istance and
show their nails which they had allowed to grow, the better to bury them
into his flesh. Others walked restlessly up and down; some were as pale
as though they were awaiting their own execution.

Suddenly lofty feather fans rose above the heads, behind the Mappalian
district. It was Salammbo leaving her palace; a sigh of relief found
vent.

But the procession was long in coming; it marched with deliberation.

First there filed past the priests of the Pataec Gods, then those of
Eschmoun, of Melkarth, and all the other colleges in succession, with
the same insignia, and in the same order as had been observed at the
time of the sacrifice. The pontiffs of Moloch passed with heads bent,
and the multitude stood aside from them in a kind of remorse. But the
priests of Rabbetna advanced with a proud step, and with lyres in their
hands; the priestesses followed them in transparent robes of yellow
or black, uttering cries like birds and writhing like vipers, or else
whirling round to the sound of flutes to imitate the dance of the stars,
while their light garments wafted puffs of delicate scents through the
streets.

The Kedeschim, with painted eyelids, who symbolised the hermaphrodism of
the Divinity, received applause among these women, and, being perfumed
and dressed like them, they resembled them in spite of their flat
breasts and narrower hips. Moreover, on this day the female principle
dominated and confused all things; a mystic voluptuousness moved in the
heavy air; the torches were already lighted in the depths of the sacred
woods; there was to be a great celebration there during the night; three
vessels had brought courtesans from Sicily, and others had come from the
desert.

As the colleges arrived they ranged themselves in the courts of the
temples, on the outer galleries, and along double staircases which rose
against the walls, and drew together at the top. Files of white robes
appeared between the colonnades, and the architecture was peopled with
human statues, motionless as statues of stone.

Then came the masters of the exchequer, the governors of the provinces,
and all the rich. A great tumult prevailed below. Adjacent streets were
discharging the crowd, hierodules were driving it back with blows of
sticks; and then Salammbo appeared in a litter surmounted by a purple
canopy, and surrounded by the Ancients crowned with their golden tiaras.

Thereupon an immense shout arose; the cymbals and cro