Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 3, 1892.djvu/345



HE legends that are common among South African tribes are very numerous, and bear a close resemblance to one another as told by tribes as far apart as the Cape Peninsula and the valley of the Zambezi.

Of those I have heard among the tribes of the South many have already appeared in Colonial and English publications. The late Dr. Bleek, Mr. Theal, and Bishop Callaway collected and published in detail a number of stories, sayings, and legends, some of which have come to be well known.

While living among the Giakas, Pondos, Basutos, and Tembus, I never made a habit of writing down legends in detail, except when such seemed to illustrate some particular custom or habit which I observed, and even then made merely incidental references for purposes of illustration. Such jottings were not intended for publication, and, as I made no references to the sources from which I obtained them, I have only my own recollection to guide me as to what I heard from natives, or may have read in Colonial newspaper paragraphs or periodical articles, and so may not be able, in all cases, to acknowledge my indebtedness to others.

Quite a number of legends are tinged with European ideas to such a degree that it is difficult to discover the original under the more recent crust. "Satana", or the evil spirit, of whom they had no conception, and no word in their language to express the idea conveyed, before they first met with Europeans, is now one of the most prominent figures in story, and those in which he appears are "adapted", and the new blended into the old so skilfully