THE PEOPLE OF THE CONGO. 297 
single blocks of wood without joinery (which art is un- 
known), and some of them exhibit grace of form and 
adaptation to the purpose for which they are made. 
Many pretty little things are carved in wood and orna- 
mented with brass-work ; pillows or head-rests are made, 
much lke those used by the ancient Egyptians, and 
powder-flasks are hollowed out of soft wood and decorated 
with burnt patterns made with a piece of red-hot iron. 
Examples of the pottery are here illustrated. There is 
no potter's wheel in use. All the utensils are made in 
basket-moulds or shaped with the hand. 
_ I have already mentioned the ability these people 
display in artistic decoration, and their love of music is 
_ also worthy of notice. Besides the drum, they use the 
horns of Tragelaphus gratus, and other tragelaphine 
antelopes, as trumpets, from which a fine resonant sound 
is produced. The Ba-teke children, 
moreover, make trumpets from | 
rolled banana leaves. For the dis- 
coursing of melody, they have a 
form of “ marimba,” an instrument 
of widespread range, which in prin- 
ciple is so many thin slips or keys 
of metal arranged along a sound- 
ing-board. When twanged by a 
practised touch they yield very 
sweet sounds. For real beauty of 4 
tone, however, the five-stringed lyre im 
on the Congo is remarkable, and jf 
the native musicians produce from || 
this instrument melodies both |j' 
quaint and touching. The penta- 
tonic scale is the one in use, and 
the notes run thus: C, D, E, G, A, 
C, the fourth and seventh being 7 
omitted. A NATIVE LYRE. 
Neither the Ba-teke nor the 
-Wa-buma appear to be great workers in metal, like the 
Ba-yansi. These latter people appear to receive their 
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