And now I found myself on a narrow path which followed a small
watercourse. I was too glad to have an easy track for my flight, to lay
hold of the full significance of its existence. The thought, however,
soon presented itself to me that I must be in an inhabited country, but
one which was yet unknown. What, then, was to be my fate at the hands
of its inhabitants? Should I be taken and offered up as a
burnt-offering to those hideous guardians of the pass? It might be so.
I shuddered at the thought, yet the horrors of solitude had now fairly
possessed me; and so dazed was I, and chilled, and woebegone, that I
could lay hold of no idea firmly amid the crowd of fancies that kept
wandering in upon my brain.
I hurried onward—down, down, down. More streams came in; then there was
a bridge, a few pine logs thrown over the water; but they gave me
comfort, for savages do not make bridges. Then I had a treat such as I
can never convey on paper—a moment, perhaps, the most striking and
unexpected in my whole life—the one I think that, with some three or
four exceptions, I would most gladly have again, were I able to recall
it. I got below the level of the clouds, into a burst of brilliant
evening sunshine, I was facing the north-west, and the sun was full
upon me. Oh, how its light cheered me! But what I saw! It was such an
expanse as was revealed to Moses when he stood upon the summit of Mount
Sinai, and beheld that promised land which it was not to be his to
enter. The beautiful sunset sky was crimson and gold; blue, silver, and
purple; exquisite and tranquillising; fading away therein were plains,
on which I could see many a town and city, with buildings that had
lofty steeples and rounded domes. Nearer beneath me lay ridge behind
ridge, outline behind outline, sunlight behind shadow, and shadow
behind sunlight, gully and serrated ravine. I saw large pine forests,
and the glitter of a noble river winding its way upon the plains; also
many villages and hamlets, some of them quite near at hand; and it was
on these that I pondered most. I sank upon the ground at the foot of a
large tree and thought what I had best do; but I could not collect
myself. I was quite tired out; and presently, feeling warmed by the
sun, and quieted, I fell off into a profound sleep.
I was awoke by the sound of tinkling bells, and looking up, I saw four
or five goats feeding near me. As soon as I moved, the creatures turned
their heads towards me with an expression of infinite wonder. They did
not run away, but stood stock still, and looked at me from every side,
as I at them. Then came the sound of chattering and laughter, and there
approached two lovely girls, of about seventeen or eighteen years old,
dressed each in a sort of linen gaberdine, with a girdle round the
waist. They saw me. I sat quite still and looked at them, dazzled with
their extreme beauty. For a moment they looked at me and at each other
in great amazement; then they gave a little frightened cry and ran off
as hard as they could.
“So that’s that,” said I to myself, as I watched them scampering. I
knew that I had better stay where I was and meet my fate, whatever it
was to be, and even if there were a better course, I had no strength
left to take it. I must come into contact with the inhabitants sooner
or later, and it might as well be sooner. Better not to seem afraid of
them, as I should do by running away and being caught with a hue and
cry to-morrow or next day. So I remained quite still and waited. In
about an hour I heard distant voices talking excitedly, and in a few
minutes I saw the two girls bringing up a party of six or seven men,
well armed with bows and arrows and pikes. There was nothing for it, so
I remained sitting quite still, even after they had seen me, until they
came close up. Then we all had a good look at one another.
Both the girls and the men were very dark in colour, but not more so
than the South Italians or Spaniards. The men wore no trousers, but
were dressed nearly the same as the Arabs whom I have seen in Algeria.
They were of the most magnificent presence, being no less strong and
handsome than the women were beautiful; and not only this, but their
expression was courteous and benign. I think they would have killed me
at once if I had made the slightest show of violence; but they gave me
no impression of their being likely to hurt me so long as I was quiet.
I am not much given to liking anybody at first sight, but these people
impressed me much more favourably than I should have thought possible,
so that I could not fear them as I scanned their faces one after
another. They were all powerful men. I might have been a match for any
one of them singly, for I have been told that I have more to glory in
the flesh than in any other respect, being over six feet and
proportionately strong; but any two could have soon mastered me, even
were I not so bereft of energy by my recent adventures. My colour
seemed to surprise them most, for I have light hair, blue eyes, and a
fresh complexion. They could not understand how these things could be;
my clothes also seemed quite beyond them. Their eyes kept wandering all
over me, and the more they looked the less they seemed able to make me
out.
