626 AFRICAN NATIVE MELODIES. 



poem, since the litlwko, though often higlily dramatic, are not 

 in dialogue form. To illustrate, however, the whole primitive 

 art-form, let me give an example which 1 have just discovered 

 among old hoards: it is doubtless corrupt, but will give an idea 

 of the real sense of composition which the native poets enjoyed: 



A : sephoko se liiiko tsa Takatsaiic. B : Ho nisoe tiuiiic (constant refrain) 



Wo. ..ho.. .ho... (B) 



i. Ekarc ha ke ctcla Thaha Piitsoa (B) ba nkalima e Ptitsoa pclcsatic (B) 



ii Patsoa (ii) C: Ho ntsue lele ntstie Iclc (B) 



ba nkalima e Patsoa pclesane 



(A, B, C, B) 



iii Chicha(Bj Chicha (B, C) 



iv Nts'o Nts o 



V. Lipifre tsa MaEngescniane 



bokiiebii .' 

 Chorus : Kuankuantsilo' (constantly repeated). 



The first line is probaljly a corruption of the lengae above 

 (No. 13). It would mean, literally, " Owl with the nose of T." 

 Line i. is : 



When I visited the Blaauwberg, they lent me a blue little beast of burden, 

 ii. : Dappled Mountain dappled 



. . . , and so with iii. and iv., where Chicha is " round " and 

 Nts'o " black." v. reads : The horses of the Englishmen 

 are bo-kuebn (said to mean "roan"). .A.s regards the 

 geography, Thaba Patsoa is a mountain to the south of the line 

 between Westminster and Thaba 'Nchn. (Marrismith is also 

 the Black Mountain.) Thaba Chicha is a conical hill on a quad- 

 angular base between Modderpoort and Clocolan, also in the 

 Orange Free State. But what is a Chicha pelesane? A round 

 ox is one with no horns. A round horse is presumably a fat 

 one, but the former translation seems more likely. 



If our specimen is anything near 100 years old, the ])elesa 

 (beast of burden) must be a pack-ox, and line v. a later addi- 

 tion. When horses were first seen with their i^ale riders, they 

 were taken for ghost cattle, which traditionally have no horns. 



The poem has omitted an important point : were the cattle 

 lent ever returned? 



These are nearly all the Suto songs to which 1 have any- 

 thing like complete notation. The others are interesting as 

 ]3oetry, but must wait for another time. I will pass on, there- 

 fore, to the allied Serolong, inserting, however, first, a Suto 

 scrap in the Scotch scale, which suggests the lilt and tonality 

 of the Chwana No. 15. 



S| d d d r s I'l d nid r d d 



14. Mabele! (3) na lea tseba a lenc/oa joang inabeh^? 



Kafircorn ! Know ye how Kafircorn is hoed, 



s 1 s I'l d r d d 1 1 d in d mi d r d 



15. Thibelele (2) Rakocha : Ai shi shi. At sht, O Rakoclia. 

 Make a circle 



