334 Revieivs.
preliminary photograph of native children gathered before the village to listen. He has some good remarks on "the effect of the contact of the slave-trading Europeans on the folklore of the Coast Negroes." In his observations on the similarity between the stories of different races in different stages of progress he refers to the story of the man who obtained a knowledge of the language of the lower animals on condition that he did not disclose the secret. He refers to one variant in Petrovitch's Hero-Tales and Legends of the Serbians^ but does not mention the famous example in the introduction to the Aralnati Nights.
The stories are chiefly tales of the lower animals. They are either Anansi stories, with which we are more familiar in their West Indian development among the imported slaves, or myths explaining the peculiarities of various creatures or of custom. Many of them belong to the Brer Rabbit type, that is to say, they are narratives of the deeds of a famous trickster. They are well told, and illustrated with original drawings (white on a black ground) by Miss .Sinclair. We shall be glad to see the original material in scientific form. West African collections of folk-tales are none too many.
E. Sidney Hartland.
Observations on the Mussulmauns of India, Descriptive OF their Manners, Customs, Habits, and Religious Opinions, made during a Twelve Years' Residence in their immediate Society. By Mrs. Meer Hassan All Second Edition, Edited with Notes and an Introduction by W. Crooke, late of the Indian Civil Service. Oxford University Press, 191 7. Pp. xxviii--442. Price 6s. net. or on India paper, 7s. 6d.
The long title correctly describes the contents of Mrs. ^Nleer Hassan All's unique book, which deserves the honour of reissue and of illumination by Mr. Crooke's notes, which are concise, adequate, and accurate. The lady was an Englishwoman who
