visitors. They staid at their post until the
visitors entered and were seated on one side of the room. After the
visitors then others were seated, making about 200 in all, though
there was plenty of room in the center for the dancing.

Before the dance commented the chief of the visiting tribe made a
brief speech in which he no doubt referred to the death of the chief
of the Yo-kai-a, and offered the sympathy of his tribe in this loss.
As he spoke, some of the women scarcely refrained from crying out,
and with difficulty they suppressed their sobs. I presume that he
proposed a few moments of mourning, for when he stopped the whole
assemblage burst forth into a bitter wailing, some screaming as if
in agony. The whole thing created such a din that I was compelled to
stop my ears. The air was rent and pierced with their cries. This
wailing and shedding of tears lasted about three or five minutes,
though it seemed to last a half hour. At a given signal they ceased,
wiped their eyes, and quieted down.

Then preparations were made for the dance. One end of the room was
set aside for the dressing-room. The chief actors wens five men, who
were muscular and agile. They were profusely decorated with paint
and feathers, while white and dark stripes covered their bodies.
They were girt about the middle with cloth of bright colors,
sometimes with variegated shawls. A feather mantle hung from the
shoulder, reaching below the knee; strings of shells ornamented the
neck, while their heads were covered with a crown of eagle feathers.
They had whistles in their months as they danced, swaying their
heads, bending and whirling their bodies; every muscle seemed to be
exercised, and the feather ornaments quivered with light. They were
agile and graceful as they bounded about in the sinuous course of
the dance.

The five men were assisted by a semicircle of twenty women, who only
marked time by stepping up and down with short step. They always
took their places first and disappeared first, the men making their
exit gracefully one by one. The dresses of the women were suitable
for the occasion. They were white dresses, trimmed heavily with
black velvet. The stripes were about three inches wide, some plain
and others edged like saw teeth. This was an indication of their
mourning for the dead chief, in whose honor they had prepared that
style of dancing. Strings of hali