240 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



arrives at the age of puberty he is told that he can not take his 

 rank as a warrior and a man of property, but must always remain 

 a communal slave, unless he is hardy enough to sue for entrance 

 to the light of the great mystery. The distinction is one that is 

 plain to him, and he probably does not hesitate in making his 

 choice, but applies to his chief to be prepared for that which is to 

 come. If his prayer be granted, and that is discretionary with 

 the chief, two men skilled in the mystery are detailed, under the 

 title of " brothers of the wood and sea/' to educate the postulant. 

 They conduct him away from his home and to a secluded spot 

 in the wilderness of jungle. Here the postulant is made to 

 build a house and hunt a supply of food. At first he is examined 

 in his bodily exercises and in his. proficiency in the few arts of 

 his savage life. From these material considerations his tutors 

 pass to more recondite matters. They instruct him in the secrets 

 of the sea and the forest, each according to his title. When the 

 candidate can pass a satisfactory examination in this branch of 

 his education, his tutors acquaint him with the history of his race 

 and the list of its hereditary friends and immemorial foes. Last 

 of all he is taught to fear the spirit of the hidden fire which from 

 time to time boils up in the craters and rushes down the slopes, 

 marking its path by hot ruin and stony destruction. This power 

 he is taught to fear as one that can not be averted, and that he 

 must always be mindful of if he will save himself alive. All this 

 has consumed a month or more, according to the ability of the 

 postulant to master the lessons set for him to learn. When he 

 finally succeeds in satisfying his masters, the brethren of the 

 wood and sea, they take leave of him. 



" We have taught you now," they say, when the time has come 

 for their departure, " much of that which you must know in order 

 to become a man and share our mysteries, and all that it is our 

 duty to convey. That which remains will be taught you by an- 

 other who will come to you when he is ready, and until that time 

 you must not leave this place, nor speak to any man, nor sleep nor 

 eat. To-day you may have to eat anything you please, but re- 

 member that whatever you eat to-day you must never taste again, 

 nor must you so much as speak its name. Choose, then, that 

 which you will now eat for the last time, and eat well, for days 

 may pass before he comes who shall teach you the rest." When 

 the postulant has eaten, the hut is cleared of all that it contains, 

 and the brothers of the wood and sea sew mats over the doorway 

 before they go. 



His meal over the last of that particular food which he shall 

 taste on earth the postulant composes himself to await the com- 

 ing of his new master. The day passes, and night comes upon 

 him left alone in a dark hut, in the heart of the dismal wood, and 



