AFRICAN FESTIVITIES.


At Yourriba Captain Clapperton was invited to theatrical entertainments,
quite as amusing, and almost as refined as any which his celestial
Majesty can command to be exhibited before a foreign ambassador. The king
of Yourriba made a point of our traveller staying to witness these
entertainments. They were exhibited in the king's park, in a square
space, surrounded by clumps of trees. The first performance was that of a
number of men dancing and tumbling about in sacks, having their heads
fantastically decorated with strips of rags, damask silk, and cotton of
variegated colours; and they performed to admiration. The second
exhibition was hunting the _boa_ snake, by the men in the sacks. The huge
snake, it seems, went through the motions of this kind of reptile, "in a
very natural manner, though it appeared to be rather full in the belly,
opening and shutting its mouth in the most natural manner imaginable." A
running fight ensued, which lasted some time, till at length the chief of
the bag-men contrived to scotch his tail with a tremendous sword, when he
gasped, twisted up, seemed in great torture, endeavouring to bite his
assailants, who hoisted him on their shoulders, and bore him off in
triumph. The festivities of the day concluded with the exhibition of the
_white devil_, which had the appearance of a human figure in white wax,
looking miserably thin and as if starved with cold, taking snuff, rubbing
his hands, treading the ground as if tender-footed, and evidently meant
to burlesque and ridicule a white man, while his sable majesty frequently
appealed to Clapperton whether it was not well performed. After this the
king's women sang in chorus, and were accompanied by the whole crowd.