200 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 



Chap. XVI, 



side covered with a bit of spider's web : the ends are covered 

 with the skin of an antelope ; and when they wish to tighten 

 it they hold it to the fire : the instruments are beaten with 

 the hands. 



The Marimba, or Musical Instrument of the Balonda. 



The piano, named "marimba," consists of two parallel bars 

 of wood, either quite straight, or bent into a semicircular 

 form, across which are placed about fifteen wooden keys, two 

 or three inches broad, from fifteen to eighteen long, and of a 

 thickness proportioned to the deepness of the note required : 

 each of the keys has a calabash of corresponding dimension 

 beneath it attached to the parallel bars, and serving as a 

 sounding-board : the keys are struck with small drumsticks. 

 Rapidity of execution seems much admired among them, and 

 the music is pleasant to the ear. In Angola the Portuguese 

 use the marimba in their dances. 



"When nine orations had been delivered Shinte and the 

 rest of the company stood up. He had maintained true 

 African dignity throughout, but he scarcely ever took his 



