Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 18, 1907.djvu/499

Rh he thus arrived at the conclusion that the decoration of a bamboo comb represented in a series of panels all the portions of a flower—pistils, stamens, sepals—a system which would be natural to a botanic handbook being attributed to a race of semi-naked savages. "Vaughan-Stevens," as Mr, Skeat remarks, "by falling into the trap, has furnished us with yet one more of those awful object-lessons which are provided from time to time by ethnologists who rely too much upon the answers given by question-worried savages." With all these reservations Vaughan-Stevens is still our only authority for much of the culture and beliefs of these races; and while it is obvious that his work demands careful scrutiny, much of value remains.

The book is divided into three main sections—ethnography, religion and folk-lore, philology. For the first two divisions Mr. Skeat is responsible; Mr. Blagden deals with philology alone. The last essay, which it is beyond our province to discuss, if indeed any one but the author possesses the necessary knowledge, will rank with Dr. Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India as one of the valuable contributions in recent years to our knowledge of the languages of Eastern Asia.

In the ethnographical chapters the most notable fact, which is vital to a comprehension of the inter-relation of these tribes, is the conclusion, based on anthropometry and other characteristics, that they can be divided into three distinct groups—that of the Semang to the north, who are brachycephalic, woolly-haired Negritos; the Sakai in the middle, dolycephalic, wavy-haired, probably an aboriginal Dravidian type; the Jakun to the south, brachycephalic, smooth-haired, probably with Mongolian affinities. These types have naturally to some extent intermingled, and all have been more or less affected by the dominant Malay culture; but, now that the problem has been solved in the present book, it is clear that in physical appearance, institutions, and language, they are easily distinguishable. The Semang, for instance, in the form of their huts prefer the long leaf-shelter and circular dwelling found among the Andamanese; while the Sakai and Jakun build upon lofty house-posts. The bow is the tribal weapon of the Negritos; the blowpipe of the Sakai; the spear that of certain Jakun sub-tribes. It is also in this