The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3Poe, Edgar Allan
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The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3
Poe, Edgar Allan
American fiction -- 19th century; Fantasy fiction; Horror tales, American
As we approached the village with Too-wit and his party, a vast
crowd of the people rushed out to meet us, with loud shouts,
among which we could only distinguish the everlasting Anamoo-moo!
and Lama-Lama! We were much surprised at perceiving that, with
one or two exceptions, these new comers were entirely naked, and
skins being used only by the men of the canoes. All the weapons
of the country seemed also to be in the possession of the latter,
for there was no appearance of any among the villagers. There
were a great many women and children, the former not altogether
wanting in what might be termed personal beauty. They were
straight, tall, and well formed, with a grace and freedom of
carriage not to be found in civilized society. Their lips,
however, like those of the men, were thick and clumsy, so that,
even when laughing, the teeth were never disclosed. Their hair
was of a finer texture than that of the males. Among these naked
villagers there might have been ten or twelve who were clothed,
like the party of Too-wit, in dresses of black skin, and armed
with lances and heavy clubs. These appeared to have great
influence among the rest, and were always addressed by the title
Wampoo. These, too, were the tenants of the black skin palaces.
That of Too-wit was situated in the centre of the village, and
was much larger and somewhat better constructed than others of
its kind. The tree which formed its support was cut off at a
distance of twelve feet or thereabouts from the root, and there
were several branches left just below the cut, these serving to
extend the covering, and in this way prevent its flapping about
the trunk. The covering, too, which consisted of four very large
skins fastened together with wooden skewers, was secured at the
bottom with pegs driven through it and into the ground. The floor
was strewed with a quantity of dry leaves by way of carpet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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