In Search of El Dorado

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER TWELVE.

  GUESTS--OR PRISONERS?

  The camp was astir with the coming of dawn on the following morning; andafter an early breakfast the expedition started, under Dick's guidance,for the gateway, which was reached shortly before noon. As the partyapproached, the sentinel was seen pacing to and fro across the parapet,as on the preceding afternoon; and that he was keeping a sharp look-outwas manifest, for the little band had scarcely emerged from the pinewood in which Dick had halted for his mid-day meal on the preceding day,when the man was seen to pause in his monotonous march to and fro andgaze toward them under the shadow of his hand. Then, apparentlysatisfied that the party were bound for the gateway, he was seen to movea few paces and bend over, with his hand to his mouth, as thoughshouting to someone below, after which he resumed his march as before,occasionally eyeing the strangers as they approached.

  Arrived at length at the gateway, it was seen that the structureconsisted of a wall, some thirty feet high, very solidly built of greatblocks of masonry dressed to a perfectly smooth face, and so accuratelyjointed that, even at the distance of a few paces, the joints werescarcely perceptible. The wall was built with a vertical face to aheight of some twenty feet, above which it swelled outward in the formknown as a "bull-nose," the upper surface of which sloped so steeplyupward as to render it unclimbable; so that, even if a man, or men,should climb as far as the swell of the bull-nose by means of a pole orladder, the would-be intruders could get no farther. The wall wassemi-circular in plan, jutting out from the edge of the cliff for adistance of some fifteen feet at either end and descending the face ofthe cliff, diminishing as it went, until it died away to nothing, somefifty feet below, rendering it an impossibility for anyone to pass roundeither end of it. The middle of the wall was so constructed as to forma watch-tower, some thirty feet square, with a flat roof, upon which itappeared a sentinel was always posted; and it was in the base of thewatch-tower that the gateway, about ten feet wide, was pierced, theopening being filled with a pair of wooden doors of exceedingly solidconstruction.

  As the party halted, the sentinel, who wore a burnished helmet andcorselet that flashed in the sun like gold and was the colour of gold,leaned over the parapet and shouted to them what seemed to be aninquiry; but the words, though quite distinctly pronounced, were utterlyunintelligible to all.

  "Wants to know our business, I guess," remarked Earle. "Step forward,Inaguy, and explain that we wish to pay our respects to his majesty, ElDorado. Try him in all the dialects you happen to be acquainted with."

  Inaguy accordingly stepped forward and did his best, but without avail;the sentinel, though he listened attentively to all that was said, couldevidently make nothing of it, replying only with shakes of the head.

  "It is the usual fate of the explorer who enters a new country,"remarked Earle. "He is unable to understand or make himself understood.But there is always the language of signs to fall back upon. Let mesee what I can do in that way."

  Stepping forward and thus claiming the sentinel's attention, he pointedfirst to himself, then to Dick, then, with a comprehensive wave of thehand, to the Indian carriers, and finally to the door, motioning withhis hands as though opening it. This seemed to be intelligible to thesentinel, for he nodded, and stepping aside a few paces, shouted a fewwords to someone below in the interior of the tower. A few momentslater a second man appeared on the top of the tower and, approaching theparapet, regarded the would-be visitors intently. The inspectionappeared to result satisfactorily, for a few moments later hedisappeared; a short interval of waiting ensued, then the gate swungopen, and he came fearlessly forward, while the gates swung to behindhim, and there was a sound of ponderous bars being shot into theirsockets.

  Judging from the richness of his dress and the quiet dignity of hismanner, the man was probably an officer. He was apparently about thirtyyears of age, some five feet ten inches in height, and was well-madethough perhaps a trifle slight in build. In complexion he was somewhatsallow, but he was distinctly good-looking, with a somewhat Hebrew castof features, and with coal-black hair, eyebrows, beard and moustache,the beard trimmed square, and the hair worn rather long, trimmed squareacross the nape of the neck, with a short fringe trimmed square acrossthe forehead. His eyes were black and piercing, but there was astraightforward honest look in them that instantly created a favourableimpression. He was attired in helmet and corselet, apparently of gold,like those worn by the sentinel, but with the addition of a splendidplume of long black feathers surmounting his helmet. Beneath hiscorselet appeared a sort of skirt of fine chain mail reaching to justbelow the knees, and his legs were protected by greaves made of the samemetal as the rest of his armour. His feet were encased in buskins, asash of black and yellow passed over his left shoulder and was knottedupon his right hip, while at his left dangled a short sword encased in ajewelled scabbard, supported by a jewelled belt or chain of broad links,all made of the same gold-like metal. As he strode forward, his eyesglancing questioningly from Earle to Dick and back again, he threw uphis open right hand, palm forward, and said a few words, which soundedlike a greeting, in a full but very pleasant tone of voice. Like thespeech of the sentinel, his words were quite unintelligible to thoseaddressed, but his action seemed easily interpretable as the sign ofpeace, and Earle instantly imitated it.

