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08 - At The Earth's Core - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Adventure Books Library

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Chapter eight, the mahar Temple. The aborigine, apparently uninjured, climbed quickly
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into the skiff, and seizing the spear with me, helped to hold off
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the infuriated creature. Blood from the wounded reptile was now crimsoning the waters about
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us, and soon from the weakening struggles, it became evident that I had
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inflicted a death wound upon it. Presently, its efforts to reach us ceased
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entirely, and with a few convulsive movements, it turned upon its back,
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quite dead. And then there came to me a sudden realization of the predicament
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in which I had placed myself. I was entirely within the power of the
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savage man whose skiff I had stolen. Still clinging to the spear, I
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looked into his face to find him scrutinizing me intently, And there we stood
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for some several minutes, each clinging tenaciously to the weapon, while we gazed
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in stupid wonderment at each other. What was in his mind, I do
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not know, but in my own was merely the question as to how soon
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the fellow would recommence hostilities. Presently he spoke to me, but in a
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tongue which I was unable to translate. I shook my head in an effort
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to indicate my ignorance of his language, at the same time addressing him in
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the bastard tongue that the Sagoths used to converse with the human slaves of the
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Mahars. To my delight, he understood and answered me in the same jargon.
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What do you want of my spear? He asked, only to keep
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you from running it through me? I replied, I would not do that,
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he said, for you have just saved my life, And with that
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he released his hold upon it and squatted down in the bottom of the skiff.
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Who are you, he continued, and from what country do you come?
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I too, sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried
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to explain how I came to Pellucidar and wherefrom. But it was as impossible
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for him to grasp or believe the strange tale. I told him, as
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I fear it is for you upon the outer crust to believe in the existence
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of the inner world. To him, it seemed quite ridiculous to imagine that
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there was another world far beneath his feet, peopled by being similar to himself,
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and he laughed uproariously the more he thought upon it. But it was
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ever thus, that which has never come within the scope of our really pitifully
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meager world experience cannot be. Our finite minds cannot grasp that which may not
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exist in accordance with the conditions which obtain about us upon the outside of the
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insignificant grain of dust which wends its tiny way among the boulders of the universe,
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the speck of moist dirt we so proudly call the world. So I
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gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was a Mezop,
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and that his name was Jaw. Who are the Mezops? I asked?
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Where do they live? He looked at me in surprise. I might
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indeed believe that you were from another world, he said, For who of
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Pellucidar could be so ignorant? The Mezops live upon the islands of the seas.
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In so far as I have ever heard, no mezop lives elsewhere,
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and no others than Mezops dwell upon the islands. But of course it may
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be different in other far distant lands. I do not know at any rate.
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In this sea and those near by, it is true that only people
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of my race inhabit the islands. We are fishermen, though we be great
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hunters as well, often going to the mainland in search of the game that
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is scarce upon all but the larger islands. And we are warriors also,
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he added proudly. Even the Sagoths of the Mahars fear us. Once,
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when Pellucidar was young, the Sagoths were wont to capture us for slaves,
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as they do the other men of Pellucidar. It is handed down from father
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to son among us that this is so. But we fought so desperately and
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slew so many Sagoths, and those of us that were captured killed so many
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Mahars in their own cities, that at last they learned that were better to
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leave us alone. And later came the time that the Mahars became too indolent
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even to catch their own fish, except for amusement. And then they needed
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us to supply their wants, and so a truce was made between the races.
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Now they give us certain things which we are unable to produce, in
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return for the fish that we catch, and the Mezops and the Mahars live
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in peace. The great ones even come to our islands. It is there,
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far from the prying eyes of their own Sagaths, that they practice their
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religious rites in the temples they have builded there with our assistants. If you
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live among us, you will doubtless see the manner of their worship, which
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is strange, indeed, and most unpleasant for the poor slaves they bring to
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take part in it. As Ja talked, I had an excellent opportunity to
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inspect him more closely. He was a huge fellow, standing I should say
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six feet six or seven inches, well developed, and of a coppery red,
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not unlike that of our own North American Indian. Nor were his features
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dissimilar to theirs. He had the aquiline nose found among many of the higher
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tribes, the prominent cheek bones, and black hair and eyes, but his
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mouth and lips were better molded. All in all, Ja was an impressive
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and handsome creature, and he talked well too, even in the miserable makeshift
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language we were compelled to use. During our conversation, Ja had taken the
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paddle and was propelling the skiff with vigorous strokes toward a large island that lay
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some half mile from the mainland. The skill with which he handled his screwde
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and awkward craft elicited my deepest admiration, since it had been so short a
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time before that I had made such pitiful work of it. As we touched
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the pretty level beach, Ja leaped out and I followed him. Together,
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we dragged the skiff far up into the bushes that grew beyond the sand.
