JUMBY-DANCJES. 147 



*' As loDQ; as I live I shall never forsret that scene. The hut 

 was lighted by some eight or ten candles or lamps ; and in the 

 centre, dimly visible, was a Fetish, somewhat of the appear- 

 ance of a man, bnt with the head of a cock. Everything 

 that the coarsest fancy could invent had been done to make 

 this image horrible ; and yet it appeared to be the object of 

 special adoration to the devotees assembled. 



"Jean Marie, to be out of the way, clambered on to one 

 uf the cross-beams that supported the roof, whilst I leaned 

 against the side wall, as near as I could get to the aperture 

 that served for a window, to avoid the smells, which were 

 overpowering. 



" Martin took his seat astride of an African tom-tom or 

 drum ; and I noticed at the time that Jean Marie's naked 

 foot hung down from the cross-beam almost directly over 

 Martin's head. 



" Martin now began to chant a monotonous African song, 

 accompanying with the tom-tom. 



" Gradually he began to quicken the measure ; quicker 

 went the words ; quicker beat the drum ; and suddenly one 

 of the women sprang into the open space in front of the 

 Fetish. Eound and round she went, keeping admkable time 

 with the music. 



"^ Quicker still went the drum. And now the whole of the 

 woman's body seemed electrified by it ; and, as if catching 



L 2 



