Musical Instruments of the Indigenous People of South Africa. Percival Kirby
either in his work as printed or in the references which were incorporated in his original manuscript, and which Theal, his editor, deleted. I have not been able to verify this form of Bushman rattle.
The Hottentots, so far as I have been able to discover, never used dancing-rattles. They had an elaborate ensemble of reed-flutes (vide p. 193), which supplied music for their dances, and this has been described by many travellers, who make no mention whatever of dancing-rattles.
Dancing-rattles worn on the ankles were used by the Damara. Baines (1861)8 saw them; they were made from hard seed-shells, and, to the ears of the Damara, ‘sounded most melodiously’.
Figure 1.3. Chwana ankle-rattles made from cocoons. Photograph by W. P. PAFF.
The dancing-rattles of the Berg-Dama of to-day consist of long strings of cocoons like those of the Bushmen already described; like those, they are twined round the lower part of the dancer’s legs and tied securely. The Berg-Dama call them /kin or /namen. They are only used by men, and the occasion of their use is the dance called /geis, which in the past was a sacred ceremony. It was performed before a hunt in order to ensure success in the chase, or in time of drought, when the rains were overdue.
The Herero also possess dancing-rattles which they call ozohahi. These are made from cocoons, filled with small stones, which are strung on strips of leather, and tied round the ankles of the performer. The ozohahi are only used at the outjina or women’s dance, and only women are allowed to wear them, the men being mere spectators. Dr. Vedder has suggested that these rattles were acquired by the Berg-Dama and Herero from the Kalahari Bushmen.
Dancing-rattles, to be worn upon the legs of the performer, are used by the Chwana men who call them mathlo. They are made from cocoons of a moth (Gonometa postica) like the similar ones of the Bushmen, and they are, like them, constructed in long strings. One such string is seen in Figure 1.3 and Figure 1.4 shows how they were wound round the legs of a Bakgatla native. These rattles were observed by Burchell (1812)9 among the Batlaping, and he even obtained the name, which he rendered makków. He, however, said that they appeared to be made of skin, each separate ‘pod’ containing a few small pieces of ostrich-egg shell, or little pebbles. But the drawing of the instrument which he gives shows that the ‘pods’ were threaded on two cords, in exactly the same way as the cocoons of the present day are threaded. It seems scarcely possible that an expert naturalist like Burchell could be mistaken in this matter, and yet I possess specimens of similar rattles in which the dried cocoons are far from easily recognized as such. Thompson (1822–4)10 saw these rattles worn by a Batlaping woman, and described them as ‘bandages or anklets of leather [sic]
Figure 1.4. Chwana ankle-rattles made from cocoons. Photograph by P. R. KIRBY.
The Pedi also use leg-rattles consisting of long strings of cocoons, and called by them dichela. The cocoons, which are about two inches long, are obtained in the neighbourhood of the Steelpoort River (Lydenburg district, Transvaal). Girls go in parties to gather them, or they obtain them by barter from the people in that area. A hole is cut in each cocoon while it is still pliable, and a small stone is placed inside. The cocoons, thus prepared, are then sewn in pairs to a long cord of plaited fibre. A complete string is about two yards in length, and contains about 140 cocoons. These rattles are used, by women only, in all kinds of dances, and, like the mathlo of the Chwana, they are worn on the legs. One of these rattles is shown in Figure 1.5.
In Bavendaland the leg-rattles are made from very different materials. The earliest reference to them that I have discovered occurs in the dagboek of Louis Trigardt,13 the voortrekker, who saw them in use in the Zoutpansberg in 1837. These rattles, which are called mutshakatha or thuzo, are made from small globular fruits the shell of which hardens after the interior is removed. Two holes are burned, opposite to each other, through each fruit, and through these the interior is extracted. A number of smaller holes are also made all round the fruits. A few small stones are inserted through the larger holes, and the fruits are then threaded on sticks, four or five to each stick. The sticks serve the double purpose of joining the fruits together and preventing the stones from falling out. Half a dozen such rows of fruits on sticks are then secured to pads of cloth with fibre cords at the ends by which they may be tied to the legs of the dancer. A typical specimen is depicted in Figure 1.6. Among the Venda the thuzo are used by women as well as by men. They are similar to leg-rattles made and used farther north.
Figure 1.5. Pedi ankle-rattles made from cocoons. Photograph by W. P. PAFF.
The Thonga construct leg-rattles, called mafowa, from fruits and cocoons mounted upon strips of skin. These are wound round the legs in the usual way. One special use of a special kind of leg-rattle used by the Thonga is recorded by Junod.14 The instrument in this case, which is also called fowa, is made from a root called sungi, which is placed in a kind of round box woven from palm-leaf. This rattle is tied round the leg of a convalescent, and is supposed to protect him from the perspiration of those who have had sexual relations, which is believed to be harmful to convalescents.
Figure 1.6. Venda ankle-rattles made from fruits. Photograph by W. P. PAFF.
Figure 1.7. Zulu ankle-rattles made from cocoons. Photograph by W. P. PAFF.
Among the Zulu the ankle-rattles are of two kinds, both being called amafohlwane. The first of these consists of a number of neat little boxes woven from ilala (Hyphaene coriacea) palm, and containing a few small stones, which are fastened to a fibre cord, and tied round the ankles of the dancer. These are similar to the rattles of the Pondo, described below. The second type, which is often called umfece, because of the material from which it is made, consists of a number of cocoons of the moth Argema mimosae (similar to the cocoons used by the Chwana) which breeds on the wattle and thorn trees of Natal, containing stones, bunched together upon a base of plaited fibre, with strings attached for securing the instrument to the dancer’s legs. A photograph of a specimen of the latter type from my collection is shown in Figure 1.7. The umfece is much affected by Durban ricksha boys, who, however, generally wear a poor imitation of the real thing, consisting of a few cocoons roughly sewn with European string on to an oblong piece of goatskin. Such rattles are also worn nowadays by young girls and boys when they go to a wedding (umtimba)
Mr. Foxon, formerly a magistrate in Natal, told me