204 PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 



deeds, and of the dances expressive of joy at his presence. 

 Describing the Marutse, liolub says: 



&quot;All the musicians [of the royal band] were obliged to be singers 

 as well, having to screech out the king s praises between the intervals 

 in the music, or to the muffled accompaniment of their instruments.&quot; 



So, Schweinfurth tells us that at the court of king Munza, 

 the Monbutto ruler, there were professional musicians, bal 

 lad-singers, and dancers, whose leading function was to 

 glorify and please the king. And in Dahomey, according 

 to Burton, &quot; the bards are of both sexes, and the women 

 dwell in the palace . . . the King keeps a whole troop of 

 these laureates.&quot; Official praises of this kind are carried 

 on by attendants not only of the king but of subordinate 

 rulers. In processions in Ashantee, &quot; each noble is attended 

 by his flatterers, who proclaim, in boisterous songs, the 

 strong names of their master; &quot; and on the Gold Coast, 

 &quot; every chief has a horn-blow r er and a special air of his own. 1 

 Similarly we learn from Park that among the Mandingos 

 there are minstrels who &quot; sing extempore songs, in honour 

 of their chief men, or any other persons who are willing to 

 give solid pudding for empty praise ; &quot; showing us an 

 unobtrusive divergence from the original function. Win- 

 terbottom indicates a like divergence. 



&quot;Among the Foolas there is a set of people called singing men, 

 w T ho, like the ancient bards, travel about the country singing the 

 praises of those who choose to purchase renown.&quot; 



Passing beyond Africa we read that in Madagascar &quot; the 

 sovereign has a large band of female singers, who attend in 

 the court-yard, and who accompany their monarch whenever 

 he takes an excursion.&quot; Raffles, too, says that in Java there 

 are three classes of dancing-girls, who perform in public: 

 1. &quot; The concubines of the sovereign and of the hereditary 

 prince.&quot; These are the most skilful. 2. The concubines of 

 the nobles. 3. &quot; The common dancing girls of the coun 

 try.&quot; In these cases we are shown that while saltatory and 

 vocal forms of glorification, at first occasional and spontane- 