  "Thanks, old chap," the American replied, beaming amiably upon thesoldier; "it is good of you to say so; but I'm awfully sorry that Ican't understand you. The fact is, you know, that I and my friendCavendish"--he indicated Dick with a wave of his hand--"have come allthe way from New York expressly to discover your city--which I learn iscalled Ulua--"

  The officer instantly caught the name Ulua and repeated it, smilinglypointing in the direction of the city.

  "Yes," proceeded Earle, "that is so. I guess you get me all right. Wewant to go in through that gate and make the acquaintance of your king,El Dorado, or whatever his name may be. Do you get that?"

  All this was accompanied by much gesture, but it did not seem to be veryilluminating to the officer, who merely repeated the word Ulua, pointingagain toward the city. Then, pointing to himself, he pronounced theword "Adoni," following it up by pointing at Earle, and uttering a wordthat sounded like "Hu."

  "Yes, sirree, I get you all right," was Earle's reply as he gripped theastonished man's right hand and shook it heartily, smiling in his eyesas he did so. "Gee!" he exclaimed, turning to Dick, "we're getting onlike a house afire. He says his name is Adoni, and he asks who I am.Isn't that right, old golden image?"

  The "old golden image" looked a trifle nonplussed for a moment, butpresently repeated his last performance; upon which Earle remarked:

  "Of course, I knew I wasn't mistaken. You sir," pointing, "are namedAdoni--" The officer nodded. "And I," he continued pointing to himself,"am named Earle--_Earle_. You get that?"

  "Adoni," replied the officer, pointing to himself, "Earle"--pointing tothe owner of the name.

  "Right!" agreed Earle. "You are a quite intelligent guy, if I may bepermitted to say so. And this youngster's name is Dick--Dick. That'seasy enough to remember, isn't it?"

  "Adoni," replied the officer, again pointing to himself. "Earle--Dick,"pointing first to one and then the other.

  "Sure!" exclaimed Earle, delighted with the progress which he consideredhe was making. "I knew there must be a way of making you understand."And he proceeded to explain all over again, and speaking very slowly,with plenty of gesture, his desire that he and his party might beallowed to pass through the gate and visit the city of Ulua. It was atedious and lengthy process, but apparently it was in the end attendedwith a certain measure of success, for eventually the officer shouted anorder, the gate was thrown open, and, taking Dick and Earle each by anarm, Adoni led the pair through. Inaguy and the other Indians, who hadgrounded their burdens while the long colloquy was proceeding, hastenedto resume them and follow the white men, but before they could do sotheir leaders were inside, and the gate w
as bolted and barred upon them.

  Taken by surprise for the moment, Earle did not realise what washappening until it was too late; but the instant that he did so he brokefree from Adoni's grasp and dashed up a flight of steps, which he saw alittle ahead of him, and which he rightly guessed led up to the parapet.Arrived there he brushed aside the sentinel, who half-heartedly soughtto bar his way and, rushing to the parapet, ordered Inaguy and the restto remain where they were, and on no account to think of departing, forhe would certainly arrange, sooner or later, for their admission. Thenhe calmly descended and surrendered himself to the astonished andsomewhat amused Adoni, who said a few words which sounded as though theywere intended to be reassuring.

  Resuming the _role_ of guide, Adoni now conducted the pair into a roomin the rear portion of the tower, in which was a window opening,unglazed, affording a delightful view of the valley and lake, with theroad leading thereto; and here they were turned over to another officer,who by signs, indicated a request that the strangers should remove theirouter garments. Earle at first evinced a disposition to refuse thisrequest, but Dick was less fastidious, and stripped to the waist withoutdemur, whereupon the unnamed officer, who was evidently a physician ofsorts, after glancing admiringly at the young Englishman's stalwartproportions and magnificent muscular development--to which heparticularly drew Adoni's attention--proceeded to tap Dick on the chestand between the shoulders, listen to the action of his heart and lungs,punch him in the ribs, and act generally as though he were examining thelad on behalf of a life insurance company; finally expressing hisapproval of the youngster's physical condition in a manner which therewas no possibility of mistaking.

