ZOUTPANSBERG AND THE MAGWAMBAS. 



103 



less clothed but more artistically attired brethren, he 

 looked like an East-end rough at home. Oh! nine- 

 teenth-century civilization, you have polluted the fairest 

 spots with smoke and hideous erections, from which 

 the factory bell tolls like a Newgate summons to the 



MAGWAMBA WAR-AXES. 



condemned labourers ; now in the Spelonken you send 

 us such a vulgarized, if civilized, wretch as this ! He 

 dances not, he smiles not, he only looks on, but in a 

 short time he will dispense with these hideous robes 

 and once more dance and eat his mealies with his 

 happy friends. 



The dances might be described as of a " program " 

 nature, and represented phases and events of Kafir life, 

 such as " bearding a lion in his den," &c. ; they com- 

 menced at about 11 A.M. and continued almost uninter- 

 ruptedly till about 4 P.M. The men and- boys formed 

 a wide outer circle, inside which. in two close phalanxes 

 were the married women and unmarried girls. A 

 Kafir really dances he acts the dance, he enjoys it, he 

 lives his part in it ; to him a dance is a lamentation 

 or a rejoicing, the glory of a fight or the story retold 



