Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 17, 1906.djvu/23

 Presidential Address. 13

on Mexican and Ce7itral American Antiquities, Calendar Systems, and History : a collection of 24 papers by leading German authorities, translated into English. A reprint may also be mentioned of the Expedition of Lezvis and Clark, published in 18 14 (Nutt). They crossed America to the Pacific, and they are rich in early obser- vations of the Indians, especially the Missouri Indians. Turning now to Africa, we have the Native Races of South Africa, by G. W. Stow (Swan Sonnenschein). This work is chiefly historical, and describes the invasion of South Africa by the Bantu peoples from the North, and the gradual destruction of Bushmen and Hottentots. The part relating to the Bushmen, however, is valuable for our purposes. In the European sphere we may mention Origiues Islandiccz, a collection of the more im- portant Sagas and other native writings relating to the settlement and early history of Iceland, edited and translated by Gudbrand Vigfusson and F. York Powell, published by the Clarendon Press, which also issues Mr. N. Annandale's book on The Faroes and Iceland (Clarendon Press). This book, by a rising scholar, deals with the whole life of these islands. Lastly, from the Asiatic department, we have the fifth volume of the fataka Book, translated by H. E. Francis (Cambridge University Press). Our members know the importance of this work, one of the oldest collections of folktales, although it must be admitted that the folktales are sophisticated and made to point morals in the most unblushing way. It is more than ten years since the first volume of the translation appeared ; and the fifth has been delayed by the premature death of one of the band of friends v/ho have collaborated in the work, Mr. R. A. Neil. The veteran master of that band. Prof Cowell, was also brought low by death before he could complete the sixth volume, which had been committed to his charge. This volume has been entrusted to me for