Kingsley. However, he is said to have shewn himself outside his
palace on solemn occasions once or twice a year. See O. Dapper,
_Description de l’Afrique_, pp. 311 _sq._; H. Ling Roth, _Great
Benin_, p. 74. As to the worship of the king of Benin, see _The
Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. p. 396.
457 A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_, i. 263.
However, a case is recorded in which he marched out to war (_ibid._
i. 268 _sq._).
458 S. Crowther and J. C. Taylor, _The Gospel on the Banks of the Niger_
(London, 1859), p. 433.
459 Le Commandant Mattei, _Bas-Niger, Bénoué, Dahomey_ (Paris, 1895),
pp. 67-72. The annual dance of the king of Onitsha outside of his
palace is mentioned also by S. Crowther and J. C. Taylor (_op. cit._
p. 379), and A. F. Mockler-Ferryman (_Up the Niger_, p. 22).
460 “Mission Voulet-Chanoine,” _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_
(Paris), VIIIme Série, xx. (1899) p. 223.
461 C. Partridge, _Cross River Natives_ (London, 1905), p. 7; compare
_id._ pp. 8, 200, 202, 203 _sq._ See also Major A. G. Leonard, _The
Lower Niger and its Tribes_ (London, 1906), pp. 371 _sq._
462 Strabo, xvii. 2. 2 σέβονται δ᾽ ὡς θεοὺς τουσ βασιλεασ, κατακλειστουσ
οντασ και οἰκουροὺς τὸ πλέον.
463 Xenophon, _Anabasis_, v. 4. 26; Scymnus Chius, _Orbis descriptio_,
900 _sqq._ (_Geographi Graeci Minores_, ed. C. Müller, i. 234);
Diodorus Siculus, xiv. 30. 6 _sq._; Nicolaus Damascenus, quoted by
Stobeaus, _Florilegium_, xliv. 41 (vol. ii. p. 185, ed. Meineke);
Apollonius Rhodius, _Argon._ ii. 1026, _sqq._, with the note of the
scholiast; Pomponius Mela, i. 106, p. 29, ed. Parthey. Die
Chrysostom refers to the custom without mentioning the name of the
people (_Or._ xiv. vol. i. p. 257, ed. L. Dindorf).
464 Strabo, xvi. 4. 19, p. 778; Diodorus Siculus, iii. 47. Inscriptions
found in Sheba (the country about two hundred miles north of Aden)
seem to shew that the land was at first ruled by a succession of
priestly kings, who were afterwards followed by kings in the
ordinary sense. The names of many of these priestly kings
(_makarribs_, literally “blessers”) are preserved in inscriptions.
See Prof. S. R. Driver, in _Authority and Archaeology Sacred and
Profane_, edited by D. G. Hogarth (London, 1899), p. 82. Probably
these “blessers” are the kings referred to by the Greek writers. We
may suppose that the blessings they dispensed consisted in a proper
regulation of the weather, abundance of the fruits of the earth, and
so on.
465 Heraclides Cumanus, in Athenaeus, xii. 13, p. 517 B.C.
466 Ch. Dallet, _Histoire de l’Église de Coreé_ (Paris, 1874), i. pp.
xxiv-xxvi. The king sometimes, though rarely, left his palace. When
he did so, notice was given beforehand to his people. All doors must
be shut and each householder must kneel before his threshold with a
broom and a dust-pan in his hand. All windows, especially the upper
ones, must be sealed with slips of paper, lest some one should look
down upon the king. See W. E. Griffis, _Corea, the Hermit Nation_,
p. 222. These customs are now obsolete (G. N. Curzon, _Problems of
the Far East_, Westminster, 1896, pp. 154 _sq._ note).
467 This I learned from the late Mr. W. Simpson, formerly artist of the
_Illustrated London News_.
468 Richard, “History of Tonquin,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_,
ix. 746.
469 Shway Yoe, _The Burman_ (London, 1882), i. 30 _sq._; compare _Indian
Antiquary_, xx. (1891) p. 49.
M80 Magical harm done a man through the remains of his food or the
dishes he has eaten out of. Ideas and customs of the Narrinyeri of
South Australia.
470 G. Taplin, “The Narrinyeri,” in _Native Tribes of South Australia_
(Adelaide, 1879), pp. 24-26; _id._, in E. M. Curr, _The Australian
Race_, ii. p. 247.
471 G. Taplin, “The Narrinyeri,” in _Native Tribes of South Australia_,
p. 63; _id._, “Notes on the Mixed Races of Australia,” _Journal of
the Anthropological Institute_, iv. (1875) p. 53; _id._, in E. M.
Curr, _The Australian Race_, ii. 245.
472 H. E. A. Meyer, “Manners and Customs of the Aborigines of the
Encounter Bay Tribe,” in _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 196.
M81 Ideas and customs as to the leavings of food in Melanesia and New
Guinea.
473 R. H. Codrington, _The Melanesians_, pp. 203 _sq._, compare pp. 178,
188, 214.
474 G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 302 _sq._ See _The Magic Art and the
Evolution of Kings_, i. 341 _sq._
475 K. Vetter, _Komm herüber und hilf uns!_ iii. (Barmen, 1898) p. 9; M.
Krieger, _Neu-Guinea_, pp. 185 _sq._; R. Parkinson, “Die Berlinhafen
Section, ein Beitrag zur Ethnographie der Neu-Guinea Küste,”
_Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, xiii. (1900) p. 44; M. J.
Erdweg, “Die Bewohner der Insel Tumleo, Berlinhafen,
Deutsch-Neu-Guinea,” _Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen
Gesellschaft in Wien_, xxxii. (1902) p. 287.
476 Mgr. Couppé, “En Nouvelle-Poméranie,” _Missions Catholiques_, xxiii.
(1891) p. 364; J. Graf Pfeil, _Studien und Beobachtungen aus der
Südsee_ (Brunswick, 1899), pp. 141 _sq._; P. A. Kleintitschen, _Die
Küstenbewohner der Gazellehalbinsel_ (Hiltrup bei Münster, N.D.),
pp. 343 _sq._
M82 Ideas and customs as to the leavings of food in Africa, Celebes,
India, and ancient Rome.
477 O. Dapper, _Description de l’Afrique_, p. 330. We have seen that the
food left by the king of the Monbutto, is carefully buried (above,
p. 119).
478 Bosman’s “Guinea,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, xvi. 487.
479 P. N. Wilken, “Bijdragen tot de kennis van de zeden en gewoonten der
Alfoeren in de Minahassa,” _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche
Zendelinggenootschap_, vii. (1863) p. 126.
480 W. Caland, _Altindisches Zauberritual_, pp. 163 _sq._
481 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxviii. 19. For other examples of witchcraft
wrought by means of the refuse of food, see E. S. Hartland, _The
Legend of Perseus_, ii. 83 _sqq._
M83 The fear of the magical evil which may be done a man through his
food has had beneficial effects in fostering habits of cleanliness
and in strengthening the ties of hospitality.
482 On the covenant entered into by eating together see the classical
exposition of W. Robertson Smith, _The Religion of the Semites_2
(London, 1894), pp. 269 _sqq._ For examples of the blood-covenant,
see H. C. Trumbull, _The Blood Covenant_ (London, 1887). The
examples might easily be multiplied.
M84 Disastrous results supposed to follow from using the dishes of the
Mikado or of a Fijian chief. Sacred persons are a source of danger
to others: their divinity burns like a fire what it touches. African
examples.
483 Kaempfer’s “History of Japan,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_,
vii. 717.
484 Rev. Lorimer Fison, in a letter to me dated August 26, 1898. In
Fijian, _kana_ is to eat; the meaning of _lama_ is unknown.
M85 The taboo of chiefs and kings in Tonga. The King’s Evil cured by the
king’s touch.
485 “Coutumes étranges des indigènes du Djebel-Nouba,” _Missions
Catholiques_, xiv. (1882) p. 460; Father S. Carceri, “Djebel-Nouba,”
_ibid._ xv. (1883) p. 450. The title of the priestly king is
_cogiour_ or _codjour_. “The _codjour_ is the pontifical king of
each group of villages; it is he who regulates and administers the
affairs of the Nubas. He is an absolute monarch, on whom all depend.
But he has no princely privileges or immunities; no royal insignia,
no badge mark him off from his subjects. He lives like them by the
produce of his fields and his industry; he works like them, earns
his daily bread, and has no guard of honour, no tribunal, no code of
laws, no civil list” (Father S. Carceri, _loc. cit._).
486 “Der Muata Cazembe und die Völkerstämme der Maravis, Chevas,
Muembas, Lundas und andere von Süd-Afrika,” _Zeitschrift für
allgemeine Erdkunde_ (Berlin), vi. (1856) pp. 398 _sq._; F. T.
Valdez, _Six Years of a Traveller’s Life in Western Africa_ (London,
1861), ii. 251 _sq._
487 W. Mariner, _The Natives of the Tonga Islands_,2 i. 141 _sq._ note,
434 note, ii. 82 _sq._, 221-224; Captain J. Cook, _Voyages_ (London,
1809), v. 427 _sq._ Similarly in Fiji any person who had touched the
head of a living chief or the body of a dead one was forbidden to
handle his food, and must be fed by another (J. E. Erskine, _The
Western Pacific_, p. 254).
488 On the custom of touching for the King’s Evil, see _The Magic Art
and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 368 _sqq._
M86 Fatal effects of contact with sacred chiefs in New Zealand.
489 “The idea in which this law [the law of taboo or _tapu_, as it was
called in New Zealand] originated appears to have been, that a
portion of the spiritual essence of an _atua_ or of a sacred person
was communicated directly to objects which they touched, and also
that the spiritual essence so communicated to any object was
afterwards more or less retransmitted to anything else brought into
contact with it” (E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the
New Zealanders_, Second Edition, London, 1856, p. 102). Compare
_id._, _Maori Religion and Mythology_, p. 25.
_ 490 Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori (London, 1884), pp. 96 _sq._
491 W. Brown, _New Zealand and its Aborigines_ (London, 1845), p. 76.
For more examples of the same kind see _ibid._ pp. 177 _sq._
492 E. Tregear, “The Maoris of New Zealand,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xix. (1890) p. 100.
493 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui, or, New Zealand and its Inhabitants_,2 p.
164.
494 R. Taylor, _op. cit._ p. 165.
M87 Examples of the fatal effects of imagination in other parts of the
world.
495 Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, pp. 537
_sq._
496 R. Southey, _History of Brazil_, i.2 (London, 1822), p. 238.
497 Major A. G. Leonard, _The Lower Niger and its Tribes_ (London,
1906), pp. 257 _sq._
498 Merolla’s “Voyage to Congo,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_,
xvi. 237 _sq._ As to these _chegilla_ or taboos on food, which are
commonly observed by the natives of this part of Africa, see further
my _Totemism and Exogamy_, ii. 614 _sqq._
M88 The taboos observed by sacred kings resemble those imposed on
persons who are commonly regarded as unclean, such as menstruous
women, homicides, and so forth. Taboos laid on persons who have been
in contact with the dead in New Zealand.
499 W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_ (Second Edition, London,
1832-1836), iv. 388. Ellis appears to imply that the rule was
universal in Polynesia, but perhaps he refers only to Hawaii, of
which in this part of his work he is specially treating. We are told
that in Hawaii the priest who carried the principal idol about the
country was tabooed during the performance of this sacred office; he
might not touch anything with his hands, and the morsels of food
which he ate had to be put into his mouth by the chiefs of the
villages through which he passed or even by the king himself, who
accompanied the priest on his rounds (L. de Freycinet, _Voyage
autour du monde_, Historique, ii. Première Partie, Paris, 1829, p.
596). In Tonga the rule applied to chiefs only when their hands had
become tabooed by touching a superior chief (W. Mariner, _Tonga
Islands_, i. 82 _sq._). In New Zealand chiefs were fed by slaves (A.
S. Thomson, _The Story of New Zealand_, i. 102); or they may, like
tabooed people in general, have taken up their food from little
stages with their mouths or by means of fern-stalks (R. Taylor, _Te
Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_,2 p. 162).
_ 500 Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori (London, 1884), pp. 104-114.
For more evidence see W. Yate, _New Zealand_, p. 85; G. F. Angas,
_Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_, ii. 90; E.
Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 104 _sq._; J. Dumont
D’Urville, _Voyage autour du monde et à la recherche de La Pérouse_,
ii. 530; Father Servant, “Notice sur la Nouvelle Zélande,” _Annales
de la Propagation de la Foi_, xv. (1843) p. 22.
M89 The rule which forbids persons who have been in contact with a
corpse to touch food with their hands seems to have been universal
in Polynesia. A rule of the same sort is observed in Melanesia and
Africa.
501 G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 145. Compare G. Brown, D.D., _Melanesians and
Polynesians_ (London, 1910), p. 402: “The men who took hold of the
body were _paia_ (sacred) for the time, were forbidden to touch
their own food, and were fed by others. No food wad eaten in the
same house with the dead body.”
502 W. Mariner, _The Natives of the Tonga Islands_2 (London, 1818), i.
141 _sq._, note.
503 Father Bataillon, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xiii.
(1841) p. 19. For more evidence of the practice of this custom in
Polynesia, see Captain J. Cook, _Voyages_ (London, 1809), vii. 147;
James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_
(London, 1799), p. 363.
504 Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition_,
New Edition (New York, 1851), iii. 99 _sq._
505 W. G. Lawes, “Ethnological Notes on the Motu, Koitapu, and Koiari
Tribes of New Guinea,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_,
viii. (1879) p. 370.
506 Father Lambert, in _Missions Catholiques_, xii. (1880) p. 365;
_id._, _Mœurs et superstitions des Néo-Calédoniens_ (Nouméa, 1900),
pp. 238 _sq._
507 A. C. Hollis, _The Nandi_ (Oxford, 1909), p. 70.
508 H. A. Junod, “Les Conceptions physiologiques des Bantou
sud-africains et leurs tabous,” _Revue d’Ethnographie et de
Sociologie_, i. (1910) p. 153.
509 A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, p. 563.
M90 Taboos laid on mourners among the Indian tribes of North America.
510 Fr. Boas, in _Sixth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_,
pp. 91 _sq._ (separate Reprint from the _Report of the British
Association for 1890_).
511 J. Teit, “The Thompson Indians of British Columbia,” _Memoir of the
American Museum of Natural History, The Jesup North Pacific
Expedition_, vol. i. part iv. (April 1900) pp. 331, 332 _sq._
512 C. Hill-Tout, _The Far West, the Home of the Salish and Déné_
(London, 1907), pp. 193 _sq._
513 G. M. Dawson, “Notes and Observations on the Kwakiool People of the
Northern part of Vancouver Island and adjacent Coasts,” _Proceedings
and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada for the Year 1887_,
vol. v. (Montreal, 1888) Trans. Section ii. pp. 78 _sq._
M91 Seclusion of widows and widowers in the Philippines and New Guinea.
514 F. Blumentritt, “Über die Eingeborenen der Insel Palawan und der
Inselgruppe der Talamlanen,” _Globus_, lix. (1891) p. 182.
