Part 14 (1/2)
”At least, tell ht here, and whither you are taking me”
”My name is Sylvia Cervantes,” replied ht here, ask the wise-ones whom you shall presently see
Yonder islands are the Islands of Engano”
In the surprise which her words occasioned I alun to burn within ht of how basely I had been betrayed Before me were the wonderful Male and Fee with Dirk Hartog in quest of adventure Well, here was an adventure awaiting me that was likely to prove the most remarkable I had yet encountered
As we drew near, to one of the islands, I was impressed by the extrehts, forainst the sky, while between the lofty walls, verdant valleys stretched down to the white, sandy beaches, upon which the waves broke in glistening spume Toward a beach, somewhere about the centre of the island, our course was laid, and upon coirls shi+pped their paddles and sprang into the water, when, with others helping the no ht than if I had been a child
I now observed as, which, at one tih state of civilization They were in ruins, and overgrown by flowering shrubs and creepers, but were apparently still used as habitations for it was to one of these houses I was presently conducted Here I was invited to rest and refresh myself with some delicious fruit that was set beforetasted before
Sylvia Cervantes now joined ot ave myself up to the luxury and enjoyment of the moment
From Sylvia I learnt the history of my capture, and why she had co inquired ave her, Sylvia continued as follows:--
”You must know, then, Peter,” she said, ”that we are ruled here by custoed The wise-ones who live on the mountain tops tell us what to do, and we do it without question The wise-ones are not as others are They see what others cannot see, and they know uess at, so when the wise-ones told me your shi+p was on the other side of the Great Barren Island, and that I was to takeyou here, I could not help but obey”
”How is it possible,” I asked, ”that mortal eyes can see so far?”
”The eyes of the wise-ones are not as ravely ”Rest now, and to-morrow you shall hear what is required of you”
I was so affected by the calamity which had overtaken me that I lacked the disposition to question Sylvia more closely on the matter It was plain I was a captive, and helpless to avert ht be As well then accept the inevitable, andhour I did not value life, since Anna's death, at a pin's ransos for me in this world was at hand, let it coret
Sylvia now told me as ht, and of its people
In ages gone by, she said, when the stone houses were new, and a flourishi+ng city stood in the valley, a disagree and queen, who held equal sway over the two islands, of such a nature that the breach beca to ith each other, and thus sacrificing the lives of many of their respective followers in battle, who had no part in their quarrel, an agree withdrew hi the queen in undisputed possession in the east The king took to hi up to the queen the women, to become her subjects Since then the Male and Feed as separate co or queen now, the people of both islands being ruled by the wise-ones, who lived on the mountain tops in the Female Island But the inhabitants of the two islands still continued to live apart, the males on one island and the females on the other On the Male Island the males dwelt alone, without their wives, or any other women Every year, in the month of March, the men came to the Female Island, and tarried there threewith their wives for that space At the end of those three months they returned to their own island, and pursued their avocation there, selling aris to the traders from Sumatra As for the children whoirls they stayed with their ht them up until they were fourteen years old, and then sent the but nurse and rear their children
Their husbands provided them with all necessaries Those ere un all the work on the island that would, in the ordinary course, be done by men They were very strictly reared, and were as hardy as boys If necessary they could fight in defence of their country with a courage equal to that displayed by the bravest warriors Such were the strange customs of the people on these two islands as related to me by Sylvia Cervantes
CHAPTER xxxVII
A TASK IS SET ME
On the day after I was ano group, I was given an opportunity to observe the custo these Amazons They appeared to be a happy, healthy people, nor could I fail to notice the absence of ill-temper and discord, which may be observed in all coether, and where jealousy between the sexes is too often the cause of lifelong feuds Here theof their offspring, who, in return, rendered heart-whole affection to theirobedience as was displayed by the children of this island to those who had the care of theano I never heard a child cry or saoirls reach e of about twelve years, they are instructed by their mothers how to perfor the lance, harpoon, or any irls, froht, and will descry a sail at sea farther than any sailor could see it
The dress adopted by the dwellers on the Feh scanty to civilized eyes, is nevertheless suited to their e depending fros down their backs Those who, like Sylvia, have red hair, arefrom their beauty, rather adds to their charms The dark-haired ones are burnt brown by the sun
I was now taken by Sylvia to be presented to the wise-ones, at whose instigation I had been brought to the island These I found to be men, if indeed they could be called such, but they were so wizened in appearance as more to resemble monkeys Their manner of life is so austere as to ether They will not kill an animal for food, or for any other purpose, not even a fly or a flea, or anything in fact that has life; for they say they have all souls, and it would be a sin to kill thereen state, only such as are dry, for they believe that even green leaves have life And they sleep on the bare ground, naked, without anything to cover them, or to soften the mountain rocks which for but water Yet, in spite of the rigour of their discipline, they attain to extree; not one of the wiseless than one hundred years old, while some were accredited with upwards of two centuries of life By reason of their abstinence, they are supposed to be gifted with ht, by which they are able to locate strangers at a great distance fro since they had foretold the co to the island of a Spanish fleet, when the whole Ae in subterranean caves until the Spaniards had left, which they did under the belief that the island was deserted It was by ht that the ”Golden Seahorse” had been located, and that I had been selected fro the crew to carry out a project which the wise men had in view, and the particulars of which I was about to learn
The chief of the wise-ones, who acted as spokesht to the island