io6 TRAVELS IN 
gular tune upon this Inftrument, the tones of 
which are only the efFedt of chance, and of 
the quality of the quill. The beft quills are 
thofe taken from the wings of a certain fpe- 
cies of buftard; and whenever I happened to 
kill one of thefe birds, I was always folicited 
to make a fmall facrifice for the fupport of 
our orcheftra. 
When a woman plays the goura^ it changes 
its name merely becaufe (he changes the 
manner of ufing it, and it is then transformed 
into a joum-joum. Seated on the ground, Ihe 
places it perpendicularly before her, in the 
fame manner as a harp is held in Europe: by 
putting her foot between the bow and the 
firing, taking care not to touch the latter, 
Ihe keeps it firm in that pofition. With the 
right hand fhe grafps the bow in the middle ; 
and, while die blows with her mouth on the 
quill, fhe ftrikes the firing in different places 
with a fmall flick five or fix inches in length, 
which fhe holds in the other. This produces 
fome variety in the modulation; but the in- 
llirument muft be brought clofe to the ear, 
before one can catch diflindlly all the degra- 
dations of the found. This manner of holdr 
mg the goura flruck me much, efpecially as 
it 