515 Father Guis, “Les Canaques, Mort-Deuil,” _Missions Catholiques_,
xxxiv. (1902) pp. 208 _sq._
M92 Taboos imposed on women at menstruation.
516 Capt. W. E. Armit, “Customs of the Australian Aborigines,” _Journal
of the Anthropological Institute_, ix. (1880) p. 459.
517 W. Ridley, “Report on Australian Languages and Traditions,” _Journal
of the Anthropological Institute_, ii. (1873) p. 268.
518 From information given me by Messrs. Roscoe and Miller, missionaries
to Uganda (June 24, 1897), and afterwards corrected by the
_Katikiro_ (Prime Minister) of Uganda in conversation with Mr.
Roscoe (June 20, 1902).
_ 519 Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow,
Alaska_ (Washington, 1885), p. 46.
520 Alexander Mackenzie, _Voyages from Montreal through the Continent of
North America_ (London, 1801), p. cxxiii.
521 Gavin Hamilton, “Customs of the New Caledonian Women,” _Journal of
the Anthropological Institute_, vii. (1878) p. 206. Among the
Nootkas of British Columbia a girl at puberty is hidden from the
sight of men for several days behind a partition of mats; during her
seclusion she may not scratch her head or her body with her hands,
but she may do so with a comb or a piece of bone, which is provided
for the purpose. See Fr. Boas, in _Sixth Report on the North-Western
Tribes of Canada_, p. 41 (separate reprint from the _Report of the
British Association for 1890_). Again, among the Shuswap of British
Columbia a girl at puberty lives alone in a little hut on the
mountains and is forbidden to touch her head or scratch her body;
but she may scratch her head with a three-toothed comb and her body
with the painted bone of a deer. See Fr. Boas, _op. cit._ pp. 89
_sq._ In the East Indian island of Ceram a girl may not scratch
herself with her fingers the night before her teeth are filed, but
she may do it with a piece of bamboo. See J. G. F. Riedel, _De
sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, p. 137.
522 A. G. Morice, “The Canadian Dénés,” _Annual Archaeological Report
(Toronto), 1905_, p. 218.
523 H. Pittier de Fabrega, “Die Sprache der Bribri-Indianer in Costa
Rica,” _Sitzungsberichte der philosophischen-historischen Classe der
Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften_ (Vienna), cxxxviii. (1898)
p. 20.
524 C. G. Seligmann, in _Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological
Expedition to Torres Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp. 201, 203.
M93 Taboos imposed on women in childbed.
525 James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_, p.
354.
526 G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 276.
527 C. G. Seligmann, “The Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery of the
Sinaugolo,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii.
(1902) p. 302. In Uganda a bride is secluded for a month, during
which she only receives near relatives; she wears her veil all this
time. She may not handle food, but is fed by one of her attendants.
A peasant’s wife is secluded for two or three days only. See J.
Roscoe, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 37.
528 Father Guis, “Les Canaques, ce qu’ils font, ce qu’ils disent,”
_Missions Catholiques_, xxx. (1898) p. 119.
529 V. Lisiansky, _A Voyage Round the World_ (London, 1814), p. 201.
530 H. A. Junod, “Les Conceptions physiologiques des Bantou
sud-africains et leurs tabous,” _Revue d’ Ethnographie et de
Sociologie_, i. (1910) p. 153.
531 H. Pittier de Fábrega, _op. cit._ pp. 20 _sq._
532 F. Fawcett, “Note on a Custom of the Mysore ‘Gollaválu’ or Shepherd
Caste People,” _Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay_,
i. 536 _sq._; E. Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_
(Madras, 1909), ii. 287 _sq._
M94 Dangers apprehended from women in childbed.
533 M. J. Erdweg, “Die Bewohner der Insel Tumleo, Berlinhafen, Deutsch
Neu-Guinea,” _Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in
Wien_, xxxii. (1902) p. 280.
534 P. Rascher, “Die Sulka,” _Archiv für Anthropologie_, xxix. (1904) p.
212; R. Parkinson, _Dreissig Jahre in der Südsee_ (Stuttgart, 1907),
p. 180.
535 K. Vetter, in _Nachrichten über Kaiser Wilhelms-Land und den
Bismarck-Archipel_, 1897, p. 87.
536 Rev. E. Dannert, “Customs of the Ovaherero at the Birth of a Child,”
(_South African_) _Folk-lore Journal_, ii. (1880) p. 63.
M95 Dangers apprehended from women in childbed by Indians and Esquimaux.
537 Levrault, “Rapport sur les provinces de Canélos et du Napo,”
_Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_ (Paris), Deuxième Série, xi.
(1839) p. 74.
538 Franz Boas, “The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay,” _Bulletin of
the American Museum of Natural History_, xv. part i. (New York,
1901) pp. 125 _sq._ As to Sedna, see _id._ pp. 119 _sqq._
M96 Dangers apprehended from women in childbed by Bantu tribes of South
Africa. Dangers apprehended from a concealed miscarriage.
539 H. A. Junod, “Les Conceptions physiologiques des Bantou
sud-africains et leurs tabous,” _Revue d’Ethnographie et de
Sociologie_, i. (1910) p. 139.
540 H. A. Junod, _op. cit._ pp. 139 _sq._
M97 Belief of the Ba-Thonga that severe droughts result from the
concealment of miscarriages by women.
541 H. A. Junod, _op. cit._ pp. 140 _sq._
542 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 262
_sqq._, 278.
M98 Dangers apprehended from women in childbed by some tribes of Annam.
543 Le R. P. Cadière, “Coutumes populaires de la vallée du Nguôn-So’n,”
_Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient_, ii. (Hanoi, 1902)
pp. 353 _sq._
544 Dittenberger, _Sylloge inscriptionum Graecarum_,2 No. 566; Ch.
Michel, _Recueil d’inscriptions grecques_, No. 730 ἁγνευέτωσαν δὲ
καὶ εἰσίτωσαν εἰς τὸν τῆς θεο[ῦ ναὸν] ... ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ κήδους
καὶ τεκούσης γυναικὸς δευτεραῖος: Euripides, _Iphigenia in Tauris_,
380 _sqq._:
τὰ τῆς θεοῦ δὲ μέμφομαι σοφίσματα, ἤτις. βροτῶν μὲν ἤν τις ἄψηται
φόνου ἥ καὶ λοχείας ἢ νεκροῦ θιγῇ χεροῖν, βωμῶν ἀπείργει, μυσαρὸν ὡς
ἡγουμένη.
Compare also a mutilated Greek inscription found in Egypt (_Revue
archéologique_, IIIme Série, ii. 182 _sqq._). In the passage of
Euripides which I have just quoted an acute verbal scholar, the late
Dr. Badham, proposed to omit the line ἢ καὶ λοχείας ἢ νεκροῦ θιγῇ
χεροῖν with the comment: “_Nihil facit ad argumentum puerperae
mentio; patet versum a sciolo additum_.” To do Dr. Badham justice,
the inscription which furnishes so close a parallel to the line of
Euripides had not yet been discovered among the ruins of Pergamum,
when he proposed to mutilate the text of the poet.
M99 Taboos imposed on lads at initiation.
545 B. Hawkins, “The Creek Confederacy,” _Collections of the Georgia
Historical Society_, iii. pt. i. (Savannah, 1848) pp. 78 _sq._
Hawkins’s account is reproduced by A. S. Gatschett, in his
_Migration Legend of the Creek Indians_, i. 185 _sq._ (Philadelphia,
1884). In the Turrbal tribe of southern Queensland boys at
initiation were not allowed to scratch themselves with their
fingers, but they might do it with a stick. See A. W. Howitt,
_Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, p. 596.
546 L. Alberti, _De Kaffers_ (Amsterdam, 1810), pp. 76 _sq._; H.
Lichtenstein, _Reisen im südlichen Afrika_ (Berlin, 1811-12), i.
427; S. Kay, _Travels and Researches in Caffraria_ (London, 1833),
pp. 273 _sq._; Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_, p. 208; J.
Stewart, D.D., _Lovedale, South Africa_ (Edinburgh, 1894), pp. 105
_sq._, with illustrations.
M100 Taboos laid on warriors when they go forth to fight.
_ 547 Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori (London, 1884), pp. 96, 114
_sq._ One of the customs mentioned by the writer was that all the
people left in the camp had to fast strictly while the warriors were
out in the field. This rule is obviously based on the sympathetic
connexion supposed to exist between friends at a distance,
especially at critical times. See _The Magic Art and the Evolution
of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 126 _sqq._
548 Deuteronomy xxiii. 9-14; 1 Samuel xxi. 5. The rule laid down in
Deuteronomy xxiii. 10, 11, suffices to prove that the custom of
continence observed in time of war by the Israelites, as by a
multitude of savage and barbarous peoples, was based on a
superstitious, not a rational motive. To convince us of this it is
enough to remark that the rule is often observed by warriors for
some time after their victorious return, and also by the persons
left at home during the absence of the fighting men. In these cases
the observance of the rule evidently does not admit of a rational
explanation, which could hardly, indeed, be entertained by any one
conversant with savage modes of thought. For examples, see _The
Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 125, 128, 131,
133, and below, pp. 161, 163, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 175 _sq._,
178, 179, 181.
The other rule of personal cleanliness referred to in the text is
exactly observed, for the reason I have indicated, by the aborigines
in various parts of Australia. See (Sir) George Grey, _Journals_,
ii. 344; R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, i. 165; J.
Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_, p. 12; P. Beveridge, in _Journal
and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales_, xvii.
(1883) pp. 69 _sq._ Compare W. Stanbridge, “On the Aborigines of
Victoria,” _Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London_,
N.S. i. (1861) p. 299; Fison and Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, p.
251; E. M. Curr, _The Australian Race_, iii. 178 _sq._, 547; W. E.
Roth, _North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 5_ (Brisbane,
1903), p. 22, § 80. The same dread has resulted in a similar custom
of cleanliness in Melanesia and Africa. See R. Parkinson, _Im
Bismarck-Archipel_, pp. 143 _sq._; R. H. Codrington, _The
Melanesians_, p. 203 note; F. von Luschan, “Einiges über Sitten und
Gebräuche der Eingeborenen Neu-Guineas,” _Verhandlungen der Berliner
Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie, und Urgeschichte_
(1900), p. 416; J. Macdonald, “Manners, Customs, Superstitions, and
Religions of South African Tribes,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xx. (1891) p. 131. Mr. Lorimer Fison sent me some notes
on the Fijian practice, which agrees with the one described by Dr.
Codrington. The same rule is observed, probably from the same
motives, by the Miranha Indians of Brazil. See Spix und Martius,
_Reise in Brasilien_, iii. 1251 note. On this subject compare F.
Schwally, _Semitische Kriegsaltertümer_, i. (Leipsic, 1901) pp. 67
_sq._
_ 549 Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner_ (London,
1830), p. 122.
550 We have seen (pp. 146, 156) that the same rule is observed by girls
at puberty among some Indian tribes of British Columbia and by Creek
lads at initiation. It is also observed by Kwakiutl Indians who have
eaten human flesh (see below, p. 189). Among the Blackfoot Indians
the man who was appointed every four years to take charge of the
sacred pipe and other emblems of their religion might not scratch
his body with his finger-nails, but carried a sharp stick in his
hair which he used for this purpose. During the term of his
priesthood he had to fast and practise strict continence. None but
he dare handle the sacred pipe and emblems (W. W. Warren, “History
of the Ojibways,” _Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society_,
v. (1885) pp. 68 _sq._). In Vedic India the man who was about to
offer the solemn sacrifice of soma prepared himself for his duties
by a ceremony of consecration, during which he carried the horn of a
black deer or antelope wherewith to scratch himself if necessary
(_Satapatha-Brâhmana_, bk. iii. 31, vol. ii. pp. 33 _sq._ trans. by
J. Eggeling; H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion des Veda_, p. 399). Some of
the Peruvian Indians used to prepare themselves for an important
office by fasting, continence, and refusing to wash themselves, to
comb their hair, and to put their hands to their heads; if they
wished to scratch themselves, they must do it with a stick. See P.
J. de Arriaga, _Extirpacion de la idolatria del Piru_ (Lima, 1621),
p. 20. Among the Isistines Indians of Paraguay mourners refrained
from scratching their heads with their fingers, believing that to
break the rule would make them bald, no hair growing on the part of
the head which their fingers had touched. See Guevara, “Historia del
Paraguay,” in P. de Angelis’s _Coleccion de obras y documentos
relativos a la historia antigua y moderna de las provincias del Rio
de la Plata_, ii. (Buenos-Aires, 1836) p. 30. Amongst the Macusis of
British Guiana, when a woman has given birth to a child, the father
hangs up his hammock beside that of his wife and stays there till
the navel-string drops off the child. During this time the parents
have to observe certain rules, of which one is that they may not
scratch their heads or bodies with their nails, but must use for
this purpose a piece of palm-leaf. If they broke this rule, they
think the child would die or be an invalid all its life. See R.
Schomburgk, _Reisen in Britisch-Guiana_, ii. 314. Some aborigines of
Queensland believe that if they scratched themselves with their
fingers during a rain-making ceremony, no rain would fall. See _The
Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. p. 254. In all these
cases, plainly, the hands are conceived to be so strongly infected
with the venom of taboo that it is dangerous even for the owner of
the hands to touch himself with them. The cowboy who herded the cows
of the king of Unyoro had to live strictly chaste, no one might
touch him, and he might not scratch or wound himself so as to draw
blood. But it is not said that he was forbidden to touch himself
with his own hands. See my _Totemism and Exogamy_, ii. 527.
_ 551 Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner_ (London,
1830), p. 123. As to the custom of not stepping over a person or his
weapons, see the note at the end of the volume.
552 J. G. Bourke, _On the Border with Crook_ (New York, 1891), p. 133;
_id._, in _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) p. 453; _id._, in _Ninth Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1892), p. 490.
553 J. G. Kohl, _Kitschi-Gami_, ii. 168.
M101 Ceremonies observed by American Indians before they went out on the
war-path. Rules observed by Indians on a war-expedition.
_ 554 Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt_
(Middletown, 1820), pp. 148 _sq._
555 J. de Smet, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xiv. (1842)
pp. 67 _sq._ These customs have doubtless long passed away, and the
Indians who practised them may well have suffered the extinction
which they did their best to incur.
556 J. Adair, _History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775), p. 163.
557 J. Adair, _History of the American Indians_, pp. 380-382.
558 Maj. M. Marston, in Rev. Jedidiah Morse’s _Report to the Secretary
of War of the United States on Indian Affairs_ (New-haven, 1822),
Appendix, p. 130. The account in the text refers especially to the
Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo Indians, at the junction of the Rock and
Mississippi rivers.
559 H. A. Junod, “Les Conceptions physiologiques des Bantou
sud-africains et leurs tabous,” _Revue d’Ethnographie et de
Sociologie_, i. (1910) p. 149.
M102 The rule of continence observed by savage warriors is perhaps based
on a fear of infecting themselves sympathetically with feminine
weakness and cowardice.
560 For more evidence of the practice of continence by warriors, see R.
Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_,2 p.
