BARBADOS-ANTIGUA EXPEDITION 167 
religious holiday. He asked permission to help us celebrate by 
bringing a string band of which he was leader and ‘‘give us 
music.’’ We accepted the offer with thanks, and in a very short 
time heard the music approaching through the gate. 
The band consisted of six pieces. There were two guitars, a 
mandolin, a violin, a triangle, and a ‘‘pipe.’’ This latter was an 
instrument quite unique in our experience, consisting simply of 
a section of two-inch gaspipe, one end of which was bent like 
an umbrella handle. A small boy was the executioner attached 
to this contraption and blew into it most vehemently with cheeks 
_ inflated almost to a bursting point. The result was a series of 
deep bass grunt-like sounds all of the same pitch and at regular 
intervals. This instrument served the purpose of marking 
time and was evidently a device to take the place of a bass drum 
or viol; and it really served very well, although we could not 
helped being somewhat concerned about the performer, who was 
so constantly inflated that we feared a catastrophe. 
The band marched around to the front of the Officers’ Quar- 
ters, countermarched at the command of Potter, the drum ma- 
jor, and played voluminously and continuously. We had se- 
cured a British flag from Clarence House and flew it side by 
side with the stars and stripes from the top of the stairway in 
front of the veranda. The servants dressed in their best, ap- 
peared and commenced an impromptu dance to the music. The 
ponderous cook was whirled around by the venturesome Potter 
himself, while Albert proved himself an adept at the terpsi- 
chorean art with the aid of one of the maids. The dancing was 
characterized by a peculiar movement of the hips and shoulders, 
the feet shuffling in time with the music and hardly leaving the 
ground at all. 
The band and audience took a rest for lunch, but the exer- 
cises were resumed afterward. This time the entertainment was 
on the veranda. Like certain railways, this band was charac- 
terized by poor terminal facilities, and seemed bent on making 
a full day of it. Finally, by a judicious application of coin of 
the realm to the palm of their major domo, they were satisfied 
that their full duty had been performed and we were relieved 
of our anxiety regarding the inflated boy. 
Several of our party celebrated the day by taking a motor 
