G. W., The Native Races of South Africa, London, 1905, p. 110.
4In the South African Public Library, Capetown. I quote from it by permission of the Trustees of the Library.
5Backhouse, J., Narrative of a Visit to the Mauritius and South Africa, London, 1844, p. 445.
6Bleek, W. H. I., and Lloyd, L., Bushman Folklore, London, 1911, p. 351.
7Bleek, D. F., The Naron, Cambridge, 1928, p. 22.
8 Dapper, O., Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche gewesten, &c, Amsterdam, 1668, p. 653b.
9Schreyer, J., Neue ost-indianische Reisebeschreibung, &c. Leipzig, 1681; reprinted in Reisebeschreibungen von deutschen Beamten und Kriegsleuten, &c, Haag, 1931, p. 38.
10Grevenbroeck, J. G., Latin MS. in South African Public Library, Capetown. In Dutch translation, by Van Oordt, in Het Z.A. Tijdschrift, Kaapstad, Feb. 1886, p. 7.
11Thunberg, C. P., Les Voyages de Thunberg, Paris, 1796, vol. i, p. 233.
12Kolbe, P., Caput Bonae Spei Hodiernum, Nürnberg, 1719, p. 528a.
13Le Vaillant, F., Voyage dans l’intérieur de l’Afrique, Paris, 1790, vol. ii, pp. 248–9; English translation, London, 1790, vol. ii, pp. 128–9.
14Sparrman, A., Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, second edition, London, 1786, vol. i, pp. 229, 355.
15Mahillon, V., Catalogue du Musée Instrumental du Conservatoire de Bruxelles, Gand, 1912, vol. iv, p. 167.
16Arbousset, T., and Daumas, F., Relation d’un voyage, &c, Paris, 1842, p. 54; English translation, London, 1852, p. 54.
17Ibid., Paris, 1842, pp. 487–8; London, 1852, p. 353.
18Mahillon, V., Catalogue du Musée Instrumental du Conservatoire de Bruxelles, Gand, 1912, vol. iv, p. 3.
19Kirby, P. R., ‘The Music and Musical Instruments of the Korana’, in Bantu Studies, Johannesburg, 1932, vol. vi, No. 2, p. 183.
20Berliner Missionsberichte, No. 1, Jan. 1852, p. 17.
21Alexander, J. E., Expedition of Discovery into the Interior of Africa, London, 1838, vol. ii, pp. 182–3.
22 Moodie, J. W. D., Ten Years in South Africa, London, 1835, vol. ii, pp. 250–1.
23Campbell, J., Travels in South Africa, London, 1815, p. 433.
24Shaw, B., Memorials of South Africa, London, 1840, p. 44.
25Rose, C, Four Years in Southern Africa, London, 1829, p. 146.
26Maclean, J., Compendium of Kafir Law and Custom, Mount Coke, 1858, p. 159.
27Bryant, A. T., Zulu–English Dictionary, Pietermaritzburg, 1905, (bula and is-angoma)
28Kropf, A., Kafir–English Dictionary, Lovedale, 1899; second edition, 1915.
29Tongue, M. H., Bushman Paintings, Oxford, 1909, Plates XIV and XV.
30Cook, A. W., ‘History and Izibonga of the Swazi Chiefs’, in Bantu Studies, Johannesburg, 1931, vol. v, No. 2, p. 198, ll. 25–6.
31Harries, C. L., The Sacred Baboons of Lomondo, Johannesburg, 1929, p. 11.
32Alberti, L., De Caffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika, Amsterdam, 1810, p. 159.
33Rose, C, Four Years in Southern Africa, London, 1829, p. 141.
34Lichtenstein, H., Reisen im südlichen Africa, Berlin, 1812, vol. i, p. 441.
35Chase, J. C, Natal Papers, Grahamstown, 1843 (Part I), pp. 129–30.
36Kropf, A., Kafir–English Dictionary, Lovedale, 1899; second edition, 1915.
37Döhne, J. L., Zulu–English Dictionary, Capetown, 1857.
38Davis, W. J., A Dictionary of the Kaffir Language, London, 1872, Part I, Kaffir–English.
39Colenso, J. W., Zulu–English Dictionary, Pietermaritzburg, 1878.
40Bryant, A. T., Zulu–English Dictionary, Pietermaritzburg, 1905.
41Samuelson, R. C., King Cetewayo Zulu Dictionary, Durban, 1923.
42Balfour, H., ‘The Friction-Drum’, in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, London, 1907, vol. xxxvii, pp. 67–92, and Plates xii–xiv.
43Casalis, E., Les Bassoutos, Paris, 1859, pp. 155–6.
44Martin, M., Basutoland, its Legends and Customs, London, 1903, p. 48.
45Stayt, H. A., The BaVenda, Oxford, 1931, p. 53.
46 Ibid., passim.
47Roberts, N., ‘Bantu Methods of Divination’, in South African Journal of Science, Johannesburg, 1916, vol. xiii, p. 406.
48Junod, H. A., Life of a South African Tribe, second edition, London, 1927, vol. i, pp. 430.
49Ibid. pp. 479–504.
50Harries, C. L., The Sacred Baboons of Lomondo, Johannesburg, 1929, pp. 172–4.
51Mayr, F., ‘A Short Study on Zulu Music’, in Annals of the Natal Government Museum, London, 1908, vol. i, Part 3, pp. 259–60.
52Bryant, A. T., Zulu–English Dictionary, Pietermaritzburg, 1905.
53Colenso, J. W., Zulu–English Dictionary, Pietermaritzburg, 1878.
Figure 3.1. Calabash resonators of Venda mbila. Photograph by W. P. PAFF.
— CHAPTER THREE —
XYLOPHONES AND ‘SANSAS’
THE most elaborate musical instrument found in South Africa is the resonated xylophone, commonly called marimba. Two varieties are met with, the first among the Venda and the second among the Tshopi. Both are called by the same name, mbila, and both are constructed on the same principle; but the two types are made from different materials, and the two races have each their own manner of performance.
The earliest reference to the instrument that I have been able to discover occurs in Fr. João dos Santos’ description of his visit to eastern Ethiopia in 1586.1 The people he described were Karanga. The present-day successors of this race do not appear to use the instrument to any great extent, but their South African neighbours, the Venda, certainly do; and
