vn DRUMS 89 



native villages situated near European settlements, it 

 is the practice to permit dancing on Saturday night only. 



The natives have other kinds of musical instruments, 

 such as flutes and guitars, but the drum furnishes 

 the dance music. Some of the guitars are neatly made 

 and the sound box is covered with thin skin, often that 

 of the python. The men will often play monotonous 

 tunes on such instruments for hours. These guitars are 

 sometimes ornamented with the tail of a goat. 



I had heard that in some parts of Uganda a drum- 

 covering is made from the e;ir of an elephant. My 

 efforts to obtain or see such a drum were unfruitful. 

 It is conceivable that the ear of the African elephant 

 could be used for such a purpose, for some ears measure 

 four feet across. 



There is a tract of country extending from the 

 north-west corner of Tanganyika towards the main 

 affluent of the Congo in that region known as the 

 Manyema Country. Pure cannibalism is practised by 

 the Manyema people. They eat their own dead. Thus 

 a father would not eat his own son or daughter, neither 

 would anyone of the same village, so the corpse is given 

 to the natives in a neighbouring village. When 

 anyone is very ill and likely to die, word is sent to the 

 relations in the nearest village, and they await the 

 signal to fetch away the body. The information 

 of the death is generally conveyed by drum-signal. 

 (Cunningham.) 



Drums also play a part in fetish-worship, and an 

 extraordinary drum of this kind comes from Ashanti ; 

 it is decorated with the thigh bones of human beings 

 and the skull of a baboon. This drum was sounded at 

 human sacrifices. 



Drums now serve better purposes in Uganda, for they 

 are used to summon the worshippers to church. It is 

 odd that pious people should require to be reminded of 

 their religious duties by means of such discordant sounds 

 as the doleful ringing of bells or the booming of drums. 



