A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Bahmoo visits a settlement whose young men invite him to hunt unusually large edible frogs. Rejecting a weapon, he boasts that he will leap onto the first frog and twist its neck. A spirit who rules the frogs overhears and waits for him. When Bahmoo attacks, the frog embraces him, bounds into the river and holds him through a dive. It then invites him to ride on its back while a chorus of frogs accompanies the crossing.

The hunters initially fear for him, then mock his failed boast. The frog carries him safely to the opposite bank and throws him ashore, explaining that it must return because the hunters are killing its people. Bahmoo refuses to swim back, fearing both renewed ridicule and another encounter. The tale uses his separation to explain a division between communities, but does not name those groups here; Brett’s suggested later arrival of a wife remains conjectural dialogue. The creature is mischievous and protective of its own people, rather than a killer of the human passenger.

Huge frog occupied by a spiritReturns a hunter’s embraceSinging river crossingLeaves the passenger alive
01

Origins & earliest records

William Henry Brett’s Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British Guiana is catalogued as 1880. Its missionary author rewrote selected traditions in English verse and commentary; his colonial judgments and claims of religious replacement are not adopted as historical conclusions.

02

Records & interpretation

Bahmoo and the Frog, pp.167–171; full narrative, closing dialogue, moral and chorus note read.

In the literature

“Now the chief of those frogs was a spirit, they say,”
William Henry Brett, collector and English literary adapter · Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British Guiana
Bahmoo and the Frog, printed p.168 · William Henry Brett (English literary adaptation; source-language transcript not retained here)

Bahmoo boasts that he will kill a giant frog by twisting its neck without a weapon. The frogs’ spirit chief overhears and waits beside the river. Bahmoo leaps on it and is carried into the water instead. The chief holds him, invites him to ride and swims singing across while the other frogs answer. Bahmoo’s companions mock his failure. On the opposite bank the chief throws him ashore alive and dives away to return to its people, whom the hunters are killing. Bahmoo refuses to swim back because of the ridicule and fear of another encounter. A closing dialogue speculates that a woman he already loved could have reached him by bark canoe, accounting for separately settled descendants.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British Guiana

    William Henry Brett, collector and literary adapter · 1880

    Bahmoo and the Frog, pp.167–171; full narrative, closing dialogue, moral and chorus note read.

  2. 02

    Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British Guiana — Bahmoo and the Frog

    William Henry Brett, collector and English literary adapter · 1880

    London: William Wells Gardner, catalogue1880. Actual original title image read: year is a bracketed handwritten1880, not a printed imprint date. Preface explicitly describes Brett’s metrical adaptation. Cornell scan text with selected complete episode and notes read; no whole-book claim. Printed excerpt folio visually checked. Selected complete printed Bahmoo and the Frog, pp.167–171.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British Guiana

London: William Wells Gardner, catalogue1880. Actual original title image read: year is a bracketed handwritten1880, not a printed imprint date. Preface explicitly describes Brett’s metrical adaptation. Cornell scan text with selected complete episode and notes read; no whole-book claim. Printed excerpt folio visually checked. Selected complete printed Bahmoo and the Frog, pp.167–171.

  1. Bahmoo boasts that he will kill a giant frog by twisting its neck without a weapon. The frogs’ spirit chief overhears and waits beside the river. Bahmoo leaps on it and is carried into the water instead. The chief holds him, invites him to ride and swims singing across while the other frogs answer. Bahmoo’s companions mock his failure. On the opposite bank the chief throws him ashore alive and dives away to return to its people, whom the hunters are killing. Bahmoo refuses to swim back because of the ridicule and fear of another encounter. A closing dialogue speculates that a woman he already loved could have reached him by bark canoe, accounting for separately settled descendants.

    Bahmoo and the Frog, complete printed pp.167–171; prefacev–vi

Bahmoo is the human guest’s name, not the frog chief’s. The chief is explicitly a spirit associated with a huge frog; no species supplied. Bride/canoe explanation is a speculative closing dialogue, not a fully narrated marriage scene. Croak chorus and ritual material not copied.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textBrett: Bahmoo and the Frog, pp.167–171; full narrative, closing dialogue, moral and chorus note read.Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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