  Then Earle was again invited to subject himself to the same ordeal, andthis time he did so without demur, stripping off first his thin linenjacket, and next the light woollen singlet which he was wearing as asubstitute for a shirt.

  And now came a startling surprise. For the removal of Earle's singletrevealed the curious lozenge-shaped jewel with its inset emerald, whichhe had removed from the neck of the idol in the sculptured cavediscovered by Dick, and which the American had ever since worn round hisneck for safe keeping. No sooner did the eyes of the examining officerglimpse the jewel than he uttered a strange cry, suggestive of theutmost astonishment. He gazed upon it with awe-struck eyes, drewcautiously near to inspect it more closely, half stretched forth a hand,seemingly to touch it, and then, suddenly, saying something to Adoniwhich seemed to suggest that a most wonderful and amazing thing hadhappened, prostrated himself at Earle's feet, an example which Adoniinstantly followed.

  "Now, what in the nation does this mean?" demanded Earle in a low voiceof Dick. "Why are these two guys kowtowing to me in this fashion? Gee!They surely don't think that I'm some fancy god of theirs, come downfrom Olympus to visit them, as a special mark of favour, do they?"

  "Well, it looks very much like it, by the way that they are carryingon," returned Dick. "I think that it might help matters a bit, both nowand in the future, if you were to play up to the idea and infuse ageneral air of benevolent condescension into your intercourse with them.I don't see that it could possibly do any harm. Do you?"

  "Don't know," answered Earle. "It might if, later on, they were to cometo me and demand that I do some impossible thing for them. But, on theother hand, I guess it would be up to me to refuse, if I chose. On thewhole, perhaps--and yet, I don't know--Yes, I guess I'll try it, and seehow it works."

  Bending down, he lightly touched the two officers upon the shoulder and,when they ventured to glance up at him, graciously signed to them torise, which they did, with every mark of the most profound reverence.From that moment there was no further trouble. Without waiting forpermission from the examining officer, Earle calmly resumed his singletand coat, taking care now, however, to leave fully exposed the jewel, oramulet, or whatever it was, that had produced such a wonderful effect;and this done, he signed to Adoni to open the gate and admit Inaguy andthe rest of the Indians, which was instantly done. In the meantime,while the Indians were with much deliberation gathering up their loadsand adjusting them upon their shoulders, in response to Earle'sreassuring call, Adoni and the other officer had withdrawn to a littledistance and were plunged into an earnest, anxious consultation, theresult of which was that, a few minutes later, a man, naked save for asort of breech cloth wrapped about his loins, started out from the guardhouse and set off down the road leading to the city, as though runningfor his life.

  As the last of the Indians passed through the gateway, the massivetimber gates were closed and securely barred behind them, and Earle andDick stepped forward to place themselves at their head, intending toresume their march toward Ulua. But Adoni, perceiving their intention,at once intervened and, firmly yet with the utmost reverence of manner,intimated by signs an earnest desire that the party would postpone theirdeparture. He did this by standing before them in the middle of theroad, with his arms outstretched as though to bar the way; then hesigned to the Indians to remove themselves to a wide plot of grass bythe side of the road and deposit their burden there; and finallybeckoned the two white men to accompany him into the guard house, wherehe conducted them into a plainly but comfortably furnished room, andsigned to them a request to rest themselves upon a couple of coucheswhich he indicated, at the same time giving them to understand that ameal would presently be served to them.

  Earle, well pleased at the success which had attended his effort topenetrate to the interior of the forbidden country, signified hisacquiescence by seating himself on one of the couches, whereupon Adoni,equally well pleased, withdrew, with a profound bow, leaving the twofriends to themselves.

  "Well," remarked Earle, rising from the couch and gazing withsatisfaction upon the glorious prospect of lake and valley revealed bythe window opening before which he placed himself, "we are inside thegate, and that is something achieved, anyway. For, at first, I fearedthat they were going to refuse us admission, and if they had done so Iguess we should have found it a pretty difficult matter to get in. Butour friend Adoni has evidently no authority to allow us to go on withoutfirst referring to the boss, whoever he may be; and I guess that nakedrunner was the bearer of a report and a request for furtherinstructions. Now of course our line of conduct will be to conform tothe manners and customs of the natives, so far as may be, and give notrouble; for our only object in coming here is to see the country andthe people, and that can best be accomplished by keeping on good termswith everybody; therefore we will just let them make all thearrangements, and we will fall in with them. But I have great hopesfrom the possession of this jewel, which evidently has some powerfulmystic significance in the eyes of these people. Adoni and the otherfellow appeared to recognise it at once, and there can be no question asto the reverence with which they regard it. Judging from the behaviourof those two, the thing ought to secure us a very favourable receptionat headquarters. I wish I knew the history of it."

