shapes and forms, and it was very evident from the prevailing
signs that there would soon he a grand beer-drinking
bout.
John had been out that morning and had killed a magnificent
eland bull with the finest head I ever saw.
The king’s boys took possession of the hut which my
Inyota men had occupied, who therefore, being turned out,
formed a large circle of fires in front of my hut. Shortly
after our arrival crowds of people assembled in what X have
termed the plaza—that is to say the open space in the centre
of the town, between the hut in which I was quartered and
the house of Senhor Eubero. Numbers of drums were
placed in a row. The feast had evidently begun.
John said that the Inyota or Makorikori, who had accompanied
us so far, would be sure to remain until the close of
the festivities. One and all the boys seemed beside themselves
with joy at the thought of returning home; for I had
told them that they would all be paid, and might retrace
their steps whenever they wished to do so. Enlivened by
this happy news, they threw themselves heart and soul into
the convivialities of the hour. Native beer flowed like
running water, and koodoo and eland meat were to.be had
in abundance, for quantities which John and myself had
shot had been dried in the sun.
The open centre of the town swarmed with ebonised
humanity. Sounds of song and jubilant shouts mingled
with the throbbing vibrations of the everlasting drum,
breaking with droll and savage harmonies the natural
stillness of the forest air. The noise rose and fell like
Tnlling waves of sound, or like the spasmodic drone of a
rising gale.
Dark-skinned maidens danced merrily and sang their
shrillest notes, keeping time as they stamped the ground,
throwing their bodies alternately right and left, and following
each other through the snake-like windings of their
frolicsome fandango. With more solemnity the older
women, bearing upon their backs the young ones, whose
little heads would wag in every way, as if they were fixed
on the universal joint principle, while their mothers with
great flat feet entered upon the dance with a serious
earnestness of purpose.
THE CHIBINGA DANCE.
V o ic e s .
Allegro. Men.
f ..
D b u m s .
Í
Girls. m £-0m-. --t0—- -mF-
... 0 ?
-0- -0- -0-
tz—ÍZ--------- ti—1 ri—1— f1-=— -i—r .* = £— ____ = — i—=--------------
/TS
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