Note 9 — Chapter XLVII · NIKOLAEFSK.

Perhaps it was akin to the Mazourka, which had its birthplace in Poland, for I remember witnessing a similar performance in the salt-mines of Cracow. The second dance was a national one, by a single pair, and something like a Scottish hornpipe, the man occasionally sinking down almost to the ground. Then the pair waved handkerchiefs to each other. I was told that this dance is made to represent the various stages of courtship, and that a good dancer does not go through the same figure twice. Another dance was by four couples, in which the ship’s machinist figured prominently in his heavy boots. One man also crawled on all fours, and twice passed through the extended legs of another, and so they continued till the cotton shirts of the men showed they were getting wet, and the company were growing tired.