In a communication which I addressed to the members of the Institute last October I informed them that the Bureau had decided that despite the difficulties created by the outbreak of war it was the duty of the Institute to continue as far as possible to promote the study of Africa and its peoples as long as such work could be maintained in accordance with the international character of the Institute. In particular it was felt that the publication of the Journal should be continued. Recent events have greatly altered the situation. Apart from such technical difficulties as shortage of paper, it is clearly impossible now to maintain a sufficient measure of international collaboration for the Journal. It was hoped also that the Institute could continue its series of publications during the war; but, while one book has already been published and it is hoped to complete the publication of others which have already reached an advanced stage, it would be impossible in present conditions to consider any new publications. In these circumstances it has been decided by the British members of the Bureau that the Institute should suspend its activities for the rest of the war. I deeply regret that this course should be unavoidable, and I look forward to the Institute resuming its work, as soon as possible after the war is over, in accordance with the scheme adopted in principle by the Executive Council in June 1939.

The publication of Mr. F. J. Pedler's note on what are called ‘joking relationships’, following on two other papers on the same subject by Professor Henri Labouret and Mademoiselle Denise Paulme, suggests that some general theoretical discussion of the nature of these relationships may be of interest to readers of Africa.

The conception of bwanga among the Bemba of Northern Rhodesia is very similar to that recorded by Edwin Smith among the Ila and by C. Doke among the Lamba. In collecting the following material I have, however, followed a slightly different method. The traditional method of studying this subject has been in the main categories of ‘Magic’, ‘Taboo’, ‘Omen’, and so on. While this has proved useful in collecting together many facts under their appropriate heads it has resulted in taking, as it were, a cross-section through native thought. The native does not think in these categories, he observes an object and knows certain facts about it; whether it is edible, fierce, or dangerous, whether if found in a certain way it constitutes an evil omen. The arrangement of my material, therefore, has been according to this latter method, i.e. taking one object at a time and recording as much about it as possible. The two methods are represented diagrammatically on a later page, the traditional method being equivalent to reading the columns vertically: the method here adopted reads them horizontally.

Dans toute l'Afrique noire la littérature orale apparaît très développée; les nombreux récits rapportés des différentes régions ont permis des rapprochements intéressants avec certains contes des autres continents. Récits et contes ont été classés, avec juste raison, par les savants européens en plusieurs groupes. On observe en général les distinctions suivantes: mythes, légendes, récks historiques et contes.

This paper is an attempt to analyse briefly the literature on the Nandi-speaking peoples of Kenya with the object of noting structural similarities and differences between them. In particular the inquiry is directed to discovering whether their political structures conform to the same general type.

Le lendu ou ba dha (ba le dha) est parlé à l'extrême nord-est du Congo belge, sur la crête de séparation des bassins du Nil et du Congo et environs. (Environ entre le 1° et le 2° 15′ Lat. N.; entre le 30° et le 31° Long. E.G.) Le lendu se subdivise en deux groupes linguistiques bien distincts. Le groupe nord comprend les dialectes (très rapprochés les uns des autres) pariés entre le 1° 35′ et le 2° 15′ Lat. N.; et du 30° au 31° Long. E.G. Le groupe sud comprend les dialectes parlés au pays de Géty, avec comme limites approximatives: Lat. N. 1° 35′ à Lat. N. 1° et Long. E.G. 30° à Long. E.G. 30° 30′.