The Naga Tribes of Manipur. By T. C. Hodson (Macmillan
and Co. 8s. 6d. net.)—Manipur is a region, some hundred and twenty miles from N. to S. and over eighty from E. to W., lying to the N.W. of Mandalay. Mr. Hodson knows the country well in virtue of a long residence, and has studied all the literature avail- able that concerns it. These qualifications give the book a value which it would be difficult to exaggerate. The author leaves nothing untouched. He knows the people—peoples we should rather say, for several tribes inhabit the district—as they are, their beliefs, their customs, their habits of life. As we read we are struck with the elaborate character of their social order. This is, of course, a common phenomenon, but it would not be easy to find an example more striking than is to be seen in the hill tribes of Manipur. Another impression is of the change wrought by British rule. Of course we do not interfere, but the effects are to be seen. Here is an instance which is not less signifi- cant because it is amusing. Some of the Tangkhuls tattoo their women. The clans who do so had a great reputation for fierceness, and a tattooed woman was in request as a wife. No one harmed her for fear of being called to account by her relatives. But the Paz Britannias is so effective that the ladies have lost this artificial value. Then, again, the same tribe had a way of turning the parents out of the house when the sons marry. Now the house- tax, which, after all, is an enlightened way of raising money, makes them hesitate. Generally the tax is driving the tribes back to the primitive habit of a common dwelling from which they were emerging.—The Tribe and Intertribal Relations in Aus- tralia. By Gerald C. Wheeler, B.A. (John Murray. 3s. 6d. net.) --The student will find not a few curious parallels in Mr. Wheeler's book to what he has been reading in the volume noticed above. Mr. Wheeler regards his subject from a somewhat different stand- point. His personal experience is not, of course, to be compared with that of the Indian official, but his work is well worth study. There are many interesting things in it, some of them touching our- -selves more nearly than might be expected, as Professor Wester- marck puts it in his preface, " There has been something like an anticipation of the Geneva Convention even in the Australian bush." It is in Queensland that the Australian native is to be-seen to the best advantage, and it is natural, therefore, that he should be specially described in Two Representative Tribes of Queensland, by John Mathew, M.A. (T. Fisher Unwin. 5s. net.)—Mr. Mathew has much that is interesting to say about racial questions, and he gives much linguistic information. Chapters are devoted to " Social Organizations," " Religions "—these Queenslanders seem to have some conception of a Supreme Being—and other kindred matters. —Among the Tribes in South-West China. By Samuel R. Clarke. (Morgan and Scott. 3s. 6d.)—Mr. Clarke writes out of the know- ledge acquired during a long term of missionary work in China. The special field with which he deals is a region largely in- habited by non-Chinese tribes. Mr. Clarke considers the population to be about equally divided between Chinese and non-Chinese elements. Manners and customs are treated of, but naturally the chief interest relates to the missionary work. The prospects of this are hopeful. In China as is India the less civilized tribes are more easily approached.—Gold Coast Palaver. By Louis P. Bowler. (John Long. 2s.)—This is a readable little book from which something may be learnt about negro ways and character.
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