The walls were covered with scales of brass; and in the centre, on a
granite pedestal, stood the statue of one of the Kabiri called Aletes,
the discoverer of the mines in Celtiberia. On the ground, at its base,
and arranged in the form of a cross, were large gold shields and monster
close-necked silver vases, of extravagant shape and unfitted for use;
it was customary to cast quantities of metal in this way, so that
dilapidation and even removal should be almost impossible.
With his torch he lit a miner's lamp which was fastened to the idol's
cap, and green, yellow, blue, violet, wine-coloured, and blood-coloured
fires suddenly illuminated the hall. It was filled with gems which were
either in gold calabashes fastened like sconces upon sheets of brass,
or were ranged in native masses at the foot of the wall. There were
callaides shot away from the mountains with slings, carbuncles formed
by the urine of the lynx, glossopetrae which had fallen from the moon,
tyanos, diamonds, sandastra, beryls, with the three kinds of rubies, the
four kinds of sapphires, and the twelve kinds of emeralds. They gleamed
like splashes of milk, blue icicles, and silver dust, and shed their
light in sheets, rays, and stars. Ceraunia, engendered by the thunder,
sparkled by the side of chalcedonies, which are a cure for poison.
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