DANCES, INITIATION RITES, MARRIAGE 223 



and vigorously thumped and twanged ; torches 

 were lit, and the dancers, a man and woman, ran 

 into the ring and danced, while the spectators 

 clapped their hands in rhythm with the music. 

 The couple danced a sort of step dance, crossing 

 each other constantly, or advancing or retreating 

 till they suddenly collided, stopped, and then gave 

 way to the other dancers ; and so the merry round 

 went on till dawn. 



A dance described by Montciro in the north 

 of Angola is called the " batuco," when, amid the 

 familiar surroundings of the ring of clapping 

 people and musicians, the dancers, both men and 

 women, jump into the ring and perform a swaying 

 dance like the Indian nautch, but more vigorous 

 and less decent and graceful. 



The circumcision rites, which seem to be 

 similar to those I have come across in other parts 

 of Africa, take place at intervals when enough boys 

 and girls have been collected from neighbouring 

 villages for the purpose. In Angola the ceremonies 

 take place in June and July. Both the boys, who 

 apparently are dealt with some time before 

 puberty, and the girls, who are dealt with before 

 marriage, are secluded in separate places in the 

 forests near the villages. Here they are operated 

 on surgically, and instructed in marital, and, in the 

 case of girls, household duties as well. During the 

 period they are isolated, the initiates dust them- 

 selves over with chalky earth and ashes and paint 

 fancy patterns on their bodies. No one is allowed 

 to approach near the initiation huts, and the 

 boys vvill unmercifully beat nnv one they even 



