solemnly around with the right arm raised, with elbow bent, wrist and
hand horizontal and poked backwards and forwards, to represent the emu's
neck and head. The left hand held behind the back, like that of a shy
official expecting a tip, stands for the emu's tail. Thus they advance
slowly and jerkily with back bent and arm pointing now this way, now
that, like an inquisitive emu who is not sure of his ground.

Next the mallee-hen builds her nest, and each dancer comes forward at a
mincing trot, in his hands a few twigs and leaves, which he deposits in
front of the "orchestra," and, having built his nest, retires. And so
they go on mimicking with laughable accuracy the more common beasts and
birds.

The most comical dance in which they all joined--that is all the
dancers--was one in which they stood on tiptoe, with knees bent and
shaking together as if with fear, then giving forth a sort of hissing
noise, through fiercely clenched teeth, they quickly advanced in three or
four lines and retired trotting backwards. This ended with a prolonged
howl and shrieks of laughter. The energy with which they dance is
extraordinary--shaking their spears and grunting, they advance with knees
raised, like high-stepping horses, until the thigh is almost horizontal,
now one leg now the other, with a will, and then one, two, down come the
feet together with a thud, the dancers striking their spears in the
ground, growling out savagely a sound that I can only express as "woomph,
woomph"--with what a smack their flat feet meet the ground, and what a
shrieking yell goes up from all throats as they stop!

To enliven the performance they use flat carved sticks, some eight inches
long, and of a pointed oval shape. Through a hole in one point they
thread a string, with which the stick is rapidly swung round, making a