P I L Ä T l i SOS.
NC'PAE, A yOUN(i ZÜLÜ IN HIR DANOHd DDBSS.
THIS is LLIE portrait of N joimg M.N 1 I.aintctl it Im.mli,, »ivini; , favour.He idea of tlia l.aadsomo and
, , l e . , i n g counlenmcea of many of tl.e ;o„i, . Zulu,. He ia d,eased for a dance, .„d ,vear> Waeli o«trieli ,d,i,ne,, min-led
ivith Iniaclies of lowrj. feathei-., upon l,ia head. Tlie long pendent oin.n.ent, on eacl, side of the f.ee are composed
•of bead., blaeii and pink, hvo colon,, of „hid, the Kafirs, espeeially the Am.k&a, .,e p.rlienl.rly fond. The fringes
ot beads attached to the leg below the knee are grotesque yet t.,,teful decorations, and the lively colours of the bead,
afford , strong contrast to tlic dark hue of the skin. A Zulu lad, similar to the one l,e,e repre.seuted, can generally
be persuaded to work for an Eni'opean settler withu, the colony of Natal, for the value, either in l>e,<ls or „,o„ey.
of live or six shillings a month, and „,a„y boys will apprentice themselves as sen-ants to tlie whites for a whole year
on promise of a cow a! the expiration of tl,e ter,n.
TWIl (IF KIN(i I'ANDA'S DABCIN« (Í1KLS,
T „ i dceo,«tions of tl,e king's dancing girls consist of enormous iiuanSties of beads of every va,iety of s i a and
colour di.,played u,,o„ their persons in the fonn of necklaces, bracelets, and bandages, accordñ,g to the prevailhut fashion
o r the taste of the wearer. On p .nd occasion, the amonut of bead, worn by the king's wotnei, is almost h,crediblc,
a snigie dress having been known to consist of fifty pounds weight of these bighly.^valued decorations, so a. to render
,t a tnatter of some diificulty as well as persm,al inconvenience for the wearer to dance m,der tl,e accnmul.ted weight
of Iter beads. The possession of gaudy beails of every coh.ur appear, to be the higliest ambition of a Kafi,' woman
" Hor fond lieor, iliiltertns liijh wiUi niuloin «clicnie»
To giiin llic Oiiclinnting be.icis ,loit huniil lipr dreiiras!"
The .,m„al dance, are held without the kraal, the king with i,i. women appearing ail ar.'.yed in beads, and their
arms encrcled by b,,s, or„a,nent,. The king is sainted by a shout "Byatcl" and the .lancing commences, accompanied
by song, „lud, a,e compo.etl by the king, and vary every year. Each man hold, in hi, hand a knotstick • the feet
. e g u l a t e the titnc, and the action of their bodies is often very graceful. The male danee.'s fi-e,„enlly wear the cocoon,
„I a large green motl, C4.»V), with very smaU p.hblcs in them, which are strung together at their ankles, and ,nake
a j,nghng nmse. There sometimes i, many a, a thousand dancers present, for„,ing a ring tht-ee deep, whilst the
,™men ,n ranks „1 twenty, compose the central phalanx. Tl,e wcnen, thus ,u,™,mded, bend their bodie, to the dap
of hands wh,ch take, place simultaneously, stamping both feet togethc. and raising tlreir voices to tl,e hi.d,ct pitch
In the d„,.nce of the sketch is seen a portion of on. of tl,e king's large k,-aals. The standing figure 1,., her head
decorated with mimosa thon,s¡ tlie sitlhtg one with tlie quills of tl,e porcupine.
" I n t o m h i e , " in the Zulu language, signifies a virgin, or a young girl before she i, l,etrothc,i in marriage The
co,tm„e of the "nrlombie" i, remarkably simple, „mist ing m.rdy of an ornamental girdle rom.d the loins, worked with
vanonsiy coloured beads; this .ienotes her virgin innocence, and should she be promised in marria.gc to some voung man
m a ne.ghbom'ing kraal, she immediately wear, tin- •• i.ssikaka," a long petticoat of dressed h ide/and after the marria».
ceremony ,s performed, her dress become, stili more an article of covering „„til the period of tbe birih of her fi.'st