CHAPTER VI

CELEBRATIONS
Festivals — Remembrance of the Dead — New Birth and Fertility Rites — Purification Rites — Harvest Festivals — Processions — Dances — Dance Costumes.
Most of the societies hold annual or periodic public celebrations. These take the form of festivals with processions and dances. They may last an evening, a day and a night, forty-eight hours, seven days and seven nights (as Ogboni), or longer. They are held at hours and on days fixed by the official astrologers or on anniversaries that are of importance in the calendars of the societies. That of Org, like the Hindu Dusserah, is held at new moon. They generally herald the opening of the retreat period, when the sacred enclosure is built and the puberty school conducted.
FESTIVALS
The Festivals are assemblies of all the members. They are anticipated with joy, prepared for with care, and conducted under fixed laws.
Some governments consider them illegal and do their best to stop them, others covertly permit them, and a few recognise them as a legitimate part of the native life. " Egbo Day " is a public holiday in some parts of Nigeria, and the yellow flag of the society is hoisted above the society halls and houses
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with as much ceremony as is used when the national flag goes up over Government House.
They include such ceremonies as services in remembrance of the dead, dedication of new birth and other fertility rites, purification rites, and harvest thanksgivings.
Remembrance of the Dead. The festivals of this order are the " All Souls' Days " of the Negro peoples.
At the Ikunle of Egungun the people remain kneeling all night, motionless and silent, offering the unspoken prayers of a longing heart as did the Egyptians of long ago. At dawn they rise, stand for some time facing the rising sun, then start a concerted rhythmic movement of the body, like the trembling and swaying of wind-moved leaves, that they denominate a dance. This continues for several hours, being, like the all-night vigil, a striving to help on the good estate of the departed.
The Katahwiriba women, after a night of vigil, break into groups at dawn and commence a per- formance akin to that of the old Grecian Thesmo- phoria. They walk about chanting what they are supposed to be doing and experiencing. According to their song they journey through the gloom of the lower world to hail the spirits there ; leave that and enter the upper world, the realm of sunshine, to laugh and joke with those who dwell there ; and ever and anon return to the familiar scenes of this world, to mourn with those imprisoned and shackled by mundane things.
Okonko members are busy at the earliest hour of day carrying ibzvudu, wicker-work coffins, covered with grass mats and white cloth. They form a procession and traverse the district before placing the coffins in the compounds of the families bereaved during the preceding twelve months. Animals are sacrificed, a ram for a chief grade member and a goat for those of lesser degree, the victims being slain by th§
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successors to the society ranks held by the deceased. At the feast that follows the virtues of the lamented dead are extolled, and stories related of their prowess, their kindness or their wisdom.
Some Nigerian societies at their festivals renew the memorials to departed members, cutting new alusi strips, ten to twelve inches in length, from the sacred ebzvo tree, and putting the strips round the walls of the council houses and on those of their own homes. The strip to commemorate a councillor or an official is cut with the bark upon it, the others are stripped.
The members of Boviowah, Butwa and Egugu make the occasion one of special attention to any unburied dead in the villages. Butwa dresses the corpse with beads, anoints it, paints the eyes with circles of white chalk, and clothes it in fine garments that have been blessed by the Head, before making it the centre of a funeral dance. The mourners, in girdles of palm and grass, form the inner ring round the body. The dance consists of movements of the body only ; mostly of a raising and lowering of the body that, continued for some hours, must put a severe strain upon the muscles. Afterwards the girdles of the mourners are piled at the head of the corpse, whilst an official sacrifices a goat or a fowl to " please " the after-death spirit of the departed.
A senior official ofNxAMBA, who holds the rank of a priestess, " descends into the grave and arranges the bed of leaves on which the body of the departed member is to rest, receives the body and places it on the leaves, the while muttering prayers. She then sprinkles a little earth upon it, rubbing the earth from the sides of the grave with her elbows and head alternately, and nine times. She then anoints the corpse on the head, the joints of arms and legs, the buttocks, and the soles of the feet." After the grave has-been closed, she plants above
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It two trees, the lemba-lemha or tree of submission, and the ntontozi or tree of Hfe.
