Nor was this all, for perched upon his hairy head, with arched back and waving tail, stood a great white cat.
Anything stranger, and indeed more fantastic than the general effect of this scene, lit by the bright moonlight and set in that wild arena, it was never my lot to witness.

The red-haired, half-naked men and women, the gigantic priest, the mystical white cat, that, gripping his scalp with its claws, waved its tail and seemed to take a part in the performance; the unholy chant and its volleying chorus, all helped to make it extraordinarily impressive.

This struck us the more, perhaps, because at the time we could not in the least guess its significance, though we imagined that it must be preliminary to some sacrifice or offering.

It was like the fragment of a nightmare preserved by the awakened senses in all its mad, meaningless reality.
Now round the open space where these savages were celebrating their worship, or whatever it might be, ran a rough stone wall about six feet in height, in which wall was a gateway.

Towards this we advanced quite unseen, for upon our side of the wall grew many stunted pines.