68 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
negroes : most tribes in Africa have their own terms for 
this universal instrument, but it is everywhere recog- 
nized by the African who knows Europeans as “ ma- 
rimba.” Thus Owen tells us (p. 308) “ that at the 
mouth of the Zambesi it is called ‘ Tabbelah,’ ” evidently 
the Arabic “ Tablali.” Another favourite instrument is 
a clapper, made of two bamboos some five feet long, and 
thick as capstan bars, — it is truly the castanet en grand. 
Highly gratified by the honour, but somewhat over- 
powered by the presence and by that vile scourge the 
OLD CALABAR FACTORIES. 
sandfly, I retired after the first review, leaving the song, 
the drum, and the dance to continue till midnight. 
Accustomed to the frantic noises of African village-life 
in general, my ears here recognized an excess of bawl 
and shout, and subsequent experience did not efface the 
impression. But, in the savage and the barbarian, 
noise, like curiosity, is a healthy sign ; the lowest tribes 
are moping and apathetic as sick children ; they will 
hardly look at anything, however strange to them. 
The rest of my day and week was devoted to the 
study of this quaint people, and the following are the 
