The Lost Continent Read online

  2. BACK TO ATLANTIS

  The words of Tatho were no sleeping draught for me that night. I beganto think that I had made somewhat a mistake in wrapping myself up soentirely in my government of Yucatan, and not contriving to keep more intouch with events that were passing at home in Atlantis. For many yearspast it had been easy to see that the mariner folk who did trafficacross the seas spoke with restraint, and that only what news theEmpress pleased was allowed to ooze out beyond her borders. But, asI say, I was fully occupied with my work in the colony, and had nocuriosity to pull away a veil intentionally placed. Besides, it hasalways been against my principles to put to the torture men who hadreceived orders for silence from their superiors, merely that they shallbreak these orders for my private convenience.

  However, the iron discipline of our Priestly Clan left me no choiceof procedure. As was customary, I had been deprived of my office at amoment's notice. From that time on, all papers and authority belonged tomy successor, and, although by courtesy I might be permitted to remainas a guest in the pyramid that had so recently been mine, to see anothersunrise, it was clearly enjoined that I must leave the territory then atthe topmost of my speed and hasten to report in Atlantis.

  Tatho, to give him credit, was anxious to further my interests to theutmost in his power. He was by my side again before the dawn, puttingall his resources at my disposal.

  I had little enough to ask him. "A ship to take me home," I said, "and Ishall be your debtor."

  The request seemed to surprise him. "That you may certainly have if youwish it. But my ships are foul with the long passage, and are in needof a careen. If you take them, you will make a slow voyage of it toAtlantis. Why do you not take your own navy? The ships are in harbournow, for I saw them there when we came in. Brave ships they are too."

  "But not mine. That navy belongs to Yucatan."

  "Well, Deucalion, you are Yucatan; or, rather, you were yesterday, andhave been these twenty years."

  I saw what he meant, and the idea did not please me. I answered stifflyenough that the ships were owned by private merchants, or belonged tothe State, and I could not claim so much as a ten-slave galley.

  Tatho shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose you know your own policiesbest," he said, "though to me it seems but risky for a man who hasattained to a position like yours and mine not to have provided himselfwith a stout navy of his own. One never knows when a recall may be sent,and, through lack of these precautions, a life's earnings may very wellbe lost in a dozen hours."

  "I have no fear for mine," I said coldly.

  "Of course not, because you know me to be your friend. But had anotherman been appointed to this vice-royalty, you might have been sadlyshorn, Deucalion. It is not many fellows who can resist a snug hoardready and waiting in the very coffers they have come to line."

  "My Lord Tatho," I said, "it is clear to me that you and I have grown tobe of different tastes. All of the hoard that I have made for myself inthis colony, few men would covet. I have the poor clothes you see mein this moment, and a box of drugs such as I have found useful to thestomach. I possess also three slaves, two of them scribes and the thirda sturdy savage from Europe, who cooks my victual and fills for me thebath. For my maintenance during my years of service, here, I have bledthe State of a soldier's ration and nothing beyond; and if in my nameany man has mulcted a creature in Yucatan of so much as an ounce ofbronze, I request you as a last service to have that man hanged for meas a liar and a thief."

  Tatho looked at me curiously. "I do not know whether I admire you mostor whether I pity. I do not know whether to be astonished or to despise.We had heard of much of your uprightness over yonder in Atlantis, ofyour sternness and your justice, but I swear by the old Gods that nosoul guessed you carried your fancy so far as this. Why, man, money ispower. With money and the resources money can buy, nothing could stopa fellow like you; whilst without it you may be tripped up and troddendown irrevocably at the first puny reverse."

  "The Gods will choose my fate."

  "Possibly; but for mine, I prefer to nourish it myself. I tell you withfrankness that I have not come here to follow in the pattern you havemade for a vice-royalty. I shall govern Yucatan wisely and well to thebest of my ability; but I shall govern it also for the good of Tatho,the viceroy. I have brought with me here my navy of eight ships and apersonal bodyguard. There is my wife also, and her women and her slaves.All these must be provided for. And why indeed should it be otherwise?If a people is to be governed, it should be their privilege to payhandsomely for their prince."

