The March to Banza Nkulu. 271 
his bashfulness in the presence of strangers arose 
from a consciousness that his head-gear and robes 
were not in keeping with his station. But he did not 
fail to grumble at his “dash indeed, he must be 
more than African who shall say, “ Hold ! enough.” 
He vouchsafed a small return in fowls and “ bene¬ 
ficent manioc,” and sent with us three slaves, to 
serve, not as guides, but as a basis for a separate 
charge. 
After sunset all was made ready for the Ba- 
tuque. The ball-room was the village square; the 
decorations were the dense trees; the orchestra 
consisted of two drums, a grande caisse eight feet 
and a half long, placed horizontally, and a 
smaller specimen standing on a foot like that of 
an old-fashioned champagne-glass ; the broader 
ends were covered with deer skins, upon which 
both hands perform; and the illuminations were 
flaming heaps of straw, which, when exhausted, 
were replaced by ground-nuts spitted upon a 
bamboo splint. This contrivance is far simpler 
than a dip-candle, the arachis is broken off as 
it chars, and, when the lamp dims, turning it 
upside down causes a fresh flow of oil. The 
ruder sex occupied one half of the ring, and the 
rest was appropriated to dame and damsel. The 
Batuque is said to be the original Cachucha; Bar- 
bot calls it a danse des filoux , and it has the merit 
of perfectly expressing, as Captain Cooks com- 
