V. Account of a musical instrument, which was brought by Captain Fourneaux from the Isle of Amsterdam in the South Seas to London in the year 1774, and given to the Royal Society. By Joshua Steele, Esquire, in a letter to Sir John Pringle, Bart. P.R.S
Joshua Steele · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London · 1775
Abstract Agreeable to your request, I have examined the curious system of pipes, brought by Captain Fourneaux from the South Seas. The result of my experiments are herewith inclosed. The instrument was so new to me, that I should be sorry its reputation should rest intirely on my report, as I think an expert blower of the German flute might make further discoveries; towards which, my observations, whether perfectly accurate or not, may in some measure serve as a guide. The accident of a flat third, coming in the stead of a sharp one, from the pipes 6.7.8. and 9. is so extraordinary, that I suspected, for some time, the lowest (or fundmental) tones of those pipes were a quarter tone (or diesis) lower than I have marked them; but, after repeated trials, and by the best judgement I could form by my ear, and by comparison with another instrument, I gave up that suspicion; and being confirmed in the opinion, that the most acute tones I could obtain from those four pipes, were minor thirds to the most grave, I have ventured to mark them so.