Evening star., 1936-09-20
THIS WEEK

Venus and down to Tahiti-Iti. Muir
der seemed far removed from such
tropical beauty.
At a quarter to eight Browning's
car. driven by a smiling Polynesian.
called for Burke, and ten minutes
later Browning. attired in tropical
evening clothes, greeted the young
artist, ushered him into his living
room, clapped his hands and had
cocktails brought.
There is." he said. Ito be but one
other guest" and turned toward a
room which opened from the veranda,
across the door of which was curtain
of native beads.
Burke was conscious of shadowy
figure moving on the other side of the
bead curtain, then the curtain parted
and he stared into the coolly smiling
eyes Of Lynn Downey.
Just the three of u.s." Browning
said. as Burke was greeting the girl;
IAN intimate little dinner to welcome
your arrival on the island"
Burke tried to determine whether
Lynn Downey was surprised to see
him there, and failed. Her cool fingers
touched his hand with a polite gesture
Of welcome. She said, Its 50 nice to
see you again, Tracy" and her tone
held just that degree Of politeness
which etiquette demands of one who is
meeting fellow passenger at dinner.
Browning explained the cocktails.
They were composed. in part, Of milk
from green coconuts. mixed with
certain ingredients which were his
own secret. The cocktails were
smoothly seductive, and few min
utes later a dinner was served. which
opened with orange-colored strips Of
ripe papaia. garnished with lime juice.
and concluded some forty-hve min
utes later. with liqnexr.
During the dinner. Browning was
perfect host. But Burke noticed his
conversation dealt with the weird and
supernatural aspect of the islands
history. After dinner. Browning in
vited them to see his collection OF
drums, and led them into long room
which paralleled the veranda and
looked out over the ocean. The walls
we're decorated with hundreds of
drums.
Notice" Browning said. that the
conventional idea of drum is only
half truth. For instance. the wooden
drums are hardly classified in the
popular fancy as drums, yet among
primitive tribes they play an impor-
tant part. Look at this Chinese fish
drum a bell-shaped piece Of wood
with two holes in the sides connected
by a slot. From this opening. the
interior wood is excavated until a
hollow she'll is left. It's used by the
Chinese in worshipping temple gods.
They beat on it in accompaniment to
prayer. Listen, and I'll intone a
Chinese prayer"
He raised his voice to high-pitched
monotone, "Nso 10 soohns. :"
The words that followed we're an
overlapping blur of sound. punctuated
by taps on the resonant shell of hard
wood. And Lynn Downey interrupted
him to say, laughingly. "Your prayer
granted. I'm certain no god could
resist a suppliant who pressed 60
musical an appeal"
Browning grinned, put down the
drum. Here's a big drum of the
japanese Sammr0i." he said then
"It was an alarm drum, used to cal
the soldiers to arms.
There's a metal temple drum
could show you which isn't beaten al
ALL" he went on. 1T gives forth
sound when it's rubbed. You car
follow the vibrations down into TIN
silence. Here, let me show you"
| He took thin-sptn, circular meta
bowl some two feet in diameter
placed it on a cushioned pedestal
| l.