Dedication of New Birth and Fertility Rites. During the Festivals some societies bring, in pro- cession, the new-born babes of the members to re- ceive the official blessing. The Head is said to blow the spirit of intelligence into the ears of the child. Hence the reproach often heard uttered by dis- appointed mothers of dull children, " Did not the Priest blow into your ears ? "
Nkamba women celebrate both death and life in a ceremony that includes the placing of newly- carved images on the graves of relatives, and the examination of the physical condition of the younger members. Those found in a certain state are at once introduced to the first of a series of protective ceremonies, that begin with the time of foetation and continue through the birth period and puerperium to the day the child is weaned, a matter of four to five years to some Negro mothers. Similar ceremonies are known to many societies, differing only in point of detail. The expectant mother of Chibados is decorated with " the strange mediums of her fond hopes, sponsorial trappings encircling her shoulders, breasts, back, neck, and legs. In front of her are placed four pots containing fish, fowl, goat, and reptile. The pots stand within a circle of forest creeper, forbidden space to all save the priestess and her odds and ends of mystic paraphernalia. Groups of children, ten boys and five girls, or seven boys and three girls, chant during the ceremony to the beat- ing of the drums. One strong, healthy, fat boy is placed apart from the others and well within view of the girl for whom the ceremony is held, he being chosen to symbolize the sort of hopes she expects will materialize." The Ebere girl is placed against three calabashes of food, and three portions are taken from each vessel and placed on a firestone.
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She must not look to see what has been taken, but kneeling, and with her hands behind her back and with closed eyes, she must eat the food from the stone. This is done three times during twenty-four hours, at dawn, at midday, and at sunset.
Purification Rites. At the new dawn, the first duty of the Ekkpo-Njawhaw and the Owu-Ogbo officials is to make a sacrifice for the sins of the members. White and black goats are killed, and as the members pass they are sprinkled with the blood in token of cleansing. At the Odwira purification, libations of rum and other fluids are poured upon the ground as a propitiation. The stool or throne of the Head is " washed," and afterwards smeared with gold- dust and frankincense and myrrh, the triple emblem of omnipotence. The ceremony includes the public purification of the Manche of the Ga people of James Town, who then makes a present of a log of wood to the British local representative, and holds a public reception " to which in recent years many European and African ladies and gentlemen, besides the various Mantsemei and their people, are invited."
Purification rites are common to most of the West Coast societies, the medium of the " washing " being generally a fluid ; but Tuntu uses fire. The members, hatless and bootless and dressed in white, make their offerings and perform their ceremonial dance, and then commences their purification. Four members of the family that have for many genera- tions been the guardians of the society " medicine," and who rank as priests, and are expected to be pure in living so as to be able to be faithful to their trust, carry the kontogi from its shrine into the midst of the people. They then each take a piece of the medi- cine in one hand and a lighted torch in the other, and pass the flame over their naked flesh. As long as the medicine is held the fire cannot harm them. This they prove by smearing the torches with medicine
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and throwing them on to a thatched roof, or smearing the medicine on the thatch and then attempting to set it on fire. After exhibition of the potency of kontogiy the members file before the priests and are purified by having the flame of the torches passed about them.
Harvest Festivals. These are also common, and a description of one will suffice for all. The Homo wo Harvest Festival commences sixteen weeks from the time of hma-dumo, seed-sowing, and is therefore a little variable in date. The officials plant a special kind of grain in a field beyond the Korle lagoon, outside Accra, and the harvesting of this is a special part of the festival. There are yam feasts and days and nights of dancing. The members daub the sides and lintels of the doors, gates and porches with red earth. " From the early hours of the Saturday morning a great feast is held consisting of kpokpei and palm oil and a fish called tsile. Eating and drink- ing is the order of the day, and the next morning, Sunday, a great lamentation in remembrance of the dead is kept."
