206 THE COCAL. 



\viiidow, with a sliriek of Hiit-liut-t\it-tut, hut-tut, such as 

 I hope never to hear again. After which, dead silence ; save 

 of the surf to the east and the toads to the west. I fell 

 asleep, wondering wdiat animal could own so detestable a 

 voice ; and in half an hour was awoke again by another 

 explosion ; after which, happily, the thing, I suppose, went 

 its wicked wav, for I heard it no more. 



T found out the next mornincj that the obnoxious bird 

 was not an owl, but a large goat-sucker, a Xycteribius, 

 I believe, wdio goes by the name of jumby-bird among the 

 English NegTOS : and no wonder ; for most ghostly and 

 horrible is his cry. But worse : he has but one eye, and 

 a glance from that glaring eye, as from the basilisk of 

 old, is certain death : and worse still, he can turn off its 

 light as a policeman does his lantern, and become instantly 

 invisible : opinions which, if verified by experiment, are not 

 alwavs found to be in accordance wdth facts. But that is 

 no reason why they should not be believed. 



In St. A'incent, for instance, the Xegros one evening rushed 

 shrieking out of a boiling-house, " Oh ! Massa Eobert, we 

 all killed. Dar one great jumb}'-bird come in a hole a-top 

 a roof. Oh! Massa Eobert, you no go in; you killed, w^e 

 killed : " &c. &c. Massa Eobert went in, and could see no 

 bird. " Ah, Massa Eobert, him darky him eye, but him see 

 3^ou all da same. You killed, we killed," &c. Da cajjo. 



