Note 342 — Chapter V

“After rest and refreshment, they began another dance, in which a portion of them, taking tufts of grass in their mouths, imitated the actions of the kangaroo. After quietly feeding and hopping about for a while like the kangaroos, they were followed by the rest of the party, who in their real characters began to creep after the kangaroos to surprise them. The ludicrous bounds and manœuvres of pursuit and escape were quite astonishing, and the act ended by the pretence of putting one of the representatives of the captured kangaroos on the fire to be roasted. This they called the kangaroo dance: they then gave us the emu dance, in which—with one arm raised to form the neck of the bird, the hand twisted to represent the head—with the body stooped, they went through all the actions of this bird, and with the most amazing effect.”

“I asked the king what this dance meant, and he pointed to the moon then full above our head, and said, ‘good to black fellow.’ No doubt he would have proceeded to acknowledge that the ceremony was in honour of the moon, had not one of the others who had stood his grog better than king Caboa, stepped up and said, ‘New Zealandman’s dance.’ He meant the name to mislead, for they are very secret in all their religious ceremonies.”