662 Report on Shoa [No. 140. 



concluded by a grand entertainment to all, at the cost of the chiefs of 

 the defeated party. 



123. The king's band is composed of simple reeds of various length 

 and sizes, the " imbeta," having in the upper part an aperture over 

 which the mouth is placed, and the "mihut," which is fashioned 

 somewhat after the form of a trumpet or trombone. Each performer 

 has but one pipe, and consequently like the Russian, is master of but 

 one note ; there is no particular air or time attended to, each giving out 

 his breathing very much as he chooses ; but the wild music falls soft 

 upon the ear like the harmonious sound of the Panden pipe blown over 

 by the breeze. 



124. The Abyssinian fiddle, the " musuncho," is of rude form and fa- 

 shion ; an empty gourd or a hollow square of wood being carved with 

 a piece of parchment as a sounding board, and a bit of rough stick insert- 

 ed in one corner to serve as the neck ; there is but one string, and as 

 the performer is not a Paganini, the inharmonious sounds proceed from 

 the instrument as if the unhappy spirit of music was confined in the 

 interior, and uttered harsh screams and moans as the bow proceeded to 

 inflict fresh tortures upon her agonized sinews. Some continue to per- 

 petrate a very faint resemblance to tune ; but all consider themselves at 

 perfect liberty to scrape away in the most persevering and soul- sorrowing 

 fashion, and unlucky indeed is the site of residence if stationed near the 

 proprietor of a musuncho. 



125. The harp, called " buggana," is a most strange fabrication of 

 wood, leather, and sheep's entrails, and presents an appearance as if an 

 old leathern portmanteau had been taken by children as a foundation, 

 and built up with the rudest materials to represent the lyre in the days of 

 Tubal ; nor do the notes belie the first appearance of the instrument, or 

 bestow any credit whatever on the fashion. It has five strings, and is 

 used only as an accompaniment to the voice, a simple monotonous ca- 

 dence of the individual notes being the only music produced. 



126. The large drum, called " kubbers" and the small one " nagga- 

 rect," are not thumped so continually as might be expected, they are exclu- 

 sively reserved for military expeditions, or for doing honor to the happy 

 return of friends and relations from successful journeys, and it is indeed 

 lucky for foreigners, that the nation with their present set of crude 

 instruments is not infected with a musical mania. The silence of 



