SOUTH AMERICA. 17 

 tell thee that hard has been her fate too ; and at intervals, First 



JOURNEV. 



" Whip -poor -Will," and " Willy come go," will take up 



the tale of sorrow. Ovid has told thee how the owl once 

 boasted the human form, and lost it for a very small offence ; 

 and were the poet alive now, he would inform thee, that 

 " Whip -poor- Will," and " Willy come go," are the 

 shades of those poor African and Indian slaves, who 

 died worn out and brokenhearted. They wail and cry, 

 " Whip -poor "Will," " Willy come go," all night long; ^ 

 and often, when the moon shines, you see them sitting 

 on the green turf, near the houses of those whose ances- 

 tors tore them from the bosom of their helpless families, 

 which all probably perished through grief and want, after 

 their support was gone. 



About an hour above the rock of Saba, stands the Simon s hut. 

 habitation of an Indian, called Simon, on the top of a hill. 

 The side next the river is almost perpendicular, and you 

 may easily throw a stone over to the opposite bank. 

 Here there was an opportunity of seeing man in his 

 rudest state. The Indians who frequented this habitation, 

 though living in the midst of woods, bore evident marks 

 of attention to their persons. Their hair was neatly 

 collected, and tied up in a knot ; their bodies fancifully 

 painted red, and the paint was scented with hayawa. 

 This gave them a gay and animated appearance. Some 

 of them had on necklaces, composed of the teeth of 

 wild boars slain in the chase ; many wore rings, and 



D 



