ABSTRACT
They say that once upon a time there was a great flood which drowned all their ancestors, save those that escaped in canoes or on to the tops of high trees. This I imagine must have been the Deluge.
When I first came into their hands, and they told me about the rattles, I thought there must be a devil’s spirit in them, for they said that they spoke often. But when I went to the huts where the wise men sat to make the rattles speak, and saw their tricks, and that everyone had to sit down apart, I went away marvelling at the simplicity of the people and the ease with which they were beguiled.
