N0TE8 ON THE DOG TRIBE. 161 



nigger." Philip declared that he would not move 

 a peg. " Then, master obstinacy/' said I, " take 

 that for your pains ; " and I instantly assailed his 

 ears with a stick which I carried in lieu of a whip. 

 " It won't do," — said Philip, " I'm determined not 

 to go on ; " — and then he laid him down ; — I keep- 

 ing my seat on the saddle, only moving in it, 

 sufficiently to maintain an upright position ; so 

 that, whilst he lay on the ground, I appeared like a 

 man astride of a barrel. 



Nothing would induce the mule to rise. Niggers 

 in passing by, laughed at us ; some offering assist- 

 ance. 



Here a bright thought came into my head. The 

 swamps of Demerara, being below the level of 

 the sea at high water, each plantation has a 

 sluice to effect a drainage when the tide goes out. 

 An old nigger lives in a little hut, close by the road 

 side, and he has the sluice under his charge. He 

 was standing at the door grinning at us, with 

 his mouth wide open from ear to ear. " Daddy/' 

 said I, " bring me a fire stick." "Yes, massa/' said 

 he;— and then he drew one, hotly blazing from his 

 fire. " Put it, red hot as it is, under Philip's tail." 

 He did so ; and this was more than Philip's iron 

 nerves could stand. Up he started ; — the hair of 

 his tail, smoking and crackling like a mutton chop 



p 



