The big rowing-boat glided on up the cutting that ran almost to the footof the vast stairway, and then halted at a flight of steps leading tothe landing-place. Here the old gentleman disembarked, and invited us todo so likewise, which, having no alternative, and being nearly starved,we did without hesitation--taking our rifles with us, however. As eachof us landed, our guide again laid his fingers on his lips and boweddeeply, at the same time ordering back the crowds which had assembled togaze on us. The last to leave the canoe was the girl we had picked outof the water, for whom her companion was waiting. Before she went awayshe kissed my hand, I suppose as a token of gratitude for having savedher from the fury of the hippopotamus; and it seemed to me that she hadby this time quite got over any fear she might have had of us, and wasby no means anxious to return in such a hurry to her lawful owners. Atany rate, she was going to kiss Good's hand as well as mine, when theyoung man interfered and led her off. As soon as we were on shore, anumber of the men who had rowed the big boat took possession of our fewgoods and chattels, and started with them up the splendid staircase,our guide indicating to us by means of motions that the things wereperfectly safe. This done, he turned to the right and led the way toa small house, which was, as I afterwards discovered, an inn. Enteringinto a good-sized room, we saw that a wooden table was already furnishedwith food, presumably in preparation for us. Here our guide motionedus to be seated on a bench that ran the length of the table. We didnot require a second invitation, but at once fell to ravenously on theviands before us, which were served on wooden platters, and consistedof cold goat's-flesh, wrapped up in some kind of leaf that gave it adelicious flavour, green vegetables resembling lettuces, brown bread,and red wine poured from a skin into horn mugs. This wine was peculiarlysoft and good, having something of the flavour of Burgundy. Twentyminutes after we sat down at that hospitable board we rose from it,feeling like new men. After all that we had gone through we needed twothings, food and rest, and the food of itself was a great blessing tous. Two girls of the same charming cast of face as the first whom we hadseen waited on us while we ate, and very nicely they did it. They werealso dressed in the same fashion namely, in a white linen petticoatcoming to the knee, and with the toga-like garment of brown cloth,leaving bare the right arm and breast. I afterwards found out thatthis was the national dress, and regulated by an iron custom, though ofcourse subject to variations. Thus, if the petticoat was pure white,it signified that the wearer was unmarried; if white, with a straightpurple stripe round the edge, that she was married and a first or legalwife; if with a black stripe, that she was a widow. In the same way thetoga, or 'kaf', as they call it, was of different shades of colour, frompure white to the deepest brown, according to the rank of the wearer,and embroidered at the end in various ways. This also applies to the'shirts' or tunics worn by the men, which varied in material and colour;but the kilts were always the same except as regards quality. Onething, however, every man and woman in the country wore as the nationalinsignia, and that was the thick band of gold round the right arm abovethe elbow, and the left leg beneath the knee. People of high rank alsowore a torque of gold round the neck, and I observed that our guide hadone on.
So soon as we had finished our meal our venerable conductor, who hadbeen standing all the while, regarding us with inquiring eyes, and ourguns with something as like fear as his pride would allow him to show,bowed towards Good, whom he evidently took for the leader of the partyon account of the splendour of his apparel, and once more led the waythrough the door and to the foot of the great staircase. Here we pausedfor a moment to admire two colossal lions, each hewn from a single blockof pure black marble, and standing rampant on the terminations ofthe wide balustrades of the staircase. These lions are magnificentlyexecuted, and it is said were sculptured by Rademas, the great princewho designed the staircase, and who was without doubt, to judge from themany beautiful examples of his art that we saw afterwards, one of thefinest sculptors who ever lived, either in this or any other country.Then we climbed almost with a feeling of awe up that splendid stair,a work executed for all time and that will, I do not doubt, be admiredthousands of years hence by generations unborn unless an earthquakeshould throw it down. Even Umslopogaas, who as a general rule made ita point of honour not to show astonishment, which he consideredundignified, was fairly startled out of himself, and asked if the'bridge had been built by men or devils', which was his vague way ofalluding to any supernatural power. But Alphonse did not care about it.Its solid grandeur jarred upon the frivolous little Frenchman, who saidthat it was all 'tres magnifique, mais triste--ah, triste!' and went onto suggest that it would be improved if the balustrades were _gilt_.
