338 Proceedings of the Royal Society 
The harps are made as follows : — The half of a large gourd 
is taken and two round holes made in it, into which are 
fitted two upright sticks, which diverge a little from each other. 
They are united above by a cross bar, from which strings made of 
sinews or fibres are carried down, and passed through small holes 
made in the gourd, on the inside of which they are fastened to small 
hits of wood. When in use the gourd is placed against the belly 
of the player, and so acts as a kind of sounding hoard. 
The flutes are made out of hollow canes, having eight holes and 
a mouth hole. They are held as in Europe. They also use rattles 
made of gourds, partly filled with dried dhurra or small stones. 
Small hows are used as musical instruments. They are strung with 
liair from a giraffe’s tail ; one end of the how is placed against the 
teeth, and then the string is struck with a switch. 
I fear it is beyond my power to, describe the music produced by 
these instruments, hut I can testify that on a moonlight night the 
melodies they give forth are very weird and yet sweet, and at times 
fantastic. 
Dances . — The harvest feast is usually followed the next day by a 
dance — this being the first dance of the season. One of the larger 
villages is chosen as the scene of the dancing festivities, which are 
held in a large open space outside the village. Great numbers of 
people assemble from the surrounding country ; and as most of the 
inhabitants have to be present on these occasions, often only the 
old and very young people are left behind in a village. The holiday 
makers are accompanied by their cows, and these are left to graze 
outside in the forest, boys remaining in charge of them. This is 
done as a precaution, for if the cattle were left unprotected, raids 
might be made on them by enemies. 
The band consists of a large drum and several small ones sus- 
pended on a pole ; horns and rattles are also used. The musicians 
are placed in the centre of the ground, being encircled by the 
dancers. The old people present stand round the ground, and 
clap their hands in time to the music. The young men are grouped 
together and the young women placed opposite them. The married 
women dance together, and the married men in a group by them- 
selves. 
The dancing is chiefly from side to side, not forwards. Some- 
