A WEST INDIAN SKETCH. 61 



large mouthsful of blubber,, swim a few paces, then with doglike- 

 greediness, let them drop and return for more. It is supposed that 

 the sharks eat and destroy as much as the whalers get. The flesh of 

 the calf or young whale, is said to be excellent it forms no inconsi- 

 derable part of the food of the poor of Bermuda,, where however it is 

 not sold when a whale is cut up there, every one takes as much of 

 the eatable part as he chooses. I once tried to eat it myself, but 

 found or fancied it tasted of oil. 



While on this subject I shall relate a circumstance which took 

 place some twenty years since in Port of Spain : 



" The silver moon (according to the most approved novelist phra- 

 seology) had gained her zenith and the busy hum of man was 

 hushed." Nothing was heard except the cicada's whizzing sound, 

 which has gained him the appellation of razor-grinder ; the buz of 

 insects, which, as Bryan Edwards remarks, makes a " pleasing noise ;" 

 the chanting of about a thousand cocks, which here crow through the 

 night ; and the noise of about four hundred dogs, which kept up a 

 continued chorus of barking, seemingly vying with each other 

 which should yell loudest and longest. However, save these slight 

 annoyances, " all was tranquil" in Port of Spain. 



All at once was heard a booming, lowing, moaning in short, an 

 indescribable noise, which awoke all the inhabitants. The noise was 

 of so remarkable a character as to defy conjecture. What was it ? 

 no one could explain the mystery. Some thought it the rumbling 

 noise which precedes an earthquake ; yet it had not a subterraneous 

 sound. Others expected that it was the bursting of the soufriere,. or 

 great volcano of St. Vincent ; but the noise was not so distant. The 

 Moco negroes declared that it was the great Jombe. The Coroman- 

 tiens thought it their god Aecompong. The Mandingoes said the 

 sound was caused by their great king, Yoseph ben Mahomed, who 

 always travelled with a band of one thousand musicians, playing on 

 elephant's tusks ; whilst all the politicians conceived it could be no- 

 thing less than the West India fleet engaging a French squadron. In 

 fact, Port of Spain never was in such a state of alarm before : save 

 in 1808, when it was destroyed by fire ; and in 1805, when Nelson, 

 entering the Gulf in pursuit of the combined fleets, was mistaken for 

 the enemy, and the island placed under martial law. 



The terrible noise continued, and many were the vows of repent- 

 ance made in the fright of the moment j in vain, such as pretended 

 not to care for the mysterious sounds, attempted to sleep. Sangaree 

 and mosquito doses* were employed as composing draughts without 

 effect. Some Chinese, inhabiting the island, swallowed and smoked 

 opium, yet they could not sleep. The noise seemed to say, like the 

 ominous voice in Macbeth, " SLEEP NO MORE !" 



The marks of twilight at length became visible over the eastern 

 hills ; and from the sea-fort was heard a report, which, for a moment, 

 drowned the unknown sound ; namely, the morning gun was fired ; 

 and, as if in reply, the cracked bell of the old Catholic church an- 

 nounced that it was time to say mass. 



* Grog taken at bed- time. 



