'A white race might be called so by the writer of the legend.' 'H'm. A pretty tall order, Philipson,' I said. 'Where could they have come from?' 'That remains for me to find out.' 'But what can the fellow have meant by birds bigger than the children of men?' 'Possibly some great vulture or eagle which he had never seen in his own country. You must remember the poor wretch had been wandering alone over the mountains--for how long we don't know, and that he was starving and exhausted. No doubt to his fevered eyes the birds looked a good deal bigger than they really were.' 'But the river of white gems?' 'Ah, there we come to a real difficulty. I have pondered that phrase for weeks together, and the only explanation I can think of is this: the strayed priest struck a mountain stream, which he could see flowed down into the valley, and knelt beside it to drink. It must have been then that he noticed the white gems in the water, and the white gems, I take it, must have lain thick for him to notice them at all.' 'What do you suppose the white gems to be?' 'There is only one kind of white gem that is found in the beds of streams, Mirlees--the diamond. That one fact ought to render this valley a highly attractive locality, though for my part I may say I intend to explore it quite independently of the hope of opening up a new diamond field.' 'If there were diamonds there, isn't it likely the priest would have brought some away with him?' 'He may have done so. I noticed none near the skeleton, but then I was not looking for anything of the sort, and may easily have missed them. He may have dropped them during his retreat through the mountains. Likeliest of all, he may have been too terrified at the sight of the "devils of ghostly face" to trouble about collecting gems.' I sat drumming my fingers on the table. It was a wild and fantastic enough story in all conscience, and they would be bold gamblers who staked much on its truth. 'Well, what do you say?' I heard Philipson's crisp, keen voice. 'I see pretty enormous obstacles. In the first place, supposing you could find the place where the legend was written--' 'Never fear. I nearly lost my life on that trip, but I kept my head through it all. I made a large-scale plan of the neighbourhood, and mapped every mile of my journey down country. I will guarantee to take you to that heap of slates direct--or as straight as the mountains permit.' 'How is it, then, if the place is so easy to find, it's never been found and made known? I've trekked with the Tibetan caravans before now, many times, but never have I heard mention of such a monument.'