f very great size. Its
position was good, for it was set upon a large island that stood a
hundred feet or more above the level of the plain, the river dividing
into two branches at the foot of it, and, as we discovered afterwards,
uniting again beyond.

The vast mound upon which this city was built had the appearance of
being artificial, but very possibly the soil whereof it was formed
had been washed up in past ages during times of flood, so that from
a mudbank in the centre of the broad river it grew by degrees to its
present proportions. With the exception of a columned and towered
edifice that crowned the city and seemed to be encircled by gardens, we
could see no great buildings in the place.

"How is the city named?" asked Leo of Simbri.

"Kaloon," he answered, "as was all this land even when my fore-fathers,
the conquerors, marched across the mountains and took it more than two
thousand years ago. They kept the ancient title, but the territory
of the Mountain they called Hes, because they said that the loop upon
yonder peak was the symbol of a goddess of this name whom their general
worshipped."

"Priestesses still live there, do they not?" said Leo, trying in his
turn to extract the truth.

"Yes, and priests also. The College of them was established by the
conquerors, who subdued all the land. Or rather, it took the place of
another College of those who fashioned the Sanctuary and the Temple,
whose god was the fire in the Mountain, as it is that of the people of
Kaloon to-day."

"Then who is worshipped there now?"

"The goddess Hes, it is said; but we know little of the matter, for
between us and the Mountain folk there has been enmity for ages. They
kill us and we kill them, for they are jealous of their shrine, which
none may visit save by permission, to consult the Oracle and to make
prayer or offering in times of calamity, when a Khan dies, or the waters
of the river sink and the crops fail, or when ashes fall and earthquakes
shake the land, or great sickness comes. Otherwise, unless they attack
us, we leave them alone, for though every man is trained to arms, and
can fight if need be, we are a peaceful folk, who cultivate the soil
from generation to generation, and thus grow rich. Look round you. Is it
not a scene of peace?"

We stood up in the boat and gazed about us at the pastoral prospect.
Everywhere appeared herds of cattle feeding upon meadow lands, or troops
of mules and horses, or square