From a chamois wallet he took bits of assafœtida, alum, and sulphur, and threw them on the heated coals. As their combined fumes permeated the air, he touched a spring in the side of one of the marble basins, and a thin, smooth slab slipped out.
Hastily covering it with a chamois skin, he produced writing materials from the jar which had contained the robe he wore, and prepared to write. He had scarcely seated himself on an overturned stone before he was entranced.
“Thy Brother in Lassa, on the Brahmaputra, sends thee greeting!
“All save the high regions of the Himalayas, where our monastery is situated, are sorely pressed by raging flood.
“The heavens have opened. The plains with their chains of mountains, rivers, lakes and inland seas, have been suddenly heaved up.
“Fire lurks in the hidden depths, and the beds of the sea vibrate and tremble. Its waves hide islands and continents in its abysses.
“The sun’s rays drink up the scattered waters, and pour them down again, mingling with the rivers and the ocean.
“They cover the plains, filling the valleys, roaring around the fire mountains, hollowing out the slopes, and surging up to their summits. In it are swallowed flocks and pasturage, forests and wild beasts, fields and crops, towns and hamlets, with myriads of mortals.”
Akaza held the rod to his forehead, and sent an answering message, detailing fully all that had happened here.
“Sign and seal thy parchment, and restore to its hidden place. The spirit of fire hovers near thee. Prepare to go out in peace. Thy pilgrimage is at an end.