present, but accuses his fellow-sinner, with whom he has had a quarrel, and described what the offender has stated he did: "When he wuz thes so drunk that his tongue runned off with him." The full moon is by common consent given as the time for these exercises. What the dance means I do not know, and cannot find out. It seems very much like the Hottentot dance to the moon which that Dutch traveller, Peter Kolben, describes as taking place as early as the year 1705. He says:
"The moon with them (the Hottentots) is an inferior visible god. They call this planet Gounja, or God . . . they assemble for the celebration of its worship at the change and full, and no inclemency of the weather prevents them. They then throw their bodies into a thousand different postures, scream, prostrate themselves on the ground, suddenly jump up, stamp like mad creatures, and cry aloud: 'I salute thee! thou art welcome; grant us fodder for our cattle and milk in abundance.' These and other addresses to the moon they repeat over and over, singing 'Ho, ho, ho!' many times over, with a variation of notes, accompanied with clapping of hands. Thus in shouting, screaming, singing, jumping, stamping, dancing, and prostration, they spend the whole night in worshipping this planet."[1]
The dances of the ghosts of the departed conjurers also take place at the full moon. All I know about this is that Aunt Mymee was said by other negroes to be able to appear in two places at once, to take any shape she pleased, and to know what people were saying and doing when they were miles away. This, they said, was because she had found out where these "hants" met, had watched their exercises to their close, and had asked and received her heart's desire. Anyone as bold as she is may ask and receive aid of these shades, it is said. The snake- and fire-dances may take place any time: that is, anywhere that policemen are not likely to come. The moon-dance must be in an open space in the woods.
There is a sacrifice of a black hen to the moon. Alexander said that Arthur McManus had no better sense than to sacrifice a
- ↑ "The Voyage of Peter Kolben, A.M., to the Cape of Good Hope." Vol. iv of The World Displayed; or a Curious Collection of Voyages and Travels. Selected and Compiled from the Writers of all Nations, by Smart, Goldsmith, and Johnson. 1795.
