6 JUNE

GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE. IN THIS part of the castle where I’m detained, a deathly hush always rules; never does one hear even the smallest of footsteps in the corridors, nor any voice resounding in the old vaults. But now the harsh, raw voices of the Tatars boom in from the courtyard, their fires burning into the night. I hear a clamor of shovels and iron picks, seemingly coming from the undercroft. I have asked the Count what’s going on, but he only replied with some absurd answer.

Among the group of Tatars I have noticed several men of a different stock—the same I saw in the temple vault: men who are more like apes than humans. But it seems as if the Tatars are on quite friendly terms with these men. The Tatars are rather good-looking;²⁵¹ some of the women are even eye-catching. I’m inclined to believe that the Dracula clan can trace its origin to members of both these groups.