Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/123

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Twenty Years Before the Mast.
101

lines drawn across the ribs, legs, arms, and head. They looked hideous, frightful, and ugly. It was an awful spectacle to look upon when they stood in line, with the dark green foliage behind and a bright fire before, and strangely suggestive of Hades.

Before beginning the dance they stood still and motionless for a long time, staring very wildly at us; then all

NATIVE DANCE.

of a sudden they jumped up and yelled like so many hyenas. They kept on jumping up and down, throwing their whole arms and legs about as if they had no ankle or knee joints or elbows. There was no balance to partners, up and down the center, all hands round, or fore and aft with them; but they would suddenly, one after the other, vanish from sight, which was done simply by their turning around, when their dusky forms would become