Now, informed of all this, said Babbalanja to Media, “My lord, if the continual looking-forward to something greater, be better than an acquiescence in things present; then, wild as it is, this belief of Uhia’s he should hug to his heart, as erewhile his wives. But my lord, this faith it is, that robs his days of peace; his nights of sweet unconsciousness. For holding himself foreordained to the dominion of the entire Archipelago, he upbraids the gods for laggards, and curses himself as deprived of his rights; nay, as having had wrested from him, what he never possessed. Discontent dwarfs his horizon till he spans it with his hand. ‘Most miserable of demi-gods,’ he cries, ‘here am I cooped up in this insignificant islet, only one hundred leagues by fifty, when scores of broad empires own me not for their lord.’ Yet Uhia himself is envied. ‘Ah!’ cries Karrolono, one of his chieftains, master of a snug little glen, ‘Here am I cabined in this paltry cell among the mountains, when that great King Uhia is lord of the whole island, and every cubic mile of matter therein.’ But this same Karrolono is envied. ‘Hard, oh beggarly lot is mine,’ cries Donno, one of his retainers. ‘Here am I fixed and screwed down to this paltry plantation, when my lord Karrolono owns the whole glen, ten long parasangs from cliff to sea.’ But Donno too is envied. ‘Alas, cursed fate!’ cries his servitor Flavona. ‘Here am I made to trudge, sweat, and labor all day, when Donno my master does nothing but command.’ But others envy Flavona; and those who envy him are envied in turn; even down to poor bed- ridden Manta, who dying of want, groans forth, ‘Abandoned wretch that I am! here I miserably perish, while so many beggars gad about and live!’ But surely; none envy Manta! Yes; great Uhia himself. ‘Ah!’ cries the king. ‘Here am I vexed and tormented by ambition; no peace night nor day; my temples chafed sore by this cursed crown that I wear; while that ignoble wight Manta, gives up the ghost with none to molest him.’” In vain we wandered up and down in this isle, and peered into its innermost recesses: no Yillah was there. CHAPTER XCII. The God Keevi And The Precipice Of Mondo One object of interest in Ohonoo was the original image of Keevi the god of Thieves; hence, from time immemorial, the tutelar deity of the isle. His shrine was a natural niche in a cliff, walling in the valley of Monlova And here stood Keevi, with his five eyes, ten hands, and three pair of legs, equipped at all points for the vocation over which he presided. Of mighty girth, his arms terminated in hands, every finger a limb, spreading in multiplied digits: palms twice five, and fifty fingers. According to the legend, Keevi fell from a golden cloud, burying himself to the thighs in the earth, tearing up the soil all round. Three meditative mortals, strolling by at the time, had a narrow escape.