of St. Louis. Almost opposite
the chateau and on the Point of Barbary, is a little battery of six guns at
the most, which is called the _Fort of Guetander_; it is on the summit of a
hill of sand which has been formed by the wind, and increases daily; it is
even already pretty high, and is surrounded by a great number of huts of
the blacks, which form a pretty extensive village: these buts tend to hold
the sand together, and to prevent its sinking. The inhabitants of this
village are very superstitious, as the following anecdote will prove.

In the course of the month of September, Messrs. Kummer and Correard
crossed the arm of the river, to visit the coast of Barbary and the village
of Guetander; when they landed on the point, they proceeded towards the
north, and having gone three or four hundred paces along the shore, they
found a turtle, the diameter of which was a metre at the least; it was
turned upon its back and covered with a prodigious quantity of crabs,
(_toulouroux_)[61] which are found along the sea-coast. Mr. Correard
stopped a moment, and remarked that, when he had wounded one of these
animals with his cane, the others devoured it instantly. While he was
looking at these crabs feeding on the turtle, Mr. Kummer went on towards
the south, and visited the burying-places of the blacks. Mr. Correard
joined him, and they saw that the natives erect over the tombs of their
fathers, their relations and friends, little sepulchres, some made of
straw, some of slight pieces of wood, and even of bones. All these frail
monuments are consecrated much more by gratitude than by vanity. The blacks
prohibit all approach to them in the strictest manner. Mr. Kummer, whom his
companion had left to return to the shore, was examining very tranquilly
these rustic tombs, when suddenly one of the Africans armed with a sabre,
advanced towards him, crouching and endeavouring to surprise him; Mr.
Kummer had no doubt but this man had a design upon his life, and retired
towards Mr. Correard, whom he found again observing the crabs and the
turtle. On relating to him what had just passed, as they were unarmed, they
resolved immediately to pass the river, by throwing themselves into a boat;
they had soon reason to congratulate themselves on having done so, for they
perceived several men who had collected at the cries of the black, and, if
they had not taken flight, it is probable that their innocent curiosity
would have cost them their lives.