On we went up the first flight of one hundred and twenty steps, acrossthe broad platform joining it to the second flight, where we pausedto admire the glorious view of one of the most beautiful stretches ofcountry 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 wefound a large standing space to which there were three entrances, allof small size. Two of these opened on to rather narrow galleries orroadways cut in the face of the precipice that ran round the palacewalls and led to the principal thoroughfares of the city, and wereused by the inhabitants passing up and down from the docks. These weredefended by gates of bronze, and also, as we afterwards learnt, it waspossible to let down a portion of the roadways themselves by withdrawingcertain bolts, and thus render it quite impracticable for an enemyto pass. The third entrance consisted of a flight of ten curved blackmarble steps leading to a doorway cut in the palace wall. This wall wasin itself a work of art, being built of huge blocks of granite tothe height of forty feet, and so fashioned that its face was concave,whereby it was rendered practically impossible for it to be scaled. Tothis doorway our guide led us. The door, which was massive, and madeof wood protected by an outer gate of bronze, was closed; but on ourapproach it was thrown wide, and we were met by the challenge of asentry, who was armed with a heavy triangular-bladed spear, not unlike abayonet in shape, and a cutting sword, and protected by breast and backplates of skilfully prepared hippopotamus hide, and a small round shieldfashioned of the same tough material. The sword instantly attracted ourattention; it was practically identical with the one in the possessionof Mr Mackenzie which he had obtained from the ill-starred wanderer.There was no mistaking the gold-lined fretwork cut in the thickness ofthe blade. So the man had told the truth after all. Our guide instantlygave a password, which the soldier acknowledged by letting the ironshaft of his spear fall with a ringing sound upon the pavement, and wepassed on through the massive wall into the courtyard of the palace.This was about forty yards square, and laid out in flower-beds full oflovely shrubs and plants, many of which were quite new to me. Throughthe centre of this garden ran a broad walk formed of powdered shellsbrought from the lake in the place of gravel. Following this we cameto another doorway with a round heavy arch, which is hung with thickcurtains, for there are no doors in the palace itself. Then came anothershort passage, and we were in the great hall of the palace, and oncemore stood astonished at the simple and yet overpowering grandeur of theplace.
The hall is, as we afterwards learnt, one hundred and fifty feet long byeighty wide, and has a magnificent arched roof of carved wood. Downthe entire length of the building there are on either side, and at adistance of twenty feet from the wall, slender shafts of black marblespringing sheer to the roof, beautifully fluted, and with carvedcapitals. At one end of this great place which these pillars support isthe group of which I have already spoken as executed by the King Rademasto commemorate his building of the staircase; and really, when we hadtime to admire it, its loveliness almost struck us dumb. The group, ofwhich the figures are in white, and the rest is black marble, isabout half as large again as life, and represents a young man ofnoble countenance and form sleeping heavily upon a couch. One arm iscarelessly thrown over the side of this couch, and his head reposes uponthe other, its curling locks partially hiding it. Bendi
ng over him,her hand resting on his forehead, is a draped female form of such whiteloveliness as to make the beholder's breath stand still. And as for thecalm glory that shines upon her perfect face--well, I can never hope todescribe it. But there it rests like the shadow of an angel's smile; andpower, love, and divinity all have their part in it. Her eyes are fixedupon the sleeping youth, and perhaps the most extraordinary thing aboutthis beautiful work is the success with which the artist has succeededin depicting on the sleeper's worn and weary face the sudden rising ofa new and spiritual thought as the spell begins to work within his mind.You can see that an inspiration is breaking in upon the darkness of theman's soul as the dawn breaks in upon the darkness of night. It is aglorious piece of statuary, and none but a genius could have conceivedit. Between each of the black marble columns is some such group offigures, some allegorical, and some representing the persons and wivesof deceased monarchs or great men; but none of them, in our opinion,comes up to the one I have described, although several are from the hand ofthe sculptor and engineer, King Rademas.
