THE GREAT DANCE. 101 



and white ox-hide shields, surmounted by a jackal's 

 tail, such as are carried by the warriors. The wives 

 held long slender wands upright in their hands. The 

 men, when they dance, usually carry a carved stick, 

 with which motions are made, whilst it is generally 

 held upright. The girls carry very pretty brooms, 

 which they likewise raise and move about to time ; 

 but the girls' dances were yet to come. 



" The dress of the soldiers is very striking, and 

 suggestive of savage warfare. Over the shoulders, 

 and continued into a sort of hood, which either sur- 

 mounts the back of the head or hangs loose be- 

 hind the neck, is a large fabric of jet-black ostrich- 

 feathers. Around the forehead is a circlet of tawny 

 fur, and a single long steel-coloured crane's feather 

 rises above, giving a most artistic finish to the pic- 

 ture. Around the loins are a collection of monkey 

 and cat skins, dangling in long strips, together with 

 a number of tails, some of the latter nearly large 

 enough for those of leopards, which hang in thick 

 bunches nearly to the ground. Around each arm is 

 a graceful, wavy tuft of white ox-tail hair, and some- 

 times the same around the legs. Very little lembo 

 is worn, unless a strip or two — usually of blue 

 selampore or white calico, well-worn and defaced 

 — around the waist. The shield and assegais com- 

 plete the picture. 1 If all were uniform in appear- 



1 The woodcut on the succeeding page illustrates a variety of 

 different assegais. The heads of these weapons are wrought by the 

 natives, and fastened to the shafts by strips of raw hide, which shrink 

 in the drying and become as hard as a band of iron. The length of 

 the shaft is usually from three to four feet. 



