There was little sleep that night in the camp at Foueira until long after twelve o'clock. Our friends had a thousand things to say to each other, and the stories of the last thirty days included a great deal on both sides. The natives had a festival in honor of the safe arrival of the party from the lake: it included a dance around the camp-fires, and a theatrical exhibition, in which some of them were dressed as demons.
A PAIR OF SHAM DEMONS.
As these demons were said to be curiosities worth examining, Frank and Fred went out to see them. Frank thought they were more hideous than anything he had ever seen, and Fred suggested that the African idea of demons did not run in the line of beauty. One of them had his entire body covered with a coarse net from the neck down to his feet; his feet and hands were covered with gloves, and his head was concealed by a sort of helmet or mask. The net was striped horizontally, so that the man reminded our friends of a prisoner of Sing Sing, and the gloves and socks were laced to the rest of the dress, so that not an inch of skin was anywhere visible.
The man carried a staff in one hand and a bell in the other. He tinkled the bell constantly, and its sound was a signal that he wanted presents, which were to be given to a small boy who followed him with a bag. The other sham demon wore the same kind of clothing. His mask was adorned with a row of feathers, and the face was hideously painted, while a fringed hoop was extended around his waist. A brief inspection of these grotesque figures was sufficient for our friends, who gave some trifling presents and then returned to their tents.
Abdul said that these sham demons are to be found among many African tribes, the dress varying according to the fancy of its owner, whose chief endeavor is to conceal his identity while going through his performances, and also to make himself as hideous as possible. The men are analogous to the rain-makers already described, and one of their duties is to keep the real demons from visiting the fields and villages. As no two demons can occupy the same place at once, the shams compel the genuine to move away by monopolizing all the good spots where a demon might wish to live. The trade is by no means unprofitable, as the inhabitants pay liberally for their services. Whenever a calamity of any kind occurs a broad hint is given that the people have been stingy of late, and thus the real demons have put in an appearance.