In the exact centre of the hall was a solid mass of black marble aboutthe size of a baby's arm-chair, which it rather resembled in appearance.This, as we afterwards learnt, was the sacred stone of this remarkablepeople, and on it their monarchs laid their hand after the ceremonyof coronation, and swore by the sun to safeguard the interests of theempire, and to maintain its customs, traditions, and laws. This stonewas evidently exceedingly ancient (as indeed all stones are), and wasscored down its sides with long marks or lines, which Sir Henry saidproved it to have been a fragment that at some remote period in itshistory had been ground in the iron jaws of glaciers. There was acurious prophecy about this block of marble, which was reported amongthe people to have fallen from the sun, to the effect that when it wasshattered into fragments a king of alien race should rule over theland. As the stone, however, looked remarkably solid, the native princesseemed to have a fair chance of keeping their own for many a long year.
At the end of the hall is a dais spread with rich carpets, on whichtwo thrones are set side by side. These thrones are shaped like greatchairs, and made of solid gold. The seats are richly cushioned, butthe backs are left bare, and on each is carved the emblem of the sun,shooting out his fiery rays in all directions. The footstools are goldenlions couchant, with yellow topazes set in them for eyes. There are noother gems about them.
The place is lighted by numerous but narrow windows, placed high up,cut on the principle of the loopholes to be seen in ancient castles, butinnocent of glass, which was evidently unknown here.
Such is a brief description of this splendid hall in which we now foundourselves, compiled of course from our subsequent knowledge of it.On this occasion we had but little time for observation, for when weentered we perceived that a large number of men were gathered togetherin front of the two thrones, which were unoccupied. The principal amongthem were seated on carved wooden chairs ranged to the right and theleft of the thrones, but not in front of them, and were dressed in whitetunics, with various embroideries and different coloured edgings, andarmed with the usual pierced and gold-inlaid swords. To judge from thedignity of their appearance, they seemed one and all to be individualsof very great importance. Behind each of these great men stood a smallknot of followers and attendants.
Seated by themselves, in a little group to the left of the throne, weresix men of a different stamp. Instead of wearing the ordinary kilt, theywere clothed in long robes of pure white linen, with the same symbol ofthe sun that is to be seen on the back of the chairs, emblazoned in goldthread upon the breast. This garment was girt up at the waist with asimple golden curb-like chain, from which hung long elliptic plates ofthe same metal, fashioned in shiny scales like those of a fish, that, astheir wearers moved, jingled and reflected the light. They were all menof mature age and of a severe and impressive cast of features, which wasrendered still more imposing by the long beards they wore.
The personality of one individual among them, however, impressed usat once. He seemed to stand out among his fellows and refuse to beoverlooked. He was very old--eighty at least--and extremely tall, witha long snow-white beard that hung nearly to his waist. His features wereaquiline and deeply cut, and his eyes were grey and cold-looking. Theheads of the others were bare, but this man wore a round cap entirelycovered with gold embroidery, from which we judged that he was a personof great importance; and indeed we afterwards discovered that he wasAgon, the High Priest of the country. As we approached, all these men,including the priests, rose and bowed to us with the greatest courtesy,at the same time placing the two fingers across the lips in salutation.Then soft-footed attendants advanced from between the pillars, bearingseats, which were placed in a line in front of the thrones. We three satdown, Alphonse and Umslopogaas standing behind us. Scarcely had we doneso when there came a blare of trumpets from some passage to the right,and a similar blare from the left. Next a man with a long white wandof ivory appeared just in front of the right-hand throne, and cried outsomething in a loud voice, ending with the word _Nyleptha_, repeatedthree times; and another man, similarly attired, called out a similarsentence before the other throne, but ending with the word _Sorais_,also repeated thrice. Then came the tramp of armed men from eachside entrance, and in filed about a score of picked and magnificentlyaccoutred guards, who formed up on each side of the thrones, and lettheir heavy iron-handled spears fall simultaneously with a clash uponthe black marble flooring. Another double blare of trumpets, and infrom either side, each attended by six maidens, swept the two Queens ofZu-Vendis, everybody in the hall rising to greet them as they came.
