He was living, but beside him were the
bodies of two of his companions who had been overwhelmed by sand and
thirst. He was very fierce looking. He refused to say how he came into
the desert, telling us only that he had followed the road known to the
ancients before communication between his people and the outer world
ceased. We gathered, however, that his brethren with whom he fled had
committed some crime for which they had been condemned to die, and that
he had accompanied them in their flight. He told us that there was a
fine country beyond the mountains, fertile, but plagued with droughts
and earthquakes, which latter, indeed, we often feel here.
"The people of that country were, he said, warlike and very numerous but
followed agriculture. They had always lived there, though ruled by Khans
who were descendants of the Greek king called Alexander, who conquered
much country to the south-west of us. This may be true, as our records
tell us that about two thousand years ago an army sent by that invader
penetrated to these parts, though of his being with them nothing is
said.
"The stranger-man told us also that his people worship a priestess
called Hes or the Hesea, who is said to reign from generation to
generation. She lives in a great mountain, apart, and is feared and
adored by all, but is not the queen of the country, in the government
of which she seldom interferes.
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