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

 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