189; E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_, ii. 85 _sq._; Ch.
Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition_, iii.
78; J. Chalmers, “Toaripi,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xxvii. (1898) p. 332; _id._, _Pioneering in New Guinea_,
p. 65; Van Schmidt, “Aanteekeningen nopens de zeden, etc., der
bevolking van de eilanden Saparoea, Haroekoe, Noessa Laut, etc.,”
_Tijdschrift voor Neêrlands Indie_, 1843, deel ii. p. 507; J. G. F.
Riedel, _De sluikharige en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en
Papua_, p. 223; _id._, “Galela und Tobeloresen,” _Zeitschrift für
Ethnologie_, xvii. (1885) p. 68; W. W. Skeat, _Malay Magic_, p. 524;
E. Reclus, _Nouvelle Géographie universelle_, viii. 126 (compare J.
Biddulph, _Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh_, p. 18); N. Isaacs, _Travels
and Adventures in Eastern Africa_, i. 120; H. Callaway, _Religious
System of the Amazulu_, iv. 437 _sq._; Dudley Kidd, _The Essential
Kafir_, p. 306; A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der
Loango-Küste_, i. 203; H. Cole, “Notes on the Wagogo of German East
Africa,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902)
p. 317; R. H. Nassau, _Fetichism in West Africa_, p. 177; H. R.
Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, iv. 63; J. Morse, _Report to the
Secretary of War of the U.S. on Indian Affairs_ (New-haven, 1822),
pp. 130, 131; H. H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_,
i. 189. On the other hand in Uganda, before an army set out, the
general and all the chiefs had either to lie with their wives or to
jump over them. This was supposed to ensure victory and plenty of
booty. See J. Roscoe, in _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_,
xxxii. (1902) p. 59. And in Kiwai Island, off British New Guinea,
men had intercourse with their wives before they went to war, and
they drew omens from it. See J. Chalmers, “Notes on the Natives of
Kiwai,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxiii. (1903)
p. 123.
561 See above, pp. 151 _sq._
562 A. W. Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_, i. 350.
563 T. C. Hodson, “The _genna_ amongst the Tribes of Assam,” _Journal of
the Anthropological Institute_, xxxvi. (1906) p. 100.
M103 Taboos laid on warriors after slaying their foes. The effect of the
taboos is to seclude the tabooed person from ordinary society.
Seclusion of manslayers in the East Indies.
564 S. Müller, _Reizen en Onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel_
(Amsterdam, 1857), ii. 252.
565 J. S. G. Gramberg, “Eene maand in de binnenlanden van Timor,”
_Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en
Wetenschappen_, xxxvi. (1872) pp. 208, 216 _sq._ Compare H.
Zondervan, “Timor en de Timoreezen,” _Tijdschrift van het
Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap_, Tweede Serie, v. (1888)
Afdeeling, meer uitgebreide artikelen, pp. 399, 413. Similarly
Gallas returning from war sacrifice to the jinn or guardian spirits
of their slain foes before they will re-enter their own houses (Ph.
Paulitschke, _Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas, die geistige Cultur der
Danâkil, Galla und Somâl_, pp. 50, 136). Sometimes perhaps the
sacrifice consists of the slayers’ own blood. See below, pp. 174,
176, 180. Orestes is said to have appeased the Furies of his
murdered mother by biting off one of his fingers (Pausanias, viii.
34. 3).
566 N. Adriani en A. C. Kruijt, “Van Posso naar Parigi, Sigi en Lindoe,”
_Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_,
xlii. (1898) p. 451.
567 S. W. Tromp, “Uit de Salasila van Koetei,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal-
Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, xxxvii. (1888) p. 74.
M104 Seclusion of manslayers in New Guinea.
568 Dr. L. Loria, “Notes on the Ancient War Customs of the Natives of
Logea and Neighbourhood,” _British New Guinea, Annual Report for
1894-1895_ (London, 1896), p. 52.
569 Rev. J. Chalmers, “Toaripi,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xxvii. (1898) p. 333.
570 R. E. Guise, “On the Tribes inhabiting the Mouth of the Wanigela
River, New Guinea,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_,
xxviii. (1899) pp. 213 _sq._
571 C. G. Seligmann, _The Melanesians of British New Guinea_ (Cambridge,
1910), p. 298.
572 C. G. Seligmann, _op. cit._ pp. 129 _sq._
573 C. G. Seligmann, _op. cit._ pp. 563 _sq._
M105 The manslayer unclean. Driving away the ghosts of the slain.
574 P. Franz Vormann, “Zur Psychologie, Religion, Soziologie und
Geschichte der Monumbo-Papua, Deutsch-Neuguinea,” _Anthropos_, v.
(1910) pp. 410 _sq._
575 J. L. D. van der Roest, “Uit het leven der Bevolking van Windessi,”
_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xl. (1898)
pp. 157 _sq._
576 H. von Rosenberg, _Der malayische Archipel_, p. 461.
577 K. Vetter, in _Nachrichten über Kaiser Wilhelms-Land und den
Bismarck-Archipel_, 1897, p. 94.
578 J. E. Erskine, _The Western Pacific_ (London, 1853), p. 477.
579 Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, vi. pp. 77, 122 _sq._;
J. F. Lafitau, _Mœ urs des sauvages ameriquains_, ii. 279. In many
places it is customary to drive away the ghosts even of persons who
have died a natural death. An account of these customs is reserved
for another work.
580 W. H. Keating, _Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St.
Peter’s River_ (London, 1825), i. 109.
M106 Precautions taken by executioners against the ghosts of their
victims.
581 Father Baudin, “Féticheurs, ou ministres religieux des Nègres de la
Guinée,” _Missions Catholiques_, xvi. (1884) p. 332.
582 Juan de la Concepcion, _Historia general de Philipinas_, xi.
(Manilla, 1791) p. 387.
583 G. Loyer, “Voyage to Issini on the Gold Coast,” in T. Astley’s _New
General Collection of Voyages and Travels_, ii. (London, 1745) p.
444. Among the tribes of the Lower Niger it is customary for the
executioner to remain in the house for three days after the
execution; during this time he sleeps on the bare floor, eats off
broken platters, and drinks out of calabashes or mugs, which are
also damaged. See Major A. G. Leonard, _The Lower Niger and its
Tribes_ (London, 1906), p. 180.
M107 Purification of manslayers among the Basutos, Bechuanas, and
Bageshu. Expulsion of the ghosts of the slain by the Angoni.
584 E. Casalis, _The Basutos_, p. 258. So Caffres returning from battle
are unclean and must wash before they enter their houses (L.
Alberti, _De Kaffers_, p. 104). It would seem that after the
slaughter of a foe the Greeks or Romans had also to bathe in running
water before they might touch holy things (Virgil, _Aen._ ii. 719
_sqq._).
585 Father Porte, “Les Réminiscences d’un missionnaire du Basutoland,”
_Missions Catholiques_, xxviii. (1896) p. 371. For a fuller
description of a ceremony of this sort see T. Arbousset et F.
Daumas, _Voyage d’exploration au nord-est de la colonie du Cap de
Bonne-Espérance_ (Paris, 1842), pp. 561-563.
586 “Extrait du journal des missions évangeliques,” _Bulletin de la
Société de Géographie_ (Paris), IIme Série, ii. (1834) pp. 199 _sq._
587 Rev. W. C. Willoughby, “Notes on the Totemism of the Becwana,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxv. (1905) pp. 305
_sq._
588 Rev. J. Roscoe, “Notes on the Bageshu,” _Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute_, xxxix. (1909) p. 190.
589 Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_, p. 310.
590 C. Wiese, “Beiträge zur Geschichte der Zulu im Norden des Zambesi,”
_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xxxii. (1900) pp. 197 _sq._
591 Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_, pp. 309 _sq._
M108 Seclusion and purification of manslayers in Africa.
592 Rev. J. Macdonald, “Manners, Customs, Superstitions, and Religions
of South African Tribes,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xx. (1891) p. 138; _id._, _Light in Africa_, p. 220.
593 A. C. Hollis, _The Nandi_ (Oxford, 1909), p. 74. As to the painting
of the body red on one side and white on the other see also C. W.
Hobley, _Eastern Uganda_, pp. 38, 42; Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda
Protectorate_, ii. 868. As to the custom of painting the bodies of
homicides, see below, p. 178 note 1 and p. 186 note 1.
594 H. R. Tate, “Further Notes on the Kikuyu Tribe of British East
Africa,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxiv. (1904)
p. 264.
595 C. W. Hobley, “British East Africa,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xxxiii. (1903) p. 353.
596 Miss Alice Werner, _Natives of British Central Africa_ (London,
1906), pp. 67 _sq._
597 H. Schinz, _Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika_, p. 321.
598 P. H. Brincker, “Heidnisch-religiöse Sitten der Bantu, speciell der
Ovaherero und Ovambo,” _Globus_, lxvii. (1895) p. 289; id.,
“Charakter, Sitten und Gebräuche speciell der Bantu
Deutsch-Südwestafrikas,” _Mittheilungen des Seminars für
orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin_, iii. (1900) Dritte Abtheilung, p.
76.
_ 599 Id._, “Beobachtungen über die Deisidämonie der Eingeborenen
Deutsch-Südwest-Afrikas,” _Globus_, lviii. (1890) p. 324; id., in
_Globus_, lxvii. (1895) p. 289; id., in _Mittheilungen des Seminars
für orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin_, iii. (1900) Dritte
Abtheilung, p. 83.
600 Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda Protectorate_ (London, 1902), ii. 743
_sq._; C. W. Hobley, _Eastern Uganda_ (London, 1902), p. 20.
601 M. Weiss, _Die Völkerstämme im Norden Deutsch-Ostafrikas_ (Berlin,
1910), p. 198.
602 Sir H. Johnston, _op. cit._ ii. 794; C. W. Hobley, _op. cit._ p. 31.
603 Numbers xxxi. 19-24.
604 E. Casalis, _The Basutos_, pp. 258 _sq._
M109 Manslayers in Australia guard themselves against the ghosts of the
slain.
605 Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, pp.
493-495; _id._, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_, pp. 563-568.
The writers suggest that the practice of painting the slayers black
is meant to render them invisible to the ghost. A widow, on the
contrary, must paint her body white, in order that her husband’s
spirit may see that she is mourning for him.
M110 Seclusion of manslayers in Polynesia.
606 G. H. von Langsdorff, _Reise um die Welt_ (Frankfort, 1812), i. 114
_sq._
607 T. Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_,2 i. 55 _sq._
608 J. Kubary, _Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer_ (Berlin, 1885),
pp. 126 _sq._, 130.
M111 Seclusion and purification of manslayers among the Tupi Indians of
Brazil.
609 F. A. Thevet, _Les Singularités de la France Antarctique, autrement
nommée Amérique_ (Antwerp, 1558), pp. 74-76; _id._, _Cosmographie
universelle_ (Paris, 1575), pp. 944 [978] _sq._; Pero de Magalhanes
de Gandavo, _Histoire de la province de Sancta-Cruz_ (Paris, 1837),
pp. 134-141 (H. Ternaux-Compans, _Voyages, relations, et mémoires
originaux pour servir à l’histoire de la découverte de l’Amérique_;
the original of Gandavo’s work was published in Portuguese at Lisbon
in 1576); J. Lery, _Historia navigationis in Brasiliam, quae et
America dicitur_ (1586), pp. 183-194; _The Captivity of Hans Stade
of Hesse, in __A.D.__ 1547-1555, among the Wild Tribes of Eastern
Brazil_, translated by A. Tootal (London, 1874), pp. 155-159; J. F.
Lafitau, _Mœurs des sauvages ameriquains_, ii. 292 _sqq._; R.
Southey, _History of Brazil_, i.2 227-232.
M112 Seclusion and purification of manslayers among the North American
Indians.
610 “Relation des Natchez,” _Voyages au nord_, ix. 24 (Amsterdam, 1737);
_Lettres édifiantes et curieuses_, vii. 26; Charlevoix, _Histoire de
la Nouvelle France_, vi. 186 _sq._
611 Bossu, _Nouveaux Voyages aux Indes occidentales_ (Paris, 1768), ii.
94.
612 H. R. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, iv. 63.
613 J. Teit, “The Thompson Indians of British Columbia,” _Memoir of the
American Museum of Natural History, The Jesup North Pacific
Expedition_, vol. i. part iv. (April 1900) p. 357.
614 J. O. Dorsey, “An Account of the War Customs of the Osages,”
_American Naturalist_, xviii. (1884) p. 126.
615 G. Catlin, _North American Indians_, i. 246.
616 H. H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, i. 553; Capt.
Grossman, cited in _Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_
(Washington, 1892), pp. 475 _sq._ The custom of plastering the head
with mud was observed by Egyptian women in mourning (Herodotus, ii.
85; Diodorus Siculus, i. 91). Among some of the aboriginal tribes of
Victoria and New South Wales widows wore a thick skullcap of clay or
burned gypsum, forming a cast of the head, for some months after the
death; when the period of mourning was over, the cap was removed,
baked in the fire, and laid on the husband’s grave. One of these
widows’ caps is exhibited in the British Museum. See T. L. Mitchell,
_Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia_ (London,
1838), i. 251 _sq._; E. J. Eyre, _Journals of Expeditions of
Discovery into Central Australia_, ii. 354; G. F. Angas, _Savage
Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_ (London, 1847), i. 86;
G. Krefft, “On the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines of the
Lower Murray and Darling,” _Transactions of the Philosophical
Society of New South Wales_, 1862-1865 (Sydney, 1866), pp. 373
_sq._; J. Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_, p. 66; R. Brough Smyth,
_The Aborigines of Victoria_, i. p. xxx.; W. Stanbridge, “On the
Aborigines of Victoria,” _Transactions of the Ethnological Society
of London_, N.S., i. (1861) p. 298; A. Oldfield, “The Aborigines of
Australia,” _ibid._ iii. (1865) p. 248; F. Bonney, “On some Customs
of the Aborigines of the River Darling, New South Wales,” _Journal
of the Anthropological Institute_, xiii. (1884) p. 135; E. M. Curr,
_The Australian Race_, i. 88, ii. 238 _sq._, iii. 21; A. W. Howitt,
_Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, pp. 248, 452; R. Etheridge,
jun., “The ‘Widow’s Cap’ of the Australian Aborigines,” _Proceedings
of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales for the Year 1899_, xxiv.
(Sydney, 1900) pp. 333-345 (with illustrations). In the Andaman
Islands mourners coat their heads with a thick mass of white clay
(Jagor, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für
Anthropologie_, 1876, p. (57); M. V. Portman, “Disposal of the Dead
among the Andamanese,” _Indian Antiquary_, xxv. (1896) p. 57;
compare E. H. Man, _Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands_,
pp. 73, 75). Among the Bahima of the Uganda Protectorate, when
herdsmen water their cattle in the evening, they plaster their faces
and bodies with white clay, at the same time stiffening their hair
with mud into separate lumps. This mud is left on the head for days
till it crumbles into dust (Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda
Protectorate_, ii. 626, compare 620).
