364 
MISSION TO ASHANTEE. 
neck, or stand on the ground ; in the latter case they are mostly 
played with the inside of the fingers, at which the natives are very 
expert : amongst these drums are some with heads of leopard skin, 
(looking like vellum,) only sounded by two fingers, which are 
scraped along, as the middle finger is on the tamborine, but pro- 
d j cing a much louder noise. The gong- gongs are made of hollow 
pieces of iron, and struck with the same metal. The Castanets are 
also of iron. The Rattles are hollow gourds, the stalks being left as 
handles, and contain shells or pebbles, and are frequently covered 
with a net work of beads; the grimaces with which these are 
played make them much more entertaining to sight than hearing. 
I was fortunate enough to find a rare instance of a native able 
to play the radical notes of each tune ; he is the best player in the 
country, and I was enabled to collect the airs now offered : with 
some of the oldest date T have also selected a few uf the latest 
compositions. Their graces are so numerous, some extempore, 
some transmitted from father to son, that the constant repetition 
only can distinguish the commencement of the air: sometimes 
between each beginning they introduce a few chords, sometimes 
they leave out a bar, sometimes they only return to the middle, so 
entirely is it left to the fancy of the performer. The ol)servation 
made on the time of the Sanko may be extended to almost every 
other instrument, but it is always perfect, and the children will 
move their heads and limbs, whilst on their mother's backs, in 
exact unison with the tune which is playing : the contrasts of piano 
and forte are very well managed. 
The singing is almost all recitative, and this is the only part of 
music in which the women partake ; they join in the cliorusses, 
and at the funeral of a female sing the dirge itself; but the frenzy 
of the moment renders it such a mixture of yells and screeches, 
that it bids defiance to all notation. The songs of the Canoe men 
