This May Be
Described As A Wooden Bell Having Inside It For Clappers Several
(Usually Five) Pieces Of Stick Threaded On A Bit Of Wood Jammed Into
The Dome Of The Bell And Striking The Rim, Beyond Which The Clappers
Just Protrude.
These bells are very like those you meet with in
Angola, but I have not seen on the island, nor does Dr. Baumann cite
having seen, the peculiar double bell of Angola - the engongui.
The
Bubi bell is made out of one piece of wood and worked - or played -
with both hands. Dr. Baumann says it is customary on bright
moonlight nights for two lines of men to sit facing each other and
to clap - one can hardly call it ring - these bells vigorously, but in
good time, accompanying this performance with a monotonous song,
while the delighted women and children dance round. The learned
doctor evidently sees the picturesqueness of this practice, but
notes that the words of the songs are not "tiefsinnige" (profound),
as he has heard men for hours singing "The shark bites the Bubi's
hand," only that over and over again and nothing more. This agrees
with my own observations of all Bantu native songs. I have always
found that the words of these songs were either the repetition of
some such phrase as this, or a set of words referring to the recent
adventures or experiences of the singer or the present company's
little peculiarities; with a very frequent chorus, old and
conventional.
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