Suddenly, as we stood gazing open-mouthed in wonder, the roar of a hundred war-drums beaten somewhere in the vicinity of the enormous representation of the terrible deity of Mo rolled and echoed to the innermost recesses of the subterranean vault, and just as they had ceased we distinctly saw the giant jaws of the crocodile slowly open. From them belched forth great tongues of flame and thick stifling smoke that, beaten down by a draught from above, curled its poisonous fumes around us, causing us to cough violently. For fully a minute the great mouth remained open, when to our horror we saw a small knot of human figures approaching it. One loud piercing shriek reached us and at that instant we saw the figure of a man or woman—we were not close enough to discern which—flung by the others headlong into the open flaming mouth.
Again the drums rolled, and the next second the jaws of Zomara closed with a loud crash that sent a shudder through us.
"The sacrifice!" gasped Omar. "This, then, is one of the horrible customs that Goliba told us had been introduced by my mother, the Great White Queen!"
"Horrible!" I exclaimed. "That fearful cry will haunt me to my dying day."
"Let us return," said Kona. "We have witnessed enough, O Master."
"No," Omar answered. "Rather let us see for ourselves the true extent of these terrible rites. Goliba, though, alas! he is lost for ever, intended that we should."
"Very well," I said. "Lead us, and we will follow."
At that moment footsteps, pattering as those of children, reached our ears and there ran past us half a dozen hideous half-clad dwarfs. They were tiny, impish-looking creatures about three feet six high, with darker skins than the inhabitants of this mystic land, but their faces were whitewashed in manner similar to those of the royal executioners of Ashanti, and wore their crisp black hair drawn to a knot on top similar to the fashion affected by some savage tribes. As they rushed past us their little black eyes, piercing and bead-like, regarded us curiously, and with, we thought, a rather menacing glance; nevertheless they continued their way, and watching, we noticed the spot where they commenced the toilsome ascent to the platform whereon stood the colossus.
"Such a work as that must have taken years to accomplish," I observed to Omar.
"With the Sanoms of Mo everything is possible," he answered. "The ruler of our country is a monarch whose will is so absolute that he or she can compel everyone, from prince to slave, to participate in any work. Thus the Naya may have caused every male inhabitant of Mo to help in its construction."