The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1895-01-19
DRUMS MADE TO TALK.
A Singular Method OF Communication Used
by Natives I'm Africa. y

"o WAOG ~ tAIN.
ASingular Method OF Communication Used
by Natives I'm Africa p
The talking drums of equatorial
Africa are something which puzzle the
traveller who sees what can be done
with them, said Prof. Garner, whose
name has become universally known
on account of his Investigations into
the speech of the monkey family. I
first came across talking drums
when l was on my way up the Cam
Groom river in a territory about four
degree north of the equator. While
we were sailing up the river / noticed
n peculiar beating of a drum which
seemed to he answered by another
some little distance off. l asked one of
h natives with me what the mean
ing of the drumming was. He list
ened a moment, then said: That's a
fisherman down at the river shore in
front of the town OF CAMERON" which
was then not in sight. 'He is calling
h natives to come down to the shore
to buy his fish. He is telling them by
beating his drum: Come down and
buy my fish. | have three large ones
and two smaller ones and many others
smaller. All fish caught to-day"
Then he explained that the other drum
l heard was n rival fisherman who was
beating his drum to the inhabitants Of
the town. "He lies. His fish are not
fresh. They were caught yesterday.
But come buy my fish; | have seven
large ones and just caught them"
Thought my native follower a clever
romancer. hut he insisted that hat was
the Significance of the drum-beats, md
told me he would prove it TO me. when
we got to town. When we arrived OPP
posite to the town, to satisfy my
curiosity, i asked the native to show
me the fisherman. We took q boat and
were soon at the landing OF the town.
There, sure enough. was the fisherman
still beating his drum, and in his
boat Il took the trouble to count them
lay three large fish and two small ones.
besides numerous very small ones, just
as had been described to me from the
drum-beats by my man. The fish did
not look very inviting, and must surely
have been a day old. We padded to
man was beating his advertisement to
the townsfolk.
He had seven large fish in the bottom
Of his boat, and he explained to my
man that the other fishermen had been
fishing up in the brackish waters above
the town and had been unsuccessful,
.whereupon he tried to dispose of some
stock he had left over from the day be-
fore. This was my first experience
with talking drums. and it puzzled me
to account for this method of commu-
nication, inasmuch as the natives had
not h least idea of an alphabet. Some
little time after this ! was at q town
and desired to get q boat and several
men to take me further up the river.
When l told the natives what l wanted
they told me that they would have q
boat come down the river from a town
some twelve miles above, as this was
the only boat which they knew of that
would be suited for my purpose.
When they asked me how many men
wanted and had gotten the particu-
lars, one of the natives took a-drum to
the shore Of the river and began to beat
it in a strange manner, sounding in
rhythm something like the tick of the
telegraph instrument. The drum was
unlike those which they used for dane
ing, being more cylindrical in form. 1t
was about three feet long and six inches
in diameter. The she'll was made of
wood, burned out, and it looked like
bamboo. There were holes in the side
and in the epd, through which tha
sound passed, The head was covered
with skin. The native sat down and
placed the drum before him. Then he
beat with his finger this strange tat
too, which he kept up continually un-
til. far In the distance away up the
river, l heard the faint noise Of anoth-
er drummer beating the same thing.
The drummer. as o as he found that
his fellow up at the next town was re-
peating the message correctly. stopped.
then listened, and soon the drum
ming above ceased. and away Oft so faint
that only occasional beats could be
distinguished, heard another drum
mer. was then told that my message
would be repeated from town to town
until 1t arrived ~ its destination,
] asked IL I wonld know whether tho
boat would come, and they told me /.
would receive IN answer. Some time
after this l again heard drum-beats
and q native told me that they had re-
ceived word that the boat would leave
and srsiys here at snch Q time. The
boat arrived just when the drum mes
senger said 1t would, and this proved
! TO me that the natives of Africa have q
sure means Of communication by drum
beats. They told me that all kinds Of
messages were repeated from town to
town by drum-beats. The towns are
from one to two miles apart. and the
drumming can be heard distinctly at
that distance. They car call names of
an individual, represent nouns and verbs
and some few adjectives. Even after
having this strange system of communi-
cation demonstrated to me, I doubted
So when was spending my time
with Capt. Bpchan, who had lived In
Africa for yeais and was we'll acquaint-
ed with the characteristics Of the yari-
| 9Hs tribes, ! asked him concerning the
matter. he verified what told him,
and. TO demonstrate more fully, called
his boy and told him to drum for . GER
tain man in the town above. It was
but q short time until that wanted per-
SOL appeared. Then some time after
this ] was talking with Z. j. Glave,
who was six years with Stanley In the
Congo basin. He told me Of other
tribes who used drum-beating as q
means of communication. He named
The Balolo and Balola tribes as being
quite expert. He meRtiopcd an ex-
perience he had while located at LII
kalis. He heard Of q herd of elephants
which wers on Q rampage on the OPP
posite sids Of the Congo, ABOUT twelve
miles FROM the town. He vent opt to
hunt them, but after searching for
soms time was unable to locate them.
He had to 60 back to the town, so some
Of ths natives Of the town near the
place where the elephants were sup
posed to he told him they would let
him know IL the herd came about
again. That night he was awakened
between ten and eleven by a native,
who told him that the herd Of ele-'
plants had returned and were tearing
up the plantations on the outskirts Of
the town. The message had been re-
eeiVed by dFum-peats FROM one powa to
another. He started. ont and arrived
there before the denartaI