CHAPTER IV

—THE GOLDEN BOUGH.

“Und grün des Lebens goldner Baum.”—FAUST.

§ 1.—Between heaven and earth.

At the outset of this book two questions were proposed for answer; Why had the priest of Nemi (Aricia) to slay his predecessor? And why, before doing so, had he to pluck the Golden Bough? Of these two questions the first has now been answered. The priest of Nemi, if I am right, embodied in himself the spirit, primarily, of the woods and, secondarily, of vegetable life in general. Hence, according as he was well or ill, the woods, the flowers, and the fields were believed to flourish or fade; and if he were to die of sickness or old age, the plant world, it was supposed, would simultaneously perish. Therefore it was necessary that this priest of the woodlands, this sylvan deity incarnate in a man, should be put to death while he was still in the full bloom of his divine manhood, in order that his sacred life, transmitted in unabated force to his successor, might renew its youth, and thus by successive transmissions through a perpetual line of vigorous incarnations might remain eternally fresh and young, a pledge and security that the buds and blossoms of spring, the verdure of summer woods, and the mellow glories of autumn would never fail.

But we have still to ask, What was the Golden Bough? and why had each candidate for the Arician priesthood to pluck it before he could slay the priest? These questions I will now try to answer.

It will be well to begin by noticing two of those rules or taboos by which, as we have seen, the life of divine kings or priests is regulated. The first of the rules to which I desire to call the reader’s attention is that the divine personage may not touch the ground with his foot. This rule was observed by the Mikado of Japan and by the supreme pontiff of the Zapotecs in Mexico. The latter “profaned his sanctity if he so much as touched the ground with his foot.”(603) For the Mikado to touch the ground with his foot was a shameful degradation; indeed, in the sixteenth century, it was enough to deprive him of his office. Outside his palace he was carried on men’s shoulders; within it he walked on exquisitely wrought mats.(604) The king and queen of Tahiti might not touch the ground anywhere but within their hereditary domains; for the ground on which they trod became sacred. In travelling from place to place they were carried on the shoulders of sacred men. They were always accompanied by several pairs of these sacred men; and when it became necessary to change their bearers, the king and queen vaulted on to the shoulders of their new bearers without letting their feet touch the ground.(605) It was an evil omen if the king of Dosuma touched the ground, and he had to perform an expiatory ceremony.(606) The king of Persia was never seen on foot outside his palace.(607)

The second rule to be here noted is that the sun may not shine upon the divine person. This rule was observed both by the Mikado and by the pontiff of the Zapotecs. The latter “was looked upon as a god whom the earth was not worthy to hold, nor the sun to shine upon.”(608) The Japanese would not allow that the Mikado “should expose his sacred person to the open air, and the sun is not thought worthy to shine on his head.”(609) The heir to the throne of Bogota in Colombia, South America, had to undergo a severe training from the age of sixteen; he lived in complete retirement in a temple, where he might not see the sun nor eat salt nor converse with a woman.(610) The heir to the kingdom of Sogamoso in Colombia, before succeeding to the crown, had to fast for seven years in the temple, being shut up in the dark and not allowed to see the sun or light.(611) The prince who was to become Inca of Peru had to fast for a month without seeing light.(612)

Now it is remarkable that these two rules—not to touch the ground and not to see the sun—are observed either separately or conjointly by girls at puberty in many parts of the world. Thus amongst the negroes of Loango girls at puberty are confined in separate huts, and they may not touch the ground with any part of their bare body.(613) Amongst the Zulus and kindred tribes of South Africa, when the first signs of puberty show themselves “while a girl is walking, gathering wood, or working in the field, she runs to the river and hides herself among the reeds for the day so as not to be seen by men. She covers her head carefully with her blanket that the sun may not shine on it and shrivel her up into a withered skeleton, assured result from exposure to the sun’s beams. After dark she returns to her home and is secluded” in a hut for some time.(614)

In New Ireland girls are confined for four or five years in small cages, being kept in the dark and not allowed to set foot on the ground. The custom has been thus described by an eye-witness. “I heard from a teacher about some strange custom connected with some of the young girls here, so I asked the chief to take me to the house where they were. The house was about twenty-five feet in length, and stood in a reed and bamboo enclosure, across the entrance to which a bundle of dried grass was suspended to show that it was strictly ‘_tabu_’. Inside the house were three conical structures about seven or eight feet in height, and about ten or twelve feet in circumference at the bottom, and for about four feet from the ground, at which point they tapered off to a point at the top. These cages were made of the broad leaves of the pandanus-tree, sewn quite close together so that no light, and little or no air could enter. On one side of each is an opening which is closed by a double door of plaited cocoa-nut tree and pandanus-tree leaves. About three feet from the ground there is a stage of bamboos which forms the floor. In each of these cages we were told there was a young woman confined, each of whom had to remain for at least four or five years, without ever being allowed to go outside the house. I could scarcely credit the story when I heard it; the whole thing seemed too horrible to be true. I spoke to the chief, and told him that I wished to see the inside of the cages, and also to see the girls that I might make them a present of a few beads. He told me that it was ‘_tabu_,’ forbidden for any men but their own relations to look at them; but I suppose the promised beads acted as an inducement, and so he sent away for some old lady who had charge, and who alone is allowed to open the doors.... She had to undo the door when the chief told her to do so, and then the girls peeped out at us, and, when told to do so, they held out their hands for the beads. I, however, purposely sat at some distance away and merely held out the beads to them, as I wished to draw them quite outside, that I might inspect the inside of the cages. This desire of mine gave rise to another difficulty, as these girls were not allowed to put their feet to the ground all the time they were confined in these places. However, they wished to get the beads, and so the old lady had to go outside and collect a lot of pieces of wood and bamboo, which she placed on the ground, and then going to one of the girls, she helped her down and held her hand as she stepped from one piece of wood to another until she came near enough to get the beads I held out to her. I then went to inspect the inside of the cage out of which she had come, but could scarcely put my head inside of it, the atmosphere was so hot and stifling. It was clean and contained nothing but a few short lengths of bamboo for holding water. There was only room for the girl to sit or lie down in a crouched position on the bamboo platform, and when the doors are shut it must be nearly or quite dark inside. The girls are never allowed to come out except once a day to bathe in a dish or wooden bowl placed close to each cage. They say that they perspire profusely. They are placed in these stifling cages when quite young, and must remain there until they are young women, when they are taken out and have each a great marriage feast provided for them.”(615)

In some parts of New Guinea “daughters of chiefs, when they are about twelve or thirteen years of age, are kept indoors for two or three years, never being allowed, under any pretence, to descend from the house, and the house is so shaded that the sun cannot shine on them.”(616) Among the Ot Danoms of Borneo girls at the age of eight or ten years are shut up in a little room or cell of the house and cut off from all intercourse with the world for a long time. The cell, like the rest of the house, is raised on piles above the ground, and is lit by a single small window opening on a lonely place, so that the girl is in almost total darkness. She may not leave the room on any pretext whatever, not even for the most necessary purposes. None of her family may see her all the time she is shut up, but a single slave woman is appointed to wait on her. During her lonely confinement, which often lasts seven years, the girl occupies herself in weaving mats or with other handiwork. Her bodily growth is stunted by the long want of exercise, and when, on attaining womanhood, she is brought out, her complexion is pale and wax-like. She is now shown the sun, the earth, the water, the trees, and the flowers, as if she were newly born. Then a great feast is made, a slave is killed, and the girl is smeared with his blood.(617) In Ceram girls at puberty were formerly shut up by themselves in a hut which was kept dark.(618)

Amongst the Aht Indians of Vancouver Island, when girls reach puberty they are placed in a sort of gallery in the house “and are there surrounded completely with mats, so that neither the sun nor any fire can be seen. In this cage they remain for several days. Water is given them, but no food. The longer a girl remains in this retirement the greater honour is it to the parents; but she is disgraced for life if it is known that she has seen fire or the sun during this initiatory ordeal.”(619) Amongst the Thlinkeet or Kolosh Indians of Alaska, when a girl shows signs of womanhood she is shut up in a little hut or cage, which is completely blocked up with the exception of a small air-hole. In this dark and filthy abode she had formerly to remain a year, without fire, exercise, or associates. Her food was put in at the small window; she had to drink out of the wing-bone of a white-headed eagle. The time has now been reduced, at least in some places, to six months. The girl has to wear a sort of hat with long flaps, that her gaze may not pollute the sky; for she is thought unfit for the sun to shine upon.(620) Amongst the Koniags, an Esquimaux people of Alaska, girls at puberty were placed in small huts in which they had to remain on their hands and knees for six months; then the hut was enlarged enough to let them kneel upright, and they had to remain in this posture for six months more.(621)

When symptoms of puberty appeared on a girl for the first time, the Indians of the Rio de la Plata used to sew her up in her hammock as if she were dead, leaving only a small hole for her mouth to allow her to breathe. In this state she continued so long as the symptoms lasted.(622) In similar circumstances the Chiriguanos of Bolivia hoisted the girl in her hammock to the roof, where she stayed for a month; the second month the hammock was let half way down from the roof; and in the third month old women, armed with sticks, entered the hut and ran about striking everything they met, saying they were hunting the snake that had wounded the girl. This they did till one of the women gave out that she had killed the snake.(623) Amongst some of the Brazilian Indians, when a girl attained to puberty, her hair was burned or shaved off close to the head. Then she was placed on a flat stone and cut with the tooth of an animal from the shoulders all down the back, till she ran with blood. Then the ashes of a wild gourd were rubbed into the wounds; the girl was bound hand and foot, and hung in a hammock, being enveloped in it so closely that no one could see her. Here she had to stay for three days without eating or drinking. When the three days were over, she stepped out of the hammock upon the flat stone, for her feet might not touch the ground. If she had a call of nature, a female relation took the girl on her back and carried her out, taking with her a live coal to prevent evil influences from entering the girl’s body. Being replaced in her hammock she was now allowed to get some flour, boiled roots, and water, but might not taste salt or flesh. Thus she continued to the end of the first monthly period, at the expiry of which she was gashed on the breast and belly as well as all down the back. During the second month she still stayed in her hammock, but her rule of abstinence was less rigid, and she was allowed to spin. The third month she was blackened with a certain pigment and began to go about as usual.(624)

Amongst the Macusis of British Guiana, when a girl shows the first signs of puberty, she is hung in a hammock at the highest point of the hut. For the first few days she may not leave the hammock by day, but at night she must come down, light a fire, and spend the night beside it, else she would break out in sores on her neck, throat, etc. So long as the symptoms are at their height, she must fast rigorously. When they have abated, she may come down and take up her abode in a little compartment that is made for her in the darkest corner of the hut. In the morning she may cook her food, but it must be at a separate fire and in a vessel of her own. In about ten days the magician comes and undoes the spell by muttering charms and breathing on her and on the more valuable of the things with which she has come in contact. The pots and drinking vessels which she used are broken and the fragments buried. After her first bath, the girl must submit to be beaten by her mother with thin rods without uttering a cry. At the end of the second period she is again beaten, but not afterwards. She is now “clean,” and can mix again with people.(625) Other Indians of Guiana, after keeping the girl in her hammock at the top of the hut for a month, expose her to certain large ants, whose bite is very painful.(626) The custom of stinging the girl with ants or beating her with rods is intended, we may be sure, not as a punishment or a test of endurance, but as a purification, the object being to drive away the malignant influences with which a girl at such times is believed to be beset and enveloped. Examples of purification, both by beating and by stinging with ants, have already come before us.(627) Probably, beating or scourging as a religious or ceremonial rite always originated with a similar intention. It was meant to wipe off and drive away a dangerous contagion (whether personified as demoniacal or not) which was supposed to be adhering physically, though invisibly, to the body of the sufferer.(628) The pain inflicted on the person beaten was no more the object of the beating than it is of a surgical operation with us; it was a necessary accident, that was all. In later times such customs were interpreted otherwise, and the pain, from being an accident, became the prime object of the ceremony, which was now regarded either as a test of endurance imposed upon persons at critical epochs of life, or as a mortification of the flesh well pleasing to the god. But asceticism, under any shape or form, is never primitive. Amongst the Uaupes of Brazil a girl at puberty is secluded in the house for a month, and allowed only a small quantity of bread and water. Then she is taken out into the midst of her relations and friends, each of whom gives her four or five blows with pieces of _sipo_ (an elastic climber), till she falls senseless or dead. If she recovers, the operation is repeated four times at intervals of six hours, and it is considered an offence to the parents not to strike hard. Meantime, pots of meats and fish have been made ready; the _sipos_ are dipped into them and then given to the girl to lick, who is now considered a marriageable woman.(629)

When a Hindoo maiden reaches maturity she is kept in a dark room for four days, and is forbidden to see the sun. She is regarded as unclean; no one is allowed to touch her. Her diet is restricted to boiled rice, milk, sugar, curd, and tamarind without salt.(630) In Cambodia a girl at puberty is put to bed under a mosquito curtain, where she should stay a hundred days. Usually, however, four, five, ten, or twenty days are thought enough; and even this, in a hot climate and under the close meshes of the curtain, is sufficiently trying.(631) According to another account, a Cambodian maiden at puberty is said to “enter into the shade.” During her retirement, which, according to the rank and position of her family, may last any time from a few days to several years, she has to observe a number of rules, such as not to be seen by a strange man, not to eat flesh or fish, and so on. She goes nowhere, not even to the pagoda. But this state of retirement is discontinued during eclipses; at such times she goes forth and pays her devotions to the monster who is supposed to cause eclipses by catching the heavenly bodies between his teeth.(632) The fact that her retirement is discontinued during an eclipse seems to show how literally the injunction is interpreted which forbids maidens entering on womanhood to look upon the sun.

A superstition so widely diffused as this might be expected to leave traces in legends and folk-tales. And it has done so. In a modern Greek folk-tale the Fates predict that in her fifteenth year a princess must be careful not to let the sun shine on her, for if this were to happen she would be turned into a lizard.(633) A Tyrolese story tells how it was the doom of a lovely maiden to be transported into the belly of a whale if ever a sunbeam fell on her.(634) In another modern Greek tale the Sun bestows a daughter upon a childless woman on condition of taking the child back to himself when she is twelve years old. So, when the child was twelve, the mother closed the doors and windows, and stopped up all the chinks and crannies, to prevent the Sun from coming to fetch away her daughter. But she forgot to stop up the key-hole, and a sunbeam streamed through it and carried off the girl.(635) In a Sicilian story a seer foretells that a king will have a daughter who, in her fourteenth year, will conceive a child by the Sun. So, when the child was born, the king shut her up in a lonely tower which had no window, lest a sunbeam should fall on her. When she was nearly fourteen years old, it happened that her parents sent her a piece of roasted kid, in which she found a sharp bone. With this bone she scraped a hole in the wall, and a sunbeam shot through the hole and impregnated her.(636) The old Greek story of Danae, who was confined by her father in a subterranean chamber or a brazen tower, but impregnated by Zeus, who reached her in the shape of a shower of gold, perhaps belongs to the same class of tales. It has its counterpart in the legend which the Kirgis of Siberia tell of their ancestry. A certain Khan had a fair daughter, whom he kept in a dark iron house, that no man might see her. An old woman tended her; and when the girl was grown to maidenhood she asked the old woman, “Where do you go so often?”—“My child,” said the old dame, “there is a bright world. In that bright world your father and mother live, and all sorts of people live there. That is where I go.” The maiden said, “Good mother, I will tell nobody, but show me that bright world.” So the old woman took the girl out of the iron house. But when she saw the bright world, the girl tottered and fainted; and the eye of God fell upon her, and she conceived. Her angry father put her in a golden chest and sent her floating away (fairy gold can float in fairyland) over the wide sea.(637) The shower of gold in the Greek story, and the eye of God in the Kirgis legend, probably stand for sunlight and the sun. The idea that women may be impregnated by the sun is not uncommon in legends,(638) and there are even traces of it in marriage customs.(639)

The ground of this seclusion of girls at puberty lies in the deeply engrained dread which primitive man universally entertains of menstruous blood. Evidence of this has already been adduced,(640) but a few more facts may here be added. Amongst the Australian blacks “the boys are told from their infancy that, if they see the blood, they will early become gray-headed, and their strength will fail prematurely.” Hence a woman lives apart at these times; and if a young man or boy approaches her she calls out, and he immediately makes a circuit to avoid her. The men go out of their way to avoid even crossing the tracks made by women at such times. Similarly the woman may not walk on any path frequented by men, nor touch anything used by men; she may not eat fish, or go near water at all, much less cross it; for if she did, the fish would be frightened, and the fishers would have no luck; she may not even fetch water for the camp; it is sufficient for her to say _Thama_ to ensure her husband fetching the water himself. A severe beating, or even death, is the punishment inflicted on an Australian woman who breaks these rules.(641) The Bushmen think that, by a glance of a girl’s eye at the time when she ought to be kept in strict retirement, men become fixed in whatever position they happen to occupy, with whatever they were holding in their hands, and are changed into trees which talk.(642) The Guayquiries of the Orinoco think that, when a woman has her courses, everything upon which she steps will die, and that if a man treads on the place where she has passed, his legs will immediately swell up.(643) The Creek and kindred Indians of the United States compelled women at menstruation to live in separate huts at some distance from the village. There the women had to stay, at the risk of being surprised and cut off by enemies. It was thought “a most horrid and dangerous pollution” to go near the women at such times; and the danger extended to enemies who, if they slew the women, had to cleanse themselves from the pollution by means of certain sacred herbs and roots.(644) Similarly, among the Chippeways and other Indians of the Hudson Bay Territory, women at such seasons are excluded from the camp, and take up their abode in huts of branches. They wear long hoods, which effectually conceal the head and breast. They may not touch the household furniture nor any objects used by men; for their touch “is supposed to defile them, so that their subsequent use would be followed by certain mischief or misfortune,” such as disease or death. They may not walk on the common paths nor cross the tracks of animals. They “are never permitted to walk on the ice of rivers or lakes, or near the part where the men are hunting beaver, or where a fishing-net is set, for fear of averting their success. They are also prohibited at those times from partaking of the head of any animal, and even from walking in or crossing the track where the head of a deer, moose, beaver, and many other animals have lately been carried, either on a sledge or on the back. To be guilty of a violation of this custom is considered as of the greatest importance; because they firmly believe that it would be a means of preventing the hunter from having an equal success in his future excursions.”(645) So the Lapps forbid women at menstruation to walk on that part of the shore where the fishers are in the habit of setting out their fish.(646)

Amongst the civilised nations of Europe the superstitions which have prevailed on this subject are not less extravagant. In the oldest existing cyclopaedia—the _Natural History_ of Pliny—the list of dangers apprehended from menstruation is longer than any furnished by savages. According to Pliny, the touch of a menstruous woman turned wine to vinegar, blighted crops, killed seedlings, blasted gardens, brought down the fruit from trees, dimmed mirrors, blunted razors, rusted iron and brass (especially at the waning of the moon), killed bees, or at least drove them from their hives, caused mares to miscarry, and so forth.(647) Similarly, in various parts of Europe, it is still believed that if a woman in her courses enters a brewery the beer will turn sour; if she touches beer, wine, vinegar, or milk, it will go bad; if she makes jam, it will not keep; if she mounts a mare, it will miscarry; if she touches buds, they will wither; if she climbs a cherry-tree, it will die.(648)

Thus the object of secluding women at menstruation is to neutralise the dangerous influences which are supposed to emanate from them at such times. That the danger is believed to be especially great at the first menstruation appears from the unusual precautions taken to isolate girls at this crisis. Two of these precautions have been illustrated above, namely, the rules that the girl may not touch the ground nor see the sun. The general effect of these rules is to keep the girl suspended, so to say, between heaven and earth. Whether enveloped in her hammock and slung up to the roof, as in South America, or elevated above the ground in a dark and narrow cage, as in New Ireland, she may be considered to be out of the way of doing mischief, since, being shut off both from the earth and from the sun, she can poison neither of these great sources of life by her deadly contagion. In short, she is rendered harmless by being, in electrical language, insulated. But the precautions thus taken to isolate or insulate the girl are dictated by a regard for her own safety as well as for the safety of others. For it is thought that the girl herself would suffer if she were to neglect the prescribed regimen. Thus Zulu girls, as we have seen, believe that they would shrivel to skeletons if the sun were to shine on them at puberty, and in some Brazilian tribes the girls think that a transgression of the rules would entail sores on the neck and throat. In short, the girl is viewed as charged with a powerful force which, if not kept within bounds, may prove the destruction both of the girl herself and of all with whom she comes in contact. To repress this force within the limits necessary for the safety of all concerned is the object of the taboos in question.

The same explanation applies to the observance of the same rules by divine kings and priests. The uncleanness, as it is called, of girls at puberty and the sanctity of holy men do not, to the primitive mind, differ from each other. They are only different manifestations of the same supernatural energy which, like energy in general, is in itself neither good nor bad, but becomes beneficent or maleficent according to its application.(649) Accordingly, if, like girls at puberty, divine personages may neither touch the ground nor see the sun, the reason is, on the one hand, a fear lest their divinity might, at contact with earth or heaven, discharge itself with fatal violence on either; and, on the other hand, an apprehension, that the divine being, thus drained of his ethereal virtue, might thereby be incapacitated for the future performance of those supernatural functions, upon the proper discharge of which the safety of the people and even of the world is believed to hang. Thus the rules in question fall under the head of the taboos which we examined in the second chapter; they are intended to preserve the life of the divine person and with it the life of his subjects and worshippers. Nowhere, it is thought, can his precious yet dangerous life be at once so safe and so harmless as when it is neither in heaven nor in earth, but, as far as possible, suspended between the two.(650)

§ 2.—Balder.

A god whose life might in a sense be said to be neither in heaven nor earth but between the two, was the Norse Balder, the good and beautiful god. The story of his death is as follows: Once on a time Balder dreamed heavy dreams which seemed to forebode his death. Thereupon the gods held a council and resolved to make him secure against every danger. So the goddess Frigg took an oath from fire and water, iron and all metals, stones and earth, from trees, sicknesses and poisons, and from all four-footed beasts, birds, and creeping things, that they would not hurt Balder. When this was done Balder was deemed invulnerable; so the gods amused themselves by setting him in their midst, while some shot at him, others hewed at him, and others threw stones at him. But whatever they did, nothing could hurt him; and at this they were all glad. Only Loki, the mischief-maker, was displeased, and he went in the guise of an old woman to Frigg, who told him that the weapons of the gods could not wound Balder, since she had made them all swear not to hurt him. Then Loki asked, “Have all things sworn to spare Balder?” She answered, “East of Walhalla grows a plant called mistletoe; it seemed to me too young to swear.” So Loki went and pulled the mistletoe and took it to the assembly of the gods. There he found the blind god Hödur standing at the outside of the circle. Loki asked him, “Why do you not shoot at Balder?” Hödur answered, “Because I do not see where he stands; besides I have no weapon.” Then said Loki, “Do like the rest and show Balder honour, as they all do. I will show you where he stands, and do you shoot at him with this twig.” Hödur took the mistletoe and threw it at Balder, as Loki directed him. The mistletoe struck Balder and pierced him through and through, and he fell down dead. And that was the greatest misfortune that ever befel gods and men. For a while the gods stood speechless, then they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. They took Balder’s body and brought it to the sea-shore. There stood Balder’s ship; it was called Ringhorn, and was the hugest of all ships. The gods wished to launch the ship and to burn Balder’s body on it, but the ship would not stir. So they sent for a giantess called Hyrrockin. She came riding on a wolf and gave the ship such a push that fire flashed from the rollers and all the earth shook. Then Balder’s body was taken and placed on the funeral pile upon his ship. When his wife Nanna saw that, her heart burst for sorrow and she died. So she was laid on the funeral pile with her husband, and fire was put to it. Balder’s horse, too, with all its trappings, was burned on the pile.(651)

The circumstantiality of this story suggests that it belongs to the extensive class of myths which are invented to explain ritual. For a myth is never so graphic and precise in its details as when it is a simple transcript of a ceremony which the author of the myth witnessed with his eyes. At all events, if it can be made probable that rites like those described in the Balder myth have been practised by Norsemen and by other European peoples, we shall be justified in inferring that the ritual gave birth to the myth, not the myth to the ritual. For while many cases can be shown in which a myth has been invented to explain a rite, it would be hard to point to a single case in which a myth has given rise to a rite. Ritual may be the parent of myth, but can never be its child.(652)

The main incidents in the myth of Balder’s death are two; first, the pulling of the mistletoe, and second, the death and burning of the god. Now both these incidents appear to have formed parts of an annual ceremony once observed by Celts and Norsemen, probably also by Germans and Slavs.

In most parts of Europe the peasants have been accustomed from time immemorial to kindle bonfires on certain days of the year, and to dance round them or leap over them. Customs of this kind can be traced back on historical evidence to the Middle Ages,(653) and their analogy to similar customs observed in antiquity goes with strong internal evidence to prove that their origin must be sought in a period long prior to the spread of Christianity. Indeed the earliest evidence of their observance in Northern Europe is furnished by the attempts made by Christian synods in the eighth century to put them down as heathenish rites.(654) Not uncommonly effigies are burned in these fires, or a pretence is made of burning a living person in them; and there are grounds for believing that anciently human beings were actually burned on these occasions. A brief review of the customs in question will bring out the traces of human sacrifice, and will serve at the same time to throw light on their meaning.(655)

The seasons of the year at which these bonfires are most commonly lit are spring and midsummer, but in some places they are kindled at Hallow E’en (October 31st) and Christmas. In spring the first Sunday in Lent (Quadragesima) and Easter Eve are the days on which in different places the ceremony is observed. Thus in the Eifel Mountains, Rhenish Prussia, on the first Sunday in Lent young people used to collect straw and brushwood from house to house. These they carried to an eminence and piled them up round a tall, slim, beech-tree, to which a piece of wood was fastened at right angles to form a cross. The structure was known as the “hut” or “castle.” Fire was set to it and the young people marched round the blazing “castle” bareheaded, each carrying a lighted torch and praying aloud. Sometimes a straw man was burned in the “hut.” People observed the direction in which the smoke blew from the fire. If it blew towards the corn-fields, it was a sign that the harvest would be abundant. On the same day, in some parts of the Eifel, a great wheel was made of straw and dragged by three horses to the top of a hill. Thither the village boys marched at nightfall, set fire to the wheel, and sent it rolling down the slope. Two lads followed it with levers to set it in motion again, in case it should anywhere meet with a check.(656) About Echternach the same ceremony is called “burning the witch.”(657) At Voralberg in the Tyrol on the first Sunday in Lent a slender young fir-tree is surrounded with a pile of straw and fire-wood. At the top of the tree is fastened a human figure called the “witch”; it is made of old clothes and stuffed with gunpowder. At night the whole is set on fire and boys and girls dance round it, swinging torches and singing rhymes in which the words “corn in the winnowing-basket, the plough in the earth” may be distinguished.(658) In Swabia on the first Sunday in Lent a figure called the “witch” or the “old wife” or “winter’s grandmother” is made up of clothes and fastened to a pole. This is stuck in the middle of a pile of wood, to which fire is applied. While the “witch” is burning the young people throw blazing discs into the air. The discs are thin round pieces of wood, a few inches in diameter, with notched edges to imitate the rays of the sun or stars. They have a hole in the middle, by which they are attached to the end of a wand. Before the disc is thrown it is set on fire, the wand is swung to and fro, and the impetus thus communicated to the disc is augmented by dashing the rod sharply against a sloping board. The burning disc is thus thrown off, and mounting high into the air, describes a long curve before it reaches the ground. A single lad may fling up forty or fifty of these discs, one after the other. The object is to throw them as high as possible. The wand by which they are hurled must, at least in some parts of Swabia, be of hazel. Sometimes the lads also leap over the fire brandishing blazing torches of pine-wood. The charred embers of the burned “witch” and discs are taken home and planted in the flax-fields the same night, in the belief that they will keep vermin from the fields.(659) In the Rhön Mountains, Bavaria, on the first Sunday in Lent the people used to march to the top of a hill or eminence. Children and lads carried torches, brooms daubed with tar, and poles swathed in straw. A wheel, wrapt in combustibles, was kindled and rolled down the hill; and the young people rushed about the fields with their burning torches and brooms, till at last they flung them in a heap, and standing round them, struck up a hymn or a popular song. The object of running about the fields with the blazing torches was to “drive away the wicked sower.” Or it was done in honour of the Virgin, that she might preserve the fruits of the earth throughout the year and bless them.(660)

It seems hardly possible to separate from these bonfires, kindled on the first Sunday in Lent, the fires in which, about the same season, the effigy called Death is burned as part of the ceremony of “carrying out Death.” We have seen that at Spachendorf, Austrian Silesia, on the morning of Rupert’s Day (Shrove Tuesday?) a straw-man, dressed in a fur coat and a fur cap, is laid in a hole outside the village and there burned, and that while it is blazing every one seeks to snatch a fragment of it, which he fastens to a branch of the highest tree in his garden or buries in his field, believing that this will make the crops to grow better. The ceremony is known as the “burying of Death.”(661) Even when the straw-man is not designated as Death, the meaning of the observance is probably the same; for the name Death, as I have tried to show, does not express the original intention of the ceremony. At Cobern in the Eifel Mountains the lads make up a straw-man on Shrove Tuesday. The effigy is formally tried and accused of having perpetrated all the thefts that have been committed in the neighbourhood throughout the year. Being condemned to death, the straw-man is led through the village, shot, and burned upon a pyre. They dance round the blazing pile, and the last bride must leap over it.(662) In Oldenburg on the evening of Shrove Tuesday people used to make long bundles of straw, which they set on fire, and then ran about the fields waving them, shrieking, and singing wild songs. Finally they burnt a straw-man on the field.(663) In the district of Düsseldorf the straw-man burned on Shrove Tuesday was made of an unthreshed sheaf of corn.(664) On the first Monday after the spring equinox the urchins of Zurich drag a straw-man on a little cart through the streets, while at the same time the girls carry about a May-tree. When vespers ring, the straw-man is burned.(665) In the district of Aachen on Ash Wednesday a man used to be encased in peas-straw and taken to an appointed place. Here he slipped quietly out of his straw casing, which was then burned, the children thinking that it was the man who was being burned.(666) In the Val di Ledro (Tyrol) on the last day of the Carnival a figure is made up of straw and brushwood and then burned. The figure is called the Old Woman, and the ceremony “burning the Old Woman.”(667)

Another occasion on which these fire-festivals are held is Easter Eve, the Saturday before Easter Sunday. On that day it has been customary in Catholic countries to extinguish all the lights in the churches, and then to make a new fire, sometimes with flint and steel, sometimes with a burning-glass. At this fire is lit the Easter candle, which is then used to rekindle all the extinguished lights in the church. In many parts of Germany a bonfire is also kindled, by means of the new fire, on some open space near the church. It is consecrated, and the people bring sticks of oak, walnut, and beech, which they char in the fire, and then take home with them. Some of these charred sticks are thereupon burned at home in a newly-kindled fire, with a prayer that God will preserve the homestead from fire, lightning, and hail. Thus every house receives “new fire.” Some of the sticks are placed in the fields, gardens, and meadows, with a prayer that God will keep them from blight and hail. Such fields and gardens are thought to thrive more than others; the corn and the plants that grow in them are not beaten down by hail, nor devoured by mice, vermin, and beetles, no witch harms them, and the ears of corn stand close and full. The charred sticks are also applied to the plough. The ashes of the Easter bonfire, together with the ashes of the consecrated palm-branches, are mixed with the seed at sowing. A wooden figure called Judas is sometimes burned in the consecrated bonfire.(668)

Sometimes instead of the consecrated bonfire a profane fire used to be kindled on Easter Eve. In the afternoon the lads of the village collected firewood and carried it to a corn-field or to the top of a hill. Here they piled it together and fastened in the midst of it a pole with a cross-piece, all wrapt in straw, so that it looked like a man with outstretched arms. This figure was called the Easter-man, or the Judas. In the evening the lads lit their lanterns at the new holy fire in the church, and ran at full speed to the pile. The one who reached it first set fire to it and to the effigy. No women or girls might be present, though they were allowed to watch the scene from a distance. Great was the joy while the effigy was burning. The ashes were collected and thrown at sunrise into running water, or were scattered over the fields on Easter Monday. At the same time the palm branches which had been consecrated on Palm Sunday, and sticks which had been charred in the fire and consecrated on Good Friday, were also stuck up in the fields. The object was to preserve the fields from hail.(669) In Münsterland, these Easter fires are always kindled upon certain definite hills, which are hence known as Easter or Pascal Mountains. The whole community assembles about the fire. Fathers of families form an inner circle round it. An outer circle is formed by the young men and maidens, who, singing Easter hymns, march round and round the fire in the direction of the sun, till the blaze dies down. Then the girls jump over the fire in a line, one after the other, each supported by two young men who hold her hands and run beside her. When the fire has burned out, the whole assemblage marches in solemn procession to the church, singing hymns. They march thrice round the church, and then break up. In the twilight boys with blazing bundles of straw run over the fields to make them fruitful.(670) In Holland, also, Easter fires used to be kindled on the highest eminences, the people danced round them, and leaped through the flames.(671) In Schaumburg, the Easter bonfires may be seen blazing on all the mountains around for miles. They are made with a tar barrel fastened to a pine-tree, which is wrapt in straw. The people dance singing round them.(672) Easter bonfires are also common in the Harz Mountains and in Brunswick, Hanover, and Westphalia. They are generally lit upon particular heights and mountains which are hence called Easter Mountains. In the Harz the fire is commonly made by piling brushwood about a tree and setting it on fire, and blazing tar barrels are often rolled down into the valley. In Osterode, every one tries to snatch a brand from the bonfire and rushes about with it; the better it burns, the more lucky it is. In Grund there are torch races.(673) In the Altmark, the Easter bonfires are composed of tar barrels, bee-hives, etc., piled round a pole. The young folk dance round the fire; and when it has died out, the old folk come and collect the ashes, which they preserve as a remedy for the ailments of bees. It is also believed that as far as the blaze of the bonfire is visible, the corn will grow well throughout the year, and no conflagration will break out.(674) In some parts of Bavaria, bonfires were kindled at Easter upon steep mountains, and burning arrows or discs of wood were shot high into the air, as in the Swabian custom already described. Sometimes, instead of the discs, an old waggon wheel was wrapt in straw, set on fire, and sent rolling down the mountain. The lads who hurled the discs received painted Easter eggs from the girls.(675) In some parts of Swabia the Easter fires might not be kindled with iron or flint or steel; but only by the friction of wood.(676) At Braunröde in the Harz Mountains it was the custom to burn squirrels in the Easter bonfire.(677) In the Altmark, bones were burned in it.(678)

In the central Highlands of Scotland bonfires, known as the Beltane fires, were formerly kindled with great ceremony on the 1st of May, and the traces of human sacrifices at them were particularly clear and unequivocal. In the neighbourhood of Callander, in Perthshire, the custom lasted down to the close of last century. The fires were lit by the people of each hamlet on a hill or knoll round which their cattle were pasturing. Hence various eminences in the Highlands are known as “the hill of the fires,” just as in Germany some mountains take their name from the Easter fires which are kindled upon them. On the morning of May Day the people repaired to a hill or knoll and cut a round trench in the green sod, leaving in the centre a platform of turf large enough to contain the whole company. On this turf they seated themselves, and in the middle was placed a pile of wood or other fuel, which of old they kindled with _tein-eigin_—that is, forced fire or need-fire. The way of making the need-fire was this: “The night before, all the fires in the country were carefully extinguished, and next morning the materials for exciting this sacred fire were prepared. The most primitive method seems to be that which was used in the islands of Skye, Mull, and Tiree. A well-seasoned plank of oak was procured, in the midst of which a hole was bored. A wimble of the same timber was then applied, the end of which they fitted to the hole. But in some parts of the mainland the machinery was different. They used a frame of green wood, of a square form, in the centre of which was an axle-tree. In some places three times three persons, in others three times nine, were required for turning round, by turns, the axle-tree or wimble. If any of them had been guilty of murder, adultery, theft, or other atrocious crime, it was imagined either that the fire would not kindle, or that it would be devoid of its usual virtue. So soon as any sparks were emitted by means of the violent friction, they applied a species of agaric which grows on old birch-trees, and is very combustible. This fire had the appearance of being immediately derived from heaven, and manifold were the virtues ascribed to it. They esteemed it a preservative against witchcraft, and a sovereign remedy against malignant diseases, both in the human species and in cattle; and by it the strongest poisons were supposed to have their nature changed.” For many years, however, before the close of last century, the Beltane fires were kindled in the usual way. The fire being lit, the company prepared a custard of eggs and milk, which they ate. Afterwards they amused themselves a while by singing and dancing round the fire. Then “they knead a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted at the embers against a stone. After the custard is eaten up they divide the cake into so many portions, as similar as possible to one another in size and shape, as there are persons in the company. They daub one of these portions all over with charcoal until it be perfectly black. They put all the bits of cake into a bonnet. Every one, blindfold, draws out a portion. He who holds the bonnet is entitled to the last bit. Whoever draws the black bit is the devoted person who is to be sacrificed to _Baal_, whose favour they mean to implore, in rendering the year productive of the sustenance of man and beast.” The victim thus selected “was called _cailleach bealtine_—_i.e._ the Beltane _carline_, a term of great reproach. Upon his being known, part of the company laid hold of him, and made a show of putting him into the fire; but, the majority interposing, he was rescued. And in some places they laid him flat on the ground, making as if they would quarter him. Afterwards he was pelted with eggshells, and retained the odious appellation during the whole year. And, while the feast was fresh in people’s memory, they affected to speak of the _cailleach bealtine_ as dead.” He had to leap thrice through the flames, and this concluded the ceremony.(679)

Another account of the Beltane festival, written in the latter half of last century, is as follows: “On the 1st of May the herdsmen of every village hold their Beltien, a rural sacrifice. They cut a square trench on the ground, leaving the turf in the middle; on that they make a fire of wood, on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk, and bring, besides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of beer and whisky; for each of the company must contribute something. The rites begin with spilling some of the caudle on the ground, by way of libation; on that every one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine square knobs, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver of their flocks and herds, or to some particular animal, the real destroyer of them; each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and, flinging it over his shoulder, says, ‘This I give to thee, preserve thou my horses; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep; and so on.’ After that they use the same ceremony to the noxious animals: ‘This I give to thee, O fox! spare thou my lambs; this to thee, O hooded crow! this to thee, O eagle!’ When the ceremony is over they dine on the caudle; and, after the feast is finished, what is left is hid by two persons deputed for that purpose; but on the next Sunday they reassemble, and finish the reliques of the first entertainment.”(680) The 1st of May is a great popular festival in the more midland and southern parts of Sweden. On the preceding evening huge bonfires, which should be lighted by striking two flints together, blaze on all the hills and knolls. Every large hamlet has its own fire, round which the young people dance in a ring. The old folk notice whether the flames incline to the north or to the south. In the former case the spring will be cold and backward; in the latter mild and genial.(681)

But the season at which these fire-festivals are most generally held all over Europe is the summer solstice, that is, Midsummer Eve (23d June) or Midsummer Day (24th June). According to a mediæval writer the three great features of this festival were the bonfires, the procession with torches round the fields, and the custom of rolling a wheel. The writer adds that the smoke drives away harmful dragons which cause sickness, and he explains the custom of rolling the wheel to mean that the sun has now reached the highest point in the ecliptic, and begins thenceforward to descend.(682) From his description, which is still applicable, we see that the main features of the midsummer fire-festival are identical with those which characterise the spring festivals. In Swabia lads and lasses, hand in hand, leap over the midsummer bonfire, praying that the hemp may grow three ells high, and they set fire to wheels of straw and send them rolling down the hill.(683) In Lechrain bonfires are kindled on the mountains on Midsummer Day; and besides the bonfire a tall beam, thickly wrapt in straw, and surmounted by a cross-piece, is burned in many places. Round this cross, as it burns, the lads dance; and when the flames have subsided, the young people leap over the fire in pairs, a young man and a young woman together. It is believed that the flax will grow that year as high as they leap over the fire; and that if a charred billet be taken from the fire and stuck in a flax field it will promote the growth of the flax.(684) At Deffingen, as they jumped over the midsummer bonfire, they cried out, “Flax, flax! may the flax this year grow seven ells high!”(685) In Bohemia bonfires are kindled on many of the mountains on Midsummer Eve; boys and girls, hand in hand, leap over them; cart-wheels smeared with resin are ignited and sent rolling down the hill; and brooms covered with tar and set on fire are swung about or thrown high into the air. The handles of the brooms or embers from the fire are preserved and stuck in gardens to protect the vegetables from caterpillars and gnats. Sometimes the boys run down the hillside in troops, brandishing the blazing brooms and shouting. The bonfire is sometimes made by stacking wood and branches round the trunk of a tree and setting the whole on fire.(686)

In old farm-houses of the Surenthal and Winenthal a couple of holes or a whole row of them may sometimes be seen facing each other in the door-posts of the barn or stable. Sometimes the holes are smooth and round; sometimes they are deeply burnt and blackened. The explanation of them is this. About midsummer, but especially on Midsummer Day, two such holes are bored opposite each other, into which the extremities of a strong pole are fixed. The holes are then stuffed with tow steeped in resin and oil; a rope is looped round the pole, and two young men, who must be brothers or must have the same baptismal name, and must be of the same age, pull the ends of the rope backwards and forwards so as to make the pole revolve rapidly, till smoke and sparks issue from the two holes in the door-posts. The sparks are caught and blown up with tinder, and this is the new and pure fire, the appearance of which is greeted with cries of joy. Heaps of combustible materials are now ignited with the new fire, and blazing bundles are placed on boards and sent floating down the brook. The boys light torches at the new fire and run to fumigate the pastures. This is believed to drive away all the demons and witches that molest the cattle. Finally the torches are thrown in a heap on the meadow and allowed to burn out. On their way back the boys strew the ashes over the fields: this is supposed to make them fertile. If a farmer has taken possession of a new house, or if servants have changed masters, the boys fumigate the new abode and are rewarded by the farmer with a supper.(687)

At Konz, on the Moselle, the midsummer fire-festival used to be celebrated as follows. A quantity of straw, contributed jointly by every house, was collected on the top of the Stromberg Hill. Here, towards evening, the men and boys assembled, while the women and girls took up their position at a certain well down below. On the top of the hill a huge wheel was completely covered with a portion of the collected straw, the remainder of which was made into torches. The mayor of Sierk, who always received a basket of cherries for his services, gave the signal, the wheel was ignited with a torch, and sent rolling down the hill amid shouts of joy. All the men and boys swung their torches in the air, some of them remained on the top of the hill, while others followed the fiery wheel on its course down the hillside to the Moselle. As it passed the women and girls at the well they raised cries of joy which were answered by the men on the top of the hill. The inhabitants of the neighbouring villages also stood on the banks of the river and mingled their voices with the general shout of jubilation. The wheel was often extinguished before it reached the water, but if it plunged blazing into the river the people expected an abundant vintage, and the inhabitants of Konz had the right to exact a waggon-load of white wine from the surrounding vineyards.(688)

In France the midsummer customs are similar. In Poitou a wheel enveloped in straw is set on fire, and people run with it through the fields, which are supposed to be fertilised thereby; also, the people leap thrice over the fire, holding in their hands branches of nut-trees, which are afterwards hung over the door of the cattle-stall. At Brest torches are brandished, and hundreds of them flung up into the air together.(689) In Britanny midsummer fires blaze on the hills, the people dance round them, singing and leaping over the glowing embers. The bonfire is made by piling wood round a pole which is surmounted by a nosegay or crown.(690) Sometimes, instead of rolling fiery wheels, discs of wood are ignited in the midsummer fires and thrown into the air in the manner already described.(691) At Edersleben, near Sangerhausen, a high pole was planted in the ground and a tar barrel was hung from it by a chain which reached to the ground. The barrel was then set on fire and swung round the pole amid shouts of joy.(692)

In our own country the custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer has prevailed extensively. In the North of England these fires used to be lit in the open streets. Young and old gathered round them; the former leaped over the fires and engaged in games, while the old people looked on. Sometimes the fires were kindled on the tops of high hills. The people also carried firebrands about the fields.(693) In Herefordshire and Somersetshire people used to make fires in the fields on Midsummer Eve “to bless the apples.”(694) In Devonshire the custom of leaping over the midsummer fires was also observed.(695) In Cornwall bonfires were lit on Midsummer Eve and the people marched round them with lighted torches, which they also carried from village to village. On Whiteborough, a large tumulus near Launceston, a huge bonfire used to be kindled on Midsummer Eve; a tall summer pole with a large bush at the top was fixed in the centre of the bonfire.(696) At Darowen in Wales small bonfires were lit on Midsummer Eve.(697) On the same day people in the Isle of Man used to light fires to the windward of every field, so that the smoke might pass over the corn; and they folded their cattle and carried blazing furze or gorse round them several times.(698)

In Ireland, “on the Eves of St. John Baptist and St. Peter, they always have in every town a bonfire late in the evening, and carry about bundles of reeds fast tied and fired; these being dry, will last long, and flame better than a torch, and be a pleasing divertive prospect to the distant beholder; a stranger would go near to imagine the whole country was on fire.”(699) Another writer says of the South of Ireland: “On Midsummer’s Eve, every eminence, near which is a habitation, blazes with bonfires; and round these they carry numerous torches, shouting and dancing.”(700) An author who described Ireland in the first quarter of last century says: “On the vigil of St. John the Baptist’s nativity, they make bonfires, and run along the streets and fields with wisps of straw blazing on long poles to purify the air, which they think infectious by believing all the devils, spirits, ghosts, and hobgoblins fly abroad this night to hurt mankind.”(701) Another writer states that he witnessed the festival in Ireland in 1782: “Exactly at midnight the fires began to appear, and taking advantage of going up to the leads of the house, which had a widely extended view, I saw on a radius of thirty miles, all around, the fires burning on every eminence which the country afforded. I had a further satisfaction in learning, from undoubted authority, that the people _danced __ round the fires_, and at the close went through these fires, and made their sons and daughters, together with their cattle, pass through the fire; and the whole was conducted with religious solemnity.”(702) That the custom prevailed in full force as late as 1867 appears from a notice in the _Liverpool Mercury_, 29th June 1867, which runs thus: “The old pagan fire-worship still survives in Ireland, though nominally in honour of St. John. On Sunday night bonfires were observed throughout nearly every county in the province of Leinster. In Kilkenny fires blazed on every hillside at intervals of about a mile. There were very many in the Queen’s county, also in Kildare and Wexford. The effect in the rich sunset appeared to travellers very grand. The people assemble and dance round the fires, the children jump through the flames, and in former times live coals were carried into the corn-fields to prevent blight.”(703)

In Scotland the traces of midsummer fires are few. In reference to the parish of Mongahitter it is said: “The Midsummer Eve fire, a relic of Druidism, was kindled in some parts of this country.”(704) Moresin states that on St. Peter’s Day (29th June) the Scotch ran about with lighted torches on mountains and high grounds;(705) and at Loudon in Ayrshire it appears that down to the close of last century the custom still prevailed for herdsmen and young people to kindle fires on high grounds on St. Peter’s Day.(706) In the Perthshire Highlands on Midsummer Day the cowherd used to go three times round the fold, according to the course of the sun, with a burning torch in his hand. This was believed to purify the flocks and herds and prevent diseases.(707)

In Slavonic countries also the midsummer festival is celebrated with similar rites. In Russia fires are lighted and young people, crowned with flowers, jump through them and drive their cattle through them. In Little Russia a stake is driven into the ground on St. John’s Night, wrapt in straw, and set on fire. As the flames rise the peasant women throw birch-tree boughs into them, saying, “May my flax be as tall as this bough!”(708) “In Ruthenia the bonfires are lighted by a flame procured from wood by friction, the operation being performed by the elders of the party, amid the respectful silence of the rest. But as soon as the fire is ‘churned,’ the bystanders break forth with joyous songs, and when the bonfires are lit the young people take hands, and spring in couples through the smoke, if not through the flames, and after that the cattle in their turn are driven through it.”(709) In many parts of Prussia and Lithuania great fires are kindled on the Eve of St. John (Midsummer Eve). All the heights are ablaze with them, as far as the eye can see. The fires are supposed to be a protection against thunder, hail, and cattle disease, especially if next morning the cattle are driven over the places where the fires burned.(710) In some parts of Masuren it is the custom on the evening of Midsummer Day to put out all the fires in the village. Then an oaken stake is driven into the ground, a wheel is fixed on it as on an axle and is made to revolve rapidly, till the friction produces fire. Every one takes home a light from the new fire and rekindles the fire on the domestic hearth.(711) In Bohemia the cows used to be driven over the midsummer fires to protect them from witchcraft.(712) In Servia on Midsummer Eve herdsmen light torches of birch bark and march round the sheepfolds and cattle-stalls; then they climb the hills and there allow the torches to burn out.(713)

In Greece the women light fires on St. John’s Eve and jump over them crying, “I leave my sins behind me.”(714) Italy must also have had its midsummer bonfires, since at Orvieto they were specially excepted from the prohibition directed against bonfires in general.(715) We have seen that they are still lighted in Sardinia.(716) In Corsica on the Eve of St. John the people set fire to the trunk of a tree or to a whole tree, and the young men and maidens dance round the blaze, which is called _fucaraja_.(717) Midsummer fires are, or were formerly, lighted in Spain.(718) Even the Mohammedans of Algeria and Morocco are reported to have kindled great midsummer bonfires of straw, into which they kept throwing incense and spices the whole night, invoking the divine blessing on their fruit-trees.(719)

It remains to show that the burning of effigies of human beings in the midsummer fires was not uncommon. At Rottenburg in Würtemberg, down to the beginning of the present century, a ceremony was observed on Midsummer Day which was called “beheading the angel-man.” A stump was driven into the ground, wrapt with straw, and fashioned into the rude likeness of a human figure, with arms, head, and face. This was the angel-man; round about him wood was piled up. The boys, armed with swords, assembled in crowds, covered the figure completely over with flowers, and eagerly awaited the signal. When the pile of wood was fired and the angel-man burst into a blaze, the word was given and all the boys fell upon him with their swords and hewed the burning figure in pieces. Then they leaped backwards and forwards over the fire.(720) In some parts of the Tyrol a straw-man is carted about the village on Midsummer Day and then burned. He is called the _Lotter_, which has been corrupted into Luther.(721) In French Flanders down to 1789 a straw figure representing a man was always burned in the midsummer bonfire, and the figure of a woman was burned on St. Peter’s Day, 29th June.(722) At Grätz on the 23d June the common people used to make a puppet called the _Tatermann_, which they dragged to the bleaching-ground, and pelted with burning besoms till it took fire.(723) In some parts of Russia a figure of Kupalo is burned or thrown into a stream on St. John’s Night.(724) The Russian custom of carrying the straw effigy of Kupalo over the midsummer bonfire has been already described.(725)

The best general explanation of these European fire-festivals seems to be the one given by Mannhardt, namely, that they are sun-charms or magical ceremonies intended to ensure a proper supply of sunshine for men, animals, and plants. We have seen that savages resort to charms for making sunshine,(726) and we need not wonder that primitive man in Europe has done the same. Indeed, considering the cold and cloudy climate of Europe during a considerable part of the year, it is natural that sun-charms should have played a much more prominent part among the superstitious practices of European peoples than among those of savages who live nearer the equator. This view of the festivals in question is supported by various considerations drawn partly from the rites themselves, partly from the influence which they are believed to exert upon the weather and on vegetation. For example, the custom of rolling a burning wheel down a hillside, which is often observed on these occasions, seems a very natural imitation of the sun’s course in the sky, and the imitation is especially appropriate on Midsummer Day when the sun’s annual declension begins. Not less graphic is the imitation of his apparent revolution by swinging a burning tar-barrel round a pole.(727) The custom of throwing blazing discs, shaped like suns, into the air is probably also a piece of imitative magic. In these, as in so many cases, the magic force is supposed to take effect through mimicry or sympathy; by imitating the desired result you actually produce it; by counterfeiting the sun’s progress through the heavens you really help the luminary to pursue his celestial journey with punctuality and despatch. The name “fire of heaven,” by which the midsummer fire is sometimes popularly known,(728) clearly indicates a consciousness of the connection between the earthly and the heavenly flame.

Again, the manner in which the fire appears to have been originally kindled on these occasions favours the view that it was intended to be a mock-sun. For, as various scholars have seen,(729) it is highly probable that originally at these festivals fire was universally obtained by the friction of two pieces of wood. We have seen that this is still the case in some places both at the Easter and midsummer fires, and that it is expressly stated to have been formerly the case at the Beltane fires.(730) But what makes it almost certain that this was once the invariable mode of kindling the fire at these periodic festivals is the analogy of the need-fires. Need-fires are kindled, not at fixed periods, but on occasions of special distress, particularly at the outbreak of a murrain, and the cattle are driven through the need-fire, just as they are sometimes driven through the midsummer fires.(731) Now, the need-fire has always been produced by the friction of wood and sometimes by the revolution of a wheel; in Mull, for example, it was made by turning an oaken wheel over nine oaken spindles from east to west, that is, in the direction of the sun. It is a plausible conjecture that the wheel employed to produce the need-fire represents the sun;(732) and if the spring and midsummer fires were originally produced in the same way, it would be a confirmation of the view that they were originally sun-charms. In point of fact there is, as Kuhn has pointed out,(733) some evidence to show that the midsummer fire was originally thus produced. For at Obermedlingen in Swabia the “fire of heaven,” as it was called, was made on St. Vitus’s Day (15th June) by igniting a cart-wheel, which, smeared with pitch and plaited with straw, was fastened on a pole twelve feet high, the top of the pole being inserted in the nave of the wheel. This fire was made on the summit of the mountain, and as the flame ascended, the people uttered a set form of words, with eyes and arms directed heaven-ward.(734) Here the fact of a wheel being fixed on the top of a pole and ignited makes it probable that originally the fire was produced, as in the need-fire, by the revolution of a wheel. The day on which the ceremony takes place (15th June) is near midsummer; and we have seen that in Masuren fire is (or was) actually made on Midsummer Day by turning a wheel rapidly about an oaken pole, though it is not said that the new fire so produced is used to light a bonfire.

Once more, the influence which these bonfires are supposed to exert on the weather and on vegetation, goes to show that they are sun-charms, since the effects ascribed to them are identical with those of sunshine. Thus, in Sweden the warmth or cold of the coming season is inferred from the direction in which the flames of the bonfire are blown; if they blow to the south, it will be warm, if to the north, cold. No doubt at present the direction of the flames is regarded merely as an augury of the weather, not as a mode of influencing it. But we may be pretty sure that this is one of the cases in which magic has dwindled into divination. So in the Eifel Mountains, when the smoke blows towards the corn-fields, this is an omen that the harvest will be abundant. But doubtless the older view was, not merely that the smoke and flames prognosticated, but that they actually produced an abundant harvest, the heat of the flames acting like sunshine on the corn. Indeed, this older view must still have been held by people in the Isle of Man when they lit fires to windward of their fields in order that the smoke might blow over them. Again, the idea that the corn will grow well as far as the blaze of the bonfire is visible, is certainly a remnant of the belief in the quickening and fertilising power of the bonfires. The same belief reappears in the notion that embers taken from the bonfires and inserted in the fields will promote the growth of the crops, and again it plainly underlies the custom of mixing the ashes of the bonfire with the seed-corn at sowing, or of scattering the ashes by themselves over the field. The belief that the flax will grow as high as the people leap over the bonfire belongs clearly to the same class of ideas. Once more, we saw that at Konz, on the banks of the Moselle, if the blazing wheel which was trundled down the hillside reached the river without being extinguished, this was hailed as a proof that the vintage would be abundant. So firmly was this belief held that the successful performance of the ceremony entitled the villagers to levy a tax upon the owners of the neighbouring vineyards. Here the unextinguished wheel meant an unclouded sun, and this in turn meant an abundant vintage. So the waggon-load of white wine which the villagers received from the vineyards round about was in fact a payment for the sunshine which they had procured for the grapes.

