R. H. alone stood stationary and
smileless as a French demoiselle of the last century, who came to
the ball not to causer but to danser. At times, when King
Fitevanga condescended to show his agility, the uproar of
applause became deafening. The orchestra consisted of two men
sitting opposite each other,--one performed on a caisson, a log
of hollowed wood, four feet high, skin-covered, and fancifully
carved; the other on the national Anjya, a rude "Marimba," the
prototype of the pianoforte. It is made of seven or eight hard-
wood slats, pinned with bamboo tacks to transverse banana trunks
lying on the ground: like the grande caisse, it is played upon
with sticks, plectra like tent-pegs. Mr. W. Winwood Reade
("Savage Africa," chap, xiii.) says: "The instrument is also
described by Froebel as being used by the Indians of Central
America, where, which is still more curious, it is known by the
same name--'marimba.'" Of course they borrowed the article and
the name from the negroes: most tribes in Africa have their own
terms for this universal instrument, but it is everywhere
recognized by the African who knows Europeans as "marimba.
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