THE POETRY OF MOTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 96, 10 May 1900, Page 4

THE POETRY OF MOTION.

A NATIVE DANCE AT MAFEKING. The "London Times' correspondent at Mafeki'ig, alter describing the deposit ■••11 of Wessels, the Chief of the Baialonjs, gives the following ac?ountof t ie linal indabas: —'ike scene had been solemn enough beneath the kotla tree, but, outside, the natuutl instinct of these children of the veldt soon asserted itself, and they bfjan to darce. They formed into small groups of about 40, to the sound of hand-flapping, a not uj 'uusical intoning, and much jumph' g and str nping of feet. It would seem t hat they we dancing an old w: • dance which 1-> degeneiat' 1 i ' > one nbolical of 1< e and liap t jir> Abound the joyous groups the o'd crones circulated, clapping their withered hands, sl'ileking delight in ci acked voices, and gene) ally encouraging the festivity. The dance was curi--0 ts, and appeared t) catch <• ilioes of ii any lands. There was a diffident n riden, arxious to be lov: 1, bi u bashfnl, modest in her manner anc. in her gestures, uni.il she saw the n:nntbat cuiild thrill lier; then she glowc 1, and licv steps were animated, buoyant, and I caiessing. A smile irradiated her ir.ee, while a slight, almost imperceptible, movement pulsed through her body. Behind her vere her companions, the same age as herself, who imitated her with feverish sympathy, instinctively reproducing her moods of body and of mind. The vibration that stole through the bodies of the dancers increased gradually as the potency of their feelings grew steadily stronger. The air became heavy with noise, thick with a veritable tumult, as the dancers jumped more wildy. As they glided their actions seemed always to be marked with the same regularity, with the same regard to rhythm, and witli an innate conception of grace. As they rose to the pinnacle of their happiness, when their countenances were suUused with love and tenderness, they infused into tlieir emotions an appearance of nd-;-ess. It was as though a cloud had ...iddenly fallen upon tbem, revealing fiat they lir.d been flouted. Then tiiei 8 stole upon them the incarnation of so, row, in which, finding themselves alone, uncarcd for, unconsidered, they resolved, in a burst of artificial tears, > have done with giddiness, and to ke up with the delights of placid domesticity. Then the dance termi--1 He J, she, who had by her graceful contortions and mpatlietic bearing ino.cl her audience to laughter and U.' s fiist, being consideied the vic- ; .. .'ous. Thus did these simple natives (.elebrale the ne>v era.