The interpretation of these fire-customs as charms for making sunshine is confirmed by a parallel custom observed by the Hindoos of Southern India at the Pongol or Feast of Ingathering. The festival is celebrated in the early part of January, when, according to Hindoo astrologers, the sun enters the tropic of Capricorn, and the chief event of the festival coincides with the passage of the sun. For some days previously the boys gather heaps of sticks, straw, dead leaves, and everything that will burn. On the morning of the first day of the festival the heaps are fired. Every street and lane has its bonfire. The young folk leap over the fire or pile on fresh fuel. This fire is an offering to Sûrya, the sun-god, or to Agni, the deity of fire; it “wakes him from his sleep, calling on him again to gladden the earth with his light and heat.”(735) To say that the fires awaken the sun-god from his sleep is only a metaphorical and perhaps modernised expression of the belief that they actually help to rekindle the sun’s light and heat.

The custom of leaping over the fire and driving cattle through it may be intended, on the one hand, to secure for man and beast a share of the vital energy of the sun, and, on the other hand, to purify them from all evil influences; for to the primitive mind fire is the most powerful of all purificatory agents. The latter idea is obviously uppermost in the minds of Greek women when they leap over the midsummer fire, saying, “I leave my sins behind me.” So in Yucatan at a New Year’s festival the people used to light a huge bonfire and pass through it, in the belief that this was a means of ridding themselves of their troubles.(736) The custom of driving cattle through a fire is not confined to Europe. At certain times the Hottentots make a fire of chips, dry branches, and green twigs, so as to raise a great smoke. Through this fire they drive their sheep, dragging them through by force, if necessary. If the sheep make their escape without passing through the fire, it is reckoned a heavy disgrace and a very bad omen. But if they pass readily through or over the fire, the joy of the Hottentots is indescribable.(737)

The procession or race with burning torches, which so often forms a part of these fire-festivals, appears to be simply a means of diffusing far and wide the genial influence of the bonfire or of the sunshine which it represents. Hence on these occasions lighted torches are very frequently carried over the fields, sometimes with the avowed intention of fertilising them;(738) and with the same intention live coals from the bonfire are sometimes placed in the field “to prevent blight.” The custom of trundling a burning wheel over the fields, which is practised for the express purpose of fertilising them, embodies the same idea in a still more graphic form; since in this way the mock-sun itself, not merely its light and heat represented by torches, is made actually to pass over the ground which is to receive its quickening and kindly influence. Again, the custom of carrying lighted brands round the cattle is plainly equivalent to driving the animals through the fire. It is quite possible that in these customs the idea of the quickening power of fire may be combined with the conception of it as a purgative agent for the expulsion or destruction of evil beings. It is certainly sometimes interpreted in the latter way by persons who practise the customs; and this purgative use of fire comes out very prominently, as we have seen, in the general expulsion of demons from towns and villages. But in the present class of cases this aspect of it is perhaps secondary, if indeed it is more than a later misinterpretation of the custom.

It remains to ask, What is the meaning of burning an effigy in these bonfires? The effigies so burned, as was remarked above, can hardly be separated from the effigies of Death which are burned or otherwise destroyed in spring; and grounds have been already given for regarding the so-called effigies of Death as really representations of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. Are the other effigies, which are burned in the spring and midsummer bonfires, susceptible of the same explanation? It would seem so. For just as the fragments of the so-called Death are stuck in the fields to make the crops grow, so the charred embers of the figure burned in the spring bonfires are sometimes placed in the fields in the belief that they will keep vermin from the crop. Again, the rule that the last married bride must leap over the fire in which the straw-man is burned on Shrove Tuesday, is probably intended to make her fruitful. But, as we have seen, the power of blessing women with offspring is a special attribute of tree-spirits;(739) it is therefore a fair presumption that the burning effigy over which the bride must leap is a representative of the fertilising tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. This character of the effigy, as representative of the spirit of vegetation, is almost unmistakable when the effigy is composed of an unthreshed sheaf of corn or is covered from head to foot with flowers.(740) Again, it is to be noted that instead of an effigy living trees are sometimes burned both in the spring and midsummer bonfires.(741) Now, considering the frequency with which the tree-spirit is represented in human shape, it is hardly rash to suppose that when sometimes a tree and sometimes an effigy is burned in these fires, the effigy and the tree are regarded as equivalent to each other, each being a representative of the tree-spirit. This, again, is confirmed by observing, first, that sometimes the effigy which is to be burned is carried about simultaneously with a May-tree, the former being carried by the boys, the latter by the girls;(742) and, second, that the effigy is sometimes tied to a living tree and burned with it.(743) In these cases, we can scarcely doubt, the tree-spirit is represented, as we have found it represented before, in duplicate, both by the tree and by the effigy. That the true character of the effigy as a representative of the beneficent spirit of vegetation should sometimes be forgotten, is natural. The custom of burning a beneficent god is too foreign to later modes of thought to escape misinterpretation. Naturally enough the people who continued to burn his image came in time to identify it as the effigy of persons, whom, on various grounds, they considered objectionable, such as Judas Iscariot, Luther, and a witch.

The general reasons for killing a god or his representative have been examined in the preceding chapter. But when the god happens to be a deity of vegetation, there are special reasons why he should die by fire. For light and heat are necessary to vegetable growth; and, on the principle of sympathetic magic, by subjecting the personal representative of vegetation to their influence, you secure a supply of these necessaries for trees and crops. In other words, by burning the spirit of vegetation in a fire which represents the sun, you make sure that, for a time at least, vegetation shall have plenty of sun. It may be objected that, if the intention is simply to secure enough sunshine for vegetation, this end would be better attained, on the principles of sympathetic magic, by merely passing the representative of vegetation through the fire instead of burning him. In point of fact this is sometimes done. In Russia, as we have seen, the straw figure of Kupalo is not burned in the midsummer fire, but merely carried backwards and forwards across it.(744) But, for the reasons already given, it is necessary that the god should die; so next day Kupalo is stripped of her ornaments and thrown into a stream. In this Russian custom, therefore, the passage of the image through the fire is a sun-charm pure and simple; the killing of the god is a separate act, and the mode of killing him—by drowning—is probably a rain-charm. But usually people have not thought it necessary to draw this fine distinction; for the various reasons already assigned, it is advantageous, they think, to expose the god of vegetation to a considerable degree of heat, and it is also advantageous to kill him, and they combine these advantages in a rough-and-ready way by burning him.

Finally, we have to ask, were human beings formerly burned as representatives of the tree-spirit or deity of vegetation? We have seen reasons for believing that living persons have often acted as representatives of the tree-spirit, and have suffered death as such. There is no reason, therefore, why they should not have been burned, if any special advantages were likely to be attained by putting them to death in that way. The consideration of human suffering is not one which enters into the calculations of primitive man. It would have been surprising if it did, when we remember the record of Christian Europe. Now, in the fire-festivals which we are discussing, the pretence of burning people is sometimes carried so far that it seems reasonable to regard it as a mitigated survival of an older custom of actually burning them. Thus in Aachen, as we saw, the man clad in peas-straw acts so cleverly that the children really believe he is being burned. And at the Beltane fires the pretended victim was seized, and a show made of throwing him into the fire, and for some time afterwards people affected to speak of him as dead. In the following customs Mannhardt is probably right in recognising traces of an old custom of burning a leaf-clad representative of the spirit of vegetation. At Wolfeck, in Austria, on Midsummer Day, a boy completely clad in green fir branches goes from house to house, accompanied by a noisy crew, collecting wood for the bonfire. As he gets the wood he sings—

“Forest trees I want, No sour milk for me, But beer and wine, So can the wood-man be jolly and gay.”(745)

In some parts of Bavaria, also, the boys who go from house to house collecting fuel for the midsummer bonfire envelop one of their number from head to foot in green branches of firs, and lead him by a rope through the whole village.(746) At Moosheim, in Würtemberg, the festival of St. John’s Fire usually lasted for fourteen days, ending on the second Sunday after Midsummer Day. On this last day the bonfire was left in charge of the children, while the older people retired to a wood. Here they encased a young fellow in leaves and twigs, who, thus disguised, went to the fire, scattered it, and trod it out. All the people present fled at the sight of him.(747)

But it seems possible to go farther than this. Of human sacrifices offered on these occasions the most unequivocal traces, as we have seen, are those which, about a hundred years ago, still lingered at the Beltane fires in the Highlands of Scotland, that is, among a Celtic people who, situated in a remote corner of Europe, enjoying practical independence, and almost completely isolated from foreign influence, had till then conserved their old heathenism better than any other people in the West of Europe. It is significant, therefore, that human sacrifices by fire are known, on unquestionable evidence, to have been systematically practised by the Celts. The earliest description of these sacrifices is by Julius Caesar. As conqueror of the hitherto independent Celts of Gaul, Caesar had ample opportunity of observing the national Celtic religion and manners, while these were still fresh and crisp from the native mint and had not yet been fused in the melting-pot of Roman civilisation. With his own notes Caesar appears to have incorporated the observations of a Greek explorer, by name Posidonius, who travelled in Gaul about fifty years before Caesar carried the Roman arms to the English Channel. The Greek geographer Strabo and the historian Diodorus seem also to have derived their descriptions of the Celtic sacrifices from the work of Posidonius, but independently of each other and of Caesar, for each of the three derivative accounts contains some details which are not to be found in either of the others. By combining them, therefore, we can restore the original account of Posidonius with some certainty, and thus obtain a picture of the sacrifices offered by the Celts of Gaul at the close of the second century B.C.(748) The following seem to have been the main outlines of the custom. Condemned criminals were reserved by the Celts in order to be sacrificed to the gods at a great festival which took place once in every five years. The more there were of such victims, the greater was believed to be the fertility of the land.(749) When there were not enough criminals to furnish victims, captives taken in war were sacrificed to supply the deficiency. When the time came the victims were sacrificed by the Druids or priests. Some were shot down with arrows, some were impaled, and some were burned alive in the following manner. Colossal images of wicker-work or of wood and grass were constructed; these were filled with live men, cattle, and animals of other kinds; fire was then applied to the images, and they were burned with their living contents.

Such were the great festivals held once every five years. But besides these quinquennial festivals, celebrated on so grand a scale and with, apparently, so large an expenditure of human life, it seems reasonable to suppose that festivals of the same sort, only on a lesser scale, were held annually, and that from these annual festivals are lineally descended some at least of the fire-festivals which, with their traces of human sacrifices, are still celebrated year by year in many parts of Europe. The gigantic images constructed of osiers or covered with grass in which the Druids enclosed their victims remind us of the leafy framework in which the human representative of the tree-spirit is still so often encased.(750) Considering, therefore, that the fertility of the land was apparently supposed to depend upon the due performance of these sacrifices, Mannhardt is probably right in viewing the Celtic victims, cased in osiers and grass, as representatives of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. These wicker giants of the Druids seem to have still their representatives at the spring and midsummer festivals of modern Europe. At Douay a procession takes place annually on the Sunday nearest to the 7th of July. The great feature of the procession is a colossal figure made of osiers, and called “the giant,” which is moved through the streets by means of rollers and ropes worked by men who are enclosed within the figure. The wooden head of the giant is said to have been carved and painted by Rubens. The figure is armed as a knight with lance and sword, helmet and shield. Behind him march his wife and his three children, all constructed of osiers on the same principle, but on a smaller scale.(751) At Dunkirk the giant is forty to fifty feet high, being made of basket-work and canvas, properly painted and dressed. It contains a great many living men within it, who move it about. Wicker giants of this sort are common in the towns of Belgium and French Flanders; they are led about at the Carnival in spring. The people, it is said, are much attached to these grotesque figures, speak of them with patriotic enthusiasm, and never weary of gazing at them.(752) In England artificial giants seem to have been a standing feature of the midsummer festival. A writer of the sixteenth century speaks of “Midsommer pageants in London, where, to make the people wonder, are set forth great and uglie gyants, marching as if they were alive, and armed at all points, but within they are stuffed full of browne paper and tow, which the shrewd boyes, underpeeping, do guilefully discover, and turne to a greate derision.”(753) The Mayor of Chester in 1599 “altered many antient customs, as the shooting for the sheriff’s breakfast; the going of the Giants at Midsommer, etc.”(754) In these cases the giants only figure in the processions. But sometimes they are burned in the spring or summer bonfires. Thus the people of the Rue aux Ours in Paris used annually to make a great wicker-work figure, dressed as a soldier, which they promenaded up and down the streets for several days, and solemnly burned on the 3d of July, the crowd of spectators singing _Salve Regina_. The burning fragments of the image were scattered among the people, who eagerly scrambled for them. The custom was abolished in 1743.(755) In Brie, Isle de France, a wicker-work giant, eighteen feet high, was annually burned on Midsummer Eve.(756)

Again, the Druidical custom of burning live animals, enclosed in wicker-work, has its counterpart at the spring and midsummer festivals. At Luchon in the Pyrenees on Midsummer Eve “a hollow column, composed of strong wicker-work, is raised to the height of about sixty feet in the centre of the principal suburb, and interlaced with green foliage up to the very top; while the most beautiful flowers and shrubs procurable are artistically arranged in groups below, so as to form a sort of background to the scene. The column is then filled with combustible materials, ready for ignition. At an appointed hour—about 8 P.M.—a grand procession, composed of the clergy, followed by young men and maidens in holiday attire, pour forth from the town chanting hymns, and take up their position around the column. Meanwhile, bonfires are lit, with beautiful effect, in the surrounding hills. As many living serpents as could be collected are now thrown into the column, which is set on fire at the base by means of torches, armed with which about fifty boys and men dance around with frantic gestures. The serpents, to avoid the flames, wriggle their way to the top, whence they are seen lashing out laterally until finally obliged to drop, their struggles for life giving rise to enthusiastic delight among the surrounding spectators. This is a favourite annual ceremony for the inhabitants of Luchon and its neighbourhood, and local tradition assigns to it a heathen origin.”(757) In the midsummer fires formerly kindled on the Place de Grève at Paris it was the custom to burn a basket, barrel, or sack full of live cats; sometimes a fox was burned. The people collected the embers and ashes of the fire and took them home, believing that they brought good luck.(758) At Metz midsummer fires were lighted on the Esplanade, and six cats were burned in them.(759) In Russia a white cock was sometimes burned in the midsummer bonfire;(760) in Meissen or Thüringen a horse’s head used to be thrown into it.(761) Sometimes animals are burned in the spring bonfires. In the Vosges cats were burned on Shrove Tuesday; in Elsass they were thrown into the Easter bonfire.(762) We have seen that squirrels were sometimes burned in the Easter fire.

If the men who were burned in wicker frames by the Druids represented the spirit of vegetation, the animals burned along with them must have had the same meaning. Amongst the animals burned by the Druids or in modern bonfires have been, as we saw, cattle, cats, foxes, and cocks; and all of these creatures are variously regarded by European peoples as embodiments of the corn-spirit.(763) I am not aware of any certain evidence that in Europe serpents have been regarded as representatives of the tree-spirit or corn-spirit;(764) as victims at the midsummer festival in Luchon they may have replaced animals which really had this representative character. When the meaning of the custom was forgotten, utility and humanity might unite in suggesting the substitution of noxious reptiles as victims in room of harmless and useful animals.

Thus it appears that the sacrificial rites of the Celts of ancient Gaul can be traced in the popular festivals of modern Europe. Naturally it is in France, or rather in the wider area comprised within the limits of ancient Gaul, that these rites have left the clearest traces in the customs of burning giants of wicker-work and animals enclosed in wicker-work or baskets. These customs, it will have been remarked, are generally observed at or about midsummer. From this we may infer that the original rites of which these are the degenerate successors were solemnised at midsummer. This inference harmonises with the conclusion suggested by a general survey of European folk-custom, that the midsummer festival must on the whole have been the most widely diffused and the most solemn of all the yearly festivals celebrated by the primitive Aryans in Europe. And in its application to the Celts this general conclusion is corroborated by the more or less perfect vestiges of midsummer fire-festivals which we have found lingering in all those westernmost promontories and islands which are the last strongholds of the Celtic race in Europe—Britanny, Cornwall, Wales, the Isle of Man, Scotland, and Ireland. In Scotland, it is true, the chief Celtic fire-festivals certainly appear to have been held at Beltane (1st May) and Hallow E’en; but this was exceptional.

To sum up: the combined evidence of ancient writers and of modern folk-custom points to the conclusion that amongst the Celts of Gaul an annual festival was celebrated at midsummer, at which living men, representing the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation, were enclosed in wicker-frames and burned. The whole rite was designed as a charm to make the sun to shine and the crops to grow.

But another great feature of the Celtic midsummer festival appears to have been the gathering of the sacred mistletoe by the Druids. The ceremony has been thus described by Pliny in a passage which has often been quoted. After enumerating the different kinds of mistletoe he proceeds: “In treating of this subject, the admiration in which the mistletoe is held throughout Gaul ought not to pass unnoticed. The Druids, for so they call their wizards, esteem nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the tree on which it grows, provided only that the tree is an oak. But apart from this they choose oak-woods for their sacred groves and perform no sacred rites without oak-leaves; so that the very name of Druids may be regarded as a Greek appellation derived from their worship of the oak.(765) For they believe that whatever grows on these trees is sent from heaven, and is a sign that the tree has been chosen by the god himself. The mistletoe is very rarely to be met with; but when it is found, they gather it with solemn ceremony. This they do especially in the sixth month (the beginnings of their months and years are determined by the moon) and after the tree has passed the thirtieth year of its age, because by that time it has plenty of vigour, though it has not attained half its full size. After due preparations have been made for a sacrifice and a feast under the tree, they hail it as the universal healer and bring to the spot two white bulls, whose horns have never been bound before. A priest clad in a white robe climbs the tree and with a golden(766) sickle cuts the mistletoe, which is caught in a white cloth. Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God may make his own gift to prosper with those upon whom he has bestowed it. They believe that a potion prepared from mistletoe will make barren animals to bring forth, and that the plant is a remedy against all poison.”(767)

In saying that the Druids cut the mistletoe in the sixth month Pliny must have had in his mind the Roman calendar, in which the sixth month was June. Now, if the cutting of the mistletoe took place in June, we may be almost certain that the day which witnessed the ceremony was Midsummer Eve. For in many places Midsummer Eve, a day redolent of a thousand decaying fancies of yore, is still the time for culling certain magic plants, whose evanescent virtue can be secured at this mystic season alone. For example, on Midsummer Eve the fern is believed to burst into a wondrous bloom, like fire or burnished gold. Whoever catches this bloom, which very quickly fades and falls off, can make himself invisible, can understand the language of animals, and so forth. But he must not touch it with his hand; he must spread a white cloth under the fern, and the magic bloom (or seed) will fall into it.(768) Again, St. John’s wort (_Hypericum perforatum_), a herb which is believed to heal all kinds of wounds and to drive away witches and demons, is gathered on Midsummer Eve (Eve of St. John), and is worn as an amulet or hung over doors and windows on that day.(769) Again, mugwort (_Artemisia vulgaris_) is believed to possess magic qualities provided it be gathered on St. John’s Eve. Hence in France it is called the herb of St. John. People weave themselves a girdle of the plant, believing that it will protect them against ghosts, magic, misfortune, and disease, throughout the year. Or they weave garlands of it on St. John’s Eve, and look through them at the midsummer bonfire or put them on their heads. Whoever does this will suffer no aches in his eyes or head that year. Sometimes the plant is thrown into the midsummer bonfire.(770) The superstitious association of fern-seed, St. John’s wort, and mugwort with Midsummer Eve is widely diffused over Europe. The following associations seem to be more local. In England the orpine (_Sedum telephium_) is popularly called Midsummer Men, because it has been customary to gather it on Midsummer Eve for the purpose of using it to ascertain the fate of lovers;(771) and in England sprigs of red sage are sometimes gathered on Midsummer Eve for the same purpose.(772) In Bohemia poachers fancy they can make themselves invulnerable by means of fir-cones gathered before sunrise on St. John’s Day.(773) Again, in Bohemia wild thyme gathered on Midsummer Day is used to fumigate the trees on Christmas Eve, in order that they may grow well.(774) In Germany and Bohemia a plant called St. John’s Flower or St. John’s Blood (_Hieracium pilosella_) is gathered on Midsummer Eve. It should be rooted up with a gold coin. The plant is supposed to bring luck and to be especially good for sick cattle.(775)

These facts by themselves would suffice to raise a strong presumption that, if the Druids cut the mistletoe in June, as we learn from Pliny that they did, the day on which they cut it could have been no other than Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day. This presumption is converted into practical certainty when we find it to be still a rule of folk-lore that the mistletoe should be cut on Midsummer Eve.(776) Further, the peasants of Piedmont and Lombardy still go out on Midsummer morning to search the oak-leaves for the “oil of St. John,” which is supposed to heal all wounds made with cutting instruments.(777) Originally no doubt the “oil of St. John” was simply the mistletoe, or a decoction made from it. For in Holstein the mistletoe, especially oak-mistletoe, is still regarded as a panacea for green wounds;(778) and if, as is alleged, “all-healer” is an epithet of the mistletoe in the modern Celtic speech of Britanny, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland,(779) this can be nothing but a survival of the name by which, as we have seen, the Druids addressed the oak, or rather, perhaps, the mistletoe.

Thus it appears that the two main features of the Balder myth—the pulling of the mistletoe and the burning of the god—were reproduced in the great midsummer festival of the Celts. But in Scandinavia itself, the home of Balder, both these features of his myth can still be traced in the popular celebration of midsummer. For in Sweden on Midsummer Eve mistletoe is “diligently sought after, they believing it to be, in a high degree, possessed of mystic qualities; and that if a sprig of it be attached to the ceiling of the dwelling-house, the horse’s stall, or the cow’s crib, the ‘Troll’ will then be powerless to injure either man or beast.”(780) And in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark huge bonfires are kindled on hills and eminences on Midsummer Eve.(781) It does not appear, indeed, that any effigy is burned in these bonfires; but the burning of an effigy is a feature which might easily drop out after its meaning was forgotten. And the name of Balder’s bale-fires (_Balder’s Bălar_), by which these midsummer fires were formerly known in Sweden,(782) puts their connection with Balder beyond the reach of doubt, and makes it certain that in former times either a living representative or an effigy of Balder must have been annually burned in them. Midsummer was the season sacred to Balder, and the fact that the Swedish poet Tegner, in his _Frithiofssaga_, places the burning of Balder at midsummer(783) may perhaps be allowed as evidence of a Swedish tradition to that effect. From this double coincidence of the Balder myth, on the one hand with the midsummer festival of Celtic Gaul and on the other with the midsummer festival in Scandinavia, we may safely conclude that the myth is not a myth pure and simple, that is, a mere description of physical phenomena in imagery borrowed from human life; it must undoubtedly be a ritualistic myth, that is a myth based on actual observation of religious ceremonies and purporting to explain them. Now, the standing explanation which myth gives of ritual is that the ritual in question is a periodic commemoration of some remarkable transaction in the past, the actors in which may have been either gods or men. Such an explanation the Balder myth would seem to offer of the annual fire-festivals which, as we saw, must have played so prominent a part in the primitive religion of the Aryan race in Europe. Balder must have been the Norse representative of the being who was burnt in effigy or in the person of a living man at the fire-festivals in question. But if, as I have tried to show, the being so burnt was the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation, it follows that Balder also must have been a tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation.

But it is desirable to determine, if we can, the particular kind of tree or trees, of which a personal representative was burned at the fire-festivals. For we may be quite sure that it was not as a representative of vegetation in general that the victim suffered death. The conception of vegetation in general is too abstract to be primitive. Most probably the victim at first represented a particular kind of sacred tree. Now of all European trees none has such claims as the oak to be considered as pre-eminently the sacred tree of the Aryans. Its worship is attested for all the great branches of the Aryan stock in Europe. We have seen that it was not only the sacred tree, but the principal object of worship of both Celts and Slavs.(784) According to Grimm, the oak ranked first among the holy trees of the Germans, and was indeed their chief god. It is certainly known to have been adored by them in the age of heathendom, and traces of its worship have survived in various parts of Germany almost to the present day.(785) Amongst the ancient Italians, according to Preller, the oak was sacred above all other trees.(786) The image of Jupiter on the Capitol at Rome seems to have been originally nothing but a natural oak-tree.(787) At Dodona, perhaps the oldest of all Greek sanctuaries, Zeus was worshipped as immanent in the sacred oak, and the rustling of its leaves in the wind was his voice.(788) If, then, the great god of both Greeks and Romans was represented in some of his oldest shrines under the form of an oak, and if the oak was the principal object of worship of Celts, Germans, and Slavs, we may certainly conclude that this tree was one of the chief, if not the very chief divinity of the Aryans before the dispersion; and that their primitive home must have lain in a land which was clothed with forests of oak.(789)

Now, considering the primitive character and remarkable similarity of the fire-festivals observed by all the branches of the Aryan race in Europe, we may infer that these festivals form part of the common stock of religious observances which the various peoples carried with them in their wanderings from their original home. But, if I am right, an essential feature of those primitive fire-festivals was the burning of a man who represented the tree-spirit. In view, then, of the place occupied by the oak in the religion of the Aryans, the presumption is that the tree so represented at the fire-festivals must originally have been the oak. So far as the Celts and Slavs are concerned, this conclusion will perhaps hardly be contested. But both for them and for the Germans it is confirmed by a remarkable piece of religious conservatism. The most primitive method known to man of producing fire is by rubbing two pieces of wood against each other till they ignite; and we have seen that this method is still used in Europe for kindling sacred fires such as the need-fire, and that most probably it was formerly resorted to at all the fire-festivals under discussion. Now it is sometimes prescribed that the need-fire, or other sacred fire, must be made by the friction of a particular kind of wood; and wherever the kind of wood is prescribed, whether among Celts, Germans, or Slavs, that wood is always the oak. Thus we have seen that amongst the Slavs of Masuren the new fire for the village is made on Midsummer Day by causing a wheel to revolve rapidly round an axle of oak till the axle takes fire.(790) When the perpetual fire which the ancient Slavs used to maintain chanced to go out, it was rekindled by the friction of a piece of oak-wood, which had been previously heated by being struck with a gray (not a red) stone.(791) In Germany the need-fire was regularly kindled by the friction of oak-wood;(792) and in the Highlands of Scotland, both the Beltane and the need-fires were lighted by similar means.(793) Now, if the sacred fire was regularly kindled by the friction of oak-wood, we may infer that originally the fire was also fed with the same material. In point of fact, the perpetual fire which burned under the sacred oak at the great Slavonian sanctuary of Romove was fed with oak-wood;(794) and that oak-wood was formerly the fuel burned in the midsummer fires may perhaps be inferred from the circumstance that in many mountain districts of Germany peasants are still in the habit of making up their cottage fire on Midsummer Day with a heavy block of oak-wood. The block is so arranged that it smoulders slowly and is not finally reduced to charcoal till the expiry of a year. Then upon next Midsummer Day the charred embers of the old log are removed to make room for the new one, and are mixed with the seed-corn or scattered about the garden. This is believed to promote the growth of the crops and to preserve them from blight and vermin.(795) It may be remembered that at the Boeotian festival of the Daedala, the analogy of which to the spring and midsummer festivals of modern Europe has been already pointed out, the great feature was the felling and burning of an oak.(796) The general conclusion is, that at those periodic or occasional ceremonies, of which the object was to cause the sun to shine, and the fruits of the earth to grow, the ancient Aryans both kindled and fed the fire with the sacred oak-wood.

But if at these solemn rites the fire was regularly made of oak-wood, it follows that the man who was burned in it as a personification of the tree-spirit could have represented no tree but the oak. The sacred oak was thus burned in duplicate; the wood of the tree was consumed in the fire, and along with it was consumed a living man as a personification of the oak-spirit. The conclusion thus drawn for the European Aryans in general is confirmed in its special application to the Celts and Scandinavians by the relation in which, amongst these peoples, the mistletoe stood to the burning of the victim in the midsummer fire. We have seen that among Celts and Scandinavians it has been customary to gather the mistletoe at midsummer. But so far as appears on the face of this custom, there is nothing to connect it with the midsummer fires in which human victims or effigies of them were burned. Even if the fire, as seems probable, was originally always made with oak-wood, why should it have been necessary to pull the mistletoe? The last link between the midsummer customs of gathering the mistletoe and lighting the bonfires is supplied by Balder’s myth, which certainly cannot be disjoined from the customs in question. The myth shows that a vital connection must once have been believed to subsist between the mistletoe and the human representative of the oak who was burned in the fire. According to the myth, Balder could be killed by nothing in heaven or earth except the mistletoe; and so long as the mistletoe remained on the oak, he was not only immortal, but invulnerable. Now, as soon as we see that Balder was the oak, the origin of the myth becomes plain. The mistletoe was viewed as the seat of life of the oak, and so long as it was uninjured nothing could kill or even wound the oak. The conception of the mistletoe as the seat of life of the oak would naturally be suggested to primitive people by the observation that while the oak is deciduous, the mistletoe which grows on it is evergreen. In winter the sight of its fresh foliage among the bare branches must have been hailed by the worshippers of the tree as a sign that the divine life which had ceased to animate the branches yet survived in the mistletoe, as the heart of a sleeper still beats when his body is motionless. Hence when the god had to be killed—when the sacred tree had to be burnt—it was necessary to begin by breaking off the mistletoe. For so long as the mistletoe remained intact, the oak (so people thought) was invulnerable; all the blows of their knives and axes would glance harmless from its surface. But once tear from the oak its sacred heart—the mistletoe—and the tree nodded to its fall. And when in later times the spirit of the oak came to be represented by a living man, it was logically necessary to suppose that, like the tree he personated, he could neither be killed nor wounded so long as the mistletoe remained uninjured. The pulling of the mistletoe was thus at once the signal and the cause of his death.

But since the idea of a being whose life is thus, in a sense, outside itself, must be strange to many readers, and has, indeed, not yet been recognised in its full bearing on primitive superstition, it will be worth while to devote a couple of sections to the subject. The result will be to show that, in assuming this idea as the explanation of the relation of Balder to the mistletoe, I assume a principle which is deeply engraved on the mind of primitive man.

§ 3.—The external soul in folk-tales.

In a former chapter we saw that, in the opinion of primitive people, the soul may temporarily absent itself from the body without causing death. Such temporary absences of the soul are often believed to involve considerable risk, since the wandering soul is liable to a variety of mishaps at the hands of enemies, and so forth. But there is another aspect to this power of externalising the soul. If only the safety of the soul can be ensured during its absence from the body, there is no reason why the soul should not continue absent for an indefinite time; indeed a man may, on a pure calculation of personal safety, desire that his soul should never return to his body. Unable to conceive of life abstractly as a “permanent possibility of sensation” or a “continuous adjustment of internal arrangements to external relations,” the savage thinks of it as a concrete material thing of a definite bulk, capable of being seen and handled, kept in a box or jar, and liable to be bruised, fractured, or smashed in pieces. It is not needful that the life, so conceived, should be in the man; it may be absent from his body and still continue to animate him, by virtue of a sort of sympathy or “action at a distance.” So long as this object which he calls his life or soul remains unharmed, the man is well; if it is injured, he suffers; if it is destroyed, he dies. Or, to put it otherwise, when a man is ill or dies, the fact is explained by saying that the material object called his life or soul, whether it be in his body or out of it, has either sustained injury or been destroyed. But there may be circumstances in which, if the life or soul remains in the man, it stands a greater chance of sustaining injury than if it were stowed away in some safe and secret place. Accordingly, in such circumstances, primitive man takes his soul out of his body and deposits it for security in some safe place, intending to replace it in his body when the danger is past. Or if he should discover some place of absolute security, he may be content to leave his soul there permanently. The advantage of this is that, so long as the soul remains unharmed in the place where he has deposited it, the man himself is immortal; nothing can kill his body, since his life is not in it.

Evidence of this primitive belief is furnished by a class of folk-tales of which the Norse story of “The giant who had no heart in his body” is perhaps the best-known example. Stories of this kind are widely diffused over the world, and from their number and the variety of incident and of details in which the leading idea is embodied, we may infer that the conception of an external soul is one which has had a powerful hold on the minds of men at an early stage of history. For folk-tales are a faithful reflection of the world as it appeared to the primitive mind; and we may be sure that any idea which commonly occurs in them, however absurd it may seem to us, must once have been an ordinary article of belief. This assurance, so far as it concerns the supposed power of externalising the soul for a longer or shorter time, is amply corroborated by a comparison of the folk-tales in question with the actual beliefs and practices of savages. To this we shall return after some specimens of the tales have been given. The specimens will be selected with a view of illustrating both the characteristic features and the wide diffusion of this class of tales.

In the first place, the story of the external soul is told, in various forms, by all Aryan peoples from Hindustan to the Hebrides. A very common form of it is this: A warlock, giant, or other fairyland being is invulnerable and immortal because he keeps his soul hidden far away in some secret place; but a fair princess, whom he holds enthralled in his enchanted castle, wiles his secret from him and reveals it to the hero, who seeks out the warlock’s soul, heart, life, or death (as it is variously called), and, by destroying it, simultaneously kills the warlock. Thus a Hindoo story tells how a magician called Punchkin held a queen captive for twelve years, and would fain marry her, but she would not have him. At last the queen’s son came to rescue her, and the two plotted together to kill Punchkin. So the queen spoke the magician fair, and pretended that she had at last made up her mind to marry him. “ ‘And do tell me,’ she said, ‘are you quite immortal? Can death never touch you? And are you too great an enchanter ever to feel human suffering?’ ... ‘It is true,’ he said, ‘that I am not as others. Far, far away—hundreds of thousands of miles from this—there lies a desolate country covered with thick jungle. In the midst of the jungle grows a circle of palm-trees, and in the centre of the circle stand six chattees full of water, piled one above another; below the sixth chattee is a small cage, which contains a little green parrot—on the life of the parrot depends my life—and if the parrot is killed I must die. It is, however,’ he added, ‘impossible that the parrot should sustain any injury, both on account of the inaccessibility of the country, and because, by my appointment, many thousand genii surround the palm-trees, and kill all who approach the place.’ ” But the queen’s young son overcame all difficulties, and got possession of the parrot. He brought it to the door of the magician’s palace, and began playing with it. Punchkin, the magician, saw him, and, coming out, tried to persuade the boy to give him the parrot. “ ‘Give me my parrot!’ cried Punchkin. Then the boy took hold of the parrot and tore off one of his wings; and as he did so the magician’s right arm fell off. Punchkin then stretched out his left arm, crying, ‘Give me my parrot!’ The prince pulled off the parrot’s second wing, and the magician’s left arm tumbled off. ‘Give me my parrot!’ cried he, and fell on his knees. The prince pulled off the parrot’s right leg, the magician’s right leg fell off; the prince pulled off the parrot’s left leg, down fell the magician’s left. Nothing remained of him except the lifeless body and the head; but still he rolled his eyes, and cried, ‘Give me my parrot!’ ‘Take your parrot, then,’ cried the boy; and with that he wrung the bird’s neck, and threw it at the magician; and, as he did so, Punchkin’s head twisted round, and, with a fearful groan, he died!”(797) In another Hindoo tale an ogre is asked by his daughter, “ ‘Papa, where do you keep your soul?’ ‘Sixteen miles away from this place,’ said he, ‘is a tree. Round the tree are tigers, and bears, and scorpions, and snakes; on the top of the tree is a very great fat snake; on his head is a little cage; in the cage is a bird; and my soul is in that bird.’ ” The end of the ogre is like that of the magician in the previous tale. As the bird’s wings and legs are torn off, the ogre’s arms and legs drop off; and when its neck is wrung he falls down dead.(798)

In another Hindoo story a princess called Sodewa Bai is born with a golden necklace about her neck, and the astrologer told her parents, “This is no common child; the necklace of gold about her neck contains your daughter’s soul; let it, therefore, be guarded with the utmost care; for if it were taken off and worn by another person, she would die.” So her mother caused it to be firmly fastened round the child’s neck, and, as soon as the child was old enough to understand, she told her its value, and warned her never to let it be taken off. In course of time Sodewa Bai was married to a prince who had another wife living. The first wife, jealous of her young rival, persuaded a negress to steal from Sodewa Bai the golden necklace which contained her soul. The negress did so, and, as soon as she put the necklace round her own neck, Sodewa Bai died. All day long the negress used to wear the necklace; but late at night, on going to bed, she would take it off and put it by till morning; and whenever she took it off, Sodewa Bai’s soul returned to her and she lived. But when morning came, and the negress put on the necklace, Sodewa Bai died again. At last the prince discovered the treachery of his elder wife and restored the golden necklace to Sodewa Bai.(799) In another Hindoo story a holy mendicant tells a queen that she will bear a son, adding, “As enemies will try to take away the life of your son, I may as well tell you that the life of the boy will be bound up in the life of a big _boal_-fish which is in your tank in front of the palace. In the heart of the fish is a small box of wood, in the box is a necklace of gold, that necklace is the life of your son.” The boy was born and received the name of Dalim. His mother was the Suo or younger queen. But the Duo or elder queen hated the child, and learning the secret of his life, she caused the _boal_-fish, with which his life was bound up, to be caught. Dalim was playing near the tank at the time, but “the moment the _boal_-fish was caught in the net, that moment Dalim felt unwell; and when the fish was brought up to land, Dalim fell down on the ground, and made as if he was about to breathe his last. He was immediately taken into his mother’s room, and the king was astonished on hearing of the sudden illness of his son and heir. The fish was by the order of the physician taken into the room of the Duo queen, and as it lay on the floor striking its fins on the ground, Dalim in his mother’s room was given up for lost. When the fish was cut open, a casket was found in it; and in the casket lay a necklace of gold. The moment the necklace was worn by the queen, that very moment Dalim died in his mother’s room.” The queen used to put off the necklace every night, and whenever she did so, the boy came to life again. But every morning when the queen put on the necklace, he died again.(800)

In a Cashmeer story a lad visits an old ogress, pretending to be her grandson, the son of her daughter who had married a king. So the old ogress took him into her confidence and showed him seven cocks, a spinning-wheel, a pigeon, and a starling. “These seven cocks,” said she, “contain the lives of your seven uncles, who are away for a few days. Only as long as the cocks live can your uncles hope to live; no power can hurt them as long as the seven cocks are safe and sound. The spinning-wheel contains my life; if it is broken, I too shall be broken, and must die; but otherwise I shall live on for ever. The pigeon contains your grandfather’s life, and the starling your mother’s; as long as these live, nothing can harm your grandfather or your mother.” So the lad killed the seven cocks and the pigeon and the starling, and smashed the spinning-wheel; and at the moment he did so the ogres and ogresses perished.(801) In another story from Cashmeer an ogre cannot die unless a

## particular pillar in the verandah of his palace be broken. Learning the

secret, a prince struck the pillar again and again till it was broken in pieces. And it was as if each stroke had fallen on the ogre, for he howled lamentably and shook like an aspen every time the prince hit the pillar, until at last, when the pillar fell down, the ogre also fell down and gave up the ghost.(802) In another Cashmeer tale an ogre is represented as laughing very heartily at the idea that he might possibly die. He said that “he should never die. No power could oppose him; no years could age him; he should remain ever strong and ever young, for the thing wherein his life dwelt was most difficult to obtain.” It was in a queen bee, which was in a honeycomb on a tree. But the bees in the honeycomb were many and fierce, and it was only at the greatest risk that any one could catch the queen. But the hero achieved the enterprise and crushed the queen bee; and immediately the ogre fell stone dead to the ground, so that the whole land trembled with the shock.(803) In some Bengalee tales the life of a whole tribe of ogres is described as concentrated in two bees. The secret was thus revealed by an old ogress to a captive princess who pretended to fear lest the ogress should die. “Know, foolish girl,” said the ogress, “that we ogres never die. We are not naturally immortal, but our life depends on a secret which no human being can unravel. Let me tell you what it is that you may be comforted. You know yonder tank; there is in the middle of it a crystal pillar, on the top of which in deep water are two bees. If any human being can dive into the water and bring up the two bees from the pillar in one breath, and destroy them so that not a drop of their blood falls to the ground, then we ogres shall certainly die; but if a single drop of blood falls to the ground, then from it will start up a thousand ogres. But what human being will find out this secret, or, finding it, will be able to achieve the feat? You need not, therefore, darling, be sad; I am practically immortal.” As usual, the princess reveals the secret to the hero, who kills the bees, and that same moment all the ogres drop down dead, each on the spot where he happened to be standing.(804) In another Bengalee story it is said that all the ogres dwell in Ceylon, and that all their lives are in a single lemon. A boy cuts the lemon in pieces, and all the ogres die.(805)

In a Siamese or Cambodian story, probably derived from India, we are told that Thossakan or Ravana, the King of Ceylon, was able by magic art to take his soul out of his body and leave it in a box at home, while he went to the wars. Thus he was invulnerable in battle. When he was about to give battle to Rama, he deposited his soul with a hermit called Fire-eye, who was to keep it safe for him. So in the fight Rama was astounded to see that his arrows struck the king without wounding him. But one of Rama’s allies, knowing the secret of the king’s invulnerability, transformed himself by magic into the likeness of the king, and going to the hermit asked back his soul. On receiving it he soared up into the air and flew to Rama, brandishing the box and squeezing it so hard that all the breath left the King of Ceylon’s body, and he died.(806) In a Bengalee story a prince going into a far country planted with his own hands a tree in the courtyard of his father’s palace, and said to his parents, “This tree is my life. When you see the tree green and fresh, then know that it is well with me; when you see the tree fade in some parts, then know that I am in an ill case; and when you see the whole tree fade, then know that I am dead and gone.”(807) In another Indian tale a prince, setting forth on his travels, left behind him a barley plant with instructions that it should be carefully tended and watched, for if it flourished, he would be alive and well, but if it drooped, then some mischance was about to happen to him. And so it fell out. For the prince was beheaded, and as his head rolled off, the barley plant snapped in two and the ear of barley fell to the ground.(808) In the legend of the origin of Gilgit there figures a fairy king whose soul is in the snows and who can only perish by fire.(809)

In Greek tales, ancient and modern, the idea of an external soul is not uncommon. When Meleager was seven days old, the Fates appeared to his mother and told her that Meleager would die when the brand which was blazing on the hearth had burnt down. So his mother snatched the brand from the fire and kept it in a box. But in after years, being enraged at her son for slaying her brothers, she burnt the brand in the fire and Meleager at once expired.(810) Again, Nisus King of Megara, had a purple or golden hair on the middle of his head, and it was fated that whenever the hair was pulled out the king should die. When Megara was besieged by the Cretans, the king’s daughter Scylla fell in love with Minos, their King, and pulled out the fatal hair from her father’s head. So he died.(811) Similarly Poseidon made Pterelaus immortal by giving him a golden hair on his head. But when Taphos, the home of Pterelaus, was besieged by Amphitryon, the daughter of Pterelaus fell in love with Amphitryon and killed her father by plucking out the golden hair with which his life was bound up.(812) In a modern Greek folk-tale a man’s strength lies in three golden hairs on his head. When his mother pulls them out, he grows weak and timid and is slain by his enemies.(813) In another modern Greek story the life of an enchanter is bound up with three doves which are in the belly of a wild boar. When the first dove is killed, the magician grows sick, when the second is killed, he grows very sick, and when the third is killed, he dies.(814) In another Greek story of the same sort an ogre’s strength is in three singing birds which are in a wild boar. The hero kills two of the birds, and then coming to the ogre’s house finds him lying on the ground in great pain. He shows the third bird to the ogre, who begs that the hero will either let it fly away or give it to him to eat. But the hero wrings the bird’s neck and the ogre dies on the spot.(815) In a variant of the latter story the monster’s strength is in two doves, and when the hero kills one of them, the monster cries out, “Ah, woe is me! Half my life is gone. Something must have happened to one of the doves.” When the second dove is killed, he dies.(816) In another Greek story the incidents of the three golden hairs and the three doves are artificially combined. A monster has three golden hairs on his head which open the door of a chamber in which are three doves; when the first dove is killed, the monster grows sick, when the second is killed, he grows worse, and when the third is killed, he dies.(817) In another Greek tale an old man’s strength is in a ten-headed serpent. When the serpent’s heads are being cut off, he feels unwell, and when the last head is struck off, he expires.(818) In another Greek story a dervish tells a queen that she will have three sons, that at the birth of each she must plant a pumpkin in the garden, and that in the fruit borne by the pumpkins will reside the strength of the children. In due time the infants are born and the pumpkins planted. As the children grow up the pumpkins grow with them. One morning the eldest son feels sick, and on going into the garden they find that the largest pumpkin is gone. Next night the second son keeps watch in a summer-house in the garden. At midnight a negro appears and cuts the second pumpkin. At once the boy’s strength goes out of him and he is unable to pursue the negro. The youngest son, however, succeeds in slaying the negro and recovering the lost pumpkins.(819)

Ancient Italian legend furnishes a close parallel to the Greek story of Meleager. Silvia, the young wife of Septimius Marcellus, had a child by the god Mars. The god gave her a spear, with which he said that the fate of the child would be bound up. When the boy grew up he quarrelled with his maternal uncles and slew them. So in revenge his mother burned the spear on which his life depended.(820) In one of the stories of the _Pentamerone_ a certain queen has a twin brother, a dragon. The astrologers declared at her birth that she would live just as long as the dragon and no longer, the death of the one involving the death of the other. If the dragon were killed, the only way to restore the queen to life would be to smear her temples, breast, pulses, and nostrils with the blood of the dragon.(821) In a modern Roman version of “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp,” the magician tells the princess whom he holds captive in a floating rock in mid-ocean that he will never die. The princess reports this to the prince her husband, who has come to rescue her. The prince replies, “It is impossible but that there should be some one thing or other that is fatal to him; ask him what that one fatal thing is.” So the princess asked the magician and he told her that in the wood was a hydra with seven heads; in the middle head of the hydra was a leveret, in the head of the leveret was a bird, in the bird’s head was a precious stone, and if this stone were put under his pillow he would die. The prince procured the stone and the princess laid it under the magician’s pillow. No sooner did the enchanter lay his head on the pillow than he gave three terrible yells, turned himself round and round three times, and died.(822)

Stories of the same sort are current among Slavonic peoples. Thus in a Russian tale a warlock called Koshchei the Deathless is asked where his death is. “My death,” he answered, “is in such and such a place. There stands an oak, and under the oak is a casket, and in the casket is a hare, and in the hare is a duck, and in the duck is an egg, and in the egg is my death.” A prince obtained the egg and squeezed it, whereupon Koshchei the Deathless bent double. But when the prince shivered the egg in pieces, the warlock died.(823) “In one of the descriptions of Koshchei’s death, he is said to be killed by a blow on the forehead inflicted by the mysterious egg—that last link in the magic chain by which his life is darkly bound. In another version of the same story, but told of a snake, the fatal blow is struck by a small stone found in the yolk of an egg, which is inside a duck, which is inside a hare, which is inside a stone, which is on an island.”(824) In another variant the prince shifts the fatal egg from one hand to the other, and as he does so Koshchei rushes wildly from side to side of the room. At last the prince smashes the egg, and Koshchei drops dead.(825) In another Russian story the death of an enchantress is in a blue rose-tree in a blue forest. Prince Ivan uproots the rose-tree, whereupon the enchantress straightway sickens. He brings the rose-tree to her house and finds her at the point of death. Then he throws it into the cellar, crying, “Behold her death!” and at once the whole building shakes, “and becomes an island, on which are people who had been sitting in Hell, and who offer up thanks to Prince Ivan.”(826) In another Russian story a prince is grievously tormented by a witch who has got hold of his heart, and keeps it seething in a magic cauldron.(827) In a Bohemian tale a warlock’s strength lies in an egg, which is in a duck, which is in a stag, which is under a tree. A seer finds the egg and sucks it. Then the warlock grows as weak as a child, “for all his strength had passed into the seer.”(828) In a Serbian story a fabulous being called True Steel declares, “Far away from this place there is a very high mountain, in the mountain there is a fox, in the fox there is a heart, in the heart there is a bird, and in this bird is my strength.” The fox is caught and killed and its heart is taken out. Out of the fox’s heart is taken the bird, which is then burnt, and that very moment True Steel falls dead.(829) In a South Slavonian story a dragon tells an old woman, “My strength is a long way off, and you cannot go thither. Far in another empire under the emperor’s city is a lake, in that lake is a dragon, and in the dragon a boar, and in the boar a pigeon, and in that is my strength.”(830)

Amongst peoples of the Teutonic stock stories of the external soul are not wanting. In a tale told by the Saxons of Transylvania it is said that a young man shot at a witch again and again. The bullets went clean through her but did her no harm, and she only laughed and mocked at him. “Silly earthworm,” she cried, “shoot as much as you like. It does me no harm. For know that my life resides not in me but far, far away. In a mountain is a pond, on the pond swims a duck, in the duck is an egg, in the egg burns a light, that light is my life. If you could put out that light, my life would be at an end. But that can never, never be.” However, the young man got hold of the egg, smashed it, and put out the light, and with it the witch’s life went out also.(831) In a German story a cannibal called Soulless keeps his soul in a box, which stands on a rock in the middle of the Red Sea. A soldier gets possession of the box and goes with it to Soulless, who begs the soldier to give him back his soul. But the soldier opens the box, takes out the soul, and flings it backward over his head. At the same moment the cannibal drops down stone dead.(832) In an Oldenburg story a king has three sons and a daughter, and for each child there grows a flower in the king’s garden. Each of the flowers is a life flower; it blooms and flourishes while the child lives, but when the child dies it withers away.(833) In another German story an old warlock lives with a damsel all alone in the midst of a vast and gloomy wood. She fears that being old he may die and leave her alone in the forest. But he reassures her. “Dear child,” he said, “I cannot die, and I have no heart in my breast.” But she importuned him to tell her where his heart was. So he said, “Far, far from here in an unknown and lonesome land stands a great church. The church is well secured with iron doors, and round about it flows a broad deep moat. In the church flies a bird and in the bird is my heart. So long as that bird lives, I live. It cannot die of itself, and no one can catch it; therefore I cannot die, and you need have no anxiety.” However, the young man, whose bride the damsel was to have been before the warlock spirited her away, contrived to reach the church and catch the bird. He brought it to the damsel, who stowed him and it away under the warlock’s bed. Soon the old warlock came home. He was ailing, and said so. The girl wept and said, “Alas, daddy is dying; he has a heart in his breast after all.” “Child,” replied the warlock, “hold your tongue. I _can’t_ die. It will soon pass over.” At that the young man under the bed gave the bird a gentle squeeze; and as he did so, the old warlock felt very unwell and sat down. Then the young man gripped the bird tighter, and the warlock fell senseless from his chair. “Now squeeze him dead,” cried the damsel. Her lover obeyed, and when the bird was dead, the old warlock also lay dead on the floor.(834)

In the Norse tale of “the giant who had no heart in his body,” the giant tells the captive princess, “Far, far away in a lake lies an island, on that island stands a church, in that church is a well, in that well swims a duck, in that duck there is an egg, and in that egg there lies my heart.” The hero of the tale obtains the egg and squeezes it, at which the giant screams piteously and begs for his life. But the hero breaks the egg in pieces and the giant at once bursts.(835) In another Norse story a hill-ogre tells the captive princess that she will never be able to return home unless she finds the grain of sand which lies under the ninth tongue of the ninth head of a certain dragon; but if that grain of sand were to come over the rock in which the ogres live, they would all burst “and the rock itself would become a gilded palace, and the lake green meadows.” The hero finds the grain of sand and takes it to the top of the high rock in which the ogres live. So all the ogres burst and the rest falls out as one of the ogres had foretold.(836) In an Icelandic parallel to the story of Meleager, the spae-wives or sybils come and foretell the high destiny of the infant Gestr as he lies in his cradle. Two candles were burning beside the child, and the youngest of the spae-wives, conceiving herself slighted, cried out, “I foretell that the child shall live no longer than this candle burns.” Whereupon the chief sybil put out the candle and gave it to Gestr’s mother to keep, charging her not to light it again until her son should wish to die. Gestr lived three hundred years; then he kindled the candle and expired.(837)

In a Celtic tale a giant says, “There is a great flagstone under the threshold. There is a wether under the flag. There is a duck in the wether’s belly, and an egg in the belly of the duck, and it is in the egg that my soul is.” The egg is crushed, and the giant falls down dead.(838) In another Celtic tale, a sea beast has carried off a king’s daughter, and an old smith declares that there is no way of killing the beast but one. “In the island that is in the midst of the loch is Eillid Chaisthion—the white-footed hind, of the slenderest legs, and the swiftest step, and, though she should be caught, there would spring a hoodie out of her, and though the hoodie should be caught, there would spring a trout out of her, but there is an egg in the mouth of the trout, and the soul of the beast is in the egg, and if the egg breaks, the beast is dead.” As usual the egg is broken and the beast dies.(839) In a Breton story there figures a giant whom neither fire nor water nor steel can harm. He tells a princess whom he has just married, “I am immortal, and no one can hurt me, unless he crushes on my breast an egg which is in a pigeon, which is in the belly of a hare; this hare is in the belly of a wolf, and this wolf is in the belly of my brother, who dwells a thousand leagues from here. So I am quite easy on that score.” A soldier gets the egg and crushes it on the breast of the giant, who immediately expires.(840) In another Breton tale a giant is called Body-without-Soul because his life does not reside in his body. It resides in an egg, the egg is in a dove, the dove is in a hare, the hare is in a wolf, and the wolf is in an iron chest at the bottom of the sea. The hero kills the animals one after another, and at the death of each animal the giant grows weaker, as if he had lost a limb. When at last the hero comes to the giant’s castle bearing the egg in his hand, he finds Body-without-Soul stretched on his bed at the point of death. So he dashes the egg against the giant’s forehead, the egg breaks, and the giant straightway dies.(841)

The notion of an external soul has now been traced in folk-tales told by Aryan peoples from India to Brittany and the Hebrides. We have still to show that the same idea occurs commonly in the popular stories of non-Aryan peoples. In the first place it appears in the ancient Egyptian story of “The Two Brothers.” This story was written down in the reign of Rameses II, about 1300 years B.C. It is therefore older than our present redaction of Homer, and far older than the Bible. The outline of the story, so far as it concerns us here, is as follows: Once upon a time there were two brethren; the name of the elder was Anupu and the name of the younger was Bitiu. Now Anupu had a house and a wife, and his younger brother dwelt with him as his servant. It was Anupu who made the garments, and every morning when it grew light he drove the kine afield. As he walked behind them they used to say to him, “The grass is good in such and such a place,” and he heard what they said and led them to the good pasture that they desired. So his kine grew very sleek and multiplied greatly. One day when the two brothers were at work in the field the elder brother said to the younger, “Run and fetch seed from the village.” So the younger brother ran and said to the wife of his elder brother, “Give me seed that I may run to the field, for my brother sent me saying, tarry not.” She said, “Go to the barn and take as much as you desire.” He went and filled a jar full of wheat and barley, and came forth bearing it on his shoulders. When the woman saw him her heart went out to him, and she laid hold of him and said, “Come, let us rest an hour together.” But he said, “Thou art to me as a mother, and my brother is to me as a father.” So he would not hearken to her, but took the load on his back and went away to the field. In the evening, when the elder brother was returning from the field, his wife feared for what she had said. So she took soot and made herself as one who has been beaten. And when her husband came home, she said, “When thy younger brother came to fetch seed, he said to me, Come, let us rest an hour together. But I would not, and he beat me.” Then the elder brother became like a panther of the south; he sharpened his knife and stood behind the door of the cow-house. And when the sun set and the younger brother came laden with all the herbs of the field, as was his wont every day, the cow that walked in front of the herd said to him, “Behold, thy elder brother stands with a knife to kill thee. Flee before him.” When he heard what the cow said, he looked under the door of the cow-house and saw the feet of his elder brother standing behind the door, his knife in his hand. So he fled and his brother pursued him with the knife. But the younger brother cried for help to the Sun, and the Sun heard him and caused a great water to spring up between him and his elder brother, and the water was full of crocodiles. The two brothers stood, the one on the one side of the water and the other on the other, and the younger brother told the elder brother all that had befallen. So the elder brother repented him of what he had done and he wept aloud. But he could not come at the farther bank by reason of the crocodiles. His younger brother called to him and said, “Go home and tend the cattle thyself. For I will dwell no more in the place where thou art. I will go to the Valley of the Acacia. But this is what thou shalt do for me. Thou shalt come and care for me, if evil befalls me, for I will enchant my heart and place it on the top of the flower of the Acacia; and if they cut the Acacia and my heart falls to the ground, thou shalt come and seek it, and when thou hast found it thou shalt lay it in a vessel of fresh water. Then I shall come to life again. But this is the sign that evil has befallen me; the pot of beer in thine hand shall bubble.” So he went away to the Valley of the Acacia, but his brother returned home with dust on his head and slew his wife and cast her to the dogs.

