or dried up very much after the manner of
mummies, and in this state remain for hundreds of years.

You may wonder why the negroes, for the sake of mere criminals, take so
much trouble as to form these large vaults in the solid trunks of trees;
and especially with such rude implements as they are used to make them
with. But this wonder will cease when I inform you, that the hallowing
out of a chamber in the trunk of a baobab is a mere bagatelle, and costs
but trifling labour. The wood of this great tree is remarkably soft and
porous, and a cavity can be scooped out in it, almost as easily as in
the side of a turnip--at all events with not greater difficulty than in
a hard bank of clay or earth; and it is not uncommon for the negroes to
hew out large chambers in the trunks of the baobab for other purposes
besides the one above-mentioned.

Remembering to have read the account of all these matters, I had,
therefore, quite the advantage of my companion, who had never read a
word about them; and, when Ben turned round and perceived that I was
regarding the scene with perfect coolness, while he himself was shaking
in his shoes, he appeared quite astonished at my behaviour.

I soon explained to him the reason why I was so brave; on hearing which
Ben grew brave himself; and, after replenishing our torch by fresh
faggots from the fire, we both squeezed ourselves through the narrow
entrance, and stood within the chamber of the dead. We were no longer
afraid, even to lay our hands upon the skeletons--which we found
perfectly dry and in no way decayed, either by being eaten with moths,
ants, or destroying insects of any kind--all of which must have been
kept away from them by the peculiar odour of the wood by which they were
surrounded.

Like enough the hyenas and jackals would have regarded this but little,
and would long since have dragged the bodies forth; but as already
stated there was a door--and a strong one, which had fitted exactly to
the entrance of the chamber, and which was evidently the thick, bark of
the tree, that had been carefully cut out, at the making of the chamber,
and then replaced. This door fitting exactly had no doubt been firm
enough to resist any attack of wild beasts--at the time the bodies had
been first deposited within--but being now dry it had got loose, and
easily yielded to the sturdy kick of the sailor.

We remained for some time inside this curious apartment and examined
every corner of