"It is from these that we are more likely to obtain information than
in any other way. You will not be very long before you will be able to
satisfy yourself as to whether or not he whom you seek is in this
city; and if he should not be here, there remain but the two towns
that I have named, and the hill forts. As to these, it will be
well-nigh impossible to obtain an entrance, so jealously are they all
guarded. None save the garrisons are allowed to enter. The paths,
which are often so steep and difficult that men and provisions have to
be slung up in baskets, are guarded night and day, and none are
allowed to approach the foot of the rocks within musket shot--lest, I
suppose, they might find some spot where an ascent could be made. The
garrisons are seldom changed. The soldiers are allowed to take their
wives and families up with them, but once there, they are as much
prisoners as those in the dungeons. That is one reason why captives
once sent up there never come down again, for were they to do so they
might, if by chance they escaped, be able to give information as to
the approaches that would assist an assailing force.
"I do not say that all are killed, though undoubtedly most of them are
put to death soon after they arrive; but it may be that some are
retained in confinement, either from no orders being sent for their
execution, or from their very existence being, in time, forgotten by
the tyrant here.
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