For many days afterwards the younger brother dwelt alone in the Valley of the Acacia. By day he hunted the beasts of the field, but at evening he came and laid him down under the Acacia, on the top of whose flower was his heart. And many days after that he built himself a house in the Valley of the Acacia. But the gods were grieved for him; and the Sun said to Khnum, “Make a wife for Bitiu, that he may not dwell alone.” So Khnum made him a woman to dwell with him, who was perfect in her limbs more than any woman on earth, for all the gods were in her. So she dwelt with him. But one day a lock of her hair fell into the river and floated down to the land of Egypt, to the house of Pharaoh’s washerwomen. The fragrance of the lock perfumed Pharaoh’s raiment, and the washerwomen were blamed, for it was said, “An odour of perfume in the garments of Pharaoh!” So the heart of Pharaoh’s chief washerman was weary of the complaints that were made every day, and he went to the quay, and there in the water he saw the lock of hair. He sent one down into the river to fetch it, and, because it smelt sweetly, he took it to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh’s magicians were sent for and they said, “This lock of hair belongs to a daughter of the Sun, who has in her the essence of all the gods. Let messengers go forth to all foreign lands to seek her.” So the woman was brought from the Valley of the Acacia with chariots and archers and much company, and all the land of Egypt rejoiced at her coming, and Pharaoh loved her. But when they asked her of her husband, she said to Pharaoh, “Let them cut down the Acacia and let them destroy him.” So men were sent with tools to cut down the Acacia. They came to it and cut the flower upon which was the heart of Bitiu; and he fell down dead in that evil hour. But the next day, when the elder brother of Bitiu was entered into his house and had sat down, they brought him a pot of beer and it bubbled, and they gave him a jug of wine and it grew turbid. Then he took his staff and his sandals and hied him to the Valley of the Acacia, and there he found his younger brother lying dead in his house. So he sought for the heart of his brother under the Acacia. For three years he sought in vain, but in the fourth year he found it in the berry of the Acacia. So he threw the heart into a cup of fresh water. And when it was night and the heart had sucked in much water, Bitiu shook in all his limbs and revived. Then he drank the cup of water in which his heart was, and his heart went into its place, and he lived as before.(842)

In the story of Seyf-el-Mulook in the Arabian Nights, the Jinnee declares, “When I was born, the astrologers declared that the destruction of my soul would be effected by the hand of one of the sons of the human kings. I therefore took my soul, and put it into the crop of a sparrow, and I imprisoned the sparrow in a little box, and put this into another small box, and this I put within seven other small boxes, and I put these within seven chests, and the chests I put into a coffer of marble within the verge of this circumambient ocean; for this part is remote from the countries of mankind, and none of mankind can gain access to it.” But Seyf-el-Mulook got possession of the sparrow and strangled it, and the Jinnee fell upon the ground a heap of black ashes.(843) In a modern Arabian tale a king marries an ogress, who puts out the eyes of the king’s forty wives. One of the blinded queens gives birth to a son whom she names Mohammed the Prudent. But the ogress queen hated him and compassed his death. So she sent him on an errand to the house of her kinsfolk the ogres. In the house of the ogres he saw some things hanging from the roof, and on asking a female slave what they were, she said, “That is the bottle which contains the life of my lady the queen, and the other bottle beside it contains the eyes of the queens whom my mistress blinded.” A little afterwards he spied a beetle and rose to kill it. “Don’t kill it,” cried the slave, “for that is my life.” But Mohammed the Prudent watched the beetle till it entered a chink in the wall; and when the female slave had fallen asleep, he killed the beetle in its hole, and so the slave died. Then Mohammed took down the two bottles and carried them home to his father’s palace. There he presented himself before the ogress queen and said, “See, I have your life in my hand, but I will not kill you till you have replaced the eyes which you took from the forty queens.” The ogress did as she was bid, and then Mohammed the Prudent said, “There, take your life.” But the bottle slipped from his hand and fell, the life of the ogress escaped from it, and she died.(844)

In a Kabyl story an ogre declares that his fate is far away in an egg, which is in a pigeon, which is in a camel, which is in the sea. The hero procures the egg and crushes it between his hands, and the ogre dies.(845) In a Magyar folk-tale, an old witch detains a young prince called Ambrose in the bowels of the earth. At last she confided to him that she kept a wild boar in a silken meadow, and if it were killed, they would find a hare inside, and inside the hare a pigeon, and inside the pigeon a small box, and inside the box one black and one shining beetle: the shining beetle held her life, and the black one held her power; if these two beetles died, then her life would come to an end also. When the old hag went out, Ambrose killed the wild boar, took out the hare, from the hare he took the pigeon, from the pigeon the box, and from the box the two beetles; he killed the black beetle, but kept the shining one alive. So the witch’s power left her immediately, and when she came home, she had to take to her bed. Having learned from her how to escape from his prison to the upper air, Ambrose killed the shining beetle, and the old hag’s spirit left her at once.(846) In another Hungarian story the safety of the Dwarf-king resides in a golden cockchafer, inside a golden cock, inside a golden sheep, inside a golden stag, in the ninety-ninth island. The hero overcomes all these golden animals and so recovers his bride, whom the Dwarf-king had carried off.(847) A Samoyed story tells how seven warlocks killed a certain man’s mother and carried off his sister, whom they kept to serve them. Every night when they came home the seven warlocks used to take out their hearts and place them in a dish, which the woman hung on the tent-poles. But the wife of the man whom they had wronged stole the hearts of the warlocks while they slept, and took them to her husband. By break of day he went with the hearts to the warlocks, and found them at the point of death. They all begged for their hearts; but he threw six of their hearts to the ground, and six of the warlocks died. The seventh and eldest warlock begged hard for his heart, and the man said, “You killed my mother. Make her alive again, and I will give you back your heart.” The warlock said to his wife, “Go to the place where the dead woman lies. You will find a bag there. Bring it to me. The woman’s spirit is in the bag.” So his wife brought the bag; and the warlock said to the man, “Go to your dead mother, shake the bag and let the spirit breathe over her bones; so she will come to life again.” The man did as he was bid, and his mother was restored to life. Then he hurled the seventh heart to the ground, and the seventh warlock died.(848)

In a Tartar poem two heroes named Ak Molot and Bulat engage in mortal combat. Ak Molot pierces his foe through and through with an arrow, grapples with him, and dashes him to the ground, but all in vain, Bulat could not die. At last when the combat has lasted three years, a friend of Ak Molot sees a golden casket hanging by a white thread from the sky, and bethinks him that perhaps this casket contains Bulat’s soul. So he shot through the white thread with an arrow, and down fell the casket. He opened it, and in the casket sat ten white birds, and one of the birds was Bulat’s soul. Bulat wept when he saw that his soul was found in the casket. But one after the other the birds were killed, and then Ak Molot easily slew his foe.(849) In another Tartar poem, two brothers going to fight two other brothers take out their souls and hide them in the form of a white herb with six stalks in a deep pit. But one of their foes sees them doing so and digs up their souls, which he puts into a golden ram’s horn, and then puts the ram’s horn in his quiver. The two warriors whose souls have thus been stolen know that they have no chance of victory, and accordingly make peace with their enemies.(850) In another Tartar poem a terrible demon sets all the gods and heroes at defiance. At last a valiant youth fights the demon, binds him hand and foot, and slices him with his sword. But still the demon is not slain. So the youth asked him, “Tell me, where is your soul hidden? For if your soul had been hidden in your body, you must have been dead long ago.” The demon replied, “On the saddle of my horse is a bag. In the bag is a serpent with twelve heads. In the serpent is my soul. When you have killed the serpent, you have killed me also.” So the youth took the saddle-bag from the horse and killed the twelve-headed serpent, whereupon the demon expired.(851) In another Tartar poem a hero called Kök Chan deposits with a maiden a golden ring, in which is half his strength. Afterwards when Kök Chan is wrestling long with a hero and cannot kill him, a woman drops into his mouth the ring which contains half his strength. Thus inspired with fresh force he slays his enemy.(852)

In a Mongolian story the hero Joro gets the better of his enemy the lama Tschoridong in the following way. The lama, who is an enchanter, sends out his soul in the form of a wasp to sting Joro’s eyes. But Joro catches the wasp in his hand, and by alternately shutting and opening his hand he causes the lama alternately to lose and recover consciousness.(853) In a Tartar poem two youths cut open the body of an old witch and tear out her bowels, but all to no purpose, she still lives. On being asked where her soul is, she answers that it is in the middle of her shoe-sole in the form of a seven-headed speckled snake. So one of the youths slices her shoe-sole with his sword, takes out the speckled snake, and cuts off its seven heads. Then the witch dies.(854) Another Tartar poem describes how the hero Kartaga grappled with the Swan-woman. Long they wrestled. Moons waxed and waned and still they wrestled; years came and went, and still the struggle went on. But the piebald horse and the black horse knew that the Swan-woman’s soul was not in her. Under the black earth flow nine seas; where the seas meet and form one, the sea comes to the surface of the earth. At the mouth of the nine seas rises a rock of copper; it rises to the surface of the ground, it rises up between heaven and earth, this rock of copper. At the foot of the copper rock is a black chest, in the black chest is a golden casket, and in the golden casket is the soul of the Swan-woman. Seven little birds are the soul of the Swan-woman; if the birds are killed the Swan-woman will die straightway. So the horses ran to the foot of the copper rock, opened the black chest, and brought back the golden casket. Then the piebald horse turned himself into a bald-headed man, opened the golden casket, and cut off the heads of the seven birds. So the Swan-woman died.(855) In a Tartar story a chief called Tash Kan is asked where his soul is. He answers that there are seven great poplars, and under the poplars a golden well; seven _Maralen_ (?) come to drink the water of the well, and the belly of one of them trails on the ground; in this _Maral_ is a golden box, in the golden box is a silver box, in the silver box are seven quails, the head of one of the quails is golden and its tail silver; that quail is Tash Kan’s soul. The hero of the story gets possession of the seven quails and wrings the necks of six of them. Then Tash Kan comes running and begs the hero to let his soul go free. But the hero wrings the quail’s neck, and Tash Kan drops dead.(856) In another Tartar poem the hero, pursuing his sister who has driven away his cattle, is warned to desist from the pursuit because his sister has carried away his soul in a golden sword and a golden arrow, and if he pursues her she will kill him by throwing the golden sword or shooting the golden arrow at him.(857)

A Malay poem relates how once upon a time in the city of Indrapoera there was a certain merchant who was rich and prosperous, but he had no children. One day as he walked with his wife by the river they found a baby girl, fair as an angel. So they adopted the child and called her Bidasari. The merchant caused a golden fish to be made, and into this fish he transferred the soul of his adopted daughter. Then he put the golden fish in a golden box full of water, and hid it in a pond in the midst of his garden. In time the girl grew to be a lovely woman. Now the King of Indrapoera had a fair young queen, who lived in fear that the king might take to himself a second wife. So, hearing of the charms of Bidasari, the queen resolved to put her out of the way. So she lured the girl to the palace and tortured her cruelly; but Bidasari could not die, because her soul was not in her. At last she could stand the torture no longer and said to the queen, “If you wish me to die, you must bring the box which is in the pond in my father’s garden.” So the box was brought and opened, and there was the golden fish in the water. The girl said, “My soul is in that fish. In the morning you must take the fish out of the water, and in the evening you must put it back into the water. Do not let the fish lie about, but bind it round your neck. If you do this, I shall soon die.” So the queen took the fish out of the box and fastened it round her neck; and no sooner had she done so, than Bidasari fell into a swoon. But in the evening, when the fish was put back into the water, Bidasari came to herself again. Seeing that she thus had the girl in her power, the queen sent her home to her adopted parents. To save her from further persecution her parents resolved to remove their daughter from the city. So in a lonely and desolate spot they built a house and brought Bidasari thither. Here she dwelt alone, undergoing vicissitudes that corresponded with the vicissitudes of the golden fish in which was her soul. All day long, while the fish was out of the water, she remained unconscious; but in the evening, when the fish was put into the water, she revived. One day the king was out hunting, and coming to the house where Bidasari lay unconscious, was smitten with her beauty. He tried to waken her, but in vain. Next day, towards evening, he repeated his visit, but still found her unconscious. However, when darkness fell, she came to herself and told the king the secret of her life. So the king returned to the palace, took the fish from the queen, and put it in water. Immediately Bidasari revived, and the king took her to wife.(858)

The last story of an external soul which I shall notice comes from Nias, an island to the west of Sumatra, which we have visited more than once in the course of this book. Once on a time a chief was captured by his enemies, who tried to put him to death but failed. Water would not drown him nor fire burn him nor steel pierce him. At last his wife revealed the secret. On his head he had a hair as hard as a copper wire; and with this wire his life was bound up. So the hair was plucked out, and with it his spirit fled.(859)

§ 4.—The external soul in folk-custom.

Thus the idea that the soul may be deposited for a longer or shorter time in some place of security outside the body, or at all events in the hair, is found in the popular tales of many races. It remains to show that the idea is not a mere figment devised to adorn a tale, but is a real article of primitive faith, which has given rise to a corresponding set of customs.

We have seen that in the tales the hero, as a preparation for battle, sometimes removes his soul from his body, in order that his body may be invulnerable and immortal in the combat. With a like intention the savage removes his soul from his body on various occasions of real or imaginary danger. Thus we have seen that among the Minahassa of Celebes, when a family moves into a new house, a priest collects the souls of the whole family in a bag, and afterwards restores them to their owners, because the moment of entering a new house is supposed to be fraught with supernatural danger.(860) In Southern Celebes when a woman is brought to bed the messenger who fetches the doctor or the midwife always carries with him a piece of iron, which he delivers to the doctor. The doctor must keep it in his house till the confinement is over, when he gives it back, receiving a fixed sum of money for doing so. The piece of iron represents the woman’s soul, which at this critical time is believed to be safer out of her body than in it. Hence the doctor must take great care of the piece of iron; for if it were lost, the woman’s soul would assuredly, it is supposed, be lost with it.(861)

Again, we have seen that in folk-tales a man’s soul or strength is sometimes represented as bound up with his hair, and that when his hair is cut off he dies or grows weak. So the natives of Amboina used to think that their strength was in their hair and would desert them if it were shorn. A criminal under torture in a Dutch Court of that island persisted in denying his guilt till his hair was cut off, when he immediately confessed. One man who was tried for murder endured without flinching the utmost ingenuity of his torturers till he saw the surgeon standing with a pair of shears. On asking what this was for, and being told that it was to cut his hair, he begged they would not do it, and made a clean breast. In subsequent cases, when torture failed to wring a confession from a prisoner, the Dutch authorities made a practice of cutting off his hair.(862) In Ceram it is still believed that if young people have their hair cut they will be weakened and enervated thereby.(863) In Zacynthus people think that the whole strength of the ancient Greeks resided in three hairs on their breasts, and vanished whenever these hairs were cut; but if the hairs were allowed to grow again, their strength returned.(864)

Again, we have seen that in folk-tales the life of a person is sometimes so bound up with the life of a plant that the withering of the plant will immediately follow or be followed by the death of the person.(865) Similarly among the M’Bengas in Western Africa, about the Gaboon, when two children are born on the same day, the people plant two trees of the same kind and dance round them. The life of each of the children is believed to be bound up with the life of one of the trees; and if the tree dies or is thrown down, they are sure that the child will soon die.(866) In the Cameroons, also, the life of a person is believed to be sympathetically bound up with that of a tree.(867) Some of the Papuans unite the life of a new-born child sympathetically with that of a tree by driving a pebble into the bark of the tree. This is supposed to give them complete mastery over the child’s life; if the tree is cut down, the child will die.(868) After a birth the Maoris used to bury the navel-string in a sacred place and plant a young sapling over it. As the tree grew, it was a _tohu oranga_ or sign of life for the child; if it flourished, the child would prosper; if it withered and died, the parents augured the worst for their child.(869) In Southern Celebes, when a child is born, a cocoa-nut is planted, and is watered with the water in which the after-birth and navel-string have been washed. As it grows up, the tree is called the “contemporary” of the child.(870) So in Bali a cocoa-palm is planted at the birth of a child. It is believed to grow up equally with the child, and is called its “life-plant.”(871) On certain occasions the Dyaks of Borneo plant a palm-tree, which is believed to be a complete index of their fate. If it flourishes, they reckon on good fortune; but if it withers or dies, they expect misfortune.(872) It is said that there are still families in Russia, Germany, England, France, and Italy who are accustomed to plant a tree at the birth of a child. The tree, it is hoped, will grow with the child, and it is tended with special care.(873) The custom is still pretty general in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland; an apple-tree is planted for a boy and a pear-tree for a girl, and the people think that the child will flourish or dwindle with the tree.(874) In Mecklenburg the after-birth is thrown out at the foot of a young tree, and the child is then believed to grow with the tree.(875) In England persons are sometimes passed through a cleft tree as a cure for rupture, and thenceforward a sympathetic connection is believed to exist between them and the tree. “Thomas Chillingworth, son of the owner of an adjoining farm, now about thirty-four years of age, was, when an infant of a year old, passed through a similar tree, now perfectly sound, which he preserves with so much care that he will not suffer a single branch to be touched, for it is believed that the life of the patient depends on the life of the tree; and the moment that it is cut down, be the patient ever so distant, the rupture returns, and a mortification ensues.”(876) When Lord Byron first visited his ancestral estate of Newstead “he planted, it seems, a young oak in some part of the grounds, and had an idea that as _it_ flourished so should _he_.”(877)

But in practice, as in folk-tales, it is not merely with trees and plants that the life of an individual is occasionally believed to be united by a bond of physical sympathy. The same bond, it is supposed, may exist between a man and an animal or a thing, so that the death or destruction of the animal or thing is immediately followed by the death of the man. The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus was once informed by an astronomer that the life of Simeon prince of Bulgaria was bound up with a certain column in Constantinople, so that if the capital of the column were removed Simeon would immediately die. The Emperor took the hint and removed the capital, and at the same hour, as the emperor learned by inquiry, Simeon died of heart disease in Bulgaria.(878) Amongst the Karens of Burma “the knife with which the navel-string is cut is carefully preserved for the child. The life of the child is supposed to be in some way connected with it, for if lost or destroyed it is said the child will not be long-lived.”(879) The Malays believe that “the soul of a person may pass into another person or into an animal, or rather that such a mysterious relation can arise between the two that the fate of the one is wholly dependent on that of the other.”(880) In the Banks Islands “some people connect themselves with an object, generally an animal, as a lizard or a snake, or with a stone, which they imagine to have a certain very close natural relation to themselves. This, at Mota, is called tamaniu—likeness. This word at Aurora is used for the ‘atai’ [_i.e._ soul] of Mota. Some fancy dictates the choice of a tamaniu; or it may be found by drinking the infusion of certain herbs and heaping together the dregs. Whatever living thing is first seen in or upon the heap is the tamaniu. It is watched, but not fed or worshipped. The natives believe that it comes at call. The life of the man is bound up with the life of his tamaniu. If it dies, gets broken or lost, the man will die. In sickness they send to see how the tamaniu is, and judge the issue accordingly. This is only the fancy of some.”(881)

But what among the Banks Islanders and the Malays is irregular and occasional, among other peoples is systematic and universal. The Zulus believe that every man has his _ihlozi_, a kind of mysterious serpent, “which specially guards and helps him, lives with him, wakes with him, sleeps and travels with him, but always under ground. If it ever makes its appearance, great is the joy, and the man must seek to discover the meaning of its appearance. He who has no _ihlozi_ must die. Therefore if any one unintentionally kills an _ihlozi_ serpent, the man whose _ihlozi_ it was dies, but the serpent comes to life again.”(882) Amongst the Zapotecs of Central America, when a woman was about to be confined, her relations assembled in the hut, and began to draw on the floor figures of different animals, rubbing each one out as soon as it was completed. This went on till the moment of birth, and the figure that then remained sketched upon the ground was called the child’s _tona_ or second self. “When the child grew old enough he procured the animal that represented him and took care of it, as it was believed that health and existence were bound up with that of the animal’s, in fact that the death of both would occur simultaneously,” or rather that when the animal died the man would die.(883) Among the Indians of Guatemala the _nagual_ or _naual_ is an “animate or inanimate object, generally an animal, which stands in a parallel relation to a particular man, so that the weal and woe of the man depend on the fate of the animal.” Among the Chontal Indians who inhabit the part of Honduras bordering on Guatemala and in point of social culture stand very close to the Pipil Indians of Guatemala, the _nagual_ used to be obtained as follows. The young Indian went into the forest to a lonely place by a river or to the top of a mountain, and prayed with tears to the gods that they would vouchsafe to him what his forefathers had possessed before him. After sacrificing a dog or a bird he laid himself down to sleep. Then in a dream or after awakening from sleep there appeared to him a jaguar, puma, coyote (prairie-wolf), crocodile, serpent, or bird. To this visionary animal the Indian offered blood drawn from his tongue, his ears, and other parts of his body, and prayed for an abundant yield of salt and cacao. Then the animal said to him, “On such and such a day you shall go out hunting, and the first animal that meets you will be myself, who will always be your companion and _nagual_.” A man who had no _nagual_ could never grow rich. The Indians were persuaded that the death of their _nagual_ would entail their own. Legend affirms that in the first battles with the Spaniards on the plateau of Quetzaltenango the _naguals_ of the Indian chiefs fought in the form of serpents. The _nagual_ of the highest chief was especially conspicuous, because it had the form of a great bird, resplendent in green plumage. The Spanish general Pedro de Alvarado killed the bird with his lance, and at the same moment the Indian chief fell dead to the ground.(884)

In many of the Australian tribes each sex regards a particular species of animals in the same way that a Central American Indian regards his _nagual_, but with this difference, that whereas the Indian apparently knows the individual animal with which his life is bound up, the Australians only know that each of their lives is bound up with some one animal of the species, but they cannot say with which. The result naturally is that every man spares and protects all the animals of the species with which the lives of the men are bound up; and every woman spares and protects all the animals of the species with which the lives of the women are bound up; because no one knows but that the death of any animal of the respective species might entail his or her own; just as the killing of the green bird was immediately followed by the death of the Indian chief, and the killing of the parrot by the death of Punchkin in the fairy tale. Thus, for example, the Wotjobaluk tribe of South Eastern Australia “held that ‘the life of Ngŭnŭngŭnŭt (the Bat) is the life of a man and the life of Yártatgŭrk (the Nightjar) is the life of a woman,’ and that when either of these creatures is killed the life of some man or of some woman is shortened. In such a case every man or every woman in the camp feared that he or she might be the victim, and from this cause great fights arose in this tribe. I learn that in these fights, men on one side and women on the other, it was not at all certain which would be victorious, for at times the women gave the men a severe drubbing with their yamsticks while often women were injured or killed by spears.”(885) The particular species of animals with which the lives of the sexes were believed to be respectively bound up varied somewhat from tribe to tribe. Thus whereas among the Wotjobaluk the bat was the animal of the men, at Gunbower Creek on the lower Murray the bat seems to have been the animal of the women, for the natives would not kill it for the reason that “if it was killed, one of their lubras [women] would be sure to die in consequence.”(886) But the belief itself and the fights to which it gave rise are known to have extended over a large part of South Eastern Australia, and probably they extended much farther.(887) The belief is a very serious one, and so consequently are the fights which spring from it. Thus where the bat is the men’s animal they “protect it against injury, even to the half-killing of their wives for its sake;” and where the fern owl or large goatsucker (a night bird) is the women’s animal, “it is jealously protected by them. If a man kills one, they are as much enraged as if it was one of their children, and will strike him with their long poles.”(888)

The jealous protection thus afforded by Australian men and women to bats and owls respectively (for bats and owls seem to be the creatures usually allotted to men and women respectively) is not based upon purely selfish considerations. For each man believes that not only his own life, but the lives of his father, brothers, sons, etc., are bound up with the lives of

## particular bats, and that therefore in protecting the bat species he is

protecting the lives of all his male relations as well as his own. Similarly, each woman believes that the lives of her mother, sisters, daughters, etc., equally with her own, are bound up with the lives of

## particular owls, and that in guarding the owl species she is guarding the

lives of all her female relations in addition to her own. Now, when men’s lives are thus supposed to be contained in certain animals, it is obvious that the animals can hardly be distinguished from the men, or the men from the animals. If my brother John’s life is in a bat, then, on the one hand, the bat is my brother as well as John; and, on the other hand, John is in a sense a bat, since his life is in a bat. Similarly, if my sister Mary’s life is in an owl, then the owl is my sister and Mary is an owl. This is a natural enough conclusion, and the Australians have not failed to draw it. When the bat is the man’s animal, it is called his brother; and when the owl is the woman’s animal, it is called her sister. And conversely a man addresses a woman as an owl, and she addresses him as a bat.(889) So with the other animals allotted to the sexes respectively in other tribes. For example, among the Kurnai all Emu Wrens were “brothers” of the men, and all the men were Emu Wrens; all Superb Warblers were “sisters” of the women, and all the women were Superb Warblers.(890)

But when a savage names himself after an animal, calls it his brother, and refuses to kill it, the animal is said to be his totem. Accordingly the bat and the owl, the Emu Wren and the Superb Warbler, may properly be described as totems of the sexes. But the assignation of a totem to a sex is comparatively rare, and has hitherto been discovered nowhere but in Australia. Far more commonly the totem is appropriated not to a sex, but to a tribe or clan, and is hereditary either in the male or female line. The relation of an individual to the tribal totem does not differ in kind from his relation to the sex totem; he will not kill it, he speaks of it as his brother, and he calls himself by its name.(891) Now if the relations are similar, the explanation which holds good of the one ought equally to hold good of the other. Therefore the reason why a tribe revere a particular species of animals or plants (for the tribal totem may be a plant) and call themselves after it, must be a belief that the life of each individual of the tribe is bound up with some one animal or plant of the species, and that his or her death would be the consequence of killing that particular animal, or destroying that particular plant. This explanation of totemism squares very well with Sir George Grey’s definition of a totem or _kobong_ in Western Australia. He says, “A certain mysterious connection exists between a family and its _kobong_, so that a member of the family will never kill an animal of the species to which his _kobong_ belongs, should he find it asleep; indeed he always kills it reluctantly, and never without affording it a chance to escape. This arises from the family belief that some one individual of the species is their nearest friend, to kill whom would be a great crime, and to be carefully avoided. Similarly, a native who has a vegetable for his _kobong_ may not gather it under certain circumstances, and at a

## particular period of the year.”(892) Here it will be observed that though

each man spares all the animals or plants of the species, they are not all equally precious to him; far from it, out of the whole species there is only one which is specially dear to him; but as he does not know which the dear one is, he is obliged to spare them all from fear of injuring the one. Again, this explanation of the tribal totem harmonises with the supposed effect of killing one of the totem species. “One day one of the blacks killed a crow. Three or four days afterwards a Boortwa (crow) [_i.e._ a man of the Crow clan or tribe] named Larry died. He had been ailing for some days, but the killing of his wingong [totem] hastened his death.”(893) Here the killing of the crow caused the death of a man of the Crow clan, exactly as, in the case of the sex totems, the killing of a bat causes the death of a Bat man, or the killing of an owl causes the death of an Owl woman. Similarly, the killing of his _nagual_ causes the death of a Central American Indian, the killing of his _ihlozi_ causes the death of a Zulu, the killing of his _tamaniu_ causes the death of a Banks Islander, and the killing of the animal in which his life is stowed away causes the death of the giant or warlock in the fairy tale.

Thus it appears that the story of “The giant who had no heart in his body” furnishes the key to the religious aspect of totemism, that is, to the relation which is supposed to subsist between a man and his totem. The totem, if I am right, is simply the receptacle in which a man keeps his life, as Punchkin kept his life in a parrot, and Bidasari kept her soul in a golden fish. It is no valid objection to this view that when a savage has both a sex totem and a tribal totem his life must be bound up with two different animals, the death of either of which would entail his own. If a man has more vital places than one in his body, why, the savage may think, should he not have more vital places than one outside it? Why, since he can externalise his life, should he not transfer one portion of it to one animal and another to another? The divisibility of life, or, to put it otherwise, the plurality of souls, is an idea suggested by many familiar facts, and has commended itself to philosophers like Plato as well as to savages. It is only when the notion of a soul, from being a quasi-scientific hypothesis, becomes a theological dogma that its unity and indivisibility are insisted upon as essential. The savage, unshackled by dogma, is free to explain the facts of life by the assumption of as many souls as he thinks necessary. Hence, for example, the Caribs supposed that there was one soul in the head, another in the heart, and other souls at all the places where an artery is felt pulsating.(894) Some of the Hidatsa Indians explain the phenomena of gradual death, when the extremities appear dead first, by supposing that man has four souls, and that they quit the body, not simultaneously, but one after the other, dissolution being only complete when all four have departed.(895) The Laos suppose that the body is the seat of thirty spirits, which reside in the hands, the feet, the mouth, the eyes, etc.(896) Hence, from the primitive point of view, it is perfectly possible that a savage should have one soul in his sex totem, and another in his tribal totem. However, as I have observed, sex totems occur nowhere but in Australia; so that as a rule the savage who practises totemism need not have more than one soul out of his body at a time.

If this explanation of the totem as a receptacle in which a man keeps his soul or one of his souls is correct, we should expect to find some totemistic tribes of whom it is expressly stated that every man amongst them is believed to keep at least one soul permanently out of his body, and that the destruction of this external soul is supposed to entail the death of its owner. Such a tribe are the Battas of Sumatra. The Battas are divided into exogamous clans (_margas_) with descent in the male line; and each clan is forbidden to eat the flesh of a particular animal. One clan may not eat the tiger, another the ape, another the crocodile, another the dog, another the cat, another the dove, another the white buffalo. The reason given by members of a clan for abstaining from the flesh of the

## particular animal is either that they are descended from animals of that

species, and that their souls after death may transmigrate into the animals, or that they or their forefathers have been under certain obligations to the animals. Sometimes, but not always, the clan bears the name of the animal.(897) Thus the Battas have totemism in full. But, further, each Batta believes that he has seven or, on a more moderate computation, three souls. One of these souls is always outside the body, but nevertheless whenever it dies, however far away it may be at the time, that same moment the man dies also.(898) The writer who mentions this belief says nothing about the Batta totems; but on the analogy of the Australian and Central American evidence we can scarcely avoid concluding that the external soul, whose death entails the death of the man, must be housed in the totem animal or plant.

Against this view it can hardly be thought to militate that the Batta does not in set terms affirm his external soul to be in his totem, but alleges other, though hardly contradictory, grounds for respecting the sacred animal or plant of his clan. For if a savage seriously believes that his life is bound up with an external object, it is in the last degree unlikely that he will let any stranger into the secret. In all that touches his inmost life and beliefs the savage is exceedingly suspicious and reserved; Europeans have resided among savages for years without discovering some of their capital articles of faith, and in the end the discovery has often been the result of accident. Above all, the savage lives in an intense and perpetual dread of assassination by sorcery; the most trifling relics of his person—the clippings of his hair and nails, his spittle, the remnants of his food, his very name—all these may, he fancies, be turned by the sorcerer to his destruction, and he is therefore anxiously careful to conceal or destroy them. But if in matters such as these, which are but the outposts and outworks of his life, he is shy and secretive to a degree, how close must be the concealment, how impenetrable the reserve in which he enshrouds the inner keep and citadel of his being! When the princess in the fairy tale asks the giant where he keeps his soul, he generally gives false or evasive answers, and it is only after much coaxing and wheedling that the secret is at last wrung from him. In his jealous reticence the giant resembles the timid and furtive savage; but whereas the exigencies of the story demand that the giant should at last reveal his secret, no such obligation is laid on the savage; and no inducement that can be offered is likely to tempt him to imperil his soul by revealing its hiding-place to a stranger. It is therefore no matter for surprise that the central mystery of the savage’s life should so long have remained a secret, and that we should be left to piece it together from scattered hints and fragments and from the recollections of it which linger in fairy tales.

This view of totemism throws light on a class of religious rites of which no adequate explanation, so far as I am aware, has yet been offered. Amongst many savage tribes, especially such as are known to practise totemism, it is customary for lads at puberty to undergo certain initiatory rites, of which one of the commonest is a pretence of killing the lad and bringing him to life again. Such rites become intelligible if we suppose that their substance consists in extracting the youth’s soul in order to transfer it to his totem. For the extraction of his soul would naturally be supposed to kill the youth or, at least, to throw him into a death-like trance, which the savage hardly distinguishes from death. His recovery would then be attributed either to the gradual recovery of his system from the violent shock which it had received, or, more probably, to the infusion into him of fresh life drawn from the totem. Thus the essence of these initiatory rites, so far as they consist in a simulation of death and resurrection, would be an exchange of life or souls between the man and his totem. The primitive belief in the possibility of such an exchange of souls comes clearly out in the story of the Basque hunter who affirmed that he had been killed by a bear, but that the bear had, after killing him, breathed its own soul into him, so that the bear’s body was now dead, but he himself was a bear, being animated by the bear’s soul.(899) This revival of the dead hunter as a bear is exactly analogous to what, if I am right, is supposed to take place in the totemistic ceremony of killing a lad at puberty and bringing him to life again. The lad dies as a man and comes to life again as an animal; the animal’s soul is now in him, and his human soul is in the animal. With good right, therefore, does he call himself a Bear or a Wolf, etc., according to his totem; and with good right does he treat the bears or the wolves, etc., as his brethren, since in these animals are lodged the souls of himself and his kindred.

Examples of this supposed death and resurrection at initiation are the following. Among some of the Australian tribes of New South Wales, when lads are initiated, it is thought that a being called Thuremlin takes each lad to a distance, kills him, and sometimes cuts him up, after which he restores him to life and knocks out a tooth.(900) In one part of Queensland the humming sound of the Bullroarer, which is swung at the initiatory rites, is said to be the noise made by the wizards in swallowing the boys and bringing them up again as young men. “The Ualaroi of the Upper Darling River say that the boy meets a ghost which kills him and brings him to life again as a man.”(901) This resurrection appears to be represented at the initiatory rites by the following ceremony. An old man, disguised with stringy bark fibre, lies down in a grave, and is lightly covered up with sticks and earth, and as far as possible the natural appearance of the ground is restored, the excavated earth being carried away. The buried man holds a small bush in his hand; it appears to be growing in the soil, and other bushes are stuck in the soil to heighten the effect. The novices are then brought to the edge of the grave, and a song is sung, in which the only words used are the “class-name” of the buried man and the word for stringy bark fibre. Gradually, as the song continues, the bush held by the buried man begins to quiver and then to move more and more, and finally the man himself starts up from the grave.(902) Similarly, Fijian lads at initiation were shown a row of apparently dead men, covered with blood, their bodies seemingly cut open, and their entrails protruding. But at a yell from the priest the pretended dead men sprang to their feet and ran to the river to cleanse themselves from the blood and entrails of pigs with which they had been besmeared.(903)

In the valley of the Congo initiatory rites of this sort are common. In some places they are called Ndembo. “In the practice of Ndembo the initiating doctors get some one to fall down in a pretended fit, and in that state he is carried away to an enclosed place outside the town. This is called ‘dying Ndembo.’ Others follow suit, generally boys and girls, but often young men and women.... They are supposed to have died. But the parents and friends supply food, and after a period varying, according to custom, from three months to three years, it is arranged that the doctor shall bring them to life again.... When the doctor’s fee has been paid, and money (goods) saved for a feast, the _Ndembo_ people are brought to life. At first they pretend to know no one and nothing; they do not even know how to masticate food, and friends have to perform that office for them. They want everything nice that any one uninitiated may have, and beat them if it is not granted, or even strangle and kill people. They do not get into trouble for this, because it is thought that they do not know better. Sometimes they carry on the pretence of talking gibberish, and behaving as if they had returned from the spirit-world. After this they are known by another name, peculiar to those who have ‘died Ndembo.’ ... We hear of the custom far along on the upper river, as well as in the cataract region.”(904) The following account of the rites, as practised in this part of Africa, was given to Bastian by an interpreter. “In the land of Ambamba every one must die once, and when the fetish priest shakes his calabash against a village, all the men and lads whose hour is come fall into a state of lifeless torpidity, from which they generally awake after three days. But if the fetish loves a man he carries him away into the bush and buries him in the fetish house, often for many years. When he comes to life again, he begins to eat and drink as before, but his understanding is gone and the fetish man must teach him and direct him in every motion, like the smallest child. At first this can only be done with a stick, but gradually his senses return, so that it is possible to talk with him, and when his education is complete, the priest brings him back to his parents. They would seldom recognise their son but for the express assurances of the fetish priest, who moreover recalls previous events to their memory. He who has not gone through the ceremony of the new birth in Ambamba is universally looked down upon and is not admitted to the dances.” During the period of initiation the novice is sympathetically united to the fetish by which his life is henceforward determined.(905) The novice, plunged in the magic sleep or death-like trance within the sacred hut, “beholds a bird or other object with which his existence is thenceforward sympathetically bound up, just as the life of the young Indian is bound up with the animal which he sees in his dreams at puberty.”(906)

Rites of this sort were formerly observed in Quoja, on the west coast of Africa, to the north of the Congo. They are thus described by an old writer:—“They have another ceremony which they call Belli-Paaro, but it is not for everybody. For it is an incorporation in the assembly of the spirits, and confers the right of entering their groves, that is to say, of going and eating the offerings which the simple folk bring thither. The initiation or admission to the Belli-Paaro is celebrated every twenty or twenty-five years. The initiated recount marvels of the ceremony, saying that they are roasted, that they entirely change their habits and life, and that they receive a spirit quite different from that of other people and quite new lights. The badge of membership consists in some lines traced on the neck between the shoulders; the lines seem to be pricked with a needle. Those who have this mark pass for persons of spirit, and when they have attained a certain age they are allowed a voice in all public assemblies; whereas the uninitiated are regarded as profane, impure, and ignorant persons, who dare not express an opinion on any subject of importance. When the time for the ceremony has come, it is celebrated as follows: By order of the king a place is appointed in the forest, whither they bring the youths who have not been marked, not without much crying and weeping; for it is impressed upon the youths that in order to undergo this change it is necessary to suffer death. So they dispose of their property, as if it were all over with them. There are always some of the initiated beside the novices to instruct them. They teach them to dance a certain dance called _killing_, and to sing verses in praise of Belli. Above all, they are very careful not to let them die of hunger, because if they did so, it is much to be feared that the spiritual resurrection would profit them nothing. This manner of life lasts five or six years, and is comfortable enough, for there is a village in the forest, and they amuse themselves with hunting and fishing. Other lads are brought thither from time to time, so that the last comers have not long to stay. No woman or uninitiated person is suffered to pass within four or five leagues of the sacred wood. When their instruction is completed, they are taken from the wood and shut up in small huts made for the purpose. Here they begin once more to hold communion with mankind and to talk with the women who bring them their food. It is amusing to see their affected simplicity. They pretend to know no one, and to be ignorant of all the customs of the country, such as the customs of washing themselves, rubbing themselves with oil, etc. When they enter these huts, their bodies are all covered with the feathers of birds, and they wear caps of bark which hang down before their faces. But after a time they are dressed in clothes and taken to a great open place, where all the people of the neighbourhood are assembled. Here the novices give the first proof of their capacity by dancing a dance which is called the dance of Belli. After the dance is over, the novices are taken to the houses of their parents by their instructors.”(907)

Among the Indians of Virginia, an initiatory ceremony, called _Huskanaw_, took place every sixteen or twenty years, or oftener, as the young men happened to grow up. The youths were kept in solitary confinement in the woods for several months, receiving no food but an infusion of some intoxicating roots, so that they went raving mad, and continued in this state eighteen or twenty days. “Upon this occasion it is pretended that these poor creatures drink so much of the water of Lethe that they perfectly lose the remembrance of all former things, even of their parents, their treasure, and their language. When the doctors find that they have drank sufficiently of the Wysoccan (so they call this mad potion), they gradually restore them to their senses again by lessening the intoxication of their diet; but before they are perfectly well they bring them back into their towns, while they are still wild and crazy through the violence of the medicine. After this they are very fearful of discovering anything of their former remembrance; for if such a thing should happen to any of them, they must immediately be _Huskanaw’d_ again; and the second time the usage is so severe that seldom any one escapes with life. Thus they must pretend to have forgot the very use of their tongues, so as not to be able to speak, nor understand anything that is spoken, till they learn it again. Now, whether this be real or counterfeit, I don’t know; but certain it is that they will not for some time take notice of any body nor any thing with which they were before acquainted, being still under the guard of their keepers, who constantly wait upon them everywhere till they have learnt all things perfectly over again. Thus they unlive their former lives, and commence men by forgetting that they ever have been boys.”(908)

Among some of the Indian tribes of North America there are certain religious associations which are only open to candidates who have gone through a pretence of being killed and brought to life again. Captain Carver witnessed the admission of a candidate to an association called “the friendly society of the Spirit” among the Naudowessies. The candidate knelt before the chief, who told him that “he himself was now agitated by the same spirit which he should in a few moments communicate to him; that it would strike him dead, but that he would instantly be restored again to life.... As he spoke this, he appeared to be greatly agitated, till at last his emotions became so violent that his countenance was distorted and his whole frame convulsed. At this juncture he threw something that appeared both in shape and colour like a small bean at the young man, which seemed to enter his mouth, and he instantly fell as motionless as if he had been shot.” For a time the man lay like dead, but under a shower of blows he showed signs of consciousness, and finally, discharging from his mouth the bean, or whatever it was the chief had thrown at him, he came to life.(909) In other tribes the instrument by which the candidate is apparently slain is the medicine-bag. The bag is made of the skin of an animal (such as the otter, wild cat, serpent, bear, raccoon, wolf, owl, weasel), of which it roughly preserves the shape. Each member of the society has one of these bags, in which he keeps the odds and ends that make up his “medicine” or charms. “They believe that from the miscellaneous contents in the belly of the skin bag or animal there issues a spirit or breath, which has the power, not only to knock down and kill a man, but also to set him up and restore him to life.” The mode of killing a man with one of these medicine-bags is to thrust it at him; he falls like dead, but a second thrust of the bag restores him to life.(910)

A ceremony witnessed by Jewitt during his captivity among the Indians of Nootka Sound doubtless belongs to this class of customs. The Indian king or chief “discharged a pistol close to his son’s ear, who immediately fell down as if killed, upon which all the women of the house set up a most lamentable cry, tearing handfuls of hair from their heads, and exclaiming that the prince was dead; at the same time a great number of the inhabitants rushed into the house armed with their daggers, muskets, etc., inquiring the cause of their outcry. These were immediately followed by two others dressed in wolf skins, with masks over their faces representing the head of that animal. The latter came in on their hands and feet in the manner of a beast, and taking up the prince, carried him off upon their backs, retiring in the same manner as they entered.”(911) In another place Jewitt mentions that the young prince—a lad of about eleven years of age—wore a mask in imitation of a wolf’s head.(912) Now, as the Indians of this part of America are divided into totem clans, of which the Wolf clan is one of the principal, and as the members of each clan are in the habit of wearing some portion of the totem animal about their person,(913) it is probable that the prince belonged to the Wolf clan, and that the ceremony described by Jewitt represented the killing of the lad in order that he might be born anew as a wolf, much in the same way that the Basque hunter supposed himself to have been killed and to have come to life again as a bear. The Toukaway Indians of Texas, one of whose totems is the wolf, have a ceremony in which men, dressed in wolf skins, run about on all fours, howling and mimicking wolves. At last they scratch up a living tribesman, who has been buried on purpose, and putting a bow and arrows in his hands, bid him do as the wolves do—rob, kill, and murder.(914) The ceremony probably forms part of an initiatory rite like the resurrection from the grave of the old man in the Australian rites.

The people of Rook, an island east of New Guinea, hold festivals at which one or two disguised men, their heads covered with wooden masks, go dancing through the village, followed by all the other men. They demand that the circumcised boys who have not yet been swallowed by Marsaba (the devil) shall be given up to them. The boys, trembling and shrieking, are delivered to them, and must creep between the legs of the disguised men. Then the procession moves through the village again, and announces that Marsaba has eaten up the boys, and will not disgorge them till he receives a present of pigs, taro, etc. So all the villagers, according to their means, contribute provisions, which are then consumed in the name of Marsaba.(915) In New Britain all males are members of an association called the Duk-duk. The boys are admitted to it very young, but are not fully initiated till their fourteenth year, when they receive from the Tubuvan a terrible blow with a cane, which is supposed to kill them. The Tubuvan and the Duk-duk are two disguised men who represent cassowaries. They dance with a short hopping step in imitation of the cassowary. Each of them wears a huge hat like an extinguisher, woven of grass or palm-fibres; it is six feet high, and descends to the wearer’s shoulders, completely concealing his head and face. From the neck to the knees the man’s body is hidden by a crinoline made of the leaves of a certain tree fastened on hoops, one above the other. The Tubuvan is regarded as a female, the Duk-duk as a male. No woman may see these disguised men. The institution of the Duk-duk is common to the neighbouring islands of New Ireland and the Duke of York.(916)

Amongst the Galela and Tobelorese of Halmahera, an island to the west of New Guinea, boys go through a form of initiation, part of which seems to consist in a pretence of begetting them anew. When a number of boys have reached the proper age, their parents agree to celebrate the ceremony at their common expense, and they invite others to be present at it. A shed is erected, and two long tables are placed in it, with benches to match, one for the men and one for the women. When all the preparations have been made for a feast, a great many skins of the rayfish, and some pieces of a wood which imparts a red colour to water, are taken to the shed. A priest or elder causes a vessel to be placed in the sight of all the people, and then begins, with significant gestures, to rub a piece of the wood with the ray-skin. The powder so produced is put in the vessel, and at the same time the name of one of the boys is called out. The same proceeding is repeated for each boy. Then the vessels are filled with water, after which the feast begins. At the third cock-crow the priest smears the faces and bodies of the boys with the red water, which represents the blood shed at the perforation of the _hymen_. Towards daybreak the boys are taken to the wood, and must hide behind the largest trees. The men, armed with sword and shield, accompany them, dancing and singing. The priest knocks thrice on each of the trees behind which a boy is hiding. All day the boys stay in the wood, exposing themselves to the heat of the sun as much as possible. In the evening they bathe and return to the shed, where the women supply them with food.(917)

In the west of Ceram boys at puberty are admitted to the Kakian association.(918) Modern writers have commonly regarded this association as primarily a political league instituted to resist foreign domination. In reality its objects are purely religious and social, though it is possible that the priests may have occasionally used their powerful influence for political ends. The society is in fact merely one of those widely-diffused primitive institutions, of which a chief object is the initiation of young men. In recent years the true nature of the association has been duly recognised by the distinguished Dutch ethnologist, J. G. F. Riedel. The Kakian house is an oblong wooden shed, situated under the darkest trees in the depth of the forest, and is built to admit so little light that it is impossible to see what goes on in it. Every village has such a house. Thither the boys who are to be initiated are conducted blindfolded, followed by their parents and relations. Each boy is led by the hand by two men, who act as his sponsors or guardians, looking after him during the period of initiation. When all are assembled before the shed, the high priest calls aloud upon the devils. Immediately a hideous uproar is heard to proceed from the shed. It is made by men with bamboo trumpets, who have been secretly introduced into the building by a back door, but the women and children think it is made by the devils, and are much terrified. Then the priests enter the shed, followed by the boys, one at a time. As soon as each boy has disappeared within the precincts, a dull chopping sound is heard, a fearful cry rings out, and a sword or spear, dripping with blood, is thrust through the roof of the shed. This is a token that the boy’s head has been cut off, and that the devil has carried him away to the other world, there to regenerate and transform him. So at sight of the bloody sword the mothers weep and wail, crying that the devil has murdered their children. In some places, it would seem, the boys are pushed through an opening made in the shape of a crocodile’s jaws or a cassowary’s beak, and it is then said that the devil has swallowed them. The boys remain in the shed for five or nine days. Sitting in the dark, they hear the blast of the bamboo trumpets, and from time to time the sound of musket shots and the clash of swords. Every day they bathe, and their faces and bodies are smeared with a yellow dye, to give them the appearance of having been swallowed by the devil. During his stay in the Kakian house each boy has one or two crosses tattooed with thorns on his breast or arm. When they are not sleeping, the lads must sit in a crouching posture without moving a muscle. As they sit in a row cross-legged, with their hands stretched out, the chief takes his trumpet, and placing the mouth of it on the hands of each lad, speaks through it in strange tones, imitating the voice of the spirits. He warns the lads, under pain of death, to observe the rules of the Kakian society, and never to reveal what has passed in the Kakian house. The novices are also told by the priests to behave well to their blood relations, and are taught the traditions and secrets of the tribe.

Meantime the mothers and sisters of the lads have gone home to weep and mourn. But in a day or two the men who acted as guardians or sponsors to the novices return to the village with the glad tidings that the devil, at the intercession of the priests, has restored the lads to life. The men who bring this news come in a fainting state and daubed with mud, like messengers freshly arrived from the nether world. Before leaving the Kakian house, each lad receives from the priest a stick adorned at both ends with cock’s or cassowary’s feathers. The sticks are supposed to have been given to the lads by the devil at the time when he restored them to life, and they serve as a token that the lads have been in the spirit-land. When they return to their homes they totter in their walk, and enter the house backward, as if they had forgotten how to walk properly; or they enter the house by the back door. If a plate of food is given to them, they hold it upside down. They remain dumb, indicating their wants by signs only. All this is to show that they are still under the influence of the devil or the spirits. Their sponsors have to teach them all the common acts of life, as if they were new-born children. Further, upon leaving the Kakian house the boys are strictly forbidden to eat of certain fruits until the next celebration of the rites has taken place. And for twenty or thirty days their hair may not be combed by their mothers or sisters. At the end of that time the high priest takes them to a lonely place in the forest, and cuts off a lock of hair from the crown of each of their heads. After these initiatory rites the lads are deemed men, and may marry; it would be a scandal if they married before.

The simulation of death and resurrection or of a new birth at initiation appears to have lingered on, or at least to have left traces of itself, among peoples who have advanced far beyond the stage of savagery. Thus, after his investiture with the sacred thread—the symbol of his order—a Brahman is called “twice-born.” Manu says, “According to the injunction of the revealed texts the first birth of an Aryan is from his natural mother, the second happens on the tying of the girdle of Muñga grass, and the third on the initiation to the performance of a Srauta sacrifice.”(919) A pretence of killing the candidate appears to have formed part of the initiation to the Mithraic mysteries.(920)

Thus, if I am right, wherever totemism is found, and wherever a pretence is made of killing and bringing to life again at initiation, there must exist or have existed not only a belief in the possibility of permanently depositing the soul in some external object—animal, plant, or what not—but an actual intention of so depositing it. If the question is put, why do men desire to deposit their life outside their bodies? the answer can only be that, like the giant in the fairy tale, they think it safer to do so than to carry it about with them, just as people deposit their money with a banker rather than carry it on their persons. We have seen that at critical periods the life or soul is sometimes temporarily deposited in a safe place till the danger is past. But institutions like totemism are not resorted to merely on special occasions of danger; they are systems into which every one, or at least every male, is obliged to be initiated at a certain period of life. Now the period of life at which initiation takes place is regularly puberty; and this fact suggests that the special danger which totemism and systems like it are intended to obviate is supposed not to arise till sexual maturity has been attained, in fact, that the danger apprehended is believed to attend the relation of the sexes to each other. It would be easy to prove by a long array of facts that the sexual relation is associated in the primitive mind with many supernatural perils; but the exact nature of the danger apprehended is still obscure. We may hope that a more exact acquaintance with savage modes of thought will in time disclose this central mystery of primitive society, and will thereby furnish the clue, not only to the social aspect of totemism (the prohibition of sexual union between persons of the same totem), but to the origin of the marriage system.

§ 5.—Conclusion.

Thus the view that Balder’s life was in the mistletoe is entirely in harmony with primitive modes of thought. It may indeed sound like a contradiction that, if his life was in the mistletoe, he should nevertheless have been killed by a blow from it. But when a person’s life is conceived as embodied in a particular object, with the existence of which his own existence is inseparably bound up, and the destruction of which involves his own, the object in question may be regarded and spoken of indifferently as the person’s life or as his death, as happens in the fairy tales. Hence if a man’s death is in an object, it is perfectly natural that he should be killed by a blow from it. In the fairy tales Koshchei the Deathless is killed by a blow from the egg or the stone in which his life or death is;(921) the ogres burst when a certain grain of sand—doubtless containing their life or death—is carried over their heads;(922) the magician dies when the stone in which his life or death is contained is put under his pillow;(923) and the Tartar hero is warned that he may be killed by the golden arrow or golden sword in which his soul has been stowed away.(924)

The idea that the life of the oak was in the mistletoe was probably suggested, as I have said, by the observation that in winter the mistletoe growing on the oak remains green, while the oak itself is leafless. But the position of the plant—growing, not from the ground, but from the trunk or branches of the tree—might confirm this idea. Primitive man might think that, like himself, the oak-spirit had sought to deposit his life in some safe place, and for this purpose had pitched on the mistletoe, which, being in a sense neither on earth nor in heaven, was as secure a place as could be found. At the beginning of this chapter we saw that primitive man seeks to preserve the life of his human divinities by keeping them in a sort of intermediate position between earth and heaven, as the place where they are least likely to be assailed by the dangers that encompass the life of man on earth. We can therefore understand why in modern folk-medicine the mistletoe is not allowed to touch the ground; if it touches the ground, its healing virtue is supposed to be gone.(925) This may be a survival of the old superstition that the plant in which the life of the sacred tree was concentrated should not be exposed to the risk incurred by contact with the ground. In an Indian legend, which offers a parallel to the Balder myth, Indra promised the demon Namuci not to kill him by day or by night, nor with what was wet or what was dry. But he killed him in the morning twilight by sprinkling over him the foam of the sea.(926) The foam of the sea is just such an object as a savage might choose to put his life in, because it occupies that sort of intermediate or nondescript position between earth and sky or sea and sky in which primitive man sees safety. It is therefore not surprising that the foam of the river should be the totem of a clan in India.(927) Again, the view that the mistletoe owes its mystic character partly to the fact of its not growing on the ground is confirmed by a parallel superstition about the mountain-ash or rowan-tree. In Jutland a rowan that is found growing out of the top of another tree is esteemed “exceedingly effective against witchcraft: since it does not grow on the ground witches have no power over it; if it is to have its full effect it must be cut on Ascension Day.”(928) Hence it is placed over doors to prevent the ingress of witches.(929) Similarly the mistletoe in Germany is still universally considered a protection against witchcraft, and in Sweden, as we saw, the mistletoe which is gathered on Midsummer Eve is attached to the ceiling of the house, the horse stall, or the cow’s crib, in the belief that this renders the Troll powerless to injure man or beast.(930)

The view that the mistletoe was not merely the instrument of Balder’s death, but that it contained his life, is countenanced by the analogy of a Scottish superstition. Tradition ran that the fate of the family of Hay was bound up with the mistletoe of a certain oak.

“While the mistletoe bats on Errol’s oak, And that oak stands fast, The Hays shall flourish, and their good gray hawk Shall not flinch before the blast.

“But when the root of the oak decays, And the mistletoe dwines on its withered breast, The grass shall grow on the Earl’s hearthstone, And the corbies craw in the falcon’s nest.”

“A large oak with the mistletoe growing on it was long pointed out as the tree referred to. A piece of the mistletoe cut by a Hay was believed to have magical virtues. ‘The oak is gone and the estate is lost to the family,’ as a local historian says.”(931) The idea that the fate of a family, as distinct from the lives of its members, is bound up with a

## particular plant or tree, is no doubt comparatively modern. The older view

probably was that the lives of all the Hays were in this particular mistletoe, just as in the Indian story the lives of all the ogres are in a lemon; to break a twig of the mistletoe would then have been to kill one of the Hays. Similarly in the island of Rum, whose bold mountains the voyager from Oban to Skye observes to seaward, it was thought that if one of the family of Lachlin shot a deer on the mountain of Finchra, he would die suddenly or contract a distemper which would soon prove fatal.(932) Probably the life of the Lachlins was bound up with the deer on Finchra, as the life of the Hays was bound up with the mistletoe on Errol’s oak.

