Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-02-03
An Old.Time Negro Dance.

From George w. Cables illustrated
paper, in the February Century, accom-
panied by the music of the Creole dances,
we quote the following: "It was weird
one. The negro of colonial Louisiana
was most grotesque figure. He. was
nearly naked. Often his neck and arms,
thighs, shanks, and splay feet were
shrunken, tough, sinewy like a monkeys.
Sometimes it was scant diet and cruel
labor that had made them So. Even the
requirement of law was only that he
should have not less than barrel of
corn-nothing else-a month, nor get
more than thirty. lashes to the twenty
four hours. The whole world was crueler
those times than now; we must not Judge
them by our own.
'sOften the slaves attire was only a
cotton shirt, or pair of pantaloons hang
ing in indecent tatters to his naked waist.
The bond woman was well clad who had
on as much as coarse chemise and pet
ticoat. To add tignon-a Madras hand
kerchief twisted into turban-was high
gentility, and the number of kerchiefs
beyond that one was the measure Of abb
solute wealth. Some were rich in tiq-
mons, especially those who served within
the house, and pie ased the mistress, or
even the master-there were Hagars in
those days. However, Congo Plains did
not gather the house servants so much
as the 'field-hands.'
These came in troops. See them !;
wilder than gypsies; wilder than the
Moors and Arabs whose strong blood and
features one sees at glance i'll SO many
of them; gangs-as they are called
gangs and gangs of them, from this and
that and yonder direction; tall, Well-knit
Senegalese from Cape Verde. black as
ebony, with intelligent, kindly eyes and
long, straight, shapely noses; Mandin-
color, of cruder form, and cunning that
shows in the countenance; whose en-
slavement seems specially shame, their
nation the merchants of Africa, dwelling
in towns, industrious, thrifty, skilled in
commerce and husbandry, and expert in
the working of metals, even to silver and
gold and Foulahs, of goodly stature,
and with perceptible rose tint in the
cheeks; and Sosos, famous warriors, dex-
terous with the African targe; and in con-
trast to these, with small ears, thick eye
brows. bright eyes, flat, upturned noses,
shining skin, wide mouths and white
teeth, the negroes of Guinea, true and un-
mixed, from the Gold Coast, the Slave
Coast, and the Cape of Palms-not from
the Grain Coast; the English had that
trade. See them come! Popoes, Coto-
COLES, Fidas, Socoes, Agwas, short cop
per-colored Mines-what havoc the
slavers did make and from interior
Africa others equally proud and warlike:
fierce Nagoes and Fonds; tawny Awas-
sas Iboes, so light-colored that one could
not tell them from mulattoes but for their
national tattooing; and the half-civilized
and quick-witted but ferocious Arada,
the original Voudou worshiper. And how
many more! For here come, also, men
and women from all that great Congo
coast-Angola, Malimbe, Ambrice, ETC.
small good-natured, sprightly boys, and
gay garrulous gals, thick-lipped but not
tatooed chattering, singing, and guffaw-
ing as they come these are they for whom
the dance and the place are named, the
most numerous sort of negro in the
colonies, the Congoes and Franc Congoes,
and though serpent worshippers. yet the
gentliest and kindliest natures that came
from Africa. Such was the company
Among these bossals-that is, native
Africans-there was, of course, an ever
growing number of negroes who proudly
called themselves Creole negroes, that is,
born in America; and at the present
time there is only here and there an old
native African to be met with, vain of his
singularity and trembling on his staff.