  "We shall not agree on this. You have the power now, and can employ itas you choose. If I thought it would be of any use, I should like tosupplicate you most humbly to deal with lenience when you come to taxthese people who are under you. They have grown very dear to me."

  "I have disgusted you with me, and I am grieved for it. But even toretain your good opinion, Deucalion--which I value more than that of anyman living--I cannot do here as you have done. It would be impossible,even if I wished it. You must not judge all other men by your ownstrong standard: a Tatho is by no means a colossus like a Deucalion. Andbesides, I have a wife and children, and they must be provided for, evenif I neglect myself."

  "Ah, there," I said, "it does seem that I possess the advantage. I haveno wife, to clog me."

  He caught up my word quickly. "It seems to me you have nothing thatmakes life worth living. You have neither wife, children, riches, cooks,retinue, dresses, nor anything else in proportion to your station. Youwill pardon my saying it, old comrade, but you are plaguey ignorantabout some matters. For example, you do not know how to dine. Duringevery day of a very weary voyage, I have promised myself when sittingbefore the meagre sea victual, that presently the abstinence would bemore than repaid by Deucalion's welcoming feast. Oh, I tell you thatfeast was one of the vividest things that ever came before my eyes. Andthen when we get to the actuality, what was it? Why, a country farmerevery day sits down to more delicate fare. You told me how it wasprepared. Well, your savage from Europe may be lusty, and perchance isfaithful, but he is a devil-possessed cook. Gods! I have lived better ona campaign.

  "I know this is a colony here, without any of the home refinements; butif in the days to come, the deer of the forest, the fish of the stream,and the other resources of the place are not put to better use thanheretofore, I shall see it my duty as ruler to fry some of thekitchen staff alive in grease so as to encourage better cookery. Gods!Deucalion, have you forgotten what it is to have a palate? And haveyou no esteem for your own dignity? Man, look at your clothes. You aregarbed like a herdsman, and you have not a gaud or a jewel to brightenyou."

  "I eat," I said coldly, "when my hunger bids me, and I carry this onerobe upon my person till it is worn out and needs replacement. Thegrossness of excessive banqueting, and the effeminacy of many clothesare attainments that never met my fancy. But I think we have talked hereover long, and there seems little chance of our finding agreement. Youhave changed, Tatho, with the years, and perhaps I have changed also.These alterations creep imperceptibly into one's being as time advances.Let us part now, and, forgetting these present differences, rememberonly our friendship of twenty years agone. That for me, at any rate, hasalways had a pleasant savour when called up into the memory."

  Tatho bowed his head. "So be it," he said.

  "And I would still charge myself upon your bounty for that ship. Dawncannot be far off now, and it is not decent that the man who has ruledhere so long, should walk in daylight through the streets on the morningafter his dismissal."

  "So be it," said Tatho. "You shall have my poor navy. I could havewished that you had asked me something greater."

  "Not the navy, Tatho; one small ship. Believe me, more is wasted."

  "Now, there," said Tatho, "I shall act the tyrant. I am viceroy herenow, and will have my way in this. You may go naked of all possessions:that I cannot help. But depart for Atlantis unattended, that you shallnot."

  And so, in fine, as
the choice was set beyond me, it was in the "Bear,"Tatho's own private ship, with all the rest of his navy sailing inescort, that I did finally make my transit.

  But the start was not immediate. The vessels lay moored against thestone quays of the inner harbour, gutted of their stores, and with crewsexhausted, and it would have been suicide to have forced them out thenand there to again take the seas.

  So the courtesies were fulfilled by the craft whereon I abode haulingout into the entrance basin, and anchoring there in the swells of thefairway; and forthwith she and her consorts took in wood and water,cured meat and fish ashore, and refitted in all needful ways, with allspeed attainable.

  For myself there came then, as the first time during twenty busy years,a breathing space from work. I had no further connection with thecountry of my labours; indeed, officially, I had left it already. Intothe working of the ship it was contrary to rule that I should makeany inspection or interest, since all sea matters were the exclusiveproperty of the Mariners' Guild, secured to them by royal patent, andmost jealously guarded.

