“And now, Walter, for the better understanding of what follows⁠—and⁠—and⁠—” he hesitated. “Should you decide later to return with me or, if I am taken, to⁠—to⁠—follow us⁠—listen carefully to my description of this place: Nan-Tauach is literally three rectangles. The first rectangle is the seawall, built up of monoliths⁠—hewn and squared, twenty feet wide at the top. To get to the gateway in the seawall you pass along the canal marked on the map between Nan-Tauach and the islet named Tau. The entrance to the canal is bidden by dense thickets of mangroves; once through these the way is clear. The steps lead up from the landing of the sea-gate through the entrance to the courtyard.

“This courtyard is surrounded by another basalt wall, rectangular, following with mathematical exactness the march of the outer barricades. The seawall is from thirty to forty feet high⁠—originally it must have been much higher, but there has been subsidence in parts. The wall of the first enclosure is fifteen feet across the top and its height varies from twenty to fifty feet⁠—here, too, the gradual sinking of the land has caused portions of it to fall.