560 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



dark-redwood. The bottom is convex like a cask or barrel. No bead 

 of skill is used, as in all drums of modern manufacture. When used 

 it is placed on a coil of rope. It is from Somu-Sorau, Fiji, and was 



collected by the Wilkes Exploring Expe- 

 dition. It is 55 inches in length, 16 inches 

 in width, and 18 inches in height. The na- 

 tive name for this instrument is lali, and the 

 following description is taken from the label 

 displayed in the United States National 

 Museum : 



The tavola tree of Fiji (Ter»itna/(a catajjjja) is said 

 to make the best souuding lalia, although the vest 

 tree {Afzelia bijii(/a) is also used. ''The sides are 

 l)eaten l)y two sticks about 18 inches long. In dif- 

 ferent ways measures or tunes are beaten on them, 

 the meaning of which is known by the natives and 

 the 'old hands' or settlers. The sound of the lali is 

 not unpleasant when beaten by a practiced hand, 

 and a good-sounding one may lie heard at a distance 

 of 4 or 5 miles on a quiet evening." — (Home, A Year 

 in Fiji, p. 114.) 



Commodore Wilkes, in his Narrative of the United 

 States Exploring Expedition, states that this drum 

 was given to him by Tin Thakau, a chief of the island 

 of Somu Soma, together with a thousand yams, in 

 exchange for a musket — the usual price— and a 

 whale's tooth in token of friendship. "After the drum 

 had been presented to me," he continues, "I was 

 desirous of hearing them beat upon it. They have 

 several beats or calls to give notice to the koro (or 

 village), one of which was for calling the people to- 

 gether to the feast of human bodies. They were all 

 distinct and, they said, quite audible at a great dis- 

 tance. The Fiji drum is similar to that described 

 at Tonga, and is made of a log hollowed out and 

 placed on one point. It gives out a deep, hollow 

 tone when struck with the small and large sticks 

 with which they produce the different sounds." — (Vol. Ill, p. 317.) 



Samoa. 



Specimen, Cat. No. 3466 (U.S.N.M.) is a conch shell used as a war 

 horn (Pu or Foa-foa) with mouth hole 3 inches from apex. Length of 

 shell, 7^ inches; width, 5 inches. 



Specimen. Cat. No. 3825 (U.S.N.M.) is a war horn from Carlshoff" 

 Island. It is made from a conch shell {Triton trinonis Linnaeus) and 

 is covered with a lime deposit. 



Spain. 



All extremely primitive instrument in the United States National 

 Museum (Cat. No. 95554) is marked Los Huesos, (the bones) Spain, 

 but otherwise the record is silent. It is a rattle of eight leg bones of a 

 sheep, each perforated near the ends and strung on two cords, making 



Fig. 199. 



PANDEAN PIPES. 



Levuka Island, Fiji. 



Cat. No. 23945, U.S.N.M. | iiatura: size 



