skinny Deity just now mentioned is placed grinning while the Drum beats and the Guests devour the flesh in silent awe[.] The Bones being torn from the flesh or rather the flesh from the Bones then are with much ceremony suspended to a May which had been previously erected for that purpose. Should a Dog amid all this religious mummery be sacrilegious enough to pass any of the fat or flesh between his unhallowed jaws in order to appease the wrath of the angry God the vile animal is instantly slaughtered – the flesh is devoured each guest must eat a spoonful of its excrements and then the Bones are hung to a tree.

As the fall of the Leaf is the beginning of the hunting season they must at a sumptuous feast so as to bid each other adieu, communicate what they mean to do &c. And they have another in the spring in order to congratulate one another on their different Successes & exploits in the

Chace

[24]