At The Place Where They Stopped For
The Night, The People Had Placed Stakes Along Each Side Of The
Roads In Front Of The Houses.
These were split crosswise at the
top, and in the cleft were fastened little clay lamps, and
between them were stuck the green leaves of palm-trees, which,
dripping with the evening dew, gleamed prettily with the many
twinkling lights.
And few went to sleep that night until the
morning hours, for every house held a knot of eager talkers, and
much betel-nut was consumed, and endless were the conjectures
what would come of it.
On the second day they left the last village behind them and
entered the wild country that surrounds the great mountain, and
rested in the huts that had been prepared for them on the banks
of a stream of cold and sparkling water. And the Rajah's hunters,
armed with long and heavy guns, went in search of deer and wild
bulls in the surrounding woods, and brought home the meat of both
in the early morning, and sent it on in advance to prepare the
mid-day meal. On the third day they advanced as far as horses
could go, and encamped at the foot of high rocks, among which
narrow pathways only could be found to reach the mountain-top.
And on the fourth morning when the Rajah set out, he was
accompanied only by a small party of priests and princes with
their immediate attendants; and they toiled wearily up the rugged
way, and sometimes were carried by their servants, until they
passed up above the great trees, and then among the thorny
bushes, and above them again on to the black and burned rock of
the highest part of the mountain.
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