for collecting them, having been curator of Sir G. Grey’s library at Cape Town, which includes a fine collection of African manuscripts.  In Bleek’s book there are forty-four South African, chiefly Hottentot, fables and tales, and thirty-nine relating to North Africans.  Yet among these eighty-three tales there are only three that come under the head of love-stories.  As they take up eight pages, I can give only a condensed version of them, taking care, however, to omit no essential feature.[147]

THE FIVE SUITORS

Four handsome youths tried to win a beautiful girl living in the same town.  While they were quarrelling among themselves a youth came from another town, lifted the girl on his horse and galloped away with her.  The father followed in pursuit on his camel, entered the youth’s house, and brought back the girl.

One day the father called together all the men of his tribe.  The girl stepped among them and said, “Whoever of you can ride on my father’s camel without falling off, may have me as wife.”  Dressed in their best finery, the young men tried, one after another, but were all thrown.  Among them sat the stranger youth, wrapped only in a mat.  Turning toward him the girl said, “Let the stranger make a trial.”  The men demurred, but the stranger got on the camel, rode about the party three times safely, and when he passed the girl for the fourth time he snatched her up and rode away with her hastily.

Quickly the father mounted his fleet horse and followed the fugitives.  He gained on them until his horse’s head touched the camel’s tail.  At that moment the youth reached his home, jumped off the camel and carried the bride into the house.  He closed the door so violently that one foot of the pursuing horse caught between the posts.  The father drew it out with difficulty and returned to the four disappointed suitors.

TAMBA AND THE PRINCESS

A king had a beautiful daughter and many desired to marry her.  But all failed, because none could answer the King’s question:  “What is enclosed in my amulet?” Undismayed by the failure of men of wealth and rank, Tamba, who lived far in the East and had nothing to boast of, made up his mind to win the princess.  His friends laughed at him but he started out on his trip, taking with him some chickens, a goat, rice, rice-straw, millet-seed, and palm-oil.  He met in succession a hungry porcupine, an alligator, a horned viper, and some ants, of all of whom he made friends by feeding them the things he had taken along.  He reserved some of the rice, and when he arrived at the King’s court he gave it to a hungry servant who in turn told him the secret of the amulet.  So when he was asked what the amulet contained, he replied:  “Hair clipped from the King’s head when he was a child; a piece of the calabash from which he first drank milk; and the tooth of the first