sage, till at the farther end we came to another
door. Jacob knocked three times with the hilt of his dagger, when the
door by unseen agency opened slowly, as the other had done, and we saw a
curtain hanging in front of us. On drawing it aside, we found ourselves
in a vaulted chamber of considerable size; several lamps hanging from
the roof gave sufficient light to show the various objects within. The
trade carried on by the old witch must have paid well, as the various
articles the chamber contained could not have been procured unless at a
considerable expense. There were stuffed animals and creatures of
various sorts: a huge crocodile, from the Nile; a vulture, with expanded
wings, and talons tearing its prey, at which its bloodshot eyes looked
down with an expression of life-like savageness. On one side there was
a human skeleton of gigantic proportions, with a club in its hand, in
the attitude of striking. Toads and lizards abounded. There were mummy
cases, with their lids off, exposing the dried remnants of mortality
within. In huge bottles were children, some with two heads, or three
arms, and other deformities, hideous and disgusting to look at. There
were also all sorts of incomprehensible instruments, but whether
constructed for any purpose, or merely for the sake of deception, I
could not ascertain. At the farther end of the chamber sat the old
witch, habited much as we had seen her in her abode on the heath, with a
few fantastic additions, which increased her weird appearance. Beyond
her was an open space, and on the ground was seen a fiery line forming a
circle. A mist seemed to fill the end of the vault, or else it was a
veil so cunningly devised as to represent a mist. Before her, on a
tripod, stood her magic cauldron, out of which deep red flames rose up,
casting a lurid glare around.

I saw that Jacob looked very pale. He was not prepared for such a
scene. He perhaps thought that I, too, had lost my colour; or possibly
the nature of the light in the room added to the pallor of our
countenances.

The witch took no notice of our approach, but continued her apparent
incantations. We advanced slowly between a row of hideous monsters, who
grinned down upon us from the pedestals on which they sat or stood.
They reminded me somewhat of the deities of an Indian temple, from which
possibly they may have been carried away by some Spanish or Portuguese
adventurers.

As we drew close to the witch,