The African Piano

Anaong the musical instrumenta used on the Congo we notice the Jong and short drum. Some drums are used to beat the time of the dance. Some other drums are used as telephones for the transmissiou of messages to neighboring villages. The stringed instruments represent the African harp. The ivory horns are used for the convocation of popular assemblies. The doublé bell is used to cali the attention of the people to some proclamation of the chief. The Africans everywhere are very musical, but their inusic does not always suit European taste. The Africau dance is not always indulged in for amusement alore. Dancing enters intosorae of the most solerun ceremonies, as, for instance, the inauguratiou of a new ing. Then the chief elect of the tribe dances very gravely before the assembled elders and the people. The ruadiruba bad been called the African piano. It is made of calabashes of graded sizes, which are surmounted by boards, of graded sizes also, all being attached to a semicircular frame. Each board represeuts a note or half tone and emits its appoiuted sound vrhen struck by one of the two rubber balls at the etfds of two sticks, which are cleverly handled by the musiciau. While almost every native can beat the drum or play some of the minor musical instruments, the playing of the ruadiiuba is an art which only a few specialists learn. They must be paid for playing at festivities or ceremonies, and their art snpports them, either partlv