the base of the dâgaba thirty feet, but the latter is now so much destroyed that only a heap of bricks and rubbish remain. It is not known by whom or at what date this dâgaba was built, but it is probably older than the Lankârâma, which Sir E. Tennant ascribed to the year 276 A.D. According to tradition in the neighbourhood, it was constructed to enshrine some bones of two monks, disciples of Buddha, who travelled as missionaries in Ceylon for a number of years after his death.

1 Dâ-gaba is the Sinhalese contraction of the Pâli Dhâtu-gabbha 'Reliccasket; but it is used exclusively of these solid bell-shaped domes.

2 Original height from the ground to the top of spire, 405 feet (Tennent, vol. ii. p. 621), that is to say, about ten feet higher than the topmost point of St. Paul's; the latter being only 396 feet high.

ART. VI.-Andamanese Music, with Notes on Oriental Music and Musical Instruments. By M. V. PORTMAN, Esq., M.R.A.S.

THE subject of Oriental Music is one which offers a large field for research, in which very little work has, as yet, been done.

The music of Arabia was very thoroughly investigated by Villoteau. Short papers have been written on the music of Persia. Eichhorn has written on the music of Afghanistan. Willard, and later Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore, have described the music of Hindostan at some length. Javanese music has had some attention paid to it; and Père Amiot, and later, Tradescant Lay, and Van Aalst, have described the musical system of China. Many small notes have been made on the music of most Eastern countries; but these, even when they are really accurate, are generally mixed with a mass of extraneous matter in some book of travel, scientific paper, or report, so that they are not easily procurable. In order to investigate Oriental Music, it is necessary that the inquirer should be a musician, somewhat above the ordinary amateur grade, and should also be acquainted with the language and customs of the people amongst whom he is inquiring. What is really wanted in England is a complete and exhaustive collection of all the musical instruments used throughout the world by Oriental and Extra-European nations, and this collection should be accompanied by such a mass of information, that the facts regarding the music of these nations may be laid before the student in a complete and intelligible form. The Questions drawn up by the late Mr. Carl Engel, for "The British Association for the Advancement of Science," and published in "AnthropoVOL. XX.-[NEW SERIES]

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logical Notes and Queries," will greatly assist the investigator. Full scores of Oriental orchestral music we are entirely without, and these should be accompanied, where possible, by the words of the songs, or plays, etc.

The Sacred music of Oriental nations would be a most interesting field for research, and a collection should be made of the treatises which the more civilised Asiatic nations possess on music.

In making these researches the greatest care is of course necessary. Engel's admirable work, "Study of National Music," might be consulted with advantage, and I should myself be glad to assist any inquirer.

The music of Asia may be divided into distinct branches, which have little or no connection with each other.

1. The music of pure aboriginal, and savage tribes.

2. The music of the Chinese.

3. The music of Siam, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and Java.

4. The music of Hindostan, which differs greatly in different parts, and of which the ancient classical music, about which much has been written, and many fanciful theories have been evolved, differs almost entirely from the music performed in the present day.

5. The music of Persia and Arabia. 6. The music of Thibet and Nepaul.

Without going over ground which has been already traversed by others, I will give what little information I have been able to collect regarding these systems of music.

With regard to the first class, I have made considerable researches into the music of the Andamanese, a race of whom I have been for some years in official charge.

The Andamanese are decidedly fond of their own music, but do not care much for that of other nations. Even among themselves the songs of more distant tribes, which differ in rhythm and intonation, are not much appreciated. Foreign music merely attracts their attention as a novelty. Their ear is not acute for discerning small musical intervals.

Experiments were made by me with several European and Oriental musical instruments of different "timbre." They have not good musical ears. The "Öngés" appear to have more highly developed musical capabilities than the other tribes. Those who are considered, amongst themselves, to be the best singers, can generally nearly hit any note given to them on a European instrument, but the majority of the Andamanese, on whom I experimented, were about a semitone out. They are very slow at picking any European, or Asiatic tune, which may be sung or played to them, though quick enough at learning the choruses of each other's songs. The reason of this probably is that the rhythm is different from that to which they are accustomed, and the tunes are not in their ordinary song-compass; nor are the notes in their accustomed sequence.

The voices of the men are of medium loudness, rather rough, and steady, growing deeper and fuller in tone with age, up to about 35 years. After this it becomes very rough, husky, and tuneless. [The Andamanese age very quickly.] The boys' voices are clear and not unpleasant. The women's voices are clear but of bad intonation. "Falsetto" is common among both sexes, though their general" timbre" is not as nasal as that of more civilised Oriental races. The notes of the "Öngé" tribes are quite smooth and round, and entirely free from nasal intonation. The usual compass of the voice in both sexes is about an octave. The man's is generally from C-c, though I have met men who can sing from B-e. Women generally sing from G-g. The prevailing male voice is barytone. The prevailing female voice is contralto. All the notes of the women are distinctly head and not chest notes.

With the exception of the "Pukuta Yemnga," about to be described, the Andamanese have no instrumental music; their music consisting only of songs in solo and chorus, which chorus is invariably sung by both sexes if available, and is accompanied by a dance. They have no professional singers. The following appears to be their system of song. The men sing in unison; some women, with the children in

falsetto, an octave above; the remainder of the women sing in what I believe is intended for a perfect fifth, but what is occasionally a minor sixth above the men. Difference of pitch in the voices introduces other notes, which can only be called "out of tune." Their singing is in regular duple time. This is more particularly marked in the choruses, when you have the rhythmical accompaniment. The continuance of one note, or of a sequence of notes, a little distance apart, which is an attribute of Oriental music, often leads persons who do not know the meaning of the word to call Andamanese solos "recitative," which term, as meaning "musical declamation," does not in the least apply. They have only one species of song, which may treat of all subjects. They have no religious, nursery, or love songs. The principal subjects on which songs are composed are pig-hunting, fish-shooting, turtle and dugong spearing, fighting, making boats, bows, etc. The music, rhythm, accent, and intonation is no clue to the sense of the song, and a person not knowing the language would be ignorant as to whether a fight, hunt, or the making of a boat, was being described. Every one composes songs. A man or woman would be thought very little of, who could not do So. Even the small children compose their own songs. Each person composes his own, and it is a great breach of etiquette to sing another person's song, particularly if the composer be dead.

The only notes in use in their songs are the following, and in this order:

The leading note, 1. The Tonic. The Tonic, . The whole range of notes is therefore not equal to a superfluous second.

The general sequence, or progression of notes, used by the South Andaman tribes, is

Tonic. Tonic, #. Leading note,

I of course presume the Andamanese leading note to be a semi-tone below the tonic.

Of the northern tribes we have more to learn, but I doubt