Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/149

Rh rubbish in the belief that they thus avoid becoming the victims of evil magic. "It is believed that if an enemy should get hold of any personal rubbish, or half-eaten food, and were to curse it, the individual to whom it had belonged would suffer and perhaps die. Hence the cuttings of hair and parings of nails and scraps of worn-out clothing are immediately burned and never allowed to lie about. The remnants of a meal are given to the fowls, or burned, not a crumb is allowed to stay" (p. 50).

An interesting account is given of the very primitive method of making pots in Rewd; but the statement that "no pottery was made in the Pacific, by natives, except in Fiji" (p. 216) needs qualification. Fragments of pottery have been excavated in the south-east of New Guinea, and pots of an inferior quality are made by the Motu people of New Guinea. While it is true that many islands in Melanesia are without pottery, it is made, however, in New Caledonia, Espirito Santo (New Hebrides), and in the Western Solomons.

The book is well illustrated by pleasing sketches drawn by the authoress, and there are in addition two maps and a glossary.

is a matter of congratulation that the author of these two volumes of lectures, an eminent Bengali scholar and author of an important work, The History of Bengali Language and Literature, has devoted his attention to the folklore of his country,