132 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



removed, but in some instances this was left for demarca- 

 tion and at the base of the tusk. 



The small hollow end of the tusks is carved by the Lo- 

 ango people into napkin rings, and is decorated with designs 

 in flowers, fish, butterflies, and other forms. In one in- 

 stance the native artist has rudely scratched on a ring an 

 inscription in broken French. 



The ivory trumpets made by the natives of the Congo are 

 among the most interesting objects produced there and prove 

 that these natives possess a considerable amount of artistic 

 skill. Evidently trumpets of this kind have been made for 

 many centuries as they are still made to-day. The elephant 

 tusk, with its graceful and elegant curve and with its natural 

 hollow, gradually narrowing and extending through a good 

 part of its length, gives an excellent material for the purpose. 

 These ivory trumpets of the Congo range in size from quite 

 small ones to specimens of great length, up to two metres 

 (6 ft. 7 in.), although in the case of the longer trumpets the 

 dimension has only been attained by means of a prolongation 

 of wood or bark. Naturally the form cannot offer great 

 variety, as it is rather strictly conditioned by the natural 

 curve of the tusk; since, however, the walls of the tusk, as 

 prepared for being worked into a trumpet, are much thicker 

 at the smaller end than at the larger one, because of the 

 gradual narrowing of the natural hollow, a considerable 

 amount of material must be removed by the worker, and 

 this enables him to vary the form of this portion to a certain 

 extent, making it sometimes lozenge-shaped, and at other 

 times hexagonal or octagonal. This circumstance is also 

 utilized for the decoration of the surface at and near the 

 mouthpiece with simple patterns in relief. Even with his 

 primitive tools the patient artisan is able to accomplish his 

 task, as the material is not very hard. Of course the degree 

 of skill varies greatly, and some of these trumpets still show 



