“Thy father, Poseidon, and all thy countrymen, save us, poor Guanches, are perished. Evil days have fallen on Majorata. Dost thou not see the new mountain choking and filling her wide-open mouth? Tell us how thou art come.” “Thy servant brother, Hanabusa, skilled in sailcraft, is my deliverer.” “The sun and stars lent countenance to our venture,” said he, “save when obscured by a passing shadow. Then the corposant ran in balls and spirals from sheet to sheet, and we could not fail.” “I am of the Monbas,” said Ben Hu Barabe, “far to the west, and I am brother to thee in sorrow. The destructive power of the Divine took all my people.” “And I am of the Mazamas,” said Cezardis, coming forward. “My country lies under sheets of ice mountains high, and no living thing is there.” “Misfortune is known in the land of Mexi, whence I come,” said Gautama. “Flood and fire hidden in the earth made us tremble for days lest we all should perish.” “The Azes, too—” Hanabusa was not allowed to finish his sentence. “Thou art of our blood!” exclaimed the Guanches, in a breath. “Never again shalt thou depart from us. Thou wert with the Dorado?” “From the beginning,” he answered. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE FINAL PEACE IS MADE WITH COSMIC LAW These Guanches were splendid specimens of manhood, the remote forefathers of the warriors who, five hundred years ago, held their European conquerors at bay for more than a hundred years—never more than a handful of men at any time. First the fierce and ruthless Normans, then the Portuguese, and lastly the Spanish, laid a destroying hand on the brave Guanches. Now, there is but little more than their goats left of the surviving Atlantians. These goats are of a Vandyke brown, with long twisted horns, venerable beards, and hair lengthening almost to a lion’s mane. Teneriffe was the Island of the Blessed of the Hindus, the Elysian Fields of the Greeks, and the Tlapallapan of the Aztecs. The Greeks had their Hermes; the Norsemen, Ymer; the Egyptians, Kema; all words correlated to, and having the same significance as Yermah,[30] which means the Divine Germ incarnate. As El Dorado, his love nature was typified, but he transmuted passion, and became a god among men. He was Votan to the Quiches; to the Mayas, he was Kukulcan; and to the Peruvians he was Manco-capac—all types of the same character, and emanations from the same civilizing source. The next morning the Guanches made a part of the company which gave escort to Yermah, as he essayed climbing the still smoking peak. After they had passed the line of vegetation there was naught to be seen save a sea of red rocks, and thirsty yellow pumice. The scorching sun and blue, unvaried sky condemned everything far and near to barrenness and desolation forever.