leaders are called baiango. Generally there are not more than two or three of these men with a wide reputation in a tribe. A man who wishes eventually to become a baiango or song-leader will first have to serve an apprenticeship with one of these men, to whom he will act as suali. A song-leader's suali come to the dances at which he is singing and they stand opposite to him or at his side and back up the choruses. These suali soon get to know all their leaders' songs and when he is not present they take his place. Precedence is given to the chief suali of a noted song-leader and to-day they are sometimes denoted by Arabic terms referring to ranks in the government police -sergeant, corporal, and lance-corporal.

A song-leader or one of his chief followers will also have sufficient authority to decide, in case of dispute, who is to beat the gong, which is an envied job. There is always rivalry about who shall beat the leather-topped drum at a dance, as the young man who does so knows that the eyes of the girls are upon him. Next to the song-leadership this is the most envied post in the dance, and a short skirmish will often take place when it is unoccupied and there is no one of outstanding qualifications to fill it. However, if there is a master drumbeater (ba ta gaza) present no one will dispute his claims. A follower of a song-leader or of a master drum-beater will make his chief small presents from time to time.

The dance, like all joint activities, necessarily generates leadership, the function of which is to organize the activity. The problem of the allotment of roles in the dance is solved by the introduction of status. In the event of quarrels it is the song-leader who arbitrates. When food or beer is provided it is given to him for distribution. Whilst it must not be thought that the song-leader is invested with great power or that his rank is highly developed, he has considerable prestige and reputation and a definite social role to perform in this activity.

The leader's prestige is of course conditioned by his ability in composing and singing songs, but this ability in the eyes of the Azande is due to the possession of the right magic. No man who had not the correct magic could be a good author and singer of songs. In return for small presents, sometimes as much as a spear-head, the

song-leader will give magic to his followers. The eating of the magic acts in two ways. Firstly, it gives a man confidence to enable him to compose and to sing his songs and attract suali or followers. Secondly, it gives him a diploma, a right to take the most prominent place in a dance. One man, in my service, used sometimes to have quarrels when we were travelling in a strange district, since he considered himself a good soloist and tried to monopolize this role. People used to ask him from whom he had got his magic and the fact that he was able to tell them that he had it from a famous songleader to some extent disarmed criticism.

So with the drums. A youth travelling outside his district will ask permission to beat the leather-topped drum and will explain that he is the pupil of such and such a master drum-beater and has received magic from him.

When the song-leader gives magic to one of his followers he takes the root of a plant and cooks it in oil over a fire. Meanwhile he stirs the ingredients and utters a spell over them, saying:

'You are medicine of songs. I will cook you. Don't you bring bad luck on me. I have sung very many songs. Don't let songs go bad with me. We go to sing songs with song-leaders. They sing the chorus of my songs well. I will go to sing my songs. The older men all get ready to go to the dance. Don't let me get bad in singing. Indeed I will continue singing for a long time. I will grow very old and sing songs always. All my followers, men follow me very much in singing. All my followers came with presents for me. You are song medicine; if you are proper song medicine you boil well like water, because you are Andegi's medicine [a noted song-leader]. I did not steal you. I stayed with him [Andegi] very much for many years. Andegi saw that I was well with him. He went to show the place of all

my medicine to me and my song magic all over the country. Don't let song-leaders be angry with me about songs.'

This is a very free translation of the spell uttered. Sometimes also a man will have a magic whistle, partly hollowed out at one end. He addresses the whistle and then blows it before going to sing his songs at a dance. When addressing the whistle he says:

'You are a whistle of song. I am going to sing my songs. Men

back up my songs very much. Don't let people remain silent during my songs. May my songs not fall flat. I will sing my songs to people, women and old women, and old men and all men. Don't let them stay at home. They go to sing all my songs. Don't let song-leader spoil my songs. It is thus, I will blow my whistle of songs which is you. Because I did not just take you but I bought you. Thus I will blow my whistle. I blow it fia.'

I have given these two spells as examples of the type of magical rites and spells which are used in reference to songs. There are other types of magic used to give success in song singing and there are probably as many medicines used to give success in beating the leathertopped drums. I will not give any spells to illustrate this last type of magic. They are similar in form to the spells given above though their sense is different, being adapted to the different purpose of the magic.

SOCIAL FUNCTION OF THE DANCE. We have examined the component elements of the Zande dance, viz. music, song, and muscular movement. We have described the pattern of the dance and have shown its need of organization and leadership and how this need is satisfied. Throughout our discussion we have posed concrete questions to which we have often an inadequate answer. The formulation of these questions will enable us to return to the facts with a better chance of obtaining definite answers.

We shall now pass on to the question which must always be uppermost in the mind of the ethnologist: What is the value of the dance in primitive society, what needs does it satisfy, what role does it play in native life? The usual accounts of dancing amongst primitive peoples give us so little information about the sociology of the dance that we are unable to answer these queries.

We shall restrict ourselves here to showing along what lines these problems must receive attention from the observer, by describing the Zande beer dance from several aspects. The gbere buda is a local activity. Only those who live within a few hours' walk of the homestead in which the dance is being held will attend it. These people are all known to one another, they have grown up together as children,