In the Wrong Paradise | Page 6

the Indian Mutiny, his conduct, as I have read, only redoubled their
enthusiasm. However, as events proved, they never at any time were
inclined to substitute me for their heathen divinities; very far from it
indeed, though their peculiar conduct was calculated to foster in my
breast this melancholy delusion.

I had not been left long to my own thoughts when I marked lights
wandering in the garden or courtyard whither the messenger had been
sent by the old priest. Presently there came forth from the court a man
of remarkable stature, and with an air of seriousness and responsibility.
In his hand he carried a short staff, or baton, with gold knobs, and he
wore a thin golden circlet in his hair. As he drew near, the veil of the
temple was again lifted, and the aged priest came forward, bearing in
his arms a singular casket of wood, ornamented with alternate bands of
gold and ivory, carved with outlandish figures. The torch-bearers
crowded about us in the darkness, and it was a strange spectacle to
behold the smoky, fiery light shining on the men's faces and the rich
coloured dresses, or lighting up the white idol of Apollon, which stood
among the laurel trees at the entrance of the temple.

III. THE PROPHECY.
The priest and the man with the gold circlet, whom I took to be a chief,
now met, and, fixing their eyes on me, held a conversation of which,
naturally, I understood nothing. I maintained an unmoved demeanour,
and, by way of showing my indifference, and also of impressing the
natives with the superiority of our civilization, I took out and wound up
my watch, which, I was glad to find, had not been utterly ruined by the
salt water. Meanwhile the priest was fumbling in his casket, whence he
produced a bundle of very ragged and smoky old bits of parchment and
scraps of potsherds. These he placed in the hands of his attendants, who
received them kneeling. From the very bottom of the casket he
extracted some thin plates of a greyish metal, lead, I believe, all
mouldy, stained, and ragged. Over these he pored and puzzled for some
time, trying, as I guessed, to make out something inscribed on this
curious substitute for writing-paper. I had now recovered my presence
of mind, and, thinking at once to astonish and propitiate, I drew from
my pocket, wiped, and presented to him my spectacles, indicating, by
example, the manner of their employment. No sooner did he behold
these common articles of every-day use, than the priest's knees began to
knock together, and his old hands trembled so that he could scarcely fix
the spectacles on his nose. When he had managed this it was plain that

he found much less difficulty with his documents. He now turned them
rapidly over, and presently discovered one thin sheet of lead, from
which he began to read, or rather chant, in a slow measured tone, every
now and then pausing and pointing to me, to my hat, and to the
spectacles which he himself wore at the moment. The chief listened to
him gravely, and with an expression of melancholy that grew deeper
and sadder till the end. It was a strange scene.
I afterwards heard the matter of the prophecy, as it proved to be, which
was thus delivered. I have written it down in the language of the natives,
spelling it as best I might, and I give the translation which I made when
I became more or less acquainted with their very difficult dialect. {23a}
It will be seen that the prophecy, whatever its origin, was strangely
fulfilled. Perhaps the gods of this people were not mere idols, but evil
spirits, permitted, for some wise purpose, to delude their unhappy
worshippers. {23b} This, doubtless, they might best do by occasionally
telling the truth, as in my instance. But this theory--namely, that the
gods of the heathen are perhaps evil and wandering spirits--is, for
reasons which will afterwards appear, very painful to me, personally
reminding me that I may have sinned as few have done since the days
of the early Christians. But I trust this will not be made a reproach to
me in our Connection, especially as I have been the humble instrument
of so blessed a change in the land of the heathen, there being no more
of them left. But, to return to the prophecy, it is given roughly here in
English. It ran thus:--"But when a man, having a chimney pot on his
head, and four eyes, appears, and when a sail-less ship also comes,
sailing without wind and breathing smoke, then will destruction fall
upon the Scherian island." Perhaps, from this and other expressions to
be offered in a later