第30章

The lady having retreated, Job returned in a great state of nervousness, and keeping his weather eye fixed upon every woman who came near him.I took an opportunity to explain to our hosts that Job was a married man, and had had very unhappy experiences in his domestic relations, which accounted for his presence here and his terror at the sight of women, but my remarks were received in grim silence, it being evident that our retainer's behavior was considered as a slight to the "household" at large, although the women, after the manner of some of their more civilized sisters, made merry at the rebuff of their companion.

After breakfast we took a walk and inspected the Amahagger herds, and also their cultivated lands.They have two breeds of cattle, one large and angular, with no horns, but yielding beautiful milk; and the other, a red breed, very small and fat, excellent for meat, but of no value for milking purposes.This last breed closely resembles the Norfolk red-pole strain, only it has horns which generally curve forward over the head, sometimes to such an extent that they have to be cut to prevent them from growing into the bones of the skull, The goats are long-haired, and are used for eating only, at least I never saw them milked.As for the Amahagger cultivation, it is primitive in the extreme, being all done by means of a spade made of iron, for these people smelt and work iron.This spade is shaped more like a big spearshead than anything else, and has no shoulder to it on which the foot can be set.As a consequence, the labor of digging is very great.It is, however, all done by the men, the women, contrary to the habits of most savage races, being entirely exempt from manual toil.But then, as I think I have said elsewhere, among the Amahagger the weaker sex has established its rights.

At first we were much puzzled as to the origin and constitution of this extraordinary race, points upon which they were singularly uucommunicative.As the time went on for the next four days passed without any striking eventwe learned something from Leo's lady friend Ustane, who, by the way, stuck to that young gentleman like his own shadow.As to origin, they had none, at least, so far as she was aware.There were, however, she informed us, mounds of masonry and many pillars near the place where _i_ She _i_ lived, which was called Ko^r, and which the wise said had once been houses wherein men lived, and it was suggested that they were descended from these men.No one, however, dared go near these great ruins because they were haunted: they only looked on them from a distance.

Other similar ruins were to be seen, she had heard, in various parts of the country, that is, wherever one of the mountains rose above the level of the swamp.Also the caves in which they lived had been hollowed out of the rocks by men, perhaps the same who built the cities.They themselves had no written laws, only custom, which was, however, quite as binding as law.

If any man offended against the custom, he was put to death by order of the Father of the "household." Iasked how he was put to death, and she only smiled, and said that I might see one day soon.

They had a queen, however._i_ She _i_ was their queen, but she was very rarely seen, perhaps once in two or three years, when she came forth to pass sentence on some offenders, and when seen was muffled up in a big cloak, so that nobody could look upon her face.Those who waited upon her were deaf and dumb, and therefore could tell no tales, but it was reported that she was lovely as no other woman was lovely, or ever had been.It was rumored also that she was immortal, and had power.over all things, but she, Ustane, could say nothing of all that.What she believed was that the queen chose a husband from time to time, and as soon as a female child was born this husband, who was never again seen, was put to death.

Then the female child grew up and took the place of the queen when its mother died and had been buried in the great caves.But of these matters none could speak for certain.Only _i_ She _i_ was obeyed throughout the length and breadth of the land, and to question her command was certain death._i_ She _i_ kept a guard, but had no regular army, and to disobey her was to die.