548 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



This is a cannibal artist's first attempt 

 to portray tragedies in animal life. These 

 drawings and those which follow are me- 

 chanical reproductions of originals en- 

 graved by natives on the polished surface 

 of ivory 



first. ^ They are 

 used during fes- 

 tivals. Their 

 loud, trumpeting 

 sounds form a 

 fit accompani- 

 ment to dances, and add to the admira- 

 tion of the throng of visitors who 

 spread afar the fame of the court. 



The uncommon pride Mangbetu mu- 

 sicians display is attributable as much 

 to their skill in performing as to the 

 beauty of the instruments. No descrip- 

 tion can do full justice to the frantic 

 endeavors of a trio refreshed with 

 drafts of millet beer. To this 

 day they have lost nothing of 

 their verve, and Schwein- 

 furth's picturesque descrip- 

 tion of forty years ago still 

 admirably fits such a concert. 

 Eather ceremoniously they 

 moisten the inner surface of 

 the horn to heighten the reso- 

 nance. Awe-inspiring boom- 

 ing typifies 

 the ominous 

 trumpeting 

 of an ele- 

 p h a n t ' s 

 fury ; hardly 

 less deafen- 

 ing, but with 

 greater 



IAMERICAN 



Museum Jour- 

 nal, Vol. XV. No. 

 6 (Oct.. 1915) and 

 No. 8 (Dec, 1915). 



Pictograph from Congo ivory, showing how elephants come 

 to grief for plundering native plantations.— The elephants, 

 frightened by two men beating drums, are speared as they 

 pass beneath the tree. An infuriated elephant charges one of 

 the men, while the little dog (■whose whereabouts is indi- 

 cated by a clapper fastened to his collar) stands ready to 

 track the scent of any elephant which escapes 



swiftness of action, 

 follows the charge of 

 the lion. The short- 

 cut roars of the leop- 

 ard merge impercep- 

 tibly into the curious 

 snorting of an attack- 

 ing boar, while the 

 bellowing of buffaloes, 

 gravely wounded, is 

 not to be forgotten. 

 The yells of followers 

 and the rapid tooting 

 denoting the calls of excited spearmen 

 are cleverly interpolated. More melo- 

 dious strains accompanying the joy- 

 ous dances of the fortunate hunters 

 and the happy crowd form the grand 

 finale. 



Centuries ago, long before he had 

 learned to smelt iron, primitive man, 

 invading the great West African for- 

 est, probably celebrated with hollow 

 horns his success in hunting. Echoing 

 through the shades of the towering 

 trees, the blasts quickly brought to- 

 gether those fond of carousal and good 

 cheer. Even today the boys of hunting 

 parties claim the horns of the 

 larger forest antelopes as their 

 share of the spoils of the chase, 

 and on a rocky ledge they grind 

 off the solid tips and proudly 

 flourish the deeply resonant 

 notes of their own simple trum- 

 pets. 



The tusks of elephants were, 

 and still are, reserved for the 

 leaders in all 

 strife. x\l- 

 though more 

 difficult to 

 work, horns 

 of ivory pro- 

 duced louder 

 sounds and, 

 responding 

 to the skill 

 of the trum- 

 peters, of- 

 fered a con- 



