"In front of the king's house, and almost close to it, are a few
magnificent cotton-trees, round which the soil had been freed from
grass, &c., for the celebration of the games. On this spot were the
terrified people assembled, with every instrument capable of making a
noise which could be procured in the whole town. They had formed
themselves into a large treble circle, and continued running round with
amazing velocity, crying, shouting, and groaning with all their might.
They tossed and flung their heads about, twisted their bodies into all
manner of contortions, jumped into the air, stamped with their feet on
the ground, and flourished their hands above their heads. No scene in
the romance of Robinson Crusoe was so wild and savage as this; and a
large wood fire, with a few men spitted and roasting before it, was
alone wanting to render it complete! Little boys and girls were outside
the ring, running to and fro, clashing empty calabashes against each
other, and crying bitterly; groups of men were blowing on trumpets,
which produced a harsh and discordant sound; some were employed in
beating old drums; others again were blowing on bullock's horns; and in
the short intervals between the rapid succession of all these fiend-like
noises, was heard one more dismal than the rest, proceeding from an iron
tube, accompanied by the clinking of chains. Indeed, everything that
_could_ increase the uproar was put in requisition on this memorable
occasion; nor did it cease till midnight, when the eclipse had passed
away. Never have we witnessed so extraordinary a scene as this. The
diminished light, when the eclipse was complete, was just sufficient to
enable us to distinguish the various groups of people, and contributed
in no small degree to render the scene still more imposing. If an
European, a stranger to Africa, were to be placed on a sudden in the
midst of the terror-struck people, he would imagine himself to be among
a legion of demons, holding a revel over a fallen spirit; so peculiarly
unearthly wild, and horrifying was the appearance of the dancing group,