They went
through some splendid dancing, falling down on the ground and bouncing
up again like india-rubber balls. They sang, or rather chanted, all the
time, and so did a kind of chorus of men who beat on wood and bamboo,
while the dancers danced round them in circles, and squares, and then
bent backward, nearly touching the ground with their heads. As they
danced they kept splendid time, with their arms, legs and heads.
Then amid shrill yells and cries from the crowd, another procession
approached from the far end of the village in single file. First came
several men with spears, which they shook on the ground every now and
then, shaking their bodies at the same time in a fierce manner. Behind
them in single file came a lot of women, each bearing a. rolled-up
mat, which they threw down in a heap. These mats are made from the
dried "pandanus" leaf. Then several men appeared bearing enormous Fiji
baskets full of large rolls of food wrapped up in leaves, also smaller
baskets made of the fresh leaves of the crimson DRACAENA, also full of
food. From the enormous number of baskets, the food supply was enough
to feed a large multitude. They were all put down together by the mats.
Then there was dead silence, in which you could almost have heard
the proverbial pin drop, and an oldish man stepped forward and stood
by the mats and baskets, his body wound round with "tapa" till it
stuck out many feet from his body.
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