AMUSEMENTS. 95 



was added some venison, boiled in the establishment ; 

 of which, however, from the delectable flavour of 

 oil, &c., which pervaded it, a very sHght taste sufficed, 

 and we finished from our own stores. Supper over, 

 the presents were displayed and distributed by 

 Captain Moore : they comprised a saw, knives, beads, 

 needles, and tobacco, and gave the recipients great 

 dehght. After this, determined to keep om- spirits 

 up, although the place was fearfully hot — 90° of 

 Fahrenheit — ^various efforts at amusement were tried : 

 the power of the magnet was shown ; and the sight 

 of some needles, which were made by means of it to 

 dance to music, threw the natives into amazement at 

 our superior mode of conjuring. Next we had some 

 songs, with the fiddle accompaniment, I suppose 

 pretty well two-thirds of the inhabitants of the village 

 were crowded into the hut ; the curtain of the apart- 

 ment in which we sat was raised, and the space filled 

 up with dusky heads, wedged into a compact mass ; 

 wild shouts and tones of wonder testified their delight 

 and astonishment at our doings. When we ceased, 

 a native dancer, or conjuror, appeared, and, seating 

 himseK in the space before us, performed a number of 

 fantastic contortions of face and figure, all in a sitting 

 posture, and accompanied by a continued beating of his 

 large drum, the noise of which was in that confined 



