190 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



motion of their naked feet was to change the weight 

 of the body from the heel to the toe, and vice versa. 

 During the dance they sang a low, plaintive song, 

 which was accompanied by a tifa and a number 

 of small gongs, suspended l^y means of a cord in 

 a framework of gaha-gaba^ the dried midribs of 

 palm-leaves. The gongs increased regularly in size 

 from one of five or six inches to one of a foot 

 or fifteen inches in diameter. Each had a round 

 knob or boss in the middle, which was struck with 

 a small stick. When made to reverberate in this 

 manner, their music was very agreeable, and re- 

 sembled closely that made by small bells. Sev- 

 eral gentlemen informed me that this instrument 

 was introduced here from Java by natives of these 

 islands, who were taken there by the Dutch to as- 

 sist in putting down a rebellion. It is merely a 

 rude copy of the instrument called the honang or 

 hromo in Java. The number of gongs composing 

 this instrument varies from six or ei2:ht to fourteen. 

 In Java the sticks used in striking the gongs, instead 

 of being made only of wood, are carefully covered 

 with a coating of gum to make the sound softer. 

 Another common instrument in Java is the gam- 

 hang^ consisting of wooden or brass bars of different 

 lengths, placed crosswise over a wooden trough. 

 These are struck with small sticks composed of a 

 handle and a round ball of some light substance like 

 pith, as shown in the accompanying photograph of a 

 Javanese and his wife. The instrument in the left hand 

 is a kind of flute, and that in his right is a triangle 

 exactly like those used in negro concerts in our land. 



