Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/292

 2 8o Reviews.

system was more and more hampered as Europeans, with their entirely different ideas of right and wrong, spread themselves among the Islands ; and furthermore, that in 1874, when established in the islands the native communal system was fixed and stereotyped in the form in which it happened to exist at that moment. This is a consideration which, as Mr. Deane justly intimates, accounts for many of the startling anomalies apparent to the modern observer.

Mr. Deane's exposition of symbolism, and especially of the symbolism of the whale's tooth which plays so great a part among Fijians, may be especially commended ; also his explana- tion of the real nature of Fijian ancestor-worship, and, though this is less complete, of cannibalism, may also be mentioned.

EVERARD IM ThURxNF.

The Angami Nagas, with some Notes on Neighbouring Tribes. By J. H. Hutton, C.I.E., M.A., I.C.S. Published by direction of the Assam Administration. London : Macmillan and Co. 1921. Price 40s. net.

This monograph on the Angami Nagas forms part of the series of valuable accounts of the tribes of Assam, for which anthro- pologists are indebted to the enterprise and liberality of the Local Government ; but is much more detailed than the volumes which preceded it. Mr. Hutton apologises for having under- taken the work on the ground that the characteristic culture of the Nagas is rapidly disappearing. He calls himself " a mere amateur," and goes on to say that " it is a work which should be done by a trained anthropologist, but though occasional German and American scientists have paid hurried visits to the Naga Hills, the anthropologists of Great Britain have consistently passed them by on the other side." His book, however, needs no apology. It is the work of an officer who has served for many years among these tribes, has learned to speak their language, and in the course of his official duties has enjoyed unique opportunities of investigating their religious and social life. This is not to say that his work can be regarded as final. It is obvious that the complex culture of these tribes