popular mythological theory of Sir G. W. Cox, had either no evidence, or scanty evidence, or evidence capable of a more correct interpretation than it receives from its friends. The evidence for our own theory will be closely scrutinised: let us examine its nature and extent. First, Have savages Household Tales, and do they correspond with those of the Aryan race?
The questions raised by the similarity between Aryan folk-tales on the one hand, and African folk-tales on the other, have not yet been seriously considered by mythologists.[1] When Mr. Max Müller wrote (Chips, ii. 211) on Dr. Callaway's Zulu Märchen, he had only the first part of the collection before him. As the learned writer observed, much more material was required; we wanted more Zulu tales, and other tales from members of the same great South African race, for purposes of comparison. We still need, for comparative purposes, much larger collections of savage instances than we possess. But these collections are amassed slowly, and it has seemed well, for our present end, to make use of the materials at hand. If comparatively scanty in quantity, they are very remarkable in character. From Africa we have "Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus, in their own words, with a translation into English, and notes," by the Rev. Canon Callaway, M.D. (Trübner, London, 1868.) We have also Dr. Bleek's
- ↑ Dr. Reinhold Köhler informs the author that he has written nothing on the Märchen of savages. Felix Liebrecht has used a few Zulu and Maori examples in Zur Volkskunde (Heilbronn, 1879). Some remarks on these topics, disavowing the theory that any one single source of myth can be discovered, will be found in Mr. Max Müller's preface to Mr. Gill's Myths and Songs of the South Pacific. Mr. Ralston (Nineteenth Century, Nov. 1879) says that "the popular tales which are best known to us possess but few counterparts in genuine savage folk-lore," though he admits that some incidents are common both to European and uncivilised Märchen. We trust to shew, however, that the common incidents, and even plots, are unexpectedly numerous.
