The third instrument, upon the right, attached to two gourds, is the Mahati or great Vína--known now as the "Been." It is the most ancient and finest Indian instrument, and is also the most difficult to play. It is composed of a bamboo resting upon two gourds, and has seven strings--two at the side nearest the F or melody string, four over the frets, and one at the side away from the melody string. The tuning, the pitch varying with the size of the instrument, is as follows:--[Music] The string × is tuned E or A as required in the "râga" played. In the drawing five strings have been shown over the frets; the string, however, from the peg above and nearest to the nut, should pass over a small ivory head, not shown, but placed on the side of the bamboo, between the second and third frets, to the small bridge shown at the farthest end of the instrument at the side, and not over the main bridge. The frets, twenty-two in number, are at semitonic intervals, and fixed. The instrument is played with two plectra upon the first two fingers of the player's right hand; the two side strings are struck by the nail of the little finger moved upwards; the single side string, upon the other side, is struck by the little finger of the left hand when required. The instrument is held with the gourd nearest the nut resting upon the left shoulder, while the right gourd rests beneath the right arm. It should be noted that the disposition of strings is, in Vínas, reversed from that of Sitárs. There is a peculiarly soft and plaintive quality of tone in the Vína that is altogether wanting in the Sitár. There are two systems of music in vogue in India at the present day--the Karnâtik or southern system, and the Hindustâni or northern. The latter is chiefly in the hands of Mahomedan professors, who have borrowed from the Arabian and Persian systems. The Karnâtik is more melodious, and possesses fewer traces of foreign innovation. Instruments used by Karnâtik professors employ only the intervals of the tonic fourth and fifth (or their octaves) upon the open strings. Hence we find the southern Indian Vína--an instrument with only one resonance gourd, and a wooden body like a lute--tuned to the following intervals:-- [Music] or [Music] the first method being known as "Pánchamâ s'ruti," the latter as "Máhdyamâ s'ruti," from the relative intervals between the strings. The illustrations of the Súrsanga, Mahati Vína, and three-stringed Sitár, are from a fine Indian collection, divided by the Rájah Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore between the Brussels Conservatoire and the London Royal College of Music. For completing this information concerning Indian stringed instruments, as well as that of the Indian Drums in Plate XLI., I am indebted to one of the highest authorities on the subject, Lieutenant C.R. Day, Oxfordshire Light Infantry (late 43rd), whose recent personal experience and searching studies have been generously placed by him at my disposal. [Illustration: XLI]