A marine festival is the principal one of the Oyeni year. It is held about Harvest time and on a Tuesday, that being the Day of Nai, the greatest of the sea-gods known to the Ga-speaking peoples of the Gold Coast, and, consequently, the day when no fisherman owning allegiance to that god would think of working. In the morning a special food, fotoli, is prepared and carried in procession to James Fort, headed by the Priest carrying a torch of millet stalks. There the people solemnly march around the bastion, wherein lies the grave of the founder of the society, halts being now and then made for the pouring of libations of rum. As they march they sing, Moi bi egbo, amenyeivo, kwasia min nye wo (Moi's son is dead, they hate us, fools hate us). A tithe of the food is thrown into the sea, to satisfy
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Oyeni and the rest of the sea-gods, another dish is reserved for Gbese Oyeni, a minor deity ruHng over the Ussher Town portion of Accra, where the Gbese or Kinka reside, and the rest distributed amongst the members. Then the procession is reformed and visits all the rocks and lagoons and hills dedicated to the gods of the district. It returns to the Priest's house, singing, Esa nyanyana kwe beni esa nyanyana Adole Mole hie sa nyanyana (It is good to wear nyanyana, i.e., bindweed ; look how fair it is to wear nyanyana ; nyanyana suits Adole Mole's daughter). In this song they preserve a legend to the effect that an early priest of the society, one Moi, lost his son, whose betrothed was Adole Mole's daughter, on the dawn of a festival. The members thought that sorrow would stay the bereaved father from proceeding with the ceremony, but that year it was grander and more elaborate than ever before. Many of the chiefs of the district attend the festival, most staying on to the next day, when a kindred ceremony is celebrated in honour of Sakumo, the god of the river of that name.
PROCESSIONS
During the festivals processions may be seen all the time. They are held with reason or without, for work or play, to marshal the members to some ceremony or display, to show respect to the memory of the dead, to pay honour to a promoted member, to gather the novices or to bring them back from the bush, or even for such slight duties as gathering firewood or drawing water. Especially is the day before the retreat, or the puberty school opens, a day of processions. And there is now rejoicing because of them, for the day is gone when non-members, especially women, were punished with mutilation
CELEBRATIONS
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Poro Powa.
or death for staying their daily toil to look at a passing society show.
The processions are often elaborate and well organ- ised. Some are of such length that they take several
hours to pass the village. They are often cut up into sections, according to impor- tance, that of most dignity coming into view last.
The routes chosen are mostly roads lead- ing east.
The section including the novices appears first, the boys or girls being in charge of junior graduates and minor officials. A host of relatives and friends swells this section into a considerable gathering. The novices are hidden from the public eye by coverings of greenery, mats or skins or native-cloth. Some may be masked. The Poro powa, novice-mask, is of wood, plate-shaped. That of the Ngi boy is a carved wooden mask quite un-Negroid in features, having a long straight nose and narrow celestial, aligned eyes. It is surmounted by a wig of white plantain-fibre. The section including the recently promoted members may follow. In this most of the pro- cessionists will be disguised in home-made masks of grass, leaves or plastic clay, and reed and fibre petticoats. An attempt may be made to beautify some of these disguises with blossom or gay creeper, and if the general effect is tawdry a few may be seen who wear their cheap finery with a grace that transforms it. Some will have covered face, limbs
Babende Dancing Mask.
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or body with coloured clays and washes, each hue or combination of colour conveying its own meaning to the initiated. The old tribal marks may be painted on cheek or brow, or the mark of the society. Circles may be put around the eyes to avert the glance carrying misfortune to friends, or about the mouth that all the words spoken may have the effect of benedictions. The paints used will have been mixed with secret lotions of tre- mendous efficacy, perhaps with the milk from the breast of a young mother or the blood from the umbilical cord of a new-born babe.
On the other hand this section may be an evidence of degeneration through the influence of pseudo- civilisation, as seen in the processional dress of some of the Adamu members, who hood themselves with shawls, cloak their bodies with blankets, rugs and sheets, and top the whole with billycock or cloth-cap, stetson, straw or ruffled topper, or an African up-to-date fashion of store millinery.
The following section may include the " enter- tainers," a band of performers hired for the occasion. These, headed by the barbaric noise of amateur musicians, move slowly amid the whistle and shout and cheer of the hoarse, admiring crowds. Buffoons with weapons of blad- der or cow-tail clear the way for the dancers in their motley, shaking rattles. There follow mimics and tumblers, con- ikung Festival tortionists and merry-andrews.
