lation, under the title of 'Aboo-Mohammed the Lazy (it will be seen on comparison that the variations of the Swahili are almost all by way of abridgement); 'The Cheat and the Porter' (p. 411), and 'Hasseebu Kareem ed deen' (p. 331), which are not included in Lane's translation. We have an Arabic MS. in the mission library at Zanzibar, containing the story of 'Hasseebu,' but differing in many of the names and circumstances from the form given in the Arabian Nights. I do not know how far others of the tales may come from Arab sources. It must be remembered that as a Swahili is by definition a man of mixed Negro and Arab descent, he has an equal right to tell tales of Arab and Negro origin.
The 'Story of Liongo' (p. 339) is the nearest approach to a bit of real history I was able to meet with. It is said that a sister of Liongo came to Zanzibar, and that her descendants are still living there. Sheikh Mohammed bin Ali told me that in his young days he had seen Liongo's spear and some other relics then preserved by his family: there seem, however, to be none such now remaining. No one has any clear notion how long ago it is since Liongo died, but his memory is warmly cherished, and it is wonderful how the mere mention of his name rouses the interest of almost any true Swahili. There is a long poem, of which the tale at p. 339 is an abridgement, which used often, to be sung at feasts; and then all would get much excited, and cry like children when his death was related, and particularly at the point where his mother touches him and finds him dead. The poem at p. 455 is a later composition. Though described by the author himself as in stanzas of five lines, and rhyming accordingly, the last two lines of each stanza are always written as one; and I was told that they are supposed to have been
