nothing more than his I jackal.’ * In this attitude he continued his
dancing without cessation.
Sometimes, however, this is performed without the support of
sticks ; and although the same person kept on dancing during the
whole time I was present in the hut, yet each one of the company is
allowed to take his turn, till, having danced as long as he chooses, he
retires to the circle, and another rises, who, after tying on the rattles,
takes his place; for, one pair of these rattles serves the whole party.
The man who, being, perhaps, proud of the interest which I appeared
to take in his performance, had continued so long to exhibit before
me his indefatigable powers, gave up his place soon after I quitted
the hut; and was succeeded by others, who prolonged the pleasing
harmless amusement without interval.
This dancing is indeed of a singular kind; and I know not if
among all the tribes of savages on the globe, any thing similar is to
be found; it certainly is not to be met with in any civilized nation.
One foot remains motionless, while the other dances in a quick wild
irregular manner, changing its place but little, though the knee and
leg is turned from side to side as much as the attitude will allow.
The arms have little motion, their duty being to support the body.
The dancer continues singing all the while, and keeps time with
every movement; sometimes twisting the body in sudden starts, till
at last, as if fatigued by the violence of his exertions, he drops upon
the ground to recover breath; still maintaining the spirit of the
dance, and continuing to sing, and keep time by the motion of his
body, to the voices and accompaniments of the spectators. In a few
seconds he starts up again, and proceeds with renewed vigor. When
one foot is tired out, or has done its share of the dance, the other
comes forward and performs the same part; and thus, changing legs
from time to time, it seemed as though he meant to convince his
friends that he could dance for ever.
* That part of a Hottentot’s dress, which is called the jackal, has been described at
p. 397. of Vol. I.
Round each ankle he wore a sort of rattle, made (in this instance)
of four ears of the springbuck, sewed up and containing a quantity
of small pieces of ostrich-egg shell, which at every motion of the
foot produced a sound that was not unpleasant or harsh, but greatly
aided the general effect of the performances. The figure of these
dancing-rattles may be seen at page 45, and supersedes the necessity
of a more minute description. *
Although only one person could dance at a time, the surrounding
company were not therefore the less employed or amused: all
joined in the accompaniments, and were equally essential with the dancer
himself, to the evening’s entertainment, and contributed not less to
the pleasure it afforded. These accompaniments consisted in singing
and beating the drum. Every one of the party sang, and all kept
time by gently clapping hands. The words made use of, and which
had no meaning in themselves, were simply Aye 0 Aye O, repeated
during the whole tim e; and at the sound O, the hands were brought
together: the dancer only, using the syllables Wawakoo. Both men and
women assisted in this singing, and though not in unison, were still
correctly in harmony with each other: but the voices of the girls,
pitched a fifth or sixth higher, were maintained with more animation.
The drum was nothing more than a bambus or wooden jug f
having a piece of wet parchment strained over the top, and containing
a little water. This instrument was occasionally inverted for the
purpose of wetting the parchment, as often as it became dry. It was
beaten with the right forefinger, by one of the women; while she
regulated the pitch or quality of the sound, by placing the forefinger
and thumb of her left hand, upon the parchment. It seemed to be
accurately in tune with the voices of the assembly; a concordance,
which could hardly be accidental.
The following notes, which I wrote down on the same night,
that in I »6]68" 6 °n H rigf S,h°WS the manner I whi<* they are toer fi*re r„c;r H IM give»;dea rf mIfetied lto th^e leg; xan[d latter^figureone of the rattles of whtch it is composed, is represented in profile.
oonnllvy tthhaatt iitt wwaass muc9h largBer alnsd ^hparde sae wntiedder amt opnatghe 406 of the first volume; excepting
VOL. XI. K