It is not a new opinion that the Golden Bough was the mistletoe.(933) True, Virgil does not identify but only compares it with the mistletoe. But this may be only a poetical device to cast a mystic glamour over the humble plant. Or, more probably, his description was based on a popular superstition that at certain times the mistletoe blazed out into a supernatural golden glory. The poet tells how two doves, guiding Aeneas to the gloomy vale in whose depth grew the Golden Bough, alighted upon a tree, “whence shone a flickering gleam of gold. As in the woods in winter cold the mistletoe—a plant not native to its tree—is green with fresh leaves and twines its yellow berries about the boles; such seemed upon the shady oak the leafy gold, so rustled in the gentle breeze the golden leaf.”(934) Here Virgil definitely describes the Golden Bough as growing on an oak, and compares it with the mistletoe. The inference is almost inevitable that the Golden Bough was nothing but the mistletoe seen through the haze of poetry or of popular superstition.

Now grounds have been shown for believing that the priest of the Arician grove—the King of the Wood—personified the tree on which grew the Golden Bough.(935) Hence, if that tree was the oak, the King of the Wood must have been a personification of the oak-spirit. It is, therefore, easy to understand why, before he could be slain, it was necessary to break the Golden Bough. As an oak-spirit, his life or death was in the mistletoe on the oak, and so long as the mistletoe remained intact, he, like Balder, could not die. To slay him, therefore, it was necessary to break the mistletoe, and probably, as in the case of Balder, to throw it at him. And to complete the parallel, it is only necessary to suppose that the King of the Wood was formerly burned, dead or alive, at the midsummer fire festival which, as we have seen, was annually celebrated in the Arician grove.(936) The perpetual fire which burned in the grove, like the perpetual fire under the oak at Romove, was probably fed with the sacred oak-wood; and thus it would be in a great fire of oak that the King of the Wood formerly met his end. At a later time, as I have suggested, his annual tenure of office was lengthened or shortened, as the case might be, by the rule which allowed him to live so long as he could prove his divine right by the strong hand. But he only escaped the fire to fall by the sword.

Thus it seems that at a remote age in the heart of Italy, beside the sweet lake of Nemi, the same fiery tragedy was annually enacted which Italian merchants and soldiers were afterwards to witness among their rude kindred, the Celts of Gaul, and which, if the Roman eagles had ever swooped on Norway, might have been found repeated with little difference among the barbarous Aryans of the North. The rite was probably an essential feature in the primitive Aryan worship of the oak.(937)

It only remains to ask, Why was the mistletoe called the Golden Bough? The name was not simply a poet’s fancy, nor even peculiarly Italian; for in Welsh also the mistletoe is known as “the tree of pure gold.”(938) The whitish-yellow of the mistletoe berries is hardly enough to account for the name. For Virgil says that the Bough was altogether golden, stem as well as leaves,(939) and the same is implied in the Welsh name, “the tree of pure gold.” A clue to the real meaning of the name is furnished by the mythical fern-seed or fern-bloom.

We saw that fern-seed is popularly supposed to bloom like gold or fire on Midsummer Eve. Thus in Bohemia it is said that “on St. John’s Day fern-seed blooms with golden blossoms that gleam like fire.”(940) Now it is a property of this mythical fern-seed that whoever has it, or will ascend a mountain holding it in his hand on Midsummer Eve, will discover a vein of gold or will see the treasures of the earth shining with a bluish flame.(941) And if you place fern-seed among money, the money will never decrease, however much of it you spend.(942) Sometimes the fern-seed is supposed to bloom at Christmas, and whoever catches it will become very rich.(943) Thus, on the principle of like by like, fern-seed is supposed to discover gold because it is itself golden; and for a similar reason it enriches its possessor with an unfailing supply of gold. But while the fern-seed is described as golden, it is equally described as glowing and fiery.(944) Hence, when we consider that two great days for gathering the fabulous seed are Midsummer Eve and Christmas—that is, the two solstices (for Christmas is nothing but an old heathen celebration of the winter solstice)—we are led to regard the fiery aspect of the fern-seed as primary, and its golden aspect as secondary and derivative. Fern-seed, in fact, would seem to be an emanation of the sun’s fire at the two turning-points of its course, the summer and winter solstices. This view is confirmed by a German story in which a hunter is said to have procured fern-seed by shooting at the sun on Midsummer Day at noon; three drops of blood fell down, which he caught in a white cloth, and these blood-drops were the fern-seed.(945) Here the blood is clearly the blood of the sun, from which the fern-seed is thus directly derived. Thus it may be taken as certain that fern-seed is golden, because it is believed to be an emanation of the sun’s golden fire.

Now, like fern-seed, the mistletoe is gathered either at Midsummer or Christmas(946)—that is, at the summer and winter solstices—and, like fern-seed, it is supposed to possess the power of revealing treasures in the earth. On Midsummer Eve people in Sweden make divining-rods of mistletoe or of four different kinds of wood, one of which must be mistletoe. The treasure-seeker places the rod on the ground after sundown, and when it rests directly over treasure, the rod begins to move as if it were alive.(947) Now, if the mistletoe discovers gold, it must be in its character of the Golden Bough; and if it is gathered at the solstices, must not the Golden Bough, like the golden fern-seed, be an emanation of the sun’s fire? The question cannot be answered with a simple affirmative. We have seen that the primitive Aryans probably kindled the midsummer bonfires as sun-charms, that is, with the intention of supplying the sun with fresh fire. But as this fire was always elicited by the friction of oak wood,(948) it must have appeared to the primitive Aryan that the sun was periodically recruited from the fire which resided in the sacred oak. In other words, the oak must have seemed to him the original storehouse or reservoir of the fire which was from time to time drawn out to feed the sun. But the life of the oak was conceived to be in the mistletoe; therefore the mistletoe must have contained the seed or germ of the fire which was elicited by friction from the wood of the oak. Thus, instead of saying that the mistletoe was an emanation of the sun’s fire, it would be more correct to say that the sun’s fire was regarded as an emanation of the mistletoe. No wonder, then, that the mistletoe shone with a golden splendour, and was called the Golden Bough. Probably, however, like fern-seed, it was thought to assume its golden aspect only at those stated times, especially midsummer, when fire was drawn from the oak to light up the sun.(949) At Pulverbatch, in Shropshire, it was believed within living memory that the oak-tree blooms on Midsummer Eve and the blossom withers before daylight.(950) This fleeting bloom of the oak, if I am right, could originally have been nothing but the mistletoe in its character of the Golden Bough. As Shropshire borders on Wales, the superstition may be Welsh in its immediate origin, though probably the belief is a fragment of the primitive Aryan creed. In some parts of Italy, as we saw,(951) peasants still go out on Midsummer morning to search the oak-trees for the “oil of St. John,” which, like the mistletoe, heals all wounds, and is doubtless the mistletoe itself in its glorified aspect. Thus it is easy to understand how a title like the Golden Bough or the “tree of pure gold,” so little descriptive of the real appearance of the plant, should have held its ground as a name for the mistletoe in Italy and Wales, and probably in other parts of the Aryan world.(952)

Now, too, we can fully understand why Virbius came to be confounded with the sun. If Virbius was, as I have tried to show, a tree-spirit, he must have been the spirit of the oak on which grew the Golden Bough; for tradition represented him as the first of the Kings of the Wood. As an oak-spirit he must have been supposed periodically to rekindle the sun’s fire, and might therefore easily be confounded with the sun itself. Similarly we can explain why Balder, an oak-spirit, was described as “so fair of face and so shining that a light went forth from him,”(953) and why he should have been so often taken to be the sun. And in general we may say that in primitive society, when the only known way of making fire is by the friction of wood, the savage must necessarily conceive fire as a property stored away, like sap or juice, in trees, from which he has laboriously to extract it. Thus all trees, or at least the particular sorts of trees whose wood he employs in fire-making, must be regarded by him as reservoirs of hidden fire, and it is natural that he should describe them by epithets like golden, shining, or bright. May not this have been the origin of the name, “the Bright or Shining One” (Zeus, Jove) by which the ancient Greeks and Italians designated their supreme god?(954) It is at least highly significant that, amongst both Greeks and Italians, the oak should have been the tree of the supreme god, that at his most ancient shrines, both in Greece and Italy, this supreme god should have been actually represented by an oak, and that so soon as the barbarous Aryans of Northern Europe appear in the light of history, they should be found, amid all diversities of language, of character, and of country, nevertheless at one in worshipping the oak as the chief object of their religious reverence, and extracting their sacred fire from its wood. If we are to judge of the primitive religion of the European Aryans by comparing the religions of the different branches of the stock, the highest place in their pantheon must certainly be assigned to the oak. The result, then, of our inquiry is to make it probable that, down to the time of the Roman Empire and the beginning of our era, the primitive worship of the Aryans was maintained nearly in its original form in the sacred grove at Nemi, as in the oak woods of Gaul, of Prussia, and of Scandinavia; and that the King of the Wood lived and died as an incarnation of the supreme Aryan god, whose life was in the mistletoe or Golden Bough.

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If, in bidding farewell to Nemi, we look around us for the last time, we shall find the lake and its surroundings not much changed from what they were in the days when Diana and Virbius still received the homage of their worshippers in the sacred grove. The temple of Diana, indeed, has disappeared, and the King of the Wood no longer stands sentinel over the Golden Bough. But Nemi’s woods are still green, and at evening you may hear the church bells of Albano, and perhaps, if the air be still, of Rome itself, ringing the Angelus. Sweet and solemn they chime out from the distant city, and die lingeringly away across the wide Campagnan marshes. _Le roi est mort, vive le roi!_

NOTE. OFFERINGS OF FIRST-FRUITS.

We have seen (vol. ii. p. 68 _sqq._) that primitive peoples often partake of the new corn sacramentally, because they suppose it to be instinct with a divine spirit or life. At a later age, when the fruits of the earth are conceived as produced rather than as animated by a divinity, the new fruits are no longer partaken of sacramentally as the body and blood of a god; but a portion of them is presented as a thank-offering to the divine beings who are believed to have produced them. Sometimes the first-fruits are presented to the king, probably in his character of a god. Till the first-fruits have been offered to the deity or the king, people are not at liberty to eat of the new crops. But, as it is not always possible to draw a sharp line between the sacrament and the sacrifice of first-fruits, it may be well to round off this part of the subject by appending some miscellaneous examples of the latter.

Among the Basutos, when the corn has been threshed and winnowed, it is left in a heap on the threshing-floor. Before it can be touched a religious ceremony must be performed. The persons to whom the corn belongs bring a new vessel to the spot, in which they boil some of the grain. When it is boiled they throw a few handfuls of it on the heap of corn, saying, “Thank you, gods; give us bread to-morrow also!” When this is done the rest is eaten, and the provision for the year is considered pure and fit to eat.(955) Here the sacrifice of the first-fruits to the gods is the prominent idea, which comes out again in the custom of leaving in the threshing-floor a little hollow filled with grain, as a thank-offering to the gods.(956) Still the Basutos retain a lively sense of the sanctity of the corn in itself; for, so long as it is exposed to view, all defiled persons are carefully kept from it. If it is necessary to employ a defiled person in carrying home the harvest, he remains at some distance while the sacks are being filled, and only approaches to place them upon the draught oxen. As soon as the load is deposited at the dwelling he retires, and under no pretext may he help to pour the corn into the baskets in which it is kept.(957)

In Ashantee a harvest festival is held in September when the yams are ripe. During the festival the king eats the new yams, but none of the people may eat them till the close of the festival, which lasts a fortnight. During its continuance the grossest liberty prevails; theft, intrigue, and assault go unpunished, and each sex abandons itself to its passions.(958) The Hovas of Madagascar present the first sheaves of the new grain to the sovereign. The sheaves are carried in procession to the palace from time to time as the grain ripens.(959) So in Burma, when the _pangati_ fruits ripen, some of them used to be taken to the king’s palace that he might eat of them; no one might partake of them before the king.(960)

Every year, when they gather their first crops, the Kochs of Assam offer some of the first-fruits to their ancestors, calling to them by name and clapping their hands.(961) In August, when the rice ripens, the Hos offer the first-fruits of the harvest to Sing Bonga, who dwells in the sun. Along with the new rice a white cock is sacrificed; and till the sacrifice has been offered no one may eat the new rice.(962) Among the hill tribes near Rajamahall, in India, when the _kosarane_ grain is being reaped in November or early in December, a festival is held as a thanksgiving before the new grain is eaten. On a day appointed by the chief a goat is sacrificed by two men to a god called Chitariah Gossaih, after which the chief himself sacrifices a fowl. Then the vassals repair to their fields, offer thanksgiving, make an oblation to Kull Gossaih (who is described as the Ceres of these mountaineers), and then return to their houses to eat of the new _kosarane_. As soon as the inhabitants have assembled at the chief’s house—the men sitting on one side and the women on the other—a hog, a measure of _kosarane_, and a pot of spirits are presented to the chief, who in return blesses his vassals, and exhorts them to industry and good behaviour; “after which, making a libation in the names of all their gods, and of their dead, he drinks, and also throws a little of the _kosarane_ away, repeating the same pious exclamations.” Drinking and festivity then begin, and are kept up for several days. The same tribes have another festival at reaping the Indian corn in August or September. Every man repairs to his fields with a hog, a goat, or a fowl, which he sacrifices to Kull Gossaih. Then, having feasted, he returns home, where another repast is prepared. On this day it is customary for every family in the village to distribute to every house a little of what they have prepared for their feast. Should any person eat of the new _kosarane_ or the new Indian corn before the festival and public thanksgiving at the reaping of these crops, the chief fines him a white cock, which is sacrificed to Chitariah.(963) In the Central Provinces of India the first grain of the season is always offered to the god Bhímsen or Bhím Deo.(964) In the Punjaub, when sugar-cane is planted, a woman puts on a necklace and walks round the field, winding thread on to a spindle;(965) and when the sugar-cane is cut the first-fruits are offered on an altar, which is built close to the press and is sacred to the sugar-cane god. Afterwards the first-fruits are given to Brahmans. Also, when the women begin to pick the cotton, they go round the field eating rice-milk, the first mouthful of which they spit upon the field toward the west; and the first cotton picked is exchanged at the village shop for its weight in salt, which is prayed over and kept in the house till the picking is finished.(966)

In the island of Tjumba, East Indies, a festival is held after harvest. Vessels filled with rice are presented as a thank-offering to the gods. Then the sacred stone at the foot of a palm-tree is sprinkled with the blood of a sacrificed animal; and rice, with some of the flesh, is laid on the stone for the gods. The palm-tree is hung with lances and shields.(967) The Dyaks of Borneo hold a feast of first-fruits when the paddy (unhusked rice) is ripe. The priestesses, accompanied by a gong and drum, go in procession to the farms and gather several bunches of the ripe paddy. These are brought back to the village, washed in cocoa-nut water, and laid round a bamboo altar, which at the harvest festivals is erected in the common room of the largest house. The altar is gaily decorated with white and red streamers, and is hung with the sweet-smelling blossom of the areca palm. The feast lasts two days, during which the village is tabooed; no one may leave it. Only fowls are killed, and dancing and gong-beating go on day and night. When the festival is over the people are free to get in their crops.(968)

The pounding of the new paddy is the occasion of a harvest festival which is celebrated all over Celebes. The religious ceremonies which accompany the feast were witnessed by Dr. B. F. Matthes in July 1857. Two mats were spread on the ground, each with a pillow on it. On one of the pillows were placed a man’s clothes and a sword, on the other a woman’s clothes. These were seemingly intended to represent the deceased ancestors. Rice and water were placed before the two dummy figures, and they were sprinkled with the new paddy. Also dishes of rice were set down for the rest of the family and the slaves of the deceased. This was the end of the ceremony.(969) The Minahassa of Celebes have a festival of “eating the new rice.” Fowls or pigs are killed; some of the flesh, with rice and palm-wine, is set apart for the gods, and then the eating and drinking begin.(970) The people of Kobi and Sariputi, two villages on the north-east coast of Ceram, offer the first-fruits of the paddy, in the form of cooked rice, with tobacco, etc., to their ancestors, as a token of gratitude. The ceremony is called “feeding the dead.”(971) In the Tenimber and Timorlaut Islands, East Indies, the first-fruits of the paddy, along with live fowls and pigs, are offered to the _matmate_. The _matmate_ are the spirits of their ancestors, which are worshipped as guardian-spirits or household gods. They are supposed to enter the house through an opening in the roof, and to take up their abode temporarily in their skulls, or in images of wood or ivory, in order to partake of the offerings and to help the family. They also take the form of birds, pigs, crocodiles, turtles, sharks, etc.(972) In Amboina, after the rice or other harvest has been gathered in, some of the new fruits are offered to the gods, and till this is done, the priests may not eat of them. A portion of the new rice, or whatever it may be, is boiled, and milk of the cocoa-nut is poured on it, mixed with Indian saffron. It is then taken to the place of sacrifice and offered to the god. Some people also pour out oil before the deity; and if any of the oil is left over, they take it home as a holy and priceless treasure, wherewith they smear the forehead and breast of sick people and whole people, in the firm conviction that the oil confers all kinds of blessings.(973) The Irayas and Catalangans of Luzon, tribes of the Malay stock, but of mixed blood, worship chiefly the souls of their ancestors under the name of _anitos_, to whom they offer the first-fruits of the harvest. The _anitos_ are household deities; some of them reside in pots in the corners of the houses; and miniature houses, standing near the dwelling-house, are especially sacred to them.(974)

In certain tribes of Fiji “the first-fruits of the yam harvest are presented to the ancestors in the Nanga [sacred stone enclosure] with great ceremony, before the bulk of the crop is dug for the people’s use, and no man may taste of the new yams until the presentation has been made. The yams thus offered are piled in the Great Nanga, and are allowed to rot there. If any one were impiously bold enough to appropriate them to his own use, he would be smitten with madness. The mission teacher before mentioned told me that when he visited the Nanga he saw among the weeds with which it was overgrown numerous yam vines which had sprung up out of the piles of decayed offerings. Great feasts are made at the presentations of the first-fruits, which are times of public rejoicing, and the Nanga itself is frequently spoken of as the _Mbaki_, or Harvest.”(975) In other parts of Fiji the practice with regard to the first-fruits seems to have been different, for we are told by another observer that “the first-fruits of the yams, which are always presented at the principal temple of the district, become the property of the priests, and form their revenue, although the pretence of their being required for the use of the god is generally kept up.”(976) In Tana, one of the New Hebrides, the general name for gods appeared to be _aremha_, which meant “a dead man.” The spirits of departed ancestors were among the gods of the people. Chiefs who reached an advanced age were deified after their death, addressed by name, and prayed to on various occasions. They were supposed to preside especially over the growth of the yams and fruit-trees. The first-fruits were presented to them. A little of the new fruit was laid on a stone, or on a shelving branch of the tree, or on a rude temporary altar, made of a few sticks lashed together with strips of bark, in the form of a table, with its four feet stuck in the ground. All being quiet, the chief acted as high priest, and prayed aloud as follows: “Compassionate father! here is some food for you; eat it; be kind to us on account of it.” Then all the people shouted. This took place about noon, and afterwards the assembled people feasted and danced till midnight or morning.(977)

In some of the Kingsmill Islands the god most commonly worshipped was called Tubuériki. He was represented by a flat coral stone, of irregular shape, about three feet long by eighteen inches wide, set up on one end in the open air. Leaves of the cocoa-nut palm were tied about it, considerably increasing its size and height. The leaves were changed every month, that they might be always fresh. The worship paid to the god consisted in repeating prayers before the stone, and laying beside it a portion of the food prepared by the people for their own use. This they did at their daily meals, at festivals, and whenever they specially wished to propitiate the favour of the god. The first-fruits of the season were always offered to him. Every family of distinction had one of these stones which was considered rather in the light of a family altar than as an idol.(978)

The following is a description of the festival of first-fruits as it was celebrated in Tonga in the days when a European flag rarely floated among the islands of the Pacific. “_Inachi._ This word means literally a share or portion of any thing that is to be, or has been, distributed out: but in the sense here mentioned it means that portion of the fruits of the earth, and other eatables, which is offered to the gods in the person of the divine chief Tooitonga, which allotment is made once a year, just before the yams in general are arrived at a state of maturity; those which are used in this ceremony being planted sooner than others, and, consequently, they are the first-fruits of the yam season. The object of this offering is to insure the protection of the gods, that their favour may be extended to the welfare of the nation generally, and in particular to the productions of the earth, of which yams are the most important.

“The time for planting most kinds of yams is about the latter end of July, but the species called _caho-caho_, which is always used in this ceremony, is put in the ground about a month before, when, on each plantation, there is a small piece of land chosen and fenced in, for the purpose of growing a couple of yams of the above description. As soon as they have arrived at a state of maturity, the _How_ [King] sends a messenger to Tooitonga, stating that the yams for the _inachi_ are fit to be taken up, and requesting that he would appoint a day for the ceremony; he generally fixes on the tenth day afterwards, reckoning the following day for the first. There are no particular preparations made till the day before the ceremony; at night, however, the sound of the conch is heard occasionally in different parts of the islands, and as the day of the ceremony approaches, it becomes more frequent, so that the people of almost every plantation sound the conch three or four times, which, breaking in upon the silence of the night, has a pleasing effect, particularly at Vavaoo, where the number of woods and hills send back repeated echoes, adding greatly to the effect. The day before the ceremony the yams are dug up, and ornamented with a kind of ribbon prepared from the inner membrane of the leaf of a species of pandanus, and dyed red....

“The sun has scarcely set when the sound of the conch begins again to echo through the island, increasing as the night advances. At the Mooa [capital] and all the plantations the voices of men and women are heard singing _Nófo óoa tegger gnaoóe, óooa gnaoóe_, Rest thou, doing no work; thou shalt not work. This increases till midnight, men generally singing the first part of the sentence, and the women the last: it then subsides for three or four hours, and again increases as the sun rises. Nobody, however, is seen stirring out in the public roads till about eight o’clock, when the people from all quarters of the island are seen advancing towards the Mooa, and canoes from all the other islands are landing their men; so that all the inhabitants of Tonga seem approaching by sea and land, singing and sounding the conch. At the Mooa itself the universal bustle of preparation is seen and heard; and the different processions entering from various quarters of men and women, all dressed up in new _gnatoos_, ornamented with red ribbons and wreaths of flowers, and the men armed with spears and clubs, betoken the importance of the ceremony about to be performed. Each party brings in its yams in a basket, which is carried in the arms with great care by the principal vassal of the chief to whom the plantation may belong. The baskets are deposited in the _malái_(979) (in the _Mooa_), and some of them begin to employ themselves in slinging the yams, each upon the centre of a pole about eight or nine feet long, and four inches diameter. The proceedings are regulated by attending matabooles.(980) The yams being all slung, each pole is carried by two men upon their shoulders, one walking before the other, and the yam hanging between them, ornamented with red ribbons. The procession begins to move towards the grave of the last Tooitonga (which is generally in the neighbourhood, or the grave of one of his family will do), the men advancing in a single line, every two bearing a yam, with a slow and measured pace, sinking at every step, as if their burden were of immense weight. In the meantime the chiefs and matabooles are seated in a semicircle before the grave, with their heads bowed down, and their hands clasped before them.” The procession then marched round the grave twice or thrice in a great circle, the conchs blowing and the men singing. Next the yams, still suspended from the poles, were deposited before the grave, and their bearers sat down beside them. One of the _matabooles_ of Tooitonga now addressed the gods generally, and afterwards particularly, mentioning the late Tooitonga, and the names of several others. He thanked them for their divine bounty in favouring the land with the prospect of so good a harvest, and prayed that their beneficence might be continued in future. When he had finished, the men rose and resumed their loads, and after parading two or three times round the grave, marched back to the _malái_, singing and blowing the conchs as before. The chiefs and _matabooles_ soon followed to the same place, where the yams had been again deposited. Here the company sat down in a great circle, presided over by Tooitonga. Then the other articles that formed part of the _Inachi_ were brought forward, consisting of dried fish, mats, etc., which, with the yams, were divided into shares. About a fourth was allotted to the gods, and appropriated by the priests; about a half fell to the king; and the remainder belonged to Tooitonga. The materials of the _Inachi_ having been carried away, the company set themselves to drink _cava_, and a _mataboole_ addressed them, saying that the gods would protect them, and grant them long lives, if they continued to observe the religious ceremonies and to pay respect to the chiefs.(981)

The Samoans used to present the first-fruits to the spirits (_aitus_) and chiefs.(982) For example, a family whose god was in the form of an eel presented the first-fruits of their taro plantations to the eel.(983) In Tahiti “the first fish taken periodically on their shores, together with a number of kinds regarded as sacred, were conveyed to the altar. The first-fruits of their orchards and gardens were also _taumaha_, or offered, with a portion of their live stock, which consisted of pigs, dogs, and fowls, as it was supposed death would be inflicted on the owner or the occupant of the land from which the god should not receive such acknowledgment.”(984) In Huahine, one of the Society Islands, the first-fruits were presented to the god Tani. A poor person was expected to bring two of the earliest fruits gathered, of whatever kind; a _raatira_ had to bring ten, and chiefs and princes had to bring more, according to their rank and riches. They brought the fruits to the temple, where they threw them down on the ground, with the words, “Here, Tani, I have brought you something to eat.”(985) The chief gods of the Easter Islanders were Make-Make and Haua. To these they offered the first of all the produce of the ground.(986) Amongst the Maoris the offering of the first-fruits of the sweet potatoes to Pani, son of Rongo, the god of sweet potatoes, was a solemn religious ceremony.(987)

It has been affirmed that the old Prussians offered the first-fruits of their crops and of their fishing to the god Curcho, but doubt rests on the statement.(988) The Romans sacrificed the first ears of corn to Ceres, and the first of the new wine to Liber; and until the priests had offered these sacrifices, the people might not eat the new corn nor drink the new wine.(989)

The chief solemnity of the Natchez, an Indian tribe on the Lower Mississippi, was the Harvest Festival or the Festival of New Fire. When the time for the festival drew near, a crier went through the villages calling upon the people to prepare new vessels and new garments, to wash their houses, and to burn the old grain, the old garments, and the old utensils in a common fire. He also proclaimed an amnesty to criminals. Next day he appeared again, commanding the people to fast for three days, to abstain from all pleasures, and to make use of the medicine of purification. Thereupon all the people took some drops extracted from a root which they called the “root of blood.” It was a kind of plantain and distilled a red liquor which acted as a violent emetic. During their three days’ fast the people kept silence. At the end of it the crier proclaimed that the festival would begin on the following day. So next morning, as soon as it began to grow light in the sky, the people streamed from all quarters towards the temple of the Sun. The temple was a large building with two doors, one opening to the east, the other to the west. On this morning the eastern door of the temple stood open. Facing the eastern door was an altar, placed so as to catch the first beams of the rising sun. An image of a _chouchouacha_ (a small marsupial) stood upon the altar; on its right was an image of a rattlesnake, on its left an image of a marmoset. Before these images a fire of oak bark burned perpetually. Once a year only, on the eve of the Harvest Festival, was the sacred flame suffered to die out. To the right of the altar, on “this pious morn,” stood the great chief, who took his title and traced his descent from the Sun. To the left of the altar stood his wife. Round them were grouped, according to their ranks, the war chiefs, the sachems, the heralds, and the young braves. In front of the altar were piled bundles of dry reeds, stacked in concentric rings.

The high priest, standing on the threshold of the temple, kept his eyes fixed on the eastern horizon. Before presiding at the festival he had to plunge thrice into the Mississippi. In his hands he held two pieces of dry wood which he kept rubbing slowly against each other, muttering magic words. At his side two acolytes held two cups filled with a kind of black sherbet. All the women, their backs turned to the east, each leaning with one hand on her rude mattock and supporting her infant with the other, stood in a great semicircle at the gate of the temple. Profound silence reigned throughout the multitude while the priest watched attentively the growing light in the east. As soon as the diffused light of dawn began to be shot with beams of fire, he quickened the motion of the two pieces of wood which he held in his hands; and at the moment when the upper edge of the sun’s disc appeared above the horizon, fire flashed from the wood and was caught in tinder. At the same instant the women outside the temple faced round and held up their infants and their mattocks to the rising sun.

The great chief and his wife now drank the black liquor. The priests kindled the circle of dried reeds; fire was set to the heap of oak bark on the altar, and from this sacred flame all the hearths of the village were rekindled. No sooner were the circles of reeds consumed than the chief’s wife came forth from the temple and placing herself at the head of the women marched in procession to the harvest fields, whither the men were not allowed to follow them. They went to gather the first sheaves of maize and returned to the temple bearing them on their heads. Some of the sheaves they presented to the high priest, who laid them on the altar. Others they used to bake the unleavened bread which was to be eaten in the evening. The eastern door of the sanctuary was now closed, and the western door was opened.

When the day began to decline, the multitude assembled once more at the temple, this time at its western gate, where they formed a great crescent, with the horns turned toward the west. The unleavened bread was held up and presented to the setting sun, and a priest struck up a hymn in praise of his descending light. When darkness had fallen the whole plain twinkled with fires, round which the people feasted; and the sounds of music and revelry broke the silence of night.(990)

INDEX.

Aachen, fire festival at, ii. 251

Aargau, trees planted at births in, ii. 330

Aberdeenshire, ceremony at the cutting of the last sheaf in, i. 345

Abyssinia, rain-making on the outskirts of, i. 53

Abyssinian festivals, ii. 171

Acagchemen tribe, adoration of the buzzard by the, ii. 90, 91

Adonis, myth and worship of, i. 279-282, 296; connection with vegetation, i. 281; gardens of, i. 284-296; rites of, similar to those of Osiris, i. 319, 320; probable origin of the cult of, i. 363; lament of, i. 280, 399; as a pig, ii. 49, 50

Aegira, blood drunk at, before prophesying, i. 34

Aethiopian kings confined to their palaces, i. 164

Afghan Boundary Mission, reception of the, by the natives, i. 155

Afghanistan, reception of strangers in, i. 155

Africa, weather kings common in, i. 44; reluctance to accept the crown in some parts of West, i. 118, 119; priestly kings on the west coast of, i. 112; human heart eaten in the Shire Highlands of, ii. 89

Ague, cure for, ii. 153

Aht Indians, seclusion of girls amongst the, ii. 229, 230

Ain, May-day customs in the Département de l’, i. 88

Aino type of sacrament, ii. 134-136

Ainos, bear festival of the, ii. 101-105; preparation for fishing, ii. 122; treatment of the bear, ii. 132

Alaskan sable hunters, ii. 116

Alban hills, i. 1; mount, i. 2

Albania, Easter Eve custom in, i. 276; ii. 181; scapegoat in, ii. 201, 202; beating in, ii. 216

Alexandria, commemoration of the death of Adonis and Aphrodite at, i. 279, 280

Alfoers, function of their high priest Leleen, i. 166; ceremony for restoring the soul, i. 134, 135; priest’s hair uncut, i. 194; priest sows the first rice seed and plucks the first ripe rice, ii. 71; driving away the devil by the, ii. 159

Algeria, midsummer fires in, ii. 266

Alligator, the man-eating, ii. 109

Alps, May-day custom in the, i. 104

Altisheim, harvest custom in, i. 337

Altmark, Whitsuntide customs in, i. 98; Easter bonfires, ii. 254

Amboina, soul-abstracting in, i. 139, 140; sprinkling the sick with spices in, i. 154; hair burying in, i. 201; disease boats in, ii. 188; strength thought to be in the hair in, ii. 328; offerings of first-fruits in, ii. 377

Amenhôtep IV and the sun-god, i. 314, 315

America, belief in the resurrection of the buffalo in the western prairies of, ii. 123

Ammon, rage of the sun-god Ra against, i. 315; rams held sacred by the worshippers of, ii. 92, 93

Andamanese belief in the reflection as the soul, i. 145

Anderida, wealds of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, remnants of the forest of, i. 57

Angel-man, beheading the, ii. 267

Angoulême, custom of burning a poplar on St. Peter’s Day in, i. 101

Angoy, king of, must have no bodily defects, i. 221

Animal worship, two types of, ii. 133, 134; sacred carried in procession, ii. 139-147; employed as a scapegoat, ii. 189-191, 194, 195; eaten to obtain its quality, ii. 86, 87; spared by savages from fear of the vengeance of other animals of the same kind, ii. 107-110; respect shown by the savage for the animal he kills, ii. 110-132; Savage belief in the resurrection of the, ii. 122-125; burnt as representative of the spirit of vegetation, ii. 282-284

Annamites, soul superstition amongst the, i. 132

Antaymour kings responsible for the general welfare, i. 46

Antrim, harvest custom in, i. 339

Apache Indians, rain-making by the, i. 15

Apalai Indians, ceremony on the arrival of a stranger by the, i. 153, 154

Aphrodite, i. 279

Apis the sacred Egyptian bull drowned, ii. 61 _sq._

Apollo Diradiotes, blood of sacrificial lamb drunk in the temple of, i. 34

Apple-tree, superstition with regard to the, by barren women, i. 73

Arabia, belief concerning a man’s shadow in, i. 143

Arabian stories, the external soul in, ii. 318, 319

Arabic belief in the properties of lion’s fat, ii. 86

Arabs, rain-making by the heathen, i. 20

Arcadia, rain-charm in, i. 21; beating the scapegoat, ii. 214

Archon of Plataeae, the, may not touch iron, i. 173

Arden, forest of, i. 57

Argive tradition concerning Dionysus, i. 324, 325

Ariadne, marriage of, i. 104

Aricia, “there are many Manii at,” explanation of the proverb, ii. 82, 83

Arician Grove, the, i. 1-6; ritual, ii. 63, 64; harvest celebration, ii. 67; Manius the traditional founder of the, ii. 84; sacrament, ii. 83, 84

Aru Islands, soul superstition in the, i. 125, 126; custom after a death in the, i. 147; hair cutting, i. 201; dog’s flesh eaten, ii. 87

Arval Brothers, priestly college of the, and the sacred grove, i. 65; sacred grove of the, and iron, i. 172

Aryans, the, tree worshippers, i. 56-59, 99; totemism and the, ii. 38; oak the sacred tree of the, ii. 291; primitive worship, ii. 370

Ascension Day custom, i. 265

Aschbach, harvest custom in, i. 368

Ash Wednesday customs, i. 254-257; ii. 29, 48, 251

Ashantee, royal blood not shed in, i. 181; harvest festival in, ii. 374

Asia Minor, Pontiffs of, i. 7, 8

Athene, relation of the goat to, ii. 63

Athens, annual marriage of the queen to Dionysus at, i. 103, 104; rites of Adonis observed in, i. 284, 285; scapegoats in, ii. 212; ritual at the sacrifice of the ox in, ii. 38, 39, 41

Attis, myth and festival of, i. 296-298; ii. 50; a tree-spirit or corn-spirit, i. 298-300; probability that the high priest of, was slain in the character of the god, i. 300; probable origin of the cult of, i. 363; relation to Lityerses, i. 396, 397; as a pig, ii. 49, 50

Australia, rain-making in, i. 20, 21; ceremony on entering strange territory by the Australians, i. 156; seclusion of women in, i. 170; blood may not be spilt on the ground in some parts of, i. 181, 182; hair burning after child-birth in, i. 206; totemism, ii. 133, 334-336

Australian blacks’ charm for staying the sun, i. 25; attack the dust columns of red sand, i. 29, 30; fear of women’s blood, i. 185, 186; ii. 238; remedy for toothache, ii. 149; annual expulsion of ghosts, ii. 163

—— Kamilaroi, cannibalism by the, ii. 88

—— medicine man and recall of the soul, i. 131, 132

—— Wotjobaluk, rain-making by the, i. 14

Austria, charm for lulling the wind in, i. 28; old peasant belief in the souls of trees in, i. 61

Auxerre, reaping custom at, i. 335

Axim, annual expulsion of devils at, ii. 170

Aymara Indians, scapegoat used by the, in times of plague, ii. 191

Aztecs, the, and the reflection-soul, i. 145; aversion to wine, i. 185

Baba, a name given to the last sheaf, i. 339, 340

Babar Islands, restoration of the soul in the, i. 137; the soul believed to be in the shadow, i. 142

Babylon, Sacaea festival at, i. 226

Babylonian legend concerning the goddess Istar, i. 287

Baffin Land, expulsion of evil by the Eskimo of, ii. 165

Bagota, restrictions on the heir to the throne in, ii. 225

Balder killed by the mistletoe, ii. 244 _sq._; the oak, ii. 295; life of, in the mistletoe, ii. 359-362

Balder’s bale-fires, ii. 289 _sq._

Bali, mice and the rice fields of the island of, ii. 131; periodic expulsion of devils, ii. 174, 175; custom at a birth, ii. 329

Balquhidder, harvest custom in, i. 344

Banjar kings held responsible for the weather, i. 46, 47

Banks Islanders, the tamaniu of the, ii. 331, 332

Baranton, fountain of, i. 15

Barcelona, Mid-Lent custom in, i. 262

Bari tribe, rain kings of the, i. 52, 53

Barotse, the chief a demigod in, i. 46

Barren women’s superstition regarding the apple-tree, i. 73

Bassam, Great, sacrifice of oxen at, ii. 41, 42; ceremony of driving out the evil spirit, ii. 161, 162

Basutos, the, and the reflection-soul, i. 145; cannibalism by the, ii. 89; offerings of first-fruits, ii. 373

Bat, the, ii. 334-337

Battambang, rain-charm in, i. 19

Battas, the, fighting the wind, i. 28, 29; refuse to fell trees, i. 64, 65; soul superstition, i. 124, 125, 135, 136; soul straying, i. 160; ceremony of making the curse to fly away by the, ii. 150, 151; totemism amongst the, ii. 340, 341; belief in plurality of souls, ii. 341

Bavaria, May custom in, i. 84; Whitsuntide representative of the tree-spirit in, i. 242; harvest custom in, i. 342; ii. 27, 28; cure for fever, ii. 153; Easter bonfires in, ii. 254; midsummer bonfires in, ii. 278

Bear, Shrovetide, i. 254, 255; sacrifice of the, ii. 99-108; ceremony at killing a, ii. 111-113, 115; ceremony before a bear-hunt, ii. 112, 113

Bears, dead, treated with respect, ii. 111-113

Beasts, divine, held responsible for the course of nature, i. 48

Beating as a ceremonial purification, ii. 213-217, 232-234

Beauce, straw man in, ii. 40

Beavers, superstition about killing, ii. 116

Bechuanaland, rain-charm in, i. 18; sun superstition in, i. 23; hack-thorn held sacred in, i. 69; purification after travel, i. 157; crocodile superstition in, ii. 55, 56; transference of ills in, ii. 149

Bedouins, pursuing the wind, i. 29

Belfast, harvest custom at, i. 336, 337

Belgium, procession with wicker giant in, ii. 281

Belli-Paaro, ceremony of, in Quoja, ii. 347, 348

Beltane fires, ii. 254-258

Bengal, Gardens of Adonis in, i. 288, 289

Bernkastel, reaping custom in, ii. 15

Berry, belief regarding the birth of the corn-spirit in, ii. 23; harvest custom, ii. 26

Bhagats, mock human sacrifices by the, i. 252, 253

Bhotan, man worshippers in, i. 42

Biajas of Borneo, expulsion of diseases to sea by the, ii. 192

Bidasari, ii. 325 _sq._

Bilaspur, custom at, on the death of a Rajah, i. 232

Birch-tree dressed in women’s clothes in Russia at Whitsuntide, i. 77

Births, trees planted at, ii. 229, 230

Bison, resurrection of the, ii. 122, 123

Bithynia, lament by the reapers in, i. 365

Black Lake, i. 15

Blankenfelde, harvest custom in, i. 370

Bleeding trees, i. 61

Blekinge, midsummer ceremonies in, i. 292

Blood, the soul thought to be in the, i. 178, 179; not eaten, _ib._; royal blood not spilt upon the ground, i. 179-183; ill effect of seeing, i. 185, 186; dread of contact with, i. 185-187; primitive dread of menstruous, ii. 238-241

Blood-drinking, inspiration by, i. 34, 35

Boba, a name given to the last sheaf, i. 340, 341

Boeotians of Plataea, festival of the, i. 100-103

Boeroe, ceremony at the rice harvest in, ii. 71

Bohemian midsummer custom, i. 79; ii. 259; Mid-Lent custom, i. 82; Whit Monday custom, i. 91, 244-247; ceremony of carrying out Death, i. 258-260; superstition regarding death, i. 260; ceremony of bringing back summer, i. 263; harvest custom, i. 340; white mice spared in Bohemia, ii. 131, 132; superstition held by poachers in Bohemia, ii. 288

Böhmer Wald Mountains, custom of the reapers in the, ii. 15

Bolang Mongondo, recapture of the soul in, i. 131; preservation of cut hair, i. 203; ceremony at rice harvest in, ii. 71, 72

Bombay, soul superstition in, i. 127

Bones of animals not broken by savages, ii. 124

Boni, king of, and his courtiers, i. 222, 223

Booandik tribe superstition concerning the blood of women, i. 186

Book of the Dead, i. 312

Bormus, the name given to the lament of the Bithynian reapers, i. 365, 398

Borneo, custom in, regarding infested persons, i. 154

Bouphonia, the, ii. 38-41

Brabant, North, Whitsuntide custom in, i. 88

Brahman soul story, i. 128, 129; sin eaters, ii. 156

Brahmans, temple of the, i. 230; transference of sins by the, ii. 200

Brandy, North American Indian theory about, ii. 87

Brazilian Indians, self-beating by the, ii. 215, 216; treatment of girls at the age of puberty by the, ii. 231, 232

Bresse, May customs in, i. 98; ceremony regarding the last sheaf, i. 408

Brest, fire festival at, ii. 261

Breton peasant and the wind, i. 30

Briançon, May-day in the neighbourhood of, i. 95; harvest ceremony at, ii. 11

Bride, a name given to the binder of the last sheaf, i. 345

Brie, May-day custom in, i. 84; harvest custom in, i. 370, 375; burning of mock giant in, ii. 282

Britanny, reaping custom in, i. 335, 336; midsummer fires in, ii. 261

British Columbia, fish ceremony by the Indians of, ii. 121

Bruck, harvest custom in, i. 333, 334

Brüd’s bed in the Highlands, i. 97

Brunnen, Twelfth Night custom at, ii. 182

Brunswick, Whitsuntide customs in, i. 90

Buddhist animism, i. 59

—— Tartar worship, i. 42, 43

Buffalo, belief in the resurrection of the, ii. 123; held sacred by the Todas, ii. 136, 137

—— bull, ii. 19

Bulgarian rain-charm, i. 16; custom at the laying of a foundation stone, i. 144; harvest custom, i. 341

Bull, Dionysus as a, i. 325, 326; ii. 37-44; the corn-spirit as a, ii. 19-24; Osiris and the, ii. 59-61; sacred, ii. 60; as a scapegoat, ii. 200, 201

Burghers, first seed sowing and reaping amongst the, ii. 72; transference of sins by the, ii. 151, 152

Burgundian kings deposed in times of scarcity, i. 47

Burma, mode of executing princes of the blood in, i. 180; head-washing in, i. 188, 189; mock burial in time of sickness in, ii. 84; ceremony of driving away cholera in, ii. 161; offering of first-fruits in, ii. 374

Burmese and the soul, i. 130

Burnt sacrifices among the Celts, ii. 278-280

Buro Islands, dog’s flesh eaten in the, ii. 87; disease boats, ii. 187

Burying alive, i. 217

Busiris, legend of, i. 400, 401

Butterfly, the Samoans and the, ii. 56

Buzzard, sacrifice of the sacred, ii. 90-92

Byblus, lamentation for the death of Adonis at, i. 280

Calabria, expulsion of witches in, ii. 181

Calcutta, iron-charm used in, i. 176

Calf, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 19-24

Calicut, kings killed at the expiry of twelve years in, i. 224, 225

Californian Indians, their opinion of the dust columns, i. 30

—— sacrifice of the buzzard, ii. 90, 91

Caligula, i. 4

Callander, Beltane fires in, ii. 254, 255

Cambodia, search for inspired man in time of epidemic in, i. 36; kings of fire and water in, i. 53-56; its sacred tree, i. 67; kings of, i. 118; touching the king’s body in, i. 172; man’s head not touched in, i. 189; ceremony at the cutting of the king’s hair in, i. 197; temporary kings of, i. 228; the Stiens of Cambodia and the killing of animals, ii. 115; expulsion of evil spirits, etc. in, ii. 178, 184; seclusion of girls in, ii. 235

Cambridgeshire, harvest custom in, i. 341, 342

Cameroons, the life of a person supposed to be bound up with that of a tree by the, ii. 329

Canadian Indians, detention of the soul amongst the, i. 139; beaver hunting by the, ii. 116, 117

Candlemas Day customs, i. 97; ii. 29, 48

Canelos Indians, their belief of the soul in the portrait, i. 148

Cannibalism, ii. 88, 89

Capital offences, i. 162, 190

Carcassonne, hunting the wren in, ii. 143, 144

Caribs, the, belief in the plurality of souls, ii. 339

Carinthia, ceremonies on St. George’s Day in, i. 84, 85; ceremony at the installation of a prince of, i. 232, 233

Carmona, custom in, ii. 184, 185

Carnival, ceremony of burying the, i. 244, 252-257, 270, 272

Carnival Fool, i. 256

Carpathus islanders, reluctance to have their likenesses drawn, i. 148, 149; transference of sickness by the, ii. 154

Cashmere stories, the external soul in, ii. 302-304

Cat, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 11, 12; burnt, ii. 283

Caterpillars, method of freeing a garden from, ii. 130

Cattle, trees and, i. 72 _sq._; driven through the fire, ii. 273

Cedar, the sacred, of Gilgit, i. 69

Celebes, the, and the soul, i. 123-125; custom regarding infested persons, i. 154; superstition regarding the knife, i. 177; blood not spilt on the ground by the, i. 182; custom at a birth, ii. 329; harvest festival, ii. 376

Celtic human sacrifices, ii. 278-284; the external soul in Celtic stories, ii. 313, 314

Ceram, rain-making in, i. 13; superstition regarding the blood of women in, i. 187; hair cutting superstition in, i. 194; ii. 328; disease boats in, ii. 185, 186; ceremony in epidemic, ii. 187; seclusion of girls in, ii. 229; initiation ceremony, ii. 354-356

Chaeronea, human scapegoat in, ii. 210, 211

Chambéry, threshing ceremony at, ii. 23

Chedooba, ceremony on felling a tree in the island of, i. 64

Cheremiss, expulsion of Satan by the, ii. 180, 181

Cherokee Indians, purification festival of the, ii. 166, 167

Chester, procession of mock giant at, ii. 281

Chibchas, weather kings of the, i. 44

Children sacrificed by their parents, i. 235-237

Chile, preservation of cut hair in, i. 204

China, emperors of, offer public sacrifices, i. 8; rain-charm in, i. 18; emperor held responsible for drought, etc., i. 49; abstention from knives after a death in, i. 177; ceremony to welcome the return of spring in, ii. 42, 43; special seat of courage amongst the Chinese, ii. 87; cannibalism in, ii. 89; human scapegoat in, ii. 191; festival of the aboriginal tribes of, ii. 193

Chios, rites of Dionysus at, i. 329

Chippeways, seclusion of women amongst the, ii. 239, 240

Chiriguanos, seclusion of girls by the, ii. 231

Chitomé, the, i. 113-115; not allowed to die a natural death, i. 217, 218

Cholera, driving away, ii. 161, 189, 191

Chontal Indians, the nagual amongst the, ii. 333

Christian, Captain, shooting of, i. 181

Christmas customs, i. 60, 334; ii. 6, 7, 29-31, 141, 142, 144

Chrudim, ceremony of carrying out Death at, i. 259, 260

Chuwash, the, test of a suitable sacrificial victim, i. 36

Circassians, the pear-tree believed to be the protector of cattle by the, i. 73

Circumcision, i. 171

Clucking-hen, ii. 8

Cobern, fire festival at, ii. 250

Cobra Capella, sacrifice of the, ii. 94, 95

Cock, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 7-10

Columbia River, Indians of the, and the salmon, ii. 121, 122

Comanches, rain-charm used by the, i. 18

Compitalia, festival of the, ii. 83

Congo belief in the souls of trees, i. 60; the Chitomé in the kingdom of, i. 113; negroes and soul selling, i. 139; initiatory rites in the valley of the, ii. 345, 346

Coorg rice-harvest ceremonies, ii. 72, 73

Corea, kings of, confined to their palaces, i. 164; may not be touched, i. 172; tigers’ bones valuable in, ii. 87

Corn drenched as a rain-charm, i. 286; double personification of the, i. 358, 359; reaper, binder, or thresher wrapt up in corn, i. 370, 371

—— baby, ii. 23

—— goat, ii. 13, 14

—— mother, i. 232, 233; a prototype of Demeter, i. 356

Corn queen, i. 341

—— spirit, the, as the grandmother, etc., i. 336-343; as youthful, i. 343-346; death of, i. 363, 364; binding persons in sheaves as representatives of the, i. 367-372; pretence of killing the, or its representative, i. 372-380; represented by a stranger, i. 375-380; represented by a human victim, i. 390-395; how the representative is chosen, i. 393; as an animal, ii. 1-67; as a cock, ii. 7-10; as a hare, ii. 11; as a cat, ii. 11, 12; as a goat, ii. 12-17; as a bull, ii. 19-24; as a calf, _ib._; as a cow, ii. 20, 21; as a mare, ii. 24, 25; as a horse, ii. 26; as a pig, ii. 26-31; parallelism between the anthropomorphic and theriomorphic conceptions of the, ii. 32; death of the, ii. 33; suggested explanation of the embodiment of the, in animal form, ii. 34; the ox as the embodiment of the, ii. 41-43

—— wolf, ii. 3-7, 30

—— woman, i. 342, 343

Cornwall, May-day custom in, i. 75; midsummer bonfires in, i. 101; ii. 262; reaping cries in, i. 407

Corsica, midsummer fires in, ii. 266

Cough, cure for, ii. 154

Court ceremonies, i. 22, 23; ii. 88

Cow, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 20, 21; sacred, ii. 61; man in cow’s hide, ii. 145, 146; cow as a scapegoat, ii. 200, 201

Cracow, harvest customs in, i. 340

Crannon, rain-charm at, i. 21

Creek Indians, festival of the first-fruits amongst the, ii. 75-78; opinions held regarding the properties of various foods amongst the, ii. 85, 86; seclusion of women by the, ii. 239

Crete, sacrifices in, i. 173; festival of Dionysus in, i. 324; worship of Demeter in, i. 331

Croatia, beating in, ii. 216

Crocodiles spared from fear of the vengeance of other crocodiles, ii. 109

Crops, kings and priests punished for the failure of the, i. 46-48; human sacrifices for the, i. 383, 384; ceremonies at the eating of the new, ii. 69, 71; sacramental eating of the new, ii. 68-77

Crying the Neck, i. 405-408

Curka Coles of India, their belief that the tops of trees are inhabited, i. 65

Curse, ceremony of making the curse to fly away, ii. 150, 151

Cyzicus, construction of the council chamber of, i. 174

Dacotas and the resurrection of the dog, ii. 123

Daedala, festival of the, i. 100-103

Dahomey, king of, a capital offence to see him eat, i. 162

Damaras, custom of the, after travel, i. 158; blood of cattle not shed by the, i. 182

Danae, ii. 237

Danger Islanders, soul snare used by the, i. 138, 139

Danzig, burying of cut hair in, i. 202; reaping custom, i. 333; harvest ceremony, i. 367, 368

Dards, the, rain-charm, i. 19

Darfur, veiling the sultan of, i. 162; the sultans and their courtiers, i. 222; the liver thought to be the seat of the soul in, ii. 88

Darowen, midsummer bonfires at, ii. 262

Dead Sunday, i. 254, 260

Death, preference for a violent, i. 216, 217; superstition concerning, i. 260; “carrying out,” i. 257-261, 264-271; ii. 207; driving out, i. 258, 259, 272, 276; in the custom of “carrying out” Death is probably a divine scapegoat, ii. 206-208; ceremonies at the burying of, ii. 250; effigy of, i. 257 _sq._

Debden, May Day custom in, i. 76

Deer, regard for, ii. 117, 118

Deities, reduplication of, i. 360-362

Demeter, the corn mother, i. 331, 332; festivals of, ii. 44-47; as a pig, ii. 44-49; legend of the Phigalian, ii. 49; representation of the black, ii. 49; and Proserpine, myth of, i. 330, 331; probable origin of, i. 355 _sq._; prototypes of, i. 356, 357

Demons, the soul carried off by, i. 132-135

Denderah, tree of Osiris at, i. 308

Denmark Christmas customs, ii. 29, 30; midsummer bonfires, ii. 289

Devils, ceremony at the expulsion of, ii. 151, 158, 159-162, 170-185, 192, 193, 203; represented by men and expelled, ii. 183-185

Devonshire reaping cries, i. 405, 406; rain-charm, i. 408; cure for cough, ii. 154

Diana, rule of the priesthood of, i. 2, 3, 6; ceremonies at the festival of, i. 5; Arician Grove said to be first consecrated to her by Manius Egerius, i. 5; a tree goddess, i. 105

Diana’s mirror, i. 1

Dieyerie of South Australia, rain-making by the, i. 20; tree superstition amongst the, i. 62

Dingelstedt, harvest custom at, i. 371

Dionysus, marriage of, i. 104; titles of, i. 320, 321; myth of, i. 322-325; rites of, i. 324, 329; ii. 43-46, 90; rites of, similar to those of Osiris, i. 319, 320; as an animal, i. 325-327, ii. 34-38; association of, with Demeter and Proserpine, ii. 37

Diseases sent away in boats, ii. 185-189, 192 _sq._

Divine beasts, i. 48

—— king, dependence of nature upon the, i. 109

—— kings, i. 49; care taken of, i. 115; cease to govern, i. 118, 119

—— kings and priests, burdensome observances placed upon, i. 110-118; effects of these burdens, i. 118-120

—— Man as scapegoat, ii. 201, 205

—— persons, seclusion of, ii. 242, 243

—— spirit, transmigration of, i. 42-44

Divining rods made from the mistletoe, ii. 367

Dog, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 3-7; the flesh of the, eaten, ii. 87; resurrection of the, ii. 123; used as a scapegoat, ii. 194, 195

Domalde, King of Sweden, sacrificed, i. 47

Douai, annual procession at, ii. 280

Dreams, festival of, ii. 165, 166

Druids, oak-worship of the, i. 58

Dublin, May Day custom in, i. 101

Duk-duk, the, ii. 352 _sq._

Duke of York Island, fishing ceremony by the natives of, ii. 120

Dulyn, i. 15

Dunkirk, annual procession at, ii. 280, 281

Dust columns, i. 30

Dutch criminals, cutting the hair of, to enforce confession, ii. 328

Dyaks, belief in the souls of trees amongst the, i. 59, 60; abduction of the soul, i. 132, 133; restoration of the soul, i. 138; harvest custom, i. 68, 69, 353, 354; the Dyaks and bad omens, ii. 151; custom in epidemic, ii. 84; may not eat venison, ii. 86, 87; spare the crocodile, ii. 109; Dyaks and the palm-tree, ii. 329; festival of first-fruits, ii. 376

East Indian Islands, supposed cure for epilepsy in the, ii. 148, 149

Easter customs, i. 272, 276, 334; ii. 29, 181, 216, 217

—— fires, ii. 251, 252

—— Islanders, blood of an animal not shed by the, i. 182, 183; offerings of first fruits, ii. 381

