Note 27 — Chapter XLVIII · DUTIES TO GODS

Since the above was written, Sir J. G. Frazer himself has kindly drawn my attention to some statements in his Lectures on the Early History of the Kingship (p. 121 sqq.) from which it appears that in some parts of the Malay region the regalia are regarded as wonder-working talismans or fetishes, the possession of which carries with it the right to the throne. Among the Yorubas of West Africa, a miraculous virtue seems to be attributed to the royal crown, and the king sometimes sacrifices sheep to it (ibid. p. 124, n. 1). See infra, Additional Notes.