"Thou hast never told us, O Nōfūhl! the cause of their disappearance."
"There were many causes," he answered. "The Mehrikans themselves were
of English origin, but people from all parts of Europe came here in
vast numbers. Although the original comers were vigorous and hardy the
effect of climate upon succeeding generations was fatal. They became
flat-chested and thin, with scanty hair, fragile teeth, and weak
digestions. Nervous diseases unknown to us wrought deadly havoc.
Children were reared with difficulty. Between 1945 and 1960, the last
census of which any record remains, the population decreased from
ninety millions to less than twelve millions. Climatic changes, the
like of which no other land ever experienced, began at that period,
and finished in less than ten years a work made easy by nervous
natures and rapid lives. The temperature would skip in a single day
from burning heat to winter's cold. No constitution could withstand
it, and this vast continent became once more an empty wilderness."
Much more of the same nature he told us, but I am too sleepy to write
longer. We explored the rest of the mansion, finding many things of
interest. I caused several objects to be carried aboard the _Zlōtuhb_.
(These objects are now in the museum of the Imperial College, at Teheran.)
_14th May_
Hotter than yesterday.
In the afternoon we were rowed up the river and landed for a short
walk. It is unsafe to brave the sun.
The more I learn of these Mehrikans the less interesting they become.
Nōfūhl is of much the same mind, judging from our conversation to-day,
as we walked along together.
It was in this wise:
_Khan-li_.
How alike the houses! How monotonous!
_Nōfūhl_.
So, also, were the occupants. They thought alike, worked alike, ate,
dressed and conversed alike. They read the same books; they fashioned
their garments as directed, with no regard for the size or figure of
the individual, and copied to a stitch the fashions of Europeans.
_Khan-li_.
But the close-fitting apparel of the European must have been sadly
uncomfortable in the heat of a Mehrikan summer.
_Nōfūhl_.
So probably it was. Stiff boxes of varying patterns adorned the heads
of men. Curious jackets with tight sleeves compressed the body. The
feet throbbed and burned in close-fitting casings of unyielding leather,
and linen made stiff by artificial means was drawn tightly about the neck.
_Khan-li_.
Allah! What idiots!
_Nōfūhl_.
Even so are they considered.
_Khan-li_.
To what quality of their minds do you attribute such love of needless
suffering?
_Nōfūhl_.
It was their desire to be like others. A natural feeling in a vulgar
people.
_15th May_
A fair wind from the West to-day. We weighed anchor and sailed up
the Eastern side of the city. I did this as Nōfūhl finds the upper
portion of the town much richer in relics than the lower, which seems
to have been given up to commercial purposes. We sailed close under
one of the great monuments in the river, and are at a loss to divine
its meaning. Many iron rods still dangle from the tops of each of the
structures. As they are in a line, one with the other, we thought at
first they might have been once connected and served as a bridge, but
we soon saw they were too far apart.
Came to anchor about three miles from the old mooring. Up the river
and down, North, South, East, and West, the ruins stretch away
indefinitely, seemingly without end.
Am anxious about Lev-el-Hedyd. He went ashore and has not returned.
It is now after midnight.
[Illustration: The Two Monuments in the River]
_16th May_
Praise Allah! my dear comrade is alive! This morning we landed early
and began our search for him. As we passed before the building which
bears the inscription
. . . DORF ASTORIA
upon its front, we heard his voice from within in answer to our calls.
We entered, and after climbing the ruined stairway found him seated
upon the floor above. He had a swollen leg from an ugly sprain, and
various bruises were also his. While our friends were constructing a
litter on which to bear him hence we conversed together. The walls
about us bore traces of having once enclosed a hall of some beauty. In
idling about I pulled open the decaying door of an old closet and saw
upon the rotting shelves many pieces of glass and earthenware of fine
workmanship. Taking one in my hand, a small wine-cup of glass, I
approached my comrade calling his attention to its slender stem and
curious form. As his eyes fell upon it they opened wide in amazement.
I also observed a trembling of his hand as he reached forth to touch
it. He then recounted to me his marvellous adventure of the night
before, but saying before he began:
"Thou knowest, O Prince, I am no believer in visions, and I should
never tell the tale but for thy discovery of this cup. I drank from
such an one last night, proffered by a ghostly hand."
I would have smiled, but he was much in earnest. As I made a movement
to sit beside him, he said:
"Taste first, O my master, of the grapes hanging from yonder wall."
I did so, and to my great surprise found them of an exquisite flavor,
finer even than the cultivated fruit of Persia, sweeter and more
delicate, of a different nature from the wild grapes we have been
eating. My astonishment appeared to delight him, and he said with a
laugh:
"The grapes are impossible, but they exist; even more absurd is my
story!" and he then narrated his adventure.
It was this: