176 



Report of a Journey Around the World. 



we needed the rest, and later we saw an exhibition not down in 

 our programme. A wedding had been in progress for some days 

 (they last a week), and the large procession came onto the lawn 

 before our door; the forerunners, with umbrellas and curious 

 standards, reminding of kahilis of Hawaii, then the bride in a chair 

 (she was a mere child) and the groom on horseback, a fine-looking 

 young fellow perhaps twenty years old ; then the game/an or 

 orchestra, and a pair of dancing ponies. The^e were the most 



134. VIEW OF THE CONES OE THE ZAND ZEE. 



amusing of the whole. They were covered with a harness like a 

 network dotted with bright brass bosses the size of a dollar, and a 

 saddle with a dragon's head pommel, and a tail like an old feather 

 duster half-way between the pony tail and the saddle, and this 

 stood erect in an absurd manner. In the saddles were what I mis- 

 took for dolls, as their faces were painted, but under all the 

 decorations we found were two little girls, brides of a few weeks. 

 The ponies were in charge of an old man who held two long ropes 

 as reins, and he was so absorbed in the prancing of his animals 

 that he frequently joined in the dance himself. It was funny to 

 see these little stallions make their steps preciselv and prance up 



[324] 



