272 
DANCE OF THE CALUMET.— AIME, OR ALMA. 
The Romans had ho heroes among them such as Hercules, Achilles, 
or i\jax ; nor does thfe whole Roman history furnish an example of 
a general who made war after the manner of Alexander the Great. 
Though their soldiers were as valiant as those of the Greeks, the 
object with them was the honour of the republic, and not their ovN^jer- 
sonai praise. Hence there was less fury, and much more cool deli- 
berate valour, exercised by the Romans, than any other nation what- 
ever. The passions of pride, resentment, obstinacy, &c. were excited 
in them, not by the mechanical means of music and dancing, but bv 
being taught that it was their chief honour to htrht for the republic. — 
It does not, however, appear that the Romans were at all less capa- 
ble of being affected in this mechanical manner than the Greeks. 
When dancing was once introduced, it had the very same effects at 
Rome as at Athens. 
Dance of the Calumet. 
This is a solemn rite among the Indians on various occasions. 
They dare not wash themselves in a river in the beginning of summer, 
nor taste of the new fruits, without performing it; and the same 
ceremony always confirms a peace, or precedes a war. It is per- 
formed in winter in their cabins, and in summer in the open fields. 
For this purpose they choose a spot among trees, to shade them from 
the heat of the sun, and lay in the middle a large mat, as a carpet, 
setting upon it the god of the chief of the company. On the right 
hand af this image they place the calumet, as their great deity, 
with their arms erected round it. The hour of the dancing being 
come, those who are the most honourable take their seats under the 
shade of the trees. The eompany is then ranged round ; every one, 
before he sits down, saluting the monitor, which is done by blowing 
upon it the smoke of tobacco. Each person next receives the calu- 
met in rotation, and holding it with both hands, dances to the 
cadence of the vocal music, which is accompanied with the beatiiig 
of a sort of drum. During this exercise, he gives a signal to one of 
his warriors, who takes a bow, arrow, and axe, from the trophies already 
mentioned, and fights him ; the former defending himself with the 
calumet only, and both of them dancing all the while. This mock 
engagement being over, he who holds the calumet makes a speech, in 
which he gives an account of all the battles he has fought^ and the 
prisoners he has taken, and then receives a cloak, or some other pre- 
sent, from the chief of the ball. He then resigns the calumet to 
another, who, having acted a similar part, delivers it to a third, and 
he to a fourth, &c. tiil at last the instrument returns to the person 
who began the ceremony, and who presents it to the nation invited 
to the feast, as a mark of their friendship, and a confirmation of 
their alliance. 
Almes on Alma. 
This name is given to the singing and dancing girls in Egypt, who, 
like the Italian Irnprovisatori, can occasionally pour forth unpre- 
