OF THE SPORTS AND PASTIMES OF THE INDIANS.

§ 43. Their sports and pastimes are singing, dancing, instrumental music, and some boisterous plays, which are performed by running, catching and leaping upon one another; they have also one great diversion, to the practicing of which are requisite whole handfuls of little sticks or hard straws, which they know how to count as fast as they can cast their eyes upon them, and can handle with a surprising dexterity.

Their singing is not the most charming that I have heard; it consists much in exalting the voice, and is full of slow melancholy accents. However, I must allow even this music to contain some wild notes that are agreeable.

Their dancing is performed either by few or a great company, but without much regard either to time or figure. The first of these is by one or two persons, or at most by three. In the meanwhile, the company sit about them in a ring upon the ground, singing outrageously and shaking their rattles. The dancers sometimes sing, and sometimes look menacing and terrible, beating their feet furiously against the ground, and shewing ten thousand grimaces and distortions. The other is performed by a great number of people, the dancers themselves forming a ring, and moving round a circle of carved posts, that are set up for that purpose; or else round a fire, made in a convenient part of the town; and then each has his rattle in his hand, or what other thing he fancies most, as his bow and arrows, or his tomahawk. They also dress themselves up with branches of trees, or some other strange accoutrements. Thus they proceed, dancing and singing, with all the antic postures they can invent; and he's the bravest fellow that has the most prodigious gestures. Sometimes they place three young women in the middle of the circle, as you may see in the figure.

Tab. 13. Represents a solemn festival dance of the Indians round their carved posts.

Those which on each side are hopping upon their hams, take that way of coming up to the ring, and when they find an opportunity strike in among the rest.

Captain Smith relates the particulars of a dance made for his entertainment, by Pocahontas, daughter of the emperor Powhatan, to divert him till her father came, who happened not to be at home when Smith arrived at his town. Gen. Hist., p. 194.

"In a fair plain field they made a fire, before which he sat down upon a mat, when suddenly amongst the woods was heard such a hideous noise and shrieking, that the English betook themselves to their arms, and seized on two or three old men by them, supposing Powhatan with all his power was coming to surprise them. But presently Pocahontas came, willing him to kill her, if any hurt were intended; and the beholders, which were men, women and children, satisfied the captain that there was no such matter. Then presently they were presented with this antic; thirty young women came naked out of the woods, only covered behind and before with a few green leaves, their bodies all painted, some of one color, some of another, but all differing; their leader had a fair pair of buck's horns on her head, an otter's skin at her girdle, another at her arm, a quiver of arrows at her back, and a bow and arrows in her hand. The next had in her hand a sword, another a club, another a potstick; all of them being horned alike: the rest were all set out with their several devices. These fiends, with most hellish shouts and cries, rushing from among the trees, cast themselves in a ring about the fire, singing and dancing with most excellent ill variety, oft falling into their infernal passions, and then solemnly betaking themselves again to sing and dance; having spent an hour in this mascarado, as they entered, in like manner they departed."

They have a fire made constantly every night, at a convenient place in the town, whither all that have a mind to be merry, at the public dance or music, resort in the evening.

Their musical instruments are chiefly drums and rattles: their drums are made of a skin, stretched over an earthen pot half full of water. Their rattles are the shell of a small gourd, or macock of the creeping kind, and not of those called callibaches, which grow upon trees; of which the Brazilians make their maraka, or tamaraka, a sort of rattle also, as Clusius seems to intimate.