THK BLACK CARIBS. 311 



my limbs ; but I do not deceive you ; I have injured you too much 

 already to do that." 



" Where is my father's fortune?" 



" Promise to comply with my request, and you shall know." 



" Old man, old man !" said Rosetta, " why do you seek to impose 

 such a condition on me, without having any knowledge of my feel- 

 ings ; but if you force me to a confession 



" Mistress," said the dying man, " there are no other ears but 

 mine, and in a few minutes they will close." 



<e If it will render your last moments more happy," said Rosetta, 

 in a subdued tone, " I promise what you require ?" 



" Enough," said the Eboe, " I am satisfied. Call in old Musta- 

 pha and Charles Melburn. Now, listen to me," said the African. 

 " Buried in the earth, immediately beneath my head, you will find 

 a calabash containing ten times as many dollars as there are notches 

 in this bed-post ; for every ten I cut a notch; this I bequeath to Ro- 

 setta Belgrave : and at the back of this hut you will perceive a covered 

 fowl-house ; remove the mass of woura* at the bottom, and immedi- 

 ately below the earth you will find a small chest. I do not bequeath 

 her that, for it is hers ; it was I who, one hundred and sixty moons 

 since, carried it from yonder house the night when you, Mustapha, 

 brought it there, and when the black Caribs burst on the plantation. 

 (The Mandingo muttered some expression of bitter recollection.) 

 I know you call me villain ; so are all men villains for gold : for this 

 does the white man traverse trackless oceans, guided by his invisible 

 gods ; for this he converses with the viewless spirits of his books ; 

 for this he wars ; for this he toils : and may not the poor Eboe, too, 

 act the villain to obtain and hoard the treasure which the white man 

 thinks he enjoys not, because he secretes it? He little dreams that 

 the recollection of his possession cheers the wretched bondage of the 

 despised Eboe, and makes him bear oppression that drives the savage 

 Coromanteean to rebellion, the gentle Angolean to suicide, and the 

 desponding Moco to swallow the dirt trodden by man and beast. 

 The Eboe's god is Hybony, who gives gold and precious stones to 

 the earth, and rivers of the sand; he alone is worthy worship. 

 Remember, beneath the trash of my fowl-house, you will find the 

 long-lost gold and jewels of Rosetta Belgrave. The Christian ne- 

 groes, who were regardless of the Obia-bag suspended over its roof, 

 have sometimes plundered my poultry ; yet little thought those 

 daring men of the riches beneath them. What said I ? yes, do 

 not dig it up until I am departed ; I could not bear the sight of my 

 long-buried wealth in another's hands." 



He paused, and after looking wildly around him, said, " I have 

 told you all, Rosetta; obey my injunctions and now I speed to the 

 land of my fathers." The negro with a faint voice commenced 

 chanting an uncouth Eboe song, which at best has a peculiarly harsh 

 and melancholy sound ; but now, being uttered by the dying heathen 

 with his failing and sepulchral voice, it was oppressive in the ex- 

 treme ; his chanting grew fainter and fainter, until it gave way to 



* Dried cane-leaves. 