I have seen beautiful women in my day, and am no longer thrown intotransports at the sight of a pretty face; but language fails me when Itry to give some idea of the blaze of loveliness that then broke uponus in the persons of these sister Queens. Both were young--perhapsfive-and-twenty years of age--both were tall and exquisitely formed;but there the likeness stopped. One, Nyleptha, was a woman of dazzlingfairness; her right arm and breast bare, after the custom of her people,showed like snow even against her white and gold-embroidered 'kaf', ortoga. And as for her sweet face, all I can say is, that it was one thatfew men could look on and forget. Her hair, a veritable crown of gold,clustered in short ringlets over her shapely head, half hiding the ivorybrow, beneath which eyes of deep and glorious grey flashed out in tendermajesty. I cannot attempt to describe her other features, only themouth was most sweet, and curved like Cupid's bow, and over the wholecountenance there shone an indescribable look of loving-kindness, litup by a shadow of delicate humour that lay upon her face like a touch ofsilver on a rosy cloud.
She wore no jewels, but on her neck, arm, and knee were the usualtorques of gold, in this instance fashioned like a snake; and her dresswas of pure white linen of excessive fineness, plentifully embroideredwith gold and with the familiar symbols of the sun.
Her twin sister, Sorais, was of a different and darker type of beauty.Her hair was wavy like Nyleptha's but coal-black, and fell in masseson her shoulders; her complexion was olive, her eyes large, dark, andlustrous; the lips were full, and I thought rather cruel. Somehow herface, quiet and even cold as it is, gave an idea of passion in repose,and caused one to wonder involuntarily what its aspect would be ifanything occurred to break the calm. It reminded me of the deep sea,that even on the bluest days never loses its visible stamp of power, andin its murmuring sleep is yet instinct with the spirit of the storm.Her figure, like her sister's, was almost perfect in its curves andoutlines, but a trifle more rounded, and her dress was absolutely thesame.
As this lovely pair swept onwards to their respective thrones, amid thedeep attentive silence of the Court, I was bound to confess to myselfthat they did indeed fulfil my idea of royalty. Royal they were inevery way--in form, in grace, and queenly dignity, and in the barbaricsplendour of their attendant pomp. But methought that they needed noguards or gold to proclaim their power and bind the loyalty of waywardmen. A glance from those brigh
t eyes or a smile from those sweet lips,and while the red blood runs in the veins of youth women such as thesewill never lack subjects ready to do their biddings to the death.
But after all they were women first and queens afterwards, and thereforenot devoid of curiosity. As they passed to their seats I saw both ofthem glance swiftly in our direction. I saw, too, that their eyes passedby me, seeing nothing to charm them in the person of an insignificantand grizzled old man. Then they looked with evident astonishment onthe grim form of old Umslopogaas, who raised his axe in salutation.Attracted next by the splendour of Good's apparel, for a second theirglance rested on him like a humming moth upon a flower, then off itdarted to where Sir Henry Curtis stood, the sunlight from a windowplaying upon his yellow hair and peaked beard, and marking the outlinesof his massive frame against the twilight of the somewhat gloomy hall.He raised his eyes, and they met the fair Nyleptha's full, and thus forthe first time the goodliest man and woman that it has ever been my lotto see looked one upon another. And why it was I know not, but I saw theswift blood run up Nyleptha's skin as the pink lights run up the morningsky. Red grew her fair bosom and shapely arm, red the swanlike neck; therounded cheeks blushed red as the petals of a rose, and then the crimsonflood sank back to whence it came and left her pale and trembling.
I glanced at Sir Henry. He, too, had coloured up to the eyes.
'Oh, my word!' thought I to myself, 'the ladies have come on the stage,and now we may look to the plot to develop itself.' And I sighed andshook my head, knowing that the beauty of a woman is like the beautyof the lightning--a destructive thing and a cause of desolation. Bythe time that I had finished my reflections both the Queens were on thethrones, for all this had happened in about six seconds. Once more theunseen trumpets blared out, and then the Court seated itself, and QueenSorais motioned to us to do likewise.
