rmer gives to what he sings so strong a
personality of execution as to make it almost an individual composition.
Any one hearing Shokas sing for the first time would imagine that each
singer was improvising as he went along, but on closer comparison it will
be found that musical phrases, certain favourite passages and modulations
in the voice, constantly recur not only in each song, but in all songs.
They seem all of them based on the same doleful tune, probably a very
ancient one, and only the different time in which it is given, and the
eccentricities of the singer, give it a separate and special character.
One characteristic of Shoka songs--as of so many other Oriental tunes--is
that they have no rounded ending, and this, to my ears, rather spoiled
them. A similar abrupt break is a feature of their dances and their
drum-beating. The song suddenly stops in the middle of the air with a
curious grating sound of the voice, and I could not obtain any entirely
satisfactory explanation of this: the only answer given me was that the
singer could not go on for ever, and that as long as he stopped it did
not matter how he did it. Further, they considered an abrupt ending most
suitable to music (or dancing), as it immediately brought you back to
your normal state, should your mind have been carried away. One pleasant
feature was that their songs were never sung in a loud tone of voice, nor
did they aim at notes too high or too low for their voices, but kept
themselves well within their compass.

[Illustration: ON THE WAY TO THE RAMBANG]

[Illustration: SHOKA EARRINGS]

The only difference between solos given by men, and those sung by women,
was that the former showed more plaintiveness and sentimentality, and
greater mutability of thought, whereas the latter were more uniform, more
lively, and less imaginative in their representation of feelings. The
words of the love-songs, nearly always _impromptu_, can hardly be set
down in these pages. From our standard of morality, and away from their
own special surroundings, they might seem almost lewd, while in their
place they certainly did not impress me as offensive. When singing, the
Shokas usually raise the end of their white shawl or dress, and hold it
by the side of the head.

[Illustration: SILVER EARRINGS OF TIBETAN ORIGIN, WITH CORAL BEADS]

Smoking was general, each couple sharing the same pipe. A few burning
sticks of pine stuck in the rough wall formed the only illumina