e same, and I saw that the whole band had halted with a similar
impulse.

We had just cleared one of the buttes that had hitherto obstructed our
view of the great gap. This was now directly in front of us; and along
its base, on the southern side, rose the walls and battlements of a
city--a vast city, judging from its distance and the colossal appearance
of its architecture. We could trace the columns of temples, and doors,
and gates, and windows, and balconies, and parapets, and spires. There
were many towers rising high over the roofs, and in the middle was a
temple-like structure, with its massive dome towering far above all the
others.

I looked upon this sudden apparition with a feeling of incredulity. It
was a dream, an imagination, a mirage. Ha! it was the mirage!

No! The mirage could not effect such a complete picture. There were
the roofs, and chimneys, and walls, and windows. There were the
parapets of fortified houses, with their regular notches and embrasures.
It was a reality. It was a city!

Was it the Cibolo of the Spanish padre? Was it that city of golden
gates and burnished towers? After all, was the story of the wandering
priest true? Who had proved it a fable? Who had ever penetrated this
region, the very country in which the ecclesiastic represented the
golden city of Cibolo to exist?

I saw that Seguin was puzzled, dismayed, as well as myself. He knew
nothing of this land. He had never witnessed a mirage like that.

For some time we sat in our saddles, influenced by strange emotions.
Shall we go forward? Yes! We must reach water. We are dying of
thirst; and, impelled by this, we spur onward.

We had ridden only a few paces farther when the hunters uttered a sudden
and simultaneous cry. A new object--an object of terror--was before us.
Along the mountain foot appeared a string of dark forms. They were
mounted men!

We dragged our horses to their haunches, our whole line halting as one
man.

"Injuns!" was the exclamation of several.

"Indians they must be," muttered Seguin. "There are no others here.
Indians! No! There never were such as them. See! they are not men!
Look! their huge horses, their long guns; they are giants! By Heaven!"
continued he, after a moment's pause, "they are bodiless! They are
phantoms!"

There were exclamations of terror from the hunters behind.

Were these the inhabitants of the city? There was a striking proportion
in the colossal