Next from among the crowd whither he had withdrawn stepped forward ourguide, the old gentleman who had towed us ashore, holding by thehand the girl whom we had seen first and afterwards rescued from thehippopotamus. Having made obeisance he proceeded to address the Queens,evidently describing to them the way and place where we had been found.It was most amusing to watch the astonishment, not unmixed with fear,reflected upon their faces as they listened to his tale. Clearly theycould not understand how we had reached the lake and been found floatingon it, and were inclined to attribute our presence to supernaturalcauses. Then the narrative proceeded, as I judged from the frequentappeals that our guide made to the girl, to the point where we had shotthe hippopotami, and we at once perceived that there was somethingvery wrong about those hippopotami, for the history was frequentlyinterrupted by indignant exclamations from the little group ofwhite-robed priests and even from the courtiers, while the two Queenslistened with an amazed expression, especially when our guide pointed tothe rifles in our hands as being the means of destruction. And here, tomake matters clear, I may as well explain at once that the inhabitantsof Zu-Vendis are sun-worshippers, and that for some reason or anotherthe hippopotamus is sacred among them. Not that they do not kill it,because at a certain season of the year they slaughter thousands--whichare specially preserved in large lakes up the country--and use theirhides for armour for soldiers; but this does not prevent them fromconsidering these animals as sacred to the sun. {Endnote 11} Now, as illluck would have it, the particular hippopotami we had shot were a familyof tame animals that were kept in the mouth of the port and daily fed bypriests whose special duty it was to attend to them. When we shot themI thought that the brutes were suspiciously tame, and this was, as weafterwards ascertained, the cause of it. Thus it came about that inattempting to show off we had committed sacrilege of a most aggravatednature.
When our guide had finished his tale, the old man with the long beardand round cap, whose appearance I have already described, and who was,as I have said, the High Priest of the country, and known by the nameof Agon, rose and commenced an impassioned harangue. I did not like thelook of his cold grey eye as he fixed it on us. I should have liked itstill less had I known that in the name of the outraged majesty of hisgod he was demanding that the whole lot of us should be offered up as asacrifice by means of being burnt alive.
After he had finished speaking the Queen Sorais addressed him in a softand musical voice, and appeared, to judge from his gestures of dissent,to be putting the other side of the question before him. Then Nylepthaspoke in liquid accents. Little did we know that she was pleading forour lives. Finally, she turned and addressed a tall, soldierlike man ofmiddle age with a black beard and a long plain sword, whose name, aswe afterwards learnt, was Nasta, and who was the greatest lord in thecountry; apparently appealing to him for support. Now when Sir Henryhad caught her eye and she had blushed so rosy red, I had seen that theincident had not escaped this man's notice, and, what is more, thatit was eminently disagreeable to him, for he bit his lip and hishand tightened on his sword-hilt. Afterwards we learnt that he was anaspirant for the hand of this Queen in marriage, which accounted for it.This being so, Nyleptha could not have appealed to a worse person, for,speaking in slow, heavy tones, he appeared to confirm all that the HighPriest Agon had said. As he spoke, Sorais put her elbow on her knee,and, resting her chin on her hand, looked at him with a suppressed smileupon her lips, as though she saw through the man, and was determined tobe his match; but Nyleptha grew very angry, her cheek flushed, her eyesflashed, and she did indeed look lovely. Finally she turned to Agon andseemed to give some sort of qualified assent, for he bowed at her words;and as she spoke she moved her hands as though to emphasize what shesaid; while all the time Sorais kept her chin on her hand and smiled.Then suddenly Nyleptha made a sign, the trumpets blew again, andeverybody rose to leave the hall save ourselves and the guards, whom shemotioned to stay.
