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ACROSS THE ROCKt MOUNTAINS, ETC. 215 



performers kneeled upon the ground, and each grasped his gourd 

 by the neck and lifted it, when one of the number commenced a 

 strange kind of howling song, lifting his calabash with one hand 

 and beating it with the other so as to keep accurate time to his 

 music. This song was soon taken up by the others, until the 

 whole company joined, and every one thumped his calabash most 

 musically. I was astonished at the exceeding nicety with which 

 this was done. No band of civilized drummers could have kept 

 time more perfectly, nor flourished their sticks with more grace, 

 than did these unsophisticated people their inartificial instruments. 

 During the whole time of the singing, the bodies of the perform- 

 ers were not idle ; every muscle seemed to have something to do ; 

 and was incessantly brought into action by the strange motions, 

 twistings and contortions of the frame, which were also as eva- 

 nescent as the sound of their voices. This singular exhibition pos- 

 sessed interest for me, as being one of the idolatrous games, 

 which in former years constituted a portion of their religious ex- 

 ercisesr - The calabash dance is now almost exploded, the natives 

 generally not understanding the manipulations, and like other 

 relics of heathenism it is of course discouraged by the mission- 

 aries, and will probably soon be unknown amongst them. 



On the 26th of March we embarked on board the brig May 

 Dacre, upon our return to the Columbia. As we sailed out of 

 the harbor, and the lovely shore of the island became more and 

 more indistinct, I felt sad and melancholy in the prospect of 

 parting, perhaps for ever, from the excellent friends who had 

 treated me with such uniform kindness and hospitality. 



We have had an accession to our crew of thirty Sandwich 

 Islanders, who are to be engaged in the salmon fishery on the 

 Columbia, and six of these have been allowed the unusual privi- 

 lege of taking their wives with them. Some six or eight natives, 

 of both sexes, friends and relatives of the crew, came on board 

 when we weighed anchor, and their parting words were prolonged 