Head-dress. ^^^ gyrate about the road and
lead an ever-increasing crowd of riotous youth from the villages, who sing and clap and try to help on the fun by attempts to copy the agile antics of the professionals. Some of these latter have
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reputations that cause their services to be very- expensive. The Angola men hired for the Mukanda festival are experts in ritual dances, are paid as much as twenty shillings, or its equivalent, a day, and take journeys of many days on the road to fulfil their engagements. Others may be clowns who walk on stilts (French Congo) or wire-walkers (Liberia) or hammock-dancers (Sierra Leone). These last perform body- and limb-contortions whilst pre- cariously balanced on grass hammocks slung from poles, twenty to thirty feet above the ground. Now and again this section will halt to allow the per- formers to manifest their skill or to give the dancers opportunity for some quick measure or some frag- ment of comic or dramatic effort, as if in advertise- ment of the more complete performance that is to take place elsewhere later in that day.
The improvised masks seen in this section are often native caricatures of local European officials.
In the processions of the women's societies there may be a section made up of a band of singers and musicians.
The most important section includes the council- lors, the officials, and the Head and his Deputy, guarded by those who have attained to the highest degrees of the society. All these will be in costume. Egungun officials may wear long robes with peaked hoods, slit for sight, like the garb of the misericordia fraternities of the Roman Catholic faith, and Poro dignitaries may be in like robes but shaped at the head in inverted, equilateral triangle fashion. The ToNGo-P LAYERS appear in leopard-skin caps, that have large side-flaps to hide the face, and zouavc- cut jackets, with shorts and gaiters of the same material. Bits of this skin will also be about their elbows, wrists and ankles, and the leopard's tail, with bell attached, will be hanging from the back of the jacket.
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The Dibia of Ayaka are completely hidden in cloth suits that fit loosely about the body, covering even the feet and hands, and looking like woollen jumpers with connected trousers. The portions encasing the hands are prolonged by many-coloured tassels. They are made of country-cloth, the criss-cross pattern being stained into it with yellow clay. Round the ankles are fetish bands, and similar ornaments are worn as a girdle. The head is a wooden mask, white of face, and may be topped by a single antelope- horn ; a relic, it is said, of the belief in that auspicious animal the unicorn. The men of Egwuzuu rank wear over the suit voluminous kilts of palm-stem, and the Ejelle-egwu have cane flounces that hang from the neck instead of the waist.
The opposite sex may be counterfeited in dress, as when Mawungu women appear in borrowed male attire and Ekongola men walk abroad in the gar- ments of their wives and sisters. The Musubori women wear trousers. This disguise, a survival of the ritual of the fertility cults, reminds one of the exchange of garments in the Phoenician worship of Astarte.
The head decorations range from the little conical caps of Bab END E and the red cotton night-caps of Ekkpo-Njawhaw to the giant constructions made of feathers of Chibados, or those of the bulk and weight also the pride of the Bweti members.
Ikung, like the Dukduk of the Bismarck Archi- pelago, has a procession of decorated canoes along the river, followed by aquatic sports.
DANCES
After sundown, in a bush clearing or on the wide road before the house of a chief, the public dances of the societies are held. Grouped conspicuously
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amidst the spectators may be the district king and his attendants, and the masked officials who, presently, will themselves join the dancers. Somewhere in the midst a great fire blazes and sparks and smokes. Beneath the branches of the trees the great throng of onlookers can be dimly seen.
The Champion may open the proceedings by reciting the names of those who are to commence their initiation on the morrow, giving details of their families and of their ancestors who were worthy members of' the society. Or the Messenger may ask formal permission of the king or paramount chief for the holding of the puberty school. Or the Herald may declare the titles and honours of some famous dancer imported for the occasion. There follows a march of the performers, round and about and in and out of the flickering light and shadow of the fire, continuing as if the parade was to go on for ever, until the spectators show their impatience — and the first dance suddenly commences.
