954 Mechanical Instruments of the Nepalese. [Nov. 



three pieces, the one fitting into the other, is of very rude workman- 

 ship, and costs only about two Nepalese rupees*. The length of this 

 instrument, and its slender make, require some support, when being 

 used ; it is consequently furnished with three pieces of stick, which 

 when fitted into one another, form a rod of four feet in length to which 

 the Phunga is attached, by a bit of ribbon, at its expanded end, the 

 rod crossing the instrument at right angles. The player holding the 

 opposite end of the rod in his right hand elevates the instrument at 

 pleasure, bringing it to the perpendicular when used in a crowd, but 

 carrying it horizontally under other circumstances. The Phdnga 

 belongs exclusively to the Newars, is called by them, "the musical 

 instrument of the gods," and is played on at every religious ceremony 

 and at every temple, within the valley, when the setting sun gives the 

 signal for the performance of the evening sacrifice. 



No. 2. — The Mohalli (Newari), or Nepalese flageolet. Is rudely 

 executed, and from the most ordinary materials. Its mouthpiece is 

 nothing more than a bit of palm leaf folded, and cut into a convenient 

 shape ! the body of the instrument is made of two pieces of sal wood, 

 bound together by slips of the bambu, and hollowed out longitudinal- 

 ly, apertures or stops, (8 in number) being made for the fingers to 

 play on ; its trumpet or dilated extremity, is made of copper, gradu- 

 ally increasing in calibre, from the diameter of an inch to that of four 

 inches at its open termination. The complete instrument costs about 

 two and a half Nepalese rupees. The mohalli belongs exclusively to 

 the Newars, and many persons of this tribe use it, who are not pro- 

 fessional musicians. Its tones are sharper than those of the bansuli, 

 or common Indian flute, and the national tunes adapted to it, are 

 lively and pleasing, even to a British ear. To the Newars it seems to 

 sound magically, for it has the power of inducing the poorest and 

 most fatigued laborers, to join in the dance, and it is the constant 

 accompaniment to their songs of merriment at feasts and weddings. 



No. 3. — The Singha, or Nar Singha, the Nepalese horn. It is 

 made entirely of copper, is when put together in the shape of a cow's 

 horn, and about four feet long, is composed of four pieces, and tapers 

 gradually from its wider extremity, where its calibre is four inches in 

 diameter, to the mouth-piece, where the bore is not more than a quar- 

 ter of an inch across. The singha is used exclusively by the lowest 

 castes among the Parbuttiahs, and is in considerable demand among 

 the lower castes of the plains of India. Its blast is loud, deep, but 

 not musical, and its professors seem unable to mould its tones into 



* A Nepalese rupee worth about 12 or 12^ anas of Company's currency. 



