448 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



themselves almost as fortunate when they kill an albino pilot 

 whale, or the islanders of the Vestmanna-eyjar when they 

 catch an albino fulmar — a Fylakongr, or " Fulmar king," as 

 they call it. When a Malay magician kills a crocodile,* 

 he tells his quarry that he — the slayer — is King Solomon, 

 the " soul " of the beast trembles and submits. An ancient 

 Egyptian crocodile charm ^ has been preserved, which runs 

 as follows : — 



" Thou art not above me — I am Amon. 



I am Anhor, the beautiful slayer. 



I am the prince, the lord of the sword. 



Raise not thyself — I am Mont," 



and so on. A Mohammedan hero, or one who passes as such, 

 has taken the place of Egyptian deities in the modern incan- 

 tation, but the sentiment of the two charms is identical. 



These few instances will illustrate the resemblance to 

 which I refer. There can be little doubt that in some cases it 

 is the result of independent evolution, but in others it arises 

 from historical intercourse. Occasionally it is even possible 

 to trace the connection. For example, we may coufpare the 

 Malay legend of the Burdng Chrdnddwdslr with that of the 

 Paradisea apoda of Linnaeus, knowing that both ^ originated 

 in the practice of cutting off the legs from skins of the birds 

 of paradise which were sold by Papuans to Malay traders, 

 who in their turn sold them to Europeans. 



The Burong Chrdnddwdslr, or " Bird of Heaven," is said 

 to have marvellously beautiful plumage, and to live in the 

 skies, but to be devoid of feet. It is believed that its eggs 

 drop down from the upper reaches of the air, and, according 

 to the theory of some Malays, the young birds hatch ere 



1 "Malay Magic," p. 299. 



* Pap. Macj.^ Harris, viii. 5. Quoted in "Life in Ancient Egypt," p. 353. 



^ These names and legends may be compared with the name given by the 

 fowlers of the Vestmanna eyjar to the Little Auk {Alle alle) — Halkjon, and 

 with their belief that this bird, which does not breed so far south as tlie 

 south coast of Iceland, buihls a floating nest of its own feathers. In this 

 case the name and legend have been transferred to a different bird from that 

 to which they originally belonged; but, as in the case of Burong Dewata, it 

 is still possible to trace a geographical connection, for the Icelanders pride 

 themselves on their classical knowledge even at the present day. 