  "We shall perhaps learn that later on," returned Dick. "And Ianticipate that when we do, it will prove both curious and romantic.The mere finding of it in that wonderful cavern was remarkable enough,but the astonishment and delight of Adoni at recognising it were stillmore remarkable, to my mind. To me, their behaviour was that of mensuddenly brought face to face with something that they had almostdespaired of ever seeing again."

  "Yes, I guess you are right," agreed Earle. "Not that either of thosetwo could ever have actually seen the thing, for it must have lainhidden in that cave for--well, a hundred years or more, I should say.But be that as it may, it is evidently in their eyes an object ofextraordinary sanctity, and should--indeed, most probably does--confersome very special privileges upon its possessor, of which I shall feeljustified in making the fullest use."

  The pair were still chatting in a somewhat desultory fashion when twomen, evidently servants, entered the room, bearing a table already setfor a meal, and they were immediately followed by others who brought inseveral smoking dishes of food, a jar of a light
kind of wine, anopen-work metal tray heaped with small cakes, and a piled-up basket offruit, consisting of oranges, grapes, nectarines, and one or two otherkinds which neither Earle nor Dick was able to identify. The plates,dishes, and drinking-cups were unmistakably of gold, but quite plain, aswere the dagger-like knives and a kind of skewer which was evidentlyintended to serve as a fork. The food consisted of a stew, apparentlyof kid's flesh, a roasted bird about the size of, and somewhat similarin flavour to, a duck, roasted yams, ears of green maize, boiled, and adish of some kind of bean which both pronounced delicious; indeed themeal as a whole was excellent, and was done full justice to by bothparticipants. The wine, too, if wine it was, was almost icy cold, andof exceedingly agreeable though somewhat peculiar flavour, and wasapparently unfermented, for although both drank freely of it, it mighthave been pure water, so far as its intoxicant effect was concerned. Atthe conclusion of the meal Earle produced his pipe and, lighting up,sallied forth with Dick, to see how the Indian bearers were faring; hisappearance, with smoke issuing from his mouth and nostrils, again soprofoundly impressing the beholders that they were once more impelled toprostrate themselves as he passed by. The Indians, with characteristicphilosophy, had camped on the grass plot at the side of the guard house,and had been as well cared for in their way as had their masters, andwere evidently quite satisfied with the state of affairs in general.

  The afternoon was well advanced when, as Dick and Earle sat in theembrasure of the window, looking out over the lake and valley, andchatting together upon the sort of reception which they might expectfrom the Uluans, they observed a light yellow cloud-like appearanceacross the lake, on that side of it upon which the city was built, andbringing their glasses to bear upon it, they perceived that it was dust,in the midst of which could be perceived the forms of horsemen and theglitter of accoutrements. After careful scrutiny, Earle pronounced thetroop to be about a hundred strong, and it appeared to be advancing at afairly rapid pace.

  While the American kept his glasses bearing upon the cavalcade, Dickpermitted his gaze to search the nearer landscape; and it was while hewas thus engaged that he detected another and much smaller dust cloud,almost immediately beneath the guard house, on the road which woundround the south-eastern extremity of the lake toward that part of thevalley where the cliff road leading to the guard house began. Focussinghis glasses on this smaller dust cloud, he saw that it was caused by agroup of three horsemen who were riding as if for their lives. Judgingfrom the richness of their garb and the sumptuous trappings of theirhorses, they were persons of considerable consequence, and Dick, whoalways had an eye for detail, noticed that two of them, who rode ahorse's length in the rear of the third, carried each a capacious rollor bundle of some sort strapped to the bow of his saddle. He directedEarle's attention to the little group; and together they watched ituntil it disappeared round a bend in the road.

  "Coming here, I guess," pronounced Earle. And half an hour later hissurmise proved to be correct, for, still watching from the window, thepair again sighted the trio of horsemen urging their animals at topspeed up the gentle slope of the cliff road toward the guard house.

