﻿124 
  DR 
  TRAILL 
  ON 
  A 
  PERUVIAN 
  MUSICAL 
  INSTRUMENT 
  

  

  been 
  customary 
  to 
  deposit 
  with 
  the 
  dead 
  the 
  instruments 
  they 
  used, 
  or 
  articles 
  they 
  

   delighted 
  in 
  ; 
  and 
  we 
  may 
  suppose 
  that 
  the 
  Inca 
  with 
  whom 
  this 
  musical 
  instru- 
  

   ment 
  was 
  buried 
  was 
  not 
  ignorant 
  of 
  its 
  use. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  figure 
  of 
  such 
  an 
  in- 
  

   strument 
  among 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  published 
  remains 
  of 
  an 
  American 
  race, 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  my 
  

   researches 
  have 
  extended 
  ; 
  nor 
  am 
  I 
  aware 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  mentioned 
  among 
  

   the 
  implements 
  found 
  among 
  them 
  by 
  their 
  Spanish 
  conquerors. 
  It 
  therefore 
  

   must 
  be 
  of 
  considerably 
  anterior 
  date 
  to 
  the 
  Spanish 
  conquest 
  ; 
  as 
  we 
  cannot 
  

   suppose 
  that 
  since 
  that 
  era, 
  so 
  disastrous 
  to 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  America, 
  any 
  prince 
  of 
  

   a 
  native 
  race 
  would 
  have 
  obtained 
  the 
  honours 
  of 
  a 
  Huaca, 
  in 
  regions 
  held 
  by 
  the 
  

   fierce 
  and 
  bigoted 
  conquerors. 
  

  

  Description 
  of 
  the 
  Instrument. 
  

  

  The 
  Peruvian 
  antiquity 
  in 
  question 
  is, 
  in 
  form 
  and 
  principle, 
  similar 
  to 
  the 
  

   Syrinx 
  of 
  the 
  Greeks 
  and 
  Romans, 
  or 
  Pan's 
  Pipe, 
  well 
  known 
  in 
  England 
  by 
  the 
  

   somewhat 
  barbarous 
  name 
  of 
  Pandean 
  Pipes 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Italo-Helvetian 
  cantons 
  

   by 
  the 
  appropriate 
  denomination 
  of 
  Organetto, 
  a 
  diminutive 
  of 
  Organo, 
  of 
  which 
  

   it 
  is 
  most 
  probably 
  the 
  prototype. 
  

  

  The 
  Peruvian 
  instrument, 
  however, 
  is 
  not 
  constructed 
  of 
  unequal 
  reeds 
  

   bound 
  together 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  cut 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  solid 
  mass 
  of 
  a 
  compact, 
  softish 
  stone, 
  

   which 
  appears 
  to 
  me 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  variety 
  of 
  Potstone 
  {Lapis 
  ollaris). 
  It 
  is 
  cut 
  with 
  

   great 
  neatness 
  and 
  precision. 
  Its 
  form 
  will 
  be 
  best 
  understood 
  by 
  inspection 
  of 
  

   the 
  figure. 
  Its 
  sides 
  are 
  not 
  parallel, 
  but 
  they 
  slightly 
  converge 
  toward 
  the 
  upper 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  instrument, 
  for 
  the 
  purpose, 
  apparently, 
  of 
  rendering 
  the 
  orifices 
  of 
  

   the 
  pieces 
  thin, 
  without 
  endangering 
  the 
  solidity 
  of 
  the 
  whole. 
  The 
  corners 
  of 
  

   the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  instrument 
  are 
  smoothly 
  and 
  slightly 
  rounded, 
  as 
  if 
  by 
  friction 
  

   from 
  the 
  hand 
  of 
  the 
  player. 
  The 
  surface 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  

   brownish 
  shining 
  varnish, 
  similar 
  to 
  the 
  vegetable 
  varnish 
  employed 
  still 
  by 
  the 
  

   natives 
  on 
  the 
  Essequibo 
  and 
  Orinoco 
  to 
  cover 
  their 
  pottery. 
  It 
  has 
  in 
  part 
  de- 
  

   cayed, 
  and 
  in 
  one 
  place 
  bears 
  the 
  impression 
  of 
  cloth 
  of 
  a 
  coarse 
  texture 
  having 
  

   adhered 
  to 
  it. 
  

  

  The 
  surface, 
  which 
  has 
  evidently 
  been 
  intended 
  for 
  the 
  outside 
  when 
  played, 
  

   is 
  ornamented 
  with 
  a 
  very 
  regular 
  pattern. 
  The 
  volutes 
  are 
  very 
  neatly 
  executed, 
  

   and 
  the 
  regular 
  removal 
  of 
  the 
  angular 
  spaces 
  on 
  the 
  right-hand 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  zig- 
  

   zag 
  lines, 
  shews 
  an 
  attempt 
  at 
  variety 
  not 
  unpleasing. 
  The 
  horizontal 
  band 
  of 
  

   what 
  we 
  would 
  call 
  Maltese 
  crosses, 
  is 
  very 
  well 
  executed. 
  

  

  The 
  extreme 
  breadth 
  of 
  the 
  instrument, 
  including 
  the 
  handle, 
  is 
  6*2 
  inches 
  ; 
  

   its 
  greatest 
  depth 
  5*3 
  ; 
  the 
  thickness 
  of 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  instrument 
  is 
  from 
  0*7 
  to 
  

   0-5 
  of 
  an 
  inch. 
  The 
  handle 
  projects 
  1*1 
  inch 
  from 
  one 
  end, 
  and 
  is 
  perforated 
  by 
  

   four 
  holes, 
  two 
  of 
  which 
  appear 
  at 
  its 
  extremity, 
  and 
  one 
  on 
  each 
  of 
  its 
  edges, 
  

   each 
  of 
  them 
  communicating, 
  in 
  the 
  thickness 
  of 
  the 
  handle, 
  with 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  

  

  

  