CEYLON COCOA ESTATE 27 



good thing," had a repetition of the dance on 

 the next evening. 



Some days previously I had had an experience 

 of a very different kind of dancing. One even- 

 ing my son and I were sitting quietly in the 

 verandah when we were startled by the 

 beating of tom-toms, and the sound of strange 

 instruments close at hand. On enquiry we 

 found that being close upon Pongal time, the 

 coolies of a neighbouring Estate, but living 

 close to our boundary, wished to dance for us. 

 So we graciously accepted the honour, and the 

 entertainment began. 



I shall never forget the weird scene. What 

 a medley of races and civilisations. In the 

 verandah we sat — an English lady, and 

 gentleman in conventional evening dress — 

 behind us stood our Malay servants ; whilst 

 outside on the gravelled terrace were grouped 

 figures who, in feature and attire, might have 

 belonged to a period contemporary with 

 Abraham or Moses. The background 

 immediately behind the dancers was a belt of 

 trees, but to the right, tall cocoanut palms shot 

 up against a starlight sky, whilst between their 

 graceful stems, one could see distinctly in the 

 bright moonlight, range after range of mountains 

 fading away in the distance. 



There were no women amongst the twenty 

 performers, but one man was dressed to per- 