  A few minutes later the trio reined up their winded and sweat-latheredsteeds and dismounted at the door of the guard house, where they weremet and greeted with profound respect by Adoni; and while the leader,accompanied by Adoni, entered the building, the other two busiedthemselves unstrapping from their saddle bows the bundles which Dick hadnoticed, and bearing which they presently followed their leader.

  For fully twenty minutes the newcomers remained in close conference withAdoni and the officer who had acted the part of medical examiner--andwhose name, it transpired, was Camma--and at the end of the conferencethey were conducted by the two officers into the presence of Earle andDick. It was Adoni who presented them, naming them respectively, Acor--who subsequently proved to be the captain of King Juda's guard--Tedekand Kedah, the two latter being lieutenants in Acor's corps. They wereall fine, upstanding men, of distinctly imperious and haughty bearing--Acor perhaps exhibiting those characteristics most markedly, as was onlynatural, considering the exalted position which he occupied at Court,and the almost autocratic authority which he wielded; nevertheless, atthe sight of Earle's talisman, they suddenly subdued their haughtydemeanour to one of deep reverence, and bowed low before the American,with their hands crossed upon their breasts, while they murmured a fewwords, which sounded like something in the nature of an invocation.Then they turned to Dick and, with a glance of admiration at hisstalwart frame, bowed again, though with somewhat less of deference thanthey had manifested toward Earle. As for Earle, he did his best to actup to the distinguished position into which Fate seemed to havepitch-forked him, returning the bows of the officers with a slightinclination of the head and a still slighter flexure of the body, whilehe gazed upon them with a kind of bland abstraction; Dick imitating hisfriend's deportment as closely as possible, though there was a gleam offrankness and friendliness in his eyes which Earle had not permitted toappear in his.

  Notwithstanding a certain suggestion of reserve in the demeanour of thenew arrivals, they could not altogether conceal the astonishment theyevidently felt at the style and cut of the white men's clothes--by thistime very much the worse for wear and travel stains--which afforded somarked a contrast to their own splendid habiliments. The three officerswere attired alike in helmets, corselets, greaves, and gauntlets of goldplate worn over a shirt of fine chain mail, also made of gold, and werearmed with short swords, encased in golden scabbards suspended frombelts consisting of gold plaques linked together. But there werecertain differences in the uniform of the three; for whereas the plumeswhich adorned the helmets of the two lieutenants were black, those oftheir chief were red; and whereas their helmets were perfectly plain,Acor's was richly decorated with embossed ornamentation. Also the armsof the two lieutenants were bare from corselet to gauntlet, while Acor'swere clad in sleeves of thin red silk. The lieutenants' sashes wereblack and yellow; that of the captain red; they wore buskins of whiteleather, while his feet and legs were encased in golden armour to justbelow the knee; and lastly, his sword hilt, belt and scabbard were muchmore richly ornamented than theirs.

  The introduction having been effected, Acor addressed himself at somelength and with much gesture to Earle. Precisely what he said was ofcourse unintelligible to the white men; but they gathered some hint ofmeaning from his gestures, which they interpreted--rightly, asafterwards transpired--as a sort of qualified welcome to Ulua, foundedentirely upon Earle's possession of the mysterious amulet. Acorconcluded his address by beckoning forward his two lieutenants anddirecting the attention of the white men to the contents of the bundles,which, when unrolled, proved to be two dresses made of an exceedinglyfine, silky sort of woollen material. The dresses consisted of a sortof singlet without sleeves, a pair of short pants somewhat like thoseworn by football players, and an outer garment, cut somewhat like ashirt, but rather longer, the hem reaching to just below the knee. Thisgarment, made quite loose, was confined at the waist by a belt. Thecostumes were completed by the addition of sandals and a kind of turban.But the two costumes, although similar in cut, were different inappearance; for while that which was offered for Earle's acceptance wasdecorated with turquoise blue braid sewn round the edges of the outergarment in a broad pattern very similar to the Greek "key" pattern, withan edging of bead fringe of the same colour, the ornamentation of thecostume offered to Dick consisted of an elaborate pattern beautifullyworked in red braid, with a fringe of red beads. The turbans, too, weresomewhat different in shape, Earle's being considerably the higher ofthe two, intertwined with a rope of large blue beads, while Dick's wasperfectly plain. Recognising that Acor was inviting them to acceptthese garments and don them, the two white men bowed their assent andtook the garments, whereupon Acor and his lieutenants retired, leavingEarle and Dick to themselves. Truth to tell, the presented garmentswere most acceptable gifts, for not only were the clothes which theexplore
rs were wearing grimy and tattered, but, having been originallydesigned for hard service, they were also unpleasantly heavy and hot, sothat their owners were only too glad to discard them in favour of othersmuch more suited to the climate, and the pair lost no time in effectingthe change.

