' votaries.' 1 The sun and moon are both regarded as deities by the Korkus,2 Khonds,3 Tunguses, and Buraets. In Northern Asia the Samoyedes are said to have worshipped the sun. In Western Africa moon-worship is very prevalent. At the appearance of every new moon,' says Merolla, 'these people fall on their knees, or else cry out, stand'ing and clapping their hands, "So may I renew my "life as thou art renewed."' They do not, however, appear to venerate either the sun or the stars. Bruce also mentions moon-worship as occurring among the Shangallas.' Further South the Bechuanas 'watch most eagerly 'for the first glimpse of the new moon, and when they perceive the faint outline after the sun has set deep ' in the west, they utter a loud shout of "Kua!" and ' vociferate prayers to it." Herodotus mentions that the Atarantes used to curse the sun as he passed over their heads. 8 9 It is remarkable that the heavenly bodies do not appear to be worshipped by the Polynesians. The natives of Erromango, according to Mr. Brenchley, worship the moon, having stone images of the form of new and full moons.10 According to Lord Kames, 1 Colonel Dalton, Trans. Ethn. les Nat. de l'Empire Russe, Pt. III. Soc., vol. vi. p. 33. P. 25. 2 Forsyth's Highlands of Central India, p. 146. Voyage to Congo, Pinkerton, vol. xv. p. 273. 7 Travels, vol. iv. p. 35, vol. vi. 3 Forbes Leslie's Early Races of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 496. Campbell, p. 344. Wild Tribes of Khondistan, p. 120. 4 Bell's Travels from St. Petersburg, vol. i. p. 274. 5 Klemm, Cult. d. Mensch., v. iii. pp. 101, 109. Müller, Des. de toutes 8 Livingstone's Journeys in South Africa, p. 235. Herodotus, iv. 184. 10 Cruise of the 'Curaçoa,' p. 320. 310 SUNDRY WORSHIPS. 'the inhabitants of Celebes formerly acknowledged no 'gods but the sun and moon.'1 The people of Borneo are said to have done the same. The worship of ancestors is a natural development of the dread of ghosts, and is another widely distributed form of religious belief; which, however, I shall not enter into here, as it may be more conveniently considered when we come to deal with Idolatry. These are the principal deities of man in this stage of his religious development. They are, however, as already mentioned, by no means the only ones. The heavens and earth, thunder, lightning, and winds were regarded as deities in various parts of the world. The Scythians worshipped an iron scimetar as a symbol of the war-god; 'to this scimetar they bring "yearly sacrifices of cattle and horses; and to these 'scimetars they offer more sacrifices than to the rest of their gods.' In the Sagas many of the swords have special names, and are treated with the greatest respect. Similarly the Feejeeans regarded 'certain clubs with 'superstitious respect;' and the negroes of Irawo, a town in Western Yoruba, worshipped an iron bar with very expensive ceremonies. The New Zealanders, some of the Melanesians, and the Dahomans worshipped the rainbow." When Mr. Williams was murdered at Dillon's Bay, a piece of red sealing-wax which they found in his pocket was supposed by the natives to be some port'able god, and was carefully buried.' 1 In Central India, as mentioned in p. 277, a great variety of inanimate objects are treated as deities. The Todas are said to worship a buffalo-bell.2 The Kotas worship two silver plates, which they regard as husband and wife; 'they have no other deity.' The Kurumbas worship stones, trees, and anthills. The Toreas, another Neilgherry Hill tribe worship especially a 'gold nose-ring, which probably once belonged to one ' of their women.'5 According to Nonnius, the sacred lyre sang the victory of Jupiter over the Titans, without being touched. Many other inanimate objects have also been worshipped. De Brosses even mentions an instance of a king of hearts being made into a deity." According to some of the earlier travellers in America, even the rattle was regarded as a deity. 8 Thus, then, I have attempted to show that animals and plants, water, mountains and stones, fire and the heavenly bodies, are, or have been, all very extensively and often simultaneously worshipped, so that they do not form the basis of a natural classification of religions. 1 Turner's Nineteen Years in 278. Polynesia, p. 487. 5 The Tribes of the Neilgherries, 2 The Tribes of the Neilgherries, p. 67. p. 15. • Lafitau, vol. i. p. 205, 8 Ibid., p. 211. 312 RELIGION. CHAPTER VII. RELIGION (concluded). HAVING thus given my reasons for regarding as unsatisfactory the classifications of religions which have been adopted hitherto, I will now endeavour to trace up the gradual evolution of religious beliefs, beginning with the Australians, who possess merely certain vague ideas as to the existence of evil spirits, and a general dread of witchcraft. This belief cannot be said to influence them by day, but it renders them very unwilling to quit the camp-fire by night, or to sleep near a grave. They have no idea of creation, nor do they use prayers; they have no religious forms, ceremonies, or worship. They do not believe in the existence of a Deity,' nor is morality in any way connected with their religion, if such it can be called. The words 'good' or 'bad' had reference to taste or bodily comfort, and did not convey any idea of right or wrong.2 Another curious notion of the Australians is, that white men are blacks, who have risen from the dead. notion was found among the natives north of Sydney as early as 1795, and can scarcely, therefore, be of missionary orgin. It occurs also among the negroes of 3 1 Report of the Committee of the Legislative Council on Aborigines, Victoria, 1859, pp. 9, 69, 77. 2 Eyre's Discoveries in Central This Australia, vol. ii. pp. 354, 355, 356. 3 Collins' English Colony in N.S. Wales, p. 303. RELIGIONS OF AUSTRALIANS. 313 Guinea and elsewhere.1 The ideas of the Australians on this point, however, seem to have been very various and confused. They had certainly no general and definite view on the subject. As regards the North Australians we have trustworthy accounts given by a Scotchwoman, Mrs. Thomson, who was wrecked on the Eastern Prince of Wales Island. Her husband and the rest of the crew were drowned, but she was saved by the natives, and lived with them nearly five years, until the visit of the 'Rattlesnake,' when she escaped with some difficulty. On the whole she was kindly treated by the men, though the women were long jealous of her, and behaved towards her with much cruelty. These people had no idea of a Supreme Being. They did not believe in the immortality of the soul, but held that they are after death changed into white people or 'Europeans, and as such pass the second and final period ' of their existence; nor is it any part of their creed that 'future rewards and punishments are awarded.'s Mrs. Thomson was supposed to be the ghost of Giom, a daughter of a man named Piaquai, and when she was teased by children, the men would often tell them to leave her alone, saying, 'Poor thing! she is nothing— only a ghost.' This, however, did not prevent a man named Boroto making her his wife, which shows how little is actually implied in the statement that Australians believe in spirits. They really do no more than believe in the existence of men somewhat different from, and a 1 Smith's Guinea, p. 215. Bosman, Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. xvi. p. 401. 2 Macgillivray's Voyage of the 'Rattlesnake,' vol. ii. p. 29. 3 Loc. cit., p. 29. |