Eating animals to get their qualities, ii. 85-89

—— the god, ii. 67-90

—— and drinking, precautions taken at, i. 160-162

Edersleben, midsummer fire festival in, ii. 262

Efugaos, cannibalism by the, ii. 88

Egeria, i. 5

Egypt, beasts responsible for the course of nature in Upper, i. 48; Egyptian kings deified, i. 49, 50; Egyptian kings blamed for failure of crops, i. 50; ancient Egyptian kings did not drink wine, i. 184, 185; temporary-rulers in Upper Egypt, i. 231; custom of burning red-haired men by the ancient Egyptians, i. 307; religion of ancient Egypt, i. 313; Egyptians and the pig, ii. 52, 53, 56, 57; the bulls Apis and Mnevis worshipped, ii. 60; sacred cattle in Egypt, ii. 60, 61; sacrifice of the ram in, ii. 92, 93; Egyptian type of sacrament, ii. 134-136; Egyptian scapegoat, ii. 200; the external soul in Egyptian story, ii. 315-318

Eifel mountains, fire festival in the, ii. 247, 248; harvest omens in the, ii. 271

Eisenach, ceremony of bringing back summer in, i. 263; ceremony of carrying out death in, _ib._

Elan, regard for the, ii. 117, 118

Elephant, ceremony at the killing of an, ii. 113-115

Eleusis, mysteries of, ii. 37

Elk, regard for the, ii. 117, 118

Ellwangen, harvest ceremony in, ii. 17

Emin Pasha’s reception in a Central African village, i. 155

Emu wren, ii. 336, 337

Encounter Bay tribe, their dread of women’s blood, i. 186

English tradition concerning the killing of the wren, ii. 140, 141

Entlebuch, human scapegoat in, ii. 199

Entraigues, hunting the wren in, ii. 144

Epidemic, ceremony in time of, i. 36; ii. 84, 187-189

Epilepsy, supposed cure for, ii. 148, 149

Erfurt, harvest custom in, i. 336

Ertingen, midsummer custom in, i. 89

Erzgebirge, Shrovetide custom in the, i. 244

Eskimos, charm for lulling the wind, i. 28; Eskimos and the soul, i. 122; reception of strangers, i. 155; Eskimo women, i. 170

Essex, hunting the wren in, ii. 143

Esthonian superstition regarding the welfare of cattle, i. 72 _sq._; blood not tasted by the Esthonians, i. 178, 179; belief concerning women’s blood, i. 187; preservation of the parings of nails by the Esthonians, i. 204; carrying out the effigy of Death, i. 270; ceremony at the eating of the new corn, ii. 69, 70; dread of the weevil by the Esthonian peasants, ii. 129, 130

Ethiopian kings and their courtiers, i. 222

Etruscan wizards, i. 22

European rain-charm, i. 18; forests, i. 57; fire festivals, ii. 246-285

Evils, expulsion of, ii. 145 _sq._; occasional, ii. 158-162; periodic, ii. 162-182; two kinds of expulsion of evils, the direct or immediate, and the indirect or mediate, ii. 158; general observations on, ii. 202-206; transference of, ii. 145 _sq._

Fauns, representation of the, ii. 35; the Fauns wood and corn-spirits, ii. 35, 36

Feilenhof, the wolf a corn-spirit in, ii. 3

Feloupes of Senegambia, charm for rain-making, i. 18

Fern seed, midsummer, ii. 365, 366

Fernando Po, restrictions on the food of the king of, i. 208

Fever, cure for, ii. 152, 153

Fida, no one to drink out of the king’s glass in, i. 166

Field of Mars, chariot race on the, ii. 64-66

Fiji, charm used for staying the sun in, i. 24; gods of, i. 39; soul extraction in, i. 138; belief in two souls in, i. 145; eating in the presence of suspected persons avoided in, i. 160; self-immolation at old age in, i. 216; expulsion of devils in, ii. 175, 176; initiatory rites in, ii. 344, 345; offerings of first-fruits in, ii. 377, 378

Finland, wind selling in, i. 27; cattle protected by the wood god in, i. 105, 106; ceremony at the killing of a bear in, ii. 112

Fire festivals, human sacrifices offered at, i. 251

—— festivals in Europe, ii. 246-285; they were charms to make the sun shine, ii. 267, 274

—— kings, i. 53-56

—— sacred, made by the friction of wood, ii. 269; made with oak wood, ii. 292, 293

Fire spirit, expulsion of the, ii. 178

Firstborn sacrificed, i. 236, 237

First-fruits, festival of the, ii. 75-78; offerings of, ii. 373-384

Fish, respect shown by savages to, ii. 118-122; fish preachers, ii. 119, 120

Fladda’s chapel and wind-making, i. 26, 27

Flamen Dialis, rules of life, i. 117; not allowed to walk under a trellised vine, i. 183, 184; cuttings from the hair and nails buried, i. 200; restriction on the food of the, i. 207

—— Virbialis, i. 6

Flaminica, rules of life for the, i. 117, 118

Flanders, midsummer bonfires in, ii. 267; Flemish cure for ague, ii. 153

Flax-pullers, custom of the, i. 375

Florence, “sawing the old woman” in, i. 261

Florida, sacrifice of the firstborn by the Indians of, i. 236, 237

Folk tales, resurrection in, ii. 125

Food, unconsumed, buried, i. 166; prohibited food, i. 207, 208; strong food, ii. 85

Forests, Europe covered with, in prehistoric times, i. 56

Fors, the, of Central Africa, preservation of nail parings by the, i. 204, 205

Forsaken sleeper, i. 96

Foulahs of Senegambia spare the crocodile, ii. 110

France, harvest customs in the northeast of, ii. 4

Franche Comté, harvest customs in, ii. 17

Frankish kings not allowed to cut their hair, i. 193

Friedingen, harvest custom in, ii. 27

Friesland, harvest customs in East, ii. 8

Frog-flayer, i. 92

Funeral custom, i. 129, 130

Fürstenwalde, harvest ceremonies in, ii. 7

Gablingen, harvest customs in, ii. 13

Galela, ceremony at the initiation of boys amongst the, ii. 353

Galicia, harvest customs in, ii. 8

Gall-bladder the special seat of courage amongst the Chinese, ii. 87

Gareloch, Dumbartonshire, harvest customs on some farms on the, i. 345

Garos, rain-charm used by the, i. 18

Georgia, rain-charm in, i. 17

Germany—German peasants and a whirlwind, i. 30; sacred groves common amongst the ancient Germans, i. 58; ceremony on felling a tree, i. 64; rain-charm, i. 93; custom after a death, i. 147; superstition regarding the knife, i. 177; superstition concerning hair cutting, i. 196, 199; harvest custom, i. 337, 345, 374, 375; ii. 9; harvest cries, i. 408, 409; way to free a garden from caterpillars, ii. 130; beating as a charm, ii. 216, 217; oak the sacred tree, ii. 291; oak log burnt on Midsummer Day, ii. 294; the external soul in German stories, ii. 310-312

Gervasius, rain spring mentioned by, i. 19

Ghosts, the soul carried off by, i. 129-132; annual expulsion of the ghosts of the dead, ii. 163

Giant, sham, procession and burning of the, ii. 280-282

Gilgit, ceremony on felling a tree in, i. 65; sacred cedar of, i. 69 _sq._; harvest custom at, ii. 73, 74

Gilyak sacrifice of the bear, ii. 105-107

Girls secluded at puberty, ii. 225-247; reason for, ii. 238-242; not allowed to touch the ground or see the sun, ii. 225-253; traces in folk tales of the rule which forbids girls at puberty to see the sun, ii. 235-237

Goat, the, sacred, ii. 56, 63; Dionysus as a, i. 326-328; ii. 34-37; the corn-spirit as a, ii. 12-19

God, killing the, i. 213; ii. 218-222; killing a god in animal form, i. 327, 328; motives for killing the god, i. 214-216

God’s Mouth, the name of the supreme ruler of the old Prussians, i. 223

Gods die and are buried, i. 213, 214

—— incarnate, slain, ii. 218-222

Gold Coast, sacrifices of the negroes of the, i. 67; their superstition with regard to iron, i. 173

Golden Bough, Turner’s picture of the, i. 1; legend of the, i. 4; the representative of the tree-spirit, i. 107; between heaven and earth, ii. 223-243; what was it, ii. 224; the Golden Bough is the mistletoe, ii. 363, 368; why was the mistletoe called the Golden Bough, ii. 365; the Golden Bough an emanation of the sun’s fire, ii. 367

Goldi sacrifice of the bear, ii. 107, 108

Gommern, harvest festival at, i. 370

Gonds, human sacrifices by the, i. 252, 384; mock-human sacrifices, i. 252; scapegoats amongst the, ii. 200

Good Friday custom, ii. 216

Gout transferred from a man to a tree, ii. 153

Grand Lama, death and reappearance of the, i. 42, 43; and the shadow of Sankara, i. 142

Grandmother, a name given to the last sheaf, i. 336

Granny, a name given to the last sheaf, i. 336

Grass king, i. 91-93, 247

Grätz, midsummer custom in, ii. 267

Greece, rain-making in, i. 16; tree worship in, i. 58, 59, 99; festivals of the Greeks, i. 99, 100, 103; ceremony at the laying of a foundation stone in, i. 144; sacrificial ritual in, ii. 54, 55; human scapegoats in, ii. 210-217; midsummer fires in, ii. 266; the external soul in Greek stories, ii. 305-307

Green George, i. 84-86

Grenoble, May Day in, i. 94; harvest custom in, ii. 15, 47

Grihya-Sûtras, provision in the, for the burning of cut hair, i. 202

Grossvargula, Whitsuntide custom in, i. 91

Ground, sacred persons not allowed to touch the, ii. 224, 243 _note_; girls at puberty not allowed to touch the, ii. 225-253; sacred things may not touch the, ii. 243 _note_

Grüneberg, harvest ceremony in, ii. 11

Guanches, rain-charm in, i. 19

Guatemala, the nagual amongst the, ii. 333, 334

Guaycurus and storms, i. 28

Guinea, secreting of cut hair and nails in, i. 203; annual expulsion of the devil by the negroes of, ii. 170; time of licence in, ii. 204

Guyenne, harvest ceremony in, ii. 6

Hack-thorn, sacred, i. 69

Hadeln, reaping custom in the district of, i. 333

Haida Indian wind-charm, i. 26

Hair, burning of loose, i. 205; burning after child-birth, i. 206; cut hair deposited in a safe place, i. 200-205; cutting, i. 193 _sq._; most sacred day of the year appointed for hair cutting, i. 197; superstition concerning the cutting of the, i. 196, 198, 199; cut only during a storm, i. 199; haircutting as a disinfectant, i. 206, 207; magic use of cut hair, i. 198, 199; strength supposed to be in the, ii. 328; hair not cut, i. 193-195; superstition about cutting the hair and nails, i. 193-207

Halberstadt, human scapegoats in, ii. 199

Halibut, festival in honour of the, ii. 121

Halmahera, rain-making in, i. 13, 21

Hampstead, forest of, i. 57

Hare, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 10 _sq._

Harran, ritual observed by the heathen Syrians of, i. 283

Harvest child, a name given to the last sheaf, i. 344

—— cock, a name given to the last sheaf, ii. 7, 8

—— cries, i. 404-409

—— customs, i. 333-347, 352, 353, 367-381, 408; ii. 4-27, 32, 47, 48, 68-73, 213

—— festival, i. 169; ii. 171, 172, 374-376, 382-384

—— goat, ii. 13

—— maiden, a prototype of Proserpine, i. 356

—— May, i. 68, 69, 81, 82; ii. 4

—— omens, ii. 271

—— queen, i. 344

—— songs and cries, ii. 364-366, 404-409

Harz Mountains, Easter fires in the, ii. 253

Hawaii, detention of the soul in, i. 139; capital offences in, i. 190

Hay family, the, and the mistletoe, ii. 362

Head, sanctity of the, i. 187-193; ceremony at the washing of the, i. 188

Headache, transference of, ii. 149

Headington, May-day custom at, i. 94, 95

Heaven, the Golden Bough between heaven and earth, ii. 223-243

Hebrides, representation of spring in the, i. 97

Heligoland, disappearance of the herring from, ii. 120

Herbrechtingen, threshing custom in, ii. 22

Hercynian forest, i. 56, 57

Hereford, sin eaters in, ii. 154, 155

Herefordshire, midsummer fires in, ii. 262

Hermsdorf, harvest custom in, i. 338

Herodotus, story by, of the wind fighters of Psylli, i. 29

Herring, disappearance of the, from Heligoland, ii. 120

Hertfordshire harvest custom, ii. 24

Hessen, Ash Wednesday custom in, ii. 29; sowing-time customs in, ii. 48

Hidatsa Indians, belief in the plurality of souls amongst the, ii. 339

Hierapolis, pigs sacred at, ii. 50

Himalayas, scapegoats in the Western, ii. 194

Hindoo cure for the murrain, ii. 191; festival of Ingathering, ii. 272; girls and puberty, ii. 234, 235; the external soul in Hindoo stories, ii. 298-302

Hindoos, the, test of a suitable sacrificial victim, i. 36; Hindoos and yawning, i. 123; custom of nail cutting by the, i. 196; festival at the eating of the new rice by the, ii. 73

Hindoo Koosh, smoke from the sacred tree inhaled by the sybil, i. 35; blood sucking the test of a diviner amongst the, _ib._; expulsion of devils amongst the, ii. 173

Hippolytus, i. 6

Holland, Whitsuntide custom in, i. 88; Easter fires, ii. 253

Holstein, reaping custom in, i. 333; healing effects of the mistletoe in, ii. 289

Hornkampe, harvest custom in, i. 337

Horse, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 24-26; sacrifice of the, ii. 64

Horses excluded from the Arician grove, i. 6

—— and Virbius, ii. 62-64

Hos, harvest festival amongst the, ii. 171, 172; time of licence with the, ii. 204; offering of first-fruits by the, ii. 374

Hottentot priests do not use iron, i. 173; wind-charm, i. 27, 28; sheep driven through the fire by the, ii. 273

Hovas of Madagascar, offerings of first-fruits by the, ii. 374

How, coffer of Osiris at, i. 309

Huahine, offerings of first-fruits in, ii. 381

Huitzilopochtli, dough image of the Mexican god, made and eaten, ii. 81

Human sacrifices, i. 235-237, 251, 252, 381; replaced by mock sacrifices, i. 250-253

—— victim represents the corn-spirit, i. 390-395

Hungary, Whitsuntide custom in, i. 93; the external soul in Hungarian stories, ii. 320, 321

Hunger, expulsion of, ii. 210, 211

Hunting the wren, ii. 140-144

Hurons, the, and fish bones, ii. 119; their idea of the soul, i. 122; driving away sickness amongst the, ii. 162

Huskanaw, the name of an initiatory ceremony amongst the Indians of Virginia, ii. 348

Hylæ, sacred men inspired by the image of Apollo at, i. 37

Ibo, king of, confined to his premises, i. 164

Iddah, king of, asserts that he is god, i. 41, 42

Ihlozi, the, of the Zulus, ii. 332

Incarnate gods, i. 30-54

Incarnation, temporary and permanent, i. 32, 37-42

Incas of Peru revered as gods, i. 49; preservation of cut hair and parings of the nails of the, i. 203; restrictions upon the prince who is to become Inca of Peru, ii. 225; ceremony for the expulsion of diseases, etc. by the, ii. 167-169

Indersdorf, harvest custom in, ii. 17, 18

India, devil dancer drinks sacrificial blood in Southern, i. 34; human gods in, i. 41, 42; marriage of shrubs and trees in, i. 60; sin eating in, ii. 155, 156; iron used as a charm in, i. 175, 176; harvest custom in the Central Provinces of, i. 371, 372; custom during cholera in Central Provinces of, ii. 189; offerings of first-fruits in, ii. 374, 375

Indians of Alaska, preservation of cut hair by the, i. 201, 202

—— of Arizona offer human sacrifices, i. 251

—— of Guayaquil sacrifice human beings at seed time, i. 381

—— of Guiana, treatment of girls at puberty by the, ii. 232-234

—— of Peru and their fish gods, ii. 118, 119

—— of Virginia, initiatory ceremony amongst the, ii. 348, 349

Influenza, ii. 190

Initiatory rites, simulation of death and resurrection at, ii. 342-358

Innuit of Alaska, custom after a death amongst the, i. 177

Inspiration, i. 33; by blood drinking, i. 34, 35; by use of sacred tree, i. 35; 36

Inspired men, i. 36, 37

—— victims, i. 36

Irayas of Luzon, offerings of first-fruits by the, ii. 377

Ireland, May Day in the south-east of, i. 94; hunting the wren at Christmas in, ii. 142, 143; midsummer fires in, ii. 263, 264

Iron, superstitious aversion to, i. 172-174; as a charm, i. 175

Iron-Beard, Dr., i. 249, 257

Iroquois, ceremony at the festival of dreams by the, ii. 165, 166; scapegoat used by the, ii. 194, 195; time of licence amongst the, ii. 204

Isis, acorn goddess, i. 310, 311; named the moon by the aboriginal inhabitants of Egypt, i. 311; as a cow, ii. 61

Isle of Man, wind selling in the, i. 27; hunting the wren at Christmas in the, ii. 142; midsummer bonfires, ii. 263

Issapoo, the cobra capella the guardian deity of the negroes of, ii. 94, 95

Istar, legend concerning the goddess, i. 287

Italones, cannibalism by the, ii. 88

Italy, tree worship in ancient, i. 58, 59; custom of “sawing the old woman” in, i. 261, 262; gardens of Adonis in, i. 294; midsummer fires in, ii. 266; oak the sacred tree in, ii. 291; the external soul in Italian stories, ii. 307, 308

Itonamas, the, and the soul, i. 123

Itzgrund, harvest custom in, i. 338

Ivy girl, i. 344

Jack-in-the-green, i. 88, 89, 247

Jambi, temporary kings in, i. 231, 232

Japanese, expulsion of evil spirits by the, ii. 176

Jarkino, belief in animate trees in, i. 61

Javanese and rice bloom, i. 60, 61; ceremony at rice harvest, i. 355;

Javanese and the soul, i. 124, 125

Jerome of Prague, i. 24

Jeypur, scapegoat used in cases of smallpox in, ii. 190, 191

Jubilee, i. 225

Jupiter represented by an oak on the Capitol at Rome, ii. 291

Kaffa, worship of human god in, i. 42

Kafir boys at circumcision, i. 171; New Year festival, ii. 74; elephant hunters, ii. 113, 114; burying of cut hair and nails by the Kafirs, i. 202, 203

Kakian Association, ii. 354-357

Kakongo, king of, not allowed to touch certain European goods, i. 160; not seen eating, i. 162

Kalamba, ceremonies on a visit to, by subject chiefs, i. 159

Kalmucks, consecration of the white ram by the, ii. 136

Kamant tribe do not allow a natural death, i. 217

Kamtchatkans excuse themselves before killing land or sea animals, ii. 110, 111; respect the seal and sea lion, ii. 111

Kânagrâ, spring custom in, i. 276, 277

Kángrá, custom at, on the death of a Rajah, i. 232; sin eaters in, ii. 156

Karens, funeral custom by the, i. 129, 130; transference of the soul in Karen, i. 140; dread of women’s blood by the, i. 186; belief concerning the head, i. 187; custom at rice sowing, i. 354, 355

Karma tree, i. 289

Karoks of California and salmon catching, ii. 121

Kasyas, expulsion of devils by the, ii. 184

Katodis, ceremony before felling a tree by the, i. 63

Kent, the ivy girl in, i. 344

Keramin tribe of New South Wales, rain-making by the, i. 15

Key Islanders, soul superstition amongst the, i. 130, 131; expulsion of sickness by the, ii. 160

Khonds, human sacrifices by the, i. 384-390; rain-charm, ii. 42; expulsion of devils by the, ii. 173, 174

Kibanga, kings killed in, i. 218

Kilema, ceremony in, before a stranger is allowed to see the king, i. 159

Kilimanjaro Mount, believed to be tenanted by demons, i. 151

Kimbunda, cannibalism amongst the, ii. 88, 89

King Hop, the title of a temporary king, i. 230

—— of the calf, ii. 21

—— of the May, i. 247

—— of the sacred rites, i. 7

—— of the Wood, i. 1-108; why so called, i. 7; never a temporal sovereign, i. 51; an incarnation of the tree spirit, i. 106-108; probability that he was formerly slain annually, i. 240, 241; similarity to North European personages, i. 249, 250; a personification of the oak, ii. 364; probably burned in a fire of oak wood, ii. 363-365

Kings—as gods, i. 8; supposed to control the weather, i. 44-46; punished for the failure of crops, i. 46-48; killed, i. 48; divine, i. 49; of nature, i. 52; of fire, i. 53-56; of rain, i, 52, 53; of water, i. 53-56; divine, cease to govern, i. 118, 119; abdicate, i. 120; guarded against strangers, i. 158, 159; veiled, i. 162, 163; at meals, i. 162; confined to their palaces, i. 164, 165; killed when they show signs of decay, i. 217-223; killed at expiry of fixed term, i. 223; mitigation of the above rule, kings allowed to defend themselves, i. 224; killed annually, i. 225-227; temporary, i. 228-234; temporary kings sometimes hereditary, i. 228, 232; sons sacrificed in times of great danger, i. 235

Kingsmill Islands, offerings of first-fruits in, ii. 378

Kirn, the name of a harvest supper, i. 345

Klausenburg, harvest custom at, ii. 9

Kloxin, harvest ceremony in, i. 369

Knives, reluctance to use, after a death, i. 176, 177

Kobi, offering of first-fruits by the, ii. 376

Kochs of Assam, offerings of first-fruits by the, ii. 374

Kohlerwinkel, harvest ceremony at, ii. 27

Kolosh Indians, seclusion of girls amongst the, ii. 230

Koniags, seclusion of girls amongst the, ii. 230

Königshain, driving out Death in, i. 276

Konkan, scapegoat used in Southern, in cases of cholera, ii. 191

Konz, midsummer fire festival in, ii. 260, 261

Kostroma, funeral of, i. 273

Kostrubonko, i. 272

Kukulu, the priest king, i. 112, 113

Kumis, driving away small-pox by the, ii. 161

Kupalo, funeral of, i. 272; representation of, i. 292

Kupole’s festival, i. 294

Lachlin family and the deer, ii. 363

La Ciotat, hunting the wren in, ii. 144

Lada, funeral of, i. 273

Lagos, human sacrifices at, i. 383

Lakor, expulsion of diseases to sea in, ii. 192

Lamas, Grand, i. 42, 43; the chief of the, i. 43, 44

Lamb killed sacramentally by the Madi tribe of Central Africa, ii. 137, 138

Lamps, festival of, ii. 176

Laos, precautions against strangers in, i. 152; belief in plurality of souls amongst the, ii. 339

Laosia, women worshippers in, i. 42

La Palisse, harvest custom in, ii. 68

Lapis manalis, i. 22

Lappland, wind selling in, i. 27; ceremony at the sacrifice of an animal in, ii. 123; seclusion of women in, ii. 240

Larch-tree, sacred, i. 61, 62

Lazy man, the, i. 89

Lechrain, midsummer fires in, ii. 258, 259

Leipzig, carrying out the effigy of Death in, i. 268

Lent customs, ii. 247-249

Leopard, ceremony at the killing of a, ii. 114

Leper, custom at the cleansing of a, ii. 151

Lerwick wind-sellers, i. 27

Leti, expulsion of diseases to sea by the, ii. 92

Leucadian scapegoat, ii. 213

Lewis, wind selling in the island of, i. 27

Lhoosai, harvest festival of the, i. 69

Libchowic, Mid-Lent custom in the neighbourhood of, i. 93

Licence, periods of, ii. 204

Life of a person bound up with that of a plant, ii. 328-330

Life plants, ii. 329, 330

Lille, harvest ceremonies at, ii. 25, 26

Linus, the name given to the Phoenician lament at vintage time, i. 365

—— song, i. 398, 399

—— identified with Adonis, i. 399

Lion, ceremony at the killing of a, ii. 114; Arabic belief in the properties of lion’s fat, ii. 86

Lithuania, sun worshippers in, i. 24, 25; tree worshippers in, i. 58; superstition concerning the felling of sacred groves in, i. 66, 67; May customs in, i. 83, 84; custom after a funeral in, i. 177; harvest custom in, i. 340, 341; ceremony at threshing time in, i. 372, 373; ceremonies by the peasants at the eating of the new corn in, ii. 69, 70

Little leaf man, i. 88

Lityerses compared with harvest customs, i. 366, 367; story of, i. 392-395; relation of, to Attis, i. 396, 397

—— the name given to a song by the Phrygian reapers, i. 365, 366

Liver, the, thought to be the seat of the soul, ii. 88

Livonia, sacred grove in, i. 65

Llandebie, sin eating in, ii. 155

Loango, king of, deposed when the harvest fails, i. 47; supernaturally endowed kings of, i. 116; a capital offence to see the king eat, i. 161; the king confined to his palace after coronation, i. 164; food left by the king buried, i. 166; food restrictions in, i. 207, 208; girls secluded at puberty in, ii. 226

London, midsummer pageants in, ii. 281

Longnor, harvest custom at, ii. 25

Lost children, superstition concerning, i. 63

Loucheux Indians, abstinence from the sinew of the thigh by the, ii. 127, 128

Luchon, midsummer fire ceremony at, ii. 282

Lumley, Sir J., excavation of the site of the Diana Nemorensis by, i. 2 _note_

Lüneberg, harvest custom in, i. 377

Lusatia, ceremony of carrying out Death in, i. 259, 264

M’Bengas, life of a child supposed to be bound up with that of a tree by the, ii. 328, 329

Macusis of British Guiana, treatment of girls at the age of puberty by the, ii. 232 _sq._

Madagascar, power ascribed to the souls of the dead in, i. 132; blood of nobles may not be shed in, i. 181; crocodile not killed in, ii. 109, 110

Madenassana bushmen, the goat sacred to the, ii. 56

Madi tribe, burying of the parings of the nails by the, i. 202; lamb killed sacramentally by the, ii. 137, 138

Magic, sympathetic, i. 9-12

—— use of cut hair, i. 198-200

Maiden, a name given to the last handful of corn, i. 344, 345

Maize, mother of the, i. 350-352

Makololo, burning or burying of cut hair by the, i. 205

Malabar, reverence for the cow in, ii. 200

Malagasy, vehicle used by the, for the transference of ills, ii. 149, 150

Malay poem, the external soul in a, ii. 325, 326

Malays and the soul, i. 124; ii. 331; do not touch a man’s head, i. 189

Maldives, cuttings from the hair and nails buried by the natives of the, i. 200

Mamilian tower, ii. 67

Mamurius Veturius or the old Mars, ii. 208-210

Man in cow-skin, ii. 145, 146

—— gods in the South Sea Islands, i. 38, 39

Mandan Indians, and their portraits, i. 148; expulsion of devils by the, ii. 183, 184

Maneros, the name given to the lament of the Egyptian reapers at the cutting of the first sheaf, i. 364

Mangaia, priests called gods in, i. 33; spiritual and temporal government in, i. 120; story of a warrior’s shadow, i. 142, 143

Man-god, two types of, i. 12

Mania, i. 6

“Manii, there are many at Aricia,” explanation of the proverb, ii. 82, 83

Manius Egerius, traditional founder of the Arician Grove, etc., i. 5; ii. 84

Maori ceremonies on entering strange territory, i. 156; the Maoris and dead bodies, i. 169; fear of the blood of women, i. 186; sacredness of the head amongst the, i. 191, 192; ceremony at hair cutting, i. 196, 197; fishing custom, ii. 120; offerings of first-fruits, ii. 381, 382

Mare, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 24-26

Marimos, human sacrifices by the, i. 383, 384

Marktl, harvest ceremonies in the neighbourhood of, ii. 16, 17

Marquesas Islands, men deified in their life-time in the, i. 37, 38; the Marquesans and the soul, i. 123; shaving of the head in the, i. 195

Mars, chariot race on the field of, ii. 64-66

—— the old, ii. 208-210

Marseilles, human scapegoat in, ii. 212

Masuren, midsummer fire festival in, ii. 265, 266

May bride, i. 98

—— Day carols, i. 75, 76

—— Day customs, i. 72-86, 88, 89, 94, 95, 98-101; ii. 181, 182, 254, 255, 257, 258

—— king, i. 90, 91

—— poles, i. 78 _sq._, 230, 308; ii. 66

—— queen, i. 93, 94

—— sleeping bridegroom of, i. 95

—— trees, i. 74-82, 90, 91, 243, 247, 268, 269; ii. 8, 251

Mayenne, May Day custom in, i. 76

Mecklenburg, reaping custom in, i. 376

Meiningen, Ash Wednesday custom in, ii. 29; sowing time custom, ii. 48

Melanesia, sunshine making in, i. 24; bringing back the soul in, i. 136; Melanesian stones and a man’s shadow, i. 142

Meleager, ii. 305

Men eaten to obtain their qualities, ii. 88, 89

Menstruation, seclusion of women at periods of, ii. 238-242

Menstruous blood, primitive dread of, ii. 238, 241

Mentawej Islands, precautions against strangers in the, i. 152

Meroe, Ethiopian kings of, killed, i. 218

Metz, midsummer fires in, ii. 283

Mexican sacraments, paste images of the god eaten, ii. 79-82; festivals, ii. 80-84

Mexico, oath of kings at accession in, i. 49; sacrifice of new-born babes in, i. 307; human sacrifice at harvest festival in, i. 381; incarnate gods slain in, ii. 218-222

Miaotse, ceremony of driving away the devil by the, ii. 151

Mice, charm for ridding lands from, ii. 131

Mid-Lent customs, i. 82, 93, 254, 261-263, 268, 269

Midsummer customs, i. 78 _sq._, 89, 101, 272, 290-294; ii. 366, 367

—— European fire festivals at, ii. 258-267, 282, 283; burning of effigies in the midsummer fires, ii. 266, 267

—— Eve superstitions, ii. 286, 287; magic plants gathered on Midsummer Eve, ii. 286-288

—— omens, i. 294

Mikado, description of the life of the, i. 110-112; cooking of his food, i. 166, 167; effects of wearing his clothes without leave, i. 167; cutting his hair and nails, i. 197; not allowed to touch the ground, ii. 224, 225

Miklucho-Maclay, Baron, ceremony on his entering a village on the Maclay coast, i. 156

Milkmen worshipped by the Todas, i. 41

Minahassa, rain-charm used by the, i. 17; blood drinking at festivals by the, i. 35; custom in time of sickness, ii. 84; driving away devils by the, ii. 158, 159

Mingrelia, rain-getting in, i. 15

Minnetaree Indians and the resurrection of the bison, ii. 122, 123

Miris, tree superstition of the, i. 63; tiger’s flesh eaten by the, ii. 86

Mirrors, covering up of, i. 147

Mistletoe, the, worshipped by the Celts and gathered by the Druids, ii. 285, 286, 288, 289, 295; gathered on Midsummer Eve, ii. 286 _sq._; qualities of, ii. 289; viewed as the seat of life, ii. 295; life of the oak in the, ii. 360, 361; not allowed to touch the ground, ii. 361; a protection against witchcraft, ii. 362; the Golden Bough the, ii. 363, 368; reason it was called the Golden Bough, ii. 365; why called golden, ii. 366, 367; divining rods made from, in Sweden, ii. 367; gathered at midsummer and Christmas, ii. 367

Mithraic mysteries, ii. 358

Mnevis, the bull, ii. 60, 61

Moa, expulsion of diseases to sea by the, ii. 192

Mock executions, i. 261

—— human sacrifices, i. 250-253

Mole, Le, i. 5

Moluccas, festivals in the, i. 40; treatment of clove-trees in blossom in the, i. 60; soul abduction in the, i. 133, 134; ceremony in the, after a journey, i. 158

Mondard, the great, ii. 40

Mongolians, stuffing the skin of a sacrificed animal by the, ii. 124

Mongols, the, and the soul, i. 128

Monomotapa, precautions taken for the king of, i. 159

Montalto, Mid Lent custom in, i. 262

Mooris, custom at births by the, ii. 329

Moosheim, fire festival at, ii. 278

Moqui Indians, belief in the transmigration of human souls into turtles held by the, ii. 98, 99; totem clans of the, ii. 99

Moresby, Captain, at Shepherd’s Isle, i. 152, 153

Morocco, iron a protection against demons in, i. 175; ants eaten in, ii. 87; diverting evil spirits in, ii. 151

Mother-cotton, the, i. 353

—— of the maize, i. 350-352

Motumotu theory of storms, i. 27

——, the soul believed to be in the reflection by the, i. 145

Mowat, the chief of, supposed to have power of affecting crops, etc., i. 46; boys beaten to make them grow in, ii. 216

Mozcas, weather kings of the, i. 44

Muato Jamwo, a capital offence to see him eat, i. 162

Mundaris, sacred groves of the, i. 63; superstition concerning the felling of sacred groves, i. 67; harvest festival, ii. 172

Mundas, ceremony at the planting of the rice by the, i. 288, 289

Munster, rain fountain in, i. 19

Münsterland, Easter fires in, ii. 252, 253

Murrain, cure for the, ii. 191

Murrams of Manipur, restrictions of food among the, i. 208

Muyscas, weather kings of the, i. 44

Nagual, the, of the Indians of Guatemala, ii. 333, 334

Nails, cutting the, i. 195, 196; burying the first cuttings of a child’s, i. 201; cuttings of, preserved, i. 202-205

Namaquas, foods eaten and rejected by the, ii. 86

Nanumea, precautions against strangers in the island of, i. 151

Narrinyeri and their totems, i. 165, 166

Nass River, Indians of the, and the recall of the soul, i. 140, 141

Natchez, harvest festival by the, ii. 382-384

Nature, kings of, i. 52; dependence of, upon the divine king, i. 109

Nauders, sacred larch-tree at, i. 61, 62

Naudowessies, initiatory ceremony amongst the, ii. 350

Navarre, rain-making in, i. 15

Ndembo, the, ii. 345

Need fires, ii. 269, 293

Negro idea of the soul, i. 125

Nemi, lake of, i. 1; tree within the sanctuary, i. 4; priest of, i. 249, 253, ii. 223; unchanged, ii. 370, 371

Nerechta, Whitsuntide customs in, i. 96

Neuautz, custom at barley sowing in, ii. 28

Neuhausen, harvest custom in, i. 370

Neusaass, harvest custom in, i. 337

New Britain, rain-making in, i. 13, 14; wind-charm, i. 26; driving away evil in, ii. 158; expulsion of devils in, ii. 203; initiation ceremony in, ii. 352, 353

New Caledonia, rain-making in, i. 16; charm for making sunshine in, i. 22-24

New fruits etc. eaten sacramentally, ii. 68-79

New Guinea, seclusion of girls in, ii. 228, 229

New Ireland, seclusion of girls in, ii. 226-228

New South Wales, ceremony of initiation in, i. 163; first-born eaten in, i. 236

New Year’s Day customs, ii. 170, 171, 179, 193, 194, 272, 273

New Zealand, sacredness of blood in, i. 183; superstition concerning the head, i. 192; hair cutting in, i. 197, 199; clippings from the hair buried in, i. 200; effects of sacred contagion in, ii. 55; gods, ii. 89

Nias, the people of, and the soul, i. 122, 138; precautions against strangers in, i. 154; succession in, i. 238; slaves sacrificed at the funeral of a chief in, i. 251; exorcising the devil in, ii. 160, 161; scapegoats in, ii. 196, 197

Nicobar Islands, ceremony in cases of epidemic in the, ii. 188, 189; expulsion of devils in the, ii. 192

Nightjar, the, ii. 334, 335

Nisus, King of Megara, ii. 305

Nootka Indians, ceremony by the, at the killing of a bear, ii. 113; initiatory ceremony by the, ii. 351

Nördlingen, threshing custom in, i. 371

Norse stories, the external soul in, ii. 312, 313

North American Indians, their idea with regard to strangers, i. 153; restrictions upon women at certain times, i. 170; cleansing after the slaying of enemies, i. 170, 171; abstinence from blood, i. 179; nail cutting amongst the, i. 196; belief concerning the various properties of food, ii. 85, 86; spare the rattlesnake, ii. 110; ceremony at bear killing, ii. 115; respect for the elan, deer and elk, ii. 117, 118; regard for the bones of animals, ii. 125

Northamptonshire, May-day custom in, i. 75; cure for cough, ii. 154

Norway, cut hair and nails buried or burned in, i. 205; midsummer bonfires in, ii. 289

Nürnberg, ceremony of carrying out Death in, i. 259

Oak worship, ii. 291; the chief sacred tree of the European Aryans, ii. 291-370; sacred fires made of, ii. 292; oak wood burnt on Midsummer Day, ii. 294; Balder is the, ii. 295; human representative of the, slain, ii. 294-296; life of, in the mistletoe, ii. 360, 361; superstition concerning the oak tree, ii. 368; a store of solar fire, ii. 369

Oats-goat, ii. 13-15

Obermedlingen, threshing custom in, ii. 21, 22; midsummer fires in, ii. 270

Oberpfalz, threshing custom in, i. 371

October horse, ii. 64-67

Offerings of first-fruits, ii. 373-384

Oil of St. John, ii. 288, 289

Ojebways, sunshine charm used by the, i. 22; seldom fell living trees, i. 61

Olaf, King of Sweden, sacrificed, i. 47, 48

Old Calabar, revellings at the expulsion of devils in, ii. 193

Old man, a name given to the last sheaf, i. 337, 338

Old woman, a name given to the last sheaf, i. 337, 338

Oldenburg, superstition regarding the reflection in, i. 147; custom with regard to clippings from the hair in, i. 201; fire festival in, ii. 250

Omaha Indians, rain-making by the, i. 14; wind clan of the Omahas, i. 26; their totems, ii. 53, 56

Omens, neutralising bad, ii. 151

Onitsha, ceremony of eating the new yams at, ii. 74; New Year festival in, ii. 170, 171; human scapegoats in, ii. 195, 196

Oraon festival, i. 85, 86

Oraons, ceremony at rice planting by the, i. 288

Orchomenus, human sacrifice at the rites of Dionysus in, i. 329

Oregon, belief in the recall of the soul by the Salish Indians of, i. 136, 137

Orestes, the originator of the worship of Diana, i. 3

Orinoco rain-charm, i. 18, 93; sunshine charm, i. 22

Orissa, worshippers of the Queen of England in, i. 41; rice growing in, i. 61

Orkney Islands, transference of sickness in the, ii. 153

Osiris, myth of, i. 301 _sq._; ritual of, i. 303-305; representation of the dead body of, in the temple of Isis, i. 305; a corn-spirit, i. 305-307; a tree-spirit, i. 307-309; grave of, at Philae, i. 309; arguments for and against his being the sun-god, i. 311-313, 316, 317, 318, 320; a god of vegetation, i. 319; rites of, similar to those of Dionysus and Adonis, i. 319, 320; probable origin of the cult of, i. 363; once represented by a human victim, i. 400-404; on monuments, i. 403; key to the mysteries of, i. 404; as a pig, ii. 52-60; death of, ii. 58, 59; annual sacrifice of a pig to, ii. 58, 59; as a bull, ii. 59-61

Osnabrück, harvest custom in, i. 336

Osterode, Easter fires in, ii. 253

Ostiaks, ceremony by the, at the killing of a bear, ii. 111, 112

Ot Damons, custom with regard to strangers by the, i. 151, 152; seclusion of girls amongst the, ii. 229

Otawa Indians, ceremony at the killing of a bear by the, ii. 113; do not burn fish bones, ii. 119

Oude, sin eating in, ii. 156

Owl, the, ii. 335, 336

Ox, ritual at the Athenian sacrifice of the, ii. 38, 39, 41; as an embodiment of the corn-spirit, ii. 41-43; Osiris and the, ii. 59-61

Ozieri, Gardens of Adonis at, i. 290

Pacific, human gods in the, i. 38, 39

Pádams of Assam, superstition concerning lost children by the, i. 63

Palermo, “sawing the old woman” in, i. 261

Palm-tree, the Dyaks and the, ii. 329

—— Sunday custom, ii. 216

Pan, representation of, ii. 34, 35; the Lord of the Wood, ii. 35

Panes, festival of the, ii. 90, 91

Papuans, foods eaten by the, ii. 87; belief in a child’s life being bound up with that of a tree, ii. 329

Paris, procession of mock giant in, ii. 281

Parthian monarchs worshipped as deities, i. 49

Patagonians, burning of loose hair by the, i. 205

Pawnees, human sacrifices by the, at sowing, i. 381, 382

Payaguas, method of fighting the wind by the, i. 28

Pear-tree, the protector of cattle, i. 73

Pelew Islanders, god of the, i. 39, 40; custom at tree-felling by the, i. 62, 63; ceremony on the killing of a man by the, i. 178

Pembrokeshire, Twelfth Day custom in, ii. 143

Pepper Coast, high priest held responsible for the general welfare, i. 47

Permanent incarnation, i. 37-42

Persian kings not seen eating, i. 162

Peru, rain-charm in, i. 17; charm for staying the sun in, i. 24; preservation of the representative corn-spirit by the ancient Peruvians, i. 350, 351; expulsion of devils in, ii. 203; self-beating in, ii. 216. _See also under_ Incas.

Philippine Islands, belief in the souls of trees in the, i. 62; cannibalism in the, ii. 88

Philosophy, primitive, defect of, i. 210-212; rules of life of sacred men are the outcome of, _ib._

Phoenician custom at vintage, i. 365; Linus song, i. 398, 399

Phrygia, mock human sacrifices in, i. 300; reapers’ song in, i. 365, 366

Piedmont, midsummer peasant custom in, i. 288

Pig, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 26-31; sacred, ii. 50-57; Osiris as a, ii. 52-60

Pigs, Demeter and Proserpine as, ii. 44-49; Attis and Adonis as, ii. 49, 50

Pilsen, Whitsuntide custom near, i. 92

Pine-tree sacred to Dionysus, i. 321

Pinsk, Whit Monday customs by Russian girls in, i. 87, 88

Plas, Whitsuntide custom in the neighbourhood of, i. 92

Po, excavations in the valley of the, i. 57

Poachers and the fir-cones, ii. 288

Point Barrow, hunting the evil spirit by the Eskimo of, ii. 164, 165

Poitou, midsummer fire festival in, ii. 261

Poland, ceremony of carrying out Death in, i. 261; harvest custom in, i. 339, 340, 342, 343; Christmas custom in, ii. 6, 7

Polynesians, superstition held by the, concerning the head, i. 189, 190; and sacred contagion, ii. 55

Pomerania, cut hair buried in, i. 205; reaping custom in, i. 205

Pomos of California, expulsions of devils by the, ii. 183

Pongol festival, ii. 73

Pont à Mousson, harvest ceremony at, ii. 21

Poplar, burning of a, on St. Peter’s Day, i. 101

Portrait, the soul in the, i. 148, 149

Portraits, life in, i. 148

Potato-dog, ii. 4

—— wolf, ii. 2, 5

Potatoes, custom at the digging of new, in Sutherlandshire, ii. 71

Potniae, rites of Dionysus at, i. 329

Pouilly, harvest ceremony at, ii. 20, 21, 47

Preacher to the fish, ii. 119, 120

Pregnancy, i. 239

Priestly kings, i. 7, 8

Priests, Roman and Sabine, not shaved with iron razors, i. 172

Primitive man and the supernatural, i. 6-30

—— philosophy, rules of life are the outcome of, i. 208-210

Prophesying, drinking blood before, i. 34, 35

Propitiation of the fish, ii. 118, 119

Proserpine and the pig, ii. 44-49

Prussia, reverence for the oak in, i. 58; high trees worshipped by the ancient Prussians, i. 64; custom after a funeral by the old Prussians, i. 177; self-immolation of the supreme ruler of the old Prussians, i. 223; ceremony at spring ploughing in, i. 286; corn drenching in, i. 287; gardens of Adonis in, i. 294, 295; harvest custom in, i. 336, 338, 343; ceremony at the sowing of the winter corn by the Prussian Slavs, ii. 18, 19; midsummer fire festival in, ii. 265

Puberty, girls at, not allowed to touch the ground or see the sun, ii. 225-253; girls secluded at, ii. 225; reasons for the seclusion, ii. 238 _sq._

Pulverbatch, oak tree superstition at, ii. 368

Punjaub, Gen. Nicholson worshipped by a sect in the, i. 41; ceremony at the bursting of the cotton boles in the, i. 353; custom at the festival of lamps, ii. 176

Purification after travel, i. 157, 158

Pyrenees, customs in the, i. 101

Quauhtitlans, human sacrifices by the, ii. 221

Queen of the sacred rites, i. 7

Queensland, initiatory rites in, ii. 343, 344

Quilacare, self-immolation of the king of, i. 224

Quoja, initiatory rites in, ii. 347

Ra, the sun-god, i. 313-316

Rain-charm, i. 93, 199, 287, 289, 299, 333, 374, 390, 400; ii. 42

—— kings of, i. 52, 53

—— making, i. 13-22

Rajah, custom at the death of a, i. 232

Rajah Vijyanagram, his aversion to iron, i. 174

Rajamahall, offerings of first-fruits in, ii. 374, 375

Rali fair, the, i. 276, 277

Ram, sacred, ii. 63; Egyptian sacrifice of the, ii. 92-94; consecration of the white ram by the Kalmucks, ii. 136

Ramin, harvest custom in, i. 377

Raskolniks, the, and mirrors, i. 147

Rattlesnake not killed, ii. 110

Ratzeburg, harvest custom in, i. 376, 377

Red cock, ii. 9

—— haired victims, i. 306, 307

Reflection, the soul in the, i. 145-148

Religion, marks of a primitive, i. 348, 349

—— and magic, relation of, i. 30-32

Religious aspect of Peruvian, Parthian and Egyptian sovereigns, i. 48-50

Resurrection, the, of animals, ii. 123-125; traces in folk-tales of the belief in, ii. 125; simulation of death and resurrection at initiatory rites, ii. 342-358

Rhetra, priest tastes the sacrificial blood at, i. 35

Rhön mountains, fire festivals in the, ii. 249

Rice-bride, the, i. 355

Rice harvest, ceremonies at the, ii. 71, 72

Rio de la Plata, seclusion of girls amongst the Indians of, ii. 230, 231

Roman cure for fever, ii. 152

—— haircutting custom, i. 199

Romans, tree worship by the, i. 99

Rome, ceremony of driving out the old Mars from, ii. 208-210

Romove, sacred oak at, i. 58, 64

Rook, expulsion of evil in the island of, ii. 158; initiation festival, ii. 352

Rosenheim, harvest custom in, ii. 20

Roti, haircutting ceremony in the island of, i. 201, 205, 206

Rottenburg, midsummer ceremony in, ii. 266, 267

Roumanians, rain-making by the, i. 16; custom after a death by the, i. 176; corn-drenching by the, i. 286

Rowan, the, effective against witchcraft, ii. 361

Royal and priestly taboos, i. 109-120, 149-209

—— blood not spilt upon the ground, i. 179-183

Ruhla, springtide custom in, i. 88

Rupture, cure for, ii. 330

Russia, Whitsuntide customs in, i. 76, 77; first-born sacrificed by the heathen in, i. 237; Eastertide customs in Little Russia, i. 272, 273; harvest custom in, i. 341; ceremony on the cutting of the first sheaf in, i. 364; Easter custom in White Russia, ii. 29; Russian wood-spirits, ii. 35, 36; Russian corn-spirits, ii. 36; beating as a charm in, ii. 216; midsummer customs in, ii. 265, 267

Ruthenia, fire festival in, ii. 265

Rye-boar, ii. 26, 27

—— goat, ii. 12

—— wolf, ii. 1-3, 5

Sabaea, kings of, not allowed out of their palaces, i. 164

Sabarios, festival of, ii. 69

Sables, superstition about killing, ii. 115

Sacaea festival at Babylon, i. 226, 400

Sacramental bread, traces of the use of, at Aricia, ii. 82-84

—— character of the harvest supper, corn-spirit eaten in animal form, ii. 31

—— killing of an animal, two types of the, ii. 134 _sq._

Sacramental killing of sacred animal by pastoral peoples, ii. 135-138

Sacraments in ancient Mexico, ii. 78, 79

Sacred cattle in Egypt, ii. 60, 61

—— persons’ vessels not to be used by others, i. 166; sacred persons are dangerous, i. 166, 167; not allowed to see the sun, ii. 225, 243 _note_; not allowed to touch the ground, ii. 224, 243 _note_

Sacredness and uncleanness not distinguished by primitive man, i. 169-172

Sacrifices, human, i. 235-237, 251, 252

Sacrificial king, i. 7

Saddle Island, the reflection and the soul in the, i. 145

Saffron Walden, May-day custom in, i. 76

Sagar, influenza in, ii. 189, 190

Saligné, harvest custom in, i. 343

Salii, the, ii. 210 _note_

Salmon-catching, ii. 121, 122

Salza district, Shrove Tuesday custom in the, ii. 29

Salzwedel, Whitsuntide custom in, i. 90

Samoan gods, i. 39; ii. 54

Samoans, the, and bleeding trees, i. 61; recall of the soul amongst the, i. 135; turtle not eaten by the, i. 163;

Samoans and the butterfly, ii. 56; presentation of first-fruits by the, ii. 381

Samogitians, tree superstition amongst the, i. 65; birds and beasts of the wood held sacred by the, i. 105

Samorin kings, i. 225

Samoyed story, the external soul in a, ii. 321

Sankara and his shadow, i. 142

Santals, story of a soul by the, i. 126

Sardinia, Gardens of Adonis in, i. 290

Satyrs, representation of the, ii. 35

Savage, our debt to the, i. 210-212

Savage Island, kings killed in the, i. 48; collapse of the monarchy in the, i. 118; killing of strangers in the, i. 158

Savages and the soul, i. 121, 122

“Sawing the old woman,” i. 261, 262

Saxon villages, Whitsuntide custom in, i. 95

Saxons of Transylvania, charm for keeping sparrows from the corn used by the, ii. 130

Saxony, Whitsuntide ceremonies in, i. 243

Scandinavian Christmas custom, ii. 29

Scapegoat, ii. 182-217; animal employed as a, ii. 189-191, 194 _sq._; human, ii. 191 _sq._; dog used as a, ii. 194, 195; Tibetan ceremony of the, ii. 197, 198; divine, ii. 199-201, 205; cow and bull as, ii. 201, 202; use of, in classical antiquity, ii. 208-217; reason for beating the, ii. 213-215

Schaumburg, Easter fires in, ii. 253

Schluckenau, Shrovetide custom in, i. 244

Scotland, representation of spring in the Highlands of, i. 97; iron as a charm in, i. 175, 176; harvest custom in, i. 339, 345; cowherd clothed in cow’s hide in the Highlands of, ii. 145, 146; midsummer fires in, ii. 264, 265

Scythian kings put in bonds in times of scarcity, i. 46

Sea-lion, respect for the, ii. 111

Seal, respect for the, ii. 111

Self-immolation, i. 216, 224

Semites, sacrifice of children by the, i. 235; the king’s son sacrificed, _ib._; worship of Adonis, i. 279

Senegambia, the Python clan in, ii. 95; soul detention among the Sereres of, i. 139

Senjero, first-born sacrificed in, i. 236, 237

Servia, rain-making in, i. 16; torchlight procession in, ii. 266

Seven Oaks, May-day custom in, i. 76

Sex-totems in Australia, ii. 334-337

Shadow, the soul in the, i. 141-149

Shamans, the, sacrifice their chief on account of pestilence, i. 48

Shans, expulsion of the fire-spirit by the, ii. 178, 179

Shark Point the home of the priestly King Kukulu, i. 112

Sharp instruments supposed to wound spirits, i. 176, 177

Sheaf, the last, various names given to, and ceremonies in connection with, i. 336-338, 340-346, 408; ii. 4, 7, 8, 68

Shepherd’s Isle, precautions taken against strangers in, i. 152, 153

Shetland seamen and wind buying, i. 27

Shropshire, “Neck” the name given to the last handful of corn in, i. 407, 408; harvest custom, ii. 24, 25; sin-eating in, ii. 155

Shrovetide Bear, i. 254, 255

—— customs, i. 96, 244, 270; ii. 29, 250, 254-257, 283

Siam, soul superstition in, i. 59; mode of royal executions in, i. 179, 180; superstition concerning the head, i. 187, 188; temporary king of, i. 229; banishment of demons in, ii. 178; human scapegoats in, ii. 196; the external soul in Siamese story, ii. 304, 305

Siberian sable hunters, ii. 115, 116

Sicily, Gardens of Adonis in, i. 294, 295

Silenus both a wood and corn spirit, ii. 35; representation of, _ib._

Silesia, driving out Death in, i. 260; “carrying out Death” in, i. 267; bringing back summer in, i. 263; harvest custom in, i. 336, 346; ii. 8

Silvanus both a wood and corn spirit, ii. 35

Sin-bearers, ii. 151, 152

Sin-eating, ii. 154-157

“Sinew which shrank,” abstinence from the, ii. 126-128

Skye, harvest festival in, ii. 14; Beltane fires in, ii. 255, 256

Slaves sacrificed, i. 251, 252

Slavonia, “carrying out Death” in, i. 260; ii. 209; custom of “sawing the old woman” amongst the Slavs, i. 262; reaping custom amongst the Slavs, i. 334, 355; beating in, ii. 216; midsummer fires in, ii. 265; perpetual fire of the Slavs, ii. 293; the external soul in Slavonic stories, ii. 309, 310

Slovenes of Oberkrain, Shrove Tuesday custom amongst the, i. 96

Small-pox, driving away the, ii. 161; scapegoat used for, ii. 190, 191

Snake, communion with the, ii. 139

—— tribe, ii. 95; ceremony performed with a dough snake by the, ii. 139, 140

Soest, custom of flax pullers at, i. 375

Sofala, kings of, killed, i. 219, 220

Sogamoso, restrictions on the heir to the throne in, ii. 225

Solör, harvest custom in, i. 375

Somersetshire, midsummer fires in, ii. 262

Sorcerers, the soul extracted or detained by, i. 135-141

Soul, perils of the, i. 109 _sq._; a miniature of the body, i. 121-123; precautions to prevent its escape, i. 123; conceived as a bird, i. 124; its flight, i. 124, 125; absent in sleep, i. 125-129; its departure not always voluntary, i. 129; carried off by ghosts, i. 129-132; recall of the, i. 129-141; stolen by demons, i. 132-135; brought back in visible shape, i. 136-138; extracted or detained by sorcerers, i. 138-141; transference of the, i. 140; the soul thought to be in the portrait, i. 148, 149; in the shadow, i. 141-149; in the reflection, i. 145-148; in the blood, i. 178, 179; transmigration of the human soul into that of a turtle, ii. 98; the external soul in folk tales, ii. 296-326; in folk custom, ii. 327-359

Souls, of trees, i. 59-61; of divine persons transmitted to successors, i. 237-239; plurality of, ii. 339

South American Indians, foods eaten and avoided by the, ii. 86; beating by the, ii. 216

South Sea Islands, man-gods in the, i. 38, 39.

