NORTH-EASTERN RHODESIA 93 



the mellow notes of the primitive instruments — 

 bits of iron fastened on to a piece of wood and 

 stretched over a calabash — or the song of the 

 women as they pound up the grain in receptacles 

 constructed out of the hollowed-out trunk of a 

 tree. One woman — the picture of grace and 

 proud carriage — raises the pounding pole and 

 brings it down with all the force of her muscular 

 body on the grain. She raises it with a quick 

 and graceful movement and her companion's pole 

 takes its place. 



And as they pound they sing in a sweet, clear 

 monotone — 



" Chiuli iwe, chiuli iwe 

 M'Buyache, m'biiyache, 

 Chiuli iwe, chiuli iwe 

 Itana m'kadzachi." 



You may note the perfect poetry of the song, a 

 poetry which is paralleled only by the graceful 

 movements of the grain-beaters. 

 And then the chorus — 



" Chiuli kusesa 

 Itana m'kadzi chiuli." 



Such is the Central African grain song. It is, 

 I suppose, a sort of Equatorial nursery rhyme, 

 for you may observe the rapt attention of the 

 children, a look of admiring appreciation on their 

 faces as they listen to the song of their mothers. 

 " Chiuli " is the frog, and the song concerns him 

 and his friend " calling his wife." 



" Chiuli kusinga," 

 Frog grind up the food. 

 " Chiuli kusesa," 

 Frog sweep (the house). 



