MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 221 



drum language, and I have managed to have 

 messages sent long distances by means of such 

 drums. 



A small instrument, very common in the country 

 and elsewhere in Africa, is called the " chis- 

 sangc " or "quissange" in Angola, and "sansa" 

 in many other parts of Africa. It consists of a flat 

 piece of wood or a flat box, on which are fixed 

 a number of thin slips of iron. One end of these 

 slips is attached to the extremity of the board, 

 while their free ends come half-way down the 

 board, parallel to and half an inch above it. 

 The native plays the quissange by alternately 

 pressing and releasing the thin metal slips, each 

 of which gives a different note, while the group 

 of them form a scale. I have heard this instrument 

 played in many parts of Africa, and though there 

 was never any tune, merely chords and variations 

 of notes, yet on many a night in the wilds, the 

 hard day's hunting over, one has been lulled to 

 sleep by the sweet soft tones of this little African 

 guitar, which is sometimes made even more 

 melodious and resonant by attaching a hollow 

 gourd beneath the keyboard. 



There are two other instruments used by the 

 natives, called "marimbas," which are not unlike 

 those which music-hall performers employ. One 

 of these consists of a number of small pieces of 

 wood of various thicknesses and lengths, attached 

 by their ords to two parallel plantain stems. 

 These pieces of wood are beaten alternately by a 

 couple of drumsticks, and the notes being arranged 

 in a sor! of scale, rruisiv of a kind is produced. 



