MUSIC. 361 
CHAPTER X. 
Music. 
The wild music of these people is scarcely to be brought within 
the regular rules of harmony,* yet their airs have a sweetness and 
animation beyond any barbarous compositions I ever heard. Few 
of their instruments possess much power, but the combination of 
several frequently produces a surprising effect. The flute is made 
of along hollow reed, and has not more than three holes; the tone 
is low at all times, and when they play in concert they graduate 
them with such nicety as to produce the common chords. Several 
instances of thirds occur, especially in one of the annexed airs, 
played as a funeral dirge ; nor is this extraordinary considering it 
is the most natural interval ; the addition of fifths, at the same 
time, is rare. The natives declare they can converse by means of 
their flutes, and an old resident at Accra has assured me he has 
heard these dialogues, and that every sentence was explained to him. 
On the Sanko (see Drawing No. 5, and Specimen in the Mu- 
seum) they display the variety of their musical talents, and the 
Ashantees are allowed to surpass all others. It consists of a 
narrow box, the open top of which is covered with alligator, 
or antelope skin; a bridge is raised on this, over which eight 
* A few melodies in national music have been found incapable of harmony ; such as 
the two first bars of the second part of the Irish tune called The Fair Hair'd Child," 
Dr. Crotch. 
A a 
