He asked me whether I had ever seen the Masupias dance, and drew my attention to the sound of the drums in the royal courtyard. On hearing that I had never been present when any dancing was going forward, he invited me to go with him to the performance that was then about to commence.
All the inhabitants of the Marutse kingdom are fond of dancing, most of the tribes appearing to adopt a style peculiar to themselves. In common with the Bechuanas they have a dance which is performed by girls on reaching the age of maturity. This is repeated day after day for weeks at a time, and, accompanied by singing and castanet playing, is sometimes kept up till midnight, and is supposed to answer the design of uniting the girls of the same age and born in the same neighbourhood in a bond of friendship. There are also betrothal dances and elephant dances, at which a great quantity of butshuala is consumed, the ill-effects of which soon become apparent. On these occasions the instruments of fan-palm are beaten very rapidly with reeds, the time being marked by striking gloves of steel, or bells without clappers. Besides these, again, there are the lion and leopard dances, which are performed by hunters returning from successful expeditions, in conjunction with the villagers, who go out to meet them. In an elephant dance the king himself occasionally takes a part, as likewise in the mokoro, or boat dance.
THE PROPHETIC DANCE OF THE MASUPIAS.
That to which Masangu now invited me to accompany him was known as “the prophetic dance.” It was one of several juggleries peculiar to the Masupia tribe. The largest drums of the royal band are brought out, and while they are beaten about thirty performers stand round, singing and clapping their hands with all their might. Two men then commence dancing in the middle of the open space, and continue their performances for hours together, sometimes from sunrise to sunset, till they sink down almost in a state of exhaustion. In this condition they have to deliver their prophecies about any royal hunt or raid that may be coming off. As a general rule these predictions are favourable, and the dancers are rewarded with presents of beads or calico; but if the event should belie the anticipation, they take good care to keep themselves out of the way, to escape the chastisement that would be sure to fall to their lot.
The two Masupia dancers that I saw had their heads, arms, and loins fantastically adorned with the tails of gnus and zebras. The dance itself seemed to consist principally in hopping from one foot to another, varied by the performers occasionally laying themselves flat on the ground, at one time falling suddenly, at another sinking so gradually that no joint appeared to stir, although the head was kept in a perpetual agitation. Attached to the calves of the legs were little bells and a number of gourd-shells, which acted as rattles; and when the dance is executed in their own homes, the Masupias very often introduce some conjuring tricks, one of which consists in giving a tremendous gash to the tongue, from which flows a stream of blood: but the tongue is immediately afterwards exhibited, and shown to have sustained no injury.
After having devoted some days to a general examination of the fish in the Zambesi, I took an opportunity to make a more precise investigation of several varieties, applying my attention particularly to the sheat-fish (Glanis siluris), which, however, I could not discover differed in any respect from the same species in the more southern rivers, except that it was of a somewhat darker colour. We set some ground-lines in places that appeared to be free from crocodiles, and were successful in getting a very fair haul.
A loud clamour of women’s voices that broke the silence of the night was explained to me to betoken that a Marutse had just died in the village of Katan, a chief on the west. This was followed in the morning by the discharge of guns, indicating that the deceased was being buried.
In the course of that day the king sent a boat to convey Blockley and Bauren to Impalera, to enable them to start on their trading-expedition to the territory of the Makololo prince Wankie. The offer, however, of a single boat to carry a white man, several servants, and all the merchandise, was regarded by Blockley as little less than an insult, and did not tend to heal the unpleasantness which Sepopo’s recent want of courtesy and consideration had provoked. He was not long in visiting our quarters again, coming not only with his full band, but attended by a company of 120 servants, that completely filled our courtyard, his design evidently being to make us sensible how thoroughly we were in his power.