It is a mimetic dance, portraying the life of beast or bird or fish. They are Sindungu men. One is acting the part of a leopard and the others are its hunters. Not a detail of that hunt is left unacted, not a wile of the hunted and not a stratagem of the hunters is missed. They are painted in glowing colours, the leopard-man with spots, the hunters as if their bodies had been torn by the beast. When the quarry is finally slain, he is crowned with " the cap of the chief," as if he were a real leopard. There are a few Ankoi girls dressed to act the part of bush- cats. They run and dart and swerve through the undergrowth. The rest are the hunters (sometimes these are men " borrowed " from a neighbouring male society) and these race and pounce and follow with shouting and laughter. Then all return to the open space and the firelight, there to exhibit to the spectators what has been so dimly seen in the
G
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gloom. They are Butwa youths in the " Crested Crane " dance, or Mungi men in that of the " Makua Fowl," and they strut and strain, cluck and crow, scratch and run round with one wing trailing the dust, or they are Okonko men in the " Guinea-fowl Dance," beginning with slow rhythmic movement, an unconscious swaying to the music, followed by the working of every muscle in their bodies. And then the imitation. They suddenly sway forward and hop about, pecking and scratching, with head held sideways, or lowered, or erect, flap- ping and circling, rushing to supposed food, cowering from suggested hawk, ruffling before the " hens " their partners, and doing all with amazing fidelity to the copied originals.
They are either Egugu, Kongcorong, Ofiokpo men, Lubuku women or Yassi girls, and they are performing a snake dance. Not like those made familiar by writers about Voodoo rites or the customs of the Moquis Indians ; not by carrying live snakes, but acting the life of the snake elaborately and cleverly performing the windings and writhings and pro- gressive movements of the creature. Their nude bodies are decorated with spots or streaks, or they have from shoulder to thigh a tight meshwork of fibre and native cotton. They stand in a long line, bodies close together, arms stretching over each other's shoulders. They sway and stretch in the firelight. They stoop, arms still linking one to another, and bend until their knees are upon the ground. They sink lower ; now they are at fall length on the ground, their connecting arms have slipped from shoulders to waists, and they move like that. The long, undulating length squirms through the undergrowth, the shining oiled and painted bodies cunningly, without seeming effort, progressing towards the shadows. There it seems a nameless, menacing thing, but, presently, as it again reaches
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the edge of the clearing and crosses- the zone lit by the fire, it becomes a continuous silhouette of infinite and fascinating grace.
So is the Spear Dance of Kongcorong. Six muscular men stand in line and sweep their weapons in semi-circular movements in front of them with a curious flicking action, then move obliquely away. Another six take position and give a similar per- formance. Then another six, and another, until the number of the dancers is complete. The original six commence a new movement, twirling their spears around their heads in so rapid a fashion that the eye tires in the attempt to follow it. This is copied by the other groups. The third expression of their skill is a rapid cut and thrust, as if the weapons were swords, to the right and left of the body, arm almost horizontal. Whilst this is being done the men gyrate and advance as they turn. Rank after rank follows, until all are thrusting at invisible foes and twirling giddily whilst advancing towards the centre of operations. Then from a column of six they form into line, advance with fair alignment, turn left, and in succession, as each passes what might be called the saluting base, thrust their spears into the ground. Each movement is graceful and sure. The points of the spears are deeply bedded. The stems quiver a moment and then are still. There is now a line of men, and in front of them a line of spears. A shout. The spears are plucked from the ground. A shout. They are bedded again with effortless-like grace but not a blade seeming to miss the original hole. Again the men recover their weapons, and move, this time following each other in a swaying, dancing line, and gradually circling until the leader is closely following the rear man. A shout. The circlers halt, the spears slither from their hands ; there is a circle of upright spears inside that of their owners. Again and again this may be done. Then
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the pattern is changed once more, the spear shafts forming a wedge pattern, or any other pattern that may seem to be suggested on the spur of the moment to the leader. All the time the excitement of per- formers and spectators has increased. It becomes a frenzy. In the final movement, when the dancers sweep towards the onlookers, flourishing their spears, uttering great shouts, advancing and stamping their feet heavily, the assembled people appear panic- stricken. But the dancers have only charged to — run away again. Once more they charge towards that breathless crowd, and, as they reach the people, fall in lines as if dead. And there they lie, hard- breathing in sheer exhaustion, amid the long- continued applause of their admiring friends and neighbours.
