LIFE AT THE CAMEROONS. 751 



silently on his breast, and thus converse at his convenience with 

 his countrymen, even in the presence of white men who under- 

 stand the spoken language. The drum-telegraph does not cease 

 during the whole night, for the Cameroons man is communica- 

 tive and has much time. The drum is also available as an instru- 

 ment to dance by. The dances are quite different from those of 

 the civilized world. The sexes being separated, there are no 

 waltzes or contra-dances ; there are no pauses for conversation ; 

 but the dancing lasts all day, and, when any one gets tired of it, 

 he simply goes away and rests. The performance presents a curi- 

 ous scene, with two fellows beating on their drums as if wild, 

 yet in regular measure, and a company of male or female dancers 

 in action in front of them. These have disposed themselves in a 

 circle, and beginning with short, shuffling steps to the right and 

 left, gradually wax more lively in their motions till the muscles 

 of the legs, arms, and shoulders are all engaged, and the whole 

 body at last gets into a condition of shaking and twisting that 

 no European can imitate. There is, however, no jumping, but a 

 kind of singing, in which a favorite theme is taken up by one of 

 the musicians and joined in by the chorus, which from time to 

 time rises into a regular bellowing. This goes on to the climax, 

 then subsides into a calmer tempo, while the performers are gather- 

 ing strength for a new outburst. The Cameroons music would be 

 tame without the drum. It is therefore taken into the boat, where 

 the song is performed in the same fashion as at the dance. The 

 subjects of the songs are various : sometimes they celebrate the 

 beauty of the canoe ; sometimes the good trade which the singers 

 have made ; sometimes scorn of their enemies or praise of their 

 friends ; and sometimes they are of love. The other musical in- 

 struments are of inferior importance as compared with the drum, 

 and include stringed instruments of various construction, in which 

 the resonance is sometimes strengthened by using a hollow gourd 

 shell ; and, in King Bell's royal canoe, a bell and an ivory horn. 



The Cameroons man is a most passionate trader. Circum- 

 stances compel the recognition of a credit system between Euro- 

 peans and the Duallas. The black comes to the white man and 

 asks for an advance upon the products which he engages to bring. 

 When he brings them he wants another advance, and, keeping 

 this up for several years, he is liable to get considerably behind in 

 the white man's books. The Europeans accordingly find it con- 

 venient to " stop the trade " from time to time, and compel the na- 

 tives to " wash out their accounts " before they will permit any 

 further advances. This they do by agreement among themselves, 

 whereby the native is debarred the opportunity of skipping from 

 one dealer to another. Trade is almost wholly by barter, in which 

 the blacks receive rice, tobacco, spirits, cloth, guns, ammunition, 



