ting of the Sabbath, all the wizards and witches who
failed to attend it were lashed by demons with a rod made of serpents
or scorpions, as a punishment for their inattention or want of
punctuality.

In France and England, the witches were supposed to ride uniformly upon
broomsticks; but in Italy and Spain, the devil himself, in the shape of
a goat, used to transport them on his back, which lengthened or
shortened according to the number of witches he was desirous of
accommodating. No witch, when proceeding to the Sabbath, could get out
by a door or window, were she to try ever so much. Their general mode
of ingress was by the keyhole, and of egress, by the chimney, up which
they flew, broom and all, with the greatest ease. To prevent the
absence of the witches from being noticed by their neighbours, some
inferior demon was commanded to assume their shapes and lie in their
beds, feigning illness, until the Sabbath was over.

When all the wizards and witches had arrived at the place of
rendezvous, the infernal ceremonies of the Sabbath began. Satan, having
assumed his favourite shape of a large he-goat, with a face in front
and another in his haunches, took his seat upon a throne; and all
present, in succession, paid their respects to him, and kissed him in
his face behind. This done, he appointed a master of the ceremonies, in
company with whom he made a personal examination of all the wizards and
witches, to see whether they had the secret mark about them by which
they were stamped as the devil's own. This mark was always insensible
to pain. Those who had not yet been marked, received the mark from the
master of the ceremonies; the devil at the same time bestowing
nicknames upon them. This done, they all began to sing and dance in the
most furious manner, until some one arrived who was anxious to be
admitted into their society. They were then silent for a while, until
the new-comer had denied his salvation, kissed the devil, spat upon the
Bible, and sworn obedience to him in all things. They then began
dancing again with all their might, and singing these words,

"Alegremos, Alegremos!
Que gente va tenemos!"

In the course of an hour or two, they generally became wearied of this
violent exercise, and then they all sat down and recounted the evil
deeds they had done since their last meeting. Those who had not been
malicious and mischievous enough towards their fellow-creatures,
received personal chastisement fr