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We must hide our canoes, explained Ja, for the mezops of Luana are
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always a war with us, and would steal them if they found them.
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He nodded toward an island farther out at sea, and at so great a
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distance that it seemed but a blur hanging in the distant sky. The upward
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curve of the surface of Pellucidar was constantly revealing the impossible to the surprised eyes
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of the outer earthly. To see land and water curving upward in the distance
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until it seemed to stand on edge where it melted into the distant sky,
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and to feel that seas and mountains hung suspended directly above one's head, required
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such a complete reversal of the perceptive and reasoning faculties as almost to stupefy one.
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No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Jaw plunged into the jungle,
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presently emerging into a narrow but well defined trail which wound hither and thither,
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much after the manner of the highways of all primitive folk. But there was
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one peculiarity about this mees up trail, which I was later to find distinguished
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them from all other trails that I have ever seen within or without the earth.
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It would run on, plain and clear and well defined, to end
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suddenly in the midst of a tangle of matted jungle. Then Jaw would turn
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directly back in his tracks for a little distance, spring into a tree,
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climb through it to the other side, drop onto a fallen log, leap
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over a low bush, and alight once more upon a distinct trail, which
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he would follow back for a short distance, only to turn directly about and
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retrace his steps until after a mile or less this new pathway ended as suddenly
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and mysteriously as the former section. Then he would pass again across some media
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which would reveal no spoor to take up the broken thread of the trail beyond.
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As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me. I could not
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but admire the native shrewdness of the ancient progenitor of the mezops, who hit
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upon this novel plan to throw his enemies from his track and delay or thwart
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them in their attempts to follow him to his deep buried cities. To you
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of the outer Earth, it might seem a slow and tortuous method of traveling
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through the jungle, But were you of Pellucidar, you would realize that time
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is no factor where time does not exist. So labyrinthine are the windings of
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these trails, so varied, the connecting links, and the distances which one
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must retrace one's steps from the paths ends to find them, that a mezop
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often reaches man's estate before he is familiar, even with those which lead from
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his own city to the sea. In fact, three fourths of the education
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of the young male mezop consists in familiarizing himself with these jungle avenues, and
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the status of an adult is largely determined by the number of trails which he
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can follow upon his own island. The females never learn them, since from
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birth to death they never leave the clearing in which the village of their nativity
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is situated, except that they be taken to mate by a male from another
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village, or captured in war by the enemies of their tribe. After proceeding
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through the jungle for what must have been upward of five miles, we emerged
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suddenly into a large clearing in the exact same center of which stood as strange
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and appearing village as one might well imagine. Large trees had been chopped down
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fifteen or twenty feet above the ground, and upon the tops of them,
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spherical habitations of woven twigs mud covered had been built. Each ball like house
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was surmounted by some manner of carbon image, which Jah told me indicated the
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identity of the owner. Horizontal slits six inches high and two or three feet
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wide served to admit light and ventilation. The entrances to the house were through
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small apertures in the bases of the trees, and thence upward by rude ladders
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through the hollow trunks to the rooms above. The houses varied in size from
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two to several rooms. The largest that I entered was divided into two floors
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and eight apartments. All about the village between it and the jungle lay beautifully
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cultivated fields, in which the Mezops raised such cereals, fruits, and vegetables
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as they required. Women and children were working in these guards dans. As
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we crossed toward the village at sight of Jaw, they saluted deferentially, but
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to me they paid not the slightest attention. Among them, and about the
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outer verge of the cultivated area were many warriors. These two saluted Ja by
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touching the points of their spears to the ground directly before them. Ja conducted
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me to a large house in the center of the village, the house with
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eight rooms, and taking me up into it, gave me food and drink.