At last I raised myself upon my feet, and leaning upon my stick, I
spoke whatever came into my head to the man who seemed foremost among
them. I spoke in English, though I was very sure that he would not
understand. I said that I had no idea what country I was in; that I had
stumbled upon it almost by accident, after a series of hairbreadth
escapes; and that I trusted they would not allow any evil to overtake
me now that I was completely at their mercy. All this I said quietly
and firmly, with hardly any change of expression. They could not
understand me, but they looked approvingly to one another, and seemed
pleased (so I thought) that I showed no fear nor acknowledgment of
inferiority—the fact being that I was exhausted beyond the sense of
fear. Then one of them pointed to the mountain, in the direction of the
statues, and made a grimace in imitation of one of them. I laughed and
shuddered expressively, whereon they all burst out laughing too, and
chattered hard to one another. I could make out nothing of what they
said, but I think they thought it rather a good joke that I had come
past the statues. Then one among them came forward and motioned me to
follow, which I did without hesitation, for I dared not thwart them;
moreover, I liked them well enough, and felt tolerably sure that they
had no intention of hurting me.
In about a quarter of an hour we got to a small hamlet built on the
side of a hill, with a narrow street and houses huddled up together.
The roofs were large and overhanging. Some few windows were glazed, but
not many. Altogether the village was exceedingly like one of those that
one comes upon in descending the less known passes over the Alps on to
Lombardy. I will pass over the excitement which my arrival caused.
Suffice it, that though there was abundance of curiosity, there was no
rudeness. I was taken to the principal house, which seemed to belong to
the people who had captured me. There I was hospitably entertained, and
a supper of milk and goat’s flesh with a kind of oatcake was set before
me, of which I ate heartily. But all the time I was eating I could not
help turning my eyes upon the two beautiful girls whom I had first
seen, and who seemed to consider me as their lawful prize—which indeed
I was, for I would have gone through fire and water for either of them.
Then came the inevitable surprise at seeing me smoke, which I will
spare the reader; but I noticed that when they saw me strike a match,
there was a hubbub of excitement which, it struck me, was not
altogether unmixed with disapproval: why, I could not guess. Then the
women retired, and I was left alone with the men, who tried to talk to
me in every conceivable way; but we could come to no understanding,
except that I was quite alone, and had come from a long way over the
mountains. In the course of time they grew tired, and I very sleepy. I
made signs as though I would sleep on the floor in my blankets, but
they gave me one of their bunks with plenty of dried fern and grass, on
to which I had no sooner laid myself than I fell fast asleep; nor did I
awake till well into the following day, when I found myself in the hut
with two men keeping guard over me and an old woman cooking. When I
woke the men seemed pleased, and spoke to me as though bidding me good
morning in a pleasant tone.
I went out of doors to wash in a creek which ran a few yards from the
house. My hosts were as engrossed with me as ever; they never took
their eyes off me, following every action that I did, no matter how
trifling, and each looking towards the other for his opinion at every
touch and turn. They took great interest in my ablutions, for they
seemed to have doubted whether I was in all respects human like
themselves. They even laid hold of my arms and overhauled them, and
expressed approval when they saw that they were strong and muscular.
They now examined my legs, and especially my feet. When they desisted
they nodded approvingly to each other; and when I had combed and
brushed my hair, and generally made myself as neat and well arranged as
circumstances would allow, I could see that their respect for me
increased greatly, and that they were by no means sure that they had
treated me with sufficient deference—a matter on which I am not
competent to decide. All I know is that they were very good to me, for
which I thanked them heartily, as it might well have been otherwise.
For my own part, I liked them and admired them, for their quiet
self-possession and dignified ease impressed me pleasurably at once.
Neither did their manner make me feel as though I were personally
distasteful to them—only that I was a thing utterly new and unlooked
for, which they could not comprehend. Their type was more that of the
most robust Italians than any other; their manners also were eminently
Italian, in their entire unconsciousness of self. Having travelled a
good deal in Italy, I was struck with little gestures of the hand and
shoulders, which constantly reminded me of that country. My feeling was
that my wisest plan would be to go on as I had begun, and be simply
myself for better or worse, such as I was, and take my chance
accordingly.
