DANCE FOR A DEAD CHIEF. 165 
cises by a brief service, which seemed to be a dedication of the house to 
the exercises about to commence. Each of them spoke a few words, joined 
in a brief chant, and the house was thrown open for their visitors. They 
staid at their post until the visitors entered and were seated on one side of 
the room. After the visitors, then others were seated, making about two 
hundred in all, though there was plenty of room in the center for the danc- 
ing. Before the dance commenced the chief of the visiting tribe made a-° 
brief speech, in which he no doubt referred to the death of the chief of the 
Yokaia, and offered the sympathy of his tribe in this loss. As he spoke 
some of the women scarcely refrained from crying out, and with difficulty 
they suppressed their sobs. I presume that he proposed a few moments of 
mourning, for when he stopped the whole assemblage burst forth into a 
bitter wailing 
g, some screaming as if in agony. The whole thing created 
such a din that I was compelled to stop my ears. The air was rent and 
pierced with their cries. This wailing and shedding of tears lasted about 
three or five minutes, though it seemed to last a halfhour. Ata given signal 
they ceased, wiped their eyes, and quieted down. 
Then preparations were made for the dance. One end of the room 
was set aside for the dressing-room. 
The chief actors were five men, who were muscular and agile. ‘They 
were profusely decorated with paint and feathers, while white and dark stripes 
covered their bodies. They were girt about the middle with cloth of bright 
colors—sometimes with variegated shawls. A feather mantle hung from the 
shoulder, reaching below the knee, strings of shell ornamented the neck, 
while their heads were covered with a crown of eagle-feathers. They had 
whistles in their mouths as‘they danced, swaying their heads, bending and 
whirling their bodies; every muscle seemed to be exercised, and the feather 
ornaments quivered with life. They were agile and graceful as they bounded 
about in the sinuous course of the dance. 
The five men were assisted by a semicircle of twenty women, who 
only marked time by stepping up and down with short step; they always 
took their places first and disappeared first; the men making their exit 
gracefully one by one. 
The dresses of the women were suitable for the occasion. They 