  They had scarcely done so when the sound of horses' hoofs approaching upthe road attracted their attention, and going to the window, theyperceived a dozen horsemen, with two led horses, galloping toward theguard house. A few minutes later, these having arrived, Acor presentedhimself, and by signs invited the two white men to follow him. Thisthey did, passing out of the guard house just as three servants ledforth the horses of Acor and his two lieutenants, which meanwhile hadbeen groomed and fed. Then, as the two white men stepped forth into theopen, each of the newly-arrived horsemen flung up his right hand insalute and shouted a word that sounded remarkably like "Hail!" The twoled horses were then brought forward, and with a gesture of deference,Acor invited his two guests--or were they prisoners?--to mount.

  The horses were beautiful animals, full of mettle and fire,notwithstanding the journey which they had just performed, and they weremost sumptuously caparisoned, the saddles, though differently shapedfrom the European or American article, being made of soft leather,thickly padded, with a handsome saddle cloth beneath, under which againwas a fine net made of thin silk cord, reaching from the animal'swithers to his tail, the edges of the net being fringed with smalltassels.

  Earle was of course an accomplished horseman, riding indeed like acowboy, and therefore, out of a feeling of compassion for his companion,he chose what appeared to be the most mettlesome of the two profferedhorses; but Dick, although a sailor, had also learned how to keep hisseat upon a horse's back, and the manner in which the pair lightly swungthemselves up into the saddle, and the easy grace with which theyretained their seats, despite the curvetting and prancing of theirsteeds, evoked a low murmur of admiration from the beholders as thelatter formed up round the white men.

  Then, just as Adoni and Camma were bidding their strange guests arespectful farewell, Earle noticed that his Indian followers and all hisgoods had disappeared.

  "Say!" he exclaimed, seizing Acor by the arm and pointing to the spotwhere the Indians had been camped a couple of hours earlier--"where aremy Indians? Surely, you haven't turned them out, have you?"

  The tone of voice in which the question was put and the gesture whichaccompanied it were evidently quite intelligible, for Acor instantlyreplied in deferential tones, at the same time pointing down the road;and, sure enough, after the cavalcade had proceeded about two miles,Inaguy and his companions were overtaken, trudging cheerfully alongunder the escort of a man who both Dick and Earle remembered having seenabout the guard house earlier in the day.

  The two friends, with their escort, reached the foot of the cliff road,after a ride of some six miles, shortly after the sun had disappearedbehind the mountains at the western end of the valley. They were now inthe valley itself, with mountains hemming them in on every hand; and asthey gazed upward in wonder at the high, vertical cliffs all round them,they realised at last that they were inside an absolutely impregnablefortress, hewn out of the mountain range by the hand of Nature herself,and accessible only by air, or by the road which they had justtraversed. After a thoroughly comprehensive survey of theirsurroundings, Earle explained to Dick that the only theory upon which hecould account for so extraordinary a formation was, that thousands, orpossibly even millions, of years ago the valley had been the crater of agigantic volcano which, after the volcano had become extinct, hadgradually filled with debris, leaving a depression in the middle, whichin process of time, had become a lake. And, indeed, if the theory of avolcano upon so gigantic a scale could but be accepted, it looked verymuch as though Earle's explanation might be correct; for the soil of thevalley--a belt of flat land some two miles wide, extending all round thelake--was light and friable, but extraordinarily rich, as is apt to bethe case with volcanic soil, while the vertical cliffs which hemmed itin all round bore a striking resemblance to the interior of certainwell-known craters.

  Just clear of the foot of the cliff road the party came upon anencampment, easily recognisable as that of the body of soldiers seenadvancing from the city earlier in the day; and here the night wasspent, the two white men being housed in a capacious tent, mostluxuriously furnished and adorned, in which, shortly after theirarrival, a meal of so elaborate a description, that it might almost betermed a banquet, was served to them by a staff of reverentiallyobsequious servants, and in which they subsequently slept the sleep ofthe just, on great piles of soft rugs spread upon the short grass.