and Orion hangs above my tent-door, giving to me the sense of strength
and assurance which these simple children obtain from their Moses and
the Prophets. Yet external Nature does its share in their training;
witness that most poetic of all their songs, which always reminds me
of the "Lyke-Wake Dirge" in the "Scottish Border Minstrelsy,"--

"I know moon-rise, I know star-rise;
Lay dis body down.
I walk in de moonlight, I walk in de starlight,
To lay dis body down.
I'll walk in de graveyard, I'll walk through de graveyard,
To lay dis body down.
I'll lie in de grave and stretch out my arms;
Lay dis body down.
I go to de Judgment in de evening ob de day
When I lay dis body down;
And my soul and your soul will meet in de day
When I lay dis body down."


January 14.

In speaking of the military qualities of the blacks, I should add, that
the only point where I am disappointed is one I have never seen raised
by the most incredulous newspaper critics,--namely, then- physical
condition. To be sure they often look magnificently to my
gymnasium-trained eye; and I always like to observe them when
bathing,--such splendid muscular development, set off by that smooth
coating of adipose tissue which makes them, like the South-Sea Islanders
appear even more muscular than they are. Their skins are also of finer