SUPERSTITIONS AND CEREMONIES. 323 



silence around us. The sides of the river which 

 we passed were always low and swampy : no 

 banks or towns were to be seen. 



About five o'clock I was aroused from a plea- 

 sant sleep by the firing of guns. The least noise 

 or movement generally disturbed me ; and as I 

 did not feel quite confident of Boy's sincerity, I 

 inquired the cause of the firing at such an un- 

 usual hour, and was told by the black mate, a 

 good-hearted fellow, it was firing for Ju-ju. It 

 seems that the Brass traders never pass certain 

 places without firing, and repeating certain 

 words as charms. When they take rum, they 

 pour a little on the deck or in the river for the 

 Ju-ju, and they would consider their lives very 

 insecure if this ceremony was not observed. 

 Whether the strange scene about me, or the 

 effluvia proceeding from so many negroes in a 

 state of nudity perspiring from exertion, or from 

 being so suddenly aroused, prevented my falling 

 asleep again, I know not, but I could no longer 

 close my eyes. At one time we must have 

 passed very near the sea, as I could hear dis- 

 tinctly the noise of the surf on the beach. We 

 crossed a great many branches of rivers, all of 

 fresh water, intersecting larger ones, and fall- 



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