617 F. Russell, “The Pima Indians,” _Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the
Bureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington, 1908), pp. 204 _sq._
618 J. G. Bourke, _On the Border with Crook_, p. 203.
619 F. Russell, “The Pima Indians,” _Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the
Bureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington, 1908), p. 204.
M113 Taboos observed by Indians who had slain Esquimaux.
620 S. Hearne, _Journey from Prince of Wales’s Fort in Hudson’s Bay to
the Northern Ocean_ (London, 1795), pp. 204-206. The custom of
painting the face or the body of the manslayer, which may perhaps be
intended to disguise him from the vengeful spirit of the slain, is
practised by other peoples, as by the Nandi (see above, p. 175).
Among the Ba-Yaka of the Congo Free State a man who has been slain
in battle is supposed to send his soul to avenge his death on his
slayer; but the slayer can protect himself against the ghost by
wearing the red tail-feathers of a parrot in his hair and painting
his forehead red (E. Torday and T. A. Joyce, “Notes on the
Ethnography of the Ba-Yaka,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xxxvi. (1906) pp. 50 _sq._). Among the Borâna Gallas,
when a war-party has returned to the village, the victors who have
slain a foe are washed by the women with a mixture of fat and
butter, and their faces are painted with red and white (Ph.
Paulitschke, _Ethnographie Nord-ost-Afrikas: die materielle Cultur
der Danâkil, Galla und Somâl_ (Berlin, 1893), p. 258). When Masai
warriors kill enemies in fight they paint the right half of their
own bodies red and the left half white (A. C. Hollis, _The Masai_,
p. 353). Among the Wagogo of German East Africa, a man who has
killed an enemy in battle paints a red circle round his right eye
and a black circle round his left eye (Rev. H. Cole, “Notes on the
Wagogo of German East Africa,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 314). Among the Angoni of central
Africa, after a successful raid, the leader calls together all who
have killed an enemy and paints their faces and heads white; also he
paints a white band round the body under the arms and across the
chest (_British Central Africa Gazette_, No. 86, vol. v. No. 6
(April 30, 1898), p. 2). A Koossa Caffre who has slain a man is
accounted unclean. He must roast some flesh on a fire kindled with
wood of a special sort which imparts a bitter flavour to the meat.
This flesh he eats, and afterwards blackens his face with the ashes
of the fire. After a time he may wash himself, rinse his mouth with
fresh milk, and paint himself brown again. From that moment he is
clean (H. Lichtenstein, _Reisen im südlichen Africa_, i. 418). Among
the Yabim of German New Guinea, when the relations of a murdered man
have accepted a bloodwit instead of avenging his death, they must
allow the family of the murderer to mark them with chalk on the
brow. If this is not done, the ghost of their murdered kinsman may
come and trouble them for not doing their duty by him; for example,
he may drive away their swine or loosen their teeth (K. Vetter, in
_Nachrichten über Kaiser Wilhelms-Land und den Bismarck-Archipel_,
1897, p. 99). In this last case the marking the face with chalk
seems to be clearly a disguise to outwit the ghost.
M114 The purification of murderers, like that of warriors who have slain
enemies, was probably intended to avert or appease the ghosts of the
slain. Ancient Greek dread of the ghosts of the slain.
621 J. Owen Dorsey, “Omaha Sociology,” _Third Annual Report of the
Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1884), p. 369.
622 Plato, Laws, ix. pp. 865 D-866 A; Demosthenes, _Contra Aristocr._
pp. 643 _sq._; Hesychius, _s.v._ ἀπενιαυτιαμὸς.
623 Euripides, _Iphig. in Taur._ 940 _sqq._; Pausanias, ii. 31. 8. We
may compare the wanderings of the other matricide Alcmaeon, who
could find no rest till he came to a new land on which the sun had
not yet shone when he murdered his mother (Thucydides, ii. 102;
Apollodorus, iii. 7. 5; Pausanias, viii. 24. 8).
624 Polybius, iv. 21.
M115 Taboos imposed on men who have partaken of human flesh.
625 Fr. Boas, “The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the
Kwakiutl Indians,” _Report of the U.S. National Museum for 1895_,
pp. 440, 537 _sq._
626 Th. H. Ruys, “Bezoek an den Kannibalenstam van Noord Nieuw-Guinea,”
_Tijdschrift van het koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig
Genootschap_, Tweede Serie, xxiii. (1906) p. 328. Among these
savages the genitals of a murdered man are eaten by an old woman,
and the genitals of a murdered woman are eaten by an old man. What
the object of this curious practice may be is not apparent. Perhaps
the intention is to unsex and disarm the dangerous ghost. On the
dread of ghosts, especially the ghosts of those who have died a
violent death, see further _Psyche’s Task_, pp. 52 sqq.
M116 Hunters and fishers have to observe taboos and undergo rites of
purification, which are probably dictated by a fear of the spirits
of the animals or fish which they have killed or intended to kill.
627 Meantime I may refer the reader to _The Golden Bough_, Second
Edition, vol. ii. pp. 389 _sqq._
M117 Taboos and ceremonies observed before catching whales. Taboos
observed as a preparation for catching dugong and turtle. Taboos
observed as a preparation for hunting and fishing. Taboos and
ceremonies observed at the hatching and pairing of silkworms.
_ 628 Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt_
(Middletown, 1820), pp. 133, 136.
629 See above, pp. 160 _sq._
630 Baron d’Unienville, _Statistique de l’Île Maurice_ (Paris, 1838),
iii. 271. Compare A. van Gennep, _Tabou et Totémisme à Madagascar_
(Paris, 1904), p. 253, who refers to Le Gentil, _Voyage dans les
Mers de l’Inde_ (Paris, 1781), ii. 562.
631 U. Lisiansky, _Voyage Round the World_ (London, 1814), pp. 174, 209.
632 A. C. Haddon, “The Ethnography of the Western Tribe of Torres
Straits,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xix. (1890) p.
397; _Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres
Straits_, v. 271.
633 A. C. Haddon, in _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xix.
(1890) p. 467.
_ 634 Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres
Straits_, v. 271 note.
635 R. E. Guise, “On the Tribes inhabiting the Mouth of the Wanigela
River,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxviii. (1899)
p. 218. The account refers specially to Bulaa, which the author
describes (pp. 205, 217) as “a marine village” and “the greatest
fishing village in New Guinea.” Probably it is built out over the
water. This would explain the allusion to the sanctified headman
going ashore daily at sundown.
636 Captain F. R. Barton and Dr. Strong, in C. G. Seligmann’s _The
Melanesians of British New Guinea_ (Cambridge, 1910), pp. 292, 293
_sq._
637 W. H. Furness, _The Island of Stone Money, Uap of the Carolines_
(Philadelphia and London, 1910), pp. 38 _sq._, 44 _sq._ Though the
fisherman may have nothing to do with his wife and family, he is not
wholly debarred from female society; for each of the men’s
clubhouses has one young woman, or sometimes two young women, who
have been captured from another district, and who cohabit
promiscuously with all the men of the clubhouse. The name for one of
these concubines is _mispil_. See W. H. Furness, _op. cit._ pp. 46
_sqq._ There is a similar practice of polyandry in the men’s
clubhouses of the Pelew Islands. See J. Kubary, _Die socialen
Einrichtungen der Pelauer_ (Berlin, 1885), pp. 50 _sqq._ Compare
_Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 435 _sq._
638 J. S. Kubary, _Ethnographische Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Karolinen
Archipels_ (Leyden, 1895), p. 127.
639 W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India_
(Westminster, 1896), ii. 257. In Chota Nagpur and the Central
Provinces of India the rearers of silk-worms “carefully watch over
and protect the worms, and while the rearing is going on, live with
great cleanliness and self-denial, abstaining from alcohol and all
intercourse with women, and adhering very strictly to certain
ceremonial observances. The business is a very precarious one, much
depending on favourable weather” (_Indian Museum Notes, issued by
the Trustees_, vol. i. No. 3 (Calcutta, 1890), p. 160).
M118 Taboos observed by fishermen in Uganda. Continence observed by
Bangala fishermen and hunters.
640 The Rev. J. Roscoe in letters to me dated Mengo, Uganda, April 23
and June 6, 1903.
641 Rev. J. Roscoe, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the
Baganda,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902)
p. 56.
642 Rev. J. H. Weeks, “Anthropological Notes on the Bangala of the Upper
Congo,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxix. (1909)
pp. 458, 459.
M119 Taboos observed by hunters in Nias.
643 J. W. Thomas, “De jacht op het eiland Nias,” _Tijdschrift voor
Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xxvi. (1880) pp. 276 _sq._
M120 The practice of continence by fishers and hunters seems to be based
on a notion that incontinence offends the fish and the animals.
644 J. Chalmers, _Pioneering in New Guinea_ (London, 1887), p. 186.
645 P. Reichard, _Deutsch-Ostafrika_ (Leipsic, 1892), p. 427.
646 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. p. 123.
647 Mgr. Le Roy, “Les Pygmées,” _Missions Catholiques_, xxix. (1897) p.
269.
M121 Chastity observed by American Indians before hunting.
648 C. Lumholtz, _Unknown Mexico_, ii. 40 sq.
649 Father A. G. Morice, “Notes, Archaeological, Industrial, and
Sociological on the Western Denés,” _Transactions of the Canadian
Institute_, iv. (1892-93) pp. 107, 108.
650 M. C. Stevenson, “The Sia,” _Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology_ (Washington, 1894), p. 118.
651 Fr. Boas, in _Tenth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_,
p. 47 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British Association
for 1895_).
_ 652 Id._, in _Sixth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_, p.
90 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British Association for
1890_).
653 J. Teit, “The Thompson Indians of British Columbia,” _Memoir of the
American Museum of Natural History, The Jesup North Pacific
Expedition_, vol. i. part iv. (April 1900) p. 347.
654 J. Teit, _op. cit._ p. 348.
M122 Taboos observed by Hidatsa Indians at catching eagles.
655 Washington Matthews, _Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa
Indians_ (Washington, 1877), pp. 58-60. Other Indian tribes also
observe elaborate superstitious ceremonies in hunting eagles. See
_Totemism and Exogamy_, iii. 182, 187 _sq._
M123 Miscellaneous examples of chastity practised from superstitious
motives.
656 E. Aymonier, _Notes sur le Laos_ (Saigon, 1885), p. 141.
657 P. Ch. Gilhodes, “La Culture matérielle des Katchins (Birmanie),”
_Anthropos_, v. (1910) p. 622. Compare J. Anderson, _From Mandalay
to Momien_ (London, 1876), p. 198, who observes that among the
Kakhyens (Kachins) the brewing of beer “is regarded as a serious,
almost sacred, task, the women, while engaged in it, having to live
in almost vestal seclusion.”
658 J. G. Frazer, _Totemism and Exogamy_, ii. 410 _sq._, on Mr. A. C.
Hollis’s authority.
659 M. Weiss, _Die Völker-Stämme im Norden Deutsch-Ostafrikas_ (Berlin,
1910), p. 396.
660 G. A. Wilken, “Bijdrage tot de Kennis der Alfoeren van het eiland
Boeroe,” p. 30 (_Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van
Kunsten en Wetenschappen_, xxxvi.).
661 J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes
en Papua_, p. 179.
662 G. H. von Langsdorff, _Reise um die Welt_ (Frankfort, 1812), i. 118
_sq._
663 G. H. von Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 117.
664 B. de Sahagun, _Histoire générale des choses de la Nouvelle
Espagne_, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon, p. 45.
M124 Miscellaneous examples of continence observed from superstitious
motives. Continence observed by the Motu of New Guinea before and
during a trading voyage. Continence observed by the Akamba and
Akikuyu on a journey and other occasions.
665 H. A. Junod, “Les Conceptions physiologiques des Bantou
sud-africains et leurs tabous,” _Revue d’Ethnographie et de
Sociologie_, i. (1910) p. 148.
666 Dameon Grangeon, “Les Chams et leurs superstitions,” _Missions
Catholiques_, xxviii. (1896) p. 70.
667 Father Lambert, “Mœurs et superstitions de la tribu Bélep,”
_Missions Catholiques_, xii. (1880) p. 215; _id._, _Mœurs et
superstitions des Néo-Calédoniens_ (Nouméa, 1900), pp. 191 _sq._
668 R. Parkinson, _Dreissig Jahre in der Südsee_ (Stuttgart, 1907), p.
99.
669 Captain F. R. Barton, in C. G. Seligmann’s _The Melanesians of
British New Guinea_ (Cambridge, 1910), pp. 100-102. The native words
which I have translated respectively “skipper” and “mate” are
_baditauna_ and _doritauna_. The exact meaning of the words is
doubtful.
670 Quoted by Dr. George Turner, _Samoa_ (London, 1884), pp. 349 _sq._
671 J. M. Hildebrandt, “Ethnographische Notizen über Wakamba und ihre
Nachbarn,” _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, x. (1878) p. 401.
672 H. R. Tate, “Further Notes on the Kikuyu Tribe of British East
Africa,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxiv. (1904)
pp. 260 _sq._ At the festivals sheep and goats are sacrificed to God
(_Ngai_), and the people feast on the roast flesh.
M125 The taboos observed by hunters and fishers are often continued and
even increased in stringency after the game has been killed and the
fish caught. The motive for this conduct can only be superstitious.
M126 Taboos observed by the Bering Strait Esquimaux after catching whales
or salmon.
673 E. W. Nelson, “The Eskimo about Bering Strait,” _Eighteenth Annual
Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, part i. (Washington,
1899) pp. 438, 440.
M127 Taboos observed by the Bering Strait Esquimaux and the Aleuts of
Alaska out of regard for the animals they have killed.
674 E. W. Nelson, _op. cit._ p. 440, compare pp. 380 _sq._ The bladder
festival of these Esquimaux will be described in a later part of
this work.
675 I. Petroff, _Report on the Population, Industries, and Resources of
Alaska_ (preface dated August 7, 1882), pp. 154 _sq._
676 W. H. Dall, _Alaska and its Resources_ (London, 1870), p. 404.
M128 Taboos observed by the central Esquimaux after killing sea-beasts.
The sea-mammals may not be brought into contact with reindeer.
M129 Even among the sea-beasts themselves there are rules of mutual
avoidance which the central Esquimaux must observe.
677 Fr. Boas, “The Central Eskimo,” _Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau
of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1888), pp. 584 _sq._, 595; _id._ “The
Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay,” _Bulletin of the American
Museum of Natural History_, xv. part i. (1901) pp. 121-124. See also
_id._ “Die Sagen der Baffin-land Eskimo,” _Verhandlungen der
Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie, und
Urgeschichte_ (1885), pp. 162 _sq._; _id._, in _Proceedings and
Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada_, v. (Montreal, 1888)
section ii. pp. 35 _sq._; C. F. Hall, _Life with the Esquimaux_
(London, 1864), ii. 321 _sq._; _id._, _Narrative of the Second
Arctic Expedition made by Charles F. Hall_, edited by Professor J.
E. Nourse (Washington, 1879), pp. 191 _sq._
M130 Native explanation of these Esquimau taboos.