Sowing-time custom, ii. 28-30, 32, 48

Spachendorf, fire festivals in, ii. 249, 250

Spain, custom of “sawing the old woman” in, i. 261, 262; midsummer fires in, ii. 266

Sparrows, the, and the corn, ii. 130

Sparta, state sacrifices offered by the kings of, i. 7

Spices, sprinkling the sick with, i. 154

Spirit, of vegetation, in human shape, i. 87, 88

—— robbing the, i. 380

Spirits, sharp instruments supposed to wound, i. 176, 177

Spitting as a protective charm, i. 205

Spring and harvest customs compared, i. 346, 347

—— ceremony in, in China, ii. 42, 43; European fire festivals in, ii. 247-254

Storms, Motumotu theory of, i. 27

Strangers, precautions against the magic arts of, i. 150-160; tied up in the sheaves by the reapers as representatives of the corn-spirit, i. 374-380

Straw goats, ii. 16

Sucla-Tirtha, expulsion of sins to sea by the, ii. 192

Suicide of Fijians at old age, i. 216

Sumatra, rain-charm in, i. 17; tree-superstition in, i. 63; reluctance to wound a tiger in, ii. 110

Summer, bringing back, i. 263, 268

—— tree, i. 268, 269

Sun, staying the, i. 24; sacred person not allowed to see the, ii. 225, 243 _note_; girls at puberty not allowed to see the, ii. 225-253; traces in folktales of the rule which forbids girls at puberty to see the sun, ii. 235-237; belief that the sun can impregnate women, ii. 236; tabooed persons may not see the, ii. 243 _note_; fires as sun charms, ii. 267-274

Suni Mohammedans, covering up mirrors by the, i. 147

Sunshine, making, i. 22-24

Superb warbler, ii. 336, 337

Surenthal, midsummer fire ceremony in the, ii. 259, 260

Surinam, the bush negroes of, and their totems, ii. 53, 54

Sutherland, cure for cough in, ii. 154

Sutherlandshire, custom at the digging of new potatoes in, ii. 71

Swabia, burying of cut hair in, i. 202; burying the carnival in, i. 254-257; harvest custom, ii. 27; fire festival, ii. 248-249; Easter fires in, ii. 254; midsummer fires in, ii. 258

Sweden, harvest superstition in, i. 68; King Domalde sacrificed on account of famine, i. 47, 48; May Eve customs in, i. 78; midsummer ceremonies, i. 78, 79; Christmas customs in, ii. 29-31; superstitious use of Yule straw in, ii. 30, 31; May Day fires in, ii. 258; midsummer bonfires in, ii. 289; mistletoe superstition in, _ib._; divining rods made from the mistletoe in, ii. 367

Swineherds, restrictions on, in Egypt, ii. 52

Syleus, legend of, i. 398

Sympathetic eating, Savage belief that a man acquires the character of the animal or man whose flesh he eats, ii. 85-89

—— magic, i. 9-12

Syria, caterpillars in, ii. 132

Taboo, i. 121, 178; fatal effects of, i. 167-170; seclusion of tabooed persons, i. 170, 171; the object of, is to preserve life, i. 149; royal and priestly taboos, i. 109-120, 149-150, 209

Tabor, in Bohemia, ceremony of carrying out Death in, i. 258

Tahiti, abdication of kings of, i. 120; the bodies of the king and queen not allowed to be touched, i. 172; superstition concerning the head in, i. 190, 191; burying of cut hair in, i. 200

Tâif, hair cut on returning from a journey in, i. 194

Tamaniu, the, of the Bank Islanders, ii. 331, 332

Tana, disposal of unconsumed food by the islanders, i. 166; offerings of first-fruits in, ii. 378

Tarnow, reaping custom in, i. 335

Tartar Khan, ceremony on a visit by a stranger to a, i. 158, 159

—— poems, the external soul in, ii. 321-324

Ta-ta-thi tribe of New South Wales, rain-making by the, i. 14

Tâ-uz, festival in honour of, i. 283, 284

Temporary kings, i. 228-234; sometimes hereditary, i. 228, 232

Tenedos, rites of Dionysus at, i. 329

Tenimber Islands, offering of first-fruits in the, ii. 376, 377

Teutonic kings exercised the powers of high priests, i. 8

Texas, initiatory ceremony among the Toukaway Indians of, ii. 352

Thammuz as a corn-spirit, i. 283, 288

Thann, May-Day customs in, i. 83

Theban ritual, ii. 92, 93; rams sacred at Thebes, ii. 63

Thesmophoria, the, ii. 44-48

Thlinket of Alaska, festival to the halibut by the, ii. 121

Thuringen, Whitsuntide customs in, i. 90, 91, 243; Mid-Lent customs in, i. 257, 258; threshing custom in, i. 371

Tibetan New Year’s day custom, ii. 193-195; scapegoat, ii. 197-198

Tiger, flesh of, eaten, ii. 86; reluctance to wound a, ii. 110

Tikopia islanders, ceremony by the, in cases of epidemic, ii. 188

Tillot, threshing custom in the canton of, i. 372

Timor, West, custom of a speaker in, i. 163

Timorese rain-charm, i. 18

Timorlaut, married men not allowed to cut their hair in, i. 194; disease-boats in, ii. 186, 187

Tjumba, harvest festival in, ii. 375, 376

Todas, the dairy a sanctuary amongst the, i. 41; buffalo held sacred by the, ii. 136, 137

Tom-cat, ii. 11

Tona, the, of the Zapotecs, ii. 332, 333

Tonga, king of, not seen eating, i. 162; ceremony in, with regard to sacred contagion, ii. 55; festival of the first-fruits in, ii. 379-381

Tongues of birds given to backward children to eat, ii. 87

Tonquin, the test of a suitable sacrificial victim in, i. 36; selection of guardian spirits in, i. 40; the monarchy, i. 119, 120; kings not allowed to be viewed in public, i. 165; mode of royal executions in, i. 180, 181; expulsion of evil spirits in, ii. 176-178; time of licence in, ii. 204

Toothache cure, ii. 149

Torchlight processions, ii. 266, 273

Totem, a, is an object (animal, plant, etc.) in which a man deposits his soul for safety, ii. 337-342

Totemism, ii. 38, 53, 54, 56, 133, 337-342, 358, 359

Totems, sex, ii. 334

Touaregs of the Sahara, custom of veiling the face amongst the, i. 163

Transmigration of divine spirit, i. 42-44

Transylvania, rain-charm in, i. 17; burying the carnival amongst the Saxons of, i. 255; “carrying out Death” in, i. 265, 266; corn-drenching in, i. 286; custom for preserving the crops from insects, etc. in, ii. 130

Transylvanian story of a soul, i. 126, 127

Traunstein district, harvest custom in the, ii. 27

Travancore, transference of sickness in, ii. 151

Travel, purification after, i. 157, 158

Tree-spirit represented by leaf-clad persons alone, i. 87-90; killing the, i. 240-253; reason for annually killing the, i. 247-249; the goat as an embodiment of the, ii. 34-37; burnt in effigy, ii. 274-277; human beings burnt as representatives of the, ii. 277-285

—— spirits give rain and sunshine, i. 66; cause the crops to grow, i. 67-70; influence of, on women and cattle, i. 70-74

—— worship, i. 56-98; in antiquity, 98-108

Trees, bleeding, i. 61; souls of, i. 59-61; souls of the dead believed to animate, i. 62; inhabited by spirits, i. 62-65; planted at the births of children, ii. 329, 330; regarded as storehouses of the sun’s fire, ii. 369 _sq._

—— and cattle, i. 72 _sq._

Trier, harvest custom in, ii. 6

Tukaitawa and his shadow, i. 142, 143

Turks, parings from the nails preserved by the, i. 204; Turks of Central Asia give backward children tongues of birds to eat, ii. 87

Turner’s picture of the Golden Bough, i. 1

Turtle, the, not eaten, i. 163; sacrifice of the sacred, ii. 95-99; belief in the transmigration of human souls into, ii. 98, 99

Twelfth Day customs, ii. 143, 144, 182

Tycoons, the, i. 119

Types, two, of animal worship, ii. 133, 134

Typhon, ii. 57-60

Tyrol, expulsion of witches in the, i. 181, 182; witches said to make use of the hair cut in the, i. 199; midsummer customs in the, ii. 267

Ualaroi, ceremony at initiatory rites in, ii. 344

Uapes of Brazil, treatment of girls at the age of puberty in, ii. 334

Udvarhely, harvest home in, i. 370, 371; ceremony with the last sheaf in, ii. 9, 48

Uea, power ascribed to the souls of the dead in, i. 132

Uelzen, harvest ceremony in, ii. 13

Uganda, custom of burning the king’s brothers in, i. 181; king of, and his courtiers, i. 222

Ugi, dread of women’s blood in, i. 186; burying of cut hair in, i. 202

Uliase, sprinkling the sick with spices in, i. 154

Unyoro, kings killed in, i. 218

Upsala, sacred grove at, i. 58

Utch Kurgan, sin eating in, ii. 156, 157

Val di Ledro, fire festival in, ii. 251

Vaté, burying alive at, i. 217

Vegetation, spirit of, in human shape, i. 87, 88; slain at midsummer, i. 274, 275

Veiling, i. 162, 163

Venison not eaten, ii. 86, 87

Vermin, respect shown by primitive people for, ii. 129-132

Vestal fire, i. 5

—— virgins, hair of, i. 200

Victoria, Queen, worshipped by a sect in Orissa, i. 41

Vine, not to walk under a, i. 183; sacred to Dionysus, i. 321

Vintage, Phoenician custom at, i. 365

Virbius, legend of, i. 6; possible explanation of his relation to the Arician Diana, i. 362; and the horse, ii. 62-67; reason why he was confounded with the sun, ii. 369

Volders, threshing custom at, i. 374

Vorarlberg, fire festival at, ii. 248

Vosges Mountains, May Day customs in the, i. 76

Wadai, veiling of the Sultan of, i. 163; he must have no bodily defect, i. 221

Waganda, worship in, i. 45

Walber, the, i. 84, 86

Wallachia, corn-drenching in, i. 286

Wanika, the, believers in the souls of trees, i. 59; do not shed the blood of animals, i. 182

Wanyoro, secretion of cut hair and nails by the, i. 203

Wanzleben, harvest custom in, ii. 5

Warts, cure for, ii. 153

Warua, the, not seen eating, i. 160, 161

Wa-teita, the, their reluctance to be photographed, i. 148

Water, kings of, i. 53-56

—— fairy, English superstition regarding the, i. 146

Watjobaluk, the, and the bat, ii. 334

Weather kings, i. 44-46

—— omens, ii. 270, 271

Weevil, the, ii. 129, 130

Weiden, harvest custom in, i. 338

Welsh custom of sin eating, ii. 154, 155

Wends dancing round the oak-tree, i. 72

Wermland, custom among the threshers in, i. 378; ceremony with regard to the last sheaf in, ii. 68

West African rain-makers, i. 20

Westerhüsen, reaping custom in, i. 334

Westphalia, Whitsuntide customs in, i. 98; harvest custom in, i. 336; ii. 8, 9

Wetar, men injured by attacking their shadows in, i. 142; superstition concerning the blood of women in, i. 187; opinion of the inhabitants as to their descent, ii. 53

Wheat-bride, a name given to the binder of the last sheaf, i. 346

—— dog, a name given to the binder of the last sheaf, ii. 4

White dog, sacrifice of the, ii. 166

—— mice spared, ii. 131, 132

Whitsuntide basket, i. 89

—— bride, i. 98

—— customs, i. 76, 77, 80, 87, 88, 90-96, 98, 242, 243-247

—— flower, i. 88

—— king, i. 90

—— queen, i. 93

Wiedingharde, threshing custom in, i. 378

Wild man, i. 243, 244, 248, 250, 270; ii. 41

Wind, buying and selling, i. 27; fighting the, i. 28-30; wind-making, i. 26, 27

Wine the blood of the vine, i. 184, 185; abstention from, _ib._

Winenthal, midsummer fire ceremony in the, ii. 259, 260

Witchcraft, protection against, ii. 361, 362

Witches, expulsion of, ii. 181

Wolf, the corn-spirit as a, ii. 3-7

Wolfeck, midsummer bonfire in, ii. 277

Women, superstition concerning the blood of, i. 185-187

—— secluded, ii. 238-242

—— and tree-spirits, i. 70-74

Wotjaks, sacred groves of the, i. 65; driving out Satan by the, ii. 179, 180

Wren, hunting the, ii. 140-144; English tradition concerning the hunting of the, ii. 140, 141

Wurmlingen, Whit Monday custom in, i. 242, 243; threshing custom in, ii. 21

Yakut charm for making wind, i. 26; sacrifices, i. 36

Yawning, Hindoo custom when, i. 123

Yarilo, funeral of, i. 273

Yorkshire custom of the clergyman cutting the first corn, ii. 71

Yoruba, precautions against strangers in, i. 151

Yucutan charm for staying the sun, i. 25; New Year’s festival, ii. 272, 273

Yule boar, ii. 29-32, 48

—— straw, ii. 30, 31

Zabern, May Day custom in, i. 77; harvest custom in, ii. 18

Zacynthus, strength thought to be in the hair by the people of, ii. 328

Zafimanelo, the, not seen eating, i. 160

Zaparo Indians of South America, foods eaten and avoided by the, ii. 86

Zapotecs, high pontiff of the, i. 113, 114; ii. 224; harvest custom, i. 352, 353; the tona of the, ii. 332

Zealand, custom at the madder harvest in, i. 378, 379

Zend Avesta, directions by the, concerning the clippings of hair and nails, i. 202

Zeus, a man’s shadow lost on entering the sanctuary of, i. 143; represented by an oak at Dodona, ii. 291

—— and Hera, representation of the marriage of, i. 103

Zoolas, qualities required for the king of the, i. 219

Zulu rain-charm, i. 19; belief in the reflection as the soul, i. 145; kings put to death, i. 218, 219; custom in time of disease, ii. 86; cannibalism, ii. 89; girls secluded at puberty, ii. 226; the Ihlozi of the, ii. 332

Zuni sacrifice of the turtle, ii. 95-99; totem clans, ii. 99

Zürich, fire festival in, ii. 250, 251

FOOTNOTES

1 W. Mannhardt, _Die Korndämonen_, pp. 1-6.

2 W. Mannhardt, _Roggenwolf und Roggenhund_ (Danzig, 1865), p. 5; _id._, _Antike Wald-und Feldkulte_, p. 318 _sq._; _id._, _Mythol. Forsch._ p. 103; Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_, p. 213.

3 W. Mannhardt, _Roggenwolf u. Roggenhund_, p. 7 _sqq._; _id._, _A. W. F._ p. 319.

4 W. Mannhardt, _Roggenwolf_, etc. p. 10.

5 W. Mannhardt, _M. F._ p. 104.

_ 6 Ib._

_ 7 Ib._ p. 104 _sq._ On the Harvest-May, see above, vol. i. p. 68.

_ 8 Ib._ p. 105.

_ 9 Ib._ p. 30.

_ 10 Ib._ pp. 30, 105.

_ 11 Ib._ p. 105 _sq._

_ 12 A. W. F._ p. 320; _Roggenwolf_, p. 24.

_ 13 Roggenwolf_, p. 24.

_ 14 Roggenwolf_, p. 24.

_ 15 Ib._ p. 25.

_ 16 Ib._ p. 28; _A. W. F._ p. 320.

_ 17 Roggenwolf_, p. 25.

_ 18 Ib._ p. 26.

_ 19 Ib._ p. 26; _A. W. F._ p. 320.

_ 20 A. W. F._ p. 321.

_ 21 A. W. F._ p. 321 _sq._

_ 22 A. W. F._ p. 320.

_ 23 A. W. F._ p. 320 _sq._

_ 24 A. W. F._ p. 322.

_ 25 Ib._ p. 323.

_ 26 Die Korndämonen_, p. 13.

_ 27 Ib._; Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen des Eifler Volkes_, i. p. 95; Kuhn, _Westfälische Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_, ii. p. 181; Kuhn und Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_, p. 398.

28 G. A. Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten und Gebräuche unter den Sachsen Siebenbürgens_, p. 21.

_ 29 Die Korndämonen_, p. 13. Cp. Kuhn and Schwartz, _l.c._

_ 30 Die Korndämonen_, p. 13.

31 Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_, p. 220.

_ 32 Die Korndämonen_, p. 13 _sq._; _Kuhn, Westfälische Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_, ii. p. 180 _sq._; Pfannenschmid, _Germanische Erntefeste_, p. 110.

_ 33 Die Korndämonen_, p. 14; Pfannenschmid, _op. cit._ pp. 111, 419 _sq._

_ 34 Die Korndämonen_, p. 15. So in Shropshire, where the corn-spirit is conceived in the form of a gander (see above, vol. i. p. 407), the expression for overthrowing a load at harvest is “to lose the goose,” and the penalty used to be the loss of the goose at the harvest supper (Burne and Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 375); and in some parts of England the harvest supper was called the Harvest Gosling, or the Inning Goose (Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, ii. 23, 26, Bohn’s ed.)

_ 35 Die Korndämonen_, p. 14.

_ 36 Ib._ p. 15.

_ 37 M. F._ p. 30.

_ 38 Die Korndämonen_, p. 15.

_ 39 Ib._ p. 15 _sq._

_ 40 Ib._ p. 15; _M. F._ p. 30.

_ 41 Die Korndämonen_, p. 1.

_ 42 Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 47.

_ 43 Die Korndämonen_, p. 3.

44 Lemke, _Volksthümliches in Ostpreussen_, i. 24.

45 G. A. Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten und Gebräuche unter den Sachsen Siebenbürgens_, p. 21.

46 Above, vol. i. p. 408.

_ 47 M. F._ p. 29.

_ 48 M. F._ p. 29 _sq._; _Die Korndämonen_, p. 5.

_ 49 A. W. F._ pp. 172-174; _M. F._ p. 30.

50 W. Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ p. 155 _sq._

_ 51 Ib._ p. 157 _sq._

_ 52 Ib._ p. 159.

_ 53 Ib._ p. 161 _sq._

54 W. Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ p. 162.

55 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. p. 232 _sq._ No. 426; _A. W. F._ p. 162.

56 Panzer, _op. cit._ ii. p. 228 _sq._ No. 422; _A. W. F._ p. 163.

_ 57 A. W. F._ p. 163.

_ 58 Ib._ p. 164.

_ 59 A. W. F._ p. 164.

_ 60 Ib._ p. 164 _sq._

_ 61 Ib._ p. 165.

62 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, ii. 24, Bohn’s ed.; _A. W. F._ p. 165.

63 Above, vol. i. p. 380.

_ 64 A. W. F._ p. 165.

_ 65 A. W. F._ p. 166; _M. F._ p. 185.

_ 66 A. W. F._ p. 166.

67 Above, p. 11.

68 Holzmayer, _Osiliana_, p. 107.

69 G. A. Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten u. Gebräuche unter den Sachsen Siebenbürgens_, p. 19. Cp. B. K. p. 482 _sqq._

70 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. p. 225 _sqq._ No. 421; _A. W. F._ p. 167 _sq._

_ 71 A. W. F._ p. 168.

72 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p. 445, No. 162; _A. W. F._ p. 168.

_ 73 A. W. F._ p. 169.

74 Panzer, _op. cit._ ii. p. 224 sq. No. 420; _A. W. F._ p. 169.

_ 75 A. W. F._ p. 169.

_ 76 Ib._ p. 170.

_ 77 Ib._ p. 170.

78 Praetorius, _Deliciae Prussicae_, p. 23 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 394 _sq._

_ 79 M. F._ p. 58.

_ 80 Ib._

_ 81 M. F._ p. 62.

_ 82 M. F._ p. 59.

83 Above, p. 6.

_ 84 M. F._ p. 59.

85 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p. 440 _sq. Nos._ 151, 152, 153; Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. p. 234, No. 428; _M. F._ p. 59.

86 Panzer, _op. cit._ ii. p. 233, No. 427; _M. F._ p. 59.

_ 87 M. F._ p. 59 _sq._

_ 88 M. F._ p. 58.

89 M. F. p. 58 _sq._

_ 90 M. F._ p. 60.

91 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p. 444 _sq._ No. 162; _M. F._ p. 61.

92 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. p. 233, No. 427.

_ 93 M. F._ p. 61 _sq._

_ 94 M. F._ p. 62.

_ 95 M. F._ p. 62.

96 E. Meier, _op. cit._ p. 445 _sq._ No. 163.

_ 97 M. F._ p. 60.

_ 98 M. F._ p. 62.

99 Above, vol. i. p. 343 _sq._

100 Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France_, ii. 135.

_ 101 M. F._ p. 62, “_Il fait le veau_.”

_ 102 M. F._ p. 62.

_ 103 M. F._ p. 63.

_ 104 M. F._ p. 167.

105 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, ii. 24, Bohn’s ed.

106 Burne and Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 373 _sq._

_ 107 M. F._ p. 167.

108 Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France_, ii. 133; _M. F._ p. 167 _sq._

109 Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_, p. 213, No. 4.

110 Holzmayer, _Osiliana_, p. 107; _M. F._ p. 187.

111 Birlinger, _Aus Schwaben_, ii. 328.

112 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. pp. 223, 224, Nos. 417, 419.

_ 113 M. F._ p. 112.

114 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p. 445, No. 162.

115 Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, ii. 425, No. 379.

116 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. pp. 221-224, Nos. 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 418.

_ 117 M. F._ p. 186 _sq._

118 Above, p. 3.

119 Above, p. 26 _sq._

_ 120 M. F._ p. 187.

_ 121 M. F._ p. 187 _sq._; Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_, pp. 189, 218; W. Kolbe, _Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche_ (Marburg, 1888), p. 35.

_ 122 M. F._ p. 188; Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 220.

_ 123 A. W. F._ p. 197 _sq._; Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. p. 491; Jamieson, _Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, _s.v._ “Maiden”; Afzelius, _Volkssagen und Volkslieder aus Schwedens älterer und neuerer Zeit_, übersetzt von Ungewitter, i. 9.

124 Above, p. 6 _sq._

125 L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, pp. 169 _sq._, 182. On Christmas night children sleep on a bed of the Yule straw (_ib._ p. 177).

126 Jahn, _Deutsche Opfergebräuche_, p. 215. Cp. above, vol. i. p. 60.

127 Afzelius, _op. cit._ i. 31.

128 Afzelius, _op. cit._ i. 9; Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, pp. 181, 185.

129 Above, pp. 8 _sq._, 11, 12, 15 _sq._, 21, 23, 28. In regard to the hare the substitution of brandy for hare’s blood is doubtless comparatively modern.

_ 130 Die Korndämonen_, p. 1.

131 Herodotus, ii. 46.

132 Preller, _Griechische Mythologie_, 3 i. 600; _A. W. F._ p. 138.

_ 133 A. W. F._ p. 139.

134 Pollux, iv. 118.

_ 135 A. W. F._ p. 142 _sq._

136 Ovid, _Fasti_, ii. 361; iii. 312; v. 101; _id._, _Heroides_, iv. 49.

137 Macrobius, _Sat._ i. 22, 3.

138 Homer, _Hymn to Aphrodite_, 262 _sqq._

139 Pliny, _N. H._ xii. 3; Ovid, _Metam._ vi. 392; _id._, _Fasti_, iii. 303, 309; Gloss. Isid. Mart. Cap. ii. 167, cited by Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ p. 113.

140 Pliny, _N. H._ xii. 3; Martianus Capella, ii. 167; Augustine, _Civ. Dei_, xv. 23; Aurelius Victor, _Origo gentis Romanae_, iv. 6.

141 Servius on Virgil, _Ecl._ vi. 14; Ovid, _Metam._ vi. 392 _sq._; Martianus Capella, ii. 167.

_ 142 B. K._ p. 138 _sq._; _A. W. F._ p. 145.

143 Servius on Virgil, _Georg._ i. 10.

144 Above, p. 12 _sqq._

_ 145 A. W. F._ ch. iii.

146 Above, vol. i. p. 379 _sq._

147 Above, vol. i. p. 326 _sq._

148 Above, vol. i. p. 325 _sq._

149 Above, p. 19 _sqq._

150 A. Lang, _Myth, Ritual, and Religion_, ii. 232.

151 Pausanias, i. 24, 4; _id._, i. 28, 10; Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 29 _sq._; Aelian, _Var. Hist._ viii. 3; Schol. on Aristophanes, _Peace_, 419; Hesychius, Suidas, and _Etymol. Magnum_, _s.v._ βούφονια. The date of the sacrifice (14th Skirophorion) is given by the Schol. on Aristophanes and the _Etym. Magn._; and this date corresponds, according to Mannhardt (_M. F._ p. 68), with the close of the threshing in Attica. No writer mentions the trial of both the axe and the knife. Pausanias speaks of the trial of the axe, Porphyry and Aelian of the trial of the knife. But from Porphyry’s description it is clear that the slaughter was carried out by two men, one wielding an axe and the other a knife, and that the former laid the blame on the latter. Perhaps the knife alone was condemned. That the King Archon (on whom see above, vol. i. p. 7), presided at the trial of all lifeless objects, is mentioned by Pollux, viii. 90; cp. _id._ viii. 120.

152 The real import of the name _bouphonia_ was first perceived by Prof. W. Robertson Smith. See his _Religion of the Semites_, i. 286 _sqq._

153 Varro, _De re rustica_, ii. 5, 4. Cp. Columella, vi. praef. § 7. Perhaps, however, Varro’s statement may be merely an inference drawn from the ritual of the _bouphonia_ and the legend told to explain it.

_ 154 B. K._ p. 409.

155 See above, vol. i. p. 243.

156 Hecquard, _Reise an die Küste und in das Innere von West-Afrika_, pp. 41-43.

157 Above, p. 3, and vol. i. p. 408.

_ 158 China Review_, i. 62, 154, 162, 203 _sq._; Doolittle, _Social Life of the Chinese_, p. 375 _sq._, ed. Paxton Hood; Gray, _China_, ii. 115 _sq._

159 Above, vol. i. pp. 261, 267.

160 See above, p. 26 _sqq._

161 Schol. on Aristophanes, _Acharn._ 747.

162 Overbeck, _Griechische Kunstmythologie_, ii. 493; Müller-Wieseler, _Denkmäler d. alt. Kunst_, ii. pl. viii. 94.

163 Hyginus, _Fab._ 277; Cornutus, _De nat. deor._ c. 28; Macrobius, _Sat._ i. 12, 23; Schol. on Aristophanes, _Acharn._ 747; _id._ on _Frogs_, 338; _id._ on _Peace_, 374; Servius on Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 380; Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ x. 16.

164 For the authorities on the Thesmophoria and a discussion of some doubtful points in the festival, I may be permitted to refer to my article “Thesmophoria” in the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, ninth ed.

165 Photius, _s.v._ στήνια, speaks of the ascent of _Demeter_ from the lower world; and Clement of Alexandria speaks of both Demeter and Proserpine as having been engulfed in the chasm (_Protrept._ ii. § 17). The original equivalence of Demeter and Proserpine must be borne steadily in mind.

166 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 69; Photius, _s.v._ στήνια.

167 E. Rohde, “Unedirte Luciansscholien, die attischen Thesmophorien und Haloen betreffend,” in _Rheinisches Museum_, N. F. xxv. (1870) 548 _sqq_. Two passages of classical writers (Clemens Alex., _Protrept._ ii. § 17 and Pausanias, ix. 8, 1) refer to the rites described by the Scholiast on Lucian, and had been rightly interpreted by Lobeck (_Aglaophamus_, p. 827 _sqq._)

168 The scholiast speaks of them as _megara_ and _adyta_. _Megara_ (from a Phoenician word meaning “cavern,” “subterranean chasm,” Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, i. 220) were properly subterranean vaults or chasms sacred to the gods. See Hesychius, quoted by Movers, _l.c._ (the passage does not appear in M. Schmidt’s minor edition of Hesychius); Porphyry, _De antro nymph._ 6.

169 We infer this from Pausanias, ix. 8, 1, though the passage is incomplete and apparently corrupt. For ἐν Δωδώνῃ Lobeck proposes to read ἀναδῦναι or ἀναδοθῆναι. At the spring and autumn festivals of Isis at Tithorea geese and goats were thrown into the _adyton_ and left there till the following festival, when the remains were removed and buried at a certain spot a little way from the temple. Pausanias, x. 32, 14 (9). This analogy supports the view that the pigs thrown into the caverns at the Thesmophoria were left there till the next festival.

170 Ovid, _Fasti_, iv. 461-466, upon which Gierig remarks, “_Sues melius poeta omisisset in hac narratione_.” Such is the wisdom of the commentator.

171 Pausanias, i. 14, 3.

172 Schol. on Aristophanes, _Frogs_, 338.

173 Above, p. 15 _sq._

174 Above, p. 20 _sq._

175 Above, p. 9.

176 Above, p. 29.

177 Above, p. 29 _sq._

178 In Clemens Alex., _Protrept._ ii. 17, for μεγαρίζοντες χοίρους ἐκβάλλουσι Lobeck (Aglaophamus, p. 831) would read μεγάροις ζῶντας χοίρους ἐμβάλλουσι. For his emendation of Pausanias, see above, p. 45.

179 It is worth noting that in Crete, which was an ancient seat of Demeter worship (see above, vol. i. p. 331), the pig was esteemed very sacred and was not eaten, Athenaeus, 375 F·376 A. This would not exclude the possibility of its being eaten sacramentally, as at the Thesmophoria.

180 Pausanias, viii. 42.

181 Above, p. 24 _sqq._

182 Pausanias, viii. 25 and 42. On the Phigalian Demeter, see W. Mannhardt, _M. F._ p. 244 _sqq._

183 Above, vol. i. p. 296 _sq._

184 Above, vol. i. p. 296.

185 Demosthenes, _De corona_, p. 313.

186 Above, vol. i. p. 281.

187 Cureton, _Spicilegium Syriacum_, p. 44.

188 Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 54.

189 The heathen Harranians sacrificed swine once a year and ate the flesh; En-Nedim, in Chwolsohn’s _Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus_, ii. 42. My friend Professor W. Robertson Smith has conjectured that the wild boars annually sacrificed in Cyprus on 2d April (Joannes Lydus, _De mensibus_, iv. 45) represented Adonis himself. See his _Religion of the Semites_, i. 272 sq., 392.

190 Plutarch, _Quaest. Conviv._ iv. 5.

191 Isaiah lxv. 3, 4, lxvi. 3, 17.

192 Herodotus, ii. 47; Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 8; Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ x. 16.

193 Herodotus, _l.c._

194 Plutarch and Aelian, _ll.cc._

195 Herodotus, _l.c._

196 Herodotus, ii. 47 _sq._; Aelian and Plutarch, _ll.cc._ Herodotus distinguishes the sacrifice to the moon from that to Osiris. According to him, at the sacrifice to the moon, the extremity of the pig’s tail, together with the spleen and the caul, were covered with fat and burned; the rest of the flesh was eaten. On the evening (not the eve, see Stein on the passage) of the festival the sacrifice to Osiris took place. Each man slew a pig before his door, then gave it to the swineherd, from whom he had bought it, to take away.

197 Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, pp. 432, 452.

_ 198 Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington), p. 225.

_ 199 Ib._ p. 231.

200 J. Crevaux, _Voyages dans l’Amérique au Sud_, p. 59.

201 Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 17 _sq._, 50 _sq._

202 Leviticus xvi. 23 _sq._

203 Porphyry, _De abstin._ ii. 44. For this and the Jewish examples I am indebted to my friend Prof. W. Robertson Smith.

204 Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 434, _note_; ii. 82, 222 _sq._

205 Above, vol. i. p. 167 _sqq._

206 Casalis, _The Basutos_, p. 211; Livingstone, _Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa_, p. 255; John Mackenzie, _Ten Years north of the Orange River_, p. 135 _note_.

207 J. Mackenzie, _l.c._

_ 208 Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington), p. 225.

_ 209 Ib._ p. 275.

210 Turner, _Samoa_, p. 76.

_ 211 Ib._ p. 70.

212 Diogenes Laertius, _Vitae Philos._ viii. 8.

213 Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ x. 16. The story is repeated by Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xviii. 168.

214 Lefébure, _Le mythe Osirien_, i. 44.

215 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 8. Lefébure (_op. cit._ p. 46) recognises that in this story the boar is Typhon himself.

216 This important principle was first recognised by Prof. W. Robertson Smith. See his article “Sacrifice,” _Encycl. Britann._ 9th ed. xxi. 137 sq. Cp. his _Religion of the Semites_, pp. 353 _sq._, 391 _sq._

217 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 31.

218 Lefébure, _Le mythe Osirien_, p. 48 _sq._

219 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 33, 73; Diodorus, i. 88.

220 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 31; Diodorus, i. 88. Cp. Herodotus, ii. 38.

221 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 20, 29, 33, 43; Strabo, xvii. 1, 31; Diodorus, i. 21, 85; Duncker, _Geschichte des Alterthums_,5 i. 55 _sqq._ On Apis and Mnevis, see also Herodotus, ii. 153, iii. 27 _sq._; Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii. 14, 7; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 184 _sqq._; 17.; Solinus, xxxii. 17-21; Cicero, _De nat. deor._ i. 29; Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ xi. 10 _sq._; Plutarch, _Quaest. Conviv._ viii. 1, 3; _id._, _Isis et Osiris_, 5, 35: Eusebius, _Praepar. Evang._ iii. 13, 1 _sq._; Pausanias, i. 18, 4, vii. 22, 3 _sq._ Both Apis and Mnevis were black bulls, but Apis had certain white spots.

222 Diodorus, i. 21.

223 On the religious reverence of pastoral peoples for their cattle, and the possible derivation of the Apis and Isis-Hathor worship from the pastoral stage of society, see W. Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, i. 277 _sqq._

224 Herodotus, ii. 41.

225 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 184; Solinus, xxxii. 18; Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii. 14, 7. The spring or well in which he was drowned was perhaps the one from which his drinking water was procured; he might not drink the water of the Nile. Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 5.

226 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 56.

227 Maspero, _Histoire ancienne_,4 p. 31. Cp. Duncker, _Geschichte des Alterthums_,5 i. 56.

228 See above, p. 24 _sqq._

229 Athenaeus, 587 A; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 204. Cp. _Encycl. Britann._ 9th ed. art. “Sacrifice,” xxi. 135.

230 Varro, _De agri cult._ i. 2, 19 _sq._

231 Herodotus, ii. 42.

232 Festus, ed. Müller, pp. 178, 179, 220; Plutarch, _Quaest. Rom._ 97; Polybius, xii. 4 B. The sacrifice is referred to by Julian, _Orat._ 176 D.

233 Ovid, _Fasti_, iv. 731 _sqq._, cp. 629 _sqq._; Propertius, v. 1, 19 _sq._

234 Above, p. 41 _sq._

235 Above, vol. i. p. 408, vol. ii. p. 3.

236 Above, p. 30.

237 Livy, ii. 5.

238 Festus, ed. Müller, pp. 130, 131.

239 The October horse is the subject of an essay by Mannhardt (_Mytholog. Forsch._ pp. 156-201), of which the above account is a summary.

_ 240 M. F._ p. 179.

_ 241 B. K._ p. 205. It is not said that the dough-man is made of the new corn; but probably this is, or once was, the case.

242 Praetorius, _Deliciae Prussicae_, pp. 60-64; _A. W. F._ p. 249 _sqq._

243 Bezzenberger, _Litauische Forschungen_ (Göttingen, 1882), p. 89.

244 Simon Grunau, _Preussische Chronik_, ed. Perlbach, i. 91.

245 Holzmayer, _Osiliana_, p. 108.

246 On iron as a charm against spirits, see above, vol. i. p. 175 _sq._

_ 247 Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 54.

248 Communicated by the Rev. J. J. C. Yarborough, of Chislehurst, Kent. See _Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 50.

249 G. A. Wilken, _Bijdrage tot de kennis der Alfoeren van het eiland Boeroe_, p. 26.

250 P. N. Wilken, “Bijdragen tot de kennis van de zeden en gewoonten der Alfoeren in de Minahassa,” in _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_, vii. (1863) p. 127.

251 N. P. Wilken en J. A. Schwarz, “Allerlei over het land en volk van Bolaang Mongondou,” in _Mededeel. v. w. h. Nederl. Zendelinggen_. xi. 369 _sq._

252 H. Harkness, _Description of a Singular Aboriginal Race inhabiting the Summit of the Neilgherry Hills_, p. 56 _sq._

253 Gover, _Folk-songs of Southern India_, p. 105 _sqq._; _Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 302 _sqq._

254 Gover, “The Pongol Festival in Southern India,” _Journ. R. Asiatic Society_, N. S. v. (1871) p. 91 _sqq._

255 Biddulph, _Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh_, p. 103.

256 Crowther and Taylor, _The Gospel on the Banks of the Niger_, p. 287 _sq._ Mr. Taylor’s information is repeated in _West African Countries and Peoples_, by J. Africanus B. Horton (London, 1868), p. 180 _sq._

257 Speckmann, _Die Hermannsburger Mission in Afrika_, p. 150 _sq._ On the Zulu feast of first-fruits, see also N. Isaacs, _Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa_, ii. 291 _sq._; Arbousset et Daumas, _Voyage d’exploration_, etc. p. 308 _sq._; Callaway, _Religious System of the Amazulu_, p. 389 _note_; _South African Folk-lore Journal_, i. 135 _sqq._; Fritsch, _Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrikas_, p. 143; Lewis Grout, _Zululand_, p. 160 _sqq._ From Mr. Grout’s description it appears that a bull is killed and its gall drunk by the king and people. In killing it the men must use nothing but their naked hands. The flesh of the bull is given to the boys to eat what they like and burn the rest; the men may not taste it. As a final ceremony the king breaks a green calabash in presence of the people, “thereby signifying that he opens the new year, and grants the people leave to eat of the fruits of the season.” If a man eats the new fruits before the festival, he will die or is actually put to death.

258 The ceremony is described independently by James Adair, _History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775), pp. 96-111; W. Bartram, _Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida_ (London, 1792), p. 507 _sq._; B. Hawkins, “Sketch of the Creek country,” in _Collections of the Georgia Historical Society_, iii. (Savannah, 1848), pp. 75-78; A. A. M’Gillivray, in Schoolcraft’s _Indian Tribes_, v. 267 _sq._ Adair’s description is the fullest and has been chiefly followed in the text. In _Observations on the Creek and Cherokee Indians_, by William Bartram (1789), _with prefatory and supplementary notes_, by E. G. Squier, p. 75, there is a description—extracted from an MS. of J. H. Payne (author of _Home, Sweet Home_)—of the similar ceremony observed by the Cherokees. I possess a copy of this work in pamphlet form, but it appears to be an extract from the transactions or proceedings of a society, probably an American one. Mr. Squier’s preface is dated New York, 1851.

259 W. Bartram, _Travels_, p. 507.

260 So amongst the Cherokees, according to J. H. Payne, an arbour of green boughs was made in the sacred square; then “a beautiful bushy-topped shade-tree was cut down close to the roots, and planted in the very centre of the sacred square. Every man then provided himself with a green bough.”

261 So Adair. Bartram, on the other hand, as we have seen, says that the old vessels were burned and new ones prepared for the festival.

262 B. Hawkins, “Sketch,” etc., p. 76.

263 See Note on “Offerings of first-fruits” at the end of the volume.

264 Acosta, _Natural and Moral History of the Indies_, bk. v. c. 24, vol. ii. pp. 356-360 (Hakluyt Society, 1880).

265 Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, iii. 297-300 (after Torquemada); Clavigero, _History of Mexico_, trans. by Cullen, i. 309 _sqq._; Sahagun, _Histoire générale des choses de la Nouvelle-Espagne_, traduite et annotée par Jourdanet et Siméon (Paris, 1880), p. 203 _sq._; J. G. Müller, _Geschichte der amerikanischen Urreligionen_, p. 605.

266 Clavigero, i. 311; Sahagun, pp. 74, 156 _sq._; Müller, p. 606; Bancroft, iii. 316. This festival took place on the last day of the 16th month (which extended from 23d December to 11th January). At another festival the Mexicans made the semblance of a bone out of paste and ate it sacramentally as the bone of the god. Sahagun, p. 33.

267 See above, vol. i. p. 5 _sq._

268 Festus, ed. Müller, pp. 128, 129, 145. The reading of the last passage is, however, uncertain (“_et Ariciae genus panni fieri; quod manici † appelletur_”).

269 Varro, _De ling. lat._ ix. 61; Arnobius, _Adv. nationes_, iii. 41; Macrobius, _Saturn_, i. 7, 35; Festus, p. 128, ed. Müller. Festus speaks of the mother or grandmother of the _larvae_; the other writers speak of the mother of the _lares_.

270 Macrobius, _l.c._; Festus, pp. 121, 239, ed. Müller. The effigies hung up for the slaves were called _pilae_, not _maniae_. _Pilae_ was also the name given to the straw-men which were thrown to the bulls to gore in the arena. Martial, _Epigr._ ii. 43, 5 _sq._; Asconius, _In Cornel._ p. 55, ed. Kiessling and Schoell.

271 The ancients were at least familiar with the practice of sacrificing images made of dough or other materials as substitutes for the animals themselves. It was a recognised principle that when an animal could not be easily obtained for sacrifice, it was lawful to offer an image of it made of bread or wax. Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ ii. 116. (Similarly a North-American Indian dreamed that a sacrifice of twenty elans was necessary for the recovery of a sick girl; but the elans could not be procured, and the girl’s parents were allowed to sacrifice twenty loaves instead. _Relations des Jesuites_, 1636, p. 11, ed. 1858). Poor people who could not afford to sacrifice real animals offered dough images of them. Suidas, _s.v._ βοῦς ἕβδομος; cp. Hesychius, _s. vv._ βοῦς, ἕβδομος βοῦς. Hence bakers made a regular business of baking cakes in the likeness of all the animals which were sacrificed to the gods. Proculus, quoted and emended by Lobeck, _Aglaophamus_, p. 1079. When Cyzicus was besieged by Mithridates and the people could not procure a black cow to sacrifice at the rites of Proserpine, they made a cow of dough and placed it at the altar. Plutarch, _Lucullus_, 10. In a Boeotian sacrifice to Hercules, in place of the ram which was the proper victim, an apple was regularly substituted, four chips being stuck in it to represent legs and two to represent horns. Pollux, i. 30 _sq._ The Athenians are said to have once offered to Hercules a similar substitute for an ox. Zenobius, _Cent._ v. 22. And the Locrians, being at a loss for an ox to sacrifice, made one out of figs and sticks, and offered it instead of the animal. Zenobius, _Cent._ v. 5. At the Athenian festival of the Diasia cakes shaped like animals were sacrificed. Schol. on Thucydides, i. 126, quoted by Lobeck, _l.c._ We have seen above (p. 53) that the poorer Egyptians offered dough images of pigs and ate them sacramentally.

272 P. J. Veth, _Borneo’s Wester Afdeeling_, ii. 309.

273 N. Graafland, _De Minahassa_, i. 326.

274 Shway Yoe, _The Burman_, ii. 138.

275 James Adair, _History of the American Indians_, p. 133.

276 Alfred Simson, _Travels in the Wilds of Ecuador_ (London, 1887), p. 168; _id._ in _Journal of the Anthrop. Institute_, vii. 503.

277 Theophilus Hahn, _Tsuni-Goam, the Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi_, p. 106. Compare John Buchanan, _The Shire Highlands_, pg. 138; Callaway, _Religious System of the Amazulu_, p. 438 _note_.

278 Jerome Becker, _La Vie en Afrique_, (Paris and Brussels, 1887), ii. 366.

279 Callaway, _Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus_, p. 175 _note_.

280 Dalton, _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 33.

281 St. John, _Life in the Forests of the Far East_,2 i. 186, 206.

282 Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, pp. 10, 262.

283 James Chalmers, _Pioneering in New Guinea_, p. 166.

_ 284 Proceedings Royal Geogr. Society_, N. S. viii. (1886) p. 307.

285 J. Henderson, “The Medicine and Medical Practice of the Chinese,” _Journ. North China Branch R. Asiatic Society_, New Series, i. (Shanghai, 1865) p. 35 _sq._

286 Müller on Saxo Grammaticus, vol. ii. p. 60.

287 Leared, _Morocco and the Moors_, p. 281.

288 Vambery, _Das Türkenvolk_, p. 218.

289 Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, vi. 8.

290 Felkin, “Notes on the For tribe of Central Africa,” in _Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_, xiii. (1884-1886) p. 218.

291 W. Ridley, _Kamilaroi_, p. 160.

292 Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, ii. 313.

293 Blumentritt, “Der Ahnencultus und die religiösen Anschauungen der Malaien des Philippinen-Archipels,” in _Mittheilungen d. Wiener Geogr. Gesellschaft_, 1882, p. 154.

294 Magyar, _Reisen in Süd-Afrika in den Jahren_ 1849-1857, pp. 273-276.

295 Casalis, _The Basutos_, p. 257 _sq._

296 Callaway, _Nursery Tales, Traditions and Histories of the Zulus_, p. 163 _note_.

297 John Buchanan, _The Shire Highlands_, p. 138.

_ 298 Journal of the North China Branch Royal Asiatic Society, l.c._

299 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_ (London, 1870), p. 352. Cp. _ib._ p. 173; Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 358; J. Dumont D’Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde sur la corvette Astrolabe_, ii. 547; _Journal of the Anthrop. Inst._ xix. 108.

300 On the custom of eating a god, see also a paper by Felix Liebrecht, “Der aufgegessene Gott,” in _Zur Volkskunde_, pp. 436-439; and especially W. R. Smith, art. “Sacrifice,” _Encycl. Britann._ 9th ed. vol. xxi. p. 137 _sq._ On wine as the blood of a god, see above, vol. i. p. 183 _sqq._

301 This does not refer to the Californian peninsula, which is an arid and treeless wilderness of rock and sand.

302 Boscana, in Alfred Robinson’s _Life in California_ (New York, 1846), p. 291 sq.; Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, iii. 168.

303 Turner, _Samoa_, p. 21, cp. pp. 26, 61.

304 Herodotus, ii. 42. The custom has been already referred to, above, p. 63.

305 Ed. Meyer, _Geschichte des Alterthums_, i. § 58. Cp. Wilkinson, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_, iii. 1 _sqq._ (ed. 1878).

306 Above, p. 61 _sq._

307 Above, p. 15 _sq._

308 The Italmens of Kamtchatka, at the close of the fishing season, used to make the figure of a wolf out of grass. This figure they carefully kept the whole year, believing that it wedded with their maidens and prevented them from giving birth to twins; for twins were esteemed a great misfortune. Steller, _Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka_, p. 327 _sq._ According to Hartknoch (_Dissertat. histor. de variis rebus Prussicis_, p. 163; _Altpreussen_, p. 161) the image of the old Prussian god Curcho was annually renewed. But see Mannhardt, _Die Korndämonen_, p. 27.

309 Above, vol. i. p. 81.

310 T. J. Hutchinson, _Impressions of Western Africa_ (London, 1858), p. 196 _sq._ The writer does not expressly state that a serpent is killed annually, but his statement implies it.

_ 311 Revue d’Ethnographie_, iii. 397.

312 Varro in Priscian, x. 32, vol. i. p. 524, ed. Keil; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ vii. § 14. Pliny’s statement is to be corrected by Varro’s.

313 Mr. Frank H. Cushing, “My Adventures in Zuñi,” in _The Century_, May 1883, p. 45 _sq._

314 Mr. Cushing, indeed, while he admits that the ancestors of the Zuni may have believed in transmigration, says, “Their belief, to-day, however, relative to the future life is spiritualistic.” But the expressions in the text seem to leave no room for doubting that the transmigration into turtles is a living article of Zuni faith.

315 Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, iv. 86. On the totem clans of the Moquis, see J. G. Bourke, _Snake-Dance of the Moquis of Arizona_, pp. 116 _sq._, 334 _sqq._

316 For this information I am indebted to the kindness of Captain J. G. Bourke, 3d. Cavalry, U.S. Army, author of the work mentioned in the preceding note.

317 The old Prussian and Japanese customs are typical. For the former, see above, vol. i. p. 177. For the latter, Charlevoix, _Histoire et Description générale du Japon_, i, 128 _sq._ Thunberg, _Voyages au Japon_, etc. iv. 18 _sqq._ A general account of such customs must be reserved for another work.

318 B. Scheube, “Der Baerencultus und die Baerenfeste der Ainos,” in _Mittheilungen der deutschen Gesellschaft b. S. und S. Ostasiens_ (Yokama), Heft xxii. p. 45.

_ 319 Transactions of the Ethnological Society_, iv. 36.

320 Rein, _Japan_, i. 446.

321 H. von Siebold, _Ethnologische Studien über die Ainos auf der Insel Yesso_, p. 26.

322 Miss Bird, _Unbeaten Tracks in Japan_ (new ed. 1885), p. 275.

_ 323 Trans. Ethnol. Soc._ _l.c._

324 Miss Bird, _op. cit._ p. 269.

325 Scheube, _Die Ainos_, p. 4.

326 Scheube, “Baerencultus,” etc. p. 45; Joest, in _Verhandlungen d. Berliner Gesell. f. Anthropologie_, 1882, p. 188.

_ 327 Trans. Ethnol. Soc. l.c._

328 Miss Bird, _op. cit._ p. 277.

329 Scheube, _Die Ainos_, p. 15; Siebold, _op. cit._ p. 26; _Trans. Ethnol. Soc._ _l.c._; Rein, _Japan_, i. 447; Von Brandt, “The Ainos and Japanese,” in _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ iii. 134; Miss Bird, _op. cit._ pp. 275, 276.

330 Scheube, _Die Ainos_, pp. 15, 16; _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ iii. 134.

331 Scheube, _Die Ainos_, p. 16.

332 Reclus (_Nouvelle Géographie Universelle_, vii. 755) mentions a (Japanese?) legend which attributes the hairiness of the Ainos to the fact of their first ancestor having been suckled by a bear. But in the absence of other evidence this is no proof of totemism.

333 Rein, _Japan_, i. 447.

334 “Der Baerencultus,” etc. See above.

335 Scheube, “Baerencultus,” etc. p. 46; _id._, _Die Ainos_, p. 15; Miss Bird, _op. cit._ p. 273 _sq._

336 Miss Bird, _op. cit._ p. 276 _sq._ Miss Bird’s information must be received with caution, as there are grounds for believing that her informant deceived her.

337 Siebold, _Ethnolog. Studien über die Ainos_, p. 26.

338 “Baerencultus,” etc. p. 50 _note_.

339 They inhabit the banks of the lower Amoor and the north of Saghalien. E. G. Ravenstein, _The Russians on the Amur_, p. 389.

340 “Notes on the River Amur and the adjacent districts,” translated from the Russian, _Journal Royal Geogr. Soc._ xxviii. (1858) p. 396.

341 Compare the custom of pinching the frog before cutting off his head, above vol. i. p. 93. In Japan sorceresses bury a dog in the earth, tease him, then cut off his head and put it in a box to be used in magic. Bastian, _Die Culturländer des alten Amerika_, i. 475 _note_, who adds “_wie im ostindischen Archipelago die Schutzseele gereizt wird_.” He probably refers to the Batta _Pang-hulu-balang_. See Rosenberg, _Der Malayische Archipel_, p. 59 _sq._; W. Ködding, “Die Batakschen Götter,” in _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_, xii. (1885) 478 _sq._; Neumann, “Het Pane-en Bila-stroomgebied op het eiland Sumatra,” in _Tijdschrift v. h. Nederl. Aardrijks Genootsch_. ii. series, dl. iii. Afdeeling: meer uitgebreide artikelen, No. 2, p. 306.

342 W. Joest, in Scheube, _Die Ainos_, p. 17; _Revue d’Ethnographie_, ii. 307 _sq._ (on the authority of Mr. Seeland); _Internationales Archiv für Ethnologie_, i. 102 (on the authority of Captain Jacobsen). What exactly is meant by “dancing as bears” (“_tanzen beide Geschlechter Reigentänze, wie Bären_,” Joest, _l.c._) does not appear.

343 Ravenstein, _The Russians on the Amur_, p. 379 _sq._; T. W. Atkinson, _Travels in the Regions of the Upper and Lower Amoor_ (London, 1860), p. 482 _sq._

344 A Bushman, questioned by the Rev. Mr. Campbell, “could not state any difference between a man and a brute—he did not know but a buffalo might shoot with bows and arrows as well as a man, if it had them.” John Campbell, _Travels in South Africa, being a Narrative of a Second Journey in the Interior of that Country_, ii. 34. When the Russians first landed on one of the Alaskan islands the people took them for cuttle-fish, “on account of the buttons on their clothes.” Petroff, _Alaska_, p. 145.

345 Rev. J. Perham, “Sea Dyak Religion,” _Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 10, p. 221. Cp. C. Hupe, “Korte verhandeling over de godsdienst zeden, enz. der Dajakkers,” in _Tijdschrift voor Neêrland’s Indië_, 1846, dl. iii. 160; S. Müller, _Reizen en onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel_, i. 238; Perelaer, _Ethnographische Beschrijving der Dayaks_, p. 7.

346 Sibree, _The Great African Island_, p. 269.

347 Raffenel, _Voyage dans l’Afrique Occidentale_ (Paris, 1846), p. 84 _sq._

348 Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, v. 65.

349 Marsden, _History of Sumatra_, p. 292.

350 Steller, _Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka_, pp. 280, 331.

_ 351 Voyages au Nord_ (Amsterdam, 1727), viii. 41, 416; Pallas, _Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des russischen Reichs_, iii. 64; Georgi, _Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs_, p. 83.

352 Erman, _Travels in Siberia_, ii. 43. For the veneration of the polar bear by the Samoyedes, who nevertheless kill and eat it, see _ib._ 54 _sq._

353 Bastian, _Der Mensch in der Geschichte_, iii. 26.

354 Max Buch, _Die Wotjäken_, p. 139.

355 Scheffer, _Lapponia_ (Frankfort, 1673), p. 233 _sq._ The Lapps “have still an elaborate ceremony in hunting the bear. They pray and chant to his carcase, and for several days worship before eating it.” E. Rae, _The White Sea Peninsula_ (London, 1881), p. 276.

356 Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, v. 173 _sq._; Chateaubriand, _Voyage en Amérique_, pp. 172-181 (Paris, Michel Lévy, 1870).

_ 357 Lettres édifiantes et curieuses_, vi. 171. Morgan states that the names of the Otawa totem clans had not been obtained (_Ancient Society_, p. 167). From the _Lettres édifiantes_, vi. 168-171, he might have learned the names of the Hare, Carp, and Bear clans, to which may be added the Gull clan, as I learn from an extract from _The Canadian Journal_ (Toronto) for March 1858, quoted in the _Academy_, 27th September 1884, p. 203.

_ 358 A Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt_, p. 117 (Middletown, 1820), p. 133 (Edinburgh, 1824).

359 Stephen Kay, _Travels and Researches in Caffraria_ (London, 1833), p. 138.

360 Alberti, _De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika_ (Amsterdam, 1810), p. 95. Alberti’s information is repeated by Lichtenstein (_Reisen im südlichen Afrika_, i. 412), and by Rose (_Four Years in Southern Africa_, p. 155). The burial of the trunk is also mentioned by Kay, _l.c._

361 Jerome Becker, _La Vie en Afrique_ (Paris and Brussels, 1887), ii. 298 _sq._ 305.

362 Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_, ii. 243.

363 Im Thurn, _Among the Indians of Guiana_, p. 352.

364 Mouhot, _Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China_, i. 252; Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_, i. 422.

365 Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, v. 420.

366 J. G. Gmelin, _Reise durch Sibirien_, ii. 278.

367 W. Dall, _Alaska and its Resources_, p. 89.

_ 368 Relations des Jésuites_, 1634, p. 24, ed. 1858. Nets are regarded by the Indians as living creatures who not only think and feel but also eat, speak, and marry wives. Sagard, _Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons_, p. 256 (p. 178 _sq._ of the Paris reprint, Librairie Tross, 1865); S. Hearne, _Journey to the Northern Ocean_, p. 329 _sq._; _Relations des Jésuites_, 1636, p. 109; _ib._ 1639, p. 95; Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, v. 225; Chateaubriand, _Voyage en Amérique_, p. 140 _sqq._

369 Chateaubriand, _Voyage en Amérique_, pp. 175, 178. They will not let the blood of beavers fall on the ground, or their luck in hunting them would be gone. _Relations des Jésuites_, 1633, p. 21. Compare the rule about not allowing the blood of kings to fall on the ground, above, vol. i. p. 179 _sqq._

370 Hennepin, _Nouveau voyage d’un pais plus grand que l’Europe_ (Utrecht, 1698), p. 141 _sq._; _Relations des Jésuites_, 1636, p. 109; Sagard, _Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons_, p. 255 (p. 178 of the Paris reprint). Not quite consistently the Canadian Indians used to kill every elan they could overtake in the chase, lest any should escape to warn their fellows (Sagard, _l.c._)

_ 371 Lettres édifiantes et curieuses_, viii. 339.

372 Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, iii. 230.

_ 373 Relations des Jésuites_, 1634, p. 26.

374 Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, v. 443.

375 Garcilasso de la Vega, _Royal Commentaries of the Yncas_, First Part, bk. i. ch. 10, vol. i. p. 49 _sq._, Hakluyt Society. Cp. _id._, ii. p. 148.

_ 376 Relations des Jésuites_, 1667, p. 12.

377 Sagard, _Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons_, p. 255 _sqq._ (p. 178 _sqq._ of the Paris reprint).

378 Schleiden, _Das Salz_, p. 47. For this reference I am indebted to my friend Prof. W. Robertson Smith.

379 W. Powell, _Wanderings in a Wild Country_, p. 66 _sq._

380 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui; or, New Zealand and its Inhabitants_, p. 200; A. S. Thomson, _The Story of New Zealand_, i. 202; E. Tregear, “The Maoris of New Zealand,” _Journal Anthrop. Inst._ xix. 109.

