Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese Vol II. - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/275

 children, such as the whistle (wa) made from the padi-stalk ; the little "german flutes" made from the spathe (peuleupeuëʾ) of the betel-nut tree, and used to imitate the cries of birds; the red earthenware whistles (pib-pib) introduced by the Klings; the plaything called gènggòng, which consists of a thin plate of iron to which is fastened at one side a little iron rod. This latter is held in the mouth and a sort of buzzing noise produced by twisting it to and fro.

Full-grown people also sometimes amuse themselves by blowing on the wa, as for instance to while away the time when watching in a hut (jambō) in the padi-fields to drive away noxious animals. With adults, however, a more favourite instrument is the bangsi, a sort of flageolet made of bambu (bulōh) with seven round holes on top and one underneath, and a square hole (also on top) not far below the mouth-piece. With this instrument an adept player can produce all the tunes he fancies, both those to which pantōns are set and those employed in sadati performances etc. In the evenings and nights especially the votaries of this instrument are wont to defer with its strains the hour of sleep for themselves and their companions.

The suléng is of finer finish than the bangsi; it is really a sort of flute, and has no mouth-piece, being open at the upper end, and closed below by the division of the bamboo. It has 6 small holes and one somewhat bigger one close to the opening; the performer holds the instrument horizontally in front of his mouth and blows into the larger hole.

The suléng is made of a thinner and finer kind of bambu known as igeuë. It is usually adorned with handsome silver or copper bands encircling the instrument above and below each hole, and the closed end is similarly mounted.

The suléng is played for amusement like the bangsi, but it is more often used in combination with a tambu (our ordinary hand-drum)