M131 The object of the taboos observed after killing sea-beasts is to
prevent the souls of the slain animals from contracting certain
attachments, which would hurt not only them, but also the great
goddess Sedna, in whose house the disembodied souls of the
sea-beasts reside.
M132 The souls of the sea-beasts have a great aversion to the dark colour
of death and to the vapour that arises from flowing blood, and they
avoid persons who are affected by these things.
M133 The transgresser of a taboo must announce his transgression, in
order that other people may shun him.
M134 Hence the central Esquimaux have come to think that sin can be
atoned for by confession.
678 That is, the wizard or sorcerer.
M135 The transgression of taboos affects the soul of the transgressor,
becoming attached to it and making him sick. If the attachment is
not removed by the wizard, the man will die.
679 That is, the wizard or sorcerer.
M136 The Esquimaux try to keep the sea-beasts free from contaminating
influences, especially from contact with corpses and with women who
have recently been brought to bed.
680 Fr. Boas, “The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay,” _Bulletin of
the American Museum of Natural History_, xv. pt. i. (1901) pp.
119-121, 124-126. In quoting these passages I have changed the
spelling of a few words in accordance with English orthography.
M137 In the system of taboos of the central Esquimaux we see animism
passing into religion; morality is coming to rest on a supernatural
basis, namely the will of the goddess Sedna. In this evolution of
religion the practice of confession has played a part. It seems to
have been regarded as a spiritual purge or emetic, by which sin,
conceived as a sort of morbid substance, was expelled from the body
of the sinner.
681 Le P. P. Cayzac, “La Religion des Kikuyu,” _Anthropos_, v. (1905) p.
311.
682 Le P. P. Cayzac, _loc. cit._ The nature of the “ignoble ceremony” of
transferring sin to a he-goat is not mentioned by the missionary. It
can hardly have been the simple Jewish one of laying hands on the
animal’s head.
M138 Hence the confession of sins is employed as a sort of medicine for
the recovery of the sick. Similarly the confession of sins is
sometimes resorted to by women in hard labour as a means of
accelerating their delivery. In these cases confession is a magical
ceremony designed to relieve the sinner.
683 D. W. Harmon, in Rev. Jedidiah Morse’s _Report to the Secretary of
War of the United States on Indian Affairs_ (New-haven, 1822), p.
345. The Carriers are an Indian tribe of North-West America who call
themselves _Ta-cul-lies_, “a people who go upon water” (_ibid._ p.
343).
684 Francis C. Nicholas, “The Aborigines of Santa Maria, Colombia,”
_American Anthropologist_, N.S. iii. (1901) pp. 639-641.
685 A. de Herrera, _The General History of the Vast Continent and
Islands of America_, translated by Capt. J. Stevens (London,
1725-26), iv. 148. The confession of sins appears to have held an
important place in the native religion of the American Indians,
particularly the Mexicans and Peruvians. There is no sufficient
reason to suppose that they learned the practice from Catholic
priests. For more evidence of the custom among the aborigines of
America see L. H. Morgan, _League of the Iroquois_ (Rochester, U.S.
America, 1851), pp. 170 _sq._, 187 _sq._; B. de Sahagun, _Histoire
générale des choses de la Nouvelle Espagne_, bk. i. ch. 12, bk. vi.
ch. 7, pp. 22-27, 339-344 (Jourdanet and Simeon’s French
translation); A. de Herrera, _op. cit._ iv. 173, 190; Diego de
Landa, _Relation des choses de Yucatan_ (Paris, 1864), pp. 154
_sqq._; Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des nations civilisées du
Mexique et de l’Amérique Centrale_, ii. 114 _sq._, 567, iii.
567-569; P. J. de Arriaga, _Extirpacion de la idolatria del Piru_
(Lima, 1621), pp. 18, 28 _sq._
686 As to this means of hastening the delivery see _Totemism and
Exogamy_, iv. 248 _sqq._ The intention of the exchange of clothes at
childbirth between husband and wife seems to be to relieve the woman
by transferring the travail pangs to the man.
687 G. Ferrand, _Les Musulmans à Madagascar_, Deuxième Partie (Paris,
1893), pp. 20 _sq._
688 H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion des Veda_ (Berlin, 1894), pp. 319 _sq._
_ 689 Satapatha Brahmana_, translated by J. Eggeling, pt. i. p. 397
(_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xii.).
M139 Thus the confession of sins is at first rather a bodily than a moral
purgation, resembling the ceremonies of washing, fumigation, and so
on, which are observed by many primitive peoples for the removal of
sin.
M140 It is possible that some savage taboos may still lurk, under various
disguises, in the morality of civilised peoples.
690 The similarity of some of the Mosaic laws to savage customs has
struck most Europeans who have acquired an intimate knowledge of the
savage and his ways. They have often explained the coincidences as
due to a primitive revelation or to the dispersion of the Jews into
all parts of the earth. Some examples of these coincidences were
cited in my article “Taboo,” _Encyclopaedia Britannica_,9 xxiii. 17.
The subject has since been handled, with consummate ability and
learning, by my lamented friend W. Robertson Smith in his _Religion
of the Semites_ (New Edition, London, 1894). In _Psyche’s Task_ I
have illustrated by examples the influence of superstition on the
growth of morality.
M141 Ceremonies observed by the Kayans after killing a panther.
Ceremonies of purification observed by African hunters after killing
dangerous beasts. Ceremonies observed by Lapp hunters after killing
a bear.
691 A. W. Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_, i. 106 _sq._
692 J. Adair, _History of the American Indians_, p. 118.
693 C. J. Andersson, _Lake Ngami_, p. 224.
694 L. Alberti, _De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika_ (Amsterdam,
1810), pp. 158 _sq._ Compare H. Lichtenstein, _Reisen im südlichen
Africa_ (Berlin, 1811-12), i. 419. These accounts were written about
a century ago. The custom may since have become obsolete. A similar
remark applies to other customs described in this and the following
paragraph.
695 P. Kolbe, _Present State of the Cape of Good Hope_, I.2 (London,
1738) pp. 251-255. The reason alleged for the custom is to allow the
slayer to recruit his strength. But the reason is clearly inadequate
as an explanation of this and similar practices.
696 J. Scheffer, _Lapponia_ (Frankfort, 1673), pp. 234-243; C. Leemius,
_De Lapponibus Finmarchiae eorumque lingua, vita et religione
pristina commentatio_ (Copenhagen, 1767), pp. 502 _sq._; E. J.
Jessen, _De Finnorum Lapponumque Nouvegicorum religione pagana
tractatus singularis_, pp. 64 _sq._ (bound up with Leemius’s work).
M142 Expiatory ceremonies performed for the slaughter of serpents.
697 S. Kay, _Travels and Researches in Caffraria_ (London, 1833), pp.
341 _sq._
698 J. Duncan, _Travels in Western Africa_ (London, 1847), i. 195 _sq._;
F. E. Forbes, _Dahomey and the Dahomans_ (London, 1851), i. 107; P.
Bouche, _La Côte des Esclaves_ (Paris, 1885), p. 397; A. B. Ellis,
_The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, pp. 58 _sq._
_ 699 Indian Antiquary_, xxi. (1892) p. 224. Many of the above examples
of expiation exacted for the slaughter of animals have already been
cited by me in a note on Pausanias, ii. 7. 7, where I suggested that
the legendary purification of Apollo for the slaughter of the python
at Delphi (Plutarch, _Quaest. Graec._, 12; _id._, _De defectu
oraculorum_, 15; Aelian, _Var. Hist._ iii. 1) may be a reminiscence
of a custom of this sort.
M143 All such expiatory rites are based on the respect which the savage
feels for the souls of animals.
700 Le R. P. Cadière, “Croyances et dictons populaires de la Vallée du
Nguôn-son, Province de Quang-binh (Annam),” _Bulletin de l’École
Française d’Extrême Orient_, i. (1901) pp. 183 _sq._
M144 Taboos of holiness agree with taboos of pollution, because in the
savage mind the ideas of holiness and pollution are not yet
differentiated.
701 On the nature of taboo see my article “Taboo” in the _Encyclopaedia
Britannica_, 9th edition, vol. xxiii. (1888) pp. 15 _sqq._; W.
Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_2 (London, 1894), pp. 148
_sqq._, 446 _sqq._ Some languages have retained a word for that
general idea which includes under it the notions which we now
distinguish as sanctity and pollution. The word in Latin is _sacer_,
in Greek, ἅγιος. In Polynesian it is _tabu_ (Tongan), _tapu_
(Samoan, Tahitian, Marquesan, Maori, etc.), or _kapu_ (Hawaiian).
See E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_
(Wellington, N.Z., 1891), _s.v._ _tapu_. In Dacotan the word is
_wakan_, which in Riggs’s _Dakota-English Dictionary_
(_Contributions to North American Ethnology_, vol. vii., Washington,
1890, pp. 507 _sq._) is defined as “_spiritual_, _sacred_,
_consecrated_; _wonderful_, _incomprehensible_; said also of women
at the menstrual period.” Another writer in the same dictionary
defines _wakan_ more fully as follows: “_Mysterious_;
_incomprehensible_; _in a peculiar state, which, from not being
understood, it is dangerous to meddle with_; hence the application
of this word to women at the _menstrual period_, and from hence,
too, arises the feeling among the wilder Indians, that if the Bible,
the church, the missionary, etc., are ‘wakan,’ they are to be
_avoided_, or _shunned_, not as being _bad_ or _dangerous_, but as
wakan. The word seems to be the only one suitable for _holy_,
_sacred_, etc., but the common acceptation of it, given above, makes
it quite misleading to the _heathen_.” On the notion designated by
_wakan_, see also G. H. Pond, “Dakota Superstitions,” _Collections
of the Minnesota Historical Society for the year 1867_ (Saint Paul,
1867), p. 33; J. Owen Dorsey, in _Eleventh Annual Report of the
Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1894), pp. 366 _sq._ It is
characteristic of the equivocal notion denoted by these terms that,
whereas the condition of women in childbed is commonly regarded by
the savage as what we should call unclean, among the Herero the same
condition is described as holy; for some time after the birth of her
child, the woman is secluded in a hut made specially for her, and
every morning the milk of all the cows is brought to her that she
may consecrate it by touching it with her mouth. See H. Schinz,
_Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika_, p. 167. Again, whereas a girl at puberty
is commonly secluded as dangerous, among the Warundi of eastern
Africa she is led by her grandmother all over the house and obliged
to touch everything (O. Baumann, _Durch Massailand sur Nilquelle_
(Berlin, 1894), p. 221), as if her touch imparted a blessing instead
of a curse.
M145 Kings may not be touched. The use of iron forbidden to kings and
priests. Use of iron forbidden at circumcision, childbirth, and so
forth. Use of iron forbidden at certain times and places among the
Esquimaux. Use of iron forbidden on certain occasions among the
Highlanders of Scotland. Iron not used in building sacred edifices.
702 Plutarch, _Agis_, 19.
703 W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_,2 iii. 102.
704 E. Aymonier, _Le Cambodge_, ii. (Paris, 1901) p. 25.
705 J. Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_ (Paris, 1883), i. 226.
706 Ch. Dallet, _Histoire de l’Église de Corée_ (Paris, 1874), i. pp.
xxiv. _sq._; W. E. Griffis, _Corea, the Hermit Nation_ (London,
1882), p. 219. These customs are now obsolete (G. N. Curzon,
_Problems of the Far East_ (Westminster, 1896), pp. 154 _sq._ note).
707 Macrobius, _Sat._ v. 19. 13; Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ i. 448;
Joannes Lydus, _De mensibus_, i. 31. We have already seen (p. 16)
that the hair of the Flamen Dialis might only be cut with a bronze
knife. The Greeks attributed a certain cleansing virtue to bronze;
hence they employed it in expiatory rites, at eclipses, etc. See the
Scholiast on Theocritus, ii. 36.
_ 708 Acta Fratrum Arvalium_, ed. G. Henzen (Berlin, 1874), pp. 128-135;
J. Marquardt, _Römische Staatsverwaltung_, iii.2 (_Das Sacralwesen_)
pp. 459 _sq._
709 Plutarch, _Praecepta gerendae reipublicae_, xxvi. 7. Plutarch here
mentions that gold was also excluded from some temples. At first
sight this is surprising, for in general neither the gods nor their
ministers have displayed any marked aversion to gold. But a little
enquiry suffices to clear up the mystery and set the scruple in its
proper light. From a Greek inscription discovered some years ago we
learn that no person might enter the sanctuary of the Mistress at
Lycosura wearing golden trinkets, unless for the purpose of
dedicating them to the goddess; and if any one did enter the holy
place with such ornaments on his body but no such pious intention in
his mind, the trinkets were forfeited to the use of religion. See
Ἐφημερὶς ἀρχαιολογική (Athens, 1898), col. 249; Dittenberger,
_Sylloge inscriptionum Graecarum_,2 No. 939. The similar rule, that
in the procession at the mysteries of Andania no woman might wear
golden ornaments (Dittenberger, _op. cit._ No. 653), was probably
subject to a similar exception and enforced by a similar penalty.
Once more, if the maidens who served Athena on the Acropolis at
Athens put on gold ornaments, the ornaments became sacred, in other
words, the property of the goddess (Harpocration, _s.v._ ἀρρηφορεῖν,
vol. i. p. 59, ed. Dindorf). Thus it appears that the pious scruple
about gold was concerned rather with its exit from, than with its
entrance into, the sacred edifice. At the sacrifice to the Sun in
ancient Egypt worshippers were forbidden to wear golden trinkets and
to give hay to an ass (Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 30)—a singular
combination of religious precepts. In India gold and silver are
common totems, and members of such clans are forbidden to wear gold
and silver trinkets respectively. See _Totemism and Exogamy_, iv.
24.
710 Callimachus, referred to by the Old Scholiast on Ovid, _Ibis_. See
_Callimachea_, ed. O. Schneider, ii. p. 282, Frag. 100a E.; Chr. A.
Lobeck, _Aglaophamus_, p. 686.
711 Plutarch, _Aristides_, 21. This passage was pointed out to me by my
friend Mr. W. Wyse.
712 Theophilus Hahn, _Tsuni-Goam, the Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi_
(London, 1881), p. 22.
713 Dr. P. H. Brincker, “Charakter, Sitten und Gebräuche speciell der
Bantu Deutsch-Südwestafrikas,” _Mittheilungen des Seminars für
orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin_, iii. (1900) Dritte Abtheilung, p.
80.
714 A. van Gennep, _Tabou et totémisme à Madagascar_ (Paris, 1904), p.
38.
715 W. H. Furness, _The Island of Stone Money, Uap of the Carolines_
(Philadelphia and London, 1910), p. 151.
716 J. G. Bourke, _The Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona_ (New York,
1891), pp. 178 _sq._
717 G. B. Grinnell, _Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-tales_ (New York,
1889), p. 253.
718 See above, pp. 205 _sq._
719 E. W. Nelson, “The Eskimo about Bering Strait,” _Eighteenth Annual
Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part I. (Washington,
1899) p. 392.
720 E. W. Nelson, _op. cit._ p. 383.
721 Fr. Boas, “The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay,” _Bulletin of
the American Museum of Natural History_, xv. Part I. (1901) p. 149.
