He had said, you may
recall, that it seemed probable that the religious rites on these rare
occasions bore some resemblance to the _bacchanalia_, or _dionysia_, of
ancient Greece. How he had derived that idea I do not know, but it proved
to have been but too well founded---only he had not guessed the full
truth. The followers of Dionysus made themselves drunken with the wine of
their god and then indulged in the wildest excesses. Here, as we were now
to learn, the worshipers of the sun were seized with another kind of
madness, leading to scenes that I believe, and hope, have never had their
parallel upon the earth.
With our hearts sore for Juba, we had completed our preparations for
departure within six hours after his tragic death. Ala had been informed
of the tragedy, and had visited the car and looked upon the dead form,
which I thought greatly affected her. Edmund held little communication
with her, but it was evidently with her cooperation that he was able to
procure a kind of coffin, in which we placed Juba's body. I do not know
whether Edmund informed her of his purpose to quit the planet, but she
must have known that we were going to convey our friend somewhere for
interment.
Pages:
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309