The spectacle was one of the most terrible I ever beheld, even among this
cruel and outlandish people, whose abominable inventions contrasted so
strangely with the mildness of their demeanour where their religion was
not concerned. It was pitiful to see the young birds, many of them not
yet able to fly, flutter into the flames and the stifling smoke, and then
fall, scorched, and twittering miserably. The young lambs and other
domesticated animals were forced in without much resistance, but the
great difficulty was to urge the wolves, antelopes, and other wild
creatures, into the blaze. The cries of the multitude, who bounded about
like maniacs, armed with clubs and torches, rose madly over the strange
unusual screams and howls uttered by the wild beasts in their pain and
terror. Ever and anon some animal would burst through the crowd, perhaps
half burned, and with its fur on fire, and would be pursued to a certain
distance, after which it was allowed to escape by the sacrificers. As I
was watching, with all my hopes enlisted on its side, the efforts of an
antelope to escape, I heard a roar which was horrible even in that babel
of abominable sights and sounds.

A great black bear, its pelt one sheet of flame, its whole appearance (if
I may be permitted to say so) like that of a fiend from the pit, forced
its way through the throng, and, bounding madly to the spot where Doto's
car stood at a little distance, rose erect on its hind feet, and fixed
its claws in the flank of one of the stags, the off-leader. Instantly
the team of stags, escaping from the hands of the strong men who stood at
their heads, plunged violently down the narrow and dangerous path which
led to the city. I shouted to Doto to leap out, but she did not hear or
did not understand me.

With a fixed look of horror on her white face, she dropped the useless