quick-witted people, entered into the spirit of the plot readily enough;
indeed, Peter caused them to repeat the story to him, so that he might
be sure that they had its details by heart.

Then they continued their march towards the city on the hill. The two
white men went first, next came Juanna and Otter followed by Soa, and
last of all walked the Settlement men. An hour's journey brought them to
the bank of the river, which, dividing above it, engirdled the town, to
reunite near the roadway that they followed. Here canoes were ready to
take them across to the island, or rather the peninsula, on which
the city was built. On the other side of the river they found priests
waiting in the great gateway with two litters that had been prepared for
Juanna and Otter respectively. This, the further bank, was lined with
some thousands of spectators, who, when the divine pair set their feet
upon its shores, prostrated themselves, men, women, and children, and
burst into a shout of welcome.

Juanna and Otter took no heed. With such dignity as they could command,
and in the dwarf's case it was not much, they entered the litters,
drew the hide curtains, and were borne forward swiftly. After them came
Leonard, Francisco, and the others, while the population followed in
silence.

Now the sun was sinking, but enough of daylight was left to show how
strange were the place and the people among which they found themselves.
The city, indeed, was rudely built of like materials and in similar
fashion to the house in the plain that has been described already. But
the streets were roughly paved; each habitation stood apart from the
other in its own garden, and the gates were of wood, fastened together
with primitive iron bolts. There were drinking-shops, or rather booths,