says, to "certain completed professors of parliamentary eloquence" nearer home.
The Pleiades were now seen to be setting earlier and earlier every evening. They were for a few nights obscured by clouds, and the next time they appeared they were perceptibly nearer the sun. This fact was observed at once and they hailed it with what at first seemed to be a series of shouts, but which proved to be a sort of barbaric chant, each stave of which ended with this refrain:—
"Go, go,
Red star and little stars."
And this was a chant as Gioro told us (and Bomero confirmed him) which their fathers and their fathers' fathers had sung before them from time immemorial. I wish that some of our savants would investigate this matter, for I cannot but think that this festival and its obvious connection with the constellation Taurus would throw some important light on the origin of these people and their connection with the other races of mankind.
Jack and I for obvious reasons gave them some illustrations of the use of our "fire spears." Mine they said was a "fire spear" of one point, and Jack's of two three points, two three; that is to say I used a
