14 KUYP VAN KAARTEN, OR THE GNOME VALLEY. 



escape from so horrible a neighbourhood, he travelled on with asto- 

 nishing speed, and at evening had the satisfaction of perceiving that 

 the country began to open. A little time after he descried in the 

 distance, the thrice-welcome spire of the ancient Portuguese village 

 in which Mynherr Bomstyck resided. When he arrived at it, the 

 wonder with which his tale was received may be easily imagined : 

 some disbelieved it ; but Mynherr Bomstyck and a considerable 

 portion of his neighbours gave it the fullest credence, aware of the 

 irreproachable character for truth which Kuyp had always main- 

 tained. From one thing to another, it became a popular belief, 

 through all the districts to the north- westward of Brazil, that there was 

 a valley inhabited by gnomes or obscene spirits : and as Kuyp was 

 never able to decide exactly which was the precise one on which he 

 had stumbled, a long range of valleys were placed under ban, and as 

 sedulously avoided by the hunters and wayfarers as if certain de- 

 struction would have attended on entering the haunted district. 



Not many years ago, circumstances placed me in the vicinity of 

 Kuyp Van Kaarten's gnome-valley. The story was told me, and I 

 was solemnly warned of the consequences which might follow a visit 

 to the secluded spot, which for nearly a century had been untrodden 

 by the foot of man; so universal was the tradition, and so firmly 

 was it believed by the primitive-thinking inhabitants. Many fearful 

 additions had doubtless been added to Kuyp's original'dream, and 

 the glare of fires and the roar of voices were still seen and heard ; 

 whilst numbers of their herds were stolen away for the nightly orgies 

 of the gnomes. Not having much faith in supernaturals, and placing 

 the opinions of the secluded people to the credit of superstition, I 

 shouldered my rifle, and proceeded to explore the haunted valleys. 

 I was of course given up as a doomed man. Like Kuyp, 1 lost my- 

 self, and was benighted ; but, unlike him, I saw nothing in the 

 shape of demons : 1 found the valleys rich in picturesque scenery, 

 and abounding in game : they had indeed been the receptacles for all 

 the stray cattle of the surrounding villages, and hence were crowded 

 with wild and half-tame animals. I had excellent sport. I re- 

 turned on the evening of the second day, greatly to the surprise of 

 the beholders. My tale was listened to, doubted, half believed, 

 and on the morrow a party accompanied me for the purpose of re- 

 claiming the animals. The solitude was completely broken in upon, 

 and the tradition of Kuyp Van Kaarten buried amongst other reli- 

 quiae of past times. 



