CHAPTER X
THE SACRED HUNT
On that very jom the Kohen informed me that they were aboutto set forth on the "sacred hunt," an event which always occurredtoward the end of the season, and he kindly invited me to go. I,eager to find any relief from the horrible thoughts that had takenpossession of me, and full of longing for active exertion, at onceaccepted the invitation. I was delighted to hear Almah say that shetoo was going; and I learned at the same time that in this strangeland the women were as fond of hunting as the men, and that on suchoccasions their presence was expected.
The sacred hunt was certainly a strange one. I saw that it was totake place on the water; for a great crowd, numbering over a hundred,went down to the harbor and embarked on board a galley, on whichthere were a hundred others, who served as rowers. The hunters wereall armed with long, light javelins and short swords. Some of thesewere offered to me, for as yet no one supposed that my rifle andpistol were instruments of destruction, or anything else thanornaments. My refusal to accept their weapons created some surprise,but with their usual civility they did not press their offersfurther. It was evident that this hunting expedition was only made inobedience to some hallowed custom; for the light of the sun painedtheir eyes, and all their movements were made with uncertainty andhesitation. With these a hunt by sunlight is the same as a hunt bynight would be with us. There was the same confusion and awkwardness.
The Kohen was in command. At his word the galley started, and therowers pulled out to sea with long, regular strokes. I was anxious toknow what the expedition was aimed at, and what were the animals thatwe expected to get; but I could not make out Almah's explanations.Her words suggested something of vague terror, vast proportions, andindescribable ferocity; but my ignorance of the language prevented mefrom learning anything more.
We went along the coast for a few miles, and then came to the mouthof a great river, which seemed to flow from among the mountains. Thecurrent was exceedingly swift, and as I looked back it seemed to methat it must be the very stream which had borne me here into thisremote world. I afterward found out that this was so--that thisstream emerges from among the mountains, flowing from an unknownsource. It was over this that I had been borne in my sleep, afterI had emerged from the subterranean darkness, and it was by thiscurrent that I had been carried into the open sea. As we crossed theestuary of this river I saw that the shores on either side were low,and covered with the rankest vegetation; giant trees of fern, vastreeds and grasses, all arose here in a dense growth impassable toman. Upon the shallow shores the surf was breaking; and here inthe tide I saw objects which I at first supposed to be rocks,but afterward found out to be living things. They looked likealligators, but were far larger than the largest alligators knownto us, besides being of far more terrific aspect. Toward these thegalley was directed, and I now saw with surprise that these werethe objects of the sacred hunt.
Suddenly, as the galley was moving along at half-speed, therearose out of the water a thing that looked like the folds of a gianthairy serpent, which, however, proved to be the long neck of anincredible monster, whose immense body soon afterward appeared abovethe water. With huge fins he propelled himself toward us; and hishead, twenty feet in the air, was poised as though about to attack.The head was like that of an alligator, the open jaws showed afearful array of sharp teeth, the eyes were fiercely glowing, thelong neck was covered with a coarse, shaggy mane, while the top ofthe body, which was out of the water, was incased in an impenetrablecuirass of bone. Such a monster as this seemed unassailable,especially by men who had no missile weapons, and whose eyes were sodim and weak. I therefore expected that the galley would turn andfly from the attack, for the monster itself seemed as large as ourvessel; but there was not the slightest thought of flight. On thecontrary, every man was on the alert; some sprang to the bow andstood there, awaiting the first shock; others, amidship, stoodwaiting for the orders of the Kohen. Meanwhile the monsterapproached, and at length, with a sweep of his long neck, came downupon the dense crowd at the bows. A dozen frail lances were brokenagainst his horny head, a half-dozen wretches were seized andterribly torn by those remorseless jaws. Still none fled. All rushedforward, and with lances, axes, knives, and ropes they sought todestroy the enemy. Numbers of them strove to seize his long neck. Inthe ardor of the fight the rowers dropped their oars and hurried tothe scene, to take part in the struggle. The slaughter was sickening,but not a man quailed. Never had I dreamed of such blind anddesperate courage as was now displayed before my horror-strickeneyes. Each sought to outdo the other. They had managed to throw ropesaround the monster's neck, by which he was held close to the galley.His fierce movements seemed likely to drag us all down under thewater; and his long neck, free from restraint, writhed and twistedamong the struggling crowd of fighting men, in the midst of whom wasthe Kohen, as desperate and as fearless as any.
