and in archæological remains, dating back to pre-Buddhistic times, and comprising relics of some of the greatest dynasties that ever held sway in India. It is true that some members may have neither the neither the leisure nor the special knowledge requisite for elaborate papers on the subjects with which the Society deals, but there are few who will not, at one time or another, come into possession of items of information which, though too small to publish as separate papers, are yet deserving of permanent record. In this connection I would invite your attention to the section provided at the end of the Journal for Miscellaneous Contributions. This is intended, like the defunct Punjab Notes and Queries, for the systematic entry of all such notes as I have just referred to. If members will help us by contributing all the information they can, a mass of facts will by degrees be collected which cannot fail to be of great use to subsequent enquirers. For example, it is quite possible that there may be in existence elsewhere prehistoric burial places similar to those in the Ranchi district which have been briefly described above. If any of our members should be fortunate enough to light on such a burial place, a note mentioning the fact, with such details as to its locality and characteristics as he may be able to give, would be of great use for the purpose of future enquiry. The discovery of Buddhistic or other old remains, of stone or copper celts, coins, etc., etc., might well be recorded in the same way. On the ethnographic side there is an even wider field for these Miscellaneous Contributions. Thus, we already have descriptions of the magic ritual followed by the Mundās and certain other tribes in order to cause rain to fall, to fertilize the soil and the like. Similar customs are no doubt in vogue amongst other tribes also; and, if so, it is of the utmost importance that they should be duly recorded. To take another instance, a traveller may happen to see an aboriginal funeral in progress, and, if so a full account of the ceremony, if not already available in print, would be most welcome. It would be equally welcome if the facts differ from those already recorded. There has

sometimes been a tendency in the past to idealize these primitive ceremonies; and I once saw one myself which differed very widely from the recorded account in the work of a writer of considerable repute.

When I was engaged on the last census of India I endeavoured to collect as full information as possible regarding the curious practice known as the Couvade. I found instances of it in many parts of India, but none in Bihar and Orissa. Mr. Friend-Pereira, however, has now found some apparent survivals of the practice amongst the Kui of the Khondmals and the Male of the Rajmahal Hills, and has sent us a note which appears amongst the Miscellaneous Contributions in the second number of our Journal. Other members living in remote parts of the province may be able to discover similar instances, and if so, and they send us notes, we may hope in time to possess full information for the whole province. Again, there was no subject regarding which, at the census, I made more persistent efforts to get full information than the occurrence of blue pigmentation on the backs of newly born children, which a learned Professor of Tokio had declared to be an unmistakable proof of Mongolian race. The results, however, were somewhat disappointing. I succeeded in showing that the pigmentation occurs in many parts of India where the people are of non-Mongolian origin, but the data were so irregular that, while in one district in which enquiry was made, the pigmentation was found on 21 children out of 29 examined, in an adjoining district it was said to have been found only on 11 out of 3,000. It is clear that far more thorough investigation is needed than was possible in connection with the census; and if any member of our Society is willing to take up the matter in the district in which he resides, we shall be only too glad to record the results in the Miscellaneous section of the Journal. The illustrations given above show how difficult, if not impossible, it is for a single enquirer in a limited time to get anything like complete information on any ethnographic subject. Such information can be gained only by means of

sustained enquiries spread over a long period of years, and for such work the agency of a Society like ours is highly suitable. If all our members make the best use they can of the opportunities that come to them there can be no doubt that our Society will fully justify the objects for which it was established.

I would specially urge junior officers of my own service to take an active part in ethnographic research. No civilian can be a really successful officer unless he understands the habits and mentality of the people of his district, and nothing will tend to such an understanding more than sustained enquiries regarding their language, manners, customs, rites and superstitions. Such enquiries moreover bring their own reward, for they give an added interest to official tours and develop one's powers of observation and mental alertness.

And now, Gentlemen, I must bring to an end these brief notes of the work done by our Society during its first year of existence, and these somewhat discursive suggestions for future action. I thank you for the patience with which you have listened to me. I regret that in my present position I have not the leisure necessary to enable me to take a more active part in your researches, but I can assure you that they will always receive my most sympathetic attention, and that I will at all times do everything in my power to promote the interests of our Society and to assist it in the work which it has undertaken to do.

I.-The Traditions of the Santals.

By the Hon'ble Røvd. A. Campbell, D.D.

THE traditional lore of the Santāls has been handed down orally from generation to generation, and as was inevitable in the absence of written documents, there are often several versions of the same event, but it is remarkable that the main features are always present, whether the story be told on the banks of the Ganges, in the North, or in the jungles of Orissa, in the South. The following account of their traditions, which deal with the creation of the world, and the migrations, etc., of the Santāls, is the result of the collation of their traditions as delivered by several Santal sages, and the order observed in the sequence of the narrative is that supported by a majority of the most intelligent of them.

In the beginning was Thakur Jiu. There was no land visible, all was covered with water. Then Thakur Jin's servants said to him, "How shall we create human beings? He replied, "If it be so desired, we can create them." They then said, "If you give us a blessing (or the gift), we shall be able to do so." Thakur Jiu then said, "Go, call Malin Budhi. She is to be found in a rock cave under the water." When she came she received the order to form two human beings. Some say she made them of a kind of froth which proceeded from a supernatural being who had his residence at the bottom of the sea, but others that she made them of a stiff clay. Thakur Jiu was a spectator of what was being done. At length Malin Budhi made the bodies of two human beings, and laid them out to dry. In the meantime Singh Sadom (Day-horse) passed that way and, trampling them under foot, destroyed them. After an interval Thakur Jiu demanded of Malin Budhi if she had prepared them.