5 2 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the tribe whose legend this was, I am unable to say ; but it is 

 certain that at some time or other they must have seen white 

 cows, otherwise they would not have told about them. The pan- 

 ther, on the other hand, is a native of Africa ; and, indeed, there 

 are no panthers in our Southern States, unless the name is erro- 

 neously applied to the American puma. It is, therefore, quite 

 likely that in the original legend, as it was currently known in 

 Africa, both the cows and the panthers might have figured, since 

 both were known to the people. 



A little further examination of the two stories will, however, 

 illustrate strikingly the changes due to locality. 



In the first place, take the ladies into which the animals trans- 

 formed themselves. In Mr. Harris's version they are spoken of 

 as " quality folks," but there were no quality people in a civilized 

 sense in Africa, and in their stead we find a " fair stranger," 

 whom one could well imagine would seem a mysterious being to 

 a lonely African hunter. So, too, we find that the three magic 

 arrows of the first story have changed to three eggs in the second, 

 and a palm to a pine tree, which latter change involves for Mr. 

 Harris an explanation of why the panthers couldn't climb the 

 tree, which was not needed in the first version. Such are some of 

 the local changes which the legend has undergone during the 

 past century. Others could doubtless be found, but I prefer to 

 pass from these to changes of greater significance. Before doing 

 so, however, let me say a word in regard to the names of the dogs. 

 Ya-me-o-ro and Con-ga-mo-ro-to have an Eastern tone that fits 

 exactly with the African legend ; but where, within the confines 

 of Georgia, did Mr. Harris unearth such remarkable combinations 

 of letters as " Minny minny Morack " and " Follerlinsko " ? Uncle 

 Remus, I am sure, could never have pronounced them, and one is 

 inclined to believe that they were conjured up by the author's 

 fertile brain to take the place of the euphonious forgotten titles. 



Though change of locality has much to do with the alterations 

 occurring in folk lore, it is by no means the only factor which 

 brings about such results. Contact with a foreign predominant 

 race, and with its customs and legends, has an equally great effect. 



In the first quotation which I made from Mr. Harris's version 

 one of these alterations just noted is to be found. The ladies 

 are discussed, by the little boy and his mother, in regard to their 

 manner of drinking, their hands, and their teeth. Now, this inquiry 

 and thirst after information on the part of the little boy is thor- 

 oughly English in spirit. The native African would never have 

 asked such questions, because he was by nature lazy and indiffer- 

 ent. It also suggests very strongly the story of Red Riding 

 Hood, which has almost become a classic in the English tongue. 

 Red Riding Hood, the reader will remember, visits a wolf, dis- 



