With the help of some other priests he was engaged in
binding the fetish on to a little raft of reeds. This done he laid
himself flat upon a broad plank which had been made ready for him at
the edge of the water, placing the mask in front of him and with a
few strokes of his feet that hung over the sides of the plank, paddled
himself out to the centre of the canal where the god called Big Bonsa
floated, or was anchored. Having reached it he pushed the little raft
off the plank into the water, and in some way that Alan could not see,
made it fast to Big Bonsa, so that now the two of them floated one
behind the other. Then while the people cheered, shouting out that
husband and wife had come together again at last, he paddled his plank
back to the water's edge, sat down and waited.
Meanwhile, at a sign from the Asika, all the scores of priests and
priestesses who were dressed as devils had filed off to right and left,
and vanished, presumably to cross the water by bridges or boats that
were out of sight. At any rate now they began to appear upon its further
side and to wind their way singly among the thousands of the Asiki
people who were gathered upon the rocky slope beyond in order to witness
this fearsome entertainment.
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