ey Hassan stopped and pointed out to us one of
the thatched roofs of a hut, which seemed in the distance scarcely
noticeable until his keen eyesight discovered it. The village, we found,
lay a little to the left of the mountain path, for on nearing the summit
we found ourselves passing through a peculiar avenue of trees
interspersed with long bamboo poles. From the tops of the latter there
were stretched across the approach strong, rough-looking cords, which
supported various uncouth emblems, and among which were large triangles,
circles, and stars, cut apparently out of the stems of huge bamboos.
After traversing this avenue for nearly three hundred yards we saw the
tree trunks which Hassan had mentioned, and which were deeply scarred
with cabalistic messages to the fierce Nat, which we could not of course
understand. Affixed to some of the trees farther on we saw a number of
spears and dahs mingled with shorter weapons, the latter being made of
some species of hard wood, and close to them we observed the skulls of
several large animals, one of which we judged was that of an elephant.

[Illustration: "THE AVENUE."]

In spite of the fact that the village was a large one, the buildings
were of a very primitive construction, being made of bamboos with
thatched coverings, reaching almost to the piles on which the huts were
placed. We did not observe any openings made to serve as windows, the
only ones noticeable being those by which the Kachyens entered, placed
above a bamboo ladder, which seemed to, serve instead of steps. Although
the sun had scarcely set, the village was wrapped in a strange silence,
the sound of our footsteps alone being heard. The smoke that seemed to
be forcing its way through stray holes in the thatch amply convinced us,
however, that the inhabitants were within doors, and, turning to our
Arab guide, I asked him if he could distinguish among the many huts the
one in which we expected to find the Maw-Sayah. He seemed a little
uncertain at first, but after wandering through the village together we
returned, and then Hassan, who had been very observant the whole time,
pointed to one of the rudely-constructed huts and said:--

"I think that is the one into which we seek to enter; it is situated
according to the position in which the Kachyen said it was, and,
besides, it bears a strange proof of the story which ye have listened to
with such ill-concealed disbelief."

"Why do you think that is the hut,