Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 13, 1902.djvu/330

 312 Correspondence.

whom to consult, and even fetch the most likely informants. As a general rule you should begin to talk to the young men first ; through them the older men and women can usually be reached. Of course if a " chief " or some one possessing unusual influence can be successfully approached in the first instance, so much the better.

With few exceptions I have not found natives tell lies when judiciously approached ; though they may sham ignorance from laziness, fatigue, shame, or desire to keep their own counsel. I believe it is rare for them to affect knowledge which they have not, to please an enquirer, and rarer for them to be led into telling lies by leading questions, though when they are partially civilized they become more prone to these vices. The most satis- factory method of testing the truth of any statement is to examine a number of other witnesses independently, using minor details to test the completeness of your original account. When this is im- possible, cross-examining the original witness after the interval of a day or two is often useful.

C. G. Seligmann.

I herewith send you a brief account of the manner and difiiculties of obtaining folklore in Uganda.

There are two chief difficulties to surmount, arising from oppo- site parties of the people. First, from the Christian converts. They are ashamed of their old beliefs and practices, and are either ignorant, or affect ignorance when questioned. Information gathered from them is scrappy, and must be obtained from general conversation. Sometimes a subject can be introduced in a circle of friends who take it up and talk freely about it. In such a case it is advisable to allow them to talk, and not to feel that they are being questioned. Secondly, those who still adhere to the old customs are most reticent, because they are looked down upon by their more enlightened brethren, • who laugh at and ridicule the old customs. Then, again, many of the ceremonies are sacred and secret.

The language presents another difficulty. So many travellers rely upon their interpreters, who as a rule have only a smattering of English, and guess at their master's meaning. They seldom know more than a few words of other languages than their own, so that they neither know how to express the imperfectly-grasped