10th May here is land ahead! Grip-til-lah was first to see it, and when he shouted the tidings myheart beat fast with joy. The famished crew have forgotten theirdisconsolate stomachs and are dancing about the deck. 'T is not I,forsooth, who shall restrain them! A month of emptiness upon a heavysea is preparation for any folly. Nōfūhl alone is without enthusiasm.The old man's heart seems dead. We can see the land plainly, a dim strip along the western horizon. Afair wind blows from the northeast, but we get on with cruelhindrance, for the Zlōtuhb is a heavy ship, her bluff bow andvoluminous bottom ill fitting her for speed. The land, as we near it, seems covered with trees, and the white breakersalong the yellow beach are a welcome sight. |
|
11th May ighted a fine harbor this afternoon, and are now at anchor in it. Grip-til-lah thinks we have reached one of the western islands mentioned by Ben-a-Bout. Nōfūhl, however, is sure we are further North. |
12th May
hat a change has come over Nōfūhl! He is the youngest man aboard. We all share his delight, as our discoveries are truly marvellous. This morning while I was yet in my bunk he ran into the cabin and, forgetting our difference in rank, seized me by the arm and tried to drag me out. His excitement so had the better of him that I captured little meaning from his words. Hastening after him, however, I was amazed to see such ancient limbs transport a man so rapidly. He skipped up the narrow stairs like a heifer and, young though I am, it was faster than I could follow.
But what a sight when I reached the deck! We saw nothing of it yesterday, for the dusk of evening was already closing about us when we anchored.
Right ahead, in the middle of the bay, towered a gigantic statue, many times higher than the masts of our ship. Beyond, from behind this statue, came the broad river upon whose waters we were floating, its surface all a-glitter with the rising sun. To the East, where Nōfūhl was pointing, his fingers trembling with excitement, lay the ruins of an endless city. It stretched far away into the land beyond, further even than our eyes could see. And in the smaller river on the right stood two colossal structures, rising high in the air, and standing like twin brothers, as if to guard the deserted streets beneath. Not a sound reached us—not a floating thing disturbed the surface of the water. Verily, it seemed the sleep of Death.
I was lost in wonder.
As we looked, a strange bird, like a heron, arose with a hoarse cry from the foot of the great image and flew toward the city.