381 Lubbock, _Origin of Civilisation_,4, p. 277, quoting _Metlahkatlah_, p. 96.

382 W. Dall, _Alaska and its Resources_, p. 413.

383 Stephen Powers, _Tribes of California_, p. 31 _sq._

384 Alex. Ross, _Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River_, p. 97.

385 Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition_, iv. 324, v. 119, where it is said, “a dog must never be permitted to eat the heart of a salmon; and in order to prevent this, they cut the heart of the fish out before they sell it.”

386 H. C. St. John, “The Ainos,” in _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ ii. 253; _id._ _Notes and Sketches from the Wild Coasts of Nipon_, p. 27 _sq._

387 Scheffer, _Lapponia_, p. 242 _sq._; _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ vii. 207; _Revue d’Ethnographie_, ii. 308 _sq._

388 James, _Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains_, i. 257.

389 Brinton, _Myths of the New World_, p. 278.

390 Keating, _Expedition to the Source of St. Peter’s River_, i. 452.

391 E. J. Jessen, _De Finnorum Lapponumque Norwegicorum religione pagana tractatus singularis_, pp. 46 _sq._, 52 _sq._, 65. The work of Jessen is bound up (paged separately) with the work of C. Leem, _De Lapponibus Finmarchiae eorumque lingua, vita, et religione pristina commentatio_ (Latin and Danish), Copenhagen, 1767. Compare Leem’s work, pp. 418-420 (Latin), 428 _sq._, also Acerbi, _Travels through Sweden, Finnland, and Lapland_, ii. 302.

392 Steller, _Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka_, p. 269; Kraschennikow, _Kamtschatka_, p. 246.

393 See Erman, referred to above, p. 111 _sq._; Gmelin, _Reise durch Sibirien_, i. 274, ii. 182 _sq._, 214; Vambery, Das _Türkenvolk_, p. 118 sq. When a fox, the sacred animal of the Conchucos in Peru, had been killed, its skin was stuffed and set up. Bastian, _Die Culturländer des alten Amerika_, i. 443. Cp. the _bouphonia_, above, p. 38 _sq._

394 At the annual sacrifice of the White Dog, the Iroquois were careful to strangle the animal without shedding its blood or breaking its bones. The dog was afterwards burned. L. H. Morgan, _League of the Iroquois_, p. 210. It is a rule with some of the Australian blacks that in killing the native bear they must not break his bones. They say that the native bear once stole all the water of the river, and that if they were to break his bones or take off his skin before roasting him, he would do so again. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, i. 447 _sqq._ When the Tartars whom Carpini visited killed animals for eating, they might not break their bones but burned them with fire. Carpini, _Historia Mongalorum_ (Paris, 1838), cap. iii. § i. 2, p. 620. North American Indians might not break the bones of the animals which they ate at feasts. Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, vi. 72. In the war feast held by Indian warriors after leaving home, a whole animal was cooked and had to be all eaten. No bone of it might be broken. After being stripped of the flesh the bones were hung on a tree. _Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner_, p. 287. On St. Olaf’s Day (29th July) the Karels of Finland kill a lamb, without using a knife, and roast it whole. None of its bones may be broken. The lamb has not been shorn since spring. Some of the flesh is placed in a corner of the room for the house-spirits, some is deposited on the field and beside the birch-trees which are destined to be used as May-trees next year. W. Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ p. 160 _sq._ _note_. The Innuit (Esquimaux) of Point Barrow, Alaska, carefully preserve unbroken the bones of the seals which they have caught and return them to the sea, either leaving them in an ice-crack far out from the land or dropping them through a hole in the ice. By doing so they think they secure good fortune in the pursuit of seals. _Report of the International Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska_ (Washington, 1885), p. 40. In this last custom the idea probably is that the bones will be reclothed with flesh and the seals come to life again. The Mosquito Indians of Central America carefully preserved the bones of deer and the shells of eggs, lest the deer or chickens should die or disappear. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, i. 741. The Yurucares of Bolivia “carefully put by even small fish bones, saying that unless this is done the fish and game will disappear from the country.” Brinton, _Myths of the New World_, p. 278.

_ 395 Relations des Jésuites_, 1634, p. 25, ed. 1858; A. Mackenzie, _Voyages through the Continent of America_, civ; J. Dunn, _History of the Oregon Territory_, p. 99; Whymper in _Journ. Royal Geogr. Soc._ xxxviii. (1868) p. 228; _id._ in _Transact. Ethnolog. Soc._ vii. 174; A. P. Reid, “Religious Belief of the Ojibois Indians,” in _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ iii. 111. After a meal the Indians of Costa Rica gather all the bones carefully and either burn them or put them out of reach of the dogs. W. M. Gabb, _On the Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica_ (read before the American Philosophical Society, 20th Aug. 1875), p. 520 (Philadelphia, 1875). The fact that the bones are often burned to prevent the dogs getting them does not contradict the view suggested in the text. It may be a way of transmitting the bones to the spirit-land. The aborigines of Australia burn the bones of the animals which they eat, but for a different reason; they think that if an enemy got hold of the bones and burned them with charms, it would cause the death of the person who had eaten the animal. _Native Tribes of South Australia_, pp. 24, 196.

396 Mannhardt, _Germanische Mythen_, pp. 57-74; _id._, _B. K._ p. 116; Cosquin, _Contes populaires de Lorraine_, ii. 25; Hartland, “The physicians of Myddfai,” _Archaeological Review_, i. 30 _sq._ In folk-tales, as in primitive custom, the blood is sometimes not allowed to fall on the ground. See Cosquin, _l.c._

397 W. Mannhardt, _Germ. Myth._ p. 66.

398 Jamblichus, _Vita Pythag._ §§ 92, 135, 140; Porphyry, _Vit. Pythag._ § 28.

399 Pindar, _Olymp._ i. 37 _sqq._, with the Scholiast.

400 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 18. This is one of the sacred stories which the pious Herodotus (ii. 48) concealed and the pious Plutarch divulged.

401 Adam Hodgson, _Letters from North America_, i. 244.

402 Adair, _History of the American Indians_, p. 137 _sq._

403 Petitot, _Monographie des Dènè-Dindjié?_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 77, 81 _sq._; _id._, _Traditions indiennes du Canada Nord-ouest_ (Paris, 1886), p. 132 _sqq._, cp. pp. 41, 76, 213, 264.

404 The first part of this suggestion is that of my friend Prof. W. Robertson Smith. See his _Lectures on the Religion of the Semites_, first series, p. 360, _note_ 2. The Faleshas, a Jewish sect of Abyssinia, after killing an animal for food, “carefully remove the vein from the thighs with its surrounding flesh.” Halévy, “Travels in Abyssinia,” in _Publications of the Society of Hebrew Literature_, second series, vol. ii. p. 220.

405 It seems to be a common custom with hunters to cut out the tongues of the animals which they kill. Omaha hunters remove the tongue of a slain buffalo through an opening made in the animal’s throat. The tongues thus removed are sacred and may not touch any tool or metal except when they are boiling in the kettles at the sacred tent. They are eaten as sacred food. _Third Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington), p. 289 _sq._ Indian bear-hunters cut out what they call the bear’s little tongue (a fleshy mass under the real tongue) and keep it for good luck in hunting or burn it to determine from its crackling, etc., whether the soul of the slain bear is angry with them or not. Kohl, _Kitschi-Gami_, ii. 251 _sq._; Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, v. 173; Chateaubriand, _Voyage en Amérique_, pp. 179 _sq._, 184. In folk-tales the hero commonly cuts out the tongue of the wild beast which he has slain and preserves it as a token. The incident serves to show that the custom was a common one, since folk-tales reflect with accuracy the customs and beliefs of a primitive age. For examples of the incident, see Blade, _Contes populaires recueillis en Agenais_, pp. 12, 14; Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_, p. 133 _sq._ (“Shortshanks”); Schleicher, _Litauische Märchen_; Sepp, Altbayerischer Sagenschatz, p. 114; Köhler on Gonzenbach’s _Sicilianische Märchen_, ii. 230; Apollodorus, iii. 13, 3; Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ p. 53; Poestion, _Lapplandische Märchen_, p. 231 _sq._ It may be suggested that the cutting out of the tongues is a precaution to prevent the slain animals from telling their fate to the live animals and thus frightening away the latter. At least this explanation harmonises with the primitive modes of thought revealed in the foregoing customs.

406 Holzmayer, _Osiliana_, p. 105 _note_.

407 Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten und Gebräuche unter den Sachsen Siebenbürgens_, p. 15 _sq._

408 E. Krause, “Aberglaubische Kuren und sonstiger Aberglaube in Berlin,” _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xv. (1883) p. 93.

_ 409 Geoponica_, xiii. 5. According to the commentator, the field assigned to the mice is a neighbour’s, but it may be a patch of waste ground on the farmer’s own land.

410 R. van Eck, “Schetsen van het eiland Bali,” in _Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië_, N.S. viii. (1879) p. 125.

411 Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren_, § 405.

412 Lagarde, _Reliquiae juris ecclesiastici antiquissimae_, p. 135. For this passage I am indebted to my friend Prof. W. Robertson Smith, who kindly translated it for me from the Syriac.

413 Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 255.

414 Compare _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 280, with the customs referred to in the following note.

415 Catlin, _O-Kee-pa_, Folium reservatum; Lewis and Clarke, _Travels to the Source of the Missouri River_ (London, 1815), i. 205 _sq._

416 A. Bastian, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie, und Urgeschichte_, 1870-71, p. 59. Reinegg (_Beschreibung des Kaukasus_, ii. 12 _sq._) describes what seems to be a sacrament of the Abghazses (Abchases). It takes place in the middle of autumn. A white ox called Ogginn appears from a holy cave, which is also called Ogginn. It is caught and led about amongst the assembled men (women are excluded) amid joyful cries. Then it is killed and eaten. Any man who did not get at least a scrap of the sacred flesh would deem himself most unfortunate. The bones are then carefully collected, burned in a great hole, and the ashes buried there.

417 Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, vi. 632 _note_. On the Kalmucks as a people of shepherds and on their diet of mutton, see Georgi, _Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs_, p. 406 _sq._, cp. 207; B. Bergmann, _Nomadische Streifereien unter den Kalmücken_, ii. 80 _sqq._, 122; Pallas, _Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des russischen Reichs_, i. 319, 325. According to Pallas, it is only rich Kalmucks who commonly kill their sheep or cattle for eating; ordinary Kalmucks do not usually kill them except in case of necessity or at great merry-makings. It is, therefore, especially the rich who need to make expiation.

418 W. E. Marshall, _Travels amongst the Todas_, p. 129 _sq._ On the Todas, see also above, vol. i. p. 41.

419 Marshall, _op. cit._ pp. 80 _sq._ 130.

420 R. W. Felkin, “Notes on the Madi or Moru tribe of Central Africa,” _Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_, xii. (1882-84) p. 336 _sq._

421 The fact that the flesh of sheep appears to be now eaten by the tribe as a regular article of food (Felkin, _op. cit._ p. 307), is not inconsistent with the original sanctity of the sheep.

422 See W. R. Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, i. p. 325 _sq._

_ 423 Panjab Notes and Queries_, ii. No. 555.

424 See Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 195 _sq._, Bohn’s ed.; Swainson, _Folk-lore of British Birds_, p. 36; E. Rolland, _Faune populaire de la France_, ii. 288 _sqq._ The names for it are βασιλίσκος, _regulus_, _rex avium_ (Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 90; x. 203), _re di siepe_, _reyezuelo_, _roitelet_, _roi des oiseaux_, _Zaunkönig_, etc.

425 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 194.

426 Chambers, _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, p. 188.

_ 427 Ib._ p. 186.

428 P. Sébillot, _Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute Bretagne_, ii. 214.

429 Rolland, _op. cit._ ii. 294 _sq._; Sébillot, _l.c._; Swainson, _op. cit._ p. 42.

430 G. Waldron, _Description of the Isle of Man_ (reprinted for the Manx Society, Douglas, 1865), p. 49 _sqq._; J. Train, _Account of the Isle of Man_, ii. 124 _sqq._ 141.

431 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 195; Swainson, _Folk-lore of British Birds_, p. 36 _sq._; Rolland, _Faune populaire de la France_, ii. 297; Professor W. Ridgeway in _Academy_, 10th May 1884, p. 332; Dyer, _British Popular Customs_, p. 497.

432 Henderson, _Folk-lore of the Northern Counties_, p. 125.

433 Swainson, _op. cit._ p. 40 _sq._

434 Rolland, _op. cit._ ii. 295 _sq._; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 437 _sq._

435 Rolland, _op. cit._ ii. 296 _sq._

436 Brand’s _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 198. The “hunting of the wren” may be compared with a Swedish custom. On the 1st of May children rob the magpies’ nests of both eggs and young. These they carry in a basket from house to house in the village and show them to the housewives, while one of the children sings some doggerel lines containing a threat that, if a present is not given, the hens, chickens, and eggs will fall a prey to the magpie. They receive bacon, eggs, milk, etc., upon which they afterwards feast. L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, p. 237 _sq._ The resemblance of such customs to the “swallow song” and “crow song” of the ancient Greeks (on which see Athenaeus, pp. 359, 360) is obvious and has been remarked before now. Probably the Greek swallow-singers and crow-singers carried about dead swallows and crows or effigies of them. In modern Greece it is said to be still customary for children on 1st March to go about the streets singing spring songs and carrying a wooden swallow, which is kept turning on a cylinder. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 636.

437 John Ramsay, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, ii. 438 sq.; cp. Chambers, _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, p. 166 _sq_.; Samuel Johnson, _Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland_, p. 228 _sq._ (first American edition, 1810). The custom is clearly referred to in the “Penitential of Theodore,” quoted by Kemble, _Saxons in England_, i. 525; Elton, Origins of English History, p. 411; “_Si quis in Kal. Januar. in cervulo vel vitula vadit, id est in ferarum habitus se communicant, et vestiuntur pellibus pecudum et assumunt capita bestiarum_,” etc.

438 Chambers, _l.c._

439 Such are the Bohemian processions at the Carnival when a man called the Shrovetide Bear, swathed from head to foot in peas-straw and sometimes wearing a bear’s mask, is led from house to house. He dances with the women of the house, and collects money and food. Then they go to the alehouse, where all the peasants assemble with their wives. For at the Carnival, especially on Shrove Tuesday, it is necessary that every one should dance, if the flax, the corn, and the vegetables are to grow well. The higher they leap the better will be the crops. Sometimes the women pull out some of the straw in which the Shrovetide Bear is swathed, and put it in the nests of the geese and fowls, believing that this will make them lay well. Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, pp. 49-52. On similar customs, see W. Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ pp. 183-200.

440 J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, pp. 266 _sq._, 305, 357 _sq._; cp. id. pp. 141, 340.

441 J. Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_, p. 59.

442 Dapper, _Description de l’Afrique_, p. 117.

443 John Campbell, _Travels in South Africa_ (second journey), ii. 207 _sq._

444 Ellis, _History of Madagascar_, i. 422 _sq_.; cp. _id._ pp. 232, 435, 436 _sq._; Sibree, _The Great African Island_, p. 303 _sq._

445 Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 374; Sibree, _op. cit_. p. 304; _Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine_, iii. 263.

446 Ködding, “Die Batakschen Götter,” _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_, xii. (1885) 478.

447 Leviticus xiv. 7, 53. For a similar use in Arabia see Wellhausen, _Reste arabischen Heidentumes_, p. 156; W. Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, i. 402.

448 R. Andree, _Ethnographische Parallele und Vergleiche_, p. 29 _sq._

449 A. Leared, _Morocco and the Moors_, p. 301.

450 J. Perham, “Sea Dyak Religion,” in _Journ. Straits Branch Royal Asiatic Soc._ No. 10, p. 232.

451 S. Mateer, _Native Life in Travancore_, p. 136.

452 H. Harkness, _Singular Aboriginal Race of the Neilgherry Hills_, p. 133; Metz, _The Tribes Inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills_, p. 78; Jagor, “Ueber die Badagas im Nilgiri-Gebirge,” _Verhandl. d. Berlin. Gesell. f. Anthropol._ (1876), p. 196 _sq._ For the custom of letting a bullock go loose after a death, compare also Grierson, _Bihar Peasant Life_, p. 409; Ibbetson, _Settlement Report of the Panipat, Tahsil, and Karnal Parganah of the Karnal district_ (Allahabad, 1883) p. 137. In the latter case it is said that the animal is let loose “to become a pest.” Perhaps the older idea was that the animal carried away death from the survivors. The idea of sin is not primitive.

_ 453 Geoponica_, xiii. 9, xv. 1; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxviii. § 155. The authorities for these cures are respectively Apuleius and Democritus. The latter is probably not the atomic philosopher. See _Archaeological Review_, i. 180, _note_.

454 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxviii. § 86.

455 Plato, _Laws_, xi. c. 12, p. 933 B.

456 Ch. Rogers, _Social Life in Scotland_, iii. 226.

457 G. Lammert, _Volkmedizin und medizinischer Aberglaube in Bayern_, p. 264.

_ 458 Ib._ p. 263.

459 Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_, i. § 85.

460 Carl Meyer, _Der Aberglaube des Mittelalters_, p. 104.

461 Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 979.

462 Henderson, _Folk-lore of the Northern Counties_, p. 143. Collections of cures by transference will be found in Strackerjan’s work, cited above, i. § 85 _sqq._; W. G. Black, _Folk-medicine_, ch. ii. Cp. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. c. 36.

_ 463 Blackwood’s Magazine_, February 1886, p. 239.

464 Aubrey, _Remains of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (Folk-lore Society, 1881), p. 35 _sq._

465 Bagford’s letter in Leland’s _Collectanea_, i. 76, quoted by Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, ii. 246 _sq._, Bohn’s ed.

466 In the _Academy_, 13th Nov. 1875, p. 505, Mr. D. Silvan Evans stated that he knew of no such custom anywhere in Wales; and Miss Burne knows no example of it in Shropshire. Burne and Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 307 _sq._

467 The authority for the statement is a Mr. Moggridge, reported in _Archaeologia Cambrensis_, second series, iii. 330. But Mr. Moggridge did not speak from personal knowledge, and as he appears to have taken it for granted that the practice of placing bread and salt upon the breast of a corpse was a survival of the custom of “sin-eating,” his evidence must be received with caution. He repeated his statement, in somewhat vaguer terms, at a meeting of the Anthropological Institute, 14th December 1875. See _Journ. Anthrop. Inst_. v. 423 _sq._

468 Dubois, _Moeurs des Peuples de l’Inde_, ii. 32.

469 R. Richardson, in _Panjab Notes and Queries_, i. No. 674.

_ 470 Panjab Notes and Queries_, i. No. 674; ii. No. 559. Some of these customs have been already referred to in a different connection. See above, vol. i. p. 232.

_ 471 Op. cit._ iii. No. 745.

472 E. Schuyler, _Turkistan_, ii. 28.

473 E. F. im Thurn, _Among the Indians of Guiana_, p. 356 _sq._

474 Paul Reina, “Ueber die Bewohner der Insel Rook,” _Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde_, N. F. iv. 356.

475 R. Parkinson, _Im Bismarck-Archipel_, p. 142.

476 [P. N. Wilken], “De godsdienst en godsdienstplegtigheden der Alfoeren in de Menahassa op het eiland Celebes,” _Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië_, December 1849, pp. 392-394; id., “Bijdragen tot de kennis van de zeden en gewoonten der Alfoeren in de Minahassa,” _Mededeelingen v. w. het Nederland. Zendelinggenootsch_. vii. (1863) 149 _sqq._; J. G. F. Riedel, “De Minahasa in 1825,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xviii. (1872), 521 _sq._ Wilken’s first and fuller account is reprinted in Graafland’s _De Minahassa_, i. 117-120.

477 Riedel, “Galela und Tobeloresen,” in _Zeitschrift f. Ethnologie_, xvii. (1885) 82; G. A. Wilken, _Het Shamanisme bij de Volken van de Indischen Archipel_, p. 58.

478 Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, p. 239.

479 Nieuwenhuisen en Rosenberg, _Verslag omtrent het eiland Nias_, p. 116 _sq._, Rosenberg, _Der Malayische Archipel_, p. 174 _sq._ Cp. Chatelin, “Godsdienst en Bijgeloof der Niassers,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xxvi. 139. The Dyaks also drive the devil at the point of the sword from a house where there is sickness. See Hupe, “Korte verhandeling over de godsdienst, zeden, enz. der Dajakkers” in _Tijdschrift voor Neêrland’s Indië_, viii. (1846) dl. iii. p. 149.

480 Forbes, _British Burma_, p. 233; Shway Yoe, _The Burman_, i. 282, ii. 105 _sqq._; Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, ii. 98.

481 Lewin, _Wild Tribes of South-Eastern India_, p. 226.

482 Hecquard, _Reise an die Küste und in das Innere von West Afrika_, p. 43.

483 Sagard, _Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons_, p. 279 _sqq._ (195 _sq._ of the Paris reprint). Compare _Relations des Jésuites_, 1639, pp. 88-92 (Canadian reprint), from which it appears that each man demanded the subject of his dream in the form of a riddle, which the hearers tried to solve. The propounding of riddles is not uncommon as a superstitious observance. Probably enigmas were originally a kind of divination. Cp. Vambery, _Das Türkenvolk_, p. 232 _sq._; Riedel, _De sluiken kroesharige rassen_, etc. p. 267 _sq._ In Bolang Mongondo (Celebes) riddles may never be asked except when there is a corpse in the village. N. P. Wilken en J. A. Schwarz, “Allerlei over het land en volk van Bolaäng Mongondou,” _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsch. Zendelinggenootschap_, xi. (1867) p. 357.

484 The Rev. W. Ridley, in J. D. Lang’s _Queensland_, p. 441; cp. Ridley, _Kamilaroi_, p. 149.

_ 485 Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska_ (Washington, 1885), p. 42 _sq._

486 Franz Boas, “The Eskimo,” _Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada for 1887_, vol. v. (Montreal, 1888), sect. ii. 36 _sq._

487 Above, p. 162.

488 Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, vi. 82 _sqq._; Timothy Dwight, _Travels in New England and New York_, iv. 201 _sq._; L. H. Morgan, _League of the Iroquois_, p. 207 _sqq._; Mrs. E. A. Smith, “Myths of the Iroquois,” _Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1883), p. 112 _sqq._; Horatio Hale, “Iroquois sacrifice of the White Dog,” _American Antiquarian_, vii. 7 _sqq._; W. M. Beauchamp, “Iroquois White Dog feast,” _ib._ p. 235 _sqq._

489 Squier’s notes upon Bartram’s _Creek and Cherokee Indians_, p. 78, from the MS. of Mr. Payne. See above, p. 75 _note_.

490 Garcilasso de la Vega, _Royal Commentaries of the Yncas_, pt. i. bk. vii. ch. 6, vol. ii. p. 228 _sqq._, Markham’s translation; Molina, “Fables and Rites of the Yncas,” in _Rites and Laws of the Yncas_ (Hakluyt Society, 1873), p. 20 _sqq._; Acosta, _History of the Indies_, bk. v. ch. 28, vol. ii. p. 375 _sq._ (Hakluyt Society, 1880). The accounts of Garcilasso and Molina are somewhat discrepant, but this may be explained by the statement of the latter that “in one year they added, and in another they reduced the number of ceremonies, according to circumstances.” Molina places the festival in August, Garcilasso and Acosta in September. According to Garcilasso there were only four runners in Cuzco; according to Molina there were four hundred. Acosta’s account is very brief. In the description given in the text features have been borrowed from all three accounts, where these seemed consistent with each other.

491 Bosman’s “Guinea,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, xvi. 402. Cp. Pierre Bouche, _La Côte des Esclaves_, p. 395.

492 S. Crowther and J. C. Taylor. _The Gospel on the Banks of the Niger_, p. 320.

493 Mansfield Parkyns, _Life in Abyssinia_, p. 285 _sqq._

494 Dalton, _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 196 _sq._

495 Biddulph, _Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh_, p. 103.

496 W. Macpherson, _Memorials of Service in India_, p. 357 _sq._ Possibly this case belongs more strictly to the class of mediate expulsions, the devils being driven out upon the car. Perhaps, however, the car with its contents is regarded rather as a bribe to induce them to go than as a vehicle in which they are actually carted away. Anyhow it is convenient to take this case along with those other expulsions of demons which are the accompaniment of an agricultural festival.

497 R. van Eck, “Schetsen van het eiland Bali,” _Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië_, N. S. viii. (1879) 58-60. Van Eck’s account is reprinted in J. Jacobs’s _Eenigen tijd onder de Baliërs_ (Batavia, 1883), p. 190 _sqq._

_ 498 U.S. Exploring Expedition, Ethnography and Philology_, by H. Hale, p. 67 _sq._; Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition_, iii. 90 _sq._ According to the latter, the sea-slug was eaten by the men alone, who lived during the four days in the temple, while the women and boys remained shut up in their houses.

499 Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, v. 367.

_ 500 Panjab Notes and Queries_, ii. No. 792; D. C. J. Ibbetson, _Outlines of Panjab Ethnography_, p. 119.

501 Baron, “Description of the Kingdom of Tonqueen,” Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, ix. 673, 695 _sq._; cp. Richard, “History of Tonquin,” _ib._ p. 746. The account of the ceremony by Tavernier (whom Baron criticises very unfavourably) is somewhat different. According to him the expulsion of wicked souls at the New Year is combined with sacrifice to the honoured dead. See Harris, _Voyages and Travels_, i. 823.

502 Aymonier, _Notice sur le Cambodge_, p. 62.

503 Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, iii. 237, 298, 314, 529 _sq._; Pallegoix, _Royaume Thai ou Siam_, i. 252. Bastian (p. 314), with whom Pallegoix seems to agree, distinctly states that the expulsion takes place on the last day of the year. Yet both state that it occurs in the fourth month of the year. According to Pallegoix (i. 253) the Siamese year is composed of twelve lunar months, and the first month usually begins in December. Hence the expulsion of devils would commonly take place in March, as in Cambodia.

504 J. Anderson, _Mandalay to Momien_, p. 308.

505 Max Buch, _Die Wotjäken_, p. 153 _sq._

506 Bastian, _Der Mensch in der Geschichte_, ii. 94.

507 J. G. von Hahn, _Albanesische Studien_, i. 160. Cp. above, vol. i. p. 276.

508 Vincenzo Dorsa, _La tradizione greco-latina negli usi e nelle credenze popolari della Calabria Citeriore_, p. 42 _sq._

509 Von Alpenburg, _Mythen und Sagen Tirols_, p. 260 _sq._ A Westphalian form of the expulsion of evil is the driving out the _Süntevögel_, _Sunnenvögel_, or _Sommervögel_, _i.e._, the butterfly. On St. Peter’s Day, 22d February, children go from house to house knocking on them with hammers and singing doggerel rhymes in which they bid the _Sommervögel_ to depart. Presents are given to them at every house. Or the people of the house themselves go through all the rooms, knocking on all the doors, to drive away the _Sunnenvögel_. If this ceremony is omitted, it is thought that various misfortunes will be the consequence. The house will swarm with rats, mice, and other vermin, the cattle will be sick, the butterflies will multiply at the milk-bowls, etc. Woeste, _Volksüberlieferungen in der Grafschaft Mark_, p. 24; J. W. Wolf, Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie, i. 87; A. Kuhn, _Westfälische Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen_, ii. §§ 366-374; Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche_, etc., p. 21 _sq._; Jahn, _Die deutschen Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau und Viehzucht_, pp. 94-96.

510 Usener, “Italische Mythen,” in _Rheinisches Museum_, N. F. xxx. 198.

511 S. Powers, _Tribes of California_, p. 159.

512 G. Catlin, _North American Indians_, i. 166 _sqq._; _id._, _O-kee-pa, a Religious Ceremony, and other Customs of the Mandans_.

513 Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_, i. 172. Cp. above, p. 178.

514 A. Bastian, in _Verhandl. d. Berlin. Gesellsch. f. Anthropol._ 1881, p. 151; cp. _id._, _Völkerstämme am Brahmaputra_, p. 6 _sq._ Amongst the Chukmas of South-east India the body of a priest is conveyed to the place of cremation on a car; ropes are attached to the car, the people divide themselves into two equal bodies and pull at the ropes in opposite directions. “One side represents the good spirits; the other, the powers of evil. The contest is so arranged that the former are victorious. Sometimes, however, the young men representing the demons are inclined to pull too vigorously, but a stick generally quells this unseemly ardour in the cause of evil.” Lewin, _Wild Tribes of South-Eastern India_, p. 185. The contest is like that between the angels and devils depicted in the frescoes of the Campo Santo at Pisa. In Burma a similar contest takes place at the funeral of a holy man; but there the original meaning of the ceremony appears to be forgotten. See Sangermano, _Description of the Burmese Empire_ (ed. 1885), p. 98; Forbes, _British Burma_, p. 216 _sq._; Shway Yoe, _The Burman_, ii. 334 _sq._, 342. Sometimes ceremonies of this sort are instituted for a different purpose. In some East Indian islands when the people want a rainy wind from the west, the population of the village, men, women, and children, divide into two parties and pull against each other at the ends of a long bamboo. But the party at the eastern end must pull the harder, in order to draw the desired wind out of the west. Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, p. 282. The Cingalese perform a ceremony like “French and English” in honour of the goddess Patiné. Forbes, _Eleven Years in Ceylon_ (London, 1840), i. 358.

_ 515 Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 174.

516 François Valentyn, _Oud-en nieuw Ost-Indiën_, iii. 14. Backer, _L’Archipel Indien_, p. 377 _sq._, copies from Valentyn.

517 Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, p. 304 _sq._

_ 518 Ib._ p. 25 _sq._

_ 519 Ib._ p. 141.

520 Riedel, _op. cit._ p. 78.

_ 521 Ib._ p. 357.

_ 522 Ib._ pp. 266, 304 _sq._, 327, 357. For other examples of sending away disease-laden boats in these islands, _ib._ pp. 181, 210; Van Eck, “Schetsen van het eiland Bali,” _Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië_, N.S. viii. (1879) p. 104; Bastian, _Indonesien_, i. 147; Hupe, “Korte verhandeling over de godsdienst, zeden, enz. der Dajakkers,” _Tijdschrift voor Neêrland’s Indië_, 1846, dl. iii. 150; Campen, “De godsdienstbegrippen der Halmaherasche Alfoeren,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xxvii. (1882) p. 441; _Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 12, pp. 229-231; Van Hasselt, _Volksbeschrijving van Midden-Sumatra_, p. 98.

523 J. Dumont D’Urville, _Voyage autour du monde et à la recherche de La Pérouse, sur la corvette Astrolabe_, v. 311.

524 Roepstorff, “Ein Geisterboot der Nicobaresen,” _Verhandl. der Berlin. Gesellsch. f. Anthropologie_ (1881), p. 401. For Siamese applications of the same principle to the cure of individuals, see Bastian, _Die Volker des östlichen Asien_, iii. 295 _sq._, 485 _sq._

_ 525 Panjab Notes and Queries_, i. No. 418.

_ 526 Id._ iii. No. 373.

_ 527 Panjab Notes and Queries_, ii. No. 1127.

_ 528 Id._ ii. No. 1123.

529 F. Fawcett, “On the Saoras (or Savaras),” _Journ. Anthrop. Soc. Bombay_, i. 213 _note_.

_ 530 Journ. Anthrop. Soc. Bombay_, i. 37.

531 R. Andree, _Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche_ (first series), p. 30.

532 J. H. Gray, _China_, ii. 306.

_ 533 Panjab Notes and Queries_, i. 598.

534 Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, p. 393.

535 Bastian, _Der Mensch in der Geschichte_, ii. 93.

_ 536 Id._ ii. 91.

_ 537 Asiatic Researches_, ix. 96 _sq._

538 J. H. Gray, _China_, ii. 306 _sq._

539 T. J. Hutchinson, _Impressions of Western Africa_, p. 162.

540 Bogle and Manning, _Tibet_, edited by C. R. Markham, p. 106 _sq._

541 E. T. Atkinson, “Notes on the History of Religion in the Himalaya of the North-West Provinces,” _Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, liii. pt. i. (1884), p. 62.

_ 542 Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, from the MSS. of John Ramsay of Ochtertyre, edited by Alex. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1888), ii. 439.

543 W. M. Beauchamp, “The Iroquois White Dog Feast,” _American Antiquarian_, vii. 237.

_ 544 Ib._ p. 236; T. Dwight, _Travels in New England and New York_, iv. 202.

545 Above, p. 165 _sq._

546 Leviticus xvi. Modern Jews sacrifice a white cock on the eve of the Festival of Expiation, nine days after the beginning of their New Year. The father of the family knocks the cock thrice against his own head, saying, “Let this cock be a substitute for me, let it take my place, let death be laid upon this cock, but a happy life bestowed on me and on all Israel.” Then he cuts its throat and dashes the bird violently on the ground. The intestines are thrown on the roof of the house. The flesh of the cock was formerly given to the poor. Buxtorf, _Synagoga Judaica_, c. xxv.

547 S. Crowther and J. C. Taylor, _The Gospel on the Banks of the Niger_, pp. 343-345. Cp. J. F. Schon and S. Crowther, _Journals_, p. 48 _sq._ The account of the custom by J. Africanus B. Horton (_West African Countries and Peoples_ p. 185 _sq._) is entirely from Taylor.

548 Turpin, “History of Siam,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, ix. 579.

549 Ködding, “Die Bataksche Götter,” _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_, xii. (1885) pp. 476, 478.

550 The ceremony referred to is probably the one performed on the tenth day, as described in the text.

551 “Report of a Route Survey by Pundit—from Nepal to Lhasa,” etc., _Journal Royal Geogr. Soc._ xxxviii. (1868) pp. 167, 170 _sq._; “Four Years’ Journeying through Great Tibet, by one of the Trans-Himalayan Explorers,” _Proceed. Royal Geogr. Soc._ N.S. vii. (1885) p. 67 _sq._

552 Aeneas Sylvius, _Opera_ (Bâle, 1571), p. 423 _sq._

553 Usener, “Italische Mythen,” _Rheinisches Museum_, N.F. xxx. 198.

554 J. Thomas Phillips, _Account of the Religion, Manners, and Learning of the People of Malabar_, pp. 6, 12 _sq._

555 Herodotus, ii. 39.

556 Herodotus, ii. 38-41; Wilkinson, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_, iii. 403 _sqq._ (ed. 1878).

557 Herodotus, _l.c._

558 See above, pp. 95 _sqq._, 137 _sq._

_ 559 Panjab Notes and Queries_, ii. No. 335.

560 Strabo, xi. 4, 7. For the custom of standing upon a sacrificed victim, cp. Demosthenes, p. 642; Pausanias, iii. 20, 9.

561 In the Dassera festival, as celebrated in Nepaul, we seem to have another instance of the annual expulsion of demons preceded by a time of licence. The festival occurs at the beginning of October and lasts ten days. “During its continuance there is a general holiday among all classes of the people. The city of Kathmandu at this time is required to be purified, but the purification is effected rather by prayer than by water-cleansing. All the courts of law are closed, and all prisoners in jail are removed from the precincts of the city.... The Kalendar is cleared, or there is a jail-delivery always at the Dassera of all prisoners.” This seems a trace of a period of licence. At this time “it is a general custom for masters to make an annual present, either of money, clothes, buffaloes, goats, etc., to such servants as have given satisfaction during the past year. It is in this respect, as well as in the feasting and drinking which goes on, something like our ‘boxing-time’ at Christmas.” On the seventh day at sunset there is a parade of all the troops in the capital, including the artillery. At a given signal the regiments commence firing, the artillery takes it up, and a general firing goes on for about twenty minutes, when it suddenly ceases. This probably represents the expulsion of the demons. “The grand cutting of the rice-crops is always postponed till the Dassera is over, and commences all over the valley the very day afterwards.” See the description of the festival in Oldfield’s _Sketches from Nipal_, ii. 342-351. On the Dassera in India, see Dubois, _Moeurs, Institutions et Cérémonies des Peuples de l’Inde_, ii. 329 _sqq._ Amongst the Wasuahili of East Africa New Year’s Day was formerly a day of general licence, “every man did as he pleased. Old quarrels were settled, men were found dead on the following day, and no inquiry was instituted about the matter.” Ch. New, _Life, Wanderings, and Labours in Eastern Africa_, p. 65. In Ashantee the annual festival of the new yams is a time of general licence. See the Note on “Offerings of first fruits” at the end of the volume.

562 See above, vol. i. p. 275 _sq._

563 Above, pp. 186 _sq._, 192.

564 H. Usener, “Italische Mythen,” _Rheinisches Museum_, N. F. (1875) xxx. 194.

565 Joannes Lydus, _De mensibus_, iii. 29, iv. 36. Lydus places the expulsion on the Ides of March, that is 15th March. But this seems to be a mistake. See Usener, “Italische Mythen,” _Rheinisches Museum_, xxx. 209 _sqq._ Again, Lydus does not expressly say that Mamurius Veturius was driven out of the city, but he implies it by mentioning the legend that his mythical prototype was beaten with rods and expelled the city. Lastly, Lydus only mentions the name Mamurius. But the full name Mamurius Veturius is preserved by Varro, _Ling. Lat._ vi. 45; Festus, ed. Muller, p. 131; Plutarch, _Numa_, 13.

566 Usener, _op. cit._ p. 212 _sq._; Roscher, _Apollon und Mars_, p. 27; Preller, _Römische Mythologie_,3 i. 360; Vaniček, _Griechisch-lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch_, p. 715. The three latter scholars take Veturius as = _annuus_, because _vetus_ is etymologically equivalent to ἔτος. But, as Usener argues, it seems quite unallowable to take the Greek meaning of the word instead of the Latin.

567 Cato, _De agri cult._ 141.

568 Varro, _De lingua latina_, v. 85.

569 See the song of the Arval Brothers in _Acta Fratrum Arvalium_, ed. Henzen, p. 26 _sq._; Wordsworth, _Fragments and Specimens of Early Latin_, p. 158.

570 Above, p. 64.

571 Cato, _De agri cult._ 83.

572 Above, vol. i. p. 70 _sqq._ p. 105 _sq._

573 Preller, _Römische Mythologie_,3 i. 360; Rosscher, _Apollon und Mars_, p. 49; Usener, _op. cit._ The ceremony also closely resembles the Highland New Year ceremony described above, p. 145 _sq._

574 Propertius, v. 2, 61 _sq._; Usener, _op. cit._ p. 210. One of the functions of the Salii or dancing priests, who during March went up and down the city dancing, singing, and clashing their swords against their shields (Livy, i. 20; Plutarch, _Numa_, 13; Dionysius Halicarn. _Antiq._ ii. 70) may have been to rout out the evils or demons from all parts of the city, as a preparation for transferring them to the scapegoat Mamurius Veturius. Similarly, as we have seen (above, p. 194 _sq._), among the Iroquois, men in fantastic costume went about collecting the sins of the people as a preliminary to transferring them to the scapegoat dogs. We have had many examples of armed men rushing about the streets and houses to drive out demons and evils of all kinds. The blows which were showered on Mamurius Veturius seem to have been administered by the Salii (Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ vii. 188; Minucius Felix, 24, 3; Preller, _Röm. Myth._3 i. 360, _note_ 1; Rosscher, _Apollon und Mars_, p. 49). The reason for beating the scapegoat will be explained presently. As priests of Mars, the god of agriculture, the Salii probably had also certain agricultural functions. They were named from the remarkable _leaps_ which they made. Now dancing and leaping high are common sympathetic charms to make the crops grow high. See Peter, _Volksthümliches aus Oesterreichisch Schlesien_, ii. 266; E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p. 499, No. 333; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, p. 49; O. Knoop, _Volkssagen_, etc., _aus dem östlichen Hinterpommern_, p. 176, No. 197; E. Sommer, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Sachsen und Thüringen_, p. 148; Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_, p. 190, No. 13; Woeste, _Volksüberlieferungen in der Grafschaft Mark_, p. 56; _Bavaria_, ii. 298; _id._, iv. Abth. ii. pp. 379, 382; Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten u. Gebräuche unter den Sachsen Siebenbürgens_, p. 11 _sq._; Schulenberg, _Wendische Volkssagen und Gebräuche_, p. 252; Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_,2 § 657; Jahn, _Die deutsche Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau und Viehzucht_, p. 194 _sq._; cp. Schott, _Walachische Mährchen_, p. 301 _sq._; Gerard, _The Land beyond the Forest_, i. 264; Cieza de Leon, _Travels_ (Hakluyt Soc. 1864), p. 413. Was it one of the functions of the Salii to dance and leap on the fields at the spring or autumn sowing, or at both? The dancing processions of the Salii took place in October as well as in March (Marquardt, _Sacralwesen_,2 p. 436 _sq._), and the Romans sowed both in spring and autumn (Columella, ii. 9, 6 _sq._) In their song the Salii mentioned Saturnus or Saeturnus the god of sowing (Festus, p. 325, ed. Müller. _Saeturnus_ is an emendation of Ritschl’s. See Wordsworth, _Fragments and Specimens of Early Latin_, p. 405). The weapons borne by the Salii, while effective against demons in general, may have been especially directed against the demons who steal the seed corn or the ripe grain. Compare the Khond and Hindoo Koosh customs described above, p. 173. In Western Africa the field labours of tilling and sowing are sometimes accompanied by dances of armed men on the field. See Labat, _Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinée, Isles voisines, et à Cayenne_, ii. p. 99 of the Paris ed., p. 80 of the Amsterdam ed.; Olivier de Sanderval, _De l’Atlantique au Niger par le Foulah-Djallon_ (Paris, 1883), p. 230. In Calicut (Southern India) “they plough the land with oxen as we do, and when they sow the rice in the field they have all the instruments of the city continually sounding and making merry. They also have ten or twelve men clothed like devils, and these unite in making great rejoicing with the players on the instruments, in order that the devil may make that rice very productive.” Varthema, _Travels_ (Hakluyt Soc. 1863), p. 166 _sq._ The resemblance of the Salii to the sword-dancers of northern Europe has been pointed out by K. Müllenhoff, “Ueber den Schwerttanz,” in _Festgaben für Gustav Homeyer_ (Berlin, 1871). In England the Morris Dancers who accompanied the procession of the plough through the streets on Plough Monday (the first Monday after Twelfth Day) sometimes wore swords (Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 505, Bohn’s ed.), and sometimes they “wore small bunches of corn in their hats, from which the wheat was soon shaken out by the ungainly jumping which they called dancing.... Bessy rattled his box and danced so high that he showed his worsted stockings and corduroy breeches.” Chambers, _Book of Days_, i. 94. It is to be observed that in the “Lord of Misrule,” who reigned from Christmas till Twelfth Night (see Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 497 _sqq._), we have a clear trace of one of those periods of general licence and suspension of ordinary government which so commonly occur at the end of the old year or beginning of the new one in connection with a general expulsion of evils. The fact that this period of licence immediately preceded the procession of the Morris Dancers on Plough Monday seems to indicate that the functions of these dancers were like those which I have attributed to the Salii. But the parallel cannot be drawn out here. Cp. meantime Dyer, _British Popular Customs_, pp. 31, 39. The Salii were said to have been founded by _Morrius_, King of Veii (Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ viii. 285). _Morrius_ seems to be etymologically the same with _Mamurius_ and _Mars_ (Usener, _Italische Mythen_, p. 213). Can the English _Morris_ (in _Morris_ dancers) be the same? Analogy suggests that at Rome the Saturnalia, which fell in December when the Roman year began in January, may have been celebrated in February when the Roman year began in March. Thus at Rome, as in so many places, the public expulsion of evils at the New Year would be preceded by a period of general licence, such as the Saturnalia was. A trace of the former celebration of the Saturnalia in February or the beginning of March may perhaps be seen in the _Matronalia_, celebrated on 1st March, at which mistresses feasted their slaves, just as masters feasted theirs at the Saturnalia. Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 12, 7; Solinus, i. 35, p. 13, ed. Mommsen; Joannes Lydus, _De mensibus_, iii. 15.

575 Plutarch, _Quaest. Conviv._ vi. 8.

576 See above, pp. 176, 194.

577 Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ iii. 57, from Petronius.

578 Helladius, in Photius, _Bibliotheca_, p. 534 A, ed. Bekker; Schol. on Aristophanes, _Frogs_, 734, and on _Knights_, 1136; Hesychius, _s.v._ φαρμακοί; cp. Suidas, _s.vv._ κάθαρμα, φαρμακοός, and φαρμακούς; Lysias, _Orat._ vi. 53. That they were stoned is an inference from Harpocration. See next note.

579 Harpocration, _s.v._ φαρμακός, who says δύο ἄνδρας Ἀθήνησιν ἑξῆγον καθάρσια ἐσομένους τῆς πόλεως ἐν τοῖς Θαργηλίοις, ἕνα μὲν ὑπερ τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἕνα δὲ ὑπερ τῶν γυναικῶν. He does not expressly state that they were put to death; but as he says that the ceremony was an imitation of the execution of a mythical Pharmacus who was stoned to death, we may infer that the victims were killed by being stoned. Suidas (_sv._ φάρμακος) copies Harpocration.

580 Strabo, x. 2, 9. I do not know what authority Wordsworth (_Greece, Pictorial, Historical, and Descriptive_, p. 354) has for saying that the priests of Apollo, whose temple stood near the edge of the cliff, sometimes flung themselves down in this way.

581 Tzetzes, _Chiliades_, v. 726-761. Tzetzes’s authority is the satyrical poet Hipponax.

582 This may be inferred from the verse of Hipponax, quoted by Athenaeus, 370 B, where for φαρμάκου we should perhaps read φαρμακοῦ with Schneidewin (_Poetae lyr. Gr._3 ed. Bergk, ii. 763).

583 See his _Mytholog. Forschungen_, p. 113 _sqq._, especially 123 _sq._ 133.

584 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xx. 101; Dioscorides, _De mat. med._ ii. 202; Lucian, _Necyom._ 7; _id._, _Alexander_, 47; Theophrastus, _Superstitious Man_.

585 Theocritus, vii. 106 _sqq._ with the scholiast.

586 Cp. Aug. Mommsen, _Heortologie_, 414 _sqq._; W. Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ p. 215.

587 At certain sacrifices in Yucatan blood was drawn from the genitals of a human victim and smeared on the face of the idol. De Landa, _Relation des choses de Yucatan_, ed. Brasseur de Bourbourg (Paris, 1864) p. 167. Was the original intention of this rite to transfuse into the god a fresh supply of reproductive energy?

588 Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ ix. 26.

589 De Santa-Anna Nery, _Folk-lore Brésilien_ (Paris, 1889) p. 253.

590 Above, pp. 148 _sq._ 187. Compare Plutarch, _Parallela_, 35, where a woman is represented as going from house to house striking sick people with a hammer and bidding them be whole.

591 Acosta, _History of the Indies_, ii. 375 (Hakluyt Soc.) See above, p. 169.

592 Osculati, _Esplorazione delle regioni equatoriali lungo il Napo ed il fiume delle Amazzoni_ (Milan, 1854), p. 118.

593 Ed. Beardmore, _Anthropological Notes collected at Mowat, Dandai, New Guinea_ (1888) (in manuscript).

594 Hahn, _Albanesische Studien_, i. 155.

595 F. S. Krauss, _Kroatien und Slavonien_ (Vienna, 1889), p. 108.

596 W. Mannhardt, _B. K._ p. 257.

597 W. Mannhardt, _B. K._ p. 258-263. See his whole discussion of such customs, pp. 251-303, and _Myth. Forsch._ pp. 113-153.

598 Acosta, _History of the Indies_, ii. 323 (Hakluyt Soc. 1880).

599 Sahagun, _Histoire des choses de la Nouvelle Espagne_ (Paris, 1880), pp. 61 _sq._, 96-99, 103; Acosta, _History of the Indies_, ii. 350 _sq._; Clavigero, _History of Mexico_, trans. by Cullen, i. 300; Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, ii. 319 _sq._ For other Mexican instances of persons representing deities and slain in that character, see Sahagun, pp. 75, 116 _sq._, 123, 158 _sq._, 164 _sq._, 585 _sqq._, 589; Acosta, ii. 384 _sqq._; Clavigero, i. 312; Bancroft, ii. 325 _sqq._, 337 _sq._

600 Sahagun, pp. 18 _sq._, 68 _sq._, 133-139; Bancroft, iii. 353-359.

601 Sahagun, p. 584 _sq._ For this festival see also _id._ pp. 37 _sq._ 58 _sq._ 60, 87 _sqq._ 93; Clavigero, i. 297; Bancroft, ii. 306 _sqq._

602 Clavigero, i. 283.

603 Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, ii. 142.

_ 604 Memorials of Japan_ (Hakluyt Society, 1850), pp. 14, 141; Varenius, _Descriptio regni Japoniae_, p. 11; Caron, “Account of Japan,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, vii. 613; Kaempfer, “History of Japan,” in _id._, vii. 716.

605 Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, iii. 102 _sq._ ed. 1836; James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_, p. 329.

606 Bastian, _Der Mensch in der Geschichte_, iii. 81.

607 Athenaeus, 514 C.

608 Bancroft, _l.c._

609 Kaempfer, “History of Japan,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, vii. 717; Caron, “Account of Japan,” _id._ vii. 613; Varenius, _Descriptio regni Japoniae_, p. 11, “_Radiis solis caput nunquam illustrabatur: in apertum aërem non procedebat_.”

610 Waitz, _Anthropologie der Naturvölker_, iv. 359.

611 Alonzo de Zurita, “Rapport sur les differentes classes de chefs de la Nouvelle-Espagne,” p. 30, in Ternaux-Compans’s _Voyages, Relations et Mémoires originaux_ (Paris, 1840); Waitz, _l.c._; Bastian, _Die Culturländer des alten Amerika_, ii. 204.

612 Cieza de Leon, _Second Part of the Chronicle of Peru_ (Hakluyt Soc. 1883), p. 18.

613 Pechuel-Loesche, “Indiscretes aus Loango,” _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, x. (1878) 23.

614 Rev. James Macdonald (Reay Free Manse, Caithness), _Manners, Customs, Superstitions, and Religions of South African Tribes_ (in manuscript).

615 The Rev. G. Brown, quoted by the Rev. B. Danks, “Marriage Customs of the New Britain Group,” _Journ. Anthrop. Institute_, xviii. 284 _sq._; cp. Rev. G. Brown, “Notes on the Duke of York Group, New Britain, and New Ireland,” _Journ. Royal Geogr. Soc._ xlvii. (1877) p. 142 _sq._ Powell’s description of the New Ireland custom is similar (_Wanderings in a Wild Country_, p. 249). According to him the girls wear wreaths of scented herbs round the waist and neck; an old woman or a little child occupies the lower floor of the cage: and the confinement lasts only a month. Probably the long period mentioned by Mr. Brown is that prescribed for chiefs’ daughters. Poor people could not afford to keep their children so long idle. This distinction is sometimes expressly stated; for example, among the Goajiras of Colombia rich people keep their daughters shut up in separate huts at puberty for periods varying from one to four years, but poor people cannot afford to do so for more than a fortnight or a month. F. A. Simons, “An exploration of the Goajira Peninsula,” _Proceed. Royal Geogr. Soc._ N.S. vii. (1885) p. 791. In Fiji, brides who were being tattooed were kept from the sun. Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_, i. 170. This was perhaps a modification of the Melanesian custom of secluding girls at puberty. The reason mentioned by Mr. Williams, “to improve her complexion,” can hardly have been the original one.

616 Chalmers and Gill, _Work and Adventure in New Guinea_, p. 159.

617 Schwaner, _Borneo, Beschrijving van het stroomgebied van den Barito_, etc. ii. 77 _sq._; Zimmerman, _Die Inseln des Indischen und Stillen Meeres_, ii. 632 _sq._; Otto Finsch, _Neu Guinea und seine Bewohner_, p. 116.

618 Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, p. 138.

619 Sproat, _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_, p. 93 _sq._

620 Erman, “Ethnographische Wahrnehmungen u. Erfahrungen an den Küsten des Berings-Meeres,” _Zeitschrift f. Ethnologie_, ii. 318 _sq._; Langsdorff, _Reise um die Welt_, ii. 114 _sq._; Holmberg, “Ethnogr. Skizzen über die Völker d. russischen Amerika,” _Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae_, iv. (1856) p. 320 _sq._; Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, i. 110 _sq._; Krause, _Die Tlinkit-Indianer_, p. 217 _sq._; Rev. Sheldon Jackson, “Alaska and its Inhabitants,” _American Antiquarian_, ii. 111 _sq._; W. M. Grant, in _Journal of American Folk-lore_, i. 169. For caps, hoods, and veils worn by girls at such seasons, compare G. H. Loskiel, _History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians_, i. 56; _Journal Anthrop. Institute_, vii. 206; G. M. Dawson, _Report of the Queen Charlotte Islands_, 1878 (Geological Survey of Canada), p. 130 B; Petitot, _Monographie des Dènè-Dindjié_, pp. 72, 75; _id._, _Traditions indiennes du Canada Nord-Ouest_, p. 258.

621 Holmberg, _op. cit._ p. 401; Bancroft, i. 82; Petroff, _Report on the Population_, etc. _of Alaska_, p. 143.

622 Lafitau, _Moeurs des Sauvages amériquains_ i. 262 _sq._

_ 623 Lettres édifiantes et curieuses_, viii. 333. On the Chiriguanos see Von Martius, _Zur Ethnographie Amerika’s zumal Brasiliens_, p. 212 _sqq._

624 Thevet, _Cosmographie Universelle_ (Paris, 1575) ii. 946 B _sq._; Lafitau, _op. cit._ i 290 _sqq._

625 Schomburgk, _Reisen in Britisch Guiana_, ii. 315 _sq._; Martius, _Zur Ethnographie Amerika’s_, p. 644.

626 Labat, _Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinée, Isles voisines, et à Cayenne_, iv. p. 365 _sq._ (Paris ed.), p. 17 _sq._ (Amsterdam ed.)

627 Above, p. 213 _sq._, vol. i. p. 153 _sq._

628 This interpretation of the custom is supported by the fact that beating or scourging is inflicted on inanimate objects expressly for the purpose indicated in the text. Thus the Indians of Costa Rica hold that there are two kinds of ceremonial uncleanness, _nya_ and _bu-ku-rú_. Anything that has been connected with a death is _nya_. But _bu-ku-rú_ is much more virulent. It can not only make one sick but kill. “The worst _bu-ku-rú_ of all is that of a young woman in her first pregnancy. She infects the whole neighbourhood. Persons going from the house where she lives carry the infection with them to a distance, and all the deaths or other serious misfortunes in the vicinity are laid to her charge. In the old times, when the savage laws and customs were in full force, it was not an uncommon thing for the husband of such a woman to pay damages for casualties thus caused by his unfortunate wife.... _Bu-ku-rú_ emanates in a variety of ways; arms, utensils, even houses become affected by it after long disuse, and before they can be used again must be purified. In the case of portable objects left undisturbed for a long time, the custom is to beat them with a stick before touching them. I have seen a woman take a long walking stick and beat a basket hanging from the roof of a house by a cord. On asking what that was for, I was told that the basket contained her treasures, that she would probably want to take something out the next day, and that she was driving off the _bu-ku-rú_. A house long unused must be swept, and then the person who is purifying it must take a stick and beat not only the movable objects, but the beds, posts, and in short every accessible part of the interior. The next day it is fit for occupation. A place not visited for a long time or reached for the first time is _bu-ku-rú_. On our return from the ascent of Pico Blanco, nearly all the party suffered from little calenturas, the result of extraordinary exposure to wet and cold and want of food. The Indians said that the peak was especially _bu-ku-rú_, since nobody had ever been on it before.” One day Mr. Gabb took down some dusty blow-guns amid cries of _bu-ku-rú_ from the Indians. Some weeks afterwards a boy died, and the Indians firmly believed that the _bu-ku-rú_ of the blow-guns had killed him. “From all the foregoing, it would seem that _bu-ku-rú_ is a sort of evil spirit that takes possession of the object, and resents being disturbed; but I have never been able to learn from the Indians that they consider it so. They seem to think of it as a property the objects acquires.” W. M. Gabb, _Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica_ (read before the American Philosophical Society, 20th August 1875), p. 504 _sq._

629 A. R. Wallace, _Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro_, p. 496.

630 Bose, _The Hindoos as they are_, p. 86. Similarly, after a Brahman boy has been invested with the sacred thread, he is for three days strictly forbidden to see the sun. He may not eat salt, and he is enjoined to sleep either on a carpet or a deer’s skin, without a mattress or mosquito curtain. _Ib._ p. 186. In Bali, boys who have had their teeth filed, as a preliminary to marriage, are kept shut up in a dark room for three days. Van Eck, “Schetsen van het eiland Bali,” _Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië_, N. S. ix. (1880) 428 _sq._

631 Moura, _Royaume du Cambodge_, i. 377.

632 Aymonier, “Notes sur les coutumes et croyances superstitieuses des Cambodgiens,” _Cochinchine Française, Excursions et Reconnaissances_, No. 16 (Saigon, 1883), p. 193 _sq._ Cp. _id._ _Notice sur le Cambodge_, p. 50.

