The sun., 1894-10-28

a s,,s-,.- nr.,s.s esCe---.sees,sa - usss
~ Natives ~ Afte~-.

" The talking drums OF .equep0ftsA ADAi'..s
are sorethine which puxsls the traveller wno
sees what can be done with them" n.id ff.L
Gamer, whose name hss become univcrseny
known on account Of his Investigations ints ehe
speech OF the monkey family. VI first came
scroes talking drums when was on my way
up the CAMERON River IN territory seout =
north Of the equator. While We were
sailing up ths river I noticed peculiar
beating Of q drum which seemed 20 be
answered BY another some little distance
OF. I asked one Of the natives with me
what the meaning OF the drumming was
He listened a moment then said: 'Thste
fisherman down At the river shore IN iron. oI
the town OF Camsroon,' which was then nos ,, in
70 the shore 70 buy bis ash. He is tsninE them
fsh. have three large ones and TIVE ssnslls!
ones and many others smaller; Al h.h csaEns a,n,
Sram % heard 9en a.s se 1S rissi fisherman $ who We.
beating on his drum 20 the inhebitants OK the
town he Lies. His Ash & are not frssh; s nv Tssy nssy
i have s seven i barge one; and just caught them.
II thought my native fo!loys, q a.. clsysr yer
signlacanes OF the drum-beats and told me- he
would proye u 20 me when We Rut to town: when
csrio.tyi % Se seesd the % native s sO to show me y.
fisherman, We took q boat aud were soon At the
a the s'Y nS II Ks
boat u took The trouble 20 count thsm) lay three
large ash and ,w2 small ones b.sldss nu%,esoI. , m
me from the drum beats by my man. The Hsh
did not look very Inviting and must surely have
where the rival .fiskermsn was bsatinE his
advertisement TO the townsfolk.
HE had seven large fish In the bottom OF his
boat and he explained 70 my man that the other
nshsrmen % had been fishing & up L. & TIE orsSslsh n
fui, whereupon he tried TO dispose OF some stock
he bad left over from the day before. This vas
my first experience with taking drums, and II
Inunication, inasrnuoh as the natives had not
the least idea OF an alphabet. Some little time
river. when / told the natives what I wanted
down the river from . town some twelve miles
s sboys g as s. shis % WI: the 0nly boat which . they
when they asked me how many men want
Ell and had E9tten the particulars one Of the ma,
tives took drum to the shore OF the river and
began to beat II In strange manner. sounding
in rhythm something like the tick Of the tsls-
graph instrument The drum, was unlike those
dricaI IN form, II was about t6rss feet long and
six inches In dlameten. The shell was made Of
There were holes in the side and in the. end,
through which the sound passed. The head vas
% plssed the arum Sefors PS HIM Then he Sss, With @
his finger this strange tattoo, which he Kept up
sSo Se Y s So.s cs .ro,hsPe
mer. as soon as he found that Sis fellow 10 up At
ree,y. stopped. then hefi listened I i and soon The
drumming above ceased, and away of, 80 faint
gulshed, heard another drummer. was then
told that my message would eo repeated from
II asked iii would know whether the bat
would come and they told me would receive
az sra SSme tS ny sfteT & TINS ms asahh hs nsS
received word that the boat would leave and ar
rive here at such time. The boat arrived just
this proved to me that the natives of Africa
have sure means Of communication by drum
were repeated from town to town by drum beats.
The towns are from ono 70 two miles apart and
distance They can call names Of an Individual.
represent nouns and verbs and some few
o Gysn s asns shs
with Capt Buchan, who had lived in Africa for
chAraeteristics OF the various tribes, ssked him
concerning the matter. lie verified what told
boy and told him to drum for a certain man IN
the town above. It was but q short time until
after this ~ss tseIss With dsRs iGs 'e mhe
b..,Ss i: ISd me q Ssh:r %SS s;sS drum
sass aaRsd sSs Ba9S and Rsos tribes
rsmpase on the opposite Side of the Congo.
to hunt them. but after searching for some time
was unable to locate them. He had to go hack
near the place where the elephants were SUP.
posed 70 be told him they would let him know
II the herd came about again. That night he
who told him that the herd OF elephants had re-
iSsnsd pr and wa, tearing up the plantations on
s as had
another. He started out and arrived there be-
fore the elephants departed. The message had
been 5epeated Just four times In the twelve miles
1T is puzziing to form q theory a. to how
these natives accomplish the results which they
OF one, YOU could find an explanation there. But,
as matter OF fact, they are utterly devoid OF
Rlanation which, can make OF the N after Is that
they have certain drum beats and combinations
lables. u is certainly mot Alphabetical as our
telegraph system Is. A language has from forty
70 iifty phonstlo elements. so with combinations
tions natives are able 10 communicate. The |
loudness or softness OF the beats seemed TO
very little difference In the Intervals. scarcely
enough to make me think that they alone |
Indicated the various Phonetics, OF course. |
the lOudness OF the beat seemed to carry more |
However IL 10 done. IL IL Indeed |
iS have aS.S lot o.
means OF communication which IL AkIn 10 the |
y code q this country From all sources
send messages of all kinds. such as would be |
used IN the ordinary affairs Of life and business
s dnnd saS thsrs ars many more intsresting facts
tal, systsm Of poiitics these 5arSaTisnS & o have,
Ss as ho.s snS Sr. sn
shs poke At the natives until they are forced 70
,redence." ''s''N