108 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
by advanced peoples ; these sons of nature would 
especially supply material for that recitative which 
Verdi first made something; better than a vehicle for 
dialogue. Hence the old missioners are divided in 
opinion ; whilst some find the sound of the “ little 
guitar,” with strings of palm-thread and played with 
the thumbs of both hands, “ very low, but not un- 
grateful,” others speak of the “hellish harmony” of 
their neophytes’ bands. The instrument alluded to 
is the nsambi or nchambi ; four strings are attached 
to bent sticks springing from the box ; it is the wambi 
of the Shekyanis (Du Chaillu, chap, xii.), but the bridge, 
like that of our violin, gives it an evident superiority, 
and great care and labour are required in the maker. 
This form of the universal marimba is a sounding- 
board of light wood, measuring eight inches by five ; 
some eight to eleven iron keys, fiat strips of thin metal, 
pass over an upright bamboo bridge, fixed by thongs to 
the body, and rest at the further end upon a piece of 
skin which prevents “ twanging.” The tocador or per- 
former brings out soft and pleasing tones with the sides 
of the thumbs and fingers. They have drums and the 
bell-like cymbals called chingufu : M. Valdez (ii. 221 et 
passim ), writes “ Clincufo,” which he has taken from a 
misprint in Monteiro and Gamitto. The chingufu of 
East Africa is a hollow box performed upon with a 
clrum-stick of caoutchouc. The pipes are wooden tubes 
with sundry holes and a bridge below the mouth-piece ; 
they are played over edge like our flutes. The “ hellish 
harmonies ” mostly result from an improvised band, one 
strumming the guitar, another clapping the sticks, and 
the third beating the bell-shaped irons that act as 
castanets. 
The language of the people on and near the Congo 
River is called “ Fiote,” a term used by old travellers to 
denote a black man as opposed to Mundele (white), and 
also applied to things, as Bondefiote or black baft. 
James Barbot (p. 512) gives specimens of some thirty- 
three words and the numerals in the “ Angoy language, 
spoken at Cabinde,” which proves to be that of the 