  So there remained to me in my day, hours to gaze (if I would) upon thequays, the harbours, the palaces, and the pyramids of the splendid citybefore me which I had seen grow stone by stone from its foundations; orto roam my eye over the pastures and the grain lands beyond the walls,and to look longingly at the dense forests behind, from which field byfield we had so tediously ripped our territory.

  Would Tatho continue the work so healthily begun? I trusted so, even inspite of his selfish words. And at all hours, during the radiance ofour Lord the Sun, or under the stars of night, I was free to pursuethat study of the higher mysteries, on which we of the Priests' Clan aretrained to set our minds, without aid of book or instrument, of image ortemple.

  The refitting of the navy was gone about with speed. Never, it is said,had ships been reprovisioned and caulked, and remanned with greaterspeed for the over-ocean voyage. Indeed, it was barely over a month fromthe day that they brought up in the harbour, they put out beyond thewalls, and began their voyage eastward over the hills and dale of theocean.

  Rowing-slaves from Europe for this long passage of sea are not takennow, owing to the difficulty in provisioning them, for modern humanityforbids the practice of letting them eat one another according to thehome custom of their continent; sails alone are but an indifferent standby; but modern science has shown how to extract force from the Sun, whenHe is free from cloud, and this (in a manner kept secret by mariners) ismade to draw sea-water at the forepart of the vessel, and eject it withsuch force at the stern that she is appreciably driven forward, evenwith the wind adverse.

  In another matter also has navigation vastly improved. It is notnecessary now, as formerly, to trust wholly to a starry night (whenbeyond sight of land) to find direction. A little image has been made,and is stood balanced in the forepart of every vessel, with an armoutstretched, pointing constantly to the direction where the SouthernCross lies in the Heavens. So, by setting an angle, can a just course becorrectly steered. Other instruments have they also for finding a trueposition on the ocean wastes, for the newer mariner, when he is at sea,puts little trust in the Gods, and confides mightily in his own thewsand wits.

  Still, it is amusing to see these tarry fellows, even in this modernday, take their last farewell of the harbour town. The ship is stowed,and all ready for sea, and they wash and put on all their bravery ofattire. Ashore they go, their faces long with piety, and seek someobscure temple whose God has little flavour with shore folk, and herethey make sacrifice with clamour and lavish outlay. And, finally, therefollows a feast in honour of the God, and they arrive back on board, andput to sea for the most part drunken, and all heavy and evil-humouredwith gluttony and their other excesses.

  The voyage was very different to my previous sea-going. There was nocreeping timorously along in touch with the coasts. We stood straightacross the open gulf in the direction of home, came up with the band ofthe Carib Islands, and worked confidently through them, as though theyhad been signposts to mark the sea highway; and stopped only twiceto replenish with wood, water, and fruit. These commodities, too, thesavages brought us freely, so great was their subjection, and inneither place did we have even the semblance of a fight. It was a greatcertificate of the growing power of Atlantis and her finest over-seacolony.

  Then boldly on we went across the vast ocean beyond, with never asacrifice to implore the Gods that they should help our direction. Onemight feel censure towards these rugged mariners for their impiety, butone could not help an admiration for their lusty skill and confidence.

  The dangers of the desolate sea are dealt out as the Gods will, and mancan only take them as they come. Storms we encountered, and the marinersfought them with stubborn endurance; twice a blazing stone from Heavenhissed into the sea beside us, though without injuring any of our ships;and, as was unavoidable, the great beasts of the sea hunted us withtheir accustomed savagery. But only once did we suffer material lossfrom these last, and that was when three of the greater sea lizardsattacked the "Bear," the ship whereon I travelled, at one and the sametime.

  The hour of their onset was during the blazing midday heat, and the Sunbeing at the full of His power, our machines were getting full forcefrom Him. The vessel was travelling forward faster than a man on dryland could walk. But for the power escape she might as well have beenstanding still when the beasts sighted her. There were three of them,as I have said, and we saw them come up over the curve of the horizon,beating the sea into foam with their flappers, and waving their greatnecks like masts as they swam. Our navy was spread out in a long lineof ships, and in olden days each of the beasts would have selected aseparate prey, and proceeded for it; but, like man, these beasts havelearned the necessities of warfare, and they hunt in pack now and do notseparate their forces.

