Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/168

 152 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

of political activities and social reform, the psychic phenomena of primitive races are a matter of the greatest importance, deserv- ing the most careful attention of the colonial administrator.

The art-sense of the negro is rudimentary. Unlike the Bush- man, he has no pictorial or plastic art. His chief pleasure is the dance and the entrancing sound of the tom-tom. Of the mar- velous sense for melody that the negro has developed in the Antilles and the plantation states of America hardly a trace is found in the African. But the sense of rhythm exists, and the rhythmic drumming on the tom-tom has an almost hypnotic effect upon the blacks. They sit as in a trance^ listening to the marvel- ous sound for hours ; or, should the tom-tom player move about the village, they will follow him in utter abstraction, so that they will often tumble headlong into ditches. On the occasion of great military displays, given in the honor of European commis- sioners, the various chieftains will each bring forward a band of musicians, who at the height of the festivities all play their instruments with the greatest vigor and totally regardless of their fellow-artists. The tremendous discord and strident volley of sound thus produced give rise to the greatest popular satisfaction. Toutee, however, reports that if a simple tune, like " Casquette du pere Bugeaud," is played to the negroes, they will listen to it with rapt attention, and will gladly abandon for a time their accus- tomed instruments.

The art of oratory is much cultivated in Africa. As most of the tribes have no written language, their rich folk-lore is handed down by word of mouth, and whenever men come together they listen to the expert story-teller and orator. The capacity of the American negro for oratory, which has again and again placed young negroes and mulattoes in the position of class orators at leading universities, is therefore an inheritance from customs practised in the primitive villages of Africa. The great occasion for the display of oratorical talent is the palaver a meeting for the discussion of questions of public interest among prominent persons, or for the trial of cases at law. The African negro shows great ability in the development of systems of law and in the enforcement of rights; this is especially true of the