Musical Instruments of the Indigenous People of South Africa. Percival Kirby

      Figure 2.12. Pedi drum, called moropa. Photograph by W. P. PAFF.

      These examples were executed upon a single drum, the difference in pitch in each instance being achieved by pressure upon the drum-head. The moropa is also used to summon the girls of the tribe to the gathering-place which has been appointed for the koma, or girls’ initiation ceremony. The witch-doctor sometimes orders the women to play the moropa in order to assist him in exorcizing an evil spirit which has ‘possessed’ some unfortunate native. This practice is comparable to that referred to in the case of the Swazi intambula, and it will be discussed again in connexion with the mantshomane of the Thonga. The drum-head becomes slack when there is moisture in the air, and cannot be played unless it is tightened by drying. The people do not seem to associate the cause with the effect, but I have heard that frequently the doctor does, and uses the phenomenon as a means of determining when to hold a rain-making ceremony. In Figure 2.12 a typical Pedi moropa is shown. This instrument, which is in my own collection, was made in 1879 on the occasion of the Sekukuni Rebellion. It was collected by Mr. W. G. Barnard of Sekukuniland, who was informed that it has had three heads, the first, the original one, being fitted in 1879, when the drum was made, the second being put on in 1900, and the third and most recent, in 1914. Traces of the heads put on in 1879 and 1900 still remain on the drum. The dates would appear to be significant! Figure 12.13 shows a typical Pedi woman performing upon the moropa.

      At the location of Chief Mohlaba, near Thabina in the northern Transvaal, whose people consist chiefly of Thonga with an admixture of Sotho, and at that of Chief Valtyn Makapaan, close to Potgietersrust, also in the northern Transvaal, whose subjects call themselves Ndebele, I witnessed performances by reed-flute ensembles in which drums of the moropa type were used, although the technique employed was clearly influenced by Venda practice. At Mohlaba’s these drums were made from marula wood, carved into a hemispherical shape, with one ear pierced with a hole to accommodate a riem by which the drum might be carried. A narrow projection, shaped like a truncated cone, formed the base, and through it was pierced the opening into the resonator. The heads were of cowskin pegged to the shell by pegs called notu, and a band of hide, called makuda, encircled the pegs to assist in keeping the head in position. Four drums were in use, the largest being called gedzo, the second, beguri, and the third and fourth tutumedjo and magodi respectively. The largest drum was beaten with a long stick shaped like a rather thin knobkerrie; the others were beaten with the palms of the hands. The drumstick was named malama, and was made from moroto wood. The word used for ‘beating’ the drum was gediza. These drums are always used by women.

      Figure 2.13. Pedi woman playing upon the moropa. Photograph by W. P. PAFF.

      Figure 2.14. Sotho (Bas.) moropa, made from clay. Photograph by P. R. KIRBY.

      The Sotho of Basutoland, following the custom of their Transvaal progenitors, make and play a drum of similar type, though manufactured from different materials. This instrument, which is rarely seen nowadays, is called, like its prototype, moropa. It has been described by Casalis.⁴³ I myself have examined three specimens, which are preserved in the Natal Government Museum, Pietermaritzburg, the South African Museum, Capetown, and in my own collection. All three are made of clay, after the manner of a pot. The first is a bowl-shaped vessel with a broad projecting base portion on which the pot stands, the bottom of which has been knocked out after manufacture. The other two have a much slenderer base, pierced with a hole which obviously has been made during manufacture. All three are covered with skin which has been secured to the pot by many irregular criss-cross lacings of strips of skin. They are all similar in size, my own specimen, which is shown in Figure 2.14, measuring nine inches in height and eight and a half inches in diameter at the top. This form of moropa is used in Basutoland at the bale or initiation ceremony of the Sotho girls. It is played by initiated women only, at the commencement of the ceremony, which begins in the springtime, at which season of the year the young girls are summoned to the initiation schools; and also at the final festivities which mark the close of those schools. The duration of the schools varies according to the amount of food available and the number of girls who are undergoing initiation. The moropa is not destroyed or even dismantled after the ceremony, but is carefully preserved. The specimens which I have examined are all of considerable age; my own example, which I procured direct from the old woman who owned it, being, according to her information, about fifty years old. It was collected on the hills above Botsabelo Leper Institution, near Maseru in Basutoland. The old woman stated that she did not make the moropa herself; it was made by a relative who was skilled in these things. The clay resonator was specially made for use as a moropa. The ‘head’ was of buckskin with the hair removed. According to an old Sotho who accompanied me, the Sotho of olden times used to make the moropa from the milking-jug of wood, called khamelo (cf. the /khais of the Korana and the murumbu of the Venda), and only began to use clay when suitable wood began to get scarce in Basutoland.

      According to Martin,⁴⁴ the moropa was placed on two stones before the player, and beaten with the hands. My own observation has shown me that usually the performer places the moropa on her lap, and in that position strikes it with the palms of her hands. The skin is tightened before performance in the usual manner. Figure 2.15 shows a typical moropa player photographed in Basutoland. I have obtained evidence that the clay