kinds of bands, divided, as we divide our orchestras, into brass or
stringed bands, each with a certain combination of instruments. Some
years ago, at one of the London Exhibitions, the King of Siam sent over
players of all the national music of his country, and their concerted
performances excited great interest: the way in which they played
together showed most careful training.

[Illustration: Ta'khay, or Alligator.]

A very curious instrument is known as the Ta'khay, or Alligator: a
glance at its form will readily account for its name. There seems a sort
of satire in making one of the most silent of savage monsters a medium
for the conveyance of sweet sounds. The Ta'khay is a stringed instrument
of considerable power, and in tone is not unlike a violoncello. The
three strings pass over eleven frets or wide movable bridges, and the
shape of the body is rather like that of a guitar. It is placed on the
ground, raised on low feet, and the player squats beside it. The strings
are sounded by a plectrum, or plucker, shaped like an ivory tooth,
fastened to the fingers, and drawn backwards and forwards so rapidly
that it produces an almost continuous sweet dreamy sound.

[Illustration: Saw Tai.]

[Illustration: Saw Ou.]

The other two illustrations are both of fiddles, one bearing the name of
the Saw Tai, the other of the Saw Ou. The Saw Tai is the real Siamese
violin, and is frequently of most elaborate construction. The upper neck
of the one shown in the illustration is of gold, beautifully enamelled,
while the lower neck is of ivory, richly carved. The back of the
instrument is made of cocoa-nut shell, ornamented with jewels. The
membrane stretched on the sounding-board, which gives the effect of a
pair of bellows, is made of parchment, and has often, as in this special
instrument, a jewelled ornament inserted in one corner. The Saw Tai has
three strings of silk cord, which, passing over a bridge on the
sounding-board, run up to the neck, being bound tightly to it below the
pegs. The player sitting cross-legged on the ground holds the fiddle in
a sloping posture, and touches the strings with a curiously curved bow.

The Saw Ou, or Chinese fiddle, used in Siam, is suggestive of a modern
croquet mallet, with pegs stuck in the handle, and has only two strings,
fastened from the pegs to the head. It is played with a bow which the
performer cleverly inserts between the strings.

HELENA HEATH.

STRANGE NESTING