722 C. F. Gordon Cumming, _In the Hebrides_ (ed. 1883), p. 195.
723 James Logan, _The Scottish Gael_ (ed. Alex. Stewart), ii. 68 _sq._
724 J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and
Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 262, 298, 299.
725 R. C. Maclagan, M.D., “Notes on Folklore Objects from Argyleshire,”
_Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) p. 157; J. G. Campbell, _Superstitions of
the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1900), pp. 263-266.
The shoulder-blades of sheep have been used in divination by many
peoples, for example by the Corsicans, South Slavs, Tartars,
Kirghiz, Calmucks, Chukchees, and Lolos, as well as by the Scotch.
See J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 339 _sq._ (Bohn’s ed.);
Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury), _Origin of Civilisation_,4 pp. 237
_sq._; Ch. Rogers, _Social Life in Scotland_, iii. 224; Camden,
_Britannia_, translated by E. Gibson (London, 1695), col. 1046; M.
MacPhail, “Traditions, Customs, and Superstitions of the Lewis,”
_Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) p. 167; J. G. Dalyell, _Darker Superstitions
of Scotland_, pp. 515 _sqq._; F. Gregorovius, _Corsica_, (London,
1855), p. 187; F. S. Krauss, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der
Südslaven_, pp. 166-170; M. E. Durham, _High Albania_ (London,
1909), pp. 104 _sqq._; E. Doutté, _Magie et religion dans l’Afrique
du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), p. 371; W. Radloff, _Proben der
Volksliteratur der türkischen Stämme Süd-Sibiriens_, iii. 115, note
1, compare p. 132; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 932; W. W.
Rockhill, _The Land of the Lamas_ (London, 1891), pp. 176, 341-344;
P. S. Pallas, _Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des russischen
Reichs_, i. 393; J. G. Georgi, _Beschreibung aller Nationen des
russischen Reichs_, p. 223; T. de Pauly, _Description ethnographique
des peuples de la Russie, peuples de la Sibérie orientale_ (St.
Petersburg, 1862), p. 7; Krahmer, “Der Anadyr-Bezirk nach A. W.
Olssufjew,” _Petermann’s Mittheilungen_, xlv. (1899) pp. 230 _sq._;
W. Bogoras, “The Chuckchee Religion,” _Memoir of the American Museum
of Natural History, The Jesup North Pacific Expedition_, vol. vii.
part ii. (Leyden and New York) pp. 487 _sqq._; Crabouillet, “Les
Lolos,” _Missions Catholiques_, v. (1873) p. 72; W. G. Aston,
_Shinto_, p. 339; R. Andree, “Scapulimantia,” in _Boas Anniversary
Volume_ (New York, 1906), pp. 143-165.
726 C. F. Gordon Cumming, _In the Hebrides_, p. 226; E. J. Guthrie, _Old
Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), p. 223.
727 1 Kings vi. 7; Exodus xx. 25.
728 Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit. Roman._ iii. 45, v. 24;
Plutarch, _Numa_, 9; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxxvi. 100.
_ 729 Acta Fratrum Arvalium_, ed. G. Henzen, p. 132; _Corpus
Inscriptionum Latinarum_, i. No. 603.
730 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxxvi. 100.
_ 731 Indian Antiquary_, x. (1881) p. 364.
M146 Everything new excites the awe and fear of the savage.
732 Prof. W. Ridgeway ingeniously suggests that the magical virtue of
iron may be based on an observation of its magnetic power, which
would lead savages to imagine that it was possessed of a spirit. See
_Report of the British Association for 1903_, p. 816.
733 Frank Hatton, _North Borneo_ (1886), p. 233.
734 A. E. Pratt, “Two Journeys to Ta-tsien-lu on the eastern Borders of
Tibet,” _Proceedings of the R. Geographical Society_, xiii. (1891)
p. 341.
735 W. Svoboda, “Die Bewohner des Nikobaren-Archipels,” _Internationales
Archiv für Ethnographie_, vi. (1893) p. 13.
_ 736 The Captivity of Hans Stade of Hesse, in __A.D.__ 1547-1555_,
translated by A. Tootal (London, 1874), pp. 85 _sq._
737 E. H. Fraser, “The Fish-skin Tartars,” _Journal of the China Branch
of the R. Asiatic Society for the Year 1891-92_, N.S. xxvi. p. 15.
738 Fr. Kreutzwald und H. Neus, _Mythische und magische Lieder der
Ehsten_ (St. Petersburg, 1854), p. 113.
739 Alexand. Guagninus, “De ducatu Samogitiae,” in _Respublica sive
status regni Poloniae, Lituaniae, Prussiae, Livoniae_, etc.
(Elzevir, 1627) p. 276; Johan. Lasicius, “De diis Samogitarum
caeterorumque Sarmatum,” in _Respublica_, etc. (_ut supra_), p. 294
(p. 84, ed. W. Mannhardt, in _Magazin herausgegeben von der
Lettisch—Literärischen Gesellschaft_, vol. xiv.).
740 L. von Ende, “Die Baduwis von Java,” _Mittheilungen der
anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, xix. (1889) p. 10.
M147 The dislike of spirits to iron allows men to use the metal as a
weapon against them. Iron used as a charm against fairies in the
Highlands of Scotland. Iron used as a protective charm by Scotch
fishermen and others. Iron used as a protective charm against devils
and ghosts in India, Annam. Africa, and Scotland.
741 J. G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of
Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1900), pp. 46 _sq._
742 E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_, p. 149; Ch. Rogers, _Social
Life in Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1884-1886), iii. 218.
743 J. Macdonald, _Religion and Myth_, p. 91.
744 W. Gregor, _Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881),
p. 201. The fishermen think that if the word “pig,” “sow,” or
“swine” be uttered while the lines are being baited, the line will
certainly be lost.
745 A. Leared, _Morocco and the Moors_ (London, 1876), p. 273.
746 Wickremasinghe, in _Am Urquell_, v. (1894) p. 7.
747 G. F. D’Penha, “Superstitions and Customs in Salsette,” _Indian
Antiquary_, xxviii. (1899) p. 114.
748 W. Crooke, _Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and
Oudh_, iii. 431.
749 F. Jagor, “Bericht über verschiedene Volksstämme in Vorderindien,”
_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xxvi. (1894) p. 70.
750 E. Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_ (Madras, 1906),
p. 341.
751 E. M. Gordon, _Indian Folk Tales_ (London, 1908), p. 31.
752 L. R. P. Cadière, “Coutumes populaires de la vallée du Nguôn-So’n,”
_Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient_, ii. (1902) pp. 354
_sq._
753 Baudin, “Le Fétichisme,” _Missions Catholiques_, xvi. (1884) p. 249;
A. B. Ellis, _The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, p.
113.
_ 754 Il Fetha Nagast o legislazione dei re, codice ecclesiastico e
civile di Abissinia_, tradotto e annotato da Ignazio Guidi (Rome,
1899), p. 140.
755 The reader may observe how closely the taboos laid upon mourners
resemble those laid upon kings. From what has gone before, the
reason of the resemblance is obvious.
_ 756 Panjab Notes and Queries_, iii. p. 61, § 282.
757 G. F. D’Penha, “Superstitions and Customs in Salsette,” _Indian
Antiquary_, xxviii. (1899) p. 115.
758 W. Gregor, _Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_, p. 206.
759 This is expressly said in _Panjab Notes and Queries_, iii. p. 202, §
846. On iron as a protective charm see also F. Liebrecht, _Gervasius
von Tilbury_, pp. 99 _sqq._; _id._, _Zur Volkskunde_, p. 311; L.
Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_, i.
pp. 354 _sq._ § 233; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_,2 §
414 _sq._; E. B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_,2 i. 140; W. Mannhardt,
_Baumkultus_, p. 132 note. Many peoples, especially in Africa,
regard the smith’s craft with awe or fear as something uncanny and
savouring of magic. Hence smiths are sometimes held in high honour,
sometimes looked down upon with great contempt. These feelings
probably spring in large measure from the superstitions which
cluster round iron. See R. Andree, _Ethnographische Parallelen und
Vergleiche_, pp. 153-159; G. McCall Theal, _Records of South-Eastern
Africa_, vii. 447; O. Lenz, _Skizzen aus West-Afrika_ (Berlin,
1878), p. 184; A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der
Loango-Küste_, ii. 217; M. Merkel, _Die Masai_ (Berlin, 1904), pp.
110 _sq._; A. C. Hollis, _The Masai_ (Oxford, 1905), pp. 330 _sq._;
_id._, _The Nandi_ (Oxford, 1909), pp. 36 _sq._; J. Spieth, _Die
Ewe-Stämme_ (Berlin, 1906), p. 776; E. Doutté, _Magie et religion
dans l’Afrique du Nord_, pp. 40 _sqq._; Ph. Paulitschke,
_Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas, die geistige Cultur der Danâkil,
Galla und Somâl_ (Berlin, 1896), p. 30; _id._, _Ethnographie
Nordost-Afrikas, die materielle Cultur der Danâkil, Galla und Somâl_
(Berlin, 1893), p. 202; Th. Levebvre, _Voyage en Abyssinie_, i. p.
lxi.; A. Cecchi, _Da Zeila alle frontiere del Caffa_, i. (Rome,
1886) p. 45; M. Parkyns, _Life in Abyssinia_2 (London, 1868), pp.
300 _sq._; J. T. Bent, _Sacred City of the Ethiopians_ (London,
1893), p. 212; G. Rohlf, “Reise durch Nord-Afrika,” _Petermann’s
Mittheilungen, Ergänzungsheft_, No. 25 (Gotha, 1868), pp. 30, 54; G.
Nachtigal, “Die Tibbu,” _Zeitschrift für Erdkunde zu Berlin_, v.
(1870) pp. 312 _sq._; _id._, _Sahara und Sudan_, i. 443 _sq._, ii.
145, 178, 371, iii. 189, 234 _sq._ The Kayans of Borneo think that a
smith is inspired by a special spirit, the smith’s spirit, and that
without this inspiration he could do no good work. See A. W.
Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_, ii. 198.
M148 The use of sharp-edged weapons is sometimes forbidden lest they
should wound spirits. Sharp-edged weapons removed from a room where
there is a lying-in woman.
760 A. Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, i. (Leipsic, 1866) p.
136.
761 E. W. Nelson, “The Eskimo about Bering Strait,” _Eighteenth Annual
Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, part i. (Washington,
1899) p. 312. Compare _ibid._ pp. 315, 364; W. H. Dall, _Alaska and
its Resources_, p. 146; _id._, in _American Naturalist_, xii. 7;
_id._, in _The Yukon Territory_ (London, 1898), p. 146.
762 See above, p. 205.
763 A. Woldt, _Captain Jacobsen’s Reise an der Nordwestküste Americas
1881-1883_ (Leipsic, 1884), p. 243.
764 W. Schmidt, _Das Jahr und seine Tage in Meinung und Brauch der
Romänen Siebenbürgens_ (Hermannstadt, 1866), p. 40; E. Gerard, _The
Land beyond the Forest_, i. 312.
765 J. H. Gray, _China_ (London, 1878), i. 288.
766 Jo. Meletius (Maeletius, Menecius), “De religione et sacrificiis
veterum Borussorum,” in _De Russorum Muscovitarum et Tartarorum
religione, sacrificiis, nuptiarum, funerum ritu_ (Spires, 1582), p.
263; _id._, reprinted in _Scriptores rerum Livonicarum_, vol. ii.
(Riga and Leipsic, 1848) pp. 391 _sq._, and in _Mitteilungen der
Litterarischen Gesellschaft Masovia_, viii. (Lötzen, 1902) pp. 194
_sq._ Compare Chr. Hartknoch, _Alt und neues Preussen_ (Frankfort
and Leipsic, 1684), pp. 187 _sq._
767 B. F. Matthes, _Bijdragen tot de Ethnologie van Zuid-Celebes_, p.
136.
768 Tettau und Temme, _Die Volkssagen Ostpreussens, Litthauens und
Westpreussens_, p. 285; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 iii. 454,
compare pp. 441, 469; J. V. Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus
Böhmen und Mähren_, p. 198, § 1387.
769 Franz Vormann, “Zur Psychologie, Soziologie und Geschichte der
Monumbo-Papua, Deutsch-Neuginea,” _Anthropos_, v. (1910) p. 410.
770 A. W. Nieuwenhuis, _In Centraal Borneo_ (Leyden, 1900), i. 61;
_id._, _Quer durch Borneo_, i. 69.
771 Fr. Stuhlmann, _Mit Emin Pascha ins Herz von Afrika_ (Berlin, 1894),
p. 184.
772 J. J. M. de Groot, _The Religious System of China_, iii. 1045
(Leyden, 1897).
M149 Raw meat tabooed because the life or spirit is in the blood.
773 Plutarch, _Quaest. Rom._ 110; Aulus Gellius, x. 15. 12. See above,
p. 13.
_ 774 Grihya-Sutras_, translated by H. Oldenberg, part i. pp. 81, 141
(_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xxix.).
775 J. Roscoe, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the
Baganda,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902)
p. 53.
776 J. Kubary, _Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer_ (Berlin, 1885),
pp. 126 _sq._
777 F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und äussern Leben der Ehsten_ (St.
Petersburg, 1876), pp. 448, 478.
778 James Adair, _History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775), pp.
134, 117. The Indians described by Adair are the Creek, Cherokee,
and other tribes in the south-east of the United States.
779 A. G. Morice, “The Western Dénés, their Manners and Customs,”
_Proceedings of the Canadian Institute_, Third Series, vii.
(1888-89) p. 164.
780 E. Petitot, _Monographie des Dènè-Dindjié_ (Paris, 1876), p. 76.
781 Schlömann, “Die Malepa in Transvaal,” _Verhandlungen der Berliner
Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte_, 1894,
p. (67).
782 Leviticus xvii. 10-14. The Hebrew word (נפש) translated “life” in
the English version of verse 11 means also “soul” (marginal note in
the Revised Version). Compare Deuteronomy xii. 23-25.
783 Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ v. 79; compare _id._ on _Aen._ iii. 67.
784 J. Wellhausen, _Reste arabischen Heidentumes_ (Berlin, 1887), p.
217.
785 J. J. M. de Groot, _Religious System of China_, iv. 80-82.
786 A. Goudswaard, _De Papoewa’s van de Geelvinksbaai_ (Schiedam, 1863),
p. 77.
M150 Royal blood may not be spilt on the ground; hence kings and princes
are put to death by methods which do not involve bloodshed.
787 Hamilton’s “Account of the East Indies,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and
Travels_, viii. 469. Compare W. Robertson Smith, _Religion of the
Semites_,2 i. 369, note 1.
788 De la Loubere, _Du royaume de Siam_ (Amsterdam, 1691), i. 317.
789 Pallegoix, _Description du royaume Thai ou Siam_, i. 271, 365 _sq._
790 Marco Polo, translated by Col. H. Yule (Second Edition, 1875), i.
335.
