502 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



before seen practising the same dance for this grand occasion at Bureta, in Ovalau. A 

 party stood together in the centre and kept up a sort of chant, one of their number beat- 

 ing time with two sticks upon a small bar of light wood, which was held by the hands 

 of another. The remainder danced round to the chorus in a ring, but every now and 

 then, changes between members of the ring and chorus took place. One of the chants 1 

 took down as ' Raihl val sal sate 2, dumm,' the last sound being uttered with a peculiar 

 lingering humming sound. The words chanted usually have no meaning, corresponding 

 to our ' fal la la,' and similar sounds. The chant was commenced always as a solo, the 

 chorus joining in after the first few notes. Combined with the music, with excellent 

 effect at various stages of the dance, was the loud clapping of hands, which was done 

 in most perfect time, the claps of all the dancers and chorus sounding as one. Two 

 kinds of claps were used, one with the hands hollowed, and the other with them flat. 

 The two sounds thus produced served further to diversify the effect, and there was 

 also added a loud shrill cry used in some of the figures just before their conclusion 

 and uttered by one performer only, and which came in very well. The dancing con- 

 sisted in most varied motions of the head, arms, body, and legs, the same motions 

 exactly being gone through by every member of the circle in most perfect time. At 

 one time the head and shoulders were bent forward, and the hands swung clapping 

 together, at the same time as short side steps were made, carrying the performers round 

 in the circle. Then a half-squatting position was suddenly assumed and the head was 

 thrown first on to one shoulder, then on to the other. Then the performers would move 

 on again, and stretch their arms out with a fixed gaze, as if shooting with the bow. 

 None of the motions were very quick, and none very fantastic. The men wore fringes 

 of various kinds, hanging from round their waists, mostly a combination of the yellow 

 and red Pandanus leaf strips and the black fibrous girdles of the Fungus (Rhizomorpha). 

 Most of them had also fringes of Rhizomorpha just below the knee, often with beads 

 strung upon them. All had their bodies well covered with cocoanut oil, and their hair 

 trimmed with great care. 



" By the time the first dance was over, there was a dense concourse of spectators 

 round the green. The missionary arrived, a table was set out under a tree opposite 

 the chiefs house, and three native teachers, two of them Tongan men, sat behind it 

 to receive the money. The inhabitants of the various villages and smaller districts 

 now advanced in separate troops, walking up in single file to the table and throw- 

 ing down, each man or woman, their contributions upon it, with as loud a rattle as 

 possible. As each contribution fell, the three teachers and some of the members of a 

 further large body of teachers from the college, who were squatting close by, shouted 

 'Vinaka, vinaka' (slowly), 'Vinaka, vinaka, vinaka' (quickly), which means 'good, good,' 

 or ' hear, hear.' Many bystanders joined in the applause. The money consisted of all 

 sorts of silver coins, and a very few copper ones, and over £100 must have been collected 



