brightness of the moon.

Presently, I had crossed the last of the jungle, and come forth

amongst noble and lofty woods, clean rock, the clean, dry dust, the

aromatic smell of mountain plants that had been baked all day in

sunlight, and the expressive silence of the night. My negro blood

had carried me unhurt across that reeking and pestiferous morass;

by mere good fortune, I had escaped the crawling and stinging

vermin with which it was alive; and I had now before me the easier

portion of my enterprise, to cross the isle and to make good my

arrival at the haven and my acceptance on the English yacht. It

was impossible by night to follow such a track as my father had

described; and I was casting about for any landmark, and, in my

ignorance, vainly consulting the disposition of the stars, when

there fell upon my ear, from somewhere far in front, the sound of

many voices hurriedly singing.

I scarce knew upon what grounds I acted; but I shaped my steps in

the direction of that sound; and in a quarter of an hour's walking,

came unperceived to the margin of an open glade. It was lighted by

the strong moon and by the flames of a fire. In the midst, there

stood a little low and rude building, surmounted by a cross: a

chapel, as I then remembered to have heard, long since desecrated

and given over to the rites of Hoodoo. Hard by the steps of

entrance was a black mass, continually agitated and stirring to and

fro as if with inarticulate life; and this I presently perceived to

be a heap of cocks, hares, dogs, and other birds and animals, still

struggling, but helplessly tethered and cruelly tossed one upon

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