306 
DON COSSACKS. 
CHAP. 
XII. 
1 
Amuse- 
ments and 
Dances of 
the People. 
of puppets, common in Calabria, which are carried 
by the inhabitants of that part of Italy over all 
Europe, were much in vogue here, consisting of 
two small figures suspended by a string: this 
the piper fastens to his knee, or to one of his 
fingers ; while the other end is held by a gimlet 
screwed into a table or floor ; and, by the 
motion of the knee, the figures are made to 
dance to the tune. The Calabrians manage them 
with great dexterity, and often collect a crowd 
in the streets of London and Paris. We saw 
also the Cossack dance, which much resembles 
the dance of the Gipsies in Russia, and our English 
hornpipe. Like every other national dance, it 
is licentious. As the female recedes or ap- 
proaches, the male dancer expresses his desire 
or his disappointment; yet so adapted is the 
figure of this dance to the small rooms of their 
houses, that the performers hardly move from 
one spot. The expression is conveyed by 
movements of the body, especially of the arms 
and head, accompanied by short and sudden 
shrieks, and by whistling. The method they 
exhibited of moving the head from one 
shoulder to the other, while the hands are 
held up near the ears, is common to the 
dances of all the Tahtars, Chinese, and even to 
the inhabitants of the islands in the Pacific 
Ocean. 
