116 BULLETIN 134, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



trained musicians. Instrumental music is, again, either special, 

 such as is employed during the great crises of sickness and death, 

 when it is produced by the doctor, or it is social and ceremonial, 

 accompanying the planting and harvesting of crops, festivals, dances, 

 and weddings. 



The musical instruments of the Choco differ from those employed 

 by the San Bias coast Indians in that instruments of percussion, 

 such as the shell drum, are in general use among the former, while on 

 the San Bias coast the drum does not occur. The Tule, however, em- 

 ploy a variety of wind-blown instruments, such as the direct or end- 

 blown flute, and the pan's pipes that are not found among the Choco 

 of the Pacific slope. Musical instruments common to both ethnic 

 stocks are the calabash rattle, the tubular wood rattle, conch shell, 

 and tubular reed cornet. 



Calabash rattles. — The native musical rattle is made from a 

 calabash or coconut shell. Although not limited in its range to 

 southeastern Panama, occurring throughout tropical America, it is 

 employed by the Panamanian native tribes to a greater extent 

 than any other musical instrument of percussion. Roth mentions 

 the " shak-shak," that is, shake-shake rattle of the Creoles," negroes, 

 and civilized Indians of Guiana, throughout the whole extent of 

 which it occurs, as being credited by legend and otherwise to have 

 been introduced b} r the Arawak. The instrument is often known 

 as a " maraka " or " maracca " because of the " maracca " or canna 

 seeds inserted in the shell to produce the rattling noise or musical 

 vibrations. 



A calabash rattle, "nasisi" (Tule), (Cat. No. 327385-6, U.S.N.M., 

 pi. 8, No. 1), is used by the Tule Indians of the San Bias coast to 

 accompany their songs and dances. A round wooden handle 34.2 

 cm. (13.4 in.) long is inserted into a circular opening cut from the 

 stem end of a spherical calabash {Crescentia. cujete), 14.3 cm. 

 (5.6 in.) in diameter. The handle is rounded in section and tapered 

 somewhat toward the distal end, which is thrust entirely through 

 the calabash, emerging through a small hole cut just opposite the 

 stem end; into the axis so formed the tapered distal .end of the 

 handle is securely fitted. 



Either canna seeds, "maracca" (Arawak) — a term also used by 

 the Choc<5 — or small stone pebbles are first placed inside the shell. 

 The rattles having the seeds are smaller and are known as women's 

 rattles, while those with stone pebbles are the larger, man's rattle. 

 The instrument is shaken in cadence with the song or chant of the 

 Indian; the seeds strike the inner walls of the thin shell and the 

 central handle axis, producing a sound very similar to that made by 

 rubbing together pieces of sandpaper. The instrument is wielded 