633 B. Schmidt, _Griechische Märchen, Sagen und Volkslieder_, p. 98.

634 Schneller, _Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol_, No. 22.

635 J. G. von Hahn, _Griechische und albanesische Märchen_, No. 41.

636 Gonzenbach, _Sicilianische Märchen_, No. 28. The incident of the bone occurs in other folk-tales. A prince or princess is shut up for safety in a tower and makes his or her escape by scraping a hole in the wall with a bone which has been accidentally conveyed into the tower; sometimes it is expressly said that care was taken to let the princess have no bones with her meat. Hahn, _op. cit._ No. 15; Gonzenbach, Nos. 26, 27; _Pentamerone_, No. 23. From this we should infer that it is a rule with savages not to let women handle the bones of animals during their monthly seclusions. We have already seen the great respect with which the savage treats the bones of game (see above, p. 116 _sqq._); and women in their courses are specially forbidden to meddle with the hunter or fisher, as their contact or neighbourhood would spoil his sport (see below, p. 238 _sqq._) In folk-tales the hero who uses the bone is sometimes a boy; but the incident might easily be transferred from a girl to a boy after its real meaning had been forgotten. Amongst the Hare-skin Indians a girl at puberty is forbidden to break the bones of hares. Petitot, _Traditions indiennes du Canada Nordouest_, p. 258. On the other hand, she drinks out of a tube made of a swan’s bone (Petitot, _l.c._ and _id._, _Monographie des Dènè-Dindjié_, p. 76), and we have seen that a Thlinkeet girl in the same circumstances used to drink out of the wing-bone of a white-headed eagle (Langsdorff, _Reise um die Welt_, ii. 114).

637 W. Radloff, _Proben der Volkslitteratur der türkischen Stämme Süd-Sibiriens_, iii. 82 _sq._

638 Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, i. 416, vi. 25; Turner, _Samoa_, p. 200; _Panjab Notes and Queries_, ii. No. 797.

639 Amongst the Chaco Indians of South America a newly-married couple sleep the first night on a skin with their heads towards the west; “for the marriage is not considered as ratified till the rising sun shines on their feet the succeeding morning.” T. J. Hutchinson, “The Chaco Indians,” _Transact. Ethnolog. Soc._ iii. 327. At old Hindoo marriages, the first ceremony was the “Impregnation-rite” (_Garbhādhāna_). “During the previous day the young married woman was made to look towards the sun, or in some way exposed to its rays.” Monier Williams, _Religious Life and Thought in India_, p. 354. Amongst the Turks of Siberia it was formerly the custom on the morning after marriage to lead the young couple out of the hut to greet the rising sun. The same custom is said to be still practised in Iran and Central Asia, the belief being that the beams of the rising sun are the surest means of impregnating the new bride. Vambery, _Das Türkenvolk_, p. 112.

640 Above, vol. i. p. 170.

_ 641 Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 186; E. J. Eyre, _Journals_, ii. 295, 304; W. Ridley, _Kamilaroi_, p. 157; _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ ii. 268, ix. 459 _sq._; Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, i. 65, 236. Cp. Sir George Grey, _Journals_, ii. 344; J. Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_, ci. _sq._

642 Bleek, _Brief Account of Bushman Folk-lore_, p. 14; cp. _ib._ p. 10.

643 Gumilla, _Histoire de l’Orénoque_, i. 249.

644 James Adair, _History of the American Indians_, p. 123 _sq._

645 S. Hearne, _Journey to the Northern Ocean_, p. 314 _sq._; Alex. Mackenzie, _Voyages through the Continent of North America_, cxxiii.; Petitot, _Monographie des Dènè-Dindjié_, p. 75 _sq._

646 C. Leemius, _De Lapponibus Finmarchiae eorumque lingua vita et religione pristina_ (Copenhagen, 1767), p. 494.

647 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ vii. § 64 _sq._, xxviii. § 77 _sqq._ Cp. _Geoponica_, xii. c. 20, 5, and c. 25, 2; Columella, xi. 3, 50.

648 A. Schleicher, _Volkstümliches aus Sonnenberg_; p. 134; B. Souché, _Croyances, Présages et Traditions diverses_, p. 11; V. Fossel, _Volksmedicin und medicinischer Aberglaube in Steiermark_ (Graz, 1886), p. 124. The Greeks and Romans thought that a field was completely protected against insects if a menstruous woman walked round it with bare feet and streaming hair. Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvii. 266, xxviii. 78; Columella, x. 358 _sq._, xi. 3, 64; Palladius, _De re rustica_, i. 35, 3; _Geoponica_, xii. 8, 5 _sq._; Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ vi. 36. A similar remedy is employed for the same purpose by North American Indians and European peasants. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, v. 70; Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und äussern Leben der Ehsten_, p. 484. Cp. Haltrich, _Zur Volkskunde der Siebenbürger Sachsen_, p. 280; Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten und Gebräuche unter den Sachsen Siebenbürgens_, p. 14; Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 iii. 468.

649 For an example of the beneficent application of the menstrual energy, see note on p. 241.

650 The rules just discussed do not hold exclusively of the persons mentioned in the text, but are applicable in certain circumstances to other tabooed persons and things. Whatever, in fact, is permeated by the mysterious virtue of taboo may need to be isolated from earth and heaven. Mourners are taboo all the world over; accordingly in mourning the Ainos wear peculiar caps in order that the sun may not shine upon their heads. Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, v. 366. During a solemn fast of three days the Indians of Costa Rica eat no salt, speak as little as possible, light no fires, and stay strictly indoors, or if they go out during the day they carefully cover themselves from the light of the sun, believing that exposure to the sun’s rays would turn them black. W. M. Gabb, _Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica_, p. 510. On Yule night it has been customary in parts of Sweden from time immemorial to go on pilgrimage, whereby people learn many secret things and know what is to happen in the coming year. As a preparation for this pilgrimage, “some secrete themselves for three days previously in a dark cellar, so as to be shut out altogether from the light of heaven. Others retire at an early hour of the preceding morning to some out-of-the way place, such as a hayloft, where they bury themselves in the hay, that they may neither hear nor see any living creature; and here they remain, in silence and fasting, until after sundown; whilst there are those who think it sufficient if they rigidly abstain from food on the day before commencing their wanderings. During this period of probation a man ought not to see fire.” L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, p. 194. During the sixteen days that a Pima Indian is undergoing purification for killing an Apache he may not see a blazing fire. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, i. 553. Again warriors on the war-path are strictly taboo; hence Indians may not sit on the bare ground the whole time they are out on a warlike expedition. J. Adair, _History of the American Indians_, p. 382; _Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner_, p. 123. The holy ark of the North American Indians is deemed “so sacred and dangerous to be touched” that no one, except the war chief and his attendant, will touch it “under the penalty of incurring great evil. Nor would the most inveterate enemy touch it in the woods for the very same reason.” In carrying it against the enemy they never place it on the ground, but rest it on stones or logs. Adair, _History of the American Indians_, p. 162 _sq._ The sacred clam shell of the Elk clan among the Omahas is kept in a sacred bag, which is never allowed to touch the ground. E. James, _Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains_, ii. 47; J. Owen Dorsey, “Omaha Sociology,” _Third Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1884), p. 226. Newly born infants are strongly taboo; accordingly in Loango they are not allowed to touch the earth. Pechuel-Loesche, “Indiscretes aus Loango,” _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, x. (1878) p. 29 _sq._ In Laos the hunting of elephants gives rise to many taboos; one of them is that the chief hunter may not touch the earth with his foot. Accordingly when he alights from his elephant, the others spread a carpet of leaves for him to step upon. E. Aymonier, _Notes sur le Laos_, p. 26. In some parts of Aberdeenshire, the last bit of standing corn (which, as we have seen, is very sacred) is not allowed to touch the ground; but as it is cut, it is placed on the lap of the “gueedman.” W. Gregor, “Quelques coutumes du Nord-Est du Comté d’Aberdeen,” _Revue des Traditions populaires_, iii. (1888) 485 B. Sacred food may not, in certain circumstances, touch the ground. F. Grabowsky, “Der Distrikt Dusson Timor in Südost-Borneo und seine Bewohner,” _Ausland_ (1884), No. 24, p. 474; Ch. F. Hall, _Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition_, edited by Prof. J. E. Nourse (Washington, 1879), p. 110; Gerard, _The Land beyond the Forest_, ii. 7. In Scotland, when water was carried from sacred wells to sick people, the water-vessel might not touch the ground. C. F. Gordon Cumming, _In the Hebrides_, p. 211. On the relation of spirits to the ground, compare Denzil Ibbetson in _Panjab Notes and Queries_, i. No. 5.

_ 651 Die Edda_, übersetzt von K. Simrock,8 pp. 286-288, cp. pp. 8, 34, 264. In English the Balder story is told at length by Prof. Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, p. 529 _sqq._

652 It is strange to find so learned and judicious a student of custom and myth as H. Usener exactly inverting their true relation to each other. After showing that the essential features of the myth of the marriage of Mars and Nerio have their counterpart in the marriage customs of peasants at the present day, he proceeds to infer that these customs are the reflection of the myth. “Italische Mythen,” _Rheinisches Museum_, N. F. xxx. 228 _sq._ Surely the myth is the reflection of the custom. Men not only fashion gods in their own likeness (as Xenophanes long ago remarked) but make them think and

## act like themselves. Heaven is a copy of earth, not earth of heaven.

653 See Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 502, 510, 516.

654 Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 518 _sq._

655 In the following survey of these fire-customs I follow chiefly W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, kap. vi. p. 497 _sqq._ Compare also Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 500 _sqq._

656 Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen_ etc. _des Eifler Volkes_, i. pp. 21-25; _B. K._ p. 501.

_ 657 B. K._ p. 501.

658 Vonbun, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, p. 20; _B. K._ p. 501.

659 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p. 380 _sqq_.; Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, ii. 59 _sq._ , 66 _sq._; _Bavaria_, ii. 2, p. 838 _sq._; Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. p. 211, No. 232, _B. K._ p. 501 _sq._

_ 660 Witzschel, Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_, p. 189; Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 207; _B. K._ p. 500 _sq._

661 Th. Vernalcken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_, p. 293 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 498. See above, vol. i. p. 267.

_ 662 Schmitz, Sitten, u. Sagen des Eifler Volkes_, i. p. 20; _B. K._ p. 499.

663 Strackerjan, _Aberglaube u. Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_, ii. 39, No. 306; _B. K._ p. 499.

_ 664 B. K._ p. 499.

_ 665 B. K._ p. 498 _sq._

_ 666 B. K._ p. 499.

667 Schneller, _Märchen u. Sagen aus Wälschtirol_, p. 234 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 499 _sq._

_ 668 B. K._ pp. 502-505; Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_,2 § 81; Zingerle, _Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_,2 p. 149, §§ 1286-1289; _Bavaria_, i. 1, p. 371.

669 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. p. 212 _sq._, ii. p. 78 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 505.

670 Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_, ii. p. 43 _sq._, No. 313; _B. K._ p. 505 _sq._

671 Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. 75 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 506.

672 Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 512; _B. K._ p. 506 _sq._

673 H. Pröhle, _Harzbilder_, p. 63; Kuhn und Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_, p. 373; _B. K._ p. 507.

674 Kuhn, _Markische Sagen und Märchen_, p. 312 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 507.

675 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. p. 211 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 507 _sq._

676 Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, ii. p. 82, No. 106; _B. K._ p. 508.

_ 677 B. K._ p. 508; cp. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutsch. Myth._ i. 74; Grimm, _Deutsche Myth._4 i. 512. The two latter writers only state that before the fires were kindled it was customary to hunt squirrels in the woods.

678 Kuhn, _l.c._; _B. K._ p. 508.

679 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 224 _sq._, Bohn’s ed., quoting Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_, 1794, xi. 620; _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, from the MSS. of John Ramsay of Ochtertyre, edited by Alex. Allardyce, ii. 439-445; _B. K._ p. 508.

680 Pennant, “Tour in Scotland,” Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, iii. 49; Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 226.

681 L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, p. 233 _sq._

_ 682 B. K._ p. 509; Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ i. 298 _sq._; Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 516.

683 Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, ii. p. 96 _sqq._ No. 128, p. 103 _sq._ No. 129; E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p. 423 _sqq._; _B. K._ p. 510.

684 Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_, p. 182 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 510. Cp. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. 210; _Bavaria_, iii. 956.

685 Panzer, _op. cit._ ii. 549.

686 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, pp. 306-311; _B. K._ p. 510. For the custom of burning a tree in the midsummer bonfires, see vol. i. p. 79.

687 Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_, ii. 144 _sqq._

688 Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 515 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 510 _sq._

689 Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 393; Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 517; _B. K._ p. 511.

690 Sébillot, Coutumes populaires de la Haute Bretagne, p. 193 _sq._ Wolf, _op. cit._ ii. 392 _sq._

691 Zingerle, _Sitten, etc. des Tiroler Volkes_,2 p. 159, No. 1354; Panzer, _Beitrag_, i. 210; _B. K._ p. 511.

692 Kuhn u. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_, p. 390; _B. K._ 511.

693 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 300 _sq._, 318, cp. pp. 305, 306, 308 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 512.

694 Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_, p. 96, cp. _id._ p. 26.

695 Brand, _op. cit._ i. 311.

_ 696 Id._ i. 303, 318, 319; Dyer, _British Popular Customs_, p. 315.

697 Brand, _op. cit._ i. 318.

698 J. Train, _Account of the Isle of Man_, ii. 120.

699 Brand, i. 303, quoting Sir Henry Piers’s _Description of Westmeath_.

700 Brand, _l.c._, quoting the author of the _Survey of the South of Ireland_.

701 Brand, i. 305, quoting the author of the _Comical Pilgrim’s Pilgrimage into Ireland_.

702 Brand, i. 304, quoting _The Gentleman’s Magazine_, February 1795, p. 124.

703 Quoted by Dyer, _British Popular Customs_, p. 321 _sq._

704 Brand, i. 311, quoting _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xxi. 145.

_ 705 B. K._ p. 512.

706 Brand, i. 337.

707 J. Ramsay and A. Allardyce, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, ii. 436.

708 Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 240; Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 519.

709 Ralston. _l.c._

710 Tettau und Temme, _Die Volkssagen Ostpreussens, Litthauens und Westpreussens_, p. 277; Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 519.

711 Töppen, _Aberglauben aus Masuren_,2 p. 71.

712 Grimm, _l.c._; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, p. 307 _note_.

713 Grimm, _l.c._

714 Grimm, _l.c._

715 Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 518.

716 Above, vol. i. p. 291.

717 Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_, i. 185.

718 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 317; Grimm, _l.c._

719 G. Ferraro, _Superstizioni, usi e proverbi Monferrini_, p. 34 _sq._, referring to Alvise da Cadamosto, _Relazion dei viaggi d’Africa_, in Ramusio.

720 Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, ii. 100 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 513 _sq._

721 Zingerle, _Sitten_, etc., _des Tiroler Volkes_,2 p. 159, No. 1353, cp. No. 1355; _B. K._ p. 513.

722 Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 392; _B. K._ p. 513.

_ 723 B. K._ p. 513.

724 Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 240.

725 Above, vol. i. p. 272 _sq._

726 Above, vol. i. p. 22 _sqq._

727 Above, p. 262.

728 Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, ii. 57, 97; _B. K._ p. 510; cp. Panzer, _Beitrag_, ii. 240.

729 Cp. Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 521; Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 389; Ad. Kuhn, _Herabkunft des Feuers_,2 pp. 41 _sq._, 47; W. Mannhardt, _B. K._ p. 521.

730 See above, pp. 254, 255, 260, 265.

731 On the need-fires, see Grimm, _D. M._ i. 501 _sqq._; Wolf, _op. cit._ i. 116 _sq._, ii. 378 _sqq._; Kuhn, _op. cit._ p. 41 _sqq._; _B. K._ p. 518 _sqq._; Elton, _Origins of English History_, p. 293 _sq._; Jahn, _Die deutschen Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau und Viehzucht_, p. 26 _sqq._

732 This is the view of Grimm, Wolf, Kuhn, and Mannhardt.

_ 733 Herabkunft des Feuers_,2 p. 47.

734 Panzer, _Beitrag_, ii. 240.

735 Ch. E. Gover, “The Pongol festival in Southern India,” _Journ. Royal Asiatic Society_, N.S. v. (1870) p. 96 _sq._

736 Diego de Landa, _Relation des choses de Yucatan_ (Paris, 1864), p. 233.

737 Kolben, _Present State of the Cape of Good Hope_, i. 129 _sqq._

738 P. 253. The torches of Demeter, which figure so largely in her myth and on the monuments, are perhaps to be explained by this custom. To regard, with Mannhardt (_B. K._ p. 536), the torches in the modern European customs as imitations of lightning seems unnecessary.

739 Above, vol. i. p. 70 _sqq._

740 Pp. 250, 267.

741 Pp. 247, 248, 253, 259, 266.

742 P. 250 _sq._

743 Pp. 247, 248.

744 Vol. i. p. 272.

_ 745 B. K._ p. 524.

_ 746 Bavaria_, iii. 956; _B. K._ p. 524.

747 Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, ii. 121 _sq._, No. 146; _B. K._ p. 524 _sq._

748 Caesar, _Bell. Gall._ vi. 15; Strabo, iv. 4, 5, p. 198; Casaubon; Diodorus, v. 32. See Mannhardt, _B. K._ p. 525 _sqq._

749 Strabo, iv. 4, 4, p. 197, τὰς δὲ φονικὰς δίκας μάλιστα τούτοις [i.e. the Druids] ἐπετέτραπτο δικάζειν, ὅταν τε φορὰ τούτων ἧ, φορὰν καὶ τῆς χώρας νομίζουσιν ὐπάρχειν. On this passage see Mannhardt, _B. K._ p. 529 _sqq._

750 See vol. i. p. 88 _sqq._

_ 751 B. K._ p. 523, _note_.

_ 752 B. K._ p. 523, _note_; John Milner, _The History, Civil and Ecclesiastical, and Survey of the Antiquities of Winchester_, i. 8 _sq._; Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 325 _sq._; James Logan, _The Scottish Gael_, ii. 358 (new ed.); Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_, p. 123 _sqq._

753 Puttenham, _Arte of English Poesie_, 1589, p. 128, quoted by Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 323.

754 King’s _Vale Royal of England_, p. 208, quoted by Brand, _l.c._

755 Liebrecht, _Gervasius von Tilbury_, p. 212 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 514.

_ 756 B. K._ pp. 514, 523.

_ 757 Athenaeum_, 24th July 1869, p. 115; _B. K._ p. 515 _sq._

758 Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 388; _B. K._ p. 515.

_ 759 B. K._ p. 515.

760 Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 519; _B. K._ p. 515.

_ 761 B. K._ p. 515.

_ 762 Ib._

763 Above, vol. i. p. 408, vol. ii. p. 1 _sqq._

764 Some of the serpents worshipped by the old Prussians lived in hollow oaks, and as oaks were sacred among the Prussians, the serpents may have been regarded as genii of the trees. Simon Grunau, _Preussische Chronik_, ed. Perlbach, i. p. 89; Hartknoch, _Altund Neues Preussen_, pp. 143, 163. Serpents, again, played an important part in the worship of Demeter, as we have seen. But that they were regarded as embodiments of her can hardly be assumed. In Siam the spirit of the _takhien_ tree is believed to appear, sometimes in the form of a woman, sometimes in the form of a serpent. Bastian, _Die Volker des östlichen Asien_, iii. 251.

765 Pliny derives the name Druid the Greek _drūs_, “oak.” He did not know that the Celtic word for oak was the same (_daur_), and that therefore Druid, in the sense of priest of the oak, was genuine Celtic, not borrowed from the Greek. See Curtius, _Griech. Etymologie_,5 p. 238 _sq._; Vaniček, _Griechisch-lateinisches etymolog. Wörterbuch_, p. 368 _sqq._; Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, p. 221 _sqq._ In the Highlands of Scotland the word is found in place-names like Bendarroch (the mountain of the oak), Craigandarroch, etc.

766 It is still a folk-lore rule not to cut the mistletoe with iron; some say it should be cut with gold. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_4 ii. 1001. On the objection to the use of iron in such cases, see Liebrecht, _Gervasius von Tilbury_, p. 103; and above, vol. i. p. 177 _sqq._

767 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvi. § 249 _sqq._ On the Celtic worship of the oak, see also Maximus Tyrius, _Dissert._ viii. 8, Κελτοὶ σέβουσι μὲν Δία ἄγαλμα δὲ Διὸς Κελτικὸν ὐψηλὴ δρῦς. With this mode of gathering the mistletoe compare the following. In Cambodia when a man perceives a certain parasitic plant growing on a tamarind-tree, he dresses in white and taking a new earthen pot climbs the tree at mid-day. He puts the plant in the pot and lets the whole fall to the ground. Then in the pot he makes a decoction which renders invulnerable. Aymonier, “Notes sur les coutumes et croyances superstitieuses des Cambodgiens,” in _Cochinchine Française, Excursions et Reconnaissances_, No. 16, p. 136.

768 Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_,2 § 123; Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren_, §§ 673-677; Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_, ii. 144 _sqq._; Friend, _Flowers and Flower Lore_, p. 362; Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 314 _sqq._; Vonbun, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, p. 133 _sqq._; Burne and Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 242. Cp. _Archaeological Review_, i. 164 _sqq._

769 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 307, 312; Dyer, _Folk-lore of Plants_, pp. 62, 286; Friend, _Flowers and Flower Lore_, pp. 147, 149, 150, 540; Wuttke, § 134.

770 Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 514 _sq._, ii. 1013 _sq._, iii. 356; Grohmann, _op. cit._ § 635-637; Friend, _op. cit._ p. 75; Gubernatis, _Myth. des Plantes_, i. 189 _sq._, ii. 16 _sqq._

771 Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_, p. 25 _sq._; Brand, _Pop. Ant._ i. 329 _sqq._; Friend, p. 136.

772 Brand, i. 333.

773 Grohmann, § 1426.

774 Grohmann, § 648.

775 Grohmann, § 681; Wuttke, § 134; Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_, i. 9; Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_, i. 190.

776 Grimm, _D. M._4 iii. 78, 353.

777 Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_, ii. 73.

778 Friend, _Flowers and Flower Lore_, p. 378. Hunters believe that the mistletoe heals all wounds and brings luck in hunting. Kuhn, _Herabkunjt des Feuers_,2 p. 206.

779 Grimm, _D. M._4 ii. 1009.

780 L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, p. 269.

781 Lloyd, _op. cit._ p. 259; Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 517 _sq._

782 Lloyd, _l.c._

783 Grimm, _D. M._4 iii. 78, who adds, “_Mahnen die Johannisfeuer an Baldrs Leichenbrand?_” This pregnant hint, which contains in germ the solution of the whole myth, has been quite lost on the mythologists who since Grimm’s day have enveloped the subject in a cloud of learned dust.

784 Above, p. 285, and vol. i. pp. 58, 64.

785 Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 55 _sq._, 58 _sq._, ii. 542, iii. 187 _sq._

786 Preller, _Röm. Mythol._3 i. 108.

787 Livy, i. 10. Cp. C. Bötticher, _Der Baumkultus der Hellenen_, p. 133 _sq._

788 Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 111 _sqq._; Preller, _Griech. Mythol._4 ed. C. Robert, i. 122 _sqq._

789 Without hazarding an opinion on the vexed question of the primitive home of the Aryans, I may observe that in various parts of Europe the oak seems to have been formerly more common than it is now. In Denmark the present beech woods were preceded by oak woods and these by the Scotch fir. Lyell, _Antiquity of Man_, p. 9; J. Geikie, _Prehistoric Europe_, p. 486 _sq._ In parts of North Germany it appears from the evidence of archives that the fir has ousted the oak. O. Schrader, _Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte_,2 (Jena, 1890), p. 394. In prehistoric times the oak appears to have been the chief tree in the forests which clothed the valley of the Po; the piles on which the pile villages rested were of oak. W. Helbig, _Die Italiker in der Poebene_, p. 25 _sq._ The classical tradition that in the olden time men subsisted largely on acorns is borne out by the evidence of the pile villages in Northern Italy, in which great quantities of acorns have been discovered. See Helbig, _op. cit._ pp. 16 _sq._, 26, 72 _sq._

790 Above, p. 265 _sq._

791 Praetorius, _Deliciae Prussicae_, p. 19 _sq._ Mr. Ralston states (on what authority I do not know) that if the fire maintained in honour of the Lithuanian god Perkunas went out, it was rekindled by sparks struck from a stone which the image of the god held in his hand. _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 88.

792 Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 502, 503; Kuhn, _Herabkunft des Feuers_,2 p. 43; Pröhle, _Harzbilder_, p. 75; Bartsch, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg_, ii. 150; Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_, ii. 148. The writer who styles himself Montanus says (_Die deutschen Volksfeste_, etc., p. 127) that the need-fire was made by the friction of oak and fir. Sometimes it is said that the need-fire should be made with nine different kinds of wood (Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 503, 505; Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 380; Jahn, _Die deutschen Opfergebräuche_, p. 27); but the kinds of wood are not specified.

793 John Ramsay, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, ii. 442; Grimm, _D. M._4 i. 506. See above, p. 255.

794 Above, vol. i. p. 58.

795 Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste_, etc., p. 127.

796 Above, vol. i. p. 100.

797 Mary Frere, _Old Deccan Days_, p. 12 _sqq._

798 Maive Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, p. 58 _sqq._ For similar stories, see _id_. p. 187 _sq._; Lal Behari Day, _Folk-tales of Bengal_, p. 121 _sq._; F. A. Steel and R. C. Temple, _Wide-awake Stories_, p. 58 _sqq._

_ 799 Old Deccan Days_, p. 239 _sqq._

800 Lal Behari Day, _op. cit._ p. 1 _sqq._ For similar stories of necklaces, see _Old Deccan Days_, p. 233 _sq._; _Wide-awake Stories_, p. 83 _sqq._

801 J. H. Knowles, _Folk-tales of Kashmir_ (London, 1888), p. 49 _sq._

802 J. H. Knowles, _Folk-tales of Kashmir_ (London, 1888), p. 134.

_ 803 Id._ p. 382 _sqq._

804 Lal Behari Day, _op. cit._ p. 85 _sq._, cp. _id._ p. 253 _sqq._; _Indian Antiquary_, i. (1872) 117. For an Indian story in which a giant’s life is in five black bees, see Clouston, _Popular Tales and Fictions_, i. 350.

_ 805 Indian Antiquary_, i. 171.

806 A. Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, iv. 340 _sq._

807 Lal Behari Day, _op. cit._ p. 189.

_ 808 Wide-awake Stories_, pp. 52, 64.

809 G. W. Leitner, _The Languages and Races of Dardistan_, p. 9.

810 Apollodorus, i. 8; Diodorus, iv. 34; Pausanias, x. 31, 4; Aeschylus, _Choeph._ 604 _sqq._

811 Apollodorus, iii. 15, 8; Aeschylus, _Choeph._ 612 _sqq._; Pausanias, i. 19, 4. According to Tzetzes (_Schol. on Lycophron_, 650) not the life but the strength of Nisus was in his golden hair; when it was pulled out, he became weak and was slain by Minos. According to Hyginus (_Fab._ 198) Nisus was destined to reign only so long as he kept the purple lock on his head.

812 Apollodorus, ii. 4, §§ 5, 7.

813 Hahn, _Griechische und Albanesische Märchen_, i. p. 217; a similar story, _id._ ii. p. 282.

814 Hahn, _op. cit._ ii. p. 215 _sq._

_ 815 Id._ ii. p. 275 _sq._ Similar stories, _id._ ii. pp. 204, 294 _sq._ In an Albanian story a monster’s strength is in three pigeons, which are in a hare, which is in the silver tusk of a wild boar. When the boar is killed, the monster feels ill; when the hare is cut open, he can hardly stand on his feet; when the three pigeons are killed, he expires. Dozon, _Contes albanais_, p. 132 _sq._

816 Hahn, _op. cit._ ii. p. 260 _sqq._

_ 817 Id._ i. p. 187.

_ 818 Id._ ii. p. 23 _sq._

819 Legrand, _Contes populaires grecs_, p. 191 _sqq._

820 Plutarch, _Parallela_, 26. In both the Greek and Italian stories the subject of quarrel between nephew and uncles is the skin of a boar, which the nephew presented to his lady-love and which his uncles took from her.

821 Basile, _Pentamerone_, ii. p. 60 _sq._ (Liebrecht’s German trans.)

822 R. H. Busk, _Folk-lore of Rome_, p. 164 _sqq._

823 Ralston, _Russian Folk-tales_, p. 103 _sq._; so Dietrich, _Russian Popular Tales_, p. 23 _sq._

824 Ralston, _op. cit._ p. 109.

_ 825 Ib._

826 Ralston, _Russian Folk-tales_, p. 113 _sq._

_ 827 Id._, p. 114.

_ 828 Id._, p. 110.

829 Mijatovics, _Serbian Folk-lore_, edited by the Rev. W. Denton, p. 172; F. S. Krauss, _Sagen und Märchen der Südslaven_, i. (No. 34) p. 168 _sq._

830 A. H. Wraitslaw, _Sixty Folk-Tales from exclusively Slavonic sources_ (London, 1889), p. 225.

831 Haltrich, _Deutsche Volksmärchen aus dem Sachsenlande in Siebenbürgen_,4 No. 34 (No. 33 of the first ed.), p. 149 _sq._

832 J. W. Wolf, _Deutsche Marchen und Sagen_, No. 20, p. 87 _sqq._

833 Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_, ii. p. 306 _sq._

834 K. Müllenhoff, _Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der Herzogthümer Schleswig-Holstein und Lauenburg_, p. 404 _sqq._

835 Asbjörnsen og Moe, _Norske Folke-Eventyr_, No. 36; Dasent, _Popular Tales from the Norse_, p. 55 _sqq._

836 Asbjörnsen og Moe, _Norske Folke-Eventyr_, Ny Samling, No. 70; Dasent, _Tales from the Fjeld_, p. 229 (“Boots and the Beasts.”)

837 Mannhardt, _Germanische Mythen_, p. 592; Jamieson, _Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, _s.v._ “Yule.”

838 J. F. Campbell, _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, i. p. 10 _sq._

839 J. F. Campbell, _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, i. p. 80 _sqq._

840 Sébillot, _Contes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1885), p. 63 _sqq._

841 F. M. Luzel, _Contes populaires de Basse-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1887), i. 445-449.

842 Maspero, _Contes populaires de l’Égypte ancienne_ (Paris, 1882), p. 5 _sqq._

843 Lane’s _Arabian Nights_, iii. 316 _sq._

844 G. Spitta-Bey, _Contes arabes modernes_ (Leyden and Paris, 1883), No. 2, p. 12 _sqq._ The story in its main outlines is identical with the Cashmeer story of “The Ogress Queen” (J. H. Knowles, _Folk-tales of Kashmir_, p. 42 _sqq._) and the Bengalee story of “The Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled” (Lal Behari Day, _Folk-tales of Bengal_, p. 117 _sqq._; _Indian Antiquary_, i. 170 _sqq._) In another Arabian story the life of a witch is bound up with a phial: when it is broken, she dies. W. A. Clouston, _A Group of Eastern Romances and Stories_, p. 30. A similar incident occurs in a Cashmeer story. Knowles, _op. cit._ p. 73. In the Arabian story mentioned in the text, the hero, by a genuine touch of local colour, is made to drink the milk of an ogress’s breasts and hence is regarded by her as her son. Cp. W. Robertson Smith, _Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia_, p. 149; and for the same mode of creating kinship among other races, see D’Abbadie, _Douze ans dans la Haute Ethiopie_, p. 272 _sq._; Tausch, “Notices of the Circassians,” _Journ. Royal Asiatic Soc._ i. (1834) p. 104; Biddulph, _Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh_, pp. 77, 83 (cp. Leitner, _Languages and Races of Dardistan_, p. 34); Denzil Ibbetson, _Settlement Report of the Panipat, Tahsil, and Karnal Parganah of the Karnal District_, p. 101; Moura, _Royaume du Cambodge_, i. 427; F. S. Krauss, _Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven_, p. 14.

845 Rivière, _Contes populaires de la Kabylie du Djurdjura_, p. 191.

846 W. H. Jones and L. L. Kropf, _The Folk-tales of the Magyar_ (London, 1889), p. 205 _sq._

847 R. H. Busk, _The Folk-lore of Rome_, p. 168.

848 Castren, _Ethnologische Vorlesungen über die Altaischen Völker_, p. 173 _sqq._

849 Schiefner, _Heldensagen der Minussinschen Tataren_, pp. 172-176.

850 Schiefner, _op. cit._ pp. 108-112.

851 Schiefner, _op. cit._ pp. 360-364; Castren, _Vorlesungen über die finnische Mythologie_, p. 186 _sq._

852 Schiefner, _op. cit._ pp. 189-193. In another Tartar poem (Schiefner, _op. cit._ p. 390 _sq._) a boy’s soul is shut up by his enemies in a box. While the soul is in the box, the boy is dead; when it is taken out, he is restored to life. In the same poem (p. 384) the soul of a horse is kept shut up in a box, because it is feared the owner of the horse will become the greatest hero on earth. But these cases are, to some extent, the converse of those in the text.

853 Schott, “Ueber die Sage von Geser Chan,” _Abhandlungen d. Königl. Akad. d. Wissensch. zu Berlin_, 1851, p. 269.

854 W. Radloff, _Proben der Volkslitteratur der türkischen Stämme Süd-Siberiens_, ii. 237 _sq._

855 W. Radloff, _op. cit._ ii. 531 _sqq._

_ 856 Id._, iv. 88 _sq._

857 W. Radloff, _op. cit._ i. 345 _sq._

858 G. A. Wilken, “De Simsonsage,” _De Gids_, 1888, No. 5, p. 6 _sqq._ (of the separate reprint). Cp. Backer, _L’Archipel Indien_, pp. 144-149.

859 Nieuwenhuisen en Rosenberg, “Verslag omtrent het eiland Nias,” _Verhandel. van het Batav. Genootsch. v. Kunsten en Wetenschappen_, xxx. p. 111; Sundermann, “Die Insel Nias,” _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_, xi. (1884) p. 453.

860 Above, vol. i. p. 134.

861 B. F. Matthes, _Bijdragen tot de Ethnologie van Zuid-Celebes_, p. 54.

862 F. Valentyn, _Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën_, ii. 143 _sq._; G. A. Wilken, _De Simsonsage_, p. 15 _sq._

863 Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, p. 137.

864 B. Schmidt, _Das Volksleben der Neugriechen_, p. 206.

865 Above, pp. 305, 307, 309, 311.

_ 866 Revue d’Ethnographie_, ii. 223.

867 Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_, i. 165.

868 Bastian, _Ein Besuch in San Salvador_, p. 103 _sq._; _id._, _Der Mensch in der Geschichte_, iii. 193.

869 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui; or, New Zealand and its Inhabitants_,2 p. 184; Dumont D’Urville, _Voyage autour du monde et à la recherche de La Pérouse sur la corvette Astrolabe_, ii. 444.

870 Matthes, _Bijdragen tot de Ethnologie van Zuid-Celebes_, p. 59.

871 Van Eck, “Schetsen van het eiland Bali,” _Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië_, N. S. ix. (1880) p. 417 _sq._

872 G. A. Wilken, _De Simsonsage_, p. 26.

873 Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_, i. xxviii. _sq._

874 W. Mannhardt, _B. K._ p. 50; Ploss, _Das Kind_,2 i. 79.

875 K. Bartsch, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg_, ii. 43, No. 63.

_ 876 Gentleman’s Magazine_, October 1804, p. 909, quoted by Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 289; W. G. Black, _Folk-medicine_, pp. 31 _sq._, 67.

877 Moore’s _Life of Lord Byron_, i. 101.

878 Cedrenus, _Compend. Histor._ p. 625 B, vol. ii. p. 308, ed. Bekker.

879 F. Mason, “Physical Character of the Karens,” _Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, 1866, pt. ii. p. 9.

880 Matthes, _Makassarsch-Hollandsch Woordenboek_, _s.v._ _soemâñgá_, p. 569; G. A. Wilken, “Het animísme bij de volken van den Indischen Archipel,” _De Indische Gids_, June 1884, p. 933.

881 R. H. Codrington, “Notes on the Customs of Mota, Banks Islands” (communicated by the Rev. Lorimer Fison), _Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria_, xvi. 136.

882 F. Speckmann, _Die Hermannsburger Mission in Afrika_ (Hermannsburg, 1876), p. 167.

883 Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific Coast_, i. 661. The words quoted by Bancroft (p. 662, _note_) “_Consérvase entre ellos la creencia de que su vida está unida à la de un animal, y que es forzoso que mueran ellos cuando éste muere_,” are not quite accurately represented by the statement of Bancroft in the text.

884 Otto Stoll, _Die Ethnologie der Indianerstämme von Guatemala_ (Leyden, 1889), p. 57 _sq._; Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, i. 740 _sq._; Bastian, _Die Culturländer des alten Amerika_, ii. 282.

885 A. W. Howitt, “Further Notes on the Australian Class Systems,” _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xviii. 58.

886 Gerard Krefft, “Manners and Customs of the Aborigines of the Lower Murray and Darling,” _Transact. Philos. Soc. New South Wales_, 1862-65, p. 359 _sq._

887 A. W. Howitt, _l.c._

888 Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_, p. 52.

_ 889 Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xiv. 350, xv. 416, xviii. 57 (the “nightjar” is apparently an owl).

890 Fison and Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, pp. 194, 201 _sq._, 215; _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xv. 416, xviii. 56 _sq._

891 The chief facts of totemism have been collected by the present writer in a little work, _Totemism_ (Edinburgh, A. and C. Black, 1887).

892 (Sir) George Grey, _Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia_, ii. 228 _sq._

893 Fison and Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, p. 169.

894 De la Borde, “Relation de l’Origine, etc. des Caraibes,” p. 15, in _Recueil de divers Voyages faits en Afrique et en l’Amérique_ (Paris, 1684).

895 Washington Matthews, _The Hidatsa Indians_, p. 50.

896 Bastian, _Die Volker des ostlichen Asien_, iii. 248.

897 I. B. Neumann, “Het Pane-en Bila-stroomgebied op het eiland Sumatra,” _Tijdschrift van het Nederlandsch Aardrijks, Genootsch._, Tweede Serie, dl. iii. Afdeeling: meer uitgebreide artikelen, No. 2, p. 311 _sq._; _id._, dl. iv. No. 1, p. 8 sq.; Van Hoëvell, “Iets over ’t oorlogvoeren der Batta’s,” _Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indie_, N. S. vii. (1878) p. 434; G. A. Wilken, _Over de verwantschap en het huwelijks-en erfrecht bij de volken van het maleische ras_, pp. 20 _sq._, 36; _id._, _Iets over de Papoewas van de Geelvunksbaai_, p. 27 _sq._ (reprint from _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van Ned.-Indië_, 5e Volgreeks ii.); _Journal Anthrop. Inst._ ix. 295; Backer, _L’Archipel Indien_, p. 470.

898 B. Hagen, “Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Battareligion,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_ xxviii. 514. J. B. Neumann (_op. cit._ dl. iii. No. 2, p. 299) is the authority for the seven souls.

899 Th. Benfey, _Pantschatantra_, i. 128 _sq._

900 A. L. P. Cameron, “Notes on some Tribes of New South Wales,” _Journ. Anthrop. Instit._ xiv. 358.

901 A. W. Howitt, “On Australian Medicine Men,” _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xvi. 47 _sq._ On the Bullroarer (a piece of wood fastened to a cord or thong and swung round so as to produce a booming sound), see A. Lang, _Custom and Myth_, p. 29 _sqq._ The religious use of the Bullroarer is best known in Australia, but in the essay just referred to Mr. Andrew Lang has shown that the instrument has been similarly employed not only in South Africa and by the Zunis of New Mexico, but also by the ancient Greeks in their religious mysteries. As a sacred instrument it also occurs in Western Africa (R. F. Burton, _Abeokuta and the Cameroons Mountains_, i. 197 _sq._; Bouche, _La Côte des Esclaves_, p. 124), and in New Guinea (J. Chalmers, _Pioneering in New Guinea_, p. 85).

902 A. W. Howitt, “On some Australian ceremonies of initiation,” _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xiii. 453 _sq._ The “class-name” is the name of the totemic division to which the man belongs.

903 L. Fison, “The Nanga, or sacred stone enclosure of Wainimala, Fiji,” _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xiv. 22.

904 W. H. Bentley, _Life on the Congo_ (London, 1887), p. 78 _sq._

905 A. Bastian, _Ein Besuch in San Salvador_, pp. 82 _sq._ 86.

906 Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_, ii. 183; cp. _id._, pp. 15-18, 30 _sq._ On these initiatory rites in the Congo region see also H. H. Johnston in _Proceed. Royal Geogr. Soc._ N. S. v. (1883) p. 572 _sq._, and in _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xiii. 472; E. Delmar Morgan, in _Proceed. Royal Geogr. Soc._ N. S. vi. 193.

907 Dapper, _Description de l’Afrique_, p. 268 _sq._ Dapper’s account has been abbreviated in the text.

908 (Beverley’s) _History of Virginia_ (London, 1722), p. 177 _sq._

909 J. Carver, _Travels through the Interior Parts of North America_, pp. 271-275.

910 Carver, _op. cit._ p. 277 sq.; Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, iii. 287, v. 430 sqq.; Kohl, _Kitschi-Gami_, i. 64-70.

_ 911 Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt_ (Middletown, 1820), p. 119.

_ 912 Id._, p. 44. For the age of the prince, see _id._, p. 35.

913 Holmberg, “Ueber die Völker des russischen Amerika,” _Acta Soc. Scient. Fennicae_, iv. (Helsingfors, 1856) pp. 292 _sqq._, 328; Petroff, _Report on the Population, etc. of Alaska_, p. 165 _sq._; A. Krause, Die _Tlinkit-Indianer_, p. 112; R. C. Mayne, _Four years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island_, p. 257 _sq._, 268.

914 Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, v. 683. In a letter dated 16th Dec. 1887, Mr. A. S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, writes to me: “Among the Toukawe whom in 1884 I found at Fort Griffin [?], Texas, I noticed that they never kill the big or gray wolf, _hatchukunän_, which has a mythological signification, ‘holding the earth’ (_hatch_). He forms one of their totem clans, and they have had a dance in his honor, danced by the males only, who carried sticks.”

915 Reina, “Ueber die Bewohner der Insel Rook,” _Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde_, N. F. iv. (1858) p. 356 _sq._

916 R. Parkinson, _Im Bismarck Archipel_, pp. 129-134; Rev. G. Brown, “Notes on the Duke of York Group, New Britain, and New Ireland,” _Journ. Royal Geogr. Soc._ xlvii. (1878) p. 148 _sq._; H. H. Romilly, “The Islands of the New Britain Group,” _Proceed. Royal Geogr. Soc._ N. S. ix. (1887) p. 11 _sq._; Rev. G. Brown, _ib._ p. 17; W. Powell, _Wanderings in a Wild Country_, pp. 60-66; C. Hager, _Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land und der Bismarck Archipel_, pp. 115-128. The inhabitants of these islands are divided into two exogamous classes, which in the Duke of York Island have two insects for their totems. One of the insects is the _mantis religiosus_; the other is an insect that mimicks the leaf of the horse-chestnut tree very closely. Rev. B. Danks, “Marriage customs of the New Britain Group,” _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xviii. 281 _sq._

917 J. G. F. Riedel, “Galela und Tobeloresen,” _Zeitschrift f. Ethnologie_, xvii. (1885) p. 81 _sq._

918 The Kakian association and its initiatory ceremonies have often been described. See Valentyn, _Oud en nieuw Oost-Indiën_, iii. 3 _sq._; Von Schmid, “Het Kakihansch Verbond op het eiland Ceram,” _Tijdschrift v. Neêrlands Indië_, v. dl. ii. (1843) 25-38; Van Ekris, “HetCeramsche Kakianverbond,” _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederland. Zendelinggenootschap_, (1865) ix. 205-226 (repeated with slight changes in _Tijdschrift v. Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xvi. 1866, pp. 290-315); F. Fournier, “De Zuidkust van Ceram,” _Tijdschrift v. Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xvi. 154 _sqq._; Van Rees, _Die Pionniers der Beschaving in Neêrlands Indië_, pp. 92-106; Van Hoëvell, _Ambon en meer bepaaldelijk de Oeliasers_, p. 153 _sqq._; Schulze, “Ueber Ceram und seine Bewohner,” _Verhandl. d. Berliner Gesell. f. Anthropologie_, etc. (1877) p. 117; W. Joest, “Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Eingebornen der Insel Formosa und Ceram,” _id._ (1882), p. 64; Rosenberg, _Der Malayische Archipel_, p. 318; Bastian, _Indonesien_, i. 145-148; Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, pp. 107-111. The best accounts are those of Valentyn, Von Schmid, Van Ekris, Van Rees, and Riedel, which are accordingly followed in the text.

_ 919 Laws of Manu_, ii. 169, trans. by Bühler; Dubois, _Moeurs, Institutions et Cérémonies des Peuples de l’Inde_, i. 125; Monier Williams, _Religious Life and Thought in India_, pp. 360 _sq._ 366 _sq._

920 Lampridius, _Commodus_, 9; C. W. King, _The Gnostics and their Remains_,2 pp. 127, 129.

921 Above, p. 309.

922 Above, p. 312 _sq._

923 Above, p. 308 _sq._

924 Above, p. 324 _sq._ In the myth the throwing of the weapons and of the mistletoe at Balder and the blindness of Hödur who slew him remind us of the custom of the Irish reapers who kill the corn-spirit in the last sheaf by throwing their sickles blindfold at it. (See above, vol. i. p. 339). In Mecklenburg a cock is sometimes buried in the ground and a man who is blindfolded strikes at it with a flail. If he misses it, another tries, and so on till the cock is killed. Bartsch, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg_, ii. 280. In England on Shrove Tuesday a hen used to be tied upon a man’s back, and other men blindfolded struck at it with branches till they killed it. Dyer, _British Popular Customs_, p. 68. Mannhardt (_Die Korndämonen_, p. 16 _sq._) has made it probable that such sports are directly derived from the custom of killing a cock upon the harvest-field as a representative of the corn-spirit (see above, p. 9). These customs, therefore, combined with the blindness of Hödur in the myth suggest that the man who killed the human representative of the oak-spirit was blindfolded, and threw his weapon or the mistletoe from a little distance. After the Lapps had killed a bear—which was the occasion of many superstitious ceremonies—the bear’s skin was hung on a post, and the women, blindfolded, shot arrows at it. Scheffer, _Lapponia_, p. 240.

925 Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 1001, 1010.

_ 926 Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 61.

927 Col. E. T. Dalton, “The Kols of Chota-Nagpore,” _Trans. Ethnol. Soc._ vi. 36.

928 Jens Kamp, _Danske Folkeminder_ (Odense, 1877), pp. 172, 65 _sq._ referred to in Feilberg’s _Bidrag til en Ordbog over Jyske Almuesmål_, Fjerde hefte (Copenhagen, 1888), p. 320. For a sight of Feilberg’s work I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. Walter Gregor, M.A., Pitsligo, who pointed out the passage to me.

929 E. T. Kristensen, _Iydske Folkeminder_, vi. 380, referred to by Feilberg, _l.c._

930 Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_,2 § 128; L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, p. 269.

931 Extract from a newspaper, copied and sent to me by the Rev. Walter Gregor, M.A., Pitsligo. Mr. Gregor does not mention the name of the newspaper.

932 Martin, “Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, iii. 661

933 Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_, i. 9.

934 Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 203 _sqq._, cp. 136 _sqq._ On the mistletoe (_viscum_) see Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvi. 245 _sqq._

935 Virgil (Aen. vi. 201 _sqq._) places the Golden Bough in the neighbourhood of Lake Avernus. But this was probably a poetical liberty, adopted for the convenience of Aeneas’s descent to the infernal world. Italian tradition, as we learn from Servius, placed the Golden Bough in the grove at Nemi.

936 See above, vol. i. p. 4 _sq._

937 A custom of annually burning a human representative of the corn-spirit has been noted among the Egyptians, Pawnees, and Khonds. See above, vol. i. pp. 382, 387, 401 _sq._ In Semitic lands there are traces of a practice of annually burning a human god. For the image of Hercules (that is, of Baal) which was periodically burned on a pyre at Tarsus, must have been a substitute for a human representative of the god. See Dio Chrysostom, _Orat._ 33, vol. ii. p. 16, ed. Dindorf; W. R. Smith, _The Religion of the Semites_, i. 353 _sq._ The Druids seem to have eaten portions of the human victim. Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxx. § 13. Perhaps portions of the flesh of the King of the Wood were eaten by his worshippers as a sacrament. We have seen traces of the use of sacramental bread at Nemi. See above, p. 82 _sq._

938 Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, ii. 1009, _pren puraur_.

939 Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 137 _sq._

940 Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren_, § 673.

941 Grohmann, _op. cit._ § 676; Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_, § 123.

_ 942 Zingerle, Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_,2 § 882.

943 Zingerle, _op. cit._ § 1573.

944 Grohmann, _op. cit._ § 675; Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 98.

945 L. Bechstein, _Deutsches Sagenbuch_ No. 500; _id._, _Thüringer Sagenbuch_ (Leipzig, 1885), ii. No. 161.

946 For gathering it at midsummer, see above, p. 289. The custom of gathering it at Christmas still survives among ourselves. At York “on the eve of Christmas Day they carry mistletoe to the high altar of the cathedral, and proclaim a public and universal liberty, pardon, and freedom to all sorts of inferior and even wicked people at the gates of the city, towards the four quarters of heaven.” Stukeley, _Medallic History of Carausius_, quoted by Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 525. This last custom is of course now obsolete.

947 Afzelius, _Volkssagen und Volkslieder aus Schwedens älterer und neuerer Zeit_, i. 41 _sq._; Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 iii. 289; L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, p. 266 _sq._

948 Above, p. 293.

949 Fern-seed is supposed to bloom at Easter as well as at midsummer and Christmas (Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 98 _sq._); and Easter, as we have seen, is one of the times when sun-fires are kindled.

950 Burne and Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 242.

951 P. 288.

952 The reason why Virgil represents Aeneas as taking the mistletoe with him to Hades is perhaps that the mistletoe was supposed to repel evil spirits (see above, p. 362). Hence when Charon is disposed to bluster at Aeneas, the sight of the Golden Bough quiets him (_Aen._ vi. 406 _sq._) Perhaps also the power ascribed to the mistletoe of laying bare the secrets of the earth may have suggested its use as a kind of “open Sesame” to the lower world. Compare _Aen._ vi. 140 _sq._—

“_Sed non ante datur telluris operta subire,_ _ Auricomos quam qui decerpserit arbore fetus._”

_ 953 Die Edda_, übersetzt von K. Simrock,8 p. 264.

954 On the derivation of the names Zeus and Jove from a root meaning “shining,” “bright,” see Curtius, _Griech. Etymologie_,5 p. 236; Vanič, _Griech.-Latein. Etymolog. Wörterbuch_, p. 353 _sqq._ On the relation of Jove to the oak, compare Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xii. § 3, _arborum genera numinibus suis dicata perpetuo servantur, ut Jovi aesculus_; Servius on Virgil, _Georg._ iii. 332, _omnis quercus Jovi est consecrata_. Zeus and Jupiter have commonly been regarded as sky gods, because their names are etymologically connected with the Sanscrit word for sky. The reason seems insufficient.

955 Casalis, _The Basutos_, p. 251 _sq._

_ 956 Ib._ p. 252.

957 Casalis, _The Basutos_, p. 252 _sq._

958 A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast_, p. 229 _sq._; T. E. Bowdich, _Mission to Ashantee_, p. 226 _sq._ (ed. 1873.)

959 J. Cameron, “On the Early Inhabitants of Madagascar,” _Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine_, iii. 263.

960 Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, ii. 105.

961 Dalton, _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 91.

962 Dalton, _op. cit._ p. 198.

963 Thomas Shaw, “The Inhabitants of the Hills near Rajamahall,” _Asiatic Researches_, iv. 56 _sq._

_ 964 Panjab Notes and Queries_, i. No. 502.

965 This is curiously unlike the custom of ancient Italy, in most parts of which women were forbidden by law to walk on the highroads twirling a spindle, because this was supposed to injure the crops. Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxviii. § 28.

966 D. C. J. Ibbetson, _Outlines of Panjab Ethnography_ (Calcutta, 1883), p. 119.

967 Fr. Junghuhn, _Die Battaländer auf Sumatra_, ii. 312.

968 Spenser St. John, _Life in the Forests of the Far East_, i. 191. On taboos observed at agricultural operations, see _id._ i. 185; R. G. Woodthorpe, “Wild Tribes Inhabiting the so-called Naga Hills,” _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xi. 71; _Old New Zealand_, by a Pakeha Maori (London, 1884), p. 103 _sq._; R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui; or, New Zealand and its Inhabitants_,2 p. 165 _sq._; E. Tregear, “The Maoris of New Zealand,” _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xix. 110.

969 B. F. Matthes, _Beknopt Verslag mijner reizen in de Binnenlanden van Celebes, in de jaren 1857 en 1861_, p. 5.

970 N. Graafland, _De Minahassa_, i. 165.

971 J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_, p. 107.

972 Riedel, _op. cit._ pp. 281, 296 _sq._

973 Fr. Valentyn, _Oud en nieuw Oost-Indiën_, iii. 10.

974 C. Semper, _Die Philippinen und ihre Bewohner_, p. 56.

975 Rev. Lorimer Fison, “The Nanga, or sacred stone enclosure, of Wainimala, Fiji,” _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xiv. 27.

976 J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific_, p. 252.

977 Turner, _Samoa_, p. 318 _sq._

978 Horatio Hale, _United States Exploring Expedition, Ethnology and Philology_, p. 97.

979 The _malái_ is “a piece of ground, generally before a large house, or chief’s grave, where public ceremonies are principally held.” Mariner, _Tonga Islands, Vocabulary_.

980 The _mataboole_ is “a rank next below chiefs or nobles.” _Ib._

981 W. Mariner, _Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands_ (London, 1818), ii. 196-203.

982 Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition_, ii. 133.

983 Turner, _Samoa_, p. 70 _sq._

984 Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, i. 350.

985 Tyerman and Bennet, _Journal of Voyages and Travels_, i. 284.

986 Geiseler, _Die Oester-Insel_ (Berlin, 1883), p. 31.

987 E. Tregear, “The Maoris of New Zealand,” _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ xix. 110.

988 Hartknoch, _Alt und neues Preussen_, p. 161; _id._, _Dissertationes historicae de variis rebus Prussicis_, p. 163 (appended to his edition of Dusburg’s _Chronicon Prussiae_). Cp. W. Mannhardt, _Die Korndämonen_, p. 27.

989 Festus, _s.v._ _sacrima_, p. 319, ed. Müller; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xviii. § 8.

990 Chateaubriand, _Voyage en Amérique_, pp. 130-136 (Michel Lévy, Paris, 1870). Chateaubriand’s description is probably based on earlier accounts, which I have been unable to trace. Compare, however, Le Petit, “Relation des Natchez,” in _Recueil de voiages au Nord_, ix. 13 _sq._ (Amsterdam edition); De Tonti, “Relation de la Louisiane et du Mississippi,” _ib._ v. 122; Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, vi. 183; _Lettres édifiantes et curieuses_, vii. 18 _sq._