upon its prey, and, with instinctive thirst, satiate its appetite for
blood and abandon the drained corpse; but these African negresses were
neither as decent nor as merciful as the beast of the wilderness.
Their malignant pleasure seemed to consist in the invention of
tortures, that would agonize but not slay. There was a devilish spell
in the tragic scene that fascinated my eyes to the spot. A slow,
lingering, tormenting mutilation was practised on the living, as well
as on the dead; and, in every instance, the brutality of the women
exceeded that of the men. I cannot picture the hellish joy with which
they passed from body to body, digging out eyes, wrenching off lips,
tearing the ears, and slicing the flesh from the quivering bones;
while the queen of the harpies crept amid the butchery gathering the
brains from each severed skull as a _bonne-bouche_ for the approaching
feast!

After the last victim yielded his life, it did not require long to
kindle a fire, produce the requisite utensils, and fill the air with
the odor of _human flesh_. Yet, before the various messes were half
broiled, every mouth was tearing the dainty morsels with shouts of
joy, denoting the combined satisfaction of revenge and appetite! In
the midst of this appalling scene, I heard a fresh cry of exultation,
as a pole was borne into the apartment, on which was impaled the
living body of the conquered chieftain's wife. A hole was quickly dug,
the stave planted and fagots supplied; but before a fire could be
kindled the wretched woman was dead, so that the barbarians were
defeated in their hellish scheme of burning her alive.

* * * * *

I do not know how long these brutalities lasted, for I remember very
little after this last attempt, except that the bush men packed in
plantain leaves whatever flesh was left from the orgie, to be conveyed
to their friends in the forest. This was the first time it had been my
lot _to behold the most savage development of African nature under the
stimulus of war_. The butchery made me sick, dizzy, paralyzed. I sank
on the earth benumbed with stupor; nor was I aroused till nightfall,
when my Kroomen bore me to the conqueror's town, and negotiated our
redemption for the value of twenty slaves.

CHAPTER LXII.

I hope that no one will believe I lingered a moment in Digby, or ever
dealt again with its miscreants, after the dreadful catastrophe I have
described in the last