m in
Chota Nagpur. The Hos or Larka Hos who form the bulk of the inhabitants
are a branch of the Mundas of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. They are one
of those Kolarian tribes of which the Santals are perhaps the best
known. I have collected some of the Folklore stories current among
them, the recollection of which would, however, appear to be dying out.

The Rev. A. Campbell of the Free Church of Scotland, Santal Mission,
has printed a volume of Santal Folk Tales collected by him in Manbhum,
a neighbouring district to Singhbhum. As might be expected there is
considerable resemblance between those Santal Tales and the ones now
reproduced. I have heard some of Mr. Campbell's Santal stories told by
Hos precisely as he relates them, and there are many incidents common
to both collections. On the other hand there is no resemblance between
these Kolarian tales, and the Bengal stories published by Rev. Lal
Behari De. In the latter I only notice one incident which appears in
the Kolhan stories, the bringing together of two lovers through a long
hair floating down a stream, but in Bengal it is the lady's hair that
floats to her lover, while in the Kolhan it is always the long hair
of the hero which inspires love in the heart of the Raja's daughter.

The stories may be divided into two groups, the animal stories
in which the principal characters are animals, for the most part
denizens of the jungles, and the stories which deal with a settled
state of Society with Rajas, priests and members of the different
Hindu castes following their usual occupations. It is interesting,
but perhaps scarcely profitable, to try and deduce from the latter some
hints of the previous history of the Hos, who, as we know them, are a
strongly democratic race, with a well developed tribal system. They
look on themselves as the owners, of the soil and are unwilling to
admit the claims of any overlord.

I have made no attempt to put the following stories into a literary
dress; I merely bring them as a few stones to the hands of the builders
who build the structure of comparative mythology.

(1)--The River Snake.

Once upon a time a certain woman had been on a visit to a distant
village. As she was going home she reached the bank of a flooded
river. She tried to wade across but soon found that the water was too
deep and the current too strong. She looked about but could see no
signs of a boat or any means of crossing. It began to grow dark and
the