Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 26, 1915.djvu/439

Rh of his valuable library, now entrusted to the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, and in part to the publication of two volumes on the folklore of Western India. Mr. Jackson some years before his death had issued to school masters in the districts of the Presidency a questionnaire, in which he appealed for information under the heads of: Worship of the Nature Powers; Heroic Godlings; Disease Deities; Worship of Ancestors and Saints; Worship of the Malevolent Dead; the Evil Eye and the Scaring of Ghosts; Tree and Serpent Worship; Totemism and Fetishism; Animal Worship; Witchcraft; Rural Festivals and Ceremonies. As Mr. Enthoven remarks: "The notes as now presented contain much that is trivial, and possibly many inaccuracies; but among them students of folklore may, on the other hand, discover material of real value. Such as they are, they will, I trust, repay careful study, and perhaps serve one day to form the basis of a further and more comprehensive examination of the folklore of the Bombay Presidency—an examination which should not be too long deferred, for the old practices and beliefs are yearly tending to decay and vanish in contact with the spread of education." This instalment of notes collected in response to Mr. Jackson's appeal is confined to the seaboard divisions of the Presidency. Gujarat, from the earliest times, has been a battleground of nations, and through it the trade from Northern India to the sea has been conducted. Surat is the centre of the Musalman pilgrimage to the holy cities of Arabia, and the intercourse between the ports of the Western coast and Zanzibar and Somaliland has long been active. Bombay and Goa represent the seats of British and Portuguese influence, and carry on a large trade with the Deccan and Central India. We are therefore prepared to expect a considerable mixture of folk-belief and custom, indigenous and foreign. The material now provided is of the highest value, and constitutes the most important addition to our knowledge made within recent years. Every page contains useful information, and the very moderate price at which they are issued brings these volumes within the reach of every one interested in oriental folklore. It may be hoped that the success of this publication will encourage Mr. Enthoven to publish the remaining portion of Mr. Jackson's collection. When the collection is