engaged in an eternal struggle, and yet one, was
probably the survival of some elaborate nature-myth of the early world.

But nothing struck him so much as the appearance of the people. In size
they were almost giants, a peculiarity which was shared by the
women, some of whom measured six feet in height. In common with other
uncivilised races most of these women were little except a girdle and a
goat-skin cloak that hung loosely upon their shoulders, displaying their
magnificent proportions somewhat freely. They were much handsomer than
the men, having splendid solemn eyes, very white teeth, and a remarkable
dignity of gait. Their faces, however, wore the same sombre look as
those of their husbands and brothers, and they did not chatter after
the manner of their sex, but contented themselves with pointing out the
peculiarities of the strangers in a few brief words to their children or
to one another.

After crossing the market-place the party came to a long and gentle
ascent, which terminated at a wall surrounding the lower of the two
great buildings that they had seen from the plain. Passing its gates
they halted at the doors of the first of these edifices. Here priests
stood with torches--at least, they judged them to be priests from the
symbol of the snake's head tattooed upon their naked breasts--ready to
conduct them to their lodging, for now the night was closing in rapidly.
Soon they found themselves within the walls of a great house, built in
the usual way with rough boulders, but on three sides of a square, and
enclosing a courtyard in which a fountain bubbled. The furniture of
the house was rude but grotesquely carved, and in the courtyard stood
a throne, sheltered by a roof of turf, and fashioned of black wood and
ivory, with feet shaped like those of a human being. Indeed, as they
afterwards discovered, this was the palace of the king, Olfan, who had
been summarily ejected by the priests to make room for the newcomers.

Here in this strange dwelling the attendant priests assigned them all
quarters, the Settlement men in one wing, Leonard, Francisco and Soa in
the other, and Juanna and Otter in two separate apartments in the b