184 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XXI. 



tion to the word, so much more satisfactorily than 

 into the tough hide of a black savage, that he pre- 

 ferred sticking a Dutchman to eating the king's 

 beef. When sufficiently sated with roast meat, and 

 primed with snuff, he treated us to a love ditty, in 

 the course of which he looked most killing. Both 

 he and Mohanycom were much elated at Kalipi's 

 success, and as the evening advanced, being joined 

 by a large party of friends, they all struck up a war 

 chorus in praise of the king, which they continued 

 until a late hour, howling and dancing until they 

 were exhausted. We could never arrive at any 

 interpretation of their songs, and of this in particular, 

 beyond what I have already given. Strange though 

 it must appear, it is a fact that, whether from fear 

 or superstition, the devotion of these savages to their 

 tyrannic chieftain amounts to positive adoration. 

 Present or absent he absorbs all their praises, and 

 is the only idol they worship. The following were 

 the words repeated, with occasional transposition, ten 

 thousand times : — 



O Lilll tukalee, Bunka Baee 



O nwang a-nee subookana-shee. 



Ai buiika baee — Hibo, hi bo, hi bo bo-shee. 



Dancing served in the place of music, and was 

 nothing more than an accompaniment to the song, 

 of which the pathos and feeling were indicated by 

 the contortions of the body, and by the various 

 figures described with the hands, in which they 

 flourished a club of rhinoceros' horn. The feet 

 regulated the time, and imparted the locomotive 



