AMUSEMENTS. 143 
amusements, which were chiefly derived from 
music, dancing, mock-fights, and theatrical re- 
presentations. 
Their musical instruments were very simple, 
and of two kinds only: the one, a sort of flute, 
producing four notes, and blown with the nos- 
trils; the other, a drum, made of the hollow 
trunk of a tree; but the accompanying songs, 
usually extempore poems, were pretty, and 
showed the delicacy of their ear. The girls ex- 
celled in the dance; the married women were 
forbidden to take part in it, and the men never 
did. ‘The dancers executed a species of ballet, 
and, according to the judgment of travellers, 
_ they might with little trouble become capable of 
performing on our theatres. The English 
dances they soon learnt, and in the well-known 
hornpipe, especially, displayed much grace. 
The mock-fights were of course in imitation 
of their serious warfare, and they parried with 
admirable dexterity the blow of a club or thrust 
of a lance, by which otherwise they must have 
been severely wounded. The dramatic pieces 
were performed by both sexes, and sometimes 
by persons of the highest quality. ‘They were 
