fellow, and gave such charming
accounts of his skill, that all my people wanted their fates divined,
for which I was, of course, obliged to advance merchandise to purchase
at least a gratified curiosity. When they came back I found every one
satisfied with his future lot, and so happy was the chief of my
Kroomen that he danced around his new _fetiche_ of cock's feathers and
sticks, and snapped his fingers at all the sharks, alligators, and
swordfish that swam in the sea.

By degrees these reports tickled my own curiosity to such a degree,
that, incontinently, I armed myself with a quantity of cotton cloth, a
brilliant bandanna, and a lot of tobacco, wherewith I resolved to
attack the soothsayer's den. My credulity was not involved to the
expedition, but I was sincerely anxious to comprehend the ingenuity or
intelligence by which a negro could control the imagination of African
multitudes.

The wizard chose his abode with skilful and romantic taste. Quitting
the town by a path which ascended abruptly from the river, the
traveller was forced to climb the steep by a series of dangerous
zig-zags among rocks and bushes, until he reached a deep cave in an
elevated cliff that bent over the stream. As we approached, my
conductor warned the inmate of our coming by several whoops. When we
reached the entrance I was directed to halt until the demon announced
his willingness to receive us. At length, after as much delay as is
required in the antechamber of a secretary of state, a growl, like the
cry of a hungry crocodile, gave token of the wizard's coming.

As he emerged from the deep interior, I descried an uncommonly tall
figure, bearing in his arms a young and living leopard. I could not
detect a single lineament of his face or figure, for he was covered
from head to foot in a complete dress of monkey skins, while his face
was hidden by a grotesque white mask. Behind him groped a delicate
blind boy.

We seated ourselves on hides along the floor, when, at my bidding, the
interpreter, unrolling my gifts, announced that I came with full hands
to his wizardship, for the purpose of learning my fortune.

The impostor had trained his tame leopard to fetch and carry like a
dog, so that, without a word, the docile beast bore the various
presents to his master. Every thing was duly measured, examined, or
balanced in his hands to ascertain its quality and weight. Then,
placing a bamboo between his lips and the blind boy's ear, he
w