Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. III.djvu/200

Rh well-painted leopard, probably the symbol of the nation. There were also some Catholic pictures and symbols in the hall. I here saw a whole group of women moving in a kind of dance, like galvanised frogs, but with slower action, bowing and twisting their bodies and all their joints without any meaning or purpose that I could discover. It seemed to be the expression of some kind of animal satisfaction; it had also the appearance as if they were seeking for something in the dark. And the poor benighted people may be said to be still seeking—their true life's joy, their life beyond that of Nature.

They seem, however, to have approached nearer to this in the States of North America. I thought of that nocturnal camp-meeting in the forest, by the light of the fire-altars, and of the melodious hymns which sounded from the camp of the negroes!

I saw in another Cabildo de Gangos that same irregular, serpentine dance, danced in circles and rows both by men and women around one another. I saw again, also, in a Cabildo de Congos, the Congo-dance, as I had seen it in the bohea, at St. Amelia, and another which seemed to be a mixture of the Spanish-Creole dance, Yuca and Congo dance. There is considerably more animation in the latter dances than in the former, as well as more art and poetical feeling. The symbol painted upon the wall of this room was a sun with a human face. Here also were several Christian symbols and pictures. But even here also, the Christianised and truly Christian Africans retain somewhat of the superstition and idolatry of their native land. The C ongo and Ganga nations seem to me born of a more careless temperament and have a more animal appearance than the Luccomees.

I visited two other Cabildos, but did not find any new features of interest, and finally I was heartily wearied by the noise, and the rattling, and the bustle, and the dust, and the chaotic disorder in the dancing, and in the