791 Col. H. Yule on Marco Polo, _l.c._
792 A. Fytche, _Burma, Past and Present_ (London, 1878), i. 217 note.
Compare _Indian Antiquary_, xxix. (1900) p. 199.
_ 793 Indian Antiquary_, xx. (1891) p. 49.
794 Baron’s “Description of the Kingdom of Tonqueen,” in Pinkerton’s
_Voyages and Travels_, ix. 691.
795 T. E. Bowdich, _Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee_ (London,
1873), p. 207.
796 A. B. Ellis, _Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, p. 224,
compare p. 89.
797 O. Dapper, _Description de l’Afrique_ (Amsterdam, 1686), p. 313.
798 J. Sibree, _Madagascar and its People_, p. 430.
799 J. Roscoe, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the
Baganda,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902)
p. 50.
800 C. T. Wilson and R. W. Felkin, _Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan_
(London, 1882), i. 200.
801 J. Roscoe, _op. cit._ p. 67. There is an Arab legend of a king who
was slain by opening the veins of his arms and letting the blood
drain into a bowl; not a drop might fall on the ground, otherwise
there would be blood revenge for it. Robertson Smith conjectured
that the legend was based on an old form of sacrifice regularly
applied to captive chiefs (_Religion of the Semites_,2 p. 369 note,
compare p. 418 note).
802 Rev. E. Gottschling, “The Bawenda,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xxxv. (1905) p. 366.
M151 Reluctance to shed any human blood on the ground. Reluctance to
allow human blood to fall on the ground.
803 Marco Polo, i. 399, Yule’s translation, Second Edition.
804 Sir Walter Scott, note 2 to _Peveril of the Peak_, ch. v.
805 Charlotte Latham, “Some West Sussex Superstitions,” _Folk-lore
Record_, i. (1878) p. 17.
_ 806 Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 230; E. J. Eyre, _Journals of
Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia_, ii. 335; R. Brough
Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, i. 75 note.
807 D. Collins, _Account of the English Colony of New South Wales_
(London, 1798), p. 580.
_ 808 Native Tribes of South Australia_, pp. 224 _sq._; G. F. Angas,
_Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_ (London,
1847), i. 110 _sq._
_ 809 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. p. 256.
810 Edmund Spenser, _View of the State of Ireland_, p. 101 (reprinted in
H. Morley’s _Ireland under Elizabeth and James the First_, London,
1890).
811 “Futuna, or Horne Island and its People,” _Journal of the Polynesian
Society_, vol. i. No. 1 (April 1892), p. 43.
812 Max Radiguet, _Les Derniers Sauvages_ (Paris, 1882), p. 175.
813 B. F. Matthes, _Bijdragen tot de Ethnologie van Zuid-Celebes_, p.
53.
814 Fr. Stuhlmann, _Mit Emin Pascha ins Herz von Afrika_, p. 795.
815 Miss Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_, pp. 440, 447.
816 A. Kropf, “Die religiösen Anschauungen der Kaffern,” _Verhandlungen
der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und
Urgeschichte_, 1888, p. (46).
817 R. H. Nassau, _Fetichism in West Africa_ (London, 1904), p. 83.
818 Le R. P. Guis, “Les _Nepu_ ou Sorciers,” _Missions Catholiques_,
xxxvi. (1904) p. 370. See also _The Magic Art and the Evolution of
Kings_, vol. i. p. 205.
819 A. van Gennep, _Tabou et totémisme à Madagascar_, p. 338, quoting J.
Sibree, “Remarkable Ceremonial at the Decease and Burial of a
Betsileo Prince,” _Antananarivo Annual_, No. xxii. (1898) pp. 195
_sq._
820 Brun-Rollet, _Le Nil Blanc et le Soudan_ (Paris, 1855), pp. 239
_sq._
M152 Unwillingness to shed the blood of animals.
821 Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_, p. 169.
822 Lieut. Emery, in _Journal of the R. Geographical Society_, iii. 282.
823 Ch. Andersson, _Lake Ngami_ (London, 1856), p. 224.
824 Ch. New, _Life, Wanderings, and Labours in Eastern Africa_, p. 124;
Francis Galton, “Domestication of Animals,” _Transactions of the
Ethnological Society of London_, N.S., iii. (1865) p. 135. On the
original sanctity of domestic animals see, above all, W. Robertson
Smith, _The Religion of the Semites_,2 pp. 280 _sqq._, 295 _sqq._
825 J. Spieth, _Die Ewe-Stämme_, p. 796.
826 L. Linton Palmer, “A Visit to Easter Island,” _Journal of the R.
Geographical Society_, xl. (1870) p. 171.
827 R. H. Codrington, _The Melanesians_, p. 129.
828 Strabo, xv. 1. 54, p. 710.
M153 Anything on which a Maori chief’s blood falls becomes sacred to him.
829 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_,2 pp.
194 _sq._
M154 The prohibition to pass under a trellised vine is probably based on
the idea that the juice of the grape is the blood or spirit of the
vine. This notion is confirmed by the intoxicating or inspiring
effect of wine.
830 Plutarch, _Quaest. Rom._ 112; Aulus Gellius, x. 15. 13. See above,
p. 14.
_ 831 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. pp. 18, 20.
832 Compare W. Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_,2 p. 230.
833 “_Dialis cotidie feriatus est_,” Aulus Gellius, x. 15. 16.
M155 Wine treated as blood, and intoxication as inspiration.
834 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 6. A myth apparently akin to this has
been preserved in some native Egyptian writings. See Ad. Erman,
_Ägypten und ägyptisches Leben im Altertum_, p. 364. Wine might not
be taken into the temple at Heliopolis (Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_,
6). It was apparently forbidden to enter the temple at Delos after
drinking wine (Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum_,2 No.
564). When wine was offered to the Good Goddess at Rome it was not
called wine but milk (Macrobius, _Saturn_, i. 12. 5; Plutarch,
_Quaest. Rom._ 20). It was a rule of Roman religion that wine might
not be poured out in libations to the gods which had been made
either from grapes trodden with bleeding feet or from the clusters
of a vine beside which a human body had hung in a noose (Pliny,
_Nat. Hist._ xiv. 119). This rule shews that wine was supposed to be
defiled by blood or death.
835 Bernardino de Sahagun, _Histoire générale des choses de la
Nouvelle-Espagne_, traduite par Jourdanet et Siméon (Paris, 1880),
pp. 46 _sq._ The native Mexican wine (_pulque_) is made from the sap
of the great American aloe. See the note of the French translators
of Sahagun, _op. cit._ pp. 858 _sqq._; E. J. Payne, _History of the
New World called America_, i. 374 _sqq._ The Chiquites Indians of
Paraguay believed that the spirit of _chica_, or beer made from
maize, could punish with sickness the person who was so irreverent
or careless as to upset a vessel of the liquor. See Charlevoix,
_Histoire du Paraguay_ (Paris, 1756), ii. 234.
836 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 381
_sqq._
_ 837 Op. cit._ vol. i. pp. 384 _sq._
M156 Fear of passing under women’s blood.
838 E. M. Curr, _The Australian Race_ (Melbourne and London, 1887), iii.
179.
839 H. B. Guppy, _The Solomon Islands and their Natives_ (London, 1887),
p. 41.
840 E. B. Cross, “On the Karens,” _Journal of the American Oriental
Society_, iv. (1854) p. 312.
841 A. Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, iii. 230.
M157 Disastrous effect of women’s blood on men.
842 For the reason, see E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of
the New Zealanders_, pp. 112 _sq._, 292; E. Tregear, “The Maoris of
New Zealand,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xix.
(1890) p. 118.
843 F. J. Gillen, in _Report of the Horn Scientific Expedition to
Central Australia_, pt. iv. p. 182.
_ 844 Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 186.
845 Mrs. James Smith, _The Booandik Tribe_, p. 5.
846 J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes
en Papua_, p. 450.
847 J. G. F. Riedel, _op. cit._ p. 139, compare p. 209.
848 F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem innern und äussern Leben der Ehsten_, p.
475.
849 Miss Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_, p. 447. Conversely
among the central Australian tribes women are never allowed to
witness the drawing of blood from men, which is often done for
purposes of decoration; and when a quarrel has taken place and men’s
blood has been spilt in the presence of women, it is usual for the
man whose blood has been shed to perform a ceremony connected with
his own or his father or mother’s totem. See Spencer and Gillen,
_Native Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 463.
M158 The head sacred because a spirit resides in it.
850 A. B. Ellis, _The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, pp.
125 _sq._
851 E. B. Cross, “On the Karens,” _Journal of the American Oriental
Society_, iv. (1854) pp. 311 _sq._
852 A. Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, ii. 256, iii. 71, 230,
235 _sq._ The spirit is called _kwun_ by E. Young (_The Kingdom of
the Yellow Robe_, pp. 75 _sqq._). See below, pp. 266 _sq._
853 Herodotus, ix. 110. This passage was pointed out to me by the late
Mr. E. S. Shuckburgh of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
854 Plutarch, _Quaestiones Romanae_, 100. Plutarch’s words (μάλιστα
ῥύπτεσθαι τὰς κεφαλὰς καὶ καθαίρειν ἐπιτηδεύουσι) leave room to hope
that the ladies did not strictly confine their ablutions to one day
in the year.
855 P. J. de Arriaga, _Extirpación de la Idolatria del Piru_ (Lima,
1621), pp. 28, 29.
M159 Objection to have any one overhead.
856 A. Bastian, _op. cit._ ii. 150; Sangermano, _Description of the
Burmese Empire_ (Rangoon, 1885), p. 131; C. F. S. Forbes, _British
Burma_, p. 334; Shway Yoe, _The Burman_ (London, 1882), i. 91.
857 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_ (Westminster, 1898), p.
131.
858 J. Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_, i. 178, 388.
859 Duarte Barbosa, _Description of the Coasts of East Africa and
Malabar in the beginning of the Sixteenth Century_ (Hakluyt Society,
1866), p. 197.
860 This I learned in conversation with Messrs. Roscoe and Miller,
missionaries to Uganda. The system of totemism exists in full force
in Uganda. No man will eat his totem animal or marry a woman of his
own totem clan. Among the totems of the clans are the lion, leopard,
elephant, antelope, mushroom, buffalo, sheep, grasshopper,
crocodile, otter, beaver, and lizard. See _Totemism and Exogamy_,
ii. 472 _sqq._
M160 Sanctity of the head, especially of a chief’s head, in Polynesia and
elsewhere.
861 David Porter, _Journal of a Cruise made to the Pacific Ocean in the
U.S. Frigate __“__Essex__”_ (New York, 1822), ii. 65.
862 Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz _Îles Marquises_ (Paris, 1843), p.
262.
863 Le P. Matthias G——, _Lettres sur les Îles Marquises_ (Paris, 1843),
p. 50.
864 G. H. von Langsdorff, _Reise um die Welt_ (London, 1812), i. 115
_sq._
865 Max Radiguet, _Les Derniers Sauvages_ (Paris, 1882), p. 156.
866 Capt. James Cook, _Voyages_, v. 427 (London, 1809).
867 Jules Remy, _Ka Mooolelo Hawaii, Histoire de l’Archipel Havaiien_
(Paris and Leipsic, 1862), p. 159.
868 W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_2 (London, 1832-36), iii. 102.
869 James Wilson, _A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_
(London, 1799), pp. 354 _sq._
870 W. Colenso, “The Maori Races of New Zealand,” p. 43, in
_Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute_, 1868,
vol. i. (separately paged).
871 R. Taylor, _To Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_,2 p.
165. We have seen that under certain special circumstances common
persons also are temporarily forbidden to touch their heads with
their hands. See above, pp. 146, 156, 158, 160, 183.
872 R. Taylor, _l.c._
873 E. Shortland, _The Southern Districts of New Zealand_ (London,
1851), p. 293; _id._, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New
Zealanders_, pp. 107 _sq._
874 J. Dumont D’Urville, _Voyage autour du monde et à la recherche de La
Pérouse, exécuté sous son commandement sur la corvette
__“__Austrolabe__”__: histoire du voyage_, ii. 534.
875 R. A. Cruise, _Journal of a Ten Months’ Residence in New Zealand_
(London, 1823), p. 187; J. Dumont D’Urville, _op. cit._ ii. 533; E.
Shortland, _The Southern Districts of New Zealand_, p. 30.
876 Herodotus, i. 187.
877 H. France, “Customs of the Awuna Tribes,” _Journal of the African
Society_, No. 17 (October, 1905), p. 39.
M161 When the head is sacred, the cutting of the hair becomes a difficult
and dangerous operation. The hair of kings, priests, chiefs,
sorcerers, and other tabooed persons is sometimes kept unshorn. Hair
kept unshorn on various occasions, such as a wife’s pregnancy, a
journey, and war.
878 Agathias, _Hist._ i. 3; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer_,3 pp.
239 _sqq._ Compare F. Kauffmann, _Balder_ (Strasburg, 1902), pp. 209
_sq._ The story of the Phrygian king Midas, who concealed the ears
of an ass under his long hair (Aristophanes, _Plutus_, 287; Ovid,
_Metam._ xi. 146-193) may perhaps be a distorted reminiscence of a
similar custom in Phrygia. Parallels to the story are recorded in
modern Greece, Ireland, Brittany, Servia, India, and among the
Mongols. See B. Schmidt, _Griechische Märchen, Sagen und
Volkslieder_, pp. 70 _sq._, 224 _sq._; Grimm’s _Household Tales_,
ii. 498, trans. by M. Hunt; Patrick Kennedy, _Legendary Fictions of
the Irish Celts_, pp. 248 _sqq._ (ed. 1866); A. de Nore, _Coutumes,
mythes, et traditions des provinces de la France_, pp. 219 _sq._; W.
S. Karadschitsch, _Volksmärchen der Serben_, No. 39, pp. 225 _sqq._;
_North Indian Notes and Queries_, iii. p. 104, § 218; B. Jülg,
_Mongolische Märchen-Sammlung_, No. 22, pp. 182 _sqq._; _Sagas from
the Far East_, No. 21, pp. 206 _sqq._
879 Gregory of Tours, _Histoire ecclésiastique des Francs_, iii. 18,
compare vi. 24 (Guizot’s translation).
880 Dr. Hahl, “Mitteilungen über Sitten und rechtliche Verhältnisse auf
Ponape,” _Ethnologisches Notizblatt_, ii. Heft 2 (Berlin, 1901), p.
6.
_ 881 Manuscrit Ramirez, Histoire de l’origine des Indiens qui habitent
la Nouvelle Espagne_ (Paris, 1903), p. 171; J. de Acosta, _Natural
and Moral History of the Indies_, ii. 365 (Hakluyt Society); A. de
Herrera, _General History of the vast Continent and Islands of
America_, iii. 216 (Stevens’s translation). The author of the
_Manuscrit Ramirez_ speaks as if the rule applied only to the
priests of the god Tezcatlipoca.
882 G. M. Dawson, “On the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands,” in
_Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress for 1878-79_, p.
123 B.
883 J. Spieth, _Die Ewe-Stämme_, p. 229.
_ 884 Missions Catholiques_, xxv. (1893) p. 266.
