She wants to give the little black fellow some reward for saving her
from the crocodile, and luckily Clare has on her long necklace of
blue glass beads. She puts it into his hand, and he twists it round
his black wool, and cuts such dances and capers for joy that Lucy
can hardly stand for laughing; but the sun shines scorching hot upon
her, and she gets under the shade of a tall date palm, with big
leaves all shooting out together at the top, and fine bunches of
dates below, all fresh and green, not like those papa sometimes
gives her at dessert.

The little negro, Tojo, asks if she would like some. He takes her
by the hand, and leads her into a whole cluster of little round mud
huts, telling her that he is Tojo, the king's son; she is his little
sister and these are all his mothers! Which is his real mother Lucy
cannot quite make out, for she sees an immense party of black women,
all shiny and polished, with a great many beads wound round their
heads, necks, ankles, and wrists; and nothing besides the tiniest
short petticoats: and all the fattest are the smartest; indeed, they
have gourds of milk beside them, and are drinking it all day long
to keep themselves fat. No sooner however is Lucy led in among them,
than they all close round, some singing and dancing, and others
laughing for joy, and crying, "Welcome, little daughter from the
land of spirits!" And then she finds out that they think she is
really Tojo's little sister, who died ten moons ago, come back
again from the grave as a white spirit.

Tojo's own mother, a very fat woman indeed, holds out her arms, as
big as bed-posts and terribly greasy, gives her a dose of sour milk
out of a gourd, makes her lie down with her head in her lap, and
begins to sing to her, till Lucy goes to sleep; and wakes, very