He had formed the opinion, so he told Rachel, that wonderful treasures lay hid in the depths of the land; the things Rachel had seen were merely trifles picked up in the course of one short journey.

He thought there might be giant gods hewn out of stone in the mountain-side; and colossal figures standing by themselves in the middle of vast green pasture lands, where none but natives had ever trod.
Before the dawn of European art he believed that the primitive huntsmen and priests had built temples of massive stone slabs, had formed out of the dark rocks and the great cedar trees majestic figures of gods and of beasts, and symbols of the great forces, water, air, and forest among which they lived.

There might be prehistoric towns, like those in Greece and Asia, standing in open places among the trees, filled with the works of this early race.

Nobody had been there; scarcely anything was known.
Thus talking and displaying the most picturesque of his theories, Rachel's attention was fixed upon him.
She did not see that Hewet kept looking at her across the gangway, between the figures of waiters hurrying past with plates.

He was inattentive, and Hirst was finding him also very cross and disagreeable.
They had touched upon all the usual topics--upon politics and literature, gossip and Christianity.