So we did and there stood still.

By degrees the brown figures emerged on to the plain to the number of some hundreds, and we saw that they were both male and female.

The women were clothed in nothing except flowers and a little girdle; the men were all armed with wooden weapons and also wore a girdle but no flowers.

The children, of whom there were many, were quite naked.
Among these people we observed a tall person clothed in what seemed to be a magnificent feather cloak, and, walking around and about him, a number of grotesque forms adorned with hideous masks and basket-like head-dresses that were surmounted by plumes.
"The king or chief and his priests or medicine-men! This is splendid," said Bickley triumphantly.
Bastin also contemplated them with enthusiasm as raw material upon which he hoped to get to work.
By degrees and very cautiously they approached us.

To our joy, we perceived that behind them walked several young women who bore wooden trays of food or fruit.
"That looks well," I said.