I learned at the same time that in this strange
land the women were as fond of hunting as the men, and that on such
occasions their presence was expected.

The sacred hunt was certainly a strange one. I saw that it was to
take place on the water; for a great crowd, numbering over a hundred,
went down to the harbor and embarked on board a galley, on which
there were a hundred others, who served as rowers. The hunters were
all armed with long, light javelins and short swords. Some of these
were offered to me, for as yet no one supposed that my rifle and
pistol were instruments of destruction, or anything else than
ornaments. My refusal to accept their weapons created some surprise,
but with their usual civility they did not press their offers
further. It was evident that this hunting expedition was only made in
obedience to some hallowed custom; for the light of the sun pained
their eyes, and all their movements were made with uncertainty and
hesitation. With these a hunt by sunlight is the same as a hunt by
night would be with us. There was the same confusion and awkwardness.

The Kohen was in command. At his word the galley started, and the
rowers pulled out to sea with long, regular strokes. I was anxious to
know what the expedition was aimed at, and what were the animals that
we expected to get; but I could not make out Almah's explanations.
Her words suggested something of vague terror, vast proportions, and
indescribable ferocity; but my ignorance of the language prevented me
from learning anything more.

We went along the coast for a few miles, and then came to the mouth
of a great river, which seemed to flow from among the mountains. The
current was exceedingly swift, and as I looked back it seemed to me
that it must be the very stream which had borne me here into this
remote world. I afterward found out that this was so--that this
stream emerges from among the mountains, flowing from an unknown
source. It was over this that I had been borne in my sleep, after
I had emerged from the subterranean darkness, and it was by this
current that I had been carried into the open sea. As we crossed the
estuary of this river I saw that the shores on either side were low,
and covered with the rankest vegetation; giant trees of fern, vast
reeds and grasses, all arose here in a dense growth impassable to
man. Upon the shallow shores the surf was breaking; and here in
the tide I saw objects which I at first supposed to be roc