第45章

At last we reached the face of the precipice itself, and found ourselves looking into the mouth of a dark tunnel that forcibly reminded me of those undertaken by our nineteenth-century engineers in the construction of railway lines.Out of this tunnel flowed a considerable stream of water.Indeed, though I do not think that I have mentioned it, we had followed this stream, which ultimately developed into the river I have already described as winding away to the right, from the spot where the cutting in the solid rock commenced.Half of this cutting formed a channel for the stream, and half, which was placed on a slightly higher leveleight feet perhapswas devoted to the purposes of a roadway.At the termination of the cutting, however, the stream turned off across the plain and followed a channel of its own.At the mouth of the cave the cavalcade was halted, and, while the men employed themselves in lighting some earthenware lamps they had brought with them, Billali, descending from his litter, informed me politely but firmly that the orders of _i_ She _i_were that we were now to be blindfolded, so that we should not learn the secret of the paths through the bowels of the mountains.To this I, of course, assented cheerfully enough, but Job, who was now very much better, notwithstanding the journey, did not like it at all, fancying, I believe, that it was but a preliminary step to being hot-potted.He was, however, a little consoled when I pointed out to him that there were no hot pots at hand, and, so far as I.knew, no fire to heat them in.As for poor Leo, after turning restlessly for hours, he had, to my deep thankfulness, at last dropped off into a sleep or stupor, I do not know which, so there was no need to blindfold him.The blindfolding was performed by binding a piece of the yellowish linen whereof those of the Amahagger who condescended to wear anything in particular made their dresses tightly round the eyes.This linen, Iafterwards discovered, was taken from the tombs, and was not, as I had at first supposed, of native manufacture.The bandage was then knotted at the back of the head, and finally brought down again and the ends bound under the chin to prevent its slipping.

Ustane was, by the way, also blindfolded, I do not know why, unless it was from fear that she should impart the secrets of the route to us.

This operation performed we started on once more, and soon, by the echoing sound of the footsteps of the bearers and the increased noise of the water caused by reverberation in a confined space, I knew that we were entering into the bowels of the great mountain.It was an eerie sensation, being borne along into the dead heart of the rock we knew not whither, but I was getting used to eerie sensations by this time, and by now was pretty well prepared for anything.So I lay still, and listened to the tramp, tramp of the bearers and the rushing of the water, and tried to believe that I was enjoying myself.Presently the men set up the melancholy little chant that I had heard on the first night when we were captured in the whale-boat, and the effect produced by their voices was very curious, and quite indescribable on paper.After a while the air began to get exceedingly thick and heavy, so much so, indeed, that I felt as though Iwere going to choke, till at length the litter took a sharp turn, then another and another, and the sound of the running water ceased.After this the air got fresher again, but the turns were continuous, and to me, blindfolded as I was, most bewildering.I tried to keep a map of them in my mind in case it might ever be necessary for us to try and escape by this route, but, needless to say, failed utterly.Another half-hour or so passed, and then suddenly I became aware that we were once more in the open air.I could see the light through my bandage and feel freshness on my face.Afew more and the caravan halted, and I heard Billali order Ustane to remove her bandage and undo ours.

Without waiting for her attentions I got the knot of mine loose, and looked out.