PLANTATION FOLK-LORE. 829 



This singular resemblance does not seem to have been noticed again 

 until Mr. Herbert Smith, in his " Brazil, the Amazons, and the Coast " 

 (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1879), in a chapter devoted to 

 " The Myths of the Amazonian Indians," gave a number of animal 

 fables, but, owing to his insufficient acquaintance with comparative 

 folk-lore, he was unable to throw any light on the subject, merely 

 noticing the resemblances which had already attracted the attention of 

 Professor Hartt and others. The proof-sheets of this chapter were 

 sent to Mr. Harris, who at once saw that the similarity extended to 

 almost every story quoted by Mr. Smith, and some are so nearly iden- 

 tical as to point unmistakably to a common origin ; but when and 

 where ? Mr. Harris asks, " When did the negro or the North Ameri- 

 can Indian come into contact with the tribes of South America ? " 



Before examining this question, it may be well to compare hastily 

 the stories in Hartt's " Amazonian Tortoise Myths " (Rio de Janeiro, 

 1875) and Smith's " Brazil " with their parallels in " Uncle Remus " and 

 elsewhere. First, let us examine the stories common to Hartt, Smith, 

 and Uncle Remus : 



I. " How the Tortoise outran the Deer " (Hartt, p. 7 ; Smith, p. 543, 

 gives the version in Hartt, saying : " I quote Professor Hartt's words 

 for this story, as being better than the version, substantially the same, 

 that I find in my note-book. The story is very common all over the 

 Amazons." " Riverside Magazine," November, 1868, p. 507 ; " Cornell 

 Era," January 20, 1871 ; " Nation," February 23, 1871, p. 127 ; and 

 " Lippincott's Magazine," December, 1877, p. 751). The Tortoise de- 

 clares that it can outrun the Deer, and the latter challenges it to a 

 race. The Tortoise secretly posts members of its family along the 

 course, who answer for him when the Deer asks if he is ahead. The 

 race begins, and the Deer is so bewildered at hearing the Tortoise's 

 voice always ahead of him, that he runs against a tree and falls down 

 dead. In " Uncle Remus " the Rabbit takes the place of the Deer, and 

 the story ends with the Terrapin's victory without the death of his 

 rival. In " Lippincott " the actors are Buh Rabbit and Buh Frog ; 

 but the writer remarks that another version makes the competitors 

 Buh Deer and Buh Cooter (the Negro name for terrapin, or land-tor- 

 toise). A German version of this story is given in the "Riverside 

 Magazine," September, 1868, and a version from Siam may be found 

 in the " Orient und Occident," III, 497. A more important and sig- 

 nificant parallel, however, is to be found in Bleek, No. 16, p. 32, 

 " The Tortoises hunting the Ostriches " : " One day, it is said, the 

 Tortoises held a council how they might hunt Ostriches, and they said : 

 * Let us, on both sides, stand in rows near each other, and let one go to 

 hunt the Ostriches, so that they must flee along through the midst of 

 us.' They did so, and, as they were many, the Ostriches were obliged 

 to run along through the midst of them. During this they did not 

 move, but, remaining always in the same places, called each to the 



