Let the reader picture to himself a grove
of splendid palms, and other gigantic trees of the torrid zone, with
a number of open huts, and a crowd of good-humoured islanders
assembled beneath, to greet, in their fashion, the lovely evening,
which is fast approaching. Before one of the huts a circle is
formed, and in the centre sit two herculean and half-naked natives,
beating time most vigorously on small drums. Five similar colossi
are seated before them, moving the upper parts of their bodies in
the most horrible and violent manner, and more especially the arms,
hands, and fingers; the latter they have the power of moving in
every separate joint. I imagine, that by these gestures they
desired to represent how they pursue their enemy, ridicule his
cowardice, rejoice at their victory, and so forth. During all this
time they howl continually in a most discordant manner, and make the
most hideous faces. At the commencement, the men appear alone upon
the scene of action, but after a short time two female forms dart
forward from among the spectators, and dance and rave like two
maniacs; the more unbecoming, bold, and indecent their gestures, the
greater the applause.
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