Twenty-Three Guns Followed In
Regular Succession, With An Interval Of Fifteen Seconds Between
Each When The Cloud Cleared Away, And The Ship Lay Dressed In Her
Colors, All Day.
At sun-down, another salute of the same number
of guns was fired, and all the flags run down.
This we thought
was pretty well - a gun every fifteen seconds - for a merchantman
with only four guns and a dozen or twenty men.
After supper, the gig's crew were called, and we rowed ashore,
dressed in our uniform, beached the boat, and went up to the
fandango. The bride's father's house was the principal one in the
place, with a large court in front, upon which a tent was built,
capable of containing several hundred people. As we drew near,
we heard the accustomed sound of violins and guitars, and saw
a great motion of the people within. Going in, we found nearly
all the people of the town - men, women, and children - collected
and crowded together, leaving barely room for the dancers; for on
these occasions no invitations are given, but every one is expected
to come, though there is always a private entertainment within the
house for particular friends. The old women sat down in rows,
clapping their hands to the music, and applauding the young ones.
The music was lively, and among the tunes, we recognized several
of our popular airs, which we, without doubt, have taken from
the Spanish. In the dancing, I was much disappointed. The women
stood upright, with their hands down by their sides, their eyes
fixed upon the ground before them, and slided about without any
perceptible means of motion; for their feet were invisible, the hem
of their dresses forming a perfect circle about them, reaching to the
ground. They looked as grave as though they were going through some
religious ceremony, their faces as little excited as their limbs;
and on the whole, instead of the spirited, fascinating Spanish
dances which I had expected, I found the Californian fandango,
on the part of the women at least, a lifeless affair. The men
did better. They danced with grace and spirit, moving in circles
round their nearly stationary partners, and showing their figures
to great advantage.
A great deal was said about our friend Don Juan Bandini, and when he
did appear, which was toward the close of the evening, he certainly
gave us the most graceful dancing that I had ever seen. He was
dressed in white pantaloons neatly made, a short jacket of dark
silk, gaily figured, white stockings and thin morocco slippers
upon his very small feet. His slight and graceful figure was
well calculated for dancing, and he moved about with the grace
and daintiness of a young fawn. An occasional touch of the
toe to the ground, seemed all that was necessary to give him a
long interval of motion in the air. At the same time he was not
fantastic or flourishing, but appeared to be rather repressing a
strong tendency to motion.
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