All this had taken place in a very short space of time, and I hadscarce been able to comprehend the full meaning of it all. As forAlmah, she stood pale and trembling, with a face of horror. At lastit seemed to me that every man of them would be destroyed, and thatthey were all throwing their lives away to no purpose whatever. Aboveall, my heart was wrung for the Kohen, who was there in the midst ofhis people, lifting his frail and puny arm against the monster. Icould endure inaction no longer. I had brought my arms with me, asusual; and now, as the monster raised his head, I took aim at hiseye and fired. The report rang out in thunder. Almah gave a shriek,and amid the smoke I saw the long, snake-like neck of the monstersweeping about madly among the men. In the water his vast tail waslashing the surface of the sea, and churning it into foam. Here Ionce more took aim immediately under the fore-fin, where there wasno scaly covering. Once more I fired. This time it was with fataleffect; and after one or two convulsive movements the monster, witha low, deep bellow, let his head fall and gasped out his life.
I hurried forward. There lay the frightful head, with its longneck and shaggy mane, while all around was a hideous spectacle.The destruction of life had been awful. Nineteen were dead, andtwenty-eight were wounded, writhing in every gradation of agony, somehorribly mangled. The rest stood staring at me in astonishment, notunderstanding those peals of thunder that had laid the monster low.There was no terror or awe, however--nothing more than surprise;and the Kohen, whose clothes were torn into shreds and covered withblood, looked at me in bewilderment. I said to him, out of my smallstock of words, that the wounded ought at once to be cared for. Atthis he turned away and made some remarks to his men.
I now stood ready to lend my own services, if needful. I expectedto take a part in the tender attentions which were the due of thesegallant souls, who had exhibited such matchless valor; these men whothought nothing of life, but flung it away at the command of theirchief without dreaming of flight or of hesitation. Thus I stoodlooking on in an expectant attitude, when there came a moment inwhich I was simply petrified with horror; for the Kohen drew hisknife, stooped over the wounded man nearest him, and then stabbed himto the heart with a mortal wound. The others all proceeded to do thesame, and they did it in the coolest and most business-like manner,without any passion, without any feeling of any kind, and, indeed,with a certain air of gratification, as though they were performingsome peculiarly high and sacred duty. The mildness and benevolence oftheir faces seemed actually heightened, and the perpetration of thisunutterable atrocity seemed to affect these people in the same way inwhich the performance of acts of humanity might affect us.
For my own part, I stood for a few moments actually motionless fromperplexity and horror; then, with a shriek, I rushed forward as ifto prevent it; but I was too late. The unutterable deed was done,and the unfortunate wounded, without an exception, lay dead besidetheir slain companions. As for myself, I was only regarded with freshwonder, and they all stood blinking at me with their half-closedeyes. Suddenly the Kohen fell prostrate on his knees before me, andbowing his head handed me his bloody knife.
"Atam-or," said he, "give me al
so the blessing of darkness and death!"
At these strange words, following such actions, I could say nothing.I was more bewildered than ever, and horror and bewilderment made medumb. I turned away and went aft to Almah, who had seen it all. Shelooked at me with an anxious gaze, as if to learn what the effect ofall this had been on me. I could not speak a word, but with a vaguesense of the necessity of self-preservation, I loaded my rifle, andtried in vain to make out what might be the meaning of this union ofgentleness and kindness with atrocious cruelty. Meanwhile, the menall went to work upon various tasks. Some secured lines about themonster so as to tow it astern; others busied themselves with thecorpses, collecting them and arranging them in rows. At length wereturned, towing the monster astern.
I could not speak until I was back again in the lighted rooms andalone with Almah; then I told her, as well as I could, the horrorthat I felt.
"It was honor to those brave men," said she.
"Honor!" said I. "What! to kill them?"
"Yes," said she; "it is so with these people; with them death is thehighest blessing. They all love death and seek after it. To die foranother is immortal glory. To kill the wounded was to show that theyhad died for others. The wounded wished it themselves. You saw howthey all sought after death. These people were too generous andkind-hearted to refuse to kill them after they had received wounds."
At this my perplexity grew deeper than ever, for such anexplanation as this only served to make the mystery greater.
"Here," said she, "no one understands what it is to fear death.They all love it and long for it; but everyone wishes above all todie for others. This is their highest blessing. To die a naturaldeath in bed is avoided if possible."
All this was incomprehensible.
"Tell me, Almah," I said--"you hate darkness as I do--do you notfear death?"
"I fear it above all things," said Almah. "To me it is the horrorof life; it is the chief of terrors."
"So it is with me," said I. "In my country we call death the Kingof Terrors."
"Here," said Almah, "they call death the Lord of Joy."
Not long after, the Kohen came in, looking as quiet, as gentle,and as amiable as ever. He showed some curiosity about my rifle,which he called a sepet-ram, or "rod of thunder." Almah alsoshowed curiosity. I did not care to explain the process of loadingit to the Kohen, though Almah had seen me load it in the galley,and I left him to suppose that it was used in some mysterious way.I cautioned him not to handle it carelessly, but found that thiscaution only made him the more eager to handle it, since the prospectof an accident found an irresistible attraction. I would not let itgo out of my own hands, however; and the Kohen, whose self-denialwas always most wonderful to me, at once checked his curiosity.