The women of Katahwiriba are dancing. They march round and round in a column of threes and fours, long white brushes of buffalo and horse tails in hand, and sing an old Ashanti song. " Our hus- bands have gone to war : war has taken them far : may they have the victory : may they sweep their enemies from their path, sweep their enemies, sweep their enemies, sweep their enemies from their path as we sweep this dust from before us." They form into line, advance, dance, and sing again. They run forward and backward, leap aloft and sideways, vault over each other, mix and unmix. They are showing how the warriors fight, and they brandish their brooms as if they were war weapons. Then the leader steps out of the ranks, and, like the Roman warrior chosen to tell the deeds of the legion, recites the story of a fight, legendary or historical. The others, meanwhile, keep up a shrill, unbroken, cicadic noise, raise prolonged shouts or emit a drone broken at intervals by striking the throat with the hand. The " solo " over, they mix into a melee once more, now appearing to be a leaderless rabble and now
CELEBRATIONS loi
orderly divisions, advancing, retreating, charging, and running away, until the dance ends. Their men of Katahwira have a similar display, as have also Afa, Ikung, Kongold, and Belli-Paaro. The performers of this last society carry branches of trees, and their advance being like that seen by Macbeth's messenger : "As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I look'd toward Birnam, and anon, methought the wood began to move."
Ndembo members are performing their Kabindu and Ekinu dances. They are in a great circle that narrows and expands continually. The Bweti in their Nloko dance also do this, and then, turning right, follow each other, circling all the time, marching, jumping, hopping, bounding, and repeating this continuously, hour after hour. The Ihomo dance of Ebomici is a kindred performance. A Kambon- BONKE edition of it is roughly like the old English game of " Sally Water," the dancers forming line and pretending to be warriors, then forming circle and moving round whilst selected members inside the prancing circlers act little dumb charades of love and marriage and domestic life.
The young people of Kangar form lines, one of boys, one of girls, and for some time advance towards and retire from each other, all the time posturing and lifting first one leg and then another, and hopping forwards and backwards. The Sindungo adults have opposing lines holding sticks, and as they advance or retire, or turn right or left, they strike at each other's sticks, in much the same way as do the morris dancers. In this the sexes may be opposed. The dance of the Tongo-P layers resembles the Salii of the ancient Italians in the posturing of the two lines, the marching together in procession, and the continued posturing and marching. A Sembe display has movements akin to those of the Barn Dance, the end numbers crossing and returning, but each move-
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ment is regulated by beat of drum and protracted by much posturing. The dancers will now and then break line to rush to the drum and themselves thrum. out new commands.
The Egbo Nsangu dance is full of tricks. The crowd of performers gyrate about men doing balancing feats, knife-throwing and contortions, and there is a good deal of musket firing.
The solo performers are all strong, skilful and tireless. An Ogboni man in the Nsundi dance will twirl a skin petticoat, and sway his body without moving a foot from the ground, for long hours. A BuNDU Mama will bound out from the ruck of her
companions and stand con- spicuously motionless and waiting. At the first throb of the drum she will lift her arms and stretch upwards, then bend and reach down to her toes. Her waist begins to oscillate, at first slowly, in gentle tremor, then in ripples. These spread to bosoms, back, and buttocks. They change to quiverings, to shudderings, to a convulsive movement so powerful that " supporters " have to keep her on her feet by the strength of their out- stretched arms. Faster and faster rumbles the drum and more rapid and violent become the woman's movements, every muscle from head to foot working, until the agony of exertion seems to rend her frame. Then she will change her posture. She will raise one leg until the foot is above her shoulder, clasp the ankle, and begin to gyrate on her heel. Round and round she will twirl, ever faster, her heel wearing a hole in the red earth, her companions stimulating
A Mende Dancer.
