Near These
Dwellings Were Perhaps A Hundred Men, Women And Children, Remnants Of
A Vanishing Nation.
Some had a mat around their loins, but many were
naked.
All the males had the barbote in the lip, and had
exceptionally thick hair, matted with grease and mud. Most of them
had a repellant look on their pigment-painted faces, and I could very
distinctly see that I was not a welcome visitor. No, I had not
reached Eden! Only "beyond the clouds and beyond the tomb" would the
bowers of Eden be discovered to me. Hearing domestic hens cackling
around the houses, I bade Timoteo tell the priest that we were very
hungry, and that if he killed two chickens for us I would give him a
beautiful gift later on. The priest distinctly informed me, however,
that I must give first, or no fowl would be killed. From that
decision I tried to move him, urging that I was tired, the pack was
hard to undo, and to-morrow, when I was rested, I would well repay
them the kindness. My words were thrown away; not a bite should we
eat until the promised knife was given. I was faint with hunger, but
from the load on the packhorse I procured the knife, which I handed
to my unwilling host with the promise of other gifts later. On
receipt of this treasure he gave orders to the boys standing off at a
distance to catch two chickens. The birds were knocked over by the
stones thrown at them.
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