A NIGHT PICTURE. 9]

laid close together and supported by posts, which
are raised eight or nine feet from the ground,
They mount this kind of platform by step-ladders.
At sunset the dreaded insects issue forth in swarms,
and then the negroes betake themselves to these
platforms, where they sup, and smoke and chat
for a great part of the night, after which they
sleep till day in the open air. I had never used
the precaution of taking a tent with me, and I lay
with them, and in their manner—that is, almost
naked, the great heat not permitting me to wear
any sort of garment. The mosquitoes were not
indeed so troublesome as under cover, but still
they sucked a great deal of blood, and every morn-
ing I had my face disfigured with pimples. This,
however, did not hinder me from passing my nights
very agreeably. Besides the amusement I received
from the fables, dialogues, and witty stories, with
which the negroes entertained each other accord-
ing to their custom, I was ravished with behold-
ing a sky ever blue and serene, and bespangled
with stars that shone forth with the brightest lustre.
Raised on this platform, as on a small observatory,
open on all sides, I could easily accompany those
luminaries with my eye in their revolution from
cast to west. Oftentimes, I did not lose sight of the
upper edge of the disk of the sun and of the larger
stars till they plunged under the horizon of the ocean.