885 M. Merker, _Die Masai_ (Berlin, 1904), pp. 21, 22, 143.
886 A. W. Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_, i. 68.
_ 887 Satapatha Brahmana_, translated by J. Eggeling, part iii. pp. 126,
128, with the translator’s note on p. 126 (_Sacred Books of the
East_, vol. xli.).
888 P. N. Wilken, “Bijdragen tot de kennis van de zeden en gewoonten der
Alfoeren in de Minahassa,” _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche
Zendelinggenootschap_, vii. (1863) p. 126.
889 R. P. Ashe, _Two Kings of Uganda_ (London, 1889), p. 109.
890 Fr. Boas, in _Tenth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_,
p. 45 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British Association
for 1895_).
891 J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes
en Papua_, p. 137.
892 J. G. F. Riedel, _op. cit._ pp. 292 _sq._
893 W. W. Skeat, _Malay Magic_, p. 44.
894 Diodorus Siculus, i. 18.
895 W. Robertson Smith, _Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia_
(Cambridge, 1885), pp. 152 _sq._
896 Homer, _Iliad_, xxiii. 141 _sqq._ This Homeric passage has been
imitated by Valerius Flaccus (_Argonaut._ i. 378). The Greeks often
dedicated a lock of their hair to rivers. See Aeschylus,
_Choephori_, 5 _sq._; Philostratus, _Heroica_, xiii. 4; Pausanias,
i. 37. 3, viii. 20. 3, viii. 41. 3. The lock might be at the side or
the back of the head or over the brow; it received a special name
(Pollux, ii. 30).
897 S. W. Tromp, “Een Dajaksch Feest,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en
Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, xxxix. (1890) p. 38.
898 T. Arbousset et F. Daumas, _Relation d’un voyage d’exploration_, p.
565.
M162 Hair unshorn during a vow. The nails of infants should not be pared.
Child’s hair left unshorn as a refuge for its soul.
899 D. Porter, _Journal of a Cruise made to the Pacific Ocean_, ii. 120.
900 Tacitus, _Germania_, 31. Vows of the same sort were occasionally
made by the Romans (Suetonius, _Julius_, 67; Tacitus, _Hist._ iv.
61).
901 Paulus Diaconus, _Hist. Langobard._ iii. 7; Gregory of Tours,
_Histoire ecclésiastique des Francs_, v. 15, vol. i. p. 268
(Guizot’s translation, Nouvelle Edition, Paris, 1874).
902 W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_,2 iv. 387.
903 Numbers vi. 5.
904 J. A. E. Köhler, _Volksbrauch_, etc., _im Voigtlande_, p. 424; W.
Henderson, _Folk-lore of the Northern Counties_, pp. 16 _sq._; F.
Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. p. 258, § 23; I. V.
Zingerle, _Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_,2 §§
46, 72; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. p. 208,
§ 45, p. 209 § 53; O. Knoop, _Volkssagen, Erzählungen_, etc., _aus
dem östlichen Hinterpommern_, p. 157, § 23; E. Veckenstedt,
_Wendische Sagen, Märchen und abergläubische Gebräuche_, p. 445; J.
Haltrich, _Zur Volkskunde der Siebenbürger Sachsen_, p. 313; E.
Krause, “Abergläubische Kuren und sonstiger Aberglaube in Berlin,”
_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xv. (1883) p. 84.
_ 905 Panjab Notes and Queries_, ii. p. 205, § 1092.
906 G. Gibbs, “Notes on the Tinneh or Chepewyan Indians of British and
Russian America,” in _Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution_,
1866, p. 305; W. Dall, _Alaska and its Resources_, p. 202. The
reason alleged by the Indians is that if the girls’ nails were cut
sooner the girls would be lazy and unable to embroider in porcupine
quill-work. But this is probably a late invention like the reasons
assigned in Europe for the similar custom, of which the commonest is
that the child would become a thief if its nails were cut.
907 J. Roscoe, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the
Baganda,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902)
p. 30.
908 Lieut. Herold, “Religiöse Anschauungen und Gebräuche der deutschen
Ewe-Neger,” _Mittheilungen aus den Deutschen Schutzgebieten_, v. 148
_sq._
909 S. J. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic Religion To-day_ (Chicago, etc.,
1902), p.153.
910 A. C. Kruyt, “Het koppensnellen der Toradja’s,” _Verslagen en
Mededeelingen der konink. Akademie van Wetenschapen_, Afdeeling
Letterkunde, iv. Reeks, iii. 198 n2 (Amsterdam, 1899).
911 R. Römer, “Bijdrage tot de Geneeskunst der Karo-Batak’s,”
_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, i. (1908) p.
216.
912 O. Knoop, _Volkssagen, Erzählungen, etc., aus dem östlichen
Hinterpommern_ (Posen, 1885), p. 157, § 23.
913 J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. p. 209, § 57.
M163 Solemn ceremonies observed at hair-cutting.
914 Rev. Lorimer Fison, in a letter to the author, dated August 26,
1898.
915 From the report of a lecture delivered in Melbourne, December 9,
1898, by the Rev. H. Worrall, of Fiji, missionary. The newspaper
cutting from which the above extract is quoted was sent to me by the
Rev. Lorimer Fison in a letter, dated Melbourne, January 9, 1899.
Mr. Fison omitted to give the name and date of the newspaper.
916 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_2
(London, 1870), pp. 206 _sqq._
917 Richard A. Cruise, _Journal of a Ten Months’ Residence in New
Zealand_ (London, 1823), pp. 283 _sq._ Compare J. Dumont D’Urville,
_Voyage autour du monde et à la recherche de La Pérouse: histoire du
voyage_ (Paris, 1832), ii. 533.
918 E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders_,
pp. 108 _sqq._; R. Taylor, _l.c._
919 G. F. Angas, _Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_
(London, 1847), ii. 90 _sq._
920 J. Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_, i. 226 _sq._
921 See above, p. 3.
M164 Ceremonies at cutting the hair of Siamese children.
922 See above, p. 252.
923 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_ (Westminster, 1898), pp.
64 _sq._, 67-84. I have abridged the account of the ceremonies by
omitting some details. For an account of the ceremonies observed at
cutting the hair of a young Siamese prince, at the age of thirteen
or fourteen, see Mgr. Bruguière, in _Annales de l’Association de la
Propagation de la Foi_, v. (1831) pp. 197 _sq._
M165 Belief that people may be bewitched through the clippings of their
hair, the parings of their nails, and other severed parts of their
persons.
924 The aboriginal tribes of Central Australia form an exception to this
rule; for among them no attempt is made to injure a person by
performing magical ceremonies over his shorn hair. See Spencer and
Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 478.
925 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 52-54,
174 _sqq._
926 C. Martin, “Über die Eingeborenen von Chiloe,” _Zeitschrift für
Ethnologie_, ix. (1877) p. 177.
927 Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _Îles Marquises_ (Paris, 1843),
pp. 247 _sq._
928 D. Porter, _Journal of a Cruise made to the Pacific Ocean_2 (New
York, 1882), ii. 188.
929 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_,2 pp.
203 _sq._; A. S. Thomson, _The Story of New Zealand_ (London, 1859),
i. 116 _sq._
930 R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, i. 468 _sq._
931 J. Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_, p. 36.
932 A. W. Howitt, “On Australian Medicine-men,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xvi. (1887) p. 27. Compare _id._,
_Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, pp. 360 _sq._
933 E. Palmer, “Notes on some Australian Tribes,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xiii. (1884) p. 293.
934 Lucian, _Dial. meretr._ iv. 4 _sq._
935 Apuleius, _Metamorph._ iii. 16 _sqq._ For more evidence of the same
sort, see Th. Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_,2 i. 248; James
Bonwick, _Daily Life of the Tasmanians_, p. 178; James Chalmers,
_Pioneering in New Guinea_, p. 187; J. S. Polack, _Manners and
Customs of the New Zealanders_, i. 282; A. Bastian, _Die Völker des
östlichen Asien_, iii. 270; G. H. von Langsdorff, _Reise um die
Welt_, i. 134 _sq._; W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_,2 i. 364; A.
B. Ellis, _Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast_, p. 99; R. H.
Codrington, _The Melanesians_, p. 203; K. von den Steinen, _Unter
den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens_, p. 343; Miss Mary H. Kingsley,
_Travels in West Africa_, p. 447; I. V. Zingerle, _Sitten, Bräuche
und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_,2 § 178; R. Andree,
_Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche_, Neue Folge, pp. 12
_sqq._; E. S. Hartland, _Legend of Perseus_, ii. 64-74, 132-139.
M166 Clipped hair may cause headache.
936 R. F. Kaindl, “Neue Beiträge zur Ethnologie und Volkeskunde der
Huzulen,” _Globus_, lxix. (1896) p. 94.
937 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p.
509; A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, i. 493; F.
Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. 258; J. A. E. Köhler,
_Volksbrauch_, etc., _im Voigtlande_, p. 425; A. Witzschel, _Sagen,
Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_, p. 282; I. V. Zingerle, _op.
cit._ § 180; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. p.
224, § 273. A similar belief prevails among the gypsies of Eastern
Europe (H. von Wlislocki, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der
Zigeuner_, p. 81).
938 I. V. Zingerle, _op. cit._ § 181.
939 Charlotte Latham, “Some West Sussex Superstitions,” _Folk-lore
Record_, i. (1878) p. 40.
940 J. G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of
Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1900), p. 237.
941 W. H. R. Rivers, _The Todas_ (London, 1906), pp. 268 _sq._
M167 Cut hair may cause rain, hail, thunder and lightning. Magical uses
of cut hair.
942 I. V. Zingerle, _op. cit._ §§ 176, 179.
943 A. Krause, _Die Tlinkit-Indianer_ (Jena, 1885), p. 300.
944 Petronius, _Sat._ 104.
945 J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ pp. 236 _sq._
946 A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_, i. 231
_sq._; _id._, _Ein Besuch in San Salvador_, pp. 117 _sq._
947 P. B. du Chaillu, _Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa_
(London, 1861), pp. 426 _sq._
948 O. Baumann, _Usambara und seine Nachbargebiete_ (Berlin, 1891), p.
141.
949 A. Junod, _Les Ba-Ronga_ (Neuchâtel, 1898), pp. 398-400.
950 W. Stanbridge, “On the Aborigines of Victoria,” _Transactions of the
Ethnological Society of London_, N.S., i. (1861) p. 300.
M168 Cut hair and nails may be used as hostages for good behaviour of the
persons from whose bodies they have been taken.
951 A. C. Hollis, _The Nandi_ (Oxford, 1909), pp. 30, 74 _sq._
952 Le P. A. Jaussen, _Coutumes des Arabes au pays de Moab_ (Paris,
1908), pp. 94 _sq._
953 2 Samuel, x. 4.
954 2 Samuel, x., xii. 26-31.
955 R. Torday and T. A. Joyce, “Notes on the Ethnography of the
Ba-Yaka,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxvi. (1906)
p. 49.
M169 Cut hair and nails are deposited in sacred places, such as temples
and cemeteries, to preserve them from injury. Cut hair and nails
buried under certain trees or deposited among the branches.
956 François Pyrard, _Voyages to the East Indies, the Maldives, the
Moluccas, and Brazil_, translated by Albert Gray (Hakluyt Society,
1887), i. 110 _sq._
957 E. Shortland, _Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders_,
p. 110.
958 J. S. Polack, _Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders_, i. 38
_sq._ Compare G. F. Angas, _Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and
New Zealand_ (London, 1847), ii. 108 _sq._
959 James Wilson, _A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_
(London, 1799), p. 355.
960 R. A. Freeman, _Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman_ (Westminster,
1898), pp. 171 _sq._
961 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, p. 79.
962 Aulus Gellius, x. 15. 15. The ancients were not agreed as to the
distinction between lucky and unlucky trees. According to Cato and
Pliny, trees that bore fruit were lucky, and trees which did not
were unlucky (Festus, ed. C. O. Müller, p. 29, _s.v._ _Felices_;
Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvi. 108); but according to Tarquitius Priscus
those trees were unlucky which were sacred to the infernal gods and
bore black berries or black fruit (Macrobius, _Saturn_, ii. 16, but
iii. 20 in L. Jan’s edition, Quedlinburg and Leipsic, 1852).
963 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvi. 235; Festu, p. 57 ed. C. O. Müller, _s.v._
_Capillatam vel capillarem arborem_.
964 M. Quedenfelt, “Aberglaube und halbreligiöse Bruderschaft bei den
Marokkanern,” _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für
Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte_, 1886, p. (680).
965 A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_,2 pp. 294 _sq._, § 464.
966 W. Mannhardt, _Germanische Mythen_ (Berlin, 1858), p. 630.
967 W. Henderson, _Folk-lore of the Northern Counties_ (London, 1879),
p. 17.
968 J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes
en Papua_, p. 74.
969 J. G. F. Riedel, _op. cit._ p. 265.
970 G. Heijmering, “Zeden en gewoonten op het eiland Rottie,”
_Tijdschrift voor Neêrlands Indië_, 1843, dl. ii. pp. 634-637.
971 W. Dall, _Alaska and its Resources_ (London, 1870), p. 54; F.
Whymper, “The Natives of the Youkon River,” _Transactions of the
Ethnological Society of London_, N.S., vii. (1869) p. 174.
M170 Cut hair and nails may be stowed away for safety in any secret
place.
972 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p.
509; A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, i. 493.
973 W. Mannhardt, _Germanische Mythen_, p. 630.
974 H. B. Guppy, _The Solomon Islands and their Natives_ (London, 1887),
p. 54.
975 R. H. Codrington, _The Melanesians_, p. 203.
976 Th. Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_,2 i. 249.
977 J. G. Scott and J. P. Hardiman, _Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the
Shan States_, part i. vol. ii. p. 37.
_ 978 The Zend-Avesta, Vendîdâd_ Fargaard, xvii. (vol. i. pp. 186 _sqq._,
translated by J. Darmesteter, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. iv.).
_ 979 Grihya-Sûtras_, translated by H. Oldenberg, part i. p. 57; compare
_id._, pp. 303, 399, part ii. p. 62 (_Sacred Books of the East_,
vols. xxix., xxx.). Compare H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion des Veda_,
p. 487.
_ 980 Grihya-Sûtras_, translated by H. Oldenberg, part ii. pp. 165 _sq._,
218.
981 R. W. Felkin, “Notes on the Madi or Moru Tribe of Central Africa,”
_Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_, xii. (1882-84) p.
332.
982 Fr. Stuhlmann, _Mit Emin Pascha ins Herz von Afrika_, p. 185 note.
The same thing was told me in conversation by the Rev. J. Roscoe,
missionary to Uganda; but I understood him to mean that the hair was
not carelessly disposed of, but thrown away in some place where it
would not easily be found.
983 Fr. Stuhlmann, _op. cit._ pp. 516 _sq._
984 J. Macdonald, _Light in Africa_, p. 209; _id._, “Manners, Customs,
Superstitions and Religions of South African Tribes,” _Journal of
the Anthropological Institute_, xx. (1891) p. 131.
985 A. Steedman, _Wanderings and Adventures in the Interior of Southern
Africa_ (London, 1835), i. 266.