ANTHROPOLOGY. 
125 
occurring in such stories should be inquired into, as they sometimes carry 
in themselves the explanation of the story itself, like the name of Great- 
Woman-Night in the Polynesian myth just referred to. Riddles are some¬ 
times interesting, as being myths with an explanation attached, like the 
Greek riddle of the twelve black and twelve white horses that draw the 
chariot of the day. It is not too much to say that everything which a 
people thinks worth remembering as a popular tradition, and all the more 
if it is fixed in rhyme or verse, is worth notice, as likely to contain some¬ 
thing of historical value. That it may not be historically true is beside the 
question, for the poetic fictions of a tribe often throw more light on their 
history than their recollections of petty chiefs who quarrelled fifty years 
ago. The myths may record some old custom or keep up some old word 
that has died out of ordinary talk, or the very fact of their containing a 
story known elsewhere in the world may give a clue to forgotten inter¬ 
course by which it was learnt. 
Customs .—It remains to say a few words as to the multifarious customs 
which will come under the traveller’s observation. It does not follow 
that because these may be mentioned or described in books they need not 
be further looked into. The fact is that accurate examination in such 
matters is so new, that something always remains to be made out, 
especially as the motives of so many customs are still obscure. The 
practice of artificially deforming the infant’s skull into a desired shape, 
which is not quite forgotten even in Europe, may be noticed with respect 
to the question whether the form to which the child’s head is bulged or 
flattened is the exaggeration of the natural form of an admired caste or 
race. If not, what can, for instance, have induced two British Columbian 
tribes, one to flatten their foreheads and the other to mould them up to a 
peak ? In tattooing, an even more widespread practice, it is well to ascer¬ 
tain whether the pattern on the skin seems to have been originally tribe- 
marks or other signs or records, or whether the purpose is ornament. In 
South-east Asia the two motives are present at once, when a man has 
ornamental designs and magical charm-figures together on his body. With 
regard to ornaments and costumes, the keeping-up of ancient patterns for 
ceremonial purposes often affords curious historical hints. Thus in the 
Eastern Archipelago, the old-fashioned garments of bark-cloth are used 
in mourning by people who have long discarded them in ordinary wear, 
and another case is found among some natives of South India, whose 
