himself, and asked if the 'bridge
had been built by men or devils', which was his vague way of
alluding to any supernatural power. But Alphonse did not care
about it. Its solid grandeur jarred upon the frivolous little
Frenchman, who said that it was all 'tres magnifique, mais triste
-- ah, triste!' and went on to suggest that it would be improved
if the balustrades were _gilt_.

On we went up the first flight of one hundred and twenty steps,
across the broad platform joining it to the second flight, where
we paused to admire the glorious view of one of the most beautiful
stretches of country that the world can show, edged by the blue
waters of the lake. Then we passed on up the stair till at last
we reached the top, where we found a large standing space to
which there were three entrances, all of small size. Two of
these opened on to rather narrow galleries or roadways cut in
the face of the precipice that ran round the palace walls and
led to the principal thoroughfares of the city, and were used
by the inhabitants passing up and down from the docks. These
were defended by gates of bronze, and also, as we afterwards
learnt, it was possible to let down a portion of the roadways
themselves by withdrawing certain bolts, and thus render it quite
impracticable for an enemy to pass. The third entrance consisted
of a flight of ten curved black marble steps leading to a doorway
cut in the palace wall. This wall was in itself a work of art,
being built of huge blocks of granite to the height of forty
feet, and so fashioned that its face was concave, whereby it
was rendered practically impossible for it to be scaled. To
this doorway our guide led us. The door, which was massive,
and made of wood protected by an outer gate of bronze, was closed;
but on our approach it was thrown wide, and we were met by the
challenge of a sentry, who was armed with a heavy triangular-bladed
spear, not unlike a bayonet in shape, and a cutting sword, and
protected by breast and back plates of skilfully prepared hippopotamus
hide, and a small round shield fashioned of the same tough material.
The sword instantly attracted our attention; it was practically
identical with the one in the possession of Mr Mackenzie which
he had obtained from the ill-starred wanderer. There was no
mistaking the gold-lined fretwork cut in the thickness of the
blade. So the man had told the truth after all. Our guide instantly
gave a password, which the sol