ter of fact, he would have agreed to
anything that would have restrained us from killing the poor devils who
fell into our hands. He was a great fellow to invent gunpowder and
fire-arms and cannon; but when it came to using these things to kill
people, he was as tender-hearted as a chicken.

The Sagoth who had spoken was talking to other Sagoths in his boat.
Evidently they were holding a council over the question of the wisdom
of surrender-ing.

"What will become of you if you don't surrender to us?" I asked. "If
we do not open up our batteries on you again and kill you all, you will
simply drift about the sea helplessly until you die of thirst and
starvation. You cannot return to the islands, for you have seen as
well as we that the natives there are very numerous and warlike. They
would kill you the moment you landed."

The upshot of it was that the boat of which the Sagoth speaker was in
charge surrendered. The Sagoths threw down their weapons, and we took
them aboard the ship next in line behind the Amoz. First Ja had to
impress upon the captain and crew of the ship that the prisoners were
not to be abused or killed. After that the remaining dugouts paddled
up and surrendered. We distributed them among the entire fleet lest
there be too many upon any one vessel. Thus ended the first real naval
engagement that the Pellucidarian seas had ever witnessed--though Perry
still insists that the action in which the Sari took part was a battle
of the first magnitude.

The battle over and the prisoners disposed of and fed--and do not
imagine that Dian, Juag, and I, as well as the two hounds were not fed
also--I turned my attention to the fleet. We had the feluccas close in
about the flag-ship, and with all the ceremony of a medieval potentate
on parade I received the commanders of the forty-nine feluccas that
accompanied the flag-ship--Dian and I together--the empress and the
emperor of Pellucidar.

It was a great occasion. The savage, bronze warriors entered into the
spirit of it, for as I learned later dear old Perry had left no
opportunity neglected for impressing upon them that David was emperor
of Pellucidar, and that all that they were accomplishing and all that
he was accomplishing was due to the power, and redounded to the glory
of David. The old man must have rubbed it in pretty strong, for those
fierce warriors nearly came to blows in their efforts to be among the
first of those to kneel before me a