I thought of these things while they were waiting for me to have done
washing, and on my way back. Then they gave me breakfast—hot bread and
milk, and fried flesh of something between mutton and venison. Their
ways of cooking and eating were European, though they had only a skewer
for a fork, and a sort of butcher’s knife to cut with. The more I
looked at everything in the house, the more I was struck with its
quasi-European character; and had the walls only been pasted over with
extracts from the _Illustrated London News_ and _Punch_, I could have
almost fancied myself in a shepherd’s hut upon my master’s sheep-run.
And yet everything was slightly different. It was much the same with
the birds and flowers on the other side, as compared with the English
ones. On my arrival I had been pleased at noticing that nearly all the
plants and birds were very like common English ones: thus, there was a
robin, and a lark, and a wren, and daisies, and dandelions; not quite
the same as the English, but still very like them—quite like enough to
be called by the same name; so now, here, the ways of these two men,
and the things they had in the house, were all very nearly the same as
in Europe. It was not at all like going to China or Japan, where
everything that one sees is strange. I was, indeed, at once struck with
the primitive character of their appliances, for they seemed to be some
five or six hundred years behind Europe in their inventions; but this
is the case in many an Italian village.
All the time that I was eating my breakfast I kept speculating as to
what family of mankind they could belong to; and shortly there came an
idea into my head, which brought the blood into my cheeks with
excitement as I thought of it. Was it possible that they might be the
lost ten tribes of Israel, of whom I had heard both my grandfather and
my father make mention as existing in an unknown country, and awaiting
a final return to Palestine? Was it possible that I might have been
designed by Providence as the instrument of their conversion? Oh, what
a thought was this! I laid down my skewer and gave them a hasty survey.
There was nothing of a Jewish type about them: their noses were
distinctly Grecian, and their lips, though full, were not Jewish.
How could I settle this question? I knew neither Greek nor Hebrew, and
even if I should get to understand the language here spoken, I should
be unable to detect the roots of either of these tongues. I had not
been long enough among them to ascertain their habits, but they did not
give me the impression of being a religious people. This too was
natural: the ten tribes had been always lamentably irreligious. But
could I not make them change? To restore the lost ten tribes of Israel
to a knowledge of the only truth: here would be indeed an immortal
crown of glory! My heart beat fast and furious as I entertained the
thought. What a position would it not ensure me in the next world; or
perhaps even in this! What folly it would be to throw such a chance
away! I should rank next to the Apostles, if not as high as
they—certainly above the minor prophets, and possibly above any Old
Testament writer except Moses and Isaiah. For such a future as this I
would sacrifice all that I have without a moment’s hesitation, could I
be reasonably assured of it. I had always cordially approved of
missionary efforts, and had at times contributed my mite towards their
support and extension; but I had never hitherto felt drawn towards
becoming a missionary myself; and indeed had always admired, and
envied, and respected them, more than I had exactly liked them. But if
these people were the lost ten tribes of Israel, the case would be
widely different: the opening was too excellent to be lost, and I
resolved that should I see indications which appeared to confirm my
impression that I had indeed come upon the missing tribes, I would
certainly convert them.
I may here mention that this discovery is the one to which I alluded in
the opening pages of my story. Time strengthened the impression made
upon me at first; and, though I remained in doubt for several months, I
feel now no longer uncertain.
When I had done eating, my hosts approached, and pointed down the
valley leading to their own country, as though wanting to show that I
must go with them; at the same time they laid hold of my arms, and made
as though they would take me, but used no violence. I laughed, and
motioned my hand across my throat, pointing down the valley as though I
was afraid lest I should be killed when I got there. But they divined
me at once, and shook their heads with much decision, to show that I
was in no danger. Their manner quite reassured me; and in half an hour
or so I had packed up my swag, and was eager for the forward journey,
feeling wonderfully strengthened and refreshed by good food and sleep,
while my hope and curiosity were aroused to their very utmost by the
extraordinary position in which I found myself.
But already my excitement had begun to cool and I reflected that these
people might not be the ten tribes after all; in which case I could not
but regret that my hopes of making money, which had led me into so much
trouble and danger, were almost annihilated by the fact that the
country was full to overflowing, with a people who had probably already
developed its more available resources. Moreover, how was I to get
back? For there was something about my hosts which told me that they
had got me, and meant to keep me, in spite of all their goodness.