When they were all gone she bent forward and, smiling sweetly, partiallyby signs and partially by exclamations made it clear to us that shewas very anxious to know where we came from. The difficulty was how toexplain, but at last an idea struck me. I had my large pocket-book inmy pocket and a pencil. Taking it out, I made a little sketch of a lake,and then as best I could I drew the underground river and the lakeat the other end. When I had done this I advanced to the steps of thethrone and gave it to her. She understood it at once and clapped herhands with delight, and then descending from the throne took it to hersister Sorais, who also evidently understood. Next she took the pencilfrom me, and after examining it with curiosity proceeded to make aseries of delightful little sketches, the first representing herselfholding out both hands in welcome, and a man uncommonly like Sir Henrytaking them. Next she drew a lovely little picture of a hippopotamusrolling about dying in the water, and of an individual, in whom we hadno difficulty in recognizing Agon the High Priest, holding up hishands in horror on the bank. Then followed a most alarming picture of adreadful fiery furnace and of the same figure, Agon, poking us into itwith a forked stick. This picture perfectly horrified me, but I was alittle reassured when she nodded sweetly and proceeded to make a fourthdrawing--a man again uncommonly like Sir Henry, and of two women, inwhom I recognized Sorais and herself, each with one arm around him, andholding a sword in protection over him. To all of these Sorais, whoI saw was employed in carefully taking us all in--especiallyCurtis--signified her approval by nodding.
At last Nyleptha drew a final sketch of a rising sun, indicating thatshe must go, and that we should meet on the following morning; whereatSir Henry looked so disappointed that she saw it, and, I suppose byway of consolation, extended her hand to him to kiss, which he did withpious fervour. At the same time Sorais, off whom Good had never takenhis eyeglass during the whole indaba [interview], rewarded him by givinghim her hand to kiss, though, while she did so, her eyes were fixedupon Sir Henry. I am glad to say that I was not implicated in theseproceedings; neither of them gave _me_ her hand to kiss.
Then Nyleptha turned and addressed the man who appeared to be incommand of the bodyguard, apparently from her manner and his frequentobeisances, giv
ing him very stringent and careful orders; after which,with a somewhat coquettish nod and smile, she left the hall, followed bySorais and most of the guards.
When the Queens had gone, the officer whom Nyleptha had addressedcame forward and with many tokens of deep respect led us from the hallthrough various passages to a sumptuous set of apartments opening out ofa large central room lighted with brazen swinging lamps (for it was nowdusk) and richly carpeted and strewn with couches. On a table in thecentre of the room was set a profusion of food and fruit, and, what ismore, flowers. There was a delicious wine also in ancient-looking sealedearthenware flagons, and beautifully chased golden and ivory cups todrink it from. Servants, male and female, also were there to minister tous, and whilst we ate, from some recess outside the apartment
'The silver lute did speak between The trumpet's lordly blowing;'
and altogether we found ourselves in a sort of earthly paradise whichwas only disturbed by the vision of that disgusting High Priest whointended to commit us to the flames. But so very weary were we withour labours that we could scarcely keep ourselves awake through thesumptuous meal, and as soon as it was over we indicated that we desiredto sleep. As a further precaution against surprise we left Umslopogaaswith his axe to sleep in the main chamber near the curtained doorwaysleading to the apartments which we occupied respectively, Good and I inthe one, and Sir Henry and Alphonse in the other. Then throwing off ourclothes, with the exception of the mail shirts, which we considered itsafer to keep on, we flung ourselves down upon the low and luxuriouscouches, and drew the silk-embroidered coverlids over us.
In two minutes I was just dropping off when I was aroused by Good'svoice.
'I say, Quatermain,' he said, 'did you ever see such eyes?'
'Eyes!' I said, crossly; 'what eyes?'
'Why, the Queen's, of course! Sorais, I mean--at least I think that isher name.'
'Oh, I don't know,' I yawned; 'I didn't notice them much: I suppose theyare good eyes,' and again I dropped off.
Five minutes or so elapsed, and I was once more awakened.
'I say, Quatermain,' said the voice.
'Well,' I answered testily, 'what is it now?'
'Did you notice her ankle? The shape--'
This was more than I could stand. By my bed stood the veldtschoons I hadbeen wearing. Moved quite beyond myself, I took them up and threw themstraight at Good's head--and hit it.
Afterwards I slept the sleep of the just, and a very heavy sleep it mustbe. As for Good, I don't know if he went to sleep or if he continued topass Sorais' beauties in mental review, and, what is more, I don't care.
CHAPTER XIII ABOUT THE ZU-VENDI PEOPLE
Allan Quatermain Page 13