When the procession was arrived at the grot of Meimoune, Shaban and
Sutlememe dismissed the whole of the train, excepting the four
confidential eunuchs who were appointed to remain. After resting some
moments near the biers, which had been left in the open air, they caused
them to be carried to the brink of a small lake, whose banks were
overgrown with a hoary moss; this was the great resort of herons and
storks, which preyed continually on little blue fishes. The dwarfs,
instructed by the Emir, soon repaired thither, and, with the help of the
eunuchs, began to construct cabins of rushes and reeds, a work in which
they had admirable skill; a magazine also was contrived for provisions,
with a small oratory for themselves, and a pyramid of wood neatly piled,
to furnish the necessary fuel, for the air was bleak in the hollows of
the mountains.
At evening two fires were kindled on the brink of the lake, and the two
lovely bodies, taken from their biers, were carefully deposited upon a
bed of dried leaves within the same cabin. The dwarfs began to recite
the Koran with their clear shrill voices, and Shaban and Sutlememe stood
at some distance, anxiously waiting the effects of the powder.
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