pots made for the purpose, covered with skin, and sounded with the fingers. The most elegant tambarine is that which they call the Doff, to which the women dance in their harams. The

castanets are also among their musical instruments; and some of the mendicant ulemas carry different kinds of horns and drums, which they sound before asking alms.

Sir R. Ker Porter describes the Georgian music as particularly rude. They have very small double drums, and a sort of guitar, which is played on with a bow. He compares the harsh scraping of this instrument, mingling with the monotonous thumping of the drum, to the noise of a water-mill, but without its harmony.

CHAPTER X.

AFRICAN MUSIC.-THE MUSIC OF ABYSSINIA, ASHANTEE AND FANTEE, EMPOÖNGWA, TIMANNEE, KOORANKO, SOOLIMA, FELLATAH, BENIN, CONGO, AND HOTTENTOT AND MOORISH MUSIC.

THE inhabitants of Africa-the greatest part of them at least—are still in a state of barbarism; and though Egypt, Ethiopia, and some other countries, were the earliest settled, and from them the arts and sciences were imparted to many of the early European states, yet few traces remain of their ancient glory, fewer still of their ancient proficiency in those pursuits which tend to ennoble man, and to distinguish him from the brute. Little can be expected, therefore, by the lovers of music, from the rude natives of this quarter of the globe. Still, a few notices of the former and present state of the art may not be unacceptable to the curious inquirer, and will serve to render our little volume more complete. First, of Abyssinia, the kingdom next in antiquity to Egypt.

Mr Bruce expected to find music in a state of great perfection in Abyssinia, from hearing two girls singing alternately, verse for verse, in

reply to each other, in the most melodious manner. He was, however, disappointed, for he found their style exceedingly barbarous. They had six musical instruments, the sistrum, lyre, and tambarine, which they say were brought from Egypt to Ethiopia; and the flute, kettledrum, and trumpet, which they believe were brought from Palestine by Menelek, the son of their Queen of Saba, by Solomon, who was their first Jewish king. The flute, tambarine, kettledrum, and trumpet, are used in war; the sistrum is dedicated to the service of the church; and the lyre is peculiarly devoted to festivals and occasions of rejoicing. The flute is played on in a similar manner to the clarionet; the trumpet is made of a piece of cane, about four feet five inches in length, with an aperture less than half an inch wide. To this long stalk, a round piece of the neck of the gourd is affixed, which has just the form of the round end of our trumpet, and is, on the outside, ornamented with small white shells. It is all covered over with parchment, and is a very neat instrument. It sounds only one note, E, in a loud, hoarse, and terrible tone. The sistrum has been already described.* The lyre has five, six, or seven strings. The guitar is seen in the hands of Mahometans in Abyssinia; but they have brought it from Arabia.

Later travellers add nothing to the account furnished us by Mr Bruce, and we must, therefore, content ourselves with the particulars which he has given, as relative to the music of the Abyssinians.

* See page 17.

The best account of the music of these singular people is to be found in Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, a work of great interest, both as a personal narrative, and as descriptive of the manners and customs of a people little known, but exercising a paramount influence over a considerable portion of the African conti, nent. The Fantees have a wild and irregular music, which can scarcely be subjected to the laws of harmony, and yet has a sweetness and animation beyond that of most barbarous nations. With the Ashantees, the singing is almost all recitative, and this is the only part of music of which the women partake; they join in the choruses, and, at the funeral of a female, sing the dirge itself, but the fury of the moment renders it such a mixture of yells and screeches, that it bids defiance to all notation. The men employed in canoes, whe live great part of their time on the water, seem, like the gondoliers of Venice, to have a natural talent for music. Their airs are peculiar to themselves, and, observes Mr Bowdich, they "very much resemble the chants used in cathe drals," Of the general music of the country, Mr Bowdich has preserved many specimens. He was fortunate enough to find a native able to play the radical notes of each tune; and from him he took the notation of the airs. Some are said to be very ancient; one of them, indeed, an air of little or no melody, the Ashantees affirm, "was made when the country was made." They are, of course, all traditional; and we should conceive, a great difficulty exists in obtaining any thing like a correct idea of the original air, for we are told, that "their graces are so numerous, some

extempore, some transmitted from father to son, that the constant repetition only can distinguish the commencement of the air: sometimes between each beginning they introduce a few chords, sometimes they leave out a bar, sometimes they only return to the middle, so entirely is it left to the fancy of the performer." All their instrumental music is performed in the most rapid

manner.

The Ashantees and Fantees have a number of musical instruments, some very rude, and others of a more elaborate construction. Their flutes are made of a long reed, and pierced with only three holes. The Sanko is a narrow box, the top of which is covered with alligator's skin. Eight strings are stretched over a bridge, and conducted to a stick thickly notched, fastened to the end of the box. The use of this instrument proves that the Abyssinians have no ear for music. By elevating or depressing the strings, by means of these notches, every chromatic variety is produced. Of this, however, the Abyssinians appear to be totally insensible, maintaining, that when they pulled the same strings, they must play the same tune. Their horns are made of an elephant's tusk. The Bentwa is a stick bent in the form of a bow; across which is fastened a very thin piece of split cane, which is held between the lips, and struck with a small stick. A rude species of violin is used by the Mosees, Mollowas, Bournous, and other natives from the more remote parts of the interior. The body is a calabash, the top is covered with deer-skin, and two large holes are cut in it for the sound to escape; it has only one string, composed of cow's