Part 14 (1/2)

To begin with, nothing of the body was visible, for it athed like a corpse Froht, in the hand of which was the likeness of a lighted torch The head was not veiled

It was that of a ed; the countenance pervaded by an awful and unutterable caln On the broas a wreathed head-dress, not unlike an Eastern turban, froree those on the famous Greek head of Hypnos, lord of Sleep

Between the folds of the wrappings on the back sprang two other wings, enorht Indeed the whole attitude of the figure suggested that it was springing from earth to air It was executed in black basalt or sohly finished For instance, on the bare feet and the arm which held the torch could be felt every muscle and even some of the veins In the same way the details of the skull were perfectly perceptible to the touch, although at first sight not visible on theon the pedestal and feeling the face with our hands

Here Ias well as that of the feet and the arhly trained anatomist, with absolute aht it possible that such accuracy could have been reached by an artist working in so hard a material

When the others had arrived we studied this relic as closely as our two candles would allow, and in turn expressed our opinions of its significance Bastin thought that if those things down there were really the remains of aeroplanes, which he did not believe, the statue had so, as was shown by the fact that it had wings on its head and shoulders Also, he added, after exa the face, the head was uncommonly like that of the idol that he had blown up It had the saht, this was probably another effigy of Oro which we should do well to destroy at once before the islanders caround his teeth as he listened to hiasped ”Destroy! Oh! you, you--early Christian”

Here I ht, as we proved subsequently e compared the head of the fetish, which, as it will be reht aith hi for an enormous debasement of art, they were essentially identical in the facial characteristics This would suggest the descent of a tradition through countless generations Or of course it may have been accidental I am sure I do not know, but I think it possible that for unknown centuries other old statues may have existed in Orofena fro and ies and fashi+oned the local God upon this ancient model

Bickley was struck at once, as I had been, with the reseyptian Osiris Of course there were differences

For instance, instead of the crook and the scourge, this divinity held a torch Again, in place of the crown of Egypt it wore a winged head-dress, though it is true this was not very far res that sprang froypt, or the assyrian bulls that are siht have been taken froure But as it? What was it?

In a flash the answer came to me A representation of the spirit of Death! Neither more nor less There was the shroud; there the cold, inscrutable countenance suggesting s? Well, the torch was that which lighted souls to the other world, and on the wings they flew thither Whoever fashi+oned that statue hoped for another life, or so I was convinced

I explained ht the man, since by constitution he was unable to discover anything spiritual in any religion except his own Bickley agreed that it was probably an allegorical representation of death but sniffed at s and the torch, since by constitution he could not believe that the folly of a belief in immortality could have developed so early in the world, that is, ahly civilised people such as must have produced this statue

What we could none of us understand hy this oe with its dead, cold face should have been placed in an aerodrome, nor in fact did we ever discover Possibly it was there long before the cave was put to this use At first the place may have been a temple and have so remained until circue their habits, or even their Faith

We examined this wondrous work and the pedestal on which it stood as closely as ere able by the dio further and see what lay beyond it; indeed we did walk a few paces, twenty perhaps, onward into the recesses of the cave

Then Bickley discovered so that looked like the an to complain that he was hot and very thirsty; also to point out that he wished for no more caves and idols at present

”Look here, Arbuthnot,” said Bickley, ”these candles are burning low and we don't want to use up ot very badly later on Now, according to my pocket compass theit was orientated to the rising sun for purposes of astronomical observation or of worshi+p at certain periods of the year From the position of the sun e landed on the rock this ine that just now it rises almost exactly opposite to the mouth of the cave If this is so, to-ht should penetrate as far as the statue, and perhaps further What I suggest is that we should wait till then to explore”

I agreed with hi exhausted by wonder, and wanted time to think So we turned back As we did so Iafraid lest he ht have tuht,” said Bastin ”I saw hi at the base of that statue I expect there is a rat in there, or perhaps a snake”

Sure enough e reached it there was Toainst the lowest of the tiers that for loudly Also he was scratching in the dust as a dog does when he has winded a rabbit in a hole So engrossed was he in this occupation that it ith difficulty that I coaxed him to leave the place

I did not think much of the incident at that time, but afterwards it caate those stones at the first opportunity

Passing the wrecks of the ed on to the causeithout accident After we had rested and washed we set to work to draw our canoe with its precious burden of food right into the mouth of the cave, where we hid it as well as we could

This done ent for a walk round the base of the peak This proved to be a great deal larger than we had iined, over two miles in circumference indeed All about it was a belt of fertile land, as I suppose deposited there by the waters of the great lake and resulting froetation Much of this belt was covered with ancient forest ending in mud flats that appeared to have been thrown up recently, perhaps at the tiher part of the belt were many of the extraordinary crater-like holes that I haveprevalent on thebeen subjected to a terrific and continuous bombardment

When we had completed its circuit we set to work to climb the peak in order to explore the terraces of which I have spoken and the ruins which I had seen through lasses It was quite true; they were terraces cut with infinite labour out of the solid rock, and on theled over the broken blocks of stone to e had taken for a temple, which stood near the lip of the crater, for without doubt this mound was an extinct volcano, or rather its crest All we could reat building, for its courts could still be traced; also there lay about fragments of steps and pillars

Apparently the latter had once been carved, but the passage of innues had obliterated the work and we could not turn these great blocks over to discover if any reh the God Thor had broken up the edifice with his ha else would account for that utter wreck, except, as Bickley reh explosives

Following the line of what seee of the volcano and found, as we expected, the usual depression out of which fire and lava had once been cast, as from Hecla or Vesuvius It was now a lake more than a quarter of a mile across Indeed it had been thus in the ancient days when the buildings stood upon the terraces, forthe re down to the water Perhaps it had served as the sacred lake of the teazed onderh the ruins, which, by the ere of a different stone froreat cave