NORTHERN OCEAN 319 



repetition, dwelling longer on one word and shorter on another, 

 and raising and lowering the voice, produce something like a 

 tune, and has the desired effect. This is always accompanied 

 by a drum or tabor ; and sometimes a kind of rattle is added, 

 made with a piece of dried buffalo skin, in shape exactly like 

 an oil-flask, into which they put a few shot or pebbles, which, 

 when shook about, produces music little inferior to the drum, 

 though not so loud. 



[33s] This mode of dancing naked is performed only by 

 the men; for when the women are ordered to dance, they always 

 exhibit without the tent, to music which is played within it ; 

 and though their method of dancing is perfectly decent, yet 

 it has still less meaning and action than that of the men : for 

 a whole heap of them crowd together in a straight line, and 

 just shuffle themselves a little from right to left, and back 

 again in the same line, without lifting their feet from the 

 ground ; and when the music stops, they all give a little bend 

 of the body and knee, somewhat like an awkward curtsey, and 

 pronounce, in a little shrill tone, h-e-e, h-o-o-o-e. 



Beside these diversions, they have another simple in-door 

 game, which is that of taking a bit of wood, a button, or any 

 other small thing, and after shifting it from hand to hand 

 several times, asking their antagonist, which hand it is in ? 

 When playing at this game, which only admits of two persons, 

 each of them have ten, fifteen, or twenty small chips of wood, 

 like matches ; and when one of the players guesses right, he 

 takes one of his antagonist's sticks, and lays it to his own ; 

 and he that first gets all the sticks from the other in that 

 manner, is said to win the game, which is generally for a single 

 load of powder and shot, an arrow, or some other thing of 

 inconsiderable value. 



The women never mix in any of their diversions, not even in 

 dancing ; for when that is required of them, they [336] always 

 exhibit without the tent, as has been already observed ; nor 

 are they allowed to be present at a feast. Indeed, the whole 



