It had been a very dry season, the rough shingles were like tinder, and the inflammable material burst quickly into great flames, lighting up the valley as far as the edge of the forest.

It was an awe-inspiring and a horrible spectacle.

Columns of yellow and black smoke rolled heavenward; every object seemed dyed a deep crimson; the trees assumed fantastic shapes; the river veiled itself under a red glow.
Above the roaring and crackling of the flames rose the inhuman yelling of the savages.

Like demons of the inferno they ran to and fro, their naked painted bodies shining in the glare.

One group of savages formed a circle and danced hands-around a stump as gayly as a band of school-girls at a May party.