Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition : during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 . V U. paces distance, were seated about one hundred men and boys: thesewe afterwards ascertained were the musicians. The stone walls inthe vicinity were crowded by numbers of natives of both sexes, whilebeyond them an open space Avas apparently reserved, and surroundedby numbers of spectators. We stood in expectation of the opening of the entertainment, andwere amused to observe the anxiety manifested by the natives, bothold and young. Suddenly we heard shouts of loud laughter in theopen space
Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition : during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 . V U. paces distance, were seated about one hundred men and boys: thesewe afterwards ascertained were the musicians. The stone walls inthe vicinity were crowded by numbers of natives of both sexes, whilebeyond them an open space Avas apparently reserved, and surroundedby numbers of spectators. We stood in expectation of the opening of the entertainment, andwere amused to observe the anxiety manifested by the natives, bothold and young. Suddenly we heard shouts of loud laughter in theopen space beyond, and saw moving towards its centre a clown. Hisbody was entirely covered with green and dried leaves, and vinesbound round in every way; on his head he wore a mask somewhatresembling a bears head, painted black on one side, and orange onthe other; in one hand he carried a large club, and in the other oneof the short ones, to which our men had given the name of HandyBilly; his movements were very much like those of our clowns, anddrew down immense applause from the spectators. The musicians. FEEJEE CLOWN. now began a monotonous song on one note, the bass alternating withthe air; they then sound one of the common chords in the bass clef,without the alternation. Some of the performers clapped their handsto make a sharp sound; others beat sticks together; while a few hadjoints of large bamboo, two or three feet long, open at one end, whichthey struck on the open end, producing a sound similar to that of aweak-toned drum. Although it could not be called music, they
Size: 1665px × 1501px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade184, booksubjectvoyagesaroundtheworld