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There I met his mate, a comely girl with a nursing baby in
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her arms. Jah told her of how I had saved his life, and
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she was thereafter most kind and hospitable toward me, even permitting me to hold
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and amuse the tiny bundle of humanity, whom Jaw told me would one day
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rule the tribe. For Jaw, it seemed, was the chief of the
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community. We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to
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Jaw's amusement, for it seemed that he seldom, if ever did so,
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and then the red man proposed that I accompany him to the temple of the
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Mahars, which lay not far from his village. Not supposed to visit it,
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he said, but the great ones cannot hear, and if we keep
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well out of sight, they need never know that we have been there.
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For my part, I hate them, and always have. But the other
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chieftains of the island think it best that we continued to maintain the amicable relations
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which exist between the two races. Otherwise I should like nothing better than to
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lead my warriors amongst the hideous creatures and exterminate them. Pellucidar would be a
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better place to live were there none of them. I wholly concurred in Jaw's
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belief, but it seemed that it might be a difficult matter to exterminate the
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dominant race of Pellucidar. Thus, conversing, we followed the intricate trail toward
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the temple, which we came upon in a small clearing, surrounded by enormous
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trees, similar to those which must have flourished upon the outer crust during the
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Carboniferous age. Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock, built in the
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shape of a rough oval with rounded roof, in which were several large openings.
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No doors or windows were in the sides of the structure, nor was
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there need of any except one entrance for the slaves, since, as Jaw
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explained, the Mahars flew to and from their place of ceremonial entering and leaving
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the buildings by means of the apertures in the roof. But added Jaw,
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there is an entrance near the base of which even the Mahars know nothing.
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Come, and he led me across the clearing and about the end to a
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pile of loose rock which lay against the foot of the wall. Here he
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removed a couple of large boulders, revealing a small opening which led straight within
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the building. Or so it seemed, though as I entered after Ja,
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I discovered myself in a narrow place of extreme darkness. We are within the
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outer wall, said Jaw. It is hollow. Follow me closely. The
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red man groped ahead a few paces, and then began to ascend a primitive
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ladder, similar to that which leads from the ground to the upper stories of
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his house. We ascended for some forty feet when the interior of the space
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between the walls commenced to grow lighter, and presently we came opposite an opening
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in the inner wall, which gave us an unobstructed view of the entire interior
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of the temple. The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water,
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in which numerous hideous mahars swam lazily up and down. Artificial islands of granite
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rock dotted this artificial sea, and upon several of them, I saw men
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and women like myself. What are the human beings doing here? I asked,
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Wait, and you shall see, replied Ja. They are to take
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part in the ceremonies which will follow the advent of the Queen. You may
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be thankful that you are not upon the same side of the wall as they.
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Scarcely had he spoken, than we heard a great fluttering of wings above,
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and a moment later a long procession of the frightful reptiles of Pellucidar winged
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slowly and majestically through the large central opening in the roof and circled in stately
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manner about the temple. There were several mahars first, and then at least
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twenty inspiring pterodactyls thipdars, there called within Pellucidar. Behind these came the Queen,
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flanked by other Thipdars, as she had been when she entered the amphitheater
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at Phutra. Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval chamber to
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settle, finally upon the damp, cold boulders that fringed the outer edge of
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the pool. In the center of one side, the largest rock was reserved
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for the queen, and here she took her place, surrounded by her terrible
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guard. All lay quiet for several minutes after settling to their places. One
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might have imagined them in silent prayer. The poor slaves upon the diminutive islands
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watched the horrid creatures with wide eyes. The men, for the most part,
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stood erect and stately, with folded arms, awaiting their doom, but
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the women and children clung to one another, hiding behind the males. There
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a noble looking race, these cave men of Pellucidar, And if our progenditors
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were as they, the human race of the outer crust has deteriorated rather than
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proved. With the march of the ages. All they lack is opportunity.
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We have opportunity, and little else now the queen moved. She raised her
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ugly head, looking about. Then very slowly she crawled to the edge of
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her throne and slid noiselessly into the water. Up and down the long tank
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she swam, turning at the ends, as you have seen captive seals turn
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in their tiny tanks, turning upon their backs, and diving below the surface.
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Nearer and nearer to the island she came, until at last she remained
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at rest before the largest which was directly opposite her throne. Raising her hideous
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head from the water, she fixed her great round eyes upon the slaves.
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They were fat and sleek, for they had been brought from a distant mahar
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city, where human beings are kept in droves and bread, and fattened as
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we breed in fatten beef cattle. The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump
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young maiden. Her victim tried to turn away, hiding her face in her
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hands and kneeling behind a woman, But the reptile, with unblinking eyes,
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stared on with such fixity that I could have sworn Her vision penetrated the woman
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and the girl's arms to reach at last the very center of her brain.
