the people—these cruelties fall into disuse, nor are they often practised when a queen holds the reins of government.
Next day I paid a visit to Masangu, to whom, as being responsible for the control of the guns distributed to the king’s vassals, I have already given the designation of governor of the arsenal. He was likewise superintendent of all the native smiths. I found him employed in repairing a gun, for which he was using hammers, chisels, pincers, and bellows, all of his own making, and of the most perfect construction that I had yet seen in South Africa.
He asked me whether I had ever seen the Masupias dance, and drew my attention to the sound of the drums in the royal courtyard. On hearing that I had never been present when any dancing was going forward, he invited me to go with him to the performance that was then about to commence.
All the inhabitants of the Marutse kingdom are fond of dancing, most of the tribes appearing to adopt a style peculiar to themselves. In common with the Bechuanas they have a dance which is performed by girls on reaching the age of maturity. This is repeated day after day for weeks at a time, and, accompanied by singing and castanet playing, is sometimes kept up till midnight, and is supposed to answer the design of uniting the girls of the same age and born in the same neighbourhood in a bond of friendship. There are also betrothal dances and elephant dances, at which a great quantity of butshuala is consumed, the ill-effects of which soon become apparent. On these occasions the instruments of fan-palm are beaten very rapidly with
