What better proof is required of the origin of the peculiar custom of the negroes in our own Southland of sending communications by the dead? He also gave me new stories of Brother Conch, and a tale of a rabbit and a pitch-man.
He says he has heard a savage tribe often sing to the beat of a peculiar drum, as they started to pillage and destroy a neighboring tribe, these words, which he could not translate:
"Zo, whine, whine,
Zo, bottom balleh.
Zo, whine, whine,
Zo, bottom balleh."
Some of the tribes are followers of Mohammed. After they have broken their fast, they sing this hymn to their God:
"Li li, e li li,
Moo moo dooroo, soo moo li."
I then sang for him a part of "Gawd bless dem Yankees, dey'll set me free,"
[[Listen]]
Lyrics:
Gawd bless dem Yankees, dey'll set me free! 'Most done toilin' heah!
Leetle chilerden, 'm .. 'm .. 'Most done toilin' .. heah!