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Slowly the reptile's head commenced to move to and fro, but the eyes never
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ceased to bore toward the frightened girl, And then the victim responded. She
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turned wide, fear haunted eyes toward the mahar queen. Slowly she rose to
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her feet, and then, as though dragged by some unseen power, she
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moved as one in a trance, straight toward the reptile, her glassy eyes
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fixed upon those of her captor. To the water's edge she came, nor
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did she even pause, but stepped into the shallows beside the little island.
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On she moved toward the mahar who now slowly retreated as though leading her victim.
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On the water rose to the girl's knees, and still she advanced,
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chained by that clammy eye. Now the water was at her waist, now
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her armpits. Her fellows upon the island looked on in horror, helpless to
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avert her doom, in which they saw a forecast of their own. The
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Mahars sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes were exposed above the
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surface of the water, and the girl had advanced until the end of that
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repulsive beak was but an inch or two from her face, Her horror filled
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eyes riveted upon those of the reptile. Now the water passed above the girl's
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mouth and nose, her eyes and forehead all that showed, Yet she still
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walked on. After the retreating Maehar, the queen's head slowly disappeared beneath the
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surface, and after it went the eyes of her victim. Only a slow
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ripple widened toward the shores to mark where the two vanished. For a time,
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all was silence within the temple. The slaves were motionless in terror.
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The Mahars watched the surface of the water for the reappearance of their queen,
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and presently, at one end of the tank, her head rose slowly into
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view. She was backing toward the surface, her eyes fixed before her,
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as they had been when she dragged the helpless girl to her doom. And
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then, to my utter amazement, I saw the forehead and eyes of the
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maiden come slowly out of the depths, following the gaze of the reptile,
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just as when she had disappeared beneath the surface. On and on came the
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girl until she stood in water that reached barely to her knees, and though
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she had been beneath the surface sufficient time to have drowned her thrice over,
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there was no indication other than her dripping hair and glistening body that she had
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been submerged at all. Again and again, the Queen led the girl into
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the depths and out again, until the uncanny weirdness of the thing got on
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my nerves so that I could have leaped into the tank to the child's rescue,
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had I not taken a firm hold of myself. Once they were below
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the surface much longer than usual, and when they came to the surface,
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I was horrified to see that one of the girl's arms was gone, gnawed
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completely off at the shoulder. But the poor thing gave no indication of realizing
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pain. Only the horror in her set eyes seemed intensified. The next time
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they appeared, the the other arm was gone, and then the breasts,
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and then a part of the face. It was awful. The poor creatures
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on the islands, awaiting their fate, tried to cover their eyes with their
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hands to hide the fearful sight. But now I saw that they too were
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under the hypnotic spell of the reptiles, so that they could only crouch in
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terror, with their eyes fixed upon the terrible thing that was transpiring before them.
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Finally, the Queen was under much longer than ever before, and when
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she arose, she came alone and swam sleepily toward her boulder. The moment
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she mounted it seemed to be a signal for the other Mahars to enter the
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tank, and then commenced upon a larger scale, a repetition of the uncanny
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performance through which the Queen had led her victim. Only the women and children
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fell prey to the Mahars, they being the weakest and most tender, and
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when they had satisfied their appetite for human flesh, some of them devouring two
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or three of the slaves. There were only a score of full grown men
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left, and I thought that for some reason these were to be space.
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But such was far from the case, for as the last Mahar crawled to
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her rock, the Queen's thipdars darted into the air, circled the temple once,
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and then, hissing like steam engines, swooped down upon the remaining slaves.
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There was no hypnotism here, just the plain brutal ferocity of the beast
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of prey, tearing, rending, and gulping its meat. But at that
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it was less horrible than the uncanny method of the Mahars. By the time
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the Thipdars had disposed of the last of the slaves, the Mahars were all
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asleep upon their rocks, and a moment later the great pterodactyls swung back to
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their posts beside the queen, and themselves dropped into slumber. I thought the
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Mahars seldom, if ever slept, I said to Jah, they do many
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things in this temple which they do not do elsewhere. He replied, the
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Mahars of Phutra are not supposed to eat human flesh. Yet slaves are brought
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here by the thousands, and almost always you will find Mahars on hand to
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consume them. I imagine that they do not their sagoths here because they are
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ashamed of the practice, which is supposed to obtain only among the least advanced
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of their race. But I would wager my canoe against a broken paddle that
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there is no mahar but eats human flesh whenever she can get it. Why
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should they object to eating human flesh? I asked, if it is true
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that they look upon us as lower animals. It is not because they consider
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us their equals that they are supposed to look with abhorrence upon those who eat
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our flesh, replied JA, it is merely that we are warm blooded animals.
