TWO GREAT MOORISH RELIGIOUS DANCI 
maximum of blood with the minimum of 
pain, but the small boy has not learned 
that, and therefore the small boy some- 
times falls down among the dancers and 
has to be revived and carried home. 
The Hamadsha dancers dance fully as 
long in the market-place as do the 
Aisawa, but they are not watched as long 
by the average European, especially if he 
be 2 tourist unused to the weird sights 
that one may see. The Hamadsha, too, 
has the weird, shrill, monotonous music, 
the strangely inscribed red and green 
banners and fantastic whirling of the 
dance. 
Besides the chopping of heads they 
also have a dance of the whirling der- 
vish and a peculiar symbolical dance per- 
formed by two adult dancers. These 
two, upon beginning the dance, strip 
themselves to the waist and then, almost 
exactly like two pugilists who are simply 
exhibiting the various curves and passes 
and strikes without touching each other, 
they go through their performance. 
Fach motion is the symbol of some 
phase of the Mohammedan religion or 
Hamadsha faith. A certain position on 
the defensive means, for example, the 
attitude of a Moslem against the Chris- 
tian invasion. Another, in which atti- 
tude the dancer seems filled with anger 
and about to strike his opponent, means 
the attitude of Mohammedanism when it 
shall finally drive the Christian from its 
domains. 
The symbolism of this dance is also 
participated in by women, who, although 
they do not chop their heads, dance with 
-equal fervor. One peculiar symbolical 
incident of the dance is where one 
woman dancer and one male dancer 
throw themselves upon their knees fac- 
ing each other, and then bend forward 
until, with the tops of their heads touch- 
ing, they may dig with their teeth a 
mouthful of earth. This is symbolical 
of the creation, when Adam and Eve 
lived upon the fruits of the earth and of 
the necessity of all their descendants to 
do the same. There are a thousand simi- 
lar things of which the Christian may 
S 785 
i+} 
seek in vain for an explanation, and it is 
only the most apparent and most spec- 
tacular which are noticed. 
It is like awaking from a nightmare to 
hear the cry of the pipes die away 
through the upper gate, to have one’s 
senses released from the thrall of the 
music, and to lose in the gray mist of 
evening the sight of the bold covered fig- 
ures, whirling, dancing, singing, shout- 
ing, begging; and one turns back to the 
things of life wondering that such a 
thing as this may take place within sound 
of the guns of Gibraltar. 
RECENT POPULATION FIGURES 
By Henry GANNETT 
N the same year that we were counting 
noses, 1910, a number of other nations 
were doing the same, and the results of 
many of these counts have been made 
public. In addition, the population of 
the United Kingdom, which was enu- 
merated early in the present year, has 
just been published. 
The population of the countries fol- 
lows, with the rates of increase in the 
preceding decade: 
Population % Increase 
United Kingdom ........ 45,216,065 8 
England and Wales... 36,075,260 II 
Scotland teresa sare A,759,445 6 
Vinca di trees-dette see 4,381,951 2 loss 
Genmanynae soe ee 64,903,423 15 
PANTHIG are I meee ae Oe 28,567,808 9 
Etingalgyale eee err -20;o504,00 8 
Spainiee rene eee 19,503,098 5 
INIORWayesreicinec tenses. 2,392,608 7 
Siwie (ene ye eta een eae anes 5,470,441 Fi 
iINetherlandsSy= eee area. 5,898,429 15 
Siwilezen| anc ae 3,741,071 2 
IBYGIIGENTIA 5. coco soso cock 4,284,844 14 
IAN DpEh ie rloha maaoresbae oo ole ctor: 50,751,919 12 
INES C On at aee bart eae 15,003,207 II 
The above countries show rates of in- 
crease ranging from 5 per cent, in Spain, 
up to 15 per cent, in Germany and Neth- 
erlands. The corresponding rate of in- 
crease in the United States was 21 per 
cent. 
Ireland continued to lose population, 
as she has done for the past 60 years 
or more. 
The above countries of Europe, ten in 