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her by slappings of limb, gruntings and shouts, until she drops, sweating and senseless. " For a second absolute silence prevails, followed by tumultu- ous applause. The effect of the sudden cessation of music and motion cannot be described ; it breaks upon one with such unexpected shock. The physical strength required for the dance is tremendous. The body movements are extremely difficult, and would probably kill a European. The whole anatomy of the performer seems in danger, and it is a marvel that the internal machinery is not completely thrown out of gear."
Although toe-balancing is never seen, these dancers might vie with the European and American ladies of the ballet in rotary movement, gym- nastic agility of limb and nautch-like swaying. The skirts may be of fibre or hide, or made of animal tails (even those of elephant are used) but they are flirted and twirled as if of gauze. The BwETl and others balance head-dresses of great weight and bulky proportions, tall feathers or foliage or structures of hair and clay and ornament (some of precious metals and stones) and yet are able to twist and turn so rapidly that the eye of the spectator tires as it tries to follow the movements.
They are expert in keeping themselves in splendid physical condition. They may not, like the Russian Skoptsi, gain perfection of spirit bydiscipline of body, but they do gain perfection of performance through discipline of body. They bear, with or without drugs, incredible fatigue. The writer once saw a PoRo dancer burst from the ranks, his mighty
Bweti Dancer.
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torso and limbs glowing phosphorescently with " medicine " (the making of which is a closely guarded Temne secret) and commence to leap over the crouched forms of the drummers. Backwards and forwards he jumped, clearing twelve to fifteen feet and three to four in the air at every bound. Now he seemed a vaulting luminous cloud amidst the shadows, the oil flaming about his body, and then he was a polished, black, carven figure. Then, again, as he neared the firelight, he seemed part darkness and part flame. He leaped, he ran, he swayed, he postured, he contorted, never hesitating, never tiring, never stumbling, a giant of magnificent muscular power who was apparently as fresh at the end of the long performance as he had been at its beginning.
DANCE COSTUMES
There are special dancing masks and costumes. TheMuKANDAdancers wear masks of leather trimmed with shells. Those of Joosai are skulls of bulls and antelopes, the dance performed suggesting that of the Horn Dancers of Staffordshire in being a party of people pursued through the village by others bearing whips. The Ayaka members possess ele- phant skulls that are worn in the dances. The Ovra dancing mask is a carved gourd, supporting a spread plume of feathers and fibre. That of Babende is of wood, surrounded ^""mS?""^ by an elaborate " frill " of some textile material. N a f e r i women wear " dancing veils " in the same manner as do the Girara women of New Guinea. Chabados dancers
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Mungi Costume.
are encased in fibre costumes that make them look like a series of bundles of twigs. The head is hidden in one bundle, above which stand two crossed twigs, and the arms and legs are hidden in smaller editions of this decora- tion. There is a stiff corselet of woven fibre and an out- standing skirt of twigs and leaves. Bweti dancers are in costumes of feathers and green leaves, the head-dresses some- times being of eagles' plumes. Around the waist and legs are bells. BuNDu women and Mungi and PoRo men wear complete
suits of netted native cotton, that of the Kameruns men looking like, in the upper part, a football jersey, and that of the Temne men supporting a large waist-hoop, from which descends to the ankles a cascade of palm fibre. Iban-Isong women dress as males in some of their dances, and plaster their hair about their cheeks and chin like beards. Katah- wiRiBA women wear a short, full skirt of the ballet pattern, decorated with ribbons. Their hair is piled to the height of from fourteen to twenty inches, and adorned by feathers and blossoms. The Ngi head-dress is a fantastic mound of hair and fat, studded with showy buttons and beads, also beans and shells. The skirts are short grass ones, so full at the back that they stand out like bustles.
Some wear girdles of glittering pods, and neck- laces of every kind of bead, natural and manu- factured, or of the beaks and claws of hornbills ; they also don a cuirass of skin or a corset of rope, a doublet of hide, or brigandine jackets studded with metal, farthingales of bamboo, reeds or grass ;
io6 WEST AFRICAN SECRET SOCIETIES
also sashes of snake-skin or skirts decorated with snakes worked in brightly-coloured wool or thread, picturesque adornments of wild sodom apples, caps made from complete guinea fowls, others with stuffed parrots mounted above, or complete costumes of ostrich feathers.