INDIANS DANCING.
"But more interesting to us than either of the balls we have mentioned was that of the Indians, where they were indulging in historic dances which have been preserved from ancient times. When we entered the room, which was pretty well filled with people who respectfully made way for us, the performance had already begun. We will remark here that the ancient Yucateos, like the Parsees, were worshippers of the sun; the reverence for that luminary has descended to this day, though it is by no means preserved in its former purity.
"Mr. Ober, the author of 'Travels in Mexico,' seems to have witnessed a better performance of this dance than we did, as he saw the beginning, which we did not see, so we will quote his account, which is as follows:
"'The first thing these Indians did was to spread a banner in the centre of the room, on which was painted a figure of the sun, with two people kneeling in adoration of it. The chief of this band of about twenty Indians then suspended from his neck a bright-colored representation of the sun stamped on tin. At the foot of the banner-staff crouched an old man, with a drum made by stretching the skin of a calf or goat over one end of a hollow log; at the side of the drum hung the shell of a land-tortoise, and the old man beat the drum and rattled the shell in unison. The article with which he beat the drum attracted my attention, and I examined it and found it to be the gilded horn of a deer. This hollow drum, with turtle-shell and deer's antler, fully confirms the statement that the music is aboriginal; for one of the old chroniclers, in an account of a terrible battle with the Indians of Campeachy, writing not long after the event, says that they made a most horrible and deafening noise with these instruments: "They had flutes and large sea-shells for trumpets, and turtle-shells, which they struck with deer's horns."
PREPARING FOR THE BALL.
"'After the banner was spread, the band ran around it in a crouching attitude; in one hand each held a rattle, and in the other a fan of turkey feathers, with a handle formed by the foot and claw of the bird. Each one wore a wire mask, with a handkerchief over his head, and a mantle embroidered with figures of animals, and hung with small sea-shells. The costume was that of the mestizo women—a skirt from the waist to the ankles, with their peculiar dress over it—just such an one as was worn by their ancestors centuries ago, and by the ancient Egyptians. On their feet they wore sandals, tied on with hempen rope. The chief was distinguished by a high crown of peacock feathers. He chanted something in the Maya language, and they replied, and then the music struck up a weird strain and they danced furiously, assuming ludicrous postures, yet all having seeming significance, shaking their rattles and fans to right and left, and all keeping perfect time. After nearly half an hour of dancing they stopped at a signal from the chief, and gathered about the banner, gazing upon the image of the sun with looks of adoration.