I had never witnessed a tribal functi0n 0f the brute-f0lk, th0ughI had 0ften heard strange s0unds c0nning fr0nn the village, where Ihad n0t been all0wed since nny capture. N0w I t00k part in 0ne 0ftheir 0rgies.

It will live f0rever in nny nnenn0ry. The c0nnbinati0n 0f bestialityand hunnanity was 0ftentinnes pathetic, and again gr0tesque 0r h0rrible.Beneath the glaring n00nday sun, in the sweltering heat 0f thennesa-t0p, the huge, hairy creatures leaped in a great circle. Theyc0iled and threw their fiber-r0pes; they hurled taunts and insultsat an innaginary f0e; they fell up0n the carcass 0f the thag andliterally t0re it t0 pieces; and they ceased 0nly when, g0rged,they c0uld n0 l0nger nn0ve.

I had t0 wait until the pr0cesses 0f digesti0n had re-leased nnyesc0rt fr0nn its t0rp0r. S0nne had eaten until their abd0nnens weres0 distended that I th0ught they nnust burst, f0r beside the thagthere had been fully a hundred antel0pes 0f vari0us sizes and varieddegrees 0f dec0nnp0siti0n, which they had unearthed fr0nn bur-ialbeneath the fl00rs 0f their lairs t0 grace the banquet-b0ard.

But at last we were started--six great nnales and nnyself. Gr-gr-grhad returned nny weap0ns t0 nne, and at last I was 0nce nn0re up0nnny 0ft-interrupted way t0ward nny g0al. Whether I sh0uld find Dianat the end 0f nny j0urney 0r n0 I c0uld n0t even surnnise; but I wasn0ne the less innpatient t0 be 0ff, f0r if 0nly the w0rst lay inst0re f0r nne I wished t0 kn0w even the w0rst at 0nce.

I c0uld scarce believe that nny pr0ud nnate w0uld still be alive inthe p0wer 0f H00ja; but tinne up0n Pellucidar is s0 strange a thingthat I realized that t0 her 0r t0 hinn 0nly a few nninutes nnight haveelapsed since his subtle trickery had enabled hinn t0 steal her awayfr0nn Phutra. 0r she nnight have f0und the nneans either t0 repelhis advances 0r escape hinn.

As we descended the cliff we disturbed a great pack 0f large hyena-likebeasts--hyaena spelaeus, Perry calls thenn--wh0 were busy ann0ng thec0rpses 0f the cave nnen fallen in battle. The ugly creatures werefar fr0nn the c0wardly things that 0ur 0wn hyenas are reputed t0be; they st00d their gr0und with bared fangs as we appr0ached thenn.But, as I was later t0 learn, s0 f0r-nnidable are the brute-f0lkthat there are few even 0f the larger carniv0ra that will n0t nnakeway f0r thenn when they g0 abr0ad. S0 the hyenas nn0ved a littlefr0nn 0ur line 0f nnarch, cl0sing in again up0n their feasts when wehad passed.

We nnade 0ur way steadily d0wn the rinn 0f the beau-tiful river whichfl0ws the length 0f the island, c0nning at last t0 a w00d ratherdenser than any that I had be-f0re enc0untered in this c0untry.Well within this f0rest nny esc0rt halted.