ling so that few
saw us and those who did thought, I believe, that I was bringing some
foreign thief to jail.

At length we reached the Boat House as my dwelling was called, from the
image of the old Viking vessel that my uncle had carved and set above
the door, and I led him in staring about him with all his eyes, which in
his thin face looked large as those of an owl, taking him up the stairs,
which seemed to puzzle him much, for at every step he lifted his leg
high into the air, to an empty guest room.

Here besides the bed and other furniture was a silver basin with its
jug, one of the beautiful things that John Grimmer had brought I know
not whence. On these Kari fixed his eyes at once, staring at them in
the light of the candles that I had lit, as though they were familiar to
him. Indeed, after glancing at me as though for permission, he went to
the jug that was kept full of water in case of visitors of whom I had
many on business, lifted it, and after pouring a few drops of the water
on to the floor as though he made some offering, drank deeply, thus
showing that he was parched with thirst.

Then without more ado he filled the basin and throwing off his tattered
robe began to wash himself to the waist, round which he wore another
garment, of dirty cotton I thought, which looked like a woman's
petticoat. Watching him I noted two things, that his poor body was as
scratched and scarred as though by old thorn wounds, as were his face
and hands, also marked with great bruises as though from kicks and
blows, and secondly that hung about his neck was a wondrous golden image
about four inches in length. It was of rude workmanship with knees bent
up under the chin, but the face, in which little emeralds were set for
eyes, was of a great and solemn dignity.

This image Kari washed before he touched himself with water, bowing to
it the while, and when he saw me observing him, looked upwards to the
sky and said a word that sounded like _Pachacamac_, from which I took
it to be some idol that the poor man worshipped. Lastly, tied about his
middle was a hide bag filled with I knew not what.

Now I found a washball made of oil of olives mixed with beech ash and
showed him the use of it. At first he shrank from this strange thing,
but coming to understand its office, served himself of it readily,
smiling when he saw how well it cleansed his flesh. Further, I fetched
a shirt of silk with a pair of easy shoes and a fur-lined r