CENTRAL AFRICAN GONG-LANGUAGES

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36 A C O M P A R A T IV E STUDYJohnston mentions a whistle made from a gourd by thenatives of Fernando Po, who do not posses signal gongsbut :have a peculiar flute-like whistle used for signalling. Thisis described by Boyd-Alexander as a small, hollow-neckedgourd with a hole at the rounded end. It can be heard atgreat distances and the natives seem to have developed asystem of code signais by musical tones which conveys asmuch information as the drum signais of the Cameroons(46, p. 959).(iii) Whistles may he made from hones.The use ofsuch bone whistles for signalling purposes sometimesfeatures in African fables, where a full compréhension ofthe story often demands the réalisation that the playeron the whistle can actually communicate language bymeans of it.(iv) The human lips may be used as a whistle.coinmon in the Stanleyville area.Luba by V a n A v e r m a e t (98, p. 5).This is1 is also reported forThe same phenome-rion is recorded for a non-Bantu tribe by B a s d e n (3, p. 358)who found it among the Ibo. W h j t e h e a d (108, p. 382)however, points out that such whistled signais may easelydegenerate into a code without any essential linguisticbasis.d) Horns.It is possible to distinguish two types of side-blownsignalling horns according to the presence or absence ofa second hole in the tip of the horn, the stopping oropening of which produces two distinct sounds when thehorn is blown. Side-blown horns without such an endhole and also end-blown horns are probably not used tosignal messages with a tonal basis, although the ability
OF SOME C E N T ltA L A F R IC A N <strong>GONG</strong>-<strong>LANGUAGES</strong> 37to obtain overtones with such instruments makes itpossible that they could be used to transmit messages withthe gong-language technique 0).Some Central African tribes possess both horns andgongs as means of sending messages. Thus the Mbolepeople use gongs in their villages but carry elephant orantelope horns into the forest for intercommunication.Similarly with the Olombo and Topoke tribes. In thesecases the same language is used as a basis for the gongand the horn signais. Other tribes, however, signal bymeans of horns alone and do not possess gongs or drums.This is the case, for instance, with the pigmies of theEastern Congo ( B a r n e s , 2, p. 148) (2).e )Stringed instruments.Instruments of tliis kind can be expected to have onlya limited use in signalling messages because of the relativelyshort distance over which they are audible. Butan example of the use of a stringed instrument forsignalling purposes is found among the Olombo tribe ofthe Upper Congo, where a two-stringed guitar called seseby the Olombo is used to signal orders in a game of « hideand seek » (3). This type of instrument has probablybeen intruduced into Africa from Madagascar (cf. C h a u -[}) T h e w r it e r h a s s o m e tim e s b lo w n a E u r o p e a n t r u m p e t a s i f s e n d in go u t a m e s s a g e , u s in g th e fu n d a m e n ta l n o te a n d th e f ir s t h a r m o n ie fo rth e t w o e s s e n tia l to n e s . S u c h m e s s a g e s h a v e b e e n c o m p r e h e n d e d b yn a t iv e p e o p le h e a r in g th e m .( 2) T h e Luba> S a m b a u se a h o r n f o r m e s s a g e t r a n s m is s io n in th es a m e w a y a s th e g o n g , b u t a ls o h a v e a n in t e r e s t in g s u b s titu te b y u s in gc u p p e d h a n d s . B y r a is in g o r lo w e r in g o n e f in g e r a n d so o p e n in g o rc lo s in g th e h a n d s , t w o d is tin c t n o te s a r e o b ta in e d (V a n A v e r m a e t ,98, p. 12).( 3) A d e ta ile d d e s c r ip tio n o f t h is is g iv e n . S o f a r a s th e a u th o r isa w a r e , th is m e t h o d o f s ig n a llin g w it h th e « sese » h a s n o t b e e nd e s c r ib e d in d e ta il e ls e w h e r e
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CENTRAL AFRICAN GONG-LANGUAGES

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