uninteresting country, as there is no possibility of
traversing it except by the narrow footpaths made by
the natives.
The chief of Obbo came to meet us with several of
his head men. He was an extraordinary-looking man,
about fifty-eight or sixty years of age; but, far from
possessing the dignity usually belonging to a grey
head, he acted the buffoon for our amusement, and
might have been a clown in a pantomime.
The heavy storm having cleared, the nogaras beat,
and our entertaining friend determined upon a grand
dance; pipes and flutes were soon heard gathering
from all quarters, horns brayed, and numbers of men
and women began to collect in crowds, while old
Katchiba, the chief, in a great state of excitement, gave
orders for the entertainment.
About a hundred men formed a circle; each man
held in his left hand a small cup-shaped drum, formed
of hollowed wood, one end only being perforated, and
this was covered with the skin of the elephant’s ear,
tightly stretched. In the centre of the circle was the
chief dancer, who wore, suspended from his shoulders,
an immense drum, also covered with the elephant’s
ear. The dance commenced by all singing remarkablv
well a wild but agreeable tune in chorus,7 the bifOf
drum directing the time, and the whole of the little
drums striking at certain periods with such admirable
precision, that the effect was that of a single instrument.
The dancing was most vigorous, and far superior
to anything that I had seen among either Arabs
or savages, the figures varying continually, and ending
with a “ grand galop ” in double circles, at a tremendous
pace, the inner ring revolving in a contrary
direction to the outer; the effect of this was excellent.
Although the men of Obbo wear a skin slung across
their shoulders and loins, the women are almost naked,