Songs are numerous, and continually improvised afresh as wanted, though many old traditional ones are current, some of which are embodied in tales, and sung in chorus by the audience when the narrator comes to them. Natives nearly always sing when engaged in concerted work, such as paddling, hauling a heavy log, carrying a hammock, etc. They sometimes sing in unison, but not unfrequently in parts. Very often one sings the recitative, another answers, and others add the chorus. There is no metre, properly so called, in the songs, but there is a sort of rhythm, and they usually go very well to chants. Both Yao and Nyanja are exceedingly melodious languages, and it is possible, though not easy, to write rhymed verses in them, especially in trochaic metres, which violate no rule of accent or construction. Many, if not most, however, of the European tunes which have been adapted to native words in mission hymn-books are hopelessly unsuitable, and the result, as regards the accentuation of the words, is sometimes nothing short of grotesque. No systematic study has yet been made of the native melodies by means of phonographic records; a few of the Nyanja and Chikunda songs have been written down, more or less tentatively by ear, and a good many Chinamwanga tunes have been noted down by Mrs. Dewar, of the Livingstonia Mission. These last, which are all associated with stories, come from a district outside the bounds of the Protectorate, about half-way between Nyasa and Tanganyika. In general the character of all Bantu music is much the same; the singing has a curious, monotonous, droning effect, which, however, is not without its charm, when heard amid the proper surroundings. It is sometimes said that all the melodies are in the minor key; but this is a mistake. M. Junod, who has made a very careful study of the music of the Baronga, says that the effect which gives rise to this impression is produced by the songs beginning on a high note and descending; and this turns out, on examination, to be the case with many of those collected by Mrs. Dewar, though the height of the opening note is often only comparative. As a specimen, I give the melody (as written down by Mrs. Pringle of Yair) of the famous canoe-song _Sina mama_. [Music: Si-na ma-ma Si-na ba-bai Si-na ma- ma Ma-ri-ya si-na ba-bai, si-na ma-ma. Si-na ma-ma wa-ku le-wa na-ye, si- na ma-ma, ma-ma ndi-we Ma-ri-ya.] The meaning of the words (collated from two printed sources and my own notes) is: ‘I have no mother, I have no father; I have no mother, Mary, I have no father; I have no mother, to be nursed by her; I have no mother—thou art my mother, O Mary!’ This song is often heard on the Shiré; but, containing as it does, a faint echo of Romanist teaching, probably originated in one of the Portuguese settlements on the Zambezi.