tual object of the high
priest's visit than he determined to arrive at a perfectly clear and
definite understanding of the whole case; and in this he was ably
seconded by Kedah, who spared no pains to make every point advanced by
Zorah intelligible.

Condensed into a few words the issue raised was as follows:

On a certain date, the anniversary of which was now rapidly approaching,
an annual festival was held in honour of Kuhlacan, in the course of
which offerings were made to the god by every Uluan, who, embarking in a
gaily-decorated boat, proceeded to the middle of the lake and there cast
into the depths the most precious thing in his possession, usually some
costly article of jewellery made especially for the purpose. But every
seventh year the festival assumed a much more serious and important
character, inasmuch as that, in addition to the offerings above referred
to, the nation as a whole was accustomed to make a joint offering; such
offering consisting of the seven most beautiful maidens, between the
ages of twelve and twenty, in Ulua, who, on this great day, were dressed
in magnificent garments, loaded with jewels, until they could scarcely
stand for the weight of them, and then taken to the middle of the lake,
where, with much ceremony, and to the accompaniment of prayers and hymns
chanted by the priests, they plunged into the lake, one by one, and were
of course never again seen.

This ceremony, known as the Sacrifice of the Maidens, had been observed,
it appeared, from time immemorial, and was regarded by the priests--who,
being celibates, had no daughters to lose--as of the utmost importance
and sanctity, to such an extent, indeed, that even the slightest
approach to a murmur or protest against it was denounced as an
unpardonable sin. Yet, as may be easily understood, the approach of
every Septennial Festival was a time of infinite anxiety to all those
who happened to have daughters eligible for the sacrifice, the more so
that no family, not even royalty itself, was exempt, while the choice of
the maidens rested with the priests, from whose decision there was no
appeal. And the barbarity of the custom was accentuated in this
particular year, from the fact that Princess Myrra was both by age and
her remarkable beauty, to be certainly reckoned among the eligibles,
while an impression had arisen, rightly or wrongly, that the priesthood,
in order to manifest and assert their power, would assuredly so arran