to the worship
of Satan; they form a gigantic triangle superposed on the vast plateau,
at the base of which the party descended from their conveyances, and
were met by a native with an accommodating knowledge of French. Upon
exchanging the Sign of Lucifer he conducted them to a hole in the rock,
which gave upon a narrow passage guarded by a line of Sikhs with drawn
swords, prepared to massacre anybody, and leading to the vestibule of
the first temple, which was filled with a miscellaneous concourse of
Adepts, from officers and tea-merchants even to tanners and dentists. In
the first temple, which was provided with the inevitable statue of
Baphomet, but was withal bare and meagrely illuminated, the doctor was
destined to pass through his promised ordeal, for which he was stripped
to the skin, placed in the centre of the assembly, and at a given signal
one thousand odd venomous cobra de capellos were produced from holes in
the wall and encouraged to fold him in their embraces, while the music
of flute-playing fakirs alone intervened to prevent his instant death.
He passed through this trying encounter with a valour which amazed
himself, persisted in prolonging the ceremony, and otherwise proved
himself a man of such extraordinary metal that he earned universal
respect and received the most flattering testimonials even from Phileas
Walder. That the serpents were undoubtedly venomous was afterwards
proved upon the person of one of the natives present, who, delivered to
their fury, fell, covered with apparently mortal bites, but was
subsequently treated by native remedies and carried before the altar of
Baphomet to be cured by the special intervention of the good God
Lucifer. This ceremony was accomplished by the intervention of a lovely
Indian Vestal, by the prayers of the Grand Master, a silk-mercer by
commercial persuasion, and by the mock baptism of a serpent, after which
the sufferer rose to his feet and the inconvenient venom spurted of
itself out of his wounds. From the Sanctuary of the Serpents the company
then proceeded, with becoming recollection, into the second temple or
Sanctuary of the Phoenix.

The second temple was brilliantly illuminated and ablaze with millions
of precious stones wrested by the wicked English from innumerable
conquered Rajahs; it had garlands of diamonds, festoons of rubies, vast
images of solid silver, and a gigantic Phoenix in red gold more solid
than the silver. There was an altar beneat