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They would not think of eating the meat of a thag, which we
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consider such a delicacy, any more than I would think of eating a snake.
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As a matter of fact, it is difficult to explain just why the
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sentiment should exist among them. I wonder if they left a single victim,
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I remarked, leaning far out of the opening in the rocky wall to inspect
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the temple better. Directly below me, the water lapped the very side of
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the wall, there being a break in the boulders at this point, as
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there was at several other places about the side of the temple. My hands
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were resting upon a small piece of granite which formed part of the wall,
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and all my weight upon it proved too much for it. It slipped and
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I plunged forward. There was nothing to save myself, and I plunged head
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foremost into the water below. Fortunately the tank was deep at this point and
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I suffered no injury from the fall. But as I was rising to the
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surface. My mind filled with the horrors of my position as I thought of
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the terrible doom which awaited me the moment the eyes of the reptiles fell upon
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the creature that had disturbed their slumber. As long as I could, I
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remained beneath the surface, swimming rapidly in the direction of the islands, that
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I might prolong my life to the utmost. At last, I was forced
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to rise for air, and as I cast a terrified glance in the direction
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of the Mahars and the Thipdars, I was almost stunned to see that not
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a single one remained upon the rocks where I had last seen them, Nor
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as I searched the temple with my eyes, could I discern any within it.
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For a moment, I was puzzled to account for the thing, until
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I realized that the reptiles, being deaf, could not have been disturbed by
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the noise my body made when it hit the water, and that, as
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there is no such thing as time within Pellucidar, there was no telling how
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long I had been beneath the surface. It was a difficult thing to attempt
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to figure out by earthly standards this matter of elapsed time. But when I
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set myself to it, I began to realize that I might have been submerged
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a second, or a month, or not at all. You have no
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conception of the strange contradictions and impossibilities which arise when all methods of measuring time
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as we know them upon the earth are non existent. I was about to
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congratulate myself upon the miracle which had saved me for the moment when the memory
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of the hypnotic powers of the Mahars filled me with apprehension lest they be practicing
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their uncanny art upon me, to the end that I merely imagined that I
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was alone in the temple. At the thought, cold sweat broke out upon
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me from every pore, and as I crawled from the water on to one
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of the tiny islands, I was trembling like a leaf. You cannot imagine
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the awful horror which even the simple thought of the repulsive Mahars of Pellucidar induces
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in the human mind. And to feel that you are in their power,
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that they are crawling, slimy, abhorrent, to drag you down beneath the
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waters and devour you, it is frightful. But they did not come,
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and at last I came to the conclusion that I was indeed alone within the
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temple. How long I should be alone was the next question to assail me,
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as I swam frantically about once more in search of a means to escape.
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Several times I called to Jaw, but he must have left after I
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tumbled into the tank, for I received no response to my cries. Doubtless
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he had felt as certain of my doom when he saw me topple from our
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hiding place as I had, and lest he, too should be discovered,
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had hastened from the temple and back to his village. I knew that there
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must be some entrance to the building beside the doorways in the roof, for
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it did not seem reasonable to believe that the thousands of slaves which were brought
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here to feed the Mahars the human flesh they craved would all be carried through
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the air. And so I continued my search until at last it was rewarded
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by the discovery of several loose granite blocks in the masonry at one end of
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the temple. A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of these stones to
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permit me to crawl through into the clearing, and a moment later I had
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scurried across the intervening space to the dense jungle beyond. Here I sank,
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panting and trembling, upon the matted grasses beneath the giant trees. For I
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felt that I had escaped from the grinning fangs of death, out of the
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depths of my own grave. Whatever dangers lay in this island jungle, there
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could be none so fearsome as those which I had just escaped. I knew
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that I could meet death bravely enough, if it but came in the form
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of some familiar beast or man, anything other than the hideous and uncanny Mahars.
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End of chapter eight