aio Voyage of the Novara. 



their bowlings and clapping of hands, formed as it were a 

 musical accompaniment to this singular performance. The 

 dancers sighed, groaned, hissed, and made the most extrava- 

 gant grimaces and contortions, in order to arouse in themselves 

 an artificial excitement. One, a lad twelve years of age, 

 engaged so earnestly in the sports, that he perspired from his 

 whole body. There is another dance, called " Tklombo," per- 

 formed in the presence of diseased persons whilst the quack 

 doctor practises his deceptive remedies ; and a third, called 

 " Umduta," which is only practised at weddings and otber. 

 festive occasions. This last seemed to be the most charac-, 

 teristic. The semi-nude, slender men hopped, their arms 

 clung together, in ranks of six, hissing with scorn, occasionally 

 uttering a cry, then suddenly separating and marching one 

 after the other in slow time, in a circle, uttering the most 

 singular sounds. Now they bent forward the whole upper part 

 of the body, and then back again, each of them making the 

 same violent gestures as in the former dance, and pronouncing 

 some words to excite their companions, such as, ** Be active I" 

 " Be alert I" until they all trembled and became fearfully and 

 feverishly excited. The surrounding Caffres, who were at first 

 mere spectators, by degrees were seized with this singular dancing 

 mania, till at last the entire number, as if stung by a tarantula, 

 lashed themselves into a wild and apparently ungovernable 

 frenzy. The great diff^erence in the colour of the skin of 

 these Caff'res was particularly striking, as they evidently belono* 

 to one and the same race. From the blackness of coal to 



