Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-10-30
TRIP TO THE Orient
Clarence E. Edwords Touring the
Eastern Countries.
he is OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.
INTERESTINGLY WRITTEN IN WEEK
LY LETTERS, WHICH WILL AP.
PEAR IN The RECORDER.

LY LETTERS, WHICH WILL Al
PEAR IN THE RECORDER.
Papeete, Tahiti, July 17:--Ordi
. narily the most interest in this fes
t tival would center around the dane
ing, but the dancing of the native
of Tahiti has lost its charm, if i
ever possessed any. / could wei
imagine that if these dancers-mel
land woman--were dressed in thei
original native costumes the dance.
would take on o phase that would
lend much interest and charm
but under French dispensatior
there has come a change. Just
why the French, who have done
everything in their power to cor.
rupt the natives, should have q
sudden fit of propriety and compel
them to dance in long robes that
completely hid the rythm of move
ment, is not plain, but such is the
case, and all of the dances were
much like the dancing of dummies
Native dancing here is a muscu-
lar movement of the entire body,
reminding one of Delsartean move
ments so much in vogue among
the civilized people few years ago.
1t resembles in a slight degree the
famous hula-hula dance of the
Hawaiians, but it has nothing that
is immodest or immoral in it's sug-
gestiveness. I was told, however,
that the language of the leaders
who constantly talked to the judg-
es, would not bear translation, but
lit could not be understood, so none
were shocked.
Eight clans participated in the
competition, and, with the excep-
ton of one clan, all of the dancers
were men. These were dressed in
white trousers, with colored shirts
and caps, the leaders being gor-
geously arrayed in dresses and
head-dresses made of beautifully
colored grasses, trimmed with shells.
Women who danced wore long
white dresses, cut in Mother Hub
bard pattern, their heads being
adorned with wreaths of long, feath-
err like plumes, resembling pampa
grass. In their dancing movements
the women move gracefully about
to the accompaniment of the music
of tin cans, tin pans and drums and
bottles. At intervals this graceful
movement ceased and they slipped
down from their waists a hempen
or grass belt until it caught their
dresses about the knees. With
clothing thus confined they perform
ed a muscular movement of the
hips which were well displayed by
reason of this tightening of the
dresses.
Each of the dances had some sig
nificance and was supposed to rep
resent some myth or historical
event of the clan. The three most
interesting dances were the "bird,"
the SHARK" and the "stool'
dance. In the first young man
encased in a framework represent
ing a large bird, hoped about and
,caused much amusement by his an
tics. The legend, as explained to
me by Tati Salmon, showed that
even in the South Seas the myth OF
Jack and the Beanstalk had its be-
ing. The bird belonged to a great
giant who committed depredations
on the surrounding people. He
was invulnerable when awake but
when he slept he could be killed.
He had an unfortunate propensity
for constant sleeping, and the bird
kept watch over him so that when
his enemies came near it would
awaken him. The dancing of the
other members of the clan was sup
posed to represent the efforts of
the people to kill the giant.
The shark dance was the terrible
struggle of two natives against a
monster shark. The fish was NOV
ed about by two young men con-
cealed in its interior, and was final
ly overcome by the fishermen, who