XV.] WAR-PAINT. 185 



only entrance. Above the entrance, and at each corner of the March, 

 palisade, were heavy crows' -nests, well supplied with large ^*^'^^- 

 stones in readiness to hurl at an enemy ; while the palisade 

 was lined with horizontal logs to a height of seven feet above 

 the ground, rendering it nearly musket-proof. 



Tobacco was grown in small quantities, that being the only 

 attempt at cultivation ; and the men sometimes went fishing 

 if the fancy took them ; but for trade and support the place 

 depended upon nothing but the traffic in dams. 



At the moment of my entering the village, a dance was 

 being performed by two men, with a variety of pantomimic 

 action, jumping, and somersault-turning ; but their efforts, as a 

 whole, were very tame, and lacked spirit and energy. 



When they considered they had exercised themselves suffi- 

 ciently for the amusement of the by-standers, they dragged 

 themselves along the ground, as if uttei-ly exhausted, and, pre- 

 tending to be dying of hunger, threw themselves at the feet of 

 some person who was expected to give them a handful or two of 

 corn. Having received their reward, they then continued their 

 performance. They were accompanied by half a dozen men beat- 

 ing drums, and another who droned through a sort of recitative. 



One native obligingly turned out in war-paint for me to ad- 

 mire him. He wore a cap and a particularly hideous mask of 

 zebra-skin, and carried two spears and a shield. The latter was 

 five feet six inches long and ten inches wide, with a cane handle 

 in the centre, and was made of the wood of a jjalm-tree ; and, 

 though he declared it was strong enough to resist any thing, he 

 declined to submit it to the test of a rifle-bullet. 



In the night there were such heavy squalls, with thunder and 

 lightning, that I turned out to make certain that my boat was 

 properly secured. All the men except Bombay were quartered 

 on shore, and had utilized the oars for the frame-work of their 

 huts, and I did not fancy going for a cruise on such a night 

 without either men or oars. While thus engaged, the rain fell 

 fast and furious, half filling the boats with water ; so I roused 

 up the men to bail them out, and then returned to my crib in 

 the stern of the Betsy. But what a sorry sight met my view ! 

 My awning had been nearly blown away, and bed, charts, books, 

 and guns were all soaking wet. 



13 



