THIRD JOURNEY. 



151 



awoke in the night in that state in which Virgil de- 

 scribes Caeleno to have been, viz. " fcedissima ventris 

 proluvies." Up he got, to verify the remark, 



" Serius ant citius, sedern properamus ad imam." 



Now, unluckily for himself, and the nocturnal tran- 

 quillity of the planter's house, just at that unfortunate 

 hour the coushie ants were passing across the seat of 

 Cloacina's temple ; he had never dreamed of this ; and 

 so, turning his face to the door, he placed himself in 

 the usual situation which the votaries of the goddess 

 generally take. Had a lighted match dropped upon a 

 pound of gunpowder, as he afterwards remarked, it 

 could not have caused a greater recoil. Up he jumped, 

 and forced his way out, roaring for help and for a light, 

 for he was worried alive by ten thousand devils. The 

 fact is, he had sat down upon an intervening body of 

 coushie ants. Many of those which escaped being 

 crushed to death, turned again'; and, in revenge, stung 

 the unintentional intruder most severely. The watch- 

 man had fallen asleep, and it was some time before a 

 light could be procured, the fire having gone out ; in 

 the meantime, the poor gentleman was suffering an in- 

 describable martyrdom, and would have found himself 

 more at home in the Augean stable than in the planter's 

 house. 



I had often wished to have been once sucked by the 

 vampire, in order that I might have it in my power to 

 say it had really happened to me. There can be no 

 pain in the operation, for the patient is always asleep 

 when the vampire is sucking him ; and as for the loss 

 of a few ounces of blood, that would be a trifle in the 

 long run, Many a night have I slept with my foot out 



