come from a distant country, he was
welcome to enter into every house, and share the provisions of the
family; no door was barred against his entrance, no surly servant
insulted him for his poverty; he entered wherever he pleased, set
himself down with the family, and then pursued his journey, or reposed
himself in quiet till the next morning. In each of our towns there is
generally a large building, where the elder part of the society are
accustomed to meet in the shade of the evening, and converse upon a
variety of subjects. The young and vigorous divert themselves with
dances and other pastimes, and the children of different ages amuse
themselves with a thousand sports and gambols adapted to their age; some
aim their little arrows at marks, or dart their light and blunted
javelins at each other, to form themselves for the exercises of war and
the chase; others wrestle naked upon the sand, or run in sportive races
with a degree of activity which I have never seen among the Europeans,
who pretend to be our masters.

"I have described to you the building of our houses; simple as they are,
they answer every purpose of human life, and every man is his own
architect. A hundred or two of these edifices compose our towns, which
are generally surrounded by lofty hedges of thorns, to secure us from
the midnight attacks of wild beasts, with only a single entrance, which
is carefully closed at night"----

"You talk," said Tommy, "of wild beasts; pray, have you many in your
country?"

"Yes, master," said the Black, "we have them of many sorts, equally
dreadful and ferocious. First, we have the _lion_, which I daresay you
have heard of, and perhaps seen. He is bigger than the largest mastiff,
and infinitely stronger and more fierce; his paws alone are such that,
with a single blow, he is able to knock down a man, and almost every
other animal; but these paws are armed with claws so sharp and dreadful
that nothing can resist their violence. When he roars, every beast of
the forest betakes himself to flight, and even the boldest hunter can
scarcely hear it without dismay. Sometimes the most valiant of our youth
assemble in bands, arm themselves with arrows and javelins, and go to
the chase of these destructive animals. When they have found his
retreat, they generally make a circle round, uttering shouts and cries,
and clashing their arms, to rouse him to resistance. The lion,
meanwhile, looks round upon his assailants with indiff