. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. 560 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. dark-redwood. The bottom is convex like a cask or barrel. No bead of skill is used, as in all drums of modern manufacture. When used it is placed on a coil of rope. It is from Somu-Sorau, Fiji, and was collected by the Wilkes Exploring Expe- dition. It is 55 inches in length, 16 inches in width, and 18 inches in height. The na- tive name for this instrument is lali, and the following description is taken
. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. 560 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. dark-redwood. The bottom is convex like a cask or barrel. No bead of skill is used, as in all drums of modern manufacture. When used it is placed on a coil of rope. It is from Somu-Sorau, Fiji, and was collected by the Wilkes Exploring Expe- dition. It is 55 inches in length, 16 inches in width, and 18 inches in height. The na- tive name for this instrument is lali, and the following description is taken from the label displayed in the United States National Museum: The tavola tree of Fiji (Ter»itna/(a catajjjja) is said to make the best souuding lalia, although the vest tree {Afzelia bijii(/a) is also used. ''The sides are l)eaten l)y two sticks about 18 inches long. In dif- ferent ways measures or tunes are beaten on them, the meaning of which is known by the natives and the 'old hands' or settlers. The sound of the lali is not unpleasant when beaten by a practiced hand, and a good-sounding one may lie heard at a distance of 4 or 5 miles on a quiet ;—(Home, A Year in Fiji, p. 114.) Commodore Wilkes, in his Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, states that this drum was given to him by Tin Thakau, a chief of the island of Somu Soma, together with a thousand yams, in exchange for a musket—the usual price—and a whale's tooth in token of friendship. "After the drum had been presented to me," he continues, "I was desirous of hearing them beat upon it. They have several beats or calls to give notice to the koro (or village), one of which was for calling the people to- gether to the feast of human bodies. They were all distinct and, they said, quite audible at a great dis- tance. The Fiji drum is similar to that described at Tonga, and is made of a log hollowed out and placed on one point. It gives out a deep, hollow tone when struc
Size: 907px × 2757px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorsmithsonianinstitutio, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840