  It was plain they were making for our ship, and Tob, the captain, wouldhave had me go into the after-castle, and there be secure from theirmarauding. He was responsible to the Lord Tatho, he said, for my safeconduct; it was certain that the beasts would contrive to seize some ofthe ship's company before they were satiated; and if the hap came to theLord Deucalion, he (the captain) would have to give himself voluntarilyto the beasts then, to escape a very painful death at Tatho's handslater on.

  However, my mind was set. A man can never have too much experience infighting enemies, whether human or bestial, and the attack of thesecreatures was new to me, and I was fain to learn its method. So I gavethe captain a letter to Tatho, saying how the matter lay (and for which,it may be mentioned, the rude fellow seemed little enough grateful), andstayed in my chair under the awning.

  The beasts surged up to us with champing jaws, and all the shipmenstood armed on their defence. They came up alongside, two females (thesmaller) on the flank of the ship, the giant male by himself on theother. Their great heads swooped about, as high as the yards that heldthe sails, and the reek from them gave one physical sickness.

  The shipmen faced the monsters with a sturdy courage. Arrows wereuseless against the smooth, bull-like hides. Even the throwing firecould not so much as singe them; nothing but twenty axe blows deliveredon an attacking head together could beat it back, and even thesesucceeded only through sheer weight of metal, and did not make so muchas the scratch of a wound.

  During all time beasts have disputed with man the mastery of the earth,and it is only in Atlantis and Egypt and Yucatan that man has dared tohold his own, and fight them with a mind made strong by many previousvictories. In Europe and mid-Africa the greater beasts hold fulldominion, and man admits his puny number and force, and lives in earthcrannies and the higher tree-tops, as a fugitive confessed. And upon thegreat oceans, the beasts are lords, unchecked.

  Still here, upon this desolate sea, although the giant lizards were newto me, it was a pleasure to pit my knowledge of war against their brutestrength and courage. Ever since the first men did their business uponthe great waters, they fulfilled their instincts in fighting the beastswith desper
ation. Hiding coward-like in a hold was useless, for if thisenemy could not find men above decks to glut them, they would breaka ship with their paddles, and so all would be slain. And so it wasrecognised that the fight should go forward as desperately as might be,and that it could only end when the beasts had got their prey and hadgone away satisfied.

  It was in a one-sided conflict after this fashion then, that I foundmyself, and felt the joy once more to have my thews in action. But aftermy axe had got in some dozen lusty blows, which, for all the harm theydid, might have been delivered against some city wall, or, indeed,against the ark of the Mysteries itself, I sought about me till I founda lance, and with that made very different play.

  The eyes of these lizards are small, and set deep in a bony socket, butI judged them to be vulnerable, and it was upon the eyes of the beastthat I made my attack. The decks were slippery with the horrid slime ofthem. The crew surged about in their battling, and, moreover, constantlyoffered themselves as a rampart before me by reason of Tob, thecaptain's threats. But I gave a few shrewd progues with the lance toshow that I did not choose my will to be overridden, and presently wasgiven room for manoeuvre.

  Deliberately I placed myself in the sight of one of the lizards, andoffered my body to its attack. The challenge was accepted. It swoopedlike a dropping stone, and I swerved and drove in the lance at its oozyeye.

  I thanked the Gods then that I had been trained with the lance tillcertain aim was a matter of instinct with me. The blade went true toits mark and stuck there, and the shaft broke in my hand. The beast drewoff, blinded and bellowing, and beating the sea with its paddles. In agreat cataract of foam I saw it bend its great long neck, and rub itshead (with the spear still fixed) against its back, thereby enduring newagonies, but without dislodging the weapon. And then presently, findingthis of no avail, it set off for the place from which it came withextraordinary quickness, and rapidly grew smaller against the horizon.

  The male and the other female lizard had also left us, but not insimilar plight. Tob, the captain, seeing my resolve to take hazards,deliberately thrust a shipman into the jaws of each of the others,so that they might be sated and get them gone. It was clear that Tobdreaded very much for his own skin if I came by harm, and I thought witha warming heart of the threats that Tatho must have used in his kindanxiety for my safety. It is pleasant when one's old friends do not omitto pay these little attentions.