Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/80

68 as they occupy a well-defined area, they form a promising field for intensive study, the results of which are set forth in these, volumes. One of their remarkable customs is that, for some not fully understood reason, they remove the four upper incisor teeth of the youths of the tribe. Their industries include ivory-turning, basketry, pottery and iron work.

On the sociological side the headings of the chapters indicate the care with which the survey has been made: leechcraft, social organisation, terms of relationship, regulation of the communal life, etiquette, rights of property, slavery, regard for life. Then follows an account of the family life, from birth to puberty. The question of the relation of the sexes has been examined at length, and the analysis discloses the intensity of their animal passions, with many details which, if not suited for the general reader, are full of interest for the anthropologist.

The chapters on religion deal with the doctrine of souls, death and funerary customs, the fate of the dead, metempsychosis, ghosts, dreams, spirit possession, reincarnation, the genius or guardian spirit. These beliefs show obvious marks of intermixture, and one is often tempted to suppose that there is much which may be explained by Egyptian influence, and perhaps much which may be usefully employed in the elucidation of Egyptian beliefs. The work ends with a series of miscellaneous notes on time-reckoning, animals and plants, colour, number, games, music and dancing, proverbs and riddles, with an account of the tribal language.

As a whole, the survey has been conducted with much care and ability, while the results of it are displayed in an interesting, scholarly way, and the fine series of photographs admirably illustrates the people and their country. The work must take high rank as an authoritative source of information. The book is most creditable to the writers, and the publishers have contributed to its success by the style in which the volumes have been printed and the photographs reproduced.