Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/532

 468 Customs of the Lower Congo People.

side. What started as an innocent dance will end in a general row, and bad blood will be made for many a day. But, if the gift is generous, fulsome praise and flattery will be beaten on the drum, and everybody will be pleased.

Some time ago a band of players and dancers went from Vianga to Matadi to entertain the chief Dimbu and his folk. The Vianga players had an idea that they would be meanly treated, and so they laid their plans accordingly. They called a prominent player in Matadi, and arranged with him to praise the Vianga people in the usual way, and one of the Vianga men would give him 20 francs, which amount he was to return in con- sideration of a percentage of what the Matadi chief would give. The plan worked well for the Vianga players and their accomplice. Chief Dimbu, seeing 20 francs given, felt compelled to surpass that, and eventually handed over 30 francs.

7. Boela is a circular dance, to the beating of a medium-sized drum. The cloth put on for it is first held under the arm-pits, then the belt is tied tightly round the waist, and the upper part of the cloth is allowed to fall down in folds.

8. Madiumba is a circular dance performed, not to the beating of a drum, but to a marimba.

9. Makuta. The Makuta people got a dance from the Nsundi folk, who live to the east of them, and called it the Nsundi dance, and then the San Salvador people appropriated it, and called it the Makuta dance.

10. Lungondongo is like the Ntiita dance, but with a different beat on the drum and a different chorus.

11. Ngwinda is like the Etiita, but is danced by the Manyanga people on a cleared space outside the town.

12. Nsanga is danced after a fight, when no one is killed or wounded. There is no formation of rings or